Tomorrow's Songs
Take My Life Blessed Be Your Name The Power of the CrossHow Marvelous
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Latest poll
Following on from the previous comment - the latest Nielsen poll now gives the Coalition a lead in the two party preferred. This is a pretty remarkable turnaround in just a couple of weeks, and should probably be treated with a pinch of salt. What it does say, however, is that the election is extremely close.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Abbott doing pretty well
Tony Abbott is doing much better than I expected in this campaign. In the last week he has made some real inroads into Gillard's popularity. While she is still clear leader in the "preferred PM" category, his approval rating is now level pegging with hers. The ALP believed he would be unalloyed electoral poison as leader, but that has proven to be untrue.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
American Blues
That all-American ''can-do'' approach seems to be missing from the voices of Californians and their President. My friends were stunned when I told them the Australian economy is doing well, that we missed the worst effects of the global financial crisis and the Sydney house prices went up 20 per cent last year.
For once their American myopia disappeared. They began asking me about Australia: Can we migrate there? Can we get jobs there?
I suspect things will turn around as a matter of course, though I find it hard to believe the US will return to the same levels of prosperity it has enjoyed in the past...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Forgiveness
Mark and I are still discussing forgiveness. I've found the chat helpful, and I feel like I'm changing my mind on the subject...
Monday, July 26, 2010
Giving up Kung-Fu
I've decided to give up Kung-Fu. My other commitments, especially my writing, have just made it impossible to keep up. I've come to this conclusion very reluctantly. I know it is very tempting to give up exercise as we get older, and I'm fighting hard to resist that trend (I still do dancing, and walk a fair bit every day). There's another issue here, too. I've noticed that men, as middle-age approaches and encroaches, tend to give up their hobbies. For so many older blokes, their whole lives are work and family. For a host of reasons, I think this is a Very Bad Thing. I'm not at that point myself - I have more hobbies than I have time for. But it's something I'm mindful of...
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Biography of Richard Johnson
Finished chapter 15, which concerns the small book he published called "An Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies etc". Some real insights into the man and his message. Also found a few interesting interesting nuggets of gold in several supporting sources...
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Richard Johnson to the Colony
"But, blessed be God, a door of hope is opened by the gospel for miserable sinners! A gracious promise was given early, even to our first parents, immediately after their fall. The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head [Gen. iii. 15.]. This promised seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in due time, was to appear in the world, to be born of a woman, that by his life, sufferings, and obedience unto death, he might recover fallen man from the misery and ruin in which he was involved. Brethren, this gospel which, as the ministers and ambassadors of God, we are commissioned and commanded to preach to sinners, proposes a free and gracious pardon to the guilty, cleansing to the polluted, healing to the sick, happiness to the miserable, light for those who sit in darkness, strength for the weak, food for the hungry, and even life for the dead [Gal. iv. 4, 5.; Gal. iii. 13.; I John i. 7.; Matt. xi. 28.; Matt. xi. 5.]."
Sick...
Off work for two days with a virus. I'm going to go a bit stir crazy - I'm not good at taking time off work. Still, might give me a chance to do some writing...
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Election 2010
Fairly uninspiring stuff from both parties so far. No grand visions from either side, more a "more of the same" approach. I thought Gillard's mishandling of the East Timor stuff would hurt her more, but it appears not. Her purpose was to communicate the message "Asylum seekers not welcome", and the electorate has heard. The left wing commentariat has gone pretty soft on her over this - terrible hypocrisy. For Abbott's part, so far he has not cut through very much. He's very good at attacking the opposite side, but not so good on constructing and selling a positive narrative. It is shaping up as a rather tedious campaign...
Election 2010
The campaign has not started well for the Coalition - early polling gives Labor a clear lead in 2-party preferred, and they are still getting beat around the head about WorkChoices. Abbott's message on IR has been muddled. Let's see if things turn around...
Monday, July 19, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Australia's First Sermon - an historical puzzle solved
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a little historical puzzle - how do we know what text Australia's first sermon was preached on? After a bit of digging at Mitchel Library, I found the answer. The information was published in an extract from the journal of Richard Williams, who was a mate on the Borrowdale.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Canterbury Vale
Just went for a bit of an explore around the area where Richard Johnson's farm, Canterbury Vale, used to be.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Canterbury Vale
In 1793, Johnson was granted 100 acres to cultivate. His grant lay in modern Ashbury, around Peace Park. He named his land "Canterbury Vale", and it was the first grant in what is now called the municipality of Canterbury, in Sydney. A panel has been erected on the site.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Songs for church tomorrow
We Belong to the Day
How Great is Our God
It is not Death to Die
Take My Life
Gillard says Timor Solution is still viable
But the East Timorese are furious. This has been her first major stumble as PM. KRudd is doubtless having a quiet smile to himself.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
A good night
Andre, Nathan and I just had a good evening together, ate some Thai, drank a few beers, and shot the breeze for about 4 hours. Was good times. Guys don't do enough of that stuff. Girls seem to do it a bit more intuitively and naturally... I guess that's hardly a ground-breaking observation. Every time I hang out with blokes I think, "we should do this more often." Yet we hardly ever do... What's the problem, I wonder?
Very surprising
It seems that Julian Burnside now supports offshore processing of asylum seekers. When conservatives implemented this, of course, Burnside was harshly critical. I'm astounded at the inconsistency.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
The Timor Solution
Gillard takes a leaf out of John Howard's book with regards to asylum seekers. I'll admit this is slightly better thought out and packaged than the Pacific Solution, but the essence is the same - discourage asylum seekers from using people smugglers by refusing to process them in Australia. Discouraging people smuggling is a good thing. Unfortunately, I suspect both political parties are simply playing up to people's xenophobia here. I'll be interested to see if Gillard cops the same kind of criticism that Howard did with his policies...
Enjoyed kung-fu last night...
Dancing on tonight... Community Group on Wednesday nite... Catching up with mates on Thursday nite... Book progress this week => minimal
Monday, July 05, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
It is not death to die
We did this Sovereign Grace song at church today for the first time and it went really, really well. Here are the lyrics -
It is not Death to die,
to leave this weary road,
and join the saints who dwell on high,
who've found their home with God.
It is not death to close
the eyes long dimmed by tears,
and wake in joy before your throne,
delivered from our fears.
O Jesus, conquering the grave,
your precious blood has power to save.
Those who trust in you will in your mercy find
that it is not death to die.
It is not death to fling
aside this earthly dust,
and rise with strong and noble wing
to live among the just.
It is not death to hear
the key unlock the door
that sets us free from mortal years
to praise forever more.
O Jesus, conquering the grave,
your precious blood has power to save.
Those who trust in you will in your mercy find
that it is not death to die.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Hawke and Howard on Reform
The two former PMs talk about the right way to effect reform. Their key message? Consultation.
ελληνική γλώσσα ???
Seaumus is looking at producing a Greek version of lingua latina. I hope he sticks with it - I reckon it would be a great resource, and very popular too.
Finished Chapter 14
This chapter was about Johnson's preaching. I was worried I'd have little to say, but it turned out I had far more material than I knew what to do with! The chapter finished up at 3700 words, which is a bit long, but I will probably tighten it up in editing. The bigger "problem" however, is that I didn't have space to cover the religious tract that Johnson wrote in the early years of the colony. It's too important for me to neglect, or to relegate to a single paragraph. So it looks like I may have to (reluctantly) devote a whole chapter to the tract, and what it reveals about Johnson's theology. I'm trying very hard to knock these chapters over - I don't want to be creating more work for myself! Ah well...
Friday, July 02, 2010
Thursday, July 01, 2010
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