Off to see the Da Vinci Code tonight. See what all the fuss is about.
On Sunday I am speaking on the Code. But not to be cool, or reach cool people (St Gaz)
Rather because I want to speak on something I dont often do. Where the Bible does actually come from. Some foundational stuff. Most of what I speak on is the positive change knowing Jesus has upon our day to day lives, how Christianity is relevant and makes a positive difference. So this is a stretch for me, out of my normal operating zone.
I am no apologist, but will be dealing with some apologist information this Sunday. It wont be boring, that to me is a great sin, to bore people when we should be inspired. But I hope to capture the essence of what the truth is, rather than give an indepth critique on either the book or movie.

Thank goodness I have sourced some really good multi media to use. Josh Mc Dowell has some stuff, which I will use, as well as some good graphics and music.

Its not easy to see how a Sunday Morning could get busier for a Pastor, but the one just gone was pretty full on.

I managed to secure a full page colour photo of my good self sitting amongst the pews which were for sale from our church. I got this ad for free as part of the unique items promo the Sunday Times Readers Mart puts on.

We are selling them because our Kids Program Toddler Jam has grown and grown and grown. We are now running it three days a week, and the third day has grown by a third in two weeks.
There may be a time soon when we need to put on another staff member to make it go five days a week, and expand into other children's ministries.
All this growth has meant we need more space, and the pews take up too much room. So we have put on order 180 new stackable seats.

The phone started ringing at 10pm on Saturday Night, and is still ringing now, on Monday morning. I dont think its because we sold them too cheaply, we actually doubled the price we were going to sell them for when another church sold theirs in a day for $150 each. And theirs were more ornate than ours.
They were all sold by 1.30pm on Sunday, which meant I was selling them, instead of having soup with the rest of the church.

Yesterday was a great Sunday. I heartily recomend Andy Court to anyone that is interested in getting an artist in to do some ministry, he and his wife Sharon were great and adapted their style to suit our church. We had a coffee shop format with cakes and coffee half way through the service, once the kids had gone out. It was great, natural, and it was wonderful to see the people, including a number of visitors, mixing well.

There's not a lot good to be said about Freo today,
Medhurst was probably our best contributor, trying all day.
The rest of them could have put on Brisbane Jumpers and been just as effective.

sigh, sigh, sigh

I was not planning to do anything on the Da Vinci Code, but have relented.
Not this Sunday but next, I am going to talk about it.
I am no apologist, and normally stay away from such things, but this one needs to be talked about. My plan is to address three issues raised by the book. I have no intention of critiquing the book, others have done a far better job of that than I could ever do. Rather I want to talk about what I think may be interesting to some poeple. Where does that Bible come from, what is the deal with the apocrypha and who was Mary Magdelene?

Spurgeon is known as the Prince of Preachers. Someone revered in Baptist circles for his 'earthy' and good humoured preaching. A man who inspired, and continues to inspire, many Christians and Pastors. He was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. Just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became a pastor of a well known London Church. The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.

However did you know that Mr. Spurgeon now and again enjoyed a cigar. In fact in reply to a man who could not believe a preacher would smoke, he said "I cultivate my flowers and burn my weeds."

Here is another humorous story from his life.

"At the close of his useful sermon the minister introduced an American clergyman who, he said, was anxious to address a few words to the congregation. This reverend gentleman 'improved the opportunity' by inveighing fiercely against the sin of smoking tobacco, especially in the form of cigars, and told his hearers how he had struggled and fought against the pernicious habit, and how at last, by the blessing and with the assistance of Providence, he had conquered his addiction to the weed."Then uprose Mr. Spurgeon and, with quiet humour, remarked that he would not allow the congregation to separate without telling them that he did not consider smoking to be a sin, and that, by the grace of God, he hoped to enjoy a good cigar before going to bed that night."

Link

Josh 'bogan' Carr has moved to the top of the well respected Herald Sun Footy Player of the year count.

This has been his best year for Freo, and maybe his best year yet. Goes to show what getting to know your teamates, and your place within the team will do for you.
Watching him towel up, and annoy Brown during Port's premiership win, you can see the fella fights out of his weight range, and on that particular day took home the points.

He is the sort of player that opposition fans grow to dislike, and Freo fans are quickly warming too. Put it this way, when he is harassing, haranging, annoying, insulting, scragging and outscoring the player he is meant to be tagging, you are glad he is on your side.

No problem!
The Crossing Community Church is giving away $10 fuel vouchers to first time attendees.

The congregation saw an influx of new members when it opened, but things have stalled a bit since then. On popular church days like Christmas and Mother's Day, they get about 100. This free petrol campaign is their latest attempt to recruit.
The Creative Arts Pastor is quoted as saying, "We'll pay your gas to get you here. Our guarantee is that our service will be the best hour of your week," Poole said.
The campaign's details are online at http://www.freegastochurch.com./ Poole and Harper (Lead Pastor) have mailed 40,000 fliers to area homeowners and even come up with a slogan, "Sorry, we just ruined a perfectly good excuse!" (for not showing up to church).Poole said he has seen results. Last week, 14 new visitors attended the Sunday service. He expects a couple dozen more this Sunday.

This is from the 'marketing' section of their website,
"At The Crossing, we will create a brand; that will become easily identifiable in our sphere of influence. We intended to design a brand identity that will call to mind many things such as a relaxed atmosphere, an unhurried pace, family friendly attitudes and activities, male-oriented themes and scripturally based/culturally relevant messages. All with an orientation towards missions.
We desire to be the first “Brand” of church that comes to a non-attender’s mind when thinking of or looking for a church. We purpose to have all our advertising, marketing, buildings, ministries, and activities easily identifiable as being part of the ministry of The Crossing.
It is astonishing to me the lengths secular corporations will go in order to market relatively insignificant products like deodorant or nail polish. It is equally astonishing to me that while the church has the most important, most compelling message ever – Jesus Christ and His atoning work – that we have done so little to “market” His message. We need to get that message out using every means possible so that every life possible may be positively changed forever. Therefore we advertise The Crossing through many different avenues."

My comment? Interesting stuff.

Saint Gaz has a discussion about church and business. Rather than hijack the thread I thought I might post some of my own thoughts here.

One statement he quotes is from Barna,
"As corporate models have flourished in ministry the church in North America has lost ground both quantitatively and qualitatively"

In 2004 I visited many of the church in the North West of America and saw flourishing churches, both "quantitatively and qualitatively". In fact these churches were seeing their communities changed, and their own sense of spirituality revitalised after decades of spiritual apathy. Both I and the Pastors I travelled with believed we were seeing a quiet revival going on in churches that had got sick of coming up with more spiritual platitudes to justify decline. These were real churches, and real people both becoming Christians and having their spiritual purpose defined in more healthy models. Everyone defines reality from their own experience. I am drawing on my own experience at speaking with and witnessing these things going on, and not just in one type of church, but in churches from a Willow Creek Model to a social justice and welfare model. The common denominator was a change in organisational structure. One best defined by me with the word 'purposeful'.

