BMX mania had swept the world.  

All year I dreamed of receiving a BMX for Christmas. The day finally arrived and there was a BMX shaped gift under a blanket just for me! In glorious rapture I pulled the blanket off to find (insert record scratch noise here) a Raleigh Grifter.

‘Disappointed’ was the understatement of the year for me in that moment. I knew I should be grateful but my emotions betrayed me. With leaking eyes my exact words were, “Thanks mum and dad but I wish it was a BMX.”

Grifter: Children’s bicycle manufactured and marketed from 1976 and until early 1983 by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England.

Grifter Pros:

• The gear shift (which was incorporated in to the handle grips and was controlled with a twisting motion).
• Looked like a BMX from afar if you squinted.

Grifter Cons:

• Chunky, heavy and cumbersome (felt more like a riding an seaplane than a bicycle).
• Most definitely not a BMX.

Don’t get me wrong – Grifters were cool.  Cool until BMXs were invented, then they became insult-magnets for every BMX rider the world over.

I quickly became pariah to every BMX riding boy of Owairaka Primary School… but I wasn’t alone in the world. There were two other tormented souls that were suffering the same cruel fate as me: Bhupesh Patel and Darryl Gerken. Our two-wheeled abominations became the catalyst of friendship.

The Grifter Gang years had begun.

I grew to love my Grifter and spent most of my afternoons, weekends and school holidays all over west Auckland with the other two members of the GG.  Needless to say we pulled many a sweet jump on the ‘Poorman’s BMX’ (which nowadays I might add, are highly collectible to retro buffs and worth $$$.

Well that was 42 years ago.

As I am writing this, my wife and daughter are berating me for having no less than three unfinished retro bike restoration projects on-the-go in the living room.

Ahhh the nostalgia.

Here’s me (trying to look grateful) on Christmas day in 1983, sporting my Grifter… and my stubbies, and my shirt tucked into the stubbies, and my bowl cut, and my buck teeth…

Good Friday is traditionally the day when we remember the death of Jesus and Easter Sunday (or Resurrection Sunday) when Jesus rose from the dead. But today, I want to talk about the day no one talks about – the day in between Friday and Sunday: Saturday.

Because for the followers of Jesus, that Saturday must have felt like the end of everything… but it wasn’t.

1. FRIDAY IS DEVASTATING, BUT IT’S NOT THE END

Luke 23:50–55 (ESV)
[50] Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, [51] who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. [52] This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. [53] Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. [54] It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. [55] The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 

A bit of an anticlimax: No answers, no miracles, no hope – just disillusionment, brokenness grief, and despair.

Maybe you’ve experienced a “Friday”. A death in your life, a relationship that shattered, a diagnosis that wrecked you, a dream that died, complete brokenness (maybe even of your own making)…

But here’s the truth: Friday is not the end of the story. It never has been. The cross looked like a complete defeat – Jesus had lost (or so it seemed), but God was just getting started.

2. SATURDAY IS SILENT, BUT IT’S NOT EMPTY

This is where we live much of our lives – in the ‘Saturday’ (the “in-between”). Where the pain of Friday is still fresh, and the promise of Sunday hasn’t arrived.

I believe God does His deepest most powerful work in us, in the Saturdays of our lives.

The disciples had no idea that resurrection was just around the corner. They didn’t know that death had already been defeated, that hell was trembling, that Jesus had defeated death. To them, Saturday just felt hopeless.

Maybe that’s where you are right now – In the silence. In the unspectacular, in the brokenness. You believe God exists. You even believe in resurrection (in theory), but it hasn’t touched your life yet.

Psalm 27:13 (NIV)
[13] I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

What was Jesus doing in between the death and resurrection?

– He descended to the realm of the dead
– He proclaimed victory to imprisoned spirits
– He defeated death and darkness
– He liberated the righteous who died before Him

God does His deepest work in between Friday and Sunday, in between death and resurrection. Saturday might feel like the end, but it’s the setup for a miracle, for the resurrection!

3. SUNDAY ALWAYS COMES AFTER SATURDAY

Genesis 8:22 (ESV)
[22] While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.

Luke 24:1–12 (ESV)
[1] But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. [2] And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, [3] but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. [4] While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. [5] And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? [6] He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, [7] that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” [8] And they remembered his words, [9] and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. [10] Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, [11] but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. [12] But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

– This is the promise of Easter: death has not won, pain is not permanent, silence is not abandonment… and even when we can’t see it, God is moving.

