A word for the Salvation Army on frustration

Every morning I have to park in a city multi storey.

I park on level 4.

Every working day.

The thing is I have to jump a lift up to level seven which takes to me the city street level.

It's a lift (elevator) that could tell a million stories.

It's a lift that you could say has different seasons.

And the season we are in right now as I write?

The student season.

Loads of students use it to access one of the colleges. Located right on the ground level of the car park.

So when I get in it in the morning it can be found to be crammed with highly active students. The air is thick with heavy perfume and deodorant which seems to just overwhelm the brutally small space.

Or?

Without fail?

If no students are in?

It's guaranteed they have pressed every button so that the lift stops on every level on the way up.

It's an old trick.

And one that for some people is so frustrating.

I've seen people get so mad and the old comments about "young people today" come rolling out of funnily angry people.

I just laugh.

It's no good getting frustrated.

Frustration gets you off to a bad start.

Frustration can easily make you take your eye of the game.

The only worrying thing is whether you can make it to level 7 without getting gassed by the perfume and eau de toilette that fills the entire lift cabin space.

I've managed to make it so far!

This morning was a, "Stop at every level" morning.

As I came out of the cheap aluminium doors on level 7 into the semi-fresh air of the awakening city this morning I had this amazing kind of clarity in my head and I heard God speak into my momentary clarity of thought.

It's amazing how many frustrated Salvationists, in fact how many frustrated Christians there are.

I've met some this week.

People Who have been sucked in by the most trivial things.

And I've got to be honest I've fell for it myself on many an occasion.

Things that deflect our focus.

Things that cause us to take our eye of the mission.

Take our eyes off Jesus.

Trivial things.

A bit like stopping at every floor in a lift in a multi-storey car park.

Massively trivial.

A bit annoying but trivial.

Which brings me to a word that God slapped into my life this morning. A word he asked me to communicate to my own denomination.

So here goes.

Hey Salvation Army.

We are in times right now that require the focus to be shifted from the trivia to the spiritual. The battle is shifting into a dimension never experienced before. The Spirit of God says, drop your meaningless battles and join the real fight. The fight for the souls of people. Reflect and think, and then stop yourselves being drawn into the tempting snare that frustration embraces. Do not lose heart. Do not lose faith. Do not lose the fighting Spirit I instilled into you at the beginning. Trivia stifles the energy of my Spiritual mission. Do not be drawn by it. Focus on the things that are blessed. Focus on me. Focus on the fight. Focus on pure love. Don't get pulled off the track by things you can't control. Brush them aside and follow me. When the focus is on me there is massive ground to be taken, the positioning is already taken care of, there is territory to be regained, there are stolen lives to be returned to the creator. This work is the work I have given you. Trivial frustration is holding you back. The Spirit of God says the door is unlocked but frustration is preventing you from walking through it.
Set your minds on the things of God. Set your course on the mission. Set your life on the track that moves.

I've spent a few minutes just thinking of the trivial stuff that I can't control.

Stuff that goes on around me.

It can be frustrating.

Really frustrating.

But.

There is work to be done.

Relationships to be built.

Prayers to be prayed.

Compassion to be shown.

Sickness to be healed.

Lost lives to be rescued.

Plenty to be getting on with!

So don't let frustration that little troubles cause slow us down.

There really isn't time for that.

Blessings guys.

Like Jesus?

So we have managed to get one of the relentless stream of homeless guys that come to S21 housed.

Lee, a 24 year old lad who has already been in prison for four years and was released about a year ago has been living on the street since his release.

He has a little boy who he gets to see only now and then.

He misses him badly.

Lee is a lad whose life history from birth to now is just a tangled mess of rejection and trouble. It's a history that pains you to even hear.

He is anti-establishment, can be violent and has a number of addictions.

Strip away all of that?

He is a really likeable lad.

The S21 staff love him like son.

He is a massive part of our family and community.

One of the street homeless workers we have based at S21, Donna, was responsible for getting lee into a bedsit. I witnessed a conversation she was having with Lee in S21 the other day.

She was letting him know in no uncertain terms that this was a chance for him to change his life around. She was telling him that he had to stop fighting. She said to him,"What happens when your son says I want to be like my daddy?" Donna was telling him that he had to become a good role model for his son, and that if his little son saw his daddy fighting then he would more than likely get himself into fights too.

As I listened to Donna giving Lee all she had got, I suddenly thought about my own relationship with Jesus.

