Fighting for the cause!

Fighting to TRUST Him

2007-01-31T15:29:00.000+11:00

I'll walk with You

Wherever You go

Through tears and joys

I'll trust in You

And I will live in all of you ways

Your promises forever

- All I am Reuben Morgan

Lately there have seemed to be alot of things in my life that have been uncertain for me and I have to tell you that it's a scary place to be when so much uncertainty is over your head. I've felt a mixture of confusion, heartache, pain, fear, etc as I've seemed to fumble my way through each day wondering if I would get the answers to the many questions I had to do with where my life is at right now. Tonight one word struck me...TRUST!!

I've had a lot of people break my trust in my life...I've been in relationships that have ended with me getting my heart broken...abused physically and emotionally...left feeling completely lost and alone...I've had uncertainties about career choices...I've had struggles in my family...I've had friends hurt me and stab me in the back...but then I found God and this one thing I know...my God is FAITHFUL!! I will walk with Him wherever He goes. Through tears, confusion, pain, heartache, joy, blessings, rewards...through everything I face...I will walk with Him and TRUST in Him because He is the most trustworthy of any being. I will live in His ways because His way is the ONLY way! I will live holding on to His promises because they are many and He never breaks even the smallest of them. He has too much to lose by breaking a promise so I have every confidence that He will never fail me!

He is my maker. He is my Lord. He is my salvation. He is my light. He is my strength. He is my confidence. He is my straight path. He is my provider. He is my assurance. He is my clarity. He is my all in all and for Him my all I will offer!

Fighting to FLY!!

2006-12-06T16:25:00.000+11:00

Well it's been a while since I've written a blog...so here's a new one...I know you were all on the edge of your seats waiting...so without further ado...here's what God's been sharing with me lately...

Get out your Bible and turn to Psalm 62:1-2; 5-8 or if you're lazy like me, or if you don't have a Bible click on the link (BTW...if you don't have a Bible please message me and I'll get you one!!) ...

A few nights ago a friend of mine gave me this passage...there's lots of things lately that I've been stressing about...things I've been unsure about...things I've felt disillusioned with...but through it all the only thing I could think was 'I love Jesus...and I just want to serve Him!!' And I've gotta tell you, with that feeling comes alot of frustration when you feel that there are things or means that stop you doing that the way you desire to do it!

In the last 2 weeks I've preached in 2 different youth churches...my own here at my church, and another one I was asked to preach at over at Bonnells Bay...both places I spoke about being free and unobstructed...(see previous blog). Funny thing is, there's still so much in my life that I've been looking at and thinking "GOD...I JUST WANNA BE FREE!!!! I just wanna serve YOU God...no matter what the cost"...all I TRULY want is to serve God with all my heart!! But there are things that I feel are obstructing me along the way.

Sunday night we didn't have night church so I went to a church not far from here called Coastlife. It's almost like a mini Hillsong. I wanted to go somewhere where I didn't know anyone...where I could just sink into the back row and hear from God...completely unobstructed. I prayed before I went in. I'd borrowed a friends car so I drove around for a bit with REMA FM blaring worship songs (remembering not to close my eyes as I worshipped while I drove hahaha)...I just drove and prayed "God, tonight I want to experience FREEDOM and I wanna be UNOBSTRUCTED!" I drove into the carpark and called my dad...(I love my dad SO much!!) and he prayed with me...we asked God to speak to me and answer my prayers!

Well, you'll NEVER guess what the preacher, Margie, spoke about!! She spoke about freedom and being UNCONTAINED!! Phwar!! How awesome is our God!! I wrote down LOADS of notes and then met her afterwards to share where I was at, cause I just completely believe that God had me there to hear her message...and I wanted to pray with her. So I told her a bit about where I was at and she prayed with me. It was so great! God really ministered to my heart!

This week I've been feeling SO much closer to God and honestly, I've felt so much more freedom in the time I've been spending with Him. Anyway, back to this Psalm. I read this Psalm and the word 'ALONE' kept jumping out at me...humour me here...go back and read it and when you read it emphasise the word ALONE...my soul finds rest in You ALONE...He ALONE is my rock and my salvation...how often do we put things, people, programs, careers, ideas before God. One of the things that Margie said on Sunday night was "Your freedom can NEVER EVER be gained by a substitute. GOD ALONE is your ticket to freedom!"

When things are hard, God ALONE is your comfort! When you feel weak and heavy laden, God ALONE is your rock! When you feel lost, God ALONE is your salvation! When you're afraid, God ALONE is your safe place! When you're in danger, God ALONE is your refuge! God ALONE!! No substitutes! GOD ALONE is your ALL in ALL!

I can't tell you how much freedom I felt in reading that and emphasising that one simple word 'alone'. It's easy to sit down and think about all the great things that we can do in God's Name...and alot of the time those things will seem noble and God-honouring. But when you say to God "You ALONE are my all in all!" And you really mean it...and you give everything over to Him...EVERYTHING...not holding ANYTHING back from Him...you'll start to find where God REALLY wants you. You'll start to discover what His purpose really is. You'll begin to understand why at times He says 'not just yet my child' or maybe 'no'.

Something else Margie said on Sunday night..."To become a butterfly you must want to fly so bad that you're willing to give up being a caterpillar." If you want freedom...if you want to live an uncontained life...if you want to serve God with ALL your heart...then you need to let go of the things that are weighing you down...they may not all be bad things...they may involve not taking on so many responsibilities, even the God-honouring ones, so that you can focus on the key areas and allow yourself to soar in those areas. Don't think that God can't and won't find someone else to replace you in the things you let go of, be it a church program, a job, a leadership role etc...He's got it all planned out and if He's saying "Let go of that and focus on this" then He's got the rest mapped out and you just need to let go and let God take control so that you can fly and so that others can fly too!

So, I say this to you...my readers...tehehe...LET GO AND LET GOD! Experience freedom in God ALONE! Experience a life uncontained in God ALONE! Look for all that you need in Him and watch as He gives strength to your wings and you begin to soar like a mighty eagle or fly like a delicate and inctricately designed butterfly...FLY! BE FREE IN HIM!

Fighting to be UNOBSTRUCTED

2006-11-11T18:12:00.000+11:00

Just wanted to share some stuff...the challenges in my life right now...

God's been challenging me heaps of late...yesterday I had all these thoughts going round in my head and I started to just write it all out in an email to a friend...after I pressed send I felt God say "Turn off the computer and just sit with Me!" I was sitting there reading over my sermon for youth church next weekend and it didn't feel right and so I'd been trying to figure out how to change it and I just felt God say "STOP! Just turn the computer off and SIT WITH ME!!" So I did...I grabbed a blanket and my Bible, journal and a pen and went and sat under a tree outside and waited on God. My friend wrote me an awesome email the other day and had said that he hoped that I would live a free and unobstructed life for God...that word UNOBSTRUCTED just sat in my mind and God began to chip away at me listing things that were obstructing me from having the relationship with Him that I know He wants me to have...I won't share them all...but 2 things that I felt strong about was my internet and TV...I'm cutting off my internet at home and I'm packing my TV up...I am so desperate to be like Jesus and I so much want to pursue all that He has for me but I'm blocking Him from doing it completely because I spend too much time on the Internet or watching TV...so God said 'If you want Me bad enough those things have gotta go!!' So that's it...they're going! There are other things to work on too...and I'm working at that...I'm expecting a hard road to get there...but if I want it bad enough I've gotta persevere through all that will hit me while I'm trying to get there (that's a little thing called LIFE...cause I'll be on this journey forever of course)

So, since yesterday God's taken me to 3 different passages that speak about obstructions of some kind...so I wanna share them with you and hopefully challenge you as well...

1. POSSESSIONS: Acts 2:42-47...verse 45 says "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as as he had need"

You wanna live a life free and unobstructed? Get rid of the possessions that are blocking you. The fellowship of believers in the Acts 2 church sold everything...they got rid of everything material and lived a life that was completely about their relationship with God and the fellowship they had with the people, and as a result verse 47 tells us that the Lord added to their number DAILY those who were being saved...!! I'm not saying God's telling you to sell everything and live in a cardboard box...although, maybe He is...who knows...lol...but what I'm saying is that offering everything to God is about saying "God, thank you for these things that I've been blessed with...I want to use them for Your purpose!" That means being wise about the way you use them and the time that you invest in using them...use them, don't abuse them! Give it up for His glory!

2. RELATIONSHIPS: Genesis 22:1-19

God tells Abraham to go sacrifice his only son who he'd waited FOREVER for!! Without a second thought, Abraham takes his son and gets ready to make the sacrifice...but at the last minute God stops him! He could see that Abraham was willing and that's all He wanted to see. In Abrahams situation all God wanted to see was that He had it in him to take that step....and he did. But, sometimes God asks us to give up a friendship and he doesn't stop us. Maybe you're holding onto a relationship or a friendship that you know is not helpful for you...it's obstructing you from God. Maybe your excuse is 'But, I can bring them to God'...but what if God can see that that's just not going to happen...maybe He doesn't want you to show them...maybe that's for someone else...maybe that relationship/friendship is only going to do you harm in the end. Trust me...don't hold onto it long enough to see it eat away at your relationship with God! It's hard to walk away...it'll hurt...you'll be sad...you might cry...it'll be such a difficult time for some of you...but that'll be temporary...better now than later...and it's better to let go of that earthly relationship than it will be to lose the relationship with your Creator!

3. CHURCH: Matthew 21:12-17

Jesus walks into the temple and he turns tables and benches and says:

"It is written," 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

Jesus is totally crushed and absolutely furious that the people made the church what they did! Corruption, money making, ripping people off..."MADNESS" you're probably thinking...but what do you think He'd say if He walked into our churches today? As the church...the body of believers...we've put so many obstructions in the church...religion, rituals, music, icons...it's all become very political...we haven't made it much better than these people did. So the challenge is, how do we break down those barriers and obstructions so that we can work on our relationship with God and allow others who come to our 'church' to do the same?!

It doesn't have to be as complicated as we make it sound...if we're desperate enough, and want to dig deep enough to live a free and unobstructed life then the answer is '...let us throw off everything that hinders..." (Hebrews 12:1)

So...the challenge God's given me through this friend of mine sharing his hopes for me...and through my time of sitting still with God...and what I want to share with you is this...get rid of EVERYTHING that's obstructing you from living a life that's totally free in Him and a life that's totally unobstructed...just sit and BE WITH HIM! No distractions...nothing in your way...it's about YOU and HIM...and it's about the others that He'll have you meet...do that and watch Him add to our numbers DAILY those who are being saved! And don't just make a special time on a specific day in your week or month...every day continue to take time to be still with Him!...Dig deeper!! Keep pushing for more of Him!

Bless you all loads...and thanks for allowing me to share with you in this way! Sorry if I don't see some of you much on line anymore cause I won't have internet at home anymore...

Fighting for what's really important!

2006-10-26T16:29:00.000+10:00

I've been getting a litte frustrated of late at petty arguments and excuses within the church. Now, let me just clear up that I enjoy being a part of my 'church', if that's the right word...although my view is changing and I dont really like to use that word for the Sunday meeting...I think that church can be anywhere...it's not about what we do on a Sunday morning...it's about what we, as the body of believers (which, by the way, IS the church), do every day of the week...anywhere you are you can make church happen...but for the purpose of this blog I will still use the word 'church' because it's what we've always used to talk about that place we go on a Sunday and maybe on occassion during the week...so anyway...lets not get too side-tracked...

My biggest frustration of late is that we've lost sight of what we're doing here...what our purpose and mission is...what's really important! We're no longer focussing on the important stuff, we're talking instead about 'How do I make 'church' work so that I can enjoy it?'...instead of asking 'What can I give God today and who can I reach out to today?' There are so many things that we've turned into our idols. For the older generation and even many of the young people in my particular denomination, the brass band is their idol. I read a comment just yesterday where someone was bold enough to say 'We've always had the brass band in the Salvos...take them away and what have we got?' What a question!! I read that and was SO shocked! I gotta tell ya, we're NOT the brass band! If that's all there is to the Salvos then lets throw the towel in now and stop while we still can! If that's the only reason we come to church then we're better off not going at all!!

Then there are those who complain tirelessly about the fact that they want to come to church and hear more modern music. PEOPLE!! WAKE UP!! I'm tired of these petty arguments going round in circles...let me say one more time..WORSHIP IS NOT A MUSIC STYLE!! IT'S A LIFE STYLE!! If all you think about on a Sunday or during the week is how much you dislike the brass or contemporary band then you're not really doing church...you're here for a music show...in which case I believe that channel 10 has video hits on a Sunday morning and you may as well stay home and watch that...or sit on your front porch and listen to the radio or your fave CD.

I'm not going to apologise for being too harsh or straight to the point...it needs to be said...I tell you what, if Jesus walked into our church today (by the way, He IS in our church today) then I think instead of turning tables He'd be unplugging our mics, kicking the drum kit and trashing the brass band chairs and music stands and saying 'WHY ARE YOU WORSHIPPING MUSIC?!?!?!?!' I'm over it...come on...you all know the song 'Heart of worship'...you've sung it a million times...it's been done by the contemporary bands and in our church the brass band even has an arrangement...but STILL no one gets the message...

'I'm coming back to the HEART OF WORSHIP and it's ALL ABOUT YOU...its all about YOU JESUS!!'

Is it? Is it really about Him? Are you arguing about music and bands and styles and traditions and what should be in and out because you're worried that it's not bringing glory to God...?? Or are you arguing about it to try to satisfy your own wants and desires and what you want to hear on a Sunday?

I hear people say that new people won't come if we have boring music...I'm sorry but I think thats ABSOLUTE RUBBISH!! Do you know why I think people dont come, or if they do come, why they don't come back? Because we suck at relationships! We're so busy arguing and trying to have things our own way that we forget to follow someone up...we don't bother to invite them to a small group where the most impact and growth happens...we close the door on our cell groups and say 'Sorry we're full'...we get so involved in our clicky groups that we don't have time to welcome a stranger...we go out and play in the community and we have 'supporters' come from the church, but do they talk to people or do they set up their chair and just watch the 'show'? People don't walk out of our churches thinking 'Gee, that music sucked' ...they walk out thinking 'That was awkward cause I didn't know anyone and no one came and talked to me!'

I dont want you to write back to this blog...I dont want any of your comments...what I want you to do is to get down on your knees, turn off your so called 'worship' music and repent...ask God to change your attitude...as I so often have to ask Him to change mine...I'm most certainly NOT expempt from this...start doing church the way that Jesus did it...meet people...don't wait for the church pews to fill up...stop warming your pew, it's warm enough...get up and really do church...meet people and give them the message that's going to change their life forever! Stop getting into petty arguments about what music or style is appropriate...and also about what church is better...that's stupid and we're not here to rip our brothers and sisters in Christ down because they have different ideas and styles or because it scares you that their church has 3000 instead of 300...start focussing on the reason we're here...and if you're not here for that reason then you need to re-evaluate what you're doing in the brass band, the ensemble, or even your Salvo uniform...or whatever the equivelant is in whatever church you're from...Are you more committed to the Salvos or your denomination than you are to God? Remember that the your 'church' was inspired by God but put together by man...don't make it your idol...the only one you should be worshipping is GOD and Him ALONE! Don't get caught up in religion and all the stupid rituals that God would rather throw out the window if it meant you'd focus on Him more...that's the reason people are scared to come...hypocricy, strict rules, clicky groups, uniforms, styles...they're all barriers that we're putting up between God and the unsaved!! We, the church, the body of believers, are creating barriers for people who don't know Jesus!! It's time to pull our socks up and get real...break down the barriers and ask God 'What can I give you today...and who can I reach for you!'

Music Camp Pranksta!

2006-10-08T23:40:00.000+10:00

So I just got back from a week long Music Camp for Salvos from NSW, QLD and ACT...split into Snr (17-30) and Jnr (12-17) camps...held at the beautiful Collaroy, right near the beach...I haven't been to a Music Camp in 9 yrs so it was interesting going back as staff...was a little worried but it turned out to be the most AWESOME week!

Ok...so let me tell you about my favourite boys at camp. Travis and Jamie...my boys!! They're the bomb!! My official role at camp was Pastoral Care...running Bible Studies in Snr and Jnr Camps and helping run activities and camp devotions etc...but I also had the awesome privilege of helping Trav and Jamie run Drama...and MAN, I had the BEST week EVER!!

So, to continue with my story, I need to tell you about Kirsty...Kirsty is also incredible...an awesome woman of God with a FANTASTIC sense of humour...and who could forget Jade and Stuart...our awesome partners in crime!!

This is the story...I got back to camp on Thursday afternoon from shopping in free time and Travis and Jamie were painting boxes for drama...I had offered to help if I was back in time but was running late...so, with my shopping bags in tow and walking down a steepish hill, I called to Travis and asked if they'd finished...he ran over to me with a paint roller full of black paint...it all happened very quickly...he tried to paint me so I was pushing him away and my hands were full of paint (I had to drop my bags)...then he got his brother to help pin me down on the road and he painted my WHOLE face black! To top it off, he took a pic of me then when I went to wash it off there were hoards of campers near my room...so they all saw me and laughed...

It was PAY BACK time...yes, Travis, thats right...pay back sux!!

So, Kirsty and I enlisted the help of Jamie (cause he was sleeping in the same room as Travis) and we got into his room and short-sheeted his bed, stole one shoe, his toothbrush, toothpaste and his blue toothpaste/brush holder...oh and his PJ pants...little did we know how particular Travis is...this just added to the hilarity of it all...so that night Travis was most distressed when he realised his missing items because he never looses anything...over the next few days he was starting to cotton on to Kirsty and I thinking that we were in on it...(which of course we were)...

BUT...the best opportunity came up to continue the prank when Jamie told me that during a pray time with himself, Travis and Jade, Travis had said that they should pray for his toothbrush and shoe to be returned...so thats what we did...we put the shoe and toothbrush back on his bed under the covers and left this note:

My dearest Travis...

Your prayers have been answered...the safe return of your shoe and toothbrush. To be honest, one shoe was getting a little hard to walk on and I have a strictly 'no sharing' toothbrush policy.

I am, however, glad that you didn't ask for the rest back...your pants are very comfy, my breath smells minty fresh and my favourite colour is blue.

Enjoy your shoe and toothbrush.

God

PS...Sheets are getting shorter these days don't you agree?!

hahahahaha...go on, laugh...you know its HILARIOUS!!

So, he started asking questions, of course...he was on our case...but there was still about 3% of doubt in his mind that it wasn't me and Kirsty, so we decided we would go with that 3% and the prank must go on!!

This morning, the last morning of camp, was the grand finale with only the PJ pants and toothpaste and holder to return...so, last night we enlisted the help of another staff member, the awesome and funny Stuart (Stu)...Stu pulled the Salvo flag down for us so that we could hoist Travis' Pj pants up the flag ready for this morning's events...we got up in time for breakfast and when we got to the dining hall Kirsty and I took the toothpaste and holder to the breakfast staff and asked them to serve it on Travis' breakfast plate when he arrived...

It was all set...but unbenownst to us, Travis went to the beach for a swim that morning, so our plans were a little warped, but still equally as effective...he got to breakfast and, as planned, was served bacon, eggs, toast and his toothpaste and blue holder...he stood there in the most shocked and confused state...it was hilarious! As the lady serving stated: 'He looked at me as if I had two heads or something...he had no idea what was going on' hahahahahaha...then one of the campers ran in and in a loud voice shouted 'HEY...WHAT'S THAT UP THE FLAG POLE!?!?!' (this was planned of course...) so we all assembled outside where Stu was ready with his cornet playing 'The Banner Song' while we saluted the flag and waited for Travis to discover his pants...

Like the good sport that he is, Trav had a good giggle, took his pants down, put them on, rehoisted the flag, saluted, and continued on...

A prank well done!! And he still drove me home...Trav, if you're reading this, you're a champion...a true good sport...but I must warn you...be prepared for bigger and better things next year!! hahahaha...miss you brother!! lol

THE END!!

Fighting to encourage - Part 2 - THE VICTORY!

2006-08-16T23:15:00.001+10:00

Ok...so if you haven't read my last blog, scroll down and read it before this one! :D

This is part 2 - the victory!!

Today the lady mentioned in the previous blog met with my Senior Pastor to let him know that she was feeling really bad and extremely remorseful for the situation on Sunday morning. WOW!! God did some healing work ALL ROUND since then :D...a change in heart from this lady...and also total encouragement for the team last night!! DOUBLE VICTORY!!

So...you see, this is what happens when you don't let the enemy get the better of you...you beat him so he doesn't beat you!! You turn it around and smack the enemy down!! WOOHOO!! PRAISE GOD!! Keep up the encouragement guys...it won't only be you and the others you encourage that will receive the blessing, but behind the scenes God will work on the hearts of those who may have first got you down...He will build you AND them up...what a gracious God we serve :D

(Short and sweet Dave :D That deserves another comment I say! lol)

Fighting to encourage!

2006-08-15T23:21:00.000+10:00

Well...what a week it's been! On Sunday morning we had some conflict at church when the ensemble were practising and someone wasn't enjoying it too much and said some really hurtful things that shook the team up a bit! It was a horrible experience! BUT...I'm all about turning things on their head at the moment! And satan...WATCH OUT!!

So, tonight I cancelled practice and asked everyone to come without their instruments. I bought everyone a little wooden frame and in it I made up a little card that had a pic of praying hands and the quote "I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all about you...it's all about you Jesus!" Then I shared devotions with the team. I based it around 1 Peter 5:10...
1. Be humble: (v6) Rather than focusing on what's wrong with the person in question, ask yourself, How can I best handle this situation? How can I show grace in this situation? and What would Jesus do?
2. Cast your cares on Him: (v7) The road is hard and the journey is tough, but Jesus is there to hold our hand. Just give Him your cares...and leave them with Him because only He can handle them!
3. Don't let satan win! (v8-9) The enemy wants nothing more than to win this battle! We can't let him! If you feel discouraged, turn it around, focus on the positive things. If you feel inadequate, turn it around, focus on the gifts and talents God gave you! If you feel bitter towards someone, turn it around, pray for the heart to love them and show them grace, and pray for what might be troubling that person. Don't let satan have the victory!
4. A life that reflects a heart of worship: Worship is a lifestyle not a music style! As Darlene Zscech says in her book "Extravagant Worship", Worship is neither a ritualistic activity nor a musical emotion. It embodies and reflects the selfless generosity of Christ. Worship is a movement of our hearts, our thoughts, and our wills toward God's heart, thoughts and will."

After I shared devos we went around the circle and one by one the team encouraged each person individually. Then we prayed for that person. It was so uplifting and such a great opportunity to turn this situation around and sock it to the enemy!! I asked a good friend to sit at a table while the encouragement etc was happening and write down everything so that I can type everyones encouragement up and send it to them in the mail...just so no one forgets :D

Our team is an all aged group. So we have people in their 40's and up and we also had a few 15 yr olds and a couple of 10 yr olds even. Not one person missed out on being encouraged, being prayed for, or being an encourager to someone else! It was so great! So I want to encourage you...take the time every now and then to encourage someone. Make every effort to spur one another on! (Hebrews 10)

Fighting to be with Him

2006-08-11T11:29:00.000+10:00

Ok...it's been WAY too long since I blogged...and Dave you better comment on this because in a record breaking post this is going to be SHORT!! :D lol

I have my home page set on the Daily Bread So everytime I turn my computer on at work and open an internet page it comes up. The other day God gave me a real kick in the pants when I read the devotion for the morning. Basically the writer (David C. McCasland) spoke about being real. He referred to the passage in Revelation 3 where the Lord confronts the First Church of Sardis. He says this in verses 1-2

"I know your works, that you have a name, that you are alive...but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God."

Wow...what a kick up the bum that was. I need to tell you that lately I have been feeling a little discouraged by alot of things in ministry. Actually, at times, A LOT discouraged! As a result of that I've often gone home tired and worn out and sat in front of the TV or sat on the internet and not spent real quality time with God. At times I've even heard God's still and quiet voice whispering in my ear 'Jodi, turn it off and spend time with me!' And so often I've ignored that whisper with an excuse...'I'm too tired Lord!'

When I read the Daily Bread I really felt God saying to me 'You're a Youth Pastor...and I know the things you're doing...I know you have a name...I know you're still doing good works...but are they my works? Are you giving them to me? Are you really alive...or are you dying?' I don't think I'm dead but what I do know is that I need to be watchful and strengthen the things that remain before they die...before I get so consumed in the discouraging things that I forget the encouraging things!

What a challenge...are you alive? Really alive...!?

Fighting to Invest

2006-06-23T16:36:00.000+10:00

Parable of the Talents - Matthew 25:14-30

Last Sunday night I was sitting at home and had just pressed play on my DVD when the phone rang. It was 10:00 at night…It was my good friend Nath. He called to tell me that he’d been diagnosed with cancer. Nath’s only 20! I was devastated for him!!

Last night I went shopping and I went to get my nails done. There was a table set up and two guys that looked like salesmen standing near Gloria Jeans and all I could think was ‘Don’t make eye contact!!’ But I did by accident and one of them stopped me. As I walked towards him I thought “Ok, be polite, let him finish and then make up an excuse about why you can’t afford whatever gimmick he’s about to try and sell you!” I started to try and think of an excuse and then I looked at the logo on his shirt…it was the Cancer Foundation. Now, normally, I might have still tried to think of an excuse…as selfish as that sounds…but this time I had a fresh open wound and I couldn’t think of one…my friend Nath had just had surgery on Monday to remove cancer and that’s just the START of his ordeal. He’ll have to have some kind of treatment…and as I stood there listening to this guy I just kept thinking in my head “I would pay ANYTHING…ANYTHING…for Nath not to have to go through this!! Name your price…I would pay it!!”

One of the things this guys said to me was “You know, everyone wants to see Cancer cured…everyone wants it to go away…everyone is happy to see the research done…but no one will invest in it!” I couldn’t help but feel guilty that 5 mins earlier I was trying to come up with an excuse to not give money…and here I was going to get my nails done…so he wasn’t just asking for a one-off donation…he was asking for a long term sponsor…I was asked to sign up to pay $30 a month to invest into cancer research. On the form it asked me if I was doing this in honour of someone and I said that it was in honour of Nath! I figured this was something worth investing in!!

