Loosening up

I’m sitting at my Grandmother’s house in Southern Scotland, with the snow outside the window beginning to thaw.  It’s a wet and dreary day, shrouded in mist.  The branches of the trees at the bottom of the garden hover against a white veil, gesturing beyond the visible world.  A little picture of prophecy perhaps.  Revealing truth we can’t see in the present, and pointing beyond this time into the mists of the future!

Anyway, enough description of my surroundings!  Just over a year ago I felt a strong urge to ask God about his purposes and plans beyond my immediate situation and community.  I’m going to post a few entries over the next month or so describing the different things that I saw and heard towards the beginning of this time.  I’ll also throw in a few of the corresponding words that have been reported to me by those I’ve shared these prophecies with.  (At the same time we’ll also be posting some of what we’ve heard more recently... it all ties together!)  As ever, please weigh what you read.  And be encouraged, as Aaron said in his last post, Aslan is on the move!

First up I’d like to describe a word I had whilst sitting on a train pulling into London Bridge. I asked God what He had for the Church in this country, and was surprised with the immediacy and clarity of the phrase that dropped into my mind: “Release, release as one from grave-clothes”.  

This reminded me of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (read the story in John 11).  After three days in the tomb Lazarus walks out alive but constricted, “bound hand and foot... and with his face wrapped in a cloth”.  Jesus commands those nearby to, “loose him and let him go”.  

This seems to me to describe the current position of the Church in this country.  The new life that has been granted to the Church in the last two or three decades is plain to see.  I sometimes think of my generation as the first ‘children of the renewal’, growing up (at least in our teens) in churches where the Holy Spirit’s work is sought after and celebrated (I’ve even heard the resurgence of parts of the Anglican Church referred to as ‘Operation Lazarus’!).  But what still lingers of the things that characterised the Church when it was dead?  What of that era still holds us back?  Are there grave-clothes constraining the Church in its sight, movement and ministry?

We need to ponder these questions.  Let’s be disciplined in measuring our church’s way of life against the yardstick of Scripture and the Spirit, not the yardsticks of our own experience.  And let’s be prepared to discard those things in our structures and practices that don’t measure up.  I'm not talking about a mechanistic 'out with the old, in with the new', but rather a discerning weighing up of the way we think, act and organise ourselves against Scripture and the Spirit.  Let’s ask God to bring release.  

Incidentally, a few months after receiving this word, I had a picture along similar lines.  It was of a bird shaking out its wings before swooping off.  It was ‘loosening itself up’, shaking itself out before it could fly freely.  God’s Church will soar again... let’s loosen up.

What's in a Name?

I love names because names are often linked to destiny. 

Throughout the Bible people's names are often prophetic insights to the character and calling of the life that will follow. Some obvious examples include, "Emmanuel," meaning "God with us". "Jesus," meaning "God saves". "Israel," meaning "Struggles with God". "Abraham," meaning "Father of nations". "Peter," meaning "Rock". And so on - the list is endless. And so with such importance being placed on names by God throughout His Word, Rich and I also felt it was important that God would give us the right name for this blog. As we chatted and prayed, it seemed that God was taking us on a journey to discover our name and as it turns out, also what He was calling us to do.

After starting with the name "Electric Pylons" based on a prophetic word we'd received about a network off prophets being aligned together, Rich and I were still left unsettled.  Unbeknown to me, Rich was praying God would give me the right name for the blog. Unbeknown to Rich, I was dreaming of a better name! And so with some prayer and dreaming thrown in to the mix and after hearing a prophetic word about the year 2011 being the year that the Lion roars (2011 - The Year the Lion's Roar), the name "The Lion's Mighty Roar" was born. 

But we soon discovered the journey didn't end there. Just two days after the work started on the blog, we received a text from a friend saying the following, "I had a picture of a lion roaring and it was not where you were. But you heard it and went to where it was. I felt like the roar was a picture of Jesus and God was calling you to hear what He is doing and point people towards it." We were excited. The Lord was in this and was giving us His blessing. He was giving us a name and He was giving us a call. We pray that what started in prayer will continue in prayer and as you and we read through these entries that we would all hear the Lion roar. Aslan, as they say, is on the move. And Shakespeare? Well it turns out there's a lot in a name.

Prophecy and Hope

Rich writes:

The last year has, in part, been a journey of rediscovery for me.  Finding out what I'm made for and understanding the passions and desires that God has put in my heart.  I often think of Eric Liddle in Chariots of Fire, 'when I run I feel God's pleasure'... what makes me feel truly alive?  (Ask me if you're interested!)

But yesterday I found out that I didn't get a job that seemed to fit with these things, plus a few prophetic words into the bargain.  It came at the end of a hard week in my current job, and after a long wait.

I'd been successful at the paper sift and had a pretty good interview. It felt like God was 'in it'.  But I came second overall, and there are no silver medals in a candidate selection process!

So how am I coping?  There's always a choice: hold on to the promises God has spoken, however ridiculous it seems, or step back from the edge and cast around for another Comforter.  The key for me has been a prophecy given to me a few weeks ago, by someone who knew nothing of my situation.  She talked about new horizons and opportunities opening up, God creating the space for me to grow, and transplanting me into a new space.  It all fitted so well with the other words I've been given.  And of course, it's reassuring that she didn't know me at all.  It could only be God.

Perhaps unfortunately, the clinching final line of the prophecy was as follows: 'shaping and sharpening through current circumstances'.  Ouch.  Failing to get the job felt more like a hammering than a shaping or sharpening, but perhaps I'm not as easy to shape as I thought.

One final thought, regarding God's timing.  Waiting is difficult for me because I'm impatient and in this case I also really want to leave my current job.  What if it takes another six months?! (It's already been almost a year of waiting.)  But then again, my (human) Dad wisely pointed out that Simeon had to wait an awful long time to see God's Messiah (read the story in Luke 2).  The Holy Spirit reveals to him that he'll see God's Messiah in his lifetime.  And he does, but not as the power-wielding, miracle-performing Healer and Teacher.  No, just as a baby in the temple.  Who knows how long he'd waited, but he knew it when he saw it, and was full of joy.  Why did God make him wait?  I don't know, but it's kinda comforting all the same.