Does sin attack you or do you attack your sin?

"The best offence is defence" Is this true for us today in our battle against sin?

The armour of God is different to armour we would wear if we were playing cricket. Not because its cricket vs spiritual armour but because its not as simple as 'putting the armour on'. We dont just go into a room and and put on the helmet of salvation as though we put on a cricket helmet, we dont just pick up our Bible as we do a cricket bat.

I dont wear my cricket pads down the street, I only wear them when Im about to play cricket. The armour of God is different. "put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13)

Our fight against sin starts when we wake up. It is a constant battle. It is something we put on, and have on all the time so that when we are tempted, when we are attacked, we still stand firm. We dont take it off like my cricket pads.

By having this armour on all the time we attack sin. We attack it so when it attacks us we are ready for it, we have weakend its grip on us. The armour of God as found in Ephesians 6 are: Truth, righteousness, readiness of the gospel, salvation, the word of God and faith. These are all things which we need to work at. We cannot simply pray, "put the armour of God on us" and walk out into a spiritual battle without searching our hearts for sin, unrighteousness, false-truths, faithlessness, and salvationless.

We need to attack sin. The armour of God attacks sin! Righteousness comes from God. Romans 6 says to kill unrighteousness, and to raise with Jesus in love. We find truth in ther Bible, is taking a Bible into Spiritual battle any good unless we know of the blessings and curses it promises?

Our fight starts as soon as we wake up. Attack sin. Ask God to convict you of your sin. Repent and renounce your sin. Give your life totally to God. Live by faith. Read and pray the Bible! Attack your sin! Dont let it rule you!

Where is the devil attacking you? How can you attack sin so that when the day of evil comes you will be able to stand then stand some more?

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:18)

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22)

"put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13)

Happy Christmas every one! Hope you all hada good one! I know I did! I got to go to Adelaide and have Chrissy with my aunties, uncles and cousins!

However God challenged me while I was over there. I wont go into details but a family I know was having a TERRIBLE time. They still are. The time that was suppose to be a happy family time was not. In fact it was and is currently a time of gut wrenching, anxious waiting, not knowing what the future will hold.

A few days before Christmas at 614 I saw a lady in the drop in centre, for some reason she stood out to me. She stood out in my heart. My heart literally 'went out to her'. I felt horrible, feelings of hopeless lonliness filled my heart. I did what I could for her, but how much will that help her? Will that give her hope?

The point is this, Christmas, though it is a happy time for most of us, isnt for others. There is a problem of sin in the world. It enslaves us, divides families, breaks relationships, makes us not love. There a illions of hopeless, helpless loaners at this time of the year.

Dont read this and say "thats true" but then go on living the same, think of a way you can help someone, a way you can love someone this festive season. As Christ has come into this world, we are in the world, how can we dwell amongst those who need the love of Christ this Christmas time?

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us

John 1:14

Jesus Saves!

I had the privilege of leading a lady to Christ toaday whilst doing E.R at 614! Im so pumped and excited!

During the interview I was holding back tears as I listened to her story. She has had a very rough life, filled with abuse and drugs to hide the pain. All of this was made worse two years ago when her 16 year old son was murdered! They still have not found his remains, and so she has not had any closure.

I told her there is still hope and encouraged her. Then I asked if I could pray for her. After I prayed for her I asked her if she had accepted Christ into her heart. She told me she hasnt, but had tried in the past, but she does too many things that Christians cant do like smoke. I told her not to worry about what people say but to listen and obey God.

I then told her how Christ loves her and wants to look after her. I told her how God never tells us to do something we cant do and then of the power that God gives us to overcome!

She then agreed, and I went through the sinners prayer with her. This lady I had never met before accepted Christ into her heart! God is good and is mighty to save! She called on the name of the Lord and has been saved, a party of angels in heaven errupted when she gave her life to the Lord! Her sins are forgiven, she is justified and now continues her life with Jesus Christ by her side! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Please pray for her. There is still a long way to go, but that journey is made easier with the help of Jesus Christ!

Cast your burdens upon Jesus for He cares for you!

1 Peter 5:7

Talking. We all do it. Some, more than others. My girlfriend loves to talk, sometimes for minutes before taking a break to see if I am still listening! I joke about that but I how true is it that we all can talk too much from time to time?

I love to talk to people. I have found my purpose at 614, I love talking to people and offering prayer and support! I love to encourage people, even though I know Im not very good at it! I love to debate with people. I love a good arguement, if with friends or family, I love to debate even when I know I am wrong as its more of a challenge!

But lately, I have been convicted by God about talking. Reading through Timothy, Titus and some other New Testament books, I have been confronted with words such as "Turn away from godless chatter."

How much of what I say is necessary? A great question to ask. I have had some big issues in my life recently and I love to talk to deal with those. But there comes a time to hold words in. Times when they may not be positive and life bringing words.

On the other hand Im having a problem even when Im offering words of life when I try to encourage people. I wonder if I use too many words which makes them think Im sucking up to them, or makes them think Im making it up! (Which Im bot!)

I am completely convinced that words need to be backed up with action. I am reminded by the English cricket team, they can talk the talk but can they walk the talk? No. The aussies on the other hand can say whatever they like, they can play, they are the best team in the world.

When we talk, are we full of hot air? Do we speak death? Do we speak life? Do we speak truth? Do we speak love?

Do we act out what we say?

With the tongue we praise our LORD and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in Gods likeness... Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life. by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. (James 3:9 and 13)

War?

I hear talk every now and then about the army metaphore. Or is it even that? Anyway, some say that the concept of being an army fighting a war is not a well liked concept in todays society. It doesnt fit they say.

I think that is a load of garbage! We talk about war in fooball, "Its war out there" we talk about it in cricket, "the battle for the ashes", we talk about it in commradeship for a close friends. "Id die for him", there is the war on terror, the war on AIDS, on cancer, the war the war the war...

Perhaps the problem with the war anology is that people want to be a parade army, with marching bands, uniforms and strict guidelines and rules and not an Army with a purpose, a mission, sold out devotion to the battle.

