No, I am not blogging a gaffe like our serial fluffer Opposition Leader Kim Beazley. I am drawing a connection between the tradgedy of the passing of actress and singer Belinda Emmet, and our own Docker Shaum Mc Manus.

On the Channel Ten report of Belinda's funeral, there were the wavy blonde locks of Shaun. I thought, only for a brief second, what's he doing there? Then the connection was clear, Shaun is Rove's cousin.
How sad, how terribly sad for the humorous lad from Willeton (Rove). Rove has always struck me as a very decent guy, with a strong and loving family. He once said that his sister had achieved far more than him in life because she had two wonderful children. Now Rove will not know that pleasure with his first love, Belinda. Terribly sad for the guy.

Seeing Shaun at the funeral brought home to me the reality of the situation. It is at these times that cousins, friends, people who really care about you gather around you. I wonder if Rove will ever recover? I think with his good humour and energy he will. Not for some time, but there will be hope and humour for him. I pray he finds peace and hope in the midst of his grief.

Bono will appear at Saddleback Church, with Rick Warren, at their World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

And an up and coming politician Mr. Obama will also appear. He appears to be a strong possibility for the next White House candidate.

Purpose Driven Candidate

I reckon one of the keys to a healthy life is to live a life of thankfulness.
Blessings, peace and joy come from deciding to be thankful. And it is a choice.
I am not subscribing to the 'name it and claim it' theology. Thats bunkum .

But think of the analogy God Himself gives us, He is our Father.
What sort of children does a Father love? I know what I am teaching my children, how to say thankyou, and when they say it of their own accord, it blesses me and others.

Most days I try to remember to thank God for my family (boy am I thankful for them!)
my church, yes, especially now,
and my life.

Thanks God too for the beautiful ciabata bread and organic coffee I made for breakfast.

Aaaaah, you were thinking or hoping for a deep theological thought, ah ah, you've come to the wrong blog :)

Hi all,
I know your all dying for the next exciting installment, here it is

Message Part Two

or right click and 'save target as' this one

Right click and save target as

There is something very soul building about doing hard work.
It is something we are designed for, from the garden, from the beginning.

As a Pastor, sometimes the work you are doing seems nebulous. There is no hole dug, no cabinet made, no bricks laid, to show for your work.

Leadership, inspiring, counselling, imparting, praying.
All people skills, all having their results in somewhat undefinable areas.

Then there are things like preparation, video and computer work, setting up stages, arranging events, producing brochures. These things are much more definable. Part of making things happen.

As Spiritual Leaders we cannot get away from work, to see a community transformed is difficult. If we expect it to be easy, or to pander to our own laziness, we are in the wrong field.

I dont think there are many things more controversial, or with the potential to be more controversial, than spanking your child.
In these politically correct days, the idea of inflicting pain to the 'seat of learning' may seem like an archaic and barbaric practice. The argument goes that violence begets violence.
Interesting logic. This generation will be the second that grows up with this generalised mindset. Lucky for us it has worked, and we live in a far less violent society (where is that sarcastic smilie gone??)

Of course we have not, we have grown up in a society with far less boundaries.
Ask yourself this, what would you prefer as a child?
To grow up knowing boundaries and respecting them, or to grow up with no real sense that there will be any retribution for wrong doing?

I love my kids, really love them. The thought of anyone causing them pain kills me. Listening to Wally Foreman's son talk about how he will miss his dad, had me crying.
Yet I want them to grow up knowing boundaries. They need to feel some pain when they have crossed the line.

"The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother...Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul." Proverbs 29:15, 17

On this blog I have bagged various organisations for bad or ordinary service.


Time for a great story.





Recently I bought a SAMSUNG copy/fax/printer for the church.


We have just transfered all our internet and phone stuff to AAPT who set up a duet line. This means we could keep our fax number, but have it on the same line, and get charged about 1/10th the price.





I suspected my new Samsung Fax would support this, so I rang their customer care guy. Not only did he help me, he rang me on my mobile so he could then ring my landline and set it up for me. I cant believe how

• knowledgable he was
  
• helpful he was
  
• efficient he was

He cared about my problem, knew how to fix it, and did!!!!!
His name was Mark by the way,
well done SAMSUNG

Preparing for my second part of the series on Parenthood.

Here is something thats interesting.

Skin hunger is a relatively new term that has been applied to the emotional response engendered by the loss of touch in our society. One of the five basic senses, touch is the only one deemed essential to human life. (emphasis mine) During WW II babies in orphanages developed Failure to thrive or even died when deprived of human contact. In a classic study by Harry Harlow, newborn monkeys were taken from their biological mothers and given surrogates made of either wire or soft terry cloth. The baby monkeys consistently chose the soft mother even when deprived of nourishment. The need for bonding outweighed even the basic necessity of food.
The need for touch extends beyond the early developmental years. It is the first sense to develop in utero and the last to diminish as we die. Babies and children with loving parents are cuddled and kissed and touched. As a child ages he seeks to become more independent and may even resist too much lovin'. How many of us parents have mourned the day our children became too big to sit in our laps anymore? Boys, especially, are discouraged from showing too much affection. To be a man means to be strong and stoic and emotion is deemed a sign of weakness.
Adolescence is a time of self discovery and growing sexual awareness. As kids grow into teens they may seek sexual intimacy even when not emotionally ready because the need for touch is so strong. How many girls have had sex prematurely when all they really wanted was to be held? Compounding the problem, many parents will decrease physical contact with their teens because of fears of inappropriateness.
Maturing into adults we face a world that explodes with sexual images but discourages more than a friendly nod or a handshake in public. Sexuality is OK but intimacy is not.
The elderly, the disabled and the very ill, aka the "Untouchables", are at greatest risk of touch deprivation. Living in isolated homes, the elderly and the disabled often have limited mobility and fears of victimization may prevent their venturing out. People with a terminal illness like HIV may have very little contact with another human being due to inherent fears of the disease. Although not as fulfilling as human contact, a pet may provide the bonding and comfort needed.

