Report on Welsh Outpouring by Anita

Cwmbran Outpouring

So yesterday I made the totally bonkers trip of driving to Wales and back in a day from Sussex... Why? To go and see for myself what is going on at Victory Church, in Cwmbran, South Wales. I had read a report (here) about it and felt God was prompting me to go. The thing was I had no time; next week I'm on retreat, the week after at a conference, and most of all I wanted to be honouring to my husband and not be zooming off all over the place yet again! So I literally had one free day and it all worked with the kids and school runs etc, so off I went and had to be back the same day...

I arrived in the afternoon and had a chat with two of the staff who were lovely and filled me on on all that had been going on and how people were getting saved each night and being healed, how people were coming from all over the place just to see what God is doing and to receive a touch from him.

I spent some time in the main auditorium in the afternoon and to be honest I just couldn't focus, I was asking God why he had sent me there and what he wanted to show me and I was just so distracted, so instead I went into Cwmbran for a few hours with a copy of Pastor Richard's book 'To Catch a Thief' that they had kindly given me. Turns out this was a total God thing as I sat and read the whole thing over a cuppa (or two) in Costa! And I think it helped me to understand a little bit of what God is doing there. Pastor Richard's background is that he was once a drug addict and criminal and spent time in prison. God rescued him from this and turned his life around, and it is this kind of ministry that is so central to what he is doing now, reaching into the real depths, to people who some would call the 'depths of society', people who others would turn away from, and yet at Victory Church they are welcomed into loving arms and so, are meeting Jesus.

So, having read the book, I went back to the church around 5.30pm and found the place buzzing with expectant people, some who had travelled long distances to be there, others coming again, having been night after night, others being brought by friends and neighbours. The atmosphere was one of huge expectance and people were already queueing, and by 6.30 the queue was out the door!  I met up with a couple of friends, the lovely Anita from 'Dreaming Beneath the Spires blog' and her husband Roy, who had come from Oxford. As we went into the main auditorium at 7pm the worship team were already in full flow and immediately people joined into a powerful time of worship. Pastor Richard felt led to pray for  people with blood disorders and many went forward to be prayed for. One thing I noticed was that even though he hadn't given an 'altar call' at this point, so many people went forward to give their lives to Jesus anyway, one after the other, and eventually he just asked anyone else to come forward who wanted to give their lives,  and he then prayed for around 10 people at the same time. This is one thing that has marked this outpouring and I guess is the true sign that God is doing something, that many people are getting saved each night.

Later the Pastor spoke, and I have to say I was so impressed with his humility and honesty. He spoke of his own experiences but also of what God is doing and how they are just taking one day at a time, not being over confident, but just daily asking God what he is doing. He talked about how often we long for revival but we just aren't prepared for it, and yet here, he said, we have been preparing. And I could really see that, having spoken to the staff earlier, the structure of the churches (they have planted four from the main one already in just three years) is well organised, with a training programme and good links to Victory Outreach UK, the organisation that helped Pastor Richard when he was released from Prison. In fact he himself is now Chief Exec of Victory Outreach UK and the Victory churches have a team of Pastors covering their plants.

Times like these are often messy, and it was! People were dropping all over the place, there was much laughter. But I loved how they welcomed everyone, even those that were clearly off their heads (and there were a few!) there was such a diverse mix of people just gathered together to meet with Jesus. Everything was about Jesus, and I have heard others say that, and stress that this outpouring is all about him. Jesus is at the heart of it, not the Pastor, or the church or anything else, but Jesus, and he gets all the glory.

Pastors, leaders and those needing healing were specifically invited for prayer although I think everyone in the place wanted to be prayed for! And I did go forward and there was a tangible sense of the power of God moving.  He is clearly on the move there!

