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Candid conversations for the church. Host is Ardin Beech of Windsor District Baptist Church, Sydney, Australia. Co-hosted by Jonathan Hoffman.
Welcome once again to This Week at Windsor, your host Ardin Beach with doctor j. Welcome back.
Jonathan:Great to be back. How's your week going, Arden?
Ardin:Pretty good. Yeah. Pretty good.
Jonathan:We're getting some momentum. Are we? I think so. Okay. Yeah.
Jonathan:We're building right up to Easter.
Ardin:Oh, I thought you meant, like, right behind Joe Rogan on the podcast stats.
Jonathan:Yeah. Joe. We're not quite there yet.
Ardin:Our nemesis. Somewhere out there. One of these one of these days,
Jonathan:Joe Rogan, we're gonna
Ardin:get you. You're gonna be number two.
Jonathan:I will say it's been interesting to watch how this how this form of media podcasting has just taken off, and everyone has a different take on it. I was watching the Conan O'Brien podcast recently. Have you ever seen
Ardin:that one? I don't know if you've seen the podcast, but I've watched his show plenty of times. Yeah.
Jonathan:Yeah. Anyway, the comedian, he's doing he's doing his show. And at one point, he just forgets that he has a guest, and he just starts ranting. I thought, how do I get one of those? No.
Jonathan:No. That would be it got quite boring, and they said, you do have a guest.
Ardin:He's like, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But as you say, momentum is growing. Easter, just around the corner.
Jonathan:Yeah. Just around the corner. Cannot believe it. We're only about, oh, less than two weeks, less than two weeks till we celebrate resurrection Sunday. We got a great week planned.
Jonathan:We're for the week of Easter, we have, starting on Thursday night, reflections at the table. We just finished kind of getting the details buttoned up around that service. It's gonna be really cool. I hope people register. If you are listening to this and you haven't registered yet, encourage you to go online or go through the Church Center app, register for reflections at the table.
Jonathan:We do need a certain number for headcount, so that we can make sure everything's laid out appropriately. But it's gonna be a, yeah, a reflective service, something unlike we've ever done at least since I've been here. And it's gonna be a time to think through Jesus' last words, to his disciples before he went to the cross, which is pretty cool if you think about how important last words are and and what was on Jesus' mind before before that. And just to hear how much love he had for for the disciples and those who would become disciples is quite encouraging. So we're really looking forward to seeing people there.
Jonathan:So I encourage you to register for that if you haven't already. I think as we said last week, Friday at McQuade Park, we're going to have a combined, churches of the Hawkesbury service, for Good Friday. Yeah. We're gonna have some people from WDBC who are gonna be helping with communion. But other than that, there's a lot of churches in our area who are gonna be helping run that service.
Jonathan:There will be a service here at the church at WDBC for those who mobility, means that they can't, get to the park, and it's better to come here. So there will be a very small service here on Good Friday at the normal time at 09:30. And then right back on on Sunday, resurrection Sunday, nine thirty in the morning for our Easter service. Really excited. We got a huge band.
Jonathan:We got a for the stage, it's gonna be, like, chalkers full. We got our wham bands doing an item. We have, yeah, a big band, big great day celebration, hot cross buns after the service. We gotta have you know, I think we're gonna have an egg hunt after the service as well. So just really encouraging people to come and to celebrate with their brothers and sisters.
Ardin:Awesome. Awesome. And for fans of The Chosen, they probably know already, but there's an Easter special too on the Last Supper. Easter, like an Easter episode of The Chosen, which is at Reading opens at Reading Cinemas on Thursday. I don't know how long it's hanging around for.
Ardin:Well, there you go. Yeah.
Jonathan:Well, come here. Don't go there.
Ardin:No. Don't go there. But at some point in the coming weeks
Jonathan:This is gonna be way better than that. Way better because you know us. No one lets, like no one lets you talk in theater anyway.
Ardin:That's right.
Jonathan:No. That's cool. Thank you for sharing that. You guys have been digging the House Of David too, haven't you?
Ardin:Yeah. On on Amazon Prime. Not bad. What's your verdict? We quite enjoyed it.
Ardin:Okay. Yeah.
Jonathan:Did you finish it already?
Ardin:Yeah. Because it's only like six episodes long. It it kind of builds up to the battle with Goliath. That's kind of the first season.
