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Leigh Brown axed


The Roos have delisted Leigh Brown, my former favourite Freo player.

Long Live the Anvil.

Story

Angus Buchan Mighty Mens Conference Promo video

Here is the video that Q made up for our upcoming Angus Buchan Mighty Mens conference....
Men....don't miss it!

Thoughts from Stuart Robinson


Stuart Robinson is the former Senior Pastor at Crossway Church, possibly the largest Baptist Church in Australia. But you could not find a more interesting heritage on the way to being a mega church pastor than Stuart.

He became a Christian when he was 18, after being raised in a distinctly rough and poor family. After some experiences, he became a missionary in flood ravaged Bangladesh.

He came and spoke to us pastors on some very interesting and stimulating points, including the vexed issue of pastors and finances......
here are some points he made...


Stuart Robinson
Crossway Church
those young people who give you the most grief...also become your best leaders

Persevere with those wo give you the most grief

The forrest is full of those with no church background

No sanctimonousjargon
If you promise something from the front..deliver it!
The two things we wont have in our church is Disunity..... or a negative attitude towards growth
If we just talk about faithfulness....its because we are not being fruitful
Affluence is a danger to the church...rich man has no need of God...crisis brings out the need for God
More muslims coming to Christ if there is a catastrophe....if they have a loving relationship with a Christian...and the signs and wonders of God

Dreams and visions are bringing many Muslims to Jesus
Conservative in theology radical in activity
Relocation to stir up the spiritual sludge
What does God want....have the people confirmed it?

Great story in the age about Stuarts seccession plan

Beer is

“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”(Benjamin Franklin)

My name is Mark Edwards

I have started a new Facebook group, entitled, 'My name is Mark Edwards'. The only requirement is that your name is Mark Edwards, middle name irrelevant....

I started it two days ago, and have six members so far, from all around the world.
I know this says something socialogical....but I dont quite know what, yet. If indeed it says anything.

I watched a facinating documentary last night on networks, and I was particularly drawn to the ideo of hubs of networks, entitled, "How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer". "We used to think the way in which web pages, power grids and people tied together was more or less random. But recently two young physicists independently discovered that fundamental laws govern networks"

As I watched this fascinating documentary, the theory put foward was that everything in the world could be analysed in the paradigm of networks, and every network had hubs...or as I might designate them, hives of activity. The reference to Kevin Bacon is a throwback to the idea that every Hollywood Actor was seperated from Kevin by only a small amount of degrees.

This theory is fascinating in its application to church work.
Both in the church being a hub of activity within the community, and the leadership of the church. I believe in leadership through influence, consultation, prayer, community.

The position is nowhere near as important as the influence, and being a hub.

Edit: you can download this documentary here

Church Planting Thoughts Part Two

Just some more thoughts....
1. One interesting comment from John Finkelde really resonated with me.
They have planted a new church every 3 years....That sounds do-able to me.
2. Another from Michael Bullard
Like produces like. What is our churches dna, values etc...within reason and creativity, we will likely produce something at least similar to ourselves. That does not mean it wont be different. But as a child is different and similar to their parents.
3. Unless we create ministry and leadership opportunities for young leaders, they will become young leavers....Some may say then that planting churches is a cynical exercise...not at all. In our own home, children grow up and need to lead...and create...for themself.
4. I am favouring, because it suits my dna, the idea of satellite churches. I have seen these work and produce results in Perth.
5. There are some exciting possibilites as I consider the spiritual and physical artery that is Beaufort St.....a church which is cafe culture, almost inner city, and at night.....
6. Without growth, our church will die...we need to consider this now, in our formative years, so it becomes part of our dna moving forward.
7. The senior pastor needs to set the agenda and make it happen. He needs to be a releaser, not a restrictor, and be confident and assured enough, that he can let good things go. He also needs to set the agenda, not have the church set the agenda for him. (yes I said that twice, it bears repeating)

Free wi fi

Coming January/February to a Mc Donalds near you....

all Mc Donalds Australia wide will introduce free wi-fi to their customers.....

Proceeds of Crime

Catholic Election Video

I really don't know what to say about this. Don't assume anything by me posting this here. All I will say....is that it is a very interesting video.




