Ambassadors for Christ Int'l — Australia http://www.afci.com.au Accelerating the spread of the gospel through local churches. Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Hear John North Speak http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/13/hear-john-north-speak/ http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/13/hear-john-north-speak/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:11:59 +0000 admin http://www.afci.com.au/?p=605 JAN 29: LITHGOW, NSW

10 am
Lithgow Bible Church,
1 Col Drewe Drive, South Bowenfels
(02) 6352 1409

6 pm
Lithgow Christian Life Centre (Assemblies of God),
50 Musket Parade, Lithgow
(02) 6352 3309

FEB 5: LITHGOW, NSW

10 am
St Paul’s Anglican,
2 Roy St, Lithgow
(02) 6351 3070

FEB 12: LITHGOW, NSW

9:30 am
Lithgow Baptist,
corner Lee St & Great Western Hwy
(02) 6351 4744

6 pm
Lithgow Christian Life Centre (Assemblies of God),
50 Musket Parade, Lithgow
(02) 6352 3309

FEB 19: ORANGE, NSW

10 am, 4 pm & 6:30 pm
Orange Evangelical Church
Bowen Public School, Park St, Orange
(02) 6362 1025

Feb 26: ORANGE, NSW

10 am
West Orange Baptist Church
85 Molong Rd, Orange NSW
(02) 6369 0149

FEB 26: COMBINED YOUTH SERVICE IN ORANGE (tbc)

7 pm
New Life Church, Molong Rd, Orange
(02) 6363 1029

2012 ‘REALITY’ OUTREACH EVENTS

FEATURING WILL GRAHAM in partnership with Ambassadors For Christ International are being organised for:

REALITY ORANGE: MAY 3-6

  • Venue: Orange Function Centre
  • Contact: Graham McLennan (REALITY ORANGE-2012 Team Leader) on (02) 6361 9773

REALITY BATHURST: MAY 8
(More details will be available as this event draws closer)

REALITY LITHGOW: MAY 11-13
(More details will be available as this event draws closer)

]]> http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/13/hear-john-north-speak/feed/ My heart-starter for you today http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/12/my-heart-starter-for-you-today/ http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/12/my-heart-starter-for-you-today/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:15:57 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/?p=597 “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:31)

God has “new strength” for you if you will wait for Him!

As you move into this New Year, remember that the everlasting source of life and strength and meaning and purpose and power is God. Though you may be tired, He does not become tired. Though your feet stumble, God is as full of energy as the day He created this universe.

God doesn’t encourage us to wait for new strength. No. God’s message to us in this verse today is to wait for HIM.

When your relationship with God is deep and close, then the new strength will flow. But He is the focus! Turn the eyes of your heart on God, and renew your relationship with Him today.

]]> http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/12/my-heart-starter-for-you-today/feed/ Your support at work http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/12/your-support-at-work/ http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/12/your-support-at-work/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:12:37 +0000 admin http://www.afci.com.au/?p=594
  • Right now, AFCI are partnering with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as the churches of Bathurst, Lithgow and Orange work together to share Christ in the central west of NSW. Will Graham will be visiting this region to speak at their REALITY meetings from May 3 through 13 this year.
  • Because of your support, we’re laying the foundations for this evangelistic vision by ministering in the churches of the area in January and February. Our vision is that people from churches across the region will come to be trained by John North on how to effectively walk with people towards faith in Jesus.
  • From February to April we will train believers in how to build redemptive relationships – with the goal that these relationships will be at the place where the REALITY events can call them to faith in Christ.

    • 2012 ‘REALITY’ OUTREACH EVENTS

    FEATURING WILL GRAHAM in partnership with Ambassadors For Christ International are being organised for:

    REALITY ORANGE: MAY 3-6

    • Venue: Orange Function Centre
    • Contact: Graham McLennan (REALITY ORANGE-2012 Team Leader) on (02) 6361 9773

    REALITY BATHURST: MAY 8
    (More details will be available as this event draws closer)

    REALITY LITHGOW: MAY 11-13
    (More details will be available as this event draws closer)

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2012/01/12/your-support-at-work/feed/     Movie Trailers http://www.afci.com.au/2011/11/30/movie-trailers/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/11/30/movie-trailers/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:24:41 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/11/30/movie-trailers/ What’s a movie trailer? It’s all the best clips from the movie jammed into a short preview that makes you say, “We’ve got to see that movie!”

    At the “Road To Missional Leadership” seminar today Mike Frost pointed out that God’s plan for our lives is that we are like movie trailers for people to see what it’s like to live under the reign of Jesus Christ. When people see our lives do they say, “I have GOT to experience that!”?

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/11/30/movie-trailers/feed/     Prepared for an emergency http://www.afci.com.au/2011/09/20/prepared-for-an-emergency/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/09/20/prepared-for-an-emergency/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:02:17 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/09/20/prepared-for-an-emergency/ My son came up to me this morning with bulging pockets. He threw a nerf bullet at me then asked, “Hey Dad, do you know how many nerf bullets I have in my pocket?”

