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We have all heard of the things they flog on ebay, from a image of Mary embedded on a toasted cheese sandwich, to the Pope's old car. But this one is certainly up there in the interesting stakes.
A young man from Chicago is offering to go to church if you pay him. He is a editor of an Athiests newsletter, and will publish his experiences in his journal.
Continuing my devotions in the Psalms. The NLT really has come into its own in this book. Loving the freshness of reading them with this translation.
Trying to work out what is going on in David's head.
"declare me innocent, for you know those who do right"
Imagine writing and saying that to God! How does this contrast or 'work' with Jesus' statement about the two men praying in the temple? The one who was humble and beat his chest in agony over his own sinful state was commended. The one who thanked God that he was so good, was blasted. (fair nuff too!)
I suppose there are times in all of our lives where we know we are right, and can cry out our case to God. I find that difficult, because I am so aware that my feet are made of clay. Yet David did it, and we know what he got up too!
The weagles woes are continuing and the Sunday Slime has written this about the pre season derby,
"But the Dockers are likely to field a side considerably stronger than the West Coast Eagles, who have endured an injury-riddled pre-season.
Full-forward Brad Smith is out of commission for another 12 months because of a second knee reconstruction, while midfielder Chad Fletcher (collarbone), ruckman/forward Michael Gardiner (foot), David Wirrpunda (knee) and Ashley Sampi (compartment syndrome), are tipped to miss the first round of the official pre-season competition.
Beau Waters, who injured a knee when hit by a taxi late last year, is still well below full fitness. Michael Braun, on the comeback trail after knee surgery, is training solidly, but could also be rested for the Dockers encounter."
A Docker fans opinion?
Out: Smith, Fletcher, Gardiner, Wirrpunda and Sampi
In: Boo and Hoo
A little while back, about 8 months ago, a friend who does not come to church told me that, 'there is no way you will get a house like you want in Bedford for that price'.
I was sharing with her that we felt God was calling us to be in the area. In other words more incarnational in our approach. (I did not use those exact words, but that is what I was seeking to convey). I also shared that we would love our son to go to Inglewood pre primary. Her response was "there is no way you will get him in to that class, the kindy has 75 kids in it, and the pre primary goes down to 50. You cannot get a spot, especially not at this late stage". (This was 8 months before!!)
On both counts she was right, there was no earthly way this could happen. She is a self confessed athiest.
Then, through some remarkable circumstances, we came to buy a house, a beautiful house, with a magnificent kitchen, in a great central street, for a very reasonable price. We paid no agent fees as it was a private sale. In fact we were the only ones who knew it was going to be for sale, and we found out through some extraordinary circumstances. To give you some idea, houses in the area we were looking at rarely get to a house open, they are normally sold within 48 hours. That is no exageration.
Then, this morning, a number of months after buying the house, after we had almost given up hope, and had enroled our son in an alternative school, the Inglewood Primary School secretary rings us up and tells us there is a suprise vacancy. After my wife had finished shreaking down the phone, we were both reminded of the conversation we had with this lady.
God is good, He won't be mocked. Prayers offered up in His will, and for His purposes are generally answered. We are so happy to be doing what He wants, and to have it confirmed in this way. I can't wait to see what He has in store for us next.
Now two good friends are coming to Hillsong with me!
Cant wait.
Truth is we have a stack of fun, as well as being inspired and uplifted.
Imagine four days away with two good mates!!
Now I love my coffee, but Pizza if probably my first love, good stuff, not the $5.95 specials.
The sort of pizza that Italian/Greek guy makes by hand.
Floury crust, real bacon, real herbs.
There is a great pizza shop in the middle street of Sydney, right near where we normally stay.
Anyone know anyway we should visit?
I love the place.
Sun, fishing, sitting on the porch watching the sun go down.
Getting up, throwing on the boardshorts. Plunging into the Indian Ocean.
There is nowhere like Western Australia, and for me, nowhere like Cervantes.
I will never change my mobile phone provider. Optus dont have coverage up there.
I will never change from Optus.
Time with my wife and my kids, talking, laughing, buying lollies and fresh bread from the 'supermarket'.
Reading the west over a plate of my wife's pancakes with maple syrup and cream, breakfast at 10am after a swim.
But most of all, my kids laughter and joy as we build the biggest most complex sand castle you have ever seen. Inbuilt bath, seat, tunnel, bridge, moat, outside wall to protect it from the incoming waves. If my son does not turn out to be an engineer or designer, or builder of somesort, I will be suprised. His ideas, for a 5 year old, well I know I am biased, but the kid is smart!
In the mother country there is a relatively new phenomenon occuring known as "happy slapping"
What it involves is a group of youths bullying another youth, all the while videoing it with their mobile phone and then distributing it amongst their friends. The bullying can and does frequently go as far as bashing, stabbing, sexual misconduct and other such things. All the while the kids are either participating or laughing.
If you devalue people so much, this is what you get. A person is only valuable if they can provide you with sick entertainment. As a parent two young children, such activity makes me physically sick. I believe that these young people doing the attack are empty, devoid of purpose, and our humanistic, egocentric, self centered and selfish society has made them this way. They are evil people, yet there are reasons why they are evil.
We Christians have to permeate the Holy Spirit's influence throughout society. We have to see people changed one at a time.
Alex Huggett has a blog.
Alex is a friend and pastor peer working at Ellenbrook Baptist Church. He has been through some rough times pastorally, have not we all, but apart from the occaisional twitching and other dysfunctions, he seems to have survived it alright. (!!)
His blog will focus on what is going on in the greater Ellenbrook area.
Check it out. http://www.the-ellenbrooker.com/
Whatever other criticism you might want to level at our new Premier, at least he has chosen the right team to support.
Alan is a true supporter. No chardonny sipping corporate box for him. Gallop take notice. Every derby, there was the blue and gold supporting Geoff, in his corporate box, with his limousine parked out front, blocking the path of the plebs.
Alan on the other hand sits in the normal wooden seats, a few rows down from me. He is a true working class Freo Supporter.
And now he is our state premier. Things are looking better for our state already.
