Perspective Reset

Yesterday, I returned from 3 days at Hillsong Colour Conference 2009.

If you're going to Colour this week, then you probably don't want to read my blog because I don't want to let the cat out of the bag for you!

Without doubt, the most impacting session was Saturday morning during the "Sisterhood" session. Personally, I never really liked the term "sisterhood" because it conjured up images of girls shopping together, doing toilet trips together etc etc. I've never really been into that.

However, Saturday morning disintegrated that perspective.

On Saturday morning, we were confronted with the horrors being experienced around the world. Children kidnapped and forced to become soldiers required to commit sickening crimes against other children and babies (eg tieing infants to a tree and hitting them until they died). One girl (yes Girl!) told how she had to beat her own brother to death, or be killed herself.

Similarly, girls are being kidnapped and given to men as wives. We saw 2 women who tried to escape, and had their lips, ears and nose-tips cut off with razor blades as punishment.

Then we heard about parents feeding their children mudcakes to hold off hunger pains. Another mother talked of feeding their children 'rat rice', which is the rice found in rat nests.

We saw babies and toddlers who had been discarded on rubbish tips - left for dead - some with hands and feet bound.

Take a look at this youtube video on how the global food crisis is affecting so many.



Against this horror, I realised that my own world was too cacooned. My prayers were too selfish. My perspective was far too narrow and it needed to change. I needed to stop judging the 'sisterhood' because I didn't like the word, and my perspective on what that meant!

What if a group of ordinary women, who are unremarkable by the worlds standards, could create an extraordinary difference around the globe because they were aligned in purpose and vision? That's the sisterhood.

We are a 'Synery' - which is "The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual" That's the sisterhood.

As individual women, our impact may not be felt - but the combined effect of 18,000 women can be felt globally and generationally.

This morning I put my money where my mouth is. I sponsored an 8 year old girl who had been waiting for over 12 months to be sponsored. I chose an 8 year old, because this is the same age as my son. Neither he nor I did anything to be born into this luxury of Australia. So we are making a difference to a child that could have been any one of us.



Have I really made a difference? It's like the story that many of us have heard of the boy running along the beach full of stranded starfish, tossing each one he encountered into the sea. An onlooker stopped him and said "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference." The youth paused briefly, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that one."

Today I made a difference to one, and am part of something bigger.

This isn't a pat on the back for me, nor is it the first child I've sponsored. But this is my step so that I am not just sitting back and say "isn't that heartbreaking - someone should do something about that", but a step to "be the change I want to see in the world"

Please sponsor a child at Compassion. It costs only $44 a month - a small price to pay for such a huge impact. Be part of something bigger and be the change you want to see.

Don't Compare - Ever

In a year of being unleashed, it is so tempting to compare ourselves with how others are being. This is dangerous for so many reasons, and benefits no one.

Today is another blog inspired by the Biggest Loser - a show where people are being unleashed from their prisons of obesity, and learning so much of themselves in the process.

Last night my favourite contestant, Bob, shared a story from his past that teaches us the pain of cruel words and the paralysis of comparing ourselves with others.

Check it out:

Such wise words. The book of all wisdom, the bible, mirrors this advice.

Galatians 6 says it like this "4 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. 5 Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. "

Joyce Meyer says, "Don't be impressed with what you can do, and don't be upset with what you can't do"

My responsibility is to be the best "me" that I can be - and to make the most of my 'shape' that I've been given.

Starting on 15th April, Westlife is running a 3 part workshop on discovering your SHAPE - I encourage you to sign up to explore who you are, so you can take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your life.

Remembering the Future

I recently watched a documentary on the human memory. Interestingly, scientists discovered that the part of the brain that is activated for “creativity, imagination and problem solving” is the same part of the brain that is responsible for “memory”. They interviewed a guy who had very limited memory function, who then struggled to imagine the future.



I found this fascinating that our ability to be creative, to problem solve and to imagine our future was directly related to the information we feed our brain.

What information are we feeding our brains?

When we are looking for an answer to a problem, when we are trying to create new strategies, when we are trying to be optimistic about our future, what resources does our memory hold for us to draw from?

