Month in Review - October

Ok trying something new.

I think it's good to reflect on 'life stuff' that's been going on, so thought I'd start doing a post at the end of each month which looks back on some blogging stuff, and personal life stuff.

October dissapeared pretty quick, it's the best month of the year for motorsport, with both Bathurst and Indy, as well as a couple of the big Drag meets. Dad's role as a chaplain intensified at Indy, and I ended up being a spectator. However the motorsports chaplaincy team Australia wide has been drawn pretty close with all the results of Peter Brocks death and the terrible accidents at Bathurst. Throw into that a marshal who had a heart attack at the track at Bathurst, and a cleaner at Indy, and the chaplaincy team has been pretty busy. I've been a bit removed from the hands on work, but delt with a couple of guys at Willowbank who were effected and been kept abreast with everything else through CAMs reports and emails from SCA.

Blog wise - Bathurst and Mutto from Aussie Idol/Soulframe has taken up the majority of my posting.

My family's been going through a change of sorts. My sister was married back in June, but they've been house hunting so they can move out of their 1 bedroom apartment and my brother moved out 3 weeks ago - leaving me all alone at home with just the parents for company (the fact I'm the oldest is a touch depressing). So Sunday lunch now includes Brett, Vanessa and her husband Andy 'coming home' for a family get together.

So thats been my October.
http://jarrolspot.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_jarrolspot_archive.html

Money stuff.

We had our church annual budget meeting last week. Money is always such a touchy topic when it comes to the church. I get this feeling we spend so much more than we need to, but then I think with the number of people in our church so much should be being given that we can comfortably spend that amount and give even more away.

Consumerism is a pet hate of mine at the moment, especially because I feel so caught up in it. Tithing is part of me trying to break away from my consumerist nature. I always struggled with my weekly offerings, never understanding the necessity of it, or really having a desire to give my money away. Earlier this year we did a night on offering and tithing at youth group, and I decided that I needed to give God a change to teach me through tithing. I looked at my pay check and figured out my 10% before tax and committed to give that each week. To make things easier I decided to just double it and put my offering in each pay week (every 2 weeks).

Through a simple act of giving my money to the church God has taught me so much. I haven’t noticed my bank account missing that amount each fortnight, and I’ve felt that even though I may spend to much money on a pair of sunglasses, if I’m still sticking with my basic tithe I can use it as a basis to combat my compulsive consumerism. This year, as well due to giving my tithe, I’ve also felt more willing to give extra offerings to special needs. Figuring out that first 10% is definitely not mine, I’ve also realised the other 90% is still for Gods use, be that in buying clothes to dress me, fuelling my car, or giving a donation to help a new born baby in Africa have life saving surgery – it’s all God’s use, because I am God’s!!!

It’s because of all this that I felt pretty angry leaving that budget meeting last Sunday. I don’t want to get in trouble, but I felt really let down by the congregation of my church. In a church of about 400 members we only just got 55 to the meeting. The budget for 2006/07 needs each individual to give small amount a week in their offerings, yet we are not meeting that now! I feel people don’t want to own the things we are doing at church, and that I know I’m giving much more than that budget meeting amount which means there are people out there giving nothing at all.

How is it that people come to the church every week, sit and listen to the music, have a coffee afterwards and stand around and chat yet have no inclination to be involved in the work God calls all of us to? We do so much at Whitehill, yet it’s mainly the same people doing it all. Is it those same people that are giving the money as well out of their obedience to God? I think in the very list if you’re not involved in the actual work of the church you can support it by giving your tithe. I feel ripped off if the people doing the hard work are also the only ones paying for it.

I guess that is harsh, but I feel justified in the fact that it is a Biblical command, and while I’m following that command the church body is suffering because people aren’t.

The question is. Is the church providing an easy out for people by meeting their consumerist needs, giving them the ability to do nothing but sit in a service and feel they meet everything they need to be a proper Christian? Can the Western church change to a more community, servant based style which gives the ownership of work to all members somehow, which in turn encourages them to give their tithe to support the work?

