I’m musing today from the emergency department in Charlie’s all trussed up in a white gown with my shoulder in a sling. Yes, it could have  been worse!

 A barrister, waste management specialist, town planner, engineer, policeman and two vicars were riding around the river Thursday morning. We had enough human resource to build a small town! It was all getting a bit fast and frenzied when a car just suddenly turned left in front of our bikes. We were in the bike lane with nowhere to go. One vicar slammed into the side of the car. The town planner, forever vigilant, guessed correctly and missed everything and the second vicar hit the road hard and went for a slow motion slide on the bitumen. The rest had time to stop.

 If you do things, like live your life, things happen! But here is the disturbing thing: if you try to do nothing that will risk anything, things still happen.

 The two vicars are all right—sore and aware that it could have been even worse. But the wonderful thing is reflecting on what God is up to “in” the situations that befall us – like Mildred sharing in church last week that aggressive cancer has taught her that there are people who truly love her and are her family as much as her kin are.

 Sharing our struggles and letting others in actually brings us closer. A bike crash unfolds all sorts of acts of kindness, generous relationships, coincidental connections and servant-hearted professionals if we have eyes to see them. I give thanks to God for them and, when I remember, tell them they remind me of Jesus.

 The Apostle Paul was smarter than everyone else, better connected than everyone else and in a more privileged position than anyone else  but in 2 Corinthians 5 he glories in his absolute weakness. Why?  Because, he says, it’s when he is weak and has his eyes open, that he sees the strength of God working in the situation in ways he cannot even begin to imagine.

 I pray that, as things happen to you, you will exercise his ears and his eyes and, with Paul, give thanks in Christ Jesus for what the will of God is producing in you and those around you.

 With you in your adventure.

 Malcolm

 We believe that, as an elected representation of the congregation, what God is saying to us will in some way reflect what He is saying to the church. Generally, a theme emerges from the different responses. The expectation then is for us to process and act upon what we feel God is saying – to take it round the learning circle!

 Sounds simple, right? Yet, as a group we have sometimes struggled to recognise God’s voice. Does this sound familiar? Part of the challenge has at times been our limited views of what we think hearing from God looks like. A bold suggestion was made that the first thing that comes to mind in response to these questions may be what God is actually saying -  before we intellectualise or spiritualise it, to make it more palatable for ourselves and others.

 In all honesty, sometimes the response has been poor, circumstances such as ‘busyness’ have seemed to get in the way. We have however, come to realise that it is exactly in these circumstances that God is speaking to us. Taking the time and courage to process these things together, being honest, accountable and repentant has enabled us to grow, both individually, and as a Parish Council.

 Though we meet to discuss matters of the church, the PC is also increasingly a place of discipleship.

 Interestingly, one theme that has come through the responses these last few months has been discipleship. Are we as individuals and a community taking responsibility for our own discipleship and that of others? If not, why not? What changes might each of us make to be more effective? What excuses might we need to stop making? Personally, these are questions that I find challenging.

 Yet, when I consider them in the light of the invitation from Jesus to know life in all its fullness, I find the courage and the strength to engage with them, with others. What about you?

Yours in prayer

Di

If you’re visiting Cottesloe, my prayer is that you will have a safe and relaxing time with family or just restoring yourself after a busy year. As you worship with us I pray you encounter Jesus in a special way. We have lots of visitors and many  come again and again as they reconnect with family and friends. They tell us St Philips is a haven away from home. We pray it is like a stable and a manger to weary travellers.

To the locals, 2011, our hundredth, was a busy and fruitful year. There were celebrations, lots of dedicated hard work, perseverance, service, some learned heaps, a few suffered incredibly, several saw amazing new life and hope and some sadly died. But, the joy of leading St Philips is the character, grace, inclusiveness and love that ‘living stones’ who allow Jesus to tumble them in the river of life show to each other. It inspires me and makes me proud to be one of you.

2011 has had some vivid themes: I wonder what has stuck out for you? I wonder what you have celebrated? What you have let go of? What has the year cost you personally?