One thing I did feel (and I don't want to deter anyone from going, and this is my personal opinion only) was that I felt that what is going on there is very much about Wales and particularly the valleys area. I was struck by the fact that parts of Cwmbran seemed deprived and run down and I asked one of the staff about this who confirmed that the valleys generally are marked by deprived areas, unemployment and so on and I guess that so often leads to alcohol, drugs and crime being more prevalent. It was this that I really felt God was and is addressing there. So I had a look at their website this morning and it says this:

Victory Church started with a passion to see the Gospel saturate Wales. The purpose was to start a church in Cwmbran and to expand from there into the rest of Wales and the Valleys. God spoke clearly to Pastor Richard and give him a mission to preach the Gospel and teach the bible that would result in transformed lives.

They also have a vision to plant 50 churches in 10 years in Wales and I really felt like this is just the start of that. That God is bringing these people, largely from the nearby area and that through them these churches will be planted across Wales. It is abundantly clear that God is on the move there and I would not be surprised if it takes far less than 10 years to plant those churches, I think God has plans far bigger, and as we sang last night of 'changing a nation' I really believe God is going to do that in Wales. This is just the beginning. So watch this church....!

Just to clarify, I'm not saying that people won't be touched and take this move of the spirit elsewhere (and indeed people have already said that and I certainly prayed for our team back here in this mornings staff meeting!) but I just had a sense that the main heart of this is for Wales and for those really deprived areas. I would also say that if your church is in a deprived area or you have people experiencing these kind of problems, drug abuse, alcoholism etc, then do go. Go, and ask God for that annointing and take it away!

Lastly, to give God the glory some more... I had to leave at 10pm and the meeting was still going on, but with a 3 hour drive ahead of me I didn't have much choice. I had prayed before hand, that if God wanted me to go he would give me the stamina and energy to do so in less than a day, and having suffered with fatigue in the past, some of you will know this was a bit of an ask! However, the drive was a sinch! (is that how you spell sinch...?!) On the way there and back I prayed, sang and was just having fun, I had planned to stop and sleep in the car for a few hours on the way home, and yet I didn't need to. I didn't feel at all tired until I got to Gatwick, which is just 10 mins drive from where I live. No sleepiness, no head nodding! nothing. And I don't really feel tired today either, and I've done a days work now too! Praise God :)

If you want to read more, Victory Church is posting info on their facebook pageand website with regular updates of meetings and healings etc. I can't vouch for any of them because I didn't speak to anyone who had been healed, but what I will say is that to me it seemed totally genuine.

Leadership Qualities

Leadership

Leadership is not about how good we are but how good we are in recognising and realising others. 

Here are some characteristics of leaders. 

Humility: People can mistake humility for weakness and avoid it so as not to lose perceived power. 

However, humility can actually increase one's influence. As Dale Carnegie wrote, "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." 

Genuinely caring for and recognising the talents of others makes real leaders. Humility always precedes respect. (Leaders ability to say sorry)

Intellectual Curiosity

Leaders with intellectual curiosity more willingly prioritise meeting new people, listening to ideas, and relishing new experiences. Instead of asking questions, leaders as they mature usually answer them. What is your Ask-to-Answer Ratio? The ratio is likely higher during the early trajectory of leadership growth and lower during the crescent of it. Make time to be curious! Work it into you calendar and don't cancel. Set goals to meet new people and try new things.

Optimism

An optimistic disposition has a great effect. People are captivated by positive attitude. Good leaders can hold back their gut-criticism (even if based on experience) and first try to process and contemplate all the reasons why a new idea might work better or the potential in a talent before the weaknesses.

Vulnerability

Power, strength, and confidence are attributes that leaders are expected to project to their people. But vulnerability humanises leaders, creating a "pull" of people towards you. People who ask for help often find others rallying behind them, fuelled by a feeling of being needed and collectively working towards success. Again it is a difficult but essential balance to achieve — to be confident with a willingness to take risks and embrace failure.

Authenticity

Leaders, like politicians, are all too often over-positioned and under-authenticated.

Generosity

Power brings with it innumerable requests for favors. So it makes sense for successful leaders to be discriminating. But never lose the spirit of generosity; instead, allocate it appropriately. Remaining a mentor to others, connecting with community activities, simply saying more "thank-you's," and doing more things without over-thinking the potential "value-exchange".

