Final thoughts of a year in Eston

Good evening! I hope you are well and have had a good couple of weeks. This is my final week in Eston! Where has the time gone? My blog this evening is going to be me reflecting on the past year, sharing with you what I have learnt and where I have seen God and what I think He has been doing throughout my time in Eston.

There have been many specific times that I can say have been a real highlight of my year, but there have been a few moments where I have had to take a step back and just be in awe of what God was doing at that specific time. One particular time was at Christmas where Eston Salvation Army distributed presents to the local community. Even though this was a highlight, it was also probably the most challenging thing I have ever been a part of. It was the Friday before Christmas and the day before I was going home for the Christmas break and I remember I was feeling a bit ill. So all of this put together, I may have gone into the day with a holiday mindset, but that attitude soon went when we started to meet people coming to collect their presents. It was a day that I'll never forget as it was the day when I had a direct effect on the happiness of people who were suffering. That day we were able to give people relief from the grief they were currently feeling and show them unconditional love. Throughout this year Isaiah 61 kept on cropping up, it reads; "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners". That day I met people who were broken hearted and I saw places that were in darkness and being a part of Eston Salvation Army gave me an opportunity to live out Isaiah 61. I believe that day God did pour His Spirit on to the Salvation Army and we did proclaim good news to the poor and we did, if only for a short while, bind up the broken-hearted. We can make a difference in people's lives, I saw it that day and that was directly because God was with us, I felt Him there moving amongst us. I pray that the Lord will give me more chances to live out Isaiah 61, I will always look for chances to proclaim the good news that Jesus can transform lives and that I will always look for the those who are marginalised and those who are suffering in society. I pray that I will no longer be comfortable in being content with my own happiness but seek to proclaim freedom for those who are prisoners of their own circumstance, wherever I may be serving in the future.

Another great time for me this year was actually away from placement and it was when I was serving with ALOVE at Spring Harvest. We were leading the 11-14 year old venue and I can honestly say that the Spirit was moving in that place in such a powerful way. I was able to pray with young people and watch young people's lives be changed because they were giving their lives to God for maybe the first time. That experience of intense ministry left exhausted but most of all inspired as I have come to learn that when we minister to people, God ministers to us and that is something that I must never forget. Having that experience of working with young people was invaluable and also very challenging. When young people confide in me to tell me things that they have told no other human being is totally humbling and also terrifying. That week at Spring Harvest was a blessing and a time I cannot and should never forget, we sang a song that has stuck with me since the event and the song is a song of commitment and it is a commitment that I made and as I share it with you please understand my honesty when I say that this is how I want to live my life, a life for God and God alone. The song was "So I'll stand, my arms raised and heart abandoned in awe of the One who gave it all. And I'll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered, all I have is yours!"

The final highlight is something that has taken from September to now and it is something that is still a work in progress. It is the relationships I have built with this community. People know me as James from the Salvation Army through schools, Pubs, other Churches, Parent and Toddler groups, coffee mornings and I could go on. I don't say this is highlight because I got to know more people but because of the fact that for many people in this community they see me, along with other members of Eston Salvation Army, as the face of the Salvation Army and ultimately Jesus. In Exodus Chapter 33 we read Moses' conversation with God and Moses asks God "how will people know that we are different if you are not with us?" and this passage of scripture has challenged me as how will people know that there I have something different in my life unless I show them the presence of God dwelling within me? But how will people see that presence of God in my life unless I get to know them? And I believe I have got to know this community and this community has blessed me and I am privileged and humbled to think that God sent me here to help build His kingdom in this place.

I will soon be leaving Eston and starting a new adventure, I have got a job in London working with Messy Church, looking to develop youth work through Messy Church. It's something new and exciting and I think I will carry on blogging! But I want to thank everybody who has given me opportunities to develop and grow this year and I thank you, those who read my blogs and I know there are those out there who pray for me and for that I am incredibly thankful. I pray that God will bless you, God will bless Eston Salvation Army and Gary and Lorraine and that God will bless all those who love and serve Him. I remain certain that God has greater things in store and I will leave you with this promise from the Word of God;

"What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him"

1 Corinthians 2:9

God Bless.

pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

@peggo36

 

 

Challenges of Pentecost

Good afternoon! I hope you are well. It has been busy here the last couple of weeks and once again I have to apologise for missing last weeks blog. Sorry!

The weeks are going fast and the year in Eston is winding up very nicely. It is still busy and there is still plenty of work to be done. This includes The Grid! I thought I would give you an update on how this is going. For those who don't know The Grid is the name of the Youth Group that Eston Salvation Army has began in which I had the privilege to help establish. We had 7 young people attend in our second week and the best thing of all is that it is the young people that are inviting their friends to come along! It has been a real blessing this year to work with these young people and to get to know them as individuals. Throughout this year there has been an emphasis on work with the 11-14 year old age group, whether that be in Eston or at events like Spring Harvest, and I really think God has expanded my mind and has led me into that ministry. I thank God for that ministry, I thank God for all the young people I have worked with this year and I thank God for the lessons that they have taught me!

A couple of Sundays ago it was one of my favourite events in the Christian calendar,(behind Easter!) Pentecost. I love Pentecost, the story excites me and it really challenges me. The day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and breathed life into what we call today the Church. But there are certain things that always hit me when I read the account of the "first" Pentecost. Firstly, it says in Acts that the disciples "were all together in one place". You can read that literally and simply say that they were all in the same room, but I think it means more than that. The disciples were one. They were one in mind and yet many, how can the Church have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us if we are not united? We must be one body of Christ with one aim and one message and through us may the Holy Spirit work wonders. Secondly, how scary must it have been when the Holy Spirit came!? There was a violent wind blowing through the house, fire dancing on people's head and people speaking in tongues! I think in this day of age that if there was fire in a Church it would be a health and safety hazard, but from the outside it must have been terrifying. Even speaking in tongues must have been a bit weird for them, but the I don't think the disciples were afraid. I reckon the disciples just revelled in the infilling of the Spirit. Oh I want to have that fearlessness, the fearlessness to completely trust in the Power of God even if that means having flames above my head. Lastly, the Spirit came and that day "3000 were added to their number". Think about it, 3000! Put it into perspective, in your Church or Corps, what a huge difference it would make to the place if 30 people walked through the doors and were saved, now times that by a hundred! The thing is this miraculous event of 3000 people coming to Jesus can still happen today. The Holy Spirit has changed so the only thing stopping it happening must be ourselves! What a challenge. All these thoughts come from one event that changed the World because imagine the world without the Church, I wouldn't be here! But more importantly imagine the World without the Holy Spirit, without God's promised presence. It probably isn't worth imagining.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog, have a good week and make sure you get in touch.

