Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night we had our last house night! (this is our crazy family photo above!) It was the first of many 'lasts' to come in the next 4 weeks. Anyway, Charity shared with us a Thanksgiving Dinner (which she slaved over for hours!) For Chaz this was a bit of 'home (she's American) for her, and it gave us all an opportunity to think about what we're thankful for.

As we went around the room we shared what we were thankful for. We were thankful for the year we'd had together. We were thankful for the opportunity to serve God in this way. We were thankful that God has changed us and opened our eyes to what breaks his heart. One person shared something particularly challenging. She said, "I'm thankful to God that I have a bed (at this point we said Amen! .. boy we love sleep!. But she took it further). I thank God that I have a comfy bed to sleep on, with clean sheets and blankets, and a soft pillow. And every night as I lay on that bed, I think of the thousands of people sleeping rough who don't have that luxury. I wonder what the difference is between me and them, and there's nothing. There is nothing I have done to deserve that bed, or that nice pillow. It's purely Gods grace."

We just take so much for granted, but I thank God that He gives us opportunities to reflect and see that we really have so much compared to many people around the world, and even in Australia.

I Thank God for the many blessing He has given me. Realising how blessed we are requires a response....

What will your response be?

For Him Alone

Ness :-)

Missed Opportunities..

Last week I turned 22. This is the photo from the birthday bash last night. It was also Carlie and Dan's birthdays during the week, so it was a mass celebration, which made it all the more fun! This photo was probably the classic of the night. It was just after everyone had sung Happy Birthday, and people had their cameras pointing at us. Someone yelled out "1, 2,3", and I thought that at the sign of three we'd all smile for the photo. Carlie and Dan thought otherwise, and instead of smiling, they blew out all of the candles before I could take a breath and puff some of them out myself! So all of the candles had been blown out, and I didn't get to blow out one! I felt jipped! I felt robbed of an opportunity! ... I demaded that they re lit a candle so I could at least blow one out! lol.


As I looked at this photo as I uploaded it onto my computer, I started thinking that missing the opportunity to blow out a candle possibly isn't the only opportunity I've missed in my life. And it challenged me to start taking up opportunities that God gives my way. I started asking myself questions like:

Do I take the opportunity to spend time with God through prayer, His word and worship?

Do I take the opportunities God gives me to share the message of His love?

Do I take the opportunities to serve Him, to be His hands and feet?

Do I waste time that He has given me on pointless things? (Facebook was the first thing that came to mind!) Thus missing opportunities to do something more productive?

Time is limited. We can't gain back lost and wasted time. We have to seize the days that God gives us and use them for His glory. We need to spread the message of Jesus with a sense of urgency. We need to get serious about serving our broken and hurting communities. We need to stop thinking "oh i'll do it tomorrow", or "we'll put that on the plan for next year". The fact is people are dying not knowing God. People are hurting in our communities. It can't wait until tomorrow or next year. It has to happen now.

It's time to step up and stop missing out on those opportunities.

As I wrote this, this song called Revolution (if you couldn't guess it from the lyrics!) Quite relevant really.

C'mon, c'mon join the revolution
C'mon, c'mon join the revolution
(Send Your revolution down)

Live out the song, be the revolution
C'mon, c'mon be the revolution
(Send Your revolution down)

We're tired of institution, we want a revolution
We wanna show the world that Jesus saves
We're tired of playing church now, we wanna change the world now
We wanna be about the love He gave

So c'mon, c'mon join the revolution
C'mon, c'mon join the revolution
Live out the song, be the revolution
C'mon, c'mon be the revolution

Show us Your revelation, we wanna reach the nations,
Proclaim the wonders of Your awesome love
We're tired of sitting by now, we wanna lift You high now
'Till revolution sets the world on fire
TIME IS SHORT- we wanna see Your promises fulfilled
Life is life and every life is worth the blood You spilled

Amen!

For Him Alone
Ness :-)

If only I were 22 again...

The other day in the Life Centre, I was talking to a few of the community members about my plans for my upcoming 22nd birthday. I was complaining that I wasn't actually turning 22, i was turning "21 again", because 22 means that you're getting old (which to me seemed like a reasonable argument! lol)

Penny (not her real name) is in her mid 30's, heavily addicted to heroin. She has been since her teen years. She's made some very bad decisions during her life, and feels utterly hopeless about it all. Penny and John (her partner) are drug dealers, and are known for standing over people, taking their Centrelink payments off them. Up until recently, I had a really hard time having compassion for Penny and John, knowing that they too were made in Gods image, but their behaviour and the injustice they committed against so many people just made me so angry.

The more and more I think about it, the more and more the truth hits home. "There's a reason people are like they are" runs through my mind. People are a product of their experiences, and unfortunately they've gotten trapped in a vicious cycle. People took advantage of them, and now they take advantage of others.

But it all came together for me in that conversation in the Life Centre, when Penny, buttering her toast, heard some of our conversation.

"I'll be 22.... sooooo ooooooooooooooooolllllllllllddd!!!" Ness says

"I wish I was 22 again, I'd change so much in my life if I knew I'd end up like this" Penny says

And my heart sank. At that moment, Gods love and compassion poured through me and something clicked. I saw Penny for who she was. A broken, hurting, vulnerable, child of God. I saw her through Gods eyes.

Penny's statement was simple, but I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. It helped me to see Penny in a whole new light, but it also challenged me. In 10 years time when I'm in my 30's, what will I look back on and think "gee I wish I would have changed that!". Will it be, Gee, I wish I wasn't so disobedient to God? Or, Gee I wish I took time out of my life to invest in my relationships with my family. We have an opportunity now to make changes in our lives so we don't live in a "gee I wish i had" mentality in 10 years time.

Jesus came so that we could have life in all its fullness. Anything else is second best.

Jesus came so that we could have hope for a better future. I pray that for Penny.

For Him Alone
Ness

I hate all your show

I know this is my second post for the day, BUT i heard this awesome new song by Jon Foreman, and thought it was fantastic. Straight to the point. Its called "Instead of a Show"

I hate all your show and pretense

The hypocrisy of your praise

The hypocrisy of your festivals

I hate all your show

Away with your noisy worship

Away with your noisy hymns

I stop up my ears when your singing ‘em

I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice

An endless procession of righteous living, living

Instead let there be a flood of justice

Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you’re praying

You sing right along with the band

You shine up your shoes for services

But there’s blood on your hands

You turned your back on the homeless

And the ones that don’t fit in your plans

Quit playing religion games

There’s blood on your hands

Ah! let’s argue this out

If your sins are blood red

Let’s argue this out

You’ll be white as the clouds

Let’s argue this out

Quit fooling around

Give love to the ones who can’t love at all

Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all

Stand up for the ones who can’t stand up at all

Instead of a show

I hate all your show

What do you think? Do you think maybe this is what God thinks of our worship sometimes?

For Him Alone

Ness

A Franciscan Benediction

I came across this benediction on a blog, and it challenged me, so I thought I'd pop it up on mine!

MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH DISCOMFORT..... at easy answers, half -truths, & superficial relationships, so that we live deep within our hearts.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH ANGER .......at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH TEARS......to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH ENOUGH FOOLISHNESS .... to believe that we can make a difference in this world , so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.

How different would our world be if we lived this out?

For Him Alone

Ness :-)