What am I called to do?

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

"What am I called to do?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Easter camp healing revival!

Jesus is risen from the dead, He is alive and well and changing peoples lives! Easter Camp was amazing, people saved, set free, making further commitments and healed! A healing revival broke out! All glory to God. He is the great healer. Its not people who heal but God. But He wants us to ask Him to heal people and use the authority He has given us to pray for the sick. The basic thing I did was teach youth how to pray. I didnt pray for many youth, instead I got the youth to pray. Check out how awesome God is and how He will use simple old you...

Saturday morning we went out and did some evangelism. Straight away we had people get saved! Hallelujah! Youth were learning how to evangelise and were progressing really well!

1) Then me and Chris prayed for a Christian man with a slipped disk. We laid hands and prayed for healing. In his words,"It is more free!"

2) Then on the way home sharing this story J___ asked if we could pray for his wrist which had been sprained. I got C____ to pray for him, on the second time he was completely healed!

3) Once we got back to the camp he ran and told everyone. L___ heard and asked if God would heal his shin splints. M____ prayed for him and he was healed.

4) M___ who just prayed, had pierced her nose by herself and it was pussy and flakey and quite sore. "Would God heal my nose?" We spoke about it then got A___ to pray for it. It was completely healed!

5) R____ saw this happening and asked to pray for her shoulder. L___ (shin splints) prayed and her shoulder was healed.

6) In the corner we saw D____ who had sprained her ankle and had to sit out the day because she couldn't walk. We went up and asked J____ who was sitting with her to pray. D____ move her foot, "Oh my gosh!" I told her to take off her bandage, she took it off then jumped up and down and started running around the camp telling people how GOD HEALED her!

7) We went outside from here and S___ came up and heard about L____ shin splints being healed and asked if we could pray for his own shin splints. M____ prayed and he was healed.

8) T____ had a sore throat and got S___ to pray for her and she was healed.

9) J____ came up to see what all the commotion was and told us in his croaky voice he didn't believe. We all prayed for him and he spoke. His friend started laughing saying "You've been healed! Youve been healed!" His voice was back to normal! Then J____ started saying he wishes he hadn't been healed. (He didnt want to commit his life to God at this stage...) and as soon as he said that his voice went broken again...

10) In the morning C____ asked me what the go was with healing. Some of the youth that she brought were healed and all the stuff had made a huge difference in their faith. She then said her ankle was sore. You guessed it, M____ prayed for it and then I prayed for it and it was healed, not completely but more than enough to make life more comfortable.

11) C____ (a different one) had spent time in the pool and his eyes were red as and very itchy. I prayed to the God who heals and He took away the pain and itchiness!

12) Then we were testifying at dinner time and C____ (a different one again) asked if I could heal him. I replied "No. But God can heal you!" After dinner him and 3 mates came to learn about this heling stuff. We sat down and praye for C___'s hamstring. He wanted it healed because he loves to shuffle (dance) and the injury stopped it from happening. B____ prayed and it was healed!He got up and danced! Then we prayed for C___'s bruise it didnt go down but when we poked it he couldnt feel it!

13) The C___ prayed for H____'s foot which got healed.

14) H____ prayed for A___'s ankle and it was healed. And I saw them write on the prayer wall later that night, "Thank you God for healing C____, H____ and me."

These are just the ones I was involved in. I also heard of K___'s wrist who the doctors said would take 6 weeks to get better and it was healed and she was doing hand stands to show off what GOD HAD DONE! And this after only two weeks! Other people were healed of tummy bugs and all sorts of things!

These signs were done and built faith, lead people to Christ and empowered youth to be a Jesus follower in their schools and work places!

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

Exciting news everyone!

Me and Sarah are getting married! We got engaged last night! I popped the question while we were praying on a hill overlooking Melbourne...

The phone has not stopped ringing and Sarah has not stopped screaming!lol :) Very exciting times!!!

Thanks everyone for all the congrats! We will have an engagement party but we haven't decided when yet, will let you know soon!
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The other week I blogged that I led a kid to Christ. The other day he told me he now has more friends at school! Praise God. Gods changing his character.
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I heard some whispers that some people were challenged by Sunday nights sermon that they approached their corps officers to ask about Soldiership! nice! What about you? If you attend a salvo church why aren't you a soldier? Step up. If you're not a salvo, consider a life of holiness, set apart for God for the salvation of the world! What a vision! Check us out sometime...
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Easter Camp starts tomorrow! So wont be able to blog. Please remember us in your prayers! On one of the days (sat i think) we are doing some evangelism! Also, I'm praying my tooth will be healed in Jesus name while on camp! Imagine the great testimony that is going to be! If you dont believe it start building your faith, I'm trying and its fun! Now Im waiting on the miracle...

Some Nazarites...

Samuel was set apart for God so that people could once again hear God.
Samson was set apart for God for the freedom of the Israelites.
John the Baptist, or JB as I call him was set apart to prepare the way for the new Kingdom.

Are you willing to be set apart to help others hear God, have freedom and enter the Kingdom of God?
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I was able to minister to a breakfast club kid today. We had bacon and eggs for the last brekie club this term. He said "Pigs are ugly, but they're good on the inside." Referring to the bacon. It was an easy opportunity for me to say "God looks at the heart!" Shifting normal conversations into spiritual ones is not hard, you just need to be on the look out, be ready, and be prepared to take a risk!
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I watched "Cocaine Cowboys" last night. Its a documentary about the Miami drug scene in the 70s-80s. Some of the guys were earning more than a million dollars a week. So many people made money that when the cops came in and the drug trade started coming down businesses were going bankrupt because the drug dealers weren't spending their money anymore.

It made me think, what sort of impact are Christians having on the world? What would happen if we all left? How much of a difference are we really making?

Last night was SWEET! Meeting at Macelod Corps went off! Sam McIver got sworn in as a soldier! She had a cool story of how God sometimes visits her in dreams and she was taken up into heaven to have a chat!!! Very cool... Congrats sam! God bless and sanctify her commitment to God for the salvation of the world!

then throughout the worship time before the meeting there was counted to be at least 8 people receiving prayer down the front and in their seats. Heaps of people were praying, Sarah who was worship leading was seeing visions of the Holy Spirit! It was great. Then I preached, then I gave some words of knowledge and people got healed! Hallelujah! Peoples lives changed, they really did, we saw the change. God is good!
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Please pray for my tooth. Its snapped in half but I believe Gods gonna heal it! If you want to pray for me, ask that God would give me more and more faith to receive this miracle!
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Heres a couple of points from my sermon:
Nazarite Vows (Numbers 6:1-21) had 3 expectaions,

1) Cant eat or drink anything from the vine: symbol of SACRIFICE. Are you willing to sacrifice to change the world?

2) Cant cut your hair: Symbol of humility, are you willing to be humiliated to change the world?

3) No dead bodies: Symbol of being set apart from impurity. Are you willing to be set apart to change the world?

More on this later...

Today was awesome!

The gospel was preached.
The sick were healed.
Demons were kicked out!
Hallelujah!

Day 2 of Jesus culture for me, and it was great. Heres there thing, We are the light of the world. Darkness doesn't have an option when light is around. So why is their still darkness? Its because Christians dont realize the responsibility they have. So they empower Christians to light revivals by healing the sick, preaching the gospel and booting out demons!

