A lone ranger is a dead ranger!

I know for myself that I can easily become an island to myself and internalize a lot of the battles that I fight with on a day to day basis.  It is so easy to isolate and withdraw in our self- consuming world to our own detriment.  As I listened today for the Lord to speak to me I sensed Him telling me to stay far from the evil one’s traps, don’t listen to his voice, his lies, his justification.  Let truth be the belt that secures you.  So with that in mind I want to focus on developing a theology of community for our own health and the strength of those who call themselves Jesus followers.  We were never meant to do the Christian life ALONE!  This is absolutely key for us to continue in a life of transformation and breakthough.

Tim Keller in ‘Gospel In Life’ identifies three areas for what a Christian community is created to be and have shaped my understanding of community.

1.        The people of God – those who are created by faith through the Father

In Exodus 6:6,7  “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God.

Check out the process for the children of Israel, it first begins with God rescuing them from slavery.  Even here in the OT, it is all about God and not their own merit.  He then redeems them, He purchased them outright for His very own self and places His mark on them.  He claims them and calls them His people!  What made them ‘a people’ was a complete act of God’s power and His grace.  This reality is the same for us today as 1 Peter 2:9,10 tells us that we “are a people belonging to God”.  This truth that Peter is sharing is the same concept, same metaphor of the children of the exodus.  Our faith was meant to be so much more than just a personal gospel, a personal salvation.  We were saved and brought into community and our common ground is through our repentance from sin, our slavery and believed the truth that Jesus has freed us and redeemed us to be His people!

We were always meant to identify ourselves as a “people belonging to God”.  We have been brought into a new relationship with other Jesus followers, brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Having just celebrated Father’s Day recently was a reminder of the role that we as Dad’s play in creating the environment for faith to grow in our children.  Jim Gordon, the pastor at Elora Road did an excellent job along with his son Jeremy on unpacking the 

power of permission -that a Father plays in admitting when he is wrong with his children

     power of presence- and the focus that a Father plays in being there for his children and being the CEO – chief encouragement officer!

·       power of pointing – the importance of pointing our children to Jesus.  I know I have often started but not followed through with my kids and confessed that to them.  We need to be consistent and that means strength from God as well as being intentional!  One of the best ways that we point our children to Jesus is by loving our wife well!

·       power of promise- this really helps me with the last point and that is that His strength is made perfect in my weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9,10

In the same way the church needs spiritual fathers and mothers as Titus 2 lies out.

2.       The body of Christ – those who deliberately share and do life together.

As it relates to the body of Christ, we see in God’s Word the use of ‘family’ and ‘household’ to describe the importance of eating, living and working together.  We are not just a sum total or people who gather as is often the question when people ask about church….”how many people attend on a given Sunday?”.  Rather, we play the part that God has designed us for and are deeply connected to the rest.  A huge part that the body plays is calling out of people that which God has created them to be.  We can only do that up close as we affirm one another’s strengths and gifts as we see in the redemptive gifts of Romans 12:3-8 that tells us to confirm the gifts of one another and the ultimate goal is to ‘honor one another’.  Romans 12:10

My home church, Elora Road Christian Fellowship, for 48 years, has created such a strong sense of community by using their grounds for a week of camp meetings.  I am so looking forward to being on site this year and can truly say that it is such a bonding and strengthening time for those attending.   There is such a profound understanding and opportunity to experience being the ‘people of God’ .  The close proximity that we have also creates the intimacy for honest and real conversations and late night campfires to speak life and encourage one another!  It is awesome!!

We need to be about hospitality and inviting each other into our homes, our families, having others over for a meal.  A family shares all of life together, eating, living and working together.

3.       The fellowship of the Spirit – those who are a model of his preferred future.

We’ve talked about the role of the Father and Son in community and we definitely wouldn’t be complete about the role the Holy Spirit plays.  A Spirit-filled community is an alternative society that models distinct ways to do everything in life.  Only though the influence of the Spirit, do we have any hope to a city on a hill whose visible behavior shines and displays the glory of God.  Matthew 5:14

2 Corinthians 3:17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

A Spirit-filled community understands the power of breakthrough through praying in the Spirit.  Romans 8:26.  We often don’t know how to pray and the Spirit intercedes for us.

I have discovered that praying in the Spirit as Paul speaks of 1 Corinthians 14 is a powerful exercise that leads to breakthrough!

