Selah

And PAUSE...

Yes, that's right. A long pause. Not that I've won much by way of followers anyway but my attention has recently been drawn back to the blogosphere and I suddenly remembered I had some blog real estate floating out here somewhere.

To blow oxygen on the spark, someone commented that they recently visited the website that promotes this blog only to discover the blog dormant. Alas, the spark sputters but fails to ignite a flame.

Besides a flirtatious foray into Twitter, 'tis Facebook that has won my cyber attention post-blog-days. Its functionality and easy won 'friends' promise a more immediate gratification from time invested in status updates.

So the Selah (pause, reflect, meditate) continues here. If you're interested in tracking the minutiae of my personal life then try Facebook friending me at "pinzman" or "Jamie Wood" and if I recognize you or if we have good friends in common I might let you in.

For now, this blog remains in hiatus.

Goodbye.

So long.

(And thanks for all the fish)

Bite Me

I turned 40 in August. It’s a curious age with many people on the NZ mission scene reckoning I’m still just a babe in arms (a babe?!) and those we’re trying to mobilise increasingly seeing me as an old man. Nevertheless, after a minor road bump a couple of days either side of the big day, I press on. I was hoping the whole mid-life thing would pass me by, and for the most part it has (so far), since Pauline and I try and live faithfully according to the call of God on our lives and in such a way that we have no regrets.

Having a clear sense of call makes so much of life easier. Decisions can be weighed up according to whether or not it is going to help or hinder what God has revealed for us to be and do. Other peoples’ plans for your life cease to have much relevance because God’s plans take priority, and there is a greater resistance to the forces in society because they often run contrary to His call. Not only greater resistance to society’s forces but greater awareness too.

I have never been more aware of the forces at work in our society than I am now after reading Ian Wishart’s shockingly sobering book "Eve’s Bite". As many of you will know, Wishart is a veteran Kiwi investigative reporter and editor of "Investigate" magazine. His new book draws together a number of issues his magazine has investigated that reveal our society rapidly heading in a direction contrary to Scripture and God’s Kingdom principles. I won’t go into those issues here, but be warned: it’s not light reading and in some parts he’s quite descriptive of some abhorrent activities. Needless to say, the truth ain’t always pretty.

Stick this in yer favourites: http://www.investigatemagazine.com/

Wishart clearly writes from a more right wing perspective but his thesis is fair and his supporting evidence is well documented, but he doesn’t tell you what you should do with it. And I’m glad. Too often we’re bombarded with prescriptive instructions of how to live the Christian life ‘in fullness’, ‘with purpose’, ‘for blessing’, etc. We dutifully follow the instructions but can often end up feeling a little ripped off. Who says, that’s the way YOU should respond? Aren’t we supposed to be keeping in step with another? Hasn’t the Great Designer of each of us created us for a unique reason? Shouldn’t we rather be listening to Him for our instructions? Or have we lost the art of listening and our concern for being bearers of Holy Spirit fruit?

Whatever our response to society’s ills or governments’ agendas or Biblical illiteracy or limited gospel availability or whatever, we should first and foremost respond with Spirit-empowered love. We should respond according to the unique way God has created us. We should respond according to the way He’s leading us to be involved. But we should respond. I am.

Ka Kite.

Vision Empowered Life

I recently prepared this as a devotional for my colleagues at Pioneers Australia when I visited earlier in September and figured it might be helpful to the readers of my blog (both of you).

It's written in note form for me to follow - but hopefully you'll be able to connect the dots!

Primary Text: Acts 26:16-19

Here, the Apostle Paul is giving his testimony to King Agrippa...

(Acts 26:16) Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about other times I will appear to you.
(26:17) And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles,
(26:18) to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God's people, who are set apart by faith in me.'
(26:19) "And so, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that vision from heaven.

Paul had an acute sense of his calling. Sometimes I wish I had a calling made as clear as this, but in a very real sense his calling is applicable to all of us.

But we are also called in other ways, to be uniquely involved in His Kingdom advance, which is clearly stated here in Paul's testimony...

• to go to those who don't know Jesus (and in the case of Pioneers, those with least access to Him)
• to open their eyes
• so they may turn (or repent)
• from darkness to light
• from the power of Satan to God
• so that they may be forgiven and accepted into the Kingdom

This is the Gospel message in a nutshell and more than 2.4 Billion people still don't have access to it. This I know. This is why I'm working for Pioneers.

This is the unified vision our mobilisation bases around the world - to recruit as many as are suitable to join in this task with Pioneers teams worldwide... and to help retain them for as long as God wants them out there.

But what is your specific vision?

