Burning water

Whiteflame

2007-01-08T19:39:00.000Z

Resting- not forgotten.

A glowing red fire consumes the once cold church and spreads up the road capturing all the shoppers and passers-by. Just when rejoicing is about to break out, it is noticed that people are in pain, wailing in distress rather than dancing in the fire. One soul is screaming desperately, clearly in distress but still with hope in his eyes. He begins to burn white- hotter and purer than the red. This white flame begins to catch- fire begets fire- and the white flame consumes the landscape. Let the dancing begin.

I don't think the red fire has to come first. But unless we wake up from our coldness, our lack of love, our dry prayers and unused faith, the very fire of hell will consume all that to which we once laid claim as 'our land'. Nothing will get a man praying more than the fire of hell nipping at his feet. But if he doesn't think it's hellish, he may consider it to be from above. Dangerous move- strange fire has it's consequences.

But the fires of love burn hotter than the fires of hell could ever dream of burning.

Get hold of some real fire-power, and don't let go.

The dark

2006-10-25T15:15:00.000+01:00

A few years back Bill Brannan had a vision of the people in the youth group running through dunmurry laughing away. The principality governing the area was chasing but couldn't catch up.
Today the Lord showed me a man in a raft paddling across a dark lake surrounded by fog. He couldn't see but he knew where he was going. As light began to penetrate the fog it was clear to see that a dark shadow was chasing him but couldn't catch up, even though he was going so slowly.

The truth was that he had the peace of the spirit, and that's why the darkness couldn't touch him, not because he was too strong or too fast.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

He has given us his peace so we can eneter into his victory.

The three spirits governing Dunmurry and most of the modern world are the Jezebel spirit, the Babylonian spirit and the Anti-christ spirit. They're all very much at work in local churches, and govern our society and culture. It's time the Jesus reigned in all of the earth, let alone the church , and maybe our hearts would be a good start.

If you want to know more about the Jezebel, Babylonian and Anti christ spirits read the bible...

and read 'The three battle grounds' by Francis Frangipane, or ask me and I'll do my best to impart what little knowledge I have.

The Lake

2006-10-02T00:03:00.000+01:00

Back to the Lake again. It's so peaceful- the sun is shining across the surface, and it is as still as glass. I am swimming across this lake making slow but steady progress, but clearly enjoying the journey.

Just when I am beginning to enjoy myself most, a speed boat motors past me churning up the water, and speeds to the other side of the lake right were I'm headed.

So much of our religion is like that speed boat- just a machine to get us to the other side. I'm still heading to the other side, but I'm going to make the most of the journey. Sure, maybe somebody has a structure which will accomplish all our goals ten times more efficiently and it's a proven mechanism for church growth, and that's all it is- a machine headed for the other side.

No machine can beat real life.

Go. Live.

The Watch

2006-09-20T22:50:00.000+01:00

There's a man standing surrounded by looming bronze gates. They seem to be pressing him on every side, and there is no escape.

He's wearing a rather interesting watch though, it's the prophekey. When he looks at it the gates stop pressing, and the perspective changes, the gates aren't that big at all. Nor are they as close as it first appeared. All of a sudden there is space and peace in the situation.

At the minute many people (including myself) are feeling the pressing of the gates of Hades. There is a huge pressure on us to be committing ourselves to the ministry, spending more and more time doing spiritual stuff. It's time to redeem the time.

But redeeming the time doesn't mean spending more time in meetings, nor does it mean not doing my homework assignments because I should be praying. It means taking those times that we are doing seemingly unspiritual things, and serving God with them. If Christ had intended us to spend all our time in meetings he wouldn't have made them so boring. If he had come that we might have life then he would have died on a cross to overcome death and told us that he came that he came that we might have life...

I guess he came that we might have life then...

Start living and stop trying to have life.

The Prophecy Key (or Prophekey)

2006-09-14T17:26:00.000+01:00

Jesus is standing in front of me holding out his hand. He is smiling but there is something sorrowful about his countenance. He opens his hand, and I see a small object engraved with the symbol of prophecy. Since it's been a while I'll explain that the Lord has attached this symbol to several visions in the past and it always speaks of the prophetic annointing acting on his people. I heard him say:

"I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16:13-20)

The Lord speaks to his people. And to be honest we've been really lazy about hearing him and speaking it, at least I know I have. This is one of the primary weapons we have to fulfil our commission. We're building the Kingdom-to build up the living stones we need to speak the words of encouragement which don't come from men, but rather from the mouth of God himself. We are laying seige to the gates of hell- why throw our own efforts when we can use the weapons which God is providing. Why run blindly into battle when God has done all the recon work for us already?

I take the key from Jesus' hand. I see tall bronze gates. Behind them darkness reigns, and the cry of a million lost souls rends the air. I throw the key at the base of the gates, and they are destroyed in a huge explosion which floods the whole place with light.

I pick up the key, and place it into the heart of passer by. When I turn it his heart opens and living water gushes forth clearing away the rubble and preparing the ground for a new build. Might as well lay the foundation for a new kingdom then...

It's good to be back.

The dome

2006-08-08T20:36:00.000+01:00

There's a tiny tree, just beginning to grow in the ground. Above it stands a large dome made of solid rock.

My first reaction is: "That's stupid. First break down the dome and then plant the tree."

But God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. That little tree will break through the stone and destroy its life restricting structure.

We wrestle not with flesh and blood but powers and principalities. The battle is not in the stones, but in the ground- a fight for water, nutrients etc. Win the fight there and the rocks will crumble.

No point in preaching and striving against the structures of this world. Fight the darkness with your light. Win the battle in the spirit. The victory is already ours.

God is good. God is good...

The turntable, part deux- Turntable Returns...

2006-07-23T12:14:00.000+01:00

The same turntable. People are pushing. The fire is growing. It's all good in the hood.

I see this one guy break ranks and rush into the centre of the fire. Set alight he rejoins the circle, pushing harder and shouting encouragement to his companions, the fire begins to spread. The fire grows more quickly as the people become the fire.

Sometimes you just have to break out of routine and go and play with fire*. As the Father's presence grows ever stronger the temptation to jump right in gets pretty great. Just give in! The reason he is bringing his presence on earth is so he can dwell among and fellowship with us. As we become the walking, talking, manifest presence of God His kingdom will grow faster than if we just try to fob it off on people in an unreal, impersonal way.

*I say play, but this is no game. It's real rejoicing in revelation.

Praise God that he uses idiots like me to accomplish his purposes.

The turntable

2006-07-10T23:17:00.000+01:00

There are some people pushing a turntable. In the middle of this turntable is a fire. When the people push quickly the fire grows rapidly, but mostly they are going at walking pace and the fire is growing gradually. If they stop, the fire dies down.

We are called to run with endurance. The christian walk is a marathon, and not a sprint, as many have said before. We are running to keep that fire alight, and we will see it grow slowly but steadily. But there are times when we need to push a little harder- maybe up the intensity of our prayer, or study a little more diligently, or be a little more focussed in our outreach.

It is at these times when people begin to fall out. Maybe some people are pushing harder than others, knocking some people out of the circle. Maybe some people are standing still, refusing to move forward, blocking the progress of the turntable. Maybe some people are trying to make a name for themselves by pushing the other way- that tends not to help at all. As the speed picks up, it becomes more difficult to keep people in step, but if you don't the progress is hindered as people get knocked out.

It is at these more intense times that we need the greatest unity.

We are on the verge of one of those times now. Push harder, run faster, pray bigger, study deeper... but don't forget to look around and make sure that we're all pushing the same way.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger; S
tiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage.

The Cross Tree

2006-07-06T17:45:00.000+01:00

The bible always talks about Jesus hanging on a tree or a cross, but I never really saw the significance. Today, the Lord showed me part of the overlap in these two symbols of the christian faith.

The blood drips from the nails in the cross mingling with the juice of the deep red fruit.

Interesting that Jesus used wine as the symbol for his blood in the communion.

He said that if we abide in him then we will bear much fruit, but this means his death AND his resurrection. Colossians tells us what these events mean for us. You would think the death would be the hard bit, and the resurrection would be the freeing bit.

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Freedom...

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Freedom...

It's all good.

The Graffiti tree

2006-06-27T14:05:00.000+01:00

Zooming over the underwater forest, I stop above the most majestic tree. It is by far the most fruitful, but it appears to be dying. I hope off my helicopter, and go in for a closer look. Etched into the bark of the tree are a bunch of initials and signatures. I see a couple of ititials that I recognise- my own for one. The bark is diseased now, because it is so scarred by the graffiti, but it breaks off piece by piece and new, clean bark appears beneath.

It's very tempting to try and associate ourselves with successful minstries, or even with successful minsters. If we try to make our own little mark on that ministry, we will just infect the minstry with our fleshly pride and kill it, unless the Lord sheds that superficial bark and brings fresh, anonymous servants in to continue the work.

Why try to get your name in lights when it's already in the book of life?

Suicide for Christ

2006-06-26T16:25:00.000+01:00

A dry valley, filled with donosaur bones. These guys died some time ago, but it is apparent that they all committed suicide. From the way they are sitting, it appears that they are waiting for something.

Water pours into the valley. New flesh is built on the bones. Life is breathed into the new creatures. It's a little like Ezekiel's vision.

But these creatures had all committed suicide. Does anyone remember suicide for Christ? If you don't, don't worry, it may have just been in my head. I'm not saying that we should go and jump off a cliff, but willingly crucify our flesh in order to receive the new life of the spirit.

Also this week:

Unbelief comes out by fasting and praying.

Amen.

The climbing wall

2006-06-25T23:22:00.000+01:00

People are gathering for a Sunday morning service. As they sit down, a brick wall is built over their heads. In between certain people there are little gaps in the wall. It looks a little like a climbing wall, with plenty of gaps in the brick work for footholds.

These footholds are the broken relationships, silent grips and complaints we have about the church. Many come together feeling that things should be done differently, silently complaining about the state of the music, the preaching, the youth, the oldies. Some don't like the person in front of them. They're singing too loudly/quietly, dancing too much/too little, smell like crap/roses. But it's a good job I'm not like them... says the PHARISEE.

Let's be honest, as long as we come together in disunity we are not getting anywhere, and we are allowing the enemy to have footholds all over the church.

The devil thrives on disunity

He flees from unity.

The spirit of true repentence falls on that wall, filling in the gaps. A proper defence is formed, and the enemy has no ground on which to stand.

The devil flees.

Psalm 133

Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is here that the Lord commands his blessing.

