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Couple more quotes

"The secret to having everything you want out of life is the realization that you really don't want most of the things you think you want." - Bo Bennett


"Make no mistake about it, this drama and this Kingdom's agenda is at the center of the meaning of cosmic history and your own individual story. Like a grand conductor who calls in the flutes at just the right time, your Father has brought you into the Cosmic Symphony at your unique place in time and space so you can be a vibrant outpost in your sphere of influence. In short, you are here to be an apprentice of the Lord Jesus to learn how to live your life well as part of God's broader purposes. This is your calling, this is your destiny, this is your only chance to have a life of genuine, full human flourishing." - J.P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle (Zondervan, 2007

Quaffable quotes



You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.”
C.S. Lewis quote

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
C.S. Lewis quote

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me”
C.S. Lewis quote
You know those footy quizzes where they ask the players who they would like to meet? Troy Cook this week said "Jesus Christ". Fair call, and I wouldn't mind sharing a cuppa with CS Lewis.

Leviticus 11.13

Wess' Brot ich ess', dess' Lied ich sing


As expected Judd got off....
charge could not be sustained.....

teachers pet gets off,
how could they suspend the Brownlow favourite? They couldn't, he wasn't wearing a purple jumper for a start!!


Pinched the title for this series from Bruce Chant, but the messages will be mine.
Interested in the seasons of life, the Bible has a lot to say about this, and what it feels and looks like to be in rythm with God. Rob Bell has an awesome dvd on this as well, which will probably find its way into the series somehow.
(As my old Bible College Principal Dean Woods said, you get milk from a lot of cows, but make your own butter)

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a German word meaning 'pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune.' It has been borrowed by the English language[1] and is sometimes also used as a loanword by other languages. It derives from Schaden (damage, harm) and Freude (joy); Schaden derives from the Middle High German schade, from the Old High German scado, and freude comes from the Middle High German vreude, from the Old High German frewida, from frō, (happy). In German, the word always carries a negative connotation. A distinction exists between "secret schadenfreude" (a private feeling) and "open schadenfreude" (Hohn).
Usually, it is believed that Schadenfreude has no direct English equivalent. For example, Harper Collins German-English Dictionary translates schadenfreude as "malicious glee or gloating." An apparent English equivalent is epicaricacy, derived from the Greek word επιχαιρεκακία, epichaerecacia. This word does not appear in most modern dictionaries, but does appear in Nathaniel Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1727) under a slightly different spelling (epicharikaky), which gives its etymology as a compound of epi (upon), chara (joy), and kakon (evil).


(Sourced from Wikipedia)

Great news at the AFL Tribunal

Johnson and Dean Solomon both free to play,
Heath Black recieved a reprimand, and is free to play....


Huh?? what was that? What great news at the Tribunal did you think I meant?? :)

1988 top ten aussie singles


this looks better..

Dave pointed me to this site, which has the top ten Aussie songs during my 18th year. A lot of pop songs, which I am slightly embarassed to say I enjoyed!

1 (I'VE HAD) THE TIME OF MY LIFE
BILL MEDLEY & JENNIFER WARNES
mmmm, not great


2 SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE
ROBERT PALMER
things that make you go mmmm, remembered for its video clip, lets be honest.... but apart from that a heart stopping song.

3 THE FLAME
CHEAP TRICK
yeh, I liked it :)

4 GET OUTTA MY DREAMS, GET INTO MY CAR
BILLY OCEAN
yeh, I liked this too, its like admitting you watched 'Dukes of Hazard'

5 I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY
KYLIE MINOGUE
sigh, yep, hummed along to this when no one was watching

6 PERFECT
FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION
Good song

7 WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
LOUIS ARMSTRONG

8 NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP
RICK ASTLEY
He had a booming bass voice for a pretty weiny looking guy

9 AGE OF REASON
JOHN FARNHAM
We all knew he was saying something serious, but did not really knew what it was, so pretended to be sophisticated and enjoy it anyway!