We are in a battle. We need soldiers. People who will fight! Will you join? The war against sin. Personal and corporate! Sign up and glorify God in your life!

12For 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. Ephesians 6:12

The time I have had at 614 has been educational...

I met an assylum seeker the other day. He is from Sri Lanka and he moved to Australia about 10 years ago or so. However some new laws came some years later and he was not allowed to work anymore. He cannot get centrelink or any other assistance from the government. He is stuck here in Australia in a situation not to different from Tom Hanks in 'The Terminal.'

I used to be more on the governments side on this topic. I thought if you want to come into Australia, come in the right way. Dont jump the qeue. However, having spoken to this man about his story, my view has changed.

People deserve dignity. They desrve food, water, shelter and clothes. I believe these are basic rights. The Salvation Amry agrees.

Praise God that we were able to help him with some food vouchers! He gets shelter, some food and clothes from the red cross as well.

His time in Australia has not been all bad though. He moved ovr here a professing Budhist. (or was it Hindu? I always forget which...) Anyway, Swanston Street Church of Christ helped him out for a while too, and was introduced to Jesus! His life has changed and he is now a firey follower of Jesus Christ who claims Gods promises of provision in his life!

It is great to see the red cross, swanston street c.o.c and The Salvation Army provide for this man in Jesus name. Pray about the Assylum seeker situation, the assylum seekers, the politions and decision makers, and pray that as a Great Country, the great Southland of the Holy Spirit, Australia we will be able to provide for ALL people in Jesus name!

As William Booth said, if someone was burning in a house on fire, would we first ask if they had paid their rent before we saved them?

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

Matthew 25

Ive been really blessed by God this week! God has given me some temporary work at 614 doing Emergency Relief (E.R) It has been fantastic to meet all the order guys and to get to help them out during this busy time of the year!


One of the many things that has stood out to me is their common purpose. The reason why people do things is all for God, its for their Salvation! When we help people it is out of love for the person and what greater way to show our love than to introduce people to Jesus Christ who laid down His life for the world so that we may be re-united with our maker in a purposeful loving relationship!

Im helping in the ER and we are encouraged to pray with people and help them Spiritually or in any way we can.

I was reading a passage the other day and it really spoke to me:

13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."[f]
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10:13-15)

We tell people about God with our actions, but people also need to hear the gospel so that they can call on the name of the Lord! Jesus Christ!

Pray for the 614 team that they can share the gospel as they love people in all ways. Pray that the people they are helping will hear the gospel and call on the name of the Lord and be saved! To God be the Glory!

I love Pauls letters to the Corinthians! I especially love the part about our ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2.

(V11) Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men...14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again... 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come...20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors!

If we are filled with the love of God and know the gospel is the power of God to save, then surely we will love (love as a verb) people enough to make the salvation of their souls a main priority!

God, use me to bring people to you!

I havent been able to find many photos from commissioning yet... Heres one I snapped during Commissioner Knaggs sermon...

Ive been reading through the New Testament and I have been amazed at what God has shown me! Its amazing how we can read the same piece of scripture time and time again and get something new out of it that speaks to our heart! Its also been great because for some reason in my head Ive always thought that these 'holiness' scholars were godly people but may not have the 'best' theology...But I am completely wrong, the army's teaching of holiness comes straight from the Bible! Hallelujah!

Anyway, the bits that keep standing out to me is about the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I always knew that there was power in those two works of Christ. But lately Ive been searching what they actually mean.

The death of Jesus was for our sin.
The resurrection of Jesus is for our resurrection.

When we ask God to forgive us of our sins, He does because Jesus takes our place. He deals with sin on the cross. We crucify our sin with Jesus. Then just as Jesus was raised again, we too are raised again!

don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-4)

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive! (1 Corinthians 15:22)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their sinful nature with its passions and desires! (Galatians 5:24)

Theres heaps more but I'll stop there for now!

Ive been struggling with blogging the last few days, Ive wanted to put something up but have had no idea... Ive got a few ideas but dont know if i should put them up yet or not...

heres something briefly though...

Been reading the Bible and Samuel Brengles books on holiness! I am so sure that we can be cleansed from our sinful nature! That our heart can be made like Gods and we can be filled with love! And so everything we do comes out of a loving heart! This teaching resonates in my heart! Im praying this for myself, but I do know I have had times in my life when I have had this experience!

We had commissioning on the weekend... Photos coming soon... hahaha

Someone said i was too charismatic the other day referring to 'spiritual stuff...' How can we be too spiritual if it is of God? I believe our relationship with God comes first (Jesus said it too!) and out of that, being filled with love, we will do Gods work...

A song thats on my mind today SASB 335

1.I want to tell what God has doneThrough Christ. his well-beloved Son,How my poor heart he sought and won;Can you wonder that I want to tell it?I want to tell what God can doFor sinners lost like me and you,Of sins washed white and garments new;Can you wonder that I want to tell it?

ChorusI want to tell you what the Lord has done,What the Lord has done for me;He lifted me from the miry clay;O what a happy day!I want to tell you what the Lord can do,What the Lord can do for you:He can take your life as he did mine,And make it anew.

2.I want to tell of saving grace,Of God's strong arm, his warm embrace,Of blood that can all sins erase;Can you wonder that I want to tell it?I want to tell to sinners lostThat Christ has paid sin's fearful cost,And saves unto the uttermost;Can you wonder that I want to tell it?

3.What God has done, he still can do;His power can fashion lives anew,And all who trust him find him true;Can you wonder that I want to tell it?I want to tell of that glad dayFor which we watch, for which we pray,It must be near, not far away;Can you wonder that I want to tell it?

read so many great bible passages, heres one though

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 corinth 2:4-5)

Sarah got sworn in on Sunday night! Shes been looking forward to wearing her uniform for ages, and so finally she got to wear it outside her bedroom!lol and she looked great!

Her mum swore her in, her nana read the Bible, family friend janet philp spoke about sarah, mel held the flag and shazz gave a fitting sermmon on giving your all to God! Heaps of friends came from other corps and friends from school came marking the event as a special occasion.

