The World For God!

General William Booth on God's mission toward us.

2010-09-28T21:59:00.001+10:00

"His mission to you,-His mission of mercy, and blood, and sacrifice,-is to make an end-a complete end-of sin in your soul".

May it be so.

Much grace,
Andrew

William Booth on only offering greater kindness

2010-09-17T09:48:00.002+10:00

Here's a quote for those out there in The Salvation Army who believe our founder, William Booth had a change of heart in his latter days, believing that if we do more acts of kindness the world will be completely changed for God.

From his journal in 1910,

"...while assenting to the necessity for some great alteration and [having] a willingness for almost every move we propose, no one seems to grasp the necessity for Religion, anyway for a Religion of Regeneration. They think that with greater kindness some improvement will be effected. I think that by greater kindness, without some definite effort at conversion, more evil will be done than good".

MAN'S CHIEF GOOD, By Catherine Booth

2010-09-12T22:28:00.001+10:00

Notes from an Address by Catherine Booth at Manchester, 20th January 1882. As found in The Way Cry No. 114, February 23 1882 and reprinted in 'Holiness Readings', 1883.
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As I look round this morning, the question presents itself to me: "Is there no way of showing people-and especially young people, before the terrible, trying, and harrowing experience of a lifetime, which it seems to take most people to learn it-is there no way of teaching people the great truth, the one end which God has in view in human life, yea, in allowing the race to continue, and in His dealings with the race all the way through, the one great lesson which we must learn if ever we get to Heaven, namely, THAT GOD IS THE GREAT GOOD, the one satisfying portion for the human soul?" Then I said, "O Lord, do thou teach it to them. Reveal to them by Thy Spirit that Thou art the end for which they were created".

Satan has deluded the race by getting them to imagine that other ends, and things, and beings are the great good for which they were made. One young man sets his eyes on a beautiful young woman, loves her, and thinks that she will be his great good. She will be a great good, if she is a godly girl, but not THE great good for which he was made, and therefore if he stops shot there, he will miss the mark, and God will perhaps have to take her away from him, to show him his mistake, and to lead him to seek his happiness in God.

Others think that getting on in the world, getting fame, reputation, or wealth will be their great good; they toil, and labour, and take a great deal more pains for it than will do them good, or satisfy them if they attain it. Oh! how many of these disappointed men I have talked to! Men whose life was almost gone, as their silver locks and tottering limbs testifies, and, as they have looked back on their life, they have admitted, directly or indirectly, as I heard a man say a few days ago, "Yes, my life has been a mistake!" Such people try to satisfy their souls with that which can never satisfy them. Happy if, at last, like the prodigal, they find out their mistake, and turn to God before ALL IS LOST FOREVER!

Others make their family their great good. They say, "I will make that boy this, and that girl the other;" but there is hardly a parent on earth can do with his children what he desires, and he finds that even his children are not his great good. I hear there are some of you that say "Amen" to that; but you will have bitterer things yet. God is bound to disappoint you, if He would save you, while you place your affections and ambitions on anything short of Himself. He made you FOR HIMSELF, and He will have you for Himself, or He will have to shut you up with the devil and his angles. The universe will only be divided into tow parts at last,-those who will be for God, and those against Him. If you do not take Him for your great good now, you will be reckoned amongst those who are against Him then. Those beings that have affinities for each other gather together. If there were no God, and souls continue what they are, if after death your inclinations and dispositions are evil, you will go with the evil. The good will all go to the right hand, because right is right; and the bad will all go to the left, because wrong is wrong.

I have had rather a sharp tussle with the enemy this morning. As I was coming along in the bath chair I was taking myself to task, for I like to come to the foundation of things, and see where I am. It is fearfully possible for anyone to get wrong, for the devil has a new trap for each day. I was pulling myself up before some questions which satan had been thrusting before me. As I was reading in private this morning, this line struck me very forcibly-"Because thou hast trusted in thy way, and hast not trusted in the Lord," etc.

I said, "Oh, Lord! am I trusting in my way in anything?" Then I examined myself thus: - I said, "Supposing this were to happen so, and that were to happen so, all contrary to my way-to my poor judgement of what is the best. What would I do then?" and my heart said, "I would still trust in Thee, O Lord! Nay, if Thou should strip my of everything, and leave me naked and desolate, I would still trust in Thee, and still seek Thy kingdom; and if there were a possibility for me to be sent to hell, I would set UP FOR THEE THERE!" That was enough for the devil; he went off, and has not troubles me since; and as we were singing-
"Jesus has satisfied,"

I said, "Yes he does!" I have had many a hard battle, and been worsted many a time in learning this lesson of life-that God is THE GOOD OF HIS CREATURES. God is a jealous God. You know how you husbands would feel if you thought you had a rival in your wife's heart; or you wives, in your husband's; or you parents, in your children's. God is a jealous God, and He will be the first and last, and All and in All to the soul. He will have all creatures subordinate to Him, and used for, and in Him, and if you will do that, He will give you a happy time of it; but, if not, you will have a rough time of it. He cannot save you till you are brought to it, and if you won't make up your mind to it, you will be stripped and whipped again and again till you do, and if you will not, after all, you will be cast into hell. Now make your choice. I have made mine, and I will go through with it, and see how it ends. It has begun very nicely. I thought as I heard my third boy speak, "Yes! I would rather have him there than sitting on an emperor's throne, and swaying a sceptre over an empire".

Now, this is what God wants of every one of you. He says, "If you will choose Me, I will choose you. My eyes run to and fro over the whole earth, to show Myself strong on the behalf of those who will thus choose Me. If your heart is perfect towards Me in this sense, I will put my great, long arm down, and I will hold you up and confound your enemies, vindicate your character, and bring out your righteousness as the sun. Trust Me, and I will look after you. I will choose your wife, or your husband, if you are to have one, guide you and provide for you, be near you when sick, and with you when dying. Whether I allow your head to be cut off like John the Baptist's, or let you be martyred like Peter, never mind, I WILL BE WITH YOU, and you shall be WITH ME FOREVER. Now, will you thus choose Me? Will you, will you?" The Lord help you, now and for ever. Amen.

How to Teach Holiness part 13 by Commissioner Railton

2010-09-11T15:14:00.000+10:00

13. "Impress continually upon those who love God the reality of the Judgement Day, as far as their own treatment is concerned. Amidst the general idea of being upon the right side, men lose sight of the more special descriptions of that day, which all point to the most careful and precise examination of each one as to what they have done and the exact distribution of reward and punishment according to men's deeds".

"It is, alas! only too needful to remind the Lord's people that He is not mocked, but that what a man sows that shall he reap. He that sows sparingly, we are expressly told, shall reap sparingly. Those who have largely sown to the flesh shall just to that extent reap corruption-shall see their works burned up with the King's indignation, and their names branded with irrecoverable shame for having so carelessly and unfaithfully served Him. God is no respecter of persons, and if He has marked out for ever the sins of Noah, of Abraham, of Moses, of David, and of Peter, let those who are so infinitely below all these in the general tenor of their lives expect a far more damaging exposure of all their impurities and faults before all mankind. It is evident that every saint is as surely preparing his own everlasting standing and destiny as every sinner. There will be many of God's ransomed ones who will meet Him not with joy but with grief. Press everyone as to how they would like to be suddenly brought into God's presence out of their present position-at home-at work-in the Army".

---
Psalm 119:9 (NIV)
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.

How to Teach Holiness part 12 by Commissioner Railton

2010-09-10T16:10:00.000+10:00

12. "Never lower the price of holiness. Point continually to the Cross, and show how real devotion to God must bring everyone into just such as position-suffering the loss of all things-a separation both from Heaven and earth; from Heaven, because they must lose much of even the quiet and spiritual enjoyment they might have amongst saints to plunge down amongst the lost; from earth, because they must be utterly hated "of all men;" and upon all this, instead of brightness and success, clouds and tempests and shame and apparent defeat. Bring people to that and you will get some real saints that God will delight in".

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Romans 8:9-10 (NIV)
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness".

How To Teach Holiness Part 11 by Commissioner Railton

2010-09-09T22:11:00.003+10:00

11. "In all our descriptions of holiness, be careful always to keep to the front the fact that what is meant is the separation for a person from everything including themselves and their all to God, so that they come as fully into His own possession as if they were in Heaven. It is, of course, one consequence of this that the holy person receives Heaven into himself".

"But it is very necessary always to keep in mind that the benefit to the man is a consequence and a secondary matter, not the thing to be desired and sought after. The commonly received, selfish theory of holiness is, that it is the getting of Heaven or of God into your heart and life, and the disastrous result of this sort of teaching is, that men take advantage of that boundless generosity with which God does pour peace and blessing into their seeking souls, and yet make no suitable return".

"Now, whatever those do who make holiness their speciality, who occupy all their speaking time and strength with it, and will scarcely stoop to what they call the lower work of saving men from hell, remember that our business is not firstly to seek men's happiness, but firstly to seek the kingdom of God, which will bring everything also. Therefore be ceaselessly on your guard against the subtle attempt of the great enemy to put man first, even at this critical point, and do your utmost to make all see that they are to seek for holiness not that they may be benefitted, but that God may have them entirely in His hands, to do His pleasure. Tell how for ages He has longed for a people who should be peculiarly His own, as utterly separated from sinners as Jesus was, and as perfectly in union with Himself in every way. Tell of all His weary waiting and disappointments, and of His longsuffering, patient love, and long that He may have the joy at last of seeing some such people".

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1 Peter 1:13-16
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

How to Teaching Holiness Part 10, Commissioner Railton

2010-09-08T09:48:00.000+10:00

10. "Upon the other hand, dwell upon the purposes, powers, and acts of the devil, and show how the existence of evil anywhere favours his plans, and its destruction defeats him. Describe his triumph whenever any one of God's children is disgraced, or brought into difficulty or sorrow through sin, and show that those who do not receive all God intends for them aid satan's cause".

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James 4:7 (NIV)
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you".

How to Teaching Holiness Part 9, Commissioner Railton

2010-09-07T21:38:00.002+10:00

9. "Point out the fact that godliness, the being like God, is all through the Bible continually regarded as a possible state for men, and that whatever is not of God is classed together as ungodliness, whether it be murder or one evil thought. That everyone who is not godly is so far ungodly as they are unlike God, and that God can only have perfect fellowship with those who are living on His level of pure light and love. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin". - 1 John 1:7."

"This fact will show with what eagerness He must desire to make all men godly. Indeed, every consideration of Him, His character, position, power, authority, and glory, must convince anyone who will look at it, that God cannot be willing for His children to be kept in a state of partial division from, and opposition to, Himself".

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Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord".

How To Teach Holiness part 7 & 8, Commissioner Railton

2010-09-06T21:56:00.002+10:00

7. "Make everyone see that such a state of things can only be brought about and continues anywhere by His being enthroned as the actual, absolute and undisputed King. That His Will was not done in Heaven fully whilst satan was there, and that which hinders its perfect fulfilment in any heart is the fact that the devil has some authority therein".

8. "This will bring fresh assurance of God's will and power to cast out the producing cause of evil within, and so to take full, absolute and perfect possession of our whole being for Himself. The depraved condition of the heart is one of the works of the devil, which Jesus came on purpose to destroy forever".

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Ephesians 5:8 (NKJV)
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light".

