Serving the Church across Australia.

From week to week we have the privilege to do concerts in many different venues. Each with their own acoustic qualities… or the opposite to that. Each venue with its own style, standards and expectations. The team has to learn to become all things to all people and serve accordingly. It is a great test of character and stamina. The band has to learn to play to the room and relate to the audience which can change in age or cultural demographics or even spiritual understanding. It’s all part of itinerant evangelism and winning people to Christ.

What may work well in one city will be completely irrelevant in the next. That’s the great challenge of being involved in a traveling ministry. Learning to listen and discern what is going on in the community, so that your message connects with people’s needs. I love the challenge. I am forever asking God… “What do you want to say to these people in this particular part of the country?” So I ask myself these questions….

1. Who is your audience?
2. What is your time span?
3. What is your strategy?
4. What are your expectations?

These 4 simple questions have helped me over the years to be more effective at reaching the many different people groups and cultures God has put in my ministry path.

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 1 Corinthians 9:20-22

I know the great apostle Paul lived and died with a love for God and a passion for people. My prayer is that you and I will live with that same fire burning in our hearts to reach the unreachable and love the unlovable.

Thanks for your prayers as we travel to the deserts of Central Australia this week and serve the churches of Alice Springs, the schools, prisons and communities.

Godspeed,

Without a Vision the people perish.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit”, says the Lord Zechariah  4:6

You have to drive a long long way to take a picture like this…. It is way out in the middle of nowhere in outback Queensland. Without a few strategic signposts along the way you would get lost in no time at all…. and be even harder to find…. for even longer. That’s just the way it is in Outback Australia.

Just over a week ago the nation of Australia held a federal election. The people went to the polling booths on voting day to cast their votes. The sad reality is the nation is divided. We are a nation that no longer knows what we believe… therefore we flounder in a void of indecision and indifference. We have lost our way. As you read this Australia is without legitimate leadership.

The Bible records many times that God’s people hardened their hearts against Him and found themselves in a wilderness. So it is nothing new to be lost without good leadership and clear signs of the way ahead. We simply need to get back to basics. Even s a team traveling on the road around Australia, we recognise the importance of starting every day before the Lord. Waiting on him and expecting Him to lead us every day. We need Jesus. We need God’s word. We need the intervention of His Holy Spirit in all we do.

“Obey my voice, and I will be your God and you shall be my people, and walk in all the ways that I command you” Jeremiah. 7:23

Thanks again for your prayers. Nearly a month into the Heritage Tour and we are going strong. Thanks for your partnership.

Godspeed,

G’Day from the Matilda Highway.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

We are over two weeks into the Heritage National Tour. At present traveling in Outback QLD doing evangelistic concerts in some outback towns. So far we’ve communicated to over 4,395 people in 13 towns and cities and seen 109 make decisions for Christ. Many more have received Bibles and others have taken information from the Missions Expo. Our boys have also been doing lunchtime concerts in local high schools in 6 regions with great response from students, teachers and chaplains. Praise God for every opportunity to share the Gospel and distribute Bibles. Praise God for the work of the Holy Spirit drawing people to that precious knowledge of the hope of Christ and the message of the Cross.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for vehicles, fuel expenses and for fatigue as the team of 22 venture into some long distances on the 23,000km journey. This is putting faith into action in a very real way. As the team adjust to life on the road and the daily challenges of travel and adaptability we know we must get back to the basics of God’s word.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 7

Thanks so much for standing with us on this major tour across Australia. We need your prayers as we seek to serve God in every town we visit. More of God’s love and less of our own agenda’s. Amen.

Godspeed,

If my People.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

At every concert at the moment we are taking some time to pray for Australia and the federal elections in a week. Much of modern politics is more about manipulation and witchcraft than it is about God anointed leadership. Yet we have the freedom to elect the people we believe will lead our nation in the right way. In humility, in justice, mercy and wisdom.

The greatest form of leadership is to serve with a humble heart and always put the interests of others above your own agenda. Jesus went to the Cross to show us the ultimate example of humble leadership. He laid down His life that we may have life. He took the weight of our sins and made a way for us to have peace with God with the assurance of eternal life. I love it.

Thanks for taking some time every day to pray for these elections.

Godspeed,

Maps and Calendars.

The next time you open your Bible take a quick look at the maps in the last pages of this amazing book. They will reveal significant era’s in history. The exodus from Egypt of Moses and the people of Israel, the travels of Jesus and the disciples, the missionary journey’s of the apostle Paul. Some Bibles even have maps of Solomon’s temple where the ark of the covenant was placed after it’s own travels through the wilderness. It fascinates me that God is into maps and history yet he loves us enough to allow us to make our own way, ever present to rescue us from our self destructive decisions and careless behaviour.