Sarah shared a bit of her testimony, saying how shes had to change things in her life to get back on track with God, and by doing so shes grown in spirituality, worship, leadership etc! She spoke about how God has always been there for her even in tough times, and even now in financially challenging times. She also included how shes recently been baptised in the Holy Spirit leading to her seeing visions from God!

.

the night ended with a call to be a soldier in Gods army. A challenging statement was read out (which i hope to put up soon...) which spoke of giving everything to God no matter what.

Its been great seeing Sarah grow into a great Woman of God this past year! Shes made a bunch of lifestyly changes and its all paying off as God continues to bless her as she seeks His will!

Its so refreshing to see someone become a soldier with every intent to hold to the statements of belief and to the therefores of the covenant that she signs! It is a true holiness covenant, and sarah honestly searches for true holiness in her own life!

Congrats Sarah! love ya lots! God Bless

more pics coming as i get them...

Gods been challenging me on how much of my life is devoted to him.

Since I have been with Sarah Ive been challenged with alot of things. The biggest thing I have been challenged about is living for God, living a loving life for other people. Sarah does this great and it use to bug me. I couldnt understand why she did what she did.

My brother often asks for a lift somewhere. Most of my life my answer has been "Yeah right, ask mum or dad, I dont care..." Or something along those lines. When I see Sarah though, she does rediculos trips all over the place that defies any sensible logic, and simply does.

Challenge 1: If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.1 Timothy 5:8

Last year, I smashed my car and got a bit of insurance money back but not enough for another car so the moneys been sitting in my bank account. Every now and then someone will need a bit of money, sometimes lots sometimes next to nothing. In my head I think that I should save all of this for my next car but Gods been challenging me.


Challenge 2: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need and has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18
Freely you have recieved, freely give. Matthew 10:8a
And a quote "You cant outgive God!"

I have been totally challenged by this and by Gods grace I am getting better! What areas of your life are you not like Jesus? What areas in your life are not filled with the love of God?

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

ALSO, SARAHS GETTING SWORN IN AS A SOLDIER TODAY! PICTURES ETC COMING SOON!

The Return of Christ

Came across this in my study for my exam…

What will Jesus do when He returns?

Take us to be with Him: John 14:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Transform us to be like Him: Philippians 3:20, 21, 1 John 3:2
Reveal believers: Colossians 3:4, Romans 8:18-25
Raise those who have died: 1 Thessalonians 4:16, John 5:25-29
Reward those who long for His appearing: 2 Timothy 4:8
Reward faithful ministers: 1 Peter 5:4
Be united with bride, the church: Ephesians 5:27, Revelation 21:1-4
Judge everyone: Matthew 25:31-32, 16:27, Revelation 20:11-12
Condemn the ungodly: Jude 14-15, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
Slay the forces of evil: 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 19:11-21, 20:7-15
Reign in glory: Matthew 25:31, Revelation 11:15
Bring a new Heaven and new Earth: 2 Peter 3:12-13, Revelation 21:1-4

There was a few in there that surprised me the first time I read these, what about you? Are you ready for His return?

the below post is a bit long so heres a shortend update. Read the other one though, God did some great stuff last night!

• great prayer meeting
• took gospel to streets
• one guy nearly got converted after a vision from God... (probably is now though! Hallelujah!)
• helped a man who was drunk and had been bashed
• wondered around city led by Holy Spirit (divine appointments etc!)
• great chat with a couple about spiriuality

God is alive and doing great things! We wanna c people saved and we're going to! Praise God!

Had another one of our prayer meetings last night! We prayed for two hours, praying for people to be filled with the Spirit and praying for the people we were going to come into contact with. We had a good number of people and Im sure next time will be even bigger and better! One highlight, was sarah having a vision of angels speaking to someone, then confirmed when that person told us what they had been saying!!!

We then took it to the streets of Melbourne! Me and Shaw approached a couple of guys and got talking. It turns out they were Hindus from Nepal. We asked them if we could pray for them and ask God to say something to us to say to them. We prayed and I got a vision of a river which resonated but then i asked if they use to swing of a rope from the tree....I bombed out, they said NO!lol anyway, i prayed for Shaw and God gave him a vision of a window in this guys house! It was so cool!

The guy then asked why do you say these things to me, to which i replied with the gospel and my testimony! I spoke to him about having Jesus in your heart and the difference Christ can make. I sensed a stirring in his heart and i told him i knew God was making him feel uneasy in his heart which he agreed with. His tram then came and his friend was urging him to go catch it, so walking to the tram I told him "If you want to know God, say 'God if you are real make yourself real to me and come into my heart" He agreed and caught his tram.

I have never seen someone so close to salvation but not quite there...

I am soo certain that he has found Jesus now though. Everytime he sees that window in his house he will wonder about Christ. And I am certain that God was convicting him all night! God be with these two young men and bring salvation to their house! Pray!

Anyway, we helped a drunk again! Which was great, lots of laughs as this guy had been bashed and his toupe had fallen off in the fight so we had to find him a hat!lol He didnt want us to preach to him but it was a funny time of sharing and he knew exactly what we were on about!

We then were led by the Spirit to all parts of the city and each point God confirmed we were meant to be where we were. Some of the guys even met up with people connected to their church in Werribee!(nowhere near the city!)

Nearly got back to the car when we approached a young couple. simon spoke to the girl while i spoke to matt. They were so open to talking to us about spirituality. Simon got to preach the gospel to the girl while i had a great chat to matt about Jesus being the only way compared to his post modern view that we all have our own 'niche' as he called it... It was great to be able to preach the gospel in a loving and understanding way. Matt is into meditating, emptying himself and focusing on 'weak' spots so we suggested he tried to focus on Jesus instead and see what happend! We prayed and we're sure that when he does this he will find Jesus!

Anyway, Im pumped. Im completely certain that people can be converted and find God in a matter of moments. The gospel is sooo POWERFUL! Cant wait to go out again and spread the good news of Jesus Christ! Next prayr meeting in 2 weeks...

