grace games

I've been working on a project for church aiming at getting not yet Christians involved in mission. It brings up questions of why do we bother, and can it be mission without them being able to evangelise? Having the good works but not the faith.

Jesus life and ministry can be expressed in one word, grace. His ministry to the poor and oppressed was an expression of His grace. His ministry of the cross was and is an expression of His grace. To take away any of His ministry is to limit His grace.

Therefore, when we talk about ministry lets not talk about things we do, rather lets talk about what we are administering. We are ministers of grace, just as Jesus is the ultimate grace giver, and lets make sure it is a full grace not missing out any aspect of Jesus ministry of grace.

So when it comes to allowing the not yet saved to mission lets be aware that the grace they administer comes from the same source as Jesus did. But lets also be aware that Jesus offers more. Lets build on their grace showing them the ministry of Jesus so their grace may become full.

There seems to be some places around Salvo circles that hold youth meetings and other meetings and count all the people that are coming, they get happy with the numbers, then one day they realise that alot of the people are 1) already saved and 2) just popping in from other corps. This suggests that there is a serious lack of 1) care for the unsaved and 2) outreach to get people saved.

Our meetings have become too Christian, they have become too apatheitc, mediocre, lukewarm, selfish. My understanding of a Salvation Army meeting was to get people saved and sanctified. Today we go to sing and to 'worship.' Don't get me wrong, those things are fine. But how about this.

Instead of counting how many people are in your meeting, try counting how many people there are outside your meeting in your 1) your sphere of influence (school, work, friends, family...) and 2) your community. (town, city, suburb...) that are going to hell because no one bothered to tell them that Jesus saves, sets free, brings wholeness, forgives, accepts, heals, delivers etc

We have a good message to share, why don't you share it today. Call someone up, email, myspace, facebook, street preach.

Theres a dieing world to save

JESUS IS LORD OVER EVERYTHING

Some really cool stories here... Try read them all, they're all pretty cool, supernatural, and God glorifying! Warning: if you're not a Holy Spirit lover you may take offense...
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I'm back from camp! And yes I did get the gastro bug which a few of us are pretty certain was food poisoning... For those of you who dont know I went to a Salvo camp in Adelaide and they had to finish a day early because over 20 youth and leaders got sick! They even had to quarantine the sick (lepers) from the rest of us on the edge of camp. It reminded me how in Bible times, and some places today, that the lepers were on the outskirts of town and people would ignore them etc... So, instead of ignoring them we decided to tease them to cheer them up... One guy preached to them and a couple got saved! Hallelujah! The week was great hearing RC, SC and AW and others preach! The last night was awesome, the leaders had a powerful prayer time beforehand where we sung Awesome God followed by an outbreak of shouting praises to our king! The night ended with demons getting booted out of every hole we could find! God is our deliverer! Hallelujah!
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Last nights Macca youth meeting was great! Not heaps of people there but heard some great testimonies! Worship was great with a leader seeing angels whispering into peoples ears! Then I had a short preach and a guy got saved! Hallelujah! To cement it all in, I got him to exercise his new God given power and authority over sickness and he layed hands on a guy with a bad neck and he was healed! Hallelujah! He hadn't been saved 20minutes and he'd obeyed Jesus command to heal the sick! Glory to God for He alone is worthy of all praise and honor!
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While I was sick and in bed I saw something evil in the spirit outside my window, as I prayed I saw a vision of a lion roar and scare it away! The lion kept roaring throughout the night as I was praying for healing...
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I heard great stories of Holy Spirit stuff while I was hanging with some guys at easter camp. One guy was prayed for by a friend of mine, he had a glory fit and woke up underneath the salvo flag, a symbol of being dead to sin alive in Christ!

Friend also prays for people but shoots them with a bow and arrow that we cant see. People have watched this holy prayer warrior at work and has been reported that he will walk behind people in worship un-noticed and shoot someone and they will be affected somehow, some even jerking forwards... Other times shot in knees to work for healing... Apparently this guys brother uses a spear...