Story

It is fantastic. Does not matter what industry you are in, or what you are on about, this is a great site to visit for marketing and service tips and angles.

Ipod this, ipod that.
Apple's Ipod is the market leader of music players at the moment.
Trendy, stylish, easy to use, and trendy.

However consider this.
It has very limited transferability to other platforms
It only does one thing, or maybe two if you counnt playing videos.

Sony have introduced a mobile phone which is also a great Mp3 player.
My PDA is a smartphone and plays video and most audio files. It also has an expandable memory slot.

This means I only have to carry one instrument to do all those tasks.
I cant see the Ipod's sales domination lasting more than another 3 or 4 years, unless something dramatic changes about the product.

Parenthood Part One (spirituality and proactivity)

The truth, or perhaps more of the truth, has come out about Ted Haggard.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- Less than 24 hours after being fired from the mega-church he founded, evangelical Pastor Ted Haggard confessed to a "lifelong" sexual problem.
In a letter read to members of his New Life Church Sunday, Haggard said he is "a deceiver and a liar." Haggard apologized to his congregation in the letter and asked for their forgiveness.
"There is part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life," Haggard said in the letter read by Pastor Larry Stockstill, a member of the board of overseers of New Life Church. On Saturday, members of the board ousted Haggard from the 14,000-member church, citing his "sexually immoral conduct. story

Ted got up in front of the whole congregaion and wept and confessed. His wife has said she will stick by him.
Having observed these situations up close before, when a Pastor committs adultery, the only way for real healing for both the leader and the congregation, is for all the dirty stuff to be confessed to, be frank and honest about.
Men, men, men. The Valiant Man course we are doing at Bedford is so relevant to how I am feeling at the moment. Men have to be honest about the struggles they are going through, even if that struggle is one with homosexuality, sexual addiction, or something else which is embarassing and 'hidden'.

I don't want to lose any of my mates in the ministry to this sort of thing, nor do I want any of the blokes in my church to succumb to this, or be crippled but it.
We have got to get better at doing life together.

This is a really sad story. Tedd Haggard's book has been very helpful to me. I really hope the truth comes out, whatever that is.

Love this quote from the Age

"Peter Miles, who presents a Sunday morning gospel music program on 3PBS, points out that church-based singers have been crossing over into mainstream popular music for more than a generation. "A lot of mainstream music borrows from gospel music without knowing about it," he says.
"I think gospel music, more than most people recognise, is a foundation for mainstream rock music."
But where performers such as Elvis Presley borrowed from gospel to create a new sound, the pendulum now swings in the other direction, with church-based musicians borrowing from rock'n'roll to make their songs more palatable to a young audience, he says. "Contemporary Christian artists do all sorts of stuff. Christian death metal, bluegrass, reggae, funk ..."
In 2005, Woodlands Media estimated that the Christian music market in Australia in the previous 12 months was responsible for 5.6 per cent of local music sales, with a value of $540 million. Jay says the Christian music market remains strong, which, given falling sales in all other sectors, could be evidence that it is growing in popularity"

GO Church!!

Story first see at The Journey

Can you believe Christmas time is almost upon us???

I have been starting to organise our Christmas Carols service for 06

will be great, and pray it does not rain!!

Recently a couple of well known bloggers have been asking the question about critiquing the church. I sometimes feel like I am hijacking their threads, so rather than do that, here are some of my thoughts. They are not meant to be a reflection on those guys, who I have the utmost respect for and count as friends.

Humbleness is the quickest way to get close to God, pride/self righteousness is the quickest way to get closer to the other guy.

God has given us incredible grace, freely give as it has been given to us

Dont throw out the good with the bad. For instance Hillsong has it problems, think them up yourself, but it has also had an incredibly positive effect on contemporary church, in helping us to work together, be relevant etc.
When critiquing, remember what they are doing that is really good

Ask yourself the queston, do I need to get a life? In other words am I worrying about what such and such is doing while my neighbour is going to a Christless eternity. Is it worth your time, the time God has given us? Try this exercise. Google some well known Christian leader. Find out how many people are wasting time energy and probably money that could be better spent trying to help someone find Christ.

If you are going to critique, have the courage and integrity to do what Jesus did and told us to do. Go to the person and speak to them face and face. The internet has become a wondeful tool in the hands of gutless wonders.

Can you imagine a forward line with
Pavlich, Tarrant, Farmer, Ryan Murphy
Then Longmuir and Sandilands dropping back when needed?

Seriously who is going to get the oppositions best defender??
Can you imagine being a 2nd or third string defender are finding yourself up against Tarrant??

If you are interested, my final message on Emotional Baggage, part three, can now be listened to or downloaded.

go here

http://www.archive.org/details/MarkEdwardsEmotionalBaggageWeekThree

and choose your format

or just right click the below link and "save Target as"

http://www.archive.org/download/MarkEdwardsEmotionalBaggageWeekThree/Emotional_Baggage_3_vbr.mp3

The file is 26 megs big, for those of you with dial up.

For those Pastors out there, soon I will post on Aussie Pastors Blogspot how to do this.
As we develop our church website, we will post the messages on there every week.
But in the meantime, I will post them here.

