Sanctuary House of Prayer - Blog

IMPORTANT

2012-02-01T09:27:00.001-06:00

Due to some scheduling conflicts we are postponing our evening with Carlos Sarmiento from Orlando. My apologies to all for this. However, we are rescheduling for the next month or so. Details to follow. This Sunday will be a normal day at SHOP, with an extended ministry time at 7:30pm for all who want to receive more of the Lord. See you then.

Blessings!

Brian

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Upcoming Event

2012-01-16T15:38:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, February 5th, we are pleased to welcome Carlos Sarmiento to SHOP for the evening. Carlos is the Director of Orlando House of Prayer in Orlando, Florida, and has been in this role since its inception in 2005. At one time he was on staff at Benny Hinn's church in Orlando but God encountered him with a new direction and a house of prayer was born. He is a man of integrity and passion for the kingdom of God. We are excited to have him with us! He will be speaking and ministering to us beginning at 6pm on that day. All are invited.

Blessings!

Brian
Ministry Director

Onething Conference Webcast Day 1

2011-12-28T20:54:00.001-06:00

A group of us are sitting together at the Community Life Church on Talbot and Allan watching the Onething conference in KC via video webcast and we are loving it! The worship is engaging and the teaching is the message for this hour. Come and be part of it if you have time. Let Him stir your heart these next 4 days.

Brian

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Holiday Schedule

2011-12-23T18:40:00.001-06:00

With the Christmas season upon us, here are the relevant schedule changes for our House:

1. December 25th--we will closed entirely for that day

2. December 27th--no intercession meeting

3. Dec 28-31-- we will be webcasting the Onething conference in its entirety...every session to the wrap-up at midnight on New Years Eve! Come and be with us for this excellent conference. There is no cost for this event. We are gathering at Community Life Church on the corner of Talbot and Allan Street. Check the schedule of the conference sessions at www.ihop.org.

3. January 01--we are back at FCC with a full day of worship and prayer

4. Jan 02-- a new day in the schedule, this will be from 6:30-9:30pm and happen at the FCC building. We will have three one-hour sets and all are invited to be with us each week at this time.

Merry Christmas to all!

Brian

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Equipping Sunday

2011-10-27T09:10:00.001-05:00

We are going to take a break from our normal schedule of worship and prayer to sharpen our skills and implement some things that God has been highlighting recently. It begins at 3pm and ends at 7pm. This is mostly for those who are an active part of the community, although all are welcome to attend. We will be having an intercession set at 6pm for one hour as well.

The following week, November 6th, and for the rest of the month, we are going to focus our intercession sets on revival in our city. The teaching series will also be focused on the same theme. We believe that there is a significant move of God coming to Winnipeg and we want to be prepared in our hearts and minds for what He has for us.

As well, all the others sets in November will be focused on thankfulness. We have felt recently that it will be a needed and significant offering to the Lord to express gratitude for all that He has done in our midst. It will align our hearts with Him and be a fragrant offering before Him from our house of prayer.

Join with us!

Blessings,

Brian

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Fast Day #8

2011-09-12T08:57:00.001-05:00

As we begin our second week of fasting, we are eager to encounter the Lord and hear his direction for us. Last night we talked about the activity of ministering to God and the fact that being thankful before Him was a powerful way to align ourselves with who He is and what He is doing. He has great desire in His heart for us, even when we are weak and easily distracted. When we struggle and begin to complain about our circumstances, it pulls us into a bad way of thinking. Accusation against Him and the way He has been leading us begins to grow. Soon, we are believing lies that God is not really concerned about us at all. It is a dangerous place to be.

Being grateful and expressing thanks to Him, on the other hand, sets us free from the deceptions and allows us to see Him as He truly is...filled with goodness and love, and eager to encounter us. Even the smallest move toward Him in love brings delight to His heart. We are bringing pleasure to God with our weak attempts to follow Him in love! Grumbling and complaining can steal this reality from our hearts and it is an area we want to fight against with diligence.

As we continue on this week, we are asking for grace to fast, open access to hear His word to us, hearts filled with thankfulness and a willingness to search this out and speak it out with devotion.

Blessings,

Brian
Ministry Director

Fasting information

2011-09-06T09:27:00.001-05:00

Its Day #2 of our 14-day fast and I was alerted to a good resource for us. The IHOP website has some excellent information on fasting and how to enter in to this discipline in a safe and effective way. It is worth reading! In this two-week time of consecration and turning aside to listen, we want to see fasting as a way to align our will with the divine order of Heaven and to walk in step with the One we love.

Here is an excellent point from the IHOP site:

"Breakthroughs often come after a fast, not during it. Do not listen to the lie that nothing is happening. It is our conviction that every fast done in faith will be rewarded"

We are pressing forward in our weakness with faith and confidence that God is ahead of us in this, and that even when we are hearing little and feeling a bit worn out He is definitely going to meet us in our efforts. This is an exciting time for us and what He is doing through SHOP in our city.

Blessings and grace to all of you!

Brian

Corporate Fast

2011-09-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

Beginning Monday, September 5th we are calling the SHOP community and all friends of our prayer
community to join in fasting and prayer until September 18th. This is an important season for us, a season initiated by God and one that we want to press into with integrity. Recently, we have been hearing that God is going to speak to our house and we are going to take the next 2 weeks to embrace weakness and really listen. Please join us in this or pray for grace that we grow in love with Jesus.

Brian
Ministry Director

Happy Birthday SHOP!

2011-05-10T08:20:00.000-05:00

On May 7th of 2006 Sanctuary House of Prayer began with a handful of people, lots of zeal and faith for the future. This past weekend we celebrated our 5th birthday and it gave us all cause to reflect and be thankful. I remember that first day well. We were excited to be on our own and going for it, but in my own heart I was unclear on what to next and nervous that it might not come together so well. The building was new, the worship teams were mostly inexperienced and we were learning on the fly. But, the Lord determined to bless our efforts.

We are convinced more than ever that God is doing something on the earth related to prayer. It is not given to one group more than the others. He is raising up a generation that will seek Him and agree with Him wholeheartedly. His judgements are coming to the earth and there are very serious days ahead. Jesus is preparing to return to the Earth and He is raising up something wonderful in preparation. SHOP is pressing to make a place for everyone who wants to be before the Lord in wholehearted pursuit. All are invited. For many, this will be your primary calling in the kingdom. Things are changing right now and Jesus is looking for those who will really make Him the central focus of their lives. We are on the journey together to see this happen.

It has been said many times that a house of prayer is established through the combination of three key elements: the sovereignty of God, the agreement of humans and the activity of angels. In the past 5 years we have had all three in operation. It was a season filled with challenges and required so much effort at times, but it was the grace of God and His activity among us that made it all work together. He has established this house for His pleasure and purpose. We are so grateful to be on this journey and partnering with Him. He is worth this and SO MUCH more! May the next 5 years be filled with endless hours of worship and prayer before the only audience that matters...

Blessings,

Brian
Ministry Director

Final Day at the University of Winnipeg

2011-05-06T22:34:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting in an almost empty prayer room on the U of W campus. It's the first of four hours we will gather before the Lord today and it is a wonderful feeling just to be here. The larger group has not yet arrived and our worship leader for this hour, Paige, is singing the scriptures back to the Lord in affectionate agreement to Him. We have been here for 4 weeks now and today is the final day. I can't believe how great this was. I can't believe it's almost over....

Thank-you, God! You are worthy of so much more but it was a great pleasure to have been able to do even this much.

Brian
Ministry Director

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Prayer on Campus

2011-04-11T16:15:00.000-05:00

For the next three weeks, during exam time, there will be a lot more prayer on campus! Janelle, the director of our local chapter of Luke 18 ministries, has booked the chapel on the University of Winnipeg campus and we are going for it. Meeting times are Monday-Friday from 8am-noon, with a combination of intercession for the campus, personal prayer for students and devotional worship designed to minister to the Lord. There will be incense rising before the throne in Heaven from this campus! Come and be part of it if you are in the area. Let's call out to the Lord on behalf of this emerging generation of leaders in our nation.

Feel free to email at info@sanctuaryhop.com if you require further info or directions to the meetings.

Blessings!

Brian
Ministry Director

Schedule Change

2011-02-19T11:56:00.001-06:00

Sometimes you are part of something that is just so right, not just in this realm but in an eternal way, that you just know that you have to make it happen. As we approach the 5 year mark for SHOP, we have seen the Lord build into us this internal knowing that we need to be before Him in ministry to His heart just because it is right in heaven and on the earth. The four living creatures around the throne in Revelation 4 are unceasing in their declaration toward Him. It is, in His presence, exactly as He wants it to be...and it never ends. That strikes our hearts more and more as we give ourselves to this activity. We know it is God Himself capturing us for something "other-worldly" and we are ruined for anything else.

So, beginning this Sunday, February 20th, we are launching a new set. It will begin at 9:30pm and run for one hour. It is for all those who love to connect with God in the late hours of the day, with very few in the prayer room and the Spirit of God very present in the room. We will be focusing on the Song of Solomon for the next number of months, using passages from this book as a springboard into singing about intimacy with Jesus and how He feels about us. All are welcome to come and encounter the Lord. Go deep for yourself!

One day, all of us will see Him as He is and the natural response of our heart will be unceasing devotion. We want a taste of that today as well. Join us...

Blessings,

Brian
Ministry Director

Another Wave

2010-11-15T09:15:00.003-06:00

There is another wave of the Spirit's power and presence coming to the church in our near future. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows what has happened in the last 100 years of visitations: they are increasing and coming closer together. This is connected to the hour of history we are living in, of course. The day of His return to the earth is growing closer and many things are being affected by this reality. There is real trouble on the horizon and the earth is about to be significantly shaken yet again in preparation for His return. But, it will come in conjunction with an outpouring that is going to sweep oh so many into the kingdom in a short time. We believe there will be a move in our city unlike any in our history and several hundred thousand will encounter Jesus. The future is both great and terrible!

Before this comes and because of this reality rushing at us, we are giving ourselves to intercession for our city and ministry to God in wholehearted worship and devotion. It is the wisest thing you can do in the hours right before the most significant events in your city's history. Not only are we not going to deny the reality or run and hide from the challenges, but we are going to be found in the middle of it all. We are going to play our part now, calling for change and living like it is coming. And we are going to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus as the centre of all that matters in that hour.

Jesus, do what you need to do. Return to take this planet for yourself. Take what is rightfully yours. We wait for you.

Brian
Ministry Director

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We are moving...again!

2010-10-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

After 4 whole weeks at Tabor Baptist Church in the east side of the city, we are relocating this Sunday to our new home (for now). You can find us at Faith Covenant Church, 1229 Windermere Avenue, located near Pembina and Jubilee. The start time remains the same (3pm) and we will continue to do what we do.

We are excited to see what God has for us in this next location. This journey has been so interesting. We had the opportunity to share a building with a small Baptist in an area of the city we rarely go to, and now God is having us change locations, denominations and the area of the city. We know that He has a permanent location waiting for us at the appropriate time. The details will become clear when He reveals them to us. But, for now, we want to remain thankful for what He is doing and choose to walk in step with Him.

If you are in the area, drop in and pray with us.

Blessings!

Brian

Our new meeting place

2010-09-07T13:26:00.001-05:00

Beginning this Sunday, we will be meeting at Tabor Baptist Church (710 Madeline Street) in the Transcona neighborhood of Winnipeg. We begin at 3pm as usual. We are on the move!

A Weekend of Thankfulness

2010-09-02T09:03:00.000-05:00

The day is finally here...we are about to have our final Sunday at the building where it all began for us. It has been a great 4+ years and leaving here now feels like the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. It is certainly exciting...I can hardly believe it is happening.

As we talked about this transition, it became obvious to all that the best way to end this chapter is with a day filled with thanks! We want to pause on looking ahead for a day and instead look back at all that God has done in us and in what He has built among us. We want to build a monument to the Lord in the spirit realm, a statement before all who are listening on earth and in the spirit realm...He is good!

The Lord showed us a few years ago that the activity of declaring our thanks to Him for how He has led is like fragrant incense before Him. It pleases His heart. To fail to do this, however, is essentially the same as accusing Him of being a bad leader. We are telling Him that "we don't trust you with our future because we don't see anything good about the way you led us in the past". And none of us wants to do this. We know He is good and we know that our lives and journeys are a reflection of this...if we choose to see the good in it.

In the days of the establishing of Solomon's temple in 2 Chronicles, the priests and singers raised up a declaration before the Lord together: "the Lord is good and His love endures forever". On this final Sunday in SHOP Phase 1, we are excited to declare this once again. Come and celebrate with us as we step forward into what He has for us next. He is such a good leader.

