july/august 2015 opwci herald · was olman, ishop of lindisfarne. allegedly the discussion was...

Bi-MONTHLY UPDATE JULY/AUGUST 2015

OPWCI HeraldOPWCI HeraldOPWCI Herald

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Matthew 28:19-20

Dear Friends and Family,

This scripture in Matthew is known as the Great Commission. We at Orlando Prayer and Worship Center take the words of our Lord Jesus very seriously. My husband envisioned our church as a place for people to grow in the Lord and then go out and share what they learned with the nations!

Just recently, three of our pastors did just that! Pastors Earl and Cate

Green with Pastor Bill Gentry ministered to the people of northern England sharing God’s healing message of hope and joy! This is their third visit to Hollybush Christian Fellowship, but this trip also included ministry in the Nottingham and Sherwood Forest area as well. The churches were very small churches, but their people loved Jesus!

The real mark of a great church is not the size of the budget, the size of the staff, the beauty of the choir, the glory of the music, the wonder of the architecture, or any of the worldly measures we like to use. The real mark of the church in Jesus’ eyes is a church that is 100% dedicated to His service. This includes the Great Commission; like starting a parade and bringing others into the parade with you and then sending them back up into the stands to get more people to bring back down to join in and then sending more people back into the stands who will bring even more people back down to participate. A good standard for evaluating all our ministries is how much we love the Lord and how much we share Him with others. We, and many little churches in England, are doing this. We are all involved in the disciple-making process! Since our ministries are doing that, then the size of the congregation doesn’t matter, because we are giants in the Spirit!

Love you, love you, love you!

Pastors Dr Roy G and Naomi Futch

Pastor Naomi Futch

Inside this issue:

A Brief Christian History of North Yorkshire England 2

Three Americans in Yorkshire! - by Pastor Cate Green

6

Pasturing vs Pastoring in Yorkshire - by Pastor Earl Green

14

The Story of Hollybush Christian Fellowship Part 7 - edited by Pastor Cate Green

17

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WHITBY

When, exactly, Christianity was first introduced to the Celts is lost in myth and legend, but there are many accounts speak of Hilda (614-680) founding an abbey on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea on the eastern coast of Yorkshire. It was in 657 when the first Abbey of Whitby (then called Streaneshalch) was founded by Hilda, a great-niece of King Edwin of Northumbria, who as a young girl had been baptized with him at York. Two hundred years later it was destroyed by the Vikings and nothing remains of the original foundation. In the thirteenth century, a new abbey was built whose ruins can be seen today, setting dramatically on the clifftop above the town. The ghostly shell of the building with its spiky pinnacles, empty windows and crumbling gables speak of a distant past when Christianity was a burgeoning faith.

Whitby is also famous as the setting of the Synod (like a counsel) of Whitby in 664,

where King Oswy had to arbitrate between the Roman and Celtic rites of the church, both of which had been celebrated in Northumbria for some time. The Celtic tradition derived from monks like Aidan coming from Iona in Scotland, while the Roman influence began with the missions of Augustine and Paulinus. The Roman party was led by Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, while the main proponent of the Celtic ways was Colman, Bishop of Lindisfarne. Allegedly the discussion was about superficial details like the date of Easter and how a monk should cut his hair, but more fundamental matters were at stake. The arguments went back and forth with Colman supported by Hilda, Cedd (bishop of the East Saxons) and initially by Oswy himself. Those on the Roman side included Oswy's wife and son and James the Deacon, who had bravely carried on after the flight of Paulinus thirty years before. When Oswy eventually decided in favor of the Roman ways, he little realized that he had determined he course of Christianity in England for the next 900 years. The English church came increasingly under the sway of Rome, a situation only broken at Reformation.

SCARBOROUGH

Scarborough Castle is sited on a large headland jutting out into the North Sea, and it is dramatic setting indeed! The ruins of an ancient lighthouse sits near the castle that was erected around the time of Christ by the Romans. The castle is one of the places where George Fox (1624-1691) was imprisoned during his turbulent career.

A Brief Christian History of North Yorkshire England

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arch and down a cobbled alley, just across the road from the table where he preached.

