I'm Glad You Found Me....

 I'm so glad you came by. But I have moved to two new sites.

My main blog can now be found at ralphturnerwriter.com

And anything to do with the revival in Leicester can be found at revivalinleicester.com

I do hope you will join me on our continuing journey together.

Israel: It's more nuanced than you might think

The tragedy in the Middle East right now brings out interesting political views within the Christian community. This blog (a little longer than my usual ones, sorry) tries to bring some balance to the debate, and to the prayers.

Much of what is being published on Chrisitan social media seems to assume a rather black and white picture – Israel good, Palestine bad. But as in all conflict, there’s good and bad on both sides.

So when Christians pray for Israel, it needs to be with compassion and with awareness. Awareness for example that the current Prime Minister is subject to investigations relating to bribery and fraud.

He has tried to maintain power, hence avoiding charges, by embracing some extreme right wing political groups within his government. This has led to more extreme positions on the rights of Palestinians and an extension to the policy of forced removal of Palestinians from their land.

The continuing Israeli efforts to displace Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestine territories and to settle Israeli citizens in their place has brought their ‘policy’ to the attention of the United Nations. The UN statement in April 2023 says that what Israel is doing is in ‘blatant violation of international law.’ This, together with continuing blockades of the Gaza Strip has resulted in an armed Palestinian response. That is to be deplored, but it would be healthy as Christians to see there are significant political reasons for the uprising, not least the deprivation of citizens in Gaza.

Water is in short supply, electricity is intermittent, goods are effectively rationed due to Israeli controls. All this has been reported in the press, not least by Christian organisations. Some praying for Israel comes from a dodgy end-times theology. If we accept the Dispensational teaching (popular in America in the 1970s) that there is some kind of secret rapture and that God is focussed on the current geographic Israel as His people, then prayers become rather skewed. Everything looks to Israel.

 If you think I’m on my own in this view, I refer you to scholars with much greater understanding than me – See Tom Wright, ‘Surprised by Hope’, Simon Ponsonby ‘And the Lamb Wins’, and Ian Rossol’s ‘Win the World or Escape the Earth?’, to name but three of many. I’d like to suggest that a rather more balanced end-time view would see the Church as the new Israel.

Hence the Church can legitimately appropriate Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah’s ‘Enlarge the place of your tent’ to the Church and not to geographic Israel. God still has plans for his original people. Paul makes that clear in Romans. But his people today are the Church, not those in geographic Israel. And that brings us back to prayer. We need to pray for Israel. And for Palestine.

Don’t forget Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Myanmar…. Pray for peace. Pray for those Christians on the front lines sharing the gospel. Pray for an end-time harvest. Pray for a bride of Christ on that final day, made up of every tribe and every tongue, every nation and every people. God’s plans include current Israel, but are so much bigger, so incredibly glorious. Keep praying.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (25) - HEALING IN THE HOUSE

Jesus hasn’t stopped healing.

That’s something we have been going after at Chroma Church in this revival.

A few weeks back, a man came forward who had been recovering from a heart attack. As he stood at the front, he decided to no longer accept his long-term heart condition and to believe God’s word. He decided to declare healing over himself. This he did every day from then on, and especially as he went to his hospital appointment.

The results were miraculous. He has fully recovered. The scans were clear. The checks were negative for any heart disease. He has been able to come off all medication.

Another man came forward a few weeks earlier, to ask for prayer for healing in the first of our Sunday meetings. He was from a Muslim background and had been brought along by his daughter. He had cancer.

The next day he contacted the office, to say that the ‘cancer had passed through his body’. We encouraged him to go back to the hospital to get it checked out. He did. He’s cancer free!

We’ve seen physical pain go in a moment. Sometimes when people come forward for healing prayer. Sometimes during the worship, and when they check out the pain it is no longer there. Backs have been healed. Significant leg pain has gone in an instant. Arms that couldn’t be raised, can now fully worship God without pain.

One man was unable to lift his arms above waist level due to a condition in his shoulders. He now stands pain free and arms lifted.

A lady with a hip condition, healed instantly. Tendonitis gone in a moment. Knee pain disappearing. Others go home and find the muscular pains they had dissipate over the next few days. Other have had to keep pressing in, coming forward for healing each Sunday. And then. Suddenly. The pain is gone.

Ears have been opened. Glasses have been discarded as Jesus heals eyes. Lumps disappearing as we pray. Migraines have gone. Depression has lifted.

