Poatina

Poatina morning tea devotion given yesterday Galatians 5 and 6 – last of a series of devotions. Also end of my current role in Fusion on Friday, taking time out to work out next steps with Leeanne. I have discovered podcasts by NT Wright– one of the most respected New Testament theologians in the world. [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given today I’ve been enjoying wrestling with Galatians and preparing to teach Gestalt this week, which feels like a responsibility. And responsibility is what Galatians is about. One definition of leadership is: “Helping people to accept responsibility”. The Galatians weren’t accepting responsibility. They were letting other people set the agenda for [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given yesterday I’ve been doing a series of devotions from Galatians, but also relooking at “The 8th Habit” by Steven Covey. I find it really helpful. It’s about knowing your story and helping others find theirs. In it there’s a chapter called “The voice of Trustworthiness”. One of his quotes was [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given today Since the advent of email I’ve felt guilty. Since that time I’ve felt guilty because of all the emails sitting on my computer I hadn’t got to. It was overwhelming. There are some people whose brains work and they are organized. Mike Cleary is incredible! If you ask him [...]

Poatina morning tea devotion given yesterday Today I’m starting a series of devotions on Galatians 5 & 6. I’ve been enjoying a series of podcasts called “The God Journey”. Rosa put me onto it year or so ago. In some ways they are a reaction to religion. A lot of us grew up in churches [...]

Currently I’m in Albania with our remarkable team here. It is a real privilege to see them in action and I have been able to travel with my daughter which has been special. I hope to do a blog or two while I’m on this journey, but I remembered I hadn’t yet posted the devotion [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given yesterday It’s interesting how the world moves on – the London riots in the news; the stock market has taken a dive south and we’re not really talking about Norway any more. I’m trying to understand what that was about. Living here in Tas and as you know – we’re [...]

Poatina morning tea devotion given on Wednesday Have been thinking about the parables Jesus told about the Kingdom. Noticed some heresy crept into Fusion. The goals mention “seeking first the Kingdom” and it became to be known as “doing whatever it takes”, regardless of the expense of family, health, etc. For many, “kingdom” equalled “work”. [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given yesterday I started a series of devotions last time; parables about the Kingdom. Today it’s a parable about truth and it comes between parable of the sower and parables specifically about the Kingdom. I have been watching from a distance news about the large Hedron collider: they’ve built an enormous [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given today A Christian writer and theologian in the UK, called John Stott said “The followers of Jesus are to be different – different from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both the religious and the irreligious. The Sermon on the Mount is the most complete delineation [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given on Friday More and more I realise that we are in a fight, there are forces that want destruction, don’t want people to be free. Founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth said: “While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given Monday Chatting with Michael this morning about the differences in how people are wired. My wife even sees dirt and untidiness differently from how I do. It takes me about 3 sweeps to tidy my desk so she considers it tidy. Today finishing Ephesians 4 – it’s taken a long [...]

Poatina morning tea devotion given yesterday Tim Dyer came and worked with 6 of us the Friday before NRC. It was helpful, and out of that we recommended he come to NRC; and the NRC then recommended he be invited into the whole movement to get the right kind of dialogue going between us. One [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given today Just back from Melbourne, spending a week there with Arrow, a mentoring group for Chn leaders. Pick 30 each year and invite them. I went into the week feeling a bit heavy. They sit you down in peer groups and ask what you want to get out of the [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given yesterday Heard a story about people being required to listen to a message about the health dangers of smoking. The message had a static noise in the background, and to hear the message clearly these people could press/hold a button and the static would disappear. The room was filled with [...]

Poatina Morning Tea Devotion given yesterday Getting past Hate Today, starting a new series on Ephesians 4. I’ve found that God often seems to bring me to chapter of the Bible and keep me there. This was the first. It’s a very rich chapter. You could almost teach the whole of our Foundations Course from [...]

Morning tea devotion given today Its simple I have just returned from the National Prayer Breakfast in Canberra. Met the first Indigenous member of the House of Representative, Ken Wyatt, who talked about his faith journey… spoke from the heart… I talked with him about Uluru and he’s interested in coming along. Knew of Fusion [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given yesterday Where is your scar? Today is the last of series of 3 devotions on Mark 10. This is the last burst Jesus has before he goes up to Jerusalem.  Here he is, trying to get through to the disciples:  “This is what you need to know guys.” There are [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given today Letting go I am struck by Mark 10.  It’s the chapter before Jesus goes to Jerusalem; a last burst before the phase of his death. Pharisees try to trick him re. divorce; Jesus responds that marriage is sacred… need to be like little children to enter the Kingdom of [...]

Poatina Morning Tea Devotion given today Embrace the mess Just got back from a few days off – went fishing and caught heaps.  One a decent size. We got a book to try to identify it…couldn’t find it…it had fluro blue on it.   Along with that I spent Monday in Melbourne in first day of [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given today Getting past myself this year An important time for me, a time to reflect on the previous year. Summer’s dad, Bill Anderson was here – a remarkable counsellor – chatting about fact that if you go through a significant experience and don’t give space to make sense of it, [...]

