Challenge

Lately i have been challenged by God to do more...

to be spending more time with Him

to be praying for the guys on the street in Adelaide more

to be praying for the people who live within in the city more,

to be praying for the council of Adelaide

to be spending more time on the streets, getting to know people

to get to know the community, both those in houses and in the street

to research more on what is actually the issues of homelessness in Adelaide.

to find out what boarding houses are around the place and visit them, and find out what they are like.

And to challenge other people to get involved.

So much of the time i have been by myself on the street, and at different times to minister to people, and that has sort of become an excuse for why i haven't done much of some of that stuff. (there is definitely room for improvement in all of it). And I AM SICK OF IT..... i am sick of the way that i fall into that trap, i am sick of feeling helpless about it all and feeling like i can't make a difference.

So i have decided that i am going to do it, i am going to be obedient and go hard .... in all of it...

I am sick and tired of going out and doing "ministry" stuff in the city by myself, and tonight i felt like i should be challenging/inviting people to come along/join with me in going out on the streets, and not care about what corps they go to or what even what church they go to.... cause it doesn't matter... we are one Church. And most of the people i chat with move on somewhere else anyway... they may even move on to suburb where a person who will come out with me is from, and then they can continue sharing Christ with that person.... if that makes sense ... to make it clearer.... if bob is from say Norwood corps, and he decides to come out with me, and we meet this guy, and the guy ends up getting a house in the norwood area, bob could very easily continue meeting with the guy, and sharing Christ with him.

So yeah this is my challenge for the coming weeks.... and i put it up here, as a part of being accountable with it...

What's God been challenging you about lately

Bless ya

This week has been cool... i have spent it working, hanging on the street with friends, and hanging with my half sister. This past week has been the most that i have spent with my half sister... ever. It has been good.

However, i have lost my camera and my wallet within a week(camera thurs, wallet tues)... which has been really annoying and made it really easy to focus on the negative situation of losing things.

I had to make a conscious decision to focus on the good part of the week, and more importantly to focus on God, my Heavenly Father.

Today after i realised i had lost my wallet, after i searched everywhere that i could, after i cancelled my cards, i turned on some music and spent some time worshipping God and spending some time with Him.

The first song was blessed be His Name by matt redman (words below). I found it true, that we can Bless the name of the Lord, in good times, in times of joy, not only that, but also in times of lost, sadness, darkeness, suffering... basically we can choose to bless the Name of the Lord no matter what is going on around us... And when we do, it all just fades away, as we focus on Christ. It is like when i am not wearing my glasses (i wear them to see long distance), when talking to people, every thing else is blurred and out of focus, and the person i am talking to is in focus, so it is easy not to get distracted by things that are going on around.

It's awesome

Blessed be Your name In the land that is plentiful Where Your streams of abundance flow Blessed be Your name And blessed be Your name When I'm found in the desert place Though I walk through the wilderness Blessed be your name		Chorus Every blessing You pour out I'll Turn back to praise And when the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name When the sun's shining down on me When the world's "all as it should be" Blessed be You name And blessed be Your name On the road marked with suffering Though there's pain in the offering Blessed be Your name		Chorus
You give and take away You give and take away My heart will choose to say Lord, blessed be Your name I will bless Your name		Chorus
Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your glorious name		You give and take away You give and take away My heart will choose to say Lord, blessed be Your name *Repeat*

Famous Last Words

just been watching a live stream of a preach by Commissioner Earle Maxwell... at Famous Last Words, melbourne training college. At Famous last words, the college invite a retired Salvation Army Officers to come and than share what their last words would be to the Soldiers of the Salvation Army.

It was great,

he spoke to young salvationists, adult salvationist and senior salvationists.

the key words to each age group were

For the Salvationist Youth - To be committed to God

For the Adult Salvationist - To be consistant for God, by the Grace of God. Consistan year in, year out, no stepping aside.

For Senior Salvationist - To confident in God. There is no retirement in the Lord's work.

He closed with an awesome prayer from a 17th century nun....

and i will share it here..

Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself, that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others' pains, but help me to endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a sureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a Saint - some of them are so hard to live with - but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And, give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

AMEN

a classic quote from the Commissioner in question time....

rising early in the morning is a issue of mind over mattress.

basketball carnival.

Well i am 2 days into a basketball carnival... most of the games have been good, tho some were a bit rough... just for interest sake we have won 3, lost 2, and had 1 draw so far.

I am finding the carnival really good, not just in the games, but also in the relationships, with other team members, state members, opposition, and supporters.... just catching up with people i know from other years at the carnival and see where their at and what God is doing in there life...

But then there is also meeting new people... and having a chance to chat with them. Today i had the chance to do both... meet to knew people and talking with friends i haven't seen for a while.

It is always encouraging when we get to hear where friends are at... and what God is doing in their lives, it spurs us on. So the last couple of days i have fun doing that.

Today i also met some other people, and i got to talk to one of them about God, she wasn't a christian and is looking at different religion searching for something... This carnival has allowed her to ask questions about what christianity is about. It was awesome.

Also got to talk to a team mate, who has a bit of a rough trott the year, so that was great to be there for her, for her to talk to and be open... and me being open with her.

So today has been great... i am fairly sore but it is worth being here....

Cause the only thing i have in common with some of these friends is basketball... so what better place to share Christ with them... what ever that looks like at the time.

family (5th blog in 24 hours)

Today i visited my dad and his family... which was a bit of fun... and nerve racking at the same time.

You see my parents divorced when i was a kid, (8), and from the age of about 14 i can count the times i have seen my dad on one hand, til today...

