Furious Love

Furious love, a DVD movie documentary about the love of God invading the darkness.

Most who viewed it just sat there when it had concluded.
Some moved quietly to the mercy seat to pray.
Others just sat in quiet contemplation.

Some words we had back were comments like:

I loved it, and hated it.
It unsettled me.
Tears were flowing...
Others said I never knew...

What kind of God do we have that loves people who are witches, demon worshippers, demon possessed,sex workers, prostitutes, drug addicts.... You ? Me ?

Actually if you think about it... If God doesn't love all of us the same, regardless of who we are or what we have done or what we are involved in...then He isn't a fair God. If He can't redeem and save us from any of our sin, no matter what our sin looks like, then He can't save any of us from anything... He is fair. He is just. He is patient. He is merciful. He is forgiving.

It's us that are not.

This DVD will challenge the mindset of western Christians...who think that there is no devil, there is no hell and there are no demons.

I knew it would rattle the cages of some of our people...it's meant to.

It wasn't meant to be an entertainment movie, it was meant to cause some people to question their faith and Christian behavior.

If you haven't seen it, you should find it...Koorong books or Word bookstore should be able to get it for you... Just watch it.

For me... The church in Indonesia, where 30,000 attend, the pastor is 33 years of age, and has a leadership team made up of 8 year olds to 20 year olds... Wow

Oh Lord, send revival to our Land, to our church, to the Salvation Army in Australia.

I am excited

With everything going on around us presently I am so pumped. God is at work amongst us.
Today one of our champions teams went door knocking to start a process of reaching a street and inviting people to our church.

It was such a positive experience, with one guy giving me his business card so that I will email him later and have a coffee with him.

Here's what we did: ( our strategy)

1. Prayed through the street
2. Every home prayed over
3. Door knocked every home. 2 weeks later
4. Invited and gave out host and invite packs, coffee, tea, chockies, and a church info brochure.
5. Keep praying. And we will pray through the street again.

Anything could happen...

God is pruning in our church, and some are dropping away, and others are rising up.

Revival is on the way.

Eagles have been seen, even over the church.
Peace is restored.

Watch this space.

If I have any more I may just explode.

Today my soul was ministered to by the Lord himself, it was so special for me.

Just lately I have allowed the battle to hurt me a little more than it should. My peace had been stolen....today it was restored, renewed...and something revived inside me.

Jesus is my Saviour. I am not His.
I am His servant.

I love what Jesus did in me today.

..... When I got home I was reading this Facebook dialogue, where one Christ follower was bagging out another Christ follower, because of a past sin.

Seriously.... Stop doing that people. Let Jesus be Saviour to all people, redeemer...forgiver, restorer, healer....

If we can't be forgiven of our past sins, then we are all doomed.

If Jesus has forgiven what has been confessed and repented from...who are we, any of us, to bring up anything against anyone at anytime?

To my friend Geoff... I am sad that a brother would do that, you did not deserve it.

We need to allow the Saviour to be that for us all.

I think that true Grace is allowing the Saviour be the Saviour....in everyone, regardless of their past.

If that can't be... I am doomed as well, as millions of other Christians are also.

The big difference in our faith is that Jesus is the Saviour of our souls....and he lives, and he loves, and he forgives...endlessly.

Let the Saviour save ya....

My souls is overflowing tonight with the peace that only He can bring....any more and I truly will explode.

Church

Sometimes church is a hard thing... Leaving you feel challenged, discouraged, flat.
But not today...

Church was awesome this morning...110 present, and a sense that God was moving amongst us. But today I feel an excitement in my spirit, it could be about what I am expecting tonight.

Tonight's message is strong, true and hard hitting... Backed up with an amazing DVD clip about a huge church in Indonesia and some stories about what God is doing there.

I can't quite put my finger on what I am feeling right now...

Anticipation...
Excitement...
Expectation...
Hope...

At our church we have been praying for revival...this morning there were at least 20 newbies present, one lady just showing up because she had noticed the building...

We are expecting more new people tonight, but moreso...I think I am feeling what I feel because I know God is coming.

I think church can be fickle at times...

But when I feel what I feel right now... It is just the best thing on planet earth.

