Resting between rain showers.
Lazy Day
What is GroovyGuppy?
What is GroovyGuppy.com?
GroovyGuppy.com is a private website run by one guy. Its main purpose for existing started out being just as a means to communicate with friends and family around the world.
In the process of being established, there were many new thoughts about what it could contain and what purposes it could serve. As a result, the whole idea has evolved to include a members section providing friends with access to more directed information, a section on stories and thoughts that anyone is welcome to read through, and an image gallery to show anyone that is interested some of the places travelled and seen.
GroovyGuppy.com is not a novel idea. It was inspired by two friends and their own websites. One of which has now been running for years.
But first, let me introduce myself. I am Rob and I was living in Australia when I started this. Where I am now is anyones guess. You see, I am a Christian who believes fervently in God. When God tells me to go somewhere then I go. No hesitation. He asked me to go to New Zealand some years ago so I did. Having lived there for four years God then told me to go to Argentina. That is where I am heading now. Where next, literally, only God knows.
I could talk about God for ages, but there is another place on this site for that. Now, about the website.
Brodie, my brother, started up Jellycan.com so he could share his photos and adventures with family and friends. At the time he was living in Italy or Germany I believe and this was a good way to be able to catch up. After that he moved to Japan and has taken up adventure racing. As a result his website contains all sorts of photos pertaining to that. This was the primary inspiration for my site.
A friend of Brodie’s started up a weblog using CamelFish.com and I liked the name. As a result a search was started to find a name that was clever and memorable. With the help of one of my creative thinking friends, John, we finally came up with the name of GroovyGuppy.com and it stuck.
Having nothing to do with fish it may seem an odd name. But when you consider some of the sites out there then it makes as much sense as any other. After all, Amazon.com has nothing to do with forests (unless you count the paper the books are printed on), Apple.com does not relate to fruit, and Canon.com has nothing to do with war (although the name is spelt differently to cannon).
So that is the why and how of GroovyGuppy.com. If you have any questions, or would like comment on anything in this site, then feel free to contact me.
Looking at True Riches
Jim Baker (on video) teaching students at a bible college in the United States started teaching on Revelations but was sidetracked down this issue of True Riches. What follows is my brief notes on what he had to say, based entirely out of scriptures in the Bible.
1 Cor 13:1-13
(1) Though I speak with the tongues of men and or angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal (2) and though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
(4) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (7) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
(8) Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part. (10) But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (11) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (12) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
(13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
It is not by works, it is our relationship with God.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
John 12:24
Unless a [seed] falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone;
That’s why we are lonely… You have to die daily!
Matt 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Mark 10:17-25
(17) Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (18) So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. (19) You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” (20) And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” (21) Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” (22) But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (23) Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (24) And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! (25) It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
I used to teach that the eye of the needle was a gate in Jerusalem that was so low the camels had to kneel down and crawl under. That is not true. The eye of the needle is just that. Anything is possible with God.
Mark 4:19
…and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
People are following teaching that itches their ears.
Luke 1:53
He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.
Luke 6:24
But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.
Luke 8:14
Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
Luke 12:15
And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Luke 14:33
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Luke 16:19-25
(19) “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. (20) But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, (21) desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. (22) So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. (23) And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (24) Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ (25) But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
Everytime there’s a bad guy it seems to be a rich man.
Luke 19:2
Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
Luke 21:1-4
(1) And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, (2) and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. (3) So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; (4) for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12 are often quoted and well loved. An interesting omission from them is that they do not mention anything about “things” or money. There is no “blessed are you if you have lots of money”.
Matthew 5:1-12
(1) And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. (2) Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
(3) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (4) Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. (5) Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. (6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. (7) Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. (8) Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. (9) Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. (10) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (11) “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. (12) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Watch out for a different Jesus or Gospel or Spirit.
2 Cor 11:4
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!
The phrase “you may well put up with it” is in effect saying “you may as well put up with it”. This is made clearer in verse 20 where it says, “For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.”
Galatians 1:6-9
(6) I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, (7) which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (9) As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Matthew 4:4
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ “
A misused verse
Some have used 3 John 1:2 as a verse to indicate that God wants us to prosper financially. Here John writes that we may prosper in all things. The word “prosper” here is Euodoo in the Greek. This comes from Eu which means good or well, and Hodos which means road, progress and/or journey. So this combined word means, to be in good health on your journey. This is highlighted by reading the same word translated in Romans 1:10 as “find a way”.
3 John 1:2
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
Rom 1:10
making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.
