Today marks the 5th anniversary of Zoe & my arrival in Latvia. It seems incredible that we’ve been here that length of time, and that in fact we’ve spent more time together as a couple here than we did in England.
So what’s changed? Well the most obvious thing is the arrival almost 3 years ago of Sian, our beautiful, wonderful, sometimes frustrating and strong-willed daughter.
Added to that is Patvērums which may or may not have existed if we hadn’t have followed God’s call to this land. Through the often frustrating times of running this centre, I think its safe to say that we’ve both grown much more aware of God’s provision in all things. Often when we have not known how a situation will get solved, God has been there showing that He is aware of everything and has a solution if only we trust in Him.
Over the last 5 years we’ve made so many friends, which I truly believe have been given to us by God. Whilst never making up for the way me miss our family and friends back in the UK, the support that has been shown to us means that life is so much easier than if we didn’t have them.
At the moment the future is still up in the air. After 5 years of living in Latvia, its possible that by this time next year we’ll be back in the UK as in just a year our contract is up. This thought is sometimes very difficult to get hold of, while other times its possible to wish away the next 12 months. My constant prayer at the moment seems to be for God to give us the best year possible, not necessarily an easy one but one that will give us the best possible opportunity to serve Him. I pray that I will keep my eyes open for the opportunities He gives me and that I seize them with both hands.
This is probably of no interest to anyone other than myself, but I want to celebrate Sussex’s triumph in the Cricket County Championship! Well over 100 years before our first win and now our second in just 4 years!
Something that was posted over at URBANarmy really caught my eye. Gordon quoted General Coutts on two things. Firstly 3 concerns that he had:
- The way some salvationists speak about the Army
- The way some officers speak about their colleagues
- The way in which some letters are written within the Army
Secondly a quote:
There is plenty of good news to be celebrated in TSA, and yet many within TSA are quick to talk themselves down. They need to hear good news and rejoice in what God is doing.
In view of this I’m thinking of starting a new blog based site that highlights the way that God is moving in this movement of ours right across the world. There are many positive situations and innovative ways of fulfilling God’s Mission and I think that these should be celebrated. At the same time they will probably give some much needed encouragement to Salvationists everywhere who feel that disillusioned.
If you are interested in this let me know with a commenton this post!
I bow down and confess
You are Lord in this place.
You are all I need!
It’s your face I seek!
In the presence of your light,
I bow down,
I bow down!
Two weeks ago I started to learn the skills of sword fighting using a Longsword and the methods of Fiore Di Liberi. Reading the sort of books that I have always been interested in (Heroic Fantasy) has always given me a secret wish to actually learn how to sword fight, but I never felt an opportunity would come up! Now it has and I am really looking forward to the challenge!
However, even after such a short space of time it has already given me a new insight into the skills involved and also has made me look anew at the famous passage from Ephesians 6:10-18
. I’ve heard sermons galore on the subject over the years, but none of them has come close to making me think about it in the way I’ve started to now.
I could easily go into a deeper explanation of each of the different parts of the Armour, and one day I might well do, but there are two things that have stood out for me as I have been thinking about this! This first is off the back of something Matthew Henry has written:
To the Christian armed for defense in battle, the apostle recommends only one weapon of attack; but it is enough, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Henry is right that we have only one weapon. Everything else about the Armour of God is about defence, but without the defensive equipment available to the Christian we would never get ourselves into a position to attack in the first place. Bible study is essential in our spiritual battles, but at the same time we cannot ignore the rest of the stuff.
The second thing was from the lesson we had. Apparently it takes approximately 3000 correct repetitions of a move for it to become automatic. For me this suggests that our use of the Armour of God needs a similar amount of practice and study. We need to put that sort of effort into our walk with God constantly striving to know how to use the Bible and rely on the alertness that prayer gives us.
Well I’m still reading Velvet Elvis and finding it a very challenging read! I can certainly understand why some elements of the church are raising criticisms of the things Rob Bell says in it, but I feel competent enough to look beyond these things and get to the truth that is contained within. He even tells people not to simply swallow everything he says without thinking about it!
Anyway, one thing he has written is very interesting:
Mission is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there.
His premise is that we tend to say thing like we’re going to “take Jesus” to a new place as if we believe that God is not already present there. His response is that we should be trying to find a way of explaining Jesus to the people we come into contact with that connects with the place they are.
This is a wonderful way to explain things. Missionaries of old used to fall into the trap of assuming they new God better than it was possible for the “pagans” they were trying to reach could. Because of this they transplanted what they saw as Christian society to the place they were going.
Today we are more enlightened and the majority of the church would be horrified if missionaries going overseas tried to do the same thing. This is great! But why do we often try to do the same thing at home? Instead of trying to show how God to people in a way they will understand, all too frequently we plant churches in new areas that are a clone of the mother church.
In a very real way our ability to do this is reflected by how big our God is. If we have a God that is basically constrained by our experience of Him and we don’t expect Him to act outside of that understanding then we will forever react in the same ways. However, if we believe in the Ephesians 3:20 type of God who is able to do more than we ask or imagine, then our ability to help people find Him wherever we might be is incredibly enhanced.
It’s simply a case of opening our eyes and seeing God’s presence all around us.
I’m loathe to touch this subject as it always seems to bring very emotive thoughts to the surface! However, I have just read something that has sparked a thought in my mind and I’m sick and tired of seeing the judgemental way this issue seems to be dealt with.
How is that some areas of the Church treat people who are ‘gay’ differently than to any other sexual sin?
When people are addicted to pornography the Church goes all out to help them. When men make a mistake and commit adultury, people try to treat them with compassion and seek to help them through what is clearly a difficult time in their lives and those of their families.
Why then, when someone admits that they are gay and are in a loving relationship do certain sections of this loving Church treat them as if they are the worst of sinners and beyond forgiveness? Maybe I’m naive but how is it different? How can what two adults do in the privacy of the bedroom be such different categories of sin depending on whether they are hetrosexual or homosexual?
Sin is sin! Sexual sin is sexual sin! Sexual sin is no worse than any other type of sin and homosexual sin is no worse than any other sexual sin. Why can’t everyone just accept that and quit trying to grade everything according to the world’s standards?
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