So I already mentioned this a while back, but here are the details...
Bertie will be preaching on two night, Friday March 6 at 7:30 and Saturday March 7 at 7:30. The meetings will be held at 1212 Mountain Rd. Moncton, at Water and Wine Assembly who have graciously allowed us to use their building for free. Bertie is also coming at absolutely no expense to us so we'll probably have an opportunity to give for anyone who would like to support Bertie and his ministry. If you're not familiar with Bertie, he is a wonderful and powerful grace preacher who preaches the gospel boldly with signs and wonder following! You can visit his website, Dynamic Love Ministries, to read testimonies, bio, or hear his teaching.
You don't want to miss this if you live anywhere near Moncton! If you or anyone you know is sick, injured, or depressed, please come ready to experience the real and dynamic love of God, it will change your life. If you are on Facebook, you can visit our events page, Bertie Brits in Moncton, and let us know you're coming. For all of you who sadly live too far away, pray for us, pray that people get revelation of the glorious gospel of grace and get SET FREE!!!!!
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Healing: The Fool Method
When we attended Vineyard Christain Fellowship at the Barn in Landenburg PA, they showed a video of John Wimber's testimony over a couple of summer Sundays. It was great, and one part that particularly stands out to me was when John was talking about the moment he got saved (I think). His mind flashed back to a zealous Christian protester wearing a sign that said on the front "I'm a fool for Christ" and on the back "who's fool are you?" So John Wimber started out with a clear understanding at the moment of his spiritual birth that he was now to be a fool for Christ.
And I remember Rob preaching once that he believed the key to revival was going to be people responding to God in obedience in something foolish. In other words, as people get a revelation of grace and start to really trust God's heart of love for them they will enter into true humility (losing self-consciousness and becoming fully enraptured with God) and will no longer care if they look like a fool!
Last night my daughter was in severe pain as happens from time to time with her. Since she was a baby she's had stomach problems and it's not unusual for her to be doubled over in pain for a few hours moaning and groaning, sometimes screaming. I had the same problem as a child... We always pray for her when she's sick or in pain, as we do the other kids, but usually to no avail. But I'm usually still worried about looking like a fool, if you know what I mean, not wanting anyone else to be around when I'm praying for her. I'm still conscious of the 'foolishness' of expecting anything to happen and how 'foolish' I may look trying to do something .
I think last night started out the same, but then something changed. I started to be angry about the pain she was in, and for the first time (or at least the first time in a very long time) I knew faith was rising up, that is, the Spirit of faith himself. I actually think part of what happened was that I was very tired at this point and didn't care about acting like a fool! I began to authoritatively command the pain to go and Eva got some relief. In fact she didn't even answer me when I asked her how she felt because she went immediately into a deep sleep. A few minutes later the pain came back and I told it to go again and she fell asleep again and was fine for the rest of the night.
It's strange to think that often the greatest obstacle to seeing God do what I'm longing for in my life is my own resistance...but there is a glorious answer to this problem! Just need to be more and more in his presence, becoming more and more lost in him and his glory! What a terribly horrible prescription for health haha!
Don't believe anyone who tells you the answer to your problems is some prescription for a heavier burden or harder yoke, IT'S A LIE. The answer is always God himself and he is only ever a great delight to his children.
And I remember Rob preaching once that he believed the key to revival was going to be people responding to God in obedience in something foolish. In other words, as people get a revelation of grace and start to really trust God's heart of love for them they will enter into true humility (losing self-consciousness and becoming fully enraptured with God) and will no longer care if they look like a fool!
Last night my daughter was in severe pain as happens from time to time with her. Since she was a baby she's had stomach problems and it's not unusual for her to be doubled over in pain for a few hours moaning and groaning, sometimes screaming. I had the same problem as a child... We always pray for her when she's sick or in pain, as we do the other kids, but usually to no avail. But I'm usually still worried about looking like a fool, if you know what I mean, not wanting anyone else to be around when I'm praying for her. I'm still conscious of the 'foolishness' of expecting anything to happen and how 'foolish' I may look trying to do something .
I think last night started out the same, but then something changed. I started to be angry about the pain she was in, and for the first time (or at least the first time in a very long time) I knew faith was rising up, that is, the Spirit of faith himself. I actually think part of what happened was that I was very tired at this point and didn't care about acting like a fool! I began to authoritatively command the pain to go and Eva got some relief. In fact she didn't even answer me when I asked her how she felt because she went immediately into a deep sleep. A few minutes later the pain came back and I told it to go again and she fell asleep again and was fine for the rest of the night.
