CoffeePods
A series exploring Christian healing in a handy coffee-break sized podcast. Plug yourself in, pick up your mug of coffee, and let's go.
CoffeePods
The Spirit-Led Journey of Healing in the UK
What if the heart of healing isn’t just about physical ailments but about transforming lives from the inside out? Join us as we unpack the modern landscape of healing ministry in the UK, exploring the profound ways the church has shifted its approach under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We share inspiring stories of everyday individuals and local church communities who have risen to the occasion, embodying Jesus’s mission to change hearts. Learn about the personal, one-on-one ministry settings like the Acorn Christian Healing Hubs, and discover the unique expressions of healing that flourish in diverse communities. We don’t shy away from addressing the frustrations some feel regarding the belief that the Holy Spirit needs human intervention to manage His work.
In anticipation of our thought-provoking Annual Healing conference in Leicester, we're excited to extend a warm invitation to join us before the 14th of September for engaging discussions and enriching fellowship. Featuring a keynote address by Bishop Martin Snow, this free event offers a unique opportunity to deepen your understanding of healing ministry, whether you're a seasoned practitioner or simply curious. This episode is both an invitation and a journey, promising valuable insights and community connections. We look forward to continuing our exploration together and are grateful for your support and listenership.
hi everyone and welcome to coffee pods and hello where's good to be with you again yeah, nice to be back it is indeed.
Speaker 1:We've got another meaty discussion ahead of us. Okay, so we were talking about when we were last together, um, the church perhaps losing its confidence in the healing ministry over the years. We look why that might be. If you've not listened to that already, do go back, um, and take a listen. But now I want to think about what we're seeing around the uk when it comes to healing. Um, it can feel really difficult to find balance, I think, in in the world at the moment. Maybe just take the uk rather than the world. There's so much going on, isn't there?
Speaker 1:Riots, fights politics all this sort of stuff. But what do you see happening in the UK? You know you might want to talk about hubs or just your general thoughts when it comes to healing.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things that I love about, many of the things I love about Jesus, is that, if you think about all the stuff that was going on in first century Palestine, they were living under Roman occupation. They had a, at times, a corrupt religious system. I'm not saying everybody was corrupt. I mean obviously Nicodemus was different and Joseph of Arimat everybody was corrupt. I mean obviously Nicodemus was different and Joseph of Arimathea was different and disciples and people were different, but actually there was a lot of corruption.
Speaker 2:Jesus cleanses the temple and says get out, you've made a den of robbers and all of this sort of stuff, plus the Romans. What really interests me, lisa, is that he doesn't go around and fix it all. You know you'd think well, you know, if you're the son of God, you ought to come down and throw your weight around and, just you know, get everybody back in their parts. He doesn't do that Because you know his mission was to change human hearts. And somebody brought a wonderful phrase. They said that Jesus didn't die to get men out of hell into heaven. He died to get heaven into men.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think you know, part of the thing that we have is that we could just fix the externals but actually not change human hearts. So even you know, reading some of the stories and stuff that's going on at the moment, you think even the people who are now going to prison because of the stuff they've been involved in, you know, but they had a human heart that didn't get changed and something altered for them. So one of the things that has been really encouraging for us, for me, to see as I've traveled around the country, is that there is a growing desire to be channels of that wholeness that changes life, body, mind and spirit. Um, but I mean, and god, and I keep saying to people, god heals people because he loves people, not because he's trying to show off or, you know, get more people into church, necessarily.
Speaker 2:But I think within that the difference this time is that there doesn't appear to be any one specific church movement that's got a handle on it, an ownership of it, and by that I mean that it seems much more it's individuals in churches coming together to find how they can express the healing life of Jesus in the community, in the place where they live, and it's not just stuff that's happening in Acorn, but just in other churches and other streams around the country. They're also picking up a similar thing, and it's not so much, um, the institution of the church you know, the church has got a program to do this it is much, much more about the passion of the people in the pew, if you like who are just saying we can't wait any longer to express the love of god to people yeah, and it that kind of makes me think back to.
Speaker 1:We were having a conversation the other day about discipleship, um, and saying, you know, like we, we can only, we can only minister and work with what and who is in front of us. And I wonder if that's partly why things like the acorn christian healing hubs and I know there's other things like the healing rooms all sorts- of things going on that offer this individual and sort of one-to-one ministry time.
Speaker 1:I just wonder if that is why they are particularly effective and and you feel the presence of heaven in those moments. Um, you know, I'm not knocking big gatherings, no, no, no no, I mean, you know, I know that you know.
Speaker 2:Things like new one have just happened and other festivals have happened just in my family at the moment and seeing great things happen when we come together, absolutely love it totally. But also, for most of the country, they're never going to get to a Christian festival.
Speaker 2:What they are going to meet is local Christians in their town, in their street, and so the thing that's encouraging me is that this is not something that the church is controlling. This appears to be something much more that the holy spirit is doing just in his own way, with his own people, um where he is, um, and it doesn't always look the same from one location to another.
Speaker 2:And that gives me great encouragement because if we were trying to do a cookie cutter sort of view of christianity, I think our culture and our world doesn't like that, I. But I think when they find the life of jesus being expressed just through ordinary people, just through people just like them, yeah but they say, can I pray for you? And they go, okay, and and then, oh, it worked. You know, I think that's, think that's just the kingdom of God, come near people.
Speaker 1:Oh, it is yeah. Is there anything that brings you despair with healing at the moment in the UK, or are you more encouraged?
Speaker 2:Generally, I'm encouraged, the thing that I don't know whether I can use the original Greek word. But the thing that naffs me off rather than discourages me is Is the belief that the Holy Spirit can't manage his own ministry. So, actually what we do is we give him a hand.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we say only these special people can pray and only these people can do this.