10 BETTER BE HOME SOON
CROWDED HOUSE
Great song, classic song, great great band....

stinking computers


Lesson for the inexperienced.... (namely me!)
Always have a back up.
This morning at church for some inexplicapable reason our main presentation computer started operating at close to 100% cpu capacity. This meant our presentation software would not work effectively.
I had to grab my laptop from the office and type in lyrics for the songs, on the fly......
sigh.......

Need to make sure that from now on we have a secondary computer with the service schedhule all ready to go.

And I need to find out why on earth my main computer is being a pain in the.... butt.

Its a beautiful day ..... Mind Dump

1. Freo, great win last night, Pav and Tarrant are working really well together. Hasleby is back to his best, Sandilands keeps getting more dominant, Bell is playing as good as he ever did when with the Roos. Great to see Peake back.... my favourite player.
2. I expect Johnson to get done by the tribunal, because thats what they do, make examples of Freo players, even if he was looking at the ball, and the Saints player was pushed onto his arm

3. West Coast are playing like front runners at the moment, and they really miss Kerr.
4. Judd should get done for eye gouging, but probably wont, see point 2
5. Its a great weekend when Freo win and the Weagles lose....(ha ha ha!!)

(Ps I tipped the Hawks to win!!)

beautiful.....

Church sign colour


Phil Cooke is rapidly becoming a bit of a hero of mine, after presenting Christianity in the best possible light on Dentons Show "God on my side" Go to Rodneys site for a discussion of this.

Anyway, on his blog he talks about colours and the use of them in marketing material.

The distinct colour in our church logo is orange.

His take on orange is this,

"ORANGE – Orange is associated with vibrancy and the tropics, as well as warmth and contentment. It can instill a sense of fun and excitement. It implies health. It suggests pleasure, cheer, endurance, generosity and ambition. It can make an expensive product seem more affordable. It appeals to a wide range of people, both male and female."


Sounds pretty good to me. I think most leadership decisions, including ones on how to present yourself, come from gut decisions. Good to see our church leadership made a good 'gut' decision on the church logo!

1988 pop music


What were the top songs in my prime, 18 years of age?
Here are the top ten according to Pop culture madness

1. What A Wonderful World* - Louis Armstrong *didn't even make it in the top 100 when released in 1967!
Classic song, but did not register on my radar
2. It Takes Two - Rob Base & E-Z Rock
Now a dud tv show
3. Da Butt - EU
mmmmmm
4. Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Now your talking! Remember the one armed drummer??
5. I'll Always Love You - Taylor Dayne
zzzzzzzzz

6. Sweet Child Of Mine - Guns N Roses
Turn it up loud! Juvenile, but great riff, can't see the band being as good without Slash
7. Hot Hot Hot - Buster Poindexter
another mmmmmm
8. Just Got Paid - Johnny Kemp
Who?
9. Paradise - Sade
Only if your in the mood
10. Kokomo - Beach Boys
Beautiful harmonies....but not really my thing

Farmer may return early

The Australian reports on the Farmer return, with the most significant line being this one,
"Fremantle made it clear yesterday that any chance of him playing at AFL level earlier than round 12 was not the agenda, but Farmer could make a personal plea for an earlier return"

Alison Fan has got a petition together with about 300 signatures from lawyers of all people.
As tempting as it is to bring him back, we dont want to go down the road of another team we all know and dislike, and go soft on our players.....

story

John Eldridge

The writer of "Wild at Heart" a great book....This is a quote from an interview he did talking about men.

"We have to start with the heart," he began, "whether we're after a mythic life, a poetic life, a spiritual life, or a transcendent life, the heart is the 'wellspring of life within you.'" [From an ancient Hebrew proverb.]
Eldredge said most "modern enlightened men" live by the Greek model of the personality which divides the head (reason) and the heart (emotion).
"Your feelings from the heart are the most profound, the deepest, the truest you," he said. "The heart is the source of your memories, passions and desires. It's where you do your life. I believe there are universals written on the human heart. And, what's so awesome about that is there are particulars as well. You may love to write and think, while another man loves to build and to construct things. Another person loves to sing. The uniqueness of the human heart helps us share the essential universals between us. That's what makes getting to know a person so fascinating."

