Fireworks Shoot Across the Sky!!

I'm rather horrified that the last time I posted on this blog was in January of this year - proof about what a dry year it's been in terms of the prophetic. So many of my friends and loved ones have struggled and gone through trials that beggar belief. The key theme has been disappointment, cynicism and hoped-for promises from God that remain unanswered. It's come again and again and again. I'm transcribing one of Rob Rufus's sermons from the "Grace and Glory Conference 2010" at present where he called cynicism; "The grain in the cogs of the church".

This song - "Firework" by Katy Perry - actually reminded me of Terry Virgo's closing sermon at Stoneleigh Bible Week in 2001. He re-preached one of Ern Baxter's classic sermons on eagles and ended with a phrase I will never forget. "Soar into your full potential - eagles are meant to fly". This song - "Firework" - makes me think of another statement;

"Fireworks are always seen and heard as they soar across the sky - they just need to be ignited".

So I dedicate this wonderfully prophetic song to my dearest friend Pete Day - pastor of Lansdowne Evangelical FREE church in London. The glory will come - let's hold on together!

"Firework" by Katy Perry. (Lyrics below)

"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting throught the wind
Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
But no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed
So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road
Katy Perry Firework lyrics found on http://www.directlyrics.com/katy-perry-firework-lyrics.html

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on slet your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on slet your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em goin "Oh, oh, oh!"

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon".

An Invitation to the Dance of Life

It's interesting this one - I don't think Christians like dancing very much. Particularly Western Christians! And I must confess I'm not overly keen on it in church - maybe once a year at the Brighton conference during the offering night. But I do have a guilty pleasure - I like going out and dancing in clubs. If you assumed I got drunk when you read that - you assumed wrongly and shame on you. I just like dancing.

So I was at the gym yesterday and was listening to Madonna's newish song "Celebration" (I won't post the video - you can watch it only if you're bad like me!). Say what you like about Madonna and disapprove of her if you will but it was the lyrics that caught my attention. In particular;

"And if it makes you feel good then I say do it
I don’t know what you’re waiting for ...
But for now just come here, let me whisper in your ear
An invitation to the dance of life".

I love the song and have heard it and danced to it a number of times but surprisingly as I was running on the treadmill I felt the Holy Spirit remind me of a prophecy that Terry Virgo brought at the first Stoneleigh Bible Week I went to (2000) which said;

"As you come on your hands and knees, ground that you would have thought was outside your sphere that you were disqualified to get near, I've cleared the ground for you" says the Lord. "I've cleared it for you so that you can dance now. You can dance on holy ground. I've cleared the ground for you! I've provided grounds that are level and clear and steady. Even as I came to My servant Isaiah, undone and ruined by the revelation of My purity, undone forever, I've provided him a burning coal - clensing and purging so that he could be in the holy place. I want you to know that I have provided for you, my sons and my daughters out of My love. You will never stamp the ground to make it level, you will never clear the grounds of thorns and weeds. I have cleared the ground for you.

You are free to dance now because of my eternal grace to you, my kindness and my celebration over you. I celebrate in My finished work. I celebrate in embracing My sons and daughters running home. I invite and welcome the prodigal into dancing ground. I draw back the man whose head is hung low with a sense of inadequacy and failure and say, "This is dancing ground! This is dancing ground!". This, My son, was dead, he is alive again! He was lost and now is found. This is dancing ground! I welcome you into My heart and into My Presence as mercy and a gift to you", says the Lord.

"Out of My heart of love and out of My full embrace, I don't want you to come timidly. I don't want you to come wondering, can I accumulate enough worth, can I demonstrate enough merit that I am allowed in? I tell you, I have cleared the ground by My blood. Only there will you find fullness of mercy and because it is fullness, it is not simply ground to kneel upon but it is ground to dance upon for your welcome is complete. The ground is clear! Come My sons and My daughters - I welcome you to this very place. I am full of ambition for you, full of desire to bless you with My love. Full of tenderness and mercy because of the obedience of My Son that frees Me to bless you. Some come dance, rejoice, drink deeply of My love, says the Lord. Enter in, enter in to the mercy of God. The joy and favour and everlasting love of your God, says the Lord".

The two threads seemed so obvious.

A Christian + real grace = dancing.

Don't worry - this wasn't some legalistic charismatic way to force dancing. The impression I got was simply that when Christians really get grace, they will be so overflowed with joy and celebration that they will dance. The more I thought about it as I sweated on the treadmill, I became rather overcome with an image of nightclubs left empty - because the wonders of the grace of God were so thrilling the church and drawing the lost - that who needs a nightclub to dance in (and hide away) when you can dance and celebrate and rejoice in the church?

Whereas the void at the moment is that if you do dance in church (even many so-called charismatic churches) you will be seen as excessive and "showy". Maybe that's why many Christians do escape to secular music. Maybe that's why God can and does use secular music to speak to His people!

But a day IS coming when the wonder of the revelation of the New Covenant WILL break through to His people and the earth will shake in awe at a people who dance and must dance to express their joy!

A Prophecy for Me (and everyone else)!!

When I get a prophecy like this I can see why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians that prophecy is to be eagerly desired. It did my soul so much good! It was from my dear friend Brogan in South Africa;

"Fly my son. Fly with the eagles. Fly high above this earth upon My Spirit. Walk on the waters, My spirit will guide you. Do you know that I made you? I planned how you would be. I created you wonderfully. My son I will plant you beside the river so your roots may grow deep. I am your God and I love you. You are My delight".

I share it because the truth is for everyone. God's love and abandon is for each of His children and I pray it blesses everyone who reads it!

Terry Virgo and Angels Snipers!!

I had a rather odd series of dreams last night mainly about Terry Virgo. I must admit I don't quite understand them but I thought I would document them and see if some sort of interpretation comes - or whether I can just hold up my hands and admit I ate too much cheese last night!

The first dream was based around some sort of cell group meeting in Terry Virgo's home. I was with my family as though I was a child (but still my own age and thought processes). I remember that there was a wonderful feeling of community and belonging. I can't quite place whether we actually were just visiting Brighton and CCK or whether we belonged to the church but it was a wonderful feeling. Of community. Of togetherness.

The second dream was the interesting one. I was following Terry and Wendy Virgo into what looked like the Stoneleigh Bible Week meeting hall. And Terry was sort of the narrator during the dream. And yet even though he was narrating - I could actually see what he was saying. He was talking about angels being present everywhere. And the angels present in the room were looking at each person gathered there - no one was missed out! But everywhere the angels looked and pointed, there appeared a target - as though it was a shooting gallery. The guns the angels were carrying were golden. And the narration explained that they were glory guns - that each person was targeted for downloads of glory. That no one would or could miss out on being "shot" with the glory from heaven! That was the angels roles.

