Dry Seasons

Dry Seasons

OK I admit it. I am smack bang in the middle of a dry season. Some call it a desert place. I don’t care what you want to call it – I’m in the middle of it. My blog has all but dried up. I am grumpy with nearly everybody. I have lost much of my appetite, and, worst of all, God is kinda quiet – very quiet – almost silent, in fact. Forgive me please, this blog is very personal.

Now I know it’s all me because that last bit about God being almost silent is never true. I learned a long time ago that I can hear God anywhere, any time because He always has something to say to me. I heard a friend of mine describe it for himself once. “It’s like God is sitting next to me the whole time. He has His arm round my shoulder, and He is whispering in my ear the whole time. ‘You see that person over there, he has a problem. Go talk to him, maybe pray with him.’ Or ‘You see that family behind you, pay for their order for them please. They can’t afford it right now.’ God is like that, He always has something to share with you.” So why do I think I’m in a dry place?

It’s probably because I have pushed Him aside for a while, while I concentrate on my own misery or unhappiness, or anger, or plain ME. Sure I’ve got this bug thing, but that doesn’t separate me from God. I’ve got problems, but they don’t separate me from God. The Bible tells me there is nothing can separate me from Him (Romans 8:38-39). Actually some friends of ours have just had some good news that has made us happy for them and for us just knowing this. So why am I still feeling dry?

Well actually, I think the Lord may be moving me away from my ‘beloved blog’ – as my wife calls it. That has certainly dried up a bit, but that’s because another season is dawning. I keep getting snatches of it – split second glimpses. I believe it is ‘end-time ministry’ but I don’t yet understand the extent of it. All will be revealed in due course. In the meantime, all I can do is follow instructions, and that is what I hope is happening.

Suddenly, my spirit soars as I see a little revelation of the coming season. With revelation comes a challenge, something I have written about before. We sing too many half-truths in our worship. Every Sunday, we sing our hearts out to the Lord, and every Sunday the Lord is a little disappointed in us. We sing, “All to Jesus I surrender”, but we don’t really mean it. We sing, “Break my heart for what breaks yours, Everything for your Kingdoms cause”, but we don’t really mean it. The Lord is saying that, if we begin to mean what we sing even a little more than we did today, then He will, as in the story of the Prodigal Son, He will run towards us with blessings untold.

Can you imagine what this could mean to our churches if this happens? The Lord doesn’t make empty promises. He means every word He says to us.

Oh the joy of a closer walk with Jesus. Lets do it together, as a church, Lets just do it!

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Blessed Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

P.S. I’m taking another break from blogging for a while – maybe a week, maybe a month – only the Lord knows.

Seeds

Seeds

"Only God knows the number of apples in a seed" make 2014 the year of spoken seeds. "Where your treasure is, there is your heart........" (Anon - Unknown)  I read this quote on Twitter. 

Isn’t that the truth? Only God knows the number of apples in a seed. Billy Graham was one such seed, as were Reinhardt Bonnke, William Booth, Hudson Taylor, and Chris Bennett. Who knows how many seeds were then planted by the first four and what their harvest in apples was or will be? Who knows how many seeds I have sown and what the harvest will be? How many doesn’t matter either to us or to God – it’s all about the planting. The main point is that we sow and plant seeds for God’s Kingdom and we know there will be a harvest although we may not see it – yet.

This is certainly a year to make into a ‘Seed Sowing Year’. Just imagine sowing another “Billy Graham” seed. Imagine the effect this would have upon the Christian community and on the world around you locally. I dream constantly of evangelistic events reaching hundreds, maybe thousands of not yet Christian souls stepping up and giving their lives to Christ.

Allow me to recount my wifes testimony about the lady who first mentored her as a new Christian. This lady, as a child, had a dream in which Jesus told her she would be going to Albania. At that time, she had never even heard of Albania which was a closed shop as far as Christians were concerned – even Billy Graham couldn’t get in there. This lady and her husband got in on an ancestral visa to visit relatives she had never met. The seed they sowed that trip, and others that followed, led to a church now of over 3000 people with others planted throughout the land.

That’s what a dream can give birth to. That’s what a seed sowed in the right place and at the right time can do. Seeds sown into good soil produce an unimaginable crop of good fruit. (Mark 4) I have said many times that we sow seeds. Sometimes we see a quick harvest. Other times it takes someone else to water the seed and someone else again to harvest it. However long it takes, the seed sown produces a wonderful harvest through generations.

This is why we need to sow our seeds in 2014. The Lord of the harvest is waiting. Amos 9:13 “The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when the reaper will be overtaken by the ploughman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills,”
John 4:36 “Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”

Holiness of God

Holiness of God

“The call of God is the manifestation in time of the purposes of eternity.” Andrew Murray

What a profound statement! Yet the question so often asked is, what is the call of God? Many will say that any career Christian was ‘called’ to that particular vocation; be it missionary, medical, teaching, or whatever. We certainly believe we have been called to work among the lost, the lonely, the abused, weak, or down-trodden. But was this our first calling from God.

