WRITTEN WITH MUCH GRATITUDE TO MY LORD IN MY EIGHTIETH YEAR

I have grown to understand that one of the most important qualities a leader can possess is that of perspective which I define as seeing my life through the sovereign eyes of God. This is critical for the very reason Isaiah wrote,

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”   Isaiah 55:8-9

A life of perspective is made up of many important experiences that can be seen as defining moments. I haven’t always recognised these defining moments and the unfolding consequences that have followed, for it has only sometimes been on reflection that I have fully understood how God was working out His purposes in my life at that point in time.

Consequently, I have found that the roadway of our lives is marked with defining moments where our life’s purpose and destiny are being shaped. I am learning to read the Bible with “defining moment eyes” as I see how the sovereign hand of God was at work in people’s lives without them necessarily understanding the consequences at the time of a particular event.

Joseph’s brothers sold him to Midianite merchants, and this began a series of defining moments that finally led Joseph to become the Prime Minister of Egypt and be reunited with his brothers where he told them,
“I am your brother Joseph that you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that GOD SENT ME ahead of you….. to preserve for you a remnant on earth to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me the father to Pharoah, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” Genesis 45:4-8

Consider the defining moment in Mary’s life when this teenage virgin girl encountered the angel Gabriel who said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call Him Jesus.” Luke 1:30-31 And the heavens stood still as Mary pondered this defining moment that would forever change her life and indeed the history of the world. Little did she know what lay ahead of her when she answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” Luke 1:38 If ever a defining moment had enormous consequences, surely it was this one where Mary encountered the Angel Gabriel.

Defining moments often require us to take courageous faith steps that have great consequences as it did for the patriarch Abram where the Lord said to him,
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1
The defining moments stories in the Bible are many and varied. I have always been stirred by the story of a young woman named Esther who was asked by her Uncle Mordecai to risk her life and go to the Persian king Xerxes to request that the Jewish nation be saved from extinction. And Mordecai sent a defining moment message to Esther, “Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther sends a reply to Mordecai, “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law and if I perish, I perish.”  Esther 4:14,16
Even Jesus would experience a number of defining moments with one of the most notable being in the garden of Gethsemane on the night He was arrested. He was burdened by the unfolding events that awaited Him. The one who knew no sin would become sin and take upon Himself the penalty for your sin and mine. And all alone Jesus prayed, “My Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  Mark 14:36
No greater defining moment do we have than that in the history of the world. No greater consequences hung in the balance.
With the benefit of hindsight and the perspective that it brings, I have reflected on some of the unfolding defining moments that have shaped my life and through them all I have seen the fingerprint of a sovereign God at work step by step through the years.

The following are some of my defining moments and the people who were responsible for them.

• My Mother : She took me to church from a young age. At the age of fifteen, I responded to a call to surrender my life to my saviour Jesus Christ. On that same night my mother also responded and a few weeks later we were both baptised.
• Jim Thompson : Jim was my youth leader and saw potential gifting in my life that no one else recognised. So much so that he opened a door for me to start preaching in a nearby church when I was eighteen years old.
• The Australian Army : I was conscripted into the Australian Army for two years at the age of twenty. Although this step was not of my choosing, at the conclusion of it all I could reflect on how this had been a defining moment. During this season of my life God was teaching me to live courageously for Him and the importance of coming under authority, a lesson I needed to learn if He was going to entrust me with authority. I now serve as a chaplain to my Army unit.
• John Murley : John was a leader in the Baptist denomination in my home state and recognised in me a gift of leadership. At the age of twenty-four he chose me to lead the Baptist youth work in my state which involved organising evangelistic youth rallies each month for seven hundred young people and an annual youth camp.
• Bud Schaeffer : Bud was an American missionary who came to serve in my state with a keen interest in basketball evangelism. He encouraged me to take the leadership of a new Australian ministry called Venture for Victory Basketball. This involved sending Australian basketball teams to Asian countries travelling from village to village using basketball as a means of sharing the good news of Jesus with the goal of planting churches in these villages.
• Sue Denton : My marriage to Sue was a significant defining moment in my life as much of my unfolding life would not have been possible without my union with her. She was a gift chosen by God to partner me in my life and ministry and be a wonderful mother to our two daughters. Sue’s unique gifting and joyful spirit resulted in her blessing an endless number of people in her own special way. She also grew to be a gifted teacher, worship leader and mentor of young women. I have to say that her presence alongside of me always seemed to make me look better and sound better…..really. 
• Rowland Croucher : Sue and I sat next to Rowland on a flight on our honeymoon. Rowland was the pastor of the largest Baptist church in Australia. We parted company not expecting to meet again. However, to our surprise we received a phone call from Rowland four months later. His purpose for calling was to invite me to join his ministry team in the state of Victoria as pastor for youth and young adults. Initially we struggled to envisage how this could be, as I seemed to be so unprepared for such a calling. But with the passing of time, we came to a strong conviction that this was God’s calling for us. This resulted in one of the most unexpected defining moments that we would ever experience.
• John Mallison : A year later I attended a seminar by John, one of Australia’s leading teachers on Christian discipleship. I was stirred by John as he spoke, and gradually felt a strong prompting by the Holy Spirit to ask John to be my mentor. I connected with him a few months later and spent the day sharing my life with him. At the close of our time together, I asked him if he would become my mentor. He accepted and for the next thirty years he became a wonderful friend and guide, not only to me but to my family. He profoundly impacted my life. John invited me to write chapters in his various books, and I shared in my lighter moments of how John and I co-authored books.
  
