Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Perry Noble's thoughts on Pastor's Pain

One of the Pastors I like to read on out there every now and agian in the wonderful world of the "world wide web" is Perry Noble. Perry's just put up a terrific post called “The Pastor’s Pain” in which he gives the inside scoop on what it’s like to be a pastor. Hmmm I don't like pain...

He talks about the “three pains” of a pastor:

1) The pain from loneliness

2) The pain from criticism

3) The pain from unrealistic expectations

Hey this is just something that I think is worth reading!

Read it and then go love on your pastor!

Hey... I'll accept all loving that's coming my way. Encouragement and fuel from others is great, we all need it, but above all I cherish the immeasurable love that God gives me in His Son Jesus!!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Paul Peterson gives great advice to DAD's

Hey one of the guys I love to read on the Blogosphere is Paul Peterson. In this post Paul kicks it home with his post "strong fathers, strong daughters" and I reckon it's just the same with raising and leading little men (Hey Paul - I've got three boys, maybe we should talk!!)
Another piece of advice I've been give about raising strong men of God is this, "It's not what you protect your boys from that will make them men, it's the battles that you fight with them that shape their future."
Love that. Let's prayefully raise men (and women) who have the heart and passion of Jesus. Big call but its not easy to raise an army that can engage with and change the world.
Cheers Paul.

Perry Noble calls it as it is when it comes to dating


Hey I just wanted to share with you these posts from Perry Noble about the finer art of dating...
Hey I know that's a touchy topic when it comes to Aussie Men but as a oldest brother of four beautiful and deeply loved sisters I can relate, prospective boyfriends (Iknow who you are) will read between the lines...
Perry Nobles post on four things a single girl should know.
Perry Nobles post on five things a single guy should know.
Love the way Perry talks about the things that matter.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

God demands RISK part 2

I donno, but I can't seem to get away from Genesis 12:1-4. Every where I turn it seems that God is putting this particular part of His word before me. And more than that He's challenging me to step up and be a man of God, a man of God who honors Jesus by the RISKS I'm willing to take for Him. Now the funny thing is I just don't have the foggiest idea what it is exactly that He's calling me to do or risk yet... but kinda like Abraham I feel God's call stronger than ever to live a life that honors Jesus every day. And that my friends is a faith filled daily risk, but it isn't really a risk because following Jesus brings eternal unfathomable rewards no matter what the cost for me today.

1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

"A HUGE shout out to Alabaster Box!"


Hey there, I just want to put out a shameless plug for my Brother in laws band - Alabaster Box! Well it's not actually HIS band but he is in it...
Anyways, Nerida and I often think and pray for them as they serve Jesus and tell others about Him over in the USA.
Make sure you check out their Myspace page here, cause you can listen to their brand NEW song 'Bigger!!!'
Awesome!!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Look Back to Look Forward

Ever feel the pressure to solve a problem?
Hey we all do, more than we realise.
The challenge I've taken up is to take the time to look back and ask myself the question, "How have they solved this problem in the past?"
Bruce D. Johnson, puts it this way... "So as you look at your company or organization and your current problems or opportunities, what are some of the best ideas you had or that worked three or five or ten years ago that might create a possible solution today? Remember: sometimes the past can be the key to unlocking your future!"
Hey and King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived affirms this approach to problem solving, he wrote : "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun..." Ecclesiastes 1:9.
Hope that helps you next time you're trying to nut out a problem you're facing.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

God demands RISK!

Today I've been pondering over something... what does God require of His leading men? Well His word gives heaps of straight up direct requirements - godliness, humility, patience, eyes only for your one wife, endurance, self controled and the list goes on (see 1 Timothy 3 & Titus 1 for specific qualifications).

But over and over again God demands that His leading men be RISK TAKERS.

Abraham - risked walking leaving his homeland into the unknown with God.
Moses - risked death at the hand of Pharaoh, and humiliation in the eyes of his people.
Esther - risked her life for God's will.
The Prophets - all risked their lives and bunch of them paid the price of standing up for the Word of God.
Peter and all the other disciples appart from John died as martyrs.

God demands we be risk takers, even willing to sacrifice everything for His name.

Kingdom Minded Wisdom

Craig Groeschel has summed up what it means to be a Godly leader who is kingdom minded. Craig says,
Celebrate Other’s Successes
Someone said…
When your ministry is small, people ignore you.
When your ministry is growing, people are jealous of you.
When your ministry is large, people hate you.
As Kingdom-Minded Leaders, we should be the exact opposite.
When someone’s ministry is small, we should invest in them.
When someone’s ministry is growing, we help them continue to grow.
When someone’s ministry is large, we should celebrate what God is doing.

