PRAYERHAMMER

Easter keeps going!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 11:23:00 +0000

I love these two brilliant paragraphs below I wish I'd spotted them sooner so I might have celebrated this Easter, with the passion shared below. (Copied from here)

"My friends, we are Easter people! We stand on resurrection ground. Easter is not only our greatest party (much greater by the way than Christmas—whatever you do on Christmas you ought to do ten times as much at Easter); Easter is the only reason we are here at all! St. Paul says in 1Corinthians, “If Christ is not raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Without Easter, Jesus of Nazareth would be a curious historical footnote. Without Easter, the world would still be divided into waiting Jews and puzzled pagans...

We should make Easter a forty-day celebration. If Lent is that long, Easter should be at least that long, all the way to Ascension. We should meet regularly for Easter parties. We should drink champagne at breakfast. We should renew baptismal vows with splashing water all over the place. And we should sing and dance and blow trumpets and put out banners in the streets. And we should invite the homeless people to parties and we should go around town doing random acts of generosity and celebration. We should be doing things which would make our sober and serious neighbors say, “What is the meaning of this outrageous party?”

Go... continue to celebrate! He is risen!"

Brenton

*the above two paragraphs are from Lent for Everyone by NT Wright.

- published via Blogpress

Does it matter?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 10:48:00 +0000

At various time different people have said to me, "theology doesn't really matter, all that matters is that you love....God ...Jesus etc." To which my answer is, of course, it's great to hear that, my Mormon friends who say they love Jesus will be delighted.

To which I tend to get a response along the lines of either, "stop it, you know what I mean, I meant be a Christian and love Jesus" or "I meant be a disciple and love Jesus", their frustration grows if I then point out that Mormons and JW's call themselves Christians and disciples as do Roman Catholics and Unitarians.

Those people brave (argumentative?) enough to press on, usually go on to qualify, their meaning of "loving Jesus, Christian, discipleship" even more to help explain what they mean - if I'm in a mood to tease my friends, I continue the process of saying like ...? (People from another faith or religion.), but more often than not, I now draw the conversation to a conclusion by saying something like ...thanks for the clarification...but wasn't what we just did the very theology you said doesn't matter?

We don't need bad theology
I have some sympathy for those folks who think negatively about theology, my earliest memories of anyone talking about theology are of senior figures in the Church saying they didn't believe in this or that aspect of Christianity. Consequently I had no time for theology or theologians, considering them a waste of time or even a threat to my faith, completely missing the point that the Christian writers and speakers that fed my faith were Christians and theologians like CS Lewis and David Watson.

Loving God, mind and all
Many years later I'm now convinced that theologians are a vital part of God's plan for building His Church, drawing us closer into our relationship with Him and a deeper grasp of His plans and ways. A church without theology is in constant danger of drifting away from God's plan and ultimately from God, scripture tells us that the work of Holy Spirit includes his vital role revealed by Jesus in John 16:3 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. "All truth", carries with it the implication of all theological truth, all we need to know about God, His plans, His ways.

Theology is what you do
This doesn't mean we all need to become academic theologians, but it does mean that all Christians are theologians, every time we read scripture, teach, preach, witness, prophecy, or worship we are doing theology by default. The choice we have is whether we make the effort to do it wisely and well, or to pretend it doesn't matter and neglect to grow in our understanding of God.

To neglect or to set a better example is the question
Just because some people do theology badly is not a reason to write off theology, I've been in meetings when the worship was lifeless to the point of being dire, yet rarely do I heard anyone saying worship isn't important so let's ignore it, so let's not neglect the privilege of getting to know God, His Word and His ways just because some do it badly. If we are truly to love God as Jesus commands ".....with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..." (Luke 10:27) then we need to embrace theology as an important facet of knowing and loving God.

Questions That Stick

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 10:59:00 +0000

Questions I'm carrying in my head.

From time to time life throws up questions that stick in my mind, sometimes I work our or find the answer, at others they hover there unanswered.

I've decided to post some of them, partly to invite answers, and partly for fun as some questions are probably more rhetorical than actual..some are even opportunities to vent about the fickle nature of people, life and at times my own thinking process! (As this post develops and gets added to I'll leave it to you to choose what is rhetorical,what needs an answer and what is just me letting off steam.

Learning to listen and respond

Recently we've begun experimenting with stepping out using Spiritual Gifts outside of the church meeting, as it's plain they are meant for the whole of life not just church gatherings. People are excited about this...as well as nervous and slightly daunted. This process of stepping out experimenting and learning to hear God throws up all kinds of interesting questions, some of which I'll hopefully remember to post here.

To count or not to count, that is the question?

One that has stuck with me is around how we decide what is a valid prophetic word and what is not.

