Friday, 31 July 2009
A Golden Opportunity
What a world we live in !! What a desperate state of affairs we are building for our children to inherit. What a failure for us – what a victory for Satan !! People throughout the world are turning to look at the great faiths of the world – desperate to see something better than they see in the world at the moment.
We are living in an increasingly desperate world - a world desperate for something better - a world desperate to hear from God. Amos 8:11 "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land - not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.”
The world is getting ever more desperate for ‘something better’. They have looked at the world – particularly their own world – and they have seen how shallow, how false so much of it really is. People are beginning to realise that they must seek out that ‘something better’ – whatever it is.
The time that the prophet Amos spoke of is here – now. It is a present reality. We are now living in the days of desperation so eloquently spoken about by Amos. So what on earth is the Church doing about it ?
How the devil must laugh as we preach the world rather than preaching the Gospel or teaching from the Word. Jesus said "Feed My Sheep". Who are His sheep? I think that every human being can be one of His sheep – but we are feeding only those sheep already inside the sheep-fold. We are not spreading the Gospel outside the comfort of our sheep-fold.
And what Gospel do we preach in these days of such desperation? Have we watered down the Gospel? We don’t hear much about sin, about grace, about repenting and dying daily to self so He can be seen more clearly through us – at least not in most churches and most pulpits. If there's no gospel message of sin, grace, repentance, and salvation there is nothing at all and we fail those who need to hear the Gospel message.
We hear much about the prosperity Gospel. The prosperity gospel is, in my opinion, really "the ear-ticklers gospel" (2 Tim 4:3-4 ) - it’s what the audience wants to hear rather than what’s truthful. The Prosperity Gospel is also false, worldly teaching by those who would twist Gods Word to their own ends and profit via emotional blackmail.
Oh - As we sit in our smug self-satisfied 'sanctified' complacency the Lord must weep over our luke-warmness. Send us a fresh injection Your Holy Spirit and Fire Lord. The Lord weeps over our lack of faith and our lack of belief in His Word. Not theology, nor liturgy, nor what we think the Word of God says – but what it actually says – in context and as it is supposed to apply to our lives. The trouble is that, not only have we watered down the Gospel, we have also seen fit to omit huge important chunks of it from our teaching. We think that an hour spent listening to a preacher talk about Jesus followed by two minutes spent saying the so-called ‘Sinners Prayer, and that’s it – we’re saved. Where is the life change? Where is the broken, true repentance? Where is the full gospel message of sin, grace, repentance, and salvation?
Brothers and Sisters, we are living at a time when God in His great mercy and love has given us a golden opportunity to spread His real Gospel throughout the world. We’ve had one (poor) model already – at Lakeland, Florida in 2008. That we wasted most of that opportunity was down to our own sin alone. Ignore what happened among the leadership – look at the effects around the world during that time of revival. We had the technology and we used it. Media, TV, Internet – all combined to take news of what was happening in Lakeland right round the world – to virtually every nation – as it was happening. The anointing in the meetings was transmitted over the airwaves and through our computers and TV sets into every home open to watch what was happening.
If we could only learn. People this is what it’s all about - LESS of us, more of HIM. If we would only stand back, let go, and let God do things through us, despite us and because of us - because He loves us so much. Whatever we think, His way is ALWAYS best and we must learn to let Him do things. This is the Golden Opportunity for us to make ourselves available to God the Holy Spirit so that He can use us to present the Gospel His way. He leads us into ALL truth so let Him lead us into sharing His wonderful and glorious gospel – the ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven Gospel. NOT the “sign here and you’re saved” Gospel but His saving, redeeming gospel of Salvation through the glorious Blood of Jesus Christ.
AMEN?
CGB 31 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Persecution in the West
There is a great persecution coming to the Western Church. A short while ago I gave a word that mentions persecution coming to the West. Since that time, I believe the Lord has been showing me more about this fast approaching end-time event – in fact its upon us now!
The (Western) world has finally got so sick and tired of the Church’s hypocrisy, its political meddling, its greed, and quite frankly its own sin, that they have turned on us. As Steve Gray spoke in his book, “Strike the Match” (p53)
“When the followers of God are not all that different from those who don’t follow Him, what is there attract the non-believer? When we are a powerless, unethical people in opposition to the standards of God, how do we hope to spur anyone to salvation? It is hard to convey the hypocrisy, self-indulgence, and greed that are engulfing our churches as worthwhile adverts for Jesus.”
That is not quite an exact quote as I have changed a word here and there for clarity. What truth and wisdom in those words. Steve Gray has not been alone in revealing this but, like all the rest, he has been roundly shunned and ignored by the great majority. Alas, the Church has not heeded these words in the slightest and the world has finally said “Enough is enough – the church has had its say, and yet the Church has never once followed its own preaching.” Why do you think so many people turned towards other religions or no religion at all. Why do you think those other religions, Islam in particular, have grown at such an alarming rate. Why do you think that their, still very much minority, voices are being given so much freedom? Could it be – could it just possibly be, that the Lord has allowed this so as to start the shaking He has promised??
