And, we're back!

Thank you to all those who upheld us in prayer during our trip. It was an exhausting but exciting mission to be a part of. There will be plenty of updates and reflections to come on this blog in the near future (as well as some photos for those who haven't been to the multiply site as yet!).

For now, please keep Steph in your prayers. During the last few days in Japan I came down sick with a cold of sorts but now I'm feeling much better (though still waking up in the middle of the night with coughing fits). However I've passed on to her my cold and now she's suffering through the sore throat and stuffy sinuses. Please pray for healing, energy and for patience for me as I serve her in this time.

Thank you again :)

Hello from Japan!

It's been a very hectic week since we touched down in Japan. Lots to see and share, which we will in our newsletters. Keep a lookout for them and let me know if you haven't received it yet.

In the meantime, keep a watch at this site:
http://steeejei.multiply.com/photos/album/3/OMF_Japan_Trip

and keep checking back because the photos will be updated regularly!

Quick prayer points:

• for energy to sustain us through this very busy day ahead
• for love and patience as we slowly build relationships with various Japanese people

Thank you!

Brisbane Leadership Training 2008

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Prayer Request - Japan short-term-mission with OMF

Here it is, our long awaited information regarding our upcoming missions trip to Sapporo, Japan. We will be heading off on the 30th of November 2007 for a little over three weeks. We return on the 23rd of December 2007.

What follows is some information about Japan and prayer points for the country, our team, and for us specifically.

Thank you for your prayers in advance – please let us know how we can be praying for you also :)

Info re Japan:

Japan has a population of approximately 127 million people. Christianity has been in Japan since the mid 1500’s, however the church has been persecuted a number of times throughout the history of Japan. Christianity is generally viewed suspiciously as a ‘Western’ religion. Today the Christian population number less than 1% of the overall population. Evangelical believer’s number much less than this.

Church growth recently has been very slow. Many churches struggle without a Pastor and those with Pastor’s have found that the bulk of all church work and administration falls on the Pastor themselves.

Pray for Japan:

• That God will work through economic shock, political instability, and fears for the future, to shock people out of their complacency and turn to Jesus
• For the churches around Japan; many are struggling to grow spiritually and in number, and many churches are still without a pastor
• For more long-term missionaries to be raised to help grow the church in Japan
• That Christians in Japan will grow strong in faith, particularly as many of them face pressure from their non-Christian family members to turn away from Jesus

Pray for our team:

• For good health and stamina throughout the duration of the trip, particularly as we will be adjusting to a very different environment to our sunny Brisbane weather. Pray that we will adjust quickly to the harsh winter conditions.
• For good teamwork, patience, and servant-heartedness, especially as we will be seeing each other for long hours every day!
• We will be going carolling in public—pray that God will work through the words of our carols to arouse people’s interest in the Lord and Saviour we sing about
• Students tend to be more receptive to the Gospel, so pray for the many youths we will be making contact with, that God will work through us to bring them one step closer to Jesus. Pray that God would help us build relationships with these students.
• Pray that people will be receptive when we tell them about Jesus. Pray that we will continue to trust in God’s sovereignty, rather than become disheartened, if people are unresponsive
• Pray that we will be of practical help, support and encouragement to the missionaries based in Sapporo

Prayer for us:

• The next few weeks will be a very busy time before we leave. We are in the middle of preparing for the trip whilst getting as much work done on the upcoming BLT conference in January, finalising the semester timetable for SALT (the new St Lucia teens group), planning the first social events for SALT and getting a few house-keeping things done. Please pray that we will be able to get as much done before we go, but at the same time please pray that we’ll be rested so we don’t leave for Japan exhausted.
• Praise God for the generous financial support we’ve received for our trip!
• Pray for our health as we’ll be constantly moving from the icy-cold conditions outside to heated homes and this may wreak havoc with my sinuses.
• Steph and I feel under-prepared with the language, so please pray that over the next few weeks we’ll be able to brush up a little on our Japanese.
• I have to prepare a number of devotions to lead during the trip, please pray that these will be helpful times of encouragement.

Thank you again for your prayers.
Steven and Steph

A new brother!

This is what I’ve been waiting for ever since I became a Christian myself, to be able to witness first hand the Spirit moving in a person to declare Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

In some ways it came as little surprise. I had been meeting to do Christianity Explained with a new guy at Church and after our 4th session he said that things became so clear. With a glint of a tear in his eyes he shared that for the first time he was glad to know that God was sovereign and that things in his life would be taken care of. It was the expression of a profound trust in God.

‘Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee…How great thou art, how great thou art!”

Prayer Request - the next few weeks

Things have been getting quiet hectic around here. We've been settling into our new home nicely, but there's been plenty of things to do in the meantime.

Steph and I are heading to Japan in a few weeks for a short term mission with OMF. I will be posting up more details very soon. In the past few weeks we've been getting ready to go and only last Monday was I able to finally find some boots in my size at DFO! A huge praise point (since I was concerned about getting proper footwear for my weak ankles and didn't want the cost and risk of purchasing online from the US).

I'm also preaching this weekend on Colossians 2:6-23 which has been an immensely encouraging and exciting time in my preperations for it. However I've been feeling very fatigued in the last few days so please pray for good rest and energy to sustain me through.

Thank you :)

Our New Place!

The house from the backyard...

