Michael Welsh

Michael Welsh http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?blogId=1 Michael Welsh, the runner of Michael's Blog. Michael Welsh is also known as yomcat, and has a beautiful wifey called Melissa. Michael Welsh will talk about random stuff in Michael's blog. Stuff like advanced mathematics and pretty beads. If it doesn't offend people, it's not worth saying. yomcat 2010-09-06T20:54:57Z An Homily Against Excess Of Apparel http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1308&blogId=1 WHERE ye have heretofore been excited and stirred to use temperance of meats and drinks, and to avoid the excess thereof, many ways hurtful to the state of the commonwealth, and also odious before Almighty God, being the Author and Giver of such creatures, to comfort and stablish our frail nature with thanks unto him, and not by abusing of them to provoke his liberality to severe punishing of that disorder; in like manner it is convenient that ye be admonished of another foul and chargeable excess, I mean of apparel, at these days so outrageous, that neither Almighty God by his word can stay our proud curiosity in the same, neither yet godly and necessary laws, made of our Princes and oft repeated with the penalties, can bridle this detestable abuse; whereby both God is openly contemned, and the Prince’s laws manifestly disobeyed, to the great peril of the realm. Wherefore, that sobriety also in this excess may be espied among us, I shall declare unto you both the moderate use of apparel approved by God in his holy word, and also the abuses thereof, which he forbiddeth and disalloweth, as it may appear by the inconveniences which daily encrease by the just judgment of God where that measure is not kept which he himself hath appointed. If we consider the end and purpose whereunto Almighty God hath ordained his creatures, we shall easily perceive that he alloweth us apparel, not only for necessity’s sake, but also for an honest comeliness. Even as in herbs, trees, and sundry fruits we have, not only divers necessary uses, but also the pleasant sight and sweet smell to delight us withal; wherein we may behold the singular love of God towards mankind, in that he hath provided both to relieve our necessities and also to refresh our senses with an honest and moderate recreation. Therefore David in the hundred and fourth Psalm, confessing God’s careful providence, sheweth that God not only provideth things necessary for men, as herbs and other meats, but also such things as may rejoice and comfort, as wine to make glad the heart, oils and ointments to make the face to shine. So that they are altogether past the limits of humanity which, yielding only to necessity, forbid the lawful fruition of God’s benefits. With whose traditions we may not be led, if we give ear to St. Paul, who, writing to the Colossians, willeth them not to hearken unto such men as shall say, Touch not, Taste not, Handle not, superstitiously bereaving them of the fruition of God’s creatures. And no less truly ought we to beware, lest, under pretence of Christian liberty, we take licence to do what we list, avauncing ourselves in sumptuous apparel, and despising other, preparing ourselves in fine bravery to wanton, lewd, and unchaste behaviour. To the avoiding whereof, it behoveth us to be mindful of four lessons taught in holy Scripture, whereby we shall learn to temper ourselves, and to restrain our immoderate affections, to that measure which God hath appointed. The first is that we make not provision for the flesh, to accomplish the lusts thereof, with costly apparel; as that harlot did of whom Salomon speaketh, Proverbs the seventh, which perfumed her bed, and decked it with costly ornaments of Egypt, to the fulfilling of her lewd lust: but rather ought we by moderate temperance to cut off all occasions whereby the flesh might get the victory. The second is written by St. Paul in the seventh chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthes, where he teacheth us to use this world as though we used it not: whereby he cutteth away, not only all ambition, pride, and vain pomp in apparel, but also all inordinate care and affection, which withdraweth us from the contemplation of heavenly things and consideration of our duty towards God. They that are much occupied in caring for things pertaining to the body are most commonly negligent and careless in matters concerning the soul. Therefore our Saviour Christ willeth us not to take thought what we shall eat, or what we shall drink, or wherewith we shall be clothed, but rather to seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof. Whereby we may learn to beware, lest we use those things to our hinderance which God hath ordained for our comfort and furtherance towards his kingdom. The third is, that we take in good part our estate and condition, and content ourselves with that which God sendeth, whether it be much or little. He that is ashamed of base and simple attire will be proud of gorgeous apparel, if he may get it. We must learn therefore of the Apostle St. Paul both to use plenty and also to suffer penury, remembering that we must yield accounts of those things which we have received unto him who abhorreth all excess, pride, ostentation, and vanity; who also utterly condemneth and disalloweth whatsoever draweth