I don’t believe it was. I believe the first call of God on man is holiness. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.” 1Peter 1:15. There are other verses of course - “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy: for I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 20:7, and, “Because it is written, Be holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16

I believe God calls us first to the imitation of His own attributes before any other thing, and from our attempts, poor though they may be, He gives us all other things, including even revival. Our churches today are simply too unholy to hold, contain, or even begin revival. I specifically used “too unholy” as against “not holy enough” because that is how I felt Holy Spirit was prompting me. If the call of God is, at this time, the manifestation of God’s eternal purposes, then holiness, both personal and corporate, must be our starting point. 

Without holiness, we are unfit to hold any kind of revival, despite the fact that nearly all the gifts of God that go with revival – like healing, deliverance, signs, and wonders – are normally without repentance.  Revival is, I believe, almost a “special case” because revival without repentance just isn’t and cannot be revival. Repentance therefore must start with the church and it must be channelled towards greater holiness in order to be even capable of handling the Holy presence of God – itself a hallmark of revival. 

Unholy and holy cannot mix. That which is Holy expels, drives out, even destroys (!!) that which is unholy. We cannot continue to call upon God for revival if we have an unholy and unrepentant church. Holy it may never be, not completely, but we can start by repenting of our lack of holiness – our unholiness – then we can stand back and watch God move in our midst.

That, surely, is the call of God on this generation for His eternal purposes.

How can we believe nothing?

How can we believe nothing?

“I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.” – Woody Allen

I cannot imagine myself facing old age without a hope for both my own future, or my children’s future. By his quote, above, one can only assume the author doesn’t either. There are millions more like that, with little or no hope for the future.

How can they go through their whole life believing in nothing – no faith, no future, no God, no deliverance from hell? Frequently nowadays, no hell either.

Like Mr Allen, above, many just don’t want to be there when it happens. I know a few people who have worked in hospitals etc who have witnessed many folk passing. The one common thing they all agree on, regardless of their own beliefs or lack thereof, is that those with faith pass gently and peacefully, whereas those with no faith often struggle and fight all the way. Now why would this be, I wonder?

As this new year of 2014 begins, one thing on my mind is that I don’t want any who will undoubtedly pass this year to suffer because of lack of faith or lack of belief in Jesus Christ. We can know, of course, their condition as they approach death, but we cannot be sure what happens in the moments around it. How many, I wonder, have cried out to the Lord, perhaps in desperation, for Him to save them or to have mercy?

Yet it still troubles me that so many will miss the boat altogether whether it occurs naturally or by the rapture happening first. How can good reasoning and intelligent folk believe nothing? Worse still, how can so many of them either actually dismiss God, or so ignore Him that they end up denying Him completely. Creation is all around us – does it say nothing to them?

So this year, I have to become even more His hands, His ears, His voice to those who don’t yet know Him. I have to carry His presence wherever I go and I have to be prepared to witness to Him at any moment in time – as the Spirit prompts me. Oh, no doubt I will let Him down a few times, but I will also sow seeds into the lives of those around me.

“Break my heart for what breaks yours”, from the worship song Hosannah, is my watchword this year. It really does break my heart to see so many ignore or reject Jesus and place their immortal souls in grave danger of being one day Hell-bound.

What an emotional moment when the rapture happens – joy in our position of meeting the Lord in the clouds, yet grief at those left behind, mostly due to their bad choices and intransigence. This is my greatest fear as we approach the time – that so many of those I love may be left behind – and I have no idea what I can do about it except to pray revelation to them.

If ever there was an incentive to spread the Gospel – this is it. 

Welcome to My 2014 World

Welcome to My 2014 World

Here we are, just arrived on the doorstep of a new year – 2014. What does it hold I wonder. Amos 8:11-12 has something to say to us, I believe – “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD,  “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.”

Does this say anything to you? It does to me. I have long believed the coming revival will heavily involve the younger generation, say, the 10 to 20 year olds. I firmly believe that life has become so shallow and so devoid of real meaning that this younger generation has already started to search for more meaning to life and a greater hope for their future.

I believe the Lord to be showing me, probably amongst many others, that one of the hallmarks of the coming “end-time revival” will be the number of younger Christians with healing and evangelistic ministries. The young will catch the young – in huge numbers. Tired of living the shallow and almost empty lives of so many of todays youth, there will be a move among the young that will cause any previous revival to seem insignificant by comparison.

In personal terms, for us, I see us being used more and more in a mentoring role. Not in the tradition of the mentors of yesteryear, but rather in the tradition of family elders – kind of Grandma and Granddad. I look forward to a new role for us both – that of gentle teachers by example, encouraging youngsters to step out in their God-given calling and ministry.

It is not going to be a year for the faint-hearted. I feel the Lord is seeking those who will ignore all previous comfort zone boundaries and simply step up and step out when He calls them to do so. It may be in a public arena or in a private one. It may be before 10,000 people or just one. It will not matter the audience, it is the obedience that God is seeking. Those who will sow the seed, water the seed, or reap the harvest. You may look a wise man or a fool. It doesn’t matter – All He is seeking is a people who will do His bidding.

I believe, and have already said that 2014 is the year of completion when plans laid in our hearts will come to fruition. The fields are white unto harvest but the labourers are so very few. Will you be one of the few? 

Here I am Lord, send me. Amen?