And Terry in my dream said; "They are marksmen! They are marksmen!".

So there we have it. Too much cheese?! Or something God is trying to say?!

Dreams, Dreams, DREAMS!!

It's time to resurrect the "Spirit of God" blog! I'm shamefully neglected it for too long. And what better way than to re-start it than by talking about dreams. Over the last few weeks I have been having an increasing amount of interesting and significant dreams. I am a big fan of the hit TV show "Heroes" and one of the characters I find the most fascinating is Angela Petrelli. She has an ability and that ability is precognitive dreaming;

"Precognitive dreaming is the ability to see the future through dreams".

But this is far more than just pie in the sky. This is purely and clearly biblical. And yet the church has abandoned it and ignored it and despised it at our peril and I cannot understand why. Let's start with Scripture and then I want to detail my dreams. My intent is that as I get dreams I will document them here. So what does the Word of God say about dreams?

Acts 2:17; "And it shall be in the last days' God says, 'That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; ... your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams".

So we can be certain that dreams form part of New Covenant life. But dreams go back further to Old Covenant days also.

Genesis 29:12: "He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it".

What a dream! Deuteronomy 13 carries some warnings that I believe are Old Covenant - and some anti-charismatics wrongly apply to today still. But it is interesting that the verse distinguishes between the two giftings;

Deuteronomy 13:1: "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder ...".

Then of course there was the famous dream during Gideon's assault against Midean:

Judges 7:13: "When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, "Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat."

The interpretation of that dream? It was even clear to a heathen Mideanite;

Judges 7:14: "His friend replied, "This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand."

Of course the book of Daniel is the famous book of dreams and there are countless ones - even to Nebuchadnezzer the king of Babylon. Daniel's gift in particular was this;

Daniel 1:17: "Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams".

But again - as I said dreams were occuring in the New Testament period. Angels would appear in dreams to warn and to speak. For example;

Matthew 2:13: "An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said; "Get up! Take the Child and His mother to Egypt".

I wonder why in a dream? Angels can appear in the flesh - as Gabriel did to the Virgin Mary. But clearly they can appear in dreams also. There's an interesting account in Acts where I am not quite sure whether it is a dream;

Acts 16:9: "A vision appeared to Paul in the night; a man of Macedonia was standing and saying; "Come over" ... when he had seen the vision ... concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them".

So my question is this - why do New Testament scholars and academics seem to either place dreams and visions in the "closed" category along with most other spiritual gifts or just ignore it? I think that James and Michal Ann Goll have a very useful insight into dreams and why this attitude exists;

"Through dreams God communicates directly with us concerning our destiny as well as the destinies of our families, our nation and our world. Many people today, particularly in the Western culture, never recognise God speaking to them in this way because they have been conditioned by a skeptical and sophisticated society to discount the language of dreams.

Unfortunately this includes many Christian believers also. For many years much of the church in the West had virtually lost dream language as a viable language of the Spirit. Yet within our generation the tide has begun to turn. God is re-awakening His people to the efficacy of dreams in their lives. He is reconnecting us to a vital part of our spiritual heritage that had all but disappeared".

And again;

"Dream language is the mystical language of Heaven. And even though it is a language of mystery and parable, we need to understand that God likes to reveal rather than conceal".

It is my personal belief that God actually is starting to speak more and more through dreams because Western culture particularly makes it exceedingly difficult to set time to be with God alone and in quiet. I try - honestly. But even when I am home alone in my flat there is a phone ringing, a mobile, the internet, neighbours banging. Go up a hill in Birmingham? There are planes flying over head, yobs doing drugs in the bushes (!!!) and so on! So dreams are the perfect forum - we are asleep, we can't move very far and God has got us where He wants us.

In my life I have had a number of very significant dreams which have stuck with me.

1. My call to ministry.

I believe this dream was when God spoke clearly to me and said that I would work for Him somehow. The year was 2001 and it was one of the darkest of my life upto that point. I had gone away to Dublin with some friends to recover from the breakup of my relationship to a guy. Isn't that the grace of God?! Some churches would say I should have been spending months indeed years in penance "repenting". Rather God chose it to speak to me through a dream!

I dreamt that I was walking in Cornwall along a country lane with my former senior pastor Dr Stanley Jebb. And I turned to him and actually gripped his arm and said fervently; "Stanley I MUST preach!".

More of Stanley Jebb later - he appears quite frequently in my dreams and I think God's revealed why.

2. The Tidal Wave - Promises to Come.

I had this dream on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 and it was quite simply a dream of a massive tidal wave speedily approaching the Brighton seafront. I felt God ask during the dream whether we were really prepared for what was coming? We all were praying for revival to come - but were we ready for the devastation that a tidal wave would cause?

I felt that this was partially fulfilled by the awe and wonder and manifest glory at "Together on a Mission 2007" and through Rob's ministry of the Spirit. Partially - but not fully. More's to come!

3. Mind and Matter.

A little more recently I had a dream about Dr Stanley Jebb and Stuart from Big Brother on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. At first I wondered whether this dream was my secret envying of Dr Jebb's incredible mind and razor-sharp logic and Stuart's incredible physique! But God spoke again graciously here.

4. Simon Cowell!

This is a rather amusing and odd one. Isi de Gersigny said at "Glory and Grace" that significant men appearing in dreams often represent God in some form. For her it is her husband Fini. I obviously don't have a husband but I do very much enjoy the TV reality shows like X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent and I greatly admire and like Simon Cowell! As many know he can either be brutally harsh or nice when he likes someone.

In my dreams I have frequently been in company with him and he is always smiling and winking or accepting me.

I hope that means that deep down I am allowing the grace message to sink into my spirit and realise that God is totally and 100% for me and accepting of me and will never reject me!

So my dream last night!

I had a very vivid dream that Pete Day and I were in a massive rolling field and it was dry, dead and barren. There was a water sprinkling system set up across the massive field very similar to the kind that they have in vines where the hoses work their way along wooden structures and gently sprinkle the vegetation. As Pete and I looked at the sprinkling system we noticed that it was broken and the hose had been vandalised and needed to be reconnected.

Dr Stanley Jebb again was present and was speaking to us throughout - and as he spoke - we found ways to fix the water system and instantly the field was lush and fruitful again. Here's what I felt God was saying to me;

Rob Rufus has said frequently that he feels this coming massive move of God needs to come through a theological reformation in the earth - a changing of mind. Christians need to re-orientate themselves from legalism to grace. For me Stanley Jebb represents a teacher. That is what he is! And that seemed to symbolise this truth - that it is the teaching of the grace message that will cause the fruit to spread across the earth and the gospel.