I believe that the Lord has been showing me that there is coming a persecution to the Church of Europe and America, and to individual Christians. It will be of such magnitude that we will discover first hand what it was like to live under a repressive regime like the old Stalinism or Mao-ism. Christians in Europe and, particularly, America will be imprisoned for their faith. They will be publicly reviled for their religion and for their support of Israel. Many many thousands will flee Christianity as it becomes, to them, a stumbling block. As it was said by Paul in scripture :-
Romans 9:31-33 (NIV)” Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
These statements referred to the prophecy in Isaiah
Isaiah 8:14; “... but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
Yet there is hope for later in Isaiah it says -
Isaiah 28:16 “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”
It is my belief that there is a truth here that we have long tried to ignore simply because we don’t like the sound of it. Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God, He is not only our Lord and Saviour, He is not only the one who died for our sins that if we believe in Him we might have eternal life. Like it or not, Jesus Christ is also the stumbling block that will cause us to be persecuted , beaten, put in prison, humiliated, humbled before all men – in almost exactly the same way as the first church did 2000 years ago.
So why does scripture also say that the one who trusts in Him will never be shamed nor dismayed? We will never be shamed nor dismayed before God !! His Grace always was, still is, and always will be sufficient for us. He always was, still is, and always will be the way the truth and the life. No matter what persecution we may suffer in the days ahead, we will, like many before us, bear it with faith intact, we will bear it with dignity, and we will bear it for His sake and we will NOT be shamed nor dismayed before the throne of God. He will acknowledge us and be our fortress, our strong tower, our peace, and our all in all.
And this is our hope, that in whatever the coming persecution throws at us we may :- “Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 NKJV
One last thing for you to consider – I believe the Lord is saying that this is NOT the great tribulation spoken of in the Bible – this is going to happen before those days.
CGB 25 July 2009
The (Western) world has finally got so sick and tired of the Church’s hypocrisy, its political meddling, its greed, and quite frankly its own sin, that they have turned on us. As Steve Gray spoke in his book, “Strike the Match” (p53)
“When the followers of God are not all that different from those who don’t follow Him, what is there attract the non-believer? When we are a powerless, unethical people in opposition to the standards of God, how do we hope to spur anyone to salvation? It is hard to convey the hypocrisy, self-indulgence, and greed that are engulfing our churches as worthwhile adverts for Jesus.”
That is not quite an exact quote as I have changed a word here and there for clarity. What truth and wisdom in those words. Steve Gray has not been alone in revealing this but, like all the rest, he has been roundly shunned and ignored by the great majority. Alas, the Church has not heeded these words in the slightest and the world has finally said “Enough is enough – the church has had its say, and yet the Church has never once followed its own preaching.” Why do you think so many people turned towards other religions or no religion at all. Why do you think those other religions, Islam in particular, have grown at such an alarming rate. Why do you think that their, still very much minority, voices are being given so much freedom? Could it be – could it just possibly be, that the Lord has allowed this so as to start the shaking He has promised??
I believe that the Lord has been showing me that there is coming a persecution to the Church of Europe and America, and to individual Christians. It will be of such magnitude that we will discover first hand what it was like to live under a repressive regime like the old Stalinism or Mao-ism. Christians in Europe and, particularly, America will be imprisoned for their faith. They will be publicly reviled for their religion and for their support of Israel. Many many thousands will flee Christianity as it becomes, to them, a stumbling block. As it was said by Paul in scripture :-
Romans 9:31-33 (NIV)” Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
These statements referred to the prophecy in Isaiah
Isaiah 8:14; “... but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
Yet there is hope for later in Isaiah it says -
Isaiah 28:16 “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”
It is my belief that there is a truth here that we have long tried to ignore simply because we don’t like the sound of it. Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God, He is not only our Lord and Saviour, He is not only the one who died for our sins that if we believe in Him we might have eternal life. Like it or not, Jesus Christ is also the stumbling block that will cause us to be persecuted , beaten, put in prison, humiliated, humbled before all men – in almost exactly the same way as the first church did 2000 years ago.
So why does scripture also say that the one who trusts in Him will never be shamed nor dismayed? We will never be shamed nor dismayed before God !! His Grace always was, still is, and always will be sufficient for us. He always was, still is, and always will be the way the truth and the life. No matter what persecution we may suffer in the days ahead, we will, like many before us, bear it with faith intact, we will bear it with dignity, and we will bear it for His sake and we will NOT be shamed nor dismayed before the throne of God. He will acknowledge us and be our fortress, our strong tower, our peace, and our all in all.
