Jesus Army blog - Latest Comments

Re: ‘Smelly worship’

sun — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:11:01 -0000

It does stink i agree,but the J A are mostly alone in their oplnlons of how God should be worshipped ive been there seen it done it got out of it . Yet here i am and looking on a JA website and do quite often as theres something drawing about them never worked out what though ? any way nuff said . God bless .

Re: ‘Smelly worship’

em — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:09:17 -0000

...and the problem with those new to faith is that you can't necessarily tell the difference and you lose the fragile trust you might have been on the point of acquiring when you discover what you though was sincerity isn't!

Re: Olympic heroes

James Stacey — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:18:20 -0000

This little article was read out on BBC Northampton radio.

Re: ‘Smelly worship’

Lee Vincent — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:51:33 -0000

Good write up Chris . I remember when you excelled in playing . Admired yr God given gift . Not seen you for twenty years . I hardly recognized yr pic :-)

Re: ‘Smelly worship’

Nathan Britten — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:58:46 -0000

I have to reassure you that i have never been just admiring the performance in our church hehehe!!

Re: Millions view viral video

James Stacey — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 06:24:29 -0000

Yeah, but you gotta love the alliterative Vs...

Re: Sick of sex

Rehab — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:05:43 -0000

Seems to me like a very intresting movie, with a very sensitive topic. Battling sex addiction, like other forms of addiction, will be a long, hard journey. A lot of patience, understanding and discipline is needed to fight this. Hoping for this movie to enlighten and teach a lot of people about sex addiction. Great article. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Millions view viral video

Aidan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:46:09 -0000

"Millions view viral video"- well I never! Surely you can think of a more informative title than that. That's like writing "Millions read popular article" or "Millions eat tasty sandwich".

Re: Photo Gallery

Christian Church Pastor — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:31:23 -0000

Interesting sort of retro look.

Re: Track of the month

James Stacey — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:47:21 -0000

I've always liked this song, but it challenges me, too...

Re: Sick of sex

James Stacey — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:44:40 -0000

Now my dillemma is - do I watch this film?! Doesn't sound like wholesome viewing, but serious points being made nonetheless...

Re: Single for good

Stuart Patnell — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:33:49 -0000

I really like this story. It's amazing how someone can make a lifelong commitment like this and really find God's peace and blessing in it.

And yes, playing the triangle all round Europe - nobody can say she hasn't lived!!

Re: Single for good

Julia — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:52:48 -0000

I appreciate the above comments from our friends
about making vows and after a bit of thought, here’s my response:

From the little research I have done, it seems to
me that there is a difference between the rather careless swearing described in
Matthew 5: 33-37 and serious, premeditated vow making before God. I doubt very
much if Jesus was repudiating the latter kind of vow making. After all, if He
was, shall we no longer make or support marriage vows?

Ecclesiastes warns us not to be hasty in our heart ‘to
utter anything before God’ and tells us that if we make vows
we certainly better keep them (Ecclesiastes 5:2, 5) I have
certainly found the very few vows I have made have held me to my resolutions
and kept me ‘on track’ in difficult times and, for that, I have valued them.
Vows of marriage, celibacy and commitment to God by nature close down some
options for us. They also free us for the one person or the one thing that we
value so much. Surely, that’s got to be good….

Personally, I have found my vow of celibacy has
brought freedom in my ministry (believe me, I took many years to make it.)
Everyone knows where I stand: it’s not
worth asking me out as I’m going to say ‘no.’ Also, I’m not suddenly going to
have a new set of priorities as I’m not going to get married and have children. In
any church where relationships are all important both these aspects of the vow are
a huge plus.

Re: Lost generation?

James Stacey — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:38:44 -0000

This was powerful when I saw it.

Re: Single for good

Waycyber — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:02:11 -0000

This is a great testimony by Thea. I would like to throw something else in the mix, if I may. I wear a celibacy ring, but I am, in fact, asexual. We have an advantage over true celibates in that we lack the drive that celibates struggle with (or it is at least reduced). If you find you do not have desires to find a partner, be happy about it. It is a blessing. Jesus said that some would be this way from birth - don't be put off that the word is sometimes translated as "eunuch". Stand alongside the celibates and support them.

