Time for a NEW Beginning ... !

These past few weeks have been difficult ones for me personally.  I've become aware of some traits in my life that need dealing with.  I've neglected this blog quite a bit and have been throwing myself 100% into my work - which I adore.  I love working for an employer like Birmingham Children's Hospital and are so grateful for heroes like my CEO and Chief Nurse who have given me opportunities I am so fortunate to have!

But I have contemplated that I have almost allowed my identity to become my work.  It has got to the point where my body has actually physically given up and I have had to have some time off work (which I HATE!).  But I am hoping this time off will be a good thing and will help me to make necessary adjustments and be an even better employee and all-round person.

But what I have noticed with this blog is that virtually since July last year it has almost become entirely devoted to SGM and their problems with C J Mahaney.  This has been a negative issue and one that still seems unresolved.  My interest in it is tied up of course with my very unfortunate experience with them and the fact my family still go.  But it isn't a subject that is going to awake my passion!  I think of heroes like Terry Virgo and Rob Rufus and Ern Baxter who point us to keeping our faith on fire for the Church!

So tonight I brought two Kindle edition books which I am very excited to dip into - "Invading the Impossible" (which I helped the Hong Kong church transcribe) a few years ago and Rob and Ryan's NEWEST book; "Living Grace: How Grace Affects your Whole Life".  It is my hope that this enforced time off work will help me to remember Kingdom truths that used to set me on fire!

Disappointment in not seeing a coming to reality of the things I have (and still) believe in may have quenched the fire of hope.  But I still believe it can be re-inflamed by reading glorious things like these two books!  Here's the book being launched at City Church International;



Here's my favourite quote from Rob's chapter on the "Grace-Hating Spirit";

"People are hesitant to preach a radical Gospel of Grace but have you ever thought how radical the law is?  Those who preach a mixture of law and grace are actually just compromisers.  If you are going to preach the law, do it properly!  The full extent of the law requires you cut off your hand if it is causing you to sin!  When religious zealots fly planes into towers in the name of their gods, they are being absolutely faithful to the law!  Under the law, we should kill anyone who doesn't keep it.  In fact if you read the law properly you will see that if your kids don't keep the law, then you must stone your own children.


The reason why people say grace is radical is because they have never heard the law being taught properly".

Rob and Glenda and Ryan Rufus in Ministry in the Phillipines!!

I was thrilled to see City Church released this video today of their recent ministry trip to the Phillipines - here below. This truly is one of those moments when I ache to be financially free so I could follow and be with these guys as the grace revolution spreads across the planet!

Here's the video and the long version for those interested is also below;

The Filler of Manila, Philippines trip April 2011 (Short Version.) from City Church on Vimeo.

The Filler of Manila, Philippines trip April 2011 (Long Version.) from City Church on Vimeo.

Photos from the Rufus's Visit to the Phillipines!!

One of the benefits of being a far-off fan of the Rob, Glenda, Ryan and Kylie Rufus is the tremendous excitement of seeing their wonderful ministry grow and develop as the grace message gathers momentum around the globe. Of course one of my aching frustrations is that I don't have the resources or a church to bring them back to the United Kingdom!

However thank God for the internet - and the fact we can enjoy and hear the wonderful message from afar. So there has just been a wonderful trip to the Phillipines (while celebrating Glenda's birthday - who I swear does NOT look the age she is!) and I'm looking forward to hearing the ministry.

Here's a few photos from the event - thanks to Glenda;

Session 2 - Grace and Glory Conference Hong Kong - Rob Rufus

This is the 2nd session of the 2010 Glory and Grace Conference held in Hong Kong preached by Rob Rufus - it is the best gospel presentation I have heard on the true effects of preaching and living a gospel-centered life. It unveils the stupidity of trying to bring a "little law" and performance-presentation and mask that as gospel living;

"Looking through the lenses of the Cross"

I want to talk on the wonderful Cross this afternoon. There is so much Scripture we could read but we are going to read just one verse. 1 Corinthians 1:17;

"For Christ did not send me to baptise but to preach the Gospel - not with words of human wisdom - less the Cross of Christ be emptied of it's power".

It is an astounding insight to me that the Cross can be emptied of it's living power! As soon as we rely on human wisdom or intellectual power - we empty the Cross of it's supernatural content. Later in this chapter Paul said that God will frustrate the intelligence of the intelligent.

Intellectual preaching of the Cross is no gospel at all!

Paul said he wanted to know only Christ and Him crucified. Preaching and demonstration of His power so that men's faith would not rely on man's wisdom.

The scandal of the Cross is it's simplicity. The Cross is so simple - it confuses clever people.

Yet the Cross is the wisdom of God. The Cross is profound! The Cross is deep! Yet it is in simplicity - we preach the Cross and we believe on the Cross of Christ. When the Galatian church started leaving the Cross and going into Moses law like many Christians today - for them the Cross is just that baby thing. It is for immature believers. Paul wrote a letter immediately to the Galatians and all his apostolic passion and in the complete absence of political correctness or diplomacy - he said; "You foolish idiots! Who has bewitched you?! Christ was clearly betrayed before your very eyes as crucified!".

I want to ask you unreflecting idiots - does God move among and do miracles because you obey the law or because you believe the message of the Cross?

Paul is making it very clear that when the Cross of Christ is not central to all we preach - the power of God stops moving in the church and through the church!

When we repent of our intellectual arrogance, and understand that the Greeks want great philosophy and the Jews want signs and wonders and the world is divided between those that are brain-centered and those are that are intuitive and feeling-centered - and the answer for that is not to flatter this side or that side but to hold our line boldly and preach the message of the Cross that is foolishness by the arrogance of this world's standards - but it is the wisdom of God.

