On Sunday I am talking about trade offs….everything new we want to ad to our lives is a trade off….In other words, in order to ad something, something needs to be taken away. This is true in ministry, money and life.

Russ Olmon from Ministry Advantage (Willow Creek) talked about this at Leadership Link this morning….

Write down the ideas you want to implement, then turn the sheet over so you can implement ideas you have thought off. On the other side, write down everything you will stop doing in order to implement those things you want to ad.

We dont think of what we will stop, declutter, simplify…..we need to say no to non-essentials,
Losing one thing to gain something of greater value, like in a game of chess, you might need to be willing to lose a piece to gain something else.

This is hilarious….

(Don’t let Driscoll see it!!!)

Rapidly becoming a crowd favourite with the Freo faithful. Came off to warm applause, and encouraging words….
Harvey has put him down back in an inspired move. Interestingly Harvey himself started off as a forward, but ended his career as a backman.

Tarrant seems a lot happier down back. It enables him to be the team man that he is. Grover and Tarrant have been two reasons why teams have not been able to get a massive run on us lately, along with Steven Dodd.

But Tarrant in particular has given us flexibility, allowing McPharlin to go forward when needed.
So good to see him punching the ball away, beating the defender to best position, and generally making them look ordinary.

Leigh Matthews agrees….

There is a bloke who brings his kids along to our childrens programs….
He shares work with his wife…and he looks after the kids at times during the week.

Lovely guy…but not easy to talk to.
A couple of weeks ago we caught up at one of our church’s community events, and I just prayed that I might be able to talk to him…about something, anything…connect somehow.

Somehow…I dont really know how, we started to talk about his footy team, the Swans. Turns out he is a passionate Swans supporter. We had a good laugh about the 2005 GF…and for the first time ever, his face just lit up…and we had a connection.

How to connect with the ‘religious/spiritual’ nature of the average Aussie male? You need to not only be able to talk about sport, but to really have a passion for it.
We can’t be like some Indian Call centre worker briefed in the local lingo so as to make some sort of false connection with the caller. We have to resonate with our local culture…in a real way.

I am not saying that ‘sport’ is the only way. Another friend I have could not care less about sport, he is into his art and music. So that is something I can connect with him about, another guy loves his coffee….

Either way, in making and keeping friendships, we have to make connections with people.

But this is a great song…performed well….

As I have continued on in my faith journey, I have been amazed at how instead of becoming more certain of some things, I have become less certain of them.
And while the essentials are things I believe even more strongly in, those things which are not as essential, I have come to appreciate the greyness that God has allowed in the Bible.

In fact when I encounter someone who is strongly holding onto a practice which is clearly interpreted in different ways by good people, I find myself asking the question, why?

“Some experienced commentators are coming over to the view that the 211 centimetre giant from the West is towering over the rest of the competition not just in height, but now in effectiveness……..”
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