The fat-boy tree

2006-06-21T22:05:00.000+01:00

There's a young boy eating fruit on the bank of the river. The fruit grows from the ground and it doesn't looks like anything special, in fact, you may not even realise it's fruit, until you taste it- it's the sweetest, most refreshing thing ever to cross a man's lips. This little boy seems to think so anyway. As he continues to eat his face shines with an unearthly glow, and he grows just a little bit. He keeps eating.

The boy is lying on his back on the bank, he is quite fat now. But he looks so satisfied, his face is almost unbearably bright, and he has his hands behind his head, enjoying the sunshine. Then he closes his eyes and a tree shoots up through his heart and grows into the most beautiful tree. He continues to lie there, now looking even more satisfied, and with a great look of fulfilment on his face.

At first I thought that this was a warning against over indulence in the fruit of the spirit, never taking enough time to sow seed into others' lives. But then I saw a bunch of these kids, all eating from this one boy's patch of land. I thought being fat might be a bad thing, but the bible doesn't seem to think so...

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; (Psalm 92)

The fruit only does so much good sitting on the ground. Unless we actually take and eat it's not very useful. But the fruit of the spirit nourishes us- it makes our face shine, and satisfies the longing in our soul to dwell in the Spirit. And as we continually feast on the fruit we shall grow fat and flourish. Then we are full of seed, and we will flourish like a tree. And what do trees do? make more fruit!

The beautiful tree scatters it's fruit all over the area, and many other young children come and satisfy themselves with it's delicious fruit.

He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. (Psalm 104:13)

The Canoe

2006-06-20T15:45:00.000+01:00

I am in a canoe, paddling up a stream. The stream is running through a system of caves. As I progress the stream becomes narrower and narrower. It becomes increasingly more difficult to use the paddle, as it keep hitting the walls, and eventually it is smashed to pieces when I try to use it to get through a particularly tight spot. The current quickens, and I am carried along at a frightening pace. As the cave walls get closer and closer, even the canoe begins to look a little wide. Right enough, it begins to smash into the rocks and disintigrates around me. Now I am sitting on the surface of the water, just being carried along by the ever quickening current. I should logically smash into the rocks, but all of a sudden I am plunged into a pool in the sea cave. It's pretty sweet.

Right now we have a reasonable amount of room to manoeuvre in our own ability and strength. The calling of God is still reasonably general, but is becoming more specific day by day. As he speaks prophetically into our lives to call us on in an ever intensifying ministry, our lives become more and more focussed. Our own abilities don't work any more, they will be smashed on the rock if we try to use them. Even the structures we trusted to carry us in our ministry will be destroyed. Just when it looks like we have no hope and will surely perish, we will be released in a new fruitfulness and the fulfilment of our life calling.

I believe this is not a once off event. The Lord will continually call us on into ever increasing depths of his spirit, and we will have to go through the same process. Maybe we'll learn to trust the current and throw our paddles out. Maybe we'll just jump right in to the water...

The Clam man

2006-06-19T14:55:00.000+01:00

That clam again. Lying, almost drowned under all that lovely water. The shell is now completely obselete- why would the clam ever want to shut now he's used to all that water?

But then a man comes along. A big, strong man. He's carrying a sword, and has a horse bearing his armour and supplies. He picks up the little clam, scoops it out of its shell and places it in his heart.

We're not going to be lying there in the water forever. The Father wants us in his heart. There we have more protection than we ever could have from the shell, and the body nourishes us as we have need. Now we are at the heart of the warrior, as we head into the battle.

But the clam never could have found a place in that heart had he not been softened by all that water, and certainly not if he was holding onto his shell. As someone once said-

"The fight is not to obtain the peace of the Spirit. The peace of the Spirit is the preparation for the fight. The prayers are not fighting to obtain the Spirit, the Spirit is the basis for fighting in prayer."

All my springs are in you...

The outer shell

2006-06-16T10:53:00.000+01:00

God, standing there with his arms wide open is calling to me to come into his arms, to give myself to him and allow him to change me and mould me etc etc... I see myself giving him fragments of what seems to be an outer shell. It looks pretty cool- sort of shiny and attractive but God doesn't seem to be impressed. He inspects each fragment before deciding he can't do anything with it and tosses it away. Still he stands there waiting expectantly for something.

God wants us. He doesn't want our ministry, he doesn't want our reputation. He want's our hearts. It seems right to offer the external things. They are the things that other people see, and so it's natural for us to want to have these changed by God, so that other people will see how annointed our ministry is. But it's useless to give him our ministry unless he has our hearts. As long as we hold on to our hearts, God cannot do anything for our ministry. He's our daddy, he loves us so intensely, he just wants our hearts. When we give him our heart he will change it to such an extent that our ministry will be changed too.

All my springs are in you...

Wings of gold and silver

2006-06-15T00:06:00.000+01:00

There's a winged man flying about. It's pretty awesome looking- he's so free and natural. He doesn't look awkward flying- it looks real. But his wings are edged with razor sharp gold and silver (Psalm 68:13). He begins to fly through the forest. Every branch which is in his way is fruitless. As he flys through the treetops, these branches are cut off. He passes through the forest unscathed leaving it more fruitful.

It's very tempting for us to want to cut down those branches before we would even consider flying. Surely we should prepare the forest for our flight? Isn't that good planning? But God just wants us to fly. Flying speaks to me of absolute freedom, that which God purchased for us through Jesus. We often want to sort out our lives in order to receive freedom- but God wants us to receive his freedom so he can sort our lives out.

Think about salvation- so many people want to sort their lives out before they become Christians- but that's stupid! They have no hope without Jesus in the first place! And it's now the same for us- receive God's freedom and this will empower you to remove the fruitless branches.

God created and called Israel before he delivered them. He didn't deliver them and then call them his sons. Check it out in the glorious Old Testament.

Fly- I have given you the air.

The dark waters

2006-06-12T23:36:00.000+01:00

There's a man clothed in white, radiating a pure white glow, walking through a street. But then it becomes apparent that it's not a street after all. It's a lake. He is walking on these dark waters in pitch black surroundings.

The white light speaks of the peace of God. We often think of walking on water as some crazy, exciting, jump-around-and-dance act. But the truth is that Peter was operating in complete peace when he steppd out of the boat. He asked 'If it is you Lord, then command me to come out to you'. He knew that if it was Jesus, he could trust Him completely that he wouldn't sink. It was an act born of complete security in Jesus, of utter peace.

This was such an act of trust, that it didn't even matter that he couldn't see where he was going.

'We walk by faith, not by sight.'

Sunburn

2006-06-09T17:22:00.000+01:00

Travelling toward the sun all I can see is the blinding light of this spectacular heavenly body. But then in the sky I meet... me! Suspended in mid air, held perfectly still by some miraculous power I stand in the searing light and heat. Nobody can see me from the ground and I don't care. Beneath me the land stretches out, and truly it is a land flowing with milk and honey! lush and green, with rivers snaking out across the landscape.

But then a cloud comes. Just as I think I can't take any more heat. The cloud surrounds me, the water cleanses my skin- cracked and dry as it is, and refreshes me. And then the cloud moves on. I was still obscured from view the whole time.

We are to be anonymous servants in the ministry of God's Spirit- simply empty vessels for him to inhabit and use. And we can burn out if we are only ever exposed to the sun. But God is the God of perfect provision. He sends rain on the righteous and the wicked, and then that rain comes, we will be refreshed and revived for the work he is doing in us. Isn't interesting that God lead the people of Israel in a Pillar of Fire and a pillar of cloud?

Lying on the surface of a great lake, my skin begins to burn with the heat of the sun. I begin to tread water, trying to take my focus off the pain. I continue to burn. I see the people around me who are unable to swim ust sinking to the bottom of the lake. They are protected by the cool refreshing water which filters the suns rays.

Again- stop trying to protect yourself from God's life giving water. It's like protecting yourself from your own body guard!

The underwater chains

2006-06-08T14:50:00.000+01:00

Another burning man, standing up to his kness in steadily rising water. As the water rises the fire is extinguished, much to the man's distress. But he can't do anything, because he's is chained in place. He struggles a lot, and gasps for a few final breaths before the water covers his head. The fire now completely out he concentrates on survival, still trying to free himself from the chains. Eventually he gives up and cannot hold his breath any longer. He opens his mouth expecting water to rush in and fill his lungs. But he finds that he can breathe perfectly well. In fact, this water gives his a new strength. And he tries to break the chains again. But he wears himself out again. Finally he gives up. At that moment that he stops trying, he bursts into flames again- the chains are blown apart and he is free at last, and the fire continues to burn, even under water.

Stop trying to protect yourself from the life giving water. Even when it feels like you're going to drown, let it in. Then stop trying to break your chains. As soon as you stop striving in your own strength God's strength will take over. Our efforts are extinguished by the water, but God's fire burns in the water.

Fire is not one of the fruits of the spirit, but peace is...

The Heart room

2006-06-08T14:17:00.000+01:00

There's an underwater complex with kindly and yet scary security guards at each of the doors. They are armed with tridents, protecting the precious contents of each room. They're not letting just anyone in there, they know exactly who is allowed in to each room.

I get into one of the rooms, walking past a security guard who looks awfully like someone I know. Inside there are rows and rows of hearts all plugged into a central terminal. This terminal links to a second room, just next door, wherein is the biggest heart I've ever seen. Each of the individual hearts has a name tag above it, and has it's own special cable linking it to the central terminal.

I walk through to the next room, and am greeted by rows and rows of minds, all with their own name tags and linked by their own cables to another central terminal, this time linked to a giant brain in the adjacent room.

Then a room filled with vials of what can only be spirits. The same sort of arrangement is in place, linking to a giant, apparently empty room. However the water in this room is different somehow- it is brighter, and thicker. It's filled with another spirit of some sort.

Then I see a special room at one end of the complex. Inside the decaying body of a dead man is releasing something into the water. It moves like a cloud through the water, thousands of tiny particles of some fluid, injecting something powerful into the water. This water flows through the different rooms washing over the hearts, then the minds, then the spirits. There is an electric current in the water, drawing the water through to a final special room at the other end of the complex. In this room is a giant man, growing all the time and glowing with an unearthly glow. It is a spectacular sight. I can see the cloud from the first room, now increased in intensity flowing to this new body, as if attracted by the electric current.

The best parallel would be electolysis, for anyone who did GCSE chemistry!

So God is taking our hearts, our minds and our spirits. All are laid down as we tap into the power of his heart, mind and spirit. We retain our identity- we are unique creations, but all of a sudden we are operating with God's power and not our own, his thoughts, his desires, his love.