The cottage next to the alley was the home of Elizabeth Tyerman, a Quaker housewife and one of his converts. Wesley, Adams and Mrs Tyerman formed an improbable trio who began a work of God in the village. Luke Tyerman was converted here and later wrote authoritative biographies of Wesley and several other Methodist pioneers.

HIPSWELL

The village is virtually surrounded by the parade grounds and training areas of Catterick Army Base. It is the presumed birthplace of John Wycliffe (1324-1384), whose family were lords of the manor of Wycliffe, just across the border in County Durham.

There appears to be nothing here to remember the pioneer reformer. The small church is early nineteenth century; a farmhouse just beyond looks old enough to have been here in Wycliffe's time, but the rest of the village consists of army barracks and uninspiring modern housing.

YORK

The uniquely splendid Minster, largely intact city walls and a wealth of medieval churches make York the main tourist destination in the north of England, but it also has a rich Christian heritage.

In 314, one of three English bishops who attended the Council of Arles came from York and is traditionally called Eborius. Little is known of the church at that time or for the next three hundred years, but the beginning of York's role as a major Christian center can be dated precisely to the baptism of King Edwin of Northumbria on Easter Day 627. Here is the story in brief.

Paulinus had been sent to Kent from Rome in 601 to assist Augustine in the conversion of

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Other castles up and down the country - from Lancaster to Launceston - also played host to

the founder of the Quakers. Fox's longest period of incarceration, from April 1665 to September 1666, was spent in the Cockhyll Tower at the southern end of the Scarborough castle walls. He complained that he had "no fire, hearth or chimney" in his cell and that the rain came in and soaked his bed.

RIPON

Ripon has one of the largest market squares in the north of England and close by is Ripon Cathedral, with two hefty towers at the west end and another in the center. The first cathedral on the site was built by the energetic Wilfrid of York around 672, but most of the present building dates from the thirteenth century. Lying under the central tower, Wilfrid's Saxon crypt has survived for 1300 years. It shares many features with his other surviving crypt at Hexham Abbey. Excavations in 1997 showed that the roof of the crypt's main chamber was supported by stone ribs originally erected over a temporary wooden framework, a feature unique in England. Wilfrid had travelled widely and the idea for this construction may have come from

European styles.

The cathedral treasury contains the beautiful Ripon Jewel found close to the cathedral in 1976. It is a small gold roundel inlaid with gemstones and may have been part of a cross or casket commissioned by Wilfrid.

OSMOTHERLY

John Wesley made several visits to the village, preaching in the parish church, at the home of Watson Adams, a former Franciscan priest, and from an old stone barter table which still stands by the market cross. The success of his labors can be judged by the presence of one of the oldest Methodist chapels in the country. Dated 1754, it lies through a stone




and altars. Coifi eagerly stepped forward and, leaping onto a horse, rode out to the temple, hurled a spear at the door and burned the building to the ground. The absence of any repercussions reassured Edwin, who was then baptized with many of his followers.

HULL

Strictly, of course, the town is called Kingston-on-Hull, the river Hull being a tributary of the mighty Humber estuary. The old part of the town, where the two rivers meet, retains its eighteenth century seafaring ambience, with pubs along the cobbled High Street called the Ye Olde Black Boy and the Sailmakers Arms.

For generations the Wilberforce family had lived in the town, growing wealthy in the timber trade with Scandinavia. Their home, the birthplace of William Wilberforce (1759-1833), backs directly onto the river and large ships still tie up at the end of the garden. The

house today is the centerpiece of Hull's Museums Quarter and has an exhibition of the life of Wilberforce and his campaign for the abolition of the slave trade.

the Saxon kingdoms of England. In 625, he undertook a mission to Northumbria, taking with him Ethelburga, daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent, as a Christian bride for the pagan King Edwin. Ethelburga had agreed to the marriage on condition that she was allowed to practice her Christian faith. After much deliberation with Paulinus, Edwin himself embraced the new teaching and was baptized with many of his relatives and followers, including his thirteen-year-old great niece Hilda, who later founded the monastery at Whitby.

The historian Bede tells the charming story of Paulinus debating matters of faith with Edwin and his nobles in a Saxon banqueting hall. Eventually one man stood up and compared the life of a man to a sparrow's flight across the hall, entering through the eaves at one end and disappearing into the night at the other. Anything that could throw light on the fate of man after death was to be welcomed. This seemed to settle the argument and Edwin's pagan priest Coifi was one of the first to accept the new faith, riding out instantly to destroy his temples and altars.

