Monthly Archives: October 2012

Colours of God

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Reblogged from The Lady Journal – superb shot with poem by Samantha Hardcastle, who describes herself as “A lady keeping it classy, while crazy for Christ”. Psalm 19.1:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

In a moment’s breath, I taste the color of life

I taste it in beauty, I taste it in strife

In the blink of an eye, I feel the color of sorrow

I feel it in my chest, I’ll feel it tomorrow

In the swiftness of a run, I hear the color of victory

I hear it in the wind, I hear it in His story

In the sweetness of grace, I smell the color of love

I smell it in the air, I smell it from above

In a gaze toward the universe, I see the colors of God

I see it in the stars, I see it in Heaven’s applaud

Samantha Hardcastle
Colors of God
October 28, 2012

Note for readers

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Please note, Julie Meyer’s prophetic song over Great Britain and Europe, posted herein as The Bridegroom cometh, has been updated with a link to the full transcript of Bobby Conner’s unstoppable ‘firestorm’ message.  Also there’s now reference to a supportive word given recently at Windsor, but which is yet to be published. This blog’s Visions for the UK is updated accordingly and now includes links to very interesting articles on the Jubilee Bells by Jonathan Bellamy.

Back to school / college / uni – part 2

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The Why and Wherefore

When were you last with anyone not speaking English?  Maybe whilst on holiday where the national tongue is completely unfamiliar to you?  Could you understand what people were saying or did you try to converse?  In such situations have you ever heard a word or phrase suddenly pop up in English?  I find that especially amusing 🙂  Occasionally I’ll hear Polish or other Eastern European folk in the street chatting to one another and its weird when they mention a well-known brand-name or a locality around here.

Whenever that happens the English starkly stands out and catches one’s attention. So you may imagine what it’s like being in a gathering where the leader is speaking in an unintelligible language. Everyone else but you knows what’s being said and can follow naturally. But you’re left puzzled and reliant upon gestures and other indicators to get a gist of what may or may not be said.

What’s that got to do with my topic? Is it all about a language school?

No. But you could guess what it was like for me as a boy when my English mother took me to a place where everyone was speaking what was not only ‘double-dutch’ but also a dead language – one that no-one spoke in normal life anywhere!  It was from ancient Rome and used in mother’s local Catholic church during Sunday mass, or holy service.

Apart from when the priest would address the congregation on some grown-up stuff, the whole ritual was unintelligible to me, a young boy.  And in those days the celebrant had his back towards the people. Growing old enough to pay attention, with mother’s help, I heard odd snippets in English I could easily understand: the readings from the Gospels and Epistles.  Thus was sown an appreciation of the story of Jesus Christ, for I didn’t attend Sunday school.

I can recall thinking from these accounts it must have been fascinating to have seen the miracles, and I wondered what it would have been like to watch Jesus in action, even to hear Him or to eavesdrop whilst He was teaching His disciples, as though in His private and personal school. If only I could go back in time…

So let me bring you forward in time – by half a century! – to when I came across the blog item referred to in part 1. I was ‘nudged’ to catch up with Stewart’s blog and discovered  his School of Jesus. It evoked all those memories and supernaturally spoke into them.  Maybe it was the way Stewart says “Let’s go to school” and in unfolding the original Greek introduced us to our teacher, the one who will be not only our personal mentor, or rabbi even, but also headmaster and dean or vice-chancellor of this special school and who is also a lord and king; The King of Kings.

Before explaining about September 2012, first let me introduce you to Teacher:

“The Bridegroom cometh…”

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The following video of an highly encouraging prophetic song by Julie Meyer was played at the close of this afternoon’s Life Group in our lounge.  Nina was chatting to someone at the other side of the room and didn’t realise that the leader and I were showing it on the TV, nevertheless, she was struck by a power-surge from the Holy Spirit!

Be mightily blessed as you listen and replay:

On his blog Decree, Andy introduces Julie and the song as follows:

Prophecy over Great Britain and Europe

“Julie Meyer is a worship leader and songwriter at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

“She is a prophetic singer who carries the glory and the presence of God as an abandoned worshipper. Her passion is His presence as she trumpets the message of the Bridegroom preparing His Bride!

“Knowing her King and Bridegroom through the lens of the scripture and prophetic experiences has led her to write many spontaneous choruses and worship songs. Her worship leading and prophetic songs have inspired many to lean into their Beloved.