I want to be like my daddy?

Do I?

Now at the expense of sounding like I use that highly cheesy preaching technique of quoting lines from songs! I so dislike that, it really irritates me!
But the line of a song, a blast from the past, a song I probably haven't sang, heard or thought about for about twenty years came singing into my ears out of thin air.

The song?

To be like Jesus this hope possess me. (I think it's an old Salvation Army song or something?)

I had this horrible flashback to when I was a young Salvationist but with absolutely no relationship with Jesus.

I would sing those words then go out of the doors and be anything but like Jesus!

And as for the "This hope possesses me" bit? Well I don't think I even gave being like Jesus a second thought.

Right now I'm in a rich vein of relationship with Jesus.

Yet when I heard those words "I want to be like my daddy," I had a complete surge of urge to get to know him yet deeper, and then deeper, and then deeper still.

Am I like him?

Wow! Now there is a question.

Does that hope possess me?

O boy! There is another question!

I so so so so so so hope so!

My mind wandered off to scripture.

Matthew 16: 13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

So here Jesus is challenging the disciples with "who are the people outside of this group saying I am?"

Then he zooms the question around to them. "So, who do you say I am."

And we know Simon Peter presses the right answer button. "You are the Messiah the son of the living God."

I love the fact that as Simon Peter says with assurance that Jesus is the messiah, Jesus then is able to do something with him, in fact he goes as far to say that on him, Peter, he would build his Church.

And I think recognition of who Jesus is is the first step to becoming like him.

And from there God can do extraordinary things through us like building his church.

I spoke on this in our S21 service yesterday morning. And as I looked at the sea of broken lives sat on the couches and round the tables as I whacked a sermon out, drug addicts, people who have been used and severely abused, homeless, desperately needy people, I saw the potential earthquake of church building that could happen through these amazing people.

I was telling them that similar to Jesus asking the disciples "who do people say that the Son of man is?" The world today is the same, some people say Jesus is a mythical character, some say he is a concept, some say he is an inconvenience, some say he is an outright problem, some come right out and say he is just nothing really.

But Jesus turns the question to his disciples.

"Who do you say I am?"

And I felt God nudge me and say Just put that question out this morning on your blog will you please Gaz?"

Do we wanna be like your daddy?

Does that hope possess us?

I pray today that Jesus ain't just a concept, a myth, an inconvenience, or a pain in the neck to us.

I pray that we can say with assurance.

You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Then yeah, on us he will continue to build his church.

Blessings today.

Living out the Exodus!

Do you know when you do something for God with the best of intentions and you seem to have gained a victory, then within a short space of time the enemy comes after you and tries to scupper the victory?

I've had a fair few experiences of that since becoming a Christian.

Lately I've been at peace much more than I have ever been in my life.

My heart has been heavily compassionate.

My mind has been still and calm.

I've been able to think clearly and act wisely.

Which has been a real blessing especially when dealing daily with front line mission, face to face with poverty, destruction of lives and other peoples darkness every day.

I've felt the closest that I have ever been to God.

Honestly the closest ever.

Then.

Whack!

I catch sight of the enemy approaching fast. Obviously not happy with the strength of my spiritual life.

Things that I have done with a compassionate heart to help people and help situations come back to you in a negative way.

You know what I mean?

I guess you do.

And one of the reactions that happens is you start to doubt why you even bothered to follow what you believe God had said for you to do. And then you think if only I had kept my nose out! Or if only I hadn't got involved or pursued that venture etc.

But I am staying fixed on God.

No matter what.

It is no coincidence that my wife gave me a scripture this morning. it was from the parting of the Red Sea account in Exodus. The Israelites are being pursued by the Egyptians who aren't happy at the freedom that God's people have gained.

Exodus 14: 13

Moses answered the people. "Do not be afraid Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still."

Then God says to Moses.

"Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on."

The only trouble was in this situation was there was a blockage of huge proportions in the way of moving on.

The Red Sea itself.

But you guys know the rest of the story. You don't need a drawn out sermonic script on it this morning!

Reading this whole riveting account of this amazing slice of biblical accounting, God really reminded me today of a couple of things that I feel compelled to share with my now ever growing readership! (By the way thank you guys for all the blessings you give me in the form of encouragement and feedback especially through email, Facebook and twitter) and I think maybe it would be good for you to read Exodus 14 for yourself today to see what God is speaking to you through it.