It appears that some folks accept words like 'I believe God wants me to look for and speak to a chap with a green hat', but reject words like, 'Father wants us to grow to plant 2 more congregations of 100 people in each'. The latter being rejected (in part) because it emphasises specific numbers, which "might put people under pressure"!

The pressure of being specific

Surely looking for a man with a green hat does exactly the same thing? What about the pressure of feeling you have to keep looking till you find green hatted man? Or the pressure to speak to the man with the aforementioned hat, if you spot him? What about if you spot 2 men with green hats at the same time...is there not a pressure to choose whether to speak to one or both of them, or to reject both of them and keep looking for a singular man with a green hat

Are specific numbers wrong, bad...or encouraging? Do we need to acknowledge that God often puts s under pressure, when we have free will but He commands us to do things like, forgive others 7 x 70..0r love our neighbours, what about loving our enemies? Is feeling under pressure to do something always 'religious' or simply something we feel when our (sin corrupted) free will wants to go one way and The Holy Spirit indicates another (better) way?

Do 12, 72 or 100 count?

Was Jesus wrong for choosing 12 disciples because a number was involved...was he wrong to send out the 72? Is the incident with the shepherd spotting sheep number 100 was AWOL, purely symbolic, or does it tell us that numbers are a useful tool in the Kingdom? What about the fact that there is a whole book in the Bible that is called 'Numbers'?

Is there a lesson I need to learn...or am I doing OK?

Does the rejection of the use of specific numbers in a prophecy or in seeking how we should respond to and work with God in response to a specific prophetic word have a scriptural basis? I'm happy to learn and adapt if it does... (Nb I'm talking about numbers as facts, not as numerology or abstract symbols here...that raises whole different set of questions...perhaps for a further post!

How can we know when there are different oppinions?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 May 2014 12:27:00 +0000

While leading a bible study at cell recently, we touched on a couple of topics where there is more than one opinion on what the passage means. In discussion of these points I commented that some scholars think 'x' whilst others think 'y', this in turn led to the question, how can we know what scripture means if there are different opinions?

I guess this is a question that many of us might ask, hoping for someone to give us a simple definitive answer, yet scripture sometimes does not afford us that luxury.

Rightly Handle the Word.

As Christians we are exhorted to 'rightly handle the word of truth' (2 Timothy 2:15), by doing so diligently we will clarify what we believe, and why we believe it, this in turn helps us recognize how Christianity is different from other worldviews and religions.

As adherents to a 'faith' we need to acknowledge what we believe about scripture shapes who we are and how we act, so it's important that we study and develop those beliefs rightly. God has not presented scripture as a computer programme for us to upload in order to run our lives like automatons. God's plan is for a relationship, built around an ongoing and developing dialogue. Scripture facilitates and informs this dialogue, true understanding and right interpretation of scripture is in turn revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

Iron Sharpens Iron

The opinions and interpretations of theologians

have a role to play in helping us develop a broad view of scripture but the final arbiter of truth is God. Theologians help us 'as iron sharpens iron', they challenge our thinking in order to sharpen it, but ultimately we need to allow God to speak to our hearts through his Spirit and his word to reveal the truth contained within. There is no substitute for our ongoing relationship with God, theology as an academic pursute must never replace this relationship, however pursued properly theology is used by God to enhance and deepen our relationship.

Scripture Interprets Scripture

It is important that we understand where in scripture different views exist, we need then to turn again to scripture to seek to allow it to reveal and interpret the contentious passage wherever possible. We also need to learn to meditate on and to pray through the scriptures and to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth the passage contains. Sometimes this is simple, at other times we are drawn into deep and complex areas where scriptures do not easily give up an answer, where the matter remains mystery for us to wrestle with.

A Deeper Relationship

Allowing scripture to interpret scripture is a remarkably effective method, which often brings complex passages into clear focus. Many of those scriptures with apparently conflicting passages are resolved and made clear by this one method. Whether the answers are simple or complex the one thing we can remain assured of is that God intends for them to do us good and to draw us into a deeper relationship with Him.

Love for the lost,whose love?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 May 2014 22:59:00 +0000

Often we wonder why we find it hard to summon the motivation and courage to share the gospel with others. This in turn can result in us asking God to give us that motivation, which is kind of weird, because if He just 'gives' us the motivation it's not our motivation is it?

So where does true motivation to see the lost saved come from?

Well the paradox is that it does come from God, but it comes from our love for Him, which is an understanding and reflection of His love for us.

Genuine motivation for sharing the gospel flows from our response to being loved by Father. Until we understand and value the depth and breadth of God's love for us, we can't comprehend what those who do not yet know God's love are missing out on. When we do understand and truly value Father's love and how it changes our own lives, then we can understand and value what it is that others are missing out on. - that in turn will lead us to offer the gospel to them so they can know His love to.