2006 is the year that Purple comes into its own.
Tommorow I head off with my family to Cervantes for a few days of relaxation.
I am continuing my devotions in the Psalms and so Ps 5.1 will apply,
"Lord hear me as I pray"
This week its all about praying for fish. Would love to help my son pull in his second fish. Nothing quite like sitting there on the jetty or the beach casting out for some food. My wife is the best filleter and cooker of herring that there is.
Beautiful big crunchy herb infused bread crumbs, fish melting in your mouth. Big fat crispy wedges served with sour cream, and a nice coldie. All while sitting on the verandah watching the sun go down, enjoying the happy banter of my two beautiful kids.
God is so good to us all. I'm taking the time to thank him for my beautiful wife, my wonderful healthy kids, and my beautiful life.
Verse 12 "For you bles the godly O Lord, surrounding them with Your shield of love".
The Church report, online magazine, has a lit of the 50 Most Influential Christians in US . Some very interesting names there, along with Bush, Osteen, Warren and Graham is relative newcomer, Rob Bell.
Those of you who visit my Blog will know how much I love Rob Bell's Book, "The Velvet Elvis".
It has helped me in my Christian life and ministry. I also love his DVD Nooma Series.
However has he really influenced me a lot? Well not as much as some flesh and bone Christians. A Pastor I had in Albany was one of the biggest influences on me. He taught me that preaching could be fun, interesting and inspiring all in one. He also inspired me to be a pastor. However he did also do some very silly things, and is no longer a Pastor. Like us all, he has feet of clay. Other major influences include my parents and some Christian friends.
I think these lists oversimplify things and make us think these people are more powerful than they are.
Even the most influential books I have ever read in my Christian walk, besides the Bible, books such as "The Velvet Elvis" and "Suprised by the Spirit" and "The purpose Driven life/Church" all have come along at a God apointed time, a time God wanted to say something deep and life changing to me.
I need to remind myself, that as a flesh and blood person, and as someone with feet of clay, that one at a time, I influence people. If your reading this, so do you.
Have been feeling a little bit flat the last couple of weeks, spiritually speaking. Its suprising how that was reflected in some of the things going on at Church.
However just before the service last Sunday, on the Saturday, I started to delve into the Psalms again. If you are feeling disconnected from God, these are a wonderful, passionate set of writings which really draw you into the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I had left my bible at Church (what sort of a pastor does that?!?!) and so I was reading from the amplified version. These lines from Psalm one really spoke to my soul, and I am feeling a sense of the Holy Spirit in me again, prodding, encouraging, stirring me on.
3And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]
Church on Sunday was really good. The music and worship was inspiring and flowed really well (thanks Dale, Bruce, Mark, Theo and Helen!)
Luke spoke really well, told some good stories and had us all thinking about how to deal with suffering.
In my mispent youth I owned a Mazda Rx4. It was purchased for the princely sum of $2000. Believe it or not, now such a vehicle would probably command double that. That means a 1975 vehicle has doubled in price over 15 years. However I am pretty sure my Rx4 is wrapped around some telephone pole in rural WA. It was a sad day when I sold it to a friend to finance my bible college days in Adelaide. Unfortunately it was way to heavy on the juice for my career of choice while studying, that of delivering pizza's. But I digress.
My Rx4 was shiny red with a black vinyl roof. It looked very similar to the one pictured here. It had a killer stereo in it. Two 150w amps, 4 x 3 way Pioneer speakers. Of course there were no such things as Cd or DVD in car players in those days, but the cassette player belted out Cold Chisel, Australian Crawl, Ric Cua or Bryan Duncan, depending on my mood.
The motor was a 13b street ported job with a 4 barrell Holley Carbie. One problem I had was fuel starvation at high revs (around 8000 rpm). I managed to pick up a rally fuel pump from a Rx7 for $50. The pump was worth a few hundred bucks, but the guy needed the cash. It solved the problem and the motor revved long and hard from that point on.
It went through numerous exhausts, once totally ripping apart a set of extractors. I ended up putting in some new extractors and a straight through exhaust, and it was pretty loud.
In the wet it was almost uncontrollable, spinning the rear wheels all the way up to fourth gear. Many times at the lights it took on and comprehensively beat much more fancied sets of wheels.
Anyways, back to the present and a promise I have made myself. I will one day purchase a Series 1 or 2 Mazda Rx7. (1979 - 1982/3) This will be returned to almost stock condition. No flares or mags for me. Just a clean, preferably white, Rx7 to take out when not driving the family around. I have already got in mind the exhaust system to put on it, because this is probably the second most crucial part of owning a rotary motor. The most important part is ensuring that the little pump which puts oil into the carby to oil the rotors is in top operational condition. If it is, a rotary motor will give you smooth, powerful performance for many happy years of motoring, despite the ill concieved fallacies which some will give.
The West reports this morning that well know West Coast Eagles player Chris Judd's company is being investigated by a liquidator over some possible breaching of proper company governance. Oh Dear.
This coupled with his mum's singing about her son in pre grand final days leads me to award the "Markedly Award for Shrimp most needing to be BBQ" to Chris Judd.
May he have his worst year ever this year and get traded to Collingwood in 2007
My mum bought me this book by Jim Cymbala for Christmas. Its a devotional book, based around the pastoral life of Jim, who with his wife, has been the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Of course this is the church with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I have seen a message Jim gives about his daughter and the 'tough love' he and his wife showed when she was a drug addict. Fantastic, as Rod Denton called it, 'Anointed' message. Interestingly it is one of the most popular books, among their top five, of many younger pastors.
I believe in balance. Jim calls for more prayer, more devotion, less marketing, less polish. I have no probem with him calling for that, its a message I need to hear. However I do also believe God has gifted us all differently for a reason. Some people are great marketers, and like excellence in presentations etc. They should use their gifts for the Kingdom, as should those who love to pray for hours. God connects with us all in different ways. The satisfaction we feel over something done for God, and done well, comes from all different 'activities', and I think God celebrates them all.
A quote from Jim,
"what does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in prayer meetings and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?"