Despite initial concerns, the move went rather well! Thank you again to Lawry for providing car space for the day. After a quick flurry of activity we finished with about half an hour to spare before the removalists came. Then to our surprise the truck they bought for the move was far too big (we could have literally parked our car in the empty space of the truck and hitched a ride to the new place!).

We’ve been settling in nicely and have enjoyed the new surrounds. Here are some of the (relatively) interesting tid bits we’ve been learning about the new place:

• We had known for a while that the Gateway Toll was very close to our backyard – the noise was a concern. That said it has been rather ok during the day and relatively quiet during the evening. Every so often some guy on the loudspeaker pipes up about something but we can never tell what he’s saying. And I haven’t heard any major car crashes, as I suspected, as yet. But there are some hoons late at night who love to rev their engines as they leave the tolls.
• There is a nice cool breeze which usually comes through the house during the day. My theory is that because we’re so close to the toll way and because there’s quite a bit of heavy traffic through that area, the increased temperatures due to road surface and traffic has created a small weather system in the immediate area. I have no proof whatsoever to back that up, but it sounded pretty smart when I first shared it with Steph!
• We were visited by a friendly bearded lizard we dubbed ‘George’. Despite his fearsome appearance in the photo we got along great.
• I’ve noticed that most of the taps have been fitted with water saving devices, which is really good because I tend to crank open the taps too much during use
• Despite the initial ‘ok’ on the iinet website, we can not get ADSL2+ here because we live on an ‘outer rim’ where Telstra has not installed the ADSL2+ cables yet, which gives further proof that Telstra is not nice.

Our housewarming will be sometime in the new year since we have no time before the end of the year to plan it!

'George'

Our 'million' dollar backyard views...

Prayer Request - Moving House!

Thank you to all the readers of this blog! We hope to post more thoughts regularly in future.

For now, please keep us in your prayers as we undertake the relatively stressful time of moving house (I was told recently that it's one of the top things which stress people the most - I can understand why!). Pray for a smooth transition and for the safe travel of our belongings. Pray also for our cat, whom we're concerned about the most, for his adjustment to the new place and that he won't get lost with the new surroundings.

Thank you and we'll be back soon :)

2007 Men’s Training Event, Mt Tambourine – ‘The Perfect Man’

Whilst the format of this years Men’s Training Event (MTE) was slightly altered from previous years (instead of a workshop we just had talks all weekend), this was certainly another year for many challenges to reflect upon.

Keith Birchley, from the University of Queensland’s ‘Evangelical Students’, took three talks on the book of James. Phil Campbell, from Mitchelton Presbyterian, gave two talks from the book of Judges. Both speakers had different speaking styles, but both hit me square between the eyes with their biblical teaching.

Of the many lessons drawn from James, these were some of the highlights:

• in regards to the trials of this life: God is more concerned with me response to trials rather than the change of circumstances
• When it comes to my ‘Trial Processing Programme’ whilst I’d like to think that I have a relatively realistic outlook, I can’t help but also realise that I’m slightly naïve when it comes to trials (with respect to [wrt] the gravity of some trials)
• WRT contemplating our fear of God as our ‘cosmic Father’ – those we love the most are the ones we fear offending
• WRT the utterly consistent goodness of God – my consistency needs to flow from God’s consistency: this is called integrity
• WRT Godly wisdom – wisdom is more walk than talk – intelligent ideas might be right, they might be sharp, but without godly discernment it is bound to be earthly, unspiritual and ultimately demonic (!)
• WRT to Godly peace – it’s usually what’s going on internally which creates what’s going on externally.
• And to finish, something seemingly random but very well related - Thomas Cranmer’s Anthropology: What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.

Highlights from the two Judges talks were:

• WRT Judges 4-5: whilst these passages are sometimes used to justify the position that women should be ordained as ministers, etc (cf the fact that Deborah was a prophetess and leader over Israel), we should quickly note that the bigger issue within Judges 4-5 is the lack of real men to be leaders
• Campbell insightfully pointed out that Judges 5 contains no references to the ‘men’ in the battle won by Israel, instead the focus of the song is on the women – a very back handed reference to the state of Israel’s men at the time
• WRT Judges 9-11: we see a man, Jephthah who was willing to sacrifice everything in order to get what he wanted. As Campbell preached on this section my mind wandered to how Erwin McManus used portions of this part of scripture in his book ‘The Barbarian Way’. As I continued to listen to Campbell expound on the text he mentioned that the NIV translation says, ‘A group of adventurers gathered around [Jephthah]’ (Judges 11:3). Campbell wasn’t sure why the NIV had translated it this way since the original wording, a literal translation, would have read something more like, ‘a group of empty men gathered around…’ In this way McManus’ use of this portion of scripture as a founding principle for his book is taken incredibly out of context and poorly explained.
• Pointing to Jesus: in reflection upon the two talks Campbell made some insightful connections to Jesus Christ. In Judges 4-5 the problem was a lack of real men. Jesus is the real man (as ironically declared in John 19:5) who in spite of the fear (compared to Barak in Judges 4) stood firm. And compared to Jephthah, who would sacrifice anything to get what he wanted (and tragically ending with the sacrifice of his one and only daughter), Jesus was a man who would sacrifice himself in order to give what we needed.

But aside from the great talks was also another chance to just get away with some guys and grow in our fellowship and encouragement of one another. Please keep praying for next year’s MTE and for many more ‘real men’ to head up the mountain again.