Leadership Challenges

I am feeling frustrated today...to be honest... actually a little discouraged as well...
I am not going to give up, just finding the leadership road a challenge.
maybe by sharing my feelings others might find hope...I guess the risk with this is that some may think I am talking about them, and be in despair.  ( if that is you thinking that, you need to ring me and have a coffee and we can chat...its probably not you)

what do you do when people just let you down ?
they say they want to lead, but then they just dont lead.
they say one thing and do another !

it seems that some just want everything the easy way... and YES, I went to GOD about this, and I guess its possible that my expectations are simply too high.

I may expect too much of others.
but I guess its also possible that there could be some improvement  in output by some leaders as well.

what does a senior leader do when others don't turn up, choose another event over a leadership opportunity, choose less than the best.  Won't pray...wont even turn up to pray ?

well....

firstly we are all sinners, I may be the worst.

secondly we are on  a journey and for a church to grow to its potential, it will need a committed group of people  leading it, sacrificing for it, being in unity for it, listening to God about it, helping others get it, and simply just doing it...every week.

some of the best churches I have ever seen, have these groups of people in their teams leading their churches.

I have also seen some pretty average churches, who are average because they don't have these people in their teams.  their teams are filled with half hearted, self focussed, self protecting, superficial people who are actually not that interested in the things of God( in their hearts) on their lips its there, but not in their heart.

 I am doing this blog because I need somewhere safe to let off steam...

mostly the leaders I work with are not as I have just described, but every now and then something rises up and  I feel like its back to the drawing board, and that's how I feel today.

so what do you do ?... I dont know what you will do, coz, if you are a senior leader of a church , you will face this at some time or another...

but here's how I am going to handle it.

1. pray
2. make sure its not me....and confess and repent quickly if it is
3. make sure its founded, and not a satan attack.
4. warnings to the half hearted...to get sold out on the church and on Christ.
5. if you have already warned (which I have) then release the leader concerned.
6. look for more leaders with potential.
7. move forwards onto the Vision, and dont give up on that.
8. grace amongst it all

we have sown some great leaders back into the Kingdom and they haven't been replaced as yet, I am still waiting for God to raise new leaders, or bring them in. 

but I am not a quitter,  I am convicted and committed about my task and my job.

my job is to build the church on earth, to create it to be healthy and thriving under the Holy Spirits direction.
to do that in Craigieburn with a Salvo flavour.

I am not finished yet.

Simplify...

I may very well be the only one on the planet who thinks so.. but I think our Christian message has become way too complicated.

people are studying so hard to get theology degrees and what not... certificates of achievement, a piece of paper in their hand..and yet we are struggling hugely to reach our next door neighbour with the simple message that Jesus loves them.

I was watching this DVD over the weekend which just slammed  everything I hold true... it is called Furious Love and you should watch it, if you haven't seen it already.

its all about the Love of God and the love that He has for our world.

a love that doesnt care too much about  anything else...... than a person.

one person  sums it up on the DVD wonderfully,

"the message is simple:
Jesus loves you.
all we have to do is listen and care..... and share that love,
and you dont need a theology degree to do that".

we don't need a certificate on our wall to tell people we love them and Jesus does as well.
we don't need a degree or letters after our name to serve our neighbours with love and grace.
we dont need anything really, other than Jesus and His love, pure and true and simple.

I am not bagging those who want to study and need to, for whatever reason, however, only ever use it so that you can reach others with a simple and yet profound message.

if we are so busy learning and not leading...  that is, leading others to Jesus...
then we have over complicated what Jesus asked us to do.

Love God.
Love others.

you don't need a degree to understand that and know how to do that.
.
you just need to do it.

I'm gonna try.

Flatness.... Or..... What's the opposite of flatness ?

Sometimes I feel flat.
Sometimes I don't feel flat.

What causes flatness ?

Stress around me, mistakes, falling, failure, problem situations, problem people, sin, disappointment,discouragement, lack of what you expect.

So I am thinking that to get the opposite to flatness you need the opposite to the above!!!
Stands to reason, doesn't it?

Easier said than done, in a world like we live in.

I do have a Saviour though.
Even if I feel flat, He is always there.

Love lifted me,
Jesus lifts me...

He is faithful when others are not
He is reliable when others let you down,
He will be what no one else can be...


Sometimes we humans look for our answers in all the wrong places, we try satisfying our needs with the earthly rather than the spiritual, seek truth in places of deception.

It's normal, but I don't think it right.