Peter Bell

After watching him almost single handedly drag us back into contention against those "flat runners" on Sunday, I wonder if Peter is not the 'spiritual leader' of our club?
Pavlich is a awesome player, but is continually having to play on at least two players, and his form has been pretty average the past few weeks.
Come on Belly, you want success at Freo as much as anyone.
The shortest man on the team has one of the biggest hearts.....

Three messages

I have finally caught up on uploading the messages from the past three weeks.

This first one was pretty much 'off the cuff' after my laptop died on the Sunday morning as I went to print it off. I had some notes, but it was an interesting experience. I talk about what makes us happy and reference what is going on in Ben Cousins' life.
It is the first sermon in 15+ years of preaching that I have not used a full manuscript.

Get this widget Share Track details


This second one was at the dedication service of one of the babies in our church called Rebekah. It is a interesting story, and I think people really enjoyed it, and were hopefully challenged. There were a lot of visitors and guests at the service.

Get this widget Share Track details


This final one is the message Quentin gave on Sunday morning. He gives his own testimony and then a powerful challenge on the personal responsibility each one of us have to share our faith.

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Young People's Pastor


Worship Styes


Todays editorial in The West was pretty interesting. Wonder what sort of Church, if any, that Paul Armstong attends??
What is interesting about this is the sense I get from reading it, that Armstrong is not speaking from ignorance, which often media reports do, as though they are observing something they dont really get, but bang on about it anyway.
Apologies for quality of scan, cant seem to find this editorial on the web, if anyone can help with a link, please do. But.... if you click on picture, it should take you to a bigger version of it, which is easier to read. Either that or buy the rag for $1.20 :)

Still on top, even though I only tipped four

1 Mark Edwards 5 5 5 5 7 4 6 4 41
2 Jonnie W 3 6 5 6 5 5 6 4 40
3 bek ingram 6 5 4 4 7 5 4 5 40
4 Dave Quinn 3 6 6 4 5 6 4 6 40
5 jaggunn 4 5 3 5 6 4 6 6 39
6 scott sladden 5 4 4 3 6 6 5 5 38
7 Andrew Canion 5 6 4 4 5 3 6 5 38
8 Paula Boardman 5 4 5 5 6 4 4 5 38
9 Saintgaz 5 6 4 4 5 4 4 5 37 266 38
10 Geoff 2 4 4 4 6 4 5 7 36 277 36
11 ozcanadian 3 4 7 5 5 4 3 4 35
12 LittleTid 5 2 6 5 5 5 4 3 35
13 Rodney Olsen 5 5 4 2 4 4 3 6 33

A few of us did not do well this week, apart from Dave Quinn, who tipped 6.
Unfortunately for my tipping, I normally tip with my heart when it comes to Freo, not my head.
It was not a bad game against Geelong, who by anyones estimation, are playing well at the moment.

But I have to say, the decision to drop Cook has me puzzled. I cant wait until Schammer, Peake and Farmer are back in, that will make a huge difference.

Reivoldt in a whole heap of trouble


Nick Reivoldt has found himself in a whole heap of trouble, and has been photographed handcuffed and being led away in Melbourne today.

wifes new car

My beautiful wife has had an old Corolla for 8 or so years now, and it was starting to make some serious smells, along with overheating, and losing coolant. We suspect a broken head.

So we have got her this car, should keep us going for a while....
As well I found a motor which has only done 40,000 k's out of a Suzuki Baleno, which my mechanic is putting in my Vitara. I love my 4wd Vitara, and with this motor and a new radiator in it, I suspect the motor might outlive the car.. Now does anyone know where I can get a snorkel for my Suzuki from? Because me and the lads from church are planning a 4wd weekend, and there is no point in doing these things half heartedly....

Toddler Jam exploding!

In a good way of course.....

a stack of new families today, makes Friday busy
please pray as we seek to expand this expanding ministry....

good problems to have.

Typical


A corporate club with no soul, trying to pinch a history which does not belong to them.