Following on from their best season ever, the Fremantle Dockers look to have a great start to their 2007 campaign. The AFL today released the 2007 fixtures which see the Dockers first three games against teams they easily disposed of last year. Port Adelaide, who they beat twice, including a decisive victory at Aami Stadium, Essendon and last years premiers, West Coast, who they thrashed in the last derby of 2006.
Unlike last year, the Dockers do not have to travel to Tasmania. That dubious honour is given to West Coast who have to face up to Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium.
Fremantle will play 5 games in Victoria, the least of any Afl side, but will have to travel to Adelaide twice, Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin. Someone in AFL House must have listened to CEO Cameron Schwab's call from last year, as the Dockers only have to twice deal with six day breaks between matches.

Got my membership in the mail the other day, can't wait!!

I have been watching a very interesting and insightful video by the author of the very succesful book, "The Tipping Point".

In this groundbreaking book, the author details what makes great service in a company.
In the video he makes the assertion, and backs it up with real stories, that asking people what they want is the last thing a succesful business should do. For example if you ask someone what sort of coffee they like, they would probably say something like, "I want a dark rich roasted coffee". However most people actually want a milky sweet weak coffee. Thats the truth!

He talked about the most spaghetti sauce manufacturer in the USA. He found out that while people said they wanted an authentic Italian Tomatoe sauce for the Spag Bog, they in fact wanted a chunky sauce, totally inauthentic (like their favourite pizzas, which have little relation to real Italian Pizza).

Its like Chinese. Friends who have been to China say that real authentic Chinese food is a definete "aquired" taste. Yet ask someone what they want, and they will say, I would want to eat authentic chinese food.

What relation does this have to the church and leading?
NCLS have this statement on their website, "As many as half of Australia's church-goers also thank Mum for the positive influence on them becoming a Christian, at least within Anglican and Protestant congregations. While important, fathers are less influential in faith development."
(http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=4274)

I DONT GIVE A STUFF WHAT THEIR RESEARCH SAYS (Yes I am shouting)

They are dead wrong.

There is a lot more I could say about this. Their conclusions are since mums generally lead their children to Christ, they are more important. CRAP
The reason more mums are leading their kids to Christ is that more mums are Christians.

The single most important thing we as churches have to do to get our churches, our families and our churches back on spiritual track is see dads come to faith in Christ.

We have to lead, not be lead by what is.

A Few friends and myself have started a blog specifically for Aussie Pastors.


check it out

http://australianpastors.blogspot.com/

"Preaching is a lot like singing.
You may sound great by yourself in the shower (or in your head),
but it may not be so great outside the shower (or outside your head)"

"We think if we can disperse adequate information, people will be convinced that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and turn to him. Those methods don't work any longer. I'm not sure they ever did. People aren't looking for information about God. They want to experience God, himself. Information leaves them bored, uninterested. Experience, especially the ultimate experience any human being can ever have, leaves them breathless. And that's exactly what we have to offer."

Here is a blog for Christian multi media by some guys from Parkerville Bapo's.
Some good stuff and helpul stuff here.

(Apart from their use of media shout :) )

Digtial Church
"Share our journey as we explore digital technology for church and worship, in Perth, Western Australia"

Having an online discussion with a Pastor from an overseas church.
His board have witheld his salary after months of squabbling, despite the church overwhelmingly supporting him and his call.

The board have the constitutional power, and yet he believes he needs to stick it out. Other people think he should give up and start new church somewhere else.
Are there any principles about staying and persevering, or cutting your losses and moving on?

I am a pretty 'stubborn' person, and I dont think we should let people do what is wrong, just because they think they can, and have always done. Negative caustic behaviour needs to be addressed.

Speaking personally, if my family started to suffer unduly, I would be gone. They come first. But apart from that, I reckon sticking it out will eventually bring rewards.

I dont know much about the players about to try their luck in the AFL draft, but I hope Freo pick up Leroy Jetta. From what I read in the Sunday Times today, the kid has the right attitude.

"I would like to stay in Perth if I got drafted by the Dockers, I hate the Eagles"

now there is a young man with his head screwed on right!!!

Here is the flyer I have done up for our spring fair.
This annual event is well organised and a big event on our church calender. Probably the biggest thing we do and the most strategic in 'gathering' in all the people who come to our various community programs.

well......
that's the footy season over.
I copped some well deserved ribbing this morning at church, and managed to weave the GF into my children's talk at church.

Well done weagles, after the dissapointment of losing both derbies this year, it was good to see them win something.

Worsfold, to his credit, coached well, probably outcoached Roo's, with some creative and quick moves.

Barry Hall had a shocker, and probably was one of the reasons they lost, but Kerr and Embley played out of their skin.

Roll on 2007.
Brett Peake for Brownlow, Freo for Premiers.

Apparently there is a football game on.
Will I as a patriotic West Australia be barracking for the Eagles?
I don't think so.

Football is not about State rivalries, its about tribalism.
You wont see Crows fans supporting Port when they are in the GF.
You wont see Collingwood fans supporting Carlton against anyone.

I go for two teams, the Dockers and whoever is playing the Eagles. GO SWANNIES!

If the Eagles win, good luck to them, and it will be well deserved.
But I wont be cheering them on.

Listening to a message by Erwin of Mosaic church.
Great speaker,

great book, "seizing your divine moment".

He brings alive the character of Jonathon, what a warrior!!

Thank you Matt,
you make the bitterness of defeat, a little bit easier to swallow.
We have grown up as a side, and I really believe that next year could be ours.

