New picture

Thanks to my friend Chrissy B I now have a better picture of my outfit.


I'm much happier with that picture. Its clearer, and you can see the whole outfit.

Anyone interested in making their own falls should check out the advice at MookyChick, a fantastic website for all us babes with attitude.

The Desert of New Things

Tomorrow I am off for two days of retreat with a number of other pastors - we get together a few times a year for overnight get togethers and then for a whole week once a year. It's a refreshing and uplifting time.

Early this year at Connections we had a series on the importance of the "desert" or "solitary place" (we even put the Greek word ερημος up on the screen and talked about it). We looked at how Jesus deliberately went to "solitary places" - and how the theme of "wilderness" is often at play in the Bible when it talks about God meeting with his people.

In the end, the "health" of a Christian walk is not measured by how well someone acts at church, or how readily they volunteer - it's who they are when they are alone, laid bare before God. That is the "desert" we are talking about. It is in such solitary places that some of the more intangible works of sanctification are done - especially as we turn to the Bible at such times. It is there that we are convicted of sin, assured of forgiveness, comforted, guided, and can consider the wisdom of God at work. It is there that we are matured, helped, strengthened as individuals who follow Christ so that when we return from that place of solitude we are effective and purposeful as God's agents in the world and in church.

2008 began with a call at Connections for people to seek God and to take the discipline of daily bible reading, prayer and solitude seriously and joyfully.

Our church has been blessed in recent weeks with a number of new people attending and committing to being part of us. This is a joy - but also a time of change and enquiry. What is God's heart for our ever-forming church? Who will we be together? What things need to change? In what way do I pastor and serve? What are we called to in this season, and how do we implement it?

Soon this will mean a time of planning and doing, visiting, relating, befriending, enjoying. In some ways this has already begun - our vision is to be a community forming people to be and do what Christ has intended - and community-building requires positive action. So we will be having BBQ's and picnics, opportunities to relate, know and belong etc. etc. etc.

But the next two days, for me, are a time to be alone with God, shaped around brothers in ministry, and to lay this blessing, and all other things in his hands. To hold what has been given lightly, and to store up his word in the deepest place. Then whatever comes next - a leap or a fairy-step - it will be well done in faith.

Imaginating

Today was the day of the triennial Anglican "Gathering" that brought over 700 Anglicans from around the diocese to meet in one place for seven (seven!) hours of entertainment, fellowship, input, envisionment, and (I know it's a clichè word), celebration.

One of the purposes for this blog is an opportunity for me to gather my thoughts in reflection. So allow me to reflect on The Gathering 2008.

Firstly, let me reflect on the Gathering itself. There were a lot of positives. The day was well run. The children's activities were fantastic, the venue was excellent, the entertainment parts of the program were professional and very enjoyable. There was a great atmosphere and a high degree of "participation" even from those in the audience. You could look around, see kids singing, groups chatting, youth laughing, Paul Cavanaugh stressing (joke) etc. etc. and say to yourself "you know, I actually like who we are as a church in Tasmania." That's no small thing.

Perhaps the only thing was that, before the event, I wasn't exactly sure why we were having it. The "Imagine" slogan seemed empty - and it wasn't until the Bishop preached today - very personally, and vulnerably, and empoweringly (a very apostolic gift I think, but more on that in some other post), that I began to see what "Beyond Imagination" was meant to mean - not our ability to imagine, but the ability of God to work in us in ways unforeseen.

Which brings me to the second part of my reflection (hang in there, I'll come back to the "Imagine" meaning in a minute) - what the day has meant for Connections.

The main part of the day for Connections was a time when the Bishop and the new Missioner Bishops were interviewed with regard to the "Imagine Project" (of which Connections is now a part). +John spun the Imagine Project vision. +Chris declared his desire for many people to come to love Jesus, even as a result of many meetings (he is the Mission Bishop for Stewardship after all). And then +Ross spoke about the three Imagine Project mission projects. He got me on the stage to talk about Connections.
And one of the questions he asked me was along the lines of "what's the plans, things that are going to happen in the future?" So I sold our vision for reaching out to people who need community and of re-engaging the de-churched (again a topic for another post) and sold the vision as best I could in that unfamiliar spotlighted setting.

But let's come back to the "Imagine" meaning above - that its not about our ability to Imagine, but about God's ability to work in us in ways unforeseen. Without strategies, goals, purposes, plans etc. we stagnate. But without that sense of "God will do the unimaginable" we get stuck in a rut of our own devices and limited expectations.

And that's what it feels liks at the moment. The Connections project is on the brink of something. Who knows what God will do? Who knows where his Spirit will lead us? Who knows who God will send our way to change us and mature us into He who is our head? Who knows?

Even in our recent growth, the questions of how to pastor and be church well - integrate, enfold, care for, receive the new, and grow together - seem to have only fuzzy answers. Well perhaps that good - for clarity that is forged in the furnace of dependence seems to be the best. The learning curve is steep right now.

And so I'm grateful, that at this Gathering, we were commissioned, and prayed for. We'll need it. Who knows what God has planned...