The dead body represents first of all the death of Jesus. It releases the blood into our lives, which empowers us to be transformed into his image. But 2 Corinthians says that if one died for all then all died. So this body also represents our lives, laid down for his Glory. This releases that which he has placed within us to change our hearts minds and spirits.

But this death is not without a resurrection. We are being built into a more glorious body, as we tap into his heart, his mind and spirit we are raised up- transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit if the Lord.

Another vision confirms this. The sun is setting on a picture of the cross. But with the sunrise comes an empty tomb. In this christian life death must be followed by resurrection.

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." 1 Cor 15:42-44

The heart water

2006-06-07T09:26:00.000+01:00

A burning man, completely and utterly on fire. He is laughing a lot. But then he begins to cry, and his tears begin to quench the fire. Not only that but water begins to pour out from his heart which puts out the fire as well. But then some people around about him begin to pour water on him- but this is different water. This water burns like petrol and refreshes like... water... And the man burns more brightly than he did at first.

When we burn brightly with the spirit of God it is easy to have the joy of the spirit, but when something crap happens, it can be very easy to allow emotions to quench our fire. The water which comes from our heart is oftentimes not the life giving water that God provides but the deceitful lies of the enemy, masquerading as Godly sorrow and quenching the fire of the Spirit.

But praise God for those around us, who, unhindered by emotion, are able to speak the truth in love and refresh us with God's burning water.

Emotions are part of the soul, they must be controlled by the spirit as much as our words or actions.

Big up to Joy and Stephen Blair who both spoke words of burning water to my soul last night.

"Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

The footsteps in the snow

2006-06-05T14:57:00.000+01:00

Friday night worship at Fire (again). The whole building is filled with water, and people are praising in the water. Then a giant ball of fire falls into the water and all of a sudden eveyone is electrocuted.

A man, walking his dog in the snow. In his footsteps the ground is broken up and a seed has been planted.

Then the dog comes along and takes a dump in every single footstep.

But then a small boy runs along, following in those same footsteps, trampling the turd underfoot. As he does so, plants shoot up from the footsteps.

First of all, God is going to change our worship from being a once a week thing to being an everyday attitude- walking the dog speaks of the mundane things of life- but even these things can become an act of worship when God changes our attitudes. I worshipped God today by folding somebody else's washing from the tumble-drier in the common room.

The white snow speaks of peace, but it also speaks of coldness. God is granting us peace all about, in order that we may have a platform on which he can build his temple. But the enemy can turn this peace into apathy. I read this the other day- 'indifference is not the same thing as submission. Yielding to [God's] Spirit is not the same as being apathetic about the things of the spirit'. Don't let the peace of God become coldness- it should be revitalising and energising.

But then that man walking his dog breaks the snow apart, and smashes the hard ground beneath. We overcome that coldness by breaking up the fallow ground, destroying the hardness in our hearts, by being transformed by the renewing of our minds. This allows the spirit to plant seeds in our hearts. This seed is the potential for limitless fruitfulness. Remember that it is the God of peace who crushes Satan under our feet, hence the white snow.

But then somebody will come along and dump all over that seed. The enemy will send a lying tongue to confuse our minds. Or someone will discourage us in our faith. But what the enemy intended for evil, God will use for good. That crap will become that which fertilises the seed, and makes it to grow into a mighty plant, bearing much fruit.

The little boy speaks of discipleship. As we disciple others, the seeds we plant begin to bear fruit- those disciples become the outlet for our ministry, they become fellow gardeners with us- like Paul said 'I planted, Apollos watered, but it is God who gave the increase'.

Try to find the balance of these two scriptures in your life this week.

'The God of peace will soon crush satan under our feet.' (Romans 16:20)

'The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force' (Matthew 11:12)

The golden hook

2006-06-01T23:45:00.000+01:00

Worship on a Friday night. People are worshipping away, and some of them begin to line up in the centre of the church. All of a sudden a giant golden hook swings through the building, skewering those who had lined up through the heart and pulling them out of the building.

The hook speaks of God's divine will. It is gold because it is perfect- there is no detail he has forgotten about. The Holy Spirit has often appeared to me to act as a hook in people's hearts. He is the one who draws us into fellowship with the Father. He is the one who puts the desire in our hearts to serve our daddy.

This hook also speaks of our calling though. If you think about it, our calling is God's perfect will- or a small part of it at least. It's very easy for us to cower away in the corner when the hook swings through, but unless we are in line with his will, we'll miss out on our calling.

I saw a few people who were almost there, but not quite- they were holding back, not submitting totally and utterly, keeping something of the world close to their hearts. When the hook swung through, they just got knocked out. In a way it was better for those who were sitting on the sidelines...

Rev 3:15-16

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

No point in doing this half way guys...

The worship rain

2006-05-31T15:42:00.000+01:00

We were all worshipping on a Friday night. We were singing that 'song'- 'only you can satisfy my soul,' and people started singing all their own words and harmonies, but we were still all singing in unity. Then Stephen Brown started putting up all these different words on the projector, and people were singing them and it was glorious. People were smiling and laughing with the joy of the Spirit. Then when the worship finished I looked down to the lobby doors. They were soaked with rain- but they're indoor doors! It was the rain of the spirit. Awesome

There have been times when God has manifested himself visibly in times of worship. It's happened a few times that I have looked out over the people during worship and seen the cloud of God's presence. There was also this one time where we were having a prayer meeting and the whole room smelled like roses (which for our church building is fairly miraculous). I recall a time when Josh and I were praying together on a sofa in the Escape during a meeting and we both felt a rushing wind on our faces.

All these were joyous occasions, and were cool in and of themselves. But they were more cool because they showed that the Lord was really there. It proved his word that he inhabits the praises of his people.

The rain speaks of new life, refreshment and joy. So often recently I've looked out and seen the people weeping and crying out to God, which is great- don't get me wrong, I know God's moving and people are being broken of their old nature to receive the wonderful promises of God. But there's something going on here. The bible says that 'In the presence of the Lord there is fulness of joy.' I know that joy doesn't always mean that we are happy clappy and smiling, but the joy of the Lord shines from peoples faces, even when they are covered in tears.

The Lord has been speaking to me about burdens. Jesus said that his burden was light and his yoke was easy. But so often we see Christians weighed down by the 'Lord's burden'. Something doesn't add up. The Lord said this to me:

A worldly burden will drive you into the ground
My burden will drive you into my arms.

A worldly burden will cause you despair
My burden will cause you to pray with faith.

A wordly burden will sap all your energy
My burden will energise you, like a refreshing rain.

The equally-brightly coloured flower

2006-05-30T20:58:00.000+01:00

Yay! Fiftieth post!

The scene is set. The clam and the brightly coloured flower. Another really bright flower springs up next door. It's pretty hot looking. The clam slides on over there and this flower begins to drip into it. It doesn't drip the nice pure fruit juice though, it drips something far darker- it's poisonous. You can tell to look at it that it's dangerous, but the clam can't. His little clam eyes are closed, as he enjoys the feeling of this refreshing liquid raining on him. But then the poison kicks in and he dies.

You see the enemy isn't stupid, and when we start getting our satisfaction from God alone he will offer us a pretty good looking alternative. But it won't look all that alternative- it might look just the same. It might be an out of body experience, or that feeling of elation you get when you worship. But it's not pure. It's poisonous. And eventually it will kill us.

It will be plain for all to see that this is not the Holy spirit, but if we have our eyes closed then we won't see it. In the words of a very wise man- 'don't kiss your brain goodbye'

On the flip side though, I'll give you this analogy.

When the American government were training special agents to track fake money they sat them in a room full of real money for a few weeks. The agents learned how the money felt, how it smelled, the exact formation of markings on the notes. Then after a few weeks they threw a fake note in there. The agents all spotted it straight away because they knew exactly what the real stuff was like.

You see, we don't study all the crap so we can see it when it comes against us. If we know our daddy then we won't let anything else sneak in. Learn what it is like to be with him and you won't be easily deceived.

The rotten old tree

2006-05-29T12:25:00.000+01:00

There is a big tree, bigger than all the other trees in the forest. However the other trees don't worry about it because it is dead- it doesn't take any water, it doesn't compete for sunlight, it's just dead wood. Consequently they keep growing, but they can never be as big as this other tree. They're stronger for sure, but not as big.

But then this big tree splits in two, right down the middle, and from the stump a little green shoot begins to sprout. It grows faster than is biologically possible, but it outgrows the last big tree and all the other trees in the forest die because this is sucking all the water and sunlight. They fall over at the base of the big tree.

The church is dead wood. It is bigger than almost any other organisation in the world- it is older and more engrained in culture than any other religion or institution. But it's dead, it is no threat to the other trees. But the structures will fall. The man made facade will die. And from within will shoot up an organism with real life- not just a church, but a kingdom. It will defy all the laws of growth, it will grow explosively and expansively, and then every knee will bow and every tongue will be forced to confess- Jesus is Lord.

The ship

2006-05-26T16:07:00.000+01:00

The church building floating in a huge ocean. There are a few people hanging off the edge kicking furiously trying to get this thing to move. Most though are just hanging out, happy enough to float without any real direction.

Something happens and the people arrange themselves into a big tube. This hangs off the back of the building, and air just rushes though it, propelling it powerfully through the waves.

Too many of us are happy just to sit around and hope the church goes somewhere. Robert Donnell prophesied this yesterday-

Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria. Amos 6:1

It is not when we kick furiously at the water that we begin to move though- it is when we allow the Lord to work through us- as a body. Let every part doe it's job, in order that we may be a fully functioning body.

Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labour in vain.

The brightly coloured flower

2006-05-24T20:57:00.000+01:00

The same flower from yesterday is bent over dropping water into the clam. As the water is poured out the flower is no longer weighed down and it springs up so that it stands up straight. Once there it is hit by the sunshine and opens out fully. The clam begins to pour out its water at the base of the plant, watering it and strengthening it.

Ok, the flower is Jesus, and we are that clam. The Lord is actually weighed down by the things of the Spirit which He desires to release to us! As long as we refuse to receive that which He has already purchased for us, we hold the Lord back. We restrict Him by our refusal to yield. But as soon as we accept and begin to operate in the anointing which He has for us He is glorified. Then we use that anointing to praise Him- as we pour out that which he has given us as an offering to Him.

'To you I give the gifts
Your love has given me
How can I hoard the treasure,
that You designed for free?'

'If you could see all the riches of My Kingdom, you'd be embarassed at how poor you are.
If you could see how much I paid for you, you'd be embarassed at how worthless you feel'

The clam

2006-05-23T17:32:00.000+01:00

This may sound unimpressive- but to me this is so awesome.

