Kim and Carl - feeding the homeless

As Jesus spoke to the crowd, which included all the poor people and all those in those days who were hated, including the tax collectors, the Pharisees, and others, some of the other Pharisees began grumbling about the low moral quality of all the people gathered.

They were shocked to even think that someone would include all the poor people and all those whom the people hated. What is this Jesus even thinking about?

They were completely confused - why the poor and needy when we are the best? So the Pharisees thought.

Our friends, Kim and Carl, are really and truly such giving people. They go every single week to feed the poor and homeless in our city, to give them a real handout of food, clothing, bedding, and anything else they can take with them.

Every week! Can you imagine what that would be like? They leave their own comfortable home, which they have obviously worked hard for, climb into their one and only car, and trundle off to the city, a good half an hour's drive from where they live. 

Summer may not be too bad, but it must be really telling on their nerves; wintertime? It's freezing at night, and they leave home around 7 pm in the dark and don't get home till well after midnight. So much for Saturday night being what it used to be years ago.

They aren't the only ones doing this. We are so blessed here in Newcastle that several people, just like Kim and Carl, really do help the needy, which is amazing and wonderful.

They don't preach at the people or lecture them about anything at all, but the beautiful thing that has happened is when someone asks them why they are doing this, and they tell them about the very love of Jesus and what he did for them personally, and also what he can do for them.

In the Bible, in Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep, and why he told this parable was because, and I quote, "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law on Moses started grumbling. This man is friends with sinners. He even eats with them." 

Oh my goodness! Fancy that? Eating with sinners! Where would Kim and Carl be? These Pharisees were definitely feeling they were way above the poor and needy. They really couldn't believe that this man Jesus was mixing with them. 

Then Jesus told them this story: "If any of you has 100 sheep and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? And when you find it, you will be so glad that you will put it on your shoulder and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbours and say, "Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep."

Jesus then said, "In the same way, there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over 99 good people who don't need to."

Quite the parable! Where was Jesus going with this one? 

Very similar to what Kim and Carl do on a Saturday night is what Jesus was getting at. Here we have lots of people hungry, tired, and cold, and he hears what the Pharisees were saying, so he told them this parable/story.

There are so many people out there needing to find God, and Jesus began telling them about God's great passions and desire for all the lost to come to him. Not just what the Pharisees saw as their goal, and that was the rich and never-needy people.

Jesus certainly had other plans than that! The lost sheep in the story was how the shepherd (God) really searches the hearts of those who don't know him, and when they do come to a realisation of their need for Him, and they open their hearts and lives to him, there is great rejoicing in heaven.

The Pharisees did not like this at all, and they were certainly out to get this Jesus; he was teaching so detrimentally to what they were teaching that they really felt it was dangerous, and this Jesus really needed to go. What if all these poor and needy people felt they were coming to God? 

The Pharisees couldn't believe it - the poor and needy of all people. Sad wasn't it!

Jesus ended up giving his life for all of us, and all we have to do is accept his great love and how he died to pay for all of our sins, regardless of what those sins were and are. Jesus rose again after three days and is now in heaven preparing a place for all who have accepted him as Lord.

No matter who you are or what you are going through, or even if you are so happy and contented with your life, you may reckon you certainly don't need Jesus. Whoever you are, you really need to rethink exactly WHERE you are at the moment, WHO you are, and WHAT is in store for you at the end.

Jesus is actually THE truth, and we are so privileged to hear what he has to say and what he is planning for us. 

We all have our destiny ahead of us. Some people are so caught up in life that they don't even want to think about the future at all. BUT the future will happen for all of us at some point, and it can be very scary if we ignore it entirely.

We can have an option through life, as we travel its path; we can accept what God is saying, believe in his name, and ask him to lead our lives. Just like in the parable that Jesus told about the lost sheep.

Jesus is looking for us, and all we have to do is accept his great love for us and what he did for us in giving his life to pay for our sins. Confess our sins to him and ask him to come and lead our lives. He will definitely change your life. I know he changed mine dramatically.

Or the other option you have is to ignore what is blatantly in front of us, get on with your life, and just pretend that God doesn't exist and have nothing to do with God at all. We can just trundle through life and pretend eternity doesn't exist.

Death is a reality; it can come unexpectedly and suddenly or slowly and without surprise, so we really should be prepared for it and take it seriously. Jesus told us that death is certainly not the end; it wasn't for him, and for those who believe in his name, trust him, and make him No 1 in their lives, then death is not the end for them either.

In Hebrews 9:27, the Bible warns us when it says 'People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement." That's pretty straightforward.

Jesus provided a way for us after he died to pay the penalty for our sin, and all we have to do is accept his eternal gift, trust him, and make him first in our lives.

Find peace with God today, and huge blessings to you and yours.

But the cat came back!

Jason did not like cats - all his family did, but Jason did not!

They had their own cat, Mr. Freddo, but there was another one living under their house - he was a big tomcat, and he loved meowing and making himself known throughout the night. He was crashing and bashing under there as if he were making his own cubby.

Jason was determined to take Old Tom away somewhere and give him to someone, and that is exactly what he did - BUT THE CAT CAME BACK 

Jason used to always sing that song; it went like this: "But the cat came back - the very next day the cat came back, they thought he was a goner, but the cat came back, it couldn't stay away!"

Jason's six kids thought it was great - here was their cat, Mr. Freddo, and then there was this big black Tom living under their house,

Jason wouldn't give up; he tried again. He set a trap under the house, and he caught Old Tom again, and this time he took him far away to a stable yard that kept horses, and the owner said he could stay there, BUT THE CAT CAME BACK - it may not have been the next day, but in a couple of weeks THE CAT CAME BACK!

They were all astounded as to why Old Tom kept coming back to their place - they all just had to accept that Old Tom was now living there, unfed and virtually unloved, but there he was - sleeping all day and out and about at night, making lots of noise and carousing around. What memories they must have had

Poor Jason, a shift-working man, was trying to sleep while Old Tom made himself at home. He had to come to terms with the fact that no matter what happened, Old Tom was a law to himself and was determined to be in charge of their home. Jason gave in to Old Tom and let him "rule the roost," and he became king of 'under the house.

In the Bible, in Luke 14:28-33, in the Christian Standard Bible,  Jesus was in front of a huge crowd, and he told this parable: "For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and can't finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man started to build and wasn't able to finish.'

Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."

Jesus was absolutely and determinedly positive that whoever claims and hangs on to their possessions and holds them close and so, so dear to their hearts cannot be his followers, or as he said in the Bible, his disciples. What did he mean? Our possessions are what we have and hold dear to us.

What Jesus was saying here is that we have to make God the leader of our lives and make him THE top priority in not just some things but in everything we do and everything we say and everywhere we go and actually everything we own.

That's exactly what Jesus meant when he said we must renounce all our possessions. We must make Him the first and last in everything we do. He is our leader and our captain, and we follow him completely and let Him rule us come what may.

Old Tom was still there as all the kids grew older, and Jason ended up selling the house. Not because of Old Tom, but because it was time for the family to grow and move on.  Sometimes it is easier to let things ride and work out for themselves rather than take the whole situation on ourselves.

