watch this space....

We have been dreaming and scheming and have some pretty exciting things in the works!!! So watch this space!

(ok so I'll be nice and give you a quick heads up on some of the exciting things. Get you pens ready and mark these dates in your diary now!

18- 21 July - Get Smart Conference Christchurch
13-14 August - Winter Blast, Queenstown
3 September - Sex, Lies & Resonate
18-29 November - Red Frogs Schoolies Mission Trip, Gold Coast Australia

More info and other exciting stuff coming soon!!

Something to consider

Well so it's been a little while since I have posted - sorry for being so slack!!

Life for the average Reson8r has been pretty busy, and I have been no exception. Between work, study, family and church it's difficult at times to take a few moments for myself let alone jump on the computer and write about how busy we are!! But it has got me thinking.

How often do we actually take the times to appreciate the little things? Sounds cliched I know but in all honesty I find that sometimes I get so busy doing the work for God that I forget to actually spend time with God. Which is crazy because when you love someone and are in relationship with them then you should actually want to spend time with them.

Imagine being best friends with somebody but you don't actually talk to them, hang out them or even answer the phone each time they call you.

In fact you ignore them completely - except maybe when your world falls apart and then you need a shoulder to cry on. But you still consider yourselves to be best friends and believe you have an amazing, understanding, loving relationship because you just happen to do things on behalf of that person.

Lets be honest , real relationships don't actally work that way. But yet how often are we like that with God?

We spend so much time doing stuff in His name, and for the church, but in essence we are so far removed from God it's not funny. We don't hang out with Him, we don't talk to Him unless we want something and we certainly don't listen when He has something to say. Would we even recognise His voice at the other end of the line if he called?

There is a saying my old youth leader used to have - "If the devil can't make you bad he'll make you busy." Often we allow our busyness get in the way of whats really important - RELATIONSHIP.

I don't know about you but when it comes my turn to go hang with Jesus in eternity I want to know that I am going to be hanging with my best friend, not a random accquaintance. I don't want to get so hung up on serving Him that I forget to know Him.

What about you? Do your priorities lie in the doing of Jesus or your relationship with Him?

Revival Pics

OK guys so as promised here are a few shots from when we had Roy and Melanie Fields here the other week. It was a phenomenal time of worship and God really switched something in the Spirit. It was like taking a 60 watt light bulb and then shoving 2000 volts of electricity through it to see what would happen - things will never be the same again!!!!

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE

Singers Band in Worship
Worship led by Roy Fields. You can't really see but Church

was PACKED out.

Pastor Ian (with Dayle in background) deep in worship

SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE

Love this shot!!!! Resonator Lulu and members of the ministry team during the evening service.

Southern River pastor Danny Steel (centre) responding to a call for healing while Melanie Fields (right) prays.

Melanie Fields praying for people during an altar call.

Associate pastor Grant hanging with his kids after the evening service. (It was 11.5pm and they just got their second wind!!)

10 Keys to Servanthood

Key number 6: Servants do what it takes, and love it!

One of the most important things that we need to realize is that there is a big difference between a slave and a servant: a slave works for wages, begins work at clock in time and knocks off at the end of the day and has no real care for the work outside of that, but a servant has a lifestyle of work based on love for the master and finds rest and recreation under the roof of the house.

Having said this, we can get under the illusion that we have to love the work before we are willing to put our hand to it, when in reality we often need to serve first before we develop a love for the work because ultimately it is a reflection of our love for the master.

I think that maturity says “you don’t need to feel like we love the work to know that we do”

The first step to understanding this is investment. In Matt 6:21 says that “wherever your treasure is there will your heart be also”, so if begin to invest our time, finances and effort then we automatically begin to develop a love in those areas.

Let’s continue to develop a love for Gods expression of his Kingdom which is the local church by investing our time, finances and effort weather we like it or not and let us refuse to let our feelings sabotage excellence in the house simply because we don’t like doing something.

