Repenting of Leeching

Chapter 7 of Christopher Ash's book Marriage: Sex in the Service of God (IVP, 2003) really struck me, recently. "What is the centre of your marriage?", that's the question on view. You? Your kids? The two of you, together? Here's a snippet.

Couple-centred marriage dissolves into self-centred marriage, and self-centred marriage is like a leech. (p. 125)

In the Bible's perspective the way forward is neither via individual autonomy nor in introspective companionship, but in the joyful shared service of God. (p. 126)

It's a great read.

Praying, Past and Next

There's plenty of stuff to be thankful for from the last few weeks, and plenty more to pray for on the horizon. Here are a couple of things Past and Next.

Past...

• ...Comforts. College occasionally runs Marriage Enrichment courses for students. We enjoyed one a week ago. Very comforting, encouraging, constructive.
• ...Submissions. I submitted a paper last week on Ezekiel 37. It's about the unity of God's people and His desire to be present among them. Tedious in the writing; heartening on reflection.
  
• ...Sorrows. Last week a thanksgiving service was held in memory of Sir Marcus Loane. The service was held in the cathedral. It was immensely encouraging both to hear of his long life of faithfulness and to see the strength of the Sydney Anglican scene gathered around one its dearly loved forefathers.
  

Next...

• ...Week: My regular languages study (Greek and Hebrew) has come off the boil a bit. I need to dial the heat back up a bit. (Just the routine practice & exposure).
• ...Essay: How is the law of God viewed in the Psalms, and what role does it play in the theology of the Psalter? (Old Testament 3) Nick is doing the same one.
  
• ...Conference: I'm helping out as Pastoral Leader on a Presbyterian Youth conference (Winter Camp) over the June long weekend.
  

Several Ways to make Margate even Happier

So Margate's a happy place. But what could make it happier? I have five ideas.

#1. Sour Cherry Loaf. Sorta like a fancy fruit loaf. (We bought this one from the new deli in Summer Hill).


#2 Sweet Belem Portuguese Custard Tarts. Flaky pastry, delicious custard, sprinkled cinnamon. Don't let the pigeons get 'em.


#3 Shenkin. Nick and I have been drinking a whole lotta great coffee at this little haven of happiness.


#4 Beer from Martin Luther's House. Suds brought it back from Europe. It's from a house where Martin Luther lived in Wittenberg.


#5 Rauchbier (Smokebeer). Best enjoyed with a German friend, incidentally. Brewed according to Reinheitsgebot, but they manage to squeeze the smoke in there somehow :)

You are now leaving Sermon City.

Two sermons in Galatians down. And that's the end of my sermon-load for a little while now. Both sermons came together pretty well. Thanks for praying.

In preaching those sermons I realised for the first time just how intimidating it is to preach to a member of College faculty on a text in their particular area of study. Check out Philip Kern's research focus! He goes to my church.

On a lighter note, remember this guy?


I snapped this poster in one of my regular haunts.

A Sleepy Little Commuter Town

So the Mercury reckons there is no happier place in Tassie than my hometown, Margate. You can't argue with high quality research, people.

Kaboom

The other day I bought some Bob Dylan.

I've a hunch about buying the greats. Unless you're going to buy Bob's entire back-catalogue, you have to decide whether to buy a couple of albums, or a compilation. Some say that the compilations never have the best tracks. I think that's rubbish in the case of Dylan, at least. His compilations don't lack his best songs, they just don't include all of them. A tall order for a single compilation, I'd suggest. I think rather, the choice between compilation and album is the difference between (primarily) knowing about his place in music, and knowing the man.

If you buy a compilation, of course you'll be better positioned to 'get' the overall contribution of the artist to their time and have a sense of how they matured and changed over the years (if you pay attention to release dates and history, that is). A worthy enterprise.

But if you buy a couple of albums, I think you get to know the person, more personally. You sit with them for a time. You'll never get all Bob's best songs this way; he has too many. And you won't get the sense of the whole. But there's something nice about sitting with the man for the year 1965, or whenever.

I bought albums.

On Con's recommendation, I also bought James Muller's Kaboom.