A Personal Note For many years as a Christian and as a pastor I struggled to be able to pray on a regular basis despite the clear injunction of scripture, “pray constantly” (1 Thess 5:17). Change only came in God’s … Continue reading
Introduction During a week of prayer and fasting recently, I believe that the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that he is often in a state of grief concerning the church. This is a condition that prevents him from fulfilling his … Continue reading
A Personal Note Most of my prophetic teaching documents start with an inner awareness of what the Spirit is saying as I sing at the commencement of my daily devotions. I write these communications down at the time they enter … Continue reading
Introduction Many Christians today are trapped in situations of needless pain and confusion because they lack an essential attribute that God promises to freely provide, wisdom. James boldly states, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who … Continue reading
Culture, relationships/companionship, welcome, sealing covenant, celebrations, funerals, weddings, rites of passage, dietary rules in religion, food as sacrifice. “Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you … Continue reading
Introduction What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror? Having had a string of situations lately involving Christians suffering from deep depression, paralysing anxiety, attempted suicide, spiritual confusion and various other debilitating issues, it seems that … Continue reading
The End of Work [1] Introduction Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of interest in Christianity in the marketplace with a new emphasis on the equality of vocation shared by all believers, whether in the world or in the church. … Continue reading
“7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of … Continue reading
Introduction Jesus is not an easy person to get to know in a deep way, but this has very little to do with trying to understand how one person can both fully human and fully divine. Paul alludes to the … Continue reading
Introduction On the verge of Good Friday I would like to read two stories about a father handing his child over to a shocking death of loneliness and abandonment, the first is very ancient and familiar; the second is one … Continue reading
Scriptures “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing … Continue reading
Introduction The final topic of this series, The Blessing of Unity, has been by far the most difficult to prepare, because it is the most demanding in terms of my personal union with God in Christ, and my actual experience … Continue reading
Introduction The topic of identity is one of the deepest of all, and operates at every conceivable level of human existence, personal, social, sexual, familial, cultural, national and religious. In contrast to contemporary thought[1], the Bible sees identity as a … Continue reading
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9) ∙originally God’s Chosen Fast was the … Continue reading
Introduction The Bible does not end with the description of Armageddon, or even the drama of heaven and hell, but with a prayer and a promise, “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”…. He who testifies to these things says, … Continue reading
Introduction An outstanding characteristic of most of Western Christianity is the struggle to bear effective witness. When I came to Christ at university several believers in my year suddenly came into the light. It is not unusual to hear stories … Continue reading
Introduction The last few decades have seen an exponential increase in teaching about leadership in the church, with seminars and sermons on laws of leadership, principles of leadership, stages of leaderships, levels of leaderships, servant leadership and so on. The … Continue reading
Introduction Part of the mystery of the Trinity is that you can only approach each Person through the others. If we ask how God himself is blessed, the answer must be given in terms of Jesus. Something I sense very … Continue reading
Introduction This is the third study in what it means to believe that God is the Father of every blessing. In our first teaching, I emphasised the role that Adam had as a man of the future, to be a … Continue reading
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5 What is the problem? 2,000 years ago … Continue reading
Background Recently I was privileged to be a part of a large gathering of leaders dedicated to growing Christian unity for the purpose of building the kingdom of God. The intent of the day was sincere and folk had come … Continue reading
Introduction An apocalypse is a disclosure to God’s people of his heavenly plan[1]amidst mass spiritual decline and great physical tribulations[2]. We are in the midst of such a time, when the traditional Christian nations of the West have abandoned God … Continue reading
Introduction In our initial study I focussed on the vision of God as “The Father of every Blessing”. It is the presence of the blessing of God that claims the whole of life and integrates it into a single act … Continue reading
Introduction This series is the fruit of several things I began to sense in the second part of 2010. I was feeling like my heart had lost its elasticity, that ministry and Christianity (never to be confused with Jesus) had … Continue reading
Commenting on the recent Queensland tragedy, Dr Andrew Glikson of the Australian National University comments, “Cyclones have increased twofold over the past twenty years. Floods have increased threefold.” A research team from Melbourne University reports in the Journal of Climate … Continue reading
14.01.2011 Introduction This teaching is a prophetic challenge to the sleeping church. It is precipitated by prayer concerning God’s voice in the Queensland floods, but is not limited to this latest tragedy. I am not seeking to answer the question, … Continue reading
Summary God’s message for today is that he is the Father of every blessing. Mary appears in the New Testament as the supreme example of what it means to receive the blessing of the coming of Christ. The angelic visitation … Continue reading
Summary In stark contrast to Australia the people of the Middle East share a strong consciousness of God. Spiritually, our land is featureless and dominated by a spirit of deprivation. This situation contrasts directly with the present message of the … Continue reading
Having just returned from 3 weeks in the Middle East seeking the presence of God I thought it would be good to share the following story. It is based on experience, not theory, for I was able to personally visit … Continue reading
Introduction This teaching began to take shape in a slightly different setting than most. I was in a situation where someone was sharing something like this, “I came to the Lord through the prayers of my mother/grandmother”. There is nothing … Continue reading