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Breaking through in Alberta!

phil | 9 July, 2010 1:20 pm

Growing in friendship and purpose
Over the last two days I have had the privilege of meeting, praying and fellowshipping with some of the leaders of our New Frontiers churches here in Alberta.

Friday Night was a special night when the leaders of the three churches: Mosaic in Lethbridge, Harvest in Calgary, and Trinity in Red Deer, met in Calgary along with some of their leaders and interns for a time of intensive prayer, teaching and interactive fellowship.

The evening was marked by a real sense of the felt presence of God. Right from the worship through to the time of social interaction at the end of the evening, we had a sense of His purpose to use us in extending the Kingdom in the world.

I was privileged to share with the gathering, using the theme of Nehemiah’s vision, purpose and mode of operation in restoring the city of Jerusalem. We saw that this had such strong application to our works in Alberta of reproduction, renewal, and release of labourers for the harvest internationally.

There was opportunity for interaction with those present and we had many contributions during the evening, adding dimensions to what God was saying to us.
Saturday morning we gathered with the principal leaders for a breakfast meeting. During this time we were encouraged to hear each of the church leaders express their understanding of where their churches are currently focussed and of their overall community involvement. These reports gave great cause for encouragement and the overall feelings of the leaders was positive about our growing impact and the sense of a rising presence of the Holy Spirit in each of the churches.

There was real appreciation of the family atmosphere and relational impact of the previous night’s meeting, and a feeling that there had been a release of relational fellowship that was significant for the future networking between the churches in the Province. This meeting will lay a pattern for others that will happen in the months ahead.

To conclude the morning, we were able to pray and prophesy over each of the leaders and their churches. There was a real sense of God speaking clearly to each of the leaders and bringing confirmation and direction to them and to their churches for future days. There were words from and to all the leaders, and it was good to see the leaders serving one another with their gifts.

Amongst the things God spoke was that we should expect to plant churches in Edmonton, Medicine Hat and the Crowsnest corridor in the province of Alberta. We will be praying into this and seeking to find those who have a vision and desire to be a part of the planting teams as the Lord gives us further direction.
These meetings will carry a long time impact on the work and ministry of New Frontiers and its churches in Alberta and beyond.

Tags: Alberta,Church planting,Lethbridge,Mike Betts
Categories: Keith Hazell
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How do I find my way back home?

phil | 18 May, 2010 8:06 pm

Being lost is a frightening thing!
Being lost in the woods is particularly frightening when we are small! The strangest thing is that you can also be lost in a crowd, surrounded on every side by people and no way out.

We live in a day when we have lots of Christians either lost in the woods or have simply disappeared in the crowd and not only are they lost to themselves, but they are also lost to us as friends and to the church as “lively stones”.

Many today find themselves lost without any way of knowing how to find their way “back home”.

Estrangement from those who could help us makes the task even more difficult. To some the way back seems too far so that they settle for simply existing where they are, but are often overwhelmed by a sense of being disconnected and having lost their sense of belonging and of destiny.

Many of those who have become lost got there because of what we call ”church wars” or “church burnout” or because of disillusionment with religion and religious leaders. These folk today find themselves far away from where they want to be and some are even asking the question “How can I get home?”

The Bible has a familiar story, which we refer to as the story of the Prodigal Son, and my thoughts have been turning there as I think about this situation that so many believers are facing in their lives. When we are hurt or otherwise distressed one of the things we do is we actually distance ourselves from the people and things that have hurt us.

Although the prodigal son did not fit this description the Bible tells us “he went off into a far country” He put distance between his family and the community that would normally have given the support and encouragement he needed. The next thing that happens is that when the break has taken place between our immediate past and the pain of it, we seek distraction. In the case of the Prodigal son it simply says “he wasted his money on riotous living”. The thing that so frequently happens to “lost Christians” is that they simply throw away all their values and inheritance in an attempt to block out the pain and distress they have experienced and this in turn leads them to self rejection and self-loathing. The Prodigal son reached the point of such loathing and disgust that he landed up in the worst possible place for a Jew , in the pig pen eating pig food… truly the bottom of the food chain.

There was a moment that came to him of realization and for those believers who have lost their way it is the crucial first moment in finding their way back home. This moment was when he realized, that in spite of all he had been through, in spite of his rebellion, and bitterness, HE WAS STILL A SON.
He finally reached that place, of saying “ I do have a Father” which means he knew and recognized that he had an unbroken relationship that had not depended on him alone to maintain it.

Finding our way back home as Christians, means that we must come to the point of recognizing that our behaviour has not broken the only meaningful relationship in our lives. However many other relationships we have abandoned en route, our relationship with the Father is still intact and can be relied on.

After the first realization comes the first important step of action for anyone who is seeking to “find their way home” The Prodigal said “ I am going to get up and go to my FATHER”.
This was not a decision to return to church, not a decision to forgive those who had hurt or abused him, or even to forgive himself for his own foolishness. He was not thinking about it or wishing he could, he actually began the long journey back to the only one person who could help him……THE FATHER!
Coming home is only accomplished when we begin the journey back by actively and personally pursuing HIM.

What a Father He is! This son found out that His Father had never ceased to look for him expectantly and only wanted his total restoration and acceptance. We cannot comprehend when we are so lost that Father never ceases to look for us and love us.
He needed no one to guide him on his journey to the Father, neither do we! There was no need for a GPS or a road map, the Fathers love was totally the homing point.
Key to finding our way back home is to make a movement, any movement in the direction of Father and we will find him already more than half way to meet us
Finding Father, was the first real step to coming home. Dealing with our problems with our brothers and sisters and our place in Fathers House, are not the prime issues to be considered here. I am going to look at that in my next posting on this subject.

