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Only a bloke would understand...


Why a bloke would post a picture of his new trailer on his blog.
Very light! 120kgs Just the right size for the power challenged Vitara.

mmmm that snuck up!

Google "markedly'
Guess who comes up second, before the Webster dictionary! :)

Set the bridge on fire!


Speaking on breaking free from those things that bind us...during December...

Going to speak on Moses....no turning back to Egypt

Elijah...turn your back on fear of people

Acts...turn your back on the denial of the supernatural..

When you become a Christian...there is no turning back! Burn those bridges!!!

So much on

and so much happening next year.
I feel like I am on a boogie board at dusk, and the wave is pushing me towards the shore...but there is another wave behind me....ready to pounce as the present wave runs out of puff....

Its a little scary, but I have nothing to complain about.

Relevance and whingers

There are so many that are critical of the church, in a whole raft of ways.
However the keenest and most consistent of these are generally those who would call themselves Christians.

You don't really hear the Muslims, the Bhuddists complaining about what a Church is doing.....and for that matter you don't really hear the Christians bleeting about what the Muslim is doing...and I am talking about a question of degrees here, there are always exceptions.

I wonder how Jesus dealt with those who were critical of His ministry? Who were they, what did they look like? What did he say to them, and how did He treat them?

A fault I have is that I take criticism to heart, I take it personally.
Instead of focusing on that which is affirming, I focus on that which is critical.

There are so many great things about Inglewood Church...and our affect on the community. It feels like we are on a wave of blessing, expectation and fruitfulness.
My prayer is that I don't get in the way of what the Holy Spirit is doing at the moment, but facilitate it.

Met up with someone from high school

I am repeating myself, but I did not like high school.
I felt trapped, I felt I could not be myself, and I did not really like myself either!

But today...I met up...for the first time...with a mate from high school days.
The first time I have met up with anyone from my time at Scarborough High.

It was a great experience, a really nice guy, and it made me feel like some of that time was redeemable. We had a great conversation abour our time at Scabs, some of the good times we had.. life, philosophy, spirituality.

We also talked about what some of the blokes from 'our group' are up to.
It feels like an age away now, but it was refreshing to have it brought into the present.

Servicing the Suzuki Vitara 1994

On Saturday I 'serviced' my Vitara 1994.
This involved...
Changing the oil, oil filter, air filter, coolant and sparkplugs.

All up...cost was $74

There are three of four types of air filter, and the price difference is incredible.
Over $70 for one type, $11 for the Repco one!

I use reasonable oil, but oil has gone up so much in recent years. However I chose a middle of the range one...with 20w-50w of course.

I have found Repco to be the best auto parts shop, because they are the cheapest, and they carry the biggest range. They always have what I need.

Auto One the most expensive, and generally the guy behind the counter treats you like an idiot...maybe cause thats how I come across!

While Supercheap Parts can be cheap, they rarely have what you need, they carry bulk items, so if you have a 2000 Commodore, you should be okay! Anyone else will need to go elsewhere..unless you feel like buying a $2 air freshener in the shape of Bart Simpson.

The most painful aspect of servicing the car yourself is getting the oil filter off. The Suzuki one is reasonably easy to get to, but what a pain to get off! I eventually had to drive a screwdriver through it to be able to turn it to get it off....Oil dripping all over the joint.

The spark plugs are reasonable easy, but you need a good sparkplug socket, or, like me, you could use your sons super strong magnet to pull them up...as they are right inside the block. But thankfully...no points.

All in all, a massive saving, and with my son at my side, a good teaching exercise.

Grace

No other religion has it
No one who has not experienced it thinks it fair

Those who know it, know its the only thing stopping us from sliding....
Thank God that He knows what we are really like, and knows that grace is the only thing that is of any use to us.

What made Jesus madder than anything? Those who did not show grace, yet were under its covering.

What perplexes me? Churches with grace in their title, but who show anything but grace to a dying world oblivious to their need for it.

What spurs me on? To be relevant to those in need of Gods grace, who don't know it, but who I know....need it.

Western Australia


For all my interstate and overseas visitors...
(H/T Rod Benson)

New Layout

Probably not perfect yet, but I like it....

Funerals

Some observations....

There are all types of people at funerals. Business people, goths, mums, kids, sporty types, gymn junkies...seriously...funerals dont discriminate, on those who are observing, and those in the casket, everyone ends up at one, either a family member, friend, aquaitance...or their own...eventually.

Two of the saddest types of funerals, and I have been at both, are those for kids, or for someone who is a parent and has taken their own life. (There are many other sad types, but I have experienced both recently)

Both leave you with the sense that potential, hope...has been taken away from a family.

Leadership

Really felt convicted to just pray for some wisdom in leadership, God help me to be the leader You want me to be, to make godly decisions, decisions that will help our community discover joy in Jesus.
Lot of decisions and things happening this week.

Need wisdom.

