Touring can be tedious at times!  Hours of travel, fast food, sickness, being away from family and general life stuff. However, when you finish the tour, look back and see all the people that have found the love of Jesus, or those that we’re influenced to love God and people more,  it all is SO worth it.

New Zealand is like a second home to us now.  We have been going there for the past 3 years straight, and every time it just gets better and better.  The relationships that have come out of it are unreal. Kiwi’s rock! It’s awesome to see Churches that are moving forward and going from strength to strength. Ultimately, it’s an honour to be a part of what God is doing over in the land of the sheep!

Some highlights of this tour would defiantly begin with the Parachute Festival.  Besides microphones not being plugged into front of house, no sound check time, crazy bucketing rain, we LOVE what Parachute represents and who they are as people.  There is such a buzz, such a hunger within the boundary lines of the festival for God, fun & food!  Probably one of the best festivals in the world.

I would probably have to say our favorite highlight of any tour is hanging with our team on such an intimate level.  We have the best group of guys that we travel with.  Such servant hearts, dedicated to God and fulfilling the calling that’s on their life.  They give up so much to come on these tours and we honour them for that. They rock!

We love NZ! Can’t wait for next year 2011. Yew!

Nothin’ but BIG love

Aaron & Becky

The final chapters 4 & 5 of our mini-documentary ‘project cambodia: cause behind the commission’ are now live.

You can view them over on the project cambodia page.

On our recent trip to Cambodia we documented what we saw, felt & experienced together as a team. We’ve cut these into 5 webisodes to be released over January. We invite you to view these mini-docos over on the project cambodia page. We hope these are reflective & inspiring…

much love
citipointe live

view the ’cause behind the commission’ webisodes

The Commissioning.
A young adults youth gathering.
14 – 16 Jan 2009.

Feat:
Joey Bonaficio
Dr Robi Sonderegger
Ps Josh Kelsey
Ps Andy Gourley
Ps George Salloum
Ps Karolina Gunsser

Early bird rate is $55. Be there.
visit thecommissioning.com for more.

Was’ up everyone!

We had a rad Creative practice last tuesday night! I commend every member of our team for diggin’ deep and passionately pursuing the heart of God!
I spoke on a subject that is relevant to every human being whether you’re a teenager or you’re an elderly. The title of my message was “Living in the Light,” here is a breakdown of the notes I had, hope it helps!

Purity is such a battle these days. I’m not just talking about sexual purity, but about the arsenal of weapons that bombards our lives daily. We often excuse ourselves from being pure by insisting that it is so hard to be pure in these days. All sorts of excuses are given, “all the pornography on the internet,” “all the drama, sex, and violence on TV and in the movies,” “That piece of gossip was so juicy I had to share it with my best friend,” and we use the excuse “everybody’s doing it.” Bottom line, purity is not easy because the Devil knows how to co-opt some of our most basic and human desires and get this, WE PREFER TO GIVE IN AND HAVE THEM DISTORTED THAN TO BE DISCIPLINED AND HAVE THEM BLESSED.

Ouch! I can think of thousands of times in my life where I’ve taken the easy exit and gave in rather than be disciplined and choose purity. It’s a battle that everyone, even you, has to deal with. This very battle can take the strength and passion away from our spiritual worship.

You see, all of life, spiritual and sexual are part of our offering of worship. That’s why Paul talked about offering our bodies to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12). He said this is our spiritual worship. How intense is that, our bodies our the very temple, home, in which the Spirit of God lives. Problem is, our sorry ol’ fleshly, prideful sacrifice’s keep wanting to crawl off the alter.

I then asked this question, “What are you OFFERING to God?
Is your spiritual worship distorted or is it purified and holy, pleasing to God?
So what happens if you have done some crazy things in your life, you’ve chosen the easy exit and distorted your heart with the junk this world has to offer? What do you do? Do you wait for the next big name preacher to come through your city and go and get prayed for, cleansed and healed? That is definitely one way, but not God’s way of living a champions life!

I’ve come across one of the most powerful tools to help us champion this life, to help us live in the light and experience the very freedom that was blood bought by Jesus, that is through ACCOUNTABILITY.
So if you we’re to come to me and say “can I be accountable to you,” this is what I would say.

