H.O.P2.E

H.O.P2.E - what does it mean?
According to some of my facebook friends it means "Hope to Pee" (AJ) or "Hold On People to everyone" - Tina.

What it actually stands for is something that I hope my life will reflect for the rest of my days...

H= Humility
O= Obedience
P=Prayer
P=Purity
E=Expectation

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version)
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I long to see Heaven invade Earth. I long to see God move in power. I long to walk in a greater measure of the Kingdom of God - to see people healed, restored, set free.

For me - something that helps me make that a reality is H.O.P2.E - I not only put my HOPE & TRUST in Jesus, but as I apply H.O.P2.E to my life it keeps me grounded and expectant.

I am convinced more and more that we expect too little of God sometimes. We need to learn to expect much in the every day. We owe everyone an encounter with Jesus.

I am reminded of that once again today as one of our residents in our retirement village passed away. The fragility of life, the certainty of death, the gift of breath, the value of knowing whose you are....

if I do nothing else with my life I want to live a life of H.O.P2.E

Saturday for Samoa

In some ways I am glad I don't have a tv. I am not being bombarded with the images of destruction and death in the wake of the Tsunami that hit Samoa this week. In another way I wish I could see the coverage. Moving images move the heart (well at least my heart). I know in the days to come there will emerge stories of bravery and incredible escapes. In fact already there are stories of people dying as they attempted to save children who were being swept out to sea.

In moments like this I just want to pack my bag, jump on a plane and head over and do whatever I can. Whether its holding people while they weep, cooking food, clearing away the rubbish...whatever. I feel useless here when there is so much need. So I do what I can. Just like the bushfires, our church is responding. We are having a "Saturday for Samoa" day at our family store. All of the sales from Saturday will go towards the appeal that the Salvation Army in New Zealand has launched. We will also be taking up a love offering at church on Sunday. In the grand scheme of things it might not seem like much, but I believe every bit helps and if it turns our hearts towards our brothers and sisters in Samoa then all the better.

I am praying for a response that goes way above what I would have thought possible. I'm praying for the right people who can respond as Samoa needs it most to be released to go and do the work. I am praying for the families who have lost loved ones, for those who are still waiting to hear; and I'm praying for those whose response to this has been one of disappointment that the tsunami warning for New Zealand amounted to nothing - I'm praying that their hearts might be moved with compassion.

God bless Samoa.

God, Suffering and Justice....

I am enrolled in a paper at Uni this semester that is proving to be a real challenge in many ways. I enrolled in it thinking it would be really interesting and it wasn't until the first lecture that its full title came to my attention; God, Suffering and Justice in the Hebrew Scriptures. Now this has caused me somewhat of a headache as the weeks have progressed. If we are only looking at the Hebrew scriptures we cannot take into account the New Testament. We cannot bring Jesus the Messiah into our thinking and there is a real sense for me in which I feel like I'm only watching the first half of a movie and being asked to draw my conclusions from that. It is proving to be quite difficult.

I am currently researching my second assignment which is about the legal motif in the book of Job and in the face of the Holocaust is it justifiable to even try and justify the goodness of God.

My head is full! One thing I have come to learn is that there is much mystery in life. I don't have all the answers (and neither does anyone else). We must some how come to terms with the unanswered questions and let them drive us towards God, rather than away. If we let them drive us away from God we are far less likely to ever discover the answers to the deep painful questions we are asking.

I have been quite captured by a statement Bill Johnson (senior pastor of Bethel Church, Redding, CA) made after his father died. He basically said that in that moment he realised he had the opportunity to give God a praise offering that he could only give, this side of eternity. Grief and loss and pain is only experienced this side of heaven. In heaven there is no pain, no loss, no grief and so this was a moment where he could offer something incredibly sacred and precious. Did he still grieve for his dad, sure, what son wouldn't? But he refused to allow the loss he felt to separate him from God, allowing it instead to draw him in closer.

I'm not sure I will be able to give my lecturer a satisfactory answer, but I know that despite the lack of understanding I have at times and the questions I have yet to answer, that God is good, he is loving and he has broad enough shoulders to take our questions, our pain and yes even our accusations against his character. Job questioned, Job challenged and God engaged with Job.

I pray that I might find the strength and grace to present an offering of Praise even in the midst of my darkest days.

the airpoints fairy is real!

I was chatting online to a friend a couple of nights ago and they asked me if I was going to be in their neck of the world in Nov (their neck of the world is a part I've never been to, namely the UK). I said I wish...we talked a bit about a chance to speak at an event if by some miracle happened to be there.

I then updated both facebook and twitter saying I wish I knew where the airpoints fairy lived as I could do with some more airpoints.

