Rites of Passage part 2

”Ritual is one of the oldest forms of human activity we know. It may have been the original multimedia perform-ance. Today ritual helps integrate and attune life on an increasingly globalized planet.”

Ronald L. Grimes (Deeply into the Bone)

Recently, our second son Tim attended his Primary School Graduation Night. Judy and I also went along to witness the ceremony and to support Tim. During the night photos were taken and Tim was presented with a certificate and engraved pen. We stayed for the formal part of the evening and then returned home whilst Tim and the other students enjoyed their graduation dinner and disco.

A week or so earlier Tim had participated in another form of graduation ceremony, this time at our local church. Tim (so often one to avoid the public gaze) was invited out front of our Sunday morning congregation to ‘mark’ the occasion of his transition from the Primary School children’s ministry into Youth Ministry in the new year.

Some kind and timely words were spoken by the Children’s Pastor and Tim was presented with a small gift bag containing various items. One of these items was a eucalyptus tree seedling, described as a symbol that represented his life. Judy and I do pray that Tim's life will continue to be well nurtured; growing strong and tall, in God's good time!

The following week Tim’s small group leader gave him an excellent book to assist with his transition into high school next year (I thought that was my idea – well, I still plan to meet with Tim sometime in January to chat with him and give him the book I had originally selected!).

Rites-of-passage. I’m really enjoying researching this topic. In recent weeks I’ve noticed the phrase appearing in some conversations I’ve been having with a few people, especially within the context of local church youth and young adults ministry.

Those I have talked with have raised two main points;

1) Rites-of-passage are important; they're valuable and necessary.

2) We need to be more intentional about designing relevant, creative, spiritual passages for those we love and serve today.

Ronald L. Grimes has written extensively on the topic and practice of rituals. He suggests that rituals should be rooted in language, region, time, and culture. He also suggests that relevant ceremonies should be established to help connect the individual with some larger history, community, and obligation.

Author Louise Mahdi (Crossroads: The Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage) says; “Effective rites of passage evoke awe and leave a lasting impression. Those most likely to do so happen within the context of a supporting community; they incorporate training, preparation, and real challenge or testing, and include a clear vision for adulthood that outlines rights and responsibilities.”

She goes on to express how God has made us for experiencing relationship and community and that issues of loneliness and alienation will be addressed well when people find their place in community.

Sounds to me like an authentic expression of faith comm-unity - the Body of Christ.

This raises a few more questions for me to consider further – perhaps you will journey with me in this regard…

1. What opportunities and events already exist that can be used as spiritual markers (ceremonies) for the people we love and care for?

2. What new experiences (passages) can we create to help our youth and young adults ’graduate’ into a deeper maturity and experience of Christ?

I’m looking forward to exploring this further…

Under Construction

Back in an August post I mentioned how work had commenced on the construction of a new highway overpass bridge in our local community.

Not a lot has been happening at the site for the last few months, however today there has been a lot of activity, with most of the main highway being closed off as cranes and trucks and workman have converged to position a main component of the bridge.

It’ll be interesting to observe how the final phase of this local project comes together in the next few months - I know my own family is looking forward to testing out the new bridge and appreciating the improved (and safer) access it will provide across a busy highway.

I believe the bridge analogy can be helpful when applied to our local, national and even inter-national ministry contexts; especially when we consider the partnerships God wants us to build - providing increased connectivity and unrestricted access to those people we are called to serve and invest in.

As we look towards 2011, I wonder what existing bridges God may be calling us to reinforce and what new bridges He may want us to construct that can help connect His amazing love and good news to a lost and hurting world??

Bridge-building is surely a work-in-progress (again, as evidenced by the current project near our home). It takes time to build a bridge; it takes some foresight and planning to build a bridge; it takes initiative and finances and hard work to build a bridge…

Partnership is the bridge we construct to enable greater connectivity and therefore greater coverage for extending our influence to grow God’s Kingdom.

Who is God calling you to partner with into the new year?

Bridge-building…surely a worthwhile pursuit for each of us, wherever God has placed us to serve - may God help us to count the cost as we look towards a new year of ministry.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?
Luke 14:28 NLT

Rites of Passage part 1

”A rite is the beginning and ending. It marks the closure of an important time while signifying the beginning of another…rites are often bigger than ourselves…a rite brings the "star" into a community experience. This passageway is not to be done solo, but is celebrated together with loved ones, family, and friends….”

                                                                                                                                          David Olshine

Lately I've been thinking a little about rites-of-passage. Christmas is coming, the end of another year is almost upon us and a new year is soon to begin.

A rite of passage can simply be defined as a ritual event that marks a person’s progress from one phase of life to another, for example; the leaving of childhood and the entering of adulthood.

The idea of a rite of passage is certainly not new. It was and still is a key component of the Jewish faith and other traditional cultures.

I’ve been doing some reading on this topic and discovered that Arnold Van Gennep wrote a book in 1902 entitled The Rites of Passage. In this he identifies rites of passage as having 3 distinct phases – separation (from a previous world), transition (threshold between the old and the new), and re-incorporation (into the new world).

As a father of four children (including three sons), all still living at home, I’m wanting to be intentional about developing some relevant rites of passage practices that will serve each individual child and our family community well.

Two years ago, as our eldest son Scott was transitioning from leaving primary school ('old world’) to commencing high school ('new world’) I decided to take him out for some quality father-and-son time. We shared some food and drink and we talked about things such as expectations for the new year and the new school. We also talked about faith, responsibility, physical development and parental support. It wasn’t a particularly lengthy conversation, but I believe it was certainly worthwhile - I'm pleased we could do this together. I also gave Scott a book at the time, written for teenagers by a local Christian author.

