3 Hillsong Teachings

Hillsong is getting beat up again! im sure we've all taken a turn at bagging Hillsong at one time or another. I know I have!

If u didmt catch the news Hillsong, Australias biggest church is in the news because an ex member has left and has now written a book saying how Hillsong are all about money and recruiting. She had a great interviwe with Andrew Denton then again tonight they had a story on ACA about Hillsong.

Im sticking up for Hillsong this time. I love them. Love the impact they are having. I had a look at their website and they do a heck of alot of stuff for the community! Its funny how theyre beginning to understand that we need to love the poor! Us Salvos have been doing that forever!

Heres THREE things we need to do like Hillsong.

1) As Australians we're amongst the most richest people in the whole wide world. Jesus told us to give our money to the poor, as rich rulers we should. So good on Hillsong. We are terrible at thithing in the Army, myself included. Time to stop that people. Lets tithe. Ive got my envelopes, no more mucking around. (Good story, Sarah put all her money in the collection the other day forgetting she 'needed' it all just to get by. But, God honoured that and moneys been popping out of everywhere for her! I think shes actually up on what she had to start with...)

And I recall WBOOTH getting in trouble with the media for money stuff to. Do people understand that work costs money?

2) Recruiting, this means evangelism. We need to be more evangelistic! Get someone saved so they can get someone saved so they can get someone saved. That way it wont take so long and Jesus will come back. Lets be like Hillsong and get people saved.

3) The media love a good juicy story about Hillsong. You could say they are being hated by the world for what they believe in. Good. We should do the same. We have the same message of Gods love. We should be getting persecuted for standing up for justice and against the sins of the world! Lets do it. Hillsong, thanks for standing up and copping it on the chin.

Heres what their pastor had to say on A current affair in a letter:

"We cant control what other people think or say. But as for us, we're gonna keep on putting our hope and trust in Jesus Christ. "

Hallelujah

'G' Sins

I was going to write a new post about gay becoming cool. But as Ive thought more and more about it, its really all the sins beginning with 'G'. Has the devil flicked open the sin book to the G page?

Its now cool to:
Gossip (look at any magazine...)
be Gay (Zack last night on Big Brother)
be a Glutton (anyone for Maccas tonight?)
be Greedy (30,000 kids died last night? ahwell, how bout the Power on the weekend?)

Interesting hey? Also interesting how the devil likes to try and make us feel Guilty when we've been forgiven by God.

Well, I dont know about you, but I think God is cool.

Prayer

I was very encouraged yesterday! Firstly a guy whos been helping me out with youth group told me he spent 3 hours in prayer for youth group last night! How cools that? Thats the sort of person i want on my team!

And then one of the girls said that she was at school and saw another girl upset. So she decided to go up to her and pray for her. the girl felt better! The girl who prayed has been a Christian for 5 weeks! Hallelujah! Would you do that?

Then while we driving to youth group, another girl, saved for 3 weeks, complained to me, "We havent prayed yet! Anything could happen between church and youth group!" Then when we got back to the hall the same girl said, lets go the prayer room and pray! Hallelujah!

Next year is the Prayer Warriors session. (Salvo officer training) Sign up!

24/7 Prayer is started up too. Sign up for a session!

But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”
1 Samuel 14:36

Calvinist Astrologers?

I just took a quick break from an essay Im writing and saw on the T.V this astrologer speaking. He was saying that there are two ideas in life, one idea is that we have free will and we choose what we do. The other is that we're pre-wired.

This astrologer says we are pre-wired and that is why he can tell whats going to happen, and what he should say etc.

In theology there are these two different ideas that can both be taken from the Bible depending on how you interpret it. The free will idea is often given to a couple of men named Arminius and John Wesley. The pre-wired thing is given to John Calvin and a bunch of others.

This leads me to a question. Are calvinists astrologers? Or are astrologers Calvinist?

I think of the wise men looking at the stars and they follow it and find Jesus.

Are the astrologers onto something here? Do they hold the answer to the free will versus pre-wired debate? Is the answer really in the stars?

What do you guys think? Comments would be good... (thats if anyone reads this...lol)

sorry, long post

Long post, have a read though...
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Sunday was a great day.

Had a great meeting with lots of testifying! One of the best was a guy whos just been saved and told everyone how hes been reading the Bible, specifically matthew 25 and told everyone they need to be sheep and not goats! Hahaha saved for a month and hes preaching to the church!

