Thursday 29 April 2010

Warriors, Praisers, and Helpers

Last night, in one of those ‘still moments’ with the Lord, I had this ‘word’ for a friend of mine – “I see an angelic host over the city. Some warriors; some praisers; some helpers.” I saw and heard them too – thousands and thousands of angels. I decided on an early night, and while I was in bed, the Lord gave me this expansion of the word.

Angel warriors are those we are able to direct in spiritual warfare. They fight for us and with us. Angel praisers are those who continually give praises to the Lord. The Word of God says that He inhabits the praises of His people. Angel helpers are exactly what most people regards angels as being – those who secretly help us all the time. Whatever we ask, angel helpers collect, deliver, comfort, carry, and clear the way before us. Together, all the angels around us will battle the enemy in order to enforce Gods will for us as won by Christ at Calvary. It is ours because of what Jesus did for us. Whenever we speak prophetically, it is the angels cue for action !!

I somehow knew this was not only for my friend so I asked the Lord what all this means for us, for RoFMI, for me, for my friend in Sydney, and He answered this – “You will be preparing the Church – preparing the Bride for the Groom. Revival, end-times, the Rapture – we need to be preparing the Church for these things. On eschatology, the Lord said that it must not matter to us what the sequence of events will be – that is known to Him alone – so we need to be working until it all starts to happen.

The Church has ‘no idea’ what is going on right now !! but the Lord will use us to educate and prepare them through prophecy, through Words of Knowledge, and with signs and wonders following. The Church has a real shock coming – a tsunami of the Holy Spirit and a huge shaking. Many shepherds will lose their flocks as the tribulation hits the church first. Church boards will oppose pastors; people will walk away because the Pastor either does not preach what they want to hear, or because he/she abuses their position. The Word of God clearly states that judgement will begin with the church.

We will be preparing the Church, warning the Church, teaching the Church, and leading the Church forward. ”If they do not listen, then brush the dust from your shoes and move on !!!” (Mark 6:11 “And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.”

CGB
29 April 2010

Monday 26 April 2010

In Sickness & In Health

In Sickness & In Health

A wee while ago, I was struck down by a potentially quite serious complaint. The technical term for it is labyrinthitis which is medical gobbledygook for a kind of super-vertigo. In practical terms it means that my world suddenly became very dizzy – I couldn’t stand or walk straight – I couldn’t drive – and I couldn’t fly – anywhere!! I actually collapsed and other details you are probably better off not knowing.

Now, with my diary, this was nothing short of disaster. I had to cancel ministry trips for a minimum of the next 6 weeks; I had to stop driving for at least 2 weeks. So, when I was compos mentis again, I started to ask the Lord what was going on?? He responded by saying something about me being so busy He needed to stop me in order to speak to me!! I ignored His humour and pressed on. He spoke about me being over-busy ! Over-busy?? Yes Over-busy !! He spoke about me being over-busy so He wanted me to slow down – He has things He wants to say to me – things that will take me deeper in Him. For example, had I noticed how stressed out and fractious I had become – NO. Had I noticed how little I was speaking/talking with Him – again NO !!

So what was He to do? He needed to stop me, not harm me, but stop me before I actually did myself some harm. We had done 10 overseas visits – that’s 20 flights – in 13 weeks before Easter. I had organised all that AND done all the things between trips to make myself available. “Very commendable”, He said, “but if you don’t mind me saying so, quite foolish !!” Hmmm – when God tells you that you are being foolish, I guess you start to listen.

The Lord showed me that, when illness strikes suddenly we suffer three things :-

1. A loss of faith
2. A loss of confidence
3. Our world is thrown into turmoil

THEN – He showed me that it’s all in His Word. He knows us so well. I was humbled, chastened, and on my knees repenting. Then something wonderful happened. He reminded me of this scripture :-

Romans 8:28-30
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Then He had my great and full of faith friend in Sydney Australia send me some scriptures that spoke volumes to me.

Jeremiah 20:11a/13b "The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior ...He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.".

The full text reads thus - “11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonour will never be forgotten.
12 O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! “He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked."


Zephaniah 1:7a “Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. “

Zechariah 2:13 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling “

Hey – I can take a hint. I stayed silent before Him !!

I believe the Lord is moving me, (and the RoFMI ministry) into a new level of seeing the wonders of our God manifesting to the lost and hopeless in the world. I believe He is taking us to new understanding of Himself and of His awesome majesty. I believe He is giving us more and more from Him to say to the people. And to think – I nearly missed it because I was so busy doing busy-ness for God that I forgot His business.