Our second son Tim will soon be finishing up at his local Primary School before commencing high school in the new year. I plan to take him out and have a conversation in a similar vein to what I shared with Scott. I'll get a book to give Tim as well – have to say that I’m looking forward to practising this simply family ritual, again.

In my next post I hope to share a few thoughts about rites of passage and youth ministry – stay tuned.

Try the other side!

”Then he [Jesus] said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.”
John 21:6 NLT


The text for this week’s sermon at our local church was John 21:1-14. For much of this year we have been chronologically working our way through John’s Gospel, and here towards the conclusion of the book the narrative introduces some very familiar characters - Peter and a few other disciples, doing what came naturally for them – fishing from a boat.

You may well be familiar with the scenario here – Jesus has been raised from the dead and has already appeared to his closest followers on several occasions. After Peter and Co had spent the night fishing with nothing to show for it Jesus turns up on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and engages with them from a distance; still close enough to be heard.

When Jesus hears the disciples had caught nothing all night he encourages them to throw their net off the right side of the boat to see what might happen.

The disciples (surely they were tired and well and truly over their all-night fishing adventure by now?!) decide to do what Jesus suggests and we know the result – there are so many fish in the net that they are unable to haul their miraculous catch into the boat.

Peter, recognising Jesus, leads the group with the catch of fish in tow back to shore where they are treated to a freshly cooked breakfast with Jesus.


God  has been catching my attention through this passage - I’ve been pondering over the emerging insights and expect I will continue to do so for some time.

Here’s what I’ve come to conclude thus far;

There will be times in our own experience when we will find that the combination of our hard work, experience and skills for some unexplainable reason bring us nothing in return; when, despite our best efforts we are unable to achieve the desired outcome we are seeking.

It is on such occasions that we need Jesus to break-in to enable us to break-through to achieve a tangible result. For, unless Jesus turns up to intervene, we have no hope of seeing break-through come about.

Furthermore, I would suggest that we need more than the presence of Jesus to see break-through in our circumstances – we need (as Peter and friends experienced) the voice of Jesus to direct the work of our hands. Jesus told the disciples where to throw their nets. The disciples responded promptly to his directive and saw an undeniably tangible result in their midst.

The disciples, after their night of fishing didn’t have to do a lot of things differently to see a different result. Nor did they have to leave their boat to achieve a better than expected outcome (153 fish seems like a lot of fish – more than enough for a hearty breakfast feed!).

What Jesus asked them to do was to simply attack the problem from a different angle; from the other side of the boat. Peter and friends remained in the same boat, in the same body of water, using the same net. The only thing we’re told was different was that they cast the net from the opposite side of the boat – it was a 180 degree turnaround that immediately netted a different and distinctly measurable outcome.


Perhaps you are presently at that place of feeling tired and over your seemingly unsuccessful pursuits having laboured through-the-night with little or no return…you’ve been working hard, applying your experience and skills to achieve a desired outcome, yet for some unexplainable reason you are not seeing the results you’re hoping and praying for.

For those times when this is our present reality, then I hope we will choose to remain in the boat, in close proximity to our co-workers and our intended objective (eg catching fish); listening for the voice of Jesus, ready and willing to follow His instructions…it might be that all it will take is to simply turn around and cast our net from the other side of the boat.

What does the other side of the boat look like for you?

No turning back!

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.”

Hebrews 11:13-15 NLT

Today I headed out to a rather unique location for some personal retreat time – a local memorial cemetery! I have cultivated this practice in the past, when living in Perth and Sydney. I’ve found such times to be sobering and helpful, enabling me to take stock of my life and my faith; to gain perspective about what really matters; to be reminded of my own mortality, and to seek God for fresh or timely insights…

Today at the cemetery I was reminded of something that has become a very common theme for me over recent months – the Christian journey of faith and obedience.

I was drawn to consider the life of Abraham and what is written about him in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 11:8 says; “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

I’m amazed how Abraham and guys like him seemed fully content to trust God, with literally no earthly place to call home - they could somehow through eyes of faith see beyond the physical realm, glimpsing a better country on the horizon.

Hebrews 11:15 says that if such people had been mindful of their earthly country (ie Ur of the Chaldeans for Abraham), then they might have easily returned.

This begs the question for me; Could Abraham and his family have gone back to the country where they came from? Well, I suppose they could have - but they chose not to.

God had called Abraham and Co to leave what was familiar to them - to pay the price - to move on. I think it’s reasonable to suggest that to return would have been to refuse to do what God wanted (and therefore miss out on the future blessings God had in store for them?).

Surely Abraham’s family would have thought about all they had left behind? They may well have thought about it and they may well have brought a collection of memories with them, but Scripture testifies that they didn’t long to return – it seems that Abraham was somehow able to discipline his mind not to dwell on such thoughts and such geography. He was able to look ahead, leading his family to a new country through trust and obedience – no turning back.

Scripture and experience tells me that there will be times for us as God’s people today when the Lord will capture our attention, we will hear His voice and we will wrestle with His call to move on. And then, if we are serious about obedience this will lead us to enter into a process of re-alignment, which could well result in a geographical relocation (as it has on several occasions for Judy and I and our family), or it might require a relocation of priorities or roles or something similar.

I think that one of the challenges for us when faced with such choices will be to have enough faith and Spirit-led resolve not to long for whatever God may be calling us to leave behind.

I'm thankful that my time at the cemetery today has provided me with a useful reminder that a far better country waits for me beyond my earthly country, beyond the grave.




“I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country…I must make the main objective of my life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.” C.S. Lewis

busy and rushed?

“The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus.’