us from our duty towards God, or diminisheth our charity towards our neighbours and brethren, whom we ought to love as ourselves. The fourth and last rule is, that every man behold and consider his own vocation, inasmuch as God hath appointed every man his degree and office, within the limits whereof it behoveth him to keep himself. Therefore all may not look to wear like apparel, but every one according to his degree, as God hath placed him. Which if it were observed, many one doubtless should be compelled to wear a russet coat, which now ruffleth in silks and velvets, spending more by the year in sumptuous apparel than their fathers received for the whole revenue of their lands. But, alas, now a days how many may we behold occupied wholly in pampering the flesh, taking no care at all but only how to deck themselves, setting their affection altogether on worldly bravery, abusing God’s goodness (when he sendeth plenty, to satisfy their wanton lusts, having no regard to the degree wherein God hath placed them! The Israelites were contented with such apparel as God gave them, although it were base and simple; and God so blessed them, that their shoes and clothes lasted forty years: yea, and those clothes which their fathers had worn the children were content to use afterward. But we are never contented, and therefore we prosper not; so that most commonly he that ruffleth in his sables, in his fine furred gown, corked slippers, trim buskins, and warm mittons, is more ready to chill for the cold than the poor labouring man, which can abide in the field all the day long, when the north wind blows, with a few beggarly clouts about him. We are loth to wear such as our father hath left us; we think not that sufficient or good enough for us. We must have one gown for the day, another for the night; one long, another short; one for winter, another for summer; one through furred, another but faced; one for the workingday, another for the holy day; one of this colour, another of that colour; one afore dinner, another after; one of the Spanish fashion, another Turkey: and, to be brief, never content with sufficient. Our Saviour Christ bad his disciples they should not have two coats: but the most men, far unlike to his scholars, have their presses so full of apparel, that many knoweth not how many sorts they have. Which thing caused St. James to pronounce this terrible curse against such wealthy worldlings: Go to, ye rich men, weep and howl on your wretchedness that shall come upon you: your riches are corrupt, and your garments are motheaten: ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and in wantonness; ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter. Mark, I beseech you, St. James calleth them miserable, notwithstanding their riches and plenty of apparel, forasmuch as they pamper their bodies to their own destruction. What was the rich glutton the better for his fine fare and costly apparel? Did not he nourish himself to be tormented in hell fire? Let us learn therefore to content ourselves, having food and raiment, as St Paul teacheth; lest, desiring to be enriched with abundance, we fall into temptations, snares, and many noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. Certainly such as delight in gorgeous apparel are commonly puffed up with pride and filled with divers vanities. So were the daughters of Sion and people of Jerusalem, whom Esay the Prophet threateneth, because they walked with stretched out necks and wandering eyes, mincing as they went, and nicely treading with their feet, that Almighty God should make their heads bald, and discover their shame. In that day, saith he, shall the Lord take away the ornament of the slippers, and the cauls, and the round attires, and the sweet balls, and the bracelets, and the attires of the head, and the slops, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earings, the rings, and the mufflers, the costly apparel, and the veils, and wimples, and the crisping pin, and the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the lawns. So that Almighty God would not suffer his benefits to be vainly and wantonly abused, no, not of that people whom he most tenderly loved, and had chosen to himself before all other. No less truly is the vanity that is used amongst us in these days. For the proud and haughty stomachs of the daughters of England are so maintained with divers disguised sorts of costly apparel, that (as Tertullian, an ancient father, saith) "there is left no difference in apparel between an honest matron and a common strumpet." Yea, many men are become so effeminate, that they care not what they spend in disguising themselves, ever desiring new toys and inventing new fashions. Therefore a certain man that would picture every countryman in his accustomed apparel, when he had painted other nations, he pictured the Englishman all naked, and gave him cloth under his arm, and bad him make it himself as he thought best, for he changed his fashion so often, that he knew not how to make it. Thus with our phantastical devices we make laughingstocks to other nations; while one spendeth his patrimony upon pounces and cuts, and other bestoweth more on a dancing shirt than might suffice to buy him honest and comely apparel for his whole body. Some hang their revenues about their necks, ruffling