Monthly Archives: April 2007

April 26, 2007 · 10:58 pm

A Brother Steps Up

Last night, I had a ‘back to the future’ experience. I had the great privilege of attending the ‘Commencement Service’ for Raj & Nicole at Toongabbie Anglican Church in Sydney’s west.

Raj is a brother of mine. We went through College together for 4 years.

Toongabbie Anglican is my home church. Its where I grew up, learnt about Jesus, understood what it meant to be Christian, learnt how to lead bible studies, services, do music, do puppets, do dramas, met my wife, married my wife, learnt how to preach, and heard the call to full time ministry.

Last night was great. It was wonderful to see people at Toongabbie who were influential as I was growing up. And it was great to know that they are in good hands, as Raj and Nicole lead TAC into its next phase of living for the glory of God.

May God bless you guys and his people through you.

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April 25, 2007 · 2:43 pm

You can now subscribe to content on this blog

After doing some fiddling and experimenting, I’ve managed to hook up this site with FeedBurner. This means you can get the content of this blog delivered automatically to you without having to come and check the blog itself (of course, I’d love you to drop by whenever you want – feel free!)

Just click on the orange icon over there on the right hand side, and away you go!

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April 24, 2007 · 4:09 am

Gearing up for Revelation

Last year I drove the men’s bible study group nuts. I was studying an MA subject on Revelation (the book, not the doctrine), and loving it. The group was going through Hebrews (the book, not the people group), and all througout the book there were these connections – wonderful, wonderful.

Anyway, the subject ended, the year ended, I got over it, and they (graciously) got over me.

But its all about to start again. I have been graciously invited to give the Macquarie Anglican Churches Weekend Away talks on the book of Revelation! So, out comes the text, out come the notes, and hopefully we will again stoke the fires of passion for this wonderful vision of Christ in his glory.

And, some of that may make its way here too. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

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April 22, 2007 · 1:03 pm

Life in a mini-skip

Our neighbours have been busy recently. All sorts of noises have been coming from next door. Cleaning machines,mowers, you name it. And a few weeks back, their 5th mini-skip arrived. The 5th mini-skip in 3 months. Why were they so busy?

The busy neighbours are the adult children of the elderly couple who used to live in the house. About 6 months ago, they both died, within a week of each other. One from cancer, the other in their sleep.

They had lived in that house their whole life. It contained all of their possessions, all of their trophies, all of their memories.

And here it was, disappearing into mini-skip number 5.

It was a sobering reminder that the shiny happy veneer of materialism all goes the same way. It is not the stuff of eternity. Praise God for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, who secures our eternity and demonstrates where our hope should lie.

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Filed under materialism, resurrection

April 22, 2007 · 12:30 pm

Preaching Quote #2

“Many a preacher has been ruined by his congregation. Their praise, their encouragement of him as a man, has almost ruined him as a messenger of God, and he has become guilty of laying up treasures on earth. He tends almost unconsciously to be controlled by the desire to have his people’s good opinion and praise, and the moment that happens a man is laying up treasures on earth.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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April 16, 2007 · 5:45 am

Reflections on Moving #1

Yesterday confirmed to me that ministry is all about relationships. We had the unpleasant task of telling the good people at Macquarie Anglican Churches that we are moving on to a different position at a different church.

We felt ourselves grieving as we shared the news. Some people were surprised; others weren’t. Some cried, others avoided talking to us. All in all, a very hard day.

But, to be expected. Christian ministry is all about relationships. It is about loving, caring, sharing, encouraging, rebuking, exhorting, persuading, weeping, lifting up, raising up and reaching out. All of the things our gracious God does to each of us through his Word, he calls us to do with each other as we share life in the Spirit. It is no surprise that ‘one another’ is one of the most common expressions of the New Testament.

Our many thanks for all the kind and encouraging words people were able to offer in the midst of their processing the news. Our prayers will be with you in these final days of our time at Macquarie.

God Bless,

Keith

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April 14, 2007 · 12:04 pm

We are Moving

Following is a statement that I read out at all of the congregations of Macquarie Anglican Churches on Sunday, 15th April:

“After many weeks of deliberation and prayer, Beck and I have decided that it is right for me to accept a position as Senior Associate Minister at St Paul’s Castle Hill.

We have very much enjoyed our 5 plus years here with the people of Macquarie. We have enjoyed sharing our lives, our home and ministry with all of you. Our decision to move in is in no way a reflection of the affection with which we hold people here, nor on any of the ministry roles we have had the privilege to share with you.

We have been approached many times over the previous years with offers of other jobs. Until now, we have felt that it was not the right time to move on from serving God’s people here.

This new role will involve overseeing the spiritual development of people of all stages of life and Christian maturity, from all of the congregations at St Paul’s. It is a senior role that involves overseeing and developing both paid and unpaid ministry staff in their various ministries.

We feel that this move to serve the people at Castle Hill is right for all of our family at this particular time.

We will remain committed to Macquarie Anglican Churches until the final week of second term – Sunday 24th June, the Sunday after the parish weekend away.

We look forward to serving you until then, and thank you for all your support and prayers.”

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April 11, 2007 · 8:19 am

Good Friday – ‘It is finished’

My good mate over at The Flying Nerd has been kind enough to upload the audio of the sermon I preached on Good Friday.

It was an attempt to think theologically about Jesus’ last words on the cross, in a way engaging of the twice-a-year visitors who we see on Good Friday.

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April 2, 2007 · 3:04 am

Easter reflection

He hell in hell laid low;
Made sin, he sin o’erthrew;
Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,
And death, by dying, slew.

S.W.Gandy

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April 1, 2007 · 11:32 pm

More right than he knows

I have loved cricket for a long time – ever since my dad first explained to me that when the ball hits the fence, its four.

I have also enjoyed the commentary provided by Peter Roebuck in the SMH. He is able to combine wit and insight with a broader reflection on life.

Last saturday, he wrote a piece about the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. In it, he desparied of the human condition, that a game could become the stage for such a heinus act.

Read the article here.

He has correctly idenitified the symptoms, but his diagnosis and prescribed course of treatment are way out.

The disease is selfish ambition and pride, otherwise desribed by the Bible as sin. The cure is not turning to the words of some Indian spiritual guru about submitting yourself to the universals of love and kindness. The cure is grace & forgiveness won by Jesus on a cross 2000 years ago; and renewal brought by his Holy Spirit.

Close, but not close enough. My prayer is that this tragedy could somehow be used by God to turn some of those players to Jesus in their search for meaning in it all.

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Filed under cricket, sin