Isn't it a amazing that in this day and age new bird variations on a species are being discovered.
See the link below.
Were they here all along or recently evolved?
Makes you wonder doesn't it?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23044469
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Bible Verses less Followed or Ignored
There are passages in the Bible that you seldom hear a sermon about.
They seem to be conveniently glossed over even by those who believe they are Bible based Christians.
One if simply adhered to and believed would solve a lot of doctrinal differences.
eg when we receive the Holy Spirit and what we must do to be saved.
That is Acts 2:38
Below is a little to show context.
One should read the whole chapter.
"Acts 2
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."
Another is the whole chapter about the Lord's Prayer and also the neccesity for Christians to forgive.
Just part of Matthew 6 should be enough.
"Matthew 6
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
When we pray the Lord's Prayer do we really want God to forgive us the way we forgive others.
Many of us are very unforgiving.
It is not optional for the Christian to forgive it is essential.
It is important to note that God never asks us to do anything that we cannot do in His strength and it is always for our own good and that of others.
They seem to be conveniently glossed over even by those who believe they are Bible based Christians.
One if simply adhered to and believed would solve a lot of doctrinal differences.
eg when we receive the Holy Spirit and what we must do to be saved.
That is Acts 2:38
Below is a little to show context.
One should read the whole chapter.
"Acts 2
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."
Another is the whole chapter about the Lord's Prayer and also the neccesity for Christians to forgive.
Just part of Matthew 6 should be enough.
"Matthew 6
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
When we pray the Lord's Prayer do we really want God to forgive us the way we forgive others.
Many of us are very unforgiving.
It is not optional for the Christian to forgive it is essential.
It is important to note that God never asks us to do anything that we cannot do in His strength and it is always for our own good and that of others.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
From the Wayside Chapel by Graham Long
Dear Inner Circle,
It's not the warmest of days and I just saw a woman wearing a blanket and nothing else. I've not seen her before but I introduced myself and told her that if she walks to Wayside we'd find her some clothes to wear. "They won't help me there," she said. "Yes they will," I promised. She toddled off toward Wayside, adjusting her blanket as she walked. Modesty didn't seem to be her first priority.
At the front door today a young woman stopped me. I've seen this face before but it literally ages by the week. Some months ago I would have said this was a teenager and today I could believe this young woman was 30 years old. She might be 20. I observed that although we'd not talked that I'd seen her around and thought she looked like her journey had been tough. "I can survive anything," she said. "It's like they tell you about bush fires. You just put your head down, stay still without panicking and wait for the danger to pass." I thought it wasn't bad advice in some ways except that while her words were telling me how tough she was, her face was telling me that she was a frightened little girl. She suddenly changed tone and said, "Can you pray for me?" I usually avoid situations like this because I get uncomfortable that people think that prayer is about some form of magic instead of some form of presence. Her voice almost disappeared as she mouthed the words, "I'm so lost. My dad died recently and people say he was a monster. He was a monster to me but he's all I had". Her pretty eyes filled with water and she mouthed some more words that I couldn't lip read. We were on the seat out the front so I put one arm around her and held her hand with the other and I prayed Psalm 130. "Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord; Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you O Lord kept a record of sins who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness and so we are in awe." Still with no voice this dear young woman whispered, "thank you".
A few weeks ago a kind angel donated some really good quality guitars and since then I've been amazed by how many people who visit here can play quite competently. Having someone play and sing so often really helps to calm the atmosphere. I'm so grateful for this gift. Another angel paid for quite a few of our staff to go and hear the Dalai Lama last week and so the place is buzzing as so many of our people jumped at the opportunity. What a generous gift to have been made to Wayside. I've decided that I'm going to the next staff meeting wearing our bed sheets and I reckon I'll have everyone's full attention.
Yesterday I had a session with a bully. He raises his voice and steps up intimidatingly close and makes eye contact with sustained violence implied. Mostly he gets what he wants and the more he gets it, the needier he becomes. I've seen him take the last dollar off people who are too weak to stand up to him and the longer I've known him the less of him there is. He is alone in the world and he's been snatching for so long that he's emptied himself to a hollow shell. If only he knew that you cannot take what can only be given.
Today I have an appointment with a man who hasn't had a drink in five weeks after having spent 20 years in a drunken fog. There is a tough road ahead but there is a look of wonder and surprise on his face because he is alive and awake and okay. He's enjoying being able to walk in a straight line. He walked in last week when the Honeybees were singing and he literally stopped like he was in the presence of angels and said to me, "I feel like all of this is just for me." I looked into this lovely old lined and awestruck face and said, "I think it is".