A picture of a recent time of pray at Church at the Manor demonstrates the beauty and power of community  as our speaker, a ministry team member and one of our attendees all laid hands together in prayer on a man who desperately was seeking freedom from addiction. We are a royal priesthood of people who advocate and stand in the gap on behalf of others.

Also, just recently we went to a wedding in London and we were so close to Teen Challenge to visit Dan.  However, it was late on the way back, my kids had exams and work.  One of them had to wake up at 5:30am the next morning.  We just knew we needed to stop and we did.  As it turned out Dan was ready to quit the program that day and the worker there told us we were a godsend.  It meant so much to Dan that we came and said hi and it really boosted his spirits.  He felt that our visit was God telling him how much He loved him.  A simple visit on our part but when Holy Spirit leads us, we can model His love!!

It has been said that “we will not know God, change deeply, nor win the world apart from community!”  I agree!

It’s All In The Approach!

Pictured on the right is Dan and Jack at Teen Challenge >>

Imagine early Christians talking to their neighbours in the Roman Empire.  “I can see that you are religious, you talk a lot about God and Jesus in your conversations.  I think religion is a good thing.  So, where is your temple or holy place?  The early Christian replies, “well, actually, we don’t have a temple… we usually meet in each other’s homes and we believe we are living temples that Jesus dwells in”  “So, where are your priests and what type of rituals do you perform?”  The believer responds, well, you see  we don’ t have a priest… well actually, we do have one, Jesus is our Great High Priest and He seeks God the Father on our behalf.  “What about sacrifices?”  There again the response comes, “Jesus sacrificed His life once and for all for us.  The confused neighbor states, well this doesn’t sound much like a religion at all, but it sure has a lot to do with that man, Jesus!”

Fast forward to 2014 and Sharon and I have just received a phone call from Roger, the owner of the Manor prior to starting Church at the Manor.  City Hall has turned Roger down from allowing us to rent the space for church.  The  city bylaws do not allow for a ‘religious institution’ on the premises of the strip club. However, when our plan to provide lunch and meet with residents along with a time for sharing stories of hope and transformation through God and prayer, we were granted favor.    

The city gave us an official letter stating that we will be zoned as a ‘social service’.  That was perfect as far as we were concerned.  We didn’t wanted to be known as a religious institution, but a rescue center!

It’s All About Relationship and Not Religion!

Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  There are really three different ways to respond to God, one is ambivalence, another, religion  and then the gospel.  Religion is very subtle and quite deceptive because it rests very much in some form of self-salvation. 

I love how Tim Keller breaks down the difference between religion and the gospel in his study on Gospel in Life and I have highlighted here with some of my own takeaways as well.

Religion	Gospel
I obey, therefore I’m accepted	I’m accepted, therefore I obey
Motivation is based on fear and insecurity	Motivation is based on grateful joy
I obey God in order to get things from God	I obey God to get God – to delight in and resemble him
When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a good person	When I am criticized, I struggle, but it is not essential for me to think of myself as a good person.
My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up in my time of need.  My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment	My prayer life consists of generous stretches of worship, praise and thankfulness.  My main purpose is to connect with God in a meaningful way
My identity and self -worth are mainly based on how hard I work or how moral I am.  This leads me to a more proud mindset and lack of patience for those who just can’t get there and judgmental attitude as well.	My identity and self-worth is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ This leads me to deep humility and confidence at the same time

Tim goes on to share that the gospel if it really is to believed removes neediness – the need to be constantly respected, appreciated and well regarded; the need to have everything in your life to go well: the need to have power over others.

It’s All About Receiving and Not Achieving!

An insight of Martin Luther was that even after you have been changed by the gospel of grace and finished work of Jesus on the cross, your heart will easily shift to its default mode of operating on a religious or moral principle.  We have to deliberately and repeatedly set our heart back to the gospel mode.

John Calvin said this about the righteousness that we receive from Christ.

This we call the righteousness of faith, that is when a man, empty and drained of all confidence in works, feels that the only ground of his acceptance with God is a righteousness which is wanting in himself and is borrowed from Christ.

We must continue to have a gospel mindset in that the same way we received Christ, completely by faith and acceptance is the same way we go on in the Christian walk by faith and complete acceptance of what Jesus is doing in us and through us.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.  Colossians 2:6,7

We have to keep watering the roots with a heart filled with thankfulness so that the tree stays healthy and alive even in difficult situations where we think that maybe God is punishing us or maybe we are not doing enough to earn his favor.

