Ambassadors of Holiness 2009

We received confirmation this week that we have been accepted to enter Training College next year as part of the Ambassadors of Holiness session. This is great news for us and we are really looking forward to the challenges that now lie ahead of us. We have felt a very strong calling from God, and truly believe that Training College is where He wants us to be next year.
Obviously we are sad to be leaving a number of very close friends here at Warrnambool, and are very grateful for the opportunirties we have had here. There are a number of people here that will remain our close friends for the rest of our lives. However God calls us to leave our comfortable surroundings and step out in faith and trust Him, so that is what we will do.
We are excited but also slightly scared, intimidated, nervous, anxious etc. about what lies ahead of us, and if we will be able to cope. The good thing is that a number of times over the last six or so years we have really had to question Gods call on our lives, and each time we have been reminded again and encouraged to be faithful to that call. So with a sense of nervous anticipation we pray "Bring It On God, where you lead I will follow !"
We would like to thank our families and friends for their love and support, and would ask that you keep us in your prayers as we continue on this incredible journey with God. May God richly bless you each and I look forward to catching up with some of you in the not so distant future.

Global Leadership Summit 2008

I had the real priviledge of attending the 2008 Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit at the Kardinia Christian Church this past Friday and Saturday, what a wonderful opportunity this was to listen to some of the worlds top speakers. It was a DVD cast ( so in other words we were watching the conference that was recorded at Willow Creek weeks before, shown in Geelong with a live Worship Band and a facilitator) this took a little bit of getting used to, but after a while you found yourself so focussed on the speakers you forgot about the fact it was prerecorded.

All the speakers were very good and impacted you in many different ways, but the two that really impacted me from a personal perspective were Craig Groeschel and the final session by Bill Hybels. Craig Groeschel spoke about IT and how we find IT and keep IT, now I can hear you asking what is IT.... in Craigs words DONT KNOW.... well how do you get IT.... DONT KNOW ..... how do you keep IT.... DONT KNOW. You see IT is that feeling, warmth, that thing you just sense some places have. IT makes you want to come back and find out more. IT makes you a person in society that people want to be around and want to know what IT is that is different about you. Craig has written a book by the title of "IT" and if you are interested I would recommend you read it. But the thing that stood out to me about what he had to say was when he stated that he had got to the stage where he was so busy doing everything expected of him that he had become a full time minister and a part time follower of God. He had lost IT by doing good , honorable things, by getting so busy that he didnt spend as much time with God and seeking Gods continual direction for his life.
The final session by Bill Hybels was about Mother Teresa and how she had received a very clear calling from God for her life, yet other people still stood in the way of her following that call. But Mother Teresa never lost sight of that call and kept pushing her superiors to allow her to follow it, and eventually they relented and allowed her to go where God had been calling her to. But things still werent easy for her and we can learn a lot from her level of faith and commitment. In her personal journal she wrote about not being able to feel Gods presence with her at that time and feeling alone and yet then wrote "I want to love you Lord more than anyone has ever loved you before". Even at a time when she couldnt feel the presence of God with her she was expressing a desire to love God more !
I pray that I will have that same strength of faith to stay true to the calling God has placed on my life and when times are hard and I am not as close to God as I could be that I would seek to love Him more than I ever have before. One final quote from the conference " Do you have the courage to pray Bring It On Lord ? " I hope that we all have that courage today and then have the courage to follow when God answers.

The Militant Church

I have been having some discussions with friends recently about whether in todays society it is good to have a military style hierachal system for The Salvation Army, this has been a time of interesting debate but has made me take stock of what I believe about the future of The Salvation Army. I actually love the idea of us being a Militant Church, and I know some of you will disagree but let me give you details as to why I believe this.