I have no answers, only questions and confusion. So I don’t know if it’s right to post this up or not, but I’d love to hear some peoples ideas and experiences on this topic. Money is not the be all and end all of the church, and sometimes I shudder at how much we spend on certain things, yet I get this feeling this church should have so much money because of the people giving, yet it just doesn’t.

The MP3 Player Quiz

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.
4. Marvel at how the answer in no way makes sense to the question
5. Realise that you wasted another 5 minutes of your life.
____________________________________________________


What does next year have in store for you?
"Carried Away" (SonicFlood) - ok looking forward to that

What's my love life like?
"I Dream" (Paul Colman Trio) - hahaha so so so SO true!!!!!

What do I say when life gets hard?
"Pessimism" (Soulframe) - alright then... I guess so.

What do I think when I get up in the morning?
"Take it or Leave it" (Jet) - again, quite apt i think!

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
"Thank You Lord" (Watoto Childrens Choir) - now I think of it, not a bad choice if i say so myself!

What do you want as a career?
"Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord" (Michael W Smith) - Bring it on God!!!! Open my eyes and show me!

Your favourite saying?
"Fan" (KJ52) - Um....

Your pet's name?
"Saved" (Third Day) - Here Saved, come here boy, good Saved... yeh alright then.

Favourite place?
"California Girls" (Beach Boys) - I kid you not that really came up... how funny!!!!!!!

Describe your sexlife:
"Mr Religion" (Paul Colman) - Yep i really like that!!!

What do you think of your parents?
"Walk on Water" (Audio Adrenaline) - they are Christ-like???? I dunno....

What's your Pornstar name?
"I adore" (Hillsong) - I really don't know what to say...

Where would you go on a first date?
"Nightminds" (Missy Higgins) - Um..............................

Drug of choice?
"God" (Rebecca St James) - Wow that is SO good!!!!

Describe yourself:
"Mary" (Soulframe) - Who is this so called Mary, I wish to meet her!

What is the thing I like doing most?
"Cannibalism" (The Lads) - ok i am rolling on the floor now... that is so damn funny!!!

What song best describes my school principal?
"I Love My Lips" (Veggie Rocks) - hahahahahahahahahahahaha

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
"Nature Boy" (Scat) - ok then... stripping off for a nude run around the neighbourhood then... ahhhh right!

How will I die?
"American Pie" (Don McLean) - oooh freaky... a song about a dude who died in a plane crash... that is so weird!!!


oh this one was lots of fun

For the non Blogger.com people.

Had some people say that they can't leave comments because they are not signed up with blogger.

Haha so not true - click on the comments for a post, and there are three radio buttons just under where you enter the text. You can choose blogger member, and use your sign in - choose other, and enter your own name - or choose anonymous and just sign you name at the end of something.

So no more excuses hey!!!

Soulframe - new single

Soulframes new single Beautiful is being released on the 20th November. Listen to it at www.myspace.com/soulframe and request it on your local radio stations!

Gold Coast Indy - Power On...

Power On was the slogan for the 2006 Indy carnival, and for most of the weekend it was an apt acknowledgement of the performance of young Aussie driver Will Power. Power did an amazing job being the quickest driver all weekend in his Team Australia champ car.

With Power qualifying first it really had the crowd going on Sunday for the main race. Craig Gore promised to buy the whole of the Gold Coast a drink if one of his team cars won the race, and he started giving out Team Australia merchandise to the crowd to create a sea of green and gold on race day.

I had a great weekend, Dad was officially the “Champ Car Chaplain” for the weekend since Hunter from the USA wasn’t able to make it. Garry Coleman was there as V8 Chaplain as usual, and I didn’t have an official position at all. I did however score a free 4 day pass and was able to do the whole race fan thing and just walk the track as a spectator all weekend! Lucky I got 2 passes, so I could invite my good mate Ben Zambra to come and enjoy the racing with me.