It's strange to think that often the greatest obstacle to seeing God do what I'm longing for in my life is my own resistance...but there is a glorious answer to this problem! Just need to be more and more in his presence, becoming more and more lost in him and his glory! What a terribly horrible prescription for health haha!
Don't believe anyone who tells you the answer to your problems is some prescription for a heavier burden or harder yoke, IT'S A LIE. The answer is always God himself and he is only ever a great delight to his children.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Should We Be Cross Centered?
There's an interesting discussion going on over at Dan's blog (Life on Wings), where Peter Day has posted a great piece called "Overturning the Tables of Legalism" about how much we should focus on the cross as believers. The argument on the cross-centered side seems to be that Paul was cross-centered and seemed to use 'the cross' as short-hand for the gospel message as a whole. There's also a quote saying we shouldn't move on from the Cross, however my thoughts on that are that since there is no Scripture saying the same, it doesn't have much authority. On the other side, some are arguing that the throne or empty tomb would be a better symbol for Christianity.
I was sitting playing a mindless computer game when a thought popped into my head. Maybe from God? I think so but you can judge for yourself. What popped into my head was the story of the Israelites in the wilderness with Moses, the time they all got bitten and poisened by serpents and God instructed Moses to raise up a bronze snake on a pole so the people could come and look at it and be healed. (Numbers 21:4-9) What did they do with this bronze snake on a pole afterward? Turns out they decided to worship it, turning it into an idol instead of worshipping the God who saved them... (see 2 Kings 18:4) And there's connection between this pole and Jesus in John 3 v. 14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Now to be sure, Paul did sometimes refer to the cross as a kind of short-hand for the work of Christ, and so can we. But I think there can be a danger of turning 'the Cross' into some kind of entity, we can do exactly what the Israelites did with their snake pole--we can end up putting our focus on the means of salvation rather than the person who saved us. I talked about this in my previous post as well, " Not Clinging to the Cross". Yes, we should always remember the death of Jesus, as we do every time we break bread together, there's a right time and and right way to remember the work of Jesus on the cross. But we remember the cross in a way that is life-giving, partaking of the body and blood of Jesus, being renewed and healed by taking his eternal resurrection life into our bodies. The breaking of bread NEVER ministers shame, guilt, condemnation, death, fear, etc...but ALWAYS the life-giving power of God's loving grace.
Another argument is that we need to center our lives around the cross in order to remain humble, but this argument is rooted in the idea that the cross is a reminder of our sin. I'm very sorry to say this (and I've said it over and over) but IF THE CROSS REMINDS YOU OF YOUR SIN THEN YOU ARE DENYING THE VERY POWER OF THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS, THE WORK OF THE CROSS. Once again, take a look at Hebrews 10 (which I also wrote about a while back in my post called "Knowing God Under the New Covenant" The work of Jesus on the cross totally washes all our sin away forever and we are no longer even conscious of it! That's right, if God has forgotten it, so should we. To the extent we live aware of and focused on our sin, to that extent are we living in unbelief, not trusting that the sacrifice of Jesus was enough to put us in right standing before our Father.
And out of curiosity, I went to Bible Gateway and did a few searches (not including the Gospels) just to give a basic idea of what the New Testament church might be centered on. I only found 13 references to 'the cross'. I found 89 references for "gospel", 470 references for "Christ", 345 references for "Jesus" (there is probably some overlap for "Christ" and "Jesus"), and 66 references for "Spirit" (with a capital 's'). In a general way, I think this leads me to believe that we should live Jesus centered lives, not cross centered lives. I think that by over using the phrase 'the cross' without clarying and teaching what we mean by it (we do the same thing with many many other words such as 'gospel', 'grace', etc...), we are not helping people to understand these doctrines well but are deceiving them into thinking that knowing the right terminology means they have adequate understanding and are well-taught.
[ I think it would be good for me to say, not necessarily in relation to this topic in particular, that I also think women need to be looking into these things and are not only qualified as well as men to do this, but are encouraged by their Father in the Spirit to do it! I am publicly, for my sake and for the sake of any and all daughters of the Kingdom of Heaven, renouncing the doctrines of demons in the church today that are trying to suppress, control, manipulate, and destroy women(just as their leader did in the garden many many years ago) and I'm specifically referring to the idea that women are not able to discern and study Scripture and doctrine for themselves by the Spirit, without any man. And we are released from the curse of Genesis 3 sisters! So be free!!!]
