Where is your FOCUS?

My parents have a boat. It’s a nice boat that’s harboured in a really pretty part of Sydney’s waterways. The few times that I’ve been out on it I’ve noticed one thing. It’s really easy to just sit there and drift. I’m not a nautical kinda gal but even I can notice that you can be anchored somewhere and still get swung around so that you have all sorts of views and get turned around from the place where you got started.

If you think a metaphor for life is coming – bingo, you get a gold star…

Over the last couple of months as I’ve been wandering around, going to conferences and meeting new people and teams I’ve often wondered about the direction that I’ve come from and where I’m heading to. To be honest, I think I started to loose my focus and so in the last few days I’ve found myself asking, “What exactly am I doing again? What and who am I doing it for?” etc..

Last week I was heading back from a campus and a new friend that I was driving with reminded me that we need to keep speaking the gospel together. It’s one thing to talk about, or rather around, the gospel but it’s another thing all together to keep speaking the message of the Cross to each other. A seemingly off handed verse reference from someone is sharpening me and reminding me that I’m not the only one. Hebrews 12:2 is a slap in the face sometimes for those of us who can drift a little. It’s about Jesus. It is only ever, past, present and future, about Jesus.

So I started to read through Hebrews and this morning have been pondering on chapters 3 and 4 in particular. I’m thankful for them and for the reminder that I am not alone, that others drift (hence the anchor analogy with the author reminding the first audience not to drift away) and that we need to keep reminding each other of the Gospel that we first heard, the message of the Grace of God that He would send His one and only Son to die an ugly brutal death on a Cross in my place for my sins and yours, and that He conquered death and my sins as proven by His resurrection three days later. The simple beauty of Grace should make us want to weep in thankfulness and joy. And yet why do we forget it? Why do we get our focus clouded? Why do we forget the joy and focus on the burdens?

Are you drifting? Are you forgetting? Are you questioning? Take it a step back to a bigger question… Are you a Christian? For anyone one of those answers I’d give you the same answer:

Go back to the Cross.

Right now.

Examine it.

Question it.
Be eternally thankful for it.

Sit down with a friend, ask your questions (for that matter send me a message or email and we can look for the answers together) but, for Gods sake (well, maybe more so for yours) go back to the Cross. Can I be any clearer?

In addition to reading the Bible (why not start with Marks gospel or join me in Hebrews – read a chunk and we can be at the same place within the next… oh… 20 mins or so?) I’d like to recommend a book that I’ve been reading this week by CJ Mahanney The Cross Centred Life. It’s a tiny book (when you’ll see it you’ll know that I could have finished it in a couple of hours) but I’m only a few chapters in because I think it’s the type of book that is good to mull over and prompts you to ask some tough questions (and some of you will know more than others what a fan I am of those!).

What happens when you learn a part of your own story?

I’m one of those confused people. I call myself an only child (which is pretty much how I was raised) and yet I also talk about a much loved sister and brother, their spouses and nieces and nephew (I don’t do ‘halves’). There have been times when I’ve felt a little out of step – not only with my society but also with my family. I write this full well knowing that one day they may see of read this and so I write hoping not to cause offence but to say things as I see them, hopefully as accurately as possible.

My family wouldn’t exactly class themselves as a religious family. In the past we have gone to Easter and Christmas services together, but I’m the only one who would go to church regularly and would want to talk about, or raise, matters of ‘faith’ and ‘religion’. And so, I think it would be fair to say that there have been times when not only have I felt a little out of step with my family ‘norm’ but also been encouraged to not raise certain issues, to not take faith “so seriously” and to think about careers choices that don’t involve ministry. I always know that I'm loved, accepted and valued but never quite understood in terms of how and why I think so much about Jesus and have Him influence my life so much.

Until today.

As you’ll know, I’m in Scotland – thinking about the future and how it’s shaped by people of the past. Today we took a drive through the highlands (I was just keen to see Hamish) to get to what is probably one of the oldest churches in Scotland that had it's foundation in Druid worship (oh yeah, and it's also famous because of some other character, Rob Roy, being buried there).

