LIVING LIFE WITH FOCUS

  I had come in earlier than usual to my church office this week with a mission to turn the heaters on in our Education Centre where our MOPs (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) ladies would shortly be arriving for their fortnightly meeting. (Despite Tasmania’s global reputation as having all-year-round balmy weather, sometimes – on the very odd occasion – we have sub-zero centigrade mornings in our slightly cooler months.) After doing so, I knew that in about an hour, our church building would be buzzing with people and I knew that I needed to move quickly to film tomorrow’s daily YouTube video – before the sound of all the activity around our building might be picked up by the cameras doing the filming. But then the phone rang. With a this shouldn’t take long attitude I thought I would take this “quick” phone call and get straight back to setting up the lights, microphones and cameras to get my video filmed and edited ready for the next day. Please don’t jump ahead in this story that I haven’t told you yet, but this was not a quick call. It was an international call. Arizona in fact. It was my IT friend, Nam, who helps us with our websites. He told me that in just a few minutes all of our websites would be shut down and that unfortunately everything we had posted or uploaded over the past ten days would have to be deleted. I asked whether there was something we could do to avoid this? Nam told me there was but it would involve all of our websites being off-line for 48-72 hours. I then asked for a delay of 5 minutes so I could quickly copy what I could (including my apology post from last week). He consented to this request and we were only offline for about two and half hours instead of several days. When we came back online, Vanessa began to re-upload all the work that she had done earlier in the week, and I reloaded last week’s Pastor’s desk post (minus all of the comments which couldn’t be recovered). Then, I was now ready to continue setting up to record tomorrow’s daily Digging Deeper Youtube video. Except for what happened next.   

 

LIFE’S INTERRUPTIONS – GOD’S APPOINTMENTS

As part of my initial doctoral program, I was required to write an assignment about pastoral time-management. This involved accounting for every 15-minute block of my work days over a period of a few weeks. I then had to examine the life of Christ to both observe how Jesus managed His time and what I could learn from this. This assignment was an important moment not just in my pastoral ministry but also in my life more generally as I discovered that Jesus prioritised His time around His Father’s mission for Him and how this incorporated “interruptions”. Jesus would often be on His way somewhere and someone would interrupt Him but rather than regarding this interruption as annoying set-back to His mission, He often turned it into a miraculous moment as He took time to minister to someone. And despite how interrupted Jesus was, He also prioritised time alone with His Father away from the crowds and even His disciples. These insights into our Saviour’s ability to stay focused on His mission while always treating interruptions as divine appointments for ministry transformed my attitude considerably. And this little explanation about how I now regard interruptions sets up how I handled what happened next on the day that I came in early to turn the heaters on for the MOPs ladies.

   

LIFE DOES NOT ALWAYS GO THE WAY YOU PLAN

As I returned to my office to continue setting up for recording tomorrow’s video, the phone rang again. Vanessa came and told me that it was for me and it was another call from Arizona. I had no sooner finished with that call when my mobile phone rang. I deal with that call and then realised that it was time for a coffee. I returned to my office with my coffee and then a few urgent and important emails that had to responded to immediately. It was now just after lunchtime (which I had skipped in an attempt to make up some time) and the phone rang again. This time it was an interstate caller who wanted to talk to me and share with me a part of his journey with Christ. I then had several people who were frustrated that they couldn’t get through to me because my phones were engaged, who each decided to message and text me instead. I won’t bore you with how the rest of my day went, but there were several other important things that happened that day that I know my Heavenly Father had planned for me. There were a few times throughout this day when I reflected that I had started my day with the a relatively clear plan how it was going to transpire – but had to accept that it actually bore no resemblance to those plans! But this reflection also resembles aspects of my life as well.

I am greatly appreciative of the many many people who have written cards to me, sent emails, texted, messaged, and even strangers who have stopped me in town when I was doing some shopping, who have expressed that they have been praying for me to be healed from what doctors have told me is untreatable. I obviously did not plan to be dealing with the situation that I am now confronted with. But, just as I entrusted myself to God throughout my interrupted Thursday, I have also entrusted myself to God in the midst of what has now become an interrupted life. Life does not always go the way you plan – but this does not mean that your life has no plan – it’s just not necessarily your plan that is being carried out!

