The new look of church

One good thing about COVID-19 is my sending church is choosing to hold its service by live stream videoconferencing... which means I can join in! Thankfully most people were out of their pyjamas...

Fear vs. faith

Three days ago I tidied my office. Despite living in far north Queensland small-town Mareeba, mercifully virus-free, not knowing anybody first hand who was sick, the constant news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world had become almost too much to bear. I couldn’t put my finger on why I had become so affected to the point where I had lost enthusiasm for doing pretty much anything. I wasn’t able to concentrate on anything more than sorting old paperwork into piles for filing or disposal. So in an effort to be at least a little bit productive, that’s what I did.

That evening I watched a sermon by Alwyn Wall, senior pastor at Calvary Chapel London.

“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Those words in Matthew 8 leapt off the page. It was as if Jesus was speaking directly to me. Not in frustration, but tenderly.

What was I afraid of? I don’t know. My own chances of catching this thing are, at present, incredibly low. The community here is essentially its own ‘bubble’. I don’t know anyone personally, anywhere in the world, who has been infected. And even if I did contract it, I’m enough of an optimist to hope that I’d be in the 80% who would have mild symptoms.

I remember feeling unsettled like this once before: during major restructuring that we had in my previous job about 7 years ago. I was unable to concentrate on anything because of the uncertainty of what lay ahead in the future. And this is what is affecting all of us now - seeing our entire way of life, the illusion of security that we had, suddenly stripped away. For those living in NZ, in less than a fortnight we’ve gone from making jokes about toilet paper and watching sporting matches being played in empty stadiums, to the borders being closed and the entire country being placed in lockdown.

I wasn’t living in Christchurch during the earthquakes and the aftermath thereof, but I know plenty of people who were. Many chose to leave the city and move somewhere else where things were ‘normal’. But that isn’t an option for us now - this is a worldwide issue; no-one can escape from it. There is nowhere to run.

Let’s be honest - the entire future is uncertain. Where once people were planning where they would take their next holiday, now they don’t know when they’ll be able to find work again or how they’ll afford basic necessities in the meantime. Our self-sufficiency has been rocked to the core. What we were depending on to support us has been suddenly revealed to be smoke and mirrors.

“Why are you so afraid?”

Because I don’t know what is going to happen next. Because I don’t like not being in control...

There, in that moment, my perspective completely changed. I never was in control of my life. I only thought I was. There is only One who is in control - and He still is. Nothing about this situation has caught God by surprise. He knew all along that it was coming. And He knows where it will end up.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

(Ps 46:1-3, 10-11)

If we focus on the situation around us, we will become crippled by fear. Life as we know it has changed completely, and we are still reeling from how quickly it’s happened. This is why it’s so important to remind ourselves of things that never change - things about God and His Word.

Here are four things that, as Christians, we can stand upon:

1. God is omniscient (all-knowing). He knew this was coming; He knew how it would affect you. More than that, He knows what will happen in the future.

2. God is omnipresent (ever-present). He is with you always. He has promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you. He has been with you through the good times, and now He continues to be with you in the bad times.

3. God is omnipotent (all-powerful). He created the entire world in six days. If He wanted to, He could just speak the word and the virus would disappear and all who are sick would be healed instantly. But it appears He is choosing not to. God’s inaction does not mean He is unable to do anything. Rather, it means He has a greater purpose that He is accomplishing. Perhaps this is a wake-up call for a world that has rejected Him, letting them know it’s not too late to repent and be saved. We know that God does not like to see people suffer; but He is also more concerned about their eternal salvation than their temporal comfort.

4. God loves you. He is your Father and you are His child.

 

Like the disciples in the midst of the storm, if we focus on the situation around us, we will only have fear. But faith comes when we focus on Jesus. He will get us through.

If you’re reading this and you know you don’t have a relationship with God, now is your opportunity. The Bible says that God wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4), not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).

Sin is what keeps us separated from God. There are two aspects to this: the innate nature we are born with, and the wilful acts we commit. To ‘sin’ means to miss the mark, and given that God’s standard is perfection, we have all fallen short (Rom. 3:23). We don’t deserve anything from God, only death (Rom. 6:23). This is why God provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him that does not depend on our own goodness. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world as a human to live a perfect life, and die on the cross. Here’s the amazing thing: God accepted Jesus’ death as payment for our sins. He promises that if we believe this truth, we will be reborn spiritually and reconciled to God.

Here’s a prayer you can use:

Lord God, I know that I am a sinner. I have failed to live up to Your standards and I have deliberately sinned against other people and against You.

I don’t want to live like that anymore.

I believe Jesus died on the cross for me, in my place. I believe that through His death and resurrection, all of my sins were paid for. Thank You Lord for forgiving me.

Please make me a new person from the inside out. Right now, I give You control of my life.

Help me to know You more and to live in a way that pleases You.

Thank You for loving me so much that You would do this for me.

