Jubilee News Update July 2009
We trust this newsletter finds you too blessed to be stressed. We appreciate your prayer and financial support for Jubilee Resources' work. Seminar & Training courses The following seminars and training courses have been scheduled: please go to the following page on our website for flyers (www.jubilee.org.nz/events/eventsflyers/)
If you can't attend these, we'd sure appreciate your prayer support.
Summary of Items: 1. Seminars & Training courses 2. The Warrior Bride
3. Summit & Ministry in India
4. Rabbit Churches
5. Community Influence
6. Activities Reports
7. A Christian Bank?
8. Miscellaneous
9. What are the Christians doing in China?
Seminar & Training courses You're invited to participate in these events: If you require a quantity of any flyers please contact us, or please go to our web site for free download flyers (www.jubilee.org.nz/events/eventsflyers/) If you can't attend these, we'd sure appreciate your prayer support.
Rabbit Church Training, @ Ridgway Cottage, 281 High Street, Carterton, at 2pm: Saturday 18th July;
Healing (with Gospel Faith Ministry); Sat 25th July, 10am to 3pm with Rodney Francis & others, St. Paul's Anglican Church, Paraparaumu.
The Warrior Bride: Spiritual Warfare/Intercession training series, 9:30am to 4:30pm, (see flyer enclosed)
Sat 1st August 2009, Venue: Maungaraki Baptist Church, 164 Dowse Drive, Lower Hutt
Sat 8th August 2009, Venue: St. James' Union Parish, 116 High St., Masterton
Sat 15th August 2009, Venue: P.N. Christian Fellowship, 174-178 Church St. Palmerston North
Sat 22nd August 2009, Venue: City Assembly of God, 8 Durham St, Tamatea, Napier
Sat 29th August 2009, Venue: Christ Church Anglican, 243 Wickstead St. Wanganui
Hastings Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship Fri. 21st August.
Napier Combined Church Service, am Sunday 23rd Aug.
Intl. Society of Deliverance Ministers, 7-9 September, Nashville, Tennessee USA. (Selwyn is Leading a panel on Witchcraft & Occult.)
Spiritual Deceptions: Freemasonry, Cults & New Age, Sat 17th Oct. Lower Hutt. Details posted on web site events page shortly.
Christian Singles camp over Labour Birthday weekend, 23 to 26 October
(Fri-Mon). Venue: El Rancho, near Waikanae, run by Significant & Single. (Flyer on our web site)
Christian House Church Summit, 11-15 November. Delhi, India, followed by ministry, & leadership training in Maharashtra, Kerala & Andra Pradesh in India.
The Warrior Bride
There was some training in spiritual warfare when we did the Boot Camps in 2006, alongside other topics. We have been gleaning more effective ways so Christians can get serious about the Great Commission and Discipleship. Testimonies of people trained in effective prayer walking has seen huge conversions of people in India & 253,067 were baptised on one single day this year. It must be New Zealand's turn! Every follower of Jesus Christ can do this. Details of topics to be covered in the new course are listed in the flyer and on the web site. Please tell your friends & church leaders about these and bring them if you can. Note: We have already had inquiries from other parts of NZ wanting this training in their community. We are open to invitations.
Summit & Ministry in India
A team of 5 or 6 Kiwis are heading to India in November. The Summit will have folk attending from up to 140 nations. We want to see what is causing the third-world church to grow so rapidly, so we can bring this growth in NZ. There are workshops on reaching Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists and wealthy people, along with various others.
Following the Summit, we will run leadership training for hundreds of pastors in three states, followed by Gospel outreaches in the evenings. The photo in our posted Newsletter shows a meeting at one place we are going to. The team have been advised that deliverance is a major tool of evangelism. Each will have at least a thousand people to practice on at some meetings. We need your prayer support for fruit for the Kingdom of God, health & travel protection, & finance, etc. We'll be in India for approx. 3 weeks. In several places it is customary for the guest speakers to provide money to assist with the local travel & food for the poorer pastors, etc. This is fairly common in Third-world nations. Any contributions towards this would be welcome. We estimate we need about $2,000 for this. All gifts will be receipted.