The extent to which we have loaded varied, positive and continual information into our brains will directly relate, I believe, to the extent to which we can come up with more creative ideas and solutions for our everyday life, and future planning.

The opposite must also be true.. garbage in - garbage out.

Our response to current circumstances will draw upon the information held in our memory.

When we are facing a challenge to overcome, have we loaded negativity into our minds, or have we loaded God's promises into our minds? Have we loaded stories of people who have overcome into our minds?

When we are feeling insecure, have we loaded our mind with thoughts of self-doubt and or past experiences of rejection by others? or have we loaded God's thoughts of us into our minds? Will we recall that we are fearfully and wonderfully made?

We must familiarise ourselves with the wisdom, promises and guidance of God, so that we can recall them on demand.

David says "I have hidden your word in my heart so that I won't sin against you." (Psa 119:11) He had fed his memory with God's word because he recognised his response to current circumstances will draw upon the information held in his memory.

Col 3:2 says "And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. "

But what if our minds are already filled with junk, with negativity, or shallow tv soaps! What can we do? Fortunately, our memories can be re-written.

Another relevant fact from the documentary is that each time we recall an event, our brains re-write that memory to be consistent with our latest recollection (which may include filling in some gaps). That's why, when we initially recall something, we might not be sure about all of the detail.. and then over time we're absolutely convinced our recollection is accurate.

The bible regularly talks about remembering. For example, Revelation 3:3 says "So remember what you have been taught and have heard. Obey it..."

That's because when we remember, we strengthen that memory in our minds. When we remember, that memory becomes clearer. When we remember, that memory becomes more prominant.

We can re-write the memories of our mind. As we recall events, or worries, or interractions with people, we can re-write our conclusion about them to be in line with the hope and the future that we know God has for us.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. "


What are you feeding your mind?
What resources are you giving your memory to draw from?
How will your memory imagine the future?

Our Personal Trainer

I love watching the Biggest Loser. Each week I get inspired by what I see.

I was particularly impacted me when Bob (the 56 year old Truck Stop owner) weighed in on Sunday. He started talking about the challenge earlier in the week where where the contestants had to run around the Royal Randwick racetrack (or parts of it) 4 times.

On the 4th lap, when his team were behind, he said words to the effect that he had hit a point where "the old Bob just couldn't go any further, there was nothing left in him, it was all over.. but then the new Bob kicked in, got going and finished the race"



It is so inspiring to see these guys dig deep and make significant improvements in their well being. Of course, they couldn't achieve this level of 'success' without their personal trainers, Michelle and Shannon. You can see in the picture, Shannan holding Bob's arms, running stride by stride to get Bob over the line, yelling encouragement, pushing him to keep going and not letting him give up!

Don't we all need a personal trainer in our lives?

Fortunately - we've got one! We've got the ultimate personal trainer - the Holy Spirit.

Westlife are running a series called re-enActs which is all about discovering and releasing the Holy Spirit in our lives.

For all of us, there will be days where we feel like the old Bob and we feel like we can't keep going - perhaps we've had a tragedy we just can't seem to get over, maybe we've have an ongoing disappointment, or maybe the tank is just empty and we're worn out. We just get tired of the fight and don't want to strive anymore.

But that's the perfect time when our personal trainer, the Holy Spirit, kicks into to overdrive and our new "Bob" kicks in.

Isaiah 57 says:

15 A Message from the high and towering God,who lives in Eternity, whose name is Holy: “I live in the high and holy places, but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed, And what I do is put new spirit in them, get them up and on their feet again."

Romans 8:26 "So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness.."

Just as Shannon was shuffling stride by stride with Bob to get him over the line, the Holy Spirit does the same for us. In John, Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as our encourager, which also means "one called to the side of another." He is right with us, every step, encouraging us to keep going.

Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” which means we are to walk when He says walk, run when He says run - we can keep going when He says "don't give up - let's keep going".

Our personal trainer, the Holy Spirit is always by our side, holding us up, running with us stride by stride - yelling encouragement at us, urging us to keep going, keep giving, to dig deeper - and finish the race.

