Pilgrim

Love of God, it’s His Essence…

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The face of Africa

Just a short note and a testimony, well one of my short notes:- Note – I depart Thursday 4 August for Zimbabwe and Zambia, to kiss the soil of a wonderful Continent, it will be a busy schedule so please pray the love of God towards  us enabling us to minister to the people we meet in every way.     The 1st weekend will be at a  Family Conference with Cleopas Gwavava, followed by the next week a Leadership School in Gweru with Charles Kudzerema and Bernard with leaders from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the 2nd weekend in Zimbabwe will conclude with a Celebration Conference for the Churches there about.   Will then travel up to Zambia for the Restorers Conference in Mwinilunga, Zambia with Roma, Catherine and our family there.

After being with Cleopas  7 of August will be privileged with the arrival of John Casey along with Peter Topliss for further time in Zimbabwe, they depart on the 15 August following the Leadership School and Conference, leaving me to travel into Zambia where I will be joined by Gary & Janet  Pleasant along with Pat Broom and one or two others from the USA.     A busy few weeks ahead, I will commence my return on the afternoon of the 24 August arriving home in London  at 7 Am on the 26th August.

Please pray for the mind and heart of God to be seen heard and touched as we minister there.     I thought I would also take this moment to tell you that  I will not have internet connection for quite some time, so my weekly attempt at  blogging will not come to pass, sorry to all readers, but I will be back-end of August or September.

Now for the story, where can I start, where better than to state, God is so gracious to us all!     I was involved in a conversation today, with a friend and ministry of Christ of mine, talking about the love of God,  and his whole aim to bathe the whole of creation-Cosmos in his love.   God is Love we say, its his essence, who he is, discovering the God of love is so important to each one of us.  The way in which we discover his love, whether it be through an action, a feeling, a concept, Fathers heart, mothers touch, his nurture, also tells us about ourselves.       The important matter is that  we are overwhelmed by the love of God.   The challenge is that the love of God,  his own essence is to be shown through us, we are to be an extension of his love in the world in which we live.    We are told that the world may know him, as we love one another, as they see his essence in and through our lives, in other words the essence of God captures, overwhelms us and we become the extension of him becoming that love, his essence to our world,  what ever world we work and live in.

Zambia & Zimbabwe

I believe that creation is really God bringing of himself, everything that was in him, making it seen,  the garden was in him, humanity being expelled from with in him, the cosmos was in him, we are returning back to him at the end of time, returning from where we where sent the mind and heart of God, and his ultimate purpose in the eternal Son will continue to be displayed.   We are thrilled to encounter his love in so many ways so that we might become one with his essence and be the continual flow of his essence to our time space world.

In Deuteronomy its says that “the love of God was made evident upon his children”, what does that look like?   The evidence of his love, so many ways, inner peace, a life filled with the realm of God breaking in on us, a continual consciousness of Christ in life, his supply as we have need.     Let us be the display of His love every day throughout our lives.

Back to last weekend, Sandra and I had the joy of being with Gods people in Exminster, not the usual Sunday meeting but truthfully a gathering of Gods people around food, brunch in the open air of Devon, we share food, life, Christ and the word together, it was great to touch life with the love of God.    Allow me a moment to paint a little background here for you , so that you will fully understand this testimony,  on leaving Africa in early May Sandra and I concluded that  we needed to get a 4 wheel drive vehicle to enable the ever-increasing influence in Southern Africa, acknowledging that some roads, towns and villages can only be negotiated by  4 wheel drive vehicles, both in SA and in neighbouring nations in which we work.    On leaving Africa we just said, some time, don’t know how or when but we need to seek God for a 4 wheel drive vehicle, we don’t have any money for it, but we will have to see when we are ready.

Anyway back to Devon after returning to Adam and Karrie’s home we had a visit from a couple called Paul & Sarah ???? who are part of the church there, they asked to speak privately with us.  They had heard us share during the morning and both agreed that they needed to do something, and that it was right.   God had spoken to them, to pass on a Land Rover Defender to us for the work in Africa, WOW how amazing, and moving for us, God heard our thoughts not even prayers but our conversation back in May.   God, His love made manifest in Paul and Sarah’s heart and made manifest to Sandra and I, to receive the  fulfilment of a need for Africa HIS LOVE IS SEEN in this matter.   We never cease to be Amazed with Gods’ miracles, his protection, cover, healing and provision he is a miracle God and a God that supplies through His people “as every joint supplies”.   I know that Paul and Sarah will find God, sowing in the way they did,  will bring a return from a loving generous God, a God who wants us to sow ourselves, displaying his essence, and becoming the supply of God.   Now all I have to do is get the sign of his love to Africa, donating it to a charity for us to extend the gospel.

