Sure God has spoken. In fact God has spoken as clearly as I have ever heard Him yet here I am now still waiting, even frustrated to see His word fulfilled.
Ever felt and experienced this frustration. I have and I am.
Consider Abraham as a starter in this journey of promises,time delays and finally world changing results of such faith. Consider Davids call and most of scriptures heroes and I find God not just testing the word but more importantly the heart of the person the word was sent to. Ouch that can really, really hurt ones patience and confidence.
God has spoken so clearly about planting a church in Hamilton and yet since the time our team has wonderfully come together and taken shape I have experienced constant delays,distractions and spiritual attack.
Looking at a church planters list of 'most common mistakes made by church planters' , just this moment and guess what ; the first mistake is ' Taking spiritual warfare lightly'. No surprise I guess . Couldn't be more accurate ,so tonight at our church planters cell group we will be looking into ways we are living and actively using the weapons of our warfare.
Just reading Romans 4 and find these words related to Abrahams faith-' He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief- but being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
This from the father of faith makes so much sense when faced with the journey of faith. The bible has such a capacity to relate,and then convey such powerful gems of truth that I find myself immediately surrounded by a cloud of witnesses that cheer me on knowing that they have walked on this pathway before.
Keep cheering guys-now's a really good time.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Church and sex industry !
'You work for the church and they give you time off to come and visit us-no way'
This was the amazed response of a lady working at one of Palmerston Norths brothels .After several visits,home baking,flowers and a regular visit from a couple of the church ladies it blew them away that these ladies from the church were even allowed to visit such places.
The girls now wait for their visit and chat. Even the manager expressed how grateful she is for such acts of kindness. Kindness is such a powerful thing-it opens hearts , conversations and lives to hope, restoration and belief.
Congrats to the Palmy girls.
Please send me any other current stories in your life that are missional and that you are willing to have printed in this blog
Check out the next entry soon to come-healing a foot through through prayer in city street leads to conversion experience!
This was the amazed response of a lady working at one of Palmerston Norths brothels .After several visits,home baking,flowers and a regular visit from a couple of the church ladies it blew them away that these ladies from the church were even allowed to visit such places.
The girls now wait for their visit and chat. Even the manager expressed how grateful she is for such acts of kindness. Kindness is such a powerful thing-it opens hearts , conversations and lives to hope, restoration and belief.
Congrats to the Palmy girls.
Please send me any other current stories in your life that are missional and that you are willing to have printed in this blog
Check out the next entry soon to come-healing a foot through through prayer in city street leads to conversion experience!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Disproportionate favour
Always bothered me as a young boy if my brothers received more lollies than me .The favour shown to them left me feeling robbed as I had done equal work for the reward.
That's whats so annoying about favour unless we are the ones who are at the receiving end.
Gods favour is always unfair and unequal-He gives to whom He will : heals some,forgives others, gives grace when don't deserve it. That's our God.
Lately my friend Glenn France explained how that we should expect disproportionate favour from God as his children. He related this to the company he sells for and is now their biggest seller because he expects Gods disproportionate favour on His business because it is Gods nature to do so. He explained that in the years he has worked for his company only two large machines of a specific variety have ever been sold .He drove up a driveway un announced and in one day sold 7 of these and later had potential orders for another 2-3. That's disproportionate favour. Glenn believes we are meant to live under this favour in every sphere of our lives yet we struggle so often to believe we deserve it.
Glenn challenged us to believe for this sort of favour as we plant the church in Hamilton at end of 18 - that disproportionate favour be given to us to see see hundreds added, sinners saved, miracles occurring, breakthrough etc present far above anything we have worked for or had in the past . If we only get what we work for we simply reap what we sowed but disproportionate favour reaps well above what it should -100 fold plus.
Thanks Glenn you have inspired us here.
That's whats so annoying about favour unless we are the ones who are at the receiving end.
Gods favour is always unfair and unequal-He gives to whom He will : heals some,forgives others, gives grace when don't deserve it. That's our God.
Lately my friend Glenn France explained how that we should expect disproportionate favour from God as his children. He related this to the company he sells for and is now their biggest seller because he expects Gods disproportionate favour on His business because it is Gods nature to do so. He explained that in the years he has worked for his company only two large machines of a specific variety have ever been sold .He drove up a driveway un announced and in one day sold 7 of these and later had potential orders for another 2-3. That's disproportionate favour. Glenn believes we are meant to live under this favour in every sphere of our lives yet we struggle so often to believe we deserve it.