You can read about the history of Balquhidder here, but the most important thing that came out of my time there today (other than just being at a cool site!) was that this place is literally the birth place of my family - both in name and generational span. Not many families throughout history can trace their lineage to an exact place and year, but I learnt that I can.

More than that though, I was able to learn about the ways in which the family was born - and what was their basis of daily life. It was their faith. It was Who the stood for (and who they stood in opposition too) that gave them the name.


Standing in the cemetery, looking at the gravestones and thinking of ancestors who had stood for something in the name of Jesus I felt…. Relief. Joy. Hope. A longing to get to heaven and meet my family not only in the Spirit but also in blood. I felt a kinship to this land that I have felt before, but never breathed. Does that make any sense or does it just sound nutty? Standing in the glen, the foothills of mountains, running water and stories from generations gone by, I felt like I could breath the air of McLarens before me. This was their land. They stood for something. They stood for Jesus. I wont know anything really about them while on earth, but I will be able to meet them in heaven and hear their stories... and that will be awesome.


I was able to spend some time with some closer McLaren relations too. My Pop's brother and sister and their families. It was special to be with them at the one year anniversary of the death of a man that we all loved greatly and made it easier being away from home. One of the things I remember about my Pop is his hugs. No one, and I mean no one, could hug me the way he did. There was just something unique about it - until his younger brother John managed to do it in the same way... Must've been something in the way their parents raised them!

I've said goodbye to the rest of the group that I spent the week in 'conversations' with. It was a great week and great friendships have begun, been renewed, re-strengthen and re-understood because of these last few days. More and more I'm feeling the absence and difficulty that comes with different time zones - but I'm thankful for each glimmer of times I get to spend with special friends. Hopefully you've been able to check out some of the stuff on you-tube - more snippets of the group will be coming up when I get the chance to edit stuff and hopefully it will make you smile as you get a glimpse into what was a great week.

So I'll be saying goodbye to Scotland in a couple of days time. It's been fun - but I'm definitely looking forward to heading down to London and the next part of this coming 'journey'. It's going to be interesting to see what He has in store.

x j

Have you met Miss Jones?

I’ve had a soft spot for Ms Jones ever since I read her diaries while living in London in 2000. I empathised with her highs and lows and just loved the ways in which the character expressed herself so fully through the words she placed in her diary.

There’s another Miss Jones who bounced into my life in 2005 on the concourse at UTS. Which is where I expected her to be the other day; in Sydney and most definitely not in Scotland.

Imagine this for a scenario. You’re a bit tired, cold and damp, you have thongs on and have just been informed you’re walking up the 287 steps of a Scottish monument just to ‘check it out’ to see if others in the group would want to go later. You probably are acting a little like a petulant child (ok, let’s face it I could have been on the verge of a tanty) as you stomp up the narrow (one way up, same way down, let’s get really close to a bunch of strangers on the way) staircase to get to the fourth level.

So you can imagine that I was somewhat distracted when I did eventually get to the top and realise that it was a pretty good view and worth taking photos of. I’d managed to snap off one or two of Edinburgh castle when a fellow tourist said “Nice view isn’t it?” I abstractly agreed before turning to face the chatty tourist…. Here’s a rough transcript of what went through my head in the next few milliseconds:

“She looks like Alex”

“She looks a LOT like Alex”

“That’s Alex”

“That’s not Alex, I’m in SCOTLAND”

“Alex is in Sydney and NOT in Scotland”

“That IS ALEX IN SCOTLAND!!!”

“What is Alex doing in Scotland???”

“Shut up voices and give her a hug!!!”

Hugs, and the inevitable tears, ensued as both Alex and Nigel kept congratulating each other on doing so well in giving me what has to be the biggest surprise of my life. Turns out, Alex was indeed here for the week to join in the conversations that 14 or so of us from around the globe have come together to have. Conversations about the bible, about how the bible shapes and informs what we seek to do, and how what we seek to do is actually be people who will stand up, show up, and influence those around us for the Glory of Christ.

