TOP CAT

Recently saw an add on a local notice board. Reward $1000 missing male cat – lost ! Amazing how you notice every cat you go past after seeing something like that ! Thing that really caught my eye was the amount of money these people were offering to get their moggy back. In my situation and probably yours as well, that is a heck of a lot of money for a fur ball.

I am trying to resist using the “I like cats” joke but it has to be said doesn’t it ! I don’t mind cats they taste a little like chicken (Yes Sarah this could well be cat-egorised – pun intended - as a Dad joke). My apologies for all of you cat lovers out there. I did in fact once have a cat, I’m pretty sure I drove it mad when I wanted to test its break dancing skills, but that’s a subject for another blog.

Back to our expensive kitty ! Just supposing the average feline weighs about 5kgs and we divide the reward by its assumed average weight. These people are prepared to pay $200 per kilo for their treasured pet ! That’s amazing !! Now I must add that this is not your average bitser black and white tabby from up the back alley. This is quite an expensive breed of cat. From a bit of quick research online it would appear that these moggies fetch from between $650 – 800, give or take a few hundred !

A couple of assumptions we can make from this advertisement.
1. The owners have already paid the best part of $1000 to purchase this exotic cat in the first place.
2. These people are prepared to offer again the purchase price to see the cat returned safely.
3. They believe that their cat is still in the area.
4. They really really love their cat
5. And they are extremely desperate to get it back.

Now for a non cat lover this is hard for me to say but I hope that the owners are reunited with their cat at some stage. Probably more to the point I hope I am the one that is doing the reuniting, from a financial perspective of course !

Do you ever stop to think about what you’re worth ? To the people around you ? To your family ? To your employer maybe ? Your friends ? TO GOD ?

The moggy story has parallels to the story of humanity. In short God created the world and everything in it, including us. Humanity stuffed up the relationship with God by disobedience. This caused a massive gap between the two parties. A gap that could only be bridged by someone perfect namely Jesus, who came so that we could be reunited with God. So in fact you could say that we have been purchased twice too. Firstly in being created and secondly by the sacrifice made for us to restore that relationship with God.

The fact that God pursued us twice tells me that we are worth more than $1000, the bible tells us we are heirs of God’s Kingdom. The person that created the universe, His Kingdom. In other words when we believe in Jesus and accept his free gift, we become his sons and daughters. That is so awesome !

To be found by God all you need to do is ask him to come into your life, ask him to forgive your past and help you turn from everything you know is wrong. Tell him you want the new life package that includes eternal life.

If you need any help or you just want to talk some of this through drop me a line at andrew.jarvey@aus.salvationarmy.org. My prayer for you is that you would start to understand how important you really are to God by seeing what it is He has actually done for you.
Blessings
Andrew…

Have you ever had one of those dreams that you thought was real? You know the ones; they normally shake you up and rock you to your very foundations. Might even wake you up because it was so powerful and disturbing. I had one of those the other night.

I was driving along a road, not sure which road it was or in fact where it was. Do you notice that in dreams the details are very scant and you only notice this when you’re trying to retell the dream to someone else ? Anywho, I was driving along this road and suddenly my car was thrown into a violent spin and seconds later there was a blinding flash of light !! The light was so bright that it caused me to close my eyes and squint ! Immediately I thought this is it ! It’s all over, it’s the end - I’m dead !!! So then I was thinking - Ok so now what ? At this point I realised that what I was experiencing was just a dream and that’s where it ended.

Here’s the strange thing - when I was going through this traumatic car experience I wasn’t afraid and when I realised that maybe it might be the time to leave this world I wasn’t scared. Had this peace about what was going on, a calm if you like. You see the fact is death didn’t scare me, what I was more concerned about was what was going to happen after checking out from earth’s hotel.

What I want to ask you is are you afraid of death ? Are you afraid of snuffing it ? I know it’s not something for a light casual conversation and even in writing about this may appear I have a fascination with the morbid things of life !

But here’s the clincher for me ! Once I have a peace about who I am and what I am suppose to be doing on this earth and what I believe happens to me when I die - there is no fear, its all good !

The bible says that perfect love drives out all fear, because fear has to do with punishment. Now think about that for a minute. Fear could also be associated with the unknown ! For me I trust God implicitly with my life and I trust that when I face death’s dark door, Jesus will be right there to walk me through whatever happens next. He will be my welcoming committee and show me what He has been up to since he left our world all those years ago.

The question for you is simple ! Are you afraid of death is it something you have trouble thinking about. You don’t have to be afraid of it because Jesus has taken the sting out of death once and for all when he died on the cross. He has fixed things so that it is not the end, death is not about punishment it is about life – eternal life. All we have to do is believe in him and try to live our lives the way he wants us to.

