My heart and mind...

Change my heart oh God, 

Make it ever new...

Change my heart oh God

May I be like You.

You are the potter I am the clay

Mold me and make me

This is what I pray

As I listened to this music this morning, and read my devotional book I was touched deeply by the presence of the Lord as He spoke quietly into my heart...

I want my life to be authentic and true, to be making a difference to those around me for Jesus... to attract people to Jesus and not me.... ( I am not that attractive).        Jesus is.

Saturdays seem to be the day for Me to blog.... and I am ok with that...

This past week has been a bit crazy with “screen time”. A lot of video chats, conversations, discussions prayer and a few laughs also....

In the middle of that also. Some scammers trying to get my attention,  the online world is crazy.... at times, and it needs to be countered with the love of God that changes our hearts, and changes our mind.

It’s one thing to change your heart....its another thing to change your mind.

I am grateful for the positive people around me, people who help shape my mind and heart... fellow Officers who speak into my life.... people who believe in me, and who I believe in also.

My family.... I love them so much, My family...who fill my heart with joy and cause me to cry.... we had one of those times this week where we just had so much love for each other that it made us cry..all of us.

And then of course there are those who want to criticize you and try to demean you..... to try and bring you down and break your heart...   they are there also. (SIGH)

It comes down to who we are and who we choose to be.... we can all make that choice and have opportunity to do so.... we can be the one who hurts those around us .... or we can be the one who try’s to build others up, to look for the positive in others to see their potential and  cheer them on in their journey...

My daughter and I have taken up walking together each day...to get us out of the house and its just good.... she makes me laugh, and sometimes we are both a bit crazy with each other, we must appear nuts as we sometimes scream with laughter as we walk.... and thats good for the heart and mind...and I value that...so much. !!!!

So... I must also say that there are others who have tried to bring me down this week.... you know they are the unknown (and sometimes known) ones who blame you for everything, ridicule your God and ministry and try to pour cold water on your faith and belief...

Oh God...help me to love those who don't love me....

Oh God ...help me to love those who want to hurt me or damage me...

Oh God help me to love those who are easy to love..... who build me up and encourage me and believe in me... and demonstrate that....

Help me oh God to be the kind of person who builds others up and encourages them... and helps shape hearts and minds to love you more.

Thankyou to those in my life who are that for me.....
Obviously I can’t list names here,.. it would get me in so much trouble one way or the other.

For me... For today....and always...

#itsallaboutJesus.

Change my heart oh God...that I might be more like you....

I know I am just a lump of clay on your divine potters wheel, and I am asking YOU Lord to keep shaping me....

help me to change my mind.....
Where I am disappointed and discouraged 
Please replace it with Your peace.

This is my prayer today.

Amen 

One month in.... what Is God saying !!!???

(I placed this pic in for varying reasons... and those who have read this will know why)

Well its basically been a month with this incredible change in our routine and living.

I know it has not been easy for many, and I personally haven’t found it easy either, but I can honestly say so much has changed for me personally in that month. 

I am not going to bore you with all the change in my daily routine, but I will tell you that my spiritual quiet time has doubled, and that just causes me to ponder, if my prayer life and study of the Word and worship has been limited because of my busy-ness. 

Because now I am not quite so busy I have more time to pray....and that is an amazing thing isnt it ?

We have lots of time to think, and ponder life, and I truly do wonder if anything will change for us in the long term... if honest, I reckon we will all just fall back into the ruts we were living and functioning in, 

oh yes we will be grateful for a routine to be returned, but it makes me feel very sad that some will return to a powerless Christianity experience, one that is just going through the motions .... doing the duty stuff, looking the part....and appearing to be something, that deep down doesn’t exist.  

This is the scariest thing of all.  And I actually believe it is what God is challenging in us these days by allowing covid19 to have entered the world.

Many of us have questioned where is God in this.   Many of us have prayed and joined with others for God to stop it.  But up until now...nothing, so what is He wanting from us ? 

I actually believe that He is asking us to re-evaluate, take stock of our spiritual life, stop  and rest and renew and be revived....at every level...personally, corporately as churches, ministries, families, career....

You may not agree, and you don't have to... these are just my thoughts.

But one can hardly argue that we are still in a seriously dangerous situation at all levels, physically, spiritually, financially. 

One month in...maybe many more months to go yet.... so what will you do with your own life ? Will you crumble or cruise ?  Will you rise up and be revived or will you allow yourself to slip back into a rut of whatever ?

I have many thoughts about what I see around me, above, below, alongside... I have many questions as to who we actually are in the middle of the mess. What kind of leadership is given, what kind of leadership I will give..... 

So here is my answer about me... and others need to work it out for themselves....

Understanding that true leadership is really just influence.

I will endeavor to give spiritual leadership in my area of influence.

I will not be the business or corporate leader...Just giving instruction in how to work or get the stuff done.  NO!

I will try and lead by example, by praying first and asking others to pray also.

I will try and lead by influencing those around me to crank up their Christian walk. It is primary to who we are and it must be challenged and encouraged and modeled and that must come first before anything else. It must never be assumed that this will happen on it's own... it hasn’t before the lockdown.   Spiritual leadership(influence) is what is needed.... and I will try and be that leader.

I believe that is what God is asking of us these days....lead ....influence for Him with a strong spiritual mindset.

Jesus is coming again, no doubt of it... the world has never seen anything like this .... and we must get the world ready for Jesus.  First and foremost .   

Of that there is no question.

And finally can I say... that this isnt just about TSA, but about everything that is Christian... but mostly myself... and I guess if the cap fits, maybe its about you also.

I truly believe that Jesus is the hope of the world, and He calls His church, His bride to be the hope of the world also, as we are in union with Him.
A church that is fair dinkum sold out on Jesus and cant shut up about Him.

