A Few Days in Lorne

Last week I travelled to Lorne and spent from Monday evening until Thursday morning working on the beginnings of the Church-wide series that will begin in the first week or so of February 2011. The Sunday messages will be on the same topics as the material people study in their small groups.

This last year the Church-wide series was called "Thrive - Living the Life God Created You To Live!" and the year before our series was called "Living Church." The series is a great way to begin the year and to encourage people to join a small group for the series. Often 50 - 70 people sign up and join small groups for the first time during the series.

The leadership agreed to give me a week away to work on the series and were keen to see that I had adequate time for uninterrupted preparation. I looked for an opportunity where I might be able to get a few days clear and when I found one I took as many books as I thought I might need and I headed for the coast!

Usually I have tried to write both the messages and the studies but this year is going to be different! If I can get the main messages planned in the next few weeks another person in the church who is gifted and passionate about small group materials is happy to write the studies. This will mean that my wife will have plenty of time for proof-reading and double checking and our office staff will be able to produce the guides in their final form without huge pressure. The worship and creative arts team will also have lots of advance notice and planning time so that each service is packed with great creative elements as well as really appropriate music.

My prayer is that the end result will be lots of people using their many and varied gifts to help lots of people grow in their faith in Christ and love for God.

While I was there I took the chance to go on a few runs and to have a cafe latte at the restaurant at the Lorne Pier. I stopped and took these photos. It was very quiet there and there had been a lot of rain recently.

Although the time in Lorne was short and I felt like I was only really just getting into it when it was time to go home, I am really thankful for the times spent getting started. I will look for another opportunity in the weeks ahead to work more on what I have begun.

So look out for a life changing series in February 2011!

See you! Jonathan

PS If you are every in Lorne a great thing to do is to buy fish n chips from the Salty Dog Fish n Chips shop and eat them on the beach. Unbeatable!

Daily Journal for Wednesday 8th of September 2010

A Time Will Come

S - "I tell you for certain that the time will come, and it is already here, when all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live!" John 5:25 NCV

O - Jesus tell us something that he says is true for certain. Those who are dead when they hear the voice of Jesus live! Those who are spiritually dead, who are dead in their sin, hear the good news and respond to Jesus' voice, they cross over from death to life. Jesus is also saying that a time will come when all the dead, everyone who has died will hear the voice of Jesus. People wonder about what lies beyond the grave and here is something that Jesus says we can be sure of. You will hear the voice of Jesus. Those have known him and put their faith in him will receive eternal life. Those who have rejected the Son and rejected God's love during their life will remain in a state of rejection for ever.

A - Today, respond to the voice of Jesus! In him is life, eternal life. As you hear his voice respond! And know that nothing can separate you from his love, not even death.

P - Thank you Father for sending your Son. You love is so clearly shown to me in sending him to take my sin and shame upon himself so I can be forgiven and have life. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for caring about my lost state and for sending you Son to save me. I will hear you voice as I have today, forever. Amen.

Daily Reading - John 5

Daily Journal for Tuesday 24th of August 2010

Qualifications of a Disciple of Jesus

S - "You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you live you father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life." Luke 14:26

O - Jesus says words that are very difficult to hear. "You cannot be my disciple unless...", "You cannot come with me unless..." Here we can wonder, is this the same Jesus who said, "If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and rest."?

Jesus says that putting him second, third, or anywhere but first in our lives disqualifies us from being his disciples. This can make us feel like we've got prove ourselves by being better, being stronger, working harder, but notice what Jesus says... "unless you love me more than." It's not just about priorities, it's about having a deep love for Jesus. Unless I love him more than the people I love the most, my father and mother, my wife, my children, my brother and sister I can't be his disciple. This demands that I not only say he is Lord, but I love him as Lord more than even my own life. In order to genuinely love him I need to have adequate time worshipping him, praying with him, reading his words to me in the Bible, serving him, enjoying him.

This call from Christ is to not work harder, do more things, get busier. No it's much harder than that. I and called to reflect on God's love for me, live in it and ensure that I live my life with him first in everything. Then my parents, my family, my dearly loved friends will experience my love as it should be, flowing from God's love.

A - I need to continue to fan into flame my love for Jesus. I need to spend more time expressing my love in worship, prayer and in quiet reflection. I want to spend more time lost in wonder and worship, enjoying Jesus. This week instead of jogging a message playing on my ipod I will listen to my new Hillsong CD and respond with joy to God's love. I will also spend half a day on a hill in Wodonga, unhurriedly communicating in prayer and enjoying God's presence.

P - Father, thank-you for sending Jesus. Help me as I seek to continually love him first, even more than myself. Amen.

Daily Reading - Luke 14

Daily Journal for Thursday 12th of August 2010

Growing Wiser and Stronger

S - Jesus became wise, and he grew strong. God was pleased with him and so were the people. Luke 2:52 CEV

O - Each day that unfolded in Jesus, the twelve year old's life, became a another day to either choose to do the right thing or to not. He chose to do the wise thing. As he acted wisely, he grew strong. And as he grew strong God was pleased with him. And the people were also pleased with him. They were delighted in his knowledge, they were amazed at the answers he gave. Soon they would realise that he was the light of the world.