Then Captain Colin preached really well on Daniel 9. He did a great job and the Holy Spirit definately stirred a few people up! As he preached people were putting their hands up asking if they could testify to what he was saying was true! There was a great atmosphere while he was preaching as people told stories about what God had been doing in their lives!

And at the end 2 people got saved! Hallelujah!
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Then Tish preached at Glenroy in the evening. I called her sermon the GString. 3 points as I remember them were Grace, gifts and glory! Made some cool points about how her mum use to get rid of the toys she didnt use and gave them away to people who would use them and related that to the gifts God gives us!

And finally, while me saz, simon and tish caught up for a drink Sunday night we started thinking of starting up a mission house/outpost type incarnational thing in Broadmeadows! I want to live there right next to the mosque! hahaha thatd annoy the devil! Please pray as we discern what to do next.
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Caught up with Steve Court and Danielle Strickland yesterday. Pray for them. Theyve got some great ideas for stuff. Look out for the "Just Salvos" brand coming up. Danielle incharge of justice has a bunch of cool ideas that we need to support!

We spoke about "Sally Ann" products from Bangladesh (home league that gives prostitutes a better job) that I want Australia to jump on but shes already in the early stages of it! Good timing God. Shes pushing for the Army to become fair trade. I added we could have fair trade uniforms...
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Ive written too much today. Pray for S____. Shes homeless and needs Jesus.
Who you trying to get saved? Get a move on, who knows when Jesus is coming back.
Use your gifts, pray, step out in faith.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill- 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: 24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Daniel 9:20-24

Lukes a good read! Come across some awessome stuff!
1) Jesus loves to spend time with the poor and oppressed. Its great seeing this again! We need to stick to this! We've done this with the youth at Plenty Valley and its been great! Youth coming to Jesus for His help! Its so good seeing people healed o physical and emotional stuff! And one newly saved girl said Gods healing her social life too!

2) The same idea of "only believe" keeps popping up! I want to have faith like the centurion in chapter 7! Jesus was on His way to the blokes house but he understood authority. Just do it he tells Jesus! Jesus is blown away! Imagine if we prayed like that! hahaha REVIVAL

3) Jesus ministry always had something extra to it, like miracles, authority etc I love it when JBs (john baptist) followers ask Jesus a question and Jesus says, ""Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy^[a] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 23Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Hahaha The way JB knew this was the Messiah was the above points! Surely that says something of what our ministry should be?

Praise God.
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Also, Steve Court on the armybarmy blog has had a good week blogging. Ive found it really encouraging being an evangelist! Have a read. Anyone want to start up the Salvos in a country overseas?
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Also, I dont know how many people have asked these questions.
1) God, do you want me to be an officer?
2) Where would your gifts and ministry flourish the MOST?
3) Am I giving my best for God or nearly my best?
4) What am I called to do?

MORE SALVATION!

Woohoo!

Thursday nights are turning into Salvation nights at Plenty Valley! We had another girl commit her life to Jesus tonight! Hallelujah! God is good!

Also, a girl was there who had been feeling sick. She had tummy problems so we prayed for her. As we were praying for her she was completely healed and started laughing because she couldnt believe it!

I also started our first youth bible study tonight. We read about how Jesus called the fishermen, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." I then challenged them to start getting their friends saved!

i love Thursdays! i love Jesus!

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18

Reading Luke..

Ive been reading through a bit of Luke the last few days and come across some really good stuff!

Luke 6:30-31 always challenges me right to the core!

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

So whenever someones been asking something of me Ive been trying to help the best I can! Gods been challenging me with this and I'm definitely getting better because of His blood! Hallelujah!

Second passage, Luke 6:43-45

43"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Great holiness stuff there hey? What causes you to sin? Sin in the heart! Get rid of it!

So, are you so full of love that all you can do is loving acts? Do you go the extra mile? Do you love to love people? Do you freely give stuff away? I hope you do! If not, then give your life to Jesus, let Him take it and change you!

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A couple of new bloggers are around

LieutenantDave Collinson the TYS http://lieutenantdave.blogspot.com/
and Comissioner Wesley Harris http://harrismandw.blogspot.com/

Havent blogged for a few days! Had lots of thoughts though. Heres a couple!

Just a passing thought but have we as an Army left our apostles in places for too long, not building up replacements, then not left pastors in places long enough?

Heres my thinking, our apostles (that i see at the moment) tend to stay in a place for a while then their ministry almost becomes stagnant. The corps/outpost etc stops growing rapidly. Is the reason for that because they are called to start something up, but then they fail to hand over to a good pastor who can then take it further?