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Where Is God Going? Seven Spiritual Trends of the ’00 Decade

phil | 13 January, 2010 7:15 pm

Here’s an interesting article from ‘J. Lee Grady Newsletters – Fire In My Bones’.
The last 10 years weren’t just about terrorism and recession. Amid the storm clouds, God was working in profound ways.

We didn’t know what to call it—was it the ’00s?—yet we’ve just passed through quite a decade. We had natural disasters (the 2004 Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in 2005), financial meltdowns (bank failures and 10 percent unemployment) and global conflict (9/11 and the war on terror). It brought doom and gloom on one hand and technological breakthroughs on the other. What a ride it has been.

How has God been working during this tumultuous season? Here’s my list of seven megatrends that marked these last 10 years:

1. Third-World Christianity kept growing. There are now about 600 million Christians in Africa. Protestant Christianity grew 600 percent in Vietnam in the last decade. In China, where a 50,000-member megachurch was raided in Shanxi province a few weeks ago, there are now an estimated 130 million churchgoers.

“We have no reason to fear the future. Whatever challenges loom ahead, the same God who carried us through this past decade will give us sucess in the next one.”

Astounding church growth has occurred in Guatemala, Brazil, India and Ethiopia. In Nepal, which had no Christians in 1960, there are now a half-million believers. The Christian population of Indonesia has mushroomed from 1.3 million to 11 million in 40 years.

Smug scholars in Europe and the United States love to cite Islam as the world’s fastest-growing religion, but observers know the facts: Christianity, while waning especially in Europe, is growing faster than ever in the Southern hemisphere. Philip Jenkins, who wrote The Next Christendom in 2002, declared: “The center of gravity has moved to the global south. So if we’re looking for the religion that is going to affect the largest number of lives in the 21st century, it is almost certainly going to be Christianity.”

2. The digital revolution opened new doors for evangelism. This decade began with fears that a Y2K virus would shut down all computers. The opposite happened. Technology exploded. “Google” became a verb, more than 200 million people joined Facebook, and analog TV faded into history along with phone books, answering machines, road maps, cassette tapes, floppy disks and rolodexes—unless you purchased those items on eBay for sentimental reasons.

Traditionalists complained about all the new terms technology added to our lexicon: TiVo, Twitter, Skype, iPod, iTunes, YouTube, Hulu, Kindle, webcams. But the shift to digital media happened faster than the speed of a wireless signal. It will forever change the way we live, work and play. Rather than fighting change, we’d best find God in the swift current and discover how He wants us to use new media. The possibility of reaching every person on this planet with the gospel has never been this huge.

3. The global economic crisis didn’t stop the church. It seemed as if God pushed a great big reset button in 2007. The mortgage bubble burst, banks were in trouble and credit dried up. When U.S. gas prices hit $4 a gallon in 2008, people feared that the American Dream had died.

Yet, amazingly, while hundreds of thousands of people lost jobs and the government was bailing out GM and Chrysler, charitable giving to churches actually went up 5.5 percent in 2008, even though other forms of giving declined. Faith actually thrives in a recession.

4. As militant Islam increased, so did a backlash. On 9/11, terrorists hijacked our planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania farmland. But in some parts of the world where radical Islam is predominant, protest movements flourished. This was never more evident than in 2009 when Iranian youth activists took to the streets to denounce their own tyrannical government. In other parts of the Middle East, Muslims are finding Jesus Christ after having supernatural dreams about Him. Terrorists did not stop democracy—or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

5. Spiritual hunger grew more intense. Although secular culture seemed to grow more hostile to Christian faith and values during the ‘00 decade, movies, books and music reflected a growing interest in spirituality—everything from atheism to pantheism to vampires to The DaVinci Code—and Christian ideas competed for the global stage.

The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s 2004 film about the Crucifixion, became the highest-grossing non-English film of all time—and Egyptian Muslims lined up to see it for weeks. Disney’s 2005 version of the C.S. Lewis classic, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, became one of the highest-grossing films ever. And Christian books such as The Prayer of Jabez (2000), The Purpose-Driven Life (2002) and The Shack (2007) put Christian themes at the top of mainstream best-seller lists while a relatively homemade Christian movie, Fireproof, became the highest-grossing independent film of 2008.

6. The charismatic movement experienced a painful but needed purging. Although global Pentecostalism continued to grow, parts of the independent charismatic movement went into a tailspin. Marred by high-profile divorces, sex scandals and a credibility crisis, segments of the charismatic church fell on hard times. The overhaul of Oral Roberts University in 2008 seemed to be a prophetic harbinger of a movement-wide housecleaning.

At the close of the decade, charismatic churches were energized when thousands of youth gathered for protracted prayer meetings at Mike Bickle’s International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Mo. Those youth were not focused on the carnal prosperity message but on personal holiness, Spirit-empowered evangelism and prophetic social justice—values that are now emerging as key components of a new charismatic agenda.

7. A “healthy church” movement emerged. Refreshing younger voices arose on the charismatic/evangelical scene in the ’00s—reminding us that when Jezebel threatens, God always reserves His prophets in a cave for a crucial hour. Although this young movement has its stars and its cheerleaders—such as Louie Giglio, Robert Morris, Joel and Jonathan Stockstill, Chris Hodges, Mark Batterson, Samuel Rodriguez, Priscilla Shirer (daughter of Bible teacher Tony Evans) and Francis Chan—it is driven by thousands of faceless leaders who are contending for a return to passionate faith.

These leaders, from both charismatic and non-charismatic backgrounds, are reclaiming integrity, humility and purity while rejecting the egotism and greedy excess of the past season. They are committed to solid Bible teaching, relational discipleship and a nonreligious church experience that is appealing to the next generation. And they are planting churches—both traditional ones in buildings, as well as house churches—at an aggressive clip.