Hudson Taylor


Our local church pastor Matt spoke recently about God’s creation and our responsibility as God’s people to be good and wise stewards of our environment. He also said how it is important for us to take time to regularly slow down enough to appreciate God’s creation, where we might have opportunity to receive a fresh revelation from God as we look, listen and ponder the beauty and uniqueness of what God has designed for our enjoyment and appreciation.

Matt also spoke about the challenges associated with the busyness of life and how we can so easily become people who are hurried and rushed and who worry too much about what’s before us and what needs to be done. As I’ve thought about these comments I’ve been reminded that when I consider the life of Jesus as portrayed in the N.T. gospels I see someone who was consistently busy; often on the go, often teaching and helping others, often in demand.

Jesus, it seems, had very little time to himself and even then he made it his priority to get up early or to get away to a solitary place where he could be alone with His Father.

Whilst Jesus was often busy he never really appeared to be hurried or rushed.

My wife Judy and I have been chatting about this during this past week. I think we often feel both busy AND rushed…

I know that Judy craves the warmer weather and the longer hours of daylight, for it is then that she can take some regular time to get outside into our garden, to retreat from the busyness of life, to appreciate the beauty and diversity of Gods creation; to quite literally smell the roses.

This morning I did something a little unusual for someone who is not know for his spontaneity! With the local weather forecast predicting the likelihood of snow falling on nearby Mt Dandenong (an unusual event in itself) I bundled the kids up and we headed out the door at 7.00am, in search of snow.

Once on the mountain we parked the car and hiked up towards the highest point. We were the only ones there at the time (it was still pretty early!). The kids loved the sense of expectancy and adventure. I also appreciated the majesty and beauty of God’s creation in our midst, including numerous tall trees, crisp clean air, sunlight through fog and more. We did find some snow – not a lot, but enough for the kids to gather in their hands and to make into a few snowballs to throw at each other – it was such an easy, inexpensive and memorable thing to do on a chilly Saturday morning with people I love.

May God help each of us in the midst of our busy lives to take the time to appreciate His awesome creation, to be a little more spontaneous, to be less rushed, less hurried, to rest in union and communion with Jesus, the vine.


“Remain in me, and I will remain in you…’ John 15:4

Shared Leadership

Last week I was privileged to join with a group of key leaders from Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands for our biennial Oceania Leadership Summit, held in picturesque Kurrajong, NSW.

The theme for the week was Shaping Our Future Together, addressing some of the key areas requiring change in our prevailing organisational culture.

I appreciated the transparency and insights from the leaders who presented sessions during the Summit – it was refreshing to hear about a willingness to confront the need for change in order to be more effective in seeking to fulfil God's Great Commission vision. I was also greatly encouraged by the honest and robust dialogue we entered into across the course of the week.

One of the topics we considered was the issue of shared leadership. I found this to be a really important topic to engage with. Shared leadership means that leadership cannot be left to the few; it must be entrusted to others - the responsibility for the mission-critical work has to be shared; each person owns the whole (vision/plan); individual initiative is encouraged; various gifts and roles are utilised well.

CCC’s Steve Sellers spoke of our need to move away from the more traditional Old Testament hierarchical/directive model to embrace more of a flat-level/guidance model as seen in the New Testament. Steve reminded us that when Jesus left the earth and ascended to heaven he did so without leaving one leader in charge, but rather he entrusted His mission to a small team of dedicated apostles left to carry on His kingdom work together, under His authority, empowered by His Holy Spirit.

Steve raised a few more shared leadership principles which I found particularly insightful. He talked about the meaning of the term Peloton; a French word used to describe a group of cyclists who ride closely together to achieve victory through team effort and efficiency.

From this we can learn that;

1) you can go further and faster if you go together

2) if you’re always in the lead then you’re going to face the most resistance and therefore become the most fatigued.

Now, I’m certainly no great cyclist or road-racer, but I like what the example of the peleton can teach me about traveling the journey with others as an integrated unit (like birds flying in formation), with each rider sharing the load and making the necessary adjustments in response to the riders around him.

Surely this is the better way to go in leadership...in ministry...in building spiritual movements; enabling more of us to go the distance and reducing the level of fatigue we so often have to confront in the team-work of building God’s kingdom.


“Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Acts 14:23 NLT

Youth Spirituality & Narratives

This week I had the opportunity to participate in the Christian Research Association (CRA)’s Shaping Australia’s Spirituality Roundtable in Melbourne.

The theme and session topics for the Roundtable were informed by recently published research conducted by Dr Philip Hughes and CRA, providing a broad ranging overview of the spiritual dimension of Australian culture and an evaluation of Christian ministry in an Aussie context.

The theme for the day I attended was The Spirituality of Youth. It was a very informative day, with some of the major research findings highlighted and discussed. Participants engaged openly around the material presented. I was greatly encouraged to be amongst such a diverse selection of God's people (Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Uniting Church, Lutheran, Christian Schools, chaplaincy providers and para-church groups were represented). I was also encouraged by the genuine desire amongst those present to be better informed and to be willing to ask some tough questions about how the Australian Christian community can more effectively address the Spiritual needs of Aussie young people.

Research findings

Here are some key points which stood out for me amongst the research findings and responses provided on the day;

^Aussie youth, many of whom are experiencing increasing lower levels of identification with churches and religion, have no conscious awareness of their need for God or genuine spiritual formation.

^one of the greatest ‘sins’ identified by the younger generation is inauthenticity, ie you don’t believe in something simply because you are told to believe it. Young people are determined to make up their own minds – they believe they will find through experience what works for them.

^the major influences on their lives are relationships (friends and family), music (entertainment and self-expression), media (visual and digital) and education/employment (a complexity of options and pathways today). These aspects combined, help young people to frame their own identity and what represents a healthy lifestyle for them - they are actively constructing their own lives but are not sure what to believe.

