Dec | 17 | Ghastly Ghosts & Great Ideas

Key Word:- RESCUE

Title:- Ghastly Ghosts & Great Ideas

Luke 7:22-23 
“Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
 
“I have endeavored in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D.” So goes the preface of ‘A Christmas Carol’ written by Charles Dickens and first published today in 1843.

I visited Broadstairs, the summer home of Dickens, a few years ago now, with a view to pastoring a church in the area. Broadstairs was still resplendent with Dickens memorabilia and the evidence of overcoming poverty via legal and illegal methods, I am talking about smuggling of course, which still hung in the damp seaside, seagull filled air.

Dicken’s childhood experience of living in a debtor’s prison had made him into a champion against child poverty and illiteracy; indeed he was an avid supporter of the ‘Ragged School’ movement. I remember that some time around Christmas in 1981, I had preached at a small gathering of Christians who met in an old ‘Ragged School’ building in a place called Chesterfield. The building was a left over of the benevolent side of Victorian society’s attempt to educate poor children. You must remember, that at the time of the writing of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ it is estimated that half of all funerals held in the city of London were of children under the age of 10. Imagine that. Fortunately for us now at Christmas time, with Ghosts and a good idea, Dickens has brought poverty, greed, and the need for redemption to the forefront of generation after generation.

Wrangling with his publishers over pricing, Dickens eventually published the book himself. The binding was expensive and the profit margin was to him, negligible; however, the profit this ‘Ghostly idea’ brought to society is beyond reckoning. Contemporary author William Makepeace Thackery comments “Was there ever a better charity sermon preached in the world than Dickens’s Christmas Carol? I believe it occasioned immense hospitality throughout England; was the means of lighting up hundreds of kind fires at Christmas time; caused a wonderful outpouring of Christmas good feeling, of Christmas punch-brewing; an awful slaughter of Christmas turkeys, and roasting and basting of Christmas beef.”
Tell me today friend, who hasn’t heard of poor Tiny Tim or Bob Cratchet and the despicable Ebenezer Scrooge? Dickens did a great job in turning the misery of Christmas time into joy and today, as we are surrounded by glitzy lights, whilst running headlong into increasing debt and being constantly chased by hounding consumerism, all day and all night, let us ask ourselves what we need to do to redeem Christmas once more, this time not from poverty, but this time from gross consumerism? For surely Christmas needs redeeming once more?

I think that holidays, holy days, are never happy without Christ. They never can be. So may I say to you dear friend as we approach the festivities of this joyous season and the glorious remembrance of the arrival of the Christ child, “Merry Christmas to you and may God bless us, everyone!” Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season and so it must mean more to us than a plastic singing Billy Bass fish from Wal Mart!

Listen:- (from the mouth of the redeemed, Ebenezer Scrooge of ‘A Christmas Carol’) “It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” “He (Tiny Tim) told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant for them to remember, upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see” .

Pray: - Lord, let generosity of spirit and the freedom of being Your child, be gifts to myself, my family, my friends, and all people that I touch this coming and most glorious Christmas time. Amen.

 

Oct | 02 | The Breaker

Dream Word – RESCUE

Micah 2:13 The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the Lord at their head." NKJV

The Breaker

Our text for tonight ascribes to Jesus, a name which we are not overly familiar with, “Jesus the Breaker.”

This text makes reference to the deliverance of the Jews and their re-gathering to their God. This text is full of hope and that hope and that deliverance, that hope and that reclaiming, that hope and that victory, is built upon nothing less but the arrival of the Messiah within the shrieking mess and His name at that point is called, “The Breaker.”

Have you ever imagined the style of the gates of hell, those very gates that are prophesied never to prevail against the church of the living God? Have you ever wondered maybe at their shape? Some imagine them to be linear in their presentation, like some vast movable rampart, sometimes retreating from the advancing Christian, but mostly and menacingly, ever edging themselves, slowly and determinedly towards the defeated sons of His love, whilst demons are screaming insults and firing fiery darts, all falling from their walls upon our blood-bought heads. I suggest that we mostly imagine ourselves then, as poor beleaguered Christians, retreating, back, back and ever backwards into some safer areas of our souls and lives.

Unfortunately, my experience has taught me that there is no space for such a safe retreat. You see, the gates of hell are in fact circular. In other words, the gates of hell surround me, as if I were the center of some ever decreasing, nasty and all-confining, light-consuming, ever-collapsing circle. There is no retreat to safety here then! When the gates of hell come in upon us like this, they surround us, they constrict us, they limit our movement, they bind us, they break us, they place us into the servitude of a constrictive condemnation. Yes, when the gates of hell advance dear friends, there is no retreat for the Christian, there is only bondage.

This ever tightening manacle of monstrous restraint, whether it is an addiction, whether it is a state of mind or even a state of heart, becomes to us, a surrounding stronghold, a geographical territory even, and like a torturous tyranny it imposes its overlaying, all-labouring will upon us! This ever tightening manacle of monstrous restraint, may be a financial sinkhole sucking us dry, or a fear-infested moat of alligators waiting to tear us apart should we ever dare to cross it and friends, we rarely dare to cross it, for as that circle minimizes itself to a most strangling contraction, the bondage and the life-sucking darkness has then become so severe, that we lose all our strength and most importantly, we lose all our hope. As I write, there are millions who are being eaten alive by such a circle of consummate despondency. The circular gates of hell have for now, prevailed against them.

Those of us in this cannibalizing condition, need nothing short of Christ “The Breaker” to appear among us! We need Him, the Holy Hammer of the Lord God Almighty, to appear within our shrunken circles of death, and burst like a broken Aswan Dam upon the gates of the enemy, or to explode like a mighty bomb against his pressing spikes, or throw Himself like some giant battering ram against the hot and horny, metal doors of hell, head- butting down the fiery walls and making a broad breach for us to safely travel through, and then, King Harry-like, stand in the gap astride His neighing charger, His silver and glistening sword raised high, tattooed name upon His thigh, the now golden sky above, raining down angelic troopers, all to make a way, I say again, all to make a way for us, to leave these concentrated and concentric, strangling rings of terror!

Let us then this evening, together invoke this forgotten name of Jesus our Saviour, so that as ‘Christ The Breaker,’ He would appear among us on the morrow and smash and splinter these gates of hell, that so bear down upon our sorry souls tonight.