“During Global Awakening’s the Voice of the Apostles conference this weekend in Lancaster, PA, Julie delivered this prophetic word over Europe…(which) can be summarised as:

“The Bridegroom has his eyes on Europe … He’s going to set the captives free and it’s going to start in Britain… We are part of the great, great storyline… it’s going to start like an unstoppable wildfire!” <emphasis mine.RB>

[Click to read transcript by RB]

Confirmation of 2008 Bobby Conner Prophecy

Updated 25 October: On the preceding weekend, 13 October, Johnny Enlow brought a word to Christian International Europe’s Annual Conference in Windsor that harmonised well with Julie’s song. Furthermore, what she released ties in not only with earlier posts on this subject [Get Ready, its Follow up, and my comments upon Tony P’s Watch] but also with a prophetic word for the UK through Bobby Conner given in Lakeland, Florida on 13 May 2008, ie. four years ago:

I’m telling you, there’s going to be a holy, unstoppable fire – a firestorm is going to come to the UK – God says He’s going to send a firestorm to the UK. It won’t be stopped. It won’t be stopped. It’s going to rage, rage, rage!! God’s going to be bringing a firestorm! This is a night we need to be praying for the UK because God said, “I’m going to start a firestorm!”.

I’m tired of smoke. I want to see a fire – don’t you? And the Lord’s going to do it…Malachi 3:1 – the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to His temple. He’ll come like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s soap. He’s going to come…

…I’m so excited…but I’m so tired of people not being excited about this. There’s an awesome, an awesome anointing here…God says, “I will pour water on those who are thirsty, floods upon dry ground”… and when we position ourselves God will pour out His Spirit…

…I hope none of us think, “I’ve seen that, been there, done that”. It’s wrong…to be blasé for this is a new, wonderful thing that God is doing – “See, I am doing a new thing”.

[Click for full message, as transcribed by RB.]

AMEN, and again Amen.

By the way, a bit on the Swiss…

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Taking a brief break from redecorating our bathroom to catch up yesterday with online news a couple of items got connected – serendipity again?  [Definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: ‘the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for’.]

I didn’t intend writing yesterday, just to scan dozens of emails but one covered Ambrose Evans-Pritchard’s pitch. I’ve often read his articles and realised the importance of this so hastily copied it (as previous post). But this time I had to avoid reading around to get a fuller picture. So I didn’t check out William Hague’s speech or follow the link to Daniel Hannan. (He’s one of the few politicians I have time for. As a Member of the European Parliament he’s well informed and frequently stands up against the EU’s nonsense.)  I merely noted the reference to his on Swiss economic arrangements with the EU.

Now, where had I spotted another reference to Switzerland yesterday? It was within the plethora of news items posted on Sunday in John McTernan’s Insights, as follows:

“Muslims enraged by cross on Swiss flag: “Many Muslims feel this Christian slogan is a provocation and an assault against Islam” 10/16/12 The Muslims cannot stand the cross, and this shows how they want to dominate any society that they are in.”

John read in The Local, Switzerland’s News in English, about Muslims objecting to a Swiss International Air Lines advertising campaign simply because of a play on words upon their fleet’s ensign!  Journalist Malcolm Curtis explains:

Alluding to its logo, taken from Switzerland’s national flag, the slogan says in German, “Kreuz ist Trumpf”, literally, the “cross is trumps”, or the “cross is a plus”.  The words are used in a billboard campaign, launched within the country last month, that highlights the white cross on the back of one of its planes.

Muslims in Switzerland have responded negatively to the advertising, which they believe promotes Christianity over other religions.  In Swiss internet forums, Islamists complain that Swiss makes reference to the “cross” and not the “Swiss cross”, Der Sonntag newspaper reported….

Swiss maintains that its ad campaign does not carry any religious or political message.  The slogan is, in fact, a play on words, referring to “trumps” in Jass, the popular card game that is strongly rooted in Switzerland, airline spokeswoman Myriam Ziesack told Sonntag.

She said it was unfortunate that the billboard advertising appeared at the same time as the anti-Muhammad American film surfaced on the Internet. “We didn’t intend to make any religious or political statement with this advertising message,” Ziesack said. (See full article and links.)

The time is soon coming when most of these folk will be embarrased about extremists’ viewpoints and want to bring their religion into the 21st century. But as that’s according to the Christian calendar, should that be ‘the modern world’?  Objections to a nation’s  culture and heritage are not the way to bring peace between people.

Incidentally, about that offensive video, there’s more to it than meets the eye if there’s any credence in investigators claims, writes Palestinian Walid Shoebat (read his latest).

Britain has left the EU in all but name…

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Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The Telegraph, writes today under that headline as follows:

To all intents and purposes, the UK is already out. We stayed still. Europe galloped away without us.

No doubt we can find some elegant formula to paper over the split. As my friend Daniel Hannan puts it, we could devise a Swiss arrangement while pretending that we are still EU members. No point frightening the horses.

For those readers who missed it, the UK is preparing to pull out of almost all areas of “Justice and Home Affairs”, the so-called Pillar III of EU jurisdiction. (Pillar I is the single market, and Pillar II is foreign affairs)

This is revolutionary. We are withdrawing from 130 directives, covering everything from the European Arrest Warrant, the European Public Prosecutor, to the European justice department… <emphasis mine>

As ever, this solid journalist logically yet succinctly makes his case; read here to gain its full impact. It brings some foreboding:

Meanwhile, the EU’s onward march to a banking union, a fiscal compact, and variants of fiscal union have simply left us behind. To whom – by the way – will the new banking union be accountable? To national parlia-ments and courts? Obviously not. It will “answer” to MEPs and the ECJ.

