Today was another great great day at Hillsong 2006 for me.

Brian Houston kicked it off with a message from Ex 18 on the need to "be one of a few"
1. Leadership is proven when we are able in the practical issues
2. Fear God, not man
3. Be able to see past the small matters, being annoyed or frustrated at people will only hinder you
4. Do not get sucked into anger about small things (Tit 3.5)

Bill Hybels 2nd session
Awesome! What a wise man. He talked about
1. Keeping the vision clear
2. Get the people engaged
3. Make your gatherings memorable
4. Pace yourself for the long haul

Charlotte Scanlon Gamblin
Charlotte is the daughter of well known Pastor Paul Scanlon from Abundant Life Fellowship
She talked about identity theft, using the story of Jacob, who became Israel. It was interesting, touching and helpful.

I went to the 4.30 and 7.30 sessions.

Bill Hybels 4.30 session
Bill shattered misconceptions some may have in this talk.
It was great. He was quite prophetic and said he was worried that while many churches were growing, they were not focused on evangelism. He told three stories of how he has led people to the Lord. His neighbour, a tattooed guy and a black man who was the victim of racism. It was excellent to hear him talk about the priority of relationships, friendships and personal love in leading people to Christ. He did not mention big services, seeker friendly sundays or anything like that. He said that stuff was needed, but was secondary to Christians reaching out themself. Bill also talked about the priority of listening to the Spirit's prompting in leading you to people who are open to God, seizing the divine opportunity.

Franklin Jentzen 7.45pm
Franklin is a very energetic and passionate preacher. He talked about the need to be balanced, and accept that we will always have Christians with different views on a whole raft of issues. He also talked about meeting with God in a covenantal relationship.
It was a very pumped up session.

SPECIAL MENTION
Must go to Darlene and Martin Smith (Delirious) who combined to do a duet of U2's "One". It was awesome. They did a great rendition and it was fantastic to hear U2 recognised for the passionate Christians they are.

Today was an awesome day for me.
God had some things to sort out in my spirit, a few strategically placed swift kicks.

Rick Warren kicked off the day with a rehash of the first four chapters of the "Purpose Driven Life" However I dont mean that in a disaparaging way. It was great to hear it from him, hear his heart and passion. Such simple principles, yet in their genius is found their simplicity. I think Rick has mastered the fundamantals of what it means to be a Christian in a way few before have been able to articulate. I was speaking to one of the translators (for the deaf) and they commented that he is a very clear and articulate speaker.

Next up was Brian Houston, and he spoke on being a leader of a small group of people, and the importance of every type of leader to the kingdom of God. It was a great message.

Thirdly we heard from Rick Goodwin, who also spoke in the evening. Rick was probably the most direct and convicting speaker so far. He spoke from Is 6 and said something which really resonated with me. He said, "its very easy to identify the problems, a potplant can do that. It is a lot harder to come up with solutions. So much of what we hear, particular on the internet, is problems people have with organisations, their own church etc. So what if you can identify problems, what good does that do. Value to the kingdom, and to Jesus is found in solving problems, seeing the Kingdom of Jesus grow."
Rick talked about the value of imparting authority to your leaders, making sure they were allowed to use their own intitve, in fact demanding this of them. Not moddle coddling people, but showing them respect. He talked about the important of principle over policy. In other words do what is right, not what the constitution says.

He also spoke at night, and was good. He talked about being the salt of the earth. At the end he had arranged for us all to be handed a mc donalds salt sachet and asked us to take it, and in two or three days, spill the salt out and pray about how God wants to use us as salt in the earth. I am going to do a similar thing at Bedford.

But I am saving the best for last,

DELIRIOUS WERE AWESOME
I love this band anyway, but to hear them live was just so good.
The sense of God in the place was incredible, and I found myself crying tears of joy, conviction, peace and ...... just plain joy at sensing God moving and speaking to me.

About three or four hours later, I am rejoicing at some conviction and renewed purpose God has put in my heart. He was able to speak to me, in the middle of a loud rock music concert. He spoke to my heart.

Can't wait! This is only really day one. Praise God and thank you God I can be here.

Rick spoke from Exodus Three where Moses approached the burning bush and God asked him some key questions. Of course God knew the answers, it was for Moses'benefit.
His question was, "what do you have in your hand" The answer of course was the staff, which represented his identity, as a shepherd.