Firstly he reminded me of this simple message from the scripture.

God will not put us through anything that we cannot handle, or put us through something we cannot get through.

Secondly, you know when we do things for God and start to wish we hadn't done that? We start to think like the Israelites (verses 11-12) when they said things like, "Didn't we say to you (Moses) leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians, it would be better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

We start to think like that don't we?

I know I'm guilty of that sometimes.

We say "why did we follow God on that? It would have been better if we had stayed where we were."

Well today I want to say out loud. God says, "trust me and keep moving!"

Moses was right, the Lord is fighting for us and will deal with the enemy.

Whatever is happening on our lives right now, if we are thinking, "I wish I hadn't done that for God? If we are thinking, "it would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert?"

This scripture clearly shows that there will be no death in desert for us if we follow God.

No death at all.

Just life.

And life in all it's fullness.

And freedom in Jesus.

Forever.

Blessings, grace and mercy today.

No escape

Regenerated buildings tend to inspire me.

The Baltic Centre on the Gateshead side of the Tyne is one of those buildings.

This morning I was in there.

On level 3 there is an amazing exhibition.

The work is by Janet Cardiff, a Canadian artist who has reworked the renaissance Choral work for forty voices Spem in Alium Nunquam habui written in 1573 by Thomas Tallis.

The exhibit consists of forty seperately recorded voices played back through forty individual speakers.

So basically you sit in the centre of a circle of forty audio speakers and listen to the forty voice motet.

I kind of got lost in the beauty of the thing.

As I sat amongst the specifically arranged expensive speakers neatly lofted on silver stands, I quickly had an experience of unforgettable quality.

Whichever way you turned or listened or looked, you were surrounded by beautiful sounds. You couldn't get away from it.

At all.

No escape from the beauty.

Two things happened.

First a scripture pierced my internal vision.

Psalm 139:

You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you. If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:1-24 NIV)

And in that moment as these words spilled lavishly into my hearts space, the second thing happened.

My mind projected the beautiful images from a day on my holiday recently.

I had taken my 3 year old granddaughter for a paddle in the sea.

She was so excited.

I stood on the edge of the sea and watched as she ran straight into the freezing foamy sea and back out again.

And then again.

And again.

For about an hour!

As I watched her splashing and giggling, watching her fascination with the small waves that occasionally knocked her over, I suddenly for no reason became quite overcome with emotion.

I was guarding her with my life.

Whenever the gentle waves knocked her over I was ready to run into the sea and pick her up again.

I marvelled at her innocent fascination and her thirst for fun. I laughed at her fearlessness and determination to stay in as long as she possibly could.

I was watching over her.

I loved it when she would glance back to make sure I was around.

My heart melted when she wanted to show me what she could do, like jump over a little wave or splash the seawater everywhere.

I felt strong love.

My granddaughter can never escape my love.

I think I realised there and then what the reason for the sudden emotion was.

I knew in an instant that this is what God does with me.

With us.

He watches over us.

This is what God feels for us.

And according to his word?

We cannot escape his presence.

We can never escape.

Whatever we do, wherever we are we cannot get away from him because he is always watching.

I guess the problem is we don't always glance back to make sure he is still there.

But he is.

As I sat in the centre of forty recorded voices, there was beautiful sound whichever way I turned.

I think the same can be said when we sit in the centre of Gods presence.

I felt an overwhelming urge to write this today, so I guess maybe someone simply needs reminding that God is watching over us.

He is there.

As I watched my gorgeous little princess of a granddaughter from the edge of the sea, I was totally reassured of that fact.

So whatever is going down for you today.

You cannot escape from his presence.

If you glance back at him, you may get lost in his beauty.

The prayer generation

Last night I was leading the Thursday night devotional meeting at the Northern Summer school in the Salvation Army.

It felt like an honour.

Seeing the passion of the young, being amongst it, is always pretty much awe inspiring.

Seeing these guys and girls respond last night, was humbling to say the least.

And how times are changing.

I cast my mind back to when I was at summer camp all those years ago now, how if the floor was thrown open for testimonies, there would be a dead silence, a pure tumbleweed moment. Then probably someone in the staff would desperately give the most spiritual student, who was probably seen as a bit of a geek, a prompting eye gesture to get up and speak, and the poor geeky Christian would have to put his rep on the line once again! And the rest of us would say "O he or she is up again!"