Like in the story that Jesus told about the Tower and how the guy involved got down and worked out the cost, and if he had enough to complete it. A wise thing to do, and way before you actually commence the building. Otherwise, like in the parable, the other guy started to build and then couldn't finish it at all, and then was open to ridicule. 

Like Old Tom, the very fact that Jason spent so much time, effort, and money on the cat was certainly not wise, and he knew that no matter what, he would come back anyway. Jason made a wise decision.

It was a great lesson to me after I read that chapter in the bible about Jesus in the story that he told; as mentioned above, it was certainly about counting the cost of being a disciple or follower of Jesus, not spectators of Jesus, OR what we are having to undertake in this crazy world of ours.

If we follow him, he certainly needs to take precedence over everything else, over all commitments in our lives, even our family commitments. If we follow Jesus, we need to move forward with God and stay focused on him.

It certainly does not mean that we cease loving our family and giving up on life in general, but what it does mean is getting our priorities in correct order with God at the helm and asking him every day to guide our thoughts and actions, and where and what he would want us to do.

Working on our priorities and putting God first, even though so many things keep vying for our attention, we definitely need to focus on God first, and then our lives and how we cope with life in general.

Making God our very foundation is truly amazing and fills us with a true perspective of life as we go through each day. Every decision we make should revolve around God and his values, and absolutely his guidance as we start each day.

Life is absolutely full of challenges of all sorts, from family traumas to car breakdowns to horrible fatalities, everything that life throws at us. We need to rely on God for his strength to see us through. I know personally how God has changed me and how I need to put him first in my life. Everything else surprisingly just seems to fall into place. Of course, traumas happen often daily, but with God on our side, we can get through.

God knows every area of my life and yours, and so let's make it our goal in life to have a deep and very meaningful relationship with him. If we serve God with everything we have, then our lives will change regardless of what it throws at us. We will have peace even though life can be so cruel so many times.

This certainly doesn't mean that we live our lives never messing up or making mistakes, maybe upsetting someone, but please never be discouraged. Confess your mistakes to God and then pick up and keep going with God at the helm.

God as our Captain over everything gives us a real sense of peace and love, Patience with everything, and tolerance that we never thought we'd have.

Hope you are truly blessed this week, and hope to see you next time.

 

Mrs. Hopley and Capstan Navy Cut Cigarettes!

I was brought up at No 22 Steel Street in Hamilton, NSW - it was the house that my grandfather, Joshua Fellows, had built when he came back from way up north. You can read all about that and my grandparents in the blog that I wrote, entitled "Hannah and Joshua". 

It was a great house and was bought off my grandparents by my ever hard-working dad, Charles, and of course my Mum Hilda May, who was Hannah and Joshua's fifth and youngest child.

Right next door to us lived a couple of elderly ladies, one Mrs Smith and Mrs Hopley. Both ladies lived there on their own and spent a lot of time inside. Not sure what they were doing, but I know Mrs Smith used to give my poor old mum a hard time if we kids were making a lot of noise, which, you can imagine, is exactly what we used to do.

Mrs Hopley was an avid smoker and used to light up on a very regular basis. She used to keep an eye out for one of us kids if we ran down the lane between the two houses, and she would grab us and ask us to go down to the shop on the corner and buy her cigarettes. I remember they were Capstan Cork-Tipped cigarettes. Oh dear, the memories that you have.

My mum was aghast when she used to get us kids to do that. I reckon she thought that was the very last thing you should ask children to do. Of course, these days, there is no possible way that young children can buy cigarettes, but in those days, anything was possible.

I am so delighted, really, that cigarettes are outrageously priced, and they are or were slowly losing their appeal, but in those days, Mrs Hopley really enjoyed them so much - She was obviously addicted to them.

She really enjoyed us kids trooping down to the shops, which would save her walking down there. Of course, as soon as we got that message from Mrs Hopley, straight inside we'd bolt and get some cash from Hilda May to buy an ice block or some sort of lolly or something.

We kids, felt like we were onto a banquet thanks to Mrs Hopley. 

Jesus loved talking in parables or stories, and this one that he told was very similar to the banquet story he had told before. It went like this. You can read it in Luke 14:16-24 

"A man was putting on a banquet and invited many guests. When he sent his servants to collect the people who promised to attend, they offered excuses for why they couldn't come. When the master heard that the guests had blown off his event, he sent his servant out to invite those at the bottom of society's ladder: the poor, lame, blind, etc. he then sent the servant out to invite travelers to come to the party."

Why did Jesus tell this story again? Well, there was apparently a guy at the gathering who yelled out about a previous parable that Jesus had told. It was a story about someone sitting in a place of honour (you can read that story in the previous blog). The guy yelled, "Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." he got it wrong, so that is why Jesus told the parable above.

The whole meaning of the parable that Jesus told was to verify that Heaven, God's amazing paradise,  was awaiting them if they so desired. Still, they were all far too busy seeking and searching and also putting themselves ahead of everything and everyone else in the whole world. Hence, the parable about the guests who were invited but refused to come. All sorts of excuses were thrown at the guy putting on the banquet.

Jesus extended the story and said that the "servants went out and invited everyone, including the lame and the blind, and those poor and disabled, in fact, anyone at all that would like to come to the banquet, to please come and make it your comfortable home."

Just like Heaven is going to be for those of us who will accept God's amazing offer.

Jesus was actually dining in the home of a prominent Pharisee who had invited him because he intended to find out exactly what Jesus was all about and then probably work out ways to get rid of him. Sneaky little people they were back then, and I guess we still have the same today.

The Pharisees, back in the days when Jesus was actually physically here, were promoting themselves way, way above everyone else in the whole city. They were pompous in their attitudes to all and were so willing to take and hardly ever to give. Of course, there would have been others in the same capacity who weren't like this at all, but we know that their design was to get rid of Jesus at whatever cost it took to do so.

Jesus would have been fully aware of what was going on in the minds of the Pharisees and what they were planning behind his back. They were working hard to plan not only his evacuation from the whole of Israel, but as their plans got bigger and bigger, Jesus' crucifixion started to take first place in their minds and thoughts.

When I was reading this parable that Jesus told and then worked out exactly what those Pharisees were planning, my mind took a bit of a turn when I thought about where I was in my thinking. Was I like those Pharisees, looking at others and putting myself above them? Was I prepared to undergo whatever it took to promote myself rather than be supportive and caring of others?

It certainly brought me up with a huge jolt! Jesus was here on earth to tell us exactly what is prepared for us, even though we can be so involved in our own affairs and putting ourselves way above everyone else. Jesus brought out in the parable that we can be so caught up in our lives here that we give no thought about what is in store for us when we depart this life. 

Our lives can be so involved in all sorts of amazing things happening, our employment, our family, our neighbors, our homes, or whatever, that we really have no time at all to even think about what Jesus was saying here and how important it is to give our lives to Him and make him ruler of everything we do.

Looking back on our times when we were kids growing up and seeing our neighbours from an adult's point of view, it came back to me how important it is to get a real dose of reality about life, and putting things in order. So many times throughout our lives, we take each day so much for granted, and the same for each night.

