We leave tonight from Brazil. It is so difficult to assess such a time. (I will in the next few days send out a newsletter giving a fuller report.) Healings, salvation (45 last night responded – when was the last time I was involved in something so directly evangelistic?), watches starting yet again, generosity, friendships, too many open doors, questions raised about the future – head spinning and body tired!! Off home, then to the UK for Alan’s funeral, looking for a new apartment, praying for the right rhythm for 2010… and so we go on.
Whenever one drives through a Brazilian city, the Pentecostal, charismatic church buildings (often shop fronts) are everywhere. The noise is also present as volume seems to have a relationship to anointing! Perhaps the nation is around 20+% born again / charismatic. (One state we were in claims to be 40%). This is from almost 0% a few decades ago. I am grateful for the shift, the breaking of hegemony, and in particular religious hegemony is so necessary. However, it is the symbol of yesterday’s breakthrough. And yesterday’s breakthrough can become today’s prison, and today’s new (improved?) hegemony.
I am sure that so much has shifted in this nation, there is a groundswell taking place of something new that will in this next phase begin to grow – please Lord, below the radar.
The biggest request for the future is ‘give us an alternative eschatology’. We are thinking about this – but the implications of being citizens of heaven? And the implications for the Pentecostal charismatic ubiquitous presence?
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4 Comments
“citizens of heaven” – this is where stewardship collides with patriotism.
Hi Martin, your entry is aptly called ‘travelling home’… Thats what we all are doing. And the closer we are to our Papa, we will inevitably find the powerstructures falling off…if we are willing to go closer and not get stuck in thinking we somehow need to ‘manhandle’ it. I’m following IHOP kansas city meetings a while (they are seeing currently a much higher level of inner/outer healing and glory of God), and God’s doing just that. Leaders learning to loosely lead/ invisibly lead till only One is glorified and seen…
Jesus, be our vision! (we all have some way to go…). Gerrit.
Martin, strange question…why did you write ‘watches starting yet again’?
We had a remarkable phenomenon a few years back, where watches and clocks that had no longer been functioning started – perhaps up to 100 or so times this took place in a few month period. The majority took place in Brazil but in virtually every country I went to this happened. It was a sign that what was stopped spiritually was being re-started. This happened again in Brazil this time.