It is wonderful to get back to Latvia and get away from World Cup fervour!
Back in England it seems that whole communities have fallen into some sort of obsessive behaviour over England’s small chance of winning the World Cup. Every other shop seems to have England flags and other football related stuff filling its windows. Almost every pub in the country (well at least those I saw) was advertising how you could watch England matches live! Cars and houses are covered in flags, including some of both that have been painted to resemble the St George’s Cross of the English flag.
Now if you were to ask Zoe she would confirm that I love football, but all this was just so far over the top as to be almost comical!
The problem is though that it shows the underlying need in people for something to grasp hold of. We are created in God’s image and it has been said that we exist with a God-shaped hole in our lives. Even though they don’t know it people are trying to fill this hole in their lives but can’t because they are trying to fill it, in this instance with football. The problem of course is that football is not God and therefore is the wrong shape!
At the end of the World Cup people will be left disillusioned! Even if by some amazing fluke England win the World Cup ultimately the euphoria will die down and many people will be left with the same empty space deep down in their hearts, and will set off looking for the next thing they can fill it with.
Why is it that Jesus doesn’t come across as attractive a proposition as football and whatever else people use to substitute for Him? Maybe its the way that we advertise Him. All too often Christians look as if they are the “cat that lost the cream” rather than the recipients of a love that surpasses anything else the world has to offer!
Sometimes there is a certain joy in finding something that is simply totally useless! The picture below is one of those things and is simply this blog as a pictorial graph! Sad I know!
If for any reason at all you want to give it a try go to this site and see what you think!
There is so much talk around within the Army blogging world about what is the right way for us to be Army. Each time the discussion is raised it seems to go round in a circle a couple of times and then fades away only to appear on another blog a few days later and do it all again.
Why do we keep having the discussion? I think the answer is easy! We look at the early day Army and see the radical nature of what those early Salvationists did and are disappointed at what we see today.
Without any doubt there are things wrong with this Army that God raised up. When I look at our corps I can see elements of the Revelation churches everywhere. Some like Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7
) have lost their first love; others blow neither hot nor cold like Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). We definitely have Sardis-like corps (Rev 3:1-6) who are spiritually dead.
But lets not forget we also have a growing number of corps who are like the church in Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13), who Christ praises.
Nothing radically new in that line of thought I know but bare me out. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the need for a radical overhaul of the Army. This is still my position, but I’ve come to a realisation that the only way this is really going to happen is if those of us who recognise the problems become passionate about being The Salvation Army that God called us into being to be!
We can argue forever about which model of Church reflects best what The Salvation Army needs to be today! For me we need to forget all the different models and simply get on with the war! I don’t think that we can ever become what we once were, but if we focus on God’s calling we will become an even bigger force in the future.
Let’s be what God called us into being for! Passionate examples of His love for a fallen world! Passionate Saints who are passionate for souls and God’s Kingdom on earth!
For those of you who have visited my blog before you may have noticed that I have mentioned a meeting I was having last week during our holiday. At the time I simply asked for your prayers and didn’t want to go into the details!
Well last Thursday I, along with Zoe, met with the Candidates Secretary in the UK and I offered myself for full-time ministry as an officer. Surprisingly to me, the fact that we are still serving here in Latvia seems to put no obstacles in the system of the application process, so I’ve spent the day, including the 2nd half of England v Ecuador putting the finishing touches to my application forms.
The current situation is that I will enter the UKT’s William Booth College in either 2007 or 2008 (depending on a few issues Zoe & I need to discuss) and will train to become an officer.
This has not been an easy choice for me as I struggle with the thought of being an officer even after applying. Add to this the fact that I am applying as a ’single spouse’ ie without Zoe also makes the decision hard. However, it is clearly God’s will for me and I have had to put my concerns into His hands. Having said that now I have started the process off I am excited about the future that God has planned for me.
The problem I now face is that I am frustrated at times sat behind a desk in Regional Headquarters and want to get out and make a real difference in individual lives. I know that this is where God wants me to be at the moment and that He has a clear plan for the job I am doing. I need to make sure that my concentration is focussed fully on this role throughout the coming months and not get caught up in the still fairly distant future.
Well after 3 weeks holiday in England we’re back home in Latvia! We have been blessed with probably the best holiday we’ve had (other than our 2 week trip to Greece during our homeland furlough) since we arrived in Latvia nearly 5 years ago. All our times with family and friends were wonderful and the extra week meant that we weren’t running around quite so crazily as we normally do.
Being back in our own home is great. It’s amazing just how much home means even when you’ve been back to visit family. Sian spent about an hour running around the flat playing with nearly all her toys in the process, just very excited to be home amongst familiar things!
We have today to recover and then tomorrow its back to work and everything that will go with that! But today we’re just going to relax, do some emergency grocery shopping (yes I know it’s Sunday 
) and this evening watch England v Ecuador!
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