OBSERVATION: Sport, in particular soccer, can do a lot to unite a nation. Iraq have just qualified for the Asian Cup final. This is an incredible feat! Their nation is an absolute mess. Yet they convincingly beat the Socceroos, Vietnam and have now just beaten South Korea on penalties. In the midst of a tragic situation, there has been great joy and unity in celebrating the spoils of soccer victory amongst broken Iraqis. Although, celebrations haven't been without tragedy - a number of people have died from falling bullets (too trigger happy in firing guns into the air... the bullet has got to come down somewhere!) - plus there were two suicide bombers who targeted celebrations killing more than 50 people and injuring many more.

But seeing how much the success of the Iraqi football team means to the citizens of the Iraq speaks volumes for the game, and for the power of sport to unite. Perhaps the unity might only be short-lived, and may not last long after the final whistle is blown, but isn't it at least a welcome relief from the daily strife and struggle? What do you think? Can sport, especially football, unite a country? (from smh)

Yes. I think it can. But it can only ever be short lived. God is the only one that can bring real unity and real change. Sport might be a good tool for humanity - but Jesus is the one that can bring two warring parties together. In Jesus Jew and Gentile can together be reconciled to God. See Ephesians 2:11-22

PRAYER:

• Pray for Iraq. Pray that the Nation would be gripped by Jesus. Not the American Jesus - but the Jesus of Ephesians 2.
• Thank God for ccecyouth. Kicked off well.
• Jazz night. Tomorrow. Going to be fun. Good bridge-builder.
  

John Piper hates the prosperity gospel. So do I. Do you?

(h/t JM)

G = GROWTH.
TEAM = No lone Rangers.

G-TEAMS are our small group Bible studies. They are all about growing together to become more like Jesus. These two videos show a great legacy of small group ministry across 5 generations of girls.

If you're not in a group... do it now!
If you're leading a group of teenagers... keep it up... it matters.
If you're not leading a group of teenagers... do it! If you're from ccec - let's talk.


(h/t Josh)

RSS is smart. It saves time. I'm changing from bloglines to google reader. If you know of any sites you think I'd be interested in reading... leave them in the comments.

Go check out episode 1. If you agree with the statement: It's all about Jesus - say so in the comments.

...from this toilet when I noticed this sign...

Phew! Glad I can read...

Warm fuzzie for the person who can name the beach side suburb where this pic was taken...

1. harry potter
2. harry potter spoiler
3. noelia
4. el jueves
5. youtube
6. ron paul
7. deathly hallows
8. xu jinglei
9. bebo
10. "el jueves"
11. iphone
12. galilea montijo
13. paris hilton
14. descargar
15. google

IAGREEWITHDALE.COM is live and ready for fresh content each week this term. IAWD is our attempt at adding some extra energy to this term - to fight the winter blues! Let me know what you think of the site.

Prayer:

• Thank God for shred hotham. Good times. No deaths. Talks went well. Pray for conversions to be genuine
• Pray for term 3 at ccecyouth
• Row is speaking tonight to juniors from Daniel 1 and 2 - God is not dead.
• I'm kicking off a series on the Cross tonight at seniors.
  

GH have a new album out in August: Bring on the Day. I've just been listening to some of their tracks on MySpace. Sounds sweet. Looking forward to the album coming out. (Listen to GH on the Poddy.)

How Long? has a bit of an R&B feel to it. It's hot like butter... that's fo shizzle! It sounds a bit like a Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men collaboration!**

**Note to self: don't let blog readers know I have a collection of 7 Boyz II Men and 2 Mariah Carey CD's

How good was Saved by the Bell!!! Ode to early 90s Saturday morning TV. Some people used to call me Screech. I'm not sure if it was because of my afro hair, annoying personality or a combination of the two.

On the Poddy goes snow. On the Snoddy this year Nick (camper) and The Stick (leader). Good times. Good snow. Good talks. No deaths. Sweet camp.

Check it out...

Shred Hotham is going great guns. Great bunch of leaders, great bunch of campers. Talks have been going well. Two down - three to go. Snow and weather has been gold. This year we have to wear helmets. I have a large head. The largest I know of. The hire shop didn't have helmets big enough to fit me. They had to buy one from Sweeden! (Not quite... but they did have to buy one from a supplier!!)

