Tagged

I was just 'tagged' by Jo Brookshaw, so here I go, tagging away too: Simon Mapleback, Greg Peterson, Xander Coleman, Sarah Elley and Tish Rowe. You guys are next...

OK, the rules: grab the book closest to you. Turn to page 161. Print the 5th complete sentence on your blog. Tag 5 others.

"Once again, Jesus is our best example."
(The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch)

Read a great quote in a book the other day saying that spiritual gifts are given to those who "are willing and not necessarily mature!" I agree with that. I think thats a great reason why we should have priesthood of all believers!!!!!! We all have a part to play!

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another thought ive been thinking with friendship evangelism, if we're being their friends until they are 'ready' to commit, or waiting until they see something they like to convert, or start a conversation, and we dont talk or warn them about sin, then what are they really being saved from? And saved into what? Saved into a nice set of morals??? Please!!!!! We have enough of those people already! Lets get people saved from sin who wanna see others saved from sin!!!!

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Colin did a great preach on Sunday talking about cleaning out the shed. Even mentioned Brengle and at the end gave us a chance to clean out our hearts. Thought it was good and had a good prayer time.

Thats it for tonight

New Blog

I stumbled across a new blog this morning by Alan Hirsch. Its called "The Forgotten ways", named after his most recent book. Heres a quote about the book:

"How did the number of Christians in the world grow from as few as 25,000 one hundred years after Christ’s death to up to 20 million in AD 310?

How did the Chinese underground church grow from 2 million to over 100 million in sixty years despite considerable opposition? In The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch reveals the paradigmatic insights he discovered as he delved into those questions. He then translates these findings into the context of the contemporary Western church."

There the sort of questions im interested in. Hirsch is now at Fuller over in the U.S which to me means his pretty good! I believe hes aussie, or atleast spent heaps of time in Australia. Im sure his blog and website will be helpful and challenging. Check it out.

http://www.theforgottenways.org/

Hate sin

i read in the newspaper today an article by a muslim. This person was saying that Peter ostello is harsh on muslims but not catholics. The article is basically about catholics and muslims not accepting the secular but how costello only has a go at the muslims.. The author also draws parallells between George Pell and the Sheik Hilal. While i dont agree with alot of the article it made me think.

Muslims tend to get pretty upset when someone has a go at their reigion or their god. Im reminded of the catch the fire ministries guys, and even times when radio people have been made to appologise to muslims. It can be seen today that you cant tease or mock Islam otherwise you will get in trouble from either the law, the community, or from angry muslims...

Then we look at what is acceptable in society. Look at how many movies and tv shows reguarly use Jesus name in vain. Its a swear word. A quick listen to any of the last few comedy festivals and you will see that there is always atleast one comedian who bases an act on mocking Christianity.

I believe as Christians we have dropped the ball big time. Not just on things like using the Lords name in vain but especially in social justice issues. These are all problems of sin. Even in many churches theology is turning liberal making sin not to be as bad as what it once was. Is the reason why it is acceptable because we allow it or because we're forgiving? It doesnt matter.

Jesus said its better to lose an eye than go to hell, He also said that whoever causes a kid to sin deserves to be drowned! Paul speaks about hating even the clothes stained by sin. Sin is bad. As Christians we should hate all sin!

We should hate social evils like alcohol, drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, sleeping around, unfair laws, not worshiping Jesus etc Theres so many I cant list them all...

Anyway, the article made me think, we need to hate sin more.

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!