God Bless

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

God Equips!

Hello! I hope you're well and have had a good couple of weeks. The last couple of blogs I wrote I told you of many exciting things happening and I think it's only right that I update you of how it went!

So last week was half term, and after a busy week beforehand I was ready to relax back home in Wellingborough. However as soon as I got home, I was ill. I had an asthma attack on tuesday night which led to Paramedics getting called out and me getting put on a Nebuliser. What a drama! I think I must be allergic to rest! But thank goodness it happened the week I was back home than the week before, it was such a busy week... I didn't have time to be ill! But it was a lovely week at home and it was rounded up on Sunday at Wellingborough Salvation Army's Messy Church. Great things happen through Messy Church and families experience God by walking through the doors of a Church and engaging in craft, song or conversation. Whether they realise it or not it is worship and to see young children who don't normally attend church sing a song that says "Wonderful Lord, Wonderful God... help me to trust You forever" is nothing more than amazing. Me and Sophie led the actions to that song at it was a real blessing to see all people of different ages engage with worship in that way.

The week before half term was the week the Texan university students came to work here in Eston and it was a really signifficant time. I had the privilege of getting alongside them and helping them in their mission. The really helpful thing for me was being able to get involved and go into places where I wouldn't have had an opportunity of going into before. I mentioned in my last blog that I would be visiting secondary schools with the Texans and last thursday we went to a particular school called EOTAS (Education other than at School). It was basically a school for kids who struggle to learn or behave in mainstream school. To experience some of the things that went on in that classroom was a bit of an eye-opener and it did make me question what can be done to help these troubled young people. The teachers there are doing a fantastic job and a job that I could never do. But what is society doing to help the kids who are troubled? Those who have issues in school or issues in their family life? It is a challenge for society and it is a challenge for the Church, what can we do? I think we need to trust God to put us in the situations where we can talk to these young people, through schoolwork or meeting them where they are at and this is exactly what happened to me on the Wednesday. Leaving the hall after Hi-5, we saw three young lads, about 12 years old, cycling round our car park. They were jumping on the big green clothes bin and doing tricks down the stairs, making a nuisance of themselves in all honesty. So I called them over and I spoke to them, I was there for about half hour speaking to these lads and most that time was them asking me questions. They asked me questions about the Salvation Army, about Christianity and the Church. They asked me questions like; "Do you smoke?" or "Do you do drugs?" or "Are you going to go home and get drunk?" and it came to a surprise to them that I answered no to their questions. One of them wanted a fight with me, even though he was about 13, he probably could have hurt me so I kindly refused. These kids were troubled young people and this one lad in particular told me how he's been kicked out of school because someone tried to stab him, he was 12 years old! This is what some young people have to deal with in this day and age and I think it is a challenge to society and the Church of what can we do about it? How can we help these young people turn their lives around? It was an experience that I certainly never forget!

I'll give you a quick update on how "The Grid" went. If you remember "The Grid" is the group that has just been established focusing on young people between the ages of 10-14. We had around 15 young people in that age bracket turn up on our first night and when we include the Texans and other helpers, we had a good number for our the very first meeting. This Thursday we start back up again after half term, pray that it all goes well and that this group will flourish and that seeds will be planted in the hearts and minds of the young people who will attend.

Along with the Texans being here, that week myself and a few others were leading the Sunday meetings, both the Morning meeting and Café Church. We concentrated the theme on the Call of God or the official word "KALEO". I was helping to lead Café Church and I did the YP story on the popular saying "God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called" or a variation on that "God does not call the equipped, He equips the called". I did a demonstration of this by making a sandwich, but I had the wrong tools. So I used a saw to cut the bread, a plaster brush to spread the butter and a hammer and nails to cut up the tomato (which did go everywhere). The point of that silly task was that God doesn't call us into doing something and then gives us all the wrong things to complete the task nor does He just leave us to it. We can read in Exodus chapter 3 that when Moses was called by God to go free the Israelites from Egypt, he used every excuse under the sun to try and not fulfil God's call. However God had His way because He gave Moses everything he needed so He can free the Israelites. He gave Moses the gift of speaking powerfully, He gave Moses physical things such as a staff that turns into a snake and on top of that He God sent the plagues to support the task Moses was given. God doesn't just let us get on with it and leaves us to fend for ourselves, He equips us and He never leaves us. "God does not call the equipped, He equips the called".

I pray that for you reading this will be encouraged and affirmed in your faith that the God you serve is faithful. Have a blessed week this week.

Get in touch:

Email: pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @peggo36

Who is The Salvation Army?

When I asked myself this question, who is the Salvation Army? My thoughts straight away turned to how did the Salvation Army begin, what was it that breathed the army into life?

If we look at our history, a man named William Booth, a Methodist lay preacher from Nottingham, travelled to London to preach the Gospel. He looked upon the streets of the east end of London  and what did he see; Unemployed men wondering the streets, women selling themselves, Children passed out drunk on the roads, people starving and begging for food, the pubs and Gin Palaces full and prisons still loading the criminals in.  Yet in all of this, the place where these people could find comfort and Salvation did not want them. The Church did not welcome these poor and destitute people but William Booth saw that these people need physical and spiritual healing, these people need Jesus!

And so God raised the Salvation Army up out of the slums of Mile End waste for the lost. But what gave William Booth this passion for the lost, where did his heart for the lost come from? Luke Chapter 4 answers that question. When Jesus stood up in the temple, He could have read out any prophecy and fulfilled it that day but He chose to read the passage of scripture from Isaiah 61 and Jesus said; "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners"

Where did William Booth get his heart for the lost? He got it from Jesus! And when we think about identity and our identity as a Salvation Army, it does not mean what we look like in the sense of what we wear or the instrument we play but our identity is what we are made up of. Our identity is what stirs us, it's our passions and it is our convictions that make up our identity and surely as a Salvation Army we need to take up the identity of Christ and in turn have that passion for the lost. It says in scripture in Luke 19:10  that Jesus "...came to seek and save the lost." That was Jesus' goal, that was the reason why Jesus came to earth. To save sinners. If we look at the whole of the bible, it comes down to the fact that Jesus came to save sinners. In Genesis, we can read about the fall and the point where sin entered into that beautiful relationship between God and man and when man distanced himself from the love of God. God sent many people in the  form of Leaders and Judges and Prophets to come and bring God's people back into line but it was God's one and only plan to send the dearest thing he had in His  Son Jesus, to Earth so that sinners can be saved and that the Church through Jesus Christ would be established to complete  the commission God gave us in Matthew 28, "Go and make disciples of all nations..."