Blessings!

Brian

WE ARE MOVING!

2010-07-29T17:58:00.000-05:00

Things have been happening quickly in the last few months and God is doing something significant in our community. The A2A conference with Justin Rizzo was an amazing weekend and we were all stirred around the significance of what we were pressing for: night and day worship and prayer. It became clear to many of us that it just needs to happen in our city. God is worthy of it.

In the last few weeks, we were asked by the leaders of the church in which we meet to end our time in their building. King's Fellowship has been the best friends to Sanctuary House of Prayer in the last 4 years. We have benefited from the use of the building and the freedom to grow in what we are called to pursue. They are now in need of the space, their space, so we are moving to a new place. Our last Sunday there will be September 5th. A great chapter will end for us...and a new one will begin!

The issue now before us, however, is where to go next. We are aggressively searching and praying, considering all kinds of options in the short time we have before us. The Lord has been present in many encouraging ways and we know that this is the season of acceleration He told us was coming so often in the past year. It is exciting although, to be honest, just a little scary. Like any transition, things tend to get more intense as we get closer to the end. We know there is a happy ending coming, but the process is stressful and requires real faith and confidence in His leading.

We would ask that you join us in three key ways:

1. PRAY that God would show us what the next place is for this house of prayer, and that He would make the pathway forward a smooth and straight one. We know He cares and is very involved in our affairs, so we are posturing ourselves to ask for His help and direction in every aspect of this transition. Where is the correct building? What area of town is the right one for this next season of growth? What is an appropriate price to pay and how will be best fund our new facility? There are challenges ahead, as you can see.

2. SEARCH for a building whenever you think of it. There are so many possibilities and they sometimes come to light as we keep our eyes open in our day-to-day activities. We know for sure that we do not want to be in the west end of the city. But, short of that, we are open to all options at this point. As well, we are considering leasing and purchasing. Again, it all depends on the specific building. If you have an idea, email us at info@sanctuaryhop.com and we will follow it up.

3. PARTNER with us in practical ways. We are going to need some help financially for things to move forward and we believe that there are folks who the Lord will ask to serve His purposes through giving. Ask God what you should do. Be obedient to His direction, of course. Lets see what He is weaving together. If you want to contribute to the purchase of a building, that would be terrific! As well, we will need practical things as we settle somewhere (paint, carpet, chairs, sound equipment, etc) and all of these items cost money too. Any way in which you can walk with us will be greatly appreciated.

We are excited to see what the near future has for us as we focus our eyes on Him and do what we He is asking. As things progress, we will update you.

Blessings and thanks!

Brian
Ministry Director

A2A is here!

2010-05-27T20:53:00.001-05:00

It all begins Friday at 7pm at Calvary Temple. Head down to the
basement and get ready to worship. On Saturday, we begin the next
morning at 9am. We will maintain ongoing worship all day without
stopping and end the day at 8:30pm. It is entirely free and open for
all to attend.

Blessings!

Brian

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An Assembly

2010-04-08T12:10:00.001-05:00

We are excited to announce that we are hosting an event on May 28-29th at Calvary Temple here in Winnipeg. It will begin at 7pm on Friday and continue all through Saturday, ending in the evening. With us for this event is Justin Rizzo, worship leader at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City.

The event is called an "Acts 2 Assembly". We believe that we are to turn aside for this time and call others to join us as we wait for the promised outpouring of the Spirit in the church and in this city. We believe that there is a significant move of God coming to Winnipeg. It has been promised by the Lord over and over and we feel the time is near. Like in the book of Acts, we want to turn aside and wait for Him and His promise.

As well, we want to call out for the breaking in of His kingdom. Even as we wait in faith, we cooperate through intercession by calling out for the very thing He has promised. We will ask for a visitation in our city that sweeps hundreds of thousands into the kingdom, expecting nothing less than a transformation of the spiritual climate and wholehearted turning on a significant scale.

And finally, we will minister to the heart of God, in love and agreement of who He is and what He is doing in this hour of history. It is all about placing Him in the very centre of all that we are working towards. We long for His presence and will make all of our activity about inviting, welcoming, sustaining and defending it among us. May He move freely into every area of this city and inhabit this place in rest.

The event is FREE! So, come and be with us as we turn our face to Him and wait for the promise that is surely to come in our day.

Blessings,

Brian
Ministry Director

Preparing

2010-03-11T11:22:00.001-06:00

The Kingdom

2010-02-16T14:37:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we had a seminar focused on the activity of driving
out demons from people who are oppressed and wanting to be free. It
was a time to learn the theology and the practical steps of expelling
evil spirits, of realizing that this ministry is a needed one and in
feeling our own inadequacy and struggles. It was a great success!

It struck me a number of times how Jesus was greatly involved in this
ministry too. He moved in more power and authority than any of us do,
of course, so he was able to conduct this activity in a short time and
even in public venues. We are just learning and so private prayer
times that take much longer are the way to go for us right now.

But, Jesus demonstrated much for us to learn even in our beginning
stages. It is clear from his activity and his teaching that we are
expected to behave as he did. He gave us authority to push back
darkness and drive out demons when appropriate. He said that the
kingdom of God was among us (and coming soon) and that evidence of
this rule of God among us was the expulsion of demons. The mandate is
clear: challenging and pushing back evil spirits is central to our
Christian walk.

The disconnect for most of us comes in living in a western society
that does not really believe in such a ministry focus. It is something
most people are hearing for the first time. We need information. We
need faith and confidence. And we need experiences in this realm if we
are really going to believe that this is for us in this age.
Fortunately, the Lord wants this functioning in the church in our city
too. He is more that willing to teach any who will be open to learn
and willing to pursue him for more.

The kingdom of God is all about the rule of God on earth. It is about
voluntary submission to Jesus as king of this planet and all of
created order. It is about changing our thinking and action to align
ourselves to the king, to agree with his plans and purposes and to
resist those things he is fighting against. He is coming to the earth
and every evil spirit will be judged and cast off this planet for
good. Between now and then he is asking for each of us to join
destroying the work of the devil in setting people free. It is a
noble calling and central to his purpose on the earth.

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

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Welcome to 2010

2010-01-04T18:30:00.000-06:00

As we look back, it is obvious to those of us at SHOP that 2009 was a very good year. It wasn't always the easiest of times, but the Lord was leading us in the way that only He can (perfectly) and we were gaining so much ground in our experiences. Our adversities produced deep conviction, and our times of blessing only served to strengthen us all the more.

Certainly a highlight for all was having God give us a significant "course correction" in our attitude towards gratitude. He revealed our sinful line of thinking and gave us a wonderful way forward: thankfulness! The more we focused our hearts on what He had done for us, the more freedom and joy we felt. Try it out for yourself: put aside your frustrations with what you don't have and focus on all that God has done for you. Prepare to be blessed and encouraged!!

As we enter into 2010, we again have some direction to begin the year. This time He is telling us that 2010 is a year to be BOLD. Although I am certain I don't know the half of what that means for us, I want to cooperate with it. Together we are agreeing that this will be a year that we do it stronger and say it clearer. As we step into His purposes for us as a house, and individually, He will empower our efforts and "breathe" His Spirit into all of it.

The Holy Spirit has come to our times together in such powerful and significant ways this past year. Bodies have been healed, demons have been driven out and hearts have been captured for Jesus. He has been as close as the invitation "Come, Holy Spirit"! It has been amazing. Now, as we start a new year, we ask for all this and more. God, visit us even more powerfully, speak to every heart and equip us for every good work of service.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Holiday schedule changes

2009-12-18T18:37:00.003-06:00

As it is nearing the Christmas break, please make note that Sanctuary is changing the schedule in the following areas:
1. Sunday, December 27th- cancelled
2. Tuesday, December 29th- cancelled

We will be back at it once again on Sunday, January 3rd. Have a great holiday season. And check out the Onething conference from Kansas City (Dec 28-31). Go to www.ihop.org to get more information. Its worth checking it out.

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Thoughts on Revival

2009-10-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

We have been talking a lot lately on the concept of revival. To be honest, it hasn't been a dominant theme for us at SHOP. We have focused more on issues related to His love for us and our corresponding devotion, His glorious Second Coming to the earth and the understanding of the priesthood. But, recently the Lord has been highlighting the idea of revival for me. And, it has been a great experience.

For some reason, my perspective on revival was such that I was more than open to have it happen in our city, but was just as inclined to let other churches and ministries take the lead on seeing it develop. I realize, of course, that revival is not something we create or develop...it is a sovereign work of God that completely surpasses any of our normal efforts. He descends with His presence in a way that brings the kingdom of God with power, and suddenly there are good things happening everywhere. I was never opposed to such a thing, but for some reason I saw it as a season that others would lead.

But, God has been showing me (and us) that He has plans for this city, and every city I suppose, that involve Him coming in a powerful visitation. And He wants our house of prayer to play an active role in seeing the fullness of this come to pass. Passages like Acts 2, poetic as they sound, are becoming increasingly important to us as we call out for Him to "pour out His spirit on all flesh".

I was recently studying this theme and considering the thoughts of a comrade in the prayer movement. He said a most intriguing thing and it just struck me. He was talking about the revival season in the Hebrides Islands in the early 1950s and how the presence of God had descended over the small island and "saturated" the entire place. People didn't have to go to the church or the evangelistic meetings to encounter God...He was everywhere and the people could feel Him. Of course, this produced sudden and rather shocking results. The people were turning their hearts to God, aware of their sinfulness and longing for connection with this one of great kindness. The researcher then made a fascinating statement:

"Imagine what it would be like to have the presence of God thick in the atmosphere and be absolutely everywhere? There would be no place you could go to avoid Him. You would feel the presence of God all the time".

As I heard this statement, I was aware of the strong pull to this and the strong fear of it at the same time. The holy and perfect God of all creation would come in an increased and tangible way and there was nowhere to go to escape His presence! For those who love Him, this is a wonderful reality. For those who don't even know Him, it is a moment of invitation unlike any other. But, for those who do not love Him and have chosen to live apart from Him, this would be a fearful and most uncomfortable season.

God will not come in a season of revival, a moment of increased dwelling, simply to surprise us and make our lives a little easier. He draws near to have us draw near to Him. It is a foretaste of the future, really. He will one day draw entirely near to us and we will be with Him on this planet forever. Jesus will reign over all that He has purchased with His own blood. Revival presses us to act accordingly. The "presence of the future" is a blessed kiss on our hearts and solemn warning to not resist. He is surely in love with His people and He is coming to our city.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Awesome

2009-10-01T17:29:00.002-05:00

We had a Worship Leaders Meeting last night. This is typically a time to review and adjust all that we are doing. After a number of hours of talking, discussing and thinking about the future, it occured to me: we have the best worship leaders in the world!

May every church and house of prayer be blessed with men and women of devotion, integrity and passion as those we have here.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Thankfulness

2009-10-01T17:29:00.001-05:00

We just completed an 8-week focus on the theme of gratitude and, boy, was it a great experience. It all began in the middle of the summer, a low point in our attitudes about life and the future. You know how it is, I'm sure: things don't go as expected for a prolonged period of time and pretty soon you are feeling despair about it all. It wasn't anything specific for us, however. It was a collection of personal and corporate struggles that all seemed to weigh us down at the same time.

God was gracious, however, and gently revealed that we were SINNING! It was not ok to dwell on what we didn't have. In fact, letting those things weigh us down, agreeing with the "injustice" done to us because we didn't attain to what we felt we deserved, was wrong before Him. We were just grumbling to ourselves, we thought, but in reality we were saying that God was a bad leader. After all, look how He had led us up until now. On top of that, we were saying that He wasn't to be trusted with our future either. Once we saw it for what it was, we were eager to back up and change our thinking.

He provided a way forward in the form of gratitude. The more you are in touch with what God has done for you, the more your spirit comes alive with genuine love and thankfulness. We focused all our sets on this theme, gave each worship leader freedom to find themes they wanted to express before the Lord and went for it.

In no time at all, things began to shift. Our hearts were swelling with all that God had done well, and we were beginning to see that the future was going to be good if we trusted in Him. On top of all that, His presence increased among us and that encouraged us all.

Now, eight weeks later, I am eager to keep gratitude in the centre of the way we approach what we do here. Lord, keep us from our self-centered pursuits. Give us clear eyes to see what you are really doing in our midst.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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The only throne that matters

2009-07-16T13:48:00.000-05:00

We have recently been studying the priesthood and discovering some fascinating, and I believe really relevant, issues for the church today.

