Free or Fair?

Jim Wallis in his book 'God's Politics' refers to world poverty and quotes the Top-Ten Facts as highlighted by Christian Aid. They are:

1. International trade is worth $10 million a minute.

2. Poor countries account for only 0.4% of world trade. Since 1980 their share has halved.

3. The UN estimates that unfair trade rules deny poor countries $700 billion every year. Less than 0.01% of this could save the sight of 30 million people.

4. Income per person in the poorest countries in Africa has fallen by a quarter in the last 20 years.

5. The 3 richest people in the world control more wealth than all 600 million in the world's poorest countries.

6. Nearly half the world's population (2.8 billion people) lives on less than US$2 per day (and 1.2 billion on less than US$1 per day).

7. The prices of many poor countries' key exports are at a 150-year low.

8. Global trade is regulated through policies and priorities set by international institutions, including rules made at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and conditions attached to loans provided by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These bodies are controlled by governments.

9. At the last full meeting of the WTO, the European Union had 500 negotiators and Haiti had none.

10. After the last round of trade negotiations rich countries estimated that they would gain by $141.8 billion per year and Africa would be $2.6 billion per year worse off.

Jim Wallis goes on to say that this is beyond politics. World poverty is a moral and spiritual issue. On several occasions the prophets of the Old Testament talk against the rich exploiting the poor - Isaiah 5:8, Micah 7:3, Jeremiah 5:28 to quote just a few. When Jesus talked about the reason for His coming to earth, His first words were 'the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor'. If we follow Him then we cannot detach ourselves from this problem claiming that we should not mix religion and politics. If we can successfully separate the two then maybe our 'religion' is not of Jesus.

Being fair

I have just been reading about Nicodemus when he couldn't understand what Jesus meant when He told him he must be born again. Jesus talks of the wind, not being able to catch or control it and likens that with being born again. The comment in the booklet I was reading says, 'In other words "You didn't have anything to do with your first birth, so you've nothing to do with your second one. God prepared your heart by sending the right people, the right circumstances, and the right word at just the right time to show you your need of Him."'

It goes on to say that the things of God cannot be explained, only revealed. 'Anything less would be unfair, for then the sharp folks would get it and the slow ones wouldn't.' So simple yet so profound. So obvious yet so misunderstood. God is just so amazingly fair and loving to everybody, regardless of our abilities. And what a relief to know that I don't have to struggle to understand things beyond my capabilities, just ask for revelation. How often we think our spiritual maturity depends on our level of understanding instead of our willingness to allow God to reveal Himself to us in the way that He wants.

Prayer team in France

I have recently returned from spending a week in the north of France with a prayer team from the World Prayer centre.


The front of the opera house in Lille where 400 Huguenots were martyred.


Sue with the resident kitten. Ahhh!!!


This vegetable garden is actually a roundabout along the road from where we were staying!


A day out in Lille


A well earned coffee break after cleaning out a room before the spiritual cleaning


Sunset over the corn fields of Wattignies

Wales

For some months now I have been receiving email updates of what God is doing in Wales. They are in a time of revival and God is doing amazing things - miracles, healings, angelic visitations, prophecies, appearance of gold dust on hands and much more. I have added their website to my links so you can check it out for yourself (Emerge Wales). You can also sign up to receive regular newsletters. The wild fire of the Welsh Revival is on its way to England and from here to Europe! God is moving and I for one want to move with Him. Make sure you don't miss it!!!

Same but different

Sometimes you read something that you have read a thousand times before but suddenly it comes at you in a different way. Two such experiences happened to me recently.

Just the other day I was reading in Revelation about the church of Laodicea and the verse that struck me was v 20: 'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.' I have always thought of that verse in reference to those who are not converted. But in the context it is clear that these words are for churchgoers!

The other reference was when I was reading 'Intelligent Church', a new book by Steve Chalke. In it he comments about Jesus washing the disciples' feet: 'I often wonder why it is that of the two commands Jesus gave the disciples that day (the day before he was crucified) - to wash each other's feet and to remember him when they ate bread and drank wine - only one has been adopted as a church tradition. Why is it we celebrate Communion, but we don't have foot-washing services?' Maybe it is easier to share a symbolic meal than to wash feet! Steve Chalke suggests that maybe we should adopt the towel as a symbol of Christianity (I rather like that idea!)- 'your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who ... made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant ...' (Philippians 2:5,7)

I'm sure many will have always thought of these verses this way but for me they came alive in a different way this week. Thank God that He never stops teaching us.