That commission given to the disciples, doesn't just apply to the select few who heard it. That commission is our calling, it is mine and it is your calling and ultimately it is the Salvation Army's calling. We are a Salvation Army, some of us may know the story of William Booth and his son Bramwell and they were writing a letter to be sent from the then called Christian Mission movement and it said "We are a volunteer Army", Bramwell Booth looked at the letter and said, "I am no volunteer" and they crossed out the word volunteer and replaced it with Salvation. There's a great quote that come from Booth and it says "We go for souls and we go for the worst" and that's exactly what Jesus did. He didn't come to Earth to socialise with the established Gentry, He came to Earth to be with sinners. The tax collectors, the prostitutes, even His dying breath was spent with criminals. The Salvation of the lost is the heart of Jesus. And it must be our heart too. We are a Salvation Army! It must be who we are, we have to reflect that desire and passion for those who are in darkness and for those who are prisoners of sin. It is our heritage and it has to be our identity. If we were asked who are you (as in who is the Salvation Army), would you reply, "We are the Salvation Army and we save souls"? Maybe the next question would be, why? My answer would be because Jesus did it. Jesus has to be at the centre of who we are as a Salvation Army, and with that everything that He does we must replicate, who He loves we must love, His Heart must be our heart. 

Does the Salvation Army have the same passion that Jesus had? Can the Salvation Army read from Isaiah 61 and say ""The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on us, because the Lord has anointed us to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent us to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" Is this who we are? Our purpose on this planet is to bring souls to Salvation?

When looking at who we are, we must not shy away from the fact that we are an army. We are called an Army for a reason and like any other Army we are a fighting Army, it says in Ephesians 6:12 that "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." We are at war, I am no expert in Spiritual conflict theology but I believe that there is an evil one and he will try his very best to ruin anything that is Holy and Just in this world. We as a Salvation Army have to stand up against and fight against these evil forces. These forces delight in suffering and pain and it is the exact opposite to the reason why Jesus was sent to Earth, once more Luke Chapter 4; "He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted..."

We as an army with our identity in Christ have to fight against these things. And that can come in a number of ways, it may mean literally getting our hands dirty and going into the worst places of this world. It is where the Salvation Army began and it is where the Salvation Army belongs. General Linda Bond says, "The Army belongs in the dark places to shine the light of Jesus." Who is the Salvation Army? We are a light in the darkness, we go to places where people are too scared to go, where pain and suffering is obvious and there is no sense of God working. It is who we are, it is where we belong. It may mean that we pray. We need to be an Army on our knees, we need to pray for the lost and we need to pray for our Salvation Army. Or it could mean in our everyday lives, we live a life that reflects Jesus and that means showing love to those we come into contact with and standing up against the things we see that are not right in this world.

Whatever way, we as a Salvation Army are a fighting Army and we're not just fighting against things, we are fighting for things as well. We are fighting for the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven here on Earth. A kingdom where sin has no hold on anyone and a kingdom where our God is King over all. I read from Revelation 21: “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her  husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.   “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” This is why the Salvation Army is alive, this is what we are fighting for, for the Kingdom of heaven here on Earth. It is who we are.

You all may have your own interpretation of who the Salvation Army but you can’t refute the fact that we are a Salvation Army. We are an Army fighting for the Lost and an Army fighting against Sin in this world.

Do you want to join in on that fight? Are you willing to commit to God in fighting against injustice and for the marginalised? Is God calling you specifically to do or to be something? Then I ask you to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Who is the Salvation Army? We are a Salvation Army, called to save and fight for the lost. William Booth wrote this poem and as I read it will you make the same promise as he did all those many years ago?

While women weep as they do now,                      

I’ll fight.                                                                   

While Little Children go hungry as they do now,   

I’ll fight                                                                     

While Men go to prison in and out, in and out as they do now.

I’ll fight.

While there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul, without the light of God.

I’ll fight. I’ll fight to the very end.

Build your Kingdom here!

Good afternoon, I must apologise for not blogging last week. It was a very busy week and by the time I had chance to blog I thought that I might as well do two next week. So you've got two to read!

So it has been a really good couple of weeks here in Eston. It has been busy but within all the business a time where the good Lord is really working in people's lives and in the life of Eston Corps. Something really exciting is happening at Eston in the next couple of weeks and it is going to be an expansion to the ministry of the Salvation Army in this community. Without saying too much, basically the work that is taking place with Children in Eston will develop into a ministry for youth (between the ages of 11-18). These are really exciting times here and I just pray that God will be in our preparation and in the deliverance of this new area of minstry. It's so exciting! Another exciting thing that is happening in the next couple of weeks is that this Friday a number of young people from Texas will be joining the churches here for a week. It is called the Texan mission week and there is going to be a lot happening and I have the privilege of working alongside these Texans in what they are going to be doing. But once more we as a Salvation Army have an opportunity to go into new places, build up a relationship and establish ministry there. We will be going into secondary schools and a school for Kid's who struggle with behaviour, we will be doing street work and helping out in youth groups. All chances to tell people about Jesus and build the Kingdom of God here in Eston.

It is amazing how God works. As part of my year of discipleship, I have been trying to complete "Bible in a Year" and it hasn't been the easiest thing. When I read about all the many old laws and all the different tribes, it becomes really heavy going and it takes true grit and determination to get through it and at on occasions I have been frustrated at not having a clue what it is going on about. I hit one of those times just a couple of weeks ago, I have been reading Joshua and towards the end of the book it spends many chapters going through the distribution of the Land of Canaan to all the many different tribes of Israel... if you want something heavy to read then read the back end of Joshua! I read these passages of scripture and I was questioning why on earth is that in the Bible? I had no answer until I thought about all the new and exciting things happening in Eston. This land in Joshua was unclaimed, it was been inhabited by people who did not know God and so the people of Israel had to go through Canaan and reclaim the land for God. It is such a great parallel, God distributing the land in which Israel claimed is very similar to the way God is allowing us to go into new places and claim that land. I just pray that the Holy Spirit will go and pave the way before us so that great things can happen!