Psalm 13 doesn’t start well for David when he shares,

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?

But it finishes with But I trust in your unfailing love;  my heart rejoices in your salvation.
 I will sing the Lord’s praise   for he has been good to me.

Sometimes we may feel that we don’t know where God is, but we must never forget who God is and that is the turnaround for David.

It is all about justification and not justifying myself!

Let’s look at the perspective of a Pharisee vs a tax collector,  or the self- righteous vs the sinner

In Luke 18:9-14, (read it again) we read the story of two men seeking justification before God.

The Pharisee is trapped in his own sense of being good vs the tax collector who sees no good in himself.  I honestly don’t look at the Pharisee as a hypocrite.  He did have high moral virtues that he actually possessed from a human perspective.  He would probably win a humanitarian award as long as he didn’t make his disdain too obvious for others who couldn’t hold to his standard.  He was an upright, moral citizen, but his fatal flaw was that he was using that as his own justification before God.  The Pharisee understood righteousness by outward, tangible acts of goodness.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

The tax collector see himself exactly as how we should all see ourselves when we do not put our faith or trust in Jesus no matter what the circumstance.  We ultimately fail miserably and don’t measure up and that is exactly what Romans 3:23 tells us.  We have all fallen so far short of the glory of God.

So in this story the tax collector goes home justified before God because his only words were,  ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

So what is justification?  It is a legal declaration of God that only He can make over us.  It has nothing to do with our actions, but our heart attitude and the recognition that I could never justify myself!  I Just need to thank Him and praise for what He has already done and allow my actions to stem from a heart filled with gratitude and grace for others.

Manor Church Update

Never the Same Old, Same Old Here!

11 and counting!  This is how many baptisms have occured in just a little over one year! Spenser, Amy, Michel and Bobby are the latest to take the plunge!

We have had great opportunities to minister to people one on one and one special occasion for me was the opportunity to have communion one on one with Greg.  He shared his life story with me and it was a reaffirmation of faith for him.   Greg has an alcohol addiction but it has been so encouraging to see him choose Canada Dry of late as our team members stock him up.  Greg just lost his neighbour and very good friend, Jack and we look forward to having an opportunity to do a memorial service for him. 

We have also helped moved out a current dancer from the Manor who is looking to get a fresh start.  Please pray for her as she also has a strong crystal meth addiction.

I was blessed by my coffee with Michel and hear his journey towards faith and fully trusting the power greater than Himself, Jesus.  He is on his freedom journey from alcohol that started March 1^st and it was awesome to have the opportunity to baptize him on April 26^th.  During our conversation, it was so good to hear his dreams of a hobby farm, to be reunited with his wife and children.  God is working in his life as he has experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in such a profound way that the peace he felt was supernatural.  He spoke of how it was better than any binge drink he ever had.  Michel is now working on installing cable lines in northern Alberta for a specific period of time and we just learned that the Holy Spirit has completely set him up as he is presently sharing a rental place with a man training for pastoral ministry.  God is good.

Dan is progressing well at Teen Challenge and we had a great visit at the beginning of the month.  He is growing deeper in His Christian walk and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.  Dan has also joined the men’s choir and has had opportunity to minister in a number of churches already.

We had a new man out, Juan, who just moved into the Manor Motel.  The first thing he shared with one of our team members was, ‘ I’m an addict, am I allowed to come here?’  By the end of the service Juan was receiving prayer for healing as this past week we had Andreas and Luisa Krause share about their miraculous healing journey.  The stories of healing continue this week with JoJo Smith speaking.

In my devotional reading from Bible Gateway I read, We may often pray for safety, but the first Church prayed for boldness. If you’re not living for Christ boldly enough to cost you some security, pray for boldness today. Pray for God to bring you opportunities to bring people to Christ and the boldness to do it!

So, we are looking forward to an opportunity to take the gospel to the streets  downtown with our church and give those who attend the opportunity to bless others with a gift and potentially pray with them as well.

