Whats on your Mind?

ScriptureNow thats a very good question?

If you are familiar with the social media, that is the first question they ask when ever you wish to write a post on your facebook wall! 

Well in this post, I thought I’d like to share what has been on my mind of late!

I know what the Bible says in Philippians 4:8 and I hope it will underline what I am trying to say.

Apart from the usual……Faith…..Family…..Friends…..&…..Fun, there have been a few other inner conversations, one of which has left me feeling subliminally distressed and the other thinking about the future. 

I don’t know why we allow our mind to regularly feed off so much negative “stuff” as the local TV news, which is so depressing and if you let it, even distressing!

The trouble in the Middle East is alarming to say the least.

Other than to pray I feel helpless as I sit in the comfort of my own home watching the homes of ordinary people, many of them are christians, being bombed into oblivion.

It is hard to view such calamities and not feel subjectively effected by what is happening.

I am tempted to post graphic pictures which are freely available on the Internet, of  fellow believers being crucified and beheaded, but propriety and respect for my fellow human beings prevent me from violating their memory and the dignity of humanity.

It’s enough to watch the pain and horror on their faces as they flee for their lives in cities across Syria & Iraq. It is very disturbing!

The faces of christian men, women and children, tell a story that surely they must think to be the time of Armageddon. “Convert to Islam or face the sword”…… and so Syrian Christians flee for their lives!

Trying to maintain a positive view on the state of the world is challenging and at my age I feel increasingly impotent as to know what I can do. Prayer seems to be my best option.

The recent barbaric and brutal beheading of an American journalist by an  individual with an English accent, makes one wonder who we have growing up in our neighbourhood and what the future holds in our so called “multiracial pluralistic society”. The symbolism in the photo is enough to tell us the origin of this evil.

I look at what is happening in Syria and Iraq and pray desperately for peace.

At the same time acutely aware that we are living in the last days and according to the Bible things will get worse before they get better.

Keep your eyes on Israel! Zechariah 14:1-4.

2 Timothy 3:1 says it like it is and other scriptures support the hypothesis that we are living in perilous times. 

While all this is happening the western world seems to be going on its merry way as if to say “thats their problem”.

The symptoms of the last days are clearly evident.

1 Timothy 4:1 says “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons”.

But fear not my friend, Jesus is still in control and ultimately His purpose will be fulfilled.

So whats on my mind? Certainly not abandoning the faith!

There is a recent movie called “Heaven is for Real” It tells the true story of a young boy’s journey to Heaven and back. Four-year-old Colton, makes a miraculous recovery during a surgery that he was expected to not wake up from.

In the amount of time that he was lying still on the operating table, Colton reveals to his parents that he took a trip to the other side, saying that he saw God and deceased loved ones that he should have no knowledge of.

Their world is turned upside down as the child shares the intimate details of life after death.

Whats on my mind? Yes thats a good question that stimulates my soul to prepare for Heaven and yes I’m looking forward to it!

One song that has been going through my mind of late is that beautiful piano rendition by the late Anthony Burger concerning the second coming of Christ. “We Shall behold Him”.

Yes the second coming of Christ is assured and we need not despair but our preachers need to proclaim it more often from our pulpits.

“I am coming soon” said Jesus. Revelation 22:12

According to the scriptures this world is going to get worse before it gets better.

Violence and gender confusion may seem to be grabbing the headlines just as the Bible predicted in 2 Timothy 3:2-4.

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On the family front there have been some good things that have filled my heart and mind of late. Betty’s 75th birthday.

“Getting old” you say…. Not at all!…….. because the mind has a wonderful way of keeping you young in spirit if you focus on the positive things all around.

For me ageing is a wonderful time of life. It gives you the freedom to explore and to do what you were creatively designed to do. 

Enjoying the world of nature has been signally beautiful as we walked through the Brisbane botanical gardens on Betty’s birthday week.

There are so many things to set your mind upon that will strengthen your faith and fill you with hope.

You know the social media such as Facebook can be depressing because everyone else’s lives seem to be better than yours … But are they really?

As a family we have been through some deep waters in the last decade, yet in the midst of it all the grace of God has shone through with amazing light and compensation.

Keeping ones mind fixed on positive outcomes produced by faith and hope has turned things around dramatically.

Which brings me to this announcement of which I am delighted as a father to tell you.

Special Announcement!

Sunday morning the 2nd of November, my brother Ps Andrew Evans made a special announcement  to the Influencers Church northern campus at Elizabeth in South Australia.

He announced that his nephew Ted Evans will be appointed the new team Pastor of the Influencers’ Northern Campus.

Ted & his wife Kylie will be moving to Adelaide early in January to take up their appointment on the Influences team. See #Ted & Kylie’s News Letter.

They will commence ministry duties on the 4th January which is exactly the same weekend that Andrew commenced ministry in the church at Klemzig in 1970.

You will be interested to know that when my father Tommy Evans was the Pastor of the Adelaide Church back in the 1950s, I often travelled with him as a boy to visit a home group in the Salsbury/Elizabeth area.

Later Andrew & Lorraine pioneered & founded the Elizabeth Church in 1962.

Influencers Central Church of course was formerly Paradise Assembly of God and the Church where Ted grew up.

Ted’s spiritual formative years as a youth were spent at Klemzig Assembly of God and then Paradise which was built and opened in 1982.

To give you some background history I made up this short video with some historical photos of the beginnings of the Influencers Church.

You guessed it, I asked Ted to sing an old classic for me although he prefers to sing the contemporary gospel of today’s church.

This song epitomises the thoughts and prayers of us all who had the privilege of serving and being part of those Klemzig revival days.

The Influencers church of today is thriving on the back of this prayer “Let Your Glory fill this House” and so it will!

So whats on my mind? Naturally as a parent I am delighted for Ted & Kylie. They have been on the road in itinerant ministry for nearly four years and have been used of God to bless churches across Australia and Internationally.

Not many leaders have done the “hard yards” of itinerant ministry that Ted & Kylie have given. See #Ted & Kylie’s Web Site

Interstingly they will have just returned from three weeks of intensive teaching ministry with Ps Bruce Hills in Egypt & Kenya with World Outreach Bible College. 

This opportunity to minister with the Influencers team in Adelaide will be like a homecoming for him and opens the door for Ted to use again the ascension gift of a Pastor. 

His many years of experience in pastoring in Whyalla and in Toowoomba, which was the largest rural church in Queensland, will stand him in good stead. See  #Toowoomba Assembly of God

So please pray for Ted & Kylie as they continue their journey of faith.

In conclusion let me remind you to keep your mind on Jesus the author and finisher of your faith. Or as Dave Wilkerson once said;

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

“In this exhortation the apostle Paul is telling the people of God, ‘Let the mind that is in Christ—the very thinking of Jesus—be your thinking also. His mindset is the one we all are to seek.’

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? Simply put, it means to think and act as Jesus did. It means making Christ-like decisions that determine how we are to live.

It means bringing every faculty of our mind to bear on how we actually can have the mind of Christ”.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace.

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