GOODMANHAM

Sitting astride the Wolds Way footpath, this village lies midway between York and Hull. The church of All Hallows stands on the site of a pagan temple, where King Edwin's chief priest Coifi once officiated. During the mission of Paulinus in 627, Edwin and his followers cautiously accepted the truth of the new faith and abandoned their pagan beliefs. According to Bede, Edwin was still worried about the consequences of renouncing paganism and asked for a volunteer to destroy the old shrines




the thrift, energy and strong Christian values of the Victorians.

POCKLINGTON/WILBERFOSS

Two places on the road to from Hull to York have further reminders of William Wilberforce. Wilberfoss is the village from which the family took its name, but William's ancestors had lived in Hull for several generations. The church records that a Christopher Wilberfoss gave money to repair the organ in 1533.

Wilberforce House is late Elizabethan, probably built by John Lister and it remained with the Lister family until 1732, when it was acquired by Wilberforce's grandfather. The statue of Wilberforce in the front garden carries the rather prim inscription "England owes to him the reformation of manners. The world owes to him the abolition of slavery". He became Member of Parliament for Hull from 1780 to 1784 and for Yorkshire from 1784 to 1812.

Elsewhere in Hull are other reminders of Wilberforce and the esteem in which he was held. After his death, he was hailed by the Victorians not only as Emancipator of the slaves, but also for his efforts to reform the "manners" (i.e. morals) of his generation. Wilberforce was no prude, but showed by his cheerful endurance of a painful disability and his happy family life that society could be changed for the better. Perhaps more than any other individual, his life exemplified the transition from the rakish Regency period to

Three Americans in Yorkshire! by Pastor Cate Green

Yorkshire has many faces; from the undulating emerald terrain of the Dales to the vast openness of the North Yorkshire Moors. The countryside recently welcomed three more familiar faces! It was always a thrill for three particular Americans to travel to England, but this was a special time of ministry for them, as well as a time of exploring Yorkshire county and beyond!

Bill Gentry with Earl and Cate Green arrived at Manchester International Airport early on the morning of July 28th tired and grumpy

after a long 8 hour flight across the Atlantic. A




flight made longer by a delay in take-off from Orlando International Airport.

The three weary adventurers gathered their luggage and boarded a bus from the airport that would take them to Europcar to pick up their reserved vehicle. After some confusion over a hired car with GPS, they finally pulled out of the airport driving a car that was smaller than they asked for, but the GPS was free! They all shared the task of programing the GPS to head for Thirsk, Yorkshire, and off they went!

After a brief stop at Tesco for food and sundry, they arrived at their cozy cottage in South Kilvington. Awaiting their arrival was the lovely owner Kathy, who greeted them with a warm hug! It wasn’t the first time they rented this cottage, and it felt like home. Settling in for a much needed nap, they rested for a few hours.

Promptly at 8, the three travellers marched up the street to the Old Oak Tree pub for delicious dinners of lamb, beef and potatoes along with the ever present peas. The atmosphere was wonderful, like stepping back in time. Cate imagined what it must have been like for people making journeys across the vast moors during the 18th

century. Riding in a bumpy carriage through a stormy night, the joy they must have felt upon seeing the pale fire-lit lamps of a friendly pub in sight! The promise of a warm meal and a bed must have been marvelous for them! Cate imagined the horses would have pulled forward hard on their reigns knowing that a warm dry stall awaited them in the stables behind the pub! Cate walked slowly back to the cottage contemplating how much things had changed over the years.

The next morning, Cate had the idea to visit Monk Park Farm. She needed an animal fix, you see. Growing up on a farm, she had

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developed a great love of all creatures great and small, just like James Herriot!

Monk Park Farm offered loads of animal interaction with cuddles from goats, sheep, baby chicks and llamas. Bill communed with the goats and had fun looking at some shy Highland cows. Earl conversed with a friendly llama and watched sheep get their dinner. Cate petted Shetland ponies and attempted to bring the Highland cows over to Bill for a closer look. In the process, she found that mooing actually calls goats! As she bellowed out a series of cow-talk at the cows every goat in the field flocked to her and Bill as they stood close to the fence. One billy goat nearly had Cate’s knee cap for lunch, but she escaped with only minor damage to her jeans.

