Books

Finishing a book is an intersting experience, full of many different emotions. I just finished one tonight. First, as you realise you don't have much book left, there is the expectation, the race to want to finish to find out what will happen. Then, when it is finished there is both the satisfaction of completing the story, along with the sadness that it is now over. Finally, there is the excitement and anticipation of choosing what to read next.

Perhaps I'm making the whole experience sound more intense then it really is, but I'm on holiday, so I'm relishing the time to read.

I am currently also in the process of writing a book. Some times I can't help but wonder, will I manage to get it published? Some day could somebody stay up late reading my book to find out what happens? Who knows. It all depends how good the book is. I'm too close to the story right now to judge that. In the end, I do hope to publish it, I do hope that it is a success, but regardless of all that, I will write it because it is a story I want to tell. Once a story grabs you, it simply must be told.

Happy New Year

As you may have noticed, postings on 'The Collings Zone' have been rather sporadic of late. I intend to write with a little more regularity in 2010, if not posting more often, then at least establishing a regular rhythm.

Today is the First of January 2010, so Happy New Year. I guess I should take a little look back at the year just gone. 2009 was a big year for me and my family. It began with a trip to Melbourne for the National Christian Youth Convntion. This was a big week. It was challenging going about the business of the conference with two young children, but I also found myself challenged to 'put my faith where my mouth was'. I came home and did something I had been thinking about for a long time - I volunteered to help feed the homeless at our church drop-in centre. This has become an important part of the expression of what it means to me to be a Christian.

The year also started with me in the aftermath of some difficult finacial times in 2008. This lead into the onset of the 'global financial crisis'. Could things get any harder? I had wondered. Ironically, the despite the lack of a pay rise that year, the crisis seemed to make life a bit easier. The price of both petrol and milk came down, and we were even able to take the plunge and buy our very first house - something I really didn't think we would ever do. This has brought its own challenges such as mortage, rates and insurance, but we have gained some wisdom on the way, and its a wonderful feeling to know that if the kids draw on the walls we don't have to worry about getting in trouble from the owners of the house (unless I decide to tell myself on me).

2009 also brought big changes for my wife, who began to fulfill a life-long dream and study nursing at university. She had applied "just in case" not holding up many hopes, but I knew she would get in. She has now succesfully passed her first year and is loving it.

At work we finally moved into our new office building at Cimitiere House. It's pretty flash, and has a very nice view. Unfortunately, as a green building, it has no air-conditioning. I really don't know how I am going to cope in the months from January to March, which tend to be the hottest times of the year in Tasmania.

In the later months of 2009 I decided to get a bit more serious about writing my novel. I have made substatial progress and I'm aiming to have the first draft complete before I return to work in mid-January. It's been a lot of fun.

I said about a year ago, that I wanted to focus more on God's Kingdom and less on the everyday worries of life. Well, there have been times when I have succeeded, and there have been times (usually when interest rates go up) that I have fallen back on old habbits. I continue to endevour to live a life of faith, rather than a life of fear.

So, what will 2010 bring? Well my oldest daughter will be starting kindergarten this year so that is a big event. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Continuing to make our new house our our own, working, Linda studying. I really don't know what else.

The story continues...

Work and God - A Monument to Remind Me

A couple of weeks ago, I received an award at work – for five years of service. It’s a nice way of recognising those who have stayed with the company for a number of years. They also give awards for ten years, and fifteen years. It struck me, that not only have the last five years gone quickly, but if I add up the time at my previous jobs since graduation, I find that I have been working for nine years! It seems only yesterday that I was at University. That’s almost a decade in the work force.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites used to mark special occasions and places with a monument. Whenever they saw that monument, they would remember God’s faithfulness, and be inspired to continue to trust Him.

This strikes me as a good time to do the same, so I am going to reminisce a moment about how God has led me to this point. When nearing graduation I applied for a position with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. I had applied for a position in Hobart but was offered a position in Canberra. This would have been a huge adventure, but it also would have taken me away from my home and everything I knew. I felt a strong commitment to Tasmania, and to my church, and wasn’t sure I was ready to leave m family. Through much painstaking thought and prayer I decided to turn down the offer. Finding a position in Tasmania would not be easy; there were much more numerous opportunities for programmers on the mainland. I waited.

