Leaving

Well the week of lasts turned into exams, graduation, & then packing. The latter of these continues with this being our last day in Sydney!!

People keep asking what our Sydney highlight has been. This is easily answered with "Bible College and learning about God every day." But otherwise it is very hard to pin down what we have loved about the place Sydney. What we have hated about Sydney is a lot easier: The traffic...the roads...the weather.

Its quite cliche but I'm guessing we wont know what we really love about the place until we are no longer here. Well not long to wait for that now. We hit the homeland in just 5 days!!

Lasts

This week is very much a week of lasts. Last chapel, last church history lecture, last time of lining up for food, and so on.

The funny thing is you would think that finishing up would give us some confidence in what we have learnt. But if anything college has shown me that I am a mere human, and don’t know much, and never will!! So the feeling of inadequacy is definitely there at the moment.

But there are also lots of other strange feelings. Like the fact that we realise we are really going to miss the strange place that is Bible college.

We are going to miss the three sermons a week we are privileged to hear. We are going to miss the constant learning about the Bible. We are going to miss eating our meals with 100 other people.

This has lead to this week of lasts being a rather emotional week, and not just cause exams are just around the corner!

Holidays...

So we just spent our 2 weeks of holidays at home hanging around. Here is a bit of a snapshot of what we did:

• Thought through decisions about next year...which resulted in the booking of the boat!


• Visited different parts of Sydney including the Pleasantville village of Breakfast point...which resulted in being weirded out by Sydney.


• Read Jane Eyre & reflected on the loss of the English language in today’s society...which resulted in many conversations in old English.


• Watched lots of the West Wing...which resulted in me thinking that I was receiving all the up to date news.


• Surfed the internet, cause it was actually working...which resulted in many ebay bidding wars.


• Went shopping for clothes...which resulted in many fustrating hours spent, & nothing bought.


• Marty went on some fishing trips... which resulted in once again being disappointed by the lack of fish in NSW.

Cookies farewell

Today is a rather sad day for SMBC. After 26 years, the Cooks are leaving. David has served as the principal of SMBC for that whole time! That is kind of incomprehensible to us, because we haven’t even been alive for that long!

Just thinking about the fact that they have faithfully served God that whole time and maintained the centrality of the Bible to the college is an awesome thing. While others around them may have pushed for other things, they have kept the main thing, the main thing. This is just a huge testament of perseverance to us.

Yet, it also shows that Gods word withstands time. It is just as relevant 26 years ago as it is today and it still needs to be kept central for the next 26 years.

Cake theology

I think I have a new fav book: A Meal with Jesus by Tim Chester

Here is a little snippet:

"Every time you bake a cake, you're fulfilling that creation mandate. Every cake is a reminder of our freedom to create and be creative in the image of the Creator. Every time you place a meal on the table with quiet satisfaction, you're sharing the joy of the Creator at the creation of the world when he declared everything good."

Job

Whilst going through the book of Job in class, we have been reflecting on the very comforting fact that God is far beyond our wisdom. He is in control of the whole universe. He made it all and sustains it all. This is comforting because there are many things that don’t make sense to us in this world, but it does to God and he is in control.

So, this begs the challenging question in regards to Job, are we ever going to know the reason for our suffering? Or maybe the better question is, should we go and try and find the reason for our suffering?

If someone we know is suffering, so often we try and figure out why it is happening. But maybe the book of Job is showing us that this is not necessarily the best response. Instead, the best response seems to be to admit we dont know why, but God does and thats what matters.

Church...

It seems that many churches, and the idea of church, have very much been influenced by individualism and the consumer culture of our society. Church seems to be more about what one can get out of it. So people choose churches based on what suits them best. This is often based on music styles, and demographics.

The sadness of this is that it is not at all what God seems to have intended for church. Being Gods people in very nature gets rid of all selfishness and individualism, so the idea of church should also be nothing like that. Instead Christians should see themselves, and the church they go to, as part of being involved in Gods plans for the earth.

One week in...