Today we got words of knowledge then went to the shops to find out what they meant. One of the words I had was "Chocolate moose" and another was a vision of a bent back straightening. We went to the supermarket to find the moose, and while I was looking this lady walked past all bent over, so I talked to her.

I then prayed for her and asked how her back was. She stretched it and it was partly better. So we prayed again! Not completely healed yet, but pray for her complete healing!

I wanted to say "God is doing a new thing" but Hes not. Hes been doing this forever. Lets join in.

This is what Jesus says to YOU and ME: "As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[b]drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." What is your answer?

Ok, Im really tired but just had to note down a few things from today...

1) Met with this guy Rory today. Great evangelist. In charge of 3 churches, 1 in narre warren, 1 in geelong and 1 in china! He prayed and prophesied over me! We had a great time. Also his mate who was there has raised a few people from the dead!

Rory has been all fired up since he got saved because no one ever told him about Jesus. It took a divine miracle for something to happen. Shame on us church!

2) Went to JESUS CULTURE tonight! WOW! Theyre a movement of revivalists from the u.s.a and they packed a powerful punchtonight. We are the light of the world, shouldnt be hidden... Darkness has no say when light comes, it HAS to go. So, why is there still so much darkness? Because we Christians DONT GET OUT THERE!

You can change all this and come along to 171 Rook st in vermont at 930 am tomorrow (sat) theyre teaching how to heal the sick then we're going to do it! Tell everyone you know, if you get a chance to read this b4 then!

3) Jesus is coming back! Wohoo!

I was thinking today. If we had the best training, the best resources, the best ideas, the best teachers, the best opportunities to evangelise how many people do you think you yourself could get saved in one year?

Lets say 1 person each month if you were at the top of your game.

Thats 12 people a year.

Now, lets say you have been saved for 3 years.
That means you could have led 36 people to Christ.

5 years = 60 people

10 = 120 people

20 = 240 people

50 = 600 people

Now your saying thats way too many. I dont agree, but lets halve that.

5 years = 30 people

10 = 60 people

20 = 120 people

50 = 300 people

Now imagine if half of your converts did the same thing! We could have a revival on our hands! Instead, many of our churches are not growing by convert growth at all! Mostly because the soldiers, members etc dont evangelise! This is sad. Lets repent of the hundreds and thousands of people who we have let slip into the pits of hell by our apathetic, selfish lifestyles. God have mercy! Lord, awaken our zealous aggressive nature we have as a movement of God!

Ive been going ok with the evangelism challenge. I havent been very good at getting to 5 every day but I have been evangelising every day. I have been searching for people to talk to about Jesus. I have found tracts to be really really helpful.

This gets me thinking, why does The Salvation Army, an organisation with a motto "The world for God", not have tracts? If The Salvation Army is trying to get the world saved then shouldnt we be leading the way in Evangelism teaching, resourcing, equipping and empowering?

Im not just talking tracts now, I mean, TV, internet, clothes and merchandise, evangelism resources, evangelism training kits. We really should be leading the way, but we're not. Where are our goals? Where is has the vision of "The world for God" gone?

Dont frett though. This years "Go For Souls" is to be held in September is shaping up to be HUGE! We're getting BIG time speakers who lead scores of people to Christ. Church planters, crusade evangelists, personal/friendship evangelists, tract designers etc! We're hoping to launch the worlds leading evangelism resourcing website and a new Christian resource that encourages sharing faith straight away!

We're hoping to get all sorts of merchandise out, evangelism kits, training resources, cds, dvds. We're planning mission trip crusades to country corps and possibly overseas.

We're trying to raise up a generation of zealous, fire filled, vision orientated evangelists that will lead millions of people to Christ and usher in the coming of the King! Thats right the return of Christ! A big vision, but definately possible!

The revolution is well on its way!

Who are you evangelising to today? Go For Souls!

Need help? Call me, email me, get in touch, and we'll do it together! We'll even orgainse speakers.trainers to teach evangelism to your corps before the conference! We need to get on it, lets do it!

BLOOD AND FIRE

A mate of mine, one of my youth who got saved last year has started up a Bible study group at his school. First week back (had one last year...lol) was yesterday and he had 31 youth rock up! Not bad hey? That makes it one of our corps largest congregations! And he is in year 11. So, who cares how old someone is, if they have the Holy Spirit give them jobs to do and see God bless it! Hallelujah! Heres to all the people who will get saved and filled with the Holy Spirit there!
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Our drop in center is going well but we're in desperate need for female leaders! Yesterday was our 3rd time doing in and we've gone from having 5-6 people to having 17 youth there yesterday. We haven't advertised, its all been from word of mouth amongst the youth. Now to find ways of presenting the gospel in a fun easy yet meaningful way! If you know any female leaders who could help out, please let me know. If you dont know any, please pray for some!
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And this from national nine news (ninemsn.com)

Five charged over Sydney sex slavery

Friday Mar 7 07:46 AEDT

A group of South Korean women were falsely lured to Australia and forced to work up to 20 hours a day in a Sydney brothel, police say.

Federal Police officers raided six inner-Sydney properties on Thursday, arresting three women and two men allegedly linked to a sex trafficking syndicate worth more than $3 million a year.

"Police will allege the syndicate recruited women in Korea by deceiving them about the conditions under which they would be employed and then organised their entry into Australia under false pretences," the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

A 46-year-old woman from Greenacre in south-west Sydney, a 42-year-old woman from Hornsby in north-western Sydney and 35-year-old Korean woman are due to appear in Central Local Court.

They are charged with offences including people trafficking, deceptively recruiting for sexual services, dealing in the proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million, and arranging a non-genuine marriage.

Two Sydney men, aged 23 and 28, have been charged with knowingly conducting a business involving the sexual servitude of others and will appear in court at a later date.

Evangelism and the dead being raised!

Ive been trying to uphold my decision to have 5 evangelistic conversations each day and Ive been going a bit up and down. First day was 5, then 4, then 0 (bad day) then 6... We'll see how I go today! As for conversions only the one on Sunday but praise God for that one hey? He called me and told me he now has more friends at school!

A couple of points. 1) If I arent getting many saved after 15 conversations then by you having less conversations how much more time will it take? 2) I have been planting alot of seeds, its good to remember that not all evangelism is about the conversion point... 3) Having to talk to 5 people has pushed me just out of my comfort zone, Ive had to go to the shops real late at night so I can find people to talk to. 4) "More friends at school" because God has done a work in his life! Praise God!
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Check out this article. Its about people being raised from the dead in India! A reporter saw it all happen and is shocked! So are the hindu villages who are now saying that Jesus is the TRUE GOD! How cool is that?

Some who read this will say "but they're in India, theres not enough proof." But I say to them there was plenty of proof on that night, western journalist, massive crowd, mum, the hindus who have now converted must have seen some proof, and the hindus who are still trying to work out what happend and are coming to see the man who was raised from the dead, and the description of one of the dead people. So, either this is a massive hoax or it happend.

If you dont believe this one happend then I say to you you need faith. Infact, if anyone does not believe in God raising from the dead even in todays world I say "get some faith." Thats all there is to it. The scripture says He does, Scripture says we are commanded to. Theres nothing more to it other than faith! You say why doesnt it happen? I say it does happen and it happens with faith! God, help our faith be stronger!