The desire to see others saved will never come from berating ourselves for falling short. We can't 'psych' ourselves to summon up more love, we need to go the source, He who is love. Loving others is an act of will, but not one of personal willpower, our act of will needs to be one that moves us closer to Father. As we spend time in Father's presence we will come to understand more about His love for us as individuals and humankind as a whole. If you truly want to see others saved it starts with you regularly meeting with Father in prayer and His word. Bottom line we always need to move in His strength, not our, we need to move in His love, not our own.

Why church is not perfect and why that should matter to you.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 10:29:00 +0000

Hypocrites go to church

The truth is that the church is far from perfect. One of the most common reasons for not being interested in church is just that - It's full of hypocrites, who say one thing and then do another - and you know what, it's spot on.

Full of flawed people

Church is not full of perfect flawless people, it's full of imperfect flawed people.

The point is that church isn't about how perfect the people who are in it are, it's about how imperfect we are. At the heart of church is this very simple concept - we are all imperfect. Church is not an exhibition of the perfect, it's a community of the openly flawed, working together to try and deal with that imperfection.

The hypocrite label rightly sticks

Don't bother going to church if you are perfect and flawless, church is for people, real people with all our strengths and weaknesses. It's a place for working through our imperfection to learn how to deal with it. To put it in church language, church is for sinners and that includes us hypocrites. So don't expect perfection from church, the perfect church simply does not exist, but church can be a doorway to meeting and walking with someone who is perfect, someone who even his enemies failed to find guilty of any crime or sin - Jesus.

Jesus is who we can expect perfection from, the church is just a gathering of people who know that and who are committed to following Him. Sometimes we fail and the hypocrite label quite rightly sticks, but on other days we do better and reflect a little bit of His glory.

If you are not good enough to go, you are!

Bottom line, if you are not good enough to go to church, church is the perfect place for you ....and imperfect me. Why not visit and see for yourself?

Great article on prayer from "explore God"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 08:03:00 +0000

How Do I Pray

http://www.exploregod.com/how-do-i-pray

Prayer, enjoy it.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 15:21:00 +0000

For some people seems hard, they can't find the right words, they feel foolish like it's talking to the ceiling, they are too sinful and grubby to talk to God.

The crazy thing is it could not be simpler;

There is no quicker way to stop feeling sinful and unclean than to tell God about it. He already knows, He is listening for you to admit it to yourself and before Him, it's the first step in dealing with sin. Asking Him to help you stay clean is the next and the final step is walking with a Him daily to try and avoid messing up again.

As for feeling foolish, who will feel foolish in the end whaen He asks I was right there with you why didn't you talk to me about it? Oh yes I knew, but you acknowledging me and talking to me is an important step of faith. Didn't I promise to be with you? Have ever lied? Why then trust your own unreliable imagination and wonky thinking over my promise?

As for finding the right words, we are told when we run out of words and can only and groan, the Holy Spirit translates our groans. Who decides the wrong words? It's a barrier only in your wonky thinking (all us us suffer from wonky thinking at times). Just speak it out, if you can't say it you can pray silently. God is able to understand. If you can speak it out then those with you can hear and agree which adds something to the whole process. (If they can't understand don't fret, bottom line it's between you and Jesus, He does understand.

So let's keep it simple, yes there are lots of nuances and subtleties and deep theological things going on, but you don't need to start there, you don't need to know how your digestive system works to enjoy food....you just know it does you good. Prayer is the same, enjoy it, let it do you good.

3 Common Misconceptions About Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 12:31:00 +0000

1) All theology is bad!

Some Christians are somewhat anti theology, which might seem odd at first, but is understandable when you are perhaps an evangelical Christian reading what has been written by Liberal theologians. Therein lies the clue, actually Christians should not be against theology, the issue is some theologians and the practice they follow. To know God starts with a right response to the basics of the gospel.

Theology is at it's heart the knowledge of God, or about God, which is right at the heart of the gospels and all the rest of scripture supports this. Knowing about God and getting to know God is indisputably a good thing which all Christian believers can agree on. Therefore at its heart theology is good.

2) All theology is hard to comprehend.

As with all misconceptions there is a kernel of truth here, but the issue is humans trying to understand God (who is way above our intellectual pay grade) and then to explain what they have learned to other people. However at its most basis day to day level theology is not complex, Christians have the Bible and above all Holy Spirit to help us understand what we need to know and do. Too many people are scared of looking deeper into their faith, saying I'm not clever enough to understand, completely discounting the fact that they have the supreme intellect at work within them...we often focus too much on our IQ and don't listen enought to 'The Helper'.

Theology can be intellectually challenging the deeper you get. God wants us to learn to ride a bike, he does not want us to compare ourselves to the unicyclist juggling whilst on a tightrope, He wants us to learn to cycle for use in day to day life first and foremost. Getting to know God is a day to day life skill, not just an ethereal academic pastime.