Myself up on stage getting interviewed - thanks Chi for the panoramic pic!

BLT Plus wrap up

I can not remember the last conference I attended when I left feeling completed exhausted. In fact, I don’t ever recall leaving any conference exhausted! This is probably because I’ve usually had ok sleep on the first night, but for BLT Plus this year I didn’t manage to catch much at all.

The feelings of exhaustion carried throughout the Saturday of the conference. That said, part of the tiredness was also the 5am wake up call to see the sunrise with Billy – but that was worth it! Sunday morning’s sunrise was washed out grey apparently.

But onto the important stuff – the talks and the fellowship. BLT Plus crept upon us quite quickly considering the busy weeks beforehand. By the time we hit the camp site I wasn’t expecting big things. So it was both pleasant and a challenge to hear Peter Lin speak from various passages throughout the weekend concerning the Holy Spirit. Some of the key things I learnt throughout the weekend include:

• According to scripture the Spirit’s role is to help us understand and point us to Jesus Christ
• Considering that the Spirit’s role is so Christ-centred, any talk of people ‘hearing a message from the Spirit’ needs to be checked against what scripture says – if the ‘revelation’ has nothing to do with the Christ then it is most likely not from the Spirit
• Not only this, but suggesting that you received a new revelation from the Spirit is also manipulative: it is to say that I received a special revelation and you did not

Throughout this time I was thinking back to when one of my friends said that she had some ‘prophets’ come to their church, lay hands on people and tell them things like, “You will be a Dentist in the future…” etc. The thought of it sat rather uncomfortably with me for a while, but now I understand that the Spirit’s main role. So at least I am now equipped to know what to say next time (that is not to say that I am now going to head out and proclaim to my charismatic friends that they are wrong, but with this greater understanding of the Spirit’s role there at least can be some correction).

So as per usual the talks from BLT Plus were highly challenging, thought provoking and solidly grounded.

But a new concept was trialled for this BLT Plus. In previous years workshops had been run to help train and equip people in various areas of ministry. This year the workshops were scrapped in favour of ‘Manuscript Discovery’ sessions which aimed to train and give confidence to people in understanding scripture. The main reason we did this was to underpin the doctrine of the ‘perspicuity of scripture’. As reformed evangelicals we believe that scripture, as God has given to us today, is clear enough for the every day person to read and understand. We do not require the assistance of a ‘Pope’ figure to give meaning and interpretation. The Holy Spirit plus time can allow us to understand the bible on its own.

So when you’re confronted with something like this:

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

With a bit of time and the Holy Spirit’s help, you can figure out the meaning on your own. But because we didn’t have all the time in the world over the weekend, we had small groups put together to slog through this particular passage (and more) and to encourage each other as we ‘discovered’ scripture for ourselves. There were very exciting moments during my group when you could see their faces and minds clicking over the train of thought within the passage. Understanding not only the passage itself, but that they could do this on their own also.

In all, another great weekend away. But enough from me, here are some more photos :P

Sunrise

My attempt at an arty shot - thanks Wong for participating :)

Breaking through the clouds

Heading back to the campsite for breakfast!

Shipwreck on beach

Just a tick over 100 people again this year from 9 different churches. It's growing each year - and hopefully we'll see even more next year!

Keep us in your prayers :)

Steph and I will be heading off to a weekend training conference Brisbane Leadership Training (BLT) Plus this afternoon. We've attended the conferences in the past but this year we've got our hands in it a bit more helping out.

Back very soon!

Preaching over…next up…preaching conference!

I’ve spent the last two weekends preaching. Last weekend at St Lucia I went through Ezra 4-6 emphasising God’s sovereignty as we pursue holiness. Today I had another crack at Proverbs 9 to the youth church with Brisbane Cantonese Alliance Church and emphasised the wisdom given to us because we are in Christ. Monday to Thursday I’ll be attending QTC for a preaching conference with David Cook. So for these few weeks I’m going to be saturated with preaching!

I was struck in my preparations for both sermons how difficult the applications seemed to be. Figuring out the passages and finding some structure to the sermons was ok, this process is falling out quicker than at first. But applications are still something I struggle with. Why?

I’ve been tossing up various reasons for a long time, but it finally dawned on me last Friday before my Proverbs sermon today. Are the troubles I have with applications in sermons due to the fact that I myself am not reflecting on how the passage is applying to me? It struck me between the eyes. The questions I was asking of others I was not asking of myself. So keep praying that I approach God’s word with a soft heart, ready to be confronted, challenged and shaped through it.

YF Camp 2007

I have to admit that this years YF Camp was one of the more memorable ones in recent history. There's quite a few factors, in my mind, which make for a good camp: the camp site, the speaker, the bible studies/groups...to name a few. This year was a great mix of all of them. The talks were challenging and clear and people seem to have been moved to greater depths in their faith. There appears to be much fruit appearing from the camp, so the next few weeks will be crucial in our follow up of the many people who came - particularly the 20 odd non-Christians!

For now, here are some photos from the weekend away :)

Sunset on the Friday afternoon...wow...

The face of a man who cannot handle chilli but has swallowed a tablespoon's worth of Sambal...on a bet!

Sunrise over the dam. 5:30am in the middle of winter was surprisingly warm!