in their ruffs; and many a one jeopardeth his best joint, to maintain himself in sumptuous raiment. And every man, nothing considering his estate and condition, seeketh to excel other in costly attire. Whereby it cometh to pass that, in abundance and plenty of all things, we yet complain of want and penury, while one man spendeth that which might serve a multitude, and no man distributeth of the abundance which he hath received, and all men excessively waste that which should serve to supply the necessities of other. There hath been very good provision made against such abuses by divers good and wholesome laws; which if they were practised as they ought to be of all true subjects, they might in some part serve to diminish this raging and riotous excess in apparel. But, alas, there appeareth amongst us little fear and obedience either of God or man. Therefore must we needs look for God’s fearful vengeance from heaven, to overthrow our presumption and pride, as he overthrew Herod who in his royal apparel, forgetting God, was smitten of an angel, and eaten up of worms. By which terrible example God hath taught us that we are but worms’ meat, although we pamper ourselves never so much in gorgeous apparel. Here we may learn that which Jesus the son of Sirach teacheth, not to be proud of clothing and raiment, neither to exalt ourselves in the day of honour, because the works of the Lord are wonderful and glorious, secret and unknown, teaching us with humbleness of mind every one to be mindful of the vocation whereunto God hath called him. Let Christians therefore endeavour themselves to quench the care of pleasing the flesh. Let us use the benefits of God in this world in such wise that we be not too much occupied in providing for the body. Let us content ourselves quietly with that which God sendeth, be it never so little. And, if it please him to send plenty, let us not wax proud thereof, but let us use it moderately, as well to our own comfort, as to the relief of such as stand in necessity. He that in abundance and plenty of apparel hideth his face from him that is naked dedspiseth his own flesh, as Esay the Prophet saith. Let us learn to know ourselves, and not to despise other. Let us remember that we stand all before the Majesty of Almighty God, who shall judge us by his holy word, wherein he forbiddeth excess, not only to men, but also to women: so that none can excuse themselves, of what estate or condition soever they be. Let us therefore present ourselves before his throne, as Tertullian exhorteth, with the ornaments which the Apostle speaketh of, Ephesians the sixth chapter, having our loins girt about with the verity, having the breastplate of righteousness, and shod with shoes prepared by the Gospel of peace. Let us take unto us simplicity, chastity, and comeliness, submitting our necks to the sweet yoke of Christ. Let women be subject to their husbands, and they are sufficiently attired, saith Tertullian. The wife of one Philo an heathen philosopher, being demanded why she ware no gold, she answered, that she thought her husband’s virtues sufficient ornaments. How much more ought Christian women, instructed by the word of God, content themselves in their husbands! Yea, how much more ought every Christian to content himself in our Saviour Christ, thinking himself sufficiently garnished with his heavenly virtues! But it will be here objected and said of some nice and vain women, that all which we do in painting our faces, in dyeing our hair, in embalming our bodies, in decking us with gay apparel, is to please our husbands, to delight his eyes, and to retain his love toward us. O vain excuse, and most shameful answer, to the reproach of thy husband. What couldest thou more say to set out his foolishness, than to charge him to be pleased and delighted with the devil’s tire? Who can paint her face, and curl her hair, and change it into an unnatural colour, but therein doth work reproof to her Maker, who made her, as though she could make herself more comely than God hath appointed the measure of her beauty? What do these women but go about to reform that which God hath made, not knowing that all things natural is the work of God, and things disguised and unnatural be the works of the devil; and as though a wise and a Christian husband should delight to see his wife in such painted and flourished visions, which common harlots mostly do use, to train therewith their lovers to naughtiness; or as though an honest woman could delight to be like an harlot for pleasing of her husband? Nay, nay, these be but the vain excuses of such as go about to please rather others than their husbands. And such attires be but to provoke her to shew herself abroad to entice others: a worthy matter. She must keep debate with her husband to maintain such apparel, whereby she is the worse housewife, the seldomer at home to see to her charge, and so to neglect his thrift by giving great provocation to her household to waste and wantonness, while she must wander abroad to shew her own vanity and her husband’s foolishness. By which her pride she stirreth up much envy of others, which be so vainly delighted as she is. She doth but deserve mocks and scorns, to set out all her commendation in Jewish and ethnic apparel, and yet brag of her Christianity. She doth but waste superfluously