Rabbit Churches
There is confirmed testimony that where ordinary believers are equipped and released to do these (rapidly multiplying home-based fellowships) the Kingdom of God grows very fast. One group in Asia planted 44,000 of these in four years in one state, resulting in almost half a million conversions. A Kiwi missionary told us in May that he has trained 19 denominations to do this in East & Central Africa. One man planted 43 churches in 90 days. One could say he was committed!
In May, 120 people received some training in Gore with follow-up written guidelines. This included Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist & New Life pastors who realise their existing church structure has been preventing Kingdom growth. As a result, various new "Rabbit Churches" have begun in Southland & South Otago. Reports show a number of prodigals returning and salvations also. We were saddened to hear a report of one NZ congregation that hadn't had a single salvation recorded in 45 years. They seem to have forgotten what Jesus has called us to do. Anyone wanting to learn about how to do rabbit churches in their community, please contact us. There are groups already starting in many NZ communities.
For those not affiliated with an established fellowship, there needs to be a monthly regional gathering. We host an celebration on the 2nd Sunday evening each month, at 6:30pm. We are renting the Maungaraki Baptist Church, 164 Dowse Drive, Lower Hutt for these meetings. You are welcome to join us. We practice "Open Church" as taught widely in NZ by Dr. Lynn & Linda Reddick from Georgia. This is for participants, not spectators, & gives a new dimension to many from traditional model churches on how to allow the Holy Spirit to lead whole congregations.
If we understand the Lord correctly, His goal is to bring one million Kiwis into Christian fellowship and activity within five years. This must be about God's Kingdom, not about joining an organisation.
Community Influence
Recently we have received interest from various media. Interviews resulted on Radio Rhema & Challenge Weekly, plus TV3 did a news item on Freemasonry with some help from us, 20/20 have asked about doing a programme on the occult in NZ, as have the Dominion Post. The last annual report of Freemasons included a graph showing that at their present decline they will cease to exist in NZ by 2019. In view of the curses these men bring into their families, churches and communities, we would like to help them reach that goal well before then.
Activity Reports
The Christian Singles' camp during Queen's Birthday weekend was amazing. People attended from Christchurch to Auckland. The feedback was so positive they want another camp over Labour weekend. This is a group of people often neglected in our churches so their walk with the Lord can often be fairly lonely. Lots of personal ministry was done, along with teaching and fun times with a Kareoke night, and a concert.
Aglow had a lower North Island camp at El Rancho, and Selwyn and Anne did some training on the "Ultimate Treasure Hunt" about Holy Spirit-led evangelism. (See the book of that title on the enclosed mini catalogue) Most of the ladies had never done that before, so after the training they went out in teams of four for one & 1/2 to two hours. On return they brought many testimonies of people the Lord had led them to to pray for healing, a blessing, etc. One prodigal had burned his Bible only 2 weeks earlier because he felt God had forgotten him. He was brought back to faith and the Lord showed him a vision of His love. We stopped the testimonies of divine appointments after one and a 1/2 hours! We are excited with this effective lifestyle evangelism opportunity.
A Christian Bank
Due to a throw-away comment I made in a newsletter last year, there is some interest in investigating the possibility of a Christian Bank in NZ. Several people have responded to our invitation to begin the process on planning for this. We need competent people to head such an undertaking. This is a huge vision. We are interested in having a meeting sometime this year to start the process and facilitate people with this vision getting together. Contact us if you are interested.
Miscellaneous
In the changing seasons of time, Jubilee could do with someone with computer and admin. skills, on a part-time or voluntary basis in our office. If the Lord is speaking to you about serving Him in this way, please phone the office. New Postal Address: NZ Post have closed our local postshop and moved our mail box. We have the same box number, but our postcode has changed.
Please pray for Sohail in Pakistan. A nearby village, Kansure City, was ravaged by Islamic terrorists: all the Christian's homes & churches were destroyed, their animals stolen, for Jihad. Because of his prayer burden, Sohail, a pastor, is going to go there to encourage the Believers. He needs our prayers. Sohail is one of several hundred pastors we mentor by email.
