Show Notes
God spoke to Craig about healing for a lame Sikh priest. Then the police came… Jesus said it was for our good that he left the earth (John 16:7). That seems hard to believe. What could be better than sitting down and having a coffee with Jesus? Jesus is described as the living “word of God” (John 1:14) – that meant everything he said was God’s voice as well as everything he did. The early disciples could hear God’s voice as they were walking down the streets of Jerusalem, as they were sharing a meal with Jesus over bread and olives, as they were listening to Jesus preach on the temple steps. How could anything be better than that? The answer of course is that Jesus’ departure signalled the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It was better not only because the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything Jesus said and did, he would also speak about things to come – that is, the issues that Jesus didn’t cover while he was on earth! It’s better because unlike Jesus who was limited to a physical body and the language and customs the first century Jews in the Greco-Roman world, the Holy Spirit speaks to apply those truths to new times, places and cultures! In this episode you’ll see the truth of Jesus’ words. Our guest, Craig Stephens is an officer of the Salvation Army and has heard God speak in places like India, China, Pakistan and communities in his own hometown. Craig ministers as an evangelist across Australia and beyond and trains others to share the good news. He also works with global missions movement, Impact Nations, and loves to take teams across the world to train them in preaching the gospel and healing the sick. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Craig’s God story, growing up in church but then leaving as he didn’t feel like he could behave well enough to meet the church’s standards. It was a few years later that Craig re-entered the church after a miraculous encounter with the Holy Spirit that changed his heart and gave him boldness to share his faith with others. The Holy Spirit lit a fuse that wouldn’t go out! Craig’s God-conversation that led him into ministry and in particular, working among the marginalised and broken in Sydney. Craig tells how the Holy Spirit showed him a vision of his middle-class church being mobilised to serve the poor with details about the actual building they could use. Later Craig shares how a visit to the local police and an offer to serve in the most difficult area of the town led them to the exact building! Then they watched as God brought transformation… I could see the people in our church carrying the grace they had in the community… the schoolteachers sitting alongside bedraggled, roughed up kids and coaching them in their schoolwork… the physiotherapists doing therapy in a particular room… the ladies who serve the morning tea hosting the community in a cafe. I couldn’t stop seeing it. The incredible God-conversation that led Craig and his team to pray a Sikh priest who had been lame since birth and the God-conversation that subsequently led to a last minute escape from arrest by the Sikh police. A God conversation that led Craig and his team to reach people by the side of the road at the Athens Olympics.
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