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modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 90 1

REAL NEWS... REAL LIVES... REAL PEOPLE No. 90 FREE

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FERAL YOUTH FINDS FREEDOM

BETHAN’STAND OTHE CROPAGE 5

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TEXT US0774 0774 200GET E-PAPER BY EMAIL SIGN UP: jesus.org.uk/epaper

BIG BANG: BUT IS GOD THE BIG BANGER?PAGE 6

S PROUD TO UT FROM WD

YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ARE FINDING PURPOSE THROUGH JESUS

REbEl with a causECHRISTOS, 24, HAS

found something real and totally worthwhile to live for. “I want to give my all to being a true follower of Jesus” says Christos “even if that means

throwing all the ‘wants’ the world pushes at me into a big black bag and chucking them in the bin!” What are you living for? Have you found your pur-pose? Or does life seem hopeless? Christos has got hold

of something deep in his heart. He’s found a cause to live for. Jesus can ignite a pas-sion deep inside you, freeing you from the fears that hold you back and healing your inner pain. Why not ask Him to start the revolution now?

HAND ON HEART Christos pledges himself to Jesus

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MARK’S GOSPEL is part of the Bible and tells the story of the life of Jesus. Packed into 60 pages you can find how one man bridged the gap between man and God.

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ContaCt usGOT QUESTIONS? We’d love to help. Contact mJa for free literature, advice, or to find out what we’re up to near you.

You can call us: our National Helpline is 0845 123 5550 (local call rate), and generally there are real people to talk to, not machines.

Email us at [email protected] Want to have a look at what the mJa is all about? Check us out from anywhere in the world on our website: jesus.org.uk

But in these days of hi-tech, we still have an address and lots of people write in.Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton, NN7 3BR

Across the UK you are welcome to call one of our local churches if they are near you. There are Jesus Army congregations and groups around the UK. They are not all the same size, they meet in different sorts of premises, but they are all made up of people who love Jesus and are ready to help you on in your faith too.

JESUS Fellowship Church is an evangelical Christian Church with a charismatic emphasis. It upholds the full historical, Christian faith, in particular it upholds the doctrine of the Trinity and the full divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Fellowship Church is a part of the Multiply Christian Network and a member of the Evangelical Alliance. modern Jesus army Streetpaper No.90 © 2010, published three times a year by Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3LB. Editor James Stacey. Photographs in this newspaper are copyright Jesus Fellowship Church or royalty free stock photos from sxc.hu unless otherwise indicated. Printed by BGP Ltd., Bicester, Oxon. Reproduction of any part of this newspaper in any form requires written permission. All Bible quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189, U.S.A. All rights reserved. All articles are contributed by members of the Jesus Fellowship Church, also known as the modern Jesus army. Some members live as part of the New Creation Christian Community. Readers wishing to contact authors may do so by writing to the Jesus Fellowship Central Office.

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Raaaw!Jesus army youth event packs a real, wild punch“IT MEANT everything to me” enthuses John Danila about his recent Christian baptism at the Jesus Army’s “RAW” youth event. He adds “I feel free to live for God now.” “RAW (Real and Wild)” is the Jesus Army’s action-packed event for youth. Young people from all around the UK crammed into the Jesus Army’s giant marquee in Cofton Park, Birmingham. The afternoons saw these several hundred young Christians head out into the streets and parks of Birmingham, for “RAW Outdoors”, aimed at showing God’s love in action. Teams of youths helped with gardening and litter-picking in local estates, ran open-mic sessions at parks, gave out distinctive Jesus Army red crosses

and prayed with people, ran free barbecues and children’s face-painting – and much more. “It was quite something to see so many youngsters doing something so positive” said one local resident. “They can come back whenever they want!” John was baptised during the last evening of RAW, along with four others. Every year, people are invited to “take the plunge” into full-on Christian commitment at RAW – to wash away an old messed-up life and start again with Jesus. Throughout the three days, the challenge rang out: to live for something bigger than selfishness, to stand out from the crowd – and to take the experience back home. Emmaline, 19, one of the young people at RAW said: “RAW gives the opportunity to invite people to see God in action through practical love and spiritual life.”

