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Welcome back to THE HOLY GO!

I hope you enjoyed “THE SAINTS” series and kept up with some of the activations.

This week I am inspired by Pentecost and the foundation of the early Church. I hope it inspires you to jump into the story of God!

Equip

I’ve been thinking about some of the fun activities Sarah and I would do as we got to know each other, and as we started dating.

We would do the normal things like going to the movies and going out for meals… But there was another thing we did that I don’t often hear other couples talking about.

On many Saturday nights we would meet up with some friends and go to The Salvation Army Training College Chapel. We would get there shortly after dinner and we would pray.

We would pray for each other.
We would pray for our Churches.
We would pray for our friends.
We would pray for the lost.
We would pray for our leaders.
We would pray for the whole world!

These prayer meetings were not led by anyone. They were just a bunch of friends who loved praying together. We

confessed our sin and weaknesses to each other
repented of our sin
listened to what God was saying to us
chose to believe what God said and
encouraged one another.

In these prayer meetings we learned

how to hear God speak
how to activate spiritual gifts
how to prophesy
how to pray for healing, freedom, peace and
how to become aware of the presence of God.

These meetings were special.

Sometimes they were loud and joyful!
Sometimes they were more quiet as we lamented.
Sometimes they were full of faith.
Sometimes they were full of life and energy!

Although these meetings looked different each week, they often resulted in the same outcome.

After praying for two, three, or even five hours we would leave the chapel and head to the City to share the gospel.

As if something was propelling us forward, we would make our way to alleyways, street corners, lines out the front of night clubs, and we would share the gospel.

We would talk to jovial party goers.
We would listen to those sleeping on the streets.
We would share our testimonies.
We would offer to pray for people.
We would share the gospel.
We would buy meals and accomodation.
We would sit with drunks as they sobered up.

Some nights we saw entire groups of people give their lives to Jesus. Other nights it seemed like we did nothing at all despite out best intentions.

It’s funny to think that this was the foundation of our marriage.

But it’s also the foundation of the Church.
This is how the gospel spreads.

It starts with believers praying together.
They encounter the living God.
Then filled with boldness, they proclaim the gospel.

It’s a simple pattern.

It’s the story of God and we are all invited to join in.

I wonder what would happen if we all gave it a shot?

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 4:31

Activate

This weeks activation is to gather one or more friends together, and pray. Pray for each other, for others, then follow the prompting of The Holy Spirit of what to do next!

If you’re stuck on what to pray, or how to pray then I strongly suggest you explore the great library of resources at 24-7 Prayer.

Let’s Go!

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Hello Everybody and welcome back to “The Holy Go!”

Today we continue our “THE SAINTS” series where we are looking at a Jesus shaped approach to discipleship and spiritual formation.

If last week looked at the “art” of abounding in love, today is the “science” of abounding in love and how Church forms. I hope it inspires you to be the Church wherever you are!

Equip

What do we do next?

The first Church that Sarah and I led was in Country Victoria. When we ran an evangelism conference to equip our people to reach the city we didn’t realise what would happen.

The first weekend a youth in her first year of High School led a friend to the Lord. The two of them approached me after the Sunday meeting and said,

“What do we do next?”

I simply replied,

“How many more friends do you have?”

They smiled at me and then over the course of the next month or two they helped dozens of young people respond to Jesus.

One day she gave us an update. Apparently she had been quite busy at School and told me something along these lines,

“Around 30 people have prayed to respond to Jesus, but only 20 are seriously following Him. Each day we gather together, we pray, and reach out to our classmates. Some days we spend lunch looking for those who have no friends and we be there friend. Other days we share our lunch, or pray for one another, worship or do a Bible Study.”

Stunned, I asked her,

“That’s amazing! How did you know to do all of this?”

Her reply was simple and profound:

“We just do what you do.”

She had simply looked at the shape of Church and tried to copy it in her School.

This simple story is a great example of Church…

Church in Scripture

When we look at “Church” in Scripture we see 4 different types of Church, yet they are all considered Church:

The Saints.
Believers were known as The Church. You and I are The Church. These saints were sent to set tables, or create spaces for people to encounter and experience God.
(E.g. 1 Corinthians 1:2)

The Church that meets in ____ house.
Church is also seen as gatherings of saints meeting in homes. As people encounter Jesus, they didn’t just stay individuals, they began to gather and form spiritual families. Whether in homes, along riverbanks, or in halls, these were families of faith learning to follow Jesus together.
(E.g Romans 16:3–5, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Philemon 1:1–2 etc)

The Church in *City Name*.
Church was also known as “all” the saints and “households/spiritual families” combined. Together they made up “The Church in The City.” This was not necessarily a weekly gathering, rather it referred to all the saints and spiritual families in that city.
(E.g 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1 etc)

The Church.
Finally, we see that all the saints and groups around the entire world are called, “The Church.” This is the worldwide body of Christ.
(E.g Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1:22–23 etc)

We can see from this progression that The Church could be described like this:

We are SAINTS,
sent to set TABLES,
form HOUSEHOLDS,
and be THE CHURCH in [CITY].”

The Invitation

What would it look like if this wasn’t just something we understood, but something we actually lived?

If every saint believed they were sent to set tables and create everyday spaces where people can encounter Jesus…

If every table, home, school, and workplace became the birth place of another spiritual family…

What if we caught the same simple instinct as that young student in Country Victoria, who didn’t overcomplicate anything, but just “did what Church does”.

Church wouldn’t be something we attend.
It would be something that multiplies.
Spiritual families would form naturally.
And the Church would quietly fill every part of our cities.

This is the invitation:
to be the Church… and see the Church everywhere.

Lord, may it be so!

Activate

This week, don’t think “Where is the Church?” Instead ask, “Where am I setting the table?”

Choose one simple, intentional way to create space for someone to encounter Jesus or experience His love: invite someone for a meal, check in on someone who feels alone, pray with a friend, or gather a few people and begin a spiritual family rhythm.

Start small. Stay faithful.

And remember: every table you set is a seed of Church being formed.

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone!

Welcome back to another edition of “The Holy Go!” My prayer is that these newsletters helps teach, equip and empower you to make disciples.

Last week we looked at the second of three A’s: Abiding in Love and looked at a great model for where to go in prayer. I hope it helped you enjoy the presence of God more this week!

This week we look at "Abounding in Love” by looking back at one of the most profound miracles I have been involved in.

Equip

Victoria Falls

Back in 2012 we visited Victoria Falls.

We had been in a missionary school for three months and had travelled to Zimbabwe for the next part of our missions trip. But this day was all about fun. We were simply here as tourists.

Victoria Falls is one of the largest and most spectacular waterfalls in the world, where the Zambezi River plunges more than 100 metres into a massive basalt gorge.

As we walked through the rainforest that was created by the mist from the massive waterfall, we paused and watched… we were awestruck at God’s creation. A profound sense of love washed over us and we totally forgot about any sense of being on “mission.”

As soon as we stepped into the carpark to leave, a deaf-mute man approached us. He had a sign up sheet for something, but not able to understand what it was for I asked a different question,

“Do you want us to pray for you?” I motioned with my hands so he could understand.

He gave a simple nod and we began praying for him.

A group of local guys were watching us and laughing. They began mocking us by laying hands on one another and pretending God was touching them.

Suddenly the man we were praying for pointed to his ear. He was very excited. He was beginning to hear! A friend of his rushed over to see what was happening.

“Has he always been able to hear a little bit, or is this new?” I enquired of the friend.

His friend, with a shocked look on his face replied,

“No! He’s never heard anything before!”

Buoyed by the improvement in his hearing we kept praying. Soon his ears opened up and he could hear everything we were saying. We turned our attention to his speech now.

“Say Jesus!” We encouraged him. “Jesus is healing you! Say His name!”

“Juh… Juh… Juhs… Jesus!”

The crowd that had gathered around us went wild as they saw this man they knew was deaf and mute now completely healed!

The young men who were mocking us moments ago now grabbed us and attempted to pull us away from the man. They figured that if God can heal a deaf mute, then maybe we could bless their shop!

We shared the gospel with them then quickly got on our bus that was already late to leave.

As I sat in my seat and looked out the window I pondered what had just happened.

Here we were on a tourist day,
with no missionary agenda,
with no prepared ministry,
just a day of enjoying creation,
basking in the love of God,
And God performs one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen.

Abounding in Love

What if the above story was how life was meant to be lived?

What if mission,
sharing the gospel,
and making disciples,

simply came from the overflow of our hearts?

If we had nothing good in our hearts nothing good would overflow.

But what if our hearts were so full of love that an outrageous love would overflow everywhere we went? A love that was so gracious, so generous and so free that people were both drawn to you and confused by you wherever you went.

The reality is that when we Awaken to love and Abide in love, we cannot help but Abound in love!