I read in the Year Book (1993 i think...) that Bangladesh had had some terrible floods. All the halls got flooded and they had nearly no where to go for their weekend meetings... Nearly nowhere. They hooked up a bunch of boats together and held meetings from the boats! No corps missed their meeting because they had them in boats! Love it!
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Theres a movie coming out soon (already out in the states) that is sure to rattle a few cages. "EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED" Is Ben Steins journey of finding out that evolution is a load of rubbish and that if you disagree with it you get expelled... Heres a trailor, and make sure you check out the website: http://www.getexpelled.com


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Yesterday we talked about praying for the lost... Heres the first one explained a bit:

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

2 corinthians 4:3-4


Unbelievers need revelation not just information. They dont see the same Jesus as we do. Information is head stuff, revelation affects the head but starts in the heart. People need to repent, metanoia- which doesnt mean turn around, it means to have a change of mind.


The word blinded (tuphloo) means to dull the intellect. The word tupho means smoke., where we get the idea of a smoke screen. The word comes from the word tuphoo which is used for being high minded, proud, and so tie all the words together and we get a puffed up type of image.


The problem people have with accepting Christ is that they have to humble themselves and let Christ be there boss. If youre proud this wont happen!


Therefore we need to do some Spiritual warfare praying asking God to break down these barriers... Now, Im not doing justice to Sheets work but im trying to give you something to look at, but for a more complete look buy his book!lol

Here are some things to pray for when trying to lead some one to Christ... All are Biblical and from "Intercessory Prayer"... I'll show you all of them now but talk about each of them in the coming days because they can get get pretty theological...

• That God would lift the veil (2 Corinthians 10:4)
• For the Holy Spirit to hover over and protect them
• For Godly people to come into their pathway each day
• To cast down anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God
• To take down all known strongholds (thought patterns, religions, opinions etc)
• To bind satan from taking them captive
• That the armor of God would be placed on them

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The Kingdom of heaven is like... There was a ship with a captain. Hes crew loved the captain heaps and heaps. They adored him. They sung his praises, in fact they would often get together and talk about how great their captain was. One day the captain saw a ship sinking, he yelled out to his crew, "Quick, let down the lifeboats, lets go and save them!" But the crew were too happy talking to each other about the captain and how good he was, and they never let down the lifeboats, and the other ship sunk and the people died.
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The Kingdom of heaven is like... A policeman was having a hard time at work. It was quiet at the station but there was lots of people breaking the law. He thought to himself, what can I do to make things better? So he started meeting with other policemen. He got a Policeman from America to come out and speak at the police station. But still no criminals came in. He thought, it must be because the place isnt clean enough! So he cleaned the bars of the jail and mopped the floor! But still no one came in! The second policeman however, went out into the dark alley ways, into the clubs and pubs, bikie bars and brothels. He even went over seas to find the worst. Which of these two policemen is the wisest?
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"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Luke 19:10

Hoping to get more regular with blog...

Yesterday was a BIG day!

1) Started talking to one of the young guys whose been coming to church. He followed us into the prayer room and listened to us pray. I tried to get him involved by teaching him how to pray. I soon found out he didn't know Jesus or what being saved meant.

I asked him, have you ever lied? He replied yes. Which makes you a? Liar he replied... I went through a few questions like that and then said at judgment day will God find you guilty or nor guilty? He knew he was guilty and the Holy Spirit came with so much conviction, he was almost in tears. Then I had the privlege of leading him to Christ! I know this is just the beginning of his walk with God but he came and asked for a bible at the end of the meeting. God, please continue to teach, encourage and challenge him!


2) A few weeks ago someone prophesied that leaders would start popping up and coming to me to help with the youth. Yesterday in the car on the way to church I told God, "I have faith, help my unbelief." And I found 2 potential leaders at church! Hallelujah! Please pray that we will obey God when taking/knocking back leaders!

3) I have committed myself to having no less than 5 evangelistic conversations each day. I realize I wont always get this many and that I have some more growing to do to make this a habit, but please pray as I really want to make this a big part of my life!

4) Dutch Sheets book "Intercessory Prayer" is amazing! I'll blog on that tomorrow God willing...

5) Lets GO FOR SOULS! (website should be up in a month or so...)

MCG, New converts and over enthusiasm

I took a couple of youth to the cricket yesterday. I had promised them we'd go and it was Australia's last game at the MCG this year. To make it even more special it was Adam Gilchrist's last game at the MCG!

The boys loved it. They especially loved how we could sit in the front row and sledge the players, how you could yell out whatever you thought of the game and no one would care, and if they did you just yell a bit louder! The boys were also trying to get autographs, and when we left one even said he was going to hold on to his ticket to show everyone he'd been to the cricket at the MCG. It was a great day and one they wont forget soon...

As I sat there often they would say or do something and Id think to myself, "Didn't you know that?" Or "Settle down a bit, that happens all the time." But then I realized this is a new experience for them and I need to settle down and let them experience it for the first time.

New Christians are just like the boys. They get saved and see all the great things God is doing. Often they are the best evangelists as they tell the world what they really think. They get excited about miracles and what God is saying, they get excited about what is out there! This new experience is the best thing to ever happen to their lives!

In the story I am like alot of the older Christians. Getting grumpy for new people being too loud, or getting too excited. i had lost the wonder of the cricket at the MCG. I had been there so many times, it'd just worn off.... And so often people lose the wonder of God, a result of being brought up in a church...

How can this happen? For me, I lost my first love for the cricket at the MCG. For the church we have lost our first love of Jesus. We need to regather ourselves and start loving God more. Reading our Bibles, praying for hours on end. Everyday. More prayer meetings, more worship, more sacrifice, and if we do this then it wont matter what program we run, the Spirit of God will be moving and we will see revival.

Yesterday I allowed myself to go back to the wonder of the MCG and we had a great time. One of the best times for the boys. What would have happened if I didn't get into it and stifled their enthusiasm? This happens in the church, people get disillusioned and leave unsatisfied, searching elsewhere for an authentic Spirituality...

Do you have the spirit of a new boy at the MCG or the hack who thinks they know everything too well but have forgotten the wonder of the MCG?

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love."
Revelation 2:4

I love this band... Thousand Foot Krutch



Move and show me what you can do
When you step into the circle and shake like we do
And move when you just can't take it
And move if you just feel like breaking it

Lets go win the world for Jesus

FULL ON TO FOLLOW JESUS

I read this thismorning and it encouraged me heaps! How full on does it sound to be a follower of Jesus? This goes out to all of you who are in difficult times because of Jesus...

Matthew 10:16-42

16I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

17"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

21"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub,[c] how much more the members of his household!

26"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[d]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - 36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'[e]

37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

40"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Read Simons blog of a cool salvation!!! And Read Steve Courts about Korea!!!
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Heres a gem of a principle from the Bible on dealing with people you think are doing the wrong thing... Matthew 18:15-17 (NIV)

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

How much better would the church be if we actually lived by that? How much better is that than people going behind your back to other people and talking about how bad you are?

So 4 easy steps:
A) Approach them on your own (then if they dont repent)
B) Then with a couple of people (then if they dont repent)
C) Get the church on it (then if they dont repent)
D) Try and get this person saved

The church in general has not been good at getting 'Christians' to repent. So often people get caught up in 'being saved' that they forget that we still need to live in continual obedient faith in Christ. Are you a Christian who still sins? Then you need to repent.