This week I have been reformatting the hard drive on a computer given to me by a great friend Viren. Unfortunately Viren has gone back to India, at least it is unfortunate for me, I miss him!
The computer is a great one, but Viren is a real computer buff and it was partioned, had all these weird and wonderful computer programs on it. Far too confusing for a simple man such as myself. So I have eventually figured out how to wipe the hard drive and reinstall XP and Office 2003.
Unfortunately the driver for the internal PCI BUS modem has gone missing! I suspect it is not a real modem but one of those little wire, attatchment jobs in which the downloaded software does all the work. If anyone knows how to determine what modem it is without ripping the thing apart, please let me know. Windows XP cant find it, nor can the system management on XP. And I know its there! I used it before I reformatted it!!
A story in the West caught my eye this morning. It briefly told how a church in Parkes, rural NSW, is holding an Elvis style gospel service at the same time as the local community is holding their annual Elvis Festival. The Sydney Morning Herald has some more details such as,
"The Elvis gospel-style Uniting Church service that will be held on the Sunday began four years ago with 80 people. Tomorrow it is expected to draw more than 700.
The Reverend Tom Stuart, who is leading the service, said Elvis was no saint but he saw nothing wrong with the church borrowing him.
Elvis was deeply spiritual and loved gospel singing, having been brought up in a Memphis Pentecostal church.
He recorded three gospel albums and it was for his religious music, not his rock'n'roll tunes, that he won three Grammys.
"I see Elvis as this performer with incredible talent who is like us because of the phenomenal personal failings that exposed his clay feet," Mr Stuart said."
NCLS also mention it briefly on their site.
This is awesome. A local church listening and seeing what the local community is doing, and tapping into it in a relevant way. Something accesible and liked by the community. Apparently the church service is now the biggest event on the Elvis Festival's calender!
I think this is fantastic, mmmm, now how can I get the Bayswater Council to organise a Elvis Festival in my area.... and where have I left my blue suede shoes?
I bought my son, off Ebay, a Jimmy Neutron Rocket Car for Christmas.
Goodness knows how he got so obsessed with this genius wonder boy, but he has. About half the presents he got for Christmas were JM related, including DVD's, models, and other things.
Unfortunately Hasbro, the manufacturer of Jimmy toys, stopped
manufacturing them and distributing them in Australia about
2 years ago. I know because I rang them.
Thank goodness for Ebay!
I have just purchased him a Jimmy walker robot, and it should arrive in time for his birthday. Only thing is that the postage from the US costs about double what the radio controlled walker is going to cost us.
Do I get a father of the year nomination or what!
This from the The news
"The senior pastor of a Tulsa Baptist church was arrested outside a northwest Oklahoma City hotel after allegedly propositioning an undercover officer, police said. http://newsok.com/video/1724872/Show Video
Lonnie Wayne Latham, 59, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church, was arrested Tuesday on a complaint of offering to engage in an act of lewdness, police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said. He was released on $500 bail Wednesday.
I checked out his church website and as one of their statements of faith,
"We are all made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. We are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although mankind has tremendous potential for good, we are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called “sin”. This attitude separates us from God"
Its too easy to read these stories and condemn, forgetting this is a real person, probably who started off in ministry just like me, with pure hopes and dreams. Latham is now in a prominent and important role both in his church, and within the Baptist Denomination.
I feel sorrow for his family, and his church, and for him. Lets hope and pray there is a good recovery program going on.
This is a reminder to me, as a pastor, that with responsibility comes accountability.
Off to see the movie tonight.
Loved the seven books as a child, particularly the "Voyage of the Dawn Treader".
I am speaking on lessons from the wardrobe on Sunday.
Should be fun!
I have booked my ticket to Sydney this year.
Had enough frequent flyers, just, and will take advantage of what looks like the bext line up of speakers ever.
Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Matthew Barnett and .... Delirious!
I always come back home full to the brim from this conference, and it is one of only two or three I go to in the year. My note book is full of enough ideas, deep challenges and vision, as is my heart and mind.
Cannot wait. Just need to cofirm some friends who may come as well, to share a motel room with, and we will have an awesome time.
Unfortunately the budget and time restraints meant I could not stretch the trip to the Saturday before, as the Dockers will be playing Sydney that day. Hopefully they will win, and I can wear the purple with pride in the home of the Swans.
Big bad Kerry Packer has gone to meet his maker. The richest man in Australia (7 Billion dollars) has returned to the dust with as much cash as when he entered the world.
Apparently his father Frank was a real tryant, and a distant and yet overbearing father. Andre Malan in The West Australian has written a great article on this issue, entitled, "lessons to be learnt in sins of the fathers". Kerry's father often beat him, humiliated him and called him "boofhead". Most of Kerry's childhood life was spent in bording shools. He also suffered from polio as a youngster, and did not receive much sympathy. The West reported yesterday that Kerry had said in a previous life threatening episode, that there was no devil and no heaven. This may explain why he was quite happy to die, to let go of life. He was sick of suffering.
Chatting around a bbq with a group of friends most of them thought he was a great Australian. I found this hard to believe, because I have always seen him as a ruthless man, concerned mainly with his own wealth. But in death, often people take a wider view, and they see the good he did do, his generous giving of millions to various charities, including the famous resourcing of St John Ambulances after they saved his own life.
Either way, whether he likes it or believes it or not, Kerry has discovered now that there is something beyond the grave.
I hope and pray by God's grace he admitted something within his own heart before he went.
Two seperate incidents in the week leading up to Christmas caught my spiritual attenae.
In David Jones they were selling spell books, that is books with incarnations in them. These books were in the childrens section, and aimed at children.
Up until the age of 9 or 10, children cannot distinguish accurately between fantsasy and reality.
On Humphrey B Bears show, the presenter was plotting the astrological chart for the next year. Great! Just what you want to show impressionable young minds.
I am not one for campaigning against spong bob or Disney, but this sort of stuff is awful.
It is religious teaching, imagine if they had Rick Warren on Sesame Street, telling the kids all about the five purposes for their lives, their would be an uproar.