How To Teach Holiness part 5 & 6, Commissioner Railton

2010-09-05T07:44:00.002+10:00

5. "The facts of their heart experience must greatly weigh with them all. All men desire to live at peace within; but the struggle, whilst the heart is divided, is so violent and produces so great discomfort that everyone longs for ease. It is then that the prescription of any spiritual quack who offers a false peace is valued. It is for you to show how a real enduring peace can alone be had, by abolishing the force which was against the Lord altogether, and thus leaving the heart free to enjoy and to follow Him fully. Those who have been led into the enjoyment of a mere superficial peace by means of what is called a "moment by moment" faith, or "power over sin", cannot in many cases be shown how they have been misled until the breakdown of their system or their peace open their eyes. Yet there are cases in which such persons become so painfully conscious of the effort to keep believing that they can be awakened to the face that the peace they have is not the perfect peace of those whose minds are stayed not upon their own faith, but upon Him who bears up the world".

6. "Explain, in general and in all particulars, the Righteousness of God. That it is ceaseless, certain, willing, conformity in everything with His Will, which makes perfect service and perfect freedom, pressing, especially, the grand principle that the Will of God is to be done by me here, just as I shall do it in Heaven, and that my will is to be as fully united with Him therein now as hereafter".

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2 Cor 7:1 (NIV)
"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God".

How To Teaching Holiness 3 & 4, Commissioner Railton

2010-09-04T08:40:00.000+10:00

3. "Point out the evidences of this depraved nature in the little child, and show how the very same selfish and other evil tendencies which as exhibited by the little ones are those which cause the inconsistencies and inward conflicts of the saved man. Get all to see that it is no use trying to make the fruit of the tree good by care and pruning whilst there is a mixture in the nature of the tree, causing it to produce fruits of the two opposite kinds, but that the only sensible plan is to get the tree itself made altogether such as you wish its fruit to be".

4. "Contrast the fruits of the flesh and those of the Spirit, making all understand that God just as absolutely requires that the fruits of the flesh should cease to grow and that those of the Spirit should be abundantly produces as if it were not natural to men to bring forth the one and not to bring forth the other. From the conflict which all are conscious of upon this subject, and from the shame that is felt when the fruits of the flesh are made manifest, you can convince them that only the one sort of fruit should exist, and that they can never have a truly peaceful and happy life till this is the case".

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Galatians 5:24-25
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit".

How To Teach Holiness 1 & 2 by Commissioner George Scott Railton

2010-09-03T20:46:00.006+10:00

1. "In order to make the meaning of sanctification clear to the mind it is necessary first of all to go to the very root of sin's disease, and let people see how it is that sin so plagues and distresses those who are born again of the Holy Ghost. Those who are only taught to look at that which is outward and manifest are not to be wondered at if they fail to see properly what they need, and what God can do for them, and therefore only seek after and get deliverance from the outward signs and manifestations of sin".

2. "Take the greatest pains to show by Scripture and by all sorts of illustrations, how man's nature has become, through the fall, so corrupted as to be inclined towards evil, so that even when men are saved and become fully devoted to the service of God, their nature still leans in the direction of all that is opposed to His will, so that between the spirit and the flesh there is constant strife, each struggling at every turn for mastery, and the world, assisted by the flesh. Describe this battle particularly, showing just what passes within at certain moments".

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Romans 8:5 - "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires".

A return!

2010-09-03T20:40:00.002+10:00

After a long time in the blogging wilderness, I've decided to enter the blogging world once again. A number of my session mates at Training college have inspired this within me.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be sharing a number of points Commissioner George Scott Railton raised on 'How To Teach Holiness', in an article he wrote in The War Cry, No. 36.-August 28, 1880. Enjoy.

Much grace,
Andrew

William Booth on the poor...

2009-04-18T16:55:00.003+10:00

"...the poor are my people. I gave my life to them ever and ever so many years ago. They were my first love, and I shall be true to my bride. It is with the poor that I shall hope to be in the Kingdom, for, although I esteem the rich, it is for their pocketbooks that I care most, because I know that I belong elsewhere".

Taken from NY times archive

More from Hay

2009-04-15T20:18:00.002+10:00

'I have a feeling in my heart that, in the plan of God, The Salvation Army was designed to be a great preparer for revival - a great preparer to save the world from giving up Christianity altogether - a great preparer to arrest the impotence of formal Christianity, - a great preparer to keep the positive cardinal and central truths of Christianity to the front and to reintroduce Christianity, awake virile and earnest'.

From Christ, the Aggressor, Pg. 36.

2009-04-15T19:59:00.002+10:00

To follow my last blog. Here is a quote from Commissioner James Hay in his book 'Christ, the Aggressor'. Hay urged all Salvationists to live a life of aggressive Christianity.

'I ask my comrade Salvationists to remember that the Army programme includes not only an ending of drink, but bringing men to Christ, to the cleansing blood, to the conscious knowledge of forgiven sin, and of deliverance from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Remember we could not be The Army, we could not be true to the Army's foundation teaching, nor could we be true to the light God has given to us, if we did not with our whole hearts and souls attack all manner of sin'.

William Booth on The Mission of The Salvation Army

2009-03-28T10:08:00.004+11:00

"Now the real object for which The Salvation Army exists is know to us all. It is to save men.

Not merely to civilise them. That will follow. Salvation is the shortest and surest cut to civilisation.

Not to educate them. That will follow also; and if it does not, men and women had better live good lives, and get into Heaven at last, than, with heads full of learning, whether secular or religious, finish up in hell.

Not metely to feed them; that is good, very good, so far as it goes. It is true that in our Social work we feed the starving and house the homeless, but it is only a step towards the purpose we wish to accomplish.

The object is to save men from sin and hell.
To bring them to God. To bring God to them. To build up the Kingdom of Heaven upon the earth. The end of The Salvation Army Officer is to convert men, to change their hearts and lives, and make them good Saints and Soldiers of Jesus Christ".

as - God help us to fulfil this mission. Let's not merely civilise people, educate them, feed them, and house them. May we bring them to Christ. May they be saved from sin and hell.

(quote from 'The Seven Spirits - What I Teach My Officers', William Booth 1907)

2009-03-27T06:17:00.004+11:00

Here's an old training college timetabe I came across recently from the International Training Home in Clapton during the first session of 1899. And I thought I was busy! (found in 'Servants of All', Bramwell Booth 1899)

TIME CADET’S EMPLOYMENT
6.45 Bugle Sounds
7.15 Roll Call
7.30 to 8.0 Housework, Cleaning. &c.
8.0 to 8.30 Breakfast
8.30 to 9.0 Domestic Work, attention to Clothing
9.0 to 9.15 Prayers with Staff
9.15 to 9.45 Private Prayer
10.0 to 10.45 Lecture, Subject “Danger of Backsliding”
by the Chief Officer of the Homes.
11.0 to 11.45 Classes – Scripture and Doctrine – Subject
“The Two Natures”
12.0 to 12.45 Bible Lesson, Subject, “The Life and
Character of Elijah
1.0 to 2.0 Dinner

THE 1ST BRIGADE (about half total number)
2.0 to 4.30 Private Study and Special Coaching Classes
4.30 to 5.0 Tea
5.0 to 5.15 Prayer
6.0 to 6.30 Examination on Morning’s Lecture
(viva voce)
6.45 to 7.45 Reading Lesson
8.0 to 9.0 Arithmetic or similar subject
9.0 to 9.30 Supper.

THE 2nd BRIGADE (about half total number)
2.0 Leave T.H. for various Corps
2.30 to 5.0 Visiting from House to House, or selling
War Cry on streets and personal
Dealing with the unsaved
5.0 to 5.30 Tea
6.0 to 6.30 Spiritual Meeting by Officer in Command
of Corps
7.0 Open-air Meeting led by Officers or Cadets
8.0 Indoor Meetings at Corps
9.30 to 10.0 Return to the Training Home
10.0 Supper
10.45 Lights out.

Mission principals from Acts 4-8 (cont)

2009-03-26T21:47:00.001+11:00

DEAL BOLDLY BUT RESPECTFULLY WITH HOSTILE AUTHORITIES
4:23-31 Pray for courage and wisdom to deal with the authorities (compare with Acts 5:17-42).

CORRECT UNRULY BELIEVERS WITH FIRMNESS
5:1-11 Maintain the purity of the church body by correcting without condemning (compare Matt 18:15-20; Gal 6:1; 1 Cor 5)
NAME PEOPLE TO SERVE THOSE IN NEED
6:1-7 Conserve the pastoral leaders’ time by naming deacons who are filled with the Holy Spirit, to care for those with material needs.

FACE PERSECUTION BOLDLY BUT AVOID OPPOSITION WHEN POSSIBLE
6:8-7:60 Let the privileged ones, those who willingly die for Christ, suffer martyrdom (compare Rev 20:4-6). Speak boldly to the authorities (compare Acts 21:37-23:11; chapters 24-26).
8:1-4 Leave communities that reject Christ, to proclaim Him to more receptive people (compare Luke 10:10-11; Acts 13:50-51)

MULTIPLY SMALL NUCLEII OF BELIEVERS TO
WHICH CONVERTS ARE EASILY ADDED
8:4-8, 25 Reproduce churches through those who travel as families or small task forces to new areas (compare the example of Aquilla and Priscilla: Rom. 16:3-5).

Mission principals from Acts 1-3

2009-03-25T21:31:00.003+11:00

Today I attended a training session from a guy who is involved in an underground church network overseas. He had some very interesting things to say on evangelism. It is really basic. Witness to someone, and ask them to receive Christ. That simple! What's the worst that can happen? They can say no? The speaker was quick to point out that they are not rejecting us but the gospel.
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Before attending we were given about 18 hours to read the entire book of Acts. From Acts we found a large amount of mission principals that apply just as much to us today as they did in the early church. I intend to share some of these over the coming weeks. Some of this is used to train leaders in the underground church network. Today i'll share from Acts 1 to 3.
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Basic Mission Principles from the book of Acts

PREPARE TO EXTEND GOD’S KINGDOM

1:8 Witness for Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, in four areas:
Locally (our ‘Jerusalem’),
Nearby, with people of the same culture (our ‘Judea’),
Nearby, with people of similar cultures (our ‘Samaria’),
Unevangelised peoples wherever they are (the ‘ends of the earth’).

1:14 Wait in prayer for the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Start church planting projects with prayer for God’s supernatural help; He enables churches to be born in response to our faith. Compare Acts 10:1-9 where both Peter and Cornelius were praying when God started to move to bring about the new church.

2:1-4 Be filled with the Holy Spirit for a purpose (the experience was never an end in itself in Scripture).

PROCLAIM THE WHOLE GOSPEL
2:14-36 Proclaim the entire gospel account (including Jesus’ resurrection: compare Luke 24:46-48, Acts 13:32-34 and every other occasion in which the apostles witnessed for Christ).