A whole superstate structure is coming into being. It cannot be democratic because there is no European political nation or shared political language, and all attempts to mimic the vibrant democracies of the ancient states have failed. The European Parliament has its charms but it is not a body that can hold a powerful executive to account.

Eurosceptics warned from the outset that EMU was unworkable as constructed. Monetary union would engender crises that forced ever more extreme solutions to keep the show on the road, acting as a powerful catalyst for full political union. They have been entirely vindicated. This is exactly what has happened.

Yet there is welcome relief to come for us in the UK because, in Ambrose’s opinion:

It is now clear that Britain’s decision to stay out of the euro at Maastricht was a de facto decision to leave the EU as well, as Britain’s political leaders feared even then. It has a taken two decades but we can almost all see now that a free and self-governing Britain can no longer be part of the Project.

This is the backdrop to William Hague’s speech this morning, his ‘cri de coeur’, his warning that anger over EU encroachment has reached boiling point. “A great machine that sucks up decision-making from national parliaments to the European level until everything is decided by the EU. [Click for report on Foreign Secretary’s speech in Berlin.] That needs to change. If we cannot show that decision-making can flow back to national parliaments then the system will become democratically unsustainable.”

Obviously, nothing is about to flow back. The EU is going headlong in the opposite direction. What Mr Hague is really doing is preparing the ground for withdrawal.

In concluding, he forecasts the next few years will probably be stormy, yet:

once the boil is lanced, we may find that our relations with Europe improve dramatically. The moment that the EU no longer threatens our laws, our parliament, our democracy, and our way of life – that is to say, the moment we take the stone out of our shoe – almost all hostility will drain away. We can all become lovers of Europe again. Good fences. Good neighbours.

YET, even so, I surmise that the trend towards global monetary union will not leave this nation to one side – unless the Living Lord God has other plans…

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Thank you Gillan for an excellent commentary upon this most welcome news – especially for including Dr Sookhdeo’s editorial. Perhaps we could say the ‘oiks’ have been hoisted by their own petard. The violent hatred expressed within the basic beliefs of their ideology should be evident to all rational people.

With all due respect to individual Muslims, the religion seems to regard their prophet as more holy than their god; is that not blasphemy? Until Islam has a Reformation this dividing difference between civilisations will remain. But I believe the Holy One of Israel is the one to do this – after all many Muslims are having direct revelations of Jesus and learning who he really is, which is not as Islam supposes!

NB: re. infamous video clip: WALID SHOEBAT, Palestinian ex-Jihadist now Christian, HAS PRODUCED EVIDENCE THAT THE MOVIE’S MAKER IS NOT A CHRISTIAN COPT! [link] His knowledge and investigations lead to the probable conclusion it may well be of terrorist origin in order to defame Christians, similar to false claims about Israeli sabotage of ‘holy’ olive trees.

God and Politics in the UK

Sometimes following a shocking incident hitting the headlines there can be a knee jerk reaction from the authorities trying to provide some sort of restitution to right a wrong.  This happened after the truly awful Innocence of Muslims film went global.  In their rush to respond and even appease the uproar of anger from many muslim quarters, a handful of people and organisations bowed to the pressure and made statements that were not well thought through.  A number of senior Anglican bishops from the global communion wrote to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, asking for a declaration that outlaws “intentional and deliberate insulting or defamation of persons (such as prophets), symbols, texts and constructs of belief deemed holy by people of faith”.

At the same time the European Union along with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab League and the Commission of the African Union jointly issued a statement condemning…

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Back to school / college / uni – part 1

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“Richard, you’re here!” Turning, I find a friend from Bath beside me in the short queue for morning coffee.

“Good to see you Richard” – I grin – “Thought I’d spotted you by the windows”.  So we catch up with one another’s news.

Nina and I hadn’t been to Bath since last year, when Richard had mentioned a meeting in the Midlands. (I’d intuitively known it was important for me to hear its teachings, and it proved so – see Glory stories.) Today, however, we are in  Windsor for Christian International Europe’s Annual Conference. It’s an easy 33 miles drive there to Dr Stone’s monthly meetings, but not  for my namesake and Richard asks, “Where do you live?”  We laugh upon discovering that he knows of the locality and says it’s like the area around Bath. (Our low hills and woods are in the South Downs National Park – take a peek.)  And next, two interesting points follow…

I outline to Richard some of what happened last month and that Nina had been strongly impressed last December that September 2012 would be significant in some way. (This was connected with her seeing an unusually special Christmas picture in a newspaper. The impact was so great it inspired her to ask at ladies’ breakfasts she speaks to, Are You Ready?  Nina starts these talks by saying the Lord had given her the full content in connection with “this picture”, which she displays, and its subtly implicit message – see image He’s On His Way at close of this year’s first post Points to ponder 2011-12.)

