BLOGS

We have a growing number of members (and friends) who are using the realms of blogging to minister to others. Wow, what gifts are being stirred in them to reach into the worlds of others. We thank God for each one. Can we suggest you spend sometime visiting their sites, and encouraging them too - you might even find there is a word for you too.....

Gary - garychittenden.blogspot.com

Jan - soldierjan.blogspot.com

Clare - isaiah43-amazinglove.blogspot.com

Sara - the gardener.blogspot.com

Ellie - my-life-his-lufe.blogspot.com

And also, visit our South Ashford Community Church blog - southashford.blogspot.com

And our Childrens Ministries Site - thekingdomkids.blogspot.com

And our Prayer Site: prayermatters.blogspot.com

And, let us know your sites, so we can visit and share your ministry too!

EXAMINATIONS

Our thoughts and prayers over recent weeks have very much been for the youth of this town and area, taking examinations. Especially among our family we have been uplifting Gemma, Ellie, Nathan and Rachel. We are very proud of our youth, and the fact that they have approached these exams in the way they have. Today and tomorrow they conclude their examination period - and whilst we know they will be deeply saddened about this - we are sure the rest that follows will do them so much good. The wait for results can seem an age..... Just to encourage you guys!!!!! Please continue to remember Gemma, Ellie, Nathan and Rachel in your prayers, and as they spend these next few weeks resting, that their time will be a great time of refreshing and reviving for them.

THE GLORY DAYS

The following article was recently printed in 'Salvationist' and written by our Senior Leader Ian.

MY wife and I have been blessed in our officership and have enjoyed the opportunity of ministering in many different corps throughout the UK. Each visit has brought us great excitement, as we see the Spirit of God fulfilling his will and purposes.It is wonderful to hear the testimonies of the saints and to see their hunger for holiness. It excites us to hear about people being won for Jesus through corps ministry. We value listening to the people we meet and learning from their experiences.Very often people chat to us about what their corps is doing today. But most of the time they talk about how it used to be. How the hall used to be full. How people once knelt at the mercy seat seeking salvation and holiness. They speak in the past tense. Few seem to believe it can happen today.In our last two appointments we have faced challenging situations where the corps has needed to be reshaped in order to have a growing future. The challenges have been massive and demanding, and - to a certain extent - costly. Yet we testify to seeing, again and again, God's will and purposes being fulfilled. The Holy Spirit is still at work. Of course, it has not been easy, but we thank God for many amazing opportunities. We are privileged people and we should never forget that. However, I cannot get out of my mind the sadness of people continually looking back to the ‘glory days' and missing the opportunities of today. I will never forget our first appointment when, a few months after arriving, we celebrated a new convert. I was horrified to discover this was the first convert in the corps for at least 20 years. Yet that also excited me. God was doing something. I was privileged to be part of seeing someone seek Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. As time went on I was also privileged to witness her children become Christians and, 18 months later, her husband too. Yet, recalling that event fills me with sadness. I expected great joy and excitement among every corps member - just as the Bible tells us there is in Heaven! But when we shared the salvation of our sister there was an empty response. Almost as if some were saying: that does not happen any more! I love history. I get excited reading about what happened in the early days of the Church - including our own denomination. But I am all too aware of the danger of continually living in the ‘glory days'. We can forget what God wants us to be today! God wants these to be glory days. I believe that God does not call us to be defeated people in a declining church. Although I know we will struggle and be seriously tested, I also believe that building the Kingdom of God today can be a vibrant, living, active, joyful experience.However, when I have preached this - on many occasions and in many places - the response, all too often, has been that this was limited to biblical days or it is not what The Salvation Army is all about. I cannot help but preach a living Jesus - a Jesus who is a miracle worker, who saves people, who heals and restores. I have experienced and seen it for myself. I believe in what the word of God teaches me - the ‘glory days' can be the very days we are living in now. We hear too many people running down the Church. Sometimes the criticism is fair because some of us have confined Christianity to the past. Some no longer believe we can see even greater things. So, faced with these challenges, we need to ask: ‘What are we going to do?' There may be empty chairs in our halls, but are these not an opportunity rather than a failure? People may not have been saved for some time, but doesn't that mean we should seek God's will and become the people he wants us to be - helping lead others to the place where they can find Jesus Christ as Saviour? While I would never presume to know God's plan and purposes for The Salvation Army, I cannot believe he wants his Church to continually decline! I believe that sometimes God brings us down to nothing to build us up again. We see that written in Scripture. But, when he does that, he will start something new through a new wave of the Holy Spirit. God's very nature is all about refreshing and reviving - he is also about fulfilling his will and purposes. We have to be willing to allow that to happen - willingly submitting our thinking, agenda and plans and letting God build his Church. I long to see an army of people believing that empty chairs will be filled, souls will seek Christ at the mercy seat and people will be filled with the Holy Spirit. I long to see an army of people witnessing miracles, planting new congregations and struggling because their current buildings are too small. I am excited about today's glory days - but that is not enough. We all need to believe in our minds and hearts that this is the day of salvation, now is the year of the Lord's favour

DIVISIONAL FAMILY DAY

A reminder that the DIVISIONAL FAMILY DAY is being held in Redhill in July and we are hoping to take as many of the church family as possible to share in this. To book your tickets please speak with the senior leaders as soon as possible.

