There’s this ‘thing’ we refer to as the presence of God. I’m not sure if there is another way of labeling it or a more clever turn of phrase to correctly describe it. But then again I like the phrase the presence of God: that’s exactly what it is. It does what it says on the tin. It’s when God is near, it’s when God feels closer than the air in a steam room. It’s when all this talk about ‘it’ becomes talk about ‘Him’. And if we believe that God is not dead but alive, it is the most precious ‘commodity’ we have. When Jesus left earth to be with his father again he said that he would leave his ‘spirit’ with us. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost, our comforter. It’s the ‘spirit’ that breathes life into the law. Now, laws are good but we know from the whole of human history that no one can keep them all. The law is just half the story – that’s all it can only ever be. The ‘bestsellers’ – the ones that have the whole story -  always have the ‘spirit’ imbedded in the plot. It’s in the presence of the living God that we are convicted of our sin. It is there that we realise how it’s good to have boundaries, that it’s good to stay out of trouble, that it’s good to not pick the apple off the tree. It’s when we make the choices to obey the law in the light of ‘his face’ that we start to understand freedom. I am enthralled by the story of Moses and the moment he heard the very voice of God coming from a burning bush. God always speaks in the most unusual of places and here was Moses taking his sandals off next to some tumbleweed that was on fire but not actually burning! [A complete aside: I wonder if I’ve ever appeared to be on fire but not been ‘on fire’, so to speak.] Anyhow, the thing that got Moses’ attention was the very ‘presence’ of God.After realizing he was in the company of his maker he asked him a simple question. “Who shall I say has sent me?” “I AM WHO I AM”, “I AM has sent me to you”.  Enough said. In the last 20 years we have had a revolution in the way we present ourselves as church. When I was a kid I remember the first time I asked if we could have a drum kit in the evening service and whether I could play a ‘real’ guitar, the kind you plugged into a Vox AC30. The organist, a very sweet lady, thought that everyone had gone to the ‘dark side’, but to be fair to her she soldiered on believing that without her the sound would be ‘dull’. Nowadays it is commonplace for there to be Coldplay sound-alike worship bands all across the world playing modern hymns on a Sunday morning. I love it, I celebrate it and I think God loves it too. I also think God loves the creativity. Skinny-fit jeans for socks and sandals, sculptured haircuts instead of comb-overs, tattoos for rainbow straps and ‘church news’ on a video screen the width of Tower bridge. I love it all.  But I sometimes get nervous. I worry that we don’t need God anymore. We don’t feel the need to take our shoes off. Do we really miss him these days? After all our church meetings have become ‘perfect’ now, we have learnt how to ‘do it’, we have got the thing down at last.And anyway, who needs God when we can sing ‘Historymaker’ to make us feel good underneath the new lighting rig?  I am not a cynic, I am part of the problem. We have led ourselves to believe that these things will attract the ‘non churched’ or make Jesus ‘cool’ again to a post modern secular society. I’m sorry if the ‘show’ ever got in the way of the ‘nooma’. Humans want to be loved not impressed. I am glad of the pioneering spirit that has taken church into a new century but we must never forget the most powerful thing we have, our distinctive, our joy our prize… the presence of God.  Let’s not retreat into old nostalgic patterns but keep pushing the creative boundaries, but in it all let’s know deep in our bellies that ‘apart from you, we are nothing’ We can have ‘everything’ but nothing if we leave God at stage left. Even Wayne Rooney can’t score from the bench. God wants to be involved, to breathe life into people, to heal cancers, to open blind eyes, to help someone out of debt or help them through the pain of betrayal.  He can take our ‘foolishness’ and make it great. He can live in the chaos and bring truth. He can take an old lady on the organ and breathe life into her ageing fingers so that when she plays the peoples hearts break.  God is not impressed with excellence, but purity. God is bored with air-brushed worship and just delights in a sacrifice of praise. This means anyone can do it, everyone is included. All we have to do is invite God to the party and we will see a tsunami of his power flood the earth once more. Believe me, we are not going back, we must go forward. When anyone asks who sent us, we can confidently reply, “I AM has sent me to you”. This goes for the old geezer on the tambourine (yes he seems to get around!) or Chris Tomlin crooning in a stadium. Our trust is not in the sound system but in the voice of God. No longer the songs but the one who sings over us. God can do amazing things when he’s on the pitch, and you know what?

