United Nations - church homegroup

We've posted on the international nature of our local church homegroup before, but this photo demonstrates that so well.


Here's Dali (Papua New Guinea), Gillian (Zambia), May (Solomon Islands), Joan (Malaysia), Lizzy (UK), Kong Chay (Laos) and Carol (NZ).

7 women, 7 nations, 1 gospel.
All 7 are followers of Jesus and Bible-believing Christians in one homegroup. It's a joy to meet with these 7 and others week by week.

This week we had my parents from the UK visiting, and Keri's parents from the USA visiting, so in true Kiwi style we had a pot-luck dinner with Kiwiana food to introduce more international guests into our midst.

Good times. The week after we had less food (but not none!), and an open Bible looking at Leviticus and Numbers marvelling at Jesus.

We both praise God for our homegroup; Mark & Robyn who lead us; food (!); good conversations about Jesus and the Bible; and a sense of community and togetherness.

'I don't believe in sins'

This is an interesting article from NZ's www.stuff.co.nz

Seems the pope wants to replace the Bible in terms of defining what sin is! But that's not what I want to draw attention to. Rather, www.stuff.co.nz is running an online poll today asking readers which of the seven deadly sins they are most guilty of, with an eighth option of 'I don't believe in sins'. Several thousand votes in, and the results are both unsurprising and surprising.

Unsurprising - in that 'greed' is the least confessed to sin (this is the western world in 2008 after all) and 'lust' the most confessed sin.

Surprising - just how how the 'I don't believe in sin' category. I thought this would come out top, but not 25.6% of all votes top.

Obviously not a scientific survey, but nonetheless an interesting insight into Kiwi culture. Does our telling of the gospel reflect this? Do we talk about 'sin' and our hearers are thinking there is no such thing? Comments on a postcard....

Toastie town threatened

Lincoln University Christian Fellowship has been running Toastie Town for years - a late night cheese toastie making operation from 11pm-2am each Thursday night of term time. Toastie Town is loved by the halls students as they come back from student night at Lincoln pub; it's loved by the halls management as it sobers up halls students; it's loved by LUSA, the student association, as it shows that at least one of their clubs is serving the campus; and it's loved by LUCF, as a way to serve the campus, work together, have conversations about Jesus and raise some funds.


However, it's all about to stop.

Toastie town was hosted in a small room in the Rec Centre, but with a change of management over the summer this has now been denied. LUSA has gone in to bat for LUCF, which is excellent, but there has been no headway. For the last couple of weeks LUCF has held a sausage sizzle instead, but it's not as effective - last night there were less students than the week before, at a time of year when there's normally more interest. No other locations are as central or as useful as the Rec Centre, and those that might do don't have a food licence.

So it's not good at all. Toastie town was an excellent true witness weekly LUCF thing, and now it's under threat. LUCF has been praying, for as yet we don't know what the next step is. Please do join us in prayer; rejoicing that God is sovereign, yet at the same time asking God to make the way ahead clear. Toastie town really was a highlight of the LUCF witness, and though we're hugely thankful for the support of LUSA (which doesn't always happen in other unis), we're hugely frustrated with this change/cancellation that's been forced upon us.

Unique 'values'?

'...values are like fingerprints, everyone has a unique set of values....' - Chch educationalist

Did anyone else hear this statement in an interview this morning? I was amazed. I didn't quite hear all the interview and can't recall the name of the interviewee, but it wasn't presented as a radical view, which, i suppose, it isn't in the minds of most of the listeners.
But for those of us who hold an allegiance to Jesus it's not right at all; the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to make us more like Jesus. Us Jesus lot all have our own personalities yet in character we become more and more like Jesus - not unique, not like fingerprints. Or am I missing something and mis-representing the interviewee?

Regressive dinner

Friday night was the last advertised LUCF O-week event - a regressive dinner. Similar to the more common progressive dinner where a group progresses from flat to flat for different courses, this time we went regressive - first off was coffee & biscuits; then next flat was dessert (excellent custard squares Whitey!); then mains at Barker St where the boys did real well with bbq lamb chops, salad & roast potatoes; and lastly starters at South Belt. Good times.

