William Seymour is known as the founder of the modern Pentecostal movement. As part of our continuing series on ‘Heroes of the Faith” I spoke on his life on Sunday.

Along with his work in bringing the work of the Holy Spirit to the Church’s attention, he also made a significant contribution to the breakdown of racial segregation. This is what I shared on Sunday….

So what do we learn from William Seymour that is important to us.
Firstly and really obviously, so obvious that it almost pains me to have to say it.
Colour, race,cultural and religious backgound means nothing to God. To distinguish on that basis is like saying to a father, which one of your children is less worthy to be your child, is your son less worthy because he is male, is your daughter less worthy to be called your child because she has red hair?
I mean how patently ridiculous and wrong it was for Christians to discriminate the grace the message the good news of Jesus, based on appearance, background.

This is what someone said of the revival that took place under Williams ministry…
African-Americans, Latinos, whites, and others prayed and sang together, creating a dimension of spiritual unity and equality, almost unprecedented for the time. It allowed men, women, and children to celebrate their unity in Christ and participate as led by the Spirit. Indeed, so unusual was the mixture of blacks and whites, that Bartleman enthusiastically exclaimed, “The color line was washed away in the blood.”5 He meant that in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the sin of racial prejudice had been removed by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.

The Fremantle board was right to get Ross Lyon as coach. Under Ross’ excellent tutelage and discipline, the Dockers have become something the opposite of what we have always been known as, disciplined. To watch the ferocious defensive pressure of this team is astounding. No more evident than the game against Carlton where Ross’ team of forwards hounded the Carlton defenders until a turnover came, and the incredulous Brian Taylor applauded from the box.

This weeks game against the far less credentialed GWS also demonstrated the tenacity of our forward press. So getting Ross was the right move. This is a well drilled, disciplined and most of all ‘aware’ team.

How the Board disposed of Harvey, ruthlessly, without a moment of compassion, was not good. Harvey was a loved coach, and put his heart and soul into the side. Making tough decisions. He deserved better. But what it is, is what it is, and ultimately Fremantle got their man, and he was and is the right one.

However something is concerning me about my Fremantle Dockers at the moment. Crowds are low. Despite the winning run from Fremantle, we are averaging around 34,000 for home games. This is 3000 less than 2010 and only marginally better than 2012. Is it just me, or is there a decided lack of presence from the crowd? Yes we are still passionate and loud. But there is something missing. Perhaps….some of the soul has gone. Chris Connolly and Schwab, for all the criticism you might level at them, did bring passion to the side. Now I like Lyon, he has a great sense of humour and genuine toughness. So this is not a criticism of him. But perhaps in the improvement and corporatisation of the club, we have lost something which might be difficult to regain.

We are doing a series at Inglewood Community Church on ‘Heroes of the Faith”

We have tried to pick interesting people, people we may not normally talk about. Now none of these people are perfect…because are not talking about Jesus!
But here is one I have just done on a hero of mine, Pastor Brian Houston from Hillsong Church

LISTEN

Rick Warren preached his first sermon the past weekend since his son Matthew committed suicide.
Matthew struggled with mental illness for most of his life and was highly intelligent.

Ricks take on how he is processing grief was fascinating and challenging.
Often at a funeral I have heard someone say, “God needed them in heaven more” or similar sentiment.
This obviously made Rick passionate, almost angry. Other people have said things like, “we remember the good times on earth and this gives us comfort”. This was also something Rick did not resonate with. He made this statement in regard to his son, ” ‘my comfort for my son come not from happy moments on earth, but holy moments he has in heaven”. Rick was also angry that his son had been taken from him because of mental illness and the state the world finds itself in. Our world is not perfect, far from it, and sin has contributed to that. In no way was he calling his son sinful, but his son suffered from the effect sin has had on the world. And in Ricks view his son was stolen from them, after enduring pain and mental anguish on earth.

A very challenging message you can watch online.
Watch Here

Sam Childers is the ‘Machine Gun Preacher”

He has an amazing story of grace and provision. Sam established the Angels of East Africa. That is a non-profit aid organisation established to provide a better future for orphaned children of war in Southern Sudan.
He is coming to Inglewood Church to share his story. The lads are going to crank up some bloke tunes as well. Should be a great night.

I have been involved recently with some discussion on accreditation of Baptist Pastors. One of the questions for accreditation candidates is, “do you have any unresolved conflict with anyone?”

Interesting question!

If you had asked me that at the start of my ministry journey the answer would be no. But if you asked me that question now, after 20 years…well. The answer would be a lot more complex.

Let me make a few assertions. If you have not had conflict in your ministry, what have you been doing? Because to be a leader means you will rock the boat, provoke…and cause change. All of these will cause conflict. Some people don’t like to be changed, but sometimes that is your role as a leader. To be prophetic, to provoke, to challenge. Even when, and perhaps especially when, the people you are leading don’t want you to!

Do I have unresolved conflict with some people? Sadly the answer is yes. Sadly I say because I love people. I don’t want to have unresolved tension with anyone. But then, happily the answer is yes. Because I can be provocative, I will challenge, I do sometimes create tension.

I have journeyed with a group of mates now for almost 20 years.
All of us Pastors, or in ‘ministry’ of some sort.

We have seen it all in Ministry. That is not an arrogant claim, just a realization that our hearts need to refrain from cynicism or being comfortable in ministry. Because ministry is not comfortable.

We have watched many of our friends and contemporaries leave the ministry. Some for good reasons, others because they were forced out, others because their own issues disqualified them. Thank God none of us have ‘fallen’. I like to think one reason is because we have each other.

This morning I shared with them this verse with them from Exodus 4.1
“But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

This verse goes to the heart of a Pastors insecurity.
Firstly that the people will not listen to him. They wont believe him.
This is something we all have had to deal with at some stage. In order to lead people, you need to have them listen and believe you. You need to believe in yourself as a leader if you expect others to believe in you. There are times insecurity is bound up in our hearts…and strangles the life out of us.

Secondly Moses expresses his concern that the people wont believe God is with him. You can’t lead people spiritually unless God is with you. Otherwise you are not leading them to anything. Without God’s power, you are powerless. And you can only fool the people for some of the time, for a certain length of time…without God.

Which goes to the struggle of being a Pastor. Without God, you have nothing. With God, you have everything. Its a unique job. Having people to journey with means its possible. Without my peer group I would not be in ministry.