Ruach Breath Of Life

On the penal colony of Patmos for his faith, John and could easily have allowed himself to feel deeply discouraged, and even resentful at being ‘stuck’ in such a dreadful place. No wonder we find him speaking of himself as being ‘our brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus! (Rev. 1:9) How grateful we and countless millions are that John resolutely overcame the plaguing ‘if onlys,’ and kept his heart open to Jesus, thereby turning his disappointments into God’s appointments. Jesus rewarded him first with a glorious awareness of how He is now in His glorious heavenly state, and then with a long series of visions of Heaven winning through in the battles to come on Earth that culminate in his return to rule on Earth.

As I listened to this powerful piece of music by my first music teacher, Philip Spratley, it seems a poignantly perfect backcloth to help us pray heartfelt prayers for Ukraine at this time when it is under such intense pressure in so many directions. Please do take time out to sit in the Lord's presence, and to pour your heart out to Him and see how He leads you. The people of Ukraine need the Lord's help so badly.

Many of you will be familiar with the hymn Blessed be the tie, a very deep affirmation of the strength that comes when believers truly love each other. As so often there is a story behind the words. In the mid-eighteenth century, John Fawcett, was a young Baptist preacher in poverty-stricken Wainsgate near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, when he received an invitation to come to a large and influential church in London. On the day of departure, with his family’s possessions loaded onto a waggon, the distraught congregation begged him to stay – and he did, passing over the opportunity to minister in more affluent surroundings. In a remarkable demonstration of how precious these godly ties were, he remained faithfully ministering there for the rest of his life. May we draw fresh inspiration from the words he penned concerning the strength of our own relationships. As you will hear, I have written my own words to the tune, but with an occasional reference to the powerful original words of the hymn: God of hope a

No matter how experienced we may be in terms of prayer and ministry, it is always a great source of joy when God moves in unmistakable ways. There is nothing quite like the sense of awe and astonishment we get when He comes in His beauty! Last Sunday, I was due to give a talk at church based around 2 Corinthians 10. I had worked hard to prepare it and focused particularly on the theme of demolishing strongholds. I also invited Sally Mowbray to come and lead the worship from the piano. The very moment Sally started playing, we became aware of a deep sense of the Lord’s presence, and a great freedom in the Spirit. We had planned three songs before the talk, but no one wanted to stop worshipping. I couldn't help wondering whether starting my talk would bring us back down to earth rather than allowing us to stay in this precious place before the throne of God. I had asked a few friends to pray for the meeting, and couple of them had messaged me beforehand to say that the Lord wanted me to speak from the hear

I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; all others seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 2:20-21) As much as these verses express a great commendation of his protégé, Timothy, they are also a sad indictment of others in Paul’s immediate entourage. It can be a distressing realisation to discover that people are more calculating and concerned for their own affairs and business than truly Christ-seeking. Set to a profound utterance in tongues that the Lord gave Linda Entwistle many years ago, and which is taken from a presentation called From the Depths to the Heights, this is a chance to, reflect, ponder and pray about what it means to put Christ’s interests first.

Inspired by the words 'Your Kingdom come' in the Lord's Prayer, this is a worshipful improvisation that Sally sung, accompanied by David Booth on guitar. It expresses our longing for more of God and His Heavenly Kingdom as we soak in His presence and seek His face - both for ourselves and for the many situations that we bring Him.

Many years ago, at the gates of the nursery that both Ruth and Tim attended, we enjoyed many precious moments of fellowship with a special group of parents. (We are still in touch with them all!) Amongst them was Sue Harris, who I was delighted to invite to record this poem-prayer that celebrates the "sacrament of the present moment": a lovely concept which Jean Pierre Caussade coined as a phrase three hundred years ago. Sue loves the Lord Jesus dearly, and we have paired her heart-felt recording with the music of one of Bach’s most beautiful Andantes, which Fontane Liang and Julia Herzog played for us on the harp and recorder. The music feels somewhat delicate and slightly fragile, like a bluebell just lifting its head, and inspires us to dwell on the tenderness of the Lord’s moment-by-moment love for us – and to remind ourselves that no lack of faithfulness on our part, or 'road block' that we face along life’s way can ultimately keep us from His unconditional love, if we will but resolve to reach out to