Glenn challenged us to believe for this sort of favour as we plant the church in Hamilton at end of 18 - that disproportionate favour be given to us to see see hundreds added, sinners saved, miracles occurring, breakthrough etc present far above anything we have worked for or had in the past . If we only get what we work for we simply reap what we sowed but disproportionate favour reaps well above what it should -100 fold plus.
Thanks Glenn you have inspired us here.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Prayer must work
Our church planting team came back convinced after a week end in Hamilton that we must pray and believe for Maori and Island people to join our church plant.We are just too white as a group!
Got to prayer last week over this as a team and guess what !
Today I receive an email from a young island man, someone I had briefly met some years ago. He knew nothing about our desire to plant a church in Hamilton end 08 but wrote explaining he had been stirred by God for a long time to get involved in church planting and maybe one day lead a church.He explained his job is ending in 2008 and wondered if I knew of anything happening !!!!
Hello ! whatever happens from here I cant help but marvel at the power of prayer to move circumstance's .
Keep praying!
Church planting is more exciting than first anticipated
Got to prayer last week over this as a team and guess what !
Today I receive an email from a young island man, someone I had briefly met some years ago. He knew nothing about our desire to plant a church in Hamilton end 08 but wrote explaining he had been stirred by God for a long time to get involved in church planting and maybe one day lead a church.He explained his job is ending in 2008 and wondered if I knew of anything happening !!!!
Hello ! whatever happens from here I cant help but marvel at the power of prayer to move circumstance's .
Keep praying!
Church planting is more exciting than first anticipated
Church planting-signs and wonders.
God allows us to experience 'signs' that leave us in 'wonder' simply to let us know He is around the place and very interested in our lives.
Two weeks ago I went a day ahead of our church planting team to pray with some of the northern leaders around Hamilton and to see if God was saying anything to us. Great time and lots of revelation.
However what struck me was what happened the day before with a land agent who took me around looking for homes. I will call her 'Mary'.
When Mary found out I was in the region to plant a church she went silent and so we happily talked about buying homes and general life talk.On our way back to being dropped off Mary explained that she had a spiritual past,still had a faith but due to hurt,marriage issues and church disappointments she had not engaged with church or Christians for many years.
As I hopped out of the car I asked Mary if I could say a short prayer for her in the car.She bowed her head and I asked God to help her in selling homes and for Him to reveal Himself further to her. I did not expect to see Mary again outside of housing enquiries.
The next day this remarkable letter turns up from Mary-I quote from it......
'Just wanted to thank you for praying with me today.I don't think that it was by coincidence that out of all the agents in my branch it was me who got given your email enquiry.When I was baptised [she had not mentioned this] God told me that He had a great plan for me and that I was going to be used in positive and awesome ways by God to spread His word and I was going to be a person who was going to lead many people into His kingdom.I am pretty sure that you were sent by God to me to help me and I would love to be one of the first of your new congregation when you arrive.'
'You had such a comfortable feel and made me speak of a faith that I hadn't spoken about in a long time.The fears I had were not fears at all; more likely excuses though I don't know why'
'So anyway, that God dude works in mysterious ways but He is good,that's why He has the top job.Thank you for being in the kingdom and doing what you do.Your church has already started growing even though you have even yet to plant it'
This 'sign' has not only convinced me and the team of Gods call to Hamilton but left us wondering at what next He will surprise us with next.
Thanks Mary- you made our trip !
Amazing what a little prayer can do.
Two weeks ago I went a day ahead of our church planting team to pray with some of the northern leaders around Hamilton and to see if God was saying anything to us. Great time and lots of revelation.
However what struck me was what happened the day before with a land agent who took me around looking for homes. I will call her 'Mary'.
When Mary found out I was in the region to plant a church she went silent and so we happily talked about buying homes and general life talk.On our way back to being dropped off Mary explained that she had a spiritual past,still had a faith but due to hurt,marriage issues and church disappointments she had not engaged with church or Christians for many years.
As I hopped out of the car I asked Mary if I could say a short prayer for her in the car.She bowed her head and I asked God to help her in selling homes and for Him to reveal Himself further to her. I did not expect to see Mary again outside of housing enquiries.
The next day this remarkable letter turns up from Mary-I quote from it......
'Just wanted to thank you for praying with me today.I don't think that it was by coincidence that out of all the agents in my branch it was me who got given your email enquiry.When I was baptised [she had not mentioned this] God told me that He had a great plan for me and that I was going to be used in positive and awesome ways by God to spread His word and I was going to be a person who was going to lead many people into His kingdom.I am pretty sure that you were sent by God to me to help me and I would love to be one of the first of your new congregation when you arrive.'
