Category: Opinions
Opinions
Connecting to the True Vine
I am sure like me many of you have read John 15, where Jesus says, ‘I am the Vine, you are the branches and My Father is the Husbandman.’ There is a wonderful little book that was written many years ago by Andrew Murray called The True Vine.
While this pandemic has been on, I have spent over ten weeks studying this passage of scripture. I have been asking myself the question, where is the real anointing of Christ and why does the world seem to be in such a mess, the established churches and their leaders so weak and ineffective? I have come to the conclusion as many prophetic people around the world have that Satan is now present on the earth and is establishing his kingdom. We are told in the word of God that the time will come when Satan will be allowed by Almighty God to establish his kingdom upon the earth and go to war with the saints. Many years ago, Pastor David Wilkerson of Times Square Church, New York, preached a message Satan’s Final War Plan Exposed
He brought out the point that if we allow the fly in the ointment (Ecclesiastes 10:1), which refers to the anointing of God, then it turns the oil to putrefaction, which is the same with the anointing of God. This is in direct correlation with John 15. If we allow unconfessed sin into our hearts and our lives then there is a disconnect with the True Vine, Jesus Christ.
Over the many years, I have seen a lot of nonsense in pentecostal churches. Like Pastor David, I have seen people fall on the floor, I have seen people writhe on the floor like snakes, I have seen people scream and shout, but sadly when they get back up off the floor they are no different. I believe the true anointing comes through the word of God by allowing the word of God to permeate through our souls, to become obedient to what the word is saying and put it into action in our lives.
There is a major word that is missing from many ministries across this world. Is the first word that Jesus preached in Luke’s gospel, it is the first word that John the Baptist preached to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the people of his day. Peter preached it, also Paul, and it is a word that is lost from our churches and sadly our ministers. It is the word repentance. Many Christians today do not understand what true repentance is. They are living under the delusion that their sins are forgiven, past, present and future, and they can behave in any manner they choose, as grace covers a multitude of sins. Many people would call this hyper-grace. I would call it deception. There is nowhere in the New Testament where it tells a believer we can live like an angel on a Sunday and a pig on a Monday.
I personally believe this COVID-19 is a wake-up call for the world and the body of Christ. The Chief Executive of Christian Concern, Andrea Minichiello Williams, recently has put out a YouTube video where she states clearly where is the voice of the true body of Christ?
Why are there not senior church leaders standing up for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Sadly, we all know the answer to that if we are close to Jesus. God our Father, Jesus Christ our Saviour and God the eternal Holy Spirit are allowing Satan to set up his kingdom. Satan does not have to go after the minions; he has already got them. He does not have to go after the media; he owns that. He does not have to go after the Internet or Hollywood; he is in total control of all this media. So what can we do? If you are a born-again, Spirit-filled believer, you can revoke your BBC TV licence as you are allowing filth and degradation to come into your homes. You can write to your MP to ask them to push back the abortion laws and promote the freedom of speech and the decency of our nation. You can vote with your feet and not buy videos or watch Netflix with programmes which blaspheme the name of God or use foul language. You may say that you are strong enough spiritually to withstand this onslaught but I would like to tell you, you are deceiving yourselves. If more of us in the body of Christ stood for holiness and righteous lives I believe the spiritual dimension of this nation would change. If we spent more time on our knees seeking our Father than the box in the corner or our hobbies I believe we would see a true major revival in our land and across the world again, but as long as we compromise with the world and the world system we affect the anointing that only comes from Christ.
Many years ago, the former Pastor Reinhard Bonnke said, to understand the anointing we need to understand the anointed one, Jesus Christ. We as ministers have no power of our own. We are as Pastor Bonnke once said, no more than fuse wire, but I am led to believe the most perfect conductor is pure gold. So if you want to be effective in the body of Christ, you need to go and open yourself up to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to clean out the garbage and to purify you. Your pastors, your elders are not the answer. We are told in the word of God to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto us, and we are also told to look unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. So if you are tampering with sin then I can assure you, you are drawing your source from another system. So I leave these challenges with you as I am challenged too as I believe it is time now to prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. I personally do not believe we have long, but that is dependent on God.
Rev Ross Rennie
COVID-19, D-Day and Dunkirk
An opinion piece by Myers Cooper
D-Day Prayer
I have recently enjoyed listening to archive recordings of the 24 hours’ continuous broadcasts by CBS following the first reports of the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. CBS relayed a speech by King George VI, broadcast on the BBC, in which he said:
That we may be worthily matched with this new summons of destiny, I
desire solemnly to call my people to prayer and dedication. We are not
unmindful of our own shortcomings, past and present. We shall ask not
that God may do our will, but that we may be enabled to do the will of
God: and we dare to believe that God has used our Nation and Empire as
an instrument for fulfilling His high purpose.
I note firstly that the Sovereign called his people to prayer, secondly that he hinted at national sin (‘not unmindful of our own shortcomings’) and thirdly that he emphasised the need to do God’s will, not ask God’s blessing on human efforts.
President Franklin D Roosevelt composed a prayer on D-Day, which he broadcast to the people of USA. After praying for the ‘sons’ who were going into battle, he continued:
And for us at home—fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and
brothers of brave men overseas—whose thoughts and prayers are ever
with them—help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed
faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of
special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great,
I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As
we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words
of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
As I listened to the reporters and commentators speaking about the invasion, I also found it notable how often they mentioned prayer and dependence upon the Lord for the success of the invasion and the defeat of an evil regime.