Ricks'application was that we are to accept God's agenda for our lives, give up who we are to advance his kingdom. Rick's definition of The Kingdom of God is wherever Jesus rules, thats where the Kingdom is.

He talked, humbly, about the social and justice work him and his wife have been involved in, particularly amongst aids sufferers.

Rick has brought a humble, credible and prophetic voice to this conference. It was a moving and personally challenging time for me.

Ps 72, Exodus 3 and 1 Cor 9

That's right, come on down next week, while I am away..............

Its funny how we associate the known with the unknown. (Karyn is the known, her husband is still a relatively unknown)

Hopefully when I get back the church has not fallen apart and the members have not left in a state of dislusionment. :)

Actually I think he and the church will really enjoy it. From what I know of Karyn's husband he is a great communicator, biblically solid, relevant and I have it on good authority that he 'preaches from the heart'.

Praying for Karyn's husband and the church.

Packing suitcase, leaving tonight.

Cant wait,
should have internet access over there, will post about it right here.

If we lose next week against Essendon, this season is gone, and Chris might as well try and find another club, because he wont be our coach in 2007.

Actually I've got to think that our season is probably gone already.
I hope they suprise me, but they are failing to play as a team.
Without Pavlich and Josh Carr, we would be sunk.

Haselby looks out of sorts, Farmer is out of form, and needs to be dropped.
Marcus Drum (pictured) made his debut, and sounds like he went alright, and Johnson was excellent, keeping Barry Hall to one goal only.

I have always been a big Chris fan, but I am sorry, I am starting to lose faith in him, because I think the players have. We actually have a very good list. What is the answer? I dont know.
9 games to go, and we will see what happens. Lets hope we can do something.

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling
there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those
selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a
house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.

In my view, the money changers made Jesus mad for two reasons. They were taking up space which was meant to be for the God'seekers, those non Jewish folk wanting to worship God in the outer part of the temple. They were selling doves and other things for sacrifices at exhorbitant prices. While what they were actually doing was okay, the way they were doing it was wrong.

I put this forward because so many churches and Christian individuals are flogging their products nowadays. Maybe we need to be careful what we buy, and what ministries we support based on these two questions.

1. Does it help non Christians to come to Christ, or does it turn them away?

2. Is it a fair price for a product, or is it exhorbitant?

Reivoldt is one of the most frustrating players in the AFL. Great in his endevour, marking, leading, pack work.

Terribly inconsistent in his kicking accuracy.

Went down to Retravision today because in todays West they had a MP3 player advertised. It is not the best one, but was inexpensive.
Of course, despite the ad being in todays West, they did not have any stock. I rang a few other Retravisions, and of course, they did not have stock either.

Do they just put some super specials in the advertisement to get you in the door when they may have only 2 or 3 in the store of the stock? Its hard not to be cynical.

Strathfields are no better though. I went to get a battery for a relatives phone which was broken. I was in a rush to get to the store before they closed at 5.30pm. I jumped out of the car, heard the announcer say 5.25pm. No prob as I was literally three steps from the door. Unfortunately the door was shut, locked and no one would open it up for me. If your going to advertise you are open to 5.30, that is when you should be opened till.

No problem. Down to Officeworks who are open to six, and got the battery on the returns counter for half price.

Look, my life is great, and I have nothing to whinge about. But I will say this. If it were not for our laxodocial Aussie attitude, half the business' in Perth would not survive.

This is an interesting article from the Australian,

"Swans and Dockers find comfort in figures
Greg Denham June 29, 2006
FOR all the recent criticism of Fremantle and Sydney, neither team has lost any ground this season, compared to where they were at the corresponding time last season.
After 12 rounds, the Swans have won seven games, the same number as this time last year. The Dockers, with six wins, are a game ahead of 12 months ago.
For all the witch-hunting within Sydney after consecutive home-ground losses, and all the negativity surrounding Chris Connolly's tenure at Fremantle after two straight losses, there has been no downward slide.
Perhaps supporters are uneasy because pre-season expectations in both camps put them higher on the ladder than their present standings.
The fact is there is an upside for both clubs. The Swans may have only one senior player unavailable for the game against Fremantle on Saturday night and the Dockers could have as many as four players returning from injury, including captain Peter Bell.
In addition, after this weekend Fremantle plays six of its last nine games at Subiaco Oval, where it has won four of six this season.