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

Learning what I did from my study of how Christ managed His time taught that it is important to stay focused on the mission that God has for us. I see in the life of the apostle Paul the same principle of not allowing life’s circumstances to hinder us from continuing to seek God’s kingdom first and to strive to make Him known to as many as we can. (This is why it was important to me that during my convalescence that our church continued to stay focused on reaching out to the lost and discipling the found.)

¶ Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
so that whether I come and see you or am absent,
I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit,
with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel
Philippians 1:27

For to this end we toil and strive,
because we have our hope set on the living God,
who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe.
First Timothy 4:10

We are all on a mission from God to know Christ and to make Him known. But sometimes life’s circumstances bump our focus on that mission slightly out-of-focus. This is why my photography hobby has been so helpful in understanding the importance of focusing and re-focusing.

 

ABOUT MY DSLR CAMERAS

 I have a passion for history which is why I love photography – particularly DSLR photography. I presently have only one DSLR camera which I have now had for 8 years. It has travelled the world with me. Like me, it now looks a bit worn-out and old. But it can still produce amazing photos and videos. DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex. The right single lens reflect (SLR) lens allows the photographer to focus on one thing while everything else in the photo is out of focus. This helps the photographer to tell a story and to focus the viewer’s attention on the one thing that is in focus. I think of our spirituality like this. When we gather each Sunday, the SLR ‘lens’ of our soul is brought back into focus as we realign our attention on Christ and His Word. 

 

FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF APPROPRIATELY FOCUSED PEOPLE

After I was done with convalescing, emergency medicine nurse, Karen Dickson (who is the other voice on our Finding Truth Matters podcast and radio program), advised me to seek out someone who was dealing with chronic pain and learn the lessons that they had learned about how to best function with incurable, untreatable pain. After she left my office I turned to the fifty-five books on the shelf behind my desk and looked at those most treasured books written (and some owned) by Dr. F.W. Boreham. While I knew well that Dr. Boreham lived with pain, I now reconsidered how he lived with this chronic pain from losing his right leg just below the knee when he was just 15-years old. I saw afresh that he accepted and realised that life now had certain boundaries that is did not have prior to this accident. Even though he lived with prosthetic leg for the rest of his life, he never told anyone. He simply got on with his life doing what he could with a limp. Yet, by far, the most significant thing he did was not focus on himself and his chronic pain. Instead, he turned his life over to Christ in complete surrender to sacrificially help and serve others with the gifts and talents that God had given him. While he deliberately chose not to focus on his pain, he also chose to focus on his mission. His fifty-five books are testament to this! The three churches he pastored and his 18-years of being the Wednesday lunchtime preacher at Scots Church, Melbourne, also show that like Christ Dr. Boreham always made time for people and alone-time with God. I still have a lot to learn from Dr. Boreham about all this, as KD has advised me to do.

¶ Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7

LIvIng LIfe wIth foCUs

We usually think of highly focused people as being overly task-driven and not very people-orientated. But this opinion of highly focused people cannot be pressed onto Jesus. He loved people – even the Pharisees, Scribes and Levitical Priests. F.W. Boreham was a highly focused person, yet he too (despite his intense shyness) was a people-orientated servant of Christ. This is the balance that I am also striving for. I would covet your prayers to be able to achieve this as well. The banned that I created before writing this piece has the f, o, s, in focus out of focus while the c, and the u, are in focus. This was an artistic reminder to me before writing this that the goal of every follower of Christ is to be both focused, but at the same time to see other — to see you. Perhaps together we can become the kind of church that is genuinely focused yet not at the expense of not seeing each other. While I strive to focus on my mission of serving Christ with the gifts He has given me, I am also striving to see people so that I may serve them as well! And this includes you.

