The 'power' of one...a look into pervasive choices for singles

GregMissesRapture
Originally uploaded by bobmendo.

In 1981 I worked in New York City, home of five million single adults. Just a few years earlier I had married my wife in the middle of the US in a religious ceremony. We left our quiet university town and moved to major cities in the US over the next 17 years before leaving for Sydney in 1998. And the life of singles continues to advance and become sealed as normative for adults in the 21st century, throughout the west. In fact it is increasing at significant rates.

Increasing loneness

According to the Australian Board of Statistics, 25% of households are home to only one person, and they predict that by 2030 the statistic will rise to 33%. Raw data? There are 1.8 million households where couples are living with children. However there are more than that-- 1.96 million-- with only one person residing. This drastically up from a low of 5.5% back in 1971.

Of course we can point to divorce and a few other social factors changing society, as we know it. There is an apparent and significant esteem assigned to people who choose to live alone, all without stigma.

In my neighborhood in Sydney’s north, only one household involves people living alone. Most are still Mom and Dad houses with children of varying ages or couples who choose to stay together, sometimes even after a divorce.

You would think that most people who are alone would live in the urban areas, rather than my section of suburbia. And you would be wrong, as more than 60% of singles live in houses rather than units or flats. Also according to the ABS, upwards of 85% of singles have at least two bedrooms where they live.

Eating out can heighten the loneliness of a lonely place, as restaurant greeters say “Just one?” to the solo diner on entrance. The greeter might well rethink the use of the diminutive ‘just.’ I remember in New York in the sit-down delis the tables were long rows of merged tables for two, separated by two centimeters. People would sit opposite one another at distinct albeit very proximate tables in a criss-cross fashion and have a sense of community, although with New York loneness.
In fact most cities can heighten the loneliness people feel. Social researcher Hugh Mackay is quoted in The Bulletin (10 April 2007, page 34) as saying “lone dwellers increasingly turn to their communities to create connections. There will be ‘development of human herds to replace the domestic herds.’ “

How did we get there?

I believe two major inventions helped shape this change in herding. They both launched in the middle of the last century. Of course, computers and the automobile were major inventions as well in the 20th Century, but the two on which I see major sea change and focus are the television and the air conditioner. Before the 1940s people would seek entertainment together, in sporting venues, in theaters or in movie houses, even in public parks. With the invention of the television, entertainment moved into the family home and eventually into private rooms for one person at a time to enjoy. The Internet with its accompanying You Tube or .mp4 videos has made this feature that much more exaggerated.

When I was a young boy neighbors would sit on their porches and speak to one another during the hot evening hours each summer. A slight breeze would be all we needed to find a bit of comfort. But with the advent of air conditioning, we could go inside and find what we needed inside, without anyone else knowing, in a more private manner.

So combine those two inventions, the air conditioning and the television and as a result, people could both go inside avoiding social intercourse and be privately entertained, all alone. This privatization saw its growth through individual TV dinners and later as earlier referenced in the Internet, iPods and the like.

Longing for relationships

Now although privatization is the natural result of the Enlightenment and individual ‘rights’ in the French Revolution and deistic theology, there is at the same time a longing within private ones for relationships. Hence Mackay’s citation of herding. As a result we have the ‘relationships’ formed on mySpace and Facebook, where people who have absolutely nothing in common find one another and are placed in ‘friends’ relationships. They chat, they instant message, they share photos, songs and videos, as if they actually cared.

The more we privatize, the more we long for relationships. It’s an odd thing as reported in anti-pornography tomes that those (mostly) men who invest themselves in the industry of self-satisfying are actually looking for relationships with those objects of lust on the pages of the magazines or in the dusty parlors of sexual addiction. The ambivalence of male anonymity is mixed with a longing for knowledge of the woman who is seeking to be anonymous or at least ‘first name’ only.

