Author: Ben (Page 4 of 33)

This is part of a series of articles by Rachel Winn (member of St Mark’s, Picton), helping us to get to know other Church members.

“I grew up on the far South Coast of New South Wales, in a small country town called Pambula, right down the bottom near the border of Victoria. It’s a very beautiful place and always windy. My father used to work a lot. My mum worked a lot too, so I was usually babysat during the day as a young child. My parents separated when I was eleven and I went to live with my father after that but I still got to see my mother. I was a pretty busy kid. I was either at school or playing sports (including representative AFL) and if I wasn’t doing either of those, when I got old enough I would usually be at work with my father, who didn’t let me leave school but made me finish Year 12. He would say, “If you don’t work hard at school you’re going to end up doing hard work like this,” which was a pretty good life lesson. I do remember when I was younger, after an AFL game I’d played, a minister spoke to me and said that I should come along to church on Sunday. I did try to go but I was a little bit late and the door was shut, so I didn’t actually make it to church. But I think that was really the beginning of me wondering if maybe there is a God and wanting to know more about him. I was coming from a household where both of my parents were somewhat religious in their upbringings but didn’t entertain it (Christianity) at all for their children. It kind of came about later in life where life got hard that I thought, there’s got to be something here, and investigated it myself. I attended a heap of different churches across Sydney and it was really difficult. I would show up to a service and have no idea what to do. I had no idea about Jesus, I had no idea how to behave at church.

I went to churches where I would be told where to sit and told there’s certain things you can’t say when they would pray or sing. I didn’t understand the different denominations; I didn’t understand anything. But I felt like there was something that was telling me, “You need to sort this out, you need to go to church, you need to see what it’s about.” I ended up trying All Saints church at Parramatta and I really enjoyed spending time with the men there. I actually didn’t learn much about Jesus there, more like just going to church, praying, singing, having a coffee and a chat afterwards. What I think is so special about PWAC is that Ben gives so much opportunity for people to look into who Jesus really is and how knowing him can be a big part of your life. So I’d been going to church and listening all about Jesus and trying to understand the bible. I thought I had started to get it – I thought I was getting it. But it was really when I was doing the Christianity Explored course with Ben and others that it was broken down for me. The presenter of Christianity Explored was a big guy who played footy, so I could really relate to him. I still remember the moment when I thought to myself, “Now I know Jesus!” and a weight being lifted off my shoulders. I even remember where I was sitting at the time. It was quite a special moment.”

How am I going: “Zoe and I will sit down every night and set aside at least half an hour to listen to the bible. We listen to it and if something comes up we pause it and discuss it. I think the discussion is really important for me because I can listen to the bible and miss things. Whereas the discussion not only gives me Zoe’s point of view but also helps me understand how I feel about what I’ve just heard. We’re currently going through Romans. I really like it. Romans is great because to be able to hear the way Paul explains it is important to someone like me because I didn’t grow up with it (the gospel) and didn’t understand. Sometimes the next night I’ll go over what we listened to the night before so it really sticks in my head. I’ve really struggled with having Jesus in my life all the time. I’ll sometimes think, “Oh, that wasn’t very Christian of me.” It’s one thing to talk about Jesus but it’s another to act in a heavenly manner. But I think it’s important to recognise those moments so that as you move on through life they happen less often. Sometimes I don’t really feel confident enough to talk to people about Jesus because a lot of people nowadays, especially the people I hang around with, already have an opinion about it and they’re ready for a debate. I’d rather just be someone who when asked questions is happy to answer them, rather than trying to confront people. In situations where I’m not around Christian people and I openly say I am a Christian, ninety nine percent of the time I’ll hear, “I could never be a Christian because I’m so bad.” So I’ll reply, “You have no idea how important it is for me to hear you say that because I’m the same! Jesus came here to save people like me and you. People who have done it tough, people who have made mistakes. You’re taking the first step, you’ve recognised that you’ve made mistakes and done bad things.” I still have people that I talk to now who will go away and stew about it (our conversations) but they might come back 2 weeks later and ask me another question.”

How am I growing: “I want to be the best Christian that I can be. I want to meet Jesus and not be ashamed, which is a big thing that weighs on my mind. Also, now with Zoe being pregnant I want to be a really good role model and the best dad I can be. I want to show her (my daughter, and the type of man that she needs to look for. And you know, the opportunity to raise a child in a Christian household is a blessing. (I have two children with a previous partner, Noah and Hayden. They live with their mother full-time. Noah is 14 and Hayden is turning 12 in June.) It’s giving them opportunities that I never had to experience life the way it should be. It’s madness the fact that people raise children without God – why would you do that with your child? That’s probably the best thing I can do for my family and I do hold myself accountable. If you asked me what I was passionate about before I became a Christian it would be different. Now I would say that I want to have a strong family, which is something that Zoe never had; I never had. Through Jesus that can happen.

