Judd.....gorrn
Cousins.....gorrrn

Kerr....wants to be gorrrn.

Cant blame them really.
Worsfold has coached his side to the worst result ever. EVER.

West Coast have never had a worst season than 2008.

But of course...there is no pressure on the coach.

I think Worsfold is okay....I just cant stand the inequity in reporting. It grates me.

Wayne Carey was a marvelous footballer, he played for the Kangaroos Football Club and was involved in the greatest period of that clubs history when the team won two premierships.
Yet post football it would seem, despite his material success, his life has lurched from one off field drama to another. He was on Andrew Dentons show, enough rope and it was an incredible interview. The title of that show is very apt…enough rope…Andrew Denton gives the people being intereviewed enough rope…enough latitude that their own words, their own testimony if you like, is enough for the audience to decide for themselves what the sum of the persons life is.
Wayne Carey told the story of his father, a typical story for many young Australian males…distant, abusive, violent, interested in alcohol more that anything else.

But something he said really made me sorry for Wayne, it put a human face on what formerly may have just been a cariacature of a man.
He shared with Andrew Denton that his father had never watched him play football.Never. Not growing up through the young ranks, not playing under 18’s, not during his formative years at North Melbourne, and in fact not even at his sons grand final appearances….despite being offered tickets.
How would that make a son feel? A son..and a daughter for that matter, seeks, desires the approval, the recognition from the parent that at least in part is responsible for their being.
Is it a mystery why God calls Himself our Father…or is it obvious. We are made in His image, we are designed to reflect His personality, we are made for His glory. There is something deep within the Christian which desires to have our heavenly fathers approval.

6.30am Early morning prayer and share and infor meeting with other pastors

9am Fix coffee machine in time for Kids Jam

9.30am discuss music and items for Sunday service coming up

10am Polish off graphics for church celebration service, mastering photoshop is a steep learning curve, but I need to get it myself, doing half quality jobs is no good, and neither is having to rely on others who are busy....

11am Meeting with key leader in church, discussing and talking through the key values and culture of our church....and what is going on

12 noon to 4pm working through the stage setup for Angus Buchan crusade...working through budget and stage set up for about 1500 blokes...
(grab coffee and burger on way back to office)

4.30pm pre marriage wedding preparation for a couple from church

6pm Take communion to a dear old lady in hospital who may not have much time left....

7.30pm...tired........

Woke up this morning with the deep sense and desire that I wanted to join with my fellow ICC'ers an have a great time of worship together....so I prayed for that.
It was a great morning in church...encouraging, great great music and a real sense of God with us.

Watched the Eagles get their hapless butts kicked, and finished it off with some homemade nacho's ...... good day!

This came via Rodney Olsens Blog...and has been certified as accurate and not an urban myth from Snopes.
"Dolores Aguilar 1929 - Aug. 7, 2008
Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008.
She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby.

She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, Cienna, Bailey, Christian, Andre Jr., Andrea, Keith, Saeed, Nujaymah, Salma, Merissa, Emily, Jayci, Isabella, Samantha and Emily. I apologize if I missed anyone.

Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.

Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.

There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM."

You know...I have performed probably 100 funerals...maybe more. The one that sticks out the most, apart from my own fathers....is one where the mother of the children was seriously disliked by her children. She loved horses...to the extent of neglect of her children. They told me story after story of her leaving them in the rain, not feeding them, not doing any of the normal things a mum did, because she was down at the horse stables. None of the horses came to the funeral, but the children did, now grown up and distant from a mother who cared little for them.
Funny thing was, although they were frank with me, when it came to the funeral, everything was politically correct...they told half truths and a resemblance of the truth...but the truth was, none of them had much to do with their mum once they left home.

There comes time to tell the truth, it sets us free....telling the truth in love.

I dont know whether Dolores' daughter did the right thing, but something about it smacks of more authenticity than saying how great she was, when she clearly was not...for whatever reason.

Rodney's Post Snopes Article

Anything the religious right can do....the liberal left can do better...and neither should be...in my view.

Part One
I had my peer group today in Mandurah, and we had a 'newbie' join us. It was great. Wayne shared some insights from his MA program on leadership. One key passage was this one from


Luke 4. 40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak.
Jesus Continues to Preach 42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”


How do you think the people felt when Jesus said....no...I am not hanging around here to do more healing, even though they needed it? I mean there were sick people there.... That is the difference between leadership and ministry. Jesus ministered, loved them. But there was also a time he needed to move onto leadership. He saw the bigger picture. This would have upset the people, why did Jesus not minister in the way they wanted Him too? Because He had to lead.


One accusation Pastors who lead can get is that we don't listen. It may be that the Pastor is listening, but he cant agree, or aquiese, even if it is something worthwhile. Sometimes he has to make a leadership decision to actually not minister. That is the pain, but the necessity of leadership.


