Deeper Life Weekend

The Deeper Life weekend with the Gillingham’s was beautiful. It wasn’t an extreme, in your face, cut to the heart, fall on your face, everyone is prophetic time. They spoke on mercy and Social Justice. Something the Salvation Army should be and was created to be well equipped to do. We spent some time with them Saturday morning listening to them teach on the mercy that Jesus portrayed and how he met the needs when he saw them. We took action with the Micah 6:8 commission to “do Justice and love mercy and walk humbly with our God”. We went into the Soup Kitchen that the corps is running and served lunch and ministered to the people that came in. Elaine brought up an interesting point about the soup kitchen, she said, “Everyone always talks about getting people here to the corps and doing something to bring people inside when in fact it’s happening every day in the kitchen. The people are always coming in to the corps and we need to be there to bring the Gospel to them.” It couldn’t be any easier than that. We then of course had a debrief those are always fun and we had some time to pray for each other and listen to what God wants to do in our hearts. What he wants to see change in order for us to have a heart that breaks for the lost and hurting people in our city. To have a heart that wants to see a change. We should want to feel what Christ feels when he sees his children so we can see the need and need and then take action to meet that need.

On Sunday Elaine took the preaching position. She spoke in the covenant that all the soldiers signed when we became Soldiers of The Salvation Army. She asked us to recite some of the standards we agreed to live by when we signed the Covenant. No one could, except the agreement to abstain form alcohol and drugs. There is so much more to our covenant, but it seems most people don't really think about it. We may think that other church members don't know that I'm not living up to my covenant. They shouldn't care; it's not a covenant between you and the other soldiers, or you and the church, it's a covenant between you and God. We've all grown accustomed to thinking that being a christian is easy because we've taken the easy route our whole lives. We think that because The Slavation Army as a whole is doing great things we personally are living up to our covenant. To me it seems if you're not striving and working to live like a covenanted soldier then you may not be living like one. Elaine alsom mentioned that as solider we are in a community it should be our job to fight alongside our commrades and keep each other accountable to living up to our covenant. We live in a community as soldiers, and that community should be living up to covenant that it agreed to rather than just part of it. We are a covenanted community lets live like it.

Back in the day God killed people for breaking a covenant with him.

The prayers are appreciated and needed

Thank you everyone who prayed for me on Thursday. The interview went very well and I will hopefully be getting a call in the next week for a second interview, as long as the first one went as well as I think it did. I had to take a really odd test after the interview. Part of it was math which makes sense but the other part was a test that was for my personality and common sense I think or maybe to make sure I don’t have any screws loose (ohh man I hope I passed). It asked me questions like “would you describe yourself as an enthusiastic person?” or “Would you say that you are almost never mad?” Then it got a little strange with question like “Would say that lying is the only way to get a head in a job or do you see every job advancement opportunity as a cut throat competition?” Then it just became ridiculous “Are there fifty hours in a day?” Can you read well enough to complete this exam?” There are only eight days in a month” It was really strange. It’s kind of disturbing to know that they need to put questions like that in the test. Anybody who doesn’t know that there are only fourteen days in a month should never be hired for a job.

Halloween is coming and that was our theme at Powerhouse. All of the volunteers and most of the teens dressed up in some sort of costume. All I had was a wig that made me look like I had long hair. I was going for the metal rock star look but everyone else said I looked like a pot head (I break that off in Jesus name). Everyone was really creative with the costumes (except me) there were hippies and gangsters, Cinderella’s and someone dressed as a pizza, another was a leprechaun, and we even had an ATM machine that handed out Monopoly twenty dollar bills. We had a cake and a band perform and at the end of it we got to beat the candy out of a piñata. The Gillinghams and Aurora and Jenn Burr are here right now…well not here with me but they are in Bangor. We get to spend an entire weekend with them and siphon some wisdom form them and get some insight into making a successful MMCCXX outpost. I even get to see Jeremiah (not the bullfrog). Please continue to pray for favor at my job and that I hear the Lord’s leading there.

