These words were written so long ago, yet they still ring true to the church today. If Ablaze and Powerhouse is to ever make a change, we need to make sure our hearts and minds are engaged at EVERY Service and at EVERY life group.

Otherwise, we might as well go home and carry on with the rest of our lives.

Pea plant grows inside man’s lung

A Massachusetts man who was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung came home with an unusual diagnosis: a pea plant was growing in his lung.

Ron Sveden had been battling emphysema for months when his condition deteriorated.

He was steeling himself for a cancer diagnosis when X-rays revealed the growth in his lung.

Doctors believe that Mr Sveden ate the pea at some point, but it "went down the wrong way" and sprouted.

"One of the first meals I had in the hospital after the surgery had peas for the vegetable. I laughed to myself and ate them," Mr Sveden told a local Boston TV reporter.

Mr Sveden said the plant was about half an inch (1.25cm) in size.

"Whether this would have gone full-term and I’d be working for the Jolly Green Giant, I don’t know. I think the thing that finally dawned on me is that it wasn’t the cancer," Mr Sveden said.

He is currently recovering at home with his wife Nancy, who joked that God must have a sense of humour.

Facts:

The People’s Union for Democratic Rights were a group commissioned three social scientists to investigate and inquire into the conditions of construction workers in the lead-up to the 1982 Asian Games held in India. Based on the report, they complained of various violations in labour laws including, among other things:

1) Workers wages were siphoned off by middle-men rather than given to the workers directly

2) The women who were working there weren’t paid an equal wage

3) Children under the age of 14 were working at these construction sites

4) Generally appalling working conditions

Awesome Quote:

The time has now come when the courts must become the courts for the poor and struggling masses of this country. They must shed their character as upholders of the established order and the status quo. They must be sensitised to the need of doing justice to the large masses of people to whom justice has been denied by a cruel and heartless society for generations. The realisation must come to them that social justice is the signature tune of our Constitution and it is their solemn duty under the Constitution to enforce the basic human rights of the poor and vulnerable sections of the community and actively help in the realisation of the constitutional goals. This new change has to come if the judicial system is to become an effective instrument of social justice for without it, it cannot survive for long.

To Nick and Lucy, congrats

³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ³⁷Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

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There is a saying that goes “a means to an end”.

For us, the end is loving God and loving people.

Everything else is a means to an end. What does that mean for us?

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Me: Dad, no exit.

Dad: I’m not exiting, I’m just reversing out

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Gotta love them

I remember when I finally finished semester 1 and I reached the point where I deleted all my uni classes from my calendar. And instantly, all records of semester 1 (past, present and future) vanished from my calendar. And you know what the funny thing is?

There were so many days that are now blank.

All the times where I struggled to stay conscious during lectures, the times where I was behind a laptop trying to keep up with my lecturer, the moments learning about expected utility theory and the St Petersburg Paradox, all that jazz, were now blanks. What seemed like a big deal in mid April is now a distant memory now.

It made me wonder what I’m spending my life on.

Will the events and things that I invest so much time, energy and time last the distance? Will they even last the delete button?

It’s time to invest in the things that last

I wonder what it’s like to spend 18 years living in limbo wondering whether your loved ones were still alive or butchered all those years ago.

The saddest thing in the whole article was near the end “…too few politicians in the region have shown the courage to act with contrition, to ask forgiveness for the sins inflicted by their predecessors.”

In spite of the worst European massacre since World War II, politics and buck passing still rule the day. No one wants to take responsibility, no one wants to cop the punishment. In the meantime, people are suffering just wanting to know: dead or alive.

True repentance takes real courage