And this is our hope, that in whatever the coming persecution throws at us we may :- “Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 NKJV
One last thing for you to consider – I believe the Lord is saying that this is NOT the great tribulation spoken of in the Bible – this is going to happen before those days.
CGB 25 July 2009
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
A Word from the Lord - Revival In America
Revival In America
I see the Glory Cloud coming to small town America. Not the great big ministries but the smaller ones who are pleading for a touch from God. I see a grass roots revival from small churches everywhere - starting in the North West and spreading all over. Holy Spirit led revival \o/
I see the Glory Cloud descending in your meetings and not one person is still standing. As with the priests when Solomon dedicated the temple, they could not stand in the Presence of the Lord.
1 Kings 8:10-11 " When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. "
Amos 8:11"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.”
These days are here right now and the Lord is listening for the fervent prayers of a righteous man.
James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Then He will listen to your prayers, He will hear when you call upon Him; and He will heal your land.
2 Chronicles 7:13-15 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”
Listen – Do you hear the sound of rain approaching?
Look - Do you see a cloud the size of a man’s hand? Look SEVEN times.
I see a very dry place where the wind suddenly starts to blow. Very little at first, but it builds and builds until it’s a storm force wind bringing the fresh rain of revival – not as a spring shower but as a mighty torrent. And with revival is coming the very presence of the Lord God Almighty and no man shall stand in that presence. You shall not cry out for healing – it will just happen. You shall not pray for the unsaved – they shall walk in off the street – convicted of their sin before they know what is happening. You shall not ask for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – it will happen to anyone and everyone.
Joel 2:28-32The Day of the LORD"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; “
So – Are you ready. The Lord God Almighty is ready to start right now.
He is coming – He is coming – He is coming.
Get ready – Be ready. He will not wait for you but He will find those who are ready; who are prepared for His coming; who are desperate for a touch from His Holy Spirit.
Chris Bennett, RoFMI, 7 April 2009
How NOT to get Baptised in the Holy Spirit !!
My testimony of Holy Spirit Baptism is quite amazing.
I came to salvation in Dec 2nd 1962. Then, I ran away from God for 25 yrs 62-87 approx. In 1987 I started work in a town about 30 miles away. While there and during my lunch break, I met a now very good friend in the local Christian book shop. He welcomed me and offered me coffee - anyone who does that is a friend for life !! So we started to talk about things of Christianity and we had noticed a thing called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which neither of us new a thing about. So we made a pact to study it as best we could and eventually, my friend came up with some meetings on Tuesday nights at a place about 20 more miles away.
It was called Roffey Place and was a Christian ministry run by a quite famous British priest and author, Colin Urquhart. (Doubt you've ever heard of him) Roffey had just started running a course on the Baptism so we joined quickly and eventually we both went forward for prayer to receive it.
Nothing happened. Not a thing. Zilch !!!
Colin's wife Diane prayed for me and she said, "Chris, you have received it. You just have to pick it up!!" Well I had no idea how to 'pick it up' but I prayed and I prayed. Still nothing !! About 7 or 8 months went past and I was driving to work one day when I prayed again for God to show me how to 'pick it up'.
I suddenly sensed the Lord say to me, 'OK, pull the car over.' At this point you need to understand that I was driving a very narrow country road with no room to accommodate parked cars, nowhere to park safely, and lots of traffic - just room for two lanes of cars - one in each direction.
"I cant, Lord. there's nowhere to stop."
"Pull over"
"Cant."
"Pull over."
"Cant"
And so, somewhat disappointed, I drove on to my destination knowing I had lost an opportunity. Next morning, the same thing happened.
"Lord, help me receive this baptism. PLEASE."
"Pull over."
"I cant, Lord. there's nowhere to stop."
"Pull over"
"Cant."
"Pull over."
"Cant"
"Lord - do I have to stop. Cant you just do it?"
Don't you love naive and foolish questions???
BANG !!
The Lord took me at my word and baptised me there and then. I was doing about 50mph at the time.
I was all over the place. I was shouting, singing, praising Him in other tongues. Speaking in English. Speaking in my new tongue. Speaking in English. Speaking in my new tongue again. Backwards and forwards - in a totally joyous party for 2 - Holy Spirit and ME - and the car was still doing 50mph.
Do you know - the next time I knew what was happening, I had pulled up in our work car park and put the handbrake on. I have no idea how or when I got there. I only know I arrived safely with no knowledge whatsoever of 40 minutes of driving through country lanes and villages. The Holy Spirit drove that car - I didn't know what day it was let alone have the nouse to drive a car properly.
That lunch time I went to the Christian Bookshop to meet my friend. He took one look at me - poured out coffee and closed the shop ! "OK," he said, "Its happened. I know that because your face is shining like gold. Tell me about it."
And that is how I came into the baptism of the Holy Spirit in July 1989. Isn't God wonderful. Hasn't He got a great sense of humour. He must have laughed at me that day - as well as taking joy and pleasure in fulfilling my hearts desire. What a wonderful God we serve.
