Kingdom Culture

God you are amazing!

Yesterday's meeting was awesome. The Lord is continuing to bless our meetings with His presence, holiness and glory. He is encouraging us to draw nearer and nearer and to ascend His hill with clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-5) to receive a greater revelation of His glory.

KLF's youth group, IMPACT!, performed a fun sketch for the children, demonstrating that even though Christians are like aliens and strangers in this world, they are a lot of fun and very special indeed.

The Lord then spoke to us about what it means to live like strangers in this world (1 Peter 1:1, 17; 2:11). He showed us that you belong to a country or culture different to the one you are living in because:

• You were born in a different country
• Your parent/s have a different nationality to the country you are living in
• You grew up in a culture different to the one you're in now

Similarly, the Christian is a stranger in this world because:

• The Christian is born in the Kingdom of God
• The Christian has a heavenly Father
• The Christian has a different culture to the culture of this world

The Lord then showed us that there are three ways to respond to living in a culture not your own. One can either conform to the culture one is in, or one can isolate oneself from the culture one is in and be peculiar, or one can influence the culture one is in. Consequently, the Lord showed us that:

• The Christian must not conform to any culture - neither of this world nor of any christian culture! James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17
• The Christian must not isolate himself from the culture of this world. Luke 10:30-37
• The Christian is called to influence the culture of this world with Kingdom culture. Matthew 5:13-16; 13:33; 1 Peter 2:11

Kingdom culture is derived from the Source and not from another culture!

When believers adopt a christian culture instead of deriving a Kingdom culture from first hand revelation, the Church becomes weak and reveals a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Tim. 3:5)!

We praise God for His powerful Word to us and for the way the Holy Spirit worked among us yesterday, moving people to surrender their lives to the Lord (some for the first time - hallelujah!) and to repent of conforming to, and isolating themselves from, the culture of this world. The Lord filled His people with a fresh passion to seek His face in order to be creators of Kingdom culture. Thank you Lord!

This coming Sunday KLF will be celebrating her 1st birthday and we are looking forward to a great time of worship, thanksgiving and fellowship!


Quote of the week:

Kingdom culture is the product of spiritual revelation.

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Living in the Glory!

Glory to God!

Yesterday was awesome! God is blessing us with His presence as we meet with Him and worship Him. We are excited about the new songs He is releasing during the worship and the way He is ushering us deeper and deeper into His presence and glory. Hallelujah!

It was very special yesterday as two more people became covenant members of KLF. Covenant membership is about relationship - committing one's life (spirit, soul and body) to one another to fulfill the purposes of God in and through us as His people. It means:

1. Establishing our unity in spirit
2. Establishing God's call on one's life to be part of the local Body
3. Establishing one's commitment to one another to live in true fellowship
4. Expressing one's agreement with the values, beliefs and vision of the local Body
5. Expressing one's shared passion for God's purposes in and through the local Body
6. Exercising one's commitment to serve the local Body

As Kingdom Life is further established, the Lord is raising up leaders to equip the people for works of service and to become fully mature in Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). Therefore we appointed two leaders who have been called and anointed to lead God's people. We are excited about how God brings the different parts of His Body together so that we complement one another to express the manifold wisdom of God (Eph. 3:10).

The Lord is continuing to speak to us about suffering and yesterday He spoke to us about how we are to respond to circumstances and living in this world whilst not being of this world. He showed us that there are two ways in which we can relate to our environment - we either react or we respond.

• To react is to allow self and the flesh to rise up and be mastered by one's circumstances.
• To respond is to deal with circumstances according to the will of God.

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God." 1 Peter 4:1,2

As the believer chooses to respond to circumstances God's way, he will need to be prepared to bear the consequences of living for God, for the sake of others and for God's glory, i.e. to suffer.

The Lord also spoke to us about how we need to follow His example of obedience to the Father and bear the consequences just like Jesus did (1 Peter 2:21). In particular the Lord revealed the extent of His forgiveness to us that we are called to imitate by showing us that Jesus not only paid the penalty that we owe for our sin but that He also bore our sin in His body (1 Peter 2:24). That means that Jesus dealt with our sin and the consequence of our sin. Jesus took upon Himself our disobedience and what our disobedience deserves. That means that true forgiveness is not only cancelling the debt of sin but also the very sin itself. We are therefore called to forgive as Jesus has forgiven us. Therefore Peter writes,

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." 1 Peter 3:9

As we live for God and are prepared to bear the consequences for the sake of others and for the glory of God, the glory of the Lord is upon us (John 17:22; 2 Cor. 3:17,18; 1 Peter 4:12-16; Is. 60:1-3). God is showing us that as we remain in Christ and respond His way, God's glory is revealed in our lives! Hallelujah!

We give God all the glory for the wonderful things He is showing us and encouraging us with. What an awesome God we serve!


Quote of the week:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." Isaiah 60:1-3

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The substance of faith

Glory to the Author and Perfecter of our faith - our Lord Jesus Christ!

Yesterday we had another awesome time in God's presence. The Lord is taking us deeper into the River of Revival and teaching us to worship out of our depths as we give room for the Holy Spirit to usher us into a place of even greater intimacy with God. Thank you Lord!