This is my Pastor/Trainer...

The beginning of a love affair...Mikey and the drums that is...

Alvin's baptism...the look on his face screams out, 'Wait! I think I've changed my mind!!'

Not stretching, a friendly game of 'pull-the-string-tucked-into-your-pants'

The best jook breakfast at camp ever!

Sleeping arrangements: because each cabin had a separate 'leaders' room, Steph and I were able to share the same room. But it was in the girls dorm. These were the girls who were 'next door'...

Tim, Michael (camp speaker), and Ping. Separated at birth?

110 people at camp. Another great one to remember :)

And here's a slide show with more pictures and a cool tune. Enjoy :)

Is that the time?

Whoops...there seems to have been a mix-up with the video link. Here is the proper one!

- - - - -

There has been quite a few things happening of late! There is not only dust building up on this blog but also on my others...will get to them shortly :)

For now, what we've been up to so far in YF this year... enjoy :)



Don't forget to leave comments!

Awakening - The life and ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne - Steven's book report

A change of pace now: a couple of book reports from Steph and I as part of our Pastoral Apprenticeship. I read 'Awakening. The life and ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne'. A biography of one of the most influential ministers in Scotland. Steph read 'Through the Gates of Splendour'. The account of 5 missionaries who gave their lives trying to reach the most brutal of all native tribes in South America with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hope you enjoy!

- - - -

David Robertson, “Awakening. The life and ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne”

It was inevitable I guess. I recently finished reading ‘The Barbarian Way’ by Erwin Raphael McManus and was deeply disappointed. For all the good intentions of the book I found it exegetically weak and lacking in firmly grounded teaching. So when I picked up ‘Awakening, the life and ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne, I prayerfully asked that this would be the book I had wanted to read by McManus.

It was so.

I have never experienced being so disturbed and challenged whilst reading a book. McCheyne’s life and ministry seemed to teeter on a knife’s edge. It was concerning to see a minister with so much ‘on his plate’, yet it was so challenging to see that in the midst of all his busyness there was a deeply rooted passion for God’s glory in Jesus Christ.

There were a number of things which struck me about McCheyne personally and his ministry.

First was his relatively common upbringing. It struck me, in an odd sort of way, that he came from the comforts of middle-class-nominal-Christianity. That McCheyne would go from a comfortable and happy lifestyle, in which he was fond of the ‘pleasures of society’ to ministry would be a surprise considering the many people I know who are comfortable in their middle-class-nominal-Christianity and have no inkling of heading towards anything more fruitful.

But the precursor to change in McCheyne would come from a world shattering moment in his relatively young life. The friends and family of his middle-class lifestyle were of no help, or at least to McCheyne were of no perceivable help, when his eldest brother, David, died. This untimely event changed the life of McCheyne on a number of levels. Primarily he began to rethink his own mortality and eternal future, but also because he found that in his current group of ‘friends’ there was no one to talk to him about his soul. McCheyne even felt uncomfortable approaching the ministerial family friends - the McCheyne family was well connected to the church despite being nominal in faith.

So he turned to a number of books and whilst there was no magical moment of which he identifies in later writings, McCheyne refers to this time as his conversion period. As I read this I was greatly reminded of Romans 8:28 - And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. But in this instance the good was not limited to McCheyne alone, but also to his immediate congregation as well as beyond in the form of this biography. How many countless people have been the fruit of McCheyne’s life and ministry? Upon further reflection I marvelled at how God’s plans go far beyond what our eyes can see. We can be so limited to our time and space and underestimate the far reaching affects of our ministry work. Time and again God uses circumstances of utter despair to bring about goods beyond imagine (ie many of the Old Testament narratives contain great despair and affliction but the bigger picture reveals much grander plans).

So off to study he went. Another fascinating period in his life was his theological training in which he was able to learn and grow under godly men. This particular part of McCheyne’s training reminded me of the importance of sound theological education in preparation for ministry.

But one of the larger surprises and challenges in this book was the bulk of the writings concerning McCheyne’s ministry and the people he ministered to. Whilst after his studies he was apprenticed in a relatively similar middle-class parish, his move to the working class town of Dundee and the work he did there challenged me greatly. The move itself was no real surprise. Compared, however, to the current trend of college students and their preferences for which areas to minister to we have a great disparity between those wanting to head into the middle to upper class parishes and those wanting to head to blue collar or regional areas A great concern.

McCheyne’s ministry to the town of Dundee was also a great encouragement. Whilst the book itself doesn’t go into any specific detail regarding the content of his sermons, McCheyne clearly had the gift of teaching and preaching as the numbers of people he drew each Sunday was nothing short of a revival. But not only this, McCheyne kept up a ferocious pace to his ministry visiting up to 18 homes a day. On some of these regular visits he would draw a crowd of up to 200 people listening to him preach from the Word of God.

However the pace of his ministry would overwhelm his health. In what feels only like a few short years McCheyne’s health degraded and what may have been relatively easy to cure these days, typhus caught up with McCheyne during an epidemic. His fragile health was always an issue and motivated him greatly in ministry since he always feared ‘he would not be long for this world.’ His death was stirring in its glory and the effects of his ministry would continue for a number of years afterwards. Sadly the church in Scotland would see many changes a few decades later and the momentum was lost.

