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.

Giving It A Go

This is the first picture that comes up on my screensaver each day. It’s a picture of a holiday brochure from 1970, for various boys Crusader camps.

It’s first on the screensaver for a reason. Nearly fifty-two years ago at one of those camps - St Davids, Wales - I prayed a prayer and asked Jesus Christ to come into my life. As a teenager, I remember thinking ‘I’ll give this a go’. Fifty-two years later, I’m still giving it a go. It remains the most profound moment of my life.

If you’re reading this and don’t have that Christian faith, can I encourage you to pray the prayer I prayed:

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. 

Some friends find a faith in Christ at a moment of crisis. Some in floods of tears. For me it was pretty unemotional. I just gave it a go. Please do the same. Your life will be changed forever.

Fifty Years a Christian - Part 2

 I'm very grateful to Pam Rhodes for inviting me onto her show Sunday Night Live. I share here my story of 50 years ago. It seems like yesterday.....

Trust

We’re in a crisis as a nation. At least that’s what all today’s newspapers tell us!

The issue is trust. Not Brexit. Trust.

We all have different ideas as to our utopian nation. But we’re jaded. No longer trusting those we voted for.

Someone once said that when trust is broken it’s incredibly hard to repair. And that’s what has happened.

We had two sets of ideas at the Referendum. Each side exaggerated. But the winning vote is the one under the microscope. And some of the ‘facts’ turned out to be lies.

We have a Tory party in disarray. No longer governing; a lack of trust between factions within it has created crisis.

We have an opposition party with a weak leader who has allowed the extremists within to override common sense, resulting in some of the best MPs leaving.

We have a lack of trust in Europe. We’ve been so unclear in our dealings, even if we turned around and said we wanted to stay in Europe, it would take a long time for trust to be restored.

We all know this feeling. We’ve all experience it at one time or another in our lives. People we trusted let us down, betrayed us, spoke against us. It happens in the workplace. It happens with friends and family.

For us personally, last year was one of broken trust. Lies were gossiped and as a result of others believing it, we had to leave friends we had worked with for nearly 20 years. It’s hard to come back to a place of trust. But we are grateful for one overriding answer: Others may not be faithful, but God always is.

We’ve found that to be true for us personally. And that’s my prayer for our nation.

In the darkest of times, our nation has turned to God. When there is a lack of leadership. When there is a surfeit of false political answers. When there are too many false escapes from the world around us, whether that be drink, drugs, entertainment or other distractions.

It’s not taught in our schools, but we live in a land of revivals. A land that has regularly put its trust in God. A land that in the past, has declared Jesus to be the way, the truth and the life. We can trust.

My prayer for the Prime Minister (and I’m not sure who that will be over the next few days) is that he or she will trust. Trust in God.

‘But as for me, I have trusted in your gracious love.’ Psalm 13:5

Blinded By Your Grace

In musical terms, I’m a child of the 70s. I grew up on the heavyish rock of Argent, Led Zeppelin, Free and Deep Purple. And when I’m feeling nostalgic, that’s still where I return.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that I never really got into Rap, didn’t particularly get along with Punk and as for Garage, Grunge and Grime… it passed me by.

That was, until four months back, when the artist Stormzy appeared as a guest on X Factor on TV, and sang Blinded by Your Grace. I’m told he’s a Grime and Hip Hop artist. What I heard was pure Gospel. In fact, for me, one of the best Gospel songs I’ve heard in many years.

If you’ve not heard it yet, here’s a link:

As I watched, I found myself worshipping:

Lord, I've been broken
Although I'm not worthy
You fixed me, I'm blinded
By your grace
You came and saved me...

You saved this kid and I'm not your first
It's not by blood and it's not by birth
But oh my God what a God I serve…..

Now I'm in a better place
No longer afraid
Blinded by your grace
You came and saved me

It’s been a particularly tough time, especially with regard to local church. I’m a part-time church historian, so I know that even in the most successful revivals in history, there’s often an undercurrent of unrest and disagreement. Even my heroes George Whitefield and John Wesley fell out for a while!

There’s a verse in Proverbs that says:

There are friends who pretend to be friends
But there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.

It’s important to focus on line 2, not line 1, and that is what I choose to do.

As I write this, I look out of the window, I see all His creation, I think of all He’s done and I’m blinded by His grace. Amazed at a God who would love me, who saved this kid- and I’m not His first. What a God we serve…

Leaning into Relationships

A 75 year study (yes, 75 years!) by Harvard University shows that long life and happiness is reflected by strong relationships.

This remarkable study is still going after all these years. Over 700 men started out being interviewed. Over 60 are still alive and in their nineties, and still being studied.