• What gets you out of bed in the morning?
• What is it in you that gives you a deep sense that if you weren't heading towards it you would be 'disobeying the vision from heaven?'

From prison Paul reflects again on his reason for being, his ministry call, and His personal development program, and he encourages the Phillipians...

Phillipians 3:12 ...I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.
(3:13) No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be,° but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
(3:14) I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to (from) heaven.
(3:15) I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things.

What has Jesus saved you for?

• What does he want you to be?
• What are you investing your life in trying to attain?
• What is it up ahead that has you focusing your energies on, straining ahead to reach?\

There is a reward for we who persevere, no doubt about that, the last book of the Bible, Revelation makes that clear (in an oblique sort of way) and that's a worthy aim for all of us, but we each ought to also have a unique sense of calling.

While it appears that Paul's calling was given at one time in one shot, it was more likely to have been a progressive revelation over the 15 or so years he spent in his own personal wilderness in the desert before he started his own ministry.

The outworking of his calling was refined by others, most notably Barnabas, and he changed tack along the way as he sought to keep in step with the Spirit. The best example of this would be what we call the 'Macedonian Call' from Acts 16:6ff.

Similarly, our lives are a constant work in progress, and will be 'til the day we die.

But what should:

• undergird our lives,
• drive our personal development,
• lock us in to step with the Spirit,

is...

• a unique calling,
• our inner voice,
• our personal life vision,
• our best contriution to God's kingdom cause.

I love the joke that goes, "God loves you and so & so has a wonderful plan for your life". It's so true because there's always someone out there who would love for you to follow their plan, whether it be society, the advertising industry, your parents, an influential mentor, or whoever.

We must not get to the end of our lives having lived other peoples agendas. Only God's agenda matters. We will have robbed the Kingdom and the world at large of our best contribution if we don't honour our God given calling as it's progressively revealed to us.

Of course, that calling should never separate from those we are committed to, but we can't afford our relationships to smother that call either.

So what is it? How do you find it? How do you know you're being true to it or not?

A calling is a specific sense of your best contribution to God's general Kingdom advance. It grows over time because you grow in terms of your own self awareness. At various points in your life it requires you to do an internal inventory:

• What are your personality preferences?
• What energizes you and drains you?
• How do you prefer to operate by default?
• What kind of people do you like being around?
• What skills have you acquired along the way?
• What are the things that you find dead easy to do compared to some other people? These are likely to be innate talents that you can hone into strengths.
• What Spiritual gifts do you utilise? Realising they're all available to us as the Spirit wills, but we tend to have access to some more than others in a ministry context.

Having done an inventory (and I recommend you focus on who you are, not who you wish you were or who you're not), here's the big question...

What is it that pushes your button the most?
In your eyes...

• What is the BIG problem with the world?
• What's that vexing issue that keeps appearing as a massive blip on your radar?
• What irritates you most about this life?

Now the thing about your answer to these questions that would suggest that this is your calling is if YOU ALSO HAVE A STRONG SENSE ABOUT HOW IT SHOULD BE FIXED.

Chances are very high that God is equipping you and calling you to invest yourself in this direction.

Proverbs 29:18a is interpreted in various ways in different translations...

KJV says "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
NIV puts it this way, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint."
And the NLT, "When people do not accept divine guidance, the run wild."

The antedote noted is to keep the law, but in a New Testament equivalent it is to keep in step with the Spirit...

Without a sense of life direction, calling, personal divine revelation, vision, call it what you will, we're in danger of running around like chooks with our heads lopped off.

I am convinced that God's Kingdom purposes will be achieved best when God's people are true to who they are and what God is calling them to be and do.

I am also convinced that God's Kingdom purposes are global and many are being disobedient to their calling by not getting involved in His global Kingdom purposes.

As Pioneers founder, Ted fletcher is quoted as saying to his wife Peggy just before he died, "I love you and I want to finish well."

May we too love well and finish well as we obey our vision(s) from heaven, and focus our energies on what lies ahead.

Amen.

Tribute To Ellen Margaret Diamond

Around 2pm on August 18, 2007 one of the most influential people in my life passed from this world into the next.



Ellen ("Nellie") Margaret Diamond, affectionately known as "Nan" to me, died with most of her immediate family around her after a brief bout with stomach cancer. She was 89.

Her passing has had a significant impact on our lives, leaving a big gap, as she featured so heavily as part of them. In her later years we nicknamed her our "Duchess" because she lived her life with so much dignity.

At the funeral we heard how her life was one of hard graft and few trappings. She lived most of her married life in state housing, managing to live off a government benefit, and mainly used public transport get around, but she was always content with what she had. She raised nine kids (lost a tenth at birth), had a strong hand in raising 20 grandkids, and got to enjoy 20 great grandkids before she died. She was the mainstay of the home, even when Grandad was alive because he had succumbed to alcoholism early on.