Had it not rained, it would have been a perfect day.

Early the next morning, the three Yankees hit the road for the great city of Durham. Throughout the town square and hanging on the buildings of the university campus were banners announcing the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, that was drafted in 1215 by the Archbishop of Canterbury guaranteeing religious rights to a group of rebel barons. Cate learned that over

a series of revisions spanning several years the Magna Carta became part of England’s

statute laws. The Constitution of the United States drew heavily on the Magna Carta to form it’s own fundamental laws.

The trio visited the cathedral first, taking in all the beautiful stained glass windows. The rose window was especially nice!

After wandering around the massive interior of the building, the three attended a short

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Ripon to try a little Italian restaurant that had very high ratings. Previously, the Americans had tried all the pub grub regional specialties! They wanted to see how the British did Italian! As fortune would have it, there was a parade going on in honor of Ripon’s patron saint, Wilfrid. We watched from under umbrellas as the floats, pulled by tractors, slowly milled by. The parade went on despite the wet weather. It never rains on British parades because their floats are actually covered! Smart!

All the sightseeing was fluff, though. The real reason for visiting Yorkshire was...HOLLYBUSH CAMP! The tired trio made their way back to South Kilvington for a good night’s sleep and a restful day before the first meeting of Camp!

The gathering started with a series of announcements directed at attendees who brought their caravans (campers to us Americans) to the campgrounds for the durations of the conference.

Soon, the meeting was off to a good start with rousing praise and worship and a time of sweet prayer! It was a good beginning for the rest of the week!

Earl sang and led praise and worship several nights during Camp week bringing the

presence of the Holy Spirit to the people in a deeper way! Hands were raised and voices rang out praises to our Savior and King under the direction of Earl and the anointed praise and worship team! It was a very special time of ministry for them all! Earl was very touched that Jim Wilkinson would once again allow him to minister to the Lord and to the congregation in song and praise.

As the meetings progressed, Bill did what he

does best; Pray! He continued throughout the week leading prayer in the mornings and praying for people throughout the day since the trio stayed at camp most days without

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shots of the outside!

The mighty keep towered above the outer wall and above the trees! The huge gates spoke of a time when knights in shining armor rode their faithful steeds through the stone arch into the courtyard beyond to attend an audience with the king!

After a short visit to an antique show, food was the top priority! A search was begun to find Silver Street and a French restaurant called the Café Rouge. Many beautiful sights accompanied the travellers as they wandered around on cobblestone streets. The town square was particularly beautiful!

The next day, Bill decided we would visit

service in the Shrine of St Cuthbert near the apse of the church. The priest was kind and blessed the three Americans along with all the other visitors in attendance.

The cloisters were nice and in good condition for a structure nearly one thousand years old! The present cathedral was built and designed by the French architect William of Calais in 1080 under the rule of William the Conqueror. The property has been a place of worship for many centuries, however, with records dating back to 635AD.

The travellers made their way across the cathedral green to visit the nearby castle. Sadly, it was closed, but Cate got a few good

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going to their cottage to rest.

Many people were blessed and, even a few were healed, during the short week of meetings! The power of God flowed with every speaker and band! The youth choir

ministered in a mixture of rap and contemporary Christian song and dance. The Irish quartet, Simple Faith, returned for

several nights of ministry, which was a special treat for the Americans!

Earl wrapped up the week with several great songs leaving the people blessed on the last night of camp. His wonderful anointed tenor voice brought the Holy Spirit down in an

amazing way! All in all, it was a terrific camp week!

But the Americans weren’t finished with their ministry yet! The next day, they packed their overnight bags and headed to the Sherwood Forest to minister at their good friends’ church!

Pastors Dave and Carol Landers asked Earl and Bill to minister Sunday, and also for the special Tuesday night prayer meeting.

The Landers allowed Earl, Cate and Bill to stay

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at their home for the few days they ministered at their church. Cate had fun visiting with Peter, Catherine and Liam, the children that were also spending nights at the Landers’ home. It was a full house!

But the Sherwood Forest was not the only place to the south of Yorkshire the trio

ministered!