I’ve also been working really hard on my physical fitness and my mental health. I’ve lost 37 kilos to date, through going to the gym and trying to learn to box.That’s been a really good opportunity to be in spaces with non-Christians and to have those uncomfortable discussions. I don’t think men have previously had to grow up in this kind of environment as now. The social pressures are different for young men now, conforming with what society expects. It’s much easier to conform with what Jesus expects because it’s written! Some of these young guys (at the gym) will twist what the bible says to try to make a point and it’s hard to pull them up on it. But you have to draw the line somewhere, while still maintaining a healthy friendship. I’ve made so many connections with many young guys through that. It’s a positive atmosphere. I wear religious shirts. It’s been a great conversation starter to put it all out there, be completely approachable. I do boxing at the park with a trainer and we do group sessions as well, so again, that’s been another good opportunity. My trainer was raised as a Catholic but is now an atheist, so we have many great discussions. I’ve actually had the opportunity in the middle of a session to say, “Hey guys, we don’t have to talk about it now, you’re all welcome to come to church on Sunday and we can talk about it as much as you like.” I’m taking those little opportunities.”

— Matthew Warnock, member of 5.00pm @ Wilton Anglican Church 

This is part of a series of articles by Rachel Winn (member of St Mark’s, Picton), helping us to get to know other Church members.

“I grew up in Earlwood, Sydney and most of my life has been in the Inner West. I came from a family of 3 girls. My father was a POW in Changi during WWII and he was often not well (during my upbringing),  having suffered a lot of ill health as a consequence of being in Singapore, Burma and Japan during the war. He most probably had PTSD but we didn’t know it then – it was just described as having bad nerves. So we had to keep very calm in the house. My mother looked after everything and kept us interested in school and helped us do our homework, insisting we had good grammar! She supported us in all the extra activities that we wanted to do. I was always interested in dance, starting ballet classes at 7 years old. And while I played piano and also picked up cello, the dancing was what continued; I always really loved ballet, tap and jazz. 

My mum was a very keen member of the Presbyterian church, so we went to church every Sunday. That was something I continued doing,  even though my sisters didn’t. I always wanted to learn about God and drifted into Sunday School teaching, which meant I wasn’t able to sit in church because there was only a Sunday morning service. I did want to grow in my faith and the catalyst for me was the 1979 Billy Graham crusade. While there I was thinking, “Well, I don’t need to go forward and make a commitment,” but when Billy said, “If you want to publicly declare your faith, come forward,” I thought, well that’s what I want to do. I publicly declared my faith! Through that the church, my school ISCF and my family found out because they sent all these letters! After this I officially joined church and also went to the local Anglican church’s youth group and a bible study there. My understanding of Christ’s love and sacrifice really grew after that. I’d felt like I was a Christian already and knew a lot about Christian things, but I had so much more to learn!”

How am I going:  “I like to ground myself in God’s Word. One bible verse that really helps me (because I get quite anxious about things) is Proverbs 3 verses 5 & 6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not unto your own understandings . Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your paths.” I frequently return to this:  trusting in God in everything. It’s challenging because you do want to take the reins of your life and lean on your own understanding and your own interpretation of a situation. Sometimes I do forget to acknowledge God, or I might pray about things and forget to thank him, or  just don’t see that he’s actually been there with me. By acknowledging him, trusting in him for everything, and not leaning on my own understanding he has directed my paths. You can look back on your life and see lots of ways that through God’s grace he has directed those he Ioves where he wants them to go. We still go through hard times and struggles, but the bible says that we learn through trials. become stronger and learn to rely on him more. At the moment I have a job that’s in Westmead, so I live in Sydney during the week. I’d really like to have a job that’s closer, so I’m trusting God at the moment that I will find something closer to home. Then I can be in Picton during the week, be more of a part of the church and build up friendships here (in Picton). I’m praying for this, or maybe God will guide me to stay where I am!”

How am I growing: “I listen to sermons in the car, like those by Simon Manchester on 103.2. I go to church weekly and love getting to know the faithful saints down at (St Mark’s) Picton. I am missing being a part of a bible study but I keep in touch with my Christian friends and we pray for each other.  I’m thankfully seeing how God is answering prayers in our lives. I regularly read the bible and am reading through Ephesians at the moment. Sometimes I pick up a Christian book, but I do try to read the bible every day.”