Hey!! This rain hurts

I was hanging out at the Bangor corps yesterday (like I am everyday) talking and waiting for a couple other people to get here so we could start our cell (they never showed). It had been raining all day long so I had gotten accustomed to hearing the sound of it. Then the sound changed; it was much louder than before. So I says to myself, “self go to the window and see why this rain sounds like it’s going to break a window.” So I did, it wasn’t rain it was sleet. Ice pellets coming down form the sky. I’m just glad it wasn’t fire and brimstone. I couldn’t believe it we got the remnants of Hurricane Wilma in the form of wind and sleet. It lasted a few hours. Then I woke up in this morning to go to work at the Family Store again (I’m the truck driver) and I started my walk in the rain. It wasn’t so bad because I got used to walking in the rain in Vancouver, then I noticed some of the rain drops were hitting my sweater and sticking and some of them were bouncing off my coat. It was sleet again!!! And it was cold. Luckily it was also rain so the roads didn’t ice up. I still had to drive the truck around in the snow and rain and sleet for about an hour until our truck kicked the bucket. It died, checked out, breathed its last, expired, ceased working, it’s broken. It refused to start. I had some words with the truck but it refused to listen so I had to call the store to get someone to pick me up and cancel the rest of the pick-ups/deliveries for the day. I wasn’t too disappointed it was really cold in that truck anyways but then I had to work on the dock of the store which is even colder, but I didn’t have to deal with the rain/sleet. I think this is going to be a long stupid cold, wet, winter. Hey I might have my first white Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Year Day, and Birthday. Apparently it stays cold and snows for quite a long time, so I could have snow on my Birthday in March. Yes I will be here in March. For those of you that I haven’t told yet I’ll be staying here until April and then I go to Charlotte North Carolina. If you want to know why just ask God, he’ll tell you. I also had a flashback to Vancouver today. I was walking down the wet street, because it had just rained, it was cold, and I walked by this tri-city pizza place and I could smekll the pizza outside and it brought me abck to XL pizza on Hastings. The best pizza you could get for a dollar. All I needed werew three people offering me pot or crack and I would have felt right at home.

On a quick side note I have a job interview tomorrow at one o'clock please pray for favor.

Two Sundays of bloggable stuff

Hello, everyone I’m still alive and kicking (holes in the darkness). I know I haven’t blogged in a long time, but I have a semi good reason for it. Actually it’s not really a good reason at all. I was going to post blog talking about the past two Sunday meetings. I heard an awesome sermon by Major Frank Kirk, and then this last Sunday we had an amazingly powerful service. Both were bloggable. Since Doug records all the services I was going to listen to the sermon from two weeks ago in order to refresh my memory but for some strange reason it wasn’t recorded, and neither was last weeks. So this blog will be stuff entirely from memory, and possibly stuff that never happened but I only think they did. Major Kirk’s speak was titled “What we can Learn form disasters”. Usually you hear a title like this and you might think it’s about Faith, or Relying on God, or praising him when everything seems to be falling apart. All of those are great things to do, but there was a different approach used. The Scripture focused on was Matthew 16:1-12 (this is where the Pharisees and Sadducees demand a miraculous sign from Jesus). The main point (I think) was made in verse three “…you are good at reading the weather signs in the sky, but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times!”(NLT) The Tsunami in South India, September 11, hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, earthquakes in Pakistan, the signs of the times are becoming more and more obvious every day; are we recognizing them?

Just this past Sunday was an extremely powerful service. The Holy Spirit hit this church like a fat kid on a box of Cheez-its. The last song we song during praise and worship was one that I have never heard before but the Holy Spirit used it to speak to a number of people this morning.
Break our hearts O God, break our hearts
For this sin in our lives, break our hearts
Break our hearts O God, break our hearts
For the sin in our land, break our hearts

And we cry out, we need your help
Come and heal our land
And we confess we’ve lived in sin
Please show your power once again

During that song Major Debbie Burr was moved to speak about the love that had grown cold in this corps and how it’s had a lack of sincerity in our lives. One of William Booths most famous phrases was put into action and it worked “Try tears”. A number of the people in this church were drawn to the altar in repentance, and more tears fell. God definitely answered our prayers in the song. He broke some hearts for the sin in our lives and in our land. Everything that was done seemed to be in perfect synchronization. We moved with the Spirit and he moved us. Maybe a little more than we expected but well deserved. After Major Doug Burr spoke about caring for the poor we were left with one of William Booth's quotes ringing in our ears "Do something".

Going once...Going twice...SOLD!!

This past week everybody around here (but me) has been going nuts trying to pick stuff up and get a van to do this that and the other thing to get the annual (two day long) Fall harvest Auction ready(everybody said this year was a lot easier than it has been it the past). The Bangor corps, every year, gets a bunch of donations from furniture stores and other random places around the city (gift certificates, merchandise, and produce, slightly damaged stuff) to put in the fall Harvest Auction. All the proceeds go to the Bangor Corps Youth program (I think). They sell food and auction off a ton of really awesome stuff to help raise money so the teen group can do…stuff (great scam genius). Couches are sold for $400, entertainment centers are sold for $150, mirrors are sold for $80, it was my very first auction and it was so much fun. I was assigned to help run the items to the auctioneer and then show it off too people while he took the bid and then run it to the people that forked over the most money. When I wasn’t doing that I was helping out in the kitchen. I was on grill duty, but I wasn’t really needed because it seemed like they always had someone to do the job instead of me. They don’t know what they were missing; they never tasted the burgers I grilled up at the 614 bar-b-que. So most of the night I was running items, lifting tables, and doing the stuff no one else could/wanted to do. I still had a blast though. I actually bid on a 48 piece dish set and got it for $23. I now have more than two bowls in my house for cereal and ice cream...if I could afford ice cream. Yes I’m still looking for a job but I recently applied at Radio Shack and I think I got a pretty good chance of getting hired there for the Christmas season. If not then it’s going to be a cold, cold Christmas…well, it will be whether I get a job or not; which is why I also bought a wool blanket for $7 at the auction. I was bidding on a three piece leather couch set but it went past $250 and that’s just to rich for my blood. I actually should have stopped long before that but it was so comfortable I had to make a run at it. So I saved $270 but I still don’t have a couch for my bachelor pad. I will get it stocked up and ready for winter though. So cells can be going on and out and people will be raised up to lead other cells and it will be great place to have a Super Bowl party WOO HOOO!!!