• Summer School of Youth Leadership
  The ministry to youth and young adults at Blackburn Baptist Church gradually took shape and steady growth occurred as a result of a small group discipleship strategy. News of this ministry attracted the interest of other youth leaders which led to an unexpected defining moment. We were prompted to start a Summer School of Youth Leadership resulting in over one hundred leaders from all of the states of Australia attending this week-long training experience at the beginning of each year. In addition, I started to travel to other states to conduct training programs which led to a multiplication of discipling youth ministries across Australia.
  
• Dr Roberta Hestenes : After nine years in full time ministry, I began to sense a prompting from the Holy Spirit that it was time to undertake some form of full-time study. About that time, I became aware of a seminar with Dr Roberta Hestenes from Fuller Seminary as the speaker and I was moved to attend. Following the morning sessions, I felt encouraged to ask Dr Hestenes if I could meet with her over lunch and during the encounter that followed, I shared how I was seeking the Lord’s leading regarding full-time study. By the end of our conversation Dr Hestenes looked at me and said, “I believe God wants you to study at Fuller Seminary.” I had a conviction that this was a defining moment and later that day met with Sue and shared my story. Twelve months later, Sue and I with our two young girls and eight suitcases arrived in America to begin a two-year season of intense study that would take me through twenty-four subjects, equipping me for my unfolding life.
  
• Clovercrest Baptist Church :
  After eleven years at Blackburn Baptist Church, I started to sense that our time at Blackburn was coming to an end and that God was preparing me to take on a role as lead pastor at another church. It wasn’t long after, that my home church in South Australia called me to return and be their lead pastor. By now I felt well equipped to take on this role and reflected on how God had been preparing me for this next defining moment as we made our way back to South Australia.
  

• Doug Birdsall : Four years after returning to South Australia, I received a surprise call from Doug Birdsall, a fellow student from Fuller Seminary. Doug was in Japan and he shared a vision of training and mobilising leaders across the countries of Asia. He asked me to join him in Singapore to help develop this unfolding vision. Doug mentioned that he was greatly encouraged by my participation in the leadership classes that we shared at Fuller Seminary. Even though I was fully occupied as Lead Pastor of my church, I sensed a strong prompting of the Holy Spirit to meet with Doug and what followed was a divine appointment that opened a door to eight Asian countries for me to teach week-long leadership courses using materials I had developed. This defining moment resulted in a sphere of influence opening up for me that was beyond my wildest dreams.
  
• Dr Ed Silvoso : I met Dr Ed Silvoso in one of my leadership classes at Fuller Seminary where he spoke on the amazing revival of Christianity that was taking place in Argentina. As he spoke, I felt a prompting to ask him if I could travel to Argentina to witness this revival of the Holy Spirit. Within a matter of weeks, I was flying to Argentina for a two-week tour of the revival in that country. I was deeply impacted by yet another defining moment.
  Five years later, after I had settled back in South Australia, I felt prompted to contact Ed and invite him to come to Australia to share his story of revival with leaders in three Australian states. His time in my home state of South Australia greatly stirred a large number of leaders of churches who then asked me if I would facilitate a statewide prayer movement that became known as Pray South Australia. This timely prompt of the Holy Spirit to bring Ed Silvoso to Australia would be a defining moment in the life of the church in our nation.
  
