Winter Wonderings

Recently I submitted this photo to a website, reflecting on the Winter Solstice.

Some leaves have fallen, exposing arboreal skeletons. Other leaves are primed. Some staunch hangers-on remain green even on this shortest day, reminding us of the promise of spring on the day the solar tide turns from its ebb.


During the past few days I've been thinking about why I like winter. This morning it was the ice in the birdbath outside, the still air and the frost. For a month or so now I've noticed the sunrise, and some have been spectacular. Our woodheater is in near-constant use at the moment, and I love it!


What does winter mean to you?

Fog or Son: where are you looking?

This morning, patches of fog presented themselves as I rode to work. Travelling toward the sun as I rode, it was quite glary at times, and difficult to see through. I noticed that my visor, jacket and jeans collected moisture, remaining on me as evidence of the fog through which I'd travelled.

As I looked at the fog, my destination blurred. Once I recognised this and set my sights back on the destination, my journey became clearer.

It occurred to me that, often in life, I get distracted by the fog around me. Too often I turn my gaze toward the fog: my schedule, tasks, relationships, various roles I fulfill, temptations. More than I like to admit, I actually pursue the things within the fog. In addition, I carry some evidence on me that I've been through fog.

Things become much clearer when I return my gaze to the Son in my life. The fog is still around, but my direction is clear.

Are you looking at the fog or the Son?

A promise of things to come

Riding east this morning, piles of dark cumulus were gilt. The intense brightness would soon flood my view. For now, though, the golden tops of the clouds were the deposit afforded by the sun, my promise of things to come.


In my life, dark as my heart can be, I live with a gilt edge (not an edge of guilt!). It is the deposit of God's Holy Spirit in me, afforded through the obedient life of Christ. My guarantee is that one day Jesus will return for me. It is my promise of things to come.


"[God] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Cor 1:22

Australia's pivotal moment: have we learned from our mistake?

What a picture! There are a few variations kicking around, but they all carry pretty much the same wording, reminiscent of the political change that gave Kevin Rudd the Prime Minister's job in 2007.

Right now we, Australia, are at a potentially crucial pivotal point in our history and, in the near future, we may have the chance out of seemingly nowhere to rid ourselves of some very suspect legislation that would cripple us (more on that below).

For the past four years we've had a (minority) Labor government split in two which, about a year ago, experienced a major upheaval when the leader was talked up and then sniped by one of his ministers. Now, the ex-leader has returned the challenge; on Monday, caucus will vote on the (new?) leader of our governing party. There is so much wrong with this party leading our nation (if indeed it was actually this party leading our nation in the last year or so).

In the past year, Ms Gillard has sided with the Greens. This party, born out of good intentions a few decades ago at the Franklin river, has lost its green focus and has descended into the party where it seems anyone can have their say for the sake of social "progress". The carbon tax is (currently) possibly the biggest and most dangerous thing for our nation's future and, despite Ms Gillard's assurances that it would not see the light of day (my words), it is nearing reality for us. The reason for this? Without the support of the Greens (who drove the deceptive legislation - yes, that is my descriptor, and with good reason), Labor couldn't govern. To retain power, an alliance was made that has disillusioned many about the state of the current Labor party.

Australia stands to pay in excess of $3.5 billion per year for carbon credits. These are to be purchased so that we can offset our guilt for "polluting" the atmosphere with carbon. We buy these credits from countries who are supposed to employ carbon capture and storage procedures (the largest of which is to plant trees). Some of these nominated countries, however, have governments rife with corruption or are impoverished. I wonder:

• Will my carbon credits come with an ironclad guarantee that my guilt money has been used to plant x trees in Laos?
• How many other countries have adopted or look like adopting a carbon pricing scheme? (Hint: the answer is less than 1).
• How much will the global temperature drop as a result of Australia's bankruptcy under this legislation?  Figures at the time of the legislation's initial lower house passing put it at around 2/1000 of a degree Celsius.

The Greens are in a very precarious position. If Labor remains divided, the Greens could well lose the power they currently hold over the nation. Is it just me or have they been quieter than usual in the past day or so? Who would they rather see at the head of the Labor Party?

If, after Monday, the Labor Party cannot unite behind its leader, we may very soon be asked to vote in a general election. This could be our chance to repeal the carbon tax legislation by not voting for the Greens or Labor. It could well be the only chance we ever get to avoid the devastation sold to us as "reform".

Have we learned from 2007's "change"? Is it really working for us? Has it ever done so?

