Public humiliation - no thanks

It's not often that I wake up at 3am and think "what have I done? ". Hope its not too often for you !  but last night was one of those nights - it happened and going back to sleep was not on. 

After just finishing the painstaking job of sanding and staining 110m2 of baltic pine flooring , several visitors said " are you going to paint the walls as well?  ". ( implying --not a real good colour match? ouch!) 

We had just done the walls !
Give me a place to hide. Proverbs 11:14 There is safety in much advice.... and only public humiliation for those who don't consult , especially when they leave their brilliance out in a public hall for all to see . Red floor ,Red faces , red hair ?( fake red hair is worse...... don't you think-- Julia "fans" ?) What will I do?

Interestingly the proverb is written in a very public place and just where do you reckon ? -on  the very floor of parliament in Melbourne'

When the cistern doesn't work , leave it to a plumber

Motivating men is simple - because men are .......just that , just have to know what simple switch to switch .
The girls had tried flushing the mens toilet cistern at the busy centre on friday but the floaties just rose uncontrollably and inevitably to the top; again and again . Grace had tried and then Betty , the slow retreat in level between tries being deceptive encouragement to try again ; but always the same frightening advance threatening to cover feet as well as all the senses .

We live in hope . Surely its only soft stuff and it will pass . The blame ?? Yeh , well there is always the friday group where a few members love to spin the roll and see tickets fly or even push one whole roll in .
Don't know who it would be cause there are so many visitors of different kinds and its not the sort of question you raise in a public hall at the baptists . "Did any of you leave anything nasty in the loo ?" The sort of question that reflects on your character as much as anyone who responds "Maybe you saw someone unusually happy as they left the cubicle" - as though they might be thinking about someone else's funniest home video in full technocolour and sensual engagement .

Some of that full bodied sensual engegement hit me when asked " could i do something to fix it? "( the question every woman needs to ask a man in the aura of utter hopelessness and helplessness) "I suppose" , i said dropping in ( another sensual image not needed) on the way home from my program on the radio " needs to be fixed before tuesday" ; i in my best sunday clothes .

"I know", i thought the brilliant ,but senior moment engineer in me coming forward , Ill use a piece of stiff wire with a hook on it . If one the blokes has dropped the roll in the thing , the wire hook will grab it and i can pull it back out - relief in site .

Trying to ignore the powerful odor and technocolour blobs all over the screen i shoved it in . didn't go far but finally pulling back " i'd got something and it had a rag like end on it . success ! But it was harder to pull than i thought it should be , to be a roll .

You know how when you are doing something and you think - "this is going to end in disaster . i need to stop now an try something else " .
yes i was just having that thought . " Its too hard the wire hook could bend back and whole thing could spring back and hit me" when it happened

Lovely big blobs of technocolour on my lovely white shirt . Faith is about getting cleaned up , but i had been proud and stupid and i was not about to confess to that without sharing the obscenity of my dilemma first . I was also in no mood to go home bare chested . my wife( who asked me to do this ) should share in the consequences of my efforts on our churches life centre . I just hoped no policemen was around as the seat belt shouldn't suffer,,, as we did that afternoon .
Its nice to be cleaned up .

That new church across the road

Makes you mad -doesn't it - all the people that fall for the smart looking but shiny and superficail new thing!
After spending nearly 15 years seeking to restore some sense of workable order to a small but capable working group that has, for all those years ,been losing members to the church across the road - you do wonder !GOD what are you doing
"Who really has the power" and "Why do you allow this God-- if you care to act for good , as you say you do, why don't you support those who know what they are taking about - who really care ?" "Are you as powerful as you claim to be? ". Why haven't you sent lightning to strike the new church? show everyone how shallow and sueprficail they are all ove there /.
mean its pretty obvoius to moist it s just that you don't tlak about it ,.ther s new money and town and we don't ask just wher its coming from or even too much about how long its going to last - just grateful its happenin.doing good for community capacity . As well they are saying all the right things so don't knock em

I mean if God would speak he might say " why not have 2 instaed of one - you would'nt want the newcomers to have to deal with all your old elders would you?" Better they set upther own . we want numbers not numbers of institutions don't you remeber what i dsaid when i spoke to the priests about stabndig inthe doorway ! eh! you belive in biodiversity too don't you . gentiles and jews and all that stuff . Maybe hHe would say wre are on the same team realy we belives in diversity , be thankful . I haven't allowed your your beuatiful buildings to be struck down - you haven't been perfect .
so

At least My old church across the road has the stickability and sustainability appeal , "well to old dinosaurs at least ?"- the new incarnation change for changes sake stuff is just simply not an issue . He's come. He spoke. He's solved the key issues; He's done it all --that' it !
The attractive NEW church across the road ,from what you hear is - not so much about singing as chanting. . Its rumoured they pay people a lot to go there and that's why most of them go. While they offer you heaps to stay there, you have to learn to use new hymnbooks each week and they spend a lot of time at meetings talking tlaking printing stargeigising and publishinhg new stegaies . they even make everyon who goes near the place fill out great wads of forms with strnge eccelsiatical words .it seems --if you read between the lines of those who go there that they are even required to say things you don't even believe . You can make them cry or get angry if you try to explore the rtruth with them or use the words they unedrstand and like t o use - not good .
Its amazing that anyone goes . maybe its just the money and the handouts! How did they ever get onto this loot

So which church is better inthe long trem ? Payed poorly but given great freedom to talk through issues or paid well to be a prisoner?