'You had such a comfortable feel and made me speak of a faith that I hadn't spoken about in a long time.The fears I had were not fears at all; more likely excuses though I don't know why'
'So anyway, that God dude works in mysterious ways but He is good,that's why He has the top job.Thank you for being in the kingdom and doing what you do.Your church has already started growing even though you have even yet to plant it'
This 'sign' has not only convinced me and the team of Gods call to Hamilton but left us wondering at what next He will surprise us with next.
Thanks Mary- you made our trip !
Amazing what a little prayer can do.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
More CVT quotes
These last two sessions from CVt were given by Greg Burson. These are the final snippets from the five days of training together.
Moving in the Spirit:
- Person,Presence, Power-these three realities are what the Holy Spirit means for the apostle Paul.
- Learning to listen, assess and respond are keys to being Spirit led.
- Learning to be led as a spiritual community is the only way to effectively do the work of the kingdom.
Leading a meeting:
-Leading in a meeting context can involve a huge number of variables-communication , coordination and collaboration skills which build confidence and growth in both the leader and listener.
- Lead and inspire people. Don't try to manage and manipulate people.Inventories can be managed but people must be led.
- Don't give your leadership away.
- Make sure you know what your main idea is.
-Try to create a sensory atmosphere [what see, smell, hear, touch, taste]
- Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truely endless [Mother Theresa]
Great sessions.
Some of the CVT sessions will soon be available on podcast.
Moving in the Spirit:
- Person,Presence, Power-these three realities are what the Holy Spirit means for the apostle Paul.
- Learning to listen, assess and respond are keys to being Spirit led.
- Learning to be led as a spiritual community is the only way to effectively do the work of the kingdom.
Leading a meeting:
-Leading in a meeting context can involve a huge number of variables-communication , coordination and collaboration skills which build confidence and growth in both the leader and listener.
- Lead and inspire people. Don't try to manage and manipulate people.Inventories can be managed but people must be led.
- Don't give your leadership away.
- Make sure you know what your main idea is.
-Try to create a sensory atmosphere [what see, smell, hear, touch, taste]
- Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truely endless [Mother Theresa]
Great sessions.
Some of the CVT sessions will soon be available on podcast.
Carried by a song
Before I got to the room I was struck by the presence of God-literally struck . I could hear music being played in the lounge but couldn't hear the words yet my eyes started to tear up and I became aware that there was something 'happening' through the song being played.
Entered the room and was later told it was a song that has been recently released out of a church in Zimbabwe who are walking through incredibly painful and testing times. Something of true worship , that which is forged through times of suffering, that which is costly and precious which had been extracted by the Spirit of God overwhelmed me.
It was simple scripture from Rev 1:4-8 declaring that Jesus is 'Alpha and Omega' and goes on to declare that 'He ' is worthy to be praised .
Simple but effective when the Holy Spirit extracts such presence and conviction out of such .
For the last 4 months I have sung this song / scripture hundreds of times and found myself carried by its certainty and overwhelming conviction that Alpha and Omega [gk-Gods total and complete ability] is indeed able to completely keep,carry and provide.
Perhaps I get to experience a little of the certainty and overflow that the believers in Zimbabwe carry in the midst of their suffering- treasure extracted out of dark places I guess.
Paul in 2 Cor 4: 12 through his trials writes to the Corinthians and puts his sufferings into a bigger context by saying: ' Death [testings etc] works in us, but life works in you.
I guess in the same way the 'death' being experienced in many believers lives in Zimbabwe has indeed been ' life' to me. So grateful to the saints .
Entered the room and was later told it was a song that has been recently released out of a church in Zimbabwe who are walking through incredibly painful and testing times. Something of true worship , that which is forged through times of suffering, that which is costly and precious which had been extracted by the Spirit of God overwhelmed me.
It was simple scripture from Rev 1:4-8 declaring that Jesus is 'Alpha and Omega' and goes on to declare that 'He ' is worthy to be praised .
Simple but effective when the Holy Spirit extracts such presence and conviction out of such .
For the last 4 months I have sung this song / scripture hundreds of times and found myself carried by its certainty and overwhelming conviction that Alpha and Omega [gk-Gods total and complete ability] is indeed able to completely keep,carry and provide.
Perhaps I get to experience a little of the certainty and overflow that the believers in Zimbabwe carry in the midst of their suffering- treasure extracted out of dark places I guess.
Paul in 2 Cor 4: 12 through his trials writes to the Corinthians and puts his sufferings into a bigger context by saying: ' Death [testings etc] works in us, but life works in you.
I guess in the same way the 'death' being experienced in many believers lives in Zimbabwe has indeed been ' life' to me. So grateful to the saints .
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