Nehemiah 1,1Chronicles 15,Ps 86
Acts 28,1Chronicles 14,Ps 85
Acts 27,1Chronicles 13,Ps 84
The Word of God gives us great help in attaining the
peace we need. It is living, very lively and active in
sezing the conscience of the sinner, in cutting him
to the heart, and in comforting him and binding up
the wounds of the soul. It is powerful. It convinces
powerfully, converts powerfully and comforts powerfully.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714)
English Bible Commentator
Happened to consult again my Dictionary.com app for my iPhone and the Word of the Day is ...
Salient - means "noticeable, conspicuous, prominent, forcing itself on the attention."
Made me think - what "salient" person or situation or challenge will God place in front of me today? God tends to do this because I suspect that he is far more interested in the development of my character than in the maintenance of my comfort. And, the reality is, God often positions us to see something or someone right in front of us because he has equipped us and expects us to do something about it.
Such was the experience of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. God placed before him the challenge - returning the people of God from exile in Babylon and rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. But God also positioned him in such a place and at such a time that he could do something about it - he was right alongside Artaxerxes I of Persia, the one human person who could make both things possible. And you can see the realisation dawn upon Nehemiah in 1:11 when he makes that beautiful statement, "I was cupbearer to the king."
Where has God put you? What has God put in you? What has God put before you? When you step forward and connect those three, you often find yourself in God's purposes for your life.
The Word of God which you receive by your ear,
hold fast in your heart. For the Word of God is the food for the soul.
St. Gregory The Great (540-604)
Pope Church Father and Teacher
The name Georgia Therese Tear is perhaps unfamiliar to many who read this blog yet for me it is a name that I will never be able to forget. The name invokes the memory of a young grade 9 student at IGGS who sadly passed away in her sleep in 2008. I conducted the funeral before at least a thousand family and friends at the IGGS auditorium. It was perhaps the most emotive and moving experience of my pastoral life.
Last year, at the request of the school and Georgia’s family I helped conduct a short memorial service where a seat was dedicated to Georgia’s memory.
I stood there in front of the hundred or so gathered in the freezing outdoor cold – memories and tears flowed freely as we remembered being in the same place this time last year.
I stood there as a pastor – a shepherd helping in some way a group of people continue their journey of grief and love. Sometimes in the busyness of life it is so easy for me to forget the real attributes of a pastor and shepherd. I know that my role includes being a ‘jack of all trades’ – amongst them leader, visionary, finance expert, strategist, human relations management and marketing guru – none of these I feel absolutely comfortable mentioning. Perhaps it is because I don’t feel competent in many of these areas. Now I hear pastors using terms to describe themselves as change agent, entrepreneur or culture setter – again perhaps none of these are entirely misplaced.
Yet I didn’t feel like any of these terms applied when standing with a grieving family whose sense of loss and sadness was just as real as it was twelve months ago.
My essential calling as someone with a pastor’s heart was very real to me. I cared deeply for the people before me, they wept I wept, my compassion seemed to be bottomless, my love for these people whom I do not really know was profound and real. My heart cried out to just make things the way they were before this tragedy happened.
Then I realized that this is the part of me as a pastor that no one truly sees. People see the supposedly confident communicator on a weekend where mere fragments of a sentence or even a single word can create a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of gigantic proportions that erodes confidence like a mud slide tears a hillside apart.
The invisible and vulnerable side of the calling as a pastor is often hidden from sight. This is the unseen heart that believes in people, loves people, trusts people, wants the best for people, grieves with people, cries with people and encourages people. It is the heart that hurts and scars far too easily at times, gets discouraged too often at times and realizes the weight of responsibility is sometimes too heavy to bear.
Yet yesterday in the midst of all the emotion, with my heart so heavy for the family of Georgia, I wouldn’t have swapped being there for all the influence, wealth, prominence and status of a person who thinks they have all those things.
For that is truly the pastor’s heart in action at its rawest level – perhaps the glimpse into this unique heart of a shepherd helps you understand me more!
The Bible is to us what the star was to the wise men;
but if we spend all our time in gazing upon it,
observing its motions, and admiring its splendor,
without being led to Christ by it, the use of it
will be lost to us.
Thomas Adams (1871-1940)
English Architect and Town Planer
You do well not to let dropfrom your hands the
polished mirror of the Holy Gospel of your Lord, for
it provides the likeness of everyone who looks into
it ...........There the Kingdom of Heaven is depicted,
visable to those who have aluminous eye.