Listen:- What is the chaff to the wheat?" says the Lord. “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29 NKJV

Pray:- O Lord of War, Commander of all the Angel Armies, O Captain, O my Captain, please come and rescue me from these all-restricting walls. Lord, take Your great Hammer and break in pieces these rocks of evil imposition, that rise before me like mountains of malevolence ready to drive me to distraction, ready to move me to destruction! All my strength has gone, all my courage and all my hope. I have no plans of escape my Lord, no method and no bargaining ransom. My only hope, is that You, as “Christ the Breaker,” appears amongst my mess and makes a way of redemption through all this charging host. Father then, send your Son, and with Him, send the Holy Ghost, and let me hear the ring of His crashing hammer within my listening ears, and see the glisten of His spears, protruding from all the bellies of all my now dead and vanquished foes. Christ My Maker, Christ “My Breaker,” come an end this encirclement of death today. Amen.
 

Sep | 17 | Of Chickens and Contact Lenses and The Big Story

Key Word:-RESCUE

Title:- Of Chickens and Contact Lenses and The Big Story

Exodus 12:23,24 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

Our world of high consumption leads to bizarre efforts in production. At the end of the twentieth century, the humble chicken outnumbered humans by 4:1. Mass production of these birds leads to natural pecking orders applied in the most unnatural of conditions. For example, put 100 birds in a pen and pretty soon you would see the No.1 hen able to peck any of the other birds whilst they cannot peck back! The No.2 hen could then peck any bird except No.1 and so on, until those at the bottom of the pecking order, are in danger of being pecked to death! You see, the problem with chickens is once they see blood, they become very aggressive. In such terrible factory production conditions there is a lot of blood, death and loss of profits and consequently there is the need for a lot of calming. The last thing a producer needs are angry chickens!

The use of ‘red light’ has a calming effect on the fowl. You see, in red light conditions, chickens cannot see the blood and so they are less aggressive. In addition to this, red light conditions also induce them to eat far less whilst producing the same quantity of eggs! Red light is good light if you are in chicken production, except of course for the additional electricity cost. Indeed, to save on electricity costs, one company actually makes red tinted contact lenses for chickens but that’s another story, for another day!

It has been my observation that chickens of every kind, when seeing blood, move in for the kill. Fallen man especially has a very nasty way of pick, pick, picking on the weakest amongst us. Go into any school playground full of youngsters and see the terrible sight played out consistently day after day. Only the strong survive!

When it comes to ‘seeing red’ there are two things of note for the Christian.

First, weakness in others should call forth mercy to our minds and love to our lips and limbs. Compassionate and selfless care should be the marks of the ‘Christ-like’ disciple. I wonder if compassion is caught rather than taught, seen rather than heard, modelled rather than made? Teachers, mentors and ministers, all please take note. Model mercy.
 
Secondly, that when it comes to ‘seeing red’, this is exactly what we want God to see! One of the things that struck me concerning Mel Gibson’s movie, ‘The Passion of The Christ’ was the predominance of the colour red. Red, seemed to fill the screen. Red blood was everywhere, for friends, redemption is RED! “Yes! Please great God, see the red of your Son upon me today.”Our life is but a part, an important part for sure, but never the less, a small, small part, of a big chapter, in a giant book, on the longest shelf, in the very largest of libraries. This giant book of HIStory is so large, that space and time cannot accommodate it. This book is not our book and despite our egotistical fantasies, played out in every space movie ever made, man is not the centre of this big, big book. We are in His story, and His story board, placed into this cosmic epic the absolute necessity of shed blood. Are you seeing the big picture? Are you seeing the blood? Are you seeing His story, or looking at the world through coloured lenses of someone else's making? If so, you need to just get off the chicken farm friends. Get off the chicken farm I say!

A great man in another place wrote that in the stillness and the darkness before time dawned, the plot and the promise clearly stated that “When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, death itself would start working backward.” In HIS STORY, God must see the blood you see. God must see RED! So, let me ask you today, are you covered in His blood!

Listen:- The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:27-29

Pray: - Look Great God at the blood! Look at the rich red blood of Your Son and be satisfied. All I bring, all I bring, is the blood of my Saviour's cross; a fountain filled with blood to flood my sins away. Amen.

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.
 

 

Sep | 09 | God! On A Vespa?

Dream Word – RESCUE

Joshua 24:12,13 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not labour, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.' NKJV

God! On A Vespa?

In the Bible of course, we see God riding a white horse, riding a donkey and even riding on the back of one of the most fantastical of angelic creatures called a Cherub! However, as I sat astride my own motorcycle today, speeding nicely down the road in hot, humid weather, baking and basking in the afternoon sun, the question did occur to me as to what kind of a motorcycle the Lord Jesus Himself might choose to ride if He were to join me today on a road trip?

Most American men would imagine Jesus riding on a black over-chromed Harley, as tough as Arnold Schwarzenegger, wearing cool dark glasses and sporting a black leather jacket, with a large red ‘Heaven’s Angels’ logo emblazoned across the back. Arriving at stop lights He would be shouting warnings of a coming judgment day, and reaching out His hands to passersby and saying, “Come with me if you want to live!” Ha! Most Englishman know that the Lord would not be riding a Harley, but like us, would be sat astride his proud and perfect Triumph! What do I think? Well I actually think God would not ride either of those two mighty motorcycles, but He might just ride a scooter and a Vespa scooter at that!

In Nebraska, it was the Cushman motor company, founded in 1903, who began diversifying from the production of engines for just farm equipment. Yes, diversification was around and was a driving necessity even at the beginning of the 20th Century! So in 1936, this same company also produced the first motor scooter, even selling them as a product line in Sears! Cushman were so successful and their manufactured product so sturdy and reliable, that during the Second World War, not only were thousands of Cushman scooters furnished for the U.S. Army in general, but many were produced solely for use by the airborne regiments! These robust airborne scooters were then dropped by parachute along with those flying soldiers, those screaming eagles, right into enemy territory, right into the heart of Europe.

Toward the end of the war, the fall of Italy and the destruction of its road and rail infrastructure, meant that the need for adequate post war transport was a severely pressing one for the nation. Renaldo Piaggio, his once booming fighter aircraft factory now destroyed, crippled by the severity of a post war economy and the severe restrictions placed on a defeated nation, had to take his manufacturing skills elsewhere. Piaggio then, turned his eyes on the obvious transportation needs of his post war country. He looked around and asked himself, “Just what was it that he could produce cheaply and in vast quantities, that would meet the needs of the day?"