For many months now we have been working on maps and schedules for the Heritage National Tour of Australia. A missionary journey in the same spirit as the great Apostle Paul. A team of people dedicated to proclaiming the good news and exciting believers to even more effective mission. Well.. we are on the road and working hard to make every concert a great event for the people who turn up. The concerts are free. We are trusting God will supply all our needs as we travel. It’s real faith adventures in action and we are determined to reach every destination on the map in the coming months.

Because of Jesus Christ, the presence of God no longer lives in the ark of the covenant in a sacred temple. The presence of God is available to all by the power of the Holy Spirit when we believe that Jesus died for our sins and that through Him we are reconciled to God, forgiven and free forever. That’s a message worthy of making some travel plans and praying over maps. People need to know that the very presence of God that raised Christ from the dead can live in them as well.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12.1

Thanks for your prayers and support for the Heritage Tour 2010. We are on the way and we are going for it…. no matter what.

Godspeed,

Honouring a Heritage Hero.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

Arthur Stace 1885 - 1967. He was a world war 1 veteran, a former alcoholic and thief who came to faith in Christ in the 1930’s. An eccentric man whose childhood had been one of poverty and abandonment. Yet he had a heart for evangelism and helping down and out people beaten up by life. Shortly after his conversion he had heard the evangelist John Ridley tell a congregation in Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle that he wished he could ’shout eternity through the streets of Sydney’. Stace was inspired! ‘I felt a powerful call from the Lord to write “Eternity”. I had a piece of chalk in my pocket, and I bent down right there and wrote it’; ‘I’ve been writing it at least 50 times a day ever since.’

He married Ellen in 1942 and yet even then had a determined ambition to be a “missioner”. A man dedicated to preaching the Gospel with just one word. He spent his entire life challenging thousands of people every day with a word that we cannot ignore. “Eternity”. For many years it was an unknown mystery as to who was writing the word on walls and pavements of the city. A ‘birdlike little man with wispy white hair’, Stace became known as ‘the Eternity Man’, one of the characters of Sydney. After his death in July 1967 it soon became evident that countless lives had been impacted by this humble “one man - one word” crusade.

Arthur Stace is a true Heritage Hero. A man who didn’t quite fit the system and social expectations of the church or society… yet served Jesus with unstoppable passion.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

He may have been Australia’s first ever graffiti artist…. or one of our great evangelists. Like Arthur Stace… Let us be found living under God’s Grace over our lives and past failures and get on with the high calling of “Eternity”.

Godspeed,

Failure, Favour and Faith.

Hebrew 11: 6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

I love that verse.. It challenges me to live life like so many of our Bible heroes. When we read of Abraham and Sarah, of Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Ruth and many others we are inspired by the faith that these people put into action, many times after a crisis of great failure. But the truth is “favour follows failure” if we are willing to believe and keep our faith. Even during the violent and turbulent era of the early church and the writing of the New Testament there are so many miracle stories of failure and favour. If it was good enough for the men and women of the Bible it needs to be real to you and me… today.

As we prepare for a major tour of Australia I remember back to my first ever concert tour vehicle, a 1966 F100 I had restored from a wreck.. “Betsy”. This old rig took me and the band everywhere we needed to go back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. For 12 years this faithful old truck transported the guitars and gear to every concert and church booking. Sadly in January 1992 Betsy was stolen, never to be seen again. But we will always appreciate the blessing of good reliable transport.

We apologise for a late Prayer Points this week. To be honest we are completely exhausted with the pressure of preparations for the tour. These verses from Hebrew’s need to be alive in our hearts at the moment as we believe the Lord for miracles as we step out into a season of touring and evangelism. Australia needs to hear the simple, profound, amazing message of Jesus more than ever. Politically our nation is in turmoil as we head towards a general election in a few weeks. There is a sense of uncertainty and fear in the atmosphere. Yet God calls us to live by faith… even in failure there is favour on the other side if we live in faith.

Thanks again for praying with us and standing with us at this time. The Heritage Tour is all about honouring the past to inspire the future. Let us be found honouring Jesus and the Word of God. Let us be inspired by the stories of faith, failure and favour that are alive in the pages of this ancient book.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”

Godspeed,

<p><img alt=”Steve” src=”http://www.stevegrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/emailsignature.jpg” /></p>

Pictured: February, 1991 Steve with Betsy our beloved Ford F100.

