go the swans!

last night we got to go to an afl game. now, on the surface afl (australian football league) seems like rugby. but apparently it's not. i guess the ball is a little bit longer or something and there are some slightly different rules. if you call it rugby in front of an aussie you will get at least 5 minutes worth of lecturing on the differences. basically, this is how it works: there are 3 different things--afl, rugby league, and rugby union (also they will say football, or soccer, which isn't even the same sport so i don't know why they include it in there). in new south whales (where sydney is), they call afl aerial ping pong because apparently it's not as hardcore as the others. but in victoria it is the big one, and everyone likes it more. if you refer to "footie," you could be referring either rugby league or afl (depending on where you are or where you're from. in victoria afl is footie, but in sydney it's rugby league). rugby union is just "rugby." and gridiron is american football. it's all very confusing... but i think i'm getting the hang of it.

anyway... it was heaps of fun. here are some pictures from the game:

esther, me, and elle in front of the stadium. check out the red and white... we have team spirit :)

so... we were going for the sydney swans (i know... very intimidating mascot). we didn't have any swans gear so we drew some on our face. turns out people don't really do that here... haha.

haha... we were cheering hardcore. actually, at this point we were just practicing. hehe

some things you should notice in this picture: 1-look at the swans' awesome socks! 2-look how freakin short those shorts are! 3-they are wearing NO protection. and i mean NONE. rumour has it they aren't even allowed to wear underwear.

i would have to say that rugby (my bad... afl) might be my new favorite sport to watch. it never really stops and they are hardcore and all over the place. it's a toss up between this and soccer... but i will say that afl players are in the best shape of any athletes i've ever seen. hands down.

now i have something more serious to write about...

last wednesday mark driscoll from mars hill church in seattle was here for this thing called "burn your plastic jesus," which i really wanted to go to but didn't really realize that it was going on until the last minute and it was sold out. actually some kids in one of my classes had an extra ticket, but scott just did a series that seems like the exact same thing at flatirons which i listened to online, so brittany went instead. anyways... today i found out that he was gonna be speaking at this little baptist church that some of the asc'ers go to, so i decided to go check it out. i get kinda cynical about famous pastors, so i didn't really have high expectations, but i went anyway. i'm so glad i did. seriously, there is a reason he's so well-known. we went early because even though it was kept pretty much on the DL that he was gonna be there, they expected a lot of people. this church was super tiny, so they had us all cram on the pews. i ended up in the front row (literally directly in front of him. like 3 feet away. like spit zone close. it was somewhat uncomfortable, but no one else wanted to sit there so a couple of the other girls and i took one for the team.) anyways... he was freakin awesome. i guess usually he's really funny and energetic, but the topic tonight was pretty serious, plus i think he was tired (he's doing like 30 talks in 11 days or something crazy like that). but he was still good.

he talked about the doctrine of propitiation. sounds super lame and boring, but it was actually one of the best sermons i've ever heard. i took like 4 pages of notes, but i'll try to make this short. basically, it was about sin and how God is holy, and we are not, so we are basically His enemies. people always focus on God's love, but they ignore His wrath and the fact that it is because He loves us that He gets angry when we sin against Him. sin breaks relationships, and because of our sinful nature our relationship with Him is flawed, and He hates sin for that. but just because God is capable of being angry doesn't mean that He just flies off and shows His wrath. God is perfect, and therefore His anger is perfect. His anger is slow to come and it's often delayed. it can be turned away, like it has been in all kinds of Bible stories. also God's wrath is shown in 2 ways: active and passive. most people think of the active side, like Him smiting people and stuff, but the passive side is what happens more. that's when He hands us over to sin and lets us do what we want. that's when stuff gets really screwed up, and that's when people try to blame God for their own decisions. so it all sounds angry and crappy, but that's where the doctrine of propitiation comes in. it basically means this: we are all guilty sinners, and God's wrath is on all of us, which we deserve. but He sent Jesus to become our sin and God poured out all His wrath on Jesus so that we can live. it's pretty much the basic gospel message, but it's so much deeper than just that. he talked about exactly what the crucifixion looked like and what it meant. it was seriously so powerful. i'm still just overwhelmed and in awe of what a huge deal it is!