As we fix our eyes on Jesus, as we worship God, the Spirit who heals the sick falls upon us.

Jesus hasn’t stopped healing.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (24) - WAVES OF LIQUID LOVE

We’d been away for a couple of weeks. But walking in to the 9.30 service on Sunday told us that God was continuing to work in just the same way.

When we arrived at Chroma Church five years ago, the first service was maybe a bit sleepy. No longer! The presence of God is tangible. From the first chord in worship, it’s hard not to kneel, just to acknowledge the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit.

The title for this post is ‘waves of liquid love’. It’s a well-known phrase from church history. When Charles Finney was baptised in the Holy Spirit at the start of his remarkable revival ministry, back in October 1821, he described it in this way:

‘Without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any memory of ever hearing the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way.’

Leicester is an exciting place to be. At the start of a new educational year, I’m expectant for much more. There are so many prophecies over our city, from people around the world who have never even been to Leicester, but felt in the Spirit that God was about something special.

We live in the good of those prophecies. Pretty much every meeting – the three services on Sunday, Student Church, Kids and Youth, Revival Nights and more – are soaked in the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is tangible. Waves of liquid love.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (23) - ALWAYS HOME

One of the delights of revival is the unity it creates. Not only between churches but within the congregation, across all ages and backgrounds.

We’ve just celebrated the end of another Leadership Year and Encounter Year at Chroma, for the students involved. Listening to their thoughts on the year was inspiring. Here we have a group of young people who are already turning the world upside down for Christ.

I loved the joy, the enthusiasm – the dancing! One student was planning to ‘upscale David’ with her dancing!

It’s so good that most will be staying in Leicester, and that for any that are moving on, as Pastor Steve said, ‘here will always be home.’

That’s true for the students, but it applies to all of us. What God is doing here is so precious, it will remain with us wherever we are in the world. And wherever we are, if you ask us about revival in Leicester, there will always be a smile. 

And maybe a dance….

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (22) - UNITY

One of the hallmarks of revival is an increased unity.

It was such a privilege to see this for real at Tuesday’s Revival Prayer.

We asked for prayer as a church. Immediately two ladies came up to pray – one from Colombia, one from Argentina. And then two church leaders from other churches came to pray – one from Anthem Church Leicester, one from OneChurch Leicester.

Churches and nations in unity.

When the Holy Spirit moves, unity is the result. As we work together, unity is the result. As we worship together, unity is the result.

Grateful for all God is doing.

Windrush at 75

Well, this is a rare event. My passion for justice has just coincided with my passion for stamp collecting. Not often you can put that together in one sentence!

Well done to the Royal Mail for their commemorative stamps celebrating 75 years since the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush. (You can read about the Windrush story on my blog, here). The Royal Mint are also issuing a coin.

It’s great to celebrate the diversity of our nation and the richness brought to our shores by such events. But the Windrush arrivals were treated terribly, and we have to acknowledge that we still have a long way to go before we can truly say that the British Isles is free from racism.

The Black Lives Matter initiative in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, has helped (see my blog on this, here). But there is so much more to do.

In the meantime, we can truly celebrate the wonderful people from every nation that call Britain their home.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (21) - THE FIRE AND THE RESTING PLACE

Numbers aren't everything. But they are a reflection of God's blessing. Over our recent Presence and Promise weekend, we had around 800 guests attending. That pushed up to well over 1000 on the Sunday.

It was a glorious time. Beautifully led by Steve and Juliet Barber, together with Paul and Sue Manwaring. Worship from Joel and the Chroma Worship family that took us to heavenly places. Ben Fitzgerald spoke boldly on evangelism and tenderly opened his own heart - such an encouragement for every one of us on this journey of life.

For me, the key talks came from Hayley Braun. Her preaching style is most unusual. It's as if she's talking to God and letting us in on the conversation.

At the first service on Sunday, we witnessed a strong prophetic word from Hayley for Chroma as a church, for Leicester as a city, and beyond to the nation and to Europe. This is the gist of it:

Hayley encouraged us that there was already a fire burning in this place, burning brightly. We were fanning the flames of revival. At Chroma Church, we have been given a gift - that of a resting place. This gift has not happened by accident, it happens because of intention. Steve and Juliet have paid a price. The presence of God doesn't come by happenstance, it comes when people choose to partner and to pay a very high price. It costs reputation. It costs relationship when people don't understand. It costs relational pain. But the price is worth paying.

