Love: the greatest revelation

Today was the finale of our local inner city corps plant Christmas family camp. It was incredible. We had dreamed of doing an extravagant display of God's love for the weekend - and we did. It was evident by some of the comments... one little boy on returning answered his dad who asked, 'how was it?" with this: 'it was paradise!'. Wow.
But he may be on to something... what is paradise? Jesus suggested that heaven was here - in us - right now... that if we love (as He does) we can actually taste heaven on earth. And that's what we were banqueting on this weekend... heaven. Paradise came through sacrificial love in so many ways - kindness, giving, serving, singing, planning, swimming, eating.... a feast of earthly stuff laced with eternity. Good times.
This morning (at the beach) we contemplated the essentials of the Christmas story - camping out on why God would choose to come to earth as a defenseless, innocent, unarmed baby... we had the help of my own son (only 7 weeks old) as a demostration of just how helpless Jesus had made himself... WHY would he do that? He could have come with fire, an earthquake, a dragon, a pirate... anything would seem to be easier, better, more practical than a helpless little babe? Or would it?
The real question is what was he trying to say? Jesus said it best when he grew into a man... "the son of man has not come to condemn the world but that through him the world might be saved.... for God so LOVED the world." You see, if he was trying to reveal his power or his strength or his majesty - he would have come another way. But he was trying instead, to display the greatest revelation of Himself to us - LOVE. And this weekend, for me, was another demonstration of the incarnation of God's love in His people. Heaven on earth. So our little friend was right on the money, it was paradise.

thick of the fight

Well, the Salvos are in the thick of the fight this weekend.
As we gather to celebrate a hero (General Eva Burrows) and commission some fresh warriors to the front we are also taking a stand at the largest Sexpo in Australia (70,000 people expected) and get this, they are simply in the venue next door!
There's been alot of media interest and a lot of colourful, online chatter about our venture. And, to be honest - I understand the tension.
I'm not a fan of the sex industry. As a matter of fact I believe that the results of their efforts (whether they realise it or not) are women and children and men enslaved, exploited and diminished. Society ends up paying a huge bill - not to mention the cost to the next generation. To be so completely convinced of the evil nature of such an 'industry' makes it difficult to be present in it. Except one thing.
My participation is rooted in the belief that light belongs in the darkness. It's the same reason why we visit brothels and pubs and rooming houses and dark alleys and houses condemned. It's the exact same reason why we take groceries to swatters and serve up soup to violent youth in the early hours of the morning. It's not to approve of their behaviour - it's to offer a way out.
I don't believe we have the luxury to stand on the sidelines and wag our disapproving fingers without getting our sleeves rolled up and dirt under our finger nails. One of the best titles Jesus has is 'friend of sinners'. He's with them. And I'm with Him - so what choice have I got? He hates sin - but he loves people... and somehow, we have to do the same.
So in the messiness and tension of this weekend, a celebration of saints and an invasion of Justice - I see Jesus. And like Joshua's vision before Jericho He isn't taking a side - He's taking over! May He be glorified and may we all be transformed through our obedience to His call. God's kingdom come.

Salvos at Sexpo - Today Show 26/11/09

White Ribbon Day

Great article in the Age...
Today is White Ribbon Day, a perfect opportunity to ask ourselves what we can do. And the first step is to acknowledge that the poor behaviour towards women that seems so prevalent among our footy stars is a reflection of Australia's bad behaviour in general.

At least one in three Australian women at some stage experiences violence at the hands of a man. Violence outstrips obesity, smoking, drink-driving and breast cancer as the leading contributor to death, disability and illness for women in the prime of life. These women are our wives, our daughters, our sisters, our girlfriends, our colleagues and our friends. And whether we are aware of it or not, every one of us knows a woman who has suffered the appalling effects of violence.

By virtue of being raised a man in our society, most men will have contributed to the problem in some way over the years. I can think of countless times in my own life when I've laughed at sexist jokes, for example, even when I felt uncomfortable, just because I felt too small to speak up. Or when I've seen friends or colleagues disparage their partners and been too embarrassed to say anything.

I've known people who were living in situations of abuse and had no idea what to do, and consequently did very little. And I admit that at times in my life, I've behaved in ways that fell somewhere on the spectrum between insensitive and scurrilous, ways that have been hurtful to women I love, and excused that behaviour on the basis that, well, that's what men are like, and it didn't really mean anything anyway.

But it does mean something. Every time I behave that way, I am supporting the belief that men have rights and privileges greater than those of women, or that somehow men have a special place in the world that isn't shared by women. It doesn't mean that I beat my wife. But for many men, that belief is the basis of the notion that it's OK to beat your wife, that it's OK to run your partner down, or to treat women merely as objects of sex. Because those forms of abuse are all based on the notion of male power and privilege.

And it's that notion we need to change if we are ever to change the statistics. Until now, we have tended to deal with violence against women after the fact, through our police, our courts, our hospitals and women's refuges. It's a constant mop-up operation. read the rest

New (very cool) album from The Training College Aus. South

Running...

I used to run for calorie control - that's how I started. Then one day, after running for some time, my watch broke. I almost didn't bother going for the run - thinking that if I wasn't counting and comparing and adding up the calories burned that it wouldn't count.. I went anyway and somewhere on that run it happened. I started to love the run. Not just the benefits, but the actual running... I started to hear the music (you know, chariots of fire) - I started to see the scenery and fall in love with the creator - I started to pray... not contrived or a list memorized - just free form praise and thanks and vent and well, time spent with my love. It's sweet. Now, it's a discipline that drives my prayer life... so the last few months have been difficult finding a new rhythm. Today I got the clear from the doctor that I can run again... and so I did. It wasn't a full stride, olympic venture.. just a short run, studded with some walks - but it was an old friend, a healthy reminder of the way God made me and a good time with God.
Somehow, these bodies of ours are connected to our soul - for me, this is good news. And today I'm celebrating the outdoors, the sweat, the burn and the time with Jesus. Hebrews 12 is a good text to consider...

[AC] Advent Conspiracy 2009 Promo Video

check out justgifts campaign at justsalvos.com for ideas of how to give gifts that matter... join the conspiracy!