These guys also prayed for another friend of mine that angels would tickle him (there is more context to this story... dont freak out too quick with questions of "why") and the guys said it was unbearable! He was getting tickled all over!
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Theres some stories of my last week for you to chew over and think about. How can you use the same techniques in your ministry today and this week?

I'm going to Adelaide for a week! I cant wait to get there and soak up the Holy Spirit times we will be having. Pray for the team that is leading. Pray for the speakers. Pray for the youth that they will be impacted and challenged to lay it all down for Jesus.
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Jesus has come to change the world. It is a simple message. He has given us simple commands. Love God and love others. We get so caught up in theology, structure, routine, ritual etc. This week I'm reading the gospels to see what God is really asking of us.

I encourage you to read the gospels with an open mind, then lets look at what Jesus did and taught and see how we match up...
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I have been reminded that we need to be a holiness movement today. Search your soul, is there any darkness on there? Any bitterness? Resentfulness? Unforgiveness? Any thing that is not of God? Jesus died to take that away and restore your relationship with the creator of all things created. We are commanded to be holy, God reminds us that He is the God that makes us holy, so lets submit to His will and get made holy today by the cross through the Holy Spirit. Now.
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Jesus saves!

HAZARD: ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

I have been flat out this week. Yesterday I went and did some OH and S training for my red card. (Construction site) And I learnt something that has made alot of sense to me. When there is a hazard there is a chain of things to do to make sure that the hazard doesn't eventuate...

Step 1 - Elimination - Is there a way to eliminate the hazard?
Step 2 - Substitution - If we cant eliminate, what can we swap it with?
Step 3 - Engineering - If we cant swap it, how can we change it?
Step 4 - Admin - If we cant change it what policies, procedures can we put in to harm minimise?
Step 5 - Personal Protective Equiptment- This goes with the above steps, what can we wear to protect us from the hazard?

We are living in dangerous times. People are going to hell as we read this blog. That is a BIG HAZARD. People seem to like Jesus but not the church, so what should we do?

We can eliminate the things they dont like about church, the boring bits, the hypocrisy, the rituals, the sitting down listening to one person... What do we need to swap? We can swap the 'conservative' church for new expressions of church. House churches, cafe churches, etc...

But what do we do? We start at the other end of the hazards list. We look at ourselves, ourselves, ourselves. Then we look at the policies we have, as if that would make a difference to anything, and then we look at tweaking the problem. Never do we look at elimination or substitution. And if we do its a last result.

William Booth was not like this. He eliminated things that were preventing people from getting saved. Things like baptism, the sacraments, boring church. He substituted the old form for the new form, for The Army. And people loved it. He adapted for OTHERS. He didn't start off with personal protection and sheets of paper that say how to do things. He started from the top.

What are we doing? We have lost our way. We have lost our tradition. We are not even being logical. We are controlled by this fear of change. Its time to break free Salvation Army! Its already happening in some parts.Llook around your Territory to see some of the logical soul saving thats going on...

I heard a great story the other day from a guy who works at a Salvo Store. A guy stumbled in drunk, then the salvo guy had a brief chat followed by a prayer. The guy left completely sober! God is good!
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A friend of mine was working at a cleaning place. She was earning chicken feed and wasn't too happy until she found out that the Indian guys she was working with were illegal immigrants and they were getting paid under $4 per hour. She reported it and the guys who owned the business got shut down. Lets be on the look out for Asylum seekers, listen to their story and look after them where we can.
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Every place has a DNA. Its what makes it up, so in the church setting beliefs, structures, principles, values etc make up the DNA. One of the key DNA bits of the early church and of the Chinese church is that they multiply. The early Salvation Army had this too, with people of all ages opening fire in different countries, towns and cities.

Has The Salvation Army lost this part of who we are? When was the last outpost your corps started up? When was the last time your corps started a new meeting for different people? When was the last time you multiplied yourself and led someone to the Lord? When was the last time you even thought about doing it?

We need to imprint this multiplying DNA on us again. We need to be telling new converts that they are church planters. We need to plant more churches, corps and outposts ourselves! We shouldn't have to wait for DHQ or THQ. Just do it. Its who we are.

Start dreaming! Where do you think needs a light in the darkness? How can you make it happen? Stop putting it off, just do it. Theres a dieing world to save!

discipled...

