Salvos..pt 2
My last blog has created a fair bit of interest.
in fact in the first 24 hours over 300 hits.
why so much fuss ?
I am not a radical, I am not a stirrer, I am not an antagonist.
I am just a passionate Salvo Officer who wants to change my world.
One of the things that really bugs me though, is the fact that it doesnt seem as though many Christ followers these days want to change anything. Happy to sit in the status quo, leave things alone.
I dont think that you need to fix things that are not broken, but when you discover a weakness or a failure or that something is in fact broken, then I think...its completely irresponsible to not fix it, or repair it.
So... we are losing our youth, and that puts us in a situation that is vulnerable for our future. It must be corrected. and that is why we have decided to host the Young adults Summit, to try and work through some strategies to correct that which is incorrect.
It really bothers me, actually, that anyone might find this offensive.... surely anyone and everyone must know, that if it isnt made right, that our future looks bleak ?
It's not arrogance, neither is it laced with some kind of hidden agenda, I am trying to fix a few really important issues at Ringwood Salvos,which may in fact turn out to be important for the wider Army in EVD.
I am not perfect ( neither are you) but I am wanting to make a difference with my life and the choices I make, and the people I influence. I want to see my world a better place, I want to see young people and older people of every age grouping .. . connect with Jesus.
I want to see TSA become the new mega churches of Australia... why ? Because when the people come and get connected to Jesus, their world changes in which they live. The larger you are, the wider the influence. I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
We always seem to criticize the mega churches, labelling them, blaming them, complaining about them. I have been to at least 5 mega churches (Willowcreek, Saddleback, Hillsong, Enjoy, Southside) around the world and every one of them have impacted their local communitiues in ways in which TSA wishes we could do again. ( I say again, because there was day when we too were mega and we changed the shape of the world, )
you only have to read our history books to see what and how TSA spread like wildfire throughout the world ... we changed the world. I fear now, we have lost that desire...lost that influence for Jesus, Its time to get it back, to rekindle the fire, and to make our mark once again. We can do this.!!!!!!
God isnt finished with us yet !!!!!!
well.... here's what I really think...
... I am a Salvo Officer.
I am here to make difference.
I intend on growing churches. (whether they become mega or not)
I intend on making a difference and shaping my world.
I am not waiting for someone else to do it..
I am going to do it.
Join me....
in fact in the first 24 hours over 300 hits.
why so much fuss ?
I am not a radical, I am not a stirrer, I am not an antagonist.
I am just a passionate Salvo Officer who wants to change my world.
One of the things that really bugs me though, is the fact that it doesnt seem as though many Christ followers these days want to change anything. Happy to sit in the status quo, leave things alone.
I dont think that you need to fix things that are not broken, but when you discover a weakness or a failure or that something is in fact broken, then I think...its completely irresponsible to not fix it, or repair it.
So... we are losing our youth, and that puts us in a situation that is vulnerable for our future. It must be corrected. and that is why we have decided to host the Young adults Summit, to try and work through some strategies to correct that which is incorrect.
It really bothers me, actually, that anyone might find this offensive.... surely anyone and everyone must know, that if it isnt made right, that our future looks bleak ?
It's not arrogance, neither is it laced with some kind of hidden agenda, I am trying to fix a few really important issues at Ringwood Salvos,which may in fact turn out to be important for the wider Army in EVD.
I am not perfect ( neither are you) but I am wanting to make a difference with my life and the choices I make, and the people I influence. I want to see my world a better place, I want to see young people and older people of every age grouping .. . connect with Jesus.
I want to see TSA become the new mega churches of Australia... why ? Because when the people come and get connected to Jesus, their world changes in which they live. The larger you are, the wider the influence. I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
We always seem to criticize the mega churches, labelling them, blaming them, complaining about them. I have been to at least 5 mega churches (Willowcreek, Saddleback, Hillsong, Enjoy, Southside) around the world and every one of them have impacted their local communitiues in ways in which TSA wishes we could do again. ( I say again, because there was day when we too were mega and we changed the shape of the world, )
you only have to read our history books to see what and how TSA spread like wildfire throughout the world ... we changed the world. I fear now, we have lost that desire...lost that influence for Jesus, Its time to get it back, to rekindle the fire, and to make our mark once again. We can do this.!!!!!!
God isnt finished with us yet !!!!!!
well.... here's what I really think...
... I am a Salvo Officer.
I am here to make difference.
I intend on growing churches. (whether they become mega or not)
I intend on making a difference and shaping my world.
I am not waiting for someone else to do it..
I am going to do it.
Join me....
Could you please define "connect with Jesus"? I think that maybe part of the problem is that when impressionable teenagers are no longer that, but more mature people who are inclined to question the faith that they have been born and/or indoctinated into. My experience is that the difficult questions about God/Jesus/the church are rarely answered to any sort of satisfactory level by church leadership, which leads to dissatisfaction with faith and consequently many leave it behind.
ReplyDeleteJack, connecting with Jesus is the fundamental basis of the christian faith. Being in relationship with Jesus Christ is what our faith is all about,and is possible through prayer and worship.
Deleteyour comments are interesting, as it poses the fact that I am suggesting that the young adults are leaving faith. Whilst many do, this whole discussion started based upon why they are leaving TSA and going to other churches and what we can do to start the opposite occurring.
It is my intention to start some actions to counter it... and the difficult questions that you suggest are not being answered, may start to be answered.
"And I guess my personal opinion is that there is not enough presence of God in the church. I loved the supernatural nights at Cragiburn. And I think young people are after action and the fullness of God. When church is just ordinary church, it it's nice and all but it's got no life or fire. People want to see God fulfill what he said in the bible, we want to see all the sick and disabled healed, demons cast out, people filled with Holy Spirit. Bold christians who stick to it in the face of persecution. If it's true that Jesus came to bring us close to the Father, and there's no end to that relationship but it keeps going deeper and deeper, then I guess we want to see the presence of God more and more, that's it's not like the old testament where you'll encounter God once every few years, but everyday. (And I don't mean like miracle chasing Christians, cause you can have all the power, but not the love and it doesn't mean anything). Just look at the book of acts, and how they grew and were led. But yeah just ideas Officer Gary. People are attracted to passion, life and boldness. which all come from the presence of God. More of Him, less of us." this was a PM message I received in relation to the topic of the moment... and i think it is spot on... thansk to the sender for your opinions and thoughts and comments. I agree... I wonder what others also feel,your age, and if we get a line up, well we are just gonna go for it.. I suspect that if we honour Jesus, allow His Holy Spirit freedom to move, then He will grow His church and in our case that means TSA. ( I wonder if it is as easy as this ?) ( I also wonder if anyone is fair dinkum enough to join me if I started to facilitate it ?) hmmmm
ReplyDeleteThanks Jason.... AWESOME !!!!!