JESUS

Lagos: The last Bonnke’s crusade in Africa!

Years ago I asked the Lord to position me in the frontlines of what He wants to do in my generation. I believe the Reinhard Bonnke farewell gospel crusade taglined “Passing the Torch” is a significant part of His answer. I believe that evangelism is something that God is emphasizing in our generation. What I witnessed is litterally a new page in church history! Bonnke has led 75 millions souls into the Kingdom! The Gospel is triumphant, irresistible, especially in Africa, South America or in Asia. Europe’s turn is on the way! Amen! Nigeria is a particular blessed country, and it were where God told Bonnke to return for this crusade. I had a privilege to talk to some members of the Redeemed Christian church of God in Lagos with auditoriums of 1,5 millions for the little chapel and 3 millions for the larger one. At one of their annual congress there were 12 millions people attending at the same time in the same venue! That’s incredible and reminds me of the words of Bonnke : My church is large, it has no wall, the sky is its roof and the soil its carpet!
While I am writing this, I am on my way back in a royal dutch airlines plane sitting close to the grand children of Bonnke. This passing week was a blast!

On the first day, after the presentation of the spiritual fathers of the land (ADEBOYE, KUMUYI, GBAMGBOLA, …) Reinhard BONNKE took the stage to deliver a message about “the searching saviour”. Many gave their lives to the Lord and Kolenda prayed for the sick and miracles happens.

Infirmities (crippled) and others ailments disappeared to the Glory of the Lord.

The second day began with a Fire Conference led by Kolenda and Peter Van den Berg. Kolenda taught about how to get rid of fear, preaching through the story of Gideon and Peter preached about the first step in receiving Gods power! I also had a deeper discussion with my new nigerian friends and I get an understanding of how money can prevent frustration and discouragements to break over ministries. I also realized how they truly have developed a generous heart! Nigeria is indeed a blessed country! I also can say that I am nigerian. My ancestors came from this land. Actually I learned in hitory books that they came from Oyo. I was very impressed by the generosity of christians here. There is all over the crusade’s open field a manifestation of generous spirit. People used to buy like twice or thrice what they need with in mind a possibility of offering to someone else that might need it! I was spoiled litterally. They don’t have enough comparing to us coming from Europe but I was the one being blessed by generous acts. That stirred in me more dispositions to give also in turn. Even the CFAN organization show and display that generous spirit. All the crusade is free as usual thanks to generous donators from all over the world! No offerings has been taken! This second day finished with an honor gift from all of Africa to Reinhard Bonnke. The Father of the land, Mike OKONKWO brought it to express the gratefulness of the continent to Reinhard & Anni for their dedicated lifes to see the continent washed from Cape Town to Cairo by the blood of Jesus! Bonnke accepted, and moved to the core, he gave an introduction to Kolenda and left the stage! Such an expression of love for his successor and also a display of true humility. Kolenda preached about Romans 10:13 on how we may be somebody or nobody but everyone can be saved if he only calls on the name of the Lord Jesus.

The third day began with a preaching of Bonnke after he greeted Loren Cunningham from Youth with a Mission! Bonnke taught during the Fire Conference about the flame that is made in Heaven. Regardless of its size, coming to the worst and the best of us! Then Peter VanDen Berg took over to teach about when is the best time to take action! Now! Even if we are not the best one, not well known, but if we know our heavenly Father that’s enough reading from the story of Jonathan and his arms bearer! The third day finished with a preaching of evangelist Daniel Kolenda on the power of the blood of Jesus! Witchcraft (amulets, juju, …) were all destroyed by fire each of the remaining days of the crusade and many healings took place as usual! Thanks Jesus!!! Amen!!!
After the service a woman brought on stage her baby who is dead. We were around 5 people, we prayed into the night and we were filled with faith for the resurrection of the child! There was a word that said the baby is sleeping and that he will breath again in the morning. So we dismissed the mother and son to have faith that God will heal her baby! We were really convinced in our heart except to this day I didn’t check if the resurrection occured. But the best is yet to come.

On the fourth day, Reinhard Bonnke preached a very powerful message titled “Passing the Torch”. It is during that meeting that he releases over African leaders his anointing to go preach the Word all over the world! He talked about anointing; which is the only thing that the devil respects, not theology degrees. He insists that the Holy Spirit has no substitute. After the releasing of the anointing, I used to take a nap between the morning fire conference sessions and the evening crusade but I felt I must go join the intercession team. What I did. We prayed passionate prayers, very exuberant prayers!!! At one point, we were praying for the power that raised Jesus from the dead to manifest in our midst after praying and contending for five millions salvations of souls. Then a car arrived and a young man, dead, around 17 years old, even stinking a little bit. We raised our voices and he was raised back to life.

I didn’t see him opening his eyes but for sure something happened. First time in my life I have experienced praying for a dead body to come back to life. Hallelujah. The joy was immeasurable! The intercession team leader insists that it is like if we personally have raised him from the dead. God is truly powerful and Jesus is indeed the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Amen!!! Hallelujah!!!
As I go, I heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons! Freely I have received, freely I give (Matthew 10:8): These are the last words of Reinhard Bonnke “Passing the Torch” message. I really experienced it hours later. May God be glorified!
After this marvelous experience my backpack was stolen in retaliation!
Daniel Kolenda preached abouth Zaccheaus and righteousness that elevate nations! Nigeria needs to be cleanse from corruption, no more thievery as it is spread. Amen!!!

On the fifth and last day of the crusade Reinhard Bonnke preached his last message in Africa. After 50 years of ministry in Africa? it was a very emotionally charged moment even with tears of gratitude for some. He preached about Luke 20:19-25 about giving to the Lord what bears His image and is His!!! Here is what one of Bonnke’s old partners in CFAN Suzette Hattingh wrote :

“Tonight a watched a legend preached his last sermon on the soil where he became a legend …Africa.
What a price he and his family has paid for ” a blood washed Africa” …like an Master Eagle that did his last hunt, a mighty ship brining in its goods for the last time, a mighty harvester harvesting a field and what a mighty harvest it was with the crowed being an estimate of 750,000 tonight.
I can not thank God enough for the example he and his family has been. Thank you Reinhard , thank you Anni we all follow you like children their parents – small Eagles learning to fly from the master Eagles. Generations after you will still be thankful for the price you paid ….we give thanks unto you and Jesus our Lord.”

I left the crusade after praying specifically to carry on God’s anointing in order to run with Bonnke’s torch lighting up the darkness! The gospel of Jesus Christ is just sufficient to do exactly that! Amen.
I took a local bus and spent the night at Ikeja before going to the airport. A woman was preaching all the way down to the bus final destination and it seemed like no one is shocked, it is just normal. There I met John Darku, the african director of CFAN. I asked him of prayer and he blessed me mightily.

The I met Karim Kabli and his friend France both from Paris. We spent a couple of hours together before he took off to Cairo to minister there.

Then I met the german father evangelist Walter Heidenreich. We had a friend in common, Daniel Wild from Wurzburg that I met at the Reinhard Bonnke School of Evangelism in Zurich in 2013. Walter prayed heartily for me for wisdom, ressources and encouraged me strongly to bring back the gospel to Europe!!! In the plane I was in the cabin with some of the guests of the conference including Bonnke’s grandson and grand daughters. Such a blessed trip surrounded with anointed people. To God be the glory now and forever. Amen!