Poatina Morning Tea Devotion given yesterday 2011 can be different to 2010 Last week I talked about the importance of the week between Christmas and New Year and taking the moment to make sense of what has been, and quoted, Socrates, “The  unexamined life is not worth living.” I love the idea, at the end [...]

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given today Purity How do we do the things we say we want to do? I’m finishing my series of devotions on  1 Tim 4:12. That verse was pretty significant when I started with Fusion.  Have you ever had to lead someone who is older or more experienced than you?  It’s [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given today Moving forward together It’s been a long weekend!  Ran out of hay fever medication yesterday.  We had a fantastic night on Trinity Sleep-over on Fri night – not a lot of sleep. As you know, I started a series of devotions based on I Tim 4:12.  As a young [...]

Poatina Morning Tea Devotion given yesterday A Community of love I am continuing a series of devotions on a verse that was one of the first to stand out to me around the question, “How do I survive,  hanging it together in leadership?” “Don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with [...]

Poatina Morning tea devotion given today Step into life Bono once said “when you’re 15 you think you can change the world… and sometimes you’re right.” Last night watched a disturbing documentary about “Our Generation”. What the intervention has meant to our indigenous people.  There are some serious underlying things in the way we treat [...]

Talk isn’t cheap Poatina morning tea devotion given yesterday Verse that stood out to me when joining Fusion was from 1 Timothy 4:12 – Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Five things [...]

The journey to Freedom Poatina morning tea devotion given today I have been enjoying listening to Podcasts called “The God Journey”.  A couple of blokes who have been chatting for the last 2 years; they have a conversation each week, wrestling with what faith is, and isn’t.   It’s good to hear them poking fun and [...]

Making a dream work Poatina Morning tea devotion given yesterday As Mike, Bev and Matt sat down last week, it was a really special time at Maranatha, with energy of young people all around us; the realisation that we as a movement are in a moment of transition and we are a global movement. We [...]

Jesus and Leadership (Poatina Morning Tea devotion given yesterday) I came to Hobart with Fusion when I was 20 and subsequently have made lots and lots of mistakes!  In that time,  the wrestle with leadership has been an issue for me. Over the years I have read a few books and articles by Warren Bennis. [...]

Opening my heart to the real world Morning tea devotion given today Loves reading a good book while on holidays.  Anne gave him “The Scandal of Evangelical Conscience”.  Its suggests that Christians need to face that their words and actions don’t always match up. Describes that white American Christians are less likely to want to [...]

Being o.k. with broken bones Poatina Morning tea devotion given yesterday We have had a wonderful holiday.  With unexpected changes to my job description I had some space and it was  12 months since we had a break, so it was very special. I’m still questioning my parenting decision – the boys were restless – [...]

Morning tea devotion given today 28/05/10 There was a passage that was very, very special for Fusion  it is in Isaiah 54 and in some ways it sums up heart of what our job is in this village. “Enlarge the place of your tent”… that is, the place where you live,  not your work place. [...]

Devotion given Fri 30/04/2010 Gave an update on  time overseas… went to Germany, then a volcano erupted and ended up in the UK.  First time there…  place where I felt the least culture shock – similar to Tassie, driving on left side of road, food, etc. Found English history very boring at school, however walking [...]

Devotion given  Wed 31/03/2010 When a key person who is part of your reference system, is no longer around, its normal to go through a grief cycle. I first recognised the grief experience when a good friend and Fusion leader, Bob Adams died of cancer. Another time was an accident in Launceston when a little [...]

Devotion given 24/03 Last time I shared we looked at Fusion’s mandate, particularly vs 14 of 2 Corinthians 5 – “for Christ’s love compels us…” I referred to Conference time, when Mal stepped down and there was the “handover”; I did the devotion immediately after it and spoke about when Moses handed over to Joshua, [...]

Devotion given on 16/03/2010 Just come back from interstate travel; went to Kapunda, S/Aust, where Fusion have just taken on leasing a hostel, office block & hall from Salvo’s. 20 minutes from Barossa.  Hostel was started by Australia’s new Saint (Mary McKillop) for “at risk” female teenagers. 2 Corinth 5:17-21 is where Fusion’s mandate comes [...]

Morning tea devotion 4/5/10 I have been reading from “Grace Notes” (Phillip Yancey) each morning… one of the notes said “humans are distinct in 3 ways – they work, laugh and pray”. “Work” – the only thing that is really a sanctioned addiction; we go to work, work at home, churches are organised so they [...]

Once a week or so I do a devotion at the Poatina morning tea.. this was this weeks one… It has been a good journey supporting the case work team in the village… getting on the white board how it looks when Poatina’s going well.  And we calculated that if the village is working well [...]