I found, and successfully applied for a job with a very small business, running out of Launceston, with interstate clients. When I started, there were four employees. At its height, the company employed seven people. I worked on many interesting projects in this job, and learned a great deal. After two years, the company did not have enough work to sustain us all. I was told one morning, that I would have to leave. I was given the opportunity to go straight home, or continue working for the remainder of my time. I decided to stick around. By the next day, one of my colleagues had convinced the remaining employees to each take a pay-cut so that I could remain on staff. This was a huge gesture, but it wasn’t until I had a family of my own that I fully appreciated what a significant sacrifice this was. I continued working there for another year, before I was told that the company just couldn’t keep me any longer.

This happened at a very bad time for me. I had recently met Linda. She was moving to Tasmania to be near me and we were planning to get engaged shortly after her arrival. How could I support a wife who was far from home when I didn’t have a job?

I spoke to a friend from my church, Paul, who ran a computing business. His company didn’t do programming, but they did have a close relationship with another company that did. He said he’d keep his ear open and mention my name to them if the opportunity arose. That company was pitt&sherry.
Well, pitt&sherry were not on the lookout for anybody at the time, but I tried ringing another company we had worked closely with during my first three years. They knew me, and although they were not seeking a new programmer, they were willing to take me on as they valued my abilities.

I worked for two years in this small company, learning different skills. Linda and I married and we were expecting our first child. The company that I was now working for was about to close, not for lack of work, but because the core leaders wanted to move on and do other things. Again, this was a very bad time. I would soon have a child to support as well. I could see God’s plan working in the lives of all involved, so I chose to trust again.
I sent my resume to a couple of places, with a strong letter of recommendation from my current boss, who was known to them. I never received a reply. While I was working my last week, I received an un-expected phone call; it was from the Software Development Manager at pitt&sherry. He’d received my name from Paul, and was wondering if I might be interested in a job. He was surprised when I told him that my current job was ending in a couple of days so I was very interested. I hadn’t thought about Paul’s promise to keep me in mind during the last two years, but the timing was absolutely perfect. I started at pitt&sherry where I have now worked for five years.

Looking back, I can see God’s hand working intricately, with a great touch of His good sense of humour. Now whenever I look at my engraved wooden pen box, I can be reminded of God’s faithfulness.v It’s been an eventful nine years. I wonder what the next decade will bring.

Star Trek (2009) Deleted Scenes

On 29th October, the new Star Trek movie was released on DVD in Australia (though some countries, such as USA have to wait unil 17th November). To celebrate the release, I am going to write a couple of Articles about it. I'd like to begin by reviewing the deleted scenes on the disc. Be warned, this article contains spoilers for both the movie and the deleted scenes.

The deleed scenes themselves are presented in the state in which they were left. This means that on some of them, the special effects are incomplete and this clearly show. The musical score also appears to be simple copied from other parts of the soundtrack. This is understandable, though it might have been nice if they has followed the example of George Lucas, who completed the deleted scenes after the fact, for the Star Wars Episode 1 DVD.

The first scene presented was Spock's birth, as seen in the trailer. This was a nice little scene, but ultimitely didn't add much to the movie that wasn't already accomplished in other ways. Spock's relatively normal and plesent birth was in stark contrast to Kirk's birth which took place under tragic and heart-breaking circumstances.

Next we saw a scene of Kirk as a young boy, just prior to the car chase scene. This confused me a little. I had thought, from the car scene in the movie, that Kirk' mother had re-married, and the car belonged to Kirk's step-father. However, Kirk's older brother (George Jr.) referred to the man as an uncle. (This may just have been George's way of referring to a step-father that he obviously didn't like). While I can see how the filmmakers decided that the scene was not ulimately necessary, and slowed the pace, it would have been nice to have at least seen George Jn, to confirm the fact that Kirk did in fact have an older brother (as seen in the Original Series). We also saw in this scene that Kirk's new father figure was less and ideal, who treated the children with a great deal of disrspect when their mother was not around. I think his gives yet more insight into the person that Kirk became in the new timeline. Not only did he suffer from the lack of a good father figure (who inspired him to join Starfleet), but he now has to deal with the presence of a bad father figure. It is no wonder that Kirk grew up into a different person. Fortunately, the Kirk we used to know was still buried in there somewhere, and all it took were some wise and timely words from Chris Pike to bring it out.

