2005
Autumn Winter
Autumn
Week 6, Week 7 , Thought for the break, Week 8, Week 10, Week 11, Week12
Hi all,
Just letting you know that Euan McDonald will be leading us in a study this week at LinC. Euan has led us often in 2004 and he was great.
The meeting is, as usual, 1pm in the "donga". BYO lunch.
Just in case this information didn't get through to you....
I am pleased to inform you that we are now an affiliated club with the CQU student association.
A really special thank you to those of you who are not able to be at the meetings but are supporting us through indicating your desire to be affiliated members. This led me to the idea of sending out a weekly summary so that you can be with us cyber-ly and spiritually. I also want to invite you to submit comments and prayer points.
The study a week ago was led by Don Gray and it looked at how our perceptions can influence our decisions. We particularly looked at this topic through the story of the woman at the well which we find in the gospel of John.
We began with a quick read of the story in Matthew's gospel where Jesus declares that a prophet is never accepted in his home town. We looked at the perceptions that the people had of Jesus - Isn't this the carpenter's son? and we saw how these perceptions hindered the people from experiencing the truth about Jesus.
When we moved into the story of the woman at the well we explored what kind of woman she was that she had a lot of men in her life and the women shunned her. Without going into details all indications are that she was a worldly woman to say the least.
In the light of this information we looked at how the woman responded to Jesus and discovered that she interacted with him in a way that was probably suspicious of his motives.... she was looking at things with the bias of her own prior experiences.
When the woman asked Jesus for the water that would make it so that she was never thirsty again, she initially responded according to her own perceptions and still only expected the physical.
When Jesus asked her to get her husband and after her saying that she had none, and Jesus telling her that she had seven, the woman finally realised that this was no ordinary man. Finally the woman was able to see that her initial perceptions about Jesus were incorrect and that in the spirit there was something very exciting. She tells Jesus that the Messiah is to come and he will make everything clear.
Most often in the Gospels we read that Jesus asks the question of people, "Who do you say that I am?" or He is seen telling people (and demons) to keep silent about who he is and the things he does. In the story of the woman at the well He does something very unusual, he says to the woman when she speaks of the messiah, "I am He."
What does this mean for us?
Often we look at people at circumstances physically and we respond according to what we "sense", but we are challenged to have the mind of Christ and "see" things with the eyes of the Spirit. It can be very surprising what we will find.
All for now on that.
Some prayer points for this week are for Rachel who is still unwell with CFS.
Have a great week,
Niki
Hi there LinC contacts,
Yesterday we had the pleasure of Euan McDonald to lead us in a study. The next time we meet we will have a very special female leader..... our very own, Cheryl Mitchell. Cheryl has a wealth of unboasted knowledge and she has had many experiences of working alongside missionaries overseas.
I hope that those of you who are on prac are having good experiences and those with sick children are finding some rest and those snowed under with assignments take heart in the movement of time - one day it will be over!
The study yesterday was from John 10:1-21, about Jesus being the good shepherd of his flock. We answered some questions that made us laugh, about what kind of sheep we relate to (eg. the black sheep or Mary's little lamb etc..), but discovered the deeper reasons for our choices, such as feelings of not fitting in, not being good enough and fear of somehow wandering away.
In the light of some of these negative feelings it was really heartening to discover some of the attributes of Jesus as the good shepherd. Jesus refers to himself as the gate. Euan enlightened us with relaying what he heard of an Arabian shepherd who spoke about how it all works..... Apparently, there is no gate in the pens where the sheep are kept. The shepherd sleeps across the gate and literally becomes the gate - no one comes in accept through him and he keeps the sheep from wondering.
How cool is that!
We spoke about how sometimes we may think of Jesus as being the thief who comes to destroy and take away. On the surface we may reject this as we know it to be erroneous, but many times people in their grief, believe God to have taken away loved ones. The scripture says that it is a thief who come to destroy and not only is Jesus not the thief, but he came that we might have life and have it to the full.
