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God Gives Great Hugs

It’s been a while since I update people about my months doing a Frontiers Project with my home church in Northumberland. Recently all those on FP in the UK had some training at Center Parc in Norfolk where top bananna friendship was enjoyed and God met with us in amazing ways. Even those not healed or set free from spiritual oppression of varying kinds will be able to testify to the powerful tangible presence of God and his amazing love for us. It was like Jesus came and gave us all a great big fatherly hug.

The highlight was Simon Holley giving us an education in delivering people from spiritual oppression. I hadn’t seen God deal with it on this scale before. I was struck by the fact that we look at salvation as a decision made once. Rather, God wants us to keep taking steps of faith to relieve us from past baggage and provide us with the knowledge/weapons that he is indeed a loving Dad. As Wendy Man shared we often give the enemy a foothold when we call into question the character of God or how he thinks of us. God is good 100% of the time both in fatherly character and passionate loving action towards us.

On the last training day we focused on knowing Joy in God and Mission. Those who felt called to go to another country shared where they felt called to, one lad said New Zealand (I lived their for a year). Finding him afterward he turned out to be a Kiwi I had met once in Wellington, when on a flat hunt. He had given his heart to Jesus in the last year, journeyed to the UK and had decided to do FP in a London Church! Amazing and hugely encouraging. So in summary God is Love and is full of surprises!

God Arrives in Disneyland – Teen Healings!

I guess the title is rather deceptive, the fact is God was always in Disneyland. However these young adults went for some healing fun in the theme park and many  youth invited Jesus to arrived in their hearts. Thanks to Uncle Phil for the link!

Warning. Major faith building and major challenging if your not sure about healing in public places. Notice the ease of inviting people to know Jesus. Makes a change from the constipated alter calls we can sometimes give. THIS is what we are meant to be stepping out in guys! This is the kingdom breaking in! “Freely you have received, freely give” Matthew 10:8. Jesus truly rocks! There is no assault courses to knowing Jesus, all you have to do is to drop false Identity and to accept his freely given one! Below is part 1 of 4 with links to the other parts.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

[Sore Thumbs] In the Face of Death Edition

In this edition of Sore Thumbs I wanted to highlight three testimonies from three women who have all faced death in various ways. These testimonies are amazing because despite all their difficulties they continue to rely on God and to know his love and presence.

Lucy Mason

Lucy is a personal friend of my own family and who died recently from cancer. She shares what God was doing within her last months. I think one of my best memories of Lucy was when I was a we nipper, I was holding her hand walking from a park and I had a runny nose. To my mum’s horror I preceded to wipe my nose using Lucy’s hand. “Dan!” Mum exclaimed. But Lucy was fine with it and laughed, that was the kind of lady she was, so full of grace. (you need to search “Lucy Mason” in the speaker drop down menu after following the link). Listen to her testimony

Rachel Barkey

Rachel an entrepreneur, writer, mother and wife is also suffering from terminal cancer but states that God is still her salvation. Watch her testimony which she has named “death is not dying“.

Jill McCloughry

A singer in Hillsong she gave birth to her first son who was born prematurely and soon after died, she reveals that despite our own circumstances God is still on the throne and bigger than anything. You can watch her video below.

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Sore Thumbs is a weekly post mainly of short encouraging links that stick out. If you have come across a link or resource that you think would fit on this blog then why not email it to dlee at webchurch.com

Treasure Hunting on Brighton Pier

Upadate: Looking for a photo of Brighton Pier? You may want to check out this church also Church of Christ the King Brighton.

You may have read my previous posts on treasure hunting, if not let me briefly explain. Basically Treasure Hunting is a new name for having divine God scheduled adventures, something that Christians have been doing for centuries. In small teams you pray that God gives you pictures, visions (the clues) which you then write down on some paper (treasure map) and then head out looking for the people (the treasure) who match the clues. These clues can be placed in all sorts of categories including appearance, aliment, names, locations and the just plain odd. So far I have been on three treasure hunting expeditions but wanted to share the last one I went on in Brighton in a Treasure hunting seminar we did at Mobilise.

Continue reading…

[Sore Thumbs] The “Oh! How He Loves Us!” Edition

Every week I link to resources and sites that stand out and which are worth pointing people to, hence the name sore thumbs, “it stood out like a sore thumb”.

The love of God changes us! There is so much weight in what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1

“If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

How can you expect to be EFFECTIVE for God if you have not been EFFECTED by the LOVE that God has for YOU! I would rather make noise for a reason, both in praise to God and in sharing what he has done for us. These videos and article just stood out as great examples of that.

Song: How He Loves Us

Kim Walker singing How He Loves Us from the We Cry Out CD/DVD, available on jesusculture.org. This DVD was recorded live at a Jesus Culture Conference in Redding, CA.

Went Shopping for Doghnuts Saw People Healed

“Attention all Shoppers! God is in the building! And I just began to tell what God was doing.”

Mark Driscoll on Evangelism

“Evangelism is the natural overflow of a life lived in joy as a worshiper of God. Sadly, evangelism is often portrayed as something that Christians must do as a duty, rather than something that they get to do as a delight.”

Continuing on the Treasure Trail

It looks like the Treasure Trail Healing Stories I blogged about in my last post, “Treasure Hunting Leads to Seven Youth Heald!“, are inspired by a Book by Kevin Dedmon called “The Ultimate Treasure Hunt“. I have added it to the Library section on this website, man I really want to read it! If you want to have an advanced read before you get your mits on it can do that on the US Amazon site. Thanks to Nat Carey for pointing the book out to me.

We as Christians seem to either go jelly at the knees or “wowzer!” when we hear of stories of people getting healed today. I was suddenly struck that actually we have a whole Bible crammed with awesome stories and practical examples where people have been healed by God’s power. These are reasons enough to get out there and begin praying for people, but Jesus says something that I feel gives us total permission and freedom in the knowledge that we too can do this work and heal people in John 14:12-14. Thank you Jesus!

I know I need to stop looking at the tails where Jesus healed as a surface stories but dive deep in to the relevancy they have for us today and to not only think about it but get practical about it because they are strong exhortations to GET CRACKING for HIS KINGDOM!

Treasure Hunting Leads to Seven Youth Heald!

I came across this awesome video testimony with a chap named Simon Holley who is the lead elder at King’s Arms Church. Him and a friend called Tabo basically asked God to be their treasure map and were directed to people to pray for through pictures given to them. They directed to a group of youth and the results were amazing with the mark of an awesome God interested in revealing Himself as the ultimate treasure. “Treasure come and treasure go but Jesus your eternally mine”

Simon Holley Interview from P&F on Vimeo.

You can find more on the Treasure Hunts at the King’s Arms Church website I found this video indirectly through Andy Bradley’s blog Theologising. I love stories like this where God is directing, inviting us to get involved in seeking people, healing and encouraging people to make decisions. If you have any simillar stories where God is working why don’t you share them in the comment section?

UPDATE:

There are also some brilliant audio testimonies from church members doing street encounters using the Treasure Hunt method. The one published on 29/11/08 is particularly encouraging.

15 healed on the streets of Bedford! - 29/11/08
Treasure Hunting Tales – 09/09/08
Treasure Hunt – 01/07/08