While at Hollybush Camp, Peter Smith had asked Bill to come to his church on Tuesday morning in Hoyland, near Sheffield. Bill thought it was closer to Sherwood than it was. But all turned out well and there was a powerful time of prayer for the Hoyland

Christian Fellowship that morning!

Peter and his group took the Americans out to lunch at Wentworth Woodhouse gardens.

Wentworth Woodhouse is one of the largest palaces in the UK with its East Front measuring over 600 feet wide! It sits on 250 acres of lush park grounds and has over 300 rooms! They trio did not go inside the palace,

but Peter took them to the front lawn where they could take pictures of the outside.

Near the palace is an area where plants are sold and there is also a gift shop and a


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cafeteria. Peter was gracious and paid for a sumptuous lunch.

Then, it was back to Sherwood Forest for Tuesday night prayer meeting! Though they tried diligently, the Americans could not find the elusive Robin Hood anywhere in Nottinghamshire!

Early that Wednesday morning, Earl, Cate and Bill arose, packed their bags once more, and headed back to South Kilvington. But there was one more stop before they left the Nottinghamshire area.

Their good friend, Margaret Brown, had invited the travellers to a lovely repast at her home in Lincolnshire. They dined al fresco on the beautiful grounds of her beautiful manor house. Tea sandwiches and biscuits (British speak for cookies) abounded! Margaret and her daughters, Julie and Jill, are excellent chefs! It was a glorious time of food and talking about the Lord! They even had a time of praise and worship as Earl sang from Margaret’s piano!

The American’s sadly said their so-longs to the Brown family and headed north back to Yorkshire.

The next evening was spent just driving around the Thirsk area saying so-long to


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Yorkshire till 2016. The trio wanted one last good meal before heading back Stateside. Cate suggested a pub nearby called the Kings Arms.

It was a hit! The meal was excellent! Bill and Earl had the lamb shank and Cate had a nice steak!

Full and happy, the three Americans went back to their cottage and packed their bags,

missing Yorkshire before they had even left. With a long flight ahead of them the next day, Earl, Cate and Bill rested, talked, laughed and prayed while looking forward to the next time of serving God in Yorkshire, and beyond! Ministry opportunities arose from missionaries who were also attending the services. There were invitations to Kenya and Pakistan! Perhaps our Americans will reach further abroad in the years to come and share the love of God with more nations! We will all see what’s next for our little trio soon!

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Pasturing vs Pastoring in Yorkshire by Pastor Earl Green Before our visit to Hollybush this year, everyone prayed at OPWC that Holy Spirit would take me to a new level of ministry. So, I began asking Him to sharpen the gifts He has given me and reveal greater insight into the calling on my life. During this trip He began showing me how over the years He has been developing my call. Although I had taught voice and piano for years, I had not really thought much about teaching in ministry. And though people have been touched by Holy Spirit when I’ve ministered in song, I had not been totally aware I was operating as evangelist. I would like to share a bit of what He showed me. Maybe it will spark something in your spirit about your own ministry.

When we first got to Thirsk in Yorkshire, I saw mile after mile of farmland. Some was for pasturing and some was for vegetation. Farming is a way of life there. Most everyone has farming in their blood. Wanting to see some of the animals and have a relaxed day we decided to visit Monk Farms. They have both

normal farm animals and other animals like llamas and wallabies.

It had started to rain a little and I didn’t want to get wet so I headed back to the barn to get

shelter. As soon as I got there, they were releasing the baby lambs from the barn to get bottle feed. I stood there and watched the barn door open. Then, as the head lamb came running out, all the others followed suit. Many people had bottles of milk in their hands and those babies knew exactly what to expect when they got to them. The lambs were so trusting of those holding the bottles they simply ran up to them and began feeding. They didn't stop to think that perhaps the milk could be poisoned or that the bottle holder could possibly be a wolf in sheep's clothing just waiting to harm them! Then just as quick as they came out, they finished their bottles and went back

into the barn. As I stood there watching all of this take place, the Lord reminded me how important it was for me to not only feed His


Here is a cute llama that would not leave me alone. It followed me up and down the fence until we were almost nose to nose. I thought how incredible it was it trusted me and seemed to want to hang around me.


sheep uncontaminated food, but also that the path where they are lead is His path, not my own. I then thought about the story in the book of John where Jesus emphasized that if we love Him, we will feed His sheep.

