Grace Abounds

Romans 5:20 - 'But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound'

The madness that is going on as this country is reaping what it has sowed in immorality, an unbridled media and secular humanism, is causing an openess in hearts of people unto truth. I believe we are on the cusp of revival if we seriously get in prayer and be ready to give an asnwer for the hope that is within us in bold evangelism.

I was preaching outside Walthamstow central station yesterday afternoon as my heart boiled over at a godless generation of mainly black youth. As I was preaching about the amorality of last days Britain and the fact that looters to politicians must all stand before the living God, I noticed that a lot more people were open and listening than one would normally observe.

In particular, there were three muslims that stood transfixed. Two young men, probably in their mid-twenties and a woman, all dressed in traditional muslim attire. When I finished I asked them what they thought about what I said. One of the men replied that It was very good and that I was speaking truth. I then asked them what they thought of Jesus Christ. He responded that they believed He was a prophet. I then asked if they knew what He had said. The spokesman for the group said that Jesus had taught 'we should be good people'. I could clearly see these were good people who were hungry for truth and were not full of the usual automated rebuttals to Christianity that we normally experience.

I then said to him 'no He didn't say that', and then began to expound the gospel through the need to be born again of Christ and the provision of a blood sacrifice in the Lamb of God, telling them that this was the testimony of Isa al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah) through the Injil (the gospel - language they could understand and place within their theology).

My wife arrived and I had to go, but I shook their hands (not the lady's!) knowing that an awesome seed had been planted in their hearts through the sight of someone zealously proclaiming truth.

Later that evenining we had a call from a frightened new convert - she handed the phone to her fiance, who I was able to lead to Christ over the phone. I really see revival around the corner.

The only Way for the totally lost

The violence and looting that has been seen in North and East London is symptomatic of a lost generation of young men full of anger and frustration, devoid of moral reference points.

They have walked around with chips on their shoulder, not knowing the love, discipline and exampleship of a father, not knowing the discipline removed from the education system, not knowing what it is to hope in getting a good education, not knowing how to control wayward hormones and emotions that have stewed in a quagmire of fornication, drugs and the constant demonic input of the media.

Growing up in a benefit state, with a false sense of entitlement and a perverted perception of what it means to be ‘respected’, these young men just needed an excuse. The people gathered at Babel just needed the fear of another flood and those who called for greatness; the thousands that followed Christ into Jerusalem just needed seventy religious leaders to turn their cheers to cries for execution; the men of Benjamin just needed a plan and the right opportunity to turn into kidnappers and rapists.

Given the circumstance, whether fostered over years or a matter of days, the human heart has the ability for great wickedness. Humanity is totally lost, and those who are totally lost will cling to the first person who says that they can show a way. Let us pray that these events will cause local councils to seek a method they’ve never tried and open doors for the Way to be preached to those who laugh in the face of man’s authority.

Incredible Creation

I can't help but glorify God when I consider the works of His hands.

Just the other day I picked up a mosquito bite on my hand, just as I was leaving the tent on the last night of our healing crusade. I tend to react quite badly to UK mosquito bites (for some reason African ones don't bother me much), usually resulting in a lot of swelling and itching.

Sure enough over the next few days my hand ballooned and became very stiff. I first of all prayed for healing and did feel a change, but on going to the doctors and being prescribed antihistamines I remembered that God has provided a wonderful creation (though tainted by sin) that He glorifies His name in just as He does in healing.

I am not for drug therapy at all, knowing that it is based on an evolution world-view and secularism. With this in mind I politely accepted the prescription without intending to use it (I don't mind blessing the GPs with a few points;-)).  I then went and did a little research, finding out that Papayas are a natural antihistamine, without the cost and side effects of prescription drugs. The world doesn't want to promote the healing power of natural things because they can't regulate them like drugs and thus would lose billions of dollars. Besides, if natural resources heal then that points towards some sort of intention behind their design and creation, and no self-respecting secular humanist would allow anything to point them towards an almighty God to be accountable to.

I cut some strips off a Papaya and laid it on my hand for about 15 minutes - the swelling reduced that night and over these last two days has diminished to be hardly noticable. When I had been bitten on the legs before it would take over a week to go down. The Papain enzyme in the Papaya actually breaks down the proteins in the mosquito saliva, thus reducing the itch and reaction.

