Ministry and Money

I guess one could say that the penny has dropped and now we are fully aware of what it meant to leave Canada with only a small portion of our needed funding. I wish we could just not have to think about money and the raising of it but that is not the reality we live in. This week during a few unguarded moments I was having a bit of a pity party. I can’t remember when we have ever really brought in a decent wage. I have worked my butt off for more than 20 years of ministry and most of that time we have been well underpaid. But I suppose it is part of the world of church and ministry we live in. Making money is not why I do what I do but sometimes ya just gotta wonder. Money makes the world go round and it certainly cost lots of money to minister the word of God. I wonder how those TV guys get away with making millions from their TV preaching programs. There is money out there in the kingdom for that kind of ministry. I suppose I could go on gripping about this whole thing but it wouldn’t help one little bit. I have to ruthlessly trust that God will provide regardless of how I feel in my unguarded moments. I guess that discouragement is on the other side of this feeling if I don’t guard my heart for out of it flows the wellspring of life. There now that just feels a bit better! Sorry if you had to read this I guess I should have put the disclaimer at the beginning of the blog. Caution: Dangerous whining in progress!
God is Good All the Time!

Driving with Boy in Car!

Danae is really working hard at becoming a proficient and safe driver. In fact yesterday she came marching into my office and announced that she was sad and needed some cheering up. She followed this up with, "So dad, take me driving ‘cuase I need something to do that makes me happy." So off we went. We cranked the tunes and I shot a couple of pictures to mark the event. ENJOY!

Preaching in Chinese

Last weekend I was invited by our sister church the Chinese Christian Alliance Church to come and preach in their English and then Cantonese services. I had so much fun. The first service was full of mostly young people with a few adults thrown in and the second service was a real treat. I really enjoyed both services and will take away a couple of great memories from the experience. The first thing I remember as I look back on the experience was the moment in the Cantonese service when they all stood and said the Lords prayer in almost perfect unison. The second would be the fun of preaching through and interpreter (or interrupter as he called himself). It was such a blessing to serve these churches with the gift the Lord has given to me. I hope I get to do that some more. The picture is of me and my “interrupter” Steven.
He was a terrific young guy and we really hit it off.
God is Good All the Time

Shared Thoughts From School

This week has been such a great blessing to me. I am like a dry sponge soaking up everything moist around it. I am so into this class that I start at 9:00 and end at 12:30 and it goes by so fast it seems like a blink. Dr. Mark Strom is our instructor and his easy going approach and story/narrative way of handling the material along with all the insights that are coming from the students makes for such a sweet time. I am sad when it is time to go home and face the awful Auckland traffic. Our topic is timely for me. The class is called Leadership: Ancient and Modern, and the essence of the class is to move today's leadership back to a basic understanding of Paul's view of leadership. That being to move leadership away from the ancient philosopher’s Plato and Aristotle's approach of rank and status. Rank means to understand your place and status means the prestige of the Rank that you held. He believes that the current church "system" is based on this rank and status approach and is nothing like what Paul had in mind for leadership in his writings. In other words it is a very "top-down" driven system. Leadership is based and rank and status, the top down approach that is created to keep things under control at all times. The basic instrument of change for all of this is something he terms "Naming" and also "conversation." Giving people and or things new names or new language in order to have new conversations that are meaningful and lead to new ideas etc.
Anyway, before I bore you with to many more details I just wanted to blog out the fun that I am having at school. I am grateful to the Lord for his provision that allows me get some more education.
God is Good all The Time

Off to School...

I went to school today, I was a bit nervous and for the most part felt a bit intimidated by the whole scholarly road to a new and hopefully better you. The nice thing about it was that there we're several students there who were older than me and quite a few younger. I found myself in the middle which i guess was a small bit of comfort.
The drive from my house to the school took one hour and fifteen minutes. It is almost from one end of the city to another. I sat at one traffic circle for almost 15 minutes. I sat beside a young lady who lives not to far from me so she gave me some "short-cut" directions that I will be taking tomorrow.
I really enjoyed myself today. It was fun to be back in a learning environment. A real live Prof. with real live students and real live papers! I have to write to 2000 word papers and one 10000 word paper. That all should prove to be very interesting indeed.
Well, I go back tomorrow for round two and each day Monday through Friday for the next two weeks. My class is called "Leadership: Ancient and Modern" and so far I have enjoyed the reading and now I get to enjoy the class work. And best of all Cheryl prayed for me as I went out the door this morning that no one would bully me... and it worked. I even learned that bullies are really just cowards! SO THERE!
God is Good All the Time!