He never misses.

Thankyou Message from Martin Smith...

When I was a little boy I remember sitting in church listening to the old lady playing amazing hymns on the organ. Even then I remember it affecting me. Even then it seemed that for some reason this music got inside my soul. Then, when ...I was 12 my dad bought me a guitar. I didn’t care how it sounded; it was bright blue and it looked amazing. Mum and dad were mad enough to let me play it in church one Sunday and, I guess, that was where things began. Even back then I knew somehow that my mates at school would find our church music boring. All those hymns and all that solemnity and ancient words were bound to feel so alien to them and their worlds of TV pop shows, waffle jumpers and wet-look hair gel. The old lady with her amazing hymns would be lost on them.And so, back then, I had this hunch that something needed to change. I had a feeling that I should do what I could to be a part of that shift into whatever would come next. Years later I found myself with a microphone, four incredibly talented friends and a bunch of songs that resonated with a movement of people across the earth that wanted their faith to count. For my friends – the ones behind me and those in front – it was never enough for this to be about making a weekly display of religion at the altar. It was about something altogether bigger: the act of bringing our lives as a sacrifice to our Creator. This was not about filling pews but about meeting God, a God who is not dead but alive, our God for whom we choose to stand on the roof tops and shout about it. With the microphone and the friends behind and in front of me we would sing unending songs of how great it felt that God had ‘saved my soul’. The happiness was such that I’m pretty sure we all danced at least a thousand miles over the years.

These were the days when Delirious? was born and became the property of the people. We were never a traditional chart band; we were writing songs for a little movement of spiritual rebels, not for mass-market or industry execs. Even today I still believe that God’s songs get measured by a different scale than chart placings and sales sheets. But I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t wish that Radio 1 had played us a bit more back then. But who can blame them? We had the word ‘God’ in our lyrics, and let’s face it, that’s enough to spoil even the best of parties. We were hardly the sort of band that Q magazine were going to champion either: the most dangerous thing we ever did was drive back through the night to be at church on a Sunday morning with our wives and kids.

We never had a number one single, we never played top of the pops, we never had a platinum record. But we stayed together for 17 years and gave it everything we could. We loved it; saw people’s faces light up. We played in more than 40 countries, saw heaven touch earth and saw ordinary people believe they could be history makers. I can remember so many of them: people from all walks of life realising they were part of a bigger story, a treasured and vital part of his story.

On November 29th we played our last show together at the Hammersmith Apollo. It was both sad and happy. It was the end of something great, the lowering of a flag, but deep inside was the knowledge that the flag needed to come down to allow a new set of colours to be painted on it. That’s the thing about people movements: they don’t just die when the microphone gets switched off. They live on, not dependent on the new song or the latest video. They live on because of the beautiful truth that movements are made of people who are on fire for something. It is because of this that I am certain without a shadow of a doubt that the spirit of what we all sang about will live on forever. After all, it’s been echoing down the generations already. Delirious? didn’t really do anything new; we just got to hold the flag for a bit, just like that old lady with her amazing hymns. All of us reach the point where it is time to pass it on.

And so this all brings us to this week. This extra-ordinary week. This week when I finally figure out what people mean by the power of Facebook. What I take away from it is this. It was not that the campaign was determined to get a song in the charts, or that it wanted to help raise the Delirious? flag one more time. They just happened to be the symptoms of something far more exciting and powerful: the power of people who want their faith to count, people who want to make some noise because of what God has done for them. People who know that out of the deathly silence of Good Friday comes the greatest sound of all as the Father’s only Son re-wrote the laws of the universe so that you and I could be restored with God.

All the seventeen years that the band was together we never existed just to get in the charts or sell sell sell. Our best motives and highest calling was to try to be a voice that made others think, that called out praise and tried to chase down the smile of God. It was always about responding to what we saw in you - people all around the world, on fire for God, wanting to see the world changed by His Glory. In the end you did us out of a job. Our cheers and shouts for you from the sidelines reached their proper end, and we stepped back, the chapter closed.

Then, four months later you take a song and put it in the top ten.