The scenes that I had been eagerly waiting for were of course, the Klingon Rure Penthe scenes. It had always seemed like a confusing hole in the story to know that Nero had been hanging around the twenty third century for all of Kirk's life so far. What were they doing? Had they been noticed? These scenes explain some of this. Ultimately the scenes didn't contribute as much as I imaged they would, though the present of Rure Penthe (previous seen in Star Trek VI) would have been a lovely nod to canon, although the climate of Rure Penthe has obviously changed. As for the Klingons themselves, I had been eager to see what JJ Abram's version of the popular aliens would look like. Unfortunately, in every scene, the Klingons had their faces completely covered by odd metal masks. Firstly, this seemed inconcistant with the character of most Klingons who would not feel the need to hide behind a metal mask. Secondly, it meant that we really didn't see them at all. In the commentary, they kept talking about the wonderful makeup job they'd done, yet they covered up that makeup so noboy saw it. I found this very odd.

There were a few other little scenes. A moment between Spock's parents, and an extended version of the Kobiashi Maru scene, giving greater insight into how Kirk beat the test.

In sumary, I could see why they chose to remove these scenes, but it was certainly special to be able to finally see them, and gain a little extra insight into the story.

Sharing and Generosity

My daughter Chloe is growing up so fast. It is exciting to see her begin to mature. I observed something in her the other day that impressed me. We were at the supermarket. Both kids were tired and crabby so we were trying to get through our fortnightly groceries quickly. To distract the kids we sometimes let them hold items. Harrison was holding something, I can't remember what it was. We had just grabbed a packet of buscuits from the shelf and had handed it to Chloe. Harrison immediately saw them and began to cry and protest. "Biccies! I want biccies!"

Straight away, Chloe handed the packet to her little brother. He stopped crying. I thought this showed a great deal of maturity for a four year old. It seemed that Chloe had enough generosity, not only to share, but to give away something to make somebody else happy. It occurred to me that she must understand that ultimately the biccies were mine, regardless of who was holding them at the time. She knew that when she got hungry, she could come to me and I would give her one, so there was no reason to clutch them closely to herself. This made me very proud.

I begin to understand a little of what it means to have 'the faith of a little child.'

New Home

Due to the unforseen closure of my previous web host, The Collings Zone now has a new home at http://collings.phozofree.net. I am in the process of migrating the site to its new home. It shouldn't be long.

Starting Now - Part 2 (new home for the homeless)

Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote an article titled 'Starting Now'. In it, I discussed the ministry of Levi House. This ministry of my church exists to provide "a safe & effective refuge for Launceston's homeless". At the time of writing, the ministry was still a dream. There had been attempts to purchase a building to use as a homeless shelter, but it had fallen through. The thing that impressed me about the people behind Levi House was that they were not just sitting and waiting for the dream to happen, they were doing what they could - no matter what it was - to make a difference straight away.

Since that time, I have volunteered to become a small part of the ministry, serving meals once a month. It has been a powerfully impacting experience for me.

Now, a year on, an exciting step has occured in the realisation of the full dream of Levi House. As announced today, the Commonwealth Government have donated four million dollars to turn part of our church building into a home for the homeless. That picture that the leaders saw all that time ago is now going to become a reality. For me, this is a personal answer to prayer. It is exciting to think of the lives that have been touched over the last year, and interesting that if the leaders hadn't started with what they had, we may never have gotten to this point. It goes to show that as Jesus said, those who are faithful with a little will be blessed with more.

As for me, I've learned that it is better to feed one hungry person a meal, than to sit and day-dream about feeding all the hungry of the world.

There are exciting times ahead.

Stack Overflow with Word Automation Replace - SOLVED

When performing Word automation, Word will sometimes throw a System.StackOverflowException, which you cannot catch, while performing a find/replace operation. It is usually the Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting(); call that leads to this exception.

The solution to this is simple, use late binding. In fact, it is recommended that you use late binding whenever performing office automation.

The resulting code would be something like

object Selection = oWord.Selection;
object myFind = oWord.Selection.Find;
object Optional = Type.Missing;
object wd = Word.WdReplace.wdReplaceAll;
object[] Parameters;
object findText = "Findtext";
object replaceText = "Replacetext";

Parameters = new object[15];
Parameters[0] = findText;
Parameters[1] = Optional;
Parameters[2] = Optional;
Parameters[3] = Optional;
Parameters[4] = Optional;
Parameters[5] = Optional;
Parameters[6] = Optional;
Parameters[7] = Optional;
Parameters[8] = Optional;
Parameters[9] = replaceText;
Parameters[10] = wd;
Parameters[11] = Optional;
Parameters[12] = Optional;
Parameters[13] = Optional;
Parameters[14] = Optional;

myFind.GetType().InvokeMember("Execute", BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, null, myFind, Parameters);

Don't forget to free the objects you have used

System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(oFind);
oFind = null;
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(oSelection);
oSelection = null;

This succesfully resolved the problem for me.

