for those who don't want to just wait it out

like the song says this is a blog for someone who wants to say something (anything) and who's happy to wait and see what time will bring...

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Summer reading

I must confess, I'm a bit of a lazy thinker sometimes. It hasn't always been that way because as a kid I would love to squirrel away with a book but these days I'm usually keener to chill out in front of the TV at the end of a long day. But I've been a bit convicted lately about the things that I fill my mind with so this wont be the laziest summer ever.

So I have about a gazillion books that I've been planning to read all year so here's the list for the next couple of months to hopefully challenge, inform and inspire me for 2009. Good thing I'm a fast reader and I've been able to get through a couple already.

Post SPRTE and listening to and speaking with Lindsay in person, I sort of felt compelled to read this one first... and it's brilliant! If you haven't read it, check this out to get an over-view.

If you have read it, then why not drop a line in the comments and share what encouraged and challenged you the most?

One of the other books that I read last week was The Relationships Revolution which had some challenges that I liked so much I thought I'd share chunks of them with you:

The challenge that faces the church is to be the community that God has called us to be. Hypocrisy and selfishness too readily characterise our life together and our relationships. Too many churches seem to value families over single people, children over the elderly, people who fit in and are easy to get along with over the marginalised and distressed. The subtle tones and harmonies that make up the music of Gods community are muted by every act of thoughtlessness and selfishness. Too many people have come into our churches and have not been welcomed, included or valued. The key question that faces all of us in our church involvement and relationships is whether we are going to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution. It is far easier to point out what is wrong, and to complain from the sidelines, than to work for positive change wherever we have the opportunity. The tragedy is not just that we fall short of God's standards, but that we accept and perpetuate this state of affairs so uncritically.


and


The history of the church is the story of a revolution, starting with a small group of ordinary people, and turning the world upside down. Christians should be the most radical people on the planet! Today, society desperately needs revolutionaries who will take a stand against its norms, who will sacrifice all in the service of their Lord and of the people around them. The cost of the battle is great; hardship is unavoidable. Yet when people's eternal destiny is at stake, to remain silent is betrayal. To walk the path of indifference or self-satisfaction is not to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Out from under the Bridge

Physically or metaphorically? How do you feel about coming out from under a bridge... out from under it's theoretical shelter, comfort and protection? What if the bridge is just your comfort zone and it's time to peek out from under the arches?

In the week post the SPRTE conference I took a group of 15 Credoites to Kirribilli's Church By the Bridge for a week of doing some community outreach - partnering with the local church to reach out and let locals know, if they didn't already, that the church is there and some of the things that it does.

If you don't know Kirribilli, it's a suburb of contrasts. One stat I heard was that (a few years ago anyway) Kirribilli had the highest number of PhD holders per capita in the world (???!!!) and at the same time it's home to the government housing project/commission, Greenway. As the week went on, the question that kept rolling around in my mind was "how can we live in this city where the wealthy and poor live side by side and never cross paths?". In fact, they seem to avoid each other.

Why are we scared of people who are different?

Why is it that the wealthiest and most educated of our society are usually the least aware of their needs and abilities to look after others?

The highlight for the week for me was sitting down over a couple of meals with some of the people who live at Greenway and learning from them and their lives. They have day to day lives that are obviously different from mine, and probably from yours too. And yet their was a genuineness to them and our conversations that came a lot faster than your average after-church-supper-with-cordial-and-biscuts.

As a team we read over the book of James for the week so that the bible would inform or shape our week together. Read over James 2 for yourself. What do you need to change?

Friday, December 05, 2008

What do you get when you put a kiwi, a scot, a pom and an aussie in the same room?

Sounds like a joke doesn't it? Well it could be but in this case it's just the start of a group of people having fun.


These are some of the people that I was blessed to spend the better part of a week with while on SPRTE. I had breakfast with them today in Coogee at one of my favourite cafes, Barzuras to close off a 'sweet as' week. I said my own little goodbyes, but I wanted to send them a letter - and similar to the ones that we get to see in Scripture, I thought I would make it public so that others can get a glimpse of their ministry too.

Here goes:

Dear TSCF'ers

What can I say, I am a sentimental girl who can better put my words on paper than I can often do in person. So here are my words to you - as public as they may be!

I feel so blessed that you guys were on SPRTE - it may sound egotistical but perhaps God knew that I would need to get to know some new brothers and sisters to push, nudge and nurture me along the way of navigating an intense week. Having said that, I also think that perhaps I might not have been so challenged if you hadn't been there! Talk about impact and pushing people out of their comfort zones - if you guys can speak this much into my life in one week, then I'm looking forward to getting to Heaven and seeing how He has used you guys in the lives of people that you get to minister to, and with, regularly.