A drop of water falls from a brightly coloured plant, it lands on a clam- tightly shut. When the water falls on to it the clam opens slowly, and then water continues to drip onto the flesh inside the shell.

Only You can satisfy my soul...

No explanation today- let the Lord open this one to you.

The diamond heart

2006-05-22T23:11:00.000+01:00

There's a pool blood. Something emeges from it, covered in blood. Electric sparks come from this thing and apparently make it come alive. It begins beating, like a heart. It passes through a pool of water, washed clean- it's a diamond. Incredibly beautiful, and big- really big. Then a stream a stangely coloured fluid falls onto it, but actually falls through it, it is refracted in all directions, and distributed to different areas around about.

1 John 5:8- three bear witness on Earth- the Spirit, the water and the blood.

This was a real confirmation of what Isaac said on Friday night- it was cool that God gave us completely different revelations about the same scripture, but the Lord really confirmed Isaac's words to me through this vision.

The life is in the blood. It is that which brought this diamond to life.

It is through water that we are baptised into Jesus- we identify with him in everything- his death, his resurrection and his glorification. That is why this is a diamond- it speaks of God's kingdom- like a precious diamond.

It is the Spirit which bears witness with us that we are his children. It is then, when we accept that we are accepted, that we can begin to operate in his Spirit- discipling and equipping others- generally being a blessing, and bearing fruit.

Oh yeah.

The tar pit man

2006-05-18T14:21:00.000+01:00

There are little spots of dim light breaking through complete darkness. They are moving. It becomes apparent that these little spots of light are actually uncovered pieces of a man, who is coated in tar. He has just come up out of a pool full of the stuff into a pitch black night. You can just make out his outline by the little spots of light here and there on his body. It begins to rain, really freaking heavily. The dried tar breaks off of him revealing that he is burning brightly beneath, the water gushes until he is completely clean and burns so brightly that the whole area is illuminated. Then a hose fires water into one of the guy's ears, it doesn't come out the other side- there's clearly a blockage. He cries in pain forcing himself to stand still to endure this trail. Evenually the blockage gives and the water breaks through the other side and comes out his other ear. When this happens the water stops and fire bursts forth from his mouth devouring all in his path.

This speaks on two levels.

1- We are that man. Covered with the filth of this world, we provide a dim light in the darkness. We told in Timothy that any man engaged in warfare does not entange himself in the affairs of the world. We are to be unspotted by the world. As we are cleaned of all our worldly desires, all our worldly attitudes, and all our worldly structures we will begin to be effective in the world. Also the mind must be completely cleansed- to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. This is a painful process- we will be broken of everything we know and trsut- but if we want to be fruitful we will go through the pain for the joy set before us.

2- The Holy Spirit is that man. Bound up in worldly doctrines and forms we have lost a lot of the power of the Holy Spirit. As we have tried to legislate for what this all-powerful force can accomplish we have limited what the Holy Spirit can accomplish. By saying that the Lord will only act in certain ways, and despising certain manifestations of the spirit, we are limiting our access to his unlimited power. It is only when we break ourselves of all these preconceptions, false doctrines, and fomulated spiritual techniques* that we will see the limitless power of God.

*By this I mean teaching people that by praying "this specific prayer", or doing this "prayer and fasting regime" they can unlock certain parts of the spirit. The Spirit is not governed by such laws. It is governed by the Lord- our loving father who gives good gifts to his children, who gives to ALL, LIBERALLY and without reproach.

That is the Law with which we are concerned- the Law of liberty- God's perfect love.

ONLY YOU can satisfy my soul...

UPDATE
Forgot about this bit, which is strange because it's freaking sweet. The man starts swimming around the underwater forest. Every unfruitful branch catches fire and brurns to crisp. Nothing but fruitful branches now. That guy is going to have an underwater feast- does that sound like the "Lamb that was slain receiving the reward for his sacrifice"? I think so...

only MY ALL can satisfy his heart...

The underwater forest

2006-05-17T15:35:00.000+01:00

It's the same tree from yesterday's post. The fruitful branch is still dripping with the juice of the fruit. A droplet of this juice falls from the branch and drops to the bed of the water. When it hits the sand another tree springs up where it landed. This tree has two fruitful branches. The same happens again, and all of a sudden trees are springing up all over the place, each more fruitful than the last, until eventually a tree is birthed with no unfruitful branches.

As Jesus prunes us we will become more and more fruitful, and the fruit which we bear will be so much more fruitful itself. The fruit which we bear will birth life in others, and we will see more and more fruitful lives unfolding as we disciple more effectively.

Now any scientist will tell you that nothing can grow without a supply of oxygen. But that single drop of juice contained everything which the tree needed to grow. It was blood-red and it contained a little pocket of air. Our lives should be so permeated with the presence and love of God that it can easily bear fruit in others when watered by the spirit.

Here's a thought to chew over. John says that three bear witness on the earth- 'The Spirit, the water and the blood.'

Interesting eh?

Please don't let me be the only one who get's this...

The Branch

2006-05-16T19:33:00.000+01:00

There's a tree. There is just one branch covered in a rich red fruit which is dripping with juice. This branch stems not from the trunk of the tree, but goes down through a hole in the trunk and into the heart of the tree near the roots. The tree itself is planted in deep water, not just covered up to the low branches, but completely immersed.

This branch is the fruitful church. The Lord has promised that we will be transformed in the next few weeks, and as a wonderful person reminded me today-

"I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me."
Acts 27:25

Jesus promised that if we should abide in him, we would bear much fruit. But it is not enough simply to be joined to the trunk. It is not enough to merely associate yourself with a church. It is not enough to act all spiritual in the hope of bearing fruit. We have to get to the heart of the Father. We must be close enough to him to hear his specific word to us his children in order to walk the most proifitable path and therefore bear the most fruit.

But the tree is planted, nay, immersed in the water- the word of God. Robert Mearns spoke on Sunday about the importance water from the deep. Surface water is bacteria ridden, death-water. But water from the deep well is pure and life-giving. Ezekiel spoke about water up to the ankles, knees, waist and water in which to swim.

Why are we so satisfied with the shallow water? This is why I am so obsessed with the deep things of scripture- because herein is found the life source of our faith. This is where the keys to prosperity and fruitfulness are found.

I'm diving in...

The pier

2006-05-15T14:15:00.000+01:00

A pier sticking out into the ocean. It's dark. A flash of lightning. The pier is illuminated and there are heavy sentry guns posted on the end facing in all directions. It looks like a scene from a WWII movie...

Another flash of lightning. A wave swamps the pier and it collapses and destroys the guns.

We wrestle not with flesh and blood but powers and principalities. (Eph 6:12)

The enemy is trying to get us to fight this battle on his terms. It would be very easy to come against his heavy artillery with our own big guns, but any human means of attack is worthless in this battle. That is why the Lord is overcoming the enemies attacks with the word. Any temptation to use man-made structures, formulated gospel, psychological warfare or manipulation must be overcome if we are going to unlock the true power of the word of God.

But notice that this was a shore line defence- not an attack. It's time to stop being defensive in our faith- let's take some ground- it's the gates of hell which are going to fall, not just the advancing armies!

Rev 12:11

The glass supports

2006-05-12T16:05:00.000+01:00

I see the table-top church again. The rickety old wooden supports beneath the table have been replaced by glass rods, which form a glass surround for the central support beam.

God is removing our external supports, tearing down our safetly nets. But it is not his desire to leave his people in weakness. He makes us into these strong glass poles, which are barely visible to the people in the church. His power works through us not so we can be seen, but so that we are obscured by his glory. Not only can the people see through the glass- but it magnifies the central column. Our purpose is to give glory to God, to place our trust in God alone and encourage others to do the same.

Something I heard again today- May the lamb that was slain receive the reward for his sacrifice. God is worthy of our whole hearted service and devotion whether we get anything out of it or not. We are not blessed with the gifts of the spirit to make us look good, or so that we can have a good ministry- they are for his Kingdom. We are made strong to bear the burden God places on us.

Notice that the glass is below the table- it is beneath the church. It bears some weight now- God does place his burden on his people, but the people in the church don't see that, they see through the glass to the central support. No trust is placed in the glass, just in God.

Make me of no consequence in this world, that I may carry weight in your kingdom. Make me a window to heaven.

The table-top church

2006-05-11T13:43:00.000+01:00

I see a tall table, with a house built on the top of it. There are people living in the house. The table has a big, thick support beneath it, right in the centre, holding it up. There are also rickety old sticks around the outside which aren't taking any of the weight at all. I see the people in the house looking over the edge of the table and seeing these rickety old sticks, which appear to them to be strong and beautiful, and which appear to be supporting the table.

I see stars and fire and lightning being sent forth from the central support, which wow the inhabitants of the house. They think this all comes from the sticks, because they can see it passing from beneath the table, through the sticks themselves.

But then the sticks collapse. They are taken away. The people, who have set up a watch man to observe these sticks all begin to panic at his report- the sticks are gone- we're going to fall! Some of them jump over the edge to die faster, but others stay around to await their fate. When they realise they are not moving, they check under the table and see that central support which has been holding them up the whole time.

The church is currently relying on men and man made structures for their provision. People see a man or woman with annointing, and immediately base their life on this one's teaching, or attribute the success of the church to that one's gift. They are impressed by the action of the Spirit, which seems to emanate from these annointed ones. They are indebted to the latest government plan which helps them protect their children, or the latest law which allows them to practice their religion.

But God is breaking all these things. The Spirit does not come from man- it is from God- it just happens to act through people. He is destroying our reliance on men and man-made structures which have destroyed our dependence on Him.

If we are of the attitude that we cannot operate without this one person, or we cannot hope to have a good youth group unless we do what the government tells us to do, then we are powerless.

Someone said something to this effect recently:

'It is naive in this day and age to believe that you can rely on God to provide everything for your minsitry. You have to cover your own back legally and practically.'

I would rather be naive and faithful, than 'wise' and powerless.

Burn up my safety nets.

The earthquake

2006-05-10T17:18:00.000+01:00

This seems to bring together the posts from the last two days.

I see the field- the fallow ground. There is an earthquake, and the ground breaks up. Plants shoot forth in the freshly ploughed field. I look up, the moon is moving in the sky, this is what caused the earthquake.

