Do you believe in second chances? third chances? fourth chances?

I was reading Jonah this morning for my not so daily devotional. And I have decided that I do.

We are made in the image of God, and if that is true, then we should reflect God. So if God believes in second chances then so do I.

Thinking this morning I realised that the bible is full of second chances.

Jonah for instance. He ran from God. But God gave him a second chance to achieve the same goal.

What about other characters?

How about Noah? God creates the world, and man destroys it, Gods sends a giant flood to give humans a second chance.

The Garden of Eden? Instead of destroying creation God gives us a second chance outside of the garden.

Adam? Adam sinned and doomed mankind. God sent Jesus to give us a second chance.

The Israelites how many times did they get exiled and always they got another chance to come back.

Sampson? David? How many more? I am sure there are many, many, many more.

Don’t you just love storms.

I do sometimes.

The one currently happening outside has so far kept the power on. Yay. Touch Wood.

But the wind. The wind off this storm is amazing. I don’t care about the rain, that is normal. But the wind wow.

Anyway here are some stats from a local weather station: oh darn. It is back offline, that is how bad the weather is, anyway some stats from 9 this morning then: 14mm of rain from 8am to 9am. Wind at 38.9km/h (21 knots), Gusts at 53.8Km/h (29 knots). Yesterday afternoon it was gusting up to 42knots. This is some of the strongest wind I have ever seen or experienced.

We are currently under our second heavy rain warning:

Heavy rain has continued in parts of Northland overnight, and further heavy falls are expected during today (Saturday). Heavy falls have also spread to northern parts of Auckland, and are moving down the Coromandel Peninsula.

AUCKLAND NORTH OF ALBANY
In the 12 hours from 9am to 9pm Saturday, expect 50 to 70mm of rain.

The first warning was expect 180mm from 3am to 3pm.

I do like this image though:

Hebrews 13:18 NLT

Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.

How can we have a clear conscience if we are not honest with one and other - in our actions, in our feelings, in how we live our life?

How do we live honorably in this world? What is right and what is wrong? Are the lines that blurred? Can there be light in the darkness? Does the light shine out of the darkness? Should there be light in the darkness or should the light be surrounded by other light to make the combined light stronger?

I would be inclined to call this the best piece of opinion that I have read for a while.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10491537

Some excerpts:

We have an extraordinary situation where we have full employment yet our wages are among the lowest in the developed world.

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Profits are way up and business has been so successful here that the Reserve Bank has to keep jacking up the interest rates to slow the economy. The World Bank continues to commend our government for its pro-business policies and rates us number one on Earth when it comes to supporting business.

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Even if we gave workers a $50 weekly tax cut, their wages would still be well behind Australia’s.

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Until now, government initiatives have arguably let low-paying employers off the hook and have institutionalised a poverty trap. For example, rent subsidies paid to low-income workers make no difference because rents have increased in response to soaring house prices. Although the heralded family support is a welcome relief to low-paid parents, it helps sheet in low-paid wages. This comes about because any increase in wages a parent may get is then deducted from their family support, neutralising any benefit.

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New Zealand workers, according to numerous reports, have the most flexible terms of employment and hours of work in the world. We have the highest percentage of people working more than 50 hours a week than any other developed country. Few households can survive on the income of one breadwinner. We have an increasing social dysfunction in our society as many parents are required to spend too much time away from their families because of work demands.

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What we have now is a society where inequity has cemented in. A third of New Zealanders are never going to be able to afford their own home; the average wage earned by the average New Zealander cannot even pay for the basic necessities of life. The minuscule tax breaks that will trickle down to workers next year won’t change a thing whether Labour or National is in power.

This aired on Campbell Live the other night. I managed to achieve 15/15 how well can you do?

1. Which colours are represented on the NZ flag?
a. black and white
b. red, black and yellow
c. blue, red and white
d. green and gold

2. Which symbol is represented on the NZ flag?
a. Silver Fern
b. Kiwi
c. Southern Cross
d. All Blacks

3. Which is a popular sport in NZ?
a. table tennis
b. water polo
c. rugby
d. ice hockey

4. The capital of NZ is?
a. Auckland
b. Hamilton
c. Wellington
d. Christchurch

5. Which 2 figures are on the NZ Coat of Arms?
a. A kiwi and the silver fern
b. A Maori chieftain and a European woman
c. Captain Cook and Abel Tasman
d. The Queen and a Maori Woman

6. Who is the head of state?
a. Prime Minister Helen Clark
b. Queen Elizabeth II
c. Governor General Anand Satyanand
d. Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon

7. Who was the first Prime Minister of NZ?
a. Michael Joseph Savage
b. Sir Keith Holyoake
c. Henry Sewell
d. Sir Robert Muldoon

8. What song is NZ’s national anthem
a. God Save the Queen
b. Star Spangled Banner
c. God Defend New Zealand
d. Pokarekareana

9. Which main political party is in power?
a. National Party
b. Labour Party
c. New Zealand First
d. Green Party

10. What does Anzac Day commemorate?
a. The Gallipoli landing
b. Armistice Day
c. The battle of the Somme
d. Victory in the Pacific

11. Who was the first European to sight NZ?
a. Captain James Cook
b. Abel Tasman
c. Young Nick
d. Captain Bligh

12. NZ soldiers fought in which war?
a. World War 1 and World War 2
b. Korean War
c. Vietnam War
d. All of the above

13. Which year was the Treaty of Waitangi signed?
a. 1840
b. 1850
c. 1890
d. 1901

14. Which is New Zealand’s highest mountain?
a. Mt Ruapehu
b. Mt Taranaki / Mt Egmont
c. Aoraki Mt Cook
d. Mt Tasman

15. Maori have lived in NZ for?
a. over 20,000 years
b. over 500 years
c. less than 500 years
d. less than 100 years

Answers:
1 c, 2 c, 3 c, 4 c, 5 b, 6 b, 7 c, 8 c (or a), 9 b, 10 a, 11 b, 12 d, 13 a, 14 c, 15 b

This is the same photo as below, just converted to black and white, and the contrast between the sun and the moon made extremely obvious.

Saw this new video on C4 a few days ago. It is awesome.

The image is low quality I know. It is a reflection of the solar eclipse this afternoon. The photo was taken right at the maximum point of the eclipse.

This is the full image.