Month: January 2008

I’d be delighted to disappear from this appointment. What I mean by that is disappear in the John the Baptist sense….where he says ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’ I am desperate for God to move in the community. I want the glory of God to be displayed through the life, ministry and witness of myself and my corps. I want to see God’s glory fall, to see hearts arrested not by intellectual argument, but by the Spirit’s power.

I long to see God move supernaturally in this town, for His Spirit to have free reign and to reveal the presence and power of God. I want that the church would be full with the glory of God so much that it would be tangible and visible.

I got saved when I was 15 years old. At that time, I experienced the glory of God, all around me. When the Holy Spirit confirmed my salvation I heard music, beautiful music and surges of electricity. This is what I needed for assurance. God knew me, he knew what would convince me of him and his reality. Since then, I’ve experienced many instances of God’s glory so much that it makes you want to shout.

What strikes me, is that as we are full of the glory of God, so we display the splendour of God. I’m thirsty for more of the Holy Spirit. I want to learn more and more to follow the promptings of the Spirit. I want to dance with crazy joy like David. I want to be all about him. Don’t you?

The good news that one of the guys we meet in the pubs regularly on our Saturday nights tours has been attending our Sunday nite Salvation meeting pretty regularly. He’s in his late forties, early fifties perhaps. He probably drinks a little too much and often has alcohol on his breath, but I’ll tell you what…he is starting to feel at home.

He was just telling me (‘Boss’, he calls me) this evening how much he felt welcome and that he wants to be on the straight and narrow. ‘A want tae be back in the fold, boss’ he says. Tonight, he requested a verse and chorus of ‘Will your anchor hold?’ Request granted.

Thank God for another one close to the kingdom.

On other pub booming news, things are getting difficult in some quarters. We’re meeting an increasing amount of aggressive types. God grant us safety, protection and grace.

So its Saturday evening and that means it will be youth club again tonight. Every week at youth club, we get around 50 to 60 young people aged 10 – 13ish. Last night, we had 120+ under 10s.

And, every week that I’m there, I get to stand in front of them for five minutes and preach the gospel to them. It is only the matter of time before some get saved.

Come on Lord, you can do it!!! We’re ready! Amen!

Some great thoughts with good clarity from Soldier Anthony Castle (see the blog list, right):

Some days I wake up and it seems real simple…

Soldiership isn’t about us.
Soldiership is about God and His love for the lost.

He doesn’t call us to gather a crowd or fill a building. We’re commanded to evangelise, to disciple the weak, the wicked and the worst.
To see the broken changed and trained.

So why are we waiting for the world to come to Church?
When the Church must go into the world.

We’re not employees or members.
We are this Kingdom’s soldiers, and to the world we must be like aliens and emissaries, magicians and storytellers. Heroes dreaming of another Way, fighting another world into being amidst the cracks of despair in our neighbourhoods.

Throughout the forgotten places, we must be the battle-cry of war, the healing hands of Christ. We must be strangers, neighbours, friends, whispering about an ancient tale, a living Lord and a returning King.

We were made for this.

My two copies of The Uprising by Captain Stephen Court and Soldier Olivia Munn (see right for their blogs) arrived from Oz today. What can I say? I’m excited and I’ve only had a chance to flip through.

Sell your bed and buy a copy.

Commissioner Joe Noland (see on the blog list, right) has asked that a message be shared widely. Click here to read.