i didn’t watch it til i started skim reading this really good but really too long for me to read in its entirety blog by a guy called mike morrell which seems to give it and peoples’ response to it a fair commentary.

this blog isn’t so much about what jeff said [which i largely agree with] or what mike responded with [cos even though he looks at both sides of it i largely agree with a lot of what both sides say - think there is often a lot of semanticals floating around that debate] but more about this.

some people [and i hope i am not guilty of this, but i am really scared i probly am sometimes, if so, please punch me on the nose, cos it's silly] focus too much on the peripherals than the actual point… and it manifests in many different ways…

for example, i started a podcast a while ago [and stopped it after a few cos it never really got going] and this one on forgiveness got 57 comments which i think is the most comments i have had on any post…

only this the first comment was by someone asking me to get involved and save ‘the world of birds’ as it was about to close down and when i said that i wouldn’t it descended rather dramatically into character assassination because i hate birds, i hate all animals, all christians hate animals and so on… you can go read them, i am sure they are quite humour-flled – in fact i could be wrong but i don’t think a single comment related to forgiveness [the original podcast intent] until my humour-filled friends started chiming in semi-sarcastically with ‘great audio thort on forgiveness, brett’ and of course my personal favourite from my friend Mj, “What an audio blog on forgiveness Brett. Thing of champions. Especially that part where you talk about sponsoring the World of Birds as a way of showing retribution for all the atrocities that Christians have committed (Dodo killing and Theatresports advertising to name a few).”

i posted a cartoon recently and someone went off at me for the title of the cartoon site [which i hadn't noticed in small print on the bottom of the cartoon and which contained a bad word] and someone went off at me for a bunch of comments that people had made on the original cartoon which i hadn’t even noticed as i just hit share.

and so on. a spelling mistake halfway down the blog or the colour of the background or the fact that they posted it at 2am and what were they doing up so late? and so on.

ha, this blog has been so interrupted [supper with housemates, games, shopping lists] that i can’t remember the signficance of writing it any more and it seems so silly and it’s not like a huge gripe i have anyways so i should just delete it except MJ’s comment is too worth reading plus people having the opportunity to be alerted to my bird-hating ways.

but the bottom line point is that often we miss the message and get caught up in the peripherals, oh and my other point was we can get so caught up in arguing [the video on Jesus vs religion] and then arguing about the arguing [the article] and arguing about the arguing about arguing [comments on article] that by the time we have felt good about getting our say in, no-one can quite remember what the point is.

i find Christianity can get hard and confusing and complicated and contradictory and difficult to understand and a whole lot more UNTIL i do this magical thing – i start doing it. When i start actually just loving God, when i start loving people, when i do something that lifts up someone considered ‘the least of these’, when i reach out and intentionally do something that disciples a young oke nearby, when i forgive someone or refuse to be drawn into a fight, when i stand up for justice or stand against injustice, when i stop and talk to a homeless woman and walk away with her name and story, when i give some money, time or energy away, when i recycle, when i encourage someone, when i don’t fight for my position or recognition or place, when i love someone who maybe doesn’t show love to me, it all becomes SO INCREDIBLY EASY.

so maybe some of us need to argue, correct, debate, post, re-post, block, link less and be living it more.i think there is some kind of answer in there.

and then i stumbled on to this article by kathy keller titled – Don’t Take It from Me: Reasons You Should Not Marry an Unbeliever which you can read here or here but not so much here cos that is something totally different.

an excerpt to get you started which sums up the ‘question’ well: “Does this sound like the kind of marriage you want? One that strangles your growth in Christ or strangles your growth as a couple, or does both? Think back to that off-cited passage in 2 Corinthians 6:14 about being “unequally yoked.” Most of us no longer live in an agrarian culture, but try to visualize what would happen if a farmer yoked together, say, an ox and a donkey. The heavy wooden yoke, designed to harness the strength of the team, would be askew, as the animals are of different heights, weights, walk at different speeds and with different gaits. The yoke, instead of harnessing the power of the team to complete the task, would rub and chafe BOTH animals, since the load would be distributed unequally. An unequal marriage is not just unwise for the Christian, it is also unfair to the non-Christian, and will end up being a trial for them both.”

so go check it out…

tonite i cleaned house. earlier i was lying in the place of inspiration [the bath] and God spoke to me about a bunch of stuff i already knew [as you do] and about the serious need for me to, well, get serious, if i didn’t want to get to the end of my time here at the Simple Way and regret a whole bunch of stuff i didn’t do because of all the distractionary things i do do. [hee hee]

and so there was a literal cleaning of house that happened [don't tell Val, she'll fall over] so i cleared up our room, the computer room, did the dishes, emptied the dustbins and cleaned out the compost and vacuumed the hallway and our room and neatened up a bunch of stuff.