God, in his great wisdom, created night and day, which is amazing when you really consider the whole universe. The way we revolve around the sun, and the moon revolving around us, and how Earth, in this amazing galaxy of ours, is just a tiny pinprick of what is out there. God created us as special and unique, and we take it so much for granted.

Knowing all of this, it puts life as we know it into a real perspective. We should be constantly in awe of God and his amazing creation, not worrying whether someone has cut into our driving lane and gotten ahead of us as we drive. It really has made me put life in real perspective. Putting God first automatically makes everything else just fall into its correct place.

Are you putting God first? Do you know God at all? Do you even want to? You know Jesus died to take away your sins, and he rose again and is now in heaven waiting for you to give your life to him and make him first place in everything you do.

Ask him to come into your life and to lead you in what you do.

Hope to see you next time - God bless you this week

Here we have Percy

Jesus went to a wedding and noticed the guests jockeying for places of honour at the dinner, so he told them a parable, which we will get to in this blog.

These days, at weddings, we all have guest cards with our names and seating assignments, but that mustn't have been the case in Jesus's time. 

It's so different these days, and unfortunately, I can see where pushing ourselves forward to make ourselves stand out in front of a crowd, a gathering, assembly, mass, or throng, or whatever, can be a real thing for anybody watching. 

Here we have Percy, finding it absolutely necessary to be the very first and the most important person standing out front, making himself the number one attraction, and taking over whatever the group of people was assembled for, whatever. Any excuse to be out there.

If anything needs to be said or done in front of a crowd, then Percy is THE one you should contact. Mind you, not any actual physical work or the hard lines of all human resources type activities can be achieved by Percy. Hard work must be avoided by Percy at all costs; 'Out the front' is the way to go. Just leave the actual 'hard work' to someone else.

Physical work is FAR FAR beyond what Percy intended ever to happen - "I am out the front type of person," says Percy, and BOY! is he that!!!

Yes! Jesus did go to that wedding, and yes! he did notice lots of guys vying for the position way out front, so he said to his followers, and I quote from the THE VOICE BIBLE  in Luke chapter 14 and verses 7 - 11:- 

"Whenever someone invites you to a wedding dinner, don't sit at the head table. Someone more important than you might also have been invited, and your host will have to humiliate you publicly by telling you to give your seat to the other guest and to go find an open seat in the back of the room. Instead, go and sit in the back of the room.

Then your host may find you and say, 'My friend! Why are you sitting back here? Come up to this table near the front!'

Then you will be publicly honoured in front of everyone. Listen, if you lift yourself up, you'll be put down, but if you humble yourself, you will be honoured."

This is something we all have to take on board today, that he is teaching us all the fact that we have to choose to be humble.

Unlike our man Percy mentioned above, who always ALWAYS places himself way above everyone else and refuses to do any menial tasks, Jesus wants to firmly get through to us to never put ourselves in the place of distinction but always put others ahead of us.

Jesus also wants us to get the message that respect isn't ever earned by forcing our way to the top and to be the most important person there is, wherever we are. 

Jesus was also encouraging us to prepare for the day of judgment when we will all have to give an account of what we are doing, where we have been, who we have been with, and what we have ever done. 

I think the Pharisees and all the nobles would have been on the lookout for Jesus, mainly because he was such a crowd-drawing personality, and they really wanted to find out who this Jesus was.

Jesus attracted and did miraculous things in the crowds, and the people at that time really thought he was amazing. It was truly horrible what eventually happened to Jesus, but at this time, the nobles and Pharisees in the city thought they were gaining people's attention by inviting this Jesus into their homes.

Basically, their total motivation was that they were out to get him, they wanted to trap him, and get rid of him.

Jesus knew exactly what was going on, and even though he did, he still went along with the elite crowds and ended up teaching so many lessons to the ordinary people, because of this. These lessons are still being taught today, and we are still learning ever so much. 

Back to the Bible and in the The Voice Translation, it says in Psalm 138 and verse 6, "Although God is the greatest of all, He is attentive to the needy and keeps His distance from the proud and pompous."

That's a tad scary. Are we proud and pompous? If we are, then it is certainly time to look at ourselves in the light of what Jesus taught us through these many parables and to put others ahead of us in all situations, just like Jesus did, and what he definitely wants to teach us. 

God, in his mercy, is the very one who will choose honour for those who he knows have earned it and not those who want it entirely for themselves. Like our Percy does, who craves honour, distinction, glory, and tribute, and all to himself.

How are you when things look rosy and nice for you? Are you ready to become a person of interest, a number one person? 

Which is fine and good, and if so, then huge congratulations to you and yours, and yet there is still that underlying personality, just like Percy's. The very fact that striving to be an out-front person is so different than gaining applause for something you have worked hard to achieve.

I attended my niece's graduation at Newcastle University and watched her receive her doctorate. I was certainly one of the crowd standing up and applauding her achievement.

Then there was my grandson Sam, who had just recently received his Bachelor of Education. He has turned out to be great at his job, and he enjoys it so much.

So, there is truly nothing wrong with being 'out the front' of the crowd and getting applause, but what is so different is what Jesus told us at that banquet that he attended. Gaining applause or pushing yourself forward or wanting to be the most important person, standing out in front of a crowd, is lifting yourself up, as Jesus had put it so plainly in his parable. 

Standing up for what you believe is good and great. Working hard at your job or gaining diplomas and University degrees are also magnificent and wonderful, but pushing yourself to the front in every possible situation just to make yourself THE most important person in the universe is completely and utterly the wrong way to feel and the wrong way to go. 

Working like I did in Human Resources ended up being a real eye-opener for me, in that I had the huge motivation to push myself ahead to keep taking the initiative, to invest in skills development regardless of what others thought, and be the first to align myself with the company's goals.

It was Jesus's message to me that came loud and clear, as mentioned in the verses above, that brought me to my senses and actually gave me, and still does give me, a real view of putting Jesus way above everything else. I stopped racing to be the first HR Officer to gain pats on the back, did it stop me from achieving? No, it didn't. 

Being a Christian does set you apart and makes you realise just how amazing the life of Christ is. Often, it's certainly not easy to be a Christian in today's world; we set ourselves apart in lots of ways, but it's one hundred percent beautiful knowing just how much God loves you and is with you constantly in every possible situation.

Have you thought about giving your life to Christ?

Hope to see you next time - God's richest blessings to you.

Greg T and Me - Came to blows!

Oh, dear, the memories come back to me.

Greg T and I were in Primary School together and usually in the same class. Things didn't work out like that in year 5. There became two classes in year 5 and onwards. The very next year, he was in year 6 class No. 1, and I was also in year 6 class No. 2. He came in first place in his class after the exams, and believe it or not, I came in the same place, but in my class.

He was not a happy camper! - He thought that he should be number one in the whole of year 6, just like it is these days, not separated by classes. He had it out for me! It really wasn't because I was some sort of bully-boy out to get applause from all and sundry, but he figured he needed to put me in my place so that I wouldn't be a contender in the future.

It all started one lunchtime - Greg had heaps of friends, all very much like him; in fact, he was definitely the leader. Here was my friend John and I sitting under the tree near Gregson Park eating our lunch when along came Greg and his mates - they formed a ring around John and me and kicked John out and left Greg and me inside the ring, and then it started.

