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data projectors, holidays and finally

We have succesfully got together some finance to get a much needed new data projector for church and Toddler Jam....and the people I am getting it from are not answering their phone...cant see them being at work tommorow...

You would think it would not be this hard.......but it seems that it is. If the price was not this good.... :)
They are actually a good crowd, helping churches out a lot when they can. I will let you know their name...if I get through and they deliver!!

Goodbyes, holidays and fathers....

Finished off our series on "The God you're looking for". Looked at God as our Father. There are some good resources which I used here.
Fathers Love Letter

I distributed to each person the letter, which I printed off on card, so people could attach it somewhere. Its good, good reassuring, healing scriptures.

We said goodbye to some good friends, who are moving to sunny Qld, where they can watch the Saints win the wooden spoon in peace, and drink green tea till their hearts content. But...God be with them, and bless their ministry.

The impossible dream



Love this ad.
Would love to drive each of these vehicles, including the first one, which I used to own (when I was ten!)

There is something about it, the beautiful countryside, the idea of journey, of speed, of being outside enjoying it all, the quest.......

(Better Copy of clip)

Glad I did not get this for Christmas


This lovely Christ Child and Santa Claus figurine from Ashton-Drake is beautifully sculpted and carefully hand-painted in resin, highlighting the poignant expression on Santa's face as he kneels next to the smiling Baby Jesus' manger. Real fabrics, molded and shaped by hand, are featured on Santa's fur trimmed coat and the Christ Child's swaddling clothes.Bradford Editions - The Very Best in Collectibles - brings you an outstanding selection of exceptional collectible ornaments, miniature plates, sculptures, teacups and delicate porcelain bells - an intriguing selection of unique collectibles from the very best artists worldwide.

Ebay

H/T MMI

Theological Questions


Number one son: Dad.....how come God made flies?

Me: mmmmm, thats a tough one son, I dont know why

Number one son: Dad.....spiders like eating flies, maybe thats why He made them....

Me: mmmmmmmm

Best Christmas Services Ever

We have just had the best attended and most enjoyable Christmas Services since I have attended Bedford.

Over 240 people came through both services, with Christmas Dav Service packing the church, leaving us with no room to move! Mostly through personal invitations and family attending with family.

Eliot and the Soul Jam Choir did an awesome job, as did our own Jim Mc Kinnon, who nailed a beautiful old carol.

We had some excellent and flowing multi media, helped in no small part by having two projectors. This helps the seniors who like to be able to see what is going on.


Most of all though I sense Gods joy upon us as we continue to leave behind the stuffiness and formality of previous services and move towards embracing joy and a naturalness in our expression of worship. And this is not necesarily a generational shift....some of our most joyful and happy folk are those who are glad to embrace new ways of worship, and joy in the service.

Merry Christmas

Thanks Jesus for coming. Its why I live the life I do.

All praise and glory to God, our Creator, our Master, our Lord, Our Saviour, Our mighty Warrior, our Lion of Judah, our Lamb of God, Star of the Morning.....beautiful Saviour.

I wish I could bottle that...

We had a great awesome service tonight......

Church was packed, choir and band sounded great.
Everything flowed well, heaps of good food beforehand. Great vibe before service and during.
In fact the service tonight felt like a big party, which is what I reckon Church should feel like!

Some of the youth did a drama which was funny and pointed....really exciting to see them up to the mark. Some good items and multi-media, and some fun interactive games as well......

Most exciting of all to see the heaps of people coming from different outreaches of our church rocking up to our community event....

Sunday morning at 'church'

Well sort of, in an Andrew Hamilton sort of way :)

We have our Pre Christmas Eve service tonight, so we did not have a service at Bedford this morning, I stuck a sign on the door, just in case someone had not listened the past four weeks, read their bulletin, or checked their emails......

So my wife organised a christmas bbq/street party at the local park. Met a bunch of great people who live on our street. Ate some bacon and eggs and played a dad versus kids game of soccer. Because most of the dads (except me) are originally from the UK, the dads kicked the kids butts. But in the end, soccer was the winner.