2:37-41 Call the people to repentance (compare Luke 24:46-48)

ESTABLISH THE FOUNDATION OF OBEDIENCE FOR THE CHURCH
2:38-47 Make disciples in the way Jesus commanded in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20 by teaching them from the beginning to obey all His commands: Repent, believe, receive Holy Spirit.
Study, teach and obey the Word of God (make disciples).
Love God, fellow disciples, people in need (in a practical way) and enemies (forgive)
Break bread (they use a culturally relevant worship form and met in groups small enough for the discipling to take place: compare Acts 20:7,20)
Pray regularly (compare Acts 4:23-31)
Give sacrificially (compare Acts 4:32-37)
3:1-16 Pray in Jesus’ name for those who need physical healing (compare Acts 4:32-37)

2009-03-20T21:40:00.005+11:00

Tonight I was doing the pub rounds when I came across an old building. Looking from a distance I thought the building looked like an old Salvation Army Citadel. As I walked closer my thoughts were confirmed. It was an old citadel. I had a closer look at the building and noticed it was built in 1883. I looked even closer and noticed that the building appeared to now be a private residence.

Immediately my heart sank. Actually it does each time I see an old army citadel. I have come across many since moving to Melbourne two months ago. Prior to moving to Melbourne I lived in the inner city of Sydney where I also noticed many old Salvation Army Citadels that were no longer occupied by the army.

Big deal you may say? Well in a way I agree. A building is a building. The thing that dissapoints me is that as I look around and see all of these old buildings I cannot help but ask, what happened? Where are we now?

At one stage The Salvation Army was a militant force of believers that had one intention. To win the world for Jesus. And in looking at our history, they we were well on the way to achieving this. Where did we lose it?

Have we become so comfortable sitting in our citadels (what's left) that we have forgotten about the poor lost souls we have been raised up to reach? Lord forgive us if this is the case.

While I'm saddened, I am also excited for I believe the best days of The Salvation Army are still to come. God is stirring up a passion for souls amongst our soldiers and officers. God is bringing us back to our original mission. He is not yet done with The Salvation Army.

When we align ourselves with God's mission for The Salvation Army, own it, and live it in our own lives, I believe there will be endless parties in Heaven as sinners repent, believe and enter into the Kingdom of God.

Stay tuned....

2009-03-09T20:36:00.002+11:00

Blog coming back bigger and better soon!

2008-11-11T21:31:00.000+11:00

I have been stuck for what to say of late. So I'll say it in a nutshell.

Jesus is good. He is amazing actually. He is faithful. He is the one and only.

Thank you Jesus for all you are doing.

Amen.

ps - Emmanuel is crawling. Now that is taking a lot of my time! :-)

2008-10-15T20:59:00.001+11:00

Kirsty and I are pleased to announce that we have been accepted as Candidates for the Ambassadors of Holiness session to start next year in Melbourne. After a long application process we have finally arrived here. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support.

The world for God!

-Andrew

Jesus is my friend - Sonseed

2008-10-05T21:14:00.000+11:00

I found myself in stiches with this one. Hope you enjoy.

Prayer the secret to Holy Spirit power

2008-10-03T09:32:00.001+10:00

A while ago I read 'Helps to Holiness' by Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle. This is a great book that I recommend all believers read.

One thing that has really stood out to me is how much Brengle stresses on the importance of having a good prayer life. I have to admit, this is something I struggle with. Sometimes in my Christian walk my prayer life will be going well, and other times it has been almost non-existant.

Jesus really set the example of this when He was on earth. He would often rise early and go away alone to pray. Rarely would he tell anyone else. He would go to His 'quiet place' and spend hours talking to the Father.

A hero of mine, John Wesley used to go to bed at 10pm, unless He had an all night of prayer. He would rise every morning at 4am to pray and spend time with the Lord. He only slept 6 hours each night. When asked about this at the age of 82, Wesley replied, "Since doing this in the past 12 years I have not been sick once, nor felt weary, nor lost an hour's sleep". This was despite Wesley travelling thousands of miles each year, in winter and summer, or horseback and in carriages, and preaching thousands of sermons, and did work that not one man out of a thousand could do.

I think of my life when I complain if I don't get 8 hours sleep a night or when my son Emmanuel wakes me at 5am, yet when I look at Jesus, Wesley and many other revivalists, I see that this is not necessary and the results of a disciplined prayer life. For too long have a lived a life of comfort, wanting my flesh to control this area of my life.

Lord please help me to be more disciplined in my prayer life. I want to know you more and more and be able to hear from you in a greater way than I ever have before.

Like Christian Songs?

2008-10-02T17:46:00.000+10:00

There is a popular Christian song that goes, "Jesus I believe in you and I will go to the end of the earth, to the end of the earth for you". It is a great song. It's by hillsong and if you don't know it at least check it out.

Whilst this is a good song, it got me thinking, do we really mean what we sing? For example, we sing about being willing to go wherever God wants us to go. Well how about if God called you to Northern India where at the moment Christians are being persecuted, killed, and churches are being burnt down by fundamentalist Hindus?

Or how about China. I think most of us know the situation of the church in China. Or possibly more closer to home, how about our own neigbourhood? How about our neighbour or the work mate who is hurting?

Here is another one. How about the call to Salvation Army Officership? Are you willing to follow the call no matter where you may be sent to serve? Are you willing to give up everything to follow Christ?

It seems easy to sing however sometimes so hard to do.

Another song that is perhaps even more familiar for many Salvos is, "It's no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me".

You know this song is speaking about Holiness. Are we really living for Christ or are we living a life for ourself?

I think sometimes we need to check out the words of what we sing sometimes before we sing them. In other words, if we are professing something we sing and don't live it, we may as well be telling God a big fat porker (Lie in non-aussie terms).

So lets think before we sing. If we don't live it, don't sing it!

New Blog

2008-09-24T17:35:00.000+10:00

My mate Jake Clanfield has finally started blogging. His 1st post is a real juicy one. Check him out at http://www.evangelistforjesus.blogspot.com

Quote of the week

2008-09-24T11:36:00.000+10:00

"Are we out of maintain a congregation or to impact a generation"?
Soldier Jake Clanfield

Sharing the gospel with words

2008-09-21T20:44:00.001+10:00

Last Friday evening I was blessed to have the opportunity to preach at Streetlevel Church.

During preparation time I felt the Lord telling me to preach a basic Salvation message. In a nutshell the message was:

"The only way you can be made right with God is through Jesus Christ. No other way will do this. Being a good person won't do this. Helping old ladies cross the road won't do this. Only Jesus will do this".

I finished with an alter call and the good news is that one young man got saved!

This got me thinking, sadly I have been in many meetings within the Salvation Army where there has been no opportunity given for people to give their lives to Jesus.

I believe this is something we need to pick up our act on.

Not only should we be preaching the gospel but we need to give people the opportunity to respond.

Lets not cut the alter call so we can get to morning tea earlier or so we can finish on time! The souls of man is much more important!

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And by the way, the young person who got saved heard the testimony of a fellow warrior friend of mine earlier in the day. My friend Jake had only just met the young man. Jake didn't wait until he was known to share Jesus. He saw the opportunity and took it. Praise Jesus for Jake and his obediance to the call God has on his life. Not only is this the call on Jakes life, it is the call on the life of every believer to share the gospel.

Evangelism is the responsibility of every believer

2008-09-08T09:06:00.000+10:00

18/ Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19/ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20/ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20).
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This morning I was thinking about the great commission as stated above. These are some of the last words of Jesus before he left earth. These words of Jesus are a command. They are actually the last command Jesus left us. I figure this being the case Jesus wants us to take the great commission seriously.
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First we need to ask, how do we make disciples? Well to first make disciples we need to lead people to Christ. People need to get saved. This is an area many seem to be shy away from. Some common fears are, "What if I lose a friend? What if they laugh at me? It's not right to force my beliefs on others.... and so on.
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One of the biggest cop outs for failing to evangelise others I have heard is "I don't have the gift of evangelism". It's interesting how we pump out excuses for not doing things God has clearly commanded us to do. Sure we are not all naturally gifted evangelists, but we all have a responsibility to share the gospel with others. Sharing the gospel can be as simple as sharing our salvation testimony with others, and then offering this salvation to others. It is quite simple really.
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Another cop out I am aware of is, "Preach the gospel on all occasions and sometimes use words". This is an interesting one. I understand that our walk needs to line up with our talk. Sometimes though I feel we do a heck of a lot of walking and no talking at all. To say people are going to look at our lives and then want to come to Christ is highly unlikely. There are plenty of 'good' people in the world. Take for example your local Doctor. Most Doctors are good people who want to help others. They are very caring and understanding. Is the life of an unsaved Doctor therefore going to lead others to Christ? I doubt it.
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We can make many friends and run many programs, but without preaching the message of salvation and offering this salvation to all, all of our efforts are in vain. Lets start where we are. Lets share (with words) what Jesus has done in our lives. The world needs to hear this message. The world needs the salvation that only Jesus can bring.
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Andrew

Full Salvation

2008-08-17T15:17:00.001+10:00

I want to share a quick testimony with you all. This is not so I can boast but so I can ask for your prayer and to proclaim what Jesus has done in my life.
---

Yesterday I wrestled with God. I wrestled with God over a number of sinful areas and habits in my life I have been struggling with for some time. These sins have been getting in the way of my relationship with Jesus. It was like I had one foot in the kingdom of Heaven and one foot in the world.

During this wrestling time I handed these over totally to God. I fully surrended them to Him. I believe He has now sanctified my soul. The blood of Jesus has fully cleansed me.

I now know longer have the desire to sin. My flesh has finally been put in its rightful place, in line with my spirit. It now grieves me to even consider sin.

God has filled me with a love that I have not experienced before. A great love for Jesus, a love for others, and a love for myself. I believe it is the love Brengle explained as a 'pure love'.

I can fully testify that God is still sanctifying people today. He has done it for me and He can do it for you. Get in there and wrestle with Him. Give it all over to Him and don't take it back. He will cleanse your soul and help you overcome your desire to sin. Hallelujah!

Now for the devil and the world.....

'Yes, Jesus is mighty to save,
And all full salvation may know;
Come, plunge in the sin-cleansing wave,
His blood washes whiter than snow' (SASB 535)

2008-07-29T21:51:00.000+10:00

It's Jesus or hell.

I know which one I'm choosing. How about you?

2008-07-19T15:34:00.000+10:00

A part of the World Youth Day celebrations has been a daily message direct from Pope Benedict XVI via sms (text message) to your mobile telephone. Here is todays message;

'Dear friend, u must be holy & u must be missionary: never separate holiness from mission - BXVI'.

Wow so spot on!

World Youth Day

2008-07-17T21:31:00.000+10:00

Unless you live in a cave, you have probably heard that World Youth Day (WYD) is currently on in Sydney. Being only 10 minutes walking distance to the hub of WYD I thought I'd go check it out for myself.

Not really knowing what to expect, I found tens of thousands of young people passionately on fire for Jesus. They were singing, dancing and praising in the streets. This was some what of a surprise for me. I was totally blown away by these young people.

What has probably saddened me a lot has been the attitude of some "Christian" people who have spoken very negatively against WYD and the people involved. Now I don't agree with all of the Catholic Church's teachings but when I go somewhere and see so many people seeking Jesus so openly I cannot help but be excited.

Sometimes we need to get over our differences and celebrate what God is doing. After all we are all a part of the body of Christ.

