Father's House Blog

 
One of my dreams has always been to lead a local church into the experience of the Father's love, and then to create vehicles for them to give that love away to the lost.
 
Over the last twelve years I have been Vicar of St Andrews Church Chorleywood, and I have during that time taught and imparted the revelation that God is the world's greatest Daddy, and that Jesus came to die on the Cross not just to save us FROM an eternity without God, but to save us TO an eternal intimacy with God! This is the Gospel and we need to believe it and proclaim it!
 
I have often wondered how far this message has really gone in peoples' lives. But now, as I prepare to leave, it is becoming clearer and clearer that many of the members of St Andrew's have been deeply affected and radically transformed by this core Biblical revelation.
 
Take Barry for example. Barry comes to St Andrews. Just before I left for America last week he wrote about his response to a message I preached a few Sundays ago on the Father heart of God. This is what he said:
 
"I must tell you, in my short time at St. Andrews',  I have  been so blessed, and I'm amazed what our Father God has done in my life daily. Last Sunday He said to me, 'you have spent 65 years looking for someone to call dad' - as I didnt have an earthly father. God touched me while you where speaking and afterwards when I was prayed for. Mark I want to thank you for showing me how I can call my heavenly father 'Dad'".

Isn't that wonderful?
 
Two Sundays ago another member of my congregation wrote to me after I preached a new Father message entitled THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE. This is what he said:
 
"I sat thinking "Yes. my father wasn't there for the disasters in my life." But then, it was as if God responded with this: "Although you didn't see it at the time, I was there for you, and I was with you, and I picked you up and I carried you. I carry you now, and will carry you 'til the end of your race." I caught something today, Mark. I'm determining to go on and dig deeper into this. I want to reach out to the fatherless somehow  too. I'm not going to stay a victim. I'm getting up and am going to run."

Amen!
 
Another man in our congregation wrote this, as he prepared for an operation (which praise God has been completely successful):
 
"In your book ‘Orphans to Heirs’ you said ‘Negative experience of father in a believer’s heart will cause us to have a blockage and will cause us, unless it is dealt with by Jesus, never to enter into the fullness of the riches of who God is.’ Now, sitting here waiting for a heart bypass operation for a blockage in my heart, this got my attention....Anyway, I am not there yet, but with the help of your sermons, books and other materials, I am working on understanding and receiving the unconditional love of our Father".

Finally, take Paul too. Paul leads one of our church plants. It is based in South America. Recently Paul led an Alpha weekend and reported the following testimony.
 
"M shared how she had always had difficulty relating to God as "Father" or "Dad" due to her own childhood experiences (never knowing her father).  She was overwhelmed by the sense of God's love for her and shared that she was able to call God "Daddy" for the first time. Several people around her described how they felt a rushing wind go past them at the exact moment that M fell to her knees and cried out to God as "Daddy".

Wonderful isn't it? One of our leaders gets gripped by the Father's love, plants a church thousands of miles away, and then starts to see that same love given away - and the wind of Pentecost comes rushing in as he does!
 
Now that's what I'm talking about!
 
Clearly, the message and ministry of the Father's love has penetrated very deeply into peoples' lives. As I prepare to leave in January it is such an encouragement to know that so many - including men (almost all the testimonies are from men above) - have had their lives changed.
 
Jesus came and died to give us access to the most amazing Dad (Ephesians 2.18).
 
That is the ultimate legacy!
 
Isn't it time you learned to call him DAD?