Stand Out

I attended the Called Young Adults Conference tonight hosted by the Gateway Church of Christ, it was an evening of great worship and very challenging speaking. The guest for the conference is Robert Albano and he delivered a message tonight about standing out and not blending in with society. At one stage he mentioned that if you have a cross on your back there are certain doors you cant fit through and that is the way it is meant to be ! We are called to be in the world but not of it. He emphasised three main things: Firstly when our life is over "it wont be the duration that counts but the donation" in other words it wont matter how long we have lived but what we have done with our lives.
Secondly we need to live for "thy Kingdom come not Thy thingdom come" in other words dont get caught up in material things but look to that which is of God.
And Thirdly he taught "it is not about being succesful but sacrificial." He told the story of a man who died three quarters of the way up Mt Everest because he ran out of oxygen in his tank, nothing special there you might say...... the thing that does stand out is that over forty mountain climbers walked past him before he died and continued up the Mountain not worrying about the dying man struggling for air, but solely focussed on achieving their goal of conquering Everest. You hear this and you think it is terrible but we as Christians do the same everyday, we spend so much time worrying about ourselves and our relationship with God but forget to tell the dying soul on the way and give him the oxygen mask he needs.
May you as you go about your day remember to share Gods amazing oxygen with those souls dying on the path. God Bless

Easter

Wow what a time we had at Easter Camp, the kids were fantastic, the setting was great, the food was superb, generally a great time was had by all. It is amazing getting ready to go on this camp I was praying that the youth would receive great things through this weekend, and I am sure they did. What I didnt expect was to personally receive so much! If you get the chance to spend some time with Captains Stephen Court and Danielle Strickland grab it and I can assure you that your life will probably never be the same again. Their teaching and passion was inspirational but who they are and what they show through their everyday life and the way they relate to everyone is even more amazing. The Salvation Army is very fortunate to have them and I believe the enemy is quacking in his boots at the sight of this family( you should ask Zion to recite the Junior Soldiers pledge and he is only five !!!). I enjoyed many great and stimulating conversations with them over the course of the weekend and have a few extra challenges to consider and try and live out because of those times.
It was great to share also with Joel,Sarah,Ross and Heather. We were very fortunate to have such a great team, and the conversations around the fireplace late at night were priceless. Toshare laughter,prayer and worship with some of your best friends is such a priviledge. There were a number of times over the weekend where I got the chance to talk through some issues with some of the youth and it was encouraging that they felt comfortable to share with me.
I truly believe that great times lay ahead for The Salvation Army and the youth at this camp are one of the main reasons for this confidence, they can take us to the next generation and beyond. We finished the camp with a group prayer for Joel and the Division and this was a powerful experience.
I pray that your Easter was also a time of receiving from God, and remembering the greatest gift ever given.. The gift of eternal life !!! God Bless you each.

Un4saken

This Thursday afternoon I head off for the Western Victoria Divisions Easter Camp, four days of fun,laughter,lack of sleep and hopefully life changing moments for the 30+ youth attending. We are really fortunate to have Captain Stephen Court and Captain Danielle Strickland as our leaders for this weekend along with Captain Joel Clifford our Divisional Youth and Candidates Secretary, it will be awesome to get the chance to learn from these great leaders and get a glimpse of the great passion they have for saving souls.
I think back to the days when I was running amok at Easter Camps and think of the irony that I am now going as a leader to one of these very same camps. It will be good just to watch the youth and how they relate to each other and the friendships that will be built, some of my best friendships were formed on camps like this.
But a camp like this is more than just fun and games this can be a life changing event for these kids, there are hundreds if not thousands of kids who have made decisions at Easter Camps and are now a strong cord in the Christian Family because of that decision they made. I believe that future leaders of the church will come out of this weekend, and that corps in our division will see great rewards for the seeds that are sown.This is a weekend for the Kingdom of God to be grown and strengthened please pray for us as leaders that we would have a positive impact on these kids and allow the Holy Spirit to move through us and this camp.