One other interesting note is that if a sheep was inclined to wander off the shepherd would actually break its leg and carry it on his shoulders until the leg healed. In this time the sheep and the shepherd would form such a bond that the sheep would no longer wander. Although not wanting to take everything too literally..... It puts a whole new and deeper perspective to the art piece that shows Jesus as a shepherd with the sheep on his shoulders - the artist must have had this knowledge and personally aligned with the image.
Some other scriptures that come to mind are from Hebrews where it says that Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. A little phrase that means so much!
From proverbs- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and HE WILL make your paths straight (emphasis mine).
We have a week off next week. Take care,
Niki
Hi there LinC people and associated,
I thought that seeing as there is no meeting this week (due to Vacation week) that I'd send a little thought around anyway.
And this is it -
I was doing some reading for an assignment for managing diversity within a classroom and it seems that this particular thing keep popping up. Thinking about thinking!
To those who are not doing this course that may sound crazy, but it is about explicitly teaching a child things like, for example, thinking ahead and working out the consequences, or perhaps talking the steps of a procedure out loud so as to make logical connections. In our course we've discovered that this is called habits of mind.
It is interesting how it is being recommended that we teach children "habits of mind". How much does the way we think influence our lives. Huge when you think about it, hey?
Now, I do have a point to this. Everytime I read about this strategy it reminds me of a verse that is kind of special to me. "..... The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. on the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Putting this into context, St. Paul was appealing to the Corinthians who were questioning his authority. Instead of telling them, "how dare you" etc...., he appeals to them as Christians and reminds them how a Christian fights battles with divine power to take strongholds. This particular stronghold was not on a physical battlefield- it is the stronghold of the mind. The only mind that we can control really is our own. Paul knew that if these Corinthians took captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ that they would then see the situation with the eyes of the Spirit, and the problem would be demolished.
I've heard many talk about how depression works. It might be something that triggers the depression and then the chemicals released start a cycle that is hard to break out of, which is why they recommend chemical intervention. However, then there is the case of another family friend who while on medication committed suicide. Hope was not found in the medication.
Hope is something that humans need and I believe against all odds, mostly still hold on to. But all too often we also look at situations with "eyes of the world" as opposed to "eyes of the Spirit". Too often we see only the surface and our actions align with this. We need to realise that this life is but a shadow of the life to come, but that there is a purpose in this life for the next.
An international bible speaker once asked whether we thought that repentance was something you do, something you feel or something you thought. Of course they all overlap, but he was asking what it was primarily . Interestingly enough - I bet you guessed it- in the Greek (or one of those original languages) the work used for repentance means "to change your mind".
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
I could be crazy, but I kind of think that we renew our minds by taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Not that that is always easy - and that doesn't mean leaving your brain at the door. It means submitting your mind to Christ, making his priorities your own and through pray and scripture maintaining a personal relationship with him.
Well, that's all from me tonight -
I hope that you all have a fruitful time this week and stay very safe.
bye for now,
Niki
Hi there LinC people and associates,
We were back to the grind stone well and truly this week. I hope that you found some space over the break to have a break.
This week we had Cheryl leading us in a study on identity.
One of the aspects that we discussed was the fact that when Jesus was being tempted in the desert, that Satan was actually questioning Christ's identity. Matthew 4, "if you are the son of God....."
In other words, he was trying to invoke doubt. He tempted Jesus with the physical need of food, then he tempted him with physical protection, and then tempted him with the promise of power and dominion if he should give up his identity and worship Satan.
As Christians, we are tempted with the same aspects as Jesus. We need food, and as the children of God, God will provide. We need protection, and as the children of God, God will provide. We are constantly be tempted to deny our identity as the children of God and claim power in a secular world in our careers etc. BUT as children of God do we realize that the whole world is the Lord's?
We do have power, as he directs us, for his purpose. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the power of his resurrection we are joint heirs with him. This is by our baptism and our being united with him in his death and resurrection.