1-The Old way of Life has to go!
Ephesians 4:20-24 (Message) “Since then, we do not have the excuses of ignorance, everything, and I do mean everything, connected with that OLD WAY OF LIFE HAS TO GO. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And take on an entirely new way of life, a God fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.”

2-You chase, you submit to accountability!
Ephesians 5:21“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ!”

The problem we can run into is that we wait for someone else to do the work for us, we have to chase accountability, call them on the phone, book an appointment and make it happen.

3.Be accountable to what you are allowing in your life, in your mind!
Ephesians 4:23 “be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh spiritual and mental attitude)
Simple really, we are new creations in Christ but we still have to put off the old and put on the new everyday!

4.I would ask you the tough questions! Exposure=Freedom
Ephesians 5:11-14 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose, reprove(to speak of disapproval), and convict(to declare guilty) them!
For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is the light that makes everything visible, this is why it is said:
Wake up O’ Sleeper
Rise from the dead
And Christ will shine on you!”
We must learn to open and vulnerable with someone that we trust with every little secret, every little skeleton in the closet. This will allow God’s light to shine on you and bring healing.

5.Be accountable on a consistent basis!
Don’t think by having one awesome meeting with someone and talking through issues is going to solve anything. Accountability and living in the light must be consistent, something that’s done again and again and again and again.
If we embrace accountability in our lives we will experience freedom like God intended, joy unspeakable. We will be positioned in freedom, able to dwell in His sanctuary, abide on His holy hill like Psalm 15 says,
“Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart, and has no slander on his tongue, and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without question and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will NEVER BE SHAKEN!!!!

Ok….So, I have just started reading Talent Is Never Enough by John C. Maxwell. I think it is going to be incredible based on the fact that I have only read the introduction and things are jumping out at me all over the shop. He points out some things in life that do not require talent. Continuing, he says that talent is great, but without discipline you will eventually be passed by people with maybe not so much talent but that have a little drive.

Even in the first couple of pages of this amazing book, I am learning the things that can make you a success that do not require talent.

Punctuality, a good attitude, patience, unselfishness, team work, respect, effort, a desire to see others succeed and honesty are just some of these vital keys. Talent is awesome and God given, however if someone with a “Talent Level 8” who does nothing extra and relies on their talent alone would most definitely be surpassed by someone with a “Talent Level 4” who practices those things that do not require talent that I mentioned.

Just a little something on my mind

Joel+

We had a real challenge put on us last night at Creative rehearsal.  The challenge was to “trash our idols.” The night started with some worship, moved into listening to a Jason Upton song called “Dying Star,” (which, if you haven’t got Jason Upton’s music, it’s a must buy), then we as a team wrote down on a piece of paper the thing or things that were taking God’s place in our hearts. Each person then walked up to an old wooden cross on the stage, ripped up the pieces of paper and laid them at the foot of the Cross.
The thing is, there will always be the toys that our cowardly heart doesn’t want to give up.  There will always be idols in this life whether idolatry, man pleasing, our own dream chasing or whatever it is that will want to steal our thunder – our passion for Him.  It’s this selfish, sinful nature that has been passed down generation to generation because of a choice in the Garden of Eden, that we won’t get away from until that day, when Jesus takes our hand and leads us into eternity.
But reality is, the more we want of God, the more we have to die to ourselves, our own selfish ambition and dreams, and lay down the toys that we allow our heart to play with.
In order for this to happen, there’s going to be some pain involved.  We must, in our hearts, experience some bitter pain just like Abraham experienced if we want to see the blessing follow.
We need to be a generation with a never satisfying hunger for intimacy with God.  This hunger drives us to not  bargain with ourselves to give in to temptation in any way.
A life lived with Jesus shining brighter than anything else is what’s going to change the direction of our world.  It’s a choice. It’s gonna hurt only for a bit, but let’s choose to trash our idols and be a generation that shines our loving, graceful, and beautiful God.