All this got me thinking today…what do I invest in? Yesterday I pledged $30 a month to invest financially into the cancer foundation…but do I invest in the cancer patient enough? Today I spent $200 of my own money getting the canteen stuff for youth group…so I invested financially into the youth group…but do I invest into the Youth Grouper enough? I tithe my 10%...so I invest into God’s house…but do I invest in God enough? And that’s the question I want to ask you...What are you investing in? Are you only investing in the things that interest you and spreading yourself too thin in the things that really matter? As I walked away from the guy from the Cancer Foundation last night I couldn’t help but wonder how many people have the means to invest into such a worthwhile cause, but cling so tight to their money that they never invest it into anything that might help someone else.

God sent His only Son to this earth to invest in each one of us…His ONLY Son…that’s quite a big investment don’t you think? But how much time do we invest in Christ? Or do we spend lots of time investing in Christ, but not enough time investing in His people…the ones He wants us to reach? How much time do we spend investing into our church programs? The ones that are falling apart because of lack of investment…How much money do we invest into the church? Do we tithe regularly to see our church flourish and make sure we have the things that we need to have to keep running?

The way that I see it…if I didn’t sign up to support the cancer research yesterday someone else would have…but that’s $30 a month that they wouldn’t have if I hadn’t signed up. But, it’s not all about the money…it’s about my attitude and what I’m willing to invest in. Do I tell Nath that I feel sorry for him and do the whole “I wish there was something I could do” and then not take that seriously and invest into the research that could make him better? Do I expect the rewards God has to offer and yet not take the time to invest in Him? Do I expect to come to church or youth group and have the best of everything and yet not tithe and invest financially into it? What do I see as important enough to invest in? People, things, churches, foundations…where are my priorities? Where are yours? What are you investing into?

Are you like the servant in the parable of the talents who buried his talent and didn’t do anything with it? Or are you like the servant who had 5 or 2 talents and invested it wisely and saw it increase? Do you want to see growth and rewards? Do I want to see Nath better? Yes…so I invest into that! Do you want to reap rewards from God? Yes? Invest into Him then!! Fight to invest into all that God has planned for you!!

Fighting for JOY!!

2006-05-02T09:53:00.001+10:00

In the last couple of weeks I've been reminded of the Scripture in John 10:10 that says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." I've had an interesting few weeks personally. It's been a little tough and at times, a bit emotional and at times that's how I've felt...the enemy has been trying to steal from me. He was trying to steal my joy! And he almost succeeded...but thankfully, I worship a BIG God...!! But, it happens so easily doesn't it? Everything seems to be going so right and God seems to be at work in your life, and before you knnow it you are in some way being attacked. Ever questioned God about that? I have! And God answered with two words...be proactive!!

It's so easy to hand everything over to God and leave it there and not think about it...but have you ever noticed that sometimes things don't happen as you imagined they should have? Ask yourself this: "What have I done in this? Have I been proactive in helping my situation?" God doesn't want you to just give Him all your stuff and then walk away and expect roses and an easy life served on a silver platter. He gives you the means to help yourself. Yes, He walks beside you as you do it! Yes, He holds your hand. Yes, He helps you to do it. But if He did it ALL for you, you would learn nothing and you would never grow! James 1 says that when you face trials and temptations and testing you need to persevere...because if you can do that you will be mature and complete, not lacking anything!

So, how can you be proactive? Well, you're all going to be different. These are just things that have helped me...but from the start I'll say, keep an open mind and find the way that you best connect with God and go with that...cause it's not about doing what someone else does just because it worked for them...it's about having a real connection with God...make it personal!!

1. A whole day sitting with God! Listening...waiting...receiving... Have you ever thought of doing that and not had the time? Have you ever wanted to hang out with a friend for the day and then felt disappointed that they could have, but didn't make the time? Imagine how God feels when we find everything else to do and our day becomes so busy that we don't have time for Him? You know I think the last thing I want to hear anyone ever say to me is 'Sorry, I don't have time for you!' Can you relate to that? How would you feel if someone you loved with all your heart said that to you? Spending a whole day with God is a discipline...don't expect it to be easy...but you'll never know if you don't try! Start small...make it a half day! But whatever you do don't neglect that time you could be spending with God!! Make a point of doing it! Open your diary, choose a day you will stick to (it doesn't necessarily have to be something you do weekly...it could be something you do once a month...to spend a whole day talking to and hearing from God!)cross that day out of your diary...put a big FAT line through it! DON'T GO BACK ON IT! Commit to that day! You just don't know how big the blessings are going to be in doing it...and it may come on the day, or in the days and weeks after doing it...just stay open!

2. Hand your life to God - DAILY! This is something we so often take for granted. Once we give our lives to God He takes us and cares for us. But let me make something clear...first of all, God will ALWAYS honour your decision and committment to follow Him! And, nothing we do will ever be enough to get us to Heaven...we're not perfect! It doesn't matter how many hours you spend a week having devotions...reading your Bible...praying...it doesn't matter how many times in one day you share Jesus with people...what matters is how real and how deep your devotion to God really is! How often do you devote your life to God? Now this doesn't mean that you get on your knees everyday and pray 'Jesus, come into my heart today!' cause He's already there. But what it does mean is that you get on your knees every morning and pray 'God, this is YOUR day...I want YOUR will to be done in my day! I commit this day and my all to you TODAY!' Because everyday is a new day...it's a fresh start! You have another day here that you can be using for God! If you don't intentionally commit that day to Him then you risk making that day about you! At the end of everyday, end it on your knees praising God for everything He did in your day...for the blessings AND the trials! Remember, the trials are making us stronger! Praise Him for that! And also make that time a time when you can repent for the mistakes you might have made during the day! Hand your life over DAILY!

3. Sing some praise! This became something important to me in the last few weeks. I felt like I'd been served a few raw deals and it's been such an emotional roller coaster at times. But every night and every morning I've poured out my heart, my fears, my anxieties, my disappointments, my hurts...everything...to God. Then I spent time praising Him in song! I've had that old hymn stuck in my head that I'm sure you all know from Sister Act 2, 'His eye is on the sparrow' I've been singing it over and over..."Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely, and long for Heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion...my constant friend is He. His eye is on the sparrow...and I know He watches me! I sing because I'm happy...and I sing because I'm free. His eye is on the sparrow...and I know He watches me!" Puts everything in perspective huh? That song has spoken to me in so many ways in this last few weeks. The biggest thing that I've felt God say to me is 'I am CONSTANT!' That was so important for me to remember because in my life SO many people have let me down! I've been hurt...abused...used! I've been treated like absolute rubbish! But I know that I have a friend called Jesus who is CONSTANT! He is unchanging...He is ALWAYS there...He will NEVER fail me...He will NEVER hurt me...He will NEVER disappoint me! He is constant! I have to sing and praise Him for that! And I have to praise Him because someone else was touched by God and wrote those words all those years ago and when I don't know how else to express it that song is there and I can make that my prayer...find a song that speaks to you and make it your prayer! Let it speak to you! Make it your heartfelt act of worship to Him! Don't stay discouraged!

If you knew someone was trying to steal from you...break into your house...pick your pocket...slip money out of your bag when you weren't watching, you wouldn't let them do it would you? You'd call for help or you'd chase them and stop them! So, if you know that the enemy...satan...is trying to steal from you (and he almost always will be) then be proactive! Call on God for help! Chase the enemy away! Don't sit there and wait for it to happen...ask God FIRST for His help...then grab hold of His hand and run and fight WITH Him! Don't let satan steal your joy!!

Fighting for prayer!

2006-03-22T09:23:00.000+11:00

Ok...it's been some time since my last blog...again...there's just not enough hours in the day...and there probably would be if I'd write shorter blogs...but it's just not gonna happen...so forget about it...hahaha...but here's something God's been talking to me about in the last week...

A couple of weeks ago we had our DC (Divisional Commander...my Division is Central Coast/Newcastle...the Divisional Commander looks after all that :D...for all you non-Salvos...gosh our jargon gets confusing sometimes...sorry!) annnyyywaayy...our DC's came and led one of our services...the message was on Prayer...more specifically it was on persistant prayer...he said something that really didn't shock me as much as it maybe should have...and that scared me!! He said that in our Division prayer meetings are the least attended meetings out of all the meetings we hold! Woah...it feels horrible just writing that!! What's going on!??

Last week I tried to organise a prayer meeting in my church...granted it was a little late notice...but only 3 people came...we still prayed...because where 2 or 3 are gathered the Lord is there with them...but I was really disappointed that people just had no interest in making the effort to come. Do people have nothing to pray for? Do people think that they have it all figured out already? Do people think that there's nothing to thank God for? Do they think that there's no one to pray for? We have sick people in our church...we have empty seats...we have a building scheme...we have events coming up...YES...we have things to pray for!! So WHY AREN'T PEOPLE PRAYING??

Now, I don't doubt that people go home and pray in the comfort of their own homes, but there's a time for personal prayer and there's a time for gathering together as brothers and sisters in Christ and agreeing in prayer...being united in prayer...being encouraged through prayer...in Hebrews it says 'Do NOT give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another daily, and even more so as you see the Day approaching...' That Day when Jesus returns will come faster than you think...and what will God say to you on judgement day? In Matthew Jesus says that not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven...not everyone who says 'but I prophesied and healed people in your name' will enter the gates of Heaven...on that day God will say to so many people 'I never knew you...' WHY?? Because we did what we thought we should in His Name but we never prayed and asked Him to guide us...we never prayed and asked if God wanted us to do what we're doing...we never took the time to pray for our events...we just did them and said it was all in His Name...we never took the time to pray for healing people we sent them to a doctor and they got medical treatment and then we said 'it was in His Name'...we never took the time to pray about our new building...we just built it and said 'It was in His Name'...but the real relationship happens when you gather and pray...you take time to pray on your own and build your own personal relationship but what about gathering for prayer...

You know people get together all the time to have parties...not too long ago we had an engagement party at our church...a beautiful couple in church who are getting married soon...300 people were invited just to the engagement party...and you know what? I reckon almost all of them turned up...we got almost 300 people through our church doors for an engagement party and we couldn't get more than 3 people to come to our church and pray!! If our churches are not praying churches then there's something VERY WRONG!!

I'm reminded of that Matt Redman song...Heart of Worship...'I'm coming back to the heart of worship...and it's all about you...it's all about you, Jesus' When are we going to come back to the heart of worship and just stop planning our big events and planning our activities etc and just get together and pray? A church that prays together, stays together! If we're not praying we can organise whatever we like but pretty soon we're not going to see those things succeed...we can plan great youth groups...we can plan big fundraisers...we can have special weekends at church...we can do what we like because it's what we want...but if we're not including God...if we're not gathering to pray for this stuff...then it's all gonna fall flat on it's face...

In Isaiah 56:7 God says "...for my house will be called a house of prayer for ALL nations..." ...worried about people's reactions? worried about no one coming? worried that people are not gonna be interested? well read on...make His house a house of prayer because in verse 8 He says..."...I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered" ...He WILL bring more people...if you're not receiving it's because you're not asking...because in the Word of God it says "everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matt 7:8)...sometimes God says no...or wait...but you will receive an answer when you pray!!

I can't say this enough...if your church is not praying...if you're not gathering for prayer...if it's not an important part of your ministry...then you need to rethink what you're doing...get back to the HEART OF WORSHIP...make it ALL ABOUT HIM!!

Fighting to be a FORGIVER!!

2006-02-25T14:17:00.000+11:00

Wow...it really has been a long time since I've blogged...sorry about that...gosh, it's been SO crazy around here...but here we go...time to write a new blog...

Just recently I received an email that I had already received a year and a half ago...the email had a story with a petition attached...the petition was fake...but the story was true...it was a story about a 3 year old boy, Jamie, who was taken from a shopping centre in England by 2 10 year old boys, John and Robert...the boys took Jamie to a train track...along the way they tortured and beat him...they rubbed paint in his eyes...shoved batteries up his anus...that sounds terrible, but that's the harsh reality of what happened...after beating him and torturing him some more, the boys then left Jamie laying on the train tracks to die. Jamie's little tiny body was so badly beaten that his mother wasn't allowed to identify his body.

After several years in prison John and Robert were going to be let out and it was rumoured that they were going to live in Australia...they would be given complete anonymity so that they could start new lives and no one would ever know who they were. The purpose of the petition was to add you name and send it to as many people as you could so that the boys would be sent back to jail, and they wouldn't get a second chance. Well, I'm sure you can't believe that I didn't add my name to that list...and nor did I send it to anyone else...and I'm sure you can't believe I'm about to tell you that these boys deserve forgiveness.

I'm not a parent, so I have no idea how it would feel from a parents perspective to read that email and to feel your body fill with rage and disgust...I am an aunty though, and I do know that as an aunty that story makes me shudder and I feel afraid for my girls knowing that people have been so badly misguided in their lives...but I also know that the Lord has called us to forgive!

In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11(MSG) Paul tells us that we should forgive...infact he says in verses 6-8,

"...What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough. Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it. My counsel now is to pour on the love."

What John and Robert did was not ok!! I want you to know that in writing this I am not saying that it was ok that they did what they did...what I am saying is that these boys have suffered enough...and whether you agree or not doesnt really matter...the point is this...regardless of the circumstances, or of personal opinion...Christ has CALLED us to FORGIVE! It's not our right to say how we think another sinner should be punished...can you imagine if our sins were judged by another sinner?? NO THANKS!!

So, how do you forgive someone who has done something to you that is so terrible that it's scarred you for the rest of your life? My own family has been through that exact experience.

As a child my mum grew up in an alcoholic family. Her dad was an alcoholic and her mum came and went as she pleased. She had a brother and 3 sisters. They all experienced some really awful things...and as an adult now my mum carries those scars. As children my brother, my sister and I had to deal with all of that and what mum was going through and we had to grow up really quickly.

For a really long time I carried around a lot of unforgiveness. Unforgiveness towards my grandfather and grandmother…who are both dead now anyway…I used to think "Why would someone do that to my mother?" "How could someone do that to someone…and not just any person…but their own child!! WHY? HOW? There was no way I was going to forgive the man who robbed my mother of her childhood. There was no way I was going to forgive the woman who didn’t allow my mother to have a mother of her own that loved her and cared for her and protected her. No way!! I would have started a petition of my own to see them thrown into jail for the rest of their lives before I forgave them!

Over the years I’ve struggled with that so much. How did I deal with it? I held onto it. I threw God away. I let that unforgiveness boil up inside me and I didn’t let it out! I let it eat away at me until I started to mess up my own life and I started to do things that I really didn’t want to do, but I was angry and bitter…and I didn’t care. That’s what my life had become. Just a big cess pool of bitterness and unforgiveness and I was swimming in it…in fact it was getting deeper and I was starting to drown in it.

One day God broke all of that. I learnt to forgive my grandparents. Then I had to ask God to forgive me for holding such a grudge and then I had to learn to forgive myself. I had held onto it for long enough and releasing it, although it still hurts, made me feel like I could breathe again. My family will always carry around those scars. But a scar is only a mark to remind you of what’s already been healed. An open wound needs to be healed…if you don’t allow it to heal properly it will get infected and it will start to fester and it will cause all kinds of problems and you could end up losing a whole limb. You need to let it heal...ask God to help it heal...and it will become a scar...so it will always be there...you'll always remember that once it was an open wound...but you'll also see the evidence that what was once a hurt in your life has now been healed!!

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he clearly says ‘Ok…so you dealt with all the pain…I understand that…it wasn’t inflicted on me. I don’t pretend to understand all your pain and suffering. But what I DO understand is this…Christ has CALLED you…has ASKED you…has PLEADED with you…to forgive one another and live in harmony as the body of Christ should!’ Paul wasn’t Jesus. He wasn’t God. But he was given authority by God to speak the truth out and to remind his people of what they should do in Christ’s name. One of those things…forgive others.

Do you realise that in the Word of God it says that if you don’t forgive others you can’t be forgiven? Mark 11:25 in the Amplified Version says this:

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop."

If you want God to forgive you, you need to forgive others. How can you expect God to forgive you when you hold a grudge against someone else? You need to show the same grace to others that God has given to you through His Son Jesus Christ on the cross! No matter what you’re forgiving…whether it was because someone stabbed you in the back…said something hurtful…stole something…whatever it is. And you know what…some people will have no remorse for what they’ve done. They won’t want your forgiveness. But that doesn’t give you an excuse to harbour your unforgiveness. In your own heart, forgive that person. They might not care or even want to know. That’s ok. But you’re not gonna walk around for the rest of your life never having released that part of your life. You’re not going to spend the rest of your life drowning in bitterness and anger. You're gonna learn to forgive others...to be a FORGIVER!!

It's not easy...and I'm not gonna say it is...cause it's damn hard!! We're not God...but we have everything in us because of Jesus' sacrifice to try...because we KNOW that it's not by OUR strength that we can do it...but it's by HIS strength...by HIS might...by HIS power and HIS blood spilt on the cross...that we can stand as witnesses to His grace...and if we can't love and forgive eachother then we can't receive forgiveness ourselves...that's what humility is all about! GIVING...not just TAKING!!

BE A FORGIVER!! No matter how hard it might seem...

Fighting for our FAMILIES!

2006-01-29T13:15:00.000+11:00

I've been a Christian now for 2 years, 5 months & 5 days. That's awesome! I feel so great!! So alive!! Life is so different. My immediate family (parents, brother & his wife, grandmother) are all Christians too...infact, my dad and my bro were there when I met Jesus and they led me to Him. That was such a blessing! But, my sister and the rest of my extended family are yet to really meet Jesus and give Him their heart. I've felt God challenge me a few times about the fact that my family are not saved. I've felt Him challenge me on the fact that I'm here in Gosford serving Him...and it's where I should be...cause it's where He wants me...but do I do enough to save my own family, or am I completely just tied into saving the youth of Gosford...or who knows, NSW...WOO!! DREAM BIG!! ...But have I spent enough time sowing into my own God-given family and making sure they know the love of Jesus too? Or have I become a snobby Christian who thinks that she's better than her extended family cause she doesn't live the 'old way' anymore? Well, I love my family and I'd hate to think that's how I've become, but I can't help but wonder if when my name comes up in their conversations they think of me fondly or they think 'Oh...that's the cousin or niece who became a Christian and forgot all about us!...pfft...who needs Christianity?!'

Recently I was told about a couple who had been 'expelled' from their church. They belonged to the Jehovas Witness Church and because they didn't want to give 10 hours a week doorknocking, or go to church 4 times a week, they were kicked out of the church with a 'DON'T THINK ABOUT RETURNING' policy! Their parents on both sides are elders in the church and have also disconnected themselves from this couple and their 2 children. Not only have they lost their chuch family, but also their earthly, maternal family. Now, I don't want to say too much at this point about the way that the Jehovas Witnesses do things because I haven't honestly researched it enough at this point to say anything. However, I will say that whatever they are preaching it can't be the love of Christ because since when would Jesus turn His back on one of His children? And if we are to be Christlike, since when should any church have anywhere in any of their doctrines that at any point a person should be turned away from the chance to enter heaven and have a God-given family that loves them!?

I've been thinking lately about my own family and what I do or don't do to reach out to them. Just the other day I was chatting to my cousin on msn and I challenged him about getting to know Jesus. I was so excited that I talked to him about it because I've never risen to the challenge to speak out to my family like that. 'But you're a YOUTH PASTOR!' I'm sure you're thinking. Well, yes. But I still find it hard at times to share my faith. Not so much with youth at church or in schools or anywhere else. But mostly with my family. You see, my family knew who I was before. Especcially my cousins and uncles and aunties. I hung out with them drinking and smoking. They knew I was messing around with guys. They knew 'JODI - the party girl!' So now I'm completely different. I still love having fun...dancing...hanging out with mates...partying...just minus the booze, smokes, and guys! But they think I've been brainwashed. The change in my life has been a dramatic one. For them to see that came as a bit of a shock, I'm sure. I can understand that. But why do I shy away from reaching out to them? I can honestly say with all my heart that I would do ANYTHING...even give up my life...to see them in a relationship with Jesus. And yet when the challenge comes I rarely rise to it. It's such a challenge. It's one I need to respond to. If my family dies, they'll be going to hell. I don't want to see that happen. I want to see my family partying in heaven with me and Jesus! With the King of all Kings. The Lord of all Lords. I want to see my family set free from the clutches of the enemy!!

So, what am I going to do about it? I'm going to SCHEDULE time to talk to them. I'm not going to be too busy for my family. I'm not going to forget about them. I'm not going to give up on them. If my family...my parents...my little brother...had not shared with me the love of Jesus and the precious gold they'd found in Him then I would still be destined for an eternal life in flames!! My life would still be a mess. In the last two years I've not only found complete joy, peace, and happiness in the love of Christ, but I've had opportunities I never thought possible. 2 years in a row I went overseas. 3 months in USA and 3 1/2 weeks in Africa to serve the Lord. I never thought that would be possible. I still can't believe I've been. It amazes me everytime I think about it. I've had support from people when others have let me down and hurt me. I've had money turn up when I needed to pay a bill. I've had a phone call right at my lowest point. I've felt peace right when things were about to fall apart. I've recieved healing right before it was needed. God has NEVER let me down! Why then should I keep that to myself? I want that for the world! But more specifically, and more personally...I want that for my family. I want that for my cousins and their families. I want that for my uncles and aunties. I SO BADLY want that for my sister and her husband and their 2 beautiful little girls! I want that for my grandfather! I want to see my family fall for Jesus! Can you imagine what JESUS wants?

If you haven't reached your family...be BOLD! As the awesome Pauly would say, keep pressin in! Spend time with them. Call them. If you say you love them, show it...show them Jesus! Tell them about your encounters with God. Don't be afraid to do that! Tell them about Jesus. You know, the woman at the well...a sinner...met Jesus and He spoke into her life. The first thing she did was tell her friends. When they followed her back to Jesus He spoke into their lives too and they gave their lives to Him. But they said they did it, not because the woman had told them of Jesus...but because they met and experienced Jesus themselves!! All you have to do is tell them and bring them! Jesus provides the encounter...the experience! He changes their life! So...the question is...how badly do you want to see your family fall for Jesus?? What are you gonna do about it?

Fighting for our YOUTH!!

2006-01-22T12:31:00.000+11:00

Last Sunday night we had church at my Officer/Pastors place and we had a discussion on Narnia. We had all been to the movies to see it that previous Monday. Over 100 people turned up. It was great. While we were discussing Narnia I shared about Planet Shakers and about a young school leaver who had become a Christian only a month before hand at schoolies on the Gold Coast. My good friend, Lish, had been a part of the start of his journey and had invited him to come to Planet Shakers for the week. He agreed. It was such a blessing to see God speak into his life over the 4 days and by the end of it to see him go forward and say 'YES, LORD...I WANT TO SERVE YOU!' He's been a Christian 1 month and he's already looking into going to a Youth Ministry School somewhere! HOW EXCITING!

After I shared this story an elderly lady from my church got up and shared that whilst it's great to see the young people have so much enthusiasm they still have a lot to learn and they have to wait till they learn a bit more before they go out and do anything. I didn't say anything because I didn't feel it was right to make a scene (and I preached on it at our youth worship night on Friday night...not about this lady in particular...but read on and it will make more sense), but something was boiling over inside me! I was so disappointed for my youth who had just come back that same day with me from Planet Shakers and, even though we were all wrecked, we came to the fellowship dinner and discussion on Narnia to be in fellowship with others, and they had to hear someone say 'You don't know enough to serve the Lord and you're too young!' WOW!! I couldn't believe it! They were so on fire for God and it was as if someone just came and shut them down completely!!

I have to say, before I continue, that I so appreciate the amount of support I've had this week from people in the church (old and young) saying 'I didn't agree with that comment on Sunday night and I'm so sorry you and the youth had to hear that! I think it's great what the youth are learning and wanting to do!!' It's great to see that I'm not just being an annoying Youth Pastor...but other people had picked it up too...and they are seeing God's work unfold in the lives of the youth!

This week I've been reflecting on what this lady said, and trying not to take it to heart, but finding it very difficult to come to terms with that attitude that says 'You're not quite there yet and you can't serve the Lord!' First of all...when are we EVER there!? At what point do we ever know enough and can we ever say 'I know everything I need to know now and I can now serve the Lord!' ?? I hope and pray that I NEVER get to a stage when I think I know enough to serve the Lord! We will NEVER know enough. Our whole life we will continue to learn and grow and be stretched. There will never be a point in anyone's life that they know enough. And if anyone should ever say that they do know enough, then they are in the wrong place!! I quite often feel like saying to God 'What am I doing here? I'm not the person for this job! I love it...I love my youth...but I'm so underqualified for the job and I can't do it!' But, do you know what? That's the place we should ALWAYS be in! In a place where we realise that we are nothing on our own and it's only through the strength, grace and equipping that God provides that we can do anything. It's not us that does the work! It's all God's work!

Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!" I don't see anything in that verse to do with age! But I do see something in Jeremiah chapter 1...God declares to Jeremiah that He has HUGE plans for Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah, of course, freaks out! He's just a teenager! He's just a boy, as he puts it. He says to God 'NO GOD! Not me...you've got the wrong person! I'm too young! What can I do??!!' And God quickly responds and says 'Jeremiah, don't EVER think you're too young! I will equip you and empower you for this job! If you just say yes, I will provide everything for you!' Then, just to prove it to him, God reached out and touched Jeremiah's mouth and said 'There you go...my words...in your mouth...now go speak!!'

God was quick to tell Jeremiah that he wasn't too young. He was quick to say to him that he wasn't useless. He wanted Jeremiah to do something amazing, and He KNEW that Jeremiah was only a boy. He knew that he was underqualified. But since when does that matter to God? All things are possible with God! Age doesn't mean a thing!!

I've been reading about Levi the tax collector who Jesus called to follow Him. Why on earth would Jesus pick a tax collector to follow Him? It wasn't as if Jesus didn't know Levi was a tax collector...He found Levi at his tax collectors booth! He knew what Levi was involved in. Tax collectors were corrupt and oppressed people. Why would God stop and invite Levi to follow Him? The Jews hated tax collectors and saw them as terrible sinners! Why the call on Levi's life? Well, that's what the grace of God is all about. I don't know...why did He call me to come follow Him when I was a heavy smoker and drinker? Why did He call my friend Jess from Africa to come follow Him when she was sick and living a destructive life? She finally said yes to God while we were in Africa. Why did He call Saul to become the Apostle Paul when he spent his life persecuting Christians and trying to ruin the church? WHY? Because Jesus saw beyond where they were at at that point and He saw the potential they had! Jesus believed in them and in us enough to not give up! He believed in Jeremiah enough to give Him a huge calling to be a prophet to the nations. He believed in me enough to call me to be a Youth Pastor. When Paul wrote to Timothy he shows that he believed in Timothy because he said in his first letter to Timothy, 'Don't let anyone look down on you because you're young...but go out and do the right things...set an example for people! Show other Christians that you're really fighting the good fight for Jesus! Show them in your life, in love, in your faith...keep it strong...show them by remaining pure...show them by continuing DAILY to read the Word of God!'

