Coming back

The transition to blogging has been harder than I expected. I often reject quick, bite-sized thoughts as I don’t think them interesting enough for a wider audience and my deeper thoughts I find hard to consolidate into brief bites. As a result I spend too long wondering how to write what I want to say by which point the moment has passed and the blog remains quiet.

Anyway, this is just a brief declaration that I am going to make a renewed effort to post some things over the next few weeks and from that maybe get better at this whole process.

Election night.

Another election, although this one feels different with the main party too busy pulling itself apart to notice the country at large. I like waking in the morning and hearing the news headlines of what’s happened. Tomorrow though, I am going to be listening to what has happened in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire as well as London, which is my area. I think Leamington Spa, which is in the heart of the country, could reflect the tone of the political landscape for the near future.

Martyrs for a cause

At university the unit that I found most interesting was Cultural Geography, the interplay of the land and the values and attitudes of those living on it. An example we looked at was the rise of gay politics and how that was linked to the establishment of ‘gay ghettos’. We learnt about the growth of the gay community in San Francisco as the gay community identified themselves with the Castro, a part of the city; “When gays are scattered they are not gay, they are invisible“. Financial power grew as the pink economy in this area supported itself and then ultimately political power was gained from the district with the election in1977 of Harvey Milk, the US’ first openly gay politician. However, the turning point for gay rights came when Harvey Milk was assassinated by Dan White the following year. 

Dan White was a church going family-values politician who opposed Milk over his promotion of gay values and the way that the land within San Francisco should be used (zoned). 11 months of opposition led to frustration, personal financial pressures and, according to his defense, depression. White went to the City Hall where he shot Milk and the Mayor in their offices before turning himself in to the police. He was tried and given a light sentence for manslaughter, which resulted in riots in the city as the gay community voiced their sense of injustice.

Killing Harvey Milk at the peak of his political power enabled the gay rights movement to move from a locally focused power base into an inter-national movement that has shaped much of Western culture. This shift started by a connection being created with the land in a significant place that allowed it to be grounded, but didn’t fully occur until blood was spilt on that ground despite the growing local financial and political influence.

Why this history? Well, I read about the killing of George Tiller  today, a man at the centre of the abortion debate in the US. He’s particularly controversial for being one of 3 in the US who perform late term abortions and a target of anti-abortion campaigners. Mr Tiller may not be considered a martyr for his cause in what is clearly an awful tragedy, but the shedding of his blood because of his cause makes him a martyr. In doing so it then gives spiritual power to the very thing that those who oppose abortion fight. I utterly condem his killing at every level but it counterproductive to say the very least. It has polluted the land, given power to the spiritual powers (cf. 2 Kings 3) and made the reality of battling abortion in the US much harder. We don’t fight flesh and blood for good reason.

Pushing the boundaries (and a bit of redrawing).

I heard on the radio today that there had been a security breach at Buckingham Palace. Journalists had gained access to the Queen’s transport by posing as businessmen. Following the journalistic tradition they were just testing the security to see if it was working. Past targets for this activity have included Heathrow airport and Parliament. Continue to look for boundaries being contested, whether by Gurkha’s to the UK, the public to information on MPs expenditure or as in my recent encounter – who has access rights.

We are in a time of change and re-positioning, and the effects of this are wide reaching. God may have positioned his people for what was coming next but sudden shifts have a knock on effect upon the plans the enemy may have had too. At a personal level this is true too. Our lives are about the unfolding of God’s plan for us and the world, something the enemy seeks to prevent. This opposition by its nature has to respond to a developing revelation of God’s purposes.

The enemy does not know where the new lines are going to fall and is putting out many feelers to identify areas of change in an effort to influence where new gateways are established and where new boundaries are laid. (I must acknowledge Chris Meredith’s thoughts on gateways here which have broadened my horizon of the topic.) We need to occupy this space and shape the lines of the new season now. We as intercessors are in a busy time and have work to do. Within the City where are greed and just reward going meet? Within Parliament where are power and servanthood going to walk? There are many other lines to contest at this time: security and freedom, church and state, people and government or tomorrow’s destiny and today’s fulfilment.