As 2012 arrives I am aware more than ever that Jesus is the Boss and our job is to remain in relationship with him and together be prepared to be amazed at what he will do.

God Bless You and Happy New Year

Malcolm Potts

There are all sorts of reasons they come; a bereavement, wanting money, to tell me some good news or some bad news, because they like the garden or don’t like the Christmas sign, to repair the computer [bless you Dennis] or borrow the mower, to get a key or borrow a book – all manner of reasons. 

People mostly do things for reasons!

We have been considering why Jesus came to visit this planet.  We have been considering some reasons, like to reveal God’s glory – the weight of his worth! To defeat his enemy the devil – that malevolent preacher who we listen to about our own shortcomings and are too ready to believe about the shortcomings of others but, in Christ, is a ruined, emasculated foe. To witness to the truth – that in a person the truth about God and the truth about us and the true reconciling act has been completed.

This week, the fourth week of Jesus’ advent [coming], we are looking at kingdom or kingship.  Jesus came to bring in his kingdom.  This is a tricky one because our society is so far away from kings and kingly rule as the biblical authors would have seen it.

What do you think of when you hear the words king or kingdom?

I go immediately to movies [books] like Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings or Lewis’ Narnia.

Aragorn is the Ranger king, enigmatic, reticent hidden but full of knowledge and courage whose role emerges and character blossoms.  The king represents the highest ideals of the world of men.  They are marked by discipline, sacrifice and restraint.

The High King Peter is reticent once again; young and uncertain, who develops into his role as benevolent dictator born to rule – a rule marked by his role as protector and servant.

So what sort of king is Jesus?

Last week we learned that he is NOT the sort of king who would threaten Pilate.  His kingdom was not of this world.  This is reiterated when Matthew tells the story about the Pharisees challenging Jesus about authority.  “Bring me a coin”, Jesus says. “Whose face is on it?”
“Caesar’s”, they reply.

“”Well, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar BUT give to God what belongs to God.

If Jesus is king and God in the flesh, what of yours belongs to Him?

Blessings as you reflect.

 Malcolm

 I was preparing for the Children’s Christmas service this week and watching some of the movie “The Nativity story” which came out a few years ago.  (Highly recommended if you haven’t seen it!)    The scene which shows Jesus being born, with the starlight streaming into the stable and showing all the emotion on the faces of Mary and Joseph is really beautiful. The whole movie actually is beautiful, not just because it’s well filmed and acted, but more because the story is beautiful. We know the story so well, don’t we – but I must say, in watching this movie, I was struck afresh at the amazing series of events that God brought about to become a baby and live among us.

 Back in 1995 there was a song released by the singer Joan Osborne called “One of us”.  Some of the lyrics were—

“What if God were one of us…
If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see,
if seeing meant that
you would have to believe
in things like heaven and in Jesus and
the saints and all the prophets…”

 Good questions, Joan!     

And as we remember this time of year –  on that first Christmas all those years ago, God DID become one of us.   “Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” (Is 7:14).  Immanuel, God with us – God as one of us.

 This is amazing, wonderful and mind-blowing stuff, but it also leads to the kind of questions in the song lyrics.  If Christmas is true, if God really did become one of us, if God really did have a face that we could see – what would that actually mean?   It would mean the truth would be in front of us and we would have to choose to believe it or not.   

 Christmas is a wonderful time of year with lots to celebrate! But as well as invitations to Christmas parties and special carols nights, there is also  an invitation for all of us to choose to believe in the truth of God as one of us.      This means we not only believe in the baby Jesus, but in the man Jesus whose life was lived and given so we could be one with God. 

As Mary says while holding her newborn in “The Nativity Story” movie (and as Isaiah 9:6 reminds us)

“He is for all mankind”.

Liz Pemberton

 There are two problems with never being wrong. Firstly, you’re only kidding yourself and secondly, people who are always right may feel self-vindicated but actually appear pretty fragile and silly to most of the rest of us.

 Someone at church said to me the other day, “I just don’t know any more?!”  They were not talking about doubting God or their faith. They were talking about encountering a God who seemed to be reordering their priorities by revealing what really matters to Him.  It is a rude discovery to realise that you have been working away for a long time very diligently on the wrong thing!