Great morning and opportunity to strike up friendships in our local community. People really appreciated it.

Tonight we are having our service with bring and share dinner first. Expecting a big crowd, going to play some Christmas games, including a 'do you know the lyrics' singing contest. Will be great fun!!!

Kay Warren and the Tomb Raider join forces


The battle against the modern day disease of Aids has made two ladies who might normally not be seen in the same room, join forces.

Great to see Kay doing this.....It is a great initiative particularly targeting children affect by aids.


A new child and orphan advocacy organisation formally launched its campaign last week with the help of actress Angelina Jolie and Saddleback Church’s Kay Warren.
Jolie and Warren joined other advocates last Thursday in the US to launch the Global Action for Children – a campaign to increase US government funding by $2.5bn per year to provide free primary school education in developing countries.




I love Christmas

I love the fact my kids love Christmas
I love the food
I love getting together with family
I love Christmas services
I love celebrating Jesus coming to earth
I love the way heaps of non church people come along
I love the songs
I love the challenge of making the services fresh and different
I love the food
I love the anticipation of holidays
I love the decorations
I love the lights
I love my family
I love the food
I love Christmas......

Extarordinary Christmas Light Display



Go check it out yourself....
Every light is synched to music which is heard by motorists on a FM92.5 as they drive past this home in Bishop Riley Way, Churchlands Western Australia

All I want for Christmas is.....

Mark O Brien has an excellent post for husbands as we approach Monday next week, the shops are open Monday, right???

"For those guys out there… I’d like to help you all become better men and husbands, so here’s my Christmas gift to you… I’m going to pass onto you the SINGLE BIGGEST tip I can give you to help you have a VERY happy Christmas, and it involves something you can do for your wives.
Trust me on this… Take me at my word and see if this is not true…"

Rest of post

Christmas Eve Countdown

Reading from the Psalms using my O2....


Watching my son at swimming lessons this morning I took the time to read Psalm 3 on my PDA using the New Living Translation. It has Matthew Henry's commentary on it as well.

So here I am, reading two texts, one from thousands of years ago, and one published in 1706.
It struck me, I wonder if David the Psalmist, and Matthew the Clergyman would ever have thought their work would be digested many years later, by someone with a mult-purpose electronic device, while relaxing by a pool?

Both texts spoke to me, about various things, and how blessed are we to have such insights available to us at the touch of a stylus!!

"Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people."

U2 3D

Kaye Warren


I find it incredible and paradoxical....than when we share our sins, vulnerabilities...that is when we are most admired. Those Christians that criticise and find fault, are those we least admire.

Kaye Warren (Rick's wife) is someone I admire...have a look at this article, here are some segments.

"Now 53, Warren has written her own remarkable story, "Dangerous Surrender," which details their journey together as her husband became one of the most influential pastors in the world, including those "awful" early years of marriage. "

"Warren doesn't just open up about her relationship; some other revelations in the book are shocking, particularly coming from the minister's wife. She talks candidly about being molested when she was 3 years old.

"I talked about some of the effects of that molestation, the brokenness that happened in my life," she said. "The addiction to pornography. Experimentation, sexually, with some older kids. I'd never talked about that to anybody besides my husband and my counselor."

Warren says that as a teenager, pornography "became a regular part" of her life.

"I did a lot of baby-sitting, and it turns out some of the people I baby-sat for had pornography," she explained. "And I viewed it. And I wanted to do it. And it became a cycle of failure. Anybody who's ever caught in any addiction. & The cycles are the same. & Drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping. & It doesn't even matter. Whatever that addiction is, that cycle is the same. And to break that and to find freedom on the other side, and to find freedom from the guilt and the shame is so incredible."

Warren says that like any addiction, she was using pornography to "soothe the ache" of her abuse. Years of living with silence and shame makes the startling change Warren underwent five years ago even more surprising. Abrupt and unexpected, it was brought about by reading a magazine she has long since thrown away.

"It was not a cover story, but on the cover there was this little line that read something about a story on AIDS in Africa," she said. "I opened it up and began to read. I was instantly horrified."

