Planted by Water

It’s good to be back to blogging after a week away. I had a few days retreat in a beautiful area just outside Huddersfield, where I was able to do some writing. I then went on with my wife, Alison, to the Ministries Without Borders International Leaders’ Conference down in Cardiff, with leaders from the churches related to Keri Jones. It was a terrific time with, for me, the highlight of the conference being a session where Keri shared his ‘Dream’ of the kind of church he sees. It was extremely moving and powerful. You really felt a true apostle of God was speaking - with a tremendous anointing of the Holy Spirit. This had been one of the main themes of the whole time together - the importance of being a people of the Spirit, and of the Presence of God. We don’t just want a church full of meetings, or programs, or personalities - but a church full of the life and the Spirit of God where our gatherings are marked with the felt and manifest Presence of God.

I was particularly blessed as keri shared that God had promised him 10 churches of 1,000+ in the UK, and that he believed Huddersfield was to be one of them! I felt a real rise of faith for that, as have the people here as we came back on Sunday and shared with them. I shared that for it to happen there must be ‘Agreement’ - a unity of faith and vision, oneness of mind and purpose; and ‘Adjustments’ - we need to start planning now for what God says is going to happen in the future. It is also so important not to go by what you see with the natural eye, but by what God has said. There are some natural things that might cause some people to question such a vision, but we do not go by what we see but by what God says! Right now, our faith is such that becoming a church of 1,000 seems the most natural thing to happen!! We are just going to keep looking to God, drawing from the wisdom of Keri as our apostolic father, make the neccessary adjustments and make sure that the church is full of the life and Presence of God!