Archive – Page 15 – Ben Clapton

Money Issues

July 19, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 Continue reading “Money Issues” →

The Wonders of Gas

July 18, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

This topic suggestion, Weekly Photo Challenge: Hot, is from The Daily Post as part of the Post-a-day writing challenge.

I’ve just moved house, and I’m completely in love with it. We had in our last house an electric stove top and electric oven. We had both come from houses with Gas stove tops and ovens, so it took us a while to get used to how long electric took to heat up.

In our new place, we’ve got a gas stove top (but still an electric oven) which makes cooking so much easier.

Having gas means we’ve also got a funky Gas Heater. This is so much better and easier than our old wood fired heater, which while it was romantic took quite a while to heat up the room. Now that we’ve got this Gas Heater, we can quickly heat the room and feel the effects almost immediately. It’s brilliant.

Not a very in-depth post, but I am rather excited about this (perhaps too excited about this)

Postaday2011 links

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hot (thisismylawn.wordpress.com)
A Groovy kind of love (picturesqueworld.wordpress.com)
Weekly Photo Challenge: (hot) (versereverse.wordpress.com)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Hot (2) (berkshirereviews.wordpress.com)

When being busy breeds lazyness

July 16, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

This topic suggestion, Are you too lazy, or too busy?, is from The Daily Post as part of the Post-a-day writing challenge.

I like to be busy. I like to fill my day up with lots of stuff. I like to have a number of projects on the go – which is why I probably like working three different jobs as opposed to only one. If I’m only working on one thing, I get itchy, and need to find something new to work on as well.

However, being busy has its drawbacks. I often find that I can fill my day with so much that I don’t have any time to do the things I enjoy. Or don’t have any time to just relax. Or even to do the things that make a home run. When I’m too busy, the unimportant things tend to fall off my radar, and I just forget to do them. This often results in a kitchen full of dirty dishes, and I’m eating my breakfast out of a salad bowl with a serving spoon. I kid – I generally will wash a dish and spoon when it gets to that stage.

Finding the balance of being busy enough to keep me working at my best, but still finding time to do the things that I enjoy, or the little things that need to get done is often a very fine line.

Learn to Overshoot, then bring it back

July 15, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Feature, Life

I played a round of Golf a little while ago with a couple of mates. We’re all not very good, but we’re trying. Sometimes very trying. As we were going, I observed some of my friends shots. The issue I saw was that they were afraid of going too far, or thought that their shots would go longer than they actually do. What happened as a result was that they would constantly have very weak shots that didn’t go very far. Continue reading “Learn to Overshoot, then bring it back” →

Random Acts of Kindness

July 15, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

Today I’m putting the focus on my friend’s blog, 365 Days of Kindness. Daena is an incredible young lady, and one of my close friends. Last year, she started Project 25, encouraging people to do random acts of kindness.

This year, she decided to expand, and challenge herself to do a random good deed every day for a year. She’s writing them down in a journal, and slowly uploading them to her blog. She’s a bit behind (having only recently uploaded the ones for January), however it is a fantastic project, and a wonderful challenge.

We find this mentioned in the gospels of Jesus.

“Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

Matthew 22:36-40 (MSG)

The second commandment that Jesus lists here – love others as you love yourself – is just what Daena is practicing here, Loving others, whoever they may be, as she loves herself. Wouldn’t the world be an amazing place if we all followed Daena’s lead and looked for ways to show love to others?

You shut your goddamn carbon-taxin’ mouth (via Heathen Scripture (temp))

July 14, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

Great post(/rant) about the stupidity of the protests about the carbon tax over $10/week – $520 a year – for someone who earns $110,000/year. 0.42727% of their annual income. $10 out of their $2000 weekly pay check. I don’t earn $2000 in a month, but if needed, I’d find the $10/week to pay this tax.

There is some swear words in here, so if you don’t appreciate them, you might not appreciate this post. But if you can get past that, it is very much well worth the read.

(This is a temp site due to too many people trying to read my old one. The classic http://www.HeathenScripture.com will be back up soon.) _______________________________________________ Three days on from Julia Gillard’s policy announcement, and the most striking characteristic of the carbon tax debate is just how closely it resembles a dozen retards trying to fuck a doorknob. The only apparent solution is a massive airdrop of Xanax into our reservoirs, … Read More

via Heathen Scripture (temp)

Our Dora

July 14, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

This prompt, Do you have any pets, is provided by Plinky.

For the past 6 months or so, our house has been graced by the presence of Dora. Dora actually belongs to a lady who lives at Liesl’s work, and as they are not allowed pets there, she had to find somewhere else to look after her. Not being able to find anyone, she was to be put down. When Liesl asked how old she was, and found out she was only two and a half years old, Liesl couldn’t dream of her being put down. Continue reading “Our Dora” →

My run in with the police

July 13, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

Old Vancouver Police Car during the 2009 Chine... — I wish I had ridden in a car like this! (Image by sillygwailo via Flickr)

This prompt, What did you do to land yourself in the back of a police car?!, is provided by Plinky.

Most people would be surprised to know that I’ve driven in the back of a police car. I’m normally quite a good person, and would never break the law. But one New Year’s eve, I did in fact find myself travelling in the back of a police car.

I was delivering pizzas that night. Great way to spend a New Year’s night, but I needed the money. Parents were away down in Albany, and I didn’t really have much else to do that night. I was driving a 1980 Corolla at the time.

I’d just delivered a pizza, and my car died. I couldn’t get it started at all. Knocked on the place I delivered the pizza to and asked if they could give me a push. Thankfully, I was at the top of a hill. Got the car rolling, and the engine started, but it wouldn’t stay running. Every time I put the clutch in, the car died. No big problem I thought, so long as I can keep moving, I’ll be fine. I had run out of credit on my phone, so couldn’t call for help. I thought if I could make it back to the pizza shop, I could at least get some help to try to figure out what was wrong, or call for help if needed.

Unfortunately, some traffic lights on the way back to the pizza place had other ideas. They changed on me, and I had to stop. While I was pushing my car off the side, and preparing myself for the longish walk back to the shop, A police car pulled up and asked if I wanted some help pushing my car off the road. I graciously accepted, and when he saw that I was working for the pizza shop, offered me a lift back to the shop.

You should have seen the look on my manager’s face when I jumped out the back of the police car. Classic.

Anyway, called up RAC roadside assist, and had to join up to get them to come out. The joining fee came to exactly what I had earned so far in deliveries and tips that night. Got the second driver to drop me off at my car and waited. Ended up being a dead alternator. Was able to get the car going again, but wasn’t able to do the rest of my shift, it was too unreliable. Replaced the alternator the next day and the car kept going right up until I needed to get rid of it.

Have you ever ridden in the back of a police car? What for (if you don’t mind me asking)?

Malaysia deal amounts to “arbitary and unlawful detention”

July 12, 2011July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life, Refugees

The ABC is reporting that the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned the Australian Government that the Malaysian refugee swap deal may result to “arbitrary and unlawful detention under international law.”

Australia is saying they will go ahead with the deal anyway, and are currently looking for a third country to take refugees. I’m very disappointed with this news, as we are very clearly saying “we don’t care about international law.” Considering that its international law that governs human rights, and how we treat asylum seekers I’m worried that we may set a precedent for us to do worse things to asylum seekers. Continue reading “Malaysia deal amounts to “arbitary and unlawful detention”” →