i wrote a note or two to some good friends that i felt lead towards writing some truth and love and encouragement to and for. and that was good. teas were close.

and then i put into place the things that needed to be put into place to clear up some of the other distractionary things that have been allowed to roost or take root in my life. and it is looking good.

there are two difficult things about that:

[1] the first is that i can justify a lot of them – there is a lot of good linked to some of the distractionary things and there is some good [simply that they are a distraction which can be a good thing sometimes i think] linked to others of them. but just because something can be good does not mean it is the best and so sometimes good has to be put aside or sacrificed for the sake of the better. and in some of them they had been right and good had been achieved [or maybe as He tends to do, God simply brought good through something that was not necessarily good?]

As i was clearing up i found a note i had made from some preach i attended that read “I won’t negotiate at the table of the enemy” which I really like and hope to make a stronger motto in my life.

[2] the second one is the fear that i will just find another distraction to replace the ones i have gotten rid of and it is a very real fear cos i have seen that happen before in my life and it is a very real possiblity. but not one that should cripple me from doing the right thing now ad if such a time comes that there is a different procrastionationary thing wasting my time, then i will kill that too. but part of getting rid of things that waste time in a bad way is the desire to replace them with positive dstractionary things… like reading more, playing guitar again, joining the gym, writing, reading the Bible more at a time, spending time with people in our community, dreaming up community- and world-changing ideas… being still and knowing.

if i have been a little vague here, that’s okay because it is not for you to know the specifics of what has caused me distraction. but to question what does that to you? tv, music, sport, facebook games, cellphone, world of warcraft…

it is so easy to get sucked into meaningless stuff and then have a moment of wait-a-second, Jesus called me to live life to the full – WHAT AM I DOING?

i know what i’m doing. i’m putting it right. well i’m going to try. feel free to cheer me on.

altho i know that if it snows tomorrow i will have to shovel snow again. it will not be enuff that i shoveled it today.

i cannot live off the memory of yesterday’s shoveled snow.

the same is true with the crap in our lives – broken relationships, wounds, offences, struggles with temptation, sin…

it is not enough that i dealt with it yesterday, that i overcame it, that i cleaned it up…

the moment there is a new relationship needing work, a new wound that i have caused or received, an offence i’ve taken from someone [because offence is never given, it's taken], a new temptation that is strongly calling, a new moment of mess-up or getting it wrong… i have to grab my proverbial shovel and deal, repent, ask for forgiveness, fight against it, seek healing and restoration and so on.

i cannot live off the memory of yesterday’s dealing with stuff – when it arrives freshly, i need to get shoveling.

dealing with something the first time is often easy, or easier.

asking someone for forgiveness, while not fun is generally doable, but when you mess up again and have to crawl back and ask for forgiveness FOR THE SAME THING, wow, man, give me snow any day… so it becomes easier to let it build up.

in philly, if you leave the snow unshoveled for too long, you get a fine and have to shovel it anyway.
in life, if you leave stuff undealt with for too long, you suffer for it and will undoubtably have to deal with it at some stage anyway… and by then it will have probaly built up a lot and require so much more work and effort.

you got any snow that needs shoveling?

well, for me anyways, my south african family and friends have been celebrating it for hours already, as have the few contacts i know in Australia and different friends across Europe… have not heard from so many UK friends yet, but they’ll be waking up soon and joining in… and then when i sleep and wake up, americaland will have caught on and i will finally be able to celebrate along with everyone else.

my wife, tbV, is busy flying towards south africa to celebrate the coming wedding of her sister Shana to Carl and it would be so nice to have her closer here with me, cos an empty bed beckons, which is less fun, but we did get to celebrate while she was here and it was good and apart from that i think i pretty much have everything i need.

what do you give to the guy who has everything? cos i really do. well pretty much… i mean i could enjoy trips to hawaii and a skiing trip for my wife and a free-to-use close proximity jacuzzi and a never-ending supply of bacon and an iphone and an ipad and a kindle and a spindle… or something… and 101 other things… you can always have more stuff, but i really don’t feel like i need or particularly want anything. i am truly loved by God and i know Who i am in Him and that is more than enough. i have passion and vision and life and energy and hunger-for-lifefullnessity and much, much more.