I must admit I got the shock of my life. It was the very last thing I expected. I copped a punch on the neck of all places and then a punch on the chest, which threw me to the ground. I kicked out and whacked poor Greg on the ankle, which made him even more furious. He kicked out and smacked me in the back with his foot.

Mr Dart, my teacher, was on playground duty and quickly came over after he heard the yells of everyone passing by. He grabbed us both by the shirt collars and dragged us into the school building, and shoved us into two seats right next to each other and right outside the teachers' lunch room. Greg and I didn't speak. I had a sore neck and back, and Greg had a sore ankle. Oh dear!

We both got "kept-in," which was usual in those days, and a letter was sent home to my parents suggesting they should keep an eye open for any aggressive behaviour on my behalf - I can only assume that Greg T's parents got the same one.

As far as I recall, we had absolutely nothing to do with each other for the rest of 6th form. Greg T went to a different high school from mine, which John and I were really pleased about. 

Unfortunately, we never ended up being friends, but if one of your friends likes you so much that they are moved by your troubles and help you on your behalf, then just how much more does God really love you?

I was reminded of the parable Jesus told his disciples about friends needing things, and this story is recorded in Luke Chapter 11, verses 5 to 8. (New Century version)

Jesus said to his disciples, "Suppose one of you went to your friend's house at midnight and said to him, 'Friend, loan me three loaves of bread. A friend of mine has come into town to visit me, but I have nothing for him to eat.' Your friend inside the house answers. 'Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, if friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread, your boldness will make him get up and give you whatever you need."

God loves you, and he loves me, and what this parable means is, regardless of what we are doing or actually where we are when it all happens, we should always be willing to help out, no matter the cost to us or what we had planned to do.

When I look back on what happened at school when Greg T and I had a huge falling out, I should have made a real effort to become friends. When you think of what Jesus would have done, it makes me wonder how many times, when we seem to have a falling out with friends, family, or really nobody in particular, do we make an effort to smooth things over?

Are we or will we be prepared to give and keep giving? I know Jesus did, and he lived his life in the very folds of his Heavenly Father, and what he was here on earth to do. We really should be prepared to be behind people and support them in every situation. This may be a very hard thing to do as we move through life, but considering what Jesus himself went through just for us, it well and truly puts everything into perspective.

Looking at life in all of its woes and struggles, it's so easy to say this and that and just preach at people, but life certainly isn't a bed of roses. It is hard, and it can be really hard, especially if someone really wants to stir things up and tries to make life as difficult as it can be for each of us. That has been a difficult, and I must say and real stumbling block for me personally.

All of our personalities are astoundingly different from each other, and I can fully understand where we can really get on each other's nerves, and when that happens, so often our muscles, like Greg T's that afternoon at school, can be let forth with a sort of explosion, and we let the person annoying us have it fair and square!

Been there and done that so very often before, mainly not with my fists or feet but with words and psycho sort of feelings to whack out and hurt people as quickly and horribly as I can. 

So really, when we have the Bible here with us, and we actually gain from the many parables/stories that Jesus told, we can learn so very much. It is astounding, really, just how much I have learned over the years. Does this stop me from getting annoyed and hurt with other people? No, but what it does do is to keep me coming back to Jesus, and how He lived here with us.

In the story above, I can fully appreciate the owner of the home where the guy was knocking on the door. Why run around when you know all he wanted was loaves of bread? Surely that can wait till morning, but at midnight! I don't think so. 

The point that Jesus made here was that, regardless of how we feel, regardless of the time of day, and regardless of anything else that comes between us, we should always be prepared to give, and keep giving.

Today, a young couple was pulled over in the supermarket car park. Why? Their car boot was filled with so many sealed boxes, and I hate to think what was inside them. Stolen, maybe? The young guy was on his knees with his hands on his head and being frisked by two burly policemen, and his girlfriend was also being escorted by another policeman over to the side of the road.

We all do things that confuse us, anger us, upset us, fill us with regret, have to live with remorse, self-reproach, sadness, and so much unhappiness, and so it goes on. The young couple above, who are very young, will have to live with this incident, whatever it is, for all of their lives. 

The whole world doesn't revolve around you and me personally. It is God's very creation, and Jesus came here to show us the eternity of life and what we have to do to gain eternal life. 

So what do we have to do to gain eternal life, and what is eternal life? Faith in Jesus Christ and trusting wholly in him regardless of what life throws at you, and of course, what he did for you on Calvary all those years ago, will gain your place in heaven, but what is eternal life?

Eternal life is just what it says. Eternity will be everlasting life with Jesus. There is no end to eternal life.

All we have to do is confess our sins before our God. Sinning is something that we all need to recognise, and we need to come before our Lord and God and confess those sins to Him and ask Him to lead our lives and take leadership of our lives in all situations.

Would you like to do that? Then ask God to take leadership of your life, make him first in your life in all situations.

Hope to see you next time. God's richest blessings to you.

My Third Class Teacher - Mr Ambrose - an Expert with the Cane!

My 3rd class teacher, Mr Ambrose, was truly an expert with the cane. So many people these days wouldn't know what the cane was, but Mr Ambrose certainly did. The cane was just what it said it was, a bamboo cane, around almost 5 feet long, or 148 centimetres maybe.

All of 8 years old, most of us were destined to have Mr Ambrose teach us in the first year of Primary school.

I was thoroughly terrified! If you got anything wrong in any sort of strange alignment in Mr Ambrose's program for the day, or in any sort of misdemeanor, you copped it - Yes! he whacked you with that cane, and it was, not only once but six whacks of the best on your hands. Thanks, Mr Ambrose. Something I never ever forgot.

If it was your turn to ring the bell of recess and you didn't ring it loud enough or quick enough, you got the cane; if you talked in class you got the cane; if you didn't get your homework correct, you got the cane;  if you couldn't say your maths time tables in front of the class in double quick time, you got the cane; and so it went on and on, As I said I was truly a frightened little character. My family was astounded.

A miracle of miracles happened just a week before Father's Day (of all days). We were told to draw our Dad, and so we did. It was fun - unusual for our class! There were a few of us who drew moustaches on our dads, even though our dads didn't have moustaches. Mr Ambrose just strode around the class and then stood up front and told us to come out the front, those of us who drew moustaches on our dads.

Out the front we went, then he told us that those of us whose dad really had a moustache were to sit down - not one of us sat down. There were quite a lot of us boys all doing the same.

He then told us that the next morning, before school started, we were to line up all together on the line at the back of the playground. He then said that in front of the whole school, he would give us all six of the best of the cane for telling lies about our fathers.

I didn't sleep at all that night - I was petrified. The next morning, my mum could immediately notice a huge difference in her 8-year-old - I was crying and sweating, and wouldn't eat, and she could tell I hadn't slept at all. She got it out of me what had happened, and she told me to do exactly what Mr Ambrose told us all to do.

That morning, I did what Mum told me to do. Suddenly, she was there and so was Mr Ambrose, and suddenly we were all told to move away from the line and go to classes.

Mr Ambrose never said anything in the class that day, and none of us ever got the cane again for the remainder of that year - extraordinary! That's what all the guys thought - But I basically knew it was all about Hilda May. Thanks, Mum!