So, we have started second semester for 2011, which is also our last semester! The load seems lighter at the moment, which is very nice. And the classes seem more practical in nature as well. So it does kind of feel like we are wrapping up. They are preparing us to get out there, and start implementing some things we have been learning. So it’s a nice way to start the end :)

But, another great way to start was to share oliebollen with our college community at our International Dinner :)

We made it!!

It was a long 2 weeks of rather intense study and the exams were pretty horrible! But it was great to think through all that we have learnt this semester and hopefully now we will remember it!

We are now very ready for our 3 weeks of holidays!! :)

Swollen

Everything here in Sydney is a little bit swollen at the moment, even more than usual!

• The drains are swelling over with water (Its raining lots)


• The airport is swollen cause no one can leave (The ash cloud)


• The SMBC library is swollen with studious people (Its study week)


• Our brains are swollen from overloads of information


• Our bellies are swollen due to consuming massive amounts of cheese


• Marty has a swollen foot from playing footy


• Jess has a swollen hand from handwriting study notes for 2 days straight!

Hopefully it wont all burst before exams :)

Ants

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
(Prov 6:6-8)

25 Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
(Prov 30:25)

I am finding it very hard to appreciate the ant that Proverbs describes after having them all through our cupboards, shower, floor, & kitchen, resulting in so far having to throw out:

• Half a jar of Nuttela


• Half a packet of chips, and crackers


• Countless packets of nuts, & dried fruit


• Many bags of rubbish, not quite at their prime


• A drink bottle, &...


• A pair of shoes – yes that’s right, they made a nest in my shoes!!

Suffering

I heard a guy with Cerebral Palsy gave a talk the other day on what it is like being part of a church and having Cerebral Palsy. Many of the things he said really hit me. But one in particular...

He commented that often in churches we don't allow people to suffer. When we see suffering that can't be resolved we try and bury it. We don't give expression to it, because we don't know how to deal with it. He pointed out that this doesn't make much sense considering that the Bible is very clear that suffering is going to be part of every Christian's life.

Just thought that was very thought provoking!

Preaching Conference

We spent last week soaked in good teaching, good fellowship, and good food.

The Biennial SMBC Preaching Conference was on, with speakers from college as well as overseas. Yet, this was not the only highlight of the week… we also got to catch up with friends from Tassie, and enjoy a lot of good food with them.

On Monday we went from setting the foundations of biblical preaching, and an introduction to the Psalms to one of the most highly populated Muslim areas of Sydney to enjoy a Lebanese meat feast.

On Tuesday we went from learning how to preach the Psalm and then went to the depths of China town to experience food from a small western tribe of China, which once again consisted of large amounts of meat.

On Wednesday we went from learning how to persevere in preaching and more from the Psalms, to the delights of Asian dumplings – small morsels of goodness that hopefully I will one day be able to enjoy!

On Thursday we went from learning more about how to preach the Psalms, with even a Poets view of the Psalms, to… well by then I was too tired to go out… so Marty went & enjoyed the delights of Indian in Newtown. This, along with all that had been learnt throughout the week stayed with him to the next day :)

Holiday...

After mission we slowly made our way back home. We first went to Tamworth, then headed to the coast, for a very relaxing few days of fishing, reading, and catching up with a friend from Tassie. Below is a photo of us at Port Stephens.

We then wined and dined in the Hunter Valley :)

But now we are back into study, and gearing up for the end of term!!

Mission

We have just come back from a few weeks away. The first part of this was college mission. We went to Narrabri, which is about 7 hours drive North-West of Sydney, in country N.S.W. The population of the town is about 13 000. There is a lot of cotton and wheat farmers, as well as your usual tradies, teachers etc. In other words, it kind of reminded us of home! It was so nice and small, and most people knew each other, or knew of them :)

We worked along side the Anglican church there, doing all different sorts of things. We went along to the many services, did pastoral visits, walk up evangelism, training seminars, school scripture, youth group, kids club, aged care etc. There was a big mixture of a lot of things, so we were busy most of the time. Yet, it was an enjoyable busy. The church there has remand faithful to the gospel, and you can see that in the lives of the people. It was so great to get to know the people in Narrabri and hear about their lives. The sense that I got, was that their lives are hard, yet they have not lost their joy in Christ. That is what gets them through and has enabled them to stand firm. This was such an encouraging thing to witness and be a part of.