Within Baptist Churches in WA, as far as I can tell, the old model of church governance was based on mistrust. The stories I heard about, even as a child growing up in a Baptist Church, were embarassing. Embarassing because Christians should not treat one another, or anyone, with such disrespect and mistrust. Those who were appointed as leaders were not allowed to lead, but were the first to cop it in the kneck when things went 'pear shaped'. The Model that Paul Borden has introduced into WA Baptist Churches is based on trust and is in my view much more biblical and allows for spiritual freedom. I have seen it work in my own church. Last year we had more people become Christians than in my first 11 years of ministry there. We also saw some apathetic and controlling Christians leave, which was sad. Either way, adopting a more "business like" approach has forced us to be more serious about what is the most important job in the world, leading people to Christ, and helping people develop deeper spirituality.

The model of being purposeful and expecting people to perform (or bear fruit if you want to use spiritual language) has much more integrity than what I have seen demonstrated in churches in the past. Where we are all just nice to each other, even when people are just being sinful and lazy.

I don't know how you overcome spiritual apathy without some sense of accountability. I certainly see that in Jesus's ministry. In fact many contemporary business principles appear to have their origins in Biblical stories, or at the very least have some parallels.

If what we are on about is the most important aspect of our lives, if our mission really is a priority, then I think it would be plain foolish to ignore structures, strategies, KPI's.
I believe God will hold me accountable when my time comes, and somehow there needs to be a parallel in this life for us as a church.

With all I have said above goes a deep commitment to prayer. Without a healthy reliance upon the power of the Holy Spirit, and His power to change lives, nothing will happen. But this does not excuse us of our role and obedience, or deny the reality that some leaders are more skillful than others.

In reference to some commentators who do not like the excesses they see within some denominations where the Pastor is an autocrat and there is no accountability, neither do I.
In the model I advocate, the person most accountable and responsible is the Senior Pastor. He/she must come up with a yearly strategy with goals included. This must be distributed to all the members, who themself are accountable to the Pastor to help. If the goals and strategies are not achieved, everyone will know about it, and there needs to be accountability. In other words the Pastor is held accountable.
Also if the goals and strategies are achieved, there should be rejoicing over that.
This system requires mutual accountability. The pastor is responsible to the right people, but also has the authority he/she needs in order to be creative and free to see the goals achieved.

In all our discussion of these things I think there is much confusion and misunderstanding on both sides.

All heart, all courage, all spirit. Number Eight.
Shaun is to have testimonal luncheon held in his honour on Sunday 18th at the Burswood Ballrooom, hopefully after we smash the Geelong Cats at Subi the day before.
Shaun is the heart and soul of the club.
Who can forget him fronting up to press conference after press conference in the dark dim "Drum" years?
Who can forget his courage in backing into a running Wiirapanda, taking the mark, and then getting up and kicking the goal?
Who can forget the game this photo was taken from? When we kicked a massive winning score over the Bulldogs, with Shaun Best on Ground by far?
He will never be forgotten in the history of the FFC. A true icon.
Shaun intends to play on in 2007, and I hope he does.

Our church is selling our pews, and you are very welcome to buy one!
I shared with our people on Sunday that the reason we are selling them is not for our own comfort's sake. In fact our pews are comfortable. The problem we are having is that Toddler Jam (Our community program for toddlers) is growing so quickly and well, that we are having problems fitting all the people in. We have gone to three days a week now, and the Friday session is filling up. Because we meet in the church, we have to push back the pews every Tuesday, and reposition them in place for Sunday. Its not only a big job, but also does not really leave enough room for the 35 or so jumping toddlers and mums to move to music.
Our Thanksgiving Sunday went very well, better than I expected, on Sunday, yet we still need about $6000 more. Hopefully we will get a bit for these pews. If you want one, give me a call or email.

Here it is, my prediction for prosperity.
Brett Peake will win a Brownlow, you heard it first here.
He wont win it this year, but he will win it

Blistering runs down the field, long booming kicks into the foward line. Accurate, confident.
Yesterday he was the one who sparked the team in the third and fourth quarter particularly.
Brett was the first player to be drafted by Freo under the father son rule at the 2003 . He did not play for Freo during the 2004 season, but had his debut against the Roos in 2005. His father, Brian Peake played 304 games for the Sharks, and 66 for Geelong. Brett is of a more slight stature than his dad, but definitely quicker, and some might say, more skillful.

Great win by Freo yesterday.
Despite what the commentators are saying, I thought Freo showed real grit and determination to keep going despite the Roos tactics of flooding and tried to bottle up the game.

It is a little sad for me to see Leigh Brown in Roo's colours. He was one of my favourite players at Freo. A real workman, lots of grit and courage.
Can't find it in myself to boo or wish him badly, even if he is in oppositon colours.

Great win, and will be a real fight next week against Brisbane, who are playing much better with a thumping win over Port.

Good to see Matthew Carr in the side, who played his best game for the season yesterday.

Just one little whinge. Here is the umpires decisions for our games this year.
Frees for us listed first, against listed second.

Rd 1 Hawks: 14-15 (away loss)
Rd 2 Blues: 15-21 (home win)
Rd 3 Port : 17-22 (away win)
Rd 4 Crows: 17-17 (home loss)
Rd 5 Saints:15-27 (away win)
Rd 6 Weagles: 16-23 (home win)
Rd 7 Melb : 16-19 (away loss)
Rd 8 Roos : 12-21 (home win)

Appearing at Bedford Baptist Sunday May 28th 10am
Should be great.
Andy is an authentic artist with a great testimony to share.
He is bringing along a whole multi media production,
should be awesome!

There is something about Henry Blackeby's work that has always troubled me, and I haven't known why.
Henry says, in a nutshell, look and see what God is doing and go do that. Fair enough. Yet although I cant disagree with it, it doesn't ring true. Now, thanks to Erwin I get why, its because Blackeby does not go far enough.

"Yet I think its important to add that while God has been working in human history since He breathed life into Adam, there are many things yet to be done, and beyond this, many things yet to begu. There may be another question that needs to be asked beyond, "what is God doing?" and that is this: "what is God dreaming?" Is there something that God wants initiated and He's waiting for someone to volunteer?"

Blackeby's take on vision and leadership has also troubled me because of his basic premise. How do we discover what our vision is, if we are just doing what is, rather than dreamin what could be? As Erwin points out, we need to dream, to be inspired, to see what could be, rather than only what is. We need to move from being observers to practitioners.