One thought that has captivated me is the reality of heaven and our proximity to this realm. In Revelation 4, John wrote that he saw a door standing open in heaven (presumably from his position on the island he was living) and that he heard a voice invite him to "come up here". After that, he was "at once in the Spirit", and there before him was a throne in heaven. Now, there is no sense of travel or distance, but rather an instant transition from this earthly realm to the spiritual/supernatural realm of which heaven is the centre. I am struck by two things when I read this:

1. This realm of the presence of God is not a million miles out into space, as we tend to believe, but rather as close as an open door in the spirit realm. Should God be willing to open a door for me (for there is no other way to find such a door), it is an instant transition into a world as real as the one I live in now. That makes me want to go...

2. There is, at the centre of all creation, a throne with "someone sitting on it". God has an unmovable, unshakable and all-powerful throne anchored deep into all that is happening in all of our realm (and His realm as well). While we busy ourselves with electing new leaders, worrying about the future and generally taking control of our circumstances, there is a holy God who sits unmoved in his leadership and desires over all of it.

Its no wonder He calls us a kingdom and priests to serve our God in Revelation 5. When we finally see what is really happening in both realms, we will come to realize that the One on the throne is the centre of it all. We will forever find ourselves before Him in service and adoration.

Between now and then, we can live like its true and be assured there is nothing to worry about. The One of the throne will have His way.

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Intercession and the priesthood

2009-07-08T22:26:00.000-05:00

We had a great intercession set earlier tonight. It was a small crowd but it felt like the Lord was directing us around specific issues. Sometimes we just have those nights where it all comes together around a theme that seems birthed in Heaven itself. I love those moments!

Recently we have been studying the biblical picture of the priesthood, beginning in the Old Testament with Moses and Aaron and continuing right into Revelation 5 when all believers are refered to as "a kingdom and priests to serve our God". There is much to say on it but we are still in learning mode right now. But, God is giving us a fresh understanding as a house of prayer that is going to set us in our efforts and find us happily before Him as an "audience of One".

More to come...

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Important schedule change!!

2009-05-27T14:59:00.001-05:00

This Sunday, May 31st, we are having some in-house training instead of our normal meeting schedule. It is important that all who are regular participants in singing, playing and prayer-leading attend this refresher clinic. For all the rest, take the day off...we'll see you next week!

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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More photos of ZHOP

2009-05-16T10:52:00.002-05:00

This is a shot of the prayer room in action.

This is the bookstore...drinks available, of course.

Another shot of the prayer room...during the recent conference with Bill Humphrey from IHOP-Atlanta

ZHOP-Charlotte, Fort Mill SC

2009-05-15T17:03:00.001-05:00

We love this house of prayer. It was great to finally get to visit and pray along with them. God bless Kirk and the gang at ZHOP!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

3rd Anniversary

2009-05-04T09:21:00.000-05:00

We are excited to be celebrating our 3rd year as Sanctuary House of Prayer this Thursday, May 7th. It has been a wild ride but the Lord has done amazing things in and through us.

Recently, I was recalling with some friends on how we began and what exactly we thought was coming for us. The mystery of God's leadership is such that you never know with confidence which direction he will take you, even when you think you know what would be best for all involved. But, so often He does something differently! He sees it from a different angle and He alone understands what we really need.

We began this house of prayer thinking (hoping, maybe) that we would grow quickly, rally piles of young people, find a huge facility and go night and day. The Lord, however, decided to build it in a different way, keeping the crowds small, the conditions difficult and the hours limited. Instead, he worked on who we were are as people of prayer, of holiness before Him, and used every situation to draw a huge YES out of us to all that He does.

Now that we are at the 3-year mark, it is clear to me...He is brilliant leader! All the external stuff will come eventually. I have no doubt of this. But, most of what has happened on the inside are things we didn't even know we needed.

For all that has happened and for the wonderful journey ahead, I have such gratefulness in my heart. Thank-you Jesus...you lead us so well!!

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Revelation

2009-04-22T12:11:00.001-05:00

We have been studying the book of Revelation corporately since the beginning of January, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. It has been a fascinating experience!

Most people have barely even read the book of Revelation, much less given themselves to serious study of the flow of the book. With that as our starting point, we decided to study it for two main reasons:

1. To learn the events related to the end of the age and the 2nd Coming of Jesus to the earth.

2. To learn more about the character and thinking of Jesus, as demonstrated in His activity at the end of the age.

Now, everyone automatically thinks of the first reason as the ONLY reason to read this book. In fact, it is was keeps most people from even bothering to begin. They look at the bizarre symbols, the troubling events and decide that it isn't all that necessary to know it right now anyway. I have lots of room for people thinking that way about it: I shared that position completely until only recently! But, I took on a challenge about a year ago to read the book of Revelation weekly (all 22 chapters each week) and to do this not just for end-times details but to grow in the knowledge of who Jesus is.

Honestly, I was interested in the end-times details more than most a year ago. But, I was even more interested in discovering new insights about Jesus. As I read the whole book every Monday morning I began to notice something interesting. The fog that surrounds the details began to lift as I became more familiar with the flow of the book. I noticed (and this is really obvious, I know) that the details didn't change from week to week...the more I read it and pondered it with the Holy Spirit's assistance, the more clear things became. I wasn't studying commentaries or reading books on it...I was just reading it.

On top of that, my understanding of who Jesus is and how He thinks and acts began to change as well. I began to see Him in His majesty, with zeal in His heart to bring this age to a conclusion with complete and perfect justice AND love for His people. It caused worship to well up again and again.

Since January, we have taught through the entire book (actually, we end the study this Sunday) and I have been amazed at how much it has caused my heart to awaken to both sides of this book. I am more aware of the details to be sure, and I am convinced that the way we live now will matter significantly in the troubling decades ahead of us (more on that another time). But, my heart has become alive with who He is and what He is willing to do to have this planet for Himself!

Consider taking this journey and begin to read it once a week. There is much there for you. This part of the bible is as alive, inspired and written for your benefit as any other part. Enjoy the journey!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Another great night

2009-04-22T11:47:00.001-05:00

Our second effort at praying through the night hours was again an enjoyable one. We know that any prayer, focused and coming from an engaged heart before Him, matters in the kingdom. But, not all prayer is enjoyable. This nightwatch had moments of sleepiness and distraction, but was also filled with prophetic declaration and the sweetness of His love for us.

I arrived at 3:45am for a shift-change with those leading the meeting. I drove through the rough north-end in the dark to get there, amazed to see packs of what appeared to be 10-year-old kids wandering the streets like it was a Saturday afternoon. Nothing good is coming from packs of young kids wandering around in the middle of the night. I was troubled and felt heavy about it all. As I kept driving, I crossed the biggest street in our city, past the oldest department store in Western Canada and straight on toward the Legislative Assembly in the downtown of Winnipeg. Almost at our prayer room, I was now able to see the line of cars parked outside of the building. My spirit just lept at the realization that there was worship and prayer for this city happening right now...in our prayer room...for those little kids and all the others who need a touch from the Lord. As I walked closer to the building, I could feel the presence of the Spirit, even out on the sidewalk. How exciting!

What followed was intense intercession, pure devotion and a focus on God that was worth losing sleep over.

Let's do this again and again!

Photos and video (maybe) to follow. And, the date for the next Nightwatch is being decided soon as well.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Another Nightwatch

2009-04-12T10:17:00.003-05:00

Our first experience in praying through the night went so well, we have decided to try it again. The next Nightwatch will begin at midnight on the morning of Saturday, April 18th and run until 6am. We are excited to see what God is doing as we step into these hours and focus our hearts on him.

For those unsure if this is for them, consider the following reports as a positive review from those who were actually there:

There was a ton of joy in our House. It was very refreshing for me and greatly encouraged my heart. It was a great reminder why I love prayer, worship and why I want to give my life to night and day prayer. I was incredibly honored to be a part of the first Nightwatch....I hope the fact that there was a big YES on our hearts to praying at any time, even the least convenient times of the day, causes the heavens to burst open over Sanctuary and the hours to increase as fast as He knows we can handle it! Bring on the Nightwatch! --Kristi

This night represented a new beginning for our House of Prayer, and I, as well as many others, got the privilege firsthand to prepare the way for many others to take their rightful place on the wall in eager anticipation, watching and waiting. I would not have it any other way but to give the praise and honor that is due His name, even in the early hours of the morning, for He is worthy to receive all that we give. Let the incense arise, let the fragrance arise, for You, O God, are most deserving! Amen. --Joel

There were many more just like the ones above. The votes are in: the Nightwatch is a wonderful place to be! Pray for us as we step into this one more time.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Awesome!

2009-04-04T20:06:00.000-05:00

The first-ever SHOP Nightwatch was a great success, filled with worship, intercession, heart engagement and focus on ministering to His heart. Eighteen people committed to stay for the full 6 hour slot. It is now a part of SHOP history. Thanks to all for praying for us in this effort.

More details to follow...

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Nightwatch

2009-04-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

For the very first time in Sanctuary's history, we are about to try praying through the night. We are scheduled to go from midnight to 6am this weekend and everyone is very excited! We have full teams slotted in to sing and we even have intercession happening at 4am! Because this is our first attempt at this time slot, we are keeping this a "closed meeting", restricting it to those who are SHOP regulars. The door will be locked so don't just decide to drop by unannounced at 2am...you will not be allowed to enter.

There is something special about the night hours. Bad things tend to happen under the cover of darkness, of course. But, the bible talks also of the Bridegroom (Jesus) coming for his bride in the midnight hour. And, in Psalm 134 we see that there is a special blessing for those who "stand by night in the House of the Lord". It is a time that requires extra focus, but also a time that allows for the busyness and "mental traffic" of the day to be more easily set aside in favour of encounter with Him.

Pray for us that God may bless our efforts. And pray that this is the beginning of night and day worship and intercession firmly established in our midst.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Goodbye Atlanta...hello Winnipeg!!

2009-02-04T13:45:00.046-06:00

The time in Atlanta was terrific! It was so good to be with leaders from other houses of prayer across America (I was the only Canadian) and hear the stories of faith, struggle and devotion to Jesus. I heard a number of things that inspired me in my own journey as well as much that will be helpful for us as Sanctuary for the months to come.

One theme that came up frequently centered on the importance of living a life that reflects the convictions and activities of the prayer movement. It was critical, they said, to think through how we handle our time, enegry and money, especially in this new season of economic uncertainty. It was not enough to sit in a prayer room and feel that this alone was sufficient. My entire life needs to reflect my beliefs. Action needs to follow faith! In other words, don't just sing about how God is your source and provider...live like its true and don't hang on to your money. Don't just pray for God to release the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph 1:17) and then not take the time to press in and find out more about Him. I loved it!

It is especially important in difficult times and we are entering quickly into a season of trouble, for sure. Who knows just how difficult this downturn on the economy could become? Who can say for sure what the solution to the troubles are? I am pretty sure the folks making decisions in the capital cities of the earth have no idea what will help in getting us out of all this. The answer, as always, is to turn to God in heaven and find His heart on the issue. If ever there was a time when we really need to stop and seek God for the decades ahead, it is now. It is wisdom in this hour to press into Him...and that will be proven true as the years unfold.

For Sanctuary, we are fasting all this week and asking God to make us ready for the troubles that lie ahead. We are asking for the bride in this city, the church in all its forms and styles, that she would be all that God has for her in the closing years of this age of history. We want to see the church become a strong voice to a confused generation and a community who exudes light and beauty to a world living in darkness and despair. We know this is the heart of Jesus for his bride so it is easy to pray it with faith: He is going to see this happen before his return to the earth.

Oh Lord, strengthen and empower the church in Winnipeg like no other time in its history. Cause her to be beautiful in the sight of all people. And give her eyes for only you as she longs for the return of the King and the fullness of the kingdom of God.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

I'm in Atlanta

2009-01-25T07:48:00.001-06:00

All weekend I have been attending the 2009 House of Prayer Leaders Summit, hosted by IHOP-Atlanta. This is an amazing event, both for the excellent teaching designed to help leaders like me in moving forward as a community AND for the many new friends we make that are plowing ahead in their cities. These are great people!

The more time I spend here the more I realize that God is really doing something big. We have been challenged over and over this weekend to ensure our lives (and the lives of those in our communities) actually reflect all that we are praying for. It is great to believe that God answers the prayers of His people. But, we need to have lives of prayer that demonstrate that He REALLY does hear and answer our prayers! Believe it and put it into action. Have so much confidence in Him that we live and think in a new freedom.

