C What My Friends Can Do

I have amazing friends!!
They......
Cook me pancakes...
Come out for dinner...
Crank the music and sing along...
Cause me to laugh- too often...
Care.

I love them for......
Champagne shots...
Crazy pool games...
Colouring my kite...
Christian character and openness...
Cute personalities and uniqueness...
Chatting and chatting and chatting... oh, and chatting...
Company, actually make that constant companionship...

And never ceasing to amaze me!
Cheers to many more wonderful times!!!

P.S. This is only a short list, and as I'm feeling rather uninspired I can't think of many more 'c' words. But thanks all for making my day! :)

A normal day- can there be such a thing?

Many things in life are normal. We have our routines and we rush around filling and fulfilling our lives. But some things in life are not usual. Take for instance the sunrise on Tuesday morning. The sight of a purple and pink sky out of the kitchen window was amazing. Add to that a clear rainbow with bright colours and an unfaltering arc. There are forecast storms and rather chilly conditions outside. Inside the stove warms the kitchen and ensures the porridge cooks.

When I need to get up at 430am to go to work, I suppose it’s not surprising that a magnificent sunrise makes my day. Later that evening, when driving down the worn highway back toward my hometown, the mist gathered in valleys and surrounded the trees. The rivers were flowing and at times the windscreen wipers needed to go on. The sun set in a much more forlorn style as dark clouds engulfed its light and it was swallowed by the horizon. And even this was no mistake.

Then when you combine that day, when my eyes were opened yet again to the beauty and surreal nature of God’s creation, we you combine it along with the rain Western Australia received over the past few days, it isn’t hard to acknowledge the control and wisdom of God. It’s almost impossible. He knows what we need, and He will provide. He is a God who remains true to His promises. He will never destroy the world with the flood, but rather showers the earth with blessings. In an age when the world is showing decay, when climate change and global warming are hot topics, when politics is encroached by carbon tax discussions, we have a greater hope. We know there is a higher authority, in greater control, the One who holds this earth in the palm of His hand.

As we confess in LD 10, God’s providence is His almighty and ever-present power whereby as with His hand He controls and governs all things so that... all things come not by chance but by His fatherly hand.

Will waking up at 430am ever seem normal? I suppose it just might become one of those things that make up my daily routine. But I sure hope that I will continue to be amazed at the wonder of what each new day brings; the continual, undeserved, and beautiful blessings from our majestic God.

Sometimes things for us are unusual. But we may live in the joyful comfort that they are all governed by our gracious Father.

My Hometown: A Beauty Exam

This past week involved a visit to my hometown. It has been sicks months (gasp!). Most things look the same. There are a few changes, the most significant being surgery to North Rd, which has produced in my opinion a confusing eyeful of circular scars that are a pain in the neck. Add to that a makeover for Lockyer Avenue. The new look for the foreshore is making progress. The big roundabout grassy plants need a round of fertiliser or at least some eyebrow plucking. Apparently the nosey neighbours still know everything about everyone. The people are just as bad at driving, and still can’t use their indicators properly- perhaps increasing frustration in the face of slow speed limits, and annoyance at cheeky road users, are to blame. Or some people should err on the opposite side of caution and use their muscles more often. The foundation for a renovated Maccas has been discussed, and the people there still want me back. Regular Dylans patrons continue to brace for stomach-turning deliciousness. Ladies fashion must be the latest hip as BNT replaced Ed Harrys in the shopping complex. The bank staff have no more excuses for acting like accessorised chickens since Chooks closed; and by winging it, Baker’s Delight showed they only kneeded a break after elbowing their way into the Plaza. The library received a lick of paint although the side pillars missed out on a new coating of fuchsia lipstick. Locals have their fingers crossed at the prospect of two toy sales in coming weeks, and Officeworks has upgraded its likeability by selling take-out coffees. Small businesses continue to suffer sore blows as the larger cream-of-the-crop companies continue to bare their teeth. A final nail polished off the coffin of a dreamy, country town when the local paper publipped some jaw-dropping statistics about the many awards the new entertainment centre received, despite costing the city what my mother would refer to as ‘an arm and a leg’. Eye suppose Albany will just have to toe the line.

