www.glasgowelim.org.uk
www.vccokc.org
www.shiloh-usa.org
www.fotb.com
www.nsrm.net
www.westminsterchapel.org.uk
www.alm.org.uk
www.ecf.org.uk
www.care.org.uk
www.actsparl.org
www.kingdomfaith.com
www.fgbmfi.org
www.aglow.org
www.elim.org.uk
www.hillsclc.org.au
BOOK OF THE MONTH: (July 'Trove'). "Fresh
Power", by Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, priced at £8.99
from Wesley Owen (UK). Published by Zondervan, this is an excellent book
I would recommend to anybody hungry for the deeper things of God. For that
matter, I also heartily recommend a good hearing of the Brooklyn Tabernacle
Choir for rich, powerful, and Anointed music. Details of their CD's and
tapes are available on their website, if you follow the route of either
"Cymbala" or "Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir" on your browser.
This is a wonderful book, easily holding the reader's interest and, nonetheless, presents a positive challenge. Did you know that God wants you to be sensitive to His Spirit? In the difficult times and in the good times we need to know the felt Presence of God in our lives, but what about those times when His Presence is not felt?
Does that mean God has stopped loving me?
Perhaps it is because I have done or said something wrong... perhaps not...perhaps it's only a test.
One thing is for sure, God has promised to never to leave us.
Our Salvation is by Grace only.
In plain man's terms that means Jesus has, by His Death and Resurrection fully paid for our wrongdoings in thought, word, or deed (sin), and Grace is God's favour which could never be deserved or earned. He loves to give Grace.
However, R.T.Kendall carefully reminds us by his book that God wants to have a quality relationship with us. For its own sake, as well as to make a difference in the world in which we live. We cannot live any more FOR God without His help, any more than we could live without Him. We need to be close to Him, close enough to hear His heart beat. Part of that process is becoming sensitive to His Spirit - sensitive to His Presence. That takes time.
It's about building relationship, getting to know Him. The advantage for us is that He already knows all about us, but loves it when we open our hearts to Him. R.T. uses the analogy between doves and pigeons to teach the difference between religious behaviour (which God does not need from us) and what genuinely pleases Him - that which comes from soft, sensitive hearts which seek to please Him. This is a book which also teaches how to cultivate intimacy with God. Isn't it true that intimacy involves becoming sensitive to the other person.
We take it for granted often that for any relationship, be it friendship or any other situation where people spend significant time together, that cultivating a sensitivity to the other is necessary for the relationship to work. If one party,"just does not want to know!" as it were, well, that relationship is not going to go anywhere. Developing sensitivity is not easy. We will make mistakes. God is so patient and loving with us, and will give us all the tools we need. Sometimes, some of the tools He uses are not what we would choose, such as suffering, not that He causes the suffering, but rather allows it. Take those unfair things that happen to us from time to time for instance.
Now "don't get me wrong" friend, I'm as human as the next person, and (not to my credit) can be guilty of "shouting the odds" as the next person when the going gets tough, "why are You allowing this situation to be like that Lord? It's not fair!" "Why does that person behave towards me so unkindly? What have I done to make them like that?" The Heaven's are "brass" to such questions. We war within for days, weeks, sometimes sadly, for years (unnecessarily)unless or until we decide to allow God to melt the bitterness. It is in such times, He can be a solace like none other. One of the other tools (I love this one!) is that He just draws near when He wants to sometimes.
R.T.Kendall asks the question, however, whether we are able to recognise the absence of the felt Presence of God. Are our human spirits sensitive to recognise when He has "flown". He never actually flies away, but the "sense" of His Presence can do so. Are we hungry enough to want this sense back, and how far will we go to achieve that? Could He have flown because we have been presumptous and ran ahead of Him? There are so many angles that this book can be read from (and I don't mean upside down either!).
Read what Alex Buchanan, a friend of Dr. Kendall's, stated in his foreword, "The book will show that the Holy Spirit is God. Not a thing, nor an influence. He is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. He has deep and passionate feelings. He is not merely touchy, but He can be deeply grieved by our insensitivity to Him. He cannot be whistled up when we want our meetings to be exciting. He is not only around to put us on the floor, or make us laugh. He does both very well, but He is out to convict us of sin and to lead us into holiness too".
"The Sensitivity of
the Spirit" is published by Hodder & Stoughton, very reasonably priced
at £6.99. Dr. R.T.Kendall is the Minister of Westminster Chapel, London.
He is the famous Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones's successor. **PLEASE DO PAY A
VISIT TO MY WESTMINSTER CHAPEL LINK, AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS "THE CHAPEL"
ON THE LEFT OF THIS SCREEN. SERMONS BY R.T. ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO.
***YOU WILL ALSO FIND AUDIO SERMONS BY R.T.KENDALL AND OTHERS ON PREMIER
RADIO'S AUDIO SECTION BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK:
PREVIOUS BOOKS OF THE MONTH:
discerning the mixture, (Spiritual & Natural) by David Tidy. See below by Kjell Sjoberg:
"This is a book that will prepare the way for the Presence of the Lord to be revealed in our lives. The Lord is going to fill the whole earth with His Glory, and He wants our bodies to be channels of His Glory. I have learnt that we always need to take time in preparation before we come into the Presence of the Lord, before we are ready to minister to people and lay hands on people, and before we ourselves are prepared, and have protection, for doing prayer warfare. In all preparation, we have to deal with the mixture in our own lives. This is a book of preparation. The Lord will take us from glory to glory, but the hindrance that prevents a breakthrough to a higher level of glory, that will change your life to be like Jesus, is the mixture that David sheds light on in this book."
the message, by Eugene Peterson. If you haven't availed yourself of this wonderful modern translation of the Bible either in the whole book (i.e. Old and New Testament format) or the New Testament paperback, then I wholeheartedly recommend it to you. the message is a helpful companion alongside the other main translations most used currently such as the NIV, NASB, KJV (AV). Preachers and teachers often like to refer to the message in sermons as it brings a modern day feel to old truths. Peterson has written numerous excellent books on Christian living, all such also recommended to readers hungry for growth in righteousness and effectiveness in the Last Days!
MUSIC (To be updated shortly)
For some great CD's check out Hillsongs for Darlene Czech's latest!
Friends of the Bridegroom (fotb) stock amongst many great names such as Matt Redman!
"The Treasure Trove" Editor's favourite of the month is "Alabaster Box" by C.C. Winans. This CD is dedicated, I believe, to hungry souls! The CD starts off beautifully by an unaccompanied solo with C.C. singing, "Fill my Cup Lord". Excellent modern Black Gospel music of a very high standard. Wholesome, exciting, moving and very refreshing! I'd recommend this CD to anybody!
"Get a Jump on Eternity!" featuring Ron Kenoly, Don Moen, Robin Mark, Paul Wilbur, Jami Smith, Sheila Walsh and many more...published by Integrity music. - Great fast moving powerful worship in some songs, and others more worshipful. My favourite is Don Moen's song on track 5, "I want to know You more"- this gripped me!
The above are stocked by most Christian bookshops. If you are in the U.K. one of the main Christian booksellers which have branches in most towns and cities is Wesley Owen.
www.wesleyowen.com