Cornered by God

Another major prophetic word for King’s Church came when the church at South Lee joined us in 2002. Timing was the important thing here. On the Sunday evening we had a prayer meeting. On the Wednesday I met with one of the leaders from South Lee - Simon Linley - who’s now in the church here and we talked about the possibility of working together.

Then on the Thursday, Annie Twort walked into my office and said, “I’ve got a word for you... While everyone was praying together for you I was praying specifically about your role outside King‘s in the wider London Newfrontiers sphere. In my mind I saw a picture of a deeply planted forest”. So here comes some revelation here. “Someone was going in amongst the trees and removing a tree here and there to allow more light into the forest as a whole. The forest had been too densely planted. Some trees, just a few here and there, need to be cut down. This will bring health and stronger growth to all the other trees”.

Now at this point I’m cornered by God. I’m aware that to close the South Lee church - not everyone is going to be happy with that. They’ve invested too much in it. But God had spoken. Revelation - trees. Interpretation - you’ve got to cut a tree down for the overall health of all the trees. Application - we’ve got a church joining us, a church you need to close.

I’m encouraged today because we can honestly say that what we did those years ago has really borne fruit and many churches have been planted in London as a result. King’s Church particularly has grown in strength through our friends from South Lee who came and joined us here.

To be continued...