Winds,Earthquakes and Fires

1 Kings 19 paints a great picture for us about listening to the voice of God. Elijah, a prophet to the Israelites is being hunted down by his own kind because Israel has rejected the covenant that God has given them. They have broken down God's altars and have put all God's prophets to death. Elijah is the last prophet left and he is hiding in a cave trying to escape persecution and even death. God calls out for Elijah in verse 9 saying "what are you doing here, Elijah??"Elijah goes on to explain that he is fleeing persecution and that the Israelites have broken the covenant God has given them. After this dialogue between Elijah and God,God tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord. A great and powerful wind came, but the Lord was not in the wind..a mighty earthquake came after the winds...the Lord was not in the earthquake..and them a fire came that consumed the mountain...the Lord was not in the fire...BUT after the fire came a gentle whisper came and it was the Lord. God came in the quiet! I want to pose some questions..do you hear from God? Why is talking easier than listening? In our lives are we allowing God to speak to us amongst the choas and noise in our lives? God really wants to speak to us. But, are we really listening? I know in my life hearing the voice of God has been tough. However, I really havent been listening for it. It has not been till recent I have really set aside my agenda and said God speak to me. What are the winds,earthquakes and fires in your life that are keeping you from really hearing the voice of God. God has something amazing to tell us all. We just have to listen for it. Wheather that be closing your door,turning down the blinds,crying, kneeling, or just being quiet..God wants to speak to us.

Love, Stephen

just a few word..

well about to Go to the Bombers game...hoping for a win. just thought i would leave a note for anyone who needs encouragement. Remember God is on your side! he has a plan and a purpose for everything...even though sometimes we dont see that...such as an event that seems hard to cope with, a death in the family, heartbreak, you name it..God is still sovereign over all things...lean on him.He is our father and he cares about us sooo much. Let us rejoice always and be steadfast in our faith!

Love Stephen

Dreams.

I am going to start this blog off with a statement. "Having a dream keeps you alive." do you agree? After being in Auckland Nz for our South Pacific Leadership Conference I would tend to agree with the statement. Ps. Steve Murrel brought a great message about having dreams. The focus actually was about Joseph and how his dreams really kept him going. We all have our own dreams. If you dont then I encourage you to have one. Dreams are what keep us going. We all have aspirations and things we want to accomplish in our life. We all have that one special, nagging dream that is forever burned in our brain that we want to accomplish. Mine was Australia. But now that im here what is next? It is not enough that I am here...it is what I do here that will echo in eternity. Ps. Steve went on in his message to say that if your dream is not working out or it is the wrong time then give it to God and help someone elses dream. When he said that it really hit a deep spot in my soul. Just like Joesph who went through every trail a person could think of he gave his dreams to God. It was not toward the end that he was reminded of them once again when his brothers came to Egypt to get food because of the famin. At once he was reminded of them when his brothers nealed before him. That dream was mocked and ultimatly lead him into being sold into slavery. But joseph put his dreams to the side and served his master,served Egypt. In the end he was given second in command of all Egypt. All because he set his dreams to the side to help another. We can all learn from Joesph. A young man full of dreams and just like that they were taken from him. But! he did not loose hope. He put his dreams in God's hands and he was rewarded in the end. What are your dreams? what are you going to do about them? are you helping anyone else with their dreams? Think about it. Its not all about us you know.

Great start

Man, it has been a while since I have done this blogging thing! but what the heck, here comes another thing I will spend to much of my day on and probably become addicted to it. Just wanted to start this blogging thing off for all my partners and friends out there who would like to know all the latest updates in my life, my ministry and so on. I am coming up on 3 months of living out my dream in Melbourne. God is opening doors right and left and I cant help but be amazed at all the wonderful things he has done in my life and is doing in our church as well in our youth. We just Launched our first EPIC group (high school campus ministry) on Ashwood Secondary. It has been known to be one of the worst school in all of Melbourne. The school is plauged with Teen pregnancy, broken homes, drug and alcohol abuse just to name a few. We started off with just 5 coming to our first Epic group in the beginning of April. Within 2 weeks it jumped from 5 to 21! and just this past Thursday it jumped from 21 to 31! its funny because most if not all are not christians and they just feel that the Epic group is a secure place for them to be. They are very open students and are not afriad to ask anything....ha but nevertheless, God is bringing these student to us and we are showing them that God really loves them and has a plan for their lives. It is funny how if you trust God with the little, then he will give the lot. We, meaning I have to remember to look at the bigger picture...and expect God to move in this city and in the hearts of the youth. Well i will leave that with you all and expect that their will be another blog coming soon....cheers for now!