 When people are radically converted to Jesus it is a salutary awakening to the fact that so much of life has been directed to wrong things.  The main wrong thing I directed my life towards was that it was all about me. What a joke!  While this has been dying for a long time now, vestiges remain. 

 Jesus says to his followers, “Without me you can do nothing” [John 15:5].  Does that really mean you can’t do much without him?  Or that you’d be well advised to get Jesus on your team?  Or that you need to be converted to live a productive life?  Don’t think so.  I think it means that things done independently of Jesus will prove ultimately absolutely fruitless – fruitless to the inner life and fruitless to the world we live in.  Being right is as irrelevant as thinking you can save yourself.

 As India and Samuel are baptised today, does God include them because they are right or deserving?  No, he includes them because he is gracious and has given himself in death for them – it is all about Jesus not us.  Apart from Him, like us, their real selves, real purpose, real identity will wither.  May that never be so.

Blessings

Malcolm

 Advent –  “the coming” – leads up to Christmas with the promise of God’s son coming as saviour. That is love!  But Advent also prefigures the second coming of Jesus as rightful judge. That’s justice!  In Advent we see love and justice hand in hand.

This Advent we are going to consider some of the reasons Jesus came.  What is God like and what has he sent Jesus to do?

 ‘Why?’ Is a very western question but not a very biblical one.  God’s word shows little interest in why this or that happened.  God is much more interested in ‘what’ – in light of this or that, what is your response?  Especially, what is your response to God?

 Psalm 13 starts, “How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?” David, the author, has three whys?

Why can’t I find God in these troubles? Why is God putting me through this anguish and sadness?  And why are my enemies winning all the time?

 God answers none of them.

 Contending with God is a battle of the mind and if we make it about ‘why?’ it is a recipe for disaster.  “This is so unfair, who does God think he is, I don’t deserve this, how dare you presume to know what it’s like being me, I deserve an answer?”

 David looks to God to open his eyes [v3].  When he does this he draws on what he knows God is like – self sacrificially loving and endlessly just.  So David’s response – his ‘what?’ – in the situation is [v5]; “I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation”.

 As we look at some of the reasons Jesus came to earth, it is my prayer that your confidence in God’s love and justice will grow more and more.  Like me you may discover that the only person to whom he seems truly unfair, withholding love and treating unjustly, is his very own son.  Now ‘why’ might that be?

 Blessings

Malcolm

 Several people reported they found the survey challenged them to reassess their priorities and faith. 

 One person said he found the questions about where the Lordship of Jesus fitted in his life especially challenging.  Another said they found the questions implying the necessity of change confronting.  The survey asked several questions about trying new things, being outwardly focused and intentionally welcoming, on a personal level, which made them think.  Another reported that they found it ironic how in their discussions after the survey there was a determination that life was good and nothing needed to change……ever…..so help me God!

 We are a mixed bag of children aren’t we?

 For some reason this made me think of a story I heard recently that made me think.

 The story is about a sad, isolated, blind man.  The blind man sat at a particular spot on a city street with his cap placed on the ground begging.  There was a small hand written sign near the cap that read, “I am blind and cannot see can you help me?”

 Most people ignored the blind man, rushing past in their busy, distracted funk.  One day a person stopped in front of the blind man and he could tell it was a woman.  The woman leant over and, he could hear, picked up his sign.  What was she doing?  Couldn’t she tell he was at a disadvantage?  Who would take advantage of a vulnerable blind person like him?

 As the blind man stretched his hearing he could tell the woman was changing the wording on his sign and she bent over, not saying a word, and replaced it from where she had taken it.  Almost immediately money started to clank into his hat.  What had she written that suddenly so much money was voluntarily given by so many people who had ignored him before?

 Days passed and the blind man was seated in one of his usual places when he sensed someone standing in front of him.  It was a woman.  It was THE woman.  “Stop!”, he said, “You changed my sign and with it my luck has changed as well.  Please tell me, what did you write?” 

