Mark Conner's Space

Melbourne, Australia

I love living in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2002, it has been consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. This year, the Economist ranked it third, behind Vancouver and Vienna. Just this last week, the population of Melbourne surpassed 4 million people, while Australia surges towards 22 million.

For recent research on the state of the church in Melbourne, click here and here. The vast majority of Melbourians are unchurched. We desperately need all existing churches to reach out with the good news of Jesus Christ with greater effectiveness and we need more churches to be planted to reach the wide variety of people who inhabit our city. As we see stronger local churches established, Melbourne has the potential to be a launching pad of mission and outreach activity to our state, our nation, and the world.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Sleep - you've got to love it. However, I was so tired last night that I couldn't get to sleep. My brain was so active ... after preaching five times over the weekend and then finishing off the last few edits of a new book I'm writing called Prison Break ... my mind was so alive and creative that I got up at midnight and spent an hour outlining two more books I'd like to write. Eventually I got back to sleep and had a good 8 1/2 hours. It's Monday today and I thank God for the queen. You have to love her just for being born ... because in Australia we get a day off today ... even though it's not her exact birth date ... that's why I was able to sleep in until 9.35 am.

Sleep - I have tried living on less sleep but I need about eight hours. If I don't get that much too many nights in a row, I start to slow down, unless I catch up with some extra deposits in my 'sleep bank'.

Maybe I should have been born in France. The French spend more time sleeping than anyone (8.8 hours each day) and they spend more time eating than anyone. The Americans aren't far behind.

To watch a brief video about the power of sleep, including some good sleeping tips, click here. Having sleep problems, click here, here, or here. After all, we sleep for about a third of our life, so it's worth learning to do it well.

I'm encouraged by the fact that Jesus occasionally took a nap during the day (Mark 4:38) and God gives us sleep for our benefit (Psalm 4:8). Just don't sleep all day (Proverbs 20:13; 23:21 24:33) .... or at work :)

Sleep well!

An Interview with Rick Warren

Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, was recently named by TIME magazine as one of the Top 100 influential people in the world today. Rick is the author of the best-selling book 'The Purpose Driven Life' and was also asked to pray at President Obama's recent inauguration.

Below is a transcript of a recent interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren. He has some insightful things to say.

In the interview, Rick said:

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife getting cancer.

The Increase of Knowledge

Over 2005 years ago, the prophet Daniel said that at the time of the end there would be many people going here and there to increase knowledge (see Daniel 12:4). No doubt, we live today in a time of knowledge explosion, with human knowledge now doubling every 5 years, according to some experts (click here to read a debate about this).

The internet opens up a huge world of information. Many top-tier universities are now giving the public free online access to their best lecturers. YouTube recently launched  an education hub called You Tube Edu dedicated exclusively to videos from more than 100 schools. You can pretty much learn about anything you want to - in an instant. The information highway is getting more and more crowded ... and moving faster and faster.

Of course, it is one thing to gain KNOWLEDGE and another thing to UNDERSTAND it all. Today people need meaning more than they need more information. Then again, it is yet another thing to have WISDOM to know how to apply all of this knowledge to your life on a daily basis.

A few final thoughts from the sacred text ...

"Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don't forget my words or turn away from them. Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. If you prize wisdom, she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will honor you. She will place a lovely wreath on your head; she will present you with a beautiful crown." [Solomon in Proverbs 4:5-9. NLT]

"... my purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." [Paul in Colossians 2:2-3. NIV]

The Power of Generosity

An interesting news item - Denny's resturants in the USA gave away free Grand Slam breakfasts back in the month of February, in an effort to give back to the community during the current tough economic times. Two million people took up the offer. The result? Overall sales have been up for the resturant chain.

A new freebie will be offered on April 8th. Click here to read the news item.

Isn't it good to see the business world living out the value of generosity.

Here are a few thoughts from the Bible on the power of generosity ...

"Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice." [Psalm 112:5. NIV]

"One person gives (scatters) freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." [Solomon in Proverbs 11:24-25. NIV]

"Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." [Jesus in Luke 6:38. NIV]

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." [Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:6. NIV]

Ken Duncan - Photographer

Ken Duncan is an outstanding landscape photographer. He is a good friend and we have had the privilege of having him speak at our church a few times. Ken has a terrific story. He describes himself as an average photographer with an amazing God. You can see his award winning panographs on the walls of homes and offices all around the world.

Check out his online gallery here. If you ever have a chance to visit one of his galleries in Melbourne, Sydney, the Central Coast, or the Hunter Valley, it will be well worth your time.

His latest book is 'Where Jesus Walked' and he has an upcoming release 'In the Footsteps of Paul'. Ken's photos and books make terrific inspirational gifts.

Below are a few of Ken's free images of the month ...

