Pastor Rick Warren.
Much is said about Pastor Rick Warren by a small group of clergy that puts a differing view point to the widely held perspective of this man.
He is the author of Purpose Driven Life.
This book alone has made him very rich.
He is also the Pastor of a very succesful Church in the U.S.A.
For those who have their doubts about Rick Warren, we ask you to read the following interview and think again.
God Bless.
Rick Warren
(HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE')
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife suffering incurable cancer and him having 'wealth' from his book sales. This is an absolutely incredible interview with Rick Warren, of 'Purpose Driven Life', author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren , Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity.
This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. The day is soon coming when Jesus will raise us from our graves and take us to be with Him. God wants us to practice here on earth how we will live in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad that life brings.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, 11 Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from my church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
He is the author of Purpose Driven Life.
This book alone has made him very rich.
He is also the Pastor of a very succesful Church in the U.S.A.
For those who have their doubts about Rick Warren, we ask you to read the following interview and think again.
God Bless.
Rick Warren
(HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE')
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife suffering incurable cancer and him having 'wealth' from his book sales. This is an absolutely incredible interview with Rick Warren, of 'Purpose Driven Life', author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren , Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity.
This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. The day is soon coming when Jesus will raise us from our graves and take us to be with Him. God wants us to practice here on earth how we will live in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad that life brings.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, 11 Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from my church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
The Stolen Generations of Christ
“The Stolen Generations of Christ.”
On the 13th of February 2008 the nation of Australia came of age.
As a nation, we took responsibility for the wrongs of our past.
We admitted that the way it was done back then just didn’t work.
And as well intentioned as it may have been at the time, it was a disaster none the less.
We said we were sorry to our indigenous brothers and sisters even though most of us as individuals were not a part of the decisions made at the time.
As we watched that day, we could see the nation breath a huge sigh of relief.
We witnessed a smile come onto the face of the entire country.
You could see the healing on the faces of all the people regardless of their colour.
The Prime Minister had his approval rating go through the roof after the apology and he now enjoys the highest prime ministerial approval rating in history.
Globally, Australia has become a hero nation overnight.
As the collective peace settles on us all, we will look to a future where some will seek compensation and justice, and that will be a part of the overall good we must strive for.
True and meaningful forgiveness comes with real repentance and then follows salvation.
If the nation suffers financial pain, it needs to, so that lasting healing and true salvation can follow.
In the Christian church we have a stolen generation of our own.
There are thousands of people whose lives, hopes, dreams and chance for salvation, were stolen by church representatives, hierarchy and elders.
Our stolen generations are the kids of the past who suffered from child sexual abuse.
These children were initially abused by those who were and in some cases, still are perpetrators.
They were then abused in the secondary sense by the church leadership.
The church swept the truth of these crimes under the carpet, and was happy for the victims to be cast adrift for the greater good.
The tide then took them out to sea and they were lost.
But the church flotsam and jetsam have now been washed back up on the beach.
The work being done by Mission Serenity and other groups like it, is offering victims of the past a real alternative.
There is now a movement that seeks these now adult victims of the past, in the hope that they may heal their lives in God’s grace.
The tide is coming back in and it cannot be turned back.
We pray that the church hierarchy are now moving towards real healing for these people.
If it does not, the tide will engulf it and it may be consumed.
The church needs now to follow in the footsteps of the nation.
The Prime Minister has shown great leadership and healing, and is now realizing a dream.
The church leadership needs to think about this and make it a national priority.
Urgent action is needed.
The church needs to be visible in this healing in the most tangible way.
There is building, as we speak a large ground swell of support from many within the church that may well sweep the church and others into oblivion.
It took courage for our government and our nation to bring about a change that may well stop the rot of racism that has poisoned our country since first settlement.
The parallels must not, and cannot be ignored.
Brave and united leadership from the church is the only solution if the catastrophe that has decimated the Roman Catholic Church and others is to be avoided.
In the name of Jesus Christ we say to you all.
The time has come.
Bring our children home.
Written 14th of February 2008
By Graham Hood
On the 13th of February 2008 the nation of Australia came of age.
As a nation, we took responsibility for the wrongs of our past.
We admitted that the way it was done back then just didn’t work.
And as well intentioned as it may have been at the time, it was a disaster none the less.
We said we were sorry to our indigenous brothers and sisters even though most of us as individuals were not a part of the decisions made at the time.
As we watched that day, we could see the nation breath a huge sigh of relief.
We witnessed a smile come onto the face of the entire country.
You could see the healing on the faces of all the people regardless of their colour.
The Prime Minister had his approval rating go through the roof after the apology and he now enjoys the highest prime ministerial approval rating in history.
Globally, Australia has become a hero nation overnight.
As the collective peace settles on us all, we will look to a future where some will seek compensation and justice, and that will be a part of the overall good we must strive for.