A recent forum discussion had me thinking about forgiveness and bitterness again.
How trapped are we, how silly are we, if we allow people who have hurt us in the past to keep us in captivity.
We do this if we don't forgive them
I am not saying we need to get them to say sorry, that may be impossible. They might not think they have done anything wrong, they may not admit they have done anything wrong, they may be dead! You know what else? They may not have done anything wrong. We may be wrong.

What I am saying is this. Forgiveness is about letting go. Letting go of the pain, letting go of the rejection, letting go of the hurt. Its not easy, but Jesus said we are to forgive those who hurt us 70x7. In biblical terms, this means we are to keep on forgiving them. Not easy to do, especially if they are self righteous, and still hurting us.

But if we cant let that hurt go, if we cant forgive them, set them free, they hold us captive. Even if they dont know it.

Job 42:10 (NLT) - When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!

Ephesians 4. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Bitterness and unforgiveness are the quickest and most effective way of introducing negativity into your life.

Heard a lot about Erwin Raphael McManus.

A friend has lent me a copy to read, looking forward to sharing some thoughts on this blog.
Here's a quote or two to kick us off,
"Somehow we all know to play it safe is to lose the game"
"However mundane a moment may appear, the miraculous may wait to be unwrapped within it".
And here is a blurb about it,
"Using the biblical account of Israel’s war with the Philistines, McManus compares Saul with Jonathan to illustrate the tremendous impact possible in a life of purpose and adventure as opposed to a life of routine, apathy, and missed opportunities . Seizing Your Divine Momement will help you understand the potential of a small moment combined with personal courage. Such moments must not be missed. They are the place where destiny is shaped and divine life ripples outward. These moments are everywhere, though you can often fail to recognize them. You need a fearless, ready stance, believing that God wants to use you as a catalyst for change.
Learn to recognize your divine moment and lay hold of it with force. Put and end to passive observation, paralyzed by the need for perfect opportunity, and start seizing the raw, unshaped potential of your life with God.

5 I think of the good old days, long since ended, 6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and think about the difference now. 7 Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again show me favor? 8 Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? 9 Has God forgotten to be kind? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

I was re-reading this Psalm again this morning and was struck by a couple of things.
As I have been preaching through the series on "Identity Theft" I have been saying we can be captive to our past, whether it be a good past, or a bad one.
The Psalmist here expresses this beautifully. "I think of the good old days" He thinks of the difference now. Then he cries out, "Has He (God) slammed the door on His compassion?
Ever felt like God was giving you the big 'heave ho' ? Ever wondered why God wasn't doing what He promised?

Well you are not alone in such thoughts, and to not express them to God is an issue. We need to share these frustrations with God, get them out there.

Later on in the Psalm the Psalmist asks God to "arise and defend Your cause". Ultimately it is His cause. Our lives, our godly hopes and dreams are His cause. And we have the right, and responsibility, to ask Him to 'arise'. In fact asking God to do this is an expression of our own hope and faith in Him, despite how we angry, frustrated or dissapointed we might be feeling.

We celebrated Mother's Day in church yesterday. The mums got a special cake each, and some mums were honoured with special chocolates. We also had some prayers given for mums, and prayer offered for a family ascociated with our church who lost their mum recently.

My mum is a great mum, and always has been.

However not all mums are wonderful. Yesterday I sensed in a number of people a real heaviness. Lost dreams, mums not being wonderful, mothers absent. Family not what it should be. Like all such events, such as Christmas, for those without, the sense of loss and dissapointment was palpable. Even for those single adults who dream of being a mum or dad, husband or wife. Life does not always turn out as it is presented by a Hallmark Card. In fact it can be deeply dissapointing.

It is for good reason that we call God "Abba Father". There is nothing better for me than my son giving my a big 'huggle' and telling me 'I love you dad'. It doesn't get much better than that. Not everyone has that experience. I hope and pray that those who struggle with what they dont have, especially at these significant times on our calender, can find some comfort with their heavenly Father. But that does not mean they dont miss the human touch that God has designed us all for.

A fairly insipid perfomance from our much loved (by the media) blue and gold tinged opponents up the road saw them scrape home against a much improved Collingwood. I dare say if Buckley had played, it may have gone the other way.

It was also fairly disgraceful to hear the cheers when Rocca hurt his shoulder, and the loud booing at their own players as well as Collingwood players.

There was also an unsavoury incident involving a inebriated female fan giving Didak a 'wave' with a certain finger, and Didak giving her a spray.

So much for all the fuss and vitriole given to the Freo supporters last week!

We'll bounce back.
After the hard disciplined skilled win of last week, today was dissapointing.
Shame the boys could not have put on a better display for Farmer's 400 goal game.
Interesting coaching move to put Johnson in the foward 50, and it almost paid off.

Longmuir, Sandilands, Mn Manus and Headland were all absent, and all play well at the MCG, especially Mc Manus. Despite Freo's endevour, they did not appear to run hard enough, in fact they looked a little flat.

Umpiring was disgusting in Melbourne's favour, something the commentators all said.

What's more George G tipped us to win, so I thought from that point on, Melbourne were certainties. George is rarely right about anything.

Unfortunately I think our Blue and gold enemies up the road will smash the Colliwobbles, so it will be a tough week!

Doing this song in Church this week as we explore being who God wants us to be, and not who others have tried to fashion us into.

Now for something completely different.
Pastor Smith, who was a rodeo cowboy for 11 years, working professionally after he was a member of the rodeo team at Murray State, has planted not just one, but a network of 'Cowboy churches'. He has earnt a rodeo scholarship and earned the rank of ninth best bull rider in national collegiate ranks.
Smith said God led him to start the church. He was pastor of Buchanan Baptist Church for five years. He is glad he was “a suit and tie pastor,” he said. That experience prepared him to be a church planter, he added.
Smith knows the “cowboy life,” he explained. He was called as pastor of Buchanan Church after someone heard him preach at a horse camp at the Land Between the Lakes State Park. He has done that for many years. He also breaks horses and has led tours on horseback on a hunting farm.

Their purpose statement is,
"Our Purpose is to Impact the Cowboy Culture With the Gospel of Jesus by Planting Cowboy Churches in Every County."

Wonder what sort of music they do? I'm thinking Country and Western.
If you are after a belt buckle, they sell them for $40 a pop, and apparently demand is very high.

Article Website of Network

With the proliferation of books, online articles, instant downloads, podcasts, video on demand and even preachers on Australian TV, there is now more information available to the Christian than ever before.
You can discover what Jesus ate and alter your diet accordingly. You can discover who 'real men' are, and what happens when women pray.
I can learn from Swindoll, Compolo, Bell, Mark Driscoll, Deere and whoever else I wish just by logging on.
Yet there is something which for me is still irreplacable, and that is the human face of discipleship.
Jesus could have written a book and outlined a strategy to His disciples. Yet as far as we know, He never wrote a book.
Instead He said, "come follow me". He wanted His disciples to live with Him, be a part of His life, learn from His vulnerabilities and triumphs.
For me personally, that practice of being able to follow, to learn, to be close to another Pastor who has walked or is walking a similar path is invaluable.