— Gillian Bale, member of 9:30am @ St Mark’s Anglican Church, Picton.

This is the second in a series of articles by Rachel Winn (member of St Mark’s, Picton), helping us to get to know other Church members.

“It was always a dream of mine to own a horse and to live on property. After Dave & I were married, we eventually had the opportunity to move out here to Wilton in the year 2000, the Olympic Year. We bought our first horses, with varying degrees of success! I’ve had a few accidents on horses that weren’t suitable for me. Now we have two beautiful stock horses we named Reuben and Maggie, after Dave’s grandparents. Horse riding is a big part of my leisure time. We don’t compete or anything, it’s just recreational riding and we train them in natural horsemanship, building a relationship with the horses and asking them to partner with us rather than forcing them to do the things that we want to do. It’s something that I love, and Dave loves, and we do it together.
As a child I was quite shy. A bit of a loner, I wasn’t one to have lots of friends; I sort of clung to one or two. I hated getting in trouble. One of my earliest memories is from kindergarten, sitting on the mat with Mrs. Pasfield. I was fiddling with the fringe on the mat and she smacked my hand. I’ve always been one to follow the rules since then. And maybe that’s got something to do with why I chose to be a Police Officer as a profession! I joined the Police Force pretty much straight after leaving school, so I was only 21 when they gave me a gun to protect the world. I did about 2 or 3 years in general duties around the Sutherland Shire and then got sent to the Court Unit section. I had the choice of working in the prison van transporting prisoners, or working in the cells feeding the prisoners. And the other choice was court. I’ve been a Police Prosecutor now for probably 25 years, currently still working part-time, attached to the Narellan / Camden police area (which incorporates Picton). I mostly work out of Picton court. If you ever go to Picton court on a Wednesday – I hope you don’t – you might see me there!
I always believed in God, so bible verses that talk about being chosen, I can sort of relate to because neither of my parents were Christians. They always wanted us to have good friends, and I suppose to be morally taught well, and encouraged us to go to youth groups and church and things like that. Much to their annoyance in later years, my sisters and myself were all Christians and our parents weren’t, though we were always encouraging them to think about God and to come to church and investigate what God had to offer. I remember, at different times as a teenager, going to church and committing or recommitting my life to God after a particular sermon or something really touched my heart. In GFS (Girls Friendly Society), I remember the first bible verse I learned, where God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.””. Verses about light and being a light always were extra meaningful to me. I think my faith is something that has grown over the years as I’ve learned what it means to put my trust in God.”
How am I going: “I’m in a bit of a transition period at the moment in quite a few different respects: in work, in my health and spiritually a little bit too. Health-wise, I’ve just had a few incidents which I’m getting investigated at the moment and I feel a bit up in the air about where that’s going to head. But that’s okay, God’s got all of that under control! Work-wise, I’m in the process of thinking about retiring from the police and transitioning out of the workforce into something else. Last year I did a course in professional pastoral supervision.  I have a passion for helping ministers and church workers to reflect on their ministry and work life so that they can stay serving God for the long haul and not burn out. Spiritually, I’ve just been thinking about where God wants me to serve this year and about different creative ways that I can serve… phone call ministry, or something like that! We’ve had our granddaughter and our daughter living with us for a few months while they prepare to move overseas. We’ve been able to have really quality time with them. That’s another transition moment and we feel that we just want to spend as much time with them as we can while they’re here with us. Being a grandparent has just been the biggest blessing ever and something to give thanks to God for every day.”
How am I growing: “Because of all these challenges and changes I’ve been growing spiritually. I think that always strengthens your faith a little bit. I’ve started this little thing:  I’ve got into the habit of looking up words that I don’t understand and I often find that words mean something totally different to what I thought they meant in their written context. Even just words that I read in the bible – like peace and joy and comfort – I’ll look up their meaning. What does it actually feel like to feel joy and what does joy mean as a Christian? Or peace? Or comfort? So I think that’s been really good for me, growing in that way and understanding those simple words that you take for granted. Dave and I both do a morning and night bible meditation on an app. That’s been really helpful for reflecting on our day and how God’s been working in our lives, how we can serve him, as well as reflecting on forgiveness and confession and things like that. I feel like I’ve been growing and moving closer towards God and trusting him through the uncertainty that I feel at the moment. And I’m sort of excited a bit too by what God’s got in store – because I just have no idea what the year is going to look like!”

— Carol Parnell, member of 5:00pm @ Wilton Anglican Church