Here is an account of one the day trips I took when on holidays at Bremer Bay, Fitzgerald National Park, and when we visited Point Anne.
We headed off from Bremer Bay, across the sand spit at the town beach. Up the gravel bush track and into Fitzgerald National Park.
As we started our our day trip we experienced some of the biggest corrugations I have ever had the mispleasure of jolting on my behind. In between making jokes on our little UHF radios about high beam and Forestor headlights, we argued about the best method of smoothing the ride out. Ultimately the ‘go as quick as you safely can’ argument won.

In the group was a Forrestor, a new Landcruiser, a Pajero, a Wrangler and my 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara V6 Manual.

After about 10 ks of gravel track, some of it washed out with slow going required, we hit the sandy track which would take us to the beach. Even in the middle of the pack, I could hear the new Cruiser being scraped by the overhanging vegetation. It buffed out fine but can be a little disconcerting at first.  I asked my wife to ‘pull in’ her side mirror, and I pulled in mine, and the Suzuki’s narrower body was fine.

Having radios was really helpful as we snaked our way down various tracks to eventually hit some soft stuff on our way out of the bush and onto a reasonable sized salt lake which led down to the beach. The momentary freedom caused me to give the V6 motor a bit of a squirt as we all darted down to the waterfront.
None of us had our tyres down at this stage yet we all managed to get down to the ocean without a hitch.

A helpful ranger with what is arguabley the best job in the world popped past on his 4 wheel motorbike and told us about the beach trip to Point Anne. ‘Drive about 10 kilometers along the beach until you get to this little cliff where there is some rubber matting to help you up. There is a bit of a dip but you should be fine”.

Against the plaintive pleas of protest from our collective group of wives we let our tyres down and begin the journey along the beach. I suggested the Cruiser go first and plow a trail for us. The Pajero followed him, I came up third and the Wrangler and the Forester brought up the rear.

It was pretty easy going for about the first five kilometres until we hit a soft patch near the sea and needed to go up the bank a bit. Even the Cruiser started to struggle so all of us stopped, and let the tyres down to various limits. I let mine down to about 18psi.

It was interesting following the bigger vehicles. I needed to go a little faster than them to be comfortable, and if I could have, I think it would have been better. While I went along alternating between first and second in my manual V6, they mostly plodded along in their automatic vehicles. A couple of times when I managed to stay in second for a while, the GV was moving beautifully. I needed to keep momentum up and it glided over the sand, rather than ploughing through it as the Cruiser did.

We made it to the ‘cliff’ and all of us gulped a little. The most experienced of our crew was the Forestor driver so I suggested he go first, mostly because he had the vehicle with the least clearance. If anyone would get stuck, it might have been him. It looked a lot worse than it was. Although it appeared he bottomed out a little in the first 3 metres of sand and dip, he made it to the rubber matting with no problem. I went next, and despite having a sore arm from where my wife pinched me, the Grand Vitara went up the slope easily. Compared to my old 1.6 Litre Auto Vitara, this one has oodles of power.

Once we all made it to Point Anne along the corrugated gravel track, the views were simply breathtaking. What a beautiful part of the world with stunning scenery and magnificent cliff and rocky structures jutting out into a wide expanse of creation.

I am on holidays for a while and this blog is in recess, but I must tell you about this coffee I had yesterday. Melinda and I were blessed to be able to leave the kids with their grandparents and do a ‘foodie’ tour of the Margaret River region.
We visited lots of great places, one of them being Yahava Coffee just out of Margaret River.
The guy there knew his stuff, but his manner was reminiscent of the ‘Soup Nazi’ character from Seinfeld. He asked briskly what I wanted and I replied deadpan, ‘coffee’. Grunt….

But then I noticed they had some Kona coffee on special, $6 for a double shot. I supplied my own travel mug, and the aforementioned Barista went about his business efficiently filling it for me. Some background on these beans. Hawaiian Kona is described as “the worlds most sought after coffee; Kona is grown on a narrow band of mountainous volcanic soils that make up the western coastline of the big island of Hawaii”. Yahava sells it for $79.00 for 500g.

Despite his manner, the coffee makers skills needed no apology. The Kona was simply superb. Creamy, smooth, and towards the end of the cup..hints of mocha. I enjoyed the coffee even better towards the end, which says something good to me.