 She said, “I wrote, ‘I am blind and I know it is a beautiful day and I just cannot see it’”.

 Malcolm

Our house in Tanzania

• It’s comfortable but basic and functional and we are settling in well. We are surrounded by open country looking to some hills.
• Our yard is rather bleak but some new plants are starting to grow.  
• Our neighbour keeps goats, cows, pigs, chooks, ducks, guinea fowl, so we sit down to dinner with the sound of the guinea fowl nesting in our tree for the night.

Work is an interesting challenge

• We share an office with a secondhand computer each and there are no phones, no printers.  
• The five departments of the faculty have a computer per department and there is a printer and a data projector for the whole faculty (31 academic staff).
• Education classes are all in excess of 700 students. 
• Alison is the only admin person in the faculty – there was NO admin before her -and I will begin teaching soon.

Our colleagues

• Still early days, mainly meeting people and understanding the processes.
• The university’s second-ever graduation since its foundation in 2007 was yesterday [Saturday] with over 1000 graduating.  A HUGE success!

Faith

• We attend chapel weekday mornings at 7.30 on our way to work and also go to the 7.30 English service in the chapel on Sunday.  
• The chaplain is Bishop Francis Ntiruka, who studied many years ago in Australia.  
• This last Sunday we also went to the English service in the Dodoma cathedral, where lots of the expatriates in town go to church.
• Following that there is a Swahili service and we are planning to go to that some Sunday not too far away.  
• We have joined a Bible study group on Wednesday nights.  
• At this stage we are just keeping our eyes and ears open for opportunities to contribute, whether to students, staff or whoever.

The view from the back yard

Welcome

• Shopping in the market is a very different experience, but we have also been grateful for those who have helped us find our way around.
• We have been made very welcome by, everyone, both Tanzanian and expatriate members of the university and were especially helped in settling in by CMS missionaries Elmari and Malcolm Buchanan and also CrossLinks missionaries Sharon and Robert Heaney and CMS affiliate (like ourselves) Heather Kerr.

Please Pray for Us

• Praise God for the way he continues to show us the way and take care of us in many ways.
• Pray for resilience in the heat and long days.
• Pray for us to develop good relationships with colleagues and students at the university.
• Pray for the university as it struggles with being a Christian university rather than just a church university, and especially Graham as one of the senior leaders.

 This comes with our love and daily prayer for you and Cheryl and for the people of the church at Cottesloe

Graham and Alison

One of my favourite pastoral books by Larry Crabb is called, “Encouragement: The Key to Caring”.  It is a great book that helps us understand how encouragement works.

The other night at Church Together, Dr Tony Campolo encouraged people to get in touch with their power to make a difference.  Knowing the good doctor as I do, my hunch is that he really wanted to jump off the stage and grab people round the neck and shake them out of their comfort and complacency.  But he didn’t; he encouraged us to know the joy of getting out of our safety zones and involved with people less fortunate.

A member of the Art Group at St Philips, who displayed high quality work at our Sundowner the other night, was telling me how they have improved as artists over the past four years.  She puts the improvement down to the group’s mutual encouragement of one another.  Painting is risky; people look at what you have done and have their opinions.  Encouragement is the power for growth and perseverance and overcoming.

When one of my beautiful daughters is unpacking my shortcomings and hypocrisy, I don’t want to respond with encouragement. I want to bring her down.  And when I do, even a little bit, I see the impact of what the opposite of encouragement does.  It is not pretty.

Hebrews 10:25 is a favourite verse.  In the middle of social, economic, ethnic and political confusion the writer says to, “not neglect to encourage one another, and do it all the more…..”.  To encourage others when it is tough for you is faith in action.

Who encourages you?  Who do you encourage?  How do you encourage? What is it that encourages you when you need a boost?

Often we think we are encouraging someone but they are not reading it that way.  We have our own languages of encouragement.  What is yours?

I can’t encourage you if I don’t know how.

Now, that is worth having a chat about at morning tea today. Find out from someone what really encourages them and then give it to them as a gift, when they least expect it.  Why not start with whoever is giving you the gift of a cuppa after the service today.

