I’m not here to talk about whether or not what Oprah did was good or bad, how she affected the world, if she really did help people, but to just merely make the observation that her show has finished. I’m sure for the rest of my life, I’ll see Oprah around, being a special guest on TV shows and hosting one off events, until she eventually gets old, and can’t continue because of health reasons. Then she’ll pass on as all people do. When I have kids one day, they will go to school and learn about Oprah from a text book, about how she started in a time of the equality battle and went on to influence millions. Then maybe she’ll be mentioned as a footnote in my grandkids curriculum. Then my great grandkids, maybe will never know who Oprah is. If one of the most famous and influential people of my time is forgotten about within a few generations, what hope do I have? What hope do any of us have? Well, the truth is no hope at all. Bleak? Perhaps. True and worth considering? Definitly.

As we work through 1 Peter at church, a few Sundays ago Mark shared with us this verse;

“All flesh is like grass
   and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
   and the flower falls,

from 1 Peter 2:25. This is the one undeniable fact about life isn’t it? That everything comes to an end. Not just life, but things we do with life. Empire’s rise and fall, buildings rot and collapse, even certain ideas and concepts are lost into oblivion. But there is more to this passage, in the next verse;

but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

Peter reassures us that life is not 100% bleak. It is the word of God that is eternal. Which is why I came to the conclusion that it is the only thing worth labouring for. Not saying we should all be in full time ministry, we wouldn’t survive with that. You can work and have a career, but labouring for the word is about having the gospel as your top priority in life. In the book of Acts, the church was made up of many people doing different things, but they were all of one mind and that one mind was for the word.

What are you labouring for? How can we, as Christians in western Sydney, be labouring for the word? Share some thoughts

My first night was bliss and after warming myself in front of the campfire with a glass of red in hand, I decided to call it a night, hopped into my tent and tucked myself into my sleeping bag. Oh the serenity!

I was not too far off into laa laa land before I heard the first thud at the base of my tent, then a scratching sound then a thud, then another more constant, unrelenting gnawing sound.

‘It must be a large beetle or a bug’ I thought to myself. I flicked my torch on and noticed four slices of bread I saved in a plastic bag for brekky laying on the tent floor. I lifted the bag to see to my horror that the bag had been chewed, so had the bread… and there was a hole in my tent base from where something had gnawed its way through!

Aargh… I shone my torch all around and outside the tent and nothing, but as I shone a little further in the scrub, their they were, these little tyrant field mice, not timidly scurrying but defiantly bounding all over the bush scrub. They were fearless! Every time I’d get into my sleeping bag, within minutes there would be a vermon assault! Bang! Scratch! Gnaw! Each time I would stamp my feet, swing my arm down on the base where I felt their strikes. This was all out war! Each night they would retreat after half an hour or so… relieving the greatest fear I had… that they would breech the defense and infest my sacred sleeping ground, then off I’d go, eventually to sleep.

The last day presented the most surprising revelation of all though! As I folded clothes and cleaned out the tent I noticed the colateral damage to my tent base becoming more and more evident as each moment passed. These vermon had gnawed and scratched their way through at least three areas of the tent, so I felt so relieved that they didn’t make their way inside… until there, hidden in the corner of my tent, all on its own, was a sleek, brown, rice- shaped piece of rodent vindication, presenting itself in all it’s gory power… One lone mouse poo left as a momento to yours truly that THEY HAD WON!

Alas, I still had a blast on this trip but you know, I didn’t see that mouse in my tent, certainly didn’t hear it or feel it (probably running all over my face for fun), but it was definately there. I didn’t see it but I knew it was there, because it had left a little of itself behind.

This logic amongst many people is irrefutable really, that if you leave evidence of your existence, people will believe you existed even if they don’t see you. When we want to apply this logic to prove the existence of God it is, whether you like it or not, the same logic.

It is very probable that if a mouse leaves it’s poo in your tent, that mouse really does exist. It follows therefore that if God left his mark in our universal tent, by leaving behind a perfectly ordered world, with planets, solar systems, stars, suns and moons… (although they are more cylindric in shape)then He too really does exist!

