Mike Oliver's Messages

Last spring I climbed Mt Somers with two others.  I was the oldest and the weakest and invited them to follow me.  Once we had climbed the mountain I took them to the edge of the sheer south face.  I marched over to the most exposed rock and sat there enjoying the view.  One of them cautiously followed me but the other became paralysed about five metres behind us.  The fear of falling from that great height over the precipice overcame him.  He never did get within three metres of where we were sitting.  I must admit the first time I approached that sheer face a few months earlier I was also slightly anxious.  However, even on that first event though cautious, I sat on the edge without fear dominating my life.  I was not trying to save my life because nobody was going to take it from me; God and I have a thing going on. A similar incident happened recently while walking around Mt Maunganui. I was taking a photograph of my son and daughter-in-law with my back foot over the edge of the

In this reading Jesus has been seeking, much like us, some peace away from the ministry in the region of the coast.  In the Mark version it says that Jesus entered a house and wanted nobody to know it, but he could not be hidden.  I so know how that feels and yet there are moments of gold in it all.  Shelley and I have been on retreat in these last two weeks.  This was our break away from ministry and machine testing to take time out as it were to plug in to the source and recharge your batteries.  Christian friends graciously allowed us to use their Mt Maunganui place again; a quite luxurious three storied apartment.  From there we took walks on the beaches the of the ocean side or the Harbour side, even around the mount which we did.  Many coffee shops were less than a minute away, restaurants, picture theatre, shops and of all types.  It is a beautiful place to be and a contrast to the beauty of the Canterbury scenery.  Boats moored on a place at harbour, surfers sitting on their bo

I so wanted to sail it myself. When I was about twelve I guess my older brother had been working with my Pop building a P Class yacht. When it was finished I watched my brother sail his beautiful red and white creation all over the place. Then one day while on holiday at Mairangi Bay, north Auckland, I was given my chance. I was eager but also fearful at the same time; eager to sail into the horizon and fearful of what might happen if the yacht capsized on me away out there in the deep. I guess I prayed about it, I don’t remember. The idea came to me to get rid of my fear by purposely flipping the boat to practice righting it again in the shallows and relative safety of the bay. So I hauled in the main sheet, pulled the tiller hard over and climbed over the side as the sail dropped to the water stood on the keel and up she popped again as I climbed back in hardly even wet. Now that I had conquered the mind numbing fear that burdened me I had of faith not a doubt in the world that I cou