Matt Ford Wont Like T’his Church: Religious & Money Focused!

I had this forwarded onto me… Thanks!

- S&P

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Sydney & Canberra This Weekend:

Guest Revivalist at The Wine Barrel this Sunday

A note from Matt in Sydney…

Dear Partner’s and Friend’s,

Blessings on you!   We have been having an amazing time in Sydney… everyone at the meetings is having crazy money miracles happening. I emptied the ministry account on Monday and double what I sowed came back on Tuesday… even though we did not take up an offering that night.  One lady sowed a certain figure last month and it doubled within the week. God is releasing crazy money miracles.

Thursday Franc and I visited a local fellowship, I put some cash in the offering and that night I got more than a hundred fold return on what I sowed.  Franc put his money in and the same thing happened.  Something has broken over this nation in the realm of provision.  Everything we need is in the Glory.

Visiting ministers from other countries comment about how poor/low the offering is in Australia, and that when they come here they treat it financially as a third world country.  That is such an embarrassment and needs to change.  We need a revival in our sowing. I don’t care where you sow your seed, just sow it    If what is in your bank is not enough to pay your bills, then that can’t be your harvest so it must be your seed.

A lady from the Wine Barrel needed money to get to her brothers grave so she sowed what she could in obedience to God. By the end of the week $1000 was in her letterbox covering all her travel expenses.  YEAH GOD!!!!!

There is a sowing river flowing, so get in and let it get on you!  When you are at the grocery store give some money away, pay for someone’s groceries and watch what God does for you… I guarantee you will never lack food.

Sydney and Canberra THIS WEEKEND

We have extended the Sydney meetings till Saturday night 7pm.  Sunday we head to Canberra for two nights of out of this world miracles. The venue and times are on www.fireitup.com.au

The Wine Barrel. This coming Sunday we have a guest revivalist and his wife ministering while I am in Canberra.  Lloyd is a father and a carrier of the glory of Heaven.  He is incredibly prophetic and releases the Father’s love in a gentle and powerful way. This Sunday 4pm.   It will be a holocaust on every devil in town!

Our new look Prayer Shield is up and running.  Check out www.fireitupprayer.com

My messages are available for free download as MP3’s from www.fireitupmedia.com More are being added each week!

Love, Bliss and Blessings

Matt Ford.

Matt’s Facebook Page.

Matt Whack Ford | Create Your Badge

The State of the Anointing

Odyssey80 has sent me an article, ‘Truth, Reality, and the Anointing’ by Art Katz. It’s about the state of the Pentecostal church in particular, raising some interesting questions. Here’s a couple of paragraphs which introduce the train of thought in the article:

I think I’m sensing something of the Lord’s grief for the condition of the church, the unreality of the church. I think no where is it more flagrant than in, ironically, the Holy Spirit, charismatic, Pentecostal dimension. I don’t have all that much contact with fundamental churches, but I think in a certain sense they may well be cleaner than we. They make no profession of the gifts of the Spirit which we purport to have and therefore, they don’t run into the kind of excesses and abuses that we exhibit. That was what the Lord put on my heart. …

…And so we’ve moved away from this moment by moment dependency in authentic relationship with God to somehow thinking that anointing is a fixed thing conferred upon certain men of faith and power and that naiveté requires us to turn up the amplifiers to give a sense of anointing, a certain loudness in the church, in our speaking, in our activity which the naive presume to think IS anointing. The message is a call to authenticity, to reality, because God is the God of truth and when we move off and away from that place and come to unreality, the Spirit is not there, and we therefore compensate for it by turning up the dials, which further deepens the unreality and puts the church in a lamentable place and condition.