It also made me keenly aware that you cannot let your kid sit in front of the box unmonitored, not even when watching something that is meant to be innocent like the big brown non speaking bear.
For my son and daughters first Christmas my wife bought them 'Baby's 1st Christmas' baubels to hang on the tree.
Well this is my blog's first Christmas. Merry Christmas blog!
More importantly Happy and Merry Christmas to you all.
I hope God gives you more than you could ever hope or dream of for the coming year.
In "The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations" by Dan Kimball Rick Warren has written the foreword. As seems to be true of most things Rick says, he is looking for opportunities and believing they are there in most situations. Here is how he introduces the book, "In the past twenty years, spiritual seekers have changed a lot. In the first place, there are a whole lot more of them. There are seekers everywhere. I’ve never seen more people so hungry to discover and develop the spiritual dimension of their lives. That is why there is such a big interest in Eastern thought, New Age practices, mysticism and the transcendent. Today seekers are hungry for symbols and metaphors and experiences and stories that reveal the greatness of God. Because seekers are constantly changing, we must be sensitive to them like Jesus was; we must be willing to meet them on their own turf and speak to them in ways they understand."
Whatever else one might think of the emerging Church, they have got this right, "seekers are hungry for symbols and metaphors and experiences and stories" If indeed they say that. Not that we always know who 'they' are or really what 'they say'. I dont wont to put words in anyones mouth.
I do think this, that people dont care less about apologetics any more, they care about what works, in your emotional and spiritual life. They care about the truth found within a story, and you know what? The Bible is a book of stories. Jesus taught truth through story, through people's lives and experiences came meaning. Rob Bell has shown me that.
"Why do we do the things we do? Many people react to and are driven by these deep unspoken forces. They are strong and they dictate huge areas of our lives. And it is possible to be a good Christian and go to church services and sing the right songs and jump through the right hops and never let Jesus heal your soul". (p118)
Woh.... As a Pastor I know this to be true in my own life, as well as those I interact with.
The deep forces, things like abuse, insecurity, rejection. These are the things which bring forth legalism, phariseeism, bitterness, overt submission, persecution complex, addictions.
Christ has set us free, he wants us to live lives of hope, joy and strength. We cant if we wont let Him heal us.
A friend emailed me this devotion.
How am I going with the things that are really important, what am I building, and how am I building?
This is good.
A carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building industry and live a more leisurely life with his wife and his extended family. He would miss the regular income but he had decided to retire, they would manage.The boss was sorry to see such a good worker leave and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour.The carpenter said yes, but it soon became obvious that his heart wasn't in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and even used inferior materials. It seemed an unfortunate way to bow out of his career.When the house was finished the builder came to inspect the house, the boss handed the front door key to the old carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not always give the job our very best effort.Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are living in the house that we have built. If we had realised, we could have done it differently.Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past.Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
I love Christmas.
From the cranberry sauce over ham, to buying my wife and kids presents, I like it all!
Family is incredibly important to me, and this year we are looking forward to a Christmas time with a pool. I am teaching my son how to swim, and if enthusiasm is anything to go by, watch out Thorpie! He has the big feet, but has not yet developed all the muscles needed to stay afloat. This is a reminder of Christmas for me, hot days, warm salty skin, dives into a pool.
Waking up to presents under the tree, to give and to receive.
I think Jesus loves how we celebrate Christmas, because I think Jesus was always there for a party. We see and read him joking, drinking and laughing with His friends.
Sure not everything we see done in the name of Christmas is good, but if we spent as much time and energy on sharing Christ's love and the good things about Christmas, as we sometimes find ourselves spending on denouncing the excesses of it all, there would be a lot more Christians around the place!
We had a wonderful day today at Church, or at least that is my impression.
Jacob invited some friends from the Congo to come along, and they did a three part gospel harmony, both before church, and for the kids mid way through the service. We could not understand their words, but we could understand their hearts. Beautiful!
We had Anne Marie leading, its great to have a lady up front, and she often brings poetry and a different slant to worship, it was nice.
I spoke my final message on Elijah. There is so much to say about this depressed, fearful, courageous, strong, weak, powerful, frightened, prayerful, doubtful man. Surely James was right when he said, "Elijah was a man just like us". Used powerfully, yet weak doubtful and coomplaining in one moment, calling down fire from heaven the next! I contrasted the legacy Ahab left, and the one Elijah gave to Elisha. I could sure do with that cloak/mantle myself!!!
Followed the message up with two short videos, one on being a dad, the next on being a mum, "your children will rise up and call you blessed". Always difficult, especially when there are singles, seniors there, to make the application to us all. But whether we have kids or not, we influence others lives.
We all went to down to a park after church and had a good old church picnic, and Melinda organised some mini olympic type games. I came third in the frisbee throwing competition.
Off to NorthCity tonight to see my SIL do some dancing. Should be fun, might see if I can score a free coffee that they hand out to visitors, might even pretend I am a seeker!!!!!!!!
In another stunningly exciting off field development, the Freo boys have appointed Robert Shaw as the new football manager at the club.
Big bad Robert was the one who was SCATHING in his assessment of the teams on field toughness when Essenscum rolled us about 6 months ago.
The Sunday Slimes ran a story last week saying that the Weagles had made a blue picking up Harris instead of Shaw. Lets hope that the bastion of good journalism gets it right for once.
Apparently Shaw instilled some toughness to Essenscum when he was there. Lets hope he can produce the goods in our mob.
The Colonel, aka Cameron Schwab is credited with saying the following, "“Robert has experienced the highs and lows of AFL football, from Premiership success at the Essendon Football Club through to the challenge of coaching the ailing Fitzroy Football Club,” said Schwab.“For a man who has had over 30 years experience at this level he has amazing passion and positivity for the sport and offers outstanding knowledge and insight. “He will be of great support and value to our coaching, administration and playing staff,” remarked Schwab. (http://www.fremantlefc.com.au)
More good news on the Freo front with Robert 'the driller" Haddrill ready to go for next season.
His stability, mobility and durability were sorely missed last year in the backline.
