NEWS FROM DAVID AND GRETA APRIL 2020 - Webydo
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NEWS FROM DAVID AND GRETA
APRIL 2020
We hope that you will take a few minutes to read what has been happening in our ministry recently and be encouraged.
The Perspectives section asks if the current Covid-19 pandemic is a judgement of God or something else.
The woman had had chronic back pain for 26 years due to an accident when someone fell on her. It had affected her
upper, middle, and lower back. As well, she suffered from fibromyalgia, a condition causing widespread muscle pain and
tenderness, often accompanied by fatigue and other symptoms. Greta and I were demonstrating healing at the
Empowered for Greater Works seminar at Good News Church, Maungaturoto, attended by people from a number of
churches in the region.
After prayer, we commanded healing in Jesus’ name. As she moved her back, she found that she was partially healed.
After ministry again she claimed to be fully healed. The next day she reported that she was free of all pain in her body,
and was so thankful to the Lord. Numbers of others were healed at the seminar as the people prayed for one another.
We visited eleven churches in the period from late January to late March. We
conducted three seminars, five leaders’ meetings, a healing service, and spoke at
numerous Sunday meetings, the last of which was a live stream due to bans on
gatherings. One of the highlights was launching Greta’s Good Health for Life seminar
in New Zealand for the first time. The seminar lays a Biblical foundation for healthy
living, and from the latest research teaches essential keys for health, dispelling many
myths and giving common sense ways to live in wellbeing.
One pastor wrote, “This seminar is ground-breaking! As church leaders, we fully
understand the importance of teaching spiritual truths to help people grow and
develop in their Christian walk. But rarely do we consider even discussing the truth that
a healthy lifestyle not only benefits our bodies, but is also God's desired best for us.”
We hope to run this seminar for a number of church staffs and other groups.
ITINERARY FOR APRIL-JULY
April 5: Church Unlimited, Whangarei. Leaders plus Sunday meetings. CANCELLED
April 18-19: Elim Church, Coromandel. Call to Arms seminar plus Sunday meeting. CANCELLED
April 25-26: Liberty Church, Whakatane. Leaders’ plus Sunday meetings.
May 3: The Upper Room, Auckland. Sunday meetings.
May 8 – July 16: Travelling in Europe.
July 19: River Life Church, Singapore. Sunday meetings.
The rest of the itinerary is subject to the state of the Covid-19 pandemic at the time.
RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR FREE
If you are in lockdown or self-isolation at present, we have a number of resources available for free on our website
www.spiritlife.org.nz. that will encourage and help you. Find them under ‘media’ on the top of the home page. The
resources available are:
Study Notes Videos
The Power of Hope – four teachings. Operating in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Life After Death – four teachings. The Power of Prophecy – includes study guide.
Leadership – three teachings.
PERSPECTIVES
I don’t think the world has seen a pandemic like the Covid-
19 virus in the lifetimes of many of us. Add in the recent
Australian bush fires and it begs the question, “Are these
judgements of God?” Or are they something else? In
pondering this, consider the following analogy: In World
War One, soldiers found guilty of desertion or cowardice
were often executed by firing squad. That is judgement.
However, if a modern soldier were to go on patrol and could
not be bothered to wear their bulletproof vest, and takes a
fatal shot, that is not judgement – that is lack of protection.
When nations reject God and his only son, Jesus, as many nations have, he is forced to lift his hand of blessing and
protection off those countries. Those nations then become prey for humanly or satanically engineered
circumstances, or random events, that cause much suffering and oppression. I believe that is what we are seeing
currently. I do not believe that the day of judgement has arrived or that the Covid-19 pandemic is such a
judgement.
Isaiah, one of the great prophets of ancient Israel, predicted that the promised Messiah would say of himself: “The
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the
prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God…” (Isaiah 61:1-2a NIV).
When the Messiah, Jesus Christ, finally came he quoted this prophecy at the start of
his ministry. Luke 4:18-19 records, “He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The
Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for
the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’”
Do you notice that Jesus stopped short and did not include the phrase ‘and the day
of vengeance of our God’, which is another term for the day of judgement? That is
because Jesus’ first coming inaugurated the time of God’s favour where Father God
would show mercy and grace to a lost world, wanting all people to be saved. When that time is finally up, Jesus will
return to judge the world and rule over the nations. That will be the day of vengeance against all of God’s enemies.
But it is not here yet. We are still in ‘the year of his favour’. Any judgements God sends now are not judgements of
wrath as described in the book of Revelation, and which will occur prior to the second coming. Rather they are
judgements of discipline that are redemptive in nature – a loving Father correcting an errant world to get its
attention and cause it to return to him. And as already stated, it’s not that God is sending these judgements
constantly – it is our lack of protection that brings such things on our heads. It is important to know this for then we
can be confident to ask God for mercy and deliver us from evil.
Matthew 5:44-45 (Passion Translation) says, “However, I say to you, love your enemy, bless the one who curses you,
do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for
them. For that will reveal your identity as children of your heavenly Father. He is kind to all by bringing the sunrise
to warm and rainfall to refresh whether a person does what is good or evil.”
If God expects us to show mercy to those who harm us, how much more then will he respond to our cries for mercy
for an unprotected world. This is what the Australian church, and other Christians around the world, did in the face
of the recent terrifying bush fires. God answered and sent the rain well ahead of the time weather experts predicted
it would come, so much in fact that floods occurred in places. The fires were put out.
In the somewhat theologically controversial yet inspiring book, The Shack, God speaks to
Mack, a father who is angry at Him due to the kidnapping and murder of his six-year old
daughter: “Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t
mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means I
caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only give you false notions
about me. Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering, you will
find grace in many facets and colours.”
Once again, let the global church ask God for spiritual rain that will put out the fire of this
current pandemic. And also pray that there will be a great spiritual awakening in the hearts
of those filled with fear. I don’t believe that God sent this pandemic, but he will use it for his own purposes – to
reshape the church, awaken us to his Kingdom priorities, soften people’s hearts, and usher in the long prophesied
global harvest. Once it is over, may we never return to being the same as before.
Blessings,
David and GretaMinistry Support SpiritLife Ministries is supported by the faithful giving of friends, churches & businesses. Please consider joining with us in strengthening the body of Christ to advance God’s kingdom strongly in these days. SpiritLife Ministries is a registered charity (registration number CC 23072). All donations are tax deductible and receipts are issued at the end of the financial year. In NZ, donors can claim one third of all donations as a tax refund. If you would like to make a one-time or regular donation, details are as follows: Bank Transfer Account Name: Spiritlife Ministries Bank: ANZ Account Number: 01-0258-0042232-00 Please designate “Donation” (We can only issue tax-deductible receipts for New Zealanders if we have your name and address, so please email these if making a donation.) (Overseas donors: branch address is 389 Remuera Rd., Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand. Swift code is ANZBNZ22) PayPal To donate to this ministry via secure PayPal please click on: http://www.spiritlife.org.nz/content/view/64/122 Post: Send cheques to: SpiritLife Ministries, PO Box 69012, Glendene, Auckland, NZ. Contact details: Email: davidp@spiritlife.org.nz Website: www.spiritlife.org.nz
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