The Lord is continuing to speak to us about suffering and yesterday He showed us the following:

1. The believer's faith is a substance - it is the present reality of a future hope. Hebrews 11:1
2. The believer's faith is just as much the revelation of a future glory as Jesus is the revelation of the Father. Hebrews 1:3

To hold onto this faith is to remain in Christ which means:

1. The believer must live a holy life - set apart and pure. 1 Peter 1:15,16
2. The believer must seek peace and pursue it. 1 Peter 3:11
3. The believer must maintain a clear conscience. 1 Peter 3:16, 21
4. The believer must entrust himself to God and maintain God-consciousness. 1 Peter 2:19,23; 4:2,19
5. The believer must continually abide in the Living Hope and have his eyes fixed on the future hope of glory. 1 Peter 1:3,7,11; 4:13,14; 5:1,4,10

As we seek to remain in Christ, we must choose to bear the consequences of living in Him and for Him for the sake of others and for the glory of God - this is true suffering that glorifies God.

We praise God for His revelation to us and for encouraging us to realise who we are in Him as we reveal His glory through obedience and reverent submission to Him. Hallelujah!

We praise God for another wonderful time with the homeless and needy yesterday evening. The Spirit of God was present and consequently we are seeing more antagonism but also more receptivity to God's love and power. Interestingly there are an increasing number of English-speaking people attending.....


Quote of the week:

Faith is the present reality of a future hope.

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One with Christ

Praise be to God!

Yesterday we had an awesome time worshipping the Lord and celebrating new life in Christ. We met in the baptist church in Frankfurt-Eschersheim where we baptised two of our youngsters and simply had a lot of fun, enjoying God's goodness and celebrating together.



The Lord is speaking to us about suffering and yesterday we looked at Hebrews 5:7-10 and the Lord showed us that:

1. Jesus lived in reverent submission to the Father
2. Jesus remained in the Father and always did His will
3. Jesus was confronted with the will of others but always chose to do the Father's will only and remain in Him
4. Jesus was willing to bear the consequences of living for the Father and thus suffrered even to the point of death on the cross
5. Jesus learned obedience through suffering as He chose to remain in the Father and not obey the will of others

The Lord then showed us that:

1. The believer is born again as a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:5; Gal. 2:20 John 17:21,23)
2. The believer is baptised into Christ so that Christ is in Him and he in Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 3:3)
3. The believer's position and identity is in Christ and Jesus calls His people to remain in Him (John 15:3,4)
4. Being one with Christ, the believer has received glory (John 17:22; 1 Peter 4:14)
5. The believer must choose to remain in Christ or he disobeys God by choosing to obey the will of another (self-will, satan, the world, man)
6. The life of the believer is about choosing to remain in Christ so that the glory he has received will not be veiled should he choose to disobey and not remain in Christ

We praise God for His awesome revelation and for His amazing gift to us - our new lives in Him.


Quote of the week:

"..if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." 1 Peter 2:20,21

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Suffering

Glory to the King of kings!

We praise God for spiritual revelation, understanding, knowledge and wisdom without which we cannot search the deep things of God! (1 Cor. 2:10, 12-14)

The Lord is speaking to us about suffering and that every Christian is called to suffer if he is to share in the glory (Rom. 8:17; Phil. 3:10; Phil. 1:29; Rom. 5:3). God is also helping us understand what suffering is not and what it really is and showed us on Sunday that:

Suffering is not:

1. Fatalism - tolerating all physical or emotional pain as God's will
2. Introspection - focusing on self, self-pity
3. Always physical or emotional pain
4. Misery - sorrow

The definition for suffering we've been given is:

To suffer is to bear the consequences of living for God for the sake of others and for the glory of God!

The Lord showed us that:

Suffering is:

1. Bearing purposefully - actively and purposefully bearing the consequences of living for God as a conqueror and not as a victim!
2. God-consciousness and not self-centredness
3. Uncomfortable but not always painful
4. Joy and not misery

Looking at 1 Peter 2:20-24 we saw that:

• Jesus suffered purposefully by bearing our sins so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness and be healed (vs 24)
• Jesus was God-conscious when He suffered as He entrusted Himself to the Father
• Jesus' death on the cross was certainly not comfortable
• Jesus' suffering was in the context of joyful obedience for the sake of others and for the glory of the Father (Hebrews 12:2)

We praise God for the truth He is revealing to us that sets us free, that revives us, that encourages us and that empowers us to live for others and for His glory! Hallelujah.

Yesterday, Richard, Frances and David returned from a 3 day leaders' conference at Kingdom Faith in Horsham, England. The conference was excellent and we have returned encouraged and filled as we met with the Lord and received from Him through His presence, His Word and His love. We are very excited about how the Spirit of God is saying the same things to His Church all over the world and that what the Holy Spirit was saying to His people at the conference is very much what we are hearing Him say to Kingdom Life. Much of the emphasis was on being dependent on the Holy Spirit, learning to follow Him and submitting to Him in obedience. God was also challenging us as leaders to understand that there are no short cuts in the anointing and that every believer needs to grow in his own personal relationship with the Lord if he wants to grow in the anointing of the Spirit. We praise God for unity in the Spirit!

As we grow in our relationship with Kingdom Faith, we are also seeking to work together more and more in building God's Kingdom. For this purpose we are looking into having two students from Kingdom Faith Training College visit KLF for a month (mid-June to mid-July) to bless and be blessed as they come to serve and receive opportunities to be trained as we work together. Furthermore we are excited to possibly have Jonathon Dyke and a couple others on his apostolic team come and visit us again before the Summer.

This Sunday we will be having a New Life Celebration in the Baptist church in Eschersheim when will be baptising two young believers! Hallelujah!

God is absolutely amazing! He is orchestrating relationships and connections across the globe in the most awesome ways. He loves to demonstrate His sovereignty and ability to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could possibly think or imagine. Thank you Lord!

Quote of the week:

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:16,17

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