If anyone wishes to make a direct credit to our bank account for any of the matters arising above, or general support during these financially difficult times, the details are as follows:
A/c name: Jubilee Resources Intl. Inc.
Bank & Branch: Westpac, Petone
A/c #: 030543-0216553-00
Please ensure your initials & name are shown so we can send you a receipt. Many thanks.
If you were thinking of purchasing a book or other resources now would be helpful for us. Jubilee's webshop is secure for Visa & MasterCard, or you can post or phone your order. Thanks, & may the Lord bless you!
PS This arrived very recently from a friend overseas. There are some very interesting aspects to the growth of Christianity in China, and some we can adopt. Here is the interview with the brothers from China explaining what they are doing.
Interview of some Brothers from China.
Br Denny: How does the church in China compare with the Book of Acts? What do they believe regarding Acts?
Br Paul: I feel they would say this: We are in it. What is seen in Acts is our normal Christian life. So they believe Acts just portrays a normal Christian life: it is the testimony of the resurrected Christ; and the saints experience that He is still the same today - miracles have not passed away.
Br Ren: Please understand that the Gospel being preached in China is a bit different: the saints do not speak just mental, intellectual messages. They preach 50%, then they also show the power of the Gospel, 50%. They always have an expectation and readiness for miracles. It is normal, that anytime when the message of the Gospel is pronounced, there is going to be a demonstration of the power of God in that situation. So the people see clearly, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He is the Saviour of the world. The church in China is not praying for miracles, they are just living in miracles. Like Paul revealed: this is the normal Christian life.
Think about the challenge of the countries west of China, such as the many Muslim countries. We feel, the only thing that can really bring an opening to these people is a demonstration of God's compassion: you have to show them that you have something more than all the gods they are bowing down to. You have to prove your case instantly, on the spot. Then they know the reality that Jesus is alive, and the Saviour of the world, and that He has all authority.
So, the house church saints have to be the same as those in the book of Acts; and, the Holy Spirit does work in their lives - they just try to follow the wind of the Holy Spirit. It is too easy to miss this Reality. We always want to settle-in, hoping the Holy Spirit will settle with us, and just be with us as we create centres, or places where we hope the Spirit will move in a mighty way. No! We must understand that God's Holy Spirit is moving all the time; so, we must be very pliable and flexible. We must give the maximum effort to join and be one with, the Spirit where He is working, not trying to do a work ourselves. The better way is to always partner with Him, finding out where He is active today where the battle is going on and just join Him there: we will then be blessed with souls, the blessing will be reversed, and upon us.
Br Denny: that brings-up my next question: What about missions, and methods of evangelism? In what way do our brothers and sisters in China, live out the Great Commission?
Br Paul: Their theology, and methods, are very simple: the saints believe there is only one reason God has left them on earth: to evangelise the lost; and, anyone not actively pursuing this holy purpose is missing the mark. We cannot compromise or water-down The Great Commission. So their methods are: Spirit-anointed preaching, with signs following. The leaders instruct the evangelistic teams to go to a new village and inquire about the worst situation or problem, there. Then they go and minister to that problem, showing that JESUS is the all-powerful Saviour and Lord-with this success, they turn to the people and preach Jesus to them.
Br Ren: Here is a beautiful example of this working for two young sisters, sent to a village to share the gospel: They were 18 years of age, and very small (tiny). They went to a village of about 300 people. A man possessed by demons was there. Somehow, the Communists ascertained that this man had in him 12 demons! Yet he was learned, knowing five languages. But the demons in him were so powerful that 12 big farmers could not hold him down. So they tried using chains and wire, but, he would break free! This man was living at the entrance of the village, so all 300 people could hardly walk on the main road: they had to circumvent around, through a forest because that man decided no one was going to pass through or by his property. The property line was not visible, so if anyone stepped through, the man would run out with a jungle knife shouting, "I will kill you!" So everyone was afraid; and, it had been like this for many years.
