The view gets better as we climb higher!

Posted by Bill on November 19, 2011

I have chosen to stand on a rock-solid belief that the view gets better as we climb higher with the Lord. With that belief I am determined to do all that is within my control to climb higher to the next level … and the next, and the next. From where I presently stand, I am excited by the amazing things I believe the Lord has in store for His old, but not worn out, servant.

Now, before I make the mistake of racing ahead, enthusiastic and emotionally charged, to take hold of the blessings that have been reserved for me I need to pause for a moment to remind myself of a critical principle of the upward climb … the principle of cost. Truly, I don’t expect to progress in my climb without having to pay something. Jesus, our go-ahead God, came into our world to elevate us with Him, in life and ministry. Although most people in life are happy to see their lives moving forward and higher, only few are prepared to pay the price.

For those who are serious about journeying with Jesus to the top, He says from the Book of Luke … “If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” “So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me” Luke 14:26b, 33. Twice in this passage, Jesus says we cannot follow Him unless we are prepared to meet the necessary demand – to love Him more than everyone and everything in our lives. Loving Jesus “more than …” is the principle cost of climbing higher in your faith.

How do we prove to Jesus that we love Him more than anyone and anything, including our own lives? He says in the Book of John … “If you love me, keep my commandments” John 14:15. Before we can “keep His commandments” we must sacrifice whatever stands in our way.

Friends, at no stage of our climb with Jesus should we entertain the thought that pushing on to the next level is going to happen without having to pay a high cost. The Lord never asks from us anything but that which is necessary to accomplish His will in our lives. He wants to take us up to the summit of our climb. And, loving Him more than anyone and everything else is the bottom-line cost of our rise. The Lord sacrificed everything, including His life, to come down to where we once were; that place where were held captive and blackened by our sin – to free us and lead us up to the summit of our potential in Him. Why? Because He loves us, more than His own life!

Would you like to go to the next level of your climb in your relationship with the Lord (in your marriage, parenting, leadership, ministry, and mission) where the view is tons better than from where you presently stand (John 10:10b)? If your answer is “yes”, you must sacrifice whatever stands in your way, and obey Him.

Dear friends … the view gets better as we climb higher with Him!

Prisoners set free in South Sudan

Posted by Bill on July 25, 2011

Wherever there is great pain and suffering in our world, there you will find the Lord at work … channelling out His grace and mercy through His servants.

The following amazing news has just come to me from Saturnino (our Small Groups Development Field Director for South Sudan):

Dear Pastor Bill

Sir, I just want to inform you about my recent follow-up mission to South Sudan. Brother Fredrick Omoh-John couldn’t travel with me due to lack of residence permit from the Egyptian ministry of interior. But with sincere belief, He was with me in spirit, interceding by prayer from Cairo.

First of all, I have to give God Almighty great thanks for such a wonderful gift of the new born Nation of the Democratic Republic of Sudan (DROSS) and for those who financially and prayerfully supported our mission to Juba and Torit central prisons. The total amount for the whole trip to South Sudan was six thousands Egyptian Pounds. Through the support of Fredrick’s friends, 3,500 Egyptian Pounds was raised and other 2,500 Egyptian Pounds was raised by friends from our church in Cairo. Friends from Australia managed to send 300 US dollars ahead of me to Juba which helped in meeting the needs of the prisoners during the baptisms, teaching and celebration. The Egyptian Bible Society donated two boxes of 24 Arabic Bibles.

Sir, we Baptised 27 new believers in Juba Central Prison on 6 July. An additional 31 new believers were baptised by other local churches of various denominations. As a result, 49 prisoners from Juba Central Prison were released from jail, automatically, after their baptism, before the Independence Day celebration. Immediately after that, I managed to travel to Torit State Prison and began teaching about baptism in Jesus Christ. Torit State is about 84 miles from Juba. The number of new believers who were to be baptised was 57, but only 30 were baptised on 13 July, as 27 were taken for labour work in the garden by the prison authorities. Their baptism will take place on Sunday 31 July.

In both baptisms, there were 15 prisoners who carry death sentences. After their baptism, they were happier than any other believer in the whole prison. They told me they were grieving internally because of their crime before being saved. But now they are completely freed from any sin and they know where they will be after their death. They told me to remember their families in our daily prayers, so that their children may grow in god-fearing families.