Revival has come but we are still only ankle deep. There is a mighty river coming from the throne of God that will be unstoppable. Already the floodgates of salvation have opened, but there is about to be an outpouring of revival.

There will need to be sons and daughters to grab hold of the baton, to run in this race that is marked by generations running together.

What God is doing is not just a mantle for Leicester but a mantle for Europe - for the church, the region, the nation and for Europe.

That we are a resting place is clear. Many are coming and finding the refreshment offered by the Holy Spirit.

That a high price has been paid is clear too. We honour Steve and Juliet and are grateful to travel with them on this revival journey.

And that there is more to come is such an encouragement. For all at Chroma, in Leicester, in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. May we each choose to pay the price to see Europe changed.

The King and the King

On Saturday we saw a rare event - the coronation of a British king. Full of pomp and circumstance, we do ceremony so well.

At the heart of the ceremony is a commitment to God. A commitment of service to a people and to God Himself. Having said that, some of the words were a bit over the top - we can’t really declare Charles III should live forever. Nor can we claim him to be the ‘Lord’s Anointed’!

There is a vulnerability to some of the ceremony, not least the disrobing from royal robes to a plain shirt in order to receive (behind a screen) the anointing of oil – what is termed the Act of Consecration.

And so we have a king.

But we already have one.

His name is Jesus.

This is what the Archbishop of Canterbury said in his coronation address:

‘His throne was a cross, His crown was made of thorns, His regalia were the wounds that pierced His body.’

One day Charles III reign will end. But Jesus’ reign which began at the moment he broke the chains of death and rose from the dead, will be a reign that never ends.

We are invited to reign with him. Commoners, poor people of no consequence, we are invited to ask Jesus to forgive us and to change our lives. In doing so, He comes to live in us and through us. Him in us, us in Him, reigning with Him.  

If you choose to reign with Jesus, here’s a prayer you can pray:

Lord Jesus

I know you are alive and are still changing lives today. Please change mine.

Forgive me Lord for my life lived without you.

I invite you in right now as my Lord and Saviour. Please come and change me.

Amen.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (20) - CLIMBING MOUNTAINS

Just a week back, I had the privilege of speaking at Chroma Church in their two morning services. I spoke on Caleb, a real hero of mine. The man that cried out ‘give me this mountain’ and at the age of 85 took that mountain. You can find the talk here, at the one hour and seven-minute mark:

I love Caleb. In fact his story is the story behind the name for this blog. It was nearly 20 years ago that I spoke on ‘Mountain Climbing for Beginners’ at KingsGate Church Peterborough; it’s Caleb’s story.

We are seeing many mountains being taken in Leicester right now, in this time of revival. I speak of some in the talk. Over 100 new Christian believers in the last two to three months, meaning a necessary revamp to our New Life and Next Steps courses- but what a great problem to have!

I mention the fact that others visiting are seeing what God is doing and reflecting on it being revival. We had a leader of a church movement visit. He had been particularly involved in the Toronto Blessing revival in the early 1990s. His comment was it was the same as Toronto, except more mature. We’ll take that!

A lady has joined us who was part of the revival in Pensacola in the mid-1990s. Her comment? ‘This is the first time I have witnessed something that feels the same as the Pensacola revival.’ We’ll take that too! Just this morning I saw that lady at our first service with gold dust all over her hands – a reflection of the Holy Spirit at work in the meeting.

We had some friends, Barry and Chris, visit recently. They had read the blog and travelled up from the south of England to join with the revival. They were keen to hear prophetically from God -and they both did. Barry had been a teacher, now retired. He had felt for a while that God was telling him to pick up his pen again in the context of writing and teaching. The thing is, he had a specific fountain pen that he used when he was at school and he has continued to use this to this day, rather than working on a laptop. So imagine his surprise and delight when Rachel, one of our ministry team, came up to him and said ‘I see you holding an old fashioned fountain pen. God is calling you to write again.’ Wow.

Chris’s comment as they arrived back home after spending a few days at Chroma was, ‘it is strange to be back, and yet not back- we both feel as though we have been to a different place….difficult to explain, a different planet sounds too extreme, but catches a bit of the “otherness” we feel.’

The revival continues. Join us if you can, at our Presence and Promise Conference.

 

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (19) - THE ROLLING HOLY SPIRIT

As a writer, I’d hope to come up with a better description than ‘rolling’, but I think it’s the best I can do…. We have a ‘rolling’ Holy Spirit!