Maybe today, you’re in a “Saturday” season of your life. But I promise you this:

– Sunday always comes after Saturday.
– Jesus is risen, therefore Hope is alive for those who follow Him.

4. WHERE THERE IS A DEATH, THERE IS ALWAYS A RESURRECTION

Where there is a death, there is always a resurrection for those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus.

John 11:25–26 (ESV) [Jesus’ words to Martha]
[25] Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. [26] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’

Do you believe this?

LIVING IN ‘THE HOPE BETWEEN’ 

In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a Harvard graduate and Johns Hopkins scientist did a series of experiments that tested how long rats could swim in high-sided buckets of circulating water before drowning. Dr. Richter found that, under normal conditions, a rat could swim for an average of 15 minutes before giving up and sinking. However, if he rescued the rats just before drowning, dried them off, let them rest briefly, and then put them back into the same buckets of circulating water, the rats could swim an average of 60 hours. If a rat was given hope, it would survive 240 times longer than if it was hope-less. The only conclusion that the scientists came to was that rats were able to swim longer because they were given hope. 

In the ‘Saturdays’ of your life – trust in the character of God and stay in hope!

Psalm 33:20-22 (NLT)
[20] We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield. [21] In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. [22] Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone.

Psalm 39:7 (NLT)  
[7] And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.

Romans 15:13 (NLT)
[13] I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION

– We are ‘resurrection’ people, living in a world that still feels like Saturday.
– We are called to carry the message of resurrection into every place that feels dead.
– We believe in a God who brings beauty from ashes, joy from mourning, life from the grave.
– You may not see it yet – but resurrection is on the way.
– There is always a resurrection for those who are in Jesus.

Prayer:
“Lord, we bring You our Saturdays – the silence, the questions, the heartbreaks. We trust You, even when we can’t see the end of the story. We believe that You are the God of resurrection, and we hold on to hope today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

For the non-nerds reading this, Dominion is a strategic deck-building card game where players compete to build the best deck—or “kingdom”—and gain dominion over their rivals. With endless combinations and near-infinite replayability, it’s endlessly addictive and just plain brilliant.

Now, twenty-seven years since its release, Dominion is widely considered to be the most influential and best-loved deck-building game of all time. (Though my Magic: The Gathering-obsessed sons might beg to differ.)

So what does a complete Dominion collection look like? It includes the Base Game, all 16 expansions, the Upgrade Kits, and all the Promo cards. That’s over 6,000 cards—and I sleeved every single one of them.

I shudder to think how much this has all cost me, but between the countless hours of family fun and the fact that it will one day be a treasured heirloom, I’d say it’s money well spent.

Of course, with this many expansions, storage becomes a serious challenge. So, I turned it into a bit of a holiday project:

– I printed and laminated custom dividers using Sumpfork’s free online generator, and trimmed them all neatly with a corner cutter. It took ages—but honestly, it was incredibly therapeutic, especially with a good audiobook or Netflix show on in the background.

-Then I ordered two custom-branded wooden boxes from The Wooden Box Shop, gave them a good sanding, and finished them with oil.

-Finally, I crafted interior dividers from black foam core (you can check out the tutorial I used here from Esoteric Gamers).

And yes—I’m ridiculously proud of this setup.

OVERVIEW

We are all filled with something. This sermon explores what the Bible says about being filled. It discusses the consequences of letting the wrong things take up space in our hearts and that God offers something far better – His Spirit, His joy, His peace and His power.

IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

– The optimist says the glass is half full.
– The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
– The obsessive-compulsive postpones the question until the level of the water is checked, and checked again, and again.
– The engineer says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
– The psychologist asks, “How does the glass make you feel?”
– The philosopher debates whether the glass exists at all.
– The cynic says, “Who left their dirty cup here?”
– The insomniac will be up all night wrestling with the question.
– The activist stages a protest either way.
– The conspiracy-theorist believes the government is contaminating the water for mind-control purposes.
– The misogynist says, “The glass ain’t gonna refill itself, hon”.
– The millennial says: “It’s not filtered, organic, or locally sourced, so I’m not drinking it.”
– The politician says that under the last government, the glass was half-empty, and becoming emptier, but thanks to his own party’s new leadership, the glass is definitely now half-full, and becoming fuller.

