Oh someone up there is looking after me.

I rock up at Midland shops at about 7.30am to get my derby tickets.
Now Midland shops is undergoing a huge redevelopment, and I am waiting outside at the wrong glass doors. What I mean is that the entry I am going to go through when the security guard opens the door is miles from the Wesley Music store aka Tickemaster booth.

Thankfully for me the security guard opens my door, I spend about five minutes wandering through the store until I find Ticketmaster.
As I wait outside I am struck by the fact that there is normally about 50 people already waiting there.

Then I glance to my right and see about 100 people waiting outside, right near the store, for the security guard to let them in!
They come rushing in about five minutes later and demand to know how I got in, and I tell them. The lady who was there first has been waiting since 3am!!!
Unfortunately for her, she is an Eagles fan, and does not realise that Eagles fans cannot buy tickets today, members already have theirs, and only Dockers fans can buy them.
She trudges off very upset.
The next lady is a mad keen Dockers supporter, and has been waiting since 5am!!
I stroll in, and she has been waiting for ages!!!
Worse is to come.
The Ticketmaster computer is playing up, and they take until about 9.13 to get my tickets, two tickets at opposite ends of the ground.
The poor lady behind me gets restricted viewing tickets.
Only three more people get theirs, the rest miss out!
All Derby Tickets gone by 9.15am.

What a win!
Hard, pressured, mature footy from a team who obviously had not read the script.
Ladder leader, at home, McLeod back in, 50 000 rabid Croweaters cheering on, dubious home town umpiring..........

Farmer, what defensive pressure. Who has taught him to play the team game? Yes, he kicked a lazy 70 when he played for Melbourne, but he mostly cared about himself back then. Now he cares about the team.....

Matthew Carr........ did team playmaker Simon Goodwin play?? Because I didn't see him under the BLANKET that Josh's brother was carrying around.

Great to see J LO back out there as well.

Despite there often being 3, yes 3, defenders hanging off Pavlich, he still managed to cause plenty of headaches for the Crows, even when he went into the midfield.

My prediction for next week? Well, myriad is going to be a very sad sad place to be on Sunday night. Maybe Saint Gaz could do a series on Jeremiah, the weeping prophet... :)

p.s. this late news in from the Herald Sun
"Centrebet now has Fremantle at $15 for the flag and spokesman Gerard Daffy noted there is a chance it could get two home finals if results fall its way.
"We expect them to win their last three games and that includes beating the Eagles at Subiaco," Daffy said.
"That would mean they are every chance to finish either third or fourth, meaning they could easily meet the Eagles at Subiaco (in the first week of the finals), which is obviously their home ground.
"They've already beaten the Eagles this year and if they beat them in their first final then they would go straight to a preliminary home final. Suddenly it is looking very good for a team that most had written off just over a month ago.
"They have been backed solidly all season and are a loser for us and were a loser on the weekend.
"One punter had $4000 on them at $2.50 at quarter-time (yesterday) and another had $10,000 at $1.55 at halftime. They were actually back out to $2.50 at three-quarter time when Adelaide came back.
"They were a loser for us in the game, being backed from $3.65 into $2.90."

Not always an easy job, not often an easy job.
Dealing with people, sad ones, depressed ones, frustrated ones, impatient ones.

When it comes to matters of spirituality, everyone has an opinion, some strong ones as well.
We cant all be right.

I wonder sometimes about the balance between spiritualising matters and being pragmatic.
How more churches don't split apart is beyond me.

"Give me wisdom, strength and vision God. Help me to lead well. "

In the old days the word 'awesome' was used much differently to how it is now.
In the old sense it was used to mean "to hold something as serious, as of significance". It was a serious word, a word meant to invoke feelings of reverence.
As I think about trying to lead people in spiritual matters, I wonder, what the heck am I doing? This is an 'awesome' responsibility, even if it is only a small church.
I also wonder about those great spiritual leaders of our day. I dont think half of them know what they are doing, if any of them .
We are all so fragile, our feet are made of clay.