"You are designed to achieve what you're already achieving."
Alan Hirsch

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. The results which we are getting, we are getting because that is how we have designed it to be. If we want different results we need to do things differently. Or we can do the same thing over and over again, but expect a different result. We can be insane.

One of the popular theories that has been around is that we will do things the same way but better, and we will get different results. True, but they will only be marginal.

The solution has been asked, "Is it to be a revolution or an evolution?" That is, is it to be a big complete change in a blink of an eye, or are we to gradually get there? Alan Hirsch suggests that it is neither. Rather, we need to start telling a different story. We need to follow the story of Jesus, not of the church. We need to get back to the simple gospel message. Jesus is Lord.

Jesus is Lord is easy to understand and hard to follow. But if we get back to this simple message, I believe everything will work out. The problem is, we are not being discipled by Jesus, or by His story anymore. Thats why people who dare to report signs and wonders and miracles are called extreme or laughed at, or suspect of deceit. Instead, we are being discipled by our culture.

We are being discipled by two cultures. One is the secular culture, the other is the culture of the church. They tell us how things should be done, and to a large degree we follow along without even thinking. We accept the ways things are done. We settle in the mediocre, the apathetic in luke warm. We accept the status quo unaware that the gospel of Jesus is urgent.

Our lack of end times theology and beliefs has led to a lack of urgency in the gospel. There is hell and heaven. People are going to hell. The doctrines are true and tested. And if we want people to go to heaven we need to change. There is a problem in the western church, and the problem is us. So far our story is saying we are dieing. But will we change our story to the story of Jesus?

So, who are you being discipled by? Jesus and His story, or the culture and the tradition of the church?

Alan Hirsch

Ive been at Forge Mission Conference and the Youth workers and interns conference this weekend, they're all tied in together. Its been pretty good. My highlight so far has been listening to Alan Hirsch.

He's basically told us that we have been getting discipled by our culture, through materialism, consumerism etc and that the church is in decline in the one third world. Both statements are true. He then goes on to say that China which rose from 2 million people to 130 million people in 60 years without "leaders and buildings" is the pattern for us to follow.

People ask him how they did it. And he likes to get people in a room and not let them get out or get a drink until they've worked out how. "Everybody knows how, they just dont act on it." I believe this is true. Often we overlook how simple the message is. We also have a problem with leaders. That is, we rely on them.

The Biblical way of leadership is not based on "leadership" but rather what we are set to be... Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers. (Ephesians) Then he says when they all work together it works. It creates a movement. But we dont operate in that system. "Every movement in decline is driven by shepherds and teachers." You need the APE at the front, they're the ones that pick up steam. I could say so much more, but I'll leave it for my next post...
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Heres a couple of quotes for you to look at in the mean time...

"In my redemption is the redemption of the world.

"Our loss of eschatology has led to a loss of urgency

"Father Christmas (Santa Clause) is a materialistic pedophile

On consumerism, tv etc "Everyday we are being discipled into another story.

"The culture is discipling us, not Jesus

He explained how in Australia we have the Tall Poppy Syndrome, where we cut down to size our leaders, heroes etc This makes leading people hard... In the USA they have Heroe Worship, ite easier to lead people as they follow champions... We need to find a new Champion following...

"The basic message is "Jesus is Lord." Easy to understand, hard to follow...

"The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better.

"Pacify now is spiritual and moral cowardice.

"You're designed to achieve what your already achieving.

Praise God! A guy from the breakfast club got saved today! He devoted His life to living for Jesus. We prayed that He would be filled with the Holy Spirit and He had a glory fit and fell on the ground! Hallelujah! As he lay on the floor you could see he was clearly deep in prayer. One cool thing was that he was doing the palms up prayer and he said they got too heavy to hold up! The Holy Spirit was filling and overflowing him! Please pray that his commitment will not weaken but will grow stronger every day as he ministers in his school!
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We've got a new group. Not sure what to call it yet. Probably C.A.T.S Community Action Teams. 4 groups that the followers of Jesus in Plenty Valley Youth are expected to be involved in, Power Evangelism, Fair Trade, Servanthood and Fund raising. So far its going really well and we have opened it up to any youth to join, so we are building some great teams that will serve the community and give us opportunities to lead people to Christ!
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Just saw OASIS on ABC. It really really touched me. Not really sure what to say, but I will reflect on that over the next few days.
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I spoke early in the week of prophetic boundaries/rules. Heres the basic run down...

