Recently someone approached me about the anger they felt towards someone who had done something unspeakably evil to a vulnerable person.

They expressed to me how as a Christian they were really struggling with forgiveness. The anger they felt towards this person in authority was something they were finding it hard to shake.

As I heard the stories I felt anger rise up within my heart. And frustration that someone who was meant to be a spiritual guide and leader would instead be found out committing acts which can only be described as evil.

I expressed that anger in such circumstances is a perfectly reasonable response, in fact a response anyone should have. The total selfish and depraved nature of such acts deserves nothing less.

But that leaves us in a quandary. Can and should we stay angry, leading to bitterness? While understandable, in the end such a journey only ends up harming us. People need to suffer the consequences of their actions. And we may never have fellowship with them again. But this does not mean their actions should continue to have control over us. Bitterness relegates us to be their prisoner. Letting the anger, grief and even pain go is part of the process of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not however pretending things can remain the same. Some actions have consequences which may never be fully resolved in this life.

This Sunday just gone has marked a significant marker in the story of my life, my wifes life and the life of my Church.

After around 2 years of renovation we have finally been approved and moved in as a church community to our new facilities. We purchased a Battery Warehouse and have spent considerable finance and graft to turn it into a creative place for worship, community activities, drama, dance, music and emerging artists.

It is a place we hope becomes a home for many people in our community.

There is something unexplainably nice about having a wood fire. Admittedly Perth winters can be cold, but by world standards are hardly severe. Perhaps though the difference is we are not really set up for harsh winters as other countries need to be.

Once or twice a year I take my smallish 14 inch chainsaw, an Echo, off to Jarrahdale and bring back a trailer load of wood. There is something very satisfying about going and getting your own wood.

This tends to do us as a family for a couple of months. We only get the fire going when we know we are all going to be home for the night, or at least most of us, for most of the night. So its generally on three or four times a week.

Our little wood heater heats up our rather large lounge room. Beautiful.

It distresses me a little when I see a hint of ‘bible worship’. You may see this when someone talks about how we hear from God. I was listening to someone the other day talk about how there is only way to hear from God. Read and study the Bible.  They then went on to dismiss all the other ways people may share on how they hear from God.

First a disclaimer. I believe the Bible is our test. It is our guide. It is how we evaluate what we sense God may be saying to us. But it is not the only way God speaks.

People share how God gives them an impression, a word. How the Spirit speaks to their heart, challenges their soul. How a beautiful sunset is profound. How a piece of music pierces their heart. How God leads them to speak to someone they had no intention of speaking to, and they lead that person to Christ.

We need to be careful that we listen for and worship The Living Word, Jesus Christ. He is revealed to us through the Bible, but there are many other ways He inspires, leads, touches and speaks to us.

There is a certain cultural element of Western Christianity which seems to take delight in a ‘fortress’ mentality when it comes to contemporary culture. The sort of attitude perhaps born out of an interpretation of scripture that contemporary life is going to get increasingly worse, like in the days of Noah.

This can lead to a sense that the Church is irrelevant, dying, washed out.

I wonder if sometimes we are like Elijah wailing in the dessert about how he is the only true prophet left. God comes to him and points our the truth. He is alive and working, and there are many on His side, actively working out their faith.

I think rumours of the demise of the church only serve to negate the truth that God is alive and well, and His people are active in even Western Culture. The recent release of Hillsong United album ‘Empires’ is one startling example. What is essentially a worship album with truly biblical lyrics finds itself perched at number one on the Aria Album charts. Second is Daniel Johns (of Silverchair fame) newly released solo album. Daniel has been featured on the round of talk shows and promo invites. Interestingly enough, the Hillsong Team have also found themselves been given opportunities to share of their faith and ministry on such shows as Sevens ‘Sunrise” program.

God is active, as is His Church. His Bride, will far from being perfect, is relevant to a contemporary culture, even a consumerist Western one.

At the start of the 2015 season the West Coast Eagles launched their season with the slogan, “The West is Ours”. It was met with some controversy, admittedly from the Fremantle faithful, who could hardly be expected to greet anything from the mob up the road with praise.

However the slogan in and of itself deserves some examination. Let us break it down.

The West: referring to Western Australia

Is Ours: A term of ownership referring to the West Coast Eagles.

Now there is another team in Western Australia. They reside in Fremantle, not, admittedly wherever West Coast reside. Presumably West Coast find their origins somewhere between Rockeby Road and latte-sipping land.

This is why this slogan is so obviously provocative, inflammatory and derisive of the rich history of the Dockers, who can claim football residence in this state going back to the early 1900’s with the formation of both Fremantle sides in the state league.

At the very least it is willfully ignorant. But more likely it is typical of the arrogance of this club which has always looked on Fremantle with derision.

Recently I visited Delhi to see my good friend who pastors there. I had a wonderful time there ministering and being ministered to. I also visited some work amongst the slums there.

You expect to be confronted in India. Coming from a privileged white middle class background, you know the poverty and struggle is going to confront. Children begging, mothers in anguish, people living in squalor.

What I did not expect was to be confronted by the wealth.

I visited a mall, which had four sections to it. The fourth and most grandoise section would not have been out of place in Paris, London or New York. Seriously.

I could not afford to buy there. Two Bentleys were parked inside, people were sipping on High Tea with silver platters and the aircon was a welcome relief from the heat outside.

Of course once you step outside again you are confronted by the stench and oppressive heat. But what is more confronting is the slum located no more than 200 metres from the entrance.

I love India, and I love the people, the food and even aspects of the wonderful culture.

But seeing such wealth, in contrast to such poverty, was confronting. And causes me to question what is happening in the wider culture.

To give hope, I saw some amazing work Christians and Churches are doing there. Both the work of the local church I was involved with, and an organisation which I visited. Both organisations doing what they can to help.