As I looked around our childrens program today, and the room was absolutely packed, I wondered, what the heck are we doing? This semester we started the third day of the program, and it is now bursting at the seams, with families in need of the live and joy Jesus offers.
What an 'awesome' responsibility.
I dont want to take it lightly, but neither do I want to think there is really much wisdom in me to make it all work.

Here's a great article from one of the board members of the FFC.

article

This line in particular took my fancy,
"Others are not so observant. During the mid-season break ABC Radio had an "in-depth" look at each club. You may remember that Fremantle took the break after its worst performance since 2001 - thrashed at home by Geelong. Former Carlton captain Mark Maclure, now a special comments man on the ABC, had the solution. Fremantle had to act immediately he said - not at the end of the season - but right away. It was time to get rid of Peter Bell, Jeff Farmer and Paul Medhurst. By the way Peter Bell didn't play in the Geelong game. Maclure's argument was that Bell is no longer the player he was at North Melbourne and that Farmer and Medhurst were (like ever other small forward in the history of the game) too inconsistent. You can bet he's pleased that Medhurst in currently playing in the WAFL but you can be equally sure he's saying "I told ya so" all that often when discussion turns to Fremantle. As has been mentioned before on this page lots of people talk about footy on the wireless and the TV - the important thing is that while we may tune in we're not obligated to really listen. "

"If God is silent, what's that to you? If he turns his face away, what can you do about it? But whether silent or hidden, he's there, ruling," - Job 34:29 (MSG)

Speaking from the book of Job this week, wow, what a book.
The oldest book in the bible confronts the most modern of questions,
"Where is God when life sucks?"

"You can measure the size of a man

by the size of the thing

he gets angry at"

Freo heave ho!!!
We are a silly chance to beat the Crows this week, especially with this news, just in....
"Mark Ricciuto, Adelaide, has accepted a one-game sanction for striking James Clement, Collingwood, during the first quarter of the Round 18 match between Adelaide and Collingwood, played at AAMI Stadium on Saturday August 5, 2005."

Footy Goss

Australind Baptist Church has nowhere to meet this week after the Tornado which ripped through Australind on Monday destroyed the Settler Community Hall.
Pastor Wayne Field said that, "A mini tornado hit Australind this morning. Fortunately no families from Australind Baptist Church have suffered any damage to their homes, though other residents in Settler's estate did not escape unscathed. A number of homes have been destroyed and trees flattened in a stretch about 200m wide and 2km long".
There have been no injuries reported from the tornado, which was forecast by the Bureau of Meterology.
Australind Baptist Church was fortunate in that most of the church gear was locked away in cupboards that kept the weather out, and so it has been preserved.
Their popular community program, Toddler Jam, will also have to find another place to meet, which is unfortunate as it popular with many of the local families.

Settler's Hall will most likely be demolished as the force of the tornado has lifted the roof, blown out windows and buckled walls. Pastor Wayne Field has commented that this is an opportunity for the growing church, which was finding the local hall constrictive to their congregation.

In a move bound to make environmental experts all round the world nervous, Michael Bullard has finally rid himself of his old laptop including the laptop power supply.
I received this post from Michael, "BTS - the power supply of the laptop is now gone - 10 kg off my desk.The new one is much smaller, though not as small as many. "

One wonders how Michael managed to get the laptop battery off his desk, which surely must have had steel reinforcement under it. Did Barry let him bring a forklift into the office?

And what is the Stirling Council going to say about Michael dumping the laptop battery at the local tip? How is he going to sneak it past the guard?

Great game against a determined Hawks side today.
Good mature consistent footy.
Cook was excellent, tough in the packs, and set up about 3 of our goals.
Farmer has taken his game to another level with intense tackling, determined and focused playing. He is playing better footy now that he did at Melbourne.
Bell lead from the front, good to see Justin L back and firing, and Sandi was particularly agressive today, which he needs to be to get the best out of his game.
Amazing ladder at the moment with 6 of the 8 sides being equal on points.
If it were not for our lousy percentage we could be 3rd on the ladder!

