[Kid Inspiration]

I have never claimed to be a handyman/D.I.Y’er of any description. But I present to you my Saturday morning efforts which have convinced me that I could probably get my own reality show called ‘Home Improvements with Dave’.

I would go into people’s homes and put up a floating shelf… of course the formula may run dry reasonably quickly especially if you didn’t want a floating shelf.

I used the below tools to put up a floating shelf.

And here she is in all her glory.

It’s the little victories in life that you need to celebrate!

(Yes it is straight).

It took a little time, but it’s now up… the Promo video for Hillsong Kids Big – Follow You!

Order now at: Hillsong Music

Just saw this in the digital version of Charisma Magazine. A great article that talks about Hillsong Music and perhaps better than a lot of writing blends a great perspective on the Church with discussion of our Praise and Worship.

Australia’s Hillsong Church may be on the other side of the world, but its music and ministry style have affected every continent. We talked to Pastor Brian Houston about the global impact of Aussie faith…

There are two ways to view it:

- On the fancy (and very pretty) Digital Magazine version.

- Or the standard blog post/static but linkable website version.

A brave Australian dad takes on a Huntsman spider!

Very funny.

My last post was a love letter to my kindle.

So I thought there should be some fruit from all this love. I have read four books this year already without being on holiday which is pretty good for me.

So here are a few thoughts from a couple of them…

The first book I read was – A Hunger for God (John Piper)

This is my first Piper book I have read and I really loved it. The way he sets out his arguments and solutions really resonated with me and made me want to read more! It reminded me of the passion you have as a young person to do something great for God and how much I never want to loose that passion!

Is fasting Christian? It is if it comes from confidence in Christ and is sustained by the power of Christ and aims at the glory of Christ. Over every Christian fast should be written the words, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8).

His Fasting Was Both War and Weapon, Testing and Triumph Now we can see the meaning of Jesus’ fasting more clearly. It was not an arbitrary choice of something to do in the face of Satanic temptation. It was a voluntary act of identification with the people of God in their wilderness deprivation and trial

This is the deepest lesson of Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness. It was a weapon in the war against satanic deception because it was a demonstration that Jesus hungered more for God and God’s will than he did for God’s wonders.

it is possible to do extraordinary fasting and yet not humble ourselves, pray, seek God, and turn from wickedness.

Another book I have been wanting to read for a while is Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith (Shane Hipps)

This really help form ideas in my brain about exactly the media around is shaping our thinking and especially the minds of our kids.

When we fail to perceive that the things we create are extensions of ourselves, the created things take on god-like characteristics and we become their servants.

We must remember that the Bible is not merely—or even primarily—a collection of objective propositions. It is a grand story told through hundreds of different perspectives and diverse social settings. The message is multilayered, textured, expansive, and complex.

The point is that our theology and practice are deeply informed and shaped by our media and technology. We become what we behold.

Our age has seen the disappearance of childhood.

If God’s chosen medium for his message was the person of Jesus Christ, and the church is the body of Christ, that means God has chosen the church to extend his revelation in a special way. The church exists to embody and proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom. If the medium is the message, the message of the gospel is conveyed by the medium of the church’s life in the world.

The great thing is I simply pasted these snippets from a file on the kindle. They were all highlighted as I read the book, saving all the thoughts that jumped out at me!

For Christmas I got a Kindle.

I stopped buying CD’s a few years ago and really don’t ever want another plastic jewel case filling up my humble abode ever again. Alongside books they were one of the most annoying items of household stuff to move from old place of residence to new place of residence.

I spent thousands of dollars on CD’s over the years and I am old enough to have bought tapes. But since getting an iPod and Apple TV I have been slowly disposing of my collection as I have gone completely digital. That isn’t to say that I am one hundred percent happy. iTunes does not put enough information into it’s track listings. I like to read who the musicians, the producers, where the albums was recorded and lots of extra info that satisfies my insatiable geeky knowledge requirements.

Turning my book collection digital wasn’t a realistic option I thought – maybe it was the admiring looks that people give when you have a book shelf full of books. It says something about you when statistics suggest 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

Maybe it comes from films… every really clever genius in the movies always has a library stocked full of thick tomes about history and architecture and entomology.

Maybe it was because I never had a TV in the house until I was 12 years old that fuelled my love of books and surprisingly… TV (making up for lost time I guess).