Part Two
After the public failure of Todd Bentley, the last thing the church needed was another high profile failure.
Many who read this blog may not have heard of Mike Gugliemucci. But you would have heard of Hillsong. If you listen to the song "Healer" you will see it is written by someone who presumably has needed to experience the Lords healing. In fact when the dvd was released, the main singer was Mike, who wrote the song, and who in the video has visible air tubes stuck into his face. Furthermore, the story he has been sharing with everyone for two years is that he has aggresive cancer. Unfortunatly it is just a story. Mike has confessed that for two years he has lied to his wife, his children, his father (Danny a prominent minister) and to the hundreds of thousands of people who he has ministered to. To give you some context, Mike is like Australia's Chris Tomlin....and this news is all over the secular media. It is so sad. Story

Here are some key thoughts I have about how to respond when leaders fail.

The failure does not negate the ministry....but it may disqualify or hinder the minister. The true ministry is done by the Spirit, carried out through frail vessels, who commit adultery, look at women in lustful ways, and lie to thousands of people about imaginary cancers. This does not mean the Spirit has not done great work in peoples lives throught their messages, song writing or even healing gifts.

People and the media only notice when the Minister crashes Whens the last time Channel Seven reported on a 747 taking off succesfully and everyone getting their complimetary peanuts on time? The bigger your ministry, the greater the intensity, and the greater the responsibility. Accountability and witness is important. None of us might not fail. Someone I know told me about his former pastor, who in his words 'had an affair, but I dont know how, he was a short ugly fat guy"

Grace is needed, but niavety is stupid Yes we need to forgive, and offer grace, and when appropriate offer restoration. But lets not be stupid....sometimes a person is not being attacked by Satan, it is a simple case of lust, pride or escapism. Our pastors and leaders are just human. We are all priests before God, lets respect and support our leaders, but lets not make them into something they are not.

Last years womens conference was really valuable. My wife is helping organise it this year. It is contemporary, energetic, refreshing and a great time.
It is important to place yourself in positions where God can speak.
I would encourage you to get along to this years conference, or if like me, you fail the basic entry requirement...get your wife or significant other to go!

The line between speaking the truth...and speaking in love. What a difficult line this is. Being loving, speaking the truth.
The average Christian does not want to offend anyone, but God uses us to refine each other...and we let each other down when we do not tell the truth.

Perhaps one of the most unloving thing we can do is either....not tell the truth...or perhaps worse than that...speak to truth about someone when they are not in the room!! What I mean is that Jesus' process of speaking the truth in love, as found in Matthew 18...is pretty clear, and fantastic as it gives the best practical solution to how to speak the truth in love.

Well.....Clem and I had a great time after the game kicking the footy around.
We also enjoyed the hot chocolate and screaming at umpire 17.......who obviously decided to pay kicks only when he felt like it...which was not often when it was clearly a blatant free to Freo....

But the Dockers looked flat. Even during the first half, when we were in the game.
The Saints looked like a team desperate to get into the finals.
If Nick could kick straight, to go with his exceptional marks (truly exceptional)...the Saints might do something....

Lots of stuff changing.
Its interesting being in a church where you just dont get to see the same amount of people you used to...nor the ones you always chatted to.
I have as my first priority to meet those who are visiting. These Sundays I am struggling to even get around to them.

Changes needed in some areas.
I was told the other week by one of my associates that the key reason Hillsong retains people is not because of the music...but their hospitality. That is challenging and important.

Church is family, the Body of Christ. How am I seeking to lead this to happen?

Also some other incredible opportunities opening up in regard to the Performing Arts Theatre. A site might be available...which would be better than I could ever dream of.

The West Coast Eagles are the worst team in the AFL.

After a promising start against the 16th placed team on the ladder...the Eagles were nothing short of poor....little effort, and probably could be accused of not really showing any intensity.

After Worsfold and Sumich both came out promising a good effort, you might question if in fact the coaches have lost their effect on the players.
With Melbourne sitting on 16 and West Coast sitting on 20 points, and with the Demons facing winnable games agains Port Adelaide and Richmond and West Coast probably facing two defeats against Geelong and Hawthorn it appears the West Coast are on track to pick up their first wooden spoon.....and Worsfold to guide his team to their worst season ever.

Dealing with Zechariah 4 and service this week...
here are two of the main quotes from my message....
"Who actually is more important…who do we treat first?
Well I want to be honest and realistic here…because I know in my life, when I am relaxed and sitting down with a good coffee…on Sunday afternoon kicking back….I am primarily concerned about myself…I am not thinking about others 24 hours a day. In fact you could mount an argument that if you don’t look after yourself you wont be able to look after others. To spend all your time worried about others is not actually healthy…in fact I would surmise that you have issues with boundaries if you do that. If you cannot find time for yourself…then you will suffer burnout.
But having said that…lets talk about service…lets talk about what is healthy service…what is balanced service…and maybe there are some adjustments that you need to make at some end of the scale. "

"You know in the 70’s and 80’s of Christendom there was a great emphasis on personal salvation…people need to make the decision to follow Christ themselves. I think although there is truth in that…we know for instance that each of our children are not Christians by birth…we know that each of us have a decision to make…will I follow Jesus or not…we have lost something of the truth of this passage. (John 15) God has formed us for family. We are designed to be part of the body of Christ. People say I can be a Christian and not go to church. As though church is something you go to! Church is not something you go to…it is something you are part of…The church is the body of Christ…either you are part of the body of Christ…or you are journeying towards becoming part of the body of Christ…the church…or you are not. We get annoyed with someone in the body of Christ…and suddenly we say…I am not being part of the church anymore…well actually you are saying you are not part of Christ then! "

Typical of Simon Beaumont, (6pr Presenter) a self confessed Eagles fan, he has had a swipe at Pavlich. Yeah right Simon...it has nothing to do with your bias.
Yeah righ Simon.....sheesh. Give me a break Simon.