I am her second eldest Grandchild, but was the first to be raised by her. Merely 5 years younger than my nearest Aunty, I was raised as one of Nan's own until Mum married my stepfather 3 or 4 years later. Apparently my transition to a new home caused quite a stir with Nan refusing to attend the wedding. I may have moved down the road, but she was always there - after school care, school holidays, family gatherings, and special visits. Nan's was always my 'safe place'.

I eventually moved back in with Nan in my late teens when I relocated to the big smoke for my new job. I guess I hung around there for about 5 years off and on until I was married! It was cheap board and great care :)

Nana influenced me in many ways I'm only starting to discover. I must have picked up many of her values by osmosis because I can't ever recall a lecture from her about how things should be done. She was first and foremost a servant, quietly wise and very strong of character. She chose never to worry about anything, although I'm sure she did a bit internally. The overwhelming example she set (in my opinion) was that of faithfulness. She stuck with stuff through thick and thin, never varying her course, at least not that we noticed.

Here's a record of how I put it in the eulogy I gave at her funeral when all us grandkids got an opportunity to say something, and then my final committal message at the crematorium with just the immediate family present...

Funeral Eulogy.

It's at times like these that we realise that we're all connected. We all impact each other. You're all here today because our Nan had some sort of impact on your lives.

When it comes to the end we all leave behind us a legacy - for better or for worse. Nan's legacy was undoubtedly for better.

The place Nan impacted us most...
The place Nan impacted the world most...
Was from her home.

• From her home she created her own centre of gravity...
• She was utterly selfless, always there for others - I wonder if she ever thought of herself,
• She accepted everybody who crossed her threshold without hesitation - she never turned anybody away,
• She was our anchor in the storm, the one we'd run to when we were in trouble.

Her words were simple but held an almost mystical power for me. They seemed to make my whole world right again when she'd listen carefully to the problem and then just: "Tsk, tsk... Oh well, never mind, not to worry."

My prayer is that Nan's unconditional love, her steadfast faith, her selfless servant heart, and her acceptance of all people will live on in each of us...

If our legacy were to shine just a fraction as bright as hers will, this world would be full of light.

Our God and Father, help us to love as she loved. Amen.


Crematorium Committal.

In the book of beginnings, Genesis, we discover that God made humanity in His image.

Although that image was quickly corrupted in all humanity, Nan is as close to a true reflection of the image of God as I've ever seen.

I have every hope of seeing that same dignified reflection again one day, only perfected and whole and beautiful and radiant and full of joy...

In his First Letter To The Thessalonians, St Paul writes...
(4:13) And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope.
(4:14) For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died.

There will one day be a renewal of all things.

Today we commit Nan to the fire. But in God's eyes she's merely asleep, resting with Him, because her faith was in Him and His only Son Jesus whom He sent to show us the way, and who He is sending back for we who believe in Him.

In His time, in no more than a blink of an eye, God will raise Nan again perfected.

What was once born of the dust of the earth and perishable, will be reborn of the Spirit of heaven and imperishable. This is our hope. Eternal life.

"Not to worry" Nan. We'll be seeing you again.

My Lord and Father, take good care of her. She's done well and deserves your best.

Amen.

The Huntaway Heart

I just wrote this devotional for a 40 day devotional book Pioneers is putting together...

Selected Relevant Scriptures

“Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.” (Matthew 20:26b NLT)
“I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing… for the Father loves the Son and tells him everything He is doing…” (John 5:19a & 20a NLT)
“I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock with one Shepherd.” (John 10:16 NLT)

I am a New Zealander.

New Zealand, colonized by Britain in 1840, is comprised of two major islands in the South Pacific Ocean, together making up a landmass about the size of California. It is home to 4.1 million people and… 43.1 million sheep. That’s a lot of sheep.

Sheep in New Zealand are not like sheep in the Middle East. There are far too many of them for the shepherd to get to know and train personally. The shepherd needs an intermediary he (or she) can trust. So the New Zealand shepherd created the Huntaway.

If Jesus were a shepherd in New Zealand, He would trust His Huntaway more than His disciples. He would call attention to the Huntaway in His parables. The attributes resulting from the cross-breeding that created the Huntaway are so striking that I have adopted them as a standard of servant-hood for my life and commend them to any who would find such virtues attractive additions to their own character…

His name is Ben, Jock, Duke or Wag; or her name is Faye, Grace, Bess, or Flo. They are a mongrel breed, bred from the finest working dogs into the best working dog. Their origin is a mystery, the stuff of legend. What we know is that they are, and that they are unlike any other.