True and meaningful forgiveness comes with real repentance and then follows salvation.
If the nation suffers financial pain, it needs to, so that lasting healing and true salvation can follow.
In the Christian church we have a stolen generation of our own.
There are thousands of people whose lives, hopes, dreams and chance for salvation, were stolen by church representatives, hierarchy and elders.
Our stolen generations are the kids of the past who suffered from child sexual abuse.
These children were initially abused by those who were and in some cases, still are perpetrators.
They were then abused in the secondary sense by the church leadership.
The church swept the truth of these crimes under the carpet, and was happy for the victims to be cast adrift for the greater good.
The tide then took them out to sea and they were lost.
But the church flotsam and jetsam have now been washed back up on the beach.
The work being done by Mission Serenity and other groups like it, is offering victims of the past a real alternative.
There is now a movement that seeks these now adult victims of the past, in the hope that they may heal their lives in God’s grace.
The tide is coming back in and it cannot be turned back.
We pray that the church hierarchy are now moving towards real healing for these people.
If it does not, the tide will engulf it and it may be consumed.
The church needs now to follow in the footsteps of the nation.
The Prime Minister has shown great leadership and healing, and is now realizing a dream.
The church leadership needs to think about this and make it a national priority.
Urgent action is needed.
The church needs to be visible in this healing in the most tangible way.
There is building, as we speak a large ground swell of support from many within the church that may well sweep the church and others into oblivion.
It took courage for our government and our nation to bring about a change that may well stop the rot of racism that has poisoned our country since first settlement.
The parallels must not, and cannot be ignored.
Brave and united leadership from the church is the only solution if the catastrophe that has decimated the Roman Catholic Church and others is to be avoided.
In the name of Jesus Christ we say to you all.
The time has come.
Bring our children home.
Written 14th of February 2008
By Graham Hood
Summer in Serenity
Summer in Serenity
It was a warm summer afternoon and as the sun moves to set over the Border Ranges, its mild rays dance through the uniform structure of the “Bunya Pine.”
Ducks and geese waddle up from the river and through the fruit trees to the poultry shed where food and shelter await them.
The homestead sits nestled behind the avocado and mango trees, and the laughter and good cheer of friends echoes through the valley from the rainforest covered ridge on the other side of the Oxley River that flows at the bottom of the homestead block.
The air is moist and sweet with the fragrance of camellia and jasmine as a group of children hide in the grass by the platypus hole waiting to see the illusive family that dwell beneath the surface.
Towards the homestead on the grass flat there is a long wooden table covered in jars and fruit and surrounded by laughing women who tell their life stories as they bottle the crops that have been picked by the men in the orchard.
As they pick, younger men listen to their tales of life and laugh as the pastor of their church recovers from an almost disastrous fall from the step ladder.
Under a tree near the vegetable garden one of the elders holds an impromptu bible study class with a keen group of gentle folk keen to know more of the word of God.
A stone wood fired oven crackles as fresh made pies and bread glow golden near the river gum coals of the oven fire, soon to adorn the feasting table for the gathered friends.
God is everywhere. He is in His creations that frame this warm group of God loving folk, in their songs and on their lips as they praise His majesty with every breath.
Hymns such as “Bringing in the sheaves” and “We shall gather at the river” ring through the valley and God’s abundance is overwhelming.
Across the road in the top paddock, the goats graze as the frogs start their evening chant from the spring fed lily dam.
The plantation trees cast calming shadows on the grass and the colors of the fruit in the top orchard herald their picking in the coming days.
Back on the veranda, a courting couple sits on the porch swing pondering the future of their romance as gentle breezes dance the white chiffon curtains through the open French doors of the balcony.
Chella and Hucky smile to each other as they survey the wonders of creation at “Serenity.”
Their love overflows as they truly see with the crystal clarity of God’s amazing grace, that in life……..all things truly do merge, and in “Serenity”
A river runs through it.
Graham Hood.
9th December 2007
It was a warm summer afternoon and as the sun moves to set over the Border Ranges, its mild rays dance through the uniform structure of the “Bunya Pine.”
Ducks and geese waddle up from the river and through the fruit trees to the poultry shed where food and shelter await them.
The homestead sits nestled behind the avocado and mango trees, and the laughter and good cheer of friends echoes through the valley from the rainforest covered ridge on the other side of the Oxley River that flows at the bottom of the homestead block.
The air is moist and sweet with the fragrance of camellia and jasmine as a group of children hide in the grass by the platypus hole waiting to see the illusive family that dwell beneath the surface.
Towards the homestead on the grass flat there is a long wooden table covered in jars and fruit and surrounded by laughing women who tell their life stories as they bottle the crops that have been picked by the men in the orchard.
As they pick, younger men listen to their tales of life and laugh as the pastor of their church recovers from an almost disastrous fall from the step ladder.