New Year Letter to God

New Year Letter to God

Dear God,

2013 has been an amazing year for us and to say that we have enjoyed it is a bit of an understatement . Your provision has been nothing short of miraculous and we have loved watching you work in our own lives as well as in the lives of those around us.

So what's the next year got for us then? If I may, Lord, I would like to respectfully lay out my "shopping list" for your consideration.

First and foremost I would like to get closer to you, Lord. Oh, I know I'm not very good at various things Lord, but I do so want a deeper relationship with you. I want to hear from you more - your thoughts, plans, and especially prophecies. There are those who say I hear from you now, but I want to get closer, hear clearer - much clearer - and see our perspective.

I would like to be known less as a grumpy old man, and more as a loving man who carries your presence with him wherever I go. I want more of your zeal and compassion too. I don't want to be a four or five days a week Christian. No, I want to be a fully sold out 24/7 Christian - but in no way a pompous or religious one. More a positive and encouraging one - if you know what I mean?

Then we come to ministry Lord. I love the way you have developed and grown Linda's ministry these past months. Please could you grow it even more, Lord. She has such a wonderful heart for the lost and broken and I am sure it's all part of your plans for both of us to develop our ministries, both individual and joint. I mean, why else would you have teamed us up with those closest to us here in Sleaford.

As for my ministry, Lord, I give it all to you right now for you to use, change, or discard as you will and for your glory. Having said that, I love the closeness with you when I do prophesy, and I simply marvel at your healing touch which you allow us to be a part of, from time to time. I want to see prophesy, healing, and deliverance as part of our daily lives - the 'normal' way of Christian living rather than the special occasion or visiting speakers.

Finally, Lord, I would love to see all those around me, especially family, touched by you this coming year. Not only touched, but brought to the place of salvation, realising just who you really are. My prayer for them is that you will reveal yourself to them and bring them to that point of decision where they know that to reject you is folly but to accept you is eternal life.

Thank you in advance Lord because I know that whatever you decide to do will be best for all of us. My only promise, that I have any chance of keeping, is to try to stay as close to you as I am able. 

You are my wonderful Lord and Saviour and I love you.
I am your beloved son, for whom you came and died, rose, and ascended.
Ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven.

Your wee lad, Chris.

A Word for 2014 - The Year of Completion

A Word for 2014 - The Year of Completion

I was reading Micah 4 today when verse 5 leapt out at me. “All the nations may walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.” That’s a good verse but I wondered why the Lord brought it to my attention. First I noted that every nation will walk in the name of their own god. The Lord seemed to prompt me that nations can have a “national god”. America’s would seem to be prosperity, while Europe’s seems to be control, and there are other gods in other places.

Then He took me to the statement, “but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.”

Then He said to me, “The coming year is the year of completion. That which was started this year (2013) or earlier upon My promises and Words, that will I complete in the coming year. Do not be like they who promise Me much but deliver to Me little. Ask much and receive much – ask little and receive little. In the same way that I promise good things, make your word as mine – mean what you say. Do not say that you will walk in my name if only for part of your life. If you make me a promise, mean it in your heart and keep it by your life and spirit. If you do this for Me, then I will open the floodgates of blessing for you. I will give you your hearts desire – I will heal your land, just as My Word says.

My Glory will fall upon those who bring Me and give Me all the glory. I will give no blessing to those who seek glory for themselves. I will not promote those who seek promotion with a wrong heart. I will promote those with a pure heart, those who will bring me glory.”

I feel impressed that this is the year of 2 Chronicles 7:14 – but in order for this promise to be fulfilled, we, as the church, must repent, turn from our wicked ways – no more Sunday Christianity followed by 6 days of the world, and we must return to godly living. I feel the need to come before the Lord as a child – not questioning, nor doubting, but accepting His Word and believing His promises. This has been a theme for me all through 2013 – ‘as a child’, and I believe this is how the Lord wants us to prepare ourselves. Like a child at Christmas, if you will. Hoping and expecting, yet knowing and believing – all at the same time.

Next year, in 2014, we must stand on, and call in God’s prophecies and promises to us, knowing He will bring completion to whatever He has started in our lives and in His church.

Christmas Prayer

Christmas Prayer

“Dear friends and family, 

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas. 

Our prayer for you in the New year is that

May God remember you like Noah, 

Favour you like Moses,

Honour you like Mary,

Fight for you like the Israelites,

Prosper you like Isaac,

Promote you like Joseph,

Intervene for you like Esther,

Protect you like Daniel,

Use you like Paul,

Heal you like Naaman,

Answer you like Elijah,

Anoint you like David,

Keep you safe like Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego.

Have a prosperous NEW YEAR! "

With our love in Jesus

Linda & Chris Bennett

(with thanks and acknowledgement to David Catherwood who sent this prayer to us.)

Hope

Hope

Hope is the last stumbling block of those who don’t believe. They have none. Their hope is for this life only and for their own children to fare better than they did themselves. By refusing to even look at God and Jesus, they remove from themselves all hope for the future beyond the grave. But -  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith, to those who have none, is pointless and makes a mockery of real hope.

Yet, Christmas is a season of hope – “goodwill to all men”, and all that. Even atheists believe in goodwill to all men yet where did that expression of hope come from. It came from angels in the Biblical account of the birth of Christ. Funny, isn’t it, how Biblical quotations can be used to justify the celebration of an event that you deny ever happened?

