We have a corps in a town called Bauska and on Thursday 16th March 2006 at 14:00 there will be a hearing about the licencing of a gambling establishment in the same building as the corps. Obviously we have great concerns regarding this as all to often it is The Salvation Army who help families pick up the pieces caused by the addictive nature of gambling.
In our letter of complaint we have highlighted the nature of gambling and the fact that it affects most those who are least able to afford it.
However, we do appear to have the law on our side. According to Latvian Law:
“Arrangement of gambling is prohibited in:…. churches and cult buildings”
Now there are two slight problems with this as the building has 2 entrances on two different streets so the authorities might take a liberal understanding of the law. Also corruption is still a problem in this country and there is always the small possibility that people with interests in ensuring its establishment will have undue influence on the proceedings.
So I would ask those of you reading this to start praying against this application. For those of you on the other side of the Atlantic we are 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
Can I ask you to add a comment if you are going to pray about this subject so that I can pass on your encouragement to the Corps Officer in Bauska!
There is a great discussion going on over at the URBANarmy under the title of “Morisy on Mission’s False Dichotomy”.
It’s well worth going and having a read!
Back in the 1980’s there was a band called Blood & Fire and for me they are still one of the best TSA bands. Often contraversial and seen by many in authority as too political and dangerous they eventually were forced into disbanding. However their lyrics live on today to speak to a new generation.
Here are the words of their song “Part Time Soldier”. At the time I didn’t realise how prophetic these words were. Now I think of the soldiers in the many corps I’ve served in who were more like this:
He’s a part time soldier but he doesn’t want to win the war.
He doesn’t like the fighting or know what he’s fighting for.
He’s a part time soldier and he loves to wear his uniform
But he backs away from danger and he shivers in the storm…He’s a part time soldier but he’s never even shot to kill.
He’s only in the Army because he’s got some hours to kill.
He’s a part time soldier but he doesn’t want to get involved.
He thinks if he looks important all his problems will be solved…
There is a time that will come when all our enemies are strong
And we will be rejected and accused.
In that day we must stand tall - in that day we’ll need to heed the battle-call
And none of us can be excused.
ARE YOU READY ?
He’s a part time soldier but when the bullets start to fly
He loses motivation and he doesn’t even try.
He’s a part time soldier but his image comes before the fight
And Satan must be looking on and laughing at the sight !
Run away !
You never stay !
You missed the whole !
Every soul a battlefield !
ARE YOU READY ?
God help from ever again being a part-time soldier in this battle we are fighting.
PS: More information about this band can be found here
I have a Palm handheld computer and Im testing some software I’ve found that should help me blog direct from it.
If this post shows up then you’ll know I was successful.
The software can be found here
PS: Well it seems to have worked except for an error I made in the html and have amended live!
Over the weekend I got sent a new web link that has proven to be pretty good! I’m a fairly amateur multimedia presentation person but this site is full of stuff that makes me go “WOW!!!”
Here’s more about them! (click on the image to go to their page)
Midnight Oil Productions. Telling the Story in a New Light through professional-quality worship media that your church can afford, and inspiring one-day seminars on the use of media in worship.
On Friday I was saying that I hoped the winter would be over soon. How fickle I am!
On Saturday we decided to go out for the day and went to the Ethnographic museum, which is basically a collection of buildings from all over Latvia. It’s the first time we’ve been during winter and it looks totally different.
We spent about an hour wandering around, trudging through knee deep (well knee deep for Sian) snow and just enjoying ourselves as a family.
What’s more I even managed to walk on water…
… well frozen water anyway! Its our 5th winter here and I finally got round to walking out onto the ice of a lake (NB: don’t try this in England as you’ll probably fall through!!). Here the ice can be up to 50cm thick (one and half foot for those who still like imperial).
Sian is sick again. Thankfully its nothing major but she cannot seem to shake off the cold she has been having. In herself she’s fine but has a very annoying cough that seems to strike worst between 12 midnight and 1:00am. This means everyone wakes up and we’re all tired! Hopefully she won’t be feeling too bad over the weekend and we’ll get the chance to go out a little bit.
We’ve got loads of snow at the moment and there is more forecasted for today. This winter seems to be going on forever and we’ve got temperatures of around -4°C to -8°C for the next few days as well. Hopefully the weather will start to change in the not too distant future!
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