Typical of the arrogance that walks the halls of the Weagles is the decision of the club to wear the state of origin jumper. Even Slapovich and Karl Langdon are incensed, which says something.




Spiritual Warfare

Here's something I shared with a class I am lecturing too.....

Spiritual warfare
War is never tidy, and it is rarely fair, there is no Geneva Convention, it is a battle. The war was won, but the fighting goes on. Col 2.15…He has publicly disarmed them… The gates of hell will not win, Jesus, the King of the Church will…
But Hells powers are irrational, they are hate filled, they have not accepted they have lost, and like some Japanese soldier sitting on an island in the pacific well after the 2nd world war has finished, they still fight, and they are vicious, and we live in a sinful world, where Christ has not yet appropriated His victory.
When the Spirit comes upon us in power, Demons may flee, but they may also buck up and protest, and the heat of the spiritual battle may increase.

Eph 6, 2 Cor 10.4
From time to time, God’s Holy Spirit breaks forth and there is revival, and God mops us some resistance, but at other times, it seems the Devil is winning.

O2


Here is my new toy, an upgrade from my old O2.
Thanks to a generous friend.....
Bought myself a 1gig memory card, and now 6 or 7 albums on it.
Have synced it up to my computer, beautiful little compact and powerful phone.
Fm Radio, wireless network capability etc etc.... sweet!

No Church for Homer!

Despite the irreverance, there are some good things for me to think about here.

Please pray for Madeleine



As a father myself, I can sort of understand something of the anguish of this beautiful little daughter's parents.
Can I ask those reading this blog to just take a moment to pray for Madeleine McCann
Pray for her safe return, pray for her parents.....God please act in a powerful way, and cause there to be a miraculous and wonderful outcome.

Tipping

I am quite serious in that I have always thought that people who lead tipping know nothing about football....which I know I have said before.....but there you go.

Sorry Bec, I have regained the number one spot on Rodneys tipping ladder, which unfortunately Rod is at the bottom of, right near St Gaz....

I dont expect to stay at the top for long...so I will enjoy it while it lasts...

1 Mark Edwards 5 5 5 5 7 4 6 37 147 7 Send
2 bek ingram 6 5 4 4 7 5 4 35 187 59 Send
3 Dave Quinn 3 6 6 4 5 6 4 34 216 34 Send
4 Andrew Canion 5 6 4 4 5 3 6 33 178 7 Send
5 scott sladden 5 4 4 3 6 6 5 33 188 16 Send
6 jaggunn 4 5 3 5 6 4 6 33 274 46 Send
7 Paula Boardman 5 4 5 5 6 4 4 33 277 35 Send
8 Saintgaz 5 6 4 4 5 4 4 32 228 29 Send
9 LittleTid 5 2 6 5 5 5 4 32 236 65 Send
10 ozcanadian 3 4 7 5 5 4 3 31 195 27 Send
11 Margaret Olsen 4 3 5 4 5 3 5 29 211 5 Send
12 Geoff 2 4 4 4 6 4 5 29 241 32 Send
13 Rodney Olsen 5 5 4 2 4 4 3 27 201 32 Send

Tarrat BOG

Great win today.....came back after the young running Hawks took a decent lead over us.

Chris Tarrant played a great unselfish game....clearly Best on Ground.

Kicked a couple, but more importantly worked really well with the other players, setting up goals and creating a spark across the half forward line.

Hawthorn are a great side, and should easily account for a lack lustre Saints next week, who had a pretty lucky win at home against the Swans.

But of course, the best news of the weekend was that not only did the flat running side the Weagles got beaten, but sanity has been restored and they are no longer on top of the ladder.

Faith

Someone who does not know the bible well, might think it is some super spiritual book, well it certainly is that, but it is also the story of some very ordinary people. Its just that often they find themselves in extraordinary conditions, and they certainly find themselves engaging with an extraordinary God.

Best hope for a good weekend

Our best hope this weekend for a great Monday read of the West.