These two young sisters came asking, "What is the biggest problem in your village?" And everyone pointed them to the crazy, demon-possessed man's house! Whereupon, the sisters turned and started walking toward his house. And as they walked, they really prayed. Well, the whole town came out to see what would happen. The villagers knew about the invisible line; and anyone stepping over it, they knew they would be attacked: the man would come at the girls with his jungle knife, half-naked, with a crazy look in his eye; and all the demons would drive him quickly to them! The one girl, Sister Lee, was leading the way, and as they entered the man's property, he did run toward them, with his knife in hand. But Sister Lee lifted-up her hand, saying, "In the name of Jesus, STOP!" And the man actually froze in mid-air: he was like a stone statue not being able to move forward or backward, and his eyes seemed frozen in him.
Oh, this happens quite often in China: from experience, we know that their bodies are frozen by the Holy Spirit, yet the person can hear with their ears. So you can share any message the Lord leads, since they can understand every word you speak. And Sister Lee went right up next to this statue, and began proclaiming the Gospel to him! She then - in the Name of Jesus - cast all 12 demons out, and the man was instantly delivered. (She was 18). The man melted on the spot, like butter in hot sunshine. He fell to the ground, and was completely restored. Then, the first words he uttered were: "This Jesus is Lord!" He was gloriously saved and fully restored. These very special girls stood together in that village: they just stood there, the 2 girls on each side, with the man who was formerly possessed, in between them, talking normally. Then all 3, entered the village, and as they passed the first house, the families one by one, confessed openly that Jesus was the Son of God. Then, all 300 villagers surrendered to the Lord Jesus, that night.
So we use simple Gospel methods: a) problem; b) solution; c) salvation, so simple and real.
Earlier Reports: Mentoring in Africa & Asia
By way of report, for a long time we have been receiving letters and emails from many Asian and African pastors. Some have asked for relationships, and others have large shopping lists, from Bibles and computers to 4X4 vehicles. To cut a long story short, we have been sending a teaching email every month to those pastors across 40 nations. One pastor in Kenya is the only one in his region with email, so he prints off 65 copies of what we send, and sells the copies to the 64 other pastors at the cost of the photocopying. The material is intended to be taught to their entire congregations (Ephesians 4:11-16). Another pastor in Cameroon translates the material into French and then forwards it by email to branches of his denomination in ten French-speaking nations across Africa. Relationships are being built as a result, by email and the occasional phone call. Our best estimate from the information received to date is that our 5 to 7 page teaching email each month is being taught to about 200,000 Christians. Already there have been testimonies of salvations and healings when church members have been equipped and released. Obviously we seek prayer for the effectiveness of this rather surprising development.For those in Asia and Africa who don't have email access, we are looking to post materials out every 3 to 4 months. This is expensive, so donations, including from church missions budgets, are welcome.
Church Attendance
During the Boot Camps training we did during 2006, one of the sessions was on small group dynamics. There are various names for these: cell groups, home or life groups, house churches, etc. The issue isn't whether they are affiliated with a local church congregation (many are - around 80%) but whether they are fulfilling the two main purposes God requires, namely: The Great Commission, and Effective Discipleship.
For example, if no-one new has begun to attend your small group in the past two years, then probably it should be closed down while a new model is developed. If you find this too difficult, I suggest you check out the article "Signs of a Spiritually Dead Church" by Bill Easum. (It is half-way down the list of articles under that button on our website.)
