A Prophetic Report – April 2008

In the book of Deuteronomy we find the people of Israel at an important time in their history as they are just about to cross the Jordan and take possession of the Promised Land. Many years previously (Numbers 13) the people had heard the reports of twelve spies who were sent into the land – reports that spoke of good fruit but also of giants. Joshua and Caleb brought a good report and believed God’s promise that they could possess the land, but the other ten spies brought a bad report that focussed on the giants. As a result of the bad report the people were discouraged and they rebelled against God, which in turn led to their wandering in the desert until a generation had died. Now Moses addresses a new generation and reminds them how they have come to where they are now. He reminds them of God’s promises, he recounts their journey up until that time, and he speaks of the opportunities and pitfalls that lie ahead of them.

Believing that we in Taunton are also at a significant time in our history, the B1 church leaders have produced this report with the aim of bringing together some of the key prophetic themes and promises that God has given us concerning Taunton, in order that we might recognise what God has been doing, and what he intends to do, in and through us. (A full record of quoted prophecies can be found at the B1 website, www.b-1.org.uk which we encourage you to visit.)

A new season begins
Psalm 133: How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

In March 2000 an American pastor and prophet called Dennis DeGrasse began with this Psalm and spoke of a vision that the Lord was birthing all over the world – a vision of city church. Dennis was speaking to a regional gathering of church leaders, and others, who had come to hear what God was saying to the southwest of England. He spoke of the necessity of unity as a prerequisite to the Glory of God being seen in the Church, and introduced many of the enduring themes that have continued through prophetic words that we have received since that meeting:

We must be prepared for the face of the church to be changed by the Lord. As we behold His increasing glory in the church, we are going to be changed. It will bring about some massive realignment in relationships. It will mean the raising up and realignment of many of the servants of the Lord. We will see many roles shift and change. The thing that will help us keep our balance through it all will be the overwhelming witness of the Lord in our midst. We will be washed in His mighty presence. This is not a thing of man. This is a God thing. He will release great wisdom upon the church and its leaders. The word will live in our midst as we press into the day of the Lord before us. The things of this world will pale into insignificance before us.

He will cause the Apostle and the Prophet alike to come into a new understanding, vision and anointing.

This region will be linked, by Holy Ghost relationships, with the rest of the nation and the world.

Get the machinery ready for the harvest. Prepare yourselves. Recognise and train the evangelists who are among you. The Lord is going to give you more than the average. This region and the nation will see many stirred in this gifting and anointing. You may say, "Where have they been?" but the Lord says that some haven't been saved yet. There are many ministry resources that are yet to be harvested.

That meeting in Wellington marked the beginning of a period during which a number of church leaders in Taunton began to catch a vision of something bigger, something better, for the town and region. The Holy Spirit was at work creating a desire for unity that for some was already beginning to become more captivating than what was happening in their individual churches. A prophetic word brought in April 2002 by Bill Chaney, then pastor at Canon Street, spoke of the process that was beginning:

I have called you to something which in the flesh is frightening, to peel away the layers and to bring you into to a more fundamental and deeper relationship with the Lord and with his people. There are layers yet to be peeled away. Do not be afraid - but allow the Holy Spirit to reveal them and remove them, so that reality might be established in your relationships.

God-ordained harmony
Dennis DeGrasse visited Taunton again in April 2003 and brought a word that confirmed to us that the growing desire for meaningful unity was indeed God ordained:

As I waited on the Lord, I saw Him bringing the body of Christ in this area into real harmony. Harmony isn't everyone on the same note. It is different notes in harmonic tension. The Lord says that He is creating a beautiful sound as you gather yourselves together to seek Him. He is pleased at your willingness to trust Him and to lay down things that separate. It is His love that is motivating you in this way. You have embraced this love and are allowing it to shape your desires and your thoughts in new ways. You will find that there is coming an increase in anointing because of the unity that is growing in your midst. The Lord will cause others to see and become desirous of what the Lord is doing in your midst. Be patient. You did not get where you are overnight. It has taken time for the Lord to woo you to where you are now. His Spirit will accomplish it. "For it is not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord."

The importance of a new dynamic in prayer was also introduced at this time:

I see some sort of prayer concert taking place. It will be powerful in laying foundation for future growth. Out of this concert of prayer will come strategy from the Lord. He will reveal His plan to His leaders in the days following the concert of prayer. Like David of old, you will find Him to still be the "Master of Breakthroughs".

Visible unity and the creation of a net
Our old ideas of church unity clearly required radical rethinking, but we needed help for that to happen. During two meetings in the winter of 2003/4, Nick Pettingale, a church leader from Burton-on-Trent told us that a move of the Holy Spirit had created an unprecedented unity in relationships between leaders in Burton and brought social transformation to the city. Nick spoke both practically about what had happened in Burton and also prophetically into the situation in Taunton:

The reason God needs you to stand up is that Europe needs Taunton! The reason you need to know who you are and what you’re here for is because you are part of the package. God has planted you in this place to bring transformation.

Change is happening but for many of us we’ve got to change our perspective. If you change position your perspective changes. I believe there’s a call for some of us to change position; you’ve been sat for too long doing the same stuff and wondering why it wasn’t fruitful.

