Gavin Knight's blog

My Other Blog

from now on I'll be doing most of my posting on my Blogger blog (here), for 2 reasons:

1. Blogger gives me more control over my layout and content than Vox does
2. Vox seems to be more of a community of personal journal bloggers, whereas my content is wider than that

that said, 'I will continue to be active here on Vox and maintain/extend the network I am building here

if you have subscribed to my current Feedburner RSS or Email feeds then you don't need to do anything as I'll move those feeds over to Blogger in the next couple of days

you might also like to subscribe to my new Vox via Feedburner feeds here Feedburner-Vox-RSS and/or Feedburner-Vox-Email, or you can subscribe directly to Vox-RSS

The Lizard Whisper on David Letterman

saw this on NZ TV last night and laughed so much I had to find it on YouTube!

The Lizard Whisper on David Letterman 9-26-2006

Faith & Politics

I wrote last month (here) on how Bill English mixes his faith and politics in the current New Zealand political context.

So, I was interested to see re-published articles on how Gerald Ford mixed his faith and politics in Christianity Today following his recent death.  The first article (here) was an observational view by one of their writers when he became USA President in 1974.  The second article (here) was a re-print of a commencement address given by Ford at his son's graduation from theological college soon after he departed the presidency in 1997.

My favourite quote from these articles:

Finally, the presidency taught me how limited is the wisdom of man. The great issues of our time are so complex they sometimes seem to defy solution. I made my share of mistakes in trying to deal with these controversial and complex problems, but the achievements of the administration—from limiting the weapons of nuclear war to restoring harmony and confidence in our own country—all had their roots in a policy so simply and yet so wisely proclaimed two thousand years ago: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

NZ Fishing World

just subscribed to NZ Fishing World magazine using money given to me at Christmas

fishing is my number one personal hobby, I really enjoyed reading a copy of the magazine that my sister Kerrin gave to me for my birthday back in November, so I'm looking forward to a year of great reading

nearly all of my fishing is surf-casting off the rocky or sandy shore, particularly around the Wellington region ... Wikipedia has a brief and dramatic description of this technique here: "Rock fishing is the act of fishing, usually with a rod and line, from rocky headlands, cliff tops and break-walls into the sea. It is a popular pastime in Australia, Scotland and Ireland, primarily in the southern half of the country (and all around New Zealand!). It can be a dangerous pastime claiming many lives each year."   The danger comes from the risk of being washed into the sea, but wise judgement of where and when to fish, taking into account the changing conditions, sufficiently mitigates this risk.

I normally go fishing with one or both of Rob & Marty, brothers who are two of my closest friends ... Rob gets seasick just looking at a boat so boat fishing is normally not on our menu of fishing techniques even though Marty has regular access to a mate's boat

Issue23_2005

Red Letter Living in 2007

I'm going to have to get out one of my 'red letter' bibles to check out this theological idea ... both for personal application in my daily living, and also for wider application to church dynamics, dynamics within other groups and organisations, and within wider society too

sourced from Phil Baker

At dinner with Tony Compolo a few months ago he commented that he and a few of his comrades had become known by some critics as the RED LETTER Christians - i.e. their theolgy seems to come just from the words of Jesus in the NT.  He loves the tag.  It has provoked me to plan a series for 2007 on Red Letter Living.

As I came into church yesterday to preach my last message for the year (on my birthday none the less) someone handed me a small article I thought I'd pass on.  The article was entitled "What if the Amish were in charge of the war on terror?"  It reads as follows:

"The killing of several Amish school girls in Pennsylvania recently by a lone gunman was as distressing as it was senseless.  Whilst the predictable response was one of outrage and revenge, the Amish community baffled most with four public acts of reconciliation in the week following the event.  First, some elders visited Marie Roberts, the wife of the murderer to offer forgiveness.  Then, the families of the slain girls invited the widow tho their own children's funerals.  Next, they requested that all relief monies intended for Amish families be shared with Roberts and her children (we're talking over $1 million).  And, finally, in an astonishing act of reconciliation, more than 30 members of the Amish community attended the funeral of the killer.  Gets you thinking doesn't it?  What if the Amish were in charge of the war on terror?  Given that hate, vengeance, war and violence have been the main strategy to date, maybe a new approach of forgiveness, love and sharing is worth a go.  Just a thought."

Would Red Letter Living work at the international level?  Give it a go, at least at the personal and the community level in 2007.  Righteousness exalts a nation.

Have a great year.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, from Gavin & Jill (married 16 years), Andrea (13) and Joel (10).

Gavin & Jill

Gavin & Andrea

Gavin & Joel

NZ trip 'better than therapy'

NZ trip 'better than therapy' for stressed Americans

Stressed out Americans would be better spending their money on a holiday to New Zealand than resorting to therapy to make them feel better, according to a study

Air New Zealand today released what it called a "ground-breaking study" it had commissioned from former NASA scientists.

The study measured the psychological and physiological effects of taking a holiday in New Zealand.

The airline said the study revealed new insights into what would attract "well-heeled" Americans to take a break down-under.

Air New Zealand group general manager international airline Ed Sims said the study showed a New Zealand holiday was better value than a session with the therapist.

"We believe we've found a rich seam of potential customers looking to escape the rat race.

"Americans spend an estimated US$8.5 billion ($12.5 billion) annually on self-improvement and anti-stress treatments including personal coaching, weight loss and stress management - and that's a market expected to grow to more than US$11 billion by 2008.

"Our pioneering study suggests that money spent on this compulsive search for well-being could be better invested in holiday time in New Zealand."

Mr Sims said Americans were similar to New Zealanders - "they are their own worst enemies when it comes to taking leave".

The study - the Vacation Gap - was conducted by former NASA scientists at Alertness Solutions, who employed equipment and techniques previously only used to analyse the effect of travel on astronauts and pilots.

"What the Vacation Gap study revealed are new opportunities for New Zealand to market itself to Americans looking to escape their hectic lives ..."

Approximately 9 per cent of visitors to New Zealand come from the US.

"We can't afford to sit back and wait for the next The Lord of the Rings to transport Americans by screen to New Zealand," Mr Sims said.

- NZPA via NZ Herald on Friday 8 December 2006

Vegemite

long running debate within my extended family about how the USA bans Vegemite (a NZ and Australian staple spread for toast etc) ... but finally my American brother-in-law has kind of conceded and sent me a news article (here) admitting that it's true --- it is banned!

funniest thing is that Kiwis and Aussies have long carried jars of it in their travel luggage for personal consumption while away, and to stock up the pantries of family living abroad (eg my sister) ... but now we're being searched at the border as if we were drug dealers!

Merry Christmas

if you are in Wellington and looking for a modern carol service on Christmas Eve join us at my church The Salvation Army Johnsonville 6 or 9 pm

all I want for Christmas is a house

following on from my "O Holy Night" post earlier today ... my sister said in an email that the most common request from New Orleans kids visiting Santa in stores this year is "a house" seeing as so many still live in FEMA trailers