Focus determines your reality

I had a good conversation a couple of days ago now with a good friend about how leprosy colonies still exist today and it changed my view on the verse where Jesus says to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons". Previously I wasn't aware of many people still in the world that had leprosy, so I wasn't sure how relevant that part of the verse was, but God keeps reminding me His word is eternal.

We got onto the healing topic that seems to keep coming up around the Salvationist circles a lot lately. I'm guilty of focusing on God's healing power more than His saving power and my good friend, a respected leader of the Army, was saying to us that the best healing God gives is the healing of hearts! How good is that! I love it. He also went onto say that if we could hear God on the healing topic is that He might say, you wouldn't worry so much about my signs and wonders if you really knew what was coming!

My Spiritual giftings are in healing, discernment etc, more the 'supernatural' gifts - everyone seems to focus on whats around them the most.

So it got me thinking about what's our primary focus as Salvationist in the Salvation Army - well we know we're not a metaphor, so I guess it's salvation!! We focus primarily on peoples souls! We want them to see, as we see, the love of God.

Then what? Secondly, then is it the physical, which to me, it looks like in the past few decades the Army has put into first place. (This covers both the feeding and clothing etc and also the healing topic). Even today I heard some Officers were unhappy with a good friend of mine, who is a leading Officer of the Army, because he is "too focused on social justice and evangelism" and here I'd like to state IS the basis of the Salvation Army - how ironic!!!

So, in my personal opinion, the Army in the past few decades, started loosing it's vision, started taking it's eyes off 'the ball', and now we're trying to get back on the of the purpose of the movement, why God raised us specifically - there will be much opposition, especially from within, from the 'not-so-right' teachings of the mediocre army, and we're seeing this opposition already! (God have your way with Your Army in Jesus Name)

Here comes some healing again I think - many people have been badly hurt from this 'army' when we started diverting from our 'mission'. Since we 'represent' God, we may have to have some healing first so these hurt by the 'organisation' can see God clearly again, not the blurred vision they see of God through the Army.

So I suppose what I'm saying in summary is, put God's saving power first - He ultimately wants us to spend eternity in His Kingdom, then worry about their physical self as a close second(!?) What's your thoughts?

If focus determines your reality - what is the reality of the Salvation Army at present? Thanks to Commissioner Knaggs for his vision - its very timely!!

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28

I'm no longer a Salvo

I've realised there are becoming more and more people that are calling themselves 'Salvo's'.

Many people that attend The Salvation Army once a year for Christmas or Easter or a dedication etc are calling themselves 'Salvo's', people that work in Salvo's stores or Employment Plus, or even people that just have family members who are connected with the Salvation Army in some form, or possibly just be fed by the soup van's are now saying they are Salvo's.

The name 'Salvo' is getting watered down so much and is loosing it's power and it's true intended purpose, so I am no longer a 'Salvo'!

These people are watering down what the Salvation Army is all about - so I don't want to be associated with an organisation that is becoming a club that is no more than a name that has a good reputation that makes me look good in return.

I now am going to start calling myself a SALVATIONIST! Why - because I am signed up, paid up, committed and actually in the fight. I'm not happy just even attending 'church' on Sunday, but without exception, or excuse, will obey God's plan for my life - everyday of my life, whether a public holiday, RDO or my birthday. Enough is enough of people who talk it up and in reality do nothing - I will not talk up myself or my actions, but only talk up the awesomeness of God and Jesus alone.

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior, of the Army of my God.

The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.

The Holy Bible is my code of conduct.

Faith, Prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare.

I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity, and tested by fire.

I am a volunteer in this Army, and I am enlisted for eternity.

I will either retire in this army at the Rapture or die in this Army;

but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out.

I am faithful, capable, and dependable.

If my God needs me, I am there.

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior. I am not a baby.

I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up.

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior.

No one else has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me or lure me.

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior, I am not a wimp.

I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His Name and building His Kingdom!

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior.

No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy, or give me handouts.

I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to.

I am committed.

I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around.

I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside.

I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.

When Jesus called me into His Army, I had nothing

If I end up with nothing I will still come out ahead,

For I am more than a conqueror.

The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me.

Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me.

Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me.

And Hell cannot handle me

I AM A SOLDIER

Even death cannot destroy me.

For when my Commander calls me from this battlefield

He will promote me to glory and there I will rejoice in His presence.

I am a soldier in God's Army and I'm marching claiming victory.

I will not give up, not turn around.

Here I stand.... a soldier!

(author unknown)

Are you signed up and fully committed? Why not - would you prefer to watch TV or sleep in??

"Give up you small ambitions and come, change the world!"

Mark 8:34-35

Catch the Fire!

Went to Catch the Fire's meeting on Thursday night with James.

If you haven't heard - God has arrived in Melbourne! Yes God is omnipresent (He is everywhere!), but His blessings are raining down more than I've ever seen before here in Melboune.

How awesome is God! Just standing there, God's presence was so strong. As I stood there worshipping God, the Spirit just fell upon us and the feeling of love that came over me was so powerful. I almost fell like I couldn't stand in His presence, I found myself bowing on the ground just soaking up God's presence.

Opportunities arose where anyone could go forward to receive prayer, it was like everyone just wanted to go down to be prayed for, why wouldn't you?! There was a time for breaking addictions and healing etc. These guys at Catch the Fire, just worship God and are continually in prayer with Him, and God is there as a result of there devotion to Him. Pastor Danny (now known as the controversial Pastor! lol) spoke with such authority through the Spirit with words of prophecy and also with healing. [Please remember - Jesus is the healer - no one here claims to heal themselves, but only through the authority of Jesus]

There was a huge crowd wanting to receive healing from God, it started with a deaf mans ears opened, then continued with what started out as a simple pain in a shoulder turned into deliverance of 8 demons, then a lady in a wheel chair who previously couldn't walk due to cancer walking around the hall, to a lady released from depression, to a 14 year old girl less than a meter away from me healed from deafness since birth in her left ear (and limited hearing in her right ear). God can do all things. Hallelujah!!

Revival is on it's way to Melbourne. I don't really like the world revival since in the past it has been waved around loosely by people every time something good happened, but when God's revival comes it will be world wide! Praise God!! The ocean is coming, not just a trickle or river, but an ocean.

Pastor Danny realised that there was a significant amount of deaf ears opened and so he prayed about it and God responded that it is representational of His people not listening to His word but now God is opening their ears - the deaf to hear.

In the 'cousin revival' that's occuring in Florida there have been more progressions, it started off big, now is exploding, people are not even staying dead!! As many of you know, I've been praying that I'll see the dead raised here in Melbourne by the end of this year so God can be glorified and for all those need proof that God is sovereign will be without doubt - now God is doing His 'thing' here in Melbourne, so I think I know what is coming.... (Matt 10:8 fulfilment!! Bring it on God!!)

Check out the reports at http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/ for daily reports. If you're anywhere near Melbourne, you need to drop in every night except for Wednesday nights - weeknights @ 7:30 and weekends at 6:30 - 30 Star Crescent Hallam

Are you ready for God?

Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

I picked up a pamphlet tonight about McDonald's new coffee they're promoting.

On these pamphlets it says

"Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee is produced within a sustainable system developed to protect the environment, wildlife an improve coffee farmers' quality of life."

Buying this Rainforest Alliance coffee makes me feel like I want to go and chain myself to a tree to stop it getting mistreated. Knowing about it's 'competition' Fairtrade coffee, it seems a bit weak really.

If I had a tree and a human in front of me, and had to choose which one to save, I think I value human life much higher in the scheme of things, so I'd choose the human. I'd rather completely support a product that totally guaranteed to stop slavery and also supports the farmers that were struggling than a product that contained only around 30% mixture that is friendly to the environment and its frogs. They also mention that they support improving coffee farmers quality of life, but it seems just a bit of a tag on at the end and not as the main focus of the product.

I know I need to lighten up but it's not enough to talk up how good you are if you're not going to be totally committed to really making a difference on what is really important. My work has just started up a community benefit program also which also contains a 'caring for the environment' component, which I feel is just to win brownie points with the community. Does it really care? Does McDonald's really care, or do they just want to be known as 'good people' that are doing a 'good deed'? If something is worth doing, it's worth doing completely and with commitment - do you agree?