The final chapter of the book summarises a few key reasons why McCheyne, though dying young, was so successful in his ministry. Worth quoting at large was to me the most profound insight and challenge to my own ministry:

McCheyne’s theology was a key part of his success. It is not that the theology was incidental, nor that it was something that he had to overcome by experience or character. Theology is the study of God. McCheyne was absorbed by Jesus Christ and he desired to know him better. That knowledge (theology) affected his practice in every way. For example in evangelism, because of his passion for souls, he could easily have gone down the ‘revivalist’ route – that is counting heads, seeking to create effects and pushing to make conversions. But his theology prevented him from doing so. He knew that it was only the Spirit who could convert and that he was but an instrument. He knew that God would not allow his glory to be taken by any other. And so he was patient. Sowing the seed of the Word, but leaving the results to the Holy Spirit. ‘God feeds the wild flowers on the lonely mountainside without the help of man, and they are as fresh and lovely as those that are daily watched over in our gardens. So God can feed his own planted ones without the help of man, by the secret falling dew of His Spirit’.
That theology was also seen in public worship. After his ordination to St Peter’s the Dundee Chronicle reported that McCheyne declared that he wanted to preach Christ, that he would endeavour to know everyone by name and lead by example as well as doctrine that:

his church might be filled to the door, but they must all join in wishing, and it was his own earnest wish and prayer, that it might be filled with the true glory of the sanctuary – the glory of God; and that God might dwell in the midst of it. Thus, the church would become not only an ornament to the town, but the centre from which salvation might flow to many a heart.

The glory of God. That is what he sought in all that he did.

Theology which shapes character. Seeking God’s glory alone in all that you do. Patient in waiting on the Spirit to work.

I have a long way to go!

Through the Gates of Splendor - Steph's book report

"Through Gates of Splendour" - Elisabeth Elliot

I was reflecting the other day on what the average person in the Western world typically aspires towards in their lifetime. It is not uncommon for these aspirations to involve the securing of a good job, settling down with a family, owning a comfortable house in a comfortable neighbourhood, and enjoying an eventful social life. In stark contrast, Through Gates of Splendour confronted me with the true story of five American missionaries who devoted their lives not to their own goals and desires, but to the Christ who saved them. They lived with radical commitment to Jesus, spurred on by their intense yearning to see the image in Revelation 5 fulfilled – people from every tribe, language, people and nation worshiping God before His throne in Heaven. The way in which this vision drove them to give their all for the cause of the Gospel, taking it to the unreached, savage Auca Indians in Ecuador, was for me a remarkable portrayal of what it means for one to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus.

One thing that struck me was just how gifted and able each of these five men was. They each excelled in various areas of life. Jim Elliot was a high academic achiever with exceptional talent in architecture; a well-liked young man who was clearly set up for success in life. Pete Fleming was a man with a critical mind, whose studies in philosophy saw him complete a master’s degree in college. He was the president of the University Christian Fellowship. Ed McCully was senior class president at university, a star athlete and gifted public speaker whom all classmates held in high esteem. Roger Youderian went to college with three scholarships, was voted outstanding student of his year in 1942, and later became a paratrooper in the army. And Nate Saint was a talented pilot with an amazing resourcefulness and inventive mind. And yet they all scorned the ‘vanities’ of life – in Jim Elliot’s words, “What are these but the objects of the ‘desire of the Gentiles’ whose cravings are warped and perverted?...Life is not here, but hid above with Christ in God, and therein I rejoice and sing as I think on such exaltation.” (p17). What a simultaneous encouragement and rebuke to my ears as I came upon these words! Though I know in my head that my worldly achievements fade in comparison to the surpassing beauty of Jesus Christ, the way I live my life doesn’t always reflect that. I cannot say that I boldly consider myself ‘expendable for God’ (in Nate Saint’s words), to the extent that I would bear a cost I might regard as too high. I was reminded by Nate Saint that God himself did not hold back His only Son, but gave him up to pay the price for our sins. How then can we say it costs us too much, to go to the ends of the earth to seek the lost for Christ? I realised how big a snare the comforts of the Western world were to my own life.

And here I was, reading of five men who never counted it too big a cost to take Christ’s Gospel to a place far from their earthly homes. All of them, with their families, spent varying periods of time living in the Ecuadorian jungles, sharing their lives with certain Indian tribes. They learnt their language and culture, as well as basic medical and other survival skills. They did this so they could love and care for these Indians in practical ways whilst bringing them the Gospel. They were, as the Apostle Paul puts it, “all things to all men”. I caught myself wondering how I would fare in the same situation. No doubt complaints would sprout fast and thick from my mouth, were I to be subjected to the much simpler lifestyle of these people. It was a humbling thought.

In addition to provoking several moments of self-reflection, Through Gates of Splendour was an engrossing account. It was remarkable to read of the preparations the men undertook in order to be as effectively utilised by God as possible in their outreach to the Aucas. Their well-planned, multi-stage mission to the Aucas struck me as being incredibly creative and strategic. Admittedly, I had not expected this. I had expected to read of much prayerful preparation – and I was not disappointed in this – but this added element brought even more delight to my reading.