That’s how Jesus lived.

And that’s the invitation for you and I.

You see, when we abound in love, nothing is mission AND everything is mission at the same time. Love simply becomes a way of life… and boy is it exciting!

Activate

This weeks activation is to go for a walk and as you pass people ask God for a strategy to love them. Start by asking this question, “What would love look like to them?”

Perhaps love would look like:

• Stopping and having a chat with them

• Offering to pray with someone

• Sharing your faith story

• Telling them something about Jesus

• Giving them some money or something you own

• Buying their groceries

Whatever it is, allow the love of God to bubble up and out of you this week.

Let’s Go!

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Welcome back to The Holy Go: Your weekly shot of disciple making inspiration!

Last week’s challenge was based on the first step of Spiritual Formation: Awakening to Love. Go check it out here if you haven’t already.

Today we continue our series by looking at the second A, Abiding in Love.

If “Awakening to Love” is about becoming aware of who we are in Christ and the incredible inheritance we have as a believer, then “Abiding in Love” is how we participate in this.

Equip

Have you ever wanted to be closer to God?

I remember reading stories of Christian mystics and wanting to be “as close to God” as they were. For example,

St Francis would wake up in the middle of the night to pray. One night a young friar, curious about these prayer times, followed him into the woods. When he arrived, he saw St Francis in deep conversation and was so overwhelmed by the glory of God that he fell down as though dead. Francis later found him, picked him up, and took him back.

St Teresa also experienced unusual manifestations in prayer. The most famous was levitation during deep prayer. She was embarrassed by it, as she hated attention. She only wanted people to look at Jesus.

As I read these stories I would think:

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if I could be that close to God?”

As I considered their lives marked by passionate love for God, and the impact they had, I thought:

I want what they have!

Not Closer, More Aware

But as I read more about the mystics, I realised I had something backwards.

I thought they were closer to God.
But they’re not.
They’re just more aware.

St Teresa taught that our union with Christ “is not a thing of the imagination, but a true and most certain possession of God.”

So if it is real, we should be able to participate in it and experience it. She called this “Mystical Union” and taught ways to enter it through prayer.

I’ve summarised her steps from The Interior Castle as a simple guide for prayer. Instead of teaching what to say, it’s more of a map of where to go:

Steps to Prayer

Step 1: Searching
“The soul begins to consider the things of God.”

We become aware of God’s presence. We turn our attention from the world and begin to search for Him in each moment.

Step 2: Meeting
“It is the Lord who begins to give the soul knowledge of Himself.”

We begin to sense God’s presence. As we go deeper, the noise of life quietens and we recognise He is already here.

Step 3: Enjoying
“The soul is given a great peace and delight in God’s presence.”

We begin to commune with God. We know He is here, we sense Him, and we begin to enjoy His presence.

Step 4: Mystical Union
“The soul is so united with God that it seems no longer itself but wholly His.”

We are now so deeply absorbed in God’s presence we are unaware of the world around us. We may feel overwhelmed by love, peace, or stillness. We realise God is in us, and we are in Him.

More than a Moment

I love how Teresa describes prayer as a journey into awareness of our union with Christ. We may not always move through every step, but it shows us what we’re growing into: a life of abiding with God.

Abiding in Christ is not just a moment, but a lifestyle of becoming aware of what is already true.

If we cannot be any closer to God than we are now, then:

• We can become aware of His presence at any moment

• We can hear His voice throughout the day

• We have constant access to love, joy, and peace

• We carry the life, love, and power of Jesus

Our first step in The Saints formation is to Awaken to Love.
The next step is to Abide in Love.
Next week we’ll look at Abounding in Love.

Activate

This weeks activation is to spend some time reflecting on your prayer life.

Question: At what step do you usually give up or move on to something else?

Spend some time in prayer now, and go a little longer and ask God to take you to a deeper level of awareness. Instead of focusing on what you are saying to God, focus on your awareness of God.

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone,

Welcome back to another edition of “The Holy Go” where we are continuing our “The Saints” series looking at Spiritual Formation.

Last week’s challenge was to spend some time looking at the “Three A’s Discipleship Table” and reflect on your own spiritual formation. I have found this immensely helpful at pointing out gaps in my own discipleship. Go check it out here if you haven’t already.

Today we look at the first A, “Awakening to Love,” in more depth.

Equip

Hidden Valuables

I love hearing stories of people who possessed something of great value but didn’t realise it. I’ve read stories of those who had:

• Paintings worth millions hanging in their kitchen

• Bowls from ancient China used for lollies

• Loose coins that turned out to be extremely rare

Some of these owners go through financial hardship, not knowing they have access to millions. If only they could see…

In a similar way, all humans possess a valuable gift but don’t realise it.

Praying for More?

It reminds me of a famous song I loved singing in The Salvation Army. It summed up so many of my prayers for more power.

Give us the promised Holy Ghost,
We want another Pentecost,
Send the fire! Send the fire today!

While I love what this song is getting at, it also demonstrates a problem with praying for “more”: We unintentionally pray for something we already have.

God, we need more of You!
God, we need more power!
God, we need more life!

Jesus said that eternal life was that we may “know God.” The Apostle Paul spoke of salvation as union with Christ, where He is in us and we are in Him. You can’t get any closer to God because you’re already in Him!

We’re told that in Christ we have all we need for life! All we need to be like God! In fact, we are told that we have been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing! We’ve got it all already!1

However, somewhere along the line we’ve traded that life giving relationship for a ticket to heaven.

We’ve emphasised right doctrine rather than relationship.
We’ve emphasised speaking to God rather than listening to God.
We’ve emphasised asking for rather than participating in.

All those things are good, but when we miss the deeper, union based glory of relationship, then we’ve doomed ourselves to a life of lack.

Awakening to Love

The first step of discipleship is “Awakening to Love.” It’s that moment where our eyes are opened to the reality of the God who loves us.

The Apostle Paul had been persecuting Christians, then God literally blinded him as a prophetic picture of his condition. He was spiritually blind until he was awoken to love.

All the disciples who encountered the risen Christ didn’t recognise him at first. Their grief, fear, doubt and confusion blinded them from seeing Him. But Jesus opened their eyes to see and their hearts burned with love.

When we are discipling people who do not yet know Jesus, our task is to cooperate with God to open their eyes. (See this newsletter for great examples)

But this is not just for unbelievers, it’s for us too.

Jesus rebuked Pharisees for their spiritual blindness. They thought they could find life in the Scriptures, yet they missed “Jesus: The Life” standing right in front of them.

You and I are not immune from spiritual blindness. It causes us to pray silly prayers. Prayers asking for things we already have.

We don’t need more of God.
We don’t need more life.
We don’t need more power.

What we need is an awakening!

And once our eyes are opened, we can participate in this goodness! (But we’ll touch more on that next week…)

Activate

This weeks activation is to meditate on these prayers from Ephesians,

I pray that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the wisdom of His Spirit. Then you will be able to understand the secrets about Him as you know Him better. ¹⁸ I pray that your hearts will be able to understand. I pray that you will know about the hope given by God’s call. I pray that you will see how great the things are that He has promised to those who belong to Him. I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him. (Ephesians 1:17-19 NLV)

I pray that you will be filled with love. I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself. (Ephesians 3:17-19 NLV)

What is God showing you that you already have?
How does this change the way you disciple other people?

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone and welcome back to The Holy Go!

Some exciting personal news… Over the weekend I was inducted as the Senior Minister at Mildura and Red Cliffs Churches of Christ! I’m very excited to start ministering alongside the great group of people here. Please keep us in your prayers.

This week we continue with “The Saints” series about Spiritual Formation and Making Disciples. Today we’ll look at three aspects to formation that Jesus calls us to. I hope it is helpful!

Equip

Adapting Training

At the end of my most recent Hyrox race I was disappointed with my time.

I had committed myself to a busy training schedule,
I had made sacrifices along the way to ensure I stuck to it,
and I remained disciplined throughout the build.

But for some reason, my result didn’t go the way I had planned.

So I looked back and reflected.
What worked?
What didn’t work?
What could I have dine differently?

As I did this I realised there were some gaps in my training. I think I didn’t:

Spend enough time running on fatigued legs
Spend long enough amounts of time on specific exercises
Nail a recovery routine
And I could go on…

I am now taking this information and adapting my training. Why? Because I want my training to produce a certain outcome.

We need to look at discipleship the same way.

Jesus Shaped Formation

When we look at Jesus we see that He was clear about the outcomes He expected of His disciples:

They would know God.
They would be known for their love.
They would bear fruit.

But if you’ve been around Church for a while you would know that people can do all the right things and still not be transformed into love. They can

Attend Church services,
Listen to great to sermons,
Complete courses and Bible Studies

and still not produce the fruit Jesus expects. If this is the case, then we need to adapt what we are doing.

