Don't need people

I see you are a screen -
Emotions in binary;
Memory in machine.
I need no conversation with you;
Our transaction means
No need for a soul.

Don't need people anymore;
Just operators.
No relations;
No need to react anymore.
Pushing buttons
Requests action.

The hum of our machines
Screams silently;
A groan unheard.
Will humanity rise;
Communicate again;
As creation's instinct returns?

Sound Guy Haiku

From Stuff Christians Like

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/10/remix-304-sound-guygal-haiku.html

Great...!

And if you don't know what Haiku is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku

Made me laugh, then made me think...

This excellent post by the insightful and experienced worship leader Neil Bennetts, at first made me laugh, then nearly made me cry, and then challenged my heart attitude to preparing for worship. It is "bang-on".

http://thebabyandthebathwater.blogspot.com/2008/03/leading-worship-coe-style-preparation.html

I would appreciate any comments from our group of worship leaders on this one! So who is our "hit-spray Simon"??

A debate on "old" vs "new"...

Found this great article, which really got me thinking...

Telegraph Article

I find we are entering a battle sometimes between old and new, and that the hunger for progression can sometimes halt our love for old and traditional.

There is definitely a tension between moving forward and recognising the value and depth of what has gone before. Though how we present this, and how we approach this I believe to be key. Do we approach older songs with cinicism having already decided that we might "lose" a congregation when we sing them? Or do we approach them with an attitude of excitement and discovery, asking God what He will say through an older song that He might not have been able to say through a newer one? Do we automatically believe that we cannot be creative with old hymns, or is there an opportunity to move into realms of creativity not yet explored?

The Have and Havant's

So I'm sure loads of people will draw Christian references to the obvious rise of the underdogs that saw Havant and Waterlooville take on Liverpool in the FA cup on Saturday afternoon.

I'm sure they will, but I'm also sure there is good reason. Who could fail to be moved by the rise of this non-league side? Who could not feel their gut wrench with that young fan who burst into tears as his team scored the first goal of the encounter?

But the bit that really got me was this quote on the commentary (don't quote me exactly on this though):

"And the van driver exits the pitch to make way for the bin-man".

Such ordinary people. With ordinary jobs. Holding down an ordinary income to pay the ordinary mortgage and keep their wives/girlfriends (not wags) and kids fed and housed (in an ordinary house). Yet called, just this once, to something completely extraordinary. Called against an adversary of such higher ranking and strength. Yet they held the nation's heart for that fleeting moment. They moved forward without fear, and left with their heads held high. In their moment of truth, they gave all that they had. They also put fear in the heart of the Liverpool players, who thought they were out for a walk in the park against this ordinary non-league team. But what the nation saw wasn't ordinary, it was amazing.

Living the lives we live, it's easy to feel the drain of the ordinary drawing passion out of our lives. So many of us do the normal jobs, have a mortgage to pay, marriages to prosper, lives to maintain. But there is a calling to the extraordinary. I wonder how I would react if I was called to come face to a face with an enemy of such apparent higher strength, to play in a league way above the one my self-belief says I should be playing in. Would I move without fear? Would I attack with every ounce of strength? Would I launch into the challenges? The truth is that my calling is daily, my challenge ongoing, the opposition strong, and the prize beyond any trophies this world has to offer. How can I respond to that?

Check your words...

Monuments

At the moment, I work in London two days a week, and have the pleasure of taking a walk from Charing Cross station across Trafalgar Square, St James' Park, past Buckingham Palace, to Victoria (ok a bit of a let-down at the end).

Trafalgar square - great, love N's column.

St James' Park - beautiful, how do they keep all that wildfowl from dying of smog inhalation?

But it's Buckingham Palace that always stops me in my tracks. It's massive. And what really gets me is that it was built for one person. The Queen. Quite a normal, little old lady, the sort I would normally help to cross the road. But this massive structure of rooms, statues, gardens, gold, and massive gates keeping everyone out speaks of someone greater. It's this person that effectively has the rule over our country. This monument speaks of HRM's greatness, her authority and her power over us little underlings. Fortunately we live in a relative (?) democracy right now.

We recently visited Egypt as well. Whoa, those temples all built by Pharoh's to show off their greatness and power. Especially Rameses II (check his story out), I think we can deduce that he sort of loved himself, by the size of the monuments and temples that he built.

So I thought about this. These massive monuments and palaces speak of the power and authority assumed by certain people. But we have God. His power and His authority is greater than any of these. But we don't see massive buildings (well the churches, but in comparison to the palaces and temples...?) statues, things which the tourists make a bee-line for.

But as I think about this, I wonder whether it is something much more subtle than bricks and mortar? God's monument is his creation. It is by looking at everything, opening our eyes, that we see His glory on display. But the unseen, the incomprehensible has even more to offer. The galaxy in which our tiny world is just a speck. The universe holding billions of galaxies, which we haven't even sized-up yet. We then must be part of that monument (we are created by Him, check out Psalm 139), so our very lives can give glory to him. Bricks and mortar are one thing, they can look grand and royal and regal, but without God they wouldn't exist. Living and breathing creatures? That's another thing altogether, a created living mass, all with a built-in need to worship their creator. That's bigger than any palace. That's God at work.

And even more than that. God built his own creation, and he let us in. No-one left outside just taking pictures, wondering what it's like to live in the Palace of the King. All invited. We are dwelling in the glory of God. How crazy is that? Think on...