The Gift of Perseverance.

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 4:25 - Romans 5:1-5

The great American President Abraham Lincoln once said.. “I am not concerned that you have fallen; I am concerned that you arise.”

It is estimated 620,000 American’s lost their lives in the 1861 - 1865 Civil war which broke out shortly after Lincoln was elected to lead the nation. For many years he had persevered. He had failed many times and yet persisted. He was known as “Honest Abe” by his peers. He and his wife had many times of heart break as only one of their 4 sons reached adulthood. Abraham Lincoln was a Godly man of faith, yet was never aligned with any particular denomination. One month after his inauguration shots were fired in South Carolina that ushered in the bloodiest war in American history. A war Lincoln had hoped to resolve peacefully. But through the most turbulent era of American history he was the man that stood his ground on issues such as the abolishment of slavery. He was assassinated April 14th, 1865 but will always be known and honoured as a great statesmen and leader.

Perseverance, character and hope are qualities we all desire, but we resist “rejoicing” in our sufferings to attain these quiet strengths. I thank God that we have Jesus as our role model when it comes to persevering through difficult times. In Christ.. all things are possible. His death covered our sins and His resurrection made a way for us to be made right before God.

So keep persevering in all the Lord has called you to.

Don’t ever give up, rejoice in times of suffering and difficulty.

Godspeed,

Pictured: Abraham Lincoln

Let Revival Come.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2: 4-9

Music and songs are a gift from God. A gift from the creator of the universe. Throughout the history of the Bible songs have been created to worship and celebrate all that God has done for his people. A song can bring hope and healing, confession and conviction… it can fill the soul with visions and dreams. The Christian faith is a singing faith and it always will be.. even for eternity.

Some of my most loved styles of music were born from the evil oppression of slavery in the 18th - 20th century. An era in history when the civilized world justified the right to imprison and enslave multitudes of black African people for generations. Yet Gospel music, Blues, Jazz and Rock’n'Roll all originated from such persecution. From deep sorrow and rejection came songs of hope and heaven.

John Newton was a seafaring slave trader who came to faith in 1748 after the loss of a ship mate in a violent storm. Years later he became a Church of England minister. He was the writer of the great hymn “Amazing Grace” in 1772 where he poured out in one song a picture of his wretched past, God’s glorious forgiveness and the promise of eternal life in Christ. Newton had a great influence on a young man called William Wilberforce who would dedicate his life campaigning for the abolishment of slave trade.

Let us sing and write songs that bring change. Songs that bring revival and hope to the lost.

Thanks for your prayers and support. The past weeks in Papua New Guinea have confirmed to us the power of music and song to bring people together for a cause that brings life.

Let Revival Come.

Godspeed,

The Gospel of Christ is a message for the multitudes. For every Tribe, every Nation.

I’m writing from the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Internet is extremely hard to find and very slow and expensive. But here’s a few pictures and stories of the past week.

The apostle Paul was an amazing man. He was despised by the church in some sectors for taking the Gospel to the gentiles. He was criticised by many for his missionary journeys. He lived knowing he had committed many atrocities against followers of Christ in earlier years. His former religious zeal for the law caused him to persecute Christians and send many to their deaths. Yet he lived and breathed the amazing grace of a forgiving God through knowing Christ. He knew he could not serve God in his own strength… it was in his weakness that he would have to face every day. Some days I know that feeling…. just running on pure hope filled exhaustion and believing the Lord will meet me there. He always does.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me”. 2 Corinthians 12: 9

We have been doing evangelistic concerts every day since arriving in Mt Hagen, PNG. The roads are rough and we use whatever equipment we can borrow to make up a PA system. Our concert in Mendi from the back of a flat bed truck attracted a few thousand people last Friday. We intentionally set up the truck / stage on a field beside the local prison so that all the prisoners and guards could also hear the Gospel. It is a humbling feeling standing before a multitude, knowing that it is only Christ who can save us from ourselves and from sin.

As a man who has made plenty of mistakes my prayer is always that the Lord will speak through me and transform hearts. Not the music or the songs.. just the work of the Holy Spirit drawing people to salvation and freedom, even for those locked in the prison next door. The concert lasted 4 hours and many responded to the invitation to put Christ first in their lives. It was a fantastic day of ministry.

Thanks for praying for the work we are doing in PNG.

Godspeed,

Pictured: A large crowd in the Southern Highlands - Mendi concert