First before anything and everything else.

When will we ever learn ..... seriously !!!!!! How close is Jesus' return ?

One of the interesting things these days is the intentionality of people, especially in the church, to try new things.

New forms of ministry are emerging, but not just that, people are more intentional about contact. Today I received an SMS from one of our key guys to just check in and see if I was ok... I never hear from him any other time. Fantastic.

So the big question is what will we go back to when its over ?

One of the worst things we could do is go back to the same old same old.... mostly that hasn't worked for years.

We did an online prayer meeting last Saturday, we had around 100 people connect in, normally in the physical prayer gatherings we get around 30 - 40.

The same at a Corps prayer meeting recently online... normally they get 5 or 6, but this time online it was 11.

And what about outside the church....  people are walking as families more, they say hello when they walk past... normally I don't even get a grunt from those walking past me.

Now personally.... I am ploughing through books...I have read and finished 4 books in the past 4 weeks.... My prayer time/quiet time has doubled.... 

My leg doesn't ache anymore from all the driving...  

SO why oh why would we want to go back to the old ways and get stuck back in that rut ?????  I am not convinced that the older ways actually did much for us. 

I wonder whether we have been distracted by the mundane, by the rituals, by the duty ... by our form ?  ( I have always held this view that our function is more important than our form) ( Form = what we look like, Function = who we are and what we do)

What about you ? 

I personally want to see The Salvation Army completely transformed and revived and I seriously believe it could happen though this forced "scattered" experience.

we would be stupid to go back and do things the old ways, especially seeing we were in decline as a result of that.

( to clarify that statement: everything we have done in the past has led us to the condition we find ourselves in now...how could it not ? So...if we want a different result than what we had before shutting everything down, then we need to change what we have been doing to something new and opposite to get a different  result. that is not rocket science)

That's a basic rule for life, not just TSA.

We cant ignore the changes we are seeing around us. Its like the world is getting a reset.

The Venice canals are clear. (the human influence is diminished)

You can see the Himalayas from 200 kms away (smog has decreased)

Animals walk around the streets. (UK)

and people I believe are praying in unity more than ever before...

why would we ever want to go back to the old ways that didn't work ?  Are we so naive and blind to think  that everything should just go back to the way it was ?

Maybe God is saying something to us about the way we have lived out our role as the CHURCH .

Well, I guess the big question is what we will learn from this.

I cant hug my grandson right now.... can only really chat with him online.

My daughter is unwell, and I cant hug her....(these bits break my heart actually)

My older friends and family cant be visited or hugged.

And people are at home alone incredibly lonely.

When will we ever learn what God told us to be and do..... and not make it about what it was never meant to be made about.

The bible tells us that our world will be in a horrid state before Jesus returns. 

Are we not in a horrid state right now ? 

What will we do with this unprecedented time of learning and renewing of who we are ?

I pray for revival in our land and in TSA.  

For Jesus Sake.

The Injured seagull.

Yesterday Jules and I travelled around 7 -8 hours on the road just checking in briefly with our Officers in the Gippsland region of our Area. The day before we also checked in on the Officers of the Mornington peninsula ...most were very pleased to see us, even though from around 3 metres distance.  It was a crazy day, a day I have not driven as far for a very long time... around 500-600 kms yesterday... it got me thinking as we start to self isolate from each other and start to think creatively how we can still minister and serve suffering humanity.

Which is seriously suffering right now.

None of us are immune from this insidious virus, threatening death to any might succumb to it.

but as Christ followers our faith and hope is not found on this earth, it is found in Jesus and the future that awaits His children is an eternal hope in heaven, free of fear, free of tears, free of pain and suffering ... full of peace and hope and love and grace.

Jules and I stopped for fish and chips at Phillip island on our way home after that long day yesterday... and as we sat peacefully eating our hot chips, yep...the seagulls came ... hungry and hovering about just hopeful for a hot chip.

Have you ever noticed, that in a crowd (?) flock (?) of seagulls there are usually a couple that stand out... one who is dominant and tries to scare every other seagull away... and there is another one that is injured and hops around hopeful.  He is the one that I always want to give a chip to. the one struggling. The one injured. the one that seems to struggle in the group.

There is a metaphor for us in life right there in the seagulls.

Some are dominant around us and seem to want to walk all over everyone else.

Some others around us are injured and hurting and are struggling to survive.

But just like seagulls we are all ultimately just looking for a hot chip from a caring human nearby.

Not everyone appreciates the gestures of the hot chip giver... thats life isn't it ?

But nevertheless  I think we need to find ways to give a hot chip to those hungry seagulls.

Remember its just a metaphor I don’t see humans as seagulls...

But let me tell you what I do think about life as I conclude this little blog entry for the first of April 2020.

All of us are hungry for a snippet from the master... we all need and want a hot chip.

We are all faced with dominant people around us that want to push their way over us and step on us to get their way. And sometimes..well maybe only me at least, I feel injured and struggle in this life, I feel like I may never get that illusive hot chip, that I might be overlooked and missed... well.... and by some humans this is true...

BUT.....

Not by Jesus.  Not by who matters most.  Not by the creator of my being. Not by the master of my soul... He never forgets the least of us... 

He doesn’t forget me, or neglect me, or walk on by past me...He never abandons me, or writes me off, He is always faithful and true and kind and always always seeks me out, He always gives me more than just one hot chip...He gives me the whole pack of chips, more than I could ever need.

My hope is in Him.

In these days of personal isolation and desperation...I hope you find your renewed purpose and are personally revived and find Jesus afresh for your own life.

May He bless you deeply inside your heart mind and soul today.