Merry Christmas Everyone!

125 years - what a celebration!

We have just returned from a weekend at Coppercoast [125 years celebration] - here are some thoughts.

We arrived at Kadina Corps on 6th February 1992 to discover that there were in actual fact 2 corps operating - Kadina [we lived next door to the hall] and Moonta - so we looked after both corps - 2 very different corps in culture and personnel. These corps were 18 kms apart.

We left 5 years and 3 weeks later - 27th February 1997.

Whilst we were there - at the request of Port Wakefield families we started SAGALA [girls] in their town [50 kms from Kadina] every Thursday night during school terms - an amazing experience in such a small community - although we travelled there only on Thursdays we became part of that community. The local Uniting Church allowed us to have a church parade in their service - absolutely awesome.

Today Coppercoast is just one corps based at Kadina - the old hall is gone and where it stood is parking spaces - the youth hall is now a work place for men [lathes etc....] - a new hall has been built on the old parking spaces - our quarters has been replaced by a purpose built Thrift shop - the new quarters is further up the road.

Many of the folks we knew have gone to their eternal reward - very few remain from those days - but those who do - it was great to catch up with and walk down memory lane - to hear them share the impact our ministry had on their lives was truly amazing - you just never know how you touch people.

Not long after we arrived at Kadina in 1992 - Campbelltown sections came up to do a weekend [already planned before we arrived] - during this time we met a family - one of the daughters had a baby and brought her along that weekend - she was a real cutie - I had lots of cuddles.

So at 125 celebration I was doubly blessed - the real cutie was there [turns 18 in Feb] wow!!! yeah, I hugged her!!! But once again I held a baby girl in my arms [she went to sleep] - the cutie's little sister and she is just as cute!!! - life is amazing!

We were stationed at Campbelltown Corps from 1999 to 2004 - I'm so glad that Campbelltown corps has folks who are members of "The Red Shield Band, Songsters & Timbrels" [special guests for the weekend] - it was great to catch up with these folks as well - and again to hear how our ministry impacted their lives.

We are truly blessed as officers to move around and be a part of so many people's lives - to share their joys, their sorrows, for that moment in time to walk beside them and be one with them.

They will always be part of us - they are our history - they are part of who we are today!

Our God .....

Our God is a deeply communicative God. In fact, this is how deeply God feels the need to communicate – that He would wrap himself in our frame of reference, human images and language, human flesh and experience, in order to be heard by human ears, received into human hearts. For me, this is the magnetic attraction of Christian faith: the truth, the power and the experience of Sacrament. Christ as the God Who enters the ordinary and fills it with deity.

John van de Laar

ENFJ

You are warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. You are highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. You find potential in everyone, and want to help others fulfill their potential. You may act as a catalyst for individual and group growth. You are loyal, and are responsive to praise and criticism. You are sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership. Famous people with your same ENFJ personality include: Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Dick Van Dyke, Diane Sawyer, Peyton Manning, Pete Sampras, Johnny Depp, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rain - turn up the sound!

Hello

Hello Glitter Scraps

Gospel = Justice

It is not a matter of engaging in both the gospel and social action, as if Christian social action was something separate from the gospel itself. The gospel has to be demonstrated in word and deed. Biblically, the gospel includes the totality of all that is good news from God for all that is bad news in human life in every sphere. So like Jesus, authentic Christian mission has included good news for the poor, compassion for the sick and suffering justice for the oppressed, liberation for the enslaved. The gospel of the Servant of God in the power of the Spirit of God addresses every area of human need and every area that has been broken and twisted by sin and evil. And the heart of the gospel, in all of these areas, is the cross of Christ.

Christopher J. H. Wright

International director of John Stott Ministries

[from Knowing the Holy Spirit Throught the Old Testament]

Andrew Jones Bloggers Prayer

Our Father

who lives above and beyond the dimension of the internet

Give us this day a life worth blogging,

The access to words and images that express our journey with passion and integrity,

And a secure connection to publish your daily mercies.

Your Kingdom come into new spaces today,

As we make known your mysteries,

Posting by posting,

Blog by blog.

Give this day,

The same ability to those less privileged,

Whose lives speak louder than ours,

Whose sacrifice is greater,

Whose stories will last longer.

Forgive us our sins,

For blog-rolling strangers and pretending they are friends,

For counting unique visitors but not noticing unique people,

For delighting in the thousands of hits but ignoring the ONE who returns,

For luring viewers but sending them away empty handed,

For updating daily but repenting weekly.

As we forgive those who trespass on our sites to appropriate our thoughts without reference,

Our images without approval,

Our ideas without linking back to us.

Lead us not into the temptation to sell out our congregation,

To see people as links and not as lives,

To make our blogs look better than our actual story.

But deliver us from the evil of pimping ourselves instead of pointing to you,

From turning our guests into consumers of someone else's products,

From infatuation over the toys of technology,

From idolatry over techologyFrom fame before our time has come.

For Yours is the power to guide the destinies behind the web logs,

To bring hurting people into the sanctuaries of our sites,

To give us the stickiness to follow you, no matter who is watching or reading.

Yours is the glory that makes people second look our sites and our lives,

Yours is the heavy ambience,

For ever and ever,

Amen

Traralgon Fires February 2009

Traralgon Fires February 2009

"Ode to the Church" by Carlo Carretto.

How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness. Never in this world have I seen anything more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful. Countless times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face - and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms! No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you. Then too - where would I go? To build another church? But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects. And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ's church. No, I am old enough, I know better.

Dive deeper

'Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.'

Phillipians 4:6-7

When a storm swarms across the ocean surface, the fish know where the water is still -- deep down. While, on the surface, the winds and the waves rage, fathoms below lies water completely at peace. Perhaps we should learn something from fish.

In a shallow relationship with God we will find ourselves being tossed to and fro by stormy waves of circumstance. However, seeking and abiding in the depths of God, will bring a peace that passes understanding, even in the midst of great storms.

Joseph ~ a man to emulate

"Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants." (Genesis 45:16)

Pharaoh was delighted when he heard that Joseph's brothers had come to Egypt. He immediately made provision to bring the entire family to Egypt so they could survive the famine in safety and comfort. He provided wagons for the move. He promised them the best of the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh's warm welcome of Joseph's brothers reveals an important detail about Joseph's time in Egypt. Apparently, the entire time he had been in Egypt, he had never told anyone the story of what his brothers did to him. Pharaoh, at least, had never heard the tale of how Joseph's brother abducted him and sold him. Had he known the story of the villainous deed, he would not have extended the warm welcome.

Joseph loved his brothers and his family so much that he could not bear the thought of having them defamed. He did not want Egyptians saying to one another, "Did you hear about the nasty thing that Joseph's lowlife brothers did to him?" Joseph kept the entire episode to himself. The only thing he ever said about his past was the vague explanation, "I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews" (Genesis 40:15). His love for his brothers compelled him to protect their reputation.

Joseph never told the Egyptians about the incident with his brothers because it was none of their business. By maintaining discretion, he was protecting the name and reputation of God in Egypt. Had he told his sad story to everyone, the Egyptians would have had cause to say, "If that's how the followers of your God behave, I want nothing to do with Him or your religion."