2008-07-08T20:53:00.000+10:00

It's been ages since my last blog. I have wanted to blog during this time but for some reason I am having problems putting words to paper (or into the computer I guess). So I'll give a little update on a few things that I have been up to.
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A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to have led someone to Christ at the Streetlevel Community Centre. It has been a while since this has happened. I praise God for the way He is moving here.
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We are still in our application stage for Training College next year. If you have not yet heard, we have applied to attend the Melbourne Training College for next year. Many people have asked why Melbourne? It's a valid question I guess considering that there is a college right here in Sydney. Kirsty and I were in Melbourne for a visit earlier this year. During that time we visited the training college with absolutely no intention of attending there or any other training college in fact! We felt God pretty strongly telling us that he wanted us to go into training right there. We have been blessed in the amount of favour we have received both through Army leadership here in the East and also the South. If we manage to get all the forms in we may know as early as in a few weeks time.
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Sydney is currently preparing for the Catholic world youth day which starts next week. One of the main walk ways for the "seekers" goes straight past our place. Maybe I will get to see the pope go past.. We'll see I guess.
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Anyway that is all for today. Hopefully more inspiration comes and I'll be blogging more often.
Much grace,
Andrew.

Give up your small ambitions.... Come change the world!!

2008-06-15T08:25:00.002+10:00

'Some men's ambition is art.
Some men's ambition is fame.
Some men's ambition is gold.
My ambition is the souls of men.'
(William Booth)
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Each week I attend a train station in a wealthy area of Sydney to collect vital funds for the Salvation Army's fight for souls amongst the poor and marginalised of our city. Often as I am collecting I like to watch people as they walk around. Some have smiles on their faces and just seem happy to see another day, some look at the ground as if they were complaining about having to be out of bed, some are reading the Financial Review newspaper probably being concerned at the financial outlook of their shares, others are in such are rush to get on the train that they practically push others over to get through the gates quickly. Honestly, many look lost. Many seem to be going through the motions and are trapped in a life that is leading no where.
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You know the funny thing is, I can relate to many people at the train station. There was once a day when I used to chase after the things of the world. I worked in a job I didn't like because I earned lots of money. I had a house. I had a nice car. I was well respected amongst others. I thought I had it all together. I was disobeying God. I was not living His will for my life.
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God has called me away from my past life and into a new life of fighting for souls. I used to value how much money I had and how I looked in the eyes of others. Now I value that God has allowed me to be Hands and His feet in the world in which I live.
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Now friends where are you in life? Are you seeking after fame, treasure, gold and a success that the world would be impressed by? If so, there is a extremely good chance that you have been deceived and that you are not living out God's plan for your life.
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'Give up your small ambitions..... Come change the world'. This was the theme of the Candidates Weekend I attended earlier this month. You know the life that many of us live are really full of small ambitions. Many preachers would argue that if you have lots of money you can change the world by giving some of it away. I argue that God wants you and not your money. He wants you to give up your life that is leading no where and into a life that is world changing. A life that is willing to fight for the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ no matter the cost.
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A quick look at the life of Paul in the New Testament shows that he was a man who did this. Paul did not seek after money, fame or approval from others. Yet despite this no one other the Jesus has shaped the Christian Faith more than Paul. His influence was massive and it still is.
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We can be like Paul. We can be a massive influence in our world. The life of treasure, fame, money etc is a dangerous one. Having abundance of any of these can be a massive risk as they can easily become the real gods in our lives.
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'Give up your small ambitions..... Come change the world'. Sign up today. Your life will never be the same again.

Candidates Weekend

2008-06-01T21:00:00.000+10:00

This weekend we were totally blessed to have been able to attend the Australia Southern Territory Candidates Weekend in Geelong. There was good teaching, lots of fun, Holy Spirit power and connecting with old and new friends.

We really felt God confirm upon us the calling of Officership this weekend. Hallelujah!

So if all goes well we will be in Training College next year 09' for the Ambassadors of Holiness session.

Please keep us in your prayers regarding this at this time.

The real reason Sodom was destroyed?

2008-05-11T20:08:00.000+10:00

Ezekiel 16:48-50 (New International Version)

48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

49 " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Wow! This is something that really spoke to me when I read it recently. Generally when you think of Sodom we think of God destroying it along with Gomorrah for their continued sins of homosexuality.

Reading the above passage, it appears to me that the homosexuality was only the surface stuff. It went much deeper as to why Sodom was destroyed. Here are the real reasons:

1. They were arrogant.
2. They were overfed.
3. They were unconcerned.
4. They did detestable things before God.
5. They did not help the poor.
6. They did not help the needy.

Lord please help us as believers and as a nation to not be like Sodom was. May we not be arrogant, overfed, unconcerned and do detestable things before you.

May we be people who help the poor and look after the needy.

War College School of Justice

2008-04-21T19:58:00.000+10:00

Here's an old comical video we did during school of justice at war college. One of the highlights is someone (remaining nameless) imitating Capt Court. Enjoy.
Grace,
Andrew

The Oasis Movie

2008-04-05T22:38:00.000+11:00

One of the awesome things of being involved in a community such as StreetLevel is the members of our community. We are totally blessed to have as our Corps Officers Captains Paul and Robbin Moulds. The Moulds' are real heros of mine. They fight no matter what the cost. They have given up so much in life yet have been given so much. Through the Moulds God has raised up an amazing community that is really taking ground back from the enemy.

Next Thursday evening at 8.30pm on ABC television (Australia) a documentry will be shown of some of the Moulds' ministry. Following that will be a discussion forum when you can hear from Paul and some of Sydney's homeless youth. The Moulds' are literally pulling people from hell.

Here is a synopsis of the movie.

"I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell".

Paul Moulds

Captain of the Oasis
Youth Support Network

Darren is the kind of kid the world has written off. Abandoned by his mother at 8, bashed into intensive care by his foster carers at 10, he spiralled into drug addiction and has lived hard on the street for over a decade. But since he turned up on the doorstep of OASIS, a grimy red-brick youth refuge in inner-city Sydney, with nowhere else to go, one person has been there for him around the clock: Captain Paul Moulds.

Father figure, counsellor, saviour, and an orphan himself, Paul is nothing short of a legend amongst kids like Darren, who stumble into OASIS at breaking point. No story is too horrific, no circumstance too dire, no kid too damaged. During his chaotic 25 years of service he has helped hundreds of young people deal with unspeakable childhood traumas, chronic drug addictions, mental illnesses, and all of street-life's other dramas. Paul is present at the birth of new babies and there to conduct the funerals of those who self-destruct prematurely. On the wall of his cluttered office in which many kids have found temporary salvation hangs his life's mission statement: "I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell".

Today he stops a kid from burning OASIS down; visits a kid in a maximum security gaol; deals with Darren having a psychotic episode; and picks up young mum, Emma, and her new baby from hospital, and moves them into his family home until he can secure suitable accommodation. Tonight he is forced to kick a group of boys off the property, sets up Owen in his first ever independent apartment, and walks the streets with the Salvos outreach van intercepting a 15 year old girl who has naively arrived in Sydney's notorious red-light district, Kings Cross, in midwinter with nowhere to stay. Tireless and non judgmental, his life's passion is to salvage this wasted generation from the wreckage of their lives.

Often it is hard to comprehend what keeps Paul buoyant when positive change is so painstakingly incremental amongst his extended family. But he's prepared to stick with Haley for the long haul, even if she has failed to show up for five appointments to book into detox. "Every kid deserves a 13th chance," he shrugs with a smile.

Charting Paul's struggle to improve the fraught lives of the Oasis kids, this raw observational documentary filmed over two years, is a tribute to the power of one man's persistence in the face of seemingly unrelenting darkness. As time unfolds, some kids pull themselves out of misfortune and aspire to greater things, while others sink deeper into addiction and desperation. In the midst of all the chaos Paul battles unflinchingly on to save these lost children, and reflects on his own past along the way.

Hallelujah!

Having seen the preview of this film, I can tell you that you do not want to miss it. It is an injustice that so many of our youth are on the streets. This film is about putting youth homelessness back on the national agenda. Please inform your friends and family to watch the oasis.

For more info visit http://www.theoasismovie.com.au

2008-04-05T22:33:00.001+11:00

Spiritual work can only be done by those who possess spiritual power. No matter what else you may lack, or what may be against you, with the Holy Ghost you will succeed; but without the Holy Spirit, no matter what else you may possess, you will utterly and eternally fail. (General William Booth).

Happy Resurrection Day!

2008-03-23T10:07:00.000+11:00

Hallelujah!

2008-03-21T13:51:00.001+11:00

Thank You Jesus for going through all You did for me.

Andrew

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Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

Melbourne Central a soul saving factory

2008-03-18T08:14:00.002+11:00

We were blessed to be able to attend 614 Melbourne last Sunday. God is moving in that place. Recently the Corps Officer Major Brendan Nottle has been woken by the Lord at all hours of the morning. God has led him on a journey to pray around the Corps building in Bourke Street.

Searching through the Corps History books, Major Nottle came across history on the Corps opening way back in the 1890's. At the opening it was said, "This building contains more than 800,000 bricks. These bricks are to represent at least one soul that is to come into the Kingdom of God through this Corps".

Through this God really spoke to Major Nottle about getting back to basics. It's great to serve suffering humanity and to try to meet their physical needs, but ultimately as the Army our calling is to save souls. God told Nottle that 614 Melbourne is to be a soul saving factory! Hallelujah!

This has got me thinking. What if every Salvation Army centre was a soul saving factory? Or even greater, what if every house of each Salvationist was also a soul saving factory? The world would not be the same. Jesus will conquer. The world would be won for Him. The enemy would be cranky but still we will conquer. Bring it on.

I praise God for what He is doing at 614 Melbourne. Lets learn from them and create soul saving factory's where we are.

Grace,
Andrew.

Sex slavery in my street

2008-03-07T07:51:00.001+11:00

Praise the Lord for the report to come out overnight that Police have just freed 5 women trapped in sexual slavery from a brothel in my street, Crown Street Surry Hills. As a result of the raid Police arrested 10 people.

Check out the full story here:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23333894-2,00.html

I believe and from what I hear, this is only scratching the surface for sexual slavery in the Surry Hills and Inner City area.

Now Lord, Let Your justice roll.

2008-03-03T15:56:00.000+11:00

I had the privelige of attending the installation last night of the new Chief Secretary of the Australia Eastern Territory Lt. Colonal James Condon and the installation of his wife as the Territorial Secretary for Womens minsitries.

It was an awesome time of worshipping together with fellow Salvationists from across Sydney. Our very own StreetLevel Worship team helped lead a worship segment.

I must say I praise God for bringing the Condon's back to us. The Condon's have just returned from three years of fighting and serving in the Papua New Guniea Territory as self confessed life changing experience for them. They are an amazing couple and are truely chosen by God for this position. May the Lord Bless them as they follow His leading on their lives.

I also praise God for the news of how He is moving in Papua New Guniea. In the past three years the Army has grown from having two Territories to five. Many are being saved. New Corps are opening everywhere. God is moving.

I also praise God for what He is doing in the Army here in Sydney and the Australia Eastern Territory. New Corps/Missions are opening. He is breaking down unnecessary traditions and turning people back to being pasionate about Him and the lost. It's gradually happening but the Army is again beginning to return to the Soul winning force it was raised up to be.

Gandhi on Christianity

2008-02-04T14:41:00.000+11:00

"If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today".

-Ouch. I guess we could extend this to say the whole world. Let's live according to the teachings of Christ. The world needs Him.

Cultural relevance or just plain selfishness?