I want to say thank you to all of you who bought or downloaded the song. And thank you to the remarkable individuals who came up with the idea in the first place and helped bring it to birth with such integrity, wisdom and skill. All of you - the planners and the facebookers and the downloaders - you’re all mad! Mad because you probably already own three copies of it, mad because you spent hard earned cash on a song that’s 15 years old and mad because you joined with others that you’ve never met to create a whole lot of noise about Jesus.

But I love mad people, and I’m very proud to be a part of all your lives.

All over the last tour we were using a Latin phrase cos it sounded better and more mysterious than the English. ‘FabuIa Est Vestri’ – The Story Is Yours. I had no idea it would be taken to heart so quickly. I had no idea you would show how clearly that the story certainly is yours now, just like it always was and always will be.

Historymakers… I look forward to seeing you all in the next chapter.

Martin Smith
04.04.10

In the last blog I wrote, I intimated that ‘change’ was coming. I think most of us accept that and will be keen to embrace it at different levels in our lives.This week I’ve been thinking more about ‘why’ change happens and why a God who never changes seems to be absolutely committed to it. So why do things shift in our lives? Why do we experience the pain of  ‘growth? My conclusion is simply that God really likes us, in fact he really loves us, he thinks the world of us and believes we can be better than we were yesterday. It seems that our lives are a journey of discovering what we were always created to be in the first place. The people God had in mind. 

He doesn’t want us just to be ‘good’ he wants us to be ‘great’. Being ‘great’ must not be confused with being great at things. Being successful in our vocations is of course very subjective and usually measured through a secular eye piece, but that cannot be put anywhere on the same scale as being ‘great’ in the eyes of God. The people who I admire the most seem to be comfortable in their skin, realistic about their reason for being on the planet, love God and have a radical ‘upside-down’ approach to the meaning of true ‘greatness’. There is a huge temptation in our Christian culture right now to confuse ‘good’ with ‘God’. We have tricked ourselves into believing that filling our lives constantly with doing ‘good’ will get us to God. ‘Bad’ is not the enemy of good, but good is the enemy of ‘great’. 

So, how do we be great and why should we bother? It’s right in the very storm of transition that we get an incredible opportunity to stop, think, re-shape, re-define and ask God in all his kindness to bring his holy soldering iron to us for an extensive re-wire. OUCH! I do not like the idea of that on my flesh. I do not like the idea of hot coals placed on my lips Isaiah style. I do not like to be fixed, it’s not good for my pride and ego but ‘good’ is not an option anymore because this planet needs people who understand the greatness of God and who are willing to surrender everything in their ‘flesh’ to be magnificent followers of Christ. But it’s in this ‘in betweeness’, space and rest that we find the gold.

Again William Bridges refers to it as the ‘neutral zone’.  

1. This is a time that seems “built-in” to the structure of transition. It is the germination time between an ending and the birth of a beginning. It is difficult for modern, fast paced, technological people to embrace and value. For us, emptiness and aloneness only represent the absence of things. We try to replace missing elements ASAP (thus the adage “on the rebound”). We have a difficult time seeing what is gained (perspective, the chance for personal transformation, etc.) during these times. To employ a metaphor, we want to get across the street ASAP, we cannot fathom that there would be any usefulness in the middle of the street. However, it is interesting that though we have this innate suspicion, most people find that during a transition they need temporary isolation away from familiar distractions in order to think. 

2. We need to learn to not be defensive about this apparently unproductive (other than intolerance, unproductiveness is perhaps the biggest societal sin one could commit) time-out at turning points in our lives. 

3. The neutral zone is meant to be a moratorium from the conventional activity of our everyday existence. It is a gift—a space—for doing important inner business, the kind that leads to extraordinary kinds of personal and God-awareness. 

4. In the neutral zone we can often wonder if we are going crazy or experiencing enlightenment as we unlearn old self-images and take on new ones. The old is now transparent (what it really was-- good and bad), but nothing new feels solid yet. 

5. In the neutral zone we learn to surrender: to give in to the process through trusting God.  It is inviting God to act. Though we fear this may lead to chaos, the chaos envisioned here is not a mess; it is the primal state of pure energy--God’s kind of energy--that leads to God’s kind of creation. It is only from the perspective of the old form that chaos looks fearful—from any other perspective it looks like life in the making, soon to be shaped by new purpose and identity.  

