The FIREjournals

Unity by Laura Hutchinson

2009-08-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you who weren’t at FIRE on Friday, Amy gave a word about unity and fellowship and the attack it’s under, and about fighting powers and principles and not wrestling with flesh and blood, which really confirmed what I was going to write for this journal. We truly are sons and daughters, one body; in unity and part of the body. I guess the only difference in this is people’s perceptions. With the ever changing world and situations around us, not to mention an ever changing sense of self - mind, thoughts, emotions, knowledge - it can be very easy to believe the lies that we are not part of a group or people aren’t really our friends or don’t care about us.

WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE LIVING GOD. We should grasp everything He has given us. Even if that means we serve in different places or different ways. Even if friends change and serve elsewhere - STILL PART OF THE BODY. Still serving the ONE GOD. So whilst we may feel down or hurt about “losing” people, we should rejoice that God is still leading and guiding them and we have the privilege to share and serve alongside with them. Personally, I’ve “lost” friends or the closeness with people that I once had, and whilst that breaks my heart, God reminded me that we all serve Him and are family (I got all my brothers/sisters with me....get up everyone and sing!).
Psalm 98 ‘Oh sing to the Lord a new song! For he has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory’
We don’t win, the Lord already has. We don’t need to stress and work things out. We need to believe and trust, knowing we are part of the body, and God knows and loves us and be active in that love.
‘Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice and sing praises. Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.’

Just worship Him. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have been called, chosen, placed where He has put you. Operate in that. Praise the Lord. There is no time for worrying, stressing, deliberating and doubt. God will speak, will move, will fight. He has given us all we need and will speak clearly when we are to move on in His will. How could He put you somewhere where you aren’t part of the body when you are always part of the body, wherever you are? Let yourself go and know. Be.

‘Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth.’
Let’s not waste our time in service fighting, backbiting, gossiping, worrying, missing, weeping or doubting each other. Throughout worship and prayer, the Lord breaks us and moulds us. He speaks and refreshes us, convicts us, restores us, desires us. Through faith, trust, and love, we defeat the enemy and the lies he sends our way. We fail to fall for the same tricks again. We fail to believe but trust in the words of our Lord. We live life abundantly, operating where God has put us and loving unconditionally and always.

WE ARE FAMILY.

Luke 10 v 19 - ‘Behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’

John 14 v 27. ‘“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’

