Praying for Your Pastor

This is going to be an interesting post.

Since we have announced our resignation there have been many responses. We will talk a little about that this Sunday morning.

One of the interesting responses has been the number of people who have apologised.... apologised for not praying for us as their pastors.

True to our empowering style here are some tips on praying for your pastor ... and great ones from Dan Reiland. He worked with John Maxwell for many years.

Here is a bit of what Dan says and suggests.

Pastors, particularly senior pastors, are often seen as an unrealistic combination of the Apostle Paul and Billy Graham or perhaps Rambo and OO7...whatever fits best! The point is, the
perception is unrealistic - and often superhuman.

The point I want to make is that while pastors love their work, they are human. And they often carry an unrealistic "job description." In a day of hyper-specialization, pastors are still expected to do a little of everything. My strong encouragement is that each church:

* Allow their pastor to play to his/her strengths
* Structure a realistic work load (which includes members getting involved)
* Pray for the pastor

The following is a well thought through, simple and practical plan from my book "Shoulder to Shoulder - Strengthening Your Church By Supporting Your Pastor" that will help you pray effectively for the pastor. This plan can be done in just a few minutes a day.

Monday: Pray for your pastor's family.
* God's peace and protection
* A growing love relationship with his/her spouse
* A commitment to quality and quantity time together

Tuesday: Pray for wisdom for your pastor.
* The mind of Christ
* Godly decision-making
* Understanding of biblical truth

Wednesday: Pray for your pastor's ministry focus.
* Clear vision
* Commitment to biblical priorities
* Remain true to his/her God-given gifts and strengths

Thursday: Pray for your pastor's health.
* Protection of his/her body and mind
* An extra portion of stamina and strength
* Commitment to stress-releasing activity

Friday: Pray for your pastor's spiritual growth.
* A heart for God and the lost
* Fresh biblical insights
* Personal devotions not related to sermon preparation

Saturday: Pray for your pastor's purity.
* Pure motives
* Pure thought-life and faithfulness to his/her spouse
* Pure commitment to complete integrity

Sunday: Pray for God's anointing on your pastor.
* Strength in leadership
* Passion in preaching
* Fruit and joy in ministry

Extreme Shepherding

This is a great media clip worth clicking on (below).

Thanks Roderick!

Afternoon @ Queen Mary Falls

We are having the best day. Here is one of our stops after a 2km
circuit walk.

Father's Day Breakfast from Jethro

Jethro is the best son! We are about to head off on a day trip and JJ
says the men need some fuel.

So look what he whips up for us - priceless!

Father's Day Weekend Breakfast

Chevk this out for the start of the
Father's Day Weekend! Jill made a batch of banana and ricotta
pancakes.

Delicious!

Happy Father's Day!

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honour her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

Happy Father's Day!

The Man Cold - Reshown

We interviewed a genuine Man Cold Survivor tonight at Saturday Night LIVE.

In case you missed it click the link here to see the media clip again.

Funny as!!!!


Happy Father's Day for tomorrow, men!!!

You Owe It To Tyndale - Mark Batterson

I really enjoyed this recent post from Mark Batterson.

We take the Bible for granted. We have so many Bibles and we read them so little. I hope this challenges that.

William Tyndale gave his life to translating the Bible into English. Literally. Tyndale was criticized by the religious establishment. In fact, his Bible translations were burned by the Bishop of London at St. Paul's Cathedral. His response? Greater resolve to translate the Bible into a common language for the common man.

His life mission is epitomized by this rebuke to the religious establishment: "If God spare my life, a boy that driveth the plow shall know more of Scripture than thou dost." Tyndale was charged with heresy and spent more than a year in a tiny underground prison cell. Eventually he was strangled to death while tied to a stake. Then his body was burned. His dying prayer? He cried out, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."

That prayer was answered in the next few years when King Henry VIII ordered that a Bible be placed in every Parish Church in Britain. And it was answered again a century later when King James authorized a group of thirty-nine scholars to produce an English translation of the Bible. Tyndale paved the way with his life and death.

My point? You owe it to Tyndale to read your Bible.

And for the record, you are part of the company of translators. Your life is a unique translation of the Bible ready by everyone who knows you. They may never read the Bible, but they will read your life!

Saturday Night LIVE - Only 1 More Sleep

It's only 1 more sleep.

I am very excited about the Saturday Night LIVE event that we are doing this Father's Day weekend.

I have seen the run sheet for the night... and there is The Man Gift, The Man Quiz, The Man Panel, and The Man Mentor.
I am also interviewing a Man Cold Survivor... and we have a touching section called, The Man and His Kids.