Openness

Openness is about welcoming things that might not fit a traditional mould. Be willing to receive intelligence and wisdom from all sources in an effort to further your view of the world.

Pastor Richard Taylor

Grace

Grace

Grace- we all need it, but what is it? Essentially, grace is the salvation and joy that we have in Christ Jesus, not because we deserve it, but because He has freely given it to us. On our own, we could never earn the favor of God. But out His great love for us, He sent His Son to pay the price and make us righteous in Him.

Grace isn’t a one-time deal, though. God extends grace to us every day, through all the m any blessings He gives to us. And this should humble us; it should lead us to praise and magnify the name of the one who has poured out His lavish love on underserving sinners. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Besides worship, what else should the gift of grace inspire within the heart of each believer? Consider 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 

Grace gives us the ability to rest in the fact that Jesus has given us everything we need. We learn to depend fully on our Creator. This, ultimately, is the glorious effect of grace.

Ways to improve communication

Here are some ways you can improve the communication of your teams.

1. Be Clear

If you want to create a strong team that communicates well, people need to be clear about who is in the team. There can be so much frustration amongst a team when each memebr of the team is unclear of their defined role. When I started our first church this was key in developing the team as undefined roles can often create so much unnecessary friction which can lead to division.

2. Be Specific

Who does what? Most of the problems that occur in teams happen when team roles are not clearly defined. 

Consider what would happen if an airline pilot was unclear about who does what. The pilot is responsible for the safety of the passengers and the plane. They are expected to undertake all the necessary checks before taking off and they must follow strict procedures while in the air. They are responsible for and have the authority to make a lot of decisions. However, during take-off and landing their authority is limited; and, at these times they must ask for and get permission from the air traffic controllers before taking action. Can you imagine the disasters if every pilot had the authority to take off and land at will? Or perhaps needed to negotiate take-off or landing directly with the other pilots flying in the area?

The foundation for developing a strong team is being specific about responsibility and accountability.

3. Be Envisioning 

People are natural problem solvers. Nothing inspires us like overcoming an obstacle, meeting a challenge or doing something that has never been done before. When we’re bored and lacking purpose, we become restless and argumentative. Envision your team with a mission or an idea that is bigger than them and let them become passionate about achieving it.

4. Be Open

Being opem with your team shows them you care, very few leaders that have a closed door get the best out of their team.

This fosters confidence and trust among team members, reduces rumors and gossip and increases communication levels among the team. No more “us versus them.”

5. Be Fluid

Spend time with your team outside of formal meetings, this is key in getting the best out of the team as they interact with you socially and 'get'  you as the leader. In these settings you can be fluid and the team get to see the real you. Don't be so dogmatic on structure that you lose the fluency that brings growth organically.

6. Be Small

Keep your teams small and manageable. Research has shown that teams communicate better and are more productive when they have fewer members.

Keeping your team small will reduce division and allow team members to know each other well enough to maximise their talents. It also streamlines communication and keeps team members confident in their mission.

Purpose - It wasn't a good idea by Richard Taylor

Purpose - It wasn't a good idea

March 8, 2016

|

Pastor Richard Taylor

Everyone seems to be searching for purpose. For those who don’t know Jesus, that search can be terrifying. Without the Gospel, life is nothing more than chasing after the wind. But if you do know Jesus, you can know exactly what your purpose is- to know God, and to make Him known.

Everything that we do is meant to bring glory to our Creator- from the small tasks of everyday life to the things we do specifically for His Kingdom. Our purpose is what drives us to accomplish the work that God has set out for us. He can use us in powerful ways, if only we are willing. When I planted Victory Church it wasnt a good idea it was God's purpose. We went on to plant many more churches and saw many lives transformed by the Gospel. When I started we didnt have our own building to call our church home but God had a purpose and provided every step of the way.  Whatever God is calling you to do he will provide along the way.

We do not have a purpose that is meaningless or ordinary. Our purpose results in our own joy, the salvation of others, and the glorification of God. When we align our will with our purpose, we can take great delight in the fact that we are making a difference in this world by doing the work of He who has called us.