Under a tree near the vegetable garden one of the elders holds an impromptu bible study class with a keen group of gentle folk keen to know more of the word of God.
A stone wood fired oven crackles as fresh made pies and bread glow golden near the river gum coals of the oven fire, soon to adorn the feasting table for the gathered friends.
God is everywhere. He is in His creations that frame this warm group of God loving folk, in their songs and on their lips as they praise His majesty with every breath.
Hymns such as “Bringing in the sheaves” and “We shall gather at the river” ring through the valley and God’s abundance is overwhelming.
Across the road in the top paddock, the goats graze as the frogs start their evening chant from the spring fed lily dam.
The plantation trees cast calming shadows on the grass and the colors of the fruit in the top orchard herald their picking in the coming days.
Back on the veranda, a courting couple sits on the porch swing pondering the future of their romance as gentle breezes dance the white chiffon curtains through the open French doors of the balcony.
Chella and Hucky smile to each other as they survey the wonders of creation at “Serenity.”
Their love overflows as they truly see with the crystal clarity of God’s amazing grace, that in life……..all things truly do merge, and in “Serenity”
A river runs through it.
Graham Hood.
9th December 2007
Article."The Power of Grace." By Graham Hood
23/01/2008
THE POWER OF GRACE
A JOURNEY OF RECOVERY FROM YEARS OF SUSTAINED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE WITHIN THE CHURCH
Michelle Hood [nee Corker] is a woman now. But at the age of nine and as a member of a loving Adventist family from a farming community in Western Australia, Michelle was being groomed by a prolific predator within the Church.
This man was also a family friend and taught many children in Sabbath school.
As a well respected Church elder and lay preacher he was considered a pillar of not only the Church but the local community at large.
Michelle was one of five children, two of whom were adopted at birth.
Both the adopted children were girls and had a beautiful family life to sustain them for what should have been a bright Christian future.
Michelle’s adoption was a weapon this man used to secure her silence for so many years. He would promote the notion that if she told her adopted parents that she would not be believed and be sent back to the orphanage.
But this “pillar of the community” had other plans for this family that would affect their entire future.
The gruesome facts surrounding this set of incidents are public knowledge, because Michelle and another brave woman [also a victim of this same man] pressed charges against him in Western Australia in 1998.
This led to a much publicized case that proceeded to the District Court of Perth over a period of three years.
The defendant was charged with numerous offences and was indicted to stand trial in the District Court.
These court hearings became a debacle with the accused man presenting with alleged illnesses ultimately leading to the W.A. Department of Public Prosecutions shelving the case based on mounting costs.
It was the belief of the D.P.P. based on the testimony of a reporting doctor that the accused was too old and too ill to stand further trial and was not expected to live more than two years.
This was nine years ago and the defendant still lives a healthy active life, for a man of his years.
That the D.P.P. should have such considerations for a man of his age when the shattered lives of not only the child victims but so many others connected to them begs logical understanding.
Sadly this lack of understanding and duty of care presents to the Church and its governing body for several reasons as well.
At the time of these revelations, many within the Church and particularly its hierarchy, including Pastors, tried to push these allegations under the carpet.
This was common of the times not only in the Adventist Church but all other religious denominations as has been faithfully reported in the media in recent years.
The ramifications of these actions for the victims however, was to be catastrophic.
Some in the Church victimized the girls and their families for bringing charges and the Church offered no support to any of the victims either then or since.
Michelle’s abuse lasted from age nine to age fifteen during which time she was repeatedly raped and abused on many occasions both on church property, under the guise of Sabbath school lessons, and elsewhere.
Her feelings towards the Church, and indeed religion, was until now severely tainted.
Michelle was quick to add, that as a child it was difficult to see past the people and their judgmental views to be able to visualize Jesus Christ.
This understandably led to her disillusionment.
I have long held the view that I believe in God but not in religion. I have held strongly to the opinion that religion is the business of God, conducted by men, and they do it very badly.
Having stated these views and lived through the torment and public humiliation of hundreds of hours of testimony to the police and the courts it would be understandable that Michelle and other victims would be justifiably bitter.
This would obviously have an adverse effect on their lives and families.
Michelle however has been working hard to improve her quality of life.
She managed to camouflage her indignation by working relentlessly to achieve success in study.
She proudly holds three university degrees in Nursing, Psychology and Law.
All these talents, now very useful and indicative, that God may have a plan for her.
I came into Michelle’s life on August the sixth last year [2006] and we are to be married in 2008.
Our journey both as individuals and as a couple is viewed by many as remarkable.
I was a man confused about God and religion and Michelle had a strong belief in God but had lost faith in the Church.
We did not know it at the time but we were to lead each other by the power of, The Holy Spirit back to the Church for Michelle, and to God for me.
What was to keep me from religion for over fifty years was the experience that the most unchristian actions I had ever witnessed were conducted by people purporting to be Christians.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I don’t like your Christians. Your Christians are not like your Christ.”
