Bill Johnson and Bethel Church “Ignite the Fire”

It has now been brought to my attention that Charisma Magazine featured Bill & Beni Johnson and Bethel Church in the March 2007 edition.

There is SO MUCH right about the lead article “Ignite the Fire” that all I can really do is link to the article, and “let the reader understand….”

Click here to read the whole article.

(HT: Charismatica Blog)

Technorati Tags: Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, Charisma Magazine, Revival, Healing, Supernatural, Prayer, Soaking Prayer

Looking back: Sunday Recap

This past Sunday was a cute and cool service! Many in the church were missing in action as a LATE NIGHT on Saturday due to the wedding meant that people’s commitment to Christ was tested (JOKE!)

The few of us who ventured out of bed were still feeling the Holy Spirit buzz of the previous day when we got to the meeting hall only to find out that they worship leader, who was arriving late because of work commitments had the only set of keys and was currently on a ship in the middle of the ocean! Crazy!!!

Well there was only one thing to do – I went to a nearby stall and ordered some coffee, tea, hot chocolate and “Churros” and we waited for the arrival of the ship and crew whilst treating our taste buds to a cholesterol-packed treat

When we finally got going it was awesome to see the new set of bongos in action (Hat tip to Nadine…a.k.a. “Bongo woman” for incredible percussion gifting) and the new microphones, music sheet stands etc…….mmmmm…..Things are looking better.

Anyways, got talking a little on embracing a supernatural lifestyle, and what that might mean for us here in Gibraltar. It was cool! Check out my teaching notes here.

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Living Waters’ 1st Wedding!

By johnbaw at 2007-06-24

Following-on from this post, Isabel and Carlos got married on Saturday evening with Yours Truly doing the honours.  It was a small, family  wedding and the whole service went beautifully, with a cute worship set-up that included Angel leading on guitar, a new bass player that is being primed for worship, and Nadine with a new set of bongos!.

There has been an incredible response from the pre-Christians that went to the wedding - isn’t it awesome when a message speaks into the lives of ‘unbelievers’ in such a way that they all witness to the encouragement and blessing that they have received?

Pictures will follow shortly.

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The Harvest truly is plenteous……

This is my home, the Rock of Gibraltar. In the above picture you can see the neighbouring town of La Linea (Spain) and this is the area were we have been sent to see transformation through God’s power!

A few awesome pics can be found here

Lord, send labourers….the harvest truly is plenteous and the fields are already white for harvest..

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Re-engineering my rhythm

During my weeklong “rest and recovery” vacation, I received the following clear word from the Lord:

Do more by doing less

As I explained here, before leaving for the vacation I was pretty much experiencing burnout. I was constantly exhausted to the point of returning home from work almost numb with tiredness. A couple of occasions I felt dizzy spells, and I pretty much hit a wall, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. I believe the Lord wants me to slow down, and in the measure that I do so, He has promised that He will increase my effectiveness, even when I am doing less.

To give you some background, I am married to a stunningly beautiful brunette (Been married to her 11 years and she is still smokin’ hot to me!) (pics), and have two little treasures in the form of two boys aged 9 and 6. These three are my top priority. Period.

I also work in full time employment in a firm where we act as property advisers to the Government of Gibraltar, and have recently been coping with major transitions in my workplace, including a promotion (Yea God!), several huge projects and a change in my role within the organization. At the same time, I am working on achieving a professional status as a member of the prestigious Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors of the United Kingdom and this entails a lot of work and reading, working up to becoming a Chartered Valuation Surveyor (Sort of like a real estate Appraiser).

I also pastor Living Waters Tabernacle, a small church that I planted in 2003. Small churches have their own set of unique issues and challenges (believe me), especially as we do not have a leadership team in place yet, so at the moment it is just me, myself, and I. I have been teaching non-stop since 2003 every Sunday (I have probably NOT shared on a Sunday just a handful of times), and I also moderate a Tuesday evening home group in Gibraltar, and a Thursday evening prayer meeting in La Linea, Spain as part of our collaborative support of the Campo 24/7 House of Prayer.

As someone said: “I have not been able to lead the church because I have been too busy just keeping it running”. Does that make sense? It is certainly true of how I have been feeling. As a result of “Do more my doing less” I am making time in my schedule to rest, pray, soak, get some exercise and generally find some kind of balance within. So I am slowing down, stopping some things, saying NO to other things and I hope to gain a healthier rhythm that will allow me to lead this great group of people for the long haul.

I am making a top priority to raise up a leadership team around me and for this I ask for your prayers for wisdom, knowledge and insight for the days ahead.

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Fourth baptism of the year.

Sunday saw the fourth baptism of the year for Living Waters, our church here in Gibraltar. We all assembled at a local beach called “little bay” and started the day with some praise and worship at the beach. After a short word we then headed for the water which was surprisingly cold for June, and Isabel, one of our Spanish members publicly endorsed her faith in Jesus Christ through water baptism. I shared some verses that I had in my heart for her out of Mark 14:3-9. When we give our best to Jesus many will see this as a waste, but we are called to be wasted for the Lord, what for others is waste, for us will be a most valuable investment.

See all the pics here. This precious sister got saved last year at a crusade in Spain by renowned Puerto Rican evangelist Yiye Avila. On the 23rd June this year I will be officiating at her wedding to a good friend of mine, Carlos De Lara.

After the baptism we ordered some chicken and chips (fries) and we all had a meal together at the beach. The weather was beautiful, we all had a great time, I am all sunburned now, and we only just got home at 6:30pm!!!

More pics here

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Regaining my vibe

I’m back from vacation! It was awesome - well as awesome as lying beside a swimming pool all day and taking in the sun’s rays, can be. I managed to read a book by Dean Koontz which was cool, and the boys had a really cool time participating in all the activities arranged by the hotel.

I should get back into blogging slowly so stay tuned to this spot.

… more pics here.

This was the most needed vacation that I have ever HAD to take. In fact, the week before the vacation, I was the closest to burnout a man can ever get I guess. I have started to take necessary steps here to make sure that does not happen again, and I will blog about it during the next few days.

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