IRN NEWS DIGEST - HIGHLIGHTS OF 2000
(posted 8 January 2001)

Source: IRN - www.openheaven.com

We have prepared some special holiday reading for you in the News Room (in printable form), a selection of our favourite articles and words from the year 2000. Below are a few snippets. I found it quite extraordinary as we prepared this. There is such a flow through the year, even though 'we' may not have felt it sometimes !

 Emmanuel. God IS with us. O Yes, He sure is :o) \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/

GOD BLESS YOU. HAPPY READING, AND A PEACE-FULL RELAXING CHRIST-MASS
Shalom !
Tony & Annette Black (and James, Lizzy, Kezia & Simon too)
tony@revivalnet.net

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1. Weatherford Revival attracts Secular Attention
2. 'Disfellowshipped" Church in 43rd Week of Revival
3. Revival Fire Ignites in Martinsville Virginia
4. Revival in Liberty Kansas
5. Giving It Away to the Non-churched
6. Expect the Unexpected
7. You Have Been Taken to the Edge
8. Times of Great Transition
9. More Miracles in Scotland
10. Fullness, Before the Leaner Years Begin
11. A Record 1.6 Million People at Rally
12. Periods of Dryness

1. WEATHERFORD REVIVAL ATTRACTS SECULAR ATTENTION
On Tuesday Feb. 1st the extended meetings at New Life Community Church in Weatherford came to a close. After 14 weeks of the wonderful visitation of the Holy Spirit it seemed the Lord was saying it was time for a change of seasons... For a number of years we have been hearing prophetic words that the secular media would begin to cover what was happening as news instead of having to buy time for the gospel to be preached. On January 1 the Fort Worth Star Telegram ran an article about what was happening in Weatherford with the focus primarily on the "dental miracles" (gold fillings, etc.). This lengthy story was then picked up by the Knight-Ridder and AP news services for distribution all over the US... Since then the story has appeared in newspapers all across the nation.

2. 'DISFELLOWSHIPPed' Church in 43rd week of revival
Born and raised a Southern Baptist, he dismissed expressive worship and manifestations of the Holy Spirit...Hicks' thinking changed after attending a renewal service where he was "slain in the Spirit" three years ago. Since then, his life and ministry have been radically changed. "God put a hunger in me that was so foreign to anything I had ever known before," Hicks said, recalling the night he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. "Once I got a taste of it, I wanted to know what else had been hidden from me." When Hicks returned to his church everyone could see he was a changed man. Some were delighted. Some were scared. Others hoped it would all pass quietly. It didn't, and now the church has moved into it's 43rd week of revival meetings, held three nights each week.

3. REVIVAL FIRE IGNITES IN MARTINSVILLE VIRGINIA
Bodies are being healed -- hearts are being healed from past wounds -- darkness is being dispelled -- secret sins are being dealt a death blow -- deliverance from tormenting and religious spirits -- purity and holiness is being formed as lives or changed in this powerful presence of God. The darkness and shame of the past is being swept away by the glory of God. There is no more shame and no more shadow of death at Martinsville Christian Fellowship. The sweeping glory of God is accompanied by visitations of Holy Angels -- ministering spirits sent from God to do great battle against the spirits of darkness and minister healing and change to the people of God.

4. REVIVAL IN LIBERTY KANSAS
Revival fires are spreading. As the larger revivals are changing direction, God is breaking out in many more places around the country. One of of these places is Crystalbrook Church in Liberty Kansas... I had the privilege of visiting there this weekend to witness one of the most powerful moves of the spirit I have ever seen. The small church was crowed to capacity. It looked like standing room only during worship, but someway the ushers found a seat for us all. Worship broke out into a spontaneous celebration of joy. Dancing filled the house. The floor shook.