When it rains "KD" it pours "KD"

WOW talk about the healing power of Kraft Dinner! Today we recieved another package in the mail from Canada. One complete case of 12 Kraft Dinner individual packages. I've got EMS on standby incase one of the girls goings into shock upon seeing the lasted delivery! Wow when it rains it pours around here!
God is a fan of Kraft Dinner!

The healing power of Kraft Dinner

Facebook has opened up a whole new connection with friends I had not heard from in some cases years. I am finding it a delightful way of just quickly reconnecting over simple things with quick notes that just carry a conversation on for days that in real life face to face stuff would take a few minutes.
MSN has kept me well informed from our friends in china as well as my family back in Canada. This week has been great as I have had some great talks with my brother Cam and then stumbled onto a semi family gathering happening out at Chris and Jamie's place where mom and dad had gone for a visit. I could sit in the comfort of my office chair, and see my cute little niece and nephew and say hi to everyone almost like I was right there. Ain't technology grand!
Just in case you haven’t heard the news yet, Paige broke her wrist during a soccer game. Somehow got mixed up with one of there players and ended up on the ground with a fracture. It was all a bit hazy, the ref didn’t see any infringement etc. but Paige is now sporting a cast. We're all hoping it is a simple fracture that does not require too much cast time so she can get back out there and play the game she loves so much. Poor kid!
Anyway, She decided to stay home today, she was quite down this morning as she tried to emotionally catch up to the whole thing. While sitting in front of a movie a long and much anticipated parcel arrived from one of her good friends in Canada. God's timing on those kinds of things just couldn’t have been better. It brought all kinds of joy and we shared a nice meal of Kraft Dinner together. It really brightened her whole outlook on life. YA GOD!
God is Good All the Time.

Back to School

Well, it is official, after much thought and prayer and discussions with Cheryl, I have decided to take advantage of the Bible School here in Auckland and pursue the rest of my masters degree. So, hopefully if all goes as planned I should be done my degree by the end of 2008. I have to reapply for an adjustment on my visa to do it but I was assured from their office that it is not too difficult and will cost only $60. God blessed the sale of our home back in Peachland and we are able to use some of the money from that to pay for this rather costly venture.
I do need your prayers though as it has been a long long long time since I was a student and even then I was poor at it!
It was a little humiliating to bring all my marks in from my transcripts as most of them are at a C or C- level. The registrar told me that my twenty years of ministry experience should bump it up to the required B to pursue a masters degree with them. I laughed sheepishly! He assured me that because it is a small seminary, I would get as much help as I needed to pull this off and I must admit that did make me feel a bit better. I will be attending as a part time student and my first class starts on May 14 and runs mornings for two weeks. I then have until the end of June to finish the final paper for that class. I am a bit nervous but I am pretty sure this is the time to do this and who knows where this degree will take me in the future.
God is Good All the Time!

The Woodpeckers have got to go...!

My wife send me these this afternoon and they struck me funny bone and brought a wee tear to me one good eye! Enjoy!

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark
One : Don't miss the boat.
Two : Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three : Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four : Stay fit When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five : Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six : Build your future on high ground.
Seven : For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight : Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine : When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten : Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven : No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting
HOW TO KNOW WHEN A CATHOLIC IS SPEEDING!


laughter is like medicine!


Hope you're all having a great day!

Move over Mormons!