The quality is not great, but I have managed to upload my message from Sunday....
It revolves around Zechariah 4.....and how to spot a whinger from 40 paces....

Inglewood Resources Page

Its amazing how preaching can become its own little organic time. What I mean is that sometimes the Holy Spirit can reveal and highlight things to you...as you are speaking. I am not talking about going off and 'chasing rabbits". But sometimes its as if God gets out his highlighter pen and something you have planned to say...or maybe have not planned to say...is suddenly almost like a 'eureka' moment.

Such was the case for me as I spoke about partnership....this verse really impressed itself upon me.

"PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15 "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."

Seriously....we shine like stars in the universe??? thats amazing, incredible. God's desire for us Christians is that we should be different...and shine!! So many blogs, comments....and other forms of Christian media is negative, cynical, whinging....honestly....there is so much compaining and arguing out there. We are called to be different...and shine.

I am doing terrible in my tipping comp.....but having said that, I reckon this is a really tough week for tipsters....

This is interesting....... I read this on the "Confessions of a small pastor" blog.....

“It will be worth what we’re spending if only one person gets saved.” That comment came from a deacon when I was serving a previous church. He was referring to an expensive project we were undertaking. I nodded in agreement because his sentiment seemed so right. But after thinking about it some more, I decided he was wrong. Here’s why:

Good stewardship demands good planning. Throwing money at a project without careful planning can’t be justified whether it’s done by a church or government. Even if a church has plenty of money (most small ones don’t) adequate planning must be done to assess need, plan action, and specify outcome.
Return should be proportional to investment. For instance, we did a mailer to our entire area for a Christmas program 3 years ago. The direct mail piece, postage, and other expenses ran about $2,500. We mailed to 5,000 households expecting a 1-2% “return” of folks actually attending the program — in other words, 50-to-100 new people attending. Our normal attendance for events like that is about 100. Our actual attendance that night was 188. So, we were right on target with our goal. The next year we did a similar mailout which produced very little response. We dropped the mailers after they did not produce the results we sought.
Limited resources should be employed to produce the highest result. Often there are cheaper ways to accomplish the same thing. Rather than use a mailing list or service, have your church members develop your own mailing list. Or better still, have your members mail personalized cards or invitations to their circle of influence.

Source

This week we are continuining our series on Focus....and I dealing with the topic of partnership...the one between Zechariah and Zerubbabel....

Zechariah and Zerrubabels story….

There must be unity at the top
There must be a very clear decision to lead without gossip.
Leaders are the worst gossipers.
Gossip defined….someone who spreads negative news about someone else without doing the biblical thing first.
Lead from the high places….
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
Eph. 4:29

Proverbs 13:18 "Whoever listens to correction is honored." Sign I saw this week: "I'd rather change my mind and succeed than have my own way and fail."

for the rest....you know the drill...see you this Sunday morning!

Courtesy of "Street View" Google maps....google your own house, you might be suprised!

Here is a simple loop I made up for the new series...focusing on Zechariah 4

For the month of August our church is going to be looking at the 4th chapter of Zechariah....
should be fun!

Here is one of the paragraphs from this weeks message....

For the next month we as a church are going to look at this chapter of scripture. Zechariah 4. I once heard the story of a pastor who preached a great message, the people were touched and came back expecting more of the same. Well they got more of the same because he preached exactly the same message the next week. There were a few people who had not heard it the first time, and they thought it was great. Even those who had heard it the first time thought…yes this is good….The third week everyone rocked up and lo and behold…the pastor preached the same message. A delegation of deacons got together and summed up the courage to approach the rather fiery young man to ask him to explain his actions….
They approached him and said…look the message was great the first week, interesting the next….but now…why three times?
The pastor turned to them with passion and fire in his eyes and said…well you did not do what I said the first week, so I am going to keep giving the same message until you do!!!!

Having a keen vision of what God wants for your life is very important

Now in the month of September at the last Sunday in September we are going to have vision Sunday where we explore what the vision of our particular church is.

But this morning I want to speak about what your vision for your life is.
You see Gods vision for your life is that you would have a good life…a life that is full of promise and blessing. This does not mean you will be rich or materially well off, plenty of Christians are not…and I don’t read about Jesus cruising around the dead sea in his powerboat…
(see you at church for the rest!)