Here follow some useful and thought-provoking quotes:
"If we ever needed to recover a New Testament church to disciple the nations, that time is now. Church as we know it is preventing church as God wants it." (Wolfgang Simson)
"The celebration of the Lord's Supper in a Christian home in the first century and in a cathedral in the twentieth century cannot be more different, they bear no relationship to each other." (Dr. William Barclay)
"Our church must always be growing larger and smaller at the same time." (Rick Warren)
"If we were to identify any one principle as the most important, then without a doubt it would be the multiplication of small groups" (Christian Schwarz)
"Those who want to be Christians in earnest... should sign their names and meet alone in a house somewhere to pray, to read, to baptise, to receive sacraments, and to do other Christian works." (Martin Luther)
"For growing numbers of the new generation, house churches, not the traditional church, will most likely draw them to God." (C. Peter Wagner)
"Stop asking God to bless what we are doing and start to do what He is blessing." (Rick Warren)
Following recent media reports on declining NZ church attendance, research shows that two-thirds of NZ Christians won't attend. Other ways of bringing people into fellowship, for their own spiritual needs as well as for the Kingdom of God, must be found.
Around the world, some 200,000 people are added to God's Kingdom every day. Yesterday 40,000 of them were Moslems! There are various factors for this, but one of the main ones is the effective use of small groups. I have had discussions with various Christian leaders in several countries on possible solutions. We are looking to trial something in the Wellington region, We will have an Open Church celebration on the second Sunday evening each month, commencing Sunday 10th May at 6:30pm. We are renting the Maungaraki Baptist Church, 164 Dowse Drive, Lower Hutt.
If we understand the Lord's directions correctly, the goal is to bring one million Kiwis into Christian fellowship and activity within five years. This must be about God's Kingdom, not about joining an organisation.
Tax Receipts for Donations:
for those generous folk who have been giving by Automatic payment, your receipts should be in your hands by the end of April. If you don't receive them by then, please contact the office. Thanks and bless you all! There has been a slight delay because we have new accounting software to learn.
New Web Site:
This has been totally revamped. There are many new additions, which we know will interest many of you. There is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page; there is a page with quotes and funnies Selwyn often uses, (and people ask for copies); There is the testimony of a Buddhist monk who died. Three days later when they were moments from nailing his coffin shut he returned from the dead as a Christian evangelist, and has subsequently led many thousands to Christ; There are other testimonies, There are Articles of interest and Prayer Guidelines that are used by many ministries across the world. There are flyers you can download and print off, such as Freemasonry, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventism, Spiritual Deceptions and Halloween. We suggest you have a couple of cult ones printed off and handy for when they knock on your door. If you don't have email and would like a copies of these flyers just contact us. A donation for printing and postage is helpful.
New Postal Address:
NZ Post have closed our local postshop and moved our mail box. We retain the same box number, but our postcode changes along with the other details as shown over the page. NZ Post assure us they will forward mail for the next 12 months. The latest snail mail posting will use up all our old stationery. Please amend any data base we are on. Email Newsletters: We used to receive a discount for bulk mail so it cost only 27 cents each letter. NZ Post have kept changing their rules so it now costs us 47 cents.
It seems wise to use email more. This newsletter is also being sent by email to those we have their latest email address. Some people let us know when they change providers, some probably don't (we do get some that bounce, and these are deleted). If you have email we are planning to send Newletters out by email every quarter so we can keep people informed of events etc. If you don't receive an email version of this, please advise your email details and we'll ensure you are put onto that list. It should go without saying that under Privacy and other laws, we don't share our database with anyone. It is kept secure.
Summer School Report:
Those who attended in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland had a great time, by all reports. While it wasn't our largest (about average for attendance) the assessment was it was the best to date. Dean Fujishima (from Hawaii) and Rodney Francis (Kapiti) were well received. CD sets and MP3 sets are available.
Audio Conversions
We recently obtained the hardware and software to convert Audio cassettes onto CD's. Technology is changing rapidly. If anyone has good audio cassettes teaching material (or music for that matter) they wish to convert to CD, please let us know.
NZ Law allows these to be converted between formats provided they remain your personal property and aren't produced in commercial quantities for selling.
We priced conversion like this from the largest local firm. They charge $80 per hour, so a C90 cassette converted would be $120.
If you want to convert your cassettes, we'll put them on a CD, with a cover, as follows:
C60 tape = $18-00 post paid delivery
C90 tape = $21-00 post paid delivery.
