'If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive'
-- Dorothee Solle --
The thing I like about a statement like this is that we have a choice.
When we hold onto what appears to be dear and important to us, we are not ready to receive the next thing that God has for us.
Its only when we freely let go that we can then freely receive the next thing that is coming our way.
Conversely we can never truly give without first letting go of that which we currently have.
The key -- we must let go to enter the next season --
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
ANZAC DAY AFL
My beloved (and not too successful [yet] 2 wins from 5 games) Collingwood Magpies are in traditional action today as they take on the Essendon Bombers for public holiday glory.
All I can say is, if the Pies are ahead in the final quarter, as I believe they have been in the majority of their losses this season, I will be screaming at the top of my lungs for them to play the FULL GAME!!!
It isn't over until that final siren sounds and victory then becomes assured...
Its a good life lesson that we can take from that picture. When you are engaged in something... give it your full attention until its completed. When our vision wavers and we look to other things we can lose focus on what really matters and get pipped at the post before the final siren.
Keep your eyes on the prize, give it your full attention until the final siren, and bask in the victory that comes when you complete the full four quarters!
CARNA PIES
All I can say is, if the Pies are ahead in the final quarter, as I believe they have been in the majority of their losses this season, I will be screaming at the top of my lungs for them to play the FULL GAME!!!
It isn't over until that final siren sounds and victory then becomes assured...
Its a good life lesson that we can take from that picture. When you are engaged in something... give it your full attention until its completed. When our vision wavers and we look to other things we can lose focus on what really matters and get pipped at the post before the final siren.
Keep your eyes on the prize, give it your full attention until the final siren, and bask in the victory that comes when you complete the full four quarters!
CARNA PIES
QUOTE FOR THE DAY
-- We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. --
Charles Kingsley
(June 12, 1819 – January 23, 1875 - an English novelist)
Find that which makes you enthusiastic and pursue it to the full!
Enjoy your Anzac Day long weekend!
Charles Kingsley
(June 12, 1819 – January 23, 1875 - an English novelist)
Find that which makes you enthusiastic and pursue it to the full!
Enjoy your Anzac Day long weekend!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
GOING TO A DEEPER LEVEL #2
A NEW REALITY
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart - Psalm 37:4
Our worship team at Hinterland Christian Centre are committed to establishing new habits and a new reality when it comes to our relationship with God. Our desire is to go through a self-imposed upgrade to our spirits as part of our journey to a deeper level.
ITS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE NATURALLY THINK
We often believe that Psalm 37:4 is talking about the list of things we want and if we delight in the Lord then He will give us our wishes. God is more than a magic Jeanie.
Do we ever stop and think that God actually wants complete control of our lives and therefore would want complete control of what we desire as well. In a nutshell... our desires should be the desires that God would want us to have.
We need to pause... Selah... and actually catch that before we can ever truly know what the REAL desires of our heart are.
We will begin desiring things at a whole new level when we truly go to a deeper level in God together.
CHANGE CAN BE PAINFUL
Particularly when we feel that everything is cruising along OK. Why change what isn’t a problem right now? The end goal of change in how we live our life should always be to ultimately draw us closer to the heart beat of God.
We all need an upgrade to our spirits from time to time... as the book says... there are times in our life when the plans, desires, hopes and dreams of our hearts begin to run counter to the plans and desires that God has for us.
LET YOUR HEART DOMINATE YOUR HEAD
Our journey must go beyond the messages we hear, the bible studies we do and the knowledge we acquire. All of these things are important BUT our hearts must be engaged with the things of God to go to a deeper level.
BEGIN A NEW HABIT
Use this time of consecration to form good habits in your life that will last beyond just this season of time... use this as an opportunity to permanently draw nearer to God.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart - Psalm 37:4
Our worship team at Hinterland Christian Centre are committed to establishing new habits and a new reality when it comes to our relationship with God. Our desire is to go through a self-imposed upgrade to our spirits as part of our journey to a deeper level.
ITS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE NATURALLY THINK
We often believe that Psalm 37:4 is talking about the list of things we want and if we delight in the Lord then He will give us our wishes. God is more than a magic Jeanie.
Do we ever stop and think that God actually wants complete control of our lives and therefore would want complete control of what we desire as well. In a nutshell... our desires should be the desires that God would want us to have.
We need to pause... Selah... and actually catch that before we can ever truly know what the REAL desires of our heart are.
We will begin desiring things at a whole new level when we truly go to a deeper level in God together.
