An Open Air Meeting: A Step of Faith

Sunday afternoon. Bright sunny day. Peter Hobbs, Scott Ellery, myself, Jo, Cpt. Stephen Court and some other "Prayer Warriors" joined us as we hit the streets in Melbourne at the Victoria Market.

I had the guitar, and we played some popular tunes, including "I still haven't found what I'm looking for", "I'm a believer", "Lean on me" and others. People listened and some tapped their feet. In amongst the songs we each got up and shared a quick gospel message. As people sat on the cafe chairs sipping their coffee, they uncomfortably pretended not to hear us too much. But we did have a response...

One guy from Bejing, who was not a Christian and on holidays, came up to us, and Cpt. Court gave him a bible and got his details, and he said he would read it all and email Cpt. Court later on. He was genuinly interested in the gospel message.

Here's a bizarre thing in Australian culture. We preached the gospel hardcore, and we said, to have life to the fullest you need Jesus... Just believe in him today. Following our songs, I went up to some young adults, just chilling and looking cool, and I offered them a Warcry. One guy said, 'Ahh yeah, I'll take it. We love the Sallies!' Even after going hard with the message of Jesus... Kind of weird, but I think that says a little about Australian culture. They have huge respect for TSA, and even when we've spent the last 30 minutes preaching the gospel, the reply is one of respect. We pray that people begin to connect with our message of Jesus, and for the community to realise, that they can become Salvos as well!

Bring back the Open Airs. Do them well. Be relevant. Preach the gospel. God can use it.

A Day at the Funeral Parlour

The becoming a minister thing is really happening... Today we spent the day at Tobin Brothers Funeral Parlour. We listened to the 'ins and outs' of running a funeral, and spent time visiting a grave site, crematorium, we saw a 'prepared' deceased body and other things...

Here are some of the 'not so perfect' funeral stories (all true stories...):
* Forgetting the name of the deceased and using a relative's name instead
* Accidentally pressing the button for the lowering of the coffin at the beginning of the service!
* Having to lower the coffin at the beginning because the sides of the dug grave were caving in.
* A family rings the Crematorium because they wanted to receive back their father's hip replacement, made of pure gold, only to be told the body has already been burnt and the gold had melted.
* Saying the wrong things, like praising God for the death of a 13 year old girl, because 'it must be in his will'... Gee... I don't know I would say that!
* Pastoral visits of grieving families... with all the varied reactions, for example, family disputes/arguments, power struggles, queries about 'The Will' before proceeding with the funeral, families that are actually relieved at the death of a relative because they were 'an abuser'.

This all being said... A funeral is no doubt a priveleged time of ministry for a minister. A time to support families deal with grief, to offer support, prayer, stability, and a 'shoulder' to cry on. I look forward to the opportunities I will have in the future to support families through the funeral process, and to speak prophetically into their lives at such a crucial time.

STOKE IT UP!

The Holy Spirit wants to empower you, so put yourself in the line of fire and get equipped!

A Cadet woke up this morning at 5:30am singing, 'Spirit of the Living God... Fall afresh on me...' He couldn't get back to sleep, so he joined us in the basement for some early morning prayers!

Commissioner T. Henry Howard at the opening of The Salvation Army Training Garrison in the Australia Southern Territory in 1888 (125 years ago), said the purpose of... "The Salvation Army training home is to encourage and stimulate the zeal of its recruits.... they were not going to quench fire but stoke it up!"

I'm reminded of a proverb (19:2) that says, "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge." Hence the fact that we study!

This leads me to this quote from General Larson, "As a Salvation Army we need leaders who are both scholars and dynamos: informed men and women of action." AMEN!

It may be time for you to STOKE IT UP. Sit no longer idly by, while the heedless millions die. Lift the blood stained banner high, and WIN the WORLD for JESUS!

Officers release them. Soldiers step it up. It's time for a Revolution. Can you not perceive it?