However lately I have been losing some mentors, guys I can learn from, and it sucks.
One of them went off to sell real estate, and he was someone who I genuinly could ask advice from, and know it was sound. Not necesarily life skills, but know how stuff. He knew how to get things done, and he knows what people are like. There is no doubt he will be a very succesful real estate agent. But it sucks for me, because I need guys like him in my life. And there is something very unique about being a Pastor, there are not many professions like it, if any.

As much as books and conferences are great, I learn best from sitting down with someone and picking their brain, hearing real stories.

Helping people is not always an easy business.
Helping people who are in serious conflict situations is not easy
Being confronted by angry violent people is not something they teach you in Theological College
Thank God for good friends and relatives to be able to deal with issues
Without each other, we would be sunk.


I don't know how those without good support structures cope.

Tommorows West and Age has a story about some low life apparently spitting on Ross Glendinning after the Derby Medal Presentation.

I am very sorry this has happened, and there is no justification for it.
We should be passionate, and Freo fans are very passionate, but this sort of behaviour is despicapable. If Steve Butler's article is correct, I am ashamed of this.

I also am sorry for the sledge I dished out towards Ross. Apparently he was the best judge of all and voted for Josh Carr!

Taking the idea of 'being all things to all people' is the Crossover Church found in Tampa, Florida.
They started off with a small group of people who were, " burned out with “organized religion” – tired of the politics, the tradition, and the masks people hid behind at many churches. They saw the needs of people on the streets that weren’t being met, and they wanted to do something about it".

They have a focus on their Sunday events, and this week well known hip hop artist and Pastor, "minister Corey Red from the Bronx, NY will be in both services bringing the word. " - "Rawsrvnt will also be in the house bringing a different twist on our worship from his latest album “In Rare Form”

After a change of leadership in 2002 they adopted the Purpose Driven principles, and have as their vision statement, “To relevantly introduce the truth of Christ to the Hip-Hop Culture as we develop worship, purpose, unity, and leadership in their lives.”
Their ongoing vision revolves around new facilties and more services. "We’ll also be adding our Saturday night service in 2005, and we plan to eventually add another service on Thursday’s that will specifically be for High School students".

I don't know whether Perth has enough people involved in the hip hop culture to have a church focused on them. But if you look at most churches, I wonder how effective we are being at reaching the more 'edgy' cultural groups.

They have a number of resources they are flogging and state, " We believe that God has called us to impact this culture worldwide."

There is not much better for a Freo supporter than to beat the Toasters. Magnificent 4 quarter effort from the boys.
Special commendation to Schammer, Josh Carr and Pavlich.
Took my Weagle supporting brother in law along. We have never lost a game when he has attended with me. Even in that dark Drum season where we only one two games, the only game he attended with me was the Adelaide one, when we won!

I did not think we would win when Aaron did not come back on the ground. (Broken jaw from behind the play incident with Mark Seaby). I still cant believe we did!
The crowd was as loud as I have ever heard them, and I think gave the team a real lift, especially in the last quarter.
Talk about pressure on Hasleby, as he lined up for that kick, with what I now know was only about a minute left on the clock. What a legend.

Just a little note on the booing.
Carr or maybe Schammer deserved best on ground. Judd is an exceptional talent, and seems to be a good citizen, and an inspiring captain. His team certainly look out for him. However he went missing in the crucial third quarter, where Freo and J Carr really put the game away. He was part of the losing side.
The crowd booed the decision, not Judd. What he said when accepting the medal was quite humorous though, "Not a popular decision"
Glendinning has real issues with Fremantle and everyone knows it. For him to tell the crowd off is indicative of his arrogance.
We pay our membership, we go to the games, we suffer as passionate Freo supporters. If we want to boo his bias decision, we will. We were not booing Judd.
Also, very bad sportsmanship for the weagles to leave the ground during the trophy ceremony. Bet there is no mention of that in the West!

Purple shirt is being worn tommorow at church!!!!!
And Alex, if your lurking, here is reason number 11 why Freo are a better team that West Coast!!!!!

Job Advertisement for Senior Pastor

Don Avenue Baptist Church
34% members would like him to have attended seminary 24% degree unimportant and 14% at least high school graduate. 31% would like at least 5 years experience as pastor 17% no prior experience necessary 9% more than ten years 16% for years or less as pastor16% more than 5 years in church ministry.45% no age preference 24% 40-49 years 13% 50-59 years 11% 30-39 years28% of members would like a married man while 20% would like a married man with children 19% single 17% widowed 11% no children 5% wouldn't mind him being divorced


Talk about a call by committee. Talk about a totally non biblical approach from a supposedly Biblically faithful church. This is crazy stuff.

Thanks to Dockerland.com for this, apparently a real account of St Kilda's history. Due for a reprint I think!!

For whatever reason I have skipped forward in my devotions to Psalm 144 this morning.
The Lord spoke to me on several levels through this passage, but also I am challenged on a philosophical level by this piece of scripture,

" 12 May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace. 13 May our farms be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands, and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no breached walls, no forced exile, no cries of distress in our squares. 15 Yes, happy are those who have it like this!Happy indeed are those whose God is the LORD. "

I am no fan of the prosperity doctrine, and I also realise we will always have the poor with us, and should be compassionate. I also believe Jesus calls us to not be focused on material wealth. Yet here David closely equates material blessings, a well as relational blessings, with knowing God.

In my own life I am asking God for some pretty major blessings to occur in our church, for the purpose of mission. Just some more thoughts to be contemplating and reflecting on and trying to work out what it all means.

1. Our theme song does not conjur up images of Todd Johnston, V-Capri and 80's disco music
2. Our on field leaders are not wanted by police for questioning
3. Our captain doesn't leave his girlfriend stranded on Leach Hwy
4. Our Coach has a sense of humour
5. Our Coach does not call journalists *&# $**#@
6. We didn't lose the grand final by a kick
7. Our supporters don't bring their knitting needles to the game
8. Adrian Barich does not support our team
9. Howard Sattler does not support our team
10. "Jailbreak" (ACDC) is not our unofficial anthem

Fairplay!!! It is a game, and as a game we won fair and square.

"The AFL have declared Fremantle the winners of Sunday's match against St Kilda and awarded them the 4 points" (Dockerland.com)

"The AFL has awarded Fremantle the win over St Kilda, with the league's commission deciding after a special meeting on Wednesday that fairness must prevail.The AFL Commission met for more than four hours on Wednesday afternoon, hearing submissions from both the Saints and the Dockers"
Afl Statement

I think the elation of this true hard fought win is going to carry onto into the Derby.
Cousings is doubtful, Dean Cox has a sore ankle,

COME ON FREO YOU RIPPER!!!!

