Weapons of Love

At the Prison Ministry, Mildred and I went to meet with a new group of convicted ladies that are part of a much larger group of prisoners. Although we only met with 30+ of them, there is a huge amount of potential for Jesus in this particular section.

Each time we go into the depth of the prison, we are reminded of our freedom contrasted with the hardships that face the prisoners and wardens alike. Budgets are low and facilities are not what they should/could be. But in this place, the LORD Jesus continues to flow and we are continually amazed at His timing and Grace.

This time, the LORD guided us to leave all our technology behind and to allow His Spirit to move in a special way and touch the hearts of all present with no support props … this was going to be great !

We preached a message on Living Water and towards the end of the service, open repentance started to happen; hands were up and hearts were open. They were touched by the vision that the LORD needs them to be intercessors for Him and even though they are physically bound in this place, they are free to break down strongholds for the Kingdom.

2 Corinthians 10: 4

“ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Jesus then healed a young ladies knee and ankle from pain. She went back to her seat in wonder … the LORD then moved His Spirit and defenses broke down one after the other. His Fire fell and we all left changed and deepened by the experience. A particular lady put her hand up to say that she had felt nothing in her spirit, so we brought her to the front and laid hands on her and prayed. She described her heart thumping in her chest and then she was touched in a special and loving way. She said that she could feel the forgiveness of Jesus.

We are all precious to the LORD and He will use us right where we are at; for these prisoners to know that they are a critical part of the body of Christ and that they can effect global change in the Name of the LORD, as long as they ‘rest in the shelter of the Almighty’ not only a brings in a new dimension of freedom but a major burst of excitement from being part of His plan.

Isaiah 54: 17
” no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.”

It seems to me that if we are 'weapons forged fit for our work' and the greatest command is ‘to love one another’ then perhaps we are actually weapons of love.

CHRIS

Freely Give

On Friday I received a prayer that touched me deeply in my spirit because this prayer came from a mother whose 6-year old son has struggled with cancer for the last 6-months. Both her husband and herself have been shining examples to all of us; they have stood firm on the promise that Jesus had healed their wee man. I want you to read this prayer with their victory in mind, with the news that the cancer is now gone in Jesus Name !

An Easter Prayer:

Glory and praise to You, Risen Saviour, for You bring light to our darkness, joy to our sorrow and the fullness of love to our reluctant hearts. Once and for all You have conquered sin and evil. In the glory of Your Resurrection we have been set free from all that keeps us from following You. In this Easter season may Jesus fill our hearts with His light and grace that we might joyfully echo the words of His Holy Angels. He is not here in the tomb, He is risen. Alleluia! Alleluia. Amen.

Feeling so inspired by Jesus and what He has done for us all, my son and I ventured out after dinner with three packs of food and bibles. We prayed asking Jesus to guide us to the right people so that we could bless them in His precious Name.

The LORD gave me a ‘nudge’, so we did a U-turn, knowing that the homeless man on the side of the road needed help. Once we pulled over, two more men stepped out of the darkness and walked towards us. We were overjoyed to see them and we stood on the side of the street and talked. We handed over the gifts and explained that Jesus wanted to use this night to transform them into His Kingdom.

In no time we were praying for them. The Holy Spirit opened my heart and the words used in prayer touched each of their hearts deeply. I sensed His divine love for each of them and after a short chat about the love that it takes to willingly lay down your life and die for someone else, the LORD enabled our discussion to deepen.

Tears were flowing and remorse poured out. One man said he was not worthy; that he had done too much wrong. Another man said he had turned his back on Jesus and his family and he was hopeless and homeless… Then a miracle: the third man started to encourage the other two, and before my eyes, their discussion ignited with wisdom and they started to build each others faith and expectation in Jesus. The Fear of the LORD came upon them as their eyes were opened to the Truth.

I explained that we were all broken by sin and we all struggle daily with many things. That Jesus died for past, present and future sins; that His work on the cross is perfect and that Jesus is the Word of God: His Word is a Fire and a Hammer. That He loves them and they need to stop trying to hide from Him because He knows they need Him … they need to reach for Him and He will be there.

Jesus hugged them as they poured out their hearts before Him; The Living Water of the LORD cleansed them as we prayed and their eyes turned from brokenness and worry to confidence and understanding.

Isaiah 61: 1

“ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… “

The LORD has never and will never give up on you ! 

“Freely you have received, freely give.”

CHRIS

Time, Talents and Treasures

My wife, our two boys and I all piled into our car to race down to the DVD store to drop off a movie that was overdue and would certainly rack up another fine against our account.

Why this is such a common scene, is beyond me. I get a feeling that when the weekend happens most families are a bit less organised than during the week; almost that it is a way to pull back from the structure of deadlines and targets, cooking and cleaning, homework and early nights. Maybe it's just us, but we seem to reject weekend time pressures and try our best to let things flow on the weekend.

We pulled into the parking area outside the DVD store and my eldest son raced in to drop off the movie while I did a 3-point turn to position us for a fast getaway ... poised with the engine running, suddenly I felt it ... a prick in my heart, a prompt, I'm not really sure but I looked up and saw a man walking past our car. I wish I could describe it better, but I knew what to do.

I wound down the window and called the man over and said that Jesus wanted to bless him through us and handed him some money. He took my hand in his and his eyes welled up with tears ... he said that this was the second time in two days that this very same thing had happened to him, and he thinks that Jesus is trying to tell him something. We spoke for a while and then parted;  I felt special that Jesus had prepared a work in advance for me to do...but I could have missed it so easily, how many opportunities like this had I missed before ?