“Others have said the same about September”, is Richard’s immediate response! AND as though to confirm both Nina’s impression and Richard’s remark, the guest speaker will briefly speak on that topic in the very next conference session!!

So exactly what is it about September 2012?

First, let’s go to its lead-in: the end of August with its inevitable ‘back to school’ theme.  We’re not normally faced with that, yet our two youngest grandsons were about to start pre- and primary school, and the oldest at his new school in early September.  But that wasn’t why this theme had my attention. It had been on my mind all month!  Why? An ancient ember deep within me had been fanned by a commentary by the leader of Bath City Church, Stewart Keiller. He writes about the fourth chapter of St Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church and his post is entitled:

School of Jesus

I hope you, dear reader, believer or no, will click on that title to consider carefully, even digest, Stewart’s pithy style of excellent teaching. He writes about ‘the old man’, ie. the lifestyle we had before being ‘born anew’ (my term) to become a new man/woman, and then ‘let’s go to school,’ wherein he describes what ‘the School of Christ’ is like, viz:

You learned him (Greek) ‘emathete’, how do we learn a person?  The first lesson in this school is its about a relationship, you get to know Jesus by being with him and spending time with Him in your day to day life (John17:3). <my emphases>

You heard him ‘ekousate’, you hear through the Spirit and Word.  The Spirit is at work in you to speak to you life, you need to tune into him.  This is not some theory class, this is a learning to tune into the very speaking spirit within.  But we get tutored in the word of God, the word on paper becomes the word in Spirit, this is not just subjective feeling it is supernatural reality at work.

You are taught by him ‘edidachthete’, actually the word is “in him”, Jesus is the atmosphere in which we are taught.  This is part of the theme ‘in Christ Jesus’, the immersion into Jesus.  Its why baptism is such a great description of the reality of our faith, we are immersed into the life of Jesus.

When Jesus Christ is at once the subject, the object, and the environment of the moral instruction being given, we may have confidence that it is truly Christian. For truth is in Jesus. (John Stott)

“So what is our response to school?” asks that writer, before covering what it produces.

“What is your response?” I ask you, my reader.

May I suggest you run off a hardcopy of that 4-page piece, weigh its words and chew its scriptural content? Then, next week we may be able to appreciate my response and an account of what happened this September and, keen as I was, why this had to wait until after last weekend – as well as to read about the 2nd point in 2 Richards’ chat 🙂

…continued in part 2

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Although wary of any anarchist tendencies within movements such as ‘occupy’, and that word is part of the source website’s title, neverthe-less this is a well written and informative article. Christian scripture warns the world to watch out for globally centralised financial control, does it not? [See Book of Revelation, chapter 13, verses 13-16.]

“OccupyCorporatism is an alternative news site dedicated to exposing the Elite and their plans to Globalize our money, our Governments and our people” (details here).

Israel v. Iran – possibility of breakthrough?

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Someone has observed that when a nation is attacked then internal divisions disappear and its people act in unity against the aggressor. (If you know the reference source for this remark, please refresh my memory.)  By this principle unscrupulous leaders, eg. of  totalitarian regimes, have been known to provoke conflict with another nation in order to distract their public from severe internal issues that bring a great risk of internal unrest and rebellion.  Perhaps that’s now the case with Iran?

Last weekend brought Israel close to the brink of war as over 55 missiles and mortars were fired into Israel from Gaza and an Iranian unmanned surveillance helicopter flew over highly sensitive installations. The Israelis conducted cyber-warfare against it and it was shot down. Debka reported the barrage was the outcome of a new Hamas-Iran accord (see Is the Mid-East coming to the boil?) and in several reports that Israel has been highly embarrassed by the deliberate act of Iranian belligerence.  On top of that, Hezbollah was so confident of success that it published plans to attack Israel from the Golan and Lebanon. Then came speculation of an American and Israeli ‘surprise’ this month!

Amidst all this will be lots of disinformation, but Iranian leaders have promised to be taking action soon. But could all the above-related events be a distraction to provoke Israel into attacking Iran as a knee-jerk reaction and thereby uniting the Iranian public?

There have been reports of public protests and demonstrations in Tehran because of the severe economic downturn the country is suffering. It is on the verge of collapse, and nothing could definitely divert the people’s attention like a ‘jolly’, ‘holy’ war!  The people have experienced tough suppression a couple of years ago and if they riot this time would be determined not to lose again – maybe the mad–mullahs will be over-thrown?

