Pethers’ Prayer Points – 30th April 2019

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  1. 30th April 2019

    Welcome to my latest Pethers Prayer Points.

    I am now back in the UK and is good to have a short period of time where I will not be travelling. This provides me with a great opportunity to spend a little more time with Lynn and the family, as well as focus on preparation for some significant developments that will be taking place in the coming weeks. I would really appreciate your prayers about 3 really important things:
    1. The Rooftop Africa Summit
    From 10th – 14th June we will be holding the first ever ‘Continental Summit’ for the Rooftop Pioneers that are spread across Africa. Our Pioneers will be coming together in Nairobi Kenya from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, D.C. Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Malawi and Madagascar.

    As well as the Pioneers, we will be joined by Rev Stephen Gaukroger, the Chairman of The Rooftop International Council, Alan Pattle, The International Operations Manager and Marion Spencer The International Director of Ministry.

    I can’t tell you how excited I am about the possibilities of gathering this group of gifted, passionate leaders together in one place and seeking the Lord as to how we can envision and equip churches across the whole of Africa to join Jesus in His Mission and make disciples of people who are beyond the walls of the church.

    Please would you pray regarding following:

    1. Thank God for the provision of the funds that were needed to enable the Pioneers to travel from all over Africa to Nairobi Kenya and to cover the costs of accommodation and meeting venue. Praise God!!
    2. On Wednesday this week, Alan Pattle and I have an online meeting with Boniface Ojode, the National Pioneer in Kenya to continue to make arrangements for the Summit. Please pray that we will make good progress.
    3. For Stephen Gaukroger, and I as we prepare for the teaching and instruction that we will deliver at the Summit. This teaching and instruction is so vital as The Rooftop Movement continues to gather pace across Africa.
    4. Stephen will lead a series of bible teaching on the core aspects of what it means to be ‘Joining Jesus in His Mission’.
    5. I will be leading a variety of equipping sessions that will enable the Pioneers to develop The Rooftop movement across the nations where they live and into adjacent nations.
    6. For the Pioneers as they prepare to make the journey to Nairobi. Please pray that God will be at work in each of them and preparing them for what He intends to accomplish ai the Summit.
    7. For God to meet with us!

I will keep you updated with prayer needs for the Summit over the coming weeks.

2. Joining Jesus Leaders Course.
I will be leading the first online coaching session for leaders from across Northern Kentucky on Monday 6th May. Please pray for me this week regarding the following:

    1. Practical arrangements of setting up the online platform/distribution of materials etc.
    2. That God will be preparing the hearts of the 12 pastors who will participate that they will be ready for what He wants to happen when we connect for the first-time next week.
    3. For discussions I will be having this week with leaders in two other states about beginning the process in June and in September.

I will share news of the first online session in my next PPP

3. Funds
If you have been receiving my PPP for a long time you will be aware that funding is both a constant challenge and a reason to be continually grateful to God for the ways that He enables this movement to continue to grow.

With more and more doors opening across the world we have now formulated a budget for what it is likely to cost for us to be in 100 countries by 2023 and in so doing make 1,000,000 disciples.

Please would you pray regarding the following:

      1. That God will continue to provide in ways that constantly remind us that The Rooftop is His ministry.
      2. We have now produced a short information leaflet and Power Point presentation that clearly displays the vision and financial needs of the ministry. Please pray that God will lead us to people who have a passion for the lost to be discipled and the resources to enable us to continue to do what He has called us to.
      3. Please ask the Lord if He is calling you to become a financial partner with the ministry. If you would like to receive a copy of the information leaflet/power point presentation please email me at dennispethers@therooftop.org

Thanks so much for your prayers and support.

In Jesus,

Dennis

Joining Jesus – 30th April 2019

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1. A letter from Heaven.
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:1-7
The new Testament contains a lot of letters written to churches and individuals. Most of these letters are separate books. However, in the book of Revelation there is a series of letters that form part of a much bigger book, each of these letters is directly from the Lord and deals with specific issues that were taking place in the churches that received them.
In Chapter 1, John writes:
On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Revelation 1: 10,11
John continues:
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars….. Revelation 1:12-16
As a result of this vision, John did as instructed and wrote letters to the seven churches. The first letter is to the church at Ephesus and this letter begins with a reminder of who the message is from:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
The letter is from the one whom John had seen in his vision and specifically, John writes, that He is the one who holds seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
A true understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus must begin with a vision of who Jesus is and, in this letter to the church at Ephesus, Jesus reveals Himself as the one who is present in the churches. He is not an ‘absent God’ but is among us ‘walking among the seven golden lampstands’. His presence among us should be at the core of all that we are and do as his followers both individually and as churches.
It is a recognition of this ‘presence of Jesus ‘with’ and ‘among’ us that is critical if we are going to Join Him in His Mission because when we are aware of Him among us then we remember that it is HIS mission and not ours, or the churches mission. The reality is that the only mission that the church has is the mission of Jesus. Sometimes we forget this and begin to ask Jesus to join us in our mission rather than seek how we can join Him in His.
Recently I was in San Manuel, Arizona and a lady shared the following:
“I have been coming to this church for 62 years and for all that time I thought this was my church. I now realize that it is not ‘my’ church it belongs to Jesus and it is not a place where we meet but is us as people and me as a person. I want be part of His church and to spend my time now not ‘just coming to church’ but taking Jesus to the people that He came to seek and to save”
This week, I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on what was shared in San Manuel. Have you forgotten that Jesus is walking among us and that it is HIS church?

