Hopes, dreams….they come back every 12 months for the Dockers…
This is the best time of year….we start off like everyone else…. 🙂
Good to see some footy news back on the TV!

Who do you recieve it from?

Let me tell you who I seek it from.

Friends, fellow pastors who I know
Those who have my best interests at heart
People I trust.
I seek it out, I ask people to speak into my life.

Who do I not recieve it from?
Pharisees
People I don’t know
Young bloggers who think they know everything…I dont blame them, I used to be young idealistic, and even a little fundamental!
People who send me laughable comments with no idea who I am, the arrogance of it makes you laugh!

As I was sharing this morning from the scriptures I shared with people that as you choose to lead, and be a leader, people will try and criticise you. People love criticising things they don’t know. I encourage you…if you are leading, you need to learn to laugh at some of the absurd things people say…because some it is so immature and misinformed….

“But of course the criticism of Bono is that he is an extremely wealthy rock star, and U2 put on incredibly expensive rock concerts.
And you know what I am not here to defend him or portray him as some sort of saint, he is not.
He swears, he drinks, he smokes cigars…and he does not go to church every Sunday….and I am sure he has wasted a lot of money that could go somewhere better.
For me though, my interpretation of that is, that everyone of us lives in this world, where nothing is perfect, and no one is equal…
Compared to some child with nothing coming across the ocean on some rickety boat fleeing from Sri Lanka, I am a wealthy wealthy person, and so are most of us here today.
Bono will have to stand before God for the wealth he has….so will I…
But at this point, to be frank, he has done more for the poor in the world than I ever have, or probably ever will….so I am not judging him, but his faith in Jesus has galvinised him into action……”

to hear the rest, see you at Inglewood Church this Sunday, or come back here Tuesday and I will have uploaded the audio…..

During the ground breaking U2 concert, broadcast live over Youtube, watched by millions,
Bono is thanking those helping with the Aids Tragedy, and one of those he mentions is Rick Warren, at about the 2:10:40 mark.

Watch

What are you giving your life for?

We all give our life for something…even if its for nothing.

Today I had to drop some stuff in at a church in another area.
Thing is…this church is one of the best located churches in Perth.
It has great facilities, fantastic public exposure, and has in the past run some wonderful…and huge…public events.

It has so much potential, probably more than just about any church I can think of at the moment.
Yet….various pastors have passed through its doors…and not because of conflict or bad leadership (at least from what I can tell on behalf of the church).
But….none of them have stayed.

I was just struck today by how easy I think it would be..compared to some of the hard slog I have been through the past few years, to see this church grow.
But the missing ingredient has been stable long term pastoral leadership.

Important….undervalued.

Here is a video I have made up to show at Mens Groups to Promote Mighty Mens Conference

I spoke on Martin Luther King this Sunday.
It was a really inspiring and thought provoking topic for me.
Here are some notes, and also the link to th audio if you are interested.

” When America was first formed as a nation they wrote the constitution which guaranteed freedom and the right to pursue a happy life to all of its peoples, regardless of their race creed or religion.

However for 300 years after that, the slave trade was alive and well in America where black people where shipped from Africa to be bought, sold, worked and used as cattle…as machines….as slaves. After the civil war the black people of North America were declared free…but well into the 20^th century, people were shunted, segrageted, placed in substandard schools, or no schools, they were denied the right to own property, to marry who they wanted…..while on paper they were declared free…they still where under the bondage of slavery to the point of not even being able to get onto the bus if a white person was there. Coretta scott King who married Martin Luther King, told the story of how as a little girl she watched the local police force and local city council burn down her fathers saw mill….burn down her fathers life work…in front of the family.

Then as she struggled as a young black girl in Alabama to get an education she told how she used to walk to the black only primary school and be covered in dust from the buses of the white children being driven to their school in the early 1940’s.

American citizens of African descent where not allowed to vote, not allowed to eat in restaurants, only allowed to travel on certain buses at certain times…

In 1929, less than one life time after slaves were declared free…Martin Luther King Jnr was born in Atlanta,”

Listen