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042009

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To our brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are delighted to bring you the very frst ohopeully many editions o Pebbles! You mightbe wondering whats going on, so let us explain!

Pebbles was originally a YF-only intragroupnewsletter/magazine. We have taken its

core ocus o having insightul and thought- provoking articles, and built upon it to createa tool which we hope will be a blessing to you.Our prayer is that you will fnd it helpul in yourChristian walk!

Ultimately however, we want to see Jesus litedup! He deserves so much more than we couldever give.

Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Lie. Heis the only Way. I you havent done so, surrender

your lie to Him today. Put your selfsh ambitionsaside and live with Christ as Lord o your lie.Give aithully - your time, your fnances, yourwhole lie. Use your gits to serve Him and bringglory to Him.

Its time to rise up!

Soli deo gloria,

Billy JamesyDesign Editor Editorbillym.lam@gmail.com drmonk3y@hotmail.com

PING MAO

MATTHEW WONG

BILLY LAM

JAMESY CHAN

SERENA LANGENBRUCH

PASTOR ANDREW HONG

Find pebbles online atyfonline.wordpress.com

03

15

16

04

0906

christians&sustainability

how to become a Christian

thoughts on sportthoughts on prayer

quiet timesand Gods grace

catching upwith abe andrews

missions in burma

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And as we drove on through the nightmy riend was explaining to me howguilty he elt rom not reading theBible regularly. He knew that it was adiscipline that he should cultivate - buthe just didnt eel like reading his Bible.And it was eating him up.

I remember saying several times to himin the car that actually, it didnt matterall that much. God still loved him just

the same, even i his quiet times wereterrible.

But he kept on beating himsel up abouthis terrible quiet times - and I just kepton saying to him that God loved himanyway.

And then. Finally. What I was sayingsunk in...

He suddenly remembered that hestood beore God by grace alone - andnot on the basis o his perormanceas a Christian. Not the ervency o hisprayer lie. Not the regularity o his Biblereading. But only because he is clothedwith Christs own righteousness.

Now, youd think thats irresponsibleo me to talk about grace. I mean,wouldnt that just make him even moreundisciplined? Thats what youd think.But when we reached his house, he said,you know what? Now I eel like readingmy Bible!

Its interesting that rules and lawsand regulations ailed him - but graceenergised him as a Christian. And in actthis is how the Christian lie operates.Not on the basis o laws and regulations(you must do your quiet times regularly,etc.) but on the basis o grace! We think

its the opposite - that we need rules andregulations to keep us going. But in act,they wear us down and distract us romthe gospel o Gods grace. The gospelis not something you hear once, then

leave behind to ocus on godly living.Its the petrol that drives you every daya Christian!

I believe that Christians need tounderstand the doctrine o justifcationwell. I we dont, it has all sorts o pastoralimplications - just like what we see withmy riend all those years ago. Pastoralimplications like being uncertain oour standing with God, when were

not doing well. Or eeling we need tokeep up with our spiritual disciplines tomake God happy with us. Not true! Wedo them because theyre helpul or us ingrowing as Christians - not to keep us inGods good books!

And knowing this releases us rom thechains o drudgery... to discover the truejoy o growing as a Christian.

I REMEMBER TALKING TO A FRIEND ONCE AS I DROVE HIM HOME AFTER YOUTHGROUP. THIS WAS MANY YEARS AGO, AND I SUPPOSE WE MUST HAVE BEEN TALKINGABOUT QUIET TIMES. BECAUSE IT CAME UP THAT HIS QUIET TIMES WERENT GOING TOO

WELL. IN FACT, THEY WERE PRACTICALLY NONEXISTENT...

Pastor Andrew Hong is the English Congregation Pastor o Northern District Chinese Christian Church Sydney. This article, and many others,

can be ound on his blog athttp://andrewhongnsw.spaces.live.com

GOD STILL LOVEDHIM JUST THE SAME

EVEN IF HIS QUIETTIMES WERE TERRIBLE.