Let’s get practical. How can we show our Kingdom heart in our cities?
* When someone moves into a new building or opens a new campus or ministry, we can send them a note or flowers to celebrate.
* When another ministry gets good publicity in the media, we can email and congratulate them.
* When someone is raising money for a building, we can send them an offering.
* When a pastor in town writes a book, we can give them a good review on Amazon.
* When another church hires one of our staff members, we can speak well of the church and bless our staff to go.
* Rather than feeling threatened by the church plant down the street, we can pray for them, send them an offering, or invite our people to go help.
* When a ministry becomes more outwardly successful, we can sincerely thank God for what He’s doing.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Vince Antonucci - Hey you speaka my language

Hey I can't help but think that there needs to be more Christians like Vince. Check out this post i've dragged over...

Last night we had our second service at the bar. We had 3 less people than the prior Tuesday. However, there were less of "our" people there (regular Forefront attenders) so there were actually more "outsiders" there. The service went awesome.

The first week my highlights were: (1) During the message, some guy at the bar yelled "Bullsh*t!" There is some debate about whether he was saying it to me or not. Immediately after, someone yelled, "Shut up!" which most people think was directed at the B.S. guy, not at me. Either way, the owner of the bar grabbed the B.S. guy, put him in a headlock, and escorted him out. I have been preaching for about twelve years, and I've had all kinds of reactions to my sermons, good and bad, but never has anyone had to be put in a headlock and carried out of the room. That is too sweet! (2) After the service this kind of big, kind of tough looking guy came up to me. I realized he had tears in his eyes. He said, "Hey man, thanks for teaching me about forgiveness." Okay, that was seriously awesome.

So check this out: Last night (week two) immediately after the service I went up to that guy and said, "Thanks for coming back." He said, "No, thank you. I would never go to church on a Sunday morning. This is perfect for me. Thanks for doing this for me." I answered, "No problem, man, I'm glad to be here." So he says, "Can I ask you a question. How much would it cost me for a service?" I was like, "Sorry, what do you mean?" He said, "How much would it cost me to have a service?" Me: "Sorry, I don't get what you mean." Him: "How much would it cost to get the guys to come out?" Me: "Do you mean our band?" Him: "Yeah." Me: "Ohhhhh, yeah they do play at all kinds of stuff. I don't know how much it would cost. You'd have to ask Joe." Him: "Okay. See, I have a huge back yard, and I throw huge parties. Huge! So I'll buy all the food and all the drinks, and I'd like to have a service." Me: "A service?" Him: "Yeah, I'm going to invite all my friends, and then surprise them with a service. Just like what you guys did tonight. I want the sermon, the videos, the music." Me: "Wait a second. You mean that you want to have a church service in your back yard for your friends?" Him: "Yeah. Just like you did tonight. So, how much would I have to pay?" Me: "Dude, if you invite all your friends over and let us have a church service in your back yard, you definitely don't have to pay!" Him: "Really?!?" Me: "Really!" Him: "Welllll, then, I'll have you picked up in a limosine." Me: "Uhhh, no, that's okay, I have a car." Him: "So you'd come out and do church for my friends for free?" Me: "Yes!" Him: "Wow! Okay, then you can count on it! We'll do it on a Friday night."

How cool is that?!? This guy is not a Christian, and is going to surprise all his friends with a church service!?! Reminds me of a party some guy named Matthew threw in the Bible...

By the way, if anyone reading this has a bunch of non-Christian friends and wants us to come and do church for them in your back yard, we'll do it for free. (But if you live more than 60 miles from my house, send the limo.)

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Gems Stumbled Upon


Every now and again I reckon it's worth just sharing some of the 'gems' that I've discovered. Here are just a couple found of late...
First Gary Lamb shared with us "10 things I wish I had known..."
Then Jimmy Britt responded with a punchy little post simply entitled "My Ten Things..."
Then I stumbled upon David Zimmerman's "A Visitor's Prespective."
Then there's Steven Furtick's comments on why Elevation is a church committed to a culture of honor. Hmmm, my guess is it's just part of the reason Elevation just made it to number 23 on this list.
Again, talking about Steve, in this post he reminded me of something that my old Pastor Rev Roland Sondergeld said to me... "Be a big boy, eat the fish and leave the bones." Good reminder, and one of the reasons I dig reading what Steve writes.
Finally, I've come to really appreciate the thoughts of Vince Antonucci. One of his thought starters for me was this post on visitors in the Church.

Watch Innovate Sessions FOR FREE

Updated to include sessions from Troy Gramling and Scott Hodge...

This is good news...we have the sessions from Innovate available to watch FOR FREE! Use these links...

Session 1 by Guy Kawasaki
Session 2 by Mark Beeson
Session 4 by Tim Stevens
Session 5 by Rob Wegner
Session 7a by Troy Gramling
Session 7b by Scott Hodge
Session 8 by Mark Beeson
Directory of all sessions here.

Great little countdown!!

A mate pointed out to me this little countdown!!
What better way to try it out than with my birthday?
check it out here.