At that time, the olive green machines of the Nebraskan, Cushman scooter company, were buzzing around post war Europe and no doubt, became the obvious stimulus for the design style of the new, and cheap, stylish Italian vehicle for the masses. It was Enrico Piaggio, who beholding the brand new mass produced Italian scooter design with both his eyes and ears for the first time said with delightful surprise, “Sembra una vespa!” or, “It reminds me of a wasp!”

Actually, the Italian Word for wasp, ‘Vespa,’ is in fact the genus name of all true hornets! Yes, the very same hornets mentioned in our text for tonight. Fierce and voracious, with a far more deadly sting than a wasp, hornets are only mentioned in but three places in the Bible and each place singularly references all of God’s miraculous interventions in fighting for His people. Each three references refer to His use of hornets in making sure of His people's possession of the Promised Land!

As there are no Biblical accounts of hornets actually being used on the field of battle, some commentators take these three references and therefore our text for tonight along with them, to be metaphorical, in that God would send amongst the enemies of Israel, not actual hornets, but never the less a real consternation and fleeing madness of the mind, as if literal hornets were viciously attacking them! Frankly, I do not know which sounds worse, the reality or the metaphor! As for me, I take both points of view. I believe there was both the reality of utter panic, pain, fear and confusion sown by God amongst the minds and hearts of the enemies of Israel and that God also, on occasion, sat sternly astride His very own Vespas and rode them out  into battle Himself.

My points for your consideration this evening are but two-fold:-

Firstly, note that although Reuters has long since reported that modern day Israel has produced a ‘Bionic Hornet,’ small enough to by stealth, photograph and even assassinate its enemies and also, that the rise of all our militaries use of nano-technology is far more complex and advanced than we ever realized, never the less, God was already using insect armies thousands of years ago! Get that, God is at the head of insect nations and uses them in the lives and destinies of His people!

On this first point of tonight then ponder this. God will use anything to accomplish His will for you. God will maneuver stars and planets, wind and waves, animals and insects, horses and even hornets, to accomplish His will for you. There is nothing He will not whistle for, to come running to your aid. Nothing!

Secondly, that in your rescue and in your aid, God will also miraculously give to you, things that you do not deserve, items and goods which you have not worked for, planted or prepared for. God will give these things to you.

Be assured tonight then dear friend, that God is out riding on His Vespa and will always send the hornet to the aid of the apple of his eye. Always.

Listen:- Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed. You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you. Deuteronomy 7:20-22 NKJV 

Pray:- Great and awesome God, may I hear You buzzing by my side as I travel tomorrow up the road to glory. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Sep | 04 | Of Pictures in a Pomegranate

Dream Word – RESCUE

Exodus 39:24-26 They made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen. And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around between the pomegranates: a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe to minister in, as the Lord had commanded Moses. NKJV

Of Pictures in a Pomegranate

I could lose weight by eating Pomegranates. The one I ate today took me a full twenty minutes to get through and in the end, my paper plate looked like some flattened road kill I had just pulled from under the wheel of my car, and my red stained and sticky fingers branded me a murderer whilst, my bloody lips and chin proclaimed me to be a cannibal of unquenchable proportions! There were bits of blood and flesh all over me and all over the table! The opened Pomegranate looked good though and my oh my, it tasted even better!

The Pomegranate is the fruit of a particular seed-bearing shrub which grows anywhere from five to eight meters tall. The apple size fruit it produces, contains an abundance of edible pearl white seeds, surrounded by a pellucid blood red juicy pulp. The religious symbolism of this fruit has for centuries been rooted in art, history, medicine, mythology, music and of course the Bible! Tonight, I want to get just a few of its seeds rooted in us!

The Jews say the 613 laws of the Torah are represented by 613 seeds in the pomegranate. Now depending on your variety and size, it could be plus or minus 200, but I like the sound of the symbolism! The twelve seed sacks within the Pomegranate, say the Jews, represent the twelve tribes of Israel, the abundance of seeds represent the overwhelming fruitfulness of the promised land, its crown represents the Royal line of King David and so we could go on...... My point is that this, Pomegranate fruit is so exotic and wonderful, so life-giving and delicious, so propitious and effective, that it has rightly been utilized as the picture of passion, resurrection, hope, and life-giving fruitfulness.

Some say that it was this ‘seeded apple,’ that was in fact the fruit of the tree of life. Some say that it is wine made from the Pomegranate mixed with spices, that was used at the Last Supper and shall be used again at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Some say that it is the saints that prepare the wine for the Bridegroom and that we shall set the table of the Lamb with this gift of marriage wine. I wonder……

Tomorrow, get yourself a bib and some wet wipes and then go and buy yourself a Pomegranate. It will be expensive, but it will be worth it. You should have learnt by now that in life, nothing good is cheap. Then turn the T.V. off and sit down and take some time to undress this most alluring of fruit. Look at it, taste it, then drink it in with faithfulness and some far-sighted vision. See within this one and only, Royal and rich coloured robe of purpled-crowned and Kingly fruit, all the pearl-bought children of God, set neatly in their place. See them washed pure in His own blood-bought red. See the torn flesh, ripped open and removed from the bent-barked, thorny trees. Yes, 'taste and see that the Lord is good. '

Tomorrow, may you have Pomegranate for your evening meal and may it become to you the antipasto of heaven, a sweet foretaste of what is to come and is even now, both fast and fragrant on the midnight breeze.

Listen:- Oh, that you were like my brother, Who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; I would not be despised. I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, She who used to instruct me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate. Song of Solomon 8:1-2 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, Your priests of old were robed in golden bells and Pomegranates of purple, blue and scarlet. Lord may the sound of my walking before Your Holy throne, be a life proclaiming jingle of joy! Lord may my pillars of firmness and strength before Your Holy face, be crowned with all the colours and shades of purity and fruitfulness and the sweet smell of prepared and expectant love, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Sep | 03 | How Far Will you Go

Dream Word – RESCUE

Psalm 119:174-176 I long for Your salvation, O Lord, And Your law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; And let Your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant,…NKJV?

How Far Will You Go?

The city of Fargo is situated in Cass County of South Dakota. In 1996, ‘Fargo’ became the title of a Coen brothers film, which was in fact filmed totally in Minnesota around their fictional version of the small town of Brainerd, which like a multitude of other small towns in the mid west, also claims to be the birth place or lodging place of the fictional lumberjack of legendary fame, Paul Bunyan and his famous blue ox, called babe. That however, is a whole other story, “Yah, you betcha!” Winning the Oscar for best actress in the film 'Fargo', it is the actress Frances McDormand who stars as Marge Gunderson, a seven months pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor and fantastically dippy dialect, hide an exceptionally smart investigative mind. The film, set in a landscape, like ‘Siberia with family restaurants’ is so strange that that it just has to be fiction! However, 'Fargo', this particular Coen brother’s film, backed by a haunting Norwegian fiddle playing a folk number called ‘The Lost Sheep,’ does in fact begin its black comedic story line with these printed words on the screen “THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.”

