Death

Over the last little while there have been a number of deaths around me, both people I knew personally and those we all knew.

This has raised a number of questions from a variety of people.

Such as:

• Why does God let good people die young and bad people live long lives?
• What is heaven anyway, what does it look like, if someone is married twice and loved them equally what will happen when they all meet in heaven?
• Where is he now? About a father that wasn't a Christian
• What happens when we die?

Sometimes the answers to these questions can be really long and still explain not much, or they can be honest and compassionate.

Which way do we normally go, is it the same way as we need to go?

Blessings

Em

What's with the weather

Over the past few days we have had some really intense weather.

On Sunday we had an immense wind storm which raged across a large part of Sydney and the coast. Wind gusts of up to 100 kph. Strong enough to blow over trees, roofs of homes and snap power lines. The snapped power lines then started bushfires which were then fanned by the massive wind gusts. 7 homes were lost, 4 of them about 20 minutes from our house.

At one point 100 000 homes were without power. It was quite an intense experience, although the boys loved that we had no power and had to place candles around the house. We got the power back on early so the candles were blown out. Others didn't get the power back on until 10:30am the next morning and some even later than that.

Over the past few years the bushfire season has been full on, but it has never started this early. They are saying that this year has the potential to be the worst yet, which isn't very comforting.

But then today not more than 3 days later, we have had 22 c (jumper weather). It would just be good if the weather could make up it's mind.

My prayers and heart goes out to those families that lost everything on Sunday. My prayers of protection go up for the rest of this bushfire season, that there will be no lives lost and that it goes by with as little incident as possible.

Blessings

Em

How effective is the Emerging Church?

There is a lot of talk at the moment about the emerging church/ missional church. This is great and I am always excited to see new expressions of faith communities develop and grow.

My concern or question is this; How effective are they at reaching those who haven't encountered the gospel at all?

In Australia we are very quickly becoming a society where being part of a faith community is not even on the radar. We have a whole generation growing up which have never encountered a Christian or heard, what Christians would consider to be, basic bible stories. Church is something that grandma does with her friends.

With the new faith communities that we are developing how successful are they at reaching those people? Or are they really just successful at being a different church for those who have grown up and then out of church. Those people that have become disenfranchised with the traditional church.

In speaking with a friend recently we talked about how effective Christians could possibly be at planting culturally relevant faith communities. The church has become so far removed from the culture of the day, that if you have grown up in the church, you will struggle to have even experienced the culture of the society around you. If this is the case how are we meant to minister relevantly to that culture.

We need non Christians to be planting churches, or at the very least new Christians, those who haven't been engulfed by church for so long that they have lost touch with the community.

When a young adult becomes a new Christian we saturate them with all things church. Any time they had to continue to connect with their friends is so completely taken up with church that they loose contact, make Christian friends and are now as useless as the rest of us in impacting our culture. Yay, what another great achievement for the modern church.

In order for us to be effective in our community we need to be part of it!

This may mean that we need to drop some of the things we do at church, in order to allow ourselves the time to make the connections and develop the relationships in our community. There is no use having a well oiled machine with great kids program, worship, small groups, etc if it is only there to serve itself. If all our time is taken up maintaining the machine that we don't have time to go out and be part of the community, why maintain the machine? Our responsibility as Christians is to make disciples, if what we are doing is getting in the way of that then we need to look at what we are doing.

If we are going to plant emerging churches that impact our communities we need to do what ever it takes to be part of our communities, even if that means changing church.

Blessings

Em

To do lists

I live by to do lists.
Ms Bucket finds this incredibly amusing.
The fact that I have to do lists, for items on my main to do lists, she finds hysterical. ;-)

But if I don't do a To do list, then nothing gets done or at least only half of what needs to get done gets done.

Now I'm not compulsive about my to do lists, they are able to grow and develop organically. I don't stress if I get to the end of the day and my To do list isn't finished. It just grows over the course of a week, with things being crossed off and other things being added to the bottom.

The wife of our pastor, gave me these note pads with are about 4 cm's (2 in) wide and about 30 cm's long (12 in) and I love them. The make great lists and I can have a couple of them going at one time without them taking over my desk. They can be stuck to the fridge and amended.

I love To do lists.

There you are confessions of a organised person, stuck in a disorganised persons body, just waiting to get out.