This is the season of goodwill to all men and we must therefore be Christ’s eyes, ears, hands, and voice. There is a reason for the sequence of eyes, ears, hands, and voice – there are two of each except voice. Two eyes to see, two ears to listen, two hands to help and hold, but only one voice. 

We can see and understand, and show Gods love in us by our Christ-like response. We can listen with understanding, and we can pray with people, about situations, and for people based on what we hear. We can show love and give hope with our actions. By being the church rather than just talking about it, we can give help in so many ways. We can speak words of wisdom, advice, and love as Holy Spirit prompts us.

As Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times and where necessary use words.” It is such an enormous privilege to be Christ’s representative in life situations. We can bring such hope, as well as all the practical actions. The world has so little hope and we must share our hope with them in any way we can. The hope of Christ in us is such a beautiful gift that we really must share it.

What better gift this Christmas than to give even one person hope. Where there is loneliness, or emptiness, or nothingness, or even despair – let us sow the seeds of hope. The hope of Jesus Christ.

Clouds and Rain

Clouds and Rain

I’ve never been much of a meteorologist but at the moment I am very interested in clouds. I am fascinated by cloud formations – storm clouds, sunny day clouds, snow clouds and so on. However, fascinating or not, these are not the clouds on my mind at this point in time. No, I am watching and studying small clouds.

Everyone knows that if you leave a cloud alone for long enough it will grow, bit by bit, until it is a rain cloud. As it gets heavier with rain, it nearly always seems to get darker and greyer. Occasionally, we hear thunder emanating from it, and even the odd flash of lightning. So why am I watching small clouds? Not much happening there, you might think.

Well, to be honest, I am more watching for those little clouds “as big as a man’s hand”. These quite excite me right now. There are several around the UK right now. One is even approaching my home town. Only yesterday, I heard of one approaching the Hebrides to the North of Scotland. There’s one down in Wales and that Welsh one has even started to rain a little bit. However, there have been more headed our way in the British Isles recently than many can remember happening previously. 

The trouble is, many of them amount to little or nothing, which is disappointing of course. The one heading our way seems to be getting closer and closer and all the reliable prophets are calling for more intercessory warfare. I made a mistake earlier this week when I encouraged a word to be released too early and without due process being completed. I broke my own rule about letting a new word sit for three or four days before releasing it. Whoops, but fortunately, no harm done as it only went to one other person who wisely sat on it and asked all the right questions.

This is why our spiritual antennae need to be always ready and active. That word could have damaged the body of Christ had not someone’s aerial not been active. Satan would have been encouraged and I would have been dis-heartened. David was great at keeping his spirit “up”. He used to speak to his soul – “praise the Lord oh my soul” was a common theme. “My soul – why so downcast?” was another. We can similarly speak to our own soul and lift ourselves, with Gods help, out of our mood swings. Adopting a cheerful stance is a choice that is independent of the side of bed we got out this morning. My favourite Christian, and her ‘old boy’, is one of the consistently most cheerful souls I have ever met. She is infectious and we should all be the same. After all, we have far more reason to be happy than those with little or no belief. What does our future hold that theirs doesn’t?

This is why I am mindful of the approaching clouds and the latter day rain coming with them. This is why our warfare needs to be lifted higher and our mood of optimism with it. Jesus us coming soon – and don’t forget it!! So - Grab a bagful of good cheer today and tell the world around you that Jesus is the reason for your cheerfulness – and that He’s the reason for the season too. 

Christmas

Christmas 

On the run up to Christmas, I have been thinking – always dangerous for me. I began by thinking about all the good things that Christmas represents. Things like the reason for it in the first place – Christ’s birth and the whole Christmas story. Then I thought of all the happy Christmases gone by. This was tinged with sadness as I remembered those who have gone or left or whatever. I remember the year my two boys, then aged 3 and 7, reacted when they realised that it was indeed Christmas day and Santa had visited – evidenced by the piles of shining presents wrapped up and piled into a stack for each person. Christmas dinner was the event of the day, we didn’t attend church at that time, followed by opening time. Squeals of delight and lots of thank-you’s with Mum keeping an eye on who got what from whom – amazing how women can do that isn’t it?

Then the Lord reminded of those with less than us – we were almost anything but rich, just having sufficient saved through the year to make Christmas special. But there were many with less than us and some with nothing, or worse, no-one with whom to share Christmas. He reminded me of the Christmas “soup kitchens” where many got their only reasonable meal of the period. He reminded me of the vision He gave me earlier this year of a Christmas day meal for the homeless or lonely or disadvantaged. Sadly, this isn’t going to happen this year, but it will – it will.

All the schmaltz of Christmas, all the greed and over-indulgence, all the schmoozy music and sickly sentimentality – what’s it all for? It certainly doesn’t even begin to reflect the “reason for the season”. It all comes back to the Gospel doesn’t it? For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son – at “Christmas” – as a baby - in a stable.  

Perhaps if the world remembered this too then the church would be genuinely packed by real believers rather than by the pretending “Christmas and Easter Brigade” who come more for the sentimentality than the birth of the Messiah.