There are so many aspects to the Indy Carnival – good and bad. A topic that was discussed by Ben and I, and was mentioned in the chapel service on Sunday was the party attitude, and total disregard for common morals by most people over the weekend. Walking the back parts of the track amongst the high rise buildings it was a pretty volatile environment. Women were harassed, some willing it on themselves, there was drunkenness everywhere and I’m sure other substance abuse going on as well. There was just a general disregard for any humanity and a complete self centred attitude.

It really opened my eyes as to what people can get up to. Garry Coleman mentioned in his talk at the chapel service that he sometimes wondered “if things around Surfer Paradise don’t change God is going to have to resurrect Sodom and Gomorrah just to apologise.” Mutto and Soulframe performed and their song Beautiful was a great witness amongst the Indy crowds!

But once we found our way into the purest racing crowds on the front straight and hairpin, it was a great spectator event, with good racing and some heartbreaking moments. Craig Lowndes’ penalties and the dominance of Holden in the V8’s was a downer… and when Sebastien Bourdais had a brain freeze and clipped Will Powers wheel in a stupid overtaking attempt the whole crowd went silent (and I swear the temperature dropped about 5 degrees!!!). Once Power’s day was done, Mr Bourdais was not very popular, and copped lap after lap of jeers from the crowd on the hill.

With all the disappointment of a fairy tale Aussie win being flushed, it still turned out a great weekend. Team Australia’s second car ended up in 3rd place, I bought a new hat and t-shirt (a Jeldwen Stone Brother’s Racing hat and Dick Johnson Racing shirt) and I had a great time just hanging with Ben and other random people we ran into over the weekend.

(All photos on flickr.)

Am I selling out!?

Recently I've noticed the boom over on MySpace. When talking blogging with friends I've realised most of them are on MySpace, some blogging, but most just networking and commenting on friends 'profiles'. So after much persuasion I decided to give it ago, and created my own MySpace profile. I added a couple of friends, and within a week I had heaps of people whom I never knew were MySpace nerds sending me friend requests.

It really is a powerful site for linking communities and finding old friends. For a while I was not wanting to join this 'new cool' trend, not wanting to sell out to the MySpace phenomenon, but have now decided that my profile is just a presence for me, I'll continue blogging here, because I like this set up better. My MySpace is an ad for my blog I guess. I've noticed since I've created my profile, the hits per day on this blog have doubled.

So if you want to check it out, or maybe link to some common friends (or even add me as your friend) head to www.myspace.com/deanoqld

Queensland Bloggers...

Ok, so I got into blogging through a Youth Ministry tour I did in September 05. Scott Vawser and Craig Underwood (from WA) were talking up the blogosphere and I thought I’d jump on for a ride.

Now I’m hooked, but the majority of blogs I read are from West Australia. I know a whole heap about churches in WA and some of the emergent movements happening there. I love reading them mind you, but I’m wondering if there are any good Christian Blogs out there written by Queenslanders like myself?

So if you know any, let me in on them too!

SCAT!

Here's a video of a good friend of mine's band, Scat. They're getting pretty big here in Qld now, and are well respected throughout Aus and the US. I found this video posted on YouTube so thought I'd share it with you.

So if you have a spare 7 minutes, and like a bit of good quality jazz, then have a gander. The Video is at the Australian Gospel Music Festival, Chris my mate is on keys (make sure you watch all the vid cause his keys at the end are awesome!!). If you're wondering how they got their suites so white, easy, they painted them with House Paint... nice effect.

The Chaplaincy side to Bathurst.

In a day of great tribulation, amazing intensity, will power and edge of the seat action there was also a reflective and heart breaking side of Bathurst Race-day.

The day started with a moving tribute to Peter Brock. 8 of the 9 Bathurst winning cars (10 actually if you count the 24 hour Bathurst race Brocky won in 2003) ran a lap of honour, driven by Peter’s past co-drivers (including Jim Richards, Larry Perkins, Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy) and his son and brother. After the lap the cars were parked on the pit straight with the drivers and Brocks family standing by the cars. V8 Chaplain Garry Coleman read a tribute to Brock, which also encouraged us all as Australians to live with an attitude of service to others, something Peter did during his life. Garry then lead a moment of silence in remembrance for great Australian Motorsports Icon and closed in prayer.