Reading about the 12 million children orphaned in Africa due to AIDS rocked her world, but Warren says she isn't sure what made her notice that particular article on that particular day, or why she had been oblivious to the issue beforehand.

"There's a spiritual answer and there's a not so spiritual answer," she said. "The not-so-spiritual answer is that my heart was hard. I had spent the majority of my adult life raising my kids, helping my husband build his church. I had tunnel vision: my life, my dreams, my plans, my agenda, my family, my struggles. Everything was about me and my life. That's the nonspiritual answer. The spiritual answer is, for reasons I don't know, God intended me to read that article that day. I can't think of any other reason."

There is a lot of challenging stuff in this article, if you have time, I encourage you to read it all. Article

Remarkable Sunday

We had a remarkable service today....

The band was great, there was a full church...but that was not it.

Geoff and Annette Louwen shared their testimony, as did Bill and Betty Dobbs. God brought them both to our church this morning. Both are quite different in age, experience and background....but they are all setting off as missionaries. The Louwens around Australia, and the Dobbs around the US, Canada and Alasaka. God spoke to us all through their testimony. I finished it off with a challenge to undersand where our security comes from. Both couples have sold all they have and are setting off with no real itinerary, determined to see God move through their ministries. Their security is not coming from material things, but from God.

I talked about how my son loved exploring the Tasmanian wilderness, but would not have done so without his dad (me) being by his side. With the Father's presence, comes confidence and courage to live the adventure of life.

It was truly a privilege, honour and God given pleasure to be in Church this morning.

Great Southern Land Countdown

Here is a Countdown I have made up for the Carols I am helping with on Saturday Night.
Beaumaris Baptist Church is putting these on....I am helping with multi-media and Eliot is helping with the music....If you live up that way, come along.....Ampitheatre Iluka Saturday December 15th....7.30pm



Vicar of Dibley Christmas Special 2006

We just watched this on the ABC...I love the ABC......
I have not laughed that much for a while.....if you have seen this episode..and the post credits scene....Melinda and I were on the floor with our stomachs hurting from the laughter.....if you have scene it....its revolves around a pencil....

It was first shown Christmas 2006

Relient K Rock Christmas



This is cool...... Love their music....

Excuse me?

"Tony Koch and Padraic Murphy December 10, 2007
THE Queensland opposition has called for an immediate inquiry into the sentencing procedure behind the gang-rape case of a 10-year-old girl whose nine attackers escaped jail time.
Nine males who pleaded guilty last month to gang-raping a 10-year-old girl at the Aurukun Aboriginal community on Cape York have escaped a prison term, with the sentencing judge saying the child victim "probably agreed" to have sex with them. "
Story

Agreed????? I would not ask a 10 year old girl to decide what TV shows she was allowed to watch......I and a lot of other people are incredibly angry about this. I am struggling to try to understand what on earth is going on in this magistrates mind......Obviously we are not privy to all the details revealed at the case....but the ones we are, make me incredibly angry.

Sunday.......

Great day in church today.... God spoke to us through a common theme, Isaiah 9.6

Went and spent too much money at the shops....Christmas shopping.....then went and visited some close friends who have just had their first child....what an incredible blessing. I think there was probably times that they never thought it would happen for them...but it has. A beautiful daughter...what a blessing.

A couple of Little Creatures Ales later....and more than one salami and cheese snack...perfect afternoon.

Urban Myths and Snopes

My wife just received this email.

Hi girls
this is true our staff just called one of the police to clarify that is a true story Guys please pass this along to all the women you know.....This actually happened a few weeks ago right here in Perth. It was early evening and a young lady stopped to get petrol. She filled her tank
and walked into the store to pay for her petrol. The cashier told her 'Don't pay for your petrol yet.....walk around the store for a while and act as if you're picking up some other things to buy. A man just got into the back of your car. I've called the police and they're on their way'. When the police arrived, they found the man in the back seat of the girl's car and asked him what he was doing. He replied, he was joining a gang and the initiation to join is to kidnap a woman and bring her back to the gang to be raped by every member of the gang. If the woman was still alive by the time they finish with her then they let her go. According to the police that night, there is a new gang forming here originating from Melbourne. The scary part of this is because the guy didn't have a weapon on him. The police could only charge him with trespassing.... He's back on the street and free to try again. Please be aware of what's going on around you and for your family and friends. LADIES you or one of your family and friends could be the next victim. Please forward this on to everyone you know. Please do not discard this message it is very important that everyone knows what is happening. Please be careful when leaving your vehicle and make sure it is ALWAYS Locked to prevent this from happening to you.