^there is an increasing rate of mental illness evident amongst Aussie youth.

^many young people do not have many suitable forms of community to ‘grow into’ beyond school.

^4-5% of Aussie youth regularly engage with the Bible.

^there is an increasing acceptance of the role and value chaplains can have in Govt schools.

^young people can benefit from having a personal “immersion” experience, where authentic community can be experienced in an environment enabling them to engage in dialogue (rather than being preached at or taught specific content), where space is created to help them explore spirituality and where they can think through life’s big decisions in a constructive way. Camps and retreats were emphasised as ideal places for this to occur.


Midi & Meta Narratives – the stories of our lives.

CRA reported from a 2006 study of spirituality of young people in Britain (Savage, Collins-Mayo) which concluded that young people had no “meta-narrative” or big picture of the universe and their place in it. There was found however to be a very common story amongst young people as to what their personal lives were about. Researchers described this common personal story as a “midi-narrative”.

CRA assert that this is equally true for contemporary Australian young people; life through their own eyes is all about enjoyment, feeling good about oneself, sharing excitement, having good friends. They want a sustainable and secure environment, value helpfulness and when bad things happen they often turn to music, friends and sometimes God.

The issue of the midi-narrative came up numerous times throughout the day of the Roundtable gathering. I found this fascinating and affirming. Why? Because it highlighted something that more and more of my ministry peers have been talking about for the last few years; that we desire to help an emerging generation discover for themselves that (their) life finds it’s purpose and meaning only when understood within the context of a greater Story…God’s Story, as found in the Bible.

And so I was able to come away from my day at the CRA Roundtable with a positive outlook, convinced that the Australian Christian community can do something that can help to inform and shape the spirituality of young people in our communities, across our Nation. We can be intentional about creating environments and experiences that can enable a generation to understand and self-discover God’s Story for themselves, to explore spirituality, to contemplate life, to find their place in His Story, and to be transformed by a truly personal encounter with Jesus Christ.


“Great things are often achieved by small grass-roots movements.”
Kath Engebretson, Australian Catholic University

God's additions

“Sharing what God is doing in your life may help someone else encounter God in a meaningful way.” Henry Blackaby


I really enjoyed sitting in on today’s New Missionary Orientation sessions at the Campus Crusade for Christ [CCCA] National Mission Centre here in Melbourne.

It’s always refreshing to meet some of the new people God is calling to join the Movement, often from a variety of backgrounds and locations. I appreciate hearing their stories and gaining some insights into how God has been working in their lives, to the point where they are convinced of His calling and are willing to trust Him to provide to meet their needs as they serve and follow Jesus.

I was reminded today of something Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God study series) has said;

“I pay close attention to the people God adds to the body.”

Blackaby suggests that God doesn’t add people to any local expression of the body of Christ accidently. He further contends that God builds the Body to match His specific assignments.

With this in mind I wonder what God might up to with these new members of the CCCA body, and what assignments He intends for them to help complete.

Also, I pray I will pay close attention to any new additons God may be introducing to the expressions of team and local church I'm associated with.


“So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Romans 12:5

Seasons

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” Ecclesiates 3:1


Having lived in Melbourne for a few years now, Judy and I would happily describe ourselves as locals. We enjoy living in this city, especially in the surrounds of our local suburb of Lilydale; gateway to the scenic Yarra Valley.

Melbourne people often joke about the weather here, as do people from interstate who come to visit! As locals we identify well with what people say about Melbourne being a place where you can experience four seasons in one day - in fact, one of the things that Judy appreciates the most about living here is the fact that the weather is so changeable!

This Melbourne Winter has been particularly cold, grey and often gloomy. There hasn’t been much sunshine, most days haven’t risen above 13 degrees and many people have copped their fair share of colds and flu.

I find it interesting to observe how the gloominess of the natural Winter season seems to be reflected in how people can feel personally - it can be a discouraging, even depressing time of year.

At a personal level, I have consistently found Winter to be a season when it is quite natural to go into a state of spiritual hibernation – my own spiritual disciplines tend to move at a much slower pace. I have to work and pray hard not to allow my faith to lay dormant. I must say that I’m pleased to see some emerging evidence that Spring is just around the corner – it’s time!

The Bible makes it clear that it is God Who ordains the seasons (see Genesis 1:14, Psalm 104:19, Daniel 2:21). The Book of Ecclesiastes speaks about a variety of contrasting seasons…seasons of life – this raises several interesting questions for me, particularly as a person of faith;

Can I identify the season (of life) I am presently experiencing?

Can I accept this season as God’s season for me at this time?

Can I recognise the signs of transition towards any new season that may be approaching?

Build a bridge!

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?
Luke 14:28 NLT

Work has recently commenced on the construction of a new highway overpass bridge in our local community, just down the road from our family home. It is expected that once completed, this new 90 metre-long bridge will greatly improve safety and access for cyclists, pedestrians and users of a popular regional trail. It’s a good and timely initiative…

Bridges – what’s their purpose; why do they exist??

I see bridges being primarily about improving our connectedness – bridges usually remove the dangers associated with an existing obstacle (railway line, highway or river) and they can also reduce the time and distance that is required to travel between two points of reference, making for a better journey.

I think that the image of a bridge can also be useful when considering our connectedness with people.

I’ve been thinking lately about how this can apply with the one-another passages in God’s Word, especially concerning Jesus’ call for God’s people to love one-another.

I believe God is looking for more of His people to be bridge-builders – that we would be people who will take the initiative and weigh up the costs and do what it takes to build relational connectedness across the various obstacles that can often prevent authentic relationships from flourishing.