Away

Over the next few weeks we will be away from SMBC! Firstly we are heading to Narrabri for college mission. We will be working along side the church there getting involved in their day to day things and learning about ministry in the country. So we are looking forward to that and will learn lots through it. :) Then we are going to slowly make our way home, with a bit of a camping road trip. So we will let you know how it goes… :)

Quotes...

I have two quotes for you today...
One not so useful, and one very thought provoking... I'll let you figure out which one is which! :)

"Dont let the fear of stricking out, keep you from playing the game."

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Philippians

God has been teaching me a lot through the letter to the Philippians these last few weeks.

We are currently going through a sermon series on it at church, so we are also studying it in our Bible study group. Yet, I also had to write an essay on it.

It is an amazing letter & there are so many great things within it. Yet, one has really been speaking out to me…

Humility.
Considering others better than yourself.

This is the attitude Christ had, and one that we to should strive for.

C.J Mahoney sums it up well by calling humility “true greatness”. It’s…
“serving others for the sake of Gods glory.”

The things we do on Frday................

Friday! Yes it’s here!

Friday means the last morning mop for the week and then off to Friday Chapel at 8:30am. Friday chapel is a half hour sermon, normally done by a student, and is something we are both doing this year.

After that we have 2hrs of New Testament. In this class we are looking at 1 Corinthians, Philippians and Colossians. 4 weeks on each book.

And that is it for Friday! We usually try to work until dinner, but the after lunch lull is hard to fight on a Friday!

Often we are on dinner for Friday night, which means cooking for about 70 people! It’s full on, but good fun. Otherwise Friday night is our date night! :) We try to do something nice together that doesn’t cost too much.

And that is it, the weekend is upon us.

Saturday normally means watching Saturday Disney in the morning, and sometimes with pancakes! Sometimes we go out and see the sights, other times we read and work on essays, and then other times (when it’s footy season), watching or playing AFL. However, most of the time it is cleaning the house :(

Sunday is similar to Saturday, but we go to church at 5pm or 3pm if Marty is on drums.

Well that is it, we hope you have enjoyed.................

A week in the life of Marty and Jess at SMBC :)

The things we do on........ Thursday

Well Thursday starts like every other day – Marty mopping the floors, then both of us go for a morning walk, have brekkie, read, pray....

But on Thursday we don’t have any classes until 7:00pm!

So Thursday (in theory) is a great chance to get heaps of work done on essays and catch up on readings! However, this doesn’t always happen.

After dinner we have a night lecture on the Old Testament. We are looking at Genesis, in great detail at the moment. So after 3 weeks of classes we have only covered Chapters 1 and 2!

Class finishes at 9:00pm, Jess rushes home to watch ‘The Good Wife’ and Marty hangs around chatting/doing whatever.

So that is a day in life of Marty and Jess on a Thursday at SMBC :)

The things we do on..........Wednesday

We start the day with the usual, Marty mopping, Jess going for a walk, breakfast and all that, then off to class at 8:30am.

Our first class is Ethics. This is a 1hr class, and a great chance to discuss those tricky issues in life and the foundations for decision making.

Principals Hour is up next, which is kinda like a church service, where David Cook preaches every week.

This leads us up to morning tea where we quickly grab some food and rush of to Roberts Dale Campus. (Roberts Dale is the new campus just opened last year to help cope with the ever increasing student numbers).

Here we have another 1hr exegesis class on the book of Isaiah and that is it for classes today.

We have a 1hr break then lunch is up as normal, although while we eat we have either a mission meeting (planning for our upcoming mission to Narrabri) or prayer triplets.
These alternate throughout the year and are great ways of getting to know others better.

2:30 rocks round and we have some time to get into essays and readings up until dinner.

After dinner we head off to connect group (aka gospel centred communities/growth groups/bible study group or whatever you like to call it :)) which is now on the west side of the bridge. We hang out their till 9:30-10ish and then head home and crash into bed.