Sources:

• http://www.digitalsupporttech.com/forum/user/viewthread?thread=326374


• http://www.digitalsupporttech.com/forum/user/viewthread?thread=326374

Changing Boss - Romans 6

My musings on Romans 6

Romans 6 talks about being dead to sin and alive in Christ. This is a picture of what happens to a person when they become a Christian. By dying to sin we are set free from our slavery to it, and by being made alive in Christ we become a new creation. I think this relates to what Jesus means when he talks about 'the flesh' (our old life in sin), and 'the spirit' (our new life in Christ).

This chapter gives three steps to victory over sin in a Christian's life [1].

1. Understand that you are dead to sin. (Verse 11) The sinful part of us is already dead or dying. When we allow this part of us to control our life we have a dead man behind the wheel. Our Spirit should be stronger because it is alive in Christ.
2. Do not let sin reign in your life. (Verse 12)


3. Offer yourself - your whole self - to God, in service, submission and love. (Verse 13)

I think parts 2 and 3 are closely linked. It is hard to not let sin reign in your life, unless it is replaced by something.

Verses 15 to 23 talk about being a 'slave to righteousness'. As a Christian, I have changed masters. I used to be a 'slave to sin', for which the wages are death. Now, I am a willing servent to righteousness, for which the reward is the free gift of eternal life.

I think of it this way, I have had three jobs since I graduated from University. As I left one job, and started another, I changed masters. I no longer obeyed my former boss. If I kept working for my previous boss, doing what he wanted me to do, while being paid by my current boss, I probably wouldn't have a job for very long. So why do we do it in life? Picturing it this way helps me to remember where my allegience lies and who I should be living for.

References
[1] NIV Bible Study notes. Copyright (C) 1985; The Zondervan Corporation.

Not familiar with Kutless? Here is where to start.

The guys at Plinky.com asked the question "what three songs by the same artist would you recommend to someone who has not heard them. I chose one of my favourite artists, Kutless.

Shut Me Out by Kutless

At times, some people question whether the attitude of rock music, and the attitude of Christianity really work together. This song shows how they certainly can. This is a hard-hitting rock song, yet at its heart, the lyrics are about an undying devotion and committment to follow Jesus, no matter what.

Sea of Faces by Kutless

Demonstrating the musical diversity of Kutless, this song is musically worlds apart from 'Shut me Out'. It is a sedate song of worship and intense gratitude to God for what he has done. Its lyrics speak of recognising our true identity, and the salvation that we have received as a gift. This song would not be out of place in a communion talk during a church service.

Your Touch by Kutless

The song 'Your Touch' exists in a place where 'Shut me Out' and 'Sea of Faces' meet. Musically, it is an intense hard rock song, yet the lyrics focus on a worshipful acknowledgement of dependance upon God. This is one powerful song.

I Choose

We have to make these choices every day.
I choose FAITH over FEAR
I choose LOVE over HATE
I choose COMPASSION over INDIFFERENCE
I choose OPTIMISM over PESSIMISM
I choose HOPE over DISPAIR
I choose SELFLESSNESS over SELFISHNESS

LORD please help me remain faithful to my choices
- Until tomorrow morning
- When I will have to make my choice all over again

Review - STAR TREK (2009) - Spoilers

Warning - this review contains spoilers.

As anybody who reads my blog will know - I have been waiting in earnest expectation for the new Star Trek movie for over three years. That kind of wait always puts a lot of preassure on a film to deliver - so did it?

The story

I have a lot of faith in the people behind this film so I was expecting good things in the story department. I wasn't disapointed. When a movie makes you cry before the title even comes up you know you're in for a story with genuine heart. The movie started with a bang. Immediate special effects and action abounded, but the highlight of the teaser was the powerful final interactions between Kirk's parents, before George sacrificed his life.

It didn't let up from there. Director JJ Abrams is known for putting a lot of character depth into his story telling and this was evident all the way through.

Historically, we Star Trek fans have often complained about the 'reset button' storylines, where significant changes occur, but they always get re-set back to the norm by the end of the episode. Time travel tales are especially guilty of this at times. This movie present what is possibly the boldest story anyone has ever dared to tell in the Star Trek universe. Not only does the film tell of the destruction of Romulas in the 24th century, but through Nero's interfearance with history, we see an incredible change - the destruction of Vulcan and a completely altered time-line in the 23rd century. The practical upshot of this, of course, was that they could tell a prequel story without loosing the suspense because we know these characters will all survive. If Vulcan can be destroyed, and Spock's mother die, then we know that we can't take anything for granted.