Let’s take a look at that story in John Chapter 21. Peter gets into a boat at night with other

disciples to fish. It is now morning and they have caught nothing. Jesus appears and tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. Now when they do, they are unable to draw it in because there are so many fish. This is when they recognize it is Jesus. When they get to the shore, they see He had already prepared fish and bread for them.

When I read this I began seeing the fish symbolically as both the Word of God and Spiritual Gifts. The fish and bread already prepared was for the disciples nourishment, but the fish from the boat was for those who the disciples would later feed. It's like that for us. As we partake of the Word and obey His commands, He gives us His Words and Spiritual Gifts needed to minister to those entrusted to us. If we don't eat the proper food, the Word and we don't operate in the

Gifts of the Spirit with pure hearts, we will feed the sheep contaminated food and lead them down the wrong path. His sheep hear His voice and we must also speak His Words over them!

Next we see Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him and then tells him to feed His sheep. Without getting into the Greek meaning of each word for “sheep/lamb”, “feed” or “love”, they encompass both God's love and compassion.

I believe Jesus was telling me that if I truly love His sheep, I will only seek to feed them the finest food and when I tend to them I will be sure they have the very best of care. The food must be the pure Word of God. As a pastor I must always keep my heart pure before the Lord. I must always seek His Words to share during our worship time and always being certain that the songs I choose are lead by Holy Spirit. Many times the Lord has showed me that during worship I must focus on Him and allow Him to worship through me so no one will be following me but they will be following Him. That is something that still overwhelms me! What an awesome responsibility!

After we ministered at Hollybush we went to another church where Holy Spirit began speaking to me about preparing a teaching on Worship. During the course of a few days He began showing me issues that needed to be resolved within the team. He then allowed me to speak to the Pastors and Worship Leader, they received what I felt the Lord was says to them and now they are telling me it has greatly effected the atmosphere of their services! Because of this incident, Holy Spirit has prompted me to write a book about Worship. It will not be like other books that have been

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been called to make disciples of men and that does include feeding His sheep. So, feeding His sheep could be in a church setting such as holding a position as a part of the Five-Fold Ministry or it could simply be holding a Bible Study or Prayer Meeting in your home with a few friends. Perhaps there are gifts that you have not operated in or unsure of your calling. Well then it’s time to start pressing in for that answer for only by His Spirit can you receive that revelation.

Just as an aside, the word "pastor" is derived from the Latin noun pastor which means "shepherd" and relates to the Latin verb pascere - "to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat”. Notice the bold, italics on cause to eat. What a joy to know we are causing those we minister to to want to worship and praise the Savior, the Lord of the Universe!

Around 400 AD, Saint Augustine, a prominent Roman bishop, described a pastor's job:

“Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved.” Though some of this sounds a bit comical it is true that pastoring is all the above! But what a privilege it is to be able to minister through the power of Holy Spirit!

I believe the Lord is revealing that my role as a pastor reaches far more than just to those in my local congregation. He may have me sing and teach all over the world, but I must always be aware that I am also pastoring those who will receive from Him through me. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus clearly tells us what


written, it will be written with the minster of music in mind. Not only the spiritual side of praise and worship but also the practical side.

Now you may be saying to yourself, how does this apply to me? Well, we have all

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our main calling is. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the

year of the Lord’s favor.”

Proclaim! Proclaim! Proclaim! Remember, feeding His sheep requires ALL OF US doing as His Spirit leads and going where His Spirit sends. To Him be all the Glory!

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Story of Hollybush Christian Fellowship Part 7 edited by Pastor Cate Green

It was the fateful night after George Breckon left us that had me in turmoil.

'Maybe there is something in what he says,' Cynthia said, snuggling down between the sheets.

'I doubt it,' I snorted as I fumbled in my bedside cabinet for the indigestion tablets Take it from me, Cynthia, he 's on a loser there. You wait and see.'

She turned towards me, her eyes wide open again, and her words were like a spear to my heart. 'But what about Reverend Ransome up at Snape? You remember you once told me about him and how he'd got this baptism thing when he was out in Africa. They can't both be wrong, him and George, can they?'

She'd hit a tender spot and I had to cover it fast. 'It was spending all that time in the sun did that to him, I spluttered. 'There's nothing in it, not really. Shall I turn this light out?'