I know logic says otherwise, but I think we are a silly chance against ladder leaders Adelaide next week, and then onto the INCONSISTENT Saints.

Then of course the Derby.
Now here are the blog rules for commenting on the Derby.
Watching the occaisional last five minutes of a West Coast game DOES not make you a supporter of the Toasters, it makes you a bandwagon hopping, chardonny sipping, kneedle knitting ignoramus, like many West Australians. :)

I have been a member of the Dockers for years know, go to every game, watch every game, have 7 Dockers shirts in the wardrobe. I have suffered for many years, I am a supporter.
If you are a West Coast 'supporter' because that is an easier choice than being a real member or supporter, then...................

On the other hand, if you suffered through 2000 and 2001, during the Judge years, and are a real supporter, let the sledging begin :) :)

Once again, you cant trust St Kilda.
With everything to play for, inconsistent footy again.

Although I could not bring myself to cheer for the Weagles, part of me was glad they won.
That brief hope of a top four finish is kept alive.

I have been trying to source a good communion video for this Sunday, but was unable to get what I wanted.
So I have grabbed a copy of Ulead and made my own.
It is suprisingly easy, if time consuming.
I have used one of the new songs off Hillsongs new album, combined it with some Bible texts and thoughts, and some videos of crucifixion scenes and also a budding flower.
It has turned out well.
Is video the new bible reading? I think it might be. Rather than only standing and reading the bible, which can be really effective if done well, this is another way to bring to people's minds the truth of the text.

Hopefully my skills will not detract from the message, but enhance. We'll see.

Its a real shame some Aussie Churches (big ones) dont give away some of the stuff they are doing. American stuff is often done well, and I use it, but sometimes it loses something with the cultural differences, and even hearing someone using a non Aussie accent can be distracting as well. A lot of the Aussie stuff I have seen has been done by uni students, and is not really very mature (!).

Despite the protestations of some this Sunday's game against the Hawthorn Hawks should be a walk in the park for the fired up Freo boys.
I would venture to say we are the form team in the competition at the moment, having won our last four games, at least two of which was against top four sides.

Spida Everitt is out, Longmuir is in to help the awesome Sandilands, and so our tough in and under brigade should make short work of the clearances.
With Murphy Pav and Farmer up forward, against the injured Croad, and the fantastic 'no name' back line I am pretty confident we will smash them.

(Which as a long suffering Freo fan has me a little worried :) )

ps I am little torn, I dont know who to go for in the Weagles v Saints. My dislike for all things blue and gold is well known, but part of me is still hoping for a top four finish, which wont be helped if St Kilda keeps up its inconsistency and wins this week.

We had a great meeting last night discussing the children's ministries in our church.
What a great great great bunch of leaders we have. They are all motivated, skilled and creative. In fact I would say they are passionate about seeing kids come to know Jesus and grow into socially creative and adjusted young adults.

Its truly a blessing to hear all the things going on in our Kids ministries programs. A Church consulatant shared with us that the most important aspect of growing a church, is having relevants children's programs, and I think he is right. Our guys are doing a great job!

Despite his technological ineptitude, Michael can string some great words together.
A timely post over at the Choco's blog caught my eye.
Well written Michael.

"Can I suggest the following “questions” to be used as a filter for the expression of our opinions towards and concerning one another (whether on a blog, from a pulpit, or just in casual conversation).
Will this communication build up the body of Christ?
Will this communication maintain the unity of the body of Christ?
Have I communicated to the person(s) or group(s) concerned and expressed my critique to them and given them opportunity to respond and correct or change their perspective before I communicate mine?
Have I judged the motives of the people / groups I am writing or speaking about?
Do I have the best interests of the other person or group in mind?
Am I speaking out of revenge / wounded pride / bitterness etc?
Am I free to not communicate? "

Rest of post at Choco'c blog

Email, once the bastion of youth, is now being confined to work and old people.
Young folk are much more likely to be quickly developing arthritis from SMSing or more likely using msn.