H/t Herding Cats

Stuart Robinson


If you are around, this should be good.

As much as things change....

they stay the same....

never again....thats it.

Church Planting

Had an interesting discussion today with someone from CRM about church planting.
They used the analogy of a person who grew to the age of 19 or 20...and instead of leaving home, stayed there, comfortable and getting fat....at their parents expense. Is the church like this? Growing old and fat....and not having any children? Not growing old?

I look at my own denomination and I wonder where all the church plants have gone. Back in the '80's and even 90's churches where being planted, my father started two himself!

Now...I struggle to think of a new church plant.

We need young leaders, young pioneers...we need old guys willing to give it a go.

We need churches who put aside their own fattening needs and plant churches.

I want to be in the church planting game. Thats scary.......We need to get our church to maturity, so we can start planting churches. If no one else will, we will.....and in inner city areas as well......

The greatest period of evangelism and growth through evangelism generally takes place during a church plant, the first few years. We need to do this.....

mmmm...I can feel God giving me some vision!

Cross Glow Loop

Cross Glow Loop
just a nice little loop I made up for Sunday



Right click here to download

Qld Baptist Convention funnies...

If you are a Baptist, then head over to this post by NeoBaptist....one of the funniest pieces I have read for a long time.....don't be drinking your coffee while reading it....you may end up with coffee in your keyboard!

Baptist Convention Queensland Calender

11, 000 hits

This video I made up has been viewed 11, 000 times....thats pretty cool..for me!!

Baptist Union Logo must go

This is not a protest letter, but rather a communication letter. If you dont communicate, people dont know what you are thinking. This logo represents something I am proud of, the Baptist Churches. That does not mean I am Baptist to the core, in fact what I like about Baptists is our diversity, and abiliy to embrace the best that we see in other traditions and denominations, and movements. For this reason, our logo fails to present us as we are, a vibrant movement of churches....

I am going to mail this letter tommorow. If you are a Baptist Pastor, and want your name included, let me know via email today!


The Baptist Union Logo
Time for Change


According to the Baptist Union Website, “Australian Baptists today are a diverse community. During this twentieth century they have witnessed considerable growth, partly through immigration but also through vigorous evangelistic endeavours. Since the 1970s the impact of the charismatic renewal movement has led to changes in worship and leadership styles”

The Baptist Union is one of the few church denominations experiencing real growth in Australia. We have much to thank God for.

We have steadily grown into a contemporary and relevant movement, and it is time our logo represented us as we are today.

According to the Baptist Union Website our present logo is described thus.
“The circle represents the all-encompassing love of God and the world for which Christ died; the empty cross pointing to our resurrected Saviour and the significance of his death and resurrection for our life; and the open Bible to indicate that we are people of the Word. “

This logo has served us well for a number of decades, and yet it is time for it to more accurately present the vibrant and contemporary nature of our organization.

The following Baptist Pastors believe it is time we had a logo which sends the right message to a secular society, one that depicts us as we are, a relevant, contemporary, and vibrant Australian organization. We respectfully ask that a marketing company is commissioned to design a logo reflecting this which will replace the old one.

Pastor Rowland Croucher John Mark Ministries
Pastor Rob Douglas Baptist Care
Pastor Mark Edwards Inglewood Church
Pastor Wayne Field Australind Baptist Church
Pastor Andrew Hamilton Brighton
Pastor Alex Huggett Ellenbrook Baptist Church
Pastor Colin Lituri Woodvale Baptist Church
Pastor Craig Lydon Beaumaris Baptist Church
Pastor Ian Packer Pennant Hills Baptist
Pastor Karen Siggins Lesmurdie Baptist Church
Pastor Jackie Smoker Como Baptist Church
Pastor Allan Thomas Kalgoorlie Baptist Church
Pastor Hans van Asselt Mandurah Baptist Church
Rev. Steve Turnbull Emu Plains Community Baptist Church
Pastor Peter White Beechboro Baptist
Pastor Zaw Win Myanmar Baptist Church

Green cars...

This post should go under the category....Mark rambling about things he knows very little about....

I dont understand why people say they are buying a Prius...when buying a new car surely uses more resources than what a Prius ever saves....