The truth is the glass is always full – part water, part air. 

Just like the glass – our hearts are always filled with something. Even when it seems like we’re “only half full,” something else is filling the rest. The question is: what are we filled with?

WHAT ARE WE FILLED WITH?

The Bible says people are filled with the following things:

– Unrighteousness (Romans 1:29)
– Evil (Romans 1:29)
– Covetousness (Romans 1:29)
– Malice (Romans 1:29, Acts 13:10)
– Envy (Romans 1:29)
– Murder (Romans 1:29)
– Strife (Romans 1:29)
– Deceit (Romans 1:29)
– Confusion (Isaiah 34:11)
– Vain hopes (Jeremiah 23:16)
– Violence (Ezekiel 7:23, Genesis 6:11)
– Fury (Ezekiel 22:31)
– Wrath (Nahum 1:6)
– Shame (Ezekiel 16:63)
– Indignation (Lamentations 4:11)
– Bitterness (Acts 8:23)
– Sorrow (Lamentations 3:15)
– Fear (Luke 5:26)
– Demons (Luke 8:27; Matt 12:43-45)
– Pride (Ezekiel 28:5)
– Madness (Deuteronomy 28:28)- The Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; Ephesians 5:18)
– Good things (Luke 1:53)
– Righteousness (Matthew 5:6)
– Praise (Psalm 71:8)
– Glory (Isaiah 6:3; Habakkuk 2:14)
– Laughter (Psalm 126:2)
– Abundance (Joel 2:26; Proverbs 3:10)
– Power (Luke 4:14)
– Wisdom (Exodus 31:3; Acts 6:3)
– Wonder (Luke 5:26; Acts 2:43)
– Comfort (2 Corinthians 7:4)
– Joy (Acts 13:52; Psalm 16:11)
– Faith (Acts 6:5)
– Hope (Romans 15:13)
– Love (Philippians 1:9; Romans 5:5)
– Light (Ephesians 5:8–11)

WHAT ARE WE FILLING OUR LIVES WITH? 

There are two ways a person can be filled…

– By actively deciding to fill themselves with things, 
– or by passively allowing others to fill them with things.

Ephesians 4:19 (ESV)
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  

We always have a choice about what we allow ourselves to be filled with!

What fountain am I drinking from?

– The fountain of God – living water?
– or the fountain of the world – dead water?

WHAT DOES GOD WANT OUR LIVES TO BE FILLED WITH?

Acts 2:4 (ESV)
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 4:31 (ESV)
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 9:17 (ESV)
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’

Not About Volume, But Control

The Spirit doesn’t come in measurable amounts—He is a Person.

Being filled means being influenced, led, and saturated by the Spirit. Doing what the Holy Spirit loves you to do. Loving what the Holy Spirit loves. Feeling what the Holy Spirit feels. Being grieved by what grieves the Holy Spirit.

Luke 24:49 (ESV)
And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

We receive the Holy Spirit at Salvation but there is a Baptism for those who are hungry for Him to saturate their lives!

THE ENCOUNTER AND WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT

Acts 2:1-6, 14-18, 41 (ESV)
[1] When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. [2] And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. [3] And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
[5] Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. [6] And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 
[14] But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. [15] For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. [16] But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: [17] “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
[41] So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 

The purpose of Holy Spirit filling is not for our personal enjoyment or sensory pleasure, but to empower us to change the world.

Blessings that come from being filled with the Holy Spirit:

This is often applied to those who outwardly appear religious, but resist the Spirit’s work in bringing repentance, holiness, and transformation.

1. Tongues

Speaking in tongues is a form of prayer in which our spirit is communicating directly with God. It is speaking in another language that you have never learned. The languages of tongues vary hugely and can either be a heavenly language or an earthly one (1 Corinthians 13:1 “Tongues of men and angels”).

– Personal Spiritual strengthening 
– Changes the spiritual atmosphere
– When words can’t express/intercession

2. Fire 

Matthew 3:11 (ESV)
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

– Refining Fire (purification)
– Empowering Fire (zeal and power)
– Judging Fire (conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment – John 16:8)

3. Boldness

Peter was cowardly before He was filled with the Holy Spirit. Afterwards he was supernatually bold. A completely different Peter.  