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Let: Ricardo Kaka -Committed Christian and one o the worldsgreatest ever soccer players

First o all, I just want to say I love sports! Soccer, basketball,

tennis and ootball just to name a ew... even though its timeconsuming and brings me an endless list o injuries rom ankle

to knee to cal to headaches!

This year I will be resuming my 7th season or Sunnybank Saints

in the QLD Christian association on a part time basis. A lot o

people will fnd it surprising that Ive played over 100 matches o

competitive club soccer. Personally Ive always ound that two o

the most interesting aspects or Christians in a competitive sport

environment are winning and pride.

Winning

During my time with the Sunnybank club weve won everything

rom premierships and grand fnals, but the winning euphoria

never last orever. Yet to some players winning means everything.

They are willing to cheat and even act in an ungodly manner

to their teammates and the opposition. Many teams can lose a

game but win the respect o the opposition; you could say that in

our Christian context, its the beaten team that has won the real

game. Ive seen many riendships made between teams despite

players just being thrashed something like 9-0.

Next time you play sport, ocus on having un and encouraging

one another because truly, the result is meaningless. Just think oit this way: bringing your trophy to heaven will be like bringing a

grain o rice to the perect buet.

Pride

Ive always thought that Sport is a very simple concept: all you

have to do is put a round ball through a hole (a goal is still a

hole)! But nothing gives someone a bigger ego boost than

the eeling o scoring a goal, a try, or a basket. In our society

sportspeople are treated like kings, yet we as Christians know

that a true King named Jesus came to earth as a man, a humble

servant. A talented sportsman who shows admirable humility

in winning will be respected as well as ollowed. Ater all, most

sports require more than just one person to play - it wouldnt

mean much without an opponent!

ChairmanMaoon...

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prayerhaving the right focusGrowing up in a non-Christian amily I didnt have much o an

understanding o what prayer was, it seemed like something that you

did when you were in trouble or wanted something. Then later when

I became a Christian, I got the

impression that you had to

be really articulate and well

spoken to pray, that it was all

about ancy words and well

ormed speeches. It wasnt

until recently that I fnally

realized and learnt what

prayer was all about !

Since Ive become a Christian, the struggle has always been submitting

all areas o my lie to God. No matter how oten Im told to be humble,

to be trust in God, as soon as challenging or tough times come along, I

automatically revert to my human wisdom or comort and support.

On a recent overseas trip, I was dozing o on the bus listening to a

sermon on my iPod by a amous American preacher when one point

the preacher made nearly knocked me o my seat! He said something

along these lines When you pray and ask God or something, and you

dont get it. Instead o complaining and grumbling against God, have

you ever stopped to think about WHY you didnt get what you asked

or ? Maybe Gods trying to tell you something. Maybe Hes trying to

teach you that its all about Him, so i Hed have given you what youd

asked or, youd end up worshiping it rather than worshipping God !.

Then it hit me, I realized where Id gone wrong all these years. The

ocus was all wrong, although most i not all the things Id asked or

werent necessarily bad things, the ocus was all wrong, itd all been

about me. I was thinking only about personal gratifcation and about

what made me eel good, Id totally orgotten the purpose or which

God has put me here to bring Him glory, its all about God, not about

me! Oten times its much the same in our lives, the danger o putting

ourselves or otherthings in ront o God

is constantly there. Its

important to remember

that weve been put here

to bring glory to God, to

be aithul stewards o

the gospel and to love

others!

Prayer comes rom the

heart, and requires or

us to be in the right mindwith the right attitude

in order to be able to

communicate with our

creator God. Whats the ocus o your lie, are there things in your lie

that are stopping you rom praying with all your heart ?

THE STRUGGLEHAS ALWAYSBEENSUBMITTINGALL AREAS OFMY LIFETO GOD...

Jamesyon...

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EARLIER THIS YEAR ABE CAME AND TALKED TO YF ABOUT EVANGELISM.NOW THE CHAPLAIN OF THE ASP PRO SURFING TOUR, HE WILL BE RUBBINGSHOULDERS WITH - AND WITNESSING TO - THE WORLDS ELITE SURFERS. BILLYAND PING CAUGHT UP WITH HIM AT THE RECENT QUIKSILVER PRO, AND FOUND HIMAS PASSIONATE AND DOWN-TO-EARTH AS EVER...

