Relocation – progress

The new home of the Dandenong Bible Education Centre sits empty as we wait for a council building permit. We are thankful that a planning permit has now been issued and are eager to get on with the major work needed to remodel the store – once approval is given! We must leave our Walker Street home by 13th July, so there is little time remaining.

Please note that the store at 46 Walker Street will be closed after 2pm on Friday, 3rd July, 2009.

Come in before this time to shop for the last time at our Walker Street store where the Dandenong Bible Education Centre has been operating for almost 5 years. The new shop will not be open for business for a few months while the remodelling is carried out.

We will continue to keep you informed through this newsletter, our website and the front window of the new shop at 118–120 Foster Street in Dandenong.

Although the new shop will never be as delightful as God promises his kingdom will be, waiting for things we are eager to have can always be a reminder to us of how we are to wait for that wonderful time when Jesus will return as he promised. Jesus talked to his disciples about how they needed to keep watching for his return:

Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Mark 13:37

Mary Jones

A young Welsh girl wanted to have her own Bible. If you look on the internet, Google Maps will tell you that the trip from Llanfihangel to Bala in Wales is 32.8km and should take about 38 minutes – but Mary Jones had to walk all the way. In 1800 there were no cars and she was so poor that she had to walk in bare feet. Mary had been saving money for 6 years to buy a Bible, but when she arrived in Bala there was no Bible for her. Imagine her heartbreak. Versions of the story vary; she may have had to wait 2 days for a Bible, or she may have been given one already promised to another. Whichever it was, she was finally able to hand over her money, take her Bible and start the long walk back home to Llanfihangel. How long would you save for, to get a Bible of your own? How far would you be willing to walk to get it? For us, Bibles are easy to get; make sure we value them and read God's message to us.

The New Life class

The last New Life class to be in the current shop will be on 5 July at 11:30am–12:30pm. For at least the following two months, the class will not be held in the shop. To confirm the location on these weeks, see the web site or ring 9878 5740 and speak to Mark or Ruth. The topics planned in the next two months are:
July 5 – Why did Jesus have to die?
July 12 – Better than sacrifice
July 19 – Forgiving one another
July 26 – The Bible – God's inspired word
August 2 – Repent, for the kingdom of God is near!
August 9 – Old Testament prophecies of Jesus
August 16 – Nooma DVD: Noise – hearing the voice of God
August 23 – The correct history of Satan

Bible Reading

Those who have made a study of Shakespeare feel they are acquainted with him and his thought processes; so it is with any other writer who has left his works behind. It may be nice to know a human author this way but it in no way compares with getting to know God through His Word. In fact, it is completely impossible to obey the first command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind if we do not constantly read His Book, pray and meditate upon His goodness and mercy to us.

It is impossible to love the unknown. We cannot love someone we have never seen, never heard from, never heard of. Only by becoming familiar with a person can we love them. In the natural this usually comes as a result of personal contact but it has occurred by correspondence. Many lovers first met by mail and the love grew even before they saw one another. Since we have never seen God it is only possible to love Him as a result of our familiarity with His Word. It goes without saying that if we are not faithful in our daily readings in His Book, we will not love Him. How can we expect Him to save us if we break His first and most important command? Paul asks the question "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" His answer is, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." It is this word of God that must fill our minds and hearts if we are to love Him, obey Him and receive from Him the crown of righteousness. To ignore the Bible readings is to ignore God.

If we cannot find time to read God's book every day, just how much do we really love Him? Our actions are speaking louder than words.

May the words Paul addressed to Timothy apply to us as well. "Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

 – Bob Lloyd (abridged from 'Minute Meditations' 7th Edition)

All plans are subject to the will of God

Did you know?

Mary Jones' Bible (see story above) is now in the Cambridge University Library. It was one of 10,000 Welsh Bibles printed in 1799. Mary is long dead and the cottage she lived in lies in ruins, but the story of Mary Jones continues to inspire us today.

Can you walk as far as your bookcase to get down your Bible and read it – every day?

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An addendum was added to the newsletter:

Venue for Sunday New Life Class

The Dandenong Bible Education Centre is moving. The current Walker Street shop will be closing with business finishing at 2:00pm on Friday 3 July, 2009. The last New Life class in the current shop will be on Sunday, 5 July.

From 12 July until the new shop in Foster Street opens, the New Life Class will be held on Sundays from 11:30am to 12:30pm in the Band Room, Walker Street Gallery on the corner of Robinson Street and Walker Street. You are very welcome to come – enter through the Robinson Street entrance. There will be no New Life Class on the 26th July and 30th August. All of our plans for the future will take place if God wishes it.