4. Ability to operate in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

– Power Gifts (healings, miracles, faith)
– Revelatory Gifts (wisdom, discernment of spirits, knowledge)
– Vocal Gifts (prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues)

5. Joy 

Acts 13:52 (ESV)
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

6. Dunamis (Luke 24:49)

– Miraculous power 
– Strength 
– Moral power/excellence of soul 

Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If you think you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the FRUIT of Him is not evident in your life, something is off-kilter.

FILLED REGULARLY

The infilling of the Holy Spirit was never meant to be just a one-time occurrence:

Ephesians 5:15-18 (ESV)
[15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. [18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Filled = “present continuous verb”  

Why is it important to be refilled regularly?

1. We need fresh oil

“A transmission flush is a maintenance process where the used oil is removed in the transmission is removed, and new oil is run through it using a special machine to push out grime and sludge and then it is filled up with new oil. The process is used to remove debris and sludge and replace 100% of the used oil with new, fresh, oil.”

2. We are meant to be sponges 

A sponge full of water isn’t just wet – it soaks everything it touches. So should we when filled with the Spirit.

3. We are meant to be filled AND overflowing

Romans 15:13 (ESV)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. [abound=overflow]

2 Corinthians 7:4 (ESV)
I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

To be filled and overflowing there must be an external constant source! The Spirit in us flows through us to impact others.

Pouring water into a glass already full causes overflow. That’s the Christian life empowered by the Spirit—overflowing with joy, love, peace, power, and purpose.

Am I a flowing stream or a stagnant pool? If there is not a constant flow in and out – we will stagnate.

John 7:37-39 (ESV)
[37] On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, [38] “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. [39] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

CONCLUSION

– Everyone is full of something.

– Don’t settle for air (emptiness), or other “fillers” (false comforts, idols, sin).

– Be filled with the Holy Spirit—daily, continually, and purposefully.

Ask (and keep asking) to be filled

Luke 11:9-13 (NLT)
[9] “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. [11] “You fathers—if your children ask* for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? [12] Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! [13] So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Call to Action

1. Examine your heart: What is currently filling your life?

2. Repent and surrender – lay down your offences, give up the right for revenge, forgive.

3. Ask for His Spirit to fill you afresh.

4. Live in a way that overflows into others.

(Image by Joel from Pixabay)

Analogue is making a huge comeback.

In a digital world where everything is so instant and accessible, why on earth are rational people choosing the obsolete hardware and technology of a bygone era?

Why choose a 50-year-old camera over its insanely superior descendant (while forking out a lot of money to do so)?

I have an opinion.

I am the proud owner of a mint Nikon F 35mm camera. This very same camera model stopped a bullet and saved Vietnam Photojournalist Don’ McCullin’s life in 1970. This camera was also used in space by Apollo 15 astronauts in 1971.

I’ll stop boasting, but suffice to say I have caught the nostalgic analogue photography bug in a big way.

Some may comment (and my wife is probably one of them) that even the camera on the most mediocre mobile phone is infinitely better than the best 70s Nikon offering.

Almost anyone can indeed take an impressive photo, multiple impressive photos, quickly, for free with their phone. Slap on a filter and post it on the ‘gram and receive hundreds of hearts and hearts, with barely any effort or cost.

Barely any effort or cost.

And that’s the smoking gun.

We live in a time where most things are easy and instant – but easy and instant have come at a price. Easier and instanter = increasingly less rewarding.

The value of something is measured by its cost – the value of the commodity exchanged for it (whether it be time, money or services traded to gain that something. Anyone who has saved for months to purchase something understands that while a receiving gift is always most times awesome, you almost always value the item you worked hard for much more.

Something is valuable because of what it costs you.

Things are cheap these days, and people treasure many things far less because it costs them far less.

Our world is fast. We are stressed. We are burning out. Advances in technology should have meant that we could achieve more in less time so that we could have more time for rest – but we are expected to achieve more and more and more, faster and faster and faster…

While we medicate more, stress out more, break up more, break down more…

And die faster.

S

L

O

W

D

O

W

N

There is something incredibly satisfying about slowing down.

Waiting.

Expecting.

Investing.

I think that people are beginning to wake up to the fact that the promises made by the instant and accessible have turned out to be empty and immaterial. People are yearning for a more restful, meditational, and valuable life.