I can truly say that I am on the frontline of what the Lord of the universe wanted to do in my generation! Just to sum up this whole experience in a humouristic tone, the last flight I took from Amsterdam back home is exploited by “Olympic Airlines” and that made me smile especially when the event is tagline “Passing the Torch”! I will run with the runners to the advancement of the Kingdom!

A little girl prophesysing

Collaborating with God

Four years ago in 2013, during the summer in the months of July and August, I spent for the first time in my life 40 days of fasting and prayer in the Alps. I was near the Nid d’Aigle, a refuge in the Mont Blanc massif with few things : My Bible, a notebook, a little brook to drink from, a tent and a blanket. For those of you who might be scared, look, I am still alive! But don’t rush into it because it would not be wise. At the end of this very difficult experience that I could only do by the grace of God and which was highly transformational for me, all I can say is that the Lord asked me to love with the Love that came from the cross. A love with no strings attached, which gives itself completely. It is the sacrificial love that Jesus displayed at Golgotha over two thousand years ago. It is loving God for sure and loving others till death, leaving aside my prerogatives. This resonates with the following verse from the Bible :

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John15,13)
To sum it up, it is simply : Love more. Loving God and others. Jesus laid down, gave, offered himself for all of us so all of us might find life in Him. Love is the culminating point of my experience. And for sure it was the why for our Saviour to die on the cross. Love is a person, His name is Jesus and we are called not only to express love but also to become Love. Most of the time there in the mountains while fasting, God revealed to me how crucial it is to seek and save the lost.

I went to the mountains because I was so hungry for God. I wanted more of God. I wanted to experience Him more in my life. At the end of these 40 days, God spoke to me a lot about taking care of the foreigners or people I don’t know in the city : Afterward I hosted in my apartment a young man whom I met in the street and who was new here with nowhere to sleep. He stayed with me for a while, then I helped him find another solution. Then he found a job as a computer scientist and this passing week I learned that he will deliver a speech at a conference in Leipzig ! What a miracle ! The Lord used me to help a homeless man get out of the streets. I am so happy about that. He is a Muslim, but when he stayed with me he accepted to read the Bible and for me to pray over him. I am still praying for the Lord to save him and the Lord can do it.

Another example was meeting with my friends Simeon & Melanie whom I met two years ago, in September 2015 in the streets, now two years later they are here visiting me and wanting to learn from our church because they are searching for ways to better take care of a church in their city of Heidelberg in Germany. This was possible because I obeyed what the Lord had said to me. You see friends, that is the message I wanted to bring to you today : Hearing and Acting on the word of God !

THE WORD

Let’s read the word the Lord gave me two weeks ago when Mathieu Leclerc called me. The Lord was talking to me a lot about the following passage ; even in the night while I was sleeping.

Matthew 7.24-27

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

In a previous passage Jesus stresses the importance for those who profess to follow him to show it by their deeds. In verse 21 of the same chapter, Jesus said the one who does the will of my Father. In John 3:16, we read that God so loved the world that he gave His only Son. God did something. He didn’t just tell to us that He loved us. He actually did something. Jesus said in John 5v17 “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” I work as my Father works.

And He continued : “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

How can we know the will of God in order to actually do it ? Because it is not only about doing thing for doing things and to doing whatever we want. Do you realize that everybody is at least doing something ? At least in our society everyone is doing something. Evangelist Daniel Kolenda says that almost everyone is passionate about something. That can be TV, football or other things like music. You only need to go to stadiums and see how people are so passionate, crying out loud. Why can’t we do that like them but for Jesus ? Why can’t we jump in a church for Jesus if we are passionate about Him ? Others jump and cry out for a ball in leather. And we can’t do that for our Saviour who gave everything including His own life for us filling us with joy day after day ? One touch from God can be manifested in our body, our emotions and our spirit. Amen !

In verse 24 we have the word « everyone » or « whosoever ». The Bible says that whosoever believes or calls in the name of the Lord shall be saved ! Me, I am whosoever, you, everyone of us is whosoever ! That is great !

Then we have the word « Hear » which is the faculty of hearing, to perceive by the ear what is announced in one’s presence. I have learnt some time ago the difference between the words Hearing and Listening which is to hear intelligently often with implication of attention and obedience. You know when you saying to someone you did not listened to me and He responds that he have heard you. Hearing means you have received the message like in the parable of the sower and the grounds. All the grounds received seeds but only the good one bore fruit.

Hearing is receiving the seeds, receiving the message, all the grounds have received but only the one who does, who makes something out of it, acts or puts them into work has really listened. The one who puts into practice the words of Jesus is the one who is listening ! And Jesus is saying that this person is wise : prudent, intelligent, a far-sighted, practical and sensible man. This man builds, found, establish, constructs his life in order to grow in christian living.

The House is an inhabited edifice, there are people living inside, family, wealth and goods. And that house is built on a rock, a large stone.

Jacob said in Genesis 28 :10-22 following his dream after sleeping with a stone as pillow : This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Subsequently, he called the place Bethel which translates to “House of God”. He set up the stone he had slept on as a pillar, and consecrated it. He also made a vow to God in reference to his eventual return.

He was fleeing, then he stopped and lay down on a stone and God spoke to him in visions. He woke up and took a decision, he made a vow that day ! What are you fleeing from ? Please stop today and lay your head on the stone, stop trying to figure everything out, Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone, you can lay on him and He can take care of your preoccupations, giving you instructions in His Word to follow.

You are all aware of the hurricanes that destroy the Carribean: Harvey, Irma or José. That is what the storm that Jesus is talking about can look like. Storms came into our lives in different ways and they are from different types. They can be weapons formed against us be it emotional, financial, social, physical, psychological, interpersonal, spiritual or organisational. That is why the Bible says that no weapon formed against us shall prosper ! Amen. The presence of the storm does not indicate the absence of God.

On that House, rain is watering (from up to down). What is pressuring you ? Are you strong enough? Then flood, stream, river, torrent, running water from one place to another find influence on that house. What is forcing you ? Are you firm ? Are you following the crowd ?

Then a wind, a violent agitation of air, a tempestuous wind blew, breathed, beat, fell down, rushed, slammed against that house. We can see a rain and a flood because they are tangible elements but we do not see wind, we can only notice its manifestations. It, too, pressures and drains.

There are storms that people are not seeing because they are secrets storms. People are not coming to your help because they do not see it. Maybe they notice you have a new car, but they do not see that you are two payments behind. You got a promotion at work but people don’t know that you have more pressure on your shoulders at the point that you can’t properly sleep in the night. People find that you form a beautiful couple but they don’t know that you are going through doubts about your relationship and considering a separation.

It is difficult to see in a storm; that is also the reason why the Bible says that we do not live by sight but by faith. Maybe Jesus is sleeping in the boat of your life, but he is really present and His presence is sufficient for you. Even if your senses do not notice Him, He is there with you ! And you can’t fall, descend from a higher place to a lower.

Jesus was a carpenter so He knew how to build a house. This parable is not just advice for those who build houses like architects or engineers who work in constructions sites. It is an illustration for everyone.

Building a house : What do you think about that word « house » ? A home, a family, a church also ! Because Jesus’ words are Spirit and Life, we can build our lives on his words so they will have a solid foundation. Jesus Himself is the rock which He is calling us to build on.