I thought the wedding was very fancy shmancy, but I didn’t really expect anything less from something that was BOTH English and Royal. I wonder if Will and Kate had the same discussion that many couples have, ‘who is it that we want to invite, and who is it that we have to invite, and where is the balance between the two?’ Not sure.

My ears definitely perked when I heard what the bible reading was. Romans 12. There were two reasons for my interest, the first was that it wasn’t 1 Corinthians 13, and the second is that this is such a clear part of the Bible about Gods children living in His world. That night, facebook was full of peoples comments about the service and the sermon given by the Archbishop, things ranging from people who were brought to tears from his words, and other people who gave him the label of a heretic.

What did I think? I thought there were some wise words from a super-high anglican leader, who is almost the personification of liberalism. Yes there were some parts lacking in his theology, but I don’t really want to paint him as an anti-Christ, as I don’t think he was claiming at all to be Christ.

My big question but, no matter what you thought of his talk, is what did your friends at work, school, sport, social club etc think of it? Did it inspire any questions from them? Did they think he explained the reading done by Kate’s brother? Yes? No? or not sure? The big point I want to make in this post, comes from Col 4 v5, to ‘make the most of every opportunity’. This wedding, friends, is a great opportunity at least to find out what your friends think about church, ask them what they thought of the church Will and Kate got married in, maybe have a go at explaining that church isn’t about big stone buildings. Maybe at the most they will ask about Romans 12, and you will get the chance to introduce them to Jesus. I guarantee everyone watched or has seen some part of the wedding. The wedding was an event definitely not to be missed. And the opportunity it created is definitely one not to be missed.

- Alex

At Christ Church, we believe that God is totally sovereign over everything, including our mission week next week. Knowing this as we enter mission week will actual set us on the right course to run the week properly. For example, if we did our mission week without keeping Gods sovereignty on the fron of our mind, we would find ourselves running around alot more, not praying as much, worrying and being anxious about whether or not people will turn up to our events, and if the events aren’t big we’ll feel deflated or proud of ourselves if the events are huge. But knowing Gods sovereignty during the week, will lift the giant burden of success/failure off our shoulders, as God will be calling the shots. If the events don’t go as planned, then we will know that this fits with Gods plan and He will work it our for His glory, and if they are a raging success we will know to give thanks to Him.

I’ve just finished reading John Chapman’s book on evangelism Setting Hearts on Fire. After reading it, the best way I can summarize Chapo’s evangelistic strategy is Pray, Talk, Relax

1. Pray

Praying to God before any form of evangelism, whether it just be connecting with people over a social event all the way through to an evangelistic church service, will put us in the right frame of mind to be honouring and serving God with what we are going to be doing. Not only that, it seeks Gods will and guidance as we spread His Gospel

2. Talk

Talking is the next stage, it could be anything from inviting people to a social event to meet others from our church, giving our testimony, asking them what they thought about a particular talk/bible passage or even giving the talk yourself

3. Relax

Once the seed has been sown, we must trust in the sovereignty of God to give it growth, if He chooses to. As Paul says about His work in the church in Corinth “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Cor 3.6). We can rest in the certainty that what ever God does with our evangelistic effort, it will be according to His plan.

So during our mission week, I’ll be praying as much as I can, talking as much as I can, and then relaxing in Gods sovereignty.

What will you be doing?

- Alex

PS, feel free to leave any feedback, thoughts, questions, anything!

It all went well, the kids loved it and got into it, Mark gave a great and engaging talk (Praise God!). After Chapel, Mark and I were walking back over to our office, and I raised the issue from the morning. Mark immediately skewed off his path with laughter. I couldn’t help but laugh myself. There was something child-like about standing up, inventing ways for these kids to worship their God. And i actually enjoyed it, I had fun. I thank God that I was able to laugh about something fun like that.