Most outside the Church would sadly agree with this.
Michelle admitted to me that she had unfinished business with the man who violated her over those dreadful years and to that end I promised to go with her to visit him so that she could speak frankly about the damage he had done.
The power of the Holy Spirit began to work within us both however because Michelle discovered that the only way forward in this situation was to forgive this man, and she did.
Our mission to visit him on the other side of the continent then became a pilgrimage to tell him that she had forgiven him.
So over the Easter period of 2007 we made our way from Brisbane to Perth and then the drive of several hours over two days to the town where this man resides in a Nursing Home.
Along the way we visited the family farm where Michelle grew up and this was to be part of a journey of remembrance for her.
Some of the offences were actually committed on the farm where Michelle grew up.
When we visited the now mostly deserted property we wandered around the old homestead whose once glorious gardens were now a desert.
Amidst the dust was growing a very sad looking rose bush adorned with two glorious red roses.
We picked one of the blooms to take the rest of the way with us to represent the support of her now deceased Mother and Father.
We then proceeded via an overnight stop to find this man. Praying all the way for God’s help to both find him and choose the most profound words when we did.
As we eventually made our way into the nursing home complex we took one of 4 entrances into our destination.
This happened to be outside the administration building for the nursing home.
We paused in the car, prayed again, took a deep breath and then, with the rose in hand walked towards the building in the hope of finding this man.
As we approached the building Michelle paused and started to tremble.
Sitting alone on a park bench at the front of the building was an old respectable looking man.
She gripped my hand and said “that’s him”!
We could not believe our good fortune. As we approached I stood in front of the man and Michelle sat beside him.
He asked me to introduce myself, which I did and then I asked him if he knew the lady sitting next to him.
He replied no, so I introduced her to him.
He was shocked to see her and appeared nervous.
He said that she looked different and asked how she was.
She then went on to say that she had travelled for several days across the continent to tell him that she had forgiven him.
He gripped her hand tightly and tears came to his eyes. What he said next was a dagger into her heart.
He said “That’s nice Michelle, thank you for that, and I want you to know that I forgive you too. You know as well as I do that you were just as responsible as I was”!
I must remind you here that Michelle was only a child at the time to which he was referring.
We were staggered by his response and Michelle looked away and said loudly, “Oh God give me strength”!
I then gripped his shoulder firmly and said with some assertiveness, “That is not acceptable”.
He then looked at me fearfully and put his head in his hands and said, “I can’t talk about this, it’s all too hard”.
Michelle then took his hand and said, “All that aside I just want you to know that I forgive you”. She then leaned over, kissed him on the forehead, and walked away.
I stayed with him for a moment and he asked me to take care of her because she was special. I then bid him “you go in peace old fella” and walked away.
My initial thought was to verbally attack him in her defense.
I didn’t because I thought that if she had the courage to walk away, then who was I to judge him.
Michelle realized some months earlier that she could not expect God to forgive her sins if she couldn’t forgive others who sinned against her.
I then walked to Michelle who was sobbing profusely and we hugged and cried.
Within a minute of the conversation ending one of the mans relatives walked out of the building, led him to a waiting car, and he was driven away for Easter.
We had made it to him by just three minutes.
As he drove away Michelle said “Look at that. Isn’t that the most beautiful rose you have ever seen”?
With that I looked into the garden near our car and there was the most magnificent bloom I had ever seen as if it were under a spotlight, a gift from God as a reward for the most courageous act of Grace I have ever witnessed.
I have never been as proud of a human being in my life as I was of her that day.
Any doubts I may have had as to the power of the Holy Spirit were banished from my thoughts from that moment and our lives have been a succession of miracles ever since.
I am now of the belief that the primary mission of the Church is to bring people to Christ.
We are constructing a table much like a family tree to illustrate the effects these predators have on this primary mission.
Already we can see a dramatic effect. If the predator is at the top of the tree and the victims are below and keep spreading, the loss of potential Christians is staggering.
Already in one generation we have been able to confirm that at least 22 people may well be lost to this Holiest of causes and that is just working with Michelle as the primary victim. There are many more.
These people, or a percentage of them, may have been saved by an educated and timely response from the Church.
When one considers the efforts and sacrifices made by the wonderful people who conduct mission work in the dangerous and in some cases, God forsaken parts of our planet, to save just a handful of people to Christ, it seems disgustingly wasteful to have so many lost in our own back yard.
The difficulty affecting many religions is the corporate nature of their structure.
The gathering of the world’s people under the banner of any particular religion requires that religion to offer a place in which to worship.
This requires property and property requires money and money then requires management.
Management requires people who often have agendas of their own which may not be that of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ego’s now play a major part which perpetuates politics and before we know it, the main purpose of the Church to begin with, is lost and so are the people who matter the most.