It's all about honouring men and fathers and dads and grandpas and great-grandpas......

Hope to see you there - 6.45pm - USQ main auditorium at Springfield Central.

If you come early you get to see the remote-controlled car display!

PS - we have our approvals in place for the fireworks - that was fun! They go off with a bang after 8.30pm

Aussie Taxi Driver - Andrew Denton Interview

I found this media clip quite funny.

Click on the link below and enjoy the interview.

Subscribe to a Podcast - Westlife Church

Shane has cracked the final part of the podcast code and we are good to go with podcast subscriptions.

For example in iTunes you click the "podcast" option in the column on the LH menu.

Then go to the "advanced" tab on the top menu.

Then choose the "subscribe to a podcast" option.

And then enter this address

http://podcast.westlifechurch.org.au/rss.xml

The link is RSS 2.0 compliant.

Once the subsciption is confirmed iTunes will automaticlaly search for new updates when you are connected to the internet.

So even when you don't get to church the message will be auto downloaded for you.

You will also be able to download previous editions of teaching and series.

Enjoy!!

Women in Leadership - Steve Penny

Here is another great post recently from Steve Penny.........

I want to confess that I have caught a fresh revelation of how awesome women are as leaders and are a huge resource for the Church.

Let me suggest some reasons:
1. Women easily catch the cause
2. Women are better team players
3. Women have less ambition than men – but not less vision.
4. Women are better with details
5. Women are more protective of their leaders
6. Women are usually more generous
7. Women have better people skills
8. Women are spiritually more discerning
9. Women are far better at multi-tasking
10. Women are better communicators and share their feelings more openly.
11. Women have more inate strength and take less time off.
12. Women lead more people to Christ

Women make up well over 50% of the church but under 20% of it’s leadership.

I personally don’t think it is either male or female when it comes to leadership – but both working together with mutual respect and honour.
Males are often great visionary leaders whereas women are often great collective and gathering leaders.

Together we make a great team.

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect - John Maxwell

I have been following John Maxwell as he starts to tease us about the new book he is writing.

The book will be called Everyone Communicates, Few Connect.

He is a bit of what he is starting to write.........

You know when you don’t have a good connection on the phone, but how about when you’re communicating with people in person?
Do you know when a connection has been made?
Can you tell when the connection is starting to go bad?
Can you identify when the “call” has been dropped?

Most people have an easy time knowing when the connection is good on the phone. But they have no idea if they’re connecting with others in other everyday situations.

How do I tell? How do I know that I’ve connected with others? I look for the signs. When I interact with people, whether one on one, in a group, or with an audience, I know I’ve connected when I sense . . .

Extra Effort – people go the extra mile
Unsolicited Appreciation – they say positive things
Unguarded Openness – they demonstrate trust
Increased Communication – they express themselves more readily
Enjoyable Experiences – they feel good about what they’re doing
Emotional Bondedness – they display a connection on an emotional level
Positive Energy – their emotional “batteries” are charged by being together
Growing Synergy – their effectiveness is greater than the sum of the contributions
Unconditional Love – they are accepting without reservation

Any time I interact with people and I see evidence of these signals, I know I’m connecting. I’ve learned what it takes to connect with others, and I’ve learned to gauge when I’m succeeding.

"Let us go over to the other side." - Transitions

I have become very aware recently that life is full of change... and transitions.

If we don't change we die, some have said.

This is what I have been collecting.........

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Mark 4:35 (NIV)

“Not in his goals but in his transitions is man great”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

“Disenchantment, whether it is a minor disappointment or a major shock, is the signal that things are moving into transition in our lives.”
William Bridges

“When our first parents were driven out of Paradise, Adam is believed to have remarked to Eve: "My dear, we live in an age of transition."”
Dean Inge (Dean of St Paul's, London, 1860-1954)

Afterwards Paul felt impelled by the Holy Spirit to go ... he said, "I must go....!"
Acts 19:21 (TLB)

I am starting a new teaching series soon to talk about transitons and how we can understand them. The Bible gives us great wisdom about navigating life's changes.

Part 1 is Sunday 13 September at 10am.

Hope is Alive - Steve Penny

Another great recent post from Steve Penny........

The late Teddy Kennedy will be remembered for his quote “Hope is Alive and the Dream Continues.”

Hope is not passive but creates three powerful waves in a person's life.

Hope firstly produces a wave of desire within a person. When hope dies all your desires die with it and then all that remains are fears and dreads. The first sign of hope is a strong desire for something.