CHANGE CAN BE PAINFUL
Particularly when we feel that everything is cruising along OK. Why change what isn’t a problem right now? The end goal of change in how we live our life should always be to ultimately draw us closer to the heart beat of God.
We all need an upgrade to our spirits from time to time... as the book says... there are times in our life when the plans, desires, hopes and dreams of our hearts begin to run counter to the plans and desires that God has for us.
LET YOUR HEART DOMINATE YOUR HEAD
Our journey must go beyond the messages we hear, the bible studies we do and the knowledge we acquire. All of these things are important BUT our hearts must be engaged with the things of God to go to a deeper level.
BEGIN A NEW HABIT
Use this time of consecration to form good habits in your life that will last beyond just this season of time... use this as an opportunity to permanently draw nearer to God.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
GOING TO A DEEPER LEVEL
I have been taking our worship team at Hinterland Christian Centre through a book written by legendary worship leader, Israel Houghton, called 'A Deeper Level'.
I have written some thoughts on each chapter and will post some of these thoughts over the coming days...
CHAPTER 1: A SEASON OF CONSECRATION
[Jesus] said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets and you will catch a lot of fish!” - Luke 5:4 (TLB, emphasis added)
A CONSECRATION
Consecration is defined as “to make or declare sacred; to devote irrevocably to the worship of God... to devote to a purpose with deep solemnity or dedication.”
The scripture says “You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 20:7)
For this season we were setting ourselves apart, unto God, not to glorify ourselves but to show God we meant business. That we were desperate for a move of the Holy Spirit and that we were prepared to do whatever it took to seek God in and through our lives.
THE JOURNEY
As a team we embarked on a journey that definitely saw us draw closer to the very heartbeat of God.
Hear my heart, it wasn't about rules and regulations, checking up on each other and ruling with an iron fist. It was about setting ourselves apart, consecrated to the things of God and seeking spiritual breakthrough not only in our own personal lives but in the life of our church.
Those who couldn't do this with us, we stood in the gap for. We are a people, passionate to see God move and perform the miraculous in our lives TODAY.
In this season of consecration I asked our entire worship team to believe for three key things:
1) That we would draw closer to God’s heartbeat in our times of worship
2) That we would see the greatest of financial miracles in all aspects of our church
- Our general tithes and offerings for the ministry to function
- Our missions giving so we can bring God and people together both locally and internationally
- Our building giving so we can claim this year as our time to rise and build
3) That we would see a harvest of souls in the life of our church
THE BASELINE COMMITMENT
MEDIA – Our commitment was to limit our TV viewing to 6 hours a week. What would happen if we spent the time we would normally use on watching TV actually spending time with God...
DIET – Our commitment was to minimise our intake of sugars and fried foods as well as to select a favourite food and a favourite drink and go without these for the duration of our consecration. The goal was to commit to a healthier lifestyle. What would happen if by living a healthier lifestyle, we were better able to get into the presence of God and experience devotion times focused on things of the spirit rather than the appetites of the flesh?
TIME – Our commitment was to spend at least 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening with God. How we did this was up to us but the suggestion was to sing a worship song with a CD going or play your instrument, pray, and read the Bible. Spending time with God is not lying on your bed and claiming you are praying as you drift off to sleep hehehe. What would happen if we built up our relationship with God by devoting more personal time with Him.
The team could by all means, go beyond the above guidelines but I encouraged them to do their best to commit to the above as a team and believe that as we set ourselves apart God would honour us in our consecration to Him.
Remember, it wasn’t about rules and regulations, but it had everything to do with setting ourselves apart unto God, for Him to break through in our life and the life of our church.
We are already seeing the fruit from having gone through this book together as a team. I would encourage any worshipper to read this book. It will change the way you view worship.
I have written some thoughts on each chapter and will post some of these thoughts over the coming days...
CHAPTER 1: A SEASON OF CONSECRATION
[Jesus] said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets and you will catch a lot of fish!” - Luke 5:4 (TLB, emphasis added)
A CONSECRATION
Consecration is defined as “to make or declare sacred; to devote irrevocably to the worship of God... to devote to a purpose with deep solemnity or dedication.”
The scripture says “You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 20:7)
For this season we were setting ourselves apart, unto God, not to glorify ourselves but to show God we meant business. That we were desperate for a move of the Holy Spirit and that we were prepared to do whatever it took to seek God in and through our lives.
THE JOURNEY
As a team we embarked on a journey that definitely saw us draw closer to the very heartbeat of God.