We meet in the Howick recreation centre for our Sunday morning celebration services. The rec centre happens to be right beside a massive Mormon Church and for years as our other pastor John has walked by he has prayed over this "church" and against its massive deceptions that good folks have been taken in by. Well, yesterday we had a young Canadian couple over for lunch following the service. It was a wonderful reunion as they had been over in Australia for a seminar he had been taking. He told me that while he had been travelling to church last Sunday morning, they had been held up in getting there and that made them quite late for church. As they drove by the Mormon Church they were overwhelmed by its overflowing parking lot and the vehicles that lined the highway and were filling the rec centre parking lot that ICC uses as well. Then the Lord gave him a vision; that our church would overshadow the Mormon Church. He saw in his minds eye that we would one day be bigger than this gathering of Mormons right next door to where our little church meets. He had no idea that one of our young leaders had had the same kind of vision on that same Sunday. Again, I feel a bit like Mary must have felt as she "treasured up all these things in her heart." They are not come true yet but if they are of the Lord then we have much work to do to get this fellowship ready for the harvest that is on its way!
Oh ya, and one more really cool thing… Danae led us in worship yesterday. It was her first time, she lead all by herself, and she did a fantastic job (all biases set aside that is) Her is a photo I snapped of her and her PowerPoint person Mackenzie.


God is Good All the Time!

...and your young men will see visions...

4 days in Raglan, it is like an exotic Peachland. It is a beautiful beach front that goes on forever. It is a town of about 4ooo during winter and swells to 10000 during the tourist season. One big difference is that during the month of November the Orca's come into the bay; 20 in a pod to play and show off in front of the entire town. Everything closes down and everybody heads to the sides of the inlet to see the spectacular sight. I want to see that and I can’t wait for that to happen.
Things here at ICC are progressing nicely. The 4 days away kind of opened my eyes to see the "toll" this venture has taken on us all. Naps in the afternoon, lots of fresh air, cool evening, and playing cards late into the night was excellent for our family to basically regroup from the flurry that has been our lives for the past 3 months. I found myself slightly overwhelmed last week. A feeling I don’t wish to repeat. There is so much going on and I need to keep it all in perspective and in prayer or it starts to get all bunched up in my mind, if that makes sense. Anyway, the rest did us good, it cleared my head and allowed me to think through each of the different scenarios I am currently trying to lead within the church.
The addition of a Filipino pastor named Richard is nearing completion. At this moment he is making some decisions for himself whether he is going to join with us or perhaps with another group. Apparently, he has a couple of other ministries pursuing him right now. So we will just leave this in the Lords hands and trust his gracious leading hand. We will know soon as I believe as his visa is drawing to a close on May 15th. Anyway, one of our young leaders had a spectacular vision that he told me about before we left for Raglan. He said that he had been praying and pondering what the Lord was doing when in his minds eye he suddenly had a vision of 500 people worshiping God at ICC. That was pretty cool and I deeply moved by his description of what he saw. Again the cry is going upwards... God what are you doing here? We are spending the evening in prayer tonight to focus on that very thing. God what are you doing and what is it you want us to do? Please pray with us.
God is Good All the Time.
Down town Raglan New Zealand

Happy Easter Everyone

It is Easter Sunday. I’m sitting here in this house in Auckland listening to the sound of a few cars flying by on Pigeon Mountain Road, this annoying clock shaped like the "Island of Australia" LOUD ticking like a time bomb. It was given to us from a couple of students we billeted from Australia a couple weeks ago. And finally of course there is the ever present humming of the refrigerator motor in the background. I've awakened early today, it is my usual custom to be up early preparing for the Sunday Morning Service. I like to go over my sermon again, tidy up my PowerPoint and spend some time in contemplative reading and prayer. I have this phrase running through my heart and mind this morning. Something I read on a spiritual formation website. It was quoted by an author who was making some excellent comments on prayer. Her words drew me in as she made this statement..."that we will cease to be one who prays and instead begin to become one who is a living prayer." I have always wondered about this concept. In fact for years I have mentioned it here and there in conversations with others about prayer this idea that we can be living pray-ers. That our conversation that is full of grace and seasoned as it were with salt, could in fact be a the spoken fruit of a life devoted to relationship with God. But this quote was less striking to me than the quote she gave from Carl Barth. "Prayer is really our whole life toward God: our longing for Him, our “incurable God-sickness". Our incurable God-sickness. Easter stars us in the face, it practically shouts at us to become love-sick over such an amazing God. What a story, what a love, what a sacrifice, what a mighty, daring plan that can, if we receive it by faith, dare us to draw near to the creator of the universe. In fact, as I contemplate the resurrection today I feel gob-smacked with what seems to me to be my own personal incurable God-sickness! UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE!
God Is Good All The Time

sorry for the delay but hey what can I say!