I was sitting playing a mindless computer game when a thought popped into my head. Maybe from God? I think so but you can judge for yourself. What popped into my head was the story of the Israelites in the wilderness with Moses, the time they all got bitten and poisened by serpents and God instructed Moses to raise up a bronze snake on a pole so the people could come and look at it and be healed. (Numbers 21:4-9) What did they do with this bronze snake on a pole afterward? Turns out they decided to worship it, turning it into an idol instead of worshipping the God who saved them... (see 2 Kings 18:4) And there's connection between this pole and Jesus in John 3 v. 14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Now to be sure, Paul did sometimes refer to the cross as a kind of short-hand for the work of Christ, and so can we. But I think there can be a danger of turning 'the Cross' into some kind of entity, we can do exactly what the Israelites did with their snake pole--we can end up putting our focus on the means of salvation rather than the person who saved us. I talked about this in my previous post as well, " Not Clinging to the Cross". Yes, we should always remember the death of Jesus, as we do every time we break bread together, there's a right time and and right way to remember the work of Jesus on the cross. But we remember the cross in a way that is life-giving, partaking of the body and blood of Jesus, being renewed and healed by taking his eternal resurrection life into our bodies. The breaking of bread NEVER ministers shame, guilt, condemnation, death, fear, etc...but ALWAYS the life-giving power of God's loving grace.
Another argument is that we need to center our lives around the cross in order to remain humble, but this argument is rooted in the idea that the cross is a reminder of our sin. I'm very sorry to say this (and I've said it over and over) but IF THE CROSS REMINDS YOU OF YOUR SIN THEN YOU ARE DENYING THE VERY POWER OF THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS, THE WORK OF THE CROSS. Once again, take a look at Hebrews 10 (which I also wrote about a while back in my post called "Knowing God Under the New Covenant" The work of Jesus on the cross totally washes all our sin away forever and we are no longer even conscious of it! That's right, if God has forgotten it, so should we. To the extent we live aware of and focused on our sin, to that extent are we living in unbelief, not trusting that the sacrifice of Jesus was enough to put us in right standing before our Father.
And out of curiosity, I went to Bible Gateway and did a few searches (not including the Gospels) just to give a basic idea of what the New Testament church might be centered on. I only found 13 references to 'the cross'. I found 89 references for "gospel", 470 references for "Christ", 345 references for "Jesus" (there is probably some overlap for "Christ" and "Jesus"), and 66 references for "Spirit" (with a capital 's'). In a general way, I think this leads me to believe that we should live Jesus centered lives, not cross centered lives. I think that by over using the phrase 'the cross' without clarying and teaching what we mean by it (we do the same thing with many many other words such as 'gospel', 'grace', etc...), we are not helping people to understand these doctrines well but are deceiving them into thinking that knowing the right terminology means they have adequate understanding and are well-taught.
[ I think it would be good for me to say, not necessarily in relation to this topic in particular, that I also think women need to be looking into these things and are not only qualified as well as men to do this, but are encouraged by their Father in the Spirit to do it! I am publicly, for my sake and for the sake of any and all daughters of the Kingdom of Heaven, renouncing the doctrines of demons in the church today that are trying to suppress, control, manipulate, and destroy women(just as their leader did in the garden many many years ago) and I'm specifically referring to the idea that women are not able to discern and study Scripture and doctrine for themselves by the Spirit, without any man. And we are released from the curse of Genesis 3 sisters! So be free!!!]
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Still Likin' Joseph Prince...
I wasn't able to embed this clip so I'll just link it. Trust me, it's only a couple of minutes but well worth taking a look. I laughed so hard! It's a clip of Joseph Prince talking about God's mysterious ways.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Now That I KNOW the Gospel!!!
I have to say that one of the most exciting things about this amazing ongoing revelation of pure grace that Aaron and I have been living in for the past few months is that we are 'getting' the gospel for the first time. I mean, we've understood parts of it at different times, and we had a mostly true cerebral understanding of what the gospel was, but now we are really really KNOWING it. It's changing our lives completely, almost as if (ahem) it had some kind of power over us and in us!
