Speaking on this passage at our Uni Congregation on Sunday night.

So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. ² Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. ³ As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

⁵ So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.”

Who are we to judge leaders of other churches? We should not, we cant even judge ourselves!.

Ravi Zacharias has some good things to say.

 

The 2006 Grand Vitara I bought a few years back and have modified a bit (here) is a great car to go touring in with a small family. 

As you can see it was fully loaded for our trip to Bremer Bay and you could not really tell any difference in power with all that weight. A fully loaded trailer, boot and all our clothing and sleeping gear on top was no real issue.

We love to go down the beach fishing and 4 wheel driving with our friends. The Zook loves the sand, tackling the boggy stuff and some inclines with no issues.

I locked it into 4wd Low after watching my friends Landcruisers take a couple of attempts to get over a dune we had to go over. It was no issue with the right run up and understanding that this was a boggy incline.

The Side Awning is okay. We put it up on a really still day and it certainly keeps the sun off you. Its just a pity it is not more robust and well designed.

 

I made some really hard decisions in 2013.

The hardest decisions of my ministry life.

Thankfully some great confirmations have come from those decisions.

Not easy for anyone involved. But out of that came opportunities and exciting possibilities for everyone concerned.

Now God is bringing some new vision and strategy to my heart. To do with reaching beyond the walls of Inglewood and taking a more city wide approach to church. He is also bringing opportunity to me. God I am listening.

We had a great Christmas at Inglewood Church.

We decorated our new factory building and had our services there. The building is in no way ready, but it was fun to have a taste of what it will be like to have our own building.

One of the wonderfully creative ladies at the church designed and made these great letters spelling out HOPE to go with our December theme and the focus of our Christmas.

 

Our focus was to raise some funds for the Baptist World Aid project in partnership with Freeset. They raise funds for women caught in the sex trade. You can watch a video on it HERE

We were so blessed to raise over $2000 for this on the one day! So exciting.

The music and signing was really good, contemporary but with a nod to traditional carols, which people like. We had really good crowds in for both services and it was great to celebrate ‘Immanuel’ together.

Washington: In the minutes before Asiana Airlines flight 214 crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, one of the three pilots in the cockpit called out three times that the plane was descending too fast. But none of the pilots noticed that they were flying the plane too slowly until shortly before it hit the sea wall at the end of runway 28 Left.

Inexperience and Korean culture played a role in the way the pilots handled the landing, according to documents released on Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The captain, Lee Kang Kuk, who was flying the plane, told investigators that any of the three pilots could have decided to break off the approach, but for “the low-level people”, including himself because he was being supervised by an instructor pilot, “it’s very hard,” he said.
Miraculously, only three people died when the Boeing 777 hit a sea wall at San Francisco airport.

Miraculously, only three people died when the Boeing 777 hit a sea wall at San Francisco airport. Photo: AP

He also said that as the plane approached he was momentarily blinded by a bright light on the runway, possibly a reflection of the sun, but that he would not wear sunglasses because among Koreans that would be impolite. (Source)

Imagine being imprisoned in a culture or way of thinking that would lead to the death of people. Imagine being so afraid of what people think, that you would not confront someone, or do something as simple as put on a pair of sunglasses. Please don’t take this as a slight on a particular culture. Every culture has its blindness.

Here is another thought, mine I suppose, on another way to look and think about preaching, particularly in the local church context.

We should preach a message as though we are group counseling people.

Dealing with felt needs and real needs

Thinking while we are preparing about the hurts and pains people are going through.

We know these hurts and pains, because we pastorally care for people, pray for them and love them.