Well, where to start is the question. It has been pretty busy but and I have not taken the time to blog much of what is going on here. I need to remedy that so this is at least a fresh start at doing that.
I think i will stick with 3 highlights. The first is one that most of you who see my wife's blog will know. Our daughter Paige was Elvis in her school play. We went to it and she basically stole the show! (Unbiased view of course)
Next was our official induction as the new "Lead Pastor" of International Christian Centre. That was a great evening and it really did feel like our new home as we were official welcomed by the Maori Leadership of the Christian & Missionary Alliance in New Zealand. This Maori welcome was the first one ever in the C&MA NZ history. So that was pretty cool.
Finally, and maybe even the most fun for me. A fella in the church named Kevin (who I now call skipper!) took me fishing on the ocean. Here are a few pictures of this great adventure. I had sooooooo much fun! We went snapper fishing. It bends your rod right over and puts up a pretty good fight. It was basically "heave-ho then reel-reel-reel then heave-ho and reel-reel-reel" for the better part of the afternoon. He firgurs we caught about $300 worth of fish. Enjoy the pics...
My first ocean fish ever
Skipper caught the big daddy of the day but mine was a close second!
My Trusty Skipper Kevin Avery






Me & the Skipper caught our limit of 9 snapper each and with a bonus of 4 other fish as well. We also threw back about 6 because they were under 27mm long

A Good Fence Makes For Good Neighbours

While I do agree with this old statement about good neighbours I am writing to testify that this is not always the case. It is possible that to back into a fence and smash it to pieces can also make for good neighbours.
Last week I was heading out to a conference early on Saturday morning. As I was backing out of my tricky driveway I had to do a three point turn to get my van pointed in a forward direction. As I did that I “lightly” bumped my neighbour’s fence and what happened next made my stomach churn.
The sound it made did sound exactly like a gun going off. The wood was so old and so brittle that my little bump sent pieces of shrapnel flying through the air. I didn’t know what to do... should I be late for my meeting or should I wake up my neighbour to let them know what I had done.
I decided on leaving a note on the door step expressing my deep regret over what had happened and that I would be gone all day but in the evening would come and speak with them about it. I told them that repairing the fence was important and that I would pay for it whatever the costs might be.
As I put the note down on the door step a couple of other neighbours who had heard the gun shot came to explore what was happening most of them in their pjs. I finally got to meet a few more of my neighbours. Even though I only had time to let them know that I would be gone for the day and when I got home I would face my well deserved firing squad.
When I returned that night to my total shock the entire old fence had been torn down and in its place a new brighter and better fence was there. My neighbours were thankful that I had knocked down their fence as it gave them a reason to do what they had planned to do for months. They just needed a reason to get going and low and behold I provided them with one.
The moral of the story is, if you want to meet your neighbours and begin a great relationship just knock down the fences that get in the way!
God Is Good All The Time.

