An, i think at our time it is utterly important for Dean to have said "i'm sorry there are much more important people that i must meet with, and they are at port headland."
this is as much a prophetic act as it is a pastoral one to: a) the australian prime minister who would have heard "im sorry, but the downtrodden in our country are here" b) the american president who would have heard "im sorry, but you are not as important as these people" and possibly "im sorry, we have our own needs as a country that noone is doing anything about." c) the people in port headland who would have heard that god's people are most definately concerned about their plight and life. my understanding is that the prime minister has heard our stance on issues but has for the most part ignored them, the president would have heard our issues especially regarding iraq but would have (as a true president) brushed them off his suit and i highly doubt the meeting would have altered anything. however for the people in port headland who are at this point of time being told "they are the last" to have been told that "they are the first" for at least once in their time here, especially that since the "first" was supposed to have been bush this was probably the most prophetic task that Dean has ever done. im sure Dean, (being Dean) would have prayed about this a lot and would have discerned God calling him to the place where he was needed, where the voices are needing to be heard. for those people that were being arrested in their attempts to speek to Bush and to Brown who was asked to leave this once again was a powerful political move that was made by Dean. im sure if Dean had jumped at the chance Bush would have, as would have Howard not been surprised, this is the MOST IMPORTANT person in the world, yet this didnt happen. you wrote: " For a church leader, being prepared for the Kingdom of God, being spiritually alert, is about being ready and able to take this sort of opportunity when it offers. Not accepting the invitation is an utter distortion of the solidarity model - a betrayal, a refusal to use the representative role and power that the church has given him and the government acknowledged by this invitation. " what about the opportunityto be with the people in port headland? what about the needing to be spiritually alert to their needs? what about the solidarity he showed those people he was going to see? what about the representative role and power that teh church has given him to go and speak to these people and say "you are the first in God's kingdom"? this wasnt JUST another congregation, this was not JUST a decline to meet with bush and howard. this was a political, prophetic and godly decision and statement that says "God loves you" as much as it does "we do not agree with you at all" personally i'd have liked it if Gordon had also declined to serve soup in a homeless soup kitchen. shalom darren wright www.tollsonline.org --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.521 / Virus Database: 319 - Release Date: 23/09/03 ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