So that is a day in life of Marty and Jess on a Wednesday at SMBC :)

The things we do on........ Tuesday.

Again it’s an early morning mop for Marty, then we get ready for class at 8:30am.

We have a certificate subject for 1hr. This is an exegesis on the gospel of John.

Ministry matters is next up. This is where we get to listen to past students and missionaries who come in and tell us all about what they have been doing and how God is growing his kingdom all over the world!

This takes us up to morning tea. Marty however, grabs some cake from the kitchen and runs (or skates) off to the train station.

Marty goes to Ultimo Tafe to work with the Chaplin, reaching out to students there. This is part of a subject called field work. Jess is going to be doing high school scripture teaching at Fairfield High School.

After morning tea, Jess then gets to work on her Essays until Marty comes home at around 3:30pm. Jess tries to continue working while Marty tries not to distract her as he has a late lunch and tells Jess all about what happened at Tafe! :)

Dinner time comes round as usual and Jess gets her dinner and heads back home to get ready for her trashy TV with Beck (Packed to the Rafters). Meanwhile, Marty’s dinner goes in the fridge and he goes off to Footy Training. Marty gets home around 8:30pm, just in time to watch Top Gear!

So that is a day in life of Marty and Jess on a Tuesday at SMBC :)

The things we do on.....

Well if you’re wondering what we are up to during the week and at night this is it!

Things we do on....... Mondays!

Monday is a full day starting at 7:00am when Marty mops the main Kitchen floor, (it takes 30-45mins).
Chapel and Prayer is next up at 9:00am.
Then its morning tea (always at 10:45) and off to church planting class for Marty and Personal Life of those in Ministry for Jess.
Lunch is next (always at 12:45), with a student rep meeting as we eat our lunch.
This is followed by Theology class at 2:00pm. We are looking at the Doctrines of The Holy Spirit, Grace and Hope.
This takes us to 4:00pm where the option to play soccer is there if Marty needs to get rid of pent up energy from sitting in classes all day!
Dinner is next (always at 5:45) and then Marty has the night off! (Monday is his only night off!). Jess however, has chosen to do Intro to Greek on Monday nights which finishes her long day at 9:00pm.

So that is a day in the life of Marty and Jess on a Monday at SMBC. :)

Update

Thought it was about time we gave you an update on what is happening…

College has started again & we are in the 2nd week of lectures. Our subjects this year are once again quite varied with Old Testament, New Testament, theology, ethics, pastoral skills, & many more. It has been a bit of a shock to the system getting our brains back into study after holidays, but it is great to be back & we are looking forward to learning lots more this year.

A whole new influx of students have come in & so new residents are also here. It feels strange having new people move into your ‘home’, but it has been really good to get to know new people all over again, as well as catch up with friends from last year.

So that is what is mostly happening here. Back to writing essays, & trying to learn people's names :)

Heat wave

Well due to the recent heat wave there hasn't been much else to do here but remain very still & try not to get bored. So I have been doing a little bit of reading & just wanted to share with you some very thought provoking words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

"The great thing is to stick to what one still has & can do - there is still plenty left - & not to be dominated by the thought of what one cannot do, & with feelings of resentment & discontent."

What amazing words from a man in prison!! These words have been very relevant to us, especially during the heat wave :)

Next Gen

We have just spent the last week at the 'Next Generation' conference in Katoomba.

500 youth & children's workers...

• being spured on to serve God wholeheartdly


• learning how to interpret the Bible properly


• & how to teach the Bible to others.

Lets just say it was a great week & so encouraging!!

2 Worlds

We have just arrived back from our trip in Tassie & it has dawned on us that it feels like we live in two worlds.

One world is full of old friends & family, the other with all new friendships.
One world is quiet & peaceful, the other is very busy & noisy.
One world has 4 seasons in one day, the other is always hot & muggy.
One world has easy fishing, the other not so easy or successful fishing.

Despite all this both feel familiar, & like home.

It feels strange to feel like you are living in two places at once. But maybe for a Christian, this shouldn’t be new!?! We have a life here on earth, yet we live in light of our future home in heaven.