I like that Alex is here, of course I do, I like it a lot! But aside from liking it because this is a young women that I mentored for 5 years, cherish and laughed with, what I like about it the most is that is shows the passing on of things. Alex is here not for me but for her, to see how God will guide her, and how she will respond… Any number of people from Credo could have come because through the ministry at UTS they have grown and matured to be the new generation of those who will stand, lead and serve in all sorts of different ways. It’s not about me, it’s not about the other staff, it’s about the way that Jesus has been working in their lives and how He will continue to use them to speak into the lives of others.

More reflections from our time together will come a bit later – but in the meantime you can check out some of what we’re thinking through here

The day I meet the IRA

You see movies of the IRA (Brad Pitt comes to mind in one of them) and I’ve always had the image of them being hardened snarly criminal looking types… not nice older men who offer you a cuppa, tell you your ‘grand’ and want to have a wee chat in the early morning light.

I don’t know what I was expecting last week when I got up early to wander around L’Derry/Free Derry (or just plain old Derry). I wasn’t expecting to feel like a fraud and I wasn’t expecting to want to weep with a stranger. I got up early on a day when I needed to drive for ages to get down to Galway. And so before the rest of the town and the tourist were up and about, I headed over to some well-known artwork that display and describe some of the pain that this town has seen over the years. I felt like a fraud as I walked around and took photos, somehow turning someone’s tragedy into a tourist happy snap…


As I kept walking though, I came across a man hoisting up a republic of Ireland flag. Now, if you’re slower on your Irish political history (like I am) then what you need to know is that, as far as I can tell, this is an illegal act because Derry/Nrth Ireland is a part of the UK and so shouldn’t be flying another countries flag. So I walked up to the man and politely asked him to fill me in – “was the flag actually raised each morning and night, or…?”.

I saw him take in the innocent confusion on my face as well as the camera and backpack and watched him decide whether or not to talk to me. He decided to share and informed me that no, the flag wasn’t supposed to be up, but there was a small group of people that would raise it on the anniversary of “one of the death’s” as he nodded to the moment with the names of, I think, 12 people. These were the people who, as political prisoners along with Bobby Sands died as a result of refusing to eat whilst in jail as a protest to British occupation of Nth Ireland.

I’m not going to get into politics, into the rights and wrongs, but what I will say is that I felt like weeping with this man who has seen, and struggled, more than most – and almost certainly more than you and I combined. I found him on a morning where he was remembering those who he had played with as a child, had grown through puberty and first loves with and watched as they slowly and painfully died for their cause.

It was a sharp reminder that we go to places, we see their beauty (and Ireland is certainly a beautiful country) but we can’t forget to scratch below the surface and see what makes up the blood as well as the beauty of the place we find our selves in.

My time in Ireland was wonderful. It was full of beauty and discovery and I’m thankful that I got to share some of it with a wonderful friend from Sydney… But I also can’t help wishing I could go back to that morning, stay on the bench a little longer and hear more of the stories of what makes Ireland as unique as it is.

Prague

After finishing debrief with the team, they headed back to the land of Oz while I hopped on a plane to London to spend 36 hours. It was great to go back to friends that I lived with there years ago, and it was as if the 9 years had never been - just sitting up all night talking, enjoying good food and wine and catching up on life. Having lived in London for a while I never actually did many of the touristy things so I decided to use my day there trying to take in all the sites. But the queues (and the fact that Buckingham Palace was closed) got the better of me so I just walked as much as possible around the centre and going back to some favourite places when I worked in Nottinghill... It was nice to walk down memory lane... as well as a packed Portobello Rd.

And now, welcome to Prague. Home to cobbled pathways, winding streets, castles galore, classical music and ice-creams on every corner. The Gulf seems very far away s I'm surrounded by greenery and water! I have 5 nights here in total which has been ample time to take in all of the sites. Probably too much time but it's been a great excuse to have long lunches in cafes and watch everyone else race by, to walk along the river or enjoy reading in one of the many parks in the afternoon sun. I can see why so many people rave about this city. Not only has it been able to keep it's old world charm but there is so much history here in terms of music, architecture and religion and I would definitely tell friends to come here.