We need to show the same encouragement to our young people that Paul did to Timothy. Paul started by saying to Timothy 'People will say you're too young...by don't let them! Don't let it stop you!' Then he gave him some God-given advice...'Instead of getting down about people's negativity, just show the world that you're real in your faith! Show in your actions and your behaviour that you are living for Christ!!' If you want to give advice to our young people go ahead! I agree, we've all got a lot to learn! VERY TRUE! Never stop learning! BUT...don't tell young people NOT to serve the Lord just because they haven't got as much experience as another person! Don't tell young people NOT to serve the Lord because they're 12 not 82...Don't tell young people NOT to serve the Lord because they smoked and drank and gave themself away and are not 'pure' anymore...instead, tell them to commit their life to God so that He can make them WHITE AS SNOW again and then they can serve the Lord! Because in the great commission Jesus said 'Go out and make disciples of ALL men...!!' He wasn't specific in what age group or qualification group He was talking to...He was talking to EVERYONE!! All ages!

My past is not one that I'm proud of, but if I'd listened to people's negativity...people telling me that I didn't know enough or that I hadn't been a Christian long enough, then I would never have got to walk through the door that God was holding open for me. Let me tell you this...people's negativity can do more damage than you imagine!! Negativity will put the fear into young people that will stop them serving the Lord...like I did...and they will crouch in a little corner at school and not be bold about their faith...like I wasn't...they won't tell anyone what they did on the weekend at Youth Group or Church...like I didn't...then eventually their friends, who live by the worlds standards, will not only remain lost, but worse than that...our young Christians will fall into their way of life because they were too afraid to stand up...like I was! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! DON'T DISCOURAGE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE!! If you would just take the time to listen to what God is doing in their lives...and if you just took the time to hear their passion and excitement for Jesus...and if you just took the time to encourage them and push them to stand for Jesus NOT to sit down till they're old enough, then MAYBE...JUST MAYBE...we really would have a generation of young people empowered to save our nation! Because, lets face it, no one ever gets any younger...why wait till you're too old and too set in your ways to act...why not encourage our young people to act now and impact their generation and in turn...OUR NATION!!

Fighting for our generation!

2006-01-16T15:10:00.000+11:00

Check this out...this article was in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 13th Jan...on PAGE 3!! WOOHOO!!! How awesome!! Let's continue to encourage and empower the youth of this generation so that we can see a nation impacted for Christ!!

Heart Cry of a Generation as Young People Jump for Jesus
January 13th, 2006
ON STAGE and in the mosh pit, it is all high-octane energy and infectious enthusiasm: more than 4000 clean-cut Christian kids, pogoing in unison, jumping for Jesus.

Australia’s national youth music festival, Big Day Out, plays up the road on Australia Day. But yesterday, in the Olympic Park Sports Centre, it was God’s Big Day Out.

It’s the opening session of the four-day Planetshakers conference and Sydney is third stop on a five-state tour billed as Australia’s largest annual gathering of Christian youth.

Think Planetshakers, think of a Hillsong conference with amps.

There’s a similar line-up of speakers, teachings and worship sessions but many in this stadium have barely won the right to vote.

The American preacher Reggie Dabbs takes to the stage for a sermon that sounds like no other. Interspersed with self-deprecating humour and music, coined Jesus Rap, his message is of inclusiveness, self sacrifice, living for others and self-motivation.

As the Australian film director Peter Weir once did in Dead Poet’s Society, Dabbs commandeers the Latin aphorism “carpe diem” and has his congregation chanting back, “Seize the day”.

Planetshakers is an offshoot of Adelaide’s Paradise Church, from which the Family First political party grew.

Like Hillsong, it is an Assemblies of God church, part of the growing Pentecostal movement. It is headed by the charismatic husband and wife team of Russell and Sam Evans and is rapidly building a congregation in Melbourne Town Hall based on high-energy praise and worship.

This is the second year the church, which says it has no local ambitions, has brought its road train to Sydney.

By the end of the month, more than 20,000 young Christians around the country will have moshed for Jesus.

As the mainstream churches struggle to engage youth, Pastor Evans believes communication is the key. He says he doesn’t push politics and didn’t invite any politicians.

“I think the church is beginning to speak the language of young people and; the churches that speak the language of the day, they are the churches that are growing.

“Young people relate to the music; they want a purpose in life, they want to be involved in a service; they don’t just want to be a spectator. There’s nothing wrong with tradition. It’s all about making that tradition speak to the younger generation.”

Helping this is the Planetshakers band, the former group of Guy Sebastian, which features Sam Evans as a vocalist, and reportedly sold 70,000 albums last year in the burgeoning Christian music market.

One of the band’s lead singers, Michael Guglielmucci, does not think there would be much crossover between his audience and that of a hard-rock festival.

“The secret is the message. We don’t just write songs. This is the heart cry of a generation.”

The rock anthems of love gone wrong and alcoholic binges don’t carry to an audience that is jumping “in the House of God”. Jump, Jump, Jump.

Fighting for Compassion!!

2006-01-09T16:16:00.000+11:00

HI ALL...I'm BACK!! Cara, there's a NEW blog! WOOHOO!!

Well, Africa was FANTASTIC!! So many lessons taught by God and so many eye openers...many tears...much laughter!! In a single word...AWESOME!! My time in Brisbane was GREAT!! Caught up with family and old friends...had a wonderful Chrissy and New Year...a real time of peace and joy...and caught up with friends I haven't caught up with in 8 months...definately one of the biggest highlights in Brissy...I love you Pete and Lissy!! Went to a wedding (and even got asked to sing at the wedding hehe). It was great! But Gosford is where my heart is now and it feels GRAND to be home!! I caught up with a few friends last night and my WONDERFUL Corps Officers/Pastors who I've missed SO dearly had me over for lunch yesterday. Today's been an office bound day and I feel GREAT!! Been back on Notes chatting to the BEAUTIFUL Katie all day (and trying to chat to you Lish but you're no longer on line...booo...talk to you tomorrow :D) So...I'm BACK IN BUSINESS and looking forward in anticipation to the promise and assurrance I have in Christ that just because I'm His child and He loves me SO much (as undeserved as it is) this is going to be a FANTASTIC, AWESOME, INSPIRING, STRETCHING, FABULOUS year!! WOOHOO!! BRING IT ON!! Can't wait!! :D

So...on with the blog...as you can see by the title I'm talking about COMPASSION!! I hope that not too many people read this actually cause I plan to preach on it sometime, somewhere, when the opportunity arises..hehe...anyway...I spent 4 days last week in the BEAUTIFUL Mullumbimby on my grandparents property consisting of miles of lush, beautiful, awe-inspiring rainforest, amazing wildlife and just absolute beauty. In other words, I spent 4 days basking in God's creation!! What an awesome God He is!! I took some time out while I was there to just watch and enjoy His creation. Then I went for a walk with God around the property...and I ended up sitting on a big rock at their rock pool completely surrounded by rainforest. It really is amazing!! I spent a little time chatting with God and asking Him to reveal Himself to me. By the next morning He had revealed Himself to me in one of His many awesome ways...as a God of GREAT COMPASSION!!

As you know, I just spent a month in Botswana (Africa) where I worked at camps for AIDS orpans & children running their own homes etc. This really was an incredible experience and at the end of it God really opened my eyes to the compassion He has on these people. And not just that, but the compassionate God He really is! Let me explain...because one, there is a difference...and two, you probably think by now that I'm repeating myself and have run out of things to say...tehe...NEVER!

Let me first ask you to go and read Psalm 103:6-13 (or click on the reference because, let's face it, it's easier than getting up to grab your Bible! :D)

So, after reading that, I'm sure it's clear to you that we serve a very compassionate God. What is our idea of compassion? How do we, like God, become compassionate people? Do we think that compassion only falls on those who know Jesus and on those who receive healing or improved circumstances?

The Colins New Australian Dictionary says:

Compassion means...a feeling of distress and pity for the suffering or misfortune of another

Compassionate means...showing or having compassion

So, if we take our definition from the Colins Dictionary, compassion means to have a heart for or to feel pity for the less fortunate - or the lost! That's the heart of God. He sees the world He created so perfectly now in a mess and His children suffering and He has compassion on them. He feels distressed that His children have chosen a life that brings death and suffering.

You know, I think about the only time that we, in our busy lives, have compassion on people is when we see a World Vision Ad on TV or we see someone injured or killed on the news. But God is constantly watching us and His heart is contantly full of compassion for our world and for the lost and needy as much as for the injured. Sure, He rejoices over us too - but His heart of compassion for the lost NEVER changes. He understands that those who are spiritually suffering and lost are the ones that need compassion the most. If we continue reading in Psalm 103:14-18 God makes it clear that our days on earth are numbered and we need to consider and act on our eternal life. And for those who are still lost we MUST have a heart of compassion for them ALWAYS so that we will NEVER forget to reach out to them.

Compassionate...the Colins Dictionary described it as SHOWING compassion. It's one thing to FEEL compassion, but to put that feeling into action is another thing altogether! You know, not only did God have compassion on His people, but He gave them so many chances to make it right. We read in His Word about how He wiped the earth except Noah and His family and 2 of every animal so that we could start again and have a fresh start. But the people still grew to break God's heart. He sent plagues across Egypt to free His people and show Pharoah that He was serious, and in their escape from Egypt along their way to freedom the people still broke God's heart! So the only thing He could do, in His biggest act of compassion and in His attempt to give us a second chance, was to send His only Son to die our death and give use new life. Not only does our God FEEL compassion, but He shows it! He gives His all holding NOTHING back from us. He does that not to just feel sorry for us, but to open the door for us to walk through to a better life!

Showing compassion doesn't always mean going overseas to help AIDS orphans or to rebuild ruined homes if God hasn't called you to go there. Acts 1:8 says:

"You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!"

Our commission is to our town...our state...our nation...our world!! We have towns full of people where we live who are still dying not knowing Jesus! Towns full of people who are lost. Do we have enough compassion for our town that we are willing to become compassionate people? To act as Christ has led us to act? The start of Acts 1:8 says:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you..."

If we serve a compassionate God and we are filled with His Holy Spirit then His compassion will overflow in us making us compassionate people for His service! But first we need to open ourselves up for that. We need to fall on our knees with open arms and ask our compassionate God to not only give us a heart of compassion for His lost children, but also for the will to become compassionate people and reach out to those who need it!!

I challenge you to look at your life...do you feel compassion?? If you do, are you a compassionate person? One who ACTS as well as FEELS?? Allow God to lead you to have a heart of compassion and a will to act!

Fighting to love each other...

2005-11-18T10:18:00.000+11:00

You know it makes me really sad that we live in a world where we don't show love!! We take every opportunity to insult and hate each other. Instead of honesty we sow gossip; Instead of sowing love we sow hate; instead of unity, we sow discord; instead of humility we sow pride and envy; instead of forgiveness and reconciliation we sow bitterness and isolation...and I'm just talking about within the church!!

I think satan must be having a field day. This is EXACTLY what he wanted all along!! I got this awesome email a long time ago that had a conversation between Jesus and satan. Satan had the world and Jesus asked him what he was going to do with it. Satan sneered and said "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you get done with them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don't want those people!!"

"How much?" He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life."

Jesus said, "DONE!"

Then He paid the price.

Think about that sacrifice. Think about what it cost for Jesus to come to earth in such a vulnerable way and give His life so that we would live. Think about the fact that God, whether you know Him or not, sent His ONLY Son to die your death!! Whichever way you want to look at it, we did NOT deserve that! We fall so short of His glory. We did NOTHING to deserve the sacrifice that was made for us. But the worst thing is that the sacrifice WAS made and now we do nothing to show how much it meant to us. We don't even think about it. Jesus paid the ULTIMATE sacrifice for us because He loved us...He came and showed us the right way to live, how to love and care for each other...and you can't say 'I wasn't alive then!' because it's all written out in black and white for you in the Bible. So why do we keep getting it wrong??!

I can't tell you how many times I've been hurt by other people, and likewise I can't tell you how many times I've hurt other people. You know, just since taking on my role as Youth Pastor here I've been hurt and insulted more time than I can count. There are SO many people who support me here, but there are also those few people who don't like me. People seem to think that you can prick a leader and they won't bleed. Let me tell you...they DO! And I'd normally say right at this point 'But, that's ok, cause you can't please everyone and not everyone will click' But, I'm not going to say that because it's just crap! I'm sorry but it's just insane to brush it off by saying that and not even give Jesus' example a second thought. Jesus CLEARLY showed us and TAUGHT us to love each other and be tolerant of one another! Let me just say that there are people who grate me the wrong way and I need this lesson just as much as anyone, but I think it's about time we stop making things like this seem so trivial. It's not trivial. We're talking about loving each other, and if we can't get that right within our own church circles then how on earth do we think that we're going to love the rest of the world??!!

But I promise you that if you are angry with someone, you will have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court. And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of hell. So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God. Matthew 5:22-24

Man, God doesn't even want our worship while we're not at peace with each other. We think that we're ok because we go and do our weekly duty and we go to church and throw our arms up in the air and sing 'Here I am to worship...have all of me...' but at the same time our hearts are not right because we have these unresolved issues and we're thinking about the person two rows in front of us who we just can't stand! Or even worse, we have an issue with the preacher and so we switch off and miss what God's trying to say to us!! When are we gonna get real and sort ourselves out. God gave us a commandment to love each other and in fact He even called it His GREATEST commandment...of all the commandments that God wanted to give us, His GREATEST one was to LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS CHRIST LOVED US!! It's not something we can just brush off and say, 'Oh, it's no big deal...I love everyone else...I just don't get along with Fred!' IT IS A BIG DEAL!!! Jesus said, don't even bother coming to me and worshiping me and offering sacrifices to me if you still have a partially hardened heart even towards just ONE of your brothers!

I want to challenge you (and believe me, I'm feeling very challenged myself here!!...start loving each other! Stop putting each other down...stop hating each other...love like Jesus did! His love was NOT cautious...but EXTRAVAGANT!! Ephesians 5:2 LOVE LIKE THAT!!

Fighting to be a true worshiper!!

2005-11-11T16:45:00.000+11:00

Wow...it's really been a long time since I last blogged. So here I am again...talking about WORSHIP!!

Have you ever thought about what it means to truly worship God? I mean, what is worship about? Do you know how to worship? Is worship just something that you do on a Sunday when you go to church and jump around and wave your arms in the air...?? That's great to worship that way...I'm pretty expressive myself when I worship. But I've had to ask myself recently 'Do people see that same act of worship in my everyday life? When people see me worship in church they might assume that I have it all together and that I must be really close to God because I can worship in such an open and expressive way...but when they see me outside the church doors, do they feel as convinced that I'm in a great relationship with Christ and that I'm living every moment of my life in heart felt worship? Do I worship God as the Scriptures encourage...in spirit and in truth?" Well, my friends, I'm ashamed to say this, but challenged enough to admit it, alot of the time my worship does not enter my everyday life.

Last year I spent a little bit of time at The Salvos 'Street Level' in Sydney. Street Level is a place where the homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes, transvestites, etc come to find love. Basically, they provide internet services, meals, church, groups activity's/programs etc. It really is an awesome place. It's a place where they find love and acceptance in the middle of a city that doesn't want to know about them. While I was there serving meals this one Friday night, I remember sitting there thinking 'Wow...this is so sad...these people are so poor...wouldn't it be great if they had so much more and if they could do something in life.' I remember standing there thinking that in some way I was better than these people because I had more than them and I had come further in life. Man, what an attitude!!! God was soon to break that!

I led worship in their chapel that night and I was so filled with the Holy Spirit and felt so convicted about my attitude. Watching these people worship God was so truly amazing. They were bringing a TRUE act of worship. I worship God for all that I have. For all that He's made me. For all that He's done in my life. For His provisions. And yet, these people left my worship for dead. These people worshiped God even though they had nothing. No money, no home for some of them, no family, only a few sets of old dirty clothes, no life skills and yet here they were throwing their arms up to God in worship to Him. Here they were dancing and singing at the top of their voices about how great God is. The Holy Spirit moved in that place in such a powerful way and I could just sense the anointing He was pouring out on them...yes, He was anointing these sinners...these people who the rest of the world thought were nothing. And even though they knew what the world thought of them, they still joined together and worshiped the Lord with all their heart because they had discovered the truth of Jesus.

You know I was so ashamed that night and at the same time it was one of the best times in complete worship I think I've ever experienced. But you know when the real test comes? It comes when you turn off the music, lose the emotional high that the music creates and you leave the church. Then what? Do you continue in worship or do you wait till you hear the music again? This is one of those things that people are continually confused about. When you say 'worship' people straight away think about music and singing...but that's not what the Bible says. It doesn't say 'Singing will be your only act of worship EVER!' Worship is a life style thing. In her book, Extravagant Worship, Darlene Zschech says:

Worship is a verb, defined as "regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion." It is an active expression of our love toward God. It is vibrant and visible by our deeds and not only by the words we speak. Worship involves the giving of ourselves totally to the Lord. Worship is neither a ritualistic activity nor a musical emotion. It embodies and reflects the selfless generosity of Christ. Worship is a movement of our hearts, our thoughts, and our wills toward God's heart, thoughts, and will.

What a great definition of what worship is about. I think that sums it up really nicely actually. We need to stop thinking that worship is all about the right kind of music and the right words in a song. That is only one part of what worship is about. There are so many other things that we need to do to engage in true worship. Worship is a selfless act in which we hold NOTHING back from God and we pour ourselves completely into His will. Darlene also says in her book,

To practice extravagant worship, we need to get good at saying, "I lay down my life." Come to Jesus with a grateful heart, and in everything you do live a lifestyle filled with extravagant worship.

The number one thing that we need to do is to lay our life down. That's our first and most important act of worship. To lay your life down means that you are being completely selfless in your worship and it means that you recognise that your life and your worship to God has little to do with you, but infact it's all about God. He gave us life and He promises us eternal riches...I think the least we can do is to give our lives back to Him for His service and in a complete act of worship.

Worship is not just about taking time to sit down and read your Bible and pray and sing a few songs on your own or corporately...as Darlene Zschech puts it, worship is a VERB and is visible by our deeds! Hanging out with mates, cleaning a toilet, playing games, assignments, playing sport, shopping...you can worship God in all of these things. The way that you behave, the things you do, the things you buy...are you doing those things in worship to God?

We need to offer ourselves and our lives to God in all things. In everything we do. The kind of worship that God wants is WHOLE HEARTED EXTRAVAGANT WORSHIP! Be over the top in your worship...trust me...even then it's not as much as He deserves...so keep giving more and more. I see too often when we worship God and we have an awesome time praising God with our singing and our church service...the message we hear, the tithe we give...we do our weekly duty...but then we leave and for the rest of the week we live as if we never worshiped God to start with.

Let God challenge you...be challenged to give MORE in your worship. Be challenged to make your life a COMPLETE and TRUE act of worship. Worship Him in spirit and in truth.

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" John 4:23-24

Fighting to change your perspective!

2005-10-27T18:15:00.000+10:00

Well, thanks so much for that email this morning Katie...that's so awesome...and really makes you think...here's the story for everyone else...

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live.They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Wow...how powerful is that...and how true!! Just this week I was reading a sermon God gave me months ago that I've been waiting for the right time to preach. I'd forgotten I had written it and found it and read it...then just today the opportunity has come up in which I will now get to preach it in about 2 weeks time. How awesome! My sermon is all about what we want in life and where we look for it! The 3 biggest things we want in life is
1. To feel important
2. To be happy
3. To live life to the full
Those are great things to want, but sometimes we really need to take a long hard look at where we are looking to find those things. What is our perspective? Have we lost our perspective?

The first thing we want is to feel important. How funny is it that we so often feel unimportant in the place we're in or in the position we're in. In 1 Corinthians it speaks about the parts of the body and how important each part is...how the ear cannot say to the eye, 'I'm not important cause I'm not an eye' We were never intended to have one big undimensional warped body part...all of our body parts serve their purpose...right down to our eyelashes...which seem insignificant and yet the protect our eyes. In the same way, have we lost our perspective a little by thinking that our seemingly 'small' role in the big scheme of things is not important?? 'I'm not building the Kingdom from here' ...why not?? Think about what it is that God's asked you to do. We have a lady in our church who does up the powerpoint every week. Very rarely do people take the time to say to her 'Hey, good job on power point this week!' She could take that and think, 'Stuff this...I'm not important and my role doesn't mean anything to the Kingdom of God so I'm not needed!' The truth is, she IS needed! Without her we wouldn't have PPT...without her we'd maybe go back to over head slides...or maybe someone else MIGHT find the time to do it amongst everything else they need to do...but by doing what she does, she not only keeps things up to date for us and gives us a great PPT presentation every week, but she makes things easier here in the office for us or whoever's preparing the meeting that week. Her role is important...it's her ministry!! Why do we look at what we're NOT doing instead of looking at what we COULD be doing...! God puts us where we are for a reason...and He happens to think we're important enough to be there!!

The second thing people want is to be happy...have you ever heard someone say, 'Happiness is a state of mind!' So if that's true then why do we look to find happiness in a few plastic notes and a few gold and silver coins?? Why do we believe that being thin and beautiful makes you happy? Driving the right car, owning the right house and furniture makes you happy...in Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 it says:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.

He has set eternity on our hearts...he believes that you are beautiful! When you get to heaven God won't be asking you how much money you earned or what clothes you wore or what car you drove or even the house you lived in...what He will want to know is 'What did you do with Jesus?' What will you say? ‘Well, I didn’t have time to think about that God, I was just trying to make as much money as I could and be as trendy as I could and as cool as I could and trying to find the right life partner so that I could be happy’…do you think God will understand that? Or do you think He’ll say ‘I was your life partner…your eternal life partner! I set eternity on your heart! What more did you want??!! What more could have made you happy??’

We have this unsurpassing joy and happiness in Jesus Christ. We need to look deeper and grab hold of it. Stop looking at what you don’t have and start looking at what you do have! Stop dwelling on the bumps in the road and start checking out the view! Decide to be happy! Think about what Christ has done and what He offers you and be happy because nothing could make you happier...truly!!

The third thing that people want is to live life to the full...and man, is the worlds perspective messed up here or WHAT?!?! How do you live life to the full? Well, you go out to as many parties as you can possibly get to for as many years as you can handle, drinking as much as you can, having multiple partners, living life dangerously. Taking risks! Trying drugs at least once to see what its like and to be able to say ‘I tried that’. That’s not a full life. That’s not what God had in mind. At some point you’re going to be forced to look deep into your life and you will realise how hollow your life has become. I know, I lived that life! I threw God away. Wanted nothing to do with Him. I smoked, I got drunk, I partied, I got involved with boys. Then, one day God broke through. He cried out to me and pleaded with me to reassess my life and take Him back! I looked at my life which I thought was full and realised that I’d taken everything out of it. I was an empty shell! All I’d been doing was digging a bigger hole! There was nothing left! I had to grab Gods hand otherwise I would have been lost forever.

God sent Jesus so that we might have life and have it to the fullest! In John 10:10 it says:

“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

God has said that He wants us to have a full life! He doesn’t want us to have empty meaningless lives! He wants us to live life and live it to the fullest! That’s nothing new. Living life to the full is not a new trendy concept! Its God’s concept! But we’ve misinterpreted it! We’ve tried to live life to the full without God in the picture! We just can’t do it!! We have to have God in our life! Without Him we are nothing!

Is it possible to live life to the full without compromising your standards? Is it possible to live life to the full without conforming to the world and its crazy notions of what you must do and have and be to live a happy life? Is it possible to live life to the full as an influencer and not as one easily influenced? The answer is YES! When you have a life with Christ your life is full! You just need to CHOOSE Him!!

Choose to change your perspective...choose to understand your importance in His Kingdom...choose to be happy...choose real life to the full!! Change your perspective!

Fighting for the cause!

2005-10-25T11:42:00.000+10:00

Check this out!!!...what a great clip...

Kristo Movie Clip

Fighting for scripture in schools!

2005-10-19T18:06:00.000+10:00

WOO...I'm on a roll...2 blogs in 2 days...tehehe...

Well, I had the best day today...kinda funny moment just 5 minutes ago when I received a phone call from a local gym to say that a MALE friend of mine had passed on my number to suggest I join...how embarrassing...haha...but kinda funny too...I've never had a gym call and say 'Do you need to join?' haha...it's like 'HEY you big tub of goo...get off your butt and join the gym!!!' hahaha...well, actually, I've wanted to join for a while, just the money things an issue...but its not too bad in price...so, why not! tehe...I'm going in tomorrow...must have been a God thing really, cause as I said, I have wanted to join but didn't cause I can't afford it...but it's so cheap...and I need to get into shape and get fit and more energetic...so yeah, it's all good...I'm actually kind of excited! :D tehehe...

Anyway...in other, more exciting news...scripture today went off!! WOOHOO!! Ok, just for those who don't know, I teach scripture at my local high school and primary school on Wednesday's and Thursday's. I teach Thursday's at the primary school with a Kindergarten class. They're so cute...not all well behaved...haha...but they are cute...I love them...and I am with them once a fortnight so that's great. I teach Wednesday's at the High School and this is not as easy as the primary school...we are only allowed to have one grade per term, which is really NOT ideal because you only see each grade 4 times a year...and they choose if they come or not, so it really depends on what the other class is that they're missing. They mostly come cause they think they can 'bludge'. So, they run riot basically. It's not very good...I mean, they go nuts!! They have no respect for us, or even for their teachers and the school doesn't care about scripture either...they are really slack with allocating us a permanant room and also with announcing scripture etc. So it's a really hard situation.

BUT...today was awesome...we had grade 7, and let me tell you, for the most part, they were no different to any other situation in that school...they mucked up, they ran riot...they were just CRAZY!! But they were working on some stuff in pairs and I was walking around the classroom (it's actually a drama room with no tables and chairs...again, not ideal because they run a muck) anyway...I sat down with these two girls and they started asking HEAPS of questions...I had an answer for all of them...it was AWESOME...God just TOTALLY guided me...and I even got to share part of my testimony with them...how cool!! They were heaps shocked...every time I sat down to talk to them in group work time they had more questions...and really GREAT questions too...I got to tell them what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus...and how we know He's real...and how we can experience Him...it was just SO awesome...I couldn't stop smiling everytime they asked me another question...I was like 'I'm so glad you asked that...let me explain...' It was SO great!! Then AFTER class they stayed in for their whole first lunch break and asked MORE questions...it was awesome...they couldn't get enough...they just wanted to know more!! And I have to say this, these two girls were pretty popular too...they weren't the kinda girls who sit in the front row behaving the whole time and asking all the right questions to please the teacher...they were mucking up a bit throughout the lesson too...but they wanted to know more and it was SO awesome to tell them...even if it has no effect right now, they KNOW what Jesus has to offer!! It was SO great!! I'm so excited...