Even when we think we are unquaified or have failed his call is linked to our purpose. Through painful experiences God uses us to help others, our journey becomes a blueprint to minister to others. I was saved at a young age from drugs and a life of crime yet today my story is in thousands of prison cells around the country and many have come to faith because of it, God turned my life around and purposed that his story in my life would help others find their purpose.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” When we follow the purpose we have in God, we can face suffering with a smile, knowing that everything we go through has its own purpose- to building us up and bring us nearer to Christ. In other words, purpose is what keeps us rooted in the great love of God.

Tears in the wilderness

In 2013 we went through probably the hardest time of our lives. Through wrong decisions and actions I had made I felt as if we had lost everything and found ourselves in a real wilderness. We didn't know what to do or who to trust and every hour of every day was a struggle. Im sure its true for many people that life can be cruel sometimes wether its self induced or from an outside source, but whatever gets us into the wilderness doesn't have the power to keep us in the wilderness.

One thing I do know is that my wife Jill and I cried many tears, some of repentance, some of pain, some of real hopelessness and some of joy. We decided that crying in our wilderness was part of a healing process. Our tears brought us closer together as a family and even closer to God, in fact we cried our way out of the wilderness! The Psalmist David puts it like this 'weeping may stay for the night but joy comes in the morning' (Ps 30:5) Well it was a long night! But the morning did come as sure as the sun rises in the east. During our tears in the wilderness we probably learnt more lessons in all the previous years of marriage and ministry. If your in a wilderness experience right now don't be afraid to cry, your tears in the wilderness will bring you closer to God and eventually they will carry you by His grace out into a much better place.

The Power to come back

The Power to come back

We all face situations that seem like they could bury us - the loss of a loved one, bad news concerning our health, a divorce- those negative thoughts bombard our minds telling us, "It's over, you've seen your best days, that set back is going to taint your future, that lay-off is going to ruin your career. That illness is always going to limit you." It's easy to feel like we've been buried, but what's interesting is the only difference between being buried and being planted is the expectancy of what's going to happen next.

When you put a seed in the ground you don't say, "I'm burying this seed," you say, "I am planting this seed," because you know it's coming back.

We all face difficulties but you have the seed of almighty God on the inside. He breathed His life into you. When you go through disappointments, you're in tough times... you might feel like you'd been buried, but the fact is, you've simply been planted.

That means you're coming back. And you're not just going to come back, your going to come back better, increased and stronger. What was meant for your harm, God will use to your advantage. You go in as a seed, but because of the life of God, you come out blossoming, producing even more fruit.

Jesus talked about this in John 12:24. He said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and is planted, it will not produce fruit.." You can have a seed lying on the shelf for a lifetime, it will never become what it was created to be until you put it in the ground. It's potential will never be fully realized until it's planted. As long as it's up on the shelf where it's comfortable, where it doesn't have to stretch, doesn't have to deal with any adversities... that potential will remain locked up dormant inside. Only after it's been planted, and it goes through the process of germination- the outer shield breaks off, the new growth springs forth- that's when it will blossom and produce more fruit.

I'm sure if you were to ask the seed, it will say, " I don't wanna be planted. It's lonely in the dark by myself. It's dark. It's uncomfortable." It feels like it's been buried- can't see any light, people walking on top of it... the truth is it's not buried, it's only planted. When it's in the ground, in that dark time, something supernatural starts to happen. Although the dark is hundred times more powerful, possibly a thousand times heavier, it cannot hold the seed in.

We can imagine the dark, when it feels something stirring, it says to the little seed, "What do you think you're doing? You can't get out. I am much more powerful than you." The seed says, "No, no, no. I know a secret - I'm not buried, I'm planted. 

We may be down right now but it's temporary. Your coming back. Youve got the life of God in you." The dirt says, "What are you talking about? You're nothing compared to me. You don't have a chance." Something in that seed rises up even stronger and says, "No, you cannot keep me down. I've got comeback power in my DNA. I will rise again."

