Friday, February 20, 2009

Back on the road...December '08


I get such a buzz out of walking with the Lord – it really is special - but there are one or two things to mention before recounting how we started Essex 2 out of Maldon – the first being the oil painting by Linda, which she gave me just before Christmas. I was so blessed by it.
The image is of a revelation she received from the Lord while we were praying in Grays. The birds are wild geese – the Celtic sign of Holy Spirit – wild and free – which are found all across the marshes of Essex. They have been honking with us most of the way around. The fire is lit around the borders and the backdraft blows into London.

Secondly, while in Dudley, we took to heart and spirit a word released by Marc Dupont (http://www.marcdupontministries.org/) over England. Interrupting the main speaker, Paul Keith Davis of White Dove Ministries (http://www.whitedoveministries.org/) Marc spoke of the Lion of England and of the incredible righteous passion he felt in the Body here.

He said that historically, the individual person had had a value here due to the Christian Celtic heritage but that since the rise of Darwinism, much of this individual value had been lost. (Did he realise, I wonder, that 2009 is both the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of publication of Origin of Species? Was he speaking into this knowing there will be much ‘Darwinism’ around this year?)

Marc went on to say that England has a key part to play and we should re-dig the wells to find Rehoboth, which means a ‘spacious or roomy place’ (Gen 26.22). This word was of great interest to me because Martin Scott (http://www.3generations.eu/) had prophesied as we crossed centuries that Romford (in Havering) was a Rehoboth place, a ‘roomy place’ (Rom-ford means ‘roomy place’). In October 2005, Martin further prophesied that ‘the well has been dug” and it was now a ‘well of fullness’ (Beer-sheba: well of sevens) with reference to the Havering area. Bring on the fullness, Lord!

Marc further said this year will be different from other years. God is opening up something in England of a new boldness, courage and pioneering spirit born from the ancient well of the Celtic peregrinati. He said the righteous heart of the lion and the artesian wells would release and manifest deposits of glory.

If there is a well of sevens in Havering, which sits in the Essex/London gateway, there is yet work to be done in calling for the water table to rise – perhaps even for the nation? Again, I cannot forget Sharon Stone’s (http://www.cieurope.org/) 2005 word about an apostolic mantle over Essex. We need to keep praying – and keep walking!

As you know, if you’ve read my earlier blogs, we have felt all along that the Lord is calling something of that Celtic spirit out as we walk the land. Lastly, my own Christian heritage is rooted with a prophetic group of people with a forerunner pioneering spirit. Yes, I was on the floor in Dudley, weeping, as Marc spoke. (I have attached what he said at the bottom, transcribed by me – please feel free to copy and paste but in its entirety and suitable acknowledgement to both Marc and Revival Fires in Dudley).

A couple of us walkers had been invited by Lion Lady Kathy Garda to walk in Wales in the ‘between’ of Christmas and New Year 2008/9 and much as we would have loved to be there, we felt a real call to walk again the flatlands of our marshes – Oh, how to describe the joy of walking the sea wall? The frozen grass struck our legs and broke like tiny stalagmites as the sun hazed onto sweet dark earth inland – it was like something out of a winter van Gogh! The brightness blurred the inland horizon, warming us, but the breeze from the sea shed cold air on our damp feet and legs and, as I squelched along in damp trainers, ducks skated on the frozen inlets. No adders at this time of year! They were all hidden below, snug in their holes waiting for spring.

Why trainers? My right hand boot had finally bruised my toe so much I couldn’t wear it, so I opted for trainers – and wet socks but as long as I kept walking…new boots now essential!

On the first day, Linda’s husband Nick had joined us as we left the small village of Steeple, on the south coast of the River Blackwater. I drove as we leapfrogged Nick and Gerry who were walking the mile or so from Stansgate Abbey Farm. Unfortunately, after Linda and I had started walking, I was so excited to be out again I completely missed the turnoff to St Peter’s Way and Linda and I walked for more than half an hour in the wrong direction before realising, sadly retracing our steps, before being collected and whisked thence to Maylandsea to the aptly-named Horny Toad cocktail bar where Gerry and Nick had been patiently supping on frothy coffee. We ate in the car and after lunch Linda, Nick and I set off around Mundon Creek towards Lawling and Brick House Farm, such a circular walk we almost met ourselves coming back! Nick was still raring to go but Linda and I were feeling a little tired and bruised, so at Brick House Farm, I called it a day (which it was, being 3 pm) - darkness fast approaching.