Another War in 2020 but No Call to Prayer
Back in March, the British Prime Minister told his cabinet ‘we are engaged in a war against the disease which we must win,’ a simile that has been used often since then. But calls to prayer and an acknowledgement of our dependence on God’s mercy have been sadly absent.
In her address to the UK and the Commonwealth on 5 April, all that Her Majesty the Queen, the Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England, could manage was, ‘many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that [self-isolation] presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation.’
How sad that the leaders of our nation have not followed the example of their predecessors in past generations, have failed to respond to a national threat by calling for repentance and prayer and have instead made ‘the science’ their idol.
“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
A Miracle of Deliverance
Four years prior to D-Day, when our nation was facing the loss of thousands of British soldiers on the beach at Dunkirk with the threat of a Nazi invasion to follow, King George VI called the nation to pray. The King and members of the Cabinet, together with millions in all parts of the nation, Commonwealth and Empire gathered in cathedrals and churches to join in prayer.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated at the time that perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers might escape back to England. In the event, over 300,000 were saved. Churchill described the evacuation as a ‘miracle of deliverance’.
At the time of writing, nearly 400,000 people may have died as a direct result of COVID-19. The full effects on physical and mental health have yet to be assessed and the astronomical cost to the world economy has yet to be calculated. Second, third or more waves of COVID-19 or its mutations may come upon us. Politicians and scientists have not provided us with a ‘miracle of deliverance’.
A Gideon’s Army
If we wait for a queen, president or prime minister to call us to prayer, we may still be waiting and have done nothing when the next crisis comes. Nowadays, grass-roots, bottom-up movements seem more effective in mobilising public opinion and action than rallying cries from those in power. Revivals have started in response to the fervent, sustained prayers of a remnant. Gideon, an insignificant, inexperienced youth, led to victory an army reduced in size from 32,000 to 300.
Perhaps I should have written this article two months ago, but it is not too late for you and me to get on our knees and beseech the Lord for His deliverance, even if the leaders of our nation are looking elsewhere for a solution.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honour Me.
Psalms 50:15
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Isaac Watts
What Is God Saying Through the Coronavirus Crisis?
Neil Cole, author and church planter, asks what the church can learn from the COVID-19 outbreak and the restrictions we are currently living under.
If you would like to discuss what Neil is saying, please add your comment below.
If would like to explore alternative expressions of church, particularly organic church as taught and practised by Neil, please contact us.
Covid-19
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
When this Covid-19 was first mentioned I like many others believed it was just another flu virus such as avian flu and the other ones we have seen come out of China, but I have sought the Lord God with all my heart and I believe the Lord God Almighty has allowed this devastating disease to grow and flourish as a warning to the people of this earth. I remind you if you have not read it for a long time to take a look at this scripture:
Psalm 2 King James Version
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
So, my brothers and sisters and fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I believe this is the time when many of us will be able to reflect. I hope it is a time when many will spend time in prayer and study of the holy scriptures as it is not a time to be busy, it is a time to be still. On this day, 19 March 2020, all the churches across the land are closed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr Welby, and the Catholic Cardinals have closed down all their buildings. I believe the Baptists, the Methodists, the Assemblies of God and the Elim Pentecostal and the independent pentecostal churches will all follow suit. I believe this is also a judgment on the body of Christ as it is time to put away our banjos, our clever music, our programmes and seek God as we have never done before. We still have the access to the Internet. Many of us can contact each other through Duo, WhatsApp, Skype. We can also pick up our telephones and do something we have not done for a long time: talk to each other.
As for the prosperity gospel, this cannot function in this environment. I am not saying this is how things will end up, but I believe the Lord God Almighty is showing us what would happen if something worse came down the line. This is not a time to see how much money you have in the bank or how much you gain through ill-gotten gains. If you are mega-rich, it is time to sow. Remember the parable that Jesus spoke about of the man who built bigger barns and the Lord God Almighty said, “Thou fool, this night your soul will be required of you.” What will your money do if, God forbid, the Lord calls you tonight? What good would it have been? I am talking as a man who once had money who now has nothing but in my spirit I am very rich as I have learned what the apostle Paul learned, to be content in all situations, whether I have plenty or whether I have nothing at all. Jesus also said, “What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world yet lose his soul?”
My brothers and sisters, fellow ministers, we are going to experience for the next few months times that we never experienced. I believe this is the greatest opportunity that the Lord God has given us to reach the lost and the lonely. If you are able-bodied this is your opportunity to help those less fortunate than yourself. If you are rich, it is an opportunity to help the poor, as in the next three months the body of Christ is going to need each other more than we ever have in all the days of my life.
So I hope this message challenges you to not sit on your bottom but to see there are those in your community that you can give practical help to. Ask the Holy Spirit, “What should I do?” Even if it just means picking up a telephone or knocking on the door to help someone. I do believe that the blood of Jesus Christ is more powerful than Covid-19 and this could be a time when the church of Jesus Christ can really shine. We have sung it enough – Shine Jesus Shine – and Jesus can only shine through those He loves. I suggest you spend time and look at John 15 and make sure you are connected to the real vine and not just a sub-branch. As God is the gardener, he will cut off every branch that is not bearing fruit.
God bless you and keep you all and your families safe.
Rev Ross Rennie