Risky Business - Go out on a limb, that's where the fruit is.

I am currently reading the biography, "My Journey so far - Andrew White" the Vicar of Baghdad.

It is a great read, complex in places and challenging in others, and to start this blog entry I quote from chapter 18.. A few quotes:

The chapter is titled: "Don't Take Care; Take Risks".

Andrew then goes on to quote President Jimmy Carter who said:

"Go out on a limb - that's where the fruit is ".

I love it...

We all know that the fruit that is best is hardest to reach ..it's out there, where it is hardest to pick.

I remember this apricot tree that used to be in my neighbours yard a few years ago... It's branches always hung over our back fence and I would go out and collect some of the fruit from our side of the fence, but I also noticed that the yummiest looking apricots were too high up the tree for me to reach (still on my side of the fence) but I couldn't get them...it was too risky.

As I read the first part of this chapter this morning it triggered me in some other thoughts, I have been thinking recently.

Why is it that we won't take risks anymore in our faith ?

And in our ministries ?

Is it because we are scared ?

Frightened of being shut down by the organization ?

Rejected by others who can't cope with non conformists ?

Why is that we seek to remain in the box ? When God may be calling us out of the box ?

In the box, it's relatively safe. You can do anything you want as long as you don't go out side these 4 walls.

We don't want you to look different to anyone else, we must all look the same and do the same thing and then we will all get the same results.

Well, in a way that's true.

The Big Problem with this is though, that if what we are all achieving is non productive and not growth and health, by living in this non risky safe environment of the box and its restrictions, then we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes and get the same results.

We all know it's insanity to think that by doing something the same way we might get a different result !

To get a different result you have to do things differently. It's Not rocket science.

 

At some point someone is going to have to break free of the restrictions and confines of the safety of this "box", take some risks and go out on a limb and get some fruit before it falls off the tree and dies.

Risk takers have found a way of functioning outside of their box. Cracking it open, being free to experiment and try new things, and you never know ..maybe just get a different result by being released to experiment outside of their box.

Here is what I know happens:

Outside the confines of the box, a whole new world awaits to be explored and experienced ... Maybe that's why we don't encourage box breakers, we don't want to lose them to the world ? !

Maybe the new experiences are seen as just too risky !? Too dangerous. Too different.

One thing I love about The Salvation Army, is our heritage, our foundations. We were founded by a man and a woman who were box breakers of their day. They were risk takers. They went out on a limb and achieved amazing results for Jesus on the earth. They got the fruit.

This foundation is what I love to live for. To make a difference. Not necessarily to conform. Or to be the same as everyone else. (it's precarious living with this mindset and often you get pushed back into the box)

Well, as you think about what I have been typing and quoting you might want to consider the little nagging feeling that you may have inside you to be a non conformist for Jesus.

His first disciples were exactly that, risking everything for Him and changing our world by their faithfulness and risk taking.

 

Yep it might cost you... And thats why many choose to just stay locked up in that box and safe.

 

But if you want to be true to yourself ... And willing to get out there and change things up, to be a box breaker, a risk taker, to go out on a limb and actually get the fruit, well you are going to have to make a choice..

You won't be popular and you might get yelled at, but you will in fact make a difference to the world.

 

There are a few around who have already done it...not many, but a few..

Mother Teresa, she did it.

Brian Houston, well he and Bobby are doing it.

William and Catherine Booth, yep they did it.

Billy Graham, well no question about the box he cracked open.

Brendan Nottle is giving it a huge crack for TSA in Australia right now.

Shane Baxter is doing it at Enjoy Church.

Rob Buckingahm is doing it around the corner from where I live right now in Melbourne.

And there are stacks of others as well...

 

Are you a box breaking, risk taking, go out on limb Christian ?

 

I want to be,and sometimes, I get squished back...

And I shrink back into the box, tail between my legs, lick my wounds and cry a little (well not really cry) and yep I get angry about it...

Mostly because I can see what can be achieved if I would just be a bit bolder and stay out of the box.

Well... Let's make a choice to go get some really ripe fruit from the harvest...

But first !!!!!

We are going to have to go out on a limb. ! Just sayin !

 

 

 

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Officership and My Calling... " The King of Calvary" .

I have been on holiday for a number of weeks now, actually we go back to work ( whatever that is now for us) on Monday next week.

We needed this rest, I am feeling really on top of things, and pretty much back to 100%...so I am ready to go back to work. We have set up our new home, and even though it feels like we are house sitting and it isn't truly our home ...well it's weird I must say.