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Together at the East

phil | 11 November, 2009 8:09 pm

We have just completed three days of remarkable conference here in the UK at the “Together at the East” conference arranged as a gathering of the churches in the leadership sphere of Mike Betts and his team.

There were more than 1200 people staying in a holiday camp facility at Pakefield. This was the second year of the conference which will undoubtedly be repeated next year in the light of the impetus of these meetings.

Worship was dynamic as different worship bands led the meetings and bought us into the felt presence of the Lord. There was a strong missions emphasis that came through and every meeting had a spot highlighting church planting families connected via the “relational missions program”. One evening Jeremy was able to join the meetings via Skype and share the ongoing vision and progress of our home church Mosaic in Lethbridge Alberta.

Mike Betts opened the meetings with a strong message taken from the Transfiguration, about “God Moments”, and we certainly had lots during this time.

Terry Virgo spoke for three sessions around the life of Elijah and gave some tremendous insights into being a prophetic people and the power of prayer in a crumbling society.
These messages are downloadable in audio format at www.togetherateastofengland.com and available on video since the meetings were all video recorded.

There were those that found Christ during the gatherings and much fellowship was found between those from the churches attending which represented more than 30 fellowships in UK plus those from Turkey, Poland, Denmark, Germany, who were also present.

Julian Adams and Keith were joined by Mike Bollinger, for prophetic ministry to the Elders and wives and along with others bought prophetic direction and insight during the meetings.
The vision of Church planting was strong and Mike Betts laid foundation for an offering to assist those involved with the “Relational Mission” church planting. As a result an impressive offering came in that will ensure the practical help of pioneering church planting families in the next year

Keith and Terry Virgo had a couple of pivotal hours together praying into the things of mutual concern, and sharing hearts and vision together.

Thanks to all for your prayers. We have undertaken this trip in faith having regard to Novas health issues and God has helped her much.

And afterwards
We continued the week with meetings in Lowestoft, Peterborough and Blyth Valley before returning to the UK in early November.

Love and blessings to you all
Keith & Nova

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The Winds of Change

phil | 7 October, 2009 9:04 pm

Where we live in southern Alberta, close to the Canadian Rockies, we have a unique weather condition called “The Chinook Wind”. This occurs especially during the winter months and is a warm wind of Pacific air which comes over the mountains from the west and brings dramatic temperature change.

In the winter when temperatures are between minus 20 or 30 Celsius, the Chinook arrives and can bring a dramatic change in temperature of sometimes 25 degrees in an upward direction in a couple of hours.
The result can be that there is dramatic thaw and water begins to run in an atmosphere that was previously frigid. Not only temperature changes but atmospheric pressure can also change giving rise to mood changes in people and causing their reactions to be different from usual.

We are living in a time of Chinook changes in our world. In the realm of finances our whole society has been racked by events which have dramatically altered people’s ability to trade and to have financial security.
The Political world in Canada has been rocked by this as has also happened in the rest of the Western World where governments and leaders find a change of mood and temperature is upon them, accompanied by a shift in loyalties.

One picture of this can be seen in the election of President Obama in the USA , a democrat and the first black person to hold the Office. His election campaign saw a shift in thinking of many young people and also many who have claimed to be Christian and have always voted Republican. This is a change of mood and will have repercussions around the world as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran find themselves dealing with a leader who is definitely different to those they have become used to working with from the USA.

The Christian world, especially the evangelical – charismatic – pentecostal section of Christianity is not exempt from these winds of change affecting every other aspect of the Western World.
Just as economic crisis is on us and political crisis is looming in many nations in the Western World and in the Underdeveloped Nations, a similar crisis is at work in the spectrum of the Church with which I have identified for more than 50 years.

To-day like never before this expression of the Church is facing adverse and different winds which are creating a new atmosphere. This atmosphere is having both a positive and negative impact, and one which we must not just survive, but which we must face up to and respond to if the church is going to have a continued impact on our society.

There is a mood or wind of disillusionment at work in the Church today. Over the past 30 years there has been a long season of building of personal kingdoms in the Western expression of Christianity. The process involved has carried with it much that can only be described as spiritual abuse and financial exploitation of believers who have co-operated believing that they were advancing the Kingdom of God, only to find they were advancing leaders own agendas and that the Holy Spirit and the Word of God had little in common with what was being presented as the Gospel.

Today, having lived through more than 55 years of fundamental Christianity it is easy for me to see that there is an undercurrent, a wind of protest that is arising as people quietly drop out of the pretentious expressions of Christianity looking for something which is more biblical, simple, and evangelistically productive than that which they are leaving.

In addition to this, the pursuit of “success”, which has been promoted by so many groups, is resulting in a dwindling supply of leaders in local churches. Whilst people are offering their money, they don’t have their time to offer, since they must work long hours to produce the success they have been led to believe is their birthright. More and more church “lay” leaders are burning out because of a lack of time for personal devotion and family life, and sadly, the too-high expectations of their full time brothers and sisters in ministry.

Not only this, but also we have seen a great distress caused in the Body of Christ by significant leaders, who, pursuing their own agenda, have fallen deeply into moral and financial sin. This is resulting in massive, expensive buildings being re-possessed and sometimes finding secular use after millions of dollars of Kingdom money was invested in them by well-meaning people. The high profile moral failures continue to provide fodder for exploitive television and comedy shows, and discouragement to confused church members.

Acts 27:14-15 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster,” swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. (from New International Version)

Like Paul in the book of Acts, the church finds itself the victim of a “northeaster” that is bearing us down toward rocks which we are finding it hard to avoid.
In addition to this we had a space of almost a year when many of our fellow-believers were convinced that Revival had come to the world through some highly promoted meetings in Florida. Some, including some of the leaders of this movement, were closely convinced that the Second Coming would take place and that Jesus would return to that very place during a meeting.

