About Jeff Stacey and this website

I am married and live near Sydney, Australia.

As a child and teenager I attended church activities weekly with my family. Yet Christian concerns were only a “compartment” of my life, alongside other things like sport that were my main interests.

But I had a personal crisis as a 20 year old university student. I was desperate. It resulted on 23rd September 1961 in my “discovering God” through starting to make Him my highest priority. I just couldn’t cope any other way. I became a committed, “born again” Christian – and was surprised by joy! It proved to be a life-changing event, probably saving me from a deeply troubled and fruitless life, or worse. The Bible was suddenly enthralling reading, instead of being boring and obscure. I remember these words of Jesus Christ becoming true for me:

“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, they will find out whether my teaching comes from God.” [John 7:17]

Yet for a while I struggled to live out my new commitment. After another crisis about three years later, I began to read a bit of the Bible and pray every morning. My living as a committed Christian then became more stable and positive. I was also more open about my faith. I have kept up my daily Bible reading and praying ever since.

In my life there have been some tough situations and also many wonderful outcomes. Yet my learning to live as a committed Christian has always been “a work in progress”. Many are better at it than me. But really the only comparison I can make is with myself. God is real to me and I am a changed, better, fulfilled person. For example, I don’t just think about my own concerns all the time, as I used to.

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After graduating in civil engineering (BE) from the University of Sydney in 1964 I worked as a highways engineer for about 25 years in Sydney and some regional centres in south eastern Australia. During this time I also studied in Sydney at the Baptist (Morling)Theological College and gained a BD(hons) degree awarded by the Melbourne College of Divinity.

In 1992 I left engineering and did part-time lecturing for about 10 years in a small theological college and several Bible schools. I gained an MTh degree awarded by the Australian College of Theology and also began developing this website (see “Building this website”).

Working on this website and its flow charts method is an inspiring and creatively satisfying project. I can relate to John Bunyan’s description of producing his 1678 classic, “The Pilgrim’s Progress”:

More than twenty things which I set down.

This done, I twenty more had in my crown;

And they again began to multiply…

… I only thought to make

I knew not what: nor did I undertake

Thereby to please my neighbour: no, not I;

I did it my own self to gratify …

… Thus I set pen to paper with delight,

And quickly had my thoughts in black and white.

For having now my method by the end,

Still as I pulled it came; and so I penned

It down, until at last it came to be,

For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.

Well, when I had put my ends together,

I showed them others, that I might see whether

They would condemn them, or them justify

And some said, let him live; some, let him die;

Some said: John print it; others said, not so.

Some said, it might do good; others said, no.

Now I was in a strait, and did not see

Which was the best thing to be done by me;

At last I thought, since you are thus divided,

I print it will; and so the case decided.

[Quoted from The Complete Works of John Bunyan (Brantford, Ontario, 1877), page 85. Our old leather-bound copy of this volume is a treasured heirloom of my wife’s family, who are direct descendants of Bunyan.]

So I too have “set my pen to paper with delight”, then said to my website “let it live”! But totally unlike Bunyan’s masterpiece, my efforts will always be a very amateur work in progress.

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Although I am not an ordained minister, I have various responsibilities in my church and am actively involved with other Christian organisations.

I am now 81 and I thank God my health is still fairly good. Yet some major things are shifting. The energy levels of my wife and myself are declining, many of our life-long friends are in poor health and a few have died (including my wife’s dearly loved sister only in June 2023). So we think about old age and death more than we used to. What’s up ahead? Can we know? What should we do?

At least, based on the Bible, I know that when I die I will go to live with God forever. I have had this God-given inner assurance all my adult life. It’s because I have admitted my moral imperfections (“sinfulness”) to God and definitely accepted His free offer that has made me acceptable to Him. This offer is “too good to be true, but it IS true”. It’s the amazing gift of God’s total forgiveness for all aspects of my whole life that have been offensive to Him. This forgiveness is the result of the death of Jesus Christ. That was the substitute for the death penalty ultimately due to me (and us all) for failing to fully honour God in my life [Isaiah 53:4,5,6,11]. As the song says, “amazing grace”!

Jesus Christ said: “Any person who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” [John 11:25-26]

The Apostle Paul wrote: “. . . for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain . . . to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” [Philippians 1:21,23]

This offer is available to anyone, if they want and seek it. Yes, it’s an offer too good to be true . . . yet it is true.

BUT, since I believe and know all this is true, what kind of a person would I be if I didn’t try to let others know? Actually, communicating this is every Christian’s responsibility, as commanded by Jesus Christ Himself [Matthew 28:18-19,20]. But it’s often not easy to do. I just try to be respectful and sensitive. It’s the core reason why I’ve told my story here on the web.

In our free and prosperous country it’s all too easy to feel no need of God or give Him any serious thought. This is really sad for my fellow Australians, because God loves all people and wants His best for each of us. But that happens only if we want Him and His ways more than our own. He respects our freedom to choose and doesn’t force us to submit to Him. But He “owns the game” and ultimately will hold each of us responsible and accountable for how we have responded to Him.

Obviously, this is very serious and urgent. After all, it’s about GOD, life, death and eternity – and you, and me . . .

Sincerely,

Jeff Stacey