But last night?

Now, in 2012?

The testimony time was just filled with the testimony after testimony of the young. Raw, honest, funny, and deeply moving.

Every single one of them spoke about the importance of prayer.

This generation is embracing the vital essence and the none negotiability of prayer.

Yeah, times are changing alright.

The prayer generation is rising.

I spoke to this generation last night about taking the bended knee to the street, about the vital intertwining between prayer and mission, and these guys get it.

The passion of the young

An amazing thing.

I was so encouraged.

Which was much needed.

Because earlier in the day, at Sanctuary21 I was tending to another young person.

Phil.

He had taken an E on top of a shed load of alcohol.

He lay on our couch in tears, speech incredibly slurred, clothes rotten from a night sleeping behind Argos in Durham. He kept saying over and over again "there is no hope for me, there is no hope for me."

We sat with him as his eyes rolled and he just faded into a deep comatic sleep.

The police came in and were telling me that phil had been to court just the day before, which I knew about, but they said he is being sent to another city to a rehab centre and it is his last chance really. He constantly steals, he abuses drugs and alcohol, he begs on the street, he sleeps rough.

I spent the day just whacking God with prayers for phil.

I felt a hopelessness that I quite often feel in the everyday struggle for lives in our mission.

By hopelessness I mean a human hopelessness, a form of frustration really. Frustration that guys like Phil who I work to rescue everyday seem to be so heading for oblivion.

When Phil roused slightly on a couch in our HOP, I prayed directly with him, with a proper laying on of hands and a proper desperation from my heart.

Tears of hopelessness ran straight down his massive cheeks leaving tracks in his dirty face.

So last night I had come straight from that to standing in front of loads of young people. Some the same age as Phil, yet clean, bright and ready. and I saw in this generation that hope is alive. I pray that the generations coming through now would minister to the Phil's of this world. That they would take prayer beyond the bricks and mortar of the church. I believe times are changing, I believe that more and more people are becoming intolerant of bland religion and joining the movement of Jesus Christ through his Spirit in our communities. I see it in the actions of those passionate young people last night who don't bat an eyelid at responding to what God is doing.

I was so encouraged that people are seeing that prayer is a none negotiable.

And in that vein, I don't do this often on my blog, but I ask if there is anyone out there that would join me in praying for Phil right now. The truth is he could die. I have my doubts about the rehab. I know in his heart he is giving up on life. He is a young man of 25. My team pray for hundreds of Phil's but I feel God asking me to ask for some help on this one. So if you have a spare moment please pray for him. He is an alcoholic, a drug addict, and he is heading for oblivion.

Humanly hopeless.

But spiritually full of hope in Jesus

Thank you

Gaz

Green Light 2 (Pray like never before)

So here I am smack bang in the presence of God.

Right here.

Right now.

Even the air in prayer room 1 here in Sanctuary 21 is thick with the electric atmosphere that only the presence of The Spirit of God can bring to this world.

It's like you can taste Holiness you know?

Every breath I breathe in here saturates my inner being with focus and peace.

Like a Holy oxygenation.

And it takes me a while to start to pray.

Because unashamedly I just want to draw the electric air into my body.

In the background I have 10000 reasons (Matt Redman) blaring out of my smartphone at full volume.

I hear one line of the first track.

"Sing like never before."

And I feel a challenge direct from the depths of God's heart.

In fact it's his voice I hear in the air.

The voice says.

"Pray like never before."

Lately I've literally prayed like I never have before.

As I said in my last Green light Blogpost, I've pushed into prayer even when praying was the last thing I felt like doing.

And I've seen it's power.

And boy have I felt, seen and experienced its power.

So right here, right now, my hand has been Spiritually set to work on adding to my last blog post. Even though my human side feels like I'm repeating myself, feels like I am going over old ground. Nevertheless God wants to say this to whosoever today.

So fasten your seat-belts!

To the whosoever.

Pray like never before.

I think of General Linda Bonds call to the Salvation Army to pray. And it's been great to see people taking up the call.

I believe though the call to prayer is more than a call.

I think it is a direct order from God himself.

To pray like never before.

Have you taken up the call?

Can we honestly say that we are praying like never before?

The thing is if we pray like never before we will see the miraculous power of God sweeping the nations like never before.

Is there anyone out there sick and tired of the mundanities of Church? Of the relentless blandness that stone dead religion brings?

Is there anyone whose christian walk seems to have a missing link?

