1 John 1 and Romans 7

Firstly, make sure you read the other blog (how are you?) below and check out the challenge at the end...

There have been a couple of comments on one of my blogs about holiness. Its amazing how many people dont believe we can be holy on the Earth now. Its amazing the Scripture some people use to try and defend their position. Its amzing how many Salvationists no longer believe our doctrines.

I want to have a quick look at 1 John 1:5-2:11. Most of this part is from John Wesley...

Many people use verse 8, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" to say we cant be holy. Verse 8 is speaking about before we have been cleansed by the blood, as verse 9 say BUT "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

1) Both to forgive us our sins — To take away all the guilt of them.
2) And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness — To purify our souls from every kind and every degree of it.

All unrighteousness, that to me means original sin, personal sin, sinful desires and passions, ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. The only thing left that can make us sin is the same disobedience that Adam and Eve committed when they took the apple.

Verse 10 then says we have all sinned. We agree. We can never forget that we have been past sinners.

The rest of the passage speaks of living in the light, about not sinning, about how if we really are in Jesus then we wont sin!

People also use Romans 7:15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Unfortunately they again have missed what Paul is saying. Look at verse 14 says, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin" hes having a go at the jews. Hes being sarcastic. He does this sort of thing all the time. (look at Romans 6:1, 6:15 etc)

Then he builds his case in the next few verses finally coming to 24 "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Then he gives his answer, "25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." Once again we see there are two sides to be on, death and sin or God and righteousness! Romans 7 is totally connected to Romans 6:11-14 if you dont think this logic is working! Hes saying he is a slave to righteousness not sin!

Heres a couple more verses that I believe back me up, Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Salvation Army Doctrine 10:We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

ok thats me, and how I read those passages, Im open for a debate!

How are you?

I was finishing off reading John Wimbers Power Evangelism the other day and came across a cool story. It basically goes along these lines...

Wimber had finished teaching a "Signs and Wonders" course at a uni. One of the students came up to him and asked, "What do I do now?" The man spent alot of his time in admin meetings and didnt know what to do with what he had just learnt. Wimbers advice was simple, "Be like Jesus wherever you go, whatever you do."

He then got a letter back from the student saying that he would ask people, "How are you?" then pray for them on the spot and he had great results.

So today I was on msn talking to someone I hadnt for some time. Shes going through a rough time and needs some answers. I offerd to pray for her even though shes REALLY anti-God. The name "Greg" kept coming into my head so of course I told God He was crazy, well, that I was crazy and it wasnt Him speaking to me. But it didnt leave me alone. I remembered the above story and asked her if she knew who Greg was.

The question about Greg fitted perfectly into the conversation and when she asked how I knew I was able to tell her God had told me, followed up by my typical, "I told you God was real!" She now has a taste that God is real, and I can continue to challenge her about her faith in God.

So, whoever reads my blog, Be like Jesus and Do like Jesus! Step out in faith! Who cares if we get laughed at, imagine getting people saved on the spot with a demonstration of Gods power! Its about time we let God do His thing!

Heres the challenge: Whenever you ask how someone is, pray for them right away on the spot for their troubles! Lets put the pressure on God to heal people! To free people! To show people His love in a practical way! God move in our lives!

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power!
1 Corinthians 2:4

Workers Needed

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

DO YOU LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOU HAVE? DO YOU LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF? DO YOU WANT TO SEE PEOPLE SAVED FROM SIN BOTH IN THE NOW AND FOR ETERNITY?

THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE SALVATION ARMY PLENTY VALLEY YOUTH FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE. WE HAVE HEAPS OF CONTACTS WITH YOUTH BUT ARE IN SHORTAGE OF COMMITTED MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD WHO CAN BE READILY AVAILABLE TO GO AND DO WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF THEM.

WE ARE WANTING TO SERVE THE YOUTH IN THE COMMUNITY AS BEST WE CAN WITH SCHOOL BREAKFAST CLUBS, HOMEWORK CLUBS, SPORTS TEAMS, MENTORING, AND OF COURSE LEADING PEOPLE TO CHRIST. AS WELL AS WITH MANY MORE IDEAS AND PLANS THAT WE HAVE.

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN THE PLENTY VALLEY AREA ARE SADLY GOING TO HELL, AND SOME FEEL AS THOUGH THEY ARE ALREADY THERE.

IT DOESNT NEED TO BE LIKE THAT! WE DONT WANT IT TO BE LIKE THAT!

WE NEED MEN AND WOMEN WHO LOVE GOD, HAVE A BURNING PASSION FOR PEOPLE GETTING SAVED BOTH TEMPORALLY AND ETERNALLY. PEOPLE WILLING TO GO THE EXTRA MILE. WE NEED UNASHAMED SERVANTS OF JESUS TO SERVE THIS COMMUNITY. PEOPLE WHO WILL LOVE PEOPLE UNCONDITIONALLY!

IF YOUVE GOT WHAT IT TAKES, OR WANT TO LEARN HOW TO SERVE GOD THEN COME JOIN THE PLENTY VALLEY YOUTH TEAM. CONTACT ME!

LETS SAVE THE WORLD!

Pimp my ride

Saw this (below) on Joe Nolands web site...

On the back window it says "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life!" On the sides theres also words like "love" "agape" etc... The coffin inside turned into a platform for the singing group to use...

So, does anyone have a hearse we can pimp out? We can grab some massive rims, get the neon strobe lights put on, a novelty horn, chuck some awessome speakers in the back, get the music pumping and cruise down Chapel street and do some evangelism!

I reckon its a great idea! If you wanna pledge some money for it, or donate the car prefably let me know!

Bob and Shazza

One day a man named Bob had a great girlfriend called Shazza who was a doctor. They did all sorts of stuff together. They would hang out on weekends, and Shazza helped Bob with alot of his problems. You could say Bob owed her one... owed her alot atually.

Bob met a woman at work named Di. They enjoyed working together, having a few drinks after work and having good chats. But Bob never spoke about his girlfriend. Shazza knew all about Di, but Di didnt know anything about Shazza. He didnt want to ruin the relationship with Di so he thought hed keep quiet until Di would understand...

Then one day Shazza had enough and cut off all ties with Bob because Bob was ashamed of her even though Shazza had done so much for him. Then Di fell seriously ill and died.

Thats what evangelism these days is like and i hate it.

I hate how we use 'steps' to get people saved. I hate how we want to get people into this program to get them into this program before we can talk about God. Are we ashamed of God? How did Shazza feel? How does God feel?

To be really effective God needs to be in every part of our life. People these days DO BELIEVE in GOD!!! They may not like church, but a quick look at our culture will reveal people are craving some type of spirituality. hey are searching for Jesus but many will not find Him.

If you had the cure for AIDS what would you do? If you had the cure for sin, lonliness, depression, sickness, demon posession, and death etc what would you do?

"Be Holy"

I justs did a word search on biblegateway.com on "be holy" and came up with a few passages. Hopefully this will show you all that God does want us to be holy! Either the Bible isnt inspired, or its lies, or it is inspired and means what it says...

I believe God wants us to be holy and here are a few reasons:

Exodus 19:5-6
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you [a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

Exodus 22:31
"You are to be my holy people"

Exodus 31:13
"Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy."

Leviticus 6:25-27
also has a bunch of times when God says He will make us Holy.

Leviticus 11:44
I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy

Leviticus 11:45
I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy

Leviticus 19:2
"Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy

Leviticus 20:7
" 'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:8
Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

Leviticus 20:26
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.

Leviticus 21:6
They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.

Leviticus 21:8
Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the LORD am holy—I who make you holy.

Leviticus 21:15
so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy. ' "

Leviticus 22:9
" 'The priests are to keep my requirements so that they do not become guilty and die for treating them with contempt. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.

Leviticus 22:32
Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who makes you holy

Numbers 16:3
They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?"