one thing that he talked about that really made me think and that i want to look at more is the whole "love the sinner, hate the sin" thing. do you know where that phrase came from? Ghandi! that is not actually biblical at all... it's from a hindu man (i'm not dissing ghandi... i'm just saying he was not so much a theologian). the bible actually mentions multiple times that God hates sinners. so where is the line between us being sinners that God hates and being sinners saved by grace because He loves us? i wish that i could have talked to mark driscoll and picked his brain about that, but i'm definitely gonna look into it more. anyways... it was pretty great. i'm glad that i went :)

o jeez

it is incredibly overwhelming and frustrating being a christian. today in the view from australia we talked about our last reading (and by reading, i mean skimming... hehe), which was about economics and consumer behavior. then we had a guest speaker come in and talk to us about consumer behavior in australia and around the world, as well as how to deal with finances as a christian. i feel like i've heard more about economics and justice and consumerism and everything that goes along with all that so much in the last year. i guess a big part of it has to do with the fact that i've just been learning so much more about the world in that time. one of the first things we talked about was this thing called "affluenza." apparently in australia, one of the richest nations in the world, there is this thing where people never feel like they have enough. now, i already knew that australians as a nation tend to feel like they have somehow been given the shaft in the world--like they are the little brother that everyone kinda just tolerates. but i didn't really realize how much that extends down to individuals, and how, although they put on this carefree front, most australians feel like they don't have enough. and i know it's obviously not just australians (seriously... america is the most consumer-driven nation ever. and i'm pretty sure the whole world wishes they could have more). but i guess it just opened my eyes to the fact that it is not just america. after that we talked about our role as christians in the world's economics. how much is too much? how much of what we have should we be giving away? is it wrong to spend money on yourself when you know that there is someone in the world who doesn't have enough to even survive? these are all questions that i've wrestled with over and over and over again. and to be perfectly honest, i don't know. but the speaker was actually incredible and he talked about "God's economics." he used examples of how God had the people set up societies in the Bible. one of the central and most important aspects was justice. He made sure that the poor were provided for (with the whole saving the edge of the crops thing.). He provided for the widows. He allowed for some shifting in the distribution of wealth, but He also made a time where all debt was forgiven and everything was given back. i wonder how the world got so far from this model of justice? how have we gotten to the point where we buy so much into what advertisers tell us that we forget about the rest of the world? i guess it just really made me think. do i want to sell all my possessions now and live on the streets? no... and i don't think that's what i'm meant to do. but i do think i need to be more aware, and to start taking the smaller steps that i can toward justice. i don't think anyone can ever really have it just right. but i definitely think there are things that, as Christians, we definitely can and should do to try and help the world.
this post really doesn't even come close to describing how i feel exactly, and it probably doesn't make much sense at all. but it's just me pouring out some of my thoughts from today...

let me just tell you about these conversations...

this morning bekah and i had a breakfast date. it was great :)

then i had my service. i hung out with jim the ladies man most of the time. he spent about an hour telling me all these stories from when he was in the army. then he looked over at joe, who had fallen asleep (he does that a lot) and this is how the conversation went:
jim: "he's sick of listening to all this baloney i'm telling you."
me: "you mean none of that stuff is true?"
jim: "nope. it's all lies. i've been making it up as i go."
then he started laughing a lot! what the heck... little turd :)

then jim left and i was talking to joe. i asked him about how he met his wife. this is how it went down:
he had a friend that owned a clothing factory, and joe stopped by to say hi to him at work. he pointed over at this girl and said, "hey, who's that brunette over there?" and his friend said, "that's my sister, mary." so joe went over and talked to her, then 2 weeks later they were married! i asked him how that happened and he goes, "i said to her: 'you're lonely. i'm lonely. and i have a house.'" haha... how funny is that!

it was a pretty good day... now i have to sit through 3 hours of class during dinner time.

aquarium and pictures!

i'm using the internet in the house today, so it's easier to upload pictures. these are super random... i need to get some of my flat and stuff. but for now...

today we had mandatory roommate day, and we went to the aquarium! it was very fun.

these are just some of the asc girls a couple weeks ago... we're standing in front of the real world house! i want to go back and get pictures in the day... it's very exciting.

this is the coolest guy ever. his name is steve and he works at the aquarium... he showed us all the coolest starfish and let us hold them, then he took us around and showed us some secrets of the aquarium. i can't write them on here... he said we can't tell anyone. but he also told us a funny story about a koala. ask me when i get home and i'll tell you.

2 of the roomies and me by a shark... haha, hippy steve took it.

the tunnel of awesomeness! seriously... there were so many sharks. and there was a giant stingray! it was sweet.

haha... this is my host brother keiran. he's a big dork... but i like him :)

things that being abroad has taught me so far...

-getting mail has the power to make my day *hint hint*
-not having a phone is glorious!
-not having a phone also makes life a little more difficult...
-no matter how great an accent is, being around it all the time makes it not quite so exciting.
-time flies. seriously.
-sometimes first impressions are exactly right.
-sometimes they are not.
-walking to my pigeon hole and seeing a letter makes me happy *more hinting*
-praise the Lord for public transportation.
-sometimes it would be nice to have a car.
-most of the time it's great not having a car.
-it's a lot more expensive to send stuff from australia than from the states *seriously*
-not being able to talk to your closest friends whenever you want sucks.
-but it's also a blessing in disguise.
-God is good (already knew that one... but He reaffirms that every day.)