After having spent a month, 24/7, with people it's a little strange being on my own but I'm taking it as a good chance to rest up and enjoy it while I can!

A slightly better update

So, for those who haven't been able to read more elsewhere, I thought it was about time I give out a few more details about some of the things we've been doing for our month in the Gulf.

For the most part we've been spending time in one main village, B, teaching English and building relationships with a lot of the locals. It's been an amazing time with them and we've found that we've been able to have relationships that are much deeper because we were there last year too. While locals were always friendly and happy to have us there last year, this time it's gone way beyond that as we've gone into at least 5 homes, shared meals, heard stories... it's been above and beyond what we expected.

Some things have changed here (mostly the landscape with heaps of cranes and construction happening around the clock) but others, the heat, the generosity of the church here, the great food... they're all as good (well, maybe not so much the heat - but you get used to it) as I remember and I'm happy to be back.

The team has been going well and have been throwing themselves in to all aspects of life here. It's hard to believe that we only have a few more days here before heading to D for the debrief time. And then holidays for me!!!

I can't wait. Almost 3 weeks of alone time and exploration, first Prague and then Ireland before some time in Scotland for some ministry conferences. I'm looking forward to all of it!

repenting in dust and ashes... well... mostly dust...

I'm sorry. Bad Bad BAD Blogger... been a crazy month but I'm now safe and sound on the other side of the world. It's great to be back in the Gulf and I'm loving spending time with new friends and old and being able to go back to one of the villages in particular that we were at last year.

For those who want something to look at, head over to my you tube channel to start getting some visual updates.

More later
x j

and for some of the other women in my life...

Last Saturday (23rd) was a great day. I admit it, in the past I have had a, shall we say... sceptical? view of women's events. All to often I find that they are some what on the fluffy side - that they've talked about how be a 'nice godly gal' rather than reaching into the robustness of scripture and grappling with God; who He is and who we are to be as His daughters in light of His sovereignty and our redemption.

And so it was with a little dubiousness that I went along with some of the female leaders of Credo to the eQuip conference but I loved it! Somewhat providentially I decided to go through the book of Esther with these girls in January and so it was great that this was the book that the speakers were working through this year. I was impressed by how much content of the book they were able to include in two talks as well as the creativity that was used in the reading of the text and setting the context of the book in light of Israel waiting for a deliverer. Visually, the organisers set the platform up as a larger than life chess board - reminding us as we were listening that the book of Esther has players in the game, and the one Sovereign hand that is controlling the action throughout.

A summary of 4 things to take away from Esther that we were given at the end was:

1. We are to be humble - to accept the position that God has given us
2. We are to be excited - to expect that God will use us in His plans
3. We are to be purposeful - to be activley using our position and lives with wisdom (we're not waiting around for a script!)
4. We are to be courageous - to be willing to risk our position for His glory

The last point in particular struck a chord with me - courage is something that I have been thinking about quite a lot lately. Where it comes from and Who do I draw any I have from?

What I especially treasured about the day was that I got to spend it with 7 out of the 8 leaders that disciple and spend time with. These truly are some of the other women in my life and I treasure each and every one of them. To you girls, I want you to know how proud and delighted I am in each of you - for who you are, more than for the things that I get to see you do (although I do love seeing those things too!). I'm humbled that you let me share in your lives and I can't wait to be able to look back with you and see all the ways that God has worked in and through you over the years.

Only a slightly different note - this is going to be a good, and a big, week for me. I get to spend time with some friends (good coffee and corn fritters at Bills are on the agenda for tomorrow morning) and it's the last week of term on campus and with Credo. I'll be speaking at public meeting this week - mostly based on 1 Cor 16 hopefully mirroring some of Paul's goodbyes with a few of my own...