2008-01-19T22:00:00.001+11:00

One thing I have noticed is how many in the Church have fallen for the myth that they must be culturally relevant in order to succeed in todays society.

One problem I see with this so called relevance is that so often the Church aims to be so 'relevant' to society that it no longer looks any different to society. For example, we live in a world (well in the west anyway) that is extremly materialistic. Everyone always wants more. We are never happy with what we have. So what has the reply of many in the church been? Let's preach a gospel that says we can have all of this and God also. So what we do is we become selfish in order to try to bring people in to the Kingdom of God.

I once had a youth pastor say to me, "I don't know how you are going to win your neighbour to Christ if your church doesn't have a $80,000 sound system". What the? Where does this stop? I can't help but question whether we are that interested in the souls of our fellow man or do we just want more and more possessions? Never mind the homeless man who doesn't have a roof over his head or the fact that over 2/3rds of our world is living in extreme poverty while we get fatter and fatter.

Another example of this myth called cultural relevance is the watering down of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is offensive to the world. Read the Scriptures and you see why. So what do many in the church do? They water it down. They settle for a weak Christianity based upon 'cheap grace' and totally write off the life of Holiness as being impossible. In other words they claim that our Father God is mean in that He commands us to be Holy and that He doesn't allow it.

"The signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove and the Fish, but never the chameleon" - Kaj Munk

Let's not settle for the lies of the enemy. We are called to be true disciples of Jesus no matter the cost.

Lord I am sorry for the times I have believed the lies of the enemy in that I have to look like the world in order to reach the world. Help me to live a life that is worthy of the calling You have placed upon me no matter what the cost. Lord convict me where necessary. Make me Holy. I need it. In the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

Why the attraction to Sunday?

2008-01-02T19:06:00.000+11:00

One area of my Christian walk that has been challenged the past couple of years is in the area of my corporate worship with fellow believers. I have grown up in the Salvation Army and worshipped corporately on most Sundays at my local corps.

Now I worship corporately at StreetLevel on Friday evenings. One thing that has interested me has been the response of some Christians. I've had a few comments such as, 'where do you worship on Sundays'? and 'do you find it unusual worshipping on Friday evenings and not Sundays?'.

Well to start with, I have never read anywhere in the Bible that we must worship together corporately on a Sunday. If I've missed it, please tell me. We read in Acts 2:46, 'Every day they (the believers) continued to meet together in the temple courts'. The early church met together everyday. No mention of only Sunday.

Secondly, the word of God tells us 'where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.' (Matt 18:20). So I feel a strong argument can be made that whenever you are meeting together in the name of Jesus with other believers you are fulfilling this purpose. Note the verse does not say, 'When you meet together on Sundays'. It's tell us that He is with us whenever we meet together in His name.

This is exciting. A week or so ago I was with two other fellow believers in my truck returning to StreetLevel. We were all talking about Jesus together. We worshipped. This was not a Sunday, yet we were meeting together as the body and Jesus was present.

So back to my main point. Why Sunday? Now don't get me wrong, I have no problems with people worshipping together corporately on Sundays. I just can't understand where people are coming from when they say it is wrong if you do not attend a meeting on Sundays.

All I can say is that God is much bigger then where or when we chose to worship together as the body. If someone chooses to worship on a Tuesday lets respect that decision and celebrate that they are worshipping the Lord. Let's not think differently of them becuase they choose to do something outside the box.

God's Spirit can come upon us at anytime. Let's just not try to limit this to a particular day like Sunday. Let's advance the Kingdom and live it out everyday.

Much grace,
Andrew

2007-12-19T21:52:00.000+11:00

You know, Jesus is really wonderful. I have been having a pretty hard time lately. Things here at StreetLevel have been very heptic as we get closer to Christmas day. We are currently offering assistance to over 100 people each day through providing food for them and their families and toys for their children. Somewhere in the mist of this we are also preparing to sell 10,000 bags of goodies at carols in the domain on Saturday night and probably the biggest of them all, we are also preparing to provide christmas lunch to 1500 people in Redfern.
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Wow.. We are busy. I have really just taken the time of reflect on this. I asked myself, why do we do this? Well as a community we believe everyone should have the opportunity to spend Christmas with someone. After last years Christmas lunch we received a letter here at StreetLevel saying, "If it wasn't for your lunch I would have been at home by myself eating a ham sandwich". Of course there are many other reasons for doing this, but ultimately it is because we love Christ and we want everyone to share in this love we have. Why keep it to ourselves when it was given to us freely to share?
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Jesus is good. His grace is amazing.
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Oh yeah while I remember, if you are in Australia tune into the sunrise program on channel 7 this Friday from around 8.30am. They will be broadcasting live from StreetLevel for a Christmas day promotion. You may see Kirsty, Emmanuel and I. Keep an eye out for us.
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If I don't get to blog beforehand, have a happy and Holy birth of our Saviour day. May you know him more and more as a result of this Christmas.
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Love A.
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614:Sydney

2007-11-30T12:53:00.000+11:00

After a long time coming 614:Sydney is finally here!

What is 614:Sydney?

614:Sydney is an opportunity to live incarnationally amongst some of the poorest people in Sydney, Australia. At 614:Sydney you will do life, learn, be discipled by and fight with some of the most hardcore Salvos on earth. You will also have the chance to experience authentic Christian community first hand.

Where is 614:Sydney?
614 Sydney will operate over two different areas of Sydney, inner city Surry Hills and Auburn in the inner west. Both of these areas contain many residents who are rejected by society, including the homeless, prostitutes, drug users, refugees and alcoholics.

How much is 614:Sydney?
Full cost for 614:Sydney is $500 which includes all boarding, meals and toiletries. This cost is significantly lower then similar courses operating around the world.

When does 614:Sydney start?
614:Sydney will begin in February 2008. If you want to spend a year living and sharing with some of the most disadvantaged communities in Sydney then contact Nathan Moulds on nathan.moulds@aue.salvationarmy.org or check out the 614:Sydney Myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/614sydney

2007-11-03T15:40:00.000+11:00

I had a brief but interesting conversation last night with a friend regarding our Army and a decline in attendance to church meetings. It is a funny thing. You know declining attendances is not something that I lose sleep over. I am not a numbers man.
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God has been speaking to me a lot about this. How do you measure what true Christian community is? Is it by the amout of bums you get on a seat at church (what is church anyway?)? I don't believe it is. You know, I'd rather a Christian community of 20 believers who are full on for Christ, are sanctified, love others, do life together, and go after the last, the lost and the least then a community of 10,000 believers who are luke warm and followed a watered down version of Christianity that twists scriptures such as the prosperity gospel.
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I love the church as you can see from my last blog. I don't agree with anything that goes on within the church including our Army. But I do know God is doing a new thing within the Salvation Army. It's a new thing, but an old thing also. He is calling us back to our primitive salvationist roots. Let's get with what God is doing and where He is moving. Let's put off all that hinders and fight until death for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

I used to be a wife basher. How about you?

2007-10-29T14:32:00.000+11:00

Q) You want to know one thing that really bugs me?
A) People who continue to run down and bag out the church.

My friend Michael Collins calls people like this wife bashers as they are running down and continually speaking against the church, which is the Bride of Christ (See Rev 19:7 for example).

You know this really bugs me. I'm sure we all know people like this. Or you may be one of these. I know it is easy to do as I used to be the worst offender.

Well this is something that as believers we must stop. Sure the church is not perfect. If you know of a perfect church show me and I'll change my views on this. All churches and denominations have their downfalls, thats what happens when us as mere humans get in the way of God and create our own structures and interpretations of scripture etc.

The church is the bride of Christ. Lets start strengthening, encouraging and building her up instead of tearing her down. Let's start with outself. Let's put to death all the gossip, harsh words, dislike etc and replace it with grace, love and words of encouragement. It must break Jesus' heart to hear some things that are being said and written about His bride.
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Oh yeah, and for the record, my earthly wife Kirsty, I have never laid a hand on her and never will.
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Grace,
Andrew

Life update

2007-10-22T14:58:00.000+10:00

My updates are now become very far and few between. Infact life has become much busier so updating on blogger is now very uncommon for me.
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So what's new in the life of the Stringers? Well as you would be aware, Emmanuel is home and going well. He is now near his due date and is about the size of a full term baby which is great.
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I have now moved on from my position at Sydney Congress Hall and now work for StreetLevel mission which is also in the inner city. I enjoyed the time at SCH but felt it was the right time to move on. At StreetLevel I work a couple of days delivering furniture for the family store and the rest of the time is working for the church in pastoral care, leading worship and promoting christian community in everything I do. It is going really well.
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Today Captain Robbin Moulds, her PA and I spoke to 130 year eight schoolgirls about homelessness. They split up into small groups and presented their thoughts on the issue in our society. It was good to hear their views. It is a massive problem in our society. In Australia we are prospering big time but the gap between the rich and the poor is growing. Something is wrong when you have people earning millions a year and others can't even pay their bills.
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This brings me to something else that really annoyed me. I am a member of NRMA which is a motor vehicle assistance company here in Australia. As a member I recently received a vote card. I was asked to vote whether I agreed that the board members should get a pay rise of about 60,000 a year. I flipped. They I looked at their salaries already. They were earning something like $650,000 per year. Sorry but I don't think anyone needs that kind of money. I sent my 'no' vote in and really hope other members vote 'no' against this kind of greed.
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God is amazing. He is doing some wonderful things. The Holy Spirit is really moving here at StreetLevel. People are crying out for Him and He is breaking through into their lives. Hallelujah! Send more please Lord!

Emmanuel Dan Stringer Photos

2007-10-09T10:36:00.000+10:00

Well after promising a lot of people for a very long time I finally got around to uploading some photos of Emmanuel. Enjoy. Grace. Andrew.

Uprising of Holiness

2007-10-08T15:20:00.001+10:00

I just scored myself a copy of 'The Uprising - a holy revolution?' by my good friends Captain Stephen Court and Soldier Olivia Munn. The book was released on the weekend at the Aggressive Christianity Conference in Melbourne and is going to be a real hit especially amongst younger persons.

I had the privilege of reading through the draft of this book some time ago. Here is what myself and some others had to say about it.

'Olivia Munn exudes a zeal for holiness and a passion for saving those who are suffering. May this book yield such a harvest of worship and service in the lives of other young people, that we would see the kingdom of God advancing before us in this generation'. (Capt Annalise Francis - New York)

'This is the best Holiness book I have ever read. Not only do Munn and Court explain what Holiness is, they show us through their own personal experiences that receiving Holiness is much closer than we think. If you work through this book with a posture of prayer, you and the whole world will never be the same again.' (Andrew Stringer - Sydney)

'Munn and Court go together better than peanut butter and jelly. A must read. The combo shows how simple holiness is. I plan on using this as a resource for my teen cells. Great read. I love it'. (Nicole Brindle, Victoria)

I encourage you to pick yourself up a copy from the Australia Southern Territory trade or from the Armybarmy online store.

Holiness. It's contagious. Get with it.

Freedom

2007-09-24T13:13:00.000+10:00

'Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom'. (2 Cor 3:17)

Often in our lives we will look everywhere to be set free. We will look to the thing of the world like lust, money, entertainment etc only to find it doesn't give us what we are desiring.

