TAM 009 – In Australia Making Bonehead Foreigner Mistakes and Visiting YWAM Adelaide

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The Accidental MissionaryThis episode of the Accidental Missionary Podcast is coming to you from the nation of Australia!

We have been in Adelaide, Australia for a two and a half weeks now and are still trying to recover from travel shock. It seems a bit surreal to realise that life has changed so dramatically in the last few months and that we are now trying to make our home and settle in a new city and new country. At the beginning of the year I certainly didn’t foresee all of this happening…

I think that it will take me a while to get used to being back in Australia. This morning I made the mistake of throwing on laundry without first checking the weather. I find that it is usually not a good thing to do your laundry in the rain when you need to dry your clothes on a clothes line…

Washing our laundry in the rain - woops

Yesterday we went to visit the YWAM Adelaide ministry and was really encouraged to see some of the fantastic ministry that they are involved with. A lot of their work is working with the homeless in Adelaide and they are also engaged in ministry into the sex industry. I must admit that I was shocked to hear that there are over 100 illegal brothels here in Adelaide …

What Happened to Jesus’ Twelve Disciples?

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I think that one of the travesties of the modern church is the thought that once we make the decision to follow Christ everything will be better. We expect that God will bless us and that life will get better as we follow Him and submit to Him.

Jesus never promises that life will be easy!

Instead if you read the Bible what you will read is that the followers of Jesus were regularly persecuted and that it should be expected. We aren’t promised a reward here on Earth for following Him, but rather our reward will be in Heaven:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

(Mat 5:10-12)

We only have to look at what happened to Jesus’ original 12-disciples to see this persecution lived out in their lives:

What happened to the 12-disciples?

  • Peter – martyred in Rome. He was crucified upside down.
  • Paul – martyred in Rome. He was beheaded.
  • Andrew – martyred in Asia Minor, crucified.
  • Thomas – martyred in India, stabed through with soldiers spears.
  • Philip – martyred in Asia Minor, crucified or beheaded.
  • Matthew – martyred in Ethiopia, stabbed with a spear.
  • Bartholomew – martyred in Armedia, beheaded.
  • James – martyred in Syria, stoned and clubbed to death.
  • Simon – martyred in Persia, crucified.
  • Matthias (replaced Judas) – martyred in Syria, burned to death.
  • John – died of natural causes.
  • Jude (Thaddeus) – martyred in Edessa, crucified.

You would think that the immediate followers of Jesus would have received the “greatest blessing”. If that is the case then the “greatest blessing” would be martyrdom…

How does that fit in with the idea that things will be better when you follow Christ?

Do we need to change how we talk about the truth of Christ’s Lordship and Salvation?

Is the modern Church preaching the gospel that we read about in Bible, or something that is watered down and made more palatable?

source: Christianity.com

Photo by Martin LaBar / Foter

Help YWAM Newcastle Win a Shipping Container!

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YWAM Newcastle has taken a novel approach to the development and construction of their YWAM Centre. They have been using Shipping Containers as an economical and efficient way to add offices and space to their building…

Shipping Containers used as Offices

An Australian company, Port Container Services, is currently giving away a free shipping container to the winner of an online Facebook contest. It is easy to help them win by following these simple steps:

  1. Visit the companies Facebook Page
  2. Like the page
  3. Click on the WIN tab
  4. Let the page load and then authorize the app
  5. Click on “View Entries”
  6. View YWAM Newcastle’s entry (Orange YWAM Logo)
  7. Click on the Vote button under their logo

With that you can help YWAM Newcastle win the container for their offices. The contest finishes September 30 at 5:00pm (Sydney, Australia time), so be sure to help them out before the time runs out.

Update

YWAM Newcastle won the shipping container and will be using the new container for their offices!

Results of the Port Container Services Container giveaway

Using a Container as a Home Office

I have actually considered using a shipping container myself as an office once we get setup here in Adelaide. Given the cost of houses here we may not be able to purchase a house large enough for me to have an office in the house, so purchasing a small 20′ container and outfitting it as an office might have to be an option.

I don’t anticipate having a container set-up quite as fancy as the container city pictured to the right in London, but a single container could make a pretty efficient office. The cost about $2500 + transport costs, but I haven’t looked into the legal or logistical issues of putting one in the backyard of a house in Adelaide yet … Time will tell.

Container city photo via: Fin Fahey / Foter

TAM 008 – I Confess Something Very Un-Canadian and Talk About God Giving us Desires of our Heart

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The Accidental MissionaryWith less than a week to go until we make the move to Australia we are working hard to get everything done that we need to. This leads to some pretty crazy hours and things to do as I’m sure you can imagine.

This week I confess something very “un-Canadian” in the first few minutes of the podcast that I am hoping won’t get me in too much trouble and I also talk about what I believe is meant by the following verse:

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

It may be a bit different than how that verse has been traditionally looked at, but it has been opening my eyes more to God and His desires…

TAM 007 – Why The Accidental Missionary and a YWAM Group Writing Project

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As I record the seventh episode of the Accidental Missionary podcast things in our house would probably best be described as “nutty”! We have less than a week in our house before we move out and the house is in organised chaos as we work on selling what we need to, and working out what to put on the ship and what to bring with us on the plane.

Like I said, the house is “nutty”…

In this episode I answer some voicemail feedback that I got through my contact page. I also answer some email feedback that I got to my last podcast episode where I shared some of my testimony.

Caleb Breakey has written a book entitled How to Follow Jesus Without Leaving the Chuch. It is a book that talks about the millennial generation and their involvement with the church. As part of this project he is wanting to create a DVD series and has launched a Kickstarter project to do so. Here is a bit more about it …

And finally I also talk a bit more about the YWAM Book group writing project that I wrote about in my last blog article. I’m excited about the feedback that I have recieved so far and look forward to seeing what develops out of it in the new year when I may actually have time to move it beyond the concept stage …

This week’s intro music is part of Miranda Lambert‘s autobiographical song “Heart Like Mine“.