Raising the dead

Have a read of this!

http://www.raised-from-the-dead.org.uk/accounts/m/mccormack-ian-s1-all.php

Please join me in praying that by the end of the year we will see God's fullfilment of His word;

As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:7-8

Listening Servant

I was reading an article today entitled "Listening Servant" by B. Patterson and it had a few interesting things that I'd like to share with you

The first was;

The opposite of love is not hate, but apathy- being uninvolved, detached, unrelated. (Did anyone else feel that in our services this weekend - or was it just us who attended the MCD Easter Camp last weekend where we saw God's Glory... be gone Satan!)

The second;

I won't hear from God unless I am first willing to ace on what I've already heard. God hides himself from those who refuse to obey, so that "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!" (Mark 4:12)

Another was;

Jesus said, "Ask whatever you wish and it will be given you". The condition for that kind of answered prayer is in the line that precedes it: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you" (John 15:7)

Hopefully that has given you a bit of a challenge today

Answered prayer comes from His living in us and our living in Him.

Freedom Day!

If you're in Melbourne today, drop in to Box Hill gardens across from the Box Hill Salvation Army today from around 2pm

We're celebrating 201 years since Wilberforce's victory against slavery - unfortunatly it still exsists today - come along for awareness and what we can be doing about it today

Hope to see you there

Details;
Saturday 29 March2-5pm,
Box Hill Gardens, Nelson Rd
March for Freedom at 4pm

Including Jumping Castle, Sausage Sizzle, Facepainting, Games.
PLUS WIN A NINTENDO DS (if that appeals to you!)

Love God!

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Consuming Fire!

Check out http://verysalvo.blogspot.com/2008/03/consuming-fire.html for a challenging and inspiring blog!!

Fire up!!

When you loose what you love

‘When they walk through the Valley of Weeping … They will continue to grow stronger.’

Psalm 84:6-7 NLT

When you lose what you love, you go through five stages:

(1) Denial – ‘No, it can’t be happening.’
(2) Anger – ‘God, why are You permitting this?’
(3) Bargaining – ‘Lord, please make it go away.’
(4) Depression – Silence and withdrawal.
(5) Acceptance – ‘Not my will but Yours be done.

’Whether it’s the loss of a child, a marriage, a job, your health, etc., when you turn to God, He’ll give you the grace to embrace it, grieve it, express it, release it, and go on to become stronger. Sometimes we seek quick relief by releasing it before we’ve gone through these stages. That’s because we fear the process.

We’ve been taught that any show of emotion is a show of weakness, so we stuff it. But we only stuff it into our emotional rubbish bin, then spend all our time and energy sitting on the lid, trying to keep the contents from spilling out. ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ (Jn 8:32). It’s knowing and embracing the truth, including its painful aspects, that sets you free. You must be willing to forgive. But until you come to grips with your loss, including any injustice of what was done to you, you are not ready to forgive. When you rush to forgive, you forgive only in part and you’re released only in part.

Are you running from pain today? Are you trading it in prematurely for some other feeling? That’s not God’s way. Jesus said, ‘You will weep and mourn … but [eventually] your grief will turn to joy … and no one will take [it] away’ (Jn 16:20-22 NIV).

The Great Physician - How great is our GOD!!!

He is risen!!

Jesus is alive - you'd better believe it.

We've just finished the best Easter camp ever!!! In the week leading up to camp, a few of us had been told by God that He was going to do great things - and He did!!!!

From the first session, people were making decisions about giving their lives to God and to take Jesus' sacrifice as their salvation! Throughout the whole camp people were finding Jesus and God was really kicking people around telling them in a very powerful way to "get your life right with Him - now!".

On Saturday, we all went out into the community for different things, some did chalk drawing on the footpaths, others cleaned ovals and the post office steps, others did some handing out of Easter eggs while sharing the good news of the Easter story - their way to salvation while trying the 'good test'.

The first person I came across we gave an egg to and they tried the good test and were convicted of their lies, stealing and blasphemy so repented and asked Jesus for forgiveness and gave their life to Him - salvation!! I thought this was going to be an amazing day... but it didn't turn out to be a huge day for salvation's, but had some great conversations/arguments with some older members of the community....

On the way back to the camp, one of the guys had a sore wrist, so he got his mate to pray for him and it was healed in Jesus Name!! How awesome!!

From there, in the next half an hour we had 7 healings in total - the wrist, shin splints, an infected nose, a sore shoulder, a sprained ankle, more shin splints, two sore throats and God was glorified!!! Jesus is awesome - He is able to heal anything!!!

It continued, it didn't just end there, we had all the kid's praying for each other and more healing were witnessed through out the weekend (see http://whollyholy.blogspot.com/ for other details) and also included things like injured hamstrings, and even a badly sprained and possibly broken wrist. After this wrist was completely restored she even showed off and did a handstand, which apparently she had never been able to do before - WOW!!