...

sometime i just really don't feel like writing. that's how i've been the last few days. and it's crazy because i've had so much on my mind...
on tuesday in my view from australia class we had a speaker come in and talk about christianity in australia. then we broke into our processing groups and talked about what he had to say and also our church visits. one of the topics of discussion was finding a church that keeps you awake and entertained but doesn't just focus on that. hillsong was mentioned a lot and how they have such great worship and all this great media, which is great. but they focus a lot on the "health and wealth" or "prosperity doctrine," which says that if you trust in God He will bless you financially and physically. everyone in the group agreed that is really not okay. one of the girls asked: "how do i find a church that i don't fall asleep at, but that still agrees with my doctrine?" everyone in the group seemed to think that it's almost impossible to find a church that uses expensive media to help their message, but doesn't try to tell people that they will automatically be rich if they have enough faith in God. i guess i've just been so spoiled with flatirons, because i think they do an awesome job of finding that balance. that conversation made me really miss flatirons. even though hillsong is great, it definitely does have that "health and wealth" air about it. i'm trying to keep a good attitude about church here, though, because really i'm only gonna be here 3 more months.
one of the things that has been the hardest for me here is just staying in the moment. it's so hard not to focus on what's going on at home and what i miss. it's not even so much that i'm homesick (even though i miss everyone heaps). i just can't wait to share the things i've experienced. i'm so excited to get home and see everyone again and tell stories and make food and just be together. but i don't want to spend my time here just looking forward to that. i want to be here, in the moment, soaking up everything that's going on. it's so easy for me to just put things off, thinking i have plenty of time to do them. but i don't! i've already been here over a month, and i've hardly done anything on my list.
i did finally go to the beach though! i went to bondi on tuesday after class with brittany and cameron. before that we went to pancakes on the rocks. let me just tell you about pancakes: i have heard about this place from day 1 and how i have to go there. i love breakfast and especially pancakes, so i was pretty excited. o. my. gosh. it was so wonderful. and i would not consider it a breakfast place. almost all of their pancakes have ice cream on them, and they have all different kinds. i got some with grilled bananas, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. it was freakin good, but i think next time i won't get ones with chocolate. they were so rich! but seriously... so delicious. the beach was amazing too! bondi is world famous and i've seen tons of pictures and stuff, but i was actually really surprised at how small it is. it's probably the length of 3 football fields and crescent shaped, with cliffs on either end. but it was gorgeous and there were tons of surfers even though it was freezing and the sand was so soft! i will be at the beach a lot from now on.

ace!

yesterday was such a good day! seriously... relaxing, good conversations, good church, good people. wonderful. i basically got to sleep in, then i just hung out all day. then last night i went to hillsong, which was awesome. i've been getting somewhat frustrated lately because i haven't really gotten to separate from the group a whole lot, and i've been praying for an opportunity to find something like a small group or Bible study or anything outside of the asc or wesley to get involved in. so i was at hillsong right before service started and i was trying to find a bathroom before worship. i walked out and thought i was going the wrong way, so i turned around to go the other direction, and i saw a friend that i haven't seen since middle school! i knew she was here, and we've actually talked some on facebook and stuff, but i was fully not expecting to see her, so it was very exciting. it was funny because i had literally just been praying and telling God that i was not gonna try to force anything and that i would just trust Him to give me an opportunity to branch out, and then i ran into her. it's crazy how God works... so i'm really excited because hopefully we'll get to hang out a lot while i'm here. after that i was all pumped, so worship was awesome, and the service was great. it was going along with the echoes theme (like how last week was about secondhand experiences and how they are just echoes of the real thing...), and this week was about intimacy and how our desire for love and companionship comes from God and his desire for the same thing, and He shows His love for us often times through people. then... the most exciting part... they sang "how He loves!" i seriously freaked out and i was singing along and probably annoying the people around me, but i don't even care. it was a good night...
today i had my service (last week i didn't get to go because there were a lot of sickies and so the place was basically on lockdown so it wouldn't spread anymore). they're still stuck in their rooms because a few people are still sick, so i just got to go hang out with them, which was good. there is one lady, rosie, who is having a really hard time being forced to stay in her room, so i was asked to go hang out with her for a little while. they said i just needed to stay with her for a half hour or so, and i ended up being in there for 3. she is so lovely... we basically just talked about everything and she showed me pictures and stuff. it was really hard, though, because she's really lonely. i just don't really know how to handle situations like that, but i did all i know to do, which is just be with her and listen and show her i love her. towards the end of my time i noticed she had a little christmas pillow, and i asked her if she likes christmas. she seriously lit up! she started talking about how it's her favorite time of year and it beats any other day or night by a long shot. and then she goes: "i love christmas, and i can sum up why in one word: Jesus." then she went on and on about how great Jesus is. it was seriously so precious, and it was awesome because it just opened more doors to more conversations. i love when stuff like that happens :)