her husband’s stock by such sumptuousness, and sometime is the cause of much bribery, extortion, and deceit in her husband’s occupying, that she may be the more gorgeously set out to the sight of the vain world, to please the devil’s eyes, and not God’s who giveth to every creature sufficient and moderate comeliness, wherewith we should be contented, if we were of God. What other thing doest thou by those means but provokest others to tempt thee, to deceive thy soul, by the bait of thy pomp and pride? What else doest thou but settest out thy pride, and makest of thy undecent apparel of thy body the devil’s net, to catch the souls of them which behold thee? O thou woman, not a Christian, but worse than a paynim, thou minister of the devil, why pamperest thou that carrion flesh so high, which sometime doth stink and rot on the earth as thou goest? Howsoever thou perfumest thyself, yet cannot thy beastliness be hidden or overcome with thy smells and savours, which do rather deform and misshape thee than beautify thee. What meant Salomon to say of such trimming of vain women, when he said, A fair woman without good manners and conditions is like a sow which hath a ring of gold upon her snout, but that the more thou garnish thyself with these outward blazings, the less thou carest for the inward garnishing of thy mind, and so dost but defoul thyself by such array, and not beautify thyself? Here, hear, what Christ’s holy Apostles do write. Let not the outward apparel of women, saith St. Peter, be decked with the braiding of hair, with wrapping on of gold, or goodly clothing: but let the mind and the conscience, which is not seen with the eyes, be pure and clean: that is, saith he, an acceptable and an excellent thing before God. For so the old ancient holy women attired themselves and were obedient to their husbands. And St. Paul saith, that women should apparel themselves with shamefastness and soberness, and not with braids of their hair, or gold, or pearl, or precious clothes, but as women should do which will express godliness by their good outward works. If we will not keep the Apostles’ precepts, at the least let us hear what pagans, which were ignorant of Christ, have said in this matter. Democrates saith, “The ornament of a woman standeth in scarcity of speech and apparel.” Sophocles saith of such apparel thus: “It is not an ornament, O thou fool, but a shame, and a manifest shew of thy folly.” Socrates saith that “that is a garnishing to a woman which declareth out her honesty.” The Grecians use it in a proverb, “It is not gold or pearl which is a beauty to a woman, but good conditions.” And Aristotle biddeth that “a woman should use less apparel than the law doth suffer; for it is not the goodliness of apparel nor the excellency of beauty, not the abundance of gold, that maketh a woman to be esteemed, but modesty and diligence to live honestly in all things.” This outrageous vanity is now grown so far, that there is no shame taken of it. We read in histories that, when king Dionysius sent to the women of Lacedemon rich robes, they answered and said that “they shall do us more shame than honour,” and therefore refused them. The women in Rome in old time abhorred that gay apparel which king Pyrrhus sent to them, and none were so greedy and vain to accept them. And a law was openly made of the senate, and a long time observed, “that no woman should wear over half an ounce of gold, nor should wear clothes of divers colours.” But perchance some dainty dame will say and answer me, that they must do something to shew their birth and blood, to shew their husband’s riches: as though nobility were chiefly seen by these things, which be common to those which be most vile; as though thy husband’s riches were not better bestowed than in such superfluities; as though, when thou were Christened, thou didst not renounce the pride of the world and the pomp of the flesh. I speak not against convenient apparel for every state agreeable, but against the superfluity, against the vain delight to covet such vanities, to devise new fashions to feed thy pride with, to spend so much upon thy carcase, that thou and thy husband are compelled to rob the poor to maintain thy costliness. Here how that nobel holy woman, Queen Hester, setteth out these goodly ornaments (as they be called), when, in respect of saving God’s people she was compelled to put on such glorious apparel, knowing that it was a fit stale to blind the eyes of carnal fools. Thus she prayed: Thou knowest, O Lord, the necessity which I am driven to, to put on this apparel and that I abhor this sign of pride and of this glory which I bear on my head, and that I defy it as a filthy cloth, and that I wear it not when I am alone. Again, by what means was Holofernes deceived but by the glittering shew of apparel? which that holy woman Judith did put on her, not as delighting in them, nor seeking vain voluptuous pleasure by them; but she ware it of pure necessity by God’s dispensation, using this vanity to overcome the vain eyes of God’s enemy. Such desire was in those holy noble women, being very loth and unwilling otherwise to wear such sumptuous apparel, by the which others should be caused to forget themselves. These be commended in Scripture for abhorring such vanities, which by constraint and great necessity, against