Check out this video update of what I've been up to with Nick in Greece!

Have just had the most awesome time at the Transformations women's conference hosted by the Christian Cultural Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark. God moved in an amazing way and I saw an openness and hunger that I have never seen before in this nation. It truly is a new day and a new hour and God is doing a new thing. I am so excited about the future of Europe!!!

I went running this morning in Stockholm and was feeling very impressed with myself as I ran along the river (this is a stunning city) and I accidentally ran into a Triathalon race. I could not get out of the race as I was bombarded by athletes overtaking me from every side. It was then that I realised that I was not running as fast or smoothly as I thought. While I was in my own little world, I was doing great, but when I stepped into a bigger/faster/fitter world, I realised that I had room for lots of improvement and development.

As Christians, it is crucial that we do not get lulled into a false sense of comfort/security/achievement. We must constantly ensure that we are pushing ahead, determined to lay a hold of all of that for which Jesus has laid a hold of us. We must keep enlarging/stretching and placing ourselves in a world that is bigger than our own so we can keep God's perspective. We can so think we are doing great but let's keep the Word as our mirror and measure and ensure we are always allowing ourselves to be transformed to the image of Jesus.

I loved the fact that the spectators and officials thought I was a participator and so were cheering me on and giving me water - they so believed in me that I increased my pace and found myself running at a whole 'nother level! It is amazing what encouragement can do for someone. Let's be a church that continues to spur each other on, believe in one another and be each others cheerleader. Jesus taught us that 'by this will all men know that you are my disciples by the love you have one for another.' If one of us is struggling or falls over, let's determine to never kick anyone while they are down but to extend the love, grace, mercy and encouragement of Jesus to them. We are all here today because someone has done that for us somewhere along our journey (very often in my case). If we all do this, many more people will not only start their race but will ultimately finish their course.

Well it is definitely Olympic fever everywhere and I love this atmosphere! I have to admit that I am only sleeping a few hours each night as I wake up at the crack of dawn to watch the swimming and gymnastics (can you believe what the human body is capable of?)... I just saw a tragic moment where the Chinese swimmer in the 200 metre freestyle semi-final was disqualified after 'winning' the race when the camera showed her moving microseconds before the gun went off - very sad. I thought about how we can be disqualified in the Christian race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) if we do not pay attention to the small things that at times the naked eye cannot see. God sees everything at all times, and even though we can think we are 'swimming at our best' and leading the charge, we may in fact have disqualified ourselves along the way and only discover this at the end.

I am reading Gary Chapman's book "Love as a Way of Life" and am committed to not only being focused on the race but ensuring that along the way I am developing the qualities of Kindness, Patience, Forgiveness, Courtesy, Humility, Generosity and Honesty. If I don't, I may achieve a lot but become 'disqualified' as God cares more about what I am allowing Him to do in me as opposed to only through me. Let's purpose to 'discipline ourselves daily, so that when we have preached to others we ourselves are not disqualified'...

I mentioned in a previous post that my Sophia had given a wonderful performance of Monk Monk the Friendly Guy at Healing Place Church... Our friends at Healing Place were kind enough to send us the video, which we just had to share with you all!

What an incredible week we have had to end our USA tour. On Wednesday night, we were with our great friends Jim and Marguerite Reeve at Faith Community Church, West Covina. That was the first church I ever preached at in the USA 13 years ago and have been going back regularly ever since - I feel like a part of the furniture. We had a powerful meeting as I brought an A21 update. The support from FCC has been incredible - they were the first local church to jump on board with the project and theirs is a real sense of partnership as we seek to abolish this injustice.

We then spent a couple of days with our friends Jonathon and Di Wilson from Newport Church in California. It is incredible what is happening there with over 2000 people attending and the church is only 2 years old. I spoke at Newport women and a leadership meeting and I loved the passion, zeal and pioneering spirit that oozes from the place.

This morning, I spoke at Angelus Temple pastored by Pastor Matthew and Caroline Barnett. What does one say - the LA Dream Centre is a testimony to the miracle working power of God. Church was unbelievable and the total commitment of the church to feeding the poor, helping the marginalised, oppressed, lonely, broken, hurting and disenfranchised in their own backyard is an inspiration to the church worldwide. As soon as the service finished, the team went to the airport to fly to New York where they are launching the church in Times Square tomorrow night. It is incredible to see the passion of this church to reach the lost at any cost - AWESOME!

So this has been a huge few weeks and incredibly fruitful - I LOVE serving God and being a part of all that He is doing on the earth. We have seen so many decisions for Christ and lives transformed. Thank you to all of our loyal partners who help to make it possible.

We are en-route to the airport now to fly to Europe where we will be ministering in 5 nations over the next few weeks - so stay tuned as the adventure continues... whoever said serving God is boring???

I had the most interesting revelation last night whilst at dinner with three girlfriends. We were sitting at the table talking about human trafficking, HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa and issues affecting young women like eating disorders/self harm/addictions/abuse and all of the things we were doing and still wanted to do to help people. In the midst of our chat, I said "Girls, can you believe this - gone are the days when 4 girls would go to dinner and just talk about getting their hair and nails done (which are important, no doubt). But here we are balling our eyes out and talking about global issues and the heart of God to see justice on the earth." I love that what is consuming our conversations are issues of justice and mercy...

I had just finished speaking at Mercy Ministries in Nashville and am ALWAYS inspired myself when I visit the home as I see up close and personal how God's word and power TRULY continues to transform lives - the work that Nancy Alcorn and her team is doing and has been doing for 25 years is incredible. My prayer is that we continue to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

xxx

Well after an amazing weekend in Memphis, I am convinced that Life Church Memphis is going to make God in the city more famous than Elvis. We had an awesome time with 166 decisions for Christ and great services across the whole weekend. Pastors John and Leslie Siebling have built a great church which is incredible on many levels but I was particularly moved by the incredible diversity at every level of church life both on and off the platform. What a great testimony to this city.

Sophia is perfecting her "Monk Monk the friendly guy" routine and we think we may have a permanent gig on Beale St for her....

We are off to Nashville in the morning and speaking at Mercy Ministries which I am pumped about - chat soon! xxx