The second wave of hope is expectation. Desire now grows to become a strong expectation. By keeping hope alive you are creating waves of inner momentum and now a strong expectation has started to grow within you.

The third wave of hope is enthusiasm. The thing you desire is now anticipated to arrive and you enthusiastically prepare for it in your life.

Hope is not passive but is the development of a strong inner environment from which an outward action of faith can be taken. You must allow hope to stay alive and grow in your inner world and as you do it will produce an environment in which your expectation will mobilise you to take action and bring about your desired results.

I am hoping for better things continually and so I continue to allow the waves of hope to surge within me until I enthusiastically express my inner hope as an outward action of faith.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for – the evidence of things not seen.

Build the Anointing in You and LIFT!

I had the privilege of preaching yesterday as we closed the current teaching series. I did a message with a great story from Tracy Skellern-Smith.


The message was called Build the Anointing in You and LIFT!

If you were not at the Celebration here is the link to the audio clip.

The track will be on the Westlife Church website podcast section soon.
http://podcast.westlifechurch.org.au/



In relation to speaking in tongues for an extended period and the benefits, check out these 2 previous posts about books from Joyce Meyer and Oral Roberts. Well worth a read!

Here are few quick phrases from the message:

Learning to live strong with God is not about opening a can of LIFT and shoving it down quick
It’s about cultivating a healthy, ongoing relationship with God through Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit lives in you – he dwells there.
To borrow from a great local real estate mogul –Holy Spirit has His Abode – in you!
God says, “your life is My Abode”

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 John 2:27 (NKJV)

Every time you obey is like making a deposit into the bank of inner strength
Every act of submission is a kiss to your relationship with Jesus
Every time you say, “not my will but Yours, LORD” is an investment in your now and your future and the presence of God in and around your life.

Resignation Audio

It's been a very emotional season. And yesterday was no exception.

Pastor Steve Dixon from Hillsong Brisbane introduced our resignation section at the end of the Celebration. He was very generous about the launch, health and growth of Westlife Church.

If you were not at the Celebration here is a link the audio clip. Goes for about 30 minutes and Steve and Van pray for us at the end.

We closed with the Hillsong track, Stronger. I am glad the focus was on Jesus as we closed.

The track will be on the Westlife Church website podcast section soon.

That's here.... http://podcast.westlifechurch.org.au/

Important News - We Have Resigned

We have announced this morning to the great people at Westlife Church that we have resigned as Lead Pastors.

Our last Sunday will be Sunday 11 October 2009.

Pastor Steve Dixon from Hillsong Brisbane Campus this morning addressed the church and outlined the launch, growth and health of the church. That was very honouring.

Jillian and I have been overwelmed by the love and gratitude that people have expressed. Thanks.

Here is a bit of what we said this morning:

This has been a very tough decision – probably the toughest decision we have made so far in our lives. Yet it is also a relatively simply one.

When your values are clear, decisions become clearer.
We value our family, marriage and health – we value our children.
So these important things always come first....
We have sought prayed and read God’s Word – we have spent time with wise counsel – we have spoken to key people – we have looked at a lot of options – we have searched our hearts
– and we have come to this very difficult decision.
Parts of this decision are very sad – extremely sad
This decision will be very sad, even hurtful to some of you – we apologise for that.

Our family, marriage and health have been under a relentless pressure – and there is a deep weariness. Another family holiday will not fix this. 3 months off will not fix this.
We believe that resigning as Founding and Lead Pastors is the best choice for our family and for the church.

We are confident of a strong God – who is the head of this Church. This strong God knew this decision was coming – and He is not surprised.

We are confident of the God at work in you – some of you will be shaken for a season –but that will turn into a kingdom resolve that will fuel the next level of health and growth at Westlife
We love you all – we have prayed for you in advance – we have some good people around us and our church - we have set some things in motion that will position you for a great new leader or leaders.

We are thankful for this opportunity and privilege to lead you – it is coming up 4 years for some of you. These have truly been the Wonder Years for us – the establishment of a vibrant local church in a growth corridor.

Thank you for the privilege of leading you and being your pastors.

The team are planning a Farewell Celebration for Sunday PM 11 October 2009 - probably at about 6pm.

Transitions - New Teaching Series - Spring 2009

The Bible says that there is a time for everything...... and there is a time for change... and transitions.

I am really looking forward to this new Sunday morning teaching series.

I believe that it will really help people in all areas of their life... and how to understand and prepare for life's changes.

See you for part 1 - Sunday 13 September 2009 10am.

"S" is for Saturday and Soccer

It was Jethro's last game of soccer today.

We have had a great season.