The Women

During my enforced couch/sick time this week I had a little flick through the movies and came up with "The Women" with some of the actresses being Meg Ryan, Annette Benning, Debra Messing... it was a good cast but a pretty average movie. It covered the themes of love, betrayl, adultery, loyalty and - of course - the incredible bond that women can share. Despite it being an average movie it got me thinking - a lot actually - about the women that are in my life, and in particular some of the extraordinary friends that I have and the blessings that they are to me.

I am so thankful for each of my close girlfriends... there are about half a dozen women who I would drop anything from anywhere in the world to be with (and I know it's vice versa) and this weekend I got to spend time with two of them

Naree


and Anna


For different reasons we each shed a few tears together today - and I love that we're there to wipe them away for each other. To you girls, and the others, I love ya!!! And I'm thankful that distance doesn't lesson love and significance in each others lives.

All good weeks involve cupcakes - and other sweet things

Do you have those places in your life, physical places that you've spent time, that you've made your home in, that have become such a part of your history that whenever you step back onto the ground that you just seem to breath a little more comfortably and freely? For me, Sydney Missionary and Bible College is one of those handful of places.

I was a student here for just two years, but they were two years that helped to shape guide and direct the person that I am and the ministry that I have today. So you can imagine that I've been looking forward to heading back there this week just gone for a week long preaching conference. The four main speakers were Jerry Bridges, Bryan Chappell, John Woodbridge and Kanishka Raffel and it's so worthwhile getting the dvd's or the mp3's so that you can listen to their collective wisdom.

Here are some of the rebukes and challenges that I felt coming out of the conference:
* I don't pray enough (or have big enough prayers) because ultimately I don't believe that God will, can or wants to answer them
* We should never try and limit what God can do
* I'm neither 'good' nor 'bad' because of my actions - grace, in all of it's sovereignty means that I am either or purely because of where I stand before the Cross

I've also just come back from the Blue Mountains with about 50 of the Credo students on the IDEAL getaway which is a combination of (mostly) the design arts and humanities students with the engineering and IT faculties. Last year we looked at relationships and this year we tackled spiritual warfare. It was just great to sit and watch some of the students sitting in the morning sun, reading their bibles, pointing out things to one another and asking each other questions. I was able to have a couple of really good conversations that I wanted to have - and each time I walk away humbled that students allow me to speak into their lives in any degree. For those who let me speak a little more strongly, who battle their way through my reflective questions (I can see them grimacing now) I thankyou the most, and I trust that they know that I do it with a whole lot of love.

Driving back down the mountains I have to say I was a little sentimental. It's now just over 6 weeks until I go and so I can't imagine that I'll get back there for a year or so. I think similar to SMBC, it's one of those places that I will always associate with good times - good conversations over hot choc's or a meal at the Carrington pub... or breakfast at ziggys's or one of cupid's cupcakes! (mmm - there is a running theme - but they usually involved at least one other person!)

It's been a pretty intense few weeks and so I'm looking forward to a bit of down time this week. I think the highlights will be seeing my Nanna tomorrow... and maybe a cupcake or two on Wednesday....

From the North Island and back to the North Shore

You know you might not be looking your best when you get on the plane, the stewardess automatically asks you if she can get you some water, you sit down to have the sweet (but still a stranger) little old lady just pick up your hand and start stroking it, move a stewardess to share a sympathetic tear too and have another passenger in the seats on the other side of the aisle pop up after the plane's levelled out to come and pat you on the shoulder and say "it's ok to be sentimental sweetheart".

mmm....

The comment about sentimentality came after the stewardess asked me if I'd 'left someone special behind' to which I mumbled "no" (well that's not entirely true because there were several special someones I left behind!) but that I was just being overly sentimental. This trip to NZ was always going to leave me a little sentimental. I knew it would be a great time of catching up with friends, of meeting families and developing new relationships as well as having some significant conversations. It was all of those and more.

The more was in long drives through the countryside, on the way out to wineries, walking along beaches or sitting in cafes eating breakfast at 2pm.... Life Is Good.