In the adventure

Malcolm

 There is something almost divine when human endeavour reaches near perfection in performance.

 For me these things pale against those times, all too rare, when people come together under the Lordship of Jesus and there is a clear sense that He is in control and what is happening is a product of people uniting and submitted to his will.  It is like when the Lord’s Prayer says, “Your will be done on earth – just as it is being done in heaven”.  When earth lines up with heaven – that is cool!

 The other night a group of Church leaders got together to interview candidates for the Associate’s position.  It was one of those nights where it felt like heaven’s freedom and goodness was gathered to see God’s will prevail on earth and ultimately in St Philips as a church.  People were of one mind, we heard things the same, the curry Cheryl made was great, everyone participated – we felt as though our prayers were answered!

 Sure, there were people praying for the interview process all over the place; next door in the church and in homes all around – thank you.  But, when God is doing his Lordly thing, you cannot condense it to any series of, “we did this, so that happened” [clever us].  No, it is just the free flowing rhythm of grace and it’s great!

 Thank you to all involved in seeking God’s Associate leader for St Philips – especially you “prayers”.  It is working.

 If you are behind us in this venture we would love to hear from you.  Silence is not always golden.

 In the adventure

Malcolm

One of the things about my job is it is neither a profession or a career, it is a calling. Being “called” to do something is not that well understood. When you go through the selection process for the priesthood they try and discern a calling.

Have you ever felt called to something?

My calling was marked by a) not wanting to do it (that’s apparently a big one folks! Just say, “I don’t really want this BUT….” and you are a shoo-in); b) every job I did I turned into a ministry anyway, until I finally got a chaplaincy job that paid me to do what I did naturally; and c) it wasn’t what I did that marked me as called, it was who I was. I just couldn’t help it. You could say to me, “Do you enjoy your job?” and I would think, “What a ridiculous question. Enjoy isn’t relevant when you just cannot help being who you are and doing what you do.”

Now the perceptive will have noticed that callings line up perfectly with what the bible teaches about covenant and kingdom. Called people are being who they are. Being one with God’s call is all about covenant. Called people cannot help doing what they do.

That’s a kingdom thing – doing what God has made you to do.

Is there some conviction or passion in your life that you just have to do?

There are many called people at St Philips. One person I’m thinking of is very scary. Not because she’s even slightly intimidating but because she can do things that I find really “out there”.  She is called to it, so for her it’s easy.

This person can visit cancer patients, the very, very elderly, even seriously mentally-ill people, like I pop down to the IGA for ice cream. She talks readily and freely with people from other cultures – African, Aboriginal, Middle Eastern – then she thinks nothing of inviting them home or even to stay! She is “high bar”!  Scary!  Unique!

She is all those things but more so, she is called. Called by God to be who he has made her to be and called by God to do what He has called her to do. No-one and nothing else.

It’s beautiful when you see it. It pleases God when we live it.

In the Adventure With You

Malcolm

 If that offends, so be it.

 A couple of people mentioned that they felt some might have been left with a sense that they are poor parents because their kids have not been given clear guideposts and their lives are reflecting this.  All parents have regrets, I know I do.  I am wrestling with parenting issues right now, today, that I am not sure what to do with.  But I am still responsible as a parent to be the grown up, to show the way and to find the way.  If we can be grown up in the boardroom or in our profession let’s be the grown up in our families too.

 A couple of years ago some blokes went to a conference for men.  It opened the door on male woundedness and resultant paralysis in our lives.  One thing the facilitator spoke about at great length and followed up with several extraordinary testimonies was this: it is NEVER too late! – even if a child or a parent has died he argued it is never too late!

Cheryl and I discuss Musings like this with our kids. We ask them what they think? They are unanimous that they really appreciate us being willing to talk about this stuff.  They say they are especially grateful for our willingness to be tough on them but to say sorry if we were wrong.