For those who havent met you beore... Can you tell us a

little bit about your background?

I grew up on the Sunshine Coast surfng and hanging out

with my mates on the weekend. I moved to Brisbane when

I was 19 to study teaching. Ater graduating rom uni I went

on to teach or a year. I elt God call me into high school

chaplaincy, and so I moved to the Gold Coast and worked

as a high school chaplain or 2 years. I recently married my

lovely wie Lize and together we run Gold Coast Christian

Surers at Palm Beach.

What are your hobbies, apart rom surfng?

Hobbies apart rom surfng... I dont think there is anything

outside o surfng! But seriously I do enjoy playing a bit o

guitar, so does Lize, so occasionally we will have a little jam

together. I also love fshing, the only problem is the Gold

Coast is probably the most over fshed place in Australia,

so I dont catch much worth keeping. A little activity I also

enjoy is flming and editing. I have made three sur movies

o my mates here on the Gold Coast. It is just really un to

make little sur icks that you can sit and watch when there

is no sur.

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How did you come to Christ?

I came to know about God when I was

only fve, but I dont think I personally

knew God until I was about 21 years

old.

I grew up in a broken home, my parents

separated when I was about three

and they were in the drug scene prettyhard as I was growing up. My mum did

get her lie on track and married my

stepdad. They got radically transormed

by God and became Christians. I guess

rom then on I went to Sunday School

and our home was a pretty normal

Christian home.

When I was 15 my real ather passed

away, this let me questioning God and

lie. From there I started to slowly walkaway rom God, and I elt pretty empty

and lost in my world.

Whats your current role with Christian

Surers and also ASP?

My o cial title or Gold Coast Christian

Surers is Mission Coordinator. I mainly

coordinate a team o leaders to do

events, camps and sur comps here on

the Goldie.

The ASP Chaplaincy Role is a little more

broader and still in its ormative stage.

Im mainly a support person or the

surers on the World Surfng Tour. The

chaplaincy program is setup to nurture

the wellbeing o the surers, this is

made up o our personal components:

physical, mental, emotional and

spiritual.

My aim is to build relationships with the

surers in order or them to eel they can

trust me and come to me when there is

a need.

Youre very passionate about

evangelism... Why is it important?

I have a passion or people, and I

think i you are passionate about

people, then you cant help but want to

share you aith with them. Evangelism is

simply that, sharing your aith. I guess

lie is more than just what we say, it is

more what we do... so I spend a lot o my

time living lie as Christ would have me

live, rather than just preaching it.

How can we be relevant to people

were reaching out to?

I know or me to be relevant to people

Im reaching out to, is frst to have

some common ground. I am a surer,

so, I reach out to surers. I I was a chess

player, I would reach out to those I can

relate to e.g. other chess players.

It is like speaking dierent languages,

it is harder or a Russian to outreach to

a Chinese, because they speak totally

dierent dialects and also come rom

totally dierent cultures. I the Russian

wanted to witness to the Chinese, frst he

would need to learn Chinese, and then

learn the culture, this would break down

the barrier and allow or a relationship

to orm.

Relationships come frst.

Whats your ministry goals or the

coming year or two?

I will be aiming at spending as much

time I can on the World Tour with the

surers, just building relationships. I

hope to see Chaplaincy on the World

Tour as an intricate service or the surers

which will be utilized daily. Still early

days though.

I will also look at working more to

expand Christian Surers Missions. At

the moment we only have two missions

on the Gold Coast: a Girls mission and a

Guys mission. By 2010 we would like to

have 4 missions, God willing!

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IM NO SURFIE!WHY DOES THISMATTER TO ME?The sur culture is probably alien to most o

us o Asian or ABC heritage. Most o what

we think we know probably comes rom

popular stereotypes - images o bronzed,tall, athletic people; broad shoulders, sun-

bleached hair, and an air o permanent

relaxation about them; people who use

words like dude and sweet and rothing;

people who are willing to get out o a warm

bed at a most ridiculous hour because they

are so passionate about what they do.