But Cynthia did not look ready for sleep. Suddenly fully awake, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked squarely at me.

'But if it is of the Lord - if there is something more…'

'Then the Lord'll give it to us,' I said, irritably. 'We won't have to go asking and fussing about it; He'll just give it to us.'

She fell back against the pillow and lay staring up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. I switched out the light and settled down to

sleep, certain I'd escaped. But then Cynthia spoke again.

'D'you remember that prayer we prayed when we first came here, love?'

'What about it?'

'I've never forgotten it,' she murmured. 'We said that we wanted whatever the Lord had in store for us - that we'd welcome everything He wanted to give us.'

In the darkness she couldn't see my anger.

Summer mellowed into autumn, autumn shivered into winter... but George Breckon would not go away. As regularly and irritatingly as the migraines which continued to plague me, the man persisted in turning up for our Friday evening meetings and barely a week passed without him hounding us with talk about 'the baptism'. It was annoying. I liked George, but he was making



life difficult for me. His persistence was irking me, robbing me of my joy, pushing my normally endless patience to the limit. Why wouldn't he give up? Take 'no' for an answer? Go and peddle his Pentecostal ideas elsewhere?

It would have been easier, of course, if others in the Friday group had found him overbearing, but no one did. They all loved him and apparently couldn't hear enough about his Spirit-baptized experiences. It was just me - and as host of the house meetings, as well as one of the longest-standing Christians in the group, I had to love him too. It was not easy.

Eventually I developed a defensive mechanism. When George came to tea (Cynthia would insist on inviting him) I brushed aside every reference to Pentecost or the gifts of the Spirit with either a little joke or a cutting wise-crack, depending on the degree of threat it posed. I was sure that if I laughed it off long enough George would lose heart and give me up as an impossible case.

He didn't.

I tried another tack. Monopolize the conversation. Talk about anything and everything - the new family at church, the price of breeding pigs, Joanna's latest antics - any subject to keep George off his hobby-horse. But occasionally I'd have to stop for a mouthful of food and before I could swallow George would leap in with, 'Well, have you thought any more about. .'

Where would it all end? I think from the very beginning George had never doubted where it would end . . . and Cynthia was giving him every encouragement to believe he was going to see his goal achieved. It was very unsettling. While I was pulling further and further away from the likelihood of ever

pursuing the things George spoke of, Cynthia was clearly edging nearer.

From her early 'If there is something more . .' she had now moved on to 'If God's in it, I want it.'

But how could it be of God, I reasoned, if it was driving us apart? (I didn't realize it then, but that's one of the devil's favorite lines.)

On the surface of our relationship everything was fine - well, more or less, as long as I could pretend not to be rattled by George - but underneath I was seething. I was the spiritual head of our home - Cynthia ought to be taking her lead from me. (All my arguments were sound - until they were examined closely. Then they were identified for what they were: cleverly disguised pride.)

Occasionally these mental volcanoes would erupt and I would try to convince Cynthia that she was wrong; that she should close her mind to George's crazy ideas. But I should have known better. From the moment Cynthia had welcomed Christ into her life 12 years earlier she had pursued the things of God with a zeal that put even my enthusiasm in the shade. She had always meant business with the Lord - and there was no stopping her now. If the baptism in the Spirit was for real and it would enable her to receive more of God then Cynthia was going for it with arms wide open. Hers was an uncomplicated faith - and perhaps even naive, I thought - but it always seemed to bring results. It was no different this time.

It happened the following spring at Valley Road Baptist Church, Northallerton. George was holding a week's mission there, taking a different theme each night. One evening it would be 'The Blood of Jesus', another 'The Christian Life', and so on. The last night, I discovered, he was to preach on 'The Baptism in the Holy Spirit'.


Hollybush continued

2015

W elcome! We are glad you have come to Worship with us today. It is our Prayer that you feel the Love and Presence of the Lord among us. Our service is not structured like a traditional

church, (thus our ending time is until), but rather we prefer to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit who knows best how to minister to the needs of those present. As we follow His lead, we experience many of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: healing, prophecy, words of wisdom & knowledge, faith, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues and working of miracles as found in 1 Corinthians 12: 8-11.

