You could do worse than at least have a look at this post.
http://flowofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/watermelon-party.html
For those about to vote Green
All posts by Mark Edwards
Spring Fair
Looking forward to this…is always fun.
I will be the one making the coffee….so you know it will be good..
see you there!!
My peer group
I dont know how Pastors survive without a peer group. My bunch of mates are great…if ever I was in real trouble in ministry, I know these guys would help. Its pretty organic. Some months someone brings something to discuss. Its good, causal, prayerful and honest.
This is what we looked at today.
The title of this article is a little deceptive….just read it before judging it.
Bring Back Personality Driven Churches
By Dave Gilpin
Learn how to master the art of Culture Creation for growth in your church. After almost 20 years in full time ministry, Dave Gilpin gets angry at the colour that dominates the Christian sky-line…’beige’.
After almost 20 years in full time ministry, Dave Gilpin gets angry at the colour that dominates the Christian sky-line…’beige’.
There is a divine spark inside each of us! Don’t quote me on this – it’s a quote from ‘Bruce Almighty’. Bruce had just spent a disastrous time of his life trying to be what he wasn’t. Bruce (played by Jim Carey) was ‘called’ to be the ‘light entertainment’ correspondent of the nightly newscast, yet in his insecurity, wanted to be seen in a more serious light.
His quest for anchorman led to horrible consequences for the entire world! God (played by Morgan Freeman) had a heart to heart with Bruce and revealed to him that deep within him lay a divine spark. Bruce’s was to bring laughter and happiness to the world. He ‘saw the light’ and set about to be himself – content, funny and furious!
If Abba reunited, they’d make trillions, yet Bjorn Again, the Aussie Abba tribute band, sing better, play better and look younger . yet only make thousands. Why is that? It’s the power of originality.
It’s the same for you and your church. Why would the devil spend time undermining your incredible God given gift of personality? Why do we admonish a ‘cell driven’ church, a ‘purpose driven’ church, a ‘passionately driven’ church, yet vilify a ‘personality driven’ church? Why is a church allowed to be led by strong leadership but not strong charisma? Who made charisma so superficial and so ‘American’? Is there a power at work to weaken the power that’s generated where originality abounds? (Please switch on the Jaws theme tune now!)
The funny thing about ministers is that they often change personalities upon entering the pulpit. It’s a strange morphing that I’ve been guilty of many times over. What results is a pale imitation of someone else’s divine spark.
So much of our life owes its power to the power of originality. Take faith for example. Faith comes by an original word from God. You can’t just repeat a verse from the Bible and then try to believe it. Either you believe it or you don’t believe it. You can’t make it up. When God speaks, faith is ignited. It’s not borrowed faith nor humanly generated. It doesn’t come through the laying on of hands. It comes via the power of originality ignited. It’s not borrowed faith nor humanly generated. It doesn’t come through the laying on of hands. It comes via the power of originality.
The gifts of the Spirit also operate on the strength of originality. They express themselves with unique words for a unique season and plan. And they do it through personality. It’s also a funny thing to see what happens when many people prophesy. Their voice changes, their manner changes and for whatever intents and purposes, they become a ‘different’ person. Who devalued and disfigured the vessel through which the gifts would operate?
Sunday Mind Dump
Beautiful day…..
Some pleasant suprises at church with two folk joining Eliot for worship….and they were great…both of them….cant say much more…but really encouraging….
There was a real sense of the presence of God this morning during church, and another good crowd in this week as well……which is always encouraging.
I spoke on fasting, which was good, got a friend to do a testimony about his own experiences, and it fitted in really well….in fact the whole service ‘flowed’ in that mysterious way that says to me that God has something to say…and we are just the passengers. It was good to be there.
This afternoon I took the kids down to City Beach to walk the dog, have some overpriced fish and chips, and let my son ride his bank down the steep grass walls of the oval there, going way to fast on his bike….he is such a boy.
Tommorow I have peer group, and I will be picking up my wife late at night.
Beautiful day in Freo
Wife away…what to do….Ruby provided the answers….lets go swimming dad!!!
Great idea daughter of mine….
Off to Mc Donalds for a great start to the day…well for the kids anyway, I had a Mc Cappucino which was passable….
Then to Fremantle Aquatic Centre….or whatever it is called….Son of mine taking to the water like the fish he is, daughter being her normal fun loving stuff…but approaching the slides with a little bit more timidity that son…..
Then to the Freo Markets, Freo icecream store and then to the Freo Bakehouse for some excellent Italian bread……
Great day, great suggestion….beautiful coffee at home….
Chasers and Howard
This is a tough one….I watched the Chasers on Wednesday night…and in particular Hansens song about how we forget the bad points and exagerate the good points of someone when they are dead. They used some very crude language, which was unnecessary, and were very crude in their explanations of their points, but they were also funny, and had a point to make.
They also made their point when they started saying something about Belinda Emmett, but then stopped, making the point that there are some things you should just not touch…..
I can understand totally if people were offended by this song, and it is not something that could be played in church, or even in the same loungeroom as your mum was sitting in, yet they had a point to make…….
I cannot totally be critical of it, because I watched it and laughed…so that would be hypocritical of me. But I wondered if they went right up to the edge, and then went over the other side.
The Prime Minister certainly thought so…and in fact had the better of the Chaser boys this morning when he quipped in obvious disgust to them, “you guys are funnier when you are making fun of people who are alive”….he was obviously disgusted with them, but used one of their tools to make his point…humour……
No matter what you think of the PM….I dont think he is going to lose this election by much, he is too clever for that…..in fact I dont think he is going to lose it at all…..
Someone has to take responsibility for this mess
An unnamed player has come out and admitted what many in the community have suspected, that the drug culture at the West Coast Eagles has been rampant since at least 2002. The unnamed player stated in the Age, “I knew what was going on. Me and another player went to the coaching staff and told them. We informed them about drug use,” the former player said.This player was repeatedly told to be quite by an administration which did not want to have to deal with the implications of such a problem.
Leading football writer Caroline Wilson has called for West Coast CEO Trevor Nisbett to resign over the issue, stating that if such a culture was allowed in a normal company, the CEO would have taken responsibility for it years ago.
I believe that the administration at the West Coast Eagles have had a ‘win at all costs’ mentality, which has not served the club well in the long term. Retiring West Coast Chairman Dalton Gooding is believed to have no chance of securing the coveted AFL Commissioner seat following the latest scandal involving Ben Cousins. Many on the AFL Commission are privately very angry at West Coast, and are calling for off field sanctions to be applied to a club which clearly has not addressed some basic discipline issues with players.
When speaking to The Age, the former player placed the blame square on the Eagle hierarchy stating, “They were told six years ago about it and they pushed it under the carpet.”
With some of the senior and most skilled Eagles players being involved with recreational drugs, the temptation to ignore the issue has been given into by the Club Administration, and I believe someone must take responsibility for the problem. I think Trevor Nisbett needs to resign, and allow someone fresh and objective into the club.
Despite one charge being dropped against Ben Cousins, the serious charge of refusing to undergo a driver assessment will proceed.