The Lost Child

Yesterday I listened to a podcast by Steve Furtick of Elevation Church. It is a 3 part series called "Come Home" - and this blog is inspired by Part 1, which you can watch here. All 3 are brilliant, and I believe essential listening as we sharpen our focus to reach our neighbourhood for God.


Imagine that your entire family is shopping at your local shopping centre, and after a while, every parent's worst fear happens, you realise that one of your kids is no longer with you.. he or she is missing.

What will you do at that point?

Will we keep shopping?

Will we huddle together and say "Thank God the rest of us are still here"?

What we will probably do is start a frantic search.. an unrelenting driven search.. that won't stop until you find that child.

I think about Bruce and Denise Morcombe - parents that we all feel for after their son went missing in 2003.

Here are some snippets that describe their search for their lost child:

"It was all consuming. It was 24 hours a day seven days a week. There was no getting away from it."

"back and forth from town in the fading Sunday light, desperately searching the side of the road for their son walking home"

"The couple yesterday sold their investment property for $350,000, which will be directed into a radio, print and television campaign"

"Mrs Morcombe and her husband, Bruce, are still working full-time to find their beloved son"

"We will never give up!"

Now look at Luke 15:3-7

"Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?

When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance."


Steve Furtick says that each ordinary life has extraordinary value to God, and he will leave the 99 to find that one lost ordinary life.

There is a pursuit, a continual searching and a desperation in finding the lost child - the lost soul.

When one of our neighbours, our family, our friends is lost, what will our response be?

Will we stay focussed on the things we "need" to get done first? David in Psalm 119:36 says "turn my heart toward your statutes and not towards selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things"

Will we keep huddle together in our church and be thankful for those that are still with us?

Or will we start the search party, investing all we have and all we are to finding the lost child and bringing them home... because that's what Christ did for us.

Give me the Simple Life

Chuck Swindoll once said, "life isn't complicated. We MAKE it complicated". Some weeks life feels more complicated than others.

There are always so many things that demand our time, our attention and our resources. We feel we can't say no to them because we have obligations to fulfil, commitments to meet and people who are relying on us.

Yet this morning I read Acts 1 and 2 (which is of particular interest during our re-enacts series) and a passaged that jumped out at me was Acts 2:44-47

"Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved"

Here is a group of people that were living life with a simplicity of heart - a life absent of the complications that we find ourselves tangled up in.

I want that simple life - but how do I get it?

I noticed a couple of things:

1. They were together and had all things in common.

This means they cast off dissent. They were unified.

Conflicts and bickering complicate our life, especially where we know we're right and we have to make sure the other person understands that! Find the things that you have in common with others, not the things you differ on. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... let it go.. and you'll find your life is a lot simpler.

2. They freely gave their possessions to those in need.

They conquered the need for 'stuff'. They knew their needs would be met. They didn't strive to hang on to their goods that won't end up in the hearse anyway. Trying, conspiring, manouvering and striving with the circumstances of life to increase our possessions and wealth above all else complicates life. Contentment, on the other hand, brings a simplicity in life. Contentment is a peace in the soul that God will supply all my needs - regardless of the circumstances.

Some words of wisdom from a man that doesn't mince his words - Perry Noble - which are particularly relevant for our global economy right now.



3. Daily they broke bread.

This means that daily they met with God. The simple life is more about our perspective than our actual circumstances. Meeting with God daily keeps our perspective in check. It makes sure we spend our time on what makes us fruitful, not what makes us busy. It helps us keep our priorities in order, because we measure them up against the plan God has for our lives, as He reveals it to us day by day.

Meeting with God daily also keeps us focussed on what we 'should' be doing.. ie not sinning. Therefore meeting with God means there is less chance of making mistakes that have consequences that we then have to live with - thus complicating our life! Our flesh wants to do the wrong thing. The Spirit of God in us wants to do the right thing. We have to meet with God daily to make sure God's spirit dominates us, not our flesh.