Along with Parker, Grover and the suprise packet of Scotty Thornton, ours must surely be one of the quickest and most dynamic defence units running around. Throw in the evervescent Roger Hayden, and expect the new rule changes to favour us. I am especially thinking of the one about kick outs being able to be executed without waiting for the umpire. Last year we were first in the league for goals kicked from opposition points, so expect that trend to continue.
"without Christ you have a holiday. With Christ, you have a Holy Day"
We are really looking forward to Christmas Day in our Church. It is always a great way to start the Christmas day. I know a lot of Churches dont have a Christmas Day service, and thats cool. I wonder what they will do this year with Christmas being on a Sunday?
Anyways, for me, I love it, its always fun. If your looking for somewhere to kick the day off right, your welcome at Bedford Baptist Church
Well, here we are in Ballajura.
I have just gone through the last inspection, making sure everything works, and Melinda and I and the kids said our last good byes to our beautiful home in Ellenbrook.
Clem had a last feast on mulberries, and we all prayed and thanked God.
I have just got my internet connection back on line, and recieved a message saying my mailbox in 96% full.
This feels homely here, but not like home. we have a lot of stuff still in boxes, and wont unpack most of it. 5 months is not a long time. Cant wait to move into our real house.
Thanks for all your prayers.
We had the biggest crowd ever, the sausage sizzle people ran out of sauce, we served over 400 cups of cordial to thirsty kids,
The sound check was done in record time, the stage was stable,
everyone was excited.....
After two carols and one item, the rain come down, and it was too hard to ignore it!
This is Perth Australia for goodness sake, where has summer gone??
Ministry can sometimes be dissapointing, but that is the risk of leading. Last night all the fantastic and joyful people from my church led well.
They felt the joy, and maybe dissapointment of ministry.
Don't stress, God knows best!!!
I thought we all showed grace, patience and joy in the midst of some trying circumstances.
And I think it was a wonderful witness to the people watching,
SO WELL DONE!!
And roll on next years carols.
I am a Pizza lover. In a former life I used to manage a Dial a Dino's (remember them, bought out by Dominoes).
At home, most Thursdays, I make the family Pizza. Not any old pizza with a store bought base. I make the lot from scratch. I make the dough, I proof it, I roll it out to size, depending on how thick I want it. Then I crush fresh tomatoes and herbs. My local deli supplies me with some Italian sausage and bacon, which I cook in the fry pan before putting on the pizza. The cheese I use is some good Mozarella.
My wife bought me a pizza stone, which is a round device you put in the oven to heat up, then cook your pizza on it. This gets properly floured and the pizza comes out looking better, and tasting much better than any cheap Dominos one.
Today I blew it. I went to Coles and in a fit of madness bought a Mc Cains frozen pizza on special. I ate it, and now I feel so dissapointed.
How can a mass produced product like that compete with my home 'built with love' special, it cant.
Now the Mc Cain special is sitting in my stomach, like some conjealed mess.
Preparing for my message in two weeks time on leaving a legacy. I am exploring the life of Elijah and how lessons from his life help us to be overcomers.
I am particularly interested in how he left a legacy with Elisha to carry on the good work. It goes to the heart of something I am passionate about, the legacy we leave our kids. And I am not talking about finances, although that may be part of it. I am talking about what we will impart to them, what our lives will say to them. How who we are as people will give them strength, and help them lead fulfilling lives.
Looking through some multi media resources I have just found a great mini presentation on what it means to be a father, excellent! I love it when a plac comes together.
Hi to all my fellow bloggers and readers.
Your all welcome to the carols in the park my church is running.
I'm compering, so come and say hello!
Windy and a bit rainy, perfect day for packing some boxes. Yeh right, perfect day for a spot of tennis or reading the West with a large Latte and a cheese sausage from the local deli.
Unfortunately it is the former I am doing today, not the latter.
Wonder if Abraham had this many boxes to pack?
Recently a popular and well written Christian magazine, Charisma, published an article on article about a pastor called Clarence McClendon. Apparently the good pastor , "announced from the pulpit that he had uncovered a “new revelation” in the Bible. His discovery: That a church leader can have more than one wife'. The writer of the article went on and stated, "Hopefully, you and everyone in the building would run, not walk, out of that church and never come back until the pastor had been replaced. But I am afraid too many of us gullible charismatics might stay in the pews—and eventually give the guy a standing ovation plus a $10,000 love offering".
Well yes, hopefully we would run out. Have a look at the picture I have included. Isn't it amazing how holy and worshipful this guy looks? I dont say this to be judgemental. In fact Clarence may well have started out as a humble honest preacher, looking to do the right thing. Somewhere along the line though things got messed up. Maybe the enemy got to him, maybe his own addictions got to him, maybe he got lazy. I remember a story in the bible about a wonderful leader and king who did something pretty stupid and comparable to Clarence.
This story reminds me, there go I, but by the grace of God. Lord, keep me humble, keep me faithful, keep me in love with you.
I have been contemplating my own post, after a couple of anonymous (to the public, not to me) people commented on it.
I do not believe we can always see where God is moving, and go there, as Henry Blackeby may lead us to think. (I am not putting words in Blackeby's mouth, he may lead you to think that, he may not). Sometimes, as a good friend suggested to me this week, we need to go and do something, and hope God turns up! (Or something like that). In other words the whole 'is it God, or is it us' never ending paradox. Naturally I lean towards pragmatism, give it a go ya mug!
Sometimes we just have to try something, and if it does not work, well thats life. In fact I preached on this, and am touching on it again at Inglewood Church of Christ this week. "In taking those first few tentative steps, Abraham was moving to a whole new place in his relationship with God. In stepping out Abraham drew nearer to God. His relationship grew deeper. They moved, even though they didn’t know where it would lead, because of the strength of trust in our relationship".
"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see"
and this,
" It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going." (Hebrews 11 NLT)
What I was trying to say in my first post was that we need to be careful that when God has done something marvellous in our midst, that we don't become satisfied or even complacent with that. God wants us to continue to grow in our faith, our love for Him, dare I say, the fruit that we bear in His Name and for His Kingdom's sake.
I found something else I love doing. Creating images, slide shows, mini movies for church.