One hundred years ago they were bred for a purpose – to search for lost sheep, out in the farthest reaches of the range, up in the most rugged terrain, amidst the toughest conditions, with limited resources. Their black and tan markings barely visible to the shepherd against the spectacular tussock, rock and snow speckled, “Lord of the Rings” backdrop of the New Zealand high country.

Working alone or as part of a team, the Huntaway uses its keen senses to find scattered sheep and heard them into a flock. It acts on its own initiative, remaining true to its training; all the while keeping its sharp hearing attuned to the directions of its master, the shepherd. Using a high pitched whistle, the shepherd directs each dog in a unique way. A dog knows it is he or she that needs to “hunt” left or right, up or down, to speak up or remain still, rather than another; while methodically directing the sheep down towards the shepherd.

Their voice is fearsome and directive. Both male and female can hunt out stock and they share a deep resonating bark that echoes around the mountain range.

Recognizing their authority, the sheep move and gather, as if it were the shepherd him/herself directing them. But the voice is always at the will of the shepherd - commanding “speak” and they speak, “be still” and they are silent.

Always obedient, the Huntaway lives to serve.

At the service of the shepherd, to whom they are totally loyal, Huntaways work tirelessly. They are heavy set dogs with large paws, strong and agile, with a regal head, a gentle expression, and a playful demeanor. Their delight is praise from their master and to one master are they true.

The bond between the shepherd and the dog is strong. Big burly men are broken when one from their Huntaway team is lost. Unless commanded to, the Huntaway won’t leave the shepherd and when it’s work is done he or she returns eager for the simple pleasure of the shepherd’s hand scruffing his neck and patting her side.

The shepherd knows the value of a Huntaway. S/he invests in their welfare, trains them well, never underestimates their extraordinary intelligence, and seeks to replicate them in the next generation of trusty servants. The older dogs are used to help train the young, and the young quickly get to know “the voice” as they vie for a kind word and praising touch.

The muster happens once a year, before the onset of winter. Sometimes the onset comes too soon, but the sheep must still be guided to safer pastures. It is for this gathering that the Huntaway is trained, it is what he or she is born to do. Its purpose is to act as one with the shepherd, an extension of the shepherd, his or her representative on the mountainside. The sheep are numbered and to a one they must be found. Down deep gullies, on the side of precipices, hidden in dense brush. In habitat comfortable for the sheep, but otherwise alien to the sheepdog, the Huntaway must hunt out the strays and return them to the shepherd who will direct them to safety. Should winter come early, the Huntaway will work through the fog, rain and snow to see the job done. There is no other choice if the sheep are to be saved.

Strong, courageous, intelligent, authoritative, and obedient; faithful, joyful, gentle, and fun. The Huntaway’s heart is that of a servant. The Huntaway’s purpose is that of a missionary. The Huntaway’s place is at the side of the master.

Would that we all be Huntaways.

Twice Transformed

So, yep, saw Transformers. What a blast.

Actually I saw it twice would you believe?

On July 1st I was travelling back from meetings in Chiangmai Thailand and had a few hours to kill between my domestic and international flights, so I decided to hang out at my favourite mall in Bangkok - the MBK Centre. My next favourite mall runs a very close second - Pantip Plaza (the computer geeks mall), but the MBK has food courts, a multiplex cinema, and a marketplace feel to its 7 floors.

Anyway after lunch at Sizzler and purchasing a couple of my favourite shirts, I decided to check out the flicks options. Low and behold, Transformers was on and if I paid for a gold pass ticket (still cheaper than in NZ) I could catch the next movie with 20 minutes to spare. I was in like Flynn.

Now, by my calculations I could see the movie, get down to the taxi and make it to the new Bangkok airport to check-in the required two hours before the flight. After all, a movie like this wouldn't go longer than 2 hours right? Wrong!

Man, I was gripped. This film was funny, slightly sexy with a great soundtrack, cool in all sorts of testosteronic ways, and once the action got rolling I was sucked right in.

I get to the part where they're under the dam, Bumblebee is all bundled up under dry ice, and Megatron is about to stir from his looooong slumber. That nasty little watsit that turns into a CD player that looks just like Paulines, is starting to kick up a stink and... I wonder what the time is?

Strike me! I should be in the taxi on the expressway by now! Urrggh.

With my adrenaline pumping from the movie's action I shoot out of my seat and hightail it out the door. I'm on the 5th floor (I think). Elevator's taking too long. Gotta take the escalator. Schools out and there are young Thais crammed into every nook and cranny.