AND THEN...it keeps going...well, actually it's all over the place...but anyway...just before class a young girl came up to me (she's in a different grade) who had been to Flipside before, our lunch time program, and she hadn't been back since...she's a friend of one of the girls I mentor in my youth...I've been trying to encourage this girl that I mentor to bring her friends back to Flipside...and speaking of flip side...today her friend asked HER to go to Flipdside with her...she didn't just ask...she hassled this girl I mentor to come to Flipside...how cool is that!! SO, she came and saw me before I started the scripture class and told me that another one of my youth had invited her to come to Youth Group on Friday night and guess what? SHE'S COMING!! WOOHOO!!! AND...she might be coming to church on Sunday cause it's being led by the youth and her friend, the girl I mentor, will be helping lead!! WOOHOO!! What an opportunity!!

I just have to say...if you have spare time in your week to get involved in High School or Primary School Ministries like scripture or a lunch time program then PLEASE do it!! And look around...pray about which school is right...I have a real heart for both the schools I'm in because they are literally on our doorstep...the primary school is next door to our church and the high school is directly across the road from the primary school...both schools have a bad reputation for bad behaviour and all sorts of crazy things...I hear about girls slitting their wrists etc...it's not good...and would you believe that, for that reason, so many people won't touch these schools cause they're too hard to handle...well, I wanna ask...where is the love??!! Man, these young people DESPERATELY need to hear the gospel and yet people overlook them cause they're 'trouble makers'...hey, if Jesus could tell Zacchaeus to get out of a tree and take him home for dinner even though he was a trouble maker, then we SHOULD be showing that same love and grace for these lost kids!! That's why I am in these schools...it's hard...but I love them...and I'm there to tell them that not only do I love them, but the one GREATER than me loves them with a PERFECT love!! A love I am not capable of giving...a pure love! And it's available for them...get excited about this, guys...and think outside the box...every school will be different...dont think of a lunch time or scripture program being something boring...try new programs...look into the SHINE program for girls with Hillsong...find out about the equivellant for boys...hang out with these kids and teens...show them you genuinely care...and remember, it's not a game...it's not about numbers or about saying how many you 'won for Christ'...it's about people...genuinely loving people enough to direct them to eternal life with Jesus!! If you're not genuine about that then DON'T DO IT!! Cause you're wasting your time and people will see straight through you!! Be real!! They're not stupid and they only have to be burnt once to NEVER come back again!

These young people are SO troubled...and you're not going to be the one to reach them all, but if you can influence and impact even a handful, and empower them enough, then THEY will be the ones, through peer to peer evangelism, who will impact the rest of the school...start small...but believe BIG!! Don't be discouraged at small and humble beginnings because if you're being guided by God, you WILL see the VICTORY!! WOOHOO!!!

Go hard for God...fight for opportunities...get on board in your local schools and impact this young generation of lost souls for Christ!!

Fighting to hear someone's story

2005-10-18T18:15:00.000+10:00

Well, I had an awesome and painful day yesterday...I got my needles for my trip to Botswana...OUCH...suffering from a very sore arm today...but the needles were not as bad as I'd imagined...and I didn't pass out...tehe...so that was good! :D

So, now to the awesome part...after I got my needles I went to catch my train home and I needed to go to the bathroom...there are toilets on the train and if I went to the ones on the platform I would miss the train...but for some reason I really didn't want to use the ones on the train...so I decided to miss my train and wait half an hour for the next one. After I went to the bathroom I felt like buying a muesli bar at the Newsagent...mmm...strawberry yoghurt covered muesli bar....tehe...anyway, I went to buy it and there was an elderly lady at the counter who was being given directions to somewhere by the man at the counter. She looked really confused and then she looked at me and I smiled. She looked at me as if to say 'I think this girl knows!' and she said to me 'Do you know where The Salvation Army is?' I couldn't believe it! I told her I did and asked her to wait a minute while I payed for my stuff and that I'd walk her there. This was going to mean missing another train...but I really felt that this was a God ordained opportunity and that I should walk with her for a while.

We started to walk and she explained that she had a muscular disease of some sort meaning that she needed to walk slow because her legs were sore. That was ok. I felt like I could've walked her to the moon and back at snails pace...God was giving me an opportunity to walk with this lady...I really didn't care how long it took! As we walked she shared her story about how she lives in a housing commission house and she has been through ordeal after ordeal. She had been treated unfairly by several people and her husband had told her to forget about it and get over it. But she wanted to stand up for her rights and she knew that she had to seek help. Hence the reason she was looking for the Salvos. She unloaded alot of stuff, and I just listened. I really think she just needed someone to take time out without their own agenda and just listen to her pour her heart out. I think that most people would have just shrugged her off...but all I could see in this woman was Jesus.

"...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - Jesus... Matthew 25:20

We finally got to THQ (yes, that's right Alisha...I went to THQ!! But my mobile was dead...I couldn't call you!) I got to the front desk and told them who I was and who this lady was and he referred me to Street Level in Sydney...ofcourse!!!...I hadn't even remembered Street Level was there. But, I phoned them from THQ and they were shut! I looked at this woman sitting in her seat, tears welling up in her eyes because she knew I was going to tell her she had to wait...but she'd told me already told me where she lived and I knew of a community centre there and I knew exactly where it was...so I asked her if she could get there and she said she could get there easily...so I suggested that she go home and then go to this centre the next day. She agreed.

So, I walked her to the train station again. As I walked with her I told her that she didn't deserve to be treated the way she had been and that God loved her so much and wouldn't want her to be treated that way. I told her I believe that God would look after her and that she would find the help she needed. She told me that she believed that and she told me that she thought I must have been an angel sent by God to help her. I told her it was my pleasure to walk with her, trying not to take any credit for the chain of events, I told her I believed that it was God ordained...I caught the train with her from Museum to Central and then I left her on the train to get to where she was going. She looked at me all teary-eyed and thanked me and told me that it was so great that we had met. I wished her God's blessing and told her that He would look after her and keep her safe and then I left.

I have to say, I left feeling both blessed and saddened. I left thinking about how much of a blessing it was that I had met her...but also feeling so worried that she wouldn't find the help she needed and that someone else may not find the time to give her. So I prayed that God would keep her safe and comfort her and that she would find the help she needed. When I got back to Gosford I quickly went into the office to check my emails. I have my home page set as www.verseoftheday.com and so I looked at the devotions for the day and the scripture reference was: Psalm 34:18

The LORD is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

I couldn't help but smile. I knew that she really was in His hands and that He was close beside her. Part of the prayer to go with the devotions was:

Father, I also ask that you bless those I know who are struggling with their faith, and with broken and disappointed hearts. Please be active in their lives and make your presence known in their lives.

What an awesome God...I had only walked a short journey with that woman and it would have been enough for God to leave it there. He didn't need to tell me the rest...He didn't need to tell me she was ok...He could've just asked me to trust and not know...but He responded to my prayer from earlier that afternoon to tell me that He was, in fact, caring for this woman and that she was safe in His arms of love!

WOW! I feel so blessed to have been there at that moment. To have made such a seemingly silly decision to use a bathroom that meant an extra half hour wait for the next train. To have thought, 'Hmmm, a muesli bar sounds really good right now!' To have been served by a guy that would've got this lady lost. To have smiled at her. That she knew that I would know where to take her. That she dared to ask. That I dared to say yes! That's all it took. A simple yes and a willing heart and what a journey! A short, but blessed one!

Let me encourage you to not look over those less fortunate. Take one of them for a walk. Offer to have a coffee with one of them. Your shout! Take time to let them share their life with you. Don't be scared of the unknown...they smell, they're a stranger...they're a drunk...God loves them just the same! We should too...and remember...

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. - Hebrews 13:2

Bless you all as you fight to bless others!

Fighting to build Him a house!!

2005-10-11T14:57:00.000+10:00

Over the last few days I have experienced a number of emotions. Joy, happiness, hurt, sadness, disappointment and then joy again! Praise God for that joy. A few days ago (Sunday) a beautiful lady in my church approached me to tell me that she had been up all night wrestling with God and that she and her husband were going to give me a loan for the rest of my money to get to Botswana. No pressure to pay it back...just whenever I can. It was a complete answer to prayer. But, as quickly as my joy came, satan came to take it away again. That night I was hit with a couple of things and I was really hurt and disappointed and to be honest, felt completely let down. I tried to push it aside and I had fun catching up with some mates, but I couldn't get rid of that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. BUT...bring on the JOY!!

On Monday I had a study day...not a very productive time of study I must say...but productive in other ways. My mind was completely scattered with thoughts of other things and I couldn't focus, so I decided that I needed to deal with it then and there and not let it fester in my heart. I prayed and asked that God would speak to me and that He would show me what to do and He gave me a whole chapter...now, I'm still unwrapping the rest, but I just took time yesterday to discover and understand just one part of the chapter...the rest I am going to spend time unwrapping a bit at a time...it's pretty full on! But here's what I discovered from Isaiah 66:1-2

'This is what the Lord says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.'

WOW! Think about that for a minute. Take time to really meditate on that piece by piece. This is what the LORD says...ok brace yourself...cause this is the LORD speaking!! It's gonna be awesome! It's gonna be mind boggling. Do you ever feel excited when you open the Word and read 'This is what the LORD says'? I have to admit, I don't always feel excited...cause I often just don't think about or grasp the significance behind it. This is not just Paul or John writing something. This isn't just Moses or Abraham speaking. This is the LORD speaking. And I don't know about you, but right now I'm excited. I want to KNOW what the LORD has to say to me! I want to KNOW what the LORD has in store for ME in this small part of His Word. The LORD is taking time to speak to us here. I want to KNOW what He wants me to know! So, this is what the LORD says...

Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool

WOAH!! Picture that! The earth is His FOOTSTOOL! Do you have that image in your head? God resting His feet on the earth? Think about the size of a footstool you have at home, or you've seen in someone elses home. Seems small. The EARTH is God's footstool! Doesn't that completely BLOW YOUR MIND!! Do you realise how BIG God is and how insignificant we are? Do you realise that He could squash us at any given moment? Do you realise just how mighty He is? And yet, despite our insignificance in His eyes we are SO significant! In His eyes we are amazing. In His eyes we are beautiful. In His eyes we are worth more than gold or silver. In His eyes we are worth sending His Son as a living sacrifice for us...so that we could live! That would be like us caring for a bunch of ants. Taking time to talk to them and care for them and make sure that they don't get in the way of any big feet. Giving up one of our own to save the life of an ant. Sounds a bit silly doesn't it? But, friends, that's how God is with us. He takes the time to care for us and love us and make sure that we aren't being crushed by satan. Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool! He has the power to do anything!! And He puts all that power into US! Into loving us and protecting us! What an awesome God!!

Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?

Well, here's a challenge. Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool. How could we build Him a house or a dwelling or resting place that would be fit for Him? I mean, think about what He's worth for a minute!....You can't! Cause He's worth far more than we can humanly imagine or give. So how do we build a house that He can dwell in? A house that's fit for Him? How do we build something that's of worth to Him? Well, the thing is, we can't! BUT...we CAN give ALL that we've got to Him! Don't hold back...make a dwelling place for Him in your heart! No matter what it looks like...if it's all you have to give then give it and He will know what the cost was for you to give that to Him. If it cost you everything, then it's good enough for Him. If you're still holding back, well, He still loves you, but He's asking for MORE! He wants your ALL!! Have you done that? Before you go any further...have YOU made a dwelling place in your heart for the Lord? Is He asking you, 'Where's my house? Where will I rest with you?' Do you have a place in your heart for the KING OF KINGS?? Have you built Him a house?

Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD.

Oh, Katie you are SO right!! I LOVE that word: DECLARES!! It's so much more than just, 'My Lord SAID...' or 'My Lord told me...' My Lord DECLARES!! WOW!! Here He is DECLARING...making a BOLD statement! Here's a few other words found in the thesaurus for DECLARES...PROCLAIM...PROFESS...STATE...AFFIRM...and the list goes on...The Lord DECLARES...He professes...that His hand has made ALL things and that He is King over ALL!! He affirms us!! What an AWESOME GOD!! It's funny, isn't it, that we forget about the awesome POWER of God? We forget that by His HAND ALL things came into being!! By His hand He can do all things!! I could point you to all the scripture that restates that...but I want to encourage you to get in and find it yourself...discover that God!! Read His Word and unwrap what He has done! Find out about our AWESOME God who made ALL things...who clicked His fingers and designed the universe!! Pretty amazing huh?!

This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

WOW...what a challenge! To be HUMBLE and CONTRITE in spirit...Man, we could all learn such a lesson from that. How to practice humility...The only example I can lead you to is Jesus! In John 13 Jesus washes His disciples feet. He gets down and humbles Himself (although, He was ALREADY humble!) and He washed His disciples feet! What an honour that would have been! Man, I'd never wash my feet again!! And then Jesus turned and said to His disciples...

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done

Now, if JESUS can get on His hands and knees and wash the disciples feet when it should have been the other way around, then we can get off our butts and do the same for our fellow brothers and sisters! We need to GET OVER OURSELVES!! We need to STOP thinking we're better than other people or holier than thou...REALITY CHECK!! You are a SERVANT...that's right...you're NOT the King! You're His SERVANT!! Don't expect everyone to serve you! YOU should be serving THEM! There's nothing that frustrates me more than people who think they've got it all together and they don't need to grow anymore! People who think they've learnt it all and that they don't need to learn anymore! MAN...all I have to say to you if that's you is...GET OVER YOURSELF!! It's NOT about you!!! We're not here for OURSELVES...we're here to serve the LIVING KING!! So get down on the floor and start serving...start washing feet! Jesus has set us an example. So FOLLOW THAT EXAMPLE!

What does it mean to be 'contrite in spirit'? Lets look at the thesaurus again...other words for contrite...APOLOGETIC...CONSCIENCE-STRICKEN...HUMBLE...SORRY...get the point? Is that your spirit? Do you look at your life and think you never sin and that you have it all figured out? Do you think that you have reached perfection? Well, you need to be contrite in spirit just for having such a stupid thought!! Im sorry if you think I'm being a little harsh, but it just annoys me more than anything when people think they have it all worked out and they don't need work! They couldn't be MORE wrong!! EVERY DAY we sin!! EVERY DAY!! We need to humbly ask God for forgiveness EVERYDAY!! Because we AREN'T perfect! And I'm the first to admit it! That doesn't make me special or great cause I can admit that...it just means that I am a BIG sinner...saved by grace...and in need of MORE work!!

Read God's Word and take it in! Look at it and read it and let it all sink into your heart and spirit! Let the words maranate, if you like. Understand them! You will know when you fully start to understand them because you will start to TREMBLE and FEAR Him! Not a BAD fear...but a fear that says you are in AWE of Him and you know what His power means! You know that you better start taking Him seriously cause otherwise you're in trouble! This is not a 'Get right with God or you're going to HELL' message...this is a 'GET RIGHT WITH GOD' message! Plain and simple! I'm not telling you your judgement cause I don't know it and it's not my judgement to pass...so it's up to you to take the risk or not! He says that He will ESTEEM those who are HUMBLE and CONTRITE IN SPIRIT!! Does He esteem you? Another word for esteem is CHERISH...LOVE...ADMIRE! Isn't that beautiful? YES...God LOVES and CHERISHES you...but at the end of the day, do YOU leave Him room to do that! Are you living up to it?

We serve an awesome God. This is my challenge...have you built Him a house? Does He live in your heart? Where is His dwelling place? Are you humble and contrite in spirit? Do you TRULY know God as the awesome and mighty creator of all things? Get to know Him and get right with Him! However that might be!

Fighting for people to SHUT UP!!!

2005-10-07T10:45:00.000+10:00

That's right...Jodi Hoffmann is writing an article to say SHUT UP!! Hard to believe isn't it??...coming from Miss Never-Shuts-Up!! But none the less...here it is!

Well, I've felt very challenged on this of late...since our newest Christian was chatting to me on MSN the other night and was getting fired up about the Army uniform. For you non Army people, we Salvos, as you've seen, wear a uniform...but alot of Salvos don't like the uniform so they sit around and debate about it till the cows come home...and let me tell you...I just wish the damn cows would come home already cause quite frankly Im getting jack of it!! I'm not holding back on this one cause I'm over it!

When I heard our new Christian speaking about these petty issues the other day I felt SO angry and sad at the same time! Now, just to clear this up, I do NOT blame him AT ALL!! He is only new to the Army and a brand new Christian! What saddens me is that of all the things that he needs to be hearing and learning right now, this is what people are sharing with him!! And that, quite frankly, really ticks me off!!!!! Here's a new Christian who's full of excitement and wanting to grow and learn and SO hungry and thirsty for the Word and what are people doing and sharing with him? They're getting him involved in arguments on the uniform and song book songs. RAAARRRR!! It makes me SO cranky!! Here's our chance to disciple him and instead he's being taught how to whinge and debate about STUPID things that have absolutely NO eternal relevance to him (or anyone for that matter) WHATSOEVER!!!!!!

So this is the story...I've grown up in The Salvation Army, and with that I have a certain appreciation, if you like, for the uniform and the song book. Now, just to set this straight, I am not saying that I am a uniform or song book advocate!! Not by any means. I don't think I look at all appealing in the uniform and not all of the Army song book songs appeal to my musical taste and in fact some of them I just don't understand! So I am not about to sit here and debate that Army uniforms and songs are the ONLY way to go! Obviously we are all going to have different tastes and opinions. What annoys me is that, although we are trying to be more relevant in the 21st Century and we are trying to figure out how that's going to happen, at the moment it's all just a big load of hot winded TALK!! Nothing more than just TALK!! I mean, sure, if we get enough people behind the cause and enough people want to change it then maybe there's a chance it will change, but all I see is a whole bunch of people talking and not one person acting!!! So what's the point! Just to sit around and debate menial issues that have no eternal relevance?

MEANWHILE...there's a WHOLE WORLD of lost people out there who need God and here we are all caught up in what we want to change and all caught up in stupid arguments that we're missing the point!! We're obviously missing the point with our new Christian, because he's already debating about these issues and he's been a Christian less than 2 months!! I mean, for real! For goodness sake people...GET OVER IT AND OPEN YOUR EYES!! You know, God is not impressed with our WORDS or our DEBATES...He's commissioned us to go out and make disciples of ALL nations and here we are in our little church circles deciding what to wear and what music to listen to!! I'm sure God is yelling in our ears SHUT UP DAMN IT!!!! (maybe without the damn it...but whatever equivelant He would use to let you know how serious He is!!)

Man, since when did we lose sight of what's really important?! At what point did we shut our ears and eyes to what's really going on in our world? And this is for old and young alike cause the debate stretches across all the ages. The young ones want their songs and their funky clothes and the oldies want to keep singing along to Champaign Charlie and I'm sure most of them would still be in bonnets if they could be. But you know what? WHO CARES!?!?! I can tell you one thing, God certainly doesn't! If He cared about the clothes we were wearing He would have made every church put on the same uniform (just to clear this up, obviously He cares about some clothes...like girls wearing hardly anything for example...let's not get side tracked and carried away with that one...just humour me and get my point!) Now, again, I am not an advocate for uniform...I do believe that we have the best opportunities in the Army to be wearing our uniform so that we're seen in the community. And let me tell you, I could tell you loads of stories to prove it works! The Salvation Army symbol is the 2nd most recognised symbol/icon in Australia! What a privilege!! If you wanna wear the uniform, good on you! I'm proud to wear mine for that EXACT reason! Whether it's appealing or not! If you don't want to wear it, that's fine too...I think the issue here is not what we're wearing...it's what we're doing!

My mate, Pauly, wrote a blog recently about how people are watching what we're doing! I'd be more challenged to think about how I'm behaving in or out of uniform that sets an example to the world. What kind of example are you setting? And if people like our new Christian are watching our example and hanging on what we say cause he's eager to learn and all we're teaching him is 'Hey, come join the church and get into a debate!' then what kind of example are we setting there?!! We're supposed to be set apart and setting an example for the world to follow! Jeremiah 1:5 says:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..

What are we doing people? God did NOT set us apart for this!! He set us apart to be an example to the world...1 Timothy 4:12 says:

...set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

And Titus 2:7-8 says this:

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

What kind of example are we setting here?? Are we showing integrity, seriousness, soundness of speech that cannot be condemned? Are we giving people a reason to speak badly of us? I think we are! There's a whole world of people out there who won't step foot in a church because they've been burnt by the church and they're sick of having arguments. Heck, they can wait till their family Christmas dinner to have a disfunctional argument...why do they need to come to church every week and hear it? That's the message we're giving out! We're not setting an example for believers, let alone non believers, in speech, life, love, faith and purity! Come on, get real!!

Honestly, some of you might be sitting there with your knickers in a knot over this...if so...GOOD! Obviously you needed the challenge! I wasn't commissioned to only ever give you a warm fuzzy feeling...I was commissioned by Christ to make disciples of all nations...and that means CHALLENGING people! Rebuking, correcting...and I need it just as much as you...that's where the Word comes in!

SO...I say...and GOD says...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Get OVER it and get ON with it!! Just SHUT UP and start WORKING! There's alot that needs to be done for the Kingdom! So get on with it!

Fighting for the my mum!

2005-10-04T17:31:00.000+10:00

Well, I just had an absolutely fantastic weekend at Black Stump!! For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a big Arts, Music and Teaching Christian Festival...same kind of thing as AGMF (for those of you who know what AGMF is! :D ) only it's a bit smaller...there's not as many big bands there...but there's more teaching...which was AWESOME!! Anyway...I was really blessed to be able to go. My church paid for me to go because some of the youth were going. There were 22 of us all up (not all youth...families etc) and it was so great!! Not only was there fantastic music and challenging teaching, but the best part of the weekend was the awesome fellowship the 22 of us had! I've been here 5 months now and it was great to get away with a small group from the church and really spend some great time of fellowship with them! I was really blessed by the whole weekend!

On the way home, however, we stopped for lunch and I got an sms off my dad about my mum's surgery. Just to fill you in, if you're not aware already...my mum has been unwell for a REALLY long time! She has a bad back, bad hips, legs...you name it...she's been through it! She's been told that she will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life very soon...it's just a waiting game now! It's been really hard on her physically and emotionally and really hard on us emotionally. About 7 years ago she had a surgical procedure done called a Laminectomy, in which an electronic device is implanted into her back to alleviate some of the pain in her back. However, within a year the wires came loose and they took it out. At the start of this year it was put back in. But in May she had a fall and she was in alot of pain...she thought that the device may have gotten damaged...after waiting a month to see a doctor, it was confirmed that the device had infact been damaged, much to her's and our dismay...this meant MORE surgery! So, about 2 months ago she had surgery to fix the device, however, the surgeon wasn't skilled enough, so he closed her up and told her she'd have to wait for a neurosurgeon to finish it. Finally, last week she saw the neurosurgeon and had surgery again...BUT...they messed up! They didn't do it properly! They had to do MORE surgery yesterday (Monday). It was alot more complicated than they expected. The doctor came out extremely exhausted and told dad that he had wanted to give up. There was scar tissue everywhere. He had to cut part of her vertabrae and placed electrodes in. She will be in pain for a while now...it will take up to 3 months or more to heal. We will find out more over the next few days as to whether the surgery worked or not. They've told her that if it doesn't work, there's nothing more they can do for her!

Mum has been through SO much it doesn't seem fair. But, she knows that God has asked her to carry this burden. He's told her to continue to rely on His strength because it's through His strength that she is where she is today. Still alive! God has shared with mum on a number of occassions the verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that says

'"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.'

And in Romans 5:3-5 it says

'...we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.'

Let me tell you...that's the hardest thing to do! To rejoice in our sufferings and in our trials. To persevere when your body is so weak and tired and you just want to give up. But mum just hangs in there and relies on the Lord's strength to pull her through...and He always does!!

In writing this blog I want to ask for your prayers! Pray for whatever you feel led to pray for...healing, peace, comfort...whatever God puts on your heart! But please...PRAY!!

Fighting for the Jehova Jireh who fights for us!

2005-09-29T10:55:00.000+10:00

Man, my blogs are getting to be too few and far between...

Well, I had an incredible weekend this weekend. Saturday morning I did a BBQ at Bunnings to raise money for Botswana and it started out a total disaster. It was very overcast and starting to rain...not exactly ideal conditions for a BBQ. I had ordered a BBQ pkg from a butcher (that will remain anonymous so that I don't take part in destroying their reputation) The pkg was meant to contain 35kg of sausages, 30loaves of bread and 10kg of onions. BUT...someone lost it! SO, they had to get the meat for me and the onion, but then they told me that they'd ordered the bread and only half came in, so they couldn't give me any bread. RARRR....so they told me the bakery that they go to and we quickly raced down there. But when we got there the lady didn't speak much English and really had no idea what I was talking about when I explained who sent us. So I just said 'OK...I just need 30 loaves of bread!' So, she called her husband and then informed us that we'd have to wait 20 mins for it to arrive. We had no choice, so I agreed. Then I went to pay with my credit card and she said 'Sorry, we don't take credit cards!' RARRRRR...so I calmly walked down to the ATM to take out the cash I thought was in my bank, only to discover my balance was -$180!!! This is the first month I've had my tithes taken out of my bank by direct debit and I forgot and didn't have the cash in the bank...SO...Im now totally broke except for my last $50 in my wallet...that's gonna have to do!! (I just wanted to cry!!) So I went back and paid and then I called my dad to tell him about my disaster! While I was standing there I looked across the road and there was a Lutheran Church (God Bless the Lutheran Church!!) and their sign out the front said 'HELP LORD!' THE SIMPLEST PRAYER OF ALL. God really has got a sense of humour...so I stopped and just said simply, HELP LORD!!

So, we got to Bunnings and set up. By this time the weather had started to clear up. The day went well. Not only did we sell everything but I had a couple of opportunities to share with a few people, which was awesome!!! :D I made a profit of $430...which was not bad...not what I'd expected, but better than nothing!