Encouragement

Do you ever get that urge out of the blue to ring someone, or get the feeling you should send someone a card or note ? Do you believe these could be urgings from God for you to do these things ? It is amazing how often over the last five or so years when I have responded to one of these urges that it has had a really positive influence on people around me and also on ME ! Too often we think about these things and say I will do that later and never return to it. This monday sitting at home I just had the sudden urge to call some of our best friends in Melbourne, when I stated what I was about to do Sue said she had just had the same thought. So two minutes later we tried their number only to get message bank, Sue then decided to ring another very special family to us and to our surprise the couple we wanted to make contact with were there. So what you might say... well that friend of ours is pregnant and had just found out she was going to have a caeserean birth the next morning. So Sue and her were able to talk things through, encouragement was given,prayers were said and excitement shared between two very good friends.(by the way Chloe had a little girl Mum and Baby are both doing well).
This is no big deal I know but last year I was praying for someone in my personal quiet time and felt God urging me to send her a card and let her know I had been praying for her.I saw this lady a week or so later and when I did she started to cry and embraced me, (now I know I can have this affect on people but even for me this was a bit strange) she went on to tell me that she was going through a really hard time in life with a number of problems and she had been wondering whether anyone cared about her or loved her. She was feeling very down when she received the mail and my card and it gave her the spark she needed to continue. Things didnt magically get better immeadieately but they did in time, and through God she received the encouragement support and love she so desperately neede that day.
I look back with regret because of how many times I havent sent that card or made that phone call, what about you ? Maybe there is someone who needs your encouragemnt or support today, maybe you need that call or card. I dont know but if God is urging you to make contact with someone dont put it off till tomorrow, follow Gods calling today.
I have certainly found it is worth the effort !

Gods Answering Service

I came across this the other day and found it quite humorous but also it reminded me of how fortunate we are that God is always available for us.

We have all learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of modern life. But have you wondered, "What if God decided to install voice mail?"

Imagine praying and hearing this: "Thank you for calling My Father's House. Please select one of the following options:

Press 1 for requests
Press 2 for thanksgiving
Press 3 for complaints
Press 4 for all other inquiries
What if God used the familiar excuse, "I'm sorry, all of our angels are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received, so please stay on the line."

Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call God in prayer:

"If you would like to speak to ...

Gabriel, Press 1
For Michael, Press 2
For a directory of other angels, Press 3
If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding please press 4.
To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, Press 5, enter his or her Tax File number, then press the pound key. (If you get a negative response, try area code 666)
"For reservations at My Father's House please enter J-O-H-N followed by 3-1-6"

"For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth and where Noah's ark is, please wait until you arrive here."

"Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow."

"This office is closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday. Please pray again Monday after 9:30 AM. If you need emergency assistance when this office is closed, contact your local pastor."

Thank God He doesn't have voice mail and he listens when we pray!

[Author Unknown]

May God Bless you as you go about your daily rituals and may you realise that He is always there to listen to you and is always wanting to communicate with you.

Envoy Darren Lamotte

Envoy Darren Lamotte - it is a title I am still getting used to!. When we were told that the rank of Lieutenant was returning to a Commissioned Officers rank and we would be getting a new title my first thought was please dont be Envoy ! As I have said before I believe God has a great sense of humour. Having said that I am not really bothered too much by what title I have or haven't got, and I can see a time in the future and maybe not that distant future when we might have the rank of Cadet or maybe even Lieutenant again. Susan is far less impressed with the name than I am.

The one thing this has made me realise again is that God did not call me to be a Lieutenant or an Envoy or for that matter a Captain or Major, God called me to minister to people and to tell people of His Love and the amazing life changing powers of Jesus. That through the Cross our/your/their sins are forgiven and life can have meaning and purpose. This is what I am called to do and it doesn't matter what name I have or what trim I have on my uniform the aim is the same.

I want to grow closer to God everyday, and I want to share my love and passion for Him to everyone I meet.Do you know God ? Do you have a relationship with Him ? If not get in contact with me, I would love to tell you about Him.

God is good !

We had the first youth group or TRASH night for the year on friday night and had 16 youth and four leaders there. It was a great night the youth all got involved and participated in the games, and the night went really well. We actually ran out of time which is far better than having to find ways to fill in time.
If you had been reading my previous posts you would be aware that we ran a competition to see if anyone could find what TRASH stood for. We had some great suggestions ( including The Really Awesome Salvos Hour & Too Right A Smack Hurts) but no-one guessed correctly that it meant The Real Answer Starts Here.
This weekend I also had the opportunity of leading and sharing Gods word at our Sunday morning meeting. This also went well, I received positive feedback ( although I am not too sure if people would tell me if it was really bad !)and felt a really positive feeling in the hall during and after the service.I love getting the opportunity to share Gods word with people and really get confirmation every time that I get the opportunity that this is what God is wanting me to do.
It has been a full on week but it has been really enjoyable, and I believe that God is about to bring great things to the community at Warrnambool. Bring on the flood !