Month: December 2023

Men who have influenced my life

December 18, 2023

Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.

This is a really great question. I have had a few really positive men in my life over the years, so I cannot just narrow it down to one.

1. My grandfather Bob – He was there for me when my Mum and Dad split up when I was 8. He passed away when I was 13, but that 5 years really helped me a lot. Even though he was in his late 70s we played a lot of cricket and footy together.

2. A workmate Graham – He was a nice middle aged Christian man who used to talk to me about Jesus and pray for me at work. He eventually invited me to church and a Bible study at his home. He was the one that gave the tract that led me to Jesus!

3. Pastor Andrew – He impacted my life spiritually more than most. He challenged me in a positive way to take my faith seriously. He recognised my gifts and gave me opportunities to preach my first sermon. This changed my life and opened the door to ministry.

4. My father-in-law Pete – Pete was a good man. He drove a truck for his job and knew how to build things. I remember building a patio at my house. We just talked all day as we worked. Pete had a love for nature, reading, singing and more. In many ways he became the Father I never knew. Now he is gone to be with the Lord, I think about him often.

These are four men that really impacted my life. I could not imagine where my life would be without them. In their own way they have each encouraged me to be a good man and be a blessing to others.

Two weeks on the prayers of the Bible

December 17, 2023

One of our Bible reading plans we have looks at prayer. You can read through some of the big prayers of the Bible.

We are so blessed to be able to read prayers from people like Abraham, Moses, David, Paul and even Jesus.

This plan takes two weeks to complete. Please enjoy.

Day 1 – Genesis 18:1-33 – Abraham’s plea for Sodom
Day 2 – Exodus 15:1-27 – Moses’ song to the Lord
Day 3 – Exodus 33:1-23 – Moses meets with God
Day 4 – 2 Samuel 7:1-29 – David’s response to God’s promises
Day 5 – 1 Kings 8:1-66 – Solomon’s dedication of the Temple
Day 6 – 2 Chronicles 20:1-37 – Jehoshaphat pays for victory
Day 7 – Ezra 9:1-15 – Ezra’s prayer for the people’s sins
Day 8 – Psalm 22:1-31 – A cry for God to help
Day 9 – Psalm 104:1-35 – A prayer of praise
Day 10 – Daniel 9:1-27 – Daniel’s prayer for the salvation of Jerusalem
Day 11 – Habakkuk 3:1-19 – A prophet’s prayer of acceptance
Day 12 – Matthew 6:1-34 – The Lord’s prayer
Day 13 – John 17:1-26 – Jesus’ prayer for His disciples
Day 14 – Colossians 1:1-29 – Paul’s prayer for thanksgiving

What should a Pastor do?

December 16, 2023

What should a Pastor do? We all have our ideas of what the Pastor should do, but I think it is important to start from what the Bible says. When I got my first job as a Pastor I decided to look at the Pastor’s role according to the Bible.

The term Pastor only appears once in the New Testament. This might surprise some, as it did me when I looked it up first time. So what is the context of the one time it is mentioned?

Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

This is the only reference to the Pastor. The role mentioned above is an equipping role. Equipping the people of God to do the work of God in the church and the world. I asked someone at the denomination that I am apart of and they said the same thing. The Pastor is there is equip the church to do the work of ministry, not do the work of ministry on behalf of the church.

So the Pastor’s role is a teaching and equipping role. This happens through sermons, Bible studies, and encouraging the church in their faith.

The interesting thing that I also found is the Greek word used for Pastor is Poimen. This is translated as Pastor in the above passage, where in other places it is translated as shepherd. This is where the Pastor as a shepherd image comes in.

In 1 Peter 5:2-3 it says, ” 2 Be shepherds [Poimen] of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ”

The second role of a Pastor is to shepherd God’s flock. To watch over them, look out for them, counsel them, provide an environment where they can grow in their faith in Christ, living out a godly life as an example and to lead them with the other Elders to the place where God wants them to be.

Pastors do so many things but the two main roles they will be accountable to God for is equipping the church members to do the works of service and shepherding the flock entrusted to their care.

Another interesting thing about the of the role of a Pastor comes for the Greek word for flock – Poimnion – this means a group of believers. The Pastor (Poimen) looks after the flock (Poimnion). The key focus of the Pastor should first and foremost on the group of believers they are overseeing.

It is a really interesting exercise to research the biblical role of the Pastor. With people expecting so much of Pastor’s and the many different roles they undertake, equipping and shepherding needs to be the main focus.

God Bless,

Dave

I would like to visit Melbourne

December 15, 2023
The MCG holds about 100,000 people and hosts some of Australia’s biggest sporting events.

What cities do you want to visit?

I would love to visit the city of Melbourne. I live on the West Coast of Australia and Melbourne is “over east” for us.

I would love to go and watch a game of AFL at the Melbourne Cricket Ground or the “G” as it is known.

I would like to go and watch two big Melbourne teams playing against each other. Just to experience a big crowd would be awesome.

My wife has relatives in Melbourne so we could visit them at the same time. It would be great to look around and ride their trams too.

Watching a game at the G is a bucket list item for me, so hopefully a trip to Melbourne will happen in 2024 for us.

Favourite exercise

December 14, 2023

What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?

My favourite exercise by far is weight training. I started doing weights when I was 18 and have trained either 3 or 4 days a week since then.

I love the feeling of the workout pump and how you feel the rest of the week. My gym sessions usually last about 30 minutes but I feel the results the other 160 plus hours of the week.

I started weights to strengthen my muscles to support my joints when I had Rheumatoid Arthritis. But before long I realised it helped me get stronger, be more flexible and kept my muscles toned.

Weight training has become such a big part of my life that I can see myself doing it for the rest of my days on earth.