As a matter o act, what we just wrote

describes Abe pretty well. Theres just one

undamental omission: Jesus Christ.

From the limited time that we spent talking

to him and others rom Christian Surers,

we can confdently attest to their love

or Jesus. Yes they love surfng too, but it

never becomes an idol. We are Christians

who happen to love surfng, Abe stresses,

and not the other way around. He is

an incredibly encouraging man, riendly,

approachable, serving in humility and

running hard ater Christ.

As a group, what struck us about Christian

Surers is how loudly they testiy o Christ

through their actions.

They are incredibly fred up and love to get

into scrippy - aka have a bible study, to fnd

out more about the nature, love and mercyo God. Their lives reect the act that they

are constantly in the Word.

Their attitude to money is, in a word,

rereshing. While we Asians tend to spend a

lot o time worrying about responsibilities

like saving or our frst home and fnancial

security, they trust in Gods providence. No,

they are neither ignorant or irresponsible,

but their ocus is Christ alone.

They have a great love or surfng, and

have used it as a vessel by which outreach

and evangelism can occur to surers. It

is an awesome ministry, one based on

establishing real and genuine relationships

with people... being living, breathing

examples o Christ to the lost.

We have much to learn rom them!

SUPPORTING ABESMINISTRYHaving a cool ASP Tour pass doesnt mean

that Abe is unded by them. In act, whetherhe is able to travel overseas with the surersdepends on whether he can raise suf cientunds to cover or expenses.

Its estimated that he will need approximately$38000 to attend every sur competition onthe Tour.

I God has put on your heart a desire topartner with Abe and Lizes ministry, you cangive nancially bydirect transerto:

Account Name: A F Andrews

BSB 064497 | Account No. 10704846

Or donors can make out a check or moneyorder toAbraham Andrews and post to...6/25 Fiteenth AvePalm Beach, QLD 4221

Donations over $2 are tax deductible!

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The Karen are the largest hilltribe group in Northern Thailand. Traditionally settled along the Thai-Burmese border, many Karen have

now migrated urther into Thailand to escape political unrest in Burma. Thousands o Karen are now living in reugee camps over

the Thai border ater their villages were destroyed by the Burmese army. There are also tens o thousands o Karen living as Internally

Displaced Persons in Burma. No peaceul resolution to this struggle can be seen in the near uture.

FOR MANY YEARS, THE KAREN HAVE STRUGGLED AGAINST A MILITARY-CONTROLLEDBURMESE GOVERNMENT FOR ETHNIC INDEPENDENCE AND A FREE KAREN STATE.SERENA LANGENBRUCH EXPERIENCED, FIRST HAND, THE GRACE OF GOD WORKING

IN A PERSECUTED PEOPLE.

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Moo Traw

Out o everybody I talked to in Thailand, I was most encouraged and excited by

my talks with Moo Traw. Moo Traw graduated rom Noh Bo Academy last year,

but visited the school a ew times while we were there. It was awesome seeing

the work God is doing in Moo Traws lie and the way God is using him. Moo Traw

told me that when he wants to talk to his riends about Jesus, he asks them, Do

you want to have this reedom that I have? This was an exciting reminder o the

gospels power to change lives. Please pray that Moo Traw would be encouraged

as he ministers to his riends, and that the reedom that God oers would be

clearly evident in Moo Traws lie.

Toe Hla

Toe Hla has recently fnished his second last year at Noh Bo Academy. He stands

out as a strong Christian leader at the school, and I believe God has big plans to

use Toe Hla to shine the love o Jesus in the school community. Toe Hla thought

he would not be able to study at Noh Bo Academy next year, as his sponsor who

has supported his school ees was unable to continue to sponsor him or 2009.

We only became aware o this situation ater a class activity in which he hadto describe a situation which made him eel worried. Praise God or his plans

to keep Toe Hla at the school, as we were able to sponsor him with some o the

money that had been donated. Please pray that God would draw people closer

to him through Toe Hlas lie and love or Jesus.

