Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Weather update.
I was right when i said it was cold yesterday! According to the newspapers and the tv news bulletins, yesterday morning was the coldest morning in Sydney for at least 20 years.
Where I live, it reached a crazy low of -3. No wonder my car was frozen!
This morning's 3 seemed balmy in comparison. :-D
Where I live, it reached a crazy low of -3. No wonder my car was frozen!
This morning's 3 seemed balmy in comparison. :-D
SCC has a blog!
With help from Rodney over at 'The Journey' I have discovered that Steven Curtis Chapman is now blogging. And it's not one of those 'artist' blogs that are written on their behalf, thank goodness!
Check out this post for an interesting insight into the mind of SCC :-)
http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/scc/2007/06/i_told_you_i_ca.html
Check out this post for an interesting insight into the mind of SCC :-)
http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/scc/2007/06/i_told_you_i_ca.html
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
A little chilly?
This morning i woke up because i was cold. That means that it must be cold - at the moment i year winter PJ's with really thick bed socks, i have an excellent electric blanket (with a very cool digital LCD display) a winter-weight quilt, plus a thermal polar-fleece blanket and another blanket that mum made for me. So for me to wake up because i was cold is an achievement indeed.
I've decided that i'm not actually sleeping at the moment, but rather going into short-term hibernation :-D
So as you can see in the photos, i wasn't the only thing suffering this morning. My entire car was covered in ICE. It took all my water, car heaters, demisters and a (flexible) cd case to rectify the situation. This is the heaviest frost that i've seen so far in my 5 years in Sydney! (But then this is only my 2nd winter where i'm leaving for work at 7am...)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Interesting review of the Bible (from amazon.com)
I couldn't resist posting this. Sometimes (for whatever reason) i like to read the bad, one star reviews of books i like. And so i came across this review of the Bible (NIV translation) that made me both sad and incredulous at the same time. I can only hope she's not serious?
Let me know your thoughts!
Let me know your thoughts!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A37R9AAX617BSG/ref=cm_pdp_re
views_see_all/105-7059476-1588428?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview
10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Rather Incredulous, March 30, 2007
By
Crystal Sparks "Crystal"
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A37R9AAX617BSG/ref=cm_cr_auth/105-
7059476-1588428> (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A37R9AAX617BSG/ref=cm_cr_au
th/105-7059476-1588428?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview>
I hate to say it, but I was rather disappointed with the storyline of
this book.
The transitions are awkward and the story, while fantastic, was not
enjoyable. I usually like science fiction, but this one had too much old
English and not enough scantily clad martians.
A lot of hype has been coming out about this book,and has even stemmed
many a debate in Washington, D.C. I understand that politicians tend to
enjoy this book, but I am brave enough to stand up and state that this
book is not that great. The action scenes were not very eventful - more
graphic details should have been used, and the lack of adjectives was a
prominent flaw. The Bible had ridiculously high standards for its
readers.
Also, the author should know better than to use the second person - only
amatures make such a mistake.
All in all, this book was poorly written and not well researched.
Don't read it.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Thank God it's back!
Last night saw the return of one of the funniest shows on television: 'Thank God You're Here'. Josh Lawson managed to hit on the cast members again, even though they made it hard for him. Stephen Curry was great in what i think was his first appearance. 'Donatella Versace? she's my dad - we call him don'. The 'all-in' was good fun - they very nearly managed to break the cast member. You can download the episode from www.tgyh.com.au
Monday, July 09, 2007
Hillsong friday 7.30
This is the last picture from Hillsong this year. It was an incredible conference with an incredible unity between the speakers that translated into the messages in a way that has never been seen at Conference before - even the fact that the speakers stayed for the conference even after they were 'finished'. In the crowd shot posted before, it is actually a shot of the confetti and glitter that rained down on the arena for about 15 minutes at the end of conference. I'm just glad it wasn't me cleaning that up!
Hillsong friday 4pm
I know the last couple of posts are all back to front, but :-D This is Bishop TD Jakes teaching in the last meeting before the worship party and anointing service.
