That’s right, you haven’t seen so many smiley people around so much smelly rubbish. It’s cause we hit the streets last Sunday morning to do justice to Clean Up Australia Day.

I’m amazed because despite the early morning, despite the sacrifice of a few hours over the weekend, despite the rain and even soggy gloves, everyone continued in serving the community in the most practical way possible, picking up rubbish.

If you didn’t make it, you definitely missed out on the opportunity to give back and bless our city. Although so simple, that’s one of the best things that we can do to serve the community around us, by acting practically.

We need to get beyond sitting in our church pews and start setting the example to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We must flee from what we know is comfortable and give a little, serve a little, sacrifice a little. After all, Jesus gave a lot, and the absolute least we can do is a little. Not because you have to, not because someone asks you too, not because you’re on a roster or even in some sort of position - but because we are being Christ’s representative. We must stop talk and start acting.

It was a really great day. Great job to everyone who was there. Was blessed by all of you. I hope we can do something like that again some time soon!

I love watching sport, especially the winter Olympics. I love it because its not just about how skilled these athletes are, but about their determination, discipline and years of hard work in preparation for a race that may only last for a few minutes. Days, months, years of training for a race of a few minutes, some even seconds. That is amazing!

Why do people put themselves through such effort? You’ve gotta ask that question right?

They do it because they love it, they do it to win the prize, they do it because they are competing for the gold.

Do the hours and hours of training, doing laps, pushing weights, repeating exercises, seem mundane? Yes, they probably are mundane. There are probably so many days where you’d not feel like getting up early or committing to the hours to train.

So why do they do it?

Because the goal is clear. They are always seeing gold.

When the feeling of tiredness kicks in, when the body fatigues, when the mind cannot take it anymore, they see gold.

If we were to take a page out of their books we would learn that discipline must always have a clear goal in mind, or else discipline will have no reason. If we want to achieve anything significant or make our life count, we must make discipline a life partner.

In the busyness of the school term (we’re half way in term 1 already - can you believe it?), what are the goals you need to stop and think about hammering into your life and what disciplines are you developing now to achieve those goals?

Welcome back to school everyone! I hope you have had a fantastic first day.

I just want to give you a very short but very relevant thought for us all as we begin the school year.

One of my favourite scriptures, Philipians 3:13-14.

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and reveive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven”. (NLT)

Can we make this our prayer as we start 2010?

We are really good at compartmentalling life. You, like me have probably made up a schedule for yourself before and blotted out time for different aspects of your life – studies, family, church, leisure, work. It’s really easy because of life’s busyness to go from one activity to another, being proud of ourselves for how much we achieve. But it could be that when it comes to many parts of our life we are merely skimming the surface, rather than going deep with a few things.

Something that demands depth from us and without it fruitfulness will not show is the area of our relationships. This means that when it comes to our relationship with our family, friends and most importantly our Almighty God, they need continuous investment of time over a long period. This is how relationships are developed.

Can we make a commitment this year, to invest regular, continuous and wholehearted time into relationships around us?

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of going, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25

I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone. Seems like time is passing quicker and quicker as the years go by.

In a few days we will say goodbye to 2009. That may be a big sigh of relief for you or possibly some disappointment after all the good things you’ve experienced this year. Regardless, we all have the opportunity to start afresh.

Don’t know about you, but I have definitely had my share of personal hang ups this year - things that I regret not giving enough time and attention, opportunities that I may have missed because of busyness of life and even the more personal and sometimes daily battles.

God’s so patient though. He knows. He understands. He sympathises. He loves you enough not to leave you where you are, but to softly and gently nudge you to a life moving forward. God is truth and grace in perfect balance.

Can we let God, in the coming year be God? I think too many times we miss the mark because often a time we become god. We do things and forget God in our everyday decisions. Sometimes find comfort first in a close friend. Maybe over time we have slowly lost our devotion unto Him.

Let’s make a 2010 commitment for more of God and less of us. I love how John the Baptist put it. It couldn’t be stated any better.

“He must increase, but I must decrease” John 3:30 (NKJV)

Must is a very powerful word. It holds with it the determination for something to be birthed into being. My prayer is for all of us to make 2010 this must - for God to increase and we to decrease.

We’re about the start our Cow Tipping sermon series on Friday, where we will address topics like drinking, money, relationships and sex. So instead of hearing from me this week, can I ask this time to hear from you?

Click here to submit some burning or maybe curious questions you my have about the topics above.

This will help ignite our discussion for what will be central to our series. Don’t worry its totally anonymous, so ask away. We can’t guarantee that every question will be answered, but we’ll try our best.