So maybe I can urge you to remember those who have less; those who have no-one; those who have nowhere this Christmas. Remember those who have perhaps lost everything and everyone this Christmas. No all of them, but perhaps just one person who’s Christmas you can make a little brighter this year. Then there really would be a good reason for the season demonstrated for just one person at a time.

“Inasmuch as you do it for the least one of these my brothers, you do it for me.”

The Purposes of God

The Purposes of God
  
I heard a preacher once say that, if you don’t know God’s purposes for you, then why are you doing what you’re doing? why are you in the place you are in? And what are you doing to find the answers? Seems fair enough to me – how about it?

My wife and I had no idea why we came to our new home town nearly three years ago. All we knew was that, apparently, God wanted us there. We knew just one person in the whole town and nothing about the rest of the whole county. We knew only the reputation of the church we linked up with, but nothing about the people who went there. All we knew was that, apparently, God wanted us there. Then, after we gave up all our old town and left friends and family to migrate 150 miles up country, only then did God really confirm our presence here. Yet still we had no idea of the purpose for us in being here.

We had to wait for that. There were several false starts too. We thought it might be in a certain type of ministry – but it wasn’t there. We thought it might have been among older people – but it wasn’t there. A few things popped up and were validated – yet they were only a side-line to the real purpose. We believe our purpose has been revealed and is validated, although it’s way outside any comfort zone we originally had. Perhaps, had we known then what we know now about our roles, then we would never have stepped up to the plate.

So, what are your purposes in your town, job, or church? Are they God’s purposes or are they your own? If you don’t know the answers, what are you doing to find them? Have you even asked God? It will be an interesting journey that’s for sure. There will be successes as well as failures; foolishness as well as wisdom; mistakes as well as good decisions. It may not be all plain sailing but be assured of this – once God has His hand on your life, it will never be the same again. He has a plan for you and, only if you are willing, He will get you there – kicking and screaming if necessary. Yet there’s the rub. You have a choice. Follow God or follow your own path.

I wonder if you’ll allow Him to take you where He wants you? Or will you wander off track in your own direction? This is too important to get wrong and it’s never too late to start getting it right either. But that’s your Father God – infinite patience, grace and mercy, as well as infinite wisdom and resources – all just waiting for you to say “Yes Lord, I surrender. Lead me on to where you want me.”

So it begins but . . . .

So it begins but . . . .

Unless you were on another planet this past year or so, I guess you may have noticed that to express anything like a Christian point of view, or to live anything like a Christian lifestyle is fast becoming almost illegal. In fact, in America, according to most of the liberals, if it’s not illegal then it should be illegal to even think Christian let alone act, speak, or live Christian. And Britain and Europe are following fast.

Listen to this quote from a famous Hollywood actor, “In this town, you can be a wife-beating, manic depressive crack head and everyone opens their arms to you. They say, “Hey pal, don’t worry about it. We’ll get you into recovery. It’s all part of the journey.” But if you become a born-again Christian and want to share that with other people, they say, “You’ve committed the unpardonable sin.” “

The legal systems have become so politically correct and weighted towards the minority, that it is now virtually illegal to be part of the majority. Christians are deliberately targeted by those who simply disagree with them, in order to force them to change their stance. A sort of ‘deny Christ or die’ philosophy that has been absorbed into the whole social structure from the law of the land to the rights of any individual, except Christians, apparently.

Before you wring your hands in despair, let me tell you what I am finding more and more.

As many of you are aware. My wife and I run a Christian charity shop and café in the centre of our town. We are also linked with a Christian-run food bank; a Church sponsored weekly feeding program; a Christian run youth program; and a churches sponsored elderly outreach program. For a society that is supposedly turning its back on all things Christian, we appear to be in a good position. After all, the local authorities rely on us to run the food bank deliveries; up to 40 or 50 people rely on getting a good nourishing meal every Monday evening; the local authorities approached us about running the youth program and attendance has increased from 10 to over 50 every week; and between 20 and 30 vulnerable and lonely elderly people have been befriended with regular visits and real friendship. All this in a small town  of less than 20,000 people where we reckon we have barely scratched the surface in terms of market penetration.

Yet this isn’t the best thing about all this. I have not told all of this to show either how good ‘we’ are nor how clever we have been. I am trying to emphasise much more the real, ‘on the ground’, social temperature here in this small part of the UK. I don’t see any reason why it should not be the same anywhere else. The main thing about all of this is the world’s response to a demonstration of the power of the Gospel in action. People can smell phoney from a mile away. People are simply reacting positively to a demonstration of Christ’s love through a very few souls who believe in St Francis plea to “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” They know we are Christians but they appreciate our efforts. They know we pray for them ‘secretly’ and now they frequently ask us to do so openly. They see the Gospel in action and they react with gratitude, trust, and favour. Just one example is the charity shop – one of seven in the town. All the other shops are begging for donations while the Lord provides for us bountifully. All the other shops turnover is down, while ours is rising. Greed is not on our agenda and people know it. In fact, we have the reputation of being the best value for miles around.

Sounds like I have been blowing our trumpet a bit and maybe I have – but only in pursuit of giving Glory to God. Political correctness and legalities are one thing, but a demonstration of Gods love and power supercedes the worlds powers every time. The politico’s have one agenda while God has another agenda. Where God’s agenda can be demonstrated, the world reacts very favourably thus proving that, in these end-times, a final great revival is not only in the Bible and is now on the cards but that the world is looking to Christians for a lead into that place.