Of course, none of it is true. I mean none of it! The place, the characters, the events, the kidnappings, the killings, the snow and of course the ransom money, hid and buried in that same white flat, never-ending snowy landscape. Yet, five years after the release of the film, Ms. Takako Konishi, a young Japanese woman, arrived in the Fargo area and just a few days later, was found dead in the snow.The inquest declared that a combination of various drugs, but predominantly the biting cold, was in all likelihood and most probably, the final cause of her death. Prior to Ms. Takako’s sad demise, exceptionally poor communication with many people of the area and even the police, led them all to believe that this sad, mad little Japanese woman, was in fact looking for the fictional lost ransom money from the very fictional film, which was left buried in the then, ‘brought in and even made overnight, just for the film’ equally fictional snow! It was three weeks after her death however with the arrival of her suicide note at her parents house in Takako’s home country of Japan, that the real story of a broken-hearted and jilted young woman, arriving in America in search of her married American lover, would also reveal a double intent to either reunite with him or kill herself in the process. Ms. Takako came to Fargo with the intent to kill herself.

This poor lost little Japanese sheep was culturally, emotionally, psychologically and in every way most exceptionally isolated. Beware of that. Beware of isolation. Lost sheep, are sheep that have wandered away from the safety of the fold and are open to every cold-hearted and self-destructive lie that the enemy will most definitely throw at them. I am of the mind, that all suicide is demonic in its source. The devil methinks, takes great delight in sheep doing away with themselves in front of his gleeful gaze.

Now tonight, if you are plagued with thoughts of worthlessness, feelings of abject loneliness, of utter and stark, snowy landscape covered set Siberian cold, chilled to the very bone hopelessness and thoroughly believe, that it best that you remove yourself from the sad and sorry scene of your own life, then I want to tell you right now, that of a certainty, all you will accomplish, is the giving of pleasure to the macabre and dark vulture-like voyeurism, of the mad monster from hell, the devil himself.

No! This shall not happen! For I say to you tonight, in the mighty name of Jesus, that He is the Good Shepherd and He has been out looking for you, Oh lost sheep of His, and as you read these words, HE HAS FOUND YOU! Now, right now, HE HAS FOUND YOU! Now He places your sorry carcass over his broad shoulders and lifts you from your cliff ledge. Now He carries you from your pit. Now He is taking you home and if you listen, you can hear Him singing! You’re not singing I know that! Your not supposed to be singing just yet! You will though, yes you will but not yet. Even so, listen to Him! He is singing and He is rejoicing, because He is taking you home to be with Him, right where you belong. I am not talking about heaven here, no not yet, I am talking about back home to the fold, back home to the place of His greener pasture, back home to still waters, back home to sunshine vales of love, back home to protection, back home to provision, back home to a the place called ‘FOUND.’ You have been FOUND tonight no matter how far you’ve fallen, not matter how far you have strayed, and He is rejoicing over you with singing! Get ready for comforts I say, get ready for caring, get ready for wine and for oil and plenty, plenty party times, for they are coming I tell you, they are coming!

To the rest of us, wondering at how sad a person can get to want to take their own life, I say this tonight to you, “Do you know of any lost sheep out there? Out there in the snow, looking for treasure that does not exist? Do you know of any lost sheep out there, out there in the heartbroken wastelands, empty cold and lost? I know you do, I just know you do. So, tomorrow then, you had better go and get them.”

Listen:- "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:4-7 NKJV

Pray:- Find it Lord! Find Your lost sheep. Find it Lord, search the cold and lonely wilderness, search behind every rock and search under every sorry, scraggy tree. Find it Lord, ransack the dark ravines, climb the cliffs and trudge the night long dale. Find it Lord, find Your lost sheep and then place it on your shoulders and bring it home rejoicing. Amen.

Aug | 18 | A New Anthem For The Redemption of Jerusalem

Dream Word – RESCUE

Numbers 12:6 Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. NKJV

A New Anthem For The Redemption of Jerusalem

Concerning the nicely named ‘Prophetic Poet’ William Blake, the poet Wordsworth wrote: “There was no doubt that this poor man was mad, but there is something in the madness of this man which interests me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott”.

It was this same William Blake who in his preface to his work entitled ‘Milton’ wrote the following lines, 'Jerusalem.'

And did those feet in ancient time
walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
on England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant Land.Over one hundred years after the first penning of this verse, during the ravages of the Great War and its enormous losses, a search was made for some magnificent verse and music, which would continue to instill patriotism and sacrifice into the masses. It was Blake’s preface to his poem 'Milton,' that was utilized to continued and great effect. This same verse, was later popularized by the music of Sir Edward Elgar and the stirring rendition which he produced has subsequently been widely adopted by various English institutions and even political bodies to be their very own anthem. Indeed, in 1922 in the city of Leeds, King George V himself said that he preferred replacing ‘God Save the King’ with ‘Jerusalem’ as the national anthem! Britain however, though it has never had an official National Anthem, refuses to adopt this great and most popular of poems, mostly because it has four questions in the first verse, that must all, I am afraid to say, be answered with a very literal NO! Never the less, it is to those same four questions posed by Blake, which I want to turn our attention to tonight.

This Poem by Blake is built upon an ancient legend, that Jesus, whilst still a young man, came and visited the ancient town of Glastonbury, accompanied by Joseph of Arimathea. This is not an unusual legend for Glastonbury Tor is reputed to lie on the center of numerous lines of earth energy (lay lines) and has been a mystical and spiritual centre for thousands of years. There is no doubt that geographically, Glastonbury Tor could have once been the ancient and legendary island of Avalon. It is of no surprise then, that Glastonbury is also the focal point for most of the legends regarding King Arthur, Joseph of Arimathea and The Holy Grail. As I write this piece today, Glastonbury, with the fall of Christianity in England, has now become the centre for pagan mysticism in all its far out and freaky forms. Yes, God help us, even the spiritual world abhors a vacuum!

Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem,’ based upon on these same Glastonbury Christian legends, not only mourns the rise of the destructions concerning the dark satanic mills of the industrial revolution (or the Anglican church if you take that view) but also seems to indicate two further things:-



First of all, in the first stanza of the poem, Blake gives some acquiescence to his belief in the Glastonbury legends themselves, that is especially, that Jesus visited Glastonbury and established the first church in England right there. You see, in Blake’s mind, I believe those first four questions are answered in the affirmative! Yes! Christ did arrive in England and Yes Christ did plant Jerusalem, the metaphor for heaven, the metaphor for Zion, the metaphor for the city of the people of God, right there in England. It is total ‘tosh’ of course, but I wonder if Blake believed it!

Secondly and much more importantly, is the driving import of Blake’s affirmation to these questions, which is found in the second Stanza of the piece. Blake says in effect, “As God himself has begun a good work in us, in our land, and that with a personal visitation, then as we now look around at the ruins of our Christian culture, of our Christian community, of our once magnificent Christian England, we must take up our spiritual weapons and fight to regain these lost lands of Jerusalem!” Blake then goes on to invoke both powerful and prayerful pictures of a great and determined desire, when he calls for heavenly weaponry to help fight a spiritual war right here on earth. Would to God that the remnant of the church of the living God in our time would choose to do the same. Selfish spiritual masturbation is the order of the present day, rather than selfless exertion.


In all former Christian lands, now lost or losing out to false religions of every kind, these old words of Blake must become our new battle anthem. In all personal battles that are fought within our own heart, our own homes, our own relationships, indeed, in all the regaining of lost ground to that most murderous and thieving enemy of ours, these old words of Blake must become our new and powerful, our new and personal battle anthem.

Jerusalem my friends, must be built again, in all our green and pleasant lands. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Listen: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, “Peace be within you.” Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. Psalms 122:6-9 NKJV

Pray:- Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Translated from an ancient Irish hymn.

Jul | 04 | Independence Day!

Dream Word – RESCUE

Genesis 3:22-24 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” -- therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. NKJV

Independence Day!

My, oh my! What fireworks we can launch into our skies! What flashes of thunder, what bright dripping rainbows, what crackling, whizzing, popping, whistling colours can we momentarily spread above our heads like a neon lit, dancing Indian war bonnet, thrown up in rejoicing, into the slowly rotating skies! However, beyond this faint and passing flicker of manufactured and expensive, deeply unsatisfying joy, yes, light years beyond the spitting sparkle of earthly celebrations, out there amongst unnamed galaxies, beyond Andromeda, beyond Ambartsumian's Knot, beyond The Bear’s Paw even, God’s fireworks still flash forever greater, and burn forever brighter in the cosmic confidence of an eternal wonder that pleases Him alone.

For thousands of years we have not been allowed to attend this singing show of seraphic sentinels, all bursting and blasting glory across His universe. No, not since we took our independence on that forever fateful day. For since that fall, since that day of independent tragedy, an angel with a flashing, flaming sword, for our protection, has in constance, stood before the gates of the everlasting pleasure park and shouted ‘Stand well back now! Stand well back, for now you will be hurt!”

The sense of loss that lies within us regarding this eternal exclusion is unspeakably profound, for despite our prized and boasted independence, we are so very, very lonely. So much so, that we have tried to reproduce the pleasures of His park in our own fires sexual, our own fires financial and in our own fires successful, only to have found them to be under fueled, burning ever low, always flickering to ember and to ash, in the ever coming cold light of our days.

All forced independence day celebrations from a faithful and loving Father, will leave us feeling forever lonely. A testimony to this is that we rarely, oh so rarely, ever lift our heads to His fireworks forever in the sky, for when we do, we remember, yes we remember our pain. Let me ask you, apart from today my American friends, when was the last time you gazed into His firework-filled heavens? When was the last time you looked up and over, all the fenced out wonders of His fun-filled fields, of His sealed and gated parks of pleasures? When was the last time you allowed the sound of giggling seraphs, the whooping cries of angel glee, of rushing roller coasters filled with chanting cherubim, all shouting 'GLORY!' and then were moved in anticipated excitement when the music of waiting, whizzing Wurlitzers and the hum of hidden, pumping and powerful living engines, all generating light, landed eagerly upon your ears? When was the last time such a looking brought the smell of toffee apples and cotton candy, hot-dogged mustard and buttered pop corn, and allowed them to creep up your nostrils and tickle the taste buds on the back of your tongue making your mouth wet in watered longing?

Tonight, on this much celebrated, but ever lonely independence day of ours, let us turn off the light, draw back the curtains and lie still under our cool cotton sheets. Then, gazing out of the window and up and over the gates of God into His dark night sky, always lit with the wonders of the fireworks of the Father, always proclaiming an eternal Sunday, an everlasting fun day, to those holding a ticket to ride, a ticket to hide, a ticket to ever and always live and abide, in Jesus.....well, as we gaze in wonder, let us open our senses, to the sights and sounds, the smells and light touches of the world beyond us, the world to come, our heavenly home of eternal rejoicing.

If you have your ticket, then you have great cause to look and listen with expectant longing into all the pleasures of God wrapped up in Christ Jesus for you.

LOOK! Gaze beyond the passing thunder flashes of man’s celebrations and peer beyond them into deeper heavens, and allow the lover of expectant hope, to walk hand in hand with your longing and desire, home with you to bed.

Listen:- For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Rom 8:22-25 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, please forgive us of our days of independence and have mercy on our long lost nights of loneliness. Lord tonight, let me listen to the music of Your spinning spheres. Lord tonight, in my dreams let me look upon Your fantastic fun factory, yes, O my Father, let me gaze again upon Your waiting joys for me, for us, together. Lord tonight, please fill my sleeping senses, with pleasure beyond measure. Lord tonight, take me through Your gates, take me hungry to Your table and give me candied apples, all Your toffee apples of delight. Lord tonight, in Your grace and in Your mercy, for all of us I pray, make the bitter bitten apple, ever sweeter in Your day. In Jesus name I ask it, Amen.

                                                                                                           

Jun | 23 | Removing The Leper's Squint

Dream Word – RESCUE

Luke 5:12-15 One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone. Jesus instructed him, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done." (THE MESSAGE: by Eugene H. Peterson.)

Removing The Leper’s Squint

The Parish Church of St Peter’s, in the small village of Twineham sits nestled amongst the green trees of England, not far from the base of the South Downs of East Sussex. The first incumbent Rector is listed in the 13th Century and the stone font dates to that same period. Apart from the overgrown area of the graveyard rented by non-conformist Quakers for a peppercorn rent of a few pennies and the last of the wooden bedstead headboards, used as a grave marker instead of a stone, (a practice apparently only seen in Sussex) out of all the other fascinating features of this church I found two holes in the walls of the church the most intriguing of all. The church warden showing me around, told me that at these points, the local lepers would receive the Eucharist and on occasion, through grated bars would be allowed to watch the priestly practice of the Mass.

