25 January 2006
It's been several months since a post, which can mean only one thing.........
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business as usual here in MusingsOfMartynLand!!
In my last post, I began a blow-by-blow account of life as a Martyman in recent months, but left it incomplete. Now is the day of completion, now is the time for closure.
Let the highlights continue...
3. Leaving Bradley Manor, Moving into the Borrowed Ale Hotel
I am now a fully-fledged Borrodalien, complete with messy room and serenity about the state of the place. We really do need to clean up. I think we're going to scrub the whole place down and tidy up in the coming month(s) so we can have a housewarming with all four of us.
Another highlight of the Borrowed Ale hotel is the ale. There seems to be a healthy (but not overdeveloped) stock of beer in the fridge at all times. Since the supplies which I brought home as leftovers from a work Christmas bbq are entirely depleted, we are running with some Extra Dry. Nice.
Adrian and I decided today that, were we to be on Survivor: Flatmate, Adrian would definitely be the last to go. That man is a machine of a flat mate - thoughtful, considerate, clean, tidy. He gets up on time, he's reliable, friendly. He cooks, he washes up, he cleans, he washes, he gets the mail. And no, he's not paying me one cent!! It's all true!!!
Ladies, be on the lookout for this catch of a young man (I think he may be slightly embarassed that I just typed that.... maybe I should delete it...? NAAAHH).
4. T.D. Jakes
The art of the sermon has come to my attention recently, due to several factors. Not only have I had the privilege of hearing many speakers of various personalities and persuasion do their thang, but I have had to give a few talks myself, as well as critiquing others.
The latest craze in the preaching world is the concept of postmodern preaching. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but can define what it is not.
It's certainly not the modernist approach - here's the text, here's three points to read from the text. It's not the chappo method. And as such, some will think it is dodgy from the word go. But I think it, at least, deserves a trial.
T.D. Jakes came to town last year, hosted by Christian City Church. Three nights of boo-yah with Guy Sebastian (on the night I went), Darlene Zschech and Jason Stevens (Christian footballer), at the Sydney Superdome. Quite a different vibe to when the Foos rocked the joint.
He spoke on an old testament passage about Mephiobosheth, a son of Jonathon (2 Samuel 9). It's the story of a crippled and disfigured boy, invited into the king's house. It is a type, a shadow of the core message of Christianity - beggars, scumbags and fools invited into the house of the universal emperor.
And T.D. Jakes delivered a very moving, very powerful, postmodern sermon.
He asked those in the seats if they could relate to Mephibosheth - maybe they had been crippled, physically, emotionally, financially? Maybe they had been cast down.
But, just like Mephibosheth, they were invited to sit at the king's table, where they were equal to the sons of the King.
It made me realise that we have lost the art of preaching. Either we're so focused on exegesis that we miss the deep reality of the message, or we're so focused on our experience and the emotional elements of a sermon that we lose biblical literacy.
I think that, in coming years, the church will be forced to resurrect the art of the sermon.
And I pray that it will produce more biblical, more powerful sermons.
5. Work Christmas Party
Two words: Studio BCS. Seventies fun(k)!! Thanks to Adrian and Martyn (yes, my identity stealing arch-nemesis), I rocked up in a purple dinner suit, complete with purple bow-tie, white shirt with purple polka-dots, and frilly shirt frontage. Add to that an afro and aviator sunnies and you've got yourself some major 70s mojo happening. They played the classics and we boogied on down despite the small amount of room on the dancefloor.
Here's some piccies of my and my work buddies (yes, there was much afro-borrowing).
6. IT gut!
Yes! It's true!! Me, mr. skinny-as-a-rake, mr. wireframe, me, I have a gut!! It's only small at this stage, but slowly growing. Every day that I drive to and from work and only sit at a desk all day, it grows. I think I need to do some exercise.
In keeping with the Warranian Stomach Protocol*, I have named my stomach. He is called Engelbert, and will make a nice companion for Herbert and other stomachs.
*This is similar to the Kyoto Protocol. It is an international treaty enforcing the naming of all stomachs once they reach a certain mass. However, like the Kyoto Protocol, the Australian Government will not ratify the treaty into local law.
Until next time, stay classy,
Martyman
Marty, hey was good to see you on Monday, and it sounds like you are settling into Borrowed Ale quite nicely :)
Some great thoughts there. I agree we need to work harder at connecting the message with those in our congregations.
I join with you in your prayer.
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