James 1:17 tells us “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The greatest gift God has given us is His Son Jesus, who gives us an eternal life of peace. But I do believe that all good things are from God. Those things that make burst out in an innocent chuckle, those things that make us laugh, are from God

During our month of commitment at Christ Church @ the College, I’m trying to remember to thank God for those little good things. The nice whether as I’m walking to the train station in the morning, when I get to catch up with my little sister or a friend at uni, spending time with my wife when I get home. Hot shower. A good joke. This month, I want to be meditating on the life God has given me, thanking Him for the things that make me Lol

- Alex

The guiding principle I use which gives me a simple but helpful guide comes from Proverbs 30:7-9 

On one hand the writer is searching for an honest living, ‘remove from me falsehood and lying’. It’s very easy to justify why we need that expensive car or bike, new piece of furniture or end of year plane trip, but the writer knows his own deceptive heart and asks God for integrity in his decisions. That’s a great place to start isn’t it?

Please God, help me to be honest about my needs.

This has implications in two ways. My desire to have more can be so bad that in becoming ‘full’, I forget about God. My decisions can be so poor that I am always lacking, to the extent that I steal and so bring discredit to God.

Just enough is a hard balance to find yet my bet would be that the biggest concern for us in a wealthy society might be the first problem. What an awful place to be, that in gaining so much wealth we actually think that we no longer need God, or in being so blessed with wealth we simply forget who owns it all in the first place.

Please God, help me never to think that in being so rich I can live without Jesus.

Mark

Whenever I have found myself literally in a fix when I’m out in the ocean, many times I’ve had to muster up every ounce of energy within me to swim hard enough to break the ocean’s hold.

When spiritual tides of this world grab hold, I sometimes find the same concerted effort can help to place me on the right track back to Jesus.

Fasting has always therefore, been a good thing for me. It’s a time where I forfeit an aspect of my money or my time or luxuries, as a symbol of obedience to Jesus. I don’t have to shout it from the rooftops or make it overtly obvious, but it is a movement towards God which gives me a deeper focus on Him.

This is because during the times when I am often tempted to give up the fast, I remember my promise to Jesus and I remember His great promise to me. I find myself thinking about Him more and more and I begin seeing far more clearly the spiritual war I am in! 

At the moment I’ve decided that during our month of comittment, during March (right now guys!), I will not have any alcohol.  

Will it make me any more spiritual than other Christians? No. Will it give me a better seat in heaven? No.  Am I always successful in my fasting? No. Will it help me contemplate Jesus more? It often does.

If you find that you’re being taken by the tide… it might be time to try the fast lane back to Jesus! 

 Mark

“I was in Dunedin last week I kept thinking that I wouldreally wanted to share my experiences of seeing how the people of NZ rallied to support those in Christchurch with Christ Church.

I wanted to tell you what it was like.

My mum & I arrived in Dunedin on Monday afternoon in preparation for cousin’s wedding on Saturday (normally you can’t fly direct to Dunedin from Sydney, and have to fly to Christchurch and drive down- thank God literally that we didn’t have to do that as the earthquake struck the very next day).

On Tuesday we both headed out to do some shopping on the main street. After blazing through all the shops that the one shopping mall in town had, we met my Uncle Jeff at his work in the council chambers and had coffee and caught up on all the family news. The first thing he said to us was “Did you feel the earthquake?!” Because we had been walking around and moving a lot, we didn’t feel it, but a lot of people sitting down in office buildings felt it very strongly.

At that point we didn’t even know where the earthquake had come from- if it was centred in Dunedin or somewhere else. NZ gets a lot of earthquakes so no one really treated it as much of a big deal and I thought it was just a minor quake.

An hour later Mum & I were in a clothing store and stopped in our tracks to listen to the radio playing through the store’s speakers.

What stopped us right then and there, t-shirts in hand, was the words “there have been reports of deaths amongst the rubble”.

Amidst the frivolousness of $20 t-shirts and $15 shorts, I felt a deep sense of “none of this stuff matters”. Right there, in the shop, I felt silly for spending my entire day shopping for things that were really inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

Four hours drive away, in a city I had visited many times, people were dead, dying, seriously injured, scared and trapped.

Four hours away families were scared and fearful for their loved ones in Christchurch’s CBD.

Four hours away mothers ran barefoot for half an hour to check on their children at school.

Four hours away people in an office building had to resort to sliding down the outside of a building on a rope weighted only by the mass of another man.

