Wednesday 25 May 2011

Watch the Clouds!



Most of you reading this will be aware of the false prophecy that the rapture would happen last Saturday. This devotion Ray wrote last year seems to be appropriate this week!





Watch The Clouds.
Read Matthew 24:15-35.


Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him Rev.1:7a)


Clouds fascinate me. I enjoy discerning faces and shapes they create as they flit across the sky. They remind me that the Bible is laced with references to God in the company of clouds. He spoke from Mt. Sinai shrouded in dark clouds.(Exodus 19) That left a lasting impression to Israel’s national psyche.


Part of the reason Jesus was crucified was because He said, “…I tell all of you: (The Sanhedrin) in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of Heaven.” This is a quote from Daniel 7:9-14 and the Jewish leaders knew its links with Yahweh and the promised Messiah. The crucifixion tried to prevent this promise. Instead it fulfilled other scriptures and His resurrection guaranteed the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise to return. In Acts 1:9-11 His ascension is recorded and confirmed the future expectation. It was visible. It was from the Mount of Olives. It was with the clouds. In Zechariah 14: 4 foretold an event yet to take place which links an Old Testament prophecy to Jesus and the reading from Acts.

Today we wait for it. When we pray, “…Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven…” we are making a faith statement as well as expressing our hope! This is the great expectation and motivation of Christians especially under harsh regimes. When the Lord returns on the clouds the longing for righteousness, justice and peace on earth will become a reality. Until then we walk by faith and keep our eyes on the clouds. As 1 Corinthians 16:22 puts it ‘Maranatha’. (come O Lord)

Thought for the day. No one will be able to counterfeit that event.

Ray's devotional books are now available in Christian bookshops!
Don't forget the book launch of our three new books at Ringwood Church of Christ in Melbourne, Saturday June 4th at 2.30pm !

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Special Days

I won’t mention how many years ago today I was able to tell my husband, “Gaylene has arrived!” After two baby boys, this was extra special to have our daughter.

So today is that beautiful woman’s birthday – and she may be just a little cross with her mother for putting this on her blog! She teaches other mother’s children now, and from the way she speaks about “her kids” has a very loving heart towards them all – even the “naughty” ones in her classes.

As I came to write this blog today, although separated by distance, she is very much in my thoughts, heart and prayers right now. Memories abound. The day she won first prize in the toddler section at a Baby Show. As proud as I was of her, that day I decided I hated Baby shows. Every baby in that crowded hall was really beautiful in his or her way and every mother there was convinced HER little one should have won!
Then there are some funny little sayings from those early before school age days. One springs to mind and still makes me smile. Her brother had been in trouble and sent from the room to his bedroom. Her calm, matter of fact little voice said, “He likes his fwiends, he just doesn’t like muvvers.”
Her first day at school. The first time at a cousin’s special birthday party when I looked across that room and suddenly saw our little girl in high heels, a beautiful dress and realised she was on the verge of becoming the lovely woman – inside and out – that she is today.

Special Days always bring back memories. We celebrate many of them over our lifetimes. Of course there are Days like Christmas, Easter, ANZAC and Remembrance Days we share with millions of others around the world, but we also have our own Family Days. These of course include birthdays, anniversaries, even very personal ones we may not always feel the need to share with anyone else. One such that springs to my mind is way back when I was sixteen and I had travelled for nearly three hours with my Dad in the car back to his appointment with his cancer surgeon. It is not a time I want to dwell on, especially those tears I shed only witnessed by a kind nurse and my loving Heavenly Father after I was able to leave the hospital room Dad was admitted into for those last few weeks of his life. Somehow, I remember that time more vividly than his funeral.

So not all Special Days are necessarily ones we want to remember. Some bring back memories of pain, tears, decisions we made we wish had not. They are not days to celebrate, to dwell on. We may still need to deal with the memory, commit what is in the past to the God who “demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ (His only Son) died for us.” (Roman 5:8) I am just very, very glad that one tremendous Day, as we have responded to that love of God, we will have all tears wiped away as we see Jesus face to face.

But until then...
Let’s enjoy Special Happy Days like my beautiful daughter’s Special Day! Last year she celebrated a “special” birthday milestone at Disneyworld in California. Mmm...I wonder what you do today – besides teach those children of course.
Happy Birthday Darling Gaylene! We are very proud of you and thrilled that you are so committed to the God who loves you!

And I do hope after this blog you still love your "Muvver"!

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Exciting when New Books arrive!

Ray’s devotional books arrived last week.
My Justice at Baragula arrived last Monday so we have several boxes of books to store away until they are all sold – or given away, so watch this blog! I just checked one Christian bookshop on the internet and Ray’s books have started to arrive on their shelves in cities across Australia while mine are still to make their appearance.