Thousands, if not millions, of young adults who were greatly supportive of these events were crushed when it became apparent that the leading figure, had no real place of accountability and was in fact, living a double life. All of this while validating and promoting his own and others angelic encounters and supernatural experiences. Thus in the minds of many a big question mark hangs over the supernatural once again, and with good reason!

Confusion

Today we now have a large wounded group of those who are called to carry the torch to the next generation who are disoriented, disconnected, and confused. This group of people find it hard to trust older Christians, church leadership, what they hear from the front of a meeting, and anyone who they don’t personally know. There is a major bleeding of such people from the life of many local churches as they vote with their feet.

In addition, this age group is oriented toward the information age of the internet and is used to receiving teaching in visual and/or interactive form. They have become more and more disconnected from church life, which for the most parts either produces a weekly “entertainment show” or simply an irrelevant lecture without personal applications

Acts 27:40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach (from New International Version)

In an effort to forestall some of these events, some local churches have opted to “head for the beach”, and thrown everything overboard that they did before thinking they will save the ship!
In an effort to survive the wind that they are fighting, they decide. “No study of the Word!” “No need for prayer!” “No corporate life!” “No regular meetings!” “No need for believers to give regular finances”. I would suggest that these are the things that hold the ship together and we cannot abandon them in favour of the beach!

But yet there is a place for “Winds of Change”. If you drive through Southern Alberta, particularly into the Crows Nest area, you will be confronted with “wind farms” Massive wind-driven propellers are dominating the landscape and by virtue of harnessing those same Chinook winds are actually providing power, light and energy in a total new way in the surrounding areas. Perhaps in the future they will provide the predominant supply of electricity

The Bible tells us in 1 Cor 15:46: The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual (from New International Version)
So as we look at the church today what can we expect to gain from the winds of change that are blowing in our own situation?

Wind farms are ugly to look at, and we actually don’t find them very aesthetic, yet this harnessing of wind power is seen as one of the hopes of the next generation.
I want there to be a next fruitful and successful generation in the church. It may not look the way it looked before and perhaps not pleasing to the eyes of the established church but it may provide, light, power and energy to a new surge of Christianity in our world. Like wind power it may not be the only source of those things but it can be that it will be significant in activating people who would otherwise be “gone with the Wind”!!

God told Elijah
1 Kings 19:11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind.(from New International Version)

Not every wind is the wind of God. We need to be careful to judge the present manifestations of the wind that are battering our houses. Elijah was told to judge from standing in the Presence of the Lord. This means it was not to be compared to anything he had previously experienced or seen. In this case it was not of the Lord. So today every manifestation of the wind we see is not the Lord. Some is of men! Some is coming from disappointment and bitterness, and some coming from ambition!

There was a wind in the book of Acts that bought a revolutionary new manifestation of the plan and purpose of God.
Acts 2:1-4. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (from New International Version)

There was a response to this wind that unlocked cities and nations to the proclamation of the Kingdom. Jews and Gentiles alike were blown on by this wind and there was a release of Divine Creativity that led to churches being founded, people being saved and healed, and whole cities turned upside down for God.

We are in a time which we could also compare to the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when they knew that the “thaw” was coming and there were only minimal signs of change. They had to content themselves with what they knew and understood rather than try and work out how it would all work out in the end.

So the winds of change that we are experiencing are going to lead us into the next things that God is going to do. We don’t understand in its fullness but are beginning to see clues in the things that are happening.

I am writing more along these lines in later letters but want to begin to cause some of you to think as I am being caused to think in these days of how and what God is wanting to do with us and through us.

In the story of Paul and the shipwreck where they encountered the “northeaster” there was a promise

Acts 27:22-26. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” (from New International Version)

The promise of God here is this, that in the extremity of the wind that is blowing it’s possible for some of the physical plant to be destroyed or become useless, or “beached” but the church, the people of God, have a destiny to fulfill and will not be destroyed.

We are however at the door of great changes in church life and church expression. For us it is not a sudden change, but a gradual one which will bring us to “shore” as it did Paul and his companions, and where the Gospel accompanied by the supernatural will be heard in our communities.

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The big bang theory

phil | 9:02 pm

With the New Year already on us we are once more facing many predictions from prophetic ministries about the upcoming year. This will I am sure, include the obligatory,”California will sink in the sea.” This has been a stable prophetic declaration for the last forty years since I first arrived in North America.

As I was recently surfing the net I found the following comment about this years predictions:
“They sound remarkably similar to most I have been hearing for the past 15 years”. ‘This is the year of revival! This is the year of His power. This is the year of increase! This is the year of harvest!’ …

There is a major problem with all of the prophecies about revival to come. It is a religious problem, which Jesus encountered. Religion will get all excited about the Messiah to come but try to kill Him when He is standing in their midst. Why? The Messiah in the future does not demand faith and obedience now! The revival to come does not demand obedience now. “We can feel all warm and fuzzy about the wonderful word and clap at what God will do while conveniently forgetting that wherever people are simply obeying Jesus they are seeing the kingdom multiply now.” —Steve Hill, co-founder of worldwide ministry Harvest Now [harvest-now.org, 4 Jan 09]

Reading this reminded me of one of the greatest challenges to the Body of Christ in the Western world is being is facing these days. Many believers have lived for several generations with the continuous hope that Revival will come and bring with it a great ingathering of souls. Reading the Prophetic Journals and many of the on line ministry letters will show us that this promotion of Revival has been the cause of great disappointment in the Body of Christ, and has caused extreme cynicism in the hearts of many believers with regard to Prophetic Ministry.

