Some New Old Values

Western Society is in such a rush to arrive .. to have been seen to have “made it”. But, how much human devastation have you seen resulting from men and women who get what they want without the life-change to enable them to do well with it?

It’s my belief that God is less interested in our destination as He is in the journey to get us there. I hold to the realisation that it is what we learn and who we become ON the journey that will sustain us when we get to our destination.

In other words .. ‘what it took to get you there is what it will take to keep you there’.

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What is the Church?

I have been doing a lot of reading and exploring these past few weeks and came across the following article. I was so moved by the simplicity of Keith Seckel’s message. It is posted here for your benefit.

Kerry Denten

John Wimber cast a tremendous vision for the Vineyard movement (and for the Kingdom of God!) when he said church was a Hospital and a Family and a School and an Army.

I agree but want to re-phrase it to move away from the building mentality.

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We Might Have Gotten It Wrong

Here’s the thing .. Jesus said “I will build my church ..” and then He commanded the disciples to go and extend the Kingdom the way He’d showed them over nearly two years; by healing the sick, casting out devils, raising the dead etc.

Notice this .. Jesus said “I” and “my”. HE’S the builder of the church, NOT us! Our only role is to extend His Kingdom. That will always be through incarnational acts such as social justice, the healing of the sick, liberating the oppressed, feeding the hungry, loving the hurting, but it is still the ONLY thing we were commanded to do .. extend His Kingdom.

So let me ask you .. why is that we pray “God, extend your Kingdom” while we are busy building the church? I think we’ve got it all wrong and at some point someone is going to wise up and put the horse back in front of the cart.

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Paying The Ultimate Price

I would like to share a vision I have when I came across the story of Veronica Guerin. 

Veronica Guerin was an Irish journalist who was brutally murdered in 1996 at the culmination of an investigative report into organised drug running and crime operations in Ireland. 

The twelve months after Veronica Guerin’s death saw a series of remarkable changes in Ireland. One week after her death, the Irish government ratified a constitutional change allowing the freezing and seizure of illicitly gained assets resulting from crime. Over the twelve months following Mrs. Guerin’s death, there was an astounding galvanising of the people of Dublin that resulted in almost all of the drug dealers in that city being driven out by ordinary people while the main drug bosses were driven underground and their operations were significantly hampered. Almost all of the people involved in Mrs. Guerin’s death were apprehended and brought to justice while having their assets seized .. and overall, there was a 15% drop in crime nationwide.

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