It’s not money or fame that gets you a long and satisfying life, its good relationships. Loneliness is a killer. Family feuds take a terrible toll on the person that holds the grudges. A happy marriage adds years to your life.

This is not rocket science- but it is social science. A real study over 75 years is hard to argue against.

It’s not the first time I have heard this either. Dr JohnTrickell did a study of various societies around the world that lived the longest. His conclusion as to what brought long life? Fun, friends, family and faith.

To have good friends throughout life is a blessing. To have a faith that brings about a friendship with Christ is even more precious.

So, lean in to relationships that give you satisfaction, friendship and fulfilment. You’ll be happier for it, and live longer.

Want to find out more about the study? This is a 12 minute history:

Two Tough Questions

My thanks to our good friend Ros Turner for this one....

Two tough questions...

 
Question 1:

If you knew a woman was pregnant,
Who had 8 kids already,
Three who were deaf,
Two who were blind,
One mentally retarded,
And she had syphilis,
Would you recommend that she undergoes an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

Question 2:

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A: 

Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.
He's had two mistresses.
He also chain smokes
And drinks 8 to 10 Martinis a day.

Candidate B:  

 He was kicked out of office twice,
Sleeps until noon,
Used opium in college
And drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C: 

He is a decorated war hero,
He's a vegetarian,
Doesn't smoke,
Drinks an occasional beer
And never committed adultery.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?

Decide first ... No peeking, and then scroll down for the response.






Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:

If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it?
Makes a person think before judging someone.

Remember:

Amateurs ... Built the ark.
Professionals ... Built the Titanic

Splendid Grief

Splendid grief. Two words that don’t go together? I heard them used by Sir Nicholas Soames MP in relation to his grandfather Sir Winston Churchill, and specifically to the full State Funeral given him in 1965. Fifty years on, there’s been a lot of reflection this week as to what Churchill achieved.

It was unusual for a ‘commoner’ to be given such recognition with a State Funeral, and the occasion was both solemn and a celebration of a man who led a nation to victory against the Nazi’s. Grief. But splendid too. It would have be a very different world without him.

As I reflect on the loss of two dear friends from cancer, one at quite a young age, the words come back to me. As we celebrated their lives, there was genuineness about the celebration. But grief too. Lives taken too soon.

It would have been a very different world without them. Splendid grief.

Dear BT (again.....)

So lets’ recap why I can’t blog so often, tweet so often, or do my work properly....

This is day 41 without broadband and you are no nearer a solution. Just so you know, this is the story so far....

We moved house on 10^th June. The electric contract took a day to transfer. The water services took a day. Sky TV took two days. The Post Office took a week to change the address.

And BT have taken 41 days. And counting.

First I went for a Sky package. BT Openreach apologised when the first deadline was missed. They said they had sent the instruction to the wrong exchange. A week’s delay. Then, when the second deadline was missed, they said they had lost the link with the phone number. Funny that one, as it’s their phone number. Finally, after a month of trying, Sky were told by BT Openreach that they were unable to facilitate a service at the required exchange.

So.... Unwind the deal with Sky and go to BT. Twice the cost. Half the service.

Two week delay while BT retrieve the phone line from Sky. Then.... surprise, surprise.... deadline is missed. Re-scheduled for the next day. Missed again. ‘Give us 48 hours and we’ll have it sorted’. 48 hours later, next deadline missed.

A call from a BT specialist is promised on Friday. No call. ‘Sorry’ they say, ‘we’ll call Monday on your mobile.’

Text on Monday ‘we were unable to contact you’. That will be contacting me on the mobile that is in front of me and hasn't rung this morning then?

British Telecom- a monolithic monopoly with no controls and no customer care.

I have no choice but to sit it out and hope that somewhere in that organisation, someone cares enough to do something. Someday.

Today, Dear Day, I'm Going to Live You

Dear day,

It was tough yesterday. Tough to live. Hard to breathe.

But you’re a new day.

You’re ahead of me.

And I’m going to live you.

I’m going to squeeze the life out of you today, dear day.

I’m going to care.

And I’m going to laugh.

Give.

Smile.

Stand up when I fall down.

Walk.... Run.

Breathe the air.

I’m going to appreciate the simple today. And lose myself in something pleasurable.

I’m going to listen. To God. And to my friends.

Did I say I’d stand up if I fall down?

Oh yes.

Not only that. I’ll laugh.

Laugh at the trivialness of what used to upset me.

Today, dear day, I’m going to live you.

Poem based on the 16 Habits of Exuberant Human Beings by Kate Bratskier

Life Is Short

Life is short. Live it to the full.

Here's a small reminder of how quickly the years go by.....