I dont understand why hippy greenie lefties drive old bomb cars which are incredibly inefficient and dont have catalytic convertors...which I know from previous experience in the industry, actually are very effective at reducing harmful gases.


Either way....

Prayer...Jesus withdrew

Jesus withdrew to pray....


Right click here to download

Feels like summer....

What a beautiful day to be in Perth....
Had a great service this morning, the band was great, and Colin spoke well...we also heard about Sandy's trip to Karratha and Colin's trip to India....both opportunities to serve...

I tucked my head into the Babylonia Cafe this week...and dropped some 5 senses beans in. I am hoping we can work together on some community events, and it would be good if he could serve up some great coffee from his central coffee shop...really nice guy.

Then this afternoon we had a family lunch...and a nice bottle of Amberly followed by a swim....my daughter is learning to swim....she is so cute.....just perfect (except when she is arguing with her brother!)

Two funerals and a wedding

The pastors life....
Kicked off the week with a wedding. A lovely couple, the wife comes to our church and is involved.
A small and quiet simple ceremony, with just immediate family in attendance, and Eliot singing a John Lennon wedding song....

Then two funerals yesterday. One for a ladies husband who I have only known recently...amazing what sort of things come out at a funeral. He was an Irish larrikan, a likeable sort of fellow who worked as a nurse at RPH for 30+ years. Quite interesting to think of a male nurse starting up in that profession that long ago....aparrently a jokestar....always up for a laugh...

Then the funeral of Brian Brand. He was an amazing guy, and it showed with who was there for the funeral.....many members of WA politics, and social standing. Brian was devoted to helping others, quick with a joke, the sort of guy who was incredibly personable and warm and generous....

Draining! Even though I did not perform either funeral, in some ways it was a draining day. Emotional, seeing people go through all that stuff....

The world is peripheral to the church

Here is a video I made up for our church launch.....
The original is almost 100megs....but if anyone wants it, I will try and upload it shortly.

Life is



A church video I made up based on the idea that we need to 'be still and know that I am God' in a busy world. You can download a wmv version by by right clicking HERE. Just let me know how and if you use it.

Proposed letter to BU

Hi all......
If you are a Baptist Pastor in Australia, and have not recieved the letter I have just sent, and would like to put your name on this letter....please let me know. Dissenting views are also okay!
I feel passionately about this. Its time we said something better about ourselves...because we are doing a great job as churches.....I intend to send this letter to our own BU WA council...and to the national union.

The Baptist Union Logo
Time for Change

According to the Baptist Union Website, “Australian Baptists today are a diverse community. During this twentieth century they have witnessed considerable growth, partly through immigration but also through vigorous evangelistic endeavours. Since the 1970s the impact of the charismatic renewal movement has led to changes in worship and leadership styles”

The Baptist Union is one of the few church denominations experiencing real growth in Australia. We have much to thank God for.

We have steadily grown into a contemporary and relevant movement, and it is time our logo represented us as we are today.

According to the Baptist Union Website our present logo is described thus.
“The circle represents the all-encompassing love of God and the world for which Christ died; the empty cross pointing to our resurrected Saviour and the significance of his death and resurrection for our life; and the open Bible to indicate that we are people of the Word. “

This logo has served us well for a number of decades, and yet it is time for it to more accurately present the vibrant and contemporary nature of our organization.

The following Baptist Pastors believe it is time we had a logo which sends the right message to a secular society, one that depicts us as we are, a relevant, contemporary, and vibrant Australian organization. We respectfully ask that a marketing company is commissioned to design a logo reflecting this which will replace the old one.

Baptist Union Logo


Okay....I have got a bee in my bonnett....
is this the lamest logo you have ever seen?

What does it say to you?

To me...it says we don't care about the non churched....because it communicates nothing to them.

We don't care about peoples perception of us as a organisation, because it says we are traditional, old fashioned...and too lazy to do anything about it.

Baptists are notoriously slow to change. Its time to change this. And not in a half hearted way, it needs to be changed completely....and done properly...but a marketing company.

Lets redo the whole logo, lete reframe the image we are presenting of ourselves.

We need to send the following messages.

We are contemporary, we have life, we are relevant, we are not some two bit organisation.