Luckily for us, Jesus was clear about what the formation process looks like.

In Mark 1:15-20 Jesus shows us three key ways to respond to the gospel. These are:

Repent - Literally means change your mind. This is a posture of surrendering to what has been revealed to us. We can call this aspect: Awakening to love.

Believe - To trust and agree with God. This is a posture of participating in what God is revealing and doing. We can call this aspect: Abiding in love.

Follow - To follow Jesus is to be sent like He was sent, to love others like He loves us. This is a posture of sharing. We can call this aspect: Abounding in love.

Because this framework is relational, these three aspects are never “once and done.” Rather they are a continuous rhythm of life.

Lopsided Discipleship

When I looked at my Hyrox training I realised I had some gaps in my plan that stopped me from achieving success.

In a similar way, if we don’t include all three discipleship aspects, our discipleship will have gaps that limit our ability to produce the fruit Jesus has for us.

The table below highlights the importance of having all three aspects present in our Spiritual Formation. For example,

If we only ever repent, but don’t believe or follow, we’ll be stuck in a pity party always aware of our sin but not of God’s life and grace.

Or if we only believe but never repent or follow, then our faith will be a comfortable self-centred religion.

Therefore, if we want to produce disciples who:

Know God intimately,
are known for their love, and
produce good fruit…

Then we must ensure we incorporate
Repent,
Believe and
Follow
in our Discipleship plans.

We must create spaces and practices to allow people to
Awaken to Love,
Abide in Love and
Abound in Love.

Join me next week as we continue to unpack this further.

Activate

This weeks activation is to spend some time looking at the above table and reflecting on your own spiritual formation.

Which of the three aspects comes easiest to you?
Which of the three aspects is most difficult?
Which Disciple Type describes you best?
What can you do to address any gaps?
What does this teach you about how to make disciples?

Let’s Go!

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G’day everyone and welcome back to The Holy Go!

Every Monday I send out a newsletter that will teach, equip and empower you to fulfil the Great Commission.

This week we commence our new series, “The Saints” that will frame up a Jesus shaped approach to discipleship and spiritual formation. Today we explore what happens when we make “Love” the mark of Christian maturity.

Enjoy!

Equip

Over the weekend I raced in another Hyrox. Eight 1km runs, broken up by workout stations. About 90 minutes of strength and endurance.

You can finish without training, but I had a time and placement goal. So I followed a plan and for much of the build, I trained twice a day.

I had:

• a goal,

• a process to reach it, and

• practices that made it happen.

It got me thinking… What if we approached Church and discipleship the same way? Would it be possible to actually change the world like the early Church did?

A New Goal

If the goal of discipleship is maturity, what does that actually look like?

For much of my ministry, I’ve seen “maturity” as serving or being sent. Most pathways reflect this:

Bring In
Build Up
Send Out

But if maturity = serving, then the goal becomes moving people from not serving to serving. In other words, getting people busy.

But when I read Jesus, I see something deeper.

He said people would know we are His disciples by our love.
He said the greatest commandment is to love God and love others.

Discipleship to Jesus is all about love.

And the goal always shapes the process.

A New Process

If the goal is love, we need a process that forms people into love.

But how do you make someone love?

You can’t just say, “Love more.”
It’s deeper than a course, a Bible study, or a serving roster.
It requires honesty, vulnerability and transformation.

But it is possible.

What if it looked more like a life of continually:

• Awakening to God’s love — becoming more aware of His love for us.

• Abiding in God’s love — learning to live in and participate with that love.

• Abounding in God’s love — letting that love overflow into the world.

New Practices

In my Hyrox training, the goal and process only worked because of consistent habits.

In order to ensure we are forming disciples through the “Awaken, Abide, Abound” process we need to create habits that match.

These are often called Spiritual Practices. For example,

Awakening (Surrender)
Confession, repentance, lament, renouncing lies.

Abiding (Participation)
Thanksgiving, worship, listening prayer, meditation, giving and receiving forgiveness.

Abounding (Openness)
Intercession, generosity, hospitality, evangelism, care for the poor, peacemaking, justice.

And we could add more like sabbath, solitude and silence! The point is, if we want to be known for our love, we need practices that ensure that happens.

Moving Forward

My Hyrox Race is over but I will continue with my training and eating habits. What started as a strategic plan has turned into a way of life.

And that’s what happens with discipleship too.

It may start off feeling formal and strategic, however the goal is that it becomes a lifestyle.

The early Christians called this “The Way” and they went on to change the world.

And that is what I pray happens as we continue this series.

Let’s retire “maturity looks like busy-ness” and raise up disciples “that are known for their love!”

I have a feeling that if we did that,
we might just end up changing the world.

Activate

This weeks challenge is to meditate on Jesus words in John 13:35,

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?
What is the Holy Spirit’s encouragement to you?
What is the Holy Spirit’s challenge to you?

Let’s Go!

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Happy Easter Everyone and welcome back to The Holy Go!

Over the past month or so we’ve been looking at how we can become Easter Experts so we can know and explain the gospel confidently and effectively.

This week is our final instalment and will build upon the truth of the resurrection. If announcing the gospel is declaring something that has already happened, then Awakening is the first step, (and ongoing step), on the road of discipleship.

Equip

Now You See Me

I have been drawn to all the stories of those who saw Jesus after His resurrection.

The women at The Tomb
The disciples in the Upper Room
The disciples on the Beach
The men on the Road

They all had something in common…

They didn’t recognise Jesus at first.

Even though:
Jesus had risen from the dead,
Sin, Death and the Devil had been defeated,
All humanity had been raised in Christ…

They did not realise the good news yet.

Something had to fall from their eyes before they could clearly see Jesus.

This a great picture for the life of discipleship.

Past-Tense

When we think about it, discipleship is simply responding to something that has already happened. For example,

The Kingdom
In Jesus’ first sermon He announces that the Kingdom of God has come crashing in, and therefore tells everyone to “repent and believe the good news.”

Revealing The Father
In John 17 Jesus says that He had completed the work The Father had given Him. Take note, this is before Jesus even went to the cross! The work Jesus referred to was revealing The Father and giving people eternal life. (See John 17:1-5)

Reconciliation
When Jesus said “It is finished” upon the cross He was saying that the problem of sin had been defeated. Paul later writes that God no longer counts mans sins against us, but has already reconciled us. (2 Cor 5:81-19)

Blessed with Everything
The Apostle Paul tells us that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, (Eph 1:3) and The Apostle Peter says we have been given everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)

Whether it is The Kingdom, Eternal Life, Reconciliation or Being Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing, the Scriptures say all these things have already been freely given to us!

Road of Discipleship

Even though all these things are true we do not always feel like they are true. If the truth is like a feast, we don’t always get to taste of the delicious meal God has for us.

In the protestant circles I grew up in, we dealt with this dilemma by saying those things were only true once we had upheld our end of the bargain. However I now see that Scripture speaks of this differently.

Scripture tells us that the issue is not whether Jesus’ ministry has affected us or not, or whether or not it has happened yet.

Rather, the questions is: Can we see it? The Apostle Paul said that the enemy had blinded our eyes, and his job was to help open them.1

Like the disciples walking along the road who had no idea Jesus was speaking to them, their eyes needed to be opened.

While we are used to talking about “non-believers” eyes needing to be opened, the reality is all disciples have blind spots. For example,

• The women at The Tomb were so sad and emotional they couldn’t see Jesus.

• Thomas’ scepticism prevented him from recognising Jesus in the Upper Room.

• Peter couldn’t see Jesus because of his shame.

• The men on the Road were so confused they couldn’t see Jesus was right in front of them.

None of us are immune to strong emotions, scepticism, shame and confusion.

But in each of these stories Jesus shows up and reveals Himself… and when He does life begins to flow, and love, joy and peace replace sadness, confusion and fear.

My prayer is that this “Easter Experts” series has helped open your eyes to see God more clearly, understand the cross more deeply, and trust the power of the resurrection.

May this good news shape the disciples we are discipling.

Read “Easter Experts” again here:

The Foundation
The Cross
The Lamb
The Resurrection

Activate

This weeks activation is to take some time in prayer.

Ask the Holy Spirit:

• What am I feeling?

• What am I doubting?

• What am I hiding?

• What is confusing me?

Pray: Jesus, open my eyes.

Return

G’day Everybody and welcome back to another edition of “The Holy Go!”

This Easter season we’re levelling up our Evangelism and Discipleship by becoming Easter Experts. Last week we looked at The Lamb and how we understand Jesus death.

This week we turn our attention to the resurrection!

Equip

A year or so ago we ran Alpha for our Young Adults. We had a great turn out of Christian and Curious young people joining us. Overwhelmingly the most talked about session was the one on the evidence for the resurrection.

These young people had faced plenty of tough questions about their faith and now they had been shown that belief in the resurrection of Jesus was not blind faith but a belief that made sense of strong evidence.

