E N L A R G I N G YOUR TENT
The year was 1977. I was in my second year of study as a live-in student at Christian Life Bible College in Lower Hutt, near the city of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. The desire to be in this location to further my knowledge of God's Word, and be more equipped for Christian service was birthed in my spirit a couple of years before when I heard the Director of the college, Frank Houston speaking during a ministry trip to the Gold Coast. He spoke of the Bible college, and his passion to see men and women prepared for Christian service over two years of study, and then to go out on fire for the Lord - not necessarily as pastors, but in whatever ministry, to be prepared and passionate for the Lord.
Frank Houston, originally a Salvation Army officer, had encountered the Holy Spirit and the added dimension of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit through a fiery extrovert evangelist in Auckland, Ray Bloomfield. Ray had mentored Frank in the early years of his Pentecostal experience, and had encouraged him to expect the gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate in his own ministry. By the time I arrived at CLBC in Lower Hutt, Frank Houston had been successfully pastoring Christian Life Centre in that city for some years, and had risen in the "ranks" of the Assemblies of God" (AOG) in New Zealand to become the national General Superintendent of the movement.
In his own words, he said later that "he thought he had it made". As well as his pastoral leadership of his local church, the national leadership of the AOG movement, and his leadership and lecturing input of the Bible college, he had travelled widely overseas conducting evangelistic meetings, seeing many hundreds of people come to salvation through Jesus Christ. Many physical and emotional healings, and deliverance from demonic oppression were also hallmarks of his ministry, as was other gifts of the Spirit, including the word of knowledge and prophecy.
Then in early 1977, something happened which would set him on a new path of adventure and fulfillment in the work of the Lord. His wife, Hazel was away with friends in the South Island of New Zealand. One night, while sleeping, Frank had a dream. He dreamed of Sydney with its familiar sights - the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the beaches. He awoke during this time, and he could still see before his eyes in vision form the same sights of Sydney, Australia.
The Lord then told him to read Isaiah 54 - the whole chapter. In his own words, although he had read this chapter many times before, he could not remember what was in it. He opened his Bible and began to read, and, as he did, the Lord spoke to him from every verse. The Lord spoke to him, and told him He wanted him to go to Sydney and pioneer a church there. Verses 2 and 3 of that chapter spoke to him in particular: "Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants shall inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited." NKJV
The next day he shared this with his church board and elders. They had a
witness in their spirits that it was of God, and later that year, Frank and Hazel moved across the Tasman to Sydney to begin a whole new chapter of their lives in ministry in Australia. At the age of 57, he said they were like a couple of kids, having to go out and rent a building for meetings, to buy communion glasses and other necessary items for the infant church.
Eventually, they were able to secure a permanent church building in the inner-city suburb of Waterloo, where the church grew to a congregation of a couple of thousand, which in those days, was huge for Sydney. Frank and Hazel had been joined by a small team of several families from Lower Hutt in establishing the work in Sydney - including their recently wed son, Brian and wife Bobbie Houston.
Brian and Bobbie commenced Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills, a north-western suburb of Sydney. The church was to become what is now Hillsong Church, one of Australia's mega-churches with multiple campuses across Australia and around the world. In 1986, the first Hillsong Conference was held, an annual conference drawing thousands from Australia and overseas, featuring high-profile ministries as well as well known Christian worship artists.
One could argue that, if Frank Houston had not obeyed the vision to move to Sydney and answer the call of God at that time to step out by faith into the "unknown", that Hillsong Church with its phenomenal growth and impact over the last thirty years - just may not have been.
Fast forward to 2017, and my wife Tessa and I live in southern Tasmania, and are in fellowship at a vibrant Pentecostal church at Bellerive, on Hobart's eastern shore. Part of the vision for this church this year is based around Isaiah 54:2,3 quoted above - about ENLARGING OUR TENT, and SPREADING THE CURTAINS WIDER IN 2017, so that individually and together, we can grow into all that the Lord has for us.
Our lives, as Christians, do not have to be the "same old, same old" year after year, where we feel that we are just going through the motions. Yes, faithfulness to God will mean we have to persevere at times doing what we know is right in God's sight, as we walk in obedience to His Word. We may go through periods of dryness spiritually, where we find it hard to hear God's voice and sense His direction. It is in these times, that we need to hold on to the promises of God - to walk by faith, regardless of what is going on around us - knowing that, in His time, He will bring us to times of breakthrough and renewed blessing.
"Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43: 18,19
Psalm 138:8 says The Lord will perfect that which concerns us.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me, and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity....Jeremiah 29:11-14a.
God's vision for our lives is far greater than most of us can imagine. That is why most personal prophecies given to Christians are not condemning of our sins and failures - but they most often speak to who the Lord sees us becoming. He sees our potential for growth, and for enlargement of our capacity to host the Holy Spirit's power and fruitfulness in our lives. My wife and I are now in our sixties, but, speaking for myself, I do not want to retire - but to refire in the purposes of God that we be fruitful in life and ministry in this season of life. We want to ENLARGE OUR TENTS as part of the church community corporate vision and purpose where we are planted!
TESSA's Postscript: When I was seven or so, a few girls locked me in a garden shed. I could see mum's head through a tiny window as she searched for me.
Of course, that fear crippled me.
One day I got a bike for Christmas and found freedom - so don't be locked up small by fear. Let the perfect love of Jesus set you free to reach up tall and touch the stars!
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants shall inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited." NKJV
The next day he shared this with his church board and elders. They had a
witness in their spirits that it was of God, and later that year, Frank and Hazel moved across the Tasman to Sydney to begin a whole new chapter of their lives in ministry in Australia. At the age of 57, he said they were like a couple of kids, having to go out and rent a building for meetings, to buy communion glasses and other necessary items for the infant church.
Eventually, they were able to secure a permanent church building in the inner-city suburb of Waterloo, where the church grew to a congregation of a couple of thousand, which in those days, was huge for Sydney. Frank and Hazel had been joined by a small team of several families from Lower Hutt in establishing the work in Sydney - including their recently wed son, Brian and wife Bobbie Houston.
Brian and Bobbie commenced Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills, a north-western suburb of Sydney. The church was to become what is now Hillsong Church, one of Australia's mega-churches with multiple campuses across Australia and around the world. In 1986, the first Hillsong Conference was held, an annual conference drawing thousands from Australia and overseas, featuring high-profile ministries as well as well known Christian worship artists.
One could argue that, if Frank Houston had not obeyed the vision to move to Sydney and answer the call of God at that time to step out by faith into the "unknown", that Hillsong Church with its phenomenal growth and impact over the last thirty years - just may not have been.
Fast forward to 2017, and my wife Tessa and I live in southern Tasmania, and are in fellowship at a vibrant Pentecostal church at Bellerive, on Hobart's eastern shore. Part of the vision for this church this year is based around Isaiah 54:2,3 quoted above - about ENLARGING OUR TENT, and SPREADING THE CURTAINS WIDER IN 2017, so that individually and together, we can grow into all that the Lord has for us.
Our lives, as Christians, do not have to be the "same old, same old" year after year, where we feel that we are just going through the motions. Yes, faithfulness to God will mean we have to persevere at times doing what we know is right in God's sight, as we walk in obedience to His Word. We may go through periods of dryness spiritually, where we find it hard to hear God's voice and sense His direction. It is in these times, that we need to hold on to the promises of God - to walk by faith, regardless of what is going on around us - knowing that, in His time, He will bring us to times of breakthrough and renewed blessing.
"Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43: 18,19
Psalm 138:8 says The Lord will perfect that which concerns us.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me, and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity....Jeremiah 29:11-14a.
God's vision for our lives is far greater than most of us can imagine. That is why most personal prophecies given to Christians are not condemning of our sins and failures - but they most often speak to who the Lord sees us becoming. He sees our potential for growth, and for enlargement of our capacity to host the Holy Spirit's power and fruitfulness in our lives. My wife and I are now in our sixties, but, speaking for myself, I do not want to retire - but to refire in the purposes of God that we be fruitful in life and ministry in this season of life. We want to ENLARGE OUR TENTS as part of the church community corporate vision and purpose where we are planted!
TESSA's Postscript: When I was seven or so, a few girls locked me in a garden shed. I could see mum's head through a tiny window as she searched for me.
Of course, that fear crippled me.
One day I got a bike for Christmas and found freedom - so don't be locked up small by fear. Let the perfect love of Jesus set you free to reach up tall and touch the stars!
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