Well something has changed.

I used to have to order books from local book stores and wait weeks for delivery because the somewhat obscure titles I like to imbibe were not always readily available in quaint Australia… and  by upon receiving them my passion for the topic may have waned and it will sit on a shelf for awhile waiting for such a time as… whenever.

I used to have to spend an inordinate amount of time finding stats/quotes/research that I just knew were around there somewhere if I could only just find them…

I used to love the smell and feel of a new book…

I now no longer want to buy another hardback, paperback, magazine, physical type book for the rest of my life.

The book store browsing is over, my book store is in my Amazon wish list. Every book I am remotely interested to read is on that list, and should at some point make it’s way to my Kindle.

I only just last week decided not to buy a book simply because it wasn’t available in digital form. I wrote an email to the publisher explaining why this is not a good business decision.

If I like a quote, or read a great statistic… I push a button and it saves it for me in a clippings file that I can search later.

If I want to read a book, it will most likely be available to read in 30 seconds from any where in cell phone coverage (and if not, probably by the end of 2010 – my prediction… listen up publishers).

I will have to live without the admiring envious glances at my collection of books as one day soon they will all be given away to new homes.

P.S. ALTHOUGH I need to point out this… books will never go away. They will always have a place. Perhaps one day in 2047 I shall sit down with my grand kids and pull out a magnificent illustrated hardback copy of the Chronicles of Narnia, and before I get to read a word they will marvel, and ask of me… “What were the dinosaurs like Grandfather?”

P.P.S. This Christmas was the first time that Amazon sold more digital books than physical books.

So there is a twitter competition going on right now! In fact it just started.

Check out the official BIG website here: http://hillsongkidsbig.com/news/10/01/big-release-competition

All the rules and everything you need to know!

Oh and here is the latest on the release of Follow You!

One of the many great things about keeping a God Book (which is just a cooler way of saying prayer journal), is that you can look back and be reminded of the trials, the blessing, the tough times, the miracles, the dry and so many other things that happened in your life that are so easily forgotten. They stand as a memorial to your story, like the lasting symbol of God’s provision for the Israelites when they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land (Joshua 4), your 12 stones are written down and remembered.

Life is a script ready to be written, we don’t always control the circumstance, but we always control the response. So write down your responses and you will learn from them.

This last year I have used the SOAP style of spending time in the word. Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer – which comes from Wayne Cordeiro.

It’s a simple and great method that had been working for me big time.

Here is the best part about it, I sat and read through all of the Applications of the Scripture that I have written down and you have a running list of what I believe God has spoken to me over a year. So here are a bunch of thoughts and/or questions from my God Book that sum up the year!

• When I correct somebody, it’s because I want the best for them. Why can’t I see that when it happens to me?
• Am I about the fathers business?
• Believe in the power of God beyond your experience.
• I want the testimony of my life to be this: that I was not moved, that I was not shaken!
• My growth is found through patience.
• Do signs follow me? (Mark 16:20)
• I need to lead with the mind of Christ. Follow His lead.
• The most important moments in life can be missed if we are not tuned into God.
• Every weekend my job is to bless children. We have been given authority from God to do this.
• Keep my faith simple, keep my message simple. Almost no ones life message is about quantum physics.
• Look at the heart as you lead. That is what matters most.
• Is the word really producing fruit in my life?
• God responds to desperation no matter who it is.
• Chill out – relax – don’t be so picky Dave. (This revelation had something to do with the sabbath and pharisees)
• Seek first the kingdom of God. So may things pull at my heart, but I really just want to do what is right by God.
• Have a go. Jesus did not reprimand His disciples for trying.

Soupy twist.

Dave.

On our Hillsong Kids Big website we added a news item with a fun Video blog, but to save you the chance of a repetitive strain injury I have embedded it here.

Aren’t I thoughtful…

Visit the Follow You Curriculum page here and check out all the bonus material we’ve just uploaded for you!

As always we value your feedback and questions, so please feel free to contact the BIG team anytime.

My blog went a little haywire earlier this week. Had a spot of emailage to the support people at my host and it seems to be fixed.

Here is a cool idea… the copenhagen bike.

Here’s what I think.

There are ideas out there that you can’t see from your current perspective. It’s an idea/solution to your problem so wildly different from your experience and expertise it’s not immediately obvious.

That’s why we need each other.