SAUCE Free barbeque

CHIN UP Face painting

RAVE Energetic dance

PRAYER On the street

ECSTATIC John baptised as a Christian MORE ON RAW: realandwild.com

THE WORLD CUP is over with all its excitement and its clamour. For some, that may be a blessed relief. For others, the countdown begins for the next event in four years’ time. There was one big winner at this year’s World Cup. It wasn’t Spain; it wasn’t even the host nation, South Africa. The big winner of the World Cup was a humble plastic trumpet. Who’d heard of the “vuvuzela” before the World Cup? Like them or loathe them – these little (musical?) instruments dominated every game with their background buzz, like a host of giant insects coming in to land. Whenever the football was uninspiring, there was always the debate about how good or

bad their sound was. “Shout praises to the Lord!” bellows the Bible (Psalm 100). That’s the kind of message you find all over the good book. Dance, go wild, ’cos God is in town! Clap your hands, stamp your feet, bang the drum, let your hair down – and parp that vuvuzela! Well, maybe the Bible doesn’t mention the vuvuzela, but there’s plenty of trumpets and loads of joyful noise. Do you get it? God isn’t some cosmic party pooper with a downer on our celebrations; Jesus was a big partier. God made us to praise and it’s in our hearts to do so. Everyone around the world, come on! Let’s celebrate who God is and what He’s done! He’s made a beautiful world. He came to rescue us when we’d messed it all up. He’s planning a wonderful future: get in on it – and blow your trumpet! Photo: Roozbeh Rokni, flickr.com

Plastic trumpety trump

sCulPtuRe

HANGED Art attack

ChaRity

STIRRED Acts of justice

wisdom

CLEVER Age helps

“older” does mean “wiser”IT’S OFFICIAL: old age makes you wise. The calm judgment traditionally associated with old age now has a scientific explanation, researchers believe. As the brain slows down, it acts without the “overheating of feel-good hormones” that cause impulsiveness. American scientists carried out studies on 3,000 people aged 60 to 100. “The fact that older people are slower to respond than younger people is widely seen as a disadvantage; but that’s not always the case” said University of California professor Dilip Jeste, at an Edinburgh psychiatry conference. “The elderly brain is less impulsive and controlled by emotion.”

Coat hanger crucifixion art3,000 COAT HANGERS made a 9-foot sculpture of the crucifixion outside St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Scottish sculptor, David Mach, celebrated for his large-scale art created from waste products, is currently developing four crucifixion figures for a major exhibition at the Scottish capital’s City Art Centre next summer. Fife-born Mach, 54, was inspired to work on the project because it was in Fife that King James agreed to commission the now famous “King James Bible” in 1601. “The King James Bible’s language still resonates through our speech” said Mach. “The richness of biblical imagery is as fine a subject as I could wish for”.

Churches share with the poorTHE ARCHBISHOP of York, Dr John Sentamu, wants to help families hit by the effects of Government cuts. He is turning “Acts 435”, a local charity of which he is patron, into a national network. Dr Sentamu has seen the “human cost” of recession in Yorkshire. “Why is it during an economic downturn it can feel like whole sections of communities can be written off or forgotten?” he asks. “It is utterly wrong and I do not believe we should sit back.” The charity, which takes requests for help online, takes inspiration from the first Christians’ shared wealth in Acts 4 in the Bible.