Blessings

Em

PS I also love storage and could spend $1000's in IKEA getting organised, or at least trying to

What to say mmm

I have committed myself to blog every day, except weekends where I have committed to have an entry at sometime over the week end.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

So I'm sitting here at my computer, waiting patiently for something to say, not quite like the cartoon but close...

waiting

Waiting

Yes I know Em stuck for words there's a first. Well it is documented, bookmark it when you don't believe it happened, come back and see again the phenomenon that is Emma with nothing to say.

Night

Em

Bacon and eggs for church

Over the last few months we at church have been working through what it means to be church. This has led to many discussions but never as a combined church family. So this morning we had the discussion. Church this morning was breakfast church, it started with bacon, eggs, and toast, people got up and made any announcements when their mouths weren't otherwise occupied, and we sang some songs. Then we spent the next 1/2 hour in groups discussing questions about:

1. What we appreciated about church,
2. What we would change,
3. If all barriers were removed what ministries would you like to be involved in and
4. If church could look like anything what would it look like.

While the adults were doing this, I took the kids and young people outside and we answered the same questions. The answers of all the groups will be complied and then given back to the church as a springboard to grow from.

The kids and young people constantly amaze me with the level of outward focus they have, when asked what they would do if they had all the money and resources in the world, the answer was give it to the poor, when asked how we could make church better, I was told we need to advertise, and tell more people about Jesus, when asked what ministries we should have, what are needed , I was told we should have more family time, outdoor activities.

So much for the school kids, being, self absorbed, selfish and rejecting family. Now the challenge for is to very loosely harness the passion, focus for good and help them find ways of impacting the world around them. And then sit back and watch them soar. What a rush.

After this we then had pancakes for morning tea.

What a great morning of community.

Blessings

Em

Is it possible to have an opinion with out being judgmental?

I'm trying to figure out whether it is possible to not be judgmental. I would like to think I'm not judgmental of people, but I'm not sure.

The second you decide one way or another about a person, aren't you passing judgment. The very statement "That person is so judgmental." shows that you are also judgmental and have now shown yourself to not only be judgmental but now you are also hypocritical.

Is it possible to have an opinion and not be judgmental?

This question has been on which has been floating around my mind for a while. If we are called to be revolutionaries then we are being called to change things for the better. If we are not judgmental then we would have nothing to revolutionize because we would think everything is wonderful or wouldn't care and have no motivation to change anything.

Is it possible to be judgmental in a good way? Or is all judgment bad?

I don't know and now that I have sufficiently tied myself in knots I will now stop.

Any comments or thoughts gratefully received.

Blessings

Em

He did what he was told

This morning LB decided he wanted to paint. That's ok he can in this house because our dining room has lino on the floor. He was still in his pj's so I told him once he got dressed he could paint. After some convincing (he wanted to stay in his pj's) he went off and got dressed.

He came back dressed in a light lemon (almost white) skivvy which was 2 sizes too small and white shorts. All ready and raring to go with red, blue, green and yellow paint. He has a cupboard full of dark navy clothes.

WHY DID HE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHITE TO PAINT IN!!

Anyway he has done what he was told so I can't really go crook on him, I'll just have the Napisan ready

Blessings

Em

Bits and Pieces

Spring is coming, although you wouldn't know it with the rain we have had here recently. We have had almost a week of rain, which when you are in the middle of a drought is rare, funnily enough.
Anyway, I have made the most of the sun this morning and have taken some photos of the garden. The wisteria has exploded, our rambling rose has come out in bloom, my grandpa's orchid has flowered and others are budding getting ready for full spring. This is attracting birds, we have had black and white cockatoos, honey eaters, Lorrikeets. So I thought as most of the people that read this are going into Autumn and then winter I will add a bit of colour from here to brighten your days. Having said that I would love to be in US or Canada to see the forests turn during autumn.


Grandpa's Orchid


Rambling Rose


Black Cockatoo


The view from my front porch

The other main happening, or pondering at the moment is that I am looking at going back to Uni next year to do my Grad Dip in Education so I can be a Religious Ed teacher in High School.

This is an exciting step as I haven't studied since I graduated in 2002. It been the longest time ever that I haven't been in some form of educational pursuit. I am excited about the possibilities. If it happens I will be studying at the Catholic University, which I am also looking forward to. Being Baptist, liturgy etc wasn't a large part of my course in fact it was an elective, so I'm looking forward to being in a place where I can study liturgy and explore that part of my spirituality at a deeper level.