I found myself marvelling frequently at these heroes of faith – not just the five men, but their five wives who stood beside them every step of the way. It was amazing to read of their steadfast faith in the Lord and His purposes. Elisabeth Elliot put it this way, as she and the other wives talked about the possibility of becoming widows: “Each of us knew when we married our husbands that there would never be any question about who came first – God and His work held first place in each life. It was the condition of true discipleship; it became devastatingly meaningful now” (p151). As a wife myself, those words hit me square in the face – how selfless those women were! What deep-rooted Kingdom perspective they had, and what strength they exhibited in the face of almost certain loss. I could not imagine how I would have had the same courage, peace and conviction as those women, had I been in the same position. My own frequent acts of selfishness within my marriage came to my mind – the times when I have perhaps been more of a hindrance than a help to my own husband’s ministry.

Reading on, I came to the deaths of the five men. Again, the absolute faith and serenity of the wives as this news met them, was undeniably moving. Their praises and prayers to God in response to their husbands’ deaths indicated complete trust in His Sovereignty. Barbara Youderian wrote in her diary: “I want to be free of self-pity. It is a tool of Satan to rot away a life. I am sure that this is the perfect will of God.” (p180). I marvelled at these words, recalling the many moments of self-pity I had created over far lesser tragedies – trivialities, in comparison.

It was spectacularly uplifting to read of the far-reaching impact that the news of these missionaries’ deaths had on others. People from around the world had their lives changed as a result of what happened. Most encouraging was the 18 year old boy in Iowa who prayed for a week in his room, then announced to his parents his desire to commit his life completely to the Lord and take the place of one of the five missionaries one day. It reminded me of just how living and active the Word of God is, and how powerful it is to change lives. God used the martyrdom of these five missionaries, who lived with radical commitment to Christ and the Gospel, to encourage and change the lives of many around the world.

Some of the greatest, most edifying words from a Christian that I have ever read have been in this book. I have never come across so many heroes of faith contained in the one source. What a precious privilege it was to read of their lives and utter devotion to God. I was humbled to realise that in comparison, I was willing to go a far shorter distance in denying myself, taking up my cross, and following Jesus. It has brought me to prayerfully desire God to continue His work in me, that I might be radically committed to Christ as these heroes were. I can do no less than to urge every Christian to pick up this book and allow God to use it for their encouragement and edification.

Slight change to blog

You may have noticed that this blog is now slightly wider. I've done that for personal preference as I have a relatively high screen resolution (1280 x 1024).

Please drop me a line if it doesn't work for you! It may mean increasing your resolution, or I can switch back if enough people wish :)

Steven

David Jackman - Preaching from Exodus

I am very tired!

So, from 'Walk 4 Bibles' to 'YF Christmas In May' to teaching Sunday School to David Jackman's seminars at the Queensland Theological College on preaching from Exodus. I'm looking forward to my sleep in tomorrow morning.

It was a very packed 2 day seminar. Four one-hour lectures covered Exodus, preaching, but also pastoral issues and concerns. Along with the Don Carson seminar from last weekend I was pleasantly surprised that both Carson and Jackman, whilst being academically rigorous were also pastoral at heart. So with Jackman I was glad to know that he was approachable with questions and just general chit-chat.

Lots to digest from the past two days. Plenty of notes to review. I know I wanted to post some thoughts on the Carson seminar also, so I guess I'll do that at the same time.

Watch this space!

Walk 4 Bibles

So on Saturday when Steph and I got home in the afternoon we fell into bed and snoozed like we had never snoozed before.

This is why:

Don Carson - QTC Year of Excellence

When I heard a few months back that Don Carson was coming to Brisbane to speak to say that I was excited could have been an understatement. To be able to hear and meet the man who has had such an impact on world wide Evangelicalism would be an honour.

Now, I say this not because I 'worship' the man himself. I think there's an unhealthy tendency amongst us to idolise particular speakers for the speaking abilities or prowess in the pulpit. My excitement was not in the speaker itself, but in his clear and precise proclamation of the gospel. Having heard his series on 'Revelation' from @the Castle, I was looking forward to hearing his thoughts on theology and preaching.

So we arrived on a rather windy Brisbane Autumn morning and were ushered into a rather cold lecture theatre for the first of four one-hour sessions with Carson.

His lectures covered four main areas:

• Preaching and Biblical Theology: Connecting with the big picture
• Preaching and Systematic Theology: Connecting with the character of God
• Preaching and History Theology: Connecting with History
• Preaching and Pastoral Theology: Connecting with life, connecting with the heart

Whilst I took as many notes as I could, I can see now that they were far from sufficient in capturing all the little nuances of his lectures. Therefore I ordered the mp3 talks which also include his sermons from Friday night and Sunday morning/evening - the seminar itself was one Saturday.

The first session was of great interest to me. Biblical Theology, from the time I heard about it, has excited me no end! Biblical theology has been the greatest reason why I am passionate about preaching from the Old Testament, and find preaching the OT much easier than the New Testament (which is ironic since most people find preaching the NT easier!). But that's also possibly because I've leaned towards the OT in choosing passages to preach from.

That said there were many nuggets of gold to be found in Carson's session on 'the big picture'. In all his eight-point argument for preaching biblical theology was very persuasive. I will endeavour to make these notes available incrementally.

The second session was a bit more heavy in both content and language. Carson is a man of many big words, his expression is clear and emphatic, yet his style is very high-brow. In some ways you can immediately see that he is a lecturer back home in Chicago! My notes on this seminar were less than the previous one, but there were many challenges in this session also.