THIS SUNDAY

Commissioner Robert (left) and Commissioner Janet (right) Street are our special leaders this Sunday. The commissioners have just returned to the United Kingdom having served in Australia for a few years, prior to that were Training Principals at the William Booth College, and before that Divisional Leaders in Anglia Division. Commissioner Bob is the International Secretary to the Chief of the Staff, and Commissioner Janet the World Secretary for Women's Ministries. They will be leading our 10.30am meeting, and then speaking at Disciple College at 6.00pm. Please do pray about this day, and join us as well!

WHAT A WONDERFUL FAMILY

Meet some of the family from the Ashford Salvation Army Christian Centre. There are at least seventy people in this picture, and there was about twenty not in it!!! This was taken on Sunday. There was also several not able to be with us on Sunday. So, you can see our Sunday worshipping community continues to grow and grow, and we cannot stop but thank God for this. And, among the picture too, we see people of all generations, an all age church community. God has blessed us so much. Among us are people who are far from what we should be, we have a lot more to learn, we have a lot more to share, but God, in HIS TIME, is building us into a body of His People who not only enjoy worshipping in song etc, but know we need to worship Him through service to His Body.

PRAYER GENTLY LIFTS ME

God was very near this evening. Our disciple college was led by assistant senior leader Carl, and Gods anointing was upon him. Carl led some moving moments in worship/song, and challenged us with his words. We again considered together the type of church God wanted us to be, and in this, celebrated all God had been doing among us. It was an important meeting to come together to seek God for the future, and we needed this time together in this way.

As we concluded, Carl knew we could not just end there. As the Spirit led we came before God and cried out to him for Annie Wheeler who was taken in to St Thomas hospital last evening. Tears of pain and sadness came upon us, and God's Spirit decended powerfully. His touch was seen as well as felt. Then, the phone rang, and there was Annie on the phone, where each member gathered spoke to her words of blessing to her. And from there, we prayed again. The Spirit led us to intercede for Ellie Durston and her family, following the death of her grandparents, and then for Jennifer Lowe who had been far from well. We were blessed. The meeting was longer than normal, but no one cared. God was there and that was where we wanted to be.

Thank you God for your outpouring of love and healing among us today.

LET LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS.....

Proverbs Chapter Three and the opening verses encourage us to let Love and Faithfulness be tied round our necks. In this the writer is encouraging us to be committed and to stick with those promises, covenants and more that we make, especially to God. This morning in a full hall we shared in celebrating the 30 years marriage of Carol and Bryan Monk - and we shared in the renwal of their marriage vows and blessing over them by God. This was a special time, and they shared with us their testimony about why they felt this was important. Envoy Val opened the meeting by preparing us for worship, and Carl spoke some words of blessing and encouragement. Following this we enjoyed a buffet together, and lots of people stayed. Some then returned to our church centre and enjoyed sometime together before the evening meeting

A FRUITY CHURCH

The full leadership team met together this afternoon. They meet formally quarterly with the senior leadership (who also meet in the mean time). This is not meetings for the sake of meetings, but we are committed to team work, ministry and accountability, and in order to be going where God wants us to go, we need to be going together. We had a really exciting meeting, and God spoke to us many words of encouragement. Part of this meeting was giving to preparation for this time next year when we would be welcoming new leaders, and seekig to share an understanding of where the church is now, and where the church should be heading.

FAMILY PAIN

There is a real sense of family among our church community, which is of course how it should be! In recent weeks several of our family have experienced some very difficult and challenging days, and the family have and are feeling the pain. But we too, in this know the Great Healer, and whilst we weap, we also rejoice in the strength of our Lord.

Our Youth are currently taking examinations and our thoughts and prayers have been, and will continue to be so much with them

Some of our community are experiencing a real spiritual battle, and we are praying strength and aid in these times

Others experiencing health battles, and we are praying for God, the Mighty Healer to touch them again

Others bereavements. We especially continue to remember Elsie Willis, following the recent death of her brother, Bramwell, and news today that Ellie Durstons Grandparents have bene involved in a road crash, and her grandad has passed away, Nan critial. Ellie tells us that she is travelling up to Bristol to see her grandma tomorrow - the first thing she packed was her Bible. She's a real example to us all

To all our family..... we love you so much