I am as guilty as anyone with this... Reverting to human instincts rather than spiritual truth and spiritual disciplines.

Sorry Lord.

Flatness will come, and flatness will go... Today I am probably starting my day, middle of the road somewhere...

Not going backwards though, so the only way today,

is up up and away.

The first big test...

I have needed to make some changes in our church structure and strategies.... And last night some of those changes were rolled out...

A mixed response.

Some are pleased. Others are borderline.

Some are down right angry, threatening to protest, and sign petitions.

Hmmmm!

Here's why it had to be done...

Our church groups a not growing any more, they are stuck in a rut, becoming more exclusive than inclusive...self focussed, insular, and basically not a reflection of what our church aims and goals are. They would argue that of course... but the evidence is always in the fruit...

Jesus said by their fruit you will know them and....we do.

So John 15 pruning has begun.

It's really the first time in our church history that we have made a move to remove something and tweak it, like we are this time.

People can be so fickle.... Love you one moment, and hate you the next.

That's just leadership....sigh.

This has to be done....so that growth may come.

For all those who want to chat...about this, ring me and let's have a coffee.

I will not shy away from the risky decisions, or wimp out because it's a little hard, I came to Craigieburn to plant a healthy and growing living church.

Not to plant it, so it should die.

I choose life over death any day.

Next year, we expect twice as many groups being way more fruitful because of this years pruning.

Big tests come and change character. I don't actually want to hurt people, I want us all, to be more fruitful and healthier.

That teaches me something about Gods heart for us as well.

I pray that today will be a great day.

The DAY approaches...

No Christ follower in all history has ever had the opportunities we are having in our generation, to witness first hand a world in turmoil as it rapidly spins out of control. Terrorism is rampant, there are natural disasters happening everywhere, sin is at an all time high,and There are just a few modern day plagues around the place as well. The news of the death of Osama has bought such a mixed bag of reaction and emotion. He was a bad and evil man ..yes, but what the world is shown us in response to his death..just shows me how fast the day approaches when Jesus will return. Add to that the drama in the middle east..

The bible says that we should encourage each other more now than ever before.

One day we will go to bed at night, wake up the next day, just like we have been doing all of our lives, but this day will be different....the events of this day will change us forever and our world forever...

When Jesus returns... Nothing will be the same again.

Those that love Him now, will join Him then...
Those that don't. Well, you will still see Him, its that the outcome will be very different.

I get this image in my mind, of people frantically trying to justify their position when Jesus comes back.... Defending their lifestyle, explaining why and why not... Clutching at straws, trying to play catch up commitment, to do their best to get to heaven, and Jesus will see through it all.

Now is the time of Salvation, now is the time to make that choice and decision.... Not then ...then it's just too late.

This world is somewhat out of control and needs Jesus...

If you are a Christ follower, encourage each other more and more as the day approaches..

If you are not a Christ follower, then get to a church, join up now.... He is coming back for His church.

Yeah the world is doing some "sucky" things right now.

It needs the Saviour. So do you. So do I.

The Broad and Narrow Way.

May 1st Message at Craigieburn Salvos: ( if you are interested)

In Johns gospel, the sequence of writing is interesting, in the order of events recorded.

Just before the account of the Easter story,  we read of Jesus teaching his disciples about how to keep a fruitful life, and a healthy fruitful church. I don’t know about what you want for your life, but  I can honestly tell you, that for my life I am wanting a fruitful life and not the opposite to that, which is barrenness…

I want to achieve something with my life,

I want purpose

I want results… fruit …

What about you…do you want to live a fruitful life ?  or do you want to achieve nothingness  ?

John 15 : Jesus tell us clearly what must be done in our lives and in our church to make it fruitful, and what must be done to keep it fruitful year after year…. And what must be done to get rid of the bad stuff…

I think we can, and actually we are, learning from this and you will see some tweaking of church process here in the coming weeks and months, so that we may become more fruitful.

It’s interesting to me that just after this account in scripture, Jesus prays for Himself, and  for His church, his followers and then the whole world…

Shortly after He is killed off… and the Christian story unfolds to this day in which we live.

There are a few verses I feel compelled to just mention today, and I will in just a moment after I  talk to you about our journey.

The Journey:

We are all on a journey, our destination is the same, every one of us will face God, one way or the other… but we are all on different stages of the journey and at different levels of understanding.