their hearts’ desire, were compelled to wear them for a time. And shall such women be worthy commendations, which neither be comparable with these women aforesaid in nobility, nor comparable to them in their good zeals to God and his people, whose daily delight and seeking is to flourish in such gay shifts and changes, never satisfied, nor regarding who smarteth for their apparel so they may come by it? O vain men, which be subjects to their wives in these inordinate affections. O vain women, to procure so much hurt to themselves, by the which they come the sooner to misery in this world, and in the mean time be abhorred of God, hated and scorned of wise men, and in the end like to be joined with such who in hell, too late repenting themselves, shall openly complain with these words; What hath our pride profited us? or what profit hath the pomp of riches brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow. As for virtue, we did never shew any sign thereof; and thus are we consumed in our wickedness. If thou sayest that the custom is to be followed, and the use of the world doth compel thee to such curiosity; then I ask of thee, whose custom should be followed? wise folks’ manners, or fools’? If thou sayest, the wise; then I say, follow them, for fools’ customs who should follow but fools? Consider that the consent of wise men ought to be alleged for a custom. Now, if any lewd custom be used, be thou the first to break it; labour to diminish it and lay it down; and more laud afore God and more commendation shalt thou win by it than by all the glory of such superfluity. Thus ye have heard declared unto you, what God requireth by his word concerning the moderate use of his creatures. Let us learn to use them moderately, as he hath appointed. Almighty God hath taught us to what end and purpose we should use our apparel. Let us therefore learn so to behave ourselves in the use thereof, as it becometh Christians, always shewing ourselves thankful to our heavenly Father for his great and merciful benefits; who giveth unto us our daily bread, that is to say, all things necessary for this our needy life; unto whom we shall render accounts for all his benefits at the glorious appearing of our Saviour Christ. To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour, praise, and glory for ever and ever. Amen. God Stuff 2010-05-06T19:06:25Z yomcat Sacraments http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1147&blogId=1 Why? Okay, I now "why" they exist, and I'm fine with that. Just why are they done in a particular way? I really don't like traditions. God Stuff 2008-07-23T19:17:49Z yomcat I dunno http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1144&blogId=1 Well, this is called I dunno because I dunno what to call it. That's a good enough reason for me. After all, it is (just like worship) all about me. At church at the moment, people are quite keen on using astronomical objects to show how big God is. I find this model limiting. The Universe, no matter how much people preach about it, is finite. Or it loops, which is a tricky infinity (like the edge of a circle is infinite, but in R4). Anyway, I find it much simpler to have infinity (the mathematical construct) and make God bigger than that. Infinity is cool. It's where parallel lines meet. And it's blue. Serious Stuff 2008-07-12T20:21:10Z yomcat Horsies. http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1142&blogId=1 After telling people about this at church and how it's the coolest astronomical thing that I know, I thought I'd better get some pictures. So, stolen from the Internet: <img src="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0705/horsehead_noao.jpg"> <img src="http://www.sidewalk-astronomy-club.com/img/horsehead-nebula.jpg"> The second one is the one I know. The other one is from NASA and looks cool. Link of the day 2008-07-07T19:23:53Z yomcat Renovation http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1129&blogId=1 There is to be no renovation this week as I am playing football. All the way over in Churton Park. However, next week, it will resume as normal. God Stuff 2008-05-14T09:11:01Z yomcat Renovate Renovation http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1127&blogId=1 Okay, this Sunday, my place, lunch time. That's about all I know as well. We'll probably be continuing the study of Revelation, but I'm open to other ideas. God Stuff 2008-05-06T09:43:26Z yomcat Godel's Mathematical Proof of God's Existence http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1086&blogId=1 If this makes no sense, nod and smile. Axiom 1. (Dichotomy): A property is positive if and only if its negation is negative. Axiom 2. (Closure): A property is positive if it necessarily contains a positive property. Definition: Something is God-like if and only if it possesses all positive properties. Axiom 3: Being God-like is a positive property. Axiom 4: Being a positive property is (logical, hence) necessary. Definition: A property P is the essence of x if and only if x has P and P is necessarily minimal. Theorem 2: If x is God-like, then being God-like is the essence of x. Definition. NE(x): x necessarily exists if it has an essential property. Axiom 5: Being NE is God like. Theorem 3: Necessarily there is some x such that x is God-like. Maths 2007-12-21T18:22:17Z