1

My top five childhood heroes

Posted on May 15, 2008 by Symon

Eagerly anticipating the release of the fourth Indiana Jones movie, I thought I’d do a bit of reminicing and with a smile and a tinge of ‘missing the good old days’ write a post on my top five childhood heroes…

5. Luke Skywalker

Coming in at number 5 is Luke the Jedi Knight. Star Wars (released in 1977) was the first movie I ever saw… at the grand old age of 3. What were my parents thinking?! Maybe they just wanted a break from me for a couple of hours… so what better way to keep a 3 year old happy for 2 hours than to send him off to the movies to watch Star Wars with his 12 year old brother?

4. James Bond

In fourth place is Bond… James Bond. Looking back, the Bond films of the eighties were quite immoral. Luckily, because of my age, most of it went over my head. I must admit (along with the rest of the male population of the western world at the time) I dreamed of being 007. Drake… Mandrake.

3. Macgyver

In the number three spot is good old Mac. I still don’t know if that was his first or last name… and I still haven’t got that Swiss-Army knife I dreamed of getting for Christmas all these years. I can remember the theme song like it was yesterday. Actually, it was yesterday. Isn’t Youtube wonderful?

2. The Greatest American Hero

Who can forget Ralph Hinkley? I was so obsessed with being the Greatest American Hero that I sang the theme song in front of church when I was 7. I wonder if God spoke to anyone that Sunday morning? I’m sure one could get some sort of spiritual principle out of it if they tried hard enough.

1. Indiana Jones

And the winner is… Indiana Jones. No one else comes close. I remember as a 10-year-old going with my 19 year old brother to the Auckland Civic Theatre (the best movie theatre in the world!) to see Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. Literally glued to my seat… heart racing… adrenaline pumping as the screen widened and immortal theme music began. Then, lying awake late that night… not being able to sleep… replaying the movie over and over again in my mind. Then seeing the movie over and over again.

Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull starts this Thursday. Once again I can’t wait! I guess the kid in me will never grow up. That’s a good thing I reckon.

3

7 non-spiritual skills needed for pastoring youth

Posted on May 13, 2008 by Symon

I was thinking the other day, about some of the “non-spiritual” skills that youth pastors need to have to be able to pastor youth well, but no one ever tells us that we need to have them until it’s too late. This post is dedicated to all the potential youth pastors out there…

The potential youth pastor must…

1. … know how to operate a photocopier.

The potential youth pastor must know how to use a photocopier well as he/she will spend hours upon hours of time during their ministry-life making copies of thousands upon thousands of documents. The person must not only be able to operate the copier effenciently… they must also learn how to fix countless copier jams, replace numerous toner cartridges, copy other people’s docs (the rest of the pastoral staff that don’t know how to use a copier), and, when the copier dies, be able to get to the nearest open copy shop, get the run done, and get back to church before the meeting begins. Considering the important ‘must-do-at-all-cost’ copy run usually gets forgotten until 10 minutes before the event starts, this skill is a highly sought after one.

2. …enjoy folding flyers.

The potential youth pastor must enjoy cutting and folding thousands of flyers… regularly. The more people that are expected to attend the event, the more flyers must be copied, cut and folded. Usually about 1000 more than is expected (as most are stuffed in jeans-pockets, forgotten about, and disintegrated due to spin-cycle). Did I mention one must know how to use a copier?

3. …buy and present a cafe-quality, nutritious, healthy suppers without breaking the youth-ministry bank account.

Easier said than done these days. A decade ago, young people actually looked foward to a supper which consisted of the main two food-groups… potato chips, and Coca-cola. Nowadays, if its not plunger coffee, or a chicken-wrap, the youth would rather go to McCafe.

4. …be able to have an engaging conversation with a young person they don’t remember, while not giving away the fact that they don’t remember them.

The life of a youth-pastor is a high-profile, public one. Many young people are going to get to know the potential youth pastor very well because of the many everyday examples and testimonies they will hear from him/her messages and sermons. The potential youth pastor will be spotted by young people everywhere… in the supermarket, at the beach, at the mall, at the movies, and the they will call him/her by name, expecting that he/she will know them and remember their name. The potential youth pastor must know how to hold a good conversation with a young person who thinks they should know them, while in reality, he/she won’t know who they are, or how they know them. Generic recognition phrases like, “buddy” and “mate”, come in very handy at times like these.

5. …function well, burnt-out.

The potential youth pastor will be required to stay up late packing up after events, rise early to finish messages, skip meals due to time-restrictions/youthpastor’s salary, acomplish a month’s worth of work in one week due to the annual youth-camp booked in in a week’s time, present themselves as being totally in-control and relaxed, while in reality everything is out-of-control and they could die becasue of the stress… In other words, work well, stressed and burnt-out. Many pastors will say that a youth pastor should take a holiday when everything is getting on top of them. If that were the case, then youth pastors worldwide would be on vacation all year round, every year. The potential youth pastor will need to know how to function well on less sleep, less food, less sanity, getting to know the grace of God very well.

