Nobody likes to say Good-bye there is a certain definite finality associated with that phrase. Farewell seems more apt, while in the short term I might not see you, in the long term there will be a day when we will meet again and worship the King.

In 2008 Carly and I moved to the states, to church plant. We scratched together some incredible supporters (who will remain nameless) who deeply blessed our ministry and helped us to launch into something special. We had no house, no finances and no clue. We did have a calling that we had to respond to.

Now we head home, with two amazing children and our own mission. I am so thankful for the team who invested, nurtured, partnered, cried and encouraged as we planted together. The valley of the Sun has forever changed the Robinson’s and we feel truly blessed that God blessed us with such an amazing community.

We are getting closer to announce how you can support us in more details. We are getting closer to announcing a location where Mission Church will be. Continue to pray for us in the process as we adjust back to Australia and prepare for the next phase of our ministry.

Arizona, Farewell. We will see each other again, might I have one more glorious 100 degree day to remember you by!

Last week we were in Chicago. In fact we stuck around in the USA partly so we could be a part of the Converge Church Planting Assessment Process. It was 4 grueling days of challenges, assignments, testing and interviews. The goal was to figure out whether or not we had the skill set to become a church planter.

God blessed us and we got a full recommend which was really encouraging!

So Why did we choose to multi-affilate?

We just became candidates for A29, now we are also going with Converge! It seems a little like NASCAR but there is some wisdom here I promise. We are multi-affilated because different networks bring different elements to the table.

The benefits are huge, additional coaching ,wisdom and resources. Not only that we get the shared benefit of one of the more successful church planting networks in the USA.

So what was the difference?

A29 was HEAVY on the theology, that is hugely important to establishing a good foundation for the church. They were also excellent in bringing up some of the idolatry in our lives that we needed to address. Converge has more of a tilt towards the practical side of planting. So we had to give a mini-sermon to our ‘core’ team. Then we were sharing our ‘philosophy’ of ministry. Next up were a couple of exercises in small groups. Then a couple more church planting exercises and some teaching. There were 3 personality tests (DISC, Strengths Finder and Gold Personality) and finally a large group project.

It was intense, we were working with some wonderful people that we hardly knew and every moment we were being watched and assessed. Then end goal was to figure out whether we could plant. Both were valuable and both for very different reasons. Heck we may not be finished on the multi-affilation. If we can team up with a denomination and make it work when we get back to Australia we may do that as well. This weekend I’m getting ordained with the Converge team which is another huge blessing!

So was it worth sticking around 3 months?

Absolutely! I got to spend time with Josh Barrett my boss at COC, which was super fun and slightly sad, I’m going to miss hanging out with him. We met 10 other couples on the same kind of journey as us and got to make some friends from all over the USA. I learned more about myself and our relationship with Carly which was HUGE! Finally a word of encouragement that we are on the right path is always helpful.

The whole process was a huge blessing and just gets us more excited to touch down in Australia and settle on our location!

We are getting close now!

Right from the outset Gordon makes a priority to sit Psalms in their place, why have we stopped singing them?! Right through to a conversation on the imprecatory Psalms and their value in light of Christ and the New Testament.

This should reside on your shelf and anytime you consult a Psalm for study, you should refer to the insights and wisdom of this book. Gordon’s book provides wonderful insights and a detailed look at some of the over-arching themes of Psalms. This book isn’t an exegetical approach to individual Psalms but rather an examination of the influence of these Psalms in critical areas of the Christian faith, there is a distinct emphasis on our need to start Singing, Praying and Reading these Psalms regularly and with passion.

For $11 this is an excellent resource and for anyone who has a passion for the Psalter Gordon writes with a passion an energy that is contagious.

We are getting close! Despite Carly and I being emotional basket-cases the last few weeks as we start to say farewell to friends we are getting everything in order for another international move back to Australia.

Everyone has a passport so we are ready to travel. The movers are booked and we will have a couple of garage sales early in May to clear out some of the remaining stuff. Get ready to snatch up a great deal.

We got confirmation this week we are officially a candidate for A29. Upon meeting some conditions and reaching a church size of 30 people we’ll graduate to full blown members. It is important for a church plant to align with a network for the support, accountability and resources. It is one of the reasons we are going with Vision Arizona and A29, it is really helpful for me to have partners in the trenches on the same kind of mission.

How can we support you?

Right now I am still not ready to give clear insights on this, for US folk we will be running the support through Converge/VA for financial accountability. They will the send us the support, Vision Arizona has been an extraordinary blessing to us and we are excited for their continuing support. Once I have church names settled and some definitive timelines I’ll start to reveal more of the process for support.

Simply you can support us for up to 3 years. At the end of the third year, we should have a self-sufficent church and I should be salaried. I wanted to make the timeline fixed, so it was really clear how long we’d need the support for. If you are interested in supporting us stay tuned to this page for how to get involved in the next 2 weeks I’ll have the details up!