Is there anyone who is on the verge of giving up? Because your prayers, your service, your commitment seems to amount to almost nothing?

The Spirit of God says to you, "what's the missing link?"

"The missing link is praying like never before."

The times we exist in now needs a church that prays like never before.

That takes creativity. It takes a commitment like you've never had before. It probably means a break with traditions, you know, the bad side of tradition, the side that holds on to things long past their sell by date. It means a loosing of human inhibition regarding prayer. It means pushing into God with strength and courage. It means taking our frustrations, our desperation, our deepest desires, our visions, our joys and our needs to God instead of taking them to the world. it means sometimes laying aside things we think we ought to be getting on with and praying instead.

It means taking everything to God.

Everything.

Pray like never before.

Make it a mission.

Make it a priority.

Make it a necessity not an experiment.

No matter what.

No matter what it takes.

Pray like never before.

So who will take up the call?

Who will take up the command?

Will it be us?

Green light

One step beyond.

That's what I awoke to on the radio alarm this morning.

Madness.

Not literally.

But madness the 80s group.

A bit of a mad song, a song with no words.

Except!

One step beyond.

Lately I've been praying like crazy.

God has laid a massive vision on my heart and Dawn's heart. A vision to create a string of prayer communities or houses of prayer and justice, in cities throughout the world.

I hate having that responsibility sometimes. I have to admit that over the last eleven years I've lost the will to live with the vision at times as we have met brick wall after brick wall.

But!

We've stuck with it.

No matter what.

We have one so far!

Sanctuary 21 is such a move of God.

Thankfully!

So here we are finding we are in a place where we strongly feel we are at a crossroads with the vision.

And just when you think it's all but over and you need to let go of the vision and move on to something else that God may have for you, doors for the vision to move forward start to open.

So as I said, lately I've been praying like crazy.

Much more than I've ever done in my life. I've prayed even when I haven't felt like it. I've prayed even when my faith levels have been low. I've prayed when I feel on fire with God, I've prayed relentlessly.

But I've felt for the last couple of months that I need to focus my prayer towards the vision.

As I believe it is a crucial time on the visions journey.

In fact I humanly feel I owe God at least a last push forward of this dream we have had in our hearts that has shaped our ministry to date.

I know there have been people who have doubted this vision. There have been people who have even tried to knock us off course, (and frankly almost succeeded!) there have been unbelievable highs and desperate lows on this journey.

But we are still hanging on.

It feels a bit like an eleventh hour.

So I was thinking. How do I give it a last push.

I felt deep in my Spirit that I need to hammer the now with specific prayer.

So what I did was I knocked myself up a 'prayer for the vision' template.

In other words an extensive and deeply thought out list of prayer points specifically aimed at pushing this vision through.

Basically for this vision to fly in the Salvation Army, it needs to be caught, blessed and endorsed by key decision makers in the leadership.

So this template I have used to pray every working day for at least a couple of hours.

I've spent hours praying, sometimes having amazing spiritual moments, other times feeling like I'm talking to fresh air.

But I've felt the need to hang in.

To pray against the odds.

To pray no matter what.

I've had to be relentless in doing it. I've had to move appointments out of the way to do it. I've had to sometimes turn down things I love to do.

But I've prayed hard and fast.

Suddenly.

Things have started to shift.

Surprise surprise.

Without going into detail because there is still a long journey ahead, doors have swung open, others have started to catch the Sanctuary 21 vision, key people in the Salvation Army and a process is maybe in sight to get the green light to see our vision develop.

So what am I saying in this blogpost?

This is a fact.

Prayer is vital.

Whatever dreams we have. Whatever vision we hold.

Prayer is the key to see our visions become reality.

Yeah I've done loads of legwork, building networks, relationships, forming approaches to building a praying community at S21 as well as opening our arms to the needy. We've been hospitable to everyone, respectful to other Christian groups, I've overseen building work to the prayer house.

I've done all that.

And that work is vital.

But do you know what?

You know by now what I'm going to say.

Don't you?

All that work, without prayer is meaningless and futile.

Prayer and mission go hand in hand.

Prayer is mission in fact!

It's not just fuel for mission.

It has to be intertwined with everything we do.

Everything!

And as much as I would encourage little prayer groups etc, listen it can't be left up to them either!

We all have to do it.

Even in the dry times.

Even when it seems like too much.