I will be in Sydney next week. Cant see us winning at the SCG, but it sure would be nice!
I will be away for the home game against Essendon. Should win that one! If we dont, well I think Chris will be goooone.

"Everybody needs a dream for life. It is a psychological necessity. If you're not dreaming, if you don't have a goal for life, if you don't have a dream, if you don't have a vision, you're dying."

Then this story is proof.
As a father of two beautiful children, I found it hard to even read about this story. My brother in law, who has three beautiful girls, would not even turn on his radio, because he was so distressed about hearing it.
My prayers and thoughts are with this poor poor family.

Its a real warning to us all, do not let your kids out of sight. Dont leave them in the car, even when ducking into the shops. Dont let them out of your sight.

Story

This is a great story

Rick Warren is listed among some other Americans as people who give back.
Since 2002 when Rick had something of an epiphany he really has been instrumental in seeing thousands of people helped.
He cops more than his fair share of criticism, but what are we doing about injustice and the poor in the world?

Bono said once that governments were scared of churches because if they ever realised their combined clout, they could do and change anything. Rick is mobilising churches worldwide in incredible ways.
"Mobilizing Christians worldwide to heal the sick and feed the hungry It starts as an ordinary success story"

"Now things get exciting. Another pastor might be content to diversify into "PDL" DVDs and gift books, but Warren is more ambitious. If "2.3 billion people in the world claim to be followers of Jesus," then why not take the next step and mobilize those people to do important things, like stop poverty, improve literacy, feed the hungry, heal the sick? Conventional relief organizations are fine, but why not tap what Warren calls "the faith sector," the armies of motivated religious volunteers who are sick and tired of polarizing rhetoric and professional crusaders?

Link

Well done Socceroos. Shattering all preconceptions we went further than anyone thought we would. If it had not been a clearly wrong decision by Spanish Ref Luis Medina Cantalejo, we were in with a chance.
We clearly had the most of the play.

Thats life.
Our MUD events were great, culminating tonight with a bunch of guys, great fun.
Roll on 2010 I say!

This time next week I will be getting off the plane and waiting eagerly to hear Rick Warren speak at the 2006 Hillsong Conference.

These conferences have been valuable times for me as I make a yearly pilgrimage to Sydney. Its a time of challenge, blessings of worship times, and hearing some of the best speakers the Christian Church has to offer.
I understand Hillsong Church, and indeed the style of this conference, is not to everyones liking, but standing with 30, 000 other Christians praising God is always a refreshing time for me.
At Bedford we have no intention or desitre to be like Hillsong Church. But its not about that for me. Its about having a time of spiritual impartation. I preach about 45 times a year, maybe more. I prepare Bible studies, devotions, prayers and do a fair bit of counselling as well. Counselling really saps your energy.

Going to this conference allows me to be filled up and refreshed. Having time to reflect and be focused is valuable and needed by a full time pastor, in my view.
Stay tuned next week as I will post every day on how the conference goes.
Either that or tune out, whatever you like! :)

Thats the time my beautiful wife heads of to Melbourne with her sister in the self dubbed "Thelma & Louise" tour. I have it on good authority that Brad is off with some other beautiful woman, so I think I'm safe :)

She is off on a very well deserved break, no husband, no kids, no Uni studies, no work.
And before you all think the Credit Card is going to get a hammering, she has saved up for the trip and done extra relief work to get over there. I am so glad she is going, she really deserves and needs the break. But it wont be easy not having her around for three or so days, especially since I leave for Sydney the day after she gets back! we have not spent a lot of time apart since we were married, and its never easy when we are apart.

One guess why I have included this image on this post!

What a great great....draw.
Funny how we got so excited about a draw!!
When a draw happens in the AFL, it is a hollow feeling.
I wouldn't really know, Freo have never had a draw in their history, but back to the Soccer.

That was an incredible emotional game. A veritable rollercoaster .
It was so engaging, from despair to ecstasy.
I know its only a soccer game, but I am hard pressed to think of a more significant sporting moment in Australia's history. There are probably ones that equal it, but the world cup is a truly global event.

Bring on the Italians. No one is giving us much hope, but they walk onto the park with 11 players, and so do we.

