Markedly

My friend and mentor John Finkelde preached a great message at Inglewood on Sunday.

Of course I was not there to hear it, but did download it and listen when I was walking up and down some lovely Tasmanian slopes…on the way to the bakery.

John is a engaging, humorous and thoughtful preacher. I was challenged and enjoyed listening to this message.

You can listen here

Life with John Finkelde

Fridays in the office at Inglewood Church are normally a hive of activity.

I have just finished Toddler Jam, done some banking and other administration.

The staff are getting things ready for Sunday….media, practice, music.

Youth Pastor getting things ready for youth group tonight, the new childrens guy working on activities. Associate and present Childrens Pastor working on music for Kids Band tonight…

Lots of noise, laughter and passion…as we all work on similar goals.

What a great Church and a great bunch. We have come a long way…and have a long way to go. Buildings to build, land to buy. Grants to get. Money to be raised. But who would want it any other way? Who would want a church without challenge, risk and big stakes? Not me. Who would want things easy? Not me. Because easy is boring. Easy means you are not trying.

But it is time for a rest. 3 months ought to do it.

Something I used for my sermon Sunday.

We are about to head across the country…and we are concerned about the kids.
Now we have a heap of Kids DVD’s but don’t wont to worry about carrying them across the country.
So I bought a inverter and have ripped a heap of movies to the external hard drive of the Mac.

The best ripper I have found is Macx DVD Ripper Pro.
The company have a free giveaway at the moment on its companion software, MacX Video Converter Pro, which converts videos. Use this code (AY-TNTHTHYY-QMSFEQ)
They also have a discounted price on DVD Ripper Pro.
Go here for details.

(I was not paid for this, but I have previously received a free copy of some software)

Its no secret that I ‘hit the wall’ a few months back, and so put in place the need for an extended break from ministry. Fortunately I have my long service leave due, so will be handing responsibility for leading Inglewood Community Church to my associate for 3 months.

Strange as this is, now…I feel invigorated. I think its because I know the holiday is coming. I have not had a day off in 3 weeks, even Mondays have been busy with meetings. Because there is so much going on at Church, with property and development issues, and because I am going on break, I have needed to push through.
Which is not to say I have not been planning my holiday/sabbatical….I have.

I have asked some good friends to give me a book that they have read which has really impacted them, or that they think I should read. I asked the lads from my peer group for this…and a couple of them have come through.

While I am away, there is a lot going on at Inglewood Community Church. I even have my friend and mentor coming to preach one Sunday! (November 20th).

Suffice to say, there will be some posts on this blog over the next few months, but I have not yet decided what I will post…whether it will be about the break, or other things. Stay tuned.

There is a lot swirling around in my mind.

This month at Inglewood Community Church we are doing a series entitled “coming home”.

I had no intention of going down the line I have with this series, but God had other ideas. For whatever reason, every message has had a spiritual battle flavour to it. This was not planned. But it is being led by the Spirit, in my humble opinion.

This week we are dealing with ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. I encourage you to read it in the context of thinking about how it applies to the family home. “Your kingdom come’. How do we see the Kingdom of God being advanced in the Christian home? In your home? When God’s Kingdom is being advanced, the evil ones kingdom is being threatened. So your home suddenly becomes a spiritual battlefield. You can’t take that lightly, or be ignorant of it.

If you think about evil, it is insidious, and it creeps into our family home, in a contemporary home, in ways it never used to be able to. I am not advocating having your home as a fortress, but it should be a sanctuary. Quite different.

This is because if the kingdom is to be advanced in your home, your home also needs to be a mission field. And a fortress is not a welcoming place, it is designed to keep the world out. In fact our homes should be welcoming, inviting places. Places we have parties, dinners, friends over…no matter what spirituality they have. It can’t be a fortress.

So the important aspect of our faith that perhaps we may have overlooked is prayer. Targeted prayer for your home, house and family.

What is the difference?
I normally make pancakes from scratch, often on a Saturday morning.
Its a beautiful day in Perth so I go scrounging for some eggs, flour and bicarb.
But in the cupboard there is a packet of pre-mix pikelet mix.

So I used that to make some pancakes for the kids.
Not a lot of difference, perhaps a little sweeter, and the mixture did not seem to be as thick or able to make as big a pancake.

But once they were smothered in melted butter, fresh lemon and brown sugar…no one seem to care.

How much faith do we need to exercise?
How big is a mustard seed?

Is faith able to be categorised into ‘desert faith’ and ‘promised land’ faith?