With the issue of sexual abuse within the Church there will be some who say that to offer support and apologize to these victims may leave the organization liable.
To this end, they may add, we must protect the organization at the expense of the people including the victims.
How is this different to the situation that led Jesus to cast out the money lenders from the Temple of His Father?
Do we not have a similar situation if this is the case?
So to those who think this way and those who believe that this open transparency will damage the Church I ask you to consider this.
When it comes to abusers like this in the Church, and, you know these sins have taken place, then if you are not part of the solution, you are definitely part of the problem.
By not helping the victims and hiding your head in the sand you are giving tacit support to these monsters.
I say this to you as well. If I was the Devil and I was locked in combat with God then I would put my very best knights in the front line.
To me the frontline is the House of God and the ranks of God’s Christian followers.
To my way of thinking then we must accept that there will always be disciples of Satan lurking in our midst.
The scriptures tell us that when ever two or more are gathered in His name then He will be there.
What better place to infiltrate and divert the cause of Christianity than in the very Churches themselves.
If a Church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum for Saints then we must face the fact that some within the Church are the Golden Staph which hospitals must eradicate.
This obviously poses the dilemma that some of these predators need to repent and repent now.
Of course if this is there purpose then they should not be denied this right because Jesus Christ is the ultimate Judge and not us.
A perpetrators measure of repentance can be gauged by his or her willingness to go to the authorities, confess to the crimes and lay themselves at the mercy of the law of the land.
Then there would appear to be a sincere desire to rid themselves of the power this sin has over them and seek true forgiveness for their sins.
Many of the perpetrators sadly, only use the church as a place to hunt and then to hide when their sins are revealed.
It is every churches responsibility in this case to be adequately prepared to deal with these issues when they are revealed.
To this end there are several programs available to facilitate real healing for the victims, the victim’s families and the perpetrator and their families as well.
At our home church at Burleigh Gardens on the Gold Coast, we have chosen Celebrate Recovery as the program of choice because it is based on the plan Jesus put forward as a guide for our lives in the beatitudes.
This is a twelve step program to heal hurts hang ups and habits.
It is run by real people who have walked the crooked path and can give true understanding to the people who need help.
It is set up to heal both victims and perpetrators and it is available to all churches regardless of denomination.
We must still be aware of this situation and be on our guards.
The children of our congregations are as much our responsibility as they are that of their parents.
Having said all of this, we do acknowledge that the Church has implemented strategies to help prevent these occurrences by education in some form.
We are now of the belief that strategies to deal with the needs of the victims of the future are also in place.
However it is our experience that the many victims of the past have had no such consideration and in some cases it would appear that the perpetrator of these ghastly crimes is given more consideration than are his victims. This is also sadly true of the legal system in this country.
We have been lobbying the various members of the church hierarchy and now that we have established a relationship of trust with them, we are glad to say that progress is being made and due recognition of what the victims have suffered is proving to be very healing.
The past mishandling of these issues by the Church must be corrected as soon as is possible by thoughtful meaningful and sincere dialogue and offers of support commensurate with the horrific nature of the crimes committed.
This level of support is extensively available to victims within other denominations such as the Baptist Church.
This brave approach may well indicate the reasons for the rapid growth of the Baptist Church in our society.
The Adventist movement needs to take note of these initiatives and start setting some positive and thoughtful agendas of its own.
To this end Michelle and I are committed to be part of the solution.
We are proposing that we, and Michelle in particular ,are presented to the annual conferences of Pastors held in each state to outline our thoughts, and offer our suggestions.
We are already in the planning stages of setting up a property at our own expense which will be located in Northern N.S.W.
This property is to be called “Serenity” and we would like to make it available as a retreat for victims where they might be able to avail themselves of counseling, support and peer group understanding from both ourselves and our committed supporters.
We envisage that this retreat may last for approximately seven days and will take place several times a year and will always be followed up with ongoing pastoral care in what ever form required.
We undertake to do this at our own expense and through the support of a foundation we are currently setting up.
To this end we need the support of this Church and its leadership.
Jesus requires that men of real stature stand up and come forward in His Holy name.
I implore the readers of this article to go back to the basics of the teachings of Jesus Christ and put his Holy purpose first in their thoughts.
I feel confident that there does exist in this Church, enough people of good heart and commitment to bring about a valid and noticeable change in Church policy.
The victims of the past who have turned away need to see this.
There is no time left to delay this important work.
The scope of the victims goes well beyond those initially involved as we have discovered.
The periphery of the ripples caused in this pond is too wide spread to determine.
We propose that our retreat will also welcome the victim’s families who may well have much healing to do and much more to contribute.
We are also willing to travel to other states and both hold these retreats and assist others in the work required to set them up.
There is much scope for, and great need of, this work to be done and we are astounded by the level of support and commitment to change we have already witnessed.