The wisdom of God is what I want. The wisdom of God and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Bible says that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man. The Cross is the lense that we must look at life through. When you look at principalities and powers through the lense of the Cross - you see them only defeated! You see the devil so small and the ruling spirit over Hong Kong is the Holy Spirit! All others were triumphed over at the Cross! Jesus took no prisoners.

He stripped them all of their authority, disarmed them, when you look at people through the lense of the Cross you see objects of God's love and affection. When you look at sickness through the Cross you see that all things are possible, when you look at the nations through the Cross, you KNOW it is possible to disciple nations! China can be discipled by the gospel of grace! Australia can! Africa can! All the nations will be! There will be cultural changes in government and education through the Cross.

Will all the world obey God? No. Will evil get worse? I don't know it can - but possibly. But this I know - that the greatest sign of the end of the age - the greatest sign of history being summed up at the consummation of the ages is not a temple on the Rock in Jerusalem! It has got nothing to do with "666" or the Anti-Christ! In Matthew 24:14 Jesus said in answer to the question what will be the sign of the end of the age - the gospel will be preached as a sign to all nations and then the end will come!

The greatest sign at the end of the age is a restored gospel of the Kingdom.

You say; "Rob why are you preaching with such intensity - can't you just chill and relax a bit?". No - it is because the Cross does that to my blood. Everything from the Old Covenant has to come through the lenses of the Cross. It changes before it goes into the New! Every church needs to have the lense - the filter of the Cross in place! There are certain night clubs that you cannot get into unless you have something to get in there with. There is a bouncer in the door that won't let you get in.

The Cross is God's defense to protect the Church from the ministry of death!

2 Corinthians 3:7 says the law is a ministry of death!

The law was meant to kill us and crush us and curse us and condemn us and pour wrath on us and stir up more sin in us! How many pastors in their right minds would let THAT into their congregation? Any preaching designed to perform and deserve is preaching the Law!

I don't care if you don't dress up in Levitical priestly clothes and don't say "Moses said ..." - when we preach to believers that we have to earn and deserve the blessing - we are preaching the Law. We heard this morning - preach the gospel of grace and stir believers to respond with faith and the power of the Cross will be released.

The Cross is the bouncer that won't let Old Covenant truths past through the Cross into New Covenant without them being changed.

Circumcision comes to the Cross and praise God - it doesn't get through easily! At the Cross - the bouncer made it irrelevant to have the snip on the tip! They used to snip on the tip and through it away - they never stuck it back on again with glue. Circumcision comes to the Cross and it changes as it comes through into the New Covenant! Now it is not the snip on the tip - it is circumcision of the heart!

Colossians chapter 2 says that old sinful nature which is really a nature of unbelief in the goodness of God - a nature driven to rebellion against God through unbelief in His goodness - that old nature was cut away, circumcised and thrown away - never to be brought back!

The power of the Cross removes the sinful nature from the unbeliever and gives us a new nature which is righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!

A nature that does not want to sin! A nature that is just like Jesus! Identical to Jesus! That is powerful! A watered-down or powerless preaching of the Cross has produced millions of counterfeit conversions.

The Cross produces radical salvations! The curse of the law comes through the Cross and says; "I want to get into the New Covenant!". The Cross says; "No! I cancel you! You will not condemn God's people! You will not manipulate them with guilt! You will not control them with religious demons! It is for freedom that Christ has set you free! Stand free and refuse to submit to a yoke of slavery!".

What is the yoke of slavery Rob? Very simple: it tells us right there in the chapter before. Slavery is bondage from Mount Sinai. Paul goes on in that same chapter of Galatians 5 and says in verse 4 if you Christians already in Christ seek to be justified by the law then you have been alienated from Christ and you have fallen from grace! Grace is infinitely higher than the law because if you go back to law, then it means you have fallen to something low down and it means that someone hasn't been safe-guarding you with the bouncer of the Cross! Or you haven't been safe-guarding your own heart because the Cross and power will never let the law through that has been cancelled theoretically and potentially - there is now therefore NO condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus!

Every Christian should be dancing their way through life with NO condemnation! I just went into a trance there. I just saw multiple millions of believers in Christ dancing their way through life without condemnation! I saw one billion, 400 million Chinese experiencing what is God's heart before time began to hear this gospel and not an inadequate or false gospel mixed with law and grace.

To mix law and grace is to preach NO gospel at all.

For if law can get through the Cross, then it is not the cry of the Cross of Christ that is being preached. Colossians 2:14 said God cancelled the law at the Cross! To preach what has been cancelled - the Holy Spirit will not help you. The Holy Spirit will not help you preach something the Father cancelled at the Cross! The world is under the law - not those in Christ. To preach the law to the believers is to preach with whatever power it is - but it is not God. It is the power of human wisdom emptying the Cross - it is the power of human ability and the power of devils and witchcraft. The Cross is not baby steps towards some maturity.

The Cross is only one step. It is God's one-step programme. We didn't take that one step. God took that step. It was a divine loving step in Christ Jesus through the Cross. In that loving step He came right to us - so all the fullness of Who God is stepped through that Cross towards us totally available to us! And He didn't wait for us to have enough faith to step through the Cross to us. We heard this morning that before we had any faith God absolutely and fully in Christ Jesus stepped towards us through the Cross and everything God is - is with us right now. When God stepped through the Cross in fullness to us - all the heavens were opened.

The height, breadth, depth and length of heaven was open to us believers in Christ!