Last year there were meetings in Florida that attracted world-wide attention because of the involvement of a television network that broadcast them live around the world. These meetings, were led by an evangelist who seemed to be seeing some credible miracles and had people willing to testify that they were bought to knowledge of Christ.

There were many in Prophetic Ministry who were associated with this movement and who began to predict that this was ”that which should come” the final end-time revival looked for and prayed for over many years. As the momentum gathered we saw nightly, thousands of Christians in the meetings, and millions of other Christians watching by means of television, preparing to witness Revival first hand. There was for many of us a vicarious enjoyment of a spiritual experience, for which we had hunger and appetite. This appetite was actually created by those who continually prophesied and promoted a significant event that would turn the tide and bring a multitude into the kingdom of God instantly.

There was, and is still, great sadness in the Charismatic/Pentecostal streams of Christianity, concerning the moral failure of the Evangelist leading these meetings, and the closing of the meetings themselves. Claims of continuing outpouring and the “passing on of the mantle” will continue to come in and others will attempt to recreate the event.

During the zenith of this outpouring a prophecy was read, given by an executive of the TV Company, that Jesus would return to the stadium, as a climax to that revival. This of course, was outrageous, but in their passion for Revival many brothers and sisters “bought the whole package” Sadly, none of the outstanding leaders of our streams spoke out publicly about such expectations. Why am I talking about these uncomfortable things ? Perhaps what I say next will be more uncomfortable!

In the world of science and physics there is something that is called “The Big Bang Theory:” Basically, this suggests that creation of the Universe came about by means of a massive cosmic explosion and that this was where our present world came from. Bible believing Christians do not embrace this theory of creation.

However, we actually have embraced another “big bang theory” and that concerns the evangelisation of the world and how it will happen. We sum this up from our perspective by teaching and preaching a world-wide instant outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will rock Islam and other pretentious religions, and sweep millions into the Kingdom in short order. How we pray indeed, that such an event would occur!

This theory which we have shared with our evangelical brothers for probably 150 years, has led us to many hours of futile and unsuccessful prayer and work in the name of Revival. Sincerity and passion have never been lacking by those who seek this as an answer to an increasingly unevangelized world.
In the beginning I quoted Steve Hill and his thoughts on prophetic views of this year 2009 and their suggested outcome of Harvest and Ingathering in the church.
Part of his comment can be easily overlooked, if we are not careful

“We can feel all warm and fuzzy about the wonderful word and clap at what God will do while conveniently forgetting that wherever people are simply obeying Jesus they are seeing the kingdom multiply now.”

We have in our hearts believed that we will live to see a day when we will attend massive meetings, led by our favourite evangelist or Revival proponent. We will be sitting in the stands or watching at home on our wide screen TV, whilst millions respond to a gospel appeal.

I am the product of mass evangelism and am strongly in favour of presenting the Gospel to as many people at one time as possible. I was saved through the first Billy Graham crusade in the UK , and for more than 50 years have followed Christ passionately. In my lifetime I have helped and actively supported many such efforts.

Jesus however, never told us to expect Revival to be the key , but he told us in the Great Commission In Matthew 28 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel” This indicates that there was an initiative to be taken by believers in reaching the lost which was of paramount importance in world evangelism.
This expectation has been almost totally lost in a great swing away from involvement in personal and local church evangelism, in favour of a passive prayer movement which invites us to simply go to church each week, attend protracted prayer meetings, and leave it to the Holy Spirit.

The failure of this strategy is then explained by saying that various things have impeded this process of national and international church growth. Everything from failure to repent of events long past, to unwillingness to stand with Israel, to personal failure in providing sufficient prayer coverage, to the secular political change that has bought us Gay Marriage and Abortion on demand.

None of these are good things, but blaming them is a substitute for the truth, which is, that the church has ceased to believe that they have a personal responsibility for sharing the good news of Jesus with people on a personal basis.

In Acts 1:8 the Scripture says “You will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you…and you will be my witnesses!”

The principal purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not to allow us the novelty of the Gifts of the Spirit. I will be the first to defend the Gifts as I am myself a Prophet. However, the words of Jesus suggest the priority purpose was to empower individual Christians in the task of reaching their neighbours and beyond into the nations with a credible and powerful life changing gospel.

We have now left the task to specialists who can draw crowds through their personal charisma, and who can, on our behalf, present a weak and ineffective gospel , sounding suspiciously like a positive thinking lecture. Many of us have been paralyzed by a Revival teaching that takes from us any responsibility apart from increased intense prayer. Acts tells us that “When they had prayed the place was shaken, and they went out and boldly proclaimed the word of God”. Their prayer was a prelude to evangelistic action not a passive way of avoiding any confrontation with their own society.

Does God respond to prayer? Yes! Does God send us Sovereign ingathering’s? Yes! He says that “there will be times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord”. However, some of the present unrest in the Body of Christ arises from disappointment and failure of Revival teaching, and meetings to produce any significant fruit in respect to evangelistic increase in the Local Church. People have repented as required, involved themselves in sacrificial prayer and fasting, become politically active, all without any apparent evidence of mass salvations.

Many people, especially young adults, are leaving churches, and at the same time professing loudly that they are still believers. They are on a quest to make their faith relevant to the lost members of their own generations. They are finding that evangelism on their “own turf” does actually work! Many times as they look at a church obsessed with ”revival” without real evangelism, they are forced to pursue the lost in a different context. As Steve Hill suggests we seem to be “conveniently forgetting that wherever people are simply obeying Jesus they are seeing the kingdom multiply now.”

Polarizing those with prayer zeal and those with evangelistic zeal does not help, since both are needed if the Gospel is to be truly preached. Regaining the balance is a key to the effective ongoing growth of the Body of Christ around the world. I am sure that many are sincerely pursuing a path of Revival, as a means to worldwide evangelism, but without true evangelistic outreach we will continue to use “spiritual excuses” for a lack of true growth in our local churches.