I even eventually managed to work out how to “create an event” on Facebook to let folk know about the book launch we are organising – or at least the first one in Melbourne, Victoria, on Saturday, June 4th at 2.30pm at Ringwood Church of Christ. This will be followed by afternoon tea and the friends of our daughter, Gaylene, are kindly catering for us and would appreciate an RSVP so there will be sufficient goodies.

Now we can also announce the names of the kind folk who are going to launch our books.

John Sharpe, the minister at Ringwood will launch From Eden With Love. We do thank John for all his support.

We are thrilled our dear friend, Jacquiline Purnell, will be home from Bangkok and is launching CHILDREN: God’s Special Interest. She has worked for years with children and has written the forward to this book for Ray. Jacqui and her husband David have worked for many years with World Vision and he is currently their South-East Asian Development Manager.

Delightful, talented author Amanda Deed  will be launching my Justice at Baragula. I was not at all surprised when her challenging Christian novel, "The Game”, won the 2010 CALEB award for Christian Fiction.

Ray is donating the royalties from his devotions about children to the Khayelihle Children’s Village in Zimbabwe, and those from his devotions for married couples to the Australian Christian Lobby which supports Christian Marriage.

As well as all the excitement about our books we have been busy with other activities this last week. It has been very encouraging to receive feed-back about my talk last Thursday at the local Women Aglow meeting. As Ray teases me, I spend days preparing a talk but then get away from my notes as my heart takes over. How could anything else happen when talking about the outward appearance of Christians and their inward appearance that should shine the beauty and fragrance of Jesus to those we meet. As Isaiah 53:2 (NIV) says about the promised One, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him...” yet despite the horror of Him dying on a cross, for those of us who have learned to love Him as Keith Green’s song says,
“O Lord, you’re beautiful,
Your face is all I seek.
For when Your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.”

Another old song should be our daily prayer. “Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, all His compassion and purity.” If only that could be true!
Our prayer is that at least though our writings we may share snippets about the Lord Jesus Christ that will encourage readers to want to know Him as their Saviour and Lord  - and also intimately as their best Friend.

The winner of last weeks giveaway, Outback From Baragula, is Michelle Dennis Evans. Congratulations! Please send me your postal details to mary@mary-hawkins.com and I will have it in the mail for you.

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Another Book Giveaway

Very exciting!

We are expecting Ray’s books to arrive any day! He has been receiving emails that boxes of his books have arrived in Adelaide at the Churches of Christ Global Mission Partner office and from other friends and family too in Queensland and New South Wales. My book, Justice at Baragula is still at the printers but should also be arriving on our doorstep – and in bookshops during the next 2-3weeks.
After finishing preparing my talk for the Women Aglow meeting in Beaconsfield tomorrow morning, I managed to “create an event” on Facebook – my first one. Weell... I did try earlier but didn’t send it to specific folk and now they are probably getting the invitation twice – hopefully no more than that! This is announcing our book launch in Melbourne, Victoria at the Ringwood Church of Christ, Saturday 4th June at 2.30pm

Promotion of books takes TIME! And I’m discovering doing three at once even more complicated. I guess my main problem is trying to do and be involved in too many other things at the same time.


Trying to help readers know whether they can recommend books, authors often offer free copies – Weell... as many as we can afford of course. In later posts I will be giving away Ray’s two books also, so I do suggest if you are not already a Follower of this blog that you become one so you do not miss out. As mentioned in my last giveaway draw, I am giving you an opportunity to read my first two Baragula books before Book Three, Justice at Baragula hits the bookshelves. Unfortunately again I need to limit the draw for Book Two, Outback From Baragula, to readers in Australia and New Zealand. Later in the year when our books will be available as e-books we will celebrate that by more giveaways of them to – everywhere in the world!
About Book Two in the Baragula single title, inspirational romance series:
Meet folk from Baragula again in OUTBACK FROM BARAGULA when Matthew and Emily’s friend, Steve Honeysuckle, heads west to the Davidson’s outback cattle station and Matthew’s sister, Jillian Davidson. He loves his mountain home while she loves the endless plains of the outback. He has strong faith in God, she has none, but together they have to face the dangers of the outback to find Jillian’s missing twin brother and Davidson Downs’ stolen cattle.

To enter the draw, you must leave a comment here. The draw will be Tuesday evening the 10th of May next week Please return to see who the winner is. I will need contact details to send the book to the winner.

ENTER THE DRAW NOW BY LEAVING A COMMENT!