NZ is a spectacular country (why have I not been there before now?!) and it was great to have spent a little time exploring the north island while leaving me waiting to discover the south. Having started in Auckland for the Northern Region Easter camp for TSCF students and then a preaching day conference (more reflections on both of them later though), the Pollocks took me on a journey through Rotorua, Napier and then into Wellington where I got to spend the rest of the week with them and some others - particularly Ben and Val (also TSCF).

I'm uploading a bunch of new photos onto flickr so have a peak and read some more descriptions of some of the areas we visited if you're interested.

As one friend there said, it was a time away from Sydney that I wanted but also what I needed. I think it was needed to help me clear my head a little and refocus on the bigger picture of the next few months, rather than just getting caught up in too many details. It was a time that I needed, to be encouraged, challenged and supported and I'm thankful to each of my friends there who did that in various ways.

The highlight was spending time with the Pollocks, especially getting to know Ailsa and the boys. I was touched at just how warm and welcoming they all were and how easy it was just to hangout whether it was while we were exploring, having all sorts of conversations while driving, mucking around on beaches (even if they were laughing at me when I mistook a seagull for a kiwi - it was a brown bird though!) cooking in their kitchen or playing on the Wii (gotta master that skiing or soccer head-butting one for next time!).

On my last night, the Pollocks and Val gave me this koru which is a pendant made out of green-stone that you can only get in New Zealand. According to Maori tradition, you can't buy a koru it must be given to you by someone. Or perhaps a better word than 'given' would be 'entrusted' because a part of the gift of the koru is that it means that the pendant (and thereby you!) must go back to the ones who have given it to you one day. The one given to me is the triple infinity twist which symbolises the inter-twining of two cultures, people and stories for an eternal purpose... very appropriate that my NZ friends gave it to me then considering the road ahead. I was touched, and a little teary then as well as on the plane.

A part of the emotion on the way home may also have been that I knew this trip to NZ was the first in a series of markers, my own countdown if you will before I head back to the Gulf. It was probably fitting therefore that as my plane was rolling into the gangway, an Emirates plane was pulling out and heading for the runway - next time I'm at the airport for a flight, that'll be the one I'm on...

A bientot.

ETC is pretty much always a highlight for both students and staff so it’s no wonder that I’ve just had a great weekend. A little tiring (mentally and physically) but so worthwhile to spend from Thursday night to Monday lunch with the students thinking through “Amazing Grace” and the Doctrine of Salvation. We had record numbers this year – with the peak being grads coming back on Saturday to see 120 in the hall singing, praying and learning from God’s word. The amazing part for me was walking in on Thursday night and realising that there were a bunch of people that I had never met who are involved in some way with Credo. It’s a catch 22 – we want to be a community that shares and grows in Christ together, but as we grow it means that there will be people that some of us don’t know! But it was great to actually start to get to know some of them better over discussion groups and meals. I think a highlight for me was seeing 18 first years ready to be involved with Credo and think about what it will mean to be a Christian at uni for the next however many years.

Here are some reflections/summaries that I typed up as the days went on to give you an over-view (DVD’s/talks etc will be available sometime soon)

Friday morning session: we looked at the ideas of salvation: how salvation is communicated in a variety of ways in Scripture and how we then need to be thinking creatively (and in ways that speak to a variety of cultures) to share the Gospel. It was particularly helpful because I find that so often we become comfortable, complacent or confined in the way that we think about talking to others about Jesus. We have ‘tracks’ that, although can be helpful to get us thinking, some people often come to rely on in a mechanistic kind of way – the gospel = a + b + c…. and so become unstruck when someone injects a ‘but what about xyz that are what’s going on in my life?’.

One example that Sam gave was imagine being in a country or culture that feared spiritual demons or attacks – it would be ludicrous to share the gospel without saying “I have good news for you – Jesus is more powerful than any Spirit – in fact he conquered the spirit that you’re most afraid of…” Similarly looking at the way that Jesus himself ‘contextualised’ the Gospel in the different ways that He talked with Niccodemas, the woman at the well, the Pharisees or the rich young man… each is different. Each points to Christ but is done in very different ways based on the lives of those who are coming to Him.