After the BBQ I headed down to Sydney where I'd been asked to preach at Sydney's divisional Youth Church, Flayva...it was SO awesome!! God is so great! During the offering time, being as broke as I was, I thought I'd put in a few coins. But I felt God prompt me to put in $50! Man, I was so scared...I had no money left so I had to take out money from the BBQ straight away. I thought 'God, don't ask me to do this...I can't afford it!' But He was asking anyway...so I grabbed it out of my wallet and didn't think about it anymore...I just put it in the offering! Then I prayed 'Ok God, I know you needed that for something...whatever it was for just multiply it for your Kingdom!'

After Flayva my good friend Nath came and slipped something in my hand. He said 'Someone gave me this to give to you. Put it straight in your pocket...don't look at it. Just put it in your pocket and look at it later!' So I put it in my pocket and left it there. I got in the car with Fuji to go home and I opened it. To my complete surprise, there wrapped in a piece of paper was $700!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! I was in shock...Fuji turned and saw it and was like 'What's all the money for?' I couldn't believe it. I explained it all...it was amazing! Man, that's what I call multiplying...He multiplied my money by 14!!!

So...not a real long blog today...but just a challenge for you...BE OBEDIENT...even when it's scary...STEP OUT IN FAITH...even when it's uncertain...TRUST HIS POWER...even in the impossible...LET HIM BE YOUR JEHOVA JIREH...

Jehova Jireh, my provider
His grace is sufficient for me

My God shall supply all my needs
According to His riches in glory
He gives His angels charge over me
Jehova Jireh cares for me!

FIGHT FOR THE ONE WHO FIGHTS FOR YOU! YOUR JEHOVA JIREH!

Fighting to be faithful and obedient like Elijah

2005-09-21T10:10:00.000+10:00

Sorry, it's been a while. Gosh it's been busy. And still having trouble writing blogs from home. I can only do it from the work computer, and most of the time when I'm here I'm actually working...tehehe...hence the reason for my lack of blogs. But alas, here is a new one...I came in early to write one today!

In my devotions this morning I read 1 Kings 17-18 and I was so blown away by the faith and obedience of Elijah. Man he was an awesome guy. I really want to encourage you to read it...I'm sure you'll be blown away too.

This is the general jist of it anyway...there was a new King in Israel, Ahab and this guy was not good! Actually it says in 1 Kings 16:30 (NIV),

"Ahab did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him"

So, that kinda sets the scene a little. This guy was just all round bad news! Not only was he evil, but he was starting to worship a false God, Baal. So Elijah, a guy from Tishbite, says to Ahab,

"I'm a servant of the living LORD, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won't rain until I say so. There won't even be any dew on the ground." (17:1 CEV)

Then God said to Elijah, "Leave and go across the Jordan River so you can hide near Cherith Creek. You can drink water from the creek, and eat the food I've told the ravens to bring you." (17:3 CEV)

Let me stop there for a minute...how awesome is that. I mean think about that for a minute. It says in verse 5 that Elijah obeyed God...he didn't think twice about it...he just went where he was told to go. And God was faithful...verse 6 says,

"Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank water from the creek."

Can you imagine a raven, a bird, coming to you twice a day to bring you meat and bread? Does that not totally blow your mind? I mean come on. Picture it. Humour me. Close your eyes and picture a raven flying through the sky with meat and bread in it's mouth. If I said that's how you were going to get your food every day I bet you'd say, "Yeah, ah ha...and a stork delivered me to my parents!...Riiight!" Don't feel bad, I would have reacted the same way. So when God said to Elijah, "Hey dude, go hide near Cherith Creek and I'll send a raven every day to feed you!" don't you think he would have thought that was a bit crazy? I know I would have. But Elijah didn't even question God. He probably thought it sounded a little out there...but he didn't question it because it was GOD! God was sending him. God was telling him to do something...so why would he question it? He just obeyed. No questions. He just did it. And sure enough, every day, in fact twice a day, God sent a raven to feed Elijah bread and meat. WOAH! What an awesome God.

But, before long, ofcourse, all the water started to dry up. I mean it hadn't rained in ages, the water supply can only last for so long. So God says to Elijah,

"Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I've told a widow in that town to give you food." (17:9 CEV)

Again, sounds a little far fetched. I mean, a widow. A widow is poor. A widow can't afford to feed Elijah. But again, no questions asked, Elijah heads off to Zarephath. When he arrives he sees a widow. She's out gathering sticks for a fire. So he goes up to her and says "Can you get me some water?" Then she starts to walk away to get it and Elijah (not even afraid he's pushing the friendship a little) calls out to her, "Oh, and by the way, can you bring me some bread too?" The widow turns around and says, "Sorry mate, I swear by God that I have nothing! I mean all I've got is a handful of flour and just a little bit of olive oil. Sorry, I'm about to go home and make something for my son and I to eat and then after that we'll probably starve to death cause we'll have no food left." but Elijah says to her, "Don't worry about anything. Just go home and make your bread, but first give me some to eat. I promise you in God's Name that you will NOT run out of oil or flour!"

So, the widow trotts on home, probably thinking, "Is this guy for real? What if he's tricking me? What if I make it and run out of oil and flour? My son and I will die." But she gets home and makes Elijah some bread anyway, and sure enough, her jars are full. She didn't run out of flour or oil, just as Elijah had said.

Has anyone seen that ad that used to be on TV about the Tim Tams that never run out? That's what I picture when I think about this womans jars of flour and oil. Every time she used a bit of flour or oil God would fill it up again. She had a never ending jar of flour and a never ending jar of oil. Wouldn't you love to have a never ending supply of food? We're funny people aren't we? I mean, isn't it funny that we don't trust God and we doubt and question everything?! Wouldn't it be so great to live in those days when people didn't question what God asked them to do. But today we are taught to question everything and we get in the way of what God wants to do and how fast He can do it! Although, I have to say from the outset that that is no excuse! We don't have to question everything. We don't have to doubt what God says. We make our own choices. Life would be so much simpler if we would just say YES straight away!

So the story continues. It keeps getting better. Well, not before it gets a little sad. Elijah had been staying with this widow for a little while now and then her son got sick. He got so sick that he died. The widow was SO angry with Elijah. She said to him,

"What have I done to you? I thought you were God's prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I've sinned against God?" (17:18 CEV)

Elijah himself was feeling a little sad and confused at why this had happened. So he took the womans son upstairs to his room and put the boy on his bed and he cried out to God. He said, "What's the deal God? This woman did everything you said and she let me stay in her house just as you said. Why have you let her boy die?" Then he stretched himself over the boy 3 times praying to God,

"Lord God, bring this boy back to life!" (17:21 CEV)

Then all of a sudden the boy started to breathe. Elijah let out a sigh of relief, picked him up and carried him back down to his mother. His mother was totally gobsmacked!! She looked at him and said, "Man, you really are for real. Now I know for sure that God sent you and that everything you've told me is true!"

Well, first God provides food and water for Elijah, then he goes on providing more for Elijah and the widow and her son, then He brings this boy back to life! He was dead! He actually stopped breathing. He was gone! But God bought him back to life again! Man, can it get any more amazing than this? YES!! WOOHOO!! God is so good...

Let's skip over to 1 Kings 18:16-46. That awesome story of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Remember Ahab the new King? Well, he was getting really cocky and he was still worshipping Baal. So, Elijah gave him a challenge. "Lets both go get a bull to sacrifice. We'll both set it up on an altar and you pray to Baal and I'll pray to the real God and then we'll see which one sets the sacrifice on fire!" So, ofcourse, Ahab's up for a challenge, being his cocky self, so he agrees to the challenge. So Elijah says, "Lets not flip a coin, you go first!" So Ahab gets his people together and they get ready.

So everything's ready. The bull, the altar. Now all they have to do is call on Baal and surely he'll send the fire! So they start praying and dancing around the altar. They're calling out to Baal, "Come on Baal, answer us!" But, surprise surprise, no answer! Elijah thinks, this is too good to not say something. So he has a bit of a dig at them, "Hmmm, maybe he's gone on holidays. Shout a little louder! Maybe he's asleep...tough job being a false god!" So, stupid as they are, they start to shout a little louder, just incase he did go on holidays. But nothing!

So Elijah comes over and says, "Alright, that's enough now. Move aside! You look ridiculous. Let me show you the REAL God!" So he prepares his altar and puts his bull in place, and just to prove his point he says to the people who were worshipping Baal, "Go get some water, like bucketloads, and full up the trench around the altar and then soak the offering with water." So they did it 3 times. The altar was soaked! Then when it was all set he called out to God and said, "OK God, it's all set. Show us your stuff! Show these people you're the man...the bees knees if you will!!" The Lord smiled (He loves Elijah's sense of humour) and straight away he sent fire! Not only did it burn the bull, but it burnt the wood and stones on the altar and the ground around the altar was all scorched and all the water they'd poured on the altar was all soaked up! When the people saw what happened and picked their chins up off the floor they all fell on the ground and worshipped God!

YEAH! Now that's what I'm talkin bout! What an awesome God!! Then Elijah, feeling quite excited and proud of his God, I'm sure, nudges God and says, "Hey God, how bout that rain now..." He tells Ahab to go and eat and drink cause it's gonna rain. So off Ahab goes. Then when he sees the clouds coming he sends a messenger to tell Ahab to get in his chariot and get out of there before the rain came. If he didn't leave then the rain would be too much and would stop him! So he gets in his chariot and gets going. Then it started to get really cloudy and windy and it started pouring! Then next part is awesome...the worlds first champion sprinter...it says in 18:46NIV

"The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel."

Man, Ahab was havin a bad day that day! Not only did Elijah prove his god wrong, but he whooped his butt and beat him home!! WOOHOO! Go God!!

Man what an awesome devotions this morning! What a lesson and a challenge! It's so much easier to say YES to God the first time and watch His power and provisions start to unfold in our lives, rather than hang onto everything and try and figure it out first! Trust me! You're never going to fully figure out God, so get over it and just be obedient! You don't need to understand everything right away or sometimes at all! If God thought that you couldn't act without understanding everything then He would explain it all to us! But He wants to see if you will say yes even when it doesn't make sense. Even when it seems like a risk or it seems a little too scary. He doesn't want you to think about it, he just wants you to say "OK Lord, use me!!"

What a challenge today!! To be used by the Lord in such a powerful way! Can it still happen the way it did when Elijah obeyed God?? Of course it can! And more importantly it WILL...when you say YES! Don't hesitate! If God is asking you to do something...just be faithful and obedient...not cause there's something in it for you at the end...but just because God said DO IT!

Fighting for Pauly!

2005-09-09T11:52:00.000+10:00

Ok...I just need to post a blog to plug my friend Pauly...He has a new blog page...check it out here ...Its really awesome and he has some GREAT stuff to share!! You will truly be blessed by his blog!!

So that's all I came to say...haha...my shortest blog EVER!! Enjoy...it will never happen again!! hahahaha

Fighting for safety through appropriateness!

2005-09-06T17:07:00.000+10:00

Wow...it's been too long. I've been having trouble with my blog page and haven't been able to actually post a blog. Finally, here's another one! Sorry readers!

Something I've noticed around me lately is this issue of appropriateness or, more to the point, inappropriateness. At first I was really surprised and kinda concerned at how inappropriately young people behave these days, especcially young girls, but then I look at some parents and I realise where it starts. Now, I'm not here to judge people's parenting skills (or lack there of), I'm just here to point out what, in my opinion, is appropriate and what's not and maybe give you some insight into what inappropriateness leads to.

I'm also not writing this with the hope of stepping on anyone's toes, and I hope and pray that that's not what happens. However, I do hope and pray that if you do feel a little twinge then you might take that as a challenge God is laying on your heart to behave in a more appropriate way or to speak out about this behaviour if you know it's around you.

Our local Post Office is inside a Newsagent. This morning I went to the Post Office and, as always, there were magazine covers stuck all over the front windows. Almost all of the pictures were of women flaunting their 'stuff'. Either dressed in clothes that leave much to the imagination, or behaving in some way that might attract the wrong kind of attention. There were magazines with articles on 'how to's' for sexual realtionships, there were articles on 'casual sex'...articles on famous people who have new or multiple partners, or are having or adopting children with partners they've only just got together with. There are magazines with centrefolds (I've never opened one...I'm not game...somehow I don't think it would appeal to me!) It's all just absolute crap!!

You might be sitting there reading this thinking, 'Oh it's harmless really' or 'Oh but she looks so nice in that backless top and mini skirt that reveals everything when she sits down' Maybe. But then again, picture how she'd look with police tape surrounding her week old dead body in a park somewhere. Harsh? Too graffic? I'm sorry, but that's reality.

Did you know that around 10million children - mainly girls - are forced into some form of sexual exploitation? That's equivellant to half our poplation in Australia. Did you know that a further one million children enter the commercial sex trade each year? So you're thinking one of two things, 'That's so sad!' or 'That doesn't happen in Australia'...let me give you some other statistics. Did you know that the NSW sexual assault and court conviction statistics show that in the last financial year 11, 000 people contacted NSW Police to report a sexual assault? Amongst those were 63 gang-rape offences and 320 child sexual assaults. NSW's only 24 hour Rape Crisis Centre received 3,352 cries for help. The financial year before there were 9,151 reported assaults in NSW...that means that within a year there was an increase of 1,849 reported sexual assaults. The report also showed that 63 people had reported that they believed they had been victim to drink spiking. If you think that sounds devastating, the Australian Bereau of Statistcs estimated that only 20% of rapes are reported. That means that the actual figure could be somewhere around 60,000 sexual assaults in NSW alone in one year. Even more alarming than that is that only 247 convictions were made in that time.

I could go on. I could find all the stats you wanna know about how many of those rapes ended in murder. I'm not telling you this stuff to freak you out, but I'm telling you this to open your eyes a little. Guys and gals, if you're sitting there thinking, 'that could never happen to me' I want you to read those stats again and then find me the one person who actually left home the day they were raped and murdered knowing it was going to happen to them. This increase of assaults means that there is an increase of sick and perverted people out there who still don't know Jesus. So this is my advice....

1. Tell EVERYONE about Jesus as if your life and theirs depends on it...because it does!
2. Dress appropriately. This means the following (and this is not about me being a prude or being jealous cause I couldn't get away with wearing any of it...this is about you protecting yourself! This is mainly for girls) wear something that covers your midrif; make sure your skirt is not so short that you can see everything when you sit down; wear tops that cover your breasts; Wear shirts that have a back on them; even better, wear tops that say 'I LOVE JESUS AND I'M PROUD OF IT!'
3. DON'T go out at night by yourself. You may think you live in the safest suburb ever, but you don't! No one does! Don't even risk it!
4. Get a mobile phone!!
5. Make sure that you are behaving appropriately. I see so many girls throwing themselves at guys and so many guys lapping it all up and I have to say, it's not healthy. If you're not with that person, and by that I mean you're not officially a couple, then sitting on someone's lap of the opposite sex, lying all over someone, hugging someone so tight that your bodies are pressed up against eachother, are all things that are not appropriate. I know I know...I'm so boring...hey, I love a good hug...but, you know what? I don't wanna lead someone on either and get myself into a compromising or dangerous situation! I hope after reading this you don't either!

I guess this mostly goes out to the ladies out there, although men, listen up too! Firstly, ladies, respect your brothers! Don't dress inappropriately because you WILL make them feel things that they may not want to feel!! Don't sit on their lap because you WILL make them feel things they may not want to feel!! Don't be over flirtatious with them because you don't know what they will read in to that!! Don't EVER go out alone!! If you can help it, go out with other gals or others guys...not so that the guys can be your 'pretend boyfriend' for the night, but so you have protection!

Guys, respect your sisters! If they are sitting on you, don't humour them! Without putting them on the spot, politely get them OFF! When a girl dresses inappropriately she does it to impress guys and to get attention. Don't give her the attention. Respect her enough to not egg her on! Don't grab a girl around the waist or anywhere inappropriate that may make her feel things SHE doesn't want to feel or you don't want her to feel. When you're out with your gal friends, protect them. Don't be the knight in shining armour who holds her hand all night, but keep an eye out for her and for any unwanted suspect male attention...no matter who she is or what she looks like, trust me, SOMEONE will give her attention that she won't want! So protect her!

Guys and gals, I can't tell you enough how important it is to do EVERYTHING in your power to protect yourselves and each other. Not just by watching out for each other, but by being aware of the way you present your self, physically, emotionally and in your personality. Go out, have fun, hang out with mates! Have a laugh, enjoy life, enjoy JESUS! But, don't be blind! There are sick people out there and you don't know who they are or where they are. So BE SMART and BE SAFE...!! (hehe...I could make an ad... :P)

I love you all...you're all beautiful...and Jesus loves you!!

FIGHT FOR SAFETY THROUGH APPROPRIATENESS!!

Fighting for VICTORY!!

2005-08-26T00:33:00.000+10:00

I realised it's been a while since my last blog and thought, it's about time I write a new one. 10 days infact! WOAH!

Well, what a weekend! I had the privellege of going to Unlimited in Sydney and it was incredible! If I were to explain everything, I'd be here forever! But here's a snippet! Let me set the scene. Friday night, day 1! Wayne Alcorn is the guest speaker. And here's the scripture he spoke from.
Isaiah 54:1

"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD.

Hmmm...strange thing to say don't you think? I mean, if you look at the context in which this passage was written, a barren woman was hardly the kind of person to start singing over the dishes or while working around the house. She was hardly the person you'd find at a party, living it up. And with no such thing as adoption agencies or IVF programs, how on earth would a desolate woman have more children than a married woman? In fact if you look at the time it was written a barren woman was outcast. If she was married and failed to 'produce' children she was ditched and good old hubby went and picked himself up another wife - one that would bare his children. You see the role of a woman was to be a wife and a mother. That was it. You failed to do those things and you failed as a woman.

Well, how could someone who was barren, outcast and frowned upon as an unworthy person and seen as a terrible sinner because of her circumstances, rejoice and start singing songs as if life was perfect. How could she think that she would have more children than a married woman? Well, God wasn't actually referring to the barren woman herself here. He was referring to the restoration of Jerusalem. He was talking about His anger and wrath towards Jerusalem subsiding and a fresh revival happening. Wayne spoke about this revival and spoke about how we, the church, need to start seeing revival happen in our own context. And you know what, if we are doing things that honour God, that promise of revival is ours!

After Wayne spoke I went forward and asked for prayer for my ministry. You see, there's been a big split and a decline in the church and mostly amongst the youth here. There's a lot of hurt and brokeness surrounding the young guys here. So I went and asked someone to pray for them and for my role as their Youth Pastor. I received a prayer of annointing and for the first time in my life, I was so overcome by the Holy Spirit that I fell on the ground and was pinned to the ground for about 20 mins while the Holy Spirit spoke. And do you know what He said? Only one word...VICTORY! I lay there and soaked it up. I couldn't move. It was incredible! VICTORY! One word held SO much in it! There WILL be victory for the youth here! I didn't know in what way, shape of form...and I still don't know completely...but let me tell you what happened next!

As we (I took 5 yth with me) drove back to the place we were staying the young guys sat in the car with a CD on repeat on the song Shout Unto God...the lyrics are:

The enemy has been defeated
Death couldn't hold you down
I'm gonna lift my voice in victory
I'm gonna make your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift your name up, we lift your name up

It was amazing. I still haven't shared my vision with them yet, and yet they were singing this victory song. Over and over and over again! I sat in the car smiling not able to sing, I just had to listen. And all I could hear was the sound of VICTORY! The sound of TRIUMPH! Wayne explained that the word 'sing' means 'to emit the sound of victory' and that's exactly what I heard in the car. Even though they didn't know it!

Well, the next night, one of the youth recommited his life to Christ. He's been sitting on the fence for a little while and stopped coming to church. But he came to Unlimited (actually, Love That) and he recommitted his life to Christ there! How amazing is that?! What sweet VICTORY!

So many amazing things happened, but I can't go into them all now! Too much. But, I know that God has amazing plans for the youth here! I know that there will be many more people emitting the sound of victory. And as for me and the youth, we will SING knowing that the Lord will bless this place with MORE of His children!

Emit the sound of victory, friends...because the battle is the Lord's and the victory, through Christ, is ours! Praise Him for that!

Fighting for MORE Alex's!

2005-08-15T20:43:00.000+10:00

Wow...I've just had one of the BEST weekends ever! Yesterday I led church in the morning. I was really nervous and felt unprepared (even though I WAS prepared...a few little things were not running smoothly and I started to panic). So, I gave the meeting to God. Heck, I don't wanna be responsible for failing to reach souls because I did it alone!! I have no choice but to give it to God! Cause then I'm putting the people in God's hands and not mine and something BIG is sure to happen that way!! And boy, did it happen!! After the message, as we sang Amazing Love, 60 people came forward to renew their life in Christ! We didn't have a full congregation, we only had around 100. That means that the Holy Spirit moved in more than half the congregation and actually got them outta their seats and forward to the mercy seat!! 60 PEOPLE! I'm not exaggerating here! That's an exact number! But I believe there were more! One or two shared with me after the service how blessed they were but that they just didn't go forward! I believe that God swept through that place and touched every life in that building in some way!! It was AMAZING!

But, wait...that's not all! There's an amazing young guy, Alex, who's been coming to youth group with a friend for the last few months. He came to church yesterday morning (his first morning service...It was a nice surprise to see him there cause he's only ever been to a few night services) After the service Alex came up to me and shared with me that on Saturday night while chatting on line with 2 AWESOME guys from church he committed his life to Christ!! He said he heard God speak to him and tell him that this was it...this was what he had to do! He said he couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the night!

In Luke 15:7 it says "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15:10 says "I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Then Luke 15:32 says, "...we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

Man, I can't even imagine the parties going on in Heaven for Alex right now, cause let me tell you...yesterday was SUCH a great day! I couldn't stop praising and worshipping God! I spent most of the day at the church either by myself, in church or hanging out with others just singing worship! The whole time praising God for what he had just done in Alex's life! It was amazing to see his face when he told me. He seemed nervous to tell me but he also seemed like he couldn't wait...he was so different...his face was aglow! I was just so blessed and in awe of God yesterday and today and ALWAYS! It made me think about my own experience when I found Christ and how free I felt! I am SO excited that Alex now has that same FREEDOM!!

Everyone was just buzzing! It wasn't just me! All day amongst the young people hearing about Alex becoming a Christian we all just wanted to go and celebrate! We all got hyper to the max and couldn't stop smiling and randomly laughing because of what God had done! It was such an incredible feeling! It made me think about how much I want to see more of that! I want to see more Alex's! I want to see more young people come to know Christ and have a real WOW experience with God the way that Alex did! And I think...no I know...it was because it finally clicked for Alex and he completely opened himself up to God and God spoke to him! If everyone was like that, they would hear God speak too! My prayer, and I will fight till the very end for it to happen, is that people continue to come into the presence of God and be nurtured the way that Alex has been till they finally have their eyes, ears, minds and hearts opened by and to the Holy Spirit!

As if Alex's decision wasn't encouraging enough, just speaking to him about it really blew me away. He shared with me that he really wants to learn so much more and that he is so glad to be around Christian friends who will help him to grow! I was so blessed and encouraged by that! I remember as a non Christian occassionally going to church with mum and dad and on a couple of occassions being in the moment and saying I wanted to be a Christian again but giving up the moment I left the church. It was just too hard and I couldn't be bothered. I didn't want to quit smoking and drinking. But the day I really gave my heart to the Lord He really hit me hard! He reached out to me...I didn't reach out to Him! I could feel Him calling out to me with sorrow...His heart was breaking for me! I didn't deserve that but I knew for the first time that regardless of whether I deserved it or not God WANTED to give me His grace and He wanted to be in my life! So I gave it all to Him and it was the first time I actually opened myself up to Him COMPLETELY! He took away my addictions...I didn't even have to worry about it! I KNEW that was it! I was now living for Christ and NOTHING could take me away from Him now! From that moment I couldn't get enough of church! I had to be there and be involved in the worship teams etc! I couldn't stay away! I see that in Alex now! Although, he is not drowning himself, he is so keen to be filled with the Spirit and to learn more and GROW GROW GROW! I believe that Alex has had that experience where there is NO TURNING BACK! God is IN HIS LIFE and there's NOTHING better than that!

Psalm 63:3 says, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

Man, God's love and grace is so much better than ANYTHING!! Nothing tops that! I WILL fight for Alex...I will fight to see him grow and learn more about HIS God! I will fight to see more Alex's...more young people coming to take refuge under the Lord's almighty wings!

It doesn't get much better than this! Life's not always a bed of roses...but OUR God's love is BETTER THAN LIFE! I can't think of a better reason to praise Him!!

FIGHT FOR MORE ALEX'S, FRIENDS!

Fighting for better movies!

2005-08-13T22:05:00.000+10:00

We had a ladies night here at our church on Friday night and it was a lot of fun. But they women organising the night went through a lot to organise the whole night. The women spent a lot of time searching and watching a lot of movies to find one that was appropriate to show that had no swearing in it or no sex scenes etc. Do you know how hard it was to find a show that had no swearing or sex scenes. Almost impossible. After much searching
they found one.

It made me think about what we watch everyday. We don't have any movies or shows anymore that don't have people sleeping with eachother on night one or having affairs...or without swearing etc. I think this is a little disturbing. What are we watching, WORSE, what are our kids watching?

I hear so many people who say "Oh, I let my kids watch this show. I mean I know its rated 'M' but they know it's not real. They know not to do the things they see." Really? I mean, it's great that you give your kids so much
credit, but let me tell you, they are not as mature as you'd like to believe! I'm sure that you tell them that it's not real, but do they really understand? Kids live in a world of fantasy. If your child still believes in the tooth fairy, Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, then chances are they're not old enough to be subjected to 'M' rated movies that are full of sex, violence and swearing!

Maybe you think that I'm a prude or something, and that's ok...but I think as Christians we need to make sure that we are using our discernment. We need to know where to draw the line...and let me tell you, it's a very thin line! We need to know a little about discernement. We need to know when to switch the TV off or walk out of a movie that's not wholesome or a movie that maybe you wouldn't be watching if Jesus was there! If there are things that you believe we shouldn't be doing as Christians, why would you watch those things happen on your TV screens? Why would you bring that into your homes? Why would you pay money to go and watch those things happen if you truly don't agree with them. The sad thing is that there are very few movies and shows out now that are wholesome, so we have just 'put up with it' and subjected to the rest of the world.

In Philippians 1:9-11 it says this:

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God."

