always take the weather with you

I had lunch with friends today down at the local food court. As we were chatting this amazing storm came in, we had heavy rain and hail, and lighting and thunder, the works. Check out those clouds.

We went outside to watch/listen to it, and I think I’m fairly safe in saying that this was a storm to rival The Great Storm of ’04 that came in over the Darwin Wharf. It was great!

This has been a good week all round really. I’ve had lots of late nights catching up with friends, and even got the lawns done at the folks again.

I’ve had a great week with God too. I’m really enjoying the freedom that has come with taking a step back from ‘going to church’ and concentrating on being his kid. Basically I’ve been getting to know Him all over again within what seems like a whole new context. All the ‘shoulds’ and ‘have tos’ have been taken out of the equation. I no longer ‘have to’ do anything, and there’s no kicking myself over things I ‘should’ have done.

It’s fantastic! It’s freedom, and much like today’s storm, it’s refreshing!

and to think, he made the cows!

I’m heading off to New Zealand in 10 more sleeps. Going skiing with some friends for the week. I’m very excited! This’ll most likely be my last holiday (vacation for my North American friends) for quite some time so I’m determined to make the most of it. Slopes of Queenstown look out!

I remember the first holiday I went on. It was down to Philip Island with my mum. I was 3. I remember being totally excited by the cows. Yup cows. I remember sitting by the window on a stool and watching them and was totally amazed that these cows could tell the time!!! A feat totally out of my reach! Yet the cows could do it. Amazing. They knew exactly when to head up to the shed for milking, twice a day. Mum & I were down there for 3 days, and those cows didn’t miss a beat. Morning and night.

My second holiday was when I was 8. My Mum, Dad, brother and I drove up to Queensland and we stayed with my Nan & Pop at Hervey Bay (they took their caravan up there every summer). Early in the mornings Pop would go out on the pier and fish, and he would always bring back a catch for Nan to cook up. My Pop was like the cows, he too was amazing. There wasn’t a thing that Pop did that I wasn’t impressed with. He knew how to do EVERYTHING (and if he didn’t, he’d ask Nan and she’d tell him)!

On this trip I also learnt about soldier crabs and remember chasing them all over the beach as they burried themselves in the sand, clever little creatures. It was great.

Tonight (many years later) I’m thinking about just how magnificent my brother Jesus is. It hit me earlier this week that I have never really embraced the concept of him being my older brother beyond mental ascent. When it ‘hit’ me, that that’s precisely what he is, that he is an older brother who is looking out for me, who will stand up for me when the bullies come around, that he has never teased me, or chastised me, or put me down, and that he is sitting next to Dad and is proud of me… to the point where he is recommending me to Him… I don’t think I’ve ever felt so [brotherly] loved.

How magnificent.

go

My parents were married in this building back in August 1967. Back then, it was owned by the Dandenong Church of Christ.

Now it’s Cornerstone, and it’s where I was tonight. It was a great night.

One of the things that I love about Cornerstone is that it’s in an old church building. I love the fact that it’s being used to serve the poor, not just for services on a Sunday.

Actually, it’s not used for traditional ‘services’ at all anymore, although on some Sundays it’s open for the people of Dandy to come in and warm up and watch a movie, and catch up with friends.

I also love that it’s not a ‘sterile’ atmosphere, but a place where people can come and relax and be themselves, and be loved.

So, one of the questions I’ve been pondering of late is the whole idea of mobilising the church. How do we move from expecting the lost to come to us, to actually ‘going’ to them (aka the ‘great commission’)?

How do we transfer the task of preaching the good news, from the ‘professional Christians’ (ie, those that get paid to do it), to the general populous of those who call themselves followers of Christ?

What’s made us think that this gospel of Jesus’ is one of morallity and if we live moral lives people will come to know Christ?

Maybe we need a re-reformation? Or, maybe we’re waiting for persecution, or for God to destroy our ‘temples’ or perhaps another great dispersion? Something to shake us up a bit maybe?

So many questions, so little sleep.

timing

Currently Reading: Church Without Walls: Moving Beyond Traditional Boundaries
By: Jim Peterson

So, ask me what the secret of my comedy succes is

Hmn, this joke just doesn’t work in writing. Oh well….

So this morning I’m thinking about church, and about the fact that while every person who attends church on a Sunday interacts with unchurched people on a daily basis (or mostly I’d expect), for some reason, we’re still expecting people to come to us. What is that? Some will of course, but mostly those that do (oh I do detest christianese, but because I’m in a silly mood I’m going to use some) are “wandering sheep”. Apart from them though? Not a lot.

Anyhoo, so I go to the coffeeshop this afternoon, and what is Jim Petersen (Church Without Walls) talking about today? Well here’s a sample…

They days when we could expect the world to come to us are over. yet we try. In fact, that’s where we expend most all of our energy – trying to get the world to come to us.

No major diatribe on this tonight, just that it was an interesting thought, actually no, more than an interesting thought… profound really.

Timing.

Speaking about timing. A really cool thing happened today. I need a job, however, at the end of July I’m going to New Zealand for a week’s skiing with friends, so, I was a tad worried about applying for a job now and having to say, “by the way, I’m disappearing in a fortnight for a week’s holiday” (not a great self-selling point when applying for jobs).

Yet again, however, Dad steps in…

I recieved an email today offering me 2 weeks work. Nice. Perfect even. Makes me smile.

Timing.

Lamentations 3:22
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left. (The Message)

falling in line with Him

Acts 17:24-28

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (NKJV)

Firstly thanks for all the feedback.

I’m hoping the last blog didn’t come across overly harsh, I certainly didn’t mean it to. I really do love Dad’s Church, and the three local churches I’ve been a part of I still love, or, more precisely, I love the people within those churches, very much. It’s the institutionalisation of what we’re about that I believe not only subtracts from our purpose, but also can undermine our efforts to bring freedom to those ‘out there’ who are unchurched and do not want to, or aren’t able to, and really shouldn’t have to, fit into the ‘christian culture’.

But more on that later!

On the lighterside…

I’m house-sitting in Dandenong for a week, and I’m more and more convinced this is where I’m supposed to be. I’ve decided to move back to Dandy rather than to the City. There’s a certain symetry to the idea, I’ve come full circle in lots of ways. It’s right. So, now I look for a job and accommodation here in Dandenong. I can’t express how excited I am by this whole process.

I’m certain Dad’s got something planned. Nice.

I went into Dandy’s CBD today, It was great. I found a nice coffeeshop and met some people and had a great coffee and read and talked to Father and the whole time I had that feeling in my tummy – that one that says, this is right, this is where you belong, this is where I want you to be. I’m sure there’s a word for that feeling, for me it’s akin to Joy… or maybe that’s what it is… Joy.

Acts 18:9-10

Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night be a vision. “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many people in this city.” (NKJV)

And you know, I’m not in the least bit afraid. Just excited.