Nwe Nwe Aye

Nwe Nwe Aye is extremely outgoing and loving. She has always wanted to go to

a beach because she enjoys swimming, and she got very excited whenever we

went to the river or to a waterall to swim. During our time at Noh Bo Academy,

Nwe Nwe Aye decided not to ollow Buddhist teachings and to be baptised as a

Christian. Her aith grew stronger and stronger over the three months we were at

the school, and she said she was greatly encouraged by her English teachers and

Christian classmates. Nwe Nwe Aye became especially close to Emilia - it was

a great joy to see their relationship grow during the trip, and a great privilege

to witness Nwe Nwe Ayes baptism on our fnal day in Noh Bo. Please pray or

Nwe Nwe Aye as she continues to learn more and more about our great God,

and please pray or her classmates as they encourage her to always grow in aith

and love or God.

Pastor Andrew Schwe Mya

During our time in Thailand, we were privileged to be able to visit two o Pastor

Andrews churches, to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary, and to accompany

him on a church outreach trip to a remote mountain village accessible only by

our wheel drive. Despite his enormous task o being responsible or a number o

churches, I loved seeing Pastor Andrews constant joy in sharing the gospel and

his genuine love or the people he ministers to. Whether it was a regular Sunday

church service or a packed service to celebrate Karen Revolution Day, Pastor

Andrews sermons were always engaging. Although we couldnt understand

what he was saying without a translator, we could always count on at least

one light-hearted story that would make everyone listening laugh, and direct

eye contact when he was challenging us to take seriously the message he was

sharing.

Please pray or Pastor Andrew and his plans to fnd more ways to train disciples

and spread the good news o Jesus.

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With three other Australians, I recently spent three

months teaching at Noh Bo Academy, a school

or Karen reugees on the Thai-Burmese border.

During the trip, one conversation in particular

had a big impact on me.

I was talking to Moo Traw, one o the schools

ormer students who was visiting or a ew days.

I had gotten to know Moo Traw on two previous

trips to Noh Bo, and was excited to see the way

God was using him in his lie beyond school. He

was still Moo Traw, with his cheeky personality,

but with a dierent lie perspective and a dierent

way o speaking about things.

Moo Traw and I talked about two dierent kinds

o reedom.

Firstly, we talked about Tun Mya Win, or Tom,

another ormer student who had moved to

America as a reugee. Moo Traw asked Tomto compare his lie in America with his lie in

Thailand.

Moving to a new country has many challenges

and di culties, like dierent ood, a dierent

language and a dierent culture, but Tom told

Moo Traw one thing he could not compare was

the reedom he has in America to do things that

he wants to do, and to go where he wants to go

without ear o checkpoints.

As a reugee in Thailand, Tom had tight restrictions

on where he could be in the reugee camp, at

school and very ew other places. With no Thai

citizenship, he had no right to travel, and was

aced with soldiers at checkpoints on the road

outside the camp.

Although I was extremely happy to hear that Tom

was experiencing this reedom, it was the second

kind o reedom that Moo Traw and I talked about

that made me even more excited.

Moo Traw is ree because o Jesus Christ. When he

wants to tell his riends about Jesus, he asks them,

Do you want to have this reedom that I have?

It made me very happy to be able to look at Moo

Traw and know that he is ree because o Jesus.

What makes this reedom dierent to the frst

reedom that Tom talked about?

rom Jesus Christ, who is the aithul witness,

the frstborn rom the dead, and the ruler o the

kings o the earth. To him who loves us and reed

us rom our sins by his blood - Revelations 1:5

The dierence is that this second kind o reedom

comes rom Jesus. Not just a reedom now, to

be able to go somewhere, but a orever reedom

given by Jesus. Revelation tells us that Jesus reed

us rom our sins by his blood. When Jesus died on

the cross, he died to bring us this orever kind o

reedom.

Because o Jesus, Moo Traw has reedom. Because

o Jesus, I have reedom.

At the end o our previous trip to Thailand in

February 2008, Tom expressed his desire to

become a Christian but was yet to devote his lie

to God. In America, Tom has continued to try to

study the bible, and says that he now trusts God

with his lie. He will be baptised later this year.