yomcat Absolute Truth http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1051&blogId=1 On Sunday, at church there was a talk on Truth, Love and Tolerance. I found myself disagreeing with large portions of the first two (there were 3 speakers) mini-sermons. The love one was because love is something that I've been thinking about lately (with my upcoming <a href="http://wedding.yomcat.geek.nz">wedding</a>) and I have some slightly different ideas of what love is all about (you may have to wait for my wedding to hear them though) But the truth one irked me. As far as I can recall, he was saying that the world doesn't like absolute truth and that Jesus is the only absolute truth. However, I am a mathematician. I deal with <a href="http://xkcd.com/263/">absolute truth</a> all the time. My world comprises of lots of absolute truths (and a few axioms). And even in my faith, I have more absolute truths than just Jesus. This might be because of my mathematical training (I have an axiomatic approach to my faith that has a habit of annoying arts student), but what about God? Or the bible? I suppose you could look at the trinity as an equivalence class, but I'll leave that for later... Stuff 2007-10-08T21:29:05Z yomcat The Church You Know http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1024&blogId=1 These people have got the same kind of ideas as me (and some other ones). <a href="http://www.thechurchyouknow.com/">TCYK</a>. There are movies and you can buy your own <a href="http://www.thechurchyouknow.com/store/wallyworship.html">Worship Leader</a> Link of the day 2007-08-21T13:23:31Z yomcat Church yomcat (Renovation) http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1009&blogId=1 Church yomcat is starting this Sunday. It's just me getting grumpy about the level of teaching available out there, and deciding to do something about it. There will be a website once I move the database over. Soon. In case you don't know, church yomcat (or renovation or whatever) is a bunch of people who meet together for encouragement, community and a depth of teaching not found in a normal church. It meets on Sundays at 11:30am till whenever, and has discussion over lunch. It meets at <a href="http://smaps.co.nz/nz/wellington/kilbirnie/yule+street/92/">92 Yule St</a> in Kilbirnie, Wellington (out the back in one of the sheds). For more details, contact Michael Welsh by <a href="mailto:yomcat@yomcat.geek.nz">email</a> or on (021) 366055. The first thing that is happening is an image-based study of Revelation. I assume that at least Revelation 1:1-8 will be completed, so a reading of that is recommended. Serious Stuff 2007-07-10T20:03:17Z yomcat Church http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=999&blogId=1 <ol> <li>Why do you go to church?</li> <li>What do you like and dislike about how your church runs?</li> <li>What would the perfect church service be like?</li> </ol> And now why I'm currently in limbo about church: Church has been boring. Dull. All Saints, the church I have been going to since for the last 4 or so years has quite suddenly become unappealing. And it's not because the church has changed (it helps though). It's because I have changed. I no longer find it attractive or interesting. The teaching is at the same level as it was 4 years ago. I can find much better teaching on the radio and on the Internet. And many more viewpoints (which may or may not be better). I also go to <a href="http://www.vuwcu.org.nz">Christian Union</a>, which is a non-denominational group based at Uni. The teaching here is much better. I think it;s because the environment is so much different. It's at a university, so people expect to get a higher level of stuff, which we do get (well, compared to church at least). And yesterday I went to St. Giles, which is a Presbyterian church near to my house. Even though I didn't take my Laptop or cellphone or anything like that, I didn't get bored. We sung hymns, and had readings and had a sermon based on the reading. It was enjoyable. I didn't want to open the Bible to read it and tune out the service like I used to at All Saints. I was also the 2nd youngest member of the congregation, and I didn't feel uncomfortable. The level wasn't that high, though it was a bit more intellectual than any other church service I've been to recently, but it was better. I'm still trying to figure out why. My first guess would be the music. We had hymns, sung throughout the service, so it was broken up into bits. No big bang at the beginning, though we did sing Cwm Rhonda at the end, so that could be a big one at the end. Even though I don't particularly enjoy the style and stuff of hymns, I can't see any way that emotional manipulation can get into them when they are done in that style, so that's a plus. I'll be going back to All Saints this weekend, so maybe I'll look at it differently. I don't know. I also went to a Baptist church in Palmy, but that was horrible and I won't get into that here. Or anywhere. For the last few weeks, I haven't been to church. Except for yesterday. I have been listening to all sorts of stuff on the radio. Most of it (ie, Joyce Meyer) is crap. Oh, Benny Hinn is coming to Auckland. And I've got my podcasts, which are currently only 66/40 and Let My People Think. So I can get the teaching. And the music. I'm