Where are you planting?

We have three areas targeted, I’m not willing to say officially where until we hit the ground. We are looking at some places in Sydney (Beaches/Northern Suburbs), Brisbane (Chermside/Manly/Carina) and Gold Coast (Southport). As a family it is important for us to collectively assess and pray over each of the areas before announcing. So this location should be official by the end of July.

I’m Australian I want in!

Awesome and Yes! I’m looking to build a core team and once we settled I’d love to have you a part of the team. I’m excited for this phase as well, once we can start to develop relationships in our community I’m looking for local supporters and people to join in with the mission. Keep in contact on facebook or this blog and I’ll make sure you get the latest updates all the time. If you want you can follow me on Twitter as well @PastorDuncan

So what is your timeline again?

April 29th – Carly, Her Mum and The Two Kids fly home to Australia.

May 16th – Duncan Fly’s home to Australia.

(we will be in Kirribilli,NSW until we move to the final church plant location)

May-July – We are settling on a location and selling our Australian house so we can move.

July-Oct – We will be developing a core team and recruiting. We’ll be launched as a church in the area.

Nov/Dec – We will be having some open prayer meetings and building relationships into the community.

Q1 2014 – A Sunday service!

The first mountain he spies is on the far left of this photo, a little purple thing, to which he responds “Doh”. He is then encouraged to look a little more to the right, where he spies the second mountain, larger and more ominous. Again he responds “Doh”.

Finally the Powersauce marketers ask him to move his head just a little further right, and he beholds the Murderhorn. It is a towering fear inspiring mountain that he has elected to climb. With limited training he ends up climbing to the top conquering the mountain and earning the respect of Bart.

So What?

Sometimes I feel a little like I’m climbing the Murderhorn when I am church planting. I look up and see a sizable mountain, but I am reminded to look further right. It only gets bigger and more ominous.  I constantly remind myself to break the whole process down into steps. God is just asking me to take the next one….then the next one….then the next one.

Rather than focus on the ominous summit of challenge, I have been reminded to focus on my walk with Christ. Psalm 23 speaks to the comfort of the “Rod and Staff” both items used in close proximity to the sheep. Psalm 84 reminds us to make our dwelling place in the Lords “Delightful Tabernacle”. The Murderhorn is big enough to have me chicken out before I begin to climb it. Having a sherpa guide makes the process much more doable. When that sherpa is God, it starts to feel much more possible.

I am thankful for the Psalms that remind me proximity to God helps my walk. Finally it is Psalm 119:105 that speaks for God being the “Lamp unto my feet”. My next step is lit, although the final destination might be obscured by the clouds.

Sometimes Church Planting starts to feel like the Murderhorn climb.

Wednesday, the ordination review went well. I am walking through the process with converge, they are affiliated with the International Baptists and it helps out a lot with international relations as we head into church planting. Big picture this is helpful for any would-be Australians who are looking for a connection in the states, this piece of paper helps with immigration and visas. It also helps the process heading back, I have a recognizable document from a Baptist group that will give me a little clout if we look outside of NSW for a plant.

Wednesday afternoon, I had the chance to make a pitch to VA. I would be the freak church of the membership and there are some fairly big requirements to make the team. I feel like the pitch went pretty well and I should hear something about this relationship before I head home. My hope is to have a strong relationship with the VA guys heading into the plant in Australia. They have been a real blessing for the training and preparation thus far and I’m excited to see what happens.

Thursday we had our A29 assessment. This was fairly grueling, at the end we were at around 4hours for the whole process. It was really helpful to locate some weaknesses and lock down some areas that I’ll need to address before we start planting. The whole experience was challenging but very helpful to have the insight of 8 people who have walked that path already. Carly and I were both really thankful to do it and look forward to getting our hands on the report so we can continue refining the plan before heading back to Australia.

Friday was my 33rd Birthday, I spent most of the day relaxing at home. I also had the distinct joy of cleaning Ruby’s poo off our freshly cleaned couch and carpet. Perhaps not the greatest birthday but it will be the last one in the USA for quite some time. Thankful to get to spend a restful day with our family as we move into the home stretch with the move.

For example one might expect an Australian in a high position to refer to himself as a ‘nobody’ to avoid seeming arrogant. Alternatively when referring to someone who is powerful an Australian might say ‘I’m just as good as him!’. The goal is a social leveling, the result is stifled leadership, creativity and innovation.

Tall Poppy Syndrome wasn’t invented by Australians, although we seem to have perfected the art. The term originates in Aristotle’s Politics (Book 5, Chapter 10) and Livy’s History of Rome, Book I. Aristotle writes: “Periander advised Thrasybulus by cutting off the tops of the tallest ears of corn, meaning that he must always put out of the way the citizens who overtop the rest.” In Livy’s account, the Roman tyrant, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, received a messenger from his son Sextus asking what he should do next in Gabii, since he had become all-powerful there. Rather than answering the messenger, Tarquinius went into his garden, took a stick, and symbolically swept it across his garden, thus cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies that were growing there. The messenger, tired of waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii and told Sextus what happened, who realised that his father wished him to put to death all the most eminent people of Gabii, which he then did.