For the last few weeks, Eston has done a series of meetings on "Identity". The first week, Trevor (CSM) led the meeting thinking about "Who am I?" as in who am I as an individual. I led the meeting last week about "Who is The Salvation Army?" and yesterday Gary (CO) led the meeting on "Who is Eston Salvation Army?". It has been a really good series and the meeting I led really helped me let alone, I hoped, helped other people. I am going to post my sermon as my other blog because I want people to read my thoughts on who I think the Salvation Army is or at least who the Salvation Army should be! I would really appreciate your comments on any blog but paticularly that one.

Have a good week and get in touch!

God Bless!

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

Tomado De La Mano

Good afternoon! I hope you had a good week last week. It was the first week after Easter and I'm guessing if you were like me, it took a little bit of time to get back in the swing of things! But it's all back to normal now, whatever normal is!

So to start the week last week, on Bank Holiday Monday, Eston Salvation Army held a community event called "Easter Cracked". It is similar format to the Christmas community event "Carols in the Car Park" (see the Christmas vlog to get an idea) and the idea was to get people from the community into the Salvation Army so they can learn about the true meaning of Easter. I thought it was a great success, we had around 60 people come in from outside the church and do some Easter themed crafts, play games and learn about Jesus. We had some great conversations with some people and there was one person I had a conversation with who was doing a quiz and one of the questions was; "Does Jesus live today?" Her answer was, "Yeah, He lives in our hearts". Now, I don't know if this individual had a Church background or not but she was prompted to make that statement of faith because of the Salvation Army holding a community event. Whether she said that statement to answer the question or whether she believes it, I pray that that truth of Jesus living in our hearts will stick with that person and she will not only know it as truth but be witness to it as well!

So I bet you're wondering what on earth "Tomado De La Mano" means? Well if you play in a Salvation Army brass band you may know what it means, it means "Holding Hands". This piece of music is called Tomado De La Mano and it has the song "I'll hold my hands with Jesus and walk with Him." and this thought has stuck in my head of walking with Jesus. This Tuesday I am leading the House Group at Eston and we shall be looking at the passage of Scripture in Luke Chapter 24, The Road to Emmaus. So to set the scene; Jesus has been crucified and so the disciples run and go into hiding, however on the third day people have said Jesus has risen and is alive. Now, we have the privilege of knowing the whole story, but put yourself in the shoes of the disciples would you want to get your hopes up thinking that the man who you have given up your life for and followed for 3 years, and who you have just seen humiliated and killed in the most painful fashion, may have risen from the dead? Honestly, I don't think I would have had the faith to believe that either. So two followers left Jerusalem and headed on the road to Emmaus. On this road to Emmaus, these two followers were joined by a mysterious man, the man asked them what has happened in Jerusalem and so they told him. This mysterious man went on to the two travellers ask why don't they believe that the Son of God could rise again and went on to teach them what the scriptures say about the Messiah. When this man finished teaching them about the scriptures, he went into the house of the travellers and he broke bread with them. The two men looked at this mysterious man and realised who they have been walking with; This Man was Jesus.

This story is so fascinating. The most fascinating part was that when the men realised it was Jesus, He just vanished! But the part that got me thinking was that these men were walking away from Jesus. When Jesus rose from the dead the angel said "He (as in Jesus) has gone before you into Galilee" but these men were going the opposite direction! They were not going the way Jesus wanted them to go, literally! So Jesus  comes alongside them, reveals Himself to them and they believe once more. I think this story is common in many people's lives. We like to go off on our own way and ignore the path God has paved before us, but God doesn't curse and punish us for that. Instead He sends Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit to come alongside, show us who He is and guide us back home. If there is someone reading this that feels they are going off in the wrong direction then I want to comfort you and say that you can always turn back round again and walk with Jesus. I pray that for myself, that every day of my life, I will hold my hands with Jesus and walk with Him.

If you need to get in contact with me about anything to do with this blog then please feel free. I hope you have a good rest of the week.

God bless you all.

@peggo36 -Twitter
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk  - Email

"I don't know!"

Good evening! I must apologise that I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks, it has been very busy and blogging has slipped my mind. But here it is so enjoy!

So the last time I blogged I asked you to pray for Spring Harvest as I was about to join a team from the Salvation Army who were going to work with 11-14 year old who were attending. If you did pray, the thank-you because your prayers were answered.  It was such a blessed and significant time at Spring harvest and an absolute privilege to work, talk and pray with over 500 children over the week. I was both blessed and challenged over the week and the experience is something that I will treasure and take with me. I was blessed with the fact that I was put in a situation where on a number of occasions I had the opportunity to pray with young people who are giving their hearts to Jesus for the first time, the Holy Spirit was really moving and young people came to Christ over that week. It was an honour to be the person to pray for them as they committed their lives to God, words can't describe how I felt, it was a joyous and yet humbling experience and something that I'm so pleased to be a part of. I just pray that those young people who gave their hearts to Jesus would keep strong in that commitment and their faith would go from strength to strength. I was also really challenged over the week with some of the questions that I was asked. I was leading a Seminar Space called "Deeper" and it was the opportunity for the young people to come and discuss what they learnt in the morning session and if they had any questions that they wanted to ask. One lad came up to me afterwards with this question- "Can God do anything?" My immediate answer was yes and then he went on to ask, "So can He make a rock so heavy that he can't lift it?" ... if you can come up with a good answer to that question then please get in contact! What a challenge, a young person asking me a question to which I did not have an answer! A great challenge and it was a great privilege to lead that seminar with those young people.

I do hope you all had a good Easter.  Easter is always a significant time for me, I try my best to find something new in the Easter story every year. Something that brings new light to the story or something that I haven't noticed but it is very significant all the same. The thing that stood out to me actually is the same challenge that young lad brought to me at Spring Harvest. Who moved the stone? Sceptics would say that the disciples did, others would say the Romans soldiers guarding the tomb moved the body and other people would create other theories. But every "conspiracy theory" people come up with, it is refuted and explained. The only way the stone was rolled away was by the power of God, it was power of God that raised Jesus to life. I don't get it, I don't understand how but I believe with all my heart He is risen and He lives! The answer I gave to the boy at Spring Harvest was the same way I try to understand the power of God. I said to him, that a man trying to understand the mind of God  is the same as a worm trying to understand the mind of man. It isn't going to happen! But sometimes the best thing to do is to say I don't know but I believe. I don't know how Jesus was raised from the dead but I believe He did. I think that is what faith is about and it is something that I am coming to really learn over this year, I don't need to know all the answers to have a strong faith.