What is an evangelical Christian by Stephen Brown

2009-06-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

If you where to ask someone on the street if they where a Christian and the answer was yes you may also here a few other terms such as “ saved” “born again” “Pentecostal” “evangelical” “traditional”. There are many words that people use today to place in front of the word “Christian” If being simply a Christian wasn’t enough the person has to go one step further to describe the type of Christian that they are. This in many ways is up front evidence of the lack of unity that we face within the Church in Northern Ireland. Most people know that in Ireland there are two main churches “THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH” and “THE PROTESTANT CHURCH” and though the Roman Catholic church appears to give an appearance of church unity the Protestant Church couldn’t be any more divided, for example we have the Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Non – Subscribing Presbyterian Church, The free Presbyterian Church and all within one denomination. If that wasn’t enough we then have the Methodists, the Church of Ireland, Church of the Nazarene , the Elim Church, the Church of God, the Brethern Church and a whole host of “Non denominational” Churches throughout the land in which they in themselves have become a denomination. So to cause a headache of unbiblical preportions we have a whole lot of different types of Christians worshipping in a whole lot of different types of Churches and all under the tattered banner of “Protestant unity”
Forgive me for being somewhat harsh. Out of all of this I am faced with answering the question “What is an evangelical Christian?”
Well evangelicalism is a somewhat broad term to describe a movement within Protestantism that is characterised by an emphasis on having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So that must mean in short that an evangelical Christian is a protestant man or woman who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If this is true then every Christian belonging to a protestant church is an Evangelical and everyone who has experienced the beautiful grace given to us by a merciful saviour is an evangelical.
Another piece of evidence that all Christians are Evangelical is the very meaning of the word “evangelical” it means good news!! All Christians everywhere are commanded to preach the good news!! What good news? You may ask, well the news that Jesus suffered, died and rose again paying your sinful debt and setting you free from death and hell. That is enough to shout from the roof tops about, it is enough to take a microphone to the town centres and proclaim!! The gospel of Matthew chapter 28 v 18-20 states “18And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth.19Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Amen. (NKJV)
All Christians are called to Evangelise be it the “frozen chosen” from one denomination to the “wave your hands in air like you just don’t care” from another denomination. To evangelise is to have the high calling of evangelist which in its conclusion calls that person a proclaimer of good news or an evangelical!
My question is this, Why then do we not see every Christian from every church proclaiming the good news with one voice, with unity, unction and power? Well the answer is this, Every Church is a different church and many feel that they cannot work together because of issues like baptism, Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the list goes on and on with the sad conclusion being that two Churches can sit side by side at opposite sides of the road and never communicate and all because of secondary issues and the sad outcome is that people go to hell while the protestant church argues itself to death.
Confusions about Evangelicalism
Being an Evangelical Christian in Northern Ireland can automatically generate labels from an all seeing secular public. For example a lot of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) WOULD class themselves as Evangelicals. Are all subscribing members of the DUP who class themselves as Evangelicals really born again? Id say the answer would be no. In Northern Ireland and in different parts of the world Evangelicalism is seen as a political persuasion and not primarily a movement of people following Jesus Christ. Especially in America the majority opinion of the evangelical would be a right wing, abortion denying, fundamentalist, pass the ammunition type republican hell bent on sending everyone to the electric chair. Of course this is not true by any means but it goes to show that the majority of people do not know what evangelicalism really is.
The well known Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas headed up by Pastor Fred Phelps proclaims what he says is good news! This independent denomination have a meeting called a “love crusade” in which they picket the funeral of a dead homosexual soldier who has died in the Iraq war. Phelps and his congregation proclaim that God is angry with the US and the UK for letting homosexuals fight in an “unjust” war. Phelps has a website which is www.godhatesfags.com where he spouts more of these supposed truth claims. A vast percentage of Christian Leaders have condemned Fred Phelps ministry though from fred’s point of view he is just proclaiming the good news which just happens to be that God hates America the UK, homosexuals, Indians, Catholics and many more. Is he an Evangelical?
Finally, one of the biggest ways that the Church confuses the world is on the issue of Homosexuality. Some Evangelicals are hard line “anti gay” almost making this sinful practice greater than any other sinful practice. ie. Fred Phelps. Then there are Christian Churches who not only take a liberal stance on homosexuality but have actively gay members in positions of leadership, step forward Bishop Gene Robinson who in an act of utter hypocrisy by the Church of England was ordained as bishop whilst knowing that he was in a homosexual relationship ( may I point the finger of blame at Rowan Williams) but was excluded from the Lambeth conference which took place earlier this year. No wonder the Church, the world and indeed anyone in between are left contemplating whether or not to throw their theology degree certificate in the fire. Do any evangelicals actually read from the same hymn sheet?
Conclusion
Whether you like or not , if you are born again and bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ you are an Evangelical. Where does our standards , our morals and our righteous code come from? The Bible, Gods Holy, inherent, inspired and objective word. Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Love, peace reconciliation and to warn people of a Hell to shun. It is our sole mission as Evangelicals.
As I write this I have known the living Jesus for around ten years and have come into contact with some amazing Godly men and women in that period. I grew up in the Church of Ireland, moved then to a house church and then finally to Kingsway Church in Dunmurry where I am now the Youth Coordinator. I came to know Jesus at a Church of Ireland Mission Week held in a Baptist hall and run by Americans, The diversity was amazing and a testimony to the fact that Evangelicals can work along side each other despite difference and doctrine.
By way of testimony, The church I currently go to (Kingsway Church is part of a network of Churches in the local area called “Churches Together” who meet 4 times a year for a joint service and once a month for a prayer breakfast. The other churches in that network are Finaghy Baptist(where I got saved), St John the Baptist Church of Ireland (where I grew up) Colin glen fellowship and Lambeg Baptist. All despite differences come together and sing off the same hymn sheet and reading the same bible proclaim the one gospel.
If this can be accomplished by 4 or 5 churches in the local community then this can happen all over the world and it does.
Whilst reading the Churches together leaflet I came across this well know quote. In essentials, unity, In non essentials, Liberty, and in all things, charity. How very true and spoken from a true Evangelical.

Trust by Tracey Beal

2009-05-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3 5-6

There have been many times in my life when ive found these verses to be true, when if i'd relied on my own understanding of a situation I would have either not got Gods best for me, or stopped God protecting me.
One example of this is when i applied for what I thought would be a dream job.
I got an interview and was given the job. Although I would have loved to accept the job, I felt uneasy about it. The more I prayed about it the more I felt I shouldnt take it. I turned the job down and for a few months didnt give it another thought.
About 3 months later the headlines of the local paper announced that a group of people were setting up businesses, running them for 3 - 4 months without paying their employees, then when the staff started to ask questions, they declared themselves bankrupt before moving on to a new place and starting again. These people were the ones who had offered me the job. I was so glad that once again God proved to me that if we trust him and involve Him in all our decisions, He will definitely guide us in the best way.