Numbers 16:5
Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him.

Deuteronomy 14:2
for you are a people holy to the LORD your God

Deuteronomy 14:21
Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 26:19
He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.

Deuteronomy 28:9
The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.

Psalm 89:7
In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.

Isaiah 4:3
Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 62:12
They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted

Jeremiah 2:3
Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 20:12
Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.

Ezekiel 37:28
Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.' "

Matthew 27:52
The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

Romans 12:1
[ Living Sacrifices ] Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 15:16
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

Ephesians 1:4
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Ephesians 2:21
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 5:3
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

Ephesians 5:25-27
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Colossians 1:2
To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Colossians 1:22
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

1 Thessalonians 2:10
You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.

1 Thessalonians 3:13
May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1 Thessalonians 4:4
that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,

1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

2 Timothy 1:9
who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

2 Timothy 2:21
If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Titus 1:8
Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

Hebrews 2:11
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Hebrews 10:10
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:14
because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Hebrews 12:14
[ Warning Against Refusing God ] Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 13:12
And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

1 Peter 1:15
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;

1 Peter 1:16
for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 3:5
For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.

2 Peter 3:11
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives

Jude 1:14
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones

Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 22:11
Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."

I havent searched throught the sanctification passages, or even the freedom in Christ passages etc. I hope you can see that holiness is not just a salvo/holiness movement idea. Its a GOD AND BIBLE idea! We cant possibly say holiness cant happen! Lead us in holiness LORD!

i believe Holiness is real

Ive been praying that we would be a "Blood and Fire" Army!

I believe holiness is real. I believe we can get it. I believe in entire sanctification. I believe we dont need to sin and that we can stop sinning. I believe The Salvation Armys doctrines. I believe God ment "be holy as I am holy" when He said it. I believe the blood of Jesus cleanses us and the fire of the Holy Spirit enables us to live a holy life.


Imagine if the whole Salvation Army was washed in the blood and filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit?!?! Imagine a holy army? Imagine a Spirit empowered Army from the most insignificant soldier right up to the general! (and every adherent and social worker/employee too!)


Do the people reading this blog believe you can be free from sin in the here and now? Do you believe you can stop sinning? Have you stopped sinning?

Confused

I dont recall anytime in Jesus ministry when He knocked back a plee for healing. When He was walking along the road, whenever people asked to be healed He did. The times people werent healed was because 1) They didnt believe or 2) they didnt have enough faith...

Last year I chipped my front tooth in half in the middle of footy season. The tooth was miraculousy ok and they stuck the other half back on no problems. Then in a wrestle at Easter camp it got chipped again. I went to the dental hospital and they capped it. Again, miracuoulsy the tooth was fine. Then a couple of weeks ago my teeth began to get sensitive to cold drinks and ice cream etc. Then the last week its been almost constantly hurting,

So yesterday I locked myself in my bedroom and prayed. And prayed and prayed. I asked God to heal me. I asked for a new tooth. I thought that He would heal me. I even thought I heard Him say "go and clean your teeth 7 times and you will be healed." I did and i thought it was healed then it came back.

Then today I woke up and it was hurting and was in really bad pain! So today I went and got a root-canal. Ouch!

Im convinced that God heals in these situations. I have no doubt that He can heal me, or anyone, especially tooth aches. What Im confused about is why He doesnt heal me. Ive also seen in the Bible that often Jesus is moved with compassion before He heals. Maybe Hes not as compassionate on my tooth ache that I can get fixed at the dentist... Im not sure.

Either way though, I still believe God heals today. Whenever Im in pain or someone else is I will pray and declare healing. I believe in Gods healing power even though it didnt happen this time. I cant wait till I can blog a miraculous healing!

Pentecost Sunday

Well, I woke up yesterday morning nice and refreshed. Excited about preaching, but nervous at the same time. And I had a splitting toothache! On the way to Church I got a phone call from Sarah, (had it on speaker phone so i could still drive safely...) and I told her about this toothache and how I believed God was going to heal it.

As soon as I got off the phone it was fine! Hallelujah! Then once I got to the hall it came back. Then the meeting was really good. One part that really stood out was that we were invited to come to the front and write names of people we wanted to see saved on cards, then we put the cards on all the empty seats in the hall and we prayed. And we're going to pray for those people every day! And we're going to see those people saved! Hallelujah.

Then I preached. Tootchache stopped just as I got up, and I think it went well. I had everyones attention (apart from the person in the front row whos phone kept on going off!hahaha) And afterwards I had lots of people encourage me and tell me it was good, and they appreciated it etc. Its such an encouraging environment! Thank you Plenty Valley! Also, I even had someone in tears!Hallelujah! Now I pray that what was said will impact the way they live their lives... (I'll post a bit about what I said later...)

Other exciting news, Sarah did Junior Soldiers! And they read Acts 2 then got into the baptising in the Holy Spirit. I believe they were all baptised in the Holy Spirit, all slain in the Holy Spirit, and one of them saw a vision of Jesus, another saw a vision of a bright light which turned into a flame! Hallelujah, "your sons and daughters shall see visions!"

How was your pentecost Sunday? What did God do?

PENTECOST

Woohoo its Pentecost Sunday this sunday! Its the day we celebrate and remember the coming of the Holy Spirit!!! Im also excited because Im preaching on Sunday!

I would love a bit of help though. Does anyone have or know some refrences to Signs and wonders in the early Salvation Army? I know a couple but would love some more examples... Itd be great if you could get back to me before too long....

Thanks guys!

SELF HARM

I had an interesting chat today to a School Wellbeing worker. She said that one of the major issues in schools today is "Self Harm". She said it was contageous, and that ALOT of the youth do it these days. Another great point she made was that it has NOTHING to do with attention seeking.

She said that it goes on a spectrum, on one extreme people cut/harm themselves because the pain in their life is so INTENSE they hurt themselves physically to relieve themselves of the emotional pain.

On the end of the spectrum they feel so NUMB to the pain in their life that they cut themselves to see the blood, to see they are still alive.

We need to be able to deal with this problem. The problem isnt so much what they are doing, the problem lies at why they are doing this. We cannot judge people for doing what they are doing, there are reasons why they do this. Some of us understand its not the way to deal with problems, but for many it seems like the best way at the time.

I read stats that said 1 in 3 females ( i think by the age of 16) have self harmed. I know plenty who have done this. Differernt people deal with their problems in different ways. Some run, they use alcohol, drugs, self harm etc

As Christians we dont need to run. We dont need to bleed. Jesus died for us. He died to make us well, He died to take away our sin and guilt and shame. Isaiah 53:5 says "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." We need to be able to show the love of God to all people so they know that 1) there is relief and healing for pain and 2) that they are alive and can be made alive in Jesus Christ.

Blog 1

I had a couple of thoughts to blog about today, so I’ve decided to write 3! This one is number 1. All this one says is read the two below.

Blog 2

I believe last night was a defining moment in my youth ministry. I cant say for sure as I cant see the fruit yet, but I believe last night was special.

As I drove home I prayed for all the youth connected with my corps. And it was during this time that God broke me down. I pleaded with Him for their salvation, I cried before the Lord.

I believe this is the desperation we need. I was filled with love for the youth. Out of love I want them to be saved. Out of love I want Jesus to give them life in all its fullness.

I realised how inadequate I was, but how powerful and sufficient God is. God will save them! Hallelujah! Pray for them with me, and make a list of people you want to see saved and pray for them daily!



Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death. Psalm 68:20

blog 3

Yesterday was Red Shield appeal! I had a great time door knocking and doing some collecting on the roads, Intersections! The best money maker of them all. What was better was that I had some of the kids from the school brekkie club helping me, and the other great thing was I got to walk around the neighbourhood I was in and pray! And I got to pray a lot! It was great seeing some of the different people in my community!