For Medieval man, the Latin incantated magic of the Eucharist, performed by well robed priests, was a mystery not to be missed! Indeed, magic coupled with superstition was so rife in those days, that even the 13th Century font, still standing tall and cold at St Peter’s Twineham, still bore the marks of having a lock put on the lid, to stop the ‘Holy Water’ being stolen for use in rites of local witchcraft! Even so, with all these passing pictures of lives long gone, yet still set and seen in wood and stone, it is the image of a gnarled and excluded, dirty and stinking leper, standing outside in the cold and the wet, stealing a squint at the magic through  oblique angled holes in the wall and receiving the Eucharist of life through the same, which sticks with me most this night. This small hole in the wall, this only place of access to the unwanted, was known as a ‘Leper’s Squint.’

Some folks, famous sinners all, gangsters, gang leaders, drug dealers, football players, boxers, pop stars and politicians, when they ‘come through for Christ’ (what an odious and self-exalting phrase) are placed by us on pedestal’s for the entire world to see. Indeed, we put these redeemed and famous sinners up there for all the world to see and then shout out to all the gazing, awestruck Christians, “Come see this stinking sinner, now washed made whole, made free! Free that is, apart from his CD, DVD, Book and Biography, all of which are yours for just $14.99, on sale in the lobby after he’s sung and we’ve taken up a love offering.” Yup, we love them famous sinners, coming through for Christ! Yup, get ‘em in, get ‘em up and get’em on the circuit of sinners since redeemed. Yes, put them up the for all the world to see, for isn’t Jesus most powerful and magnificent, to save such a famous wretch as thee?

I say this mockingly tonight for the sole purpose of contrast, for it is only this dark contrast that will allow us to see the white and staring eyes of all the lepers peering through our squints. Yes, I am afraid to say that in our churches of today, we still have a multitude of squinting lepers. Who are they? Why are they there? How did we allow this to happen.

These folks, this most leprous lot, are the once forgiven people who have fallen whilst in harness. Their sin, whatever it was, has become to the Christian community, dastardly inexcusable, abuse-able and totally unusable to the 'once saved and serving, never dare put one foot wrong again' kind of Gospel we are preaching. These modern day lepers are growing in number and surely are some of the saddest folks I have ever seen. They have become to us, ugly, odorous, shunned, separated, excluded, never to be trusted, shut up, cast out in the cold and wet, to be left peering at the magic through a Leper’s Squint. And good riddance to them as well, because they let me down, they let our side down, for above all, they cast a shadow on the keeping power of Christ. Yes, above all, in their bad decision, they moved Him from most desirous in their life, to being the least desirous of all! That’s what we hate the most, the fact that their sin, their deceitful sin, has cast doubt on the efficacy of the message we proclaim and Christ to keep us, as well as casting a most terrible light on the some of the same snakes of doubt and ungodly desires, slithering around in the dark of our own dear lives. Think about that. Be honest with yourselves.

Let us remember tonight, that the greatest story of redemption left to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, is not of a famous stranger finally ‘coming through to Jesus,’ and still making a few bob on the side, but rather of a profligate, a prodigal, a known but long lost SON finally coming home! Yes, the greatest story of redemption is of a SON coming home and still ripe with the smell of pig shit on him and when that happened, yes, when the longed for family member finally returned, he wasn’t stepped down, wasn’t dressed down, he wasn't hosed down, and made to go out in the cold and peer at the magic he once so loved through a cold, low, Leper's squint, but rather ,was clothed upon, ringed up, taken in, embraced and given a hoe down. It’s shocking isn’t it? I reckon Jesus intended it to be so, for grace is nothing short of being just that, ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING! Scandalous really.

It’s going to be very tough, yet until we get rid of every ‘Lepers Squint,’ and welcome home the wounded and stinking prodigals, our communities, though quite respectable, shall never truly bear, the Maker’s mark of grace.

Listen: - "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults — unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole travelling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. (Matthew 7:1-5 THE MESSAGE: by Eugene H. Peterson.)

Pray:- Lord, I have to tell you that I feel really let down by those folks, those fallen leaders, those modern day lepers, now squinting in at magic they once so powerfully proclaimed. They should have known better. But Lord, I suppose we all should have known better. I remember you said to St Peter, that cursing and cowardly denier, that restored repenter, “Feed my lambs.” Surely, every sin against You by a redeemed child is indeed a spit in Your face and a rape of Your grace. We are sorry for our sins O Lord. Now will You release all of us rapers of Your grace and restore to us all the cursing St Peter’s, by re-commissioning again those You have most astonishingly redeemed, that we all may speak again, of Your most outrageously, lavish grace, so wonderfully shown to them. Amen.

May | 21 | Below Bastards – The Position of The Pariah People

Dream Word – RESCUE

Joshua 9:22-27 Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you dwell near us? Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves — woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." So they answered Joshua and said, "Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us." So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, in the place which He would choose, even to this day. NKJV

Below Bastards – The Position of The Pariah People

So, Israel in not seeking the counsel of God, have been duped into an unwanted protectorate alliance with the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were alive, but they and their descendents were cursed with a perpetual and menial servitude. They were a protected class but nevertheless, to all of Israel they were a pariah class. Indeed, they were the untouchables within Israel, eventually living in the suburbs of the temple and in the Levitical cities. It was the Gibeonites who were also culled and killed by Doeg the Edomite under the direction of mad King Saul and so consequently, it was later King David, who, wanting to avert the disaster of the judgement of God upon Israel for carrying out these particular murders, also handed the seven remaining sons of Saul over to the Gibeonites for summary disposal. Obviously, the outcome of this Saulish massacre was a diminishing in the pariah class and so it was King David who later supplemented their ranks with captured enemy soldiers. These new combined capture of the old Gibeonites and newer enemy soldiers became known as the “The Nethinim” or “The Given Ones”, their tasks and duties being totally at the behest and discretion of the Levites.

