North Pole Expedition

I was privileged to listen to an inspirational talk by Louise "Ig-Lou" Allard (pictured right) about her 100+km expedition to the North Pole with the 8-member Australian Polar Extreme team. Upon reaching the North Pole on 18 April 2006, Louise went down in the history books as the first Australian woman, and along with her husband, Wayne, the first Australian married couple, to ski to the North Pole. What an achievement!

The ski trip was a tough and challenging one. The team had a hard time making headway in the first few days, with negative drift taking the team south (away from the pole) at up to 10km per day. Compounding the problems were strong northerly winds and unseasonally warm temperatures, between -5 and -15C, which caused large expanses of open water that both hindered progress and made for exciting travel. Two kayaks towed as sleds were employed on a number of occasions to cross open leads from 2-10 metres wide.
After days of what seemed like futile effort, the wind and drift stopped, the sun came out and the temperatures began to drop, eventually reaching the expected -30C. Progress sped up accordingly and the tight-knit and motivated team finally reached the North Pole, a day ahead of schedule.

In her own words, the expedition was "30% physical and 70% mental." Her personal experience and encouraging message to all present was that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. And furthermore, nothing is off limits when you work together as a team!

Spiritually-speaking, we are all on a expedition to eternity. We each need the support of those around us to bring out the best in us. And, knowing that we have God on our side, we can face the future with great confidence.

Luke 1:37 (NIV) ~ "For nothing is impossible with God."

Mission Uganda

Tonight's World Mission Fellowship meeting was most interesting and informative. Major Sylvia Gray (R) shared about her recent mission trip to Uganda, where she gave six months voluntary service at "The Bulrushes", a home for orphaned and abandoned babies operated by the Watoto Organization in Kampala. Sylvia's moving presentation reached our hearts and moved us to care through prayer!

'The Bulrushes' care facility was opened in early 2007 to give loving care to abandoned and rejected babies. These tiny premature babies and toddlers have been found on rubbish heaps, in trash cans or abandoned in hospitals and police stations, and were brought to their new home where they now find acceptance and unconditional love. When these babies are old enough to enter a Watoto Children’s Village, they continue their journey to become Uganda’s next generation of leaders.

The Watoto organization has the motto: "Rescue a child - Raise a leader - Rebuild a nation". It is the result of God's calling upon a dedicated Christian couple who are intentional about resourcing change and transforming lives.

Check out their story on their website: http://www.watoto.com/ and pray for their ongoing ministry. You'll be blessed that you did!

James 1:27 (NIV) ~ "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Rewarding Faith

Faith is one of the most crucial terms in the entire Bible. It denotes the trust one has in another, but it also conveys the idea of the God’s trustworthiness or reliability. Faith is not a passive resignation to life; rather, it is a confidence that God will fulfill His promises and, as a result, causes people to act upon those commands that lead to the promises. Faith means both to believe and to be faithful to the belief. Faith is not a noun, it is a verb!

Genuine Christian faith invites us to respond obediently to God in love, assured that He in return rewards us with all we need.

A faith-filled life is a victorious life, for FAITH STRENGTHENS OUR RESOLVE and RESOLVES OUR WEAKNESSES.

Be encouraged to live by faith everyday and allow God to strengthen your resolve, knowing that as you trust Him believingly, you will resolve your weaknesses in His strength and experience God-confident, Christ-victorious living.

Romans 15:13 (NLT) ~ “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

God's Word

Paul Harrington, rector of the Holy Trinity Church in Adelaide, commences his feature article entitled "A Spiritual Famine" with the following.

"I met a senior Adelaide based Christian leader the other day who was lamenting the state of churches around Adelaide. His observation was that pastors and churches have lost confidence in the gospel to change lives and are failing to teach the Bible to their people.
This gels with trends in church life over recent decades in Australia. Preaching has been swallowed up by communication. Even in orthodox churches where the authority of God's word is upheld in theory, my friend tells me that in practice the Bible is still not opened and explained in public meetings."
(Trinity Times, August 2008)

This rocked me and yet didn't complete shock me either! God's Word is imperative to spiritual development. Consider this word from the Apostle Paul.

"Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (MSG)

I was encouraged to read his concluding sentence: "...our leaders are committed to God's Word and (we) ask all members of our community to affirm this with us. Keep praying that in all our ministries and relationships we will allow the God of the Bible to direct our steps."

Let's not 'water down' the gospel for the sake of popularity, but use it to keep us on track and shape us in the ways of God!

Lord, You have given us a spiritual banquet in Christ.

Booths On Love

General William Booth, Founder of The Salvation Army, is quoted as follows.

"The secret of success is often inquired for. Here it is: it is not in natural gifts, or human bearing, or exceptional opportunities, or earthly advantages, but in a heart consumed with the flame of ardent, holy, heavenly love."

His son, Herbert Howard Booth, founder of The Salvation Army Musical Department, authored these prayerful words.

Let me love thee, thou art claiming every feeling of my soul;
Let that love, in power prevailing, render thee my life, my all.
For life's burdens they are easy, and life's sorrows lose their sting,
If they're carried, Lord, to please thee. If their pain thy smile should win.

Let me love thee, Saviour, take my heart forever;
Nothing but thy favour my soul can satisfy.


PRAY IT... BELIEVE IT...LIVE IT!

Sharing God's Blessings

In sharing with a family member of one of our nursing home residents this afternoon, I again enjoyed the privilege of turning surface conversation into a time of deep spiritual sharing. Together we talked of God's blessings in our lives and how we each value the guiding grace of God, even when experiencing life's most difficult challenges.

Our sharing time reminded me that in Christ we are all chosen family members, and each benefit greatly from the love that God lavishes on us with the dawn of each new day. Living now in God's love is inspiring, but not half as inspiring as it will be when we gather together in His glorious, rewarding presence.

Jude 1:24-25 (MSG) ~ "And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes."

Divine Certainties

My personal faith experience has taught me that when all else around me fails, God, in His grace and love, always prevails.

I was recently reminded of this Divine assurance when I read the following words from Psalms Now 93.

It may not always be apparent, but God does reign over our world.

He rules in majesty and might, and no philosophy or power can cast Him from His throne.

He allows us to mess up His purposes - even to destroy His visible creation about us.

But His place and His reign are eternally secure.

And so are they who put their trust in Him, who live by His precepts, and who follow His course for their lives.

(Leslie F Brandt)