A - Jesus lived in such a way that he became wise. Jesus lived in such a way that he grew strong. How can I grow in wisdom today? How can I grow in strength today? Feeding my mind and taking care of my body is so important to pleasing God and people. If I am unwise I will not be able to help people and lead them well. If I am unhealthy I will not have the energy needed to serve well, the endure in the race, and to finish well.

Growing wise involves reading, understanding and living out God's Word in my own life first. It involves listening to and learning from others. It requires that I read widely and reflect often. Being wise requires the self-discipline to change what I know is wrong and start doing what is wise instead. It means praying for wisdom from the one true God who knows everything.

Growing in strength involves resting as well as working. It means getting enough sleep so that I am not tired throughout the day. It means exercising regularly (everyday for 30 minutes!) so that my heart is strong and my energy levels are high. It means eating well, fruit and vegetables. Less bad fats and more of the good type. It means finding life-giving hobbies and activities other than work so that I laugh often and am full of joy!

P - God, I want to please you, I really do! I want to feel your smile, your delight. Help me to grow in wisdom and strength so that you and all those who know me are pleased with my progress! Thanks for Jesus' incredible example of growth and strength. His continually trust and dependence on you is what I long to emulate. Amen.

Daily Reading - Luke 2

Daily Journal for Wednesday 4th of August 2010

Love the One You're With

S - "That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. They are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together. Mark 10:7-9

O - A child grows and becomes an adult. They leave their father and mother who have nurtured, loved and cared for them as best as they could. They become like one person with their wife or husband. Instead of being on their own they are now 'one.' They are united physically through sexual union and they are united emotionally to mutually love, care and support each other and they are united by God who has put them together. They are like one person, a union, a single identity. This is a joyful thing! It's very good when I am loving and serving and bringing out the best in my wife. To do this continually and genuinely I need more than my own resources. I need to look to the one who joined us together, to God, for the strength and commitment to keep loving even when it's hard.

To then look lustfully at another woman, to be comforted emotionally and physically by another woman, to be loved intimately by another than my wife would cause a break in the oneness, the unity, the togetherness with the one God has joined me together with. It would cause incredible pain, great loss and much sadness.

A - I am married! God has given me one wife to love, to be one with, to enjoy and journey with through life. She is one with me, I am one with her. Today I want to give, say, and show my deep love to her. I her to know my love and commitment to her by the way I express it and value her. This is good and is God's will for me in marriage.

P - Father, as you have demonstrated your love for me in sending your Son, I want to demonstrate my love for you by loving the woman you have joined me together with. May you be glorified by the way I love my wife. Amen.

Daily Reading Mark 10

Daily Journal for Tuesday 3rd of August 2010

How To Be Truly Great

S -  "After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, "If you want the place of honour, you must become a slave and serve others!" Mark 9:35

O - To people who want to be first Jesus says become a slave and serve others. To be honoured, honour people. The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. Jesus says the greatest one is the one who serves others. Today is no different to then. Society is so so self-focused, self-obsessed, self-absorbed and ego driven. Even in Christian community people can seek positions of authority or power for any reason but to serve.

A - I want to be great in God's eyes. I really do want to have a place of honour in God's kingdom. The passage clearly say that I must serve others, become a slave, value, love, connect, care and seek to really honour others. Why? Because people matter to God. Jesus is my clearest example here. He said that he came not to be serve but to serve and indeed he did.

This week I am going to serve someone and tell no-one what I have done. I'm going to also thank three people who have really helped me by serving and helping me. I'll send them a note or an email.

P - Father, I want to be truly great in your eyes. Help me to value greatly those who you love. Help me serve others not myself. Help me do today what you have shown me through Jesus' example. Amen

Daily Reading Mark 9

Daily Journal for Tuesday 20th of July 2010

I Can Only Imagine!

S - "When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like angels in heaven."  Matthew 22:30

O - There is a new reality awaiting us, a time that we who are alive have not yet experienced. It's a different place. A new amazingly different reality. Jesus is giving us information about this new reality.

We won't be married or getting married in heaven. These verses don't tell us why this is the case but Jesus was rebuking the Sadducees for getting hung up on it and neither should I. I'll no doubt be lost in wonder and praise of God and I will love my wife as much as I love everyone. It won't be that I'll love her less, I'll love everyone more.

Jesus also says we'll be like the angels in heaven. The Bible speaks of angels as being so striking that when people come face to face with them they are terrified. But it doesn't seem to be a horrible fear, rather a fear of awe, a fear that this being is so incredible, so overwhelming that I am afraid. People tried to worship angels, thinking that they were God, but the angels refused to let them and encouraged people to worship God.

C. S. Lewis wrote...

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, culture, arts, civilization – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.


What a mystery awaits me! 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds." I can only imagine!


A - Today I will seek to view people as those who are not ordinary. The way I treat people should not be on how I see them today but on what God might do in them as a result of faith in Christ, or who they might become through rejecting God (a horror of nightmare proportions). How I treat people today will either help them to grow towards either destination. 


I too must live with the end in mind. I must remember that I am but a stranger passing through. This world is not my home! There is an incredible reality waiting ahead that I can only imagine. An incredible eternity awaits me. This is encouraging to remember especially when times get tough. 


P - Father help me to live with the end in mind and live and treat people with honour as I live as stranger awaiting this future you have for me. Thanks for this hope I have in you. Amen.


Daily Reading - Matthew 22