A Little Move of God...

Well let me share the story.

A couple of years ago, a young woman was invited to Mainly Music (Palmerston Salvation Army) , and found herself bringing her little munch-kin along every few weeks.

We have a few laughs. Dance on our happy feet. Sip some coffee. Then we repeat it all again a week or two later.

The husband comes along once or twice. The ice is broken.

Messy Church starts up once a month and this little family is there. Tipping the toe in, and seeing what it's all about.

"Who are these religious people, and why are they enjoying life so much and cracking so many jokes?"

We invite the guy to join our indoor cricket team.

(Right now, he's probably reading this, saying, "Hey! You're talking about me, I hope you're going to pay me money for this?!" Sorry mate, my Blog does not have the same budget as Sixty Minutes... yet).

After months of pats on the back; laughs and lemon squashes, these guys rock up at church.


STOP! Let me tell you a secret... 

I don't think these guys thought they would enjoy the church quite as much as they did.

Now, it was not because of the quality of the music, nor the sermon, not even the morning tea (as good as it was). It may have something to do with relationship, but that's not the main ingredient.

I think it's something that runs deeper than the glaringly obvious and the otherwise meaningless superficialities...


Something hard to explain. Something hard to put the finger on. Something that pervades the atmosphere, but is not found when you lick your finger and put it in the air. Something that every church needs every day.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about a little move of God.

The Church WILL Grow

When God promises something it will happen right?

When God says he will fulfil a prayer on your heart, God is faithful to answering that prayer.

Jo isn't pregnant, for those thinking they have had some divine revelation from God. :) But let me tell you about what has transpired over the last 24 hours within the life of Palmerston Salvation Army.

Last night (Saturday) Jo came up to me, crying, saying, God is going to do great things tomorrow. She said, the Lord had reminded her of Joshua 3:5 that says, 'Consecrate yourselves [get yourself right before God], because tomorrow the Lord will do great things among you'. She didn't mention any more than that...

We come to church, and look around, and by 10:10am (people never get there on time!), there's around 50 people gathered, with some new families, and a couple of visitors. The worship time was electric in all senses of the word, and people were filled with faith. Well that's all fairly normal for a healthy church right?

Jo gets up to preach, and begins talking about hope. The words of Jeremiah 29:11 were spoken, that God seeks to prosper you, and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future. All pretty normal, engaging kind of preaching, with a message that was uplifting. So what happened next?

Jo begins to say, that she believes with ALL her heart, that our church WILL grow. That 2012, the church will grow and many lives will be touched by the gospel. She then said, last night...

"God called me to cut my hair"

The prophetic revelation was this... "As sure as the certainty that your hair will grow back, so will I grow my Church," said the Lord. She wrestled with God last night, questioning whether she should publicly cut her hair; in church. It sounds like some kooky Old Testament prophetic word, that Jeremiah might have been right in to. She prayed this morning and said, 'God just confirm in my heart if you want me to do this.'

I tell you I was unware of this word that God had given Jo. Apparently, as Jo shared publicly, Shekinah (our three year old) came up to her early this morning and said, "Mummy, cut hair?" What?! Gee, what a confirmation from God, that deeply challenged Jo about going through with this prophetic act.

As she shared this idea publicly that God would grow his Church, just as her hair would grow back, she asked if anyone would come up and cut her hair.

A lady visiting for the morning, got straight up, and gently grabbed the pair of scissors from Jo's hand. She smiled at Jo, and said, 'I'll cut your hair'. She snipped away, cutting off half of Jo's locks (more hair than what I've got), and then she sat back down.

Most people present were a bit teary, as God was moving amongst us. Then the husband of the lady popped up and said, 'I just want to let people know, that God is in this... and also... that my wife is a hairdresser... ' Everyone was taken aback a little.

WOW! Let me recap. God gives Jo a prophetic word to cut her hair, as a sign, that as her hair grows back, that God WILL grow HIS church. Shekinah, unknowingly, led by God, confirms this word. Then a lady who happens to be visiting is a hairdresser, who feels absolutely compelled to come forward and take part in this prophetic act. I love it!

By the way, God had sent another lady as well to visit the church, who ALSO was a hairdresser! God was just making sure!! Also, following the service, the lady finished up cutting Jo's hair nice, so she saved atleast $60 and scored a free haircut!! :)
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One other amazing thing happened this morning, if you'll just keep reading on for a moment. A couple visiting the church this morning spoke to Jo and I after the meeting. They said, 'We heard you speaking about the new Kid's club ministry you are starting up soon, and we want to financially support it... We would like to send through $5,000 to bless this new ministry...' WHAT?!! You're joking me, I said to myself, as I chuckled and teared up at the same time...

We got home from church, completely nackered (that's the original Greek word to describe it), and then we received a text message. 'We have just deposited $3k into the church bank account, and we will deposit another $2,200 in the next couple of days'. Haha, wow! Jo and I laughed and cried, and then we did something we don't normally do... We 'Craughed' (which is a combination of crying and laughing and choking up at the same time). That's a new word for your vocabularly. God is so good.

To wrap up, the Holy Spirit reminded me of sermon from last week. It was from Isaiah 43, that said, 'God is doing a new thing... Can you not perceive it?' And I find myself saying, right now, today.... that...

'God, you ARE doing a NEW thing, and I definitely perceive it, and I'm seeing it happen right before my eyes...'

Thanks Jesus!!!!

Update - Palmerston Corps

Good things are happening in the NT. In both our morning Church service and our Mainly Music outreach service, there was a great feeling about the place. People responded at the mercy seat in the morning, we spoke about the story of Noah at night (the fact that Noah was a righteous man in God's sight, so God showed favour on him).
There was something special about the strength of the relationships this Sunday. People were laughing and chatting, and then moving around the room and laughing and chatting with someone else.
I said to someone, you pretty much know the church has healthy relationships when you can't get out of the hall for lunch, because of all the chatting.

So what is God doing? Mainly music families are learning the well known stories of the Bible (well, well known to us), and they are learning who God is, his nature, about sin, and how it affects their lives. I pray in the near future they choose to follow Jesus.

Leaders in the corps are passionate about outreach, and giving both their time and finances to see God's kingdom be fruitful.

One of our soldiers got an award for 10 years of service in The Salvation Army in the NT. God bless Bronwyn!

There are challenges ahead. Mainly issues of discipleship and leadership development, but they are overcome when we teach and grow and learn what the Bible says for our lives. The Spirit of God is moving, and many more are coming to know Jesus in the days ahead! Bring it on Lord.