Bourke - a few thoughts & a broken heart.....

My heart has broken. Well and truly gut wrenchingly, utterly shattered, and broken so much that the usual cure of sticky tape and super glue will not do. My eyes have laid witness to a dispair, a hurt, a brokeness that run so deep it was bred into the very blood of generation. It was a sight I never would have believed in a nation so beautiful and similar and "civilised" as ours, but my eyes did not deceive me, what I saw was true.

But no matter how deep my grief, God's is deeper. No matter how badly my heart breaks, God's breaks more. In the places and people I see brokeness, despair and pain, God sees HOPE.

Four of us from Invercargill joined with the guys from Highway Christian Church in Ulladulla (Australia) to help at REACH 08 - a conference with a complete missions focus and a desire to see God to move in a new way. We were equipped as the army of God to go into the community and show love as Chirst loved us in a real and practical way.

Bourke, NSW Australia is a beautiful outback town and to look at it I really wondered if what I had been told was as bad as what I had been led to believe. But closer inspection showed me a deep level of dysfunction and hurt. Almost every house in town was surrounded by high metal fences, with an almost as big dog, the main street at night looked like an industrial area with big garage doors and windows barred and then in the Aboriginal "missions" the houses were nice and normal but then you saw the smashed glass and boarded up windows.

And the kids. The beautiful children who knew no different from what they lived in everyday. 3, 4, and 5 year old children who are on the streets at all times of the night, abused and taking drugs and alcohol like they were lollies, whose idea of a good time was stealing cars and then burning them.

But despite it all, God is in that place.

You could see Him in the smiles of the children, in the fresh greening of the ground that had been drought-stricken for years, in the passion and perserverence and faith of the Christians in Bourke who had been faithfully praying for and serving in their community.

God was seen on the lives of young children, as small as 4,5 and 6 years old, as they stood silent and still in His presence. He was there in the midst as 200+ young people from throughout New South Wales, wider Australia and New Zealand stood and worshiped Him freely, separated not by race or circumstances but united in love as the whanau of God.

God was in the riverbed as the drunked, just released from prison, wandered aimlessly with his bottle of booze. He was there when he was struck by the power of the Holy Spirit and set free from his sin and pain, and came into the Kingsom of Heaven.

My time in Bourke has shown me a fraction of the heartbeat of God. Jesus died for these people, each and everyone of them, of us, saved or unsaved, black or white, male or female, old or young. We are not different. We are all seen the same through the eyes of God - His children.

I am still processing what I saw, what God has done and is doing in Bourke, and in me. It is beyond our comprehension to know how deeply God mourns over the blood shed there in the name of "civilised people" and government policy. How His heart aches for the children of Bourke, many who have never known a fathers love, a tender touch or a kind word.

But God IS in that place. And He is moving. Heaven linked with earth during the time Reach 08 was in Bourke, and even though we have left there, God hasn't.

Heaven hasn't.

Hope hasn't.

God is in that place, and He is moving. It begins with HOPE........

The Next Generation...

Matthew 24:34
I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

As a geek, there are few things as world changing as the advent of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It forever split all trekkies into two camps: those who thought the next generation would never live up to the originals, and those who believed that the next generation would be the one which would make Star Trek relevant to a more mainstream audience (stop me if you know where I'm going here...).

"I hear the sound of a rising generation." Shannon on Friday eloquently talked about how we are the generation of choice. We can either choose to usher in the generation that changes the world, or we can BE that generation.

I think that sometimes our theology is a bit twisted around the whole ideas of generations... yes it means father to son, mother to daughter, and so on, but nowadays we count the generations in terms of some kind of arbitary 20 year period. What is with that? Isn't it weird?

While we are living and breathing, we will be part of this generation. So I guess that explains what my opinion is of the verse above. We are the rising generation. God has assigned tasks for you and I to do, and until we do them, this generation will not pass away. Are we going to leave the work assigned to us for future generations?

