Forty something, multi-media megastar - well, I get quoted in the press from time to time because I’ve managed to trick several journalists into thinking I have something intelligent to say about financial markets!
My main media claim to fame (prior to last week’s Boss magazine, at least) was an appearance on Andrew Denton’s “Live and Sweaty” a dozen years ago. It was the week of the Rugby League Grand Final and I was on a panel that had to use jargon from their profession to predict the result. As the economist among them I boldly declared that “this was the Grand Final we had to have, pitting the instigators of the recession {Canberra} against the victims {Penrith}”. And as “the outlook for GDP was {at that time} improving”, I predicted that Geyer’s Dynamic Panthers would be victorious by a score of 17-12. Mortgage interest rates had hit 17% (triggerring the recession) but were then down to 12%.
Now, as a Penrith boy who had paid $150 for his ticket to the SFS, as I sat there near the end of the game, still buzzing from Roycey Simmons’ 2nd try, and with the score at 17-12, I thought for one fleeting moment, “do I want Brandy to kick this?” Of course I did - I wanted the victory more than the vainglory of being able to say that I predicted the score exactly. Near enough was good enough for me. ACtually, this is the one time I’ve prayed for the actual outcome in a sporting event, because the tarot card reader, clairvoyant, etc had all predicted Canberra to win, and I couldn’t stand the thought of them having any credibility. They were shot to pieces by that result!!
The hound of heaven barked loudly for me in my last year of High School just over 28 years ago. For all of you on this forum who haven’t even been “born of water” for that long, let alone “born again” (refer John 3 if you aren’t sure what means), I can tell you that you have one heck of a life ahead of you, learning new stuff from God, experiencing His compassionate discipline when you fail, having your pride knocked down several notches, learning that we grow through sufferring ..... have you counted the cost yet, guys?!
No, it’s great having been a follower of Jesus for all these years and I am ever thankful to Him for His abundant blessings. We live in a world that curses, that is negative, that undermines and denigrates, but the living God is a God of blessing. Did you know that the Hebrew word for “bless” literally means “to kneel”? That means that the God who created the universe, who rules over everything, wants to come to us on bended knee to give good things to us! Wow! He’s done that supremely, of course, in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross, making Himself poor that we might be rich. You know how it goes - God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. What a blessing! (John 3:16)
I am privileged to have the best job of its kind in the country. I head the fixed interest investment team at Colonial First State, the country’s largest fund manager. I am surrounded by great staff, great colleagues across the firm and people whose values of integrity, accountability and respect for relationships make this simply a wonderful place to work.
As you all know from the magazine article, I help to lead a Bible Discussion group here at work and I have a keen interest in encouraging others to think through how to live out the faith in their workplace.
I’m Deputy Chairman of the Council of St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney - another great privilege as this is one of the country’s leading Christian schools, and I mean genuinely Christian as it seeks to live out the gospel in all that is done within the community.
I’ve also got a wonderful family. My wife and two children are simply the best.
I refuse to stoop so low as to reveal that I’m an innie - D’Oh! Which reveals that one of the things I like doing is to watch The Simpson’s with my kids. There are heaps of episodes and incidents that can provide gospel telling material in that show. I’m a Trekker, which means I’m a genuine Star Trek fan as anyone in the know realises that the term “Trekkie” went out with William Shatner’s flat stomach.
And I also write long posts, and far too many posts. (Go to the memberlisting and sort them by number of posts - how embarrassing, and I’m still up there near the top despite having cooled off a lot in the last month or so.) Enough, then, for now.
Grace and Peace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.
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