This weekend I have heard amazing stories of answered prayer, healing and visitation. God is demonstrating His love and care for people over and over! Winnipeg can add our stories to an amazing list of things the Holy Spirit is weaving together in preparation for the return of the King to the earth.

Lots of details to follow. This morning, Allen Hood from IHOP in Kansas City is speaking. Later we have a Q&A session that will address all our submitted questions. Its going to be a good day!

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

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We're back

2009-01-13T09:53:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the confusion, but we had some technical issues with our site and it has just been completed this week. There are sure to be more blog posts to come!

Many thanks to our webmaster extraordinaire, Yvonne Parks. She designed this site and continues to maintain it even from her new home in Ottawa. She and Jason moved away from Winnipeg more than a year ago and are now doing all that they do for the kingdom in the capital city. They played a key role in helping to establish this house of prayer, being two of our very first worship leaders, as well as really pouring into the lives of the many young people in our midst who wanted to know more about this lifestyle we are embracing. We will always consider them a part of this family.

Thank-you Yvonne! Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Final Day

2008-11-23T16:36:00.001-06:00

We finished of our Conference Prayer Room experience with another full day...12 hours of uninterrupted worship and prayer before the Lord. And again, you could really feel the presence of the Spirit resting in the room.

I am so proud of our community. They really rose to the challenge and gave to God first, even before giving to those in the conference who we were praying for. One of the leaders from the conference came to me at the end of the day and said "thanks for praying...you really carried us all weekend". Although I do agree with him to some degree, I responded with what was on my heart in the moment: "it was our pleasure to do it...besides, it was really good down there!!".

There is nothing like enjoyable prayer. We look forward to many more hours of it in the months and years ahead.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

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Friday was Amazing!

2008-11-22T15:17:00.005-06:00

We had a great day yesterday. We were able to go for 13 hours of uninterrupted worship and prayer, to minister to the heart of God in a crowded prayer room AND in an empty prayer room. My favourite part had to be entering into the room to feel the presence of God already present there. The accumulated benefit of hour after hour before the Lord is truly noticeable.

We had many great moments, most of which were experienced by only a handful of people (and God Himself). One moment that really struck me happened at the very end of the day. During our final hour the speaker at the conference upstairs was just beginning. I ran upstairs to hear him tell the crowd "I have no objective tonight other that to encounter the presence and glory of God and to help you to do the same". This was exactly what I wanted to hear. I ran back down, encouraged those in the prayer room with how it was unfolding upstairs and called all of us to both pray for and press into the same thing. God, come and encounter us...all of us!

As the set went on, we hit some great moments. The worship leader sang this chorus to the Lord over and over again:

"The beauty of your holiness,
The holiness of your beauty"

It was a powerful time of focusing on ministering to God! And every hour of the day had moments just like this.

Another full day to come...

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

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First Day update

2008-11-21T11:28:00.001-06:00

We began our prayer room last night with a two-hour intercession set. Our purpose in all this was twofold: to intercede for the activities in the conference on the floor just above us (we are in the basement) and to minister to the heart of the Lord as an audience of One. So, we pressed forward with extended worship, vertical in nature, and let the intercession come from that posture.

In the second set from 8-9pm, we were led in devotional worship by two of our ladies. It was wonderful. This format is not new for us; this is one of the ways in which we create a place for His presence to go deep in our hearts. It is a perfect compliment to a set of agressive intercession. You just want to fall back into rest in the presence of the one you love.

The night ended with a 9-10pm set focused on the passage from Psalm 27:4 ("one thing I ask...that I may gaze upon the beauty of the Lord...to seek Him in his temple"). As the singers went through the passage and sang nuances of truth that the Spirit was highlighting to them, I found myself pacing the floor and praying. I could feel the truth of the passage and the heart of the "Beautiful One" for his bride. So, I began to take each line that was sung, each truth expressed to God about how he feels for us and turned it into intercession for those in the conference upstairs. "God, reveal yourself in new ways to them...let their hearts burn to be in your presence...reveal the Beautiful God to them...capture their hearts with love".

It was a good night to be in the prayer room.

More to come...

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

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Praying at the Conference

2008-11-20T12:42:00.003-06:00

Beginning tonight at 6pm, we are going to be running a prayer room for the "Kingdom Come" conference at Calvary Temple. This is a yearly event organized by our good friend Trevor Meier and the folks at "beyond". This year they have Jason Upton leading worship and Ryan Wyatt speaking and praying for people. You may remember him from the outpouring in Lakeland, Florida this past summer. He was speaking and ministering frequently and saw MANY healings take place during his prayer times. It should be a powerful weekend.

For our part, however, we felt that we wanted to offer support to this event in the area that we do best. So we will be running a prayer room each night from 6-10pm as the meetings are happening upstairs. They will be pressing in for healing in one meeting and we will be calling for the power of God to break in on their behalf at the same time. How awesome is that?!?

I am off to get things set up right now. I'll post some pictures later when I get time.

May God do something incredible in Winnipeg through the events of this weekend.

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

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September

2008-08-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

We are about to enter the Fall and we are excited to see what the remaining 4 months brings us. God has invited us to discover all that we "really believe" and it has been a wild year...so far. More on that as the months unfold.

For now, I am eager to keep on track with worship to the One. Come and do it with us some time.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Update

2008-07-08T09:43:00.002-05:00

Things have been very different at Sanctuary in the last 2 months. As we reached our 2nd anniversary and began our third year of worship and intercession for our city, the Holy Spirit surprised us with a significant visitation that continues on each week. What began as a few of us eager to see more of God's presence in our meetings has turned into power for infilling and even healing.

Shortly after we had heard about what was happening in Lakeland, Florida, we had the privilege of having friends travel there and return to share of their experiences and pray for us. As I mentioned in the previous posting, the events in Lakeland are so new that it has been difficult to categorize them as one specific type of visitation or another. But, clearly something was happening and a first-hand account was just what we needed. That first night was so good! The Spirit came in power and filled people in new ways. Many of those prayed for had never had experiences like this but were overwhelmed by Gods presence and found themselves shaking and overcome. Believing that this outpouring is as much about physical healing as anything, we pressed in to pray for those sick among us, as well. And, to our great joy, we have had a few healings already, some that were significant. The Lord is good...all the time!

The most difficult part of this has been trying to decide how to best allow for this move of God and still maintain our activities as a house of prayer. But, we decided that it was critical to do both, so we have taken the posture to "pray for rain even in the midst of rain" and to make room for the Spirit to come in power in our meetings just for us and any who would join us. Since we began this 6 weeks ago, we have had lots of visitors, including many pastors from other churches. It has been our honour to pray for these folks and give away all that God has given us in this time. And that has fit so well with our mandate to pray for the church in this city...usually we pray for them while they are somewhere else, so its nice to have them in our meetings this time!

I have no idea how long this will continue for. We are going to keep making space and time to pray for everyone who wants to receive more from the Holy Spirit. We will eagerly receive all visitors and give all that we have. We are determined to pray for healing for everyone sick who comes to the meetings. We are praying for other churches and leaders in the city, specifically Trevor and the gang at Calvary Temple, for the full outbreak of healing power for the entire city of Winnipeg (in the meetings, the workplace, the schools and the neighbourhoods). And, we are excited to see how all this fits in with what God is doing in our city in this hour of history.

If you are in the area, come by on Sunday evening. Check the schedule page for times.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Revival??

2008-05-23T11:15:00.002-05:00

So, what is going on in Lakeland, Florida? That is the question that so many are asking these days since word began to spread a number of weeks ago that the Holy Spirit is being poured out in significant measure. And, what's more, there has been tons of healing accompanying this outpouring. The man in the centre of this is Canadian-born Todd Bentley, an evangelist with years of experience in revival meetings and healing the sick. But, by his own admission, he has never seen anything like what is happening in Lakeland. Significant healings are occurring, evangelism is following and lives are being changed.

Since this outpouring began about 50 days ago, Todd and his team have held meetings every night. What began as a weekend conference for a few hundred has mushroomed into crowds of many thousands, long line-ups to get in and people flying in from all over the world to receive from God. Similar to the Toronto Blessing in 1994, this outpouring seems to be about two things: first, any person can be significantly touched and impacted by the Spirit of God if they go to the meeting and take a posture of receiving from God. And second, the person can also receive an impartation that they can take with them back their nation. Reports are coming in that healing and infilling are being experienced in all corners of the globe after someone spent time in Lakeland.

If you are like me and you long for the presence of the Lord to increase in our city, this sounds like good news. At Sanctuary House of Prayer, we spend many hours asking for God to come in power in our city and this seems like a possible answer to prayer. But there are a few things that need to be considered before we claim that "this is that" which we believe is coming.

First, it is very early to be making any significant conclusions. Thinking back to Toronto in '94, the wave was just beginning to grow at the 50-day mark and it was impossible for anyone to know for sure where it was going. All they knew was that it was God and it was extraordinary! To see Lakeland as more than this conclusively is a bit premature at this point. Having said that, we can learn from the Toronto experience. Waves like this tend to increase in size and force over time. If it is really transferable as the reports are suggesting, we have every reason to believe this will have a global impact within a year. It will impact every city on the earth that wants it and change the way things are done in the church world and beyond.

Second, waves like this are often the way God works. Therefore, we need to make mental adjustments to allow for God to work in this way and shed old ways of thinking if they prevent us from seeing (and hopefully participating) in what He is doing right now. Revivals often come just this way and we want to be open to the style being a bit different than we are used to if the fruit is good.

Third, we know that there will be more and more of these outpourings as we get closer to the Second Coming of Jesus. Anticipate Acts 2 becoming a full reality in your city as it is coming to all of us before this draws to a close. So, this outpouring may or may not be the "big one" that you have in your head. Embrace what God is doing, celebrate the activities of the Holy Spirit and join in with it by asking God to increase it in your area.

Fourth, there are always things in any outpouring that seem extreme (outlandish, even) and some of the behaviour exhibited by attendees (and even leaders) can cause us to be offended. This is important to know now because God is not wanting us to ignore sinful or abusive behaviour but rather to press through to find Him in the midst of broken humanity on display at points. It is far better in these situations to allow the style and culture that typically annoys or offends you to just flow. Suspend your judgments and press in to God. Remember, there are things about you and your ministry style that people don't like as well. Extend grace and keep your eyes heavenward.

And finally, we need to remember that Jesus usually responded to people who demonstrated hunger for what He had to offer and faith that they would receive if they pursued Him. The principle still applies today. As a friend of mine used to say to his unbelieving friends, "if there is something good out there, why not go and get it?" The posture to take with this outpouring needs to be one of hunger and faith. Determine that whatever God is doing right now is something you want in on and pursue it as "something good you want to go get". This doesn't mean changing your life calling, dropping what God has asked of you now or violating your own beliefs. God knows each of us so well. He will grant to us according to what is the best for us. So, throw yourself open to what He wants for you in this and ask Him for more.

Sanctuary is in an interesting place in this. We want to be touched and filled by God, receive whatever power is available for healing the sick (and get our people healed in the process) and see the lost come to Jesus through it all. But, we want our prayer meetings fired up and fueled by the presence of the Spirit and an increase in authority for what we contend for manifest in every meeting. And most of all, we want greater intimacy with Jesus, our eternal reward the lover of our very souls.

May God do all that He has planned. Holy Spirit, come!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Step 5

2008-04-08T00:51:00.001-05:00

And finally....Point #5

We have reached the end of this method with this final point, one that seems so obvious most people want to begin with it: pray the verses.

If you recall, we began by stating that scripture meditation was about more than learning the verses by heart or even learning the background and meaning of each verse. To meditate on the verse is to "prayerfully consider" what is contained there, to encounter God as you encounter His written word. We have learned the value in reading the passage, in writing it down, in saying it (especially out loud), in singing and allowing the melodies of your heart to join with what the Spirit is teaching us. And now we are able to take it all and turn it into prayer request before God.

There is some mystery to this final step, believe it or not, because it is very likely you are going to have an "a-ha" moment in there somewhere. All the way along you have been pressing to connect with God and what He wants to share with you concerning the passage in question. More than learning what your favourite commentator has to say on it, you are learning to approach God in the midst of worship to seek deeper truths. But now that you have received revelation from God on this, your final step in the process is to take what you have learned and say it back to God in prayer. The language that He gives you will become the very language you will use to pray it back to Him. And there is your "a-ha" moment: the prayer that is the most meaningful will be filled with language and ideas that came first from Him anyway.

