2010 Goals

a Biblical thought...
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:12-13)

a Book thought...
Those who pay attention will discover God is far more involved in their daily lives than they ever imagined. (p133)
a Dave thought...
I am a person who likes to write down yearly goals. The last few years I have used categories and then write 3 goals in each one. I believe unless you are aiming for something in life you will end up anywhere and just waste a lot of years in the process. Here are my categories for 2010 with a description of the types of things I will set three goals in...

1. Spiritual - praying, reading, learning such as conferences

2. Physical - exercise, diet, gym, sporting events

3. Family - holidays, time together, new ventures, devotions

4. Relationships - extended family, meet neighbours, others we are yet to meet

5. Financial - tithing 10%, saving 10%, live off 80%, sponsor children, pay off debt

6. Educational - enroll in a course, read a book, attend a seminar

7. Home - improve, invite people over, create a new space

8. Ministry - look where you will put your time, start something new, evaluate current areas

As I have 24 specific goals (8 x 3) which are measurable I then email them to a few friends who I ask to keep me accountable. If you have never tried this before I encourage you to seek God, set goals and enjoy a fruitful 2010.

Just a thought.

Major Philip Wise

a Biblical thought...
"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. (Rev 15:3-4)

a Book thought...
God never acts prematurely, and he is never late. God's timing never leaves things unfinished, and it always produces the maximum effect. (p128)

a Dave thought... a sad email I received last week.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of you may be aware but for those who are not, A Salvation Army corps officer was murdered on Christmas Eve in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Major Philip Wise, 40 years old, was returning to the corps building with his three young children after taking bell ringers home. Two armed men approached him and demanded money. They then shot him in front of his children. His wife Cindy was in the building and called 911. Major Wise was a devoted officer, father and husband beloved by many in the community. He and his family were preparing for a trip to West Virginia to spend time with extended family for Christmas. Please uphold Cindy and these three precious children in prayer as well as the extended family and the corps family and community.

Please pray.

Just a thought.

Youth Ministry 3.0

a Biblical thought...
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." (Rev 11:15)

a Book thought...
The greatest mark of maturity in faith is the ability and willingness to reverently accept God's answer, no matter what it is. (p126)
a Dave thought...by Alaina Kleinbeck,

Mark Oestreicher’s Youth Ministry 3.0 embodies the conversation model of ministry books. His book is revolutionary not only in content, but also in style. Oestreicher runs a blog (ysmarko.com) that he used as a sounding board for his thoughts and ideas for this book. Blog readers who commented on his inquisitive posts shaped and affirmed his writing and he then included their commentary throughout the book. This type of book would not have been possible ten years ago. It represents a major shift in the way youth ministry is resourced–from top-down publishing house and denominational presses informing the parish worker to youth ministers creating and contributing material from their local ministry to share en masse. The resourcing shift isn’t surprising considering the parallel decentralization in almost every other avenue of communication in the 21st century. Yet Marko’s book is of the first printed books in the youth ministry field to widely embrace social media as a means of resourcing. Social media addicts everywhere are rejoicing.

Youth Ministry 3.0 finds its purpose early within its pages. Marko says, “I’m hoping to describe what I’m seeing and experiencing and feeling about where we need to go so we can continue being true to our calling” (p. 26). He’s in the position to hear the voices of thousands of youth workers, and so his thoughts on the future are valuable and weighty. Before speaking of the future, he walks the reader through a history of youth culture with a simple framework. He looks at the three tasks of adolescence–identity formation, autonomy, and affinity–and traces the emphases that youth culture (and thus, youth ministry) has placed on different tasks. He skillfully honors the past and fuels a fire for change.

A short read, YM3.0 isn’t the end of the story. It doesn’t purport to have all of the answers, but encourages a process of discernment to find them. Marko doesn’t propose a model that works in every situation, but gives permission for a potpourri of youth ministry models. He invites the reader to engage in the conversation.

Just a thought.

