I love living where I do….and here is one reason why.

Wake up,
need to help beloved clean the house, she is in one of her cleaning moods…and the whole family gets caught up in the clean-a-thon….which is good…

Now…..the good part…
off to Lawleys for a loaf of divine Ciabata bread, and a lovely Danish for number one son….

Then down to the Barrista championships to see Jasper produce some stunningly good coffee…using his own blends …(Postscript…my friend…2nd best in WA!! )

Back to my abode, pour myself the third flat white for the day…a long one this time, smear some butter on the bread….relax, read the West….aaaaahhh…watch some of the Test.

I am learning to be happy with who I am….and less concerned about what other people think of me….

I think this is important.

So many people have views on what a pastor should be, what they should do…
Obviously there is only one opinion that matters….Gods….
I have to continue to be grow in my joy with what I think God wants me to do, who He wants me to be.

There are so many who venture opinionon who a pastor should be, what they should do….they generally are not pastors….how much does there opinion matter? It does matter…but probaby a lot less that I sometimes demonstrate through my actons that it matters.

Yesterday I headed off about 5.30pm to hit the crap out of 70 golf balls at the Penninsula Golf Course.
I was looking for a parking spot and noticed that there was about 15….yes 15 great spots right near the course. Only problem was…they were marked STAFF….in fact they were even closer to the course than the disabled bays. Unbelievable.
How did this make me feel? Well it was obvious who was the most important person there, not the customers…the staff.

What do we do at church which makes the visitor feel they are the most important person? What do we do as a church which ensures that those who are not yet part of the church community know…that we care about them? That we are placing their needs in front of our own?

Just one small thing I do as the pastor.
I don’t rush out of the building when my ‘stage work’ is done
I don’t hide away in a ‘prayer room’ after the service.
I don’t go straight to my friends first and laugh with them.

I go to the exit….quickly…before the visitors rush off.
I make sure that I shake their hands, and introduce myself.
I make sure that nearly everyone who came to church that morning sees me, hopefully says hello, and if they have a need, I get to hear about it.

Its not about the Pastor being more important than anyone else, but they do need to lead well….and lead through being available to serve.

The most important people to me on a Sunday morning are those I have never seen at church before, and those who I have not seen very much. I cant apologise for that. I am here to see the church grow.
Those who come to church every week, I also want to touch base with them, and care for them if needed, but my priority is those who are not yet part of our church community, and I want them to know it.

Here is an excellent little website.
Even better than zamzar.

Converts Youtube videos to whatever format you want, online….

http://www.vconversion.com/

Looking for your next contemporary Christian Christmas Carol?
Maybe you could get the guys to do this?

“With arms outstretched and nail-pierced hands, Jesus is saying, ‘This is how much I love the world. This is how much I love the atheists, secularists, Democrats, and Republicans. And this is how much I love Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists. I love them so much it hurts. I love them so much, I’d rather die than live without them.'” – Rick Warren

The following post has nothing to do with my present church situation, thank God, but rather some stuff two friends are going through.

It follows typical and similar patterns.
Someone welcomes you with open arms…they are your best friend, your biggest supporter. Watch them….they will turn. When you stop dancing to their tune…you will become the devil incarnate.

Car park meetings, small group meetings. This is where the conflict is stirred up. Like a witch turning her pot..so the discontents turn their gossip.
The Pastor is very often the one under attack….why? Because their is so much money and power available (insert sarcastic smilie here)
No….often because he/she is a person dedicated to God, and His purposes. Often because they want something more for the church, for the church to grow, become missional, become relevant. For this…because he goes against the statue quo, against comfort, they are disrespected, gossiped about, openly slandered…and they are meant to take it, because they are the ‘godly one’.

After fielding three conversations about this sort of crap this week, I reassured the people involved, they are not mad….it generally happens to us all.

Why do we put up with it? Many of us dont…we leave, we go do something easier. Our family suffers too much.
Others give in, and become the ‘nice pastor’ that people want us to be, but dont need us to be.

Others persevere and pray, and choose to lead with grace, strength and love, and true meekness. Not perfectly, plenty of humanity….but we choose to pray, persevere and lead none the less. And sometimes….heaven shines forth…and people are added to the family of God.