A passage I keep hearing lately that has been speaking to me:

15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6:15-18

Whatever we submit ourselves to is what will control us. For me there have been times when I have submitted to fear, so fear controlled me. Other times when I submitted to apathy or laziness, and i was controlled by laziness. Do you see how it works? What started out to me as a small compromise led to bondage. I couldnt get out.

What are you a slave to? What is controlling your life? Is it sin or righteousness?

Would you be free from the burden of sin?

Theres power in the blood, power in the Blood!

Would you o'er evil a victory win?

Theres wonderful power in the blood!

(SASB 281)

34Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:34-36

Lord, I am reminded of my sin once again. Continue to convict me. I ask your forgiveness, I renounce all that is not of you that is within me. I repent. Cleanse me with your blood. Help me be obedient so I can be a slave to righteousness. I pray the same for my friends, convict them Lord and lead them into all righteousness. In Jesus name, Amen.

ive been to 2 salvationist funerals in 2 weeks.

i havent been actively involved in a corps for a couple of months now.

im getting itchy feet! I see the impact these salvationists have had and i desperately want to get back into the thick of it. I want to go harder and more full on than i have ever done before. I want to get involved somewhere. I feel like im playing the waiting game with God... Where is He leading me?

on the plus side all my options look pretty exciting! pray for me, i dont know where to go... Also pray that in this time where I dont have a corps, that God would still be able to use me...

Doctrine Dilemma
part 1

Heres a bit of a rant, but im not gonna fit it all in in one post

I have known officers, cadets and soldiers who do not agree with some of our doctrines (the beliefs of the salvation army) but the one some dont believe that really bugs me is the seventh doctrine:

We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation.

We live in a postmodern pluralistic society where anyhing goes. Its ok for you to believe something different to me. We all have our 'own truth.' Many salvationists here in Australia believe that "you dont need Jesus for salvation." It is ok to be muslim, hindu, budhist, or atheist... Ive even heard it said we just need to be "good" or have any "faith" to go to heaven/recieve salvation.

This is garbage and does not sit with the above doctrine (clear as crystal in the Bible) which shows what we need for salvation.

The Bible is EXTREMELY clear about false teachers, they need to be corrected, and if they cant be corrected they need to be given the boot.

At the same time the salvation army is wondering why we're not growing, why we dont see many converts.

The problem is that the doctrine has been fragmented. People find it hard to accept in its entirety. However the doctrine which emphasises faith in Jesus Christ, repentance to God and regeneration by the Holy Spirit is the backbone to Salvationist ministry.

If we miss out on "faith in Jesus" we are left with an any faith will do belief, which will limit a call to believe in Jesus. Without repentance our holiness emphasis goes out the window, our relationship with God does not get mended. And without regeneration by the Holy Spirit we miss out on God leading us in holiness and we miss out on the supernatural. As the Salvation Army we want to see people saved from hell, reconciled to God, and empowered to live the life God wants us to in love and service of others.

Whats worse is that the salvation army has commissioned officers, and continues to do so (unsure of this year, it seems there has been some changes...), and keeps officers as leaders regardless of their theology. This is a disgrace and God will jugdge the leaders who let this happen. The Bible is SOO clear that those who are teachers and leadsers will be judged more severely. How can the salvation army compromise on this? As for those who willingly sign the covenant that says "we believe", yet disagree with it are lieing and are showing a huge lack of integrity as they knowingly sign something they dont believe in.

Compromise leads to bondage and I believe that the salvation army is well on the way and even already in bondage as we have compromised our standards and beliefs. The salvation army will be judged for this. Perhaps the salvation army is being judged for this already!

Join with me as I pray for the leaders in the salvation army. That those with false doctrine (who lovingly and honestly believe what they believe) will be convicted of their sins, of their heresey, and will turn to the truth. Pray with me for the leaders who need to address this problem as there are numerous complications in addressing this urgent issue.

I am reminded of the revivals in the old testament when leaders stood up and took the hard steps to see people won back to God. God can do this and will do this, but we need to be honest with ourselves and with God, and not compromise what the salvation army believes as truth!

Friday night me and a few friends had a prayer meeting at the training college. We all have a similar heart for mission, we all come from different corps, so we thought we'd get together, pray then go do some outreach.

We started off by praying. Then we realised that sarah and greg werent baptised in the Holy Spirit so we prayed for them. We started off with sarah and I read and prayed Acts 2 over her, she was then slain in the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit knocked her over!

Then we prayed for Greg. I prayed the Corinthians spiritual gifts passage over Him. Sarah who was just baptised in the Holy Spirit started seeing visions of the Holy Spirit swirling around Greg as we prayed for him, then she saw Jesus come and stand with us! Greg was then slain in the Holy Spirit!

Then we started praying for Pete, again I used Scripture! Sarah again had visions as we were praying for him, and again he was slain the Holy Spirit!Then we were talking, I asked Greg, 'were you speaking in tongues?" He said, "I wasnt saying anything" and then Jo said "Yeah, you were praying in tongues!"

Then we prayed for me. I was determined to stand as long as I could, but when Pete prayed a Booth Tucker quote or something about getting as many people saved in the smallest amount of time, I was slain in the Holy Spirit!

Then we prayed for Jo. I had my Bible opend to a passage, but then I asked her what she wanted prayer for, she answered power. And guess what the opening line of the passage I had was? Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power! So we prayed for her and she was slain in the Holy Spirit!

Then we prayed for Simon! We had to pray for breakthrough and of course it came! Again, Sarah and I had visions as we prayed for him!And all of a sudden Sarah put both her hands on Simon and he flew to the ground! Again slain in the Holy Spirit!

Then we went out on the streets. Helped some drunks get home and get looked after. Then we went to the hospital and prayed for some people in the emergency room!I know that as we went there I was feeling very faithless, but I still prayed and am getting more confident now. I look forward to the day when we're all on fire, full of faith and see miracles in the hospital and on the streets! Its going to happen, and it will happen soon!

