Alcohol price limits
I am not exactly crazy about our new coalition government but I will definitely be urging them to keep their promised to introduce a minimum price per unit for alcohol. At present it is possible to obtain alcohol in some places for just 10 pence per unit - less than a bottle of water .
Today the biggest retailer in the UK, Tesco has backed the plans and is also looking to take other measures to address the issue of binge drinking in the Britain. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8696097.stm
This will not solve the problem of binge drinking or deal with the mindset of drunkeness being a badge of honour in our country but it has to help. Please take action by letting Tesco's and the government know you support this measure and lobby other supermarkets to follow.
Personally I believe that we also need to restrict the availability of alcohol in supermarkets. Alcohol is a dangerous drug, selling it alongside the baked beans and the biscuits makes it appear to be just another commodity that is a normal part of the weekly shop. In the UK we restrict the amount of headached tablets a person can buy in one go but not the amount of alcohol.
Please let's also get on our knees and pray that our nation might be released from the curse of alcohol abuse. I am also praying that the Salvation Army rises up to the challenge of its historic mandate of campaigning for reform in this area.
God bless
Carol
Friday, 21 May 2010
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Pray for Souls
It's a busy week for us, prayer wise at Pill Corps. As well as the usual early bird Prayer Meeting on Tuesday, Prayer walking tonight and cell groups, this Friday it's Pray for a Day. We set aside a day (9am-9 pm) to pray for the many prayer requests that come in from around the UK Territory and also from further afield. We have already had a whole pile of emails. What is encouraging are the folk who tell us about the answered prayers.
I recently signed up to the Praying for Souls group over on the iSalvo's site (http://www.isalvos.net/group/prayforsouls) and discovered that we are praying at the same time as a prayer event in Western Australia. We have promised to pray for their evangelism conference, Go for Souls which is on Saturday. It really is true, you can touch the world through prayer.
On Saturday I am leading the Bristol Prayer School. We have already had one session and it went really well. There are 5 of us going from Pill. This weeks teaching is "How does God speak?"
God bless
Carol
It's a busy week for us, prayer wise at Pill Corps. As well as the usual early bird Prayer Meeting on Tuesday, Prayer walking tonight and cell groups, this Friday it's Pray for a Day. We set aside a day (9am-9 pm) to pray for the many prayer requests that come in from around the UK Territory and also from further afield. We have already had a whole pile of emails. What is encouraging are the folk who tell us about the answered prayers.
I recently signed up to the Praying for Souls group over on the iSalvo's site (http://www.isalvos.net/group/prayforsouls) and discovered that we are praying at the same time as a prayer event in Western Australia. We have promised to pray for their evangelism conference, Go for Souls which is on Saturday. It really is true, you can touch the world through prayer.
On Saturday I am leading the Bristol Prayer School. We have already had one session and it went really well. There are 5 of us going from Pill. This weeks teaching is "How does God speak?"
God bless
Carol
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Wholly Holy Roots 2010
1. Relief
The Roots Conference came back to it own roots. There cannot be a more fundamental root of the Salvation Army than holiness and our own Salvation Army speakers were particularly good at bringing out the essential core truths.
2. Prayer Power
As a member of the Prayer Team I did not get to many aspects of the programme but the prayer room was an amazing place to be. It was I believe the power house of the week-end. We prayed for the Roots event in the prayer room but the prayer room itself is also very much part of the event as delegates visited for prayer and ministry. In addition prayer team members visited the venues and prayed for those ministering in them. For me it was amazing to stand right in the middle of the theatre in the last session and pray for the leaders and delegates as they were sent out to be wholly holy in the every day world.
3. Revelation
For my part I love to not only to talk to God but to hear what he is saying. I am so grateful that in these days I am allowed to operate in my prophetic gifting, speak into peoples lives and watch God set them free or embrace his call.
One of the things that God spoke to me about was about brokeness. In Christian circles today we hear a lot about God wanting to heal the brokeness of people. I endorse that entirely. We are called to be agents of reconciliation. The need for there to be reconciliation at all points to something being broken. There are broken lives, broken relationships, broken communities all around us.
But I think we get a bit imbalanced if we only think of brokeness as something negative. Being broken is an essential element of holiness. In fact I believe that so much of the brokeness we see in people is due to an unwillingness to be broken where it matters. If china bangs against steel, the china will inevitably break and no matter how much you repair it or replace it, whilst it keeps hitting steel it will keep on breaking. In human beings the steel wall of self must be brought down and broken. Sadly some of our Christian counselling instead of advising people to deny themselves and die to self , comforts it and placates it.