Please pray that Toms aith would be strong and

genuine, and that he would also truly be ree

because o Jesus. Praise God or the spread o His

gospel at Noh Bo Academy, and or His work in the

students, even ater they leave the school.

It is or reedom that Christ has set us ree.

Galatians 5:1

IT IS FOR FREEDOM THATCHRIST HAS SET US FREEGALATIANS 5:1

WHEN JESUS DIEDON THE CROSS, HEDIED TO BRING USTHIS FOREVER KINDOF FREEDOM.

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Scott Braithwaite, Emilia Dempster, Juanita Nantes and I set o rom Australiaas soon as our university exams had fnished in November, keen to begin

teaching at Noh Bo Academy, catch up with old riends and meet many new

people.

Living with the students or three months meant that, rather than just

teaching the bible through talks in church, we were able to show in our lives

where our aith met reality. This was exciting.

During our time at Noh Bo Academy, we were always made to eel so at

home and so supported by school headmistress Candle Paw and all the Karen

teachers. Seeing the way Candle Paw approached the running o the school,

and her love or her students, made my respect or her grow more and moreas the trip went on.

I would describe Noh Bo Academy as a place where, rather than having to

search out opportunities to share the gospel o Jesus, those opportunities

oten come to you.

Though we were kept busy with teaching at the school, preparing bible talks

and visiting churches, some o the most memorable times in our trip came in

our ree time, when students would come to visit us at the teachers house.

We shared Karen culture and Australian culture, daily challenges and daily

encouragements, jokes, songs and lie stories.

We especially enjoyed the chances we had to read the bible and pray with

the students. One evening, I was reading with a student named Rocket. I was

reading my English bible, and he was reading his Karen translation. When

Rocket asked to read a section in

English, I took an old bible rom

the shel in the teachers house,

which had much larger print

than mine. When we opened the

bible, a tiny worm crawled out.

Looking across at me, Rocket

promptly said, I you read

your bible more oten, animalswouldnt grow inside!

Everyday stories like this make up

the collage o memories we have rom our time at Noh Bo Academy.

Our church experiences during the three months included wedding

anniversaries, an outreach trip to a small village accessible only by our-wheel

drive, kids programs, and countless weddings. Despite the language barrier,

we loved sharing in the passion or sharing the gospel held by many Karen

Christians, such as Pastor Andrew Shwe Mya.

I eel so blessed to have been part o a team where we all made it a priority

to make sure our actions displayed Jesus love both to the people we metas well as to each other. I eel blessed to have been surrounded by people,

both within the team and rom outside the team, who challenged me daily

to live lie less or mysel and more or our almighty God. I eel blessed to have

become riends with the students and teachers at Noh Bo Academy. Most o

all, I eel blessed to have been used by God to serve him in such a challenging,

exciting and rewarding way.

I FEEL BLESSEDTO HAVE BEENUSED BY GODTO SERVE HIM INSUCH ACHALLENGINGAND REWARDINGWAY.

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Sustainability... its a term that we hear everywhere in the media these days. It seems like every

company and product is claiming to have some element o environmental consciousness,

as though being green is the new black. Yet in the Christian context, debate still rages about

whether caring or the environment (creation care) is biblical; or whether it is a topic best let to

scientists and tree-hugging greenies; or i we as individuals can make a dierence at all.

A recent poll in the US ound that 90% o evangelicals would like Christians to take a more active

role in caring or creation, with 85% o active churchgoers having never heard o creation care.

So I know this blurb isnt irrelevant!

So why should we care about the environment?

God made it

Genesis tells us that God created the world, and that men have been created as stewards over

creation. Some point out that the ground is already cursed (Genesis 3:17). Countering that is the

act that the laws in Leviticus 25 exhibit sound principles o sustainable land use, so at the very leastwe know humans can do something to manage it...

We know that creation reveals the glory o God (Psalm 19) but, on the other hand, you could say

that a polluted area devoid o lie reveals the irresponsibility o man instead.

