Cornerstone - Unexpected meeting

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Meeting up again to think and pray about a house of prayer, Chris and I were pleased to meet another friend unexpectedly. Although we didn't spend the time as we had intended, there was a sense that we had spent it as Father intended. And that is far better!

Chris and I had agreed to meet at Cornerstone again for more focussed prayer towards the goal of a house of prayer for St Neots.

I arrived first, ordered a coffee, and sat reading, praying, and chatting with the staff. After I'd been there a while I noticed someone coming from the healing room. It was Tendai.


She joined me for a drink and we exchanged news for a few minutes. Then Chris arrrived and I introduced my two friends. As I did so I felt there was something significant in our meeting like this, it seemed just right, perhaps even prearranged, as if we were here for a greater purpose. When I mentioned this later it seemed that Chris and Tendai both felt the same. Sometimes the light in our lives can be quite unexpected, yet glorious.

Exchanging information - She told us about some of the encouragement they are getting from offering hugs and a listening ear on the street in town. People are sometimes asking for prayer now. This idea comes from Chris Duffett and is a wonderful way of engaging with everyday people in everyday ways, reaching deeper into their hearts and minds meaningfully, making people smile, encouraging them and making the most of fleeting moments.

We in turn told her about the house of prayer idea and about Ffald-y-Brenin and The Grace Outpouring and the idea of speaking a blessing over people, places, and organisations.

After Tendai had left, Chris and I chattted a little longer and blessed Cornerstone and even the pavement as we walked back to the Market Square.

Questions:

• Are there times in your life when the unexpected has been better than the expected?
• How important is it that we network with one another?
• Are you praying for the place where you live? If not, could you?

See also:

• Be the Light
• Cornerstone - Site title
• Ffald-y-Brenin
• Grace Outpouring, The - Journeys of heart and mind

< 8th January 2013 | Index | No later items >

What is the Spirit saying to the church?

The Spirit is speaking to the church, but are we listening? And are we ready to live daily for Jesus with him front and centre in our lives and in our hearts and minds?

Spirit and breath are the same word in both Hebrew and Greek. So when, in Old or New Testament writings, you read 'spirit' you might also read 'breath' and vice versa.

The Holy Spirit is the Breath of Truth (John 15:26), the Breath of Power (2 Timothy 1:7), but above all the Breath of Christ (Romans 8:9).

The Holy Spirit is always speaking to the church. How could it be otherwise?

The church is the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ. How could the breath not fill the body? How could Christ's Spirit not speak to Christ's Bride?

A new thing - We are at a time when the Spirit is again speaking to the church. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say we are at a time when the church is again listening to the Spirit. Don't misunderstand me, there are always those in the church who are listening raptly to the Spirit of Christ, but sometimes there is a wider, wholesale hearing that changes all our preconceived ideas and sets the church on a new track. I believe this is such a time.

There are a number of voices now speaking about different aspects of this new thing, and a number of people beginning to see some common themes. What it will become we do not know, but we will know.

Perhaps the central theme is that the Father and the Son and the Spirit matter, that they have a significance we can't overstate. Everyone will say, 'But we already know that!' Well, yes we do, but sometimes we know it in our minds without being driven by it in our hearts.

We know that without him we are nothing, yet without us he is still everything and will, if necessary, raise up the stones to worship him. We know that Jesus said, 'Apart from me you can do nothing' (John 15:5). We know that he said he does only what he sees the Father do (John 5:19), and says only what he hears the Father say (John 12:49-50). We know all these things but we still don't always live them out day by day.

It's all about him first, not us. It's about being in his presence, not being busy with our own stuff. It's really about knowing him, having a close and personal relationship with him - individually and as the church (his Bride).

Bullet points - Having said all that, here's a list of eight aspects that have come to my attention over the last few years. There may be more than this, of course. I've added a reference or two after each one, these are books, articles, or quotes that expand on the topic.

• Forgiveness - Recognising we are forgiven, forgiving one another, 'The Shack'
• Being his people - This trumps doing things for him - Be still and know that I am Elohim (Psalm 46:10), 'It's not about what we do, it's about who he is.' (Paul Young), Eaton Ford - Reflections, 
• Living in heaven - We need this daily, Simple gathering of believers, Missing the best
• Building the Lord's house - Haggai 1, A 3 am wake up call
• Command and prophecy - Ezekiel 37
• Blessing, prayer - Ffald-y-Brenin, The Grace Outpouring
• Love - Love him, love one another, love our neighbours, love our enemies - Henry Drummond
• Listening - Paying proper attention to the Holy Spirit, Are you listening?, the need to listen

At first I thought it would be useful to put them in some kind of meaningful sequence, but I couldn't get that to work. I think the reason is that all eight need to be in parallel, not in sequence. In fact they are so intertwined and interdependent that any kind of structure seems to do violence to the underlying truth.

I need to shout this from the rooftops...

Focus ever more fully on Jesus!

Everything we are and everything we do needs to stem from having him full and central in our hearts and minds every day, every minute. Isn't that what it means to be 'grafted in' to Jesus? He is the vine, his Father is the gardener, and we are grafted-in shoots.