Anyway, long post again... worth it though! Praise God! And if you havent been baptised in the Holy Spirit get some friends together pray for it and see God do something new in your life!

Heres something thats been bugging me and I know God HATES it too!

Everyone has seen the news aboute those terrible incidents with a bunch of school boys sexually assaulting and the police said last night raping a girl and catching it on video and selling dvds of it at school. (They did a bunch of other things too but not going into that just yet...) We see how companies are using sex to sell ALL their products, from cars to drinks, and not to mention sexualising girls toys and clothes. If you look up from the street on Bourke street infront of KFC you will see a massive billboard with a woman with her hand down her pants.

Is this harmless? I dont think so.

1 in 3 women have been sexually abused here in Australia. And that is only the ones that have been reported. Thousands more go unreported. How does this relate you say?

Women are treated like meat. Men see them and think they have to have 'that'. That is just a fact. Men are extremely lustful, undresing women with their eyes and to the least just "checking them out."

Jesus had something to say about this. "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully (and this applies to women looking at women or men aswell) has already committed adultery with her in his heart!" Matthew 5:28

Our word is getting worse in this area. If you look at TV 10, 15 or 20 years ago the normal adds we have now would have been banned. How much worse will it be in another 10 years?

Sexualising men and women is now the norm and we are abusing the preciois gift of sex from God. It is sinful and we need to stand up as Christians. We need to show the world that we are all created in the image of God and that God loves us all. We need to highlight the precious worth of every individual. So, heres a challenge,

Men, tackle your problem with lust. Pray. Form lust support groups or get mentors and accountability partners to rid yourself of such sin. It is possible and God will help. Make a stand in the world by not perving on women, not talking about women as objects and be counter cultural and tell people that its not ok.

Women, dress modestly, you too can form groups and get mentors. Dont lead men into sin by making them lust after you. Dont buy the lie the world is giving you that you are a piece of meat. You are worth soooo much more than that! Dont let men use you, dont sell yourself or give yourself away. You are much more special than an object of lust.

Jesus didnt finish by just saying dont look lustfully, immediately after He said continued, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." Matthew 5:29-30

Luke 17:1-4

1Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

wow

I have an un-real testimony! Its a little long, but its supernatural!!!

Lately Ive been thinking about the supernatural. Ive felt alot of demonic forces before but havent felt/recognised a good angelic presence before... So ive prayed a few times to God, "God i dont just wanna see and sense bad spirits, show me some good ones! Infact, if your going to show me anything at all, I want to see Jesus!"

Ive also been rading a book about prayer. One thing it encourages is for us to picture Jesus in our head and talk to it. The picture Ive been getting lately is when Jesus is talking to all the children.

Anyway, I was lying in bed this morning and I started thinking about Jesus. I then started thinking about seeing Jesus. Then I closed my eyes and as I did that I felt as though Jesus was coming. Then, you know how you sometimes get those goose bump type of things when you feel Gods presence? Well, I felt that once, then more and more and it completely rushed all over my body. I then could not move at all!

I saw a vision of Jesus at the end of my bed. The presence was overwelming. I couldnt stay in this presence it felt like it was too much!My body felt as though I was shrivelling up into a ball, I was scared, so I quickly turned my head to get away from it.

After this I prayed a bit more. I turned onto my side and I felt a presence on my right. It wasnt God this time, but I started singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" and praising God. The presence was doing the same.. I had an angel next to my bed!

I prayed some more asking God what all this meant. He told me a few things.

• I had felt the presence of Jesus Christ. And it was strong. It was extremely HOLY! Gods presence is strong! He also reminded me though that He is always with me!


• I found out I felt scared because He is Holy and I am not. I still had sin. So I quickly repented of all my sin. This reminded me of Isaiah 6, Revelation 1 etc where people see God but at first theyre so scared because He's so holy!


• My dad told me next time that this happens, just be still and say "Here I am Lord, speak to me" Interesting thats the same as Isaiah!!! And interesting that last week someone shared Isaiah 6 with me because God told Him to do so...


• This experience also showed me how Gods presence and sin just dont go together! God HATES sin! He wants to be with us but unless we let Him deal with our sin His holiness just wont go with it! In fact, I wonder, and Im pretty sure that if a sinner comes fully into the presence of God he will be destroyed by Gods holiness. Thats why He gave us Jesus! Hallelujah!


• I then thought Id read from the Bible, and Ive been working through Luke, and guess which passage I was up to? It was the passage that I had been seeing in my prayer time! Luke 18:15-17









"People were also bringing their babies to Jesus to have him touch them.
When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the
children and said "Let the little Children come to me, and do not hinder
them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth,
anyone whol will not recieve the kingdom of God like a little child will
never enter it!"

In the Bible we see that angels fight with swords... Do you think that now that we have better technology that angels have better weapons?

If youve watched Constantine you know what Im talking about...

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

i gotta new blog! www.worldforgod.blogspot.com

im gonna keep this one going too. the other one is going to be about evangelism and stuff!

thought itd be better to have two different ones than posting too many all in a row...

Havent blogged for a bit! So heres something...

The other night, me saz, simon and tish prayed together at the training college thenlet God take us wherever He wanted. All we did was just pray and ask God "Where do you want us to go?" and once we were there we were like "what do you want us to do?"

It was really cool how God told all of us where to go. It was all the same place!!! God was sooo amongst it all!

We did some Spiritual warfare, prophecy, alot of praying and a bit of evangelism! It was great to see God using our personalities and gifts etc while we were in an intentional team! It worked really well!

We're not sure what we actually achieved but its a start of an exciting new ministry for us all! I know I have a strong sense that God is teaching us how to do that sort of thing and that over time as we develop our gifts God will glorify His name in SUPERNATURAL ways!

If you wanna know more call, leave a comment or email me! And pray for us coz we wana see people saved, healed, delivered etc!

I dont know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing...