Then on the flip side, do we give our pastors enough time to do their thing? And do they have the accountability that if they're doing no good we find something else for them to do or relieve them of their duties? (William Booth use to do that...) just some thoughts...
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Doncaster shopping town (big mall) is getting a massive facelift. Theyve decided to put in a whole lot more shops. Someone told me they were spending a billion dollars on it. (dont know how true that is) But Ive learnt something from it.

They already had a good business. But to make it better they had to close alot of shops. They then had to pull down a bunch of shops and car parks. Then they started renovations, then they started completely new things. Then eventually it will be ALOT bigger and better than it was before.

Surely this is what we need to do as The Salvation Army?
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Hers some AFL for you. There are a bunch of coaches teams that are under performing. Coaches that havent done their job properally/successfully. The team then reviews whats happening then decides whether it is the coaches fault, whether the coach is heading in the right direction, and whether there are others who could do better. Then they fire or rehire.

Think about that.
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Plenty Valley is going well! New name for our Youth stuff, I think it is going to be REVOLUTION! Not original but says what we want. Also, youth group possibly called riot. Please pray! We need good solid leaders! Thank you Jesus!

Candidates weekend

Just got back from candidates weekend. A weekend for those thinking about becoming a Salvation Army Officer.

I went thiking I had it all sorted out, when I was going in, what Id do until then etc. But God has other ideas. He has His own plan and its different to mine! It looks alot more exciting, challenging, action packed! hahaha Im a bit confused, but Im trusting in Jesus! I'll go and do whatever He tells me!

The theme of the weekend, "Give up your small ambitions and come change the world!" The arrogant statement based on MArk 8:34-35. It is arrogant but how can you read the Bible and not be arrogant about the life changing victorious God we serve? God wants all to be saved. He wants all to know His love.

So, what are you doing with your life? What passions do you have? What skills and gifts do you have? Where would be the BEST (not just the ok) place to use them? Where would you be MOST effective?

Consider SALVATION ARMY OFFICERSHIP! You get paid to LOVE GOD AND LOVE OTHERS! Too good to be true? No! Its a blessing! Step out in faith and declare it yours today!

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:34-35

MORE SALVATION!

Woohoo! More Salvation tonight! I can get very use to this!

I met a girl at brekie club and invited her to come and help do some red shield collecting. Since then we've spent a bit of time together, we invited her to band practice and pizza nights etc amd tonight she asked God to free her from a bunch of things. The point that was the best for me during the night was when she was sining with the band and said something along these lines, "I could feel God pumping through my veins!" Hallelujah!

Its so great to see how happy she was tonight! What a difference God can make! Pray for her as she starts her walk with God!

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

Tracks

Tracks magazine, also known as the surefers bible is probably the best surfing magazine there is. Its been around for ages, it reports all sorts of surfing news, and also tries to change the world...

Their latest issue is called the green issue. The front cover boasts 97% recycled stories and photos! They boast a proud history of activism against environmental nasties and I think we could all learn a bit from the surfing community about respecting nature. While I may not always agree with all their ideas the theology behind it is good. Anyways, in the magazine it has a couple of lists. Heres the first one:

TEN TRACKS FIGHTS

1) Ocean sewerage

From issue 1 right through to today this fight has been waging. One of the governments not so great ideas is to pump sewerage straight back into the water. Not good for the sea bed or for surfers who get sick from it!

2) Uranium mining

1977 had a great article on the pros and cons. Theyve been involved in reporting protests and the like and continue the debate today.

3) Sand mining

With a housing boom from 1972-early 80's on the east coast builders turned to sand mining from beaches. This problem is obvious for surfers!

4)Kirra
Possibly the premier wave spot in Australia. In 1972 the government of Queensland built a groyne to trap sand. This had a negative effect on the surf and environment. Tracks has also been opposed to coastal development in the same area.

5) Coastal Development

This debate gets pretty heated and Tracks has been there the whole way. The front page of the April 2002 issue was dedicated to this.

6) Save the Whales!

Tracks says it feels hippy saying the above, but "We've always tried to identify with people who have an affinity with nature and an interest in protecting it." Tracks made a bit of a noise and in 1978 Australian whaling ceased. In 1988 there was an article of what to do if a whale beached itself, 1999 massive article on whaling, and finally in 2007 the Australian government has decided to fight whaling instead of pretending it doesnt exist...

7) Nuclear Testing

The French wanted to test bomb in the South Pacific and the editor at the time got real mad. The Surfing championships wanted to boycott all French events. The French didnt care, it still went ahead but they tried!