The later whoring of Israel in chasing after foreign Gods led to among other things, the worship of Astarte, a demon of lust embodied in female form and linked with the so-called sacred prostitution of fertility worship. This Astarte worship actually took place in the temple and in all probability, the Nethinim females were active participants in all its sexual practices, so much so, that their subsequent descendents could not trace their fatherhood at all. Probably because of this, the Talmud lists these “social outcasts in sacred service”, as well below bastards and foundlings! Nethinim then, could never marry Israelites. They were perpetually cursed and excluded. Nevertheless, their eventual disappearance after the post-exilic return to the land seems to indicate that they were eventually absorbed into general Israelite society. The sect and the sin went underground you see, lying like a viral infection waiting for its ignition point. May I present you with but a small handful of thoughts gleaned from the history of this circumcised caste tonight.

First. That sin absorbed, will eventually reveal itself in time.

Second. That God allowed the social outcast into a sacred service for Him.

Third. That like it or not, and I don’t like it, the Lord allowed the perpetuation of a pariah class as a continual reminder as to what the people of God had been saved from.

Fourth. That these 'Pariah People' were given ones and were made both vital and integral to the function of the temple.

Fifth and finally, for those with true spiritual sight, even this degrading position of continual menial servitude was never the less far, far more desirable then dwelling in the damned tents of the wicked.

Think about that tonight, ponder this blessed curse of the pariah people. Now, remember your exalted position in Jesus and your privilege of being Royal sons, a Holy priesthood who are honoured to be able to offer spiritual sacrifices to God most high. You are not below bastards, you are above the angels, you are the adopted sons of God.

Listen: - “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalms 84:10,b & c.

Pray:- Lord help me to appreciate the blessedness of my position in Jesus Christ my Lord, for in Him, having been raised from the position of a pariah, having been moved from being listed below even a foundling and a bastard, I am now found at the top of the list, yes, I am now even adopted by You and possess the full rights and inheritance of a Son of God. Thank you for this O my Great Father, in Jesus magnificent name, amen.

May | 10 | Do you Have Demons in Your Drawers?

Dream Word – RESCUE

Acts 10:38-39 ... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. NKJV

Do you Have Demons in Your Drawers?

I take ‘The Demonization of The Christian,’ to mean that there are times when the enemy has a certain freedom of expression within and through us, rather than a full and rancorous evil possession of us. Remember, a squatter may inhabit the abode but he does not possess it, especially if the owner legally contests the ‘infestation.’ Having said that, I wonder if sometimes that demonic ‘excitement,’ that expression of demonization if you will, is sometimes so overwhelmingly powerful, especially when it is legally contested, that it appears like a full possession and that there may very well be supernatural manifestations as well as unusual and natural ones around the areas of eviction? So, I am suggesting then that in the Christian, the demonic may be given a freedom of expression, an opportunity to exploit any of the many openings which we have allowed them, invited them into, or which through generational curse agreements they have rights to. I think we might categorize these windows of demonic opportunity in three ways as as, ‘Allowable Exploitation, Invitational Exploitation and Generational Exploitation.’

Allowable Exploitation. Exploitation is of course the use and mostly the misuse of others for personal gain. Another word for this is slavery. Every bit of us must be yielded to Christ and not to the devil. Our choices in objects, our choices in media, our choices in relationships, our choices in working practices, our choices in verbal declaration, our choices in anything, either open or close windows of opportunity for either unrighteousness and darkness or holiness and light. So look at some of your choices, look at some of the repercussions of your choices and if they are sinful, then get rid of them, break them, change them, even close them down. Wherever there is a repeat price tag or a sowing and reaping price tag attached to such sinful choices, then you may well have to find the seed of it and remove it from your ground to stop all that “peskiness” continuing. Where such exploitation has been allowed, you must work hard to disallow it and negate it.


Invitational Exploitation. Many of us, in both words and action have found sources of power, sources of temporary satisfaction and sources of fascination, in people, practices and places of every kind. Our first free imbibing, and then often, our continued and surreptitious sipping of these often sinful energy sources, is I am afraid, a clear invitation to darkness to come in and continue its own exploitation of you. You must stop the surreptitious sipping of these sinful sources of power, satisfaction and fascination. Deny them, fry them and pound them into powder. If you do not, then you invite trouble into your life.

Generational Exploitation. The human story is one of generational connectedness, even all the way back to Adam. The curse of the broken law and a multitude of other curses, are played out daily in our lives. We mightn’t like this, yet our dislike of these facts does not negate the presence and power of a seeming, generational right of exploitation given to the darkness. May I simply say tonight, that where generational patterns of problems are perceived, it is worth simply asking God the Holy Spirit to guide you in prayers of acknowledged confession, righteous repentance and the ruin and running off of those problems which have been previously allowed to have there generational way in you. The old adage of “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck,” is well used in area of discernment of these kinds of generational issues.

In conclusion, may I say that you may have a very large and fine dressing table filled to overflowing with the most beautiful of clothing. Yet, it is possible for some of the drawers to be inhabited by the demonic. Are some of your drawers rattling tonight?


Finally, know tonight, that squatters, allowed, invited, or with previous generational rights, never leave without some form of contest of that now removed, allowed, invited and previous exploitation and occupation right. Slave owners and all those other exploiters of persons for their own selfish and protective gain, always turn nasty when robbed of their chattel. Always. Never the less, a thorough, complete and gentle removal of any infestation can be done without damage to the property, and then yes indeed, the filling up of that fumigated person or place with all good things, can actually replace the previous reputation of any house of ill repute, into that of being an honoured place of perfumed loveliness, even a worthy castle of anointed knighthood.

Listen: - Jesus said, "Tell that fox that I've no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I'm busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I'm wrapping things up. (Luke 13:32-33 THE MESSAGE)

Pray:- Lord, I declare that I am on the Great King’s Highway and have no time or space for our enemy. I belong to You Lord Jesus! Indeed, I honour only You Lord Jesus Christ. So, let Your angels camp around my place of rest and grant me full protection this very night. Lord, forgive me please my many personal sins, and the sins of all my generational line, for truly, we have been a rebellious family and we have served other gods. Consequently, all our evil deeds had separated us from You and brought calamity to our generations, our guilt and our iniquities are all way beyond our measure, being piled up high before You. I confess and ask you Lord, to forgive my family line and myself for all previous actions, declarations and destructions brought upon me and my family, both by myself and by my fathers, and that by asking this in the heavenlies, I so do renounce any and all generational sins and curses on myself and on the family that You gave me. As a Holy subject, as a Royal priest, I place them right now, under the precious blood of Jesus and ask You Lord for gentle yet thorough, calm but complete eviction of every foul thing that touches me and mine and that You would also grant me, a new generational inheritance of health and freedom and all the spiritual blessings which are in Christ Jesus, for both myself, my family, and the generations that might follow us. To darkness and to demons then, in the mighty name of Jesus I say break! Loose! Leave! Be bound and never to return, or even sniff around the fullness, which is now my Saviours, Jesus Christ my Lord, amen.”