Again it is not uniquely Australian, the Japanese proverb, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” is well known. Scandinavia refer to a similar idea as “Jante law”. It seems that the mediocre masses call for conformity to avoid disturbing the equilibrium. In prison culture Tall Poppy Culture is a dominant force, racial division and gang mentality means a constant battle for equality and power. Ultimately the prisoners are against the institution that constrains them.

Bare in mind Australia is founded on Penal culture, having recently finished Wild Colonial Boys it was a consistent theme of Australians set up in rebellion against the forces that govern the nation. In an effort for equality we gave rise to Tall Poppy Syndrome.

Just as a point of reference, it should not be a quality of a Jesus following Christian. Jesus speaks of having respect for Authority, Pastors, Eldership and those put over you in Authority. Paul speaks in terms of vessels for noble and ignoble purposes and is quick to praise and encourage many of the churches he writes to. The Old Testament we see respect for the priestly Levite tribe along with the Kings. Throughout the entirety of scripture there is an equality of people before Christ. There is also an acknowledgement that God uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways, which is done to Gods glory.

Our lack of willingness to show gratitude, joy and celebration for the success of others done to the glory of God is sinful. We steal blessing, bring division, cause hostility and dismiss glory.

 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

(Philippians 1:15-18)

Aware that people have different motivations, the ultimate goal is Christ preached and glory to God. Paul’s response seems to be a celebration of Christ, not an assessment of motivation and drive. Our response as a Christian is to hold Christ on high, not tyrannical social leveling under the guise of an unchristian social construct.

Tall Poppy Syndrome might be an Australian cultural phenomena but it is not an acceptable Christian  phenomena. If your first statement following a Christian celebration is to question motives and reduce the glory you are marked by something that is not a Christian quality.

Each assessment takes about 30-40 hours which has mean’t quite a lot of dedication work wise to get on top of all the paperwork. At the same time we are going through the ordination process with Converge. Did I mention we have a newborn who isn’t sleeping?

The goal is leaving in May with two approvals, a strong tie with VA and the ordination. All of these things help with hitting the ground running in Australia. I am in the middle of reading Center Church which is the C2C manual and finding it an exceptional read, heck I might affiliate with them too when we are done. The whole process is scary and exciting all at once. Converge has a four day assessment in Chicago in April and sometime later this month Carly and I go before the panel for our Phase 3 assessment for A29. So our lives have been busy, busy, busy.

I have a team working on a business plan and designs for the new church, all which will be revealed in the coming weeks and months. Not that it is hush, hush but I would like to be clear on Vision and Mission so I can express that well.

On the home front we are in the middle of sorting who is going to ship our furniture ($10,000) and who is going to sell our home. We are also looking for someone who will buy the car in May after our family heads back to Australia. Packing up and shipping seems to be a staple of the last 4 years so we are all to familiar with boxes around the home. We are trusting that God will work out the fine details and just preparing our home to be the nicest one on the market! We have our hands full with Maximus who has not given my wife any quality rest in 7 weeks. He is quite the handful. Ruby is developing a wonderful personality and is quite busy around the home doing very little. I am MC’ing Ignite with Mat Balgaard next week. Then on the weekend I have the International Open for Jiu Jitsu, somewhere in there we’ll be landscaping the backyard.

Where are you going?

Either Sydney or Brisbane is a lock right now. A month ago I was convinced it was Dee Why however the reality of Sydney property has forced us to evaluate our options a little more seriously. While this isn’t the defining factor for living we do need to be aware of the cost of living and expenses. We are neither settled or convinced on an area in either Sydney or Brisbane and will take the first month we are home to evaluate that in detail. Brisbane has more opportunity and cheaper property. Sydney is cooler and has friends. We chose those two areas based on the proximity to our parents, mine are in Brisbane and Carly’s are in Sydney. Either way we are a HECK of a lot closer to the both of them. We are sure that God will clear the details up when we get home.

How Can We Pray?

We are a little exhausted so prayer for some energy would be good. Apparently God gives you an Angel for the first kid and a wild man for the second one. So we need some energy.

We need a little prayer for the details to fall into place. There are a lot of cogs spinning and things happening. So prayer that amidst being parents we can get everything done that we need before we go.

How Can We Support You?

Prayer right now, when we get approved I’ll be able to share how you can support us financially in the USA. Then when I get the Church established back in Australia I’ll be able to share how to support us financially in Australia. We’d love your support and we are just trying to make the process as easy as possible. So don’t fret! We’ll soon have ways you can partner with us!