Anyway

Blessings

Em

Healthy comings and goings

At the moment there seems to be a growing discontent for the status quo in relation to church (big picture, not congregation). This growing discontent is a good thing, as it is helping people to struggle with what they are called to do and be. It also means that people are beginning to look at what church should do or be. Which in turn is resulting in some new and innovative creations for church.

My question is: In this shift that is happening some / many people are going to feel as though the church they have been a part of no longer fits. How do we do healthy comings and goings in this environment?

If anyone ever asks me what my aim is as a minister, my response is normally a variation of: helping people to connect with God and then be God to others.

In relation to this aim, I don't mind people leaving our community to go somewhere else if we no longer help them connect with God, so long as they connect with a community that can continue to help them in their journey.

This is sometimes out of place in an environment where the mindset is "don't steal my flock", once mine always mine, instead of once God's always God's. In this environment it is often difficult for people to: a) feel comfortable leaving a congregation, and b) for the congregation to give them a blessing as they go.

So how can we do it better?? I don't know, I would love any feedback or comments.

Blessings

Em

Nervous Panda

Hi

With everything else that has been going on over the past few weeks having a good ol' laugh is a wonderful thing. The clip below gave myself and WM just that . Enjoy!

Panda Sneezes Mom is a little bit jumpy.

Blessings

Em

Pulse

What does, bean bags, nacho's, a pulse, and a Cold Chisel song all have in common??

Answer:
The experiment that was just performed on the young people at our Church tonight.

Tonight was the inaurgral running of PULSE.

Pulse is a new event that we have started which is kinda like church, but not really.

It has music but not the type of music we have in church. We had driving guitar, big bass, loud drums, very little keyboard and loud singing.

It had a message, but one that involves questions and answers, feedback and discussion with the youth group and the all important ingredient, chocolate.

It has food, but not morning tea, we had nachos and a canteen selling drinks, chips and chocolate, which were eaten in the middle of the night when we had a break for dinner.

We had seating, but not chairs we had, BIG gym mats, little gym mats and everyone brought their own, as it was BYO seating, so we also had, bean bags, cushions, blankets. Surprisingly no one brought their brother or sister to sit on as I had also suggested.

Anyway, we launched it tonight with great result. Being a test run we didn't advertise widely, we gave some flyers to the youth group and said invite friends, and we had 20 kids turn up, our youth group is only 14. Of the 20 kids there were more than half I had never met before because the young people had brought their friends.

Musically it wasn't great, but it was fun, I just embrace the verse "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord." and pray that music isn't a strong point for God, you know too busy creating plants, animals, blah blah blah to embrace a musical instrument.

The message was very simple "Who are you?" and answered the question from Ps 139 and 1 Peter 2 and presented myself, again which was okay but would have preferred it be someone else. Any takers, we can probably give 30 bucks toward travel cost, you will have to cover the other $3000 to get here, but we would love to have you anytime your in Australia (for those of you overseas). Any suggestions of local speakers would also be gladly received.

The night was all round a good night the young people seemed to enjoy themselves they didn't seem embarrassed by it and we made connections with 10 new people.

Apart from that I had a blast, it's great worshipping God loudly.

Blessings

Em

PS The Cold Chisel connection is the song Saturday Night (do doo doooo do doo do do do) one of the greatest all time Aussie Pub Rock bands

Peter Brock has died

This afternoon another Australian icon died.

It has been a horrible week in Australia this week. People are only just coming to terms with the sudden death of Steve Irwin, The Croc Hunter, and now we are also having to process the death of Brocky.

Peter Brock was known as The King of the Mountain, he was a legend in motor racing. He spent his life racing and being an integral part of Australian culture. He died this afternoon while rally racing in Western Australia. As with Steve Irwin he died doing what he loved.

He was not only a legend but he was one of the good guys. He always had time for others and stories are told of him signing autographs by torch light at the end of meets after people had begun to leave. He was an aussie larakin but was also a perfectionist.

This desire for perfection meant he holds records and titles which will be hard to beat. He won Bathurst a record 9 times and in 1979 he won Bathurst by 6 laps.

I can't believe we have now lost Peter Brock. It was said "He reach the checkered flag exactly as he would have wanted, behind the wheel of a fast car."

Brocky you are a legend and you will be missed

Emma

Community and Conflict

Hey

At the moment at church we are talking about what it really means to be in community with each other. For a community to be healthy there needs to be a level of conflict. The presence of conflict in any relationship isn't bad, it's how we respond to it that has the potential for harm.