So much truth in those words. We need to have depth of insight so that we can discern what's best and may be pure and blameless until Christ returns. How do we have depth of insight? We study and we get to know the Word of God and what it tells us about what we should do. The Bible still applies to us today. All the answers you need to know about anything in life is found in the Word of God. You just need to know how to study it. You can't take everything the Bible says as you read it. You need to study it. You need to get to know about when it was written and the context in which it was written to understand what it really says and means. You need to know who translated it and what their sources were. If we put effort into studying God's Word we will have depth of insight and we can discern what God is saying to us and how we should live in a way that is pleasing to God and so that we might be full of the fruit of righteousness. You need to ask yourself in everything you do, 'Is what I'm doing giving glory and praise of God?'

We have fallen into the trap of 'going with the flow'. That's not what God intended for us as Christians. He didn't want us to go with the flow. He wanted us to be IN the world but not OF the world! So in everything that we do we need to make sure that we are pleasing God and not man. If you wouldn't watch it with Jesus, don't watch it at all. Because you ARE watching it with Jesus! Don't encourage people to make these movies. By watching them we are encouraging them to make them and we are not helping. If we take a stand time will show that we, through Jesus, will have the victory.

Fighting for peace and joy!

2005-08-11T22:41:00.000+10:00

Man I love Romans 5:1-11...if you don't know it then PLEASE go grab your Bible and read it...or read it here

I often think we complain or worry too much about life and all the little menial things that we don't really need to worry about. Life at times can be tough and can be testing, but when you read Romans 5:1-11 you can't help but forget about all that stuff and just smile. Well, I can't help but smile!

There are so many things in my life that I sit around and complain about. But they're not important things and so I have to think to myself, why on earth do I winge about these things? The biggest thing I complain about is being 22 and still single because for as long as I can remember I've wanted to be married with 2 kids by 25. Hahaha...clearly that's not going to happen. But, does my eternal life hinge on whether I'm married with kids? I mean, sure, I won't deny that I still want that life and that my hearts desire is to be married and have kids, but at the end of the day, why am I not content with just God?! I mean, it doesn't make sense really. When you read Romans 5:1-11 and realise that God provides FAR more than a partner could, why would you not be content with that? Obviously there are other things in a relationship that we as humans crave for...or atleast us girls...hugs...kisses...just snuggling up in front of the TV. All those couply things...hehe. But God can give me SO much more than that! He can promise me and give me eternal life in glory with Him!

How often do we complain about things that go wrong in our lives? Like when we're sick or in pain or when we face temptation or trials. When we've lost our job. When someone says or does something hurtful. And rightfully so...right? Well, Romans 5:3-5 says this:

"...but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Wow! Imagine REJOICING in our sufferings. Imagine rejoicing in our trials and in temptation. Imagine rejoicing over your flu or over your surgery or over temptation. Imagine rejoicing over losing your job (some of you probably can imagine that tehehe). Imagine rejoicing when someone stabs you in the back! It's hard to imagine isn't it? But God says in His Word...REJOICE in all these things because through them I am making you better people! I am making you people of character and FULL HOPE! A hope that will NEVER disappoint you! So rejoice and be glad in the Lord because He has poured His love into our hearths by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us!

So, tomorrow I expect to see everyone REJOICING in their sufferings! Hahaha...gotcha!!! Just kidding! We're not perfect, so we're not gonna nail this thing...however, we can try to work at it atleast. I find it so hard to grasp at times that persevering and being patient and waiting on God's timing is ultimately going to build my character. I guess that's the beauty of hindsight! :D But, its the truth! God says it in His Word! He wants us to learn to rely on Him and learn to walk in His truth and grace! So, we need to atleast try with all we've got! Verse 6-8 says,

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

How amazing is that? Isn't that a reason to rejoice in the Lord? I think so! At JUST THE RIGHT TIME! Have you ever thought about God's impeccable timing? I mean, really sat down to think about how perfect it is? In Romans 5:6 He says, "...at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Isn't that amazing? Not a minute sooner, not a minute later...it was just the right time! God knew when the time would be and why it would happen at that time! He died while we were still powerless. He showed His grace in SUCH an amazing way! That while we were still sinners He died for us!

You know, when I got this job I had to find somewhere to live and a way to get down here...considering a removalist etc. Well, I knew that this was the job that God wanted me to have...I knew by then that this was the place I was meant to be! But it was up to God and His timing and His provisions to get me here cause I couldn't get here otherwise. Well, man, did He show me what His timing and provisions were all about! My CO's/Pastors arranged for me to get here and to get some of my stuff here...a lady in the church happened to have a boyfriend moving here from Brisbane the following weekend and he had a half empty removal truck, so the rest of my stuff came down with him! I had only 3 months in the first unit I moved into and had to be out. Within that time my CO's/Pastors got a new house...much to their surpise...and that meant that I was then able to move into their house...only 2 weeks before I would have been evicted from my unit! Someone else wanted to buy the unit. It all happened in such perfect timing! Because the watch is on God's wrist, NOT MINE!

The last part is the most exciting! Romans 5:9-11 this is what it says:

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

How exciting is that? While we were still rejecting God in sin He came and rescued us and reconciled us through His Son! If we are now saved and washed in the blood and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, imagine how much MORE He will justify us and save us and rescue us in our times of suffering and trials! That's incredible don't you think? I mean, think about it! We rejected God. Do we even deserve His grace? Of course not! But that's what His grace is all about. Giving us what we don't deserve because He LOVES us and wants to clothe us in His majesty!! What an awesome God we serve!

We live in exciting times my friends. We live in a time where we can freely choose what we will do with this life God's given us! We live in a time when our voices can be heard! We live in a time where God is moving throughout our nations! We live in a time where God is raising us up to lead those nations and take the gospel to them!! What are you doing with your time? What are you doing with your life? What are you doing for Jesus? Are you sitting around complaining about life and waiting for life to happen to you? Or are you taking a stand and putting action with your words and getting out to make life happen with Jesus? The decision is yours...but remember, the time is God's! At any moment He will return and you will be faced with this question: WHAT DID YOU DO WITH JESUS?

Thanks Jesus, thanks for fighting to give us PEACE AND JOY!

Fighting for leaders!

2005-08-08T18:04:00.000+10:00

Last week 2 of my old pastors/Officers stepped out of their position for family and health reasons. It will be very sad to see them leave their positions because God has really done amazing things through them and they are both such wonderful pastors/Officers. But sometimes things are just beyond our control. Health reasons crop up and we need to make sure that we are in the right state physically as well as the rest because otherwise we can't serve how we're meant to. This doesn't mean that unwell people can't serve the Lord, but if you're at the point where your health is going to get in the way...then you do what's best!

Thinking about my pastors/Officers leaving bought up a lot for me. It made me really think about people in leadership and how they are finding it more and more difficult to stay in their positions. (I am now referring to people in general...not my pastors...their reasons are different!) It's a very sad statistic that Youth Pastors don't last longer than 18 months. Some do! Most don't! I am so blessed to have an awesome mentor who has been through SO much more in her position than anyone I know! She's been mistreated, payed wrong for years, been through 3 sets of pastors/Officers and her job description has changed every time! But she's now in her 6th year as a youth pastor and the youth in that church are so flourishing!! They're not without issues. Every ministry has issues! But God is really working there! I am so blessed to have her mentoring me because my prayer is that I will also last! I won't be in this role for 6 years. I know that! I have applied to go to Officers Training College in 3 years (to be an ordained minister for those non-Salvos who dont understand our Salvation Army jargon! hehe) But my hope and prayer is that the Lord will use me to lay a STRONG foundation here over the next 3 years and that as an Officer in the years to come, I will serve the Lord in that minstry for as long as possible!

There are so many Officers/pastors leaving the work now. Good ones too! Young and full of passion. For some of them, it's beyond their control. They have health or family issues. But for the rest...well I don't even know how to explain it! I don't understand it! I don't understand that people in ministry don't find the support they need or don't seek it. I think that alot of people think that when you're working full time in ministry serving the Lord you are invincible and they wear themselves out trying to do it all on their own. One of the things that I find the hardest coming into a leadership role and in a new state and city is that I don't know many people. I am starting to get to know more and more people. But, within my church, which is where I spend most of my time, although I have a great support network, I also need to be careful that I'm being appropriate and that I'm not seen as 'playing favourites'. This makes it very difficult to make friends. I am starting to get to know more people outside the church now, which is great. But I often wonder how Officers cope with not having many friends. I mean, I know that alot of them do have friends, but being an Officers also means moving alot. Some are blessed and stay in the same place for a long time. But, they know that there is always the possibility of being moved anytime! This makes it hard to build friendships when you don't know how long you're in one place. It does make life interesting and you meet lots of people. But I wonder if for alot of people its just too much, and they burn out and leave the work!

I don't know...your guess is as good as mine. But in writing this blog I want to encourage you with a few things and I also want to challenge you to do a few things too. If you're in ministry, no matter what it is, you have an important role, a God-ordained role, and God knows what you can and can't handle. He will never give you anything that you and He can't handle TOGETHER! When times get tough, and they WILL, hang onto God! Don't let Him go! Reach out and handle it with Him! He wants you to serve Him! But also realise that you need a support network too. That's why God doesn't put us in ministry alone. Find a mentor...find an accountability partner! Someone you trust and respect, someone appropriate (ie. guys and girls stick to your own sex...as much as you think it will be ok, when you start to get personal, things may take a different path...just play it safe!!!) someone who understands...eg. my mentor is someone who has been in youth ministry for 6 years. She's been through alot and some of it is what Im facing now as a Youth Pastor myself. So, she is the best person to be mentoring me because she's been there and knows how to handle it...so she can then support me and pass ideas etc on to me! Don't sit around waiting for the support to come to you and then complain, "We have really bad pastoral care! No one called me when I was sick or depressed!" Did they know??!! You need to put in some effort too! The support is there...you just need to ask for it! If you ask, you will receive!

Here's the challenge for those of you who are being ministered to! Your leaders/pastors have the toughest job in the world! It's not a 9-5 job...it's a 24/7 job! They're committed to their ministry but more than that, they're committed to you! So, SUPPORT THEM!! Do what you can to make sure that they feel supported! It doesn't have to be that you're a shoulder to cry on, cause that may not always be appropriate...but support them in other ways! Make them a meal...invite them round for dinner. Offer to help them out with something, even small, that might just make their day a little less hectic. When they do well at something, TELL THEM! Encourage them! Slip them a note in their pigeon hole to tell them how much they're appreciated! Make it anonymous...the thought that it could be anyone makes it seem like it's everyone...and that makes SUCH a difference! If you want to be outrageous, throw them a surprise thank you party...just because!! If you have kids groups in your church, get all the kids to make a big thank you card and put some money together for flowers or an appropriate gift! There are so many ways you can show your support and apprecaition! If you have new pastors/Officers at your church make sure that you COMPLETELY go out of your way to support them and their children and make them feel at home! It will be hard for them to come into a new place as your leader when everyone just wants to suss them out! Make them feel comfortable and loved!

Lets fight for our leaders! Lets encourage them and support them and let them know that they mean the world to us...because with our passionate leaders starting to lose their passion, we will soon start to feel a bit lost! Encourage them and keep that passion alive...their ministry is YOU!! Love them for that!!!

Fighting for Botswana!

2005-07-30T12:02:00.000+10:00

For those of you who don't know, I have been accepted to be part of the Salvation Army's Mission Team, Project 1:8 when they go to Botswana, Africa in December this year. I am really excited to be going and to be a part of the work that God's doing over there, even if it is only short term.

I just wanted to give you a bit of background about what I'm going there to do. I will be leaving on 30th November and returning on 23rd December. While I'm there I will be working at the Salvation Army Maiye Camp. "The camp's mission is to facilitate and provide, through partnerships, quality psychosocial support to orphans and vulnerable children and youth in sub-Saharan Africa." (www.masiye.com)

Our aim while we are there is to:

1. Encourage the people in the local Corps/Centres
2. Learn the issues associated with poverty and HIV/AIDS
3. Pray intelligently for Botswana
4. Assist in leading camps with local camp counsellors
5. We will also be visiting other Army programs and projects, which will include the Home Based care program which is run by the local Salvation Army Corps. They provide Palliative care and Psycho social support for the sick.

Mission Teams aim for short term missions is not just to take Jesus to people who desperately need Him...but it's also to equip people who are in mission in their own church, to empower them and encourage them to become more effective in their churches and communities. Going to Africa might seem like a really exciting thing to do...but it's not a holiday! It's going to be challenging and even life-changing. This is something that is surrounded by ALOT of prayer and only God can get us there and teach us what He wants us to know!

In writing this blog I am asking for your support! I have never been to Africa before. I did camps for disadvantaged kids for 9 weeks in California, USA...kids who were in foster and group homes etc. It was a challenge but one I'd take up again and again if given the chance. However, Africa is a whole different story. These kids are orphans who are in some way affected by AIDS or Hepatitis and a whole bunch of other diseases...some of them, it's sad to say, are curable diseases...and yet they aren't being cured because they can't afford it. I want to ask that you support me in one of the following ways...if not both!

1. Prayer!
Ephesians 6:18 says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
1 Timothy 2:1 says, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone."
And James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

Nothing is going to help me and the others on the team more than prayer. If you feel that there's something you want to do for these people in Africa and you just haven't been called to go or it's beyond your means to help in any way, PRAY!! Prayer is our most POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE tool ever! Dont EVER underestimate it and think 'I'll just pray.' Don't just pray...pray with all your being! Because its your direct line to God and He wants you to offer up your prayers and requests to Him in FAITH knowing that He has the power to answer ANY prayer! Nothing is impossible for God (Matt 19:26)

2. Financial support!
In Acts 2:42-47 Paul speaks about the believers meeting together and committing themselves to the teaching of the Apostles. It speaks of many miracles and wonders. In verse 45 is says, "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."
In Matthew 19:21 Jesus says, "Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me."

By 30th September I need to pay $3700 for this trip, not including vaccinations etc. I want to let you know from the outset that this is something that I have felt God calling me to do for some time now. I know, and He has proved this in the past, that no matter how small my finances are to start with He WILL provide the means to get there! I know He is the GREAT provider! What I am asking you to do is to pray and ask GOD if He wants you specifically to support this. I believe that God has something for me to do and to learn in Botswana. For this reason I know He will be faithful and get me there. I am asking you, whoever you are, to prayerfully consider whether He is pressing at your heart to support me in this mission.

If you feel that God is leading you to support this and sponsor me then please send your sponsorship/support money to Jodi Hoffmann PO BOX 3121 Erina, NSW Australia 2250...or for more info email me on jodi.hoffmann@aue.salvationarmy.org

Thank you for your prayers and any other support you can offer!

Bless you guys heaps!!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for happiness

2005-07-30T00:18:00.000+10:00

You know I've been thinking the last few days about what it takes to be truly happy. What does it mean to be happy? What does it feel like to be really content? I looked up the word 'happy' in my Australian Oxford Dictionary and this is the definition it gave:

"lucky, fortunate; content; indicating state of excitement, nervousness, recklessness..."

I know people who are just unhappy people. Young and old...people who are just so unhappy and find so much to complain about that they forget about the things that make them happy. They complain their life away! I think it's really sad. So, what makes people happy? I mean, what does it take to be TRULY happy?

Some people would say...a life partner. Hey, I put my hand up to that! Yes, I would LOVE a life partner...or atleast that it's revealed to me if Im after the right one at the moment or not...or its revealed to him that I am the right one... haha...But, is he going to be all that will complete me and make me truly and totally happy? Yes, he would make me happy...he already does...so if we got together ofcourse he'd make me happy...I'd feel more complete if I had him in my life!! I believe he would do that for me! But, he wouldn't be ALL that I need in my life to COMPLETE me and make me totally happy and content.

Other people say that money makes you happy. Money makes the world go round and if you have enough of it then you're truly happy. Heck, some people even believe that to have material blessings means that you're truly blessed and complete. Let me remind you of a few people. Let's talk about Michael Jackson. A man who seemingly had it all...fame, money, all that the world could buy him. But where has he ended up. Bankrupt and despised by nations of people. Inside I'm sure that he is screaming because of the issues he has and yet money didn't fix a thing. Money didn't complete him. Matthew Perry...playing Chandler in Friends, possibly the most successful sitcom ever, alongside Seinfield...still didn't make him happy earning millions and millions of dollars and he's been in and out of rehab trying to kick drugs and alcohol. All that money could buy him didn't make him happy. Why do we focus so much time and effort on money. It's not going to last. What if we lose it all? If that's what we rely on to make us happy then we're stuffed...money comes and goes. We can't take it with us when we die. What good is it? It has no eternal rewards.

Then there are those who think that being thin, beautiful and popular makes them happy. Alot of you may not know Judy Garland...Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz...I'm a big fan!! I know I know I'm old fashioned...HAHA...and proud of it! But, I discovered something about Judy Garland this year that really made me feel sad...being the avid fan that I am. Judy Garland lived a terrible life. From about the age of 12 she was a star, singing and acting. She was the most sought after child star for years. But from the start she was told she wasn't thin enough...at 12years old. She wasn't fat at all...maybe a bit of puppy fat at a stretch...but she was fine. She was a kid. But her mum got her onto dieting pills (which today we call speed and opium) and before long she was addicted. She was RICH and had all this fame. She lost loads of weight and got married a whole bunch of times. But it didn't make her happy. She had 3 kids but it didn't make her happy. Men loved her but it didn't make her happy. She died from an overdose of 'diet' pills. In the end, being thin and beautiful and popular still wasn't enough to make Judy Garland content and happy.

Why do we believe the rubbish that the world feeds us? Why do we think that such superficial stuff is going to make such a difference for the better in our lives, and we chase after it only to be sorely disappointed when it doesn't work!? We are so silly. In Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 it says this...

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.

Have you got food in your fridge? Have you got a roof over your head? Have you got clothes to wear? You are so blessed! And yet we find it so hard to fathom that! Where do we get this mindset that the things of this world are going to make us happy? They don't! They fade away...WE fade away! We can't keep this body of ours! So why do we spend so much of our life worrying about the way we look? I'm not exempt from that. Trust me...I've had BIG self esteem issues in the past...not being able to live with myself at all because I just couldn't stand myself the way I am...big and unattractive...but I've discovered who I am in Christ...and its been a HARD slog..and its still not easy...but I know that God loves me anyway..and man that makes me happy! To know that I have someone who loves me REGARDLESS of what I do or say or what I look like...He truly loves me the way I am... flaws and all...that's an awesome feeling!

You know what? Life is life! It's tough! Sometimes it can be really hard. But, we have a God who far outweighs anything that this world could throw at us...and yet we still look for happiness elsewhere! If you are living for Christ and living in His will then you will find true happiness, completeness and contentedness. It won't always be easy...and in fact you won't EVER experience total eutopian trouble-free happiness all the time till you die and go to Heaven!

But while we're here, stop waiting for life to happen and for life to get easier...stop waiting till you earn enough money, drive a fast enough car, marry the right person, have a big enough house with the right number of kids...stop waiting till you finally afford your next holiday...CHOOSE to be happy NOW!! Life is too short for you to mope around complaining about every little thing that comes your way...you can't do anything about it by worrying about it...so why worry? (read Luke 12:22-34)...CHOOSE to be happy! Don't let every little thing get to you...annoy you...stress you out...hurt you...just be happy because Jesus loved you so much that He died for you...the enemy has been defeated and death couldn't hold Him down...so lift your voice in victory and make your praises LOUD...shout out to God with a voice of TRIUMPH...shout out to God with a voice of PRAISE!

Be happy my friends...and when you meet someone who is always unhappy and complaining about life...remind them that Jesus loves them...give them something to be happy about!!

Fight for happiness!!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE...

Jodi

Fighting for RED HOT passion!

2005-07-26T22:14:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I had the most encouraging and exciting day! I felt SO pumped up for God and so excited about my youth and my job here and my church!!

I was out with one of my youth, Talitha, and we stopped into a small clothing shop. They sold heaps of funky, off-the-wall stuff. Not your mainstream 'Supre' type stuff. Anyway, while Talitha was paying for her shirts she was talking to the salesman about how awesome the clothes were cause they were so different. He was obviously SO into retail! You could see it and hear it. He lived and breathed it. He was GREAT at his job and really knew what he was talking about. Talitha also seemed really clued in and really knew her stuff. Then she started to tell him about the JC'N'ME brand cause it was similar to what she was buying...she told him about some stuff she owned. She told him it was a 'God thing'. I was so blown away that she so casually slipped it in there and really got him where he was at. Retail was definately his thing! There was NO doubting that! And heres this 16 year old girl who happens to know a bit about clothing and she just hits him with God in such a relevant way that he understood. Now, it didn't even have to be anything huge...but it was DEFINATELY a seed that was planted!

In 1 Corinthians Paul talks about how he planted seeds that Apollos watered and GOD made grow!! So neither Paul or Apollos were anything...but only God cause He made it grow! I shared that with Talitha and told her how encouraged and blown away I was that she stepped out in faith like that and that we know that God will send someone to water the seed and He will make it grow! I just couldn't get it out of my head all day! I was SO excited to see her share in such a simple and relevant way! And I got to thinking, thats ALL IT TAKES!! Some RED HOT passion for Jesus, and the simplicity of the Gospel and BAM...we're reaching out for souls!! YEAH!! Man, Im so pumped!!!!

But, my day didn't end there...oh no my friends, there were MORE blessings and encouragements on their way!! I stopped into Talitha's place and her siblings were all home from school (Talitha's an apprentice hairdresser, hence the reason she wasnt at school hehe) Anyway, her younger brother, Morgan, who is also in the youth group, asked me if I still do Flipside...the lunch time program I do at his school. Morgan's never been interested in coming along cause he hangs out with his friends at lunch and they only get 2 half hour breaks...so its really not much time. But, I told him that, yes, I still do it and he was welcome to come. He said that he was interested in coming because he has a friend who wants to become a Christian but his folks wont let him! So, Morgan wants to bring him to Flipside so that he can still get his dose of God and might hopefully be led to a full committment to Christ!! Man, even Morgan, at 14 years old, in grade 9, has RED HOT passion for Jesus and wants his friends to have it too!!!

I started thinking, man, I want MORE of that!! I want to be so RED HOT with passion for Jesus that I am absolutely bursting at the seams to share with people!! I mean, I am, but sometimes I think...not enough!!

Last night I went to a building plan committee meeting (our church is going through a building project) and I have to say that I was even more excited after being there...I seriously felt like I would explode after all the blessings that my day had unfolded...haha! Last night in the meeting it was RED HOT with passion and visions and dreams of what God is going to turn our church into and how its growing slowly but God is ALREADY showing His faithfulness since we stepped out in faith and got serious about this project. It was awesome to sit in this room with these passionate people who really know their stuff and are really just SO keyed into what God's vision is for this place! It was awesome!! The meeting normally goes for 2 hours (it's meant to go for 1 hour) but last night it went for 3 hours!! And it felt like 1!!! There was so much excitement and so much positive talk and clarification on this vision and I just left there feeling SO totally in awe of God and the work He is doing in this place!!

Tonight we had our first worship team practice. I have started a 2nd all age worship team in the church with another guy on board with me. It was really great! We sang the song 'Out of my depth in your love!' These are the lyrics:

I wanna be out of my depth in your love
Feeling your arms so strong around me
Out of my depth in your love
Out of my depth in you!

Learning to let you lead, putting all trust in you
Deeper into your arms, surrounded by you
Things I have held so tight, made my security
Give me the strength I need, to simply let go

I love that song!! Its such a great song and a great reminder! Too often we hold things so tight and we don't allow God to work. We put up shields and don't let God use us to reach out to someone. We try to vandalise visions cause we dont have enough faith to understand what God is going to do! We try to lead instead of letting God lead! I challenge you to make that your prayer...'give me the strength I need to simply LET GO!' Give me the strength I need to be RED HOT with passion for you!! I wanna be out of my depth in you, Lord...fighting for you ALL THE WAY!!

BE RED HOT WITH PASSION, FRIENDS!!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for purity!

2005-07-24T22:15:00.000+10:00

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Im going to talk about fighting for purity? Sex? Drugs? Alcohol? Well, yeah...all of that! But I do want to speak about one in particular...sex and respect. Don't freak out...I'm not getting too detailed here! haha. But, I am keeping it real!

SEX! Its such a big thing in our world today! Is there ANY TV show that doesn't in some way promote sex or promiscuous behaviour? I used to think that Home and Away and Neighbours were great because they are so tame and nothing like that would happen! So I thought...but this week I saw an episode of Home and Away where a couple slept with each other for the first time and they're only 15/16 years old! Another character on Home and Away is single and pregnant and doesn't even know who the real dad is!

This is the stuff we let into our loungerooms and worse...into our minds! This is the stuff we're watching and condoning! We watch a movie and think how lovely it is that two people develop an attraction for eachother throughout the movie and then end up sleeping together...some don't even get as far as getting to know eachother! They go to a club and gaze accross the room at eachother and 'sparks' fly and they leave together and go home and have sex...after meeting for the first time! How lovely!! NOT!

We have completely and utterly downgraded what sex was created for! God created it to be something WONDERFUL between a husband and wife who are so in love with eachother and have publicly committed their lives to eachother under God! People say all the time that they love eachother and that's why they do it before marriage! I don't doubt that people love eachother who are not yet married...I would hope that people do get into relationships for love (although, the sad reality is that most people dont!!) but the only way you will know for sure that you are together forever is to have that ring on your finger...and thats when you are united as one! When you give yourself away you are giving away a piece of yourself that you will NEVER get back again! The only person who should have that part of you should be your husband or wife!

Now, this is not to tell all you people out their who have not kept yourselves pure that you're bad bad people and that there is no longer any hope for you! I am also not writing as someone who hasn't been there and done that! I haven't always been a Christian! I've gone further than I should have...I've foolishly and freely given away parts of myself that I can never get back!! Do I regret it? Yes! Do I live with that regret? No, not anymore! I have dealt with it and God has shown me His AWESOME grace!

God showed me that when I gave my life to Him I gave Him all I had left! I was a pretty big mess when I gave God my life! I had destroyed and given away so much of myself...but God COMPLETED me again! He renewed me TOTALLY and made me whole again!! I won't ever get back what I gave away...but instead, God has renewed me making me a NEW person, with a NEW and fulfilling life! EVERY part of me was made NEW!!

So, if that's you, then let me tell you...there is STILL hope for you! Don't feel like you can't come to God with that stuff! Cause you can! He wants you to! He wants to renew you and give you a FRESH start! He wants to make you WHOLE again! No matter WHERE you've been!