Friends the only way we will be set free is by the spirit of the Lord. Lets seek God's Holy Spirit so we can experience walking in freedom in our lives and the life of our Army.

Much grace,
Andrew

2007-09-17T11:24:00.000+10:00

Wow. I can hardly believe it's been almost three weeks since my last entry. It has been complete madness in the Stringer house hold in this time. Good news is that baby Emmanuel is going very well. He is still in hospital but has moved up to the final stage before he is due to come home. There was word yesterday me may be able to take him home as early as this Saturday for day leave. Hallelujah. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Emmanuel and Kirsty and I during this time.
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Also, I finished up my position at SCH on 8/9 and commenced ministry working with StreetLevel mission on 10/9. I am doing a couple of days truck driving but the rest of my time is spent as a ministry assistant in the corps. I'll write a little later on what StreetLevel is and the amazing ministry YHWH has raised up here.

New Arrival

2007-08-31T09:44:00.000+10:00

Emmanuel Dan Stringer
Born: 29/08/07
Time: 7.43pm
Weight: 1.923kg (4.2 lbs)
Height: 39.5cm

Emmanuel 8 weeks premature but is doing well.
Mummy also doing well.

Thank you Lord for this wonderful gift.

Fair trade coffee

2007-08-24T08:42:00.000+10:00

The Australia Eastern Territory has just announced that all coffee at their THQ building in Sydney will now be fair trade. This is a part of the Territories committment to fight injustice. Hallelujah!

Why is this important?

Fairtrade ensures that producers in poor countries get a fair price for their goods; one that covers the cost of production and guarantees a sustainable livelihood. (by purchasing non-fair trade coffee, only around 3c per $3 cup of coffee goes to the farmers).

Fairtrade prices include a premium, set aside for farmers and workers to spend on projects that benefit the communities, such as health and education.

Purchasing fair trade coffee also helps in the fight against human salvery in poorer countries where people are robbed of their basic libities so they can produce the coffee we enjoy in the west.

-I commend the Australia Eastern Territory on their stance. Let's hope all Corps will follow suit as will all the other territories around the world.

2007-08-06T11:44:00.000+10:00

Last night I heard some amazing news from my home Corps in Taree. Recently at their weekly junior youth group which is attended by many from the marginalised area in the community, a Salvation pitch was given and up to 30 kids got saved. Hallelujah!

It got me thinking, in the Army we don't hear about this kind of stuff too much. Well we do through online blogs but in official publications generally all you read is about how we need to change in the army or about events such as the latest brass band concert.

I have to ask, where are our priorities? Lets get out there and get people saved. My friends at Taree never expected this type of response. It can happen anywhere. Lets preach the gospel, live it, and believe that Holy Spirit will convict others of their sins. I believe if we start doing this the world will soon be turned upside down. It's not hard. If God could use a bunch of fishermen and many simple people over the years he can use us!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-08-01T13:29:00.000+10:00

It has been so long since my last entry that I amost forgot what a blog was.

Either way, I have been flat chat over the past few weeks helping to manage the Salvation Army's Waterloo Centre.

The centre is like a lighthouse to many within the Waterloo-Redfern area of Sydney. There is a large amount of drugs, poverty, crime etc within this area. We are fighting for Jesus here.
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Last night I heard some sad news. A former work colegue of mine in the police was run over by a vehicle and killed. His wife (also a cop) is in a critical condition in Hospital. It has hit me fairly hard as I went fishing with him after my last shift in the force. Sadly he wasn't saved. I believe I missed an opportunity there. Lord forgive me.
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Photos from Bali set 1

2007-07-19T15:14:00.000+10:00

The girls from the girls home

Bali 1 Corps opened by one of my hero's General (then Comissioner) Eva Burrows

Fun riding elephants

Back in Australia.

2007-07-19T11:03:00.000+10:00

So I have arrived back safely in Australia. I really miss my new found brothers in sisters in Christ back in Indonesia (Bali).

My mate Steve Court recently blogged about there being as many real Christians in Indonesia (the largest Muslim population in the world) than people in Australia. I believe that.

I can tell you that God is doing amazing things through the Salvation Army in Indonesia. People are being saved. Lives are being transformed. People are experiencing true Christian Community. The believers in Indonesia live a true Christian life. They love. They love not only when it is easy but even during times of trials and persecutions.

They are authentic and not self seeking as can be the danger of the church in the west.

I praise God for his body and for the Salvation Army. Despite our differences we are united in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will post some photos of my trip shortly.

Andrew S

2007-07-14T10:43:00.000+10:00

I saw something yesterday at the William Booth boys home here in Bali that broke my heart. In fact, I've seen a lot of things lately that have broken my heart.

I met a young boy yesterday who was recently caught stealing food from a temple. He was homeless at the time and have no access to food. Because of what he did, the tip of one of his fingers was cut off. This caused the finger to become infected and maggots to hatch. We treated the wound. I'm praying for a complete healing. He may have to have some of his finger amputated.

So sad. I am due to return to Austalia tomorrow (Sunday). God has spoken to me a lot during this trip. If he ever called me to serve in either of these homes I'd be there straight away (with the approval of my wife of course).

In Bali - Prayer requested

2007-07-12T19:47:00.000+10:00

We managed to make it to Bali no problems.
Internet access is quite short in time so sorry about the lack of blogging.
I do ask however if you would keep our group in your prayers. The Australian government closed the Australian Embassy in Indonesia (which Bali is a part of) becuase of a high terror alert. We are staying in an area that was bombed in 2002. Over 200 were killed including 88 Aussies. So please pray for protection etc.

Apart from that it is going well. The children in the boys and girls homes are both beautiful. It breaks your heart to hear their stories but praise God he is doing amazing things in their lives.

I'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line.
Much grace and peace,
Andrew

Off to Indonesia

2007-07-04T14:29:00.001+10:00

The past week or so have been total madness. I've spent the past few days at the Hillsong Conference here in Sydney. Some 27,000 people registered so it's been pretty big.
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Tomorrow night I fly out for Bali (Indonesia) via Malasya for a mission trip. I'm not sure what type of internet access I have but i'll keep you posted when I can.
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Stay safe. Stay close to Jesus.
Grace,
Andrew

Quote of the week

2007-07-04T14:28:00.001+10:00

"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others"
JOHN ANDREW HOLMES

The tummy.

2007-06-27T15:39:00.000+10:00

Ok, so a few people (namely Kirsten,Denise and Champoonie) have been onto me about posting some pics of Kirsty's tummy. Well here goes.

Kirsty at 3 Months.

Kirsty at 5 Months.

Update

2007-06-26T15:43:00.000+10:00

So I havn't blogged for about two weeks now... Not becuase I don't want to, but becuase I've been struggling with what to say. It is silly really. I should have a lot to say as I have Jesus in my heart. Hallelujah!
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Kirsty had another ultra-sound yesterday. This was recommended by the nurse who said the previous ultra-sound showed that our little bub had a slightly enlarged pelvis. Well the good news is that this was seen to be all clear yesterday. We have a healthy baby. Really it's enough to make a grown man like myself cry. Yesterday we got to see bub sucking his or her thumbs and kicking the legs above the head. Only 4 more months! Exciting.
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Next week I'm off to Hillsong Conference here in Sydney. I don't always agree with all of Hillsongs theology and stuff, but they are a part of the body of Christ who are really taking it to the devil with amazing results. I'll be attending the 'living by the Holy Spirit' workshop which should be interesting.
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Next Thursday evening I fly out with 13 others from Sydney Congress Hall and Taree Corps for a missions trip within the largest muslim country in the world (that is Indonesia). We will be attending two Salvation Army Childrens homes in Bali to run Holiday programs etc for the kids, plus attending both the Bali 1 & Bali 2 Corps to lead worship. It should be a great time. Please pray for protection for the team from the evil one, sickness and that God would do wonders.
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Anyway that's about all. Matthew Champ, you are a beautiful man. Denise, get some sleep. Sarvesh, Australia is the best cricketing nation on earth!
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Much grace,
Andrew

Quote of the week

2007-06-13T12:40:00.000+10:00

You must do it. You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in religion long enough. You have had pleasant feelings, pleasant songs, pleasant meetings, pleasant prospects. There has been much of human happiness, much clapping of hands and firing of volleys – very much of Heaven on earth.

Now, then, go to God and tell Him you are prepared as far as necessary to turn your back upon it all, and that you are willing to spend the rest of your days grappling with these perishing multitudes, cost you what it may.

You must do it. With the light that has now broken in upon your mind, and the call that is now sounding in your ears, and the beckoning finger that is now before your eyes, you have no alternative. To go down among the perishing crowds is your duty. Your happiness henceforth will consist in sharing their misery, your ease in sharing their pain, your crown in bearing their cross, and your heaven in going to the very jaws of hell to rescue them. What will you do?

William Booth - Who cares?
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Wow!

2007-06-12T11:35:00.000+10:00

-Lord please break my heart for what breaks yours.

2007-06-12T09:04:00.000+10:00

Congratulations to Majors Hilton and Joyce Harmer who received the order of Australia medal yesterday for their service in rehabitation, the courts and to the homeless.

As someone who works with the Harmers on the streets of Sydney I can tell you they are the genuine article.

Thank you for your continued work for the kingdom (note: they retired a few years ago but are now as busy as ever!)

God bless the Harmers. God bless the Salvation Army.

Full story: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21884583-1702,00.html

2007-06-07T15:09:00.001+10:00

The world needs Jesus. What are we going to do about it?

The power of a praying Church

2007-06-07T11:08:00.001+10:00

Our prayers are powerful. Even more powerful than our individual prayers is when the body of believers, that is the church, is united together in prayer.

In Acts 12, we see a little of what God can do when the church is united in prayer. A great persecution had gone out around the land against the early Church. Many were arrested and even murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ. Peter was one who was arrested by King Herod and thrown in prison. He slept between two soldiers, was bound by two chains and was guarded by soldiers at the entrance to the cell. In fact, Peter had some 16 soldiers guarding him during his time in Prison!

Acts 12:5 (NIV) tells us that ‘the Church was earnestly (that is, with a serious intention, purpose and effort) praying to God for him’.

As a result of the churches earnest prayer, Peter received a visitation from an Angel of the Lord. Peter’s chains fell off, and the prison gates flew open, leaving Peter a free man.

Now if that is not powerful I don’t know what is.

Imagine what could happen today if as a body of believers we were all united together in ‘earnest’ prayer. I believe chains will fall off, gates will fly open and people will be set free!

A word for the Salvation Army from Captain Paul Moulds

2007-06-06T20:50:00.000+10:00

Sydney Drug Shooting Gallery

2007-05-30T14:29:00.000+10:00

Below is a recent article I came upon about the evil drug shooting gallery experiment by the New South Wales Government in Sydney. This has been open since May 2001 and given the statistics below, obviously is not working.

I think it's time that the NSW Government shut this program down. As someone who works with addicts through a rehabilitation centre, I know that this method is proven to work. Lives are being changed. It goes further than just providing safe conditions. It actually gets people off the drugs and into a new life.

I'd have to say, probably the saddest thing about this gallery is that it is run by a branch of the Christian church. Shame on them!

Soft Approach to Drugs in New South Wales

The most obscene evidence of the softly-softly approach to drugs remains the NSW Government's embrace of its Kings Cross shooting gallery despite the absence of any hard evidence that it serves any purpose other than to ensure that addicts will always have a place to legally shoot-up if they so choose when they happen to be in the area and in possession of illicit drugs.