If I were to be honest, I think there are three reasons why I first believed the resurrection:

The Bible says…
The Church Teaches…
My Parents said…

The problem is that when many of our young people get to university they end up sounding like “Bobby Boucher” from The Water Boy answering questions,

“My mamma says…” to roars of laughter from the rest of the class.

The truth is The Bible, The Church and Our Parents all get heavily critiqued in both university, and in the plethora of social media videos aimed at drawing attention to all the parts that do not make sense.

But the resurrection of Jesus is not some fanciful story that we blindly believe. Rather, there is ample evidence for our belief in the resurrection. Funnily enough,

The Bible says…
The Church Teaches…
My Parents said… (Or People said…)

Are actually all the basis of compelling evidence for the resurrection.

Imagine if the whole Church was able to communicate their reason for belief in the resurrection in such a way that seriously made people stop and ask, “What if it’s true?”

Below are some great reasons to believe the resurrection. I hope they help you share this amazing story with boldness and confidence.

The Bible Says… (But Why Trust It?)

Instead of just saying “the Bible says,” we can point to why it’s credible:

Bibliographical Test

The New Testament is recorded in over 5,800 Greek manuscripts (with over 24,000 total copies) which is far more than any ancient work. This allows texts like the Gospel of John to be reconstructed with remarkable accuracy.

In short: The Easter story hasn’t been corrupted.

Fulfilled Prophecy

There are 100–300+ prophetic threads pointing to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection centuries before He lived. (see Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53 for two especially literal predictions!)

In short: The story was written before it happened.

Multiple Witnesses

Jesus appeared to:

• Individuals

• Groups

• Over 500 people at once

They then recorded these in raw unpolished accounts where:

• Women are the primary witnesses (unexpected in that culture)

• The accounts include differences (like real eyewitness testimony)

If you were making it up, you’d clean it up. The story is messy because it is real.

In short: The Gospels records real peoples testimony of what they saw.

Early Eyewitness Testimony

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul records a creed about the resurrection that dates to within a few years of Jesus’ death.

In short: The resurrection wasn’t a legend that developed over time.

Radical Transformation

The Apostle Paul was a real person who went from persecuting Christians to suffering for Christ. What other than an experience with the living Christ explains that kind of transformation with all the persecution Paul was to suffer?

In Short: Paul believed Jesus had risen from the dead!

The Church Teaches… (But Why Did It Start?)

Instead of simply agreeing with what the Church teaches, we can look deeper into the reasons behind the teaching.

The Empty Tomb

Jesus was buried in a known tomb.

No one ever produced a body.
Even opponents claimed it was missing.

The real question isn’t if the tomb was empty, it’s why?

The Rise of the Church

Christianity began in Jerusalem—the very place Jesus was executed.

No one expected a crucified Messiah.
Yet suddenly, thousands proclaimed:

“He is risen.”

The real question is what happened to spark that movement?

The Disciples’ Willingness to Suffer

Tradition (including Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) records that most of the apostles suffered terrible persecution and many were killed for their belief. Yet none of them ever denied Jesus had risen from the dead.

People may die for something they think is true.
But not for something they know is false.

The real question is why were they so convinced of the resurrection?

My Parents Said… (And Millions Still Do)

“My mumma says” may sound like a funny reason. However, it’s not just your parents… It’s the story of millions of people from all around the world.

Lives Transformed

From the first disciples to today, millions claim a real encounter with the risen Jesus.

Changed lives.
Powerful purpose.
Happy, Saved and Free!

Not only that but those who make these claims have transformed the world through pioneering the first:

Hospitals
Schools
Feeding Programs
Addiction Services
And more!

Whether you believe in the resurrection or not, the question must still be asked,

“What are these people experiencing that causes them to be transformed, and then transform the world around them?”

Dig Deeper

Jesus died and rose from the dead. I believe this because The Bible Says, The Church Says, and My Parents Says so.

But it’s deeper than a throw away line. It’s

The Empty tomb.
Multiple Eyewitnesses.
Millions of transformed lives.
A movement that changed the world.

Yes, the resurrection sounds like a made up story. But the evidence points to something miraculous.

This Easter, may we share the facts with our friends and family, may we show them the evidence, and call them to faith in the risen Christ!

Let’s not settle for throw away lines,
Let’s become Easter Experts!

Activate

This weeks challenge is to ask some people if they have heard the evidence for the resurrection, then share some with them.

Let’s Go!

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Welcome back to The Holy Go!

We’re in the middle of our Easter series that is equipping us to understand, defend and share the Good News in a more effective way!

Last weeks activation was to practice your response to questions around violence attributed to God by referring back to Jesus as the perfect picture of who God is. How did you go?

Today may ruffle your feathers as we take a look at what The Cross meant to Jesus. We evangelicals have copped some “heresy” labels for the way we have told the Easter story. However, engaging this critique will lead us to a more a beautiful Easter story.

Equip

I’m a Heretic?

As an evangelical I was shocked to discover the Orthodox Church thought I held heretical views.

“But my theology comes from the Bible! How could I possibly believe anything heretical?”

I thought I believed what all Christians believed:

• God can’t stand to be around sin

• We’re sinners and deserve God’s wrath

• Jesus took the punishment for our sin

• If we repent and believe we receive forgiveness

Then an Indian pastor friend challenged me. He said the gospel we described sounded more like pagan sacrifice than the Christianity he knew.

He told me that growing up, his mother would sometimes become possessed. The spirits would demand sacrifices of alcohol or she would kill herself. The family complied… until they met Jesus.

For my friend Ankit, and many Christians shaped by the early Church, the idea that God requires a sacrifice to stop bad things happening sounds pagan. Even N. T. Wright has calls this view so!1

Therefore if we want to understand Easter better, and share a message truly worth proclaiming, it’s time to have a re-think.

God Looks Like Jesus

The main critique I hear from the Orthodox world is that evangelicals drift from a truly Trinitarian view of God.2

We end up separating the Trinity, making Jesus seem less holy, and less “God,” than the Father.

For example, we often say:
“God can’t be around sin. If He comes near it, He must destroy it.”

So Jesus must step in as our substitute.

But if Jesus is fully God, then the Gospels show something different:
God can be around sinners. Jesus does it constantly.

And instead of destroying sinners, He destroys the sin.

As I like to put it: Jesus loves the hell out of us.

Another example is the cross. Evangelicals often say that “sin separates us from God” therefore when Jesus took our sin, the Father turned His back on Him. After all, Jesus cried out the opening line of Psalm 22: “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

But the early Church kept reading the Psalm.

After prophetically describing the crucifixion scene, it ends with this declaration:

“He has not hidden His face from him.”3

Jesus remained united with the Father even in death, just as He had said: “I and the Father are one.”4

The Apostle Paul put it this way:

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”5

The early Church fought hard to hold onto that vision.

Whenever we miss the mark, it’s usually because we’ve formed a picture of God that doesn’t look like Jesus.

So if we want to understand Easter more clearly, we need to return to our roots:

God looks like Jesus.

Or as the early Church insisted: Jesus is fully God and fully man.

Jesus Shaped Lamb

Russian theologian Georges Florovsky summarised the difference well:

“The Western doctrine of redemption became increasingly framed in juridical categories, while the Greek Fathers spoke of healing, renewal, and participation in divine life.”

So how did Jesus actually describe what He was doing?

First, He spoke of sin as sickness.
In John 3 He compares His death to the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses. The Israelites were dying from snake venom, but those who looked at the sign were healed.6

Second, Jesus connected His death to the Passover Lamb.
In Passover the lamb wasn’t a sin offering or a substitute. Its blood marked who belonged to God and secured their freedom from slavery.

Third, Jesus emphasised sharing His life now.
Eternal life wasn’t just life after death, it was knowing God,7 life overflowing from within.8

Seen through Jesus’ lens, Easter tells a powerful story:

Jesus has dealt with our sin.

He healed it.
He defeated it.
He freed us from it.

In His words:

“It is finished.”

Now He invites us to share in His resurrection life even before we die.

And that is an Easter Story worth sharing.

Activate

This weeks activation is to share the Easter story as explained by Jesus with someone.

Pick out one of these conversation starter questions, and see if you can get it into a conversation. Don’t force anything, just ask questions and see where it leads!

• What do you think the Easter story is about?

• What do you think “Jesus died for you” means?

• Why do you think the symbol of Christianity is The Cross?

• If God wanted to show us what He’s really like, how do you think He would do it?

I pray these questions will open some great disciple making conversations!

Let’s Go!

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Welcome back to The Holy Go!

We’re in week 2 of our Easter Experts series, where we are equipping you to understand the cross, trust the resurrection, and share the story of Jesus with confidence.