The glorious thing about it is that is seems the more revelation we receive the more it just keeps on coming. It started out slowly but now it's as if we receive fresh revelation every day and it's incredibly exciting to have all that Bible knowledge that once puffed us up come to life in the Spirit (or be put to death by the Spirit if it was a wrong understanding). When I was home in Canada recently, I began to be excited just thinking about preaching this message of pure grace to the people there. I have an ever-growing confidence that this is the best and most powerful way to change the whole world, and that as we are committed to immersing ourselves in pure grace we'll take the wonderful glorious presence of Jesus with us everywhere we go. I'm no longer worried about have powerful gifts of healing or miracles because I believe they will naturally and effortlessly flow when we boldly live in pure grace (yes Rob, we are really getting it!). Evangelism will literally be a breeze, or perhaps more like a hurricane!
And to all those who are skeptical that grace is really that powerful and we really need a little bit of law or guidelines or suggestions to keep us going in the right direction:
I just have to thank God for many answers to prayer, answers that are being realized for the first time and all since we have begun to come more and more into true grace. I was watching my husband last night singing worship songs and taking an opportunity to preach grace a bit (at a birthday party no less) and I can tell you he's a different man than he was even a month ago. I almost don't even know him. There is a boldness and fiery passion rising up in him that is (I think) apostolic. Increasingly he won't stand for even a hint of law and will graciously but fiercely fight for grace in people's lives. This from a guy who was so bound up in legalism and fear of man that I used to wonder if he cared about anything much, he lacked passion so badly. He lived in constant defeat and condemnation. Basically, I'm watching him pass from the ministry of death into the ministry of life. And it's happening to me too.
I realize that using phrases like 'pure grace' and 'true gospel' aren't very helpful. I mean lots of people steeped in law use these kinds of words too. They just don't know what they're talking about! I think I'll have to put together something just telling the gospel as I see it in Scripture to give an idea of what I actually mean. I want to see it myself, as I think I'll be surprised what comes out of me...
The glorious thing about it is that is seems the more revelation we receive the more it just keeps on coming. It started out slowly but now it's as if we receive fresh revelation every day and it's incredibly exciting to have all that Bible knowledge that once puffed us up come to life in the Spirit (or be put to death by the Spirit if it was a wrong understanding). When I was home in Canada recently, I began to be excited just thinking about preaching this message of pure grace to the people there. I have an ever-growing confidence that this is the best and most powerful way to change the whole world, and that as we are committed to immersing ourselves in pure grace we'll take the wonderful glorious presence of Jesus with us everywhere we go. I'm no longer worried about have powerful gifts of healing or miracles because I believe they will naturally and effortlessly flow when we boldly live in pure grace (yes Rob, we are really getting it!). Evangelism will literally be a breeze, or perhaps more like a hurricane!
And to all those who are skeptical that grace is really that powerful and we really need a little bit of law or guidelines or suggestions to keep us going in the right direction:
I just have to thank God for many answers to prayer, answers that are being realized for the first time and all since we have begun to come more and more into true grace. I was watching my husband last night singing worship songs and taking an opportunity to preach grace a bit (at a birthday party no less) and I can tell you he's a different man than he was even a month ago. I almost don't even know him. There is a boldness and fiery passion rising up in him that is (I think) apostolic. Increasingly he won't stand for even a hint of law and will graciously but fiercely fight for grace in people's lives. This from a guy who was so bound up in legalism and fear of man that I used to wonder if he cared about anything much, he lacked passion so badly. He lived in constant defeat and condemnation. Basically, I'm watching him pass from the ministry of death into the ministry of life. And it's happening to me too.
I realize that using phrases like 'pure grace' and 'true gospel' aren't very helpful. I mean lots of people steeped in law use these kinds of words too. They just don't know what they're talking about! I think I'll have to put together something just telling the gospel as I see it in Scripture to give an idea of what I actually mean. I want to see it myself, as I think I'll be surprised what comes out of me...
Monday, May 14, 2007
Mother's Day
I'm a day late but yesterday was Mother's Day here in the Americas (yes, that means Canada too). I'll start off by saying Happy Mother's Day to a couple of friends, first of all Katie because it's her first and also Coralie because I'm so happy for her in her pregnancy and loving all the details.
I got time alone for my gift! I headed out to enjoy nature with my guitar, songs, hymnbook, and Bible. I stopped at a park and went for a walk, then moved on to a different park to worship and enjoy the peace and quiet with God. It was a beautiful day and just to prove it I took lots of pictures of the second park. It's rather shocking how beautiful northern Delaware can be.
