self driven revelations

This was shared with Matt McGaw and inspired him to come to Canberra, Australia.

"The church in Canberra is in need of genuine fellowship"

However, his report is that after speaking with two or three local churches he gave up and decided to develop his own congregation.

Why?  Because those he spoke with did not want to take up the revelation

What happened when others who did support him approached him?  He told them he was not interested in working with them.

Unfortunately this is sometimes the way when God speaks to those willing to hear him, not all are willing or capable of pursuing things his way.  They come with agendas and therefore filter the world and the people in it.  

It is difficult to understand in situations such as this how people can claim to desire genuine authentic fellowship but feel rejected by those who do not want it and reject those who do.

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equipping the church

These are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
(Ephesians 4:12-13)

It was Saturday (daytime). I was standing out front of a facility that combined the Australian Institute of Sport (A) and Canberra University (B) (see figure below). Though Sunday church services were still held here, albeit with smaller attendances, already half the seats were full with couples, singles, groups, kids, and older people. Many others continued to arrive, and some by bus. The region people walked through was similar to walking from College Road through the Canberra University car parks onto the campus.

 

Now, while the pastor was preaching, it was unclear as to whether a guest speaker was present or not. In the crowd someone spoke of how many were from the Christian City Church Belconnen; led by Nick at a Pub.  A red haired lady inquired where I was from, to which I responded: “I started at CCC Dickson PM, then CCC Kaleen (night and day), and now this is my home.”

details

• This was indeed the history of my church attendances at the time, but I had never spent time at this location
• There is  a man named Nick who heads the CCC Belconnen group.  It's location is next to door a pub
• Plan is to go speak with this group (date 28 April 2012)

application

Be confident! Being part of the Church of Canberra is a destiny of greatness. God intends that we integrate into a complete body: equipping people in both mind, body and soul, to be mature disciples who can discern and apply the abilities they are given.

• Encourage people to pursue the work God calls them to do
• Release apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers so they would, together, equip people to achieve such work (this is why they exist)
• Persist until there is oneness in faith and knowledge in Jesus
• Persevere until God’s people has attained maturity as measured by Christ

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rope, window, wall

Location ... Canberra bus interchange waiting for bus to work

Saw three images in quick succession as if overlayed with the real world...

1. A rope or cord, twined red and gold, dropped from the sky, remaining connected mid air, but enough to rest upon the ground.

2. A window sill of a red brick building.  The sill was rounded.  Along this and others was a golden seal so as to prevent air from entering or exiting as a draft.

3. A panelled white wall caused a closure between the pulpit and congregation seats. 

Both sides were empty before and after the wall appeared.  The exact location of the wall was immediately behind the front row.

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God's heart: an overview

introduction

We are confronted with a choice: feed our own personal desires or align ourselves with God’s purposes. Are you fighting for your own rights, preferences, opinions, and visions or those of God's? Are you, are we ready and able to do as God requires? (Preparing the Army of God).

Currently, the church is fragmented. It recognises itself as a single unified people in theory only. Christians identify themselves more with where they meet and who they meet with than Christ himself. Listen to how people talk, "Which church do you belong?", "My church is ...", "Are you (insert denomination)?"

Protestant or catholic, pentecostal or charismatic, traditional sunday service or home church. There are so many denominations, movements, and gathering types that it is hardly worth counting. Style, social connections, revelation, doctrine are just some of the building blocks of these differences.

Does God care about any of this? Should we?

The following is a summary of a series of dreams and visions I have had. Whether or not they mean anything is for you to discern. See the links for details.

compassion and oneness

The boundaries separating people from one another will crumble, both within and between churches/parishes as well as between church and community.

preparation and empowerment

God's people being realigned by, with, and to God’s heart and purpose

implications

God desires to transform us from being a scattered people without hope into a nation, called by the his Spirit, protected, equipped, and able to follow command. What does this imply? (scattered bones: Ezekiel 37:1-14)

• Are God's people scattered today?
• Yes or no, what does God reveal about being gathered as one people?Is it fair to question the hope the church has?
• What are the implications of not being protected, equipped, and able to follow what God asks of us in the context of church (local or otherwise)? For who?
• We need to acknowledge our beliefs and actions, and where needed, apologise, seek forgiveness and pursue God's.
• We need to let go of self-oriented identity and engage in an identity in Christ.
• We need to accept responsible for our own choices, actions, growth and stop passing it over to others.
• We as a people have been presented to God the Father as complete, not with the burden of intimidation, but acceptance.

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life in a city church

Saw a beshabbled woman in a prison cell.  Her hair wild.  Her fingernails long.  She was picking at the scales of the bars.  However, these scales were not paint or rust.  The scales were like dried mucous or pus, hers she had once put there but now spent her time picking and flicking off.  Yet her mind was not even focused.

Josh claimed a desire to have a local church with global outreach.  There is a desire for Canberra commitment.  Yet there is an issue of recognition, connection to a specific core group due to fears of people doing things properly and not getting messy.  The other matter is that our central connection is Christ not an original group.

That would ignore our history and origins, trying to recentre it around us.  The other is what is properly?  Implies lack of trust let alone equipping and freedom.

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the dry bones live

A montage of Canberra’s Heart visions entered my sight, concluding with the small central grey building. Drums played atop it, calling “Wake up! Wake up!” causing its foundation to quiver and shift. Then as I watched, it was encircled by scattered bones.

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YWAM

Youth With A Mission (YWAM)

To whom it may concern,

I hope this letter finds you and yours well.

The following information is something I believe I heard for the people of YWAM.

The request was for us to please read Paul’s letter to the church of Ephesus.  And as such, it was my understanding that the foundations of the ministry, which is YWAM, have shifted.  The need to equip remains.  But the apostolicness is to increase.

What does this mean?  Basically my understanding is YWAM is (or was in 2005) primarily acts as a ministry which invites people from afar to come and learn how to be missionaries or add to their ‘tool kit’ of being a missionary.  However what I am hearing is a call to, for example, increase

• from being a ministry of teachers to one of empowering a missional community
• from inviting students to a centralised base to going out to where people are
• from teaching those with a call to empowering those who have been called, even before they themselves know they have been

It is not my intent to suggest that you are not already doing these things.  Not at all.  Simply to encourage you to continue seeking God in all manners relating to Him and His Kingdom.

If you would like to question me on any of what was shared here, I would be more than happy to make myself available for you: benfam@gmail.com

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it is done!

The Spirit then stood atop Parliament House, warmly calling an increasing number of lights to comfort and lift up those who do not know Jesus. I asked where He wanted our new building built. His response was that there was only one House God desired in this city.

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