If you still feel uneasy about this topic I would be happy to talk to you about it. Please don’t hesitate to email me at andrew.jarvey@hotmail.com
May God bless you, Andrew…

BLUE BIRD OF HAPPINESS !

Was sitting in a car park this week when I noticed a little blue bird attacking the car next to me. This small little bird was full on attacking the side mirror of this car with no apparent reason. Now lets put things into perspective the bird would have only been about 3 inches big, but the intensity and the fervour for which this little creature was dishing it out to the mirror was extremely impressive. Now before you say I’ve completely lost the plot, I am not or never will be, a bird lover. However I couldn’t help but notice the antics of this crazy little blue bird.

My initial thought was what a wonderful little creature, with its striking blue features. Then secondly how strange it was that it was attempting to beat itself up against a mirror ! Was it threatened or intimidated by another similar looking bird, who knows, one thing was for sure it was not happy Jan ! Maybe this was a territorial dispute or maybe there were chicks nearby and it was trying to scare off a would be predator. Maybe this little bird just found that make and model of car offensive. Who knows !

I got to thinking about the internal dialogue that goes on in our heads when we look at our reflection in the mirror. What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror ! I’m being serious !! What do you see ? Do you like what you see ? Yes or No ? If no why ? Do you do what the little blue bird did and go mental and beat yourself up by what you see or what you don’t ? You know sometimes I think we are our harshest critics. Too many freckles, skin imperfections, long nose, too many chins, uneven teeth, cabbage ears, the monobrow, non pantene hair, blah blah blah blah blah ……..

Heres a little secret ! We cannot all look like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie because if we did we wouldn’t be unique ! You gotta like yourself and if you don’t you need to be asking a serious question. “WHY NOT ?”

The next time you look in the mirror I challenge you to look past all of the stuff you see and what you hear and remind yourself that there is one who loves you for who you are right now. Not for what you could look like or what you should be with the right nose job. God loves you for you full stop ! In fact if I believe what is written in the bible (and I do) he not only loves you He is totally and completely nuts about you.

Jesus said all those years ago love God with everything you have and love others as yourself. The last part is very important and I believe that you cannot love God or others if you are not thankful for who He has created you to be. If you cannot see the wonderful creation that is you then Dianne and I would be happy to speak with you to try and convince you some more.

Bless you

Andrew…

MISUNDERSTANDINGS !

Have you ever been driving and some lunatic zooms up next to you and then puts on their indicator to cut in front of you ? What is your natural reaction besides wanting to stick your head out the window and give them a mouthful, not to mention what you want to do with your fingers. If you have time you want to slowly increase your speed so that it is impossible for them to get in front of you. Or when they have changed lanes ride as close to their bumper as possible.

Have you ever noticed that when you’ve been driving and you are in the left lane and the street that you need to turn at is the very next street on your right. You’ve left it a bit late because you really didn’t know where you were going and the only way that you can make the turn is to put on your indicator and make a hasty lane change. All the time hoping that it will be a kind person who is driving who will forgive your crazy driving and not give you a mouthful or ride your bumper.

Same situation – two different ways of interpreting the reality of the situation !
Misunderstandings and contradictions !

Have you ever watched the movie Avatar ? No ! Well then I think you should make it a priority. So I don’t spoil the movie for you fast forward down to the bold heading of Misunderstandings because my next comments stem from that movie.

If you have seen the movie you will understand the contradiction / misunderstandings that happen between what the sky people ( the humans ) want to do and what the Na’vi are all about ( the blue avatars -natives of Pandora ). The humans are money hungry and are on this planet to extract a very rare material from the ground that is worth a fortune. The humans want this expensive commodity at all cost and don’t understand the environmental impact. I think they are starting to realise through the efforts of some passionate scientists but it is too late because the army is there to flex some muscle. The humans really don’t understand the complex relationships the Na’vi people have with mother earth and how knocking over some trees will cause a major catastrophic environmental impact.

Its not until an army marine is sent in undercover to try to get these people to relocate that he starts to discover first hand the complicated relationships and how these people are inextricably linked to their environment. The undercover operative is accepted amoungst these people and is blown away by their love of the earth and their culture. He falls in love with one of the natives and in the end becomes one. Misunderstandings ? On a major scale !

Misunderstandings !!!

Misunderstandings !!! They happen all the time don’t they ? Im wondering if a good portion of misunderstandings happen because people don’t fully understand the situation, or both sides of the story. Certainly in the first driving example that was certainly the case and it was most definitely the case with the movie Avatar. Everyone had an agenda and didn’t want to budge an inch.

