90,000 Hits and almost 700 Posts ...

Wow! What can I say? This blog hit 80,000 hits on Wednesday 6th February 2008 and in just over 2 months for some reason 10,000 hits have passed by this site. 10,000! I have never pretended that this blog was promoting my writing, my sermons (because I don't preach) or anything else of mine other than my random thoughts! Like my best friend Pete, I am nervous of self-promotion. "Life on Wings" was started to try and promote the neglected teaching of Dr Ern Baxter (and I hope has been somewhat successful in restoring his name back to the Christian community). But the end of 2007 and the start of 2008 has been extremely special for me. I visited the "Grace and Glory Conference" in Hong Kong and had my life literally turned around because I first encountered the love of God for me as a Father. The FIRST time in my decades as a Christian and Spirit-baptised. I encountered His Presence! And I encountered His power!

So in the grand scheme of things - I really don't care if this blog ever reaches 100,000 hits. I don't care if I am ever seen as a "Christian celebrity blogger" (what's one of those anyway and what do they do!?). I've got no desire to attend a Christian blogger get-together and discuss blogging techniques! But I DO care that each and every reader who comes across this website - yes that means YOU - encounters the Presence and power of God in Jesus Christ. And I mean EVERYONE. I don't just mean my good and dear friends who I am so grateful for and love dearly - such as Pete, Julie and Aaron, Lydia, Jesse, Janelle, Luke Wood, Mark and Steph Heath and of course my ever-faithful rock Scotty! I hope you know my passion for you all to experience the life-changing Presence of God in a manifest encounter that you never forget.

But I also mean people who I have clashed with in my short blogging life such as the angry anonymous person, Eutychus and yes - even my parent's pastors. I realised tonight that in the grand scheme - the eternal vastness of heaven when we stand before the Throne and finally see our Beloved Face to face there will be no room for grudges or for disagreements! And I don't want to have any regrets on that great and awesome day when we can see the glory of God unveiled! I want to be able to run into His arms and feel His intimacy without hindrance and be able to share that with EVERY Christian brother and sister. So my prayer for you (who probably don't even come and visit anymore!) will know His Presence step into the room as you are reading.

I typed this tonight (from Rob Rufus):

"I want to be among a people that love God and His glory more than they love anything else! They want God - they want to know His voice and hear His voice! We live in a generation of people who don't know God and if He walked in they wouldn't know what His Presence is. They never heard His voice once audibly on the inside of them! They don't know the character of God - the nature of God - they are not even friends with God! God is just a concept to them ... Every believer under the New Covenant is meant to hear the voice of God - know God - walk with God - have His Presence in their lives".

And I can't mark the 90,000 hit and the almost-700th post than with a blogging prayer. Hope that's okay! Can one pray in a blog? I hope so. Ah well - I will give it a go anyhow! This prayer is for each and every person who is reading this. I don't know who you are (I don't understand or follow those internet tracking pages with maps). But the Holy Spirit does and I hope that He will apply the faith in my heart to bless YOU!

"Father ... just that word alone is worthy enough of making me stop and worship! That I can call YOU Father?! Father, I touched what it really means to know Your passion and Your love for me as Your son in Hong Kong in that fire tunnel. And it was only a glimpse! But oh what a glimpse! "The greatest thing oh Lord I see - You delight in me!". I've spent so long trying so desperately to impress You and yet stupidly been blind - that I can't impress You! But YOU can most certainly impress me! Father God, I don't know why You got me blogging. I hope my keyboard has been the pen of the ready writer - poised to write what I see. If I didn't then I'm so sorry. But I ask that You would hear my prayer tonight.

I KNOW You'll hear my prayer! Because You sent Your only and beloved Son to die for me! And when He died, His righteousness was imputed to me! Free! By grace! So tonight You have obliterated my sins and I stand in Your courts and Your scepter of grace is extended to me! Wow! Wow oh wow! Such grace demands worship yet again! But the wonder, the awesome truth is that I know this request - this prayer will reach Your ears because You are eager to hear me. Your surprise is that I don't come more often - and again, I am sorry. I have allowed disappointment to make my heart sick rather than taking your "hiding" as an invite to press in deeper into You!

But I am here now! Oh God I am here now and my request isn't small! My request is for a revealing of Your Presence across the planet that You have created! I ask that each and EVERY person who reads these words and is sitting at their keyboards now will know Your sure and certain love for them. NOW! Father will You pour out Your Fire upon them? NOW! Your Word promises so many times that I cannot even count - Your passion to pour out and reveal Yourself so all I am asking is that You will do as You promised! Do more than bless - show Your glory, show Your very Presence to Your dear children sitting and reading this most uneloquent, undeserved prayer.

Why do I ask this God? Oh I have an agenda! I am gripped, I am seized by Your promise that the earth will be covered with Your glory! And I suspect Your intention and Your plan is that when Your Church lifts it's gaze and sees that the light of the glory of Zion has dawned upon it, we will become what You intended us to be! I want to see the glory of Your Presence advance across the globe so that the cry goes up; "Who can extinguish this spreading flame"?! NO-ONE! Maybe an unsaved person is reading this. Maybe with hatred, maybe with apathy, maybe with guilt - for Your law has come and shown them their need of a Saviour. Oh God ... You so loved the world that You gave Your Son! You LOVE the world! Pour out Your love tonight. Show Your people, Your Precious One and Only Begotten, Now Seated and Reigning Son - Jesus Christ!

Do it for Your glory Lord! Reveal Your Presence that Your power may go forth in signs and wonders and miracles! That Your Church will not look to Rob Rufus's or to Terry Virgo's or to Benny Hinn's or to John Piper's or to C J Mahaney's to do the job for us. So that Your Church may realise that we ARE a royal priesthood! A holy nation! A chosen race called! Let Your Church arise King Jesus! And let Your enemies be scattered! Let Your angelic warriors advance forward tonight and bring ministering peace to the broken, healing to the sick, miracles to the hopeless and salvation to the lost!".

Again ... thank you for coming - for reading - for disagreeing when you do because you make me think. Thank you! Oh may His Presence fall on you tonight! (Or this morning if you are across time zones!). May He come! May He visit you! May His face shine upon you! Like Rob Rufus said in this sermon I am transcribing: "I am so desperate for God's glory!". We may have differing theologies but let our passion be united - a desperation for His glory!