12 Barker Street is a large flat - large enough for, i think, 12 people to live there. Half of them are part of LUCF. We all arrived to be welcomed to backyard cricket - Duckie (one of the 12) had even mown a passable effort for a cricket strip - good effort. Fatz moved out last year and his bed was handily being used as an automatic wicket keeper -


Later, as the sun set, the use of the bed complete it seemed wise to the Barker St boys to burn Fatz old bed and boxes. All was well until the mattress was burnt; flames increased in size to greater than the height of the two story house. The neighbours got worried, then we heard the fire siren go off, calling the volunteer fire fighters to their posts. The boys didn't think this was a co-incidencence and madly attempted to put the fire out. Interestingly, at no time did i think the fire was out of control - many of these boys are from farms and know their stuff. Yet at the same time I appreciate why the neighbours did think the fire was out of control.....


The fire engine turned out, and the boys got a wee bit worried. All was well though. It turns out the fire chief that night was Roger. Roger's day job is a lecturer in soil science, a subject many take at Lincoln. So the boys said 'hello Roger' and Roger said 'hello boys' - then had a look at the smouldering pile of bed, then went back to the fire station. There may be a fine coming to Barker St......


I do like living in a semi-rural community where people are known to each other. That's great - but it can be hard to be part of that group. I observed that in the LUCF Regressive Dinner group, some of the Kiwis just didn't know how to make those from Laos and Iran feel welcome. Would I have been any different at 20? No, not at all. So it kind of fell to those CFers over 25, from 3 different countries, to welcome our new Lao and Iranian friends. Interesting, Azerro from Iran has just arrived to NZ for her PhD on CO2 in soils and the ramifications for climate change - fascinating stuff. She wasn't allowed to study PhD in Tehran because she's a woman, so is bravely going it alone, including paying her way, in NZ, coming to Lincoln because of its' world reputation in soil science. She seemed bemused by the antics of the night, and I've yet to tell her that her pyromanic hosts are in her department and that the fire chief may well be her supervisor! I don't know if she's a Christian - I suspect not, but I look forward to seeing how God may use the wider LUCF in introducing himself to her.

Well done to LUCF on an excellent idea to finish O-week, the way 4 flats provided wonderful food, and the entertainment of the fire.

Anika Moa @ Lincoln

Anika Moa came to play during Lincoln Uni's O week. She's the biggest musician to come to Lincoln in years, and Jo at the student's association was rightly pleased she managed to bring her to Lincoln.
Yet I suspect it'll be a while until either LUSA or the university pay to bring such a big name act again - as this photo shows, no-one was much bothered. I reckon only a few dozen people - maybe just over a hundred - watched this free concert from one of NZ's most popular singer songwriters.


This is a shame, and not just because students missed out on a quality top rate Kiwi act. It's symptomatic of the general Lincoln malaise - apathy. Last year at TSCF SLC (Student Leaders Conference) I remember chatting with Rah from AUT about the differences between different student cultures across campuses. She was amazed that the CF students at Lincoln have such a good relationship with the student's association, and open access to the student magazine, whereas in many other places that would be unthinkable. I asked which was better - to have open access yet apathy, or to have antagonism but real engagement. Of course, it's six of one and half a dozen of another.

Here in Lincoln Uni in 2008 the CF works to proclaim Jesus in word and deed in a unique, and tough, environment. The CF does really well in its relationship with the student and university authorities. Yet the student population is so apathetic about everything - Lincoln's the last place in the country where any student angst would be shown; it's all heads down and hard work, a stepping stone to a job. These handful of students watching a national class act like Anika Moa demonstrates that. I praise God for the CF being imaginative and creative in engaging this non-engaging student culture to get them thinking about Jesus - more of that in blogs to follow later this week (probably!)......

The latest crochet creation

Fingerless gloves, for the lovely Junita.

They turned out way too big for her delicate hands, but I had fun making them. And modelling them for you on a Canterbury hillside.