The Radical Breakthrough of Faith

My reflections on the life of Saul who became Paul, the greatest missionary ever of the early Christian church rise once again to the surface as I reflect on the recent terrorist acts and martyrdom of my Egyptian Christian brothers now revealing their graphic and very brutal deaths.

http://shoebat.com/2015/04/19/watch-the-amazing-30-brave-christians-slaughtered-telling-the-muslims-to-go-to-hell-and-refusing-to-bow-to-the-false-god-allah/

The Message writes about Ananias who had a vision from the Master,  Acts 9:13-14 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”

Saul was the most feared terrorist of Christians in those early days and Jesus Christ showed up and stopped him dead in his tracks.  He was blinded by the light of the glorious Gospel and it changed him forever.  He had a visitation in a moment that changed the course of his life forever.  Once a man so bent on eradicating the people of the Cross, he became the greatest proponent of the Way.  God saw his radical commitment to faith and turned what once hatred for everything Jesus and put a burning passion in Him for a new way of obtaining righteousness.  He went through a name change and Saul who now became Paul was ready to go to hell if it meant more people could experience life with Christ.  He was radical for what he believed to be the pure and holy way of truth through Judaism and it’s laws to being radical to justification by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

I can’t help but echo the prayer that was recently portrayed by video from the “People of the Cross’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSv4vBcFyvo

and pray that God will reveal Himself in such powerful ways that they will not be able to deny the vision and the revelation that they will receive to turn the most radically opposed to Jesus into His greatest followers.

God can change people in a moment of breakthrough.  We must pray for radical revelation and it has been so awesome to see it happen with people who attend church at the Manor.  God has turned the life of people who many would think were the farthest from the gospel and they now are baptized and followers of Jesus.  They share with us of radical revelation and angelic visits, God revealing to them how He was with them through some of the most brutal times of their growing up years. 

They have amazing joy, they make us laugh and they are simply amazing.  It is a joy to journey with them. We just celebrated Bobby's baptism on Sunday April 19th at www.ercf.ca 

The Power Of Inquiry To Spark Breakthrough!

I want to look at a case study on the word ‘breakthrough’ as used in I Samuel 5 in the life of David. This passage is significant because it marks the moment that Jerusalem became a royal city. David had started his work of king at the age of 30 and had already reigned over Judah seven years and six months from Hebron as we see from the first five verses.

Identify Your Leader

David was first identified as a shepherd and then as a ruler.  It is the perfect combination of qualities to trust in a leader and the same type of leader Jesus comes to be with us.  If we choose to remain in control and take the route of self-made decisions we inevitably will fall short.

1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

2     Be Prepared to be Mocked

When you make the decision to move forward, to break out of a pattern or cycle of defeat or addiction, the enemy is always there to ridicule you, to make light of your commitment or resolve.  It can come from a voice inside your head to even well-meaning friends. 

6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.”

For David it was reclaiming what already was rightfully their capital city in the first place.  For my friend who is making the decision to go to Teen Challenge for a year to restore himself spiritually, physically and emotionally, it means not listening to friends who tell him, ‘you are too old for that sort of thing, you not going to change…who are you kidding.’

God is in the restoration business!  Joel 2:25“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—

Make no mistake about it, God honors those who are sick and tired of where they are and where their own devices have left them and want more.  He is looking for those who truly are seeking for more. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Matthew 5:6

3        The point of NEVERTHELESS!  

David Conquers Jerusalem

7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.8 On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

There is a point where we move forward and we don’t retreat.  It is when the decision is made and we follow through.  It is when we sign up for a race and there is no cancellation policy. It is the place where we take God’s promises to heart and we put our money where our mouth is.  We step out in faith with confidence. It is NEVERTHELESS time and God is with him and God is with us.  He is for us.  God + you = majority. 

Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

4    The Power of Inquiry     

David seeks the LORD’s face and knows that he must hear from God to have strategy in the battle that he is facing and God brings clarity through His still small voice.  We don’t tackle breakthrough with a list of pros and cons and what makes sense to us.  It is only when we seek His face that He shows the way and we go ahead with confidence.

17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 19 so David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

It is right here in this very passage that we see the word bursting or also translated as ‘breakthrough’ being used.

So David went out and fought with them at Baal-perazim and defeated them. “The Lord did it!” he exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood.” So he named the place “Bursting.” 21 At that time David and his troops confiscated many idols that had been abandoned by the Philistines.

 David clearly gives God the credit and recognizes the power rests with Him.  It is also interesting to note also that the idols are confiscated.   When we experience victory with the LORD there can be no room for the enemy to regain a stronghold.  Idols are those things in our lives that replace our love for the LORD or serve as our addiction of choice when we don’t find our needs met in Christ.  They are our ‘go to drug’ and we have to get radical with them.  They have to be rooted out, but they also have to be replaced with healthy affections.

