To the ends of the earth

If God called you to go to the other side of the world to make people aware of Him and His love for them, and to help establish the church in Jesus Name would you go?

How about if you knew it wouldn't be easy - how bout if you knew it would lead to suffering or even death?

For quite a while now, God has told me I will be going to Africa to be His witness and to encourage His servants there and help build up His body there. I have been waiting for the right time for the right project to come around - and now might be that time. A project has come up where initially I thought maybe not, but now it feels like the lights are showing a green 'go' sign.

For some strange reason I'm feeling a little nervous, maybe for the unknown and I know it won't be easy, and I hope it isn't, for looking in Acts if we're doing the right thing, the path will be full of troubles and persecution.

My strongest Spiritual gift - discernment, isn't giving me anything on this for some strange reason, so I suppose I'm actually asking for you to be praying for clarity for me on this issue. The applications close within a couple of weeks so I need to make a decision really quickly and get all the forms in. Thanks for your assistance!

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth"

Acts 1:8

Bring it on in Jesus Name!!!

Captain's bLog: Blasphemy Challenge

I came across this on the DYCS blog from Seattle. I can't believe that Satan can be convincing people to be actually going this far to offend God!! Have a look at the link below.

The war is raging guys and girls, are we doing enough to counteract it all?!

Luke 19:10 says "For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost" - Are we?

Captain's bLog: Blasphemy Challenge

Pentecost

Next Monday marks the historical day of Pentecost when God's Spirit was given as a gift to His people. Can you think about a time when you gave someone something for no particular reason. It would have been out of love, wasn't it?

A couple of weeks ago, my girlfriend gave me a really nice new wallet. She loves giving things, she's got a loving and generous heart and she really enjoyed giving me that gift. God is the same (in many ways), He loves us and wants to give us blessings, but more than all - His Holy Spirit, not just any spirit, but His HOLY Spirit so that we can be Holy, or set apart and be different to the rest of the sinful world. This gift is not just any gift, if you receive it you will be changed, you will want to share God with the world and become an ambassador for Heaven. It's a gift of love!!

God is wanting us to receive His gift, His love. Through this empowerment God gives us power in our work for Him, Spiritual power from Heaven. I was just reminded of Acts 3:1-10. After being empowered by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the disciples went out in Jesus Name and things like what happened in Acts 3 followed and when they were in tune with the Holy Spirit, God is glorified. We as Christians need to be called to Holiness since we are reflecting Jesus, so we need to get past John's baptism of repentance and build upon that into the baptism of the Holy Spirit and allow the Spirit to use us where ever and when ever for the glory of the Kingdom.

This Pentecost make yourself wholly available to God's Spirit and to its ministry in your life and through your life. The drought has broken - the Spiritual drought has broken, give your life fully to Jesus and don't hold anything back and join us on this amazing journey walking at the right hand of the Son, the King of all kings, the creator of the Universe who knows you and me better than we know ourselves!

Praise You Jesus, and thank You for the promised Holy Spirit.

Now or later?!

Have you ever experienced yourself saying things like "it's ok, I'll study harder next year" or "I'd be able to be so much better if I just had the next model up!" or even "I'll be able to play so much better with that new guitar!!".

Just to let you know, that last one is a real example that I've experienced and occasionally keep believing will be true - but I find it doesn't actually make be play better but makes me feel better about myself only for a short time.

We're so much like this in so many aspects of our life we keep wanting to be something else, to be somewhere else and don't realise God has given us everything we need here and now! I was thinking the other day, I'm still so not ready for full time ministry or even not up to the challenge of where I am now, but God reminded me of the examples in the top paragraph. Whether I'm an Officer of the Salvation Army or even a Soldier, God has 'ordained' me, or place a blessing on my life NOW to do the things he has asked of me NOW. Status or age doesn't really matter. Things wont be different in the future - my personality is my personality, I won't be anymore motivated next year to what I am now.

I'm going to have the same confidence if I have red epaulets or blue ones!! Be bold and courageous, God is with us and if He has asked us to do something or placed us in a certain ministry - do it with all your heart and all your strength! Don't be weak, afraid or half hearted - you're building up the Kingdom of God and He is depending on you to do a good job - He wouldn't entrust you with it if He didn't think you could do it!