Amen??
© Chris Bennett 2009
I came to salvation in Dec 2nd 1962. Then, I ran away from God for 25 yrs 62-87 approx. In 1987 I started work in a town about 30 miles away. While there and during my lunch break, I met a now very good friend in the local Christian book shop. He welcomed me and offered me coffee - anyone who does that is a friend for life !! So we started to talk about things of Christianity and we had noticed a thing called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which neither of us new a thing about. So we made a pact to study it as best we could and eventually, my friend came up with some meetings on Tuesday nights at a place about 20 more miles away.
It was called Roffey Place and was a Christian ministry run by a quite famous British priest and author, Colin Urquhart. (Doubt you've ever heard of him) Roffey had just started running a course on the Baptism so we joined quickly and eventually we both went forward for prayer to receive it.
Nothing happened. Not a thing. Zilch !!!
Colin's wife Diane prayed for me and she said, "Chris, you have received it. You just have to pick it up!!" Well I had no idea how to 'pick it up' but I prayed and I prayed. Still nothing !! About 7 or 8 months went past and I was driving to work one day when I prayed again for God to show me how to 'pick it up'.
I suddenly sensed the Lord say to me, 'OK, pull the car over.' At this point you need to understand that I was driving a very narrow country road with no room to accommodate parked cars, nowhere to park safely, and lots of traffic - just room for two lanes of cars - one in each direction.
"I cant, Lord. there's nowhere to stop."
"Pull over"
"Cant."
"Pull over."
"Cant"
And so, somewhat disappointed, I drove on to my destination knowing I had lost an opportunity. Next morning, the same thing happened.
"Lord, help me receive this baptism. PLEASE."
"Pull over."
"I cant, Lord. there's nowhere to stop."
"Pull over"
"Cant."
"Pull over."
"Cant"
"Lord - do I have to stop. Cant you just do it?"
Don't you love naive and foolish questions???
BANG !!
The Lord took me at my word and baptised me there and then. I was doing about 50mph at the time.
I was all over the place. I was shouting, singing, praising Him in other tongues. Speaking in English. Speaking in my new tongue. Speaking in English. Speaking in my new tongue again. Backwards and forwards - in a totally joyous party for 2 - Holy Spirit and ME - and the car was still doing 50mph.
Do you know - the next time I knew what was happening, I had pulled up in our work car park and put the handbrake on. I have no idea how or when I got there. I only know I arrived safely with no knowledge whatsoever of 40 minutes of driving through country lanes and villages. The Holy Spirit drove that car - I didn't know what day it was let alone have the nouse to drive a car properly.
That lunch time I went to the Christian Bookshop to meet my friend. He took one look at me - poured out coffee and closed the shop ! "OK," he said, "Its happened. I know that because your face is shining like gold. Tell me about it."
And that is how I came into the baptism of the Holy Spirit in July 1989. Isn't God wonderful. Hasn't He got a great sense of humour. He must have laughed at me that day - as well as taking joy and pleasure in fulfilling my hearts desire. What a wonderful God we serve.
Amen??
© Chris Bennett 2009
Thursday, 9 July 2009
The Shaking
A Prophesy for the Church for the End-Times
Vision & Word - Wednesday evening 8th July 2009 around 10p.m.
I became aware of masonry and bricks falling all around me. I asked the Lord what was happening and He said, “Its My shaking.” He went on to show me that the coming shaking will be to the church and it will be bigger than 9/11 – of greater impact. But it will be a self-inflicted wound. Three ‘huge’ ministries (well known on TV) will fall along with hundreds of others. Millions of dollars will simply disappear leaving an enormous financial scandal.
It will be God shaking His people preparing the Bride for His Son. God will be clearing out the bad and keeping the good. Pruning the dead branches and throwing them on the fire. The aftermath will be a meltdown of the great denominations as they struggle to retain their wealth but they will lose 60% of all their wealth – land, property, and much of their historic artefacts. It will just disappear.
There will be a consequential rise in atheism and some persecution of the church and Christians in Western countries while the African and Asian church will make enormous strides forward. God will shake and destroy much in the Western Church of Europe and North America but He will prosper those of Africa and Asia. He is making His church HOLY.
The shaking will last for a season then the New Church will rise. Later, revival will begin – small at first but growing and growing into fully-fledged world-wide end-times revival as prophesied in the Word of God.
Am I a voice in the wilderness? Am I calling in vain for the Church to repent of its ways. Its denominations, its greed and hypocrisy. The Shepherds are those under greatest danger. Hear the Word of Ezekiel :-
Ezekiel 34;1-16
The word of the LORD came to me: " . . . . . Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? . . . . You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. " . . . . . . . This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. . . . . I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak . . . . .”
Also those who ‘tickle the ears of those they speak to – who say that which those fickle people – who just want to hear nice comforting words, who shy away from truth and hard words from the Lord.