Interesting article in Crosswalk about a book written by Ed Gungor, "Religiously Transmitted Diseases: Resistance Is Futile".

Here is a couple of quotes,
"I knew exactly the kind of group Halley was talking about. They are in every church. She was talking about those wonderful believers who feel like it is their job to imitate God by trying to make others in their own likeness and image. They are Borg-ish."

"I have seen many groups inside Christian churches and ministries that were Borg-ish. These are not horrible people; in fact, they are often very kind and godly. But they are infected. They think they have everything figured out and everyone must externally look and act the same way"

"We evangelicals are pretty susceptible to Borg disease because many believe the weightier part of being a Christian has to do with external mannerisms: what we wear, how we talk, what we like or dislike and what we don’t do. Let’s face it – there is a Borg-ish, cookie-cutter, Christian culture that is touted in many Christian circles as “Christ-like.”

"I think real apprentices of Jesus celebrate individual expression – that’s the thing that best kills the Borg weirdness. Borg is about the Collective; about all being the same. It’s about killing individuality and uniqueness; it’s about control. That’s why Christian leaders are so predisposed to catching this disease – it promises them control.
But control is not leadership. To keep leadership clean from this disease, we must be willing to lose control. We must dare to respect people and to trust God. That would allow the saints of God to break into freedom – to dare to be different. Maybe that’s the kind of freedom Malachi predicted would come to pass one day: “And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall"

We had our ministry team leaders networking meeting last night.
What an absolute joy it is to work with these guys. So functional, positive, uplifiting.
We are very honest and open with each other, about our joys and struggles. And it is always an encouraging and purposeful time. Mostly because all of these leaders are a joy to work with.

Our structure helps as well, knowing what each of us is to do, what our roles are.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

The purpose of this brochure is to explain how our church 'works'.
(a) The role of the Members of the Congregation is stewardship.
(b) The role of the Leadership Team is to establish Guiding Principles for the Senior Pastor’s leadership.
(c) The role of the Senior Pastor is to lead the Church to accomplish its mission.
(d) The role of the Ministry Team is to manage the ministries of the Church, directed by the Pastor.
(e) The role of the Congregation is to serve as the primary ministers of the Church.

With thanks to Craggles for this information

cc: andrew.demetriou@afl.com.au <andrew.demetriou@afl.com.au>; tony.peek@afl.com.au <tony.peek@afl.com.au>; adrian.anderson@afl.com.au <adrian.anderson@afl.com.au>; rod.austin@afl.com.au <rod.austin@afl.com.au>; jeff.gieschen@afl.com.au <jeff.gieschen@afl.com.au>; jill.lindsay@afl.com.au <jill.lindsay@afl.com.au>; ken.wood@afl.com.au <ken.wood@afl.com.au>

Hello all,

Yesterday has gone down as a bad bad day for the AFL. There is a perception over here in Freo that the AFL has a certain bias towards non victoran sides, and yesterday did nothing to dispel that.
Fair justice must prevail, common sense must be followed. Fremantle won the game fair and square, and after all this is what we are talking about, a game.

If indeed you are fair minded, you must do the right thing, despite the pain it might cost you. Fremantle must be given the four points. It is the right thing to do. That is all there is to it.

Pastor Mark Edwards
Bedford Baptist Church

Okay all, I have calmed down. You are not meant to get angry about a stupid game of football, its just a game.

The miners getting found alive is a far more important story to come out of Tasmania from today.

Yet I suppose what most angers me is the injustice of it all. This was not a bad free kick decision like last year, which cost us this game. This was a considered decision, when the umpire was presented the facts from the boundary and emergency umpires, the game has finished, yet in a fit of what can only be described as temporary madness made a calculated decision which was not only wrong, but could cost my team a spot in the finals.

The Derby is next week, with Mc Manus out with a hammy, Hasleby sore still and Farmer possibly under report, we need those four points.

It is time for some honest, openness and ACCOUNTABILITY to be displayed by the politically correct weak as water AFL and umpires. Admit your wrong, do the right thing, and lets all move on.

For those interested, there is a poll at the Herald Sun Website.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy

absolute carp from the umpires
totally unnacceptable disgraceful performance


DISGRACE TO THE AFL

FIX IT DEMETRIOU

Adobe Photoshop is a steep learning curve, but after about 2 hours with it, I think I am getting the hang of it. I know this is nowhere near as good as what I can do with this program, but its a start.
Any tips?
(Blogger wont let me upload this file in its best format due to size restrictions, it does look slightly better in photoshop format)

My first car was a 1973 Corolla Ke 26 not disimilar to this one. It was not in great nick. In fact there was a rusted out hole where the drivers feet go, that was covered up with some carpet. When you had some orange peel to throw out the window (to the birds of course!) you just lifted the carpet up, and dropped the peel through the whole. Eventually we sold it for $200 to some guy who said he was going to use it for parts.
I had some good times in that car, learnt that wet roads and gravel tracks and underpowered rear wheel drive Corollas went hand in hand for learning what a car does when its sliding.
It used to get driven to Scarborough High most school days, when I could afford fuel and prise it off mum.

In the midst of a very interesting topic on Andrews blog, I have been reading in my devotions Psalm 77.

1 I cry out to God without holding back. Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading. There can be no joy for me until he acts.
3 I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help

Life sucks sometimes, and we get mad and angry at God. I love how the NLT puts this.
Without holding back I tell God exactly how I am feeling. As a father, even when my son is mad, I love to hear what he is thinking and feeling. I know he feels a lot better about telling me. The anger somehow is validated, and yet also some of the sting is released.
If ever I am frustrated, angry, upset, depressed about something, I plan to tell God all about it. And you know what? I reckon He can take it. Sometimes he must think I am acting like a young boy again, but I reckon that level of honesty is what He craves in His relationship with me.

Well Duff has been named.
Channel Ten News, that most reliable news service (cough cough) reckon that Medhurst wont be playing. We will see Gossage.

Good to see Paul in anyhow, a tall skilled quick running defender. Just what we need to skirt around an injured Gehrig who will hopefully keep his "bible basher' comments to himself this weekend. (Don't you just loooove the yellow St kilda Jumpers??)

Today was a day I designated to spend with the family. Anzac Day was not a holiday for me, I spent most it working on some things for church.

What a beautiful wonderful day.
Morning tea at Sturt Park, a beautiful playground filled park in Kalamunda.
Then a leisurely drive through the hills to Mundaring weir. On the way we stopped into a couple of places for some bush walking with the kids, as much as their little feet, and my shoulders, would allow.