"'Xcuse me..." (arrogant Westerner). "Ooops, sorry 'bout that" (stupid foreigner, always in a rush). Tick tock, tick tock. "Outa my way! I'm coming through!".

Ground floor. Clear route to the taxi rank. Woah! There's a line. A looooong line. (Expletive removed).

At a very fast walk I head for the other exit, take the steps in one leap and hit the ground running for the side walk. Several prominent signs declare horrendously large fines for anyone catching a taxi from this sidewalk. (Expletives removed). Prayer ensues.

Gotta get to the other side. (Cue an appropriate black gospel song...)

Like Moses parting the red sea (well, not quite), I dodge the afternoon Bangkok traffic and make it to the other side. No 'taxi catching is naughty' signs here.

Here comes a bright pink one. "Hey! Over here!" Great, he's pulling in. "Sow-de-cup." "Uh, new airport? Expressway? Fast fast?" Did I actually say that? I think I did.

"Khrup, khrup" he says (Yes, yes or good good or something like that) .

"Foah hundred fifty baht." he says.

No no "Two hundred fifty baht." me says.

"Thwee hundred fifty baht. O.K." he laments.

Suhweet. Let's go. Phew we're off, and way cheaper than the 900 baht that it can cost in a private "limousine" (not nearly what you'd expect a limousine to be).

"You come Bangkok long time? You get boom boom?"

"Huh?"

"Boom boom" as he points to a sign for a brothel.

"Uh, no. Short time. No boom boom. Urgggh" (I'm not even gonna try sharing with this guy - language barrier).

Why are we going in the opposite direction to the airport signs?

"Airport this way?"

"Uh, need fill. This way." as he first points to his fuel gauge on E and then to a nearby service station.

"Oh. My. Lord. We're cutting it close."

Tick tock. Tick tock. Now he's in the loo. Tick tock. Tick tock. Should I get out and grab another cab? Ah, no we're off again.

I'm ready with the fare for the expressway. No fare required. No expressway taken. Pretty scenery, if you like rice fields and palms and industrial complexes. (Cue slow elevator music...)

Tick tock... Yeah, I'm sure you get the message.

Hah-le-lu-jah, hallelujah, hallelujah (I'm hearing Handel's Messiah now) - There's the airport!

"Good time for you?"

"Huh? Oh yes, my flight. O.K. Good time" (But you're not getting a baht over 350 buddy).

Out I jump. Over goes 350. Off I dash across the road ignoring his disappointed frown.

Thai Airways international flight TG889 check-in row G. Time? Just squeezed through.

"Any bags to check in Sir?"

Wha?!, Oh yeah...

"No, they were checked through from Chiangmai."

"Have a pleasant flight Sir."

"Thank you. I certainly will." I wonder what the movies will be?


So aaaaanyway. I had to go see it again with Pauline to see how it finished. Boy, am I glad I didn't hang around 'coz there was ages left to go.

Mind you, I think my ending to the first viewing created just a tad more adrenaline!

Transformers!

Transformers are coming! Woohoooo!

Yup, I seen the shorts of the new movie being released soon - coooooool.

You can see the trailer here: http://www.transformersmovie.com/

Cor, they were my most favourite toys… when I was twenty four. I used to get up faithfully at eight every Saturday morning just to watch Optimus Prime beat the stuffing out of the bad guys. Well, he would eventually... maybe in the next episode.

You’re at a distinct disadvantage here if you have never had the joy of watching the anthropomorphic machines change shape from trucks (or whatever) to robots to battle against the forces of evil (autobots verses decepticons). You’ve had a seriously deprived childhood (or adulthood for that matter) if you’ve never fiddled with a Transformer® toy and tried to manipulate the moving parts of a vehicle into a robot or vice versa.

It reminded me of an incident at one of my old churches...

Our Pastor’s son had a number of Transformers® that I enjoyed playing with during our leadership meetings. A favourite was Optimus Prime, the leader of the good guys who was a flat nosed semi articulated truck — red with blue trim. He converted into the toughest robot of them all.

What made this toy extra special was that it had flashing lights and when pressed in the appropriate place a mechanized voice would boldly declare “I am Optimus Prime!”

Great fun to play with... unless you’re at a particularly Pentecostal church meeting in the middle of a quiet, contemplative and meditative time of worship.

Bradley (the Pastor's son) was fiddling with his Prime and made the mistake of hitting the wrong button on his truck as the congregation was ‘waiting for a word from the Lord’. In the stillness, in the quite place... suddenly a tinny voice echoed around the auditorium and declared — “I am Optimus Prime!”

Is that you Lord? Your servant listeneth. :)

Bring on the movie!!!