I also wonder what new bridges God might be calling our local churches and youth ministries to invest in building, to connect His amazing love and good news to a lost and hurting world. I expect that for some it will require enough conviction and foresight to look beyond their local context, to see something constructed that can span the gaps of culture to reach those who have yet to hear God's story or meet Jesus for themselves.

Bridge-building is surely a work-in-progress (I can easily see this by observing the current project near our home). It takes time to build a bridge; it takes some resources and planning to build a bridge; it takes initiative and hard work to build a bridge…but the end result will be worth it - overcoming obstacles...towards improved accessibility and greater connectedness.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

shared experience & common heart

“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 NLT

I’ve recently returned from a very encouraging few days in Perth, WA. I always enjoy heading back to this beautiful city – apart from the fact that it is a lot warmer than Melbourne at this time of year, Perth contains many friends and memories gained from the 15 years when Judy and I once lived there.

I was blessed to share three days with YMA co-worker Matt Fricker and a committed group of youth leaders from ten or so city and regional churches. Some of these guys were still in high school, some were fairly new to the youth leadership scene and there were others who have been serving in youth ministry for ten years or more – what an incredible blend of Christian community! Together we dug deep into God’s Word, the life of Jesus and our own ministry contexts as we explored some of the important issues of faith, life and mission.

I’m always expectant that we will encounter God at work in the midst of such experiences - I try to pray specifically for people to experience His presence and His voice - I’m rarely disappointed. God seems to reveal more of His Own heart, with conviction, when His body gathers around a common [biblically grounded] purpose, in unity, with passionate and teachable hearts.

This was certainly our experience in Perth. It appeared that God had selectively gathered together these Jesus-followers for such a time as this. It was great to observe the hearts and minds of different participants being genuinely stirred by God’s Spirit. Several common themes surfaced from our shared experience. These included issues of character, calling, investment in people over programs, tension between nurture & mission, small group dynamics plus being confronted with what it means to be faith-filled as we share in Christ’s work.

Matt and I came away from these days in no doubt that God had met with us. We concluded that God is clearly moving amongst His People to raise up a generation of harvest workers who truly love Jesus, who shun complacency and comfort, and who are willing to step out to take the risks of faith required to make a lasting impact amongst the youth communities of Perth and beyond – I look forward to what will continue to emerge in the weeks and months to come…

SHARED EXPERIENCE & COMMON HEART...I’m hoping to experience more of the same when I travel to Brisbane for meetings with a few key youth workers this weekend.

Sow What - investing for the future

“The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone--a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24,25 NLT


Last night I was chatting over Facebook with my good friend Tong in Thailand. We were working through some of the finer details in preparation for an upcoming ministry exposure and equipping trip to Australia for Tong and a team of emerging Thai leaders this October. Looking forward to that!

We also chatted about some of the ongoing challenges that are associated with investing into an emerging generation of young people as we seek to develop healthy disciple-making teams, processes and programs; agreeing that it can be difficult, and as this is a spiritual endeavour then it seems that whenever God opens a door for effective ministry this somehow invites various degrees of opposition, confusion and even persecution.

As I think about my recent dialogue with Tong I’m reminded of the incredible sacrifices he (and others on his team) make to stand up for Jesus, to support and shepherd the local youth, to liaise with church leaders and parents, to visit local high schools, to build into young lives – doing whatever it takes to invest personally into a generation of young Thai’s in order that they may come to know and follow Jesus.

This also reminds me of the words and example of Jesus, especially in terms of personal sacrifice. Not long before making the ultimate sacrifice Jesus said; “The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone--a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (John 12:24)

The point Jesus seems to be making is this; as the germ of life in a grain of wheat can only pass into other grains by departing from the original grain and leaving it dead, so too, the life which was in Jesus could only pass into his disciples by his death.

In vs 25 Jesus goes on to say; “Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

The point…the principle here…? It has to do with what we might call the law of growth. That is, if a grain of wheat were to saves itself, it would remain but one grain until it rots; but if it is sown into the ground, and yields up its life-germ as a sacrifice to the law of growth, it then multiplies itself thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold and continues its multiplication through succeeding generations…

The implications for the true believer here are huge.

If we want to get serious about impacting our local community landscape for Jesus, then we’ve simply got to be prepared to die to self; to sacrifice self; being willing to yield our self, our personal agendas, personal comforts, even our own preferences and traditions we might be used to, to invest ourselves into the soil, to effect the law of growth and so produce a harvest of new lives.

If we want our lives to count for something beyond the moment and beyond ourselves (I tick the 'yes' box here) then may God motivate us to get serious about sowing into PEOPLE...sowing deep into people’s lives, whatever the cost.

I’ll continue to be praying for Tong and his team in this regard…

Being present in the moment

I recently finished reading Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. I was kindly given this book by a friend in the USA a few years ago and it has been sitting on a shelf since then. I found it a timely read. I particularly warmed to the thoughts contained in Chapter 11, The Geography of Nowhere (read “Nowhere” to mean now/here.)

Manning writes; “To be fully present to whoever or whatever is immediately before us is to pitch a tent in the wilderness of Nowhere. It is an act of radical trust – trust that God can be encountered at no other time and in no other place than the present moment. Being fully present in the now is perhaps the premier skill of the spiritual life.”

He goes on to say; “Real living is not about words, concepts and abstractions but about experience of who or what is immediately before us.”

Manning contends that being preoccupied with the past and future at the expense of the present (being “immersed in the ordinary”) means that we’re not living at all.

I’m doing what I can to be a little more intentionally present in the moments of daily life; asking God to help me hone my skills in becoming a more active listener to what is happening in and around me, especially in those more mundane, ordinary and routine experiences.