Our Little Butterfly: Jasmine's Short Visit

It's hard to believe four years have passed already. In 2007, October 20th was a Saturday night. There was pizza in the oven and Melissa and I were looking forward to dinner. Toby was just over a year old and Mel was 17 weeks' pregnant.

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. Verses like this one (Romans 8:28) sound terrific when things are going well. But can we hold to those verses and cling to their promises when everything goes pear-shaped?

The contractions started at about 5pm, and on the way to the hospital they got worse. Melissa prayed for peace and immediately felt protected and relaxed within herself.

Five minutes after entering Emergency, Melissa’s waters broke. A bed was found. Melissa was being asked a few questions when another contraction occurred, and she began to deliver.

At 8:10pm Jasmine arrived. The nurses were unsure what our response would be, and even wondered whether Melissa fully realised she had given birth. But she knew, and I looked at the baby for the first time, seeing a tiny, yet fully-formed, ear. The nurses were shocked by the smile and look of awe on my face, and we explained to them that we were Christians and told them about the peace we had prayed for earlier. This changed the atmosphere completely.

When our baby was born, her heart was still beating. She passed away in our arms.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

We were able to hold our perfectly-formed little girl and gaze in wonder at God’s creation. Looking at her fingernails and toenails, and at her tiny lips, we marvelled at how perfect and fully-formed she was at such an early stage.

We named her Jasmine; gift from God.

Delirious penned a great song:

I'll see you when I get there,
Shining like the sun.
I'll see you when I get there,
Into your arms I'll run.

I see you when the wind blows,
Running without fear,
Born to rest in your fathers arms,
Your joy has dried the tears.

I'll see you when I get there,
When my life's complete,
Will you take me to Jesus' feet?
Hand in hand we'll sing.

We're gonna sing for you.

Dear Jasmine, Our Little Butterfly, our Gift from God,

You didn't stay long, but we loved every minute we shared with you.

You revealed our Lord's Grace and Mercy and Love not only to us, but to all who met you.

We look forward to meeting you again in Heaven.

We'll see you when we get there: our little girl, all grown up.

We love you.

Mummy and Daddy.

Gillard's (and The Greens') Carbon Tax: ridiculous? Yes! And deceitful. And crippling.

I know. It's a political post. On the proposed carbon tax. This post is in a different vein to previous posts. I hope it helps clarify the seriousness of this proposed absurd legislation and what it would do to us and our country. Please read it.

Professor Henry Ergas on the carbon tax

Alan Jones speaks to Professor Henry Ergas about the carbon tax on radio 2GB.

Monday, 19 September 2011

Professor Henry Ergas is a regulatory economist and I will not list his CV here; it’s in the interview here (you may need to copy and paste the address if the link hasn't published properly: http://www.2gb.com/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=10154

Please note: If you listen to the interview (14:30 min) the intro uses strong language (not coarse language), but listen past that. The interview is very telling and disturbing.

The following is my summary of the interview.

There are 963 pages of legislation (and 1100+ pages with addenda). Buried in there are some very troubling intentions and this government needs to be told that we do not want this carbon tax!

A carbon tax will do nothing to halt emissions. Jobs will be at risk with a tax that will do nothing, even if you believe GW is anthropogenic.

We are told by the Gillard government that the tax is a market-based solution. It is a government tax, not a market-based solution! Even after the tax, emissions will continue to rise.

If this becomes law, we will buying the carbon permits for $650 million dollars - from overseas!

The legislation is deliberately structured so that future removal of this legislation will cost enormously. Mark Dreyfus, the Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change (on the Carbon Tax side!), says that repeal would mean the Commonwealth would have to seize a “valuable asset” (carbon permits will be called personal property) from the population, and therefore have to pay compensation “on just terms” (remember the movie The Castle?).

No other country’s government has ever treated pollution permits as conventional property. This is so that, in those countries in future, revision of the legislation can be done without stagnating the country economically. Australia’s Labor legislation has been deliberately worded so that any changes in future would automatically require billions to be paid to the people.

Further, if a new government rejected the emission reduction recommendations made by the Carbon Regulator, they would then have to secure a majority in parliament for a new target, otherwise the target is automatically set to 10% reduction, regardless of the damage that might do to the economy. The government can’t even replace the Carbon Regulator because of the way the legislation is set up.

It even undermines the democratic process. The majority of people don’t want the tax, they elect someone else to get rid of it, and then that new government finds themselves stuck, having to pay billions back to the people. This will only serve to get them in turn kicked out of office and put Labor back in.

THIS IS BEING PUSHED BY LABOR AND THE GREENS WITHOUT ANY AGREEMENT WORLDWIDE ON EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS! Australia could be locked in to these diabolical costs even if the rest of the world decides to drop emissions targets.