In late 2008, while praying one evening, the following came to me...

How will you spend your life ? If you consider the fact that time is the currency of life; how have you used your time and where have you spent it ? Have you spent it on Jesus ? What are you going to do now ? If there is only one life and one chance to 'spend' your time on earth, what should you be spending it on ? Are you squandering your time or spending it wisely? What return do you anticipate from the time you have invested ? Is it time to make a change and make an investment in Jesus ?

These questions left me with a feeling of urgency that I still have today. We are called to be both Salt and Light to those around us; but the world is geared to water down our saltiness and hide our light ... if we let it.

Matthew 5: 13-15

" You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. "

A wise man once said to me that "Jesus is after our Time, Talents and our Treasures". 

What sacrifices can we make for the LORD who gave Jesus to die for us ?

CHRIS

Breaking into Prison

On Tuesday we arrived at the Ladies Prison Ministry (pre-trial) well prepared, with speakers, projector, laptop and resources, ready for Church.

We have a weekly congregation of 120+ and things have been going very well there; Pastor Mildred our door-opener continues to pave the political way past a mixed group of wardens; some supporters of ours and some firmly opposed to us.

Either way the LORD's hand is moving in that place and we once again saw His Spirit move ... this is what happened.

We were delayed at first and were sent to a side courtyard to wait for security checks and access. We felt that there was an atmosphere of negativity so we began praying for the LORD to release us. Caroline received a vision of a dark cloaked figure who was trying in vain to reap wheat that kept on growing back; we prayed in the Spirit and held our position firmly, knowing that 'He is our sheild and rampart'. Shortly afterwards...release and access granted; we walked down the many passages into the belly of the prison, to work for Jesus.

Setup was different because an electrical point we relied on was broken; in fact I was getting pretty excited because there was so much resistance that I knew that the LORD was going to break through all the frustrations and move in a mighty way.

Worship was utterly amazing, tears were in the eyes of the prisoners, hands were up in worship of our King and hearts were softened ready for the word...I need to add at this point that when we first started at the prison, there were no more than 10 committed christians...I felt the LORD's hand on me as I preached; I knew that He was deeply touching hearts and souls.

There was a moment of silence and I asked for everyone who had already had a tangible, undeniable experience of receiving the LORD's forgiveness and Living Water over the last 3 months to raise their hands - there was about 100 ladies hands up. 100 LADIES !!! The feeling of Jesus' love was massive. The confident hands were up high and we were all pretty overwhelmed by the sight of 100 soldiers standing to attention for Jesus their Saviour.

We prayed with 9 new ladies who gave their lives to Jesus; tears were everywhere when a lady's wrist was healed. She had been suffering with pain for some time; her joy was infectious. We prayed for a warden who received healing from a headache and a blocked sinus...more tears and joy.

Deuteronomy 11: 25
" No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go. "

We left feeling so encouraged by the love, joy, forgiveness and other fruit that has burst forth from what most people would consider to be a dark and hopeless place.

We have now begun discussions to grow to a hall that has 500 seats. We give Him all the praise and glory for the lives He is touching.

CHRIS

Short Sermons

Recently, Gerhard, Greg and I went into Claremont to do some Street Evangelism...

Two young ladies walked past and after a short chat about Jesus, it became apparent that one of them had attended church or at least did so on occasion and the other had little knowledge about Jesus. I asked the one who was completely green (and probably more resistant) if she had a pain in her body that we could ask Jesus to take away instantly ... she said she had pain in her right knee and after a bit of giggling, she said OK ... so we began to pray for her.

Quite quickly, I felt the Holy Spirit touch her and I stood up and asked her to bend her knee, which she duly did and to her amazement the pain was gone.

We serve a Mighty LORD; is anything too hard for Him ? The look on her face ...

We then spent a couple of minutes explaining that Jesus loved her and that He had so much more for her. They both walked away with amaizement on their faces. I know that given the time we had with her, the LORD accomplished in her a undeniable experience of His manifest Glory.

As we continue our work for Him we are enthralled at how Jesus meets us each time we GO.

Luke 10: 8-9
" When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you. "

If we actually followed the order of the instruction from Jesus to heal and then preach - sermons would be decidedly shorter, don't you think ?

CHRIS

...for the least of these

On Sunday evening I met a man outside Muizenberg Methodist Church who was 'down and out' and had no food. He asked me to help him, which I did.

I also gave him a bible and started to chat with him. Honestly, when I first saw him I had no idea that our discussion would go in the direction it was suddenly going. I asked if he had pain and explained that Jesus can heal him.

He looked me in the eyes and described that he had a gun-shot wound in his hip that has never been operated on, and that the bullett was still in there somewhere.

We laid hands on him in Jesus name and the LORD healed this man called Luke Joseph. He looked at Richard and I in amazement and said, "The pain is gone...". I knew that the LORD was not done yet and asked where else he had pain and he showed us a huge absys on his stomach that had been with him for a long time. He sat down and we prayed again, and asked the LORD, in the Name of Jesus, to remove his pain and to heal the infection. A feeling of warmth grew inside his stomach and when Luke Joseph stood up he said that the pain was gone. Praise Jesus !!

The LORD was pouring out His love on this homeless and penniless man before our eyes, extending His blessing and forgiveness, revealing His plan and showing His mercy.

Luke Joseph prayed and left us; he walked away clutching his bible with no more physical pain.

Matthew 10: 8
" Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. "

CHRIS