What people have always wanted and what we still desire is relationship. No wonder then when God punished the first couple in the Garden of Eden, he separated them from Himself and actually from each other. They who had been partners in honour and sanctification were now going to be in a struggle, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3.16)

Jane Hanson, international president of Aglow Ministries, speaks often about the last days and one of the clearest signs will be a restoration of the unity in the family, a reunion of man and woman into God’s design for healthy respect and devotion. In the same way I see Jews and Gentiles being ‘one’ in the Body of Christ as part of the signs of last days, so Jane sees men and women being ‘one’ as evidence of the end of days.

And it all boils down to relationships. God wants His people to love one another as He loved them. That after all was the ‘new commandment’ (John 13.34). When Jesus issued this new word, it wasn’t to get us to love each other as ourselves (Lev. 19.18). That would have not been new. Nor was it simply ‘love one another.’ Which would have been vague and hard to quantify and categorize. No, he told us to love each other AS HE LOVED US. In the same way that He loved, we should love. With the cross in the foreground, Jesus tells us to love each other-- to die for each other, to sacrifice ourselves, to emulate and to perform what He did…that’s the new commandment. Not only is there a model, but there is also a power to accomplish this. By His Spirit, Jesus will help us accomplish this “love one another” challenge.

Planted together

105 times in the Newer Testament (NASB) we read the phrase, “one another” and by this we learn that God is very interested in how we work out this religion in community. It’s fairly impossible to be a saint alone, although not impossible. The ordinary way God works is to give us one another with whom to walk. He makes people to grow in church, in home groups, in fellowship with one another. Yes, it’s possible to be a solo saint, but very hard. Don’t argue from the exception to the normal, rather argue the opposite.

Psalm 68.7 teaches that God camps the singles into houses.” (My translation) The entire verse in NASB says, “God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” This seems to teach that individual religion, which is of such value here in Australia, is really a plan for a parched spiritual land. What God really wants is for people to be in families with one another.

Of course, there are exceptions and sometimes and for certain purposes God has people living alone in foreign lands, but the usual, the ordinary, the normal plan of God is to put individuals in people groups of His purpose.

As a missionary who speaks in over 100 churches each year, I find many individuals who attend my meetings who would do well to join the local church where they are visiting. There is such reluctance out there to ‘join’ due to fears or failures in the past. And yet, it’s God’s plan for the strengthening of the people of God.

What will the church look like in 2030? Will we be reflecting the society at large with 33% single households or will we be a counter-culture of fragmented people sharing God’s love together in houses. May it be that we welcome others into our lives, and they welcome us, and we all reflect God’s nature of community in these days and until He returns.

Tunnelling in Melbourne, Lane Cove and to you!

tunnel.jpg
Originally uploaded by bobmendo.

Opening the Tunnel

Down in Melbourne, only a ten-metre section of road was the scene on Friday of a horrific accident. And as a result the Burnley tunnel, with a terrifying fusion of metal and fire that shattered lives and will disrupt Melbourne's roads network for days.

Overhead, four florescent lights were blown out and burned strands of cabling hung from the roof. Underfoot, the tarmac was blistered and sticky - a sobering testimony of the fierce 1,000-degree inferno that engulfed the tunnel thoroughfare.

"That being said our priority now is to get the tunnel reopened as quickly as we can." So said a spokesperson for CityLink. There were eerie shadows in the dim lighting as they worked against a soundtrack of ear-splitting generators inside what is usually a bustling city arterial.

Soon the repairs and the repairers will be gone. The tunnel will reopen and tens of thousands of vehicles will barrel through daily, like they have done for more than six years.

Up in Sydney, on Sunday, just hours after the polls closed for conquering premier Morris Iemma, the Lane Cove Tunnel will also open. Who delayed the opening until such an auspicious day...well, it's not even a guess now is it?

The costs will be free for a month, similar to drug dealers wanting us to get hooked on the need for such a 3.6 kilometre which will cost each motorcar another $2.55 each way each day. Shocking and shameful. We don't support drug dealers and we won't get hooked, you can count on it. And like the ill-fated CrossCity Tunnel, citizens will simply bypass the extra five bucks a day after the free month and stick it to the company and the government they just elected.