Ephraem the Syrian (c. 303-373)
Church Father and Spirtual Writer
MARCH – God Stories: Stories That Inspire
“Hey everyone!
There is something powerful about stories – stories of real people, real lives. Stories don’t exist in isolation – they intersect and overlap with the stories of others, and since stories are not isolated, they have the potential to influence – to lead – others.
In this month of March we are continuing our theme of leadership but are shifting our focus to biblical stories of leaders. Some of these leaders may be well known to you – those we might call “big L leaders.” But we’ll also be spending time with some lesser-known biblical leaders – and we’ll find that God worked through them just as powerfully. When God brings his transforming presence into a human life, a new story begins to be written. And these “God Stories” have the power to move and motivate us – they can seize us and send us – they can deeply impact our lives – profoundly influence our character – and can leave legacies in our lives.
I am really looking forward to this month – and I hope you are! It is promising to be one of both encouragement and challenge. We’ll see you there.
Warmly
Haydn”
WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH
WITH SPECIAL GUEST STEVEN BRADBURY
Mark the 17 March on your calendars as The Bloke – Adrenaline is ON! A successful event held by Riverview each year, The Bloke sees 800+ guys enjoy a great night out (run similar to a Rove, Denton or Parkinson-style episode), filled with our normal brand of creativity and stupidity!
The night will start with high energy games and live music by The Bullet Holes, followed by a live interview with Olympic Gold Medalist, Steven Bradbury. There is a beer (18+only) and good food on arrival, plus loads of pre-entertainment including competitions and a car display.
Bring along your mates for an adrenaline packed night!
EVENT INFO
DATE: Wednesday 17 March 2010
TIME: 6.30pm – doors open for pre-entertainment
7.30pm – main event
VENUE: Riverview Church Auditorium – 1 Thorogood Street, Burswood
COST: $25 per person
Tickets available:
At the Info Desk after any of our weekend services, by calling the EVENTS HOTLINE: 1300 797 027
or Purchace on line at www.riverviewchurch.com
An ambulance, siren blazing goes past my office – then a fire engine followed by a police car – all sirens going. What is going on – curiosity has got the better of me? I leave my office – walk outside and then I see it. The stark reality of a car crash is certainly very confronting even if it is staged.
Every year at our church over a thousand Grade 12 students come to the Rocky Horror Road Show. A joint emergency services Year 12 School Leavers Harm Minimization Initiative – everyday demonstrates the reality of what can take place where young people, drugs, alcohol, and cars combine to form a fatal attraction. This is especially relevant as many of the young people at this educational day will be part of end of school celebrations. So before my eyes was a staged crash – appearing very real – teenagers in a crashed car – even the blood looks real – one teenager killed another badly injured – two others hysterical – ambulance and fire officers cutting the car open to free the victims – police interviewing the driver – all this in front of a memorized crowd of potential school leavers. The message of ‘Don’t be a statistic!’ is driven home in the most dramatic way. Ipswich District Crime Prevention Coordinator and project manager Sergeant Nadine Webster said all emergency services wanted to deliver a lasting message to young people. It certainly did that for me and no doubt in my mind it does it for the onlooking young people as well. I thought again how a picture says a thousand words – as a communicator I stood there and again realized the power of a picture. How do I utilize this vivid experience in how I communicate? Sometimes I wonder if too many words are used in so many situations of life including my communication when all that is need is a picture.
How many observe Christ's birthday
How few His Precept !