Another good friend quit the ministry yesterday, perhaps only for a season. Stress gets to pastors, it seriously does.
As you watch conflict and stress come upon spiritual leaders, most often from those within the church, you wonder if those who consider themselves Bible studiers, if they could possibly have a look at this verse from Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:7 'Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit'

The importance of social media to the church

This video highlights the importance of social media to the church.

(H/t Kem Meyer)

70% of Inglewood Church's growth has come directly through our website.
www.inglewoodchurch.org.au

Probably half of those new folk have found intergration through Facebook.
Probably half of my church are on Facebook.

And I still cant convince some of my friends that the church website needs updating...or that they need to have one....

Christmas as Pastoring

One of my mates from my sons school asked me how I was going...work wise.
Christmas is buuuusy for Pastors, but this year is a lot less stressful for us, for a couple of reasons.

We dropped our Carols by Candlelight. I am not saying it is not effective, or worthwhile doing, and if you are doing it...great! But for us, we have done it for a number of years with some years being fantastic, others being dissapointed. You are at the mercy of the weather, other events, local residents...so many factors which can cause stress. There is also a lot of expense and trouble to pull it off.
We decided that even though our carols have been good for us as a church, we wanted a change this year.

With Christmas Day falling on a Friday we made the decision to have a Christmas Eve Childrens service, and a caroling style Christmas Day Service, and then a low key film day on the Sunday.

We are holding this in the community centre, and I reckon its going to be great. Doing something different to what we normally do means our people are refreshed at the thought, and enthusaistic.
New, change...excites. Doing the same thing again and again does not.

Christmas

Prophetic ministry

Been praying through a few thoughts on this lately.
I have received clear prophetic words 3 times in my life.
I don't necesariy want to share the details of what was said here...in this public forum, but I will say this.

Three different ministers, conservative types all of them, shared with me points about myself that they believe God was sharing with them.
Their was no arrogance on their part, or dogmatism...just a sincere humble belief that God still speaks.

Coming as I have from a very conservative biblical education, emphasising a cessationalist form of ministry, this has been a huge area of growth and change for me.

One line that keeps convicting me....so often we speak from our lack of experience, and impose that upon the biblical text...rather than seeking the biblical experience that is plainly written in front of us. In other words...seeking that which is written in the Bible, rather than trying to ratiolalise it away.

Stan Walker does Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace

I said to my wife about 8 weeks ago, Stan is the standout in Australian Idol this year....
then he goes and does this.....


Wonderful! Proud of you Stan!

WA Barista Championship


Jesper Bood is a good mate, so I wandered down to the WA Barrista Championships today where he was competing.

Jesper did not dissapoint with an interesting story about the origins of the bean he was using, along with some superb looking and smelling coffee.
His 'signature' coffee was a apricot nectar infused coffee....served like tea. Jesper likes tea ceremony, so for him, this was a natural fit.
He is an engaging performer...and a wonderful Barista.
You can catch him at work, and purchase one of his superb works of art at 'Ristretto'.

Lunch


Mmmmmm
Proscuitto, Hot Salami, Ciabatta Bread, Dutch Smoked Cheese....and some Skybury Coffee....

Message on BONO

I spoke on Bono from U2 on Sunday,
"As the names of those lost on Sept. 11 scrolled up a towering screen, the singer kept reciting a verse from Psalm 51, in which King David pleaded for God's mercy.

"Oh Lord, open my lips," he said, "that my mouth shall show forth thy praise." Then the music rose in a crescendo, soaring into a song about heaven, a vision of a new heaven and earth, of a city "where there's no sorrow and no shame, where the streets have no name."

This didn't happen in a safe Christian sanctuary, in a church worship service.
This happened at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI, in front of 131 million or so viewers around the world.
As the people drunk their beer and ate their hotdogs and some very unfit people watched some very fit people play americal football.
U2 brought into that very secular environment a psalm of David….and a song about heaven…and a Christian reflection on world events…."

Here is the message audio


Pictures and videos are not included....obviously, but you will probably get the idea!

Fremantle Dockers back into it.

Hopes, dreams....they come back every 12 months for the Dockers...
This is the best time of year....we start off like everyone else.... :)
Good to see some footy news back on the TV!

Correction

Who do you recieve it from?

Let me tell you who I seek it from.

Friends, fellow pastors who I know
Those who have my best interests at heart
People I trust.
I seek it out, I ask people to speak into my life.

Who do I not recieve it from?
Pharisees
People I don't know
Young bloggers who think they know everything...I dont blame them, I used to be young idealistic, and even a little fundamental!
People who send me laughable comments with no idea who I am, the arrogance of it makes you laugh!

As I was sharing this morning from the scriptures I shared with people that as you choose to lead, and be a leader, people will try and criticise you. People love criticising things they don't know. I encourage you...if you are leading, you need to learn to laugh at some of the absurd things people say...because some it is so immature and misinformed....