Then there is the flock and they will fare little better than the shepherds. They need to repent too. Hear what the Word says about them :-
Ezekiel 34:17-24
" 'As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. . . . Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? . . . See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. . . . I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. . I the LORD have spoken.”
Of the African & Asian churches who will begin to prosper during this season however the Lord says this :-
Ezekiel 34:25-31
" 'I will make a covenant of peace with them . . . . I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. . . . The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD,. . . . . . They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. . . . Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they . . . are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. . . . You my sheep . . . and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
Who will listen? Who will repent of their ways before the Lord shakes you to the ground? Am I a lone voice – a voice in the wilderness? I think I probably am for who will listen to an unknown prophet crying out to the Lord for His people. I do not tickle their ears as they want.
2 Tim 4:3-4
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
CGB 9 July 2009
Sunday, 5 July 2009
21st Century Presence of God
Well here we are again Lord. I know you have something to say and I am listening.
The few comments I have received for this blog have been so encouraging but the overwhelming feedback I am getting is from the Lord and He started to speak to me about His presence when I was responding to one of those comments.
The manifest presence of God is a tangible thing because the Glory Cloud of His Presence is not only tangible but visible too. It is tangible in the sense that, as in the days of Moses, when we come into His presence, we too cannot stand; we too need a rope tied around us to pull us out; but we will not die in His presence as the High Priest did in those olden days. This is because of what Jesus won for us on Calvary.
On Calvary, Jesus conquered death. On Calvary Jesus redeemed us from sin. On Calvary Jesus paid the price for everything we have ever done or will ever do in order to bring us back into the manifest presence of God the Father. Calvary was the price for us to come back into Gods presence – nothing else could have done it for us. So when we praise and worship Him today or any day, we would do well to remember what it cost to bring us to this point.
But the Lord is not satisfied with us just coming into His presence and we should not be satisfied either because there is more to come – more of Himself that He wants to share with us. More for us to experience of Him. He wants more in that we have very rarely actually seen the Cloud of His presence as did Moses and the Children of Israel. He wants us to actually inhabit that cloud – just as He inhabits that cloud. Wow – what an amazing thought. To be in the very presence of the Lord God Almighty – on such Holy ground. He wants such intimacy with us as did the 1st Century Church. He wants for us what very few people have ever experienced. He wants to walk amongst us and talk with us as He did in the garden of Eden except that we cannot see Him. Or maybe we will – who knows except God Himself?
Can you even begin to imagine such a situation? I mean, there you are, middle of praise and worship, and suddenly – oh wow. First thing is that you feel the tangible presence. You carry on with your worship and the Glory Cloud becomes visible. Such is this presence that the ONLY thing we can do is to carry on worshiping Him – giving ourselves wholly over to praising and worshiping God – when suddenly He is actually standing in our midst in such a way as we cannot even dream about right now. He is talking to us individually – one on one. Every person present is totally healed of everything because sickness cannot abide in His presence. Down, down – on your faces. You cannot stand in His presence. Shoes OFF – this is Holy Ground. Nothing but the wonderful peace and presence of God. We are being made Holy in His sight just by His presence – despite our sinful natures.
THIS is what the Lord God Almighty wants for us mere mortals. This is what He wants for His children. This is where He wants to take us in the 21st Century Church. I see people running into that presence, drawn in by it, knocked down by it as they fall under the anointing, healed as they enter, saved and baptised in the Spirit in a moment. Changed for ever and ever.
It can be like this. It will be like this one day soon. Amen Lord – Let it be as you have shown us. Your Kingdom come – Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen Hallelujah.
© Chris Bennett 2009
Saturday, 4 July 2009
21st Century Liturgical Correctness
Wow – I feel like the Lord has been running back and forth over me with a large Mac truck. He is speaking so much to me about 21st Century Church. I started typing a short message on my computer and Blammo – there He was again saying, “Can I say something here please?” Oh boy – here we go then –
There is a new sin overtaking the Church - it is called Liturgical Correctness. Rather like Political Correctness, it is aimed at dumbing down church by taking all the spontaneity out of our services. But this is rather more than just another step in the decline of the Church – rather it is specifically a Pharisaic spirit which contends that we do things ‘decently and in order’. The really dangerous thing here is that this is quite Biblical. 1 Corinthians 14:40 “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
I remember as a kid going to both Sunday School and to Church where everything was done ‘decently and in order’ – A hymn, a prayer, a reading, a prayer, another hymn, the sermon, another prayer, final hymn, final prayer, the blessing, GO HOME. The real trouble with this was that there was absolutely no room for the Holy Spirit to move in those meetings (there still isn’t) and as a consequence the meetings were dry and lifeless. There’s an old joke where the punch line has God laughing and saying, “Man I’ve been trying to get into that church for years!” But it wasn’t much of a joke because it was too true to be funny.