New Year's Resolutions

a Biblical thought...
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" (Revelation 7:11-12)

a Book thought...
Prayer is not designed as a means for us to change God. It is a time for God to change us. (p121)
a Dave thought...
Author, innovation consultant, and speaker Stephen Shapiro offers the following interesting statistics concerning New Year's resolutions:
Forty-five percent usually set New Year's Resolutions; seventeen percent infrequently set resolutions; thirty-eight percent never set resolutions
Eight percent are always successful in achieving their resolutions; nineteen percent achieve their resolutions every other year; forty-nine percent have infrequent success; twenty-four percent (one in four) never succeed and have failed on every resolution every year.
Forty-seven percent set resolutions related to self-improvement or education
Thirty-eight percent set resolutions related to weight
Thirty-four percent set resolutions related to money
Thirty-one percent set resolutions related to relationships
The younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions (thirty-nine percent of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year, while less than fifteen percent of those over fifty achieve their resolutions every year or every other year)
The less happy you are, the more likely you are to set New Year's resolutions (this is especially true for those who set money-related resolutions: forty-one percent are not happy; thirty-four percent are moderately happy; twenty-five percent are happy)
There is actually no correlation between happiness and resolution setting/success (people who achieve their resolutions every year are no happier than those who do not set resolutions or who are unsuccessful in achieving them)

Just a thought.

Tex the Turtle

a Biblical thought...
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. (Revelation 3:7)

a Book thought...
Jesus set the pattern for our praying. He did not determine his own agenda, then ask his Father to bless it. Rather, whatever the Father told Jesus to do, that became Jesus' course of action. (p118)
a Dave thought...
After a few days of discussion we finally convinced our 7 year old he was too young for an iPod touch! So the night before Christmas he decided he wanted a turtle instead from Santa. This resulted in a last minute email at 9pm Christmas eve to Santa. Noah was fortunate that Santa took last minute requests so a letter was left under the tree on Christmas day. It explained that Santa does not carry live pets on the sleigh but if he passes this letter on to his mum and dad that they can arrange a pet turtle. The result after a busy Boxing Day is that we now have have two pets in the Collinson household, Tex the turtle has joined Rex the rabbit. Noah continued to ask if Santa is just made up and without lying I managed to just make it to Christmas with some mystery. Somehow I think it will be the last Christmas Santa will come to Noah, but it sure was fun while it lasted.

Just a thought.

Did Jesus make us fat and greedy?

a Biblical thought...
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)

a Book thought...
That's why we pray, not necessarily to obtain what we want but to know God more intimately. (p115)
a Dave thought...

Although this is not a real positive article from The Age it is worth reading how many in our culture are thinking about Christianity today...

Christianity, some say, caused the crash. Not traditional Christianity, in which next-life success depends on this-life frugality, but the new so-called prosperity gospel, whose spirituality comes wrapped in worldly expectations like prunes in bacon. Devils, you might say, on apocalyptic horseback. Prosperity churches offer credit facilities for the offertory, require tithing as an investment strategy (promising huge returns) and see usury not as sin but as sacrament.
"We love the money in Jesus Christ's name!" shouts Pastor Fernando Garay from his pulpit in Charlottesville, Virginia, promising a $10,000 return on a $100 offering. "The rich," he explains to his mostly Latino congregation, "are closer to God."
But it's not just America. At Hillsong Church, not more than five minutes from where I live and a conspicuous presence on the Block, pastor Brian Houston whips his audience into a ''giving'' frenzy while religiously pointing out the credit facilities in the foyer. In Garay's words, "Jesus loved money, too!"
So in view of the over-consumption monster now blocking humanity's path - with its three snarling heads of climate crisis, financial crisis and obesity crisis, all with their big googly eyes right on us - it is worth asking: how much does Jesus have to answer for?
Consider the manger. We've always taken this straw-filled washtub to signify the infant's outsider status, his fringe cred, his underdog appeal. But perhaps - manger being, after all, the verb ''to eat'', as in munch - it is really about consumption. Like the wafer thing, you know: eat the body, drink the blood . . . it has to make you wonder. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/did-jesus-make-us-fat-and-greedy-20091223-ldc7.html for the complete article.

Just a thought.

Technology Addiction

a Biblical thought...
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1)

a Book thought...
What God has to say to us is infinitely more important than what we have to say to him, yet we generally monopolize the conversation. (p113)
a Dave thought... from The Herald Sun
LILY Allen, who became a star when millions found her quirky pop tunes on MySpace, is taking two years off to beat her addiction to . . . technology.
Allen has recorded frequently on Facebook, Twitter and her blog.
But, after releasing her second album -It's Not Me, It's You - the 24-year-old ditched Twitter with a final message: "I am a neo-Luddite, goodbye."
She said: "I just had this revelation that Facebook, blogging, all those things were becoming a total addiction.
"I'd be with my boyfriend or my Mum and they'd have just got half of me.
"So I put my BlackBerry, my laptop, my iPod in a box and that's the end.
"I won't use email. I play records on vinyl. I don't blog. I've got more time, more privacy. We've ended up in this world of unreal communication and I don't want that. I want real life back."