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michael was in prison when he took his first step towards real release

FeRal youth Finds FReedom

MICHAEL A “stronger person” now

MICHAEL SYMONDS, 21, was completely out of control. Invited to “Real and Wild”, a Jesus Army youth event, in 2009, he didn’t know what to make of these enthusi-astic young Christians and spent most of the time outside the event. Instead of joining in, he was out in town, chasing girls. At the end of the event, his friends from Coventry couldn’t find him anywhere, so they left without him. Michael was fuming about that. He and a mate tried to steal some bikes to get back to Coventry and plotted revenge for when they got back. “We were going to put nails under-neath the car tyres of the peo-ple who had invited us” admits Michael. A f t e r being back in Coventry for a while and getting back into drugs, a short period in prison stopped Michael in his tracks. He knew that the life he was living

was wrong. He knew he needed to change. Now he says: “Over time God has helped me tackle my addic-tions. I was baptised as a Christian, and that baptism has made me a stronger person. With God anything is pos-sible. And I’m thankful to all my friends in the Jesus Army who have helped me.” Michael has seen a new way to live – with Jesus. Like the name of the youth event, he wants to live “real and wild” still, but in a completely different way.

here’s food for thoughtSTAYING ALIVE is expensive these days. The cost of living is rising. In fact, in certain parts of the world, it costs too much to stay alive. Seriously. Activist group, the World Development Movement, recently produced a report demonstrating that global financiers like Goldman Sachs, who speculate in food commodities around the world, are causing prices of basic foods to rise. Food becomes too expensive for poor people to buy. The result? Misery, famine and death. They call it the “hunger casino”. It’s a hidden, but global, scandal. What about our own country? A six-year-old girl starves to death in one of the most wealthy societies on earth. How much food do the supermarkets throw away? Marks and Spencer give their waste to

the homeless, but others are less bothered. It’s sickening to think of the huge tonnage of food and packaging being skipped and land-filled every day. Waste, waste, waste – and huge inequality. That’s the world we live in, and most of us have enough sensitivity to be painfully aware of that fact, even if we don’t really know what to do about it. Before He was born, Jesus’ mother, Mary, sang a protest song about His mission. Jesus “drags strong rulers from their thrones and puts humble people in places of power” and “gives the hungry good things to eat” (Luke 1:52-53, the Bible). Good news if you are a famished victim of greedy bankers’ “hunger casino”. The kingdom of King Jesus is about sharing, justice, equality. Isn’t that the kind of world we’re hungry for? And so we pray – “Come and set up Your kingdom” (Matthew 6:10, the Bible).

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modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 904

ociety!treetpaper reports on an even bigger one.

THUMBS UP Bethan’s free to live for Jesus

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SATURDAY 30 OCT 2010

UK PRAISE DAY2.00pm & 6.00pm Ponds Forge, Sheaf Street SHEFFIELD S1 2BP

-----------------------------------SATURDAY 27 NOV 2010

MEN ALIVE FOR GOD11.00am & 6.00pm Jesus Centre, Abington Square NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE

-----------------------------------SATURDAY 1 JAN 2011

UK JESUS CELEBRATION2.00pm & 6.00pm Jesus Centre, Abington Square NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE

-----------------------------------SATURDAY 29 JAN 2011

CHURCH GROWTH CONFERENCE11.30am & 6.00pm Jesus Centre, Abington Square NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE-----------------------------------SATURDAY 19 FEB 2011

UK JESUS CELEBRATION2.00pm & 6.00pm The New Bingley Hall 1 Hockley Circus BIRMINGHAM B18 5BE

-----------------------------------

WHAT’S ON?

i

modern Jesus army COMING EVENTS

INFO: jesus.org.uk/dates Tel: 0845 123 5550 Email: [email protected] Write: Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3BR

2010 2011

ALL FREE ALL WELCOME NO PREJUDICE

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Bigger S“Big Society” is David cameron’s big idea. S

“BIG SOCIETY”. It’s the politicians new buzz phrase. But what does it mean?Looking on the bright side, it’s about people helping each other, volunteering more, roll-ing up sleeves to do good. Others fear it’s more about “something for nothing”, plugging gaps created by spending cuts. One thing seems certain: the UK today is a nation in search of community. How many people today really know their neighbours? More peo-ple than ever before live alone. Community spirit gets elbowed out by “I’m all right Jack”. And yet – want to know a secret? There’s something good going on behind the scenes: there’s new society hiding in some of the overlooked places in the big

society around us. Jesus Christ called it “God’s kingdom”: the new way of living that Jesus opens up. He said it starts small, like a tiny seed, but grows and grows until it’s like a huge tree: a big society, in fact. This new, quietly growing reality changes people who genuinely follow Jesus. Take Carrie Ann, a Christian for two years. She says “becoming a Christian changed everything for me; I found real love and self worth.”

