Author: Dave Miers

Last night Row and I went to the opening of Jazz:Now 06 at The Studio (Sydney Opera House). It was a fantastic night out and we think it was a pretty sweet gift… so thanks Rachael. The line up for the night was the “Aron Ottignon Trio” and “Katie Noonan / Elixir Vitae“.

I’m a huge fan of Elixir and Katie Noonan (I’ve seen george play live 3 times). Their set was very impressive. Her husband (Isaac Hurren) played sax and Steve Magnusson was a master on guitar. His diction was reminiscent of Jeff Buckley on Grace. Katie’s lyrics, as always, were mesmerising. Most of the songs were Australian poems put to music. They even had a stab at Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

I’d never heard Aron Ottignon play before, but he is a genius! He is very much part of the avant-garde when it comes to Jazz Piano. You can check out some of the gear he plays with another project called Aronas here and here (they are playing at the Opera House this Friday night).

One of the things that impressed me with both sets was watching the way the musicians communicate on stage. The double bass player in the Aron Ottignon Trio, Cameron Undy (who looked like a cross between Oliver Kahn and Travis McMahon with a funny last name), was particular good at communicating with Aron on piano and Felix Bloxsom on drums.

Good Jazz needs good communcation.

I’ve been thinking today about the need to be a good communicator. I think that I’m an effective communicator when it comes to teaching (bible talk, bible study, scripture class etc…) but not as effective in other areas. I’m getting better at communicating with Row (though have a long way to go!). But there are areas that I need to be a much better communicator so that I can make better Jazz! Here’s a few that come to mind:

• Staff at church
• Other key leaders at church
• Those I lead in ministry teams
• Youth group parents
• My family

Communication, as shown by the Jazz musos, involves more than just words.

I want to be a good communicator so that I’m living a godly life and also better able to communicate the glorious news of Jesus.

What are you like at communicating? Where do you need to improve? Who are your favourite Jazz musicians?

Avast, me hearties! (Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day)

I just went up to our local supermarket to buy a couple of things. There was a sign about bringing re-usable bags to help them “do their bit for the environment”. I don’t like these signs. Not because I feel guily for not bringing re-usable bags, but that the intention of the sign is to make me feel guilty. We recycle stuff. We have 3 bins to help. But the problem is that for general rubbish you are supposed to put it into bags and not straight into the bin. This means I would have to start buying gargbage bags instead of using the free ones they give me at the checkout. Maybe this is all a ploy by the garbage bag companies to make more sales??

What do you think?

If you don’t have any thoughts on this topic – post your best Pirate Jokes in the comments…

Don’t try and make any link between this post and the picture of my favourite (and only) apron… it’s random and a bit postmodern.

This photo was taken by Max. It’s me in our penalty shoot-out. We had a 1-1 draw in our soccer GF, and then lost in the shoot-out. It was good fun. Max and Phil both have some great photos.

Baptists are fake Arminians. Jude 24-25 proves the point:

“24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24-25 (esv)

I grew up in a Baptist church and at the end of each church service we would sing the benidiction from Jude 24-25. Now I know there are many Baptists who are Calvinists, but many are Arminian.

Jude 24-25 is clear in proclaiming that God is the one who keeps the Christian from falling. Therefore when the “Arminian” Baptist sings this song at the end of church each week they are declaring that they aren’t really Arminian! The Glory belongs to God and God alone and Arminianism tries to steel that glory but doesn’t when it sings fantastics songs from Jude 24-25…

Do you get me? What do you think?

PF#001, PF#002… welcome to PF#003! Super-appreciate your prayers… and would love to know how to pray for you. Quick reminder that last week’s Soccer GF was postponed and will now be played tomorrow. Come and cheer us on 3pm @ Fagan’s Park, Point Claire.

Praise:
>Good time reflecting on ministry at staff conference this week
>The young guys who ran the Christian groups in their schools this week while I was away.

Prayer:
>Row has had a big week. Pray she’d get rest this weekend and keep persevering in ministry.
>coast youth REVOLUTION tonight. Pray that teenagers on the Central Coast (and hunter) would live radical lives in response to the goodnews of Jesus.

Around the web:
Worst.Podcast.Ever – some mates from Carlo put out their first podcast… I’m sure it will get better!
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
Soul Revival Gymea
My brother is back

What are you up to this weekend?

Tomorrow night is our second coast youth REVOLUTION for 2006. We have Garage Hymnal coming to play and Paul Dale will be speaking on the topic If I were God I’d end all the suffering. It should be a great night. I’m excited that Hunter Bible Church will be joining us for their first REVOLUTION. Check out the website for more info. The main reason that I’m posting this is because I don’t have the mental energy to post anything more profound.

Does anyone from from youth group read this? We’ve mentioned it on our podcast a few times… Are you a youth group blog reader??? Leave a comment.

To the left is a photo of Jason M who was in today’s newspaper. He has a ridiculously large girl in front of him! And don’t forget to come and cheer on our soccer team this Saturday 3pm @ Fagan’s Park.

Over the past 3 days we have had our annual staff conference. It’s been a good time. Because we so spent so much time using our brains, I decided to mow the lawn when I got home. This doesn’t require too much brain capacity (just enough to keep your toes on!). However, as I was mowing I was reminded of an illustration I thought of yesterday to do with church staffing.

Our church is not staffed based on the congregational model, but on what I think is a better model of staffing the different areas of church life. So that means we have someone who champions each of the 5 areas of church life (magnification, membership, maturity, ministry, mission) and other staff who look after the lifestyle ministries (children, youth, young adults, breakfast church). In order to not let people fall through the cracks I think that people need to overlap in their ministry areas… a lot like mowing the lawn. To make sure you don’t miss whole strips of grass, you mow over a quarter of that strip that you have just mown. (If you’ve mown a lawn this will make sense… if you haven’t ask someone to draw a picture for you!). The M people need to overlap with other M people and also those working in the lifestyle ministries to help them think about their M.

Guessing competition: Which 2 staff members were the biggest cheats in our game of sic-nuts last night?