We went out for coffee at Fast Eddy's. The service was almost deplorable. I have never been there when they have NOT had something on the menu that could not give you. After about 6 strong coffees, I was after a hot chocolate. Sorry sir, we have run out of hot chocolate. Excuse me??? Overpriced, bad service. The only reason they get any business is because they are 24 hours, and a bunch of hungry men needed a feed after willing Australia to victory.

Go you mighty Socceroos,
need to go have a nap, and get the lungs ready for kickoff, just after 2.30 am.

If you dont watch the game, where is your national pride???
And what will you talk about round the water cooler tommorow???

Robert Walls has had a rather large go at Chris on the back of the West Australian.
So what.
Robert's claim to fame as a coach was getting his players to stand in a ring and punch each other senseless.
He is a dreadful commentator, boring, and the master of the obvious statement.
Chris Connolly had this to say at his press conference today,
“His comments are irrelevant. Once you have a bad loss, it’s a bad loss. There is no point in me reading comments by people who don’t know our environment. What does that do?” he said.

Chris' statement is correct. As a leader, involved in the organisation, he knows far more than Walls. Walls cant even get facts right.
Farmer stages for frees : Farmer never gets free
Mc Manus needs to retire : Mc Manus is having his best year ever, and has been BOG for about 3-5 games this year.
McPharlin got injured in a marking collision with Brad Ottens - McPharlin was actually injured in a contest with Nathan Ablett

You have to admire Chris, he fronted up to the circling sharks, and even managed to point out the absurdity of the situation, saying, "The Prime Minister would not get this much press to his conference".
That is probably true and shows where sport lies in an Australian's priorities.
He went on and faced up to the facts as well.

“It was a disgraceful performance by Fremantle football club to whom I coach. Our aim is to make the finals and to win a final. I wouldn’t right off Fremantle just yet. We go into the second half of the season with confidence,” Connolly said.
Story

This is it! I did not think I would be so pumped about a Soccer Game. But this is it, Australia's chance of making history, our first ever foray into the knock out round.
If we win, its off the Fast Eddy's Morley for Breakfast and a strong coffee.
If we lose, we'll the less said the better.

TIME 2.30Am
(NOT 3.30 AS BROCHURE SAYS)

Is there any more trendy item than the Ipod?
Is there anything that is more indicative of our egocentric 'self' society' than the I Pod?

Is there nowhere that we can get away from it?
The answer is no. There is nowhere you can get away from your I Pod.

Now, introducing the IPod toilet roll holder.
There are so many lines here.
Would you listen to 'poop' music on it?
Or maybe some 'rock' or 'roll'.
Think about it.....

Article

In an interview style book, Bono has some pretty frank statements to make about his faith, life and relationship with Jesus Christ. (Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas)

I have been reading this book on and off for sometime.
Here is one really interesting and challenging quote.

Assayas: That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?
Bono: No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we've been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had "King of the Jews" on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched …

Bono later says it all comes down to how we regard Jesus:

Bono: … [I]f only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. …When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s--- and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.

LINK

In Australia one of the greatest killers of young Australian males is suicide.
Why?
We have beautiful natural wonders to enjoy, surfing, swimming, climbing.
A young Aussie male can grab a cheap car, drive around our nation and survive and thrive. We truly are a nation of opportunity.
Unemployment is at an all time low, prosperity is everywhere you look. Yet still, you hear stories, new stories, of behaviour birthed in hopelessness leading to despair.
And it does not matter if you are a Christian, and in a great Christian family either. This story about James Dungy is sobering.
From a succesful wealthy, sporting strong Christian home. Yet he took his own life. As a father I look at this story and wonder what went wrong, if anything. Or if indeed there are any answers.
Coach Dungy said this, "God has placed me in this position not for him and his family to suffer but so they can be an example to others, a testimony.".
"The Lord has a plan. We always think the plans are A, B, C and D, and everything is going to be perfect for us and it may not be that way, but it's still his plan." (Tony Dungy)
He's learned that it's all too common among young men who seem to "have it all." Dungy says he has had correspondence with at least a dozen families who are dealing with losing a child to suicide who was not considered "at risk."
"It's not the kids who are struggling or that had issues that we would think were issues," Dungy says. Perhaps Dungy's only real regret as a father is that he hasn't been there for his children as much as his late parents were for theirs.
Story

Someone asked me about MUD during the week. For those who came in late....