Sorry to everyone I have spoken of behind your back. Of course if I realise Ive done this I'll talk to you about it. If I dont get in touch with you I probably dont know Ive done something, so approach me as the passage says and restore me!

How good are Kingdom values...
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Our Corps is now going Fair Trade! I was able to talk about it at Corps Leadership Meeing and get to do a quick talk in church about it. We're not going to buy coffee stained by the blood of innocent people anymore, and we're going to strongly encourage all the corps folk to only buy Fair Trade coffee and chocolate from now on!

Governing principles

Why are we offended and opposed to a teaching that says our unbelief kept us from recieving something when so often the Bible says that if we believe and do not waver we will recieve?
Matt 17:20, 21:21, Mark 11:22-24, Jam 1:6-7?

Why are we offended when it is implied that our inability to persevere created lack when the bible says that we "through faith and patience inherit promises?"
Hebrews 6:12

Why are we confused or angry when it is suggested that our not doing something caused failure when the Bible says if were "willing and obedient" we'll eat the good of the land?
Isaiah 1:19

As many as 80% of people who consider themselves born again dont tithe, thereby opening themselves to a curse. Yet they are offended when someone implies that their lack of provision might be their own fault!
Mal 3:8-12

We dont forgive but have th gall to think and believe God will hear and answer our prayers!
Mark 11:25-26

Often we eat poorly and dont exercise and abuse our bodies in other ways. Then we blame our sickness on Gods will!

We dont properly train our children, yet we're offended with the suggestion that their rebellion might be our own fault.
Deut 6:7, Prov 22:6

We dont abode in Christ and His word. Still we blame it on 'God's will' when we ask "ask what we will" and it isn't done.
John 15:7

We know faith comes from hearing and meditating on Gods word (Romans 10:17) and most of us do very little of that. But let someone imply that we didn't receive a promise because of unbelief and we're irate!

The scripture teaches us that "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high" receives the protective promises of the rest of Psalm 91... that i have an armor I must wear and carry, including the shield of faith, to ward off satans fiery darts, (eph 6:13-18)... that satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and that i am to resist him, (1 peter 5:8, jam 4:7)... and yet, let someone suggest that my lack of protection from some destructive thing happening could be my own fault and I'm offended. How about you?

Thats taken from Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets...

He also goes on to talk about how not everything is our own fault and that some stuff is Gods will. And he ends with this, "Lets realize that the love of God is unconditional, but His favor and blessing is not."

what do you think about that?

pray, fast, preach

Ive been reading some stuff on revival this week. check out this great quote in the light of 24/7 prayers 7th anniversary...

"As the praying power spread and increased, the work soon took on a very powerful character, so much so that the word of the Lord would cut the strongest men down and render them entirely helpless." - Charles Finney, Holy Spirit Revivals, p158.

All year I have been challenged by God to pray more. I have been challenged that the work we do is not of us, well, not suppose to be of us, but of God! We can work hard and do great things but it will account for nothing if God is not in it.

"Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10

I read those quotes and think about how our preaching is often without an results, how it can take years for people to get saved and I ask how come the word of God is not always as powerful as the first quote?

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" Hebrews 4

If thats true, why dont I see it happen? Finney was talking about the most resistant people there and the word of God would cut them just as the Bible says. God says He wants everyone to be saved, to repent and to come to a knowledge of the truth!

And so, I finish by saying that we need to pray. We need to be joining Gods mission and not just making up our own and asking God to bless it. We need to talk to and listen to God, we need to be filled with power and authority, we need to know what to do and how. And we need to preach the gospel.

Pray, fast and preach the gospel and lets see revival break out and the return of Christ!

Check out www.catchthefire.com.au

there are two articles worth looking at.

The first one is about chariot wheels been found in the Red Sea!

The second is about how liberal Christianity intensifies the threat of radical Islam. Its based on some talks by Mr. Sookhdeo to Focus on the family in the USA. Its an interesting read.

Sookhdeo is considered one of the leading experts on Christianity- Islam dialogue. Hes a great man and taught my mum and dad about Islam while we were in London on our way to Bangladesh. It was at one of his training schools that I got saved when I was 7 years old!

Anywho, have fun reading!

are we in exile?

God miraculously brought the Israelites out of Egypt. There were wonders galore, everyone knew that their God was powerful! YHWH was the best, the one and only God.

So God delivered them and gave them the law. If you want to be my peoples you gotta follow the law. So God gave them the 10 Commandments and a whole bunch of laws.

But then they all went crazy and started worshipping the wrong things and didn’t realy rely on God, they doubted Him after everything He had done. So God made them walk around for yonks in the desert until they all died and only their kids were alive! Then they entered the promised land!

Can we relate that to us today? The Salvation Army has had a great past, God has worked amazing things. He still does! But generally in Western culture there is no revival, infact we are more accustomed to people leaving than new people coming…

They were given the law,just like we were given our handbook of doctrine with our soldiers orders and regulations. But now many soldiers don’t even know there is such a thing let alone read it and obey it! We have all sorts of people all over the place in all positions who don’t even agree with half our doctrines…

Then they walked around for ages and ages… Until they all died so the new guys went into the promised land. I wonder if the younguns were waiting for them all to doe so they could get in there… Is that the same today? The youth of today want revival and want it now, yet there seems to be some blocks in the way. Could it be some of the ideas of form rather than essence?

Do you think we are in exile?

Giving up stuff

On the way to work I sometimes listen to Hughsey and Kate on the radio. Hughsey is always giving things up, so far hes given up drugs, alcohol, meat, porn, other women (newly married), and today he had another announcement...

He was addicted to something else.

Drum roll.... Running. I thought running? Thats not that bad is it? I wish I was addicted to running, I might get a bit more fit! But He said, "Its taking over my life, Im addicted!" Wow. This made me think...

What is in control in my life. Heres a quick list...

1) Food. I always obey my tummy. Whenever Im hungry I eat! My belly is my god sometimes... Whenever God has asked me to fast, I dont!

2) TV. Whenever I want to relax I turn on the TV. I can sit there for hours, even if theres nothing good on! Going to bed I normally put it on, watch Sports tonight then go to sleep... Im not resting in the Lord, but rather I am escaping reality and numbing myself.

I admire Hughsey for seeing what he is getting addicted to and getting rid of it. Im going to do the same.

This is so familiar to what Paul says in Romans, "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

Can you honestly say that you are a slave to righteousness? Have a think. If youre not kill the sinful masters you have...

How bad do you want it?

Revival. The return of Jesus. Heaven.

How bad do you want it?

I was praying last night with some friends and they had some really prophetic stuff for me which is great. Its funny how God can use people to get His message across. Especially when its stuff they had no idea about! Anyways, I have direction after last night, I was thinking of revival, of BIG things of the return of Christ and I heard God saying to me, "How bad do you want it?"

What am I willing to do? What am I willing not to do? Where will I put my money, time and energy? What am I willing to sacrifice? Am I willing to be persecuted? Am I willing to die?

How strong will be my fight? How aggressive? How extreme?

Will my actions match my thoughts, ideas and beliefs?

I challenge everyone reading this too, how bad do you want revival?
How will you fight?

Pray For Souls

Aeroplane story

I went to Perth for a holiday not too long ago. I flew there. And as all good evangelists do, they always tell a plane story... Heres my one...