"The Dockers were valiant and Sydney, on balance, the superior side. But for a moment in the third quarter, we scared the reigning premiers witless. The umpiring didn't cost Fremantle the match, but unambiguously poor decisions gifted Sydney easy crucial goals and deprived the Dockers of momentum. The game was much, much closer than its six-goal margin.
The holding-the-ball rule is a crucifix too far. The Dockers had crept to within seven points when young defender Stephen Dodd fought for the ball with four Swans defenders. Umpire Stephen McBurney's absurd misjudgment, that Dodd dragged the ball under, produced a crucial Swans goal and should cost McBurney a grand final berth.
If this sounds petty and bitter and biased, let me repeat: Sydney deserved its victory. The dragging rule is a disgrace almost whenever it is applied - penalising courage and effort and encouraging over-theatrical officiating - and the Swans copped some stiff decisions, too."
Story

Another great Sunday.
Some old friends returned, nice to see Tony and Hanalie (Spelling?) Peck at church.

Eliot did a great rendition of "Consume me" an old song of DC Talk, and I spoke on spiritual disciplines, including fasting.

Amazing how God moved. I felt the need for their to be a response, so I asked some people to pray at the end for something that was really burdening them. Some people did, which was great.

Dockers go down and bow out of finals race.
If you had told me that we would participate in a prelim final after round 10, I would have definetley taken it.

Our best year yet, with improvement to come from 2007's All Australian Ruckman, 2007 Brownlow medalist Brett Peake, and Paul Hasleby to return fully fit, the future looks bright for this bunch of Dockers.

Dockers, biggest winners out of 2007. Biggest losers, Geelong and St Kilda a close second.
What I mean is, based on pre season expectations, Freo have exceeded predictions, the Cats and Saints have really done worse than expected.

Dockers Prayer
Our Father who lives in Fremantle
Hallowed be thy game,
Thy purple comeThe game be won
At Telstra, as it is at Subi.
Give us this day your freakish goal
And forgive us our poor passes,
As we forgive those who give free kicks against us,
And lead us not into the pocket
But deliver us down the corridor.
For Finals are Kingdom,
The Power and the Glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen.

I am reading Bill Hybels book at the moment, "Just walk across the room".

The basic premise is that if we want to share our faith, we just need to walk across the room and share it. Everyone is on a spiritual journey, and our task is to help them with that, not dominate it, force our opinion down their throat, just share our own faith.
Bill Hybels has changed, or at least my perception of him has changed. His approach and encouragement is to be relational, incarnational now than what we had demonstrated to us in his past endevours. Age has brought with it wisdom.
I believe that we still need something to bring people to, but we need to be with them in order to do that.

At my niece's birthday the other day I struck up a conversation with one of my sisters neighbours. Turns out he was a vietnam vet and his best friend was a 'sky pilot' or navy chaplain. His friend stepped on a land mine and was killed. This guy opened up his heart and just shared it with me, a divine moment. Thank God I seized it and shared with him about some of my story. I had to go, but could not pass up the opportunity to take that next step. So I asked him if he was a reader. He said he was so I asked him if I could send him a copy of "The Purpose Driven Life". He said yes and I have done that with a note to call me if he ever wants to.
Hopefully I will meet him again some time.

This is basically what Bill's book is about.
Jesus offers people the "good life". A life of purpose and meaning. We are here to share this. We dont have to lead them in the sinners prayer right then and there, we just have to do our little part, just walk across the room.

I'll let you know more about the book as I read through it.

While working at home today I have spent about 2 hours on and off trying to get through to Tickmaster. They really need to do something about this.

If, and it is a big IF, the Dockers beat Sydney at Telstra Stadium this week I have registered for a Grand Final Ticket. You dont get a choice on what type you want, or the cost or the seating. But you are almost guaranteed a ticket.

Getting through was really hard, the phone was mostly busy, but even when you got through, it mostly just rang out.

Then when you did get through the menu was confusing because we have been told to press ONE, when in fact you actually needed to press TWO.

None the less, I have my pre-registration.

Come on you MIGHTY DOCKERS.
It would be great to have another chance at the Crows. I think West Coast probably have as much chance of beating them in Adelaide as we do of beating Sydney.

We have these facts in our favour
Sandilands is BIG, Jolly wont like that.
The Telsta Stadium is BIG, about the same size as Subi, The Swans wont like that.
The Dockers Confidence is BIG, the Swans wont like our risk taking.

Wayne Field has a blog
Wayne is a good mate, and Pastor of Australind Baptist Church


Blog

Our church website is up and running
At this stage it is just a splash page, we needed to get onto this because now with the church sign, people may actually visit it!

www.bedfordbaptist.org.au


thanks to Quentin and the crew at
www.frecklecreative.com.au

who do exceptional work

Rick Warren has released a great article on fundamentalism, and its danger.
Worth a read.

"These are among the fundamental truths of our Christian faith (or, to use another phrase, they are foundational truths to our faith).
Now, if you believe that these fundamental truths are essential to the Christian faith, then you are a "fundamentalist" in the very basic sense of the word, and within that definition and context Saddleback Church is unapologetically fundamentalist.
There is, however, another kind of fundamentalism that has nothing to do with fundamentals of the Christian faith; instead, it is about keeping the right rules in the right way order to please the right people. "

Article

With Chris Connolly declaring Antoni Grover and Luke Mc Pharlin almost certain starters for next weeks Preliminary Final against Sydney, the question is, which unlucky defender will be dropped.

After one of the most even team contributions all year against Melbourne, it will not be an easy task.

Shane Parker is in career best form. Luke Mc Pharlin offers too much flexibility and skill. Roger Hayden's dynamic form reversal has been one of the key reasons for the Dockers turn around mid season.