Orlando Prayer & Worship Center International is an Apostolic Training Center. An Apostolic Training Center, is an equipping center, where the five-fold ascension gifts are in operation as described in Ephesians 4:11-13. We are to train, to prepare, to send out, and to support God’s people for the Kingdom ministries for which God has called them.

Ephesians 4:11-13 "And He Himself gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

As an Apostolic Training Center our ministry and messages are designed to accomplish the goals described above. This will cause through the Holy Spirit, a network of churches and ministries that will operate by relationship rather than by organization or tradition.

TITHES & OFFERINGS

There is usually no call for tithes and offerings. During our Praise and Worship you are invited to bring what the Lord has directed and what you have decided in your heart and place it in the chests of Joash at the front. Please read (II Kings 12:9 & II Chronicles 24:8-12).

In His Love & Service,

Opwci Herald Page 20 JULY/AUGUST

Orlando Prayer & Worship Center 970 Tuskawilla Rd Winter Springs, FL 32708 Office Phone: 407-617-3204 Website: www.opwci.org E-mail: [email protected]

Service Times Sundays at 3 PM

Pastor Naomi Futch

OPWCI Staff Members

Naomi Futch Senior Pastor Oversight/Apostle

Earl Green Associate Pastor/Music Minister

Pastor Bill Gentry Prayer Ambassador

Pastor Betty Carter Teacher/Director of Home Groups

Dr Linda Stiles Prophetess/ Director of Counseling/ Prophetic Training

Cate Green Co-Associate Pastor/Media Minister

Cheryl Landry Church Administrator


'You'll not get me along to that,' I told Cynthia. 'I have enough of that man trying to indoctrinate me here in my own home without hearing it from the pulpit.'

'But you don't mind if I go, Jim?'

'For all the good it'll do you. .'

Cynthia said no more about it and that night I stayed home to baby-sit while a friend drove her into town.

Three hours later she was driven back again . . . though she might just as easily have flown. She was still walking on air when she came into the lounge. Never in my life had I seen someone so elated.

'I got it, Jim!' she said unnecessarily. 'I got it!'

I'd been dreading this all evening and was ready with my reply. 'Never mind, Cynthia, it'll soon wear off.'

It was hurtful, I know, but in fact she never even heard me. Or if she did the words just bounced off. With a sudden laugh she did a little twirl there on the carpet, then turned and floated out of the room.

When at last she came down to earth a few days later I learned that at the close of the meeting George had invited all who wished to receive the baptism of the Spirit to go forward for prayer. Cynthia had almost leapt out of her chair and had been one of the first to the front of the church. There, two or three Christians had laid hands on her and prayed over her, some in 'tongues' - those strange babbling sounds the Pentecostals called a prayer language - and before she knew what had happened she felt power flowing through her whole body, along with an overwhelming joy. Moments later she too was 'speaking in tongues'.

I was not pleased. George's persistence, with Cynthia at least, had paid off and she had now experienced the phenomenon I had been fighting to save her from. The chances were he would now step up his pressure on me and so I would need a new line of defense. It was the one I'd been saving for just such an eventuality.

'Of course I don't doubt that something's happened to Cynthia,' I told George the following Friday, 'but that doesn't mean to say it's of the Lord. The devil can counterfeit the works of God, y'know. And as for this speaking in tongues lark, that's just a lot of mumbo-jumbo. It's all of the devil, the lot of it.'

Evidently George had heard that argument before. Unruffled, he smiled and said, 'Well, let's wait and see.'

At first I wondered what he had meant, but as the days and weeks passed by I began to understand. Cynthia was changing, but in no way that I could attribute to the enemy. She seemed to be getting so much more out of her Bible reading each day. . . she was spending far longer in prayer every morning and thoroughly enjoying it . . . she was more joyful in herself and more loving toward other people (including me!). . . and she seemed to have so much more faith to exercise each day in matters both large and small. I began to wonder if she was right…

***

We hope you have enjoyed the year of excerpts from ’Miracle Valley: The Story of Hollybush Christian Fellowship’. To purchase a full copy of the book, please visit their webpage:

www.hollybushchristianfellowship.co.uk/

or see Pastor Cate for more information.

Hollybush continued

july/august 2015 opwci herald · was olman, ishop of lindisfarne. allegedly the discussion was...

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