Re: Single for good

Paulandheini — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:38:15 -0000

Hi Thea,
I think your story is great. However, I don't think that you had to vow or oath to God to stay celebate for the rest of your life. The bible talks about a great grace that Father has for us, and His love for us is so great that even Jesus said don't make oaths before God.

Matthew 5:33-37

Also Psalm 103 says
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ...

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
I also believe that you need to be you and not Mother Theresa or somebody else. God made you uniquiley you. There is no where in the bible that says we are to be alone and not marry in life.

I want to encouarge you before you go further down your life of this vow to consider the great grace of God & His forgiveness through the blood of Jesus for your life. And that you can be so free w/out have to be held to your vow forever. God's grace is astronomical.

If anybody from the Jesus army reads this or outside the Jesus army please don't vow a vow to God. Do what Jesus says, "deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow him." and take life one day at a time - without vowing to God.

Re: Jesus Army tracks

tracey bailey — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:31:26 -0000

lisning to jesus army tracks on my netbook. realy lifts my spirt. tracey bailey

Re: Single for good

James Stacey — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:22:35 -0000

I love the fact she got to travel Europe by playing the triangle!

Re: Jesus Army tracks

John Campbell — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:04:43 -0000

Does anyone know if these tracks can be downloaded on a Blackberry?

Re: Apps for Smartphones

qr code generator — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:57:22 -0000

Love this applications. I have using android smartphone and these apps seems interesting and want to download for my cell phone. Thanks for sharing.

Re: F*** you, I’m for me!

James Stacey — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:34:34 -0000

Micah, you make a good point.
In fact, this piece first appeared in Jesus Army Streetpaper alongside a
companion piece that made a similar point to you, as well as other
points. We'll make sure we blog that, too. Thanks for commenting.

Re: F*** you, I’m for me!

Micah Campbell — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:28:17 -0000

OK Matt: I could not disagree with you more.

I am a youth worker based in Manchester, I spend much time with many of these youths you seem to know so much about. And yes, I know several who were involved in the summer riots. Firstly let me just clear this blatant warping of reality, most of them were NOT affiliated to gangs nor were manipulated by ORGANISED criminals.. I would love to know where you acquired these facts? The Daily Mail by any chance?

Most of these kids were from similar areas, with similar life prospects, with similar issues; it begs the question; how can this NOT be seen as a social issue!? If it had been any other group it would be seen as such. surely if it was simply the manifestation of sin there would have been a much broader mix of society; yet they were nearly all YOUNG and POOR!
Secondly your assertions about Jesus taking an issue with this perspective, is in my humble opinion, a complete disregard for his teachings and his life. Jesus loved the SINNER; that was his primary, defining purpose for coming down to Earth. Love means to look past the SIN.. Simply put; the SINNER comes before the SIN.

What you have done is seen a group of people, specifically poor, unrepresented youths, for their criminality and SIN. You have left very little manoeuvrability for empathy, for reaching out to them, seeing past their SIN and seeing them as sons and daughters of God.

Empathy and Love are synonymous, they can not be separate. Not to empathise is to disregard their humanity, their pain, their insecurity, their abuse etc. Therefore not to empathise means you can not be truly LOVING them as Jesus ordained us to do.
Many of these youths are deeply insecure about how people and society perceive them, their apparently ‘arrogant’ actions and mannerisms are actually a manifestation of this insecurity, a defence mechanism if you like. They want to be loved and to be noticed and to be respected – much like every other human on Planet Earth! They search for these things and find them in the wrong places primarily because nobody else gives them the opportunity. Think about it; The media hates on them, politicians hate on them, they are NOT represented at all in either of these entities, their parents potentially have issues with them, their teachers disregard them, SOCIETY DISREGARDS THEM! They have to go looking for respect and inclusion, sometimes in places which may lead them down a path of criminality.

Through my job as a youth worker I refuse to be part of this obvious problem, I aim to see all of them, good and bad, and to give them a fair chance to be themselves! And they open up to me as real, living breathing, insecure, interesting, multi dimensional human beings. Not just ‘feral thugs’ as the vast majority dismiss them as.

