I often find myself with two or three blog ideas fermenting at the same time. This morning an email arrived in from Ireland that confirmed this was the time to complete this blog by sharing these three personal encouragements with you for your encouragement.
The sign of Hazel.
You might remember several months ago I blogged about how on one of my runs I met a man and his dog. On the narrow path through the woods there was only room for one of us at a time. My presence clearly spooked the dog which ran off into the woods.
“It’s alright Hazel” The owner called reassuringly after her.
Then turning to me by way of explanation, “She’s a rescue.”
The name Hazel struck a chord because we had just planted HAZELBERT bushes in our back garden. I knew it was an encouraging sign that we were on the ‘right track’ as Hilary and Paul Gil-BERT had opened their home to help ‘rescue’ some ‘HAZELS’ who he had sent to us who needed to recover from trauma often related to a past dysfunctional family situations.
Well the other day I noticed on an open green a familiar looking couple.
“Hazel?” I shouted out to the man throwing the ball, pointing to the dog who was obviously having great fun retrieving it. As he walked over to me he recognized the runner who had spooked his dog many months previously.
“Yes, indeed” he said
“She’s come a long way?” I suggested.
“Yes. She has” He confirmed. “Almost completely healed, just gets a little nervous when the train rolls by.”
He reached out his hand for a handshake.
“My name is Paul.”
I grinned, “Mine too”
Some of the 100+ people who have lived with us over the past season, we have little or no contact with. This was a reassuring nod from Father that they were continuing well on their healing journey with The Great Physician.
The Sign of Egremont.
Several years ago I woke one night and the word EGREMONT came to mind. I wrote it down and the next morning did search to find out it’s significance. I discovered it was a place near to where we would be shortly visiting our friends, Collins and Cheryl in Great Barrington. Sure enough I remember discovering in the local GB bakery they even had a EGREMONT cake. Beyond that the significance of this word I received continued to just ‘hang there’
Then a few days ago ‘out of the blue’ I got the following email from Collins,
Dear Paul,
Thanks for your continued blogging of the view from your journey.
I realized again recently that the town next to us is ‘Egremont’, and I looked it up, and didn’t know how famous Egremont Castle is in Cumbria…I was arrested by the Spirit when I read Wordworth’s poem about the castle’s history and legend. Here is the verse about who could enter the locked up castle:
HORN IT WAS THAT NONE COULD SOUND,
NONE THAT STANDS ON LIVING GROUND,
SAVE HIM WHO IS THE RIGHTFUL HEIR.
Oh my…I can’t get it out of my spirit. The Lord Jesus will soon sound the horn that hangs outside the castle walls, and open the drawbridge to the Kingdom. No man on living ground can do it, for it is ordained for only THE RIGHTFUL HEIR to blow with His breath that fateful HORN OF VICTORY and MUSTERING.
Oh for Him to blow the horn, like the riders of Rohan, and sound the charge which overwhelms those who think they have overwhelmed!
Standing together.
We are transformed.
Collins
The Sign of Patrick
A few blogs back when I was reporting on our trip to Ireland (by the way The ENDWEAVE series in not finished yet either : – ) Bill sent me a link. It took me to Penelope Keith’s TV series searching for the most beautiful village in the UK.
Low and behold, the first place winner was none other than the village of Broughshane in County Antrim! As usual when back in Ireland we ended up a couple of times at one of our favorite coffee shops, MIDDLETOWN, run by Johnny and Emma, in Ballymena. Broughshane is just a few miles away!
A few things struck me. The dominating feature of the area is Slemish mountain (above) where Patrick is said to have tended sheep… and had his conversion experience. Broughshane is also where the famous ‘1859 Revival’ began. Thirdly the winning aspect of the village, was not the architecture or anything of the physical, but rather the ‘community spirit’ that as so evident and vibrant.
O for a revival of Patrick fire, fellowship and fidelity in Ireland!
Around the same time I got an email from my friend Paddy Monaghan. (Paddy’s wife Ann sang “Simply Jesus” in Irish on the O Ireland album) Paddy is as much a firebrand now as he was when we first worked together in a week of evangelism in Omagh 45 years ago!
Paddy has done much to bring to people’s awareness the story of St. Patrick and use his ‘Confession’ as a tool for evangelism. Paddy’s latest project was to distribute the ‘Confession’ to those pilgrims who would participate in the annual Croagh Patrick climb.
Croagh Patrick is in County Mayo. Mayo was one of the counties that I participated in “Running with the Father’s Heart’ series of marathon’s a few years ago. While we didn’t climb the mountain I recall being moved to pray at the foot of it by a cottage called, Rose Cottage. Rose oil has the highest frequency of all at 32,000 Hz. 32 is the number of covenant .
The cottage was in a miserably dilapidated state, and I can recall how I was lead to intercede that God would prove faithful in his covenant with this nation restoring to his bride in this land the ‘beauty of holiness‘ he has intended for it from the beginning.
This morning’s email gave an encouraging report from Paddy on his latest venture.
There were healings and conversion and those of you who have followed my blog over the years will not be surprised when I say what struck me was that the number of ‘Confession’ leaflets distributed….. was 2,700.
May indeed the gospel go forth in Tabernacles power** in Ireland and throughout the earth in these days of answered prayer and fulfilled prophecy!
**https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/the-biblical-meaning-of-numbers/chapter-4-numbers-21-30