Then onto Mundaring Weir where a whole heap of beautiful parrots decided to share our lunch with us. The two kids hand fed them some left over bread.
On the way home we stopped off at 'Sticky Hands Lolly Shop' which made for a pleasant and relatively quiet ride home!

Some of you from North Beach days might remember this bloke Dave Fallon
An old mate (not that he's old, just haven't seen him since the 80's) now living in London, and a passionate Freo man, which automatically means he is a good bloke!
Check out his thoughtful and humorous blog.


Actually I want to add a little bit more thought to this post.
Reading through David's blog reminded me that time does not stand still, even if we intersect various points in people's lives. What I mean is this. Last time I remember David he was a humorous great guy, a good friend to spend some time with. But we were both about 12 or 13!
I remember riding our bokes home at about 9.30pm at night across Charles Riley oval, riding home from youth group.

The last time I remember seeing him was back in the early 80's. Now as I am reading through his blog it is obvious he is an intelligent, well read person living a great life half way around the world. He has changed enormously, so my perception of him, while accurate for a time, is no longer relevant.

It is a reminder to me of how time really does move. What are we doing with our lives? While it is important to enjoy the pleasures of the day, it is also really important to me that I find significance in my life. Is this an ego thing? Or is it a God given desire?

Animals dont seem to care 'two hoots' about significance, all they care about it their next meal, and maybe reproducing. Maybe that is their quest for significance, reproduction. In fact I wonder if our quest for significance is somehow tied in with our spiritual dimension. Maybe God desires us to crave more than just the 'base'. I suppose what I am arguing for is this.
Desiring significance in the spiritual part of our lives is not a sin. Desiring to be used of God for great things is not a sin.

The difficulty comes when the desire for self promotion is mixed in with the valid desire for spiritual significance.
But I dont want to be afraid of doing something 'big' for and with God, just because someone might tell me I am doing it for the purpose of building my own kingdom.

This quote interested me,

"Healthy things grow. Healthy churches grow. If a church isn't growing, it isn't healthy. This lack of health could be due to an overall unhealthiness caused by former or present hurts, that we as the leaders are not healthy and are holding the church back or by some other kind of past problems that exists in the church. Or the lack of health could come from a simple imbalance in the 5 purposes. "

Anzac Day has become, over the last 15 years or so, our Countries most spiritual day.
We go to services, at dawn, willingly. Men and women cry, children are taught spiritual lessons. We want to have a link with our past, remember those who have given their lives.

How is the church doing with being a part of this special day?
At Bedford we spent some time in prayer, remembering and thanking.
We have had veterans in our church in the past, but they have all gone now.
Now we have some widows.
Next year we will honour them and hear their story.

As Australia's most spiritual day, somehow we need to connect with it, and be a greater part of it.

Took my son and half my wifes family to the game on Saturday night.
Enjoyed the free coke they were handing out after the game.
The game itself was not that great, but could have been worse.
A lacklustre first quarter cost us the game, with Freo well and truly outscoring Premiership fancies Adelaide in the second half.
Some very dubious decisions by the Green M & M men did not help either. What had Grover ever done to deserve that treatment?

Pavlich looks sick and out of sorts, Hasleby looked sore.
Medhurst was having a great game right up until when he was moved from the forward pocket. Why oh why Chris did you move him?

Mc Manus was best on ground in my opinion and Farmer was not far behind him.

Adelaide looked tall and strong and used the flood very well.
There are a stack of 'if only's' to come out of the game, but that's life.

Roll on the Saints, stranger things have happened and we might record out first win at Aurora.

Success as a Church Pastor?
What does that look like, what is it, is it something I want?

I have been thinking about this for sometime. The old arguments of being faithful get a little stale. So does the 'if you have a big church' you are succesful.
Some of my good friends are pastors of churches which run at about 300-400. Does this make them succesful Pastors? I dont think so, not if the church was running at that number when they came in.
Does a church which grows significantly in numbers under their leadership make them succesful? Not necesarily either. In fact I have seen in the past few years numerous Pastors see their churches grow significantly, but when a real analysis of the people coming in is made, it is obvious that their church is just doing church better. I am not hugely criticial of this because we should be doing church well, and we often settle for mediocricy and plain laziness. What does concern me is when we deliberatly foster a consumer mentality because it suits our aims of drawing in a big crowd.
We are not yet a church consuming society as may be the case in the US, where stories of people driving down the freeway looking for a church to attend on the Sunday, in much the same way as they look for a restaurant on Saturday night, are prevelant.

Obviously the real key to success is in spiritual fruit, and the foremost importance is mission, leading people to Christ.

Therefore as the key leader in any church, I believe the SP must have evangelism as his primary gifting and focus. Instead of this we have favoured those who are good chaplains and good politicians. The less fuss you make, the less waves you create, the longer you get to keep your job.

But even if Pastor makes evangelism his key focus, it can lead to issues as well, where a group of Pastors think it is okay to abuse and insult and hurt the congregation because of their own agendas.

Another group of people, normally not associated or responsible to anyone, think it is okay to critique and criticise while doing nothing in community. Being a part of a community is hard work, being responsible and accountable to people is hard work, putting up with each other is hard hard work. My heart aches when we stand on the sidelines doing nothing, being accountable to no on, yet feeling it is our God given right to pour brown stuff all over those who are trying.

My version of success is this, a group of people who are cared for spiritually, whose families are cared for, whose children are seen as a priority. Yet this same group of people is also cared about too much to leave them in comfort. Instead they needed to be resourced, trained and kept accountable to be missionaries in their own context.
This is in my view the hardest ministry there is, and maybe why so many good younger leaders are saying, 'barleise', I want out of the traditional church community type of ministry.
The problem may just well be that many of my contemporaries have also opted out, and instead focused on what is easier to do as a pastor, either giving up on the church community altogether, or focused on being a chaplain as their foremost responsibility.

What I am struggling with at the moment in my own ministry is what is the key? Specifically what is the key to seeing Aussie men come to Christ. I am talking normal Australian men. You see we have seen a number of women come to know Christ in 2005. But what about their husbands? I have this vision or God given thought, that when one of them makes a decison, and I believe I know who he is, when he finally makes his decision, this will unlock the rest of them. I know this sounds disjointed, but it is what I feel God is saying to me.

Imagine training all pre-season, being made captain of the side, and then in a rather innocuous accident, being made physically incapable of continuing.
Matthew Lloyd has just found out that his season is over for the year after a hamstring injury has turned bad.

Hard luck, very bad news for the Bombers, who were probably going to struggle to make much of an impact this year anyway.
Will they stick with their rotational policy, or will Hird give it another go?

Can you change the name of your newly aquired dog?
Well yes, actually you can, because we just did.
We never did like the name Scout for our new Irish Terrier, so we have decided she is now to be called Scarlett. She looks like a Scarlett, so Scarlett it is!