So when you hear believers today praying these kind of prayers; "Oh God rend the heavens and come down!" - I think God goes; "Eh? I have ripped the veil, I have ripped the heavens and stepped towards you through the Cross - I am here fully!". To say; "God rend the heavens and come down is an insult to the Cross!".

It is not judgement on my condemning anybody. I have been preaching a mixture of law and grace.

But the fact is that the majority of the body of Christ on the planet today is under performance pressure - is a sign to me that the Cross has been emptied of it's power.

Every imaginable idea by God's people - every formula is out there on the market. God stepped through that Cross in Christ Jesus towards us and He took an oath in Isaiah 54. I am paraphrasing it but it is true to Scripture;

"I take an oath that I will never step back away from you through the Cross backwards - in all My fullness I am here with you all the time whether you can feel it or not - I am here! In fullness! With you".

Who hasn't sinned in the last 3 weeks? Not once! Glenda keep your hand down!

God's Presence is as much with you when you fail, mess up or make a mistake or even sin. We do not encourage sin. It is just silly to sin. It is not what our new creation nature wants. But we are all learning to walk this walk. And it is not our sin, our short-comings and our failings that causes Christ to be alienated from us. It is coming back under law.

People said when these great revivals came to the end, it was because there was too much sin. Friends - revival started in times of terrible sinning! Legalistic religion stirs up sinning! It is when people come back into grace that the power of Christ is operating in their lives - that is revival!

And the church would never need another revival if they would just stay in the power of the Cross!

It is like you want to get every pastor on the planet and say "Listen - there is a way for us to stay in the flow of God's Presence and power!". We are taking about 70 leaders away after this conference and we want to learn from each other the wisdom of how to administrate local church in grace. It is like Andrew Wommack said this morning - people get into extremes of both sides. This message of the gospel has to be so protected that local churches flourish in this gospel! We don't want to end up like the Galatians or end up like the Corinthians! People in grace are starting to say - listen I can be undisciplined, I don't need to go to church or read my Bible - just live loose! That is not the Cross!

If your heart doesn't beat with a passion to see the nations saved then you haven't understood grace! If the Bible isn't alive to you then you haven't understood grace! If local church isn't exciting to you then you haven't understood grace!

"But Rob I don't want to go to church that mixes law and grace!". We don't want "Grace Pharisees" who are so judgmental about everything - but if you can't a church that preaches the Cross in power then start one! There are enough of us to come help you! You can be a man or a woman, or any colour, it doesn't matter if you are not a preacher - start one! And if you are not stupid or a grace Pharisee then we will come help you! Anywhere in the world!

God's people have got to be assured of this. It is a one-step programme. There are no backward steps. Galatians 2, Colossians chapter 2 and Ephesians chapter 2, Romans chapter and Romans chapter 8 tells us why God will not step back from you. He is stuck with you even when you mess up and sin sometimes! On that Cross Christ was not crucified by Himself! Jesus said; "Take up your Cross and follow Me". Deny yourself - self-righteousness, religious arrogance, hypocrisy and come to Me those who are heavy laden and I will give you rest for My yoke is easy and My burden is light! Come to Me! And every person on the planet - the Bible says in those verses - we were co-crucified with Christ. We were co-buried with Christ, we were co-raised with Christ! We were co-ascended with Christ! We were co-seated with Christ in the heavenly realms! We are co-equal heirs with Christ!

God cannot go anywhere without you! For Christ to step away from you - He has to step away from Himself! 1st Corinthians 6:17 says;

"But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him".

So everywhere God is - you are there! When your shadow heals the sick, it is no big mystery! When your words carry miracle life and power - it is no mystery! You start this Christian race at the finishing line as a winner.

The spirit of suicide and the spirit of demonic religion is one and the same thing. Religion is occupied with trying to get us to die to ourselves.

"Come on - die to that flesh. Die to yourself!". If we believe that then we are admitting that Jesus didn't really die on the Cross. How can you die to yourself - when you have already been fully crucified with Christ? He fully died on that Cross! And your old sinful nature fully died on that Cross! And you have fully been raised from the dead in Christ! How can you die to yourself? "Rob I have heard Paul say - I die daily". Probably Tuesday morning, God allowing - I want to take Hebrews 5 and Hebrews 6 and in two sessions unpack those two chapters. We are going to hit verses 4, 5 and 6 in Hebrews 6. It says that those who fall away, it is impossible to be restored to repentance. We are going to show how many lies have been preached through not reading Scripture in context.

When Paul said; "I die daily" - he was not contradicting when he said; "I have been crucified with Christ". When Paul said; "I die daily" - he was not talking about his old nature having to be crucified again. The context was persecution for preaching this gospel. It caused him to be lashed many times and rejected by false brothers and imprisoned and go hungry, naked and sleepless. Let me promise you this - if you preach the gospel Paul preached, not in an arrogant way there will be things coming against you and attacking you and THAT is what Paul is talking about. Some days you will feel like you are dying!

For me resurrection is not a doctrine anymore! It is a daily life necessity! All the intense attacks are absolutely worth it to preach this gospel! This gospel is worth it! Come on - let's give the Lord a shout in this place!

Transcripts Go Multi-Lingual!

I began transcribing initially as a personal activity I enjoyed and then began to realise that transcripts could serve a purpose in that some people who didn't have the time to sit and listen to audio sermons could read them. My two favourite preachers and heroes for transcribing are Ern Baxter and Rob Rufus as many know - mainly because of their prophetic commitment to Word and Spirit as well as their passion to see the gospel spread across the nations. I can never fail to listen to a sermon of theirs and come away untouched!

