NHCF Blog

by Graham MolIn his letter to his friend Gaius, the Apostle John writes the following blessing:2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.(3 John 1:2 ESV)Although letters would often open with a customary greeting wishing the other person well, this is not merely John "saying the right words" or the words one was expected to say. How do I know this? Because of what John believed. John had been a disciple of Jesus, one of the three disciples closest to Him. He had seen the Lord as He spoke with the people, as He reached out in compassion, not only healing their spiritual ills, but also their emotional and physical ailments as well. John knew that the Lord cared not only for the condition of people's souls, their spiritual welfare, but also for their temporal well-being, that is their health. John knew that God is a Healer of the broken, a Shepherd to the lost, a Comforter of the weary and the Source of all joy and contentment.Another translation of John's greeting puts it this way:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2 NKJV)God is the only one who can make us prosper in all things just as our soul prospers in the arms of His love, mercy and grace. It is good that we remind ourselves of that fact by praying or writing or speaking a blessing over others. In doing so, we who believe in God's mercy and power, who believe that Jesus came to give us life in abundance, are not just "saying the right words" but are actually speaking life into the lives of those we love. We are reminding them of every spiritual blessing that is available to us in Christ. We are voicing that wonderful truth and not only that, by blessing one another, we also show our care for that person's well-being. Our desire for them to be well. And so I wish to say to you reading this:Beloved friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.God BlessGraham

by Caryl MollIf a butterfly were to land on your shoulder, how would you react?I have a feeling most people will simply lap up the moment for all its worth. Few people would shake off a butterfly, or swipe at it. The rarity of this little creature’s presence wouldn’t be lost on them.  Most of us would smile and sit still – absorbing the event for all its preciousness.  Some of us may even reach for our cameras. I personally would be awe-inspired – cherishing the moment.  And yes, it has happened to me. I equate this particular feeling of a butterfly on my shoulder to the delicate touching of a soul when a friend offers a moment of real support and friendship - unconditionally. We sit beside on another and merely ‘listen’ to our reality without judgement. So special!I truly believe that the greatest gift anyone can give to another person is simply to ‘be there’ for them - like Christ does for us. He is always available, always on call and always gently leading us. We can talk to him, spill our heart out to him and he will always be listening. It is only through our quiet relationships with him that we can find the guidance we seek.  We can learn from Him in how we treat others.Although it’s difficult, we can sometimes offer a more enriched interaction with someone when we offer an honest, listening ear to their personal and unique reality - without judgement and with absolute unconditional acceptance, trusting that God is quietly working in their life.I call this particular type of interaction: “THE BUTTERFLY TOUCH”.Unconditional acceptance is not easy – simply because we all have agendas and  preconceived ideas – knowingly or unknowingly.  As humans we are often quick to apply our own perspectives, judgements and offer unsolicited opinions on the lives of others.  As Christians it’s usually a seemingly desperate Christian agenda too.Sometimes, however, this preconception can be an unintentional stumbling block for the person we are trying to help. Indeed, by imposing our own views, we may also be hampering the will of God in that person’s life. He is ultimately in control of that person’s life. He has a personal plan for them – we need to be careful not to interfere. After all, "there is a time for everything," (Ecclesiastes 3:1).The timing of God’s plan in a person’s life belongs to Him, not us! We are merely tasked with echoing how Christ would respond to them – in love. I acknowledge that it would take a concerted effort for the average person to really try to give a person this kind of gift. Can we truly accept someone’s reality ‘unconditionally’? How do we do this?Some time ago, I adapted our Church’s statement of intent ever so slightly to make it really practical for me. It was my personal aim to quantify and qualify what could be construed as unconditional acceptance (“the butterfly touch”).  I think 1 Corinthians 13  illustrates…

by Luke KincaidDa Da? This is one of my favorite things that Seth says to me on a daily basis. He is speaking so much at the moment and he will often call out to me for a variety of reasons throughout the day. Sometimes he calls for me because he wants to know where I am in that moment. Other times he calls out because he wants to show me something and often he calls for me because he wants me to simply sit with him and partake in whatever activity he is busy with. Seth has taught me so much about how I can be relating to and interacting with God the Father. I don’t know about you but God can sometimes feel far away from me. I don’t feel like this because I believe that He doesn’t want to spend time with me but because of how incredible He truly is. God is all present, all knowing and all powerful and sometimes I wonder why He would want to spend time with me.But when I see how Seth confidently calls out to me and knows that I will be there I realize that I can be doing the same with how I interact with God. I want to be there for Seth when he calls and I want to spend time with my child as much as possible because I love him. Seth is comfortable in his identity as my child and we can also be even more confident in our identity as children of God because as disciples of Jesus we are God’s children:“1 See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are!” – 1 John 3:1You don’t have to earn your identity as a child of God – it is given to you when repenting and coming to faith in Jesus and this means that God the Father is always available to us. So if you are having a bad day and need someone to talk to you can call out to God and He will be there. If you are simply doing something you enjoy you can include God and share what you are doing with Him and He will be there with you while you enjoy yourself. We even have the amazing opportunity to ask God to reveal His presence to us while we are having some down time and share in that moment with Him. God is always available to His children so we can take every opportunity to spend some time with Him everyday. Much love,Luke

One morning last week, Olivia and I were walking around my Gran’s garden when I stopped to admire the beautiful pink blossoms on the Ornamental Plum Tree (Prunus cerasifera). As we stood and admired the myriad of pale pink blooms, I was pointing out the hive of activity, to Livvy, as the many bees danced and pranced from blossom to blossom collecting pollen. It was such a pleasant experience to watch the bees at their work, it somehow heralded the hope of Spring in my heart. Bees are truly astounding creatures, not only do they play a vitally important role in our ecosystem – the Lord made bees for a very special purpose, more than just pollinating flowers, which helps us grow crops so we can have something to eat – we can also learn a lot from them about being better members not only in our own families and churches, but in the world. They offer us special insight into God’s nature and what He wants from us. Here’s an interesting fact about bees, thanks Google, I bow to your superior knowledge! Did you know that honeybees will fly as far as 13 kilometres in search of nectar? Apparently, it’s true. But here’s the more fascinating fact, whenever they find what they are looking for, no matter where they find it, they will turn right around and make a “beeline” back to their hive so that all the bees can join in the good news and go get some nectar. You see, bees like to share good news with each other. And they don’t like to waste time doing it. When they get back to the hive, they start doing an amazing little dance routine that tells all the other bees where they found the nectar. You’ll never find a honeybee saying, “I am not telling anyone else about this! I’m just going to keep it for myself.” And you know what? Christians shouldn’t say that about the good news either! The gospel of Jesus is something very sweet. And the natural, loving response to Jesus’ offer of grace isn’t to keep it all to ourselves. When we taste the goodness of the Lord, we should want to share it with the rest of our hive. Bees love to share the good news, and so should we! The prophet Isaiah put it like this: “1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” (Isaiah 61:1NLT) Here’s another amazing fact that I stumbled across as I was reading up about bees, that relates quite nicely. Most bees spend almost all of their time feeding other bees, rather than themselves. And not only will you find a bee always ready to feed another bee, they’ll even feed bees from another colony. This is why scientists call bees a social insect. They…