The nurse on camp had it easy - bit of a holiday for her in my opinion....

This camp was awesome, we had the healings, people giving their lives to God and people set free from hurts and abuse, the list just went on - there was only 70-80 of us there but sooooo much happened - God is AWESOME!!!

If you don't believe me, come and check God out for yourself - or find someone else who attended the Melbourne Central Division Easter camp and ask them!!

God is more than good - do you know this for yourself?? Search after Him today - and tomorrow!

"As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."

Matthew 10:7-8

Do you know anyone that has just died that doesn't know Jesus to let them into Heaven....

Be gone Satan!

Do you want to cast Satan out of your life?

Are you tired of the bondage, harassment, and oppression of demonic forces that threaten to destroy you or someone you love? Overcoming these attacks lies in knowing what to confess and how to confess it.

You need to to:

• Confess your destiny in Christ
  
• Confess your purpose for living
  
• Confess your calling for service
  
• Confess your anointing for power
  
• Confess words that defeat the devil
  
• Confess your financial prosperity so your needs are met (trust God - He will provide!!)
  
• Confess your leadership abilities to stop what Satan steals from you
  
• Confess a warrior's oath to wage war against the demons attacking you (I like that one!!!)

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "

Matthew 4:10

Dialogue with God

As you were going home from church on Sunday morning you heard God say to you;

“Go to church tonight”

You reply – "But there’s a really good show on TV tonight that I wanted to watch"

“Come to my House tonight” God stated again

“God, I’ve already been to You’re House today, how much time do you want me to spend with You?”

“Forever!” God replied, “if you want to be with Me for eternity, you have to convinced Me that you do – but if you’d prefer the world, you can have that instead”

©S.A.S. Productions 2008
Simon Mapleback

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy"

Exodus 20:8

Laughter

Feel like a good laugh today?

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."

Genesis 21:6

Salvation - more than you think!

On Sunday 16th of March at 6pm there is an enrolment of a Senior Soldier at Macleod Salvation Army Corps in Melbourne of 18 year old girl. If you're around, feel free to drop in.

I just stopped to think back to the time I joined the fight with the Salvation Army. I had grown up in the Salvation Army so it was the natural next thing to do - but that's not what it was about for me, I remember saying in my testimony - "I WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD"!

Once my life is over, I don't necessarily want to be remembered, but I want to have left the world better than when I entered into it. By declaring that I'm in the fight by becoming a Soldier put me in a position where I could do that. How you might say?

The Salvation Army was raised by the hand of God to hit the world like a meteor and leave a crater - make an impact. That is in the form of hitting peoples hearts by the lead of the Holy Spirit so they will see that they can live a life of freedom in Jesus and hence live an eternally beautiful life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

It goes deeper than that, that's just the tip of the iceberg. You might think that once we have received Jesus' salvation that's all we need - really? Your not living much of a life then are you!!

Once we receive this salvation, and are baptised into the Holy Spirit we take on the great commission, step into a role that changes the world, a role that can set the captive free - physically but also spiritually, heal the sick, breathe life into dry bones by bringing words of life or prophecy into someones life that may be dry or without hope.

We can approach and fight injustice, people are all loved by God the same, how can one person suffer while another sits in a lovely million dollar house and get served by a servant, even a child getting bullied in a school yard by a group of other kids, that must break that kids spirit and it doesn't just stop there, the parents by their natural protective spirit must break their hearts.

We can stop sinning and live a sanctified life - believe it? Don't believe you can experience living a life just as you would in Heaven while still on Earth? Move further into the Spirit.

This could become a very long entry, so I'll stop here - you get the picture.

Heart to God, hand to man. We need to make a difference, stop worrying about yourself, there are people that you can lift up and encourage today, maybe even give them the gift of salvation!

"My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm."

Isaiah 51:5

Lag or Log phase?

In microbiology there is things that are called log and lag phases in growth rates.

The log phase is when the growth of a microorganism is optimal in it's surroundings and they multiply very rapidly. The lag phase is when the resources are running out and the numbers reach their peak before they start dying off.

Many churches seem to have moved into a lag phase, figuratively speaking, where we have grown in the past, used up all our resources without replenishing them (ie soldiers who don't tithe) and the church is growing tired because there are only a few that do all the work while the others seem to just sit around and watch.

Last night we had our youth Bible study where we are looking at what we can do to grow the church, take responsibility of it and grow disciples. If we all did what we are called to do, we will work perfectly together as a body works - hence be the body of Christ. Parts of the body don't use all the resources, but they must work together since if one part of the body suffers, all suffer together.

If we all saved 2 people every year, in 20 years, half the number of the present population will be saved!!

Unity, is the key for the church to thrive. Ideally, if everyone had the attitude of putting in and not just taking and using all the resources that the church has to offer, but rather thought what can we offer to resource the church, it would all run itself, smoothly.