8) The rainforests

1976 The woodchip debate. "In less than 200 years of white settlement 3/4's of the forests have been destroyed!" Tracks have called people to join the protests of intense logging.

9) Overseas footprints

During the 90's Tracks spent alot of time encouraging readers to respect the environments that they travel to. "Leave only footprints, take only memories."

10) Global Warming

Tracks wants to raise awareness and teach people how they can make a difference where they are. In the current issues they have 20 easy ways to help...

So there we go. You may raise your eyebrow to a few of them but what a respectable community hey? They love surfing, see the link between surfing and the environment and fight for what they believe in. As Christians Im sure we should be sticking up for Gods creation and not just stuffing it up. How would you feel if you made something then people came and abused it? Come on people, its just love! Im sure we can all change some of our routines etc and help a bit...

I havent been blogging anywhere near as much as I would have liked but ive been busy! Its good though. Beginning to see some fruit from all the work we've been doing at Plenty Valley!
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heres a couple of thoughts, 1) Isnt it amazing how when some leaders ask you to go out of your way to do something you will plainly say no, but when a different leader, one who has earnt your trust and respect asks the same thing you willingly say ok? Im amazed at Johnothan sticking up for David in 1 Samuel...
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Salvo Surfers was fantastic! Had a ball! Got some waves and had alot of fun! A big thank you to Torquay Surf Academy for cheap wetsuit hire and another big thank you to Torquay Holiday Resort for the cheap camp site! God bless those people!
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The other day I was kicking the footy at church when a youth walked past. I ran up and introduced myself etc. Then today I got a phone call from a youth ive been hanging with a bit and asked if Id come play basketball with him. Of course I said ok, but what blew me away was that the guy who I asked the other day is this guys next door neighbour and he brought his friend aswell to come and play today! hahaha God is here!
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Prayer points! Got lots starting up at Plenty Valley Youth this term! Gonna get real busy!
1) Homework club
2) Youth Group
3) Youth Church with small groups etc
4) Basketball team
5) Salvo Surfers
6) Kids Church
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Blogs coming up:
some surf culture Kingdom lessons
lots of LISTS

Salvo Surfers Start!

Salvo Surfers!

What are you doing tomorrow? Monday 9th and Tuesday 11th? Im taking a few of the guys from Plenty Valley to Torquay for a bit of camping and surfing! If you wanna come let me know!

Look out for more Salvo Surfers stuff happening! Its a new ministry Im starting up. I wanna take the gospel to the surf culture and bring a bit of the surf culture to the salvos!

I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
1 orinthians 9:22

SIN NATURE

Make sure you read the other blog below, very exciting times!!!

Heres a quote by Brengle,

"Now, what is the trouble with the man? What is the name of this troublesome 'something'? Paul calls it by several names. In Rom. viii. 7 he calls it ' the carnal mind,' and he says it is 'enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' You cannot fix it up. You cannot whitewash it over. You cannot make it better by culture or growth, or by any effort whatever. It is an enemy of God, and cannot be anything else.

In the seventh chapter (verse 24) he calls it 'the body of this death' and wonders how he can get deliverance from it. In Eph. iv. 22, and in Col. iii. 9, he calls it 'the old man.' In Gal. v.17, he calls it 'the flesh.' James calls it 'superfluity of naughtiness,' which is also well rendered, 'the remainder of iniquity' (Jas. i. 21).

John calls it 'sin,' as distinct from 'sins,' and the 'works of the devil.' In Ezek. xxxvi. 26 it is called a 'stony heart.' The theologians call it 'inbred sin,' 'original sin' and 'depravity.' Whatever you wish to call it, it is something evil and awful, that remains in the heart after a man has been converted."

How to get rid of it coming soon...

WOW

Had another great night at a Corps the other night. What happened could be called as Reggie Dabbs sings, A Holy Ghost Party! The Holy Spirit made His presence known very early as we confessed our sins to God, asked for forgiveness and declared ourselves forgiven by God because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

The night was put on so that those youth that wanted to be baptised in the Holy Spirit could come and be so. We started praying and the Holy Spirit did HEAPS of amazing things! As we prayed people were being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and falling to the ground praying their hearts out. There were tears of consecration, tears of repentance and tears of joy.

There was some curse renouncing, there was very eager prayer, prayer that God would touch peoples lives and that they would know it! And He did! Anyone who was there would not have been able to deny that God was there and moving in an amazing way! All this backed by a cd player playing praise and worship songs. The night was very special. God was worshipped. People were humbled. And now I pray that lives will be changed as these youth live Holy Spirit empowered lives and touch people wherever they go!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8