The only likely exclusion might be 'Mr Fix it' Luke Webster. This despite a 14 possession game against Melbourne and kicking the first Fremantle goal.

One interesting statistic that might make it even more difficult for the match committee is the fact that since Webster was included in the side, in round ten, his first game for 2006, Fremantle have only lost one game, and Webster did not play in that game. In fact Webster has not played in a losing Fremantle side this year. This is a similar state of affairs to Clem Michael many years ago, when he too was a tall running player who also seemed to be a team barometer of success.

Grover's value to the team, especially in facing the strong Barry Hall, is unquestioned. But the quandary of who will miss out may not be answered till 20 minutes before bounce down on Friday night.

In a late postscript, Paul Medhurst may also push for a shock inclusion after almost singlehandedly giving Claremont victory over South Fremantle. Paul kicked five goals and impressed with his endevour and team work in a losing side as the Tigers bowed out of the finals race this afternoon.

We experienced a really great sense of God's Spirit in Church this morning. Although there was not a full house of people, I sensed a real hunger to hear from God. It was evidenced in the outward display of worship and enjoyment of things that were being said and done.
I prepared a multi-media presentation (video) using Colin Battersby's rendition of "It is well". I did up this video for the Pastors Conference and it told the story of Horatio Spafford. Horatio endured a lot of tradgedy in his life including the loss of his business but far more tragically first the death of his son, then at a later point the death of his three daughters in a shipwreck. His wife survived. On his way to visit her he wrote the well known hymn, "It is well".

We said a sad goodby to some friends who are moving to NZ, but also said 'thank God" when some other friends declared God was not calling them to move to QLD, as they previously thought He might be.

Dr Laurence Spencer, the Baptist Union President then brought a word from God which he believed was specifically for our church. The challenge was to take seriously Jesus' call that, "they will know you are Christians by your love". He was really well recieved. I think some of that was to do with the combination of a older guy who was a expressive worshipper, wise words and non judgemental challenge. He was sensitive to Gods leading, and interacted really well with our people. The sort of older and wiser guy you would love to have in your church actually!

Preparing my message for Sunday week.
Really sense God calling me to revisit a topic I used to speak on a bit few years ago, worship.
Here are some themes flowing through my mind...

No, this is not a spiritual post!

The Melbourne Demons were sent home last night without the chocolates as Freo stormed home to a historical first finals win.

Melinda and I had seats in block 137 and quit frankly, the home crowd was the loudest I have ever heard.
It was extraordinary in fact. Listening to the replay on channel 10 when I got home, Anthony Hudson is heard remarking to Tim Lane, just as they come back from an ad, "Listen to that crowd, that is extraordinary".
James Hird also commented during the week, "The Fremantle crowd is the loudest and most passionate of any in the league". High praise indeed.

It was a nervous crowd, a passionate crowd, an exhilirating ride as we watched Freo play once more with confidence and risk. Chris Connolly remarked after the game that after last weeks fairly dissapointing effort, he encouraged the players to get back to the risky confident football that saw us storm into 3rd spot on the ladder. He said that the players were almost playing too risky tonight, which saw some mistakes being made. But quite frankly, I would back our running brigade against any side.

Thank goodness the game against Sydney is being played on the wide expanses of Telstra Stadium, and not the confinement of the SCG. I reckon we are a silly chance to beat the Swans there, and if we do...... I am off to Melbourne.

This is a Pastor of a church who meets in a old church that is now a bar. After the Saturday night drinking and strip club next door, it is transformed into a theatre style church. He puts out tables and chairs and they have discussions about Jesus and life.

His wife prepares a whole heap of multimedia and about 250 people now meet. He started the church off with cell groups which then morphed into a church. Awesome story.

Story

Rodney Eade has come out and said something a lot of footy lovers have known for ages,
the West Coast Eagles have no soul.

They are a corporate identity, franchised and packaged for maximum consumption.
At the derby I was bewildered by the karaoke Eagles theme song at the start. Don't the fans know the words?
The Dockers song may be accused of being inane, like a dirge, but its fans know the words, and sing them with gusto. Your typical Dockers supporter does not need to be told how to support their team, they just do!

Then the Eagles are given this chant at quarter time over the loudspeaker, "Go Eagles go, SGIO, go Eagle go, SGIO". Does anyone else not see the problem with this?

The final nail in their coffin is this one.

Many Eagle supporters cannot understand why Dockers supporters.....

a. Support the Dockers at all especially with our lack of success. You dont support a team because they are succesful. There is something about them that just grabs you. Ask Gareth why he supports St Kilda? Or a Richmond supporter why they support that basket case of a team. They cant tell you why, they just do. And it burns within them.

b. Don't support the Eagles as well
A common line heard is this, "I support both WA teams". What a joke. What a passionless statement. Imagine if a Victorian supporter of Carlton said, "because Carlton are out of the finals, I will support Collingwood, after all we are both Victorian teams". Give me a break. Passionate supporters support their own team, and thats it.

Dockers supporters can't stand the Eagles, its as simple as this. I much prefer a discussion with a passionate Eagles supporter who can't stand the Dockers, than one whohalf likes them. We understand each other, its nothing personal, we just can't stand your team. Its much easier to deal with.

And for all you Eagles supporters out there, I might like you, you might even be my friend, but I can't stand your souless team.

Story

Cant seem to get your neighbours to talk about Jesus?

Being a backyard missionary not working for you?

Attracting people into the church with bells and whistles too much work?

I've got it, kidnap them and then pull out your gun and threaten to shoot them if they don't repent!!!!

Only in America....