4. They ate with gladness - they were thankful!

John Maxwell (yes I know - I'm quoting him again!) says people who are not thankful always want more and always think they deserve more. Yet people who are thankful are usually given more. If we're not thankful, and think we deserve more than we've got, then life gets complicated because we focus on the perceived injustice and how it's JUST NOT FAIR. Ringing in my head is Evie's song (from the early 80's).. "just be thankful for the good things that you've got, because the good things that you've got are for many just a dream"


These guys had the simple life, and for getting it right, they had favour with people and God added to their number DAILY.

We can enhance our "favour campaign" and our "just walk across the room campaign" by living the simple life.

Grander Vision Living - A Recap - Part 2

Grander Vision living not only sees people as a priority, but we focus on the potential in people.

We focus on their potential and look past their flaws, because that's what Christ did for us. Our view of others is no longer where they are right now, but what their lives would be like if they let Christ into their life.

We can't do that if we have judgmental thoughts or superior attitudes.

We are to treat others with the same standard that God treated us. John Maxwell says the standard is this: "God loves us just as we are, not as we would like to be, or as we appear to be, but just as we are"

Our job is not to point out their flaws, but just point them to Christ.

Chuck Swindoll sums it up nicely when he says, "Our job is not to clean the fishtank.. just fish"

We are to love others, care for others and walk across the room for others - just as they are - and focus on their potential.

I love this picture by John Ortbert:



It reinforces the point that we can't take our 'stuff' with us to heaven. But there is something we can take with us.. People!

People are the only thing we’ll be taking to heaven. This world is temporary – it’s people are not.

Imagine going to heaven, and leaving your family behind. What a sad sad thought. Knowing the fleeting nature of life, there is an urgency in our grander vision living.

Walking across the room is not about achieving targets, it's not about ticking boxes, or reaching 'goals'. It's about people, real people, people you and I love, going to heaven. It's all about you and I making an introduction to Christ that will change their life for eternity.

Grander Vision Living - A Recap - Part 1

For those at Westlife, this week at our Small Groups we'll be looking at "Grander Vision living", yet we shared about this in our Sunday message over a week ago. So I thought I'd blog a bit of a recap.

Grander Vision Living

As many of people know, because I’ve talked about it before, I work for the negligence insurer for lawyers. Every day I hold 2 - 3 workshops with a small group of people and we talk about were claims come from.

I’ve done that workshop around 400 times.. the same message, the same facts!

But my job is not aimed at running workshops – that is not the objective. My job is all about saving claims.

You see, if my focus becomes nothing more than running workshops, then I miss the entire point of why I’m doing it. My motivation and job satisfaction will wane and dwindle because the goal of running a workshop has been achieved over and over and over.

My goal of saving claims - this is the bigger picture – and each workshop, each interraction, is a step in achieving that bigger goal.

It is no different for "Just walk across the room".

Our goal is not to strike up a conversation with a friend. Our goal is not to have the dinner party of the century, or the most amazing fishing trip .. Our goal is the bigger picture. Our goal is to see lives come to Christ through all these individual steps.

That is grander vision living.

Developing friends, sharing your story, sharing God’s story aren’t just another thing on your to-do list.. Grander vision living infiltrates your entire to-do list.

Everything we do now is done within a framework of ‘this person would be better off with Christ”

People become our focus!

How we treat people is aligned with our Grander vision living.

How we behave towards others is either a magnet, or detraction to them every coming to Christ.

If we’re feeling out of sorts, if we’re having a bad day, if the person beside us is driving us crazy.. will our response reflect our knowledge that we could be the one to lead this person to Christ.

Here is a video where they didn't respond so well:



Are we a magnet or a detraction?

I want Christians to be the best employees, the nicest customers, the best tradesmen... not the worst.

Now, I’m not suggesting you do this.. but imagine you wore a badge everywhere that said ‘I’m a Christian’.. how would that affect what you do, or how you do it?

If we’re going to move into having chats about Christ, then we need to live life as if we’re wearing the ‘I’m a Christian’ badge.. drive like there’s a fish sticker on our car..

Like the old saying ‘Preaching the gospel often, and occasionally use words”

Grander Vision living knows that People are our priority.