Our time away has been wonderful. We were repeatedly reminded of the wonder of God's creative hand, and the magnificence of his imagination in it all.
From the dry and sun burned lands to the rich and deep lush greens of the tropics and rain forests, it all spoke of the greatness of God. Then of course, while at times we grumbled against the insects - especially those that bit and caused us to scratch - yet the amazing variety of insects enthralled us. We were entertained from start to finish by a seemingly endless variety of birds with all their songs, characters and colours. We also grumbled about them as well, mind you, when they began their music at 4:30 am.
We were also able to look under the water at the Great Barrier Reef, and were again enthralled by a whole other world beneath the surface of the sea with the incredible corals, fish life and sea plants. As we travelled out to the reef it was as though God sent another reminder of the splendour of His creation when we spotted some whales blowing and throwing their tails about.
While we were at times overwhelmed with the variety among plant and animal life and the rich textures of the land as we travelled, we also rested. We didn't realise how tired we really were until a few weeks into our leisurely journey up the eastern side of Australia.
All in all, we have been wonderfully blessed and recharged by this special time away. Thank you to you all for allowing us this time.
However, even as we had a wonderful time, there was also a certain sadness, and even some distress about another part of our holiday. While our sampling of the spiritual well being of Australia has been very limited, we did get the impression from our travels through the country areas of Australia that there is a great and terrible spiritual deadness that lies over our land.
Everywhere we went we could see immense activity and energy being put into the cropping of vast tracts of land, the development of new housing estates and business precincts, and there was a general impression that despite the economic woes being proclaimed on the news broadcasts, the nation is thriving. Yet, every Sunday I would look for others who might also go to church from among the holiday travellers. Perhaps I missed them, but I couldn't see them. Most van parks sent out their lawn mowers and gardeners on Sundays to groom the lawns and gardens.
One Sunday we joined some Baptists in a worship service. A hand full of people pretending to be a big church was what we found. The small hall had at least one third of the floor areas taken up by a stage on which the musicians beat up a storm of noise. The preacher did well, but as a committed Arminian told us to exert our moral will and only then would God save us.
Another Sunday we joined a Presbyterian congregation in which the theme of the sermon was to be 'Grace', but we left wondering why we hadn't heard anything of God's wondrous grace in Christ Jesus.
We did meet with another Presbyterian group involved in a church plant consisting of twenty adults and six young children. The preacher had put in some good study and solid effort into the preparation of his sermon, and made some well appreciated connections to Martin Luther and the Reformation. It was a hot Sunday however, and the preacher was clearly struggling to connect with the congregation. I really felt for him, but was encouraged by the group.
It made me realise that there is an immense need out in the country regions of Australia, where the call of the gospel to glorify God and to repent and believe in Jesus the Christ of God appeared to us to be largely absent. Where we did hear it, it was either stunted and deformed, or no one seemed to be listening.
It seems to me then, that there is a terrible need across our nation. We tend to focus on the cities, because we ourselves are city dwellers, but what about the regional and country towns?
May I urge a call to prayer upon you my fellow and beloved brothers and sisters, to be in regular prayer that the Word of God go out mightily to the glory of God and not return to Him empty (Is 55:11) - and that we be in prayer for all the people of our nation, also those in the country areas, and that God again grants spiritual revival across a spiritually parched and arid land.