DELIVERANCE - SALVATION - BAPTISM

Last night was amazing! We had our usual group at the hall after school yesterday and we had a few new people come. One guy came early because he wanted to get right with God. I was able to speak to him about the foolish man building his house upon the sand and the wise man building upon the rocks. This worked beautifully and he immediately wanted to pray and repent.
We spent some time in prayer then as I was leaving the room he kept saying how hes going to try to be good but he still has demons in him. I wasn't 100% if they were demons but I wanted to at least pray for him. So I simply accepted the authority Jesus has given us over the demonic (luke10:19) and started quietly praying if there was anything not of God in him that it would leave. I started getting names of unclean spirits so I simply told them to leave. He started shaking and falling backwards even though I had rested my hand on his shoulder. Wanting him to know that I wasn't pushing I decided not to touch him and I kept praying. Again, as I quietly commanded the demonic to leave he kept falling backwards. Then all of a sudden he was at peace and had a great smile!

Then a couple of girls came in as we finished up. They were swearing so I simply said no swearing in church. Then we started talking about church, to which I asked, "Do you believe in God?" They said yes, but when I asked if they were heading for heaven they didn't know. So I did the good test so they could find out of they were 'good enough' to go to heaven. Of course we found out that they both were headed for hell and they didn't like that thought. So I was able to tell them about the grace of God dieing and rising again to forgive us and to wipe away it all from us. To recieive this you had to say sorry to God and choose to follow Him from now on. They agreed so we wrote down on paper all the sins we could think of. Then we lit fire as we thanked God for Jesus and for forgiveness. They then committed to following Jesus.

We then mucked around with all the other guys but then we decided everyone needed to know how to listen to God speak. So we spent time listening to God and had some very prophetic stuff coming out for each other. I was particularly impressed with one prophetic word from one girl to the other saying she could see the girl walking away from a fight and walking towards Jesus. It was a great moment!

After this we spoke of the need to follow Jesus in more detail and how it can be hard but God has sent the Holy Spirit to help us to follow Him. I then asked if they wanted to receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. They all indicated they wanted to so we started praying for each other. The Holy Spirit showed up and touched our hearts, and as a sign of Him touching the inside He also touched the outside causing us all to fall to the ground. We explained that the falling to the ground was an outward sign of them letting go and letting God take over, giving God full control so that He can touch our hearts. A great peace filled the room!

We had a great time. We all had fun and encountered the living God. We gave them our new Christian show bags that have devotionals, bibles, stress balls that say Jesus loves you, and a bunch of other stuff, and we also organised a new small group to be held every week so we can learn to follow Jesus better!

Praise God because He saves!

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 have started handing out Tracts alot more than I ever had before. I've been very surprised at how effective street evangelism has actually been. I believe the world sells us a message that street evangelism doesn't work in todays culture, but from the results I've seen since "Go For Souls" I can safely say that street evangelism works. People are getting saved because the gospel is being preached! Check out http://www.atstracts.org/ They boast 180 years of changing peoples lives.

A tract is something that is pointed, keeps peoples attention and has a clear gospel message. I now see the value of the War Cry however I believe it is not as pointed as what it could be. So, I have plans to make a monthly newsletter type tract to hand out with testimonies etc all aimed at getting people saved (not just talking through things)...
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On another note, I want to thank God because I have such a great job! We went to luna Park last night for Youth group and I had such a great time with the youth. Its great having people love you so much as they grab you and force you to go on rides with them. It makes you feel so wanted and so special.

Which leads me to this point. Do you go to church to be fed? I use to, but now I go to serve and I find that i am being fed by the people I am ministering to. So, a challenge, if you're worried about not being fed, start serving! Start up some evangelsim stuff, or go help out at a soup kitchen. Most importantly, find a community where you can minister, its about a lifestyle of mission not a day, or job of mission...

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more! 1 Corinthians 9:19

Spiritual Warfare

Firstly, I had that vision of hell but my mate Steve from church had an even crazier one on the weekend which included smells and stuff! Infact, he smelt something that was yuck and didnt know what it was. Then today he smelt in class... The smell of burning hair which is also the same smell as sulfur... Thank you Jesus that i don't need to burn in hell! You can check out his blog here. It's his first blog so we'll see if he keeps it up...

