In America

I know - long time no post. I've been facebooking the last few months and have also been super busy at work.

Annette and I have travelled to the states for me to do some networking with people involved in ministry training in the Wesleyan church in the US. We're at Houghton College at them moment and will be flying to Orlando tomorrow for the Wesleyan Church International and General Conference.
The flight over was not straight forward. The Qantas strike in Australia meant we switched flights and took a direct Melb-LA flight then went LA to San Fran for out connecting flight ot Buffalo but the flight was delayed into San Fran ad we missed our connecting flight. The olnly option we had that day was to take a San Fran to Toronto flight and hire a car to drive from Toronto to Buffalo. We landed in Toronto at 12:30am but are bags did not arrive. We left Toronto at 1:30am and arrived in Buffalo around 3am - still in the same clothes we put on 33 hours earlier. We found our bags the next morning at Buffalo airport - they came in on a US Airways flight (the carrier we were meant to travel with from San Fran to Buffalo).

The last tow day have been more joyful time catching up with some friends at Houghton and having some discussions around ministerial training and education and the Houghton Down Under study abraid program.

We're flying out to Orlando tomorrow.

Wesleyan Methodist Church - South Pacific Convention

January 13-17 was the quadrennial Wesleyan Methodist Church National Conference and South Pacific Convention. Rev. Steve DeNeff was the guest speaker and delivered some powerful messages on personal holiness and a new view on Jesus as Holy. Dr. Tom Armiger (General Superintendent) chaired the business meetings and the DeNeff's and Armigers enjoyed their Aussie experience including a tirp to the local Koala park and the Penguins right on Philip Island where the convention was held.
The Convention itself included separate children's and youth programs and a wide range of seminars and electives. A highlight for me was the didgeridoo playing of Shea Taylor from the Baparrdu Fellowship in Rockhampton.
I was kept busy with organising the powerpoint for the main rallies as well as attending the main business meetings of the conference and explaining the new direction of Kingsley College. Let's just say that not everyone at the conference was completely happy with where Kingsley is going but after some vigorous and necessary discussion the conference gave a strong endorsement to the actions of the College Board and National Board to
1. Sell the property at South Street, Hadfield and
2. Move out of offering higher education awards and focus on preparing people for ministry in the Wesleyan Methodist church which includes entering strategic partner arrangements with other providers- Tabor Victoria being the first and most significant because it includes the transfer of staff and students to Tabor from Kingsley.
The National Conference also saw the conclusion of 11 years of service and leadership from Rev. Stan Baker. Stan has led the church through some difficult years and he should be congratulated on his statesmanship and courage in leadership. The conference elected Lindsay Cameron (recently returned missionary from Africa) as the new National Superintendent. I was also re-elected as Principal for another four year term.
All in all a good conference, I can't really say that I was looking forward to it - mostly the issues related to Kingsley - but I came away having met some new friends and more connected to God and his mission of love for the world. The kids had a ball - we hardly saw them the whole time - they made lots of new friends too and are looking forward to the next National Conference in four years time.

Kingsley End of Year Dinner

The Kingsley staff and faculty dinner was at Alfreds Homestead this year. We enjoyed a smorgasbord meal and had a great time chatting. Wynand and Marianne DeKock, John and Wendy Capper and Tim and Jenny Farmilo from Tabor College joined us and it was good to get to know our new colleagues a bit better.

Numurkah Holiday

We had a week away at Numurkah recently (7-13 December). We stayed at Lakeside Country Club and utilised all the facilities of the resort - indoor and outdoor pool, mini golf, squash and tennis - but mostly the pool which the kids really enjoyed. We had a couple of day trips to Shepparton and Tocumwal.
At Shepparton we visited Kids Town which is a free outdoor adventure playground - well worth a visit if your traveling through Shep.
Our day trip to Tocumwal included a stop at The Big Strawberry at Koonoomoo - it has a great cafe and gift shop with everything strawberry - yum - strawberry milkshakes and chocolate covered strawberries for morning tea.
We traveled another half hour to Tocumwal - so we could say we visited NSW in our holiday. We had a nice lunch on the banks of the Murray River before heading back to Numurhkah.
Matt, Kate and Tom with the Shrek Cow in a park in Shepparton. The parks have various themed cows scattered through them in Shepparton.
Having a rest during our walk through the Kinnairds Wetlands in Numurkah
Family reading time

Living Water - Worship

I led the worship time at Mimos two weeks ago and I set up some "worship stations" based on the theme of Living Water. Our passage for reflection and teaching was John 7:37-38.
We had five stations set up:
1. Care Boats
People wrote their cares and anxieties on a piece of rectangular paper which they made into an origami boat. They placed the boats in the tub of water and symbolically gave those concerns to the living water of Christ.
2. Waterfall
Station 2 was playing the song "Waterfall" by Matthew Ward. People could sit, read the lyrics and listen to the song.
3. A Prayer for the Thirsty
Psalm 143 was printed out and put on a a wall. Kneeling pads were placed near the wall for people to kneel and read the prayer of David.
4. Living Water
Five passages of Scripture were printed out for people to read and meditate on. Psalm 36:5-9, Isaiah 41:17-18; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1,2,17
5. Lectio Divina and Drawing
The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4:4-14) was printed out and people were asked to read through it a few times and imagine themselves being there in the conversation. Paper and textas were available for people to write of draw their impressions of the encounter.

