CROSS purposes

A New Start With

“Hi, Eric,” said Bill. “Haven’t seen you for a while. Still bringing apple slice for smoko, I see. How’s it going?”

“Good, thanks. You?”

“Most things, yeah. But here’s a question for you. Nearly all the blokes here at work think that being a Christian is all about being good, moral, religious. And I know that’s not right. We’re not on some higher moral plain at all. Not me, anyway.”

“I know what you mean, Bill,” said Eric. “I might be able to help, though. In the Bible, where I was reading, a really religious bloke came to Jesus, to check him out. But Jesus wasn’t impressed by him at all. He just cut him short by saying: ‘unless a person is born again, no one can get into heaven!’”

“Born a second time? That would have been confusing! I suppose it means born once, normally; then born again, being forgiven and joining God’s family?”

“Yup. Letting God’s Holy Spirit give us a new life. It’s not about being good, but starting again with God. Now we’re living with Jesus as boss.”

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Birthdays This Week

Feb 16: Ice-T, US actor-rapper, 65. John McEnroe, US tennis player, 64. Des Hasler league player-coach, 62. Andy Taylor British musician of Duran Duran, 62. Alyssa-Jane Cook , actress, 56. Cathy Freeman, Olympic athlete, 50. Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcyclist, 44. Agyness Deyn, British model, 40. Feb 17: Barry Humphries, comedian-actor, 89. Lou Diamond Phillips, US actor, 61. Michael Jordan, US basketball player, 60. Dominic Purcell, actor, 53. Denise Richards, US actress, 52. Paris Hilton US socialite and heiress, 42. A.B de Villers, South African cricketer, 39. Ed Sheeran, English singer, 32. Alex de Minaur, tennis champ, 24.

Feb 18: Len Deighton, British author, 94. Yoko Ono, widow of Beatle John Lennon, 90. Cybill Shepherd US actress, 73. John Travolta, US actor, 69. Greta Scacchi

British-Italian actress, 63. Matt Dillon US actor, 59. Sandra Sully, TV news presenter, 58. Dr Dre, rapper, 58. Andrew Daddo, TV/radio presenter, 56. Molly Ringwald, US actress, 55. Josip ?imunic, soccer player-coach, 45. Todd Lasance, actor, 38.

Feb 19: Smokey Robinson US pop singer, 83. Amy Tan author, 71. Prince Andrew, royal, 63. Hana Mandlikova , Czech tennis player, 61. Seal, British singer, 60. Benicio Del Toro, Puerto Rican actor, 56. Lisa McCune, actress, 52. Beth Ditto US singer, 42.

Feb 20: Dr Harry Cooper, TV vet, 79. Cindy Crawford US model, 57. Kimberley Davies, Aussie actress, 50. Rihanna , Barbadian singer, 35. Daly Cherry-Evans footy player, 34.

Feb 21: Kelsey Grammer, US actor, 68. Mary Chapin Carpenter US country singer, 65. Christopher Atkins, US actor, 62. Michael Slater, cricketer, 53. Jennifer Love Hewitt, US actress/singer, 44. Jessica McNamee actress, 38. Charlotte Church, Welsh singer, 37. Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page), US actor, 36. Ashley Greene, US model-actress, 36.

Feb 22: Vijay Singh, Fiji golfer, 60. Mark Ferguson Tamworth-born TV news anchor, 57. James Blunt British singer, 49. Drew Barrymore US actress, 48. Dichen Lachman, actress, 41. Shaun Tait cricketer, 40.

THUMBS UP to vet Ryan and nurse Josh at Orange Vet Hospital for the exceptional, emergency outof-hours care they provided for our very senior dog last week. Our dear old mate was treated with utmost professionalism and care — thank you!

THUMBS UP to Amanda at Orange City Council for her outstanding work on this year’s Seniors Festival, with a huge range of activities on o er — and ably supported by the Community Services Team. Well done!

THUMBS UP to the Orange City Council Ageing Services Team for the o cial launch of the Seniors Village Hub. Congratulations on the establishment of this wonderful community resource.

THUMBS DOWN to a local fastfood franchise in Orange. I placed an order online at 9am and an hour later I got a call saying that the order was cancelled.

THUMBS UP to local taxi drivers who are polite, follow all the road rules and maintain a clean vehicle for the comfort of their passengers. Thank you!

THUMBS UP to Liz Phelps Photography. Highly recommended for wedding photography.

THUMBS UP to the postman who delivers to Ophir Street. Great service, a really nice bloke, plus a dog lover.

THUMBS UP What a fabulous night out at Canobolas Dance Hall on Thursday night to see Messalina! An amazing performance by this talented group of local ladies singing beautiful soul songs and the support band rocked. We had a ball singing and dancing the night away! Thank you to all involved for organising this event. Can’t wait until next time.

THUMBS DOWN to the Red P-plater who parked the wrong way near the Anson street arcade. The sign says parallel parking, not angle parking. You could have caused a serious accident.

THUMBS DOWN to the smokers who throw their butts on the ground at the back of the hospital. There are more butts on the ground than the gravel you have kicked away.

THUMBS UP to the contractors in Hill Street south for the e cient manner in which they are working.

THUMBS UP to the man who paid my grocery bill at Woolworths a few weeks ago. I had no cash on me, but my bank account was healthy and I used my EFTPOS card. Despite using the correct PIN the card did not work. I went to the bank to fix it and was told they’d had some issues but that it should be working now. The man would not give me contact details to reimburse him. While the bill was not excessive it was a very kind thing to do.

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