God’s kingdom is

expressed by the church of Jesus, when

they form an alternative soci-ety, which welcomes everyone, no-one excluded. The “have-nots” flood in and those who the world looks down on have the places of honour. That’s good enough. But it doesn’t stop there. Jesus also described God’s big

society like yeast in a loaf, which makes it rise; it soaks through society, pushing out the greed, fear and materi-alism that rules and ruins human beings. It’s not airy-fairy; God’s kingdom makes an impact around us all. Prison reform. The NHS. Abolition of slavery. The Salvation Army. Make Poverty History. Fairtrade. And so on and on and on – movements ancient and modern that have changed the face of the nation. You guessed it: God was behind them all! Get involved. Come and belong to the new way of justice and dynamic, world-changing love: God’s society – here and now. Text the modern Jesus army on 0774 0774 200 to find out how you can get involved in making a difference!

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Bigger S“Big Society” is David cameron’s big idea. S

THUMBS UP B

ociety!treetpaper reports on an even bigger one.

EVErYOnE VaLUEd God brings a new society: all have a place, all have their part to play in making a difference

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COVENTRY Jesus Centre manager, Ann Hawker, described a recent journey she made from the city centre to the bus station, a walk of only a few hundred yards: “I went down Lamb Street to post a letter. Outside the Sorting Office was Jim, who’d just been beaten up. He asked for some money; I gave him a little. “Saw Bill walking down. Walked down Bishop Street and along Corporation Street towards bus station. “Saw Simon and Jane on bench by Transport Museum – waved. Saw Brian on bench by bus stop, head bowed so he didn’t see me. “Went into the bus station. Saw Chris and Leon being talked to by two policemen. They nodded as I went by. “Went to bus stop. Saw Stuart sitting at table, a bit more sober than when previously seen after going on a bender from the dry house he had been in. Looking very battered. Encouraged him to make another appointment to go on our housing scheme for the homeless.

“Bus arrived and two guys we know got off the bus as I was waiting to get on – they waved.” Jesus Centres, like the one in Coventry, are places where all sorts of people find friendship, including many homeless and disadvantaged people. One of the plus-points of working at a Jesus Centre is the ability to make many new friendships. As Piers Young, the manager of the Coventry Jesus Centre, says: “We meet a lot of street folk. I can’t walk through town without meeting some. They’re ‘our people’ in this big village; it’s great.” Where is the near-est Jesus Centre to you? London? Northampton? Coventry? Sheffield? Jesus Centres are being estab-lished all around the UK. Birmingham is next. They’re bringing love, friendship and practi-cal help to every kind of person. Names are changed.

Love makes the big city seem small

Ann’s friends are on every bench and street corner. Some of them live there.

HOMELESS Friends matter

Find out more about Jesus Centres, or how you can help at: jesuscentre.org.uk

LIVEWIRE BETHAN Scullion, 19, is a larger-than-life character who’s unashamed to follow Jesus. But she’s blowing a hole through religious moulds and says: “I cringe at the stereo-typical ‘Christian’ image – waving a tambourine, all syrupy sweet. I want to stand out from the crowd by sailing against the tide of culture and the stran-glehold of selfishness. I want to grab hold of God with both hands – and all my heart.” Bethan loves a laugh, friendships and fun.