We also need to push boundaries. We are in a season of U-turns. Things which are fixed are becoming negotiatable. Things that have resisted change for a long time are being swept aside. We cannot afford to look at the longevity of a mountain and walk around it but need to see that all things can move at the right time. What doors do you need to open that you’ve not tried opening for a while? Push the boundary, redraw it if necessary and occupy it till He comes.

Is the door shut?

I woke myself up in the morning of May 12th by speaking in tongues at an unwelcome intruder. It was early, 4:12 to be precise and I had drifted out of a dream feeling a sense of alertness to observe my own bedroom door being opened and a hooded figure (quite like Peter Jackson’s black riders but minus legs and a horse) glide in. I knew I had to act quickly and told myself to speak in tongues which I did and it left and I awoke. There was no sense of lingering presence and I was quickly asleep again, although a little puzzled, as the intruder seemed to come without any context.

Trying to place a context for things is something that I always find hard. It is for me, or an area I’m watching over or something that I stumbled over?

For example, I heard the Lord speak to me about prisons strongly a few years back and I went to the extent of pulling a few strings to talk to people who work in prisons in London to find out what was going on. It was all quiet and normal, but the sense of urgency would not leave so I prayed for London’s prisons fearing that here would be a serious incident in one of them. A week later the Abu Graib jail abuse in Iraq hit the news – completely out of my context and subsequently off my radar. I did complain to the Lord that it seemed a little unfair.

So possible contexts for my intruder are -

1.  My sister was ministering in the States and was nearly involved in a serious accident that day, her husband in the UK had his car damaged on that day too. I had wondered if it was a spirit of death at the time. This made me wonder what my parents, who are tough prayer warriors, had been stirring. They denied speaking on the phone later that they had been doing anything likely to cause trouble for us (apart from the normal) :-).

2. Government – I often dream and respond to events related to the British monarchy and government. Royal deaths and weddings have been active nights for me! The date 5/12 and time 4:12 seemed to underline this. Timings have been a significant element of my dream activity. The developing shaking of Parliament is certainly significant, but relevant?

3. I met with a regular prayer partner this morning and he had woken from a dream upon hearing the doorbell. Someone was trying to get into his house and he was woken with a sense of indignation at the event. This struck a chord as the intruder seemed half-hearted at his attempt to creep in and gave up easily as if ‘he’ was just doing a recee.

4. A personal dimension? Always an essential context to consider, even if the other contexts apply.

I am still chewing this event over, but praying this morning I certainly feel that the enemy is putting out feelers to see where he could get a foothold or an entry point. In this time of high alert we need to be careful. Are the doors and windows of our lives locked? Are we giving any place to the enemy in what we do, watch or say? We cannot be careless at this time.

Alert level – high

I’ve entered a period of time over the last couple of weeks of hightened activity and felt a strong stirring from the Lord over words that have been dormant for a while.

Also to all you night watchmen – Awake! and expect fresh times with the Lord in the early hours. Personally, I’ve been woken at 4 something most nights this month much to my wife’s delight!

G20 in Excel, Docklands, London

I was reminded of a scripture today that I was given many years ago when I was a student in London. It’s worth a read and in the current context seems very apt (Read it here).

I’d been to docklands for the day (this was before Canary Wharf was built and it has the reputation it has now as London’s business home). Out of that visit the Lord spoke to me more widely about London from Hab 2:6-14. The docks which gave London its wealth literally brought in the plunder from the nations and I think have brought a curse on the land of violence, and exploitation for those who live or work there. We’ve seen in recent months the unravelling of the threads of Imperialism and this has to come home to Docklands where many of the current webs that affect our global relations and trade were spun.

I was reminded of all this today as I prayed about the planned G20 summit in the Excel centre  tomorrow. The Excel centre in Docklands is built upon the site of the Royal Victoria Dock which was London’s busiest dock during the Victorian Era (Empire). It has also been the place where for the last 10 years 10,000+ Christians have gathered every six months to pray through the night for the City. These fantastic meetings are mostly populated by the praying black pentecostal churches many of whose members are historically drawn from the colonies.  The most recent of these events was last week and I think they have being preparing the ground in that place.

So when we pray for the G20 summit we need to engage with the place as well as the people there to see the global shift we are looking for. But I’m excited as it’s a great place to to bring in change as the effects will ripple across the global financial and trading web.