How does that relate to youth? Well, I guess it means that it doesn't mean if you are really young, or really old, we are still relevant. We only need to look to our leadership team for proof that age does not dictate a youthful spirit, nor attitude, nor enthusiasm, nor any other factor. I don't have to be the circumstances that raised me. My age does not dictate who I am. It does not dictate what I am capable of.

And like the movie Star Trek: Generations, we are stronger when we work together. And we get to ride in a kick a** vehicle on the way (yes I did just compare the local church to the Starship Enterprise... WARP SPEED!). If we aren't already united, then I pray that God make it so (oh my gosh, I can't believe I made such a bad joke after a good post...)

I refuse to grow old gracefully. Beam me up Scotty.

10 Keys to Servanthood

Key number 5: Servants don't seek the glory of leadership

The Church is a body (1 Cor 12:12) and not everyone can be the head or the “upfront” Leader all the time. I think that if a lot more people understood what is required to do a good job as a leader then a lot less people would seek it as fervently as they do. They maybe better suited and more efficient in a different position.

To whom much is given much is required (Luke 12:48).

It is much more rewarding and relaxing to be content in the place God has placed you in for this moment then to be constantly striving and anxious for some “position”.

True leadership is God given not acquired.

In the end, there is only perceived glory in leadership, you can only ever say that God worked in you and through you…which happens to be the same deal for servanthood.

The danger for the servant is to be more conscious of being recognized or of possible rewards then of the job at hand. There is a great verse in the bible that states that the reward for those that seek recognition is that they will simply get what they desire…recognition…and nothing else (Matt 6:1-2).

To me humility is one of the most important virtues a Christian can have because God has grace for the humble and resists the proud (James 4:6) which to me, means that you can mess it up real bad but with humility God will turn it to success. And you can be the most successful person in the world but with pride it will turn to nothing!

Smith Wigglesworth, a man I admire, said this “the only way to get up is to get down”

10 Keys to Servanthood

Key Number 4: Servants carry the vision and give a good report

To carry the vision of your leader requires more then just following it. At some point the vision has to become apart of you to the point where it doesn’t matter what the external circumstances are, you will not put the vision down.

If you were to look at the 12 people Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land you can see that only two of them actually carried the vision, the others were just following the vision until it became too hard and then their vision turned to themselves and all they could see was what they imagined they looked like in their enemies eyes (Num 13:33). Talk about perspective!!

Instead of carrying the vision of the leader the spies began to carry the vision of the enemy.

“Oh, it’ll be too hard” or “that will never work”, “we never have enough help”, “I’m not too sure”, we don’t have enough resource”, “look, I’m just stating the obvious”, are all words that come from an inverted and small vision.

The vision of the enemy always begins with an unfaithful moan

If you look at anything through the eyes of the enemy then the vision that you are carrying (that has now become apart of you) is not Godly.

In fact, the bible calls that kind of vision evil (Num 14:27-29 KJV) and what you see is what you will get.

There is nothing more damaging to the momentum of a ministry then when people begin to drop the vision

To carry the vision means that, at least in part, you actually begin to “see” (direction, end result, etc) and the best way to get to that position is to simply invest and then spread a good report, “we can do it”, “he that is in you is greater then he that is in the world”, “nothing is impossible for God”, “we can push through this”.

“We will never give up, give in or let up, because we are standing on the immoveable, unshakable, indestructible ROCK that is JESUS CHRIST.”

Let’s “go all in” I say!

10 Keys to Servanthood

Key number 3: Servants support their leaders

There is a great example in the bible of what and how something is achieved when servants support their leaders. Read Ex 17:8-16. Aaron and Hur supported Moses and without them the battle would be lost.

Moses, the leader, had the vantage point (the vision) and could see what was going on; he was working hard to serve the entire nation but became tired.

The future of the nation depended on the support for the leader.