(Story)

I have recently started (I know I know, its been around for ages) using MSN.
Now all I have to do is get Michael Bullard to start using it and I will save him about $10 a week in stamps, yes stamps. Michael has been training up some pidgeons for a rainy day, just in case. His back is not getting any younger either, and carrying that laptop battery around is causing him to stoop.

After a fairly scratchy start Freo did enough in the 3rd quarter today to win the game against Carlton.
A dissapointing fourth quarter meant we did not get the percentage boosting win we wanted, but we won by 18 points.

Ryan Murphy was excellent with an accurate 5 goals.
Pav did enough, Farmer was hard working and Johnson was excellent, as was Sandilands.
Mundy was exceptional as well.

Thanks to the Roo's for knocking off Geelong and giving us a two game buffer in the eight.
If we get over the hapless Hawks, we should have done enough to make the finals this year.

Where to for Paul Medhurst? He could have been anything, but I cant see him getting another game this year.

With the weagles winning and the Bombers recording their second win of the season, who would be a bookie? Both entered their games as distinct underdogs, and both recorded emphatic wins.
As much as I would have preferred to pick up the Sunday Times and read the headline, "Shaky Eagles go down to Premiership Favourites Adelaide", at least it shows why the AFL is so enjoyed by so many people. It is a truly unpredictable game. Even the shape of the ball and oval is not 'regular'.

Three part series I am doing in August.....

From Rick Warren's mail out,

"If you're in a job with a bunch of bad people who curse and swear and tell coarse jokes, I don't feel a bit sorry for you. They're probably why you're there."

Neale Danniher, coach of the defeated Melbourne Demons, has come out and said that the home town crowd at the Freo Melbourne game was a major reason why Freo beat Melbourne.

Certainly crowd reports from the game indicate that this was the loudest crowd we have had all year. It was a record crowd for a game between Freo and Melbourne.
Maybe it was also the fact that Freo played really tight hard footy for four quarters. Maybe that is why the crowd was so appreciative.

Either way Neales comments indicate that having 36, 000 people cheering for you if far better for you as a team than having 36, 000 people not really appreciating you (!)

This should be great fun!

Prompted by the latest "50 most influential churches" I have come up with my own list.

The 50 most list was composed by Americans, and with obviously blinkered view, all 50 are American.

My top five in the world.
1. Hillsong Church Australia (Houston) More than any other church in the world, this church has got churches co operating as the walls have come down. Most if not all evangelical churches in the world use their worship. Yes I am bias, but I think I could mount a good argument for it none the less.
2. Willow Creek (Hybels) Started off a revolution
3. Saddleback (Warren) Caused us to rethink our mission
4. Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea (Yonggi Cho) (253.000 people)
5. Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican Church (Nicky Gumbel) All around the world, many churches use the ALPHA course of evangelism Holy Trinity Brompton


Now here is the top churches/people that have influenced me personally

1. Albany Church of Christ Mark Randall was a passionate speaker and inspired me to be a Pastor in my formative Christian years.
2. Saddleback Rick Warren inspires me with his integrity and purpose
3. Jack Deere God is not contained in the theological constraints I placed him in
4. Hillsong Lets be relevant and passionate okay?
5. Paul Borden Ministry is too important to get caught up in politics

The Weagles cant do anything right. I wanted them to win this week, for Freo's sake, and get Colliwobbles down to our amount of points.

But JW was outcoached by a fired up Malthouse.
Freo made Collingwood look ordinary last week, the weagles had no answers for the match ups this week.

Who is meant to kick goals for the Weagles?