What’s the maddest thing she’s ever done for God? “Ha ha! The craziest things I’ve done for God include standing on a bin in the middle of town telling passers-by about God’s love. And I gave up wearing make-up for a time because I didn’t want to be a slave to it. Oh, and I’ve missed out on some huuuuuge parties to go to Christian events instead!” So what’s the future, Bethan? What do you want to do with your life? “I’d like to meet more people and help them get closer to God. I know God’s will in my life is more than I could ever imagine or wish for. It’s all very exciting!”

Bethan stands right out from the crowd

LOUd and PrOUd

ethan’s free to live for Jesus

“i can see god up here!”INCEPTION, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, is a film which has had people talking. Like The Matrix, it cleverly explores the nature of reality. What would happen if people could invade our dreams? What is true, what is illusion? In Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet, the hero tells his friend, Horatio, “there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. Many of us have a gut feeling that’s true: we know that we don’t know everything. Life is more mysterious, richer and more complex than we imagine. God “puts questions in our minds about the past and the future” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, The Bible) – or as another version puts it, more poetically, He has “put eternity in our hearts”.

Some people arrogantly insist that only what they see exists. But can you see an atom? Russian astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, famously said in space “I can’t see God up here.” In reality, Gagarin didn’t say that at all! He really said “the earth is blue... it’s wonderful, it’s amazing!” Wonderful. Full of wonder. And so it is. The people that met Jesus met a man who was full of wonders. He spoke more powerful words than anyone, before or since. His life was totally extraordinary. He gave hope to the despairing and life to the dead. He performed miracles – and still does. How do you respond to the wonder-worker? Are you prepared to open your mind and heart to Jesus? Let Him show you that life can be more than you have known it to be so far. Why not wake up to the wonder of knowing Him? Photo: startinghere71, flickr.com

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Is God the Big Banger?

[email protected]

PHYSICIST, STEPHEN HAWKING has blown up a media storm by claiming God cannot possibly have created the universe. One newspaper ran a poll on whether or not you agree with his conclusions. Sadly, it was clear which way the bias went. The way the questions were phrased said it all. Here was the choice: Choice 1: Yes. I believe in gravity, not divinity – which implies to believe in God I have to be a complete ignoramus who doesn’t believe in gravity. Choice 2: No. God: Hawking ‘not neces-sary’ – so believing in God means not only am I a complete ignoramus, but I’m also quite prepared to dish out rudeness for my religion. No chance to say what I wanted to say which is: “No, Stephen Hawking is wrong despite his enormous intellect. The more wonders he explains, the more I’m filled with wonder.” And here’s another thought – and a more important one I think. Stephen Hawking says he didn’t find any proof for God in the mind-boggling maths he uses to theorize about the Big Bang. But let’s suppose for a moment that he had – that he had found unmistakable evidence of God in the early story of the uni-verse. You might think, if he did, Christians would jump for joy. But hang on. Wouldn’t this mean that God only really wanted to reveal Himself to super brains who can do mind-blowing sums? What would this say to those of us who struggle to add up our shopping bills? Or to those who can’t either read or write? The fact is that God isn’t some intellec-tual snob who chooses to reveal Himself only to the clever. Quite the opposite, in fact. The Bible says “God chose the fool-ish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame” (1Corinthians 1:27). So be careful if you think you’re clever. You might find God hides from you. He might even hide in mathematical equations. God makes Himself known – through Jesus Christ – to the humble and those who know they need Him.

