Every year I help organise the WA Baptist Pastors Retreat. We hold it in Mandurah over three day with most of us staying at the Mandurah Atrium.
This year we had as our guest speaker Dale Stephenson, the Senior Pastor at Crossway Baptist Church.
Dale spoke a number of times.
The first statement he made was,
“The kingdom price is too high to adopt methods that God is not blessing”
His point being that we are not to fear the people or their approval
I would add that the price of time is also too high. Look to where God is working, and go there.

Dale then spoke about preaching and communication of vision. Do not make a big point without emphasis, Vast majority of people have a heart, Hearts and minds need to be touched. He emphasised the need for stories, and how stories shape your culture. Do you want bad stories to shape your culture?

He then finished on Wednesday with the well known story of the Lost Son
At our point of failure and when the Devil is pointing at us, God meets us in our vulnerability. Having enticed you away, the Devil then tells you you can’t come to God for forgiveness. Shame. The lost son could have been found shame, but instead the Father ran to him to show him grace. Who can now shame the son when the Father is celebrating? Who wants to go to the auditor? Who wants to go to the principals office? He saved us today and he will save us in the future
Pharisees are enjoying the story when son is getting what he deserves with the pigs. No Jewish father is going to celebrate his son feeding pigs

The story ends with the father and the lost son.
The story is unresolved with the older brother not having joined the party.
Does he? We don’t know. The listener of the story has to answer that question themselves.

The Retreat was a inspiring and full on time. Most of us love it and look forward to it every year.

Erving Coffman used the metphor of a theatre to describe human behaviour. In Walkers book, “leading out of who you are’ he uses this illustration to suggest that leaders can understand their behaviour and attitude through self reflection using this diagram. I found it helpful.

“Leading out of who you are’

Rick Warrens much loved son passed away recently, at his own hand. After a long battle with depression and mental illness.

Rick is one of the most social media savvy pastors there is. His influence is profound.
He is perhaps one of the most influential religious practitioners in the world.

All I have seen of him causes me to respect his ministry. He was at the forefront of Christians getting involved in Aids research, before it was trendy to do so. He reaches out to all political spheres. Yet he has not compromised his Christian faith or beliefs to do so.

But there have been so many who have chosen this sensitive time to condemn, judge and post spiteful comments directed towards him from behind the safety of their keyboards.

Shame on you, you pharisees.

“He sees you as a diamond in the sky…beautiful….His creation..chosen before the word was given for the light to crack open the darkness.” From my message prepared for this Sunday. (Eph 1)

It is a pretty good start to the year. Beating the mob from down the road is always good. But I hope we have bigger birds to fry this year.

Here are some thoughts I am pondering.

1. Is Jonathon Griffin the most underrated Ruckman in the AFL?
After comprehensively toweling up AA Ruckman Dean Cox in the absence of Sandilands, it might be time for him to get some more recognition. Tick for whoever made the decision to keep him on last year.

2. Is Nic Suban about to have a break out year?
After periods of injury, and having to wear the Sub jacket to many games, perhaps his four quarter effort, including 3 goals, might see Nic become a regular player.

3. Is Danyl Pearce the shrewdest pick up for 2013?
His presence and pace on Saturday night was telling. Having to decide who to tag out of Hill, Fyfe and now Pearce is going to cause some headaches to opposition coaches.

4. Can we keep up the intensity?
Keeping the ball in your own forward 50 has become a mark of a well coached and disciplined Fremantle side under Ross Lyon. I hope the intensity can be kept up because if it is, Fremantle will win more games than lose in 2013.

“Lord grant me a carpark, right near the shopping centre door”
Is such a prayer valid? Is it good use of prayer time, of God’s time?
Is God interested in such a prayer?

However you answer this question, it is true that some Christians see prayer as nothing more than a slot machine, and they hope the 3 cherries come up more than not.

Equally disturbing though is that some Christians ask the question, why pray at all? Some believe that whether we pray or not, our life will turn our roughly the same. Prayer and relationship with God is not a compelling part of their daily life.

I question this. I wonder if perhaps there is not much in their life to seriously pray about, because there is not much challenge within their life. We all experience day to day challenges but I am talking about the challenges which come with spiritual battle, spiritual reflection, spiritual fruitfulness and ministry.

If we are truly a disciple of Jesus, there will be ministry opportunities and divine moments as part of our daily lives. And these moments require a deep dependence on the knowledge of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Which compels us to prayer.

Heading off to speak at the Parkerville Baptist Church Camp.
Been asked to speak on the Holy Spirit and His influence in our lives.
This passage from Ephesians 1 will be where I finish up.

“13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

15-19 That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

20-23 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.”

This passage confronts the modern church on many levels. For one thing it proclaims as a hope, I suggest, that the Church is really what the world has as its centre, its grounding. The Church being the Body of Christ.
Why do we not experience this? Perhaps I can suggest the context of this passage holds the clue. The Holy Spirit, our seal, our signet…our centre, does not always hold His place as the centre of our lives, as the centre of Church life.