Speaking about being the "Salt of the Earth" on Sunday.

Pretty challenging stuff, especially when Jesus says that salt that has lost its saltiness gets chucked away and trampled on.

This song from U2 is one that is good, I am using it to kick off the service.
Look at the last line, great thought. Do we understand with all the crap going on in the world, that the church is actually responsible? If we are called to be salt and light, we are not doing a good job.


The more you see the less you know The less you find out as you go I knew much more then than I do nowNeon heart day-glow eyes A city lit by fireflies They're advertising in the skiesFor people like us And I miss you when you're not around I'm getting ready to leave the ground Oh you look so beautiful tonight In the city of blinding lights Don't look before you laugh Look ugly in a photographFlash bulbs purple irises The camera can't seeI've seen you walk unafraid I've seen you in the clothes you made Can you see the beauty inside of me? What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?(cut) And I miss you when you're not around I'm getting ready to leave the ground Oh you look so beautiful tonight In the city of blinding lights Time...time...time...time...time Won't leave me as I am But time won't take the boy out of this manOh you look so beautiful tonight Oh you look so beautiful tonight Oh you look so beautiful tonight In the city of blinding lights
The more you know the less you feel
Some pray for others steal
Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel... luckily

Well the well known preacher was the recently departed
IOANNES PAULUS II.


Interesting that what he was saying was scriptural, spot on, challenging etc.
I dont know if there is a point to any of this, I just found it interesting.


Link

You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world" (Mt 5:13-14): The images of salt and light used by Jesus are rich in meaning and complement each other. In ancient times, salt and light were seen as essential elements of life.
"You are the salt of the earth...". One of the main functions of salt is to season food, to give it taste and flavour. This image reminds us that, through Baptism, our whole being has been profoundly changed, because it has been "seasoned" with the new life which comes from Christ (cf. Rom 6:4). The salt which keeps our Christian identity intact even in a very secularized world is the grace of Baptism. Through Baptism we are re-born. We begin to live in Christ and become capable of responding to his call to "offer [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom 12:1). Writing to the Christians of Rome, Saint Paul urges them to show clearly that their way of living and thinking was different from that of their contemporaries: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Rom 12:2).
For a long time, salt was also used to preserve food. As the salt of the earth, you are called to preserve the faith which you have received and to pass it on intact to others. Your generation is being challenged in a special way to keep safe the deposit of faith (cf. 2 Th 2:15; 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:14).
Discover your Christian roots, learn about the Church’s history, deepen your knowledge of the spiritual heritage which has been passed on to you, follow in the footsteps of the witnesses and teachers who have gone before you! Only by staying faithful to God’s commandments, to the Covenant which Christ sealed with his blood poured out on the Cross, will you be the apostles and witnesses of the new millennium.
It is the nature of human beings, and especially youth, to seek the Absolute, the meaning and fullness of life. Dear young people, do not be content with anything less than the highest ideals! Do not let yourselves be dispirited by those who are disillusioned with life and have grown deaf to the deepest and most authentic desires of their heart. You are right to be disappointed with hollow entertainment and passing fads, and with aiming at too little in life. If you have an ardent desire for the Lord you will steer clear of the mediocrity and conformism so widespread in our society.


Which well known preacher said this? I'll give you one clue, he is dead, recently.

My good friend has just given me an O2 XDA II Device.

Now I have actually thrown away my diary, literally, it is in the bin. And my wife has been given my mobile phone, and I still have my well worn NLT Bible, and so the title of this post was meant to shock, more than be accurate (I should work for the West).

But what a brilliant device this is. It has a great system, good memory with an exapandable slot, good media player (listening to Delirious at the moment) and I have also downloaded E Sword to it (Bible Program).

I used to think people with these devices were just propeller heads, maybe they still are, but it really is useful.