His words are foundational words to build a life on. We need to work these words into our lives.

because if we do not build our lives on his words, we will be likened to, made like, become similar to a foolish, impious, godless, stupid, absurd person who has built his house in the sands, on the sandy ground like on the beach. And there you can experience complete destruction, collapse or a great crash.

Building on the rock stands for 2 things : Hearing from the Lord and putting those words into practice ! The best way to know the will of God in order to do what really counts is to spend time with Him, searching His presence.

HEARING THE WORD

It is hearing what God is saying. I call that the Presence or what Brother Lawrence calls the practice of the presence. The Lord promises that those who seek Him will find Him. You can seek Him where you live and you will find Him. God didn’t speak only on mountains tops. He can speak to you while in your room, in the streets, while riding a donkey or fishing. Begin to see him where you are.

The presence of God is what we need to cherish the most. When you find yourself in the dark, cry for the light. Christ’s being forsaken by his Father was the most grievous of his sufferings, and the only one that he complained about. He did not say, “Why am I scourged? And why spit upon? And why nailed to the cross? Nor did he say to his disciples, when they turned their backs on him, Why have you forsaken me?

What is the most important thing? The promise or the presence? Moses said to God: I will not go if you do not come with me. He is our exceedingly great reward. We are the people of the presence. I don’t care, Give me my Jesus. I love my Jesus! Trusting him is the point. Do you think you’ll be happier when the promise is fulfilled? If you are not happy with God today, you’ll never be satisfied. He is our dream, he is the reward. We may forget the promise but he will not forget! He is our dream. He will always be ours. He is my reward. Don’t lose your dreams. Give them back to God. We don’t want this promise, this dream without God. Never let any dream shine brighter than God. Never let any promise become greater than God.

How do we come close to God when we do not sense His presence ? Reading the Scriptures ; Fasting and praying ; Worshipping. The presence of God increases when we pray, fast and worship.

3/ ACTING ON THE WORD

Jesus talked about the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-32. One who accepted His Father’s word but did not do the work and the other who initially said no but later actually did what the Father commanded Him. Jesus asked who between the two had done the will of the Father ? The one who went. It is important to hear the Lord’s voice. And also important to put it into practice, otherwise hearing His voice would be useless.

Today the Lord is calling us to go (Matthew 28) to preach the gospel and make disciples. Who will go ? In the book of Isaiah, the Lord asked who will we send and who will go for us ? Can you respond as Isaiah responded ? Here I am, send me ? Who will go to do what the Lord wants ? You ? Or will you be just happy enough to listen to His voice and doing nothing about it ? Don’t get me wrong, I love the presence of God and I believe with all of my heart, actually I am convinced in every part of my being that it is the most important things. I simply want to highlight the fact that not applying what we heard in His presence is not only nonsense but useless for us.

There are times that I am impressed by the story of Judas Iscariot who spent approximately three years of his lifetime with Jesus, in the presence of the living God but failed to let himself be touched by that presence. If he had let himself be touched he would have been transformed. He didn’t receive the most important thing. Now it is your turn. Will you prevent yourself from being transformed by Jesus? He is present here for you.

Hearing only is insufficient ! And to illustrate this further, I have another example. God also spoke to me while I was in the mountains about relationships that I needed to restore and particularly one. It was about an older friend who I thought had wronged me. I was wounded. It wasn’t easy to go back to him but I did it because I wanted to obey the Lord. I asked for forgiveness. We reconciliated and he invited me many times to his house to eat. Months before going in the mountains, I received a prophesy about a man who God would bring into my life and who would become a mentor to me, from whom I would learn a lot and who would facilitate a lot of things in my life. At some point I identified the man and wanted to come close to him but I felt like he was rejecting me. Then I learned that this friend with whom I reconciled, said very good things about me to the man. And since then I have a wonderful mentor in my life. If I hadn’t put into practice these things that God told me, the 40 days spent in the mountains would have been for nothing and completely useless.

Why have you forsaken me?

It was in the last days of the year 2008. I was in my parent’s bathroom and just pouring out my heart before the Lord asking for forgiveness about a sin I’d committed that week. I was really broken inside. My heart was suffering, my spirit sad and my eyes tearful. My mother called me and asked me to come out and join the group of friends praying in the living room. I made my way with difficulty after washing tears from my eyes and joined them. As I closed my eyes to pray, suddenly, an extremely delicate light, not of this world, dazzled me and shone very brightly in front of me. I saw Jesus. I could see Him. Just in front of me. His eyes were like burning flames and blue lights like lasers came out from His eyes. His chest is like one of a very muscular and bodybuilder’s type. Very masculine. I could sense His gaze upon me going deep inside of my being. Everything inside me was transparent before Him. I couldn’t hide anything. I realized that He knew me thoroughly and perfectly. I was like lifeless and I couldn’t bear anymore His vision at that time. I tried to hide myself behind a column from that overwhelming supernatural light because it was too much for me, totally surprised by that vision of Jesus, but I couldn’t escape. Then I saw a large crowd of people dressed in white, so large that I couldn’t count them. They lifted their hands and were worshipping Jesus in a sort of arena too great to describe. All of a sudden giving me another gaze, He seemed to let me go back.

I realized I was again in my parent’s living room and all the others were looking, wanting to know what was going on with me. They said they sensed a very strong presence of the Lord and wanted to know what I’d experienced. I was speechless. My only desire at that time was to go back into that vision of Jesus and experience more of His glorious presence.

That experience taught me that Jesus is very merciful, close to the brokenhearted, those who have humble hearts. He proved to me that He accepted my repentance prayer so I could receive His forgiveness knowing that He didn’t hold anything against me anymore about my sin that I’d acknowledged. God is Love.

Jesus really has to be experienced. We are ashamed when the spotlight shines on us and we want to hide. We choose the shadows. We switch off so we can be invisible. Maybe you are here and God is trying to show you your mistakes and you don’t want to accept them. If that is the case, you are hiding, you are running from the presence of God. Don’t do that please. Come into the light. Don’t choose the shadows.

You can’t hide from His presence. You can’t shut it down. You can’t contain it. That’s what Jesus came to change. You can’t contain the presence of God under house arrest. And Jesus wanted to show that God can go to parties. God goes fishing. God climbs mountains. God rides donkeys.

God embraces prostitutes. God’s presence was concentrated in one person and we killed him. We removed the presence of God and it was all of us who did it. Do you know why Indiana Jones didn’t find the ark? Because the ark is not buried, the ark is alive. We are mobile arks of the covenant. Do you want to touch the presence of God on earth, do you want to experience it, then shake my hand. Christ in us is the hope of glory. And he said, go into all the world carrying my presence. As David the King of Israel carried the ark of the covenant representing the presence of God, back into Jerusalem, now from Jerusalem, we go into Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth carrying the ark. And he said this, I will be with you into the very end of the ages. It is not just for evangelists, he said my presence will be with you. You don’t just go market a religious product and start a few churches. If we set foot in Ibiza, we bring the presence of God. If we become the head of a business, the presence of God takes over that business. We are the ark of the covenant. The presence of God is in us. God is not found in buildings but in us. For those that have heard about Asuza in church history, it is when the charismatic movement, the Holy Spirit revival was birthed.

And today is the 111^th anniversary of the Asuza street outpouring. Theologies, dogmas and centuries of church traditions can’t contain the Holy Spirit. On that day, the Spirit came back as on the day of Pentecost and speaking in tongues, signs and wonders began to occur again because of the presence of God. God answer the cry of William Seymour and his friends on that day. What are you crying for?