However of course I am aware that there are limitations on how far such published transcripts can go as I am not fluent in languages. Therefore it was a tremendous joy and excitement to me to begin emailing and get to know a fellow Rob Rufus and grace-lover called Bryan. He has very graciously and kindly copied one of my transcripts into German! It is now available here on the Rob Rufus blog that I have neglected for far too long.

The sermon was a monumental series called "Established in the Gift of Righteousness" that Rob preached in Hong Kong last year. It was of such help to me in working and training my mind to rid itself of 29 years of legalism and a series I need to read again and again! So I am so thrilled that German-speaking people can now begin to enjoy this sermon too!

Glory and Grace Conference - Hong Kong - 2010

Following information from Hong Kong:

"The Glory and Grace Conference 2010 is nearly upon us! We are very excited about this time and believe that it's going to be our best conference yet, with strong friendships and alliances being made and deepened; new strength and vigor coming to those who have been pressing forward in this great race, and greater doors of influence and momentum being opened up! I've sent you all the promotional posters and registration link as we would hugely appreciate if you could promote the conference within your sphere's of influence. Please stir people to come and to expect new levels of revelation in grace and insights into the glory of God.

This is the registration link with all relevant information: http://ccihk.com/en/conferences/glory-and-grace-2010

Speakers: Rob Rufus - www.ccihk.com

Andrew Wommack - www.awmi.net

Fini and Isi de Gersigny - www.jubilee.org.au"

Worthy is the Lamb!

I'm writing quite a hard post about suicide and the Christian at the moment - someone I know who loved Jesus Christ but wrestled with depression all their lives took their own life in the last few weeks. I've admitted a couple of times before that I've had suicidal thoughts at times at the depths of feeling depressed. And I'm staggered there is so little encouragement, guidance, or sermons dealing with this - yet many Christian greats dealt with depression including William Cowper (the hymn-writer who actually committed suicide himself) and C H Spurgeon.

But I've been amazed again at the power of Gospel-centered worship for lifting the soul. I felt so incredibly and utterly low yesterday after a hard weekend - and made a deliberate and concerted effort to soak in Spirit-filled worship (particularly Hillsongs and Newfrontiers) and have felt such a breaking of the clouds of darkness! I cannot urge anyone like me who struggles with feeling depressed and maybe even suicidal thoughts - to soak and find and hear and sing to worship songs that are focused and obsessed with the glorious gospel.

Here's my favourite at the moment - "Worthy is the Lamb" from Hillsongs;



"Now ALL I know is Your forgiveness and embrace!".

That is the Biblical fact of our current experience! Why is it that the main course of most Christian depression comes from doubt and fear that God is less than thrilled with them? Or worse is angry with them? The sad fact is that many church leaders actually proudly preach the wrath and anger of God at people who are covered by the blood of the only Son of God? It's a sobering thought that some churches have blood on their hands because they have allowed the lie to continue - rather than preaching the unadulterated gospel of grace.

"The Darling of Heaven crucified!".

I wonder if Jesus hung upon the Cross and saw each and every son and daughter that His blood would redeem flash before His eyes? I wonder if His already broken heart broke just a little bit more at the premature deaths of those redeemed beloved ones who just couldn't quite "get" His love and adoration for them? What a price! Surely that most precious price of all DEMANDS that we fight depression, suicide and any emotion that robs the true wonder of Calvary?

"Thou art worthy!".

Something occured to me yesterday. Most Christians believe and utter the Westminster Confession that the "chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Or of course as John Piper puts it; "Glorify God BY enjoying Him forever". I wonder what happens if Christians do not enjoy God and therefore are not glorifying Him? I wonder what happens if Christians cannot remember the last time they enjoyed God? Does that suggest that actually the reason for living - the chief end of man - has gone and really why continue living?

This is why worship is so key to me and so essential in the battle to win against depression and suicidal thoughts and feelings. Worship lifts our spirits and focuses our attention off ourselves and our struggles and onto God and His love and passion and beauty and Being. Let's never, ever allow ourselves to stop worshipping!

The Best Wine is STILL to Come!!

I'm having a pretty rough time at the moment still believing in the church. I had a few rough emails today that I won't go into right now. But once again I found myself wondering why it seems to me that the world accept and welcome and appreciate and value - but the church seems to disprove, doubt and discourage whereever possible. So how do we react to a feeling like that? I suppose I could wallow in my frustration and disappointment but how would that value the waiting nations who need to hear the gospel?

My take tonight is to remind myself of the glorious church - to re-state the vision! It's something I've done now and again on this blog. And I am so, so grateful to God for heroes of the faith who state it far better than I and who see it far clearer than I. Tonight - C H Spurgeon is my companion, my encouragement, my guide.

1. Preaching a sermon called; "The Feast of the Lord" at New Park Street on November 28th 1858, Spurgeon said;

"There is better wine to come. We are in our privileges superior to patriarchs, and kings, and prophets. God has given us a brighter and a clearer day than they had; theirs was but the twilight of the morning, compared with the noon-day which we enjoy. But think not that we are come to the best wine yet. There are more noble banquets for God's church; and who knoweth how long, ere the best of the precious wine shall be broached? Know ye not that the King of Heaven is coming again upon this earth?".

"Again, he will not give us the best wine first, because that is not his good pleasure ... Again; your Father doth not give you the good wine now, because he is giving you an appetite for it ... Again, the Lord hath this also in view. He is making you fit for the best wine, that he may be glorified by the trial of your faith".