The bottom line is to use the words of Paul “He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation” and our responsibility is a practical one of sharing the good news with the help of the Holy Spirit and seeing lives changed. We are called to share as well as to prayer.

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Looking for a job?

phil | 8:00 pm

“WASHINGTON — The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 8.5% in March, the highest since 1983, as employers slashed 663,000 jobs and cut workers’ hours to the lowest on record, government data showed on Friday.”

“In a report underscoring the distress in the labour market, the Labor Department also revised its data for January to show job losses of 741,000 that month, the biggest decline since October 1949.”

The quotations above were taken off the AOL news page on the internet and gave rise in my mind to thinking how many people are or will be looking for a job in the near future!

Not all those losing their jobs will do so without compensation. There will be a sizeable number who will get cash settlement which will actually give them a freedom they have not experienced before. Still others will receive and adequate support from Government agencies that will tide them over till the economic situation turns and they can again enjoy a wage from a gainful employment.

The Bible teaches us “first the natural and then the spiritual”!

This points us to the fact that what happens in the natural realm will also play out into the spiritual realm. I was arrested by a scripture when I began to think about this.

Matt 20:1-10 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the market-place doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went.
He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 ‘Because no-one has hired us,’ they answered.
He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. (New International Version)

When I first arrived in Calgary more than 40 years ago there was a special street corner. It may still be there, I don’t know. Like the people in this scripture, this street corner was the place to go if you were in need of a job. Here every day people would drive by and pick up those who were looking for a day-job with cash at the close of the day. Often this led to more permanent employment. It was a place to get your foot in the door.

In the story Jesus was telling, at the 11th hour there were still people waiting in the market place. When challenged as to what they were doing there, their reply was “no one has hired us”
It occurs to me that this is a great time for many Christians, some who will never return to work because of age, others who will be kept from the work force for a year or two, to go stand on the street corner of the Kingdom of God.

This is a time for “eleventh hour” believers to make themselves “available for hire” in the Kingdom of God.

Many of us have been so busy amassing a fortune or building an empire for ourselves that we have never considered offering our natural gifting and our time to Kingdom projects. Some of us have waited to be asked, but never made ourselves available. Maybe its time to take an initiative and present ourselves and our gifts for service in the Kingdom?

Some of you reading this are going into voluntary or involuntary retirement, and will have time on your hands like never before. Others of you will, as I have suggested, have time on your hands whilst you wait for the economy to turn.

At the same time many Churches and Christian organizations, will be financially stretched and maybe have to lay off workers. Your skill as an accountant or an office manager or as a janitor or as a worker in a day care, or a “man or woman Friday” to help oil the machinery of operations could be vital.

Not just here in the Western World, but internationally, there is a need for those who would volunteer their time and energy as “eleventh hour “workers and maybe you are one of them.

In my own home church young adults work for several months and then take off for a month or more helping the church practically and spiritually in developing and underdeveloped lands. Their contribution is amazing to the growth of church in other countries.

Many who read this will agree that they have sat and listened and stored up spiritual knowledge for generations. Actually never having used it as you waited to be hired. In this time of difficulty and stress why not set out to offer yourself to those who are still waiting to hear what you have heard many times.

On a visit to Russia, Nova and I were going to the airport in a car with some Russian young men. I motioned to Nova “I don’t expect to be back in Russia again” The young man driving retorted “Please Brother Keith come back” Asking his reasons for the request he told me this. “I have only been a Christian for five years and may pastor have only been saved for ten years. We don’t know anyone who has lived with Bible all their life and can impart truth to us. Even if you just come and sit with us and talk we will be greatly helped and blessed”

I believe that some of you are looking for a job and someone just came into the market place who wants to hire you!

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What are you doing here?

phil | 7:56 pm

1 Kings 19:13. … when Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (From New International Version.)

Airports are interesting places! Sitting and listening and watching can be fascinating for us as we travel. Sometimes the public address system in a big airport will blare out the name of someone we know. We wonder “Is it him or her, or someone else with the same name?”
Even more surprising is when we actually see someone we know as we are passing through a mega airport and the first question is “what are you doing here”

It’s a good question to ask ourselves actually about the city we live in and call home. Why are we here? What are we doing?
Motivation for where we decide to live can be a multitude of things, weather, education, employment, proximity to family.
Should God have a part in where we live and why we live there? Rarely in current Christian circles do people actually indicate that they are in their present location because God told them to be there.
Of course if you’re a missionary it’s obligatory to be able to say “The Lord called me to Tajikistan “but what about Joe Average Believer? Should you sense a call of God to your city?

Acts 16:6-10. Paul and his companions travelled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (From New International Version)

Paul and his companions set out with their own intention of a destination. They were however, blocked by the Holy Spirit from entering several places.
I wonder whether we take the Holy Spirit into account in our choice of location. Would we actually be aware if he was blocking us? So often we find ourselves in locations that are pleasing to us but perhaps not the will of God for our lives?
For Paul and his party there was an intervention of the Holy Spirit that they all acknowledged, but more than that. they decided to respond to it.

I asked a leader of the underground church in China, how they set about planting a church in a new community. She said “We hear from God the name of a city or town, and then we pray and choose 5 families from our church. We go to the 5 families and tell them of this and they move to the new city and become the foundation members of the church there”. So for them the priority about where they live is determined by the Holy Spirit.

Today in many churches there is a lack of leaders who are really committed to the task of building a New Testament Church in their community. Why is this?
In so many cases believers in these churches have no vision or commitment to the specific City where they live and no heart to actually be involved like Paul and his party in preaching the Gospel there, and building something significant.