It is also interesting to note that David isn’t satisfied to hear God’s voice once and rest on his laurels that God is always doing things the same way or uses the same strategy for every battle we face.  I think that is often we lose the battle.  It is when we assume that victory will come to us the same way as we do the same thing in our relationship with the LORD.  So when David is challenged again, he inquires of the LORD and the LORD gives Him a completely different battle strategy.

22 Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 23 so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. 24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” 25 So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

What is your prayer?  What will spark spiritual breakthrough in your life?

Do you inquire the LORD in everything you do?

I went to massage therapy after the winter carnival…as it turns out I really did a number on my shoulder, but what I learned at her office is that often the pain we experience is referral pain and it isn’t necessarily where we think it is.  This is called referral pain.  We have to go to the place where the pain is coming from… sometimes we go to the symptoms and not the source.  Only the one that made us can really diagnose us.  I challenge you as much as myself to really inquire of the LORD.

Here is a recent inquiry of the LORD as I asked the Holy Spirit to show me what it means for Christ to be in me.

I am light, I am pure so you are light, you are pure.  Remain in me so you can delight in my love.  Speak words that are true, embrace My way, My will, My words, keep drawing close.  I will sustain you and fulfill you with my longings.  Keep pressing in and you will never walk away empty handed.

Manor Update

Breakthrough Partnerships!  

   

Kim,* who works at the Manor recently came to faith in Jesus.  She is now experiencing so much growth and transformation that others are noticing.  She has been to prayer ministry at the Freedom Center in Guelph, http://www.freedomhousechc.ca/ and we are excited to partner with them as Dr. Wendy counsels and also prepares to open a home to minister to women coming out of addiction.  We recently attended an amazing time of training on ‘ministering into addiction’.  The teaching was so invaluable to us for working in our setting.  She focused on attitudes on addiction, patterns leading to self-destructive and self-sabotaging behavior.  She also taught on what is broken in the brain, foundational roots of all addictions and then led us through healing what drives addiction and restoring broken lives.

It also has been a real joy to partner with the Father’s Heart Healing Rooms based in Arthur, ON.    We have had the opportunity to take attendees of our church to receive prayer ministry here and most recently on Friday night.  I took the time to receive prayer as well and it was such a huge blessing.  Our people are experiencing the release of forgiveness towards others, restoration through healing and reconciliation with others.  God is doing powerful things in their lives to reveal Himself, stories that are too personal for me to share, but ones that they will share.  

http://www.fathershearthealingministries.com/healing-rooms/  

This past Sunday Dan shared his journey with our church as he has been with us and with our family for the past year.  He is on a great adventure of healing and freedom and we are so excited with him as he will be entering Teen Challenge on March 31.  http://www.teenchallenge.ca/  It was so amazing to see so many surround him in prayer after he spoke on Sunday.  

Katarina McLeod, founder of Rising Angels https://www.facebook.com/risingangelscanada will be our speaker on Resurrection Sunday when we celebrate one year of Church at the Manor!

Spy vs Spy...

the story of an investigation that went horribly wrong vs one that went completely right.

I want to look at Numbers 13 first.   We are focusing on the investigation of the Promised Land and the parallels to our lives.

A Quick Snapshot!

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and Moses’ famous request was ‘let my people GO!’ The first miracle they experienced was the parting of the Red Sea.  They had been given manna from heaven, water from a rock, they had received Ten Commandments.

Now, here we are on the EDGE of promise and what was supposed to take 40 days took 40 years.  Moses sends out 12 spies, one from every tribe including Joshua and Caleb.  He never asked them to size up themselves….YES, size up the situation, but magnify the LORD, bring him into closer view!  They did the opposite, they magnified the situation and lost sight of who was coming with them…Almighty GOD!

The Parallels!

When you get a vision of God, turn up the volume, size up His strength, not your weakness.  When you need to step out in faith expect for every 12 thoughts that are out there, 10 will be negative and two will be positive.  Often when God call you to an act of faith, it will go against your common sense.  He is not the God of pros vs cons. We aren’t called to weigh out the options, but listen to His voice.

THE RATIO of problems to promises can also be viewed as 12 to 2.

Think about the spies inside your mind. When you weigh yourself, your weakness, your doubt and fear instead of God’s promise, you WILL always come up short

Remember this…the NEWS is not the MESSAGE.