Jonathan:Oh, that's where they cut it.
Ardin:Yep. And so I guess it will will continue on. It seems to have been fairly popular. But, yeah, look, with with all this stuff, it's just their take on it, and you just have to kind of take it as that. They're obviously gonna add stuff in and fill a lot of gaps with looking at the lives of these guys through, like, a, you know, a pinhole in a piece of paper.
Ardin:Like, you don't really see a whole lot. So they're filling in a lot of gaps. The prophet Samuel is kind of this wacky sort of mountain dude, druid looking guy. But Well, there you
Jonathan:go. Yeah.
Ardin:But, no, it's it's it's worth checking out.
Jonathan:Yeah. Alright. That'll be on my list once we get through Easter.
Ardin:Another one coming up is Hymns R Us back once again.
Jonathan:Yeah. Hymns R Us. You famously once emceed Hymns R Us. Twice. Twice?
Ardin:Yeah. Wow. There was a yellow themed one and a purple themed one.
Jonathan:How'd you lose that gig?
Ardin:All I remember.
Jonathan:How'd you lose that gig?
Ardin:I said I just don't have the energy anymore.
Jonathan:Okay. Okay. There you go.
Ardin:These old folks, you know, they've they've got it.
Jonathan:Yeah. They do. No. Hymns R Us, it's a fantastic time. The perfect timing, I would say, just to kinda get your heart going preparing for Easter.
Jonathan:If there's one thing that I really miss about the hymns that doesn't seem to come through as clearly in the songs that we sing today is just that that rush of joy. Like, there's a lot of hymns that just really convey that triumphal Yeah. Victorious joy.
Ardin:All in majesty.
Jonathan:Yeah. That's right. All in majesty. So, yeah, if you feel like, yeah, that would just do your soul some good, I encourage you to come out Saturday the twelfth. It's going to be a great time here, three to five at WDBC, Hymns R Us.
Jonathan:We encourage you to come out and celebrate there.
Ardin:Now way on the other end of the spectrum, all the young folk are heading off to kick in Katoomba.
Jonathan:Yeah. And I'll take that as a compliment because I'll be with the young folk at Katoomba.
Ardin:Yeah. You're just you're just hanging on.
Jonathan:I'm just hanging on fire thread. Now what anchored youth is taken a group of high school students up to the Kutumba Youth Christian Convention in Kutumba. It's a great time every year. Really looking forward to it. The theme this year is on freedom, and I would encourage anyone listening to just be praying for our young people.
Jonathan:I think sometimes we we believe that or we can just sort of take for granted the fact that, yeah, the journey to faith will happen automatically. And we we don't we don't really realize how important times like this are and how important it is for the church to be praying. So I would encourage all the church to be praying. Yeah. Interceding for young people that they would see Jesus in a real way and that they would be responsive to the spirit's work.
Jonathan:But, yeah, pray for that. And and there's one more thing at the Kutumba Christian convention. Later on this year in August, we're going to be taking a group of men up there. So really excited about that. The Kitsumo men's base camp convention, the eighth and ninth.
Jonathan:If there's any men who are listening to this or if you're not a man, but there's a man in your life who who you think would benefit from going, we would love to have them along. We got a group of about, I think, twelve, thirteen right now. Would love to see that grow. As we get ready, we're gonna try to get some shared accommodation. So, yeah, you can go to the website.
Jonathan:Feel free to shoot me an email, and we would happily them in that. Well Arden, enough of us chitchatting back and forth. I'm so excited to welcome today, Pete Davies. Do you like Peter Peter? Pete.
Jonathan:Pete, Pete Davies. There you go.
Pete:Unless you're a salesman, I'm Peter.
Jonathan:You can tell us at the end which name we should use. But, no, great to have you here, Pete. Pete, you've been a member of Windsor Baps for how long?
Pete:Yeah. It'd be about seven years now.
Jonathan:Okay. There you go. Seven years. Time flies. And we got got a few special events coming up.
Jonathan:We're gonna hear a bit about your life in a minute, but one thing that we've been talking about is Katoomba Christian Conventions Base Camp Men's Conference coming up in August. And I know you are someone who's frequented these events. How many years have you gone?
Pete:Probably at least around five years. Yeah.
Jonathan:Okay. And how would you describe the event and for maybe somebody who hasn't been before?