So here's to more dreams and whatever way God wants to speak to me. I'm not sure I would pick dreams to be honest if it were to be a spiritual gift. I'd love to be a healer or a guy with words of knowledge or even better a teacher/preacher. But when God gives gifts they are GOOD gifts and they are given for a reason and I am going to accept and cherish them and use them for the good of His Church if I can!

Rob Rufus's Prophetic Vision over Hong Kong!!

Do you ever wonder why Rob Rufus is in Hong Kong? Do you ever wonder what his dreams for City Church International are? Wonder no more. During his sermon; "The Struggle for the Authentic - Part 2" - Rob Rufus said this;

"For 3 months the screams of God got louder and louder and louder and louder until it dawned on me that God has prefixed the end! Now He is saying "Come to Hong Kong because I have prefixed great victory for you!". After 4 years I am staggered at the blessing and success and fruitfulness and influence of this church.

This is but a small part of what God showed me in those 3 months of what He had prefixed for us and the people He said He would call around us and I am seeing those people in this meeting right now and thousands who are not here yet and I am seeing impact into the politics and media of Hong Kong and I am seeing a base of thousands of people and I am seeing a move of the Spirit in Hong Kong that will touch the entire world - I am seeing multitudes come to Hong Kong to see what's happening in City Church International - I am seeing impact on Beijing and China and pulled into my future by a vision - a kaleo - a scream - a call that has been prefixed!

I am not just called to lead a church - I am called to empower people to change the politics of nations, to change the education system and get wrong teaching out of the education systems. I am called to affect orphans and those who are hungry and not clothed and the broken and the disenfranchised. We are called to bring the misery that is on earth out of the way and the Kingdom of God in. We are called to relieve epidemic poverty, we are called to cure people from AIDS, we are called to bring justice to nations and are called to trumpet that and sound that! Though I may not do many of those things personally - I am called to sound a prophetic trumpet that awakens the scream of God in people's tummies so they will get rid of the silly trivia and the silly things that distract us".

Awesome ... hey?

Whose Laid Hands on You??!

I had quite a bizarre thought occur to me when I was walking home from work today! I was listening to my IPOD and some of the wonderful prophetic music from the "Glory and Grace Conference Hong Kong 2007" and suddenly an image flashed into my mind. It was this one from my Facebook profile. Isi de Gersigny graciously agreed to be my friend on Facebook - and it was this that I saw. I considered that for a moment and then remembered something that happened to me when I walked through the fire tunnel at the "Glory and Grace Conference".

"And as I was staggering forward I suddenly felt Isi touch my hand with her hand and my chest over my heart. As she did that I felt an electric volt - literally - shock through her hand and go through my body and to my chest!! It was incredible!! When she did that I just found it harder and harder to stand up and the Fire Tunnel people were so so amazingly helpful!! They just gently and lovingly guided me forward and kept praying "More! More!" over me!!".

As I remembered that awesome impartation - a kind of white flash that came from her hands to my body, it started me thinking about impartation and anointing. Rob Rufus spent quite a bit of time helpfully explaining the laying on of hands after his meeting with Bill Johnson and made it clear that when a recognised ministry lays hands on you - something can be imparted. Rob received something from Bill Johnson. That got me thinking. I received something from Isi de Gersigny - a recognised prophetic ministry who goes up into the 3rd heaven and sees angels regularly!

Why am I saying all this? To boast? Of course not - what's there to boast about?! I was just so blessed and fortunate to be at the "Glory and Grace Conference". Just as those who were at the "Glory Encounters" conference could receive from Joshua Mills or Kaye Beyer! I am saying this - because this week has been a particular tough one in terms of the doctrines of grace. I've felt strongly under attack and I've sensed disagreements coming into many of my close friendships. Even a disagreement with my best friend Pete about the best way forward in preaching the message of grace.

I felt this flash image reminder was a gentle, loving and gracious hint from my heavenly Father that I should remember and not forget who laid hands on me and why He allowed that. There is always a temptation in me to want to be the exegete, the apologetic. I do confess that! I love reading - I love writing - I love arguing and I love debating. But God was reminding me that the impartation I received wasn't a teaching anointing - it was a prophetic anointing. My friend Pete on the other hand DID receive a teaching anointing! One of the most key and profoundly powerful teachers in this country went to his induction service and laid hands on him at that time. But I haven't.

So for me personally (and any other people out there who also have a similar call, tug, anointing, impartation ... whatever) - what does this mean? Well a prophetic anointing only works if you are HEARING from God. Hearing from God means spending time with God. Hearing from God means letting God speak and not just filling the airwaves with my prayers, my intercessions, my wants and my desires! Hearing from God means basking in and spending time in His wonderful Word - seeing what He has revealed. A prophetic anointing only works if you SPEAK from God! Speaking what we see. Writing down what we see. Sharing what we see. Not speaking what we think and what we feel - but what GOD thinks and what GOD feels.

One more thing .... I do feel I want to spend more time listening to Isi de Gersigny speaking at her home church in Sydney and (if possible) go and spend time there one day. That impartation came for a reason and I'd like to follow in the footsteps of this awesome passionate lover of God!

Selected from the Crowd!!

I received this wonderful prophecy today from a dear friend of mine who doesn't know much detail about my personal situation, problems or challenges. But it came like a wonderful embrace from the Father!! It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear at this time - particularly answering challenges about acceptance in my family and feeling like I am "never good enough". Isn't Abba awesome?! And isn't this an absolute demonstration of how vital the gift of prophecy is to fight the good fight BY the prophecies given!?

Here it is - it is just too good to keep to myself. I am living in the power of Rob Rufus's recent word; "The Power of Testimony". I passionately believe that as I share what this prophecy did in my life and how it encouraged and blessed me, that same Holy Spirit can do the same in you as you read it and bring the power and encouragement that YOU need if that is the case.

So I pray - be awesomely blessed with power from on high!