In particular, Odyssey80 asks what everyone thinks of these three points raised by Katz:

1. anointing is not some fixed phenomenon that God confers on individuals as if it were an office, an ecclesiastical office in the church, but something proportionate to one’s actual authentic relationship with God in moment by moment obedience to the thing which He requires……..And so we’ve moved away from this moment by moment dependency in authentic relationship with God to somehow thinking that anointing is a fixed thing conferred upon certain men of faith and power and that naiveté requires us to turn up the amplifiers to give a sense of anointing, a certain loudness in the church, in our speaking, in our activity which the naive presume to think IS anointing. [Sorry to repeat that para - RP]

2. We’ve become dull. You cannot be exposed to untruth [Christian surrealism] and come away unscathed. Something is lost, your spirit becomes dull and then the next opportunity for being brought into unreality is the greater until by a series of meetings and exposures and the whole content of that kind of thing, we become deceived. I am concerned that we’re moving toward that.

3. “our whole Christian viewpoint is fixed at the level of what we will receive in our petitions and prayers, is “Lord do for me” and “give me”, there’s no abundance beyond that. I think that the abundance……comes when we go beyond our own needs and take up the things that have to do with the Lord’s need; His Name, His honor, His glory, His purpose, His will…..And I think that [self-focus] is characteristic, unhappily, of most of the church today. Even all the more painfully, the charismatic and Pentecostal segment of it.

The article is worth a read. What does everyone think?

Pat King Hole – Film Fame Fervor Promotion

It's aaall about meeee!

Just got this e-mail from a friend. Your thoughts?

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Patricia King

Hi Friends!

As most of you know, we are hosting the Phoenix International Christian Film Festival (PICFF) in Phoenix next year from August 23-28, 2010.
We are looking for short promotional adverts to promote PICFF that will be aired on GOD TV (USA, UK, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, AFRICA), The Miracle Channel (CANADA), AZTV (Fox ARIZONA), YouTube, XPmedia.com, and on various web and social networks around the world, as well as at all our conferences.

We are offering cash prizes for the best promos ($500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200 for third place).
Even if you do not win one of the three cash prizes, your promotional advert could still be chosen to be aired and seen by thousands or even millions of people!
The contest ends on November 15, 2009. So you must submit your short promotional advert for PICFF before then. Winners will be announced by November 30, 2009.

Here are the guidelines:

[1] PICFF promotional adverts must be exactly 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 60 seconds in length.

[2] Hi Def format is preferred, but Standard Def is also welcomed.

[3] Submissions may be sent in DVD format or an e-file sent in MP4 format.

[4] Feel free to run a credit at the end of your promotional advert with your production info (name and website), if you wish.

Submit your PICFF short promotional advert by mail in DVD format, or send an MP4 format file to contest@xpmedia.com.

Mail to:
XPmedia.com
20987 N. John Wayne Parkway
B-104-122
Maricopa, AZ 85139

Include your name, contact phone number, address, email address, and website with your submission.
We will post your PICFF promotional advert on the XP Contests channel on XPmedia.com for public viewing. The XP Leadership Team will judge the submissions and announce the winners before November 30, 2009..

Contact Jonathan Williams at contest@xpmedia.com for more information.

For more information on the Film Festival, we have a temporary website up right now with festival information that will help you produce your promotional advertisement. Check it out at www.christianfilmfest.org

NOTE: By submitting your PICFF promotional advert, you are giving XP/CSA and XPmedia.com the rights to use it as we deem. This may include running it on XPTV, GOD TV, The Miracle Channel, AZTV, YouTube, XPmedia.com, Facebook, or any other media, sites or channels that we choose. There will be no remuneration beyond the initial cash prizes for the first, second and third place finishers, but any and all PICFF promotional adverts that are submitted may be used, aired or posted in perpetuity by XP/CSA or XPmedia.com.

PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS!!!!

Patricia King

XPmedia.com

An Eye-full Of Christian Material

Here is a VERY interesting site.

http://www.spiritlessons.com/

I wont say much because a friend of mine will be possibly be browsing some of the articles on Signposts02 and he offered me this link. He liked the sites contents. I simply want to know what you think of the website.

What are your thoughts? Do you like what you see? Does the information and books offered bless you? Wanting to know.