1. Choose the camera.
2. Choose the film.
3. Load the film
4. Advance the film.
5. Choose the lens.
6. Choose the shot.
7. Frame the shot
8. Measure the light.
9. Choose the Shutter speed.
10. Choose the Aperture.
11. Manually focus.
12. Press the shutter release.
13. Repeat steps 3-12 until the film is finished.
14. Manually rewind the film.
15. Send the film off to be developed.
16. Wait patiently but with growing excitement until the photos arrive.
17. Enjoy every photo.
18. Slow down.
19. Enjoy life.
20. Live longer.

Lord of the Rings (LOTR) marathons are an almost yearly occurrence in the Drake household. I reference LOTR too often in my preaching. Matamata’s Hobbiton is what I imagine Heaven will look like. I even applied to be an extra on the Amazon Prime series (alas, because I wasn’t available 24/7 for filming, I didn’t make the cut).

Frodo is the unlikely hero of LOTR. He is entrusted with the seemingly impossible task of destroying the ‘One Ring’ in Mt Doom and saving his world. Although the books contain many wonderful characters with their personal missions and battles, Frodo is definitely the hero of the story.

Even a casual reader/watcher of LOTR will agree that although Frodo is the central character and protagonist – he never would have completed his quest without the help of his friends.

Gandalf – the wise guide, Samwise – the best friend, and Aragon – the mentor, to name just three of an extensive fellowship of characters that helped Frodo save Middle-earth.

Growing up, I desperately wanted to be the hero of my story.

I spent large chunks of my childhood daydreaming that I was Luke Skywalker, or Indiana Jones or Rambo or any one of the heroes I saw on the silver screen.

Funny, I never daydreamed of being Luke’s guide – Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Indy’s good friend – Salah or Rambo’s mentor – Colonel Trautman.

I wanted to be the hero of my story. We all want to be the hero of our story.

We grow up (whatever that means), and even though reality relentlessly slaps us in the face, our life goal remains the same for many of us: “I want to be the hero”.

If being the hero is our life goal we will most probably be continually disappointed and forever dissatisfied with life. Why? The depressing truth is that so few of us ever actually become heroes.

But what if our life goal is not to be the hero?

Getting back to LOTR… What if our life goal was to be a guide (Gandalf), or a support (Samwise), or a mentor (Aragon) to someone else’s hero (Frodo) story? To see them succeed?

If being a guide, support, and mentor becomes our life goal, we will be fulfilled. It is called a life of discipleship, and anyone can do it!

Imagine a life where there is no comparison, no jealousy, no envy, no jostling for position, and no self-promotion. Instead, a life where we are all joy-filled and fulfilled because we are all secure in our call to make others successful in their journey with Jesus.

If you could ask Frodo, I am sure he would tell you that his friends were his true heroes.

Don’t be the hero of your story. Be the guide/support/mentor in someone else’s story and truly be their hero.

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13 NLT)

For those who don’t know what the Aetherius Society is (I’m guessing about 99.999% of the people reading this), it is a UFO cult.

This was the same year that 39 members of Heaven’s Gate, another UFO cult, committed ritual suicide believing it was the only way to ‘evacuate earth’ and be rescued by a giant UFO hiding behind Comet Hale–Bopp.

I was a zealous (and tactless) Bible College student and thought that I could save the world by Bible bashing one soul at a time – so armed with my NIV Study Bible (told you I was tactless), a wad of “Aliens: Demons in Disguise” tracts, and my 6’4″ friend (you can never be too careful), I made my way into the venue.

The giant-crystal-adorned usher welcomed us into the room, and we sat down with about ten other people. 

Very. Strange. People.

For the next hour, two Atherius devotees spoke about the belief they had committed their lives to, and its founder, George King (not to be confused with King George).

George King was born in England in 1919. He dedicated his life to the practice of Eastern Mysticism. One day he heard a loud voice saying…

“Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament.”

Apparently, the voice belonged to one of the ‘Cosmic Masters of the Solar System’, and George King became their ‘Primary Terrestrial Mental Channel’, bringing their message to Earth.

George King channelled thousands of aliens in his lifetime – and even Jesus apparently (ahem).  Many of these messages have been preserved on tape and film.  I have no doubt King channelled something, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ET, and I’m definitely sure it wasn’t Jesus.