Pete:It's one of those events that really encourages because you're you're all of a sudden surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of other guys, similar age, all with a a similar passion to hear God's word. And and it's not only the preaching from the Bible, but it's the singing and it's the conversation as well. That that is a really, really good day and a half effectively.
Ardin:Is it hard to get men to come along with this sort of stuff? Like, the ladies are amazing in this kind of thing. They were always going off to some event. The food's always incredible. Is it hard to get blokes to kind of step out of their shell a little and?
Pete:Yeah. I think so. I think a a lot of guys, by the end of a working week, are tired, and they're ready to relax over weekend. And so to to then think they've got a ramp up, go somewhere and sit for, you know, for quite a few hours and be engaged with something, yeah, is a challenge for a lot of guys.
Jonathan:How do you find interacting with men you don't know very well? Do you find that a is that a natural space for you? Are you sort of a natural connector, or did it take a while to kinda get out of your comfort zone a little bit?
Pete:Yeah. I I find it fairly easy in that I've I've got a fairly broad background. I've done a number of things. So I've got a got a quite a few things that I can call on to connect with guys, you know, on a whole different range of of things. So, yeah, I I find it quite comfortable.
Jonathan:So maybe you can educate me as the foreigner here in this country. I find
Ardin:Are not Australian?
Jonathan:No. I'm Australian. Immigrant. Don't ask me about tariffs. So how would you educate someone like me who finds the typical Australian male, maybe a little more closed?
Jonathan:What's a good way to get guys talking?
Pete:Yeah. A lot of guys wanna be surface, just certainly to start with. Be talking about sport. That's always an easy one to go to. Finding out what what interests them.
Pete:And I often find that most guys wanna go deeper. And so being bold enough to actually talk a little bit about what's challenging them, things like that, they're oftentimes keen to open up and to to talk about what's really going on. And I think there's a there's a sense sense of yearning to go beyond the surface.
Ardin:You've been to a few of these things. Any sort of favorite memories or just kind of big moments for you?
Pete:Yeah. I I love the singing. I think it's a a powerful event. They always have great a great band, great worship band up the front. They have connecting guys up the front who wanna connect about an experience of their life, where they've been, what they're doing.
Pete:And that's and it's good to see just a real smattering right across Sydney and New South Wales of what different churches are doing, what different mission groups are doing, and that it's a good eye opener because we we tend to get locked into our small world, you know, in our own church, and it's good to see what God's doing outside.
Jonathan:Now you've signed up to go this year. Is that correct? Yes. Excellent. So that means we already got a group of about, I think, 10 to 15 people who are keen already to come.
Jonathan:So that's a good start.
Pete:Yeah. And one of the one of the big things is you've gotta be there for Friday night tea. It's a great meal.
Ardin:And Saturday
Pete:morning breakfast, it's it's it's a winner for sure.
Jonathan:That's awesome. Well, speaking of kind of connecting, shifting topics a little bit here, I understand that you've recently connected with someone close in your life, yeah, over the scripture. Can you tell us, you know, for those of us who are used to just talking about church at church, how did you how did you develop this relationship around the bible? Yeah.
Pete:Yeah. So my daughter, twelve months ago now, I suppose, came to me and said, oh, dad, let's start up a book club. She lives in the center of Sydney, and and she just says, oh, you know, let let's go with book club. And I said, oh, what does that mean to you, Matt? And she said, oh, well, I'll read a couple of pages of a book, and you read a couple of pages of book of a book.
Pete:And and so I said to her, look, you probably wouldn't be interested in the sort of books, the novels that I read. Why would you mind if I read a couple of pages of the bible each time? And and she said, yeah. Yeah. That'd be fantastic.
Pete:So we actually have create or she has created a a Monday afternoon book club, just her and I. And so she started out reading just one, you know, fairly neutrally book that didn't say a whole lot, but she loved. And I listened and we talked about it. And then I read a couple of pages of the bible. And she you know, we talked about that as well.
Pete:So about a month month and a half later, she said to me, oh, I've I've run out of things to to read, dad. You know? Well, I don't know what to do. And I said, well, why don't I buy buy us both the bible in novel form? So the Max Lucado has written a a bible more as a novel.