New Directions for Kingsley Colege

Wow!!! A month since my last post - I really have been busy. What has been taking my time and energy has been the restructuring of Kingsley College. Kingsley will be taking a change of direction from 2008. Kingsley will be focusing it's energies on the development and training of people serving the Wesleyan Methodist church. To this end Kingsley will be partnering with Tabor College Victoria who will deliver the majority of the courses Kingsley is currently delivering. Kingsley will continue to offer some courses through the Sydney College of Divinity but eventually all courses will come under Tabor College Victoria. Kingsley staff and faculty will join with Tabor and the new combined College will offer classes from Ringwood, Berwick and Hadfield (Kingsley's current campus). Kingsley will still oversee Kingsley Community - the local church ministry training program. Tabor College Victoria will offer the courses required for ordination in the Wesleyan Methodist church and Wesleyan faculty such as myself, Glen O'Brien and Kevin Brown will take n a tutoring/coaching role with Wesleyan ministerial candidates. So..... some big changes for Kingsley and my role. I will continue as Principal of Kingsley and oversee its role in providing ministerial training and I will also be on the leadership team at Tabor.
Read more about the new direction for Kingsley here.

Springtime in the Garden

With the recent warm weather combined with some (although not enough) rain, the garden is coming to life. The daffodils are all but finished but the viburnum, wisteria, genista, wigelia and irises are all in full bloom.

"Go" Now is the Time to Worship

Annette and I dropped in on another church's gathering this morning and they sang the song "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" as the closing song. I reflected on the fact that - yes - now we are about to go out from this gathering to worship. I am sure that this was not what the worship leader intended for us to think because that was not stated but the song is actually very appropriate for helping the church to see that they worship all the time and that we worshi as much when we are apart as we do when we are together. However, sung at the conclusion of a gathering the song could be changed to "Go, Now is the Time to Worship" and would read:
Go, now is the time to worship
Go, now is the time to give your heart
Go, just as you are to worship
Go, just as you are before your God, go!
It's not that we don't come - it's a both/and thing. We come so that we may go!

Philip Island

The family headed down to Philip Island last weekend. We booked a bonus week ($99) at the Island Breeze Resort. We enjoyed the pool at the resort and the weather was good enough for some time at the beach at Cowes. We also visited the Penguin Parade on Saturday night. We hadn't done it for a few years and the kids are old enough to appreciate it now.
Annette and the kids went home on Sunday and I stayed on to do a few days reading and writing on my Doctoral thesis. I'm still working on the history chapter of ministerial development in the Wesleyan Methodist church.

Kid's News

Kate - Passed her preliminary Piano exam. Passed is an understatement - she got first class honours - well done Kate.
Matthew - completed a poster of Blue Tongue lizards (see photo) and will also be starting basketball this season.
Thomas - Became a champion bike rider today and can take off, ride and stop all on his own. Now Mum and Dad need to get bikes and do some family rides.

Sweet Harmony

My latest gadget is the Logitech Harmony 525 programmable remote control. Our coffee table was cluttered with 5 remote controls and it was quite a complicated matter to switch from watching TV to watching a DVD. Changing input on the TV, changing input on the HiFi turning off the set top box, turning on the DVD then switching remotes to control the DVD once it was playing.
Everything can now be controlled through one remote. The Harmony uses a web based programming system based on knowledge of thousands of different device remote controls. You just need to know the model numbers of your TV, DVD etc and it finds the information and programs the remote accordingly. You can then set up activities such as play a DVD. You program the harmony to turn on the DVD player, turn on and switch the HiFi to the DVD5.1input, turn on the TV and switch to the HDMI input - you can even program it to to open the DVD tray ready for you to put in the DVD. I had a bit of trouble getting it to switch to the correct input on my Toshiba LCD because you have to scroll through the inputs but it works like a charm now. Very easy for the wife and kids to get Dad's toys working in harmony. Oh - I got it on sale at Dick Smith Powerhouse for $99.95 - a steal. I like my gadgets but usually wait until they've been out for a year or so and drop to half of their original RRP.

Lunar Eclipse

During our Christianity and Postmodernism class we went outside a couple of times to look at the Lunar Eclipse. There was a bit of cloud around so we couldn't get a good view. The Age newspaper has a great slideshow montage of the event which captures the whole event. Apparently a lunar eclipse was one of the evidences used to show that the earth was round as the shadow cast on the moon was curved.

