Goals for 2006

Next week we have Marshall & Yvonne Muller joining our ministry team. Marshall will have responsibility for youth ministry and Yvonne will take on the oversight of worship and creative arts. This will mean that we have four pastors on our ministry team. It creates an enormous window of opportunity for our church to move ahead this year. This morning I shared with the congregation at our church a number of goals I have for the coming year: I will list them here without elaborating on any of them.

1. To deepen the spiritual life of the church
2. To see an end to the worship wars
3. To create a culture of equipping and training
4. To establish a men’s ministry
5. To become a missional church
6. To see our youth ministry reach its full potential
7. To improve our Goulburn Street entrance
8. To move forwards in becoming the living presence of Jesus in the City of Hobart


Marshall & Yvonne Muller

Changes

Hello everyone,

If you haven't already done so, can you please note a new e mail address for Jo and I. We have finally given Bigpond the flick and gone with a new ISP.

Our new email address is larryholt(at)internode.on.net

I can't really make a post without a photo can I. Here is a photo of Nathaniel in his new bedroom.

Friends

A friend would bail you out of prison after you've been arrested.

A best friend would be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn that was fun'

Habit

Last Sunday we arrived home from almost four weeks away. When we drove into our driveway the front garden looked like the photo above. It really looked quite bad. The grass had gone wild and weeds were everywhere in the garden. It puzzled me greatly because just a few days before we left I cut the grass and Jo and I spent a whole day in the garden weeding and tidying up. Why then would it look like this after just a few short weeks? I blame the second law of thermodynamics. In laymans terms it says that anything left to itself will run down and deteriorate. My garden certainly did. The only thing to be done is to cut the grass, not just once but repeatedly. I will have to do it again, and again, and again!

It made me think of the many things I do repeatedly in life. We call these things 'habits'. The dictionary defines a habit as 'A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition'. Life is filled with habits. Some good and others not so good.

Some quotes I came across:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

"A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit." Desiderius Erasmus

"First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you."
Rob Gilbert

Watch your thoughts; they become words._Watch your words; they become actions._Watch your actions; they become habits._Watch your habits; they become character._Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. _--Frank Outlaw

Well I am about to start a new year of ministry at Hobart. I have been considereing what habits should I be building in order to be effective in ministry?

The dictionary definition tells me that a habit is formed by repeatedly doing something. If there is any practice that I would like to become a habit in my life, then I must do it again and again.

The Christian life is filled with habits - that is, a collection of practices that I need to build into my life and do them often enough that they become a habit.

One habit I need to develop above all others is spending time alone with the Lord to pray, read the scriptures and hear His voice. If I get to the end of this year and I can say that this has become a daily practice, I think that would be good. - But just like my garden, I will have to do it again and again.

We are what we repeatedly do!

Back To Warrnambool

Well our holidays are almost done. We have just returned from almost a week back in Warrnambool. It seemed somewhat strange driving into a place that had been our home for seven years. Not a lot has changed in twelve months. A few shops changed hands and a few new buildings here and there, but otherwise pretty much the same as we left it.

We were given wonderful hospitality from our good friends David and Narelle Cook at the Riverside Gardens Motor Inn. David and Narelle have been long time good friends and came to visit us earlier this year in Hobart.

We also were able to spend some time with Wes & Deirdre Obst. They are fine people and and it's honour to be able to call them our friends. As in times past we sat unhurried over several cups of good coffee and fine food.

On our final evening in Warrnambool we invited a number of the church family to come and share a meal with us at the Motel (Thanks again to the generosity of David and Narelle) It was a great night with the usual ingredients of good food and lots of talking.

We came away feeling a deep sense of appreciation for the good friends we have there. One of the advantages of adversity and pain is that really genuine friends are revealed. They are the people who stand by you no matter what. They believe the best of you and always welcome you as a friend. You can't put a price on that!

Tomorrow morning we head off on the ferry and return to Tasmania. By the time we get home we will have been away almost four weeks. It will be good to get home and start to focus on the year ahead of us there. Simon and Emily have remained a little longer in Warrnambool. They will be home in just over a week.

But for now let me say, THANKS Wes & Dee, David and Narelle for all you did to make our visit such a great time

Larry & Jo In Sydney

Jo and I just returned last night from a few days on our own in Sydney. Well sort of on our own. There were about two million others who all seemed to have the same idea. It was hot, hot and hot again. On New Years day the temperature reached 45 degrees.


Of course the great challenge in Sydney is to find a way to enjoy yourslef without paying a fortune. (They just about charge you to breath in Sydney) We found the best plan was to buy a weekly travel card which enabled you to travel on ferries, trains and buses as much as you liked. We then spent most of our time on ferries exploring every destination the ferries go to.



The most popular ferry in Sydney goes to Manly beach. Ferries to Manly leave every ten minutes and hold around 1100 people. They were almost always full! When we got to Manly the first day, I had to find a shop selling some cheap T shirts and board shorts, as I travelled to Sydney in the wrong attire. This is how I looked as I blended in with the other tourists on the beach.



Of course the big attraction in Sydney on New Years Eve is the fireworks. Over one million people swarmed into the city for the fireworks. We choose a spot that got us real close to the bridge. We marked out our spot at about 3.00 pm and there we stayed until after midnight.



We this is what we all waited for. I must admit being a little worried about that bridge. I'm sure it must of buckled a little with the amount of flames that shot out of it that night. Perhaps one day it will melt!


This picture is of the wharf where we sat for some nine hours during the fireworks. We did finish up with front row seat right next to the bridge.


This was the B & B we stayed at for four nights. They were lovely people and waited on us hand and foot.

We have come home again. A little tired and sore from all the walking we did. We must have walked at least five k's every day. Overall though it was a marvellous time and we had a ball. What's even better, we got home again on Jetstar on time and on budget. We now have about three days here in Melbourne before heading off to Warrnambool for a week. After that we finally head home to Hobart.