Hillsong final night - Worship party and anointing service
I mentioned to a friend on Friday that my ideal closing service would have all the musical guests on stage at once. Imaging my pleasant surprise when the praise and worship was lead by Israel Houghton, Darlene, and Steven Curtis Chapman! And then after the anointing part of the service, the party kicked into full gear, and was lead by United and Chris Tomlin!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Hillsong Update
Sorry about the proliferation of photos, but there's been no time to actually put pen to paper - so to speak.
We've been royally spoilt at this conference. John Bevere has been incredible. Joseph Prince's teaching on grace vs law, old testament vs new testament was fantastic.
Being able to sit in a room with musicians and songwriters that i admire such as Chris Tomlin and Steven Curtis Chapman has been like a dream come true. It's one thing to listen to their songs, to use them in church, but it's an entirely different thing to worris along with them. To hear them speak about their personal relationship with Christ makes you realise that they really do believe what they write about. In an age where there are many 'God thanking' artists, it's refreshing and gives you a new appreciation for these artists who are true worshippers of Christ.
After Bishop TD Jakes spoke last night (which i'm not even going to attempt to describe!) Israel and the Hillsong team closed the meeting in worship. Israel pulled Chris Tomlin up on stage to sing with him. Let's just say it was an incredible way to end an incredible night.
This morning's worship was lead by Darlene and Israel and was followed by more teaching by Bishop Jakes. I'm still in the process of 'processing' this morning - i may post about it later :-)
Hillsong thurs 4pm
Steven Curtis Chapman
Hillsong 4.30 thurs
Hillsong thurs song writing elective
Hillsong 11am thurs
Hillsong 9am thurs
Hillsong 7.30 wednesday
This man!
Hillsong this year was my first exposure to the incredible teachings of John Bevere. I had the opportunity of meeting him wednesday afternoon at a book signing.
1pm song writing elective with Chris Tomlin
Hillsong wed 1pm
Song writing elective with Chris Tomlin. No time for notes at the moment, but then a picture speaks 1000 words :-P
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Hillsong Wednesday 9am
We were treated to Guy Sebastian singing Leeland's 'Tears of the Saints' wednesday morning, which i loved as i love Guy's voice and i love Leeland's music!
Chris Tomlin and Band 7.30
Hillsong 4.30 tuesday
Tuesday night was incredible. United lead the worship with Joel Houston and Brooke Fraser, followed by John Bevere with the Word. He spoke from a chapter of his book 'Driven by Eternity'. John's message was extremely convicting; the main theme relating to Judgement Day, when we will be judged not according to what we have done, but according to what God has called us to do. The 7.30 session was with Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin. Chris and band lead the conference in worship, and then Louie gave his 'Indescribable' presentation, which i'm not even going to try and explain - it truly was indescribable!
Hillsong 2007 tues 4.30
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Hillsong tuesday lunch
As you can see, Sydney has turned on it's beautiful blue skies for Hillsong. Even at night, it's still not cold enough for a jacket!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Hillsong 2007, tuesday morning.
This picture is of the delegates in the morning session with John Bevere. John spoke a message on humility, which i'm guessing was taken from his book 'Drawing Near'. It was a very challenging message. Next is our combined stream session with Ps Brian and Chris Tomlin, which i'm very excited about.
Hillsong 2007
Tonight was the first night of hillsong for this year. My night rally ticket is for the 4.30 sessions so tonight we had the opening celebrations featuring the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda. The night started with a multi-media display about grace as the curtains went up on the stage to reveal a full orchestra. Marty Sampson then started singing an arrangement of 'amazing grace'. He then left the stage only to be replaced by another member of the Hillsong team who then started singing a more familiar version of 'Amazing Grace' only to be joined live on stage in the chorus by Chris Tomlin! I was so excited - i'm embarrased to say that i jumped and grabbed my friend's arm! (I've been a fan from before his first album came out, so it was great to finally see him live - that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it!) Tomorow morning we have John Bevere, which is going to be great! If you're at hillsong this week, leave a comment and let me know!