Nothing, and I repeat nothing is as important to the success of the kingdom than prayer.

So why don't we seem to make time.

For prayer?

We seem to able to fit all kinds of other things into our schedules both personally and corporately.

Yeah I know it's hard.

I can vouch for that.

But prayer is a vital work.

And hard work pays off guys.

Prayer should be the first thing any Christian, any church, any Christian community puts into their existence.

Because?

If we aren't talking and listening to God then how are we joining him in his mission to save this world?

How?

Wow.

I'm preaching it today!

So I'll shut up now!

Promise.

But just before I do shut up (for now) I wanted to say this.

If you are struggling with your onward Christian journey. Either with your own walk with God or with a feeling that your dreams and visions aren't really being realized.

Then now is the time to get on your knees.

Now is the time to make yourself do it.

Now is the time get yourself a template.

Write down a prayer template designed to frame up your prayers.

Hit the prayer button in your life.

It's called clinging to God.

I make a bold statement here shaped out of my own experience. I declare that you will open up the pathway God has set for you.

Why?

Because when we pray, we connect with Gods heartbeat.

We become infused with his heartbeat of mission.

We Claim the effectiveness that is borne out of his victory through Jesus on the cross.

So back to madness.

I think prayer puts us in a position that's ahead of anything we dare imagine.

One step beyond!

In prayer we begin to glimpse the green light for go.

Wow.

Blessings today you amazing people.

Moving on from the past?

I walked into Sanctuary 21 morning after dealing with emails, a few calls and some other admin over coffee.

As I approached the building, the builders who are revamping phase 2 of our prayer centre overhaul had stripped back the frontage of the building. A sign from the past had reappeared from under the boarding that had been fixed in place for many years.

The sign in faded yellow signage paint read SALVATION ARMY HEADQUARTERS. (see picture)

The building had housed an old divisional headquarters in bygone times. It has been a long time since the yellow faded sign has seen daylight.

I felt a kind of good feeling inside.

Firstly it gave me a reminder of how far Sanctuary21 has come since it was just a picture in my head and heart. How it has actually materialized from vision to reality over a few years.

Secondly it reminded me that this building has had a past. I found myself reflecting on how the past generations of Salvationists have faithfully sought to minister in Durham. Without that we may have not had a Sanctuary 21 in Durham at all.

Thirdly it spoke to me how if we strip away the present the past will be revealed. The sign is faded and a reminder of once was, but it wouldn't be a good idea to leave the faded past sign exposed as it holds no meaning to the future.

We ain't a headquarters anymore, we are a prayer centre.

It's like that for us a bit I think.

I think it's good to remember we all have a past. And our past can be a pretty good plumb line to measure how far we have come in our lives or indeed whether we have moved on at all. How visions have or have not become a reality.

Our past can remind us of past influences and experiences that have shaped us into who we are right now.

Our past can be used to remind us we have a future. It can remind us that the fadedness of past experiences, as much as they have helped or hindered us, won't really be useful now in the present or the future.

It's good to move on.

It's good to be a movement.

I'm not the type of guy that likes to be stuck in a rut.

I've got to keep moving.

I've been like that all my life.

Some people see that as a kind of problem.

I don't.

I am what I am, and trying to be what God wants me to be.

I love that verse in the bible (Matthew 8: 28) where Jesus says, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to even lay his head."

This verse always reminds me that Jesus is always on the move.

It reminds me that spiritual movement is alive.

So I guess today for my readers it's worth asking the question, do you feel a bit stuck in the past? Do you feel the yellow faded sign of the past is being displayed in the now?

Maybe a simple message today is move on.

We are getting a really futuristic and lovely new frontage erected in phase 2 of our building. It's moving on and the past headquarters sign will be covered once again. Maybe for the last time.

But I'm glad I glimpsed it today.

I'm glad I've been reminded that I have a future. One that moves from glory to glory. A future fueled by a God that has no place to lay his head.

We are blessed by our past.

But we have to move on.

Blessings guys.

Salvation Army Soldiership? A tool for measuring kingdom work?

Grey, wet, hot, and pretty miserable is the only description I can give to the early morning weather situation in the city a couple of mornings ago.

My venture into work at S21 was an early one, and I was looking forward to an hour or so quiet before the buzz of a typical day would begin.

As I crossed the main square in the city Dawn spotted a man sprawled out on a public bench. We both instantly recognised him.

It was Richard.