Apr | 24 | Bringing Back Folks From The Dead

Dream Word – RESCUE

Hebrews 13:20-21 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. NIV

Bringing Back Folks From The Dead

The Chief end of man is indeed the glory of God. However, if I were to sum up the expressed glory of God in creation, that aspect of glory which reveals His heart, His desire, His ultimate plan, power and purpose, then it would be this, it would be resurrection! I would say that the stripped down Core of Christianity is indeed, most expressed in the action of resurrection.

Yes, resurrection is not just theological theory, no, this is what Christianity is all about! This is at the heart of it all! Redemptive transformation through resurrection. In terms of this body, the curse which came upon us all at Adam’s fall, daily works itself out in an unremitting wear and tear kind of wearing out, resulting at last, in the ultimate breakdown of the body, the end of which is the separation of soul and spirit from what is left of this over ripe, rotten and wrinkly, burnt out now old shrunken hulk. The best of glory is never found in stinking rotten fruit! Hence the absolute necessity of the resurrection of the ever fresh!

Redemptive transformation through resurrection, is God’s design plan to produce beautifully perfected, smooth and majestically proportioned creatures which would reveal His heart, His desire, His ultimate plan, power and purpose! Our redemptive Captain in all of this, our forerunner, our great first sent one, the second and last Adam to the fight, our Apostle in resurrection, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who, by the shedding of His own infinite and eternal most innocent blood on behalf of all those cursed in the first Adam, was brought back from the dead by the power of the Father. Our Father God, by this same power, through the shed blood of Jesus His son and our Saviour, is bringing, and will bring us back from the dead along with Him. This offer of resurrected eternal life is a one time deal folks and only offered this side of the grave, so come and get it whilst it’s hot!

I am often asked “What do you do?” My response is almost always “Oh, I am a Spiritual Entrepreneur.” The quizzical reply is usually, “Really? How fascinating and what does that entail?”

“Oh,” I reply in explanation, “Its a family business really and I suppose it’s all about renewal you know? But really I suppose, I’m just helping my Dad bring back people from the dead.”

Christian, do not underestimate the great work which God has called you to. In all your service and in all your prayers especially, remember that it is a resurrection ministry that you are part and partner of.

Listen: - And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying,"A great prophet has risen up among us"; and,"God has visited His people." Luke 7:12-17 NKJV.

Mar | 08 | The Scattered Seeds of The Big, Pig Pen

Key Word:- RESCUE

Title:- The Scattered Seeds of The Big, Pig Pen

Luke 11:21-23 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

There are few families that have not been touched somewhere with the problem of drugs. Short deaths by overdoses or long slow deaths by addiction, have been the portion of far too many in our generation and the Devil’s dreadful smile still ‘Eeeezes’ its way onto manufactured heavenly lies, leading many to the terrible trough of the big, pig pen. Many of us have woken up in the pig pen friends. Many of us eh? Oh yes.

My own hometown is a desert of drugs and drunkenness. In addition to this, male suicide rates amongst the under twenties in that area, are the highest in the country. Of course there are a multitude of social factors feeding this festering situation, but the root of such felt darkness, and believe me, you can feel it, is nothing short of demonic. Drugs, made by man for explotation and profit are, I believe, rooted in demonic destruction.
Country artist, Tim McGraw sings of an American country town, epitomizing the slow death of Americana in the Deep South, which has been increasingly gobbled up by the black top and intruded upon by the internet. He succinctly summed up the stark situation for many of us other original, ‘small town folk’:

“In my home town
For anyone who sticks around
You're either lost or you're found
There's not much in between
In my home town
Everything's still black and white
It's a long, long way from wrong to right
From Sunday morning to Saturday night
Everybody just wants to get high
Sit and watch a perfect world go by
We're all looking for love and meaning in our lives
We follow the roads that lead us
To drugs or Jesus”

“You’re either ‘Lost or Found.’” Which one are you?

Today’s pressing pluralism always wants to merge these two extremities of being lost or found, into the middle road of seeking or journey, indeed, maybe for the purpose of our own personal spiritual comfort or spiritual dialogue, we too shall have the tempted tendency to blur the edges of these two extremities of ‘Lost or Found.’ We must not do this friends, for in our home town of Zion, things are still black and white when it comes to salvation; yes indeed, people are still either ‘Lost or Found.’ Yes, seeking and journeying both still mean lost!

Whilst the church has played the grand actor in its experiential walk with Jesus, whilst it has denied and frowned upon the present power of Jesus, the Devil’s gone fishing with drugs. Baiting his nastly little hook with prospects of quick happiness, escape from loneliness, poverty, the misery of the mundane, hopelessness, lack of love, loss of respect; my goodness friends, you name it and you shall find that the Devil has a multitude of baited lures to hook you on drugs! However, once caught, you shall not find diamond skies and strawberry fields, but rather dangerous dogs and empty cupboards shame, shackles and shit, for drugs are of the Devil, yes, drugs are from the pit.

Thank God that Jesus is still walking the long road from Saturday Night to Sunday Morning! Looking for the lured, the now hooked, looking for the hopelessly lost and calling them home to the Father! Who in turn looks with longing, waiting to fall with joy upon wasted necks and wasted lives, to clothe the needled nakedness with scarlet cloth and place gold rings of love, on nicotine’d fingers, whilst pulling all the prodigals up from the putrid poop, to a prepared party, made ready just for them. Yes sir, and amen Lord Jesus, there is hope! For those who are indeed dead, can live again!

If drugs demonize any of you or any of yours dear friends, then Jesus is the only answer. Do not stop laying the extremities of lost or found before such folk, either in the flesh or in the spirit, for it’s still true in the eyes of Jesus, that in your home town, you are either ‘Lost or Found’ and it's often just the choice, of either drugs or Jesus.

Listen: - But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 11:20-21

Pray: Lord, deliver us from the laughing and lying demons that delight over the slow death of this addicted generation. Deliver us and those we love and long for, from this crippling captivity. Jesus we beg You! Go disguise Yourself and draw alongside them and speak of Your eternal love for them, until the heaviness on their lids is lifted and they raise their eyes to see You, their strong and seeking Saviour. Hallelujah and praise God! May all we love and know, find Jesus as their Saviour. May all we love and know seeing their need of Jesus, reach out and find Him there. May all our Lost, be FOUND today! Amen.