I am not in the position to buy some Kona beans, so settled for some Nepalese Terai Supreme The Barista assured me the beans were fresh, but needed a day or three to be at their optimum. They have a floral style, with cinnamon hints. Looking forward to seeing what I can do with it when I get home.

Yahava

Sunday December the 19th, Perth Western Australia.

Having grown in my love and admiration of the Rock Band U2, their concert in Perth on a balmy Sunday night promised much, and delivered more.

As a Pastor and Christian I have grown to appreciate U2 beyond the obvious musical skill and entertainment factor, which they certainly have. The biggest rock band in the world putting on the biggest show in the world was enough to justify the ticket price, but they gave so much more.

The seminal moment for me occurred when Bono, who sung so much better than I thought he could, had the whole 60 thousand strong crowd singing along to “Amazing Grace”. As I filmed the moment on my Iphone and panned around I wondered how many people understood the song they were singing, and the fact it had real meaning and significance to U2 who have a full time Chaplain who travels with them, and has since the early days.

While Bono’s activism on human rights issues is well known, his deep Christian faith, while obvious to all who look, is not as well publicized.

The fact that Amazing Grace led into the most well received and possibly most significant song they sing, “Where the Streets Have no Name” was also wonderful. This song is about the Kingdom of God coming to earth, and heaven to come. It talks of a place and a time where there are no street signs to designate religion, race and creed. A time when, in the words of another of their songs, “all the colours bleed into one”.

Bono is not as universal as you might think. He talks a lot about grace. In my view, grace is the separating factor between Christianity and other religions.

As we head towards Christmas we think about grace, the grace of Jesus to come to a world which neither knew Him, nor what he stood for. Perhaps a little like many in the U2 Crowd.

This one covers the biggest constitutional change the church has ever had in its 60 year history.

The Seven Year Itch

I am going to my first ever U2 Concert tonight. To say I am excited is an understatement. In honour of that, here is a reprint of a post I did a while back….

Message on BONO
Posted on November 2, 2009 by Mark Edwards

I spoke on Bono from U2 on Sunday,
“As the names of those lost on Sept. 11 scrolled up a towering screen, the singer kept reciting a verse from Psalm 51, in which King David pleaded for God’s mercy.

“Oh Lord, open my lips,” he said, “that my mouth shall show forth thy praise.” Then the music rose in a crescendo, soaring into a song about heaven, a vision of a new heaven and earth, of a city “where there’s no sorrow and no shame, where the streets have no name.”

This didn’t happen in a safe Christian sanctuary, in a church worship service.
This happened at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI, in front of 131 million or so viewers around the world.
As the people drunk their beer and ate their hotdogs and some very unfit people watched some very fit people play americal football.
U2 brought into that very secular environment a psalm of David….and a song about heaven…and a Christian reflection on world events….”

Here is the message audio

Pictures and videos are not included….obviously, but you will probably get the idea!

Part of some peoples philosophy of leadership is to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
This is sometimes applied to Church Leadership. There is a sense that you need accountability built into leadership structures so the Pastor is kept accountable.

Firstly let me say I totally agree with the need for accountability. Leaders in churches are charged with serious responsibility, and need to be accountable.

But there is something flawed in our thinking if we apply the same sort of culture in Churches which we apply to our politicians, in other words, “keep the B… honest”.

Churches should be places built around trust, not mistrust.

The issue for some has been that sometimes churches are not acting missionally.
If a church is acting missionally, it is up against it, because evangelism and real church growth is hard work.
Maintaining the status quo is not hard.

If results, in a missional sense, real growth, is measured and leaders are kept accountable for that, then that is in my belief appropriate accountability.

All this to say, I love journeying with friends on this missional journey of church life. We are a busy and purposeful church. There is lots of discipleship, growth, evangelism….mission….happening. We are too focused and challenged as a church to have time for silly squabbles. There is a real sense we just need to get on with it. Travelling with friends is the way to go if your church is like this, because we have enough challenges from the outside, without worrying about ones from the inside.

This morning my wife prepared the most amazing food and our 15 strong leadership team came over for a gastronomical feast, a few laughs…and lots of thanksgiving. To God…and for each other, as we journey together as friends.