Starts Today at Taigum....

There’s a Sense of Change in the Air…

Here in the southern hemisphere, we’ve entered spring and the Lord reminded me that Saturday (1 Sept) that it’s “the time when kings go out to war.” 2Sam 11:1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, … but David remained at Jerusalem.

A few days before I had stood outside my house and watched the lunar eclipse and marveled as the moon turned red. A little bit of research later and I discovered that historically a red moon has signaled a time of change and a time of war. Of course, we know that red moons feature in the book of Revelation towards the end of time as we know it.

I have a profound sense that the world and of course the church, is entering a new season under God. It is a season when the church is being called to be bold and to go on the offensive. This is not a season to rest easy or to pull back. David did that (when he should have been at war) and Israel never recovered from the consequences.

On the one hand, in this season many in the church are wanting to ratchet back on the things of the Holy Spirit in order to make church a less offensive place. On the other hand, God is calling His people to a radical Christianity that does outrageous things in His name. I’m reminded of how Peter, when upon seeing Jesus walking on the water, came up with one of the most outrageous suggestions ever made or heard… “Lord, if that’s You, call me to walk on the water.” Jesus simply said, “Come.” The result was that one man got up and stepped out of the place of security and comfort and walked on water! Eleven others remained in the boat. 1:12 - That proportion sounds generous in comparison to today’s church.

Outrageous – that’s what Peter’s suggestion was. Yet Jesus went along with it. Now, Peter has it on his resume for all of eternity. What outrageous thing will I have on my eternal resume? What will you have on yours?

Peter’s CV…(Short working life)
Achievements…
• Followed Jesus
• Walked on water
• Powerful healing shadow
• Preached first sermon of the church – effective.

This is a season for stepping out of the boat of comfort and safety and to think outrageous thoughts and to do outrageous things for the King. Sure, for certain there’ll be at least 11 others who will try to discourage you.

Spring, a time when Kings go out to war…

Sign of the Times

The Lord describes His people as Children of the Day – children of light and not of darkness. He calls us to be people of understanding. He tells all that have ears let them hear. He differentiates between those who dwell in darkness and those who live in light.

A couple of weeks ago when I looked at the lunar eclipse and watched the moon turn red, I was reminded that a red moon always speaks of a time of change and that it is a sign from God to the whole world.

These past few years we have seen a great many signs, especially within the Circle of Fire, that are increasing. The greatest was the tsunami of boxing day 2005 affecting so many. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are signs. Just this last week (a week to be noted) powerful earthquake off Indonesia – tsunami warnings to both Indonesia and WA.

Also a time of great release of demonic spirits – radical Islam being the most obvious result. Indonesia is a centre of this and we have been badly affected by it.

Satan is raising up his extremists, radicals in Islam and the bible says:-

Isaiah 59:18 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

God raising up a body of people (His church) who will be extremists ...

.... the Elijah people. Elijah was a man who never died. God said that he would return in the last days. Elijah was a man of a powerful, confrontational spirit who did great exploits.

Hangin' in

Andy Griffith

“And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance.” Romans 5:3

Allow me to pause and speak directly to your heart, if you will. At this point we’re facing a crossroad, and anytime you approach a crossroad, it’s good to have a word of encouragement.

When Andy Griffith, star of the classic television program that bore his name, entered his fifties, he found it increasingly difficult to find work in Hollywood, and his personal finances became tighter and tighter. He wrote in Guideposts that finally he and his wife, Cindy, decided things would be easier if they moved from Los Angeles back to Andy’s home state of North Carolina; so they put their home up for sale and waited for a buyer. Unfortunately, the real estate market was down, and no one gave them a decent offer. Months passed, and Andy grew depressed.Then one day the Lord gave Cindy an insight. “Maybe it’s a good thing we couldn’t sell the house,” she said. “Maybe it was God showing us grace. If we moved to North Carolina now, you might indeed never work again. What we need to do is stay here and stoke the fire.”And stoke the fire they did. Day after day they went together to the office of the talent agency that represented Andy. They sat in the lobby,chatted with agents, and went with them to lunch. Eventually the work started to come in: four TV movies that year, including the pilot for Matlock, a show that ended up running for nine years.