Talking about money though I was reminded of another parable!

Jesus was talking to some salvos who had just done some collecting. One of the soldiers exclaimed, “This man gave me a $5 note!” Then someone else said, “I got two $10 notes!” and still a different soldier said “One lady gave me a $20 bill and all the change in her purse!”

Jesus looked at us and said, “I had a lady put in $2! And she gave the most!”

Of course, me and the other soldiers were confused. “They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.".”

Thankyou to everyone who gave to the salvos on the weekend. We pray the money you gave us will help more and more people!

Salvo Mission

Ive been thinking a little bit lately and one of the things thats been bantering around my head is The Salvation Army's mission. This is what it is officially:

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by love for God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination.

The early Salvation Army was an evangelical holiness movement. Out of the Salvo's loving hearts they helped people any way they could. Getting people jobs, food, shelter etc and most of all getting people saved. Everything we did came out of their loving hearts. Love for God and love for mankind.

However I believe our mission wasnt to help people, I believe it was to get people saved. Because these early Salvationists were so passionate, so zealous, so committed to Jesus and holiness and evangelising that in their hearts grew a deep love for people. And out of that love came our amazing social work.

If we look at our crest or flag we see a glimpse of our mission. Neither mention social work. Instead they both depict holiness and evangelism. "Blood and Fire" the motto of The Salvation Army is depicted, The Blood of Jesus and the Fire of the Holy Ghost. Our mission was holiness and Salvation, and as said above holiness led to us loving people, then serving people.

Our society is drifting from the truth in the Bible, many no longer believe in hell or salvation only found in faith in Jesus. With a drift to a more liberal side people now see "hell" as sin on earth. Perhaps this has been caused by our western culture of seclurasim, not believing in the supernatural, or anything that cant be 'proved'.

Perhaps the Social Work has become part of our mission. Perhaps with the eternal, supernatural stuff gone many believe they are doing Gods misison of Salvation by simply helping people in the now, and not worrying too much about eternity. It is interesting, that as peoples beliefs have changed we have also lost our doctrine of holiness.

And with the cause of our social work gone (holiness) we have sought to find reasons to include social work into our mission. Perhaps the reason it is in our mission is because we have lost our holiness.

These are only ideas, some of them i dont know how much i agree with. Im not sure what came first, holiness then evangelism and social workk, or holiness and evangelism then social work. From what I have read and heard it was evang and holiness... What are your thoughts people? Are these ideas wrong? Missing something? Spot on?

The parable of the STUPID polititian!

Theres alot of politics going on at the moment, which reminds me...

There once was a polition. He was well liked by his nation, he would go the people, listen to them, talk to them and have compassion on them. He would then do what he believed was best for the people, he would empower his supporters and he had a clear mission! And they kept on voting for him.

But after a while he lost his passion for the people and spent most of his time in parliament with the other politians. The nation stopped voting for him even though his party was better preferred, everything he stood for disappeared quickly, and soon the public stopped voting for him. Once he finished this job, he went bankrupt and ended up homeless.

If you forget your mission in life you will end up like the homeless polititian.

I believe this is an analogy of The Salvation Army.

Heres one of the questions I often ponder, "Do we keep open churches that arent growing or trying to grow, do we sow time and effort into them to see if they bear fruit again or do we shut them down and chase our mission un-restricted?"

While sitting in the gutter the politian was reminded of the times he would speak to people such as himself, he would have pity on them and try to give them a job. Using the glory of the past to motivate him he got up, dusted himself off, and began his second go at being a polititian. He was successfull, and was never voted out of parliament again!

Parable of the Soldires and Red Shield Appeal

ok, everyone (except me) is getting sick of the footy stuff...

The Kingdom of God is like this:

One day a Salvo Officer asked his soldiers in his corps to some red shield collecting. He promised them Big Mac vouchers and a voluntary community work certificate. They all agreed to do it, and got started nice and early at 10am on Saturday morning.

Later on Sunday there was still many more doors to be knocked on so he asked some of the community people someone to do some red shield appeal collecting for him. He said that they would get a Big Mac voucher and a voluntary community work certificate. So they started at 12pm.

Then later in the day when there was only 1 hour left, the officer asked someone else with the same deal.

Then, with only one house to go he asked a young kid to do the final house, again at the same price.

When they all came in to get their Big Mac vouchers and Voluntary Community Work Certificates the officer started giving out the stuff to the young boy first, then the community people, and finally the soldiers. The soldiers were annoyed! "We worked all weekend and get the same ammount as them? What the?"

The officer repied, "Didnt I tell you thats what you would be getting? Have I decieved you or been dishonest? Or is your heart evil, because I am good?"

So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Who do you barrack for?

In case you havent noticed, I barrack for Port Power! You may have also picked up that I dont like Collingwood Football club. But, I still have friends who barrack for Collingwood!

Even more than that, I straight out tell people I hate collingwood, I say comments like, "Not Collingwood!" or "No Collingwood supporters here!" and guess what, they dont mind, they stick up for their team! Who we barrack for doesnt take away from our relationship. In fact, it improves it. It gives us something to talk about, something to debate. Something to look forward to. Every time they win they tell me and vice-versa! We tell each other. We agree to disagree without backing down from our own beliefs.

What bugs people is when you barrack for a team one week and a different one the next. What bugs many people in Australia is when you dont barrack for anyone!

This is the same with evangelism! You can tell people who you believe in, who you follow without 'hurting' people, or allienating them. I have friends who are atheist others who are muslim! You dont even need to be embarassed or ashamed! You can follow Jesus when everyone around you doesnt. You can even talk about it with people who disagree!

We need to be more like footy supporters. Not the ones that jump on the bandwagon. We need to be like the faithful Richmond supporters, because they havent won a game all year, yet theres still some who will openly tell people who they barrack for. They will openly discuss issues in their team and club! Do you do that about your faith? About your king? About Christianity? Do you barrack for Jesus all week or just when you have a few supporters around you?

"We have the power to win, the power to rule! Come on Port Adelaide aggression!" (Port Power theme song)

WE AS CHRISTIANS DO HAVE THE POWER TO WIN, THE POWER TO RULE! COME ON! SALVATION ARMY AGGRESSION! LETS SAVE SOME SOULS!!!!! BARRACK FOR JESUS IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!

(of course Jesus does the saving, but we save people by leading them to Jesus who saves them... you get the picture!)

Jesus calls people to repent

Luke 13:2-9

Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

The He told them this parable... (sorry jo in advance!lol)

A footy team selected a young bloke from the national draft. He started training with them, but after a while he still hadnt worked himself into the team. The coach got angry, "For three years now we've been waiting for this guy to break into them team, but he cant play any good! Get rid of him! Hes taking up a spot on our list which we could use for a better player!" Then one of the otherblokes said, "No, give him one more year, I'll work intensively with him, train him harder. If he plays well next year, that great! But if not, get rid of him, never to see him again!"

When I read that passage I thought of other people I thought that could apply that to. But, we all need to apply that to ourselves. Where are WE falling down? What part of our life is crap? What part of our life do we need to fix up? Get down on your knees with me and pray!

The lost son

The kingdom of heaven is like this...

One day a successfull Port Power supporter business mans son walked up to him and said, "Dad, I want to move to Collingwood. Give me my inheritance so that I may spend it over in there." The dad was not too impressed, but gave his son his inheritance.

Then the son moved to Collingwood. It was fun at first, drugs, alcohol and parties. Even running away from police was fun, it gave him a rush. He began going to the Collingwood footy games, he even started barracking for them. The drugs increasingly messed his brain up.

One day, after Collingwood recieved another thrashing, the boy was in the gutter with a needle hanging out of his arm. He thought back to home, where he use to watch the Power win game after game with his dad. So he picked himself up and caught the train back to Port Adelaide.

