After last month’s experimental worship watch in Annalong we’ve decided that it’s time to get more organised and do this regularly again. This time we are planning to do 2 Watches each month – on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month. But we are looking to move it around to a few different venues so keep checking in here for details.

We see this is a time to engage with God in worship and focus on him. There is no preaching, teaching or otherwise, but merely creation of a space for God to come among us as we draw close to him. There are no set prayers or prayer agendas, though spontaneous prayer may happen.

We are going to be running an evening of praise and worship. We have done these in various places in the past and we are looking to develop something on a more regular basis in the Mourne area.

If you are not familiar with the idea I shall explain a little further. We see this is a time to engage with God in worship and focus on him. There is no preaching, teaching or otherwise, but merely creation of a space for God to come among us as we draw close to him. There are no set prayers or prayer agendas, though spontaneous prayer may happen.

We have been given the use of the building at Annalong Christian Fellowship, though this is not exclusively an ACF event and as such we are not running this under the name of ACF. We intend to advertise this wider and hope that it will become a truly cross denominational thing. We hope in time to expand this further to include worship leaders from other churches and denominations. But for now we are starting small and it will be a bit experimental as we seek to grow. It will probably just be me leading worship for an hour or so and maybe some CDs.

Feel free to stay for as long or short as you like. There’s no obligation to stay the whole evening. We’d just be happy to have you come and worship with us.

Please use the Contact Form on this site if you would like directions to the building.

I am really keen to serve the Body of Christ by making myself available to lead worship at meetings and events.

I have been leading worship for about 22 years and am experienced in small groups, large teams and on my own with a single guitar.

If you’d like me to get involved in what you are doing please use the contact page on this site or phone me on 07851 848054

Pass through the Gates!  All Nations Convocation Jerusalem and Watchmen’s Tour of Israel

Sept. 18 – Oct. 2, 2009
Join us from your City to celebrate the King in His City, Jerusalem!

If you have never been before it is a 2 week gathering for prayer and worship for Israel and the nations, including a prayer tour of different locations in Israel.

You can download Registration Forms in many different languages from their web site.

I’ve now put the mailing list sign up form back online. After a period of a few years where not much has been happening I feel it is now time to get back to keeping people informed about some new ventures.

If you aren’t already on the mailing list you can sign up by filling in the form. I don’t intend to send a lot of newsletters out, at least not a regular weekly one. They are more occasional and are used to inform of events, training sessions, new ventures etc.

I was sitting in a church meeting yesterday morning and several prophetic words were given that were on the them of the Seasons of God. I find it hard to remember all prophetic words unless I have a tape recorder handy but one line stuck with me (paraphrased):

“God works in seasons in your lives. Learn to see the beauty in the season that your are currently in, not the one that you would like to be in“.

This kind of provoked me to think a lot. I am a great lover of nature and can see the natural beauty in all seasons. To me a tree without any leaves in Winter silhouetted against the horizon as the sun goes down on a frosty day makes a beautiful photo. It may be harder to truly see the beauty of God in a dark spiritual season though. Sometimes it seems as if he has abandoned us to struggle on our own. Yet the prophetic word continued (again paraphrased):

“this is a time of transformation, when God is at work in us even if we do not see any outward growth”.

So take courage and learn to see God at work even in the hard times.

Good songs can last for generations. In the case of the old Irish hymn Be Thou My Vision it has been around for over 1200 years and still new versions keep coming!

It’s a traditional Irish Christian hymn, but is now sung in English-speaking churches around the world. In fact it is the world’s most popular Irish hymn.

According to Wikipedia it was written by Dallan Forgaill in the 8th century; although the text had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries before the hymn itself was written. It was translated from Old Irish Gaelic into English by Mary E. Byrne in “Eriú”, Journal of the School of Irish Learning, in 1905.

I came across a unique version by Andy Rogers from the Causeway Coast of Ireland recently. He did a contemporary guitar driven recording and is giving it away free.

He talks about the amazing responses he has had to the song in such diverse venues as churches, orphanages and even night clubs and bars.

Check out his ‘Ethno-Celt’ version here:

You may or may not be aware that a campaign has been launched to extend Great Britain’s abortion law to Northern Ireland even though the move is opposed by all four of our major political parties in our Province. A number of MPs in Great Britain with the support of the Progressive Unionist Party here have tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill which would impose legalized abortion here.

I am writing this to ask you to pray about this issue and also to consider
signing the petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Anti-Abortion/?showall=1

Also there is a National Day of Prayer about abortion on Monday 27th October on the date of the 41st Anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act. See the web site www.imagenet.org.uk

Introduction:
This is a word that I was given by God in 2002 but I feel to re-release it now. I believe this to be a word initially for Ireland, but will also apply to other countries.

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There is a new monasticism coming to the Church in Ireland.

It is first of all a monasticism of the heart – a heart that communes deeply with God – not superficial throwaway prayers, but an intimacy that transcends lifestyle and culture. It is a return to the ‘Practise of the Presence of God‘, as it has been called; that intimacy that is born out of many hours of solitude and soaking in the very presence of God. This in turn will lead to a quickened awareness of the presence of God in everyday situations – at work, at school, in the home and in the community. It is deep communion with God even in the midst of chaos.
This new Monasticism will operate on 2 levels:

1) An Attitude of Heart

In the hearts of all believers who will commit themselves to the changes necessary in lifestyle:

- more time spent in the presence of God, saturating in his very life,
- a shift from petition to waiting and listening,
- embracing fasting as a way of life,
- dealing with the impurities that impede his holiness.

In essence, this entails embracing all of the qualities and strengths of the former monks, yet living them out within the cultural context.

Qualities and Strengths:

Solitude
Community
Discipline
Hard Working Attitude
Mercy and Justice
Holiness
Sacrifice,
Simple lifestyle,
etc.

I felt the Lord highlight 2 key strengths of the former monastic lifestyle – Solitude and Community. These seem to be almost opposites yet when put together make up a whole. Solitude – spending many hours alone with God is complimented by the strength in unity of many others who have been alone with God too. Those who commit their lives to this solitude of heart will need the support and fellowship of others to enable them to translate their experience into the living reality needed to live it out in their everyday lives.

For the majority of believers the call is to a deeper level and walk with God within their existing situations.

2) An Actual, Literal Monastic Lifestyle

Yet I believe that God will call some to an actual physical monastic lifestyle, seeing the re-establishment of residential community life that embraces all of the qualities of the former monasteries, yet living within the modern cultural context. This will involve an embracing, not rejection, of culture and society, working with what is good and right, and seeking to redeem cultural ways that are not forbidden by the Lord. Thus, it will be common to see a fusion of inner city communities, marrying up of modern forms of music, art and culture with the spiritual disciplines such as solitude and silence, worship, service and fellowship. This will produce a dynamic expression of God incarnating in the culture, permeating, sanctifying and redeeming all around. This will be a very attractive expression to those who don’t yet know Jesus. These communities will only happen though if those who are called to live in them will first embrace wholeheartedly the call to adopt the Attitude of Heart.

The primary purpose of these modern day monasteries is to be Houses of Prayer with God calling many to give themselves to worship and prayer on 24 hour a day cycles. Prayer and worship will be the powerhouse of these communities yet they will be holistic centres, embracing the call to redeem the whole of creation from its bondage to decay (Romans 8). So works of mercy, care for those in poverty, speaking up for justice, healing of the sick, mission and teaching will all be part of the whole package.