(Taken from ‘Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes’ (Publisher: Da Capo Press)  

I certainly do not feel intelligent enough to understand all of this, nor am I in the strongest emotional place to even process this, as right now I am in that ‘zone’ myself. But what I am learning is the meaning of ‘surrender’. To feel out of control and yet to trust in God is the beginning of greatness in his eyes. It’s a daily choice that is not easy but will bear much fruit in the long term. My 4 year old Ruby said this week that she is ‘allergic’ to school. It’s her first year and she doesn’t like the ‘bigness’. If we’re honest we’re allergic to change as we put our feet into a bigger set of shoes and try walking like we used to. The blisters always come as part of the process but in the end we get to run like the wind. 

I was always useless at soldering guitar cables, but when done properly you can hear the difference believe me. As the hot iron goes into my heart I can feel the rewiring beginning. And you know what, I can already hear the difference.

“Not in goals, but in transitions are people great.” (Emerson)

 

 

Many of you know that things are changing. I don’t mean the surface things like an impending change of government, the price of US dollars or the fact that Mary-Anna, my 2 year old is starting nursery school in September.

No. I’m talking about a spiritual ‘shift’ and whenever this happens the tidal wave it produces always destroys and rebuilds the culture we live in. Let’s bring this down to earth a bit. We have enjoyed 30 years of  ‘free’ western capitalism but frankly, we now do not have the money to pay the rent.

I’m quite excited though, because I believe in God. I believe in a God who gave us hundreds of stories about about the moments when he showed up just at the right time and in the right place. Moses at the red sea, Gideon and his ‘jam jar’ firelights, even sending his own son Jesus to open the eyes of a blind man.

I’m very excited because I believe that God is coming and he will not be late.

 

When the world is changing, we simply have to fix our eyes on Jesus who is unchangeable and unshakeable.

I have been incredibly inspired by an article I read by William Bridges. He says,

 

‘Change, especially in these complex times, can seem like “launching out from a riverside dock to cross to a landing on the other shore—only to discover in midstream that the landing is no longer there. (And when we look back at the other shore, we see that the dock we left from has just broken loose and is heading downstream!) We are often stuck in transition between situations, relationships, and identities that are themselves in transition.” This is the nature of contemporary life.

 

Transitions “begin” with an ending (i.e. marriage is the end of singleness; a promotion is the end of a former job, routine and friendships, etc.). Transitions move next into a confusing, stressed nowhere of in-betweenness (think of college grads who have not landed a job) and finally morph into a new beginning.

 

Unacknowledged, unprocessed endings stand in the way of moving forward to new beginnings. We have to let go of the old thing before we can pick up the new—not just outwardly, but inwardly, where we keep our connections to the people and places that act as definers of who we are. Even positive changes (being accepted to the school of your choice or having a baby) produce these unexpected losses because to an extent that we seldom realize, we come to identify our selves with the circumstances of our lives’

 

Good stuff eh!

I have a hunch about something. In all our business, In all the ‘good’ we do. In all the empire building of big ministry and brand driven churches it’s time to press the pause button. Those of you who are brave may even want to press the ‘stop’ button.

Let’s be with Jesus. I say that I love him and adore him, in fact I built a career around singing about it but in all the ‘good’ I forgot to do it. I forgot to sit on a hill and talk to Jesus. I stopped climbing trees just to sing him my songs, read him my love letters. I had learnt to go to battle in the Kings ‘armour’ when deep down I was always just a shepherd boy with a sling.

 

I am learning that ‘good’ is not ‘great’.

If there is no ‘great’ beneath the ‘good’ then we will die.

How do we be great?

We spend time with someone who is greater.

 

When all around is moving, shifting and the future uncertain there is no need to panic.

If we find Jesus again we will be so enthralled, so happy that we will forget we are in transition anyway. If we have him inside our lives then the ‘good’ we worried about will lose it’s appeal anyway in the light of ‘his’ face.

 

In 2 Samuel ch 19 we read that when David was re instated as king, he offered Mephibosheth acres of fields in return for his commitment. The invalid boy had no interest in the land because in that moment all he cared about was being with the king.

Mephibosheth said. "I am content just to have you safely back again, my lord the king!"