Psalm 112:6, 7 He has no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast, always trusting in the LORD.

What the enemy has been bringing into your life to break you and destroy you, God wants to bring a resurrection!

Renewed Investigation!

Now, let’s look at Joshua’s plan  Joshua 2

He had a different focus, he only sent out 2 spies and they went to a specific city, Jericho.  He doesn’t want them to walk by their sight.  He had them just focus on one thing at a time, the next thing, not later.  Don’t get overwhelmed by the whole project.

The plan was also very unconventional and completely went against common sense and that is what happens when we listen to God’s voice.   They went out and march and then sounded the trumpets on the 7^th tour of the perimeter of the city of Jericho and the walls came down. 

The walls that seem impenetrable in our lives and the places that we desperately need victory will only be fully realized when we rely on God for spiritual breakthrough.  Thank God for breakthrough and recognize that it often comes through a heart ripped open wide in worship!

Check out how a worship team led an army to victory.  2 Chronicles 20 specifically starting at verse 20

Manor Church Update

Our church (at the Manor...a local strip club in Guelph) had a blast on the coldest Sunday of the year with temperatures sitting at -23C. We rented a BIG yellow school bus and took our church out to Roger’s home, the owner of the Manor, for a winter carnival!  It was a great mix of people coming from the church, The Manor staff and the Cohen family. There were people braving the cold to go skating, shoot pucks and tobogganing.  Paul was manning the BBQ and Brenda, Roger’s wife, had put on an extravagant spread of food!  It was a pure lovefest. One thing we've learned since starting a church in a strip club? That's LOVE conquers all...it ALWAYS wins. People don't need our judgement and condemnation...they need a friend and a listening ear.

Last week I finally broke down through Rick's perseverance and made the 3 hour trip east with him to pick up his many personal belongings that had been placed in storage for over five years.  Rick has been attending church pretty consistently since we started last Easter. He has been in & out of jail and has had a fair number of personal life challenges. Now, Rick isn't the most amicable person to deal with (he'll even admit that), but God softened my heart to him on our long journey together. He now refers me to as his ‘ass saver!’ & the nicest $@#%* pastor he knows! (I'll take it!!!). LOL.

So, we arrived at the storage facility and if this was an episode of Storage Wars, I wouldn't have paid too much for this locker (at first sight)....however we DID end up uncovering an antique dresser, CD’s by the hundreds, hockey jerseys, a pioneer sound system, a storage chest and so much more!  He was so thrilled to be able to retrieve it.  We then went down to the court office and he was able to get his monthly payments lowered for outstanding bills, another small victory towards being able to get his driver’s license. At the end of our adventure, we had time to enjoy Swiss Chalet together. What a day & what memories!

Johnny* has re-entered our lives and I was so thrilled to see that Doug* reached out to him and to others who have attended our services.  Kenny is now seeking help through the HADS program at Homewood. He wants to get our regularly to services, but the cool part is that the ministry is getting multiplied as our attendees are reaching out to each other in love!

**names have been changed to protect their privacy*

Breakthrough! The word for 2015 Church at the Manor!

Shout OUT!  What do we fear?

·         death, death of a loved one, loss of health, loss of job,

·         the unknown, what others think of us, loss of security, relationship, not being enough

Fear can be a primary driver in our lives, distort our vision, drown our dreams!

The most common thing God tells His people is  Don’t BE AFRAID.

Matthew 14:22-33 describes an incredible story of Peter stepping out in faith to walk on the water with Jesus in the midst of the storm.  I remember being in Israel  in 2009 and being on the sea of Galilee and just imagining the scene.  I tried to walk, but ended up going for a good swim!

SETTING of this scene:

 The disciples had just spent a day feeding 5,000 + women and children, they then had to clean up the leftovers…no small task.  Then Jesus tells them to get out of there and get on a boat to the other side.

It is 3am.  The Greek says that Jesus strongly urged them to get into the boat and go to the other side. And the next thing you know, along comes a storm!

Do you feel like you’ve been in the same boat as the disciples?  Do you feel like you’ve been tossed about by the storms of life? Has your life been drenched in darkness?  Have you seen a ghost and cried out in fear? 

Have the waves of life ever battered, tortured, and harassed you? Does it sometimes seem like you are rowing against the wind and making no headway? Have you ever found yourself alone, far from home?