As he the station, he saw his dad, he was running up to the V-line train, as the son stepped of the train the dad gave him a massive hug. He took off the collingwood scarf and beenie and replaced it with brand new Port Power gear. He even gave him the signed guernsey his dad had had from POrt Powers first (but not last) premiership.

The boys brother was mad. "Ive always barracked for Port! I even use to egg the collingwood cheersquad!" The dad replied, "You have always been with me! We will always be Power members. But your brother was lost, and dead, going crazy from drugs, and even a collingwood supporter!But now he is home and a POWER SUPPORTER AGAIN!

Jesus barracks for Port Power!

Im convinced that if Jesus was around these days He would barrack for Port Power! I have a great reason and after a few weeks at church talking about God-icadences so I think I can blog about this.

1) Port Adelaide is known as the working mans club. Alot of the people who were down and out use to barrack for Port and because we won so much it lifted alot of peoples spirits. I think Jesus would love that sort of thing...

2) We sung a song today at church which is clear evidence of Jesus' preferred team. "There's Power in the blood!" Obviously this speaks about Port Power in Jesus blood...

3) The year we won the Premiership was the first and only season Id prayed for the us to win! (true story!!!)

4) And today, Port Power beat the demons!

What more do we want? It is obvious that Jesus barracks for the Power! Its in His blood!

Anyway, in all seriousness tough, we are reminded today of the power in the blood of Jesus. Jesus death (blood) made an atonment for us all, that if we confess our sins God will forgive us!!! Also, the blood of Jesus is powerful because it is a reused symbol of Gods protection from the spirit of death. (read exodus) Im also reminded of Jesus complete victory over all evil!

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Revelation 1:6

Footy Show Muslim

Last night on the Footy Show they had Bachar Houli Essendon footy player because apparently hes playing pretty good and has nearly cracked into the team. But what the panel was more impressed with was his faith.

He is a proud muslim and wouldnt back down from some of his habits (like praying...) and even stood up to some club officials and was straight out with them telling them what was so important about his prayer time.

What stood out to me was the comments of people like Garry Lyon and James Bradshaw encouraging the bloke saying how commendable it was for someone to stick to their faith and be the only one amongst hundreds at the club. Even more they told him that they have adopted him as their own and are going to follow his carer on the Footy Show!

What does this say to us as Christians? It says to me that we cannot compromise. It says to me that we need to be truthful and not be a hypocrite! It shows me that we can be respected for what we stand for even when we stand amongst people who completely disagree with us.

I believe last night spoke volumes about integrity. If you believe something, live as though you do. Or perhaps the way we lives shows us what we trully believe. What do you believe? How do you live? What would they say about you on the Footy Show?

So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Matthew 7

Prophesy!

1 Corinthians 14:1-18

In 1 Corinthians 12:31 Paul tells us to seek the greatest gifts! And yes he is speaking about Spiritual gifts! The next chapter goes onto say that love is the gretest gift of all. And we would all agree! For without love what do we really have?

Then Paul goes on to talk about prophecy. Check this verse out 14:1 "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy." Paul picks out prophecy as a gift to go after. We know we can all recieve this gift. God may give it to anyone! Paul highlights reasons for prophesy being so good.

It speaks spiritual truth, it is for "strengthening, encouragement and comfort." Paul also highlights that it is great for non-believers! I believe we all need this gift! I believe we can ALL access tis gift. And Im going to tell you how, but first, think about these things,

Jesus called Zaccheaus out of the tree by name! There are no records of him ever meeting him before, then followed by love he completely turned his life aound. Then Jesus with the woman at the well, Jesus knew her life! Once she realised this she followed Jesus and a revival broke out in the village!

Imagine someone who does not believe in God at all came into your church. Would they have any reason to convert to Jesus? What if someone spoke a truth into their life that was obviously supernatural? How much easier would that be?

Heres how I have been learning to do it. Im sure this is just one of many ways to do it!

1) Look at the promises of Jesus, (I will answer you when you pray Jer33:3, I am with you always, ask for bread and i wont give you a stone etc)
2) Hold God accountable to them
3) Have the persons best interest at heart (love them!)
4) Picture them in your head
5) Ask Jesus to join the picture
6) Pay attention to where Jesus is and ask Him why He is in that spot
7) Look at the whole picture and ask what it means
8) Ask if there is anything else He wants to say (it may be one word, or a memory, or testimony etc)
9) Tell the person what you saw etc
10) Tell them it is what you believe is from God, and that they should test it (you should test it first aswell.... but test with scripture, body of Christ, Spirit (fruits etc Gal5) does it all line up?) to make sure it isnt something you've made up.

Lets live as though God really is alive and really does speak to us! God may not give you AMAZING weird things to say, but remember, God does speak to you, and will tell you saomething to say or do or pray. All of it is valuable and you never know how something seemingly so small can be so big for someone else! All of it can be a form of loving the person.

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. " 1 cor 13:2 Get out there! Love and prophesy!

Salvation of the World

If you were faced with the mission of getting the World saved, how would you do it? If you had the mission to see your family saved, how would you do it? What if your mission was to see your neighbourhood, or country saved, how would you do it?

I ask this question because It puts the mission first. "The main thing, is to make the main thing the main thing!" So often mission is something we do once or twice a week. Mission might be a section of the church like worship, or fellowship. But how often is it the whole thing?

How much of what we do as The Salvation Army is effective evangelism? Where do we see results? Where and how are people being saved? Please let me know because I want to learn from you.

Where are our travelling evangelists? Our Divisional, Territorial and International Evangelists? Where are the healing or prophetic evangelists? What about evangelistic crusades? Where are our evangelism classes? Evangelism schools? Evangelism confrences? When was the last time we as a Territory had Evangelism as a real and not just spoken priority?

Our mission is to see the world saved. Your mission is to lead as many people to Christ as you can. Dont beat yourself up for not evangelising, theres no time for that, instead write a list of all the names of people you know who dont believe in Jesus and get down on your kness and pray, then work out what the best way to get those people saved! One life at a time!

What are people doing Monday during the day or Tuesday night? I wanna do some street evangelism! Let me know if you wanna come!

Power Evangelism

Ive started re-reading a book written by John Wimber called "Power Evangelism." Ive only read the first chapter but already theres bits i really like...

Wimber gets saved, then begins to read the Bible. He then goes to a local church, he sits there and at the end he feels cheated! He says "I anticipated training in spiritual warfare and equipping for advancing the Kingdom of God. I envisioned Christians meeting together, singing, praying, recieving encouragement or exhortation from scripture, then dispersing throughout Orange County, California, to perform dramatic healings, expel demonic spirits, oppose evil authorities. Then, we would return later in the day with our new converts and reports of great miracles, overflowing with joy and worshipping God. It was a vision taken from the book of Acts."

Similar to what Catherine Booth says in "Aggressive Christianity!"

Imagine a church that got together to do just that. Got together to get Empowered bythe Holy Spirit, encouraged by each other, exhorted by Scripture, so that we could go out as an army conqering territory! Imagine going out seeing people healed, restored and freed! Then coming back together to celebrate our God who lives and loves!

Me and some friends do this every now and then, and have been meaning to go out again. If you are interested let me know! I'll post next time I know we're going out. Until then, live in the power and grace of our Lord Jesus, believe in His promises, trust in His power! Heal the sick, drive out demons, preach the good news of Jesus! Love God and love others! Amen!

ANZAC DAY

Well todays ANZAC day. Ive always been a big supporter of war heroes and armies fighting for justice, freedom and democracy etc. And today we say a big thankyou to those gone by who have stood up for our country and for other countries. Lest we forget!

But heres a question we need to think about, what does Jesus teach us?

I have been really challenged about the war issue. I was a supporter of the USA going into Iraq, Afghanistan and of Israel attacking Syria. I thought that those were good ways of trying to solve a problem.