I often talk about the weight of leadership; it’s the leader that frets about the smallest details, it’s the leader that has invested hours of prayer and tears, and it’s the leaders mind that is focused 24/7. It is no wonder that it gets tiring!

The capacity of any leader to continue on and to continue to grow is due to his or her support.

Here’s a thought to spare for your leaders: the battle was being fought by Joshua at one level (where the physical work is done) and the leadership was being given by Moses at another, both felt the pressure of battle in different ways but when the battle is over Moses cannot afford to stop and rest like the rest of the army,

His mind is already on the next battle,

And how is he going to feed his army,

And how is he going to judge the internal affairs,

And where to from here,

And in amongst all of that he has got the in-laws coming to visit!

Back to the point; when you support your leaders, not only do you become an integral part of the ministry and its capacity but you get to share in the victory also!

Previous Servanthood Post Next Servanthood Post

10 Keys to Servanthood

Key number 2: Great servants make good leaders

Servanthood is really leadership with the right motive and heart

Leadership and servanthood are closely linked. In fact to be a leader following the biblical model you have to be willing to serve and when you serve you are actually portraying leadership. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”.

In the end everyone serves something, it is either yourself or someone else.

It is dangerous to appoint someone who is not willing to serve in the capacity that you ask because it raises the question “are they wanting to serve the vision under your leadership or themselves and there own agenda?”

This is where sacrifice and faith come in. It is a sacrifice to put aside your own vision in order to serve someone else’s and it is faith that in serving someone else’s vision God will actually outwork the vision he has placed in you.

10 Keys to Servanthood

Intro to Servanthood

1. Jesus the servant King
2. Great servants make good leaders
3. Servants support their leaders
4. Servants carry the vision and give a good report
5. Servants don’t seek the glory of leadership
6. Servants do what it takes and love it
7. Servants don’t always need to be asked
8. Servants give more then required
9. Servants are fed while doing the work
10. Ways you can serve


Key number 1: Jesus the servant King

Jesus modeled his whole ministry on servanthood and so should we. Jesus is God and has the authority of God yet at the same time he served us to beyond the point of death.

Essentially he gave up everything in order to serve us!

Often we hear the question “are we giving our lives in order to serve God?” But the question we should ask based on the example of Jesus is this, “are we giving our lives in order to serve each other?”

We can Love, and believe in, and worship God all we like, but if this doesn’t translate into serving each other to the point of sacrifice then we are not reflecting Jesus and what he died for at all.

“I want to be his hands and his feet” on this earth

Intro to Servanthood

Intro to servanthood: Servanthood is faith in action

I asked a group of people the other day what they thought of when they herd the word servanthood, the majority considered that to be a servant was not much different to being a slave or do all this work that they don’t really enjoy or want to do, “servanthood is just slaves in the hood” as someone said.

The reality is that servanthood is actually the outworking of your faith.

If you believe in Jesus Christ and his Church and its appointed leaders then at some point your belief will have to have some sort of substance or evidence (faith) to it otherwise you are blindly believing and allowing yourself to float along life’s journey at the mercy of “fate”.

Christ wants us to make a definitive decision with vision (as opposed to blind faith) about following him. “With out vision the people perish” the bible says (Pro 29:18). Without vision we put ourselves at the mercy of fate and will perish and we all know who is in charge of making things perish don’t we?

So those that have fate are at the mercy of the devil and those that have faith are at the mercy of Christ who is the head of the Church, which the bible says everything revolves about (Eph 1:23 Msg).

Now we have come full circle. If you believe in Jesus and in his Church and its leaders then at some point your belief will have to have evidence to it, in other words your faith will have to have the substance of action.

This action translates to Servanthood!!

I believe that servanthood, even the menial tasks that need done, is actually the out working of my faith. I believe that in servanthood, even picking up that piece of rubbish, I’m actually advancing the Church and the Kingdom of God.