With the inconsistent but in form Geelong playing the Weagles, and Freo up against finals pretenders Hawthorn, it is the best chance for that glorious occaision when Freo win and the Eargirls lose.

Here's hoping.......

Phil Baker needs a new server

"There was an error connecting to the database, the website administrator has been notified but some functions on this site may not work properly until this issue has been resolved."

I need to read Phil's and others thoughts as part of my routine, come on Phil! :)

Church for the well behaved

Seth Godin is brilliant....this post made me think
"More perfect
Most people in the US can't cook. So you would think that reaching out to the masses with entry-level cooking instruction would be a smart business move.

In fact, as the Food Network and cookbook publishers have demonstrated over and over again, you're way better off helping the perfect improve. You'll also sell a lot more management consulting to well run companies, high end stereos to people with good stereos and yes, church services to the already well behaved."

woh Seth! Slow down a bit.....
Churches for the well behaved might be 'succesful' in that they get bigger. But they are not succesful if you consider that the Church actually exists to bring people to Christ, to see their lives transformed......

Its a lot harder, but we are not succesful if we grow a big church, we are succesful if we see people who never used to follow Christ, start to follow him.

Your faith bridges the gap between your humanity and eternity.....

2nd place

This week I tipped with my heart, not my head, and backed the Dockers against the Lions.

Bec has surged ahead, but luckily, at least according to this ladder, St Gaz is still far behind, which at the end of the day is all that really matters.

1 bek ingram 6 5 4 4 7 5 31 128 8 Send
2 Mark Edwards 5 5 5 5 7 4 31 140 31 Send
3 Dave Quinn 3 6 6 4 5 6 30 182 26 Send
4 Paula Boardman 5 4 5 5 6 4 29 242 53 Send
5 ozcanadian 3 4 7 5 5 4 28 168 10 Send
6 LittleTid 5 2 6 5 5 5 28 171 0 Send
7 scott sladden 5 4 4 3 6 6 28 172 37 Send
8 Saintgaz 5 6 4 4 5 4 28 199 43 Send

Dockers old ways

If the Dockers don't arrest this beginning of season slump and start to play the exciting confident footy that got them into a prelim last year, there are going to be a heap of dissapointed Freo people around the place.

This season is not looking great so far, but with Haddrill, Browne, Peake and maybe Farmer to come back in, maybe we can turn things around.

Otherwise we may be looking for a new coach in 2008
(pleeeease don't let it be Wallace)

Sunday Sermon Jesus saves

Sunday and my sermon,
Laptop died, crashed, unrecoverable. I have just had to reformat this whole thing.
Problem was at 8am on Sunday morning, when you have not printed your sermon off, that is not the time you want to find that out!!
First time in 15 + years of preaching (old fart I am) that I have had to go from just some sketchy notes, and not a full manuscript. Tommorow you can listen and hear how it went!!


reminds me of this old Joke
Jesus Saves
Jesus and Satan have a discussion as to who is the better programmer. This goes on for a few hours until they come to an agreement to hold a contest, with God as the judge.

They sit themselves at their computers and begin. They type furiously, lines of code streaming up the screen, for several hours straight. Seconds before the end of the competition, a bolt of lightning strikes, taking out the electricity. Moments later, the power is restored, and God announces that the contest is over.

He asks Satan to show what he has come up with. Satan is visibly upset, and cries, "I have nothing. I lost it all when the power went out."

"Very well, then," says God, "let us see if Jesus fared any better."

Jesus enters a command, and the screen comes to life in vivid display, the voices of an angelic choir pour forth from the speakers. Satan is astonished.

He stutters, "B-b-but how? I lost everything, yet Jesus' program is intact. How did he do it?"

God smiled all-knowingly, "Jesus saves."

Keith Farmer appearing at a breakfast near you


Keith is still in Perth for a while so myself and the Choco's have organised a breakfast with him. He will be sharing with us about mentoring, let me know asap if you want to come, I have about 10 people coming already, and numbers are limited.

Sell my soul

Most of us wouldn’t sell our soul for any amount of money – but many of us give it away one day at a time......