Simply put, He longs to share His heart with us and to have us walk in step with what He is thinking, feeling and doing. We often forget this as we run ahead doing the works of the kingdom and accomplishing things for Him. And, all along He was after our hearts. We probably should have guessed as much considering that our future in eternity is with Him. Of course He wants people who voluntarily love Him!!

How do we pray the thoughts and ideas we have received? Try something like this....

-read, write, say and sing through Psalm 27:4 ("one thing I ask and seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze up His beauty..."

-the thoughts and ideas will have come to you as statements of realization ("God, you must be more amazing than I realize to hold the attention of David for his whole life", "there is nothing more important than to be in relationship with you, God", "to gaze clearly upon who you are is the beginning of worship", "I am not doing this very well right now...forgive me in my neglect and distraction", etc)

-begin to pray these back to God as request ("God, I want to see more of you", "let me gaze on your beauty", "focus my eyes on you alone and let nothing else distract me from you", etc.)

-don't forget to weave in much expressions of love through singing...He loves that!

Like any method, it won't bring you to God in and of itself. But, take the time to learn and grow in it and your engaged heart will allow you to find more of God.

Be blessed in the journey!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Step 4

2008-03-19T18:45:00.005-05:00

Assuming you have been trying this approach to scripture meditation out for yourself, you have now reached the point where you are getting some revelation from God and things are beginning to flow for you. Your journal is filling up with amazing ideas and you feel like you are hearing God through His written word. Good for you!

Now, we are going to try something that can be both wonderfully fulfilling and intimidating all at once. Step 4 is to take the phrases you are jotting down in your journal, particularly the ones that have lots of "life" on them for you right now and begin to sing them out. Yes, I said sing them :) Let me suggest some reasons why and then a practical way or two that you can go about doing this.

Singing, whether it be the scriptures or any written phrase, will do something for you on the inside that no other mechanic will accomplish. We have all had the experience of getting a song stuck in our head, but rarely does the same happen with a spoken phrase. Music has a way of staying with us, of making the ideas more familiar and much more memorable. Music can touch our emotions quickly. It can cause us to feel the idea and well as understand the content. It can be used for evil and it can be used for good. Most of all, it can be a vehicle into greater understanding of God and His word.

Incidently, there is much singing going on in heaven. A complete reading of the book of Revelation will show that singing was happening as the events of the end-times were unfolding. It was happening as they gazed on God and who He was in His complexity. They declared in song the goodness of God and the brilliance of His leadership, even as judgements were being poured out on the earth and many people were dying. It is the future, frankly...those who can see Him and the wisdom of His leadership will sing as the day of His appearing draws closer. Clearly, God both enjoys and sanctions the use of singing in the activity of prayer and searching for understanding.

Even more powerful than hearing music, however, is the act of actually singing it out yourself. Somehow, this step, when done with an engaged heart in prayer (in its simplest form, this is talking to God), causes us to connect in a way that involves deeper parts of who we are. Our emotions are touched. Our rational thoughts connect with the feeling side of our soul. We hear ourselves singing truth, with the Spirit interacting with our efforts, and it takes us deeper into knowing God for ourselves.

Doing this, however, is often a challenge for a few reasons. Unless you have a house of prayer that engages in corporate worship for hours on end, you may have trouble engaging in this step in a "live music" setting. Most Sunday morning worship times are designed for you to actually sing what the leader is singing and not go off on your own themes. The folks sitting nearby will not appreciate your sung efforts at Psalm 27:4 or anything else if that is not what is happening in the room.

The next best thing to a live worship setting is a recording of your favourite worship music. I suggest something slower and more devotional in content to begin as you are going to feel you need space at first. This step will be difficult if the band is rocking and the theme is celebrative. Look for something that moves your heart when you listen to it or when you sing it in a church setting. Here is what it could look like:

-for a start, take your ipod or favourite worship cd in the car with you for a long drive

-pick your song and begin to sing along with it...this will get you used to hearing yourself sing out, usually one of the biggest obstacles for most people.

-assuming your are engaging your heart with God via the song, launch out with some spontaneous phrases of your own in the spaces or even over top of what is being sung. Again, a good choice of song will allow for more space and easier entry points here.

-Be real in this! It is too easy to fall into cliches and not really say what is in your heart. Anyone can sing "blessed be the name of the Lord" over and over, but if it is not real to you it is best to avoid it as the central theme of your singing.

-Now what about the written phrases in your journal, you say?? Now would be a bad time to get the journal out and search for a good phrase (you are driving, after all). Instead, be free and spontaneous this first time. It will cause you to see quickly that you will run out of language to express your heart. When you arrive home, take out the journal and begin to get some of your favourite phrases into your thinking. Prepare yourself for your next singing time.

-If you are alone in your home, you can join all of this together easily. With the music on and your heart engaged, you can go through steps 1-4 with a natural flow that will allow this to be an expression of love and not a structured mechanism that restricts your efforts.

It may sound awkward, but give it a try anyway. You will be surprised at how the truth of the word will stay with you and how much you will feel what moves you as you sing it out before the Lord.

One step to go....

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Step 3

2008-02-28T19:10:00.002-06:00

So, now we are at third step in meditating on passages of scripture and things are about to get good. You have already spent time in reading the passage over a number of times, getting familiar with the content in question and allowing the Lord to begin to stir ideas inside of you. Then, you went the next step and wrote the passage out. Now it is time to say it out loud.

No kidding, there is something about speaking it out that takes the truth of it to a deeper level. You hear yourself say it and it produces faith in your own spirit. You understand it better. You feel the rhythm of it and God will often take you even deeper into the knowledge of what is contained in it.

But, it is at this step that we have to do something different. Now, it is critical to return back to the previous two steps and begin to use all three together. Now is the time to take what you are reading and thinking and turn it into writing. And then take what you are writing and turn it into speech. At this point, you want to go past the verse and into what God is speaking to you about it. From this place, it should be written down in prayerful journaling and then spoken out loud as it becomes alive to you.

Let's consider an example. Earlier we picked Psalm 27:4 ("one thing have I desired of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon His beauty and seek Him in His temple"). Now, to meditate on it with what you have so far, it could look a lot like this:

-you read the verse a few times, putting emphasis on certain apsects of the verse in your reading and letting ideas come to you.
-next you write it down on paper or in a book, leaving room for more journaling to come.
-now you speak out the passage a few times, letting the power of the verse hang in the air so you can hear yourself say it. Faith will increase a little as you connect with it.
-next, return to the verse and prayerfully consider the first part..."God, how could David actually mean this is the one thing, the most important thing, he would ask for above all else?"...
-time to listen...God is talking
-write down your thoughts AND write down His thoughts.
-"I want to seek this out like David did, God...I want to see what he was seeing...I want to really know what you are like and find myself gazing at you in all that you"
-time to open your mouth and say out loud what you are feeling and discovering. "You are beautiful!...I want to know more...this is a worthy goal in my short time on the earth...I will gaze on you in eternity anyway...why not now??"

And, there you have it. You are meditating on scripture. God is talking through the verses and in addition to the verses. You are connecting to Him in the text and apart from the text. He is alive and is helping you see things about Himself and about your own heart and life. He is changing your way of thinking.

Next step...we go even deeper.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Step 2

2008-02-25T13:25:00.006-06:00

We are working through a model of scripture meditation created by Kirk Bennett from ZHOP in South Carolina. For more teaching from Kirk and others, click here or here. Kirk has given permission to reproduce the structure of this model. The details and applications are mine to a great degree, however.

So, we have picked a relevant passage, found time in a prayer room or on our own to consider it prayerfully and we have read it...probably more than once. Now its time for the next step: write it! Yes, write it down in a journal or on a worksheet of some kind that will allow you room to expand on your thoughts and insights as we go deeper into this model. It is important to take what is inside your head and turn it into concrete ideas, and I know from experience that writing something out will do this very well. Those of you that journal already will want to jump past this step and into the analysis of the passage but I want to encourage us all to slow down and again take time to let the power of the passage to speak to our spirits. Read the passage a few times and begin to open your spirit to what is being read. You are reaching for God and what He is saying to you as you do this. Now, as you write it out, it will go that much deeper into your spirit. The ideas have appeared on the page in front of you by your own hand. I am not sure why it works, but there is something about writing it out, even though you just read a printed version on another page, that makes it more alive and stays with you longer.

In my university studies, I learned early on that the best way to recall facts, especially ones that were abstract from my life and reality (and therefore difficult to remember on an exam) was to write it all out. I would study for my many history exams, not by reciting the info verbally only, but by actually writing the information down. I always remembered it better if I took this extra step. And it still works today: I will remember the bible passages in question better if I write them out at some point.

As well, writing it out is setting the stage for the next number of steps to follow. Putting it on your own page (or in your own journal) will make it yours. Again, make sure to leave room for the expansion of ideas to come. God is going to talk to you about what you are reading, if you give Him room to do so.

In all of this, the goal remains the same. You want to interact with God as you go deep in considering His written word.

Get your pen and your voice ready...the next few steps are going to get things moving!

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Step 1

2008-02-19T12:23:00.005-06:00

So, let's take some time to think about scripture meditation. What I will be presenting in the next number of postings is a method I have borrowed in its entirety from my good friend Kirk Bennett, the director of ZHOP in Fort Mills, South Carolina. He is an awesome guy who has developed an approach that he knows works...he has lived it out, as well. I give full credit to him for these great ideas, although much of what I will write below is my own interaction with his model. You can discover more of his excellent teaching by clicking here. As well, he has loads more material at www.7thunders.org. I asked Kirk for permission to publish this material and he was gracious in granting it to me.

First, it needs to be stated that the goal in the practice of scripture meditation is to encounter God through His living word by taking the time to let it go deep inside of you. It is one thing to read the passages and even to research what they experts believe they mean, but it something different again to allow the passages to speak to your soul and change your thinking. I want to be able to interact with the truth of the written word of God so that it changes my thinking and way of living.

The beginning point in this journey is to find a passage that you like, one that means something to you and touches your heart when you read it. Maybe it is something you pray on occasion anyway and has already become part of your language. If so, try something less familiar, something that is intriguing but not yet clear to you. The passage should be only a verse or two to get started. As you develop this skill you can expand the amount of material you will cover in one sitting.

So, for example, let's pick a verse like Psalm 27:4

"one thing that I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple"

This is a passage that is loaded with inference and one that could become a life verse even without much further consideration. But, let's see how we can go deeper into what God is saying through this passage (remember, it is not so much what David is saying here, but ultimately what God is saying that matters to us).

Step #1 is very simple: read it! I know that sounds simple but in my experience, it is something significant to get people to even read the bible consistently. By choosing to read the verses and let the content of what is there become familiar to you, it is the beginning point of allowing God to speak to you through it. I have had seasons where I have read certain sections of the bible while neglecting other sections. And, I have been so blessed when I finally get into the missed passages and realize the treasures contained that can feed my soul. So, reading the verses is an important beginning.

Sit yourself down in a quiet place, perhaps in a prayer room if you have one, begin to prayerfully ask the Lord to open you up to new understanding of his word. Then, begin to read it: "one thing that I ask of the Lord.... ". Chances are you should read it again...a few times, maybe. Things rarely stick the first time through and we are trying to go deep here, after all. Even in the reading of it, you will begin to see things that get your attention. You will probably think about David and his life, and wonder why he would want this as his primary request. You will want to study that a bit more. You will wonder what the "beauty of the Lord" actually is and perhaps it will make you think about Jesus. You might think of his human form and how he was described as "nothing special" in appearance (Isa 53:2). You might think of his description in Revelation 1, though, and think again. All this is good. Read it again. And again. And think....

What's the next step? (It's in the next posting...)

Blessings,

Brian CrearyMinistry Director

Devotion

2008-01-29T10:33:00.003-06:00

Last week we had the pleasure to teach another Orientation class, this time to our largest group ever. It was an excellent time of walking through the 5 reasons we exist as Sanctuary House of Prayer. It was a ton of information for the new folks but experience has shown me that hearing it energizes to really live this life to the fullest.

One of these five reasons we exist is "to provide a place for you to press forward in your personal journey in God; a room for you to grow in devotion to Jesus". Devotion is a key word here. What does it look like in everyday life, in and out of the prayer room? For us, it is critical that devotion begins sitting before God Himself and really worshiping and praying. There is time enough to take it to the streets, to see the work of the kingdom manifest in our lives and by our hands. But, skipping past the step of pure and simple devotion manifest in "time well wasted" before Him will only burn you out over time. There is no other pathway to knowing God - you have to spend time with Him exclusively.