THE CRY IN THE SHADOW

I want to look at the particular moment when it seemed like the presence of God departed from Jesus on this earth. As he was hanging on the cross, he felt a sense of abandonment by His Father in heaven which cause darkness to invade Jerusalem for 3 hours.

He cried in Matthew 27:46, Eli Eli Lama Sabachtani? My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

The Father couldn’t continue to see His beloved Son hanging on the cross and suffering like that. He distanced himself. Why? His Son was litterally naked on the cross. No clothes. The Father couldn’t continue to see this treatment of His Son. By his stripes we are healed. God expelled His Son from His presence for us to have the possibility to come back into His presence that we abandoned. We abandoned God and for God to bring us back to Himself, He had to abandon His beloved Son. He had to loose Jesus in order to have us. Jesus paid for our faults. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Today is the day of salvation, now is your time of salvation. This is the end of solitude. This is the end of living far from God. God is present here. He is the eternal present and He wants to be present in your life.

How could we experience reconciliation with God if Christ wasn’t sacrified ? And how can we continue to stay far from God now that His sacrifice is accomplished ? I urge you, be reconciled with God.

During our last week street evangelism outreach, Bernard shared with a philosophy student this illustration that I love. Imagine a palace with a servant inside serving a master or a king. The palace can be beautiful, the servant can be inside serving his master but what matters is the identity of the master. It is the master who commands everything. And that is the illustration of our being. Our body is the palace. Our soul is the servant and our spirit the master. It is our spirit who commands. Our spirit must be in the hands of God. It must become one with God’s Spirit, the Father’s Spirit. Is it?

Jesus experienced spiritual death before physical death. That is the reason he gave his spirit into His Father’s hand before his physical death. He knew that the only way to be resurrected is to be sure of the life of his spirit and his spirit will only live if it is placed into the hands of the Father who is the source of all life.

The presence of God is what we need to cherish the most. When you find yourself in the dark, cry for the light. Don’t choose the shadows.

THE CRY OF ALL CRIES

Eli Eli Lama Sabachtani? My God my God, why have you forsaken me?

Matthew 27:46 is also a citation by Jesus of Ps 22:1 where king David pronounced those words. I remarked a detail in the introduction of this psalm where it was specified that the psalm should be sung to the tune of « a deer of the dawn. » This make me think of a baby deer abandonned, alone, in a dark, crying for the presence of his mother, at dawn.

This also reminds me of the Disney story of Bambi especially the situation following the death of his mother. Bambi was desperately in search for his mother in the cold bush, left alone. It breaks my heart because at this particular time we know that Bambi can’t be with his mother again, That is the end of the illustration because Jesus is not Bambi. And his Father is not dead and will never be.

Let’s read Ps 42:1 « As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. » Jesus is searching for His Father’s presence at this particular moment. A very painful situation for Him. We can see that situation as abandonment or a situation of rejection. That brings us to the problem of rejection which we will consider later.

Why is this the cry of all cries ? It is the only moment Jesus was complaining to His Father. Jesus wasn’t a complainer. Let me remind you that he did not complain about all the bad things that happened to Him. He experienced rejection and hate from religious authorities. Abandonment by his disciples. Betrayal by Judas Iscariot. And again the rejection of the crowd he had fed. He never complained about this. But he complained about His Father’s abandonment. Men can abandon me but not you my Father. You are all I have. That’s what he seemed to be saying. Why Daddy are you distancing yourself from me? I only have you, no one else.

Can we identify ourselves with this heart cry of the Son?

Christ’s being forsaken by his Father was the most grievous of his sufferings, and the only one that he complained about. He did not say, “Why am I scourged? And why spit upon? And why nailed to the cross? Nor did he say to his disciples, when they turned their backs on him, Why have you forsaken me?

But when his Father stood at a distance, he cried, but even when he was forsaken by his Father, he kept hold of him as his God. This supported him, and bore him up, that even in the depths of his sufferings God was his God, and this he resolved to hold on tight to. To feel forsaken by God is one of the worst feelings in the world. The son and the Father being separated. This cry stands also for all our cries, all our sufferings, all our rebellion, All our rejection.

THE CRIES IN THE LIGHT

Last saturday, I was sad because I had been praying for the city of Strasbourg to grant us the stadium in order to organize an evangelistic event and the answer was no for the second time. But I will not be discouraged even though I was sad. I will continue to press on in prayer because I am convinced that it is the will of God to see our city saved by the preaching of the gospel.

Will we trust when we are not seeing the promise fulfilled? Waiting is fire and it transforms us. Will we trust while we wait? Do the promises become my identity? The fire confronts every false identity. Otherwise my promises fulfilled could become my idol. Putting my vision above other visions or competing with other ministries. It is not for me to fulfill my promise, but for God. Can we learn to rest in the Lord?

God is in a great work to bring back all who are not His yet. Even if you are living in guilt, away from God or you don’t believe that God loves you, He ultimately loves you. He never abandons anyone. Joshua 1:5 « I will never leave you nor forsake you ». Ps 34:6, God saves everyone who cry to Him. What are you crying for? God is ready to save you.

Abandonment is a deep feeling of not being desired, wanted, valued. We want people to love us but we sense that they do not. We want to be a part of a group but we see ourselves excluded. It can happen in the church, even here among us. The origin of abandonment or rejection is sin, which originated in the garden. The communion between God and man was broken. It can also originate from being an undesired child. Not being sufficiently loved, not being unconditionally loved. The absence of a parent. Not being the favorite child in a family. Betrayals and break-ups in our adult life. We can react passively by isolating ourselves. Defensively by hardening our hearts or giving ourselves to addictions. Offensively by rejecting others, giving ourselves to anger, manipulation or a need to be recognized.

Abandonment can lead to an orphan spirit that we need to bind and defeat. We need to identify rejection and name it as the root of our problem. Accept the Love of God. Forgive, bless and accept those who reject us. Letting go of self-pity and self-protection. Take the responsibility by accepting ourselves, being conscious of our value, refusing the lies that pollute our relationships. And letting God transform our character. Jesus didn’t fake it at the cross! He identified His abandonment by His Father and expressed it.

Jesus was killed on friday but then there is easter sunday! He rose again and there is victory! Instead of getting upset when things are not going your way, why not believe that God knows what He is doing. God I trust you even though I do not understand.

Joseph as a teenager had dreams. Every step of his life was strategically orchestrated. Don’t isolate them. If you do, it doesn’t make sense. Joseph went through years doing the right things despite the wrong things, the betrayals, the loneliness, the bad times, the problems happening. They were moving him little by little into his destiny. If he hadn’t been sold into slavery maybe he would not been in Egypt and become a great state leader in charge of the nation of Egypt. It looked like trouble, but really it was the hand of God. All part of God’s plan. Keep doing the right thing and God will connect the dots. God uses the trouble for our good. Do we lose battles, yes. We don’t disguise pain. We don’t choose the shadows. Jesus cried out his pain.

The art of brokenness

In our society, pain and painful experiences are often masked and covered up by our behavior. Society teaches us to rather hide them in our souls. To reflect and be honest about one´s struggles in life is often perceived as not living a victorious Christian life. We don´t need to fake life! We are loved no matter what! There are days we can find hard not yet clearly seeing what our next steps are. Trusting him that it will all work out is the solution!