Hear my heart, it wasn't about rules and regulations, checking up on each other and ruling with an iron fist. It was about setting ourselves apart, consecrated to the things of God and seeking spiritual breakthrough not only in our own personal lives but in the life of our church.
Those who couldn't do this with us, we stood in the gap for. We are a people, passionate to see God move and perform the miraculous in our lives TODAY.
In this season of consecration I asked our entire worship team to believe for three key things:
1) That we would draw closer to God’s heartbeat in our times of worship
2) That we would see the greatest of financial miracles in all aspects of our church
- Our general tithes and offerings for the ministry to function
- Our missions giving so we can bring God and people together both locally and internationally
- Our building giving so we can claim this year as our time to rise and build
3) That we would see a harvest of souls in the life of our church
THE BASELINE COMMITMENT
MEDIA – Our commitment was to limit our TV viewing to 6 hours a week. What would happen if we spent the time we would normally use on watching TV actually spending time with God...
DIET – Our commitment was to minimise our intake of sugars and fried foods as well as to select a favourite food and a favourite drink and go without these for the duration of our consecration. The goal was to commit to a healthier lifestyle. What would happen if by living a healthier lifestyle, we were better able to get into the presence of God and experience devotion times focused on things of the spirit rather than the appetites of the flesh?
TIME – Our commitment was to spend at least 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening with God. How we did this was up to us but the suggestion was to sing a worship song with a CD going or play your instrument, pray, and read the Bible. Spending time with God is not lying on your bed and claiming you are praying as you drift off to sleep hehehe. What would happen if we built up our relationship with God by devoting more personal time with Him.
The team could by all means, go beyond the above guidelines but I encouraged them to do their best to commit to the above as a team and believe that as we set ourselves apart God would honour us in our consecration to Him.
Remember, it wasn’t about rules and regulations, but it had everything to do with setting ourselves apart unto God, for Him to break through in our life and the life of our church.
We are already seeing the fruit from having gone through this book together as a team. I would encourage any worshipper to read this book. It will change the way you view worship.
Monday, April 21, 2008
GENEROSITY - THE PATHWAY TO MORE
I shared a simple thought with our church around the offering on Sunday morning.
James Bryant Conant who was a chemist, educational administrator, and government official said this... Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
Often to achieve anything in life we must stick our neck out and get out of our comfort zone. When we place ourselves in a situation where God MUST do something... often this is when we see the miraculous.
Generosity is the pathway for more!
Proverbs 11:24-25 says this:
24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. 25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.
As we stick our necks out, get out of our comfort zone and maintain a generous soul... our generosity will always lead us on a pathway to MORE!
James Bryant Conant who was a chemist, educational administrator, and government official said this... Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
Often to achieve anything in life we must stick our neck out and get out of our comfort zone. When we place ourselves in a situation where God MUST do something... often this is when we see the miraculous.
Generosity is the pathway for more!
Proverbs 11:24-25 says this:
24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. 25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.
As we stick our necks out, get out of our comfort zone and maintain a generous soul... our generosity will always lead us on a pathway to MORE!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
ON THE FOOTY THIS WEEKEND
Well the Broncos almost performed one of their last minute wins again last night but the Titans were too strong for them at their new home ground.
I seriously think its the Broncos year again though...provided injury doesn't hold them back. Such tenacity is found in their team culture and the never say die attitude will hold them in good stead for the rest of the season.
They got off to a very slow start behind 16 nil after the first 18 minutes but still managed to put some fear and worry in the Gold Coast camp even at the 78th minute of the game when they scored the last try of the match.
As for Collingwood... well they are pitted against a strong North Melbourne outfit and I am heavily relying on the PIES to stage a major turnaround after handing Carlton their first win in 14 games last week.
Every Collingwood fan knows that every AFL team lifts when they play the PIES. Its such a prestigious thing to be able to say you beat the PIES...
Plus its very important for me to obtain bragging rights over James Macpherson who is a staunch KANGAROOS fan...
CARNA PIES...
or I'll never hear the end of it from a one James Macpherson...
I seriously think its the Broncos year again though...provided injury doesn't hold them back. Such tenacity is found in their team culture and the never say die attitude will hold them in good stead for the rest of the season.
They got off to a very slow start behind 16 nil after the first 18 minutes but still managed to put some fear and worry in the Gold Coast camp even at the 78th minute of the game when they scored the last try of the match.