Lord, please help me to pay attention to what is happening around me and to respond appropriately…today.

Signs & Wonders

Another memorable experience from my recent time away with the Huddleston lads in Buchan...

One afternoon we decided to go for a drive to explore the region beyond the park where we were staying. We had a local map and agreed to head towards the Basin Creek Falls, situated alongside the Snowy River.

The map indicated that in order to get to the Falls car park and walking trail we’d need to travel along an unsealed road for a few km’s (road was suitable for tourist sightseeing and no 4WD’s necessary).

As we wound our way towards the Falls we enjoyed spectacular views of the Snowy River from a distance. We soon came to a place where a “blank” wooden sign was located on the side of the road. There were no other vehicles in the vicinity and the unsealed road continued on ahead, down a hill with a reasonable slope.

What to do..? We agreed not to stop at the sign and to proceed cautiously ahead down the road, hopeful of arriving at the Basin Creek Falls car park and walking track shortly. As we proceeded beyond the sign I could see from my rearview mirror some wording on the reverse side of the sign. You can probably guess what it said. It said; Basin Creek falls. Go figure?!

By now we had pretty much gone past the point of no return. The road was narrow, winding, unstable and uneven – not exactly ideal for our trusty Mitsubishi Starwagon!

Slowly moving forward (and downhill) I looked for a suitable place to turn around our van. This was getting more challenging and after another 50 meters or so we could see water flowing steadily across the road. Beyond the water (how deep was it?), was a rather steep embankment. I knew it would be foolish to attempt to drive over this in our van.

It was at this point that the boys worked it out (I thought it best to wait and see if they would discover for themselves what I had realised only a few minutes earlier). This track was clearly not the way to the Falls. Someone must have thought they’d play a prank and had chosen to remove the sign at top of the hill and turn it around – not really funny and potentially dangerous for other unsuspecting drivers.

Thankfully I was able to turn the van around and make the return journey slowly back up and along the road we had been driving along. We arrived safely at the sign and parked on the side of the road. As we walked over to the sign I asked Scott to give me hand to see if we could lift it out, turn it around and place it back in the ground – the right way around. It fitted perfectly!

As we looked further beyond the sign we could see a small walking track that headed down the side of the hill towards the Snowy River. We agreed to follow the track. The initial few minutes of our hike made for some fascinating discussion about what we had just experienced. A number of major insights surfaced as we walked and talked together.

1) It was wrong of someone to have turned the sign around and it could have put other people and their vehicles at risk of injury and damage. We concluded that there are people in this world who choose to do the wrong thing, even if it means placing others in danger.
2) We chose to do something that was right. We simply turned the sign around and positioned it in it’s correct place.
3) Life has it’s fair share of signs and paths to follow. Some paths are safer than others. There will be times when we will be confronted with choices that can lead us in different directions. Hopefully we will make the right choices.

We eventually arrived at the Basin Creek Falls. It was worth the journey. We also enjoyed standing at the edge of the Snowy River and looking out across some truly majestic scenery.

It was soon time to head back along the path, up the hill to our van. About half way up we came across two people who were coming our way, down the hill towards the Falls. We greeted them and proceeded along the path to our van. Meeting this couple served to remind us of our earlier encounter with the sign. The boys were able to reflect a few more in-the-moment insights…”It’s good that we turned that sign around…it helped those people find the right path…just imagine what might have happened to anyone else out here if the sign hadn’t been turned the right way around.”

Outdoor education...way to go!

Darkness and Light

I’ve been enjoying a two week break which has included a few fun days away with our three boys Scott, Tim and Liam. We stayed in a small cabin in Buchan Caves Reserve,360km East of Melbourne. The weather was fine and chilly and we had a great time exploring the region together – our senses were treated to some incredibly diverse expressions of God’s creation.

One of our goals for the trip was to experience the (underground) adventure of touring the Royal and Fairy caves in Buchan. These two caves are open to the public and are situated amongst a honeycomb of different caves featuring some spectacular limestone formations formed by underground rivers cutting through limestone rock. We really enjoyed both tours and appreciated gaining insights into the history of these caves and their discovery over 100 hundred years ago.

Towards the end of our Royal cave tour our guide said something that captured my attention, big time. She said that if she was to turn off the cave lighting we would find ourselves surrounded by complete darkness, and that in only 15 minutes, with no reference point to focus on, we would each lose our balance and most likely fall over, as we stumbled around in the dark.

To help us gain a greater understanding of this point the guide then flicked off the switch and we along with around 25 other tourists could not see a thing; it was completely dark – there was no light source anywhere – pretty confronting! Thankfully, after another 30 seconds or so (it seemed longer) the LED cave lights were switched back on – quite a relief to one and all.

Since that experience I have been thinking about those words from our guide; “Left in total darkness, with no reference point to focus on, within 15 minutes we would each lose our balance.”

Several spiritual insights come to mind;

1) Jesus is the Light of the world – whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

2) There is a whole world of people out there who are stumbling around in the darkness, living un-balanced lives because they have no true reference point (Jesus) to focus on.

3) God calls His people to be light-bearers; allowing our lives to shine before others. (Matthew 5:14-16)

4) The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is our Perfect reference point – we’re called to fix our eyes on Him. (Hebrews 12:2)

5) As children of light, Christians are urged to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them. (Ephesians 5:8-11) I’m wondering what this looks like in reality…

The boys and I gained some really valuable insights during our time away in Buchan.

I hope to share a few more of these in the days ahead.

The progressive journey

I enjoyed driving to and from Bendigo in regional Victoria yesterday. It was time for the bi-monthly gathering of my Formation Group of students who are studying with the Australian College of Ministries (ACOM). It was once again refreshing to share the day with these guys. There is certainly something special about opening the doors of our lives to one another, in a safe place, over time - I really appreciate the honesty and the transparency plus the shared insights we receive when we get together.