There’s something about two generations running together, about a generation of leaders quickly passing on and empowering a younger generation, not hanging on until they are too old and decrepit, the planned strategic passing on of leadership and empowerment to the next generation.

During November 2003 Tim Stone also brought a short but significant word:

We’re called to be fishermen for God just like the disciples. When the disciples fished they worked together pulling in the net. If we want to take our town, we need to put down our fishing rods and pick up the net. Each of the leaders in this town needs to do that.

Following the second meeting with Nick Pettingale a small group of leaders began to meet weekly to pray together. This group grew in depth of relationship and also grew numerically as the Lord added members to it. It was to this group, that later became known as B1 (from John 17:21), that Dennis DeGrasse spoke these words in September 2004:

As I continued to wait upon the Lord, I saw the Lord creating a net. The net was used to bring in the catch and was a strong net with fine mesh to keep the little ones from wriggling through the net. The net isn’t all that it will be. Parts of it are missing, but the Lord is repairing the net. This is no small cast net, but is a large drag net. The Holy Spirit will drag the net through the town time and again. Many will come into the Kingdom because of the net.

In June 2005 six churches set aside their Sunday morning programmes in a combined B1 service. The speaker Stuart Bell, national leader of the Ground Level Network, prophesied:

In Ezekiel chapter 37, the prophet takes two sticks representing two tribes of Israel and they become one in his hand. You leaders in Taunton can become the hand that holds the sticks. Fast, pray and wait on God for the ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher to be given to Taunton.

Serving is a major priority for unity. When we become mobilised to do the things we are gifted for, and when we are released into them, that is when God is able to move on us.

Pursuing the glory of God at all costs
The B1 churches were now meeting together one Sunday evening each month and it was at one of these meetings in March 2006 that Dennis DeGrasse spoke the following words:

This meeting is being reproduced in other communities by those who are being drawn together by Jesus. It is all about Him. This is a work that Jesus is doing in our midst and it is wonderful to behold. Not all will listen, but as the fire grows it has the capacity to turn the cold and lifeless into fire too!

God wants to encourage you tonight to keep the fire raging in you hearts. The religiously cold and lifeless around you will respond to the fire of Gods’ love burning in your hearts.

God is breathing upon His church with His own breath. The Holy Spirit is blowing wherever we give Him entrance and wherever we are craving His presence. For those of us who are preachers of the Gospel, the Lord wants to ignite our preaching with His Holy Fire. He wants to set us ablaze with the Holy Spirit.

God is at work in His church. He is ordering some changes that will make us fit to hold the fire and fit to be a blessing to God’s house.

God wants to redefine many of us. We are not living the lives for which we have been birthed into the Kingdom. We need God to do something for us. Like Jacob, we must wrestle with God until He wins. God touched Jacob and broke him. We need to be broken by God. Jacob walked with a limp for the rest of his days. Are we so desirous of the blessing of God that we are willing to limp through life to get it? Are we willing to give up our own identity in order to take that identity that God has for us? I believe that the Lord is going to redefine many of us. He has a new paradigm for us to walk in, and it may need a new identity in order to walk in it.

Praying, interceding and waiting on God
A key part of relationship building and seeking the heart of God for the B1 leaders has been spending 24 hours away together on occasions. During one of these times, in May 2007, we heard from Howard Chiplin, a pastor and prophet from Northumbria:

The reason that I have caused you to come together at this time is that I might move in Taunton, and make Taunton a place where, in the whole of the South-West, churches and Christian communities will understand that this is a place where God is moving, this is a place where God is honoured.

And although there have been times when you have despaired of the environment and the society in which your town is involved, I will declare to you right now that as you men continue to pray, and as you wait before me and as you intercede and spend time in your meetings together without talking, just waiting on God and allowing my Spirit to move, I will begin to do things in this town and to be an example to other towns in this part of the country.

And out of this town in years to come, there will proceed a team of young men and young women who will go into other villages and towns taking the Gospel. And they will be the cause of a reviving of spiritual enthusiasm among those that are young in age.

Another Ground Level leader, Graham Bell brought a prophetic word to a B1 meeting in July 2007:

I believe even now, God is giving you a strategy for building His church. There is the potential for powerful prophetic insight to come as you gather; you will hear God’s voice when leaders gather and when church gathers, particularly as you ask Him to speak. This will not be easy, but don’t hold back. As you move forward into change, it will feel fragile, it will feel out of control. Indeed, some will long for the security of familiarity, but press through with Jesus and allow His shaping to emerge.

You have something for your wider area – it is as though a new well is opened and an old well is unstopped. So you come into the good of prayers prayed a century ago. You come into the good of prayers prayed two centuries ago, but there is also a new thing that comes out of the prayers of this time, this age, this leadership.

There is coming an evangelistic dimension. It is actually to be carried by the evident presence of God. It is not according to any established pattern or protocol, it is not out of the big event or organised effort, but the very evident presence, love and power of God will draw others to Himself.

As we can see, the Lord has brought us a long way, and yet the best is still to come. The challenge now is for each one of us to take hold of these words, let them shape us and pray until we see them accomplished.

Some words brought by John Lalgee of Living Light in May 2007 remind us of our responsibility:

Half measures will not accomplish the purposes of God. Nothing has ever been done in the kingdom without cost and sacrifice. The words over us will never be accomplished in mediocrity.

The day of rediscovering the power of prayer has come.