I love Spurgeon's closing remark;

"I have never seen heaven anywhere but close to Calvary. When I have seen my Saviour crucified, then I have seen him glorified; when I have read my name written in his blood, then I have seen afterwards my mansion which he has prepared for me. When I have seen my sins washed away, then I have seen the white robe that I am to wear for ever. Live near to the Saviour, man, and you shall not be very far off heaven. Recollect, after all, it is not far to heaven. It is only one gentle sigh, and we are there. We talk of it as a land very far off, but close it is, and who knows but that the spirits of the just are here to-night? Heaven is close to us; we cannot tell where it is, but this we know, that it is not a far off land. It is so near, that, swifter than thought, we shall be there, emancipated from our care and woe, and blessed for ever".

2. An aspect of the glorious church is vitally and essentially a MILITANT church - preaching a sermon called; "The Vanguard and Rereward of the Church" on December 28th 1858, Spurgeon said;

"Yet nevertheless, the church on earth has, and until the second advent must be, the church militant, the church armed, the church warring, the church conquering".

The reason for our triumphant confidence? Spurgeon says;

"Christ has gone before us, he has done something in that going before, for he has conquered every foe that lies in his way. Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but he has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? he has nailed it to his cross. Dost thou dread death? he has been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? he has barred it against the advent of any of his children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome".

How can we NOT be confident?! Christ has gone before us! The sin that some religious Pharisees may seek to accuse us of has already been gloriously nailed to the Cross!

3. Spurgeon continues the militant glorious theme in his sermon; "Storming the Battlements" preached on September 16th 1855;

But he brings a note of warning first;

"God's church is very fond of building walls which her God has not sanctioned. She is not content to trust in the arm of God, but she will add thereto some extraneous help which God utterly abhors. "Beautiful for situation—the joy of the whole earth—is Mount Zion, upon the sides of the north, the city of the great king. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, even so is God round about his people, from henceforth, for evermore." But his people are not content with God's being round about them, they seek some other protection".

That leaves me feeling encouraged and driven. This is something worth fighting for. The demonic counterfeit - that which pretends to be "grace" but is in fact legalism designed to control and manipulate is worth resisting and is worth fighting. Because the reality is glorious! The reality is wonderful! The reality will sweep the nations and will see thousands come to faith and trust in the Wonderful Saviour who gave His life in love to see many sons come to glory!

Awesome Blessings from Hong Kong!!

Most who know me will know that I tend to go on quite a bit about what I am currently passionate about. Some call it flighty. Others suggest it at least avoids the error of lukewarmness! However on my recent Easter visit back to Bristol my parents commented that I don't talk as much about Hong Kong and City Church as much as I used to. This was true. Last year was a pretty terrible year and part of that was a series of disappointments with Hong Kong that I don't need to go into. But Pete Day and I spoke about this when we met recently and agreed that we CANNOT allow our personal disappointments to stop us from receiving the downloads of glory teaching that come from City Church International and Rob and Ryan Rufus in particular.

So recently I have been working slowly but surely to get back into listening to the sermons and also start transcribing again. And WHAT a blessing it is! I've only transcribed two sermons this year so far - Rob Rufus on; "Imperfect Faith Can STILL Bring You Face to Face with Jesus!" and have just finished today an incredible sermon by Ryan Rufus called; "Activating the Prophetic". It is this sermon I particularly want to draw attention to because I learned so much from it.

Ryan split the sermon between some teaching on the prophetic - and then moved into actually prophesying. He said that it was only in the "demonstration of the prophetic" that more prophetic activity would be birthed. I must confess he had a point - I've heard countless academic sermons on the prophetic by men such as Sam Storms or Wayne Grudem. But hearing someone prophesy is incredibly stirring - that's why I love hearing Terry Virgo or John Groves prophesy so much.

Ryan taught that prophecy brings edification, exhortation and comfort.

"Edify – that is what the prophetic does. “Edify” means “House” and “To build”. Or to “build the house of God”. The prophetic word is to build the house of God. It speaks mainly about the present. Edifying is building up the house of God in the now.

Exhort – which is “one side” and “a calling to”. To exhort someone and come alongside them and is prospective – for the future. To put courage and strength in someone for the future.

Comfort – is the same word as exhort but is in retrospect. For trials experienced and the prophetic can bring comfort to them. It takes away pain and grief and brings explanation and strengthens those people.

The prophetic therefore speaks to the past, present and future".

Essentially the key thing about the prophetic is that when we prophesy the words of God - we are actually speaking CREATIVE words of life! Ryan spoke about how actually vital it is to prophesy over our own lives in private in our secret places - and Rob Rufus (who got up to speak briefly after Ryan) said the same thing - that Rob manages to survive demonic oppression and turmoil by prophesying truth and creative power over his life. I was so challenged - I think in our evangelical desire to be "decent and in order" - we haven't tested the full power of the prophetic gift to it's fullest. Why else would Paul the apostle COMMAND us in the New Testament to desire spiritual gifts ESPECIALLY prophecy?

As I mentioned Rob Rufus got up to speak briefly after Ryan - and ended up prophecying. And while typing and listening - I experienced yet again one of "those" moments when 1 Corinthians 14 was fulfilled and the "secrets of my heart" were exposed. Here's what Rob prophecied;

"I have a word of prophecy for someone here today; you have become cynical and sceptical and you feel it is normal and acceptable because of legalism in your past and the religious church world that you have rejected. You don’t almost feel that church is relevant anymore and so you are sceptical and cynical. And the Lord says in a loving way; “You feel this is okay because the religious world and legalism is so bad that you now can live cynically about church”.