Scarlet seems to like the new name change, especially when accompanied by a little treat!

Rodney's post about Randy Stonehill had me digging up some of my own classic Christian Contemporary music.

Darrell Mansfield is a blues guitarist/song writer that I became familiar with back in the late 80's. His infectious blues rifts combined with crunchy harmonica is the perfect foil for his gospel based music. Probably his best album was "Trimmed and Burning".
He is still producing music and in fact has a new album out.

This sunday we are looking at Peter's transformation, just before I start my series on "Identity Theft". So I have made up a countdown featuring some pictures of families and people, in different stages of their lives, and using Darrell's song, 'Never be the same', off the album, "Get Ready".
Here is part of the fairly simple lyrics.

"Love can be so blind when the one that you've been missing, has been here all the time".

Short Biography

Back in the late 80's mid 90's a favourite pastime of some sections of the mainstream evangelical church was u2 bashing. I remember Christian Uni students wandering around with t-shirts which had "I've found what I am looking for" on the front and with "U2?" on the back. There seemed to be an implication that as a Christian you were meant to be triumphant, have it all together, know the answers. This malady is evident in some sections of Christendom today as well.

The problem with criticising U2 for their faith, and in particular all the critiques that came about because of this song, is that I don't think people listened to the words!

" You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
Carried the cross
And my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for"

Has such a clear proclaimation of the good news about Jesus ever sold so many copies?

Bono and crew are sharing something we all know the be true, though we are saved, and know Jesus, we are still on this side of heaven. The Kingdom has not yet been established. Christ shouted out in triumph, "It is finished", but at the time He was about to die on the cross, deserted by His followers!
It is this very paradox of the Christian faith that Bono has so eloquently captured in this song.

Here is the newest member of our family, 'Scout'. Scout is a three year old Irish Terrier.
We have been praying about getting a dog, but could not afford the $1000 price tag.
My wife rang up the breeder and Scout has unfortunately just lost her pups during childbirth. She was no longer able to breed. The breeder was looking for a good home for her.
Scout was the 2006 Australian Champion for her breed!

Scout is a very welcome addition to our family, and we look foward to walks down to the park, runs along the beach, and fun for the kids.

The embarassment of riches continues at Freo with Paul Duffield, the nephew of well known West Australian sports reporter Mark, being elevated from the rookie list to the seniors at the expence of perennial hard luck story, Daniel Haines. (right Achilles tendon)

Duffield showed oustanding pre season form, and has played some great games for the Bulldogs. He has a reputation as a tough ‘inside’ footballer, and was a key reason why South Fremantle won the Grand Final. He was also a Fremantle Supporter before being drafted to the Dockers, how good is that?

If he is to come into the team this week, as Mark Harvey suggested might happen, who on earth will we drop? And what about Cook, Walker and Peake?
Can't see Duffield coming in before those guys.

I am starting a new four part series on "Identity Theft"
I am using some of the material from Life Church. Basically getting some milk from here there and everywhere and making my own cheese.

It fascinates me how much people let what others say to them affect them. In fact it fascinates me how others opinion of me, shapes and affects my own view of myself. Jesus loves me and has great plans for my life, why can't I get that?

Should be great!

Okay, he is a St Kilda Supporter, and a Barry White fan, but apart from that he is not a bad bloke.

His blog has been ressurected and you can find it here.

What a great game.
Not only for the win, but the grinding out of it.
In stark contrast to the past two games, the Dockers kept up the pressure for all four quarters.
When Port kicked four of the last five in the third quarter, I was thinking, oh no, we can't lose this can we?
But we didn't The tough as nails Mc Manus well and truly kept his place for next week. I dont know where this leaves Walker and Peake, both who could slot nicely into the side.

But isn't it fantastic to see Hayden back in the side? Haven't we missed him. And Johnson was almost best on ground.

Aaaaaah, might go and watch the game again, without the screaming, swearing and heart attacks.

Another really great Sunday as we explored the in-between situation we Christians find ourselves in.

Yes Christ is risen, but we still find ourselves in this world, with all its issues, many of them our own making.
We still live with the consequences of our own mistakes, both personally and corporately as human beings.

Yet Christ could cry out, "It is Finished". And it is, we hope, we have faith, we look forward.

Eliot and Jason did a great rendition of "He's alive" and U2's "Gloria".
Used a great piece of multi-media where an artist painted a picture of the crucified Christ. Quite moving. Good crowd in Church as well, which is always encouraging.

"The soul needs beauty for a soul mate
When the soul wants...the soul waits ...

I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman"

Moving, challenging, very thankful......

Wonderful Good Friday Service. Good crowd in, lots of visitors.
Excellent restrained music.
Multi media was moving and appropriate.
Jim did a wonderful rendition of "I cannot tell" to the tune of 'Danny Boy'.
Band did a great job of "Pride, in the name of love" fitting end to a moving service.

It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!!

Thanks Jesus again, for all you have done. You have given us real hope.
In fact the Christian message is that in the absolute worst of times, Jesus' story gives us hope.
TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE

"I got back into LEGO building in June, 2000, shortly after adopting Precious, my third cat. She loved to be amidst my building from the start. She didn't disturb partially assembled LEGO objects, or even piles of bricks, so I could leave her to play around my assembled work without too much fear of damage. " Amy Hughes

I have been to Robert Schueller Crystal Cathedral in LA, and this one made out of Lego Blocks looks similar.

"And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own
We fight all the time You and I...that's alright
We're the same soul
I don't need...I don't need to hear you say
That if we weren't so alike
You'd like me a whole lot more"

Bono has said that after this album, he hoped he wouldn't need to write anymore about his dad, and his relationship with his dad. That's interesting. Link

If your a bloke, and have any sort of relationship with your dad, then like me, you may relate fairly heavily to these lyrics.
Miss you dad, wish I could have said more to you when you were around.

In case you didn't realise it, the Dockers won on Saturday night.
It was my son's first time at watching a real AFL game.
I have taken him to pre season and practice match games before, but this was the first time he has gone.

He got a Johnny Docker pack, which had a radio/torch, pack of cards, autograph book, pen, stickers and Docker Bag. Really good actually, expecially considering he also has season tickets.

It case you didn't realise, the Dockers beat Calton. Listening to George Grizzleguts today, and some other commentators, you would have thought we lost!

The first half showed what Freo are capable of. If we get it together for four quarters, watch out!

As we were setting up yesterday for the concert I was half listening to the Eagles game against the Crows. They did very well to get up and win...................unfortunately!!!!!!

Big effort yesterday.
Well worth it as we saw about 80-100 non church people involved and about 60 of our own folk there.
It was probably not as big a crowd as we would have liked, but the weather and Osborne Park show may have conspired against us.