Just a thought.

A Baby Refugee

a Biblical thought...
Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
(1 Peter 2:16-17)

a Book thought...
Th best way to hear God speak to you is to spend regular time reading, studying, and meditating on his Word. (p110)
a Dave thought...
This Christmas greeting from the Surrender team is a great reminder of how amazing the whole Christmas story is...

Incredible when you think about it, God's great tactic to reconcile the world to himself is through a baby born in a backwater town as a refugee! What a great consolation this Christmas as Shane Claiborne says 'We have a God who enters the world through smallness—as a baby refugee. We have a God who values the little offerings of a single coin from a widow over the megacharity of a millionaire. We have a God who speaks through little people—a stuttering spokesman named Moses; the stubborn donkey of Balaam; a lying brothel owner named Rahab; an adulterous king named David; a ragtag bunch of disciples who betrayed, doubted and denied; and a converted terrorist named Paul'

Lets continue to pray for this kind of radical, upside down, peace-loving Kingdom, this Good News to break out in the most unlikely places this Christmas.

Just a thought.

Commissioning 09

a Biblical thought...
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

a Book thought...
Meditation means staying with a passage of Scripture until the Holy Spirit enlightens your understanding to its meaning and its application. (p107)



a Dave thought...
It was great to be a part of the Commissioning celebrations in November this year. Those of us who live in Melbourne tend to take this weekend for granted but we are very privileged to be able to attend and get a glimpse of what God is doing across this territory. For those that were not present you will get a glimpse of the variety and depth of the weekend by viewing this 10 minute clip. Enjoy and be challenged.

Just a thought.

Eco-Congregation

a Biblical thought...
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)

a Book thought...
God's Word is not a mystery. God always provides a way for people to understand what he has said. (p101)
a Dave thought...
First of all it is great to be back online. As we have been in the process of moving quarters over the last 48 hours I have been unable to blog. As Kylie has observed though the world continues to function quite okay without my daily post:)

Last night on my way back to Geelong I was listening to John Cleary on 774 ABC where I heard him interview South African Bishop Geoff Davies. He recently addressed the World Parliament of Religions held in Melbourne this month regarding a Christian response to environmental sustainability. I was intrigued as he shared with John last night about the idea of an eco-congregation. He suggested that all congregations should be responsible for improving their carbon footprint and that as churches surely we should be doing our part in making the world a better place to live.

Internationally, the eco-congregation concept is an ecumenical environmental project providing free resources and support to churches. Their resources are available directly on the World Wide Web at http://www.ecocongregation.org/

Just a thought.

Transitions

a Biblical thought...
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

a Book thought...
The presence of the Holy Spirit changes ordinary lives into extraordinary ones. (p88)

a Dave thought...
Last night, while Kylie continues to pack up our quarters, I took the boys out to see some Christmas lights. As we looked through the rain drenched windows of the car at the appearing lit up Christmas trees and Santa’s down The Boulevard it finally felt like Christmas for me for the first time this year. But it was only a few minutes later that it dawned on Noah that tomorrow would be the last day he would see all his friends at his primary school in Melbourne. The picture above is of Noah’s first day at Birralee 3 years ago (with good neighbour Major Pete Lindstrom) and today will be his last. As we move down to Geelong to our new appointment Noah will begin Grade 2 in a whole new school and we pray will again make many new friends. As the tears flowed I had images of myself 30 years ago going through similar times as an officers child. It won’t be easy for Noah today but I know that transitions, although can be sad times, often take us to better place.

Just a thought.

Hubris

a Biblical thought...
For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:17-18)

a Book thought...
The role of the Holy Spirit today is not to write Scripture. It is to apply Scripture. (p83)
a Dave thought... www.leadershipjournal.net
"We do ourselves a disservice by only studying success," writes Collins. A search and scan through the business and even church leadership literature suggests that few books explore the roots of failure. Most dote on promises of success.
Interestingly, the biblical writers are unafraid to write of failure. Mixed among the stories of great achievements in the older and newer Testaments are a host of accounts of personal and corporate failure.
Hubris—an arrogant conceit (Collins: "an excessive pride") that paves the way toward failure and its consequences—is all over the Scriptures. I'm tempted to say, without doing the homework, that there may be more failure stories arising from hubris than success stories rising from humility.
Samples: Goliath and his fellow Philistines are full of hubris when the giant takes on David, the shepherd. David himself is later caught in the thrall of hubris when he gets into trouble with Bathsheba. Uzziah, a 50-year king of Israel, is nose-deep in hubris when, it says, "he grew proud to his destruction." In each of these cases, no one could conceive that anything under their control could go awry. There was simply an assumption that they deserved success and didn't consider any downside consequences.