Lord, you say, “This is the resting place. Let the weary rest. This is the place to be refreshed.” (Is 28:12 EHV) We are longing just to come and be refreshed. The Lord: Come aside a while and ponder My sovereignty. So far from being a distant or highfaluting concept, this is manna to your soul and truth to bring repose to weary hearts and minds. I am sovereign: this is the bedrock of everything in all creation. I am before all things and in Me, all things hold together. (Col. 1:17) The more you dare to believe this, the more it will focus your gaze on the Lamb upon His throne, and keep you from being led astray by every wind and whim. The believer: So here we are, Lord, bombarded on every side by make-believe reality and the strictures of a consumer society; immersed in the insistent mantras and populist slogans of governments and corporations, rights groups and movements – so many agendas, so many principles; so much intolerance, and fang-toothed, talon-clawed opposition. How we need not just a short-te

The believer Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, for Your steadfast loving-kindness and for the sake of Your truth and faithfulness. (Ps. 115:1 AMPC) We are the inheritors of Your kingdom, and we live and move in Your glory, in the peace and security that comes from following the Prince of Peace. Voice: The Lord The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted – and they will be humbled. (Isaiah 2:11-12) The believer: Yes Lord, scatter all that is proud and lofty in the imagination of our heart and bring us to that deeper place of knowing that we are living and praying according to Your will; no longer asking amiss by following our own desires but increasingly conformed to the image of Your Son, whose only desire is to do the will of the One who had sent Him. Rather than looking wistfully at someone else’s gifts and opportuniti

2 Tim 2:19 Though you see many things that might make you despair, when you indulge your woes and listen to your fears, and when your faults and failings shout aloud from the roof tops, and your senses are inclined to shrink in the face of all these discouragements, never forfeit the godly foundations I have procured for You: My arms beneath and My throne above undergirds all. There can no more be any such thing as ‘salvation by worry’ than there could be ‘salvation by works alone’. The fairest fruit comes when you admit your helplessness and look away to Me. How can you truly be free in My presence if you fix your eyes on earthly things and seek honour praise and approval more from one another than from Me? (John 3:12, 5:44) The believer: From heaven you make us hear Your voice to discipline us. (Deut. 5:24, 4:12, 36) You truly give and take away: blessed be Your name. (Job 9:12) Many plans occupy our hearts and minds: but may Your purposes alone prevail (Prov. 19:21). The Lord I am the sure foundation

Comment by the photographer - Some time ago while I was walking along Calle Larios in Malaga, I was struck by the skill of this craftsman who, there in the middle of the street in a completely artisanal way (the lathe was a wheel that he rotated with his hands) of a shapeless piece of clay was used to make vessels and other useful and beautiful pieces. The believer You are the Alpha and the Omega, the architect of all, and the potter who shapes and recreates all things for Your pleasure. Keep us from the barnstorming of the enemy’s thrusts and lies, swiftly acknowledging the things we need to repent of, and identifying those inevitable surprise attacks we need to rebuke. Grant us discernment to recognise Your strong hand behind the things that come upon us, to know that even our very afflictions are no chance or random event, but deeply disposed and ordained of You. May we not be unsettled by our trials, but recognise, for as Paul declared, we are indeed destined for them. (1 Thess. 3:3). If sometimes the

Seated on high You yet stoop so low to meet us as and where we are. No matter that may sometimes feel like worker bees, gathering but a fraction of a teaspoonful of honey in our lifetimes, yet we are doing and seek to do all that you have commissioned us to do as we look above and not at the things of life. You are our refuge and our fortress, O God, in whom we trust (Psalm 91:2). You are fully committed to take all that we give You and to work it out in ways that lie far beyond our understanding. You ride on the clouds in Your majesty yet come to our aid. (Deut. 33:26) Fickle and foolish our ways, but stable and strong Your throne – and set and secure Your far ranging purposes. Make us, each one, more patient in adversity, tossed no longer every which way by each fresh challenge, but pressing on to pursue the unsearchable riches we have received in Christ (Eph. 3:8). Lord of our hearts, and Lord of our destinies, You alone know the days allotted to us. (Job 14:5) Direct the flow of our days according to Y

My compassion is not dependent on what you do. Neither does My justice depend on human will or exertion. My compassion and mercy spring from My mercy seat. (Rom. 9:15-16) Seek My mercy on behalf of erring souls and nations, streets and towns and regions, careers and professions. My Sovereignty is not blunted or diminished by your failures. I can yet rearrange the strands of your lives, and ordain strength and fruitfulness even from the pits of your failure. Have I not brought you to this place where you have reached the end of your own resources, in order that I can rule and reign in your lives? Since nothing lies beyond My ability to redeem, can I not turn tragedy into triumph? I am and always will be, and those who submit to My leading will find themselves encompassed in My great purposes. Those who want to be My disciples must follow Me, because I desire My servants to be where I am. I will honour anyone who serves Me. Listen only for My voice: this is the way and you must have the courage to embark upo