“Everything done in a fitting and orderly way.” OK – someone please define ‘fitting and orderly way’ ?? There is nowhere in scripture which defines ‘fitting and orderly way’. Sure, there are passages that speak of two or three bringing messages in tongues – with interpretation. We can prophesy, we can bring words, we can do all sorts of things – but in what sequence and why does it all have to be done in the same sequence every week. The Church, in the days of yore (centuries back), decided to lay down rules for services – they called it Liturgy. And liturgy seemed good to us for very many years – it was what church was – past tense – WAS. And it was good – you could go into a new church and you’d know what was happening because of where you were on the hymn list or what prayer was being said. Catholicism went a step or two further by insisting that their services all over the world were held in Latin so you would go anywhere and understand exactly what was going on. And it seemed good to us. Nowadays, there are still very many who will not let go of their beloved liturgy.
Liturgical correctness has infiltrated our planning, our very thinking, and it is STILL stopping the Holy Spirit in His tracks. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman – where He is not wanted or not invited or baulked by our ‘liturgy’ – He withdraws. It was not always so. In the 1st Century Church, we are told in Acts 4 that, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Emphasis mine) Let me ask you – when was the last time the power of the Holy Spirit shook the place where your church was meeting?
So, please, let us stop being Liturgically Correct. Let us give our meetings over to the Holy Spirit completely. Let us return to whatever seems the best way of holding 1st Century meetings in the 21st Century. Yes we praise and worship together for God inhabits the praises of His people. Yes we pray together. Yes we have prophecy and testimony for the edification and encouragement of all. But there is a sense that says – who cares what sequence EXCEPT that I believe P&W must always start us off because P&W brings the manifest presence of God – the Cloud of His Glory. After that comes in, who knows what may happen? And to quote a well known sports commentator – “And quite honestly - who cares!”
© Chris Bennett 2009
Friday, 3 July 2009
21st Century Praise & Worship
A friend just remarked about praise & worship (for which she is the keyboarder) “I'm always in awe of how God's presence shows up. That is the true joy and honour.” To which I replied “Amen - Always amazes me too but it really shouldn't. Where 2 or 3 are gathered etc. He's already there we should expect Him” It’s at moments like this that I almost inevitably spot a little flag waving in my mind’s eye. Its God, of course, saying, “Excuse me please, Can I have a wee word about that?” Last time He did this I was up til after 1 a.m. typing His and my collected or inspired thoughts down. Why do people wait til its late to send me messages like this??
Well, the Word does say that “where 2 or 3 are gathered in My Name, there shall I be also.” Yet so often our expectations seem to reflect our faith levels and we really don’t expect Him to “show up” or “put in an appearance”. SO much so that when His presence does manifest itself in any way, we always seem to be utterly gobsmacked – that’s colloquial English for amazed.
My trouble is that, as a ‘sometime prophet’ (as my on line bio reads), I see many things in visions from the Lord. Increasingly of late I have been seeing the golden Glory Cloud of His presence over meetings, over churches, over towns. (Not yet seen it over a nation but it’s coming.) It is truly amazing to behold and it carries power even in a vision – so much so that I frequently sit down before I fall down. It’s almost Old Testament in the way I cannot stand in His presence – even in a vision !!
So what is it about our level of faith or our level of expectation? Why do we regard our churches, our meetings, even our own lives in such low esteem that we do not expect anything special from our loving God. He is always in our meetings, whether we realise it or not – His Word promises that much. I believe our trouble is that we have ignored Him or suppressed Him for so long that even He may be surprised to be allowed to manifest His presence among us. The Holy Spirit absolutely delights in making His presence known among us. When someone is leading or just joining in a song and their face shines – THAT is the Holy Spirit trying to say hello to the rest of us. Yet we ignore Him because we have little or no expectation of His divine presence. That is just so incredibly sad.
So what’s to do? I suggest we increase our expectation levels because we KNOW He is already among us when we start our meeting – where 2 or 3 etc. I suggest we acknowledge this in our hearts and give ourselves to praise and worship in a new more whole hearted way. EXPECT the Lord to manifest His presence and when this happens DONT QUASH Him – you will grieve the Spirit and He will leave you alone again immediately. Let us RAISE our Faith levels to a new heightened expectation of the manifest presence of God. Expect to even SEE the Glory Cloud of His Presence in your meetings – but don’t expect to stay on your feet for long. You will be on Holy Ground!! It might not be a bad idea to show your expectation by taking your shoes OFF before you start. This may well say to the Lord that you are acknowledging His presence among you and that you are indeed on Holy Ground.