There is a Japanese art of repairing pottery. Kintsugi or “golden joinery”. Instead of throwing pottery away when it is broken, it is fixed. This art repairs the broken pieces with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. So instead of hiding the brokenness it actually highlights it while visualizing mends and seams. The gold can be seen from a distance! Out of brokenness came this!

I find this totally intriguing! Should we not carry our pain more visibly? What would sharing life look like if we became more honest and real with each other instead of sometimes faking through ministry, covering up our sense of loneliness, failure, sin? Rather than disguising pain, we are invited to treat it as part of our history, shaping our lives and hopefully molding us to be more like Jesus. You can be restored. Isaiah 64:8: “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

What is the most important thing? The promise or the presence? Moses said to God: I will not go if you do not come with me. He is our exceedingly great reward. We are the people of the presence. I don’t care, Give me my Jesus. I love my Jesus! Trusting him is the point. Do you think you’ll be happier when the promise is fulfilled? If you are not happy with God today, you’ll be never satisfied. He is our dream, he is the reward. We may forget the promise but he will not forget! He is our dream. He will always be ours. He is my reward. Don’t lose your dreams. Give them back to God. We don’t want this promise, this dream without God. Never let any dream shine brighter than God. Never let any promise become greater than God.

« Hope is patience with the lamp lit ». Tertullian. And the lamp is the presence of God.

How do we come close to God when we do not sense His presence ?

Prayer and fasting
Reading the Scriptures (SWORD)

S: scriptures renew the hope in our hearts, that’s what Jesus did at the cross, he cited the scriptures.

W: waiting by reading the passage again asking where you are in the passage.

O: observe the passage with a pencil in hand and note your observations.

R: request the Holy Spirit to help you see how all this applies to your life.

D: dedicate yourself by committing to letting God transform you

Worshipping

The story of the song “as a deer”.

The song is based on Ps 42:1 and was written by Marty Nystrom in the 80s during a time of fasting when he was searching for God. He went on a spiritual retreat in Texas in the summer and on his 19^th day of fasting, he found a Bible open on the passage and quickly the tune and the verses of the song came to him: The presence of God increases when we pray, fast and worship.We owe it to the world to encounter God’s presence. Amen!

Jesus died for you at the cross. He endured the unimaginable in order for us to come back into the presence of the Father. Today His presence is available to all here. There was Judas Iscariot who spent 3 years of his lifetime with Jesus, in the presence of the living God but failed to let himself be touched by that presence. If he had let himself be touched he would have been transformed. He didn’t receive the most important thing. Now it is your turn. Will you prevent yourself from being transformed by Jesus? He is present here for you. Be strong and courageous. Come to Jesus. Come back to Him you were always His. Even if you have gone far from Him, He will accept you. He said he would never refuse those who come to Him. He will accept you into His arms as the prodigal son. He longs for you.

Consecration

Imagine you order a pizza and after a while, the pizza delivery man came with the pizza on his hands without the box. In this inspirational clip from a message from Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel in Gainesville, USA, he tells the story of a Pizza delivery man bringing a pizza to the door without a box. I love that God can use us if we’re just clean and empty—ready to be filled by Him.

I have met two guys the last couple weeks : Steve from Germany and Jorèl from the Netherlands. Steve really inspired me by his radical dedication by leaving his job in Frankfurt as IT engineer sensing the Lord saying to him to come serve Him in France. Jorèl left his city of Utrecht to come live in Strasbourg some months as an intern in the European Parliament and at the same time dedicating his time sharing the love of God around him and in the street witnessing healings. For me they are living as described in Matthew 10:7-10.

And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give. Take no gold nor silver nor [even] copper money in your purses (belts); And do not take a provision bag ora wallet for a collection bag for your journey, nor two undergarments, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the workman deserves his support (his living, his food).

The word consecration is mentioned in the Bible for things and people and is intended to chosen subjects. But here, I would like to talk about personal consecration : To be set apart. As christians we’ve already been chosen so we have the privilege to become consecrated. In the old testament, it is not available for everyone but now, yes, and it is for every believer.

Recently, I have studied with my best friend the book of Zephaniah. In the beginning I was sad about the tone of the book which was just about judgements upon the people of Juda. Then in the last chapter, the loving nature of God was expressed. The Lord is still merciful even though the people is living in idolatry. Zephaniah 3:17 that we can read thereafter is for me the pinacle of the book :

The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent andmake no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

It was at the time of the reign of king Josiah who bring revival to his kingdom by consecrating himself and the people by searching the Lord. They are not living in a patant sinful life but in a sort of compromise, doing everything religious but mixing the worship of the living God with the habits related to pagan idols. That was sufficient for God to prevent them seriously about the damning judgement that can fall upon them. Kong Josiah seized the moment and saved his Kingdom by consecration and setting himself to search the Lord. That brings us to the first step of consecration : Repentance. In Psalms 51:17 :

My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

Here King David is returning to God after sinning. It is the Holy Spirit action in convincing us of sin. Then our best response is to lean by confessing our sins and repenting from them. That’s the proof that God is inviting us into a life of consecration.

There are other Bible passages inviting us to a life of consecration. I would like to sahre some with you :

Romans 6:13/16/19

Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members [and faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of wickedness. But offer andyield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members [and faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness.

Romans 12:1-2

I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service andspiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, eventhe thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

1 Corinthians 6:12

Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything orbe brought under its power.

2 Corinthians 8:5

Nor [was this gift of theirs merely the contribution] that we expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His agents] by the will of God [entirely disregarding their personal interests, they gave as much as they possibly could, having put themselves at our disposal to be directed by the will of God]

Lou Engle (see the video on my last post), took a decision of radical obedience fueled by his consecrated life after reading Matthew 13:44-46.

The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine andprecious pearls, who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.

This verse is a radical invitation of a radical dedication of the cause of the gospel for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. It also reminds me about what Heidi Baker is sensing from the Spirit to our time as encouragement. To yield, to lay down, to pay the price, to give everything. To not say no and miss out destiny. Living a life of total surrender for intimacy with Jesus! To reach more of the lost children. To get low, to go slow, to stop for the one, get lower still. To become radically in love with Jesus, to be married to Him. An invitation to greater depths.

By considering Isaiah 43:19, we can believe that God is wanting to do new things.

Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive andknow it andwill you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

As John the baptist ministry which prepare the way of the ministry of Jesus, as our consecration through repentance can prepare the way for a Jesus movement. We need to position ourselves for the coming revival in our generation by consecration first then for example visiting places where we sense the Spirit of God moving or inviting people from those places. It is like a surfer who search to position himself where he senses the current moving. So we can enjoy an adventurous life in coordination with the Spirit. A life of a consecrated believer can be mistakenly viewed as boring. I believe consecration is the best mean to surf waves of the Spirit moves.

Eurotour : Strasbourg

In the month of March, 2015 I made a connection in Amsterdam with Paul Hockley, the Jesus Revolution Mission Director (see my article Amsterdam on this blog). Through him I come to know Sebastian Asklund one of the pastors of Word of Life Church in Upsalla, Sweden. They have a mission program which they run every other year consisting of street evangelism and concerts held in differents cities across Europe. So when pastor Sebastian asked me if I can receive them in Strasbourg, I was more than happy to accept and respond positively. A team of 150 youths will then come to evangelize Strasbourg.