"Dan when I read your text about being at the family wedding this weekend and all that you were feeling in light of that time I was reminded of David out in the fields while the other seven were presented and being 'as it were' the forgotten one and I just really felt that I had to tell you;

That you are not the forgotten one, you are not the one that is left outside while all the others are presented, you are not the one to be ashamed of, the one who doesn’t meet the grade – in fact the opposite – you are the special one, the chosen one, the treasured one, the one hand-picked, the one that He is singing over, delighting in, you are the one that He sees and smiles as He recollects those special times with you, those moments away from the busyness, away from the crowd, away from the pressures, those moments when you have been swept away by His compassion, His love, His heart for you, His rejoicing is stepping up a gear – something new is going to break, something new is on the edge of being released in your life and as you hear the voice of your father calling you in from the fields it will be a time of anointing, of commissioning, of calling, of taking you to a higher level – there is so much more for you and it is going to burst forth, there is so much for you that will not be held back by your past, by others, by any mistake you have ever made, there is a banquet laid out in honour of you – yes you!

He is celebrating over the fact that you are His, He is delighting in the fact that you are present. He has not forgotten you, you are not ‘shelved,’ you are not required to meet a certain grade, you are not required to fit a certain mould, you are not to look at your history in despair – but now is the time to look forward, to know expectancy rise in your heart for your Lover is an awesome God, your Lover is the maker, creator, sustainer of the Universe – there is nothing outside of His control, there is nothing that you need that He is unable to provide, there is no situation that you are concerned about that is out of His jurisdiction, there is no heartache that is beyond His healing and no dry area of your life that is beyond the water of His Holy Spirit, there is no circumstance that He cannot break in and alter, there is nothing for Him to fear for He is God so there is nothing for you to fear because He is your Father.

I feel such a sense that you need to bask afresh in your security in Him- He isn’t about to change His mind about loving you, He is not about to alter His opinion or downgrade His love! Be secure Dan because you are a Son, an heir – your inheritance is yours, there is no chance of you being left out, missed out or disinherited. Today is a day for looking up and realising that He is going to take you by the hand and take you forwards and onwards and upwards – you are not destined for the mire, but the mountain top, you are not destined for the sinking sand, but the soaring on the wings of an eagle, you are not destined for being forgotten and left in the field, but for a powerful anointing, for an equipping and a calling that doesn’t start once you obtain a certain level – oh Dan feel His tender heart towards you, His great love for you!".

:-) Yes that was an emoticon! I'm feeling very very loved right now.

Seated with the King

Last night I attended an evening session at a conference at a church local to me. Since coming into an understanding of grace and of our unchangeable position as the righteousness of God in Christ, I have gone with an openness to receive from God, but prepared to spit out the bones of law that come. Yet, there is no doubt they are a people hungry for God, and the Lord honours that - so God was most definitely there last night, powerfully, touching His hungry people.

During the worship time, the musicians began to play the first bars of "My Jesus I love Thee, I know Thou art mine." But before they got to the first line of singing, a woman a few rows ahead began to sing out loudly in tongues, and then began to sing a spiritual song (something I have not known to happen in this church before - there has been corporate spiritual singing, but not someone taking a lead). The sister sang of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I found myself beginning to sing (although not so loudly, I haven't got a strong enough voice!!) of seeing the King upon the throne in all His beauty, majesty and glory. And then I felt His whisper in my heart -

"Come up here, and let Me put My cloak over you."

And then some scriptures began to hit me:

"You are seated with Me in heavenly places"

"My banner over you is love."

And then I was reminded of that scene in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where the White Witch meets Edmund, and he is cold and needy, and she says to him - "come up here, and I will put my coat over you." In that scene, the Witch has evil intent, but Jesus does not - He loves us so much, and has called us to sit with Him in a place of intimacy, and authority. In Ruth 3, Boaz puts the hem of his cloak over Ruth as indication that he will care for her, and that he will be her Redeemer. Out of these things, the Lord spoke into my heart:

"Come and sit with Me, and let Me put My cloak over you. Come and be near, let Me cover you, let Me warm you, let Me embrace you and protect you. I am the King, and you are seated on My throne. You are safe and secure, as safe and secure as it is possible to be. You have been made righteous to receive My tender embrace.

And, come, sit down, look, see; see all the kingdoms of the earth. My Father has given them to Me, and I have purchased them with My blood. And as you sit with Me, I give them to you - you are My co-heir, and heir of the world with Abraham.

Come, sit, rest, stay - here in the place of intimacy and authority."

We are seated with Him! So amazing, so tender, and yet so powerful, as we rest in His embrace to enjoy and His authority to change the world!

Your Daughters Shall Prophesy!!

I came home from work today to read an incredible email from Pete just before he left for the "Life in the Spirit Conference" where Sam Storm is ministering. I had sent him my iPOD in the post so that he can enjoy Rob Rufus on MP3 while he is at the conference and just as I was posting the parcel, for some reason I wrote; "FIRE!!" on the back of it. Don't know why! Maybe to freak out the postman - maybe I hoped Pete would be laid out in the Spirit when he got it. But in his email he wrote this;

Ruth asked me today "why did Dan put FIRE on the back of his parcel." I explained about the fire of the Spirit. Then she started making up a song using the words of "London's Burning". It is quite prophetic;

"London's burning, London's burning, fetch the people, fetch the people. FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE,DON'T pour on water, DON'T pour on water."

There is a fire to come in London.

Pete's daughter is only a child! Yet I was absolutely staggered at the prophetic edge to what she wrote. I don't know whether she was aware of it or not but Joel's prophecy says clearly; "Your sons and daughters shall prophesy". The Church either is disobeying the command; "He who hath an ear to hear ... let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches". So is it any surprise that children are beginning to speak forth what the Holy Spirit has on His heart?! And it is clear - London SHALL and MUST be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea!

Why? Because first and foremost God promised it! And secondly London is the first domino to fall - when London comes under the cloud of glory, surely the United Kingdom cannot be unaffected. When I was at the "Grace and Glory" conference in Hong Kong, I heard again and again God speaking; "London is Mine!".

Grace + Glory = REVIVAL!!

I had an extremely exciting day today - one of much revelation where I virtually felt like I had a glass stuck to the wall of the Holy of Holies and was listening in on the council of God. If only I could learn how to walk into the Throne Room itself ... ! But anyway. I exchanged a couple of texts with Pete Day and he said one very interesting thing which provoked an awesome vision. In his text he said (I should explain I have leant Pete my iPOD next week when he goes to the Life in the Spirit Conference where Sam Storms is preaching);

"Wow. Thank you so much. In the few minutes of trying to figure it out (the iPOD), God has already spoken! I heard Rob say; "The Grace and Glory Conference is now open!". And God spoke to my heart; "Grace and glory is open! - Now, here, wherever are we are living in grace and glory!".