They are blessed. Your love for each other and your true delight in your ministries has been a breath of fresh air. New Zealand is lucky to have you. Your passion for the gospel, humility, generosity and (dare I say it?) tender strength will serve the students of NZ, not to mention the Kingdom in ways that I'm sure none of us can yet imagine.

Val, I'd love to follow you around for a week and see what delightful havoc and gentle compassion you offer to the girls and the campuses that you work with -it's so great to see a Godly woman with such strength, passion and conviction. Thanks for being another chick to hang out with - I don't think I have ever laughed so much on a conference... if it ever comes up, rest assured I'll be blaming you for getting busted by a student and Yando... least it wasn't in the same night! :)

Ben - why do I get the impression that you're a rock that many can lean and depend on for all sorts of reasons? Thanks for your honesty in sharing your own journey so far and your words of encouragement to take up new opportunities. Let's make sure that you get back over here next year because I look forward to seeing and learning from your evangelism in action.

Nigel. Nigel.... where to start? There's a big chunk of me that wished you stopped preaching 10 mins before you did the other night so that I wouldn't be in the uncomfortable place that I now am - but where's the fun in that eh? I wont forget your words. The coastline is getting further away...

I refuse to say goodbye to any of you. See you soon - and speak sooner

With much love
x j.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Watershed weeks

Sometimes you have a week that impacts you a little more than others. Sometimes, you wishes you could go back in time, realise what the impact will be and start to interact with it a little more intentionally. And then you realise that we can't take the time back, but we can always look forward to how God is going to use it. A chat with Nigel (one of the conference speakers) helped me to realise that it has been a watershed week - a critical point that marks a division or a change of course... a turning point that cannot help but forever change you...

But I'm getting a little ahead of my self aren't I?

We have been at the South Pacific Regional Training Event (SPRTE formally NTE) in Canberra this week with brothers and sisters from around Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, PNG and Vanuatu coming together to look at what the bible has to say about the "Cross and Culture" and (hopefully) spend some time learning from one another about what God has been doing in our lives and our countries. If you get the chance to head over to the AFES website you should be able to access the talks by the end of the week (if you were there) or will be able to purchase them sometime soon for those who couldn't make it. It's well worth it, esp to hear from one of our main speakers, Lindsay Brown as he shared with us about some of the ways that he has seen God working throughout the world. It was... breath-taking... and incredibly humbling to think about how much we take for granted here in Australia.

I think one of the greatest challenges for both Christians and non Christians in Australia is what I like to call apathetic individualism. Either because we are hardened or calloused to the suffering of the rest of the world, or because we just don't care, as a nation we are generally more concerned with seeking out the 'easiest' or most comfortable life. And I see that the areas in which we are least apathetic is the ones that concern us. How does this affect me? What will change for me? What will I get out of it?

And yet when I heard of the sacrifices that our brothers and sisters make across the world for their beliefs I am challenged, rebuked, inspired and refreshed.

How could we not be refreshed after a week with pacific island brothers and sisters? I've never been so warmly welcomed (not to mentioned hugged!) by people who I've just met. Their warmth, passion and enthusiasm (for the gospel and each other) was infectious and I was blessed to learn much from them. I'm jealous of the teams that get to have our pacific friends on their teams for the next week - the Aussies will have much to learn! There was a particular group that I spent more time with too, but I'm going to write a separate post to and for them once they've left the country so that I'm not too soppily sentimental!

As for me - well I'm pretty feeling pretty physically, emotionally and spiritually bashed around the head. It's been a long and surprising week. Some new opportunities in ministry have come up for me to pray about so it'll be interesting to see how and where God moves me over the next little while. All I know is that I have been moved. On the last night of the conference, Nigel offered up a call for all those who had been challenged to re-commit their lives to Christ, to serving God, to the mission of changing the world for His glory to stand. With tears streaming down my face I had no choice but to stand really. There was a second where I thought "Oh no, what will people think of me if I stand up? Will they think I'm just renewing my faith? Will they question the validity of my ministry that has been?".

But really, who cares? In a moment that is between you and God - what matters what others think? In that moment all I knew is that I was re-committed to being a part of His global mission and that my heart was so filled with the gratitude of all that Jesus has done for us that I was about to bounce off the walls with joy and a little trepidation about what the future may hold.

The next week will see me with a team of students at Church By the Bridge working alongside the team their to reach out to the very diverse community of Kirribilli. There's 16 of us - and I'm very thankful that we get a couple of days off now to rest up!