The speakers in the second morning session all focussed on the question: “How do we find a good balance between marriage, family, and Christian motorcycle ministry?”
Copyright notice: As I memorised scriptures from the NIV for more than thirty years, the majority of scriptures quoted will be from that version, therefore I include here the copyright notice for the NIV: “Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.” Some that I wasn’t certain about have been copied in NIV form from www.biblegateway.com and others will be either KJV or my head-modified version of KJV, which was the version from which I memorised all scriptures until about 1978.
I must add that the reports in this post are very far from verbatim reports of what was said by the speaker. I took very abbreviated notes during the sessions. I have filled out those very brief notes with what I think I heard the speakers say, not necessarily what they actually said. It is more of a report on how what they said made an impact on me.
Dave Trevor – God’s Squad CMC, Brisbane: opened the session with a brief devotion. Main points:
What is our mission?
Children, our children, are a part of God’s mission and must not be neglected.
It is not our job to convert the bikers we meet – that is God’s job alone. Our job is to bring them one step closer. Note how Paul described himself in 1 Timothy 1:14-17: “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example to those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever, amen.”
Twice he describes himself as “the worst of sinners”.
Matthew 12:50 declares: “… whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” We are all family. Matthew 7:21 tells us that there can be true and false disciples: “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” in everything you do, ask yourself whether you are doing the will of your Father in heaven.
Les Hanson – God’s Squad CMC, Border [The Border Chapter is based on the Coast on both sides of the QLD-NSW border]:
Balance in all aspects of our lives is very, very necessary.
We constantly go in and out of this balance.
He shared a personal example of being out of balance: he was in his office one day, when his PA came in to tell him that his next appointment was waiting to see him. When he opened the door, it was his daughter sitting there. She had needed to make an appointment through his office to be able to see her dad, because he had been constantly so busy with his ministry.
Your family and you are all in this together. Your ministry must be everybody’s ministry with no compartmentalisation. You are always, simultaneously, a father, a husband, a biker, a minister, everything is true all the time.
The “first in best dressed” principle applies. If you are booked to be somewhere with your kid and someone else calls you to a ministry situation you have to know when to say, “i’m sorry, I am committed to a prior booking.” Decide which activity has the priority and remember that your family is your baseline. Sometimes a change might be necessary, but get your priorities right.
Also be aware of which of your regularly scheduled activities need to be changed.
A very important tool is your diary: enter the family commitments as well as the ministry commitments; know what you have planned to do with your time.
Baseline: prioritise with integrity.
Communicate – don’t just assume others will know.
Be a person of your word.
You’re all in it together.
True balance is simply doing everything in life to excess!
Lyn Schoolderman – Pilgrims CMC, Victoria, titled her talk: “The Couple that Rides Together, Stays Together”
She began by sharing some very moving testimony of the last part of her late husband John’s life. John’s nickname was AJ for those who have been around long enough to remember; he passed away November 2009. Lyn shared that in John’s last weeks, she had no idea how sick he really was. She had placed her work at a higher priority than staying home or at the hospital to look after John. [This part was very moving for me, since I had led and mentored John as firstly an associate and later a member of Christ’s Crusaders CMC in Morwell, years before he met his wife Lyn – I think it was my late father, Jack Smith, who was talking with John the night he became a Christian]
She shared from 1 Timothy 3:5 “(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)” and Ephesians 5:28-30 “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, nobody ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church – for we are members of his body.” and Ephesians 6:4-5 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.”
Always put in the time to look after partner and children and do this maintaining a balance with your ministry.
Colleen Hirst – Brotherhood CMC, Sydney shared in her inimitable fashion (constantly “picking on” Hirsty – her husband, Greg) and kept returning to the book of Malachi.
Malachi 2:14-16 : “You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.”
This shows that marriage is God’s good design.
Divorce rates are over-inflated by media.
Christian marriage means it is important to attend church together, sit together, read God’s word together, pray together, and to take all these things together seriously.
She presented scriptural illustrations of many ways to love each other.
As parents we need to understand Proverbs 22:6 which says: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This verse means we do not just lecture them, we must live an exemplary life in front of them, just know your kids are always watching you.
Leviticus 20 tells us not to sacrifice our children to our religion or ministry.
Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” gives us several illustrations of how God loves us and how we need to love our families.
Malachi 4:6 “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” is the very last word of the Old Testament for good reason.
This was a very thought-provoking session.