We are more than conquerors by Julie Crawford

2009-05-18T14:27:00.001-07:00

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

It’s been a long time since we have had a FIRE blog, and in that time a lot has happened to many of us…some of us got married, some are getting married, had babies, lost babies…some of us have found new responsibilities for the work of the Kingdom, some of us are still asking the Lord where He would have us to be…
In the time that has passed we have all had highs and lows, both personally and corporately as a body, but one thing remains through all this….God STILL loves us, He still speaks to us, He still picks us up when we fall, He still longs to move among his people!! NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING can separate us from His love…despite our shortcomings, our mistakes over the years, our (sometimes) feeble attempts to fix it all ourselves…He STILL loves us!!! Think on how amazing that is – how amazing that love must be!

We are being matured in Christ, we are learning new things, often from mistakes we have made, He is moulding and shaping us, His children, into what He desires us to be…a pure, spotless bride.

All of this made me think about some of my favourite verses in the Bible (above), where our life is referred to as a race marked out for us, we are called to throw off sin which only holds us back, and run that race with perseverance! At times, this seems like an impossible task, there are so many distractions around us, even, at times, what seems like a ‘good distraction’ that can hold us back! But the Lord is creating an army that marches forward, not one that stands still…so keep running, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the enemy throws at you, keep running!! Let’s get rid of the ‘stuff’ that clutters and holds us back, let’s run free, looking always to Him the perfector of our faith!

The good news is that ‘we are MORE than conquerors through Him!’ A few weeks ago Joy reminded me of something that I had said in girls group years ago…”we never have any reason to be any less than more than a conqueror!”

This is so true…we have no excuses, He has equipped us with all that we need, He has given us His Spirit to help us, and we have no reason to not be a conqueror in His name! It is time for us, His people, to start walking like conquerors!! And with Him on our side, then who DARE be against us??? We are on the victory side! He will uphold us with His mighty right arm, and we CAN’T lose!!!

So, as a new blog begins, lets start it with the right attitude…let’s be a generation that marches on boldly, as conquerors in all things, with perseverance, NEVER wavering, ALWAYS looking to Him!

God Bless

Julz xx

Our hope by Jenny Rainey

2009-05-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of ways first of all to explain were I was with my Christian life before I came to Fire, I’m going to use an analogy (expect a lot of these from me). You always hear about how living our lives through Jesus’ resurrection is like running a race. I had begun that race a while back and moved past the starting point. Imagine someone some-one who had then had got past those first lines drawn out but got stuck between this point and the big hurdles, the barriers that challenge you to take a leap of faith. The lines drawn out past the starting point are those invisible lines you learn to put up that someone had talked about at Fire before. These lines stopped me from going back across the starting point when I gave my life to him. But I couldn’t break down barriers that were in front of me and it was so frustrating I wasn’t moving backwards but without breaking my barriers I was stuck which was just as dangerous.
Like athletes, all of us are running the same race but some of us find different kinds of barriers harder than others, just because you do something that someone else might find hard doesn’t mean your breaking a barrier. You recognise them when you try to firstly, ignore the voice that is telling you to go for it. They are not there to break you down; we have Jesus to stop us from falling if we continue to take his hand, they keep you moving forward and closer to God.
I was just reading the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) there and with each line I want you picture people from Fire that you think are best represented by this line. Of course we can have more than one of these qualities but I think Jesus specifically recognises the unique one in us that we can bring together in order to give him all the glory. Ultimately we can all do this together by bringing that unique quality combined with the encouragement from building relationships that will lead to breaking down the barriers. I can see now how Jesus is using these things to partly fuel everyone’s passion for him at fire. The other night at worship I literally felt like my hand were on fire, I couldn’t feel the bones in my fingers they were just flicking like flames (10 times more bizarrely than when I attempt your finger handshake thingy Steve), it was weird but equally amazing.

Ok so last thing I was given this verse before which is my favourite because it is the most comforting thing I will ever read.

Jeremiah 29 v11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

I feel like he wants to highlight this verse and confirm it because how can anyone have hope in things on this earth or in others who are just as hopeless as us. But because Jesus is perfect when we put our hopes in him he will help us to accomplish every plan he has for us.

Godbless

2009-05-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to FIREjournals. Visit us often to read some prophetic and insightful articles written and submitted by members of FIREoutreach

Blessings

Steve Brown