A good reminder of the basics!

One of the great things about living at a Mission headquarters is the access we have to hear what the Lord is doing in people's lives ... Whether that be experienced missionaries, new workers or short term volunteers ... This week was no different.

One of our voluntary helpers led us to look afresh at James 5:16 which says '...confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.'

A simple testimony brought home a profound truth which is so powerful, yet so rarely experienced in the body. True humility and vulnerability ... Allowing the Spirit freedom to go into the dark places, reveal the truth, shine light and bring things into the Light, that we might confess before the Lord and our closest friends ... To know healing AND a powerful and effective prayer life .. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?

Maybe it is so simple that we too often miss out, figuring that it must be more complicated than this ... Surely?!

Comments

Labels

Who are you? I have never been a great fan of labels when it comes to describing members of the body of Christ. eg. he is anglican, she is Baptist, they are Charismatic, etc. etc. I remember once causing a man to become increasingly hot under the collar when he asked me who I was? To which I replied I was a disciple (follower) of Jesus. He was meaning which Church did I attend (presumably so he could classify me and decide whether I was bona fide or not) and my answer did not bring him peace, but I refused to go any further. Why? Because, as I said, I am not a great fan of labels, but also because for me there is a very important distinction between primarily identifying myself with Jesus and identifying myself with Church. Of course, I recognise that by becoming a follower of Jesus I become part of the body of Christ, but that can be very distinct from being a member of a Church. To me this is the crucial difference between vibrant faith and dusty religion. ...

Homes I have lived in #3

This year I am celebrating my silver wedding anniversary ... Just for something to do I have begun to sketch all the houses we have lived in during that time. So here is house number #3 On our return to the UK we were faced with the question that faces all people in transition, what next? For us, we were encouraged by our friends to investigate further training and opted to spend a year with Kerygma ministries. We joined with a group of some 20 other people from various different cultures and backgrounds to join the ministry led by Dr Bob Gordon, based at Drayton Hall near Norwich. We spent one year here, between September 1993 and July 1994. Significant events that took place here included: Suffered reverse culture shock, as I grappled with the transition from life in a mudhut in Africa to life in the UK in a Manor House! (Struggled with the amount of money being spent on a sign that was being placed outside ...

Helpful read ...

Sacred Pathways: Discover your Soul's Path to God - Gary Thomas When you became a christian did you look around other people's lives and seek to model some of their spiritual disciplines? Did you find that somehow they didn't work for you in quite the same way as they seemed to work for them? Did this lead you to a place of discouragement? Did you think that, somehow, the things that bring such life to other people but don't bring life to you must mean that there is something wrong with you? Or that maybe God doesn't love you as much as He loved those people whom you sought to emulate? These are very real questions that all c hristians probably grapple with at some point. As we grow and mature in Christ we eventually reach a place of liberty where we realise that we are unique and therefore we shouldn't be surprised when our Father deals uniquely with us - and the way we most easily 'connect' to Him is also unique. Or perhaps we find over time th...

Pressing On

Search This Blog