Finishing early that day meant we were ready for a longish walk the next and setting out from Brick House Farm, Linda and I knew this would be a long exposed walk around another set of marshy inlets. Gerry, bless her, had agreed to take the car to Maldon and walk to meet us. We had been around Maldon already so we could skip through the town, (despite the attraction of the Maldon Tapestry) and re-start at Heybridge Basin. Little did we know, Gerry had her own plans!

Again, the frozen grass was white under our feet and at one point the beauty of the marshes made tears well in both our eyes – or was it the freezing breeze off the frozen water? Yomping our way along, we rounded several stunning headlands (photos will appear below shortly) meeting just one lonely runner wending his way with his dog – both soaked but happy. We knew how they felt!

Burnt orange reeds topped our heads, echoing and empty in this season, but marking the path for a new year ahead. Pushing our way through their temporary jungle, the church tower of Maldon came into sight – only two headlands to go!

Gerry’s secret plan was that she’d found a path the other side of Maldon towards Heybridge Basin and felt inspired to prayerwalk that part - for which we were very glad. She would do that if we would meet her back at the Maldon front for lunch, which we did. She ferried us through Maldon in the car and we started together pushing out the other side to more wild country. I was delighted Gerry was able to carry that section for us as I want so much for her to be able to walk.

That last section resonates in my memory as special – the close of a winter’s day; cold silent boats shackled in freezing water to a frosty earth; a giant red sun setting in the west as we trudged round the end of the sluice towards Mill Beach trying to go as far as we could in the fading light but knowing we had to allow half an hour to get back.

This special feeling persists, despite a sickness that came over Gerry, leading us to wonder what was on the land – further prayer into this would be necessary for us all before we continued. Passing bijou waterfront flats and houses, beautifully situated even in winter, we rounded the empty reed-filled basin until finally we reached a flotilla of little yachts and met the eponymous elderly man with a golden Labrador. As the dog snuffled wetly around our feet and wagged his tail, we discovered there was a slip road where we could be dropped for the start of the next section towards Tollesbury Marshes.

Despite the near dark, we were all tired but happy – filled to the brim with beauty and fired up with the prospect of discovering more of God’s purpose for us walking this frontier country.
_________________________________________________

Paul Keith Davis & Marc Dupont
The Secret Place Conference Jan 2009
Dudley, Birmingham

A prophetic word for England

On the second day, in Session 5 of the conference, Paul Keith Davis was sharing and he stopped suddenly. He said the Lord was doing something:

“I don’t know what the Lord’s doing, something happened. When I stepped over here, something happened, something shifted. The room shifted. I don’t know if it’s on what I’m about to say or what I just got through saying but the Lord’s doing something. I really believe he is about to give some of you a Spirit of courage, a Spirit of boldness. This morning when I woke up - I know I promised I would finish what I started but I gotta be obedient to the rhema. This morning, as I was waiting on the Lord, he began to talk to me again about courage – about boldness. I can’t tell you how many times the Lord has told me – be a man and you ladies, that’s the same for you – you’re a son of the Kingdom, we’re not careless, presumptuous and flippant…I’m just talking about having courage! Courage is quiet, a quiet confidence…Jesus was meek but he sure wasn’t weak. He quietly walked in and demonstrated the kingdom.”

A few minutes later, Marc Dupont indicated he would like to share something and Paul Keith invited him to release it.