But the more we look at it the more we see that war does not work. For thousands of years countries war, millions of people have died in war. We are fighting evil with evil.

How do Christians fight? How does The Salvation Army fight? How do we solve problems? We fight with the love of God. It is pro-active. Does Jesus tell us to pick up our guns and kill each other or to love and pray for our enemies? To turn the other cheek?

Yes, sometimes countries need to use force. Sometimes counties have had to fight for their freedom. But I am sure that if a country wants to succeed we need to be pro-active lovers of other countries!

Imagine if all the countries at war in our world, spent the money we do on fighting with violence and swapped it for fighting with love what would happen?

Im sure some people will disagree with me, and please comment, but also, look at your Bibles, what does Jesus teach? Does Jesus teach anything about this issue?

Once again, I appreciate all the diggers gone past. I say thank you for what you sacrificed for us. God lead us in your love.

The Reaping

Saturday night I went and watched the movie "The Reaping." Its about an ex-missionary who after some terrible experiences looses her faith and turns to science to explian the un-explainable.

Isnt it interesting how people do that? There was a show on ABC last night and they said that God is used to fill in the gaps that science cant understand yet! They were saying that science is edging closer and closer to filling all the gaps meaning that there will be no need at all for God!

In the movie the plagues from the Exile come back (but in reverse order...) and shows just how scarey it would have been to be in Egypt when it all happend! You can fully understand how God had to harden Pharoahs heart so he wouldnt let the people go.

The Bible is clear as crystal that there is a supernatural world. I have seen and experienced it. So have millions of other people around the world. Im reminded of Jesus words to Thomas, "Blessed are those who believe without seeing!"

People are often wary of churches where there is supernatural occurences, Im wary of churches where there are none!

Dont wait for the inevitable time when you will see God to believe in His power, start believing today and see your world change before your eyes!

Immediate Results

i wanna talk about this quote by George Scott Railton from "Heathen England" (GSR in black, me in red)

1. The Army succeeds by aiming at immediate results. Who does this theses days? Who literally goes about evangelising aiming for people to be saved after 1 chat to you? Who preaches on a Sunday aiming for immediate results?We have always aimed at immediate and definite results, believing that the Gospel of Christ, properly preached in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with power, ought to prove, must prove, visibly as well as in the heart, its divine efficiency. Does this mean we're doing it wrong?What, indeed, can be the use of preaching, unless it secures some immediate result? Theres our answer! Especially must this question arise when the audience largely consists of those who are little disposed even to listen to the Gospel; who have never come under its sound before, and never may again. Wow! Do we even preach to those people anymore? Maybe thats one of our problems...

This is what Im waiting for. This is what I wanna have faith for. I can not wait for the time when we aim for immediate results! Im going to do a test and you need to hold me accountable to this. I want to preach the word in power, and aim for immediate results! Im scared. Excited but scared...

I cant do this on my own. No, otherwise it will just be my words! I need the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit needs to convict! The Holy Spirit needs to heal! The Holy Spirit needs to give words of knowledge! The Holy Spirit needs to give prophetic words! Hmmmm seems like the Holy Spirit will be doing more than me... How exciting! Lord prepare me!

Holiness

Last night went to the Greensborough Holiness meeting! It was great, really enjoyed it, especially Ray Rays preaching. I mean Major Raymond Fingers preaching...

He obviously spoke on holiness, spoke about humpty dumpty sitting on a wall, who hada great fall, and all the kings horses etc couldnt put Him back together again... Spoke of Jesus and prevenient grace (God working on us before conversion), spoke a bit about doctrine 5

"We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience, they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall, all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God. "

This bit stuck out to me: We're all sinners even before we sin! What we do comes out of the heart. The sin we do comes out of the sinful heart... The love we do comes out of a loving heart... Interesting

we're all in need of a Saviour!
Thank you Jesus!

and a quote i found on anthony castles blog by Major Geoff Webb ""Holiness is not the inability to sin, but the ability to not sin."

Worship

Last night I went to our church's worship band practice and it was AMAZING! We were all so free and the worship was fun, not forced, and naturally flowed from our love for God! It was so good to be able to praise Jesus and not feel unconfortable about what other people might think! Im sure God loved it as the words and dancing sprang up from our hearts! God is moving in Plenty Valley! Hallelujah!

Also, I was surfing the net the other day and came across a REALLY good website. Its the Tooth & Nail Records Myspace.

Now, I love music thats a bit more grungey than pop, or your run of the mill worship band. (Im not saying theres anything wrong with them tho!) but I prefer a bit heavier stuff. Rock, Ska, Punk and even a little bit of Metal. Tooth and Nail records sign up Christian bands of the type of music I love!

Bands include, Thousand Foot Krutch, MXPX, OC Supertones, Relient K, Underoath, Anberlin AND HEAPS AND HEAPS MORE. Check out there site, cruise to their bands sites and listen to some of their music!

As long as it glorifies God, worships Him, I dont care what you listen to or sing. God looks at the heart not the style! Praise God we can worship Him freely in whatever music we like!

Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth.

Psalm 96:1

*when checking out the music i found it easiest to check out the different bands myspaces to have a listen...

Holiness

Firstly, check out the new CFAN website! Heaps of good teaching, pictures, videos, and pics! Look at their beliefs! Great to see HOLINESS in there! Only one i didnt like is the tongues...

This taken from Xanders blog:

Often Christians will scoff at the doctrine of holiness saying that it is impossible to have the sinful nature neutralized.To that, General William Booth replied:

If they (the scoffers) confess that, after some two or three disjointed, misapprehended texts of Scripture, they rely upon the fact that this unholy, inconsistant, Spirit-grieving life is the common confessed experience of Christians, and therefore nothing better is possible to me, i reject their authority. I won't accept the backsliding experience of any number of people as the standard of religious attainment for me. It is not what men are, but what God wants them to be; not what they actually possess and enjoy of purity and peace and power, but what Christ, the blessed Christ, with his agony and Blood bought for them; what the Father freely offers, and what the pleading, long-suffering Holy Spirit waits to bestow...If my lot is cast in Laodicea, am i to teach that it is the right and accptable thing before God and men not to be enthusiastic, not to be be eaten up with the zeal of God's house, not to be burning hot, but to be miserably, contemptibly lukewarm in His service?

Love it! God grant it to your army!

The Fear of God

Ive been reading through Matthew and Exodus in my devotion time, and I have come across a few passages that have really made me think...

I was reading Exodus 21 and there are various sins that required the death penalty. I kept reading and more and more crimes resulted in the offender being put to death. I saw this and thought "thats a bit rough isnt it?" Surely the punishment is too harsh.

Then I continued thinking, earlier in Exodus 20:20 God says, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin." So these terrible punishments are to deter us from sinning.

Furthermore, I also started thinking that Im too light on sin. Sin is bad. The apostle Paul says in Romans that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." That is what this Exodus passage was saying too, the wages of sin is death.

I continued thinking, in Exodus 19 God told the Israleites that if they beyed God they would be for Him a "Kingdom of priests and a holy nation." This is why the sinner couldnt be simply excluded or allowed to live in sinful rebellion. If Israelites were disobeying God they had to be gotten rid of so it didnt tarnish the rest of the Israelites. This reminds us of the sin of Achan in Joshua 7:10-26. So death was the way to have a "holy people."

Isnt it amazing that although sin came into the whole world through one man Adam which brought death, that through one mans death, Jesus Christs death, He paid the price for the whole world? Now, we can be a holy people, the wages of sin have been paid by God as He hung upon the cross.

God is good! Sin is bad. Hate sin. Get rid of it. Live in resurrection power today! Get convicted of your sin, repent, give your WHOLE life to Jesus and live in faith!

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. Romans 5:18

long time no blog!