O ! Tis easier to keep holidays than commandments.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
American Statesman,Inventor and Scientist
The sages and heros of history are receding from us
and history contracts the record of their deeds into a narrow page
But time has no power over the Name and Deeds and Words of Jesus Christ
William Ellery Channing (1740-1842)
American Theologian and Pastor
A True Christian is a man who Never for a moment forgets what God has done for him in Christ
and whose whole comportment and whole activity have ther root in the sentiment of gratitude
John Baillie (1886-1960)
Scottish Theologian and Ecumenical Leader
I always thought that when your child entered Grade 12 – last year at High School – it was all about study. You know what I mean – study, exams OP scores and thinking about the future. However after seeing four children enter their final year I now realize that Grade 12 is about one thing and possibly one thing only especially if you are a girl. Forget study – it is about the School Formal. YES, that’s right – you heard me all you fathers of high school daughters – it is the School Formal. This is an event of ‘Ben Hur’ proportions – organizational skill is essential as are the adequate financial reserves of a small nation, a psychologists mind, nerves of steel, patience of Job, wisdom of Solomon and a keen sense of what to say, when to say it and when to disappear completely. You see the planning is long term – such things as dress, jewellery, make up, hair, shoes and handbag are only the start of the many choices that have to be made and as a mere male these choices are deemed to be far too important for you to be involved in. Then there is the choice of who one should take to the formal – any suggestions from a father are considered unhelpful and not even barely tolerated. As if a father would know about these things – such as males? But no one prepares you THE DAY – yes the day – school finishes at 10.30 am because it takes all day to get ready. A completely foreign concept for a male! As a Dad you want to help but you learn that such help is not required and indeed this is the time for absence. There is a rush of activity, the air is filled with a tension that no man can possibly understand, people come from everywhere for a viewing – this is not the time for faint hearted men – this is the time of women on a mission. One wrong word, one wrong move or one wrong action from me at this time could prove to be extremely costly and I don’t mean financially. Yes this is the moment where your feelings of being totally useless and unessential flood you. Then it happens! Your daughter comes out of the room – she is ready – pursued by hordes of helpers – for a fleeting moment you think how did so many women get into that room but all is now lost as my daughter stands before me. I now know my role – I have discovered a father’s role in a daughter’s formal. It is with tears in your eyes you look at her and tell her from the depths of your heart, how truly beautiful and grown up she is – that is the fathers moment and one you never forget!
God's Son becomes to all thoes who turn to Him
Their Nurse, Teacher,Brother ,Councellor,Physician, and Saviour
Giving them Strenght,Wisdom,Comfort,Power,and Glory
Author Unknown ( Second or Third Century)
Epistle to Diognetus
You may study,look,and meditate but Jesus is a greater saviour than you think Him to be
even when your thoughts are at there highest
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
What was it about the race that made it so enjoyable despite all the hard work?
I have thought about it so much since then and now realize that the reason is a little embarrassing if I am honest. For the majority of my life I have been involved in areas where any perceived success is dependent upon other people or it is difficult to see the fruit of one’s labours. I am not complaining about this as in fact this is a wonderful way to live and work because it means you become team orientated and others centred in your approach. Yet sometimes it is challenging for that very reason because you are dependent upon other people. The things that you want to see achieved just don’t happen as they should or perhaps they happen not as quickly as you think they should and that is not the easiest thing to deal with if you are my type of personality. However this race was different. I know that what I am about to say will sound selfish rather than selfless and therefore I am hesitating to even say it. The fact was that every bit of effort and training that I put into the race had a direct effect upon my success in that race. The more I trained the better result I was going to get. If I didn’t train then the lack of results would be caused by me and me alone. Effort equalled results. This was for me tremendously satisfying. In thinking this through a little more I have decided that if you are in a situation like me where your life is really centred on others being empowered to achieve what is essentially in your heart then you need a means whereby you do something that is totally dependent upon the effort you put into it. I suspect some people call this a ‘hobby’ – whatever you call it methinks it is absolutely necessary. That’s why I intend to run again – so where’s the next race?
Park to Park – one of the toughest courses on the running circuit – full of hills – 5, 10 or 20 kms of hills, hills and more hills. My first race – 5 kms for me was the aim – hopefully under 30 minutes that was the goal. The moment came – lining up with over 800 other starters in my race division of 5 kms – talk about nerves. I was about 20 rows back from the starting line – trying to remember all the training – when to go harder, when to hold back – don’t push too hard up the first hill – when to push hard to the finish line – so many thoughts! Then it happened – someone was beside me in the crowd. It was my good mate Matt Reis. Because of the staggered start he had completed the 20 km – came 6th in a PB now the mate I had trained with was beside me. “I’m here to run with you mate”, he said – wow, I was so moved with emotion – my eyes filled up as I thought of what Matt was doing for me. “I’ll pace you!” he said. The gun went and I was off. “Slow down big fellow”, Matt said to me as I took off far too fast, for the first hill was a killer. I settled and ran as we had trained. I came to the point that Matt and I talked about often – it was the point when I would give my all – about 1 km to go and I had to push it. I picked up the pace – everything was hurting as the hills had taken their toll. 500 meters to go – Matt yelled the final encouragement to me – if I could give it all I would get under 30 minutes. So that is what I did. I didn’t want to leave anything on the course – I know it is silly but at the end of the day I didn’t want to finish and know I could have done better. The finish line was now in sight – I sprinted as hard as I could – my breathing short – legs aching – over the line. Nothing left – couldn’t even bend down to untie my laces to remove the timing tag. Matt was there – 27.05 minutes – a PB – it was worth it – every moment of training that hurt forgotten. I had done it – 108th out of 890 starters in the 5 kms – 18th in my age group of 40 – 59 years AND I am 50! I loved every moment of it! Why did I love it so much? It was one of the most exciting things I had ever done. You know I have thought about my emotions about this race often since – tomorrow in this blog I will share why I think I loved this race so very much and why I want to do more races. Somehow I think you may be surprised at what I have to say!
