Dreamlands! (Don't let go of your dreams!)

"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even n my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)

So this morning I awake at precisely 5.45 am.

I awoke with an incredible urgency.

I had been dreaming a dream, for what seemed to me like all night, and it had been a bit of a frustrating dream.

I dreamed that I was chasing a pearl. It was a giant shining pearl, beautifully translucent, smooth and perfect in its roundness.

It was about the size of a football.

I'd been chasing it all night. I so wanted to grab it, but every time I got near it, it would just shoot away from me into the distance.

As I opened my eyes at 5.45 am, my head was full of thoughts. Not a confusion of thoughts, but a crystal like clarity of voice speaking into my mind.

The thoughts had crossed the divide from sleep to being awake in a seamless progression.

The voice explained that the pearl represented the dreams and visions of people in the church.

Joel 2: 28-29 was also right there in amongst the thoughts.

I lay awake, partly because I didn't really want to get up, but mostly because my head was full of this dream. In this time, My thoughts travelled back to the last month or so. I've had the immense privilege of doing a bit of travelling and speaking in the first month of 2013. I have prayed and chatted with loads of people in that time, and I realised that what they were sharing with me had a common thread.

It was this.

They all wanted to share dreams with me.

I had one lady share a dream that she had to build an alternative venue for students to gather, a place that offered an alternative to the trappings of the student night club scene that sees so much tragedy and harm attached to it. Another lady shared with me this amazing dream of creating a social network for rurally isolated people to connect to a wider prayer community. I prayed with a guy who had a dream to convert his basement in his city apartment into a prayer room that would be accessible 24/7.

And there were many others.

I hadn't really thought about it as such.

But this morning? God brought it to my attention.

So much so that I felt I specifically had to blog it today.

Because.

In all of this common thread of people sharing dreams and wanting prayer for their dreams and visions, my attention was drawn to another common thread that seems to be occurring when people dream.

There seems to be a stifling of dreams going on.

From so called authorities, leaders, families. Friends, acquaintances, people who seem to think these dreams and visions aren't worth bringing to fruition.

Even though dreams and visions are really the only hope of true change in the church's approach as a response to the world in which we live.

Why do I say that?

Sounds a bit dramatic Gary?

Probably because the Spirit is being poured out on us.

A prophet of our time, said in recent years, that, "Jesus is the vision!" He's right.

All of the dreams and visions that have been shared with me, have all had justice and release at the heart of them. In other words they all had the unmistakable heart of Jesus in them. They were all aimed at helping a needy world.

All of them.

Jesus is the vision.

The trouble is so many people feel like they are chasing their dreams and visions.

And it frustrates the life out of them.

I knew that was what my dream was about last night.

The pearl represented the dreams and visions of Church in desperate need of release.

Release from the stiflers.

Those who would crush people's dreams like a nut in a nut cracker.

For what?

Only those who do that really sad stuff can answer that.

So here's the thing.

To the stiflers I speak this message.

Bless you.

But shift.

Move out of the way.

Move.

You are in the way.

Do the right thing.

To those who are chasing the pearl.

Stick with your dreams.

Share them, pray for them, pray about them, line them up with the living word of God, enthuse about them, do not let go of them.

People say the church is dying.

No.

God is pouring out his Spirit on us.

There are dreams in the hearts of the many.

The stiflers will never win.

Never.

So dreamers rise.

Sons and daughters of the King of Kings, prophesy, speak out your dreams and visions, fruition them. Pray them to fruition.

Never let go.

Church, we cannot chase the pearl (as it applies to my dream!) forever.

Grab it.

Build the change into our approach. Jesus is the vision, he is the change, and that dream you have, that exciting idea, that picture in your heart? Make it happen.

Take your dreams to a burnt out world and let our creativity be laced with the saving power of Jesus Christ.

It may mean the difference between life and death in every way for someone who needs a saviour.

Determination!

Shovelling snow ain't my thing.

Living in a village drives me insane at times, the City is only a matter of a couple of miles away and is relatively free from snow. My village, on the other hand, is completely whited out with deep cold snow.

Dawn and I had the car out of the drive this morning, We had to push it because it kept getting stuck in the snow as the tyres failed to catch the ground.

The frustrating thing was we can see the main road not fifty yards away.

That's clear of snow.

Here we are struggling to get the car out but a clear run is near and yet so far.

But!

We are determined to go to work.

Another day of kingdom opportunity.

Neither of us want to miss out on what God is doing.

All last week I have been preparing three fresh talks for the UK territories prayer warfare conference where I have to deliver three main talks.

The framework I have been given consists of this.

Know your enemy, the defensive strategy, and the offensive strategy.

I've been praying studying and seeking God for what he would have me say.