I felt a chill as Garry prayed, he asked for comfort for Brocks family, safe and fast racing for the day ahead, protection and diligence for track officials and healing and comfort for the two drivers hurt in the Friday Development V8 race and their family. He asked all of this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ.

I felt the chill as I realised that over a million people had just witnessed a powerful prayer backed with the name of Jesus. There is certainly power in that name, and I felt in awe as I heard it called upon on live TV. Sports chaplains have an impact on the field they work in, but in this case Garry was able to minister and speak to the whole of Australia, a great responsibility.

It set a sombre mood for the following race, and Craig Lowndes himself said that he wasn’t sure if his mind was totally on the race, because of the emotion of paying his respects to his mentor.

Obviously he did alright winning the race.

However that made for very emotional scenes on the winners podium, with Lowndes being presented with the Peter Brock trophy. I don’t think there was a more fitting outcome for its inaugural winner. Lowndes may drive a Ford, but he was the Brock protégée, and some people do remember Brock drove a Ford Sierra for a little while himself.

There was a dampener on the whole day as well when it was announced Mark Porter had passed away from his injuries caused in the Friday accident. Mark was living on the Gold Coast as part of a Qld V8 Supercar team, so I am unsure whether or not Dad and I will now get involved in the counselling that will need to be provided for team members and family.




Also Paul Radisich had a terrible accident and spent the night in hospital with abdominal pains. He to is a Qld based driver so we will need to talk to Garry Coleman and see if any chaplaincy counselling needs to be followed up with that team as well. As well as other V8 teams who had quite large accidents (eg: Steven Johnson from DJR).

At the very least we will meet them at the Indy event in 2 weeks to see how everyone is feeling, so keep them and us in your prayers during this tough period in Australian Motorsport.

P.S – I am a visually challenged person, so I felt an impact by placing some images in this post… The first of Peter Brock's winning XU1 Torana with Craig Lowndes and Bev Brock, next - Lowndes' emotion when winning the Peter Brock Trophy, next - Mark Porter's Holden V8 Supercar, and Mark Porter's profile shot from v8supercars.com

5:30 Race Day - Fords Win!

5:15: What a day, what a mind blowing ending! 0.5 of a second between first and second place, and Craig Lowndes does it! FORD WINS BATHURST!!

So the only day of the year where I spend the whole day in front of the TV has paid off this year, enjoying a race of stops and starts, big accidents and one of the closest finishes in Bathurst history.

This year brought a new element to my viewing experience too, figuring out and logging into the V8 Supercars Live server on Bigpond so I had live telemetry, lap times and videos on the laptop as well as the TV coverage.

Though all this does is make me want to be there in person again next year!

11:30 Race Day

9:20: Fantastic work by V8 Supercar Chaplain Garry Coleman, with a heart felt and compelling testimony to Peter Brock. Adding to the tribute 8 of Brock's 9 Bathurst Winning Cars did a slow lap of honour driven by some of Australia's touring car greats.

10:00: Race Start - gooooooooooooooooooo FORDS!!

10:00:30: Mark Skaife is out of the race. First lap, first straight! The Holden died, clutch slipping, and he was drilled from behind and axed the wall! 30 seconds of Bathurst for HRT, great start to the race.

11:30: Lots of stuff going on. Second HRT car is out, Bright in the FPR car is out, Lowndes is cruising and looking good... and best news, young Courtney in the SBR Genweld car #4 is moving through the field like a rocket. His co-driver is Glen Seaton, and it would be awesome to see him win the race.

Deano's Fav Weekend of the Year

Bathurst 2006 is going to be the biggest ever, and with such a huge push for Ford to win this year, I'm ready for a charged weekend in front of the TV.

This year brings a whole new dynamic to my viewing. Actually being at the event in 05 means this year I've had personal experiences with what I'm seeing on TV.