Mike Evans has reported this week that these developments are being given serious consideration.  Dare we hope for a non-violent solution to this situation – one in which the hand of the Lord is seen?  Here’s food for thought from Mike’s valued insights (also see my postscript comment):

The Power of Prayer is Working
Dear Richard,
During my recent trip to Israel, I met with over 41 leaders in the nation. Afterwards, I flew to New York to defend Israel at the UN and confronted the Iranian leaders that were raging against the State of Israel.
Israel’s leaders were fully prepared to courageously attack Iran’s nuclear reactors. Some of the top leaders in the Jewish state told me that the attack was already scheduled between September 15th and October 15th . In the midst of this, the amazing has occurred: Iranian people are rising up, and the economy of Iran is on the verge of collapse due to international sanctions. Because of these events, Israel will not attack before the end of the year.
From my perspective, this has been a direct result of the power of prayer. An attack before the US elections would have resulted in Israel being blamed, and would have placed the nation squarely in the crosshairs of every legislator in the party that loses the election. It would also have created a global economic crisis because of oil flowing through the Persian Gulf. Liability would have fallen on Israel.
The key to understanding Israel’s actions can be found in II Samuel 11:1: “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel.”
If Iran experiences a “Persian Spring” much like the Arab Spring, and Admadinejad’s regime is overthrown, Israel will not attack. When Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke courageously at the UN concerning the “red line,” his team was negotiating with Great Britain, France, Germany, and the US, asking for new sanctions against Iran. The top European leaders agreed and will make proposals in the areas of finance, trade, energy, and transportation in Brussels on October 15th. I’ve been told by the highest level of officials in the Israeli government that Iran’s loss of income is between $40 and $50 billion.
The last time this occurred, the Shah of Iran was overthrown. That was confirmed when I interviewed all the top leaders of the country, including Empress Farah Pahlavi and Ambassador to the US, Ardeshir Zahedi. The Iranian rial has lost 80 percent of its value in twelve months. The bazaars in the nation are going on strike, and the people are demonstrating. I can tell you firsthand that not all the top Iranian leaders were given visas to enter the US in September. I am referring particularly to the mullahs who run the country. In addition, Iranian spies who have been meeting in the hotels for the past four years were not in attendance this year. I believe many have been arrested.
Perhaps one of the most telling examples are the Iranian women. In past years, they have gone to the top stores in New York City to shop. That did not happen this year. Instead, the men would return from pharmacies and hardware stores with purchases including boxes of over-the-counter drugs.

Neuroscientist comments upon neurosurgeon’s NDE

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Heavy rain drove me into the shop and I got a newspaper; those almost archaic forms of data download – the kind of hands-on ‘fix’ where you can get your hands all around and dig inside, even doing aerobic exercises whilst opening and folding pages of this  broadsheet (23″x15″). And there’s such scrunchy noises I can imagine a sizzling meal, but a large cappuccino and yummy almond croissant suffices on our Fridays out!

So today, I open up and am surprised to find this FULL page feature connects into   my previous post. It is by Colin Blakemore, Professor of Neuroscience&Philosophy at The School of Advanced Studies,University of London.

Trying to keep an open mind, Prof. Blakemore examines the latest account of a near-death experience (NDE). It’s usual for such events to be summarily dismissed by all materialistic sceptics but the professor steers mid-course in his discussion.  A brief summary of neurologist Dr Alexander’s NDE is then followed by reference to Dr Peter Fenwick’s work as President of the British branch of The International Associa-tion for Near Death Studies in which he recognises “deep problems in interpreting first-person memories of experiences that are supposed to have happened when the brain was out of action”. The same problem applies to dreams, writes Colin Blakemore.

Neuroscientist Blakemore points out:

The crucial question is not whether such astounding experiences should lead us to abandon materialist accounts of brain function, but whether materialist accounts can possibly explain them…
What Dr Alexander and his PR people claim is that his description of the afterlife is more authentic because he is a neurosurgeon. But when there is no evidence except the word of the beholder, a scientist’s accounts are no more reliable than those of anyone else…
Science has progressed by challenge and disagreement. But what is needed to consider seriously the kinds of claims made by Dr Alexander is not flowery prose and hyperbolic headlines. It’s hard evidence.

A true story of death and lifeHard evidence?  Hardly! Material science simply isn’t up to the job of understanding non-material events or exist-ence, and I don’t mean psychological matters.  It cannot handle and comprehend immaterial information because of erroneous, or incomplete, asssumptions.  [I write as one whose very first non-curricular investigations as a young teenager were into NDEs, before I studied physics and psychology.]  Answers may possiblly be found with an increasing understanding of multi-dimensional maths.  Or, perhaps a better appreciation of reports from saints past and present who encountered and operate in the heavenly realms of existence may provide illumination?

A little boy's astounding story of his trip to heaven and backHard evidence? Why not consider this: knowledge of the appearance and identity of a deceased older sibling by a young child and of whom they had no knowledge from the  family?  Or what about the actual appearance of Jesus Christ being quite different to that commonly depicted in illustrations?  I’m referring to accounts of youngsters Colton Burpo and artistic prodigy Akiane Kramarik, as reported in my Easter posts here and here.  Colton’s reports were checked and validated against ‘hard evidence’, as well as  corroborated in detail by another person who’d had a similar experience.