Ok, off my soap box now... Human life and the opportunity of having a quality life is much more of a concern to me, and I'm sure God for that matter, than a forest and it's wildlife. Yes we need to be caring for them, but if they become a priority over human life, then there is something a bit wrong.

'But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,

what God is looking for in men and women.It's quite simple:

Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,

be compassionate and loyal in your love,

And don't take yourself too seriously—

take God seriously.'

Micah 6:8 (The Message)

Genocide of Rwanda

I've been finding heaps of good stuff on you tube at the moment, but I just wanted to add one more that is close to home for me.

When I visited Rwanda back in January, I got to visit the Genocide museum and saw some horrific sites and vision of what actually happened back in 1994 during the genocide of Rwanda. The second week we stayed in Kyenzi where a huge amount of Tutsi's were murdered, and funny enough, most of the team I went with couldn't sleep and when we did, had unpleasant dreams, and we didn't even know about the history of Kyenzi until after we left.

So here's a short video, and yes, is it too late to apologise...

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Mark 11:25

The most dangerous person alive?

If you were the most watched and therefore the most influential person on TV, would you stand up for what you believed to be true, or would you be blown around in the wind (James 1:6-8) to please people to make money (1 Timothy 6:10) - if worst comes to worst please don't deny Jesus!!

Watch some of these video's -



or these also



and this one explains the situation well in some detail from a Biblical view;





I think this is one great example of a false prophet the Bible warns us about - after all, Oprah claims she is a 'Christian' yet denies Jesus as the only way, teaches all the new age methods and has started up her own church.

Let's either pray for her, or pray her false teachings will now fail and people's eye's will be opened to the truth of Jesus.

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

Matthew 7:15

Outreach

Today I'm taking my Corps out into the community to the new 'Salvo's Store' in Glenroy, around the corner from where my Corps is.

We're aiming to be a very visible & audible presence there with a few band members to be heard, we have face painting there and also some CD music for a bit of variety.

We're there to support the rest of the Salvation Army's work, but also to let people know that just around the corner is the 'church' side of things too, where you can come and be fed the living word and fulfil your destiny by joining us in living out our part in the Body of Christ.

Please pray that people will hear the most important message that resounds in this world as we speak to them today - Jesus wants to give you life through his death - but He is alive!! Confusing, no, awesome!

Come on, let's change the world, make it a world where everyone can live a happy and free life, free from fear and bondage.

Live as if it depends on you, and use the unlimited power of Jesus to do it!!

"He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free"

Psalm 146:7

Back from the dead!

I was talking to a good mate at my youth Bible study the other night and we got onto a story about his Grandmothers death.

A few years ago, when he was back in New Zealand, he was at his Grandparent's house with his cousins with his sick Grandmother. His Grandfather went out to the local shops, and just after he left, his Grandmother died.

Fifteen minutes later, his Grandfather returned and they were all mourning, praying for her, etc when suddenly the Grandmother came back to life apparently as a 'gift' from God to be able to say goodbye to the family properly. She told them that God resurrected her for a short time just to say goodbye.

Who knows why God would have given her this chance that hardly anyone gets a chance to do, but my mate said that from witnessing this event first hand, he KNOWS that God can bring the dead back to life - NO DOUBTS! From the experience and other things she said, he knows the absolute power of God.

'Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;'

John 11:25

Holiness

Something I found in Henry Blackaby's book called "Holiness" p49-50;

It is much more serious for a leader to sin than for an average person, because they influence so many. when a leader sins, many times God does not hide it, but He announces it from the housetops. "So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord'. And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die' [David, your sin gave an occasion for all of My enemies to blaspheme My Name]" (2 Sam. 12:13-14)

When I read that, I wept and wept, "Oh, God, I love You with all of my heart."

But God would say, "Then deal with sin, because there are enemies of Mine who are just waiting to find some of my children who are going to sin. And when they see you sin, or a church sin, it is going to give them great occasion to blaspheme My Name"

I replied, "Oh, Lord, I did not know it was that serious."

"I know you did not" He answered "or you wouldn't keep on sinning the way you do"

Something for us to think about today!!