In Luke 10: 30-37 in the Message Bible, Jesus told this story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way, he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him, he angled across to the other side. Then, a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

A Samaritan travelling the road came upon him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill - I'll pay you on my way back.'

What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbour to the man attacked by robbers?"

"The one who treated him kindly," a religious scholar responded. Jesus said. "Go and do the same."

That is probably one of the best known stories of Jesus that he told one of the most religious leaders of the day, when the leader stood up and wanted to test Jesus and said, "Hey Teacher, what do I do to get eternal life? Jesus quickly fired back at the guy and said, "What's written in the law of God and how do you interpret it?"

The guy thought - this is pretty good - I'll trap this Jesus and replied: "That you love the Lord your God with all passion, prayer, muscle and intelligence and also that you love your neighbour as you do yourself." Good answer, said Jesus - Go and do it!

Looking for a loophole to catch Jesus, the teacher said, "And just would you define neighbour?" Hmmm, got him, I reckon the teacher thought!

It was then that Jesus told the above story of the Samaritan who actually saved the Jewish guy from dying there on the road. We must remember that in those days, the Samaritans and the Jews were completely estranged from one another and never ever communicated. So the story that got through to this 'religious' young fellow really taught him a lesson, considering it was a Samaritan who actually saved the young Jewish man on the road that day.

The young guy who was trying to put Jesus on the spot would have been really shocked when it was a Samaritan man who saved the Jewish man - something he would never have done. Especially when at the end of the story, Jesus told the young teacher, "Go and do the same". 

Jesus said again, and to all of us really, to love our neighbors as ourselves. In my episode with that teacher all those years ago, I certainly didn't love the guy who was going to give me six of the best cuts of the cane for drawing a moustache on the dad's picture, but here is Jesus saying as true followers of Jesus we must do just that.

Loving others and actually putting them above ourselves sounds incredibly hard to do, but when you make Jesus king of your life, putting him first in everything, it suddenly becomes clear, and everything else just falls into place so easily.

When I think of that episode in my 3rd class all those years ago, it's the one year I have never ever forgotten. Obviously, Mr Ambrose and my mum had a huge effect on my life. Whether it was a good example or not, it has been a huge learning curve when I take the time to look back over the events of that year. 

So many times I was beside myself the mornings I was to go to school, and so many times I was petrified that he would have me out the front saying my maths tables. Actually, I did, and I have accomplished so much since then. I have never forgotten my maths tables, which, when I look back, were probably among the only things I can remember from that year.

Loving others and putting them above us is exactly what Jesus did, and what he got through to us. Even when he was dying so cruelly on the cross, he prayed that our sins would be forgiven and that he didn't blame anyone for the immense cruelty and horrendous ending of his life here on earth.

It was amazing when he rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion and appeared to his disciples more than once. His great love for everyone is such a huge example for all of us.

He paid for our sins, and his whole aim here on earth was to bring people to the steps of salvation, forgiveness, and acceptance of our Lord God as ruler, and to become 1st place in our lives. Unlike my teacher, Mr Ambrose, whose whole life was aimed at being one of authority. In such a way, he was a good teacher, one I have never forgotten, and he really taught me a lot. I probably needed the stern authority, 

Authority can be good, and we are often in employment when authority is absolutely necessary, but authority doesn't mean absolutely and completely in control of whatever everyone says and does. 

Forgiveness is also such a beautiful thing to happen in our lives after we give our lives to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We can't expect others to forgive us, but we can certainly forgive others. That is something I have learned to do over the years, and it is something that really gives you such an amazing turnaround in your life. Forgiveness for things that have happened years before can also bring your complete and utter love for our lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I thank him continually for saving me, and if you have never given your life to Christ, then please consider what you have certainly to gain by doing so.

Where are you in your walk with Christ? Do you consider him at all in anything? Does he just mean a little scant knowledge, and that's it? If that's where you are at the moment, then you really need to seriously consider who Jesus Christ really is and what he did for you personally when he was here on earth.

All you have to do is come to a point in your life where you ask him to take control, hand your life to him, and make him first in every single thing and place you do and go.

God's blessings to you this week, and I really do hope to see you next time.

Hannah and Joshua

 Joshua Fellows was an engineer and worked on the railways. He had married young Hannah Spruce.

Hannah and Joshua were my grandparents on my mum's side. Their photo is on the left.  My mum was the youngest of their five children, two of whom had died so sadly before my mum was born. They were the two eldest of my mother's siblings. Her brother George and her sister Irene. 

Both young George and his sister Irene died horribly of gastroenteritis. In those days, the doctors took both the children off food and gave them only milk, which was THE worst thing they could do, as milk only exacerbated the dreadful illness. They got worse and worse, and finally, both of those young children, my mother's sister and brother, died. What a horrible ordeal for Hannah and Joshua.

Joshua was an engineer and worked on the railways, where he organised the extension of the lines and what was really needed through to the beginning of the War. He was sent by the railways to go way up north to start the commencement of the rail so that the war needs and also the troops would be able to reach Darwin and even further north.

Hannah was an amazing lady, coping with the dreadful loss of her two children and yet continuing to stand by her husband, travelling away from where she was so used to living and where she had been brought up by her mum and dad, leaving her siblings and travelling way up north - even after the very sad deaths of her two loved children.

She stood by Joshua every bit and never left him alone to cope with the upheaval of leaving their home, where she, too, had been raised. She was an amazing lady. Joshua stood by her as well, and they travelled together to remote and deserted places. He organised the rail lines and continued working through the ravages of the war.

After the war ended, they came back to Newcastle. Hannah had given birth to three more children while away. Joshua built a five-bedroom home in Hamilton, NSW, where they raised their three surviving children, the youngest of whom was my mother.

They named their new home ROIGENE, and the plaque is still there today. It is a mixture of the names Irene and George, both their little ones, as mentioned above, 

Hannah never gave in to her desire for things and places. She stood firmly by her husband and was there for him one hundred percent through all the anxiety and total alienation of being so far away from home, especially after the death of her two young children.

Jesus told the parable about servants doing what their master commanded. Joshua didn't "command" Hannah about anything, but she certainly stood by him, and he stood by her.

The story Jesus told, and you can find it in Luke 17:7-10, went like this: "Suppose one of you has a servant who is plowing or looking after the sheep. When he comes in from the field, do you tell him to hurry along and eat his meal? Of course not! Instead, you say to him, 'Get my supper ready, then put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that, you may have your meal. The servant does not deserve thanks for obeying orders, does he? It is the same with you; when you have done all you have been told to do, say, 'We are ordinary servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

Once we give our lives to the Lord, we serve him with selflessness and never ever expect any thanks or special treatment. The lord expects us to follow him completely and share our love for him with others, showing all our complete surrender to Jesus.

Being followers of Jesus doesn't earn us thanksgiving and pats on the back from all and sundry. Jesus certainly didn't get any of those while he was here on earth, and the very fact that he gave his life to pay for all of our sins is certainly more than we can ever expect and even far, far more. 

So, the parable Jesus told is about a servant doing what they are told and certainly not expecting any gratitude or special treatment from the boss.  