Prof. Blakemore implies that such children’s accounts could be as reliable as those of any scientist.  What do you think, my reader?

Neurosurgeon experiences Heaven during Coma

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An intriguing testimony from a medically qualified person who makes some interesting comments. It will be worth comparing his forthcoming book’s account with that of 3 yrs old Colton Burpo (see here). Thank you Tembisa for picking this up from YahooNews. See also next post about a neuroscientist’s comments on this experience.

The amazing beginnings to…

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In the midst of a sequential graphical calendar of major football and rugby events on Wembley Stadium website appears this unusual page devoted to the National Day of Prayer and Worship. It describes the amazing beginnings of this event as follows.:

Several years ago, Jonathan Oloyede, a convert from Islam, had several vivid visions of renewal, revival and transformation coming to the UK. These included graphic pictures of Wembley Stadium filled to capacity with worshipping and praying Christians (emphases mine, RB).

The inspiration which sparked him into action was a vision of people all over the four Nations praying the Lord’s Prayer at the same time; in pubs, churches, schools, offices, homes and on the streets. As the Christians prayed in one accord, Light and Healing spread across the British Isles.

His vision will be realised on September 29th with The National Day of Prayer & Worship, a once in a generation gathering at Wembley Stadium that will unite the church across class, colour, creed and culture.

The website concludes by quoting Jonathan,

Wembley 2012 will be an historic opportunity for the church as thousands across the British Isles converge in unity and prayer. We invite Christians, churches and delegates from every village, town and city to come for an unforgettable occasion.

Thank you to Wembley Stadium for being so helpful and supportive of Jonathan’s work, and to you for that splendid mission Jonathan. Amen to your prayers and may the Lord powerfully bless and work through the marvellous legacy of this project > What Next?

[My personal impressions are on previous, updated post.]

National Day of Prayer & Worship

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A night very wet with wild winds belies the morn’s destiny to be the  third consecutive Saturday of warm bright sunshine!  The morning view atop Worldham Hill t’wards far hills of Surrey hints at autumnally tinged trees. (‘Neath the top of far ridge a long hole unblocks a once heaving road over its crest, linking London with ancient, naval Portsmouth.)

A fortnight ago today was my birthday ‘on the town’ in Trafalgar Square, where we went to practise healing on the streets.  And a week ago today we were at Wembley basking under its open-roofed stadium – reminded me of an ‘open heaven’. Arriving as the gates opened at half-past midday, we found our seats only nineteen rows from the lush-green turf and directly across the pitch from the musicians’ stage.

Within minutes the various bands, choirs and well-known worship leaders greeted us with worship songs and a tremendously uplifting day commenced. As may be seen from the programme below, it focussed upon various national and international needs and went by far too quickly.  Some time was spent in repentance in accordance with the out- come of the ‘Listening Hour’ in Parliament on 12th June (click for brief summary).

Click to read this brief report how Wembley was submerged with waves of prayer and praise and flick through this photo gallery to get a glimpse of what was going on. Also,  read about the amazing beginnings to this event in my next post.

Worship was woven so well between all the prayer strands and took us all soaring as we approached the close. The rousing chorus to There’s a Battle Raging Over This Land, sung by Godfrey Birtill, left most folk humming all the way home – so listen/join in to get a feel for the day through this song.:

“Just one touch from the King…changes everything!”

Our deep gratitude goes to Fleet Baptist Church and their secretary’s skills in organising a couple of coaches packed full with those wanting to attend this stirring event.

THEN, next day at church we found the following prophecy from 2010 about Wembley had been submitted and printed onto the new schedule for October: a God-incidence?

AMEN to all the above!

Some insights into God’s action plan

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Soon after my birthday trip to Trafalgar Square with Healing On The Streets, as here, I was blessed with a greater under-standing of God’s action plan: getting the full Gospel message in all its power into the public space. So I want to encourage fellow believers as well as stir those who are not yet Christians to discover more about our faith.

Insight 1

Knowing about God’s action plan gives impetus to our realisation of the spiritual contest going on within society to manipulate people’s thoughts and beliefs away from God.

This has been observed not only in the HOTS v ASA saga but also other spheres of UK government action. Thinking they’d curtail prayers in public for physical healing, the ASA banned HOTS leaflets but this blew up in their faces when the public’s attention and that of Parliament turned towards the issue (as here and here). Also, a substantial flaw was found in the ASA ruling.  So, we can perceive the Lord’s hand in these events.  However, the issue with the Equalities & Human Rights Commission about keeping religious beliefs well behind church doors, as summed up here by Gillan Scott, still bubbles away.

That struggle is also why Christians are in the European Court, Strasbourg, standing  against governmental rulings (see here, here and here). We can understand that the spiritual enemy does not want anything Jesus did in public to be done in public today. Thus, he will attempt in every possible way to thwart God’s plans for returning Christian beliefs and activity to the public sphere.

