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