The story really is not centred about a self-satisfying master; what Jesus is saying here is that it is about the selflessness of a servant, which is us if we give our lives over to him; a self-satisfying person isn't really a follower of Jesus. 

The story, hopefully, ends with us putting ourselves in the same place as the obedient servant, doing what is required of them in complete surrender to their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We are certainly blessed to accept Jesus death on Calvary all those years ago to pay the price for our sins. Jesus' death on that day certainly abolished all of our sins if we accept the gift he is offering us.

Hannah certainly stood firmly behind Joshua, and she loved her three children so much. We should certainly, like Hannah, stand firmly with Jesus Christ and accept what he did on Calvary all those years ago to pay dearly for our sins and abolish them from us completely if we ask him to.

He will forgive us everything if we give him complete and utter leadership of our lives. That means plainly that everything we do, regardless of what that thing is, Jesus needs to come first.

Seek the kingdom of God in your life! How do you do that? Put God first; stop getting concerned about what you are doing, wearing, worrying about; start thinking about God in everything you do, say, and think. Give it to God, and regardless of what is happening, he will be in the first place.

Of course, we will still be consumed with grief and anxiety many times in life, but God is there, and with us through the very tough times and through all the heartache that we will endure over our lifetime, he will be there with us and for us.

In the Bible, Proverbs 3: 5-6 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Do you really trust God? I mean, REALLY trust him? When we do trust God, we lean on him in every situation in which we find ourselves. If and when we rely on just ourselves and leave him way out of it all, that leads us to a world of confusion, static unrest, and total frustration all sometimes together.

When we do give our lives to God and fully trust him in every situation, no matter what happens in life, in really difficult circumstances, His love for you and me is real, and He will always be close to us, even when we are hurting the most.

We all know life isn't perfect; it would be nice if it were, but we all know it isn't, and often we are left without answers, but through every trial and situation in which we find ourselves, God is fighting for us, and we can rely on His strength and not ours when the nasty things happen in our lives. 

Let's encourage each other to trust God completely, not just when we feel like it but in everything we do and everywhere we go.

God loves you, and He loves me, and He will always be on our side, often seeing us through the most difficult situations that life throws at us.

God's rich blessings to you this week, and I hope to see you next time.

A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

My Grandpa was the most amazing man, as I've mentioned about him and my Grandma before in a recent blog. He was always making things, and he had the most interesting backyard.

Being the youngest of five kids and with all the others at school, my mum and I, before I'd started school, used to go over to their place. Mum and Grandma used to sit inside while my Grandpa used to be outside making things.

As I said, they had the most incredible backyard, trees, gardens, and lots of paths all over the place, and you can imagine, as a 5-year-old, before I had started school, with all my siblings not there, Grandpa's place was so fascinating.

He was always making something, and I, being Mr Inquisitive, was always on the chat. I was always asking him what he was making, and I remember this particular day so well.

I guess my inquisitiveness may have gotten the best of Grandpa when I must have asked him what he was making, and he came out with "A wigwam for a goose's bridle". Now, when I think of that, I have a good old laugh.

On the way home that day, I asked Mum what a "wigwam for a goose's bridle" was. And she just cracked up laughing. It seems I must have got the better of Grandpa, and here's what it says on the computer these days. " 'A wigwam for a goose's bridle' is a playful, nonsensical idiom used to describe an imaginary, absurd, or non-existent object. It is commonly used  as a dismissive, humorous, or evasive answer when someone (often an inquisitive child) asks prying questions about what you are making or doing."

That makes me laugh so much when I think about exactly what my Grandpa said to me. I was obviously such an inquisitive kid, always on the chat and always asking him a million questions. Oh, he was a funny and great Grandpa.

Inquisitiveness is amazing and incredible, and has a strong desire in oneself to learn and work out what exactly is going on. To ask other people, like I did with Grandpa, what was happening, and also to tell others what is going on and why!

When I was reading the Bible, and I got to the following chapter in Luke, I was intrigued about the whole thing. When those people hurriedly came to Jesus, they must have been really agitated to have seen what they did, and they had so much to tell him about what was going on in the lives of the Galileans. They must have been feeling pretty bad.

So when the people came to Jesus that day, they told him about some Galileans that Pilate had killed while they were at worship. Pilate was obviously in the middle of some sort of sacrifice and mixed the blood of those he killed with whatever he had on the altar - sounds thoroughly horrible and totally murderous. Pilot was obviously out to get as many Christians as possible.

This is recorded in the bible in Luke chapter 13. Jesus responded by asking the question to everyone who was there if they thought that the murder of those Galileans by Pilate was because they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans?  He really wanted to get through to them all that we all must turn to God, every one of us, at the end of our lives; if we don't turn to God, then punishment will be ours.

Now that really was a thought we should all take on board today.

Jesus then talked to everyone about the towers that collapsed, which caused the very death of eighteen people. He said that certainly sends a message across to everyone. Even today, that message comes across loud and clear that we all need repentance and we must be ready, because no one ever knows when our time is up here on earth.

The tower of Siloam, as also mentioned in Wikipedia, was a structure that fell and killed eighteen people. Siloam is a neighborhood south of Jerusalem's Old City. It's only ever mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament.

Jesus told lots of parables or stories as they are known today. He was trying to get through to the many people listening to him, and of course, even to us today, what he had to say. It was obvious that he knew what was ahead of him: the death he would die and the amazing and incredible resurrection of eternal life.

The amazing part of Jesus's life was that he knew that he was about to die, and he knew the unique and incredible plan that was ahead of him. He was only 33 years old, and yet when you think about it, he had the most incredible and amazing life. 

Jesus then told a story about a man who had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren't any. He said to his gardener, "What's going on here? For three years now, I've come to this tree expecting apples, and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?" The gardener said, "Let's give it another year. I'll dig around it and fertilise, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn't, then chop it down."

What Jesus was trying to get through to us here is that we have to make up our minds whether we come to Christ and ask him to take over our lives. To make him number one in our lives in every situation in which we find ourselves. If we don't, then we are destined to constant and everlasting misery. hard to believe that anyone would want everlasting torment and misery over what God has promised as everlasting joy with him.

Just like the unfruitful fig tree in the story that Jesus told, we are like that tree. We can be absolutely worthless and self-satisfying, looking and striving for more and more. Jesus, in his awesome love for us, is patient and kind, yet sends out messages to everyone who cares to listen. 

God's patience can finally come to an end with all of us. In the story above, the owner of the place granted the tree another year, and then if it is still not good, it has to pay the price. We are like that tree. God, in his amazing mercy, extends our time here and keeps granting us yet another day. But time will come, and God's patience will run out if we continue to ignore and slam doors in his face.

The message is clear -  come to Jesus, give your life to him, and make him first in your life, or pay the price. It is entirely up to you and entirely up to me!

The other message in this amazing short story that Jesus told is that as Christians, it is up to us to tell others about Jesus, the powerful and awesome love that He has for all of us. All we have to do is accept his great offer of salvation and everlasting life.

Jesus paid the price for my sin and yours. He took them that day and killed them on the cross. All we have to do is accept his great love for us and ask him to lead our lives. He will then become first in our life and will take us home to be with him when our time here on earth is done. What an amazing promise that is!