(PS Michael Bullard, you really should get one, it will save you lugging that desktop computer around and pretending to everyone it is a laptop. The battery alone needs its own trailer)

Here is an interesting article in the SMH

Rick spoke about this article when at Hillsong.
Interesting, but not much more information than we already know.
Obviously the money issue is the one the press are most interested in, not the lives being helped.
(Thanks to Bagga for the Link)

The story in the West and splashed all over the TV News last night was all about the plight of West Coast Ruckman Michael Gardiner.
The West's story this morning detailed his on and off field drama's over the last few years.

Michael set out last night to grab some late night takeaway in his V8 Commodore. Only problem was Michael had been consuming Vodka, was drunk and smashed his car and two others.

This is a sad story for many reasons.

Michael is a very talented player. Many Aussie blokes would love to have his talent.
Michael has thrown it away because of one foolish choice after another.
It has come to light that this was his chance. He had six weeks during Cox's abscence to prove himself, and with Cox out, and West Coast's excellent midfield, he could have done it.

Instead he has made another foolish decision. What is perhaps more worrying is his lack of responsibility about it. He claimed he was not drinking, and had not done much wrong.
Unfortunately the blood alcohol limit was well over .08 and his own teamates and coach expressed their view that he had let the side down badly, which he has.

There is a distinct possibility Michael will not be covered by insurance if found guilty of driving under the influence. This will cost him a considerable amount of money, in fixing his own car, and two others, as well as court fines.

I feel sad for the young man, who at 26, had the world at his feet. With one bad decision he has hurt himself and set a bad example for others.

Lets hope he can turn it around. With just a few good decisions that is possible.
Get stuck into his footy at Claremont, pay his bills, face up to his responsibilties. With all the terrible stories of young Aussie males harming themselves intentionally, lets hope Michael seeks help.

Just a brief thought I wanted to write down and think about.

We have all heard the cliche, if one door shuts, dont worry, another will open.

I dont think thats true.
Maybe God wants us to smash down the closed door. Maybe the door is put there by someone who does not have our or God's best interests at heart.
Maybe we give up too quickly and too easily, citing God's will, when in fact its us being lazy or wanting things to be easy.

"Let go and Let God" , what a crock. Life is hard and tough sometimes. We dont get what we want, or even what we think God wants for our lives. Sometimes we get the exact opposite of what we think God would want for us, and it does not seem fair.

I dont see Jesus stopping when the going got tough. I see him going and being flogged to death for what He believed in. No easy road for that Warrior. If that was one door shutting, Jesus allowed it to slam shut in His face.
There was no easy door opened for Him to go through, and I wonder if there are many easy doors opened for us.

Malthouse was comprehensively outcoached today by the positive Chris Connolly.
One interesting tactic which the team employed in the last quarter was long torpedo kicks into the 50. It has come out after the game that this was a tactic Chris instigated amongst the players, and it worked a treat. It kept the Pies defenders on their toes, and with Jeff Farmer running amok in the forward 50, we won a good quality game.

Special Mentions to Bell, 38 Possessions, Josh Carr, brilliant, tough and in it when it counted.
Drum played well for a young player, kicking a valuable goal, and his first in AFL.
Sandilands won it in the middle for us consistently, and it showed in the clearances.

Pavlich did not have his best game, and the defender on him played out of his skin, but Pav still managed to kick some goals.
Mc Pharlin played in defense and played well on Rocca.

Des Hedland got a rev up at half time and it showed with a BOG third quarter.
Shaun, my favourite player, also played well, without needing to dominate.
Go Freo!!
Next week against the Melbourne Demons will be a tough tough test, even at Subi. But the Demons do not fear Subi. But don't write us off, if we play like we did today, we are in with a chance.

Just one note on the umpires.
They played some very soft frees to both sides, and while they were consistent in their softness, it does not help the players, who were getting very frustrated from both sides.

Great game between the Saints and Dons.
Dissapointing from a Freo POV that Essendon could not win. But thats life.

