The PASSION Blog

Last week I noticed in the Koorong catalogue there was a special on all the books in the Essential Bible Reference Series.

These are small books of about 20-30 pages that have lots on information on a variety of Bible topics. They are full of pictures, maps, Bible time lines and more.

Some of the titles include:

• The Life of Jesus
• People of the Bible
• The history of the church
• Introduction to the New Testament
• Introduction to the Old Testament
• Bible Facts and figures
• The story of the Bible
• Archaeology and the Bible
• Bible Atlas

I purchased six of them as they have a special where you buy two and get one free. For only $7.95 each they are a great resources to have in your bookshelf and to help you understand the Bible better.

If I could recommend you purchase one of these titles it would be “The life of Jesus“. It really has a great overview of who Jesus is and what He did while here on earth.

If you want to check them out, you can click on this link

One of the links I have recently added to my link list is Gospel for Asia. This is because my wife Larissa has been reading a free book she got from them titled, “Revolution in World Missions”.

As she has shared with me the many stories in the book I have been reminded how lucky we are in Australia and how much more we could do to impact one of our closest neighbours in Asia.

If you are interested you can get a free copy of the book through their website here

This is the blurb from the back of the book…

“Do you long to let go of self-centredness and be more eternally minded?  Do you desire to make a difference in the lost world but aren’t sure how to go about it?  Based on the testimony of thousands who have read Revolution in World Missions,this gripping message can radically change your life.

In this exciting and fast-moving narrative, K P Yohannan shares how God brought him from his remote Indian village to become the founder of Gospel for Asia.  Drawing from facinating true stories and eye-opening statistics. K P challenges Christians to examine and change their lifestyles in view of millions who have never heard the Gospel.

Gospel for Asia has more than 14,000 (as of June 2004) national missionaries in the heart of the 10/40 Window, operates 54 Bible colleges with more than 8000 students, and heads up a church-planting movement that pioneers an average of 12 new fellowships every day”.

I was doing some research for an Ethics assignment that addressed the issue of churches and copyright recently. In the process I came across some information on the Australian Copyright Council website that deals specifically with copyright and churches.

I thought I would pass on the link as increasingly churches are using movies, soundtracks and other presentations in their church services which might be subject to copyright.

Just for interest sake copyright covers:

• literary works;
• dramatic works;
• musical works;
• artistic works;
• films (the moving images and soundtracks);
• sound recordings;
• broadcasts (the skill, effort and cost in assembling, preparing and transmitting programmes); and
• published editions (the layout, typesetting and format of published works).

The attached link is to the website page that deals with churches. It has information about copyright, training courses available and a number of free brochures that address various issues.

If you are interested you can click here

Angus Buchan from “Faith like potatoes” fame is coming back to Perth. I didn’t get down to the last time he came to Perth, but I did get to see some of the sessions on DVD. They were really good.

If you are interested, he will be back in Perth for another “Mighty Men’s Conference” in February 2009. For details you can visit the conference website here

About four weeks ago I read Angus Buchan’s book “Faith like potatoes”. It was one I had in my bookshelf for about a year after my wife bought it for me as a present after some major hinting by me and circling it in a Koorong catalouge!

I had tried to read it a few times but I never quite got into it. Eventually my wife picked it up and read it and told me I would really like it and put it in front of me. She knows me really well and knew it would inspire me, so I took her advise.

Now I am not a fast reader, but I read this in two short sittings as it really grabbed hold of me. I was inspired and encourage by Angus’s story of faith and commitment. I came away thinking this guy is really living the message he is preaching.

Here are a few reflections…

• I loved the way he trusted God and spoke it out. He planted potato crops in faith in the middle of a huge drought. He told everyone it was going to work and God would come through. And God did.
• I loved his commitment to preaching the Gospel. He just keeps preaching it wherever he goes. At heart he is a farmer, but he is also a preacher. He takes the Gospel wherever God tells him to go.
• I loved that he used his farm to fund his ministry. He has made a commitment to not take up offerings when he preaches. Most of the money comes out of his own pocket (which is actually God’s) to fund the crusades and events.
• I loved his unwavering commitment to his family. Every time he leaves his farm and family it almost breaks his heart, but he knows this is what he is called to do. He accepts that.
• I loved the way they farm cattle. Each time a new herd is born they share it among the workers. He takes the first, the second goes to his longest serving worker, the third goes to him, the fourth to his second longest serving worker and so on. This not only provides wealth to himself, but to his workers and their families.
• I loved that they have a large chapel on the property where they have regular services for the workers and for those who call the farm home. They also hold the Mighty Men’s conference there too.
• I loved that they have an orphanage and school on site for many of the homeless kids in their region. It is also a haven for many widows.
• I loved the way he is committed to helping men stand up and be real men by challenging and equipping them to be all they can be for Christ.

These are just a few random reflections from the book. There is a whole lot more than might speak to different people in different ways. These are just some of the ones that spoke to me. If you have a chance I would encourage you to read it.

PS. I don’t think I have ever started so many sentences with “I loved”. Hmmm I think I really enjoyed it

I received an email from South Africa overnight about an Angus Buchan event this weekend. I thought I would pass it on in case anyone wants to watch it on God TV…

“This Saturday (19-07-2008) Angus Buchan (author of the book, Faith like potatoes)  will be preaching at Loftus stadium Pretoria South Africa, with a estimated attendance of 67000 people. This event will be broadcasted live on GOD TV around the world”.

More details can be found here

PS. Angus Buchan is coming back to Perth, WA in February 2009. You can find out more at this post

I have just finished reading the book Faith like Potatoes. This is the story of Angus Buchan the Scottish born evangelist from South African. Faith like potatoes is story of a deeply committed man of faith. He loves Jesus, his family and has a passionate desire to see people come to Jesus, be healed, set free and to go on to serve Jesus all their lives.

In the book he shares how he started as a farmer and trusted God through the worst of droughts and planted crops when no-one said they would survive. He just plated anyway and trusted God for the rains. In time his farm grew and became his base for his ministry that has reached many thousands of people. It has also become a place for the widows and orphans to call home.

For me this was very inspiring story. It was one that made me weep a number of times through the book. His amazing faith, his love for his family and his heart to bring people to Christ really hit the spot for me. First and foremost my heart is to reach people for Jesus and Angus’s faith and commitment to the Gospel really inspired me. If you are an evangelist at heart, I would really encourage you to get a copy of this book. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

If you would like to read some of my random refelctions on the book please visit this post here

I was just over at BillyGraham.org and found an article about a young guy who was bullied at school and felt empty and alone. Another kid from his school invited him to a crusade and it changed his life forever.

It really shows the power that taking an interest in someone can have and how a simple invitation can change someone’s life for now and for all eternity.

If you are interested in reading the article you can find it here . Enjoy!

Regular readers of this blog will know I am a person who deliberately takes time out of my days to be a lone with my thoughts and alone with God. I do this to have alone time with God to talk and so I can order my thoughts. To record these reflections I keep a daily journal.

Charles Swindoll has written about this in a short article on Christianity.com. He says this is solitude is vital if we are wanting to grow closer to God. It is worth a read if you have time!

Here’s the link - http://bible.christianity.com/11565368/. Enjoy!

I have added a new link to my links page today. It is to the Theopedia website. Theopedia is a lot like Wikipedia the online encyclopaedia, but it is an encyclopaedia of Biblical Christianity. I have found it useful when doing assignments or for general information about different topics.

Here’s the link to the Theopedia website. Enjoy!