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Upgrade alert: Earth 2.0

C O U N T L E S S DOLPHINS, turtles and birds drowned in oil. It’s sickening. Wetlands on the American coast may never recover. Environmental group, Greenpeace, shut down 40 BP petrol stations in London recently. The protest came in the wake of the environmental disaster surrounding the “Deepwater Horizon” oil

spill in the gulf of Mexico. It was a move designed to get the oil giant to go “beyond petroleum” – and into more environmentally friendly commercial behaviour. Such periodic damage to the environment seems to be the price of our lifestyle, gobbling up fuel for cars and aeroplanes – as well as other oil-derived products. Human behaviour on Earth entails a terrible cost for the planet. Christians believe that

God created this awesomely beautiful planet for us to enjoy, and gave us responsibility for it. With polluted air, devastated rainforests and soiled seas we haven’t done a good job of it. But our responsibility means we can’t give up our efforts to clean up our act, to be healers of our planet – however big the task seems. Christians have this encouragement as well: a promise that, one day, God

is going to transform the world and renew it. It’s a big motivation to know that we’re part of the “advance plan” for something amazing that’s on its way. All the damage we have done to the planet will disappear. Tears will be dried, the earth will be revived. It’s beautiful now, even though it has been marred. Imagine how breathtaking it will be when the creator unveils Earth 2.0!

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God cares for UK immigrantsA YOUNG asylum-seeker from the Ivory Coast, who had been in a UK deten-tion centre with not much prospect of getting out, was released recently, for no obvious reason. The Jesus Army is deliberate in offering support and care towards genuine asy-lum-seekers; Jesus Army members in London, where the young man has become a much loved member, had been praying fervently on his behalf. Another young man, who had been trying for months to gain a visa to return to the UK, has been allowed to return – against all the odds. A Jesus Army member commented “We’ve been thankful for the miracles.”

Love shared on Belfast’s streetsJESUS ARMY members from all around the UK travelled to Belfast in Northern Ireland, for a week-long evangelism “campaign”. They took a double-decker Jesus Army display coach and spent their days mingling with people in the centre of the city sharing God’s love. “In a city often torn by religion it was good to be on people’s level and offer friendship” said one leader. One young woman decided to get baptised as a Christian. A Jesus Army leader in Belfast commented “God has touched many quality young people and their friends in this city. Most people were easy to talk to and friendly.”

Woman healed of M.E. by faithTHE JESUS ARMY finished their annual “Winning” festi-val on a powerful note. In a “testimony time”, one young woman from Northampton announced that she had experienced a remarkable healing. After years of suffering with M.E., she noticed an instant improvement after someone prayed with her. She was unable to sleep with excite-ment that night –usually that would have exhausted her for days, she said; but she’d never felt better! Her friends were amazed at the change in her. The Jesus Army holds such festival weekends in a giant marquee in Northamptonshire three times a year.

CARE Asylum-seekers

CAMPAIGN

BELFAST Give love

HEALING

HEALED Prayer power

ASYLUM-SEEKERS

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Amazing Grace

People Xtra

20-year-old Grace wants to make her life extraordinary

IF LITTLE GIRLS are made of “sugar and spice and all things nice,” what are the ingredients of the average teenage girl? Hair-raising boy bands and eye-raising make-up? The latest drop-dead gorgeous vampire hero (unless her taste is more for werewolves)? Gossip and gallivanting around clubland on a Friday night dressed to chill? Not for Grace Timms. She had her sights set higher. Even at 11, Grace, now 20, stood out from the crowd: Grace wanted, more than anything, to live sold-out for God. And she wasn’t some mousey, stained-glass, pious-type girl; Grace was popular and outgo-ing. But there was something different about her. Grace wanted to be part of a revolution. It started when she went on a Christian camp with other girls her age. There she saw God’s reality and power at close quarters. “I gained so much from that camp” says Grace, “After it, I just wanted to know God more and more.” At 16, Grace was baptised as a Christian. It was a powerful turning point. “I cried all the way through”

she says “because I felt com-pletely clean inside and I knew God had filled me with His love.” While Grace’s college friends were setting their sights on climbing the ladder to money and success, Grace was more and more certain she wanted to live for something different. “I wanted to go the opposite way to our consumer society” she says passionately. God gave Grace a vision for living in a Christian community, sharing her stuff, and living to help others find freedom from the vicious cycles that can suck people down. “God showed me how empty the alternative would be. I stayed with some of my

friends at university, but their lifestyle didn’t appeal to me at all; it seemed shallow com-pared to the things God was showing me.” So, just over two years ago, Grace moved into one of the Jesus Army’s Christian com-munity houses in Leicester. Where will Grace go from here? She’s excited about young people she’s involved with in Leicester: “I want to be there for them and help them move on with God. “Forget ambition, career and bettering yourself: God is my priority” enthuses Grace. “What I’m doing now isn’t for my sake, it’s for God. And it works, too!”