When the anointing and the presence comes – it will be a whole new ball-game from that moment on. Your praise and worship will never be the same again. All because you lifted your faith and raised your expectation levels a little bit. God will raise them much higher when He “shows up” and WOW – I see it already – your faith will rise exponentially. Your expectation levels will hit unprecedented heights. His presence will bring passers by in off the streets and they will fall in the anointing because, like us and like the priests and Levites before us, they will not be able to stand in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. Amen – let it be so Lord. \o/
© Chris Bennett 2009
Well, the Word does say that “where 2 or 3 are gathered in My Name, there shall I be also.” Yet so often our expectations seem to reflect our faith levels and we really don’t expect Him to “show up” or “put in an appearance”. SO much so that when His presence does manifest itself in any way, we always seem to be utterly gobsmacked – that’s colloquial English for amazed.
My trouble is that, as a ‘sometime prophet’ (as my on line bio reads), I see many things in visions from the Lord. Increasingly of late I have been seeing the golden Glory Cloud of His presence over meetings, over churches, over towns. (Not yet seen it over a nation but it’s coming.) It is truly amazing to behold and it carries power even in a vision – so much so that I frequently sit down before I fall down. It’s almost Old Testament in the way I cannot stand in His presence – even in a vision !!
So what is it about our level of faith or our level of expectation? Why do we regard our churches, our meetings, even our own lives in such low esteem that we do not expect anything special from our loving God. He is always in our meetings, whether we realise it or not – His Word promises that much. I believe our trouble is that we have ignored Him or suppressed Him for so long that even He may be surprised to be allowed to manifest His presence among us. The Holy Spirit absolutely delights in making His presence known among us. When someone is leading or just joining in a song and their face shines – THAT is the Holy Spirit trying to say hello to the rest of us. Yet we ignore Him because we have little or no expectation of His divine presence. That is just so incredibly sad.
So what’s to do? I suggest we increase our expectation levels because we KNOW He is already among us when we start our meeting – where 2 or 3 etc. I suggest we acknowledge this in our hearts and give ourselves to praise and worship in a new more whole hearted way. EXPECT the Lord to manifest His presence and when this happens DONT QUASH Him – you will grieve the Spirit and He will leave you alone again immediately. Let us RAISE our Faith levels to a new heightened expectation of the manifest presence of God. Expect to even SEE the Glory Cloud of His Presence in your meetings – but don’t expect to stay on your feet for long. You will be on Holy Ground!! It might not be a bad idea to show your expectation by taking your shoes OFF before you start. This may well say to the Lord that you are acknowledging His presence among you and that you are indeed on Holy Ground.
When the anointing and the presence comes – it will be a whole new ball-game from that moment on. Your praise and worship will never be the same again. All because you lifted your faith and raised your expectation levels a little bit. God will raise them much higher when He “shows up” and WOW – I see it already – your faith will rise exponentially. Your expectation levels will hit unprecedented heights. His presence will bring passers by in off the streets and they will fall in the anointing because, like us and like the priests and Levites before us, they will not be able to stand in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. Amen – let it be so Lord. \o/
© Chris Bennett 2009
21st Century Church
What is the 1st/21st century church? The Lord has been pouring His words into me. Its been a quite amazing couple of days.
So tonight, when a friend wrote about getting out of the comfort zone of our cosy Sunday meetings, the phrase "In the round" came leaping to the fore. Staggered by my own creative ability (NOT) and amazed by my ability to think deeply about those things on which I have either no experience or no knowledge whatsoever, or both, I took the road of last resort. "OK Lord", says I, "Please explain - what is 'in the round' supposed to be - please?"
He took me back to a period of my life when I was planning and (almost) booking the Millennium Stadium for an outreach meeting to celebrate the centenary of the Welsh Revival. OK - let me try to explain (this could be a bit disjointed)
When we read that any pop star is doing a concert or a well know evangelist has taken Wembley Arena or Stadium for a crusade, they either have the venue set up 'theatre' or 'in the round'. Theatre is the traditional way with the stage or platform set up at one side with access and egress handy for the 'star' to get on and off the stage. In the round on the other hand is much more daring - ask Louis Palau :o) In the round is when the 'platform is in the very centre of your venue completely surrounded by the audience. When Louis Palau did this once, "to be close to the people" there was such a crush he was trapped on the platform for a few hours. So 'in the round' in the sense of holding church meetings would be much more intimate and almost cabaret style in its set up.
So, I wondered, how would it work for a Sunday morning service. Well obviously the P&W team would need to be in their usual position - but, the meeting leader, pastor, and any visiting speaker, would need to be comfortable with with a roving mike (hand held or radio) AND be prepared to be right in the middle of the congregation amongst the people. Some will not be comfortable with this. THEN, because the congregation would be sitting at tables with coffee etc, we need to add their ability to go grab another coffee, nip out for a comfort break, and their general amusement and fascination with the new scheme of things and you just about have it.
Let me tell you here that the most successful meetings our ministry has had, has been when the speaker comes down from the platform and walks around or even sits amongst the audience. It is always much more intimate and personal - some would say its too close up and personal. However, every time we have done it, the people LOVE it because their pastor and the speaker is not aloof and far off - he/she "is right here amongst us."