This from the Late Billy Graham: "Have you committed your life to Jesus Christ? If so, He now lives within you by His Holy Spirit, and His will is for you to turn your back on sin and - with His help - to live a life that honours God. Make this your goal - beginning today."

God bless you this week, and thank you for reading this. Hope to have you join me next time.

Poland had a bear that served in the military in 1942

Poland had a bear that served in the military in 1942.

"Wojtek the bear was adopted by Polish soldiers and fought alongside them in World War Two". 

I quote:- "In 1942, a company of Polish troops was evacuated from the Soviet Union and found their way to Iran. Along the way, they befriended a Syrian brown bear that they named Wojtek. They officially enlisted him as a private in the Union. 

The men spent time in Italy from 1943 to 1944, bringing the bear with them. It helped to carry heavy ammunition and quickly became a celebrity among the troops. Wojtek was eventually discharged after the war and lived peacefully in Edinburgh Zoo until he passed away in 1963."

Unexpectedly, Wojtek had turned up out of the blue! Wojtek must have been quite the member of the group after that - everyone was super friendly to him. What an amazing number of things happen in our lives.

Wojtek was certainly used by those soldiers, and I guess in so many ways, Wojtek used those soldiers. 

It makes me ask the question, "When is Jesus due to return?" Whatever or whoever our Lord God puts in our hands, we are to use faithfully, especially since we don't know the day or the time when our lord will return.  

That must have been quite the question, especially in the middle of World war 2. There were the Polish Soldiers, and there was Wojtek - all doing their things to achieve what certainly needed achieving.

What are we doing for God's kingdom even today? When the lord comes back, what will he find you doing? Will he find you living faithfully and wisely? Or will he find you doing what 'the master' in the following Bible passage is obviously doing.

Jesus told his disciples the following story/parable about the Wise and Foolish Servants:- 

"The Master said:- Let me ask you: who is the dependable manager. full of common sense, that the master puts in charge of his staff to feed them well and on time? He is a blessed man if, when the master shows up, he's doing his job. But if he says to himself, 'The master is certainly taking his time,' begins beating up on the servants and maids, throws parties for his friends, and gets drunk, the master will walk in when he least expects it, give him the thrashing of his life, and put him back in the kitchen peeling potatoes."  Found in the Bible in Luke 12:42-48, the above version is in The Message Bible.

Will Jesus find you doing what you are supposed to be doing? Or again, will he find you doing what the Manager in the parable was doing? That can be pretty confronting when you read it.

The bear and the soldiers above did as they were supposed to do, and they achieved greatly when you consider what they were going through, and so many people right at this moment are going through very similar things in their own lives.

What are you going through? In all the stuff we are doing, there is nothing that is promised, only the faithfulness of a God who will never leave us. Our love for things around us sort of all falls into line when we consider that the reality of all is that we are only really passing through on this earth of ours.

What we do today is important because today may be all we have, so we should use it for God's goodness and mercy.

God loves us, and when we give our lives to him, he trusts us, and he will never leave us. He gives us life and breath and all sorts of resources and responsibilities to other people.

There are a couple of things that I have been riveted to, and one is:-

Will God find you and me living and just breathing in our own feelings and emotions and never even giving anyone else a thought? 

And will he find you and me living our lives according to whatever compromising situations in which we find ourselves?

Two good questions, and I can't help thinking, 'Are we at all ready to receive Jesus when he comes in his amazing glory, or are we just living our lifestyle and maybe even putting on a good show as to who we really are?'

I really feel coming to Christ and asking Him into your life is THE most important thing you will ever do. Coming to Jesus stops that horrible feeling that there is no assurance and no peace. Even though your sins are very real, whatever those sins may be, there is no pardon, and there never will be, unless you commence a real relationship with God.

You know, when we ask Jesus into our lives to lead us, we have to give him 100 percent of everything we are and everything we have, our body, our mind, and our heart. There is nothing left! Jesus needs to be first in everything we are, everything we have, and everything we live for.

In the Bible, in Mark chapter 12 and verse 30, it says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength." This is an actual commandment to all who believe in Jesus Christ, that we should give everything in our lives, including our very love to Jesus 

Giving Jesus 100 percent of your life certainly doesn't mean that you stop loving everything and everyone else, but what it does mean and what it does do amazingly is that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit begin to rule your life in everything you possibly do.

It's amazing and beautiful because everything we love and feel at this very moment just falls into very special and beautiful places with God the Father taking first place in our lives.

Having a close, intimate relationship with God will make your joy in life increase far beyond what you ever thought possible. You will find you lean on God more and more every day, especially when things go haywire in your life, as they do all the time.

Looking again at the above parable, Jesus told, it really comes home to me that we so desperately need to follow in Christ's footsteps. Sometimes it is hard not to follow along in the usual crowd, and if we do separate ourselves from the world, then we do set ourselves apart. We could be rejected a lot, and no one likes that happening, but God created us, and life's greatest joy comes from knowing and following him.

God has a plan for you and one for me, too, and that includes every single day of our lives. Every day we should ask God, "Please lead me today, and what do I do today, Lord?" That is amazing because every day after this, God leads and directs our thoughts and our footsteps.

You can pray this prayer: Lord God, help us to be faithful in being under your control and to be constantly aware that everything we have is a gift from you.

God bless you so much this week; Please take heart, be strong, and ask God to lead you in everything single thing you do.

The SYGNA Storm!

"You must be ready because Jesus will come again when we least expect him." That's my take on Luke 25:40.

We are all going to get a big surprise when that happens.

Way back in 1974, here in Newcastle, Australia, we certainly got a big surprise. We personally had just brought our baby girl home from the hospital after her long and difficult birth, and our very first night all together was when the "SYGNA" storm hit Newcastle. We call it the SYGNA storm because that is exactly what it was.

The SYGNA was a Norwegian bulk carrier built in 1967 that ran aground during our major storm in May 1974. She was a coal carrier and was waiting 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles off the coast to load coal from the BHP Wharf when the storm hit. All the ships off our coast were told by the Bureau of Meteorology to move out to sea for safety. Seven of the ten ships anchored off the coast did, but the SYGNA was one that didn't and ended up paying the price.

The RAAF Base at Williamtown's Search and Rescue Squadron here in Newcastle, ended up rescuing 30 of the trapped sailors from the ship in near cyclone conditions, Fortunately not one was killed or injured during the rescue mission, and considering the cyclonic conditions, that was a pretty amazing miracle.

The trapped sailors on the SYGNA would have been totally caught by surprise and bewilderment, especially in the amazing and terrible cyclonic conditions, being winched off the wrecked ship and carried to shore. Incredible rescue we can remember so well.

None of them would have been expecting anything like that!

And so it is going to be the same surprise when Jesus comes back, like he promised in Luke chapter 12, verses 35-38, when Jesus told another parable about being Watchful Servants.

It goes like this in the "The Message" version of the Bible:- "Keep your shirts on; keep the lights on! Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon, awake and ready to open the door when he arrives and knocks. Lucky the servants whom the master finds on watch! He will put on an apron, sit them at a table, and serve them a meal, sharing his wedding feast with them. It doesn't matter what time of the night he arrives; they're awake - and so blessed."