Jesus came to seek and save what was lost.

Peaceout.

Series aim:
1) To see that Jesus came to seek and save the lost
2) To see that without Jesus you are lost
3) To see that only through the death of Jesus can you be found

I'm writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren't talks or studies... just some of my thinking in preparation. Stay tuned for the talks on talkcast.ccecyouth.com

• Lost and Found 1: Who is Jesus?
• Lost and Found 2: The Fishermen
• Lost and Found 3: The Paralytic
• Lost and Found 4: The Prostitute
• Lost and Found 5: The Rebel
• Lost and Found 6: The Pharisee
• Lost and Found 7: The Rich Man
• Lost and Found 8: The Tax Collector
• Lost and Found 9: The Criminals
• Lost and Found 10: The Fellowship of the Found

In #1 we see that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Throughout #2-9 we meet a whole bunch of different people - both real and fictional - who were lost. Some realised it. Others didn't. If you aren't a follower of Jesus and you've stumbled onto my blog (or you're a regular reader) - let me encourage you to see yourself clearly: you are lost... and see Jesus clearly: he died and rose so that you could be forgive and have life eternal.

Shout out to James and the peeps at Central Espresso - the Best Coffee in Gosford - it kept me going with all my early starts (6am in Gosford is very early for a night owl!) over the last couple of weeks.

We begun in Study one answering the question WHO IS JESUS? Who is he? He’s the one who comes to seek and save the lost in fulfilment of Isaiah 61.

In this final passage from Luke we see that Jesus again fulfils an Old Testament Bible passage. Which one? All of them!! The “Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” is just another way of saying the whole of the Old Testament.

2 Corinthians 1:20 says that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.”

All of God’s promises and purposes are summed up in Jesus.

Life is all about Jesus.

And in Luke 24:36-49 Jesus (who is physically risen and eating) helps the disciples to understand that everything that happened to him was done according to the scriptures. He suffered, he died, he rose again, and now repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name.

Life is all about Jesus.

We were made by Jesus and for Jesus.

We were saved by Jesus and for Jesus.

Being a Christian is all about Jesus. It’s not about religion. It’s not about doing stuff. It’s about Jesus. Trusting Jesus. Believing Jesus. Loving Jesus. Suffering for Jesus. Delighting in Jesus. Proclaiming Jesus. Praying to Jesus. Worshipping Jesus. Living for Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

When the lost are found by Jesus. Life is no longer about living in darkness. Life is about living in the light of Jesus. Living differently because of what Jesus has done.

What will it mean to now live as one who as been found?
What will it mean to be part of the fellowship of the found?

The rest of the New Testament is about what it means to gather as part of the fellowship of Jesus. In Luke’s second volume, The ACTS of the Apostles, he gives some insights on what it meant for the early church to live the new life.

Have a read of Acts 2:42-47 & Acts 4:32-37 and see something of the radical changes in the lives of the first followers of Jesus: The Fellowship of the Found.

Are you found?
What’s stopping you from coming to Jesus to be found?
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Part 10 of Lost and Found. I'm writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren't talks or studies... just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

John Lennon said of The Beatles: "We're more popular than Jesus." Noel Gallagher said of Oasis: “We’re going to be bigger than the Beatles.”

Noel Gallagher in effect is saying that Oasis will be bigger than Jesus!

Lots of people in pop culture have an opinion on who Jesus is… more often than not many quotes about Jesus may seem positive or simply be neutral. Different religions are happy to say that Jesus was a great teacher. But often when Jesus is mentioned in popular culture it is done in a mocking tone. Jesus is ridiculed.

Why do people ridicule Jesus? Why do people reject Jesus?

In Luke 23:32-43 of the many responses to Jesus, they can be summarised into 2 categories.

Those that reject Jesus.
Those that accept Jesus.

The people. Reject Jesus.
The rulers. Reject Jesus.
The soldiers. Reject Jesus.
The sign writer. Rejects Jesus.
The criminal #1. Rejects Jesus.