I want to share an incident maybe not so random from my afternoon, something that I believe I’m not meant to keep to myself. Actually, just as I was about to start thinking about what to share for this weeks Low Down entry, I was interrupted in my office. Now to my story.

Everyday we have cleaners coming in the morning and in the afternoon to help clear up the mess that my students make in the classroom. I have come to develop a fond relationship with many of them, as they continue to remind me about what it means to serve through their job, friendliness and life example.

It was one of those moments where, you had to be there at the right time.

One of my cleaning friends was sharing to me this afternoon about the children in her family. She has 3 girls and 1 boy that she had fostered for 11 years. After coming to some crossroads in life a few years ago, it came to a point where she was faced with making a decision to bring her adopted son back to his biological parents. She struggled for some time thinking through and wrestling with the thought of losing him after all those years of nurturing and developing relationship. This was no small decision. You can imagine the different thoughts in her mind pulling from different directions.

Recently becoming a Christ-follower, she realised she could bring her requests before God, and have Him be her central guide in the middle of a decision she didn’t quite know how to make.

After pondering and praying, she resolved in her heart to return her son, to his biological parents. But by no means did that make it easy for her to let go. She described it to me like it was very back and forth in her heart and mind. Talk about a tough decision hey?

It came to the day, where she followed though with her God prompting, and gave her adopted son into life he would experience with his biological parents. She still had a hint of doubt as to if she had made the right decision, but believing it be from God she left it into His hands.

A few days later, early in the morning on her cleaning run, she described it to me so vividly - the sun was just rising and she was cleaning the windows of my classroom. Out of no where she heard a voice. She described it as an audible voice that said these words, “I am pleased with you”. In a bit of shock and fear she begin to look around, down stairs and in classrooms for this voice. She thought it might have been our cheeky groundsman that practically lives on the property.

All of a sudden she realised that she heard the voice of God confirming and affirming the decision she had made just a few days ago regarding her son. She felt a sense of release and comfort to know that, it was really God speaking to her in the first place, that she had done the right thing by God. This encounter was fused into her heart and continued to remind her about God’s goodness and strength in challenging decisions and difficult choices.

The reason why she was telling me that story today, is because she just realised that when she heard God those few years back, it was in front of my classroom and it so happens to be the 7th room in that block - 7 being God’s number. Maybe God was reminding her about about His hand upon her life back those years again today. Amazing huh?

As we reflect on our lives too, I believe there are times that we can remember God speaking to us or moving in a way that could have only been Him. Or maybe you’re in a moment of time right now that you are waiting for God to affirm something within you, give you fresh direction or intervene in a certain situation.

Regardless of your situation, my bible says, “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” Rom 8:28. I’m even reminded about how good our God is even from the words of prophecy that have affirmed and encouraged us during presbytery over the weekend. I’m still totally amazed by that!

So if  your in the thick of exams or you my have some challenges in your personal life that you are struggling through, can I say to you - trust God. Trust God, because He works for good. Not just one thing, but in all things, He works for good. So for all those who walk in a relationship loving the Lord, you’ve got God’s good hand upon your life.

You can’t get better than that I tell ya!!!

I thought it would catch up with what’s happening in the world. So, I flicked on the radio on the way home from prayer meeting tonight to find the same old songs on the top 30 charts for the last few months. Don’t people get bored of that?

Anyway, I was a quite perturbed at one of the songs that I hadn’t heard before. It promoted the promiscuous life of partying, drinking and loose relationships. The song certainly spoke loud and clear about the values it held. And unfortuately the first people I thought of living this lifestyle are young people.

God’s called for us to live so much differently to this world. He’s put us in the world, don’t get that wrong. But He’s called us also to be distinct from worldy culture and values. Being in the world, yet not of the world. God never said it would be an easy task. And if you’re human, you probably can say the same too. But God’s promise is always that He will be with us, giving us His strength to be His people.

It has definitely been a busy and tiring few days doing the Canberra tour again this year with the year 7s. The only real down time the teachers have is while the kids are sleeping, in which we spend most of the time policing and patrolling, making sure they go to sleep.

Today was the parliament house tour of the old and new house. Our group managed to have a session with one of the PM’s many political advisors. Interesting fact – the PM’s office starts the day at 4:30am. So, for those who would like to be in politics be prepared for some early mornings and long days.

One thing that struck me was when he mentioned the Parliament House being the place that holds the biggest debates, and how privileged he was to be part of making significant change in the nation. But you know what? I couldn’t help but think that the best place to make better change in the lives of men and women, is none other than the church making disciples of Jesus Christ. Again the words of Bill Hybles resound so clearly and with such conviction – “The local church is the hope of the world”.

Nothing more that I want to do then to build the church of Jesus Christ. Truly, its worth every ounce of strength and investment of our energy.

See you when I get back.