Any time that we get into a position like this, we want to be rescued.   We want out, we want to escape the storm, avoid the ghost in the middle of the night.  Pick me up and get me out of here!

However; Jesus didn’t do that for the disciples and He doesn’t do that for us.  He doesn’t make us safe, calm and comfortable.  He reveals Himself and comes RIGHT INTO our storm, our mess and speaks to us there.

“Jesus does not come to us from outside our storms and fears like some divine search and rescue mission.”

Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water, through the wind, and in the darkness. Jesus’ peace, words of comfort and presence are not outside the storm but in the eye of the storm.

Here is the first important takeaway for spiritual BREAKTHROUGH  -  WE have to take courage that

1.        Jesus is our Emmanuel  - God WITH us.  He is in the place of our fear

Let’s not miss a very significant part of the miracle here…

I wonder if we sometimes miss what’s really happening in today’s gospel. If all we see is a gravity defying water walking Jesus then we have missed the miracle. The wind and the waves are about more than the weather conditions. They are more descriptive of what is happening within the disciples than what is happening around them.

The real miracle in this story is that Jesus walks on the storms that brew and rage within us. That means  His divine power and presence have and always will trample on, overcome, and conquer human fear. It means that Jesus is Emmanuel. He is with us in all of our circumstances.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

“Our storms and fears are the place in which we abandon ourselves to God. Most of us, however, don’t do that until we first feel abandoned by God. Surely that’s how the disciples must have felt. Jesus made them, compelled them, to get the in the boat and cross the sea seemingly alone. They had been abandoned to the open sea, the darkness, the waves, the wind, the futility of their own efforts, fantasies, and illusions. They were abandoned to their own self-sufficiency which always so that they might abandon themselves to God.”

“The very elements that threatened to destroy the disciples became the environment in which they recognized Jesus as the Son of God. What they first perceived as certain death they now recognize as new life, hope, and salvation.”

2.     We MUST STEP out In FAITH

Faith is all about recognizing where you need to put your trust and the only way that we can do that is by getting out of the boat!

“Put yourself in the story. Picture in your mind how violent the storm must have been.  It was strong enough to keep seasoned professionals struggling just to avoid being capsized. Imagine the size of the waves, the strength of the wind, the darkness of this night  and no acupressure wrist bands or sea-legs tablets. These were the conditions under which Peter was going to get out of the boat. It would be tough enough to try to walk on water when the water is calm, the sun is bright, and the air is still. Imagine trying to do it when the waves are crashing, the wind is at gale force, and it is 3am in the morning and you are terrified!”

What is your step of faith?

What is the security blanket that you need to throw away to fully trust God to meet your needs?

Take a moment and ask Holy Spirit what that is for you?  He reveals Himself to us by  His still small voice.   Hi

3.     We must not be afraid of failing!

Some questions for us to ponder

Did Peter fail? 

Yes and No.  He actually walked on water and he was able to do what no one else did.  He experienced the power of the living Christ and walked it out in faith.

Yes, he failed when he took his eyes off Jesus.  We have to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.  Hebrews 12:1-3  The moment we doubt His goodness or we doubt the Father’s love, we start to sink in our own efforts.

The verse for 2015 Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Who were the real failures in this story?

Where do you need to trust God more?

If we want to experience breakthrough, we will face storms, but we need to recognize God’s presence right in the midst of our storm! 

Here is an update from one of our ministry team members, Laura F as she shares about her experiences while serving with us.

I'm here to share with you an update on the Church at the Manor. We are believing that 2015 will be a year of breakthrough. We've been there for 8 months since our first church service in one of the most unlikely places and already the lives that have been changed is amazing and speak of Gods relentless pursuit of His kids. For decades, the manor has been a place where lives of men and women have been destroyed. But God is about taking back what the devil meant to ruin people with, an doing a 180 degree turn. This place where girls freedoms are taken or lost will become a place of rescue and safety. A safe house where girls can get off the streets not on them.

This past Christmas we had a couple from out west sponsor a party for the manor. It was a wonderful celebration. Delicious Food, men serving in bow ties honouring the people who live there. Laughter and joy filled the room, a cartoon artist came and captured the guests. Decorations that brighten up the place. It looked different altogether other than the pole . Roger, the owner, and his wife Brenda were there. I had a good conversation with her, as a mom to a mom. All the residents received gifts. Yet, As wonderful as it all was, I'll never forget the sobering moment when I went upstairs to visit a friend and bring him lunch. When he finally opened up the door I was met with a man sobbing and shaking. He held onto me in a powerful crushing grip and cried. I felt almost numb coming back to the festivities and yet could not shake the feeling that we are to be apart of God's plan in fighting on their behalf so that one day he and others can experience God's joy and freedom.