We kicked off our day by each selecting two black and white Aussie landscape/people images I had displayed around the room. As we considered what each image was saying to us it was interesting to observe that one or two common themes were emerging from the process. One clear theme was about the JOURNEY we each are on...

Prior to meeting together I had encouraged the guys to come prepared to reflect upon something they had found meaningful from a recent article, book or Scripture they had been reading.

Here is what I brought to the group, based on my recent readings from my 'Mere Christianty Journal' by CS Lewis;

"We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road, and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man...There is nothing progressive about being pig headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world, it is pretty plain that humanity had been making some big mistakes. We are on the wrong road. And if that is so, we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on."

It was a good day in Bendigo and I certainly had a bit to think about on my drive back home...

Junk, no more!

As I was driving to my the office this morning I noticed that one of our local suburbs was having a hard-rubbish collection. I was once again reminded of how Judy loves to collect broken worn-out old items from the side of the road and work hard to make them into something new – something that looks better than before.

What kind of items does Judy like to collect? Chairs, bookshelves, pots and pans, wheelbarrows, bicycles, wooden doors….anything really!!

When I look at such items on the side of the road (or in our shed) I mostly see junk – rubbish. When Judy looks at these old items she sees possibility – potential! Judy finds great delight in taking something that is old and broken and working on it, doing whatever it takes to make it new again. She enjoys both the process and the end result…

In fact, as I've observed her in action I can tell that she will go to almost any length to get the work done!! It’s her labour of love…

The word we can use for this work is the word restore and the word for the process involved is restoration. To restore something is to repair something and bring it back to it’s original condition - to take something that is old and to make it new again.

This reminds me of Someone else Who also likes restoring things, including people; people like you and me. I marvel at how God is so actively involved in the process of bringing the relationship He once had with humanity back to where it is meant to be.

The amazing thing about this is that the Designer of the universe wants to actively involve His people in this very same process…the New Testament gospels teach us that Jesus, the very presence of God on earth, started a movement by gathering and training up a group of very ordinary people – people who became devoted followers in whom he could see incredible potential…other people may have seen these first followers as junk, rubbish or even a waste of time, but Jesus could see potential & possibility in them.

I love the fact that God never writes anyone off - He always sees beyond the brokenness and failures. He wants to complete His labour of love to help us realise our potential.

I wonder what you see when you look at the problems and concerns in your own life, or in the lives of others?

Hopefully we, like God, won't write ourselves or others off, but rather we will see the potential of what a life can become when restored by Jesus.

Unless the LORD builds the house...

A bitter pill to swallow
Judy and I sat down in the specialists’ West Perth office to receive the test results we had been anxiously waiting for. And then he said it; “You will never have children…”

Certainly a bitter pill to swallow for both of us, but especially for Judy, who, from a very young age had always wanted to get married and have children. And now, after eight years of marriage and trying to start a family with no success, the medical prognosis was clinical and clear – we would never be able to have children. The test results indicated at the time that both our bodies had adverse medical conditions proving conclusively that we were infertile – that word was tough to hear and even tougher to say out loud.

The news hit us pretty hard. It cut us deeply and stirred up a whole mixture of emotions and related questions. Up until this point in time we had chosen not to share much of this journey with more than just a few of our closest family and friends – it was just too personal and too difficult to talk about. And now we would need to let people know what we were having to accept as reality for us.

As Christians our faith and trust in God had been surely tested. Why would a good God allow this to happen to us? After some time Judy and I reluctantly came to accept that we would never be parents, that she would never be able to truly celebrate Mother’s Day and I think we pretty much agreed to stop praying for God to break through and change our situation.

Encountering hope
Some five years after having been told of our condition, we heard about a Christian woman who was coming to speak at our local church Mum’s group on the topic of infertility. Judy looked me in the eye and strongly encouraged me to go along to the meeting with her. I went along with Judy and was the only guy present amongst a group of forty women – an interesting dynamic for sure!

As we sat and listened to the speaker’s story, we both sensed that God was communicating personally and directly to us. We listened intently. Everything she said resonated so well.

To sum up the woman’s story, she and her husband had once been in a similar position to ourselves, having been told they could never have children, and then over time were directed by God along a different path, a path that would ultimately lead to them conceiving a child and giving birth for the first time.

Could it be that this might also become our experience..? we thought. At the conclusion of the meeting Judy and I spent some time interacting with the speaker. She listened and she talked us through more of her own experience, demonstrating support and sensitivity and offering just a slight glimmer of hope.

Testing times
We didn’t hesitate to make an appointment with a local Perth fertility clinic (interestingly it was the same practice we had seen the specialist through previously). We found the staff to be friendly and understanding. This was followed by many more appointments along with numerous tests. We were told that technology had advanced somewhat in recent years - we found this encouraging. It was certainly an enlightening and financially challenging process, with so much to learn and a number of lifestyle changes required (including taking fertility drugs and observing a strict diet and exercise regime). I won’t go into any more process details at this time (it’s complicated!) but we are willing to share this with anyone who may be interested. As we embarked on this pathway we decided we would invite a broader group of people into the process. We wanted to be as open as possible with what we were going through; seeking the prayers and support of people we loved and trusted. Judy and I figured that whether we were able to conceive and have a child or not we would still need support. Our local church was particularly helpful in this regard for which we were very thankful.

Conception miracle
“Who will make the phone call to the Clinic to get the results?” was the question we asked each other when it came time to find out if we were pregnant or not. I agreed to make that call.