On this issue political blogger Cranmer has rounded upon confused comments coming from Baroness Warsi, minister of State for Faith and Communities and Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, that the British Government is proud to do ‘God’.  His Grace writes:

It is ironic that this ‘Senior’ Minister of State…should boast that the UK Government ‘does God’ while their lawyers at the European Court of Human Rights have made it clear that the position of HM Government is that Christians should ‘leave their beliefs at home or get another job’.

David Cameron – like Tony Blair before him – appears to mistake freedom of worship for freedom of religion. The Baroness apparently grasps the difference, and yet she is part of that government which is arguing in Strasbourg that there is a ‘difference between the professional and private sphere’.

Whatever the Baroness may spout at the UN, the UK has seen a gradual shift from ‘freedom of religion’ to ‘freedom of worship’. The whole narrative surrounding religious faith has gone from being ‘in the world’ to the physical confines of a church, temple, synagogue or mosque.

Insight 2

Sunday morning’s service at Church of His Presence had a late change in its schedule.  Pastor John had to be away and Jan Painter spoke on what the Lord’s saying about His plans for revival and taking His presence outside church walls. (Jan prophesied a fresh but return of the glory of God after that of the Brownsville revival.)

For well over an hour Jan conveyed her grasp of the Lord’s words and amongst several gems was this one:

“In God’s presence we become aware of Him, but He wants you to be aware that He is aware of you“.

Wow, how this adds another deeper dimension for our ministering healing!  It seems, in my opinion, a lot of what she says about God’s work through The Bay Revival may well apply to HOTS because that team is also part of God’s worldwide action plan to get the full Gospel outside church walls.

Indeed, the Lord’s rebuke that Jan conveyed about believers letting a spiritual weapon  fall into disuse also applies to all on-fire churches. (Ephesians 6:10-18 refers.) This is extremely relevant teaching and as the service closed most of the large congregation, no doubt plus online members, started practising this holy gifting.

Join this exceptional service by playing the above video. There are testimonies from deaf and blind folk being healed before Jan starts speaking at 1hr30min. [Takes few seconds to start but play can be advanced along the loading gray buffer bar.]

Insight 3

How can I convey what followed the previous two within days?  At the first home group we attended of our new church the preacher brought a powerful text for discussion – the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus.

I received a ‘download’!  It was almost visible!  My New King James Study Bible heads this chapter as The Mystery Revealed, with sub-headings Purpose of the Mystery and Appreciation of the Mystery.  I n t r i g u i n g ! 

As the chapter was read aloud and certain Greek words in verses 16 to 20 discussed, I grasped its direct relevance to all I’ve written above and in the preceding posts about HOTS.

All I can suggest for the earnest Christian is to meditate upon and ‘chew well’ the extra-ordinary depths of this whole chapter and ask for revelation.  This Bible Gateway link to  Ephesians 3 gives the Amplified Bible’s translation, thereby offering a good glimpse into the meaning of Paul’s apostolic teaching.

Just savour these verses then, along with the rest, chew and swallow the whole chapter and then the rest of this short letter:

10 [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

11 This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord,

12 In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear). – – – – –

16 May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

AMEN!

H.O.T.S. now H.I.T.S. – part 2

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In Part 1 I started a ‘taster’ of our day with Mark Marx, founder of Healing On The Streets (HOTS),  when he taught on praying for healing in public. Over a hundred delegates then went to Trafalgar Square to pray and were bathed in warm sunshine.  Part 1 asked, what does Mark teach and is it different to prayers in church?

I’ll attempt an answer below with some subsequent insights all of which, I submit, will be of interest and application not only to readers in the UK but also to those overseas.

First, however, have you heard about the Alpha Course? This friendly and very social course is a means of introducing non-believers to the history and beliefs of Christianity.  The course started in Holy Trinity church in Brompton, London, and most branches of the worldwide church now conduct an Alpha course – for more see website.

It is now reported that Healing On The Streets is growing even more quickly than Alpha!

So what does its founder Mark Marx teach?  This very brief overview is my own, not official, but HOTS’ scriptural found-ations and most of the principles are similar to those taught in Christian ministries. HOTS’ especial emphasis is upon expressing God’s compassion and love in the market place, whatever the weather and, thereby, enables the church to connect directly every week with the community it serves.

The secret of HOTS’ success

Mark describes HOTS as ‘a stepping-stone’ in God’s action plan to get the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, outside the church walls.  Therefore, as such it is a model only for it will probably become modified as believers learn to move increasingly in the  fullness of their authority in Jesus Christ; for He promised,

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.(John 14.12)

Thus, we should seek God for a personal revelation of who we are in Him and of what He has given us.  Even so there’s something more and, in view of my previous posts on the Bay of The Holy Spirit Revival and the teaching of John Kilpatrick and evangelist Nathan Morris (here and here respectively), this particularly grabbed our attention.:

HOTS’ ‘secret’ is not truly such, for it is Christianity’s special feature that distinguishes it from every other religion; it is the presence of and our reliance upon God’s Holy Spirit. This is something even those who are not Christians can sense, and which they can therefore physically experience and react to; e.g. “This is weird but I’m feeling…”.