The Lord says; “The reason you are cynical is not because of the religious world – it is because you don’t believe totally the gospel of pure grace. Those that believe the truth are set free by the truth and people who understand that the church of Jesus Christ is very precious to Jesus – even if she’s got problems, even if she’s got the law there still, even if she has bondages – she is PRECIOUS to Jesus”. And the criticism of His church and His body is not the truth and the Lord breaks off you this day – that cynical spirit and releases unto you a spirit of faith to believe the true gospel of grace and to love the body of Christ in ALL the church throughout the WHOLE world!”.

I admit freely I have struggled with cynicism towards the church (and Sovereign Grace Ministries churches in particular) thanks to my experiences in Bristol. But this prophetic word undid me and exposed what I have been doing. I have defended my cynicism and suspicion thanks to that unpleasant experience with those SGM church leaders - but actually the issue is - I DON'T believe the gospel of pure grace properly! The church - the whole church - every part of it (yes including those belonging to C J Mahaney and Mark Driscoll) are part of the beloved Bride of Christ and will be part of the end-time glorious church!

I am so thankful for the true prophetic word that reveals your heart! It does so lovingly and without judgement and truly and definately sets free! I really urge everyone who shares an interest in the prophetic to read this sermon transcript from Ryan.

The Earth is the Lord's!!

The Bible - the very Word of God - is so full of declarations of TRUTH that it staggers me how Christians, the church and I struggle with disbelief, doubt and fear. There is no ambiguity in the Word of God. It just states it. Such as;

"The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and all that dwell in it".

Another favourite Scripture of mine is Numbers 14:21;

" ... but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD".

Pete Day and I have been communicating lots this week - mainly getting excited my discoveries on the "Revival Library" - the Restoration Magazine collection and the Arthur Wallis conference notes. Pete commented on something very interesting - he said;

"I keep getting the sense that there is going to be a wonderful marriage of grace with restoration. Until we heard of Rob we were passionate about restoration, and then restoration took a back seat while I began to hear of grace. And now restoration is coming back into my thinking... but in the context of grace. When the two go together it is divine combustion!!".

This was such a vital comment for me. What is the point of grace unless the object is that the farthest reaches of Planet Earth hear of the glory and wonder of what Christ achieved on the Cross for us? Surely if we keep grace to ourselves then we will become as bad as the early Charismatic Movement days when they saw the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a "personal experience" to be kept private along with their "private prayer language - tongues". Rubbish! This is something to be shouted from the rooftops!

So this article from Ern Baxter is key to be read. It is from the New Wine Magazine - January 1985 and is entitled; "The Earth is the Lords". Read it here!

Here are some quotes from the articles;

"The gospel is destined to be victorious in time, space and history. Jesus Christ will remain in heaven until all things spoken of by the prophets have come to pass".

Victorious! That is a phrase that we don't hear often these days in Christianity and I'm not sure why. It's back to my first statement in this blog - that the Word of God makes statements that have yet to be believed and acted upon. For example the Word of God stated that when Jesus died on the Cross He completely and finally defeated principalities and powers and put them under His feet! Another statement from the Word of God that Ern Baxter actually quoted in his article;

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth".

Ern commented on that verse;

"That means in the United States of America, Jesus Christ has all authority. In the (now ex) Soviet Union, Jesus Christ has all authority. In China Jesus Christ has all authority. It means that there isn't a better gospel coming. There isn't a better Jesus yet to be revealed. It's done! It's finished!".

So as Pete Day said - let's not neglect the glorious array of truths that the Word of God has promised. Grace has come to us in glorious abundance for a reason - that the lost may hear and believe!

A New Vocabulary: "Resilience"

I've been on a fast-tracking learning new terms in my new job preparing for a potential surge in pandemic flu. One of the words that interested me was the term; "Resilience". It means;

" ... the ability of a material to recover from a shock, insult, or disturbance".

You could exchange "material" for "organisation" or even "church". One of the frustrations of my job is planning for something you don't quite know when it will come. I was walking and praying and thinking about my longing for an unsurpassed move of God - for revival itself - and I found God directing my thoughts to my job. To the job of my boss - the "Emergency Resilience Planning Manager". My boss spends his entire working week planning for something that he doesn't quite know when will come. And even IF it will come! Yet he plans and makes the hospital as ready as he can.

And I found God asking me what the "resilience" of the church is like. Are we actually READY for a "disturbance" of heavenly proportions?

My last post was one of Ern Baxter's classic long sermons from the Dales Bible Week 1976. I made a comment that Ern wasn't listened to. He brought a prophetic/apostolic wake-up call to the church - to the Charismatic Movement - and pleaded with them not to rest where they were and enjoy the experiences but take it to a waiting and desperate world. Pastor/teachers went home with their churches and carried on as if life had never changed. And within a decade the Charismatic Movement was on the wane. The effects are still felt today for which we thank God. But the spiritual life and vitality of renewal has all but gone.

One of Ern Baxter's comments during the sermon was this;

"The people that are most vigorously opposed to the newest move of the cloud, are the people who moved with the cloud last. And you may be that people tomorrow".

I've learnt in planning for pandemic flu that there is only so much you can plan for. There are so many policies that you can write. Only so many exercises you can practice. After that - you have to wait for the unknown! I think that's one of the most important lessons that we need to absorb into our planning and preparation and "digging ditches" for any supernatural move of God. That we don't know what's coming. We don't know what God will do. We don't know how God will do it. But we know He IS God and we know He IS amazingly good.

But another point in our planning - is that church history makes it clear that when the church is revived - the nations WILL come. The problem is - I don't think that a lot of churches actually WANT the nations to come. During the Welsh Revival 0f 1900-1902 a lot of drunk miners were saved and I am willing to bet that they didn't change over night. I'm sure they started going to church - a lot of people weren't very happy with the way they were. I wonder how long it was before the church started to try and mold them into becoming "respectable".