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

HOW TO FLOURISH IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

 HOW TO FLOURISH IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

There are many things in life that are completely counter-intuitive. That is, the most natural and obvious thing to do is sometimes exactly what you shouldn’t do. I saw a dramatic example of this on Air Crash Investigations where a plane inexplicably nose-dived and crash-landed killing all on board. After examining the flight recorder, the investigators found that the pilots had reacted to the plane’s slight drop in altitude by pulling the plane’s nose up to correct it. But due to an anomaly in weather conditions, the plane didn’t respond as expected and continued to lose altitude. So the pilots pulled back on their control columns even harder to quickly correct the drop in altitude. This action, however, caused the even greater loss of altitude which resulted in the tragedy. Investigators concluded that in such conditions, the pilots should have responded counter-intuitively by pointing the nose down to regain control of the aircraft before attempting to increase its altitude. Another counter-intuitive example came from Dr. Fazale Rana, a biochemist, who presented at Legana several years ago and shared how a dam had been built in South America which flooded a valley and formed several islands. The native wildlife managed to take refuge on these islands but conservationists were concerned that on one of the islands predators also took refuge and would soon wipe out the other animals whom they preyed on. Counter-intuitively though, the island with no predators soon saw its wildlife die out, whereas the island with predators saw its wildlife flourish! Adversity may well be one of the most counter-intuitive factors operating in our world for our good!

 

WHAT IT MEANS TO FLOURISH

History bears witness that most people do not handle ease, comfort, and times of plenty, very well. Conversely, history bears witness that in times of adversity, heroes emerge who display selfless courage, extraordinary bravery, and ingenious innovation. In times of adversity we look for answers to problems because we must — not merely because we are curious. In times of adversity time becomes more precious and cannot be wasted on frivolous amusements because lives are on the line.

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

Christian psychologist, Dr. Archibald Hart, and his clinical psychologist daughter, Dr. Sylvia Hart-Frejd, are the co-authors of The Digital Invasion – How Technology Is Shaping You and Your Relationships. They wrote their book before COVID-19 drove us all to go deeper into the online world. While their book deals with the highly addictive nature of the digital world, and the dangers of “spending more time in the virtual world than the real world”, they have some great suggestions for how people can flourish — especially during times of adversity. It’s during such times that we either retreat and become self absorbed, or advance by dealing head on with the challenges that adversity brings. In their book they cite another family member (who is also a psychologist), Catherine Hart Weber, who defines what flourishing looks like-

Dr. Weber goes on to explain flourishing this way: “You flourish when your life has meaning and purpose and you routinely experience emotion virtues such as love, joy, gratitude, peace, and hope. We have meaning when we know we are making a positive impact on the lives of others around us through our work and legacy.”
Hart, Dr. Archibald D.. The Digital Invasion (p. 152). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, citing: Catherine Hart Weber, Flourish (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010).

 

THE COUNTER-INTUITIVE RESULTS OF ADVERSITY

According to Dr. Archibald Hart, Dr. Sylvia Hart, and Dr. Catherine Hart, flourishing occurs when our life has meaning and purpose and we cultivate love, joy, gratitude, peace and hope. This, they argue, happens when we make “a positive impact on the lives of others.” This advice sounds like a paraphrase of something the Apostle Paul (a man very acquainted with adversity) wrote to the Galatians – 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

While adversity can make some people bitter and resentful, it can also make those who rely on God to become better and thankful. I have seen this happen to both kinds of people throughout this COVID19 crisis. Some people have seen opportunities that didn’t exist before and have innovated to take advantage of them. Other people have retreated into self-absorption and have inevitably become melancholic. Here’s five things we can all do to flourish through such adverse time – 

1. Be transparent with God in your prayers. If you’re struggling, pray about your struggles to God.
   
2. Ask God to use you to be a blessing to someone else.
   
3. “Do the hard thing!” Heroes step up in times of adversity by taking the first step in doing the thing that seems too hard. The second step always looks more obvious and easier after you’ve taken the first step. Remember Isaiah 41:10 and ask God to help you to do the hard thing.
   
4. Think ahead and begin sow into your future. Would you like to learn to play an instrument? Buy that instrument, pay for lessons, make time to practise. Do you want to earn a degree? Enrol in your first subject. Do you want to be able to run a marathon? Start by running as far as you can today. Then do it again tomorrow. Then do it again the next day, and so on. Do you want to learn a new language? Take a course and start learning it.
   
5. Refer to the person who serves you in the supermarket (or any shop/café/business) by their first name and engage them in courteous conversation. Kindness, consideration, and empathy are core traits of those who flourish.
   

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life, righteousness, and honor.
Proverbs 21:21

In years to come, you will look back on these times as one of the greatest seasons of your life – despite it being a time of adversity – you remember this season as a time where you flourished. 

¶ The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
Psalm 92:12-13

 Pastor Andrew