Wellington's Not For Me

Here's a poem I wrote a few years back.

I was born and raised in Christchurch, but moved to Wellington in the 80's, and it's fair to say it took some time to adjust to life in a completely different city.

Things changed not long after this, when I met the woman I would marry (see 'Real Friends Tell Their Friends The Truth). 

Enjoy!

Frequent Flyer, Frequent Flyer

A lighthearted poem I wrote when waiting for an international connection on the way home from a missions trip to India / Bangladesh - and watching (other) people getting upgrades...

Enjoy!

Real Friends Tell Their Friends The Truth

I was brought up in Church on a lie.

And I bought it: hook, line, and sinker.

I never had a lot of friends growing up. I guess I never had that 'magnetic' personality that came naturally to some.

The closest friends that I did have, though, all attended to the same church as I did. My parents started dragging me to Sunday School at the Baptist Church around the corner from our home in Christchurch, New Zealand, right from a wee age. Actually, that's wrong, they didn't have to drag me, I rather enjoyed it.

My Favourite Christian Tunes Through The Years (Part 2)

Just when you thought you knew all my eclectic music tastes... 

Well, not long after posting my first list of favourite Christian music, I started remembering some of the other weird bands / musicians I used to listen to, and thought to myself  'how did I not include that one?'

Enjoy...

In Remembrance...My Heart Is Broken, Too

Like everybody else in the world, I turned on the TV on the morning of 9/11/01, and watched in unbelief at the horrific scenes before me.

I wrote this poem the following week, and posted it on a Christian Poetry forum (re-posting date Sep 2002 if you're looking for it). Some of my other poems are there also.

This is dedicated to those whose lives were forever changed by the tragedy.

Scenes of Kolkata - Hope Amid The Havoc

In 2002 my wife and I were blessed to travel through Kolkata while on a Mission Trip.

After seeing the poverty, smelling the horrible stench, and feeling claustrophobic with the overcrowding, I became angry and bitter towards God.

But rather than God changing Kolkata, He changed my heart instead...

Waiting...waiting...waiting

One of the most frustrating things we came across in our Missions trip to India was the time it took to move anywhere.
And if anything involved state or government officials, you could guarantee that would make it all that much worse, and the whole process would grind to a snail's pace. It was obvious that speed and efficiency was not their forte.

For example; there were six of us in the Mission party. We needed to cross the border from Bangladesh to India, near Brahambaria, on foot. Apart from a couple of men in an old blue truck, we were the only people making a crossing at that time.
There were 2 huts on the side of the dusty road in both countries, with two big barrier arms blocking the road and a no-mans land in between - much like you saw in those old Cold War spy movies (but without the barbed wire and machine guns!).
The Bangladesh side took about an hour to process the group - not bad, given the poor resources at their disposal.
But when we passed through the barrier into India, well, that's another story...

They would look over every page of our passports and visas, ask questions, then write the answers manually in a book. Then the book would be passed to another, who would copy details from that book into another book. This happened about four times. Then finally the last person would stamp the visa.

Three and a half hours later in the exhausting heat we finally left the border area and collapsed into the waiting vans.

After many ordeals like this one, I penned my frustrations...

The Charlatans of Chandpur

In 2002 during a missions trip to Bangladesh, I passed through a town named Chandpur.

Like all towns we visited in Bangladesh, our party was the biggest thing around, with everyone crowding around us to stare at the 'rich' white people.

The opportunity to peddle their wares inevitably arose, and you felt like their lives depended on it...

QE2 Stadium - Gone But Not Forgotten

Queen Elizabeth II Stadium in Christchurch was state-of-the-art when completed in 1973 for the Xth British Commonwealth Games the following year.

 

The pool complex behind the track venue

It was an all-in-one facility, staging all track and field sports for the Games, as well as all the pool competitions.

The bulldozers finish off what the earthquake started

I visited the site of stadium in January 2013, after the Canterbury earthquakes, to find a pile of rubble...







So why is this any more significant to me than any other buidling in Christchurch?

Unshakeable - My Tribute

When peace like a river attendeth my way;
When sorrows like sea billows roll -
Whate'er my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
"It is well, it is well with my soul!"

Thus say the words of a famous old hymn written by Horatio Spafford.

And thus say the words of a picture that hangs on the wall of my lounge.

My Favourite Christian Tunes Through The Years

I have been told that I have a funny music taste...!

Here are just a few samples of my my favourite Christian Artists, songs and genres over the years.

Click on the clips to laugh at enjoy my wierd taste! 

The Outlaw, by Larry Norman 

Showing my age here! Larry was the Grandfather of Christian Rock, the original Jesus Freak, and was one of the first Christian artists I saw live back in the late 70's. He came to NZ numerous times, and I once bumped into him in a music shop in ChCh in the 80's! Larry sadly died of heart disease in 2008.