May God be with us all in this agenda and may He give us all the courage and conviction to lead the way as the head of the horse rather than its tail.
Michelle’s demonstration of Grace is nothing when compared to that shown us by Jesus Christ on the Cross.
We know that in his absence we are the light to others for him. Lets be a lighthouse for all and not just a spotlight for the righteous.
God Bless you all.
Graham and Michelle Hood.
We may be contacted on,
Phone. 07 552 28 8746
Michelle’s mobile 0439 969597
Graham’s mobile 0409 416 737
Our email address is missionserenity@bigpond.com
Our web site is http://www.missionserenity.com.au/
THE POWER OF GRACE
A JOURNEY OF RECOVERY FROM YEARS OF SUSTAINED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE WITHIN THE CHURCH
Michelle Hood [nee Corker] is a woman now. But at the age of nine and as a member of a loving Adventist family from a farming community in Western Australia, Michelle was being groomed by a prolific predator within the Church.
This man was also a family friend and taught many children in Sabbath school.
As a well respected Church elder and lay preacher he was considered a pillar of not only the Church but the local community at large.
Michelle was one of five children, two of whom were adopted at birth.
Both the adopted children were girls and had a beautiful family life to sustain them for what should have been a bright Christian future.
Michelle’s adoption was a weapon this man used to secure her silence for so many years. He would promote the notion that if she told her adopted parents that she would not be believed and be sent back to the orphanage.
But this “pillar of the community” had other plans for this family that would affect their entire future.
The gruesome facts surrounding this set of incidents are public knowledge, because Michelle and another brave woman [also a victim of this same man] pressed charges against him in Western Australia in 1998.
This led to a much publicized case that proceeded to the District Court of Perth over a period of three years.
The defendant was charged with numerous offences and was indicted to stand trial in the District Court.
These court hearings became a debacle with the accused man presenting with alleged illnesses ultimately leading to the W.A. Department of Public Prosecutions shelving the case based on mounting costs.
It was the belief of the D.P.P. based on the testimony of a reporting doctor that the accused was too old and too ill to stand further trial and was not expected to live more than two years.
This was nine years ago and the defendant still lives a healthy active life, for a man of his years.
That the D.P.P. should have such considerations for a man of his age when the shattered lives of not only the child victims but so many others connected to them begs logical understanding.
Sadly this lack of understanding and duty of care presents to the Church and its governing body for several reasons as well.
At the time of these revelations, many within the Church and particularly its hierarchy, including Pastors, tried to push these allegations under the carpet.
This was common of the times not only in the Adventist Church but all other religious denominations as has been faithfully reported in the media in recent years.
The ramifications of these actions for the victims however, was to be catastrophic.
Some in the Church victimized the girls and their families for bringing charges and the Church offered no support to any of the victims either then or since.
Michelle’s abuse lasted from age nine to age fifteen during which time she was repeatedly raped and abused on many occasions both on church property, under the guise of Sabbath school lessons, and elsewhere.
Her feelings towards the Church, and indeed religion, was until now severely tainted.
Michelle was quick to add, that as a child it was difficult to see past the people and their judgmental views to be able to visualize Jesus Christ.
This understandably led to her disillusionment.
I have long held the view that I believe in God but not in religion. I have held strongly to the opinion that religion is the business of God, conducted by men, and they do it very badly.
Having stated these views and lived through the torment and public humiliation of hundreds of hours of testimony to the police and the courts it would be understandable that Michelle and other victims would be justifiably bitter.
This would obviously have an adverse effect on their lives and families.
Michelle however has been working hard to improve her quality of life.
She managed to camouflage her indignation by working relentlessly to achieve success in study.
She proudly holds three university degrees in Nursing, Psychology and Law.
All these talents, now very useful and indicative, that God may have a plan for her.
I came into Michelle’s life on August the sixth last year [2006] and we are to be married in 2008.
Our journey both as individuals and as a couple is viewed by many as remarkable.
I was a man confused about God and religion and Michelle had a strong belief in God but had lost faith in the Church.
We did not know it at the time but we were to lead each other by the power of, The Holy Spirit back to the Church for Michelle, and to God for me.
What was to keep me from religion for over fifty years was the experience that the most unchristian actions I had ever witnessed were conducted by people purporting to be Christians.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I don’t like your Christians. Your Christians are not like your Christ.”
Most outside the Church would sadly agree with this.
Michelle admitted to me that she had unfinished business with the man who violated her over those dreadful years and to that end I promised to go with her to visit him so that she could speak frankly about the damage he had done.
The power of the Holy Spirit began to work within us both however because Michelle discovered that the only way forward in this situation was to forgive this man, and she did.
Our mission to visit him on the other side of the continent then became a pilgrimage to tell him that she had forgiven him.
So over the Easter period of 2007 we made our way from Brisbane to Perth and then the drive of several hours over two days to the town where this man resides in a Nursing Home.