    He pulled out a huge mass of them. I laughed and said, “What are they for?”

    “I have to be ready for any emergency,” he said.

    He got one thing right, didn’t he? When an emergency arrives, it’s too late to get ready. A good life principle. Build a strong relationship with God that will stand the test of the trials of life. When the trials start is not the time to try and prepare.

    20110919-070149.jpg

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/09/20/prepared-for-an-emergency/feed/     God looks forward to time with you http://www.afci.com.au/2011/07/11/god-looks-forward-to-time-with-you/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/07/11/god-looks-forward-to-time-with-you/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:10:31 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/07/11/god-looks-forward-to-time-with-you/ I went for a bush-walk with my boys and a friend yesterday in the Blue Mountains.


    As we were getting ready to go I realized how much I was looking forward to that time with them. As we drove up to the mountains we chatted the whole way.

    I thought, “This is how God feels about time with us!”

    We must get out of the mindset of having a devotional time just because we should, or because we like the Bible, and start taking pleasure from relational time with God, recognizing that he Is enjoying it immensely too!

    - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/07/11/god-looks-forward-to-time-with-you/feed/     Something I had never experienced before! http://www.afci.com.au/2011/06/22/something-i-had-never-experienced-before/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/06/22/something-i-had-never-experienced-before/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:53:49 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/06/21/something-i-had-never-experienced-before/ Last week I experienced something I had never experienced before… I passed out from pain!

    I am usually in decent shape, so I was bewildered when my back started bothering me. It was hard to believe how much my back affected my whole life!

    No wonder God compares our relationships with one another to a body. If you cause pain to the people in your family, your whole family is debilitated. If you are in conflict with others in your church, the whole church feels the impact. And God feels the pain too.

    Work to be a blessing to everyone in your life. You will be blessing the whole group you are a part of.

    - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/06/22/something-i-had-never-experienced-before/feed/     I had to laugh… http://www.afci.com.au/2011/04/04/i-had-to-laugh/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/04/04/i-had-to-laugh/#comments Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:22:58 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/04/04/i-had-to-laugh/ I spoke at Connexions Conference for Student Life in Victoria this weekend. We saw in Scripture that God’s framework for all that he intends our Christian lives to be is based on us loving him with all of ourselves.

    It was a great time together with many students doing life-changing business with God.

    But I had to laugh when I read the thankyou note given me at the end of the conference. The first sentence said, “Thank you John! We will never look at God and our relationship with him after this weekend.”

    I guess my teaching worked backwards!

    - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

    Location:Mt Evelyn, Victoria

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/04/04/i-had-to-laugh/feed/     The weakest link is you http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/16/the-weakest-link-is-you/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/16/the-weakest-link-is-you/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:10:30 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/16/the-weakest-link-is-you/ “A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.” We’ve all heard this proverbial statement many times before. It never needed to be explained to us because the truth behind the word picture is so obvious.

    In your spiritual life, the weakest link is you. Jesus is in you with the power to live through you. The Spirit has been given to you to enable you for the Christ-life. God’s word in your life never fails. The one area of weakness, your own sinful nature, is what you have to guard.

    With a friend’s spiritual downfall on my mind I’m painfully aware that I stand on the same precipice as he did—the precipice of my own self-life. It doesn’t matter how steady our commitment to Christ seems to us. A few steps towards our sin nature, a little nod to our fleshly impulses, the entertaining of little sins, and we will find ourselves on a path that is deadly to our inner lives. Ask David. Ask Peter. Ask Ananias and Saphira.

    Only Jesus can live the life that is pleasing to God and he will do so through the work of the Spirit.

    Any little steps away from the Spirit put me and you in danger of disaster. Don’t make room in your life for little sins and do make space for time spent with Jesus. Then you will have nothing to fear.

    - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/16/the-weakest-link-is-you/feed/     I saw Bear Grills today and learned a lesson… http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/05/i-saw-bear-grills-today-and-learned-a-lesson/ http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/05/i-saw-bear-grills-today-and-learned-a-lesson/#comments Sat, 05 Mar 2011 12:43:32 +0000 John North http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/05/i-saw-bear-grills-today-and-learned-a-lesson/ I took my son Owen to see Bear Grills at Hillsong today. It was both fun and fascinating, and also taught me a good lesson.


    Amid the discussions of the gross things he has eaten and his near death experiences, he was asked about what his faith in Christ means to him. He confessed that his was a “messy faith” and that he often questions it as he goes through life, but finds God giving him a peace and calm in the end.

    Many people hesitate to openly let people know they follow Christ because they feel inadequate and think they need to have sorted through all of their issues first. But we should always point to what god HAS done in us and not try to hide the reality of ongoing struggles. It is Christ in us within the realities of life that is most attractive to people, not the artificially perfect Christian life we so often try to portray.

    - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

    Location:Hillsong Church

    ]]>     http://www.afci.com.au/2011/03/05/i-saw-bear-grills-today-and-learned-a-lesson/feed/