Sir, there are more than 500 pastors and evangelists from all local churches who need to be trained in African Inland Churches (AIC) in Central and Eastern States by the end of August. It will also include youth and children ministry. We strongly need financial assistance in fulfilling this need.

Pastor Bill, I have just received a call from a friend, Pastor Shahzan from Pakistan. He invited me to come and minister in his House Churches in Pakistan, in August. He told me, he is arranging for a three days Crusade. He has invited me to come and help him. Praise the Lord, He is opening more doors to us in the Middle East and Asia! Pastor Shahzad has more than 42 home churches and 46 pastors under his leadership, and he has more than 500 pastors who need to be trained through your Small Group Development program. He personally asked me to ask you if you could partner with them and have time to come to Pakistan to train his Home Church pastors. Please, treat this issue as being important. Pastor Shahzad’s web site is: www.gospelnewsministries.org

Pastor Saturnino Cypriano (21 July, 2011)

Please prayerfully consider making a donation to support Pastor Saturnino and his ministry in Sudan – you can do it right now simply by clicking the PayPal button below

Cells … where people meet together to DO LIFE!

Posted by Bill on July 4, 2011

Gay Speden

“If the leader of a church is effective, the people will follow“… and, the people are following the leading of Cells-church Consultants International!

I have had the pleasure and delight of being led into a leadership role in our church, shepherding a cell group (or Life-group, as our church calls them).

Cell groups have saved our church from being a heart for God to becoming a heart that “beats for God” – they are the heart-beat of our church! Cell groups are places where people meet together to “DO” life. It’s the best place where the masks we wear can come off … where people can be “real”… where people can share, laugh, cry, sigh, celebrate, commiserate, question, and encourage – find support and listening ears – to just be … with no strings attached; no expectations, and then to reach out to bless others.

Cell groups are places where God can be honoured, where “life” is intentional about journeying together. It’s the place where confidence is assured, compassion is evident, where everyone has a story to tell (and deserves to be heard). Cells are respectful of a person’s place in life and the Christian journey.

Cell groups are where tolerance is put into practise, alongside of forgiveness. It’s a place to GROW, REACH IN, and REACH OUT. Cells are about doing the “real stuff” of life that the rules, regulations, framework and business of church has lost somewhere along the lines.

Cells is what I always thought, believed, dreamed and longed for church to be … but only found it to be so after having had the privilege of doing CCI’s Small Groups Development training and putting it into practice (with the help of a tremendous support team). My only credentials are a deep love for the Lord, and a passion and longing to walk with others, being His hands, feet, ears and voice as I journey on.

The cell-church model is so easy to put into practice, and so effective. It involves all the group members as they choose to participate at their own pace, and empowers and enables them to grow and to reach out to others with the love of Christ.

All the hard work has been done by Cells-church Consultants … which leaves the “shepherd” free to feed, support and encourage their small flock. To seek out the lost and weak ones … to carry the hurting ones and guide the flock through the joys, delights, obstacles and frustrations of life takes TEAM effort (Together, Everyone, Achieves, More), for the individual, for the church, and for The Kingdom.

God must look down with a smile when He sees His kids in Cells – the life of His church on earth.

Gay Speden, Life-group Pastor
Helensvale Baptist Church

A vision of visions 1

Posted by Bill on June 3, 2011

Was I day-dreaming when I wrote the “Vision of Visions” article a few weeks ago, or was it indeed a wondrous vision from the Lord of what He is preparing to do around the world through CCI?

Well, any doubts I had entertained soon vanished after Nick and I had landed at Lagos in Nigeria – the ‘City of Excellence” – on May 6 , to begin our five days of small groups development work at Lagos and Ibadan. The night before our departure from Nigeria, Nick and I walked the grounds of our hotel in Ibadan, rejoicing and encouraged by what the Lord had accomplished through us, and my “vision of visions” was affirmed. Pastor Elijah (CCI’s ‘man in Africa’) was given a “green light” by his senior pastor, Kola Emiola, to transition out of his pastoral role at the Lagos branch of Dominion Impact Church to establish himself as the small groups champion, coordinating the development of small groups in their two churches (soon to be four) and for other churches that had expressed interest in following our small groups church plan.

