All posts by Mark Edwards

Friends we have made

January 7, 2025 Mark Edwards 1 Comment

Perspective

My mentor said to me, Mark your capacity for friendship will increase. And it has.

I came back from a Christmas break in Perth, just for a quick sickness interrupted week, having caught up with just a few friends in those few days. It was tank filling.

But then I stepped back into the first staff meeting for the day and also saw a few people from church. I am going to catch up with a mate this afternoon.

Perth no longer feels like home. Kew is home.

It is different and you can’t make up 20 year friendships in two years. But you can make two year friends.

I am even getting used to the fact on Sunday it was 35 degrees….and Monday it was raining.

Personal Reflection, Spiritual Thoughts

Following Jesus

December 12, 2024 Mark Edwards 1 Comment

Is there anyway to measure when someone fully accepts the Lordship of Jesus into their lives?

When we baptise someone at Kew Baptist Church we use these words.

Do you believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

In obedience to the call of the risen Lord Jesus Christ do you repent of your sins and come to be baptised?

With the help of the Holy Spirit do you offer your life in service to God wherever He may call you to go?

Having heard of your repentance and your faith, I now baptise you in the name of God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

These are actually fairly weighty words. The claim of our Creator on our lives is clear. Do we believe in Him? Will we seek to say yes to Jesus? Will we go, sacrifice and obey the call on our lives. I am reminded of the weighty words of Jesus on what we are to give up to follow Him. These are not small sacrifices.

Personally I have not have to leave the comfort and safety of Australia. In fact I have followed the prompting of the Spirit to one of the most liveable countries in the world. Yet it was not the place I grew up with. I left behind 29 years of ministry friends. Contacts in every part of my state. I was known and I knew. I had friendships that had been forged over decades. You can’t replace that. Nor can you build new ones in a short time, not if they took decades to make.

Sometimes people misunderstand such a move. Truth be told they think about the effect such a move has on them. They lose something. A close friend they could duck out and say hello to. Friendships and family moments that can’t happen naturally and easily again. Of course you still contact each other. Social Media is helpful. And special plane trips and visits are good. A reminder of the deepness of the connection. But it is not the same. People you saw every week, and could hug when you needed to are gone. They sacrifice, but it was not their choice. It is tough when decisions you make affect other people negatively. That is not easy to navigate.

When Melinda and I moved to Melbourne it was a joint decision, borne out of a real whisper from God. And so it has proved right. Wisdom is proved right from its results. That does not mean it does not come with sacrifice, for us and for others. But we don’t serve a God who says come to a life of comfort and no sacrifice. We serve Jesus who calls us to say Yes to Him at every point of our lives. That saying yes to Jesus means we often have to say no to ourselves, and even to others. I don’t write those words glibly. I understand the weight of them. But Jesus is Lord. And He is my Lord. I don’t always get it right, but the whisper is there, guiding and speaking.

Bible, Church, Leadership, Personal Reflection

The wisdom of Jethro

December 10, 2024 Mark Edwards 1 Comment

Jethro was the father in law of Moses.

Moses had a problem, he was kept busy all day listening to the people, solving and judging on their disagreements.

Jethro came in and saw the problem, a problem Moses could not see.

All of us need someone who can come and see the problem we can’t.

Jethro had the courage to tell Moses the truth in love, kindly.

All of us need someone who we trust and trust to tell us the truth, even if it stings a little.

Moses was given some wisdom from Jethro. You don’t have to attend every argument you are invited to. You can and should as a leader delegate tasks, take the ones no one else can handle.

Getting given advice is good, implementing that advice is even better.

Bible, Theology

Revelation 20 and Revelation 21

September 19, 2024 Mark Edwards 4 Comments

Travelling through the book of Revelation has really brought home to me this outstanding book of the Bible. I have never tackled it before, and for good reason. It is a comprehensive, confusing and difficult book to deal with. That means that the rewards are great for unpacking it. ‘Discipleship on the Edge” by Darrell Johnson has been an invaluable reference book.

Consider just this one phrase, ‘It is Finished” seen a number of times in the book of Revelation. What does that bring to mind? Of course we think of Jesus saying this on the cross. Revelation reveals to us even more of what that phrase actually means. Jesus defeated sin, death and the enemy. This is one key to interpreting Revelation. Look at Johns context. Look at where we see Jesus in the book. Look at where we see the imagery and stories of Revelation in the rest of the Scripture.

Happy with this message, have a watch.

Church, Leadership

Consistency

July 31, 2024 Mark Edwards 7 Comments

Turning up every week is an act of love. The most undervalued aspect of leadership is consistency. We value charisma and gifting and the ability to draw a large crowd. We undervalue consistency.

Stuff I don't know much about but rave on about anyway

Not since 2013

July 29, 2024 Mark Edwards 5 Comments

It has been a while since I posted about my Fremantle Dockers. Not quite 2013, but that was the last time we made a GF.

Could this year be the one? Sitting in third place after professionally taking care of our delusional cross town rivals it feels like Freo is at least in the conversation. Even David King has had some nice things to say.

I was there in 2013, having pulled together an air ticket to Adelaide and then a bus to Melbourne town, staying with some friends.

Now I find myself not needing an airfare, nor accommodation. Just a priceless ticket to the game if we happen to make the dance.

Bible, Church, Spiritual Thoughts, Theology

The Two Witnesses

July 24, 2024 Mark Edwards 4 Comments

As we move through Revelation 11 we are told about two witnesses who during the tribulation period give testimony. They are killed for their trouble joining the long line of people who have been martyred for their Christian faith. John the Apostle who wrote this book is well acquainted with this scenario having pastored to people who had seen over 40,000 Christians in the early church being thrown to the lions, killed for sport.

It’s a confronting reality to us comfortable Christians in the West to understand we are part of a people who have been killed for saying Jesus is Lord. Right now people are being killed all over the world for their faith. There are dangerous political systems on earth, right now, where to admit you are a Christian is to put yourself at grave risk. I might be discriminated against, someone might write a bad google review about my church, but that is about it for me here in leafy Kew.

Revelation is a reminder that persecution to the church world wide was a truthful history, is a present reality and most certainly is a future story. It is a salient reminder that our faith is real and has real consequences. We don’t laud our righteousness, we understand our sinfulness. But none the less we call the world to repent, something which is deeply offensive.