As we draw closer to God, he breaks up the fallow ground. Jason Upton once said that to be efficient in God was to spend time with God. To bear fruit in him, we must be close to him. At the start of this week I was under a lot of condemnation over the fallow ground in my heart. but I accepted it as the conviction of the Holy spirit. Last night when I was hanging out with the Lord, He said

'That condemnation was making me very upset, because I could see that it was holding you back from being fruitful, but worse, you thought it would make you fruitful, and you thought it was from me!'

There is no amount of strength will force fruit to grow. No amount of manufactured spiritual fervour or discipline will cut it. All we can do is decide to be close to Jesus. Then he makes us fruitful.

I wrote this in my song book last year.

'Battle of submission and resistance: I may have free will, but only one decision matters- whether to live for God or myself... let Your kingdom come, Your will be done.'

The moons

2006-05-09T14:05:00.000+01:00

I see a completely black sky. A tiny pinprick of light appears in the centre and gradually other little sparks light up. I'm standing there thinking that this is quite unimpressive- there's not much light. But then that central light, followed by those around it, begin to grow bigger. I realise that they are in fact getting closer to the earth on which I am standing. As they get closer the light is blinding, and I begin to see that these are actually moons, reflecting the sunlight. Light fills the sky, the Earth is bathed in the reflected glory of the sun.

We are called to reflect the glory of God. If we are far from God, or far from the Earth we will not be providing much light to the world. We won't be overcoming the kingdom of darkness with our light if we are just tiny pinpricks of sunlight. But as we draw closer to Jesus we will reflect his sunlight more intensely.

There is also a warning here. There is little value in being a hermit for Christ. If we are so far removed from this earth that we never actually provide light then we are making little or no impact for his kingdom here. I have always abhorred the phrase

'He's so heavenly minded he's no earthly use'

as I believe we have to be utterly heavenly minded to be any use for God's kingdom. But I see an element of truth. If you don't live in the real world, you won't effect the real world. If you lock yourself in a prayer room for the rest of your life, you might make an impact on the spiritual realm, but I think far more can be done by preparing yourself each day in that prayer room, and then impacting the world. Aren't we called to go into all the earth, making disciples...? Aren't we called to be in the world, and not of the world?

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

The field

2006-05-08T18:27:00.000+01:00

I see a field. There is a plastic sheet covering the ground. It is secured at the edges so that it can't be moved. There are bulges here and there where plants have obviously tried to break through. The design on the plastic is one word- Revival.

We are so obsessed with the packaging of revival, this great move of God which is coming, that we are actually missing out on the revival itself. The revival isn't the plastic sheet- it's the life found beneath. But it can't break through because of our preconceived ideas and attitudes.

In Hosea God commanded his people to 'break up your fallow ground'. This was the hard ground wherein nothing was growing. It was literally the hard ground which was so tightly pressed and compacted that there was no way life could break through. It was to be ploughed up so that the fields would be alive again.

We are the same. Finney suggested that breaking the fallow ground meant repenting from every individual sin in our lives, and contemplating our failings for a while. While I respect the guy, I think this is not exactly what we are called to do. Our sins have already been paid for, they're gone forever. But the unfruitfulness which comes from dead works in our lives is that from which we really need to repent. It's easy to identify sin in our lives, but it is often difficult to see what is unprofitable. Let's really consider what in our lives is really worthwhile, what is truly life giving and useful, and break the fallow ground which hinders our growth.

Revival fire fall...

The Ignition

2006-05-05T13:40:00.000+01:00

I see the church during a time of worship on a Friday night Fire. There is petrol flowing out from underneath the stage, and flooding the church. The fumes are making people a little bit high, and they are beginning to worship in a more intense way than ever before.

I see myself standing on the stage. I lift my hands up to heaven, and then bring them down, as if calling something down from heaven. I see a tiny little ball of fire, hurtling down through the roof of the church. It hits the gas. Big explosion.

I now see the village from above. Fire goes out from the building and consumes the surrounding area.

OK. So it sounds a little OTT. But it's what I saw.

But here's the deal. That wasn't petrol. It was water. Living water. God has been pouring his living water (the word) on out in abundance in this last while. By now we are saturated in it. But there's more than this. His fire will set all this fuel alight. There shall be an explosion of God's presence in our area. We shall set this world ablaze for Jesus.

See you at Friday night fire. Why not tonight?

The Burning Sword

2006-05-04T16:10:00.000+01:00

There is darkness all over the earth. A giant flaming sword comes into view over my right shoulder. I turn around to see from whence it has come. Behind me I see something similar to what the first creation must have looked like. Life springs from every place. Water courses through the valleys, plants spring up and flower, men and animals appear in the wooded areas.

I turn to see the advance of the sword. As the sword advances, the life spreads to wherever is illuminated by its light.

The sword is the Kingdom of Heaven. We were praying about the Lord going to war for us this morning. Yesterdays vision was about the church going to war. Last weeks visions were all about the prohphet- girded in armour and trained for battle.

But God does not just send one warrior in to the battle. He doesn't even send an army. He throws his whole kingdom into the fray. It is the Kingdom of God which overcomes the kingdom of darkness.

The Lord spoke to me a lot about the Kingdom around about September/October time of last year. Zoran Spazovski prophesied to me at that time that the Lord would use this fresh revelation about his kingdom to great effect, and I would do something significant with it if I allowed the Lord to use me in it. It was therefore very tempting to harp on about the kingdom, even when I felt that the Lord was speaking to me about different things. But I submitted to the spirit, and now I feel the time is right for me to wield these weapons more effectively.

I'll try and set up another blog and post some Kingdom teachings.

Until that time, remember the Armoured Dinosaur- Seek ye first the Kingdom, and all these things shall be added.

The Armoured Dinosaur

2006-05-03T17:44:00.000+01:00

I see the head of a dead dinosaur. Then I see the sun-bleached skeleton of the same dinosaur lying in the desert, surrounded by young people speaking to it. Their words appear to me like binary- computer coding. These streams of numbers are going into the dinosaur skeleton and it is coming to life. (I just so happened to be reading Ezekiel 37 today as well as seeing this vision.) The dinosaur comes to life, and it's an armoured dinosaur, programmed for warfare by the words the young people were speaking.

Then I see the young people running into a battle, but the dinosaur is left behind. They are coming up against serious attacks, and yet cannot overcome, because they've left this huge weapon behind.

I asked the Lord for confirmation of this word, and I very briefly saw a picture of a dusty cannon, locked in a shed.

The spirit of prophecy is being awakened in God's people, especially the young people. No great news there. That prophecy is given for a reason though. We are to build up the church. That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:4- Prophecy is for the edification of the church.
We can't use the gift of prophecy as a weapon in itself- to prophesy to the enemy is worthless! But if we use prophecy to edify the church, all of a sudden we have a armoured dinosaur with which to fight!

With this in mind, the Lord speaks further to to his prophets. Don't seek after a word. Don't seek after an experience. Don't seek after a vision. Seek my kingdom, seek the building up of the church. Then the prophecies will bear fruit. In a sense, the Lord's word (both prophetic and scriptural) is the new covenant law- He speaks, we do. Therefore, let's be doers of the Law, and not hearers only.

Remember the prophet's belt...

The one-eyed old man

2006-05-02T15:30:00.000+01:00

I am walking out of an airport waiting louge, carrying my bible. I see an old man standing at one end. As I am going through the door I hear him announce to the room,

'Who will stand with me for Jesus?'

I am about to keep on walking when I look down and see my bible. Convicted, I walk over to him and lay my hand on his shoulder.

'I will stand with you,'

Some other people in the room also stand up where they are and say 'I will stand with you.'

I look at the guy, and something in me prompts me to ask

'Are you blind?'

There was nothing unusual about this man's apperance or demeanour to make me think that he was, but I asked nonetheless.

'Only in one eye.' He replies.

I prayed with him to receive his sight.

So many people are crying out for someone to stand with them for Jesus. Especially those who are on the edge of Christian circles. So many will say 'I will stand with you,' but few will actually stand, and even fewer will get along side the old man and put their hand on his shoulder.

But what the old man ultimately needed was not someone to stand along side him, but someone to pray for him to receive his sight. I remember seeing a look on his face when I asked if I should pray, which was almost along the lines of 'I can see out of one eye, what's the point in praying for the other one?'

What is the significance of the second eye? Well, first of all, it speaks of perfection and excellence. Why not see out of both eyes? Isn't that what God intended?

But secondly it speaks of a spiritual sense. Millions of christians across the world have been blinded by the enemy- they talk about walking by faith and not sight, but in reality they don't know what it means to walk according to the spirit and not the flesh. It's this spiritual 'sixth sense' which is the key for people to begin to walk in true 'normal christianity'.

Notice that there was no reason for me to know this guy was blind. I just knew. This is the prophetic spirit at work. As we see a spiritual need we must empower people to walk in true christianity. There was no point in me telling this guy he was blind if I didn't heal him.

Lord, send revival. Start with me. For I am one of unclean lips...

The locked door

2006-05-01T23:33:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the late update- the Matrix was on...

I see the prophet practising with his sword. He is in a dreary world, with little light. His eyes are closed and he is moving the sword slowly, expertly manoeuvring the tip in mid air. He catches something in the fabric of the air and slowly slices open a doorway. Light pours in through this new window.

I see a monk, a Presbyterian minister, and an orthodox priest. They are locking a doorway in mid air, just like that which I saw above. One of them has a key which fits in a lock called 'joy', one a key which fits in a lock called 'love', and one called 'worship'. The three locks were within a lock called 'spiritual gifts'. The three men lock their locks, and 'spiritual gifts' locks along with it. The door is shut and remains locked.

Love joy and worship have been locked by tradition, false doctrine and legalism. As these spiritual realities are destroyed, so are the spiritual gifts which empower and enliven them. We are able to break into the fruits of the spirit relatively easily. It is something we have done to a large extent already. Now we are beginning to unlock of the power of the spiritual gifts. This is the key for us to unlock the fruits of the spirit in others' lives. There is little point in being able to operate in these things ourselves unless we can benefit the body of Christ in some way. As we learn to use the spiritual gifts like a beautifully balanced sword, we will unlock the realities of the Kingdom of God for ourselves, and for the Bride of Christ.

The Prophetic Army

2006-04-29T10:02:00.000+01:00

A church service. The congregation is made up entirely of young men- built like wrestlers, clean cut and focussed. They are not sitting just anywhere- they are sitting in regiments, and they are all wearning a red uniform, bearing the crest of the prophets.

The Lord is preparing us for something big in the next six weeks. Everything is coming in to place. People are hearing the Lord speaking prophetically, Pastor Steve is preaching on the release of the spiritual gifts, and Robert Mearns is visiting from America for six weeks.

