I've been travelling a bit lately so I've been a bit slack on the blog.

Anyway we recently had a situation here in New Zealand that should have been cause for celebration but instead was roundly bagged by every media commentator.

The maternity ward at Wellington Hospital is going to be short of midwives over Christmas. To cope with this shortage the Hospital decided that all new mums, that were not on the birth of their first baby, should be out in 6 hours of the birth. To help with this the mums would get a $100 grocery voucher.........yes this was a terrible policy.....and everyone said so.

The good news is that within a day or so the CEO made a public statement saying she took full responsibility for the decision, said it was a mistake and that they were coming up with new ways of dealing with the midwife shortage over the Christmas period.

This is where i get annoyed......she should be praised. She took responsibility, didn't blame anyone else and made some changes. the perfect scenario. Sadly I haven't heard one commentator praising her for this.

I think this issue of taking responsibility and not blaming others is paramount. It hardly ever happens....especially in Christian circles where it should be normal behaviour when we are wrong.

Well done CEO of the hospital....you are a model for all of us in this area!

PS Don't forget to go to www.onehitwonder.org Excellent site and you should join in!
PPS For the cynics......I don't get paid for promoting the one hit wonder site. I know the blokes that are running it and its all good.

www.onehitwonder.org Go to this site and hit the pay button......it'll only cost you a dollar. I personally know the guys behind this. I have spent time with them on several occasions in Tasmania and they are genuine and trustworthy and they have been working on this for a long time.

Its flipping fantastic!

Bio fuels are clearly a good option in today's world of Global warming and diminishing natural resources. It has also come out that the price of pasta is rapidly rising in Italy. This not only affects part of the peoples staple diet but makes it even more difficult for the poor there as Pasta is the best, cheapest and most available food for them.
So what?
Well the reason that pasta is going up in price is that one of the main ingredients in it is also the basis of a lot of bio fuel. this puts it in demand and pushes up the price thereby negatively influencing the poor.

It seems that its always the poor that are first to be negatively affected and the last to benefit. I don't doubt that Bio fuels etc are needed and that we need to deal with the Global warming situation and the destruction of the environment.....but lets not forget the poor in the process and make sure what we do is good for for all....not just maintaining the lifestyles of the middle class.

I've just posted on www.fritchie.blogspot.com He is raising some good issues......it should be something we all look seriously at.

These mumbo jumbo speakers and their theology need to be challenged. I contend however that their theology is not the main problem...in fact it is far more basic and far more sinister. It is what they get out of it! Inevitably they have the 'giving' speech. This giving ends up with them being the primary beneficiaries of their teaching. It shows itself in the expensive and luxurious lifestyles they have which for some includes private jets.This self serving practice means they end up with serious misbeliefs that cloud and influences all they do....including their study of the Bible. They begin to see all sorts of things that all reinforce their practice and lifestyle. the Bible ceases to be challenge to them but instead becomes another vehicle that reinforces all they have, do and believe.Its evil!

Rugby World cup.

All Blacks doing well.

No time to blog!!!!!

Talk Later.

PS Sad about the Warriors.....but they did well

The APEC summit in Sydney Australia amazes me for a number of reasons. One is that it is costing the Aussies more than 350 million dollars, protests are banned, traffic in areas is banned and the American Secret Service are granted a special exemption to carry arms. At the same time the Indigenous people are still waiting basic justice, there are hospital waiting lists due to lack of funds, poor housing for some and the list goes on.

We are quick to spend money on the rich and powerful defending them and looking after them while not extending the same to the poor, disenfranchised and lonely.

Jesus said that as much as we to the least we do to Him and Paul says it is sin to honour the rich at the expense of the poor. This what we are doing in Sydney. I would contend that what we are doing there is just an extreme example of what we do daily in our societies.....and yes in our churches.

Its wrong. Its got to stop. We have to stop being complicit with our silence......especially in our churches.

A few other things that annoy me where people should TAI...think about it...

Slow drivers
Slow drivers that speed up whne there is a passing lane
Shop assistants that 'hover' around you
George Bush and his policy on Iraq
90% of tele evangelists.

There are a number of things that slack me off.....maybe they shouldn't but they do.....I'm shallow. Two are as follows:

1.
People who block the isles in supermarkets with their trolleys while they talk to another shopper with a trolley....how hard would it be to move to the side! Stop slowing me down, making me turn around and annoying a lot of people. TAI

2.
When a plane lands after a long flight a lot of people stand up quickly blocking the isles and those of us who need to move quickly to get off and then they stand around talking and walking as slow as they can....sit down or move aside! TAI

TAI means think about it! How hard is it to think, look and move aside?

When I'm Prime minister there are going to be big changes to the bureaucracy that is taking over New Zealand.

There are big housing issues in NZ and the need for new houses is vital to keeping prices down and therefore affordable to most people. In this mornings paper there is an article on this and the mayor of Wellington, Kerry Prendergast, is quoted as saying "We've seen a shift of 12 days of processing time to between 15 and 17.........A typical house plan four years ago was three A3 size plans and 30 supporting pages. developers are now required to file 12 A3 size pages and up to 300 pages of supporting documentation"

Bloody ridiculous!

You can never allow the office wallers and bureaucrats to run anything....they will complicate everything, slow everything down and play everything too safe....sounds a lot like the church!

One of the great things about true Christianity that is focused on the person of Jesus Christ is that He can't be pegged. This means we disagree over all sorts of things but often accept that the different opinions are worth the discussion. Every now and then however there is an issue that is plain wrong and should not be tolerated. In a previous post I spoke of the 'Really Stupid' conference and group with their nonsense statement that if you are not growing you are not like the early church..........well an even worse statement has been made at a conference.

Basically it was stated that we are to give the corners of our fields to the Senior Pastor and then God will bless us. The corners of the fields is of course $$$$. It's based on an Old Testament practice where farmers at harvest time left the corners of their fields for the poor to harvest..... it was a way of helping the poor. The current mumbo jumbo is taking it from the poor, giving to the wealthy and all so we get stuff......THIS IS STEALING FROM THE POOR AND THEREFORE FROM GOD.....ITS WRONG.

Why do we allow it? A number if reasons but there are three I want to mention.

1. We aspire to be like the senior pastor...we want the goodies!
2. We are Biblically ignorant and therefore fall prey to every whim of man
3. When we know its wrong we are too scared to speak out because we are afraid the powerful leaders who will be upset.

So how do we deal with these?

1. Face our own desires and aspirations and stop excusing the ones that do not reflect Jesus.
2. get Biblically literate...read the Bible and don't get everything for the songs we sing and stuff preached.....basically if the preacher is the main beneficiary of the preaching be very cautious.
3. I don't know....still thinking about this one.