All the above statements are true...at least of WA Baptists....its time our logo reflected that, and reflected who we are, and who we are becoming.

boring to the other side of the globe


My son often asks me if we can go to China....goodness knows why, it may have something to do with the fact all his DS games come from there. I said to him once, start digging, thats about the only way we are going to get there. Seems I have to rethink that. If I start digging, we are going to get wet, thats all.


To see what I mean, go to the map tunnelling tool. It shows you were you would end up if you could dig yourself to the other side of the globe.




Church on Sunday

Tired......looking forward to Eliot and Colin being back!

Great great day today. Great crowd of people in, and in Colin Battersby's word, "a great spirit in this place"

I agree. There is something special about being together and worshipping together. Colin does a great ministry, sensitive, passionate and humble. He lifts the people around him, and works great with anyone.

We continued our series and I spoke on the beattitudes. A number of people commented on how passionate I was this morning...thats true. I finished the sermon with the thought, "who is the light of the world?"

I read the appropriate verse from Matthew five, and even then people gave the wrong answer!
Which hopefully made my point.

We are the light of the world, the Church is salt and light....we reflect His glory and his values and attributes through becoming a truly "blessed' people...a people who are poor in spirit etc etc.

Spring in the Valley...or Mark is getting old...

Headed out to the Swan Valley for 'spring in the valley' today.
In years gone by we have sampled some good wine, cheese and meats...enjoyed the time touring a beautiful part of our city.

no more.....Spring in the Valley has been transformed into a massive attempt to get as many 20 year old lads and laddetts plastered as quickly as possible, with a wide varieties of wine and beer.......

Various bus companies are cashing in on the phenomenon transporting thousands of barely dressed young people to the mulitude of accepting places. I dont know if your daughter was one of the girls there....but I hope not!

Dont get me wrong, I am no wowser....but it really is not great if your looking for a nice day out with your family.

None the less, we had a great day, and sharing it with some new friends from another country made it even better. The Margaret River Chocolate Factory was great, we had a nice picnic near the river, and Edgecombe Brothers was a good change from the overflowing lines of people and crowded wineries. .
We actually had a great day, and ended up finishing up at the Rose and Crown for a bite and a drink. Suprisingly the R & C was not letting bus loads of yobs in, so we got a good table in the beautiful weather.

Mark Sayers on communication

This is one of the best and concise encouragements to contemporary preaching I have read for a while.

To all you preachers out there, please read this.
It will either confirm you are on the right track, encourage you to do better...or annoy the heck out of you. If it annoys you, good...you need to change! :)

Here is the first and best point for all you slack bums.

If your message is infectious, you won‟t be just talking to the people sitting in front of you, you will be talking to their friends, family and contacts. Think beyond the room. How can you communicate your message in a way that will „live on‟ beyond that moment? Shape your message so that they will tell their friends, who will tell their friends, who will tell their friends etc. Are you preparing this weeks sermon, or are you crafting a message that has potential for exponential growth?

The rest

Vale Brian Brand

Brian Brand was a strong Christian man, married to Jennie Bickmore Brand.
I do not know much of his history, but I knew from meeting with him often, that he was a great and strong leader, quick with a joke and a smile, but intense and purposeful as well.

He lived life to the full. There was nothing he was afraid of. He was incredibly relational.

So very sad to hear of his shock passing.

I know he is now with Jesus, but he leaves behind a beautiful wife and strong leader in Jennie.

The lucky ones...

this fresh off the Mark Edwards message line.......

ready for this Sunday's message....

"Going by worldly standards, who would you say the lucky people are? People with money and possessions? People who have extraordinary abilities? People who are famous? People who are powerful? People with a high education? It’s these kinds of people who the world calls lucky. But Jesus comes along and turns this way of thinking upside down. Jesus says no! It’s actually the lowly people, the down-and-outers, those who are doing it tough that are lucky. And it’s not just that they are lucky, they are blessed by God. They have God’s approval. They have God’s thumbs up."

Light of the world...

...you stepped down into darkness, opened my eyes let me see...

Beautiful song, almost could be used as a interpretive psalm of Phillipians 2....