Make sure you check out Sunday morning from 9:20, V8 Supercar Chaplain Garry Coleman will be doing a small rememberance service for Peter Brock, before opening the race with a prayer. Watch and support the work of the SCA Motorosports Chaplains.

I'm set with my new Bigpond account details to use my laptop to view all the live telemetry and video from V8 Supercars Live

Bring it on - GO FORD!

Mutto drawn to Spotlight

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,20517525-5000660,00.html
Another article on news.com about our mate Mutto.

The Gold Coast-based bald rocker said he was enjoying his new-found stardom.

"I think fame is a privilege and it's a great opportunity to have a voice ... I think people with celebrity status should use it for good,'' he said.

"Unfortunately or fortunately the western world is a pop culture and kids are listening to those who get famous, for whatever reason they get famous for, and if celebrities can see that I think they can influence them (kids) for good.''

While the English-born youth worker and school teacher had guided many struggling teens, he said little prepared him for the stress that came with the Idol journey....

...Mutton's musical strengths were realised while supporting a friend who didn't want to sing solo at church.

His good deed got him noticed and local band, Soulframe, offered him the role as vocalist in the act.

It has been six years since he joined the band which is now a well-known rock outfit on the local Gold Coast scene.

www.soulframe.com
www.myspace.com/soulframe

Most reviews I've read this week have said what a great performer Mutto is, and why he was voted off Idol now is a mystery. He's also given Australia a small look at the service side of Christianity, the unselfish willingness to help Australia's youth.

Confessions of the Confused

Hmmm had an interesting conversation with a friend last night, which opened a floodgate of feeling and emotion I’ve been mulling over for a while….

What is it that we really want? I’ve been thinking so much lately about what I want out of life. All I really know is that where I am at the moment is somewhere I’m not content with, I want to do more, be more, have more, but I just can’t figure out exactly what that is, or how to obtain it.

I’m not talking material stuff, I don’t want more stuff – I want more LIFE, more SERVICE, more opportunity to share my FAITH. I totally respect people’s call to the ‘mission field in their workplace’ but I’m suffocating trying to pull that off. I feel a more permanent occupational call to ministry, to make it my soul calling, build my skills in ministry and make my living from serving the body of Christ.

Interweaved with that is a desire to build meaningful relationships, eventually start a family, feel connected and comfortable with a group of friends and family and find fulfilment with the relational aspects of my life. These past few months I’ve come to feel very lonely, my social life is almost non-existent and I just get this feeling that the friendships I hold so dear are slowly whittling away. Why I don’t know, but as people’s lives move on I feel stuck in this rut that is causing me to be left behind.

But my main struggle is this… does my loneliness matter? Does my desire to do more come from a servant-like attitude to Christ, or my own need for personal fulfilment? I know God says in his Word that he wants to give us the desires of our hearts, and that his plan is to prosper us and keep us from all harm. But Jesus says that service of him doesn’t come easy, he says that people will hate us because of him, but if we come to him he will give us rest.

I know that as I serve God my desires become his desires, I just want to know if I’m being selfish wanting this stuff in my life at this time.

I guess this verse comforts me and keeps me going through my struggles

Hebrews 10:23,24
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

I’ll just concentrate on the love and good deeds and everything else is a bonus.

Millions all from a Garage

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,20516443-31037,00.html

GOOGLE has bought the Silicon Valley garage where the internet search colossus was born, the company said overnight. The garage came with a house, yard and outdoor hot tub where Google's famed founders Larry Page and Serge Brin were known to soak as the company took shape in late 1998.

Google did not disclose how much it paid for the property just a few kilometres from the
company's campus in Mountain View, California.

"We were pleased to have the opportunity to purchase the place where Larry and Serge did early work," Google spokesman Jon Murchinson said. "We bought it to preserve it as part of
our legacy.".....

It's amazing how so many of todays HUGE Technology Companies began their life in a local Silicon Valley garage. Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Google... the list goes on.

The article also mentions that the lady who rented Larry and Serg the garage is now a Google Vice President. I'm sure a decent pay packet comes with that position.