David (Paul) Yonggi Cho came to Christ through The Salvation Army... He is the founder of the worlds largest church, Yoido Full Gospel Church! On February 20, 1993, the Yoido Full Gospel Church was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Largest Church (700,000 membership) in the world! (and that was years ago!) Today it is said there is over a million members! It has over 23,000 cell groups! Chek out more

Brian Houston is senior pastor and founder of Hillsong church, Australias largets church, He too has some Salvation Army background. His parents were ministers in The Salvation Army. Hillsong now has thosands of members, has heaps of music cds (one actually made it to number 1 in Australia!) and is again cell based... Check out more: Brian Houston, Hillsong

The Evans family also has some roots in The Salvation Army. Russel Evans is founder of Planetshakers church which rapidly growing in Melbourne. Again cell based. And his brother Andrew is senior pastor at Paradise community church in Adelaide. Another church with thousands of members, and again cell based. Check out more, Planetshakers, Paradise

Imagine what The Salvation Army would look like if we could have held onto and harnassed the potential of these guys! How many more are out there? How many more are leaving The Salvation Army? What will The Salvation Army do to prevent this from happening again and again?

OR

Do people think that The Salvation Armys mission is only to the poor and not the mainstream? (I dont think so, look at song 830, 'The world for God!') Thats another blog topic though...

Also, how cool are cell based churches... As one of my last blogs said, all the growing chuches in the world are cell based... Does anyone wanna or feel called to start one up with me in Lower Templestowe?hmmmm....

Keep commenting on the leadership blog, but i thought id share something that God did this morning which was really cool!

Ive started reading a book called, 'Can you hear me?' by Brad Jersak. Its a book about listening prayer, and so far its probably one of the best books on prayer i have ever read! Its really practical and will help open your senses up to realizing the many ways God speaks to us!

Anyway, I woke up this morning and picked up this book while I was still in bed. I heard a voice in my head say 'read the bible first.' I thought to myself, nah, i'll read this book and itll help me read the bible but the voice repeated. I then said, ok, if thats you God, what do u want me to read and why?

'Hebrews 10 and 11. Youll see why.' So i happily picked up my bible and opened to those chapters.

I finished reading and picked up the book. And heres the bit I wanted to get to...

The first bit I read was about the Bible! (funny coz Id just read the Bible...)

And in this section it spoke about how Jesus said in John 5:37-40 that people can read the scriptures all their lives and not hear Gods voice. They would honestly read them thinking they would find life in them, but then they failed to realise Gods living word. They didnt hear because of expectation. (the author says it alot better than this...)

The author continues to say 'how do we avoid this' and says we need to read expecting to hear Gods voice when we read the scriptures...

The next section was about God speaking beyond the Bible, that God still speaks personally to us in other ways. And the first other way the book speaks about was messengers (singers, authors, etc) then coincadinces...

I was like WOW! what a coincadence, or God-incadince that everything added up! The section on the Bible then the section on coincadences! The book directly related to me. So i asked God what does the passage I read have to do with all this?

And He answered as i thought about it, "All these guys (Hebrews 11) had faith in me. They didnt just serve me and or did the things they knew they should do, they had faith in me."

this spoke loudly to me. So often I get caught up in doing, that i forget to take the time to listen to God and have faith that I was going to hear Him speak to me...

anyway, it meant alot to me...

Whats God said to you lately? Hes always speaking, but are you listening?

what makes a leader a good leader?

Think of your favourite leader...

Why are they your favourite? What made them so good?

how come no one comments anymore?

i had 19 comments on one and 26 on the next...

i must be boring... what will i do next to get people commenting?

any suggestions? hmmmm will anyone even read this...

Some more ACC stuff...

Compromise leads to bondage
(How true is that?)

How bad is this next stat?
126 people got saved in Europe through The Salvation Army last year! Hallelujah for those converted but what the heck are they doing?
Does get better though...
126,000 saved in Africa last year and around the same i believe in America! Hallelujah

Has anyone heard of extreme prophetic? Check it out
Power evangelism baby!
Todays people seek mediums, fortune tellers etc, well the chick that started extreme prophetic up said 'all those people are searching for God and finding fakes...lets give them the real thing!' So they use prophecy in evangelism! They just ask people if they would like a free "Spiritual Reading" and then pray to God and ask what God wants to say to them... It is soooo cool! And coz God wants people to be saved He comes with power and it glorifies God! Theyre doing it heaps at the war college now and its gonna revolutionise evangelism! All you need to do is listen to God and be obedient!

INCREASE OUR FAITH LORD! FIRE US UP! GLORIFY YOUR NAME! HALLELUJAH!

heres a couple of quotes from ACC...

These days we deal with salvation first then we deal with the sin... In Booths day it was the other way around, deal with the sin then salvation..

An alcoholic goes to a

• dr and becomes a healthy alcoholic
• psych and becomes a balanced alcoholic
• Alcoholics anonymous and becomes a sobre alcoholic
• Jesus and becomes a new man/woman!

Sin is the enemy of your freedom

Compromise leads to bondage

Every prophets number one job is to smah idols

Theres so many more so i'll keep posting them over the next few days...

I read this this morning and really liked it. I love this holiness stuff! Isnt God AWESSOME that He would love and forgive us then use us!?!? Hallelujah!

PURE HEART

Also I heard a voice of the Lord saying;

"Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?"

Then I said, "Here I am! Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

It takes a pure heart to see God (Matt. 5:8). You can attend church services, read your Bible, and pray; but if sin fills your heart, you will not see God. You know when you have encountered God because your life will no longer be the same.

Isasiah was concerned with the death of King Uzziah, the able King of Judah, but was disorientated to his heavenly King. Then something happened that forever changed Isaiahs life. God, in all His awessome majesty, appeared to him in the temple, surrounded by heavenly creatures. Instantly, God's presence made Isaiah aware of his sinfulness. One of the seraphin came to him with a burning coal and cleansed Isaiah of his sin. Immediately Isaiah began to hear things he had never heard before. Now, he was hearing a converstaion in heaven concerning who might be worthy to be God's messenger to the people. This prompted Isaiahs eager response, 'Here am I! Send me!' Now that God had cleansed Isaiah, he was aware of heavenly concerns and prepared to offer himself in God's service. Whereas Isaiah before had been preoccupied with earthly matters, now his only concern was the activity of God.