Put simply, the reports produced on its effectiveness fall apart when examined by competent and genuinely independent experts. A review of the statistics demonstrate that despite the claims of the shooting gallery's advocates, it is unlikely to have saved even one life. When statistically adjusted, the shooting gallery staff saved 0.18 lives in its initial 18-month evaluation period, the experts claim. The evidence shows that the shooting gallery has failed abysmally to refer its clients for treatment which might have led to them ending their addiction.

Only 3.5 per cent of the users were referred to detoxification clinics and just 1 per cent were referred to rehabilitation. The review concludes that the shooting gallery has failed the three tests on which the NSW Government based its trial: that it reduce overdose deaths; provide a gateway to treatment; and reduce the problem of discarded needles and provide safety to injectors living with the threat of overdose. The reviewers found that the shooting gallery had in fact increased drug taking, increased drug trafficking and created a honey-pot effect in its vicinity, just as objectors had originally warned. According to the shooting gallery's own data, heroin constituted just 38 per cent of drugs injected on the premises in 2006. Cocaine and ice, which are highly destructive in the long term, were commonly injected. On average, those who used the shooting gallery took advantage of the taxpayer-provided facility for just one out of every 35 injections they gave themselves, and, based on the overdose figures published by the shooting gallery, the overdose rate in the centre was a staggering 36 times higher than on the streets of Kings Cross.

The shooting gallery's own staff attributed the high overdose rate at the facility to junkies taking greater risks with higher dosages of heroin when they were there. In effect, they were relying on the publicly funded staff to monitor their health and revive them if necessary, as they experimented to see how high they could get.

The shooting gallery slipped through as a trial - it has now been on trial for six years with no rational reason for continuing operation. The Federal Government has not independently evaluated its success. It is awaiting an assessment prepared by the NSW Government's team.
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Jesus was Homeless

2007-05-24T11:58:00.000+10:00

Last night I was blessed to be apart of a new outreach opportunity to the homeless of Sydney.

Armed with a television (yes that's right), some coffee and some warm blankets, we hit the slum area of Woolloomoolo and set up an area for the homeless to watch the annual state of origin rugby league match between Queensland and New South Wales.

I was told to cater for 40. So I catered for 100. Well we ran out of coffee within the first hour.

This got me thinking. In Australia we live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet despite this, thousands of men, women, and children (yes, sadly I saw many young children around last night) are living on our streets.

Yes as the Army we do have services to offer those on the streets. Though when speaking to many homeless men, they inform me that they refuse to use these due to the large amounts of rules and regulations they have to abide by whilst being in the centres. They also stated that to enter the centre they are asked large amounts of questions about many areas of their lives.

Maybe as Salvo's we need to re-look at what we are doing to reach the homeless in Sydney and in other places around the world. I know the early salvationists were very quick to befriend the homeless, the addicted and so on. They would welcome them into their homes with open arms to eat, sleep and basically do life with them.

Last night really hit home at me. As the army we have professionalised many of our areas that were made to reach out and change the lives of others. We need to reach those who are rejected by our society. After all, Jesus was homeless. He had no place to lay his head.

As fellow believers I encourage you to get to know the homeless, the addicted, and the rejected persons in our society. We have a responsibility to feed the hungry, the clothe the naked, to visit those in prison, to invite strangers into our homes and to look after the sick (See Matt 25).

Lets do it! Lets not just rely on the 'professionals' or the social service section of the Army to look after those rejected by society. Lets not just send a 'cheque' in and think we are doing the best we can. God wants us to get personally involved in the lives of the homeless, the addicted, the naked, the prisoner etc.

As believers we have no excuse to ignore the commands that Jesus gave to us during his earthly ministry. He tells us to look after the poor so lets do it!

Quote on Christian Scholarship

2007-05-14T11:24:00.000+10:00

'The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it becuase we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian Scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close'. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament'.

Soren Kierkegaard - cited in 'The Irresistible Revolution' by Shane Claiborne.
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Couldn't have said it better myself!

going to a wedding of someone you don't know...

2007-05-14T09:11:00.000+10:00

Over the weekend Kirsty and I were blessed to have the Castle's in town. It was exciting to see some fellow holies from the War College where we spent 1 year of our lives fighting and growing in the Lord together. (sign up now at www.thewarcollege.com)

Probably the biggest highlight would have to be attending an Indian wedding of a couple we don't know on the Saturday evening. Good food, good times.

Possibly funnier was that the Pastor conducting the wedding was hinting at me to give a speach about the married couple. I managed to get out of that one.... I just wonder what I would have said if he insisted.

As they say, "You have never lived until you have gone to a wedding of an Indian couple you do not know and get away with it!".

Hehe.. good times.

Grace,
Andrew

Life

2007-05-01T11:19:00.000+10:00

Lately as you may have noticed, I have been having a lot of trouble thinking of what to blog on. So I think i'll just write today on some of the things that are happening in our lives at the moment.
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A few days ago my Father was at work (he's a traffic cop) and got into a short pursuit. After the pursuit he started feeling pains in his jaw, arms and heart region. He was rushed to hospital and underwent tests which revealed he had a heart attack. This was a massive suprise to us as our family has no prior history of heart problems and my father was in reasonably good health. Praise YHWH that he is making a full recovery and I believe he has many years ahead of him still.

I has got me thinking though, our lives are short. Very short. When we consider the time God has given us on earth compaired to eternity, it is extremly short. God wants us to live our lives for Him. Not half heartedly, but full on. Even if it means being treated like an outcast or being persecuted.

So I'd like to encourage anyone who may be reading this. If you feel like throwing in the towel and giving up on life (it's likely to happen from time to time) and Faith, don't! Push on. Get around people who will encourage and build you up. There is nothing more the enemy likes that believers who give up in the fight and become half hearted. They do more damage than good.

Keep fighting the good fight guys!

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Kirsty is now 14 weeks into her pregnancy. The tummy is starting to come on. Praise God for this wonderful gift He has given us.

Nelson Mandela on Poverty

2007-04-26T13:56:00.000+10:00

'Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity but an act of Justice'.

So true.

2007-04-19T14:55:00.000+10:00

"For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end". (Daniel 6:26)

Amen.

Quote

2007-04-19T11:17:00.000+10:00

Here is a quote I recently came across that is written in front of a Bible:

“THIS BOOK WILL KEEP YOU FROM SIN, OR, SIN
WILL KEEP YOU FROM THIS BOOK.”

I don't know about you, but at times in my life this has been the case.

At times due to my own disobediance, I have started to sin and in turn stopped reading the Bible. But God is gracious. Amen.

From experience I have learnt that to keep myself from sinning, a life connected to Jesus through the Bible and Gods Spirit is of upmost importance.

I praise God for His word that continues to reveal, confirm, convict and show me the plans He has for my life.

Without it, I'm hanged.

NICARAGUA VOTES 52-0 TO BAN ABORTION

2007-04-17T12:12:00.000+10:00

With the national assembly approving the bill by 52 votes to 0, Nicaragua has approved a sweeping new law banning abortions, even in cases where the mother's life is at risk.
Public opinion in Nicaragua, which is estimated to be 85% Catholic, appeared to be behind the bill. Speaking before the vote, one of the members of the sub-committee which proposed the bill, Orlando Tardencilla, said: "Unless abortion is made a crime, then people can simply come out and say: 'I have the right to an abortion, this is my body and I can decide.' That's like saying: 'I'm allowed to commit murder because these hands are mine, this gun is mine.'"
Source: BBC

- I have to admit, I've never heard of Nicaragua before, but good on them for taking this stand. More and more countries and states seem to be following their lead. Praise God.

Some interesting stats on our Army

2007-04-05T10:17:00.000+10:00

My good friend Stephen Court today blogged some statistics in the Army from 1960 and compaired them to today in three terrirories. I think you'll find them as interesting as I did.

And for those keeping score:
86 countries (112 now)
17,126 corps and outposts (now about 15,000)
26,832 officers and cadets (about the same now)
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AUS - 1,094 officers (820 active) - similar total but only 534 active now
26 cadets (28 now)
222 corps (165 now)
273 outposts (5 now!!!!)
4 slum posts (!)
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AUE
982 officers (752 active)- similar now but only 557 active - using 06 yearbook)
202 corps (175 now)
204 outposts (32 now)
1 slum post
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Canada and Bermuda 1,687 officers (1,323 active)- about 1,000 active now
88 cadets - 37 now (06 yearbook)
384 corps - 330 now
920 outposts (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) - 10 now
85 schools - 1 bible college now
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It is sad to see how the Army in these three territories has slowed down over the past 45 years. Why do you think this is the case? I think personal Holiness and committment to Christ has a lot to do with this.

I wonder how the stats for the 3rd world today would look compaired to 1960?

I do however know of at least 4 slum outposts today in Sydney alone.. They don't seem to call them 'slum outposts' anymore. I like it and think they should be called that once more.

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Lately I have been reading about Colonel John Dean, also known as the 'Australian Bush Preacher'. He was a mighty man of God during the early days of our Army. He is a true hero of the faith who was willing to follow Jesus no matter what the cost.
Here is Dean writing to his officer daughter about a lack of Holiness and discipline amongst believers,

"I note what you say re the 'blinding' power of association. I fear it is so even in these so-called civilized lands. There is no longer an effort to live up to a standard. The tendency is to pull down the standard to the level of human conduct. This is what leads to a form of godliness without power. A high standard, with such discipline as is necessary to keep it up, does not lead to popular success, and so in many cases the standard is fitted to the circumstance of the people, and this means the inroad of sin".

2007-04-02T09:38:00.000+10:00

So the I'll Fight Social Justice conference was held in Sydney on the weekend. It was a time of informing and putting out what we can do to help in the fight against injustice.

It was very encouraging to hear how some stories of what Salvos are currently doing around Australia to fight for Social Justice. Below is a comment from a previous post of mine on something really cool that has happened in Adelaide.

"the youth from 3 different salvo youth groups are doing something about it. They have Op58, based on Isaiah 58, the idea of fasting that feeds the poor. These youth are denying themselves something, putting that money in a pig each week, than after 10 weeks or so, come together empty the pigs. Then the money goes to building an orphanage. This is cool to see, youth rising up and wanting to do this sort of stuff, to make a difference. i know some of these youth and they don't have much money themselves. Praise the Lord for what He is doing in this youth."

Further to this, some $25,000 was raised through this campaign.

Praise God. That is awesome to hear.

The good thing about this conference is that it is one that will be put into action. I believe it is a conference that God would like (see Amos 5).

What will be the fruit? I believe many are now equipped to fight for justice and that many will be saved as a result of this. Lord, bring it on, please!

2007-03-30T05:39:00.000+10:00

The 'Ill Fight' social justice conference kicks off today in Sydney in a little over 3 hours time.. Over 400 hundred have registered for the event. They are expecting around the 500 mark! God is really moving in the area of Social Justice in Australia (and many other parts of the world) at the moment. I'll blog later on how it all goes.
..
I led someone to Christ last evening at pubs... Hallelujah! Another soul for the Kingdom!

Fight for Justice!!