Firstly, HAPPY EASTER! He is risen! Sorry i havent blogged, been very busy!!!

Secondly, Plenty Valley is going fantastic! Ive been running a school holiday program the past 2 tuesdays and wednesdays. I only had a few days to prepare but it went really well. I had 22 kids there today which is great! Looking to build on them all... A quick story, one girl ws saying how her friend was 'Spiritual' so i kept probing. Her friend had seen a clairvoyant and was told she saw spirits. So I started speaking to her. As I did this a bunch of other kids gathered around. I sat down on the grass and the all followed, I then told them the story of the Gadarene demoniac. They all listened intently. It was great. They then told me theyd love to hava kids church! Amazing hey?

Thirdly, Easter camp was great! I chipped my tooth on friday (pictures coming soon...) but on the Saturday we invaded Mt Evelyn and no one could possibly have left there without knowing we were there and why we were there! We had people chalking the Easter message on the sidewalk, teams of people cleaning steps, parks, streets etc, video crews interviewing, people giving out easter eggs and my group, The Evangelists! We were all loving God and loving people!

Fourthly, Harold on Neighbours has been seeing a clairvoyant, perhaps his Corps Officer should hava chat to him about it! Also, on NOVA they were talking about their clairvoyant coming in too... Signs of a people made to worship God searching for truth but falling short of the glory of God! Lets bring them to the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ!

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Purpose Driven Church Confrence

On Friday I got to go to the "Purpose Driven Church Confrence" down in Geelong. I was a bit apprehensive at first (didnt know whatthey were going to say) but it turned out to be exceptionally good!

The basic gist was that God has given His church a purpose and if we follow His purposes a) we'll be healthy and b) we'll grow...

They had some great points on how to grow a church/evangelism...
1) Know what you are fishing for
2) Learn to think like a fish
3) Go where the fish are
4) Find the fish that are hungry
5) Use more than 1 hook
6) Fish for the kind of fish you caqn best catch

I like that thinking, it validated alot of thoughts Ive had lately...

Alos spoke about small groups etc. I was leaning quite heavily towards house churches with a prayer or celebration service before the onfrence but thats all changed now... sort of...

Purposes of the church:
1) Worship
2) Evangelism
3) Fellowship
4) Discipleship
5) Ministry

So small groups will work really well for some of those, and corporate works well for others...

Preached last night. Think it went well... Pray something of what was said sunk in and that the Holy Ghost continues to convict...

Holiday program starts tomorrow! Busy busy busy, especially with Easter camp coming up! Im helping organise an evangelism thing on camp, and Im doing the early morning knee drill! So Ive got lots to do.

Gods timing keeps amazing me, Ive been re-reading the old testament and i just so happend to be up to the Passover passage! We've got a passover meal at church tomorrow... timely.... God is good

and when He sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the LORD will passover the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. Exodus 12:23

"this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you" Luke 22:20

Hallelujah. Pray the blood.

Army advances!

Good news people! I heard about this the other day but thought Id blog it, taken from New Frontier publications:

When William Booth died, The Salvation Army existed in 56 countries. With the opening of this new outpost in Saipan, that number officially doubled, as Saipan became the 112th nation to fly the Army flag.

Hallelujah!

Also, went to a Purpose driven church confrence today, fantastic but more about that later!

Immediate results

Ive been challenged recently about how fast we expect people to be transformed by the gospel. I hear people talking about how "it takes time" for someone to be saved. How people wont accept the gospel straight away, you need to show them this and that first. I get confused because I know revival can sweep through a place terribly quickly and I look at The salvos fast rise but look at us now and wonder, what did they do that we dont? What is the difference? I found this interesting passage which talks about why The Salvation Army was succeeding...

by George Scott Railton from "Heathen England"


1. The Army succeeds by aiming at immediate results.
We have always aimed at immediate and definite results, believing that the
Gospel of Christ, properly preached in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with power, ought to prove, must prove, visibly as well as in the heart, its divine efficiency. What, indeed, can be the use of preaching, unless it secures some immediate result? Especially must this question arise when the audience largely consists of those who are little disposed even to listen to the Gospel; who have never come under its sound before, and never may again.


II. The Army succeeds by making the most of the converts.
When people are converted, as in the Apostles' days, so now, they not only love and bless God, but it is easy for those who have given them a hand, and lifted them on to their feet, to lead them about the city anywhere — marching, singing, praising and blessing God, where "all the people" can see them. The people always did, and always will, run together wondering at such a sight. Upon the principle of utilizing every convert to proclaim the glad tidings to others, the Army has always diligently acted, and therefore at every station it has opened, a band of men and women have been organized and trained daily to attack the kingdom of the wicked one, and daily to expect to gain recruits for the ranks.


III The Army succeeds by teaching converts to be Holy.
Not content with merely setting before sinners the way of salvation from the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, the Army has constantly pointed out to its converts that full salvation which Jesus has been expressly declared to offer to His people, so that they "being delivered out of the hand of their enemies, — might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of their life.”


IV. The Army succeeds by teaching its hearers to do their utmost towards
meeting the expenses of the work.
The cost of hiring the buildings used, and of maintaining the officers and their families in the circumstances they have been accustomed to as working people, has been increasingly contributed to by those who have attended the services, and only supplemented by the liberality of Christian friends throughout the country, who have appreciated the opportunity of helping those who were thus diligent in helping themselves; so that, during one year, more than £12,000 are received from the poor, as against £4,000 given by the rich: We think it a vastly important test of the value of any work done amongst the poor, to what extent they themselves help to keep it up.

wow! Imagine if we did all that as an Army. Im going to try to work out how I can do that where I am now! Please, join with me in faith as we try to rekindle the coals!

6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 1 Timoth 1:6-7

my life...

Whats been happening recently in my life? Im glad you asked...

Been working at Plenty Valley Salvos! Such a great place to work! We had a greenhouse consultation (or something like that) which looks at the church and tries to put the church on a fast track to growth by making the corps healthy... Anyway, Ive joint the church at a great time! Everyones so positive and wants to see God glorified in our community!

Monday night was a great night! Went to "Strike" which is Macleods youth cell group and I taught them some listening prayer! They got prophets there! Their junior soldiers are awessome prophetesses! God spoke and we heard Him! Hallelujah! Then I had bascketball and topped scored, we lost but im happy! ; )

Tuesday had brekie club at the school with awessom results. Got a few of the guys there who said theyd join my indoor soccer team. I also got a few others who said theyd help me with a school holiday club im running! Praise God theyre open to hanging out and helping out! God save them!

Today was full on. Long day. Im enjoying working at church! I know Gods called me here and I know Gods got big plans for the place and people!

Heres a quote by Michael Phelp the swimmer who keeps smashing world records in pretty much every stroke. After winning and smashing ANOTHER record
Reporter: "How do you keep going faster?"
Philp: "I listen to my coach and take the beating in and out of the pool!"

Wow!

How do you stop sinning?

Church advancement

I WAS thinking, while I was reading the lesson, that, supposing we could blot out from our minds all knowledge of the history of Christianity from the time of this Inauguration Service--from that Pentecostal Baptism--or, at any rate, from the close of the period described in the Acts of the Apostles, suppose we could detach from our minds all knowledge of the history of Christianity since then, and take the Acts of the Apostles and sit down and calculate what was likely to happen in the world, what different results we should have anticipated, what a different world we should have reckoned upon as the outcome of it all. A system which commenced under such auspices, with such assumptions and professions on the part of its Author (speaking after the manner of men), and producing, as it did, in the first century of its existence, such gigantic and momentous results. We should have said, if we knew nothing of what has intervened from that time to this, that, no doubt the world where that war
commenced, and for which it was organized, would have long since been subjugated to the influence of that system, and brought under the power of its great originator and founder! I say, from reading these Acts, and from observing the spirit which animated the early disciples, and from the way in which everything fell before them, we should have anticipated that ten thousand times greater results would have followed, and, in my judgment, this anticipation would have been perfectly rational and just.
Catherine Booth (JAC Aggressive Christianity)

How BIG is God to you? How BIG is the revelation that God has given you of Himself? How BIG is His GRACE? How BIG is His POWER? How much does He LOVE the world? Do you believe God has the GRACE and POWER compelled by His LOVE to transform THE WORLD?