Jeff Farmer and the police prosecutor

I have been copping some ribbing because I am very quick to post stuff about the Weagles, and slow off the mark when it comes to Freo's misdemenours. Fair cop, but I never said I wasn't bias, I am.....and unlike most of the WA (Mark Duffield excepted) I admit it !!!!!!!!!

But anyway, apparently Jeff Farmer has got himself into trouble, and it was really good to see the Fremantle Club act swiftly and decisively in suspending him for 6 weeks. This hurts the team, but shows good leadership on the clubs behalf.


Police prosecutor Sergeant Bob Morgan said "Mr Farmer needs to take on board, with his record accumulating, he may find himself playing in the forward line for Acacia"

Someone over at Dockerland.com has replied,

"He was obviously assuming Kerr and Cousins had the midfield sorted"

Scum of the earth


Well well well,
with debate on what a church should call itself, this guy has an interesting concept!

WHY SCUM?

It doesn't sound like a church name ... on purpose. We really want to connect with people who have no interest in "church" by society's definition. There are plenty of churches for "normal people" and we think we have a unique calling to reach out to our otherwise unreached friends. Our name is integral to that process. Whether outcast by society (e.g., punks, skaters, ravers, homeless people...) or by the church itself, many who come can identify with the name "Scum of the Earth" since they have been previously treated as such.
More important to us, however, the name implies that being people of faith does not mean we are better than anyone else. We know many non-Christians who think Christians are out to cast judgment on them. Our name makes it clear that we aren't about that. We are just aware of our need for God, as Scum of the Earth. Fortunately, God never sees us like that! But the name is humble and we like that. --Chris Baker

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. (1 Corinthians 4:11-13)

http://www.scumoftheearth.net/

h/t Tall Skinny Kiwi

Keith Farmer 2gether

Keith Farmer was our second speaker at the 2gether conference. He mentors about 50 Pastors Australia wide. I will post some stuff he talked about soon, as I process it. But one thing he said was amusing (unintentionally).

He said that Churches were like football teams. The captain had to be a good performer on and off the field, he had to have integrity and credibility on and off the field...... can you guess what everyone was thinking at this point??

Well, I called out, "thats right" and everone roared in laughter, knowing I am a keen Dockers supporter. Keith said, "I have obviously touched a nerve here", and then went on to explain he is a Sydney Swans supporter.

Wayne Alcorn Monday

Wayne shared his story on Monday morning. He talked about his dad, his ministry, starting off in a small church in inner city Brisbane. Having the church burn down, struggling.
He shared how they went for "the people know one else wanted". The down and outs, the prostitutes, cross dressers. It was so refreshing to hear his heart and to hear what the church is doing.

At night he shared some principles which were really really challenging. He talked about how we need to believe that God wants to bless our church and ministry. Sounds simple, but its not. It goes to the heart of how we think about God, what we think of His character, how we think He thinks of us.
He talked about how we need resources to change our cities and become conduits of blessings, and talked about the incredible social programs his church runs. Very inspiring, confronting and challenging. I am really glad I am here.

Footy Tips 7

How on earth did I get seven right?
I should have checked up on Gareth's scientific tipping method..... :)

(Go Karyn!!)

1 Mark Edwards 5 5 5 5 7 27 109 3 Send
2 bek ingram 6 5 4 4 7 26 120 21 Send
3 Paula Boardman 5 4 5 5 6 25 189 43 Send
4 Andrew Canion 5 6 4 4 5 24 145 16 Send
5 Saintgaz 5 6 4 4 5 24 156 16 Send
6 Dave Quinn 3 6 6 4 5 24 156 38 Send
7 ozcanadian 3 4 7 5 5 24 158 37 Send
8 LittleTid 5 2 6 5 5 23 171 59 Send
9 jaggunn 4 5 3 5 6 23 197 40 Send
10 scott sladden 5 4 4 3 6 22 135 11 Send
11 Margaret Olsen 4 3 5 4 5 21 168 16 Send
12 Rodney Olsen 5 5 4 2 4 20 126 31 Send