Along the way we visited the family farm where Michelle grew up and this was to be part of a journey of remembrance for her.
Some of the offences were actually committed on the farm where Michelle grew up.
When we visited the now mostly deserted property we wandered around the old homestead whose once glorious gardens were now a desert.
Amidst the dust was growing a very sad looking rose bush adorned with two glorious red roses.
We picked one of the blooms to take the rest of the way with us to represent the support of her now deceased Mother and Father.
We then proceeded via an overnight stop to find this man. Praying all the way for God’s help to both find him and choose the most profound words when we did.
As we eventually made our way into the nursing home complex we took one of 4 entrances into our destination.
This happened to be outside the administration building for the nursing home.
We paused in the car, prayed again, took a deep breath and then, with the rose in hand walked towards the building in the hope of finding this man.
As we approached the building Michelle paused and started to tremble.
Sitting alone on a park bench at the front of the building was an old respectable looking man.
She gripped my hand and said “that’s him”!
We could not believe our good fortune. As we approached I stood in front of the man and Michelle sat beside him.
He asked me to introduce myself, which I did and then I asked him if he knew the lady sitting next to him.
He replied no, so I introduced her to him.
He was shocked to see her and appeared nervous.
He said that she looked different and asked how she was.
She then went on to say that she had travelled for several days across the continent to tell him that she had forgiven him.
He gripped her hand tightly and tears came to his eyes. What he said next was a dagger into her heart.
He said “That’s nice Michelle, thank you for that, and I want you to know that I forgive you too. You know as well as I do that you were just as responsible as I was”!
I must remind you here that Michelle was only a child at the time to which he was referring.
We were staggered by his response and Michelle looked away and said loudly, “Oh God give me strength”!
I then gripped his shoulder firmly and said with some assertiveness, “That is not acceptable”.
He then looked at me fearfully and put his head in his hands and said, “I can’t talk about this, it’s all too hard”.
Michelle then took his hand and said, “All that aside I just want you to know that I forgive you”. She then leaned over, kissed him on the forehead, and walked away.
I stayed with him for a moment and he asked me to take care of her because she was special. I then bid him “you go in peace old fella” and walked away.
My initial thought was to verbally attack him in her defense.
I didn’t because I thought that if she had the courage to walk away, then who was I to judge him.
Michelle realized some months earlier that she could not expect God to forgive her sins if she couldn’t forgive others who sinned against her.
I then walked to Michelle who was sobbing profusely and we hugged and cried.
Within a minute of the conversation ending one of the mans relatives walked out of the building, led him to a waiting car, and he was driven away for Easter.
We had made it to him by just three minutes.
As he drove away Michelle said “Look at that. Isn’t that the most beautiful rose you have ever seen”?
With that I looked into the garden near our car and there was the most magnificent bloom I had ever seen as if it were under a spotlight, a gift from God as a reward for the most courageous act of Grace I have ever witnessed.
I have never been as proud of a human being in my life as I was of her that day.
Any doubts I may have had as to the power of the Holy Spirit were banished from my thoughts from that moment and our lives have been a succession of miracles ever since.
I am now of the belief that the primary mission of the Church is to bring people to Christ.
We are constructing a table much like a family tree to illustrate the effects these predators have on this primary mission.
Already we can see a dramatic effect. If the predator is at the top of the tree and the victims are below and keep spreading, the loss of potential Christians is staggering.
Already in one generation we have been able to confirm that at least 22 people may well be lost to this Holiest of causes and that is just working with Michelle as the primary victim. There are many more.
These people, or a percentage of them, may have been saved by an educated and timely response from the Church.
When one considers the efforts and sacrifices made by the wonderful people who conduct mission work in the dangerous and in some cases, God forsaken parts of our planet, to save just a handful of people to Christ, it seems disgustingly wasteful to have so many lost in our own back yard.
The difficulty affecting many religions is the corporate nature of their structure.
The gathering of the world’s people under the banner of any particular religion requires that religion to offer a place in which to worship.
This requires property and property requires money and money then requires management.
Management requires people who often have agendas of their own which may not be that of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ego’s now play a major part which perpetuates politics and before we know it, the main purpose of the Church to begin with, is lost and so are the people who matter the most.
With the issue of sexual abuse within the Church there will be some who say that to offer support and apologize to these victims may leave the organization liable.
To this end, they may add, we must protect the organization at the expense of the people including the victims.
How is this different to the situation that led Jesus to cast out the money lenders from the Temple of His Father?
Do we not have a similar situation if this is the case?
So to those who think this way and those who believe that this open transparency will damage the Church I ask you to consider this.
When it comes to abusers like this in the Church, and, you know these sins have taken place, then if you are not part of the solution, you are definitely part of the problem.
By not helping the victims and hiding your head in the sand you are giving tacit support to these monsters.
