the first year of my MTS apprenticeship...

Well the first year of my MTS apprenticeship has come to an end.

Its one of those strange things where you look back & have no idea what you have done… but I am pretty sure I have done something! One thing I do know is that I have learnt a lot! Not just about ministry, but about our great heavenly father & I have learnt heaps about myself.

I have been involved in many different sorts of ministry & have been hugely challenged in all of them! But most of all I have been reminded about how amazing our God is & how much we are all in desperate need of him. It’s when you lose sight of this that everything starts falling part. So I am extremely thankful to the many people who reminded me of this throughout the year.

There is many more that I want thank for being apart of my training, praying for me, & supporting me so far, but I really want to thank Marty… thanks for always supporting me, & pushing me when I needed it, or telling me to stop! You always seem to put everything into perspective for me, for which I am very grateful. I am very blessed to have you lead me through life (& happy birthday for tomorrow!!)

I am really looking forward to next year & all the different things that it will bring. Just need a little break first…

I am a Gentile...

God chose the Israelites to be his people – I am not an Israelite.

It’s through Jesus’ work on earth & on the cross that has made me one of Gods chosen people (Ephesians 2:11-13). I have been grafted into his kingdom! (Romans 11:11-24)

'I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile' (Romans 1:16)

Should the fact that we are Gentiles make any difference to us?

Climate Change

I have been whinging to Marty for some time now that this whole new climate change thing is just a farce. It’s a media built up phenomenon, & I’m sure someone out there is getting a lot of money out of it!

In my view the world has always been disintegrating, the media has just decided to hype it up in the last few years. My point is that I’m sure people have been looking into this and studying it for years & realised how serious it is ages ago.

So I was stoked to read Schaeffer write in 1970!
“So there is a true dilemma. Modern man has seen that we are upsetting the balance of nature and the problem is drastic and urgent” (pg 17 from ‘Pollution & the Death of Man: The Christian View of Ecology’)

It’s a great book to get you thinking about the Christian view of creation.

Why I love being part of a small church...

1. No moments like:
   “I haven’t seen you here before - is this your first time?" “No, I’ve actually been here for 20 years…”
   Awkward!!
2. So, you know everyone there & if you don’t – you soon will!
3. There is a mixing of all ages
4. It’s more relaxed (so you can have a coffee break in the middle!!)
5. It’s easier to invite your friends to because you know people will talk to them & they hopefully wont feel to overwhelmed
6. There is a greater sense of community

Is your pastor the scum of the earth???

I’m going through 1 Corinthians with a friend of mine so I had to prepare a quick Bible study on chapter 4 - it was hard! I read it over & over again wondering, what is the point! We actually meet up & didn’t look at it because I didn’t know what to say! I then read some commentaries & decided to just skip it & go to chapter 5 instead, but that didn’t look to appealing either! I finally listened to a sermon (its #5 'True Christian Leadership') on it, and it all fell into place. But not only that, I was deeply challenged!

What is our view of Christian leaders? Do we want them to be strong & popular like many Christian leaders are viewed these days? Or do we see them as servants of Christ, entrusted with the gospel, who are the scum of the earth?

What do you want your pastor to look like?

Born again... part 2

In a sermon by Driscoll he outlines the different ways that God works in the heart of those who are born again:

New master – God, no longer Satan
New creation – New people with a fresh, clean start with God
New identity – The core essence of who you are made new
New mind – Hungry for the Bible, & to learn more about God
New desires – No longer want to sin, but want to obey God
New emotions – We feel differently
New community – Craves new community around Jesus
New Power – Have the power to put our sins to death
New Freedom – No longer slaves to sin – but are free!
New Life! – with God

We should never forget or stop praising God for this! It’s also a great challenge - are we still seeing these things in our life?

Movies

The months of October & November have been rather wet, & kind of a time to unwind a little bit – so we have been watching movies, lots of them! I have collated my thoughts (or just my favourite lines!) from the ones that I remember. So now Beck, you wont have to ring me for my reviews in the video store for at least a month!

Mamma Mia - Hilarious!
Horton Hears a Who – “Horton is my hero! Ahhhhh”
Maid of Honour – McDreamy!!
Sydney White – Just the usual school chick flick
Casino Royale in fast forward to get us ready for...
Quantum of Solace – oh yeah!!
Lions of Lambs – Movies that don’t end 'properly' confuse me!?!
The Bucket List – “Never trust a fart!”
Get Smart – Surprisingly quite funny
The Women – Lives up to its name - there is no men in the whole thing!
Step up 2 – The Streets - These movies should never do sequels!
TMNT – Ningie turtles – what more could you want!
Hancock – A hated superhero – was interesting!
Dan in Real Life - Very funny!
Jumper – Yeah, was pretty cool
Juno – Just weird! But funny
Wedding Planner – Oldie but a goodie!
X-Men #1 – Also an oldie, but also a goodie
Leatherheads – It had its moments
The Italian Job – Oh yeah... the mini’s are awesome!!
Drillbit Taylor – Actually quite funny, although really stupid

Crowded House

Well, what can I say... have a look at this - it was awesome! (The video is not that good - have lots of better ones! But it seems the computer can't handle it!)