Joining Jesus – 15th April 2019

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4. Build Up
The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:
“LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah 1:1-11
When Nehemiah heard the words: “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” He spent time on his knees! Then, having prayed, he went and did what God wanted Him to do! Indeed, his prayer was specific, he asked God to convince the King to allow him to be given time away from his duty as cupbearer so that he could go to Jerusalem and oversee the rebuilding of the wall.
Prayer should never be a replacement for action!
The ‘action’ that Nehemiah engaged in was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that those who had returned from the exile could live there without trouble from their enemies and the disgrace of living in an unprotected ruin. For the trouble to be averted and for the disgrace to be replaced with dignity it was VITAL THAT THE WALL BE REBUILT.
Nehemiah’s task was by no means easy, it was a huge undertaking in the midst of an enemy occupied area and the enemies continually taunted Nehemiah and his efforts.
One example of this taunting is from Tobiah the Ammonite who said:
“What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”
As Nehemiah served God, the people around him made it very difficult, they ridiculed his best efforts!
For us, Like Nehemiah, serving God is rarely the easy option, it frequently puts us into situations where people oppose us and even ridicule us. This leads many of us to become inactive, we live out our faith ‘in secret’ and stay away from people that we think will oppose us.
In spite of opposition, Nehemiah carried on building the wall! The outcome of his perseverance is recorded as follows:
So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
Nehemiah 6:15,16
I find this such an encouragement. The very people who mocked and ridiculed Nehemiah lost their arrogant swagger when the wall was completed. This was because they realized that Nehemiah had not accomplished this alone, God had helped him.
As we seek to join Jesus in His Mission and build His Kingdom there will always be those that oppose and ridicule us. Jesus told us that as he was rejected, we too would be rejected! He also promised to be with us through until the end!
I encourage you, as you reflect on the story of Nehemiah, to remember that Jesus is with you wherever you go and whoever you are among. Like Nehemiah, keep on building!

The Rooftop in Madagascar – 2

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Our Rooftop Pioneer from South Africa was in Madagascar – He writes:-

My day started too early for my liking but am glad to connect with people of God from different mission organizations and churches gathering to share and exhibit some of the work they do and find ways to cooperate. I am especially impressed by the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) which owns airplanes to assist these organizations and churches to reach far and wide taking the gospel of Jesus Christ. The particular interest is taking it to the unreached people. I am looking forward to proceedings of this day.

What a wonderful experience with 51 entities exhibiting What each does for and in the name of the Lord to reach their country for Christ what is more wonderful is that the Rooftop is among them seeking to equip and encourage the church to Join Jesus in His mission.

Praise God for Bro, Najo, the Pioneer in Madagascar who works tirelessly to make The Rooftop make its mark also.

 

 

Lunch with some Rooftop Madagascar board members

Joining Jesus – 12th March 2019

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4. The Time has come!
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:14,15
The first words that Jesus used in His announcement of the ‘Kingdom of God’ were “The time has come”. From this moment, things would never be the same again because it was time for something new.
I believe with all my heart that the time in which we are living is a “time that has come”! It is vital, at this time, that we announce, to a world that is largely disconnected from Jesus and the truth of the gospel, that the Kingdom of God is near.
If we are to join Jesus in His Mission and make this announcement then we must we must stop waiting and start witnessing, and, we must start immediately.
Jesus announcement was not in words only, it was also in actions! He didn’t just talk about the Kingdom of God, He lived it out in front of people and these people were in the public places, not in the private place of a church building!
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus quoted scripture to provide us with a fuller understanding of the Kingdom that He was introducing:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Luke 4:18-19.

Jesus came to usher in a kingdom that would set people free and this would be achieved by a blend of action and words. Having made these announcements, Jesus continued to ‘put into practice’ what He had said and as a result many entered into the Kingdom of God.

If we are to join Jesus in His mission, we must talk about Him but we must also, in His power, live lives that help people to have a glimpse of what His Kingdom is like.

I will always remember, years ago, a good friend of mine put it like this:

Our lives should so reflect Jesus that it causes people to be curious about Him and ask us questions. We can then talk about Jesus without ‘preaching’ at people.

I want to close by asking you a direct question – ‘Are you announcing ‘The Kingdom of God’ through how you live and what you say? If not, I encourage you to recognize that ‘The time has come’!
Dennis