Interesting aspect is that in Matthew 5 it is actually us, the church, who are the 'light of the world'...a though echoed in Ephesians 1.
We are the reflected light of Jesus, called to not hide our light under a bushel.
Thats an amazing thought.
All this time, I thought in that verse in Matthew, Jesus said He is the light of the world. In fact in this context, the context of the beattitudes, we are. As we become like Christ in our attitude, we display the light of Christ to the world...amazing.

Trade Week

The media are like a pack of seagulls around trade week. There is so much blatant gamesmanship going on.
Port Coach Mark Williams has said publicly they dont really know if they want Josh Carr. After seeing him be part of tearing apart the Eagles in the 2nd derby, I dont think anyone believes him.

And Carlton offering pick 24 for Warnock...sheesh.
I just hope Freo are able to get something good for him, he is a great 'bet' in terms of becoming a very influential player.

By the way, one of the key searches that brings people to this blog is "West Coast Eagles Jokes"...well they are...jokes that is!!! :)

Stay at home dads


As per usual, Driscoll does not flinch from what he believes.
With all the namby pamby 'lets water down the bible' types around at the moment, I admire him for that.

I reckon if you are a lazy bum husband/father...who just cant be bothered providing for your family, you probably need a kick in the pants.

However there are many situations where grace and understanding is needed.

I can also think of plenty of fathers who for a whole raft of reasons look after their kids while their wife works. Me for 1!! Melinda has always chosen to work part time, and I generally look after the kids one day a week, have done from birth...and I love it. It is a privilege and a joy to be a part of their lives.

Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand

Melinda and I went up to the Kalamunda Markets on Saturday. They are great markets.
Lots of interesting stalls...delicious and varied ethnic foods....etc etc...

One interesting stall had this sign up, which I should have taken a picture of....

"Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand"

Today I told the story, as I spoke about the John the Baptist story....
Of course...no one 'non churched' knows what this means, it probably does exactly the opposite of what the intent is....

However...

They were there, they did have good intentions ( I presume)....good on them for that!

just some thing I have been thinking about.

RIP Emerging Church

"We have failed to address our own souls and our own sense of self. We have pointed the finger - analysed and critiqued church patterns, missional models and Christian culture, but have remained naive to the way in which we ourselves as individuals have co-opted by contemporary culture. For we carry within us viruses. Parasitical organisms which are capable of ruining all of our plans, of wounding, weakening and even destroying our movements, churches, communities, ministries"

Sayers

Exactly.
How many of those who seek reform within the church, do so from the frings, occaisionally throwing stones, occaisionally asking the church to support them financially, all the while...what we really need are those who commit themselves to the Body of Christ...fight for Her, protect Her....restore Her....seek for Her best and Her growth....
It may only take one of those within a local church to stick around and commit themselves..and earn the respect of those within it...to see Her rise up and take hold of what God lays before us. The fields are white for harvest.....

1st century evangelism


Matthew 2

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.


I love this story.

Here are a bunch of people...weirdos really...from miles away, foreigners actually.
They follow stars for goodness sake. They believe that stars are signs....in this case they are right.
Some key points.

They find joy when they find Jesus
They bring gifts
They work to protect the fragile child

Amazing.
Prayer..............God....that I would see this happen. Those far from God would find joy in Jesus, bring gifts and work to protect his name.

Facebook

Its an interesting phenomen that I am a part of.


Like any electronic medium, it has its communication issues. Nothing beats a face to face conversation for understanding. Everything else falls short. God has designed us with the innate ability to read body language, tonal inflections, eye contact....or lack of...the ability to discern a whole raft of emotions....from sarcasm to spite.

However I do like the network aspect of it. To be able to be a part of peoples lives on a level you are comfortable with.

Someone commented that the only people on Facebook are pastors and women...I dont know what that said....but stacks of my mates are on Facebook...but a heck of a lot of them are pastors. I reckon Pastors are big on communication, connnection and networking.
Mark Edwards's Facebook profile

Christians.......

"Hollywood does an incredible job of making fake things look real & Christians do an incredible job of making real things look fake."
Phil Cooke's Branding Faith H/T Kem Meyer

Beginnings

Matthew 1
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[
c] because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[
d]—which means, "God with us."

What a beautiful piece of scripture....God with us. Reassuring, glorious, Creator, powerful, with us. Something to be thankful and contemplate....outside of the 'silly season'.