Problem is space and venue - have you room for all the tables. Do you HAVE all the tables. Can it be done in the traditional setting in a standard church with rows of seats. And so on & on & on. Lots to pray about and consider. Yet . . . . .
I have to say that I am quite excited by this idea just sitting here typing this all out for you. I want to give it a go.
© Chris Bennett 2009
So tonight, when a friend wrote about getting out of the comfort zone of our cosy Sunday meetings, the phrase "In the round" came leaping to the fore. Staggered by my own creative ability (NOT) and amazed by my ability to think deeply about those things on which I have either no experience or no knowledge whatsoever, or both, I took the road of last resort. "OK Lord", says I, "Please explain - what is 'in the round' supposed to be - please?"
He took me back to a period of my life when I was planning and (almost) booking the Millennium Stadium for an outreach meeting to celebrate the centenary of the Welsh Revival. OK - let me try to explain (this could be a bit disjointed)
When we read that any pop star is doing a concert or a well know evangelist has taken Wembley Arena or Stadium for a crusade, they either have the venue set up 'theatre' or 'in the round'. Theatre is the traditional way with the stage or platform set up at one side with access and egress handy for the 'star' to get on and off the stage. In the round on the other hand is much more daring - ask Louis Palau :o) In the round is when the 'platform is in the very centre of your venue completely surrounded by the audience. When Louis Palau did this once, "to be close to the people" there was such a crush he was trapped on the platform for a few hours. So 'in the round' in the sense of holding church meetings would be much more intimate and almost cabaret style in its set up.
So, I wondered, how would it work for a Sunday morning service. Well obviously the P&W team would need to be in their usual position - but, the meeting leader, pastor, and any visiting speaker, would need to be comfortable with with a roving mike (hand held or radio) AND be prepared to be right in the middle of the congregation amongst the people. Some will not be comfortable with this. THEN, because the congregation would be sitting at tables with coffee etc, we need to add their ability to go grab another coffee, nip out for a comfort break, and their general amusement and fascination with the new scheme of things and you just about have it.
Let me tell you here that the most successful meetings our ministry has had, has been when the speaker comes down from the platform and walks around or even sits amongst the audience. It is always much more intimate and personal - some would say its too close up and personal. However, every time we have done it, the people LOVE it because their pastor and the speaker is not aloof and far off - he/she "is right here amongst us."
Problem is space and venue - have you room for all the tables. Do you HAVE all the tables. Can it be done in the traditional setting in a standard church with rows of seats. And so on & on & on. Lots to pray about and consider. Yet . . . . .
I have to say that I am quite excited by this idea just sitting here typing this all out for you. I want to give it a go.
© Chris Bennett 2009
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
The 21st Century Gospel
Have we watered down the Gospel? I dont hear much about repenting and dying daily to self so He can be seen more clearly through us. Jesus gave us just two things – a cross so we can follow Him daily, and eternal life so that, if we run the race, we can be with Him forever.
Are we, the shepherds, guilty of tickling the ears of our flock and not feeding and cultivating them as we should. How the devil must laugh as we preach the world rather than preaching the Gospel or teaching from the Word. Feed the church meat not more milk.
The prosperity gospel is really 2 Tim 4:3-4 "the ear-ticklers gospel" - its what the audience wants to hear rather than whats needed. In my opinion, the prosperity gospel is evil - a ploy by the enemy to distract us from where we should be going. Only my opinion mind. I mean - you try preaching the prosperity gospel in Africa or India or China. It will then be the ridiculous gospel. What do you think ? The prosperity gospel is really 2 Tim 4:3-4 "the ear-ticklers gospel" – it is also not Biblical. Oh you can quote Jeremiah 29:11 ‘plans to prosper you’ etc – but did Jesus ever quote this passage? I think we frequently take it right out of context when applying it to ourselves. Am I off the wall here? Its a hard one. But it is definitely being used as an 'ear tickler' by some and that surely must be wrong??
We rarely, if ever, now hear of denying ourselves & taking up the cross as a true follower of Christ. I havent heard that message from the pulpit for years:( Right - Gods provision is one thing. Jesus actually said that It is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven etc - To me, Prosperity gospel is mainly about greed for more and more – excess to our needs.
I believe God calls us into something. Being no mans debtor, He calls, He equips, He provides. SImple really. I believe there is a move towards a 1st century church in the 21st century. The first century church was about relationships – with God first, then with each other. Its beginning here too. Is this the new move of God ?? Thats it - return to our first love; the joy of our salvation. Rev 3 - How I wish you were hot or cold etc. We've grown lukewarm. I also believe the days of the mega-church are numbered. The Lord has been showing me this of late. Smaller is better it seems. Amen??
God is NOW replacing ritual with relationship.
© Chris Bennett 2009
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