Some have turned their back on the destination and have chosen a different destination than heaven and all that is required to get there.

For me I find it hard to understand why anyone who has ever had a good view of Jesus and His plan and the reward that He offers all people, would simply say or decide that Nah..  don’t want that,

I get It that the world and sin is attractive……..

I understand that booze numbs the senses and makes you feel good, relaxes you… for a moment or so…

I get it that drugs do that too..

That normal red blooded males love to look at  a sexy woman..

I understand the temptations of this earth, I am human just like you are…

BUT if we have decided to follow Jesus, we have also decided to turn our backs to these things of this earth and set our focus on heaven and  our journey path changes.

You can’t have it both ways…  but many Christians try…and that’s why they are weak and powerless and lack in commitment and fervour, for they are simply trying to walk on two paths at the same time…and gradually as the paths separate, and your legs get wider apart you realise you will need to decide on one path or the other..

And the journey continues either one way or the other….

Staying true and committed on the journey towards heaven, requires sacrifice….

It requires a commitment to the goal..

The journey is hard because it is laced with pressure to give up and go the easy way  all the time voices are yelling,

come over here it feels good here…

one drink won’t hurt you,

one look won’t matter,

one taste…you can repent tomorrow…

and before you know it, 

that one drink,

 that one taste,

 that one look has led you onto a path that takes you away from your journey to Christ and His heaven, that one day in your life you said you would give your whole life to..

some people have preached the truth… and now don’t live it.

Have taught the truth and now live in absence of it…

Some sung one day on a stage just like this one about it, and now have completely lost the song…

And the journey continues….

But what now is the destination ?

This very old picture from my dad’s treasures…..  (google "the broad and narrow way" picture and you will see this image, see its history on google.

Matthew 7:13-14   (on screen)

The journey continues for everyone…everyone is on a journey somewhere…its just that the destination isn’t always the same…

It’s our choices that determine our destination.

So let’s get back to Jesus and hear what He says to us all today…

John 15:1-14.

John 16: 1

It’s so easy for us to go astray….

Its harder to acknowledge that…

It takes humility… to admit that we have made a mistake and gotten ourselves on the wrong path, I guess that’s why its so hard to get people into church, or to come back to church, the world and its ways, the attraction of the world, and it’s ways…

It’s way easier these days to just go with the flow of what everyone else is doing…but seriously  do you want to have what they are having and get what they are going to get in the end ?

Sadly, for many who are already travelling it, their hearts and minds have grown cold to the things of God…. They try to put Him to the back of their thinking, if they think of Him at all…

The world has yelled loud and for some people it’s all they can hear now… its all they want to hear…

Church is all a bit boring and a bit of chore that interrupts my worldly  pursuits,

In other words, there isn’t any room any more in their lives for God and His church.

And that kind of thinking has put them on a road, a journey, that simply doesn’t lead them to Heaven.

It’s a small, narrow, lonely road that leads you to Jesus…

So what does a Church do in response to all this… what does a Christ follower and leader in the Vine…do  about it..

5 things today that I think we need to do, if we are serious about the  church thing and God.

1.       Determine to stay on the narrow path no matter what the world is yelling.

2.       Commit yourself to staying on this path and helping others to stay true too.

3.       If you are feeling the pressure of the “yell” from the other path, seek support to stay true.

4.       If you think you are dabbling legs astride both paths,  get both feet on the narrow path quickly.

5.       Try and help rescue the perishing and bring them home.

I think why God has led me to this message today is that He is longing for His church to be true and real and committed.           To stay the course.

To feel the urgency of bringing lost people home.

To know that the world and its ways is only going to make it  harder to reach those travelling in it…

So many people, even in the church just can’t make up their mind about eternity….

It’s like we have become complacent about the urgency of the gospel, a message that Jesus the son of God died for…for you and for me…

Eternity  where…?

Many here today would be familiar with the name….Arthur Stace.  Probably most of us know nothing about him and his life….. he was born in Balmain, in the inner-west of Sydney. The child of alcoholics, he was brought up in poverty. In order to survive, he resorted to stealing bread and milk and searching for scraps of food in bins. By the age of 12, Arthur, with virtually no formal schooling, had become a ward of the state. As a teenager, he became an alcoholic and was subsequently sent to jail at 15. Afterwards, he worked as a "cockatoo" or a look-out for a Two-up "school". In his twenties, he was a scout for his sisters' brothels. At age 26, in March 1916 enlisted for the Great War (World War One) with the 19th Battalion 5th Brigade AIF, entering with the 16th Reinforcements, service number 5934. Suffered recurring bouts of bronchitis and pleurisy which led to his medical discharge 2nd April 1919.