I am not sure whether God put it in plants in preparation for a fall He knew would happen, or whether He created the plants with all these properties to glorify His name, but I do know that it is clear that natural things that have specific effects on human beings for their benefit can only be another finger pointing towards Jesus Christ. As one man said, it looks like someone was expecting our arrival.

In Whom There is Guile?

In the first chapter of John we have the interesting story of Nathanael.

After being told by Andrew that they had found the Messiah, Nathanael flippently remarked 'can any good come out of Nazareth?' Nazareth was not an upmarket part of town by any means, and to a Jewish mind moulded by circumstance rather than the word of God, it did not seem like the place to produce the warrior-king Christ that would set the Jews free from the oppression of the ruling Romans.

We know of the moment when Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and called  him 'an Israelite in whom there is no guile' and Nathanael's reponse in asking how Jesus knew him.

Imagine with me if Nathanael had guile within him. Imagine if he had not been praying under the fig tree as some suppose, but plotting how to fiddle his work expenses or dodge his temple tax? If Christ had called out to him and said 'here comes a deceiver' would he have asked how he knew him or would he be angry that he was being accused? Would he have missed out on salvation and a chance to see 'greater things'?

We find it easy to identify ourselves with praise, but owning up to failings and flaws is a lot harder. When God speaks to us will we gladly respond to His commendation and ignore His reproof, or will we enter into all He has for us with an open and transparent heart, whether the word comes directly from Him or through headship, leadership or friendship?

Whether I am an Israelite with guile or without, I always want to run to Him as He speaks to me, that I may see those greater things and if the guile is there, that it can be removed.

Healing During Door-Knocking

Though we all get slighlty edgy at the thought of door-knocking, not wanting to join the ranks of salesmen, Avon ladies and Jehovah's Witnesses, it can be a powerful time.

This was evidenced by last Friday, when we were door-knocking around the area of our tent crusade to be held at the end of the month. One of the other church leaders knocked a door and an older lady answered. Asking if there was any sickness or pain in her body, she responded that her leg was hurting her (she had limped to the door). He called me over and after a little while I challenged her again to let us pray for her.

She called her friend out to witness it, and as we laid on hands a simple prayer of faith set her completely free from that leg pain. When we asked her friend if she had any pain she responded that she had arthritic pain in her wrist. We prayed for her and afterwards she was able to move that wrist up and down like a young lady, with no sign of pain. Hallelujah!

Healing on the Streets

We are currently outreaching for our Dare to Believe tent crusade.

Last week we were out in Stratford, handing out flyers, witnessing and street preaching. We stopped an older lady and asked if there was any pain in her body; she emphatically replied 'yes!' She told us of lower back pain she has had for years, having received pain killing injections but now facing having to attend a pain clinic and receive large doses of medication.

We sat her down to find a slightly shorter left leg. I told her that Jesus was going to heal her. She said that she was Jewish and believed in God but not Jesus. I told her that it was Jesus who was going to heal her so I was going to pray in His name - she reluctantly agreed. Sometimes we have to press in with praying for people as God can heal them to shake up there beliefs.

I led her in prayer, and even though she said 'in the name of God' not Jesus, when I layed hands on her I certainly called on the Name above all other names! She stood up and said that her back felt better and thanked us for praying with her. She didn't jump around, but it was never the less profound that this lady had received healing in the name of the Messiah she had previously denied. She had actually said 'well He is the Son of God isn't He?' as she got up.

The Son of God touched her body and I believe her heart that day, and we are believing for many more Holy Ghost encounters leading up to Dare to Believe at the end of this month. Glory to God!

Two Men from Ramathaim

There were two men from Ramathaim of Ephraim.

One anointed the first king of Israel, requested by the people, to be as the heathen. The other anointed the last king, rejected and despised by the people, desiring once more to be like the heathen.

The first king died having lost the kingdom, the last king died having established the kingdom. The first was anointed by the one man and ended up in sin, the last was anointed by the other man after he had become sin. One anointed in life, the other anointed in death.

The two kings? King Saul and King Jesus. The two men from Ramathaim? The prophet Samuel and Joseph of Arimathaea.