The third talk regained a lot of interest. Partly because the air-conditioning had been switched off and partly because we were all a bit snoozy after lunch. I had never realised how important history is to the bible - it is so grounded in history that to remove historical events would be to undermine the faith altogether. For instance, you can take Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) away from Buddhism and you would still have the fundamentals for Buddhism. If you approached a Muslim, carefully, respectfully and logically, they would agree with you that Allah's vision could have been given to another man other than Muhammad. But you cannot do this with Christianity. Take away Jesus and you take away everything.

Now, I had already known this, but goodness everything else in the lecture was fantastic!

By the fourth session everyone was feeling pretty drained. It was a full on day so far with many things to digest, and yet another hour was approaching with yet another topic. I knew that Don Carson himself had just come from a Monday to Friday preaching conference in Sydney, but I later found out that his talks there were the same here. Thus we were getting a condensed week-long preaching conference in the one day!

But in a lot of ways you could say that Carson left his best for last. Whilst he may have been a lecturer for the past 30 or so years, you can see that his heart is still connected with his pastoral days. There was plenty of practical thoughts from Carson as well as some excellent illustrations.

In all I learnt quite a lot from the day. Not only by way of information from Carson himself, but also quite a lot in his style and story telling. With his excellent preaching style I was able to reflect on my own style and areas I can improve in. Not to be in the image of Carson, but to better improve my speaking ability.

Waiting for lightning...

I remember a few years ago at the ‘Ministry Challenge Conference’ (previously known as ‘Club 5’) being interviewed on stage. Being from Brisbane I was asked to share my thoughts on why I was there that weekend and also do the bible reading.

That evening the chairperson asked, “So Steven, why are you here?” I remember preparing myself to answer that question, but all afternoon I couldn’t come up with a good sounding reason. I had gone through the thinking hoops on the various reasons people consider entering full-time paid ministry:

• ‘I’m here because I’ve been challenged to consider ministry work as of utmost importance…” – well, no. Ministry work is important, but I couldn’t honestly say that ministry work was more important that any other work: it’s a false idea. I’ve yet to find a place in the NT which specifically says, “Ministry is of more importance than any other labour…”
• “I’m here because I’ve felt called by God…” – well, no again. There hasn’t been any calling, no sign from heaven, no feeling of ‘you’ll know what it feels like when it happens’. There simply hasn’t been any experience in which I can say, “Yes, I am going to do it!”
• “I’ve been challenged to consider full-time pastoral ministry as a priority…” – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I should give up work to do so. All Christians are in full-time ministry from the moment they become a Christian!

So in my fumbling thoughts my answer, on stage, in front of some of the big-wigs of Sydney evangelicalism, was, “Well, people have identified certain gifts in me and I’m here to find out if I have what it takes for ‘full-time ministry’.”

I wanted to crawl into a hole because I sounded so fake – how dare I not know for sure that this was my certain path! For a long time I’ve felt an undercurrent of guilt because I haven’t had this ‘calling’ that so many people speak of.

Until I read an article in Michael Bennett’s ‘I feel God is calling me…not!’ booklet. The second chapter in this little booklet deals with this very issue – whether or not it’s right for Evangelicals to use the term ‘calling’ in reference to people going into ministry.

To summarise the chapter, here are the main points:

• The NT uses the term ‘call’ in two different ways: firstly you are called by God to be a Christian, and secondly you are called by God to be holy.
• Ephesians 4:11-13 talks about the nature of Christian ministry. Christian ministry does not belong solely to the Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers. The Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers jobs are to equip the saints. The equipped saints then do the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ (God’s people). Hence ministry belongs to all the saints!
• Why have I never felt called into ministry – because I was already in it!
• But the question remains – does having the skills and the gifts constitute a sufficient reason to enter ‘full time paid ministry’? The answer is a simple as this: if the person desires to do it!

On that last point 1 Tim 3:1 puts this simple, yet shocking, truth into perspective, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” (ESV). Note the words there – if anyone aspires to be a pastor/teacher then they desire a good thing.

What is Paul saying? He is saying that the motivation to enter full time paid pastoral ministry is human desire. Of course, the person desiring this must be appropriately assessed (1 Tim 3:2-7) and his motivations must not be for money or pride (1 Tim 3:3, 6). But the ultimate factor in a person deciding whether or not to consider paid ministry is their desire to do so.

So now I don’t feel so bad about not feeling ‘called’ to do this. And I hope that others will see, too, that they don’t need to ‘feel called’ to do the same.

CCCB Church Camp 2007 – Reflections

The lead up to CCCB Church Camp 2006 was hectic to say the least. Steph and I were asked to assist with the music coordination, but it turned out to be a much bigger job than just selecting songs and making sure the powerpoints had both Chinese and English.

But as big a job as it was, the Camp still managed to run smoothly with few hiccups (some sound balance problems and slideshow mishaps). Whilst at times it was stressful, which unfortunately was also expressed in less than godly ways to those serving, playing music was a joy and privilege.

I was confronted in a number of ways by the talks given by Michael Bennett. The clarity of his talks and the way he opened up the Sermon on the Mount for us was both breath taking in its sweep and cutting to the heart. I was challenged in a number of areas:

• To purposefully evangelise we must not only be the salt of the earth (that is, people of such good repute that we can't help but positively affect those around us) but also lights that shine (that is, openly saying with words the gospel). I have, for many years, thought that my ‘saltiness’ was an adequate witness. How wrong I was…
• I need to be constantly aware of which road I am walking on and leading others down. The wide road seems to easy, the narrow road is tough.