currently listening to a mixture of Sanctus Real, Kutless and Steven Curtis Chapman. I take my iPod lots of places. Music is the easiest thing to replace about church. Or maybe food is. And then there is the community. Last time I checked, CU was a bunch of Christians meeting and then having a feed (unless someone wants to show some stupid movie that no people will come to and nobody really wants to do anyway), which sounds like community in my book. CU is not a church though. So it doesn't offer all the stuff a church offers. Like marriage and big budgets and fancy buildings and all that stuff that gets away from what I think the heart of a "church" is. To me, "church" is a bunch of people who believe in and follow Jesus coming together to share and learn. And be encouraged to continue along the straight and narrow. Open the bible with the correct attitude and see where God leads you. A while ago, on the radio, some guy was talking about his book about how crap church in New Zealand (I think it was only NZ) is. He basically said that people who have been going to church for awhile already know all the stuff in the sermons and nothing is new. Then he proposed his idea of a working church, but then I had to go to work and missed it. However, I think he proposed something along the lines of a school, or learning institution. That people cruise along and have separate groups based on Spiritual maturity. Or intellectual ability or whatever. Kinda like lots of cell groups. I didn't get much more than that, so I dunno how it all works. However, even this will be an improvement. "New" Christians can get the milk they need. And more experienced people can get the solids they need. I dunno how to do the splits, or anything, but I think his idea has potential. It has been suggested more than once that I start a house church. Considering that I'm going to be living in two separate places over the next 8 months until I get hitched, I'm thinking that the Internet can be my house. I'll have a few chats to Melissa over in Aussie, and see what comes up. But keep watching, and registrations of interest will be welcome. Oh, I might even make it physical if I can get a nice enough house. And it's likely to be very cell-group like. I'm open to suggestions. Serious Stuff 2007-06-18T23:07:59Z yomcat "Worship" http://yomcat.geek.nz/lifetype/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=965&blogId=1 Recently, I've been wondering what makes worship what it is. I mean, how do you define "worship"? And, more specifically, what makes a good "worship song"? Should worship even be a genre of music? To me, it seems that the worship songs are the ones that either are slow and manipulative or that build up nicely and make you "feel the thud" as the beat kicks in (like Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble). But these are just the slower pop songs. The songs that are better at making you feel something (I'm not sure what that emotion is because it's just so fake). The "soppy love songs" genre I guess. What lyrics make a good "worship" song? If I can sing a song to God, does that mean I should be able to change every instance of the word "God" (or derivatives thereof) to Melissa and still sing a perfectly fine song? Personally, I think not. Things like Sonicflood's In the Secret (I want to know you) illustrate this best. Does it mean I should sing half a bible passage and ignore the other half because it says something that doesn't fit in the little "nice Christian" box? I can't think any examples of this off the top of my head, but just look at a psalm. The whole psalm. (This doesn't work for all psalms, as some are quite fine to sing in church. But there are 150 of them...) Like <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2022&version=31">Psalm 22</a>. I like to call this psalm "the crucifixion psalm". But now try and imagine singing it (and all of it) in church. I can't see it happening. There is also the song of Deborah from <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=7&chapter=5&version=31">Judges 5</a>. Try singing verses 24-27 (about Jael and her tent peg). Or is "worship" just a stupid idea? This is my personal view. Worship as we know it is a stupid idea. It's singing some pop songs with questionable lyrics and what we get out of it is the emotional manipulation that the songs produce. Nothing about God, all about me. That's not worship in my book. And people that try and defend it just look as stupid as they do when they're waving their hands around in the air because it makes them look more holy or something. I dunno. It just looks so idiotic. It's also in perfect time with the music. Just look at the crowd at Parachute. It cracks me up every time. I don't think they know just how much like little insignificant fools they look. But significance is a subject for <a href="http://mrharvey.blogspot.com/2007/02/we-act-least-like-christian-in-church_27.html">another author</a> to address. And how many times have you heard people say stuff like "let's worship God {insert time here}" and "the worship {time} was bad". It's simply moronic. From my reading of the bible, worship is how we live. It's what we do all the time. Not just when somebody with some musical talent (which does not give them any theological strength or special God