So any budding I.T geeks want to rent out my garage???

From australianidol.com.au

Just saw this on the idol website. Nice testimony, and free plug for Soulframe!

Luckily, Jessica gets a reprieve and her fans breathe a huge sigh of relief. But that means either Mutto or Lisa will be leaving tonight. “After months of sacrifice and dedication to the show,” James Mathison announces, “it ends tonight for you Mutto.”

It’s been a remarkable journey for the inspirational role model and charismatic rocker but his band, Soulframe, will be happy to have their front man back in action. Expect to see plenty of Mutto on the live circuit and make sure you get off your butts and go to a Soulframe gig. Mutto treats us to an encore of Dream On and the audience farewells the enigmatic performer with a standing ovation. Rock on Mutto!
-www.australianidol.bigpond.com.au

Mutto out of Oz Idol

Yeah it's sad to see Mutto go from Australian Idol - but you know what... I think he did an amazing job of living Christ on that show, he didn't preach, he didn't press his faith all over TV. What he did was live a Christ-like life, and people noticed.

All the judges had nothing but nice things to say about his as a person, and the final idols still in the comp were pretty saddened to see him go. He had an amazing effect on them as people, and to see him standing in the final 3 with the 2 youngest girls, you could see he was still encourgaing and holding them up.

Good stuff mate, you did a real good job. And DUDE you got to sing at the AFL Grandfinal!!! Awesome!

Recharge ~ Radical Discipleship!

Tim Mander, former NRL Referee and all round top bloke. I think the sporting connection really helped me as a male to get sucked into his message. I also enjoyed the fact that he spoke straight from the Bible. He straight up opened the Bible and dove into what it had to say on discipleship.

And he started in the Old Testiment.

Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his
ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good
land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys
and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates,
olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack
nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the
hills.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise
the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do
not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his
decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are
satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds
and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is
multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD
your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led
you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with
its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He
gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to
humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may
say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this
wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you
the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to
your forefathers, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget
the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I
testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations
the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD
your God. (Deut 8:6-20)

His main points were as follows.

• Don’t Forget – verse 11 and 18 – It was easy for the Israelites to remember God in the desert, He was always present, they will they remember God once they are comfortable and rich?
• A Proud Heart – verse 14 and 17 – Who needs God when we can look after ourselves? To prove we think this I think (and Tim mentioned) you only need to look at the 3rd World Church, they have such an unashamed dependence on God, because they have no one other than God to depend on. Here in Australia we are so comfortable we feel we can get along on our own… in a way we can, but it just doesn’t compare to living the life of a disciple.
  
  Verse 18 – if we’re rich, if we’ve got a lot, and we are comfortable, verse 18 reminds us where it all came from.
  
• Our Spiritual Demise – verse 19 – Look at the parable of the Sower… some seeds fall on rocky ground, some amongst the weeds. Whatever the story some people fall under the curse of spiritual demise, we all have at one point, the only difference with some of us is that we’ve let Jesus pull us out of it.
  
• An Attitude of Gratitude – verse 10 – this is where Tim turned it around. In a world where everything comes across as negative us as Christians need to have such gratitude that we are set apart from the rest.

Why should we be so grateful?

John 18:2-7 2Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked
them, "Who is it you want?"
5"Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.
"I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When
Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
7Again he asked them, "Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."

What’s this got to do with it? Look at what happened when Jesus said ‘I am he”. For a brief moment those soldiers experienced the fully glory of God. It was so powerful they fell to the ground

Simple fact – God is Holy! Look at David’s servant and the Ark (2 Sam 6:1-7) and Ananias and Sapphia (Acts 5:1-11)

God calls us to be holy, because He is holy. And it’s through realizing this holiness that we get that amazing outstanding different Attitude of Gratitude. And from that attitude we become the believers and disciples that Jesus called us to be.

Um hoping you got through all that – it’s long. But 3 sermons cut down a lot. So hope it’s not too wishy washy.