Galatians 8: 11 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
As we undertake our studies and look toward a future career it is not for our good, but for Christ's purpose. Although it is for our good also, we need to realize that His purpose in our lives is our top priority.
At our meeting Cheryl gave each of us a little card. It was a picture of a kitten looking into a mirror. The reflection looking back was a lion. This is the spiritual reality of our identity as Christians. We in ourselves have no power, no authority and no claim to fame and we shouldn't claim any dominion as we are only the "created". HOWEVER, spiritually, we are all Sons of God and we have all the authority that Christ has given us.
Matthew 16:19 " I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
To quote Cheryl's words, "Satan went after Christ's identity. Why? Because that is where the authority is. God identity. The authority over sin...the authority over death... the authority to become what God has destined for us to be."
Bye for now,
Niki
Dear LinC and associates,
On Wednesday, the group was honoured to have John Elias come and share with us the message of the different elements of what God requires of man to return to His family as a child of God.
The elements that God would like man to get rid of would include the envy of others and their property of ownership, the bad fruits of hate, malice, stealing, murder and other elements of the devil that will destroy the individual's body, mind and soul leading to a eventual death.
Whereas, the message overall spoke for all to choose life in Jesus Christ to be spared from all the fruits of death which leads to destruction.
John listed The answers is in Christ: 2 Cor 1:20 "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes in Christ. And so through him the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God."
So if you wish to view at last week's study just ask me at the study tomorrow or at another good time.
We will be honoured to have Rev. Lindsay Howie minister to us this week on wednesday at 1pm.
Yours in Christ
--
(:-D)
Tony Gray
Dear LinC and associates,
Today, (wednesday) the group had the honour of having Father Lindsay Howie come and give a message that the Holy Spirit place on his heart, Lindsay belongs to the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, situated on corner of Gordon & Sydney Sts.
Lindsay came and spoke about Christian Ethics and it's connection regarding situational ethics. The study was discussed around the 10 commandments that were given to Moses on Mt Sinai, the ten commandments according to Lindsay was the absolutes to being faithful and to honour God, in addition, in the New Testament readings highlight the emphasis on how we as an individuals can be saved by grace of loving the God, loving others and lasstly loving ourselves.
Furthermore, the element of situation ethics, Lindsay also discussed briefly the teachings of Joesph Fletcher in the areas of "Legalism", "Antinomianism" and "Situationism". all three areas can be related to the modern era as well as the Post-Vietnam War Era.
Lastly, Lindsay recommends that those within the group at least watch "The Cider House Rules".
Damian has already seen this movie and he thoroughly recommends it also.
Yours in Christ
--
(:-D)
Tony Gray
Dear LinC and associates,
Yesterday (Wednesday 1st June), the group was visited by Euan McDonald from the Iona West Church.
Euan spoke to the group about the disciple Simon Peter, better known as Peter. Throughout the gospels we discuss the good and the not so good points about Peter's life as a fisherman along side the Sons of Zebedee which are James and John just prior to meeting with Christ.
Euan explained with discussion about tge different ways that Peter took risks where he got out of the boat and walked to Jesus on the water, but Peter took his eyes off Jesus as a result started to sink whereby Jesus caught him and the wind, and the water became still at moments notice.
Furthermore, Peter doubting and at the transfiguration where he disowns Christ.
Once Christ had resurrected on the third day, Peter was able to be forgiven and was able to restore his character once again.
--
(:-D)
Tony Gray
Winter
Week 1, Week 2 , Week3, Week 8, Week 10, Week 11, Week12
Dear LinC and cyber-space associates,
Yesterday we had our first meeting for the term and Sue Pollock led us in a reflection on the journey of life.
Sue had recently been to a conference in Hawaii where she discovered that their cultural way of encouraging each other in faith was to share their stories. This reminded me of the words of a song that we have at our church which is sung to a traditional Hawaiian tune - "We come to share our story, we come to break the bread, we come to know our rising from the dead."