 Be his essence in your home, work place, street where ever, that his love, who he is might fill all, that Christ might fill all in all, as Paul put wrote it

Giveaway God

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Focus on Free

Consider the Fathers challenge it is his Great Story this is his Great Challenge, Gods Great Challenge is how to give away God.  God has great difficulty doing this, you would think everybody wants God but the response goes something like this “Lord I am not worthy I would rather have religion and morality which gives me the impression I can do it on my own”.    The response often is to out line with various reasons why I am not up to being “spiritual” or to say “I have to get more spiritual” or chase after God to show I am worthy before I am able to get you.     It seems that is better if God gives me the structured, institutional church rather than me being the church the Ecclesia of God, a people who are an outcome of the given-ness of Gods life to humanity, it’s better that I control than to give myself to your given gift, your free gift, no strings attached gift.   Let us learn to receive what you give away freely your kind-of-life!

Mary’s response shows how we should respond to this great grace and gift, it indicates she had an egoless response.  It was not a cry of “I am unworthy” but a “How”, she simply asked for clarification and has become Gods and therefore our picture of how to be receptive and that we should follow.
She shows us how to be a person who can respond with a resounding YES, an unquestioning YES to a free gift.
Catch this worthiness has never been the question put to us, of course we are not but God is giving himself to you no strings attached free, for freedom we were set free to say “be it unto me”.

Theme Song!

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Every Colour under the sun

As we walk our faiths journey becoming more and more like the Christ of God, we find, on occasions, that the precise quality of our faith and journey are difficult to determine.   Many of our experiences are subjective and therefore difficult to pass on to others, as they pertain to my own personal walk,  we can even create a sense of lack in others if they are led to feel unable to enter into these experiences that our worlds are often filled with.

However we have many life stories and recording of experiences of men and women, who have displayed their closeness to the Father which in no doubt become a provocation on our journeys.

Our lives must have these signs and helps to those who w ear still to encourage in their walk towards God.    One of these constant experiences outlined by the saints gone by,  is to sing of mercy and to be redesigned by judgments, these to would appear to most Christians a suitable expression of their feelings.   David seems to express in a review of his life that both mercy and judgements are proper grounds for praise and thanksgiving, along with the determination given by the Holy Spirit  to praise God for them.

Psalm 101:1 has in its opening lines this declaration “My theme song is God’s love and justice…” this  started me thinking down a number of avenues, the first being, what is my theme song?     Is it of the Fathers love, the magnificent justice of a creator that has the ability to rule in my life?

A theme in my view captures a life, it sums up a whole life, it’s the overarching bias and constant experience of a life.   I wonder what theme my life has caught or is under girded with?

The phrase theme song or may be, more popularly said, a signature tune may be used to refer to a song that has become especially associated with a particular performer or dignitary; often used as they make an entrance. Examples of this association include: the President of the United States with “Hail to the Chief”; the Queen with our national anthem, a song or tune directly associated with a person.   The purpose of the music is to connect a person with some truth, aspect of their lives or their status in life then.  It  is also used to establish a mood for an event or show.   In terms of a show I it provides an audible cue that a particular show is beginning, the lyrics of the theme song provide some necessary explanation for people unfamiliar with the show or event.

So what is your theme song?    What does your life sing of?  

What song will be associated to you and used to herald your entrance.   Will it be a positive of negative theme, are we those who are looking to communicate the great love of God, or the challenge of the walk, being near to depression with  the weight of responsibility?    What theme proceeds us as we enter a room, live life, is there a running and hiding from us?  a people saying o here comes pressure?   On the other hand it could be such a theme of overwhelming joy that all want to be in your company, for the theme to rub off?    The mood we create by the theme of our inner life

Before you go away thinking well I do not create a mood, I wanted this simple opening stanza to assist us in realising how we can change the theme of our song, to create an opening and heralding an arrival that all would wish to create.    Rather than give up, consider what your inner life dwells upon.

“My theme song is God’s love and justice”  the song that I should take hold of inside and allow to be the song that precedes me, is the love of God,  being overwhelmed,  revelling in his love for me, never mind how unlovely I see me, He loves me unreservedly.   This is the beginning of the rewriting of my inner theme, allowing  the nature and theme of God’s Love and justice to be my constant thought of him.