2007-03-28T15:40:00.000+10:00

Yesterday during another class at the training college, the subject of the widening gap between the rich and the poor in Australia came up. This subject was discussed for about 5 minutes with many disgused at how many 'poor' people there are in Australia.

I decided to throw a statistic into the discussion.

I said, "Really, In Australia we are all very wealthy when you compare it to world standards. In Canada, people on government welfare are amongst the 15% richest people in the world. Australian welfare is higher that the Canadian, so we are really not that poor afterall".

This seemed to really hit home to some of those present.

Now I'm not saying there are no poor people in Australia. I'm just saying that compared to the rest of the world, even the poor in Australia are rich.

So do you think this is an injustice? It sure is. What can you do about it?

Well start by coming to the I'll Fight Social Justice Conference to be held this weekend in Sydney. Click on the 'I'll fight' link on the side of my blog or visit www.illfight.com.au

There are many injustices in our world. Most of us are totally oblivious to these as we live our every day western lives. As Salvos, lets start taking a stand! It is within our mission and our calling. Lets join together and rid our earth of its social evil!

Save Souls, Grow Saints, Serve Suffering Humanity

2007-03-16T15:57:00.000+11:00

Well last night was the first evening of the Sydney Congress Hall Corps conference titled, 'If we are to change the future, we must disturb the present' (General Catherine Booth).

It was a very challenging evening for all present. Guest speakers included, Major Neil Clanfield who spoke on 'Saving Souls', Major Peter Farthing who spoke on 'Growing Saints', and Captain Paul Moulds who spoke on 'Serving Suffering Humanity'.

The guest leaders for the weekend are Commissioners Wilma and Earle Maxwell.

Here are some good quotes to come from last night:

'Paul decided to disturb his present to see souls saved' (Major Neil Clanfield).

'The Salvation Army was never meant to be two armies - those who work at the coalface serving suffering humanity, and those who just attend its meetings and play music or sing in the songsters. William Booth's vision was to create a force of soldiers where every believer would play their part in winning the lost, the last and the least, where every soldier was serving suffering humanity. Every Salvationist was urged to "Go for Souls and go for the worst". (Captain Paul Moulds)

'Have we handed over the care of the poor to the professionals? Do we today serve suffering humanity through our social services and meet in our citadels to fellowship with each other, and enjoy each others company and praise the Lord and thank him for our salvation???? If that is true, be warned Salvation Army. Our future is limited, our mandate is withdrawn, our days are numbered'. (Captain Paul Moulds)

'Friends, we are called to be a people who roll up our sleeves and get our hands and uniforms dirty as we come in contact with suffering humanity. We are called to INDIVIDUALLY practice sacrifical costly love, love that is like the love of Jesus'. (Captain Paul Moulds)

'We all stand on the same level at the foot of the cross'. (Comissioner Earle Maxwell)

-As you can see, a lot of challenging things were said. Lord please continue to direct us as we look towards the future! Help us to listen!

Much grace,
Andrew S

2007-03-13T19:13:00.000+11:00

Kirsty and I are pleased to announce that we are expecting out 1st Child on October 25th. You can see the child in the photo above (sorry about the quality). We are very excited about this. In the ultra-sound yesterday, we were blessed to have seen our child's heart beating. All this at just 7 weeks and 4 days. If thats not a child I don't know what is! :-)

125 years of the Army in Sydney

2007-03-13T11:21:00.001+11:00

This weekend marks the 125 year celebrations of the first Salvation Army Corps in Sydney, Sydney Congress Hall. A weekend conference has been planned. During this time we will celebrate what God has done through the past 125 years, however more importantly we will look at the direction the Corps is taking for the future. Co-incidentally is also marks the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Its good to see we have 50 years on the bridge..

The catch cry for the weekend is, 'If we are to better the future, we must disturb the present' (Catherine Booth).

Please pray for this weekend as we at SCH focus on our mission to: Serve God, Save Souls, Strengthen Saints and to Share with the needy.

Good times....

2007-03-08T16:20:00.000+11:00

(At the Sydney Opera House overlooking the Harbour Bridge)

Kirsty and I have been extremly blessed to have had fellow War College Holy Terror Melissa Wight with us for the past 10 days or so. Plenty of good times had by all. Thanks for the good memories Melissa!

Continued Holy Spirit Filling?

2007-03-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

Hi all.

I am just interested in gauging a few views/opinions on whether you believe as believers we can continue to be filled more and more by Holy Spirit.... I'll explain..

Yesterday I was in class at Booth College in Sydney (school for Officer training).

We were working through Acts when we came to this verse (where Jesus was talking to the disciples):
'But when Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8, NLT)

Now a young Cadet asked the question, 'Looking at John (AS - See John 20:22), Jesus breathed upon the disciples and gave them Holy Spirit. If they already had Holy Spirit why did Jesus say this to them? (Referring to Acts 1:8)

The lecturer whom I believe to be a very wise man replied, "It's one of those unclear areas".

I decided to put a question forward for the class. I said, "Referring to these verses, is it therefore possible that we can receive a further filling of Holy Spirit, after we have already received Holy Spirit?"

The lecturer replied, "Well I'll give you a direct theological answer.......... No."

We then moved on to another topic.

This has really got me thinking though. From my personal experience, I received Holy Spirit when I became a believer (as promised). Further down the track some fellow believers laid hands upon me and prayed for me and I received more Holy Spirit, this time in power. Many other believers I know can also testify to this fact.

So what are your views on this? Do you believe that once we have Holy Spirit we can continued to be filled more and more? Or is that it?

Personally I think you can. I'm no great theologian, however my personal experience says that it is possible.

What do you think?

2007 Salvation Army year book

2007-02-22T10:09:00.000+11:00

Lately I have been flicking through the new 2007 Salvation Army year book. I like checking these out as it gives us a good idea of how the Lord is moving and how He using our Army as we try to live up to the great commission.

One thing that stuck out to me is what's happening in the India Eastern Territory.

The Territory has recently introduced prayer and fasting meetings in each corps twice a month and once a month at the divisional level. Salvationists and members of other churches, happy to join this prayer fellowship, are being spiritually strengthened as a result (good to see unity between the body of believers!).

"The central division has also established a place called 'Prayer Mountain' in Aizawl, where 10 prayer houses have been constructed through Salvationists' donations. Many soldiers go daily and spend time in prayer on the mountain; other church members are also using the location as a spiritual retreat."

Now I don't like to call myself a numbers man, but I just can't help to mention that the India Eastern Territory has shown great growth in the 5 year period from 2002 to 2007. In 2002 they had some 24,599 soldiers. Now they have 32,000 soldiers. Thats a growth of 7401 soldiers in 5 years! No doubt they have had many more salvations during that 5 year period.

Nice! I wonder what effect we would have in the Salvation Army in Eastern Australia and around the world if each of our corps held a prayer and fasting meeting each fortnight and if we all pumped some of our $ (let's face it, we have a heck of a lot compaired to the India Eastern Territory) into starting up our own 'Prayer Mountain' where we can pray non-stop for the Salvation of the world!

If we were to follow their lead I'd be confident in saying we would give hell's throne one hell of a shake up!

God is here.
Amen.

2007-02-05T08:52:00.000+11:00

This sign is located about 1 block walk away from my work on the Central Baptist church in Sydney. It has been the cause of public outrage since it was errected about 4 days ago.

Personally I can see why people have been upset about this however it is true, Jesus does love Osama. He doesn't approve of what he does, however still loves him.

What has disapointed me a little is the response from the Australian Prime Minister John Howard who Claims to be a professing Christian. He stated, "I hope they (the Central Baptist Church) will understand that a lot of Australians, including many Australian Christians, will think that the prayer priority of the church on this occassion could have been elsewhere".

Sorry Mr Prime Minister, I disagree. How good would it be if all who proclaim to be Christians would pray for the Salvation of Osama Bin Laden and everyone in the Al Qaeda network.

Once he is saved, true justice will follow as he hands himself in and confesses his sins.

As Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". (Matthew 5:44)

Prophecy

2007-02-01T12:27:00.000+11:00

I'm not sure if you are aware or not, but a 'Prophecy' that I truly believe is from the Lord came through Andrew Bale in the U.K for the Army in the western world. This word has been confirmed by numerous others around the world. I encourage you to check it out here and read it in a state of prayer:

http://beyondthebrook.blogspot.com/2007/01/prophecy-for-salvation-army-from-isaiah.html

To help spread this word, the prophecy was also posted on the International Army's discussion board at www.salvationist.org

Now I must say I am absolutely disgusted at some of the responses to this message. Some responses have been personally abusive towards the writer attacking him and making numerous false accusations against him. (Should we really expect anything else though? The prophets in the Bible were persecuted also)

This has made me start to wonder that people do not believe in prophecy anymore. Well I believe this belief this is a big lie from the enemy. Prophecy is very much as an important gift as say, the gift of teaching, or evangelism.

Now I want to get a few opinions, why do you think we can be so frightened of the gift of Prophecy? Do you think the Army and Church in general has been way to quick to write off the gift of Prophecy? What do you think about the gift?

2007-01-25T11:40:00.000+11:00

Do you know that as believers we are all called to be missionaries?

Acts 1: 8 (NIV) states, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth".

The key words in this passage are 'will' and 'witnesses'.

I strongly believe the world and even the church has often had the view of missionaries as being people who go overseas to a third world country to preach the word. While this can be true, we all have responsibility to share the good news no matter where we are.

William Booth put it this way, 'A good soldier makes war his business. He may do something in other lines of duty; he may be (an accountant, a teacher, a plumber, a student) or what not, but after all, fighting is his trade. He has chosen it, and has made secondary all business, connections, relationships and pleasures of his life'.

It does not matter how young, old, outgoing, or anything else you may be. The Bible is pretty clear on this in stating you WILL be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

I know for many years I avoided witnessing to my friends, work colleagues, and family out of fear of persecution. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV) tells us that, 'God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind'.

So really, fear of persecution is no excuse. This fear is not from God and is a lie from the enemy. Clearly the command to witness is a command that Jesus gave to us. The good news is that if we obey his commands we are considered a friend of Jesus (see John 15:14) and we show that we truly do love Him (John 14:15).

So my challenge to you this week is this: Ask the Lord to present opportunities for you to witness to someone. Share your testimony with them. We all have a testimony to share, a testimony that will help us overcome the evil one (See Rev 12:11). Then pray that they will receive the free gift of Salvation that can only come through the Son Jesus (1 Thess 5:9). Remember, you can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you. (Phil 4:13).

John Wesley

2007-01-16T08:57:00.000+11:00

Here's a neat story I recently heard about John Wesley I thought I'd share with you all. If you don't know, Wesley was a 18th centry revivalist who founded the methodist movement that saw massive revivals, firstly in England, then in many other countries around the world. Our very own founder William Booth came out of this movement.

Now there is no doubt that Wesley was truely on fire for the Lord. People would come from all over Britian, and even parts of the world just to hear him preach. The early Methodist movement is one of the largest revivals ever.

One day the secular media decided to find out why people came from all over to listen to him in such large numbers.

Wesley replied, "Every morning I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn".

Nice! So in other words, every morning Wesley's prayer and ration life fueled the fire within his life.

I don't know about you, but I definately want that fire. Not really so people can come listen to me, but so the glory of YHWH can be seen through me and that multitudes of souls will come into the Kingdom as a result.

Please Lord, send the fire today!