But don't worry, after the company defaults its loans and goes into bankruptcy, the government will bail it out. And taxpayers will pay again. Like the 3 year project wasn't long enough to pay with major inconvenience. Ah, but Mr Iemma will enjoy being driven to another hearing on the issue.

When will the Minister for Transportation listen to reason in Sydney and make the toll roads prix fixe rather than a la carte? A person living in Pennant Hills who works in Fox Studios would end up paying for use of his vehicle each day, for his petrol as well as $4.40 for the M2, $2.55 for the 5-light saving LC Tunnel, $3 for the Harbour Tunnel, parking then on his return trip, he would pay $4.50 for the Eastern Distributor, $2.55 for the LC Tunnel again and another $4.40 for the M2. All up, tolls alone will cost him an obscene $21.40. No one, and that means frequent users especially, should have to pay more than $13 each day for use of any of Sydney's toll roads. This prix fixe charge would ENCOURAGE rather than discourage people from using the roads and get the cars onto the expressways. Isn't that what government wanted?

Thinking about tunneling brings up a lot of ideas. God actually tunnels to us each day, digging through the things we put up to block Him away from us. And about 2,000 years ago God tunneled through the darkness of humanity, sending His only Son to us, to become like one of us and to die for us. Then God did something even greater...if that's possible!

Y'shua (some call him "Jesus") rose from the dead. And He lives to this day, and offers to everyone eternal life. It comes with a price, but you cannot and may not pay it. He paid it all for us in repairing our relationship with the Lord. All you have to do is to believe and enjoy being driven from darkness to light. That's a great deal. And soon the repairer will return and welcome us to Eternity with Him.

Want to go for a free ride? Not for a month, but for all time.

Colma Cemetery

Colma.jpg
Originally uploaded by bobmendo.

Death and dying...true reality. One day it will bite us all. And what then?

Yesterday was the anniversary of my father's birth. He died 2 years ago. And there is not a week that goes by that I do not think about him. His wild antics, his silly jokes, his desire to make other people happy.

We had good times, not enough times, deep times and real hurtful times. But all together it was a good ride. I enjoyed my dad. He embarassed me at times and I was very proud of him at times. He drove to St Louis to see me in plays in uni days after having worked all week in and out of cars some 400 miles away. He loved Mom and that was top drawer.

But like everyone my dad passed away. And you will too. And you will end up with a gravestone like all these folks in Colma South of San Francisco.

What if they say of you that you are like this photo in Texas from a couple weeks ago

Grave Marker. Will you hope for a better signage?

What will you do with life after death? Will there be life after death for you? As Jewish believers in Jesus, we hold firm to the conviction that God has forgiven us and that we have passed from death to life. We await no further judgment. We are forgiven and enter into the presence of the Almighty.

What a great day that will be! And it can be great for you as well.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

In like a lion

March was always the month I enjoyed in my youth in Kansas City. It heralded Springtime. During March, my grandmother, sister, father and cousin were born. And it seemed as though the earth did as well. The school saying in the US was 'March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.'

Winter was almost over, school's ending was in sight, my life was taking a turn.

And maybe that's happening to you in the North as well. I've been in Texas and San Francisco this month and will return to Sydney on Sunday night. So I've been thinking more about March as 'in like a lion.' And 'out like a lamb.'

Lion and lamb. Sounds so biblical.
Listen to these uses of the phrase 'Like a lion'
For instance, in Job 10.16 ‘And should my head be lifted up, Thou wouldst hunt me like a lion; And again Thou wouldst show Thy power against me.
Psa. 7.2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
Psa. 17.12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear, And as a young lion lurking in hiding places.
Is. 38.13 “I composed my soul until morning. Like a lion — so He breaks all my bones, From day until night Thou dost make an end of me.
Jer. 12.8 “My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has roared against Me; Therefore I have come to hate her.
Jer. 49.19 “Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I shall make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”
Jer. 50.44 “Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I shall make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?”
Lam. 3.10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.
Dan. 7.4 “The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it.
Hos. 5.14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.
Hos. 11.10 They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar, And His sons will come trembling from the west.
Hos. 13.7 So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.
Mic. 5.8 And the remnant of Jacob Will be among the nations, Among many peoples Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young lion among flocks of sheep, Which, if he passes through, Tramples down and tears, And there is none to rescue.
Rev. 4.7 And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.

wow, what a list of creatures. leopards and eagles and bears, oh my!