We believe that the best way to do this is through the Scriptures. He wrote them, after all, and agrees with all that is found there. Going deep in understanding the bible can significantly increase our devotion to God. Taking time to study this book will begin to change the way you think and act, and God Himself will work with you to accomplish this in your life.

But, studying the bible alone will not take you where you want to go. To really allow the truth of what is found there to change you on the inside requires that we allow God to interact with the truth of His scriptures. We need to meditate on the verses. Now, for some the term meditation only conjures up images of yoga-practicing, mantra-chanting Buddhist priests. This is understandable. The Christian practice of scripture is somewhat lost in our age (although it is making a comeback as the prayer movement takes hold around the earth). I believe meditating on passages of scripture is critical to going deeper in the knowledge of God. As I sometimes jokingly tell me kids, "the bible is a magic book". In reality, the bible is alive and active as the Holy Spirit interacts with what He has seen fit to include there and brings revelation to our spirits as we dwell on what is written there. The bible can come alive on the inside of us, change us and cause us to become more like Jesus. Yet, conversely, it can be read and studied endlessly and produce nothing of life if done apart from the activity of the Spirit bringing life to the process. His word is true at all times. He is the word. It is wonderfully and majestically complicated...

In future postings, I want to teach how to meditate on the scriptures. There is much to learn and perfect in our pursuit of growing in the knowledge of who He is. This is going to make your "going into all the world" so much more effective!

Blessings,
Brian Creary

Ministry Director

More on Fasting

2007-12-06T10:11:00.000-06:00

It's Day #4 of our week-long fast. Here is a recent post from Drew, another worship leader, singer, guitar player and resident expert in fasting (he's done lots of it and living it gives your wisdom):

"Our HOP (sanctuaryhop.com) has joined IHOP for the 7 day fast that's happening this week.

The funny thing about that is that I had a longing to go on an extensive fast even before I heard IHOP or the HOP I'm involved with was going on one. Other people who come to our prayer room also had plans to go on a 7 day fast without even knowing anyone else would be doing one as well so its clear that the Spirit is moving through the bride to unite us during this week of fasting.

When going on a fast like this its very important to have corporate and personal goals set before oneself on how they want to focus during the fast. I'm not going to mention anything corporate for TVVT but I will tell you what I am doing personally to help me engage with the Spirit and go deep in the Word to seek after the Father.

I will be studying Jn 17:21 all week long. This is my personal life verse. It was given to me from the Lord in a dream and I received very specific revelation concerning my calling which is centered around this verse from the Lord. So for my own personal growth I will go studying and praying and singing this verse throughout the fast. I'd encourage all of you who want to join to do something similar. It will obviously look differently from what I'm doing but a personal focus for a fast is a great idea!

So be blessed! Seek Him! Find Him!!!"

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

We're fasting...again

2007-12-05T13:54:00.000-06:00

We have begun a 7-day fast recently and I feel that this one, more than any other in recent memory, is going to be significant. God has been asking us to rise and stand with Him in contending for what He is going to do. This is an intense time but filled with promise.

Instead of sharing my thoughts, I have decided to let the thoughts of some in our community describe what is being felt at this time. What follows is a recent post by Joel, a worship leader with Sanctuary House of Prayer and all-round good guy :)

"So this morning, I was struck with a passage out of Nehemiah 1:5-11. He recognized the exalted position of God (1:5). Nehemiah was approaching the Lord who is the “Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God.” He recognized the humbled position of Man (1:6-7). Unlike arrogant men today who act as if they have the right to give orders to God, Nehemiah entered the presence of God with great humility. He confessed his own sins and the sins of his people. He did not, and could not, make demands. He was a man who was helpless and humble, who recognized the enormous distance between the perfect God and sinful men.

He based his petition in the absolute faithfulness of God (1:8-10). Nehemiah did not try to convince God to change, because God is already perfect and just. He fulfills his promises. The suffering of the people was not a failing of God, but the result of their own sin. This same faithfulness was the basis for Nehemiah’s hope. As surely as God had fulfilled promises to punish, he would fulfill his promises to rescue his chosen people. He asked in faith (1:11). Finally, Nehemiah made his request. He asked that God open a door for him to help his own people. He was preparing to ask the king to let him return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Nehemiah placed his confidence in the Lord who is powerful to bless the plans of those who truly dedicate themselves to him.

We need to pray with the same humility and faith that Nehemiah displayed. We must commit ourselves to a high standard of prayer. We have no right to make demands of God, but those who serve him obediently enjoy the privilege of humbly talking to the God of heaven in prayer."

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Excellent!

2007-11-03T10:47:00.001-05:00

The weekend came and went so fast but we loved it all. We had almost 800 registered and in attendance. The worship was rich and the message was clear. There was a powerful time of prophetic intercession for the city of Winnipeg during the Saturday afternoon session. And loads of times for people to respond to the call of God and make a step forward in their journey.

The team was amazing! The folks from KC served, served and served some more. Always smiling. Always available. Always generous. And the volunteers who gave time and effort to make it all work were equally amazing. Sanctuary t-shirts were everywhere. Those who wore them made me proud. Check out the pics to see some happy folks serving and loving it.

On Sunday we sent Dwayne Roberts and the worship team to Winnipeg Centre Vineyard and had Wes Martin and a ministry team go to the Kings Fellowship. Both meetings were great fun, focused on blessing the local congregations and celebrating the Lord together.

In the afternoon, we had the Onething team come to Sanctuary. It was the best! We were together ministering to God as the audience of One. Dwayne spoke to us as a house of prayer, encouraging us to persevere and believe. It was just what we needed to hear at this point in our history. It has been 18 months since we began and having our friends from IHOP sing and pray with us was such a blessing.

Most of all, we loved the gang from KC. Sanctuary found friends, kindred spirits, who felt like family from the first night. It was difficult to watch them leave, actually. But, we are only a 13 hr drive away :)

Blessings on you all!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

It's Going So Well

2007-10-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

This is a good conference! Dwayne is preaching some good stuff. Tim and Marcus from the Merchant Band have been leading in some deep and rich worship. I love their worship leading...really vertical! To an audience of ONE!! This morning we were led in a powerful chorus of "oh, how He loves us". The message is a powerful one and Dwayne got it out there for us. God loves you, even in your weakness and failings. But, He is ready to embrace you and bring you forward if you want more.

This afternoon, its Justin Rizzo leading and Wes Martin is speaking. These are both quality men with integrity and a message for a generation searching for more of God. Come by if you want. Its free and there is still room.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Tonight!!!

2007-10-26T08:05:00.000-05:00

We have arrived! The stage is set up. Things sound good and loud. We still have room for lots of you. Doors will be open by 6:30pm for registrants. If you didn't get it done online, just show up and we'll get it done at the door. We want as many as possible to be a part of this event.

If you are too far away to attend, pray for us and for the city of Winnipeg that God would do something really special in this time. Pray that it is more than a series of big meetings. We want to meet with God in a new way and a lasting way. We want the results of these encounters to carry us into the streets and neighbourhoods for years to come. Let there be power for healing, deliverance and salvation. Let His kingdom be manifest in Winnipeg!

Check back frequently for photos and stories from the weekend.

Blessings!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

2 days to go!

2007-10-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

The team has arrived from Kansas City...all 16 of them. It was a very early morning for most of them, arriving at the pick-up point to be taken to the airport at 4:30am. For a few, they just never went to bed so they should sleep well tonight.

The rest of this day has been about setting up the sound at Calvary Temple and getting to know one another a bit better. Trevor and the folks from Calvary Temple have been really good to us and for that we are very grateful. It is loads of fun to do this with Trevor...he has the same heart for the things of God that we do. I love a divine partnership like this.

So, there is lots to do but everyone is in a giving mood and things are getting done quickly. Its a balmy +20C here today so everyone is feeling happy.

Tonight we eat and get some needed rest. Tomorrow is where it all happens, so we are excited to see what will come of it. Dwayne Roberts, the director of Onething ministries, told me earlier that he feels like God is really doing something here. He is eager to get going and see what will come of it.

More tomorrow as it unfolds...

Pray for us! I just received an email from a prayer room in Minnesota telling me that they are praying for us. I love it!! Nothing like friends when you need them.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

3 days to go...

2007-10-24T13:35:00.000-05:00

We had our final intercession meeting before the conference last night. It was kind of a transition for me, strangely. I felt the shift from "we are preparing by praying for this far-off event" to "we are here and ready to work". There has been a lot of prayer offered up in our community for this event. It started many months ago, mostly a trickle of prayer among more pressing issues then. It has since become THE issue as we consider our city and what God is doing here. This journey has been a good one and God continues to help us to see how an event like this, often viewed as an end in itself, actually fits into a much larger plan for the city and its prophetic destiny. More on that another time...

For now, though, it's just fun to cheer each other on in praying and singing and then talk about the logistics of an event that is now so close and becoming very real for us. I expect lots of good times in the meetings and out of them. Coffee, coffee, coffee. Meals with old friends and new friends. Quick connections with pastors in a back room. Promises to talk more about how we can work together for kingdom purposes in the years ahead. People connecting with God and with each other. Loads of great music. And lots of laughter...

But, more than anything, I want a weekend dedicated to ministering to the heart of God. More than ever, we are thinking like priests before the presence of God. This is about offering Him who we are and what we have to give. May His heart be touched and may He receive the blessing due to Him from what little we can offer. He is entirely worth it all!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

4 days to go!!

2007-10-23T10:18:00.000-05:00

We are closing in on what is certainly going to be a great weekend. Last night we were part of a monthly city-wide gathering of young adults called The Awakening. My good friend and comrade in the trenches, Trevor Meier, gives leadership to this effort and we come along for the ride to offer support and help where needed. Yesterday, it was all about Onething! We had a good time of worship and prayer for the event, but really it was became more about us as individuals and our own hearts before God. There was a serious focus that emerged: turn with your whole hearts back to God. Really love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and with all of your strength. God was faithful to meet people in their repentance and it was a powerful time for many.

I am struck by the way God orchestrates His activity in a city like Winnipeg. We never want to make the mistake to believe that it is ONLY happening in our little meeting. There is much good that has been sowed in the spirit over the many decades that leads to moments like this. Praying churches with godly leaders have played their part in opening up things in the spirit for what God wants to do in larger measures. Even now, we know that there are good men and women leading good churches that love God and want His presence to touch the lost among us who are not really part of our stream. God is bigger than all this and it is exciting to see Him weave it all together.

But, it is also critical to realize that there are key moments in real-time when God asks something specific of a group of people to bring change to a whole area. Somebody had to be in the upper-room on that day in Acts 2. Somebody had to be in the meeting on Asuza Street in the early 20th century. Somebody had to be Evan Roberts or John Wesley or David Brainard or Charles Finney. You never know what role you will play! Our call is to do what is before us to do with integrity and passion, leaving the rest to the sovereign and wonderful plan of God. We are asked to BELIEVE that God loves our city, wants as many as will say YES to come to Him and has every intention on releasing an unprecedented move of the Spirit in our city before the return of Jesus to the earth. From there, just go for it in love and devotion.

So, who knows what a weekend like the one before us will produce?? I choose to believe it really matters to God and in what He is doing in our city. And, for that, I am truly grateful.

Brian Creary Ministry Director

10 Days to Go!

2007-10-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

Its all coming together now. The details are in order. The registrations are climbing and the team in KC is getting excited as well. This is going to be a good time!

I recently heard the interview of Dwayne Roberts, the director of Onething ministries, on our very own local CHVN-FM. Click on the Icon below to hear the interview!

click here

They did a nice job getting to the point of why we are doing this conference and what was central to the message of "one thing". Its funny how hearing it on the radio makes it all seem so real. We have been working on the details of this event for almost 10 months now, slowly at the start, of course, and deliberately of late. And, sort of like waiting for your first child to be born, you know its coming but during that last while it seems like it will never get here. I remember those last few minutes before my first child was born: intense and exciting, but almost surreal at the same time. There was nothing that could have prepared me for what I was to experience when my son finally emerged into the world.

I'm ready for a big surprise! May God make it more than any of us expects it to be.

Come if you are in the area. And, pray for us that His will be done in Winnipeg.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

25 days to go!!!

2007-10-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

Things are really coming together now for the upcoming Onething conference. We had a 4-hr planning session over Starbucks coffee last week that produced amazing results in coordination and simplicity. We literally have every minute of the 4 days the team are with us planned out! Just knowing this lets me sleep a little easier at night. I am so proud of my team. They have done amazing work (although its just beginning) and we are on track to have quite a weekend.

