Canberra

Well here I am in the nations capital and I have to say it is extremely controlled in its layout due to territory government planning. It probably is the most beautiful city I've been in due to the numerous parks, ovals and bushland distributed throughout the city giving it that rural feel. With a population of approx 340,000 it is quite a nice city.

It was probably the most beautiful part of my trip once again from Melbourne to here with the hills getting taller and steeper and my climbing of them getting slower. Though I take much comfort in the fact that the trucks struggle up them too.

So I went up from Kilsyth on the Maroondah Highway and spent a lovely night on the side of the mountain overlooking the Maroondah dam much to the disappointment of many couple who came up to this romantic spot. The next day I proceeded up this steep, windy road ignoring a sign saying how dangerous the next 16k was due to the boy or the signs in this case often crying wolf. It was a very dangerous road. I was tempted to turn around about 3k in but the effort to get back would get me further so I continued on. Two hours after I had left that morning I had made a whooping 7k! I proceeded to eat copious amounts of food in order to maintain energy levels. Then as I was heading off from my break who should pull me over but the police. The policeman from Maryville Police station proceeded to inform me of the dangers of this stretch of road. Apparently the police had been angrily informed by numerous good citizens of the public of my presence on this stretch of road so they sent not one, but two police cars to turn around this dangerous daredevil cyclist. Anyway because I was already halfway when the police got to me they decided it wasn't worthwhile making go back and they took me through to the other side of the pass. So with the bike on top of the Landcruiser and the trailer in the boot of the commodore we went through, my thanks go to the Maryville Police for taking me through and not making me go back.

I went to church in Alexandra and ended up getting a lift out to near a town called Merton where I spent the night with a lovely couple from the church, Paul and Lisa Hobby. I then headed up to Bonnie Doon just because it was in The Castle, it was awesome. I went north from there up to the Hume Highway via Benalla to Albury Wodonga where I stayed with some more lovely people there. I then headed up to Holbrook the navy's unofficial base in the wheat/sheep belt of NSW where I spent Sunday and the next Sunday (Easter Sunday) after riding up to Gundagai and back just for kicks.

I then proceeded back up the Hume towards Gundagai, cutting off towards Tumut on the Snowy Mountains Highway where I broke my speed record, now a ripping 72km/h. I headed up the Hume again after cutting back from Tumut to Gundagai, heading towards Yass where by "coincidence" or as I like to say Godincidence I ran into some people I know from WA in this incredibly small town called Bookham on the Hume. I had my coldest night ever at Yass and then headed down to Canberra.

On a deeper note in this stage of my trip I have really experienced God's goodness to me through other people. Also I have come to a greater awareness of the actual world, a world where there are spiritual things we do not (usually) see, where the physical directly impacts on the spiritual.

Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

And I have learnt a lot about prayer, it's power and importance. How great would it be if all the church were united together within themselves and with God in prayer.

I pray that it would be as in the early days of the church (if we consider the church of the new testament rather than the old) where "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." Acts 4:32

May the Lord my God, the God who has always been and always will be, bless you and keep you, working in all of your lives always
Nathan

Literature of the month:

"Pray for prayer. Pray until you can pray. Pray to be helped to pray, and do not give up praying because you cannot pray. It is when you think you cannot pray that you are most praying." Charles Spurgeon

"While God's power is increasing evident in many "Third World" countries, much of the western church seems to be spluttering towards extinction. We are often overly distracted away from our basic mission into a labyrinth of preoccupations with liberation, feminist or post-modern theologies, not to mention our skirmishes with various forms of secular culture or just with other Christians. Affluence allows for such leadership luxuries" - Stuart Robinson 'Positioning for Power'

Nathan's poems

Manure
People have become manure
The filth of the earth
The useless excretions of a heritage of sin

And yet God uses this manure
He takes it and puts into it a seed
He waters it with the work of the Holy Spirit
And gives to it the light of his word
And up out of the filth comes the goodness
Of a beautiful flower

Psalm 14:3 - All have turned aside,they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good,not even one.
Mark 10:18 - No one is good—except God alone

Grace
The flowers of grace
Spring from the ashes of sacrifice
Amidst a dew of forgiveness
Without forgiveness and sacrifice there would be no grace
Without grace man would not know love

Romans 3:23, 6:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The caring God

What if the storms on the hilltops
The descension of God's presence
The rain his tears at the state of man
The clouds to dim his view
To try and numb the pain he sees

And yet, the more he weeps
Then suddenly the flood gates break
And lightening strikes the evil man

For the Lord is slow to anger
Abounding in love and faithfulness
Seeing every child's tear
Feeling every person's pain