If you have become estranged from God and His activity, you need to experience His cleansing. Sanctification prepares you to hear and see God. It enables you to serve Him. Only God can purify your heart. Allow Him to remove any impurities that hinder yor relationship with Him, and then your sevice to Him will have meaning as you offer Him your consecrated life.

(Henry and Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God Day by Day, September 20)

I havent written a blog for a while so i thought Id do another one. I was really struggling as to what I should write, what should I say? So I thought I would leave the writing to the Bible. Heres a passage of Scripture that I love. People have also prophesied this over my generation of people, that theres an increasing number of people with the Ezekiel calling...


"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for [a] his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.

Ezekiel 3:17-19

I pray that we (and especially me) will all be open to the warnings God gives us...

Hasn’t my last Blog has caused some controversy!

Let me fill some people in… As many of you know I have been stepped down from all my leadership roles at Church. I can’t do anything during the week anymore!

The leadership team got together on Tuesday morning and read my blog. It deeply upset them. They then decided that I should be removed from all leadership.

The leadership team thought that the blog was
1) Divisive
2) Would confuse people
3) Would split the church

They believe the way I have written this blog was too critical of Greensborough.

I was called up and told to come into a meeting the following day.

I did not know what the meeting was about.

In this meeting Mark began by saying they had read my blog. He told me what He thought about it, (the above points) then I tried to say what the blog was about, however he told me even though some points may be true or good, it was too divisive. I disagreed and so I was removed from all leadership I was involved in.

What can I say?

I am deeply hurt. I have fought to stay at Greensborough for the last 3 years. There has been so many times when I have wanted to leave because of both people problems and theological problems. However my calling to Greensborough was sure and I wasn’t leaving until God told me.

I have sacrificed to stay at Greensborough. There are no people my age at Greensborough, so I have struggled to make many close friends. I have been offered jobs all over Australia which I have turned down so I can stay at Greensborough. I have been through times when I have not had a day off for months so I can support myself and minister at Greensborough.

I have made many friends though! I have done a good job as a youth leader and youth intern, the fruit of which we can see in the development of the youth! Ask any of the youth to make sure this isn’t just one of my opinions. (or read my comments to the last blog!)

I love the whole group of youth at Greensborough! They are more than people I got to lead and boss around, but I also got to hang out and muck around with them. I’m so lucky to have been able to share in a lot of great times with them. The whole youth group, I hope you know you are more than ‘youth groupers’ to me, you’re my friends! Thank you for being so loyal for me and sticking up for me even when a lot of people are against me at this point of time.

I am deeply saddened that the corps first response to the blog was stopping all my leadership. The pain my blog caused and could cause was seen as greater than all the work I have done, am doing and could have done. I feel as though I am not appreciated. I feel as though the last 3 years of my life and ministry means nothing in comparison to this blog! If it had meant more I am sure they would have tried to talk this through with me!

I understand that the blog was written in a confrontational way. It was written to stir the pot! (I think I did that point!) I wanted people to talk about it. I was getting some of my feelings off my chest. It was written with a passion for Greensborough.

I want to take this time to apologize to all of those who were hurt by what I said. I had no intention of hurting anyone. I could have commented in a different way, and I would have if I knew what was going to happen.

To all of those that are hurt or confused about my blog, please speak to me instead of talking behind my back about a blog you have not understood and have not attempted to understand by talking to me!

One thing that saddens me is that people are saying that I don’t like Greensborough, that I think it’s bad, that I think we should get rid of the brass band and change to become like Planetshakers. I can’t believe people are saying this. Another thing is that I was bagging The Salvation Army. An organisation I love and want to serve in as long as God lets me!

I think this shows how much people actually don’t know me.

The youth have been great to me. They know what I am talking about in my blog and I think they mostly agree! The blog was written for the people that read it, mostly youth. They did not misunderstand it. And the ones that weren’t sure asked me about it! The youth have shown more maturity in the way they have read this than many others who have quickly jumped to conclusions without looking at all I have done, am doing, and could have done! Thank God for the youth!

I have been a supporter of the band since I got to Greensborough. I have on occasion been out with them to the nursing homes, I’ve been on the band weekends, I have supported them at the shopping centre and value them for what they can do. I reguarly boast to other corps about how proud I am of our band because they actually go out every weekend! How can people say I don’t like the band? It’s because they didn’t understand my blog, and don’t know me.

The point I was trying to make is this:

Why are Salvation Army Corps in Australia and more specifically at Greensborough not growing when churches like Planetshakers are? What do they have that we don’t have? What do they do that we don’t? What needs to be done to change this? What needs to be done for revival?


Am I saying Greensborough is bad or am I saying how can we make it better? I cant believe the leadership team thought I was saying it is bad.

My emphasis is not the music, My emphasis is that we need to be relevant to the target audience and we will grow.

Here’s some examples from within The Salvation Army.

At Reservoir they have a huge school program, they run breakfast clubs, homework clubs and a God and pizza night. This model will not work at Greensborough.

At 614 they have a drop in centre for homeless, ‘street people’. They provide food, accommodation, counselling etc. This will not work at Greensborough.

These places are relevant to the people they are trying to minister to. All my blog was doing was asking are we relevant? What do we need to do for change? All I wanted to do was ask some questions!

I am deeply hurt that people have failed to try to understand what I have said and have instead resorted to standing me down as their first option.

Another problem is that people older than my generation to do not understand a blog. For those in older generations than mine, when something was printed it was a final something, a thesis, a truth statement perhaps. Like a newspaper. Thought has been put in. It had been prepared. However, that is not what a blog is! A blog is rambling honest thoughts. When you look at a blog you look at all the things that have been written over time and you see what this person was thinking and feeling. A blog is not the climax of thought and opinion like a newspaper or an article. A blog is a journey, and the leadership team have decided not to join me on my journey.