The Bible goes on to say that "Jesus, the Son of Man, will show up when we least expect him". In other words, BE ALERT and BE READY!

We all have to be ready because he is coming back. We need to live our lives being ready for Jesus' return. So....

What is going on in your life? Have you ever thought of Jesus' return at all? I know that no one on this earth knows when he is coming back or when we are due to go to him. We certainly need to live our lives, knowing that Jesus WILL return, but none of us knows when this will happen.

Just take a moment to think about your own life here on earth at this very moment. Ask yourself,  "Am I ready for the return of Jesus? Does my Christianity mean anything to me at all?" Or maybe, "What is Christianity - some sort of fairy tale?"

When you are at home and lounging around, your house may be in a bit of a mess, then suddenly someone shows up, and all panic lets fire. You can imagine if Jesus suddenly returns? What are you going to be doing at the time? The mind boggles!

Would you be ready for the return of Jesus? Jesus can come here at any time, and do you know what? We need to be ready, and I mean ready! Spiritually alert and always ready to meet Jesus. 

Let's live in readiness for the return of the king; not in fear, not in scariness, but out of love. Jesus will welcome us in love if we ask him into our lives to steer us in everything we do. He will provide total care for us, which in itself is amazing because Jesus died for us just so we can ask his total forgiveness.

When we live our lives with Jesus at the helm, our lives take on a whole new purpose. With all of this in mind, the total thing is that we really need to live our lives in complete readiness to meet Jesus face to face.

Life seemingly passes so quickly; hard to believe when you are still young, and so many things are happening in your life. Life can be so fulfilling and also can be so draining, yet we can get all wrapped up in all of its pleasures, duties, tasks, and responsibilities, etc. Do you know the average age for a male in today's world is 70 years and 4 months? A lady in today's world is 73 years and 6 months old. Of course, that totally depends on your young life, but statistics are statistics.

Thinking of that makes me wonder what I consider first-rate or priorities in my life?  When looking back, life has sped by at a rate of knots, so now I'm older, which makes me totally wonder if I have achieved or have really loved others as I have loved Christ?

You know, none of us know when our time is up. It was disastrous today to hear of yet another horrible car accident when two young people crashed head-on into another car, holding just the driver. All three died. 

Time is running out for all of us, really. We may not consider that, but it is so true, and as we get older, it becomes more and more realistic and so true. It's what we do with our life, and really not the length of our life, because none of us know how long we have here.

Jesus stopped the world when he took our sins upon himself and killed them on a cross. He was just 33 years old. He died for you and me and took our sins and killed them on that day on Calvary.

Is there a quality to your life?  We all really need to realise the shortness and actual urgency of time. So we really do need to invest what is left in coming to Christ, asking his forgiveness, and inviting him into our lives to take control in every situation in which we find ourselves.

God bless you this week, and I hope to see you next time.

I need bigger and I need better

"I need bigger and bigger, and I certainly need better," so our neighbor said, and ended up achieving just that. She is quite the person. She is nice in lots of ways, pleasant and respectful. That's so good.

She bought our friend's place across the road from us. It was a nice little home, comfortable and very welcoming. But was it big enough for what she wanted to achieve? Certainly not.

She pulled half of it down. The carport and the verandahs, the back patio, and then fenced it off with just a metre to its back fence and built this huge house in its back yard. It took at least a good two years to finish, and was she happy with that? Ummmm No!

She kept looking around and ended up buying yet another place, a good two-hour drive north of where we live, and once again needing lots of renovations. Is she going to be happy now at last? Ummmm No!

Always wanting more and more. Seeking happiness in things - Changing employment and always on the lookout for better and bigger, which is fine, I guess, but I am reminded of a parable that Jesus told in the Bible in Luke 12: 16-21.

It goes like this:- "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself. 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops." '

Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, You have plenty of grain laid up for years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry."

But God said to him, "You fool! This very night, your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?

This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."

Sort of a squirmy sort of feel after you read this parable of Jesus - what was Jesus getting at?

We need to be very careful about what we put first in our lives. Our dear neighbour is on the lookout, unfortunately. She is looking for something and feels that buying and achieving is the way to go.

Achieving lots of things can seemingly satisfy a longing in your heart; well, that's what she feels anyway, even for the short term. She is then keen to keep building bigger and bigger, and to seek more and more.

When we give our lives to the Lord and ask him to lead us, amazingly, our very need to keep expanding and to keep searching is quickly fulfilled.

We then begin to put things in their correct order and make Jesus our Lord and King first in our lives, and, extraordinarily, everything else just falls into place, and our need to expand our personal kingdom is amazingly met.

In the above parable, our certain rich man was so concerned about building his barns and constantly building bigger and bigger ones, and building his wealth for his own benefit. It is similar to so many people today trying harder and harder to achieve and to keep building their wealth and community status.

Also unfortunately. Like our lovely neighbour, so many people are actually looking for something, hence the constant forging ahead and striving for bigger and better. What are they striving for? They are searching and striding ahead, looking for happiness and fulfillment.

The very act of giving our lives over to God and making him the first priority in everything we have and do has quite an effect on our lives. The striding ahead, where it is often necessary, stops taking first place in our lives. It's quite extraordinary!

Also, in the parable, Jesus wants to get through to us that the blessings we receive as followers of Jesus should be shared with others, not just kept for ourselves.

Jesus didn't keep anything for himself; he wasn't like that at all. He came to earth to share himself with all of us so that we can learn and give our lives to him. He certainly didn't spend everything he had on himself; he gave it all away and enriched so many people in every possible way.

When we give our lives to God and make Him first place, he doesn't bless us so that we can spend all of our excesses, whatever those excesses may be, just on ourselves. In the Bible, in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 11, Paul says, "You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

The blessings God gives us shouldn't come to a full stop with us, but instead should actually be generated through us to others, showing love, concern, and constant help and giving. Something we should be asking God to help us in all sorts of situations. This is really clear in the verse above.

In the story above that Jesus told, the rich guy kept everything for himself and was obviously constantly on the lookout for more and more. At the end of his life, what did he achieve?  He'd have no say whatever in how his riches were going to end up - sad really! He could have had the joy of seeing others blessed, but it all amounted to nothing for him.

Life with Jesus at the helm is so much more than all of our wealth and possessions. So many people are sadly trying to get as much as possible, looking and searching for happiness, security, and fulfillment in things. Always on the lookout for something else, and never really satisfied with what they have, maybe for a short time, but always ending up wanting something new and beautiful, just like our lovely neighbour. 

If you read the bible in Luke 12:13-15, you will read "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." Pretty full on to what we have just been thinking about.

I think we should all take a moment to think about where we are with God; let's not get ourselves in a state of having to achieve more and more just to fill our anxiety or our need for fulfillment and achievement. Putting God first fills that void where we ourselves want to and need to achieve in all ongoing situations.

So, watch out and be on your guard, as it says in the Bible, putting God in first place, and do you know! Everything else just automatically falls into place. God is amazing and so truthful.

God bless you this week, and I hope to see you next time.