The criminal #2. Accepts Jesus.

Of all the responses that Luke records for us (in this passage) there is only one where Jesus is not rejected.

Criminal #2 has a good set of glasses on. He can see clearly.

1) He sees himself clearly
“We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” This guy isn’t deluded. He’s probably spent the last day or two reflecting on his life that is about to end. He’s done the crime. Now he’s about to pay. He is being honest – he knows he is lost. He’s under no illusion.

2) He sees Jesus clearly
“But this man has done nothing wrong… Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” While others throw insults at Jesus this guy is bowing his knee to the Lord of the Universe. He recognises that Jesus is without sin – and he recognises that Jesus is the King of an eternal kingdom.

Criminal #2 knows that he is lost. Criminal #2 knows that Jesus can find him.

What about everyone else? Not just those at the scene but for the last 2000 years of history? Everyone who rejects Jesus has failed to 1) see themselves clearly and 2) see Jesus clearly.

Have you recognised that you are lost?
Have you recognised that it’s only in Jesus death that you can be found?
----------------
Part 9 of Lost and Found. I'm writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren't talks or studies... just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

On every single occasion that I have lodged a tax return over the past 10+ years I have received money back from the government. Except one time.

I was a uni student. That year I had to pay the government extra tax at the end of the year because I hadn’t paid enough throughout the prior financial year.

I forgot to pay it.

So.

At the end of the calendar year the tax collector came to visit.

In the old days they would knock on your door, but now they only knock on your door if you owe millions. I didn’t owe millions. So they sent me a letter instead.

The letter was very encouraging (like the letter I was sent from a theological college when I failed a correspondence course exam… but that’s another story!). Basically they wanted to help me. The letter gave me a whole bunch of options on how they could help me to pay off the loan. Did I need financial assistance? Financial advice? A longer period to pay off the total? They gave me a number of hotlines to ring depending on my scenario. I was really impressed with the letter! How much did I owe? $5.27… that’s all! I didn’t need any advice… I just needed a kick up the pants to remind me to pay it! $5.27. I didn’t really need all the options that they offered – but I thought that the tax collector was being nice nonetheless.

Nice.

Nice isn’t a word you’d use to describe Tax Collectors in the time of Luke 19:1-10. In first century Israel the tax collectors were Jewish rip-off merchants who were working for the occupying Roman forces. They were hated by their fellow countrymen. For good reason. The tax collectors didn’t send ‘nice’ letters like I received. They sent guys with big muscles to beat you up. And rather than just collecting your $5.27 they’d squeeze $527 out of you!

So when the religious nuts have a go at Jesus by saying “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner’”… they were right! Zacchaeus was a bad man. He ripped people off.

Things changed when Zac met Jesus.

Repentance is ‘be sorry and change your mind’ and ‘turn back’. Zac repented. He turned his life around upon following Jesus. He gave half of his possessions away and promised to pay back fourfold to those he’d ripped off.

This is the type of guy that Jesus came to seek and save. He was lost. He may have been wealthy. But he was lost. I wonder if the parable in Luke 18:9-14, where a tax collector cries out to God for mercy, is a preview to the events here in chapter 19?

Jesus doesn’t save the lost so that they can continue being lost. When the lost are found they are to live differently.

If you are a Christian, you are no longer lost. But you need to be different. You aren’t saved because you are different. You are different because you have been saved.
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Part 8 of Lost and Found. I'm writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren't talks or studies... just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

I grew up in Wyong. I grew up thinking that my family weren’t very rich. I grew up disappointed that my parents didn’t buy me all of the toys that I ‘needed’.

I’ve now grown up and now realise just how rich I’ve always been. Having running water, a roof over my head, a steady income and an incredibly prosperous government and welfare system means that I’m one of the richest people in the world!

If you’re reading this on the Internet, you’re rich too. Truly poor people don’t use the internet. Jesus says in Luke 18:18-34 that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.

Bummer.

It’s pretty tough to get into the Kingdom of God!