 If I have regrets I can still do something, write something, learn something, become something, be forgiven for something, forgive someone else something, pray something, grow into something – it is never too late.  If it is too late, for what did Jesus die?  Wasn’t it to reconcile, restore, save and heal?  Wasn’t it miraculous, as miraculous as resurrection? But why do we leave God as our last resort rather than our first port of call?

 If someone is hanging on their cross in an “I am rubbish” moment, instead of conspiring with them and getting them down with lots of “there, there dear”,  why not allow Jesus to teach what He wants to teach them in that place to make you and them a better, more responsible person?  The real opportunity is to cultivate friends  who will love us and be honest and true when we’ve got real struggles we need to grow in.

 With you in the “ouch!” of life.

 Prayerful  Blessings

Malcolm

 Now, before we descend into “Oh, how morbid….” It is important to remind ourselves that death is very much a part of life.  Gwen was an important part of the St Philips community and the ongoing relationship with her family is important to us.

 It is also rare at a funeral NOT to see a mum with a baby somewhere down the back rocking her little one.  Just as a funeral is a celebration of life and initiation into eternity the baptism of a little one is an initiation into an eternal adventure …. but at the other end.

 The really cool thing is that the Christian initiation process connects us with the Living God who loves us and has a purpose for us and with us.  We know this because he gifted us with Jesus, God in the flesh, who is both our God and our brother.  We’re not abandoned to fumble our way through!  Esther, Toby and Jonah have God as their guide, advocate, counsellor, saviour and Lord!

 So, who is guiding your boat?  How’s it going, really?

 As you look at these flowers today, don’t think morbid or sad;  think loving, wise, present, serving, embracing, compassionate, forgiving LORD, Saviour  and Guide.  That’s who Jesus was for Gwen and I pray will be for Esther, Toby and Jonah.

 But wait…. there is more!  It’s much more than just beginnings and ends!  Today we are commissioning Graham and Alison to a new adventure serving Jesus in Africa.  Within the bookends of beginning and ending there is a whole adventure to live.  Graham and Alison are a testimony to us of people who have a relationship with Jesus that frees them to go and do things that others might think “crazy”.

 Jesus promised his friends “life to the full”, that’s what Graham and Alison are living.  They don’t really look like thrill seekers but appearances can be deceiving.  That’s part of God’s sense of humour.

 Blessings on all our Initiates today.

 Malcolm Potts

I never cease to be amazed at the world we live in. I received the most extra-ordinary text message on my phone the others day.  It read, “Hi Malcolm, Andrew Watts here. Found your sermons on iTunes !! Just been listening to you talk about Apocalypse as I  fly over India in the middle of the night. Realizing that I had all the tools  to achieve an apocalypse right in my hands!!  You were a lot more interesting than Indian Air Traffic Control ……Ain’t technology a beaut?  Salaams from The Abode of Peace.”

Here’s Andrew, a neighbour just up the road, flying jets internationally, finding my talks and listening to them flying over India AND texting me from 30 000 feet to tell me about it!

We can get lost in our own grandeur, can’t we? I can come to expect a painless life where clever people invent amazing machines that can “fix it”.  But it’s all a lie. It’s Babel like.  Is there anything we cannot do? Well actually, yes, there are thousands of things I cannot do: simple things like live simply, act honestly and justly, embrace diversity, love God wholeheartedly, think about others more than myself.

On holidays Cheryl started discovering native orchids with names like the Rabbit Orchid and the Swamp Donkey Orchid, for good reasons. Their beauty is beyond human imagination.  One orchid is no bigger than your pinky finger but up its stem there are a dozen or more miniature flowers.  Real orchid flowers about the size of pin heads.

The Swamp Donkey Orchid

Most of the native orchids no one will ever see yet they display the wonder, the grandeur, the glory of God. Even more wonderful than Andrew’s text from over India somewhere.  He loves the things he has made.  They’re his gift for us to celebrate Him and his glory.  He is the master, He is the creator, He is the technical genius and the pinnacle of his genius is us and his infinite love for us.

Rather than getting lost in my own stuff can I encourage you to take time out with me to get lost in God’s goodness. Carn the Blues!

Malcolm