Have a blessed week everyone, get in touch.

God Bless.

Kingdom Builders

Good evening all! I've hope you've had a great week. Once again it has been busy at Eston but it is such a blessing to be in ministry. Trying my very best to minister the Grace of God to all who I come into contact with.

I am writing this blog at the moment back home in Wellingborough as tomorrow I head off for Spring Harvest with the ALOVE team. We are leading the Distinctive group which is the 11-14 year olds that are coming to Spring Harvest. I am a team member and will be leading the Deeper Space which allows the opportunity for the young people to discuss and debate what they have learned and hopefully be challenged to take the message deeper and apply it to the whole of their lives. So if you are reading this can you quickly say a prayer, right now, wherever you are, for the young people gathering tomorrow at Minehead, for all the team members and that the Holy Spirit would really move and make a difference in all our lives.

It's quite amazing how much you learn by teaching. I was preparing my GRID lesson (11-14 year old teaching resource) and the theme was the "Encounters with Jesus". We have looked at a couple of disciples and their encounters with Jesus such as Thomas and John, but this week as we are running up to Easter we looked at Judas. Now I always thought that the reason Judas betrayed Jesus because he lost his faith. He was swayed by what the Pharisees said and the persuasion of money got the better of him. But studying Judas and looking into who he was, it goes much deeper. Judas was a man who was disappointed in Jesus, not because Jesus did anything wrong but He wasn't what Judas wanted Him to be. Judas was a Jew that believed when the Messiah comes He would come and rescue the Jews from oppression, so when Jesus came claiming to be the Son of God, Judas was ready for Jesus to be a warrior ready to free them from the rule of the Romans. But we know Jesus did not come to fight, He came to rescue us yes, but not as a warrior but through His teaching of Love and forgiveness. I think Jesus and Judas were just two very different people, Judas wanted to build an empire with the Messiah claiming the throne over the conquered Roman empire, this was seen when the woman came to Jesus to pour perfume over His head. Judas just saw this as a waste and focused on what could of been gained of selling that expensive bottle. However Jesus saw this as a loving sacrifice, Jesus rejoiced over the woman giving her all to Him as this is what is required in His Kingdom, Love. That's what Jesus came to Earth for, to bridge the Gap between God and man and to build His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Judas just couldn't understand this, so his last resort was to betray His Lord. 

I don't understand all the hidden details in the story but I know that my Jesus died for me, He rose again and lives within me. I must make sure I am a Kingdom builder, I need to offer myself as a living sacrifice in worship and Love and show Grace so that His Kingdom can be a reality here on Earth.

I hope you have a good week. God Bless.

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

A Mighty Army!

Good morning all. I hope you all have had a good week. It's been nice and busy here in Eston and then we had a great weekend at Alove's big day out on Saturday. More of that to come...

I can't quite believe how quick the year is going. It didn't seem too long ago since last Easter but now Holy Week is upon us. I'm just about to lead our CAMEO (Come and Meet Each Other) as I'm writing this and my talk is going to be focusing on the Easter message but how we prepare for the it. Do we look for something new in the story or do we just wave it away as a tale we've time and time again. What does the story mean to us? So over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be going over the Scriptures and looking for something new to apply to my life.

On Saturday it was ALOVE's Big Day Out. It was held at Thorpe Park and around 1500 young people gathered together for the day. It was such a good day and after the park closed we had access to an after hours gig where all the Salvation Army youngsters were invited to come and share in mass worship. To just see all these people come together for this sole reason was so inspiring. Yes many I'm sure came for a day out in a theme park but I was able to witness a part of the Salvation Army being brought together. Being on the team meant that I didn't get to go on many rides (sympathy please!) but I wasn't really worried as I was able to meet people from all around the country. It was a privilege to be able to work at this event! Seeing all this young people got me thinking that Salvation Army is strong, what potential we have in our young people and in turn what a responsibility we have in teaching and nurturing these young people into obedient disciples. A few months ago I wrote a blog on Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones and in that passage of Scripture that when God breathed upon the bones there was a "Vast Army". I saw a vast Army on Saturday, all worshipping and praising God. We came together from all walks of life, all with different pasts and stories but with one thing in common, we all belong to the Salvation Army in one way or another and (whether we realise it or not) we are all children of God.

Have a blessed week.

Get in touch!

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

What is God doing? What is Man doing? What am I doing?

Good afternoon! Those who regularly read my blog will realise that I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. My apologies! But I am back now and the blog has started back up again.

So the reason I didn't blog last week was because I was in France. It was our 5th training week and it was a real significant time. The three questions we focused on during our trip were; What is God doing? What is Man doing? What am I doing?. So we visited many places and were really challenged to think about these questions when we meet various people and places. So that is what I am going to focus the blog on, those three questions and what I think the answers to the questions are.

I'm going to begin with the question of; What is man doing? One of the days in France was spent in Normandy and specifically at Omaha beach, one of the sites for the D-Day landings. It was such a powerful and yet slightly strange time. Walking through all the crosses marking the graves and seeing a representation of how many people died in this area was incredible. To think that 9000 soldiers died in that place not 80 years ago. It is hard to comprehend that sort of number. The really strange part of the visit to the beach was actually how calm and peaceful it was. It was almost tranquil. The picture I saw of that beach is a horrible polar opposite to what it would have been like that day when the allied forces landed on the same beach. The really scary thought that I tried to prevent myself from thinking was actually the sand I was walking on is the place where thousands of young men were brutally killed all in the act of war. Man has made a mess of things, he has killed he fellow human being, not just in World War 2 but in modern day conflict, and Man is continuing to try and make the best out of a bad situation. Whether we think about War or just all the troubles in our own lives, we can see that we are broken and we need God to come heal the pain of the past.

So that leads us to the next question; What is God doing? I think the answer to that question is that we will never fully know! We may see and hear some of what God is doing but we will never understand the mystery of His will and purpose. However, what I do know is that God is a God who shows Love and Grace and He is a God that transforms. During the last part of  our trip we visited Caen, now again Caen throughout History was a place that has been ravaged by war and as we stood up at the top of Caen castle looking out onto this war torn city, we could now see peace. People were living their everyday lives, businesses thriving and churches standing tall. This is what God is doing, not just in Caen but in other places and in the lives of people. He has the power to transform and none more so can we see this through the stories of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus was there to transform the lives of people He came into contact with, blind men were able to see again, Lepers were healed, the possessed became free and the condemned were pardoned. My God is a God of transformation and I believe, whether we can see it or not, this is what He is doing.