Marc said:

I’ve had a love and incredible passion for the nation of England – been coming a lot to England for about 20 years but ever since I was a little kid I’ve been fascinated with England and I’ve read a lot about England and am very familiar with a lot of the great English writers and also with a lot of the historical things about England; and England - despite all the jokes I make about the English empire being lost due to Nescafe and things like that – that there is an incredible – in a righteous sense (no nation is completely righteous – I’m very aware of that, being American) but there’s an incredible righteous passion that’s part of the heritage that God has given English people. One of the books I read about 20 years ago that made a huge impact on me traced about where England is today – it traced several things – it traced the rising of Darwinism and that up until about 125 years ago – even though there was lot of class distinction in the age of Victorianism and what not – the average person whether they were rich or poor in the UK were viewed to have a great value because there was such a strong Judaic heritage and that went all the way back to the Celtic missionaries and pioneers – the Celtic fire that God birthed at that time – the Celtic pioneers who spent years seeking the face of God and communing with God and then they would be released and go to various places throughout the UK - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales.

Everywhere they went there was not just radical evangelism with signs and wonders but all society would be transformed. They eradicated illiteracy; they taught about healthy marriages healthy families and life was transformed and that has been translated in many ways and received through the last thousand years or so – just a boldness upon the English people for exploration.

Now obviously there are some fine lines between nationalism and the Kingdom of God that can get muddled so I’m not saying everything’s from God but as the age of reason which was centred around the philosophy of man, particularly Darwinism, meant that man no longer had value because they were the creation of God - meant that as Darwinism – the “survival of the fittest” – began to rise up, the average person in England began to be seen has having little value. You were only of importance if you had title or wealth or political stature -something like that - and a devaluing began to creep in to English society.

At one time up until about 125/130 years, the English worker - for example, the English bridge-builders were considered to be the best n the world – if a bridge was being built in Italy or Germany, they would bring over an English builder because there was just such a competency and such vision and endeavour.

But when Darwinism began to come in and people began to take their eyes off the person of God in a national sort of sense, a pessimism began to come in as a result of that and when World War One hit – the aftermath of that is that so many – I don’t want to say this in an absolute sense - but so many of the cream of the crop of the young men of England that were going to impact the future generation just lost themselves and just died there in the battlefields of the poisonous gas and the onslaught – just getting out of the trenches and charging the enemy and although it wasn’t quite that bad, something similar happened in World War Two.

But I have felt for years that England has a very very key part to play. It’s just like the ancient wells – even though the wells of Abraham managed to be covered over by the Philistines, it came God’s time to re-dig the ancient wells. And the first time it was re-dug, the enemy managed to steal it; and the second time; but the third time they hit an artesian well and it became a broad watering place. The word is Rehoboth and it just came up - it wasn’t striving, it wasn’t lowering the buckets to work it – it was an artesian well - because they hit a deep underground water that began to spring up as they uncovered that deep underground well of Abraham.

And I believe with all my heart (I’ve had a number of prophecies about this) I believe that right now in this year 2009 – and this church is one of the key churches that’s part of this - there are a number of them, a number of fire centres, a number of kingdom resource centres throughout the UK - this year is going to be different from any almost other year in ministry.

It’s not just a year for having good conferences not just a year for coming to have some apostolic words and prophetic experiences or even healings and not just a year for sending out on missions trips internationally.

There is something that God is opening up in England that’s part of your heritage – not out of nationalism - but out of the spiritual heritage that God has given the English people to go to the ends of the earth - but right here in England itself with the fire of God and there is a boldness and courageousness in the Holy Spirit - and this is a such wonderful place for that because this church has invested itself as well as everything else into healing and evangelism and knowing the voice of the Lord.

It has given itself over to the Father heart of God – as it says in 1 John 4.18 – perfect love casts out far and Deut 28.1 – “…with the unrighteous fear will come upon them but the righteous shall be as bold as a lion…” and I don’t have time, I don’t want to take too much time away from what God is giving Paul Keith but the Lion Heart of Judah is being restored to the saints in England and there are some tremendous wells God is going to open up this year!

And Paul Keith, you were just mentioning about this transition from Moses to Joshua and I know that’s a huge part of what you stand for – the Lord said to Joshua as he began to take that mantle and it came time to cross over “Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land I swore to give them; only be strong and courageous to do everything according to the law” and we would say the leading of the Holy Spirit.