I sat down and said hello to the guy sitting next to me. After a little while I asked him where he was from. He was from India which gave me a great opportunity to talk about the cricket and the holidays Ive had in India. I then asked him if he was religious to which he replied he was hindu but sometimes went to church. I asked him if he thought he would go to heaven. He said he doesnt know, its up to God to decide.

So I asked him if I could ask a few questions to see if he would go to heaven. "Have you ever told a lie?" He said yes. "What does that make you?" He said a liar. "Have you ever stolen?" He said yes. What does that make you? A thief he replied. I continued, "Jesus said if we look lustfuly at a woman we have already committed adultry in our heart. Have you ever done that?" Of course he replied.

So I said, "By your own admission you told me you are a lying adulterous thief at heart. You have broken Gods law. Those are just 3 of the 10 commandments. When judgment day comes how will God find you? Guilty or not guilty?" He said, "guilty." "And where do you think guilty people go?" Hell he sighed.

I was then able to tell him the way of Salvation! Hallelujah! I will talk more about that in the next post. He still has some things to work out but he promised me he would speak about them to his christian friend. Please pray for him and his salvation.

What have I learnt from that? I have learnt that by listening, taking an interest in someone, and then asking simple questions they will often admit they are guilty and destined for hell. This is great as we get to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ!

Go for souls!

GO FOR SOULS

"Go For Souls" is going to BIG this year. We're looking at going to a few new locations throughout Australia. Have a mission trip to a country town or two, launch a website with resources etc, launch our "Pray for Souls" network, and get alot of people saved. Heck, we might even write a book...

Heres how you can help:

• financial donations
• graphic design stuff for posters
• be a prayer warrior
• have your corps hold a Go For Souls
• Form a regular "Pray For Souls" prayer meeting
• Let us come to your country corps for a mission trip
• Help build a cool website
• Help find some great evangelists to speak and teach
• Anything else you can think of
  

That should get you going for now. Spread the word. We want to have some dates locked in very soon...

It is time for you to act, O LORD;
your law is being broken.
Psalm 119:126

Heres one thing that bugs me. The lack of urgency in the church to get everyone saved. Ive heard so many people palm it off in different ways. "I'm not an evangelists." "I dont know what to say." "Someone else is better than me." Some people even go down the lines of this heresy, "It's not really our job..."

People, it is our job. It is our duty. We have been told to do it! We have been told disciples do this! It is our privilege. It is a natural consequence of the love of God in our hearts. We are told "that God wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth!" We need to act.

There is sin galore in our world. There is pain and suffering galore in our world! No one can doubt this. Peoples lives are broken every day. People sin without caring, degrading our holy God and His creation.

"God, its time for you to act! Your law is being broken!"

And the answer comes back, "What are YOU going to do about it?"

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;

they did not keep God's covenant
and refused to live by his law.

They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.

He did miracles in the sight of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

Psalm 78:9-12

Isn't it sad how history repeats itself.

God we repent of turning our backs in battle, not keeping our covenant or living by your word, we repent of forgetting your great works, the wonders you have shown us, the miracles you have done all over the world!

Can we see the answer to our fall in these verses? What would happen if we got back into the war, if we kept our covenant, walked in the ways of God, remembered what God can do, remembered the wonders and miracles God can do. What would happen? What would your life look like? What would the world look like if all the Christians in the world were to do this?

"IM BACK"

At the beginning of every year I ask God what the year is to be about. What does He want me to focus on, often in general terms. One year it was to be more consistent with my walk with God, and it happened, the next year it was to go harder than I had before and that worked, and this year Gods saying something along the lines of "Go nuts!"

You see my journey has been from getting to know what I believe and why. And I had all sorts of struggles with universities, corps and people with that one, mostly with people who have completely different views that what I perceive the Bible to say.

Once my beliefs started coming through it was time for me to start living out my beliefs. Do I believe God heals people? Yes, so I better pray for the sick. Do I believe there are demons in some people? Yes, so I better pray for deliverance. Do I believe in holiness? Yes, so I better pray for perfect love to fill my heart and to crucify my sinful nature. Do I believe that Jesus is the only way to God? Yes, so I better start evangelizing the world before they all go to hell without ever knowing Jesus and the perfect peace and wholeness of life that He offers. And as I lived more according to my beliefs, we saw great miracles all throughout the year! Just read some blogs from last year...

This year I am feeling called to stepping out of my comfort zone and going a little over the top. Meaning, more time spent in prayer, more time spent in Bible, more time spent evangelizing, more time spent loving people. I want to live my life aiming for revival.

Does your life match what you believe? Does it match what the Bible says will happen? If not, lets make this the year we start living our lives in a Biblical way.

new blog at www.hallelujah-hall.blogspot.com

Ive had it for a while... I'm just going to write testimonies and stuff! Its just going to be devoted to testifying about how Great God is and what He is doing! Check it out!

Also dont forget to comment on Beyond Connections

News Flash:

No one cares what I think! hahaha

Im a bit tired of arguing and stuff as fun as I find it sometimes... So no more wholly holy for now.

Im still blogging a bit at Beyond Connections. Please keep checking that every day and commenting! We need your opinion!

And I'll start blogging on Hallelujah-Hall with testimonies etc...

So good bye for now!

Laughing at Jesus

Over the last few days I have heard a whole bunch of peoples opinion on miracles, raising the dead, their place in todays world, and if that should be part of our mission or not. Many people have laughed at suggestions that we should be doing that. Ive been shocked, angered and saddened at some of the views that have been put towards me. People Joking about it at THQ and other Salvationist places. Its a sad expression of where The Salvation Army is at in this Territory.

Firstly, True theology comes from Jesus. Fact: Jesus drove out demons. Fact: Jesus healed the sick. Fact: Jesus raised the dead. Fact: Jesus did miracles!

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

Thirdly, what God commands He enables. Read 1 Corinthians 12. Not happening in your ministry? Ask God why not? Maybe its a lack of Holy Spirit...

Fourthly, These things occur regularly in many Christian churches. And I mean all of them, demons being booted, sick healed, DEAD raised back to life! We havent had someone raised back but the rest has happened... Check out the extreme prophetic link for some of the many...

Fifthly, people have always laughed at people who think raising the dead is possible. Right back from Jesus time, right through until now, people laugh at this suggestion. Read this and ask yourself, who are you in this story...

49While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the teacher any more."

50Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."

51When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. 52Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."

53They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" 55Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Who are you?
1) The person who points out the facts
2) The person needing the miracle
3) The person encouraging faith
4) Someone laughing at a possibility of a miracle
5) The person raised from the dead
6) Ive probably missed more but you get the picture...

People laughing at the possibility of miracles is nothing new and is a sign of their dependence on themselves and not on the Holy Spirit.

The objection that raising of the dead etc "was for another time" is bullocks. Why one time and not another? Because we have medicine now? They did back then too! We still have diseases that cant be cured by medicine. Whats your point?

Who cares about the facts or what seems probable or inprobable, "Don't be afraid; just believe." Get some faith! Get the Holy Spirit! Lets have a revival. The only thing stopping it is us! God help us all!

hmmm

I've been thinking over the last week or so... What is it we think God wants us to do? What should our mission be?

Heres what I think...