The dealings of the Father with us as his people, display the wisdom and goodness of God.

Consider the mix of these two foundations for a theme song, love and justice, mercy and judgments.   Mercies, if unmixed, would “exalt us above measure;” and judgments, if unmixed, would sink us into despondency. A ship needs both sails and ballast, to carry it forward in safety: and so the Christian needs a diversity, in order to accomplish in them the purposes of God’s grace. God sends them to his people to

–       Form them into the divine image. So that the perfection of a Christian consists not in one grace, or even in one set of graces, but in a combination of all the graces which are suited to a redeemed soul, and calculated to advance the honour of our God.

–       Stimulate them on their way to glory.    Mercies have a tendency to fill the soul with love to God, and to make it pant for the full enjoyment of God in heaven. Judgments also operate to the same end, by weaning the soul from present things, and causing it to long for that rest which is in Christ

The saints in every age have acknowledged the goodness of God in them

Now let me ask again “What theme song do you have?”    Bathe your mind and heart in his love and mercy revel in his judgments and justice so that our theme can be as one song sung in heaven!

Go on be bold compose a Theme Song

A Necessary Focus

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Focus

In all our travels I have gained a sense of what the Holy Spirit is highlighting in various places, in saying this, I am fully aware that it is impossible to say ‘the thing’ ‘the one thing’ that people often want to hear of what God is saying, as I believe just as we are introduced to God speaking in the book of Revelation he is shown to be speaking seven different things to seven different churches in one region, therefore it is impossible to say the one thing he is saying,  but we can have some grasp of the constants, truth or focus that is being spoken or seen in many places across our globe. Seeing what is presented in many places, I think we should pay attention to this as “things are confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses”.

Sandra and I travel to the USA, Africa, India, Sri Lanka as well as in the UK and I would have to say that in all the noise of debate regarding the various aspects of truth that come and go, alongside the things we make the ‘fashionable sayings of Jesus’ as I call them, if there are such things, yet the church does appear to have its fashions, also the cyclic experiences and insights that come around every decade or so, there is, I believe, in our small world a sense of God’s focus on the one message that Christ carried and proclaimed.

I believe that until we grasp hold of this central message of Christ we will be confronted constantly by the Holy Spirit, until we embrace it in every possible way, through confession, teaching, and practice the central message of the kingdom of God will be spoken out constantly in the heavens.

In the opening chapters of the book of Hebrews we are told that God has spoken in these last days, making these words important for the last days, our days, and he has “spoken in his Son”, his Son, the Christ of God being the King that brings his kingship which means the Kingdom of God is on the front burner in the last days along with all the related details and implications.

Therefore it is imperative that we teach, preach, and practice everything possible to bring about the domain of God, “Heaven coming to Earth”.   We are encouraged to pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” but it is not enough to pray, we must pray and work until our world is one with Christ, which is kingship and rule. To some degree the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, the same thing, is still to come to Earth, but on the other hand, heaven has already come in those who have welcomed Christ into their lives and they have to extend the kingdom rule of God. It’s about bring the implications of the Kingdom to bear in the cosmos first in our lives.

My aim in writing is to lay out the reasons why I proclaim the Kingdom of God, I trust this will have two implications, firstly it would clarify my mind and secondly I trust it will be of benefit for those who read.    My appeal is that we once again strongly announce, herald and preach the Kingdom of God with open hearts, not as those who have heard it before,or done it in the past. Got the tee-shirt, rode the ride, but with new eyes looking and listening again, before we all get lost in a sea of a ‘church only message’ or ‘church gospel’ which is around us all, but step up to re state the ONLY message of our Christ, the Kingdom of God.  Once again the message is required to be announced to empower, advance and deliver the people of God and our world.  Here are my reasons I trust that you will join and agree with me:

-The Kingdom of God reconnects us to the purpose, the why of all creation and the activity of God our Father. It confronts  us with a narrative of Scripture rather than getting lost in our fashions, fads, “now words”  but keeps is rooted in the ultimate purpose of God giving the reasons the cross, the ecclesia, the call of God in bringing everything under the rulership of Christ (Ephesians 1)

-The only message of Christ – the Kingdom of God gives Christ his proper place as King of Kings, the proclaim of the Kingdom and the rulership of God. To separate the gospel from the Kingdom is to take the Christ out of our message. ( BOY DO I WANT TO SHOUT THIS FORM THE ROOF TOPS)  In separating the Gospel from the king to only introduce people to a gospel that deals with an escape into the next life. To have a message without the kingdom is to deny the prophecies that speak of Jesus as the ruler of nations (Genesis 49:10, Psalm 2:9-11, 110:1-3, Isaiah 9:6, 7 Daniel 2, 4, 7). It is to bring a covenant with the father made with creation into practice.

