TC Today

Aylene and I will be attending the “Band Together For Africa” Benefit Concert on Saturday 2 June at the George Wood Performing Arts Centre in Melbourne.

The concert is in support of the work being undertaken by The Salvation Army in Sierra Leone, a country emerging from the destruction and devastation of the 10 year-long “Blood Diamond War.”

It is incomprehensible for us to understand that still today, rebel fighters invade quiet villages in that country, rape and kill innocent people, then abduct small children and turn them into mindless killing machines.

I am so proud to know that our musicians have a conviction to want to help make a difference in Africa. Already they have raised around $20,000 to aid the cause.

In the pursuit of holiness or holy living, we can fail to recognise that we are only human. In saying that I am not giving license for us to take liberty and say, “well, the devil made me do it,” not at all.

What I am saying is that we are people made in the likeness and image of God, but fallen and flawed, shot full of holes. We make inappropriate decisions and choices, we do things wrong, speak before we think, act before we consider the consequences. We try, every one of us, we try and sometimes we just get it wrong. That’s being human.

We are not perfect and there is a sense of comfort in realising that. Some however, with perfectionist tendencies are never prepared to let themselves off the hook, they drive themselves relentlessly, and that must be exhausting.

Paul described the deliemma in Romans chapter 7:21.

“When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.”

Let’s be reconciled to the reality that you and I will never be perfect and that we will go on doing the wrong thing at times and that includes sinning, simply as a consequence of our being human.

But at the same time, let us be equally reconciled to the truth that God by His Spirit, willingly lives within our humanness, helping us to become more and more like who He originally created humanity to be.

If you want to know what that looks like, then you have only to look at Adam and Eve before the fall. If that does not give you enough information, then look at the one described as the second Adam – Jesus.

I want to thank those of you who participated in the Red Shield Appeal this year. I know for many there is still more work to be done as the appeal does not close off until 30 June 2012.

With Red Shield Sunday now behind us, you will be interested to know that as of 9.00pm Sunday night, the appeal was $30,000 ahead of the same time last year in our territory.

Now $30k might not sound like a lot of money in view of the $81.5m national target, but in view of last weeks $100 billion fall in the value of the Australian stock market, we could not be happier with the appeal result to date.

The Australian people continue to place their confidence in the work of The Salvation Army and I am incredibly grateful to the thousands of volunteers who supported the collection of the appeal this year. God bless you.

The Salvation Army follows in the holiness tradition, not just because it is seen to be a better expression of humanity, but because it is the way of God, to be holy as He is holy.

Holiness is the Christian way of “being” and the Christian way of living. It is seen best in the life of Christ, who lived compassion, mercy, justice, love and devotion to God. It is a life that is lived to benefit others with much less emphasis upon benefiting ourselves.

The holy life is not devoid of humanness, neither does it deny our humanity. The consequence of Adam and Eve’s fall was that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Simply put, there is not one of us who is perfect, we all get it wrong at times, think and act inappropriately, speak without thinking and make bad decisions. We are after all only “human.”

Holy living and human being – coexist, one does not nullify the other, but holy living manifests a better self, or as the Reverend F.W. Faber once wrote, “Holiness is an unselfing of ourselves.”

The out working of holy living is that we do become a better version of ourself, and this is the consequence of living in devotion to God, doing His will, reading His word and allowing His Holy Spirit to shape us from the inside out.

Information from CNN:

(CNN) – Chuck Colson, a Watergate-era “hatchet man” for President Richard Nixon who became an influential evangelical leader after serving time in prison, died Saturday afternoon, according to his website. He was 80.

His death came just over three weeks after he “was overcome by dizziness” while speaking at a conference and rushed to a northern Virginia hospital. Surgeons operated on him for two hours for a brain hemorrhage

“At times, Chuck showed encouraging indicators of a possible recovery, but his health took a decided turn, and he went to be with the Lord,” said the statement on his Website.