• We should be pursuing holiness, that is not sinning and full of love
• We should be aggressively evangelizing with the intent of the whole world getting saved
• We should be loving everyone with implications for social justice and social welfare
• We should be living incarnationally in poor suburbs
• We should be operating with the gifts of the Spirit (not just gifts that we've learned...)
• We should allow, encourage and empower everyone to participate in our mission
• We should be zealous in all we do
• We should be saturated in Bible study and prayer
  

I believe we need to preach the gospel, drive out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, help the poor.

I believe that our mission will not succeed if we try to do things on our own without the Spirit of God. And I believe the reason why we have not been accomplishing our mission is because we have not allowed the Spirit of God to do what He wants.

I believe there are many people who will disagree that we can be entirely sanctified, that everyone should accept Christ let alone try to convert them, that we drive out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, and use/rely on the gifts of the Spirit!

I believe once we find some unity on these things we will see revival!

GOD WITH US

My new tat! It says Immanuel in Hebrew! It means "God with us" and is taken from Isaiah 7:14
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." And then Matthew uses the same message in Chapter 1 when talking about Jesus!

So, just like my tat will always be with me, God will always be with me! Hallelujah! When people ask what it means they are in fact asking me to preach the gospel to them! How Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, the Saviour, 600 years before He was born!

I just re-did the theological survey...

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 100% Charismatic/Pentecostal 86% Fundamentalist 75% Emergent/Postmodern 71% Neo orthodox 68% Reformed Evangelical 43% Classical Liberal 43% Modern Liberal 29% Roman Catholic 25%

lots to say...

It may seem like I havent been blogging much lately... But I have I'm over at Youth Speak at the Beyond Connections link until the new year... I'll try to keep this one going, but make sure you read and comment on both Beyond Connections blogs!
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Murali got Warney's record of most wickets taken. This is a very sad day for cricket lovers, and Warney lovers. Murali has a disgusting action that is clearly dodgey. Hes taken 163 wickets against minows Bangladesh and Zinbabwe compared to Warnes 17. Murali has only taken 270 wickets away from home compared to Warney's 362! At the end of the day, we are all going to remember Warney as the best, not Murali. They are both shrowded in controversy, Warne foe his off field stuff, Murali for his on field stuff. Warney is the best, sorry Murali you just don't cut it...
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So you think you can preach was heaps of fun! I even got to sing! They sacrificed tune and pitch for loud and passion... Which is better? Ask someone who was there...lol The preaching was pretty good if you ask me, considering we didn't know what topic we were getting! For more info check out Jo Brookshaw's blog!

I got to preach with the band behind me... Id been wanting to do this for ever and Sunday night I got my wish and out of all the subjects I could have got I got holiness! So I had a bit of fun and was disappointed when I had to stop talking!lol
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I'm really amazed at how many people don't know our holiness beliefs. This is crazy and makes me wonder whats going on at Training College, because ultimately its the Officers who are responsible for teaching holiness. Our holiness beliefs is one of the distinctives that pushes us to revival! Lets preach it, imagine what an Army dead to sin and full of love would look like!

Global Warming

I usually dont get into the global warming debate I am today... Here is one positive to come from global warming...

how i evangelise

How I evangelize…

1) Pray

2) Talk and listen to someone who doesn’t know Jesus yet

3) Ask them about their beliefs… I normally try to find an opening in the conversation so when I ask it doesn’t freak them out

4) I tell them why I am a Jesus follower

5) I tell them the gospel

6) I challenge them to repent and believe

7) I pray with them

I think most people find step 3 hard. I use something they say then use it to lean into something Spiritual…

Here’s some examples that might work…

• Me: “What did you do on the weekend?”

Them: “I went shopping… What did you do?”

Me: “I went to church and hung out with friends, it was great…”

Them: “Oh, ok…”

Me: “Do you ever go to church” OR “Do you believe in God?”

Them: “Not really”

Me: “Why’s that? Boy, could I tell you some stories…”

Then I go from there… It’s so not confrontational and you get to talk about why you believe in God…

• Them: “I watched supernatural the other night…”

Me: “Did you really? What happened?”

Them: “Angels/demons etc”

Me: “I’ve cast demons out of people before…”

OR if that’s not true, “I know people who have cast demons out of people before…”

Then I talk about that and gradually you’ll get to talk about how to be free from demons etc…

• An easy one is when people are down and you just tell them the promises of God,

“Cast your burdens upon Jesus for He cares for you.”

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

“I have come to set the captives free.”

Just tell them how God can help them! Easy as!

In all of the above there is room for jokes, words of knowledge, prophesy, your own personality etc… You just need to be open to talking about Jesus! People who are gifted evangelists will make opportunities, but if we all took our opportunities we’d get a lot more people saved…

Army Spirit

This is from a topic on the beyond connections Wise Words blog... Check it out! Make sure you comment on the YOUTH SPEAK one too!

In chosen to be a Soldier, the orders and regulations for soldiers it speaks about the 'Army Spirit.' A list of "qualities, convictions and principles."

"The Holy Spirit of God will reveal to true Salvationists how they can exhibit that practical, loving and self-denying attitude to the straying, sinning and suffering world for which Christ died, which is the hall mark of the genuine Army Spirit."

It also lists some of the qualities etc...
Strong faith
Infectious joy
Burning compassion
Going for souls and going for the worst
helping hand
soldiers bound for glory

Do you have the "Army Spirit?" Its also very similar to the early church spirit. Its also very close to thr Spirit of Jesus, infact, if you don't have it you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Ask Him to fill you right now!

Secondly, I keep getting then losing the gift of Holiness. I have had it for 2 days now Hallelujah! And it has been great, but when I see something of love/grace etc in a movie I tear up... Not to the point of tears rolling down my cheek, but I am filled with an awe of the love, grace and acceptance that Jesus has for me! Thank you for saving and cleansing me Lord!

Not holy? You cant become holy on your own! Ask God to make you holy!

Wednesday

Firstly, there is a BEYOND CONNECTIONS blog site up. Theres two there. Wise Words and Youth Speak. All youth out there, make sure you get on there and comment like crazy! Its your Army so do something about it! Share your ideas, thoughts, and grudges and lets win the world for Jesus!

Secondly, No one will want to miss Sunday night at Macleod Salvos! Its the world premiere of "So you think you can preach!" Great speakers in Pete and Jo Brookshaw, Tish Rowe, Alana Armstrong and ME! Its going to be fantastic, Great music is lined up, great preachers! All you need to do now is bring along all the unsaved people you know and they'll get saved! Hallelujah! Lets get heaven partying all night long with all the new converts!

Thirdly, Jesus Saves! He saves us from all evil. The world for God concept is great. We need to win the world for God. This is both individual and social, souls and justice! Its everything! If everyone knew Jesus imagine how cool it would be! Now, imagine closer to home, your family, your school... Get moving, theres a dieing world to save!

I had the privledge of leading another person to Christ today! Hallelujah!

After several months of seeing souls saved reguarly I am seeing life in a new way. I see conversion in a new way. I see regeneration by the Holy Spirit in a new way.

In Booths day, and in the Bible time, we see people really repenting of their sins. Booth wanted to see tears, he wanted to make sure people were really repenting. People can say they believe but unless they repent their belief doesnt lead anyware.

And thats how I see the Western church these days. We dont preach sin and repentance. Instead we market the gospel to peace, prosperity and happiness! All are truth to a certain degree... But we need repentance before we start seeing real fruit. We see this repentance in heaps of the youth that finally take on their christian parents beliefs, and thats when we see change.