On Friday evening we were reminded of the Lords supper from 1 Cor 11. There was this great moment when 120 people were sitting in 5 groups around a pile of flatbread, hommous and large cups filled with juice. Rather than the way we normally do the Lords Supper (you know, tiny piece of white bread, crusts cut off and a thimble full of juice that looks more like a little shot glass?) it was great to be able to have a hunk of bread to chew over the things that we are thankful for with the physical sacrifice of Jesus and then to wash it down


I was in Rome a number of years ago, and like most people stopped to look through some of the great works of art throughout the city. The Sistine chapel paints an amazing scene for us – it’s the interface between God and us at the point of creation… It’s the Creator and the created and how they can interact. On Saturday morning we looked at how outside of Eden this is now done through calling, regeneration and conversion – we can come back to the Creator through the Cross. We also saw how in the bible there are many different ways that people are ‘converted’ or come to have faith in Jesus with a few of them being:

o Someone whose known about Jesus, walked away from faith and then come back (the prodigal son, Luke 15)
o Someone who has always been against Jesus and against Christians coming to see the truth of who He really is
(Saul/Paul, Acts 9, 22, 26; Gal:1)
o Someone whose grown up in a Christian home and has been taught the gospel from birth
(Timothy, 2 Tim 1:5, 3:15)

It was really encouraging to look at actually because it reminded me that there is not set way in which someone comes to understand, know and love Jesus. It’s not that there is a formula, or that one way is better than another – what matters is that you come to the Cross not the way in which you get there.

Sunday morning we hit the topics of justification and sanctification, imputed and imparted righteousness

Isaiah 6 sees God on His throne and Isaiah recognises that he is a man of unclean lips – that he as an unrighteous sinner and yet can stand before a Holy God is something that is hard for us to comprehend today in our own lives too. So often I look at myself and am fully aware of ways or things that I do that are displeasing to God – and yet I can still come before Him in prayer and I know I will in Heaven. It’s humbling to be reminded that this will never be because of any of the ‘good’ things we do, but because Jesus has justified us. Justification is God declaring us as right with Him, innocent and not guilty. This isn’t the Sunday school answer of ‘just as if I’d never sinned’. It recognises that we have sinned, we were unable to stand before God but not that sin has been dealt with and through Jesus we’ve been set free from our guilt.

On Sunday afternoon I did a session on arrogance, pride and humility and if nothing else one thing that really stood out to me was that when we come before the cross – when we remember that Jesus was there, broken, bruised and bloodied (for me) this is no room for pride or arrogance. There’s no room for arrogance in anything I can do or accomplish in the shadow of the cross. But more than this we looked a little at how God feels about pride, arrogance and humility; for those who were there (or those who weren’t and want to look up some verses) then I’d encourage you to look at again Is 66:2, James 4:6, Prov 6:16-17, Prov 8:13 and 1 Peter 5:5.

On Monday morning (today) we looked at adoption and reconciliation. I was really struck as Sam was talking about our need for adoption, both as children as God as heirs with Jesus and our adoption into a community of brothers and sisters. Grace is never an individual thing – it’s offered communally (God to His people) and is shared and experienced communally – both here on earth and in Heaven to come. As a family we share in a banquet. It’s an image that as westerners we don’t often get the imagery of because we just have our nice little 2 or 3 course dishes – and yet in most other cultures the idea of a banquet is feasting that you can never get through! There is a lavish abundance that we share in – and we get to share in it with God! Can you imagine the scene? A banquet in the company of God…. food, gifts and good things from God with an abundance more than we could ever imagine – so lavish that we could only ever touch the surface of it…

One of the things that was fun was Joel and I setting up an espresso machine to sell all things caffeine related to raise some cash for our short term teams (ok, let’s face it, Joel was doing the hard work, I was doing the talking and selling and the one time I tried to use the machine it wouldn’t work and I burnt my hand). Capitalising on peoples growing repulsion to ‘instant coffee’ (seriously? IT”S NOT COFFEE!!!!) we found that a flood of people came to make some purchases over breaky or after the morning sessions. And thankfully, it was worth it because we raised around $750!