I needed a collaboration from the FEU Group (Foyer Evangélique Universitaire) with Pierre YEREMIAN. And then we worked with the collaboration of other churches of the city ranging from catholics to pentecostals including evangelical churches who helped us as well for hosting the youths. The Catholic chaplaincy for university students helped us find place for accomodations by providing with their building and also one of their churches, Eglise du Christ Ressuscité which we use as a daily gathering place for worship and encouragements for the group. The Dominicans of Strasbourg, provide their families database for us to use in order to find hospitality in their community. Thanks to Father Thomas Wender and Brother Benoît!

We also have been helped by EPIS Church who allowed us to do a concert in their building. Everything went well from Day one and forth. We setted up three itineraries across the city of Strasbourg for the two days event. Spontaneous concerts were held in the city center during the days. We did a two days street evangelism with songs and music, praying for those who wanted and a final concert the second day in the Church.

This was a time to unite believers across denominations lines and work together for the good of the city. People were touched by God, saved and happy to see a very friendly group coming to them all the way from Sweden. Seing the high quality that was offered by the Swedish youth group artists with their songs and dances, some asked that they wanted to keep contact with us in order to participate in further evangelistic events.

Personnally, it was a dream becoming true especially because it coincides with the end of a sabbatical year I spent; setting the tone for bigger evangelistic events coming soon that I am preparing to organize. We need to see heaven invading earth everywhere from our homes, worlplaces to our streets. We will occupy every streets till the Love of God invades peoples lives and every person encounter Jesus! His blood will pay off!

Next event : Awakening Europe in Nuremberg, Germany.

God is good!

Paris!

Last week, for three days, I attended an International Healing Conference in Paris. It was organized by Paris Tout est Possible based in France and AIMG based in Switzerland.

I had the privilege to serve in the prayer team as a student of the Healing Institute of AIMG. This experience provided me the occasion to heal the sick, setting the captives free by deliverance and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

On the first day, I prayed around the venue in search for a special intervention of God in people in order to respond quickly. It went well and some feel reliefs from their sufferings.

On the second day, it was special. I did deliverance work and see people set free by the power of the Holy Spirit, combining words of knowledge with praying and laying of hands. During the last session with Damian STAYNE as speaker, many many miracles took place. Before the session, I was accepted as the interviewer of the healed people who will come down from the Platform after sharing the testimonies of their healings. And what happenned just blowed up my mind. A woman in a wheelchair got completely healed among the witnesses on the Platform. Watch it in this video :

On the third day, I had the privilege to pray for different people and see people healed thereafter. Specially a woman I prayed for, get completely healed from pains in her shoulders and a leg after an accident. She was overwhelmed with the healing presence of God. During a worship just before Heidi Baker shared her heart with us, I sensed for the first time of my life an angel touching my wrist while I was singing arms wide opened. The presence of God was so strong and I finished the evening crying joyfully to the Lord.

Indeed, it is time for harvest in Europe!

Be richly blessed

PEF Conference Amsterdam

In March 2015, I attended a leadership gathering in Amsterdam. It is called i15 Leadership Summit and was the first time ever event organized in this format by the Pentecostal European Fellowship (PEF) representing the 6 million europeans christians in that movement. Before this event called i15 Leadership Summit, I’ve sensed the Spirit telling me : There you’ll learn how to make a net. I was wondering what is actually the net; and it came straight : The net is about relationships and cooperations. The aim is to build strong connections with evangelistic ministries accross the continent.

During the 3 days conference, I was led to connect with numerous ministries. Many sessions gave me a lot of insights from Networking, to Fostering cooperation, not ignoring Reaching immigrants and refugees. These are the sessions I attended :

Networking in Europe so that all may hear : The Pentecostal European Mission (PEM) has a network of 35 organisations lead by Arto Hämäläinen. Over 1000 ethnic groups are living in Europe with 6% of its population Muslim. PEM is a cross cultural evangelism network; providing help in development and humanitarian expertise for mission organisations. It is also a hub for organizing Impact evangelistic events across Europe.

Reaching Immigrants and Refugees in Europe : Ministries like Oasis Center Madrid are reaching muslims in Europe by dedicating themselves for example 3 hours in prayer every friday during mosquees time. Terry Hoggard from the Mahabba ministry told that there are challenges of reaching todays’s Europe by discerning generational realities. Inclusion of internationals bring life to churches who take that risk. Islam radicalism is a reaction after being in an unloving environments.

How to develop and transform an effective world mission : This was the i15 conference leader Mr Hämäläinen special point session. There are aspects like recruiting, training, sending and partnering that need a strong structure. Theological basis, cultural context, Church leadership’s vision and support are needed to develop a structure avoiding to becoming a revolutionarist in the bad way. Balance is needed between structure and the leadership of the Spirit. Its important to start with a team to develop a culture of Interdependance! The vision must be guided by this : All good places are already taken. Paul Hockley from Jesus Revolution share about their 3 stage rockets strategy and Stefan Ross from Kairos Courses shared about the need of the whole Church to be mobilized to cross cultural missions.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit : Peter Sleebos, the General Superintendant of assemblies of God churches of the Netherlands share strong points about the needs of the baptism of the Holy Spirit today.

Fostering cooperation across Europe : Using a parallel about the Berlin wall, two National Heads of Churches from Ukraine (Mykhailo Panochko) and Poland (Marek Kaminski) shared about the division that stop flows of informations, relationships and influence from West to East Europe. Talking about their difficulties with Russians, these two pilllars countries christian communities of the bridge between East and West experienced infiltrations of Police and persecutions. The division is physical and mental and the wall of partition is still strong at the point that even at the conference they noticed it. The question is how can the east go over the lack of interest and curiosity to share its experiences with the west? There are phenomenal growth in churches in the east comparing to shrinking west churches. Nobody looks at east but unity is a decisive factor for revival in Europe! The West can not be totally free without the East.

I also had the opportunity to be ministered by men of God in plenary sessions like Dr Bill Wilson (Impact Europe, Impact the World / E21 Global Co-Chair, ORU President), Prince Guneratnam (The Anointing / Calvary Church Kuala Lumpur, Pentecostal World Fellowship), Daniel Kolenda (Re-ignite Evangelism by the Baptism of Love / CFAN) Peter Wenz (The top Subject of Heaven / Gospel Forum), Mika Yrjola (Heart for Mission / Saalem Church), Siegfried Tomaszewski (Longing to See Europe Changed / Calling Ministry), Juan Carlos Escobar (The Hope of the promise / Celebracion Cristiana), Samuel Peterschmitt (Maintaining Dynamic and Good Health in the Church / Porte Ouverte) and some more.

And have made connections with the leaders of these ministries, so to begin :

+ Jesus Revolution by organizing outreaches with one of this ministry’s team

+ Summer2go with possibilities for this movement to go to Strasbourg.

+ PEM with a preparation meeting for the 2016 Impact event in Skopje : A really good picture shared during this meeting was the sight of small fishing boats coming together to bring many people to Jesus. That was a good reminder of the Word I received from the Lord encouraging me for cooperation.

There were so good times of impartations between participants that the venue was Holy Spirit pervasive.

Additionnal ressources about the event here : www.i15leadershipsummit.eu

And a summary : pefnews_2

Europe will be saved!

Be richly blessed !