1 Tim 6:5-12
Lk 15:12 Prodigal son – “give me!” (proverbs)
Act 8:15 give me!
Ps 106:15
2 Kings 5:1-27 Naaman seeks healing from Leprosy
We must seek God – not man. Jesus – not miracles.
Ezek 34:1-10
1 Tim 3:1-8
Vision: Cattle herded without any skin on them. Raw and bleeding they walked past. God said that this is His church, this is what has been done to them.
Tit 1:10-11
——
Long horn sermons – a point here, a point there and a lot of bull inbetween.
A Brief History on Jim Baker
Convicted of crimes while running a huge evangelistic ministry, Jim Baker spent a number of years in jail. It was during this time that he came to realise this was not God’s punishment but rather His mercy.
These years were the sweetest years of his life, says Jim. He wrote down everything that Jesus spoke in the Bible, abbreviating it into short sentences that still conveyed the main theme of the passage where possible, and then memorised it all. “It was only then that I began to realise just how wrong I was.” It was during these years that he came to realise just how wrong he was, how wrong his teachings on financial prosperity were, and how shallow his relationship was with God. During these years he came to know God in a completely new way.
When I saw Jim Baker on the video he was a different man, a broken man. He presented only the Bible and stayed away from teaching on his ideas or thoughts. He was passionate only about one thing, and that was for people to know God more.
Saying It All Over Again
I took a class today, and had no idea what I was going to say. Not only that, but after every sentence I had no idea what I would say next. But don’t worry, it all worked out fine. That is what happens when you are translating.
You see, today was my first day in translating from Spanish to English. This day comes in the life of every speaker of two or more languages. Many times it is something easy or simple to do. I guess in reality, my day like that came a long time ago during the moments that I was asked by my friends, “what did he say?” But today was something different, another rung on the ladder so to speak… as if there were any ladder at all. Today was an “official” translation. In a school.
A drawing by one of the students of me (on the left) translating David in the school.
If you were to ask me if I speak Spanish, I would reply that I do. If you were to ask me if I speak well, then the answer is no. So how does this qualify me as a translator? Really, it doesn’t. Translating, and working in the schools that they run here have not been part of my mandate since I started working. In more ways than one, I have been “loaned” to the school to translate.
Why have I been “loaned”? Put simply, it is because there is nobody else to do the job. Normally we have had three good interpreters available for this sort of work. Right now there is none. So my level of inexpertise has now been elevated to the point of service. Kind of like winning a job position because there was nobody else to contest the position. Well, exactly like that, except we were not contesting at all.
Ruth, one of our interpreters left several weeks ago to study in Brazil for the next three months. She is totally unavailable. Paul is currently down in Buenos Aires welcoming his mum from England. They will be travelling around a lot over the next four or five weeks while she is here so that puts him out of commision too (although he will help out next week a little). Our final interpreter, Pamela, decided that it would be a really good school to do, hence is now one of the students in the school. Yes, the same school that I am now translating.
Ah ha! I hear you say. Why doesn’t Pamela interpret then, since she is already doing the school?
She certainly could, that is true, but this school also has another name. INTENSIVE Bible Study School. This means that the workload for the students is very high during much of the school. To place the burden on Pamela to translate at the same time as trying to perform all of the in-class activities and questions, and then for her to also be the mediator between student and staff, and to help the Spanish speaking staff to understand the student’s work while they are trying to mark it would be unfair. So that is where I come into it.
You see, even though my task is only from 9.30am until 1.00pm (and this week there is also 5pm to 7pm), there is much more to the work. Helping students ask questions of the lecturers, assisting with the marking of the English based work, and being a source of local information for those new to the area. Even though it cuts into the work I am currently doing I do enjoy it greatly. Getting off the computer and becoming a part of “real life” where you can physically touch and see what you are working with is a great distraction.
So my days of translation have started and after day 1 I can say that I have really enjoyed it. After all, all I am doing is just…
Saying it all over again.
What am I doing?
This is a pretty strong poem that I wrote some time ago. Normally I write stuff that rhymes, but this time I was experimenting with another style. It didn’t work out so well, but the resulting thoughts still hold true. It was not written to offend, but rather as a reflection on how I was and where I came from. It is here, not for its poetic mastery, but because the words are still just as powerful, and just as true.