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For everything there is a season, and la time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to mdie;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 a time to nweep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to odance;

5 a time to pcast away stones, and a time to qgather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to rrefrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek, and a time to slose;

a time to keep, and a time to tcast away;

7 a time to utear, and a time to sew;

a time to vkeep silence, and a time to speak;

8 a time to love, and a time to whate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Mountains

You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.

Tom Hiddleston

[We are] created to walk in precarious places, not on the easy levels of life.

Amy Carmichael

Risk

There was a very cautious man
Who never laughed or played
He never risked, he never tried,
He never sang or prayed.
And when he one day passed away,
His insurance was denied,
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never really died.


Anonymous poem  from Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell.

You Steady My Heart

Some signs of improvement, but still struggling with a virus that has pretty much knocked me out these last few months. In the meantime, Kari Jobe's new song says what needs to be said:

Even when it hurts

Even when it's hard

Even when it all just falls apart

I will run to You

Cause I know that You are

Lover of my soul

Healer of my scars

You steady my heart

The Happiness Survey (2)

The latest results from the Office of National Statistics happiness survey – carried out earlier this year and interviewing over 4000 adults- shows money doesn’t make for happiness. The survey shows that as a nation we have a happiness index of 7.4 out of 10. The same score as last time, despite a real downturn in the economy.

What did show up was what a lack of a job did. Here the index went right down to the low 6’s. People need to be valued, to have a purpose, to be able to provide for others. We are a ‘people’ people. Work is what is valued above money.

As we’ve been told over the years, riches can’t buy happiness. And the statistics show it to be true.

Money can buy a house, but not peace; medicine, but not health; amusement, but not joy; therapy, but not healing; a bed, but not sleep; allies, but not friends.

A final word from the writer of Proverbs: Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

Ten Years Ago

I was meant to be there that day. I keep an email in my diary of the invitation to a meeting in New York on 11th September 2001. What’s more, the company I was visiting had offices in one of the towers.

I postponed the meeting. God knows the time and the hour, and for that I’m grateful. In the meantime, the email is a reminder of the transience of this life.

C S Lewis described this life as like the front cover and the title page of a book compared to what is to come. As Lewis says, one day I will begin Chapter One of the Great Story.

This Race is Not About a Fall, This Race is About a Rise!

We're all in a race. It's the race of life. How we live determines how we finish.

Even if we fall, we can get up, run again and still win. Heather Dornidon shows how it should be:



Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God.
Hebrews 12: 1-2, The Message Version of the Bible.

(This was a clip I showed in my talk at KingsGate Church recently. You can find the talk at:
http://www.kingsgateuk.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=73639&file_id=81982 )

A Clear Reason..... A Clear Answer

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” is one of the best known quotes from the Bible (Proverbs 29:18). What we are seeing on the streets of our cities reflects the truth of those words.

If you are in your late twenties, unemployed, and in fact have never had a job (not for want of trying), it’s likely you will lack purpose in life. If all you know is gang culture, it’s likely that is where you get your values on life. If you live in a materialistic and godless society, it’s likely you worship the HD TV, Nike shoes and designer labels.

What we are witnessing in our streets is a result of the society we live in. No excuse for riots. But a clear reason.

And there is a clear answer. Not that it appears to be an acceptable answer to a majority of our society. When you find the reason you’re here, it makes a difference to how you live.

As we wake this morning to pictures of burnt out cars, looted shops and fearful communities, there has never been such a need for faith in Christ.

Where Am I?

This is a story attributed to the great Reformer, Martin Bucer. He tells of a forgetful Rabbi.

Each morning the Rabbi would wake up and forget where he had put his clothes. It would literally take him all day to find them and put them on. And by the time he was dressed, it was time to go to bed again.

This was happening day after day. One day he had an idea. ‘Why not write down where I store my clothes and put the note by my bed?’ So he did.

The next morning, he saw the note and was able to dress straight away, with all of the rest of the day still ahead of him.

He looked around the room. ‘Now’, he said, ‘where am I?’

How many of us are so busy with ‘getting dressed’, doing the day to day chores of life without thinking too much of the more fundamental questions such as ‘where am I’?

How do you measure 'Happy'?

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has decided to measure how happy we are in the UK. The ONS are to survey us from next April, in order to determine our state of happiness for what they are calling their ‘National Well Being Project’. (For those who have read Huxley’s ‘1984’, their title has a somewhat sinister overtone!)

So what will be the measure? Am I richer than last year? Do I still have a job? Am I still married?! It’s a tough one. For some, happiness may be measured by not missing an episode of ‘Coronation Street’. For others, the number of parties. Others still, holidays, cars, houses….

Solomon in the Bible had a good go at determining happiness. God offered him whatever he wanted. He chose wisdom. This is what he says:

‘[Wisdom] is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.’ (Proverbs 3:16)