Do you believe He can heal people? Do you believe God can change the world in a second? Do you believe that once someone gives their life to God He can transform their life? That when people come to Jesus addiction and depression can fall off? Do you believe God has the power and the love to do so?

Not only do you believe HE CAN, but do you believe HE DOES and HE WILL?

I do. And when I see the advancement of the gospel in Australia going so slow when there is such strong spiritual hunger I get upset and cant help but wonder what we are doing wrong.

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" John 11:40

Structure of the church

Here’s the basic structure of how a church meets together,

1) Call to worship
2) Songs
3) Bible reading
4) Songs
5) Sermon
6) Songs

We have a pretty much professionalised service, we have priests, altars, rituals, non members and a lot of members are in the audience as spectators. Leaders have power and authority. This structure really doesn’t change. It hasn’t changed since it came into being in the fourth century when Constantine made Christianity the official religion.

My last blog showed how ineffective that structure is for getting people saved and discipled.

Up until Constantine the church had been meeting in homes and in open spaces as a big group for a celebration. People were added to their numbers daily. Jesus never said anything about congregations. If we look at all churches around the world, the ones that are actually growing are the ones that have small groups that multiply themselves.

Is it a coincidence, that when Christians get together in their homes, share their possessions and lives, pray and eat together and include all people whether saved or not, that people get saved and discipled? Why do we bother with this other structure that only works once in a blue moon?

What would happen if we stopped all Sunday congregations and instead decided to have house churches or cell/Bible study groups? How many people would we loose? Now, why would we loose them? Because they like the structure of the church as it is, they are comfortable with it, even though the structure we have is not effective!

There can be some problems with house churches, please raise them with me and I’ll discuss them in my next blog! Until then, how bout this as a picture of church:

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

ME CHURCH

Ive been reading a book by Wolfgang Simson called "House Churches that change the world." So far it is FANTASTIC!

A church had 50 new people come to an evangelistic meeting, no one got saved or stayed on at the church but the pastor told someone, "Its ok, we're following them up."

Now, most people I know would say that the majority of people get saved through relationmships etc outside of the church building, service etc. Rather its by people evangelising them, talking and journeying with them outside the church.

Why do we put so much emphasis on "church" if it doesnt get people saved o discipled? Its simply not working. Some churches grow yes. But when we look at the population of Australia and see how many are getting saved we're not making any in-roads. WHY?

Is it that people dont want the gospel or we as Christians arent taking them the gospel? In all of my talks to people at target, 614, people on the street etc, from looking at tv shows, songs on the radio, books and magazines in secular Australia, there is NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING! So what is wrong?




The definition of crazy, "Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result." Are we doing that with church? Are we trying to reinvent something that DOES NOT WORK? Why is church as it it? What is its purpose?

From looking at it, its for those already saved, people possibly too traditional, too comfortable to jump out of the boat and into the sea to save souls. Am I being too harsh?I dont think so. But, what do you think about church? Is it effective? (Also, take a look at Mike Colemans blog which talks about the state of TSA...)

I'll explain some of my therefores in later posts....

Youth Workers Confrence 1

Ive been pretty busy at the Youth Workers confrence which was great so heres a couple of the things I learnt...

The early Salvos were about the things on the right, have we gone towards the things on the right these days?

"The Salvation Army use to be about:
Innovation not Tradition
Going not Staying
Worst not Best
Committment not Comfort"

Heres another quote, "95% of churches are aimed at 12% of the population!"

Definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result!" Hmmm sounds like the model we have for church...

Tomorrow I'll put some stuff up from Wolfgang Simson.... Verry challenging

Revelation 2:4-7
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Plent Valley

Yesterday I got some great news. I have a job!!!

I am going to be serving God and the people at Plenty Valley Corps as the Community Development Worker with an emphasis on youth! Its a 3 day per week position involving school ministry and developing lots of new stuff, working with Croosroads!

I meet with them next Friday to work out all the details!

Thanks for all your prayers! God is good!

"The harvest is plenty, but laborers are few, beg the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers."

God answers prayer!

Firstly, On an unrelated topic, has anyone ever been to Koorong without a) seeing someone they know, or b) not buying anything, or even c) both??? Its an mazing place...

Anyway. One of the things I love about God is that He answers prayer! I dont believe our prayers are powerful in themselves, rather the God who answers prayer is powerful! 2 stories...

Yesterday I did Junior Soldiers, I did the session with the three young junior soldiers, (around about 7-9 years old...) on "Listening Prayer." I encouraged them and told them they had all heard God speak to them and I got them to tell me some of the times they have heard God speak in a variety of ways. We did some personal friendship questions with Jesus, then we stepped into a Bible story, then we prayed for each other asking God what to say to each other.

The Junior Soldiers were on fire! They asked God what to say then encouraged, prophesied and gave words of knowledge to each other! I was about to finish but I made them do the same for me and what they said was very spot on! God is good and answers prayer!

Then today I had a phone call from some friends who I had prayed with recently. I had prayed that their son would get better. Surprise, surprise, there son has been miraculously healed! Thankyou Jesus!

So, when you pray do you believe God will answer? Or do you leave a message on His answering machine and not let Him speak back to you? When reading the Bible do you simply read the menu or taste the meal? I'll leave you with Gods phone number...

Jeremiah 3:33 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

Motivations

Heres my two motivations for getting people saved!

1) Love for God!

2) Love for people!

37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:37-39)

And heres a funny clip on motivating people for evangelism...

Whats your motivations for evangelising? Or whats your motivations for NOT evangelising?

MY KING!

Who is God to you? This is a video of my King...

If your revelation of God is that He is all of that then surely that will impact the way we live. If I believe God can heal, surely I am compelled to lay hands and pray that He will heal people. If I believe He can break off depression, not only will I pray for it, I'll tell people who are depressed that theres an answer to their problem. If I believe He can transform peoples lives, then surely I will pray He does it, and surely I will want to lead everyone I know to Christ so that they may have life in its fullness! If I believe God can stop us from sinning, then surely I will live my life in faith that God will help me through temptation.

Our revelation and understanding of God impacts the way we live. What picture of God do you have judging by the way you live? Do you live your life believing in how great God is?

How to Evangelise!

Leading someone to Christ is the greatest privledge of all. It gives you an amazing buzz. Angels in heaven rejoice as people come to the Lord. People are saved from death, hell and despair and are given the right to become children of God, full of life. Sadly, many people struggle with evangelism. Not knowing how to lead even their closest friends to Christ.

Ive had the great privledge of leading people to Christ lately and I want to share a couple of things that hopefully will help those who are struggling.

The most important thing I find is my own personal relationship with Jesus christ. We live in a post mordern society where people all have their own 'religion' or set of beliefs. You believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want. Unfortunately thats not right. There is only one way to God. Jesus Christ.

Therefore you must have a healthy relationship with God. You must have testimonies of what God is doing in you, for you, what He is saying to you. You need to be able to tell people how God made Himself real to you. That I would say is the first step. Know that God is real, and show others how God was made real to you.

The next step is very similar to the last. Live with God. Dont live your life with the same story of God. When people get married they accumulate a whole heap of memories and lessons learnt. Its the same with God. Always go forward in your relationship with God. It needs to be active. It needs to be NOW!

