It's about connectedness.

It's quite rare for me to be spending the weekend in Melbourne, as since transferring to Torquay Salvo's, I've spent most of my weekends in Geelong staying with my parents so I can go to church. So last night I prayed that God would use this day as a blessing. And when you pray such things, it's often surprising how God answers!



Today started when I was awoken (granted late in the morning - hey it's my day off!) by my beautiful friends Ann & Venita who thought they'd come over and bless our household with breakfast. Unfortunately (well actually quite fortunately for me!) I was the only one home, so I was treated to a delicious (and healthy) breakfast of salmon, eggs, toast and salad. The beautiful thing about living in Christian community is that this sort of blessing happens quite often - but they are always appreciated.



Venita had nothing planned for the day either, so we decided to have a relaxing afternoon of movies and chats. We went to Balwyn and saw the movie "As It Is In Heaven". If you do nothing else this year, go and see that movie! It's all sub-titled, which normally makes it quite difficult to get swept up in a movie, but this time around, you forget they are speaking in another language. The film is basically about a famous composer and conductor (Daniel) who after a heart attack which renders him unable to work, moves back to the town he was born in. Whilst there he decides he'd like to take over the church choir, and thus a beautiful journey of community and love between people is embarked upon. You begin to feel part of this group of "nobody's" and on more than one occasion we were struck by how God was speaking to us throughout the film. I guess the biggest thing God spoke to me about was the value of community and the need for that community to speak out against the different struggles that go on within members lives. There was an ongoing theme throughout the film that many atrocities were happening in the lives of the people within this community, and nobody had bothered to speak out against them. Leaving victims to be left feeling hurt and alone. Throughout the course of the film, as people begin to find their voice/tone/heart song, they do start speaking out against these issues (such as domestic violence, bullying, prejudice against mental disabilites and the labelling of women who find themselves in broken relationships) and the community is strengthened as a result.



One of the central characters was Svig, a local pastor and his wife Inga. Svig was a good man (at heart) but had let the "fame" of being the local pastor (ie. Saviour complex!) of the community go to his head, and spent far too much time focussing on the sins and need for forgiveness than in the relationship he should have had with his church folk. There is one particular scene which was quite confronting. Essentially this pastor had forgotten that one of his duties was to be a good husband to his wife. He had forgotten that the connection with his wife needed to be emotional, physical, spiritual and sexual. And his wife called him on it. It was extremely confronting, but so very true.



It reminded me of something Rob Bell speaks of in his book "Sex.God". The theme of Sex God is to strengthen the link between your sexuality and your spirituality. To us in this world, that seems so very wrong doesn't it? But what Bell says is that sex is in essence about connectedness. It's about being connected to someone at a raw and deep and passionate and INTIMATE level, and that God created sex for pleasure. Sex was not just given to us for procreation, but for pleasure as well - it's how we differ from animals (though for some guys I know, I can't necessarily say there is much difference! haha!). Venita & I were talking about this afterwards and she asked me what every single person probably asks daily "But how does that work for us as single women Sarah?!" Which leads me to the most powerful and freeing thing I've ever read... if we can believe that Sex is about raw, deep, passionate and intimate connection - it's possible to be sexual without the act of sex! Rob Bell writes (and I'll quote it when I get the book back from the person I let borrow it!) that one of the most sexual people he knows is a friend of his who spends his time working for a not-for-profit organization... and is celibate. No sex, yet he is the most sexual person Rob knows.



When I read that I thought "I get that!", and shared that with my friend and mentor Shane. Shane then proceeded to say to me "Sarah, I agree with him. You are the most sexual person I know, yet you are celibate. When I'm with you, I'm drawn in. You make people want to be around you and want to know even more of you, and you make people want to let you in and know them - raw." He also said that one of the gifts I have is physical touch. That when I touch people, they feel safe, and that it's an incredibly sexual thing - but not in the way the world sees sexual. In a deeper Godly way. I connect with people.


I explained to Venita that is what I think us single Christian girls can do. Have those deep connections with people, teach them the value of healthy meaningful touch, and being intimate with each other. We both agreed that was a precious gift we have been given, and that we should strive to deepen it even further. So I will continue to pray....to pray that God shows us as single women in an overly sexualized world, how to bring people back to embrace their true God-given sexuality. To ask that God will give us people in which we can have meaningful and deep connection with. And that God will help us to remain pure in our intentions and our actions.