connection) tells us to and "leads" a few songs. James 3:1 says "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." Yet I know of many people that just think they are able to be perfectly good teachers because they know how to play guitar. That's not good enough. They are going to be judged more strictly and I fear that many will fall short. Should I even go to church? Late last year, I stopped going to church. I just stopped. Because I couldn't stand the entire "happy clappy Christian" image and the singing was really getting to me in ways I didn't like. This is the era of the Internet, so it's easy enough to get good teaching from many places (In my podcasts I have Chuck Missler, Ravi Zacharias and James Dobson) that it's quite easy to avoid "church" and still get all the teaching you need without any of the singing. But there is no interaction. One of the reasons I've started going back to church again is the interaction with other Christians (the other one is my fiancee was getting quite upset at me for skipping church). So church is good. I think it just needs to be done differently. I'm not going to be able to change this, I don't want to teach (it's not my gift, I'm not going to pretend it is either) or sing (I have no musical talent) so I can't openly change stuff. I can rant on my blog all I like, but that's not going to change much. Not many people read my blog. And some of those that do share my views. I voice them regularly. I can't change much. I know that. But it doesn't stop me. I can hide behind my blog. Text like this is pretty weak and easy to do. Plus my blog posts are normally not very well organised (it's how I think - and it's almost 5am and God woke me up so I could help a friend at 3:10 and I haven't be able to get to sleep yet) so this isn't likely to create much difference. That's right. I am a coward at times. I can type my views and hide behind the text. This time, I encourage people to talk to me. My phone number is (021) 366055. I don't drink coffee, but I do eat McDonalds. So yeah... <tt>;)</tt> What is worship then? Worship is the act of living for God. It's the change that happens when you give your heart to God. it's a choice, not an emotion. It's the "dying to self" and "coming alive in Christ". It's helping people out at 4am when you would rather be sleeping. It's giving money to the poor. {insert <a href="http://thewatertank.blogspot.com">Water Tank</a> plug here}. It's doing your best even though you know that's not good enough and you're going to fail. It's offensive to people. It's hard work, and it's painful. It's making God the centre of everything you do. It's putting God before family, before work, before self, before sleep, before Melissa, before everything. It's a verb. It's not singing a song about yourself. It's not to do with music. It's not being a "happy clappy Christian" 24/7. It's not be in the same "on drugs" emotional state all the time. It's not easy. It's not for the faint-hearted. I personally think I could do better with alot of things. I'm not perfect. I'm a dismal failure at life. I lie, I cheat, I am hypocritical. I have a lot of material things (looking around my room, I can see a $4700 Laptop, a $1000 iPod, a $1300 Mac Mini, a $120 computer screen, a $150 iPod Shuffle, a $270 Cell Phone, a $120 cell phone, a $600 external Hard Drive). I'm not going to tell you what I do in terms of giving because that is between me and God, and I'm not going to advertise it by wearing armbands or something like that. I don't let my <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:1-4;&version=31;">left hand know what the right hand is doing</a>. So it's not your business, I'm not going to give you money if you ask. If you want some, send me a bank account number and give me a chance to do with being known at all. I'm a hellbound sinner. But I believe in God and I try (barely) to worship him. I admit that the feeling I can get from songs is good and makes me feel good. It's just not God. It's just an emotion from listening to a song. I've been listening to lots of TobyMac, Steven Curtis Chapman and Skillet recently. These artists invoke different emotions, but I like both of them. Music is good for making me feel better when I'm in a rut. And it's nice to have in the background to break the silence sometimes. At the moment it's helping to keep me awake (it's now 5:20). But everyone has different taste in music. Melissa likes some of the same stuff as me, but she also likes BarlowGirl and Rebecca St. James. She doesn't like Skillet and Pillar as much as I do. But that's cool with me. But she doesn't put the music above her God. That's worship in my book. There is also the small issue of the book called the bible. Sure, it's old. Sure, it's hard reading. But it's also the word of God. And just see what the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019:11-24;&version=31;">Word of God</a> is going to do. So I don't think it should be ignored. I personally try to live by it. I don't live by all of it (look at that list of "stuff" I have) but I try. It's bloody hard work, but with the greatest pain comes the greatest reward. (If only you know what I went through to "get" Melissa. (I think only 1 person knows, and it's not Melissa.)) I think it's worth it. Ranting and Raving 2007-03-17T01:34:43Z yomcat