M Men
U Under
D Duress

There are times when men need to hang around with other men. Something happens when you get married, and then when you have kids the problem is even more exsaperated. You stop having that important 'mate' time. In church environments it can be even worse.
Men need time with other men to do men things, like watch sport, drink, eat, make fart jokes and talk about the intricacies of the offside rule, and argue about Holdens and Fords.

MUD is for that purpose. Sorry ladies! I think its important for there to be times for women to mixwith women, men and women to mix and for men to mix with men. In our busy culture there are not many times when men, especially family men can do that. So MUD is to help in that regard.
MUD MUD MUD oi! oi! oi!

Geelong came to play, Freo did not.

There were not many Freo players playing with much intensity in this important game.
Hedland, Josh Carr and even the perennial misser, Medhurst, played with some vigour.

It could have been far different if those easy misses were converted in the third quarter, but they were not. Something to do with football being played in the mind I think.
Someone asked me what I thought of Connolly as a coach the other day. I have continued to defend him. Problem is, that it is his job to get the team ready and willing to play, and play for each other. Some serious man management work needs to be done in the next couple of weeks if we are to even make the finals, let alone have a significant impact in them.

Bad sad news down Freo way with our most improved player, Antoni Grover, out for 6 weeks with a shoulder injury. A rather innocuous bump and one of our key defenders is out.
Robbie Haddril is back in the side. With Johnson in All Australian Form, we should be okay.

We need to win this week, playing Geelong at home. Not because I dont think we will win, I think we will, comfortably. Problem is that there are a number of Geelong supporters at church. If we lose on Saturday, I am going to cop it on Sunday.

When you are reading through blogs, they are often people who are planting churches or starting new type of works. To be involved in transitioning a church is a much harder calling, in my opinion. It is harder because it involves a lot more emotional and relational pain. Planting a church or doing a new work involved other types of pain, I imagine. Like financial pain and having to be bivocational. However I am no expert on planting churches, so I would be interested to hear what sort of pain growing a new church involves.
As to transitioning a church, Rick Warren nails it in this article.

http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=263&artid=4533&expand=1

He says,
"For a church to turn around it may take many, many minute degrees of change and a long time to make a complete turn around. I personally believe you have to be called to a church like that.
People ask, "Is it easier to start new churches, or is it easier to take existing churches and turn them around?" My answer is this: "It's always easier to have babies than to raise the dead." However, God is in the business of raising the dead! He's a pro at resurrections, but it just might take some time. "

He states that it takes as long to turn a church around, as it has been plateud for. GREAT! That means I am here for about 38 years.
We have seen Bedford turn around in about 11 years, not completely, but we are a whole lot more healthy now than when I first came here, and it has come with a lot of pain.

After the first event being so well appreciated, its on again!
Cant believe I am going out at 11.30pm to watch Soccer!
Great place to have it, in a church, because we will need a few miracles!!

I am speaking on Jonah for the next two weeks at Church.
Here are some of the words that I think of when I think about Jonah
run
hide
irresponsible
grace
courage
perceptive
creative
egocentric
and more grace

Great win by the Socceroos!!!

Enjoyed it with a large group of blokes at our MUD event.

The Church was rocking as in the last ten minutes or so the "Guss' inspired substitutions paid off in a big way.

Three to one win means great things for us as we continue on in the tournament.
COME ON AUSSIE!!

The brave Freo side went down. As Connolly has already said, we needed to put more scoreboard pressure on the Dogs. At least it was not a flogging, but a brave effort.

The umpires were carp, and continue the unbelievable run we seem to have. Freo has not had a positive amount of umpire decisions all year. The closest we have had has been the two times we drew even. Those decisions against Josh and Grover cost us, and were both clearly wrong, as the West pointed out this morning.

A word on Medhurst. Despite the bad press some posters are giving him, I thought his effort yesterday was commendable. Okay, he missed 4 or five shots he should have nailed, no doubt. But you cannot fault his endevour, willingess to tackle, or everything else he has been criticised for in the past. With all things being considered, he gave a good effort yesterday. He will kick a bag soon.

And the weagles........what can you say? I was all set to ring my brother in law and they go and do that. Well done for not giving up. But....... I do believe it shows something not good when the top team in the country allow Carlton to get 45 points up, after the week before allowing Geelong to do something similar. They will not want to do that against other sides.