Your audio tape will be returned to you, obviously. Obviously if you have played a tape so much it stretched, we can't guarantee the quality of what is converted.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you in your service for Him, and may He use you fruitfully as you help build His Church as we prepare for His Return. Please keep praying for us.
Charity Commission Registration
The NZ Government had all existing charities reapply to confirm their status. Jubilee Resources International Inc. has just received confirmation of our re-registration, and granted full tax-exempt status. Our Reg. number is CC26087. This reaffirms the details in a previous newsletter about donations from within New Zealand to our work over $5-00 will receive full tax-deductible benefits. In addition the government have now lifted the cap on the amount that can be claimed to one-third, regardless of the amount. The new policy came in from April 2008, and applies to the current financial year.Many thanks to those who top up their orders for resources by adding extra to support the ministry, as well as those who send in cheques and auto. bank payments for more regular support. We value you all, and bless your faithfulness.
Jubilee Training Institute
We are pleased to advise the launch of two schools with different subject matter. These are:School of Christian Counselling Courses:
Certificate in Bible-Centred Counselling Certificate in Marriage, Family & Parenting Counselling Certificate in Emotional Wholeness Counselling Certificate in Identity & Change Counselling Certificate in Disorders, Addictions & Cult Counselling Diploma in Christian Counselling & Pastoral Care Post Graduate Diploma in Christian Counselling Certificate in People Caring SkillsThe first five certificates constitute the Diploma in Christian Counselling & Pastoral Care, which we have been running for several years. Quite a number have already graduated with this. Each certificate will take a student approx. 6 months to complete.
Because of an Articulation Agreement with a fully accredited Christian university, we are also able to offer a Bachelor's degree/Post Graduate Diploma in Christian Counselling.
The last Certificate is a 12-month briefer overview of the whole course, designed more for upskilling house-group leaders and part-time pastors.
School of Biblical Studies Courses:
Certificate in New Testament Studies Diploma in Biblical StudiesWe are about to grant the first certificates to graduates of the New Testament course. This is a 12-month course. We will shortly be announcing additional assignments for the New Testament studies course, which will result in a Diploma in New Testament Studies on completion. The Diploma in Biblical Studies is a three-year course part-time, with lectures on MP3 CD's, textbooks etc. The Board will make a decision about degrees which follow on from this course during 2009.
All are Distance-learning courses.
Please pray about this:
Taxes and Authority
Here is an alternative perspective.Some years back, in a city with a huge Masonic presence, two ladies took on the problem with a simple strategy. They went to each building in the downtown area that had a Masonic cornerstone and they spoke to the demons that had been empowered by the original dedications. They had a two-step approach.
1) They acknowledged that the demons had a profound legal right to be in the cornerstones because of those dedications. They conceded that and did not command them to leave.
2) They then commanded the demons not to leave the cornerstones to roam around the city because they had no right on public land!
You see, the ladies leveraged their payment of taxes.
They knew that as taxpayers, they were part owners of every bit of public property. They owned the streets, the sidewalks, the trees, the cemetery, the courthouse, the public utilities, every scrap of equipment in the police department and every other department, all the way down to the paperclips in the local schools. If their taxes paid for it, they owned it.
And as owners, they could declare Kingdom authority over those buildings and land.
So they did! The demons were confined to the cornerstones and were not allowed to run free in town. The murder rate dropped by 90% as a result of that strategy. Not bad for two people with a simple method. (Source:www.plumbline.org.)
False Prophet Warning
We have received a number of inquiries about the claims of Ronald Weinland. He claims to be one of the Two Witnesses mentioned in the Book of Revelations, and even claims to be God's sole mouthpiece. He also claims that Herbert W. Armstrong was God's end-time Apostle - that will ring alarm bells with every Christian!Ronald Weinland has written a book entitled 2008: God's Final Witness. He claims that the USA, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand will all be destroyed before the end of 2008. His regular boasting of his own self-elevated position should be sufficient to warn others about this false prophet and teacher. He even claims that, apart from the Bible, his two books are the only truthful documents on planet earth. Yeah, Right! Obviously this man isn't to be taken seriously since he got it so wrong.