THIS is why the grace revolution that men such as Rob Rufus, Bill Johnson and others are teaching is so crucial. Because God isn't satisfied anymore with the lost being saved and being transformed into "religion". Being saved and being transformed into a legalistic poor counterfeit. It makes my blood boil seeing passionate new converts who came into the church so full of fire - and you look at them now and they are "talking the lingo" and buying the required books and quite possibly vying for the pastor's approval and maybe - if they are lucky and related by marriage - a place in the required college of their denomination to get ahead.

What on EARTH has that got to do with the real and glorious Church? "Resilience" means that the church can cope with any disturbance that heaven brings. And I am persuaded that resilience can be taught and learnt from the gospel of true and glorious grace alone - the facts of the matter. That God in Christ Jesus has reconciled us to Himself and has given us the only gift of righteousness we need - His and His alone. Only grace will prepare us for the glory of His coming.

True Godly Greatness!

A quote from Rob Rufus's new book "Invading the Impossible";

"We were never called to be mediocre. We were called to be great men and women of God! The Bible does not call great - "perfect". The Bible reveals great men and women whose imperfections and failures were clearly recorded. I sometimes think "God aren't You ashamed of the things we do?". No! God does not call greatness, "perfection". Men and women's imperfections are recorded but instead of disqualifying them, it instead reveals God's greatness and perfection through them.

Don't measure your greatness by people's responses to you. Some people are so preoccupied with smallness that they cannot even see you are on a journey to greatness. All they see is your history because they are over familiar with you. You have heard God tell you about your greatness! If you haven't, it isn't because He hasn't spoken, because He is speaking to every believer about "greatness" and every - includes YOU!".

Let's do something "great" (as God understands it) today!

A Box FULL of Glory!!

It was a thrill to come home from work today and find the postman had delivered a box full of Rob Rufus's latest book; "Invading the Impossible!" - direct from Hong Kong!

As with Ryan's two books - if you live in the United Kingdom and would like to get hold of one of these three awesome books then please do drop me an email and I would be thrilled to ship one or any of them to you.

The "Invading the Impossible" series was a particularly significant and life-changing series for me. Rob preached it in the early part of 2008 at City Church International and it was put into book format. Rob Rufus deals with these issues in this book:

1. Enjoying the Benefits of the Resurrection Power of Jesus.

2. The Designer's Original.

3. The Revolution has Begun - Overthrowing the Spirit of Control!

4. Lifting the Limitations - a Mirror Mentality vs a Window View.

5. No Regrets!

6. Dealing with Disappointment.

7. Authority to Invade.

8. Invading by Reigning.

9. Let God Impress You - (a powerful prophecy to Rob).

I can't urge you enough! Read this book! Listen to the sermon series! It is dangerous!

How Do You Keep Going In the Darkest Night? Fresh OIL!

This week has been one of "those" weeks again. One of those weeks that my younger sister would say; "I never do things by halves!". I've been called a liar in the troubles at my former place of work, I've had to leave my community job and to top it off my car burst into flames on the motorway while I was going down to see my parents! But then suddenly some really upsetting news put all that into perspective - a couple and their gorgeous son felt they had no option but to take their lives after their paralysed and ventilated son died in hospital. I looked after him when I worked in Bristol and they were the most devoted, caring parents one could meet. He was the most brave, adorable little boy also. What upset me the most was that his parents had a faith in God that their little boy would walk and talk again.

So how do we deal with that? Do we adapt our theology to meet our experience and decide that actually God is unloving, uncaring and deaf to the cries and heartaches of His people? How can we! We know better. I can feel the heartache of God even as I type and I am so glad and know that family are safe in heaven where their little boy IS walking and talking and dancing. My lapse in blogging over the past few days has been deliberate because I don't want to write trite words of empty hope that I don't believe. My heart is aching and breaking. I do wake up during the night sweating from various nightmares linked to this week's events. I'm not going to write a "All things work together for God" ... somehow, someway post - (even though they do) when I don't believe it!

I found a section in one of Rob Rufus's earlier sermons from City Church International and it REALLY makes sense! Especially due to my car problems!

"There are basically five reasons why you need fresh anointing on your life:

1. Because oil evaporates. There's the natural and there's the supernatural but they are parallel in comparison.

2. Oil leaks out through holes. If you have got a hole in a vessel, oil will always find a way out of that hole. Gravity will move it towards that hole and it will leak out through that hole. That hole could be bitterness or it can be self-pity - is where the oil leaks out.

3. Oil loses it's density, it's viscosity. It becomes thinner and the thickness of that oil, the strength of that oil is reduced. There is no longer that heavy anointing on your life. You are no longer concious of that awesome Presence of God because the oil has lost it's viscosity. It loses it's power to lubricate.

4. Oil gets discoloured. It picks up all the dirt. When it's fresh, it is golden and transparent, but then it becomes a dark colour and loses that power to lubricate.

5. Oil begins to stink when it goes rotten. It goes rancid and it is a terrible smell - rotten, rancid oil.

I am constantly amazed at how some Christians haven't blown their brains out, how they haven't just gone into manic deep depression. This is because you cannot function without the supernatural fresh anointing. The Bible says that the anointing heals broken hearts, sets at liberty those who are bruised, opens the prison doors and gives sight to the blind.

The anointing lifts the yoke of heaviness over us and lifts the burdens off our backs and there are people who have accumulated years of burdens and disappointments and deep grief and the anointing, that is meant to keep that off them every day is not there. You are not meant to live today on yesterdays anointing. Sufficient is the grace for every day".