Just Stay Focus On Jesus

This weekend I attended an ALPHA training course and I was blessed by the vision and basic tenants of this program that has literally swept the world. If you don't know about it basically it is a well proven, well oiled, well respected way of helping people discover the basic concepts of the Christian Faith and offers the average church goer a way to introduce their friends to faith in Christ. It started in an Anglican Church in England some 30 years ago by a pastor named Nicky Gumble. One thing that I really appreciated was the gentle and yet persuasive way that this program inspires those who attend to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit. Gentle in that he is welcomed in a warm and most deeply authentic way and yet persuasive because he is the only way we can be and become all that the Christian is meant to be and become. Without the working of the Spirit among us their is nothing of significance that can be accomplished.
As I was sitting their during a worship time in which we were instructed to wait upon the Lord for fresh anointing I remembered significant encounters I have had with the Holy Spirit. It became clear to me that at each of those significant points, turning points, points of redirection, there was also a significant and intentional desire for the fullness of the Spirit. I knew in that moment that if their was a call to come forward for prayer for a fresh filling I was to go. No sooner had I had that thought go through my mind the leader of the session invited those who desired a fresh move of the Holy Spirit to come forward for prayer. As usual their is that initial hesitancy but I knew that I had already been prompted by God so I went, by my self, no one else came, (eventually another women did come up)to the front of the church to wait for prayer.
I waited alone for quite some time, it seemed like several minutes went by and then a women joined me at the front and then several more minutes before one of the ALPHA workers came and prayed with me. He had been introduced to the crowd as the man who had just completed a 3 year process of turning ALPHA into something useful for English as a Second Language people. I remember being quite impressed with him and was secretly glad that the Lord had brought him to me to pray for me.
As we prayed the Holy Spirit moved him and he spoke to me this word. "Just stay focused on Jesus" There is always so many things to consider in a new work and the temptation to make small personal preference adjustments is there rather than deal with root issues. So, this was/is a good word, an excellent reminder, to simply and ruthlessly just stay focused on Jesus.
It is now two days later and I am still walking in the graciousness of the Spirits words to me through this gracious man. Simple yes, but profound, absolutely. If Jesus is intentionally lifted up here at ICC then Jesus will draw all men to himself. Make it so Holy Spirit, make it so.
God is Good All The Time.

My New Family Doctor

Finding a new Doctor is a vital part of any move. It is so hard to find one on your own and for us anyway, it was largely determined on the word of mouth of friends who have lived here for a few years. So, yesterday we found ourselves a new Doctor.
He is a terrific guy, we hit it off almost immediately and he was very thorough and very encouraging to both Cheryl and I in regards to our continued battle with the bulge. We both instantly felt comfortable with him and he was gracious but firm with both of us regarding what we could do to continue our downward progression towards a good weight.
After taking my blood pressure he declared that it was so low that I needed to go off of one half of my medications! That was such great news. So now I am only on what is affectionately called a "water-pill"; as in, take it and you find out just how much water you can get rid of in a day! But, there are two things about this little pill that I like very much. First it is really really inexpensive, but the doctor in Canada gave me enough to last me about a year and a half so expense wont really matter for now, but secondly, if I control my salt intake and continue to lose weight there is a very strong possibility that I can go completely off of my medications all together. All very exciting news to me!
Anyway, please continue to pray for us her as the whole transition and new place and many different stressors have caused both Cheryl and I to move up and down the scale over the past couple of months. We need your prayers regarding this simple yet difficult thing.
God is Good All The Time.

the value of good leadership

The longer I serve in the church the more I am convinced that absolutely everything with in the church rises or falls with the leadership. The leadership guru John Maxwell has said this in as many ways as it can be said and in as many situations as it can be said. Without the God given gift of leadership nothing would ever get accomplished in any fellowship anywhere!
Today, I was able to get into the heart of this little fellowship called ICC. They have a group that meets monthly to approve financial reports and give some general direction to the affairs of church called the Executive Committee. Today, they met and I really enjoyed being with them. They seemed very eager to bite into a bit more responsibility than they have had in the past. More of a say in what is going on and the ability to influence those in the church towards using their gifts and how to we should conduct our Sunday morning services. Everyone participated, lots of great ideas came tumbling out and we had an hour and half dialogue that literally zipped by. It was just enough to wet their appetite and leave them hungering for a bit more.
I enjoy leaders. They are often belittled and they frequently are kept back from launching out in faith to offer their incredibly valuable insights. Unleashing them to their full potential has its challenges. Often I find they need some mentoring in how to use the influence they have in a gracious way. But mostly they are eager to use what God has placed inside of them.
Lord give us more gracious Godly leaders in our churches. AMEN!
God is Good All The Time

Tiz the Season...

