Tuesday, 2 July 2013

21st century Gideon: an allegory Part 2

Then the angel of the Lord came to a small church and said to the pastor, ‘The Lord is with you mighty warrior.’

And the pastor said, ‘If the Lord is with us why are such wicked things happening in our land.  Did we not have mighty outpourings and revivals in the past but now God has forgotten us and gone to Africa, Asia and Argentina.’   

And the angel of the Lord turned to the pastor and said, ‘Go in the strength of the Lord and take back Britain from the enemies’ hands.’

‘But Lord,’ the pastor of the small church said, ‘how can we save Britain?  We are too small and weak.  No one listens to us anymore.’

The Lord answered, ‘I will be with you and you will overturn all the works of the evil one.’ 

The pastor said, ‘If I have found favour in your eyes, give me a sign that it really is you.  Please raise someone from the dead as a sign of new life in your church and this land?’

So they went and found the body of one of the congregation who had recently died and brought it to the Lord. 

The Lord said, ‘Worship me and do not look upon the dead woman.’ 

So they looked at the Lord and praised and worshipped Him.  Whilst their eyes were focussed on the Lord, he stretched forth his staff, touched the dead woman and life returned to her body.  The people praised and worshipped the Lord with renewed faith and energy, confident that the Lord could do anything, even deliver Britain from the hand of the enemy and bring new life to the church and land.

That night the Lord said to the pastor, ‘Go into the centre of the city, to the main square and there make a bonfire of all the things the people worship.  So the pastor led  his church into the city centre. There they made a bonfire of televisions, DVD’s, CD’s, computer games, magazines, books, posters, football scarves and programmes, even computers, laptops and tablets. 

Then in the morning, the people said, ‘Who made this awful mess and has burned this pile of stuff?’ 

They investigated and found it was the pastor and his small church.  So they went and beat on the doors of the church and said, ‘Bring out your pastor.  We want to sort him out for burning all the things we hold dear and are important to us.’

The elders came out and said to the crowd, ‘What are you getting so worked up about?  If all these things are so important and marvellous, surely they will survive?  Let them contend for themselves and then we will see who is the greatest, these feeble things or God Almighty?’

The pastor sent around to all the churches in the city and surrounding area to gather in the local football stadium.  Then he said to the Lord, ‘If you will save Britain by my hand, please cause all the seats in the stadium to be wet but the grass dry.’  And that is what happened.  Every seat was soaking wet but the ground dry.    

Then the pastor said to the Lord, ‘Do not be angry with me.  Let me ask you one more thing.  Let the grass in the stadium be wet but all the seats dry.’  That night God did so. All the seats were dry but the grass wet.’

Early in the morning with all the people from all the churches gathered in the football stadium. The Lord said to the pastor, ‘You have too many people for me to deliver this nation from the powers of darkness into your hands. I don’t want you boasting that it was your prayers and your ideas that delivered Britain but the hand of the Lord. Tell the people that anyone who feels frightened and intimidated by the mission, or who really doesn’t think this is their thing may go home.’

So two thirds of the people went home.  But the Lord said to the pastor, ‘There are still too many.  I will separate them.  Let all those who have brought their Bibles stay but all who did not bring the Word of the Lord go home.’

So the pastor went amongst the people separating those that honoured the Word of the Lord from the rest.  Three hundred had a Bible and the Lord told the pastor he would use these people to save Britain.


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