Entries from November 2007 ↓

it’s been a very busy few days with a stack of things going on at warnbro church.

one thing which i thought worthy of mention is that we’ve been working through thom rainer’s “simple church” as a staff and leadership, and this book is just filled with some excellent wisdom about how to “do” church in a way which is not only sustainable, but also ensures that you’re making disciples. (click on the link in the right sidebar to get the amazon page for my current reads)

making disciples is our main mission, but its amazing to me how even very good churches can not be getting the main thing done. i did a case study as part of my doctor of ministry course on a fantastic church in the States, which by all accounts is a really cool place, but i would have to say their discipleship stuff isn’t cutting it, in spite of their bold mission statement stating that making disciples is their core business. at warnbro we’ve known for a while that this is something we’ve got to improve on. and, i don’t care what shape church you’re a part of, if you’re not making disciples, then you’re missing the mark.

so, i recommend “simple church” – it’s a really good read.

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”
- Arnold Bennett

i know this one is true, first hand. and it’s all the more true in the life of the church, where change often seems to be a very painful experience.

A few quick thoughts from the day…

> Wow! What a totally beautiful day – cloudless, blue skies.
> Wow! What an awesome worship team we have! I just loved this morning’s worship. From listening into the pre-service practice to the services, it was just cool and inspiring. Loved it.
> Felt great today – feels good that this flu is finally starting to head off into the sunset.
> I love the way Warnbro Church responds to God’s Word. I happened to challenge the church about God’s Word this morning, and it was great to see a bunch of folks walking around with shiny new Life Journals, ready to take on the 30 day challenge. Cool.

Spent this afternoon at Nic’s grandad’s 90th birthday – wow! 90 years old! That’s a fair old innings, and he’s pretty good health too. Next stop is the telegram from the Queen on the next big milestone… :-)

Yep – knock this one off too.

after 5 weeks of being knocked over by the flu, i finally feel like today has been the first day i’ve started to feel like i could be on top of this thing. i’ve taken several days off, which is the most i reckon i’ve had off for sick leave in like a decade or more. next year, i’m definitely following through on that resolution to have the annual flu shots! this year’s experience has made me realize this is a non-negotiable for me.

apparently the queensland anglicans are struggling to figure out what the right thing to do is with a convicted sexual predator who has been released from custody and is apparently still officially a priest…

ok, you must be kidding people! the queensland anglicans are saying that there needs to be due process in resolving the issue, part of which apparently could entail his victim being in a situation where the convicted sexual predator can cross-examine this poor bloke in a church-run process! again, you must be kidding!

this is not too complicated… due process got done when he was convicted. even the slightest hesitation on the part of the anglicans to give this guy the complete boot out of ministry is a rather poor reflection on them. i was listening to the news report and just amazed at what i was hearing. as a pastor, i’m just plain angry that a denomination like this can’t get their act together. it makes us all look stupid and part of the grand conspiracies that have swept these sorts of people under the church carpets for far too long.

it should have taken the local pope up there all of about 10 seconds to end this farce completely. instead, it’s gone through the media and, as i said, makes us all look stupid.