Its a shame people send this sort of stuff around and don't check Snopes first. Snopes is a reliable Urban Myths site, which would save a lot of people getting stressed out.....

Snopes about this myth

Tired but grateful

We had a great carols night last night.
The weather was beautiful, the band and choir sounded great, the sound was good, the bouncy castle bounced, and the sausages sizzled.

We had over 500 people there, which considering we had very minimal advertising, was a great turnout. They all seemed to have a great time, relaxing, singing and being a community together.

You cannot put on such an event without a group of people around you and resources to make it happen. You cannot impact the community, and bring people together, without a lot of help. A motivated Christian Community who care about the wider community, and sharing the message of Christ with them.

I shared minimally, but the message was in the songs, the love shown, the care given, and the effort taken, with no financial reward in mind.

I must also thank profusely Pastor Craig Lydon from Beaumaris Baptist Church who came along and did the sound for us. We have done it ourselves in the past, but this year Craig came along and did an excellent job.

It feels to me like our continued visible presence in the community will have lasting effects. It is a spiritually enriching experience to stop and reflect on what happened.

Carols Tonight!



You are all welcome, come say hello....

Prince Caspian



awesome...cannot wait. Read the books when I was 11, cant wait to see the movie!

Christmas time for Pastors

Love joy peace at Christmas time........
I am just printing off 300 brochures for our Carols this Friday, after ringing around organing bouncy castles, sausages, buns, sauce and helpers for the same event.

I also am helping organise the sound gear, stage and lighting.

As well as Carols we are having special dinners, break ups and 2 Christmas Services this year.

To say there is a lot on for Pastors at Christmas time is an understatement. But we need to find time to reflect. The one message I am exhorting others too this Christmas is to stop and reflect on Jesus and the amazing story of His intersection with humanity and the story of this world. How can I do this myself amongst the business that a Pastor finds himself in? I must.

Other pastors and busy too, everyone I talk to is stressed out, flat and fatigued. My own team is really pushing themselves at the moment, pushing hard.
My prayer is that in the midst of the business, we will find Christ's story once again reverberating within us, bringing a sense of hope, peace and joy into our lives,

I could watch this all day...

I was at this game, with my Eagle supporting brother in law....what a day, what a goal by Hase...what coolness from Peter Bell.....what a magnificent feeling as the home team got the win by a whisker.....

Aussie Police Rides motorbike inside

Oh Dear....I think she missed basic training.....

Junky Car Club




I joined this a few weeks back, but Phil Bakers post reminded me of it, that and the sticker I just got in the mail.

Here is their blurb,
"The Junky Car Club is a car club whose members are learning to live with less so we can give more. We're a bunch of happy drivers that are politely rebelling against consumerism by driving junky cars. We encourage our members to use their dough to support social justice causes instead of making fat car payments. Junky Car Club members sponsor kids who live in poverty through Compassion International and help other great organizations. We believe in environmental stewardship and hangin onto things a little longer. Click on the banner below to join! "

If, like me, your car is a little junky, and you support a sponsor child, you can become an "Elite Lemon Membership".
I have just submitted my photo, so it should be up there soon!

www.junkycarclub.com

Sunday arvo thoughts

Great day in church today, I have started our new series...and took on the role of prosecutor and defence lawyer asking the question, does God exist. Got a lot of positive response..which is great.

Have you ever tried "Pana da Casa' bread? Its great, chewy, and yeasty. I have just about finished my Fiori coffee...just opened my new Five Senses PNG blend....smells great.