As for Collingwood... well they are pitted against a strong North Melbourne outfit and I am heavily relying on the PIES to stage a major turnaround after handing Carlton their first win in 14 games last week.
Every Collingwood fan knows that every AFL team lifts when they play the PIES. Its such a prestigious thing to be able to say you beat the PIES...
Plus its very important for me to obtain bragging rights over James Macpherson who is a staunch KANGAROOS fan...
CARNA PIES...
or I'll never hear the end of it from a one James Macpherson...
ON CHURCH AND COMMUNITY
Carl Gustav Jung formerly a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and founder of analytical psychology said this:
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
The purpose of church (personality one) within society is to engage its community (personality two) and provide a positive alternative to the way we live life. The church offers purpose through Jesus, a sense of belonging through relationship and a clear direction for your future through teaching from God's word... all things that I believe the majority of the community are constantly longing and looking for.
The challenge is to bring these two personalities to a point where, as Carl Gustav Jung suggests, there is a reaction that causes transformation.
I believe our great church at Hinterland Christian Centre has caught the importance of engaging with our community and taking church to them instead of expecting the community at large to just come to our church building. Something is noticeably different this year in the way we are planning and running our different events that engage our community...
Our youth group of around 50 young people is overseen by Michelle Hulcombe and her husband Luke and together they stormed the local Cooroy skate park with our youth last Friday night.
A free BBQ was on, crazy games, loud music, a game of touch footy (that suspiciously looked like tackle) and other fun and games were all put on by our youth and we had well over 150 come. What a brilliant result for our first attempt!
To follow up this night we heavily promoted Chris Wayne, illusionist extraordinaire, who was at Flame Youth last night and as a result our youth had over 70 in attendance! Simply because the church literally engaged with its community the week before...
In a similar fashion, our Savvy women's ministry is putting on a High Tea today with a two fold purpose.
1) To raise money so our church can contribute to building a house in Uganda for children who are AIDS orphans or affected by war.
2) To engage with our community in a unique way and to share the love of Jesus through the demonstration of our support towards the Ugandan children.
We have over 140 women coming today and I will be the one in black slacks, white shirt and bow tie serving the woman and dabbling in a bit of crooning while I am at it...
The cool thing is that 40% of these women are not church folk and will be experiencing church for the first time. Sure its not a church service nor will there be an alter call for salvation, but seeds will be sown and another opportunity will have been taken to fulfil the God given vision our church has embraced which is:
'to bring God and people together...'
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
The purpose of church (personality one) within society is to engage its community (personality two) and provide a positive alternative to the way we live life. The church offers purpose through Jesus, a sense of belonging through relationship and a clear direction for your future through teaching from God's word... all things that I believe the majority of the community are constantly longing and looking for.
The challenge is to bring these two personalities to a point where, as Carl Gustav Jung suggests, there is a reaction that causes transformation.
I believe our great church at Hinterland Christian Centre has caught the importance of engaging with our community and taking church to them instead of expecting the community at large to just come to our church building. Something is noticeably different this year in the way we are planning and running our different events that engage our community...
Our youth group of around 50 young people is overseen by Michelle Hulcombe and her husband Luke and together they stormed the local Cooroy skate park with our youth last Friday night.
A free BBQ was on, crazy games, loud music, a game of touch footy (that suspiciously looked like tackle) and other fun and games were all put on by our youth and we had well over 150 come. What a brilliant result for our first attempt!
To follow up this night we heavily promoted Chris Wayne, illusionist extraordinaire, who was at Flame Youth last night and as a result our youth had over 70 in attendance! Simply because the church literally engaged with its community the week before...
In a similar fashion, our Savvy women's ministry is putting on a High Tea today with a two fold purpose.
1) To raise money so our church can contribute to building a house in Uganda for children who are AIDS orphans or affected by war.
2) To engage with our community in a unique way and to share the love of Jesus through the demonstration of our support towards the Ugandan children.
We have over 140 women coming today and I will be the one in black slacks, white shirt and bow tie serving the woman and dabbling in a bit of crooning while I am at it...
The cool thing is that 40% of these women are not church folk and will be experiencing church for the first time. Sure its not a church service nor will there be an alter call for salvation, but seeds will be sown and another opportunity will have been taken to fulfil the God given vision our church has embraced which is:
'to bring God and people together...'
Friday, April 18, 2008
THE INNOCENCE OF CHILDREN
My stepmother Judy has a tendency to overload my email inbox with all manner of email tom foolery but amongst the laughs and interesting humour I often find a pearl of an email that just hits the nail on the head... the following is such an example:
A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like.
