And it is still not over yet, so I don’t particularly want to blog about it yet.

But suffice to say that I have been very busy at Church. Selling property, buying property, attempting to sell property.

One piece of advice. Don’t bother taking a holiday if you have issues with settlement of property to deal with. You don’t really get a holiday!

It seems to me that there are some people who revel in taking offense.

Whether it be a perceived slight, not being included or something you say, their nature resembles that of a porcupine. Don’t get too close or you will get hurt.

Its a shame to live that way. To always be thinking that someone is going to offend you, and steeling yourself for that.

I used an illustration once at church which basically said that often we will look or observe a situation, word, conversation, and tell ourselves a story about that. That story we tell ourselves may or may not be reality. For instance I may see someone come into the room with a foul look on their face and assume they are mad at me. There may be 20 other people in the room, and they may have just copped a speeding ticket, but some will be sure that they are mad at them.

Life is too short to take offense easily. Being a quick forgiver, and not holding grudges is a much more healthy and happy way to live.

If you are a bloke, I really encourage you to get along to either of these events. Great times for men to journey in their lives together as Christian Men.

Some parents invest in musical instruments for their children. Others invest in language lessons, or expensive sporting gear. But all parents would agree that we need to be students of our own children. They are all different, and require a varied approach to see them become all they can.

My son has a keen eye for a story, how people work and an image. He seems to have an innate sense for what is going on. In short, he is sensitive.

He loves making movies and using video. So this Christmas my wife and I invested in a Action Camera for him. After doing my research it seemed that Go Pro was the standard by which all others are judged.

After leaving the present buying till the last few days before Christmas was it any wonder that I could not find one for love or money? I rang about 10 camera and dive stores chasing one and the answer was the same, “you wont get one in Perth until mid January at the earliest. It has been the biggest seller and we sold out weeks ago”.

I did not give up though and thanks to the power of Twitter I found one at Harvey Norman O Connor. A bit of a drive but I secured it. What an amazing piece of gear. Waterproof to 60 metres, compact, high definition video. What else is impressive is the way the Camera has its own wifi signal, enabling you to pair it with your Ipod or Iphone or Tablet. This means you can control and view the camera wirelessly, anywhere.

My son has already taken it swimming, and the video and sound…yes sound…quality is outstanding. The water bubbles, the noise of the water in the pool…incredible. The ability to control it wirelessly…amazing. It is small, but the quality is very good. It comes with the basics, except a micro sd card, which they really should include. You can also buy all sorts of accessories so you can attach it to just about anything. Like your bullbar, helmet, surfboard, bicycle.

Looking forward to seeing what he does with it.

I have had something worrying me deeply for the past week or two. Not something I can talk about publicly.

The other day I was lying on the couch, having just woken up from a nap. I cried out to God and confessed….I am worried.

This broke something in the spiritual realm for me. I cannot say that this worry is not niggling away, it is still on my mind. The issue is not resolved yet. But the debilitating worry is gone. God broke it.

Thanks God. I trust You.

I would hazard a guess to say this was the stressless Christmas at Inglewood Church, but certainly a good one.

We had a Christmas Eve Eve service (23rd December) at the old Inglewood Church. As you may know, this building is likely sold. I was concerned there may be some grief from some of the old members, so this was an opportunity where I invited them back for a final service. We had well over 40 of the former members come, and the crowd was over 120 people that night, all squeezed into the small chapel!. It was hot…even with the airconditioning on full bore.

But there was a real sense of God’s presence there. I asked the crowd how many of them where married in the old building, and there would have been 20 hands at least go up! There were people there who were married there over 50 years ago!

The most wonderful thing for me was their thankfulness for what we did. We talked about the old times, celebrated what God had done there, and looked forward to the future. I had phone calls the next day of thanks….that doesn’t normally happen! I was so blessed as we saw off the old building in style and gratefulness.

Christmas Day was a great service as well. A big crowd, and a short but joyful service. Eliot and the crew did a wonderful job of the music and worship.

For me Christmas is a key missional time. People are happy, mostly, to talk about Jesus. After all, that is what Christmas is all about. I know some criticise Christmas as being commercialized and straying from its origins. But that does not confront me. I see it as a great time to celebrate Jesus, and the message of love, grace, forgivenss and peace that He brings…today.