3) Theology will weaken you faith.

Bad theology might, but actually living the Christian life without getting to understand God as revealed by scripture is a pretty good way of undermining faith too, as it inevitably leads to problems which quickly erodes or worse builds faith on errors, with inevitable problems arising as a result.

Theology will challenge what you believe, it will winnow your ideas, and some chaff will have to go. But pursued properly studying God and scriptures will see the pruning of your ideas lead to newer stronger growth. In the short term your faith might feel a little wobbly as the dross is removed, but what will remain will be purer and eternally enduring.

The key to all of this is spending time with God regularly, studying His word and listening to His Spirit. Ask Father to show you how to study, which authors to read, seek council on where to study if you are going to pursue it at that level.

We have nothing to fear from theology done properly and a great deal to gain from doing it well.

Let us learn to embrace theology at its heart as we press on to learning more about our wonderful God.

Vision keeping the BIG picture in mind.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:43:00 +0000

Prov 29:18 If people can't see what God is doing, they trip all over themselves; But when they do to what he reveals, they are blessed.

It's great that we have lots of specific prayer requests for individual situations, KEEP THEM COMING!

It's equally important that we pursue the vision God has set before us, our work in moving forward together starts with our battling for the vision to be fulfilled in the heavenly place.

Father has set before us a great work, we need to keep this big picture in mind as we pray, or we can easily become bogged down in details. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, not the problems and trials of life.

Please focus on praying for all aspect of our corporate vision in prayer on Tuesday.

Expect great things from a GREAT GOD!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 May 2011 18:55:00 +0000

Where are your disciples

More PowerPoint presentations from IanHoward

Vision - focusing on the big picture.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:55:00 +0000

Prov 29:18 If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they do to what God reveals, they are blessed.

It's great that we have lots of specific prayer requests for individual situations being posted on the PrayerHammer Facebook site, KEEP THEM COMING!

It's equally important that we pursue the vision God has set before us, our work in moving forward together starts with our battling for the vision to be fulfilled in the heavenly place.

Father has set before us a great work, we need to keep this big picture in mind as we pray, or we can easily become bogged down in details. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, not the problems and trials of life.

Please focus on praying for all aspect of our corporate vision in prayer on Tuesday.

Expect great things from a GREAT GOD!

Prayer through Lent

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:51:00 +0000

One of the area that we feel led to address in 2011 is a further increase in the corporate prayer life of BCF. In order to help with this we will be exploring various ways of stimulating, nurturing and focusing the prayer life of BCF.

To get things rolling we want to encourage people to join us in praying through lent, with a particular focus on seeking God for growth through seeing people saved. (It was great to see so many guests at Cafe Church Sunday morning!! But God has promised us much more, so we have a long way to go to impact the lost in Bury!)

To help you to pray Wendy and I will be using various means to remind folks and to help focus our thoughts:

Facebook - There is now a PrayerHammer group set up which will provide regular updates and prayer points for members of BCF.

Email - like this one for those folks not on Facebook.

The Notices - regularly has items for prayer.

SMS Text prompts - yes even your phone is not safe.( if you want to be on the SMS prayer chain please let us know)

Skype - if you are on Skype then let Wendy and myself know, so that we can explore holding tele-prayer meetings.

Podcast - for all you Mp3 junkies and iPod fans help is coming in the form of a podcast in the near future.

Prayer meetings with a twist - Yes we will be planning chances to meet and pray too!

When is Lent I hear you ask?
Lent in 2011 starts on Wednesday, the 9th of March and will continue for 46 days until Saturday, the 23rd of April.

Enough for now - other than to say this initiative means nothing unless you take up the challenge to pray and to conclude with a quote from a man of prayer, who saw incredible things achieved through prayer.

"It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we obtain an answer; and further we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing." George Müller

10 quotations to make you think about prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:33:00 +0000

Have faith in God," Jesus answered. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:22, 24

“Prayer is where the action is." John Wesley

"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther.

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” Charles Spurgeon.

On persevering prayer: "I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before." Anon

I don't often spend more than half an hour in prayer at one time, but I never go more than half an hour without praying. Smith Wigglesworth

"As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray." Martin Luther

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" Corrie Ten Boom

"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." D. L. Moody

The Spirit Himself intercedes for us. Rom 8:26

Prayer points for Hope Bury's event "Carol" by Lacey Theatre Co.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:59:00 +0000

Please pray for the following things

The venue:

Woodhey High School Tuesday 30th November 2010 7.30pm

The participants:

Lacey Theatre Company (5 members) – who hope that their ‘performance will open doors and cause people to ask questions that hopefully local churches can help to answer’.