Mc Phee does not look at his best either. That's what happens when a average player has to play as a key play maker.

Robert Harvey is a trooper. Defintely amongst the best players on the field today.
But overall St Kilda's effort, with such a talented side, was pretty dissapointing, they dont really have anything to be proud of, winning in the dying minutes of the game, having been behind most of the day to a team who have been terrible most of the year.
Essendon have never had such a bad season in my memory. Wonder who they are going to beat this season, maybe the Blues? How the mighty coaches of the AFL have fallen.

I am speaking from Jeremiah 33 tommorow.

6"Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem's damage and give her prosperity and peace. 7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their cities. 8I will cleanse away their sins against me, and I will forgive all their sins of rebellion. 9Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see the good I do for my people and will tremble with awe!
10"This is what the LORD says: You say, `This land has been ravaged, and the people and animals have all disappeared.' Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah's other towns, there will be heard once more 11the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD. They will sing,

In this passage the people of Israel, Gods only children find themselves in exile, being attacked, facing an uncertain future. Where is God in all of this?
Where is God when we suffer?

At the Hillsong Conference Delirious sung this song, listing some of the awful things we face, yet we are still able to cry out, in faith, Our God Reigns. Its a beautiful paradox.

40 million babies lost to Gods great orphanage,It’s a modern day genocide and a modern day disgraceIf this is a human right then why aren’t we free?The only freedom we have is in a man nailed to a tree.100 million faces, staring at the sky,Wondering if this HIV will ever pass us by.The devil stole the rain and hope trickles down the plug,But still my Chinese take away could pay for someone’s drugs.

Our God reigns, Our God reigns, Forever your kingdom reigns.

The west has found a gun and it’s loaded with ‘unsure’Nip and tuck if you have the bucks in a race to find a cure.Psalm one hundred and thirty nine is the conscience to our selfish crime,God didn’t screw up when he made you,He’s a father who loves to parade you.

Yes he reigns, yes you reign, yes you reign, For there is only one true God,

But we’ve lost the reins on this world,Forgive us all, forgive us please,As we fight for this broken world on our knees.

Written by Delirious? ©2005 Curious? Music UK

Here is the link includes some info and pictures of his time at Hillsong.
I took this photo from my 'cheap seat' on the side of the stage. Rick was dressed very casually, no ritz, no white suit, just the simple bu powerful word of God, spoken by a man who is as far as I can discern, a humble speaker and gifted by God.

http://www.rickwarren.com/

Been down south, Margaret River, Augusta, Cowarump (!)

Beautiful places, even during the colder months.
Melinda had organised a log cabin, right in the bush, which Clem and Ruby loved. Roasted marshmallows, red wine, slow roasted beef, long walks in the bush, lazy drives to the Margaret River Chocolate factory, games with the kids, expeditions down the Lake Cave in Augusta.

West Australia is a beautiful place, but back to work today.

Stuck in Sydney on a Friday night?
Want to watch the AFL Friday Night footy?
Good luck.

Guess what time the game is on? 5am Saturday Morning. Unbelievable.
Stupid channel nine. If they dont want to show the game at a reasonable time, let Foxtel take it. That way I could go down to the local pub, find a small tv away from the big screen NRL playing, and watch by beloved Dockers.
Listening to Wally (in name and nature) calling the game is just not the same.

Heading home tommorow after picking up some more presents for my beautiful wife and children. Having a understanding wife, who is willing to let me go for the week, and is such a competant mum really helps.

Reinhold Bonke 9.30am "How we make God visible"
Bonke spoke using various bible passages (Is 6, Mark 16, Exodus 14) on how God is made visible, despite being invisible. Obviously it is because we are to make Him visible. Bonke encouraged us to be like the disciple Peter who had to call out to Jesus, and then get out of the boat to walk on water.

Peter challenged Jesus, "can I come?"
The focus of the miracle was on the faith of Peter (despite his subsequent doubt)
In other words we are to understand that we have a responsibility to show Jesus and His power, it is through us He chooses to work.