Now what am I doing? I need to be that agent of transformation. I need to be that person to show the Love of God to all people. That's what I must do. Scripture says "The Harvest is plentiful but the workers are few...". That's what I need to do, show Love and Grace to all people and allow God to transform the lives of people I come into contact with.

I hope you have a good week this week. Feel free to get in touch.

God Bless.

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

40 Acts of Lent

Good afternoon! How are we all? It's been quite a busy week this but a week full of blessings and challenges. Want to know more? See below!

So a real blessing this was Wednesday evening during our Hi-5 (kids club), for those that don't know we get around 30 kids a week. But this week, myself and my housemate were asked to lead Hi-5 for the first time. We focussed the evening on Prayer and I asked the kids what type of prayers does God like and how do we pray. They all came up with their own answers and they were good answers. We then went on to watch a prayer Jesus made at a time when He was struggling. We watched a clip from the miracle-maker (that alone took all the courage I have to watch it. I admit, I have a slight fear of the film) and the scene where Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and we all came to the conclusion that Jesus prayed a very real prayer and that actually although God does like the happy and joyful prayers we make, He also likes to hear the prayers where we are scared and are struggling. The thing that really blessed me about Hi-5 was one of the songs we sung at the start of the club. Some of you may know the song, "The Way it's gonna be". it's ultimately a Kid's song but I think that every person should sing it at least once in Church... with the actions! There's a lyric in their that says "I Just want to praise you..." and to see 20 to 30 kids singing that at the top of their voice really blessed me. I pray that that will be case for their lives, that they will just live their lives always praising Jesus.

The biggest challenge that came to me last week was once again the work Eston salvation Army does with the community in regards to the Emergency Food Parcels. We had many people come through the doors and just as I am writing this now we have had some more people come for help. More and more people are needing our help and not only are they needing help for food and utility bills but they are coming to us as broken people. We can do all we can in giving them a food parcel but actually they need to be spiritually healed and the way that can happen is for them to come into a knowledge of God and the love He has for each of us, no matter who we are or what we've done or where we have come from. I have had many God blessed moments with these people and I thank God for putting me in that place just at that time as I was able to minister Grace to these hurting people. I pray that God will continue to use me in whatever situation and with whoever I may come into contact with.

In case you haven't already realised. We have entered into our time of lent, now I can honestly say that I have never given up anything for lent and I haven't really ever taken it seriously. But this year I am making a commitment throughout lent and it's not to give something up but it is to simply give. The 40 Acts of Lent is an incentive created by the Christian charity- Stewardship. It focuses on being generous over this Lent period, what happens is that an email is sent to you at the start of the day with a task to do. I think it tries to get us to reflect on how privileged we are and being grateful for that and in turn then give to others out of that gratitude. Lent is a time when we aim to focus our hearts and minds towards Easter and the sacrifice Jesus made for us. I hope in this small way that I will be able to give and show Love to those I come into contact with and somehow through my life show how grateful I am for what Jesus did for me on that cross on Calvary.

Have a great week.

God Bless

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

To know your face, to know your place

Good evening. Another week has come and gone and so another blog is here, enjoy!

It was a good first week back at Eston after half term and another busy one at that. We began the week with our prize-giving meeting for our kids who are connected to the Salvation Army. Eston are so blessed to have such a big ministry focussed on Children. I have said before that on a Wednesday night we get roughly around 25-30 kids come to kids club and it is such a blessing to see them want to come to the Salvation Army, these kids want to come to Church and that's what they do every Wednesday. They may not realise it but Eston Salvation Army is their Church, this is where they come to meet God, even though they may not realise it.

On Friday we went to Crewe for the weekend for FORGE, which basically was a conference for anyone who works in the Salvation Army with youth and it was such a good weekend. The worship was fantastic, the seminars that were offered were interesting and the company was great. Although the weekend focussed on youth, some of the lectures did speak broadly about youth work and included children's ministry and what they had to say was fascinating. A session led by Professor David Voas focussed on the numerical decline of the church in regards to young people and basically the message from the talk was that young people are essential for the Church, I quote "The Church must retain it's young people if it is to survive" (Professor David Voas). That is such a challenge and maybe for some churches such a reality check, the church needs kids. There are even statistics that there is far more significant church growth when there are children in the congregation, in a study conducted by professor Voas he found that if there are more than 2 children to every 10 adults then the church growth is up by 25%. We need to focus on Children, the other lecture I went to was led by Reverend. Doctor Steve Emery-Wright and he says that "Youth and Children ministry must be at the heart of the vision..." It's such a challenge and the weekend definitely allowed me to focus on that challenge for the coming months, here at Eston.

As a conclusion to the weekend we had Lt.Col Alan Burns lead the final session. He focussed his message on John Chapter 1 and how Jesus was in the community, "the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us...", if we are going to be effective in mission and bringing Jesus into the everyday lives of people in our communities we minister to, we need to be there. It was such a powerful message and really got me thinking, am I myself, individually, fit for mission? Alan Burns went on to say that we need to "be", we need to be who Jesus wants us to be, to take up our identity in Christ. We need to be like Jesus and let Him do what it says in John Chapter 1, let Him "in dwell in us". I personally need to be more like Jesus, for it was Jesus that made transformation happen and it was Jesus who ultimately changed lives. If I am not like Him, showing the love and compassion to all people like he did then I am not going to be effective or "fit for mission". The colonel went on to preach about being "there". Jesus knew exactly where his place was, it was with those who were suffering. He didn't stay in the temple, He was out there with the lepers, the tax collectors, the prostitutes. We as a church need to know where we should be and that is not in the church. Mission is about being sent and to quote what Alan Burns was saying, "the here (inside the church) to 'there' journey is the biggest journey." Do I know my place? Am I personally placing myself out there, am I meeting people who need me to tell them of God's love rather than the people who I feel comfortable with being around? I need to be more like Jesus and "Be there", I need to know who I am in Christ and then go out and spread that message to those who are suffering.

I hope you have a good week this week and don't hesitate to ask any questions about the blog. Do get in touch!

God Bless.