Last weeks activation was to write a list of responses to the question, “What does the Easter story reveal about God?” Let me know how you went!

Today we continue this thought as we answer the objection of “God is violent and unsafe.” This line of thinking has shipwrecked countless young peoples faith as they have been exposed to the stories of rape, genocide and violence in The Bible.

However, as we will see again today, The Easter Story reveals the truth of what God is like.

Equip

When I was in Bible College I took an apologetics class on defending the Christian faith. One of the books on the reading list was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

In it he famously describes the God of the Old Testament as:

“Arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction… a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser.”

Many atheists make the same argument. They point to violent passages in the Old Testament and conclude that God Himself must be violent.

But beneath that accusation lies a deeper question: What is God actually like? Is God good? Can God be trusted?

Christian apologists have offered many answers—appealing to historical context, ancient war rhetoric, and divine justice. But the Apostle Paul took a different approach. He said he resolved to know nothing “except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”1

The cross, it turns out, is the clearest place to answer the question: What is God like?

Jesus Reveals God

For 2,000 years Christians have believed that Jesus reveals the Father. The Apostle Paul calls Him “the image of the invisible God,”2 and the author of Hebrews says He is the “exact representation”3 of God’s being.

If we want to know what God is like, we must start with Jesus.

And Jesus was very clear about violence.

He told His followers to love their enemies, bless those who curse them, and pray for those who persecute them.4 When His disciples tried to use violence, He rebuked them saying, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”5

Then Jesus lived out His own teaching.

When Peter attacked a soldier during Jesus’ arrest, Jesus healed the man’s ear. When He was beaten, mocked and crucified, He did not retaliate. Instead He prayed:

“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”6

At the cross we see the clearest picture of God.

Not violence.
Not revenge.
But self-giving love and forgiveness.

How Jesus Interpreted Violent Scriptures

Jesus also showed His followers how to read difficult passages of Scripture.

When His disciples wanted to call down divine fire on their enemies, (echoing the prophet Elijah), Jesus rebuked them saying, “You do not know what spirit you are of.”7

When religious leaders wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery according to the law, Jesus disarmed the crowd by saying:

“Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”8

The result? No stones were thrown. Not even by Jesus, the only one without sin.

Again and again Jesus redirected people away from violence and toward mercy.9

Easter Experts

So what do we do with the objection of violence in the Old Testament?

We begin with Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The cross is the clearest revelation of God’s character. When we read Scripture through Jesus, the story begins to make sense. And when people challenge the goodness of God, the cross becomes the most powerful place to point them.

Understanding Easter doesn’t just strengthen our own faith, it equips us to defend it and share it with confidence.

Because if you want to know what God is like, we look to the cross. Because God looks like Jesus.

Activate

This weeks activation is to select a violent Old Testament story. Imagine a friend asks you, “How can God command that?”

Use what you’ve learned about Jesus’ life and the cross to formulate a short response.

Write it down. Ask yourself: Does this answer help me understand God for myself and give me confidence to share it with others?

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G’day Everyone and welcome back to The Holy Go!

We’re kicking off a new series, Easter Experts: Understanding the cross, trusting the resurrection, and sharing the story of Jesus with confidence.

Today we begin by raising the alarm bell. The way we have explained Easter to our young people has been too weak and shallow to stand up against scrutiny and has resulted in a wave of youngsters departing the Church and deconstructing their faith.

This series will help you grasp the theology behind the cross, the meaning of Jesus’ death, the evidence for the resurrection, and how to defend and share this life changing message with clarity and confidence.

Equip

Departing and Deconstructing

When I first started Bible College we studied the differences between the Synoptic Gospels. As we lined up the same stories side by side, we began to notice differences between the accounts.

Many of these could be explained easily. But then we saw something that unsettled us… Even the resurrection story had multiple versions that seemed to contradict each other!

This sort of textual criticism is normal in Bible study and can uncover beautiful insights about what the authors were trying to communicate. But for many students it was deeply unsettling. Some had been taught that the Bible was perfect in every detail, and when they encountered problems their faith collapsed.

Put simply: Their foundation had been the Bible and when the Bible was questioned, everything fell apart.

And this isn’t just something I saw at Bible College. Many young adults arrive at university and lose their faith. Research from the Barna Group suggests that 64% of students who identified as Christians in high school will walk away from their faith or significantly disengage once they reach university.

Today “deconstruction” is a hot topic. People are asking difficult questions about the Bible: Did these stories really happen? What about the contradictions? How do we deal with the violent passages that seem to condone things like rape or genocide? Can we really trust a God like that?

These are serious questions. But too often the answers we’ve given have been shallow.

According to research from Pew, the most common reason these young people leave their faith is simple: they stop believing the teachings of their religion.

In other words, we have failed to disciple people in a way that equips them to trust the faith, defend the faith, and share the faith.

Jesus the Foundation

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he said that he resolved to know nothing among them “except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

The Easter story is the foundation of the Christian faith.

Sadly, much of modern evangelicalism has made The Bible the foundation instead. Of course The Bible is “God-breathed and useful for teaching,” but it only exists because Jesus came first.

Imagine buying a car but never driving it. Only studying the owner’s manual. You memorise it, discuss it, even form clubs around it… but never actually drive the car.

As strange as that sounds, we Christians sometimes do something similar. We centre our faith on the book that points to Jesus rather than on Jesus Himself.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for doing exactly this. They searched the Scriptures thinking they would find life in them, yet they missed the One the Scriptures pointed to.

The clearest picture of God is not found in a text, it is found in Jesus on the cross.

At the cross we see that God is good.
We see that God is self-giving love.
We see that God is reconciling the world to Himself.

And the resurrection proves that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be. He is the image of the invisible God, the one who triumphs over sin, death, and the powers of darkness.

If our faith rises and falls on anything, it rises and falls on Easter.

Easter Experts

If the Easter story is the foundation of our faith, then our discipleship strategies should be aimed at raising up Easter Experts.

Disciples who can explain what God is really like.

Disciples who can show why the resurrection is credible and why it matters.

Disciples who can understand the Easter story, defend it with confidence, and share it with passionate clarity.

Pastor Andy Stanley writes:

“When we anchor our faith to the person of Jesus rather than the entire Bible, Christianity becomes far more resilient.”

That’s the kind of faith we need: resilient faith, grounded in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Looking back, I can see why my faith survived when my perception of the Bible was challenged. My confidence was never built on “the Bible tells me so.” It was built on the person and work of Jesus.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to show you how the Easter story can help us explain and defend the Christian faith.

We’ll explore The Cross, The Lamb, and The Resurrection.

If Christianity rises or falls on Easter, then it’s time we all became Easter Experts.

Activate

This weeks challenge: Get a note pad and pen and answer this question: What does the Easter story reveal about God? How many answers can you come up with?

Do you know some people who may benefit from this series? Why not share this with them and invite them to subscribe?

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone and welcome back to another edition of “The Holy Go”, a newsletter designed to help you share the gospel and make disciples in the Spirit of Jesus!

Also, a special welcome to those who have recently subscribed from the Churches of Christ in Mildura and Red Cliffs! I’m looking forward to seeing how God leads us as we follow Him in multiplying disciples throughout this region.

Today wraps up the series on the The Three M’s of Evangelism and Discipleship. Over the last two months we have explored how LOVE is our Motivation, Message and Method.

Last week we delved into the method, or “how” we minister. Today we continue that theme with a challenging question, “If sinners flocked to Jesus, why are they running from us?”

Equip

Noise Torture

Have you ever heard of “Noise Torture?”

In December 1989, the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was forced out of power by U.S. forces and fled to the Papal Nunciature in Panama City to avoid capture.

The American troops wanted to apprehend him but weren’t allowed inside. So they set up outside and started blasting music from giant loudspeakers… Originally the plan was just to keep journalists from overhearing the negotiations, however someone in the psyops team had another idea:

If we keep the music going non-stop, maybe the noise itself would drive Noriega out.

So they aimed the speakers right at his window and non stop blasted music, turning the siege into a surreal battle of noise meant to wear him down.

This method is called, “Noise Torture” and has since been used in various warfare scenarios, and used as a form of torture, perhaps most memorable in Guantánamo Bay.

“Noise Torture” is sensory overload or psychological torture and is used to prevent sleep, heighten heart rates and induce stress, drive people mad, and break their resistance.

Noise Torture turns things of creativity and beauty into a tool of torture.

Noisy Gongs

The Apostle Paul warns us that the same thing can happen when we share the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 he tells us that when followers of Jesus preach and act without love, we are “a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.”

I believe that for far too long we have equated this noise with something “annoying” or “slightly-uncomfortable.”

The Church has often prioritised “Biblical” over “Love” despite the abundantly clear teachings and warnings of Jesus. As a result we have deemed collateral damage as acceptable. Upsetting people, degrading them, and making them feel judged has simply been written off and seen as a necessary byproduct of sharing the gospel. For example,

When the church speaks about the LGBTQ community being an abomination it downplays the very real concern of the alarming suicide rate among this community.