Booth saw massive turnaround conversions because they preached repentance, however, it seems that today, it takes a while to get believers to the point of repentance... What would happen if we all started preaching repentance?

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Matthew 1:15

Amazing salvations!

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Just had a call from one of the Revolution Recruits from Plenty Valley!

He was walking around school and some girl came up to him and said she had a dream with him in it. This was strange because he doesn't really even know this girl. She then told him she had a dream of him praying for her, and that she had seen heaven and hell! She woke up sick. So he preached it to her, prayed with her, she got saved and fell forward onto her face by the Spirit!

Also, one of the guys he led to Christ the other week excitedly came up to him and told him that he himself had led someone else to Christ!

Salvations! Hallelujah! God is good and is working in Plenty Valley!

Connections

Connections was great!

Heres a couple of the issues that were discussed...
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TSA is most trusted organisation in Australia. We are seen as a group of people who don't preach to people and this is apparently a good thing. People like us because we don't preach?

What does that mean?

Does that mean we only help people in Jesus name but don't try to get them saved? You can only respond to the gospel if you hear it. Have we as an Army stopped preaching with words and are hiding behind our good works hoping that people will want to get saved? Heres a headline for you, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons etc all help the poor too. We have more than good works! We have the one and only true living God who created and loves His creation!

What scares me is that the fact that "we are seen as a group of people who do not preach it" is seen as a positive! Who cares if that means people like us, our friendship with them is not going to save them from facing up to the consequences of their sinful lives! Yeah we might win a few like we have been, which is great, but arent our expectations a little higher than a few here and there? Aren't we all about "THE WORLD FOR GOD?" After all, we did sing about it.

People can not get saved without putting their faith in Christ. People cannot learn about or respond to Christ unless they hear about it. Works are good, and it shows a glimpse of Christ, but for them to be saved they need more.

I propose we need to keep up the holy living, the responding to people with justice and compassion, but also preaching the gospel strongly! We should not be ashamed of God, the gospels or the fact that we're trying to get people saved!

Is the Salvation army wanting to keep going down the not preaching path, or do they want an Army of evangelists who are trying to plunder hell and populate heaven? I know what I'm called to do...

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Rudd wins the election. There will be a few pastors around the country who will be scratching their heads and bunkering down in prayer to see why their prophecies of a Howard win did not eventuate. Im waiting for their explanation, did they mis-hear or did the prophecy come with a "if?"
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More connections stuff...

Over 2000 people marched for justice in the name of Jesus! Followed by a rally at Fed Square. Heaps of people stopped and listened to the musicians, and the gospel! Nazarite Vow were awessome and testified that they play because of Jesus! Frankie Wants Out were great as they always are, their committment to helping the Salvos out is fantastic. Mez Coleman has a fantastic voice and dazzled the crowd with her cool groove. Bits and pieces played some MXPX, Relient K, Planetshakers etc with the worlds smallest guitar player!lol Great job everyone!

Alot of people herd the gospel!

Around 3000 people gathered yesterday morning for commissioning and the Holy Spirit definitely showed up!
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Some stuff from connections:

Uniform was made with the intent to emphasize the priesthood of all believers. -Is it these days? Have we instead gone the other way and broaden the gap between officers and soldiers even with different colored eplets?

In 1901 salvos took up.8% of the population now we're o.4%

T. Costello encouraged us not to get too close to telling the public we're a church because of its bad press, heres an easy way to do that, lets call ourselves CORPS...

Alan Harley is a great Holiness teacher, more on him during the week!

Although we live in this world we do not wage war as the world does. But the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. The weapons we fight with have devine power to demolish strongholds.

We cant win this war on our own. We need divine weaopns that demolish strongholds. Weapons that demolish strongholds of the devil and his demons. Our weaopns are Spiritual, Spiritual gifts from God, used with authority activated by faith.

Even though we live on Earth, we dont fight like everyone else, we fight with the gospel of love and grace.
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Yesterday I had the chance to make up "New Christian' showbags! It was really fun. We're going to give them to new Christians as they get saved. The pack has a Bible, some little toys like bouncy balls that say Jesus Saves, book mark with arnour of God on it, a new Christian daily devotion etc We believe that we need to be expecting people to get saved before they actually will.

Our resources and weapons we are using in TSA at the moment I believe are sub standard. The war is too big to be using the weapons they try to teach us. Thats the problem, we're trying to learn it on our own. Its not Spiritually imparted to us from God. Get baptised in the Holy Ghost and fight with some Spiritual Weapons!
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Also, we went and did some serving yesterday. It was pouring with rain so we went and held umbrellas for people who were leaving the shops. Not many peole accepted our offer, but they all smiled and I was able to tell some a bit about God...

"At least 30 members of a Russian doomsday Orthodox sect, including four children, are continuing to barricade themselves in a dug-out outside a Russian village to await the Apocalypse." I also read that they believe the apocalypse is coming in May.

I know theres a few prophets who read this blog... Have you heard the same thing?

Heres a thought... If it was to end in May, and you didnt want people to go to hell, then what would you do?

Why dont we try anyway?

Revolution- by Eleventyseven

I don't mean to cause mass hysteria
It's on its way and its probably gonna bury you
And there's nothing much that you can do
There's nothing good left to immitate
Nobody is left now to mediate
And everybody has still got something to prove

Pre-chorus:
I can't even tell whats right from wrong
Will someone please tell me what's going on

Chorus:
Cause we need more than a revolution
Something deeper than a false solution
To replace what's going wrong
So don't look alarmed when everyone's choking
Suffocated on what they're hoping in
Let's move this along

Don't ask for me to participate
I'm just the wrong kind of candidate
It's pure hypocrisy that makes me, me
God show me past all this ignorance
I can't pretend to be innocent
It takes much more than words to make a stand

Pre-chorus

Chorus

To where we find a passion
And not just fake reactions
In all the words we choose today
'Cause there's no easy answer
When greed becomes a cancer
And now it's eating us away

Nothing in our world is working. Poeple try different things all the time, trying to find, peace, balance, enlightenment... I read an article the other day showing all the trendy religions that the celebreties try out... Jesus is the only way. Lets show people Jesus, He's much better than getting drunk on the weekend, or getting high with the rastas, or sitting in a circle humming, or stretching for an hour, or drinking green tea, or positive thinking... Hes the real deal

Jesus Freak

What will people think
When they hear that Im a jesus freak?
What will people do
When they find thats its true?

Separated, I cut myself clean
From a past that comes back in my darkest of dreams
Been apprehended by a spiritual force
And a grace that replaced all the me Ive divorced

I saw a man with tat on his big fat belly
It wiggled around like marmalade jelly
It took me a while to catch what it said
Cause I had to match the rhythm
Of his belly with my head
Jesus saves is what it raved in a typical tattoo green
He stood on a box in the middle of the city
And claimed he had a dream

(chorus)
What will people think
When they hear that Im a jesus freak
What will people do when they find that its true
I dont really care if they label me a jesus freak
There aint no disguising the truth

Kamikaze, my death is gain
Ive been marked by my maker
A peculiar display
The high and lofty, they see me as weak
Cause I wont live and die for the power they seek

There was a man from the desert with naps in his head
The sand that he walked was also his bed
The words that he spoke made the people assume
There wasnt too much left in the upper room
With skins on his back and hair on his face
They thought he was strange by the locusts he ate
The pharisees tripped when they heard him speak
Until the king took the head of this jesus freak

(repeat chorus 2x)

People say Im strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger
People say Im strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger

(repeat chorus 2x)

What will people think
[what will people think]
What will people do
[what will people do]
I dont really care
[what else can I say]
There aint no disguising the truth
[jesus is the way]

Jesus Freak by DC Talk... i love the words and the song rocks even though its getting old...
Are you a Jesus freak? Why not? I love Jesus

Hmmmm Im getting a tattoo, what should I get and where on my body? Im thinking something like Jesus saves, and or immanuel, but i also like blood fire... if anyones reading this givce me some suggestions...