When I am doing pre-marital counseling with a couple, I become more concerned about couples who 'don't fight' than those that do. In any relationship there is going to be difference which will inevitably will lead to conflict. If there is no conflict my assumption isn't, what lovely polite people, it's what aren't they sharing and are letting fester under the surface until it explodes or eats them alive.

Now if this is the case with 2 people who are getting married, how much more would you expect it to apply to a community or 30 or more families. And yet we don't address it, we don't adopt healthy models of management, resolution, or restoration. We just stick our heads further in the sand expecting it to go away. Do you know what happens when you stick your head in the sand? You expose the most vunerable part of you to get kicked!

In order for there to be healthy community there needs to be ways of having healthy conflict. Healthy ways of addressing differences, concerns, issues, problems before they become an explosion which can have much more devastating effects.

We need to be able to give each other permission to raise issues with us. We also need to be honest with ourselves, act appropriately and maybe even ask forgiveness once in a while. What a radical concept for a community of Christians.

We are taught about humility, forgiveness, love, honesty, justice, grace and respect, among other things as followers of Jesus. Why do we often find it hard to express these things in our own faith communities? If we can't do it there, what hope do we have being that way with the rest of the world?

Blessings

Emma

The Same Sky

I read the title of another blog called "the same sky". This title reminded me of a time when WM and I were dating I was at Uni, and WM was 5 hours away.

During this time, apart from the 2 or 3 letters a week the thing that kept us connected was a Star constellation called Orion. Each night we would look up at the sky and see Orion and know that we were looking at the same sky.

Thanks for the memory Same Sky

Blessings

Em

The Crocodile Hunter has died

Yesterday morning Steve Irwin aka The Crocodile Hunter was killed in a freak accident when the barb of a stingray pierced his chest. Steve was killed while making a documentary in North Queensland.

This has sent shock waves through out Australia.

In Australia you either loved him or hated him but either way you still respected him. You respected him for what he did and the passion he had for Australia and the wildlife not only in Australia but worldwide. He made conservation exciting and cool. He was a role model to so many of our kids and showed that looking after the animals in our world was not only important but was also fun.

Those who didn't like him, were often motivated by how he presented more than anything else. Another Mick Dundee, instead of culture, elegance, class.
My reflection on this is that I think I would rather an ambassador for Australia be someone with a big heart, strong convictions, enthusiasm and a concern for others both human and animals, instead of a polished, classy person any day.

Steve Irwin was the real deal, what you saw was what you got, and he will leave a legacy in Australia and dare I say, worldwide which has, and will continue to make the world a better place. He will be greatly missed

On a personal note The Inquisitor loved the Croc Hunter, when I picked him up from school I told him the sad news, the following is his response

He said "Some boys in the playground said he was dead, but I didn't believe them"
I asked him "How are you feeling?"
He said "Sad"
LB said "We have chocolate at home to make you happy."

I wonder who LB learnt the idea about chocolate making you happy from? mmmmmm I wonder.

Croc Hunter you will be missed and our prayers go out to your family

Blessings

Em

Crazy Week end

Hi all

On Saturday we had a 4th birthday party for LB from 12 - 2pm and then we had a 7th birthday party for The Inquisitor from 2:30 - 4:30 we then collapsed at 5pm. Then on Sunday we had Fathers Day, In Australia it's celebrated on the first week end in September, I think that's different to other places.

So we had partay's in the party house. I love kids parties they are just great fun.

For LB's we had a BBQ with fantastic weather 27 C I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit but it's singlet weather. The standard party food chips, lollies, fairy bread, dip, and a birthday cake. Each year the boys can choose anything they want as a cake and I make it. This year LB choose a Tyrannosaurus Rex Head. So that's what my Martha Stewart brilliance produced. There's nothing quite like eating green icing.

He had a heap of fun, got lots of presents and felt loved and special, what more could you want.

We then went onto The Inquisitor's party, Again party food, Hot and Cold, the Martha Stewart Brilliance produces a Stegosaurus this time and Party Games. We Played Islands, which is a Survivor version of musical chairs for 7 year olds using newspaper, had donut eating competitions, (where you hang donuts off the clothes line by a piece of string and the first one to eat it using only their mouth wins) and a mintie hunt. We had a ton of other games but our yard is large with a large dirt patch in the middle where a pool once was and it was the hit of the party. Dirt, 7 years olds, digging, Life is good. No other games needed.

What a lot of fun.

We have heaps of party food left over, party pies, frankfurts, chocolate any one?!

Em