For them church is a place they go too regularly but it is basically generic. Any church in any city would be fine! Thus they do not have a heart for building with their leaders a vital church in their community. Paul and his party were called together on a mission to build something in Macedonia specifically and could invest their lives in it because God had called them. How about you and I?

I met an accountant who lived in a Western Canadian City. This man had been offered promotion five times, which would have greatly improved his finances and prospects of further promotion. Each time he refused because he felt that God should determine his location and it should not simply be in the hands of his employer to make the decision for him.

Is it possible for us to be “called to a city or town”? Can that understanding effectively change our attitude to our commitment and involvement in our local church? If we felt called might we not invest more of our time, money and energy to see the Gospel firmly planted there?

Acts 18:10 … for I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (From New International Version)
The urgency of the hour demands a sense of destiny and purpose be evident in our lives and actions as responsible believers. Knowing we are where we should be is a good beginning.

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Going to Church

phil | 7:53 pm

I grew up in a small English village where an Anglican Church, which purported to be more than 900 years old, dominated our skyline. It was, and still is, a gracious sight set in a pastoral area surrounded by green fields and grazing cattle.

My mother by upbringing, was an Anglican, but had made no profession of faith till after my own Christian commitment in Billy Graham’s first English crusade. We were not a churchgoing family since my Dad had been raised in a strict fundamentalist home and my parents found no area of agreement about religion.

However, like most of the women in the village my mother was on the “flower Rota” which involved her going to the ancient building and decorating the altar area with flowers, usually from her own garden, every few months. On the occasions of her flower duty, I would accompany her, happily skipping through the cemetery surrounding the building ….

and then, we came to the door!

Immediately we entered the building, I would be told, “shhhh!! God lives here!!. I would immediately be struck by the thought “Doesn’t He live everywhere?” and would look furtively around to see if I could see Him somewhere hidden in the building. So I learned what it meant to “go to church”, We also had a Nonconformist chapel in our village, where we went once a year to sing songs at the Harvest Festival and to enjoy the smell of fruit and kerosene all mixed up together. “Going to Chapel “ was not so bad since apparently God didn’t live there because we could talk in an audible voice inside the building without being afraid of disturbing Him.

The Bible is more concerned with us being the church, than simply going to a building called Church.

Somehow we have lost sight of our purposes in gathering and what we are actually gathering to. Of course, Christians should gather together regularly. The Apostle Paul tells us “not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together in the way that some choose to do”.
You could say that this is semantics, but in fact it is actually very true and we try to simply ignore it as a “technicality”, in order to avoid things that might have to change. In God’s view the Church is people who have entered into a saving relationship with Him, and committed themselves to walk and live with those of like faith. Paul again sums this up by saying “You are the Body of Christ and members in particular”

When we study the book of Acts we find those earlier followers of Christ, met together frequently to seek Him and to interact with one another. They were not going to church, but rather going to be the church together. When we hold a regular meeting with other believers we are “assembling together” or putting together the pieces that make up an expression of the Body of Christ…the Church. We do not go to receive something but to be something!

Interestingly, Paul again tells us “When you come together everyone comes with …….. “ and then he lists gifts and insights and revelations that should be the normal part of believers meeting together to be the Church. Prayer, healing, and opportunities for people to encounter Christ for themselves, should be real parts of the gathering or assembling of the Church.

Mostly, in our Western Society, we “go to church” to be piloted through a series of presentations in which we have little or no part at all. This will of course, include singing and prayer, which we may participate in, but often these are limited to a small group of experts whilst the rest join in the “congregational bit”.

Essentially assembling together as congregation in the Book of Acts was an experience which meant interaction between believers and sharing their worship and experience of God together, rather than being led through liturgy no matter how “Charismatic” it may be. Every day wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we are the Church, if we are indeed committed to Him.

This means that the world does not need to “come to church” to “come to this special meeting” to encounter Christ. His church was active in the book of Acts outside its meetings held in homes, halls and adjuncts to the Temple.
Mostly, miraculous healing, confrontations with demonic forces, and soul winning conversations did not happen in a “Church” context but on the street in the daily rhythm of life. Jesus called the disciples from their fishing boats, Zaccheus the tax collector from a tree, and held a soul-winning conversation with Nicodemus in his own lodging after dark!

Yet there were surely gatherings of the Church where people encountered Christ as they saw him reflected in the lives of those who had gathered. Reading most of the “sermons” in Acts we become aware that they were not very inspiring and frequently used scripture out of context. This must account for Paul talking about “the foolishness of preaching” which nevertheless did achieve growth and understanding in the lives of believers.

These times of gathering were not high-powered presentations, given by polished public preachers, but rather times of enjoying and sharing in the life of God in each individual and the corporate group. Someone recently wrote to me “I wish we could simply get back to the Holy Spirit interrupting our meetings with His agenda and not ours”

Getting people to “Come to church” will not be of value unless the church has first come to them in the form of believers who express His love and care and compassion for people, regardless of whether they immediately ”get saved”.

I have a notion that if we can start to be the church, this will actually attract people who will see Christ at work in us and through us. In the church at Antioch it was said that they took note of them that they had been with Jesus”. Don’t lets become “spiritually correct” and fuss about “Going to Church” or “being the Church” but lets realize that there is a real difference in the concept and we need to get back to being and not just going.

Categories: Keith Hazell
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Beware of the Amalekites!

phil | 7:50 pm

“Where are you going?” I was often asked this question, as a child, in the little village where I lived. Usually I answered with conviction “nowhere”, since I had no real direction in my daily meanderings through the paths and woods where I wandered.

In those days it was pretty safe. There were very few child predators in wartime England. Time spent on our own as children was not a thing that put fear in the hearts of our hard working parents. Today, we need a clear ideaof where our kids are, what they are doing, and how long they will be there.
Simply put we live in dangerous times! As children in the natural so also in the spiritual this is a dangerous time for us as believers.