Prof Ergas: “The only justification for having a carbon tax would be if it would solve or addresses the problem of GW, but if it won’t do that, then all it really is is an extremely inefficient and economically costly tax.” (My emphasis.)

60% of our permits would come from overseas, so we’re only helping other countries create their cleaner future. But will it even help those countries do that? Treasury has said the countries we’ll be buying from include countries like Laos, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan. These countries are rife with corruption and inefficiency, and it is likely that our money will do everything but help the environment.

This proposed legislation will affect the economy and Australians for decades to come.

Jasmine and Zoe: faith in spite of circumstances.

Crisis times reveal to us where our faith is at. On October 20th 2007, Jasmine was born to Mel and I as a premature baby before passing away in Mel's arms. She was at 17 weeks' gestation. I say she was premature and not miscarried because she was delivered alive. When Zoe stopped breathing and had a 25-minute fit in mid-February 2010, we weren't sure how mentally fit she would be if she came out of it. Those two situations are complete stories in themselves, and they were extremely difficult to walk through. Yet from those situations came an increased faith that we carry today.

Most people have some sort of faith and, of those who do there are, broadly speaking, two distinct types of faith. The difference between the two types is our conviction. Abram carried conviction.

Genesis 15 tells us that Abram had no children. This meant no heir. Everything of Abram's for which he'd spent his life working - flocks, herds, servants, property - would pass to a man outside his bloodline, possibly to his servant. He asked God about this when God's word came to him. God took him outside at night and showed him the stars, saying his descendants will be as numerous as they. Then Genesis 15:6 says Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Abram's belief (faith) came out of the conviction that God would do what he promised. Note something very important here. Abram believed God would do, not just that God could do. This is the conviction ingredient, and the ingredient God looked for in order to transfer Abram's faith from a promise to a reality.

Our faith grew tangibly through the time of Zoe's seizure. I was following the ambulance which was carrying Mel and Zoe. Suddenly I felt something rise within me. Instead of just believing that God could heal Zoe and praying along those lines, I believed that God would heal her and began praying with more conviction. The difference was immediate: instantly Zoe stopped fitting (she was at the 25-minute mark by then) and started crying, which the paramedics said was a good thing. Two minutes later the ambulance stopped to transfer Zoe to a MICA ambulance, which gave Mel and I the opportunity to talk. I found out Zoe stopped fitting two minutes earlier and told Mel about the difference in my prayer. Mel told me she experienced the same feeling I  had.

So what's the difference in our faith? In Abram's and Zoe's situations the difference was changing my focus from God can to God will. Few of us doubt God's ability, so the God can faith is easy. Until my prayer changed gear, I was praying things like "God I know you can heal; I know you can heal Zoe". Now sometimes God doesn't heal. We may or may not ever understand the reason. But with a conviction that God will comes a peace that, no matter the outcome, God loves us and is still in control.

The difficult faith is the God will faith. You find yourself in a situation of need and you realise (sometimes agonisingly) that there is nothing important enough or good enough in yourself that will convince God to act on your behalf. Yet you find yourself praying "God, I know you are a healing God. I believe that you will intervene in Zoe's situation for me and on my behalf. Thank you". You still can't see any possible way this could be OK, yet you choose to believe that it will be OK.

When we lost Jasmine, Mel and I believed that everything would be OK because God says in the Bible in Romans 8 that all things work together for the good of those who love [God], who are called according to his purpose. Since that time, despite losing Jasmine without a healing miracle for her, many opportunities have arisen to tell others about God's faithfulness and overwhelming love in and through our crisis, and the healing for Mel and I, which came out of our brief time with Jasmine, was amazing.

It was Abram's God will faith that God counted as Abram's righteousness. It was Abram's God will faith in action again that carried him through the agony of very nearly sacrificing his own son, Isaac. Without going into the following stories, it was the God will faith of people like Noah, Moses and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego which enabled them to see the other side of their circumstances.

OK, but what if God doesn't? Despite our God will faith, sometimes he doesn't answer our prayer, and this can be excruciating. The Bible says that God is faithful, and that he knows all things and will sustain us. If our God will faith doesn't seem to be met, God knows the reason, even if we don't or never do. He calls us to put our God will faith into action again: God will make things OK once more. God will heal. God will get a great testimony out of this journey, regardless of the outcome, because I trust him.

God certainly can. What he wants is for us to believe that he will.

Every day I thank God for Zoe. Whenever I remember Jasmine, I thank God for her too - with fondness, not regret or sadness. God is good. Keep watch for Jasmine's and Zoe's stories.