I only blog here occasionally, as most of my blogging energies go into the Exchange Church Blog, so you might also like to head over there for more of thoughts.
It's November. Twenty years ago, Morrissey told us that it spawned a monster, so here's a monster for your viewing entertainment...
In other news, most of my blogging and online, non-work related activity recently has been going into the smartphone app Diane & I are working on with Subsplash for our church. The mini-blog posts that will feature in the app can be found here.
But when the app is released in a couple of weeks (initially for iPhone/iPad, but Android should follow soon after) it will be way more fun to read them on your phone, right?
Sometimes - very, very occasionally - I feel like this song was written for me.
Today is one of those days, and I don't really know why. It just is. None of my circumstance is different from yesterday, but my mindset has turned a corner. It's just not a good corner.
Or...maybe it is.
Last night Diane & I were at Collide, basically a first-week-of-the-month meeting of all the life groups in our church. After worshipping through song & word for an hour or so (and, gotta say, it's SO great to be back in a worship team - it's home) we split into groups of 4 or 5 and prayed for each other. The group I joined up with were people I didn't know especially well yet, so it was a little quiet at first, but then words started to flow.
But they weren't just words, they were prophecy. Things said that were too specifically just for me without the Holy Spirit intervening.
And now, 20 hrs later, I'm impatient that nothing's happened yet. WHAT?!?
For someone who jokes about patience being one of my spiritual gifts, I am feeling unsettled about how little patience I have right now. I guess I'm feeling we've done our share of waiting, of hanging on, of stepping out, of cleansing, of change. But there's more to go and I want it to happen.
Then...three hours go by between when I start writing this post and when I finish it...in that time I've been stuck in traffic caused by road closures due to a fatal accident.
And perspective is restored. A good corner has been turned.
This morning as I conversed with God, this song came to mind.
John Mark McMillan's How He Loves with all its multiple covers and brilliance also came to mind and it's probably far more appropriate, but this song is likely a little less known so I'm posting this for your enjoyment &/or education.
I'd not thought about it for ages, probably not since seeing Little Miss Sunshine four years ago, but the simple chorus is a great way to remind myself of what God is saying all the time.
"You said 'You love me' "
And for the record I'm not suggesting there's anything even vaguely theological about the verses and the story they tell, which is one of those sad tales about lost love, because God's love - God Himself - is the exact opposite :
"I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think that God has a sick sense of humour, and when I die I expect to find Him laughing" - Martin Gore
It's no secret that I'm a long time mega-fan of Depeche Mode, and I'm fascinated by chief songwriter Martin Gore's ongoing "difficulty" with Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church, and how that can cause reactions like this.
So how about we talk about it some more?
"Blasphemous Rumours" dates from 1984, and was supposedly inspired by some true stories of tragic teenage deaths (the lyrics can be found by clicking the link in the quote at the top of the post, btw), with the chorus here allegedly being based on a suicide note.
I will admit that sometimes I think God has a sick sense of humour, but more often than not I mean sick as in cool not sick as in ill or bad though since ill or bad can also mean sick as in cool perhaps I should stop with my ghetto analogies now...
I also fully expect God to be laughing when I die. My dad would always be laughing (& crying, simultaneously) whenever we came home from a long time away, and even though I'm not really away from God now - I'm as good an example as any of His radical grace - I am constantly reminded that while we're here on earth, our stories are really just to help make sure as many of His wonderful human creations get to make it Home along with us.
So there's my blasphemous rumour : I think God has a sick sense of humour, and when I die I expect to find Him laughing.
What blasphemous rumours do you not want to start?
Boy George released Same Thing In Reverse around the time I was furthest from God's design for my life, and I clung to the lyrics. I identified with the man he was singing to. I wanted to believe what he was saying.
I wanted to make sense of my what I felt, and I didn't think the Bible was able to do it for me.
Thing is, in and of itself, the Bible can't : it's only when that Word is transformed from words on a page to words on our hearts through the miracle of the Holy Spirit study guide that the Bible truly makes sense.
But at the time, I was blocking God with my own judgement.
Now when I hear this song, having been through the refining fire of transformation, the main thing I feel is sadness. Because it's not the same thing in reverse at all; it's counterfeit.
Last night, or rather, this morning, Diane and I were privileged to see the premiere of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 3D at IMAX.
It's a technical premiere only, since it's merely because we live in the future that we were able to see it before the rest of the world in general release tomorrow.
I really appreciated that Tim went for a re-write with an older Alice, rather than just an adaptation of the book. That will likely be an annoyance to some people, but whatever.
I didn't see Avatar (I'm a fan of story more than effects) so I can't compare the CGI, and this film's budget was miniscule by comparison, but at this stage, I think it was as close to a perfect child's fantasy as I have seen. I don't see a lot of movies any more though - maybe 1 or 2 per year - so you may well disagree.
So far the reviews are average, and it may just be the fact I loved Lewis Carroll's writing when I was a child so I'm sentimental about the characters, but I think it's well worth the investment of money & time to enjoy this brief frolic through a child's imagination.
Note that while it is rated PG, I think kids will likely be scared by some of the action, especially in 3D, and even moreso in IMAX.
Also, I think it's worth noting that at the end of the film, the audience of mostly teens & twenties broke out in applause. I've heard of that happening on occasion, but I've never actually been in the cinema when it did. Bear in mind too, that Australians are notorious for not applauding if something is rubbish, even if we're "supposed" to.
