Not A Blog

WorkbootsFifty years ago, Tony Bennett and Shirley Bassey were both making money from a tune from a new Rodgers and Hammerstein musical called The Sound of Music. ‘Climb Every Mountain’ was written as the climax to the first act of the show, as an exhortation to young Maria to face up to her future. It’s a time of challenge and change, but Maria is to ‘climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow’ until she finds her dream.

Here at St Peter’s, we have a mountain (Coolangatta), a stream (the Shoalhaven), and … if not a rainbow, then the promise and command of God to serve him where we are, and he will be with us. Our ‘dream’ is to stand as a beacon, shining the light of the gospel into the hearts and minds of the people of this town, and this year is indeed the start of Act II for our church, now that we have become our own parish.

It will be a year of both challenge and change, but one that we are glad to face together. So, come on, strap on the hiking boots, and let’s get going!

Julian AssangeThe story of the moment in our news is undoubtedly Wikileaks – not only does it make good copy, but we can claim its founder, Julian Assange, as one of our own…and we do love to see Aussies succeed on the world stage, don’t we?

Among the more alarming parts of the story has been the way some public figures in the US have responded to the most recent leaks: “He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands.” “We should treat Mr. Assange the same way as other high-value terrorist targets.” “Mr. Assange should be put on the same list” – a list of those that can be killed without trial. “He should be treated as an enemy combatant.”

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And so we return to normal life…Synod for this year is over, and it will be another twelve months before Shoalhaven Heads takes its own seats at synod next year. As I said last week, there have been some surprises for me, and I wanted to tell you about the most welcome one.

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At long last, our application to become a provisional parish is on its way to Archbishop Peter Jensen. An idea that was floated as a dream years ago … a suggestion last year that we might be ready to apply in 2010 … a determination at our annual general meeting that we would do so … a draft application circulated in May … signed off by parish council in June … and finally, an unadorned B4 envelope, postmarked Shoalhaven Heads, will be on his desk next week.

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Recently I’ve been doing some study on the relationship between grace and rebuke in the letter to Titus. There’s an interesting section right in the middle of the book (2:11-13) that’s worth some thought:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…’

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