I just like this quote from Gary Northington, “I will not hold the watchman guiltless who has embraced my enemy. Appeasement is no more then surrender. This is the day for my remnant to come forth. Those who refused to be satisfied with the waters of Babylon. Those who have refused to party with Belshazzar while the enemy is at the gate.”

I suppose the lesson is for us to BE Christ's hands, ears, and mouth. Oh that we would all believe this, grasp the nettle, and go for it. Once again – Just Do It !!

Attack, Attack, Attack

Attack, Attack, Attack

Many Christians find it very surprising, and even off putting, to find themselves in “difficulties”. More precisely, they are completely taken aback when told that they are under attack from Satan and his minions. “How can this possibly be?” Well, I’ve got some news for many people. 

We live in a fallen world. Satan is the “Prince of this world”, the “Prince of Darkness”, and many other titles too numerous to mention. If he senses that Christians are positioning themselves for an attack on his position, like any other being, he will defend himself and his territory. He most often does this by attacking those who would take territory off him. And he doesn’t care at all how much he hurts us in the process. Paul said that he is like a prowling lion seeking those he can kill or destroy.

So when he picks up on any little thing that might infringe his territory or damage his position, the first thing he does is to seek out ways of attacking us first. This is why we need to cover everything we do in layer upon layer of prayer. In fact, we are taking this so seriously that we are preparing to have a prayer team interceding for every service and meeting in our church. “Your will be done” comes at a price and some are not aware or prepared to pay that price.

This is what spiritual warfare is all about. Its about protecting ourselves and our loved ones, church, and families from the attacks of the evil one. Its about safeguarding our health, our finances, and our children. If you take your family, particularly your children, into a dangerous situation, then you make sure your safety procedures are in place. It is exactly the same with spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is a dangerous activity so you protect yourself and those around you. You cover them by the Blood of the Lamb and the power of the Holy Spirit so as to afford them as much protection as possible. 

Because we, as a church, are entering into spiritual battles for the unsaved souls of those around us, we need to protect ourselves from the attacks of the enemy. He will not hesitate to try to take us out of the battle any way he can and we must not hesitate to fight and repel his attacks.

Whoever said Christianity or being a Christian is dull – or easy?

Two Spirits

Two Spirits

I believe I see two spirits rising within the church. I see them manifesting throughout the faithful and I see the pollution of the saints. It seems to be a division of wheat and chaff. On the one hand I see the spirit of legalism once more rising. This Pharisaic spirit is assigned to split the church; to break up that which Holy Spirit has been uniting for years, and to deflect any thoughts of revival away from God back onto the enemies within. 

On the other hand there is a rising spirit of jealousy – a Jezebel spirit. This too is a spirit of division designed to set the church at war with itself. For too long, the emphasis in many churches has been on the gifts of the ministry rather than on the Giver of those gifts. Jealousy raises its head among other leaders and ministries, covetously eying the ministry rather than ‘coveting’ a closer relationship with God. Jealousy also raises its head among the sheep watching the shepherds growing richer and bigger and more self-important.

The result of these two spirits activities is that the church is, or appears to be, rocking out of control towards a crash and the shattering of many traditional ties of a ‘unity’ that was never a real unity at all, but a sham of unity used to cover over the cracks within an already discredited and increasingly disorganised church. 

Nothing could be further from the truth – the church, God’s church, will no more be disunited nor disorganised than will it be overthrown.

I believe the Lord is allowing these two spirits of division enough free rein to actually birth what many already see as the end time church of faithful saints. A church delivering the Great Commandment, filled with Holy Spirit and with power, with signs and wonders following it every step of the way. This new church delights in giving all Glory to God and in spending time in His glorious presence, either praising Him or simply being still to receive both peace, love, and instruction from Him. Instruction not just in His ways but strategic and directional instruction.

Watch and see the ‘cloud as big as a mans hand’ grow until we have a deluge of latter day, Holy Spirit rain upon a new vibrant church eager to see Gods will done on earth as it is in heaven – a bride preparing herself for the Bridegroom.

A Little Imagining

A Little Imagining

Sitting thinking this evening, my mind wandered off to imagining what it will be like on the day of the rapture. Can you imagine the urgency of your thoughts or the excitement of those final few moments. My wife used to know a girl who said that, come the moment Jesus calls us to the sky to meet Him, she would simply grab the person on her left and the person on her right in order to take them with her !! Have you ever tried to imagine what you will do?

If there is any time at all, I will try to call my kids to urge them to call His Name – there won’t be time for much else. Can you imagine it for yourself? I imagine that my stomach will be spinning with the anticipation. Think about it. There is that moment when everything stops as we all hear the blare of a trumpet sounding. We know, because, I imagine, Holy Spirit will tell us, that Jesus is on His way for us. How long will we have? What will we do? As the song says, “I can only imagine”. Will there be time for me to call my kids, or for that lady to grab the people either side of her? Will it be that instant when, as the Bible says, we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye? Or will there be a few moments of waiting?

