Bushfires on Lake!!

Veronica and I slipped down to Victoria during the week – our passports were up to date – to catch up with my mum in Ballarat for a brief visit. While there I came across one of the more interesting headlines of recent times: ‘BUSHFIRE IN LAKE WENDOUREE!’ Now, Lake Wendouree, along with the adjacent Ballarat Botanic Gardens is one of the major tourist attractions of the city. It was the site of the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games Rowing but after years of drought, it is now completely dry; the first time in 60 years, and the reeds and grass have become a fire hazard. In fact during the week the lake flared up on two more occasions during Victoria’s blistering heat.

With my decision to back away from regular involvement with our Go M.A.D. activities this year I was asked by someone recently as to what I might be doing with the extra hours in my week. A good and perfectly reasonable question and it has caused me to be even more focused in seeking to hear a word from God in recent days.

One of the things that is becoming increasingly clear to me is the need to build a stronger spiritual base across our congregation. It is hard to build something big and strong if the foundations are shaky. Jesus may have had similar thoughts at times as we find in Matthew 7:24-27: ‘The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall.’ We are a very exciting congregation to be a part of and our open, courageous and friendly manner has allowed us to build a great network across our community. We are excellent at doing stuff; but I want to help take us somewhere deeper.

I like the part in the Book of Acts as the early church wrestled with an emerging church that was vastly different to the way that they might have guessed – ‘For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials.’

It excites me that we have several people among us who are eager to go deeper in their faith and to discover what it means to walk with Jesus. So, a major focus for me in 2009 is to assist up close and personal as many who might want to make this journey as possible. I want to offer people greater opportunity for prayer and more space and time for worship.

Those of you who have been around in January and / or have kept up with a couple of my notes will know that I am presently very proactive in the ‘being’ part of my life; yes, even to the cost of my doing. One of the key things that I have learned from wise mentors over the years is that you can’t take people where you haven’t been yourself and I am already enjoying my new role, even as it has barely begun. I have managed to slow myself down and am enjoying the scenery!

I have seen too many over a long period now who have appeared to prosper and grow, only to find that in fact they were like that lake in Ballarat; bone dry and susceptible to bushfire and burnout. I know because I have been one of those fires and appreciated the spiritual hosing that I received from a great mentor only a few years ago. Without that life saving intervention I am not sure that I would be in ministry today.

Psalm 127:1 says, ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.’ I want to be a part of building a great faith community in this district and I want to do it because it is God’s idea and not mine. Call me naïve but that is my hope and dream. Part of that hope is to build a legacy for of faith, grace, hope and love for generations to come and there is no better time to start than right now.

Cheers - John