You need to pray for opportunities to come your way. Ask God for simple openings that you can turn into a talk about faith. Ask the Holy Spirit to prepare the people you are going to talk to. Ask God if theres something you should know or read first.

God needs to be the most important thing in your life. You need a relationship with God that gets you excited, motivated, happy, joyful etc! God needs to impact your mind and being. You must be subconciously aware that He is by your side wherever you go!

As God is on your mind and in your soul, as you have a living real relationship with God, hearing Him, seeing Him do things etc, and as you want people to get saved, you want God to use you, the next steps should come naturally.

When I meet people I let them know I am a Christian. I dont do it the same every time. I wear a wrist band that says PUSH. (Pray until something happens.) It creates conversation starters. You might wear a t-shirt. You might tell them you were at a prayer meeting the other night. At this stage, no confrontation.

As you talk, talk about likes and dislikes. What they like to do. What they do with their time. Eventually the topic will get on to your likes and dislikes. What you do with your time. Here you plainly tell them about your church commitments etc.

From here you can ask them if they believe in God. Dont preach to them yet. Talk about their beliefs! Its all about them. Probe them with simple questions like "Why dont you believe?", "What happend that made you turn off God?" Somewhere there will be a hurt, a problem why they dont accept Christ.

Here, use one of your testimonies to show them how God is real to you. What God has done. Sometimes stories of Jesus from the Bible are good, or even other peoples testimonies of what God did in them. Relate similar peoples experiences to theres, but make sure you dont say its the same thing. The thing to focus on now, is not their problem, but how God has fixed that sort of problem in other people or yourself. Then easily tell them that God can do the same for them.

Use your brain when doing this. Be sensitive to their feelings and beliefs. Dont tell them their wrong, but tell them what you believe to be truth, or say the Bible says... Make sure you talk out of love. A loving person will not yell at people or scare people, or threaten people. They will encourage, respect, and warn.

You dont always need to push for a conversion on the spot. Sometimes people need to think it all through. By now you have planted a seed in their heart and mind and it will surprise you that they will not forget that conversation. After all this, pray. Then pray. Then pray!

Next time you see them you may like to ask what they thought about the last conversation you had. Then go from there again! On to the next step.

As your conversations will go, you can start to say, "You can accept Jesus in your heart right now if you like? I'll pray with you if you want! We can do it right now." Give them opportunities. Dont force!!! But ask!

This is pretty long and Im getting tired now. Im gonna post it and hopefully someone will read it! If you disagree with something, or dont understand something post a comment! Thats my sermon for the day anyway!!!!!!

God bless you all!

Corinthians 5:11-6:2.(V11) Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men...14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again... 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come...20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors!

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams, sometimes known as the sexiest man alive, a man who makes millions of dollars every year from his singing etc has gone into rehab for the addiction he has that was brought on by low self esteem!

Can you believe that? Hes one of the most popular people in the world and he has low self esteem!

Where does your self worth come from? Does it come from people or God? God loves you. He cares for you. He doesnt stop loving you when your in a bad mood. His love is unconditional. The things of this world will pass away but God wont. Gods love and acceptance wont.

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

Witnesses FOR Christ!

Last night was the territorial welcome to the Witnesses fro Christ session! Commissioner Knaggs spoke about how we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then our witness will be natural. What a great holiness teaching, God hits us, we hit the world...

At 614 I was talking to a man who has been helped by the Army for a couple of decades and he told me that "no salvation army person had ever mentioned God to me!"

What a shame! If only he knew that the only true God, the living God, creator of the Wold, loved him so much that He would die for him! No greater love is this than to lay down your life for someone!

If only there were more who were filled with the Holy Spirit! Some of my most memorable ministry times have been when people have been baptised in the Holy Spirit! When the Spirit of God, the same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead fills a person! What a difference that makes in ones life! What a great experience! To be clothed with power from on high!

Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Dont know if you are or not? Then repent! Turn from your un-godly ways, give your life to God! Live in faith! Once the revelation of Jesus twines itself to the love of God that comes from the Holy Spirit you will be compelled to love your neighbour as yourself!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:8

A Current Affair

I was watching the telly last night and I saw an A Current Affair add. It had the usual hidden camera in the car park as a man put some bread in the back of his car. It builds this man up to be "an ex police man, a man of God etc but look what hes doing... Hes ripping off the poor etc."

I know this man. He loves Jesus. His family has had a rough time over the years!

Im sure theyd love your prayers at this time!

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

God gave you a brain!

Ive been reminded of a story twice in a short period of time:

A man was stranded on a deserted island and he cried out for God to help him. A boat came past and offered him a lift, "No thanks, God will save me!" He said. Then a submarine which he replied the same. Then a helicopter, and again the same answer. He died. Got to heaven and asked God "Why didnt you save me?" God said, "I sent a boat, helicopter and submarine but you refused it!"

Ive had a couple of hard decisions to make lately. Well, one in particular. Where do I go from here? Where do I apply for jobs? Where do I soldier? Etc etc etc!

Ive had a couple of chats with a couple of different people about this but one line I keep hearing is "God gave you a brain!" I keep asking God "Where do you want to send me?" And I dont hear an answer, but all these people say, "God can use you wherever you go, and God gave you a brain! Its ok to make a decision for yourself!"

So heres a couple of thoughts:

• God gives me opportunities, sometimes we need to decide to take them.
• Other times God directly tells us what to do
• And still other times, the job is there to be done and God wants us to do it but we need to use our own initiative

What opportunities has God given you that you need to take?
What has God been saying to you?
What does God require of you?
What can you do for God that He would appreciate?

Then I heard the vocie of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I! Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

Pray for revival!

The last few weeks I have been really convicted and convinced that NOW is the time for us to pray as much as we can for revival! There is something on the horizon, we need Spiritual breakthroughs right now. I feel revival is so close yet we need to pray it through the place we are in now! I urge you, PRAY as much as you can! Ive tried doubling my prayer time today, and I hope to continue that on. We need more prayer meetings, spontaneos meetings, with friends, family and church! We cant pray too much!

The other connected idea is, and I dont know how theologically correct this is... I want to have the sort of faith that makes God do things. Like the centurian Jesus saw, He was amazed at the mans faith He had to heal the boy! In evangelism, I ask God to show up in peoples lives! I try to put God to work. I try my best to put the pressure on God. I dont want just my words to do the work, I want to have enough faith etc so that God will have to show up! What do people think about that idea? Im still trying to think it through...

Anyway, lets pray as much as possible for revival! Lets have faith that its coming! Lets put the pressure on God to act! Make sure you're ready. Repent of your sin! You have sin! So do I. Lets get rid of it, consecrate ourselves to God and live by faith!

30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
Ezekiel 18:30-32

IM SO EXCITED IM GOING TO SCREAM! GOD IS DOING AWESSOME THINGS IN THIS TERRITORY AND HAS BIG THINGS COMING UP!

STEPHEN COURT AND DANIELLE STRICKLAND, TWO HEROES OF MINE HAVE BEEN APPOINTED TO OUR TERRITORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen - Assistant Personel Secretary: Leadership/Officer DevelopmentDanielle - Territorial Social Justice Director

RRAY FOR THEM!!!!! BRING ON REVIVAL!!!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

If getting people saved is The Salvation Armies mission, or even every Christians mission, what would our life look like if we were devoted to just that? Where would we spend our time? Money? Abilities?

Good News!

The two people I led to Christ went to Surefers paradise on Friday. I was worried they wouldnt get the teaching etc they needed as new Christians. When they got there they thought theyd catch up with some old friends. When they met them they were pleasantly surprised to find theyre all born again Christians! Praise Jesus for GREAT timing!

REVIVAL

614 is going off! Salvations all over the place! Hada great prayer time today with a few of the others! Gods doing a special work there!

So the churches were strengthend in the faith and grew daily in numbers! Acts 16:5