People – don’t forget the basics. Spend time with the Lord. Spend time in His Word because it is more relevant for us today than ever before. Just spend a little time with Him. Personally I am not very disciplined about this – I am too busy (irony) Spend a little time each day being still before His throne – and listen.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

We too often forget to include the last bit – “I will be exalted . . . . “ Exalt our God – Raise Him up – Hold Him high above the earth. Worship Him in His Glory. Let God be God – wait upon Him.

It’s so little to ask – it is so rich in rewards.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Sunday 11 April 2010

A Day of Great Joy Unspeakable

It’s not often that we are given a day of total and complete joy. It’s not often that we sense the Lord actually joining in with our worship and celebration – yes, even dancing with us. Yet it happened today.

Today, two of our own were married. Keith and Ruth became one in God and before man. Today they exchanged their vows in firm clear voices that everyone could hear. Today we were privileged to see the culmination of their love and courtship as they came together in marriage.

I had a grand-stand view of it all as I stood with Keith as his “best man” (his “groomsman” I think some of you call it) so I stood with him as Ruth arrived at the altar. I praised and worshipped the Lord with them as the anointing fell on the service – held in Keith’s own church where he is the assistant vicar, and conducted by his long time friend and mentor Bob who is retiring soon. I sat almost touching them both as they exchanged their vows.

I sat enthralled as Keith’s old friend Keith, (there were actually 4 Keiths present today), presented the Gospel and spoke about love to a packed church with their own congregation and many non-Christian friends and relations present. And YES, he did present the Gospel today in a new a very refreshing way. Today was our chance to show a doubting world how, we as Christians, view and celebrate marriage – and boy, did we take it. Both hands and out loud – very loud sometimes.

Everything done decently and in order, we had the traditional photo session. Then we retired for lunch when I had to help out a bit with a quick speech. It is traditional to have a little fun at the groom’s expense on such an occasion but I felt a little constrained and kept it to a minimum. Then Keith the groom also made a short speech of thanks, before finally Peter, Ruth’s dad had his 5 minutes. Suddenly it was time for them to leave for their honeymoon and everyone turned out to give them a grand warm send-off.

Yes it was one of those joyous times when we all clearly felt the presence and blessing of the Lord on proceedings. Yes – it truly was a wonderful privilege to be even a small part of it. And yes – there will be lots of photographs to browse through – later on – at our leisure. Thank you Lord – all praise, Glory, and honour to you for a wonderful day.

Hallelujah and AMEN \o/

Tuesday 6 April 2010

RoFMI Visit to Denmark 25 to 29 March 2010

Well the plan was that Peter, Jean, John, and yours truly went off on another visit to the lovely people of Denmark. However, I returned from Norway with a terrible throat and in 24 hours it turned into a full blown flu’ type virus ... Hmmm – problem. I spoke with Peter and we cancelled any part I may have played so only Peter, John, & Jean trekked off to the airport once again. At least we’d had the good sense to book a later flight? Well no – but Easyjet did it for us by cancelling our original flights and rebooking us on the later one. As if this was not enough, all the airlines computer systems crashed and everything had to be done by hand – causing a 1 hour 50 minute delay in take off. Rapid reschedule of the evenings events.

Met at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen by our very good friend and host Preben, the intrepid trio were soon on their way to their first meetings. Jean & John went to a housegroup in Holbæk, while Peter & Preben went to visit a family in Korsør together with one or two others.

At the Korsør meeting, Peter spoke to one of the ladies present about a previous prophecy she had given then said that she would again prophesy – within the next few minutes. A surprised lady said ‘Oh no I won’t.’ Peter wrote some words down and put them away. 5 minutes later Peter said to her “I have been invited to Israel, should I go? What is the Lord saying?” Immediately she said “yes”, Peter said immediately “why?” and then it began. The prophetic flow had started. Peter took the words that he had written down and showed them to her. Pastor Preben was amazed to see the exact words she prophesied. Peter encouraged her to continue and, by the time I came to leave, she was not only speaking out continued prophesies, but also seeing in great detail visions of the future, even down to minute detail such as the design and colour of socks that 2 little girls were wearing at the time!! Peter then told the group that it was time for salvation to hit the housing
estate where they were meeting and as a consequence, an outreach meeting is being arranged for the summer. Watch this space for future developments. On the day that the hosts had moved into their house last year, Peter went and anointed it, and the Lord said then that the time will come when the whole Estate will come to the Lord.