Bob Hartman

Rehearsals and planning have been taking place in earnest since September and much prayer and creativity has gone into the production of this play.

Our hopes are that:

Jesus would be honoured

The corporate witness of churches working together would be profound and challenging.

Churches who don’t often work with other churches would join in on this occasion.

It will be an inspiring event to send us back to our churches enthusiastic to make Jesus known to our communities in the forthcoming Christmas season.

That everyone attending the event would be pointed to Christ, and that for some it would prove to be a very significant occasion in their Christian experience.

Our helpers:

We require a few more stewards, who ideally will be able to arrive at Woodhey at 6pm on the day.

There is space for a few more members in the music group

There would be enough willing helpers for the refreshments team

The audience:

Small at the moment (only a couple of dozen tickets had been sold at 14.11.10, although a good number of others

say they intend to buy tickets)

Publicity opportunities would fall on receptive ears

People would have courage to invite friends, families, neighbours, and we would be prompted by the Holy Spirit to

know who to invite.

Our supporters

Woodhey High School – that some pupils and staff would join us for the show, and that the local churches would

be able to continue to build good relationships with the school as a result of this event.

Bru-Station – for their willingness to provide 350 drinking cups to support the event.

House on the Rock – for their manager (Nigel Rushworth) being willing to support the event by selling tickets.

The tour’s supporters – Spring Harvest, Tear Fund, Lion Publishing

Swimming against the shoal?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Another thought provoking Friday night theology piece today. Which raises the question are you (and I) truly living prophetically? Are we prepared to swim against the shoal in order to maintain a godly integrity when we comment on the things we see happening around us?

We need to be a prophetic voice speaking out against injustice and seeking to bring God's wisdom to bear on real world situations - Christianity is not a nice theory to be kept safe in the dusty halls of academia, it's more than robust enough to cope with all the contemporary ideas and new age pick and mix theories that abound today.

To quote the EA, FNT article "The art of living prophetically has everything to do with finding imaginative, new angles and themes for the current dominant stories in our nation - putting some critical yeast into a large amount of dough. In a time when austerity is the order of the day, can we live lives that are marked by generosity? The Christian community can pursue at all times a radical discontinuity from the status quo, working out impossible dreams and overcoming impossible obstacles."

As a nation the UK along with many other countries faces some tough challenges ahead, challenges that Christians can help guide the country through, if only we will pray and listen to God, then speak (and live!) out His timeless wisdom.

Men in a woman's world?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:40:00 +0000

Here's a great little article from an interview with David Murrow on "Why men hate going to church"

This really scratches an itch for me, as for a long time now I've been talking to folks about the bias towards women in Church, which encourages women to belong but can be a real put off for men. (Before anyone throws in the misogynist word I love women they are great to be with, but I also want to see men saved and thriving in the Church.)

So here's today's challenge - what do we need to do to make Church a place where men can be men?
It's a serious topic for prayer, much as it might be easy to laugh if off as a topic, how can we be expected to share the good news with men if they perceive it as girly? Churches today are largely populated by women, and the statistics show that most men who make a Christian commitment are led there by men, so the challenge is an important one.

It was no accident that Jesus became 'Man' in order to reach and save mankind, do we men in the church need to rediscover our true manliness in order to reach other men?

Ask Father to reveal His plan for addressing this important issue - you might be surprised at the answers you get,

Who is the Stig? A point to ponder prayerfully!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:41:00 +0000

Here is a thought provoking article by the EA Friday Night Theology team "Who is that Masked Man?
It explores the paradox that obscurity may be more effective than celebrity for Christians, reminding us that "God sometimes subtracts from a person in the present in order to multiply their future."
That thought holds a big challenge for those of us who are faced with the pressures of life in a world where celebrity culture is rife, especially when faced with consumerism in the Church. This is particularly noticeable amongst some young people, they take the view that "I'll shop around to find a church that suits me" as opposed to honouring their spiritual family and working together with those folks to build a church that suits God!

By all means let's be radical and relentlessly work for changes as God leads, but work to change where you are rather than becoming yet another spiritual butterfly looking for an ideal that does not yet exist..

One of the worrying developments, that I think has grown up because of this consumerist culture, is the endless pressure to hype things up. Should we hype things up to make our walk with God\Church\ministry sound great? Or do we simply get on with serving and let God get the glory.

The church is not meant to be a consumer driven organisation, led by popular opinion and the latest market survey. We don't need to add in extra excitement when God is given free reign, the challenge then becomes are you capaple of keeping up with Father's glorious roller coster ride!

A prophetic word

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:14:00 +0000

I saw a great dam, a huge wall holding back the great expanse of water behind it. It was as if I was flying up to and then over the dam wall. As I got closer to the wall I saw that it was massive and that the huge slabs that made up the wall had various words upon them: "anxiety", "illness", "stress", "poverty", "selfishness", "greed", "fear".