COVID-19 update

Saving the world... one game at a time

Here's the text of an email I sent to my support network this morning, giving an update on my current situation.


Just a quick note to let you know what is happening regarding my role at MAF in Mareeba, in the midst of the current COVID-19 situation.

While there have been a number of cases reported in Queensland, the vast majority of these have been in the south-east (Brisbane, Sunshine Coast etc.). The nearest confirmed case to Mareeba has been reported in Townsville, nearly 400 km away. Even so, we are following the government's guidelines at work and church as a precaution.

The MAF flight training centre continues to operate as normal with briefings and flight lessons, so for the time being I will be remaining in Mareeba and continuing to work here. Life has not changed much apart from the supermarkets running out of pasta, rice, flour and toilet paper...

Our next assessment centre which was scheduled for early April has been postponed. There is a high likelihood that travel to Arnhem Land will be restricted, to protect the people living in remote communities there who do not have access to the required level of healthcare if they were to contract the virus. So I am still waiting to hear whether the ferry flight I was scheduled to do next month will be going ahead or not.

Please pray for our PNG students who are separated from their families at this time, in what is for them quite a foreign culture. Some of them were planning to go back home during the term break, but they are no longer able to due to the government's travel restrictions around self-isolation on their return to Australia.

Please also pray for the MAF staff working around the world who need to make difficult decisions about their own situations: whether to stay in country or to leave, how far to scale back their programmes in order to protect the people whom they are serving.

Finally, please pray for missionaries from other organisations who are encountering difficulties. I have personally received updates from missionaries currently in Sicily (in lockdown), Nepal, and a family in the USA who are now unable to reach their mission country.

I rejoice that God is ultimately in control of the situation, even when people around us are panicking and in despair.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Ps. 91:1-2)

First bush walk of the season

We're in the tail end of the wet season, but the daytime temperatures have been noticeably less than in January/February, when the thought of going for a day walk was put to bed almost straightaway.

After church last week I decided to go for a short walk up Yabi Mountain, near Atherton. I had done it once last year and preferred the view compared to that from nearby Mount Baldy.

I have a list of walks I'd like to do this season, so hopefully I can make a start on the rest of them now!

Lookout from Yabi Mountain over Atherton and the tablelands

This flying beetle was about 5 cm long. I first noticed the tiger stripes,
then the bright green legs and body!

There were a few of these butterflies around

Tiny yellow butterflies - the wings were about the size of my thumbnail

Georgetown mission trip

Last weekend a team from the Mareeba flight training centre drove to Georgetown, a small town of around 250 people 4 hrs away, to help out a small church there. This was the second time a team from Mareeba had gone, and it was great to be a blessing to one another. They were encouraged that we would make the effort to visit, and we were inspired by their stories of what's it's like to live and do church and chaplaincy work in a pretty remote area.

Here are some photos of various activities:

Driving out to Georgetown

Arriving at the church early on Saturday for a working bee

Taking multiple trailer loads of garden waste to the tip

Preparing a shared dinner on Saturday night

Shared dinner with the local congregation

Sunset

Kids' church on Sunday morning

Giving a sermon on Eph. 4:1-6, 'Unity in Christ'

The puppet I was given as a thank-you from the Georgetown church
(I had done a puppet skit in kids' church)

Devotion: Emotions

Every Monday we take turns at the flight training centre to share a short devotion to start the week. This week it was my turn, and this is what I shared:

A few weeks ago I had issues with Microsoft OneDrive on my computer at work. I had been compiling worked examples for a series of briefings to help students prepare for their CPL performance and planning exam. One day I came to work on it only to discover that I could not access the folder where they were stored. Our IT guy had a look at it and said that the file had been corrupted on my local drive; the following week he reset the connection and told me that although the folder was now accessible, the files were probably lost. It had been a particularly long day but just before I went home I logged in for a quick look - and there were my files, in exactly the same state I remembered leaving them! I sent a quick text to a couple of people who had shown concern for my plight, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost files!"

Reflecting on the turn of events, I could see how I had experienced several stages of grief: initial disbelief and shock that 3 weeks' worth of work was gone; an acute sense of loss; regret (if only I had saved a copy somewhere else, or printed it out); anger; and finally resignation that I would have to start again from the beginning. But then utter elation when it reappeared.

The incident was a stark reminder of how fickle our emotions can be, and how happiness depends on our circumstances. In contrast to this, our faith in God should not be driven by our emotions, but on what He has told us in His Word. If we feel unworthy or forgotten by God, we must remind ourselves that He loves us (Rom. 8:39) and He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). We must choose to believe what the Bible says: that we have forgiveness from God (1 John 1:9), acceptance from Him (1 Pet. 2:9), that all things will ultimately work together for good (Rom. 8:28), that God is continually sanctifying us (Phil. 1:6), that Jesus is coming back (Matt. 16:27, Rev. 22:12).