This blog entry today comes from a deep sense within me about my life's purpose and calling ...it is also motivated a little by some fairly negative comments that I deleted about my last blog entry.

In my blogging experience over these past years I have noticed that some people cannot encourage. All they can do is discourage and put down others. They can't seem to find anything good, only finding fault.

My daughter summed it up well recently..."wolves in sheeps clothing". There are a lot of these kinds of people around.

I don't think these people are bad ..necessarily, just tainted ... Stuck maybe, self consumed, hidden agendas maybe..but nevertheless ..they can be harmful.

When I was Called to be a Salvo Officer, it was so long ago... Commissioner Eva Burrows was the TC of our territory and she was speaking at a youth councils at Perth Modern school in WA. I knew God called me that day, and I said yes. I waited years before I could go to Training College and that's another long story for another day...but when we eventually went, I was at peace deeply in my soul. I never knew, really, that in that journey I would face such opposition and attack, just because of who I am and what I stand for and how I preach .

It's a good thing, that I never knew, I would never have gone through with it had I known that life and ministry would be so tough. That everytime I preached someone would criticize me, or whatever... The haters are everywhere it seems..

And I question why ?

Especially in the church ?

I get it that some people outside church won't like our message, for it disturbs their lifestyle and life choices, confronts them about sin and all that...but in the church, I guess I assumed that people would want to grow in their faith and purpose and prayer life... To get away from the trappings of just doing or performing to other humans... And to seek Gods heart in every aspect of life and allow the God appointed preacher ( whoever it is at that time) to speak into their life.

In my ministry life, I have made many mistakes, and had many victories...I have had my fair share of defeats as well, I have had many who have listened and their lives changed and they have lived out their journey in obedience and faithfulness and pursued a life of serving Jesus which is what we are all called to do and to live out..and that has given me great satisfaction in my ministry.

After I was called that Sunday in Perth years ago... My ministry took the form of being a Youth Pastor for around 8 years in Perth .... Working with stacks of youth at Perth Fortress, street kids in the city through the Sidewalk drop in centre...and all the while, I knew God had a further plan for my life of Officership.

Since becoming an Officer... Now 20 years, I went through the Port Arthur Massacre at our first appointment in Carlton Tassie, we were there 5 years.... That one event changed my life...as I grappled with death and life at such a great and troubling size. We then went on to plant Craigieburn Corps for 12 years and then into Ringwood for the past 3 years.

So I have been in ministry for around 28 years all up.... And yet I still am learning new things each day about myself and the people that God called me to minister to.

So what ?

Well, my one catch phrase is that it is all about Jesus, and for me it is... To see people like you and me loving and serving and growing in Him.

No matter who criticizes us along the way, there will always be someone who hates the message and the messenger, but there always will be some who hear the good news and offer their lives to Jesus and be changed forever.

And that it is what and why we do what we do...all of us Officers have the same call..lead people to Jesus.

In a few weeks we will remember and celebrate again the death and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Easter reminds us every year that there is still hope and a better way... But the moment you or I start looking at the church or a preacher and start praising it or demeaning it( or them), it is at that precise moment that we have lost focus..and must be drawn back to Jesus again. Its not about your officer or preacher or even your church...

it's about Jesus...

The claim He has on your heart.

The call He has for your life.

The purpose He beckons you to live for.

The people He wants you to share "HIM" with.

 

I know, after all these years of ministry that you will never be able to please everyone around you, and no matter what you say there will always be one or maybe two who find a reason to critize or complain about you, you will rub someone up the wrong way and they will potentially make it their mission in life to point that out to every man and his dog. It's true, that's in every ministry, even when I was a youth pastor way way back, that I had my fair share of opposition. We all do.

That is why it is so critical that we keep our eyes and ears on Jesus all the time...

He is my Saviour.

He is my Lord.

He is my Master.

He is my King.

He is my Boss, and He is my employer.

He is my Everything.

 

As I head back to work I pray that those who find themselves under my ministry, may be drawn to Jesus in every aspect of their life.

Where there is a negative, critical spirit, that Jesus will overrule even that...in all of us.

..........................................................................................................................................

I pray that for you...the reader, whoever you are, and whatever you personally think about me (or some other significant preacher /officer in your life) as a minister/officer...that today you will stop and ask yourself these important questions:

 

Is "my" life serving Jesus and bringing Him honour ?

Is "my" influence edifying others or destroying them ?

Am "I" loving Christ the way I should or could be ?

Am "I" obedient to Jesus in the way I live and behave ?

 

And so as Easter 2016 approaches...

 

may the King of Calvary, be King in each of our lives.

 

 

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