After giving Nick a hug at Dubai airport, I boarded my flight for Warsaw via London. It was my fourth time to Christian Fellowship North and while in Warsaw I facilitated a two day conference, met with small group leaders, preached twice and identified a small groups champion to oversee the small groups development work in Warsaw, and throughout Poland. (Several weeks prior to my arrival, the mother church celebrated the birth of a daughter church. Marek Sabotka is the pastor of the daughter church – several years ago Marek travelled to Maadi Community Church in Cairo to experience our small groups training.)

My last four days in Poland were invested with the Baptist church at Bialystok, 3 hrs drive North of Warsaw. During this time, I sensed the Lord’s presence and approval, and experienced His blessings in each small groups ministry engagement with the church. The pastor said, “What you shared is what we needed to hear. The timing is perfect. Thank you for coming to us.” Before I left Poland I agreed with Pastor Krzysztof Zareba of Christian Fellowship North in Warsaw to return to Poland in September and October this year, to minister with churches in the North, Central, and South regions of Poland.

I flew out of Warsaw, at 6.30pm on May 23, bound for London. I was greeted at Heathrow by Gary Douglas and the pastor of his church, Bill Chapman. Bill’s wife, Ellen, was also there to greet me. We travelled for 3 hrs in Bill’s car to Llanelli in Wales, where I continued to experience the Lord’s presence, pleasure and power. Myrtlehouse, the Elim Church in Llanelli, is the most alive church in town and is one of 600 Elim churches in the UK. Every person I met greeted me with warmth, love and acceptance. They responded enthusiastically to our small groups plan and development principles, and I was overwhelmed with a sense that the Lord was about to do something very big through this church … something that would impact all of Wales and the UK. My time at Llanelli helped to endorse Gary as CCI’s field director in the UK – Gary and Aline are exceptional people and it would not surprise me if the Lord uses them to spark another Kingdom expansion revival in Wales. Pastor Bill Chapman asked if I’d be willing to return to Wales to share our ministry with other church leaders.

Friends, throughout the 24 days of this amazing trip, the enemy threw everything in his arsenal at me. Despite suffering many days from sleep deprivation, the Lord kept me strong and steadfast through the power of His Holy Spirit. I arrived back in Brisbane at 1am on Sunday May 29, believing the Lord had accomplished everything He set out to do through me, according to His will.

The Vision of Visions dream is a gutsy dream. It’s BIG … it’s beautiful … and, it’s being realised before our eyes!

If you haven’t already subscribed to our blog I encourage you to do so – we will be posting more detailed reports and testimonies about our visits to Lagos, Ibadan, Warsaw, Bialystok and Llanelli in the coming weeks!

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Fredrick & Saturnino team up for Sudan!

Posted by Bill on May 5, 2011

It is a great joy to inform you that the good Lord is opening doors for two of our dear friends to minister in Sudan. Fredrick and Saturnino knew each other in Egypt several years ago and since then both have been very active in ministry – Fredrick mainly in Egypt and Saturnino in Sudan.

I got the news last week that they have decided to team up together for a ministry trip in June or July. As you can imagine the administration, documentation, etc. will be a real challenge for Fredrick and Saturnino – perhaps even more than for most people. And of course they are faithfully trusting in the Lord to provide for all their needs.

As the details become clearer we will share what we can, but in the meantime please join all of us on the CCI team in praying for the practical needs of this trip, which are:

Some type of collapsible pool to be used for baptisms
40 white cloths or gowns for basptisms
A small laptop that they can share and produce materials on and to help with communications
Digital projector for presenting small group training
A megaphone
Round trip air tickets from Egypt to Sudan

Lord Jesus, we pray for your anointing on this partnership and ministry to Sudan. In your mighty name we ask for your protection for Fredrick and Saturnino as they move forward and in particular for you to go before them in all the preparations necessary for visas, documents, permits, etc. We trust you to provide for all their needs Lord, for you are indeed a Mighty God who is able to do more than we can possibly imagine. Amen

If you feel led to make a donation towards this trip, please just click on the PayPal button below.