I was reminded more than once of Dan's prophetic picture about the dandelions, especially since it was a windy day and I was sitting surrounded by fuzzy floating flying seeds .
I really love the wind. I love the unpredictability of what it will do --which way it will blow or will it stop dead for a moment then rush and tear wildly around the next. It has always made me feel that God is right there with me and all around me doing whatever he wants. I love that about God. He's everywhere always doing what he wants and we'll see him more and more clearly as the church ushers in his kingdom of heaven on earth. The whole world will see his goodness, kindness, love, and compassion. And they will no longer be able to deny his unchangeable unstoppable power. They won't even want to.
Then a family with 4 children came walking down the hill to go for a walk, I suppose in part because it was Mother's Day. The kids were running full speed down the hill reminding me of how exhilarating it was to run as a child in a big open space. Well, one of the girls, around 11 I suppose, fell and hurt her ankle. After much yelling and carrying on , the father finally went back up to see why she wasn't
coming down. This resulted in the whole family eventually abandoning their plans for a walk and the mother was quite obviously disgusted with her daughter. No one would help the poor girl get back up the hill so she hobbled quite dejectedly until she finally landed at a picnic table. I was getting ready to leave and was passing right by her and I felt such compassion for her. I could see how miserable she was, her mother still angry and her ankle hurting. I said did you hurt your leg and she nodded. Then her mother came over and starting trying to look at her foot and I said this may be strange but would you mind if I prayed for her? And I was not prepared for the response. I think I would have been ready for a yes or a no or fear or well, just about anything except what I got. She completely ignored me (the mother) and pretended I wasn't even there. Didn't look at me or answer...nothing. So there I was standing like a fool not knowing what to do! I asked if there was anything else I could do and she acknowledged my existence saying they were fine so I left. But I felt strangely successful. I had compassion and I took a step of faith; God is definitely doing something with me.
So I went home and Aaron and I went out together for a while. Movie, dinner, good conversation, and some wandering around. All in all, a great day. Hope all you mothers out there can say the same.
I got time alone for my gift! I headed out to enjoy nature with my guitar, songs, hymnbook, and Bible. I stopped at a park and went for a walk, then moved on to a different park to worship and enjoy the peace and quiet with God. It was a beautiful day and just to prove it I took lots of pictures of the second park. It's rather shocking how beautiful northern Delaware can be. 
I was reminded more than once of Dan's prophetic picture about the dandelions, especially since it was a windy day and I was sitting surrounded by fuzzy floating flying seeds .I really love the wind. I love the unpredictability of what it will do --which way it will blow or will it stop dead for a moment then rush and tear wildly around the next. It has always made me feel that God is right there with me and all around me doing whatever he wants. I love that about God. He's everywhere always doing what he wants and we'll see him more and more clearly as the church ushers in his kingdom of heaven on earth. The whole world will see his goodness, kindness, love, and compassion. And they will no longer be able to deny his unchangeable unstoppable power. They won't even want to.
Then a family with 4 children came walking down the hill to go for a walk, I suppose in part because it was Mother's Day. The kids were running full speed down the hill reminding me of how exhilarating it was to run as a child in a big open space. Well, one of the girls, around 11 I suppose, fell and hurt her ankle. After much yelling and carrying on , the father finally went back up to see why she wasn't
coming down. This resulted in the whole family eventually abandoning their plans for a walk and the mother was quite obviously disgusted with her daughter. No one would help the poor girl get back up the hill so she hobbled quite dejectedly until she finally landed at a picnic table. I was getting ready to leave and was passing right by her and I felt such compassion for her. I could see how miserable she was, her mother still angry and her ankle hurting. I said did you hurt your leg and she nodded. Then her mother came over and starting trying to look at her foot and I said this may be strange but would you mind if I prayed for her? And I was not prepared for the response. I think I would have been ready for a yes or a no or fear or well, just about anything except what I got. She completely ignored me (the mother) and pretended I wasn't even there. Didn't look at me or answer...nothing. So there I was standing like a fool not knowing what to do! I asked if there was anything else I could do and she acknowledged my existence saying they were fine so I left. But I felt strangely successful. I had compassion and I took a step of faith; God is definitely doing something with me.So I went home and Aaron and I went out together for a while. Movie, dinner, good conversation, and some wandering around. All in all, a great day. Hope all you mothers out there can say the same.
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