Suddenly without even thinking about it, I saw a vision of being back in my GCSE Chemistry. I didn't like Chemistry and wasn't very good at it but we were shown a chemical reaction by our teacher very similar to this one;

And I felt God say; "My grace on it's own is indeed a sign and a wonder. My glory on it's own is wonderful to behold and many long to come into it. But I tell you this - the one who hears My voice and learns to bring My grace and My glory together will experience and see a reaction far beyond anything you have ever dreamed! The reaction will be far greater than even this:

He went on; "But whereas these reactions have been used for hatred and for war, when you see My grace and My glory brought together in simultaneous combustion, the shockwaves of life and power shall shake the earth and send principalities and powers screaming for cover, for finally My Church will have learnt the truth - that at the Cross I legally bound the powers of hell - and now nothing not even hell's gates can stand against the relentless advance of My Kingdom and My glory shall cover the earth as waters cover the sea!

So bring the truth of My grace and the power of My glory together and sit back and watch ... ".

"The Hidden Springs" by Arthur Wallis

One of the traditional charges against the Charismatic Movement in the 1970's and 80's was that there was no much Biblical depth to what the charismatic teachers taught. That charge is becoming less and less viable as Terry Virgo's recent invitation to the FIEC Council suggests. Interestingly enough one charismatic leader who escaped the charge (even Terry himself came under fire at a Westminter fraternal hosted by Peter Lewis for teaching on apostolic ministry) - was Arthur Wallis. Arthur Wallis was very much a statesman of the Charismatic Movement in the United Kingdom like Ern Baxter was in the USA. Arthur always taught with the Word of God first and foremost in his mind. It is with interest then that I present his teaching from a Restoration Magazine I discovered while re-organising some of my library. The theme of the magazine was; "The New Testament Prophet" and contributers to the magazine included David Mansell and Alan Vincent (who worked with Terry Virgo and what was Coastlands for a while).

"A prophet of God" - what does the phrase conjure up in your mind? Moses stretching out his rod to part the Red Sea? Elijah calling down fire from heaven? Or maybe Agabus predicting a severe famine throughout the world? In this article we are not so concerned with the spectacular revelations of the prophet, as with the hidden springs of his life and ministry. Or to put it more colloquially, let's find out what makes the prophet tick.

According to God's estimate being takes precedence over doing. In other words God's primary concern is with a man's character and only secondarily with his ministry. The reason for this is not far to seek. What we do must spring from what we are and if what we do appears more spiritual than what we are, sooner or later (and it is usually sooner) our doing is sabotaged.

This is vividly illustrated by the tragic history of Samson, whose spectacular feats against the Philistines were offset by his own carnality. In the end he spent his last days a prisoner of his enemies and never achieved a full deliverance for Israel.

Though the theme of this issue of the magazine is the NT prophet we shall find that all the basic principles that govern this NT ministry are to be found in what the OT teaches us, especially when we investigate the hidden springs. Let us look at the earliest prophets mentioned in the Bible.

We have to reach almost the closing book of the Bible before we learn that the first prophet in the history of mankind was Enoch. We would never have known if Jude had not told us (v14). We don't usually think of Enoch as a prophet but as the saintly man who walked with God for 300 years. Just to think that we consider ourselves if we have a day's unbroken fellowship with God! So Enoch set the standard, living as he did in the dawn of human history, for all successive generations of prophets. Someone has described him as an Alpine climber last seen heading for the summit. And of course we have the inside story. He didn't slip and break his neck. He made it.

1. The prophet is called first and foremost to a life of intimacy with God.

It wasn't that Enoch had it in him. The record in Genesis 5 makes it clear that he didn't start to walk with God till he reached what we now regard as retiring age. Life really began for Enoch at 65! That should teach us that it's never too late.

This brings us to Abraham. He is the first man that God ever called a prophet and in quite a surprising connection. Not because he brought some stupendous prediction like Enoch who prophesised the day of the Lord at the dawn of human history. A tribal king called Abimelech had taken Abraham's wife for his harem, thinking her to be Abraham's sister with the result that a judgement of barrenness had fallen on his household. God spoke to him in a dream and having explained the situation told him; "Now return the man's wife for he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you will live" (Genesis 20:7).

2. So the first thing that God ever said about a prophet was that he was a man who had access to God - not just a man who prayed, but a man who got his prayers answered!

It is significant that Abraham the prophet was also called "God's friend" (2 Chronicles 20:7, Jas 2:23) and this is clearly illustrated in connection with his prayer life. God was about to bring destruction on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their heinous wickedness. "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" God asked Himself. Why should He? Abraham was His friend with whom He was accustomed to sharing His secrets, so He shared this one with him. The result was what God intended. Abraham got involved. He wrestled with God in prayer. Although these two great cities were not saved by Abraham's praying, Lot and his family were, and that would have been one of Abraham's major concerns in his intercession.

This friendship, this intimacy with God is one of the most beautiful features of Abraham's life. God loved to walk with him under the stars and share with him His heavenly secrets. What exciting times they were. Sometimes the magnitude of what God promised him was enough to stagger his faith but "Abraham staggered not". God would say to him when he still had no child "and try to count the stars. That's how numerous your descendents will be". And on another occasion; "Look as far as you can to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west. All this land I am going to give to your descendents".

3. So the prophet is privilidged to share God's secrets and to what God plans to do. "Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secrets to His servants, the prophets". (Amos 3:7 RSV).

The next great prophet in the line of succession was Moses.

We may think of him as the prophet par excellence of the OT for he enjoyed face to face communion with God beyond that generally experienced by prophets. God said of him; "I reveal myself to (a prophet) in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of My servant Moses ... With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles" (Num 12:6-8).

To him it was revealed that the greatest prophet of all, the coming Messiah, would be a prophet like himself (Deut 18:15). Moses unique-ness is confirmed by his obiturary; "Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses who the Lord knew face to face" (Deut 34:10).

There are two expressions used of Moses that are characteristic and that must shape our whole thinking about the hidden springs of the prophet's ministry. The first we find in the above quotations from Numbers when God refers to him as "My servant Moses". Again and again he is called the "servant of the Lord". In coming to know God, the prophet's attitudes and inner disposition have been so shaped that all self-possession, self-importance and independence of spirit have been eliminated. His posture before the Lord is that of the servant waiting at the door-post to come to the master's call or to run to do his bidding or to stand forth to speak his word.

The other expression is "Moses, the man of God". From then on "man of God" became a synonym for a prophet. It is used of Samuel and of David, and of Elijah and of Elisha. Many prophets in the record are anonymous. We simply read; "A man of God came ...". What does the experience suggest? That here is someone whose relationship with God is deep and intimate and real. He knows God. A brother and I were discussing a young man in the church whose lack of spiritual progress was giving us cause for concern, when my friend remarked; "What he needs is a big dose of God". The same could be said of many believers. A prophet is someone who has had just that.