For example, in making a brief mention of HOTS’ work across London at last month’s Revival Alliance Gathering in Birmingham, Gerald Coates referred to that special effect upon a completely uninterested passer-by. This man turned upon the team to accuse them of having pushed him – but they were busy praying for someone!  They told him it was the strength of God’s presence he’d felt. So, even if someone doesn’t receive any prayer it’s likely they’ll be affected. Anyone who misses this could be completely closed off to God; maybe that’s why they’re known as ‘the lost’?

The Muslim passer-by returned with his family and they all knelt and gave their lives to Jesus Christ!  Praise you Lord, keep blessing them and their friends.

In quoting a scriptural principle to back up his statements about the presence of God, Mark used one I’ve never heard any preacher mention in this connection. BUT it is one I became personally aware of in a most dramatic way – AND with being in the very same connection as Marks’ explanation!  So that served to validate his teaching.

[Mark was speaking briefly about the possibility of demonic manifestation during prayer time and referred to the account of the Israelites’ Ark of the Covenant that had been captured by Philistines and placed in their pagan temple. Now the Ark was where the Living Lord would manifest within the holy temple and the Philistines returned twice to their temple only to find its idolatrous statue broken by God’s power!  Read about this in prophet Samuel’s first book at 1Sam 5:1-5.  The Lord had given me those verses to read aloud during ministry time when a lady was prowling around like a panther. She stopped immediately and stared wide-eyed at an open vision of the satanic temple used by her ancestors for child sacrifices – she watched it being well and truly trashed!  “Just like watching a video”, said she, now freed from oppression and praising the Lord.]

One of the other distinguishing marks of HOTS is to convey the ‘compelling love of Christ’ to everyone so they may sense his peace, even in the busiest environment.

Healing in Trafalgar Square

courtesy Supranatural Life FbookTeam members  take this atmosphere they carry wherever they go. It has been found kneeling brings more of this. So they kneel at a place until God’s presence becomes tangible. Thus, as we arrived mid-afternoon by the steps leading up to the National Gallery the group knelt down, as here>(courtesy Facebook/ Supranatural Life -see posts dated 3 -26 September.)

Consequently, everyone who came by would be attracted, affected – or even repelled! – by the spiritual nature of what we were doing.  As the Apostle Paul explains,

But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,

 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:

 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. (2 Cor 2:14-16 Amplified Bible)

The truth of that scripture cannot be denied but it brings sadness to each believer for the lost and their future. Whenever Mark cited cases of medically inexplicable healings arising from HOTS ministry I often recalled the obduracy of atheists I’d encountered on several blogs this year. Their mindsets seem to be encased in ‘concrete’ that prevents them from rational examination of evidence. For example, the lady who complained to the ASA about HOTS in Bath and, in Trafalgar Square, a young man strode past me to get away from the large gathering and remarked to his girlfriend, “It’s a scam!”.  Mark had told us to watch people’s body language and make good eye contact before trying to hand out a leaflet and invite them to receive prayer – so this couple were avoided.

Our group was sandwiched between two other public offerings – ‘free hugs’ and a few men performing dance and acrobatics to pop songs.  Nina reminds me how appropriate it was to hear them singing, “I believe in miracles”!!

With about a dozen chairs, or ‘hot-sits’, quite a number of people received prayer and after an hour or so we returned to base and were pleased to learn of how successful our endeavour had been. (Some may be found on Facebook/Supranatural Life.)

It was a most memorable occasion and I’ve since received a few insights into God’s action plan, which I’d like to share in another post – click here.

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This is an interesting development in the light of prophet Isaiah’s proclamation from the Lord; “This is why I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place…” (Isa 13:13 Complete Jewish Bible; selection here). Why should we assume such a shaking would be vigorous – having horrendous effects upon life – when it could be done slowly and thus observed? The preceding verses provide the reason for this unusual scientific phenomonon: evil and iniquity within society! Such as today?  [Quick link to illustrated account > Earth Sky.]

The Extinction Protocol

October 2, 2012 – EARTH –True polar wander is a geophysical theory, a way of thinking about Earth processes that might happen and that these scientists believe do happen. The theory suggests that if an object of sufficient weight on Earth – for example, a supersized volcano or other weighty land mass – formed far from Earth’s equator, the force of Earth’s rotation would gradually pull the object away from the axis around which Earth spins. A supersized volcano far from Earth’s equator would create an imbalance, in other words. As explained at Princeton.edu: If the volcanoes, land and other masses that exist within the spinning Earth ever became sufficiently imbalanced, the planet would tilt and rotate itself until this extra weight was relocated to a point along the equator. That’s the theory of true polar wander. It would cause a movement of Earth’s land masses, but for a…

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