First up, INSANE is going to be insane! Its a bug youth get together at the beginning of next year! Its going to be huge. If you want to donate money or help out somehow talk to 2love at THQ. But what we all should do is start praying for it! We want to see heaps of youth get saved! PRAY IT UP!




-------------

Read this in my devotions today... It made me think because I am sure there have been times I have fallen into a couple of these categories, and it confirms my thoughts that we as the church should be a bit stricter and not so afraid of expelling the immoral brothers...

"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you." 1 Cor 5

I've been in corps where the people in charge know there is dodgy stuff going on but they turn a blind eye because its 'none of their business...' I wonder what my life and the lives of others would look like if we were expelled for being consistently immoral... I wonder how many Officers, pastors, leaders etc have been obedient to this passage in recent times.

Also, its wise to read Matthew 18:15-17, 2 cor 2:5-8, 2 Thess 3:14-15, Titus 3:10

-----------------
About the so called art that is really porn. I just heard a politician on the news saying that he doesn't think that police should be raiding art galleries. My response is this, "Artists shouldn't be taking photos of nude 12-13 yr old girls."

Christian Malpractice

What is more loving? To not tell people about sin hell and judgment and to have a nice chat to them, eventually building a relationship with them, then after a while begin to talk about how Jesus saves? OR to tell people, to warn people of their choices and to encourage them to accept Gods grace?

Watch this video, its in response to the nooma video Bullhorn...



What do you think?

Holiness

"Holiness is a state in which there is no anger, malice, blasphemy, hypocrisy, envy, love of ease, selfish desires for good opinion of men, shame of the Cross, worldiness, deceit, debate, contention, covetousness, nor any evil desire or tendency in the heart." (Brengle)

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." (Galatians 5:16-17)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." (Galatians 5:22-26)

Did you catch that? Holiness is possible. It is expected. We can't do it on our own. But by Jesus death and resurrection we can. By the filling of the Holy Spirit we can. And I can testify that sinful habits that I've had, the ones I thought I could never get rid off have fallen off me. Instead of having a sinful heart my heart has been turned to love.

If you are still sinning today God can change that. We cannot do it on our own. But thats the whole reason why Jesus died and rose again. He defeated sin on the cross. Why not enforce that victory upon your own life today? Ask God to show you your sin. Repent and renounce. Devote all of your life to Him. Believe God has done it. Then testify that He has done it!

There's freedom in the name of Jesus!

Holy or Hoax?

There has always been stories of people being raised from the dead. In fact there is a book called, ""Saints Who Raised the Dead" which has "True Stories of 400 Resurrection Miracles" written by Fr. Albert J. Hebert, S.M. Currently there are tons of reports of miracles of people being raised from the dead. Here are a few:

Heidi Baker, under her ministry thousands have been raised from the dead
David Hogan, under his ministry (Freedom Ministries Mexico) there have been over 400 people raised
Reinhard Bonnke, under his ministry people have been raised
Scott Holtz ministry has raised people from the dead
A friend of mines friend does mission trips to remote Aboriginal towns and under this ministry people have been raised from the dead
Teresa Neumann from breaking Christian News reported on February 21st 2008 of people being raised from the dead in India leading to mass conversions
There are over 600 videos on youtube on people being raised from the dead
In some places in PNG where my friends have ministered raising the dead is so common that they (communities of PNG people) pray for the dead to be raised at every funeral! Its simply what they do! Its their culture!
There have been reports of African Salvation Army Officers (who are still in big appointments) have raised the dead too.
Someone mentioned to me that "Onfire" printed an article of someone raising from the dead

So, heres the question. "Has every person who has ever claimed someone has raised from the dead in their ministry/experience been a false prophet?"

If we say yes. 1) That would mean alot, and i mean alot of lying. It would mean that the worlds Christian Spiritual leaders are all liars. It would mean that all these people are lying for no reason. This view does not make sense! These Christian leaders who love people, who give their life away for people, are lying... What a stupid comment. And fame? Are they after fame? Why would they elaborate on dead people rising from the dead? It does not make sense.

2) Perhaps they would say something like, "They weren't really dead." Where does this question come from? It comes from a heart that does not want to believe. People in 3rd world countries know when people are dead. They live amongst the dead, it is regular for them to be amongst the dead. So when they say they're dead, they're dead. And even if they got it wrong 9 out of 10 times that still means at least hundreds have been raised...

Those two statements are terrible. They are fueled by doubt, unbelief and a very negative view on Christian leadership.