When giving the word you must test the word
is it encouraging, building up and or edifying?
is it line with the word of God?
is it line with the fruit of the Spirit?
is it true?
we also need to test the source: is it of God? Is it of us? Is it of the enemy?
is the voice/vision/person speaking etc in line with the fruit of the Spirit?

When receiving the word
dont accept it all as from God straight away
test the word against scripture, the church, the Spirit
is it true?
does it make sense?
if it doesn't make sense "put it on the shelf" leave it there until it is confirmed

New Discipleship?

We have been struggling, like most churches with discipleship. Christian kids have always been in Bible studies, they know alot about the Bible yet they find it hard to apply it. In our corps we see 80% of the work done by just 20% of the congregation. Meanwhile Christ is calling us to live for Him. The percentages just dont add up.

So last night we gave them a challenge. We gave them 3 ministry choices and they had to commit to being actively involved in one of these each week. The choices were; Power Evangelism, Servanthood, and Fair Trade.

We gave them a form that had a box for every week, and in the box they had to fill out, what they were going to do, where, etc And so the youth worked out for themselves how they are going to be ministering. We're trying to say good bye to the days when the leaders have to do everything. So now, if your following Jesus at Plenty Valley or Macleod, you need to be involved in a ministry group.

We also got them to sign a covenant for this term deciding to read 2 chapters of the Bible each day, pray for people every day, 3 conversations with not yet saved people a week, etc So we're putting the emphasis on them working and living for Jesus. Discipleship this way looks alot more like how Jesus did it. Feel free to copy our idea that we stole from the Bible...

church growth

Ive been reading some of Alan Hirsch's, "The Forgotten Ways" and have come across some cool stats...

Christians in 100Ad = as few as 25,000
Christians in 310AD = up to 20 Million!

Christians in China 1949 = 2 Million
Christians in China 1980 = up to 60 million

To put things in an even better light, When Mao came in to power in China he kicked all the missionaries out of China, killed all the leaders, and in some reports even second and their tier leaders. So when people were allowed back into China they expected to find a small struggling church! But what a difference 30 years can make! Historians are saying its the fastest church growth in history.

Further evidence that church is not about the leaders. If you're not a leader what are you doing? Live out your faith today.

Prophetic Fun

Last night was the kick of our divisions youth 24/7 prayer. I took a group for the 2am-5am shift and we had a blast! We started off with a bit of listening prayer. We just asked God to speak to us and asked Him questions and let Him talk back to us. After a while it was pretty clear that we were all hearing God so we moved on to "Prophetic Piggy in the Middle."

We had someone jump in the middle and we all prayed for them, asking God to speak to them through us. So we asked God "Is there anything you want me to say to them?" We all got answers and it was very prophetic, delving deep down into our hearts. I had a vision someone had of me at Easter camp confirmed along with some good challenges...

After this we moved on to "Blindfold Prophesy." For this one we sat the prayer down in a chair and they weren't allowed to open their eyes. Then we had someone sit behind them. Then the pray-er had to ask God for something to say to them. Again we had some very prophetic words, visions etc and pretty much every time the person praying knew who they were praying for! This was alot of fun as we praised God that we were hearing Him speak to us!

Some of the people there had not heard God speak to them so clearly before and so the night was really really fun! To see the youths smiles when the words they heard from God were confirmed was my highlight. The more I do ministry the more I realise that my job is simply to teach, equip and empower. I dont need to be the person prophesying or anything, I would much rather a group of youths doing it than me just because I'm the 'leader.' Its great seeing that the same Jesus I hear speak to me is the same Jesus that speaks to the youth!

I'm sure I'll get some comments and emails about these games, so this week I will blog about some of the boundaries and rules we have for these games so people dont freak out! But at the end of the day who is going to complain that a bunch of youth simply waited on God to speak to them?