It getting colder quick

It’s getting colder and I’m still Floridian. I don’t know how I will be able to stand this winter. I was fine in Vancouver. But it never went twenty degrees below zero in Vancouver. It hasn’t gotten that cold yet but I’ve been told that there are weeks when the temperature is twenty below. To me that is stupid, stupid cold. I am again wondering why this place is called Vacation Land. I know there are tons of Lakes and it’s a wonderful place to be in the summer but the warm weather lasts for like four months then the rain and cold comes in. So in the next few months if I have a blog that is just burr, burr, burr, burr, burr, burr I’m not totally enamored with the Burr’s. It’s just ridiculously cold here. I remember swimming in Sebago Lake when I first got here but that was only 52 degrees and I got used to it after a few minutes. Then I remember going to Lynn valley Canyon and jumping off the rocks and that was ridiculously cold although I think I’m the only one who realized it. So I’ve been in really cold situations before. I think this may be more difficult than any spiritual; warfare I’ve ever encountered before in my life…or not. It may just make life here a little more difficult, but I praise God that I have a bed and a roof and a few walls to keep me warm.

Does anyone know if this constitutes as grumbling or complaining. I need to now if I need to repent for this or not. Ba ha ha ha ha.

It's getting there/ we're in his hands

I've been working at my house for the past few days trying to get things cleaned, sanded, and repainted. It's nasty work but it's coming along. The worst part has been a banister that I' ve been trying to clean for the past two days. It obviously hadn't been cleaned since...well never. It's taken a lot of scrubbing and a lot of chemicals. I've also managed to wear out two sponges on this banister. The layers of dirt and grease and grim on it was absolutley disgusting. I've had to scrape and scrub away at it in orderto get to the real wood. The stuff that I'm suppose to be working with, not all the gunk on top of it. I guess that's just another part of living in scripture. When Christ starts changing our hearts he has to clean away all the junk that's been building up over the years so he can can get to the meat and make a real change rather than just a quick surface change. It takes time and can be annoying but it's always a better result.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a very interseting service. It started out with some praise and worshipand a normal scripture reading and all that, but rather than having an actual message we went quaker style. Rather than having something planned we all sat and listened for what God wanted us to do in that meeting. It was a stretch for some of the members in the congregation but no one was offended or seemed annoyed or nervous. Of course the nervousness may have been hidden by the ones that didn't speak, but then again the Holy Spirit doesn't always have to speak to every singel person, so we got through it wihtout any problems. I think it was definitley a step away from comfort and a little more towards revelatory sunday service's. Sound's like fun.

One of the words that was spoken to a lot of people was Phill Laeger's song "I'm in His Hands"
I'm(we're) in his hands
I'm (we're) in his hands
Whatever the future holds
I'm (we're) in His hands
The days I cannot see
Have all been planned for me
His way is best you see
I'm (we're) in His hands

It's always good to be reminded that God is in control plaaning out all ofoour steps for us and we will never slip through his fingers. Halleluyahweh.

GOOD NEWS

Check this out nineteen women were rescued from a brothel in the UK. I think this falls under the setting the captives free category. Halleluyahweh!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4296412.stm

Acts5:41 Your Thoughts

“So they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name” Acts 5:41

Peter and John were flogged for preaching the gospel. They were whipped. I’ve never been whipped but it’s not something I want to experience anytime soon. After enduring that they went out rejoicing that they had the privilege of enduring the shame of being flogged. I don’t remember the last time I started to rejoice because I was enduring hardship or I had to do something difficult for Christ. I’ve tried to make experiences fun but I don’t recall ever rejoicing. I really don’t remember ever seeing anyone rejoice after experiencing shame or being embarrassed. These guys did. They were flogged and it was meant to be embarrassing for them but they were happy, they were excited about it. How often do we shrink form an opportunity form fear of embarrassment? We don’t even attempt something because we’re afraid of what other people will think of us when we fail. Peter and John preached the gospel, suffered the consequences, that were supposed to be embarrassing and demeaning, and they rejoiced over it. They didn’t walk away hiding their faces or try to hide the pain. They probably showed their scars not caring what other people thought. Whatever it was that Peter and John had, I want. I want the ability to rejoice when I’m facing adversity or enduring pain. I want to thank God for the hard times in my life. I don’t want to fear what other people think if I screw something up. I want to be able to speak boldly about Christ to someone and not fear whatever questions they might have. Whether it was faith or unending joy or just ridiculousness, I want it. Shouldn’t we all want it though? Lets give the spirit of fear and embarrassment a good kick in the @$$. Suffering shame and enjoying it woo hoo!!!! Sounds like a party.

Hey Steve is this considered a revo devo ???