That is what we must have if we are to be a prophetic people. There must be a God-conciousness about us. We must feel at home in His Presence. Our fellowship with God must be one of reverent intimacy. Something of the inner life of the man of God must characterise the people of God.

Inevitably a man of God is someone in who a goodly measure of the character of God has been formed. There is a saying; "You can't walk with a miller without getting flour on your shoulder". You can't walk with God, spend time with God without something of God brushing off. There were many sons of the prophets at the time of Elisha but the woman of Shunem discerned there was something different about Elisha. She described him as a "holy man of God". When Elijah suddenly appeared in the courts of king Ahab with an ultimatum from heaven, no-one knew who he was or where he came from. So first he presented his credentials; "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before Whom I stand" (1 Kings 17:1). Here was an ambassador who had come from heaven's courts, who was accustomed to standing before the King of Kings.

4. These are the only true credentials of a NT prophet. He is a man who stands before God. He comes to men from God's Presence to speak God's Word. This is the secret of his authority.

There are those today, even as in the past, who claim to be the prophets, but who cannot produce these credentials. They have not been standing before God. They have not been hearing what God was saying. They speak the visions of their own mind, the thoughts of their own hearts and not from the mouth of the Lord. They may even speak what is true and biblical, but it is not God's "now" word. Listen to what God says about such; "I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their own message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people" (Jer 23:21-22).

There is always a temptation to put prophets, whether biblical ones or present-day ones on a spiritual pedestal. "They must be of different stuff from us" we say to ourselves. James will not allow us to get away with such thinking. He tells us firstly that we must look on them as examples of a man who prevailed in prayer, he anticipates our objections by saying first of all that he was a "man just like us" (5:17). At one point he ran away in fear and then even gave way to self-pity and self-justification. Nevertheless he accomplished the will of God.

Let me say it again; the prophets are our examples. They are there to challenge and inspire us. We are to be motivated by the same prophetic spirit. How could it be otherwise if we are indeed a prophetic people. Prophets were never intended to monopolise the audience chamber of the King of Kings or to "corner fellowship with God". There are many councils over which the Almighty presides and if you are not called to stand before God in the same council as the prophet then be assured that there is one in which your name is called, and where God will share secrets that you need to hear. The health of that pot plant in your home is determined in great measure by what lies below the surface of the soil. You cannot have a healthy plant and an unhealthy root. Let me ask you, what have you got hidden beneath the surface? Is the hidden life robust and strong, or weak and sickly? Is our spiritual root system suffering from neglect? What about the hidden springs? Have they dried up? It is in this hidden area most of all that the life of the prophet should provoke and challenge us.

Once we are convinced that such a life of fellowship with God is for us too, the big question is how to get there. "You will seek Me and find Me", God is still saying, "When you search for Me with all of your heart". Those who have the experience are those who want it badly. There are scores and scores of true believers who would love it, yet they never enjoy it. Why? Because they don't want it with all their heart. Those who enter in are those who hunger and thirst for it. This is invariably where the failure lies. The remedy is to ask God to show us why we are not hungry for Him. It may be for the same reasons that the seed of the sower in the parable did not bring forth fruit (Luke 8:12-14). If so when we have dealt with all that He has shown us, we will find a growing hunger within. Otherwise it may be simply lack of motivation. We must ask God to show us the unspeakable honour and privilidge of being invited to stand before the God of the whole earth. "Blessed is the man you choose and bring near to live in your courts! What joy! What fulfillment! What fruitfulness! What harmony! What security!

Once we are really motivated there must come the discipline of curtailment. This is the discipline of the lumberjack who stops working in order to sharpen his axe.

Some of us will never find God in this way because we are much too busy working for Him. Our activism is our biggest hindrance. We must lay aside all our self-justifying arguments and learn all over again from the story of Martha and Mary what our Lord considers is the "one thing needful".

Finally we must learn to wait on God by restraining our much speaking in His Presence. Only so we can train our ears to listen. There are some 15 or more Hebrew words used in the OT that are translated "wait" but with various shades of meaning, such as to wait patiently, to wait in silence, to wait expectantly and to wait in hope. If we are constant and persevering God will draw near and speak. He will reveal Himself to us and we shall understand what it was that so captivated David that this fellowship with God despite the affairs of state became his consuming passion;

"One thing I ask of the Lord, that will I seek - that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple" - (Psalm 27:4).

A Prophecy for all Women who Ever Felt Unloved.

I was driving back from Bristol to Birmingham and was praying and crying for the women who have left comments on the post "Humour versus the Holy Spirit". Not just them - but for the thousands of others I suspect are out there in the Christian world feeling desperate, lonely and unloved. Suddenly God put this song into my mind - "When You Believe" - the beautiful duet sung by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. I am not sure about secular songs being used in the prophetic - but I am prepared to take the risk! I felt a definite tug from the Holy Spirit about this and when I found the song and played it on my IPOD my tears increased. If this word can be taken and be used to set free then truly we will see miracles.

The song is here;



Every word is prophetic to me. I sense behind each word the heart beat of God and of Jesus Christ the true Man. Here's the lyrics;

Many nights we pray
With no proof anyone could hear
And our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understand
Now we are not afraid
Although we know theres much to fear
We were moving mountains long
Before we know we could

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
Its hard to kill
Who know what miracle
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe

In this time of fear
When prayer so often proves in vain
Hope seems like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away
And now I am standing here
My hearts so full I cant explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought Id say

They dont always happen when you ask
And its easy to give in to your fear
Ohhhhh
But when youre blinded by your pain
Cant see you way safe through the rain
Thought of a still resilient voice
Says love is very near

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail

Its hard to kill
Who know what miracle
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe

I hope this word means something to someone! I dedicate it to all daughters of Zion - my sisters in the faith - who have ever doubted and feared and wept at the dead of night when they thought no one was watching. You are deeply loved on high.

Prophecies from Wednesday 19th December 2007

One of the things Pete Day made me agree to before flying to Hong Kong for the "Grace and Glory Conference" in October was that I would come to London, visit him and lay hands on him and pray that whatever blessing and anointing God lavishly gave me would be imparted to him. Because of both our busy schedules it was December before we were able to meet but it was well worth the wait.

We have both debated whether to publish what happened because we never ever want to be accused of hyper-spirituality or trying to exalt ourselves. But Pete's key post recently; "Waging warfare by the prophecies given" - he argued that prophecies and the prophetic equip us to fight the good fight better. So I am prepared to take the risk for being accused of hyper-spirituality. If anyone wants to leave a comment arguing thus - then please do. I can take it.

