Get ready! It's harvest time.

When my arthritic joints complained loud and long about jogging, I took up swimming. After several months of enjoying the space of a large open-air pool, with a change of season to chillier weather, I have now started swimming at our indoor pool.

Recently I went down early to swim my lengths and found the whole pool fairly full with people intent on swimming their own lengths. There were no lane markers, just a free-for-all.  Everyone had their own space which they were relentlessly occupying and I struggled to fit in. I only really got a space to swim, instead of dodging round everyone else, when some people finished their swim. It reminded me of how church can be.

There is much talk of our being on the edge of breakthrough, that there is a sound of harvest in the air and my concern is how we are going to make room for a harvest or a significant influx of new people into our midst.

Unfortunately too many churches are like the swimming pool. Everyone is busy in their own space and no one is prepared to move over to make room for anyone else especially newcomers. It is a well-known fact that in all churches, traditional and new, everyone has their favourite place to sit. It may no longer be my pew but it is my row or my seat. How will we react if someone else sits there? How will we feel if instead of having a spare seat next to us, someone new and dare I say it, maybe not smelling so good, sits next to us?

However it is a lot more than just where people sit.

Harvest and great moves of God mean new Christians, lots of them, people who have no idea how things are done in church. Will we be the people who welcome them, not just with a superficial greeting but with a genuine invitation to join us? Will we talk to people and help them feel at home?  I loved going to a church in New York who not only welcomed visitors but also explained what was happening and why. It was very refreshing.

Harvest may also mean we are going to have to dust off our discipling skills both individually and as churches. Jesus said “go into the world and make disciples …’ He didn’t ask us to just make converts.  Discipling is a messy, time consuming process. New Christians need a lot of attention and I have always been very grateful to the people who discipled us in our early days.

In previous years, most people in Britain had a basic understanding of Christianity and the church. Our British culture was based on it. Most people would go to church once or twice a year – it wasn’t a complete unknown. Nowadays though many people, even those brought up in UK, have no idea at all about Christianity and the Church. Many may become believers from other cultures and even from other faiths.  Churches, no matter their worship or service style, have a very definite culture.  An awful lot of people in Britain today will have no idea about that culture and will need help feeling at home.

Newcomers to church need to feel they have friends, people who like them. If we are too busy in our own friendship circle with our own ministry to speak and live lives with others, people will slide out the back door as quickly as they came in the front.

At our prayer meeting this week, we were challenged about how harvest will impact us as a church and as individuals. My feeling is that now is the time to start thinking about this topic and change our own mind-sets and heart attitudes. How are we as individuals and churches going to build a welcoming attitude of openness and help people feel at home? We can also, as churches, start considering how we are going to disciple people and with what resources. This will need to be across the ages not just for adults.

This is not the first time this topic has come up in my Christian lifetime and I suspect the Church missed something previously. We just did not get ready. I really do not want to have to walk this circuit again so my prayer is that I, my church and the Church will prepare both our hearts and our programmes for the breakthrough and harvest we have been praying for for years.

Ready for action

I make known the end from the beginning,

    from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say, “My purpose will stand,

    and I will do all that I please.”

From the east I summon a bird of prey;

    from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose.

What I have said, that I will bring about;

    what I have planned, that I will do. Isaiah 46: 10 – 11

All through the book of Isaiah, God tells the people that he is in charge of history; that the events unfolding and about to unfold before their eyes are not random happenings or the plans of men. He makes plain that what is happening is at his instigation. The Assyrians were a terrifying people who took all before them and yet the Lord says he has summoned them. In fact in Isaiah 5: 26 he says he whistles for the nations to come and they do! The Israelites and all the surrounding nations would have thought that Assyrians were unassailable. They were the dominant nation and yet Isaiah foretells their downfall.

It is as if someone prophesies the downfall of USA today. It seems unbelievable but we live in unbelievable times. Who would have foreseen the overthrow of communism on the planet and the iron grip of the USSR broken over the countries of Eastern Europe and yet in happened in such a short time? Who would have thought that some of the Arab countries would see the overthrow of their seemingly entrenched leaders?

Yet these events have been foretold. In 1896 a scholar, from reading the Bible, foretold both the rise and fall of communism before any nation was communist and made reference to what turned out to the First World War (AGS Consulting website). One incredible prophecy was from the lady who in May 1997 told us: …  this shall be a sign, that there will be a day very soon when the whole nation will mourn. And the whole nation will put flowers in their cities.” At the time no one in UK knew what it meant but by September, its meaning was obvious. Princess Diana had been killed in a car crash and the nation was covered in flowers.

Jean Darnall’s prophecy for UK given at least 40 years ago of fires being lit from Scotland to Land’s End and into Europe seems very relevant now. God spoke to her about young people reaching out and of ordinary believers being used to evangelise with signs and wonders following. That is exactly what is happening at Cwmbran in Wales and other places right now. (These prophecies can be found at the Crossrhythms website).

However fascinating though the prophetic is, especially in hindsight as we see that which was foretold coming to pass, God does not tell us these things to entertain us. He first of all tells us so we can know He is God and in charge of world events. Secondly he wants all men to turn to him.

In Isaiah’s day the Jewish nation was backslidden and in idolatry. God wanted the people to return  to him, the only source of their personal and national security. It is the same today. God is still looking to see everyone saved and he wants the church prepared and ready for what he is doing. It is like he is shaking the church awake through the prophetic so they are ready for action when God moves mightily by His Spirit. The prophecy about Princess Diana went on to say: 

For I am at work in this nation and I will bring this nation to it's knees before me and they will know the joy of their salvation in the mighty risen Lord Jesus.… Therefore let the rivers of living water flow from within you and know that you will have many opportunities from this point to speak of my grace, to speak of my love, to see in action my Spirit at work. Know that I will be with you in that and you will see the miraculous.

That is what is happening in UK today. God foretells events so we can know he is God, know he is in control, turn to him and be ready for what He is going to do in our midst. Do not let us be the generation that missed it but the people who grasped the moment and ran with it.  God is on the move – let’s be prepared and ready. 

Salvation for our families

At one time we were too foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done but because of his mercy. He saved us by the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Titus 3: 3 – 6

Today I feel a real urgency to renew our efforts in prayer and intercession for our loved ones who do not yet know the love and kindness of God for themselves. There are angels battling for their souls because God will never give up on anyone till their dying day. He desires that all know him and come unto salvation (I Timothy 2: 4).

This year 4 people that I know have died unexpectedly. Three knew the Lord and one may have made a commitment on their death bed. None of these four were particularly old and though not in good health, none were expected to die as soon as they did. The point is we do not know when we are going to die.

It can be very hard to talk about our faith to our family but we can be a great witness by our lifestyle and by the unconditional love that we show those nearest to us. Most of our family will know only too well what we believe and we do not need to reinforce it. In fact some families have broken relationships caused by heavy handed attempts to evangelise them. What everyone needs is unconditional love and acceptance not unfavourable remarks on their lifestyle. (I do need to say that does not mean accepting abusive situations or substance abuse).

The other thing we must do is pray and not give up praying whatever the evidence or lack of evidence of answers to our prayers. We must pray against the deception and lies of the enemy. We must pray for our loved ones to receive revelation of God’s love and wonderful plans and purposes for their lives. Finally we must pray for Christian witness from outside the family to be shown to them.

I am convinced the devil wants us to give up or become discouraged in praying for the salvation of our families and friends. Let’s renew our efforts today till we see our loved ones saved.