So when ever i know i am going to see him, i am nervous, i never know what to say, so as i was driving there today i asked God that He'd guide me, and give me words to say, comfort me and keep me calm. Cause it is like i am visiting a stranger... cause i don't get to talk to him much.

However this time i also had a sense of excitement about going there, cause, i have been talking to one of my half sisters, and i have a bit in common with her, and really feel like i am meant to encourage her, both in her faith and in life.

And now that i have arrived back to where i am staying the night, i got thinking about family.

God created us to be a part of a family, a member of a loving, nurturing group of people known as a family.... however these days there is so many broken relationships in the "natural family", that they aren't loving, nurturing or even caring. So there are millions of people that are growing up not knowing that sort of love, community and family, and it breaks my heart... I imagine it breaks God's heart more.

However God offers us another family - His family... full of people who love God and others, who want to obey God and build up their brothers and sisters in Christ. Who nurture and care for each other.

We don't get to choose who we are related to in the flesh. But we can choose to be a part of God's family, a part of Jesus' family, the family full of love, no matter what, and it is the best thing ever,

4th blog for the road trip.

well it is now daylight, and we are close to sydney maybe an hour left.

As i was driving earlier today, i was watching the sunrise, and it was awesome.

And it made me think about break free/freedom...

it reminded me of how beautiful it is when we break free from all the darkness, sin, and hurt in our lives.... which is only possible through Jesus Christ.

And this freedom is so beautiful, and magnicent, and awesome, that it just causes people to praise God.

3rd blog for the night

well we have made it to wagga wagga, which is 11 hours into our trip. this last leg of the trip had a little bit of excitement.... we were driving along and saw a fire just off the road in a paddock... so we u-turned and went back and tried to put it out with what water we had... but alas, it wasn't enough so we rang for cfs to come out and put it out properly. And there was really good chats.

2nd post for the night

i was just reading through Ephesians 4,

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—

5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

This is a great passage...

Do you live up to what you have been called to... i know that i don't always... and it is a great challenge.

Also it goes on to some of the things that we are called to ... to be humble and gentle, patient, live in unity and peace

Sometimes that is a hard call to follow... and by ourselves we fail... i know i always do if i try to do it myself...

but we don't have to do it by our selves... thankfully, the Spirit which is in each one of us units us, gives us something in common,

and also allows the love of Christ to flow through us.

this passage, urges us to get pass all the little differences that we may have in the way we do things, and focus on the one Awesome thing we have in common.,.,

Christ.

I love it how God calls us to something than provides us everything thing that we need to accoimplish it, (if we are open to recieving it from Christ).

I also think this is a good passage for this week, as i am going to be at a basketball carnival, and i will be living, playing and hanging out with my team...

So basically with the same people 24/7, and not all are Christians yet... which means there is awesome opportunity to show God's love and community to them and invite them into it.

Well, I am on my way to sydney... a 17 hour drive plus stops. At the moment we are about 5 hours into the drive. So there might be a few blogs within that time.

At the moment I am reflecting on my week, it was a busy week but it was good.

And I thought I would share one of the highlights from my week. Tuesday afternoon I just finished work and I was hanging out a little at the house where I dropped off some participatnts from the group I worked with dthat day, and I was talking to the staff at the house. I was saying I should head off and get things prepared for cell/bible study a my place, and one of the staff started to ask me stacks of questions about the bible, which lead into an awesome time of sharing. Sharing about the bible and also about Jesus, and I thank God for giving me the answers and the opportunity to share... and I claim the promise that none of His words return to Him void... So I trust Him to continue His work in both the house staff that were there for that conversation.

just finished work and I was hanging out a little at the house where I dropped off some participatnts from the group I worked with that day, and I was talking to the staff at the house. I was saying I should head off and get things prepared for cell/bible study a my place, and one of the staff started to ask me stacks of questions about the bible, which lead into an awesome time of sharing.

Sharing about the bible and also about Jesus, and I thank God for giving me the answers and the opportunity to share... and I claim the promise that none of His words return to Him void... So I trust Him to continue His work in both the house staff that were there for that conversation.

Isaiah 51

Last night, i was reading Isaiah 51, and vs 2 really stood out to me

¹ “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—
all who seek the Lord!
Consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were mined.
² Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor,
and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
Abraham was only one man when I called him.
But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”

I found these verses really encouraging, especially verse 2.
For often I feel alone in what God has called me to, and i a lot of the time i am doing the things He has called to me alone (well besides God). But Abraham didn't stay alone, when God blessed Him after calling Abraham, God made him into a great nation.
You see, I believe that there is something really great that God wants to do in Adelaide, a revial, a transformation , i don't know fully what it is or what it will look like, but it is big. And i am full of excitement and wonder about what God is wanting to do.
I think this is what Abraham would of been feeling like when God told him that he was going to become a great nation.
At times Abraham would be able to "see" it, or "sense" it, but he never actually saw it with his own physical eyes, he would just have this indescribable hope, and sense of excitement within him, which was from God.
Just like Abraham not being around to see the fulfillment of God's promise to make him into a nation... sometimes i think/feel as if i am not going to see the fullness of what God wants to do here, what He has been planning. Like at the moment i get glimpses of it at times. Then there are times where i see nothing and wonder if it is going to happen or if it was just my imagination. I think Abraham would of felt like that as well, but Abraham held on to the promise that God had given him, he made mistakes, but he still came back to God with a repentant heart, and stepped back into the promise God had given him.
I pray that i can be as faithful to God as what Abraham was.