In the Calvary Road, Roy Hession writes, "To be broken is the beginning of Revival. It is painful, it is humiliating but it is the only way. It is being "Not I but Christ." and the "C" is a bent "I" The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal himself through us until the proud self within us is broken."
I am delighted to say that I met people at Roots who came for prayer who came with that willingness to be be broken and I am excited about what will be able to do with them and through them as he fills them with his power and glory.
4. Personal
As for me. Well I didn't get let off the hook either. I spent a lot of time praying for others and with others but God also talked to me about what I need to do for him. Danielle Strickland spoke very powerfully on Sunday evening about our holy calling to be the people through whom others see God.
When I knew I was moving to Bristol, the Holy Spirit asked me, "Are there still slaves in Bristol?" I knew the answer was yes and the outcome of a whole process of exploration of what I should do about that meant I joined Peacemakers Prayer Patrol . Whenever I can I join a team and walk the city streets praying with people. The initial connection I made with all this was prostitution and human trafficking and I think there is still an element of that but what I have encountered on the late night city streets is the curse of alcohol abuse. The Holy Spirit challenged me through Danielle to take more action. I am going to begin or join in some kind of campaign to address the issue of cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets.
Pray for me in this. My immediate reaction was "Come on Lord, don't I have enough on my plate already!" However I have learned that if this is of God, he will find me room to do it.
God bless
Carol
1. Relief
The Roots Conference came back to it own roots. There cannot be a more fundamental root of the Salvation Army than holiness and our own Salvation Army speakers were particularly good at bringing out the essential core truths.
2. Prayer Power
As a member of the Prayer Team I did not get to many aspects of the programme but the prayer room was an amazing place to be. It was I believe the power house of the week-end. We prayed for the Roots event in the prayer room but the prayer room itself is also very much part of the event as delegates visited for prayer and ministry. In addition prayer team members visited the venues and prayed for those ministering in them. For me it was amazing to stand right in the middle of the theatre in the last session and pray for the leaders and delegates as they were sent out to be wholly holy in the every day world.
3. Revelation
For my part I love to not only to talk to God but to hear what he is saying. I am so grateful that in these days I am allowed to operate in my prophetic gifting, speak into peoples lives and watch God set them free or embrace his call.
One of the things that God spoke to me about was about brokeness. In Christian circles today we hear a lot about God wanting to heal the brokeness of people. I endorse that entirely. We are called to be agents of reconciliation. The need for there to be reconciliation at all points to something being broken. There are broken lives, broken relationships, broken communities all around us.
But I think we get a bit imbalanced if we only think of brokeness as something negative. Being broken is an essential element of holiness. In fact I believe that so much of the brokeness we see in people is due to an unwillingness to be broken where it matters. If china bangs against steel, the china will inevitably break and no matter how much you repair it or replace it, whilst it keeps hitting steel it will keep on breaking. In human beings the steel wall of self must be brought down and broken. Sadly some of our Christian counselling instead of advising people to deny themselves and die to self , comforts it and placates it.
In the Calvary Road, Roy Hession writes, "To be broken is the beginning of Revival. It is painful, it is humiliating but it is the only way. It is being "Not I but Christ." and the "C" is a bent "I" The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal himself through us until the proud self within us is broken."
I am delighted to say that I met people at Roots who came for prayer who came with that willingness to be be broken and I am excited about what will be able to do with them and through them as he fills them with his power and glory.
4. Personal
As for me. Well I didn't get let off the hook either. I spent a lot of time praying for others and with others but God also talked to me about what I need to do for him. Danielle Strickland spoke very powerfully on Sunday evening about our holy calling to be the people through whom others see God.
When I knew I was moving to Bristol, the Holy Spirit asked me, "Are there still slaves in Bristol?" I knew the answer was yes and the outcome of a whole process of exploration of what I should do about that meant I joined Peacemakers Prayer Patrol . Whenever I can I join a team and walk the city streets praying with people. The initial connection I made with all this was prostitution and human trafficking and I think there is still an element of that but what I have encountered on the late night city streets is the curse of alcohol abuse. The Holy Spirit challenged me through Danielle to take more action. I am going to begin or join in some kind of campaign to address the issue of cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets.
Pray for me in this. My immediate reaction was "Come on Lord, don't I have enough on my plate already!" However I have learned that if this is of God, he will find me room to do it.
God bless
Carol
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