But the reason why we felt so deeply that we must publish this and share what God did with us - is because we have never before had such a sense of the "Abba" Presence of God. We both were drunk in the Spirit, laughing, crying and rejoicing because of the intimate love of the Father that kept pouring over us in waves. It wasn't just an "experience" of the glory of God. God spoke and re-emphasised what has always been so present in the Word of God.

Here's what He said. The sole reason why we publish this is because we hope that "by the prophecies" - by something that is written here - you too may be equipped to fight the good fight in the ecstatic realisation that Abba Father loves YOU and has chosen YOU from before time began.

Pete: "The Lord is speaking so clearly about "Past Anointings". We need the books of past men. We claim their anointing and capture the heart of those people, their passion and move in their anointing. Fresh bread! Fresh manna! 1. On the Sabbath the manna was preserved so the people would not have to work. But; 2. It was also preserved in a pot and put into the ark. These seasons of past anointings are like past Sabbath manna - it is manna set aside to grow from in future generations. YET! We look for our own Sabbath manna to set down for our future generations. There is a permament relevance to what they say yet let us not forget "Progressive Revelation". There is fresh manna that we WILL receive that those who applaud us could only have dreamed of.

Dan: I saw a vision of the risen Lord holding out a beautiful portrait as we lay before Him. It was the most exquisite, incredible painting I have ever seen. But it wasn't just a static capture of a moment in time! The painting was alive! I could hear the babbling brooks painted on it and the rivers and could hear the birds singing on it! I said; "God what's this?". He said;

"Son, don't you recognise it? It's your prayer you prayed that one time when you felt so ineloquent and so lonely. Son don't you recognise it? It's that song you sang to Me on your own with your IPOD as you were walking to work but shuddered at the sound of your voice. Son don't you recognise it? It's that deed you did in secret for My glory that no-one saw. I am your true Parent! I am your true Daddy! I see the beauty in My loved one's offerings! This is so special to Me, it stays with ME. Not even the angels are allowed to touch it - it's too precious to Me! Don't stop singing to Me, Son! Don't stop talking to Me! Don't stop painting and drawing for Me! I treasure it's value beyond words!".

Pete: I saw a vision of the first wedding dance when the bride and groom traditionally dance together in the spotlight alone watched by the rest of the guests. But this dance is the dance of the Father with His Bride!

"And you - Pete, Dan - you are the Chosen! I am stopping right by you and I am saying to you, "May I have this dance?". You are no longer an observer! All eyes are on us and our love". But such is the wonder of My omnipresence that no one will be left out. No one will sit at the back of this crowd feeling their loneliness and their isolation. You will feel My love, you will experience My arms wrapped around you!".

Pete: I saw a reversal of the meeting of the royal family. Usually the visitors will line up and the courtiers or the Lord Chamberlain will bring the royal down the line and will introduce the Queen to the visitor. But here there was a glorious reversal! Here I saw God introducing us to the angels! US! He was taking us down the line of angelic warriors and was saying; "This is My beloved one! This is My son! This is My beautiful daughter! This is My loved one! Meet him! You must meet him! You must see her!".

Dan: "The veil that hung in the Tabernacle was hell's best weapon. I tell you when the veil was put up, hell rejoiced as I wept. For the veil kept My people from My Presence. The demons watched with bated breath as the Old Testament priests crept in hoping I would smite them down. But at Calvary as I reached out and took the veil in My hands and began to rip from top down ... all of hell quaked. "He is BREAKING OUT!" - the scream went out across hell. The veil ripped entirely and forever and My Son declared; "It is finished" and I declared; "I am satisfied!". You can enter in now! The way is open!

So why do so few come in says your God? The veil has been torn for 2, 000 years and My glory cloud stands right in front of you! But you have listened to the lies that the demonic hordes are spreading that the veil has been re-made. The lies of demons even creep in among My church and you will hear Pharisees re-declaring that you cannot come near to Me. Don't hear it! My Son died so that hell's best weapon was destroyed forever! The Glory Cloud is right here! Come in! Enter in freely! says your Father".

Dan: Fill this building with His Presence and glory and He will fill the building with people. London is Mine! There are MILLIONS I want to dance with! There are MILLIONS I want to show My glory to! So fill this place with My glory for the harvest is white and the veil has been torn forever!

Where Do We Look? The Sand or the Horizon?

I was deeply challenged by Pete's recent post on this blog called; "Waging Warfare By Prophecies Given". I have been thinking and wondering about the methodology of writing prophecies down since Jesse Phillips discussed it here. Obviously I don't want to get into a legalistic desire to blog or to blog prophecies, but I do think there is a lot of value in remembering the prophecies God speaks and gives because if we forget them, then we can't fight a fight by them!

I was walking home from work today (trying to preserve the atmosphere, save petrol money and make time for God in one fell swoop!) and I felt God show me a wave lapping up and down the beach somewhat like this;



And this came to my mind;

"As the wave draws back and another wave swells on the horizon, for a period there is momentary nothingness on the beach. You can become obsessed with the nothingness and can spend your life staring at the wet, damp but drying sand and you can develop theologies of the nothingness ...

Or you can lift up your eyes and look to the horizon where the swell is growing and growing and growing and the wave is coming and coming and coming and will break on the beach, bigger than the last, more powerful than the last and far more wide-reaching than the last.

Where will you look? Will you continue to state at the damp but drying sand? Or will you lift your eyes and look to the coming wave?".

Rob Rufus Prophecies While Preaching!!

Dr Martyn Ll0yd-Jones was always of the opinion that prophecy or inspired utterance that comes immediately - will often occur during preaching. I must admit that I haven't heard it that often at all - but I was staggered while transcribing notes from one of Rob Rufus's sermons from the "Grace-Hating Spirit" series - to hear him do exactly that. Prophecy. This is what he said;

"God is raising up people we have never heard of. There are no great names that will appear in these next few years. People are going to come out of obscurity who have been preserving their freedom and will be the new Joshua leadership that will take the church into the Promised Land. There are Moses leaders that took people out of bondage but sadly they didn't take them into freedom. They took them out of slavery but didn't take them into promised inheritance. There is coming a Church around the world that will not just come out of slavery but will go into promised inheritance and posess the land at this age".

He didn't even really pause while he was saying it - I had to pause while taking notes and go back and re-read what Rob said. This is such an incredible prophetic statement of what is to come! Rob has made statements before about his belief that there are to be no "great names" in the coming move of the Holy Spirit. God's desire and God's passion is to raise up a corporate people who are walking together, moving together towards the promised inheritance in signs and wonders and miracles!