We just heard some stories from the Onething conference this past weekend in Minneapolis that make me think God is going to do some special things here as well. We want the event to go well, but really we want so much more! We are praying consistently that God will release a wave of His Spirit that will propel Winnipeg into relationship with the King of Heaven. We are excited to see what can come as we turn and focus on Him as the reason and the source.

Continue to spread the word to friends and neighbours. Register at www.ihop.org/onething to guarantee yourself a spot for the whole event.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

46 days to go...

2007-09-10T10:57:00.000-05:00

We are getting very excited around here. The Onething conference is starting to appear on the horizon and the word is spreading everywhere. Recently, we had an excellent meeting with a Young Adult Pastor who is excited to spread the word in his area. We are off to his church this Friday for a regional gathering of under-30s and we are going to have some time to promote the conference. This is a HUGE opportunity and we are truly grateful for it.

As well, we have been to a campus ministry joint meeting at the University of Manitoba and spoke for a few minutes to 200-300 students and friends. And, of course, our friends at the Link have been awesome to promote this at the Awakening whenever possible. Loads of churches now have the promo cards, posters and even promo dvds and one of the local bible bookstores has put up the poster and passed out cards for us to those who would look interested in attending. There is some excitement brewing!

But, there is more happening. A while back one of our guys had a significant dream. In it God spoke clearly that if we would build the conference on Him and making it a place for His dwelling, He would come and draw the people.

And, that is how it all works anyway. We are not really going to accomplish anything of eternal value if left to ourselves. How can anyone really connect someone to the eternal and transcendent God unless God Himself do the work of revealing Himself and drawing them by their hearts? We fool ourselves if we think that doing an event, no matter how big and flashy, will produce change in the hearts of people that lasts.

Building on Him and His presence is critical. It is our mandate in Sanctuary and it is our goal for this conference as well. There really is only one person in the audience who matters, you know. There might be 1000 people in the room, but what God thinks and feels about it is all that really matters. We are looking to know what is on His mind and heart. We want to agree with Him in EVERYTHING! Tell us what you are thinking about this city, God. We are after your heart in all things.

God desires to dwell with people and in physical locations much more that we realize. I believe Winnipeg is marked for such an encounter, not just a brief wave of His Spirit but a permanence that changes the city as the spiritual atmosphere over this place is changed forever. Big dreams, I know. But, God is so much bigger.

May this conference play a role in establishing a place for God to dwell and may the hearts of all who say YES be encountered and changed forever.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Onething is coming!!!

2007-08-10T10:48:00.001-05:00

We are pleased to announce that we are hosting a Onething Regional conference in Winnipeg, with the help of Trevor and the gang at The Link, in late October. This is an event for youth and young adults, focused on the theme of "being people of one thing". There are a few key times in the scripture where this phrase is used and it shows us a brilliant picture of wholehearted devotion to God as the primary goal of life.

The team that will speak and lead worship is coming from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. We love these guys! I expect this to be an excellent weekend, one that will challenge as well as open a pathway to greater encounter with God. Anyone who has made their way to the huge yearly Onething conference in KC in late December knows what is waiting us in October.

The dates are Friday and Saturday, October 26-27. The kind people of Calvary Temple in downtown Winnipeg are allowing us to use their facility. To register, you MUST go to the web page and do so online...www.ihop.org/onething

And one more thing: it's FREE!!!!!

More info as we get it.

Blessings,

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

Who Are You?

2007-07-17T17:43:00.001-05:00

Recently, we have been looking again at what God has built in the midst of us and the commission He has placed before us as a house. We were studying the passages at the beginning of 2 Chronicles where Solomon steps forward to complete the building of the temple for the Lord. If you recall, it was David (his dad) who had longed to build the temple for God as a place where worship and offering would go before Him night and day. This was a deep desire in Him and was referenced a number of times in his writings. In Psalm 132, it states that David vowed before God that he would not allow himself in his own house until he established a house for God to dwell...in essence, the temple where God's presence would manifest and where the priests would worship Him. Unfortunately, the job fell from David to his son in the end. David acted wisely, though, and determined that he would support the efforts of his boy in getting this most loving of projects completed.

Following David's death, Solomon called the people to actively complete the structure, and upon completion, put out the call across the land for the people to come. The priests consecrated themselves, the musicians prepared themselves for the ultimate worship service and Solomon moved in all the appropriate furnishings for the temple itself. The final item, the ark of the covenant, signified that they had built this structure as a place for God to dwell. They were ready...

As Solomon prayed to God before the people, He expressed the obvious: "The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" (6:18) And He was right. He was asking for the eternal and unrestrained God of all creation to come and dwell in a building made by human hands. Yet, knowing that somehow this was what God had wanted, he asked of God: "May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive." (6:20-21) As he concluded, fire from heaven came down and consumed the offerings and the presence of God in a cloud descended into the temple. The presence was so strong that the people could not enter or stand in the midst of it.

Shortly after, God came and visited Solomon. He gave to him one of the most famous verses in the Old Testament, the wonderful promise of 2 Chron 7:14. But, even more, He ended the encounter by promising "Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there." (7:15-16)

God wants to dwell with people. In His holiness, it is appropriate that His people draw near consecrated before Him and aware of the their fallenness. Singers and musicians offered Him worship and thanksgiving then because it was His idea. He still loves it today. It was designed to go around the clock because He is worthy of it all. And, His promise is that those who would turn to Him with a repentant heart and love for Him as the motivator will see Him act on their behalf. He will heal the land. He will hear the prayers offered up in a place such as this (ie. the place of worship and devotion). And, His eyes and heart will always be looking this way.

So, do you know who you are? Has God asked you to stand before Him as one who would minster FIRST to Him above all other needs and demands? Are you called to be in a place of dwelling where God is raising up those who will seek Him on behalf of the city they live in? Are you a musician or singer and you feel you NEED to be offering your gift to the creator and lover of your soul in a more direct way? God is raising up Sanctuary and many other prayer expressions right now so these people can find each other and fulfill what God is calling for. Make your way forward and stand before God alone. It matters! And He is worthy of it all.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

No Building? No Problem!

2007-06-18T14:35:00.000-05:00

The date for our building purchase financing for the deal to come together has come and gone, but we are not discouraged. In fact, we had some significant moments where God encountered us in our efforts and REALLY showed us things about ourselves and how we are living. It was a treasured time, one that was exciting and humbling all at once. We continue to look for a permanent home but now with a greater sense of God's intimate working in our midst. We have a new confidence that this journey is not about acquiring property, building infrastructure or feeling like we are accomplishing something that people will think is pretty cool.

Recently, God has been pressing us to think more deeply about what it means to be wholehearted. The more I study the concept, the more I realize that God is looking for wholeheartedness from us more than anything. Its not about what you do for Him but how much you are willingly saying YES to Him on the inside as you step out and try. Even in our weakness, in our immaturity, He looks for the YES! His heart is moved by people fully turned to Him. He relents from sending calamity when people turn with their whole heart back to Him and His way. Check out Joel 2 and 2 Chronicles 7:14 as good examples of this.

Jesus taught that we needed to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and all of our strength. It leaves little room to think there is much else that should occupy our mind, emotions, will and spending habits. He follows this with a direction to love our neighbour as ourself, something that is obviously connected to the first statement. In my view Jesus is saying "its all about me, guys". In our relating to our neighbours, the people in our sphere of influence, treat them as you want to be treated, but love God as you love them. Everything in life that we give ourselves to can and should be an expression of our love and devotion to God. We want to be known as people who loved God with everything we had in us and allowed that love to be manifest in our role as parents, co-workers, actual neighbours and servants of those in need. The One we serve will meet us in eternity one day and our eyes will meet. We will know so much more about Him than we ever thought possible. He will know everything about us. It's all about love for God, folks.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

HELP!

2007-04-25T14:05:00.000-05:00

This is a very exciting time for Sanctuary. We are closing in on our one-year anniversary and plan to celebrate a little bit on May 7th! Thank-you God!! We are still here and still doing what you asked of us, and for that we are so grateful.

At the very same time, we are in the process of buying a building. We found the building above a few months ago sitting empty and crying out for some worship and prayer to happen once again inside it. We talked and prayed, kept taking steps forward and now we have an agreed-upon price, an accepted offer and are now looking for the finances. What a ride! This building would be a great fit for us. It is the right size and shape, has classrooms and a kitchen ready for use and even has a parking lot! The stage is HUGE...this was a Salvation Army church building so they needed room for the brass band. We'll take it, though...we need the space.

I knew things were looking up when, during our first walk-through of the place, I asked Joel (one of our worship leaders) "How would it feel if we set up a keyboard for you right now? Does it feel good in here and can you imagine worshipping Him in this place?" His eager response of "Oh yeah" was just what I was thinking...there had been lots of worship in this place in years past and you could feel it.

So, now we are putting the word out to any who want to help us in this. We need to raise money, plenty of it, for the purchase and we have 45 days to get it together. If you are interested in sowing into this adventure and helping this part of the prayer movement in Winnipeg find a permanent home, you can send us a cheque and a donation receipt will be returned to you. Go to the "Donate" tab on the upper right of this page and you will find info on ways you can give.

We are moving forward toward our goal of 24-7 night and day worship and intercession for this city. Imagine...a place in the city where you can go any time of the day or night and find a team of people singing, praying and ministering to God, the source for all good things to come in our city! We are thrilled at what He is establishing and invite you to be a part of it in this hour of history. God is doing something significant...when people turn to pray, when the cry goes up night and day, justice comes to a city speedily (Luke 18). God is getting ready to do something unprecedented here. Let's do it together!

Blessings,

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

It's a Promise!

2007-03-27T09:49:00.000-05:00

Still studying the Sermon on the Mount. I counted the number of verses in the sermon. There are 106. We are currently on verse 3! This is rich stuff...

Shane spoke again recently. He gave us an explanation of mourning and what it means for us to embrace this feeling in a heart lovesick for God and not where we were created to be. He showed us that mourning was not uncommon even for Jesus. There is a greater future coming, a culmination of a journey bigger than you or I, that will "bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Eph 1:10). We were created to love Him and be loved by Him. Our future home is with Him forever, joined in intimacy and moving in step with His heart. The King of Heaven is going to split the sky and come to this earth for His people, His bride made ready for the wedding day seen in Revelation.

The key to the time in between is to know the end of the story. Though we mourn our own lack now, realizing the wickedness of our own hearts and how easily we give ourselves to lesser pleasures than to the One who loves us, there is an amazing future ahead. Embrace the lack in your life, He says, for you will be comforted. It's a promise! The Son of God has said it is so.

Embracing the Sermon and building well produces changes now. But, they are not always what you expect. Jesus said you are blessed when you realize your povery of spirit. He said you are blessed when you mourn your lack. The word for "blessed" is an interesting one...from the Strong's concordance, it says:

G3107
μακάριος
makarios
mak-ar'-ee-os
A prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ makar (meaning the same); supremely blest; by extension fortunate, well off: - blessed, happy (X -ier).

Hmmmmm...supremely blessed! Well off. Happy. Some have even translated the term "extremely happy". Embracing your lack, knowing that there is more and longing for it, from the viewpoint of Heaven, is being well off, happy and supremely blessed. I love it! It's what we don't know about God and His kingdom that makes me excited and hungry for more. As a friend of mine loved to say, His kingdom is upsidedown!

Be blessed to embrace your weakness before Him! He is so wonderful. And, your future is secure and wonderful as you press forward into the One who waits for you. He is doing a good work in you and you are going to love how it ends :)

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

For HIM!

2007-03-22T10:24:00.000-05:00

I love this photo. It is a recent shot taken from one of our sets. These are just some of the many singers whose main task it is to "prophetically" sing through and in response to scripture passages prayed for this city, the church found in it and the lost who need Jesus. They are a crucial component to our house of prayer. They are much more than back-up singers. We rely on them to hear the words the Spirit is speaking and bring that forth in song. We need them to know the scriptures for they are helping us as we sing and pray through the written word of God. They often carry us as we pray. The help us connect our weak and sometimes cold hearts with a God who loves us more than we know. They are people just like the rest of us, with the same weakness and struggle that presses in on them daily as it does to all of us. But, they are bold! They are willing to take the lead and minister to the heart of God as their first purpose in our house. They have seen something of their bridegroom that has captured their hearts. And they are convinced that they are to sing it out to the Audience of One! Sing, Zion, sing!!