As I ' flew' up over the dam and over the water behind it I could see that the water was crystal clear and stretched for miles. I seemed to fly over it for for hours (days?) it felt like time was compressed during this experience - the water simply appeared to go on forever.

Suddenly I was back at the dam wall again and I saw Jesus stood over it - he spoke one word "Now!" at this word of command dam cracked and crumbled beneath the incredible weight and force of the water. The huge blocks making up the dam were effortlessly pushed aside and tumbled over and over again being smashed to tiny pieces in the process. There was a roaring and crashing of water the noise was deafening and awe inspiring, each of the named blocks was totally destroyed by this unstoppable force.

It was terrifying watching the huge body of water rush forward as it was released. I felt that it would overwhelm and crush me, but as the water enveloped me, and all the others around me it became incredibly gentle and lifted me effortlessly to the surface. There was no longer sense of fear despite the huge force of the rushing water, the feel of the water was calming and restful despite it's incredible raw power. I immediately understood that the water was God's love carried by His Spirit and that whilst sin was being ruthlessly destroyed, the sinners were being held securely and dealt with gently.

As the water continued to pour out it became clear that the water would never diminish as it was being constantly refilled by a spring that continued to pour out blessing as the waters rushed out to the farthest reaches of the eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I was praying and preparing God just gave me one word: release! I was reminded of the commandment to the Hebrew's about the release of debtors every seventh year, and about the commandment that the fiftieth year year should be a year of Jubilee. God's message of forgiveness and his plan of redemption was written into the law and formed the very rhythm of Jewish life, and yet the Jews for the most part missed the point.

That made me wonder how often do we do the same, are there times when even we Christians fail to live in the good of the release we have received? Too often we hold tight to our favourite sins with both hands, whilst at the same time asking God to bless us. God's response is open your hands release the things you are holding onto so tightly and let me fill your hands with a treasure that won't rust and rot away. It's time to release those favourite sins once and for all and to take hold of what God gives you.

This is a time when God is waiting to bless many people through The Church, it's a time for seeing new birth, and God wants you and I to be the midwives to assist with this process. It's a time to allow yourself to be revived (There is no point praying for revival if it can't start with you!). Even this coming week Father wants to see the people you and I share our lives with introduced to Him. (Yes it can happen - doubt your doubts after all we are dealing with God!!)

It's time to be bold and speak up, regardless of the season - God has got some thrilling 'divine appointments' scheduled for you this week, so keep your eyes and ears open!

It's time for God's people to move in intercession in a new way. The hammer of prayer is a versatile implement, it can be used in warfare to demolish strongholds and rout the enemy, or it can be used as a tool for building. - It's time to swing the prayer-hammer as we work to see His Kingdom established.

Intercessors UK

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:17:00 +0000

I thought I'd use this blog post to flag up a group called Intercessors UK.

They are in their own words: "a collection of born again believers from a wide range of Church denominations: Baptist, Charismatic, Methodist, Anglican, Independent, House Church etc. (All denominations are welcome.)

We are concerned about God's Church in the UK, and feel the need to really pray about the Church's unity, it's holiness; it's outreach and effectiveness in the society.

God's priority, we believe, is His Church; His Bride being holy and set apart for Himself. This is the main focus of our prayer.We also pray about our society, issues in the news, upcoming Christian events and other things that affect the UK.

Click here to see an outline of what we pray for, and the strategy we use.

Many people are being awakened about the state of the UK. Prayer shields (or prayer walls as they are also known) are springing up in Edinburgh, London, Eastbourne, Sunderland, Northampton etc. Intercessors UK has prayer topics devoted to these people who are building prayer walls in their own cities, but we also concentrate on other issues which are of strategic importance to the whole country.

Are you one of those people God is stirring to intercede? Could you spare one hour a week to influence the state of our Nation? "

I love the simplicity of this idea, a clear, simple, focused prayer agenda, based on people signing up to pray for an hour (or more) each week with the whole thing gently coordinated through the WWW.

Why not sign up and do your bit?

Protecting the innocent?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:01:00 +0000

Pro-life or Pro-choice?
Abortion is an emotive subject, it often quickly divides people who feel forced to take a 'pro-life' or 'pro-choice' stance. It's making headlines at present because Channel 4 has decided to air and advert by an organisation that works in the area of "sexual and reproductive health", apparently the advert will include abortion services.

Consumer Driven - or Advertising Led?
Such services have been advertised in lower key ways for some time now, but the move to mainstream broadcast media, opens up a new area of debate. The reality is that such media play an important part in shaping people's views and opinions - the recent political leadership debates in the run up to the election provide a timely example of how popular opinion can be changed by a few minutes air time.