When I look at the scriptures the biggest instance of misunderstanding happened with Jesus. By and large people just didn’t get who he was and why he was on earth. Even those who were the closest to him, his disciples were a bit hazy on what was going on !!

What happens when people don’t get who you are and what you are doing ? Do you write them off ? Jesus calls us to do something completely radical and unheard of !! Pray for them ! Hard as it is, if you can do this I have noticed a couple of things could happen.

It might change the other person,
It might change you,
It might change you both,
And you will be embarking on a completely different path, one which Jesus calls all of his followers to take.

Its powerful stuff I can assure you of that ! Here’s the challenge, the next time you come across someone who doesn’t get you, pray for them.

God bless you

Andrew…

“I Took Part”

"I TOOK PART"

My son came home the other day with a white ribbon stuck to his chest. He was very proud of this ribbon, as he had just taken part in a cross-country carnival. In all of the excitement I was unable to make out what was on this piece of material. Now if we are honest every parent is looking for a 1st and I certainly was. However 2nd or 3rd would have been ok and if none of these I would be happy that he competed and that he did his best.

On closer examination I discovered the words on the ribbon were “I Took Part”. Now I’m not sure about you but in my day and we are talking about some serious years ago, there was no “I took part”, it was 1st, 2nd or 3rd. There were no consolation (or politically correct ) prizes. Have to say that it was nice that the school invested in ribbons for all the participants so everyone received something. Everyone gets to feel like they have achieved something. That winning feeling even if they didn’t manage to stand on the winner’s dais.

Wouldn’t it be sad that if all we did was meander through life to be handed a ribbon at the end of it that said very casually “I TOOK PART” in the human race. I don’t know about you but I think I would be a little ticked and somewhat disappointed.

LIFE IS TOUGH - It’s hard and quite frankly if I am running this race I want to receive the maximum prize that I can attain. I want to finish the race strong and be a winner not just a participant. I WANT TO WIN.

When I play sport I tend to be focused on doing the very best I can. Pushing myself to the limit for my team, pushing the boundaries (and also the ref’s – on occasion just to keep em honest).

So how do we run the race of life to win and not just participate ! Jesus proposed a new idea about winning and that was to come last. LAST, Who in their right mind wants to come last ? I certainly don’t. Jesus had a discussion with his disciples who were talking about who would be the greatest in the race and he said this “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last, and the servant of all” Can you imagine the look on the faces of his disciples ? It would have been one of those “Watch you talkn bout Willis” moments. Confusing ??

I guess it was so confusing because success was seen in the visible and tangible things of life. The world viewed and views winners as the smartest, richest, quickest, most powerful, prettiest (or handsomest if you are a dude), and Jesus turned this on its head.

What he was saying was that all of the things in this life which people place value in are not what the race is all about. They don’t stack up because they wont last. God has lots of 1st’s to give out but they wont be given out to those who have the most, or who have only thought about themselves in this life, but given to those who have put him first and loved people as he does.

So don’t just be a passive participant in LIFE, don’t be just content with the tag “I TOOK PART” but discover what the race of life is all about and love God with all of your heart, soul and mind and love those around you like you would love yourself. Then we are told in His word that we will be given the Crown of Life !!

God bless you
Andrew…

WHAT LURKS BEHIND THE FRIDGE ??
Have you ever stuck your head behind your fridge ? Why would you right ? Now here’s a far out question for you ! How often would you actually clean the area behind your fridge? I believe that this is one of those areas that doesn’t need cleaning. When the imaginary cleaning fairies come late at night this is an area in which they specialise in, so I leave it to them !!

My wife, if you have met her, delights in cleanology – all things clean ! On one of our peaceful serene days off, she decided to attack this area with much fervour. After cleaning everything including the fridge, her comment was it’s a good thing you have me to clean behind there. And my response was “you are absolutely right dear” (Brownie Points Earned).

You might be curious to know what we discovered behind our fridge apart from the usual gunk and grime, which as you can imagine was a complete surprise to me, given my fairy cleaning belief !

· A Leonard’s Chicken Brochure.
· 1 Pink Bag Tie (what you put around your rice bubbles bag once you’ve opened it !)
· A 2008 Magnet Calender in the shape of a house. (The ones that real estate companies give you for free)
· The back cover of the Arlec Door Chime casing. Which in conjunction with the main unit normally lives on top of our fridge. That would explain why our door bell hasn’t been working ! Apologies if you have come around and rung the bell and no one has responded. Now you know why !!
· And the letters O,N,L & X, from a toy we brought that hangs on the fridge to teach our boys the correct pronunciation of the alphabet.
Pretty uninspiring stuff and in the main just junk except for the chime cover. However this recent foray behind the fridge has prompted me to think about some of the no go areas in our lives which, if we are honest harbour all sorts of junk. I guess this then requires a definition of what Junk is in our lives.