One of our regular guys to S21.

Richard for many years was homeless, we worked extremely hard to get him housed, managing it about eight months ago.

So I was more than concerned to see him flat out on a city bench, fast asleep.

I'd had my suspicions for a few weeks that he wasn't going back to his bedsit.

For the whole time he has been in the bedsit we managed to get him into we have kept a watch on him checking he was still there. I knew he had a few problems settling in. He had slept on concrete for so long when he was on the streets that for the first few months when I visited him I would notice he had made a bed on his bedroom floor!

So this morning when I found him sleeping in the city, I gently shook his shoulder and woke him up.

I asked him why he was there.

It then became apparent he was totally drunk. He had the Salvation Army hoodie on that I had given him last winter because he had no hat and his ears were freezing, so it didn't look to good a guy drunk in an SA top! Ive told him loads of times if you wear that don't get drunk!

He will get me the sack!

We got him up to S21, and I sat with him for the whole morning.

After some coffee and then later some soup, his drunkenness diminished hour by hour.

I got it out of him that he didn't want to stay in the bedsit anymore.

I was gutted.

We've seen a real change in Richard since he's been living inside.

He's cleaned himself up a bit. Mainly because he had a bath and a washing machine.

So I really felt gutted because we've made such progress with Richard.

After dealing with his physical needs we are beginning to make some progress spiritually with him, getting into many conversations about Jesus.

I'm worried for him.

The winters here in the North East of England are harsh and cutting.

And Richard will probably be back in his old space, a doorway in the city.

I really am gutted.

He won't even come home with us, he just feels that the only place where he feels at home is the street.

Later that day I sat in the main prayer room and tried to get my head round this problem.

I prayed hard.

I've seen God do some miraculous stuff. In my own life and in the lives of others.

But it's amazing how that fades into the mists of the past when someone seemingly doesn't get a miracle.

I felt a bit at a loss what to do next.

What else can I do for Richard?

As I reflected on this in the prayer room my mind switched to a difficult conversation I had a while back.

I was being challenged about our approach at S21 as to how we gauge growth etc, which without getting wrapped up in the measurement business is to try and measure our progress in terms of kingdom values.

This person had challenged me and said the only way to measure Kingdom success is by the number of soldiers you are making.

Soldiership is a Salvation Army membership avenue open to all who want to make that particular commitment.

I think Soldiership is amazing and it's great when people make that commitment. It's such a blessing.

But as the only measurement tool for the kingdom?

I don't think so.

If we get into that game, saying a church is successful by how many members they have on the role then in my opinion we are on the road to nowhere.

As I thought about that challenge that was given me, God kind of used it to softly speak into my heart about Richard.

Richard, in his tattered clothes and with his filthy body, in his fight for his very life against the power of alcoholism. In his complete depletion of self worth and motivation, right now is not heading for Soldiership.

Don't get me wrong.

That is totally possible.

There is evidence of that I'm sure.

But right now? Richard doesn't give a monkeys about Soldiership or membership of the church.

He is right now actually dying in every way.

So because he isn't a number on a role does that mean we have failed this guy?

Does that mean he doesn't belong?

So what do I do next Lord?

As a Salvation Army officer, as a christian what more can I do for this guy?

As I'm writing this I'm drawn to a poem someone has written on the wall in the prayer room, I don't know whether they have wrote it or whether it's a published poem so I can't give the source but this is what it says.

I kind of think it says it all really.

You are the caller, you are the poor, you are the stranger at my door, you are the wanderer, the unfed, you are the homeless with no bed. You are the man driven insane, you are the child crying in pain. You are the other who comes to me, if I open to another? You are born in me.
(S21 prayer room 1 wall)

What do I do next.

As I read this, God shows me that kingdom work is mostly about standing with the broken. It's essential we stand beside those in need. The Richards of this world. It's about seeing Jesus in everything and everyone.

It is vital that we open ourselves up to others, no matter what.

You can't always put that on a set of statistics.

We need soldiers, don't get me wrong. We need workers for the harvest field. I pray that our Soldiership increases and continues to be blessed in the Salvation Army forever.

But let's not limit the work of God by using that as a gauge of how successful we are.

As frustrating as it is right now in this case with Richard. Richard is one of many who we all come across in life and ministry. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, the next move is a kingdom move.

I realise today more than ever that God requires us to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

That requires standing and hanging in with those who seem so hopeless.

