1) He already tried starting over in Genesis 6 to no avail. So..

2) He decides to choose a people group starting with Abraham in Gen 12

I always wondered why God picked the Israelites over others….were they just lucky? were they somehow superior to the other nations? Does God have favorites?

I don’t think God chose the Israelites as his people to the exclusion of others. I think God chose a people so he could show to the whole world what life following God’s way is like. He was looking for an example to show the nations.

Isa 49:6

I have placed you here as a light for other nations you must take my saving power to everyone on earth.

Naturally when God’s people were following God, they were a good advert for God to the other nations but a bad advert when they refused to follow him.

Over to you….

However half way through making it i realised my milk was off.

I decided to press on without milk…..

and frankly friends…if your not going to bother with the milk you might as well not bother making a pasta sauce…It was yuk!  It was hard and crusty.

I was reminded…there are many  ingredients that go into a successful ministry: Planning, team building, structure, skills, resources etc. BUT

If we neglect God’s power then it’s like a sauce without milk.

Kids are not transformed by programs or events. It is God who brings about transformation.

 John3:6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life

We should never neglect praying for God to do his transforming work! It’s the main ingredient!!

One of my friends looked at me with the expression “are you sure you want me to do this?”  I told him very clearly i thought he was the best person i could think of. (after this he looked as if i was lying or just hadn’t thought very much). He is giving the project positive consideration.I think he’ll say “Deal”

Another friend wasn’t really surprised that i asked him to do something. He expects me to ask him to do things, this request was bigger then normal. He wasn’t very warm to it however. I was asking him to consider something that would definitely push his comfort zone and he said ‘no deal’ (he might change his mind though….i’ll ask next week)

2 Chron 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. God looks.

Looks for people who say “Deal” to God and are all in!

Looks not for the half hearted or half willing.

Not for those who are considering turning back halfway through.

If either of these boys decide Deal! to go with God’s call. They can expect God to give them great strength of heart for the mission. If they said No Deal they miss out on all God might have done through them i guess.

Over to you…

SU Victoria is passionate about seeing the next generation transformed by God – but it is much more than a passion. It is what our teams eat, sleep and dream! It is the cry of our hearts that ‘none should perish’! Read on and be inspired…

Given that there are larger amounts of Christians in larger towns why do i get so many calls from the remote and the rural. My thoughts.

A) Country Churches loose 95% of their young people to larger towns. They cannot rely on enthusiastic young people

B) Country Churches are in many cases more in touch with reality then Churches in larger towns. Many Country Churches can no longer afford a minister and realise if they don’t do outreach. No one will be reached. Unlike city churches they cannot hope to pick up transfers from other churches

C) Country Churches that are dying realise they ought not just to die quietly, They better do something to show Christ in their community.

D) Country Churches realise they need to work with other churches more then churches from larger centers. They can’t put on outreach events without working together.

I think some wonderful outcomes for God’s Kingdom are going to take place in very small places that no one’s heard of in the coming years.

Over to you…

University contributes to a modern society, i read yesterday during the very boring ceremony. (I listened to 284 students graduate…Cara was 140th). I agree with the statement, yet disagree with it just as much.

Universities manage to cancel their good values via their negative values.

Universities encourage people to contribute to our society

Universities encourage drunkenness

drunkenness encourages violence & cheating in relationships

drunkenness takes away from society

Universities words speak of society benefits

University actions nullify their words.

Over to you…

I was reading Church on the mezzanine floor by Gil Cann. I began asking myself lots of questions about how we view a successful church. Some but not all were prompted by his writings.

1. Which is better: The number of people in Church on Sunday or the the number of people that are being directly influenced by the Church goers on Monday?

2. The amount of money that comes in or the amount of service that the Church does?

3. Growth rate numerically or the growth in spiritual gifts among the believers?

4. Everyone being happy or everyone being involved in mission in some way?

5. The amount of space in our churches or the amount of space in our hearts for God and knowing him personally.

I’m okay with a church being big, having money and evening having a big building. We often measure those things. Are they the things most deserving of being measured?

I crave that Christian leaders would bring great focus to their work. Many are juggling 8-9 different hats and responsibilities and it isn’t possible to do them all well.

Gordon Ramsey is a man with foul language but is a genius at turning a struggling restaurant around. In the most recent episode he cut in the menu in half and got the staff focused on their task on succeeding as a restaurant.

How focused are you on the mission God’s given you? Are good things getting in the way of succeeding in that mission?

The apostle Paul was a focused man this is what he said about his mission.

“I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.” -Acts 20:24

It’s been a busy few weeks here, I’ve just done my 3 day wilderness first aid recertification over the long weekend. Weekend before we had perfect conditions for the 15 of us that went on the Let’s go bushwalking weekend. I’m looking hard and am about to get some folk together to help develop some sharp studie/programs for the 11-12 camp. Wona help out? let me know.

Down at Coolamatong Lake camp we are still waiting for a planning permit for the extension to the dinning hall but are expecting it imminently now. The Builder is now getting sorted to go which is very exciting. There is also a lot of planning going on for a new sewer line that is going in along the peninsula, work could start on this in Aug-Sep.

The working bee at the end of May will involve building new off ground platforms for the tents to sit on and an internal frame. We will need a few folk with some building skills and tools to make this all happen. I’ll be organising materials over the next few weeks. There is also plenty of weeding and other tasks to be performed.

A few weeks ago at my team support event we showed the first take on a series of three short promo videos that Dan Brooke has put together for us. They are great and I’m sure you’ll see a lot more of them later in the year.

I’ve had quite a few enquiries for CBAC camps recently, some have resulted in bookings and some are still looking at it but basically there is still room left for more camps to take place.

C’Ya

Mark

I was playing a game with some of the older boys. It was a basketball shoot out. You could shoot from 1 point range, 2 point range or 3 point range, the more points the further away they were. AND if someone could shoot it throwing it over their head it was worth DOUBLE!

It was rediculously windy….the boys had no chance of throwing it over their head and getting it in for 6 points (double 3!)

But some people can’t just live safely shooting comfort 2 pointers. Some people have to have it all! Don’t bother explaining the safe or sencible way to do it, we have to go for broke. Double or nothing, All in, All the way. No turning back!

Jesus Said ” whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NIV)

These kids reminding me that God is asking to risk everything in pursuit of him.