God put some stuff on my heart to do with the Armour of God.

It's been a tough working week, working with my head, my heart and my soul.

But shovelling snow at seven in the morning gave me picture of a new but vital weapon in the scheme of things in the spiritual battle.

Determination.

A bit of snow was not going to stop me this morning.

When the cold bit in, when the icy breeze caught my cheeks, when I had to clean the snow off the car, I could of easily thought, do know what, I'm going to ring in and say we can't get in, and opted for a warm fire and a bit of TV.

But our eyes were fixed on the work that we have to do alongside God on the mission field.

I have no idea what today will bring. Yeah, I've got a couple of meetings etc, but the rest of the time will be spent among the needy.

Brilliant.

Can't wait.

I'm writing this quickly because I have dropped in for a cappuccino before My work in the city starts today.

But it occurred to me how vital determination is in the spiritual battle.

Sometimes like this morning our lives can get bogged down and stuck and it becomes a struggle to get up and out.

Yet a clear road lies frustratingly near and yet seems so far.

But it's not really.

With a bit of determination we can fight our way out of the struggle and get on the clear road.

A verse from scripture God gave me to share with you today.

The righteous person may have many troubles, but The Lord delivers them from them all! Psalm 34: 19

Whatever your feeling today, or wherever you are, if there is frustration and trouble knocking around, then remember to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Because The Lord delivers us from ALL troubles.

Yes ALL!

Not a few, but all our fears and troubles and frustrations.

Arm yourself today with determination.

Determination will push back those forces that seek to disarm and disable us.

Determination will put us on the clear road to get to wherever we need to go today, spiritually, physically and mentally.

Blessings guys.

No hopeless case

In the run up to Christmas, in fact about a week before Christmas Day itself, we had a meal for the homeless and more needy people of Durham.

Lee, a twenty three year old lad who has alternated the last five years of his life sleeping rough or sleeping in a prison cell, was so looking forward to this meal and in fact not just the meal but his present too.

Lee, is a hardened criminal. Often he is a nightmare for the police and boasts literally hundreds of arrests, court appearances and convictions to his name.

He has had the most incredibly difficult upbringing and life. Rejected by his mother, his father has died and basically he has been left since about the age of ten to fend for himself.

He is street wise, street feared, and street tough.

He was released form prison two years ago from a violence charge, and came straight from there to us at Sanctuary 21. He has been in our building every day since.

He is an integral part of our community.

He is wild.

He is also a human being.

He is a child of God.

Lee never made it to the Christmas meal he was so desperate to be at.

I found out he'd been to court and they had sent him down for six months for another fight related offence.

We were devastated.

I knew how every day leading up to the meal that he had told me that he couldn't wait for his present.

He'd literally never really had one before.

After Christmas I was back at Sanctuary 21. I was in the cafe, trying to fixing a prison visit to go and see Lee.

As I was actually listening to the dialling tone leading to some phone in Durham prison office, in walks Lee into the cafe.

A massive beaming smile on his face.

I was praying he hadn't escaped!

"They let me out" he was shouting excitedly.

"Someone came to my cell this morning and told me I had a court appearance. And the judge cut my sentence and they let me go!"

I was so please to see him.

Then he said something devastatingly fantastic.

To fantastic to even feel true.

But it was true.

"Gaz" he said, "I did what you told me to do and I got on my knees in my cell and prayed!"

"Half the night!"

My heart swelled immediately.

"I prayed That God would get me out of jail. I told him I would go to church every week, if he got me out of here!"

I've got to say I'm not lost for words often, but this time? I didn't know what to say.

Lee then said he was coming to our service this week and wanted to know Jesus more.

There is a long way to go for Lee, but all the prayer our people have done, all the love shown to a young man with seemingly no hope, all the patience and all the advice including some real telling offs from people who want the best for him, have carried Gods saving power.

It's like a literal twenty first century Acts 12 occurrence.

The freeing essence of the Holy Spirit.

The literal power of prayer.

Lee on the surface of it seems unreachable, unteachable, even unlovable at times.

He seems like a walking no hoper.

Transformation seems an impossibility.

But.

There is no truth in impossibility where God is concerned.

There is no truth in impossibility where prayer is concerned.

Even though its hard to get our human heads around it sometimes.

It comes down to this.

In Gods eyes?

There is no hopeless case.

We are working hard to rescue Lee.

Armed with the knowledge that there is no hopeless case.

That knowledge completely changes how we look at ourselves and look at others.

No hopeless case.

I pray for us that we will understand that.

That our eyes of mission will be improved by having the ability to see others as Jesus does.

And that we would all constantly through our relationship with Jesus, continue to look to rescue the millions of Lees in this world through prayer and through action.

Blessings.