News of his death soon stirred tributes particularly from leaders in conservative circles and the evangelical community, with David Frum — a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a CNN contributor — saying on Twitter that Colson made his “greatest impact when furthest from power.”

“Today the world lost a Christian statesman, a dedicated servant of prisoners and a powerful example of God’s ability to transform a life,” said Lamar Vest, president and CEO of the New York-based American Bible Society.

Read the full article and see the short video here: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/21/us/chuck-colson-obit/

Purchase of new Officer Training College
The Salvation Army Australia Southern Territory

The Salvation Army International Headquarters has approved the purchase of a replacement site for housing the School for Officer Training currently located in Parkville, Victoria. This will take us into the 21st Century with facilities that will make provision for future expansion and development, as well as a conducive atmosphere for learning.

The site currently operated by Tintern Schools is located in Ringwood, Victoria. The cost of this purchase will be offset by the sale of current Training College sites. This site will make provision for a campus style facility adding to a more family-friendly living.

The Salvation Army will take up occupancy of this site from early 2014.

For further information or media comment please contact:

Major Andrew Craib – The Salvation Army (Territorial Media Relations Director)
Tel: 03 8878 2406 Mob: 0417 537 950
Territorial Communications & Fundraising Office,
95-99 Railway Road, Blackburn VIC 3130

MEDIA RELEASE

16 April 2012

Tintern Schools sells Canterbury Road site in Ringwood

Tintern Schools has today announced that their Canterbury Road site in Ringwood in Melbourne’s East has been sold to The Salvation Army.

The school put the site up for tender at the beginning of the year after announcing that its Southwood Campus would be relocated to its Tintern Schools campus in 2014.

Both parties are pleased with the outcome. “We received numerous tenders for the site but were most impressed with the opportunity presented by The Salvation Army as the existing facilities would continue to be used for educational purposes.  We are happy that the site has been sold to a community organisation, and one that has such strong morals and values,” says Chair of the Tintern Schools Board, Mr Andrew Hutchinson.

The Salvation Army Australia Southern Territory is delighted that they were able to obtain a replacement for sites housing their School for Officer Training. “This will take us into the 21st Century with facilities that will make provision for future expansion and development, as well as a conducive atmosphere for learning,” says Major Andrew Craib, spokesperson for The Salvation Army.

“Tintern Schools are thrilled to announce that we are now able to commence with our plans for a substantial campus redevelopment at our Ringwood East site. Much has been done to this site over the last few years with the building of a new Early Learning Centre, and we will be continuing this work with redevelopment of our boys’ and girls’ Junior Schools and our boys’ and girls’ Middle Schools,” says Principal, Mrs Jenny Collins.   “The sale also allows us to continue operating Southwood on the existing Canterbury site through to moving the boys to East Ringwood.”

Tintern Schools would like to thank Kelemen Commercial Realty for their advice and stewardship of the sale of the site.

For further information or media comment please contact:

Sarah Murphy – Admissions and Marketing Manager at Tintern Schools
Tel: 03 9845 7768 Mob: 0414 610 431
90 Alexandra Road, Ringwood East VIC 3135

Major Andrew Craib – The Salvation Army (Territorial Media Relations Director)
Tel: 03 8878 2406 Mob: 0417 537 950
Territorial Communications & Fundraising Office,
95-99 Railway Road, Blackburn VIC 3130

While listening to the radio recently I was reminded of the old Simon and Garfunkle song from 1964, The Sound of Silence.

For some reason and despite my having listened to it so many times, I heard the words for the first time as a reflection of the tragic emptiness that lives within many.

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turn my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

It strikes me as the sad lament of a lost and lonely society. I can’t imagine a world of such dark despair, but I know it exists and it lives in the lives of so many.

It makes perfect sense to me that Jesus spoke of Himself as the “light of the world,” and followed the statement with, “whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

From the darkness of the tomb to the brilliant light of day, the message is the same for you and me, He takes us from our darkness into His light.