I always find it amusing (in a sad way) how so many New Age religions claim that Jesus Christ is ‘a way’, when Jesus Christ Himself said that He was ‘The Way’ (John 14:6). There is a huge difference between ‘a’ and ‘the’.

At the end of the video (below), King channels a message from Jesus? saying:

“Even if you do not believe in God, then believe in good, please. It is the same thing.”

Sure it is.

Anyway, back to the story…

After the presentation, the well-meaning reps asked if anyone had any questions. I stood up and asked them to explain what the Bible meant when it talked about end-time deception and doctrines of demons. I even read out the relevant verses – my NIV Study Bible came in handy. As you can imagine, it didn’t go down too well.

Awkward.

The Q&A time ended, much to the hosts’ relief, and I handed out the tracts to the kind but bewildered folk leaving the building.

I sometimes think back to that time and wonder – what on earth was I thinking?

Did I do the right thing in my challenging confrontation? Did I rightly portray Jesus, or did I push searching people further away from Him?

Lord, help me speak the truth in love, not truth in arrogance, not truth in judgement.

Featured image by Pete Lomas

Fightsticks (fight sticks/ arcade sticks) are video game controllers fashioned after the retro arcade machines of a better era (80s of course), and are the preferred weapon of choice for competing in fighting game tournaments. Yes it’s a thing (see video below)

Back to the project – I used the incredible slagcoin site for most of my inspo, and purchased the buttons and circuit board from aliexpress (just search for “USB Arcade Stick” on the site).

Bummed I didn’t take more photos at the time. Good thing I have built two more since.

On that fateful day I couldn’t find my mobile phone.  That is not at all unusual at for me, I misplace things all the time. What was strange was that after hours of searching in our very small first house, the phone remained elusive. I came to the only logical conclusion –  that it had been abducted by the same aliens that have taken everything else that I have ever lost and never found again.

That was until our toilet decided to have the mother of all blockages, and I began to wonder if some evil child of mine had deliberately sent my phone to Davy Jones’ Locker via the Porcelain Express.

Yes indeed. The toilet was blocked so bad that absolutely no water would flush, and no amount of plunging would unstop it. The family had to be evacuated (as is usual procedure for civil emergencies), and I spent the next day excavating the backyard in an attempt to find the drain pipe.

I employed the services of an elderly plumber, we shall call him ‘Drain-man’, who assured me there was no pipe in existence that couldn’t be unblocked with his ‘contraption’ – a modified high-pressure hose which worked its way up/or down blocked drain-pipes blasting (and therefore dislodging) every thing daring to stand in its way.

All seemed to be going according to plan, until the contraption met with a very solid immovable object which had lodged itself in the pipe, effectively halting a week’s worth of poo and paper.

Drain-man, realising that his reputation was now at stake, determined that no blockage would get the better of him. He proceeded to break a hole in the pipe’s wall, and with the contraption at full throttle at one end, attempted to dislodge the blockage with his bare-hands at the other. Very, bad (and very unhygienic) idea.

I never did see what caused the blockage as it was well and truly ‘flushed away’ in the deluge that followed.  What I did see (and I’m sure it was in slow-motion), was Drain-man coming face to face with his adversary in explosive fashion, quite literally. If ever there was a wrong time to be in a wrong place… it was where the Drainman was.

If only it was videoed, I’d be famous.

Have you ever had one of those precious moments in life when, although you know you shouldn’t, you laugh at another person’s expense, and it makes your day? This was one of those times. It was almost worth all the trouble.

Drainman, with his vast years of experience, said that blockage was consistent with the mobile-phone-flushed-down-the-toilet-by-a-toddler hypothesis. Before he went home to wash up, I asked him if he ever got sick. He replied… hardly ever.

And that is the story of the mobile phone and the poo explosion of ’05.

My firstborn son eventually confessed (over a decade later) to flushing my phone down the toilet.  Son, you still owe me a new phone and a several hundred dollar repair bill.

Fun Fact: According to one survey, 1 in 3 Kiwi smartphones will die from being dropped in the toilet.

My first tank build in years!

The upside: The low part-count and price.

The downside: Nylon mesh instead of PE for the air intake grilles, and tow cables not secured.

A super enjoyable build and a highly recommended purchase for the beginner (or someone who isn’t keen to shell out twice as much the Dragon kit).