Pete:And so so I bought that, and I I bought one for myself, sent it to her. And so we've been reading that for the last eight months or so. And so yeah. So that that became a really meaningful time for us both because we we connected, you know, over our lives as well and shared the bible. And quite a few months in, she was getting really bogged bogged down in the old testament.
Pete:You know, how come god would would slay the his people or kill these people? It's so unfair, and, you know, that's that's just not right. And so, you know, I said, look. Why don't we just jump over to the New Testament? Let's get away from the the judgmental side of things, the way she was seeing God at at that point in time.
Pete:And so so eventually, we get to Nicodemus and and the rich man who wanted to go to heaven and all that sort of thing. And one of the beautiful things about Maddie is she asks great questions and honest questions. And she she doesn't just sugarcoat it. She just calls it as she sees it. And and so we'd have really rich conversations about that.
Pete:And so a month ago, I just had a real sense that it was at a point in time where I felt it appropriate to challenge, you know, where she was at. Because I think a big part of where she was at, she felt she was a Christian, but she was a Christian because she was she'd been born into a Christian home. Mhmm. So that was her sense of what being a Christian was. So so we met up together at at the beach at Bondi One afternoon, and I said, oh, look.
Pete:Maybe where are you at, you know, with giving your life to Jesus? You know, is there something stopping you? And she said, well, dad, how do you know that Christianity is right and other religions are wrong? You know, we talked through some of that, and and I just left it there. You know?
Pete:And so we I went with her to a church that I'd connected her up with over at Bondi and at that night. And at the end of the service, the the pastor there gave a gospel call and said, you know, look, anyone who'd like to become a Christian, just stay behind or, you know, raise your hands, let me know. And she she lifted her hands to become a Christian. And the funny thing was that after at the end of that service, she says to me, dad, did you arrange that with the pastor? And I said, no.
Pete:Said, no. Not at all. You know? And it was just God's timing. Really, at the end of the day, I hadn't done anything that the holy spirit wasn't already doing.
Pete:And it was just God's time, God's place for her. And and he'd been speaking into her life for quite some time. And it was just real blessing for me to be a part of that journey and to see her finally come to the Lord because she'd she'd been into fairly dark places in her teenage years and to just see that come right around and for her just to be at a place where she was ready to give her life to the Lord.
Ardin:You talk about those dark years. As a parent, is that how hard is that? They come to an age where, you know, you can no longer just sort of boss them around. They're their own person. They can do whatever they like.
Ardin:Yeah. As as a Christian parent seeing that, how how tough was that journey for you?
Pete:Yeah. I think that was probably one of the lowest points I'd got to. My marriage had broken down. Maddie was living with me, and she'd gotten into stealing from shops, doing a lot of illegal things. And I remember saying to her one day, it got so bad that I said, Matt, if you do that one more time, I'm gonna have to have you arrested and taken to the police station.
Pete:She went around and and did it again. And I said, Matt, this can't go on because I could see this trajectory of her her getting worse and worse and worse. And if I didn't deal with it, I I could only imagine where her life would end up. So she did it again. I said, Mad, we're going to the police station.
Pete:So there aren't many dads that have to get to a point where they've gotta have their daughter arrested Because I'd drawn a line in the sand. She'd abused that, gone beyond it. And to this day, you know, it's it's still painful. But years later, five years later, she turned around and said to me, dad, that was probably the best thing you ever did. Just to for her to recognize the importance of that moment, that she knew I was a man of my word, and and I wouldn't go beyond that.
Pete:And, yes, God has been very faithful to that.
Ardin:It certainly sounds like you have an amazing relationship now.
Pete:Yeah. No. It's lovely. Blessing.
Jonathan:Going back to those conversations because I I'm just envisioning people listening to this and thinking to themselves, you know, there's someone in my life I'm close to I'd love to share my faith with and maybe aren't sure how to have those conversations. Can you maybe zoom in and take us into that moment where you've just read the bible. Right? You've just read, let's say, Jesus and Nicodemus. What do you say next?
Jonathan:Do you have a question pre prepared? Do you do you wait for the other person to speak? How do you what do you do in that time after you've, you know, just you've just read aloud God's God's truth?
Pete:Yeah. One of the beautiful things that we're able to talk about is how big it was to see the miraculous. And so for me to talk about Jesus and his the miraculous works that he did as quite the norm, for me to express to Maddie that that's the way god is. God is the god of the miraculous. God is a healing god.
