"the club has broken the 39,000-member mark on Monday before a ball has been kicked in anger in 2007". Schwab: "Our new membership level represents an increase in our membership of over 9 per cent on our record 35,666 members set in 2006."

No one can accuse me of being a bandwagon hopper. I thought this moment might come. Memberships and good seats are going to get harder and harder to come by.

Good luck trying to get a seat to see either of the WA teams this year.

Dealt with issues of faith this week. Tough sermon to write, spent a lot of time on it, trying to be concise, while also be comprehensive. Deliberatly asked and raised more questions than what I gave answers for. The whole point of this series has been that I want people to be vulnerable, be open. So to give pat answers is not going to help that.
Showed a good clip which dealt with issues of faith and a guy did not know how to pray for his sick friend.

Doubt vs faith, a battle we are stuck with this side of eternity. To try to pretend otherwise is ludicrous. But yet......


There are times The Holy Spirit breaks through in marvellous and suprising ways. Sermon will be online tommorow if you are interested.

“Imagine God in Heaven surrounded by the choirs of adoring angels singing hosannas unendingly… “If I create a perfect world, I know how it will turn out. In its absolute perfection, it will revolve like a perfect machine, never deviating from My absolute will.” Since God’s imagination is perfect, there is no need for Him to create such a universe: it is enough for Him to imagine it to see it in all its details. Such a universe would not be very interesting to man or God, so we can assume that God continued His meditations. “But what if I create a universe that is free, free even of me? What if I veil My Divinity so that the creatures are free to pursue their individual lives without being overwhelmed by My overpowering Presence? Will the creature love Me? Can I be loved by creatures whom I have not programmed to adore me forever? Can love arise out of freedom? My angels love me unceasingly, but they can see Me at all times. What if I create beings in My own image as a Creator, beings who are free? But if I introduce freedom into this universe, I take the risk of introducing Evil into it as well, for if they are free, they are free to deviate from My will. Hmmm. But what if I continue to interact with this dynamic universe, what if I and the creatures become the creators together of a great cosmic play? What if out of every occasion of evil, I respond with an unimaginable good, a good that overwhelms evil by springing out of the very attempts of evil to deny the Good? Will these new creatures of freedom then love Me, will they join with Me in creating Good out of Evil, novelty out of freedom? What if I join with them in the world of limitation and form, the world of suffering and evil? Ahh. In a truly free universe, even if I do not know how it will turn out. Do even I dare to take that risk for love?”” – William Irwin Thompson.

Fremantle have been installed on the second line of betting, at $7.50 to win the 2007 AFL Premiership. At this time last year they were installed at $18 and finished 2006 in third spot.


If you have some money to WASTE, I suggest you have a look at the Saints $9, or the Cats at $13.

Here is part two of my four part series on being unmasked.

Here I deal with the idea that we often feel we are not good enough for God, and this keeps us away from Church, from our Christian friends, from sharing Christ and from being all we can be, in God.

You can click play and listen online, or download it by right clicking link or go to file hosting site by clicking on the link

Phil Baker Pastor Riverview Church
Stanley Tucci Actor (American Sweethearts, The Terminal, The Devil wears Prada etc)

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”- Aristotle
ht lowercase

I dont want to be close minded, I want to grow, experience more of God,
I cannot accept that there is not more of God, of experiencing His grace and presence in a more tangible way.

Last night I had a really interesting discussion about the "presence of God"
God is always with us, His presence is here, with me,
right now, always.

BUT

I dont always sense Him there
I dont always see His Hand
He is the Ruach, the breath, the Pneuma of God, He comes and goes as He pleases.

I want to learn more, and listen more, from those who have experienced God in ways I have not.

An Eagle supporter, a Collingwood supporter and a Dockers supporter
were arrested in a small Arabian state when they were caught piddling on a religious building after an all night drinking binge.

The trio have to face up to the local sultan and are dished out the typical punishment for Religious desecration - 20 lashes of the whip to the back.
But the Sultan was a big football fan so he kindly granted them two wishes each – but they were not allowed to reduce the number of lashes or the type of punishment. The Eagle supporter says "Well we are on top of the ladder so I go first. I want the pleasure of a beer and a pillow." The Sultan grants his wishes. With a wide grin the Eagle supporter drinks his beer and binds the pillow to his naked back. But after 10 lashes the pillow falls apart and he has to painfully endure the remaining 10 lashes which leave deep welt marks on his back.

The Collingwood supporter saw all this and spends a few minutes thinking before, smiling. "I would like to have two pillows for my back". The Sultan thinks about the uniqueness of the wishes but decides to grant it given he has used up his two wishes in one go. However after 15 lashes of the whip both pillows have fallen apart and the Collingwood supporter has to painfully endure the remaining 5 lashes which leave deep welt marks on his back.

The Dockers supporter is grinning from ear to ear and mutters something under his breath about a bulldust penalty. "Ok my first wish is to double the number of lashes to 40."There is stunned silence in the hall. The Eagle, Collingwood supporter and Sultan are a little surprised at the first wish but then remember the strong fighting performance the Dockers have been putting up during the 2006 season.

The Eagle and Collingwood supporter look at each other and nod in admiration - obviously this Docker supporter wants to show how tough he is. The Sultan asks the Docker supporter for his second wish.

"Tie the Eagle supporter to my back" he replies.

HT Dockerland

Reality is...... praying sometimes bores me.
Ever felt like that?

Here is a message I gave on Sunday Morning about that, and about spiritual warfare, discovering who you are, being authentic in your prayers according to how God has made you.

We had a great Sunday today.
Church was packed, and it was exciting,
The worship team played at just the right level, and the Worship Leader led with sensitivity.
In my view worship time at Church is best when the church get into it, sing loudly, laugh, enjoy, pray together. Today there was a real sense of oneness and unity, it was quite profound.
I started my new series on Unmasked, talking about prayer, and how, if we are frank, it bores us sometimes.
I ended with an awe inspiring quote from Watchmen Nee, The righteous man. Woh, God's Spirit moved.

Then.........

We had our special members meeting.
Almost unanimous vote on the next stage of our relocation. Incredible sense that God is with us, as much as we are stepping out as the original founders of Bedford Baptist Church did, as pioneers. wow. wow. wow.

Story

Sort of reminds me of that old bumper sticker, "Jesus loves you, everyone else can't stand you"