The morning came so slowly – it usually does when you are really excited about something. Couldn’t sleep – just waited until it is was a reasonable time to get up! It was the night before the big race. I had been training for months – now the day had arrived.
Last year before i went to China so I thought, some weeks before, I had better get a swine flu injection – you know northern hemisphere winter and all that stuff! So bright eyed and bushy tailed – I turned up at the Ipswich Health Department Plaza attempting to be the first appointment at 9.00 am. My thinking is that if I get in first the nurse giving the injection is also bright eyed and bushy tailed rather than the opposite at the end of a long day! Plus I hate waiting.
I arrive and follow the signs – now I am talking signs – there is no way you could miss where you have to go and when you arrive what you have to do. Obviously this is a tried pathway. There must have been at least half a dozen signs telling you what to do. ‘Take a seat – fill in the green form on the table and wait for someone to collect you’ – so that is what I do! As I wait a couple appears – they look at the signs – go to the wrong place – come back out – go to a second wrong place then come and stand in front of me. Directly in front of me they read one of the signs again then attempt to go to a third wrong place. Returning quickly they again stand in front of me – I am about to say something and one of them says to me – ‘What do we do mate – you got any idea?’ I hand then one of the ‘green’ forms and tell them to fill it out and take a seat! The young man says to me – ‘Are these the forms the sign says to fill out?’ I politely say, ‘yes’. The nurse appears and the man asks her, ‘Are these the forms the sign says to fill out’ – she points to the sign and says ‘Yes – they are the only ones there.’ I can’t help a smile. Little interactions like this always take my fancy – I often watch these situations with great interest – a silent spectator viewing life’s moments from the sideline. It’s a bit like life isn’t it? Well that’s what I thought! We can be told something many times over but often it takes someone to lead us. Someone who is close to us to guide us – a friend we trust, a fellow pilgrim, one who has been that way before or taken the path before us. One who when we are unsure even though the course of action seems clear to all around gently counsels us in the right direction. Everything made sense to the couple when I handed them the right form – isolated walks in life are just so lonely aren’t they? I had the injection – walked out – smiled at the couple and thought no one was meant to walk this life alone!
The idea that God gives us opportune moments in our lives is something that I believe is embedded in the pages of scripture. We find the idea of timely moments in Ecclesiastes when the Qoholet or "The Teacher" (probably King Solomon) wrote that "There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: a right time for birth and another for death, a right time to plant and another to reap" (Eccl. 3:1-2 MSG). The implication in the entire third chapter is that God actually enables us to discern these moments - with the results described, in verse 11, as "beautiful."
When we move to the New Testament we find Jesus himself speaking of timely moments of opportunity. In fact, the very first words of Jesus recorded in the gospel of Mark - which is believed by many scholars to be the very first of the four gospels to be written - were these: "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News" (Mark 1:15 NIV). Of two very common words in Koiné Greek used for "time" - chronos (“a period of time”) and kairos (“an opportune moment in time") - Mark chose the latter to express Jesus' words. Paul selected the same word in relation to discipleship as he penned his letter to the Roman church - “Besides this you know the time [kairos], that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12 ESV).
Kairos moments are meant to be seized - they are the Greek New Testament versions of Carpe Diem or "seize the day" moments. Early last week, I was lying awake at night thinking about this and where we are as Riverview Church. Finally, at 4.35am, I pulled open my notebook and wrote this: "It is time … God builds his house, we must not and we will not labour in vain … we will face challenges but we will not shrink back … we will step into this year with conviction and courage … we will ask God for wisdom and trust that he will give it … we will watch and pray … we will walk this journey together … God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s provision … it is time."
I hope that you will welcome and seize those kairos moments when God sends them your way, as he surely will.
Was looking at "Word of the Day" on my iPhone's "Dictionary.com" app (great little app!). It is ...
tarradiddle - means "pretentious nonsense."
I suspect that I have NEVER heard that word used in any conversation that I've ever had. I think the inventor of this word is guilty of the very thing he has sought to describe. But that's just me.