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

It's Jesus

Good evening. I hope you are all well and happy, after a week back at home I'm now once again back in Eston. Simply, just wherever He needs me my Lord has placed me, so I'm ready to get on with the work that is ahead of me here in Eston.

Last week was half term and had chance to catch up with everyone back home in Wellingborough and I thought I would be able to have a rest but I ended speaking in Over 60s and doing the Home League. Not complaining though, love my home corps. So I had chance to talk to the folk about what's I'm doing in Eston and how I am getting on and it was great to be able to feedback to the people who have loved and supported me not just in the run up to essential but actually since I first arrived at Wellingborough as a nine year old boy. As I was explaining to the lovely people of Wellingborough home league about Eston Corps and all the things that go on, I did get this feeling that actually what has happened over the last six months has been really significant! I have developed, I have seen things that has rocked my pre-conception of how people live in this country and I have seen God really work in this community. It was only when I had the chance to reflect and tell others about what has gone on did I realise the enormity of what has happened. So am very happy that I was able to share with the Home league on Thursday, it helped me just as much as I hope it was interesting for them to listen to.

I've called the blog; It's Jesus. Over the last few weeks we have taken part in a course that covers the basics of Christianity called START. One of the tasks the  course asks us to do is look at some images if Jesus and see what we think of them. There was this one picture that really stood out to me and it was a forensic image of what Jesus would most likely have looked like.

 Here's the link to the picture-  http://www.bible-reflections.net/resource/this-is-what-jesus-really-looked-like/2853/

This picture really intrigued me and still does. Not only does it slightly scare me but it really makes me think. This man we love called Jesus was a very real man. He would have looked like an ordinary bloke from Nazareth, nothing to say that He was the Son of God and yet there must have been something with this ordinary man that people would flock to His side and when He commanded people to follow they got up anf left everything behind. I don't know if Jesus actually truly looked like that or whether that is scientists trying to be clever but I look upon that image and see a Man who represents my Jesus Christ. A person who loves me, even though I do not deserve it, so much that He would endure the pain of the Cross and die for me. Who is this man? It's Jesus. I know him, I love him, I wish I could serve him beter but I know He lives in my heart. All things of this world may be thrown at me, I may be in the darkest hour in my life,  I may feel that all is falling around me but all I need is Jesus. For He is the embodiment of the Love and Grace of God and through Him my many weaknesses are made strong. It's Jesus, the ordinary man, the Son of God and my friend. May I have the faith to live my life with courage and conviction and become more like Christ.

Have a good week. God bless each one of you!

Get in touch

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

Random Acts of Kindness

Good Morning all. I must apologise for not writing this last night but it is here this morning and that is what counts! So another busy week has come and gone and once again much happened.

So the week was a rather normal week. The programme carried on and people continued to come into the Salvation Army, although they may not be regular attenders, it is there church. One thing that really touched me and blessed me this week was an activity during our kid's club, Hi-5. Gary asked me to lead an activity which had the children threading beads on a bit of elastic string to make a bracelet. However, each bead represented something about Jesus. For example; one bead meant that Jesus was the Son of God and another would mean that Jesus did many miracles and I thought that the kids really responded to the task. But what really hit me was when after the club had finished, there was this lad, sitting on his own with his bracelet going through each bead and almost memorising each one. The kids that come to Hi-5, apart from a couple, none of them are "Army Kids", they don't come from a Salvation Army background and for some a church background whatsoever. So it was such a blessing to see this happen. The Salvation Army here in Eston are reaching out to Children and teaching them about the Gospel and about Christ but to see and hear a child really take in the message that was shared that evening, I found it incredible and such a moving experience.


Some of you this week may have seen on your social media sites a craze sweeping the nation called "Neknominations", where people are drinking large amounts of alcohol in a single glass by downing it in one go, videoing it and then nominating others to do the same. Now this isn't the time or place to go on a rant about it but it is quite simply stupid behaviour. But there has been a reaction to the viral stunt and it is called "Raknominations", standing for Random Acts of Kindness. People have videoed themselves doing random kind acts and nominating others to do the same. Something far more positive in my opinion. I thought about these Random Acts of Kindness people are doing and I thought I would like to do one of those but someone. put me in my place and said that actually why should we need to film it and post it all over the internet, we should just do it without looking to receive recognition and praise. The Salvation Army does it everyday, here in Eston with our food parcel ministry our acts of kindness are becoming almost a daily thing. But the difference is that the acts of kindness we show on a daily basis are not random, they are acts that have to be done because Christ compels us to do so. It says in scripture that "...Love your Neighbour as yourself...", we need to love the unlovable and we need to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. For when we do it for one those people who struggle, we do it for Jesus.

So that's this week's blog, I hope you enjoy it. I have this week to do then I'm back home for a week, I'm looking forward to the break with my family and my girlfriend.

Have a good week!

God Bless.

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

Where Jesus leads I'll follow on?

Hello there! Once again welcome to my blog for this week.

So what happened this week? Well other than the usual routine of the week, we have been focusing on a research project we have to do for this year. Without giving too much away, we are focusing our research on the youth around the community of Eston and surrounding areas. The one thing that has struck me whilst doing my research by talking to people or reading case studies is the obvious disadvantage the people who live in the area are in. There are high levels of unemployment, alcoholism and anti-social behaviour. But I believe that these are the type of areas that the Salvation Army should be and are reaching. If you look back at my vlog, I spoke about distribution day and how I felt it was the very reason why the Salvation Army is on this earth in the first place. In Isaiah it says:
                                                   
 Isaiah 61:1 NIV

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners..."
                                                       
What a mission. God has sent us, I believe as a Salvation Army to go and do that because what it says in Isaiah is still relevant today, there are still people in poverty who need the good news of the Gospel and there are still people who are suffering in the darkness of their situation. If one thing has really challenged me this year is the vulnerability and the poverty people in this, compared to others, rich country are living in.Seeing people having to choose to go hungry or keep warm, seeing people sleeping on a cold floor because authorities have not taken care to make sure they have a bed to sleep on, walking around estates which look run down but yet people call them home. Is this fair that people live like this? Throughout all of this, my God is Lord of it all. May He give me power, may He give individual corps power, may He give the whole Salvation Army power to make a difference in the world we live and the strength to challenge the injustice we see around us.