The more I get into it, the more excited I am about the possibilities, not just for my church, but also on a wider scale.
Its amazing to think what you can do now with a fairly standard home PC and a digital video camera. The incredible memory storage available has now meant that you can do far more at home than what was even possible in a studio a few years back. I remember my Media Class at Scarbrough High School. A few mates and I did up a 'vox pop' video. We also filmed a short movie about a reporter who witnesses a plane crash, complete with my toy plane getting doused in petrol and set alight.
Another friend and I filmed a very amateur music video.
It was so exciting when our school hired, from the education department, a mini studio for the day and we were able to put credits on top of our vision. Amazing stuff, which I can do now at home.
But as to ministry, someone once said, "Vegas has nothing to say, and says it brilliantly, the Church has the most important message in the world, and says it terribly".
And its not just large churches that need to do this sort of thing. At Bedford we are hardly a large or well resourced church, but we have done some great things in our services with multi media.
People watch hours of TV each week. We can either see this as a problem, or as an opportunity. This sort of thing does not have to be restricted to a church service either. For all you EC guys out there, have your gathering around a latte, then stick on a Rob Bell DVD, or even better, something you produced yourself.
Malcolm Rule at Encounter Church in Wangara uses multi media extensively. Its not a big church, and they dont have any operating live musicians yet. So rather than get bogged down with that, they use an awesome system of DVD's with music and moving backgrounds, and some live singers. Malcolm also uses a lot of clips, sermon vignettes and other compelling stuff. In fact it is again, your classic of turning a problem into an opportunity.
There is a heap of free stuff out there, if you want to know about some resources, send me an email.
Last year 15 clubs were bitterly dissapointed, none more so than the serial chokers, our fine feathered friends from down the road.
However its almost a new year, and the season is 122 days away. Hope is high with new assistant coach Mark Harvey and some great young players as well.
Peter Bell and Heath Black are talking up our chances.
I have just sent off my renewal papers for mine and Melinda's membership.
Membership buys privileged seating, a few stickers for the back of the Suzuki and a couple of badges for my Freo Hat.
If someone wants to argue that their team is better, my first question is, are you a member? If they are not a paid up member, their just a clanging gong. Membership shows real commitment and passion to the team. Funny, I only know one paid up West Coast Member, but I know a lot of gongs!!!!!!
Really enjoying Church and ministry at the moment.
I dont think I have ever been this happy with how things are going ever before.
Sure we have issues as do others. But God is really doing some amazing stuff in our midst at the moment.
I am really thankful to Him for His Breath upon us all.
Particular encouraging to be in a Church where people are coming to know God, and it seems like every second person is visiting or only been there for a short time.
As well the people who have been there for a while are really stepping up to the mark and getting more involved.
God is good and wants the best for us.
Ruach is the Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit. It means breath of God. It brings to our minds the idea of a rushing wind, or a gentle breeze, movement, refreshment, change. After a great Sunday last week, one that may not be topped for a while, I have been meditating on who God's Spirit is, and perhaps more importantly how He Acts.
The point is He acts like a breeze, He comes, cools us, refreshes us, and then He might move on. We get tempted to stay where we are, as though He is going to be there always. He's not. He is a Spirit, Ruach, the breath of God, and He has moved on.
If God has done something wonderful, miraculous even, enjoy that, dwell on that for a while, but then its time to move on. God at His heart is a Creator, a Creative Maker. Move on to what He is doing next, dont stay where He has worked for too long, because He is looking for the next miracle to perform.
Almost finished the book, here is one more thought provoking gems,
"Ultimately our gift around us (as Christians) is hope. Not blind hope that pretends everything is fine and refuses to acknowledge how things are. But the kind of hope that comes from stairing pain and suffering right in the eyes and refusing to believe this is all there is".
Almost finished the "Velvet Elvis" a book from Rob Bell.
It is a challenging, interesting and thoughtful book.
Here are two quotes so far...
"Perhaps we should replace the word missionary with tour guide, because we cannot show people something we haven't seen".
"Some people actually believe that God is absent from a place until you get there. The problem with this idea is that if God is not there before you get there, there is no there".
I think there is enough to keep my small brain going for a long time on those two statements alone.
He also challenges the need for a five year plan etc. Basically outlining how his church grew overnight, despite their lack of Church Growth principles. Look, that can happen. And I don't want to make up any reasons why it happened at Mars Hill and could not happen at Bedford. What I will say is that Rob Bell is the best, without peer, preacher I have ever heard. And I have not heard him preach live, not even a video, unless you include the Nooma Videos. I have just listened via the web. I think a lot of the growth for the church may have come through that, which is an unusual way actually for church to grow.
Not all of us have that experience, and I feel God has given me a dream, a vision. So when I speak of a five year plan, I am talking of that. Not a set in stone business plan which cannot be divereted from, changed and grown organically.
I am loving this book, maybe because he is saying stuff I have been thinking for years. Its probably aimed at pastors, and anyone who wants to be challenged in their thinking.
The Edwards family are on the move. We leave our house in about a month, bound for a rental a friend is graciously renting to us.
But then....around April..... we move into the house we have bought! About 2 stones throws from the church, but more importantly right in our mission field.
We signed the deal last night, sans a real estate agent. Just sat around the persons dinner table and thrashed it out. Very nice people, and somehow much more real to negotiate that way.
Melinda is thrilled, and the kids love the park just down the road.
What is really significant to me is that people we are reaching out to, live four houses down, and others live on the same street as well. Backyard Missionaries indeed!
Emotionally and physically and especially spiritually drained.
Three incredible baptisms and a dedication today at church.
Church was packed to the rafters, with extra seats brought in at the back and on the sides.
I reckon there were about 35-40 visitors, most of them non-church attenders.
One lady getting baptised asked her sons principal and teacher to come, and they came!
People new to knowing Jesus are the best at attracting non Church people.
People were crying through out most of the service, including me, as the Holy Spirit worked some miracles.
Eliot and the crew did a great job with the music, and were very flexible. Our drummer and bass player worked really well together too.