We would like to thank those that prepare food each Sunday. Your contribution is so important. The people are very hungry. There is a guy that comes and often is mean and he calls me all kinds of names. One week he shows up and is kinda nice, which surprises me and so I ask what's up and he says "I had supper last night." Another man normally a bouncy, happy guy stands hunched over and rocks back and forth I asked how are you doing. He simply says "I'm just so hungry," and I can tell he can hardly wait for us to set up the lunch table. The food is vital to them. Some often go an entire week without nutrition. So thank you for your faithfulness in doing that! It is a huge part of the ministry!!!!

And thank you for the commitment to praying for this ministry. The spiritual battle that goes on there is so strong. Each and every week we are faced with spirits of oppression, addiction, mental health, resentment, fear, and so on.. God is moving and it's causing havoc on the strongholds that have taken residence there.

For instance, one Sunday, a gentleman came up to the food table and fills a plate and tries to leave unnoticed. I felt a nudge to go an intercept so I introduce myself and he tells me "I want nothing to do with God. I hate Him and can't stand to listen to anyone that wants to tell me He's good" I reply "ok, that's fine would you like more sandwiches". He is startled by my response but accepts and then goes on to say why he hates God. My eyes sting with tears and all can say is "I'm so sorry" he says thanks and leaves.

The next week he returns and asks me to sit and have a coffee with him. We talk and he shares in confidence about the things that have gone on in his life. The things some of these people have endured in their lives are uncomprehendable and it breaks my heart every week as more walls come down and they open up a bit more. Again he leaves before the sermon and again I tell him that I hope to see him the next week. He's been out every time now. Just a few weeks ago he told me that week we had sat together he was going to commit suicide, but has since decided that he doesn't want to go yet. That's because God is not finished with him.

Just this past month another person tried to overdose. The battle rages! We are at war for their lives. So thank you for lifting us up in prayer we appreciate it and desperately need it. For discernment, wisdom, safety, for the members of the church, ourselves and our families. Thank you from all of the team for your support.

Going Deeper With God

This is the third in a 3 part series on overcoming truths!

We have focused on:

1.  Speaking LIFE over ourselves.  The power of life and death is in the tongue.  Proverbs 18:21
2.  Creating a 'instafilter' over the messages that we allow into our lives.  Philippians 4:8

Are we going to believe the news that we received or the message that we believed?

The news was out when Jesus died, but the message to believe all along was that He would rise on the third day and he did conquering sin and death.

Going deeper with God means we are tired of manufacturing our own ways to satisfy the deepest needs of our heart.  Essentially that is what sin is. It is anything that I do apart from him to try to fill the hunger that only He can satisfy in my soul.



1.  Pray in the Spirit.  1 Corinthians 14:13-15; Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18

It is words and utterances that go beyond my comprehension leading me to a place of my deepest heart cry.  It comes out as a spontaneous overflow of the heart.  It isn't forced but it is beautiful.

2.  Aggressive Worship

We are bombarded with messages from the media everyday and we need to attack that mindset aggressively with our own focus a message of worship.

I'll never forget watching a young man at the Fire Conference as he danced with passion and it was a triumphant movement acting out the words of the song.  It reminded me of how we need His presence to penetrate our very being.  Matthew 22:37 calls us to love the LORD our God with ALL our heart, soul, strength and mind!

3.  Read the Father's love letter!

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God!

The Father's Love Letter

Essentially it is also about diet and the messages that we feed ourselves.  I cannot deny the life giving presence of the Word of God as I make it part of my routine.  I can also see my weakness and see how much more vulnerable I am without it.

4. Listen to His Voice!

Psalm 46:10  Be still and know that I AM God.

Take time to be still, find the quiet in your busy schedule and allow His Spirit to penetrate your thoughts.  Ask Him,  what is it that you want me to know today?  I also pray like Samuel, 'speak LORD for your servant is listening.'  and then I write down in my journal what I sense His Spirit speaking to my spirit.

5.  Press ON.

We must forget what is behind and press on to what is ahead.

Philippians 3:13,14

1 Corinthians 1:10  He will keep you strong to the end!