Entries from April 2009 ↓

• Hard to explain, but my sermon prep is ALWAYS better in a cafe. And
  it’s not just because of the steady stream of caffiene… :-) #
• One of my daughters is doing a VERY BIG THING today. Praying hard it
  works out for her. The ramifications are enormous for her little … #

• Discovered that my mum lives in a town without a dentist. Wow! Safe
  town… :-) #

• Great BBQ breakfast at our place this morning. Gotta love those
  brekkies that run through lunch and beyond! :-) #
• After more suicide bombings in mosques in Iraq, one has to wonder at
  which point regular people in Iraq take a united stand against t … #

• Why is it, that on the one day we want to fly kites, Rockingham isn’t
  nearly windy enough?!? :-) #

• Wow! I just can’t believe the Saints this season! Crazy good… wow!! #
• Just enjoyed a phenomenal coffee created by Nic. Very nice…. #
• I hated Collingwood before. Now I really hate them. How could they not
  at least knock off Essendon?!? :-( #

• After a very full day, no better finish than dinner with my girl. #
• Just finished a cool (literally) lunch with the girls at the park. Now
  off to the library. #

This past weekend, as part of our Rocky Series, I spoke about COURAGE.

This week, I had a conversation with someone that illustrated to me the need we have to be people of courage as followers of Jesus.

The conversation centred around a particular situation that required resolution but taking those steps to resolve the matter were difficult and even unpleasant. The person in question obviously wasn’t keen on dealing with it. I understand that entirely. I really do. It was a sticky, messy and unpleasant thing that would be better just to ignore and avoid if possible. But, with Jesus, avoidance is seldom the solution. Jesus isn’t ok with skirting around problems and pretending they’re not there. Instead, Jesus is far more interested in sorting things out, getting to the heart of the matter and transforming situations, relationships and issues from muck to something good and beautiful. Jesus isn’t interested in confrontation just for confrontation’s sake. He isn’t about “getting it off our chest” by unloading on someone who has done us wrong. He’s about healing.

But, that kind of following of Jesus takes a great deal of courage, because it isn’t easy and it doesn’t come naturally to us. We’d rather avoid and evade. We’d rather ignore the infection and pretend it isn’t there. But, Jesus is all about healing. And that takes courage to step aside of pride, pain, unforgiveness, and whatever else holds us back, and to be people of courage.

Deep down, I think the person I was chatting with knew exactly what Jesus would have them do. I think more often than not we all know what Jesus would have us do. But it’s hard and messy, and so we hold back. We need courage and faith to trust that Jesus can do something amazing in the midst of even the most dysfunctional or painful circumstance, not willing to accept brokenness as ok.

I’m more convinced than ever that we are being called to courage.

• A preppin’, plannin’ sort of day today. #
• Just enjoyed one of the most exciting meetings I’ve had in a long while! #

• A flat out day playing catch up. Feeling a little brain dead. #
• Staff retreat today. Great discussions. Awesome team. And now it’s
  lunch time… can it get any better?! :-) #

• St Kilda rock. Dockers roll. Man, do they roll… awful. I so want to
  believe in the Saints this year… #