Month: April 2023

Ministry reflections

April 27, 2023

In the past week I have been on holidays and have been reflecting on the ministries I have been involved with over the years.

Over the last 30 years I have been involved with youth groups, led Bible study groups, Pastored a church, been an Elder, a lay preacher, been on the prayer team, helped with emergency food parcels and headed up a para church ministry.

In all of these roles my heart has been to care for and encourage people and to help people grow closer to Jesus. It may have been delivered in a slightly different way because of my job role, but the focus has always been the same.

At the moment I am working in the role of Chaplain. It is something that I have never done before in an official sense. But I guess no matter where I have worked I have been the “unofficial” Chaplain of my workplace. I have often listened, encouraged, had spiritual conversations and prayed for people as the need arose.

Although I did enjoy being a Pastor of a church, I do really enjoy being a Chaplain more. I get to talk to and encourage people, listen to their struggles and pray for them. And in the role I am in I am with a lot more non Christian people. I can share God’s love and light in a real and practical way. This is something I really enjoy too.

Decisions that have helped me

April 21, 2023

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

Probably the biggest thing that helped me grow in my faith was to attend Bible college.

I first went to Perth Bible College in 1994. I learned a lot and grew in my faith. Then in 2008 I took a year off work to focus on a one year course at Tabor Adelaide. This was done online.

At Tabor I did a number of really helpful units including:

  • Introduction to the New Testament
  • Introduction to the Old Testament
  • Introduction to Theology
  • Pastoral Care
  • Christian Leadership
  • Creative Living (understanding who we are in Christ)
  • Public Speaking and Preaching
  • Pastoral Ethics
  • The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
  • Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

Looking back to those studies it gave me a good foundation of who I was in Christ, an overview of the Bible, how to preach and communicate God’s Word, and how to care for others as a Minister.

I have gone on and done more studies to have more tools in my ministry toolbox, but those units gave me most of what I needed to do the things I have done including Pastor, Elder, Chaplain and Lay Preacher.

If you are interested you can find the websites below.

Perth Bible College – www.pbc.wa.edu.au

Tabor Adelaide – https://tabor.edu.au

Be strong and courageous

April 19, 2023

I was just reading Joshua chapter one. This is where God charges Joshua with taking over from Moses as the leader of the people and taking them into the promises land.

Today four things jumped out at me from verses Joshua 1:6-8. Here is the text…

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very cour- ageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Here are the four points for reflection…

1. Courageous

God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous three times in these verses. The task God was giving Joshua was not going to be easy. He was to lead the armies of Israel to take the Promised Land. Joshua needed to be strong and courageous and know God would always be with him (v9).

2. Remember

God tells Joshua to remember all that Moses had told him. He said it was very important to obey all of the instructions Moses had given him (v7). God spoke face to face with Moses and he would have passed a lot of this on to Joshua. Joshua needed to remember Moses’ leadership lessons and God’s instructions to Moses.

3. Meditate

God tells Joshua to constantly read and meditate on God’s Word – “The Book of Instruction”. God tells Joshua to do this and to be careful to obey everything in it. He promised that if he does, Joshua will prosper and be successful in all he does. Reading God’s Word keeps us in tune with God.

4. Promises

In this passage we also see that God uses people to fulfil the promises He has made to others. In verse 6 God says, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” God used Joshua to bring His vow to pass. Today God uses you and I to bring His promises to pass.

Conclusion

So today we need to learn from God’s encouragement to Joshua if we are taking on something very big. We need to remember to be courageous and God is with us, remember what our leaders have taught us, read and meditate on God’s Word and remember God uses ordinary people to being about His plans.

What makes me happy?

April 15, 2023

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

The WordPress question of the day was a nice easy one. Five everyday things that make me happy.

1. Saturday morning coffee with my wife

2. Working out alone in my gym

3. Spending time with our daughters

4. Going for a stroll on our bush trails

5. Watching tv series with my wife