We need to have a lot of things in common with the Military if we are going to win the War against Sin. Firstly just like the Military we need to have a single focus - we need to know what we are fighting against and what we are trying to win. This should be very easy but unfortunately gets blurred at times, we are fighting to change the world one life at a time so that God's will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. Part of this is we need to know how to use the weapons we have at our disposal - the spiritual weapons that God has given us, we each have differnet weapons and when used together this forms an array of weapons that make Satan shake in his boots.

We need to be keen to get on the Battlefield and fight the enemy, but we also need to have a clear battle plan and have done our homework. The best soldiers know exactly what their role is and where they fit into the overall structure, this is true of the church as well. A military would not survive without its medics, cooks, mechanics etc. likewise a church needs people doing the behind the scenes jobs.

Next we need to be able to adapt quickly to the circumstances we are in, and be persistent, if one plan fails dont dwell on it but keep moving forward looking to the next plan. Just like a good soldier a Salvationist must be never off duty but always ready for the call to battle at a moments notice. There is great camraderie in the military and everyone watches each others backs, what do you think we should be doing as a church ?

Finally a good soldier is willing to give their all for the cause, to die to achieve the goal. Are you willing to lay your life on the line for God ?

I believe we should be a Militant Church existing for the sole purpose of rescuing people from the darkness in which they find themselves ! Are you willing to fight with me ? I've got your back will you watch mine ?

Zara is 10 !

It is hard to believe but my gorgeous little princess Zara is 10. She had a great day yesterday as we celebrated her birthday, and it was great to see her laughing and enjoying everything. Zara has a really infectious personality and when she is happy she is an absolute delight to be in the company of.
I think of all the family Zara has been the one that the move to Warrnambool has caused the most stress and heartache too, she is a really good friend who develops really deep, strong friendships and I think she really struggled having to leave her friends and family and start again. Zara is a very affectionate daughter and has a really soft, wonderful heart and is a really caring, loving young girl.
As parents Susan and I could not be prouder of her and the way she is developing and we look forward to watching and sharing with her as she continues to grow into a beautiful young woman.
Zara I am so proud to call you my daughter and hope you have a great year ahead and all your dreams come true. Thanks for just being you, continue to laugh, love and dream. We will do everything in our powers to make sure you can live out those dreams.
As you grow physically may you also grow spiritually, rely on God He will always be there for you.
I Love you Zara and cant wait to see your development in the coming months.

Encouragement

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how I treat others, do I show them respect, love, forgiveness, compassion, understanding... the list could go on, but one of the things that keeps being reminded to me is how important it is to encourage others. Wouldn't it be wonderful if just for one day we were able to sit back and look at the life of people around us and realise what was actually happening for them at that time. What was really happening not the facade that they want you to see so you believe they are OK. If we were able to do this we might realise how important it was to give them some positive encouragement, some people are so surrounded by negatives and doubts that they actually start to believe that they are worthless. We need to make sure we are not contributing to that feeling but supporting them and lifting them up and sharing the love of God with them, not when we choose but always. If we start to treat the people around us with grace, mercy ,and love we can actually help them to believe in themselves and ultimately believe in God.
We as Christians have to be the ones who show them and teach them about Gods forgiveness and encourage them to keep on believing ,keep on forgiving ,keep on loving ,keep on trusting, keep on trying... I get worried when people give up trying for fear of failing but if they are constantly being told they are failures who can blame them. We want people to be proactive and try new things yet we continually shoot them down and feed them negatives !
Just imagine what effect we could have if we simply encouraged each other, showed love and understanding to each other, and gave people the respect we expect from others. Maybe we need to start listening rather than judging, caring rather than criticising, and loving rather than disrespecting. Maybe then people would actually share their heartaches with us, maybe then they would trust us with the real cries of anguish in their lives. Maybe they would see the Love of Jesus in us !!! Please let it be so ! I pray that people would see me as a support, a friend, a listening ear... and importantly an encouragement along life's journey.
So today do everyone a favour encourage someone, anyone. And maybe someone will encourage you back, we could start a revolution this way.
May God Bless you each as you strive to encourage others.