Go the "Bow and Arrow Man"

Glenn Archer (or as Rex Hunt calls him - the Bow and Arrow Man) overtook Wayne Schimmelbusch as the Kangaroos' games record holder when he played his 307th game for North Melbourne against Carlton on Saturday. Annette and I and the kids (along with James and Grace from next door) went to see the game and we all enjoyed the 82 point win. Archer epitomises the North Melbourne never give up underdog spirit. He was named as Shinboner of the Century and although he may not be the most talented AFL player he is respected by most AFL supporters as the most courageous. Well done Glenn, it's a pleasure to watch you play.

Let's Get Real

I was re-reading the chapter on Authenticity in Exiles this week and it felt like I underlined the whole chapter - Frost is so quotable. Here is one that jumped out at me - “Part of the pervading phoniness about many Christian’s lives is that there seems to be an assumed difference between our public worship experience and our private lifestyle and practices.” (p. 93).
At a recent visit to a church I was again astonished at how forced and routinised (is that a word?) the meeting was - it was as though the church felt obliged to follow a particular pattern that actually discouraged real interaction bettwen the people who were present. Even though there were not people in the meeting who could assist with musical accompaniment there were songs played (on CD)in the regular places of hymns which everyone sat and listened to as though is was a requirement of the weekly ritual. I hope I'm not sounding too critical but I left feeling that this small group would have been much better off sitting in a circle (rather than in rows behind each other) and having a heart to heart discussion about a passage of Scripture, some sharing about what God was doing (or not doing) in their lives and prayer to encourage and inspire each other to continue the fight and press on toward the prize.
Luckily, I attend a lot of different churches for work, so this one will not easily be identified but more and more I am seeking a real engagement with other Jesus followers when I gather with them in various locations around the country. . . And don't get me wrong, I'm not against a formal liturgy I am just against a disconnected and lifeless liturgy whether it be formal or informal.

I'm So Confused

I will be teaching the Christianity and Postmodernism class at Kingsley this Semester and although I already had a fairly good grasp on things postmodern my preparation for the more philosophical aspects of postmodernity have been straining my brain just a little. Here's an example from Stanley Grenz trying to explain Jacques Derrida's understanding of meaning in language.
"A Language is a chain of signifiers referring to other signifiers, in which each signifier in turn becomes what is signified by another signifier."
Hmmmm. I know that understanding the philosophical underpinnings of postmodernism is important but I'm really looking forward to the discussions on the effects of postmodern thought on popular culture and the necessary response from the church.

Birthday Present

Yes, I have turned 39. Two weeks ago actually - and I apologise for the absence of posts. I've been away in New Zealand from the 30th June to the 6th July at the SPABC (South Pacific Association of Bible Colleges) Conference. But before I went I was "given permission" to buy myself a birthday present. It is a 37" LCD television. I've been researching these for about 9 months so I knew exactly what I was looking for. So after a morning of shop hopping I ended up - as a last resort - at Clive Peeters Ringwood where they had a great deal on the Toshiba 37WL66A - no inbuilt tuner but they threw in an HD STB with the deal. So all up very happy. I just wish the broadcasters would send their signal out at a higher quality - hopefully in the future.
I looked into the LCD/Plasma options but a 37" was as large as we could go using the cabinet we already had. You will notice from the pic that it fits snugly.

Kate is Nine!!!

Kate turned nine on June 7th and we celebrated two days later with a Fairy party. 14 girls gathered for an afternoon of fairy games and lots of laughter. A visit from Krystal Fairy was an extra special treat.

What I'm Listening To

I've been listening to 5 Score and Seven Years Ago by Relient K - now my number one favourite band edging our Jars of Clay. This latest offering has the classic Relient K sound and has echoes of their previous two albums - MMHMM and Two Lefts Don't Make a Right - But Three Do. My favourite songs on the new album are "Come Right Out and Say it" and "Must Have Done Something Right". There are more songs about relationships which reflects the guys growing up but there is also the smattering of God focused lyrics in songs such as "Forgiven" and "Give Until There's Nothing Left". The shortest song on the album is "Crayons Can Melt on us For All I Care" which runs for 12 sceonds and the lyrics are: "I've just wasted 10 seconds of your life."

What I'm Watching

I've got really hooked on The Catherine Tate show lately. I caught the last half of series two on the ABC Wenesday nights and then bought the DVD a few weeks back. It's a bit rude in some places (as all good British humour can be) but it had me ROFL (Rolling on the Floor Laughing). It is disappointing that there is a bit of language because the sketches would be just as funny without it. We had our good frineds Colin and Ruth Harrison staying with us for a couple of nights and we showed them an episode - then we had to watch all six. They went out and bought the DVD the next day. A few classic lines - "Am I bovvered", "You will not believe this", "Take the shame though", "Is it though" and "The Liberty"
Here is a classic "Lauren" sketch (search youtube for more)

Flight of the Conchords 2

My brother in law Paul let me know that my favourite comedy musical duo - Flight of the Conchords - have their own show on HBO. It is autobiographical and shows off their lyrical genius.Also see their myspace page here