Chaplaincy Matters

Easter Resources

// March 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Most of us will be starting to plan our Easter services now.
A great website that contains a list of songs that would be good for singing or playing at Easter time is
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2010/02/26/songs-that-celebrate-the-resurrection-in-view-of-the-cross/

List includes…

Happy Day - Tim Hughes
Uptempo celebration of Christ’s victory over the grave.
The greatest day in history
Death is beaten, you have rescued me
Sing it out, Jesus is alive

His Name is Jesus - Judah Groveman
All Hail the Power with a new chorus.
His name is Jesus, risen Lamb for sinners slain.

Resurrection Day - Matt Maher
Uptempo song of celebration.
It’s the power in your blood, breaks away sin’s embrace
And we celebrate our freedom dancing on our broken chains

Glorious - Paul Baloche
Mid-tempo song that celebrates the glory of the risen Christ.
Look inside the mystery see the empty cross
See the risen Savior victorious and strong

We Believe - Sam Hargreaves
Uptempo, three verses that explore the suffering Savior, living Savior, and coming Savior.
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

You Alone Can Rescue - Matt Redman
Mid-tempo song that emphasizes our inability to save ourselves.
You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave

Christ is Risen - Jeremy Riddle
Anthemic song that celebrates Christ’s victory over the grave. May be better as a special.
Quickly now go tell the world Christ, the Lord, He is risen
The power of death could never hold Him in the grave

My Redeemer Lives - Samuel Medley
Some additional lyrics to this hymn on the Cyberhymnal site.
He lives to silence all my fears, He lives to wipe away my tears
He lives to calm my troubled heart, He lives all blessings to impart.

I Will Rise - Chris Tomlin
Chris personalizes the impact of the resurrection and ties it to Christ’s return.
I will rise when he calls my name, no more sorrow, no more pain.

Another source of great videos for Easter is
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/index.cfm?event=page.search&kwrd=easter
It has some great loops, countdowns and mini-movies.

Morning Crew

// March 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

We had the Morning Crew this morning. This is where we cook pancakes for around 250 high school students. It is a great way to show God’s love in a practical way and build relationships with them. We cook the pancakes outside the Chaplaincy ‘CHILL’ zone at school and offer them free to any students who are at school early.

Can’t wait till next time - yew!!

NBCS Chapel (CIA)

// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Another great CIA yesterday. Used a countdown from worshiphouse media to keep students entertained as they were filling the auditorium and it worked really well. Here it is below.

The theme was ‘loving’ and we were fortunate to have a mate of mine, Ty, come and play for us. Ty spoke about the fact that when we know we are loved we are free to be who we want and we don’t need to put of a facade or be fake to gain acceptance. It was top gear.

Here is a snippet from his song…

Greatest action story ever told!!

// March 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Very funny clip….

Stress/burnout

// February 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

In Australia alone there are somewhere between 12 and 14,000 ex-pastors, most of whom left pastoral/parish ministry in a context of stress/burnout. Here are some ways to avoid burnout…

1. Find fresh spiritual disciplines. A conference in California has the theme ‘One Hundred Ways to Pray’. Well, find about three or four, and ’shut the door’ as Jesus said (i.e. put in a telephone answering-machine), and learn the art of relaxing, contemplative prayer.

Then, as the New Testament suggests, don’t be surprised when trials come your way. Jesus promised us trouble! So, as psychotherapist M. Scott Peck points out in his brilliant book The Road Less Traveled, when you expect life to be difficult, it is much less difficult.

2. Take regular time off. You aren’t called to work harder than your Creator.

Develop a way of being ‘through for the day’ (at least most days). Take your full four weeks’ annual leave in one stretch (and make alternative arrangements for weddings, etc.). Encourage your denomination to include two weeks’ extra, all-expenses-paid study leave each year. On your day/s off, do something very different from what you do the other days. (Wednesday or Thursday is best for preachers - away from the adrenalin-arousing Sundays). Listen to Spurgeon: ‘Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body… If we do not rest, we shall break down. Even the earth must lie fallow and have her Sabbaths, and so must we’. Jesus said, ‘Come apart and rest awhile’. (If you don’t rest awhile, you’ll soon come apart!).

3. Get proper exercise and sleep. Exercise fairly vigorously 3-4 times a week. Walk, swim, play tennis; perspire and regularly breathe deeply. Allow adequate time for sleep. Dr. Hart again: ‘Adrenal arousal reduces our need for sleep - but this is a trap; we ultimately pay the penalty. Most adults probably need 8-9 hours’ a night!’

4. Relax. The relaxation response is the opposite of the fight/flight response. Just 20 minutes a day when we’re free from the tyranny of ‘things present’ is enough to counteract the harmful effects of stress. Two ways to relax: tighten each set of muscles from your feet to your face, counting to five before relaxing them; or begin meditation by repeating a one-word or one-phrase prayer (’Maranatha’, ‘Lord have mercy’), repeat it slowly over and over and enjoy the ‘other side of silence’.

5. Join a small support/prayer group. Ministry peers will better understand your needs; a cross-denominational group will enhance trust and provide other spiritualities. Then there’s the classical discipline of ’spiritual direction’ (or spiritual friendships). Who is Paul to your Timothy? Who teaches you to pray aright, as John the Baptist and Jesus taught their disciples? To whom do you confess your sins (James 5:16)? Luther said every priest ought to have such a ‘father in God’. Congregations can help their pastor by praying more than they criticize him or her; having open communications re goals and expectations; recognizing that the pastor is human and will make mistakes like all of us; being as generous as possible financially (e.g. encouraging study leave); and protecting the privacy of the pastor’s family life.

6. Cognitive restructuring (i.e. changing one’s thinking). Take a personal audit. Reassess your goals; like your clothes, change them sometimes. Improve your self-attitudes. Learn a healthy assertiveness (e.g. by using the middle two letters of the alphabet - NO - sometimes, without apology). Know your gifts, and your limits. Face your fears; don’t avoid them by pretence, or bury them in an addiction. Above all, avoid states of helplessness: take time to develop coping strategies for difficult situations. Learn not to make catastrophes out of ordinary events (increasing paranoia - ‘they’re out to get me’ - is a sign of burnout). Be a growing person: if God has yet more light and truth to break forth from his Word, what new understandings have you experienced recently? Freudenberger suggests: ‘Discard outmoded notions. Don’t wear points of view just because you used to! Like old-fashioned clothes, they may become ill-fitting and ridiculous as time goes on’.

7. Have fun! To belong to the kingdom you have to be like little children. They aren’t bothered about piles of correspondence or running the world. They get absorbed in things, even forgetting to run their own lives! So develop a few ‘interesting interests’: buy a bird-book and identify 100 native birds; collect stamps; play indoor cricket; take your spouse to an ethnic restaurant; give each of your kids an hour a week, where you do together what they suggest; build something ; audit a course. But do something! And laugh sometimes! Did you know your body will not let you laugh and develop an ulcer at the same time? Remember, with humourist Kin Hubbard: ‘Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive!

Taken from http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8200.htm

Ignatius

// February 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Winter Olympic Testimonies

// February 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

When Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith made it to the NFL’s Super Bowl they wanted to take advantage of the platform to share their faith, thus the Beyond The Ultimate Web site was formed.

It has since grown to feature athletes and coaches from around the world in various sports (NFL, CFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, Premier League or Olympics) talking about their faith in Jesus Christ and how that has impacted them and their sports. We encourage you to read the stories, watch the videos and consider the eternal impact on your life.

http://www.beyondtheultimate.org/