Put on the armour and storm the forts with all you have - with all that God has given you for the task already!! Go with God and all His blessing and also know there are Angels all around guiding your footsteps also.

I will give you every place where you set your foot as I promised Moses...Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them

Joshua 1:3,6

see also for godincidence/interest sake - http://tcspeak.blogspot.com/2007/05/every-soldier-needed.html

It all depends on me!

I heard a quote the other day. It went like this:

"Pray as if it all depends on God,

do as if it all depends on you"

If we all lived by this, how different would the world be?! It would be quite different. How much time do we spend in a relationship talking to the other person or the other people? If you don't talk much, the relationship won't be very strong - if you talk with them all the time it will be a very strong relationship - am I correct?!

It's the same with God, to have a strong relationship with Him, we need to continually be talking with him in prayer! I have on my keyring a reminder "Pray without cease" and I am also reminded "seek and you shall find". Many people I know in the church and also the world for that matter, say they can't seem to find God in one way or another. I think our relationship with God is in proportion directly to how much time we spend with Him generally. There are a few exceptions - a very clear example is Jesus on the cross when God appears to abandon Him - but this can be discussed in too much detail for a blog. In short though, sin is the divider - if you are feeling distant from God - confess your sins to Him! It might help.

A while ago too, a few of us were wanting to really passionatly see God perform miracles through us etc, but then we learnt a bit later that we just have to focus on God and get everything right there, and God will use us for His glory then, whether it's through miracles or just to challenge someones heart or even just help them in some worldly way.

Anyway, how's your soul today? Get yourself right before God today, you never know when He'll return.

God bless.

Go hard or go home!

I've just recently bought a new devotional book by Smith Wigglesworth a great evangelist of the early 1900's. I needed more devotional materials to quench a hunger of God's Word and I didn't want any modern material because today all our tools and resourses are watered down material of the Word of God that just doen't fill anyone.

Reading the words of this man Smith Wigglesworth, they are straight to the point not going around the round-about to get to a powerful point, but he tells it how it is. I wish we lost all timidness in our preaching and ministires and get out of our heads "people don't want to hear about God these days" and realise everyone NEEDS God and have a hunger for Him that is built into every human being that only can be filled by Him! Last year's Easter camp, one of our DYS, Mim Adams told us how it is without watering the message down and so many lives were impacted. I was so glad Mim did that - God had so much glory given to Him that night! God bless our DYS - Sandra Maunder and Mim Adams.

I've been orgainising a Salvation Army history night once a month for our youth meetings and I was just reading over some of the material from our last one. I was reading the part of how the Army started off in Australia, and when two Officers from England - Captains Thomas and Adelaide Sutherland were chosen by Willam Booth to start the Army in Adelaide they didn't even think twice about going to the other side of the world but just obeyed because they had given everything in their lives to God for His service and spreading the Word of God.

The Army took off at an amazing pace because the Salvationists weren't afraid to talk with everyone about their Saviour because they had such a strong conviction and a strong relationship with our Living God that people's lives were changed from darkness into light.

Today many (I emphasise many) soldiers today are so afraid to even let Jesus Name come out of their mouths! That sounds to me like they really don't have a personal relationship or true revelation of God.

If you claim to be a follower or disciple of Jesus, pray strongly against the enemy restricting your tongue from talking about the greatness of our Saviour!! Pray for boldness. Pray for breakthoughs in our world, just like in early Army days. Pray for a mighty revelation of God in your life. Pray God reclaims land in Jesus Name. Just pray without cease!!

Things of man mulitply, things of God explode. Pray that God controls your life, why not give it all to Him!

Jesus gave it all for us, but the world today wants to be incontrol of everything ourselves including us Salvationists. Lets try this week, this year, why not for the term of our lives, to hand everything over to God and live with Him as our Lord and serve only Him.

God is back on the throne!! Let Holliness reign. Sanctification is our aim. Saved to save! We're becoming Saints.

"Unless the Lord builds the house,

the builders labour in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the guards stand watch in vain"

Psalm 127:1