Just a quick post for today...

Firstly, the youth did the meeting today and it was great. They have real potential as they did a terrific job leading, singing and preaching! Well done guys! We had 2 sermons, one on the change Jesus makes in our life, and the second one was on spiritual gifts. We had a cool altar call at the end with people responding really well!

Plenty Valley Salvo Salvation Count
Thursday 2
Friday 1
Sunday 1

Sunday also had 4 re-dedications/asking to be born again...
and a bunch of people asked God to fill them with the Holy Spirit

Not a bad weekend hey? How did your corps go?
We need to start doing this more consistently if we want to see the WORLD saved...

Thankyou Jesus for coming to save the world
Sorry for not aggressively evangelising like we should
please give us boldness, purity, power and passion to do it

YOU MUST READ THIS!

Firstly! As a corps we decided to aim to get 20 people saved in the three or so months before the end of they year. We are now down to 4 or 5! Hallelujah! Most of them have been from the youth side of things.

Last night a girl came to band practice. Shes been once before but i know her a bit from different things. She just got out of detox. She told us she had her drug problems but told us all shes over that now. She recommitted her life to God at band practice! It was great!

One of the leading evangelists at church has led 2 people to Christ during his maths class in the past 2 days! Praise the Lord! He started taking his little Bible to school so he could evangelise. Then he also took tracts, now hes moved on to taking his BIG bible to school and is seeing results in maths! hahaha He prayed for a girl today once she was saved and she had a glory fit (God knocked her to the ground) in front of the whole class! When he was asked what he had done to her, he replied "I invited her to the party in heaven!" Classic! Lord let more get saved during maths, p.e, english etc!

All this says that we can all get people saved anywhere anytime! Take your Bible to work, school, the train, wherever. Search for opportunities to tell people about the God who loves them so much!
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Been at Torquay today! Beautiful! Great weather, great friends and not too bad waves! Got a little sunburnt but not too bad! Thanks God for the great weather!
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i love this season!

the truth...?

As I go about my life and meet different people I see that there are so many different beliefs in the world today. The muslims believe an angel visited Mohommed, some believe in re-incarnation, others in buddha or some of the thousands of hindu idols. Still others believe their dead relatives and friends hover over them and watch them all the time. Most people believe in heaven and hell, but only the people they dont like would go to hell, they basically believe anyone can go to heaven if your "good."

Well, sorry to say this but theyre all worng! Islam is satanic, hell is for those who dont believe in Jesus and those who havent repented, our dead relatives arent angels who watch over us, Jesus is the judge who decides who goes to heaven or hell. The world can throw so much "good news" (gospels) our way, do it yourself books, relaxation methods, ancient meditation, positive thinking stuff. But sadly its wrong and leads to eternal death.

Jesus is the only way, He is the truth, and He is the life! (John 14:6) Anything that says He is not has the spirit of the anti-christ in them. (1 John 2:22-23) But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:8)

Jesus is coming back!

God is good! How bout this hey?

3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

5All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and 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. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on 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.

11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[b]

(2 Thes 1:3-12 NIV)

I posted before, I don't want to die, i want to be here when Jesus comes back! How cool would that be! God prepare me! Jesus is coming back! Lets get busy!

Also, how do Christians not accept the idea of hell? Sin is bad, God is holy and just. What more is there to say? Their authority comes purely from reason and their argument will always lose against arguments with authority... Hell is real, lets not let anyone we know go there!

The Salvation Army's reasons for world evangelisation as on the internet site...

World Evangelisation is:

• Enabling every person on earth to hear the gospel in a way they can understand, and have a valid opportunity to become a Christian
  
• An approach to man in his totality and the world in its totality in order to transform, perfect and save them

We are committed to World Evangelisation because:

• We accept that Christ’s Great Commission applies to us
  
• We know how much the salvation made possible by Jesus has transformed us, so we want to share it with others throughout the world
  
• Our activity, however small it may be, makes a contribution to world justice and peace
  
• It helps prepare for the future coming of Jesus. (Mark 13:10)

And also because:

• It is within the traditions of our movement and the church
  
• It stimulates the life of the home church

Salvationist Involvement

Salvationists share in world evangelisation by:

• Regarding themselves as being involved in Christian mission locally, wherever they are
  
• Being involved in mission with their corps/congregation/centre
  
• Supporting the International Self-Denial Fund
  
• Partnership with another part of the world church
  
• Praying for a selected part of the world – through the Prayer Covenanters’ League and in other ways
  
• Considering God’s call to ‘go into all the world’ (Mark 16: 15)

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Also, LivingWaters.com is a great website with teaching and resourcing on evangelism, check it out...

Salvation!

1. Check out Sarah M's blog. She had the privilege of leading a friend to Christ yesterday at school! Anyone can do it! Jesus appeared to her friend in the clouds... You'll see what I mean...

2. CFAN had a successful crusade in AGBOR with 886,139 souls saved! Hallelujah!

3. Check out Steve C's blog for the article on the NFL player who's getting his whole team saved... 24 people at last count! hahahahallelujah!

4. Australia will not lose a cricket match this summer. Welcome to the team Jaques and Johnson.

5. An Evangelical Pastor Killed - Associated Press
Pastor Diego Armando Bejarano, 27, was killed recently in the region west of Bogotá. Witnesses say hooded men took Bejarano by force and stabbed him. The motives for the killing are unknown; however, it is common knowledge guerrillas groups view Protestant pastors who encroach on territory under their control as military objectives. In the last 10 years, guerrillas have assassinated 133 pastors, Protestant missionaries and Catholic priests, according to the Evangelical Council of Colombia. Ask God to encourage and minister to the pastor's family and church as they mourn. Pray his testimony draws his attackers and nonbelievers into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:4

6. Praise God we can win the world for Jesus here in Australia without hardcore persecution. Maybe it would be better if we were being persecuted... That would sort the boys from the men... Or the girls from the women...

7. Pray for the General. Hes got cancer.

8. Lets preach the gospel today!

the world for God

Last night I was watching tv really late and a show came on, it was "Where are the biggest losers now" or something... The basic thing was, you lost weight, its been a while, so have you kept the weight off? What a great idea hey?

So, for you. When did you get saved? Have you stayed saved until now? We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
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Secondly, we are at war to see the world saved. To win the world for Jesus. Not just your neighborhood, or school, or little community but the world! I haven't seen much resources or training that fits the mission though.

If you aren't getting resourced, trained to win the world for Jesus come to Plenty Valley! We're training end time warriors for the last global harvest that will usher in the second coming of Christ. I want to see the word saved before I die, in fact, I don't want to die, I want to see the world saved and the return of Christ so I don't need to die! Are you with me?

Lets live our lives in a way that will bring about this last global harvest of souls that will usher in the second coming of our King!