Arthur Stace converted to Christianity on the night of 6 August 1930, after hearing an inspirational sermon by the Reverend R. B. S. Hammond at St. Barnabas Church, Broadway. Inspired by the words, he became enamoured with the notion of eternity. Two years later, on 14 November 1932, Arthur was further inspired by the preaching of evangelist John G. Ridley^[2], MC on "The echoes of Eternity" from Isaiah 57:15:

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

John Ridley's words,"Eternity, Eternity, I wish that I could sound or shout that word to everyone in the streets of Sydney. You've got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity?" would prove crucial in Stace's decision to tell others about his faith. In an interview, Arthur Stace said, "Eternity went ringing through my brain and suddenly I began crying and felt a powerful call from the Lord to write Eternity." Even though he was illiterate and could hardly write his own name Arthur, legibly, "the word "Eternity" came out smoothly, in a beautiful copperplate script. I couldn't understand it, and I still can't."

After eight or nine years, he tried to write something else, "Obey God" and then five years later, "God or Sin" but he could not bring himself to stop writing "Eternity".

The Sydney City Council brought him to the attention of the police as they had rules about the defacing of pavements, so much so that he narrowly avoided arrest around twenty-four times. Each time he was caught, he responded with, "But I had permission from a higher source".

Several mornings a week for the next 35 years, Arthur would leave his wife, Pearl and their home in Bulwarra Road, Pyrmont around 5am to go around the streets of Sydney and chalk the word "Eternity" on footpaths, train station entrances and anywhere else he could think of. It is estimated that he wrote the word around 500,000 times over the 35 years. Workers arriving in the city would see the word freshly written, but not the writer, and so, "The man who writes Eternity" became a legend in Sydney. The mystery was solved when Reverend Lisle M. Thompson, who preached at the church where Arthur worked as a cleaner, saw him take a piece of chalk from his pocket and write the word on the footpath. Thompson wrote about Stace's life and an interview was published in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph on 21 June 1956.

In 1963, photographer Trevor Dallen cornered Arthur and asked to take a few pictures of him writing his famous phrase. After four photos, Trevor ran out of film and asked for Arthur to stay put while he got more film. Upon Trevor's return, Arthur Stace was gone.

Arthur Stace died of a stroke in a nursing home at the age of 83 on 30 July 1967. He bequeathed his body to the University of Sydney; subsequently, his remains were buried with those of his wife at Botany Cemetery  around two years later.

The National Museum of Australia in Canberra holds one of Arthur Stace's iconic 'Eternity' signs, which he chalked on a piece of cardboard for a fellow parishioner. The museum also has an Eternity gallery, inspired by Arthur Stace's story. The gallery features 50 personal stories from ordinary and extraordinary Australians. The stories are tied together by emotional themes including joy, fear, separation, chance and loneliness, which are all elements of Stace's story.

In Sydney today, the word "Eternity" can still be seen written in three places:

• On Stace's gravestone in Botany Cemetery.
• Inside the bell in the GPO clock tower which had been dismantled during World War II. When the clock tower was rebuilt in the 1960s, the bell was brought out of storage and as the workmen were installing it they noticed, inside, the word "Eternity" in Stace's chalk. This is the only surviving "Eternity" by Stace's own hand in Sydney. (No one ever found out how Stace had been able to get to the bell, which had been sealed up).
• In Town Hall Square, between St Andrew's Cathedral and the Sydney Town Hall. When the area was redeveloped in the 1970s, a wrought aluminium replica of the word in Stace's original copperplate handwriting was embedded in the footpath near a fountain as an eternal memorial to Arthur Stace.

As a tribute to the man known as Mr Eternity, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up with the word "Eternity" as part of the celebrations for the beginning of the year 2000

Stace sensed in his life the urgency of the gospel and then lived his life out with the message that there is an eternity and everyone us are given the chance to live with Jesus in heaven in that time.

I pray that today we each will just do a check of the life we are living and why we are living it the way we are…who we are living it for and where we will spend our eternity.

The broad and narrow way are the two options, choose carefully.