Weekend roundup.

OK so it was a BIG!! weekend, but unfortunatly I don't have enough time to write it all out. I'm off to WEC Highschoolers Camp tomorrow, my 8th camp (6th as a Leader).

Vanessa's wedding was priceless! Just a totally amazing day, check out my flickr account for a whole heap of photos. I'll be getting nicer ones, but this is the best I can do for now. There were lots of tears (including me), but the day was just perfect, everything went to plan, and Vanessa looked gorgeous.

Anyway I have to go pack for camp, and get all my leading stuff together... see you in a week.

Round of 16 - Aussie Aussie Aussie...

5am and another early morning up and at it to see the Socceroos take it to the world. This time Croatia were our targets.

I got up a touch late and was just stumbling out of my bedroom when Croatia scored in the 2nd minute of the game, not a good start.

Again I think the referee was terrible, we should have had a penalty for that Viduka hold in the box... and the handball late in the second... I couldn't believe the ref missed that!

But we made good use of the penalty we got, with Craig Moore hammering the ball home. After Viduka's two misses in previous dot shots it was good to see someone else step up.

Then there was tears when Kalac fumbled the ball and let it dribble in for Croatia's second point. Luckily Kewell was able to slot one in to equalise (though at the time I wasn't too excited as I was sure he was offside, but I'm glad luck finally went the Aussies way and the ref missed it!)

In the end the 2-2 draw was all we needed and we're into the knock out rounds, next game Italy. It will be a tough one, but with soccer you never know how it will turn out.

(pictures from www.worldcup.com)

Wedding Update

Well the big day is this Saturday. Vanessa and Andy finally tie the knot. It's been a busy couple of weeks organising so many different aspects for the day.

2 weeks ago they moved their gear into a little rental flat with the hope of buying a removable house and putting it on some of Andy's Mum's property at the end of the year.

The online gift registry has worked really well, and is significantly smaller than when I posted it up, which hopefully means Ness and Andy get a lot of the stuff they need to start their lives away from home.

So pray for a nice day Saturday, I'm driving one of the brand new Nissan Maximas for the bridal procession, and I'll post up photos after the event.

Aussie Pride

2am... Australia v Brazil.

It's now 3:15am, 10 minutes after half time, and Brazil are up 1:0

Come on the Socceroos push it back!!

SYG 06 - Whitehill Army Rocks Gatton

An Awesome weekend. State Youth Games QLD was a huge success. The largest attendance numbers ever for Qld SYG, we even had about 250 people complete the fun run, how sweet is that!

Whitehill came second to Springwood again!!! Ahh well we'll get them next time, it was good competition all round though. Whitehill won the Netball (B Grade), Soccer, Womens Team Fun Run, Touch Football (A Grade) and Volleyball (A Grade) so we did all right. We were also runners up in the A Grade Netball and B Grade Volleyball, so we OWNED the netball and volleyball courts!!

The volleyball semi final between Whitehill and Springwood 1 would have to go down as the greatest SYG sporting moment in history. They were the 2 finals teams from 05, (Springwood beat us last year) we played for 20 minutes and at the end it was a draw, so we had to keep playing until one team won by a 2 point margin. The game went for another 15 minutes!! So full on... continueing point for point.

By this time the whole Whitehill team, and Springwood team plus pretty well every other church were lining the court (there was probably 150 people watching the game, cheering and yelling war cries and stuff), the atmosphere was electric and on the court it was so intense I felt like I was playing an International game or something! We fought so hard and finally got the 2 point advantage to win the game! Unreal!!!!

We then proceeded to beat Springwood 2 in the Grand Final by 35 points. We were so pumped from the last game nothing was going to beat us.

Even though there was some rivalry and competivness the sportsmanship and team spirit was awesome, all churches cheered for each other - Whitehill once again won the team spirit award, which is the award we always really want to win.

The camping was exceptional, the Whitehill team became family! It was cold, but we burnt a heap of stuff and kept warm, we were tired and sore so there were massages all round, and when we got hungry we ate like kings!!! (thanks Craig and Marion!).

I've got so many photos, I'll have to create a flicker account to put them all up, so keeps your eyes peeled, they'll be online soon.

Such a great weekend... Qld youth leaders, plan to get your churches involved next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lifeshapes - Pentagon

Ephesians 4:7,11-13. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it... It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

I've noticed so much emphasis on Spiritual Gifts in the church recently. I see Youth Groups speaking on how teens should find their Spiritual Gift, so they can serve God whole-heartedly, and Churches running courses in how to define your gifts. But before we define out gifts, we need to see what Ministry Role God is calling us too.

In the above passage God doesn't give us our gifts, but gives us to a certain Ministry Role. There are 5 Roles within Christ's family.

• Apostle
  An apostle is one who is 'sent out'. They are visionaries and always pushing into new territories and ministries. In fact the Apostle 'touches' the other 4 roles in some way. Paul from the Bible is a good example of an apostle.
• Prophet
  Prophets hear from God. Sometimes it's just from standing back from a situation and get a clear picture of what is happening. Having this clear vision of what God intends allows for creative solutions, things that other people wouldn't see.
• Evangelist
  The bringer of good news, and the ability to speak it with clarity and understanding. Evangelists love spending time with un-believers.
• Pastor
  The pastor seeks needs, provides comfort and encourages others. They spend the majority of their time with Christians, helping them grow and encouraging them. They feel the burdens of other's problems and have a knack for speaking the truth in love.
• Teacher
  Teachers are able to explain things in a way others can understand. They understand they hold the truth, and are excited to share it. They enjoy reading and studying the bible and sharing it with others.

So find your Ministry Role, decide what your here on earth to do, then define the gifts God has given you to do it. Don't try and cover all 5 roles, you'll just burn yourself out.

Lifeshapes - Square

4th week, so obviously our program today is sponsored by the square.

"We all look like sheep from in front and shepards from the back"

I Love that quote! It's a true picture of what us Christians should look like. Jesus looking back sees us as sheep following him in total trust and confidence, yet other disciples and un-believers look from behind and see us as a shepard to follow and learn from.

If you're a Pastor or not, a Worship leader or a pew warmer, we're still all leaders in some regards.

There are 4 levels or stages of leadership and discipleship, we reacte to each as both a leader and a disciple, and through different stages of our lives move through the stages.

Level 1 - I do, You watch.

Mark 1:16 - Jesus says "Come follow me", the fishermen put down their nets and follow. Jesus leads, and people follow. We watch while Jesus teaches, we learn, without activly doing anything except listening.

Level 2 - I do, You help.

As Jesus teaches his disciples he starts getting them to activley help him in his ministry. The bring the children to him, Peter, James and John are witness to the transfiguration, and the disciples interact with the crowds Jesus speaks to.

Level 3 - You do, I help.

The roles reverse. Instead of the leader doing the work, the disciples are doing the majority of it, but with the help of the leader. Goals are set by the disciples, people recognise that they are responsible.

Level 4 - You do, I watch.

Jesus sent out his disciples on their own 'mission trip'. He gave them words of advice and then let them go on their way. They returned 72 days later and reported all that had happened to him. Jesus watches and the disciples go out to grow the kingdom of heaven.