Welcome to the New Norm
One of the most powerful effects of exposure through television is the establishing of new 'norms'. People see it on TV and accept that, it must be OK, "everyone" is doing it. It's the reason that companies run advertising campaigns, few if any people immediately jump up and rush off to buy a product after watching a TV advert, the effect is more subtle than that. But none the less such adverts do influence people's behaviour.
(Why else would government run expensive campaigns warning us not to drink and drive, or extolling the risks of benefit fraud - if not to convince us that responsible behaviour is the norm, and so we'd better conform?)

Does Advertising Work?
Advertising plays a powerful role in shaping our consumer economy, just ask Unilever, Nestle, Kelloggs, Asda, Tesco etc who spend millions on advertising each year. So it's not unreasonable to assume that any advert offering abortion services will do two things:
1) It will send the message that abortions are 'normal'.
2) Consequently it will effectively present abortions as a consumer choice.
Such advertising will take the UK (barring Northern Ireland) to a new low point in it's commercial and moral life.

Some Questions to Ponder:
- Is it right that Channel 4 earns revenue from advertising such services?
- Is it acceptable to have such ad's shown on TV, if it will help to normalise people's views on abortion?
- Is it right to call being pro-abortion 'pro-choice' as it does not take into account both of the people involved directly in the process. (Mother and Baby?)

Time to Pray and to Act!
If you, like me feel that to run this advert is wrong, and the thin end of a commercially dubious wedge, then can I encourage you to act and to PRAY.
1) Write to your MP. - "Write to them" link here
2) Complain to the ASA - Link here - Nb in theory you can only complain after the ad has run
3) Sign the on line petition against the advert
4) Write to Channel 4 and ask them to pull the advert.
5) Consider how you can support (£££+ prayer!) those charities that offer practical support as an alternative to abortion:

PS For those that are interested in Pro-Life issues SPUC has a useful blog post, analysing the new UK cabinet and the respective ministers likely position on these important issues. It's great resource to help your praying and campaigning.

Their help line details can be found here

Love your enemies - Nice idea or practical advice?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:06:00 +0000

Over recent weeks , as I've been following the UK general election via various social media sites. By and large the coverage has been good, even when the opinions put forward have been clearly partisan, the tone has been largely measured and good natured. Sadly however there is a minority of people who don't take such a measured view, and a rash of "hate" sites have grown up. These sites often express their disagreement with a specific person or group of people in vitriolic terms.

Passionately Held Views
Now I have no problem with strongly held views being passionately expounded, the fact is that it's passionately held views that often bring much needed change. (The alternative is to be left wallowing in mundanity whilst nothing changes - God forbid!) Debate and argument are useful tools when used wisely. Sadly from what I have seen these hate sites have little to do with bringing change, or acting wisely. In short they exist almost exclusively to berate and belittle the people they target, and their followers.

I Disagree
From a Christian perspective there are many people that I strongly disagree with. The very nature of having a code of moral standards, means that it it divisive, as it divides into those that hold those codes as valuable and those that don't. I happen to believe that those who hold different opinions to me are wrong, in some cases I believe that not only are their views wrong, but that those views are harmful. For example I am pro-life and believe that to abort healthy babies is wrong, I use the word babies deliberately as I believe that life begins at conception, and that to use semantics to obscure the taking of a viable life is both wrong and dishonest.

Murder Starts Here
These are views that I feel passionately about, but for me to set up a hate site to vilify people who hold pro-choice views is not helpful. Jesus teaches that if we hold anger in our hearts we are no better than murderers.

Jesus makes it plain that our attitude towards even our enemies should be love - so even if we disagree vehemently with someone, for whatever reason we should not be inciting hatred towards them.

So what Should We Be Doing?
I guess there are many answers to that question, but the context for my initial observation was the number of hate sites that have appeared on social networking sites, so I'll confine my answer to that context. How about setting up a site to encourage prayer for those people we disagree with? This in turn begs the question what should we pray for them? - How about asking God to pour out His love and blessing on them? After all it's how Jesus treats you and I even whilst we still sinners....

I think that Jesus commandment was practical advice for the winning of our enemies, not just wishful thinking.

Go On Give It A Go!
What will happen if we try it? Might we see some people we passionately disagree with, turned around and walking into the Kingdom?

Christian views don't count?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 May 2010 14:39:00 +0000

Andrew Brown, in the Guardian, writes on the important decision made by Lord Justice Laws, in regard of the recent case of Gary McFarlane, the evangelical Christian sacked by counselling service Relate for refusing to give sex therapy to gay couples.

Brown notes that the ruling goes out of its way to demolish former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey's intervention in the case. He also asks does it also remove any vestiges of established religion from the law?