We showed a MPEG of a mini movie. Very esoteric and almost mystical as it explored a husband and wife seperated by her faith. Particularly relevant this morning. It really made you think, it was not corny or overtly American, or simplistic.
The testimonies of all three people brought tears to my eyes, and baptising them was probably the most joyous thing I have been involved in for a long time.
I gave a fairly confronting message with an altar call, not something I do very often at all.
While there was no visible response, afterwards I had some deep conversations with a few people who dont normally come to church. God is at work, and its amazing seeing what He is doing.
I have only had two hours sleep, and tonight we are going to very likely buy a house. God has been good in that area too, but thats another blog.
Recently received (i before e, except after c) an email from my good mate Wayne who is the pastor at Australind Baptist Church. He sends out a periodic news email to his congregation and friends of the church. Very good communication, and keeps the vision and culture of the church at the forefront.
What a challenge Wayne has been to me, and an exhortation. Some pastors seem to have been able to quickly grasp the necessary principles and be professional in their approach to ministry. With the Church that he is now leading, and with the ministries they are involved in, they are fighting well out of their weight division. There is no 'fat' in their budget or in their other resources, yet they are having a wonderful impact on their community. Google in "Australind Baptist Church" and you will find references to their church all over community websites, because they are out in the community doing a great job.
Thanks to all who have been praying.
We have reached verbal agreement with the owners of a house we have been interested in. At this stage we will be renting a house off friends until we move in. Possibly in January or February.
The house has a magnificent kitchen. For the gourmet cook in the family, and for the happy recipients of such food, this is good news. For those of you lucky enough to score an invite to our place for dinner, you will be blessed as well.
We are really pleased. There are a lot of hurdles to cross, and also some other stresses in our lives to deal with, but we are praising God, for good friends who prayed, for a good God, who gives us better than what we deserve.
(If anyone can guess why I have included the picture I have, then you get a smiley!
Sounds like a great title for a movie, wonder if Hugh is free?
Looking forward to an exciting Sunday.
Also going to be launching a 3 week series on OVERCOMERS.
This will be focused on Elijah, a man who overcame depression, experienced inner strength and leaving a legacy.
Spoke on thankfulness and contentment yesterday at Church.
Response was overwhelming actually. Its amazing how the messages you think are good, are the ones that people come up to you and say how much God touched them, and the ones you think are fantastic, sometimes dont garner as much response.
I want to be a speaker who does not bore people. I think if you bore people as a speaker presenting Gods message, that is sinful. How can you do that? My technique if you like is to really only have one thing to say. I used to be a three point man, many years ago. Thats a bit of a waste of time for me now. I dont think I am really there to impart information or teaching, but to inspire.
Secondly I want to be a speaker who sees the Holy Spirit at work. So I need to bathe everything in prayers of dependence, and have a team of people praying for me (thanks Friday night crew!).
Thirdly I would love to see people changed.
It is for a good reason that God said, on the seventh day you shall have rest. Interesting. For me Sunday is the day when people come to be re-centred. To rediscover what life is all about. The other 6 days seem to try to tell us otherwise, but Sunday is when we be still and know He is God, praise and experience His joy, cry and experience his grace, love and experience His fellowship.
Most of all I want to see people come to know and love Jesus. God help me to see that happen!
If you were not there yesterday, I reckon this sums it up for me, "People come to celebrate with God in a hundred different ways, in a thousand different ways. Sometimes we jump up and down and sing, sometimes we find ourselves on top of a mountain, sometimes we find ourselves with a small group of people praying, sometimes we are sitting having a cup of coffee, reading the paper, listening to our kids play outside, and we are struck by how good it is to know God, and be known by Him. Its not a place, its not even a specific activity, it is knowing Gods presence is with you." (Pastor Mark Edwards - no one else will probably ever quote me, so I might as well quote myself)
A friend emailed me a story from the Guardian online by a thoughtful writer called Roy Hattersley. In it he says this,
We atheists have to accept that most believers are better human beings
Notable by their absence are teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers' clubs and atheists' associations - the sort of people who not only scoff at religion's intellectual absurdity but also regard it as a positive force for evil.
Civilised people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags and - probably most difficult of all - argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment. Good works, John Wesley insisted, are no guarantee of a place in heaven. But they are most likely to be performed by people who believe that heaven exists.
I've had my New Living Translation since my accreditation with the Baptist Union. They asked us to select a Bible they would then give us as a gift.
I love my NLT. It brings a freshness to my devotional times. I remember growing up with the unstated commandment being, you must read the KJV. Then the NIV became the standard for all the trendy churches. But the New Living Translation is such a joy to read. I read somewhere it is designed for public reading and application.
Here's something you will know, but this translation brings a freshness to it,
1Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.3 He renews my strength.He guides me along right paths,bringing honor to his name.
10That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guests, along with his fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. 11The Pharisees were indignant. "Why does your teacher eat with such scum?" they asked his disciples. 12When he heard this, Jesus replied, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do."Matt 9 NLT
Recently I discovered that a mega church, a true one, not Hamos work, was flogging off for the measly price of $200 US what was basically a DVD of one of their services.
I have to admit, this makes me filthy mad.
Are we in the money making business, or the soul winning business?
Its time that bigger churches realised they dont have to sell everything they do. Maybe they could pass on some of the blessing they have recieved from God to bless some other smaller churches. In fact I have found the most generous churches are those without a lot. One big northern Church was asked by one of my mates if they could use some of their multi media stuff. No was the reply, but we will be selling it soon, at some ridiculous price.
Sell it for cost price, for what it cost to burn the dvd or cd.
This is good stewardship. Good stewardship is not taking off the small bloke the one lamb he has, to make your huge flock bigger.
Rant over, resume normal nice guy transmision
Melinda and I are convinced of God's calling to be in the area of our mission field. A stack of people who come to our church do not come from the Bedford Inglewood Dianella Mnt Lawley area. Thats ok! These people are great supporters and we need them all. We have people who come to our church from Heathridge! People will make the sacrifice if they are finding a great place to minister, and be ministered too. In fact is some ways these folk are making a great missionary sacrifice in being involved in a mission work, that is not on their door step. So I am really grateful to God for them all.
