Salt, Light,

Love & Power

Starting next week, Mainstream is pleased to begin a new phase in their calling, with Mission UK 2009.  There is little doubt in the minds of any believers who have an eye on the news and an ear open to the voice of the Holy Spirit that there are radical changes in the world – changes that also herald a change in the spiritual realms as well as the natural.

Here in the UK and throughout most of the Western nations, we are seeing two main primary trends emerging:

1. There is a greater move by secularists and humanists to try and “sideline” Christianity – in fact it is the stated purpose of the European Union hierarchy to “remove all traces of God from public life”.  As part of this we are seeing Christian’s rights being subordinated to the rights of other faiths, secularists and activists promoting homosexual/bisexual/transgender rights – all in the name of “Diversity and Equality(!?)”
2. Within the Christian Community we are seeing a serious decline in the membership of many churches from conservative, traditional denominations, and a significant increase in the membership of evangelical charismatic/pentecostal groupings, churches and denominations.  This is particularly true of churches and groupings that are lead by ministers from Africa and Asia, which have increased dramatically in number over the past few years.

Neither of these trends should surprise us, or concern us.  It has been the same since the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost.  When the Church is persecuted, believers abandon their complacency and move closer to the Word in both action and belief, empowered by the Holy Spirit and supporting one another … or they perished.  Equally, as Christians stand up and proclaim Christ, His Love and Truth, the persecution becomes greater.  This of course should again, not be a surprise.  The Scriptures declare:

For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18 Amplified Bible)

More than ever we need to be “Salt and Light” (Matthew 5:11-16) to a dying world, and remember that Jesus Himself called us to move in Unity as One, so that the world may believe (John 17: 20-23).  To do this we must “Fan into Flame” the gifts that the Lord has given us (2 Timothy 1: 6-8), and move in the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit to fight the moves of the enemy (2 Corinthians 10: 3-5, Ephesians 6: 13-18, 1 Corinthians 2: 4-5).

It is vital that we remember that the Lord has not called us to do this alone – as an individual believer, church or even denomination.  He has not given all the gifts, knowledge and power to any single enity within the Church, but to different individuals, groups and churches throughout the Global Church, so that they must work together to fully accomplish His purpose. (1 Corinthians 12: 7-18, Ephesians 4: 3-16).

Fire from Africa

As part of this new season in Mainstream’s Ministry this is a tremendous opportunity for all churches to be part of “Fanning the Flame”.   On the 19th September, 2009 a team from Uganda, Jane Francis Cheptegei Kipkorir, of King of Kings Restoration Ministries and Joy Turyamureba, mission director of the UPDF Widows and Orphans welfare project arrive in the UK.

They will be here to speak, share and minister throughout the UK, and this is your opportunity to share in this ministry, both here and in Uganda.  We believe the Lord has tremendous plans to grow much from this trip, and we are excited by the opportunity to be a part of it.  We also believe that as the trip progresses, we will see the direction the Lord has set out for work throughout the rest of the year, here in the UK and abroad, as we seek to “Fan the Flame” of the Love, Power and Glory the Lord has given us to share with the world.

For more information on the Fan the Flame mission, use the link to the left, or CLICK HERE.