Today on twitter I got a tweet from @AirpointsFairy saying that my wish had been granted and she was giving me $500 worth of airpoints, I just needed to direct message her my details.

Now I'm not one to be scammed to easily so I rang AirNZ and the person I spoke to had never heard of this fairy.

So after a couple of tweets & DM back and forth I got an email address. So I rang AirNZ again to see if this person really did work there....and sure enough she did!

So I sent through my details and 5 mins later I had $500 more of airpoints in my account.

Apparently my tweet had inspired her - how cool is that.

So my balance is still not yet enough to get to the neck of the woods Ive never been too, but I'm thinking that maybe a few more cool as things like that may happen and I might just make it....if not I can at least go and visit Gonzo, Ma and Pa in australia.

So if you are on twitter follow @AirpointsFairy and if you're not, then join up and follow them (and me of course @theshar)

faces, friendship & focus

I realised yesterday as I was searching my blog for something I'd posted about last year, that I haven't blogged for way too long.

Last week I was at Manifest Presence Conference 2009 with guest speakers Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton & Martin Steel. This was my third conference and each year has built on the previous.

This year I had a simple prayer - I wanted to encounter God deeper than I have before, to know him better, to see his manifest presence more than ever before.

God answered that prayer. I asked to see God's face and like Moses, God showed me his goodness. I had an incredible sense of God's desire for friendship with me. It was very overwhelming. There was a sense in which I felt God changing my spiritual DNA, that I would never again be the same. I came away with a new sense of focus for my life, my relationships with others and most of all my relationship with God.

I updated my status afterwards with this statement "Words don't do it justice, I'll just live it" - and that is really where its at. I cannot describe in words what God did in my life over the week. Any words I attempt to use to explain or capture the experience will simply place a limit on what happened. So my best option is to simply live the change that took place. I now live from a new reality, a new level of encounter and understanding of Father God and my place in his kingdom.

I know that there are those who will not understand, who will choose to mock, judge or ridicule...but I'm ok with that. Noone can convince me otherwise. My prayer is that everyone will come into an experience of the fullness of God's love that I have experienced.

God's goodness is to be declared to all the nations of the world - I'm up for that!

A dog's love language

Crikey! What a night! I loaded up the bumbag full of meaty treats, grabbed my gumboots and headed out the door with Aussie to the second dog obedience class. Tonight's class was set to be very different for one important reason - the dogs were allowed to come tonight! I was prepared to have my work cut out for me - he can be a bit of a mutant at the best of times - but man oh man, talk about hard work.

Right from the moment we got out of the car he went nuts! Throwing himself up in the air, barking so all of Hamilton could hear him, making a right royal show of himself. We got into our group and everyone in the group struggled to hear the instructors because Aussie was barking so much. I was struggling just to keep a grip of his lead and stand upright on the wet grass. For my Australian friends, be assured that I defended you when the instructor came over and said "oh yeah typical loudmouth Aussie aye"

It got to the point that one of the instructors put a slip chain and her lead on him and she still struggled to keep him under control. Part of the problem is that the meaty treats I had brought with me were far less interesting than the other 3o or so dogs at the park. Both instructors tried their snacks and still he was not interested. They both kept shaking their heads saying "he's a lab, he should LOVE food, Labs live for food" So Aussie is now going to be on a complete fast every Tuesday and if that doesn't help he may miss out on Monday nights dinner too.

So they got me to take him out on his own to the middle of the park and just try and get him to concentrate on me and the food, and sitting (without being able to use voice commands). Rather tricky when the dog isn't interested in the food which is the training tool!

Then the strangest thing happened. One of the instructors and I discovered quite by chance that Aussie responded to the affirmation of a "good boy" and then he would eat the food. The food was only interesting as a reward as long as it was proceeded by rapturous praise! So I'm thinking there's 5 love languages for kids, 5 love languages for couples, 5 love languages for singles....how about 5 love languages for dogs? Aussie it would seem is "words of affirmation - followed by a nice tidbit of meat"

I am praying that the sessions will get easier than tonight - because tonight was really hard....not cool when everyone in the group has learnt one name...and its your dogs name!

the missional church

I have an essay to do...on the missional church. I've really enjoyed this paper and there is SO much conversation taking place about it. It raises a lot of questions for me and its going to be a dialogue that I'm going to need to continue as I wrestle with some things. I have found some connections with some of the frustrations I have had over the last few years with the way i "do" church. I feel like I'm standing on the beach looking at this expansive ocean. I have this desire to just run from the shore and dive into the ocean. But I'm currently just feeling the waves wash over my feet pulling the sand out from underneath my toes..... watch this space

ESKIMO LOLLIES - now what?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2348856/Eskimos-to-stay-maker-says

This article appeared on a website I check for national news each day. Later that night I was with a group of people and I mentioned the article. There were a variety of responses but the general view was that people needed to just "get over it" and it wasn't a big deal.