Julian Adams Prophesies at Newfrontiers Prayer and Fasting!!

Thanks to the latest edition of the Newfrontiers magazine, we can all now benefit from this awesome prophecy that Julian Adams shared at Prayer and Fasting. It's got special significance for those in London:

‘I found myself standing alongside the River Thames and I saw the water levels beginning to rise. As it began to rise, it began to sweep over the banks and begin to rush the city.

I felt, specifically for the City of London, there is about to come an overwhelming sense of the presence of God and conviction. I felt God speak to me about bringing a new prophetic herald, a new prophetic voice, a forerunner in churches that will begin to speak out against immorality, injustice and sin, and there will be a sense of conviction that will begin to sweep over, specifically, London ... I felt God even say it will be a physical thing ... I could see physical floods beginning to happen all across the nation of England ... God would say to you I want you to know this is not something that is going to happen, it is beginning to happen. Revival is breaking out ...'

Come Holy Spirit!

Fighting For the Prophetic

I have been quite provoked by an issue that my friend Jesse has raised in two of his posts - "Review: Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts, 'Who Said God Said?' (Ch. 7)" and "Question of the week: should a prophecy be written down beforehand?". In his review of Sam Storm's excellent book on spiritual gifts, Jesse asks some key questions;

"First, do you agree with Storms observation that there has been abuse? Second, how wide-spread do you think it is? Third, do you agree with Storms list of reasons why, or what would you add?"
I was thinking through the issues that Jesse discussed and it occured to me that I haven't heard much of a discussion about the devil's involvement with the spiritual gifts. If the Word of God commands that spiritual gifts are earnestly desired but especially prophecy - then surely the devil will realise that prophecy could potentially be very powerful for use in the Kingdom of God. I thought about two strategies that I would employ if I were trying to hinder prophecy in the Church.

1. He can try and keep Christians back from fully entering into the gift of prophecy. Or cessationism in other words.

2. He can push those who believe in prophecy into excess which will result in fear, hurt and suspicion which will get back eventually to his first strategy - that of preventing Christians from entering into the prophetic.

I have to say I think he has been quite successful in hindering the prophetic altogether or tarnishing it with the false, the fake and the bizarre. We have all read the "horror stories" usually published by John MacArthur or Hank Hanegraff about prophecy. But it is a bit more unusual to hear testimonies and read transcripts of true and genuine prophecies.

It is my goal to fight for the genuine prophetic because I have had my life changed and blessed immeasurably by the genuine prophetic in my life from friends I trust. I have therefore dug out some prophecies that were (thank God!) written down and transcribed from the Stoneleigh Bible Week 2000. They are, in my opinion, examples of the genuine and the good and how God can use them to motivate and inspire His Church.

Here they are - still as true today as they were seven years ago.

Dave Devenish Prophesying at Stoneleigh - "Faithfulness of God".

Terry Virgo Prophesying at Stoneleigh - "Represented on high".

Terry Virgo Prophesying at Stoneleigh - "Receive My grace".

Dave Devenish Prophesying at Stoneleigh - "My strategy for the nations".

Terry Virgo Prophesying at Stoneleigh - "Participation in the Holy Spirit".

Dave Devenish Prophesying at Stoneleigh - "Bathing in My glory to change the nations".

Prophecy from Terry Virgo at Stoneleigh Bible Week 2000!!

"My love, My grace is made available to you for participation in the Holy Spirit. I come to be your partner, to have fellowship with you, says the Spirit. I come to come alongside. I love it when you call Me alongside, when you lean into My strength, feel My energy flooding you, supporting you, enabling you. I am here to grant you an ability beyond your strength. I am here to do works through you that bring glory to the Saviour. I am here to flood your life with confidence in God. Therefore enjoy the fellowship and participation of the Spirit.

I am here to communicate love and faith to you. Drink in My Presence, not as a mere emotion but as energy for your soul. Life for you to live by, strength to run with, even as My servant Elijah outran the chariot he was enabled by the enabling of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. I come to fellowship with you, I come to strengthen you and I come not only to ease you but also to fortify you with My enabling power. As you go from this place, you will have been fortified by Me, waiting upon Me, hearing My word, feeling your spirit rise up, soaring, mounting above circumstances, delays, bewildering circumstances, refusing to allow Satan to put you down by events.

I am making you soldiers who learn how to gain strength even in the midst of difficulties, delays, things that cause your mind to be filled with questions but no longer allowing questions to be the end of the story for now you have fellowship with the One who sees the throne, that seven-fold Spirit ever before the throne, ever knowing Who is ruling. He is here for you, He is here for fellowship, He is here to fortify you, to make you soldiers, energised with strenght. Receive from Me, receive empowering, receive grace, receive strength".

Prophecy from Dave Devenish at Stoneleigh Bible Week 2000!!

"Oh God, our God come upon us that your wasy may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. God our God will bless us. God will bless us and all the ends of the earth will fear Him. "As you have been crying out to Me concerning the desire that is so much on My heart for the nations to come to My Son, I just want to reveal something to you of My heart and My strategy for accomplishing it. I want to reveal that to you because I was saying to My people that as My blessing came in power upon them, the ends of the earth would feel its impact.

I want to tell you about My strategy. I have spoken to you already about revealing My strategy to you this week and I want to say this to you, that this has always been My strategy. I blessed one man Abraham and I said, "Through your descendents all the nations of the earth will be blessed". I fell in power upon just 120 in an upper room and the whole of the Roman Empire felt the impact of My blessing. Through revivals in history, I came on a few in your own land, just in a small room in London and the whole nation and many other nations felt the impact of My blessing. I want to say this to you; this is why you are here. You are here for a blessing; you are here for a blessing! Aren't you being blessed? Aren't you receiving the blessing of My joy brought out into your hearts? Aren't you receiving the blessing of My Spirit working powerfully among you? Aren't you experiencing the blessing of My love and compassion poured out upon you? Aren't you receiving the blessing that all My grace has for you?

I say that this is My method. I bless you. Then as I bless you, all the ends of the earth receive the impact. So that is what I am doing. Although you think of yourself as a large number here, compared with the needs of the world you are just small but that is My method to bless a small number of people and then let the ends of the earth feel the impact of it. So here, receive all the blessing you can get. Receive and receive and receive, keep on receiving My blessings because My strategy is to bless you so that the ends of the earth feel it's impact.

I am promising you this, says the Lord, if you drink as much as you can of My power and love and Presence in this place, you will be My strategy for "unreached people groups", for closed lands, for many, many nations to receive the blessing of God.

God, our God blesses us and all the ends of the earth will fear Him.