Pete:God is a God that takes us from here to there and wants only the very best. One of the things I was always very conscious of was letting the holy spirit do the work, you know. He and he would raise the questions, you know, through Mattie's heart. And so we'd we'd just talk through things really honestly and really openly. And if I didn't have an answer, I I would just be honest and say, look, I've got no idea, man.
Pete:You know? But, you know, I've never I've I've never never thought of it or, you know, it's it's it's one of those mystery things. And and we allow God to have his mystery because that's god who God is. You know? He's a god of of of the unknown, and he he reveals himself to us when he's in his ways, when he's ready to to do that.
Jonathan:You mentioned that you've had some low times in your life. What would you say to someone who's currently in a low time? You know? Maybe for life circumstance reasons or just, you know, maybe they're just feeling really low. How would you encourage them in recovering the trust they had in the Lord or perhaps just enduring for whatever season this is that they're in?
Pete:I think for me, not stopping going to church, not stop stopping having fellowship with other people, maintaining a quiet time. And you don't always feel like it. You don't always, you know, feel like, yeah, I'm gonna talk with people at church or or be amongst other Christians. But I think it's it's really helpful when that's just a part of what you do every week. It's it's your tradition.
Pete:It's your culture. And so it's not foreign to suddenly be going to church or anything like that. So, yeah, for me, it was really helpful just to maintain that through thick and thin.
Ardin:Just like training on the bike.
Pete:Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Definitely.
Jonathan:That's right. You guys have that in common, don't you? Yeah. Well, we have it
Ardin:in common in the sense that Peter's a thousand times better than me.
Pete:Oh, maybe I just tell people that.
Jonathan:You're both fans of the two wheel transport.
Pete:That's right. Definitely. That's the way to go. Yeah.
Jonathan:You both have spent time on the mission field. Is that correct? Mhmm. Where did you
Pete:Yeah. So I I went to Nigeria. Okay. So I went to be a technical trainer over in over in a place called Joss in the Plateau State over there. And I just remember arriving there thinking, I just wanna die on the mission field.
Pete:I just fell so deeply in love with it. And the people and the culture, and it just connected with me like nothing else. And yeah. So it's a real real passion, particularly for, well, for Nigeria that where my main experience was. And, yeah, just seeing what God is doing over there.
Pete:It's great seeing people that live life on a totally different level in a real sense of God awareness rather than, you know, in Australia where we can take that that those moments in our life with stuff. You know? And, you know, when we need something, we might get a loan or get work for more money or something like that, but it's totally different over there.
Ardin:Yeah. We get very complacent here, don't we?
Pete:We do.
Jonathan:Yeah. Well, we've been really encouraged to have you on, Pete. Thank you so much for sharing your story and Yeah. Thank you. And bringing bringing to life those deep places in the heart, particularly in relationship and the cost of of loving your children is something that's not often mentioned.
Pete:No. And it's a and it's a great privilege, you know, just to be able to be there for them. And one of the things I didn't say was no matter what, just fall back on grace and love them no matter what because that's what Jesus would have done. You know, they they could have done anything, and I would still love them and still express that and say, you can do whatever you like. I'm still here, and I'm still gonna love you regardless.
Ardin:I'd have to get Pete up behind the pulpit sometime. Yeah. I know. Let's do it. Yeah.
Ardin:Cool. Cool. Alright. Thanks for joining us.
Pete:Thank you.
Ardin:Pete Davies. Thanks, Pete. Pleasure. Every time we have a guest on, I'm surprised and amazed at the stories that come out every time.
Jonathan:What a great story. I just appreciate not only his faithfulness to enter in, but his willingness to share that with us. And, yeah, he just told it so well. Life, I find, is full of those little moments, and we often don't appreciate them when they come. So it's a real reminder to me of taking the opportunities that arise when they come.
Ardin:What a journey as a parent. Like, the the sheer number of parents out there that would just be praying for kids, just faithfully praying for kids. Yeah. I'm seeing that come to fruition. Just amazing.
Ardin:Yeah. Another incredible episode, if I do say so myself.
Jonathan:Absolutely. Another point for book clubs.
Ardin:Indeed. Are we gonna do it all again next week?
Jonathan:Yes. Hopefully. Lord willing.
Ardin:Who have we got lined up?
Jonathan:Who do we not have lined up?
Ardin:That's the question.