This story really did have it all - a good science fiction angle, a nice tie-in to the Next Generation, an origin story for our characters, major character development, and a theme showing the horrors that can come when people hold on to revenge.

There were plenty of easter eggs in there for devoted Star Trek fans. My wife and I sat in the cinema and laughed at subtle references, when nobody else was laughing. We did the same thing in Superman Returns. It's so much fun being a nerd.

The Music

The musical score in Star Trek was beautiful. The new theme is simple yet strangely haunting. Giacchino paid tribute to the Alexander Courage theme from the original series, but what I was really hoping for was a tribute to the theme from 'Star Trek the Motion Picture'. That music - to me - IS Star Trek. It is the theme of the Enterprse, and was so, long before it became the theme of The Next Generation. Even the Star Trek fanfare seemed absent - although listening to clips of the soundtrack I realise it may have been in there somewhere. In any case, I plan to buy the CD so it obviously impacted me.

The Actors

All the actors did a fantastic job. It was wonderful to see our own Eric Bana play the villain Nero. He did so with wonderful passion. The suprise to me was Chris Pine. I had always seen Zachery Quinto as Spock, but it wasn't until I saw the movie that I realised what a good casting decision Pine was. He really did make me believe that he was James T. Kirk. In fact, in the end I found Pine's Kirk even more convincing than Quinto's Spock.

Simon Pegg's Scotty was hilarious, giving some good comedic relief in the later part of the movie. While I thoroughly enjoyed this use of the character, I am hoping that future movies might show us a more serious side of Scotty's character.

Karl Uban did a wonderful job of portraying Dr. McCoy. He made me believe. Uhura, Sulu and Checkov seemed a little different from their former counterparts, but each became an interesting character in their own right under the guidance of their new actors.

Special Effects

What can I say but....WHOA!

Canon

Here it comes, the all important Canon. Well, the alterations to the time line certainly gave the writers an excuse to mess with canon - and mess they did. Slightly more than neccessary, at some times, it seemed. Pretty much every change can be explained by the new timeline if you think hard enough so I'm not overly worried. In a future post I will delve into nitpicks, and my attempts to rationalise them. In the short term however, let me just say that the movie was so good I'm willing to just let go of those concerns and enjoy what was a very very enjoyable ride.

Summary

All in all, the movie met my every expectation. It was a fantastic ride that never lost its energy. It has given the Star Trek francise an amazing new lease of life and I, for one, absolutely can't wait for a sequel.

Thankyou Mr. Abrams.
Thankyou Mr. Lindelof.
Thankyou Mr. Orci.
Thankyou Mr. Kutrzman.

One sleep to go

The new Star Trek Movie has arrived. As Nero would say, "The wait is over." I am going to see the movie tomorrow night for my brother's birthday.

In celebration of this special event I present the following silliness:

Adam as a Vulcan

The roof will Cave In

I'm sure you've heard the expression before. people say something to the effect of "If I were ever to enter a church, the roof would cave in on me." I've heard it plenty of times. I was thinking this morning about this statement and something occurred to me. People who say this are so much closer to the truth than they realise. Do I mean the roof really will collapse on them? No, of course not. But here is what they are really acknowledging by saying this:

1. There is a supernatural power. If the roof were to collapse then there must be a God of some sort, whose wrath they fear. That's a big first step.
2. They are recognising their own sinfulness. The implication is that the roof would collapse because they are unworthy to be in the presence of a Holy God. This is also true - in fact - none of us deserve to be in His presence.
3. They are just missing one thing...

The people in the Bible understood God's righteousness and Holiness. They had a fear that if they ever saw God face to face they would die instantly - because He was so good - and they were so lacking in goodness. There are many wonderful people in the world, but if we are honest, we know that the greatest of us pales in comparrison to any holy God worthy of the name - because we know that we are flawed beings. As the Bible puts it: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

So - if God is so good - and we are so lacking - why doesn't the roof collapse? Well this comes back to the one thing that is missing: God's mercy and grace. He poured out all that punishment onto His own son, so that we could be forgiven.

No, the roof doesn't collapse in on anybody's head - because it already collapsed on Jesus' head; and that was enough.

A Children's book that makes me nostalgic

The guys at Plinky.com have given me another thought-provoking prompt.

The book "The Door on the Dragon's Throat" reminds me of our caravan at Ulverstone when I was a kid; Laying on the bunk bed reading books all day. This book had an Indianna Jones feel to it. It may have been my first introduction to Christian Fiction.