Money, Coming and Going

When Jenny and I got married and brought our two lifestyles under one roof, we realized that we each manage our money in different ways. I look at what will be needed in the future, and budget so that I have enough, and Jenny keeps track of what she has spent her money on so she can tell when she needs to change her spending habits. I plan ahead for the future, Jenny analyses the past.

I do not think that either is the 'right' way to manage money, but I do think that using both of our methods together is a powerful combination.

Choosing how we watch our finance probably says something about our personalities.

Music, Memory and Marketing

When you sing a song, you are combining the sound of a melody with the meaning of words. The words by themselves, without a tune, would just be a quote. This shows that our minds are born tuned to remember things associated with a musical tune, because we all remember far more song lyrics than we do other quotes.

This is a powerful combination, and many parts of culture have already used this to their advantage. You have been influenced by the songs you know.

By songs, I'm not even beginning by thinking of the pop music industry. No, the time that this was recently brought to my attention was when watching scenes of celebration for the royal family on television.

God and Small Talk

A few years ago I started putting a question into conversations with friends who I knew were Christians. I was interested in both their response and their answers. The question was, “So how are things between you and God?” or, if they didn’t understand this, I would add “What has God done for you lately?”

I ask people this question for two reasons. First, I am passionate about God, and since I know I get excited by what He does in my own life, I know I would get equally excited by the things He is doing in my friend’s lives. It’s like being nosey, but in a good way. The second reason is to make a point, and hopefully to help some Christians to try and fight what I am trying to fight- the unspoken taboo that is our relationships with God.

Security vs. Value

Refunds, guarantees, warranty insurance and money back. Our culture, and our location in history, offers a sudden wealth of ways in which consumers can pay for something with money, and then get the money back again. This transaction in trade is so accepted and common now that many people try to deliberately flaunt these options on a daily basis with the aim of getting something for nothing.

But does the result of never paying for something diminish its value? I think that at least in our minds it does. If you buy something and are promised a refund if you aren’t happy with it, then you are less likely to care if it works because if it doesn’t you know you will take your refund and have lost nothing. But if you buy something and are told it is non-returnable, if you are told that you have bought it and therefore have to live with it, you will probably try to take better care. You will be more wary how you use it, and by comparison to the disposable item that you returned, your increased attention could be seen as a type of increased value.

Cities vs. Towns

Jenny and I weren't able to do a house hunt prior to marriage until we had done a town hunt. We both graduated from our universities at the same time, and had the option to pick any place in UK to start married life. Out of the two locations we narrowed our choices down to, a distinct difference was that one felt like a town and the other felt like a city.

A Thought About Funerals

A typical service in a Christian church has two main parts of the program: A time of musical worship, and a time for a sermon to be preached. Worship followed by learning, adoration leading to instruction.

This order enables the congregation to first focus on God and their relationship with Him. The sermon that follows can then be engaged with in a good frame of mind, in a more accurate sense of context. Worship enables me to momentarily break the habit of focusing on myself, of placing myself at the centre of the universe, and instead focus on God, placing Him in the centre of everything. When biblical teaching is received, we should first apply it to our relationship or understanding of God, and only to mankind after this. Worship could be said in this way to not only provide an accurate context for any sermon, but for any part of our daily lives.

If a typical church service consists of worship and then practical application, then I propose that funeral services are the reverse of this.

Short Story: The Man Who Found Centillion Yen

Jake looked the new currency exchange clerk in the eye, and at the same time tried to think quickly about whether he had missed something. "So," he checked with the man behind the counter, "if I sign this contract, then under this deal you will exchange all of my current belongings, everything I own, for the centillion yen note and a flight to China in twenty years time?"

"Yes." The man simply nodded.

Jake, still not moving, searched the man's face for any sign of mischief or illusion, but found nothing beyond the friendly smile. So his mind went over the facts.

Centillion yen! It would make millionaires look poor and desperate. It could buy countries. It could end world hunger, and it could afford world peace, but he could only spend it in China twenty years from now.

Evangelism - Part 2

The following is adapted from the second half of a talk I gave at WYnet Summer Camp 2011. The theme for the week was Discipleship, and I spoke towards the end of the event about mission-ship, or evangelism.

In the first half of the talk, I spoke about What evangelism is, the Context of bad news that makes the Good News worth listening to, and the Distractions of issues secondary to Jesus' death and resurrection.

I introduced the talk by saying that I knew they (the teens) had, or could get, advice on how to be "nice people" very easily, and therefore I wanted to cut straight to stuff about evangelism that could be applied in their school and college lives.

Who

A possbile next question for the simple act of evanglism is "Who do we evangelise to- friends or strangers?" Well, considering the example of Jesus, the answer appears to be "both." He gave lots of time and attention to explaining God to his closest friends, the disciples, but He also healed and preached to thousands of other people in first century Israel.