If you are an Oz reader then you may be aware that relationships between churches and denominations vary significantly around the country.

My understanding (from afar) is that Sydney has its own peculiar dynamic with a small number of heavyweight denominational groups jostling for ‘pole position’. Ocasionally when I have been around NSW church leaders who have come across feisty and narky I’ve been told ‘its the Sydney thing. They have learnt to fight!’

On the other hand we here in Perth seem to all get along very nicely for the most part. There isn’t much in the way of animosity, un-cooperativeness etc. We even have the huge ‘Church Together’ annually where every church in Perth is able to join in a spirit of unity and worship together. It is a unique event on the ecclesiatical landscape and one that I am very happy to support and endorse.

However the other day a friend suggested that what we actually have is a ‘soft unity’. By that he meant a unity that actually doesn’t interact with points of difference – even if they are significant – but chooses to overlook them in the name of ‘unity’. It is a position that can ultimately lack integrity because we may end up compromising large parts of identity.

I have been pondering this.

Do we have a ‘soft unity’ here in Perth?

And if so is a ‘Sydney’ type situation more authentic and therefore more desirable?…

Just a simple question to start your Wednesday morning!

• download naked weapon movie

download leaving las vegas free

A good friend who would not regard themselves as a Christian asks you ‘What is the gospel?’

What do you reply?

Come on!

Who reckons they can offer a simple definition?…

Its one of the most critical questions we can ever be asked but so many people stumble around like drunken hooligans when faced with it.

I think we need to know how to respond.

Anyone?…35mm digital camera uk

Yesterday I designed the flyer for this upcoming forum on ‘results in the emerging church’.

I wasn’t sure which image to use and these were the two I was toying with. I tried using them both, but the final product looked too cluttered, so I went with the ‘clean bowled’ pic rather than the ‘Matt Haydn century’ pic.

Every pic tells a story… My choice was very intentional.

But… Did I choose the right one?

What do you think?

I have already had some feedback on it…

(Americans – you will need to think ‘struck out’ v ‘home run’)

Each day when I walk past Kailis Fish market they are advertising ‘Albany garfish’, or ‘Denmark whiting’, or ‘Kalbarri snapper’, or ‘Shark Bay red emperor’.

You get the idea.

Maybe I’m ignorant, but does the place where a fish is caught make any difference at all to what it tastes like?…

• divx kemper

It was great to catch up withLincoln Fenner for lunch recently, a local film maker and director of Creation Box Films.

While we actually caught up on .acom business it was interesting hearing some of his involvement in the film industry, albeit in his ‘spare’ time.

An interesting question we tossed around was what it means to be a Christian in the film making business. I guess the question was along the lines of ‘how does faith impact the way a person creates and directs a film, perhaps even writes a script?’

We discussed the of issues of nudity, sexuality, language and how it would feel to shoot a sex scene or a nudie scene, or to have strong language in a film. We didn’t discuss how it would feel to shoot a domestic abuse scene or a bank robbery, or a corporate swindle…

Its an interesting question for Christian artists. To what extent do we let our art reflect the world we live in and to what extent do we eliminate profanity, nudity, sexual activity etc. And why take these out, but not other illegal activity?

Is a film ‘true to life’ if there are none of the things we encounter in everyday life?

Of should we be trying to depict a different reality that is also possible?

I could imagine writing a novel with some of these elements present more easily than I could imagine directing a film. But is it really any different? What if the novel is successful and someone wants to make a movie out of it?…

What do you think?

Personally I would choose to err on the side of ‘keeping it real’, rather than on the side of eliminating the nasties.

• excalibur free divx black christmas

I have had this current laptop for just over 2 years now.

The battery was dying about 3 months back so I bought a ‘new’ one off e-bay. It turned out to be a dud.

Yesterday in the newspaper I saw that HP are doing a recall on the batteries in their ze4200 models. All I have to do is send them my machine serial number and the bar code on the battery. Even after 2 years they are willing to give me a brand new one.

Wooohoo!

Only problem… I threw that battery away 2 weeks ago.

Ouch!

What are the chances HP will send me a new battery?…

Yeh… thought so.

Since I have been doing coaching work I have noticed that for every 5 or 6 youth pastors I meet there will always be one who will forget to show up. That’s about one ‘no-show’ a week.

Does that sound like a lot to you or does it sound normal?

I’m wondering what it says?

I guess if I charged them $200.00 a session with a $100.00 no show fee the numbers would drop significantly. At the moment the Baptist denomination pays me to show up and coach them whether they front or not.

The down side of this arrangement is less ownership by those involved. The up side is that I still get paid the same amount whether they show up or not and I don’t lose sleep over it.

Unfortunately there have been two occasions this year where I failed to front” And what was most embarrassing was that they were with the same guy and in my own suburb! I think because I am so used to coaching in a coffee shop and switching off when I come home that I completely tuned out on those days.

I absolutely loathe letting people down like that, so you can imagine what it was like having to call him after the second time” I actually half hoped he was going to politely tell me that coaching didn’t work for him. Now I dread ever ever standing him up again!gangster no 1 divx online

Its pretty hard to find a white face amongst the images of ‘refugees’ in New Orleans.

I’m wondering what that says.

download messenger of death dvd

Ok – thanks for the comments on the last post. Here are my own thoughts.

I believe its wrong to steal stuff – and that’s what pirated DVD’s, t shirts etc are, so I won’t be buying any. Pretty simple.

Then again I was a Christian 10 years ago and didn’t see it this way. So – no judgement on those who disagree. I think we need to be obedient to what God has revealed to us and this is a definite conviction for me. I feel the same way about downloaded MP3s and video. I don’t feel that way about taping the footy on a Saturday arvo. Is that inconsistent? Maybe – maybe its just an indicator of our humanity and the fact that we are all a long way from perfect.

The question of how to respond to the situation is an interesting one though. To give someone money in lieue of what I would have paid for a shirt or watch doesn’t actually change anything. To buy othert stuff is definitely an option. I believe the reason people are doing this black market stuff is because people like me have way more than enough and they need to find a way to survive. ie. the causes are ‘structural’.

That’s where it gets harder because it feels hopeless trying to change the system – trying to influence world economics.

But maybe this is just one example of many where we as westerners need to choose a differet lifestyle broadly to help take steps to fix this problem. In that I reckon Andrew’s suggestion to give the money to the UNOH guys would be the best option because that is what they are working towards.

However I have to say this is pretty much a dead issues for me anyway. I am not that fussed about buying any of this stuff! I’m just up for a good break away from Oz!

This Thursday Danelle and I head off to Bangkok for 7 days minus the kids who will be staying with my parents. I haven’t actually given the trip any thought yet, but todayas I was out walking I began to think and realised that in a few days time we will be faced with an interesting moral question.

Many parts of Asia are places where you can buy pirated clothes, watches, CD’s, DVDs etc etc.

It seems pretty common practice around people I know to come home with a few latest release movies, and some ‘brand name’ clothing. 8 years ago when we were in Manila, I stocked up on t shirts and watches too.

I would now see this as wrong. (Its not that it wasn’t wrong before – its just that I chose to ignore it as an act of stealing.)

I had a friend say to me recently that if it weren’t for the trade in pirated stuff many of the Indo’s and Asian market traders would go hungry. They need us to buy their stuff to keep them alive. So I am told…

What do you think?

Buy pirated stuff so that a struggling family can eat, or choose not to because morally it is stealing. Now I don’t know for sure if people will starve without us buying their stuff, but for the sake of the exercise lets just say they will…

Does that change things?

Can big brand name companies afford to lose a few bucks to support developing world poverty?

What would you do?…