time to get healthy!

Hi guys,

It was so great to see the blessing of God on the house this Sunday. The progression from ‘certain’ to ‘awesome’ is evident for all, who choose, to see. The numerical growth shows that the rumour is being proven true as people talk in a positive manner about Bethel and the ‘cultural revolution’ that we are experiencing.

Throughout this growth spurt we have to ensure that we remain humble and committed to serving Jesus and building His church. Mark 2 tells of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus by his friends. It reveals what happens when JESUS IS IN THE HOUSE! In the passage there are 3 contributing factors that encourage us here at Bethel; 3 headlines that demonstrate that we are heading in the right direction:

1. The man was brought by his friends – People are obviously recognising that Jesus is in the house, thus talking and inviting friends. Let us continue to do this. I am persuaded to invite people to meet Jesus this coming Sunday; I believe that Salvation will visit the house this Sunday. Please bring people. The well known T. D. Jakes has a policy (that we will be adopting) of ‘no more empty seats’. Too often we are selective in our evangelism; we think that our neighbour or friend would say ‘no’ to coming to church. How do we know what God is working in their hearts at this present time? ASK THEM! The passage doesn’t tell how the friends got them to the house where Jesus was, it just says they brought the man!
2. The roof of limitation was lifted – These ‘friends’ lived by our adopted phrase of ‘there is no such word as CAN’T’. There was no way they could get to Jesus so they removed the limiting factors. I recognise for the people that have recently joined this awesome church community we have no history of things Bethel. For those more established, the thought of a new day can be quite intimidating. 95% of people have embraced the new culture and settled quickly in this new day. For some, it is a little more difficult. Can I encourage you that in order for the man to encounter the Jesus his friends talked of, it was the friends that had to lift the limitations, not the man. Be encouraged, walk with us and remove the limiting restrictions. People in this city need to be brought to the place where they can encounter Jesus. Please don’t prevent being used of God by refusing to push through to new horizons. It is a new day & God is still on the throne!
3. People criticised but it didn’t stop the miracle – This is awesome. Some people refused to acknowledge the wonder of Jesus. They refused to praise, even though they saw the work of Christ right before there eyes. We are not naive. We know that a minority might murmur. We also know that it won’t stop the miraculous work of Jesus. Church, RISE UP! Warrior, RISE UP! Princess, RISE UP! ‘The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks & acts, by which he fills everything with his presence’ [Eph 1:23 The Message]

Times are so exciting! God is so good! Bring somebody on Sunday for a phenomenal time in the House of God. It’s an awesome place! This Sunday we are looking at our 5^th cultural pillar – Health. Be ready for a great time!

Just Do It!

 

Years ago, a very famous sports company began a marketing campaign using the phrase ‘just do it’.

It was a great campaign because it very simply empowered the individual to break free from restrictions and pursue their desired objective.

I am pretty sure that the church either didn’t listen to the inspired slogan or thought that the sports company was trying to encourage Jesus!

In church life, only in church life, do we expect great things and consider our efforts to be not required. How wrong we are. We believe for thousands to flock to us because we sings love songs to Jesus. How wrong we are!

Proverbs tells us that ‘all hard work brings a profit’. Yet we consider that it is Jesus who must do the hard work, we must simply bask in His presence. How wrong we are.

Bible.

Good place to start.

Jesus.

Great example.

Matthew 14 shows us a great example of how Jesus wants to operate through and in us. The multitudes of people were hungry. They required substance. This is like our cities and communities, they require substance, they are hungry for more in life.

It is our understanding that Jesus fed the people. How wrong we are. If you look at the passage carefully Jesus tells His disciples ‘YOU DO IT’! They submit all that they have (the boys picnic) and then Jesus gave thanks and broke the loaves. He then placed back into the disciples hands what was required to fulfil the mission.

Hey listen, we are believing for awesome things here at Bethel, Stoke on Trent. We are not playing games here; thousands of people are ‘hungry’ and we carry the answer. Jesus is not going to wonderfully excuse us for being lazy. His cry is ‘YOU DO IT!’

What a phenomenal thought, He will give thanks and administer that which we give over to Him. He will empower us to just do it. What a divine opportunty we have. Called for such a time as this.

Bethel, this is our finest hour. Just do it – ‘YOU DO IT!’ is Jesus’ cry.

The importance of ‘THEN’

I like to read.

Anything!

The back of the Mars bar that I shouldn’t be eating, the small print of the contractual agreement of the credit card application that I am not even going to fill in and even the information that you recieve about dietary requirements of the latest banned health craze.

I like to read!

However, it’s amazing when reading the Bible, I miss words out. My eyes register the word and yet my mind chooses that it isn’t that important. You know the words I mean: the small, insignifianct words.

and.

the.

is.

then.

If I am going to learn then I am to develop the ability to dig deep into the small, insignificant words. If God decided that the words on the page were important enough to be there, then they must carry an important message.

Psalm 144 is a great psalm. One of huge importance to us as the leadership of this community named Bethel, one of essential importance to us as we embark on building a church that effects the generations to come.

The psalm talks about our ’sons’ being like well nurtured plants; our ‘daughters’ being like pillars that adorn a palace.

We are believing that our numerical strength will be strong enough that our city has to respond to the influence we carry, Psalm 144 carries this as it states that ‘our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields’.

It talks of ‘no more cry of distress in our streets’. We want that in our city!

Yet Psalm 144 remains impotant if we dismiss the ’small, insignificant’ words.

‘Then’ (v12) shows us what is required if we will see great things realised. Psalm 144:1-11 need to take place ‘then’ we will see the reality of our dreams.

‘Small, insignificant’ words or ‘linch pin, gateway’ words. These provide the revelation and insight required to bring scripture alive in the 21st century. The Bible isn’t merely stories of ancient greats or therioes that have now been left being by church for the latest leadership journal.

Scripure is absolutely the way forward!

And the key to learning is to ensure the importance of ‘then’

Bethel: a ‘certain’ or ‘awesome’ place

In any new venture, I have discovered, that to breakthrough, revelation & application are required. Becky & I have embarked on a phenomenal journey that a 33 year old Stoke lad rarely gets the opportunity. This journey is to lead a great church, in a great city, into the great things of God.

We are seriously not messing around or playing church. We are, along with the rest of the Bethel community, building ‘a church that loves people for who they are and inspires them to become all that they can be’. We are building numerically to a strength where our city has to notice and listen to us; we are building strategically to a standard where others will follow our model; and we are building generationally to the level that we are already planning succession 20 years from now. We are serious. This is for real! People not knowing us may read this and think ‘nice, young man – how long will he last?’; people who know us are moving into Stoke on Trent from 200 miles away to be apart of this because they know – THIS IS FOR REAL!

So what is the revelation & application required for this phenomenal venture to become a reality?

Quite simple, learn from scripture!

Genesis 28 tells how the place that later was named ‘Bethel’ started as a ‘certain’ place and became an ‘awesome’ place.

Bethel has to move from being that ‘certain’ place and become that ‘awesome’ place. It is a process that is clearly marked out and we are now, through the next 7 weeks going to be gaining the revelation and then applying it to ‘the house’ and our individual lives.

Honestly, Sunday was wonderfull to watch the scores of people respond and begin to move from ‘certain’ to ‘awesome’.

I’m so wired about next Sunday morning.

sat nav: ‘10.30am’, ’st2 8by’, ‘find’.