thanks

also a little post-note.

wanted to say thanks to my frens for spoiling me on my b'day.
thanks for all the calls and prezzies and for lunch today.

so sweet...

An eventful Easter

Well it's already been an eventful easter!!
Yesterday the weather was beautiful and i went up to cliftonville with daph, russ, ngi and shannon. Last wakeboard of the summer as it's getting way to cold to be jumping in the water. I'm feeling quite good about my improvement over the summer. Did 3 good jumps to end my wakeboarding season for 2005/6. YAY!

Yesterday was Good Friday. I was asked by a friend about eating meat on Good Friday.... more whether i eat meat on Good Friday. I kinda shrugged and said yes... which shocked her i think. It kinda got me thinking about where that tradition came from. I know the not eating meat thing isnt a biblical thing... or at least not to my knowledge. I had a chat to a patient this morning about it. We're both not sure if it's a catholic tradition. I guess we agreed that we can eat meat on Good Friday but we dont if it's going to cause a brother/sister to stumble.

Last night was the Good Friday service at church. After i went home and half watched "The Passion of the Christ" (The reason i half watched it was cos when i saw it at the cinemas i bawled my eyes out and so couldnt really watch it again). At the end when Jesus dies, they show the earthquake and temple shaking. The biblical account talks about the temple curtain ripping.

It got me thinking... basically inside the temple was the holy of holies. Man is separated from God's holiness by a curtain. The high priest would go in once a year to make sacrifice for God's people but he had to cleanse himself first. Anybody who entered God's presence in a manner they werent meant to would die. So... when Jesus died on the cross, and the temple curtain was torn then wouldnt the Jewish people in the temple know something significant had happened because they were standing there in God's presence but not dead.

I wonder what the reaction of the people in the temple was at the time. What would the Jews have thought? Are there any Jewish accounts cos wouldnt the ripping of the temple curtain have been a big deal to them if they took God's holiness seriously??
Anyway... food for thought...

Today i worked... i turned up and said to my assistant "whose brilliant idea was it to work easter saturday??". Was actually a good morning... had a good chat to one of my patients who is a Christian.

Met up with daph and ngi in the arvo to look at bridesmaids dresses. Actually bought the dresses today... YAY!!

Ok now i'm really tired cos it's already been a pretty busy couple of days.

Religious revival huh?

Well i'm sitting here in my lunchbreak reading the paper online as i sometimes do...

One article i came across was really interesting and encouraged me.
It talks about Australia's religious revival amongst the young population.

What made me laugh was the takeoff on the Australian ads that say "where the bloody hell are you?". A church noticeboard had "where the bloody hell were you last sunday".

If what they say is true then i think its really great that more people attend church each week than any other event like sporting events etc. It sure doesnt seem that way amongst my uni and school friends.

There was an interview with Nathan Tasker who said that people seem to be searching a lot more for something these days. Might be the modern lifestyle... nothing seems to satisfy that God-shaped hole. It was great that he said in the end that it's not so much church the fact that people are drawn to a God who came to earth to interact and relate to us.

I scrolled down and looked at the piccie too and realised that it was Liz!! how cool that they interviewed her.

If you have time, have a look at the article. It's interesting and if the growth of Christianity is as they say then i'm really encouraged!