so what is the answer then? what do you give to the guy who has everything? you give him love. and hugs if you happen to be close. and it is pouring in already via facebook even before my birthday officially begins and i’m sure through other networks and means as the day progresses.

so much love, so many incredible people in my life, so much strong friendship, so many passionate, hungry-for-real-rich-fulfilling life people, so so much.

how could i possible want anything else? i already have everything.

my friend and former wedding photographer Bex Meissner sent me this link to a great article on the top five regrets people have before they die and it is well worth reading the whole article, but just to whet your appetite the top five regrets people mentioned are:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Really good time to give those some attention now and see if any of those areas are lacking in your life and make better choices and live differently if necessary… but to read the explanation of each point go and read the complete article here.

this is the first one…

and this second one on scripture i think is even more powerful

Take ten minutes and enjoy and be inspired and challenged.

in the beginning there was Jack Handey and such winners as:

“It’s sad that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of wild dogs.” [Jack Handey]

“Maybe in order to understand mankind we have to look at that word itself. MANKIND. Basically, it’s made up of two separate words “mank” and “ind.” What do these words mean? It’s a mystery and that’s why so is mankind.” [Jack Handey]

and so i set out to try my hand at handeyesque humour and brett andy’s were born… mostly not nearly as good, but every now and then i hit on something that works and you can see them all here if you have not… however, a year or so on and i am still trying to figure out how they work and could really use your help and so if you don’t mind taking a minute to read the next 15 and feeding back on any of them that made you smile, grin or even send some kind of liquid you were drinking straight through your nose… so leave a comment with maybe your top three or more if there were and thank you for your time… speaking of which…

“I HEARD ‘THYME HEALS ALL WOUNDS,’ BUT WHEN I RUBBED SOME OF IT INTO MY CUT LAST NIGHT IT JUST LEFT ME WITH THIS NASTY RASH.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“MR POTATO HEAD TOOK ONE LAST LOOK AT HIS REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR, BUT NOTHING COULD CHANGE THE TRUTH STARING BACK AT HIM. HIS HEAD WAS ALSO HIS BUTT.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“AS THE BLIND LADY ENTERED THE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT, SHE PONDERED THE IRONY.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“TWO ROADS DIVERGED IN THE WOODS AND I, I TOOK THE ONE LESS INFESTED BY HIDDEN ROBOT NINJA ZOMBIE ATTACK DOGS. AND THAT HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“AS SPRING CONTINUED TO PROGRESS SOMEWHAT MEDIOCRELY, HUMPTY DUMPTY REMINISCED ABOUT THE GREAT FALL HE’D HAD JUST MONTHS AGO.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“I’VE ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT THE GNU FAMILY CELEBRATES ON JANUARY FIRST?”

[BRETT ANDY]

“AS THE CLOUDS STARTED TO GATHER, YOU COULD TELL BY THE LOOKS ON THEIR FACES THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE ONE SERIOUSLY INTENSE MEETING.”

[BRETT ANDY]

‘ “STOP THROWING THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER!”  HANK KNEW THAT HIS WIFE WAS RIGHT. THAT WAS THE THIRD BABY THEY’D LOST ALREADY THIS WEEK.’ 

[BRETT ANDY]

“AS THE UGLY DUCKLING CAUGHT SIGHT OF HIS REFLECTION IN THE POND, HE SMILED QUIETLY TO HIMSELF. NEVER AGAIN WOULD HE BE CALLED THAT. AND HE WAS RIGHT. FROM THAT DAY FORWARD IT WAS ‘THE UGLY SWAN’ ALL THE WAY.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“HIS FRIENDS WATCHED AS BILLY’S LIFELESS BODY SLUMPED TO THE GROUND, EACH OF THE THOUSAND BLOOD DROPLETS EVIDENCE OF A CORRESPONDING CACTUS SPIKE. AND THUS TREE-HUGGING WAS PROPOSED.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“NICE GIRL,” THOUGHT PRINCE CHARMING TO HIMSELF, AS THEY DANCED CHEEK TO CHECK, “ALTHOUGH KINDA SMELLS LIKE PUMPKIN!”

[BRETT ANDY]

THE BLEEDING STOPPED. FROM THEN ON, IT WAS SIMPLY “RUDOLPH.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“AS I FINISHED JOINING THE DOTS AND STOOD BACK TO ADMIRE MY HANDIWORK, I WONDERED IF MY COUSIN LAURA, PRESENTLY RECOVERING FROM THE MEASLES, WOULD APPRECIATE IT AS MUCH AS I DID WHEN SHE WOKE UP.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“AS TIM UNWRAPPED HIS LAST CHRISTMAS GIFT, HE SUDDENLY THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, “PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE LEFT THAT TO THE PEOPLE I BOUGHT THEM FOR.”

