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!

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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!