Monthly Archives: December 2007

From a “Homily on Christmas Morning”

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"Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted’ on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

"Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things are nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His virgin mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

"To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen."

St. John Chrysostom (349– 407 AD)

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Stand By .. More Important Content is Coming

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I just wanted to drop you a note to inform you that there are more chapters of our Wind Farm book reading on the way in the next few days, but that more importantly, I finally have some follow-up information regarding Danny Nalliah to share with you that I think will be of interest.

As you can imagine, as a broadcaster and voiceover artist, Christmas is a manic time, but add to that .. today is my 44th birthday!  So, rather than spend my birthday writing, I have had to keep my head down and my bum up to stay on top of the pre-Christmas workload while at the same time trying to get out of the studio early enough to enjoy some quiet time prior to my house being ganged-up on by family and friends.

Please check back in the next 24 hours or so .. and God bless you for your patience!

Kerry

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A Report on Our Second Quiet Day

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To call our second Quiet Day anything but rich would be an understatement.

This time around we had seventeen in attendance and again, all from quite diverse backgrounds. We had an Anglican interested in monasticism travel two hours from near Lithgow to be with us. We had two from a vibrant Assemblies of God church join with us. Our "emerging church pilgrim" enthusiastically returned. A recognised prophetess and some of her team were also with us. We had high-powered business people through to stay-at-home Mums. Likewise, we had folks travel from as far afield as Palm Beach and St Albans near Wiseman’s Ferry, both of which are almost two hours drive from Winbourne, the location of our Quiet Day.

Once again we used some contemporary liturgy to help "frame" the day. We’re finding this helps significantly. Praying ancient words helps as a kind of "ramp" into and out of the times of intentional silence. In a sense, the liturgy book-ends the silence, giving those who are unaccustomed to long periods alone in silence with God, an awareness that there is a beginning and an end to each period.

This is more important than you might imagine, because for many people, silence is intimidating. In fact, it can often conjure up memories of times when silence has been used as a weapon against them, such as in a difficult marriage or when a parent disapproved. But, if those who stuggle with these fears can push through them, they always find that silence directed toward God is a rich and fruitful time.

It was very clear that many were being moved deeply during this first period of silence. Many used Winbourne’s labyrinth.

ImageOnce again we were in The Chapel at Winbourne. We gathered around a beautifully restored red gum tree stump used as a kind of altar, while many candles and dimmed lighting intentionally helped to create an "other wordly" atmosphere, giving us a sense that the times of corporate prayer were meant to be a holy time.

Our time of communion was really special too. It began with people filtering back into the room after the monastic bell had rung, only to be somewhat confronted with the crucifixion scene from "The Passion of the Christ" playing on the big screen at one end of The Chapel.

I had felt the Lord ask me to pour the wine into a central "bowl of friendship". I read from Mark’s Gospel and shared how Jesus had given Judas the opportunity to "dip his bread in the bowl". Likewise, I shared how each of the twelve questioned their own hearts and consciences, to test whether they were the one going to betray Jesus; a clear indicator that each one realised they had that capacity within them.

So, after the bread was distributed, and while Phillips, Craig and Dean’s "Pour My Love on You" played, slowly, each one of us came forward and dipped our bread into the bowl of friendship with Christ, after first examining our own hearts looking for the evidence of our own ability to betray Him.

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Danny Nalliah and the Australian Federal Election

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In the wake of the Australian Federal Election and my previous post about it, my good friend Robert Holmes of Storm Harvest and myself are not particularly concerned about who got it right and who got it wrong in relation to the many prophetic predictions about the election’s outcome. Our primary concern now is for the many people who are feeling devastated, confused and let down, not only by the outcome, but by the way it’s now being handled by some outspoken ministries. At the moment, our primary concern is for the conduct of Danny Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries.

For the record, as a broadcaster and fellow minister, I have been a strong supporter of Danny Nalliah through my radio shows. You can read the transcripts of my comments and even hear the interview I did with Dr Helen Zsoke, head of the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission, challenging her over the lack of logical rationale regarding Danny’s persecution over his right to free speech in Australia. (The podcasts can be downloaded and the transcripts can be read here, here and here.)

Danny is an outstanding evangelist, a passionate (and at times naïve) lover of Australia as his adopted homeland, and a courageous advocate for free speech in Australia. These things have had abundant grace and favour upon them, but not so his foray into the realm of national prophetic ministry, particularly in relation to Australia’s Federal Government.

But the horse has bolted in regard to Danny stepping outside the safety of his sphere of anointed ministry, therefore, our concern now is very much for Danny’s poor handling of the outcomes of his prophetic predictions.

At basically the same time of the first post on the Wind Farm about the Federal Election, Robert and I wrote to Danny Nalliah on 6th October, 2007, in the hope of engaging him in a relational dialogue over our concerns about his conduct in handling his prophetic predictions.

To date, we are yet to receive a reply to our gentle but clear request.

Further, we are now all the more concerned over Danny’s clear attempt to shift all responsibility to the Australian church for his predictions failing to come to pass. Our hearts are saddened, and indeed, Robert and I believe that the heart of God is grieving over such conduct.

So, in an effort to again reach out to him relationally, we wrote to Danny a second time on 30th November, 2007. We decided to give him the same time frame to reply to us, as it took him to speak publicly about the outcomes, i.e., five days, before publishing the content of our second letter.

We had hoped that common courtesy and good sense would have prevailed, but sadly, we must now report that Danny has again failed to respond with even an acknowledgement of receipt. We have even gone as far as to post the following letter as a comment on Danny’s site, but it is still being moderated and we suspect it will not make it to publication. Robert and I have done so in the hope it may provoke a response from Danny in order to open a dialogue, but this too seems unlikely.

Therefore, with heavy hearts, our second letter to Danny is now published below, in order to demonstrate that the heart of God is still very much toward the praying church and toward Australia, regardless of the outcome of this election.

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