I love Greensborough. I have loved having the opportunity to work here. Many times have been hard. I am passionate about seeing revival come to Greensborough.

I pray that God will work through this, comfort those who need it, guide those who need, encourage, convict and challenge us.

A prophet is never accepted in his home town

I fell asleep yesterday afternoon and missed our '4oclock thing' and my brother wanted to hear reggie dabbs speak so I went to planetshakers church last night! I really enjoyed it! I loved it! They did a few things different to other churches Ive been to, heres a couple that stood out...

1) They had a time for declaring Jesus' name! (reminded me of old testament stuff...)
2) When welcoming the new people the people of the church stood up instead of the visitors!

A couple of other things they said was that they are rapidly growing. The youth pastor said that they had 56 converts at their last youth group. He went on to say that they teach all their people they dont need to change the world, just one life at a time! They have just started having two services on a sunday so they can fit everyone in and keep growing!

This got me thinking, what do these guys have that we, generally speaking the salvos and more specifically at greensy salvos, dont have?

Heres what I think: They are culturally relevant with their music (none of this brass band or 1980's music), they are evangelical (they actually want to see the world changed by people coming to know Jesus), everyone is in a small group/bible study, they are outwardly passionate in all they do, they are real (their faith is real), they rely on the Holy Spirit (dont just talk about it) and theres more.

We in the salvos are in the dark ages walking around with dinosaurs.

We are sooo far behind its not funny. Our churches are diminishing. Our pastors (very generally speaking) have no idea whats going on and if they do they are too gutless or dont have the right gifts to do something about it. (there are a few that are doing ok though...)

People love to bag these churches. Saying theyre all hype, not enough social justice, no community, bad theology. People that say these things are normally liberal minded thinkers and disagree with a church that is so full on for Jesus, or old people who think their way is best and are blind to the good things happening in these churches.

These churches have better communities than my church, they are more passionate and they rely on the Holy Spirit more. They reguarly see people healed of diseases, people speak in tongues and people prophesy.

I dont see this at my church. People in my church water down these gifts because they dont understand why they dont have them. 'The gift of healing is seen in emotional healing' yes i agree but if it was the gift of healing why arent people physically healed? Where is the Holy Spirit?

These churches have something that my church doesnt and im beginning to wonder if that is their surrender to God. Why are we so far behind? Why are thousands flocking to these other churches and we struggle for a hundred at my church?

Is the salvation army way too focussed on ourselves, and what we do for ourselves that we loose sight of what we're suppose to be doing? William Booth would be ashamed of the salvation army at my church. We look at ourselves way too much and not enough at the people who need Jesus. This is seen in the way we are so ir-relevant! (this point is proved by the fact most of our youth also go to a pentecostal type church to meet their needs)

I want to see revival at my church but what is it going to take for it to happen?

Do we bulldoze our church and start again? Do we wait for all the older people to die off then start again? Can these peoples minds be changed so that they try for this change? Will any one care enough to try? And will we ever get a pastor/officer who isnt blind to our mediocrity and irrelevancy that will have the guts to take a risk and do something?

I havent been in one of these moods for a long time.

Today I had to tell a friend about a sin ive been committing for a little while now. I hate doing it, i felt embarassed and ashamed that I would do that!

Then a whole heap of other stuff is going wrong. I keep double booking things, forget about stuff then get in trouble for not remembering, i have to prioritise things i really dont want to because i need them both, not just 'one or the other'.

Things that have been annoying me for ages and ages are building up in a really unhealthy way inside of me and I just want to yell at these people about how much they annoy, frusturate and anger me!

I start calling these people names in my head, and a voice in my head keeps telling me how crap I am about differnt things and how my life is worthless. I was thinking about this is the car just then and realised it must be the devil. The devil is sometimes known as the accuser and thats exactly what the voice was doing, accusing me and helping me accuse others.

In short, even though i might sometimes seem like i have it all together, i really dont. I still get tempted, i still get down, i still sin reguarly.

God, thank you that you love me no matter what. And that even though I sin and know I shouldnt I am always forgiven by you when I ask. It seems too easy, like I havent done enough to deserve or earn it, and I havent. But you did it on the cross. Thank you so much. I love you. Let the people that read this know your love too. Help us not to be judgmental, hypocritical or nasty to each other. Help us to confess and repent so we can become better people through you and have a better relationship with you. In Jesus name, Amen!

There is heaps and heaps in the Bible about sin and its effects. Theres judgment, heaven and hell, and heaps of passages about what type of people go where etc!

Praise God, He loves us soo much Hes given us Jesus to take the punishment for our sins so we can have eternal life with God!

Heres the question though...

If you have something so great (Salvation, God, eternal life etc) why do we let our friends be marched off to hell (regardless of what hell is) without telling them about Jesus who can save them both now and eternally?

Whos in your life that needs Jesus? Mum? Dad? Friends? Enemies?

What you gonna do about it?

Heaven or Hell?

Ok, This is from my other blog but more people might comment now...

Who (e.g only christians, or good people, bad people, not christians etc) do you think will

1) Go to heaven

2) Go to hell

3) Or do some people just die and thats it?

Also, dont worry I havent forgotten Im not a judge and my opinion will have no effect on whats going to happen! Im just interested in what peoples beliefs are...

1st BLOG!

G'day everyone! Im James and this is my new Blog! I couldnt get my last blog to accept comments from everyone so heres the new one that will!

Ive chosen the title 'Wholly Holy' because its an issue Ive been thinking alot about lately. The Bible says that we need to 'be holy for God is Holy' and Jesus said, 'Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect!' We are given the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. So the question is, Can a Christian be wholly holy? Or, is this only for God? Is it just a declarative statement or can it actually happen? Can a Christian empowered by the Holy Spirit stop sinning?

Alot of what I blog about will (well, might...) have something to do with this. I pray that we will all be filled with the Holy Spirit in such a way that we do stop sinning, get a better relationship with God and help bring others into a great relationship with God!