And Paul Keith there is something at this time for the Body of Christ in England. It’s not just another year with a few more good conferences and evangelism and healing but something is being released unto great fruitfulness and I believe God is zealous for the deposits of glory and for the character of Christ he is calling for the people of England to exhibit. Part of that is so typified by Winston Churchill who was a prophetic voice in the 1930s – he was saying ‘we have to get geared up, we have to get geared up, we hve to get prepared’ and everybody said ‘No, no, it’s a time of peace, of lasting peace’ - actually he was prophetic. When war broke out, he believed so much that was his message – it wasn’t just his strategies – he believed in England, he believed in their heritage and the English people.

When I travel most of my ministry is outside the United States and I never come to represent the US - it’s the Kingdom of God but as a representatives of the Kingdom of God, I want to say to you there are deposits of glory that also called to exhibit the character of Christ with gentleness but also with the authority of boldness but to see the Lion of Judah manifested. This is England’s time. This is England’s time and the Lord would say to you

“Focus on your nation and what God has called historically over the generations because its going to begin to emerge now in the Spirit.”

Paul Keith
We release that now in the spirit - there was really something on that.

Marc
There are 2 different prophets - Isaiah and Amos – who when God speaks said “Who cannot but hear?”

In Isaiah 42.9: “Before a new thing springs forth, God will proclaim it to you” - he wants sons and daughters who are led by the Spirit. In Amos 3.7 “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret counsel to his servants the prophets. A lion has roared who will not fear it? The Lord has spoken - who cannot but prophesy? The righteous shall be as bold as a lion…” it has nothing to do with religious legalism but has to do with being right with God and being led by the Spirit.

Stand.

Prayer: If you would, put a hand over your mouth but not so tight you can’t speak - but would you repeat after me?

Father God, you are God Almighty. You love my nation because of your grace and mercy. Here are we! Raise up a Joshua company that will go forth in the boldness, the compassion and the Lion Heart of Judah throughout this nation. Here am I - send me. Jesus, I want to carry a shield and a sword in the spirit to champion you to my nation. We just speak an impartation of the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

I had an idea yesterday that I’m not sure is from God but I think it’s from the Lord. I think the Lord is going to gather some of us – I just want to throw this out to you, Trevor (Trevor Baker of Revival Fires). I think some of us - maybe you and I are supposed to be part of this – go to the four different extreme corners of this island – from the very south, to the very west, to the very north, to the very east, to the very ends – and I believe we are supposed to make prophetic and apostolic declaration now I believe this is the time for this nation.

Trevor, there is a favour upon you from the Lord for building relationship and there is going to be a non-religious gathering of relationship – I’m not talking about just conferences.

Four years ago the Lord gave me a word - I sent it out to a lot of leaders in England but the Lord is breaking up the old regime and hierarchies – even of the movements from the ‘60s and ‘70s. There is a changing of the guard happening and what God is establishing now is not bound by even being in the same network or even working together a lot, but it is a heart to heart Jonathan and David life-giving relationships in the apostolic and prophetic and I believe the Lord is calling you, Trevor, to be a catalyst in that and bringing together, not in a formal way, but in a heart way, a Holy Spirit way an apostolic proclamation over this nation and great light – even as the first example in the Bible of the Father speaking and light coming forth – there is going to be an apostolic and prophetic proclamation this year and maybe this thing of south, north east and west is a part of it I don’t know.

But there is going to be a gathering and you’re going to find a favour upon you to gather an apostolic prophetic event and some of them may be guys in their 60s and 70s and older and some may be quite a bit younger - but there’s going to be a favour upon you for gathering this. When the Lion roars, who cannot fear and when the Lord speaks who cannot but prophesy? This is the year.

The Lord says “The spiritual heritage he invested over 1500 years ago of fire and boldness out of intimacy of the Lord and out of humility before man and walking in the leading and the power of the holy spirit that is going to be manifested and restored to the church in England.”

(Transcribed directly from Track 3, Session 5 CD, with some minor alterations for written sense. Jane Almond 7.2.09)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Back on the road - I like that. Feels like this is a good time for that. There has to be an unlocking of the land - boundaries have to be walked and bounldaries have to be crossed. Walked to hold what has been gained and crossed to open new paths.

Hope the trainers are kind to you!!