Or when Christians carry signs that say, “Abortion is Murder” it downplays the very real financial and emotional struggles that many young women face.

Just like Noise Torture psychologically abuses people, when we share the gospel without love we’re in danger of psychologically abusing our listeners.

I believe Paul is warning us that when we twist the gospel of love that is supposed to bring peace, freedom and life, and instead we bring judgment, condemnation and fear, we are committing noise torture!

History is full of people who have professed the name of Jesus without actually loving others. We would all agree that,

the crusades, (Gong!)
witch hunts, (Clang!)
hate groups like the KKK, (Gong!)
and genocides (Clang!)

are all evil and nothing like the Christ they professed.

In these instances they perverted the gospel of love that brings life, freedom and peace and turned it into an instrument that condoned injustice, death and destruction.

When the gospel loses love, the world only hears noise!

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Beautiful Feet

Jesus is our model for truth and grace. Yet sinners ran to Him. They wanted to be around this man whose nickname was, “The Friend of Sinners.”

The fact that sinners flocked to Jesus but run and hide from us should cause us serious concern. It should cause us to stop and evaluate what we are doing differently.

If we want to be like Jesus, then we need to hold ourselves to the standard of love that He set. If we really believe that the Gospel is Good News, then people should be celebrating when we come. As Paul reminds us, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!”

In order to bring good news that makes the people cheer we have no other option but to love in word and deed!

The “how” matters because people matter.
We can no longer lazily accept collateral damage.
Instead we must commit ourselves to the way of love.

Our motivation, our message and our method must all be love. Whenever we drop love from one of these “M’s” we end up misrepresenting the heart of God, pervert the gospel, and torture the very people we’re called to minister to.

Activate

This weeks challenge is to reflect on how you are sharing the gospel.

Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you and to encourage you. Spend some time in repentance and rededicate your life to sharing the gospel in love.

• How have I been a noisy gong?

• How have I been a beautiful sound?

• How can I bring a beautiful sound to those in the world around me?

Let’s Go!

P.S Come back next week as we kick off our Easter series, “Making Sense of Easter: Equipping you to understand it, trust it, and share it.”

*photo: Canva Ai

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G’day Everyone and welcome to another edition of The Holy Go!

A special welcome to my new subscribers who I met at the Operation Mobilisation Leaders Retreat, where I had the privilege of speaking about mission as Overflow.

Over the past month or two we have been looking at Love being the motivation, and Love being the message of discipleship.

This week we turn our attention to the method… and you guessed it, it is Love. I believe the “How” we do ministry is of extreme importance.

Equip

Remember Love

One day I was overseas and visiting a Compassion project. As we were leaving they asked us to pray for them. The more we prayed for people, the more prayer they wanted.

At one stage they brought to us one of the staff’s daughters who was deaf. We all began praying for her. Pretty quickly people were passionately shouting and praying out loud. However, I looked at this young girl and she looked terrified.

I stopped everyone from praying, and told them to look at the girl, pray in faith, and try not to scare her. We prayed again but nothing seemed to happen. I wondered if I had just stopped the passion that would lead to her healing…

We continued praying for others, and as we did it was like Heaven manifest right in front of us. We could all sense the tangible presence of God, people were crying before The Lord, lying down on the floor, and there was an overwhelming sense of the holiness of God.

I looked up and the deaf girl caught my attention. She was now sitting on the side of the hall and I felt prompted to pray for her. I wondered over to her and motioned with my hands if I could pray for her. She looked at me and smiled and gave me a little nod. I prayed a simple prayer,

“In Jesus name, ears open!”

I then asked her, “Can you hear me?”

Straight away she said yes! The woman sitting next to us was absolutely shocked. She had known this little girl her whole life and was awestruck at what had just happened.

I went and found the mum on the floor crying. She was on the other side of the room and so I told her what had just happened to her daughter. Excitedly she got up and as she did, she called out her daughters name across the room. The daughter who could now hear looked straight at her! The whole room erupted in praise as they realised this girl was healed.

As we left I was told this young ladies name. I can’t remember how to say it in the local language, but it was translated “Love.” Her name was love. As I sat on the bus and reflected on what had just happened, I sensed God say,

“James, remember Love!”

The Two Meanings

When I heard those words I immediately knew it had two meanings.

First, remember “Love” the little girl. When we are preaching the gospel and ministering, remember the person in front of you has a name.

The Lord has convicted me on several occasions when I have realised that I loved ministry more than the person in front of me. It is easy to get caught up in doing good, that we can easily forget that the whole reason we do what we do is because each individual person matters to God.

Secondly, remember “Love” is how we operate. Whether we are preaching, serving, feeding, or whatever else we may do, we must remember to do it in love.

Love is our motivation.
Love is our message and,
Love is out method.

Integrity

I believe integrity is when there is no gap between our words and actions. When we share the gospel of love, we must remember to love at the same time. When our words and actions don’t match up, we end up hurting people and perverting the gospel.

How we do ministry matters.

Therefore, we must always remember Love.

Activate

This weeks challenge is about acknowledging peoples names.

Is there someone you regularly see who you don’t their name? Make it your goal this week to ask their name, then remember it and use it next time you see them.

Another option is when shopping, refer to people by the name on their name tags. Take notice how people react when they feel seen and valued.

Let’s Go!

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G’day Holy Goers!

We’re back for another newsletter aimed at helping you to fulfil The Great Commission right where you are!

We’re in the middle of a series looking at how LOVE is the Motivation, Message and Method of disciple making that Jesus used. Today we continue with looking at the Message of Love by tackling hell!

I hope you enjoy it and are activated to go and love the hell out of the people around you!

Equip

The Gym

Anyone who knows me knows I love working out. I love going to the gym, training for athletic events and challenging myself.

At the moment I am training for a Hyrox race which means I am doing a little more than usual. I have a program where I am hitting the gym 4-5 times per week, and doing another 4-5 running or cardio based sessions each week.

I have a goal.
I am fully committed.
And so I follow my program.

It’s no longer about “what I have to do” each day, it’s now turned into a lifestyle.

However, I know most people are not like me! In fact, based on industry data, about 67% of Americans who have gym memberships never actually use them, which represents roughly 42.9 million people not using the service they’re paying for. 1

In Australia it’s pretty similar with a 2021 study saying 50% of gym members went less than once per week with their wasted membership fees totalling a whopping $2.4 billion per year.2

Why am I talking about gym statistics here? Well I think we see something similar in the Church.

Now, it would be easy to just talk about Church affiliation and attendance. In fact, 44% of Australians identify as Christian or Catholic, while only 4.6% of Australians attend Church weekly.

However, todays newsletter is not about Church attendance. It’s about the message we are preaching.

I believe that many believers are like those gym members, who have paid their fees, and never go to the gym which begs the question, “What message have they responded to?”

The Message is…

Whenever I train people in evangelism I like to ask them, “What is the gospel?”

It’s a simple question, but it’s amazing how many people find it difficult to communicate. The most common summary I get is this,

“Jesus died and rose again to save us from our sin.”

When I press them a little more, the idea comes out like this little statement I used to quote all the time:

It’s Jesus or Hell.

The gospel is often taught as “Do these things and believe these things and instead of going to hell, you can go to heaven.”

However, when we look at the message Jesus declared, we see that it wasn’t a “go to heaven” message, but a “heaven come to Earth” message. Jesus called this message “The Good News of the Kingdom of God.” (Check out this newsletter here for a lot more on this.)

God loves the hell out of you

When we realise that the gospel message is “The Good News of the Kingdom of God” we see that:

God doesn’t just love us so much He wants us to avoid hell… God loves us so much He loves the hell out of us!

When Jesus met those possessed by demons He loved the hell out of them by setting them free.

When Jesus met those who were sick or dying, He loved the hell out of them by healing them and raising them back to life.

When Jesus met those who were rejected by the religious leaders, He loved the hell out of them by including them, forgiving them, and championing them.

The message we have is a message of love. It’s a “God so loves the world” message! It’s a message that is backed by love in action.

Hobby to Lifestyle

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love like Jesus loved us. (John 13:34-35) We’re called to love the hell out of the people all around us. “God Loves You!” is our message and it’s backed by action. That’s the good news of the Kingdom of God!

Don’t be fooled by those who say that unless we mention sin and hell we’re not preaching the gospel. A look at Jesus’ message and ministry debunks that myth and calls us to a deeper more costly love that requires far more of His disciples.

Imagine if the standard changed from “Did you mention sin and hell?” in our gospel sharing, to “Did you love the hell out of them?”

Let us not be like the gym members who simply settle for having the membership… Yes, Jesus loves you and has saved you! However, thats not the end.