Let me explain what I mean….

 

I’ve noticed it a few times now, but it was most obvious at our Revival Prayer meeting on Tuesday night. The presence of the Holy Spirit was such that the majority of us were on the floor, weighed down by the Spirit’s presence. But I got up and sat down for a while – which meant I was able to observe what then happened.

Starting at the far side of the auditorium, the Holy Spirit started to roll over the people. On the far side, many began to groan in the Spirit, others cried out, some shook, or rolled on the floor. And as I watched, I saw the Holy Spirit move over the congregation. From the far side to the middle. From the middle to the near side. Each time, the effect of the Spirit was for those feeling God’s presence to cry out, groan, laugh or shake.

And then I observed the same thing happen in reverse. The Holy Spirit began to move over the room from the near side to the far side with a repeat of the effects.

Something similar is recorded in the Charles Finney meetings of the mid-1800s. And earlier still in the Methodist Circuit Revivals in ‘Wild West’ America. Here’s a quote from an onlooker at the 1801 Cane Ridge Revival:

At one time I saw at least 500 swept down in a moment, as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them, and there immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens.

I love that we are experiencing revival. Many healings. Many salvations – 80 or so in the last two months in our meetings alone.

A dear friend who was part of the Pensacola revival in the mid-1990s commented that what she is witnessing at Leicester is the first time she has seen a Holy Spirit move in a similar way to Pensacola in the 25+ years she has been in the UK.

Reflections

The first picture is the view from my sister’s holiday house. We are frequent visitors and the seat by the window with this view is my favourite place to sit.

The second picture is the view from our kitchen. Most days I start by sitting and looking at the beauty of God’s creation with this view in front of me.

Starting right is important. A time of reflection at the beginning of the day. Thinking through the day before us, looking to the day ahead.

For me as a Christian, it involves a short study from the Bible and some prayer. But whether you have a faith or not, a time of reflection is a good start to any day. I appreciate it’s easier for me nowadays with the kids away from home, but even five minutes reflection will help with the day ahead and bring context to the daily pressures of life.

And last thing at night too- just to be able to look back at the day, maybe to say a prayer of thanksgiving for another day. I reflect in a different way too – I keep a daily diary. And that’s the other rather boring looking photo here – I started writing a daily diary at Christmas 1977, when someone bought me one as a Christmas present. I thought I’d give it a go – I’m still giving it a go.

Diary writing, or an occasional piece in a journal, helps in the same way as a morning reflection – it gives time to consider the day, to record thoughts, thanks, anxieties, prayers, hopes and dreams. It takes us away from a cycle of work, sleep, TV and smartphones to an age-old tradition of crafted words, sentences that reach out beyond the daily rhythm of life.

And that leads to this blog. Just another way of recording and reflection – this one a bit more public. I started the blog when Elspeth, our oldest daughter, got married. It seemed a bit of a watershed moment. And it practically coincided with my 50^th birthday. Hence the 50 in the blog address. Seventeen years later – I’m still giving it a go.

So why not give it a go too? Reflect on the day. If you’re a Christian, pray and thank God for the day ahead and the day ended. If you don’t have a faith, why not try praying anyway? Or perhaps start that journal you always thought you should write.

My blog calls it climbing the mountains of life. The writer Eugene Peterson calls it a ‘long obedience in the same direction’. Our walk of life can mean so much more when we take time to reflect, to adjust course, to record, to say ‘thank you’ to the God who created the view, the day…. the years.

One Thousand Snowflakes

I don’t have the answers. But nor do the Government. On a day when lives are declared unimportant with the new deportation rules, I have ventured into poetry….. be kind!

 

One thousand snowflakes fell today. I didn’t count them, but they were there.

One thousand migrants landed today.* I didn’t count them but they were there.

We discuss the weather, talk of a cold start. We ignore the migrants, talk of a cold heart.

Closed gates. Closed doors. New rules. No choice.

Having risked everything, they are lost. Lost in a system that values politics before life. Lost in a broken world that talks of snow in March. And hides its eyes to the melting lives of a desperate people.

No surprise.

 

*The actual number of migrants detected landing in small boats in January was 1180.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (18) - JOY IN THE HOUSE

I love that this revival is being reflected in joy. Last night at the leaders meeting, we witnessed laughter breaking out around the room as 60 or so leaders met together. Holy Spirit laughter is fun!

And we have a lot to laugh about. A lot the Holy Spirit is doing in these days.