5. GIVING IT AWAY TO THE NON-CHURCHED
It was predetermined that whatever the offering amounted to, it would be used to bless the work of two local non-church based agencies, one that works among street girls and another that provides meaningful activities and a safe haven for teens. ..The celebration as the first cheque for $100,000 was given away to a representative of the organization which works with the street girls who happened to be at the conference - she had no idea and could not believe what was happening. She testified to the crowd that she had only recently begun to tithe for the first time in her life ! Two days after the offering, representatives of the teen workers group 'Teen Junction' were invited to a Sunday night youth worship in the main city park. They were told they were going to be recognized for the good work they were doing. Can you imagine their surprise and utter speechlessness when they received their cheque for $100, 000 also ?

6. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED - Harriette Osborn
My Children, my Bride,

Stop looking for the obvious and begin to expect the unexpected. I have been calling you for some time to put away the old and prepare for the new. Did you think I have asked that of you only to give you more of the old? No. I am doing a new thing in the earth today. Did King Nebuchadnezzer expect Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to walk out of the fiery furnace without even the smell of smoke on them? No. Did King Darius expect Daniel to survive the night in the den of lions without even a wound? No. Did my people expect the waters of the flooding Jordan River to pile up in a heap so that they could cross over to the Promised Land? No. Had the generation before them expected to cross the Red Sea on dry ground? No...

7. YOU HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THE EDGE
This is what the Lord says,"I have been preparing you and building you up for such a time. I have positioned you and called you forth. What has taken place within has been me at work. ... There are scars and disappointments--but they are marks of your testing. They are medals of your battles--Look upon them and say, "The Lord has prevailed in my life." Hear what the Lord is saying, "You are ready-you are prepared-stand ready-listen to my voice-I am calling forth-this one and that one. I have positioned you --you are ready!"

8. TIMES OF GREAT TRANSITION
These are great times of transition in the Body of Christ! There are major things happening that we have prayer for and prophesied over the years. These are exciting times, but they are also stressful times. The old wine skin is not able to take us where God is heading with the Church. We are making a paradigm shift to a new wine skin. It's a new model that is forming. We have waited on it with expectancy! How we respond in this "now" prophetic season will determine our effectiveness in the future.

9. MORE MIRACLES IN SCOTLAND
The first disabled person to be healed last night was actually leaving the meeting and John Mellor saw her about to go through the door on her walking stick. He asked an usher to bring her back and that he didn't approve of people walking out using their sticks. She was then called down for prayer. After prayer she was amazed that all the pain had left her body and then even more amazed when she could walk without the walking stick. She was even more amazed when she danced the "twist" with John Mellor and she had all the freedom of a 16 year old.

10. FULLNESS, BEFORE THE LEANER YEARS BEGIN
It is done, what I have promised is finished, now follow the new leading that I Am giving you. The way is being opened before you to enter the arena that I have prepared for you. It is a time of great growth and accomplishment. It is the time of prosperity before the lean years begin. My people who are called by Name will see the glory of my presence magnified among them. What I have determined will come to pass and nothing can stop it...

11. A RECORD 1.6 MILLION PEOPLE AT BONNKE RALLY
A record 1.6 million people crowded an 80-acre site in Lagos, Nigeria, Nov.12 to hear Pentecostal evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. The Sunday evening service was possibly the largest evangelistic event ever held that did not include satellite or Internet technology, according to news reports. Bonnke's six-day rally drew about 6 million people, according to his ministry, Christ for All Nations. Churches in Lagos anticipated great results from the event. "Never has Christendom in Nigeria been thrown into such a positive frenzy over a single event," African journalist Wale Fatade wrote. Other evangelists have held similar events "but none is matching the scope of the Reinhard Bonnke outreach."

12. PERIODS OF DRYNESS
"Dear reader, you must realize that God has only one desire. Certainly you can never understand a dry spell unless you understand what His desire is. His desire is to give Himself to the soul that really loves Him and to that soul which earnestly seeks Him. And yet it is true that this God who desires to give Himself to you will often conceal Himself from you--from you, the very one who seeks Him! Now why would God do that? Dear saint of God, you must learn the way of your Lord. Yours is a God who often hides Himself. He hides Himself for a purpose. Why? His purpose is to rouse you from spiritual laziness. His purpose in removing Himself from you is to cause you to pursue Him.

 

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