It’s time to fully commit! Just as I have turned my fitness hobby into a lifestyle, I dare you to imagine what would it look like to turn the Good News of the Kingdom into a lifestyle of loving the hell out of the people around you.

Activate

This week’s challenge is to spend some time praying about and imagining what it would look like to turn The Good News of the Kingdom of God into a lifestyle of loving the hell out of the people around you.

Ask yourself these questions to help:

• Does the gospel I preach focus on Heaven when we die or Heaven on Earth?

• What does a gospel message based on “Jesus loving the hell out of us” sound like?

• What would it look like to love the hell out of the people I live/work/socialise with?

• How can I communicate the idea that Jesus loves the hell out of us?

Let’s Go!

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G’day Holy Goers!

Ever since God transformed my life I have been sharing the gospel in a hope that others would know and experience God like I did. The experiential revelation that God loves us and considers us His kids has the power to completely transform our lives.

Over the past two weeks we have been looking at how LOVE should be our Motivation for evangelism and disciple making. This week we move on to the message, namely how LOVE is the message.

Quick trigger warning for the story below, while not going into details it does mention sexual abuse. However, it does so in a way that demonstrates Gods healing love.

Equip

It’s a miracle!

I was ministering at a small country Church. We had just had a great morning of evangelism training, and encountering God together.

As I was packing up and about to head off, a man pulled me to the side and asked if I knew anything about demons.

Immediately I thought that was a packed question, and was immediately intrigued! I asked him what was going on and he told me.

He was now roughly 70 years old. Ever since he was a boy he had a problem with lust, undressing women in his imagination wherever he went. He said that he had confessed this before, and had tried everything to break free… But nothing was working.

I used a prayer process that I still use today. We began by praying, then I asked him to ask God, “What is the lie I am believing?”

Very quickly he said, “I am a pervert.” I continued and asked, “Ask God when the first time was that you believed that lie.”

This mans demeanour quickly changed. He was now fighting back tears. He told me that he had been sexually abused by his uncle when he was a boy. When he went to tell his father, his father dismissed him and called him a pervert.

I then had him ask Holy Spirit, “What is the truth?”

Immediately this man began to cry. I was expecting the Holy Spirit to say something like, “You are forgiven.” But when the man told me what he heard it was actually quite profound;

“I love you son.”

We continued praying and moved on to forgiving his father and his abuser. We rejected the lie he believed, and accepted the truth that he was loved by His Heavenly Father.

Later that night we had another meeting. I was overjoyed when this man approached me with a massive smile on his face and proclaimed something along these lines,

“James! It worked! For the first time in my life I walked down the road and didn’t lust after any woman! It’s a miracle!”

The message the Father had for him was simple yet powerful… so powerful it healed his heart, broke a decades long habit, and transformed his life!

The Message of Jesus

I love the story of “The Father who had two Sons” commonly known as the prodigal son. The story represents a large part of Jesus message that “God is our Heavenly Father who loves us.”

In the story both sons mess up. Yet the Father loves them both. The Fathers love is unconditional regardless of their behaviour. The love can’t be bought or earned. Even when the sons reject relationship with the Father he continues to love them.

This revelation was controversial. The religious leaders of the day struggled with this concept of unconditional love. They were used to a relationship with God that was based on things like obedience, works, and sacrifices. They rejected people based on their actions. The way Jesus interacted with the “rejected people” angered the religious leaders. They simply did not understand that God was The Father who loved unconditionally.

In fact, the concept of God being “The Father” is mentioned only 19 times in The Old Testament. Compare this to The New Testament where this number jumps to around 250! Jesus revealed and highlighted who God was, and that was a loving Father whose love could not be earned or lost.

Jesus shared this message in word and deed to those the religious leaders had rejected. When Jesus engaged with,

the prostitutes and those steeped in sexual sin,
the tax collectors who were profiting off their fellow Jews,
the lepers, blind and deaf who were all outcast,

He always revealed a Father who loved them. This message of the love of The Father towards them was not simply a concept to believe, but something to experience. So Jesus, who only said what The Father said, and only did what The Father did,1 made sure each person experienced love in their interaction with Him.

He healed, forgave, restored, accepted, and embraced them. This message of “I love you son/daughter” is powerful. May we never take it for granted how those simple words, backed by action can transform a persons life.

Activate

This weeks challenge is to meditate on The Story of “The Father who had Two Sons” found in Luke 15:11-31. Ask Holy Spirit the following questions about how you share the gospel message,

“How has my message represented this love well?”
“How has my message mis-represented this love?”
“How can adapt my message to represent this love better?”

Just as our motivation must be compelled by love, so too must our message! In fact, if it doesn’t sound like the love Jesus reveals, it probably isn’t the gospel!

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone and thanks for reading another edition of The Holy Go! I write these newsletters to help you in your everyday evangelism and discipleship.

We’re in the middle of a series where we are allowing Jesus to reshape our motivation, message and method of evangelism and discipleship.

Last week we were challenged to pray for love. This week, we continue the motivation theme and look at how Jesus left the crowd in search of the one who was crying.

Equip

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wish I could be involved in something BIG.

I remember going to the Christian book store looking for a book on evangelism, and came across Reinhard Bonnke’s book, “Evangelism by Fire.” (I highly recommend it by the way!)

I opened the book to the middle section which was filled with photographs. I had never seen anything like it.

The photo’s showed hundreds of thousands of people gathering together in CFAN evangelistic crusades, where hundreds of thousands of people responded to the gospel. No, that is not a typo! You can see in these images the incredible amount of people in these meetings. If you have never seen these photos before, go check them out because it is awe-inspiring!

Photo: A CFAN crusade

As I looked at these photo’s and read the stories of incredible stories of salvation, healing and deliverance, something inside of me yearned to see the exact same thing happen.

When I look at my instagram feed, I see stories of all these people around the world who are showcasing their amazing ministries. Hundreds of people lining altars, preachers with huge crowds, amazing platforms, and big crowds.

It’s easy to get disheartened when we compare ourselves to others. They say comparison is the thief of joy, and when we compare ourselves to some of these people and ministries, it can make us feel small, and insignificant.

I wonder if you have ever felt like that? Have you ever said to yourself, “Who am I compared to other people? I could never have a crowd or ministry like that!”

The good news is, bigger isn’t always better!

Jesus Walks Away

I love the story of Jesus in Mark 4:35-5:20.

Jesus is preaching and has crowds all around Him. You would think with a mission like “saving the whole world” He would love a big crowd as He is trying to reach as many as possible.

Imagine it… If you started preaching and all of a sudden you got a big crowd, your church grows, doubles, triples, miracles galore start breaking out… Then why would we ever want to move away? I’m thinking we should bigger halls, bigger platforms, and ride the momentum!

But Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus leaves the crowd behind. He crosses to the other side of the lake, and there He comes across a man. A man who we are told would cry day and night, cut himself, and break chains whenever they tried to tie him up.

Jesus left the crowds because He heard this mans cry. Why would He do such a thing when He had so much momentum?

To Jesus - every person matters. The crowd mattered, but so did the one man on the other side of the lake who was crying out in pain.

Everyone Matters

We may think that we need a big crowd to be a good evangelist. But we don’t. Jesus shows us that what we need is a heart full of love, ears to hear the cry of those living in pain, and courage to leave the crowd in order to respond to those in need.

The man Jesus ministered to was so healed and so free after their meeting that he went preaching through all the towns near by. What may have looked like a silly ministry move, a man with no influence, an off the cuff encounter with no chance to build momentum, ended with the gospel being spread more widely than staying with the crowd ever would have.

When we look at how Jesus prioritised “the one” we see an example that we can all follow. God may or may not give you big crowds, but He will give you one’s… and He is looking for people motivated by love to respond to their cries.

Activate

This weeks challenge is to listen out for cries. These cries may not be a literal cry! Every day people say things and do things that are motivated by fear, hurt, and lack.

In your daily routine, listen to people as they talk. What is going on underneath the surface? Ask The Holy Spirit to help you hear the cry of those around you, then pluck up the courage to respond in love.

It may not be a crowd, but I am certain God will lead you to a one…

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone!

Last week I wrote on the 3 M’s of Evangelism and Disciple Making. It’s a simple framework for ensuring our Motivation, Message and Method are LOVE, and in line with the example of Jesus.

Over the next 6 weeks we will be dissecting each of these M’s to help us love like Jesus. Today we begin with Motivation, and a story of how the Holy Spirit convicted me of when I was not motivated by love. I hope by sharing some of my shortcomings, it may help you step into a more beautiful way of sharing the gospel.

Equip

Sarah and I had resigned as Salvation Army Officers. We had no jobs, no money, no home. But we were certain the Holy Spirit was calling us on another adventure, and so we stepped out in faith and found ourselves at a Missions School in Mozambique.