When we were praying today, the Lord reminded me of a prophecy made concerning the church some time ago. I think that it was Robert who shared the prophecy, and it basically stated that the prophetic spirit, which had been so prevalent in the church, would depart from Kingsway for a number of years, but the Lord would restore it in due time. The time is fulfilled, and if I'm right about Robert being the prophet in question, then the Lord has brought him back here to see the fulfilment of the prophecy.

So we pray these things through, and then head up to the bakery to get some doughnuts. Charlene is there and we ask her about the prophecy. She said that she didn't know who had made the prophecy, but then told us that she had been hanging out with Robert last night. She was talking to Iris, and Robert was sitting there, as if in a trance. Suddenly, out of the blue, he just said, 'I think the Lord has brought me here for a reason this time. I'm not just here to visit my family. The Lord has a plan.'

Get ready. The Lord didn't waste any time in confirming this word.

The prophet's sword

2006-04-27T16:21:00.000+01:00

I see the prophet, wielding a sword. A disc is in front of him with the prophet's crest on it. He cuts the disc into two parts with the sword.

Pretty simple, but it speaks three things.

1) The prophetic gift comes with discernment, and we must use this discernment to decide what is from God and what is from man. As I read in a good article recently, the best way to get discernment is to spend time with God, getting to know his spirit.

2) The Lord is going to refine the prophetic gift in his prophets to make their words more powerful, as they become more concentrated with his words, and not man's.

3) The Lord is going to open his prophetic gift. The veil which has been keeping the power of his prophetic revelation largely untapped in mainstream christianity is being rent, just the like the veil in the temple. He is going to open up his gift to make it accessible to 'normal' christians. He's not going to dumb it down, nor is he going to devalue it, but he is going to destroy the self pride of his prophets, in order that his power might be undiluted in their prophecy. Remember that the prophet's crest bore my image? Well, no longer.

As the vision ended, the pieces of the disc came back together. They no longer bore my image, but that of Jesus. As God destroys the pride of his prophets, the prophetic gift will release more of his power, as people see Jesus in the prophets.

PS. It's probably not the time or the place, but my dad is the most awesome man in history, and I love him like you wouldn't believe. And I'm talking about Kenneth D. Brown, and not being overly spiritual and talking about God.

Alright?

In hindsight, that was pretty timely, this the start of the death to pride for me...

The prophet's belt

2006-04-26T22:46:00.000+01:00

I see a man standing on a battle field. The armour which he is wearing is engraved with the same pattern from the hynotism disc and the prism, which I am now taking as a sign of the prophetic gift. So this guy is a prophet, strongly annointed in prophecy.

In turn I see all the pieces of is armour. His helmet, his breasplate, even his shoes engraved with this same prophetic crest.

Finally though I see his belt, it is engraved with the crest, but it is hanging loose- it hasn't been done up properly.

Turn with me now to 1 Kings 18, verse 46. Elijah, the prophet, is about to put into action the word which the Lord has spoken to him. He tightens his belt, tucks his robe in, and sets off running. The belt speaks of action.

We are not called to simply sit around and talk about what the Lord is going to do, or even what he is doing. Why does God speak to his people? To encourage them, to guide them, and to inspire them to action. He doesn't just speak so we can feel good about ourselves. The reason he gives us these visions is so we can take hold of them, live them out, make them real.

I see the face of the prophet- he doesn't even have a mouth. We don't have to speak to live prophetic lives. God has to speak, and we have to live it out.

As I once commented to a woman of God who new all about this,

"The real prophets are those who hear from God and do something about it. Not those who sit around talking about what the Lord is saying all the time."

So again, too many words...

Lord have mercy.

The hypnotism disc (UPDATED)

2006-04-25T11:55:00.000+01:00

I see an unusually patterned disc floating on the surface of a pond. It is moving and rotating as the water drives it. Wherever the water goes the disc moves. I look and see the same patterns on the disc as I saw in the prism yesterday. It's almost like an ancient cave painting of myself. with my right fore-finger outstretched as if pointing to something. It also has ornate carvings in it, with different arrows etched around the edge. As I stare at this thing rotating it has a hypnotic effect on me. I find myself experiencing a stange feeling of freedom in my mind. It was wierd.

The Lord speaks: the prophetic gift is like this disc. It is controlled by the word of God- wherever the water moves it moves. It provides direction. But it also is incredibly important in the tearing down of strongholds in our minds. Bad attitudes which we allow to control us become strongholds and then we have to declare war on them to tear them down. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 that 'the weapons of our warfare are... for pulling down strongholds... bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.'

This prophetic gift is one of our weapons. As I advised a mighty prophetess recently, we must learn to wield this sword effectively, in order to tear down the strongholds in our minds. There are many false teachings and doctrines keeping people in bondage to the world and to their flesh. In a sense people have been hypnotised by ear tickling teachings, we are un-hypnotising them. The prophetic gift, the word of God, and life giving teaching are designed in God to break the power of these false teachings in order to bring truth, and hence bring freedom (John 8:32).

EDIT.

I know this was long enough already but the Lord showed me even more.

I see the disc again, but this time I see beneath it, despite what I first thought, it is not in fact floating on the suface, but controlled by a shaft which runs down to the bottom of the pond. It is in fact the disc which is stirring the water and not the other way round. I see beneath the bed of the pond and the shaft is being controlled by complex machinery, not comprehendable to man. I pull out again, and see the disc rotating and hypnotising me again, and then it pans back further- the disc is in fact the pupil of an eye, which is the pond. It's not just any eye, it's the eye of God! I see him standing there in glory, his eyes flaming like fire- shining brightly as they continue to hypnotise me.

The prophetic spirit is controlled not by the water as I first thought. It is controlled by the very mind of God (the strange machinery), whose thoughts are higher than ours, through the water. So God is controlling us in his eternal intelligence through His word. But he is using us to control the word of God (stirring the water). The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets- God speaks his word but we control the distribution of the word. Like a warrior wielding a sword, and not a sword wielding a warrior! We need to learn how to control that word- but how do we do that? Well we submit to the thoughts of God- even when they seem crazy and unfathomable, we submit. We are controlled by his mind.

This is when we start seeing the true fruit of prophecy, the fulfillment of the prophecies. We are no longer just indiscriminately spouting the word of God- but speaking a perfect word, at a perfect time, to a perfect people.

The prism

2006-04-24T17:19:00.001+01:00

In prayer this morning, the Lord called to remembrance a vision I received a few years ago.

I see Dunmurry from above, as if hovering in a helicopter. I see a beam of light coming from the sky into the roof of the church, it gets thinner and thinner, and yet grows more focussed and intense. Just when I thought it could not get anymore intense, I see the church burst into flames and the whole surrounding area consumed with the fire. The fire continues to spread outwards, to the ends of the earth...?

This speaks of the intensity and focus of our spirituality. As we become more intense in our search and more focussed in our prayers the Lord will meet us with revival and impact our area. It's not about amount of time, or the quantity of our meetings, but the quality, the fruitfulness if you will, of our spirituality.

Today I saw that same vision, and then saw it from the inside of the church. There were people walking around the main sanctuary praying. There were individual beams of light coming from a single point in the ceiling- the point where the beam from heaven hit the roof- and hitting their hearts. I looked up to the ceiling and saw a prism, deflecting the rays into the hearts of the people. I looked closer at the prism and saw myself (shrunk down of course) inside it, catching the rays and throwing them out to the people. Then I see this same prism with me inside it mounted on a breastplate. I look at the warrior and it's me! The prism is still receiving a ray from heaven, but this time it is throwing it out at enemies on the battle field. They are defeated by the light, and warrior me (not prism me) stands and rejoices in the victory.

So I'll say straight up that the prism me doesn't speak of me, or my gifting, necessarily. It speaks of the prophetic spirit. It is that which distributes the light of God into peoples lives. It is that which enlightens the church, and brings revelation of the Kingdom of God. In a way, the prophetic spirit is just like that prism- it takes the light of God and makes it real to people. It's no longer just a beam of light from heaven, but it's a personal beam of light, made real through prophecy. It's the same on the battle field, it takes a revelation of God's victory and makes it real in every battle, and for every struggle and temptation we face.

There is reason God is unleashing prophecy in our lives. And I mean ours, not mine. You know who you are....

1 Corinthians 14:32.The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

The sea cave

2006-04-23T16:01:00.000+01:00

First weekend vision... ever! No just kidding. As conformation for this morning's sermon, the Lord gave me this, which I shared in church.

I see a sea cave. There is a glowing orb under the water. As the fire burns more intensely, the cave is filled with light. When the light hits the walls, they spontaneously burst forth with plants and fruit and leaves and LIFE. My visions are all pretty sweet, but I'm telling you that this was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

God's revelation is the source of our fruitfulness- we cannot hope to make profit or bear fruit without prophetic guidance.

Too many words already. Peace out.

The shallows

2006-04-21T23:42:00.000+01:00

I saw something very disturbing today, and it took me ages to work out what God was trying to tell me.

As I emerge from the reeds growing in the shallows, I see something floating in the water up ahead. It's a dead body- naked and bloated.

At first I thought that I must have been seeing it wrong- surely being in the clear water of God's word and his Love wouldn't drown you. But then I heard a voice clearly saying "He drowned".

So then I thought that it must mean that too much of the word of God isn't actually profitable. Surely not?

Well this is the first revelation- if you keeping adding water and never learn how to swim, you will eventually drown. Or if you keep getting deeper and deeper and then stop swimming then you will drown as well. What does this mean? Well, we have to learn how the word is actually lived out in our lives before we can delve into the deeper waters. Also if we seek after this prophetic revelation and then give up after some prophetic endeavour we will die. We need the prophetic revelation to live, and once we become dependent on it there's no turning back. That's a good thing, but not to be taken lightly.

But then tonight at fire it struck me that there was more to this vision. I found worship quite hard but still broke through in the end. Then I found the preaching uninteresting, and struggled to feel annointing in the prayer as well. But then the Lord gave me a friendly cuff round the ear, told me to shut up and further explained the vision to me. Those of you who know me at all well might find this amusing...

The guy drowned in the water, that means he didn't get any air. What does the air represent? It's the presence of God. Even though we can swim and swim forever in the waters of God's word, we need to breathe the air of his presence. How do we enter his presence- praise. Just adoring the Lord- hanging out with the Spirit for a while. I find this amazing I always have been able to drop everything in my life- even christian things- for praise. I have always been able to overcome the stresses of a packed schedule and the rigors of the christian life which I live by calling to remembrance every so often the basis of my faith- My daddy loves me, and he wants to hang out with me from time to time.