We have seen the congregation grow by around 150 in the last two months, taking our numbers well beyond 800 on a Sunday. We have seen 22 people come to the front of the meetings in these last two weeks to give their lives to Christ. At the first service on Sunday, we had the privilege of praying for a number of leaders who had heard what was happening and were visiting us.

We saw on Sunday night, 14 people being baptised. One had nearly died from knife wounds, but Jesus got hold of him, brought him through and brought him to faith. Another took drugs at a night club, causing a heart attack. He saw Jesus come to him and hold him. And now he’s full of the Holy Spirit rather than drugs.

A girl celebrating her 21^st birthday told of how God had taken her and her baby from wrong relationships, tarot cards and fortune telling to coming to Christ a week ago. And one week later she’s baptised in water. A young 8-year-old girl told of her own faith journey: ‘and now I know that baptism is my next step.’

Stories of lives changed. There is much to celebrate, to laugh about and to enjoy. There’s joy in the house.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (17) - DAYS OF HEAVEN

I’m not usually lost for words, but it’s hard to describe these last few days. Friday saw the start of the two-day Leaders Gathering, with around 350 people from churches up and down the country as well as from many nations including India, South Africa, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and more. (This was the same event as last year that started us on the revival road). This was followed by a wild Sunday in all three services. And then the Revival Prayer night on Tuesday.

The worship has been exceptional. Such a presence of the Holy Spirit. An awareness of the Father’s love. What can you do in such a time but worship?

The practical sessions brought a Holy Spirit anointing as people moved out in the gifts of the Spirit with many experiencing a new found freedom in prophecy and words of knowledge.

Sunday night’s service was particularly precious for its heartfelt worship and six people coming forward to give their lives to Christ.

Again, there have been angels in the building. Often  they are dancing. On Tuesday night’s Revival Prayer meeting, they seemed to be standing to attention. It was as if we had broken into a holy place, with increased awe and reverence.

What days to be living in. Days of heaven. And lost for words.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (16) - REVIVAL UPON REVIVAL

A year ago, revival came to Leicester. It was during the Chroma Church Leaders Gathering at the beginning of the year. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so thick, it was hard to stand. People had to be lifted out of the meeting, unable to walk. Others felt the presence of the Holy Spirit even as they parked their car in the car park. None remained unaffected.

Through the year that has followed, the Holy Spirit has continued to move. We’ve seen oil on hands as a common experience, some of our ladies having oil dripping off them. There have been angels seen regularly – some guarding doors, others entering into worship with wild dancing. Children have seen angels in their bedrooms, guarding them. In the children’s meetings, the sound of heaven has been heard.

We’ve seen 115 people walk to the front of the Sunday meetings over the year to give their lives to Christ. On top of that there have been hundreds on the street and in the youth and children’s meetings. 51 have been baptised. As Rachel says in our New Year message (from about the 1 hour 20 minute mark here) salvation isn’t a prayer, it’s a person. Jesus has been good to us in our times together. 115 times.

People of other faiths have started turning up to meetings, hearing that there’s healing to be had. Whole families are coming to Christ through healing encounters. Sikhs and Hindu’s have come to faith this year, some having dreams of Jesus that brought them to the church.

We’ve seen people give their lives to Christ where addictions have instantly lifted off them and they have remained free. We’ve seen new believers devouring the Bible, reading through the whole book in a short time.

The most dramatic healing was of a young lady with a heart condition. The doctors were unsure she would live, and certainly would not be able to work. She and her parents joined in the meetings online and the day we prayed for heart conditions, she was healed. Today she is active and has her first job.

There have been many other healings from the young to the old, sometimes happening in the worship without any prayer or particular emphasis.

Worship has been a key to the revival this year. ChromaWorship have been sensitive to the Holy Spirit and have consistently led us into God’s presence. Their heart for the Lord has been recognised too and they are beginning to lead in large international gatherings around the world.

The start of the revival in January a year ago caused us to start a weekly Revival Prayer meeting on Tuesday nights. These have been especially precious, with an overwhelming sense of God’s presence causing fear and reverence one week, outrageous praise on another. The weekly meetings have gathered others from other churches, including significant leaders of church networks. One of these leaders who had been particularly involved in the Toronto Outpouring in the 1990s commented that the revival was ‘like Toronto but more mature’. We’ll take that!

As 2022 was a year of revival, so for 2023. Revival upon revival. Every age group, every background, every nation represented. Revival has come to Leicester.