But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 1 Corinthians 14:3

Holy Spirit

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:29-32

I find it interesting that the Holy Spirit is given to us once we believe in Christ. This means that all believers have the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Holy Spirit is our passport to heaven! This is good news for us all!

I use to look up to powerful men and women of God and think "They really have the Spirit!"
I use to look up to pure men and women of God and think "They really have the Spirit!"
I use to look up to passionate men and women of God and think "They really have the Spirit!"
I use to look up to prophetic men and women of God and think "They really have the Spirit!"

And now I realise that yes, they have the Holy Spirit. They rely on the Spirit and acknowledge the Spirit. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. But so do I! What was the difference?

The last passage tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. How do we do this? By sinning, and it lists a whole bunch of sinful behaviors.Therefore, if we continue to sin, there is every opportunity that we will lose our Salvation. If we continue to sin the Holy Spirit will be forced out of us and or rendered to the sidelines unable to participate in our life.

Jesus came to give life in its fullness, but many Christians dont realise that to receive this we need to give Him our life. Sadly too many Christians have one foot in the world and one foot in the Spirit. They lose out on the best of fullness of life the world has to offer, (although it really is not life rather sin leading to death...) and we miss out on the fullness of life that God has to offer. They are trapped in this middle place. This place is called mediocrity, apathy and lukewarm. And we know if we are lukewarm we will be spat out!

So acknowledge the Holy Spirit today, cast off all sin. Rely on the Holy Spirit and give in totally to God and the plans He has for your life. Obey Him! Allow the Spirit to transform your life, and the lives of those around you!

WARNING AND ENCOURAGEMENT

To everyone reading this blog. God still does miracles, I have seen Him heal the sick and devils been cast out of people. I have seen God change peoples lives in an instant. God is still alive. He is still working! I hear God speak to me, and i know many people who hear God as well. Sanctification is real, and it is possible to live a holy life, our actions coming out of a heart of love. We believe the Bible is the word of God, it is our rule of faith and practice.

There are however, people who are among our ranks who do not want us to believe these miracles. They see our reports of miracles and scoff, they mock us and make up excuses why they did and didn't happen. They claim they can't possibly be of God. They never accept invitations to talk and listen to peoples personal stories. They seek evidence upon evidence upon evidence when the basic principle of Christianity is faith. They pull down leaders and people of God who work tirelessly, who pray for hours on end, and who have abandoned their lives for the gospel. People who walk in the power of the Holy Spirit are looked down upon as weird and heretical by those who don't have the Spirit, and this causes divisions. They genuinely believe they are doing the right thing by denying miracles for the edification of the church, yet the only people they are denying is God Himself who was the actual person that healed the people, meanwhile the people who were healed know in their hearts that they had a touch from God.

Do not let these people lead you astray. Their motives are buried in fear. Yet we do not live in fear for perfect love drives out all fear! Let your motives always be out of love. Do not claim miracles that are not miracles, do not claim healings that are not healings, do not claim salvations that are not met with the fruit of repentance. Do not get ahead of yourselves, lets seek after God and let Him perform the miracles, and when people see that God is the one who performs miracles we wont have to defend ourselves. Lets make it clear that God is still alive and performing miracles all the time!

Do not treat those who disbelieve without respect. They are doing what they believe to be the right thing and we cannot discourage that. Rather, take every opportunity to pray with them, to lay hands and pray for a revelation from God for them, and once they accept Gods word, pray for an infilling of the Holy Spirit so that they too can walk in the power of God.

Let it be clear that we do not pray for miracles for our own personal advancement. Rather we pray for miracles out of compassion for the sick and lost, praying that God would reveal Himself to people in a supernatural way, that will tear the veil that is over their eyes which prevents them from seeing Jesus in His glory. We must give God all the glory for the Great things He has done, is doing and will do. People, do not steal His glory.

"But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." Jude v17-23

Supermarket Revival

This is one of my favorite video testimonies! Its from www.jesusculture.org and there are a whole stack of them there! This video shows the simplicity of preaching the gospel. I'm sure you will enjoy it!