A woman and two roommates are accused of holding her brother at gunpoint as she
prayed for his repentance, even firing a shot into the ceiling to keep his
attention. Randy Doss, 46, of Athens said he fled the house when his captors
got distracted and later went to police, who were skeptical at first because his
story was so bizarre. But police said it checked out, including the bullet hole
in the ceiling Story

As a Pastor conflict and people management is probably the key skill you need in developing and transitioning a church from traditional to purpose driven, outward focused and open/charismatic in worship style.

One or two lessons I have learnt, and am still on the journey of learning are these.

1. Be aware of conflict before it happens
2. You don't have to win the fight, getting what you want is far more important
3. Face and deal with conflict as it happens, not a week later, by then it has festered into something far larger and uglier
4. Be friends when you can with people, even if they disagree with you, they will find it hard to lynch you

This is good advice for those in the media....
but could just as well apply to those in Ministry, or in fact in any area of life.

) Return every call and e-mail quickly. Show up on time, even if you’re the only one there. Dress like you deserve your salary. Believe me, that will put you ahead of a surprising number of people.
2) Write thank-you notes. Remember birthdays. Remember the assistants, and the secretaries, the coordinators, and the mailroom folks. This is a people business. And people never forget how they are treated.
3) Every day, you are placing a brick in the tower of your reputation. Remember, everything you do, big and small, either adds or subtracts from your reputation.
4) Watch what you say in elevators, in restrooms, on airplanes and in casual conversation. She could be the client’s wife. He could be the boss’s brother. She could be your competitor’s accountant.
5) Don’t care who solves it. Just get it solved.
6) Learn how to tell a story: Every client presentation, every report, every commercial—it’s all about stories. Stories are how human beings make sense of the world. If you want to succeed in this business, be able to tell stories in ways that capture your audience’s attention.
7) When emotions are running high, make sure yours are running low. Life is unfair, so learn to lose with dignity. And, learn to win with dignity. That means no excuses. No crybabies. No bragging. No trashing. Learn how to move on.
8) Proofread. Spell-check.
9) Good enough, isn’t. There is going to be someone out there who will sleep less and work harder, will give up their weekend, and give it one more shot. That is the person that I bet on to win.
10) Think different. Be brave. The world is full of people with conventional ideas who go along with the crowd. It’s the mavericks and the dreamers who move things forward. When you hear an idea that makes you nervous, makes you sweat, occasionally gather your courage, take a stand, take a risk, suck it up and go out on a limb. Hey, you might even be right.


Source

Found

Okay here is some facts to back up my rant yesterday, for people like Speedy Geoff

ALAN DIDAK Coll
Games 22
Goals 41

compared to

Jeff Farmer

2006
Games 20
Goals 52

Alan Didak has never won a hard ball get in his life, Jeff has been ferocious this year. Even Phil Matera agrees, and came out publicly yesterday to support him.

Nick Reivoldt
Named in the pocket (Hello? is there anyone in the All Australian Selection team who has ever seen him play in the forward pocket?)
Games 23
Goals 60

Versus

Matthew Pavlich
Named on the bench (Hello? Is there anyone in the All Australian selection team who has seen Fremantle play this year??)
Games 23
Goals 63

Reivoldt is a fine player, no doubt, but if you want to compare how he kicks for goal, and marks, with how Pavlich marks, chases and is the most accurate kick in the league, Nick will come up short.
Pavlich has a lot of endurance, Nick is often seen giving up the chase.
Besides that Nick is a sooky sooky la la.

Pavlich on the bench? joke

Bell not included? Joke

Parker not in backline? Joke


and the biggie......


Jeff Farmer not in the forward pocket...... absolutley ludicrous.
He kicks 50+ goals and sets up countless others, he works his butt off...
ridiculous.

Instead they include the inconsistent Revoldt, who is not even a forward pocket player, and Didak

what a joke.

Lined up early this morning at "The Arena" Joondalup to get finals tickets for this Fridays game against the Melbourne Demons.

I have to say they are much better organised down there than at Midland.
They had a line marked out for people and so you just took up your spot and waited. If nature or the coffee machine called, no problem. With a three hour wait, this was pretty important!

Unlike last time, lining up for tickets to the Derby, there was no drama with the ticketing. The Weagles had a terrible time getting tickets to their final last week (boo hoo!!!) with most fans waiting about 8-10 hours before the machines finally came back online.

Anyways, Melinda and myself are off to Subi this Friday Night, should be a cracker of a game, and hopefully the Dockers will have found their confidence on the way back across the Nullaboar and send the Melbourne team back home with their tails between their legs.

Awesome day at Church yesterday.

The Kids had their Celebration Service.
They are using the Oasis material and it is very good. They prepared a contemporary dance and drama based around the "God's Mega Plan" theme.

The music was modern and fun, the kids did a very good job.

Afterwards we had a celebratory mud cake and a sausage sizzle. We sat around the tree round the front and it was really good.

It is so nice to be involved in a church which is so much fun for the kids, what a blessing.

Gareth is a great cook but unfortunately I wasn't that hungry as the Dockers served up some half baked footy today.
A scrappy game with dodgy decisions, by all the players and umpires.

In the end I think it was the home crowd and a stronger desire to win which got the Crows home.

Thank goodness the Weagles lost as well, otherwise Perth would be unbearable over the next week.

Organising a conference for about 160 Pastors and Leaders take it out of you.
So much details to think about and be on top of.
Huge thanks to Malcolm Rule and his offsider Bevan, who worked hard on all the multi -media stuff.

Phil Baker was really well received and spoke very well.
He called us to not be boring preachers, to engage people.
Apart from being a funny and great orator, he really challenged us.

