mmmmm the crowd says.

Women: does your husband sit there for hours listening to you every day, pore over every detail?
nooooo your best friend does that.

Men: does your wife kick the footy with you, laugh at your fart jokes, be your friend even if you have not seen for for 6 months?
nooooo your best friend does that

Marriage is a sacred covenant between two people who love each other as eros and companionship love. It is a beautiful partnership.

But I dont buy that corny line, “I married my best friend’.
Marriage is far more than that.
The two become one.
Two different people, with perhaps vastly different likes, interests, get together and share life together.

I am not saying you are not friends….but if you are married, you are lovers….joint homemakers together, its different to being best friends.

(Some thoughts as I prepare my message for this Sunday on failure in marriage)

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If there is one thing that is appreciated in all walks of life…it is communication.

Honesty, frankness….reality. You can deal with those things.

Falsehood, covering up….unspoken words…not as easy to deal with.

Jesus said, ‘The truth will set you free’.
Aint that the truth!

AFL coaches are the master of saying nothing.
Some politicians are the master of saying nothing while their lips are moving at a furious pace.

Sometimes it is best to hold your tongue.
By most often, it is best to be open and share.
I hope I am open and honest, it is a great quality for a leader to have.

Starting a new series this month on Failure

Here is a quote from Brian Winslade that I have pinched, modified, and am using on Sunday,
“Show me a genuine man/woman of God, who people look up to and want to be like, and I’ll show you a man/woman who has experienced failure at some point in their life. It’s the principle of brokenness. The tears of disappointment and the realisation of failure teach us more about life and God’s grace than do the heady heights of success and triumph.”

Character is most important in ministry
“Reputation is what the world thinks a man is; character is what he really is”

I wonder if sometimes we don’t fool lots of people, including ourselves, about what we are like……

Its easy for people to presume something about your character if you are succesful, especially in ministry.
But character will enable you to finish the race, to finish well…….

Met with a mate who is my best mate in ministry.
We have known each other since we started studying together at Seminary, and have been in a peer group now for over 15 years.
Other blokes have come and gone in ministry, and now we have a pretty tight and good peer group.
Both of us have had times, real close, where we could have left the ministry. And even know, in our worst moments, we think of it.
But both of us feel called to being a pastor, and probably feel we would not be fulfilled doing anything else.
Neither of us, by the grace of God, have ‘fallen’ in any significant way, but we have both made mistakes, and choices we regret. Thats part of life.

As we both look to the future and are now of years enough that we are thinking about the best way to use our next 20 years or so….we are both looking to push ourselves, personally and in ministry areas.

Sharing my pastoral journey with such a friend….is such a joy. Not a silly delirious joy (like the Dockers winning again!)…but a profound sense of peace.

Our peer group, in light of recent events, made a commitment to each other that we were in ministry for the long haul.
Sharing the journey in pastoral ministry is a source of strength and accountability.
Thank God for friends. He (God) realises we need other people to help us on this journey, as well as the Holy Spirit. No pastor is a lone ranger, and if they are….disaster often awaits.