Alex Huggett has a blog.

Alex is a friend and pastor peer working at Ellenbrook Baptist Church. He has been through some rough times pastorally, have not we all, but apart from the occaisional twitching and other dysfunctions, he seems to have survived it alright. (!!)

His blog will focus on what is going on in the greater Ellenbrook area.
Check it out. http://www.the-ellenbrooker.com/

Whatever other criticism you might want to level at our new Premier, at least he has chosen the right team to support.

Alan is a true supporter. No chardonny sipping corporate box for him. Gallop take notice. Every derby, there was the blue and gold supporting Geoff, in his corporate box, with his limousine parked out front, blocking the path of the plebs.

Alan on the other hand sits in the normal wooden seats, a few rows down from me. He is a true working class Freo Supporter.

And now he is our state premier. Things are looking better for our state already.

2006 is the year that Purple comes into its own.

Tommorow I head off with my family to Cervantes for a few days of relaxation.

I am continuing my devotions in the Psalms and so Ps 5.1 will apply,

“Lord hear me as I pray”

This week its all about praying for fish. Would love to help my son pull in his second fish. Nothing quite like sitting there on the jetty or the beach casting out for some food. My wife is the best filleter and cooker of herring that there is.
Beautiful big crunchy herb infused bread crumbs, fish melting in your mouth. Big fat crispy wedges served with sour cream, and a nice coldie. All while sitting on the verandah watching the sun go down, enjoying the happy banter of my two beautiful kids.

God is so good to us all. I’m taking the time to thank him for my beautiful wife, my wonderful healthy kids, and my beautiful life.
Verse 12 “For you bles the godly O Lord, surrounding them with Your shield of love”.

Both Phil Baker and Andrew Hamilton are discussing where to find the best coffee in Perth, with varied results. It appears though that Leederville is the hub for Perth’s best coffee. Not suprising when you consider the ethnic origins of many of the good folk in that area. Perth has a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the Greek and Italian communities. When I visited the US it struck me how awful their coffee is. And yet they claim to love the stuff. Everywhere I went it was too hot, burnt and bitter.

One of my favourite places for coffee is a little lunch bar called the “Sunshine Cafe” on Beaufort St in Mnt Lawley. Most Tuesday mornings you will find me there discussing Church stuff with my associate. You wouldn’t necesarily think it, but they brew a good latte.

I am getting suprisingly beautiful coffee with my little espresso machine that my wife bought me for Christmas. Even my sister, a real ‘short black’ lady, thought the coffee was excellent.
What is more, it does not cost me $4 for a long strong latte!

The Church report, online magazine, has a lit of the 50 Most Influential Christians in US . Some very interesting names there, along with Bush, Osteen, Warren and Graham is relative newcomer, Rob Bell.
Those of you who visit my Blog will know how much I love Rob Bell’s Book, “The Velvet Elvis”.
It has helped me in my Christian life and ministry. I also love his DVD Nooma Series.
However has he really influenced me a lot? Well not as much as some flesh and bone Christians. A Pastor I had in Albany was one of the biggest influences on me. He taught me that preaching could be fun, interesting and inspiring all in one. He also inspired me to be a pastor. However he did also do some very silly things, and is no longer a Pastor. Like us all, he has feet of clay. Other major influences include my parents and some Christian friends.
I think these lists oversimplify things and make us think these people are more powerful than they are.
Even the most influential books I have ever read in my Christian walk, besides the Bible, books such as “The Velvet Elvis” and “Suprised by the Spirit” and “The purpose Driven life/Church” all have come along at a God apointed time, a time God wanted to say something deep and life changing to me.

I need to remind myself, that as a flesh and blood person, and as someone with feet of clay, that one at a time, I influence people. If your reading this, so do you.

Have been feeling a little bit flat the last couple of weeks, spiritually speaking. Its suprising how that was reflected in some of the things going on at Church.

However just before the service last Sunday, on the Saturday, I started to delve into the Psalms again. If you are feeling disconnected from God, these are a wonderful, passionate set of writings which really draw you into the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I had left my bible at Church (what sort of a pastor does that?!?!) and so I was reading from the amplified version. These lines from Psalm one really spoke to my soul, and I am feeling a sense of the Holy Spirit in me again, prodding, encouraging, stirring me on.
3And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]

Church on Sunday was really good. The music and worship was inspiring and flowed really well (thanks Dale, Bruce, Mark, Theo and Helen!)
Luke spoke really well, told some good stories and had us all thinking about how to deal with suffering.

In my mispent youth I owned a Mazda Rx4. It was purchased for the princely sum of $2000. Believe it or not, now such a vehicle would probably command double that. That means a 1975 vehicle has doubled in price over 15 years. However I am pretty sure my Rx4 is wrapped around some telephone pole in rural WA. It was a sad day when I sold it to a friend to finance my bible college days in Adelaide. Unfortunately it was way to heavy on the juice for my career of choice while studying, that of delivering pizza’s. But I digress.
My Rx4 was shiny red with a black vinyl roof. It looked very similar to the one pictured here. It had a killer stereo in it. Two 150w amps, 4 x 3 way Pioneer speakers. Of course there were no such things as Cd or DVD in car players in those days, but the cassette player belted out Cold Chisel, Australian Crawl, Ric Cua or Bryan Duncan, depending on my mood.

The motor was a 13b street ported job with a 4 barrell Holley Carbie. One problem I had was fuel starvation at high revs (around 8000 rpm). I managed to pick up a rally fuel pump from a Rx7 for $50. The pump was worth a few hundred bucks, but the guy needed the cash. It solved the problem and the motor revved long and hard from that point on.

It went through numerous exhausts, once totally ripping apart a set of extractors. I ended up putting in some new extractors and a straight through exhaust, and it was pretty loud.

In the wet it was almost uncontrollable, spinning the rear wheels all the way up to fourth gear. Many times at the lights it took on and comprehensively beat much more fancied sets of wheels.

Anyways, back to the present and a promise I have made myself. I will one day purchase a Series 1 or 2 Mazda Rx7. (1979 – 1982/3) This will be returned to almost stock condition. No flares or mags for me. Just a clean, preferably white, Rx7 to take out when not driving the family around. I have already got in mind the exhaust system to put on it, because this is probably the second most crucial part of owning a rotary motor. The most important part is ensuring that the little pump which puts oil into the carby to oil the rotors is in top operational condition. If it is, a rotary motor will give you smooth, powerful performance for many happy years of motoring, despite the ill concieved fallacies which some will give.