The GFC and Jubilee

There’s nothing like a good end times discussion, based on events happening now. In that vein…

I received a timely email from Odyssey80 regarding the GFC and Jubilee mere hours before Bull raised the concept of Jubilee on another thread on this site. Here are Odysee80’s musings on the GFC and Jubilee – is the GFC what happens eventually because we don’t have a practical outworking of something like Jubilee in our economic system?

The idea of Jubilee (the forgiving of all loans) every 50 years (or was it 7 years?)has merit – It goes a long way to prevent asset bubbles caused by property and share speculation. Keen [Steve Keen - an Australian economist with a very bearish outlook] suggested a time limit on the ownership of shares, like bonds. You buy the shares, receive dividends, and at the end of term receive face value again. Again stops ridiculous asset bubbles driven by speculation & debt.

The current financial situation (and not just the GFC) is, I think, evil at its basic level, ungodly, unfair and beneficial to only a relative few. The whole drive to leverage up to the hilt to make huge profits. The privatisation of profits and the taxpayer paying for losses. The unaccountability of boards and the incredible salaries and bonuses paid to executives at no risk. The power of Big business over government, especially in the US. Bosses being paid 500x as much as the lowest paid worker. The general community encouraged to be very consumerist and euphoric over rapidly rising house prices. The young being unable to afford their own homes unless they inherit them. The obsession with wealth, especially in retirement. The proliferation of financial planners. The huge profits generated by the banking oligopoly, because no-one can do anything without borrowing big bucks from them.

I still support Capitalism, but it has gone way too far. I am unsure if the Babylon referred to in Revelation is the world economic system, or the apostate church, or something else, but the fact that the merchants despaired at her demise makes me think it at least includes the economic system. So judgement will come I think of this system, whether it will come at various stages through history, or at the end, I do not know. What is important for us as Christians perhaps that God says elsewhere in Rev ‘Come out from her’.

– Odyssey80

See Revelation 18:1-20 (NASB) for context.

So – is our system Babylon? Are we to ‘come out from her’? If so, how? Also, as Christians, is there some form of ‘Jubilee’ that we experience in our lives and does it affect us at all in the financial realm?

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RavingPente

Donkeys, Monkeys & Jesus Boobs – Taught At Matt – (BURP!), Fords School

I am just hoping that these schools are free so that no one is wasting their money on such baloney.

(BTW – “G” bomb is a glory bomb, direct lingo from the IHOP Prayer24/7 cult.)

Bridging the Gap between Muslims and Christians

I found this article in the Mennonite Weekly Review, ‘Praying at the Mosque’, fascinating. It’s about a Christian who prayed at a mosque in Bethlehem twice a week for three months. He built friendships, was invited to homes, and learnt how Christian’s were viewed by those particular Muslim men. He was entirely clear that his faith was in Jesus the entire time; he didn’t seek to compromise his faith, but did respect their practice of their faith.

To me this seemed like a quiet way to build bridges, seek understanding, and genuinely share faith in Jesus. There was no loud advertising or political grandstanding, and no compromise of the Christian message. At the same time, there was genuine respect for the people at the mosque, who welcomed him back in their midst any time.

The article didn’t mention any conversions, but it could be that there was at least a change in perceptions, which maybe might lead to more peaceful relationships if it happened on a larger scale.

It was sad to read how Christians were perceived in that world – when they found the author was from Canada he was asked, ‘But you’re not going to shoot us, are you?’. Christians were seen as obsessed with sex and as being shallow in their faith.

I suspect that not all Christians could do this kind of thing with the kind of respect that would allow relationships to develop.

It’s worth reading about becauses this is a different approach to Muslims, on a smaller scale and more personal, than what we’ve seen from a couple of other Christian leaders lately. These were quite controversial, worrying some Christians that they might be watering down the Gospel or compromising on Jesus in order to reach out, whether that was actually the case or not.

Anyway, do have a read. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this gentle and friendly approach, and on the way Christians are perceived by these people.