Here inside these four old walls
I listen to a preacher preach up a storm
He rants and raves and carries on
But although I agree, what am I doing?Meanwhile outside people are starving
Homeless wander past while we blare out worship songs
Claiming that we love our saviour Jesus
But proclaiming Him only to the heavens abovePeople freezing without clothes to their name
But I am here all cozy warm
My bottom pampered by some plush seat
My shoes resting on luxurious carpetWhat am I doing, what do I believe
That Jesus can do it all without me
Why do I sit here, why do I sing
When all that I am is a white washed tombWhere is the truth to all I proclaim
My faith is not more than an empty gong
Fooled to consider I am secure in salvation
When my actions are directing me straight down to hell
Cost of Living Is Rising
Feeling thirsty, I head first back to my house. Here, under the kitchen bench, sits an old empty green glass bottle with “Sprite” written all over it. Without this bottle I will not be able to get another one. Oh, it is not the only way that the drinks come these days, but it certainly is the cheapest… or at least it was.
My time here in Argentina has been relatively short. It was only last year that I arrived here, just over 1 1/2 years ago. At that time I was paying only $1.50 for the 1.5 litre bottle which seemed very reasonable to me. However it was not to remain that way, and when I returned from my Christmas holidays I was shocked to discover that the price had suddenly climbed to $2.00 a bottle.
That was a massive jump that occurred very quickly. It was not the only thing that jumped in price however, as there were noticeable rises in prices in virtually all of the foodstuffs and some of the other commodities. It did not worry me too much at the time though, because I was still quite accustomed to the higher prices that I had been subjected to back in Australia and New Zealand.
The more time I spend in this country however, the more accustomed I am becoming to these prices. Now the prices that seemed cheap before are starting to look very normal. That is why today, when I stopped by the shop, I was somewhat shocked to hear that the prices are going up once again. As of tomorrow we will be paying $2.20 for that same bottle of softdrink.
How can they put the prices up already, when they already had risen so much only a few months ago? It seemed like highway robbery, and there was nothing that I could do about it. This is symptomatic of what is happening in many areas of this country. It is climbing in cost on a monthly basis. Something somewhere is going up in price. Peoples wages have not risen, but the cost of living certainly is.
So there I was, with my last bottle of $2.00 peso Sprite in hand, feeling shocked over a rise in the cost of my drink. Surprisingly though, I was not thinking too much in me. We work with a number of local families that are struggling even now to make ends meet. I was thinking about them, and how they would possibly connect those ends if the prices just keep rising as they are. I was thinking about the companies dictating the prices and how they could justify raising their prices once again when there has been no indication even of wages rising in this country.
But then I thought about some of the war experiences and how inflation was so high that the prices were rising by the hour. How they would carry notes in a wheelbarrow just to buy one loaf of bread. How so many people went through some serious hardship just trying to live. Then my $0.20 price rise on an optional food item did not seem too bad. Yes, it is not only this item that will increase in price. Yes, the cost of living is rising…
…but I think we will all make it. For now, anyway.
Tools of the Trade
Teaching English
Who thought I would be teaching English in a high school here in Argentina? I certainly did not.
A friend of mine on staff here goes every Wednesday to the local high school to teach English. He will be away for a week or two shortly and the classes need to continue, so I wandered over there to join him in his classes. This would give me some clue as to what to do when I take them over while he is away.
The school we teach at (on the right).
The first thing that impacted me about it all was the newness of the school. It was a reasonably large school and I had seen dozens of children walking to and from the place every day, yet there seemed to be very few around as we entered the yard. Perhaps this was just because they were all in classes. We had arrived a few minutes late.
I guess I was expecting some sort of class when we turned up, some sort of assembly of students either inside or outside of the classroom. On the walk here I had been warned that at times the students do not turn up or arrive late. We had discussed how the class had dwindled from around 20 students to significantly less… it was just that I was not expecting this much less.
What’s This About Martin Luther?
Well I have read a lot of writings on the church history and essays too. I am no professor, only a pleb going about my daily business with an interest in the things of God, but I think I may have hit upon one of the best writings about the history of Martin Luther.
Now if you don’t know anything about him, do not dispair, for all will be revealed if you journey along and read this article (now deleted), written by the 16 year old daughter of the “Real Live Preacher“, a site I found by browsing domain names… you know… when you punch in something like 2b.com or zzz.com etc.
So anyway, in reading this guy’s website I happen upon a reference to this history article by his daughter. It is fresh, unconceited, honest, and fun to read. Best of all, it is a joy to read something written without pretense. Good on her. I loved it. Check it out. You will be sure to enjoy it too.