Gary preached this Sunday a sermon that got me really thinking. His theme was 'Hitting the wall' and that through our Christian lives we are going to hit a wall of pain and suffering but do we hit the wall and go on and grow from that or do we hit the wall and get stuck and fail tomove on in our spiritual life? This really got me thinking of the walls I hit and almost the ups and downs of my life. But I know that God was with me throughout it all. I suppose that's the thing about following Jesus, being his disciples means following Him no matter where Jesus leads. If you read very carefully in Scripture, the amount of times He led his disciples up the mountainside and then back down again. That's like our lives, following Jesus will take us to the peaks ans the great times, but it will also take us down to the valleys where our faith is tested. But like Gary said in his sermon on Sunday, we can either get stuck in the valley or at the wall or we can use it to grow and have a greater acceptance of the mystery of God because when we are down in the valley, we have to trust God that He'll get us back onto the mountainside through His mysterious and wonder workingGrace.

So I suppose that's my thought for the week. Now it's easy for me to write it in a blog, now I have to go and live it. Trust in God and know that His Grace is sufficient.

God bless.

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

Dry Bones

Good afternoon! I hope you are well. Another week has come and gone and it is once again time for my blog.

I think it could be said that I wasn't quite ready for the week on Monday, apparently Monday was the gloomiest day of the year in the sense that it's the day where people are more likely to be miserable than not. I wouldn't say I was any more miserable than I normally am but it was a busy week and part of me was still in the relaxing, festive mood. That mood has certainly gone now and I am back to the reality of routine, not that it is a bad thing at all. The usual routine of the week once again presented many opportunities to meet and talk to people, on a Wednesday we have two lots of Parent and Toddler sessions, great opportunity to get to know people around the community. On Thursdays we have a coffee morning and again a great chance to meet people I would never have had the chance of meeting. Then Thursday afternoons we go into the local school and again help build a relationship with the Salvation Army and the school. So yes, things may have gone back to routine but that doesn't mean to say things go back to being boring! The Gospel never changes so why should the shifting of a season change the attitude in which I share it? God is working, He is moving. It may take time but I know the efforts to build relationships with the community will pay off, just in His time. Certainly not in ours, as frustrating as that can be.

This weekend, the Alove and essential team attended a territorial prayer gathering in Swanick. The theme of the weekend was all about "Prophecy" and the spiritual gift of prophesying. It was very interesting and I definitely felt that I was blessed coming away from the weekend. Although I felt that the whole idea of Prophecy, yes it helped me to understand it but I did not feel like it was relevant for me. It just isn't one of my spiritual gifts and that's okay! But the Prophet that was focussed on during the weekend was Ezekiel and the part of Ezekiel's story that really stood out for me was the well known passage in scripture when Ezekiel was led into the Valley of Dry bones. This really got me thinking, the message of this story is so straight forward. Has there ever been times in your life where things seem dead and stagnant? Or the Church/Corps you worship at and love seems to be lifeless and needs reviving? Do you look at yourself or your church and just see nothing more than Dry Bones? Well look what happened when God intervened and spoke to Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind to bring life to the bones, when God breathed upon these bones not only did they spring to life, they created a "vast army". When the spirit of God is upon us or when the spirit of God dwells within our churches and Corps and the whole Salvation Army look what can be done. God can revive and He can, and will, equip us for everything. It fascinates me to think what happened after this event, where did the army go? What did it do? Did God's presence continue to stay within them? I think these are the same questions that can be asked about our army. Where will the Salvation Army go? What is it going to do? Will we continue to seek God's presence within us? I do not know the answer to those questions but all I know is that we have a faithful God and a God whose Spirit can create an army out of bones, so what can God do, what is He doing with a worldwide Salvation Army who are not made out of bones, but people who claim to love and serve Him?

I hope you have a great week this week. Please get in contact with me if you have questions about anything, I will try to answer them!

God Bless.

@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk

Onwards!

Good afternoon and I suppose a Happy New Year to you, even if we are now coming to the end of January. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas but now it's back to routine and normality. I am now back up at Eston and ready to carry on the work I began last year and ready to pick up my weekly blogging, did you miss me?

So, my first week back and the week once more provided me with opportunity to meet people I would have had no chance of meeting before and on top of that to talk to them about faith and about Christ was just a blessing. I look back at the last 5 months and I have had so many opportunities to talk to people about Jesus, it's quite incredible. Whether that be with fellow Christians or through School assemblies or by simply talking to the person who has come to the Salvation Army for help. There is a lovely song called "God be in my Head" and a lyric in that song says "God be in my mouth, and be in my talking". A way for us to communicate God is by talking about Him, not hiding him away and pretending to get on with our lives. In November during a week of training with ALOVE (Youth department for the Salvation Army), we were on Oxford Street handing out leaflets inviting people to visit the Christmas Fair in Regent Hall Salvation Army. As I was doing this, a man walked past me very quickly and said "Jesus loves you!" and I heard him tell that to everybody he walked past on that street. I saw some people have quizzical look on their faces and some even laughing but has he not got the right idea? Okay, his methods are probably not the best but this man was telling everybody about Christ. What does it say in Matthew Chapter 28? "...go and make disciples of all nations...", "All nations", that means everyone should know about Jesus and the love He has for them. I echo the prayer of that song may God continue to be in my talking, may I have the courage to speak of Him to all people of all nations.

I've called the blog "Onwards", and my thinking of this comes from the idea of onwards we go into the new year. Now, I may upset a certain generation of people who read my blogs but I am not a big fan of the song, "Onward Christian Soldiers", I like the words but the tune really annoys me. But sticking to this idea going onward really hits me. 2014, apart from the 20 days that have already been, this year is unknown, no one knows what it is going to bring and for some people, including me to an extent, this scares them. The idea of them not being in control and not knowing what lies in store really bothers them. But my message for this blog is very simple, although we don't know what lies ahead and things may change and this year may bring all sorts of concerns and surprises, God's love remains the same. Gary picked an excellent song yesterday written by the late General John Gowans which says those words, "His Love remains the same". So why do we fear the unknown of 2014 if we know that God's love won't change. The year may have changed but God's love hasn't. I pray for myself that I may go onward into the unknown of this year with the confidence that God loves me and I pray that you reading this will too know the unchanging, unfailing, unconditional, incomprehensible Love of God.

I'm looking forward to this year, so many exciting things are going to happen and I am so thankful for the situation I am in; I have the most wonderful people who love me in the form of my family and Sophie, I have the privilege to be here to learn from the wise and lovely people Gary and Lorraine and I have a God who has been faithful and has got me this far, I think I'll trust him for the future.

God Bless.


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@peggo36
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