Street tips

First of all the Holy Spirit is the best evangelist, so we need to come close to Him in order to be properly lead. Here, I would like to share some advices (or ideas) I have found useful; gained during my research on the subject of street evangelism. Will they inspire and move into action.

In the beginning you can identify where the most people are at any given time where soul-winners can be sent. In advance, identify busy places to go to that are ideal for soul-winning and also the most ideal times for those locations. Timing can make a big difference.

Have materials prepared ahead of time for those who will be evangelizing. Maybe you can use individual small bags for this purpose.

Suggested materials to include in each bag are as follows: Gospel Tracts, Gospel Soul Winning Script (multiple languages are necessary but you can also use an app on a smartphone to translate if you have one), you can also include music instruments, Personal or Church Contact Cards, or any Church event Invites (cards advertising your local church) and a pencil.

Please note these suggested information for the Church Invites as follows: Name of church, address, phone, website, service times, map and / or directions, language(s) that the services are being preached in, First Time Visitor gift mentioned (CD, Bible, beverage), Youth / Children’s gatherings.

Have folders prepared for each Team Leader. ,Suggested items in each folder are as follows: directions and a map to the area that the group will be evangelizing with a contact phone number for the Team Leader to reach someone in case of an emergency.

Following is a list of hot spots ideas:

Apartments where people are home during the day.
Malls
Grocery stores – find out what other large stores are in your area. A commercial centre is a good example.
Downtown area – Where is the main downtown area of the city? Downtown is one of the key spots in almost every city to go, especially in the bigger metropolitan areas. Downtown areas are typically best Monday through Friday during the day.
Colleges – You can find success on college campuses asking the students to answers questions or fill out Individual Survey & Polls. Also, map out campus organizations housing. Find out when they meet and ask them if you can say a prayer for everyone. Review the campus map. Are there campus ministries that would help get us on campus? Ask sports coaches if you can say a prayer of blessing for their teams – just say the gospel script within the prayer and give them an opportunity to accept Jesus at the end.
Train, subway, or city bus stations – What times are the most people there? Identify the arriving and departing times. If there are multiple locations, which ones are the largest and busiest? Ask the bus drivers if you can say a prayer of blessing for everyone on the bus, pray the script within the prayer, be loud, and then give them an opportunity for salvation. Thousands of people can get saved in buses.
Homeless shelters – What times are the people there for meals? How many people do they feed? Are there any other locations affiliated with each one?
Events – Can we open the event with a prayer or song? What time is the event? What is the expected attendance? If it’s a week long event, is attendance the same every day? Is there a parking fee or entrance fee? Review the local newspaper a week before to see upcoming events. What is the website that local people use to find out what’s going on? Also, look out for seasonal events, parades, and toy giveaways.
Markets

Here are some pointers:

Always have one or two nearby backup spots for each area that you send teams. Also, just in case it rains, have indoor places that the teams can go. Check the weather report.
Get all the team leaders’ cell phone numbers and have good communication with them. Always have a pulse of what’s happening on the streets with each team.
Be safe. Go two by two; no one goes inside shops. If someone goes off by themselves, then it delays the whole team as they are looking for them. Split the teams up in groups of two; make each person accountable to the other person. The teams need to keep track of one another.

Be sensitive to the Holy Ghost in every decision you make. If you don’t feel at peace with staying at a certain spot, then leave immediately. We need to protect the team, and God will give you wisdom on how to keep them safe.

Make sure your team drinks plenty of water, has enough to eat, and uses sun block if in summer.
Do not lay hands on kids, but do lay hands on the sick, always with their permission.
If your team is not getting a huge harvest where you’re at, go to a different spot.
Review the team leader stats. If you have low numbers of people getting saved, take a look at how many people the teams spoke with that day. You might have to change your strategy and send the team to different spots the next time. If a team member is speaking to 30 people in a day and only two get saved, there is a problem. He might not be using the Gospel Soul Winning Script. Get feedbacks from the team leaders and train them accordingly. Have team leader meetings in the morning before soul-winning and address any issues that come up.

Draw a one-kilometre radius around your church and then knock on most doors at night or on a Saturday. Give the soul-winners a portion of the map and they would highlight whatever streets they covered. Then, turn around and highlight the main map to keep track of the progress. Saturdays are great days for soul-winning door to door because more people will be home.

You can find ressources on http://www.revival.com

Be blessed !

Surviving Success

The secret of Evangelism is in the secret place. It’s out of the overflow of our intimacy that we do ministry

livebeforeyoudie.tv

Luke 5:4-7

John 21

The boat didn’t sink.

It’s important to prepare for success.

If you think the devil has set a trap for you now, wait till you are on the World Stage.

When the media is upon you and when you see millions of dollars coming in, then you really need to be protected

I was part of a ministry that became successful overnight. But they were not ready for their success and their nets broke. And I saw from inside how the nets broke and the church was destroyed.

When the nets break

– 1 step forwards, 2 steps backwards

– No lasting value to show for your efforts

– Souls are lost with the nets break

Behind the scene, there are a lot going on. It’s not just a man preaching on stage.

It’s what happens behind the scene, not on the platform.

1) 1st story, they were divided. 2nd story, they were united

Net torn in Greek – Scizo, meaning – schism. Arguments, rebellion among the staff. Etc.

If the devil cannot bring the preacher down, he’ll bring division among your staff, family, children.

‘If you’re at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, Leave your gift and go be reconciled to your brother’

Jesus tend to put the emphasis on different places.

There’s something very different on the relationship with your spouse, children.

Some Pastors become too busy with the administrative task for the ministry, that they don’t have time to be relational.

Eph 6 – Armor of God

All of these armour are forward facing

I’ve this one thing. Every time I don’t understand something, I ask the Author.

Eph 6:18 – We’re supposed to be guarding each other’s back.

We’re not to fight this battle alone, but with our brothers and sisters

The 5 ministry Gifts – Eph 4

It seems that these 5 ministry gifts, although given by God himself, can’t work together with each other.

The devil knows that if he allows the Pastors and Evangelists to work together, they’ll shake the nations!

If God’s going to use you, he’ll use many others that will stand alongside you.

It’s not God’s will that this church is a one man show.

He’s going to use many people. However, we’re often jealous and critical of people not like us.

The gifts are actually aspects of the ministry of Jesus himself.

Pastor – The Good Shepherd

Evangelist –

Apostle – the chief cornerstone

Prophet – God told Elijah and Moses to listen to His son

Teacher –

Why did Jesus distribute the gifts than to give it all to one person?

For us to work together.

None of us have all 5. We all have a facet, a portion.

v13 – The Ultimate Purpose

The unity of faith, knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

v7 – Unto each one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Grace is supernatural enabling. The batteries to make the gift work.

It’s powerful to have the gift because God has given you the power to make the thing work

God has made it easy for what is difficult for others.

Many times, people told me that my marriage won’t survive. But my marriage was going so well.

Then I understood that they don’t have the grace for evangelism and they don’t understand.

But when God calls you to something, He gives you the grace to do it. And you’re able to do what seems impossible to others, easily

100% of what a Pastor can offer, is only 20% of what the church needs. Because he doesn’t have the other ministry gifts.

And as he continues to work himself out, burning the candle on both ends, he gets burned out.

Rather than trying to supply 100% of the needs with only 20% of the gift, he should connect with others with the 80% of the gifts.

And when he does it, he is able to tap upon their gifts, and the church will grow!

Phil 1 – You have become partakers of my grace!