Excuse the pun. I say it all with tongue in cheek.

P.S. How many references to body parts/beauty can you find in this post? :P

More About The Church

Just for you Merinda :)
No, I did say I would post more on what we believe concerning the church, so here goes. I do this also to help sort it all out in my own head. Often topics like this can be rather full-on and difficult to completely understand. However, when really thinking about it and what our confessions (and Scripture) say, it is possible to see how truly blessed we are.

How blessed we are to have Christ as Head of the church who will preserve it to the end. How blessed we are to have a rich church history whereby we may further understand God's Word and its application. How blessed we are to confess a holy catholic Christian church. How blessed we are to have a shared faith by the Holy Spirit, through the true Word as proclaimed in our church.

A few more points to consider concerning the church:
- We don't believe in a holy catholic Christian church. But we believe a holy catholic Christian church. Why the difference? We don't trust, or put our faith, in the church. Rather we believe with our heart and profess with our mouth. We know it for sure (as God has revealed in His Word) and we proclaim its importance (being with the true Shepherd in His congregation).

- Those confessing Jesus are children of God and free in Him.
Those denying Jesus are children of Satan and slaves of him.

- We confess a congregation of believers. Not of the elect, for then we talk about the 'invisible' church- hereby running the risk of pluriformity (i.e. we can belong to any visible church as long as we belong to the greater invisible church). Having an 'invisible' church undermines the strive for both unity and purity in the church; instead we say there is no division between 'visible' and 'invisible' churches as such. Rather, the local churches are a manifestation of the catholic (universal) church. Therefore we must belong to the true church, as evident in the local church which shows the three marks (BC Art 29).

- The attributes of the church (holy, catholic, Christian, church) describe what the church is, its essence. The marks of the church are the distinguishing features pointing to where the true church can be found, its existence.

- As church we must be fighting knights and shining lights. The antithesis established between the church and the world is often seen in a very negative sense. This comes from the term 'antithesis' being viewed as 'against'. But compare the opposite, 'sythesis', which means 'compromise' or in this context being willing to compromise or establish friendship with the world and worldly lusts. Then we see that not only must we (as collective church and individual believers) be separate from the world, but also do the opposite of compromise- we must spiritually fight! The antithesis in a positive sense indicates a Christian conviction, an attitude to fight.

- Compromise with sin is not promising. Rather we must resist the devil (our obligation) and he will flee (God's promise).

What Is The Church???

The church is the triune God's:

Covenant people: We are the flock of the Good Shepherd. As an assembly, we are called together as a 'congregation', literally meaning 'together flock'. The Shepherd brings His flock together, to worship and praise God. This flock is gathered from all nations sharing in the promise to Abraham. We confess a Catholic (worldwide, universal) church. The church is God's people of the covenant promise and obligations; called to worship and obey (literally to 'hear' or 'listen' to) the Word; to proclaim and uphold the Word as pillar and ground of the truth; the field which God causes to grow and the building which is being built up (edified) through active, living members.

Redeemed people: 'Church' literally means 'of Christ'. We confess a Christian church: Christ is Head of the church, it is His church. The church is a congregation redeemed by the blood of Christ; assembly atoned by God's mercy in Christ; citizens of God's kingdom ruled by Christ; the body of Christ; a communion of saints in communion to Christ.

Holy people: "Ecclesia", a Greek word also referring to the church, literally means 'out-calling'. God calls His people 'out' to come together. We confess a Holy church: dedicated to reflect God's holiness; set apart by God's grace to praise Him; consecrated people endowed with the Holy Spirit; who are individually and collectively temples of the Holy Spirit; holding up the banner of the Word in living a faithful life that reflects their living faith.

As a reflective question: Do we uphold the true name of what we confess to be the church?

P.S. More to follow on the 'true' church and how we view the local/catholic or visible/invisible church...