I had some truly amazing conversations over the weekend – and I’m always touched by how students are so willing to honestly share some of the things/issues that they’re struggling and thinking through. Even more so how some will allow me to invest in them and their lives and challenge them, some times in daunting as well as exciting ways about how God could be working in their lives and how they can be bringing Him glory. It’s a blessing to be a part of their lives at a stage in life when they’re thinking the most about who they are, who God is, and how we can relate to Him.

It was great just to spend some more time with them and invest in ‘deepening Grace’. As a staff team we had the aims for the week of the talks ‘extending Grace’ and that though our conversations and seminars we wanted to ‘deepening Grace’ in the way that students esp saw and understood God’s goodness to us in all areas of our lives.

For those who haven’t already - meet Kirby! She’s one of the students who’ll be coming back to the Gulf with me and it was great to see her (and the rest of the team!) interacting and getting to know each other better and as well to officially introduce the teams to the rest of Credo for them to be praying for us and supporting us as Credo as a whole sends the teams OS.

So all in all, a little tiring (to be expected!) but yet another great ETC where we were blessed to see God working powerfully through the talks, sessions and just hanging-out-on-the-soccer-sidelines or sitting around with a cuppa conversations….

And now I’m off to do it all over again! Any minute now I’m going to be racing out of my place to head to the airport and over to New Zealand to join the TSCF students on their Northern Region Conference (Tues-Fri) and then spend some time after seeing a bit of the north island - I’ve never been to NZ before so I’m looking forward to seeing it! But more than seeing the island, I’m looking forward to spending time with the people that I’m going to se it with.

I was blessed at SPRTE in December to make some great new friends in the brothers and sisters that work with TSCF. I didn’t know at the time just how important they would come to be to me – so it’ll be wonderful to just hang out… to meet the rest of their families and kick back with a glass of wine and watch the world go by.

Back on the 25th – I’m sure stories and pics will come then
x j.

Going Going GULF!

Um - have I mentioned yet that I'm going back to the Gulf? Maybe, maybe not - I'm sure many of you will know because I've been so excited in telling many people!

This year, Credo is taking two international teams - one to Vanuatu (led by Joel Atwood) and then I'm taking another group of students back to the same region of the Gulf.

We had our first team meeting at my place yesterday (Saturday) and it was such a great afternoon. The plan for the mission meetings is that both teams will meet together for the most part and then break off into our separate teams for a little while to consolidate things. We're meeting together because Joel and I have recognised that there are plenty of things that we can learn together about cross cultural mission, good ways of communication and learning how to relate well to each other and support each other as teams.

On saturday we just did some fairly basic get-to-know you things over a bbq lunch. A little look at some personality tests clarified where some of the differences are, and allowed the teams to see that there are always going to be very different perspectives and different ways of communicating. We also spent time reading through chapter 1 of 2 Timothy (we're going to be reading through 2 Tim over the next few weeks).

It was a great reminder of why we do the things that we do. We share the gospel that has been entrusted to us and we get to share the gospel, not with a spirit of timidity but with the power of the Spirit through the grace of Jesus. Over the coming months, when there will no doubt be many times of uncertainty and confusion - God's word to us in 2 Tim will be a great encouragement to persevere in the Gospel work that God has entrusted us to do and for the need for us to be intentional and most importantly - prayerful!


(Here's a pic of me - in one of the mosques last time... I just thought I should have something other than words for you!)

Also - in case you didn't know (and this one you probably wouldn't have know because I haven't been talking about it too much) but, God willing, I'll be staying on for a little while longer after the team comes back to Sydney. I'm not exactly sure how long for (I do have a return ticket!) but it looks like there are some significant opportunities that God has had His hand on to prompt, prod and sometimes pull me into being obedient to doors that He is opening. I fly out on June 23rd and, although daunted, I'm so excited and looking forward to getting back to the region.

Feel free to shoot me an email to ask more questions (which I'll be more than happy to answer!) because I don't think that I will be writing too much more about it on this blog...