Let's put the church back into the 'log' growth phase again, growing and healthy. Surround the church with health and nutrients, prayer and service.

"Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

Acts 2:41

What's in a name?

How did you find salvation?

What happened on that glorious day to allow you to find the Saviour of the World?

I just happened to find some books the other day I didn't even realise I had and they fell open to a page that blew me away. I'll blog more about this over the coming days, but it made me wonder - how do real people in real life situations get saved - that is you - please take a few moments to comment to let me know how you did.

I just happened to open an Evangeline Booth book today entitled "Toward a Better World" and read on page 226-227

"His Name, Jesus, or Joshua -'Jehovah the Saviour' - is declared to be no mere name, or indicative of some abstract truth, or of some principle to be developed relation to His history. Nay, Jehovah's people are His people, and He therefore is Jehovah the Saviour, He is the full reality of His Name;

HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS.

His name is incomparable. God, the Creator has named Him; has given Him a name 'above every name'; and at that name 'every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord the glory of God the Father

THOU SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS

Care must be exercised in the interpretation of Shakespeare's immortal question, 'What's in a name?' if the answer is t be given with any semblance of discrimination or judgement"

and goes on... on page on 230-231 it continues with

"This Name has lifted a flaming torch wherever it has travelled, and has illumined the bitter darkness of heathendom with light of revelation. It has abolished the inhuman practices of heathen worship. It has broken the cords that bound the girl-widow to the funeral pyre... with a blaze which all the powers of sin and Hell never can extinguish."

Wow - Hallelujah

Tell the world today, and tomorrow.

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins"

Mathew 1:21

Rwanda Video & Divisional Youth Meeting

I've just put a short clip of my time in Rwanda onto this blog, but it's showing up as a blog from the 29th of March, so scroll down and have a look.

Last night we had our first Divisional Youth meeting for the year and it was at my Corps - Glenroy. We had a great time of worshipping our Great God in freedom. We didn't have as many as we did last year but it was still a great night.

We got to officially meet our new assistant DYS Captain's Phil and Naomi Sheldon. I got to share a bit about my trip to Africa and Major Mim Adams gave us the message about 'stop talking the talk unless you start walking the walk' - good stuff Mim!

A lot of good stuff is happening, and a new blog is on it's way too for all you passionate Jesus people who need to be fed more each day - so keep posted for that. (If you're observant, you may get a sneak peak!)

Keep up fighting the good fight, and don't keep Jesus to yourself - He is for everyone, so tell the world that Jesus lives today!!

"The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love."

Psalm 33:5

Huge demons - do they exsist?

Some more about hell and demons - knowledge that's not necessary for your salvation, but good reasons to stay away from hell - therefore you might just want to be saved!!


"Some have asked me, does the Bible support demons that are 12 or 13 feel tall? On a tape series by Chuck Missler, he gives an explanation for the height of some of the demons I saw in hell. He speaks of the portion in the Book of Genesis that describes 'giants on the earth,' which came about as a result of the fallen angels that slept with women and bore children who were called 'mighty men' (Gen 6:2-4)

He also refers to Jude, which talks about angels (fallen) who didn't stay within their proper domain, but who left their abode and gave themselves over to sexual immorality. 'the remnant of the giants' is mentioned in Deuteronomy 3:11 where it specifically calls out a man whose iron bed was approx. 13.5 feet long.

I'm sure you have heard the story of David and Goliath. Goliath was over 9 feet tall, and he wasn't' alone. The Bible says that Goliath had four other brothers, all giants, and one even had 12 fingers and 12 toes (6 per hand and 6 per foot). (see 2 Sam 21:20!)

It is reasonable to conclude that the unusually large size of men was a direct result of contact with the fallen angels. The fallen angels themselves were probably also very large. These evil angels were cast down to hell as mentioned in Jude 6-7 and 2 Peter 2:4."

From "23 minutes in Hell" by Bill Wiese pp 125-126


I personally have heard of a few of my friends who have 'warrior' angels protecting them which are approx 10 feet tall also and these guys are bold in their faith - I wonder why?!!

In my street ministries I have come across such angels also. To explain before I go on, one of my strongest Spiritual gifts is discernment which allows me to 'see' into the spiritual realm.

One night we were in Werribee around the 'Volt' nightclub on street ministry and I sensed a huge demon in the upper corner inside the night club and it had a smaller demon with it that was trying to impress the larger demon and I knew some trouble was about to erupt. Within 2 minutes 2 guys came out punching the lights out of each other!!

Demons love causing trouble, but here I sensed the presence of a very large demon with a smaller one also - the smaller still being about a normal mans height, if not slightly larger.

Hell is filled with these terrible, huge, ugly, pure evil beings. Do you want to share your eternal accommodation with them?? If not, make sure you're right with God today.

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior"

Titus 3:4-6