I attempted to explain to them that the word "Eskimo" is actually an insult and it is not the same as a Canadian eating a lolly called a "kiwi" or a German eating a lolly called a "pakeha".

Each of us now armed with the information regarding the Inuit people and the term "Eskimo" are faced with a choice. Do we ignore their view, claiming our distance from them as a people group, the harmlessness of a sweet that has been around for decades etc...or do we acknowledge that their concern is valid and ignorance can no longer be our shield?

Some would say its political correctness with a sugar rush.....let's just hope they don't go on holiday somewhere and discover something that is an insult and offensive to them.

Michael Collins & the Revolution - Tomorrow Nite LIVE

ATTENTION ALL MAKE CHANGERS.....AND OTHERS KEEN TO BE PART OF THE REVOLUTION.

South Australia are currently having their revolution camp involving Guest Speakers Michael Collins (the one and only) and Danielle Strickland (who needs no introduction).....

Think you're missing out by not being there? NO WAY!!! Check out the details below for the live online broadcast tomorrow nite (thurs)


"Thursday 23rd April 8pm EST we will be doing a live broadcast online from Revolution Youth Camp in South Australia. It will feature Nath Casey and the worship team followed by a preach by Canadian Michael Collins (guest at Make Change NZ)

You can watch it live at www.salvationarmy.org.au/sstv"

For those in NZ its 10pm

With the technology around these days there's no reason to miss out on the good stuff.

Check it out...spread the word...join the revolution

decisions, consequences & the little old chorus

It's been an interesting day as I make final preparations for Australia. I had a conversation with someone today about some decisions I have made. They were questioning whether they were the right decisions to make. I finished the conversation feeling pretty low and thinking this was the last thing I needed in my busy day & did not want to head away to minister in Australia in a head space less than positive. I've had a few hours to think and I've been reminded again that as leaders we have to be prepared to make decisions and stand by them. We must be prepared to deal with the consequences of those decisions whether good or not so good. Sometimes I think it is too easy worry so much about failing that we continue to play it safe. We need to 'own' our reasons and logic. If we believe strongly enough in something then we have to be prepared to make those tough decisions and take whatever fruit is yielded from those seeds.

I wrote in my journal earlier tonight that "sometimes I feel misunderstood, undervalued and marginalised but I guess Jesus felt and experienced those things too." But I found myself correcting my thoughts almost the moment they came out onto the page. I don't know that Jesus did FEEL those things and EXPERIENCE them. I'm sure he found himself in situations where they could have been possible outcomes if his mind was in the same state as mine. I'm sure it would have been possible for him to experience those kinds of emotions if his self image and worth was as battered as mine sometimes is.

However I don't think Jesus did feel and experience those things because his eyes were on the Father, his purpose was not in the purposes of man, but in doing whatever the Father wanted him to do. His sense of identity was not determined by what others thought, said or did towards him, but rather what the Father thought, said and did towards him.

I think I like Jesus' way better than mine. So I find myself being reminded again about identity and destiny and my desire is as the old chorus says ...

"to be like Jesus, this hope possesses me, in every thought and deed, this is my aim, my creed. To be like Jesus, this hope possesses me, his spirit helping me, like him I'll be."

overload

I've given myself a telling off. Its been way too long since I posted on my blog. Its not because I don't have anything to say...but perhaps because I have too many things and I cant decide what to blog about and what to leave floating in the recesses of my mind.

Here's where I am at today. In two sleeps I am heading to Sydney. I am going to the Australian Eastern Territory of the Salvation Army. The weekend will be spend with the youth of the greater west division at their youth councils. Then during the week I get to hang out with the paid youth workers at their annual retreat. I have the privilege of sharing some stuff with them and feel both excited and nervous at the same time.

I will then fly to Auckland and drive straight to Easter Camp which is going to be OUTSTANDING!

That is all really exciting stuff. The pain is that I have a uni assignment due on Thursday so before I get through these 2 sleeps I need to try and finish this assignment, pack (twice - Easter Camp & Aus), make sure our youth are organised for EC, make sure church is organised for next two weeks, sort the cat and dog out, sort myself out lol and finalise what I need to take to Australia.

So I feel a little overloaded. I was reflecting yesterday afternoon with God and I asked for his help to complete all the tasks that are pressing for my attention.

So today instead of aiming for a good day, I'm having a God day. I am taking myself off for some serious one on one time with God. I need his input and presence more than anything else right now. I could probably manage to complete the 'tasks' on my own.....but they would lack something. So the most important thing for me right now, is the Father's blessing.