Chris: You speak of respect being something that is earned, on that basis how can WE earn the respect of these youths, if we show them none ourselves? You say they “are incapable of normal English speech” I’m not going to beat around the bush;- I believe this to be an extremely bigoted perspective! Should we judge a Polish man on his limited grasping of the English language???! They have a dialect which reflects their culture and yes swearing is part of that ‘culture’ but let me ask you this bro…

Would Jesus have disregarded these youths?? Would he have simply thought “they swear, they steal, they show no respect, I think I shall visit the Scholars today as they shall provide me with much more nourishing and enlightening chit chat”..

Personally, I don’t remember that part of the Bible!!

Respect is learned, it comes from people seeing past your faults and flaws and appreciating your weaknesses and strengths, it comes from an understanding of what makes a person, a person! As the adults of society, the impetus is ours to show and teach respect so that the next generation do not grow up without having ever experienced it in the true sense.
As Christians it is our duty to be the ones that make them feel welcome in a world which otherwise makes them feel unwelcome!

That means not just seeing the SIN but also the SINNER.
By the way the great Christian activist Martin Luther King once said “A riot is the language of the unheard”.. A man who appreciated how society devalues, dehumanises and then blames a people group for not acting ‘correctly’..

Re: F*** you, I’m for me!

Matt — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:53:01 -0000

"
The Bible calls this “sin”. A dusty, old-hat, outmoded idea? Think about it: “sin” has ‘I’ in the middle. It is “self” running amok."

Don't mean to sound flippant but also thought it worth saying that the sin having an I in the middle is a bit of a lame comment. For example, "Faith" also has an I in the middle! So does "Alive", "White", "Bride" and hundreds of other words. Following the same logic, why is there no "I" in "Lust", "Adultery" or "Theft"??

I also wanted to know if the nature and causes of Sin were different in Non- English speaking countries where their word contains no "I" and "I" isn't a word in any case??

Further, as the word "Sin" was spelled "Synn" in English up until the Ninth Century, was there a significant shift in the nature of Man around that time???

Re: F*** you, I’m for me!

Matt — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:22:02 -0000

I can't agree with the sweeping generalisation about "the youth of today" I'm afraid. It is actually the minority of teenagers who behave so deplorably, the majority being decent respectful people.

I understand why young folks get upset with the way they are perceived when older people who ought to know better cannot see past the negatives which unsettle them.

The concept that "respect has to be earned" is also a twisted one. We all have a basic responsibility from birth to respect fellow human beings. We should show respect to everyone because every person is created in the image of God and is deeply loved by Him. The attitude that "I do not respect them because they show now respect for me" does not tie up with the Christian message that you subscribe to.

Imagine if Jesus decided "I will not love them because they show no love for me".

Re: F*** you, I’m for me!

ChrisInBlackpool — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:44:41 -0000

OK never posted on here before so please be gracious.. I'm not the best at writing..... From Micah, '....a system that pays them little attention nor respect' .. the problem Micah is that you are right in the first place,,, the attention... I'd agree totally that the youth are often not given the attention they need, but then has the second part of your sentance got anything to do with why??? Respect has to be earnt, it's not free.. it's not just given out on a whim... and having a 17 yr old girl myself I can tell you that the youth of today have a seemingly built in attitude that the whole world should respect them, their wishes, their desires (wants), them as people completly regardless of how they treat other people. They can treat anyone like absolute crap and still these teenagers DEMAND respect! Well I for one will not repsect someone who steals from me, beats me up and uses language that is only fit for the gutter. I listen to teenagers speak these days and it is filth... most of them can't have a conversation for five minutes without swearing.. even if you pick a topic where there is no need to do so.. they are incapable of normal English speach.. and we have to respect that??? I think not.
I do pity our youth, the outlook for jobs, housing and life is not good. Everyone is becoming more and more selfish. If we don't get our own way, RIOT. I don''t mean riot as in what happened on our streets... I mean in the sence of couples breaking up after years of marriage just because things arent quite going smoothly... Kids kicking off on parents because they are not given everything they want, when they want.... everyone seems to be rioting in one way or another and it all stems from the point being made in the articel.. SELFishness..
Die to self - live for Christ.. that has to be our aim.
Blessings
Chris