Update

I have just had a couple of weeks travel/holiday. I spent 3 days (5th - 7th June)in the north east visiting family and friends. Friday the 9th I spent with more family who visited Yeovil. Then on Tuesday 13th, Diego and I set off for a very enjoyable week's holiday in Malta. On returning we then went to spend a few days with my other son Martin in Cheshire.

I left the house keys with a friend who had arranged to re-do my kitchen. So the nice thing is that after two weeks I have come back home to a nice new kitchen without having to live through all the mess!

Polzeath

Saturday I spent in Polzeath, a coastal village in Cornwall where in the summer loads of young people gather to go surfing. The very small, elderly congregation of the Methodist church, situated right opposite the beach have a great desire to reach out to these young people and feel that God is telling them to open their church as a drop-in centre, a safe place to go. So a group of about 15 people travelled in to Polzeath from various places to stand with the local people in prayer for this vision.

During the day in the summer season, everyobody's enjoying the beach and water sports but when night falls the beach becomes a place for taking drugs. The police then move in and move them on which doesn't really solve the problem - it just moves it to somewhere else. This small group of Christians have such a heart for the lost. And so we prayed together that God would provide the people and funding to help. The sad thing is that other Christians in the village (of other denominations) are opposing the plans and are urging them to sell the property so it can be developed.

Two scriptures came to my mind. 'Where there is no vision, the people perish.' The other I was reminded of is about Sarah who in her old age gave birth to the plans of God to bring in a new generation. AMEN. SO BE IT.

Mississippi Squirrel Revival

I've just read a very funny post on Marc van de Woude's blogspot. Check it out. Click on my link to Marc's Messages and look at the post for May 21 entitled Mississippi Squirrel Revival and then click on 'this report'. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. By the way put your sound up so you can hear it as well as read it.

Got the point?

Today is my elder son's birthday. My sister-in-law who lives in Argentina tried to send him a greeting my email but it kept being returned to her. So finally she emailed me to ask if she had the correct address. I realised that she had left out the dot between his first name and surname. She tried again with the dot and this time it was sent without any problem. Just goes to show what a difference a little dot makes. You musn't underestimate the value and power of little things.
Point taken!

Trumpet Call

Went to Trumpet Call yesterday in Birmingham. It was good to meet up with friends from all over the country and to hear testimonies of what has been happening particularly in Manchester with city links and the Message Trust. It is always difficult to encapsulate in a few words what was said and done but here are a couple of quotes.

Referring to Gideon and how God chose him to fight the Mideonites who every year stole the harvest of the Israelites, 'I want my expectations to be shaped not on the past but on the future.' (Paul Miller)

Speaking about the verse in 2 Chronicles 7:14 - if my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves ... ... 'The problem is not the quality and quantity of darkness but the quality and quantity of light.' (Lloyd Cooke)

Stand up and speak out!

This morning I spent in the Local Council Chambers listening to an application that had been presented for a sex shop to be opened in our town. In previous weeks, many Christians had written letters to councillors and signed petitions against such a shop. People have prayer-walked the street and stood outside the proposed premises praying that God would intervene. This morning was the public discussion for this application.

A good number of people opposed to the proposal gathered in the chambers and several of them had made arrangements to speak to the councillors on our behalf. Then it was the turn of the proposed 'business' to put their arguments in favour. In the discussion it was mentioned on a few occasions that it was NOT legal to reject the application on moral or religious grounds and so those of us who objected were a bit discouraged. Many of us sat in silence listening and praying.

The councillors then went to discuss the matter with their legal advisors. After about two hours they returned with the verdict. They had decided against the proposal. So now I'm in celebratery mood. It just shows that when we stand up and speak out we CAN make a difference. Of course it's not over yet. The sex shop proposers will possibly appeal against the result so we need to go on praying and seeking to lift Jesus high in our town.

Mega Shift

I'm reading a book called Mega Shift by James Rutz. It is also subtitled 'The best news since year one...' There are some amazing stories about healings, miracles and resurrections. It also talks of how these things happen in an Open church rather than the traditional gatherings. The difference is that one is organised by humans and the other by God. So why do we go on propping up the one that is going nowhere? Frank Battleman, explaining about the decline and fall of the Azusa Mission (which was the start of the modern Pentecostal movement) says 'Every meeting was now programmed from start to finish. Disaster was bound to follow, and it did so.'

Paul says to the Corinthians: 'Then what is the right course, brothers? Whenever you meet, every one of you has something to contribute: a song, a piece of teaching, some special information God has given him, a message in an unknown language, or an explanation of what it means.' (ch14:26)
'If someone sitting in the meeting receives a message or idea from the Lord, the one who is speaking should stop. For this way, you can all have an opportunity to give a message, one after the other, so that everyone will learn something and everyone will be stimulated and encouraged.' (14:30,31)

People are leaving the traditional church not because they have lost their faith but because they want to preserve it!