Speaker 2:Now you might want to talk about safeguards at some point, but you know, I I just think sometimes it's because and I know this is true for me when I was leading a church way, way back is that I think sometimes it wasn't necessarily I didn't trust people, it was I didn't trust the holy spirit to manage it properly, or at least as well as I thought he should, and so I thought I'd give him a hand, and then I just ended up creating a lead weight about something that should have been a light, life-giving environment, yeah, and and so I think, yeah, you know, and maybe, maybe there can be mistakes, but we can cope with that if we do it out of love yeah, okay, and so I've just got people in our healing hub teams and coming to mind that are doing these things as you're, you're sharing them, and we just hear some incredible um things that are happening, you know, like just prayer that's taking place not even in a scheduled healing hub time, but maybe in a queue in a shop or at the bus station, things like that, and we see a lot of heavenly activity taking place in these moments.
Speaker 1:For me, as part of this ministry, that makes me so expectant of what God is doing and the Holy Spirit is leading, of what God is doing and the Holy Spirit is leading. Do you think we should be more expectant of heavenly activity, or are we pretty got it okay?
Speaker 2:I think we as the church in general and I appreciate that's a big, big generalisation, so please forgive me if I've offended you, but I think I think the danger is, for instance, that we can go to church on Sunday and know exactly what's going to happen and expect nothing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, as it was, evermore shall be world without end, and it really is going to be. You know, you know when the hymns are coming, Whereas actually, I remember in the early days of the house church movement, you know, we wanted to be in a place where we knew where we'd start, but we had no idea where we were going to end and we had no idea what god would do in the in, in the middle of it all, but we knew that he'd do something if we gave him the opportunity, and that required us to not control everything, you know, but actually to say god, we really do want you to come and lead us and and and I think that's coming back in many new locations as well and I think, yeah, as you pointed out, you know, the healing doesn't take place in meetings, simply, and lots of Jesus healing miracles took place outside of the synagogue, outside of the temple, outside of meetings. It just happened in life. I had a lovely story A group of our folks who were in a location and offering prayer, and they prayed for three muslim women who, you know, because they muslims, will regard someone who is a god fearer as a trustworthy person.
Speaker 2:And so they said look, we're disciples of jesus and we're offering prayer. Could we pray for you? And they said yes, and I just thought, of course you would. You know, of course you do it, you know, because god wants to bless whoever. Yeah, you know, but the idea is that, yeah, but you have to come to our place and in our way, and know our secret code. And you know, um, and so I am really heartened by the fact that the healing ministry has left the building and I know that some of the hubs that are connected with Acorn, you know, happen in places that are not church buildings, you know, and I think it was great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is. I was chatting to someone on our team yesterday and we were just saying you know, post-covid, people are no longer really accessing church in the same way that they used to. Um, you know, they're realizing that, but god is not necessarily in that building, and we were encouraged because that's what we're now seeing. Um, just, ordinary disciples are saying I'm going to take this to where people are, rather than trying to get people into the church where they can. Then, you know, receive their discipleship or you know, whatever, um we are, we are seeing a massive shift in in how we live this journey, aren't we?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, and funnily enough, you know I love the fact that we often think the things that are happening now this is the only time in history it's ever happened. You know the healing at the gate, beautiful, outside the temple with Peter and John, and you know the guy gets healed and people celebrate the wonder that, because he was healed, he was now whole, he could go into the temple. Yeah, and that's wonderful, absolutely. You know, actually, the thing that really ticked the Pharisees off was not that the man got healed and came into the temple. I think one of the things that may well have ticked them off is that God left the temple and healed them outside it, you know, because God was supposed to behave in the temple, yeah.
Speaker 2:But suddenly these, these two disciples are talking in the name of jesus and god's outside healing somebody you know, and and, of course, the beauty of it is that for most people, they will never get into a building.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah but they will sense the presence of the living god in somebody else and and be willing to let them say a quick prayer. And of course, the great thing, if I'm pleased about anything, is that our prayers are getting shorter it's a great idea you know, long prayers don't necessarily make effective prayers yeah, very good, very good, okay, I think.
Speaker 1:Um, I think we've covered a lot. We've got a lot for people to be thinking about. Is there anything else? You, a little nugget you just want to chuck in? Or are you happy, happy where you are? I?
Speaker 2:I think that we worry about keeping it safe and true. Right, and I would agree with that. I would say you know, we want the healing. We want people who come to uh, the healing mystery. Oh god, frog was right, hang on. We want people who come for prayer to feel safe and secure and loved, and I think the way that we do that is not simply by having protocols and rules, but I think the thing that keeps it safe and true is the genuine love of God in us that is expressed for the people that we are with. People know if they are loved.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And actually I think the thing for me that keeps it safe and true is can I feel the love of God for this person and actually that shapes the way I will be with with them and the things that I will ask for and pray for, um, including the stuff that looks like, okay, you're going to go for the biggie and you think, yeah, it's because of the love of god oh, amazing.
Speaker 1:I love that wonderful. Well, thank you and looking forward to our next discussion and um, if you are listening to this and it's before the 14th of september, um, please do head over to our website and book onto our annual healing conference, which is taking place in leicester. Um, it is free, so hopefully it'll be really accessible to many of you, and but we look forward to getting together and discovering more of these um healing topics together. We've got bishop martin snow, haven't we? Where's?
Speaker 1:we have, yeah, joining us for um the, the keynote address, so we look forward to seeing you there, if it has not passed already, but thank you and thank you pleasure thanks bye.