Category: Life

Sunrise, Sunset

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life
Sunrise over Perth, Western Australia, taken f...
Sunrise over Perth City (Image via Wikipedia)

Do you like sunrises, or sunsets? As a West Australian, it’s hard not to love sunsets. We get incredible sunsets here in Perth, which I think is in part caused by living on the west coast of a country, with no land between us and the horizon. In summer it is brilliant, because the sun goes down so late, that you can get home from work, drive out to the beach and have a walk along as the sun goes down. It’s incredibly humbling, to stand there in front of something so massive, so beautiful. It’s a brilliant reminder of God’s handiwork, his creativity, his brilliance.

But, as the Perth sunrise is often no-where near as spectacular as the Perth sunset, I kind of regard sunrises as very special moments. I remember one from when I was a teenager. My family was on holidays in Albany, and as I was up early – and it was still dark – I thought I’d walk out to a special lookout, where I could see the sun rise over water. I have no recollection of it being incredibly beautiful, or stunning, but that moment, that space, has stuck in my memory, and most likely will for some time to come.

I have often heard people describe sunsets and sunrises as “thin places” – where the gap between heaven and earth becomes very thin, and we can see some of the glory of God’s kingdom. I would not doubt this for a second.

Jammin’

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life, Music
Jesus Is Just Alright
Image via Wikipedia

I wasn’t allowed to go home yesterday afternoon. My wife was having a girls only party, and I was strictly told that I was not allowed to go home after church. So I organised with a few mates to get together and have a jam. It was awesome, a whole heap of fun. We jammed over some riffs that we knew, then had a go at a couple of songs which ended up sounding pretty good. I had a chance to pull out some of my heavier guitar tones that I don’t often use in church situations, Dave had a chance to really play his new bass (which he discovered was even more awesome than he originally thought, finding a beautiful dirty side to the slightly bluesy sound he thought he had found), Paul got a chance to play a whole heap of stuff and Isaac got to hit some drums really loudly. It was awesome fun.

One of the songs we had fun doing was “Jesus is Just Alright” by the Doobie Brothers. I think this is one that I might see if we can pull up for the youth band sometime. Would be a whole heap of fun.

Have a listen to that, that will make your Monday go much better. What would your favourite song to jam on be?

How many instruments can I play?

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life
Difference / Unterschied Violin - Viola (Alto)
Image via Wikipedia

Thought I’d share a little bit about the instruments that I play, and my journey on them.

Violin

The violin is my main instrument, and I’ve been learning it since I was seven. I’ve played in various orchestras over the time, played on stage with a band or two, and had a whole heap of fun doing it. The violin opened up the world of music for me, but it will always be my first love.

Viola

When I went to Uni, there were very few string players. There were only a couple of viola players. So, in order to help out with chamber music groupings, I taught myself the viola. I used my spare violin and converted it to a viola, learned how to read the alto clef, and started playing the viola. I didn’t play it for long, but I still count it as an instrument I can play.

Piano

My parents have a piano at their place, and over time I taught myself how to play it. I’m not great – and play the piano much in the same style as the guitar – I play the chords more than the melody line. However, I have taught myself to play a couple of easy pieces, so I’m not as bad as I was. I really enjoy playing the piano, but not having one at my place means I don’t get to play as often as I used to.

Guitar

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to learn the guitar. So I bought one and an instructional book, and spent a couple of days learning chords and how to play. Within a couple of weeks I was playing at church in the worship team. I love the guitar now, and probably play it more than my violin these days, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t love my violin – I just love both.

Other Instruments

I can play a few other instruments, such as drums, ukulele, mandolin and recorder. I like having a go at various instruments, so there might be other instruments that get added to this list over time.

What instruments can you play?

Having Coffee with the Phantom

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life
The Phantom
Image via Wikipedia

If I were to bring any fictional character to life, I would love to have coffee with The Phantom, The Ghost who Walks. I’ve been a big fan of The Phantom for a long time, and used to have a large collection of Phantom comics (sadly, I got rid of them when I moved out of home). One of my favourite types of stories in the comics were the historical stories, where we’re read of the Phantoms of the past. I especially loved the stories when one of the previous Phantoms got involved in a historical event, such as the declaration of independence, or the Guy Fawkes story line. If I could bring anyone back, I would love to sit and have coffee (though he’d probably have a tea of some sort, I suspect), and go through the Phantom archives, hearing all the different stories of The Phantom.