Can you imagine the excitement for some – the horror for others? I think I will be beside myself with excitement, but I know of others, plenty of them, who will not like it one little bit, if only because admitting you were wrong is so hard !! As the song says, will we be able to sing or dance or even stand in His presence? Oh the joy that floods my heart just thinking about it – amazing. To be in His presence here is amazing. “Up there” will be way beyond words – or so I imagine.

It is this excitement that spurs me on while I am still here and able to do so. I want so much for all my family to join me; for all my neighbours to join me; for all my church to join me !! I want none to be lost, not one to miss out. 

I can, literally, “only imagine” what it will be like. Now – who can I speak to about Jesus today?
Oh HALLELUJAH \o/

Just believe

Just believe

“It's not my responsibility to find out how God is going to do it. I am just suppose to Believe.” Allen L. Shook

What a statement of faith! Jesus said “Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36 – and the synagogue leaders daughter lived. Smith Wigglesworth used to say much the same thing as he ministered to people. “Only believe” represents the simplest statement of faith at the simplest level. Jesus taught us about being born again, about believing and coming to God as a child. That represents a simple faith.

Yet so many people try to “understand” miracles, especially healing. Like a child, they ask ‘why?’ or more particularly, ‘how?’. Then they get all frustrated because God doesn’t answer them. He says, “My ways are above your ways as far as east is from west.” And this, from a doubters point of view, isn’t very helpful at all.

I know people with a real passion to see people healed, not just God’s people but all people. But they have real trouble because they cannot understand the how, let alone the why, and because they have such insistently enquiring minds, they fall into the sin of doubt and effectively block the ministry they so eagerly aspire to. Yes, doubt like this is a sin that effectively blocks the path to healing despite the fact that such people have been on the receiving end of tremendous miracles of healing.

One of my personal heroines is a little old lady in our church. She came to the Lord and was baptised after she turned an age that not too many people even live to achieve. She sees miracle after miracle in all sorts of areas but particularly in healing. Recently hospitalised, she was tottering round from bed to bed praying with every person in the ward. Her eyes twinkle as she joyfully relates how “Jesus answered my prayers.” Her faith is so child-like it almost beggars belief. “He told us to pray. I pray. He does it. Prayer answered.” Is her whole philosophy. Dare I say it like this, she is not encumbered by great education or learning other than the learning of experience. She is a beautifully simplistic lady with a beautifully simple and child-like faith.

“Only believe” takes on a whole new import when approached from child-like faith. The questions may go away or they may remain but the answer doesn’t matter any more. He told us to pray – “anything we ask in His name’. We pray. He does it. Prayer is answered. I am one who believes that healing is without repentance. After all, Jesus didn’t enquire as to the spiritual condition of anyone – He just healed ALL who came to Him.

Does it matter why or how He does it? Not one jot. Our testimony is undeniable and it asks only one thing – Only believe. So next time you pray for someone, only believe, and you may be surprised - it will be done for you.

Lets Carry On for Now

Lets Carry On for Now

As one who is blessed to be able to spend a little time with the Lord, I am hearing more and more about clouds “as big as a mans hand”. I am reading more and more from the prophets telling me that time is short and to expect revival and the rapture any day now. I also hear the advice that, in the event that the rapture hasn’t happened, there must still be work to be done - so let’s get on with it.

I think that perhaps we have gotten so caught up with the possibility of the rapture that we have tended to put the most urgent and pressing job of “recruitment”, or evangelism, of the not-yet-Christian community. It is because the rapture has not yet happened that the Great Commission is still a valid tasking for us to continue to undertake. Indeed, it is the only tasking the church at large has  ever been given. Has anything changed? No? Then while we wait we must surely labour on to preach the Gospel to every man, woman, and child on the planet. 

We must endeavour to speak in love to everyone we meet. In the past, many have fallen into the trap of thinking it is their job to convince folk of their sin and bring them to tearful repentance. This is not our job at all. We are to preach the Gospel – period. It is Holy Spirits job to do the rest. It may then become our job to lead them into salvation but conviction and repentance is Holy Spirits job. As it says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”

The key to all of this is love. In the past, and to a lesser extent even today, love has been seriously missing from Christian attitudes and behaviour. Rather than love, hatred and bigotry has been much further to the fore than love. However, with a few exceptions, love is making a comeback within the Christian communities. It is rare, these days, to find the kind of forced Christianity of centuries, maybe even decades past. The church seems to be learning to heed the edict that “by their love shall you know them” – referring to Christians of course. I am not saying that love is a uniquely Christian attitude but it is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of Christian behaviour and something for which we are supposed to be recognised.

In the end then, and in the absence of the rapture, Christian love is the key to our remaining work here on earth. Love is the demarcation between Christian and non-Christian beliefs by being the main reason for our faith. Love is the reason for Christ’s death and resurrection. It is the sole reason for our pursuance of the great commission. It is the defining factor for recognising Christians in the midst of a not very loving world. Love is all we have to offer those who hate us – that and Jesus. But then, Jesus can represent Himself far better than we can represent Him – all we have to do is introduce Him and watch Him work.

“Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven – what other reasons do we need to keep on working until He tells us to stop. Changed and changing – blessed and blessing.” (A slightly modified quote from Pastor Chris Bowater) 

No rapture today? Best we carry on then.

