HOTS - Glory to God in the High Street

-

The HOTS team

Yesterday was my first morning actually participating with our H.O.T.S. team - Healing On The Streets. Such a friendly and gregarious bunch of people.

Our church, Lagan Valley Vineyard, have a fully trained H.O.T.S. team who meet in Lisburn on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month between 10am til 12 midday.

We gently engage passersby in conversation, inviting them to sit on one of our half dozen or so folding wooden chairs for personal prayer.

We meet in the pedestrian precinct outside the Bank of Ireland in Lisburn. A massive banner with the word HEALING is erected clearly indicating what we are about.

Before we start, our team drop to their knees in a circle of prayer, inviting the Lord Jesus to demonstrate His healing power when we pray for people.

People's Response

People were on the whole receptive, with several keen to receive prayer for themselves, or in proxy for other family members.

Many didn't have the time while others outrightly rejected any sense of faith and hope in the power of our living and risen Saviour.

The Team

The fact that the team believe that "Jesus is the same yesterday and forever" is the driving force in this outward focused ministry.

The power of attorney is our raison d'etre. So much of the prayer ministry is in our understanding that we act as God's representative as His children and therefore in His delegated authority. We invoke the name of the Lord Jesus Christ over physical ailments and those suffering from spiritual darkness believing that encountering this power of God's presence brings wholeness.

As disciples of Jesus, the team have all personally encountered the light and life of the Holy Spirit. Our Christian faith believes that we are now commissioned, as Kingdom carriers, to "see His Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." We don't just proclaim this, but demonstrate this belief by "laying hands on the sick" to see them recover.

The HOTS pioneer

This healing model is one pioneered  by Mark Marx from Coleraine. Mark and his team have withnessed phenomenal results, with a myriad of testimonies of doctor verified healings and salvations.

If you get a chance read his book "Stepping into the Impossible" or listen to a conversation with Mark on YouTube
https://youtu.be/3GiXZ_zyljs

Ordinary People

The church, myself included, has too long kept prayer to the confines of a church building. As Mark's book states "that it's not the ministers who are leading this, it's ordinary, incredible, exceptional people whose only goal is to make Jesus famous."

Our bookmark-handout has a welcoming statement which says "if you suffer from anxiety, migraines, broken bones, arthritis, back pain, depression, joint pain, cancer, insomnia, phobias or other ailments we would be honoured to pray with you."

At Christmas we sing Glory to God in the Highest...but then faith is not for just Christmas. This is our time, through HOTS, to bring "Glory to God in the High St!"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joy - The Third Sunday of Advent

-
Image
Tomorrow we continue the liturgical calendar, the Third Sunday of Advent. The four Sundays preceding Christmas, which is when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, are recognized for four virtues. The candles on the Advent wreath symbolize hope, peace, joy and love. The Third Candle of Advent - Joy . Otherwise known as the " Shepherd Candle, " this third candle of Advent reflects the joy that comes through Jesus’ arrival, and through the salvation he has gifted us. It is also known as the Shepherd Candle to highlight the joy the shepherds experienced when they received the good news about Christ’s birth ( Luke 2:8-20 ). During the middle of the night, the darkest time, the shepherds encountered angels. During this third week of advent, this Sunday celebrates the passage  Philippians 4:4-5 , its verses extolling readers to “ rejoice ” for “indeed the Lord is near.”  Churches want to highlight the importance of joy in advent season. During a time
Read more

Mercy drops...thank you

-
I am so very thankful for the mercy and grace of God that we have experienced over these past three days.  "Holding on to the horns of the altar" is a Bible expression for appealing to God's mercy, as a literal place of asylum that people once ran to in times of trouble. Our wee family have been literally "holding on" crying "mercy Lord." This has been since our son Stephen ran in the Murcia Marathon and collapsed, around the eighteenth mile, with a life-threatening heat stroke.  John, in the book of Revelation, talks about 'the prayers of the saints' rising 'as incense, filling up a bowl of mercy' which is poured back out on earth* (Rev 5:8;8:4). This is not just a theology that is relegated to saints of a bygone era. I have found prayer in fact to be a really practical demonstration and release of the life-giving power of God moving today. I call it " kneeology ". People from all over, bowing an
Read more

Finishing strong

-
Usain Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 metres and 200 metres titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016). His speed earned him the nickname Lightning Bolt. Yet, paradoxically we learn that he was a slow starter as one of the slowest runners off the blocks. He had faith in his process though, and knew that he would gain speed in the latter stages of any race. Usain, as a slow starter, has left us with this lesson. Finishing strong makes up for shaky starts. I was reminded this week by a very public shaky start, as I witnessed the bookies favourite for the Open, our very own Rory McIlroy. Rory had a nightmare of a round on Thursday. This most uncharacteristic and unfortunate poor round of golf meant he was well out of contention scoring  8 over par. Friday was a different story though. Like a true champion he dusted himself down and scored an amazing 6 under par. Even though he just missed the cut, he demonstrated a resilient tenacity of spi
Read more