Griffith stuck with it, thanks to his wife’s perceptiveness. And the results speak for themselves, as he went on to further cement his status as a legendary actor and all-round good guy. It took commitment to perseverance, however, before he reached the other side.

Is it any different when dealing with our efforts to overcome the soulish nature? Getting to the point where our entire being is completely spirit-dominated—going from being a psuchikos to a pneumatikos—takes commitment. It takes perseverance. And it certainly takes the patience and grace to continue through the times when we fall back to our soul’s tendencies. But God is determined to see you completely controlled by Him—with your spirit guiding and your soul serving.

He will not fail in His mission. He will see you through to completion. Do you have a part in it? You bet. Can you sabotage the job? Unfortunately, yes, since God will not force His transformation in you. But as long as you purpose in your heart that our Maker will have His way, you are in the cocoon. As long as you allow His Spirit to have its way and grow in influence through your life, you will fly. It’s time to become a butterfly.

It’s time to see the blueprints become reality.

It’s time to become you!

Excerpt from Roll Away Your Stone

It's all a Question of Rights

THE SQUIRREL`S RIGHTS

THE REST OF THE WORLD VERSION

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he is a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter the squirrel is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

THE END

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

THE BRITISH VERSION

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he is a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving. The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper, with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel’s house. The BBC, interrupting a cultural special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir singing `We shall overcome`. Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel has got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay `his fair share` and increases the charge for the squirrel to enter inner London.

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The squirrel’s taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home plus an additional fine for contempt when he told the court that the grasshopper did not want to work.

The grasshopper is provided with a council house, two mobile phones to keep in contact with family & friends (why two? a spare just in case he should lose the first one) financial aid to furnish it and an account with the local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile.

The squirrel’s food is siezed and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case , the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retro taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they had tried to blow up the airport because of Britain’s apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempted bombing, but had immediately been released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from peoples` credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrel’s food, though the Spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, is crumbling around him because he hasn’t bothered to maintain it. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshopper’s drug `illness`.

The cats seek compensation in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in the UK.

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to fund his drug habit. He is imprisoned, but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is place in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost £10,000,000 and state the bleeding obvious, is set up.

Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for grasshoppers, and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for enriching Britain’s multi cultural society and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend cats.

The grasshopper dies of an overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of the government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a minister. The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom.

The squirrel`, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing , the burglaries and the robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses, their taxes are increases to pay for law and order and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

THE END

In addition, the squirrel decides enough is enough and sells up everything he owns and moves off to Spain!

Changing Values

Each day when I watch the news they post the values of various currencies against the $AUS. It goes up and down, depending upon what has just been announced somewhere, but basically stays around the same mark. They use phrases like, "the dollar firmed today."

My values are like that (not that they go up and down) in that they have "firmed"over the years. We can state the things we value, but sometimes those statements are more about what we think we should value rather than about what we really do value. What we really value can be seen by what we consign time and passion to.

When I was younger I poured my energies and passion more into the things I did - career, house, sport. As I have matured I find my values are "firming" and I find myself giving more time to being still and absorbing those things around me that I previously grew impatient with or simply didn't stop to appreciate. I find myself getting great pleasure from simply hanging with those who are important to me. I'm becoming more of a listener than a talker. Being still helps you to do that.

I've served God for 35 years but for most of those years I didn't value the simplicity of just "being"with Him. I find myself devoting hours to just finding a quiet place to hang with God.
The same is true of my family. I'm sorry now that I didn't spend more time just "enjoying" my kids when they were young. Hanging with them now is such a delight. I'm making up for it with the grandkids!!

My values now are much simpler than they were back then. The simpler the better for me. Food, celebrations, decorations, conversations - simpler's better.