Zimbabwe – Not giving up Hope, look to Kariba

Do look at my last post as it leads into this one.

I’d been musing over my hopes for 2008 as I went to pray with a friend early on Thursday morning. The biggest thing I feel disappointed about this year is Zimbabwe. My hopes have not been realised. I had hoped for change there, I had believed Mugabe would no longer be living in the country and as a result of the shift there something would open up for Africa. However, following my post yesterday I am not giving up on Zimbabwe and will make it  a major focus for prayer this month. I will connect my hopes for Zimbabwe with Faith and see change.

It was in this mindframe we prayed and about the cholera outbreak and the ‘death in the water’. The Waters are a particular emphasis of mine and I had not made the link before with the Zimbabwe crisis and as I prayed for the cleansing of the waters I was led to pray specifically for Kariba.

Kariba is the town on the edge of what is now a huge lake created by the damming of the Zambezi River.  The Zambezi flows through all the region’s nations and connects them I believe spiritually too. These water issues are often linked to violence and false authority and I started to see wider connections with the region’s problems and could see how a shift Zinbabwe is so key regionally and why it is so opposed. Kariba provides HEP for Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia and is a spiritual power centre for the region too. God gave us quite specific things to deal with and I believe as we dealt with this centre we have further untied the links that hold Mugabe in office. I am looking for the dancing in the streets I saw in March and have not given up hope.

I was pleased to hear later the same day a call from Kenya for Mugabe to be removed, that’s a first. Yesterday Bishop Tutu calls for his removal, by force if needed. I have always said that he must leave the country and this has been my Hope from the start. After this time of prayer we’ve seen a shift let’s fight to the finish line.

I little research later on confirmed much of what I was praying. There is a river spirit that is directly linked with the area and  building of the dam at Kariba (see here for article) and it was also interesting to note that Kariba has its 50 year Celebrations next week 11-14 Dec. Let’s make these days a focus for our prayers for Zimbabwe and this water issue.

Faith and Hope

I was arrested on Wednesday by a scrolling headline at the top of my Gmail account that read like this, “Emergency op to separate Faith and Hope”. I’d not heard about the conjoined sisters Faith & Hope Williams previously and the attempt to separate them.

2008 has been a year of Hope. The cry for change that I’ve bloged previously  has risen from hope. Hope ’08 within the UK has being a vehicle for Hope and Obama has written on the audacidty of hope. However, I felt two two things following this headline.

Firstly, Faith and Hope are to be united. There has been a move in society to look for hope independently from Faith. Faith without works may be dead but Hope without Faith is a false pipedream that will disappoint. We need to pray for a reconnection of Hope with Faith. In our conversations with people we need to link their stories of Hope to the reality of a Hope fulfilled through Faith in Jesus. Vision and Hope without Faith will disappoint; Obama is not the messiah people are looking for, Hope ’08 and the church’s efforts are only a vehicle and the cry for change in people’s souls will lead to dispair if it is deferred for too long. Let Faith arise!

Secondly, I felt challenged over my own hopes for this year. What had I Hoped for in 2008 to be opened and shifted? I must not allow those Hopes to die, but I needed to reconnect them with Faith and bring them from a future longing to a present reality. There’s 1 month left of the year, let’s run to the finish. I am not giving up my Hopes yet.

I was saddened to read of the death of baby Hope following the surgery. However, Faith lives on and will be in my prayers together with Laura, the 18 year-old mother and her husband.

Alert level and Mumbia

Following my post a couple of weeks ago I am coming off a state of alertness. Looking back it’s interesting that I quoted Psalm 91 following what some are calling India’s 911. I was born in Bombay and lived their for some years and it was shocking to see familiar places in turmoil. Picking up on the snare theme from Psalm 91 what has happened is also a snare for the region – as the movers and shakers have been shuttling between India and Pakistan this week the longer term impact of this may be far more geo-political than terror related. The use of terror to influence the political gate was effective in Madrid and a snare is laid here.

Moving on I’ve reduced the Alert level not just because we’re past the Mumbia bombings but more becuase I feel that December 1st was a date that brought a significant seasonal shift through the eddies and pressure that occur when moving from one seasonal flow (that of 2008) to the next.