It was about a year after hearing God speak to us at our local church Mum’s group that we learned we were going to have a baby, and nine months later after a very healthy (and happy!) pregnancy Judy gave birth to our first child in March 1996; a son, named Scott – we knew he was a gift from God.

But wait, there’s more
Judy really savoured her first-ever Mother’s day which fell within 6 weeks of Scott arriving on the scene. Wonderful. A year or so later, Judy and I were out to dinner when she leant across the table and said to me; “I want to have another baby and I’m prepared to go through the entire process again.” Could it just be possible that we might be able to have another child? I’ve learnt not to argue too much with Judy (especially when she sets her mind on something!), so once again we went down the fertility clinic journey and once again we included those people who had supported us so well through the process previously. What an absolute joy it was for us to learn that, following another intense period of testing and tracking, Judy had conceived and we were going to have another baby – incredible!

And so, after another healthy pregnancy, Judy gave birth to our second child in November 1998; another son, named Timothy, who was born at exactly the same time of day and at the same birth weight of number one son, Scott.

And more…
Our family was now complete and we were very content to have been gifted with two healthy boys. Judy and I agreed that we would not go back to the fertility clinic again – it was time to focus on other things now, which would of course include the daily joys and challenges of raising a family.

About 18 months after Tim’s arrival, Judy was feeling sick - she knew this feeling well and could relate it back to two previous instances. Can you imagine our shock and delight when, following a visit to our local doctor it was confirmed that Judy was pregnant, again – we were going to have another baby…super-naturally!! Judy’s third pregnancy was relatively uneventful and she gave birth to our third child, another healthy son, Liam, in September 2000.

God speaks by a river
A year or so after Liam’s birth I was taking one of my regular personal retreat days by a local river. At the time Judy and I were experiencing a season of spiritual restlessness – it was as though God was up to something and we sensed He was preparing us for something new, but we were clueless as to what this might look like. We were doing our best to be faithful to the children and the ministry of Youth Ministries Australia (YMA) we had been called to care for and lead. We were earnestly seeking God about what might be next for us.

During my retreat I was directed to read Psalm 127;

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

God captured my attention and my heart through this short passage of Scripture. I could see a very personal application to these words from God. I could easily identify with what had been written about home, work and family and the need to adopt a perspective which sees God and His work at the centre of it all. God was also using this passage to confirm that our (three) sons were a heritage and a reward from Him! I hurried home to share and unpack with Judy what I had been hearing from God. It was a rich time indeed. This line-in-the-sand encounter with God and His Word was something we wanted to ensure would be retained as a foundation for the way we would live out our lives into God’s preferred future.

More surprises, more changes
It was only a month or so after having read Psalm 127 that Judy and I became aware of two new pieces of information that were to have major implications for our family. Firstly, there was a need, an opportunity and a clear calling for Judy and I to embrace the National Leadership role within the ministry of YMA. This in itself would present some significant challenges for us, including the need to relocate our family from Perth to Sydney within six months. God had clearly been preparing us for this. As well as speaking to us through Psalm 127, God had also been telling Judy to “Get the house in order.” We were soon able to discern that not only was God wanting us to do what was necessary to sell and leave our Perth home but He was also speaking about how He wanted to use us to help get the YMA house in order (the Ministry was in an obvious state of disrepair at the time). We were definitely “up” for this sobering challenge and desired to do whatever was required to stay aligned with God and His purposes. Obedience was the call.

Secondly, around this same time Judy said she was feeling sick again, and by now she (and I) knew what this could potentially mean…a fourth pregnancy! And yes, sure enough, the results came back from our doctor in the positive – we were going to have yet another baby! It didn’t take us long to do the maths to realize that not only would be relocating across Australia whilst Judy was pregnant, but this would mean Judy would be giving birth in a new city, some 6 months after moving into our new home, suburb and ministry role – crazy times – God help us!!

Life and times in the big city
Without going into all the specifics, we can testify that the hand of the Lord was surely with us in everything that transpired in the lead-up to leaving Perth and the relocation that followed, enabling us to start well in our new Sydney surrounds. Judy safely gave birth to our fourth child, this time a daughter, Caitlin, in June 2002. Who would have thought that this would ever be possible?! God enabled us to see such an amazing (even miraculous) transformation before our very eyes – He had taken us from a place of barrenness and infertility to a place of very fertile greener pastures...literally!

Over and over, God confirmed His presence and His provision to us – we had no doubt that, in the words of the psalmist;

“The boundary lines have fallen for me (us) in pleasant places; surely I(we) have a delightful inheritance.” (Psalm 16:6)

Those first few years in Sydney had their fair share of challenges, especially from a ministry perspective. Hindsight informs us that, if you’ll excuse me mixing the metaphors, God was taking YMA through a season of house-cleaning and hard-pruning, resulting in many people leaving the ministry. Since then, the Lord has clearly been reconfirming His calling and vision upon the ministry and we are expectant of more great advances for His Kingdom to follow, as God continues to gather more people around His heart and purposes today.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

This is just some of our story – in many ways this is our UNDER-story…the story that can be read and told as being foundational and formational to who we are becoming and what we are about as a family, as we seek to faithfully follow Jesus every day.

What about you…? Can you identify and describe your own under-story?? Are you able to discern what God has been doing and saying and teaching you throughout the unfolding pages and chapters of your life and the lives of those people He is entrusting to your care and influence? I hope you are able to do so. And, I hope that our amazing God will enable your story to be lived and told with assurance and passion so that others may come to know and trust and follow Him, all the days of their lives.

Thanks for reading this post - I'm hoping to share some more (shorter posts?!) about what God is teaching me as I seek to follow Jesus and influence others to do the same. Judy and I welcome the opportunity to engage with you and your story should you so choose to share the journey with us...