One day we were in the middle of the bush on an outreach. We were walking around the village and praying for healing. We had heard countless stories of people being healed, so we were very excited to get into the action.

We found an old lady who was blind. We began praying for her. I was very excited, but I saw out of the corner of my eye that my wife Sarah was sitting in the dirt looking after our baby son.

Not wanting her to miss out, I went over to her and told her to swap, “I’ll look after our baby and you can join in the prayer.” After all, this was going to make a great story!

But as soon as I sat down in the dirt I heard the Holy Spirit say, “James, do you even love this lady or do you just want to see a cool miracle?”

I was shocked… I froze as I tried to answer honestly. In that moment I realised a horrible truth.

I loved evangelism. I loved healing. I loved miracles. I loved ministry.
But this woman? Not really. I had not even considered her.

Over the next couple of months The Lord took me on a journey of learning to love people more than loving ministry. The people we are ministering to, aren’t just props, they are people who are deeply known, valued and loved by God.

It’s a lesson I return to regularly.

Why do you share the Gospel?

Throughout the years, I have had varied motivations for sharing the gospel. For example…

Fear - I read passages like Ezekiel 33 that spoke about the dangers of not warning people. I took this to heart, and believed if I did not warn people of sin and hell then not only would they be in trouble, but I too would be in danger of fire and hell.

Not only did this fear push me to share the gospel, it made me very judgmental of those around me who were not sharing the gospel. I believed people were not owning the responsibility God had given them.

Expectation - I shared the gospel many times because it was what was expected of me. People would invite me to speak to their families, friends and Churches because they knew when I spoke people would often respond. God had given me a gift, and I as well as other people wanted me to use it.

I shared the gospel because:

I loved ministry. I found it fun!
I feared what would happen if I didn’t.
I was expected to.

Whilst there is definitely some good in there - it’s not quite the motivation God has in mind.

I wonder, how do you think our message is perceived when we are not motivated by love?

Love or Nothing

In 1 Corinthians 13, The Apostle Paul shares that even if we are amazing communicators, totally prophetic, full of faith, and super generous - but don’t have love, then we are nothing!

Love is the motivation for sharing the gospel.

Later in our missions school we found ourselves in the bush again. And again I found a blind woman. This time I took the time to see her. I stopped, thought about her and her life, and had compassion. I could feel the love God had for her.

This time when we prayed, she was totally healed! I was overwhelmed and speechless for much of the rest of the day.

Still to this day, I get a bit choked up when I share the story. Not because of the amazing miracle (and it was an amazing miracle), but because of the depth of love that I sensed in that moment.

If we want to share the gospel like Jesus did, then we must start with love. And when we do, miracles happen!

*Photo of the blind woman who was healed

Activate

This weeks challenge is to Pray for Love.

Set time aside each day this week to ask God to fill you with His love. As you pray for your family, friends, co-workers, people you are ministering to, ask God to reveal the love He has for them.

When we are motivated by love, incredible things follow.

Let’s Go!

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G’day Everyone and Welcome to another edition of The Holy Go Newsletter!

A special hello to all the new (and older) subscribers, I hope you find these weekly newsletters helpful in your evangelism and discipleship!

Last week I took a break from writing, and focussed on enjoying holidays with my family. But I am back into it now and ready to share some more thoughts on the “Why, What and How” of evangelism and disciple making.

For too long we have allowed our why, what and how of sharing Jesus to be disjointed, and it has ended up hurting people. I believe the model below will help us share Jesus in a more beautiful way.

Equip

When speaking about sharing the gospel I like to talk about The 3 M’s of Evangelism:

Motivation
Method
Message

Jesus shows us that His motivation, message and method were all LOVE. When we think about why we share the gospel, how we share the gospel, and what our gospel message is, we should remember that the simple answer is love.

Motivation - The Why - Love

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Why did God come in the flesh to us? Why did Jesus die on the cross and rise again? The simple answer is love.

God loves you! He loves all people everywhere!

The motivation of Jesus is Love!

Message - The What - Love

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40

When we look at what the content of Jesus’ message, we see that it can be summed up as “love.”

As I have written previously, the gospel Jesus preached was the “Good News of the Kingdom of God.” This is the announcement of God saving, forgiving, healing, restoring, and making all things new. It’s God pouring out His love on us.

The message of Jesus is Love!

Method - The How - Love

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

Jesus tells us exactly how to share the gospel and make disciples: Love.

Everything Jesus did was an expression of love. His incarnation, His teaching, His healing, delivering and miracles. His care for the poor and advocacy for the marginalised. They are all expressions of love.

The method of Jesus is love!

Tough love?

The word “Love” can mean different things to different people. “Love” can even be the excuse we use for poor behaviour.

For example, we may call it “Tough Love” and may preface something mean we are about to say by saying, “I’m telling you this in love” before going on to say something really horrible.

In this example we use “love” as our motivation… however we fail to keep love as our message and method.

When our motivation, message and method are not in sync we end up hurting people, misrepresenting the heart of the Father, and perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is important that our standard of love is based on Jesus Christ who showed us what love looks like. (Motivation, Message and Method) As John tells us, love looks like Jesus on the cross,

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. - 1 John 3:16

The love of Jesus must be our standard for our why, what and how.

Activate

The world is in desperate need of people who will commit to not only saying we are motivated by love when sharing the gospel and making disciples, but people who will back up that motivation with a message and method that reflects the love of Jesus Christ too.

For this weeks challenge, take some time in prayer to re-read the crucifixion passage1, then ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you the answers to the following questions:

When sharing the gospel and making disciples:
To what extent is LOVE my motivation? (My Why)
To what extent is LOVE my message? (My What)
To what extent is LOVE my method? (My Method)

Remember, Jesus on the cross is the standard.
May love be our motivation, message and method.

Let’s Go!

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Happy New Year!

Thank you for joining me on another year of “The Holy Go.” I send these newsletters out every Monday, and my aim is to give you some inspiration and simple tools to use to make disciples and love the hell out of the world around you!

During the week I heard some feedback that someone took up lasts weeks challenge to create a “Gospel Habit” and ended up having a great gospel conversation with a politician. It’s amazing what happens when we commit ourselves to obeying Jesus and joining Him at work!

Today we are looking at The Bible and how God can use it to bring people to Him. Enjoy!

Equip

Curiosity on the rise

I was talking to some friends who organised the Community Carols event here in Mildura, and they told me some exciting news.

During the course of the carols event, the Gideons team handed out over 500 Bibles! These were taken by people who came to them and asked for a Bible.

Stories like this remind me that God is drawing all people to Himself. The harvest truly is ripe!

Do you have our books?

I remember a preacher sharing a story from some ministry work in the middle east.

There was a muslim village who had something strange happen. One night half the village woke up having had a dream about Jesus. The next night the other half of the village had the same dream!

Not knowing what to do next they prayed. Someone answered, “We need the book!” And so they started praying for what they would soon know as The Bible.

At the same time, there was a Christian who was smuggling Bibles into this nation. He filled his car and started driving. He was nervous, if he was caught he would face some serious consequences.

All of a sudden his car began to sputter… Then it stopped. His heart began racing. Would he get caught with these Bibles?

Suddenly a man approached him, tapped on the window and asked, “Do you have our books?”

It was the man from the village! Somehow God arranged that on this particular week, the whole village had a dream about Jesus, they worked out they needed a Bible, and God sent them a believer with a car load of Bibles!

Isn’t it amazing how God is drawing people to Himself, and invites us to partner with Him?

Three Lessons

These great stories remind me of three things.

1. God is at work

Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”1

Jesus has been high and lifted up on the cross. And He is again and again when we testify about who He is. When people read the stories about Jesus, the prophetic words written hundreds of years before He came, the historical context in to which He came, the teachings and miracles of Jesus, and the story of the early Church, we are lifting up Jesus again. And when that happens, people are drawn to Jesus.

2. People are curious

Jesus said, “The harvest is ripe!”2

People are curious about faith! People are curious about who Jesus is and what He taught. God created all people, so it is no wonder that we all yearn to know our creator - even if we’re not yet sure there even is one.

3. We’re invite to join in

Jesus commands all His followers to “teach them to keep what I have taught you.”3

We are invited to join God who is already at work. When God finds faithful men and women to cooperate with Him, amazing things follow like the stories above.

Activate

I love how Euegene Peterson writes, “The Bible is not a tool to wield, but a place of meeting. If we use the Bible without being led to Christ, we’re using it wrongly.”

This weeks challenge is to invite someone to read The Bible with you. A simple prompt may go something like this,

“Hey, I’m looking for someone to read a Bible story with. I was wondering if you’d be up for catching up for a coffee and going through a Jesus story with me?”

You can read more tips on how to do this here.

Remember, God is at work, people are curious, and we’re invited to join in!

Let’s Go!