Secondly, did Strike tonight at Macleod with Simon M. It was great. The topic was Spiritual warfare. A huge topic for a small amount of time. We could have done heaps more but we fitted in some cool stuff. We were able to change some beliefs shaped by TV, and told them about the Bibles version! We then prayed for the gift of discernment.

The way we tackled the topic was to basically say angels and demons are real. Angels out number demons 2:1, God has authority (Matthew 28), He gave it to us (luke 10:19), then how to be protected, (Ephesians 6) and how to get set free from them! Thank you Jesus for our salvation!

So, if you think your possessed, or know someone who is, take them to the Macleod folk who will deal with it! They have authority from God, faith to back it up, the armor of God on, and now know what to do! I can just see it now, the demons having an emergency meeting tomorrow morning as all the kids wake up! hahaha Glory to God!

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8

Hell

During "Go For Souls" we were challenged to ask God to show us hell. We were told that one of the reasons why we don't evangelise as we should is because hell isn't real enough. I think thats a good point. Imagine if we actually applied that to the people we love, our friends, family, neighbours etc! Man, would we be busy!

Anyway, i had a vision of hell at the conference, here it is...

I saw the gates to hell and behind it were people aglow. they were glowing because it was so hot. And, they were all weird looking like they'd been melted. And as i stood at the gate into hell i saw hands reaching out, trying to escape. But, sadly, they couldnt. The other thing about it was that there was no sound. no screaming, because there tongues were so parched.

i was talking to someone who knew someone who worked with William booth. when he was asked why Booth was such an effective evangelist he paused then said, "Because he had such a strong belief in hell." Wow.

i don't know about you, but I don't want anyone to go to hell. And as Catherine Booth said, "Its Jesus or Hell!" Or as Jesus said when talking about Himself, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son"

freinds dont let friends burn in hell.

Why Muslims follow Jesus...

I read a fantastic article today called "Why Muslims follow Jesus." I have a heart for Muslims as I lived in Bangladesh but check out the article! Heres a few of the points I got from it:

the number of new Christians each year outstrips the number of new Muslims...Muslims are increasing in sub-Saharan Africa and among African Americans by conversion, but elsewhere the growth is mostly by birth or immigration. The major growth for Protestants, especially evangelicals and Pentecostals, has been by conversion.

Reasons why Muslims are converting to Christianity:

1) Seeing a lived faith

• the power of God in answered prayers and healing.

• deliverance from demonic power as another reason they were attracted to Jesus.

• dissatisfaction with the type of Islam they had experienced.

• As with Paul and Cornelius in Acts, visions and dreams played a role in the conversion of many. More than one in four respondents, 27 percent, noted dreams and visions before their decision for Christ, 40 percent at the time of conversion, and 45 percent afterward.

2) The message is the medium

• The gospel message, especially its assurance of salvation and forgiveness, is also a significant attraction to Muslims.

• the spiritual truth in the Bible.

• Bible's teaching about the love of God

• love expressed through the life and teachings of Jesus.

Its amazing, Salvo theology goes so well with that. Incarnational living and loving, signs and wonders and holiness! Simon, you know what I'm thinking...lol

Revolution Recruits

We at Plenty Valley have turned our attention to discipling this term. Not an easy thing for me to do being such a lover of trying to get people saved! So, we're doing Soldiership Training, now called Revolution Recruits as our discipleship tool. It's not going to be all sitting down and listening to a boring guy like babble on, but each week these recruits fore the revolution will attend a worship, outreach and Bible study activity!

The outreach is going to be a mix of slum brigade type stuff, helping people in our neighbourhood with acts of kindness and service, mixed with street preaching, prophetic evangelism and "Pray For Souls." (P4S is a monthly prayer meeting we're having to pray for souls)

Everyones welcome as we at Plenty Valley are recruiting revolutionaries for the revolution, but what we really need is people to help disciple. If you are an active soldier, can evangelise, mentor, serve and disciple well, then we need you to help disciple this next generation of revoltuionaries!