There has been a tendency for Charismatics to be always “on the move” Our churches have been marked by a “cafeteria style” which means “if you cant find what you want here you go somewhere else“.
I have heard amazing stories of believers of 25 years vintage leaving churches because “we are not being fed” In the natural world, a 25 year old would scoff at being hand fed with a spoon! Yet in the spiritual realm their expectation is a life time that never requires any spiritual growth or maturity based on their own seeking after God and reading His Word.

In the Scriptures there is a group of people called the Amalekites. These are also called the “sons of Amalek” and were continually at odds with God’s chosen people looking always to trap them one way or the other.

Deut 25:17-18 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. 18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. (from New International Version)

When we look at this story we see that something was happening here. Israel were on a journey on their way to the land God had prepared for them. They were moving on in the Godly call and direction, but there was a strange thing happening.
Some of the people were losing their place in the marching order. They had started well but were slowly, but surely, losing touch with Moses and the leaders and slipping further and further back in the crowd. They were complaining and making the journey difficult for others as well, with gossip and division marking their regress.

As time went on they were losing sight of the direction of the nation, and they were soon enveloped in a cloud of dust where they suddenly lost orientation and , became vulnerable to the Amalekites who were lurking in the shadows.

The Scripture says we have a similar parallel in our day and time. Scripture says

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (from New International Version)

This tells me that we need to be careful in our behaviour in the Local Church, lest we find ourselves willingly surrendering vision, speaking critically, and becoming a liability instead of an asset to the Kingdom.

This Scripture tells us to “Resist him standing firm in faith”

2 Cor 2:11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes (from New International Version)

There is definitely a plan of the Enemy to deceive many believers now as he did with Israel in the Wilderness, and have them drop out in a cloud of confusion, and become neutralized in their effectiveness in the Kingdom.

Therefore, great care must be taken by those leaving a local church, to ensure that they are not departing without a real sense of the direction and destiny of God. Above all we need a real attitude check to ensure our departure has the purest of motives, and does not spring from pride, rebellion, or a spirit of independence.

Heb 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (from New International Version)

However, there are times in our walk with God when He tells us like He told Abraham that he needed to set out and leave for an unspecified destination. For Abraham and those with him, this was to be the beginning of a journey of faith leading to a destination that they were unable to define.

Many people today, are hearing a distinctive call, as Abraham did. They know they have heard, and may seem to be “abandoning ship” without an inadequate explanation. Yet they have heard from the Lord and are stepping out in the same spirit of faith that Abraham did.

Another good example is when in Acts 13 Paul got a word from the Prophets separating him and Barnabus to a new ministry.

Acts 13:1-4 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.(from New International Version)

The church, and the two of them, were unaware of where their mission would take them, how they would be supported financially, and when and if they would actually return to Antioch.

The preceding thoughts are two sides of one coin. On the one hand there are those who carelessly drop out of their local churches, because of offence, fickleness or care-less-ness. These are not seriously considering the dangers of “falling into the dust” Their moving on is not a result of a sense of mission and forward movement in God, but rather one of inertia, indifference and lack of a sense of being joined or accountable to anyone for anything.

The other side of the matter is that there are some who are moving on without a clear and obvious situation to step into but they do so, without rancor, bitterness, or their own agenda, seeking the permission of their overseers.
Since they are unable to articulate an acceptable explanation, they are often considered, “rebellious” and having a ”bad spirit” by their leaders. This breaches personal relationships that would otherwise be continued profitably for both parties.

It is true that there are those who are falling back in the dust, who lay claim to being treated badly, but they frequently are the cause of their own troubles. Bad attitudes and spiritual naivety are leading people into isolation and often into spiritual deception. The Amalekites are still with us!!
So in the present situation of turmoil, there needs to be a clear headed look at people and their true reasons for the present extreme mobility in the Body of Christ.

Those who are leaving need to go, where possible, with a sense of release and blessing from their local church. For them they need to step out not just drop out . They need to step out to become a catalyst for change rather than a critic for destruction.
At the same time, since there are new things happening all around the Body of Christ. Local churches need to be willing to expand their umbrella and covering to different expressions of the life of God. Fear of innovation and creativity are making some leaders become defensive and threatened in their position in local churches.

Some of those who have vision that goes beyond the present scope of their local church need to look for ways of pursuing this vision with patience, and the co-operation of their leaders, rather than simply abandoning ship. Both parties need to avoid anger and bitterness since this will impede either party from being able to walk in the blessing of God.

If you are moving into something new that you see God doing, don’t take your “chip” or bitterness with you since you will only infect the very thing you are trying to support or initiate.
Sadly, many new things that are being initiated, will be destroyed. They contain a kernel of truth, but the truth is over ridden by the entrenched bitterness of its promoters in relationship to their former spiritual home. Thus the Enemy achieves his goals and the Amalekites strike again.
If we really have something new or renewed from God it will automatically attract others without the need on our part to denigrate something else.

In the natural world we encounter the Butterfly who begins as a caterpillar and then goes in to a hibernation stage in a chrysalis . Then the caterpillar emerges. It comes out as a beautiful butterfly. Whilst the butterfly can never fit back into the chrysalis without breaking its wings, it must honour and respect the provision of God which kept it through a period of change and transition allowing it to be born to its ultimate destiny .

There is a principal in Scripture that teaches us that what happens in the natural realm is paralleled in the spiritual realm. The church ( the company of believers) is going through a time when something new is appearing out of the apparent hibernation and irrelevance of the past season.
There is a butterfly slowly emerging . It cannot be confined by its immediate past , but must recognize with thankfulness that it is springing from something that had the ability to preserve it an release it in due season.

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