To The Precious Saints !!!!
Today I sit here totally overwhelmed by the majesty of God's love. I'm just kinda sitting here at work plonking away mechanically at my keyboard but my soul, spirit, mind and body my whole inner and outer being is totally consumed by God's love. I'm crying in gratitude for the work He has done this past Alpha weekend, I'm crying in gratitude for the way He works through ordinary everyday people (yea jars of clay) and transcends us into such magnificent instruments of love and healing. Do I understand it. No not really but I feel it somewhere deep down inside. When I woke up this morning I went to prepare Matthews cereal and I wept (kinda like that old Neil Diamond song, crying in your pretzels) I went to shave, as I looked in the mirror I wept (okay I know some of you are thinking if they looked in the mirror and saw my face they'd also weep!).
Did we see mountains move? Did we see limbs grow back or any such physical miracles? No not really. But what we did see is all types of brokenness being healed. Spiritual eyes being opened as the truth was revealed by His Spirit to His children. We saw God saving lives for eternity.
Some snapshots. Mike's(our minister) friend giving His life to Christ and being filled with His Holy Spirit. Mike has been praying for him for 33 years. A women giving her testimony about falling so far from God, she used to be a lay preacher in Namibia, saying basically that God's love never fails. She was invited to Alpha by the guys doing Street Evangelism last year in November. You know just one of those chance meetings(yea right!)
We shared the weekend with the Roman Catholic Church (St Josephs) of Goodwood and they too were just blown away by the experience. They had just never experienced anything like this before. The raw (but gentle) power of God's love. When the Holy Spirit ministry was in progress many of them just stayed watching, after they had been prayed for, and just could not get enough.
Then on to an extended period of praise and worship and it was so great to see everyone worshiping the one true God in spirit and truth. Yes His Holy Spirit brings unity in Christ!
So many things to write about the weekend I cannot possibly put them all down here.
On to Sunday evening. And we have a celebration service, the church is packed and man do I get goosebumps when 400 or so people worship God with all they've got. God's grace and mercy just continued to flow as after the service so many people came up for ministry. This morning Allie received an SMS thanking us for prayer given last night. I have received phone calls about last nights service this morning at work, thanks for prayers and just how awesome it was.
Thank you all for your prayers for the weekend.
Over the mountains and the sea
Your river runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart
And let the Healer set me free
I'm happy to be in the truth
And I will daily lift my hands
For I will always sing
Of when Your love came down
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
Oh, I feel like dancing
It's foolishness, I know
But when the world has seen the Light
They will dance with joy
Like we're dancing now
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
(I Could Sing of Your Love Forever by Delirious)
LoCTY !!!!
PS Peter B I'm only sending this to you internally so it makes it easier for you to pass it on to your group.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Purrrrspektive
To The Precious Saints !!!!!!!
Ya YOU, don't look around or behind you or at the person next to you and if you are working away by your little lonesome self, don't feel lonely 'cause He is with you always. Jesus is saying U RRRR PRECIOUS TO HIM he paid the highest price that one can pay for anyone. So no matter how vrot you are feeling today that does not change this truth.
If you ask the majority of people about Mondays, you kinda get the colour answer, black, blue or a combo black and blue, if its really a bomb of a day. Mondays are such clichés, everything seems to go wrong and what makes it so difficult is that my brain is still in neutral weekend mode when Monday springs up on me and screams in my ear SURPRISE!!!! its Monday. Oh what joy. I'm looking so forward to going to work, all those exciting deadlines, playing with exciting financial packages, meeting all those terribly depressed and morose people. Everyone is just so hyped and motivated to serve their fellow citizens in Cape Town, yea right.
So there I am hanging on to a leather handle of the bus, like a choice piece of meat, while trying not to put too much weight on my fractured toe. The bus is crammed, standing room only. Yea running late again, gee wot a surprise. We are caught in a tailback from Cape Town to Timbuktu and everyone is enjoying sucking in all the free carbon monoxide fumes. Its stifling hot in the bus and a woman is virtually fainting as she decides discretion is the better part of valour and sits down on the floor. I'm miffed I can't read or sleep as the bus driver tries doing his best Schumacher impression all the way to town.
A couple of years ago my spirit would have been crushed to the point of desperation. My thought then was. Man is this it? Is this all that life is cracked up to be? This endless joyless trudge of spending most of your time doing something you don't want to do. Now and again you get a "happy spark" when something good happens to you and you hang on to that memory and cherish it. You collect those memories, you treasure them and you try your best to plan and create new happy moments. When you go through a dark times then you call up those happy moments and you also look forward to creating those new ones. But this is such an inadequate philosophy to use in your life, you start falling apart from within, but that's okay as long as you look good and fashionable from the outside. I'm Kooel ! Oh yea what about you dieing some day? Listen I've got enuff on my plate I'll deal with that when it comes up.