For the IT crowd… and those that know them

In the last thread, Wazza wondered if: “IT entails a particular way of thinking that perhaps is incompatible with the way some church leadership think.”

Is this possible?

For any uninitiated readers, ‘IT’ stands for ‘Information Technology’ which covers the broad field of computing in all its permutations.

Who else here as well as Wazza and Bull is in IT? Heretic has always been in IT as well. Bull is a graduate physicist with a Masters in Computer Science. I also had a late entry into the industry though not as highly qualified – I transferred in from a different field with an unrelated degree.

Others might just know IT people. I do know IT people who enjoy their church and don’t appear to think much differently from leadership at all – but we’ll see what everyone has observed.

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RavingPente

Why are there less men in church?

This subject comes up from time to time. In the last thread, I commented in passing that there were significantly more single women in my ex-church than single men, probably contributing to the difficulty some women found in meeting a future husband from people attending that church. Since then I came across this article from the Washington Post in 2005, about a book which postulates reasons for why ‘men hate church’. Obviously many men who frequent this site don’t hate church or you wouldn’t bother attending (I assume), but still, its worth looking at the topic I think.

The book, ‘Why Men Hate Church’ by David Murrow, apparently postulates that most church activities focus around sharing, caring, routine and ritual (my words, not his) which alienates risk takers, who are more often male than female. In other words, church activities are primarily female. It also postulates that many churches have taken the ‘testosterone’ out of Christianity; and that men want objective lessons, harder talk – a more ‘masculine’ approach. (Maybe this explains part of Mark Driscoll’s success – he seems quite aggressive in his presentation at time and is more than capable of hard talk – is that his appeal?)

I actually attended a church where the ratio of men to women was at least the same, and possibly there were slightly more men than women for a while. Ironically, it grew out of a group started by a woman, though it was now led by a man, and the senior pastor was nothing like Mark Driscoll in style. But you couldn’t have accused him of a ‘touchy feely’ approach either. Men seemed to find it intellectually appealing, and weren’t expected to take on the leader’s views in order to be ‘good Christians’ though those views were always worth consideration.

In the previous thread, we’ve been talking about how the church can express itself as family, and about caring and sharing amongst other things. Yet the ’sharing’ is something that according to that book, can alienate men. How can a church express itself as family to men – is there an issue here? (Being female, I haven’t perceived one, but you never know.) Most early church leaders where men; the appeal to men wasn’t a problem around Jesus time. Is there an issue now?

Possibly the fact that less men attend church doesn’t mean that there are less men who are Christian; it could just be that out of Christians, less men than women choose to attend church. I’m not sure if there are any statistics looking at that question.

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RavingPente

Church As Family

Bull wrote:

I think that we (the body of Christ in the western world) are really rubbish at being family. We don’t tell it like it really is. (Usually so that we don’t offend anyone!)

We are not honest with one another. We don’t ask difficult questions, unless we don’t know it’s a difficult question. We definitely don’t confess our sins either. (Fear that we will no longer be taken seriously.)

“How are you and the family?” is an essay question.

The answer we should come up with should start “How long have you got?”

Our usual answer is “We’re fine.”

I have concerns about prosperity theology, contemplative spirituality and other things we have discussed on Signposts. But I think we are not qualified to really go for these things unless we deal with the fundamental question “How do we AGAPE one another in Spirit and in Truth?”

Are we comfortable to share our real issues with our local church family (whatever form that gathering takes), without the fear of being judged? Are we in fact judged if we do so – or does it depend upon where the issue lies?

How should we prioritise our giving of money, time and effort – when faced with a church vision to build for example, meetings to run, or people in desperate need?

What did Jesus say about this?

What does the expression of family look like in a church? Is this what we are called to be? If so, how do we encourage this expression in our midst? How is it distinguishable from the expression of the church group as an organisation?

I have a lot of thoughts on this personally, but will share them in the thread that follows. For a start, I will add the remainder of Bull’s previous comment below here, to get the ball rolling with some actual examples.

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RavingPente