BOOKS

A book for today

WE hear so much these days about schemes and programmes for outreach, but so little about spiritual warfare. The present publication of The Awakening is refreshingly different. It has important insights for us right now.

It is the translation of a 19th century biography of the life and ministry of Johann Christoph Blumhardt (1805-1880), with additional explanatory passages.

It focuses on his ministry at Möttlingen where he followed Pastor Barth, who had preached brilliant sermons but with little sign of revival. The church was gripped by a deadly apathy.
In the village was a young woman, Gottliebin Dittus, who suffered from a range of strange illnesses and problems. As Blumhardt ministered to her, she manifested signs of possession.

Why she was plagued in this way was not clear, but it seemed she had been involved in magical practices which were rampant in the villages of her day. This story has an immediate relevance for us, since our society is also increasingly steeped in such practices.

Blumhardt was counselled by all and sundry to “back off”, but he refused to do so. So began an intense fight which lasted just over two years. He, with trusted friends held firm. He was often called out in the night as she manifested oppressive symptoms.

He turned his back on all techniques and methods of ministry and simply prayed to Jesus the Victor on the Cross and read passages from the Bible. In the end, the spirit within her screamed "Jesus is Victor" and departed. Gottliebin entirely recovered, but this was only the beginning.

The church exploded into life as Blumhardt preached continually that there must be a deep repentance and all were to confess their sins to one another.

Like the Curé d’Ars, he found that from morning till night people came to confess their sins. As he reached out to touch them in prayer many were healed. This brought yet more from the surrounding parishes, but he insisted all must come to church first of all and hear the Gospel.

The whole village was transformed but opposition grew among neighbouring pastors and local professionals. Sounds familiar?

Has it a relevance today? Well, a couple of weeks ago I visited a Pentecostal church near Birmingham. It’s hard to find a seat these days.

Several months ago, the leaders asked me to talk about spiritual warfare. The church was growing but experiencing severe problems. They courageously embraced the task and subsequently the church exploded into life.

The Awakening is a book that addresses our situation also in a most relevant and helpful way.

  • John Widdas, now retired, was previously Bishop’s advisor on the paranormal

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VIDEOS

Powerful testimony

  • Peter’s Story - from the bottle to Christ, £5.95 from Home Evangelism (01784 432558)

I CAN’T think of anything much worse than being controlled by drink or drugs – but this is the sad lot of too many people in our society today. Peter is a case in point. His father was always hitting the bottle, as well as his wife, and Peter always vowed that he would never be like that when he grew up. And he tragically kept his promise – he ended up far, far worse!

The video is a powerful enactment of Peter’s life. It shows how his problems took him lower and lower. It then tells how Jesus intervened in his life after Peter whispered a very simple prayer. The present day Peter – smart, articulate and wanting to share his story, contrasts greatly to the one we see acted out – dishevelled, drunk, unkempt and smelly.

One interesting aspect of the video was that it not only dealt with the problems that Peter had, but the root causes of his problems, which ranged from witnessing the death of a school friend, to sexual abuse by neighbours who forbade him to tell what had happened.

This 20-minute video, shot ‘on location’ and in colour, does not make for entertaining viewing, but would be brilliant as an opener for a house group discussion on different types of abuse, or the need to evangelise. In short, this video has it all – a strong story, a good ending and a hero. No, not Peter. That title goes to Jesus, his Saviour.

  • David Waite is a freelance author and broadcaster, based in Oxford

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MUSIC

Great start

IT would be quite difficult to overstress the role of the ‘new churches’ in resourcing the wider Church with fresh worship material, but it’s equally right to affirm those doing so from within the mainstream denominations. Worship leader and songwriter Russ Hughes is based at St Luke’s Church, Maidstone, and his first live/studio worship album is more than comparable to music from the Vineyard or Soul Survivor stables.

Joined by producer Andy Harsant, who contributes some spirited Hammond organ playing (on an instrument borrowed from Delirious?), Russ and 'the Revival Fire band' show themselves to be as capable with vibrant and energetic praise songs (Faith Song, Choose Today, With All Of My Heart) as in the quieter moments of intimate worship (As We Draw Near To God, Wait On The Lord) and confession (Have Mercy).

Undergirding much of the writing is a strong biblical framework – Holy Mountain draws on Hebrews 12, the stirring Your Loving Kindness is a paraphrase of Psalm 63, Psalm 46 speaks for itself, and the freely-moving Come Away With Me has its origins in A W Tozer's commentary on Song Of Songs 2:10-14.

A great start throughout from an accomplished team – I’m hoping this is just the opening chapter.

Mixed bag from the Indie labels

Limited Edition Demo EP, by Steve. Engage Media, CD £4.49 + 85p p&p Tel 01454 414880








Urban Revolution, by SNL, CD £5.99 + £1 p&p. Tel 02920 811441

 

 

 


One Day, by Jeff Stevenson, One Day Productions, PO Box 31426, London W4 3YX - CD £11.99 inc p&p

FROM the stunning to the soporific, you never know what’s in store with inpendent/demo releases, so what of this batch?

Bristol-based rockers Steve were one of my 'hot prospects for 2000', and their latest demo begs the question why they remain unsigned. Steered along by Engage Management (part of NGM), Steve have cultivated a sizeable fan base as an energetic live act, and they approach this recording with equal fervour.

They waste no time getting their guitar amps warmed up – the burning passion of Hope And Glory would bear comparison with Oasis in top form. Falling Down is more subtle and brooding, but Zealous Core restokes the fire, another guitar-driven anthem with stylish underpinning from drummer Nathan Evans.

I’d have been tempted to end with a bang, but Fine takes a dreamy quasi-acoustic route – perhaps they needed to reveal their softer side. Will these four tracks persuade record companies that it’s worth doing business with Steve? I hope so.

Also from out West comes the Urban Revolution EP from Big Ideas outfit SNL: "three MCs, a drummer and a scratcher, bringing you the truth like a nuclear reactor". After a brief intro proffered by the title cut, it’s grooves and sanctified raps all the way, with Psycho, Tears, Truth and King.
Confidently announcing "Check it out, I’ve got rhythms that are smokin'" they make a pretty good stab at it, aided and abetted by producer Tony Silcock from Psalmistry. Clearly SNL applied themselves to writing clever raps/lyrics, but I’d still need to ask whether the 'psycho' tag is a suitable faith analogy (WWMT made a better choice with Frantik).

Other tips for the future would be to suggest more work on beefing up the backing and the hardness 'attitude' in the rapping. Otherwise, not a bad first shot.

One Day typifies the single-handed approach which is becoming ever more commonplace thanks to computer-based recording technology. "All songs written, performed,
produced, engineered, arranged by Jeff Stevenson" might have connotations of rock megastar solo ventures, but in reality it’s a small-scale homespun project.

I’d rate the songwriting as OK rather than startling, and productionwise Jeff accompanies his folky/Chris De Burgh-style vocal performances with competent but understated and rather mushy-sounding keyboard, guitar and saxophone work, leading to somewhat bland final results.

This might suit credal ballad One Day A Baby Was Born, the prayerful Spirit Of Love and his new setting of the hymn I’ve Found A Friend, but the semi-soulful styling of Walking is unconvincing and the bluesy The Lord Of Your Life simply sounds weak. More passion please Jeff – it’s not the sole preserve of rockers and rappers.

  • Peter Dilley is a part-time studio technician and bass guitarist

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