So long and thanks for the fish...

This Site is now closed.

For the NEW revhead website, click on the following link:

Beneath Blue Suburban Skies

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How do you like this picture one of my photographer friends, Mark took? It's a riot, eh!?
Someone asked the question on the last post about what's going to be happening in 2007 at eltham... Let me put a few thoughts down. I'll be closing this blog off soon. Therevhead'd blog and a new exciting new blog will kick off in a few weeks ... so its not really good bye, just focusing on the other blogs ...
Now to the questions -- In any larger community, like ours, there are people arriving and others moving on. Some of the questions people have asked:

“What happens when a Pastor is called on?” The Church leadership – Our Board of deacons - will work with our Regional Minister from the B.U.V. to find a suitable replacement. There are excellent and established procedures, resources and plenty of experienced ministers that a church could prayerfully approach to serve either in an interim or long-term capacity.
“What will happen to our church?”
The one who is Lord of the church will continue to build, grow and strengthen it. God raises up the right people with the right gifts for the right times. The story of Acts is an exhilarating story of God’s creative Spirit building thriving communities through times that were constantly changing, challenging, and inspiring! We can be sure that God will continue to feed, prune, grow and bring forth good fruit! The church family will continue to worship and serve creatively as god leads them.

"So what will you be doing?"
I’m 70% of the way into a Doctor of Ministries degree through Fuller Theological Seminary (That’s why I’ve been heading off to L.A. each January for a couple of weeks). The topic is about the sort of cultural changes we face in the West and the sort of issues we need to consider in forming missional churches and leaders. I also want to look at what others are doing – if we can do it – I’d like to visit the UK for a couple of weeks to check out what is happening there. Stand by for blog reports on the revhead's site!
“Where will you be living?”
Sometime over the next year we would like to buy our own home - or at least make a start! We would like to be within driving distance of the kids’ school for the next while. It will probably be somewhere between Greensborough, and Doncaster!

the angels still proclaim
we remain preoccupied.
look around in 2007!

Christmas!

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukka' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukka!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'"

- - - Dave Barry "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide"

New book and a blog from Alan Hirsch

Alan Hirsch, of Forge, has a new book out.

“The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church” (Alan Hirsch)

From the blurb:

Alan Hirsch is convinced that the inherited formulas for growing the Body of Christ do not work anymore. And rather than relying on slightly revised solutions from the past, he sees a vision of the future growth of the church coming about by harnessing the power of the early church, which grew from as few as 25,000 adherents in AD 100 to up to 20 million in AD 310. Such incredible growth is also being experienced today in the church in China and other parts of the world. How do they do it? The Forgotten Ways explores the concept of Apostolic Genius as a way to understand what caused the church to expand at various times in history, interpreting it for use in our own time and place. From the theological underpinnings to the practical application, Hirsch takes the reader through this dynamic mixture of passion, prayer, and incarnational practice to rediscover the dormant potential of the modern church in the West.

Alan's Blog: theforgottenways.

(Found on Steve addison'e Blog)

BOUNDARIES! Starts this week...

We are beginning a new Sunday morning teaching series on the topic of Personal Boundaries. The way it will work is:

• Each Sunday morning for the next eight weeks we will be watching a half hour session
• There will be a discussion sheet with a summary of the video content and space for you to jot down thoughts.
• There will be some personal ‘homework’ questions to guide you as you prayerfully apply what you are learning.
• We encourage people to discuss highlights, questions and prayer in your mid week group each week following the study.

Why are boundaries necessary? Because God is behind the concept of boundaries. According to the Bible, this need is fundamental in the creation of mankind. God created us to be free, and to act responsibly with our freedom. He wanted us to be in control of ourselves, and to have a good existence. He was behind that idea all along. But as we all know, we misused our freedom, and as a result, lost it. With the loss of freedom came the loss of self-control. The results of losing self-control are displayed in a wide variety of miseries. Consider a few of the alternatives to self-control: * Controlling relationships where people try to control each other. * Faith that is practiced out of guilt and drudgery instead of freedom and love. * Being motivated by guilt, anger and fear instead of love. * The inability to gain control of our own behaviour and solve problems in our lives. * The loss of control to addictive processes. These are to name just a few. It is no wonder why the need for boundaries is felt so deeply. In fact, these issues are so dear to the heart of God, He says it was one of the motivators for the sacrifice of Christ Himself: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) Jesus died to set us free: from sin, from the devil, from the world around us. And that is the essence of what boundaries encourage—freedom.
(From The Simple Scoop on Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud; cloudtownsend.com)

Check out the Cloud-Townsend Resources site yourself for more info and some excellent articles

time for another shot of leunig!

God help us to live slowly:
To move simply:
To look softly:
To allow emptiness:
To let the heart create for us.
Amen.