In Holbæk, Jean and John shared about their church growing, prophecy and prayer for healing & restoration.

On Friday there was an easy start. An easy morning for sightseeing and some home visits.

Peter went to visit Erling Nielson in Copenhagen so that Peter and he could talk and pray together. Also our good friend and partner in Norway, Robin Christiansen arrived – he drove all the way from Frederikstad, just South of Oslo !!!. Peter met a man called Tommy Josefsson who is the administrator for Glory Line – a Nordisk TV Mission. Some years ago, several hundred ministers resigned their churches but just recently about 400 of them came together to repent before the Lord and comit themselves to revival for Sweden. Now Peter has been invited to Tommy’s home group in Sweden at the end of April to minister to the people there and thi=ose who work for the TV ministry. He is going on 27/28th of April.

Jean & John went to visit one of the ladies at the church who has been wheelchair bound since an accident early last year where I expect they had copious platefuls of delicious home-baked cakes. This was followed by a walk with Preben & Maureen around the beach area.

Later in the afternoon, Peter & Robin went to the Biker Group in Koge with Kai, Annette, Frank, and Bente. Initially only a few people turned up but they were joined later by another group of 5 or 6 people. They had a fellowship meal together and Peter eventually spoke on the authority of a prophet. One of the young men there started to prophesy in part but with a little encouragement from Peter, he was soon prophesying freely and accurately. Peter also invited this young man to join him when he goes back to Denmark & Sweden at the end of April.

Afterwards, Peter and co joined Jean & John and went to another house group meeting in Korsør where John related how they got in contact with Peter and how Peter "threw him in the deep end" the first time they went out with him to a Russian church in London. This kept everyone amused for a time then 2 people were baptised in the Spirit – Hallelujah

On Saturday Jean & John did some morning house visits and a little sightseeing before leaving for Aarup on Fyn around 1:30 where at three o’clock they all went to meet a new church group with whom we made our first contact in Jutland last visit.. This was a great time of ministry, healing and prophecy – with some very clear confirmations. Peter spoke on what prophecy is and how it works/happens. Around 6:30 they all joined the hosts for a nice meal, fellowship, and even some more ministry.

Finally back home they went to another home visit to follow up previous visits and where prophecies were demonstrably being fulfilled.

On Sunday Jean & John spoke in Korsør and to quote one lady’s report, “Today Jean also shared her testimony (as if she was used to standing before people with a microphone and an interpreter!!) - it was so exciting and the church loved her!” John added another short testimony followed by prayer for the sick.

Peter & Robin went to Stege, a town on yet another island, Møn. Sadly they lost their way and this might have been the end of it but someone spotted their hosts car and they were able to follow to their destination. Peter spoke on Elijah at Mount Carmel and about ‘waiting for the clouds’ in relation to the church in Møn. After the 7th look, when a cloud finally appeared in the distance, Elijah ran down the mountain without waiting for the fulfillment of the rain arriving. Peter said also that, on a personal level, he heard the Lord say that He wants to take him to a higher level but character was not such that would sustain the higher level of anointing. So Peter had to do some repenting and it was mentioned afterwards that Peter’s countenance and air of authority had changed.
(THIS could be interesting – watch this space)

Later on Sunday afternoon, they all regrouped for dinner back with Preben & Maureen before Peter spoke to Preben’s church in Korsør at the evening meeting. According to one email I received, “The evening was quite serious with a call to be available for God for revival - and people took their time to count the costs. It was obvious that they had understood the message - nobody rushed forward but slowly some came!”

Finally, on Monday Jean & John visited one of the church ladies while Peter rested a little. On the way there, they ‘popped in’ to see a building which one of the people has a vision for and which really would be a great asset to the church in Korsør. They stopped and prayed for the building and the vision before proceeding on to their meeting.

Then all three went to a final house group meeting with a couple whom we met last time. My own planned visit to Næstved ended up as the only thing on the schedule that had to be changed because of my absence!!!

Around 17:00-ish they had a farewell meal with hosts Preben & Maureen before departing for Kastrup once again for the 10 O’clock flight back to Stansted. Once again the computers crashed – no further comment required but one hour late landing but of course Jonathan was there waiting with his XPC – Executive People Carrier.

A nice busy time for a few days. And they don’t appear to have missed me one little tiny bit !!  