After all...isn't THAT what Jesus would do?


I'm so thankful to God that He has given me a community of friends who on a daily basis help me to grow and strengthen my relationship with God. Who encourage me to be the woman of Christ I was created to be. And who I can be honest with, about everything going on in my life, not just the bits they might deem acceptable. This movie today, showed me it really is all about connectedness. It's about loving people, and letting them in. In a society that has tried to make sex just something you can "do" rather than a part of who we are, it is our job as Christians to reclaim it, to own it and to model the value of connection both emotionally, physically, spiritually and sexually. I'm striving for a further deepening of the connection I have in all my relationships, and look forward to the way God will reveal Himself to us through that!

Time to get serious about learning!

So I've realized that over the last year or so, I've become quite lazy in my "learning". What I mean is that I've realized I don't really read as much as I used to, and thus my spiritual maturity has suffered. So this year I've set myself a challenge to read as much as I possibly can. Given that I'm incredibly bad at sticking to one book until the end, I've decided to read two books at a time, plus complete a devotional, and not start another one until I finish one of them...this is tough for me... trust me! :)

I've been doing pretty well so far actually, particularly given I only set myself such a task in April! I'm quite proud of myself. So without further ado..the books I've read and recommend to you are as follows :


This was a small devotional written by Matt & Beth Redman, who wrote the song "Blessed Be Your Name" which just so happens to be one of my favourite worship songs. It is filled with inspirational stories of what happens when you choose to praise God despite your circumstances. It's one I'm sure I'll pick up again and again.

Okay, I'm going to be writing a lot about this book in the coming months, because it really inspired me so much. Rob Bell, famous for his book "Velvet Elvis" & the NOOMA short films, has written this fantastic book on the connection between sexuality & spirituality. This book should be compulsory for everyone to read, but particularly single girls my age (who are wanting to continue to honour God's plan for our lives) and as pre-marriage counselling for all Christian couples. It's quite frankly brilliant.
This book was written by my dear friend GaryBishop, and is an inspirational look at how we as The Salvation Army can get back into the Darkest places of our society that we have perhaps forgotten. It's a great follow up to those who have read General Booth's "In Darkest England and the Way Out". Gary has shared stories about the Eden Openshaw team (you all know I love them and am inspired by them in my own journey!) and how they have gone back into "Darkest England" to work with the marginalized and unchurched in Openshaw, Manchester. "Darkest England & The Way Back In" should be compulsory reading for all young salvationists!

I know most people have already read this one, but I hadn't. Until it was decided by the Torquay Salvo's leadership team that we should read it. So I have. It's kinda long, and detailed, and a lot of the stuff in it you already know, but it consolidates that. It's a worthwhile read for church planters...and whilst I still struggle with the idea of "mega churches", it did help me realize that they have their good points too. Rick Warren writes very well, and you don't get too lost in the detail which is good. It's also great that most of what he says is based on Scripture, which means that you can't really dispute it. He's done well. I'm glad I read it.

The books I'm currently reading:

Devotional: I'm doing the Bible Study of Angela Thomas' book "Do You think I'm Beautiful?" which helps encourage women to explore the questions at a woman's heart. It's a really good book for all those women out there who struggle with the issue of beauty and whether they really fit the model of "beautiful" I'm learning a lot about myself, and about God!


Another book you'll probably hear a lot about from me, is Rob Bell's other book "Velvet Elvis". I love the way Rob Bell communicates, and invites you in to his world and his theology, not as a way of forcing you to agree with him or shoving it down your throat but in a "What if" or "What do you think about" sort of way. It's really quite unique, and I'm enjoying learning more about my faith through him.

I'm also reading "Outrageous God, Outrageous Women" by Ross Saunders, which isn't an easy read. It's focusing on the outrageousness of the women of the bible, and how they broke down social normaties in order to follow Jesus. It's interesting, but not "before bed" reading!

In my quest to read more, please feel free to recommend any books you think I would benefit from! :) And let me know what you are reading at the moment too!

Blessings,
Sare x