Whether they become a member of the church or not.

And they are and always will be a part of us anyway regardless whether they are members or not.

As I prayed this morning I think the answer I got was pretty immediate this time! I just have to be there. To continue to hang in with him. To love, accept, and be compassionate towards him.

All the time.

Relentlessly.

I'm sure if we leave Soldiership or membership of our congregations to God. Trust him to add to numbers those are being saved, and focused more fixedly on the needs of those who need saving?

We do trust him to do that?

Don't we?

Then I truly believe we will see kingdom results. Whatever they are or whatever that means. We will see movement and transformations in our own lives and the lives of others.

I pray God will continue to touch the lives of millions through your ministry guys.

Amen Rising (A call to the church)

Church was so cool last night.

I got lost in a song.

A very very old song.

I got struck dumbfounded at one line in it.

"Let the amen sound from His people again."

Tears came.

Man, I couldn't get that line out of my head. I even woke up with it sounding in the morning-empty space of my mind.

"Let the amen sound from His people again."

I had a kind of prophetic blast of HD vision. A dense picture of a person shouting amen over all the nations of the world.

Who can fail to be moved, touched, angered, bothered, sickened by what took place in Aurora colorado a few days ago. A guy dressed as the joker walked into a packed cinema taking in a late night showing of "The dark knight " and started shooting. People were killed, many were injured.

Unbelievable?

Sadly not in the times we are living in.

It's happening way too often.

It really is sickening.

Evil is happening.

We live in dangerous times.

We live in times where it seems Christianity isn't really having a lot of impact.

Some Christians who I have spoken to are even giving up.

Jesus interjects at this point and says. "Hey guys I have overcome the world."

Sounds like we need an amen.

According to Wikipedia, that great resource that academics love to hate, says that an amen is a statement of affirmation.

Amen

Let the amen sound from his people again, sounds like a cry straight from the heart of Jesus.

Sounded to me last night like Jesus is challenging the church to let the amen sound from his people again.

I got this real sense last night as those words drove deep into my soul and challenged me there, that Jesus is really tired of the church faffing around.

Because?

The amen needs to come from his people, the Church.

His body, hands and feet on this planet.

An amen is a statement of affirmation.

An amen speaks hope over the nations of this world.

An amen speaks of change and transformation.

An amen speaks of another way.

An amen speaks of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Amen is more than a word.

It's prophetic and pure.

It requires action, every time we say it it should be a starting point. A turning point even.

It should be a spiritual call to arms for every Christian.

An amen rising.

Let the amen sound over Aurora Colorado. (Lord, touch that community with your hope. Bless them Jesus)

Let the amen sound over the communities where you live.

Let the amen sound over your deepest soul.

Let the amen sound over this world.

Over the lost and the broken.

Let the amen sound from his people again.

Amen

Majesty

One of those weeks.

That's all I can say about the week just gone.

One of those weeks.

Lots of niggly small things have cropped up. A couple of Church issues which required dealing with have reared their head. Someone was sick in our toilet and just left it (Dawn dealt with that!) On top of that we are having building work done at our main venue in Durham, so a couple of site management issues have contributed to it being just one of those weeks.

On Thursday Queen Elizabeth came to Durham.

People lined the streets.

We just stood outside our door. After waiting for her to arrive for what seemed like ages, we finally got a glimpse of her, a great glimpse from about ten yards! (see photo) She was sitting in the back of a big black limo with prince Phillip.

I maintain she looked right at me!

I can tell my staff at S21 doubt that massively!

But I'm sticking to my belief!

I couldn't get over the fact that loads of people waited for hours for a five second glimpse of Her Majesty.

It kind of mirrors this week really.

In all the conflicts, busyness and uproar of this week, I've had a few glimpses of the King of Kings.

I saw him in the neediness of our homeless people. I saw him in the weary travellers looking for rest and space in our prayer centre. I saw him the policemen and women who have come in to have their breaks. I saw him in the conflict I've had to deal with I didn't really have to wait around for a glimpse because when I think about it he has been in everything and could be seen everywhere if I had looked a bit more.

And I know for sure God has looked right at me this week.

He's been there with me every step I've taken, every person I've talked to, every situation I've tried to deal with.

I guess sometimes we simply need reminding that God is with us.

Always.

Every second.

Every phase of our life.

If we look we will get a glimpse of the king of kings.

If your having one of those weeks? remember God is around.

Always.