There are times when we erroneously believe that being a Christian means that life will always be good and we can wear a permeant smile on our dial. Life soon shows us the error of our ways, however. In these times we often feel that we have failed and we honestly struggle to find the key to victory or some kind of perspective.
Sue pointed out to us that these kinds of struggles were part of Jesus life, and we read from Matthew chapter 26, verse 59 and on..."The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But the did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward...."
Why is it that some one who busted his gut to do nothing but good would be subject to such vindictive hate? I can't speak for everyone, but I know that this is the feeling at times that I have experienced.... Why is it that there are people who would want to paint you in a bad light, when all you have done is try to do the right thing and get on with your own life?
Moving from Sue's study, into some personal experiences of my own - after having an experience of this many years ago, I had decided that I didn't need people's approval and that I would just trust in God.
All good in theory! Last week I went away to the northern university games and joined with other CQU campuses to form teams to compete. 99% of these people were so lovely and the experience of meeting new people was a rich one. But the team that I happened to be in was one where that other 1% lay. There was a lot of stuff going on in that percent which was not right.
So, here I am thinking that I am too old for peer pressure and intimidation, and don't care what other's think of me...... By the end of the week I found myself feeling very scared and even stuttering slightly.
What did I learn?
There was another member of our team who is part of our LinC, and she and I were both on the outta. How good it was to have a friend!
Sue mentioned yesterday that treasures are found in dark places. I am also reminded of something another friend once said - It is in the valley's where the fertile soil can grow magnificent crops.
Too often we look at the gospel story with coloured glasses and we need to realize that Jesus experienced all those Valleys and dark places that we do - he even had a close friend who betrayed him and then committed suicide.
While I was away last week Sue sent me some significant messages - "they can subdue you on the outside, but not on the inside" (mind you, I felt absolutely worn out, not even knowing if there was strength to not be subdued on the inside- but I guess that my standing apart from the garbage is the not being subdued internally).
The other most significant message from Sue was simply this - "Psalm 141"
"O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me.... Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me- it is a kindness; let him rebuke me- it is oil on my head......But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge- do not give me over to death. Keep me from the snares they have laid for me......"
It is worth reading the psalm in its entirety.
Another friend recently sent me a light hearted email called "the donkey". I am going to attach it for your enjoyment... it fits in with this theme.
Next week we will meet on Tuesday at 1 pm - 2 pm in the donga. Joe Bove will be leading the study.
Take care,
Niki
Donkey
Hello there LinC,
You may have noticed that I didn't send the summary for last weeks meeting... Oops.
It was great. Joe Bove, from the Anglican Church, spoke about the scripture of the parable of the weeds.
He asked what makes the wheat different from the weeds and how can we know the difference. As people shared, it was made known that sometimes when the plants are young they look the same.
We looked at circumstances of wheat and weeds in our world and discussed what our response should be. From that discussion we ventured to the area of government authorities and how we should submit to the governing authorities.... but we noted that there were times when the apostles didn't ... and then there was even the case of Jesus not submitting to the authorities in the law of the Sabbath.
In my own little situation of a basketball team, I had the dilemma of submitting to the authority of our team manager, who was being rather "un-nice" and even drunk driving and leading others into unacceptable behaviours. What to do? Trying to keep the peace and resolve issues in an adult manner is not always an option.
All these issues of conflict are especially interesting in the times in which we are living. At the end of this letter you will find that I have pasted in a request from SU for prayer about such a conflict. .....
I am also wanting to share with you a part of my talk on the readings at church this weekend. It was the readings about the kingdom of God being like a person who finds a treasure...
My father tells a funny story about hidden treasure�. His father used to store money in a tin box which he had buried in a safe spot. When the change of currency occurred in 1966 (before I was born) he went out to get his money only to find that the tin had corroded and the money with it.
But this isn�t the kind of treasure that the readings are talking about. They speak of a great treasure that won�t corrode and fail, but one that will last for eternity.