Had a guest speaker at church, Luke Roscoe.
Not really a guest speaker, a friend who comes to our church.

Gave a great message on how the Israelites whinged about the manna, basically the big idea being to appreciate what God has given to us. It is far too easy to find yourself whinging about this that and the other, and forgetting how God really does look after us. A call for balance in this whinging post modern world (my words).

Luke made an interesting point. Because they where whinging, the Israelites started getting bitten by snakes. Luke said that God was not the God Gary Larson portrays, as being in heaven and making the snakes, which he then tipped on the Israelies from a heavenly bucket. No, the snakes were already there. God merely removed His protection from them withdrew His presence because He was sick of their wining.
Interesting point and application to us.

Enjoy today, appreciate it, revel in it, enjoy the pleasures and happiness it brings, most of all live a life of thankfulness and gratefulness.

The rot has set in down at Bomberland.
After 9 losses or 161 days without a victory, a group of 12 members from the Essendon Football Club have decided enough is enough. They want the head coach sacked.

I wonder if Lloyd and Hird were both not out at the moment, they would still be feeling the same way? Is Sheedy a wily old fox, or an old has-been as these supporters suggest? Either way I dont think this public display of disunity will do the club any good at all.

http://www.sacksheedy.com/

Not looking forward particularly to this Sunday arvo.
The Bulldogs might just give us a touch up at the dome, despite the absence of Robert Murphy, who is out for the season. Perhaps more importantly, Steve Butler, from the West, and renowned Freo basher, has tipped us to win. Thats a sure sign things are not going to go well for us.

The TAB have West Toast installed at $1.03 to beat the Carlton Blues. That is the lowest price in modern AFL history. So sure are the West Coast fans of winning that my West Coast loving brother in law tried to get tickets. He wont even watch the game until he knows the West Toast have won!!

Could be a sad sad trip to the deli for the paper Monday morning.
Pavlich will be captain this week in Bell's absence. On the small Telstra Dome lets hope he kicks a bag and drags us over the line.

Churches in Germany are opening up their building and getting in big screens for Soccer (oops) football fans to watch the teams play the World Cup. Sounds great!
LINK



We are doing the same thing.

There has been a real growth in the focus of Rick Warren's ministry in the past 12 months or so.
He has publicly expressed regret at his inaction over the situation in Africa and other places, particularly in regard to Aids devastation.
This article is great, and merely reinforces my belief that Rick Warren is on the right track. He does not apologise for his conservative beliefs, but does put his faith and love into action. I love what he says here, "The New Testament says the church is the body of Christ, but for the last 100 years, the hands and feet have been amputated, and the church has just been a mouth. And mostly, it's been known for what it's against. ... I'm so tired of Christians being known for what they're against."

Aint that the truth.
It reminds me of this line from U2, which I suspect is directed at churches,
"You speak of signs and wonders, But I need something otherI would believe if I was able,
But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table"

Here is the bible reference. Matthew 15:21-27: Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

As a church grows and becomes strong, it can and should do more in this area. This is what secular people applaud when they see a church doing, and what Jesus called us to do when He said, "as you have done for the least of these, you have done for me"

Rick Warren Interview

Here is some grabs from an interview with Rob Bell, the author of "The Velvet Elvis" and producer of the NOOMA videos. That reminds me, there is a new one out, I must grab it!

"He's fond of punk music, he surfs and has a trampoline in his yard, but he also knows Hebrew and Greek and can preach the gospel astutely, and, apparently, with great appeal.
So much so that Mars Hill, the congregation Bell co-founded with a small group of friends seven years ago, is one of the fastest growing churches in U.S. history, drawing more than 10,000 worshippers each week (plus another 30,000 or so who download MP3s of the weekly services from the church Web site.) "

"The Emergent (or Emerging) church is a largely youth-oriented movement within evangelical Christianity that has appeared over the past 20 years and is characterized by its attempts to deconstruct -- and then reconstruct -- what it means to be a Christian today. Bell bristles at the Emergent label, insisting it's one he's never applied to himself or Mars Hill"

I love Rob Bell's stuff. He is seriously the best preacher I have ever heard, for this generation. His message of grace, true spiritual freedom is awesome. Rob Bell inspires me to plunge deep into the stories of the Bible every time I hear him speak.
LINK

They deserved to win, after coming back from 50 points down. As much as I cant stand them, it was an extraordinary effort, Juddless.
Where too for Geelong? After winning the Pre Season Cup they were a premiership fancy. Now they have shown us how fragile they are.