You can tap and receive the grace upon your life of others.

Because the gifts are different, the grace are also different

And because of that, when we partner together, just like me with Reinhard and the rest, we tap upon each other’s gifts.

When the gift is on them, the grace is on them. That’s why we look for people with different gifts.

When you try to operate outside your gift, it is difficult, burdensome and tiresome, because you don’t have the grace to do it.

Paul had the gift and the grace for celibacy. But he recognised that he has the grace that not many have. That’s why he said, do not forbid marriage.

1) Don’t make the mistake of trying to force people to do what you are doing.

Don’t force people to be an evangelist, just because you are

2) If you think everyone should be doing one particular thing – chances are, that’s what you should be doing. Stop forcing everyone to do what you should do. But appreciate the gift that God has given you and called you to do.

Each person that is part of the team, has been invited because they’re the finest in what they do.

The danger is that you can look at these men and women and look down on yourself in light of your success.

We did not bring these speakers, so that you can evaluate yourself compared to them. But so that you can receive from their grace.

But each of you have your gifting and calling which He designed and created you, which is totally unique.

If you try to be Teresa, you’ll fail.

The Lord never called me to fill the shoes of Reinhard Bonkke, but the shoes he has made for me.

He has called you to fill the shoes He has made for you.

We must stop competing with each other, but tap unto each other’s giftings and grace.

One of the greatest gifts you’ve received from this School of Evangelism, is the person sitting next to you. Not the classes you received, or the books you bought.

If the Lord allows you to meet and connect with others in this room and tap their grace, partner with them!

John and Peter was very different personalities.

They complimented each other that two Johns and Peters couldn’t have. Why wasn’t John competitive or trying to establish his own ministry?

John knows he’s the disciple that Jesus loves.

When you know how God sees you, what else is there to fight for? In that place, we can promote others. What is there to fight for?

Jesus told them to let down their nets, but they let down their net.

Delayed, Partial, But attached, And attached, Disobeyed obedience, is still disobedience

We need total, exclusive, immediate obedience!

If He doesn’t change the orders, we stick to the original one.

The reason CfaN see great success, is because we’ve obeyed the original vision for the last 40 years.

1 word, obey!

If you want your nets to not break, bring your catch to Jesus.

If you try to bring your fish into your boat, it’ll break.

If you’re the one that’s receiving the Glory, your nets will break.

Where we point the people to Jesus, and about His Kingdom, Glory and Fame, you’ll never fail!

We would point the people to Jesus and you’ll never go wrong.

‘Feed my sheep’, Jesus said

Peter’s ministry to the sheep, is motivated by the love to Jesus, not the sheep

I preach the Gospel to the lost, not because I love the Africans more than the Asian, but because I love him. Otherwise, we’re wrong.

Today I pray that we’ll be so infused with love for Christ, that it’ll be our main motive in life.

Jesus points towards anything in your life – education, business, ministry, and ask

‘Do you truly love me more than all of these?’

One good way to find out how is

If your motive and love for Christ, is more than your love of ministry, success, the lost.

And if you say yes, everything that comes out from your ministry would be pure, for it comes from your love for Christ.

Someone from a ministry that failed said, ‘We created a monster that the Lord would not feed, so we had to feed it ourselves’

Do you love me more than evangelism, or preaching? If it ever becomes about ministry than about Him, you’ve failed.

The Miraculous in Christ

Gen 1 : God said

The Spirit is in here (heart) and He’s just waiting for you to proclaim the word.

Being prepared shouldn’t stop you from speaking the Word.

Everyone wants victory, but they don’t know they’re entitled for it.

I treat and I pray. I combine the best of medicine and best of the Gospel.

And the nations will come to me, because I’m an honest doctor.

The HS never leaves you as a believer. He’s always waiting for us to pray and speak boldly in Jesus’ name

Romans 10:17 – I get my faith by reading and hearing the Word of God

Miracles are real! Demons are real!

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Words of Christ

Matthew 10:1-7

The world couldn’t give me an answer for a man who was ding in the operation theatre one day.

And I said, it was hopeless. I needed to call upon my Lord.

And then the Spirit of the Lord came upon my mind.

And the HS told me to do this, and do that. It was like an orchestra.

And one day, while walking on the beach, the Lord say, ‘Did you hear my children crying?’

And the next day, the Lord said, ‘Do you hear my children crying in Haiti?’

And then I told my wife, ‘I must go’

Just like Evangelist Bonkke, who acts immediately upon hearing the Lord.

And then while I was with my accountant, the Lord said, ‘Ask your accountant to go’

So I did, and Paul said yes!

As you are about your business

the Kingdom of God has arrived and is with you and in you.

All Hell must go. All disease and infirmity must go.

And on the 5th day, there was a mighty wind from the East.

Then I heard Paul, the tax collector saying, ‘In the mighty name of Jesus, be healed in Jesus name!’

You can do the same thing. We’re just like you. Just like the tax collector, you must tell yourself, ‘I can do the work of God!’

Not one person died in 2 weeks.

Even a tax collector can get on fire for Jesus!

If you’re willing to go the distance, you’ll see the miraculous and the signs and wonders.

If you go to the front line of battle, Jesus will show up! Coz it’ll be only God and yourself.

Jesus will show up on the battle field!

On week days, I work

On weekends, I go to the missions field

Once a month, I go to a missions outpost

But it is hard work.

If I get an invitation to speak, I’ll speak!

We can even pray for the meals to be multiplied!

Once in a camp, they said that they needed to divide the meal 3-4 times.

But I prayed and commanded it to be multiplied

God is so good. He didn’t just duplicate the food, but the styrofoam container! After every child took their meal, there were a couple left!

And my wife, she is persistent in prayer.

We prayed 10 years for a baby. And she dug in and prayed and prayed and prayed.

And Chad grew sick and got leukaemia.

And I went from door to door, and nobody believed in the fullness of God.

And then there was a man of God from Mexico who was ministering

And I had the faith that I’ll pray for my son with this man.

Then I was thrown 20m away.

I asked a woman near me and she said, ‘Don’t forget this moment you’re touched by the HS!’

New Boldness, New Authority. You’ll never be the same.

We would pray for his timor, the size of a fist, and it shrunk over night

And then we prayed for his blood work, and his blood became normal

And many of you have been upset with things that happen in your past. You must let it go today. you must be free of all these baggage you’re holding on to.

Nothing else matters to me. Not a fancy car, house and money, but Jesus.

I decided to be sold out to God when my son died.

The seed of his life would be for the salvation of many people.

You’ve bad times in your past? Do the work of the Lord. His peace will come upon you

Everywhere I could run, I would run for Him. I want more and more and more!

There was once I wanted to give up medicine and be into the Mission field.

And the Lord said, you’re not called into Missions

Then I asked the Lord for my people group. My Indians.

And the Lord said, I’ve given you your indians. They’re your patients. If you do not witness to them, they will not be saved.

Then I started going radical and crazy, that I would pray for my patients all day. And we continue to do this work. And we continue to do praying for souls.

Signs, Miracles and Wonders are used to get people into the Kingdom of God

The fact is many of us has been told to do things by the Lord, but we didn’t do it.

The dead man, who came back to life, said, ‘I was in total darkness for whole eternity’

And no one came to visit me.

And then I told him, ‘There won’t be anymore total darkness for eternity, if you would accept Jesus as your Lord and saviour’