I can still hear the words of my mother ringing in my ears as I promised her faithfully – well as faithfully as a 10 year boy can – to pick up my clothes from the bedroom floor, ‘Actions speak louder than words!’
There are none among us that have not had those words said to us and as the parent of four children let me confess that I have perhaps, on the odd occasion, said those immortal words. I thought I would never be guilty of repeating to my children what my parents said to me.
The meaning of that timeless phrase is very clear. You know what it means and I know what it means.
Yet the other night the reality of those words came home to me in a very unique way. I am so fortunate to live slightly out of town – at night the sky is not subject to nay light interference. Perish the thought that I nearly said ‘light pollution’. The night sky was so clear – stars not just shining but it seemed that after the recent rain things were just a little brighter. The ‘milky way’ was so visible. I just stood there transfixed – unusual for me who can’t keep still for more than a nanosecond.
Then I remembered the words of David – King and poet, ‘The heavens proclaim the glory of God … day after day they continue to speak, night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word, their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world.’
They speak yet utter not a sound. Their beauty spoke, their power shouted, their brightness yelled, their magnificence roared, their majesty screamed and their radiance cried out to me yet I heard not a single sound.
Do I speak too much? Do I find myself wanting to have an opinion on everything? Is silence that frightening for me? Do I dominate conversation with my rhetoric? Yes I do – I love to talk – hate to listen – silence a little bit scary for me.
I am a great fan of Nancy Gibb’s writing – she writes the back page essays for Time Magazine and I don’t think there has ever been an occasion where she has not captured my attention and said something seriously good and challenging.
In Time (25 January 2010) she writes about the loneliest job in the world – now what is it you may be thinking? Well – Gibbs then goes on to outline the loneliness of being the President of the USA. It is a very interesting essay but what I love about it was the fact that she then talks about the loneliness of any leader.
It is the ‘nature of the job’ as Gibbs refers to it. Gibbs speaks about the decisions that no one else has to make but you as a leader. According to Gibbs on the day before D-Day General Dwight D. Eisenhower (later President of USA) had to make a decision whether to send two paratroop divisions into a sector where 9 out of 10 would be killed. Eisenhower speaks of hearing all the arguments, weighting all the advice and seeking all the counsel but in the end he was ‘all alone’ in making the decision.
Now I doubt that I will ever have the pressure of that type of decision but I do know the loneliness of decision making. I do know what it is like to sit in ‘the chair’ where the buck stops hoping and praying that the decision I am making will be right. However knowing that there will be some that I get wrong.
Being aware that upon making that decision people will be affected. E-Mails, letters and other communications will follow – not all of them will be nice. Sometimes wishing I had magical powers that made every decision absolutely correct and agreeable to everyone. Alas – that is what it is – wishful thinking.
No leader sets out to make a wrong decision. Eisenhower speaks of ‘conscientiously, deliberately, prayerfully scrutiniz(ing) every argument, every proposal, every prediction, every alternative, every probable outcome’ yet still being all alone in making the right decision.
So why tell you this? Quite simply to ask you to realize the loneliness of a leader’s life when it comes to making decisions AND having grace towards them when decisions are made that you just don’t agree with or perhaps are adversely affected by. Perhaps that is why all of us are encouraged to pray for our leaders. Make no mistake, as Gibbs says – ‘Lonely does not begin to describe’ how leaders live. Yes they choose it but that does not mean it is not lonely. Hopefully this has given you new insight into a leader’s life and how you respond to them?
Hey everyone!
My prayer is that the theme for this month of February, “Everyday Leader: Making Your Year Count”, will be one that galvanizes us for the year ahead. This is so because my – and I hope your – heartfelt intent is to see Riverview Church make this year count – seizing every day of opportunity that God brings. To focus that intent, we will be spending time looking at leadership – what it means, what it costs, what it brings, what it looks like – and engaging with leadership vision, heart, skill and stories.
We desire to be a people who not only lead others well but who also know how to lead ourselves well. Also this month we will be welcoming two dear friends of our church – John Bishop and Robert Fergusson – who will help us as we speak life and hope and wisdom into our lives. It’s going to be a month full of encouragement, motivation and enrichment – so let’s come with expectant and faith-filled hearts, ready for what God has for us in 2010.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
New Beginnings
New Hope
New Prayers
New Songs
New Birth
New Dreams
New Creativity
New Ideas
New Growth
New Faith
New Me
Yes - God is ever faithful!