• Equipping The Next Generation : Twenty five years after my entry into full-time ministry and fifteen years after my appointment as Lead Pastor of Clovercrest Baptist Church I was sensing a growing awareness that the Lord was calling me out of pastoral ministry into a new season of service that would involve me starting up my own ministry to be called, Equipping The Next Generation.
  And so in 2018, Sue and I took a faith step to move out, trusting God for our needs and for His open doors. My ministry now consists of writing and resourcing a multitude of leaders in many different countries, of coaching leaders and conducting overseas seminars by way of Zoom Here was another defining moment that would take me to a new level of influence in my ministry.
  In the process, I began to produce a regular online resource called EQUIP. Leaders from a wide range of countries now receive regular editions of EQUIP. In particular, leaders from countries that have limited access to such resources are benefitting from their availability and using them to conduct their own leadership training programs across their nation.

These are some of the defining moments that resulted in encounters with people who were used by God in His unfolding plans for my life.
Paul wrote about this to the Ephesians,
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10
In the process, I have never needed to push a door open but rather needed to stay abiding in Christ and be sensitive to the prompts of the Holy Spirit and walk in unity with Sue.

IN SUMMARY, DEFINING MOMENTS…….

1. REVEAL GOD’S FINGERPRINT ON OUR LIVES.
   Defining moments give us perspective regarding God’s unfolding purposes for our lives. It helps us to understand what on earth we are here for. Defining moments remind us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
2. DEFINE OUR FUTURE.
   The way we respond has consequences and contributes to our unfolding destiny for good or for bad. I think of the defining moment when ten out of the twelve Israelite scouts came back with a bad report after exploring the promised land. They wanted to go back to Egypt and in that defining moment of disobedience a destiny was sacrificed, and another forty years would elapse before a new generation would enter the promised land.
3. REQUIRE US TO TAKE STEPS OF FAITH.
   God’s defining moments at times surprised us and required us to trust Him when we stepped out without financial support or the provision of accommodation or schooling for our children. However, time and time again we experienced the provision of a God who promised to provide all of our needs and in the process taught us to walk by faith.
4. CAN COME UNEXPECTEDLY.
   I have mentioned how Sue and I had only been married for a few months when we had an unexpected call into ministry that cut across the careers that we had planned out for us. And I had no formal training, and Sue would not be able to practice as a dental hygienist in our new state of residence. And she would be required to suddenly live as a pastor’s wife in a very large church. After much wrestling and tears, we were led to say as Mary said, “We are the Lord’s servants. May it be unto us as you have said.” Luke 1:38
5. REQUIRE US TO LIVE LIVES OF COMPLETE SURRENDER.
   Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to save the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  Mark 8:34-38

6. GROW US.
   It is in responding to the challenges that come when we embrace God’s defining moments that we grow and, in the process, go to new levels of impact and influence in our service for God. We grow in our giftedness, and we grow in our walk with God and our understanding of who He is.

7. REQUIRE US TO FOLLOW THE PROMPTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
   Because God’s ways are not necessarily our ways or according to our logic, it is important that we develop a relationship of intimacy with the Holy Spirit and learn to follow His prompts. This requires us to spend quality time in reading God’s word and prayer. God’s leading in God’s timing will never lack God’s resources.
8. DO NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT FAILURE HAS TO BE FINAL.
   On the occasion of Jesus’ trial, Peter denied Him three times. After the third denial we read, “Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, ‘Before the rooster crows you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”  Matthew 27:75.
   But Peter would have other defining moments where he would redeem himself even though Jesus indicated the kind of death he would die to glorify God.
   John 21:18 Failure doesn’t need to be final.

I wouldn’t be writing this article if I hadn’t encountered God’s timely and purposeful defining moments along the way. There are moments where I have learnt to trust God in difficult times, where I have walked by faith through God’s open doors, where I have overcome my fears to embrace new challenges, where in the disappointing times I have found God to be the one who is working purposefully and for good, and where in every defining moment I have found that God has always been my provider.

So, how about you as you read this article? It just may be that you are facing a defining moment right now and our sovereign God is at work in your life shaping you and preparing you for a future that will amaze you. I encourage you to pass the tests, to take faith steps, to trust God, and to walk courageously into the future God is preparing for you.