Of course, Jesus is called the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah" and he is also the "Lamb led to slaughter" and the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

God is so kind to give us images to understand and to learn so we might be his kind of people.

And that will be the end of a spiritual winter, and your life will take a real turn.

Lost Tomb of Jesus

I found this blog on another site and it said EXACTLY what I want to say, so with permission (and Joe Biden watching... here it is. http://wizbangblog.com/)

James Cameron is a famous movie mogul. He claims to have found the tomb of Jesus. He also claims that Jesus was married to Mary Magdelene and had a child with her. Hmmm. This sounds familiar. Oh, right. The DaVinci Code. Cameron's a little late to this party.

A Hollywood director will today unveil three coffins he claims were those of Jesus, his mother Mary and his 'wife' Mary Magdalene. Cameron says he has proof that Jesus married Mary and that she bore him a son, Judah, who was buried alongside them.

The Lost Tomb of Jesus, made for the Discovery Channel, will be shown in the U.S. this week and later in Britain by Channel 4.

Today, Cameron is holding a press conference on what he describes as 'one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time'.

Crucially, he is not denying the resurrection - as there were no bones in the caskets.

But the £2 million film still strikes at the foundation of Christianity in the same manner as the novel The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, in claiming that Jesus married and had a family. His theory, which has already met with derision from experts, centres on a tomb found in the Talpiot suburb in 1980. Inside, archaeologists found ten coffins, or caskets for bones, and three skulls.

Six had names etched into them, which were translated as Jesus son of Joseph, Judah son of Jesus, Maria, Mariamne (thought to be Mary Magdalene's real name), Joseph and Matthew.

At the time the inscriptions provoked little interest. The Israeli Antiquities Authority said the names were common at the time.

A connection to the holy family was not made until 15 years later, when a film crew stumbled across the collection in a storeroom.

Though the bones had long since been reburied elsewhere, as was the custom, tiny traces of DNA left in the caskets were tested.

The results for the coffins labelled Jesus and Mariamne showed the two were not related by blood, leading Cameron and his team to conclude they were married.

However, the archaeologist who oversaw the work at the tomb described the theory as 'nonsense'.

Amos Kloner said the names found on the coffins had been found in tombs before, adding: 'It makes a great story for a TV film, but it's impossible.

'Jesus and his relatives were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the first century.'

And Mr. Kloner isn't the only one dismissing Cameron's claim:

But CBS News correspondent Mark Philips reports that, although archeologists have long argued over the factual and historic accuracy of Christianity's version of history, in this case, the archeological establishment has lined up to label this claim as bunk.

But scientists have argued the names etched into the stone ossuaries which held the bones, which can be seen at left in a photo from Kloner's book, were extremely common during that time period, and in no way prove that the Jesus of the Bible was buried at the site with his family.

Another researcher whose work has focused on the Middle East, biblical anthropologist Joe Zias, has dismissed Cameron's claims as "dishonest".

"It has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus, he was known as Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Jerusalem, and if the family was wealthy enough to afford a tomb, which they probably weren't, it would have been in Nazareth, not here in Jerusalem," he said.

He said the appearance of the names proved nothing.

Mr. Kloner makes another point that warrants mentioning: how are we do determine that the bones in the tomb were actually the bones of the Biblical Jesus of Nazareth? Compare his DNA to God's? How does one get a mouth swab from God?

Rabbis in the shul: A video

Rabbis in the Shul



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Description: Hassidic Rabbis surrounded by their Jewish fans on the dancefloor, shake to the beat of (Aviad Cohen) 50 Shekel's "In Da Shul," which is a parody of 50 Cent's "In Da Club." 100% Jewish music!