Lazy Church

Lazy Church

Here’s a few thoughts on which to ponder. This whole train of thought was started by a ‘chance’ comment from a lady commenting on another post. Her actual comment was, “We are in the days of the Apostate church and the lazy church.” Lazy church – there’s a thought for you. Just how true is it, I wonder? I did pray about this before I put pen to paper and this is what I felt the Lord was saying.

The Western Church has it all. It has property, it has money, it has resources that churches in other parts of the world cannot begin to dream about. It has reasonable flocks who are among the 6 or 7% of the richest people in the world. In America, people vie with each other to ‘prove’ who has the most money and possessions.

Many churches, under the guise of attracting more and better people, have ‘invested’ borrowed money into building beautiful buildings they don’t necessarily need. As a result, leaders have compromised and ‘made allowances’ for their people. This has resulted in shorter services, run to strict time-tables, that allow time for other activities outside the church and away from God. People tolerate church now. They go only to be seen They church does not reach out as it should to the poor, the widows and orphans, and the down-trodden. 

The Western Church has grown lazy.

People in poor countries weep for joy upon receipt of even a portion of Gods Word. In the Western Church people have no time to read a Bible they are too busy making money. People in persecuted churches hold day long meetings of praise and teaching, outreach and preaching. The Western Church begrudges any more than a couple of hours on a Sunday. People in disadvantaged churches support their families, their friends and their neighbours regardless of cost – they share everything. The Western Church people pack up their families, discard their friends for richer ones and for social standing – they do little or nothing for anyone outside their select little circles.

The Western Church has grown lazy and apostate.

The persecuted churches pursue the lost until the Lord catches them. They live the great commission daily. The Western Church says ‘all are welcome’, then they ignore strangers. They hold ‘outreaches’ and preach an easy gospel that gives no honour or glory to the Lord. Many have not even heard or been taught about the great commission.

Finally, with all the injustice towards law-abiding citizenry, all the prejudice both racial and religious, all the dishonesty in the political arena – where is the outrage? Where is the protest? Where are the decent church going majority? It’s as if the church has become not only lazy, but terrified. Since when did the church fail to respond to the widows and orphans pleas? Since when did the church fail to gather around the unjustly oppressed? Since when has any church been embarrassed or even afraid of stirring up trouble for themselves in support of the poor, the weak, or the disadvantaged?

The Western Church has grown scared and lazy – to the point of apostasising the church and making a mockery of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary. The Western Church has grown lazy – it has lost it’s way, it’s purpose, it’s effectiveness, and it’s use to God. He has plans for a new church to rise from the ashes and remnant of this current one.

We have broken God’s heart once too often. It’s time for the (Western) church to answer for it’s sin. God Himself will be the judge. But the result will be a church fit to be the Bride of Christ.

On earth as it is in heaven

On earth as it is in heaven

I read this word the other day

"I want those who are in leadership in My Church to be willing to lay down ALL that they have learned about church order and sit at My feet so I can teach them Heavenly Order. I want people on earth to see Heaven when they look at My Church.  The current church order is not as it is in Heaven. 

“In Heaven all are free. In most churches, the bound leave bound.
In Heaven all are well. In most churches, the sick leave sick.
Heaven is a place of song. Most churches see the worship as only a prelude to preaching.

“I want you to begin to look at things through new eyes, MY eyes. But to do that, you must be willing to lay down what you were taught, and sit at My feet, and allow Me to show you how things are done in Heaven. If a church humbles itself and does things as they do them in Heaven, I will GREATLY bless that church; but if it does not, I will speak to it as I did the fig tree that bore no fruit.” – Jeffery Stewart

This very short summary of the church today was posted on Facebook this week. What I find so desperately sad about it is the truth of the statements made. Yet every week, every service, mid-week as well as Sundays, we bow our heads and intone the words of “the Lords Prayer”!! I have to ask the question – what do we think we are saying? Is this just a rote prayer, with little or no meaning? Is it a meaningless prayer we quote just to prove we have read Matthew 6:8-13? Have we not taken these words of Jesus seriously? Have we ever read and understood verse 14?

Oh dear, I seem to be getting excited. Well, yes, actually I do get excited about the words of this prayer. In particular, I get excited about the thought of the phrase, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Let me ask you, does this not excite you too? 

As my quote says, In Heaven all are free. In most churches, the bound leave bound. Just think about that for a moment – no more abuse, no more drugs, no more prisons, no more bad habits. Wow – does that not get you a little bit excited?

As my quote says, In Heaven all are well. In most churches, the sick leave sick. No more illness or disease. No more hospitals, no more pandemics. Getting excited yet?

As my quote says, Heaven is a place of song. Most churches see the worship as only a prelude to preaching. Just think – praise and worship of our heavenly King with no restraints whatsoever – no time limits, no need for band practices, no desire or need to be elsewhere. “A merry heart, does you good!” Proverbs 17:22; “My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul too.”  Psalm 71:23 our heart, our lips, our soul all rejoice when we sing to the Lord. John 4:23 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." Still not excited? 

Perhaps you just don’t believe either in the power of Jesus words, or in the power of prayer??? Everything on earth as it is in heaven. Perhaps you need to re-align your aim? What a standard to aim at !! 

Am I preaching to the choir here? Or am I hitting a few sore spots?