I'll keep you posted as these Revolution Recruits storm the forts of darkness!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" Matthew 28:19

prophecy, enemies and judgment!

How bout this. We spoke to a Bengali friend who use to work in Bangladesh with Bo Brekke the day we found out about his untimely death. Being a local in the Asian region he commented that the man who killed Brekke (we'll call him J) would get help from Muslim extremists and that they would cloud and confuse the whole situation. And that 'J' would be unlikely to do much prison time... Then reports now say that 'J' was being guarded by 5 guards and he escaped! Now, I do not know for sure that any Muslim had anything whatsoever to do with any of this, but i thought it was interesting...
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Been at ACC this week and had an interesting thought. Our enemy in the Bible is the FLESH, WORLD and the dEVIL. Our sanctification deals with the flesh (sin nature) meaning we only have 2 enemies left. The devil is easy to beat, Jesus did that and has given us authority to do that too, and so we are left with the world. Is this a call to social justice? hmmmm
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And a couple of gems from my daily rations...

2 Thes 1:6-10
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

wow! I don't know when Jesus is coming back, but I know I don't need to worry about missing it. It sounds pretty BIG and LOUD! And what a description of hell! Makes me not want to sin... Makes me pretty pleased that Jesus died on the cross for me and took my punishment even though I don't deserve it! Hallelujah!

Demonic strongholds

Its been too longsince I last blogged! Ive been busy with some mates from Perth who have come over to visit me!

I am convinced that the things we do in the physical realm have an impact in the spiritual realm. I dont like making a too big a gap between the two, but there is a spiritual realm that we dont always see and thats what Im talking about.

For example, when we say something against someone it is a curse, when we say something good, it is a bless. When we sin it creates something in us which can lead to a demonic stronghold. If we agree with one of the devils lies, or we agree with a sin, it can create a stronghold in us which is hard to get rid of...

That is, hard to get rid of until you come into contact with the blood of Jesus!

The other night I was talking to a person who asked for a word from God concerning a block he felt in his heart. I prayed and got the word "demonic strong hold" straight away, I argued with God saying I think its just me, but then it was confirmed along with the sin which was allowed to stay because of fear.

Then I told this person about what was going on and the demon begun to manifest. The person started going manic, so we ordered this person to fix their eyes on Jesus! They did and we started praying on our knees and breaking curses in Jesus name! We agreed with Jesus and His laws instead of the devils. As I prayed the person fell forward in the Spirit! It was really cool! Praise God Hes come to give us freedom!

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:19

Spiritual Warfare

Ive heard lots of stories of spiritual warfare happening at the moment! All sorts of corps and people are under attack! It can only be a good thing! It means we are stepping into the war! Hallelujah! I have a feeling it is caused by the 24/7 prayer and is creating power encounters all over the place! Im so glad we've already won!

Speaking about winning, great testimony time today at Plenty Valley! It went for so long the sermon was cut short!hahaha woman helped to forgive mum, answers to prayer, prophetic dreams coming true, prophetic words of encouragement coming at just the right time, just to name a few! There were a couple of real tear jerkers!
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Im not sure if ive posted this before but its a good story...

During an Easter camp a mate of mine saw his cousin put a hood over his head during a worship time. My mate had a word with him afterwards finding out what was going on. In the end they discovered he had been seeing 2 demons, and had been having a dream of the devil taking him to hell. Every time he took a step down a stair the stair behind him would disappear. They prayed for him.

The next night my mate was having a chat to him as they walked around the footy oval. The demons had not left. So my mate told him to lie down, he claimed and consecrated the land. Then he asked where the demons were. The boy sat up a bit looked around and pointed in the direction.

My mate got up and walked towards them shouting at them in Jesus name! Telling them to leave. He then felt a release in the Spirit. His cousin began laughing. He was looking up into the sky.

My mate asked what had happend, his cousin replied, "As you walked over towards the demons a BRGHT light shon out of you and they got scared and ran away! Now, I see a legion of angels in the sky protecting the camp!"

There you go! We are the light of the world! Matthew 5:14
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also, if you can hear God speak to you, please do some listening prayer for me and let me know what He says! Thanks!