After the boring as game we were forced to watch on Channel Nine's Friday Night Football last night, there is only more bad news for Footy Fans. Essendon have five more Friday Night Games.
The Bombers were not just beaten last night, but thrashed by 138 points by Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

Thank goodness there is one Friday Night that will be worth watching.
Roll on Round 14 Fri 7 July Fremantle v Essendon Subiaco Oval
I wont be there, unfortunately, I will be in Sydney. Have to find a sports bar somewhere that night.

Link

Saturday Night Football tommorow. But no Saturday night Clive
We are coming up against a team which has won a few games in the last few weeks, including a nail biter against premiership favourites Adelaide.
Yet I am feeling pretty confident about this one.
Richmond just smell like a very brittle team, one that could implode at any time. With no Richardson, who truly is a good player, and no Nathan Brown, where are their goals going to come from?
Interesting to see Schoefield being dropped. I watched the tape from two weeks ago, and I counted once, just once, that he hit a target. Unfortunately every time he has possession of the ball, I can feel the whole crowd groaning.
However even old leather face wont be able to coach them to a win this week.
GO YOU MIGHTY DOCKERS!

You know what else? I have a feeling that Geelong might get up this weekend as well. What a great Monday paper that would be! GO YOU MIGHTY CATS!

In a follow up to my previous post about Laidley and a leaders responsibility.
This from The Australian
"The family's "son and brother" was a "very passionate, long-time Kangaroos' member and supporter. They stressed his death was not related to the "verbal exchange with Dean Laidley".
"Andrew had been receiving support and counselling for depression. We hold no grievance against Dean Laidley or North Melbourne Football Club."

I dont think Laidley did anything wrong at all. Sometimes as a leader you need to be frank, speak the truth and share your own feelings.
In this case Laidley did not know the whole story. He did not know this guy was suffering from depression, and probably went to the Footy as a release from reality, and felt even more depressed when his team lost. (As a Dockers Member I can relate!)
Neither do I as a leader know the whole story when I am speaking to someone. Even if I ask for it, I dont always get told what is really going on. It's not easy, all you can be is honest to yourself and honest to God, because if you choose to be a leader, or even have leadership thrust upon you, you will be misunderstood.

Having said all that, the title of the post is "Kangaroo Fan suffering". No matter what sort of group of people you are leading, you must be sensitive to what is going on for them, if you are to truly be a great leader. Not fake sincerity, not use them for your own gain, not help them for your own ego. Loving and caring for and leading people does bring you joy, joy that is far better than seeing them used under your leadership for your own purposes.

Brian McLaren on The Da Vinci Code An interview by Lisa Ann Cockrel
With The Da Vinci Code poised to go from bestseller list to the big screen on May 19, pastor and writer (and Sojourners board member) Brian McLaren talks about why he thinks there's truth in the controversial book's fiction.
What do you think the popularity of The Da Vinci Code reveals about pop culture attitudes toward Christianity and the church?
Brian McLaren: I think a lot of people have read the book, not just as a popular page-turner but also as an experience in shared frustration with status-quo, male-dominated, power-oriented, cover-up-prone organized Christian religion. We need to ask ourselves why the vision of Jesus hinted at in Dan Brown's book is more interesting, attractive, and intriguing to these people than the standard vision of Jesus they hear about in church. Why would so many people be disappointed to find that Brown's version of Jesus has been largely discredited as fanciful and inaccurate, leaving only the church's conventional version? Is it possible that, even though Brown's fictional version misleads in many ways, it at least serves to open up the possibility that the church's conventional version of Jesus may not do him justice?
So you think The Da Vinci Code taps into dissatisfaction with Jesus as we know him? McLaren: For all the flaws of Brown's book, I think what he's doing is suggesting that the dominant religious institutions have created their own caricature of Jesus. And I think people have a sense that that's true. It's my honest feeling that anyone trying to share their faith in America today has to realize that the Religious Right has polluted the air. The name "Jesus" and the word "Christianity" are associated with something judgmental, hostile, hypocritical, angry, negative, defensive, anti-homosexual, etc. Many of our churches, even though they feel they represent the truth, actually are upholding something that's distorted and false. I also think that the whole issue of male domination is huge and that Brown's suggestion that the real Jesus was not as misogynist or anti-woman as the Christian religion often has been is very attractive. Brown's book is about exposing hypocrisy and cover-up in organized religion, and it is exposing organized religion's grasping for power. Again, there's something in that that people resonate with in the age of pedophilia scandals, televangelists, and religious political alliances. As a follower of Jesus I resonate with their concerns as well.
Do you think the book contains any significantly detrimental distortions of the Christian faith? McLaren: The book is fiction and it's filled with a lot of fiction about a lot of things that a lot of people have already debunked. But frankly, I don't think it has more harmful ideas in it than the Left Behind novels. And in a certain way, what the Left Behind novels do, the way they twist scripture toward a certain theological and political end, I think Brown is twisting scripture, just to other political ends. But at the end of the day, the difference is I don't think Brown really cares that much about theology. He just wanted to write a page-turner and he was very successful at that.