The other thing I wanted to talk about with purity is respecting yourself in how you dress! I see SO many young girls wearing clothes that hardly cover anything! Even Christian girls who are thin enough to wear a mini skirt that reveals everything the minute you sit down and cross your legs! And this is not me speaking as someone who wishes I could actually get away with wearing that sort of stuff if it actually fit me...haha...but this is serious stuff!!

Turn on the news...how often do we hear stories of girls being raped or in some way sexually assaulted or abused or harassed? We get so angry and disgusted at that...but what fuel are we giving them?! There are some really disturbed people out there! There are people on the prowl! I don't say this to freak anyone out, but ITS REAL and you need to know and be aware of this stuff because you just don't know who's out there...so you need to protect yourself however you can!

Ok, girls...this is for your information! Boys are HORMONAL!!! I know I know...crazy huh? I mean, who knew?! Yes, girls are hormonal too...but we handle it better (just slighty more moody)...its the truth...not trying to be funny here! Boys see a girl and it's their natural instinct to look! If they see a girl wearing a mini skirt and a shirt that's tight enough to be mistaken for paint on your chest then their hormones are gonna go wild!! Now, this is not to say that all boys are oogling pigs who wolf whistle at any passing chick! But they still can't help but look! The thing is what happens next! For some it turns into lust and a very wild imagination and it ends there! For some they control it and move on. But then there are those who just don't know their boundaries and anything could happen! It could be a sleeze who grabs your butt! It could be someone who stands so close you can feel their breath on your face and they try to get close to you! Then there are those who don't know how to control it...and they're the ones who end up famous...with their faces on TV as the person who raped and murdered a young girl in a park!

Girls, I can't stress this enough...you are ALL beautiful...no matter what shape or size or what boy you have hanging around you...God created you AMAZING!! God doesn't make junk! He thinks you are just stunning!!! So, you don't need to plaster your face with loads of make up, wear the shortest skirt you can find and paint on your shirt everyday! There are so many nice clothes out there that are respectable and are still fashionable or trendy or whatever it is you're looking for in an outfit! Trust me, they make it with sleeves, high enough to cover your clevage and also long enough to cover your knickers!

I'm not saying this to be harsh or anything like that! Im saying this so that you're aware of what's out there! Don't give these disturbed people the bait they're looking for! And have enough respect for your Christian and non Christian brothers to dress decently so that they don't fall into temptation or sin! Have enough respect for yourself to be a bit more modest and not attract the wrong kind of unwelcome attention!

Guys, I don't want to let you off the hook by saying that it's all just natural and bound to happen and you can look at girls in lust cause its normal! That's not true either! Something to think about...when you see a hot chick and tap your mate and say 'Hey dude, check her out!!' 1. Are you respecting her? 2. Are you respecting yourself and your own purity? 3. Are you respecting your mate and his purity? 4. If it was Jesus sitting next to you would you ask Him that? Yes, hormones are natural...but you CAN control it!! When you see a 'hot' chick you can choose not to look or not to disrespect her by devaluing her as a person and oogling over the size of her chest or the length of her legs!

Guys also hold alot of control...now, I was tossing and turning on whether I should tell you this or not incase you took advantage of it or got a big head or got on a power trip or something...but I believe my readers hold a certain level of maturity and can deal with it...guys, girls tend to fall for you guys REAL quick...they meet a great guy with a great personality, he's funny, sweet, attractive...everything shes ever dreamed of! She is no sooner declaring to atleast one of her girlfriends that she's met 'the one' and that she is so besotted with him, heck, before long she's declaring the big 'L' word!! (ok...not ALL girls will be like this...bear in mind, I am generalising!)

So, this is where guys get the control...most guys are pretty dense and don't notice when a girl is interested...it's hard to believe...but its true! Girls try to do EVERYTHING to drop hints...but guys just dont know how to read those hints! You have to tell them straight out...sometimes more than once! So girls will do anything for the one she loves...she will run around for him...she'll get him anything he wants or do anything he wants...this is where I tell you guys to handle this with the utmost maturity! You have 2 options based on your own feelings!

Do you like/love her? If so and you've picked up on her feelings...(or even if you aren't sure you have...take a risk) TELL HER!! For goodness sake...put her out of her misery! If you ARENT interested...TELL HER!! For goodness sake...put her out of her misery! DONT flirt with her! DONT play on her feelings for you! DONT do ANYTHING that would even remotely suggest that you have feelings for her..because trust me...girls get confused about boys and their feelings VERY quickly! And if she is really in love with you then she will pursue it and she will fall deeper and deeper in love and will be utterly CRUSHED and DEVASTATED when you reject her! Respect her enough to talk to her about it!!

Ok...final words...a summary!! GUYS AND GALS...fight for your purity...don't give yourselves away at the drop of a hat..save it for your husband or wife...AFTER youre married!! Don't dishonour yourself, your fellow brothers and sisters or, more than that, GOD...by dressing in less than youre worth...and finally, DONT DONT DONT play on eachothers heart felt feelings! Respect your brothers or sisters enough to be straight with them and not fool around with emotions!

BE PURE, friends!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for life!

2005-07-21T19:23:00.000+10:00

This week on the Central Coast a 16 year old boy, aided by a gang of kids younger than him, from Erina High School, stabbed and murdered a 15 year old girl at Forresters Beach. He stabbed her 7 times. I don't know all the details nor do I know why children so young would feel such a desire to murder someone, but I do know that these kids are still worth fighting for!

I do a lunch time program and teach scripture at Erina High school. It's right on our doorstep. There's a primary school next door to our property, Woodport Primary, and then directly across the road from Woodport is Erina High. I haven't done much there yet, there's already someone in place, so I've come in to help out with it, but as of today I've received more info of another program that I will possible take on board at the school (check it out at hillsong.com/shine)...At the moment the lunch time program, which is called Flipside, is running as a small Bible Study with only about 4 regular kids who come once a week. But we have faith that it will grow...one of those kids became a Christian through the program, not having any family background in church whatsoever...and another boy has been coming along after having a scripture class and staying back to ask questions...now he comes to Flipside every week! So who knows how big God will grow this!

I realised something today...I realised that there's a whole community of people out there who are just going to give up on these kids who were involved in this stabbing! A whole community of people who are going to be angry and distraught at this tragedy and this waste of a 15 year old girls life, and rightfully so! No one deserves to lose their life like that! But you know what, these boys didn't just take this girls life...but they have also taken their own lives...their life, as they know it, will NEVER be the same again! They have become outcasts! They are hated by so many now! They are despised and rejected! But you know what? No matter what they've done, God's love is SO big for these boys that His love will break through anything and will make a way for them!

Some of you probably think I'm crazy and maybe just a little dilussional...you might even think I have no heart for the girl who died and her family and friends! Well, you couldnt be further from the truth! My heart breaks for this girl and her family. As I said, NO ONE deserves to have their life taken away like that! What these kids did was indescribable and I wouldnt even try to make excuses for their behaviour! It was just WRONG! No if's, but's or maybe's! Jesus loves them, but He knows it was wrong too! But, what about this thing called GRACE!

This week I started my Bachelor in Theology and in my reading material I read the parable of the workers in the vineyard who were hired throughout the day, and at the end of the day they were still all payed the same amount...even though some had worked 11 hours and some only worked 1 hour! (read Matt 20:1-16) The parable explains that in the Kingdom of God, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Do you find it hard to grasp that if these young people find Christ and accept Him that they too will receive the same reward in eternity as you will...even though you have been faithful all your life and certainly never broken the law!? Well, that's what the Bible tells us! It also tells us that we are ALL sinners who fall short of the glory of God! So, if God can extend His grace to us, then He WILL extend His grace to these kids!

The question, however, remains...Will WE extend the grace of Jesus Christ to these kids? Do we believe that they were just as worthy of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross? Do we believe that they deserve to have Christ in their life and that they should dance in Heaven with us one day? I want to ask you to remove from your mind the fact that these kids have committed this crime! Strange request you think? I ask you to do this because while it is in your mind you are probably all thinking 'What's the best way that JUSTICE can be served here?' Well, that is not for you to question or to answer! God is a gracious God, but He is also a God of justice. These kids will answer to God for what they've done, you can stop worrying about that, but you can also stop casting stones as if we're better than them! In God's eyes sin is sin! We've all sinned and we've all fallen short of God's glory and grace...but we still receive it quite happily!! How then can people turn around and say that people who do these things should rot in hell!? God would never desire that for anyone!! His desire is that we make disciples of ALL nations and baptize ALL people in HIS Holy Name (Matt 28:19-20)...His desire is that we love our neighbour (Mark 12:30-31)...His desire is that we show people what life SHOULD be like! That we should show people what life with Christ is all about!

Someone lost their life this week in an awful way! Again, this proves that there is such an urgency to be reaching out to everyone we can reach out to...whether you think they deserve it or not! We don't deserve it either, but its freely available! My heart breaks for these kids and what this means to their life now! They have ruined their whole life...(although I have to say, society is not completely blameless in all this...murder and anger and hate is promoted in the media like nothing else and in same cases it's seen as glamourous and the right thing to do! In some cases it's used in comedy...is it any wonder that kids who grow up being taught and subjected to these things go out and do them...I know that we dont all do that...but I guess that society doesnt consider the more vulnerable and impressionable young people...or they dont care! We have alot to answer for!) These boys are going to suffer for what they've done...I could almost guarantee that! But I want to know, who is going to go and visit them and tell them that Jesus still loves them? Who is going to love them? Who is going to give them a Bible to read while they're stuck in prison with nothing but their lonely thoughts to give them comfort? Who is going to show them that Jesus WANTS to be their comfort? Who is going to bring them up in their next Bible Study and say a prayer for them aswell as the victims family and friends? Who will pray for reconcilliation for these kids? Who will pray for NEW LIFE to be breathed into them? Who will think of their family and friends who are devastated too? I know Jesus will...I know I will pray for them...WILL YOU?!

Fight for life my friends...fight for those who's lives are so destroyed and confused without our saviour Jesus Christ! While there remains one lost soul without the light of Christ, fight to the very end!

Your sister in Christ...

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting to set an EXAMPLE!

2005-07-19T23:21:00.000+10:00

What does it mean to set an example to someone? Who can set an example? How old do you have to be? Is there an age requirement? Well...read this...

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity!" 1 Timothy 4:12

So...the answer...no, there is no age requirement...anyone can set an example for people! The question is, what kind of example are you setting? Is it a good example or a questionable one...or a straight out bad example?!

As we grow up we begin to hold more power with the younger generation following our lead. Thats not just leaders and people who are beyond school...when you were in grade 8 didnt you think that people in grade 12 were the coolest and most grown up people you'd ever met?!...Or when you were in grade 4 you thought grade 8ers were so cool and grown up?! So even a grade 8er should be thinking about the way that they behave and what example they set. Too young you think? To worry about all that?...Well, thats what the Word of God says...dont let anyone tell you youre too young! We should be setting a good example for younger people so that in turn they can set a good example for others younger than them who are looking up to them...no matter how young they still might be!

Lets open it up a little and look at what this scripture tells us to do...'set an example...in speech'...Thats a tough one huh? That may just be the hardest one of all! How often do we speak about people behind their backs?... GOSSIP!...we never stop to think how that would make the other person feel if only they knew the cutting things we were discussing...you only have to think how it would make you feel to walk in on someone saying the same things about you!...hmmm...now theres something to think about!

What about things we actually say to people. In the heat of the moment people will often say something nasty to fulfill their self-gratification...but they dont think how that will effect the person directly...alot of you may not know this story...but Karen Carpenter (from the singing group The Carpenters) died of anorexia because someone said in an article at the start of her career that she was chubby...that began a HUGE downward spiral of years of suffering from anorexia before it finally claimed her life! The things that we say can seriously damage a persons WHOLE life! We need to think about that!

What about dirty or trashy jokes?! How often do we enjoy laughing at a trashy joke? Yeah, its good to have a joke and a laugh...Im convinced God has a sense of humour! But the question is, would you tell Jesus that same trashy joke? Guess what? He hears it anyway! I have been guilty of that lots of times...or even of just hearing someone else say a joke that I dont agree with and maybe I dont laugh at it cause its rude...but I smile politely and dont say anything! Isnt that just as bad? We need to watch what we say! We need to set an example for people in SPEECH! We have it in us to stand up against bad speech...if we have Jesus in us then we have the power to beat this!

'Set an example...in life'...this means watch EVERYTHING you do! What is your life about? Are you the kind of person who goes to church on a Sunday and on a Monday-Saturday people wouldnt even know it? Do people know what or WHO you stand for? And if they do, do they see you live it out? Are you 'walking in the spirit'? (Galatians 5) When you go to McDonalds and get an old burger and you take it back to get a fresh one, does the person serving you know youre a Christian? Are you kind to them or are you rude to them? Do you take it back and get angry with them and demand a new burger or a refund? Setting an example in life means ALL that you do! Even when ordering a burger! I used to work at Hungry Jacks...let me tell you, sometimes you have such a busy day and you are pushed and stressed to the max and all you want is a friendly customer and not a rude or snotty one...it seriously makes such a difference! Are you that person? Are you setting an example in life?

'Set an example...in love'...How often do you see husband and wife relationships where they proclaim to the world that they love eachother, yet at every turn they are bickering and biting eachothers heads off?! How many times have you heard a father tell everyone he loves his children, yet when he has a few drinks he lays into them?! How many times does a son say to his mum 'I love you' but never goes to visit or call her when shes all alone?! How many times does a sister claim to love her brother yet she seems to be so jealous of what he has that she doesnt?! What kind of example are we setting there?...We're saying we love eachother, but we arent showing it! We arent setting a very sound example for others! I've heard so many young people speak about how they never want to get married because their mum and dad got divorced and they dont believe in love...or that they dont know what real love is all about...(read 1 Corinthians 13...that'll give you some help) Its a sad society we live in when people no longer believe in love or believe that love is real...obviously these people havent met Jesus yet! So, what are we doing? Are we setting an example in love? Are we showing people what real love is all about? As I said...read 1 Corinthians 13...that will tell you what real love should be like...or you could just look to Jesus for the BEST example!!

'Set an example...in faith' Well, heres a challenging one! I think that alot of times we can go to church and not have very much, if any, real faith...we go and we enjoy worship and all of that, but when God asks us to step out in faith and do something we say no...we run away...like Jonah, we try to run to the other side of the world...but dont you worry, Gods gonna send that big fish after you!! hahaha! We say we trust God...but do we really? And it doesnt matter how many times we see God prove His greatness in other peoples lives, we still doubt that He will extend that same grace and those same blessings to us when we take a big leap of faith! You know, Jesus said,

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt 17:20

So it really doesnt take a huge amount of faith...but we need to have even just a little bit...so when pay day comes around and theres a stack of bills to pay...take out your tithe FIRST and then say 'now, what can I afford?'...don't say to God, 'Hmmm...sorry God, cant afford tithes this week!' cause God would never say to you 'Ahh, sorry...cant afford to bless you this week!' Take a leap of faith...tithe your money and watch God work the rest out! Take a leap of faith and say yes to that overseas mission trip you cant afford and watch God provide the means to get you there...

I heard a story once of a man who felt called to go overseas...he told the mission team he was going to be going but he had no cash! It got to the day of departure and he turned up at the airport...the team were all saying to him, 'Dude, what are you doing here? You're not going! You have no ticket, no money, no VISA...youre not going with us! Sorry man!' But, he was CONVINCED God was asking him to go! He had to take a quick pit stop at the bathroom and when he walked out, much to his surprise, he was in the country God had asked him to go to! No ticket, no money, no VISA...but an open toilet door to his destination. He sat in the airport for hours and hours waiting for his teams flight to arrive...they were shocked! But, all he had done was stepped out in faith, even though it made no sense, and God provided the way!

Are you setting an example in faith? Are you living by faith?

Finally, 'set an example...in purity' Well, its a tough society we live in. One that doesnt know much about purity! Switch on the TV or watch a movie or buy a magazine and all you see is sex, nudity and all kinds of things like that! Thats not what God designed us for! As Christians, we take the stand that we will wait for the sanctity of marriage! But, so many people dont! Either they 'slip up' and give in to the temptation...or they've been married 3 times before and think that that 'rule' no longer applies to them! Then theres people who dont go 'all the way' but they push EVERY boundary to go as far as they can without having sex and they say 'Thats ok cause we knew where to stop! We didnt have sex!' Did you really? So then WHY did you go as far as you did, cause let me tell you IT WAS TOO FAR!!! Guys and gals...true love WAITS!! No one knows how a relationship will pan out...you might be engaged and everything and 2 days before your wedding you open your ears and hear God loud and clear say 'This is NOT the one for you!' So, you call off the wedding...but how do you explain to your life partner when you finally meet them that you went that far!!

This is a question that used to really haunt me to be honest! This is a bit personal...but I've learnt to deal with it and God has extended His grace to me BIG TIME! I did not keep my purity! Before I became a Christian I gave it away...a few times...to different men! I thought I would find 'real' love that way! But, you know what? In one of those relationships I was abused in...in another he was a real rager...and it keeps going...none of them loved me...they just used and abused me! When I became a Christian I made the decision to also abstain till I got married...but I dreaded EVER telling my husband about my past! But God really broke through to my heart and showed me some AMAZING grace! He showed me that when I gave Him my life, He COMPLETED me and RENEWED me and made me WHOLE again...so any part of myself that I gave away so carelessly in the past, God redeemed! It doesnt make doing it right...but it shows Gods awesomeness and how great His grace really is!!

Dont give away your purity!! Save it for when you know that youve commited your WHOLE life to that person, under God...on paper...in the form of a ring on your finger...in the sanctity of marriage...and that means ANY form of sexual behaviour...even if its not 'all the way'! Treasure and guard your purity with all the strength that God will give you to do that!! Set an example for others in purity!!

You are not too young to set an example...God has instructed you to do it...so dont be afraid to do it!!

Lets fight to set an example!!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for Servant-heartedness

2005-07-19T15:58:00.000+10:00

Before I start my blog I want to share some really exciting news with all of you...in December I am going to Botswana for about 3 weeks with the Salvation Army's Mission Team, Project 1:8!! WOOHOO...I just got accepted yesterday so its all still fresh and new and EXCITING!! God is great!

So...anyway...onto my blog! Servant-heartedness! Hmmm...what a topic! I guess this is also something that ties in with my last blog as something that we seem to fail on a lot! We have this 'Be Number One' mentality and it really doesnt leave a lot of room to be servant-hearted! But I want to specifically talk about being servant hearted!

Our best example of someone who had a servant heart was Jesus. Lets look at His example because that's how we will understand what having a servant heart is all about! Well, Jesus came to earth as one of us. He didnt come as someone who had all these riches and great clothes...the best brands...you know what I mean...you know, the NIKE robe or the Billabong sandals...and He didnt come with the choicest donkey to ride into town...the BMW model...He didnt have a mansion with loads of maids and servants who would wait on Him and feed Him grapes and dust the piano...He didn't walk around town expecting people to bow down to Him and make a big fuss and go 'Hey, Jesus....can I have your autograph?!'...you can just picture it cant you...Jesus wearing His NIKE robe, His Billabong sandals, and of course His designer sunnys...with the Jerusalem Techno Beaters blaring really load behind Him as He strides in to town on His BMW donkey waving with a cheesy smile that says 'Hey, how you doin?'...and then He clicks His fingers and His maids run on over and start giving Him some air con with their big palm leaves! Is that what you picture when you think of Jesus and His life? I don't!

So what was Jesus really like? What was He about? He could have had all those things if He wanted to...so why didnt He? Why did He choose to live such a humble life? Ok, quick recap...Jesus was born to the virgin Mary and her soon-to-be-husband, Joseph. They weren't royalty or anything by any means...He was born in a barn! Yes, with donkeys and other animals watching on. It wasn't the most hygeinic or appealing of births (although most births aren't appealing...haha). He grew up as a simple carpenter. He didnt start His ministry till He was 30 years old! That first 30 years He just lived with the people. He did meet with and share with some people as a boy in the temple but apart from that, He didn't do anything till He was 30. So, what did He teach us about servant-heartedness?

Well...being servant hearted is all about taking the back seat and letting other people do stuff...so, not being number one all the time! Not trying to run the show and be in control all the time, but allowing others to use their God-given gifts and talents to be involved. It's all about HUMBLING yourself! Jesus knew it all. He had more knowledge than anyone else and He had more control than anyone else...and infact He had more of everything than anyone else! Everything belongs to Him! But He didnt flaunt it! He didnt come in and say 'Im the bomb...look what I've got...look what I can do!' No, Jesus was HUMBLE! He was a servant! He had a servant heart.

When I looked up the word 'serve' in the dictionary 2 definitions stood out to me (there were a few) The first one was "To give homage and obedience to" and the second one was "To act toward (one another) in a specified way". So when we serve God, are we being obedient and do we serve Him with homage (or respect)? Is that our heart? When we talk about being servant-hearted is our heart filled with homage and obedience to God? What about towards others? How do we act towards others? Do we respect them? Do we serve them?

It's interesting isn't it...we say that we need to be and want to be more like Jesus...we preach it...we sing it...we tell people that we 'live' by His example...but are we being true to that? Jesus was our greatest example of being a servant! He didn't try to put across to everyone that He was the 'bees knees'...even though He was...He loved...He cared for...He mentored His people and showed them the right way to live...but He did it in a way that was relevant to them and He didnt make them feel inferior or not worthy of His time or attention...and He did it with the intention that He would train them up to be His leaders here on earth...you see a good leader needs to be servant-hearted and needs to be training people up that will take over for them. The only way to do that is to let go of your pride and LET others step in!

To be servant hearted you need to let go of your pride! You cannot hold onto that because if you do you cant have a servant heart and you cant have a flourishing ministry! Some of you Im sure are thinking 'Wow...thats so true...I know someone just like that! I know someone who needs to be more humble! Not me though...Ive got that down pat!' Well, thats not why Im writing this blog...infact Im not even suggesting that I have it all down pat and that I am a perfect example to follow! The perfect example is Jesus! I know I can be proud at times! But, we are good at that arent we? We're good at hearing God speak in a sermon or a message or maybe in a blog...and we're quick to point the finger and say 'I know someone like that!' Well, this is a message for ALL people because there is no one on this earth who has mastered this! At times we can all be a bit pride-filled when we think we're right and dont want to admit we're wrong! Sure there are beautiful people out there who are very servant hearted (like Mother Theresa was)...but we are not perfect! Only God is...thats not to say give up and never try to acheive being like Jesus. But its saying that we are not perfect and so we need to be open to rebuke and we need to always be striving for more and more of Christ! Thats what we live for!!

So, if youre in leadership...or any role...take a look at what youre doing and ask yourself...'Am I being servant hearted? Could I help someone clean up instead of expecting them to clean up after me? Could I empower more people and train more people to take on my position when I go? How could I better serve the people around me? How can I be more like Jesus?'

Lets fight to be more servant-hearted!! Dig in for more of Jesus...trust me, you can NEVER get enough!!

Bless you all...

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting to be Number One!!

2005-07-17T16:48:00.000+10:00

Tonight I am preaching at Youth Church and I am going to be speaking to the young guys about the call of Jeremiah...really hounding the point that at any age God will call and use people!! Dont let anyone tell you youre too young...

Anyway, my 2nd point in my message will be 'Stop thinking its all up to you!' and thats what Im going to blog about today because I dont have enough time to say as much as I want in my sermon...they might fall asleep...haha...

This is something that I really think we fail on alot. It's something we just keep coming back to...we always want to be, or we think we need to be, NUMBER 1!! We can always find someone who has more than we do, or someone who has the job we want, or someone who seems happier than we are...we can always say, 'when I was a kid I never got away with that'...or 'I never had it that good'...or 'I never had a house that nice'...or 'I never had that much money'...and we become bitter because the 'whole world' has more than you...and the next thing we do is start to envy other people and we start to WANT what they have and what we think should 'rightfully be ours!' It's as if we're saying, 'God, the way you blessed me was just not good enough...I should have had this, that and the other...just like everyone else!!' Do you know what God would say to that?

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man...Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven." (Luke 6:20-23)

God blesses us all differently for a reason...He doesn't want us to be ungrateful because some seem to have more than we do...big deal...so someone has a bigger house...or a nicer car...does it matter? Do you have a roof over your head? Are you alive? Do you have food? Well you have far more than millions of other people across the world...so what are you complaining about? We have this mentality in western society that says we need to be number one and have the best of everything...and as Christians we fall into that trap...but God doesnt want us to have riches on earth...He wants us to focus on our riches in Heaven!! So lets start with that! Lets keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and on Heaven...because the things of earth will fade away...but HE will last forever!!

So, that takes care of material stuff...what about life?...careers?...social standing?...there are people who think that they need to be number one and do everything themself and have the top notch job because they deserve it more than anyone else does! I am a firm believer that if you have given God COMPLETE control of your life then He has you EXACTLY where He wants you to be...I can hear someone say, 'But dude, I clean toilets for a living...I wanna be in ministry...when's it gonna be MY turn!?!'...to that I say this...Cleaning toilets IS your ministry!! Imagine this. You are a Christian cleaning a public toilet and a chick walks in crying and distraught...you quickly pray and ask God to give you the right words and you turn and say 'Are you ok?'...who knows what comes next!! God could do something amazing through you...maybe thats your ministry...maybe its that the people you work with dont know Jesus...but they will through you!! Whatever God has got you doing right now...thats where youre meant to be!!

God doesnt want you to be number 1...because HES number 1...and He always will be...and in your life, He always SHOULD BE!! So, let me challenge you today...is God number 1 in your life? Or are you too busy trying to be number one without leaving the control to Him?

Something to think about ;)

Bless you all LOADS!!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for acceptance!

2005-07-13T21:30:00.000+10:00

I've realised something. We spend too much time fighting for acceptance!! Let me explain...

I have spent my whole life fighting to be accepted...I'm an Officers/Pastors kid...I've moved around alot compared to an average person. I have been to 4 different primary schools and 3 different high schools. The longest I've spent in any one school was 3 years. That's a lot of schools! Especcially for a kid growing up who wants stability and the same friends. Fortunately I still ended up ok...I think ;)...I guess that's another topic for discussion! hehehe...but it taught me alot...it really did! I learnt how to make friends and how to be more outgoing etc. Although I also learnt a little about trust too. Because I've moved around so much I tend to meet people and trust them straight away...and let me tell you, I've been hurt and stomped on SO MANY TIMES trusting people!! I won't stop loving people but I will be careful about how much I put out there...thats for sure! However, despite being outgoing, I also spent ALOT of time fighting to be accepted...not being myself but trying to fit in with everyone to be accepted...smoking 40 cigarettes a day...drinking and getting smashed lots...getting with guys coz it was wat everyone else was doing...but being used and in cases abused...so its not like it made me feel any better! None of it was real! I thought it would make someone love me...but it didnt...