 

I’m learning that God doesn’t want my voice, he just wants me.

 

It’s great to be back.

 

Martin Smith   10.03.10

Life is a little different for me right now.

I have just broken my personal record of 5 Saturdays at home in a row. In fact I have completely shattered it as I’m now up to Saturday number 12 without being on the road somewhere.

 

In that time I have become the king of the family bike ride, learnt to cook chicken fajitas and watched almost every single Match of the Day. I’ve even played bass at church for the first time ever which was more nerve racking than playing at Milton Keynes Bowl!

 

Yes, I’m in transition, on a journey to something new without knowing what it is or where it is or how long it will take to get there.

 

I have spent the last 20 years with a microphone in my hand, travelling continents in pursuit of spiritual explosions. I’ve always believed in the power of music and the crazy concept that it can break peoples hearts. It’s not a new concept though, in fact the shepherd boy David knew that when he played his harp the ‘atmosphere’ around him changed so much that there was always an emotional explosion. I love words, words are powerful, but music is more so. It can weave between the defenses of a hard heart and reveal the depths of love, joy, pain and regret. King Saul knew all about this when everytime David strummed it must have felt like the boy was playing upon his very own heartstrings.

 A strange thing is happening to me. I’m discovering an amazing commodity. It’s called ‘space’. It’s revealing a world to me that I seldom knew existed. Time to walk, read, fall in love again and spend minutes not just seconds gazing upon my childrens faces as they sleep.

I’ve nothing really against the ‘100 mph’ worship sets and the challenge of cramming 19 songs into 22 minutes but I feel a new thing coming.

 I’m seeing again that ‘space’ is as important as content. Silence as important as singing. Our music and art filled with more beauty, more grace and definitely more space.

It’s in the layer beneath the text that God speaks to us, it’s in the silence we hear Gods heartbeat and without knowing the sound of Gods voice, simply, we are scuppered.

 For the first time in 20 years I don’t have a plan and I’m learning again to wait. Waiting is difficult for someone used to not having to, but the joy that can be found in the space is indescribable.My son Noah said my fajitas were ‘wicked’. That can make a mans heart explode! 

I’m sitting at home, bleary eyed, slightly shell shocked, just taken the children to school. There is a strange sound of ‘quiet’ in the house. So quiet I can hear the kettle boiling. Mary our 2 year old is completely unaware of this pivotal moment in our family's history and is happy just bouncing on my un-opened suitcase.

Last night was the end of an era. The last Delirious? Show. What can I say. It was awesome, sad, happy, definitive. One can never correctly adjudicate ones emotions at times like this but I feel at peace. I feel joy. I feel like I’ve completed an assignment.

On behalf of Stu G, Tim, Jon, and Paul I’d like to say thankyou. Thankyou for 17 years. Thankyou for allowing us to be part of this great movement across the planet.

Delirious? have made some good records, played in some incredible places around the world, written some great songs but.. It was never about us, it was always about you.

Ordinary but extraordinary people who joined together across denominations, against our prejudices, our fears. People who have stood together in the face of adversity.

And WE have become a voice that speaks out for the oppressed, for those who do not have a voice. We too became a voice that sings ‘God’ songs that shake the earth. And friends, we will continue to shake the earth. Just never stop singing.

Psalm 23 has been with me this week;

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodnes and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Fabula Est Vestri. The story is yours.

This is not the end but a fantastic beginning. A new season, a new day. Delirious? finishes here but the people movement of historymakers goes on forever.

I'm calling you to stand up, to be people of courage who will run this race till the end. To be men and women of God.

Historymakers, let's be this voice and sing a song of adoration, of victory, of praise, a song of LOVE. Love will always find a way to break through.

As Anna brings a cup of tea, we share a tear, a smile, an uncertainty over the future. We join with all of you who are going through shift, change, transition. It’s in transition that we find out who we really are and what we are living for.

Time to put the L plates back on and get back to Sunday school, another curve of learning has just begun.

See you all on the otherside.

Martin Smith

Goodbyes don't come much sweeter than when they're shared with an army of friends beneath a canopy of songs that shine like stars.

Which is why you've got to make sure you're at the last ever Delirious? gigs . With some friends. Ready to roll up your sleeves the next day and carry on with fresh historymaking passion.