But as leaders we feel we need to be in amongst our mission field. God has led, we have sold our house in 13 days and for a good price. Now we need Him to guide us to a house that can house our family, be in the area of a school for Clem to attend and not cause us to go into financial hardship. We both wont to be able to concentrate on mission, not worry about finances, and getting cash, all the time.
Pray for us!
A great sunday, with a number of visitors and friends who came along. My wife, who is the Ministry Team Leader for Children, worked out we had to buy 47 books for all the kids and babies in our church. Thats fantastic. We also gave out a few extras to some visiting kids.
What was most encouraging was the breathroughs we made in what we did. There was no formal message, just a few devotional thoughts centred around some party games. For instance we played pass the parcel with the whole church. As each person unwrapped the 'present' they found a letter inside. When they were all assembled up front it spelt out 'at God's party' "everyone's invited", complete with apostrophe of owndership in the right place. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully the brief and clear point, that knowing God is fantastic, and we want everyone to feel welcome, was made.
I should be a sub editor at the West with a byline like that.
But I am glad I dont live in the good old US with Pastors like there two as contemporaries.
Exhibit one
First Congregational Church has been on Main Street in the middle of the town of Ripon for almost 90 years. But what no one in the congregation knew was that the church had been sold for $500,000, and more than $450,000 was sent to a fraudulent bank account, according to authorities.MSNBC Story
The Rev. Randy Radic was arrested and faces charges of embezzlement and forgery.
"He was pastor there for 10 years. He gained their trust. They said he was a good pastor. They got a lot out of his sermons. And it was just a complete shock," said Ripon Police Department spokesman Danny Sauer
Today the 78-year-old pastor faces what could be the most difficult test of his career. A former parishioner, Mona Brewer, has alleged in a lawsuit filed in August that Paulk forced her to have sex with him and others—including visiting charismatic preachersCharisma Online
Well we have sold our house. It took 13 days, and we got a pretty good price for it, at least we think so.
Two good friends of ours have offered us a house to rent for a while, but now we are cashed up we hope to find something to move into closer or actually right in our mission field. We feel like Abraham, having left Ur, we are heading off to a place He WILL show us. Trust, faith hope and a sincere sense of conviction. Thats why God is good. Not because He makes the circumstances secure, but because He makes us feel secure despite the circumstances. We believe that He has done, and is continuing to do something awesome in our Community, through our Church. This is why we are moving.
God is good, and has been good to us. In feels somewhat strange, because we really do think we are moving for His Kingdom sake. But we are grateful, really thankful.
Just as I got this good news, I got some sad news from another good friend. Hoping she finds what she needs pretty soon, God will provide!
Can I just be indulged with a reccomendation? If you need a great, honest hard working real estate agent, you could do far worse than use the one we used. If you want to know his name and details, send me an email.
ps. if you need a garage door company, and dont mind waiting a long time to get what you asked for, so God can teach you patience and restraint, then I can reccomend one of those too!
Church is going to be a party this Sunday AM, with God being the Guest of Honour. It is our KFC Celebration service, or in old Baptist speak, our Sunday School Anniversary. God's Party
Michael Bullard gave me an excellent script for this service, and I am really grateful. Mike has helped me out in the past with some creative ideas for themes and services.
The idea is that we will basically play some party games with the kids and the people that turn up. These games will have a point. If you are coming on Sunday, you are going to have to wait to find out what we are doing, but there is every chance there might be chocolate, musical chairs and sausages involved!
Today I have spent some of my time planning kids games, should be fun.
Today, along with some other things, I had a meeting with the Choco's about our annual Pastors Conference. I enjoy working with these guys.
This year, at our conference just gone, we had as our speaker Terry Walling. He was fantastic. His style of teaching involved a lot of group work, sharing with others. Very EC of him, and I really enjoyed it. There was a general consensus that for such an occaision, being the first time Bapos and Chocos met together or the annual Pastors conference, he really helped us network and grow together.
Another interesting point he made was the priority of his cafe outreach over day to day church activities. His church runs a cafe. Actually he would say the cafe owned by the church, happens to have a church attached. A seemingly subtle change, but it confronts who is served first. As Borden and Walling would say, the non churched gets served first. Or as I would say, "the church is not for you, you are the church. The Church is for the unchurched".
It made me wonder about NCD and their emphasis on the 8 signs of a healthy church. While I like these, it seems to me the problem is that evangelism, mission, reaching out, call it whatever you like, is far too important to just include with seven other attributes. Even Warrens 5 purposes suffer a little from this. If seeing people come to Christ is not THE Key Performance Indicator in our church, then I think we have a problem. Now some will come back and say, if your church is healthy it will be seeing people come to Christ. True, but if your church does not have mission as its first priority, I dont think its healthy.
Went to a thoughtprovoking and inspiring mini conference today with Scott Pilgrim from Crossover Aust. and Kevin Keegan from Dural Baptist Church in Sydney. They spoke of the challenges facing Pastors trying to move congregations from maitenance mode to mission mode.
Scott also entered into the 'attractional vs incarnational' debate. What he had to say was informed and interesting. Scott stated this, "Missional churches are incarnational by nature… and yet authentically attractional in building faith community." In other words it is not one or the other, but both. As I interact with some from the emerging church context, it seems to me that really we are talking about what we are doing, rather than why. And this to me seems to be a question of balance. I like what Scott was saying, we need to be incarnational, and our programs and services need to be attractive.
Melinda and I are in the throes of maintaining our house in showroom condition as we try to sell it. It has been 7 days that it has been on the market. We are selling because we feel like missionaries going into the area God has called us to minister too.
One of the stresses we have had has been over our garage door. The door has been fitted, but when it was, they did not fit the roses into the little windows like we ordered. After numerous phone calls, not all of them very nice, we have finally had the roses fitted. Its only a little touch, but they do look nice. Life is never easy, and when people just dont really care about service, it makes life difficult. Now I wont tell you which company fitted our door. But what I will say is that you should never buy products endorsed by former West Coast Eagles players, you may find the same hassles we have!
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