Here is a reply to him
"The problem with what McLaren says here is that he cannot (or will not) distinguish what is malignant from what is benign. No one goes to hell merely for believing dispensational premillenialism, a theology of the end times that is portrayed in the "Left Behind" novels. Yet anyone who denies the deity of Jesus most certainly will, and this is precisely what is argued in "The Da Vinci Code."

Left Behind People's response

I find myself in the unusual position of siding more with McLaren than his detractors on this one because a lot of what McLaren is saying is true. People who don't know church history have lots of false presuppositions. Yet I have an issue with anyone who won't really explain clearly (propositionally) what he believes yet is telling me or others that what we articulate propositionally is false. (Mc Laren) Mc Laren ducks and weaves more than Josh Carr coming out of a crowded pack.

Last night I headed off in the cold night air, through the smog settling over Perth for the late night session of the "Da Vinci Code"

As I settled into the Cinema for a very rare treat, seeing a movie, a fog of a different kind settled over me. The Code left me underwhelmed, on purely an enjoyment level. It was neither thrilling, action packed or intriguing. Maybe too much has been said about it already so the exciting developments were rather misty, rather than shattering. There were a few scary moments as the white haired angel jumped out of the shadows, but it was not really a thriller.

On the other level of being an affront to Christianity it certainly made me think. What, if anything, was Dan Brown trying to say? Or was it more that he did not really care about anything but his own self interests? In other words, the controversy meant nothing much to him apart from more book sales.

One thing that did concern me was the loose handling of the supposed historical basis for this yarn. Too many flaws to go into concerning Constantine, the formation of scripture and Mary Magdelene. They were presented in a far different light to how accurate history reveals them.
The Gnostic gospels do not state, as was stated in the movie, that Jesus married, or was a companion of Mary Magdelene. The true gospels speak little of Mary M, but make it clear she was a harlot, who found Christ.
The thrust or theme of the movie is that the Church has repressed the feminine side of Christianity, which is certainly true. But how it comes to that conclusion, with false conspiracies, fanciful historical facts and mishandling of any truth is far too easy to dismiss for any reasonble historcial analysis.

That is not to say I dont think it is a great yarn, it is. What concerns me is that those with little or no knowledge of true church history may assume that those facts which are presented as historical facts will be accepted as true.

You are frustrated, angry and dissapointed about something. Someone has a go at you, and you bite back. You let them know what they said was unnacceptable. You dont know them.

Hours later you hear they have died.

This is just what has happened to Dean Laidley, coach of the Kangaroos.
He had a verbal stoush with a fan as he was walking onto the field after the Roos suffered another defeat.
The slighty drunk fan, drinking from a can of beer, taunted Dean Laidley.
Then Laidley did something unusual for an AFL Coach and stopped and told the supporter he was welcome to follow him onto the oval to see for himself how disappointed the players were. Apparently the fan had been mouthing off all day, and said something like, "there's our season gone".
Asked why he reacted, Laidley said, "I just thought, I'm sure at that point all the supporters share the disappointment, and I just wanted to bring him down and say, 'Look, we're hurting as much as you guys'."

The guy was hit by a train later on that day, so it may have been related to what Dean said, it may not have.
Either way it is a real indication that as leaders we need to be really careful what we say, even if what we are saying is correct. Sometimes responsibility can bite us really badly.
Will be interesting to see how the club handles it from here on in.

Link

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