A subtle difference

I've just spent a couple of days in Totnes with friends on a prayer ministry time. Overnight I stayed with a lovely friend who commented how words change their meanings. She mentioned the word 'prodigal' - how we come to think of it as meaning someone who has strayed from the Father or someone who has wasted his/her inheritance. In fact originally, she said, it held the meaning of being generous. I was a little surprised so looked it up in my dictionary when I got home. Sure enough, one of the meanings said 'lavish'. When you think about it, there seems to be a short way to go from being lavishly generous to being recklessly wasteful. It just reaffirms how Satan will take the good things and twist and abuse them until we cross over the invisible line and the good somehow becomes wrong. He is so clever at this subtle difference that we so often don't even notice it.

When this line is overstepped generosity becomes wastefulness; healthy goals become obsessions; leadership becomes abuse of power; freedom becomes licence etc. Let me know of any more you can think of.

A few more photos

I am preparing to go to Totnes for a couple of days with another prayer team tomorrow. But just wanted to post a few more photos from New Caledonia before I go. (I think I'm finally getting the hang of it!)

New Caledonia

Arrived back from New Caledonia on Saturday after a 40 hour journey with very little sleep. We had a good time and God blessed us. We found the people to be warm and generous in spirit and they really welcomed us into their hearts. We all came away feeling we have a load more friends. Thought I would share a few photos with you. Please note the dates in the bottom right hand corners are incorrect. We were there from 3rd - 14th April not in January. I'm afraid I forgot to correct the date since the last time I used the camera. Ooops!

Sorry I'm having a little trouble uploading the photos. I'll have another go tomorrow.

Busy and preparing

It's been a while since I wrote anything. This is because my brother has been moving house and he depends on my sister and me to do most things for him. So I have been kept quite busy for the last couple of weeks. He is now settled in his new home in a sheltered housing complex.

So now I'm looking forward and preparing for my travels. Next Saturday (1st April) I'm off with another three friends on a prayer ministry trip to New Caledonia. If you're not sure where that is look at an atlas, locate Australia and it's an island a little north and east. It's about as far as you can go (from England, that is) before you start coming back! We will be away for 2 weeks arriving back on Easter Saturday. We have been meeting regularly for months now to worship and pray about our visit but don't have any clear plan or strategy. We sense that God is not telling us much for our own spiritual protection. What the enemy doesn't know he can't do much to hinder. So we are going prepared to be surprised by God and open to whatever He says. Exciting stuff!

Another glimpse into Swanwick

Looking through my notes from the conference in Swanwick I was reminded of a saying of the Dakota Indians: 'When you discover you are riding a dead horse, it is advisable to get off the horse.' Yet we western Christians tend instead to - use a stronger whip, change riders, form a committee to study the dead horse, go on an overseas trip to see how others ride dead horses etc. etc. The speaker gave a longer list but I was a bit slow at writing and so stopped so I didn't miss any, and now can't remember them all! But we get the picture - why do we insist on 'flogging a dead horse'?

We ride a dead horse because we do things earth to heaven instead of heaven to earth. Much of the conference was about Abraham and his two sons. God had given him a promise to become the father of a great nation but when nothing happened he felt, in all sincerity, that maybe he should do something about it (earth to heaven). The result was Ishmael, born of a slave woman. Many years later Isaac was born of Sarah, Abraham's wife. He was the son born of the promise of God (heaven to earth).

We want results at any price! And preferably not to have to wait for them. In the end Abraham had to get rid of Ishmael and his mother. We need to choose - earth to heaven or heaven to earth; our way or God's way!

Prayer Alert

I have just added a link to Prayer Alert. This is a well researched and informed weekly newsletter with subjects for prayer particularly for Britain and Northern Ireland but also with items about Europe and the wider world. Why not check it out? You can also subscribe to receive these weekly updates directly by email.

Still waiting?

Heard someone say the other day, 'We are the people we have been waiting for!'. Made me think.

Swanwick

Just come back last evening from a 3 day prayer conference at Swanwick. It was good to meet again with friends and share together. In the first session Ian Cole (who heads up the World Prayer Centre in Birmingham) said: 'We have a sort-of programme but we'll just see what God wants!' And that's exactly how it went. We worshipped and prayed as God led us and the teaching was awesome! No milk, pure meat! I think it will take me some time to process all the things I heard. Might share some of it as I unwrap it in the days ahead. My mind keeps thinking and going over what we experienced. But need to catch up now on the practical 'home' stuff like washing, ironing, shopping etc etc.