We are commanded to do it

God never told us explicitly to be environmentalists, yet we are commanded to be concerned about

those who need our help (Matthew 25:38-40) and to love our neighbours (Mark 12:30-31). Hes our

sustainer and he also sustains the earth (Psalm

104), but that doesnt mean that we dont have

to care!

We dont usually realise it, but a large portion

o our worlds environmental problems - air

pollution, water pollution and shortage,

chemical poisoning - and their associated

sociological and ecological eects (displacing

populations, amines, etc.) are actually hurting

people - and oten the poorest and most disadvantaged cop it the worst!

Its an opportunity to witness

Putting it simply... caring or the environment is a way to show people that we really do care - orthem, and or the uture generations that are yet to come!

What does this mean or me?

Firstly, realise that creation care matters. Recycling is an easy frst step, but its not the answer... like

many other green initiatives (hybrid cars, emissions trading, etc) its like a band aid on a gaping

wound. Be discerning about all the sustainable things you

hear about, because true sustainability is about giving back

to the world - not about reduced energy use. In some cases,

greenwashed products not only cost more but are actually

more damaging to the environment than normal options.

Above all, pray that God will help you see things rom His perspective, so you can choose to ocus

on whats important and what needs prioritising, and what doesnt!

sustainabilityBillyo

n...

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ETERNITY ISFOREVER -LIFE BEYOND

THE LIFE THATWE NOW LIVE.

Jesus Christ said, Now this is eternal lie:

that they may know You, the only true

God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have

sent. (John 17:3)

However, our sin willul disobedience

towards God separates us rom God. The

Bible says, All have sinned and all short

o the glory o God (Romans 3:23) and

The wages o sin is death, but the git oGod is eternal lie in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23).

But God had a plan to solve the problem

o sin. For God so loved the world that He

gave His one and only Son (Jesus Christ),

that whoever believes in Him shall not

perish but have eternal lie. (John 3:16)

When Jesus Christ died on the cross and

rose rom the grave, He paid the penalty

or our sin. No longer are we destined oreternal death. The Bible says, But God

demonstrates His own love or us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died or

us. (Romans 5:8)

Jesus Christ stated, I am the way and the

truth and the lie. No one comes to the

Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

God invites us to place our trust in Jesus

Christ, acknowledge our sin, accept Christs

death on the cross as payment or our sin,

and give our lives to Him as our Saviour

and Lord. The Bible says, I tell you the

truth, whoever hears my word and believes

Him who sent me has eternal lie and will

not be condemned; he has crossed over

rom death to lie. (John 5:24)

Will you accept Gods invitation to have

eternal lie with Him? All you have to do is

speak to God in prayer!

Dear God,

Thank you or loving me. I coness

that I have sinned against You. I

believe that your Son Jesus Christ died

on the cross to pay or my sin and rose

again rom the dead. I want to place

my aith and trust only in Jesus Christ,

my Saviour and Lord, to orgive me

and save me rom the penalty o my

sin. Thank you or your git o eternal

lie. Amen.

I you have just prayed this prayer, praise

God, or this is the start o your new lie

in Christ! Rejoice, because i anyone is in

Christ, then he is a new creation. The old

has passed away; behold, the new hascome. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Your old lie - a lie lived in darkness - is now

dead and buried, but at the same time you

need to keep walking away rom sin and

towards Christ! Continue to grow in your

relationship with God by reading your

bible, praying to Him, worshipping Him,

representing Him in your daily lie, and

telling others about Him!

On a fnal note, we recommend that youget connected with a local church. Youll

fnd older, mature Christians able, and

willing, to help you on your journey. Theyre

people o great wisdom who can tell you

more about our awesome, loving God!

WILL YOU ACCEPTGODS INVITATIONTO HAVE ETERNALLIFE WITH HIM?

WHOEVER HEARSMY WORD ANDBELIEVES HIMWHO SENT MEHAS ETERNAL LIFEAND WILL NOT BECONDEMNED;HE HAS CROSSEDOVER FROM DEATHTO LIFE

Love Pebbles? Dont leave it lying around! Share it, or leave it somewhere where it can be a conversational starter and open doors or you to share about Christ!