Four hours away strangers banded together to physically peel off the roof of a car, only to find the driver hadn’t survived.

All of this (and so many more horrific stories) we watched on the 24/7 streaming news coverage that night, news coverage that ended up running for three days straight. In all of the pictures taken the city looks like a warzone. It literally looks like someone has dropped a bomb into the centre of the city, a city where my Mum was born, where now I can’t even recognise places I’ve been. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was the spire from the cathedral crashed and splintered on the ground. I’ve seen that cathedral before and it is magnificent. Right in the heart of the city, surrounded by shops and businesses and restaurants, it is a powerful reminder that this city is Christchurch, Christ’s Church.

In the following days, Christchurch became the dominant topic of conversation. In cafes, book stores, supermarkets and pharmacies, you could almost always hear someone talking to someone else about the earthquake. Being the next largest city, almost everyone in Dunedin knows someone who lives or has lived in Christchurch. I have been to Christchurch many times and know people that live there. And so many of those people have had their homes or workplaces wrecked by the force of the quake that was struck so suddenly.

What was amazing to see was how New Zealand responded. Almost immediately, medical personnel were dispatched to the city. Ordinary Dunedin citizens loaded up their cars and drove to help out. People poured into church services on Sunday, many admitting that they hadn’t stepped foot inside a church in years. As all the supermarkets posted signs declaring they were out of milk, or bread, or toilet paper, or flour (it changed every day) because of the situation in Christchurch, students organised for Dunedinites to make and drop off hundreds of packaged lunches, and shipped them to help feed rescue workers.

Being in New Zealand at the time of the earthquake was a little scary and disarming. But it was also amazing and very humbling. I didn’t feel the earthquake (although I felt one aftershock in the middle of the night a few days later), but what I felt most was the compassion and empathy people had for those affected in Christchurch. People forgot about all the materialistic things we get so caught up in with this life and focussed on what really matters- we are alive, we are safe and we are provided for.

People who weren’t Christians asked me how God could let this happen. It’s hard to know what to say to that, but what I told them was that the city was named CHRISTchurch. The sentiment behind that wasn’t lost on me. God had not abandoned this city. He hadn’t let something horrible happen to it, just to stand back and shake his head. What happened was a natural disaster, the result of tectonic plates colliding. We know that God ALWAYS works for the good, and that hadn’t changed because of the earthquake. And in fact, so much good came out of this horrible situation. People getting to know their neighbours, spending quality time with their kids and their family, banding together to help clear liquefaction from a stranger’s driveway, people rescuing others without even thinking of their own safety. This is not just something horrible that happened to the city. This is something where God has allowed many good things to come from it.

The fact that this happened in a city called Christchurch made me think that maybe this city is supposed to become a light on the hill- look how we’ve dealt with this awful event, look how it’s brought us closer together as a people, look how we’ve responded. Look how God has provided for us so well- with the city’s civil defence department being so well organised and the rescue efforts being so efficient, and the Earthquake fund and levy resulting in billions of dollars already being stored in case a situation just like this one occurred. It’s possible that a city couldn’t have been any better prepared to deal with the fallout of such a disaster, or so many officials in NZ are saying.

Okay, that was a lot to read… sorry about that! Once I got started I couldn’t stop, there was so much to tell.

Leash “

powerful experience. Don’t forget to keep praying for New Zealand

- Alex

welcome to the brand new and shiny Christ Church Blog. On this blog, there will be a few people, (just Ps Mark  and myself at the moment), sharing thoughts, idea, opinions and observations of the world, as we continue to live and grow as Gods children, both in the world-wide family and in the smaller family of Christ Church @ the College Penrith.

We know that blogging has been around for ages, and we hope we haven’t missed the blog-wagon. We do hope that this blog site does provide some encouragment and challenge as we continue to live together, and live out our faith. One day, blogging as we know it will be obselete, no longer required (hopefully not too soon, we want to get some good thoughts out there!), as technology changes with our changing world. But, as we go through the gospel of John as a Church, we meet a man Jesus, who is God in teh flesh, who is eternal, timeless and unchanging and we hope and pray that this blog in the end, brings glory to Him.

Enjoy!

-Alex