Postaday2011 posts

The most difficult decision I’ll never regret

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

From 1996 until 2009, I was an Anglican. A member of St Anselm’s, I had grown up there. I had gone from being in the Kid’s Club, to the youth group, to leading the youth group. I had gone from child to adult, and into a form of leadership in the congregation. In the last couple of years, I was really starting to come to grips with the deep meaning in the service, the meaning behind the words, why certain actions were done. Then, I made the most difficult decision of my life.

Continue reading “The most difficult decision I’ll never regret” →

International Women’s Pancake Day

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

Yes, it’s International Women’s Pancake Day. What? Oh, sorry, it’s two separate events – International Women’s Day, and Pancake Day. My mistake. Anyway, today is a day to be proud to be a woman, or to be proud of what a woman you know has done.
For example, my mum has done so much in her life. She was a minister, at a time where there was still a lot of stigma against female preachers. She worked hard in the field of ecumenism for a long time, and helped settle many refugee families into better lives in Australia. She most recently has been working on a project that takes business people who have lost their jobs, and trains them in working for the not for profits. Gives them new skills, and gives the not for profits the benefits of having business people working for them.
So this International Women’s Pancake… Sorry, International Women’s Day, I’ll be raising a Pancake for my Mum.

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What makes it sacred is greater

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, “If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.” You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, “If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.” You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar which makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

Matthew 23:16-22 (NIV)

This passage comes in the middle of a passage titled in my bible “Seven Woes” and it reads as possibly the most scathing criticism about the pharisees and teachers of the law that comes out of Jesus’ mouth. The passage above got me, which was in my readings for today, thinking. It’s the Church that makes things holy. It’s the altar that makes it holy. It doesn’t really matter what you bring, by giving it to the Lord, he makes it holy.

How often would we hold back in our lives, because we’re not sure if it’s the right thing to do? When you listen to God, and you dedicate it to him, he will make it holy, and work with whatever you can bring. Remember that Jesus worked with as little as 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed five thousand, and 7 loaves and a few small fish to feed four thousand. Whatever you have, God will work with. All you need to do is give it to him$

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Don’t try so hard!

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

I played a round of golf on Monday, as I had a morning off from work. The first couple of holes weren’t great, until I started telling myself not to try so hard.

See, when I tried hard, the extra power would put my technique all off, and my shots would either be really short, or a long way off target. But, when I allowed the club to do the work, shots were straighter. Yes, I lost some distance through the loss of power, but my shots were more consistent, and I was able to shoot some good scores.

How often do we try too hard in areas of our lives, only to have it not go as well as we expected? Don’t try too hard! Allow your body, and the tools you use, to do the work in the way they were intended. Yes, it might not be as big as it could be, but the results will be more consistent.

What in your life have you been trying too hard at?

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Sunday Set List – Feb 27, 2011

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life, Music

Had our youth meeting on Sunday. This was the first Youth Meeting since taking over leadership of the band. Haven’t had much time to work the band as I’d like to, but I’m hoping over the course of this year, I can start to implement some good changes into the youth band. The first service was based upon Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Started with Blessed be your name. A song that we know well, and has an awesome message: “Every blessing you pour out I’ll turn back to praise.”

Then One Way – a song that we love to pump out, but haven’t done for a while. I love this because I can get away with some grungier effects on my guitar.

Then this beautiful song by Nathan Rowe from the Australian Southern Territory – Let Justice Roll. Very powerful lyrics here

I’ve fallen in love with Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace (My Chains are gone) – start with a powerful song, add a powerful chorus, and it’s brilliant.

We love The Stand, and perform it often. I’ve heard it go into a Hallelujah before, but it’s not quite the right setting for that, so we just do the Stand.

And then we finished off with One Way again.

All up, it was a great service. I’m looking forward to our next service in March, and looking forward to start challenging the band musically with slightly more difficult songs, and get us really working together as a band, while still preserving the fun, passion and energy that we have when we praise the Lord.

This post was part of the Sunday Set List posed by The Worship Community.com