Here in this life we have treasures that can fail us, disappoint us and even hurt us. But this treasure of the kingdom of heaven is very different.
In Romans we read that this treasure assures us that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. He is always on our side.
There are times, however, when we feel that this treasure of the kingdom of God, that once used to be an exciting stash of treasure, is like that tin of money that my grandfather buried. I am sure that all of us, at times experience that feeling�. that empty, disheartening, and frightening feeling that my grandfather must have had when he discovered all his money disintegrated.
The circumstances around us tell a different story to that which we believe the story of a dedicated Christian should be, and we even begin to wonder if we are one of those fish in the parable that are caught up in the net of heaven and then thrown out as being rejected.
This is not an unusual emotion and why we have St. Paul telling the Romans Christians, who are in the midst of persecution, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.
If God is for us, who can be against us? And we know that God is working on our side, but it is for the purpose of eternity and not only for this world. - If the Romans to whom the letter of Paul was addressed had have read his words and looked at their situation with physical eyes they would have told Paul that he was certainly mad.
There is a verse that I read once � part of a poem � �the dark threads are as needed in the skilful weaver�s hand, as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned.�
I can not go any further without admitting that there have certainly been times in my life when I have felt that surely I was one of God�s rejected. But each time that I have felt this, either because I felt it was all I deserved, or because of circumstances that seemed continually against me, God has shown me that I am not rejected and that those bible verses where he promises to never leave us are absolute.
One scripture that has long been a favourite of mine are the verses at the end of the reading today from Paul to the Romans. �For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.�
Tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1pm we are going to be meeting in the donga for LinC. The study is to be lead by Bernie Hong.
Bye for now,
Niki
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Hi there,
We began our meetings on Tuesdays yesterday with a study on wheat and weeds by Fr. Joe Bove. Next week we will have Bernie Hong, followed by Euan McDonald on the following Tuesday.
During the meeting some members had an interesting proposal....
Some members are about to be involved in a small group study through their church, entitled "40 days of purpose" . These people thought that other members may be interested in being involved also.
I thought that I would run it by you all.... One idea is that we could run a night time study in the refectory.
Rather than going ahead and organising something, I wanted to gather interest from people. I realise that many are busy, but perhaps there is a night or a time that you would like to do this.... Whatever your thoughts on the matter, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
Bye for now,
Niki
Hi there,
Just filling you in on the events of the week. This Tuesday we had Bernie Hong share some biblical thoughts and insights with us.
We looked at Matthew 24 where Jesus talks about the signs of the end of the age. In these times of terrorism many people are questioning the meanings behind the turmoil. Not only the terrorist attacks, but the natural disasters such as the tsunami. There are Christians who say that we are certainly in "the last days" and others who sceptically say that they have heard people say things like that down through every generation when ever trouble arose.
I would have to say that I am not as attentive to cyclone warnings as I probably should be. There have been so many warnings in my lifetime, and none of the cyclones amounted to anything. My attitude is not a healthy one.
In 2 Timothy 3 it also speaks of the last days, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, Lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, un holy, without love, unforgiving slanderous, with out self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Bernie also shared some other scriptures with us. Particularly interesting, I think, is 1 Timothy 4 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."
We have many people, both church going and non church going, who have enjoyed "the DaVinci code". I have watched / read very little of it. Although some may argue that this means I have no ability to make a judgment - I have to say that I have watched / heard enough to realize that the author did not even do their homework very well.... It is so far from the truth. And yet so many people are swallowing the totally unfounded theories.
Intermittently throughout the study, Bernie impressed upon us the need for a personal relationship with Christ. Truly this is the key to "abiding in the vine" so to speak.
I have had a little bit of feed back about the 40 days of purpose and I am now wondering whether people would be interested in doing this study in our usual Tuesday spot.
Let me know.
Also.... Prayers for our Treasurer Sharyn... I believe that she is moving to Brisbane. Things seem to have not worked out for her here.