Yes, God wants to speak to us in new and exciting ways. Yes, it is his desire to release prophetic vision in our lives. But don't ever lose the simple desire for the arms of the father, the love of the presence of God. After all, isn't that our first love?

The valley

2006-04-20T16:14:00.000+01:00

This may sound familiar.

I see myself walking on the dirty water. As I walk long grass grows out through the water. As it does so, the water is purified, and becomes clear.

The life (grass) of God is found in righteousness, and as we walk in this spirit of life in christ, we purify the human love (dirty water) around us. I believe that as we walk in power of God's kingdom, we will have an effect on those around us, and will bring about God's love in their lives.

They'll know we are Christians by our love.

More of the same I guess.

EDIT
After further prayer and further revelation, I bring you dirty water... stikes back

I see a cage in the dirty water. I am looking up as if in the water looking to the surface. There is a man struggling in the cage; he is also chained hand and foot. I see the cage rising up out of the dirty water and into the clear water above. When it gets there the metal cage begins dissolving and the chains are corroded away as well. But the water cleans the man and soothes the wounds on his hands where the chains had cut into his flesh.

I am also upgrading the water from symbolising just Godly love, to symbolising Godly life as well. I think that's what God was trying to tell me with this mornings vision (above)

So there are certain things holding us in the level of human love, and fleshly living. And these are doctrines, forms, structures, false teachings, whatever it may be. As long as we live in the realm of spiritual death, in the realm of human love, these things will never be broken, and we will never dwell in spiritual life and Godly love. How do we break the chains? God's spirit, his word, his love- his water. We don't break the chains, break the cage, and then come into his love, we simply allow his love to draw us upward, and then allow his spirit to dissolve the cage, and release us. The word will destroy that which binds us, but also has the power to heal our wounds.

In terms of witness, this is very important. We are not called to destroy the doctrines and structures which bind people in order to bring them to spiritual life. We are to bring them to spiritual life and allow the spirit to break all the chains and cages which the world has formed to keep us from his life.

These restrictions also keep us from his word- his prophetic revelation. When we break the false teachings and false attitudes which keep us from hearing and following the guidance of the spirit, we will begin to walk in prophetic revelation.

GOD DOES NOT MERELY PUT SIGNPOSTS ON THE ROADS OF OUR LIVES. HE DOESN'T EVEN RING US UP EVERY SO OFTEN AND GIVE US A HINT AT THE ROUTE. THIS IS A LIE WHICH MUST BE BROKEN. OUR SHEPHERD LEADS US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

"My sheep hear my voice." Without vision the people perish.

Listen out for the Lord speaking some time soon.

The wilderness

2006-04-19T17:30:00.000+01:00

I see my hand moving through tall grass, a little bit like in 'Gladiatior'. I look up and see that I am surrounded by grass for about 15 metres in every direction. But beyond that grass is desert. I look behind me, and the path I've trod is paved with this lush green grass as well. As I continue to walk grass springs up out of the sand, not just a little bit- an abundance of tall grass. Wherever I go, this new life springs up.

The Lord has promised this prophetically in the bible as well as right now. Isaiah 35- the highway of holiness.

We are to carry the kingdom of God wherever we go, and as we walk in righteousness peace and joy we will bring the life of Christ to the places where we walk.

The spirit of God changes atmospheres.

Enough said.

The dark. (It's all about sheep)

2006-04-18T15:49:00.000+01:00

I'm not talking about the movie...

I hear a voice saying 'thy word is a lamp unto my feet'.

I see a man walking in complete darkness, carrying his bible out in front like a torch, but it is not giving any light. Then it is set alight, and it provides light for the journey.

But then I see rivers of water coming from the guys belly (Matthew 7:8). But this water isn't just water, nor is it just living water, it is burning water. It floods the path in front of him and literally blazes a trail in front of him.

God's word is a light unto our feet. Even the bible is useless without the quickening of the Holy Spirit', it wasn't until the word was set alight that it gave light. But the burning water (prophetic word) gave the most clear guidance. If we do want to walk the most fruitful path, and be the most effective we can possibly be for his Kingdom, then we need to have this burning water issuing from us.

PS. I see this blog as an outlet for my burning water- prophetic visions. I was thinking that I should start another blog for excerpts from the prophetic revelations which I receive. Mostly these would be extracts from sermon notes- the extended 'brainstorming' that I conduct while preparing sermons. I might be able to get audio clips up there too. Let me know what the interest in this would be. Comment at will.

The Valley.

2006-04-17T17:35:00.000+01:00

I decided to stop putting dates in the titles of posts- they're up there automatically...

OK, I see myself running to the top of a hill. When I get to the top I look down into a valley, filled with foul, waste-ridden, disgusting water. I decide that there's nothing for it- I'm going to have to cross. I close my eyes and dive. I feel mysef hit the water and begin to swim.

Then I open my eyes and I see that I am in fact swimming in mid air. Or so it seems. There is a layer of pure, clear water over the gross water. It is this water in which I am swimming.

Before I could ask for the interpretation, the Lord showed me another picture.

I saw myself surrounded by darkness- black dirt clinging to me all around. But then the picture panned back and I could see that I was standing in a tiny black spot on a canvas of pure white.

God's love is greater than our love. His perfect and pure love overcomes the foul and festering love with which we as humans are obsessed. His perfect and pure love envelopes the little spots of darkness and dirt which we call love.

But as it was, I was coming over the top of a mountain. This speaks of breakthrough and change. As we experience revival, the Lord is going to lift us out of the waters of our own human love, out of the blackness and darkness of human love, and into the pure waters of his perfect unconditional love.

He also speaks specifically to those singles among us. His love overcomes the love of a woman or a man. His love surpasses that which we think we really want. As we allow ourselves to become consumed by his love, he will overcome our obsession with finding a partner.

And you never know- he might allow us to have a partner one day. But for now- have a taste of 1 Corinthians 7...

Why not?

The Heavens. Friday 14th April 2006

2006-04-14T15:26:00.000+01:00

I see a bright burst of light. When it fades I see Jesus standing there in unapproachable light.

Pretty intense.

He opens his mouth to speak.

'Why?'

Great.

I look to my left, I see the souls of the martyrs under the altar crying 'How long, oh Lord!' (Revelation 6:10)

I look back to Jesus. He opens his mouth again. Time for something in depth and meaningful.

'Why not?'

It's a good job he was smiling.

As he has been ministering to me about giving my all, dying completely, and living abundantly, the first 'why' cut me to the heart. Whyso? I hear you cry. Well, I was considering whether it was really a good idea to go all out or not at the time. Jesus asking me why I would hold back (on Good Friday of all days) was pretty humbling.

But then the altar of the saints. What are they crying out for? They're yearning for Jesus to come again so God would unleash his judgement on those who shed their blood.

Oh shite.

Sorry. The enormity of this just hit me. I actually had forgotten why they were crying out until now. Jesus told them to wait until all the others who were to be martyred were slain.

And then he looked at me and said 'why not?'

Man this is scary stuff.

It was a good job he was smiling...

The tree. Tuesday/Wednesday 11/12th April 2006

2006-04-11T15:18:00.000+01:00

Ok. It's Friday, I've been away for a few days. So i'll fill you in.

Tuesday night. The Empire music hall. It's jazz night. I go to the bathroom.

I see a tree. It's all burnt up. It's charred black, and I can see the fruit hanging on the branches, charred black as well. Seemingly burnt to a crisp. Pretty cool looking, but what does it mean?

Wednesday. I'm at my host's house in England. Praying before bed.

I see the tree again. But a piece of fruit splits in half and I can see inside it. It's still juicy and rich, and very much alive.

Hmmm. It's not enough that we just cut off all the appearance of the flesh from our lives. It's not enough that people think that we our flesh is crucified. It's not even enough for us to convince ourselves. It has to be completely consumed in the fire, not just charred on the outside. God doesn't just want to repress our flesh. He doesn't just want to hide it away somewhere. He want's you dead...

That last bit is really scary. Oh man

PS. I changed the date to tuesday. Like R. Kelly, I have turned back the hands of time.

The ocean, Monday 10th April 2006

2006-04-10T18:10:00.000+01:00

I am still dancing and swimming in the ocean. I look up to see the sun setting on the horizon. Just for fun I begin swimming towards it. It turns out though that it is actually in the ocean. It doesn't consume the water all around it, but its heat it fierce. I swim right up to it.

We cannot just try to grab the fire of God without first going through the water. The only way for me to get to the sun was by swimming out to it. The water is the word of God. It is the truth of God. It is the living spirit of God speaking to us. We cannot hope to attain the fiery faith of God without these things.

But then I went further. I actually swam through the fire into the centre of the sun. Herein was the very nature of God. The perfect love of the father. The holiness of God. The righteousness of Jesus and the power of the spirit.

We cannot get to this without going through the fire.

HAVE YOUR WAY OH LORD!!!

EDIT: So at prayer meeting the Lord showed me this which is pretty cool.

I saw a guy rowing towards the sun. When he got there he tried to row through the fire to the inside but his boat wouldn't go through. He had to jump out of the boat to swim through the fire. But it was really difficult because he had to learn to swim all at once, whereas I had swum the whole way there!

The vehicle in which we negotiate the word of God has to be the correct one, otherwise when we hit the fire we'll have to learn to swim all of a sudden. We must be prepared to travel God's way, otherwise things will get uncomfortable...

The Ocean, Friday 7th April 2006

2006-04-08T13:05:00.000+01:00

Two for the price of one. Making up for the fact that I'm a day late.

The first was a picture. I saw a man with a burning fuse like a firework. When the fuse burned down to his skin I saw him move as if there had been a small controlled explosion inside of him.

Then I saw the same picture. This time as the fuse burnt to his skin, his whole body lit up as an extension of the fuse. Then there was a massive, un-controlled explosion.

As God's revival gets closer and closer we can limit and try to control the explosion of his spirit. Then, it will be a momentary nice feeling inside, and will be utterly ineffective in reaching anyone else.

Or we can allow our flesh to be consumed as his fire burns closer and closer to humanity. Then the revival will be effective and uncontrollable.

Then I saw the sun bursting forth in the heavens again. I saw many frozen people floating in a steadily rising ocean. I saw individual bursts of intense sunlight zapping different people from the sky. As the fire hit, the frozen bodies were simultaneously melted and set alight. Then as a result of the fire I saw them beginning to dance and whirl about in the water. The melting bodies made the water level rise even faster. Then because of the dancing people, the water was disturbed and began to get a little choppy.

