The stones
Friday, February 23, 2007

Talking to Anthony the other day and he came up with this amazing incite.

39And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

40And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Luke 19: 39-40

We now have people like Robbie Williams and Madonna who are clearly not Christian and going to Hell being key people in the fight for justice. If we do not cry out for justice the very rocks will cry out. The rocks are not just rocks but "normal" every day people if we do not cry out nature will cry out in response to our lack.
This is short end of a long conversation and I hope it makes sense, I guess it's a bit like Jackie Pullinger said "Isn't it a shame that the music industry has to tell Christians that we are going to make poverty history, shouldn't we all ready be doing it"

posted by pete footer at 2:37 PM ::: 3 comments

war college
Thursday, February 22, 2007

For all of you who have been wondering I have now applied for war college. Much is still to be done before I go so please pray that 1. I'll be accepted and 2. When I go I will be ready.
Praise God

posted by pete footer at 8:15 PM ::: 0 comments

Thank God

I want to thank God for a few people:

Tim: For those of you who know Tim will know exactly why I want to thank God for him since I have been in Australia he has done nothings else but help me giving my rides to work interviews, being some one to talk to and always being there to help out in any way. There are very few things that my mate Tim wouldn't do to help some one in need and I thank God for that.

Lux: Seeing as the people who read this are mostly Canadian and Australian most of you will know Lux, she is by far the most patient and giving person I know. This week I got to see her in action hanging out with the homeless people of Adelaide and sharing the gospel. One day when I was in Secondary school some one told me that I should look at some one older than me and ask my self "do I want to be like them when I am their age?" This question was what got me out of retail and out of my last labour job, when I looked at my managers I imagined just how disappointed I would be if became them. Long story short when I look at Lux I can easily say that yes I would be happy to be like her when I reach her age. Allways giving never expecting to receive she has accomplished a lot in life and clearly will accomplish more.

So I thank God for these two people in my life who have made the journey so much more fulfilling.

posted by pete footer at 7:59 PM ::: 1 comments

wow
Friday, February 16, 2007

Does any one else find it funny how after praying you find something so gold it sums up everything you want to say and be:

Shall we beat a retreat, and turn back from our high calling in Christ Jesus, or dare we advance at God’s command in the face of the impossible? …. Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial was involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ.
John Stam


I want something really worthwhile to live for. Like most young people, I want to invest this one life of mine as wisely as possible, in the place that yields richest profits to the world and to me…. I want it to be God’s choice for me and not my own. There must be no self-interest at all, or I do not believe God can reveal His will clearly. … I know very well that I can never realize the richest, most satisfying, life Christ meant for me, if I am not giving my own life unselfishly for others. Christ said: “He that would find his life shall lose it,” and proved the truth of this divine paradox at Calvary. I want Him to lead, and His Spirit to fill me. And then, only then, will I feel that my life is justifying its existence and realizing the maturity in Him that Christ meant for all men, in all parts of the world.

Betty Stam

Soon after arriving in Miaoshou, John and Betty Stam were bound with ropes that cut deeply into their wrists, then stripped of their outer clothing, leaving them in their underwear. John was tied to a bedpost throughout the night, while Betty was allowed to attend to the needs of her baby. The next morning they were paraded through the town, with the whole population rallied to come and witness the execution of the “foreign devils.” The Communists cursed and ridiculed them as they were marched through the streets. The procession wound its way up a small hill, called Eagle Hill, to a line of pine trees.

A huge sword was in the hands of one of the young Communists. John spoke only a few words as he knelt on one knee. Probably only his wife understood what he was saying. Without a doubt, she was reaffirming him, even if it meant giving up his life. While he was talking, he was struck to the ground, his throat having been cut so completely that the head fell beside the slain body…

Betty trembled, but she did not cry out. Her lips uttered a prayer as she fell over the beheaded body of her beloved husband. In this position the cruel hand struck the same blood-stained knife in at the back of her neck and she fell down dead over her husband’s body. John and Betty were one in life and one in death, and one in a martyr’s testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The bodies of John and Betty Stam were buried in a small Christian graveyard in the suburbs of Wuhu City, in Anhui Province.

Remarkably, on the same day that news of the Stams’ death reached America, John’s father, the Rev. Peter Stam, received a letter from his son that had been posted from China many weeks before. In his letter he told about the threat of the Communists, but reiterated his faith and commitment to serve God in China regardless of the cost. John Stam repeated a poem written by another China missionary, J.W. Vinson, who had himself been captured by bandits. The bandits asked Vinson if he was afraid to die. Vinson replied, “No! If you shoot straight, I shall go straight to heaven!” His captors did shoot straight, and Vinson entered heaven as one who “loved not his life unto death.” Earlier, Vinson had penned this poem, which Stam now quoted to his father:

Afraid? Of what?
To feel the spirit’s glad release?
To pass from pain to perfect peace?
The strife and strain of life to cease?
Afraid?—of that?

Afraid? Of what?
Afraid to see the Saviour’s face?
To hear His welcome, and to trace
The glory gleam from wounds of grace?
Afraid?—of that?

Afraid? Of what?
A flash—a crash—a pierced heart;
Darkness—light—O heaven’s art!
A wound of his counterpart!
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
To do by death what life could not—
Baptize with blood a stony plot,
Till souls shall blossom from the spot?
Afraid? Of that?

posted by pete footer at 10:43 PM ::: 1 comments

A little rant

Well I couldn't stay away from this blogging thing:
I have now been in Australia, Adelaide for just under two weeks living in a Christian community house thanks to Anthony and Andrea who have invested into my life and let me stay here. I am truly blessed to have so many people investing in my life.

I have noticed some things. I am to comfortable. Although I don't consider anything we do in Asia as extreme in any way I am finding that in the west it is to easy to "live a normal life" go to work go to worship and then back to work again and I don't even have a job yet.
What a daily fight it is to live in a blessed country like Australia and not become as blind and lost as the sinner we are called to save.

posted by pete footer at 9:43 PM ::: 0 comments