I have so much to do today that my priority must be to STOP and PRAY.

So I'm signing off...and heading out

(and I will try and blog regularly while I am in Australia)

Hiding behind our words

I have been reading a number of blogs over recent months and I see a trend that disturbs me. Perhaps I'm not tough enough for the reality of blogging and I just need to 'harden up'. I have seen time and time again someone blog, and then in the comments people rip them to shreds, or get very personal in their attack of the person rather than stay on topic. More often than not all of this is done under the name anonoymous. I get it that not everyone will agree, and I'm not naive enough to think that people will only every say nice stuff. But I struggle to appreciate the words of those who hide behind "no name"....

I mean would they seriously speak to these people with those words face to face? Would you be so rude, or cutting or snarky if you actually saw the other person's response to your words?

I get frustrated with argument for argument sake, or protest for protest sake. If your goal is transformation or change, then by all means enter into meaningful dialogue and action. But if all you want is a cheap shot at someone else's expense, or to throw out comments without being willing to discuss then what is the value in that? There is enough of that going on in the world to plug the ozone hole! perhaps that's what's caused it in the first place...all this hot air!

I don't mean to rant, I am typing this while trying to smile.....

Fire

For so many people the events in the state of Victoria, Australia over the last few days has forever altered the landscape of their lives. As I write this the latest report is of 166 people having lost their lives to the flames. My mind and heart are feeling overwhelmed as I try and comprehend the enormity of what has taken place...and I'm not even an Australian. For those who are personally affected by this disaster I wonder how they will find a way to carry on, to rebuild, to restore, to start over when so much has been lost. There is a collective tragedy here for the nation, but then there are the individual stories of loss, of escape, of luck, of misfortune, of moments of heroism and selflessness and I think it is in these stories that we see humanity at its most vulnerable and at its best. When facing moments like these or living through the aftermath people aren't mourning the loss of an ipod, or $300 shoes, or playstations....they mourn the loss of life, of loved ones, of items not for the items material value, but what it represents, or who it represents.
My eyes and my heart well up as I read and watch these stories, and it fills me with hope. A hope that shows me that humanity is not beyond redemption. People have the capacity to love and to give of themselves to others and to both feel pain and comfort those who mourn.
So many people are feeling a great sense of helplessness as they watch what is happening and have a compulsion to want to help somehow. The Salvation Army in Australia (along with the red cross and others) are out there on the ground working in support of victims and volunteers. They are asking those who want to help to donate cash at this stage. It gives them the ability to buy the essential items like food and clothes etc that are needed right now.
This is one of the worst bushfires world wide on record...... but I think for Australia it is becoming a moment of solidarity and compassion and as a nation they are banding together to care and serve each other.
Pray for rain, for relief and for restoration

women and the mission of God

I've started doing some reading for my papers at University this semester. The first is entitled Women in biblical text and the second is the missional church. Both topics have captured my attention over recent years and I'm really looking forward to engaging in some dialogue about them. The first thing I've had to do is put aside any preconceived notions about the topics and those who spend their time researching and publishing about them. I have never really considered myself a feminist (I didn't like the idea of growing my hair & armpit hair and sticking it to the man every chance I got) - can you see what I mean about preconceived notions. My mate Jules helped me to understand that being a feminist is not about being 'anti men' or 'antagonistic' but its being concerned with issues of gender and gender equality. Well that I definitely am, and always have been. I have much to learn and the good thing is I am open to it. I think one of the best attributes anyone can possess is a teachable spirit.

The missional church one is a fascinating topic too. There is much debate around these days to do with the structure, purpose and effectiveness of the church. There are lots of schools of thought and some who would rather debate for debate sake, than debate for change sake. I'm interested in the paper because I want to be a part of seeing the body of Christ be effective in its pursuit of the Kingdom of God and fulfilling God's purpose for us. I will endeavour to blog regularly over the coming months as I learn new things about women in biblical text and the missional church. Any resources that you might know of that would be helpful would be greatly appreciated.

It's simple but not easy

I am soooo excited! I finally have a tee shirt with my favourite saying on it. For years I've been wanting a tee shirt that says "simple but not easy" - but of course there are those who would read something into the words other than their intended use....

But thanks to the legendary Aaron Mills (tee shirt designer guru) the latest 2Love tee's have the saying on them. They look awesome if I do say so myself.

In fact I love it so much I have 2 tees and a singlet with it on (I just need to get a blue one and I'll have the complete set)

What I love about teeshirts with a message on them is that they are great conversation starters and can sometimes cause you to think about something without ever having to have a convo about it. But I will be having plenty of convos about these ones.