Finally, her dad tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed a colorful map of America. Tearing it into several small pieces, he gave it to little Shelby and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. When you're all finished, it will show you our whole country as it looks today."
After only a few minutes, Shelby returned and proudly handed her father the map, correctly fitted and taped together.
Her dad was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. "Oh," she said, "on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together."
When Jesus is in his rightful place... where He belongs... our whole world just comes together.
A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like.
Finally, her dad tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed a colorful map of America. Tearing it into several small pieces, he gave it to little Shelby and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. When you're all finished, it will show you our whole country as it looks today."
After only a few minutes, Shelby returned and proudly handed her father the map, correctly fitted and taped together.
Her dad was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. "Oh," she said, "on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together."
When Jesus is in his rightful place... where He belongs... our whole world just comes together.
ON BUILDING A HOUSE...
In Ephesians 2:19-22 we read about the plan for us that God is outworking in and through the local church...
God is building a home. He's using us all - irrespective of how we got here - in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day - a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
(The Message)
This scripture is literally a call to action to all people. We should all desire to be a part of our local church because God's word tells us that he wants to use us irrespective of where we have come from and how we have arrived - he wants to fit us in brick by brick and stone by stone. We all have a role to play in making church great.
What we bring to the local church; our gifts, talents, time, and resource is all part of the fitting in process... Without ushers on the door there is no one to be welcoming and make the church friendly. Without musicians and singers there is no sound to engage the people and lead them into the presence of God in praise and worship. Without cleaners the church would be messy, smelly and consequently a very undesirable place to be. I think you get the picture...
The call to action that we should all embrace is to throw our hand up and be part of and involved in the local church in some way, shape or form. This will allow God to then fit you in brick by brick and you will be planted in His house and then you can flourish and step into all that God has for you!
Consequently, Anita and I have been helping the local church build God's house our entire Christian lives and we are now seeing the fruit of our walk with our own first home nearing completion in the next 8 weeks or so... We are building in the gorgeous Songbird Estate in Pomona just 7minutes from Hinterland Christian Centre. Some progress pictures can be found below for all of you interested in our journey thus far...
It has been a quick build and we are hoping to be in our new home mid June 2008. This home demonstrates that when you commit to building God's house, His promise to us is that He will build our house!
God is building a home. He's using us all - irrespective of how we got here - in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day - a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
(The Message)
This scripture is literally a call to action to all people. We should all desire to be a part of our local church because God's word tells us that he wants to use us irrespective of where we have come from and how we have arrived - he wants to fit us in brick by brick and stone by stone. We all have a role to play in making church great.
What we bring to the local church; our gifts, talents, time, and resource is all part of the fitting in process... Without ushers on the door there is no one to be welcoming and make the church friendly. Without musicians and singers there is no sound to engage the people and lead them into the presence of God in praise and worship. Without cleaners the church would be messy, smelly and consequently a very undesirable place to be. I think you get the picture...
The call to action that we should all embrace is to throw our hand up and be part of and involved in the local church in some way, shape or form. This will allow God to then fit you in brick by brick and you will be planted in His house and then you can flourish and step into all that God has for you!
Consequently, Anita and I have been helping the local church build God's house our entire Christian lives and we are now seeing the fruit of our walk with our own first home nearing completion in the next 8 weeks or so... We are building in the gorgeous Songbird Estate in Pomona just 7minutes from Hinterland Christian Centre. Some progress pictures can be found below for all of you interested in our journey thus far...
It has been a quick build and we are hoping to be in our new home mid June 2008. This home demonstrates that when you commit to building God's house, His promise to us is that He will build our house!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
THE LAND OF BLOGS
Its been a long time coming but yours truly has finally taken the plunge and commenced my very own blog. On here you will find all things spiritual, social and sport related and a look at all things Greening.
And just to throw it out there I am a mad Collingwood supporter... and the Broncos are my choice of team in the NRL. Coincidentally in both the AFL and NRL, these two teams are either loved or hated... there is no in between.
Now that I have lost half my audience thanks to my preference of teams, I promise this... that we will laugh together, we will cry together but most importantly we will share life!
And just to throw it out there I am a mad Collingwood supporter... and the Broncos are my choice of team in the NRL. Coincidentally in both the AFL and NRL, these two teams are either loved or hated... there is no in between.
Now that I have lost half my audience thanks to my preference of teams, I promise this... that we will laugh together, we will cry together but most importantly we will share life!
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