And I think I have my answer. I have been so almightily blessed with so many forums for receiving the anointing of God on my life. "Glory and Grace" in Hong Kong was obviously a complete highlight of my life. But that was two years ago! The "Together on a Mission" 2006 and 2007 conferences were highlights but they were two years ago. Everytime I meet my friend Pete Day we receive awesome downloads of glory but that's only every month or two! It's just not enough.

The oil on my life is leaking, isn't as thick as it should and stinks! But you know what the awesome good news is? The anointing is free! It's available! And all because of marvellous, lavish grace! So my prayer today - as I face the uncertain, unknown future is not to fear some "generational curse" but to pray that I will receive an awesome download of God's anointing power - maybe even while I am at work. I don't need increased anti-depressants, I don't need psychotherapy and I don't need to consider committing suicide. I need the anointing!!

Andrew Wommack!!

I'm always keeping my ears peeled for new heroes of the faith - essentially those who are teaching as near a 100% grace message as possible. During his "Established in the Gift of Righteousness" series Rob Rufus mentioned an "Andrew Wommack" who I hadn't heard of before. But I happened to be on one of my weekly Christian bookshop searches and found one of his books; "The War is Over!". I was massively impressed!

Since then I've brought another book that I am reading at the moment on prayer. Prayer is an area I am really trying to gain a new perspective on. I've done it legalistically most of my life and seen very few answers to prayer. Now is the day to see how it's done through grace! So I am also reading a book on prayer by Bill Johnson's wife Beni called "The Happy Intercessor". Back to Andrew Wommack - he has a very useful and helpful website. The one feature I really like on it is his Bible commentary.

Andrew has worked carefully through verses in the New Testament offering commentary on them from a grace perspective. It is my hope that after time the "Rob Rufus Grace and Glory Bible" will reflect something of this! An example of Andrew's commentary is from Romans 5:13; "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law". He comments;

"Paul said that until the time that the law was given, sin was not imputed unto men. As explained in note 6 at Romans 4:3, p. 762, the most used Greek word for impute is "logizomai" which is an accounting term meaning that God was not entering men's sins in the account book ... Most people have interpreted God's dealings with man after the sin of Adam to be immediate rejection and banishment from His presence. In other words, an immediate imputing of man's sins. However, Paul is stating just the opposite. God was not holding men's sins against them until the time that the law of Moses was given.

With this in mind, it should change the way we think about God's dealings with man between the fall and the giving of the law. Adam and Eve were not driven from the Garden of Eden because God could not stand them in His presence anymore. God's dealings with Adam and Eve and their children in Genesis 4 prove His presence was still with them. The reason He drove them from Eden is clearly stated in Genesis 3:22- 23. It was to keep them from eating of the tree of life and living forever. Instead of this being a punitive act, it was actually an act of mercy. It would have been terrible for man to live forever in a sinful body, subject to all the emotions and diseases that sin brings. God had a better plan through Jesus.

So, for the first 2,000 years after man's fall (approximate time between fall and the giving of the law) God was not holding man's sins against them. That is why Abram was not killed for marrying his half sister and Jacob for marrying his wife's sister (see note 3 at Rom. 4:15, p. 765).

Therefore, we can see that God's immediate reaction to man's sin was mercy and not judgment. It was over 2,000 years before God began to impute man's sins unto them and according to Galatians 3:19 ,23-24, that was only a temporary way of dealing with sin until Jesus could come. Through Jesus, God is once again reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing men's sins unto them (2 Cor. 5:19)".

And that's just an example of one verse from one chapter from one book!

Here are the links to all the books of the New Testament;

Preface

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

It's so exciting to have another awesome resource to help explain and unpack the true glories of the Word of God. There are no verses we need to be "afraid" of anymore - no exegetical fallacies! It's all good and it's all God!

"Glory and Grace Blank Bible" addition!

I had a glorious night last night working transcribing through almost 45 minutes of Rob's; "Being Established In The Gift Of Righteousness". He dealt with a familiar verse to me but in an incredible new light. This re-focus through the gospel of grace is something I am getting used to thanks to Rob and Ryan Rufus's ministry among others! It's a humbling experience for someone like myself who prided myself on being "strong on the Word" coming from a church where the senior pastor was a doctor of theology. I realised that a mixture of Old Covenant and New Covenant teaching actually means you don't understand much of the Word of God at all.

The verse Rob mentioned was Colossians 2:6 and his commentary was perfect to go onto the "Glory and Grace Blank Bible" project that some of us are working on. Here's what he said;

"Paul says just as you received Christ so walk in Him. Or the NIV says just as you received Christ, "live in Him"! How did you receive Christ? Did you have to earn or deserve or keep the law or be good enough? No - you received Him by grace through faith - He declared you righteous. So just as you received Christ - so walk in Him and live in Him.

There is a major theological heresy in this earth that is a very dangerous heresy and is more serious than any other deception in the Church today. It is this idea that there are two types of righteousness. The free gift of righteousness that God gives you and the righteousness that you have to perform after you are saved.

That's not only bad theology - that is confusing because that means that God's righteousness is not good enough. And how can you be established in the gift of righteousness if you don't know where God's gift of righteousness ends and where your performance of righteousness has to begin?

No! The truth of the matter is that the gift of righteousness is the only righteousness that you live by. You receive Christ by the gift of righteousness and you continue to live by grace through faith that "I am the righteousness of God". That gives you the power to change - but you are always righteous and are constantly righteous!".

Reference: Rob Rufus - "Being Established In The Gift Of Righteousness" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 4th January 2009.