   

Rising Force - the Skillion (NSW)

 

Moonlit Majesty

 

Promise of Peace - CO (USA)

Mobile Phone vs Bible

A friend sent me this last week. It is thought-provoking ...

Mobile Phone (or 'Cell Phone' as they say in the USA) VS the Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our mobile phone?        

• What if we carried it around in our pockets or purses?
• What if we flipped through it several times a day?
• What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
• What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
• What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
• What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
• What if we used it when we traveled?
• What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go ... Hmmmmm ... where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing ... unlike our mobile phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities'?

The Philadephia Experiment

Talking about conspiracy theories ...

Some of you may have heard of the

Philadelphia Experiment which was an alleged naval military experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard sometime around October 28th, 1943, in which the U.S. destroyer USS Eldridge was to be rendered invisible to human observers for a brief period (a pretty handy feature during war time!). Some people even reported seeing this ship in another place 346 kms away before it returned to Philadelphia.

Back in 1984, this story was made into a movie and then again in 1993, then a book on the topic was released in 1995.

The story is widely regarded as a hoax. It has nonetheless caused ripples in conspiracy circles.

Interestingly enough, there is an amazing story recorded in the book of Acts about the evangelist Philip. He was baptising a man from Ethiopia and then looked what happened ...

"When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea." [Acts 8:39-40. NIV]

Wow, there's some real time and space travel! As someone who travels a fair bit, I've always thought that this would be a cool way to move from one place to another. I wonder if he had any jet-lag? I wonder if his bags went along too? :)

The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

Recently Channel 9 screened the 2005 mini-series The Triangle, built around the fictitious story of a billionaire shipping magnate who keeps losing ships in the Bermuda Triangle. He hires a motley band of experts to uncover the mystery that has haunted the Bermuda Triangle for centuries. The series weaves an eerie web of conspiracies and strange possibilities as the characters find themselves swept deeper and deeper into the secrets of the Bermuda Triangle. Entertaining viewing.

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and boats have alleged to have disappeared. Some people think these disappearances are due to human error or acts of nature while others claim paranormal sources or even activities by extra-terrestrial beings. In response, numerous official agencies have gone on record as stating the number and nature of disappearances to be similar to any other area of ocean.

The Race

For some inspiration when you feel like giving up, check out Dr D.H. Groberg's poem The Race.

Your Date with Death?

Moses once said, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom [Psalm 90:12. NIV]." The truth is that unless Jesus returns in our life time, which he could, each one of us has a date with death. None of us knows when that will be, although you can get a bit of an estimate by entering your details into the online death clock. It might seem a bit morbid but it's a reality we must face. Of course you may live longer, or you may not live as long. None of us knows.

What we do know is that life is brief - much like a 'mist' that appears and then suddenly vanishes away (see Psalm 39:4-5 and James 3:13-17). In contrast, eternity is long - very long.

How should we then live?

Make sure that you don't buy into the primary values of the world which are pleasure, possessions, and prestige (see 1 John 2:15-16). These things, though not necessarily wrong in and of themselves, have no eternal value (1 John 2:17). What matters most for eternity is loving God, loving people, and investing our time, talents, and resources into God's work here on earth.

On judgment day, we will each have a personal audit and essentially be asked two questions:

1. "What did you do with my Son, Jesus?" That's a salvation issue - heaven or hell.
2. "What did you do with your life?" That's a reward issue.

Let's live each day with the readiness as if it may be our last but with the wisdom and foresight that we hopefully will have many more to come. Because tomorrow is not guaranteed us, let's remember that THIS is the day that the Lord has made so we will rejoice and be glad in it (see Psalm 118:24).

Finally, a few important Bible verses on the subject of death, which is the last enemy to be destroyed ...

John Mark Ministries

John Mark Ministries exists to serve church leaders, pastors, and ex-pastors who want to think maturely about their faith. This ministry was founded by Rowland Croucher and is based in Melbourne, Australia. Rowland's web site has a wealth of interesting and helpful information on a wide variety of topics (including a large clean humour section!). It's definitely worth checking out - just click here. Type any topic in the search box to the left of the web site and you'll find more than enough good reading and references. Enjoy!

The Amazing Universe

Click here for a look at the most amazing space photos you've ever seen. These are the Top 10 pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, as selected recently by leading astronomers.

The Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990. It is a floating astro-observatory that has been relaying back to earth some incredible snapshots of the universe. Remarking in an article in the UK Daily Mail, reporter Michael Hanlon says the photos "illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful."

What an incredible artist God is!

Psalm 19:1-4. The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world. NLT

P.S. If you haven't seen Louie Giglio's Indescribable presentation on DVD, it's definitely worth watching. Louie directs the popular Passion Conferences in the USA.