Hubris, a state of over-confidence in ourselves, our systems, and our successes, often makes leaders blind to points of weakness that are already bubbling up within an organization.

Just a thought.

True U

a Biblical thought...
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. (Titus 1:15)

a Book thought...
The Holy Spirit is tenacious. He is determined to produce spiritual fruit in your life until you are like Christ. (p78)
a Dave thought...

True U www.trueu.org is a resource I was recommended recently and after having a browse through the material on the web it does look very helpful. It is geared at Christian students who often struggle to cope with their faith and life at school. If anyone has used it firsthand feel free to comment.

“Produced by Focus on the Family in conjunction with Coldwater Media, TrueU is an apologetics training series primarily geared to help prepare high school students for the rigorous challenges and attacks that will confront them on the university campus. My guess is that it will end up benefiting a whole lot more folks than just high school seniors.”
It is important to clarify that TrueU is not “The Truth Project for teens.” As envisioned by Dr. Tackett and our staff, TrueU will be, in essence, a series of “prequels” (or lead-in studies) to The Truth Project. (See the FAQ below, about TrueU’s format, for some important information regarding the lessons’ complexity).
TrueU is designed primarily to help students solidify their Christian faith with foundational apologetics training. This will equip young people to stand strong in the university environment, and also serve as a precursor to the in-depth study presented in The Truth Project of how to live out a Christian worldview in everyday life.

Just a thought.

210 in 2010

a Biblical thought...
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. (2 Timothy 2:15-16)

a Book thought...
The Spirit works to enlighten us to the spiritual wealth that is ours, so we don't continue unwittingly to live in spiritual poverty. (p72)

a Dave thought...
On Sunday November 29 at Commissioning it was great to hear our TC Commissioner James Knaggs cast a vision for this territory. As Jim launched 210 in 20ten it was encouraging to witness people coming forward who wanted to put their hands up to take on front line mission and plant new corps. http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/SALV/LANDING/PC_63101.html

As we currently have 168 corps in the territory to aim for 42 more in the next 12 months is a big step of faith. I certainly agree with the fact that unless we start to plant corps and innovate new ways of doing The Salvation Army the future is dim, so I see this as a hard step but one that we need to take. I also know that it is only when we attempt things for God that seem humanly impossible that we need Him to help us. Of course at the moment it is hard to get our heads around the the resources and personnel needed for such a vision but as we worship a BIG God we also know He can handle BIG visions. I pray that many people will continue to come forward and be part of planting new corps across this territory and as a result that the kingdom will be expanded. I also thank God for courageous leaders like Commissioner Jim who are willing to lead and cast vision no matter what God is asking of them.

Just a thought.

IRONPRAYER

a Biblical thought...
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (1 Timothy 3:2-4)

a Book thought...
The overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that God speaks in specific ways. It is imperative that people respond obediently to what he says. Have you obeyed the last direction he gave you? (p59)
a Dave thought...
At the Ironman event I was involved in last Saturday I enjoyed meeting many international athletes. One of them in particular got my attention as I read his cap "Why do you race?" with the answer below "Competing for Christ". I had a chat with Mike from Hawaii who went on to explain all about the The Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s http://www.fca.org/ Mike then explained FCA endurance and their particular ministry to Ironman athletes across the globe and suggested I get involve with IRONPRAYER.

IRONPRAYER www.ironprayer.com is a NON DENOMINATIONAL gathering of athletes, family, and friends for a time of worship, testimonies, and prayer prior to Ironman and other triathlon events around the world. The purpose is to help everyone get their focus from "self" and all that is going on with the event to the source of strength - God and to the needs others as we pray for each other.

The purpose of FCA Endurance www.fcaendurance.com is to further FCA’s Vision and Mission of impacting the world for Jesus Christ through athletes living and competing for God’s glory. Whether you do 5K’s for fun, cycle in a local series, or triathlon for a living… if you’re doing it for Christ, we want you on our TEAM! This is why we race:

1. Minister to the Endurance World. We want to tell the Endurance World about the Love of Christ. This is our #1 mission.
2. Unite Christian Endurance Athletes. We want to form a National Team, United in Purpose, Celebrating Our Blessings. The purpose of forming this Team is to strengthen each other spiritually so we all may do a better job of ministering to the endurance sports world.
3. Spread the word about FCA. We want others to know how FCA is changing lives, and help them in their cause.

Just a thought.