This is important, as Christianity (albeit in it's Anglican guise) is the established religion, and as such it runs deep within our legal system, and right to the heart of our constitution. He comments that the the symbolic gesture from which all other legitimacy in this country derives is the coronation of a monarch by the archbishop of Canterbury.

In other words we are not a secular society in our constitution, and as such Christianity should hold some sway in our thinking and our legal system. Brown quite rightly points out that Parliament can change this, should it be minded so to do - thankfully to date they have not chosen to, something that those in the judiciary should be mindful of.

Personally I would not argue for Christians to be given any priority over other people, just on the basis that the incumbent faith is Christianity, but surely justice should extend to Christians being treated equally? It should be acceptable for Christians to act according to their conscience, and where this brings us into conflict of opinion with others we should be allowed to hold those views without being criminalised.

Brown goes on to remind us that secularism and religion are both equally subjective beliefs, so to elevate secularism over religion is nothing more than preferring one deeply held opinion over another. This ruling is no doubt the thin edge of a wedge that secularists would like to see driven further, in order to see their views take hold and the views of Christians driven further to the margins of society.

This secularist undercurrent, and the very real possibility of changes to our political system as a result of the hung Parliament, and possible further changes with the reform of the House of Lords,(With it's 26 Lords Spiritual the Bishops who are there to provide a spiritual voice in the business of the House,), should all act as a spur for Christians to pray and to engage with those in authority to ensure that our voice is heard on these important matters. If we don't, then I fear that we will regret our complacency in the years to come.

The Importance of Prayer In Cell Churches

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:18:00 +0000

A blog posting by Joel Comiskey on the importance of prayer in Cell Church (Original post here)
Karen Hurston, the missionary who worked with David Cho and wrote a book on Cho’s church, once said to me, “Cells are simply the conduit of the Spirit of God. they have no power in and of themselves.” The longer I walk on my cell journey, the more I believe Karen’s words. Karen observed this truth first hand at Yoido Full Gospel Church.

When I studied Yoido Full Gospel Church I was amazed at the power of prayer. Korean believers dedicate themselves to prayer and then reach out through cell ministry. In my cell church research, the number one principle in growing cell churches was the commitment to prayer. I tell pastors to start with the prayer meeting before the first pilot group of a transition or planting their first cell of a church plant.

When we transitioned our church in Ecuador we weren’t prioritizing prayer. Yet, as we began to visit growing cell churches around the world, we realized we had to change. We started a monthly day of prayer that eventually turned into a weekly day of prayer. If you’d like to know more about what we did, click here. AtWellspring, our church plant in Moreno Valley, we pray as a church on Thursday night and have a half-night prayer once per month. Of course, cells also emphasize prayer, but I believe that chuch-wide prayer is essential.

I agree with Charles Spurgeon when he said, “How can we expect a blessing if we are too idle to ask for it? How can we look for a Pentecost if we never meet with one another, in one place, to wait upon the Lord? Brethren, we shall never see much change for the better in our churches till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians” (Spurgeon, C. H. 1996. A collection of Sermons).

I’m writing this blog on Easter Sunday. It’s a day to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Jesus is alive to answer prayer, especially when we come together to seek His face. Jesus Himself said, ““Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19-20).

Comments?

Joel

Learning from the prayer warriors of the past No 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:55:00 +0000

John Wesley Wikipedia

Most great and glorious Lord God,
accept my imperfect repentance,
and send your Spirit of adoption into my heart,
that I may again be owned by you, call you Father,
and share in the blessings of your children.

O Lord, take full possession of my heart,
raise there your throne,
and command there as you do in heaven.
Being created by you, let me live for you;
being created for you, let me always act for your glory;
being redeemed by you, let me give to you what is yours;
and let my spirit cling to you alone, for your name's sake.

Deliver me, Lord God, from a slothful mind,
from all lukewarmness,
and all dejection of spirit.
I know these cannot but deaden my love for you;
mercifully free my heart from them,
and give me a lively, zealous, active and cheerful spirit;
that I may vigorously perform whatever you command,
thankfully suffer whatever you choose for me,
and always be ardent to obey in all things your holy love.

O Lord, let us not live to be useless, for Christ's sake.

You are never tired, O Lord, of doing us good;
let us never be weary of doing you service.
But as you have pleasure in the well being of your servants,
let us take pleasure in the service of our Lord,
and abound in your work and in your love and praise evermore.

Forgive them all, O Lord:
our sins of omission and our sins of commission;
the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;
the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;
our secret and our more open sins;
our sins of ignorance and surprise,
and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;
the sins we have done to please ourselves,
and the sins we have done to please others;
the sins we know and remember,
and the sins we have forgotten;
the sins we have striven to hide from others
and the sins by which we have offended others;
forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for his sake,
who died for our sins and rose for our justification,
and now stands at your right hand to make intercession for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.