I say this to you as well. If I was the Devil and I was locked in combat with God then I would put my very best knights in the front line.
To me the frontline is the House of God and the ranks of God’s Christian followers.
To my way of thinking then we must accept that there will always be disciples of Satan lurking in our midst.
The scriptures tell us that when ever two or more are gathered in His name then He will be there.
What better place to infiltrate and divert the cause of Christianity than in the very Churches themselves.
If a Church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum for Saints then we must face the fact that some within the Church are the Golden Staph which hospitals must eradicate.
This obviously poses the dilemma that some of these predators need to repent and repent now.
Of course if this is there purpose then they should not be denied this right because Jesus Christ is the ultimate Judge and not us.
A perpetrators measure of repentance can be gauged by his or her willingness to go to the authorities, confess to the crimes and lay themselves at the mercy of the law of the land.
Then there would appear to be a sincere desire to rid themselves of the power this sin has over them and seek true forgiveness for their sins.
Many of the perpetrators sadly, only use the church as a place to hunt and then to hide when their sins are revealed.
It is every churches responsibility in this case to be adequately prepared to deal with these issues when they are revealed.
To this end there are several programs available to facilitate real healing for the victims, the victim’s families and the perpetrator and their families as well.
At our home church at Burleigh Gardens on the Gold Coast, we have chosen Celebrate Recovery as the program of choice because it is based on the plan Jesus put forward as a guide for our lives in the beatitudes.
This is a twelve step program to heal hurts hang ups and habits.
It is run by real people who have walked the crooked path and can give true understanding to the people who need help.
It is set up to heal both victims and perpetrators and it is available to all churches regardless of denomination.
We must still be aware of this situation and be on our guards.
The children of our congregations are as much our responsibility as they are that of their parents.
Having said all of this, we do acknowledge that the Church has implemented strategies to help prevent these occurrences by education in some form.
We are now of the belief that strategies to deal with the needs of the victims of the future are also in place.
However it is our experience that the many victims of the past have had no such consideration and in some cases it would appear that the perpetrator of these ghastly crimes is given more consideration than are his victims. This is also sadly true of the legal system in this country.
We have been lobbying the various members of the church hierarchy and now that we have established a relationship of trust with them, we are glad to say that progress is being made and due recognition of what the victims have suffered is proving to be very healing.
The past mishandling of these issues by the Church must be corrected as soon as is possible by thoughtful meaningful and sincere dialogue and offers of support commensurate with the horrific nature of the crimes committed.
This level of support is extensively available to victims within other denominations such as the Baptist Church.
This brave approach may well indicate the reasons for the rapid growth of the Baptist Church in our society.
The Adventist movement needs to take note of these initiatives and start setting some positive and thoughtful agendas of its own.
To this end Michelle and I are committed to be part of the solution.
We are proposing that we, and Michelle in particular ,are presented to the annual conferences of Pastors held in each state to outline our thoughts, and offer our suggestions.
We are already in the planning stages of setting up a property at our own expense which will be located in Northern N.S.W.
This property is to be called “Serenity” and we would like to make it available as a retreat for victims where they might be able to avail themselves of counseling, support and peer group understanding from both ourselves and our committed supporters.
We envisage that this retreat may last for approximately seven days and will take place several times a year and will always be followed up with ongoing pastoral care in what ever form required.
We undertake to do this at our own expense and through the support of a foundation we are currently setting up.
To this end we need the support of this Church and its leadership.
Jesus requires that men of real stature stand up and come forward in His Holy name.
I implore the readers of this article to go back to the basics of the teachings of Jesus Christ and put his Holy purpose first in their thoughts.
I feel confident that there does exist in this Church, enough people of good heart and commitment to bring about a valid and noticeable change in Church policy.
The victims of the past who have turned away need to see this.
There is no time left to delay this important work.
The scope of the victims goes well beyond those initially involved as we have discovered.
The periphery of the ripples caused in this pond is too wide spread to determine.
We propose that our retreat will also welcome the victim’s families who may well have much healing to do and much more to contribute.
We are also willing to travel to other states and both hold these retreats and assist others in the work required to set them up.
There is much scope for, and great need of, this work to be done and we are astounded by the level of support and commitment to change we have already witnessed.
May God be with us all in this agenda and may He give us all the courage and conviction to lead the way as the head of the horse rather than its tail.
Michelle’s demonstration of Grace is nothing when compared to that shown us by Jesus Christ on the Cross.
We know that in his absence we are the light to others for him. Lets be a lighthouse for all and not just a spotlight for the righteous.
God Bless you all.
Graham and Michelle Hood.
We may be contacted on,
Phone. 07 552 28 8746
Michelle’s mobile 0439 969597
Graham’s mobile 0409 416 737
Our email address is missionserenity@bigpond.com
Our web site is http://www.missionserenity.com.au/