Allan Myer spoke on Wednesday, and did not even touch what he had been asked to speak on (!) but it did not matter because he gave a challenging and different couple of sessions on spiritual disciplines, with a particular focus on fasting.

The food was great, the company and spirit in the place was excellent, helped in no small part by Colin Battersby and Emma from Whitfords Church.

All in all the 2Gether Conference went really well. We have hopefully broken even financially as well but managed to bless, revive, invigorate and encourage Pastors from all over WA.

1pm Perth time the mighty (wow, I can say that with no irony, no chance of being contradicted) play the out of form (Melbourne are crap) and injury ridden Crows in Adelaide.

Chris has asked that Freo fans come out to watch, pay for my ticket Chris, and I will be there.
If we are good enough to get to the GF, I will be in Melbourne, but, going to Adelaide is to much for a Pastor to afford.

Watching Freo last night demolish the Power and the week before destroying the top of the ladder Weagles, I have been reflecting on something.
This is not the team I am used to supporting. It can't be!!!
But whatever has happened, I dont want it to stop. Whoever is wearing their lucky jocks needs to keep wearing them, and I dont care how bad it gets, because watching Freo at the moment is as good as it gets!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blogging may be light in the next 3-4 days,
I am off to our annual 2Gether Pastors Conference, which I help organise.

If your the praying type, I would ask that you would pray that about 150 Pastors from all over WA have a refreshing and invigorating and special time together.

The Port Coach decided to have a red hot go at Fremantle in a bizarro press conference at the airport. Amongst other things he said that Josh Carr was the real captain of Freo, that Josh Carr was the reason Fremantle is doing so well, and is the reason the Dockers are a premiership fancied side.

Than commenting on a blog, which is an introspective excercise already, than commenting on the changes you have made to said blog?
Well, hopefully the changes Blogger Beta allows make this blog a little easier on the eyes.

Completing the final details for the 2006 2Gether Pastors Conference.

Myself and Malcom Rule from Encounter Church do a lot of the legwork to organise this conference, in consultation with the Baptist Pastors Association, Baptist Family of Churches, Churches of Christ Ministers Network and Churches of Christ Board.

This year we have Phil Baker, Tracey Johnston and Allan Meyers speaking. They are all dealing with issues of personhood, personal courage, dealing with people.

Phil will be sharing some of his own struggles and difficulties in transitioning Riverview.

One new thing I am really looking forward to is the new intiative, "ThinkTanks".

These are unstructured times where groups of people gather to discuss whatever issues are on their heart.

Karen Wilson will be leading one on "women in ministry", Andrew Hamilton will be leading one on the emerging church stuff and Malcolm will be leading one on using multi media in a small church context. Others will have freedom to lead one on whatever they want.
Should be fun!

courtesy of Dockerland.com

I said last week that Fremantle played the best I have ever seen them play.
This week they played very well, but perhaps the more interesting aspect of the game is how ordinary West Coast looked.

The Dockers are now installed as equal second favourites with the Adelaide Crows. That was unthinkable 7 weeks ago.

I had a great time, sat next to two friendly Eagles supporters, and apart from some argy bargy in the section next to mine, the crowd was good.

But hows the karaoke Eagle's song on the scoreboard?
And how is the innane SGIO Eagles chant?

The Eagles crowd was very quiet most of the day, but I suppose with that scoreline, its to be expected.

There was a big decision before Baptists of Western Australia, whether to appoint Pastor Mark Wilson of Whitfords Church of Christ as our Director of Ministries.

Last night at our Pastors dinner, which was attended to capacity, Karen shared how God had spoken to her about the decision, and it was truly prophetic. They are both leaving a great growing and significant church. They are both making a significant sacrifice, and I am really grateful.

I went to the special assembly called by the Baptist Family of Churches of WA this morning.
About 150 or so turned up to decide on whether to appoint Mark Wilson to the Director of Ministries positon. I don't normally go to Assemblies, but felt it was important to go to this one, and show my support.

Mark and his wife Karen are great people and I am so excited about his appointment. The vote was overwhelming, almost 100% and there was a genuine sense that God's Spirit was moving in the meeting.
Often the argy bargy of these meetings has put a lot of the younger pastors like myself off attending, but there has been changes happening in our Baptist culture for some time, with questions being asked respectfully, and the meeting bathed in prayer, including prayer clusters before the decision was made.

Our hope and prayer as Pastors coming through and leading churches is that Mark is able to lead us into a new era. One Pastor commented to me that for the first time he was truly excited to be a Baptist Pastor.

I have just got back the final proofs for our new church sign.
While spending some time reading and praying the other day God spoke to me about 'being a light to the world' and one of the things He pointed out was that our church sign was sending a really bad message to the community. Basically that we dont care about how our church looks, nor does anything look like it has changed for 30 years.

Now we are really tight financially at the moment, so how was I going to pay for it? Well I had some generous people tip in for it, and in a fortnight we will have it.
God speaks, God gives through His people. Its pretty humbling when it happens.

Look, I know its only a church sign, but I do think this is important, not as important as the relationships we have in the community, but relevant to being salt and light none the less.
For a church like ours, which has a real focus on being local and whose buildings are used constantly by the community, its important.

Spent a beautiful Monday morning wandering through Araluen. What a beautiful place. Took Clem out of school and he spent most of the morning discovering where all the water went. Not really interested in flowers and tulips, but quite interested in mud and waterways!

Many of you out there in the blog kingdom may not have heard of Matt Price. Matt used to work in Perth as a journalist, but now resides in Canberra.
He is a journalist for The Australian.