Thanks for being part of this inner circle,
Graham
PS. We're currently advertising for the role of Communications Assistant. You can find the position description here. We've also got a volunteer information session happening at Wayside tonight at 6pm. If you'd like to come along, you can register here.
Rev Graham Long
Pastor and CEO
The Wayside Chapel
Kings Cross
http://www.thewaysidechapel.com/
Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information is important to us, as it is fundamental to the way we operate. All information is kept in the strictest confidence and is stored in a password secure database. Levels of access to information are determined by an authorised employee's specific need to do their job. Personal information collected by The Wayside Chapel is never sold or passed on in any way, shape or form to any other organisation or non-authorised person for any purpose. If you would like to seek access to, or revise your personal information or feel that the information we currently have on record is incorrect or incomplete, or you believe that the privacy of your personal information has been interfered with, please contact us. Our appointed Privacy Officer is Laura Watts laura.watts@thewaysidechapel.com
Monday, June 17, 2013
Photographing Kangaroos
For those who don't live in Australia I guess the idea of photographing a Kangaroo would be a pretty exotic idea and on many wishlists.
If you live in Australia you don't need to go far to see Kangaroos but you won't see any hopping down the main streets of our towns.
There was an interesting survey done recently that showed that Kangaroos that live in the hills surrounding Canberra,our national capital, do come into the suburbs at night.
Many country towns do have Kangaroos close by and they may do the same thing there as well.
Kangaroos are most active at night but do also frequent the daytime .
Mostly on very hot summer days they lie on the ground under the shade of trees usually in a depression in the sand.
Kangaroos are usually wary of humans but on some places will be more approachable than others.
Driving on country roads at night you have to be very careful that you don't hit them where they are plentiful.
That is why many cars in the outback have "bullbars" on the front to protect the car from impact.
In National Parks where they are not under threat from hunters they are more likely to be reasonably approachable.
There are many varieties with wallabies being a small form of Kangaroo.
My late father in law used to complain when we were out in the bush and I stopped the car to photograph "roos.
"Haven't you got enough shots of Kangaroos?"
I probably have but I never tire of photographing these beautiful animals.
Anyway below are some of my favourite Kangaroo shots.
A telephoto lens of at least 200mm is usually required.
If you live in Australia you don't need to go far to see Kangaroos but you won't see any hopping down the main streets of our towns.
There was an interesting survey done recently that showed that Kangaroos that live in the hills surrounding Canberra,our national capital, do come into the suburbs at night.
Many country towns do have Kangaroos close by and they may do the same thing there as well.
Kangaroos are most active at night but do also frequent the daytime .
Mostly on very hot summer days they lie on the ground under the shade of trees usually in a depression in the sand.
Kangaroos are usually wary of humans but on some places will be more approachable than others.
Driving on country roads at night you have to be very careful that you don't hit them where they are plentiful.
That is why many cars in the outback have "bullbars" on the front to protect the car from impact.
In National Parks where they are not under threat from hunters they are more likely to be reasonably approachable.
There are many varieties with wallabies being a small form of Kangaroo.
My late father in law used to complain when we were out in the bush and I stopped the car to photograph "roos.
"Haven't you got enough shots of Kangaroos?"
I probably have but I never tire of photographing these beautiful animals.
Anyway below are some of my favourite Kangaroo shots.
A telephoto lens of at least 200mm is usually required.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Glen Thompson my Dad and Inspiration
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| This is not a photograph but a scan of a Catalina Painting |
He was a great inspiration to me and to many. He was a jack of all trades and master of all of them.
He was an accountant in business but also a great photographer,handyman,mechanic,woodworker, metal worker and so much more.
He was a catalina pilot in the 2nd world war.
His interests were many and captured many of them in his photography and home movies.
He taught me and I first learnt photography on his folding Kodak Retina 35mm camera.
He would have loved this digital age as he was always ahead of everyone else in adopting new technology. I have a huge collection of his work and just a few shots are shown here.
Click on the labels below to find more references and pics.
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| Glen the Catalina Pilot |
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| Dad and Mum |
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| Writing Home. RAAF Camp Northern Territory |
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| The Haircut |
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| RAAF Camp Northern Territory |
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| RAAF Camp Northern Territory |
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| Splashing down.Taken by my dad from the bubble on the side of a Catalina |
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| Tennis at Memorial Drive Adelaide |
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| I think Frank Sedgeman serving at Memorial Drive in 1950's |
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| more at memorial drive |
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| Memorial Drive |
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| I think also Memorial Drive |
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| I think also Memorial Drive |
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| I think also Memorial Drive |
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| Marrabel Rodeo? |
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| Hill climb motorsports scramble in Adelaide Hills.Probably Collingrove Hill Climb |