During the ground breaking U2 concert, broadcast live over Youtube, watched by millions,
Bono is thanking those helping with the Aids Tragedy, and one of those he mentions is Rick Warren, at about the 2:10:40 mark.

Watch

What are you giving your life for?

We all give our life for something…even if its for nothing.

Today I had to drop some stuff in at a church in another area.
Thing is…this church is one of the best located churches in Perth.
It has great facilities, fantastic public exposure, and has in the past run some wonderful…and huge…public events.

It has so much potential, probably more than just about any church I can think of at the moment.
Yet….various pastors have passed through its doors…and not because of conflict or bad leadership (at least from what I can tell on behalf of the church).
But….none of them have stayed.

I was just struck today by how easy I think it would be..compared to some of the hard slog I have been through the past few years, to see this church grow.
But the missing ingredient has been stable long term pastoral leadership.

Important….undervalued.

Here is a video I have made up to show at Mens Groups to Promote Mighty Mens Conference

I spoke on Martin Luther King this Sunday.
It was a really inspiring and thought provoking topic for me.
Here are some notes, and also the link to th audio if you are interested.

” When America was first formed as a nation they wrote the constitution which guaranteed freedom and the right to pursue a happy life to all of its peoples, regardless of their race creed or religion.

However for 300 years after that, the slave trade was alive and well in America where black people where shipped from Africa to be bought, sold, worked and used as cattle…as machines….as slaves. After the civil war the black people of North America were declared free…but well into the 20^th century, people were shunted, segrageted, placed in substandard schools, or no schools, they were denied the right to own property, to marry who they wanted…..while on paper they were declared free…they still where under the bondage of slavery to the point of not even being able to get onto the bus if a white person was there. Coretta scott King who married Martin Luther King, told the story of how as a little girl she watched the local police force and local city council burn down her fathers saw mill….burn down her fathers life work…in front of the family.

Then as she struggled as a young black girl in Alabama to get an education she told how she used to walk to the black only primary school and be covered in dust from the buses of the white children being driven to their school in the early 1940’s.

American citizens of African descent where not allowed to vote, not allowed to eat in restaurants, only allowed to travel on certain buses at certain times…

In 1929, less than one life time after slaves were declared free…Martin Luther King Jnr was born in Atlanta,”

Listen

There are some fascinating photos on this site.
Chernobyl Today in Photos

Inglewood Church was pretty packed on Sunday.
Perhaps more encouraging though was seeing some folks there for the first time who we have been praying for.
Seeing people make the transitions is always encouraging as well. Growing.

Its a great place to be at the moment, with some big challenges facing us over the next few months, some big big decisions.

I love this man! What a preacher. Consider how courageous this truthful and inspirational message was to speak in his time.