Franklin Jentzen ""The seventh sneeze"
Have a guess where this sermon title comes from? Seriously, where in the Bible does it mention someone sneezing seven times?

Look up 2 Kings 4.32
This was the best sermons I have heard Franklin preach. Wonderful, insightful message on handling pressure and the contrast between the flesh and the spirit. He talked about how the sneeze is an involuntary expulsion of something unwanted. The boy came alive after sneezing seven times.

Franklin then went into the New Testament and then proceeded to give a wonderful overview of the difficulties, the hindrances, the early church faced. It was so interesting. Normally we hear how victorious and overcoming the early church was, but Franklin showed us how in fact there were 7 (at least) times the church was hindered.
Here are only some of the key ones....
Acts 5 Greed
Acts 6 "There arose a murmuring"
Acts 8 Fear
Acts 10 Racial predjuice

Franklin is such a passionate preacher, try to resist getting swept up into his message if you can! I could not. This was a moving and challenging message.

Bayliss Connor
Houston had his customary sore throat. (I have been coming for 6 years now, and he always gets a sore throat). Bobbie was not his fill in preacher (as she often is) but he called upon Baylis to preach.
He spoke on 2 Corinthians 6, Ps 119 and Is 54
His basic message was covered by Bruce Wilkinson in the prayer of Jabez, which Bayliss referenced and mentioned.
He called us to have a willingness to deal with manure (!), which provided perhaps a more balanced view than Wilkinson gave us.
It was a really encouraging message because he talked about the incredible difficulties his church has had in its relocation process. The council took them to court and they had incredible legal bills which were necesary because of some legal issue where the council try to take the property and do not need to give any compensation. The process of relocation was explained and was a four year process. With some churches only telling part of the story, it was great to hear the difficulties faced by this church.

One another incidental quote he gave was a beauty.
"God had a family before He had a church"
Yes, and important to remember what is most important.

Home and back to reality tommorow. Really refreshed and looking forward to preaching some of this stuff.

Franklin then

I started off today with a Gloria Jeans coffee. Its not the best coffee in the world, and not my favourite, but there is one right near our motel and grabbing one for the train ride to Accer Stadium is great on these cold Sydney mornings. With not much sleep happening, its also probably necessary.

Bill Hybels
Here is the 'big idea from Bill.
"What cant you stand? What brings tears to your eyes, what rises up a holy discontent within your spirit" This may be the area you should minister in. '
Another excellent and convicting message from a man who God has been seriously dealing with in the last few years.

Frank Damazio
Frank is perhaps a lesser known speaker to some of the others, but has a comprehensive book out on leadership. He is certainly on the more charismatic side of the church, which is fine by me, and challenged us to embrace the more spiritual side of leadership.
He said that spiritual leadership requires spiritual transformation.
Every idea needs anointing, needs spiritual empowerment.
Frank spent some time towards the end in 'ministry' by which he means praying for Pastors. It was a great time.
In his second session he said sometimes trials remind us of how there are times we cannot do anything but increase our faith and hope in God. Sometimes the trial is severe and we need to make a choice, to be bitter, or to grow in faith.
Frank also gave a stack of indicators of únbroken'leaders, 14 in fact.
One of the main indicators of an unknown leader is that they, "use manipulation to further their own agenda".

Reinholt Bonke spoke in the evening session and was his typical energetic, passionate and clear self. He used the parable of the talents to challenge us to be faithful over the little.
Another interesting aside, when asked by a TV reporter what he thought of women in ministry he replied, ïf I was drowing, I would not care if I was saved from death by a man or a woman"

Tiring yet inspiring day today.
I have spent a lot of time tonight in prayer and intercession for some men connected with our church. I pray God will continue to challenge me and refine me.
This has been a wonderful time of impartation, refreshment and renewal for me.
One more day to go!

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