Back in Australia.

Well I really don't know where the last few days have gone. We had a great flight from Nashville - LAX - Fiji - Brisbane. We were overwhelmed with family, friends and outlaws when we walked through customs. It is so good to hang out with loved ones. We spent the first two nights at my parents 'ranch' in the Brisbane hinterland and last night at Nerida's parents cattle property near Chinchilla. It was good to see Kangaroos and Emus again. Plently of dead Roo's on the side of the road :) Here's a picture of me and the boys with a Aussie Campfire at my Dad's place. Tomorrow we head off to catch up with friends and partners on the Sunshine Coast with Gerry and Shannon Brown.

Henderson Commissioning Bootlegged

On Wednesday night we were officially commissioned by Mountain Lake to GO and plant a new church in Brisbane, Australia. Here is the unofficial 'bootlegged' copy of our commissioning. We're so excited about the days, months and years ahead of partnership with MLC and planting church planting churches in Australia and beyond.

Last Week at Mountain Lake Church

Sunday – Last service at MLC, we love this place and the people.
Matt and Mary arrived to help us pack and clean the 'Aussie House.'
West campus moves their storage to a shed at the back of our house.
Boys sprayed water everywhere in the storage shed. Dad not happy.
John shepherd not happy.

Monday – Packed van and took boys up to see John.
Dinner with the Buckalews.

Tuesday – Packed and cleaned some more.
Car breaks down – starter motor has given up the ghost. Take it to Hamby's.
Last leadership challenge. It's great to hang and pray with David, Shawn, Louie, John, Todd, Chad and Rodney for the last time as 'team.'
Dinner with James and Jenny Rodder.

Wednesday – Nerida goes to Hairdressers, comes back looking smokin' hot!
Clean, mop, vacuum and scrub the house. Final packing. Will we make it?
One last hang with David Putman, Shawn Lovejoy, John shepherd and the team.
“Merge” and say good bye to our family at Mountain Lake Church.
Drive to Nashville TN – drive through crazy storms, can't wind window up. Car actually splutters and coughs on at least 5 occasions, but is fine when the storms stop :) Arrive at 2am GA time. I lie down and thank God for everything.

Thursday – change tags with Mary.
Cook a massive Turkey – Thanksgiving! Seriously!

Friday – keep packing and arranging getting ready to go.

Tomorrow – We fly out of Tennessee → LA → Fiji → Brisbane, Australia!

Sunday is lost in space.

Monday – we arrive in Brisbane at luchtime and head out to my parents 'Ranch' in the hills to decompress with our friends Gerry and Shannon Brown.

Thanks Mountain Lake for the last year we really love you all and will deeply miss you.

Good News or Religion - Timothy Keller

“The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome… religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.”
Timothy Keller

You need a coach

Having a great coach really is the difference maker. It really is. Think about any premiership winning sporting team, they always have an exceptional coach. I don't know any side that's won the cup without a coach. I can also confidently say that this principle transfers into other areas of life having spent the last year being mentored and coached in church planting by Pastor David Putman at Mountain Lake Church. David's personal coaching has reinforced my confidence in the truth of Jesus to change broken lives, increased my vision for His kingdom, clarified the systems that healthy churches employ small or large and ultimately humbled my posture regarding the things that are out of my control. I look forward to returning to plant a new church in Brisbane, Australia with greater clarity and passion primarily due to the investment that he and others like Pastors Shawn Lovejoy, Ray Ortlund, Michael Lukaszewski, Tyler Powell, Bob Robbins, Steve Addison, Dave Fandey and David Rogers (to name just a few) have made in my life.

I believe there are basically three types of coaches; personal, strategic and skill (there may be more). I'll begin unpacking these over the next few days. BTW if you're considering getting a coach for church planting check out www.churchplanters.com, David and Shawn do an excellent job of building healthy planters.