Tonight I was reminded that this Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. It is to be a 40-day time of reflections, prayers, fasting and sacrifices as we journey with Christ towards the Cross. I found an interesting website that includes some excellent writings and takes a thematic approach to this season of preparation for the most holy of celebrations on the church calendar, that being of course Easter Weekend. Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday and Easter Monday. For me the timing of this event could not have come at a more pivotal point. We are smack dab in the middle of beginning a new work here in Auckland and if there was ever a time to remind myself just how weak and frail and sinful and dependant I am upon the work of Christ for me it is now. There are so many things that need to be worked through, restarted, renewed, rejuvenated, reinvented and even a bit of rubbish that needs taken out. At times I don’t know which way to go or even which way not to go.
Two of my girls and I had an interesting talk this evening about how much of their faith (the girls) is really “knowing” God or is it more like knowing “about” God. They figure that they need to strike out and find their own way and make this great faith their own journey. I was blessed by their keen insight and I will now be praying that this transition from riding on the shirt tale of my faith to making their own way will be successful and full of joy.
Anyway, it is getting late and we are having a few men over for breakfast tomorrow morning so I will bid you all a good day. Here is that link I mentioned regarding the Lenten writings. http://mustardseedjourney.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/a-journey-into-wholeness-lenten-series.pdf

God is Good All the Time

Working at Half Moon Bay

I enjoy working from time to time in a cafe. I love the buzz of the activity in the shop, the low mixed voices of folks sitting around the tables chatting up the latest and greatest information. Sometimes it helps me to think of them when I put together a sermon series, it helps me to be sure that I address their needs in the message should they ever decide to walk into the doors of our church. Finding those places is not always easy. It cant be too busy or be frequented by folks who know me and would want to sit and chat. It also just has to have the right feel to it.

Well, this morning I decided to venture out and went down to half moon bay marina. Cheryl and I had stopped for coffee there a few nights back when the girls where attending a youth group. We liked it and I made a mental note to go back something during the day and try and do some work there. I must admit that this morning flew by and I got a lot done. My mission was to finish up my current series "His-Story In My Life" and start scheduling the next 6 months of sermons. Before I knew it, it was 12:30 and time to head home for some lunch.

I think I will be going back. Oh ya, here is the view from my coffee table. Totally awesome eh! I also found this view from the air on the internet. It has the Volcano we climbed up a couple weekends ago, Mt. Rangitoto
















A couple of other interesting things that happened today. There was and earthquake here last night. Cheryl said she was reading on Paige's bed around 9:00 PM and felt the bed shaking. Also, the girls had their first of three drivers education experiences this afternoon. They did well and the lady that took them around was very friendly and they really enjoyed her.
God Is Good All The Time.

Afraid to go out naked!

With all the preparation, prayer, planning and personal propagating that I am doing these days in regard to our churches mission/vision of gathering the nations I sometimes get discouraged. The other day I was out with some fellow believers and we went to a local coffee shop. While there I engaged the two workers in a conversation about church and faith, which ended in an invitation to come out to church Sunday and check it out. One of the friends with us just couldn’t believe that I had done that and with emphasis on the fact that I obviously really enjoyed it. That night I was recalling the incident to mind and just how often I had heard those words from other believers. Now I know that certain personalities are more able and I am also aware of a gifting that the Lord has given to me, however, each of us in our own uniqueness can present the gospel. I loved the old saying, "Share the gospel everywhere you go and if you have to use words." In other words, live it out, and then when the opportunity presents itself give a reason for the hope that you have. Anyway, the other day I came across this story that made me laugh but it also carried a pungent point that I did appreciate.

The father of Origen, a third century theologian, was arrested for being a Christian. Origen, then only 17, was aflame with the desire to follow his Dad and share in glorious martyrdom. His mother pleaded with him not to go, but the headstrong boy did not want to listen to reason. His quick thinking mother did what she could -- she hid his clothes. Though Origen stormed and protested, she wouldn't reveal where they were hidden. He couldn't leave the house, and so he was unable to volunteer for martyrdom.

Isn't it interesting? Origen was brave enough to be martyred, but not brave enough to go outside naked. Stepping outside without clothing would have sped up his arrest and imprisonment, but it was a step he was unwilling to take.
In a sense, I suspect that talking with a friend about our faith is, for many of us, the equivalent of going outside naked. It makes us uncomfortable. We feel exposed. We declare that we will give our lives for Christ if he should ask it, but to risk a bit of embarrassment for him seems to be beyond our level of discipleship. How sad. The disciples were willing to forsake everything including the esteem of their friends.

I hope you had a good laugh and then paused to think about the application of this story. Is it true in your life?
God is Good All the Time!