Driving Test

Well, today is the 7th of May, and 2 days ago around this time I had just passed my driving test. It was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I was more nervous taking the test than I was on my wedding day, than I was on the night I proposed. It was awful. I couldn't sleep the night before, I ended up taking antihistamines to knock myself out so I would actually get a few hours before my 730 pickup outside the college! I spent the entire day before (the 4th) just filling my time with as many different activities as I could come up with to distract myself from being nervous about the test. I have driven a manual car for 3 years no problems at all in the states, and so have a considerable headstart on most learners, but I knew how easy it is to make the 1 'major' fault it takes to completely disqualify myself in the test. The examiner was a small balding bearded round Sheffield-type bloke with a very strong accent who looked like a slightly squashed John Peel. He was nice enough though.

I took the test in Buxton, and passed with only 5 out of a possible 15 minor faults. After the test, Simon my BSM driving instructor dropped me off in Sheffield, where I did a little shopping, then hopped on a train to Stockport and bought a car. We got a 2002 Kia Rio Sedan (automatic - so Sydney can drive it once she passes her test), which is in great nick, has A/C, a cd player an iPod hook up, 44,000 miles on the clock, gets around 37 miles to the gallon, and is easily spacious enough for the three of us and all our stuff for when we go on holiday, or to visit the family back in the North East. All in all, an excellent deal, and a blessing I am thankful for.

Now I can start gigging again, I can get a decent part time job, we can go get groceries whenever we need them (oh luxury!) and we can actually explore the beautiful part of the country we live in. One is thoroughly pleased, what what.

Some Joel Stuff

Joel ate a 'You are what you eat' fridge magnet last weekend. Which seems an ironic and poetic sentence upon the arrogant magnet for being so cocky.

Also his list of bizarre foods has been expanded somewhat - he's eaten raw compost, blue pool cue chalk, chunks of his bath sponge, cat food, and the black cushiony felt that goes on toddler swings in the play park. Gross.

He's taken to wandering around saying 'bug-a-bug-a-bug-a-bug-a', and also said 'Billion Milligan Butt-Gun' for no good reason the other day, which has to be a name of a band in the future, or there is simply no justice in the world.

I only believe in God so I can get into Heaven

I don't want to know if people are dying
I don't want to know if hell is real
I don't want to know that my creature comforts
Could be sacrificed to save somebody's life

I only believe in God so I can get into Heaven
So my comfortable life can carry on forever

I don't want to hear that God might not want me
To always be secure or live my dreams
I don't want a God who makes me a servant
Who doesn't want to make me rich or thin

Don't tell me I'm not entitled to the things I've always wanted
I'd rather die still trying, than give them up and live

I only believe in God so I can get into Heaven
So my comfortable life can carry on forever

I don't want to give any time or money
'Cause I just want to live to please myself
I'll die for my faith so you'll think I'm a hero
But I won't do a thing unless it profits me

I'll give Him an hour on a Sunday morning
And He should be grateful for this kingly sacrifice
I only believe in God so I can get into Heaven
So my comfortable life can carry on forever

Rev 3:15-17, 20-21
I know your works; you are neither cold not hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say 'I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked.
Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to eat with you and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Funniosities from kids exam papers

Facebook Chortles

Peter Ensor's pretty awesome response to my Women In Ministry Paper

Jim, thanks for your paper. Here are some comments,

1. I totally agree with your concern to respect the ultimate authority of Scripture. Consequently, I also agree that we ought to take the author's words (whether he was Paul or someone else) as God's words.

2. At the same time I think that it is right to interpret Scripture in the light of its total context, and this may mean not applying it in the same way as it was meant to be applied by its first readers. For example, most Christians today would not think it necessary for women to cover their heads in worship as 1 Cor. 11:2-16 prescribes (perhaps the real issue is about dressing modestly), nor for church members to kiss one another as Rom 16:16, 1 Cor 16:20, 2 Cor 13:12, 1 Thess 5:26 and 1 Pet 5:14 prescribe (perhaps the real issue is about greeting one another with sincere affection).

3. Regarding the interpretation of Genesis 3, I think it should be pointed out that the curse 'he shall rule over you' in 3:16 is a statement of the result of the Fall, not a statement of God's ideal.

4. Regarding the role of women generally in the NT, I accept the essence of your arguments regarding the roles of the women at the tomb, Phoebe, and Priscilla. I am more positive about the likelihood of the Junia of Rom 16:7 being a woman apostle than you are, but agree that it is difficult to attain 100% certainty in matters of this kind.

5. Regarding the main text which you discuss 1 Tim 2:12-14, I think I should point out the following:

i) there is no seperate word for 'over' in the Greek of v.12.

ii) The word translated 'have authority over' (Gk. 'authentein') appears only here in the NT. Its use outside the NT often has negative connotations (there are even passages in which it means 'murder'!)

iii) In the light of 1 Tim 5:11-16 which shows that there was a problem with young widows in the churches for which Timothy had responsibility, I believe it is more likely that the words translated 'man' and 'woman' are rightly so translated, and do not mean 'husband' and 'wife'.

6. The key difference between your position and that of those who would allow women to take leadership positions in the Church lies, I think, in the meaning of v 14. What is the intended force of these arguments from Genesis 2-3? Do they state God's universal and eternal intention that women should have a subordinate position in the running of the Church in comparison with men? Or are these stories cited rather to address a local and temporary problem in which some young widows were 'saying what they should not say' (5:13) and 'following Satan' (5:15), with the result that they were acting in a domineering way in Church? In this case, the force of the arguments is

i) that they should listen and learn before they speak in Church (just as Eve had to listen to, and learn from Adam concerning what God had said in her absence, according to the literal interpretation of Gen 2), and

ii) that they should (unlike Eve) resist Satan's temptations (the force of Paul's use of the same story in 2 Cor 11:3, though there it is applied to men as well as women).

It is not easy to decide between these options, and I agree with you that those who hold either interpretation are entitled to hold it and should respect those who hold the alternative.

Peter Ensor, 5.12.10

Snowmen and Joel Pics

The Snowman we built yesterday at Cliff - 10 feet tall!

I made this!

The Trees outside the Common Room