EMOTIONAL Grace’s baptism

7

Forget ambition, career and bettering

yourself: God is my priority

GRACE

SMILEY GRACE She’s got something to live for

JOIN THE Jesus Army for a year! The modern Jesus army training year is an intensive, action-packed year, full of challenges to help you grow in faith. It’s particularly suitable for school leavers or those on a gap year.

UP FOR IT?Looking for a challenge?

Wanna make a difference?

FOR INFO: jesus.org.uk/training or email [email protected]

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modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 908

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Lads a’LeapingCat woman grabs the headlines

BOY’S JOY Marching for Jesus

These Jesus army boysaren’t shy about Jesus

GIRLS WHIRL Dancing the dance

“OVERFLOWING WITH love and very friendly” was Londoner Simon Wright’s impression of the Jesus Army’s street parade. Simon, 41, and his family were on Trafalgar Square when the Jesus Army danced in for their festival, which Simon described as “exciting and colourful”. “More then a thousand of us went stomping in London” grins Jesus Army member Aidan Ashby, 20. “This was the Jesus Army’s annual noisy, colourful ‘London Day’ when we take our passion to the streets of the capital”. “It was great to see” enthused Arnold Dalene, a visitor from the US. “I was in the park by Buckingham

Palace, near the lake, and I faintly heard the singing. I followed the sound and found the march!” “It wasn’t all young men: there were older men, young women, children, older women, babes-in-arms, toddlers in buggies, you name it”, explained a Jesus Army leader, James Stacey, 34. “The Jesus Army wants to show that God’s life is real and attractive and brings real freedom to people. It wasn’t a protest march; it was a celebration of life.” The march climaxed on Trafalgar Square with a three-hour festival. “It’s one of our major opportunities in the year” enthuses Aidan “to demonstrate that God is alive today, and so is His church”.

For more photos of the Jesus Army in London: flickr.com/groups/mjalondonday

For local information contact:

45-YEAR-OLD Mary Bale became an international hate figure recently after dumping a four-year-old tabby called Lola into a wheelie bin near her home in Coventry, West Midlands. Mary’s cat abuse was caught on CCTV and shown on the news. Since then Mary has been under police protection and death threats have been levelled at her from as far afield as Australia. We Brits love our animals, and this kind of outrageous cruelty is simply unforgivable, isn’t it? Thank God, no. Think chucking a cat in a bin is bad? How about nailing the Son of God to a cross? That’s what the human race did to Jesus;

and God let it happen. Why? So that all the rubbish in our lives – the ugly things we do on a daily basis – could be thrown away and we could start again. Our bad attitudes, stupid choices, innate selfishness – all thrown away and forgotten forever in the death of Jesus. He did our dying for us. In return, we get a clean slate. A new start. Peace with God. So: Mary Bale needs forgiveness, from God – and the rest of us as well.

A prayer: God, thank You for sending Jesus to rescue us at such a great cost. Jesus, thank You for dying so that I could be set free. Please fill me with the new life of Your Spirit so I can live for You.

Photo: kaibara87, flickr.com

JESUS SAID... “I came so that everyone

would have life, and have it in its fullest.”

John 10:10, The Bible

Newspapers support recycliNgRecycled paper made up 79% of the raw material for UK newspapers in 2009

mJa: 0845 123 5550jesus.org.uk

Email: [email protected] Write: Jesus Fellowship,

FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3BR

Tel: 0845 166 8171 Fax: 0845 166 8178

27/09/2010 15:25:55