“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” Mark 2:27 Religion is a powerful thing. In it’s negative form it can make us feel like we’re serving a machine that demands much of us. But nothing could be further from Jesus’ heart. In the build up to this verse, Jesus’ disciples picked some…
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“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecc 3:1 Life has many seasons. There are seasons of dreaming, periods of preparation, times of silence and eras of learning. This is true of people, families, organisations and of course, churches. It was even true of Jesus. You can’t fight it,…
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I have discovered the greatest hindrance to a move of God can be quite simply right between my ears! My arrogant senses of right and wrong, godly and secular, acceptable and unthinkable. My religious education. My British culture. They can all hinder the divine, eternal culture of heaven from piercing through the dull temporal culture…
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As I write, it’s Remembrance Sunday, when we honour those who have died for our freedom. The words of Jim Radfords “The Shores of Normandy” (Which you can watch here..it’s beautiful) tell his story of being a young galley boy among that amazing fleet that went to confront our enemies on the 6th June 1944. One…
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In the spirit of the thought that “They overcame by the … word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11) and, “if God does it for them, he’ll do it for you”, then here’s a few more testimonies from this year… At the ONE Event in Lincolnshire, where we run the Holy Spirit stream each year, our…
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Read the amazing story of an encounter in the African bush that changed me forever. It’s the intro to my book Glory in the Church. Buy the paperback using the link at the bottom of this article. Today was the day my worship ministry would change forever and I didn’t even know it. I woke at…
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One of the most potentially life altering things we all face is singleness and finding a partner for life. Get it right and it can fill your life with blessing. Get it wrong and life can be full of pain, rejection, shame and second starts. Song of Songs has a reoccurring theme woven into it’s…
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Since 1996 a vision from heaven has slowly burned in my heart, growing clearer year by year. In short, I am filled with the belief that God is going to move in revival power in our generation as he did with Wesley, Azusa Street, the Welsh Revival and the Jeffries Brothers. We are going to…
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Leading an unhappy team is an exhausting thing if you care about people. No leader revels in a grumbling, unhappy, uncooperative work force. If “the joy of The Lord is your strength” then an unhappy environment will surely sap the strength out of you! I’ve been there… Exhausted, drained, weary. You’ve got to get…
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“Noah … walked with God” Genesis 6:9 We often use the phrase “walking with God” in a poetic sense – expressing the journey of a life lived God’s way. It is a wonderful use of poetry. But I wonder if that is exactly what the scriptures always mean? Genesis 3 shows us that Adam…
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“In everything he did he had great success, because The Lord was with him” 1 Samuel 18:14 This verse speaks of the secret of King David’s success. Very simply, God was with Him. Surely our own success can be no different? Though skills must be honed, we will win our battles by the faithfulness…
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“Here is my servant, who I uphold” Isaiah 42:1 This verse shows a wonderful insight into God’s care for Jesus, as he walked out his purpose on the earth. The Father was committed to upholding the Son. And as His servant today, He is committed to upholding you and me. You can relax in…
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This last weekend a friend commented “Sounds like you’re in a purple patch!” Not being acquainted with the phrase, I discovered it is apparently when everything is going great, note worthy, successful – a great season of fruitfulness in an organisation. “A Purple Patch” on an otherwise dreary garment! It took me by surprise…
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A Messiah in my Image? Leadership according to Jesus. Years ago I wrote a controversial little song, where the chorus went: Is your Messiah made in your image? Is your Jesus under control? Is your religion made for your glory, or His? The Bible is, of course, a plumb line for us all of…
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When ever we set out to build a church building, it must have a great context to for it to flourish. Churches don’t exist to build empires, self promoting monoliths or ego inspired monuments. Neither are they simply “community centres”, no more important than the local gym. But beyond needing to increase seating capacity and…
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“60% of UK churches no longer have a corporate prayer meeting.” When I read that stat I wondered about writing a blog “RIP: The British Prayer Meeting”, or “How to revive prayer in a contemporary church setting” etc etc. My worry was no one would click through to read the blog. Unfortunately, the stat…
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Shake the Nations, the ministry led by Nathan Morris, has released a video of some of the healings and music from the recent Hull City Hall event in March 2012. To view the remarkable testimonies in You Tube click here The move of God’s Spirit continues to flow through East Yorkshire, and we’ve now seen…
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Watch people leave wheelchairs and tell their amazing stories of God’s healing from injury, strokes and falls. These three people were either wheelchair bound, in some cases also deaf, others had agonising pain for over 6 years. Hear and see their amazing stories of God’s incredible love and healing as the Spirit moves in Hull.…
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A few thoughts on church growth in a Western setting…. One of the ways we show a love for God and for the people He loves, is to have a passionate, organised, Spirit inspired attitude to reaching lost souls for Christ and growing them into disciples – which means growing our churches. I have noticed…
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The launch of the Revival Fires tour saw New Beginnings Church in Goole packed to standing room only, and rocking! 2 more deaf ears opened instantly, pain left about 12-15 people’s bodies. It was so touching to see people break out in smiles or tears as years of pain disappeared! That now means 15 different…
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