Across six UK and five mainland Europe dates the band will be joining the dots between past, present and future. What does that mean? Glorious worship, inspirational anthems and the sense of all of it fitting into a far bigger picture.

Bristol, Leeds, London and The Hague have already sold out, but if you're anywhere near Bremen DE, Heilbronn DE, Vienna AT, Wettingen CH, Belfast UK, Edinburgh UK or Birmingham UK you've got no excuse. Get ten of your friends together and we'll even chuck in a free ticket for the UK dates if you book through Gigantic www.gigantic.com.

All the info you need to book up for an amazing night follows at the end of this email, and remember that right now you can also preorder the band's Greatest Hits album from Purashop. The album gets its release on November 6th and it's rammed with special treats and goodness, so make sure you don't miss out.

Bye for now

Meester Furious

I promised that I would pray for all of you and your requests sent to my

twitter account (twitter.com/MartinSmithTV)

So, I knelt by my bed in my hotel room and prayed for you each by name.

Bill Heller, that you're breathing would correct itself and you're right

lung would be stronger. YES Lord!

Amanda, that you're career in makeup would be a good one , YES Lord!

Nadine, for wisdom with all decisions relating to college, YES Lord!

True Bassist, I prayed for your cousin Alice in Australia, YES Lord!

Tony Patoto, Possibly bitten by a bat! BUT still alive I hear, YES Lord!

Chris Sayburn, Congrats for having a new baby girl!!!! YES Lord!

Hopefaithgirl,  Okay HFG, Pick yourself up and keep going, no problem is too

big for God. Think of who you can bless today it will be medicine to you.

YES Lord!

Matt France,  God Bless your new CD and all the band does, YES Lord!

Iheat, also prayed for your cousin, I don't think it's the same one but

every cousin out there got prayed for anyhow  YES Lord!

Fafffoo,  have a brilliant time in Uganda it will change your life, YES

Lord!!

Phew! Over and Out

MS

'All these years I've been singing about being a historymaker, but it's never been me that I'm singing about. It's  always been you... you're the ones that are making history.' Martin

By now you'll  know that 2009 is the last year that Delirious will be playing, recording and, well, being Delirious at all. Ever. You might know that there's a tour coming up and that it's been given the name HistoryMakers. What you might not have worked out is quite how much you're a part of the plot.

As the final months play out, we want to spend them as close to you as we can get. We want to know your stories, your journeys, the history you're making.

Over the years we've heard so many of your stories of faith, love and perseverance and they've always left us inspired and humbled in equal measure. So now we've created a corner here in the Living Room just for you - a blog for you to post your story, your life, your successes and struggles. There are loads of fantastic stories up there already, so you should join in the HistoryMaking right here.

Also, if you fancy a quick click that will make you smile you should go watch the video above and see the band telling you about the tour and how you should be sorting yourself out with your tickets pretty soon (seriously, the London show's already sold 80% of its tickets). But the best bit is watching Jon and Evans. I think we can agree that a future in TV does not beckon...

people

just to let you know you can go to www.twitter.com  sign in and follow everyday comments from me, delirious and Compassionart.

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cheers

MS 

Hi Guys

This is something I read today from an old guy in America called David Wilkerson. It impacted me, challenged me. I hope it helps. My son Noah took this shot inside the basilica in Rome, it reminds me what it's all about.

Recently, while counseling a Christian man who faced marital, financial and career problems, it dawned on me he was hoping I would say a prayer or give him some kind of supernatural advice to solve his problems.  Yet he admitted he himself does not pray.  He watches many hours of television, but he doesn’t pray or read the Scriptures.  I thought to myself, “How many Christians today face incredibly complex and overwhelming problems, yet never seek God in private prayer?”  
 
May I lovingly ask you some questions?  Do you diligently seek the Lord with all your heart and strength regarding your problems and needs?  Do you give him quality time in secret prayer, waiting on him?  Do you spend at least some meaningful time each day studying his Word?  If your answer is no, I would have to honestly say that no one else’s prayers will prevail on your behalf.  God expects us all to be in agreement in prayer.
 