Anyway...I realised that I've never felt content with who I am. I'm not thin and, lets face it, I'm not exactly Miss Universe! I'm not the smartest person and I don't have the greatest sense of humour! I've always felt inadequate and felt that I needed to be all of those things...thin, beautiful, smart, funny...etc...and basically everything else that the media tells you you have to be! I've always thought that's why I have such bad luck with men and why I either don't attract them or I end up with the ones who hurt me...I've always thought that I could be better than I am!! But it's all been superficial stuff!! Like the way I look...I can't stand the way I look...but you know what? Jesus loves me and He made me the way I am...looks and all...for a purpose!!

I have realised that I have wasted TOO MUCH time fighting for acceptance from the world...which will fade away and die...instead of thinking about how my amazing and ETERNAL Saviour, Jesus Christ, loves me SO much and how He created me the way I am for a reason and loves me the way I am!! He's even gone ahead of me and made someone and has prepared someone for me who will love me and treat me like a princess...and someone that I can love and treat like my prince!! hahaha...cheese central huh? hehehe...but SO true!!

But apart from all of that, if I am going to fight for acceptance why am I bothering to fight for the worlds acceptance when they're so messed up...instead of fighting for GOD'S acceptance who is perfect in every way? Well, here's a simple answer! I don't need to FIGHT for God's acceptance...all I had to do was ask for it and it was already there...I just had to receive it...and I did that! I've accepted God and Hes accepted me!! So, I have no reason to worry or to be fighting for anyone elses acceptance! When I insult myself and my looks etc then I am really insulting God...cause He made me this way!! Warts and all...hehehe!

So, why do we care so much about the world and their opinions? Why do we let people shut us down and effect us so much? What does God say about acceptance? In John 15:15-16 it says:

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."

Hows that for acceptance? Jesus CHOSE you! Jesus CHOSE me! He has appointed us to do great things and to be great people! He says that whatever we ask in the His name the Father will give us! He doesn't just call us 'servants' with Him as our Master...he calls us FRIENDS!! He's our friend!! He's accepted us more than anyone will ever accept us! Man, you wanna talk about real acceptance? Look back to John 15:9 & 13.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you...Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

He laid down His life for us! We cursed Him, we spat on Him, we disgraced Him, we hated Him, we mocked Him, we broke His heart!!! Yet He still loved and accepted us so much that He laid down His life for us!! Now that's real acceptance! We can be the biggest so called 'loser' in the world and He would still accept us! We could be the most overweight person in the world and He would still accept us! We could be the worst person in the world and He would still love and accept us!

If its real acceptance you want, look no further! Its available in Jesus Christ!! Have YOU accepted HIM?

Lets fight for people to accept Christ so they will share in His acceptance of them!!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for love

2005-07-13T00:12:00.000+10:00

Well, I've decided to blog today about that four letter word that seems so foreign to so many people today...L-O-V-E - LOVE!

Gone are the days of happy families...gone are the days of free love...here are the days of 'whatever goes'! It's everywhere! It's all over TV, through magazines, papers, INTERNET!! It's everywhere! We live in a society that tells you that sleeping around is no big deal...there's no way you should wait for marriage because you need to 'try before you buy'...well I say...DOWN WITH THAT STINKY ATTITUDE!! Lets fight to bring back LOVE!!

Well, here's me writing...a single young girl with no hope of a relationship at the moment (not that Im not interested...just not on a two way street at the moment and can't seem to get off the street I'm on!! haha...some of you will understand that...the others I'll leave guessing...haha)...But thats ok...because Im in love with God...I know that people will probably think thats a cop out thing to say coming from a single girl with no relationship prospects at the moment...but you know what? I don't really mind. People will think what they think and I can't change that! However, I can blog about real love and you can make up your mind from there!

So wat is love? I have often pondered this question. There have been times when I thought What is love really all about!??...How do I know when Im in love?? And don't people ALWAYS give you the same cliche answer? You'll just know!! haha It always makes me laugh...and maybe one day I will 'just know' ...but there have been MANY times when I've thought I 'just knew' and I was wrong...I walked away from relationships thinking 'What was I telling myself? I wasn't inlove! I just wanted to be!' So, how do you know the difference between 'real love' and 'pretend love'?

Well, Im no expert in love really...remember, Im still single...it hasn't worked for me yet...but here's something I do know!...1 Corinthians 4-8a...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails!

Love always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres! This is my first favourite part! haha...This might seem a bit girly, but hey, Im a girl..so tough luck!! haha...

Love always protects! Girls will know what I mean when I say that I've always dreamed of my dream husband being someone who will protect me. I don't care if they're fat or thin, ugly or spunky, tall or short...as long as I feel safe and protected that's all I ask for! Protection. It's a bigger thing than we think sometimes. How do we want to be protected? How SHOULD we be protected? A relationship with someone who will above all protect your purity. Thats the biggest thing! Especcially in the world we're in today! Someone who will respect you and not push the boundaries. As Pam Stenzil will say, 'If you want to know how far is too far...keep your pants and shirt on...otherwise its too far!' In a relationship you should never be self-seeking. But instead just be around each other! Hang out. Lots of hugs and little kisses. But, never about lust - only ever about love! Love protects your purity, protects from harm, protects from hurt...You know who the GREATEST protector of all is? Who will never fail to protect you??...God!! He says in Psalm 91:14 says "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name." How awesome is God!! He will ALWAYS protect us!! If we continue to call on His name He will continue to protect us!

Love is about TRUST!! Man, thats a biggy!! If you can't trust someone, theres no relationship!! Theres nothing!! There needs to be trust! God knew about trust! Now there's one person who will never let you down! In Psalm 9:10 it says "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." Praise God for that!! How true it is!! He has never, nor will He ever, forsake us or fail us!! You want a perfect partner in a relationship??!! Have a relationship with God! There's nothing that you need that He wont provide for you! God wants you to have someone that will never forsake you. He wants you to have a husband or wife who you can trust! Don't settle for second best! If you dont trust someone then it wont work! Trust in God! That always works!

Love HOPES! We have so much hope in the Lord. Romans 8:24-25 says "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." We have this hope and assurance that we will one day dance in Heaven with Jesus! We will one day see His Kingdom! He gives us more than we could hope or dream of!! He has poured His favour on us! Love hopes! It hopes for better things! Real love puts its trust and hope in the Lord!

Love perseveres! Far out! I could tell you a thing or two about a certain someone who perseveres chasing after the wrong boys and never gets anywhere!! hahaha...Love is a beautiful thing...but its not an easy thing! Love hurts, love cries, love laughs, love enjoys, love hopes, love trusts...but love must also know about perseverance because without it love will fail! Society has the attitude that if things get tough you should give up and start somewhere else! Get divorced...dont work it out! Break up and move on. The night you break up with your boyfriend of 5 years go out to a club and pick up the first sleeze bag you meet. Society really doesn't know a lot about love! Real love perseveres! Real love sticks around long enough to work things out. Real love waits! It waits for the right person. When that person comes along, real love waits for things to happen naturally. Real love doesnt give in to lust. It waits for the sanctity and blessing of marriage! Real love perseveres...even if its hard....because the rewards are phenominal!! "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12 Real love perseveres no matter what happens!!

LOVE NEVER FAILS!! My favourite part of 1 Corinthians 13! I have had lots of failed relationships! I've had abusive relationships...I've been used...I've been hurt! I've failed in relationships and relationships have failed me! But true love NEVER fails! Jesus never fails!! Jesus is TRUE LOVE!! He is the only One who will NEVER fail!! Even when I am in a God ordained relationship with someone I know I will fail at times and I know they will fail at times! But I know that Jesus NEVER fails and I can always draw from Him and lean on Him when I fail!! David says in Psalm 119:76 "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant." God promises His unfailing love!! He also promises His unfailing compassion in Lamentations 3:22 "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail." We can never be consumed by this dismal and sad world...because we serve a God who fills us with compassion and joy, peace an grace, mercies and blessings...but more than anything...we serve a God who fills us with His UNFAILING LOVE!!

So, after all that...what is REAL LOVE? What do you tell a society who says that love is all about sex and lust? Tell them that Jesus is what real love is all about!! He understands you and knows you better than anyone EVER will!!JESUS IS REAL LOVE!!

Lets fight for LOVE!!

Love you all...

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for COMMITTMENT!!

2005-07-10T21:45:00.000+10:00

Well...I just got home from church not long ago and I was a little disappointed at the attendance...dont get me wrong, I know that Gods Word says that where 2 or more are gathered Hes there...I know He was there...theres no doubt about that...but WHERE WERE THE PEOPLE??!! I think we are having committment issues!

I have to be completely honest here...it always surprises me that people don't want to commit to their church!! I know the whole 'go to where the people are at' comment...I've heard it...I agree with it!! I will preach it till the cows come home...I know we need to take church and Jesus to the community not wait for the community to come to us...but lets be honest with ourselves...is that where people are? Is that why people dont come to church some weeks...or they come to the morning service and not the night unless theyre involved...or vice versa...or is it just that they couldnt be bothered...Im not trying to be rude or harsh and Im not pointing the finger at anyone in particular here...but I think that we have a responsibility as Christian brothers and sisters to be honest and open about this stuff...to be able to rebuke eachother in Christian love...Im speaking in general here...if youre reading this and feeling somewhat offended...then maybe this is for you...I dont know...all I know is that church attendance seems to yo-yo a bit! And no one says anything...people ignore it...some condone it...well I say NO MORE!! I wont condone it...I think that people need to commit!!

Seriously...people need to get real...if people were going out and speaking the Word of God on the streets or in a pub or something Id say 'Hey, that's fantastic...go for it!!!'...but the truth of the matter is...that's not where people are!! I know sometimes we get tired and we might have had a big night or a long day the day before...sometimes we get up and think 'I really just wanna stay home today'...I understand all that...sometimes I get up and think that too...I understand...but the question is...give in or not? I believe that when you get the urge not to go and spend time in Gods House worshipping Him for that hour or 2 on a Sunday, then thats probably where you should be the most!! Maybe its a little thought...'oh, i really dont feel like going tonight...I went this morning...that's enough!'...then you give in and satan goes 'YES! One more!'...

Yes, fantastic...you went to church in the morning! Thats great...and maybe God spoke to you...or maybe you didn't think He did...maybe you didn't hear Him...but since when is church about what WE get out of it anyway?...have we lost our focus on why we go...we go to WORSHIP GOD...thats it!! Its not about US...its about HIM...if He should decide to bless you in some way while youre there then He will do that...but thats not why you should be going...you shouldnt be going to try and see what you can get out of it...but you should be going to GIVE all you've got to God!!

I think of Daniel...what a great example...King Darius made a decree that said that no one could pray to anyone else but him for 30 days and if they were found doing so they would be put to death...thrown into a den of lions...now anyone else might have just gone the 30 days without praying...or if they were really brave they might have prayed in hiding...where no one could see them but they could still speak to God...but Daniel was committed...he wasnt backing out...he was standing strong...it was only 30 days...but Daniel lived for God...God was the air he breathed...isn't that the way it should be?? So Daniel prayed in full view for everyone to see...not because he wanted to show off and say 'Im so great...Im praying and being faithful!' but because he really was faithful...he prayed near an open window where he had always prayed...he didnt change anything for anyone...he was committed to God and he was committed to prayer! He was caught and thrown into the lions den and he STILL didn't give up praying...and you know what? it all payed off...because God sent His angels to protect Daniel and saved him from the lions!!

I dont think its much to ask really for people to be committed...its not me saying this because Im trying to be a snot about it...this is Gods stuff...do you think that God doesnt want you to be committed? God expects it! He expects us to be committed...!! He is committed to us!! Why do we find it so hard to be committed to Him? He gives us ALL His time...when we're asked to give a little of our time we find it so hard! We should be living our life for God...giving Him ALL our time!! Being completely committed to Him, to His church, to our church family as well as our own family!!

Take the challenge...FIGHT FOR COMMITTMENT!!

Your sister in Christ

Committed to FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE IN ZIMBABWE!!

2005-07-09T22:56:00.000+10:00

HI AGAIN

Well, I know I just wrote something 2 seconds ago...but I just have to add more...sorry

I am talking to my friend at the moment who lives in Zimbabwe and again, I am forced to question the state our world is in right now!! It breaks my heart to see and hear about the devastation in our world. We take our freedom for granted!! I want you guys to understand how fortunate you really are! How BLESSED you are to live in Australia!!

Right now as I write, in Zimbabwe there are millions more people who are homeless because the country's Prime Minister, Mugabe, has just destroyed their houses to 'clean up the city'. Now people are homeless and dying while they wait for their homes to be rebuilt.

Get this...the G8 summit is meeting right now...one of their items of discussion is breaking the war on poverty in Africa...Zimbabwe, however, is not on their agenda because of the corrupt leadership in Zimbabwe. Why should these innocent people be made to suffer because of bad leadership?

So, the question is, why do they vote these leaders in when they know they're corrupt? The answer: They have no choice! This is what my friend told me, in his own words..."Basically elections dont mean a thing because there is so much violence outside the capital and people are forced to vote for the 'ruling' party in the rural and therefore basically there is no way they will lose" How cant this be happening? How can our world be falling apart like this? Worst of all, how can we be allowing it to happen?

Because of the most recent happenings in Zimbabwe (housing being destroyed) Australia has decided to ban the Zimbabwe cricket team from coming to Australia...how is that meant to help? We can do so much...all the ppl meeting for the G8 summit right now are all superpowers who can do something to help! But they are just brushing it aside!

I dont really know what to tell you here! I dont know what can be done? I dont know where to start in even suggesting how I think this situation can be fixed! But what I do know is that WE NEED TO BE PRAYING!! We cannot abandon these ppl. If prayer is ALL we can offer, then PRAY WITH ALL YOUR HEART!!!! But if you can offer more...then PLEASE do what you can!!

I really dont know what else to tell you...all I know is that my heart is breaking for my friend and his country and I cant even begin to imagine how broken God's heart is right now for His people!! So, please pray!! Pray for our broken world!! Pray for Zimbabwe!! Pray for the ppl there!! Pray for the leaders in Zimbabwe!! Pray for the G8 Summit...that they would change their hearts and add Zimbabwe to their agenda! Pray and believe that GOD WILL REIGN AND THE VICTORY WILL BE HIS!! THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD!!

Bless you all...

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi

Fighting for the cause!

2005-07-09T21:48:00.000+10:00

Hi guys...

Well...I went to meet my new (3rd) niece today...Gabrielle...she is SOOO beautiful!! She looks just like her mum (my sister)! Man, I am sooo in awe of her!! She's fantastic!! She's REALLY tiny too!! She's such a GIFT from God!! She was AWESOME!!

My other niece, Olivia, is just SOOOO big now!! She will be 3 this year and I just can't believe how grown up she is!! Hearing her call me Aunty Jodi all day just SOO warmed my heart!! She talks so much now!! It's amazing how fast kids grow up!! Man, I miss being around them!! Thanks for moving me closer Jesus!! YAY!!

My favourite part of the day was when Olivia went and got her 'Jesus Loves Me - First Bible' and asked me to read her a story...she has her favourite story...the one about the sick daughter of Jairus who died and Jesus brought her back to life again!! It was sooo awesome...shes only 2 1/2 and living in a non Christian home, but GOD IS STILL THERE!! Even if at the moment He hasn't been welcomed...He's still there stirring in my 21/2 yr old nieces heart!! YAY FOR JESUS!!

Anyway...moving on from all my gushy stuff...cause I could talk about them FOREVER!! :) I am writing a blog today called FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE...kinda appropriate considering the name of my blog don't you think?! haha...I will also warn you that my blogs will be long...but I figure anyone who knows me knows I have alot to say...and since the majority of you delete my emails without opening them, I thought a blog spot seemed like a much better idea for those who actually WILL read my stuff :)

So here goes...some thoughts on my mind...well, again today, another long trip to Sydney and back...3 hours each way...lots of thinking time...haha!! Every time I catch the train I always pray and ask God for an opportunity to share with someone! For someone to sit beside me and I can start a conversation with them. But so far I've had no luck! No one sits next to me...maybe I smell or maybe I have a warning sign on me that says "JESUS FREAK!! Sit next to me and I WILL talk to you about Jesus!!" haha...I don't know what the dealio is...but I do know that I am dying to meet unsaved people here. I am new to the Central Coast and I have come into a Youth Pastor position where I work with the people in the church...well, I do Primary and High School Ministry too...but I feel like its just not enough! I want to meet more ppl!!

Ok, just to clear that up...schools ministry is FANTASTIC and I get the BEST opportunities to be in the schools sharing...the regular lunch time program I help with at the High School has only a few ppl in it so far...but hey, DREAM BIG right?! Then I also get involved in Auslife seminars...so far I've done 2 in the last almost 3 months I've been here, which has been FANTASTIC!! Challenging at one school...but SOOO rewarding cause at the end of the day HEAPS of students wanted to know more about Jesus!! YEAH YEAH!! Thats why I do it!! :) And then theres my BEAUTIFUL kindergarten scripture class!! MAN I love em!! They are just SOO precious and SOOO receptive!! THEY ROCK!! :)

But, there are so many more out there that I havent reached!! I wanna meet the random ppl on the bus and train and plant a seed in their life!! I wanna sit next to someone and speak Jesus into their life while I am waiting half an hour at Erina Fair for Fuji to arrive late...haha...love ya Fuj! ;)...I wanna meet the ppl in the community!!! I wanna see ppl won for JESUS!!

So, as I sat on the bus today on the last leg of my trip home from Sydney, I thought about how uneventful my train/bus trips had been (apart from reading over my sermon for Youth Church about a billion times!! I like to be prepared ;) ) I thought about the lack of opportunities and how I didn't meet anyone on the train! But then it dawned on me...well, I wasnt alone on the train! Maybe no one came and sat next to me, but HELLO, there WERE other ppl on the train...why didnt I just get up off my lazy bum and go and sit next to someone...maybe cause theyd think I was a FREAK for sitting next to them when all these other seats were empty...but WHO CARES!! I may never see them again...but thats beside the point...what if I could see them again...what if there was such an open door to share that they even started coming along to church! Hey, wouldnt that be GRAND?! or as Graham would say, it would be EUTOPIA!!! (hehe I love that word!!)

So, as I sat there pondering I thought about my blog spot...I thought, I've just created my own blog spot called fighting for the cause...and thats what I want to do...whats the cause? JESUS my friends!! He's the cause!! I'm fighting for Jesus to build His Kingdom and save lost souls, be able to disciple them, and serve those who are suffering in our community!! Thats the cause!! So, what have I done so far? Not a lot!! I havent really made an effort to move and meet these ppl I wanna meet! I've been sitting there, as I do on the train, waiting for THEM to come to me!! Ok, at this point I have the urge to SLAP MYSELF or kick my butt or something...Im such a BOOF HEAD!! Yes, thats right!! hahaha...but seriously, what am I doing? Good question to ask hey Tiny!! WHAT AM I DOING ABOUT IT?

Well, I feel challenged and inspired (yes Fuji, inspired...I am dreaming and being inspired ;)...thanks!) I feel challenged and inspired by God to go out and serve the community!! Im here to serve God and the ppl Hes put me here for!! I think of the BEST example of ALL time...Jesus Himself!! Look at His example here on earth...He went and spent time with the outcasts of society...the dregs as we would say! He touched the lepors and made them clean when the rest of society had disowned them and cast them out...He had dinner with the tax collectors...the ppl society HATED...one of them even became one of His disciples!! He cared so much for ppl that He cried for them...He raised them from the dead. The woman who thought she wasnt worthy enough to meet Jesus and simply touched His cloak in faith that even just a touch would heal her from her years and years of bleeding...He didnt ignore her like the rest of society would have...He acknowledged her and told her that her faith had made her well! The prostitute...the woman who society would shun...she came and washed Jesus' feet with EXPENSIVE perfume...did He tell her that she was unclean and an utter disgrace? No, He welcomed her and He let her serve Him in her act of worship to Him...everyone else thought they were better than her but they had not served Jesus or worshipped Him in such a beautiful and personal way! He didnt show favouritism...He didnt shun anyone or turn anyone away...He didnt cast anyone out of society...even those who had turned their hearts against Him, He still loved them!!

I want to be like that! I want to be like Jesus! I don't want to judge ppl or turn them away! I don't want to pretend Im better than someone because Im a Christian...God doesnt love me anymore than them! He loves us equally...because thats what we are...all equal in Gods eyes! I want to go out and LOVE ppl! I want to go out and SERVE people! I want to go out and SPEND TIME with people...because they are GODS PEOPLE!! in 1 Peter 2:10 it says, "...once you were not a people, but now you are A PEOPLE OF GOD!..." How cool is that?? We are the PEOPLE OF GOD!! WOW!! We are so unworthy...yet He still loves us and calls us HIS PEOPLE!! Man, I think that we SO dont live up to that! But it just shows how AWESOME God really is!! It shows just how amazing his GRACE is!!

I love that song...Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that SAVED a WRETCH like me...I once was LOST, but now Im FOUND...was BLIND but now I SEE!! Praise God!!

So, I will end it now...but I want to challenge you too! Dont wait for the world to come to you...cause trust me, THEY WONT!!! Go to them...BE JESUS!! FIGHT FOR THE CAUSE!!

Love ya's all...

DREAM BIG!! WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!! MATT 19:26

Your sister in Christ

Fighting for the cause!!

Jodi

time is short

2005-07-08T10:46:00.000+10:00

Hi Guys
Well, Im sure you have all heard the latest headlines in the news...if not, this is whats happening. Just before 9am in Central London yesterday morning 3 bombs exploded in 3 seperate trains in an underground tunnel and another one above ground in a double decker bus. All of this has coincided with the decision on Wednesday to hold the 2012 Olympics in London and also the G8 Summit meeting which was set to start yesterday. It has now been confirmed that an Al Queda terrorist group in London have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
I received a call from my dad last night telling me to switch the news on and I was horrified and saddened at what was unfolding before me. My first thought was for my Pastors, Graham and Dawn, who are here on exchange from London and have family and friends there. They have since told me that they have had word that their family is ok...however, they still dont know if there are any friends or fellow Officers who have been affected by the blast. I thought of Graham and Dawn and thought of how awful it must feel to be here in Australia feeling so helpless. Not even 24 hours before the blast they sat on their lounge at home watching celebrations taking place after the announcement of the 2012 Olympics and having their own quiet moment of celebrations together with their son Timothy. Less than 24 hours later they sat in horror and disbelief as they watched their country being attacked and watched as the death toll rose and hundreds more were found injured. So far from what I saw on the news this morning the death toll was at 38 and those injured were 700. That toll is expected to rise dramatically.
After I got over my initial feeling of shock and disbelief, I felt, more than anything, completely saddened by this tragedy. We live in a country where we have been fortunate not to have been attacked yet, but in the last few years we have watched countries being attacked by terrorists and we have watched countries go to war with each other. We have seen thousands upon thousands of people who have lost their lives in these tragedies and we have seen thousands upon thousands of people who have been injured and in one moment their lives have been completely changed. Everything they know has been called into question. In one moment they lost everything! I think that's what saddens me the most. In one moment there have been thousands, even millions, maybe billions of people who have been effected by these disasters and they believe they have lost EVERYTHING!! I thought about how I would feel if this happened to me. If it happened here in Australia.
Not too long ago I was doing an Auslife seminar on Goals and Values with a grade 9 group. During the lunch break a few of us sat around talking. We had never met before. We were all volunteers. We started to talk about blessings. We talked about how people in places like Africa who know Jesus have such beautiful faith because they have no choice. They have so little and therefore they need to rely on God. They live by faith alone and God does amazing things! One lady disagreed with us, much to our surprise. She said that she thought that they weren't truly blessed or complete because they didn't have the material blessings. We were all a little shocked to be honest, but it made me realise that there are people out there who believe this, Christian or not. They believe that to be truly blessed means having material blessings. I told this lady that I believed that if I walked out the door today and lost everything I ever knew, I still believe that I would be a COMPLETE and BLESSED person because all I really need in life is God. He knows the things I need and He won't let me go without those things, but at the end of the day, if you stripped away everything else I want to be able to say that I still had God there when everything else was gone. I want to be able to say that God is so strongly at number one in my life that you could strip everything else away and still find a WHOLE person who is truly blessed because she has God in her life.
As I watched the events in London unfold last night I thought to myself how sad it was that so many people might perish who didnt yet know Jesus. People who didnt know this feeling of completeness. I thought of even the attackers. I thought how sad it was that somewhere in their life they got so completely messed up that they had such a burning desire to reap destruction and havoc on this world. It made me realise how short our time here really is. I think that sometimes we get this mind set that we are indestructable. We are invincible. Guess what? We're not!! We dont know the day or the hour that Christ will return. We know that in the end times there will be wars and such. Look around you at the mess the world is in right now. Are you hearing alarm bells? Well, Im not alarmed that Jesus is going to return soon. I cant wait for that day!! Isnt that what we live for?? But what does alarm me is that there are still millions and millions of people out there who havent truly heard about Jesus!! There are people out there who havent truly discovered what life with Jesus is all about. Maybe some of you who are reading this email are amongst those!
What I want to say to all of you, and I speak to myself here too because I felt God challenge me so deeply on this last night, is TIME IS SHORT!! We see this stuff on TV and think how terrible it is but think it will never happen to us. You cant guarantee that!! Because one day JESUS WILL RETURN!! What will you say to Him? The only thing He is going to want to know is WHAT DID YOU DO WITH JESUS? Did you accept Him? Did you give your life to Him? Did you share Him? Did you fight for Him? Did you love others and show them the love of Jesus? Did you take Him to the lost? Did you SAVE SOULS, GROW SAINTS AND SERVE SUFFERING HUMANITY?? People, hear this: TIME IS SHORT!! You do not know the day or the hour that He will return. In Luke 12:40 Jesus says, "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Have you shared Jesus with someone today? Have you accepted Jesus today? Are you ready for the day of His return? The door is ALWAYS open...you just need to walk through it...dont wait...you dont know how long you've got!! ACT NOW!
DREAM BIG!! WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!! MATT 19:26
Your sister in Christ