I Got Married!

Yeah. You read that right.

I got married. Hitched. Wedded. Joined in marriage. United in wedlock. Spliced.

Whatever you want to call it…

And it was fantastic! I am very blessed to have a wife like Sarah. It has been just over nine excellent months since our wedding, and I am only just now getting back to my blog to give you all the news.

We got married back on the 8th of December 2013 amongst a group of our dearest friends and family.

Here are a couple more photos for you to enjoy…

Firstly, the Bridal party

and secondly, the family shot…

And as if that wasn’t enough good news for one post, I have one more item (no, it’s not a baby announcement) It has been a long time since there were any kind of regular posts on this blog, I am hoping to change that by returning to a more regular blogging habit.

To do that, rather than keep this old well-worn site, I have moved by blog to my own hosting and you can go and bookmark it at www.lukef.com.au.

I look forward to seeing you all over there for a mix of photography, life lessons, Bible discoveries and more!

PS: Make sure you subscribe to the new blog by using the form in the sidebar!

Agricultural Allegory

This post is a guest appearance of sorts, Lindon Josefski, a friend of mine, who runs the Bundy Photo Challenge, shared this with me, and I instantly knew I wanted to share it with you. So without further ado, here are a few deep and well chosen words.

7 Things I Learned in 2011

Well it is that time of year where everyone seems to recap their milestones in some way, so I figured I would jump on the bandwagon in my own way.

This list is in no way definitive or complete, but just what came to mind. I will also say that some of the things that made the list are not totally new but I have attained a far greater understanding of them.

1:People pleasing gets you nowhere.

There is a desire in each of us to please others, in some

Three differences between church and secular leadership Part 3

This post brings us to the end of our three-part series, I hope it has been as interesting for you to read as it has been for me to write about, please comment, subscribe and share.

3:Success is not yet Measurable

You are working long hours, there is that deadline on Friday, you are throwing everything you can at it, and you have the ulcer to prove it. With an hour to spare you open up a new fresh email to your boss starting with the statement “It is finished”. Relief floods your system when you click send. you achieved! you attained the results needed. Well that is the way it can work in the secular world…

In Spiritual leadership, it is not

Three differences between church and secular leadership Part 2

Here is part two of my observations, my objective here is simply to provoke thought and consideration, I welcome any comments and hope this post might give you a slightly different perspective.

2:Every decision is important

Decisions are important in every organization, they can destroy or build up, make or lose money, have you promoted or fired. Whatever job you happen to have, think of the worst decision

Three Differences between Spiritual and Secular Leadership Part1

Recently I participated in a conversation about leadership, from secular and religious perspectives (With a certain Zebra). Amid this exchange of ideas, it occurred to me that there are three main differences between these two institutions, of course there are many others, but in application there are three primary areas that I have identified.

If you are not in direct or official leadership I still encourage you to read, If you are a leader but not a Christian, I urge you to read also, as a different perspective can enrich your own outlook on the topic. If you are a Christian it will hopefully help you understand your leaders, perhaps preparing you for leadership in your own sphere of influence and finally, for those who are already effective leaders, your comments are more than welcome. So without further ado here is part one of this Three part series.

Writing Sermons

I wrote this just over a week ago, before speaking at the Hinkler Family Camp… Hoping to get some time to share about that with you as well… But for now… Some musings on the preparations.

I never cease to be amazed by the process of preparing and preaching a message. It seems to be broken into five distinct sections.

Phase 1: The inspiration

First is the initial idea. You have a flash of inspiration where the Holy Spirit impresses you with a topic or passage to preach on. This is always an exciting point. And I usually feel like this is about to be the greatest sermon of my life, I feel that way about each new possibility.

Between the Mountain and the Multitude

I know I have been absent from my blog this year, but time just seems to be getting past me at record breaking speeds, thus not only has my blogging frequency suffered, but at times, I’ll be honest, so has my prayer life, where it has been reduced to duty and rushed routine, this you will know is a recipe for spiritual starvation. However, God, being the loving interventionist he is, waited for me to feel my need…

NodePony

I know this is not in line with the theme of my blog… but I thought I would share it anyway.

Some time ago I was linked to an internode blog article, for those of you who are not familiar with internode, they are an ISP (internet service provider) and they happen to by my provider of choice, I have recommended many people go to them for good service, reasonable prices etc… but I digress… The article I speak of is regarding nodepony… it is a rather tongue in cheek piece of editorial prowess by Simon Hackett (commander in chief over there at Internode) containing comments like this…

God Teaches Through Nature

“In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish.” Isaiah 17:11

Recently I have been through somewhat of a spiritual “Wilderness Experience” which, though uncomfortable, I praise God for, as I know that he calls his people to the wilderness to protect or connect with them, (ie: Elijah by the brook Cherith, The nation of Israel after their captivity in Egypt, John the baptist, Jesus himself, the Woman of Revelation 12 and many other Biblical examples) amidst this, as I was finding it difficult to focus on my Bible I was encouraged by my Mum to get outside and look at God’s general revelation (Nature) I was amazed and encouraged by what I found.

I wandered out into the yard, and decided to inspect a tree… I know it sounds less than exciting, but stick with me here, I prayed and decided to look for christian principles in this corner of creation.