Matt is a passionate Fremantle supporter and author. He pens a semi regular column in "The Australian" all about Freo. The latest one is a gem, here is a piece from it,

"Nobody exactly knows why the Dockers are suddenly playing intoxicating,
glorious, physical, daring, intense, attacking, spirited, attractive,
intelligent, skilful, creative, inspiring, formidable, intimidating,
penetrating, compelling, astonishing, rousing football, but they are and it's
bloody wonderful.
Many Dockers fans were moved to tears by the spectacular
dismantling of Adelaide and, having strung together six-in-a-row, an absurdly
improbably top-four spot beckons. Only a fool would bet against West Coast,
Adelaide and Sydney raffling the flag, but, let's be frank, six weeks ago only a
clinically certified moron would have foreseen Fremantle's electrifying run. "

Whole Article

Seriously, the best, most committed TEAM footy I have ever seen the Dockers play.

St Kilda are no slouches, and have never been afraid of travelling West, but the Dockers made them look ordinary.
I am still a little shocked actually at the final result.

Macca and Cookie were sensational, Macca best on ground.
As to the GF, it is actually a distinct possibility, especially if we get a top four spot. Next weeks game against the weagles is vital.

I know I should just reveal in an awesome team performance, and I am.
But I want to make one little point, the St Kilda fans cannot blame the umpires tonight. In the last quarter I was staggered at the free kick count, and the free kicks Freo were not getting.

Just wanted to point out the the West Australian's 'Journalist" (used advisedly) Steve Butler is the West Australian's worst tipper. If you want to get good tips in your tipping comp, don't use Steve Butlers. (85 as compared to Reid, Reed and Townsend on 102)

Hardly suprising really, given that he often tips against Fremantle, despite the TAB and his fellow Tipsters predicting a Freo victory.
Reid, Reed and Townsend have all tipped Freo, while Butler has suprise suprise, tipped the Saints.
Anything you would like to tell us Steve?

Cameron Schwab has led the charge, and critiqued footy commentators who are ill-prepared and self indulgent. This is especially apparent in Fremantle Games with commentators regularly confusing players, and dragging out old cliches. For instance one commentator commented about Freo's appalling away record, when in fact Fremantle have the best away record of any team in the AFL at the moment!
One of the strongest reactions, amongst many, was Rex Hunt who spent 12 minutes on the radio defending himself, his preparation, his knowledge of the game.
Then he goes and writes this in regard to Fremantle,

"THEY are making me eat my words but I won't swallow them until the Dockers actually win a final. But I agree they are looking seriously good, which is full credit to Chris Connolly who has weathered the storm. Suddenly they are all flying, the Cape (Headland), The Primary Producer (Farmer), Dinger Bell, Happy Gilmore, the Vehicles (Carrs), Jimmy Walker and Fess Parker. As for the Saints, they did what they had to do last week against insipid opposition. They'll have a crack but without Lenny Hayes and with an injured Luke Ball will struggle at the business end"

(Link)

Only problem is Rex, James Walker has not played for months. YOU GOOSE!!
Bad preparation, ill informed comment.
You would think if it was your job to be a footy commentator and writer, you would watch the games and be aware of the team you are making comment on.

Schwab 1, Hunt 0

I'm not one to rail against the evils of the world, the world can explain itself.....

But what is it with all these crime shows on at the moment?
What is it with our insatiable appetite for 'entertainment' about people killing each other?
What is it with our facination with delving into forensic science?
Is it that by explaining it somehow we have control over it? We dont have control over what people do to each other, not even God Himself controls that. (He could, but we chose free choice, remember?)

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching NCIS. But that has more to do with the relationships and characters on the show, and crime is interesting, up to a point.

Its just the quantity of these type of shows, every channel is showing at least two of them, and the lengths they are going to to seemingly outdo each other in the shocking crimes they portray.
Is it only me that is thinking about this sort of stuff, or have others noticed it as well?

The hows and whys of the Willow Creek Leadership DVD Summit have already been dissected all over Blogdom, but here is a post from a guy who actually was there (over east) and heard what Bono said.
(Source of link Phil Baker)

Tony Morgan


"The interview then shifted to Bono's music. He said, "I want my music to do something positive, but I want to be honest and own up to my earthly confusions.""

Went to check my wallet yesterday and it felt light. Now my wallet never feels heavy from cash, I am a Pastor after all!
But friends often stir me up because they think I am a little like George Constanza in that my wallet is normally stuffed full of receipts, notes, cards etc etc.
However yesterday it felt light!
I checked it, rechecked, noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

You are the light of the world--like a city on a mountain, glowing in the
night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on
a stand and let it shine for all. (Matthew 5.14, 15)

Jesus is talking here to a ragtag bunch of Israelis on a rural setting somewhere, on a grassy hill.
No one really important or influential is there. Just ordinary people, captivated by what Jesus is saying.
How on earth are these folk going to 'be a light to The World?"

Well there is nothing on earth, much, that is going to help them.
At Bedford we have some great programs in place, really effective, in the sense a bunch of people from the community come and appreciate them.
But we are struggling, although we have had some effectiveness, with seeing how on earth we are going to lead these people to a fulfilling, joyful life found in Jesus.
Well the truth is we aint going to be able to do this, no more than we didn't do much at all to get them along in the first place, that was God.

Moving them along, helping them on their spiritual journey, well that's going to have to be God as well, because quite frankly I dont know how, I dont have the answers. I certainly dont have the strength or power.
But as I spent some time with some mates praying this morning, gee it felt powerful, gee it felt strong. The X Factor was amongst us, the unexplainable power that comes from God.
We will see some people come to know a 'good' life, a great joyful life. Because we have asked God to help us.