Cut to a shore line. I see a desert. The parched ground is cracked and dry. Dead bodies lie on the hard sand, themselves dried out by the raging heat. The rising water line, hastened by the dancing people begins to advance up the shore. As water touches the dead bodies they spring to life. Softened and revived by the water, they too begin to dance in the water.

God's glory illicits a response in us which effects others. If at first they are hardened by the heat of his glare, they will be revived by the spiritual waves which we, the dancers, will make, then they too will burn with a fire of love, and they too will dance in the ocean of God's love.

Battlefield- Thursday 6th April

2006-04-06T18:36:00.000+01:00

I am runing with the troops into battle. I see an aromour clad man- a mighty warrior- falling in front of me. Immediately, I cover him with a thick yellow blanket.

It looked like a good idea- aren't we supposed to cover our brothers and sisters who fall.

I was quite proud of myself as well- that sheet was bright yellow, like the glory of God- to conceal a matter- Proverbs 25:2. Right?

But then I saw the warrior struggling under this blanket. Eventually, after a long battle, he broke free, shining with a radiance which far surpassed the crappy yellow blanket. Then he got back to the battle.

Oftentimes we cover our weaknesses, and others' weaknesses, with what we perceive to be God's glorious covering. It is however a cheap imitation we like to call humility, and God likes to call false humility. God doesn't just cover our weaknesses- he breaks through them with his glorious power- that is true humility. So often this false humilty with which we cover ourselves actually becomes our enemy- that which must be overcome before we get back to the real battle.

Throw off the cheap imitation, take on God's glorious covering- his glorious power.

Whale's belly, Wednesday 5th April 2006

2006-04-05T18:43:00.000+01:00

Check out this previous vision before you read this one.

I see myself in the water, but I can hear dripping as though I'm in a cave. I find some solid ground and build a small fire, and can see that I am in fact inside a whale.

Great.

I see myself standing at the fire, desperately trying to spontaneously combust like I saw in the previous vision. No matter how much I concentrate and try to send myself into a spirit-filled fire-frenzy I can't. Then the light from the fire glows a little brighter and I look at my surroundings a little closer.

I see a sofa against one side, and a bed. I see a desk and a TV. I see a fridge and a cooker and all the little creature comforts one could ever desire for the inside of a whale.

The Lord spoke. Don't get comfortable in Egypt. Don't get comfortable in the whale. Don't set yourself up for a liftetime on the cross. There's a resurrection. There's a deliverance. There's a... vomitting on a deserted beach... to come.

Have Your way, oh Lord.

The battlefield, Tuesday 4th April, 2006

2006-04-04T20:09:00.000+01:00

Keep the comments coming. It's an incentive to keep seeking the Lord. As he told me today- prophecy is for the edification of the body. Not so I can feel good about myself.

I saw the battle field. As people were fighting it began to rain. While the enemy became bogged down, and began to drown, we rose on the water, standing and fighting on the surface.

Psalm 107: 35

The lake? Monday 3rd April 2006

2006-04-03T22:55:00.000+01:00

It's a different lake actually...

But the Lord took me back today, and I saw the ship landing and the people from my visions, armour clad and ready to fight, returning to the shoreline.

God doesn't take us some wierd place to fight the battle. It's in our everyday lives, in the situations we face every day, in which we have the biggest fight.

But also, he doesn't just change our circumstances, he transforms us so we can use the circumstances to our advantage.

The heavens, Friday 31st March 2006

2006-03-31T10:35:00.000+01:00

I was again gazing into the heavens, completely humbled by God's awesomeness.

The sky was rent in twain by a giant burst of light. It became apparent that the Sun was hurtling towards the earth. As it drew closer I saw myself burst into flames, and begin laughing uncontrollably. Then as it was about to hurtle past me, I grabbed a hold of it, and just allowed myself to be carried by it.

Matthew 11:12

The kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing, and the violent take it by force. (NIV)

The ship. Thursday 30th March 2006

2006-03-30T18:22:00.000+01:00

God's speaking to me about humility in warfare.

I see the ship, the roof blows open and all gaze upwards into the heavens. the stars are fighting in the battle. It is deeply humbling and yet deeply inspiring. We are so small in comparison to God. And yet he has chosen us to fight this battle.

Romans 16:20

The ship, Wednesday 29th March 2006

2006-03-29T18:18:00.000+01:00

I arrived at the church on time, at 9.30. Johannes and Abbie were late. So I decided I wouldn't waste time and got down to some prayer.

I saw the inside of the spaceship, same as a couple of days ago- people sitting around preparing for the battle. I saw windows in their breastplates, apparently showing into their hearts. Someone flipped a switch.

The windows were filled with fire.

JS- Revelation is normal christianity.

The battlefield, Tuesday 28th March, 2006

2006-03-28T15:38:00.000+01:00

I just took a huge hit in the warfare and lost a bit of ground...

I see the battlefield. I seen the black and white forms of men fighting around me. I see myself sitting on a stool, eyes closed, singing and playing the guitar. I am clothed in vibrant colour. I shine out across the battlefield as a devastating explosion in the enemy's ranks.

Psalm 8:2

Space ship Monday 27th March 2006

2006-03-27T17:35:00.000+01:00

Two things that amaze me:

1) How fast something can become an old wine skin
2) God's ironic sense of humour

Yesterday I went to the lake but it was frozen. Goodbye to the lake.

I am walking home from work, and I ask God to speak to me. I close my eyes, and see the interior of the ship again. Everyone is sitting round the edge, armour clad checking their weapons. I see it only for a split second and open my eyes again. I heard two words

"Get ready"

Out on the lake: Friday 24th March 2006

2006-03-24T17:07:00.000Z

I search in vain for any action on the shore. There is no one in sight- the fire glows dimly. All of a sudden I see lights reflected in the water.

I look up.

I see a flying saucer raising me out of the water and drawing me into the sky.

The Lord is taking us to a higher level. Get ready.

Aboard the ship I see the people who were on the shore in all my visions, being given weapons. One person sobs, ‘I am so weak’, but one of the mysterious space beings says

‘Now you are at your most powerful’.

Aliens = God.

Awesome

Lakeside, Sunday 19th March 2006

2006-03-23T17:44:00.000Z

Sunday morning pre-church prayer.

I see a man standing on the shore dressed all in radiant white clothes. His skin is shining also. I can somehow see into his mind, and I see it changing from a muddy grey colour to pure white.

When it changes to white his head just explodes with a beam of light which reaches up to heaven.

Romans 12:2 my friends, Romans 12:2

Lake, Wednesday 22nd March

2006-03-22T23:38:00.000Z

Ok. To please Stephen Brown, here's one from today.

Praying with Johannes. As Johannes begins to pray, I begin to receive a vision.

Johannes prays that we would nopt grow cold in our prayers for enduring situations, that we would not be overcome by the enemy, as he discourages us in prayer.

As I open my eyes I see the water, but as I look up towards the shore, I see only the gaping mouth of a giant shark, which hastily swallows me up. So I'm thinking, 'great; how am I supposed to see the vision when I'm inside a fish.' But then I see the head of the shark from the outside. The head just explodes and I see myself standing on the water, burning alive.

A little while later I see myself and some other guys eating some shark steaks, cooked on the fire on the lakes edge.

The Enemy will not consume us- his attempts will be overcome by our fire. It is more than he can cope with. We shall overcome him.

Glory to God.

Lakeside Wednesday 15th March 2006

2006-03-21T19:49:00.000Z

Ok, so more intense warfare. I see another fire. There's a wooden cross burning in the fire. As I walk towards the shore I begin to realise that this cross, which appeared to have been about 12 feet tall, was actually only about 4 feet in height. When I got to the fire I reached in and grabbed the top of the cross. When I pulled it out it transpired that this wasn't a cross at all, but a solid gold sword. It was a sword refined and sharpened in the fire. Again the Lord told me that he turns our suffering into our victory. He turns our persecution into our joy. He turns our mourning into dancing. He turns our cross into a sword.

Lakeside- tuesday 14th March 2006

2006-03-20T17:32:00.000Z

I was praying with Johannes in the church. There was intense warfare and the Lord showed me the following.

I saw a fire burning on the shore. An ice sculpture in the form of a man was being burned at the stake, while a tribe of kids with war paint and spears danced around. I saw the same vision twice. The first time, the ice melted and the water put out the fire. All that was left was a disappointing pile of ashes, and some very satisfied tribes...kids.

The second time, the ice melted but the water retained the form of a man. Then the water caught fire and just burned brightly as a beacon on the island.

The Lord told me that we could either be ruined by the fire, or what the enemy intended for evil could become our good- it would soften our hardened hearts, break our frozen mindsets, cause the ice to become rivers of living water within us and set us on fire to burn for our saviour.

Burning water. The title of this blog is hereby explained.

The Lake

2006-03-19T22:07:00.000Z

I thought I might begin by telling you about the lake.

The lake is where God takes me when he wants to show me a prophetic picture or vision. It is not a literal lake, it is a place in the spirit where spiritual realities are revealed to me. This is not a hyper spiritual thing- it's just one of the many ways God has chosen to reveal himself to me.

A while back the Lord told me very clearly that i was missing a lot of spiritual revelation by being to worked up and too loud. He taught me to quieten my heart so that I could hear the small things he was saying. He showed me that so often we can be carried away by the strong waves of his spirit, but miss out on the little ripples in the surface of the water, that often succeed or precede the larger works. So he taught me to feel these little ripples.

When I feel the spirit leading me to do so, I'll slow right down, put out my hands and begin to run my fingers through the water. Then I can begin to see them with the spirit's eye. It is as if I am looking at myself in a parallel reality- I can see myself as I would if I had my eyes open- I can see my hands in the water, can see my legs moving as I wade through the lake...

But then I'll look up toward the shore, and here the Lord will show me whatever it is he wants. Quite often I'll see a fire burning on the shore. Many times I'll see the people for whom I've been burdened and praying. Sometimes I'll walk to the shore and hang out next to the fire for a bit.

The Lord has shown me many cool things there. Especially in the last few days. So the purpose of this blog is to share some of them with you. I'll also share some of the revelation I receive from the word, and any thing cool that I think might bless the people who read it.

I'm not some sort of hyperspiritual freak. Well, i'm a freak, i'll admit to that. But I believe that the Lord has called me to speak prophetically into people's lives. I believe with my whole heart that the shepherd speaks to his sheep. I believe passionately that it is of utmost importance that we hear what the Lord is speaking to his church in these end times. That's what I am trying to do here.

God bless ya.

Pleasant reading.