Believin’ in Ya,
Aaron

So our worship team at the moment is talking about fasting!  It’s the most powerful spiritual discipline that is kind of missed in a lot of Christians lives.
We believe that fasting should be a lifestyle, something we live out every week of our lives.  It’s defs good for shedding a few pounds, which we all like to do at times, but inside of us all, is a yearning to be so much closer to God.  To be intimate with our God, to hear His voice clearly, to enjoy His company, to know His thoughts, to share in His glory.  For us to have such access to the All Mighty God is really a privilege and an honor.  It’s a responsibility not to take lightly.
So many things in our world need fixing, need to be rebuilt, transformed, thoughts need to be reshaped, lives need to be helped, and prayer and action only get us halfway there.  If we can embrace the spiritual discipline of fasting again, there is no stopping God from revolutionizing humanity as we know it.

1 Chronicles 7:14 says “Then if my people would humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

The best days for the Church of Jesus Christ are definitely RIGHT NOW.  God can heal lives, churches, communities, nations and the world.  That same transforming power lives within us, and when we fast, humble ourselves before God, deny our self, our soul, and pray and seek God, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

So we encourage you guys, seek God wholeheartedly, try it out, pray and fast and see God radically change your life.

Here’s just a little info on fasting for ya!
Be blessed.

What is Fasting:
Fasting is “afflict soul or self,” is to practice self-denial.

Why do we Fast:
To humble ourselves before God and seek His face!

Psalm 35:13 David said, “I put on a sackcloth and HUMBLED myself with fasting.”

The 5 ways of Fasting.

1-Normal Fast – No food, water only
Produces greater humility and deeper repentance.
2-Total Fast – No food, No water
Only if God is really leading you to do it and you have spoken to a pastor to help walk you through it.
3-Daniel Fast – Daniel 2:10; Fruits, Vegetables, and water.  No bread, no juices, no meats or desserts.
4-Partial Fast – This is about cutting flesh addictions (especially for those that cannot fast food).  Ex. T.V., Movies, Facebook/Twitter, anything that matters a lot to you and could be taking time away from God.
5-Corporate Fast – A normal fast with a corporate group.  Brings power and unity within a group.

So much love

Aaron

Beautiful peeps,

If you love Jesus, he calls you to worship him. No matter your situation, no matter your past, no matter your success.

He has called us to honor and adore Him with all our hearts, mind, and soul. We are spirit beings, and for our spirit to connect with the spirit of God we must approach his throne room with reverence.

John 4: 23 – 24

23: But the time is coming; indeed it is here now, when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. The father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

24: For God is spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

The beautiful, God breathed, God destined, YOU, is responsible to uphold God’s worship, love Him enough to worship him wholly. God’s throne room should be irresistible to us!

Perfect Love to you all xxx

Hey everyone!

I just spoke last night at my church, Citipointe.  I spoke earlier this year in a tag team preach but this was the first full service I took, haha.  Yes, I was a bit nervous, especially because my wife, my father-in-law, and my mother-in-law we’re just chillin in the front row listening.  Now that was a bit nerve wracking.

My message last night was addressing a generation to “Get off the couch!”  To sum it up in a short summary, basically we have a broken, addicted, suffering world and you and I are called to be the answer, the deliverer, just like Moses was to His people.  Our generation today has taken a seat on the couch and is watching the world destroy itself, rather than getting off the couch and fully giving our lives to Jesus and being an answer to this love robbed world.

As I was preparing the message, I myself, was getting slapped in the face…It seemed like the deeper I went with it, the more things started to surface in my heart. I realised that there we’re a few things God’s been speaking to me about, and I’ve taken the easy way out by sitting on the couch!

But what we need to realise is that we will never reach perfection, we will never have everything we need to get off the couch and serve God.  That’s what GRACE is all about.   Jesus died for the imperfect! You don’t need to be ready, to have all the money in the world, you don’t even need all the answers, all you need to know is that you are chosen to be an answer and you can get off the couch and start using what is in your hands, changing this world for good and for God!

So pumped what God’s doing on the earth.  I love that we’re all doing this together!  Let’s keep loving our God with a higher praise, a deeper devotion, and a life that is madly obsessed with Jesus Christ!

Love ya’ll
Aaron