Miserere mei, Deus (‘Have mercy upon me, O God) Disaster! With one fell swoop, the second king of Israel broke three of the commandments God had given to help His people live in the light of His holiness. The enormity of what David had done in his sudden relationship with Bathsheba did not seem to strike his heart immediately, however. He had coveted another man’s wife, committed adultery, planned and plotted the death of one of his most loyal and upright followers – and then carried on as if everything was normal. But God knew, and in his love and holiness He sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. Gulp! It was a task that required courage, given the king’s sometimes domineering and even tyrannical tendency to exert his power in unkind and capricious ways. Nathan, who seems to have served as something akin to a court chaplain, knew that he was risking his life, and wisely approached the matter by telling David a riddle within a parable about a rich man stealing a poor man’s pet lamb, before pointing

I wrote this prayer piece after taking a walk around our immediate neighbourhood one day. It takes the form of a prayer dialogue, imagining the Lord speaking to me about some of the people I glimpsed in passing. I have set the words to a piece I wrote called Lament and Light, which incorporates a beautiful Swedish folk melody. It concludes with Linda Entwistle singing a hauntingly beautiful theme in the Spirit, which leaves a profound aftertaste. A huge thank you to Rebecca Whettam and Natalie Halliday, cellos, Peter Richards, piano, and Mike Halliday on clarinet.

Eternal Triumph by Ruach Breath of Life

Set to moving music from Monteverdi's brilliant vespers of 1610, with Anthony Thompson and Kevin Ashman leading on the trumpets, join Robert and Elizabeth in this rendering of Isaiah 26, and Psalms 18 and 17:14-15. Biblical Hebrew does not have tenses in the way that most modern languages do, so I have at times turned the tense around to make it not only a reflection on past deliverances but an active declaration that the Lord is always able to help us, and will continue to do so in the future.

O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done wonderful things, things planned long ago._ With these words, Isaiah falls in worship before the Lord. You have been a refuge for the poor , a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. How beautiful the Lord is, and how kind! In His gentleness, He stoops down to lift us up and draw us into His own family. This exultant reflection, which is adapted from Isaiah 25, Luke 1:51 and Psalm 18:35, is set to the glorious music of Giovanni Gabrieli’s Canzon septimi et octavi toni a 12. Beloved, let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation! The words are read by Elizabeth Hume and Robert Weston, and the music is wonderfully performed for us by Nicola Gerard, Anthony Thompson, Mike Halliday, Peter Richards, Francis Cummings, Shirley Richards, Philippa Barton, Christiane Mueller, Jo Garcia and Corinne Frost.

What a gem Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is, with his unsurpassed eulogy to love, his seminal teaching about spiritual gifts and the functioning of the Body of Christ, crowned with his deep understanding concerning the glory we will enjoy with the Lord in our heavenly home and in our resurrected bodies in. It soars to such heights that you might almost wonder what a second letter could add to it. But this was also the group of Christians with which he had more trouble than in any of the other fledgling churches. From our perspective today we can be grateful, because it led to some of his most profound and personal writing that is of great benefit to us today. In this talk, which I have called In Christ’s triumphal procession, some of the principal points that I have touched on include: • Remaining alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit • The triumphant return of Christ, accompanied by His saints • Spreading the fragrance of Christ • Pondering Paul’s question concerning who is equal to the task

Just a few days ago, I knew next to nothing about this huge country that is the size of Western Europe, but whilst preparing to lead the prayer meeting I had been asked to lead for it, I soon ‘discovered’ the country (the last of the former Soviet republics to declare independence in 1991) and took it to heart. Kazakhstan, has the reputation of being the political and economic powerhouse of the central Asian nations, but there is a great deal happening in unseen spiritual ways too. From there being just thirteen known evangelicals in the nation at that time, to there being around 200,000 today, it will be good for us to take this nation into our hearts in prayer – especially because the Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 most persecuted countries warns that the country has shot up nine places in the last year to number 38. I think you will be blessed by join us in this impromptu prayer that I recorded after the prayer meeting I referred to, on behalf of the Kazak church and nation. We subsequently s