Friday Five

February 13, 2004
by Rodney Olsen
4 Comments

It’s Friday Five time.

1. Are you superstitious?

Nah!

2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?

I’ve heard of people missing out on living an awful lot of life just to follow superstitions.

3. Believer or not, what’s your favourite superstition?

My favourite is the belief that in order to have a happy life you must consume lots of chocolate and drink moderate amounts of good red wine. I know it’s not really a superstition but I dare not stop now.

4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?

Luck is the name given to the results that come from persistence and hard work.

5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?

No. Life is not governed by the stars but by the one who created the stars.



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SNACS

February 10, 2004
by Rodney Olsen
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On Saturday night we ventured to South Perth to see The Sensitive New Age Cowpersons and Paul Kelly.

The show was part of the South Perth Fiesta.

If you’ve never heard of The Sensitive New Age Cowpersons you’re missing out. They play bluegrass music. Ordinarily that wouldn’t interest me, but when you take into account that they lpay songs by U2, AC/DC, Sherbert and heaps of others, as well as their own very funny songs, you get an absolutely hysterical show with some very clever musicianship.

As expected, Paul Kelly was brilliant too. I would have liked to have heard ‘Leaps and Bounds’ and a couple of others but you can’t fit in everything.

There were some wonderful fireworks to finish the concert. A great family night out.



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Friday Five

February 6, 2004
by Rodney Olsen
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It’s Friday Five time.

1. What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?

Got way too close to the edge of the cliffs at the Great Australian Bight. (I’m terrified of heights.)

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?

Cycle all the way around Australia when I retire. (Not that I’ll be retiring for another 20 or 30 years.)

3. On a scale of 1-10, what’s your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it’s a lifestyle)

About a six I think. I would have said seven but that was too risky.

4. What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?

I asked Pauline to marry me. She said yes.

5. … and what’s the worst?

I can’t think of anything really bad. Maybe I should start taking a few more risks.



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Birdies, Eagles and Sharing Your Faith

February 6, 2004
by Rodney Olsen
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When I attended an education conference in Singapore back in 1986, a professor from Wollongong University spoke about language acquisition (how we learn language).

He talked about three things that need to be present for a child to learn language when they start to talk.

1. They must believe they are a potential doer.

2. They must believe it will further the purposes of their life.

3. They must believe it is safe to have a go.

Are they a potential doer? A child sees that everyone around them is talking so they have no reason to believe that they can’t do it too.

Will it further the purposes of their life? When dad says, “Pass the bread please.” He gets given the bread. Neat trick. “That’d be handy for me to learn.”

Is it safe to have a go? Parents don’t normally say, “Junior, you’re putting the verb and the nouns in the wrong place in your sentences. Talk properly.” Kids know that they can approximate language and develop in their use of it in a safe environment.

I believe these three things also dictate our ability to learn in general.

I heard on the radio that some golfer had birdied 3 holes today. What the? I have heard endless stories on golf talking about birdies and eagles but they still mean nothing to me. Being immersed in the language of golf and seeing lots of it on TV sports stories hasn’t helped me to learn anything about it. Why? I don’t believe that I’m a potential doer. I don’t believe golf will further the purposes of my life. With my coordination, I don’t feel it’s safe to have a go.

Finally I come to the point. When we express our faith, either personally or in our corporate meetings, do we convey those three concepts? Do others really believe that they are a potential Christian based on what we demonstrate as being Christian? From what they see of us and our faith, do they really think it’ll further the purposes of their life to get involved with Jesus? Do we give people trying to explore our faith the license to make mistakes so that it’s safe to have a go?

I might take this one further sometime but the post is already way too long. I’d appreciate your thoughts.



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Bight Me

February 4, 2004
by Rodney Olsen
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When we cycled past the Great Australian Bight last year we stopped to have a quick look at the cliffs. I was once again reminded of one of the great lessons God taught me on one of my first visits by bike.

Many years ago on our way to Canberra by pushbike, we stopped for a quick peek. Being someone who’s afraid of heights I wasn’t too keen on getting too close to the edge.

From a safe distance back I could see a spectacular view across the ocean and some of the other cliffs.

When I finally plucked up the courage to move slowly forward I got to the edge – on my hands and knees mind you – but I got there. The view was so much better because I could look down and see the surf pounding the rocks. I could see a lizard running through the cracks in the rocks. I could look straight down and see the rock-face disappear before my eyes. I was up close to the action and the view was no longer just ‘nice’ it was breathtaking, exhilarating.

I could have thought – no that’s not for me – and to this day I would never have known what I’d missed. I would still think I’d seen the most spectacular view. It was only when I moved away from my comfort zone and got close to the edge that I realised what it was all about.

We need to move out of what’s comfortable when we serve God because it’s only when we can rely on nothing else but God that God can truly work.

As we seek to serve God we can do one of two things. Do our very best for God and hope that it’ll be good enough – or let God do his best through us – knowing that nothing less really is good enough.

It’s scary when we’re not in control and we don’t know where God will lead us next but it’s a fantastic ride.

God is calling each of us to participate in his plans for this world. Not if we feel comfortable about it but calling us to be involved – relying only on the fact that we know the God we serve – and we know that he will equip us for every task.

Are we listening? More importantly – are we obeying?



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