His Word promises, “If you seek the Lord your God, you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
 
Until God’s people learn to go quickly to him in secret prayer with all their needs and problems, unburdening their souls in his presence, there will be constant disorder and despair.  Every time I spend unhurried, quality time with my Lord, I come away refreshed, encouraged and confident God is going to make a way.
 
If my messages provoke you to get back to praying diligently and in faith, I am convinced you will one day thank me, because you’ll see God’s blessing and favor on all sides.  The Lord deeply loves all who seek his face daily.  May he forgive us for neglecting him days on end.  
 

I urge you, begin spending that time with him today.  Go to God and pour out your soul in his holy presence. 

This is an old friend of mine from America who is not too disimilar to some of the old testament prophets. Every now and then he calls me to let me know I'm on track or not so ! I was really encouraged by this short email he sent me today. We are ALL part of seeing,praying for rain. This is a season for me to be still, stand in a field more, no iphone, no email, no 'west wing', no 'lost' and feel the rain.

Right now, feel the rain, let me know how you get on. Jesus is next to you without an umbrella but a BIG smile.

Thanks Martin,

Jean and I leave tomorrow for England Lincoln, England where I'm leading a conference for Stuart Bell. Then off to Scotland for another week. Still desire to have a prophetic session on Skype conference with you and Anna soon. Let me know and we'll schedule something in. Just completed 28 consecutive days of leading prayer over the internet, calling for the rain. Your song Rain Down became our theme song.

Love you Martin,

Dale 

more great stuff from hebrews to feed the soul

keep running, if we're true history makers then we'll run whether we have the right shoes or not.

Heb 12:1  Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Heb 12:2  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

Heb 12:3  When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Heb 12:4  In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through--all that bloodshed!

Heb 12:5  So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.

Heb 12:6  It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.

Heb 12:7  God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training,

Heb 12:8  the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?

Heb 12:9  We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live?

Heb 12:10  While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best.

Heb 12:11  At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

Heb 12:12  So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet!

Heb 12:13  Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

Heb 12:14  Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God.

Heb 12:15  Make sure no one gets left out of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time.

Heb 12:16  Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite.

Heb 12:17  You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God's blessing--but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

Heb 12:18  Unlike your ancestors, you didn't come to Mount Sinai--all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble--

Heb 12:19  to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop.

Heb 12:20  When they heard the words--"If an animal touches the Mountain, it's as good as dead"--they were afraid to move.

Heb 12:21  Even Moses was terrified.

Heb 12:22  No, that's not your experience at all. You've come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels

Heb 12:23  and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just.

Heb 12:24  You've come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel's--a homicide that cried out for vengeance--became a proclamation of grace.

Heb 12:25  So don't turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn't get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings?

Heb 12:26  His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time--he's told us this quite plainly--he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern."

Heb 12:27  The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.

Heb 12:28  Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander.

Heb 12:29  He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

  

People, this is what Anna and I were studying yesterday.

I hope it's as encouraging to you as it is to us. Transition, change, is exciting but also painful. There are no books written on 'how to end a band' out there. Especially not ones about serving one another and cheering each other on. As I said when you go through change you just have to go through it. You can't dodge it, pretend it's not there or wrap ourselves in bubble wrap. No, we have to walk through the process as though this is our destiny. What is across the water maybe unimaginable but the boat ride will try and capsize you.

'...Let us lay aside every weight, and...run with endurance...' Hebrews 12:1

The Bible says, 'Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it' (1Corinthians 9:24 NKJV). In life you only get to run once, so run to win. To avoid stumbling or losing your place, don't look back. You can't change the past, but thank God you can learn from it and leave it behind. Don't be anxious about the next lap, focus only on the next step. If you miss that you may fall and not get up again. Before you know it you'll soon have more laps behind you than ahead of you, so make every lap count: 'Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.' Many of us carry the weight and worry of burdens that older and wiser people understand are of no real importance. We spend our strength extinguishing fires that, if left alone, would burn out on their own. Time is your most valuable resource. Save it and you've increased your assets and decreased your liabilities. Get rid of the baggage of old relationships, pointless fears, and false indebtedness to those who seek to manipulate you. There are enough painful trials in life; why endure the ones you can lay aside? When blind Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was within reach he threw off his coat lest it trip him up, and ran toward Him. And his faith paid off: '...Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus...' (Mark 10:52 NKJV). Today, 'lay it aside' and run!