[BRETT ANDY]

“THEY SAY YOU SHOULD GRAB LIFE BY THE BALLS, WHICH IS TRUE, BUT ALSO NEVER CONFUSE LIFE WITH ANOTHER MAN.”

[BRETT ANDY]

if you sneak your car in front of me when i am in a long line of traffic heading towards the off-ramp, i can respond in two ways – swear loudly and flip you the finger while holding my hand down on the hooter [horn to the americanese!] or i can choose to smile and give you the spot and enjoy the extra few moments i get to listen to music in my car while i drive home…

if you greet me in the morning with a grumpy face and don’t even greet me, i can choose to respond in kind or else i can realise that you had a late night and aren’t feeling so good are still on the way towards the coffee pot and flash you a smile and greet you warmly and then go and make you some coffee…

and so on. as the saying goes, “Offence isn’t given, it’s taken.”

Uncle Google seems a little unsure as to who coined the phrase first, but it is a deep truth. If we look at the life of Jesus, we see that He was given many opportunities to show offence [He was doubted, beaten, betrayed, denied, mocked, spat on, crucified] and yet the only times we see Him taking offence are when people are exploiting the poor in the temple grounds and when the religious teachers are exploiting the masses. On so many other occasions Jesus responds with a gentle response or a calm action or simply walks away from the fight. Jesus demonstrates this thing is possible.

and it will revolutionise your life once you get it. i am still working on it for sure, but i am a lot better than i used to be. choosing not to be offended when the opportunity for offence presents itself sucks the wind out of a potential fight or protects a relationship from being wounded.

getting offended and responding in offence is a choice. sometimes people or circumstances help to make that choice the easier one to go to, but it is always a choice. you do not have the power to offend me – i alone have the power to become offended. but it would help if you didn’t help so much.

try this for a week – choose for the next seven days to not get offended no matter what life or people throw at you – and report back here when you’re done and let me know how it goes… your life will be changed forever.

following on closely from helping others to laugh more and find their joy is to dream and be part of other people reaching theirs [especially those who maybe grew up thinking that they weren't even allowed to dream] – this makes me think immediately of people and things like brendan, val and many others and uThando leNkosi place of safety [http://www.uthandolenkosi.co.za] of my friend heather wonnacott and linawo children’s home as well as Vision afriKa [formerly vision K before it expanded - http://www.visionafrika.com] in Stellenbosch and even the simple way scholarship programme we are involved with.

i think one of the biggest problems in the world is that too many people exist and not enough truly live. [as much as that sounds too similar to a cheesy movie tagline i think it is true]

the tagline of this blog is “sucking the marrow out of life” and my friend jon pointed out to me the other day that it could also be seen as a play on words of the opposite idea of “sucking the life out of something” – as kids, most of us get to live life to the full and be fully enthusiastic and excited about everything, as teens and young adults we set out to change the world with all energy, enthusiasm and optimism and then BOOM, somewhere along the line we come into contact with disillusioned adults who gave up and settled or got hurt or burnt along the way and most of us [those who get tired fighting it] fall into line and do likewise.

we exist. but we stop living. well ‘we’ is not a good word there cos i certainly refuse to do that. and so should you – it is never too late to start living again.

if you are in a place of doing what you do where you are simply because that is all you’ve ever done or felt you could, then STOP!!!

take time to dream, to ask some “what ifs” [if i could be doing anything in the world right now, what would it be? if i was pursuing the passion God has put on my heart in a certain area, what would it look like? which of the 'least of these' is God wanting me to have greater interaction with?] and then take a chance, risk it, step out of the boat if Jesus has called you onto the waves [matthew 14.22-33]

you only live once, so make sure that you LIVE once… every day.

the beautiful val [tbV] and i are in a place and a context that is often difficult or overwhelming or challenging or frustrating for a whole variety of different reasons, but one thing we know for sure is that we are where God wants us to be at the moment [and it is also a place and context that is often incredible and uplifting and exciting and challenging too] and that in itself is enough to move us from existment to life… after all Jesus says in john 10.10 that it is the enemy who steals, kills and destroys [our dreams and passions and hope and adventure and risk and and and] and yet Jesus came to bring life and life to the full.

consider making this an evolution of your life in 2012 because… and really hear this… why not?

for the next powerful one on offence-taking click here.