Lots to be appreciative for as well – particularly (in my case) for the music and sound team who work so hard given the limited time we had and the many challenges and hurdles thrown at us! Thank you guys.
Steven

Michael Bennett, the author of the above resources for sharing
the Gospel to non-Christians, shared with us from the 'Sermon on the Mount'.

Umm...I think Steph took my cutler...

What every morning should begin with...

Proving to Ben Ho how well my diet is going :P

Not a strange form of prayer but a warm up exercise from our resident Pilates instructor!

Hidden talent...

Public health announcement for more men to get a pedicure...

Brian and Andrew posing for the camera

A new name :)

Finally, after lots of 'umming' and 'ahhing' we have settled on a name for our newsletter.

I was also finally able to send it out this evening to our googlegroup - after I had realised I inadvertently turned every member to 'no email/web participation only' as part of their membership. Good work Steven.

So without further ado, introducing...'Homeward Bound'







The basic concept of the name came from a number of sources:

• After tossing up lots of silly names (ie 'On the MAP Front') we started listening to a couple of Steven Curtis Chapman CD's. We flicked to the song 'Not Home Yet' - a song which has resonated with both of us deeply. We like the concept of not being 'home' yet, of being on a journey towards home.
• The picture in the background is from Malaysia. It was taken at the Mulu Caves resort and has been altered slightly. The end result is Steven's artistic attempt at conveying an idea of 'greener pastures on the other side'. Combined with the concept of 'not being home yet' we came up with...'Homeward Bound'

Please drop us a line and let us know if you'd like a copy of the newsletter and/or to be included on our mailing list.

What's in a name?

Hello all :)

We've just "officially" started our PA's and will be updating everyone shortly on that.

For now we're stuck for a name for our newsletter - if there are any ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment!

Next Pastoral Apprenticeship Info Session

Our next info session will be:

February 25th, 2007 AD @ 10:30am (right after the English service concludes)

CCCB Coopers Plains

23 Beenleigh Road, Coopers Plains

Please come along to find out how you can support us financially and prayerfully :)







-----

BLT & YF Committee Retreat

Brisbane Leadership Training - 2007

I don't know whose idea it was for us to head up to Coolum at 6:00am (probably Steph's since she was doing the transport arrangements!) but we headed up early with Clifton and Betty (from a Gold Coast church). I was pleasantly surprised by the campsite even if the beds were designed for 10 year olds...

Michael Raiter and Eugene Hor, the two camp speakers, took us through the books of Judges and Revelations respectively. Each of them gave us powerful words to reflect upon and seek to change our lives in order to live, as the camp theme suggested, lives of 'No Compromise'. It was a powerful weekend with these particular highlights from the talks standing out:

• This history throughout the time of Judges is abominable. But also a massive reminder of how much God loves his people and how faithful he is to them, despite their unfaithfulness.
• The mark of the beast in Revelation 13 is not a physical mark in the future, but another way of saying 'God knows which people are his' (cf Ezekiel 9:4). And when we realise that the second beast's game is a game of deception, we should remember that even in our churches today there are people who bear the mark of the beast and not the mark of the lamb.

There was much more to the talks also, and I look forward to reviewing my notes and re-listening to the talks (should they be put up somewhere online - watch this post).

It was an excellent week of catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, challenging talks and workshops, and also great food. Next year we'll be pushing for a wider range of generation participation, the youth and the elders/deacons to come and receive this great encouragement and training.

I'll also not forgot the fun conversation that I had with Winston, Eugene, Ying Yee, Chris and Fi over party pies at 1:30am. What a crazy night!

The picturesque surrounds of BLT 2007

- - - - -

YF Committee Retreat

A few weeks later, and just down the road from Luther Heights where BLT was held, we had our annual YF Committee Retreat. The purpose of the retreat was to gather the Committee, pray, study God's word and plan the semester for YF. This year there were a few changes to our regular retreats; we didn't have the privilege of having Steve and KY there for the whole duration and we extended the weekend from Friday night to Monday morning (instead of Sun afternoon).

That said, it was an encouraging time away and whilst I (Steven) was in the kitchen for the most part, it was good to listen into the thoughts and planning of the new committee members. This year is shaping up to be an exciting one, so pray with us that this be so!

Some samples from the menu...

Mee Goreng served with steamed Bok Choy

Steven's Spanish Eggs

Tomato Focaccia served with Cheeses,
Deli Meats and Sundried Tomatoes

Pastoral Apprenticeship Information Sessions

Please come along to find out more about what we'll be doing this year and how you can support us both prayerfully and financially :)

February 4th, 2007 AD @ 11:30am
CCCB St Lucia
8 Ryans Road, St Lucia

AND

February 25th, 2007 AD @ 11:00am
CCCB Coopers Plains
23 Beenleigh Road, Coopers Plains

Are we there yet?

5 weeks out from starting our PA’s. 3 weeks from finishing work at the Tribunal. 4 days away from the Brisbane Leadership Training conference in Coolum.

*twiddles thumbs*

Are we excited about starting? Sort of…it seems so close, yet there’s plenty to keep us occupied in between.

Come back and ask again in 4 weeks time…