If we say "No" they are not all hoaxes, then we need to admit that atleast some people have been raised from the dead.

Why can people not accept the fact that people have been raised from the dead? As for wanting death certificates, if you have been raised from the dead you dont need one! So, of course theres no death certificate! Thats because they came back to life!!! (also, there are people who have death certificates and display them proudly when they testify...)

The fact of the matter is if you say people dont get raised from the dead then you are saying that pretty much all Christian leaders throughout time have been liars or stupid. And I am not game to say that. That view in my opinion comes from a view that lacks any faith whatsoever, it lacks discernment, it lacks respect, it lacks an understanding of Jesus command for us, me and you, to "raise the dead."

doubt is evil

It is almost trendy to doubt in the church today. I hear people say a little bit of doubt is good. i hear people justifying their doubt all the time. It didnt sit well with me so I looked up doubt in the Bible and this is what I came up with...

“Why do you doubt?”
Matthew 14:31
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Luke 24:38
He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?”

Jesus is amazed that people would doubt. There is no need for it. Once we see who God is, the just, holy, compassionate, all powerful God who can do anything why would you doubt? Jesus does not see doubt as good, rather as unbelievable!

Do not doubt
John 20:27
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Romans 14:23
But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

James 1:6
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

The opposite of doubt is faith. Here Jesus is telling us to stop doubting and to have faith. If you have doubts, stop it, instead have faith. Perhaps doubt comes from the enemy. I’ve seen this in my own experience. The enemy starts telling lies, we accept them and doubt creeps in. Stop believing the devil and start believing in the Creator/Saviour of the world. God wants us to live a life of faith, not doubt.

Faith leads to the miraculous
Matthew 21:21and Mark 11:23
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

If we do not doubt and have faith we will see the miraculous happen! Hallelujah! I can witness to this fact! Step out in faith, don’t just say you have faith, step out in it and you will see God do awesome things!

So in closing, doubt may be trendy in some churches. But is a lie from the devil. It is not ok to doubt. The solution to doubt is to look at who God is, and put your faith in Him. The solution is to listen to what God says, read your Bible and believe. And when we start believing we will see the miraculous happen!

The knowing too much sin

Living in the Western World we know so much about injustice. We know 30,000 kids die each night, we know theyre dieing of preventable diseases, we know people are in slavery, people are being bought and sold as sex slaves, we know people get abused, we know people are treated unfairly and working in sweat shops. We know there is war and famine, and extreme poverty. We know that even in our own towns there is injustice. And for most of us, including me we are involved in the sin of knowing too much. Let me explain...

Heidi Baker found out about the poverty and kids homes needing urgent help in Mozambique and simply said, "Lets go." The rest is history with thousands of churches starting up, thousands of kids homes, huge amounts of kids getting adopted, people being raised from the dead and thousands and thousands of people getting saved. All because she heard and responded.

We are living in the sin of knowing too much and not doing anything about it. I am included. I am convicted of it and am working out what I need to do to get out of this sin. But at the end of the day theres a far greater reason for this though, and it has nothing to do with me. It has to do with "others." Am I willing to love others? What about you?

Yesterday I didnt write down about Matthew 25 because I saw it as simply loving people, but we in the western world do not get it. We see it, yet do nothing. You ask, "What am I called to do?" Try this on for size, "Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, invite strangers in, clothe those who need clothes, look after the sick, visit the prisoners. However you treat people is how you are treating God, so treat people like the king of Kings."

What am I called to do?

I get so many people asking me the same question. I have asked question and I am sure you have asked this question. And its funny because we all expect something magical, but the answer is right in front of our eyes...

"What am I called to do?"

The answer to this is so so easy, it seems too easy, and people see the answer then keep asking more and more not realizing it is that simple. Im going to use 3 passages of Scripture that shows what everyone is called to do. (note, this is different from called to be... but thats a question for another day)

“ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and withall your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30

“As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:7-8)

And He continues in Matthew "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28)

So here is what God wants YOU to do. Love God, love others, heal the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons, freely give, make disciples, teach people to obey God.

So you no longer need to ask the question "What does God want me to do." He has already told you. Start doing these things right where you are and see where that leads you. Its not necessarily about specifics e.g should I be a doctor or a lawyer or a pastor, officer etc, its about obeying God. Be a doctor, be a lawyer, officer, whatever, but whatever you do "Love God, love others, heal the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons, freely give, make disciples, teach people to obey God."