From the Wayside Chapel

Our friend Graham Long has retired from his role as the CEO of the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross, Sydney.

Jon Owen is now in that role.

This is his latest message to supporters.

Don't only read this but follow the link to his recent Tedx talk.



Dear Inner Circle
What we love changes. There was a time long ago in my life when wet weather days and nights like the ones we’ve had in Sydney in the last couple days would have seen me gleefully crawling up into bed with a hot cuppa and good book, I loved them. A couple of nights ago as I walked through the building I saw a different kind of love in action, it looked like a frenzy of activity as plans were being made for the night of storms ahead. It looked like extra blankets and clothing being handed out. It looked like people sharing their “secret spots” where it was the driest and least wind exposed for sleeping. It looked like one of our regulars running around giving his mobile number out to everyone “if you get stuck call me and we can huddle together to stay warm”.  Could there be more generous acts than that? Yesterday morning after the deluge had really hit, love looked like quick access to our warm showers, dry towels, fresh clothes and hot breakfasts. Can you really imagine how hard it would be to live on the streets and not to have a roof over your head in this weather?  What I see is absolute resilience and willingness of those on the streets to help others even in the toughest times. Love looks quite different to me now and I’m a lot richer for it.
Last weekend all who have been in the building have been uplifted by a new choir practising in the building. There is a little girl who we have seen quite regularly of late and she is often dressed as a superhero. When I’ve asked who she is, she has looked at me like I must have been blind or a little slow. “I’m Woman Wonder!” For the first time, I saw little miss Wonder Woman sit still. She was truly captured by the wonder of the choir and it wasn’t just our little superhero who was dazzled, it was all of us in the room who were similarly captivated by the beautiful sounds together.
I was also recently invited to conduct a funeral service for someone from the transgender community. About 20 women and the deceased’s dog all huddled together in our chapel to mourn her passing and to pay tribute to a life lived to the full. What a character she was. There were lots of stories that were told about her life. One such colourful story recounted a time when she was asked to leave a women’s refuge when it was discovered she was running an escort agency from within it - the staff only found this out because her certificate of business registration arrived in their mail. When confronted she argued that she was running a perfectly legal social enterprise that was empowering and employing women. Did I mention that we certainly have some characters in Kings Cross? We love them all.
Just over a month ago I received the privilege of being invited to give a TEDx Talk at 1 Bligh St, it was an opportunity to share a little of what got Lisa and I started on a journey that has led us all the way to Wayside Chapel. It has not been a path marked by striving to be higher, faster and stronger, but rather an opportunity to move the other way, to be lower, slower and weaker and able to respond to the world as it is, rather than what we all expect or constantly aspire for it to be. As we move towards the silly season, I ask you to slow down and pause to really think about what things mean most to you. You can view my TEDx Talk here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0oXbuQ6WRI&t=15s


Thanks for being part of the Inner Circle.
Jon
Jon Owen
CEO & Pastor
Wayside Chapel

Signs and Wonders

There is much talk about signs and wonders these days in some Christian circles.

And there are un-believers who say unless they can see God they wont believe.

This devotional from William Barclay just about says it all.

We only have to look around and breathe the air to see as much evidence as we need.

From William Barclay's daily study Bible. 

THE BLINDNESS WHICH DESIRES A SIGN (Mark 8:11-13)

8:11-13 The Pharisees came out and began to ask him questions. They were looking for a sign from heaven, and they were trying to test him. He sighed in his spirit and said to them, "Why does this generation look for a sign? This is the truth I tell you--no sign will be given to this generation." He sent them away and he again embarked on the boat, and went away to the other side.

The whole tendency of the age in which Jesus lived was to look for God in the abnormal. It was believed that when the Messiah came the most startling things would happen. Before we reach the end of this chapter we shall examine more closely, and in detail, the kind of signs which were expected. We may note just now that when false Messiahs arose, as they frequently did, they lured the people to follow them by promising astonishing signs. They would promise, for instance, to cleave the waters of the Jordan in two and leave a pathway through it, or they would promise, with a word, to make the city walls fall down.
It was a sign like that that the Pharisees were demanding. They wished to see some shattering event blazing across the horizon, defying the laws of nature and astonishing men. To Jesus such a demand was not due to the desire to see the hand of God; it was due to the fact that they were blind to his hand. To Jesus the whole world was full of signs; the corn in the field, the leaven in the loaf, the scarlet anemones on the hillside all spoke to him of God. He did not think that God had to break in from outside the world; he knew that God was already in the world for anyone who had eyes to see. The sign of the truly religious man is not that he comes to Church to find God but that he finds God everywhere, not that he makes a great deal of sacred places but that he sanctifies common places.
That is what the poets knew and felt, and that is why they were poets.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:

"Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

Thomas Edward Brown wrote:

"A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

Rose plot,

Fringed pool,

Fern's grot--

The veriest school

Of peace; and yet the fool

Contends that God is not--

Not God! In gardens! when the eve is cool?

Nay, but I have a sign;

'Tis very sure God walks in mine."

And still another poet wrote:

"One asked a sign from God; and day by day

The sun arose in pearl; in scarlet set;

Each night the stars appeared in bright array;

Each morn the thirsty grass with dew was wet;

The corn failed not its harvest, nor the vine

And yet he saw no sign!"

From him who has eyes to see and a heart to understand, the daily miracle of night and day and the daily splendour of all common things are sign enough from God.

"The Changed Life". from todays My Utmost for His Highest

The Changed Life

By Oswald Chambers

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.
What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.

Open Invitation to Photograph Australia

As a keen photographer I enjoy following the art of many photographers around the globe through the various internet groups,blogs, youtube etc.

I love looking at places I have never been to and not likely to do so.

While I love the pics and work of many I can't help but think that I live in the best country in the world to do photography.

These are some reasons:

1. We have the most amazing light that is never clouded by smog.

2. Our colours of the natural landscape are amazing. Particular the rich reds and blues of outback Australia.

3. Australia is a relatively safe place to visit. We do have crime but not on the scale of other countries.

4. Accomodation is not expensive and there is a great variety of options.If you are coming from America the American dollar is worth more than the Australian so your money goes further.

5. Our flora and fauna is unique as part of the "separate creation" that Charles Darwin thought in terms of.

6. There are unique highways and byways to explore. Long road journeys that are a photographer's delight.

7. Amazing beaches and National Parks.

8. Picturesque and vibrant cities.

9. A place where the arts flourish.

10. Australian's unique humour and outlook on life. "She'll be right mate!"

11. Great local produce that blends in with the fare of many introduced nationalities and their culture.

Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide

12. A great sporting nation with many high achievers on the international stage.

13. Our landscape is diverse. Tropical, Rainforests,Alpine areas, Outback deserts, amazing Island destinations, long inland rivers, the home of many varieties of Eucalyptus trees.

14. Yes we do have some dangerous animals but you would be a lot safer here than Africa.

So if it's on your bucket list why don't you come.

I will point you in the right direction.