Positives: Band sounded awesome, Micks music was given the appropriate and deserved treatment.

60 - 100 people heard many times about the message of Christ. You cannot put a value on this. As Alf reminded us on Sunday morning, God's word does not return void, and if one person moves closer to God, its well worth it.

I heard about a number of our church folk talking to different people in the crowd, a special thanks to Bev and Melinda and Sandy, and others, who got around and spoke to heaps of folk and made friends.

A big thanks to Paul Ahearn, your hard work is appreciated.

But most of all to Eliot, who brought the band together in what was at times trying circumstances.

Lets pray and think about where God is taking us next.

Our church is helping organise this, along with the local Inglewood P & C and some sponsorship from Ray White on Walcott and Charcoal Chicken,

Should be fantastic!

Would love to see you there.

I have been praying for and reflecting on some really really bad news.
Two incidents that occured yesterday.
One, a disturbing tradgedy in the life of an aquaitance, someone associated with our church.
There are no words to describe the awfulness of what has happened.
There are no platitudes, no cliches, no cards or flowers that will help in anyway.
As a Pastor, I cant even say why God allows such things to happen. I know He does not cause them, and I believe He is greatly grieved as well. Which makes it hard to understand why He allowed it to happen.
This from Psalm 69. 3 "my eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for God to help me".
This is not my experience over this event, but is surely the people involved.

Secondly some disturbing revelations about a closer family member, that I have been trying to help. The way people mistreat each other in this world is staggering. Some folk are egocentric and selfish and self absorbed. All they really care about is their own pleasure. This makes me mad. I am not perfect by any means, but what has been done to another simply because they only care about themself, is awful. And the ripple from their actions still causes unrest.

For those of you who read the West, and who turn to the back of the paper first, like me, you will know the name Steve Butler. For those of you who are Weagles followers, you will like him.

For those of you who are a member of the Purple Army, you will know that Steve's favourite activity is sinking the boots into Freo. Now I would not suggest he is biased, but if someone did suggest that, I wouldn't be arguing with them.
Which brings me to the point of my post. Steve B has tipped Freo to down the Blues this week.
Is this part of his cunning plan to unsettle the club? Or is he just trying to redeem himself after his woeful tipping perfomance last week?

Either way, we dont need your support Steve, in fact we dont want it. Go back to playing ER's AFL for playstation, and pretending Sampi marked that goal in the dying minutes of the 2005 Grand Final.

During our first move, from our home of 5 years to the rental, we got rid of a lot of stuff. About three trailer loads actually. I'm not exagerating. Three trips up Red Hill with a fully loaded heavy trailer, being towed by my 1.6 litre Vitara.
My son wanted to know what the 'funny smell is daddy?".
I told him the engine and gearbox were not happy about working so hard.

Well this move we had a few things surplus to our needs. Some we managed to give to a good home, another couple, no one wanted, which was fair enough considering their condition. Namely a desk with no drawers and a very wobbly side. As well a baby's high chair which had seen much better days. In fact I had got some gaffa tape onto the ripped chair, and my children (both of them) had stuffed weeties, vegemite toast and other such gourmet delights down the side of the seat.

Anyways, there was only these two things so I did what most residents tend to do, I stuck them on the verge.

They had been there for about 24 hours, and I was contemplating taking them up Red Hill when a marvellous thing happened. I came back from taking the kids down the park and they were gone. Mysteriously, wonderfully, conveniently gone.

Somewhere in suburbia someone is sitting at a desk which is about to topple over while their child is discovering 6 year old fruit toast ends.

Deary deary me, anyone know a good marriage counsellor?

James writes this on his blog,


"Even though our two month old daughter refuses to sleep without my wife holding her, and my two year son won’t even attempt to sleep without his pacifier, my wife still refuses to take my advice about how to fix these problems before they start to bring even more stress into our marriage.After begging and pleading with my wife (because I adore and love her dearly) to stop spoiling our children and ignoring my feelings, I’ve decided enough is enough.So I went on strike — and moved to the roof of our home.This is my last-ditch effort!"
LINK

9 O God, we meditate on your unfailing love
as we worship in your Temple.
10 As your name deserves, O God,
you will be praised to the ends of the earth.
Your strong right hand is filled with victory.


I am continuing my series on "What Jesus said that changed the world".
This verse from Luke 19.40, "He replied, "If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!"

A great verse as we celebrate Palm Sunday.
For His name sake, and His glory, let Him be praised to the ends of the earth.

So I drop my son off at School today, and hope to slip in the back quietly. No such luck. His Eagles supporting teacher makes sure she mentions the results from the weekend to him, and me, just in case we missed it.

Sigh, sigh sigh.

Its hard being a real supporter, and not a bandwagon hopping fairweather Weagles supporting one.
I have been to every game bar one or two for the last 7 or 8 years, I have survived the Drum years, leave me alone. I'll get over it.

Roll on Carlton.

Eliot and the band did a fantastic rendition of Coldplays song, "Talk" on Sunday. I was suprised that a couple of musicians in the band dont like Coldplay. Who doesn't like Coldplay? They thought it was repetitive and that the band lacked credibility.
I encouraged them to look at the song itself, and judge that on its merits, apart from the band.

Oh brother I can't, I can't get through I've been trying hard to reach you,
cause I don't know what to do Oh brother I can't believe it's true I'm so scared
about the future and I wanna talk to you Oh I wanna talk to you
Are you lost or incomplete? Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your
missing piece? Tell me how do you feel? Well I feel like they're talking in a
language I don't speak And they're talking it to me
(Selection from song)

It was a good finish to my message on loving others, having a distinct love.
One of the things we fail to do as humans is address conflict well. Conflict comes in may shapes, be it unsaid statements, little gripes, looks of despair or even disgust.
At some point we need to adress these things, otherwise they fester and eat us up.
What does this have to do with love?
Truly loving action is saying what needs to be said quickly, keeping short accounts. Being honest and humble with each other.

One key for me is to think it through carefully first, think about what you are going to say, how you are going to say, even the facial expression and body language you are going to use.
How is what you say going to communicate love and truth? The two are not mutually exclusive, and at the end of the day, love and the relationship with people is more important.

We have moved into our new house!
After having bought it just before Christmas, it seems strange now to have finally moved in.

The owners have moved out,
the floors have been polished, and finally the bathroom is complete.
A HUGE HUGE thank you to Jennifer, Quentin, Jeff, Jason, Rowan, Holly, Nat, Scott and Sandra (the doughnuts were great!) for all the wonderful help moving in.

The computer and study is set up, most important room in the house for me, and the kids room looks fantastic.

I am walking to church tommorow!! Walking!!!!!

Praise God for His excellent kindness and provision to us. THANKS GOD!!