I would say that “Junk” in our lives is anything that gets in the way of a healthy relationship with God. Ok sounds like a cliché, sorry but I’m afraid its true. The junk in our lives is normally the stuff that we don’t want to deal with, or is too hard, to complex, too embarrassing, too invasive – you get the idea.

Thing is we can keep this stuff hidden and no one will ever know right ? WRONG !! We may be able to hide it from people and some people are really good at this but at the end of the day it prevents us from being all that we can be. God is no fool and nothing is hidden from him, and he desperately wants us to reach our potential.

Here’s the guts of this article - are you prepared to pull out the fridge and deal with the stuff which is there despite the consequences. Or are you just content to pretend that it doesn’t matter. Do the gutsy thing and hit this stuff head on and deal with it honestly. I can assure that it may be painful initially and really messy, possibly down right ugly but two things I know are true from personal experience. God will meet you right in the middle of that whole heap of ugly and show you a way to clean it up. But first He needs you to bring it out from behind the fridge, to expose it for what it is.

I love the story where Jesus meets a woman caught in adultery. An angry mob is just about to stone her to death, as was the custom in those days. And really this was an elaborate ploy to trap Jesus into saying and doing the wrong thing.

In this instance the people around her had pulled her fridge out and exposed some of the unsightly junk that was stored there.

Jesus’ response is a classic, “Go now and leave your life of sin”.

DONE !

Behind the fridge all nice and clean !
Now it may sound like I am trivialising the situation a bit, but I am not. For Jesus it was that simple. Bring it out, deal with it, move on !

Are there certain things in your life that you need to bring out, so that you can deal with them to move on.

If there are and you are struggling with doing this, ask God to give you the courage to deal with the issue and help you to move forward.

Di and I are always willing to talk, via text, Twitter, Facebook, email, phone or the old fashioned way, face to face !!

May God bless you as you tackle the junk behind the fridge.
Andrew…

STOP THE MERRYGO ROUND I WANNA GET OFF !

“Uno, dos, tres, catorce, Turn it up loud, Captain” ! The opening lyric from the song “Vertigo” by U2.

Recently I have been in a spin – LITERALLY ! I have experienced what I believe is the sensation of vertigo. Stare at the picture above for long enough and I think you will get the idea ! What is Vertigo exactly ? From digging around on the net, I believe it has to do with problems associated with the inner ear or problems with vision.

The other week I basically could not get my bearings and could not stand up properly because it felt like I had just disembarked from a playground merry-go-round ! I’m sure you can remember the feeling from your younger days, everything spinning out of control. Then seeing the grass up close and personal whilst laughing uncontrollably. Funny thing was, if you enjoyed the experience you’d be back on again, repeating the whole process.

However my experience just recently was no laughing matter, in fact it was quite disturbing given that I am getting older and there was no merry-go-round to justify my abnormal experience. I could not stand up properly, I felt nauseous and it felt like the spinning sensation was not going to stop. Thankfully after a bit of bed rest the sensation passed and I was able to get on with my normal schedule.

The whole experience has got me thinking about this merry-go-round we call life. Wouldn’t it be good to able to stop the merry-go-round, get off, get things together, and then jump back on again. However you would know that life does not afford such a luxury. Life comes thick and fast and it seems to continue wether we are ready or not. It continues unabated, even if we feel like we are spinning out of control. Here’s a personal question ! What happens to you when things start to spin out of control ? What do you do ? Where do you go ? What happens ?

You might be experiencing a Vertigo type moment right now, where there are more questions than answers.

Here’s the prescription to conquering life’s vertigo moments ! Know the maker of the merry-go-round ! Sound simple enough ? Well it is ! Because once you understand what life is all about you can learn to cope with whatever it throws at you. The best way to do that is to know Jesus and have a relationship with him. Jesus says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. So if we interpret that literally with this illustration it could read something like ‘Come to me everyone on the merry-go-round, where life is out of control and it doesn’t make sense, and I will stop the spinning, I will stop the nausea, the vomiting, the light headedness, the blurry vision and the earaches and I will put your heart at peace by letting you know what life’s all about.

Sounds almost too good to be true doesn’t it !! That there is someone like that who can and will help us. Well its true !

Steven Curtis Chapman in his song King of the Jungle, sings this,
“Well the day has just begun and I'm already running late
With too many irons in the fire and too much on my plate
I'd be pulling out my hair if I could just get one hand free
And I'd stop this world if I could find the key”

The Key is simple “Trust in Jesus”

If you’d like more info on how you can do this, please comment here, or email at andrew.Jarvey@aus.salvationarmy.org

God bless you.

Andrew…