-This sole message is the connection to the original mandate spoken to all humanity through Adam in Genesis 1:28, this passage must be seen as the starting point of the kingdom mandate, that of Christ proclaimed with the church continuing its proclamation.

NOW THAT IS JUST THREE REASON FOR YOU TO FIRST THINK THROUGH MORE TO FOLLOW I HAVE A GOOD LIST FOR YOU TO CONSIDER!    
WATCH THIS SPACE!

Let GO! – part 1

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Letting God

I have watched in the coming and going of life with all its unpredictable circumstances and surprises that pop up seemingly daily without warning and relentlessly appearing.      In all the challenges and joys that life swings into motion I have learned or probably am still learning would be a better way of saying it, that each one of us has to deal with the ability of “Letting Go”.

We are challenged to let go at different stages of life,  as we mature and change we have to let go of one stage to move into the next, trusting so much to get from this place to the next place I have to let go – life has taught me  that  I need to let Go or die, or fossilize.
Learning to let go becomes an art – my emotion, my mind,  my inner space, my whole person is engaged in Letting Go.
I have even realised that letting go is so important in my walk with God, can I let go and  forgive that lie, the wrong, the pointing finger, the accusation that is unfounded?
Letting Go helps me to make the most of now and enables me to move on with people, it is not about what I have to get right,  but more about can I let go to move upward.     Letting God is not about bearing the issue or circumstance, it is really letting it God to gain a condition as if it never happened, deciding not to have the ability to even recall it any longer.      Letting go to gain the new ground, letting go to move away from a painful event, letting go to get certain people loosed from the entanglement of my mind these are all letting go issues.
So what lessons have I learned?
What will we all have to learn?
The way we let go of the now determines our ability to take hold of what is coming around the corner.        There are questions that would help us learn and let go, I would like to  share a few thoughts that are produced by each.  The questions that would serve us all well to ask each other and more than that ask ourselves.
  • “Is there a fine line between control and influence?   And how do you know the difference”
You see letting go is also to do with empowering and influence,  and the issue of control.     We are not to Lord it over people or control people but rather empower people to reach their fullness.     Are we free to empower others or do we discover the  need of control within ourselves?   Control has such a subtle manifestation in our lives?   Do we find the need to have people listen to us, expecting people to do what we say, that it becomes my way or the highway as it were.
When I discover the need to control, no matter how small it seems, do I have the capacity to give up my control and allow myself to become an influence instead?  Can I let go and allow things to be done differently?
Let’s consider some questions
  • Can you identify the evidence of control within your life?       What does it look like on a day-to-day basis?     Do I get upset when things are not checked or sounded out though me, when I do not know what is going on?
  • What kind of things do I mistake for control?        Some times it my own rightness, my personal ideas and thoughts  that I think need to be implemented, I think  this is ok, but r it reality it can simply be a form of control.
  • What kind of experiences make you feel out of control?        What do you find fearful or threatening?        How do you find you respond when people say ‘God said’, or when some one else determines the  scope, agenda and running of meetings, the when, where and what is talked through?
Knowledge is power, applied Knowledge is much more powerful because it gives birth to wisdom       The wisdom to know when to apply and when to wait, the wisdom to understand that no circumstance or person, including myself, fits perfectly the whole picture.
The mystery of it all throughout our lives is learning to be patient, forgiving, merciful and flexible.
You cannot control any relationship, it is a trap an illusion to think that we can.   Attempting to do so is just and exercise in futility.    I can not prevent disagreements, arguments or mishaps.   Should we really have the power to control  all of those things within our relationships it  would mean that we would miss out on the advance and the bond in relationships that  follows.
  • What illusions do you have?
Control can stem from un-addressed pain – our efforts to avoid pain (sadness, let down, hurt etc)  we may appear to be successful in our control,  in that we are no longer  vulnerable and exposed and therefore  have reduced our chances of being hurt.   But the avoidance of pain causes us to ‘step back from life’ and causes  us to have a less passionate life.
Letting go is a key to your future in life, every work and relationship as well as in leadership situation.
  • Let go, I have, without strings attached as I continue to do this I have found that it  brings liberty for my daily life and for the future.

Selah: Before we conclude this article