6. … have nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills…

Actually, These skills aren’t needed for pastoring youth… but they definately help.

7. … love what they do.

This is the most important quality of the potential youth pastor… To love the young people, love the work, love the photocopying, love the bowhunting, love the insanity… At the end of the day, the person who is called to pastor youth, wouldn’t want to do anything else in the world. It’s all worth it when the potential youth pastor knows thay have made a significant positive impact in a young person’s life. What’s more rewarding than that?

Do you qualify?
0

Good reasons why I don’t like sharks

Posted on May 3, 2008 by Symon

In 1975 the movie “Jaws” was released. I was too young too see it, being only 3 years old at the time. Interestingly enough, the film conjured up so many scares that beach attendance was down in the summer of 1975 due to its profound impact. When “Jaws 2″ screened my siblings (being a decade older than me), having seen the film, scared me silly with stories about a huge killer shark that ate people. My lifelong love/hate fascination with sharks had begun. Funnily enough, one thing I would love to do before I die is to go cage diving with a Great White. Below are 11 good reasons why I’m not fond of sharks…

1. Sharks eat people

What’s up with those statistics like “there is more chance of dying by a falling coconut than by a shark attack”? Are they supposed to be comforting? I’ll have to remember them if I ever come face to face with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. There have been 2 recorded deaths by shark attack in that many months. Haven’t read of anyone dying by falling cocnuts lately, have you?
2. Multiple viewings of the “Jaws” movies from an early age
Even though the shark looked fake, I was too scared to swim alone in swimming pools for years!

3. My dad’s shark stories

When I was growing up, dad would tell me about the time when he narrowly missed a close encounter with a massive thresher shark. The shark apparently was following the scent of the bleeding fish on his spear (He was spear-fishing). Dad climbed onto a rock as the thresher cruised past. He would also tell me when he was once fishing from a local wharf when a massive shark cruised right beneath him. Stories like that combined with a my young, very vivid, over-developed imagination, made “Jaws” seem very real.

4. Reading numerous books on shark attacks (with pictures)
I don’t recommend reading them while you are having a meal of spaghetti and meatballs.

5. The shark wasn’t working
When I was 14 mum and dad took me for a trip to Universal Studios. I had dreamed for years of seeing “Bruce” in action (the robotic shark from the original movie). Califonia is a long way from New Zealand. The day we were there, the shark was out of order. I think I cried.

6. The USS Indianapolis
One of the most famous shark attacks is that of the USS Indianapolis, sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the Pacific Ocean in 1945. It took several days for rescuers to reach the ship, because the mission had been so top secret that no one reported the ship missing. By the time Navy rescue craft arrived, only 317 men were still alive out of the almost 1,000 that survived the initial sinking. Tiger sharks were responsible for most of the deaths.

7. Seeing a 10ft shark swim past me (up close) while surfing
It happened about 7 years ago, while surfing at “Eliott’s Beach” Northland, NZ. They say if you see a shark, then it probably won’t attack you. Very reasuring… not.

8. The recent discovery that Great White’s jump, and hunt in packs
Ever seen footage and photos shot from Seal Island off the coast of South Africa? Could easily be humans and not seals. Bombs off the rock anyone?

9. “Jaws” was inspiried by a true story
In July 1916, almost sixty years before the movie Jaws ignited a nationwide shark phobia, a single “rogue shark” terrorised the New Jersey shore. Five people were chewed up in a week, sparking a panic that kept beach-goers out of the water, inciting frenzied coverage in the press, and launching the greatest shark hunt in history.

10. The photos in the local takeaways

At the fish’n'chip shop up the road from our house there are photos on the wall taken from a helecopter of several large sharks cruising up and down the beach… in shallow water… where people are.
11. Youtube
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… The video below is probably a contributing factor as to why I haven’t been surfing in 2 years.

0

Sick of walking out of movies?

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Symon

I grew up growing to the movies. My first movie was Star Wars, in 1977. My brother took me to see it. He was 12 and I was 3 and a half. Good times.

Fast forward to present day 2008 and I hardly go to the flicks anymore. Firstly, because it is too expensive, and secondly because Jesus wouldn’t watch most of them, and I want to please him with my life… what I say, what I do, and what I watch.

The good news for Christian movie-lovers is that there are a few excellent websites in cyberspace that review and critique movies from a Christian perspective. We can be clued up before we shell out $15 on a ticket. Here they are:

  • Plugged In Online (by Focus On The Family)
  • Christian Spotlight On Entertainment (Readers can give their own comments on each movie.)
  • Screenit (Not a Christian site, but lists everything questionable in every movie, so is an excellent tool.)

    Of course, there are many Christians out there that don’t even think twice about watching a movie with questionable material in it… I’ll leave my thoughts on that subject to another post.