Sure enough one day, that little seed breaks the surface of the earth. It smiles and says, "I told you I was coming out." It's no longer buried, no longer hidden and alone. No longer has people walking on top of it. It's got a new beginning. It's potential is being realized. As time goes by, instead of being a little seed buried in the ground, out grows into a beautiful plant, producing all kinds of bright, beautiful flowers. What happened? It went through the process of being planted.

This is what Jesus meant by living a resurrected life, dead, buried and finished. The disciples had lost heart and thought it was all over, go back to their old way of living but no!

Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me will never die.

People may have said your done, its finished remember who lives on the inside of you the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.  

More info on Richard Taylor visit: http://www.richietaylor.org

Church Planter should be Cathedral Thinkers

The launch can be seen is successive steps
Most church plants seem to fail not because of the model but because of poor leadership.

In every movement or successful church plant lies the understand of ‘big picture’ leadership or seeing beyond the launch.

1. Identify & confirm a passionate sense of calling

2. Master the discipline of leading yourself
3. Identify the needs of your community & develop an intentional strategy to meet them

4. Cast a clear and compelling vision for your church plant
5. Lead from a bold faith that takes prayerful risks
6. Evaluate your values & integrate them into the DNA of your church
7. Effectively raise & manage money
8. Be intentional about discipleship & leadership development
9. Develop measurable systems & structures to fulfil your vision
10. Identify key leaders to execute the vision
11. Think strategically & execute for results

12. Persevere through difficulty in order to get to the next level 

The Three Stonecutters

One day a traveller, walking along a lane, came across 3 stonecutters working in a quarry. Each was busy cutting a block of stone. Interested to find out what they were working on, he asked the first stonecutter what he was doing. “I am cutting a stone!” Still no wiser the traveller turned to the second stonecutter and asked him what he was doing. “I am cutting this block of stone to make sure that it’s square, and its dimensions are uniform, so that it will fit exactly in its place in a wall.” A bit closer to finding out what the stonecutters were working on but still unclear, the traveller turned to the third stonecutter. He seemed to be the happiest of the three and when asked what he was doing replied: “I am building a cathedral.”

Add To Cart

This story beautifully illustrates a key leadership quality - seeing the bigger picture. All

three stonecutters were doing the same thing, but each gave a very different answer.

Each knew how to do his job but what was it that set the third stonecutter apart? Perhaps:

• Knowing not just how and what to do, but knowing why.

• Viewing the whole and not just its parts.

• Seeing a vision, a sense of the bigger picture.

• Having the ability to see significance in work, beyond the obvious.

• Understanding that a legacy will live on, whether in the stone of a cathedral, or in the impact made on other people.

In Drucker’s version, when asked what they were doing, the first stonecutter replied: “I am making a living”.

The second kept on hammering while he said:
“I am doing the best job of stone cutting in the entire country.”

The third stonecutter, when asked the same question said:

“I am building a cathedral.”

“Cathedrals are incredible testaments to human endeavour. It is not only their grandeur or splendour, but the thought that they often took more than fifty years to build.

Those who designed them, those who first worked on them, knew for certain that they would never see them finished.

They knew only that they were creating something glorious which would stand for centuries, long after their own names had been forgotten.....

We may not need any more cathedrals but we do need cathedral thinkers, people who can think beyond their own lifetimes.”

This is our time to think, plan and pray for bigger and greater. We must limit ourselves to the here and now but rather to the bigger picture and beyond the launch.

What does that look like on the ground?

1. What style of church are you seeking to plant
2. What will be the strengths
3. What will the church be known for

“I am Building a Cathedral”

Demonstrating his own leadership quality, Peter Drucker told a different version of this

story, going beyond the obvious in drawing out its lessons.

As Peter Senge has put it: the responsibility of a leader is not just to share a vision

but to build a shared vision.

We Need Cathedral Thinkers

These questions help you to see the ‘bigger picture’ and its cathedral thinkers that not only inspire others to build but they build others up also.

The bible itself speaks of cathedral thinkers? We are all building a kingdom that is beyond our launch. His Kingdom, we pray for it, preach it and build it, until he comes and brings a new city.