Thank goodness Allie, when she was going through some of the darkest moments of her life started asking the same questions that I had been ignoring for years. She really started truly searching and eventually found a place and a person of truth. Me I was not interested. Church!!! Huh that's just a place full of hypocrites (always room for another one hey). Somehow through God's grace and mercy and the love of Christ He reached out and changed our lives forever.
So now when I hang around (literally) on the bus seemingly going nowhere slowly, I know that this life is just a mist, a millisecond compared to eternity and its definitely not all there is. I'm going to live forever with Jesus in heaven 'cause He bought me with a price and nothing can separate me from His great and all consuming love. And He has a purpose and plan for my life while I'm here. So if you feel like nothing and pretty vrot then join me and all the Saints and dare to believe in the promises of God. Put quite simply it's the plain everlasting, loving, truth.
We have heard the thunder
We have seen the storm
Echoes of your kingdom coming
Rumours of our home
Where one day we will stand before you Lord
Our altogether beautiful reward
And we will give you glory, bring you honour
King above all kings, you deserve our everything
We will lift our voices with your praises
Jesus you are our King
Though now we walk in darkness
Though now we see in part
Right now we're warmed by the burning flames
Of the fire in our hearts
You've promised you will lead us to your throne
Where we will worship you and you alone
(King by Tree 63)
LoCTY !!!!!!!!!!
PS There are quite a few scriptures in here but have fun and work them out 4 yer self. Go on don't be so lazzzzy !
Ya YOU, don't look around or behind you or at the person next to you and if you are working away by your little lonesome self, don't feel lonely 'cause He is with you always. Jesus is saying U RRRR PRECIOUS TO HIM he paid the highest price that one can pay for anyone. So no matter how vrot you are feeling today that does not change this truth.
If you ask the majority of people about Mondays, you kinda get the colour answer, black, blue or a combo black and blue, if its really a bomb of a day. Mondays are such clichés, everything seems to go wrong and what makes it so difficult is that my brain is still in neutral weekend mode when Monday springs up on me and screams in my ear SURPRISE!!!! its Monday. Oh what joy. I'm looking so forward to going to work, all those exciting deadlines, playing with exciting financial packages, meeting all those terribly depressed and morose people. Everyone is just so hyped and motivated to serve their fellow citizens in Cape Town, yea right.
So there I am hanging on to a leather handle of the bus, like a choice piece of meat, while trying not to put too much weight on my fractured toe. The bus is crammed, standing room only. Yea running late again, gee wot a surprise. We are caught in a tailback from Cape Town to Timbuktu and everyone is enjoying sucking in all the free carbon monoxide fumes. Its stifling hot in the bus and a woman is virtually fainting as she decides discretion is the better part of valour and sits down on the floor. I'm miffed I can't read or sleep as the bus driver tries doing his best Schumacher impression all the way to town.
A couple of years ago my spirit would have been crushed to the point of desperation. My thought then was. Man is this it? Is this all that life is cracked up to be? This endless joyless trudge of spending most of your time doing something you don't want to do. Now and again you get a "happy spark" when something good happens to you and you hang on to that memory and cherish it. You collect those memories, you treasure them and you try your best to plan and create new happy moments. When you go through a dark times then you call up those happy moments and you also look forward to creating those new ones. But this is such an inadequate philosophy to use in your life, you start falling apart from within, but that's okay as long as you look good and fashionable from the outside. I'm Kooel ! Oh yea what about you dieing some day? Listen I've got enuff on my plate I'll deal with that when it comes up.
Thank goodness Allie, when she was going through some of the darkest moments of her life started asking the same questions that I had been ignoring for years. She really started truly searching and eventually found a place and a person of truth. Me I was not interested. Church!!! Huh that's just a place full of hypocrites (always room for another one hey). Somehow through God's grace and mercy and the love of Christ He reached out and changed our lives forever.
So now when I hang around (literally) on the bus seemingly going nowhere slowly, I know that this life is just a mist, a millisecond compared to eternity and its definitely not all there is. I'm going to live forever with Jesus in heaven 'cause He bought me with a price and nothing can separate me from His great and all consuming love. And He has a purpose and plan for my life while I'm here. So if you feel like nothing and pretty vrot then join me and all the Saints and dare to believe in the promises of God. Put quite simply it's the plain everlasting, loving, truth.
We have heard the thunder
We have seen the storm
Echoes of your kingdom coming
Rumours of our home
Where one day we will stand before you Lord
Our altogether beautiful reward
And we will give you glory, bring you honour
King above all kings, you deserve our everything
We will lift our voices with your praises
Jesus you are our King
Though now we walk in darkness
Though now we see in part
Right now we're warmed by the burning flames
Of the fire in our hearts
You've promised you will lead us to your throne
Where we will worship you and you alone
(King by Tree 63)
LoCTY !!!!!!!!!!
PS There are quite a few scriptures in here but have fun and work them out 4 yer self. Go on don't be so lazzzzy !
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