It’s even tougher when you try to do something to get in. The Rich Dude in Luke 18 thought that he could ‘do’ something to go to heaven: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He thinks he’s done enough. He claims to have kept a bunch of commandments. Yet he’s failed to keep the greatest commandment. He doesn’t love and worship God with all of his heart. He loves his possessions and riches more than he loves God.

The truth is that all of us fail to love God as we should.

So the disciples rightly ask – who then can be saved?

Jesus: what’s impossible with men is possible for God.

It’s impossible for anyone – rich or poor – to receive eternal life by doing stuff. Immediately following Jesus’ interaction with the Rich Dude Jesus speaks, in Luke 18:31-34, of how the impossible will be achieved. The key? Jesus. Jesus will do it. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. How does he do that? Through his death and resurrection.

Where is your trust? Is it in yourself and what you can DO? Or is it in Jesus and what he has DONE?
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Part 7 of Lost and Found. I'm writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren't talks or studies... just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

OBSERVATION: A couple of discussions in the last week or 2 have caused me to reflect on numbers in ministry. Discussion on Syd Ang and post on Youth Vanguard. I think people from my tribe (Sydney Evangelicals) are afraid of numbers. Maybe it's a pendulum swing away from the mega church after your mega money? Maybe it's a desire to be faithful without frills? I feel that large churches and youth groups are frowned upon. Clear statements on the syd ang forum were that 200 is the cap for a congregation and 100 is ideal. I think that is small minded. I think it's appropriate to have small churches... and we need to keep planting more and more churches of different sizes. BUT, if Sydney and Australia are going to see 10% of the population in Bible-teaching churches - we need big churches too! Tim Keller has a great article on the differences between large and small church ministry. I feel the vibe in Sydney is that youth ministries are healthy if they are small and struggling! If you have a large youth group - it's because you are having too much fun and not enough Jesus! Stupid!

Therefore, how do we measure success in ministries? I think it's appropriate to count numbers. But what do we do with the numbers? Asses the health of the numbers. Is it genuine gospel growth? Have people heard the gospel? Are people being changed by the gospel? Are year 9's making the transition to year 10? Are year 12s making the transition to year 13? (or whatever your big transitions are). If there's 1 changed life... thank God for it. If there's 1000 changed lives... thank God for it.  So... don't be scared of numbers. If you've got none - maybe you're boring people with the gospel! If you've got lots - check the health of those you've got that it's genuine gospel growth. Pray that more would hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus... dead, buried and risen.

PRAYER:

The Asian Cup is almost here. It's going to be big! Last year during the World Cup it was easy to make time to watch the games: it was played in Germany so it meant I only needed to miss sleep to watch games. With the Asian Cup being played in our time zone it makes things a bit trickier...

• Australia vs Oman Sunday July 8 5:20pm. I'll be on a bus going to the snow.
• Iraq vs Australia Friday July 13 5:20pm. I think I'll be in a leaders meeting or speaking on camp!
• Thailand vs Australia Monday July 16 7:35pm. This one should be okay!

My tip. If Australia can deal with the heat, they'll win. Lucas Neill needs to command the back line bettr than their last game against Singapore. Harry Kewell will remain injury free and score a bag of goals. Jason Cullina will be Australia's player of the tournament.

My other tip. Having the Socceroos part of the Asian Football Federation will be bigger than soccer. Their involvement will have a significant economic, political and diplomatic impact on Australia's relationship with Asia.

Keep an eye on twg and ewg for all the up-to-date news.

I noticed a new section in iTunes today called iTunes U (I downloaded version 7.3 today too... maybe you need that to view it???). I presume that the U stands for University. Basically there are about 15 universities that post lectures and other podcast stuff on line. I found one, Concordia Seminary, that has intro classes for Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Greek. There is both audio and video. Haven't really explored it much... but looks like it (iTunes U in general) could be a good resource.

Music Resource. Check out their sample pack. Could be helpful Dan? Andy?

So much for the Hot Docket!

About to get some Pizza? Go to Hot Dockets to get your voucher.

This is brilliant.

By the way... I'm not related to Joyce Meyer.

... and he seems to be blogging more often. Go have a read.

The Gospel Coalition site is now live.