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

Build Well

2007-03-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

We are studying the Sermon on the Mount line-by-line, section-by-section, these days. At the speed we are going we will be in this section of scripture for many months, if not years. But, we are in no hurry to move on. We have a firm conviction that the teaching laid out in Matthew 5-7 is "Christianity 101", the basics of the faith. It is a plan given to every believer to guide them along their journey toward eternity. It is meant to be taken seriously. It is meant to be lived out and not just given mental assent. If it takes us a year or two to cover all of the material, so be it. It is going to take a lifetime to make it a reality in our hearts and actions.

I think the end of the Sermon ties it together well.

Matthew 7:24-27

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Jesus is telling his disciples (and the rest of us) that hearing these words, even believing them, and doing nothing with them will make you a fool. A wise person actually builds these teaching into his life, believing that this is wisdom for living. Even more than that, it is direction from Jesus, the uncreated God standing before them in human flesh. He knows everything, has infinite wisdom, power and strength and is giving them direction for life. He is right...only a fool would ignore the words of such a man.

But, why is this so critical to act on? The key is found in the image of a house standing (or falling) under the force of a storm. Jesus is saying this life is going to bring storms and they are unavoidable. Every person will experience them at some point in their life. They come in the form of sickness, economic hardship, even death of a loved one. They are rarely expected and hit us like a storm out of control, powerful enough to knock us off balance if not well rooted to the ground. Seasons of uncertainty sometimes bring out the best in us, but all too often bring out the worst instead. Jesus is saying, "You are going to experience difficult times, some of which will hit you with force when you do not expect it...build well, for your house can fall if you have ignored my counsel".

There is a second "storm" that has the potential to strike us off balance as well, but is experienced on a national or even global level and is entirely out of our control. Living in the Western world, we only sometimes think of this kind of trouble, but the suffering church in China, the hungry and AIDS-inflicted children in Africa or those running from military fallout in Iraq and so many other nations will tell you differently. Trouble can come from outside your sphere of influence and completely change your life. The scriptures say that before the return of Jesus to the earth again when He comes to establish His reign on the earth, there will be "there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again (Matt 24:21). This earth is going to feel the storm like no other in that hour.

The final and perhaps most severe storm is waiting for some on the other side of this life. Again, the scripture teaches that there is a judgement awaiting all, an evaluation of our lives and real decisions will be rendered to correspond with it. He is going to judge the earth. He who knows everything about us; every thought, every action, every choice ever made by every person. There will be nowhere to hide on that day. The eternal God of infinite love will not suspend his eternal and infinite justice as He looks into our very being. His evaluation will be right. We will know it.

Be wise...build well!

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

Fasting Again...

2007-03-07T11:36:00.000-06:00

We are on the final day of a 3-day corporate fast and it has been a good time. We have decided to join in with our friends at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and take on a 3-day fast on the first Mon-Wed of each month. They call it the "Global Bridegroom Fast". Catchy title :) We have taken part twice now and have mostly focused around the ideas found in Revelation 22:17. It has been a joyous adventure to turn our hearts (and stomachs) toward the idea of the return of Jesus to the earth. It is not something most people think much about. It is almost never included as part of an intercession meeting. But, we are finding it to be critical to who we are and what God is calling us to pray for in this hour of history.

This passage is a real motivator for me. I love the phrase "the Spirit and the Bride say COME". What an amazing thing that the Holy Spirit is initiating an ever-increasing cry from deep within the Bride for the return of the Bridegroom to the earth! Hearts will be stirred to the reality of His return. Eyes will be open to who it is we really long for and how much better it will be to have Him with us here in this place. The Spirit is leading us into truth. He is stirring our hearts for a greater reality than what we now know. He is ushering in the culmination of the kingdom. The "not-yet" will finally overtake the "already" and we will see the plan that the Father has designed before any of us ever took a breath and called this place home.

As well, the passage says, "let him who hears say COME". The call to any who are listening and can understand what the Spirit is saying to the church right now is "COME". Agree with what God is stirring in His bride in this hour! Join our voices to His purpose. In fact, we like to ask that He will "come to us before He comes for us". We want God to pour out His Spirit in a move of power in this age that will sweep oh so many into the kingdom. We want Him to have mercy on our city and break the controls of darkness that keep people in bondage and despair. Before you return for your Bride, add to it significantly in our city!

The issue is not when Jesus is returning exactly. The issue is agreeing that, in fact, He really is coming back and we can have confidence in this. We can agree with His plans, ask for his compassion and justice in the place we live and look with love and expectation for our great and glorious hope.

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

More on Hour #2

2007-02-16T10:05:00.000-06:00

God knows what He is doing, I tell ya!

We re-vamped our schedule quite a bit at the start of the year, as many of you know, and were suddenly faced with a significant challenge or two. We had new themes that we were excited about singing and praying through, but not as much understanding about any of them as we had believed. The focus on singing around the "one thing" concept (we focused on Psalm 27:4 and David's request that he be of one thing all his life) was really good for the first number of months. When we left it behind for a season and chose to take on singing through the Song of Songs, for example, the challenge was obvious: we had much to learn about this book.

Well, hour #2 was equally challenging to start. One of our worship leaders, Johan, came to me with the idea of focusing on the "dwelling place of God" in the scriptures. I knew what he meant, actually. It had been a private area of focus for me for the last 2 years and I was fascinated with the implications for our house and the city we pray for. God often dwelled in a very specific place in much of the Old Testament. Was it something locked in history or were there principles there for us to explore and pray into for our time and geography?

With this in mind, we set out to sing and pray through it. We had a few favourite verses and took the approach that we would ask for God to come and dwell in a more manifest way in our prayer house, the bride in our city and the city of Winnipeg itself. We decided that an intercession format was best for this. Let’s just begin to ask for more of God and see where He takes us.

The first few weeks were good but still a bit confusing. What exactly were we asking for? Did we want God to come as He did when He shook the mountain in Exodus, smoke and fire and all? Or, were we looking for His presence manifested in us and the way we lived our lives differently? Did we want some form of spiritual warfare to happen? Were we hoping that the spirit of murder or something equally powerful was going to be dislodged by our efforts? Or, did we want Acts 2 and the outpouring of the Spirit in power to come one more time? I don’t think we really knew, actually…

Last week, however, things came together a bit more. Somehow, despite our weakness and lack of understanding, the Spirit of God drew it all together and we were clear for an hour. We saw something that showed us a house where God was tangibly felt, His power made manifest in healing, deliverance, kindness and salvation. We realized He wanted to dwell in our midst and the midst of every group of believers anywhere in Winnipeg even more that we knew. He wanted to rest in us, speak tenderly of His feelings for us and make us like His son. He wanted the whole city to love the King of Heaven. He wanted the kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. He wanted Winnipeg for Himself as He will one day have it when Jesus returns to rule the earth. We prayed for the salvation of every person in Winnipeg. We asked for power to come to the church in every area of life and ministry. We asked for God to rest in this city in a way that we have not experienced in living memory. And, we KNEW that this is what He wanted to do.

There are dark and troublesome days ahead for this earth. The bible is clear on it. In the days before the Second Coming of the Son to the earth, Jesus himself said that there would be "distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again." The indicators are everywhere. Political turmoil is coming. Disease is coming. Storms are coming. But, God has in mind to find people and cities that He will rest in, setting His kingdom in place in a profound way and drawing all people to Himself.

God doesn't dwell in a building or a box made with hands anymore. He dwells in and with the ones He loves. May He come to us and may He come quickly.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

So Cold!

2007-02-05T13:55:00.000-06:00

It has been a little chilly of late here in Winnipeg. Last night the temperature (with the wind chill added in) hit -53C on our streets. When I headed out to our internship class at 8:30 this morning, it was -40C...fortunately there was no wind to speak of! Even in our prayer room yesterday, the heating system struggled to keep up and many people wore their coats as they paced around and tried to remain focused.

We are a city of extremes!

Having said that, we were there and given to what we do. As well, it was Super Bowl Sunday, something not quite as popular in Canada as the Grey Cup or the Stanley Cup playoffs, but still enough to keep people in their homes. I realized as we prayed and sang through the scriptures together that there is no place I would rather be. And, that was saying something. I love that we would gather together to express love and worship to God despite our comforts. I love that God loves it when we do it. I love that I am with a group of people who are just as eager to live this way. And, I know that this journey matters. Eternity is a breath away and He is waiting for me...He's waiting for you too!

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

Hour #2

2007-01-24T14:44:00.000-06:00

Have you ever considered how things tend to come full-circle? There are a lot of those kinds of situations in life. In fact, life itself for many on this earth tends to come around to where it began . We start out as fully alive but fully reliant of others for the most basic necessities of life. We need help with everything...we can't even feed ourselves! As we get older, we get stronger, more capable and more independent. Many of us have the opportunity at some point of raising children of our own and helping them begin life in their weakness. By the time our natural life draws to a close, however, our strength usually fails us, our mind often slows and we become reliant on others for the basics of survival. What a strange moment when we realize we are once again in need of someone else to feed us. It all comes around. It is life in its most honest of moments. Death comes to all and it is the great equalizer.

For God there is a cycle unfolding as well. Being outside of time, however, this cycle is only measured within His relationship to humanity. But, there is an end that is very familiar to the beginning and God is waiting for it to be realized. As He dwelled with humans in the initial season following creation, enjoying their presence walking among them, He waits and works toward the day when He will once again dwell with His people and we will experience His presence. Revelation 21:3 tells us...

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Amazing! God is going to end this phase of eternity by bringing it all around to the way it was supposed to be. It is in His heart that we should be in His presence forever. He longs to be closer that we feel Him in this age. He knows that, for now at least, this level of nearness to His unrestrained presence is almost the maximum we will experience. And yet...

It is our conviction that if we ask for more of His presence in our city, that He will come and dwell in our midst in a more substantial way. It is what revivals are made of, actually. It is not a new concept, just one less frequently experienced than we would wish. We at Sanctuary want to be a place where God can come and dwell in the midst of us. We want a city where He is not striving with His bride to be like Him and act out their lives as He would have them. We want Him to come with power in this age, even in part, and remove sickness, pain and bondage from this place. We want His kingdom to come now in our city as it is in heaven (ie. as it will be in the fullness of time when He dwells with us).

So, hour #2 of our Sunday setlist is dedicated to this concept. We sing and pray through passages related to the increase of God's dwelling presence among us, His advancing kingdom and what it will look it when it is fulfilled, and how we need to live in this process. We are called to move in step with Him, forsaking sin at every turn, and living lives of servanthood as worship unto the Bridegroom, King and Judge. We are called to minister to Him, to please His heart and to enjoy Him in all of it. We ask that He change us, this city and all involved. Do whatever is necessary, God, but bring changes that will allow for more of your presence dwelling richly and powerfully with us. For we are in love with you and long to have you with us.

Next time, I will tell you what it sounds like...you're gonna love it!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

More on Hour #1

2007-01-17T09:44:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday, I sat in the prayer room while one of the teams led us through an hour on Ephesians 1:17-18. It was Hour #1 and I loved what I saw!

First of all, it needs to be said that our format is an unusual one if you are more used to a Sunday morning worship set experience. Instead of a leader and a band backing him or her up, we function with more of a team approach. There is a leader, of course, but there is much more reliance on each part of the team to accomplish the purpose of the meeting. For example, the worship leader will lead in a song, but it will be the singers who will carry the bulk of the spontaneous singing around the specific passage (in this case, the Ephesians passage). In addition, it is a prayer leader who will inject thoughts, prayers and ideas into the mix as the set goes along. The music never stops. The ideas keep coming. Many are creative. Some are prophetic. All of it is fascinating if you are new to this.

During last Sunday's set, I watched as our prayer leader launched his first statement into the flow. Cncerning the passage, he asked "what is the hope of our calling, God?" . It was this simple statement that set the whole hour in motion and it was so much fun to watch the singers look for phrases to sing along this line, digging for deeper understanding, praying under their breath for God to bring clarity and trying to sing something nice to listen to at the same time.

I love our singers! They are bold and confident. Most of them realized a long time ago that it matters less how you sound and matters more what God is seeing and hearing in the process. Is what you are doing coming from a place of integrity? Are you connecting with God? Are you listening to the Spirit and letting Him guide you to further revelation as you honour the scriptures? Our singers have it. They are singing because they believe it matters. Their hearts are increasingly softened by God and His truth. They are serving in their weakness and it all counts.

At some point during this Sunday set, the picture was getting clearer. It's hard to explain, but sometimes at this stage of a set, as the singers and prayer leader are responding to one another as well as to the passage in question, a singular idea will emerge that everyone knows is coming from God and is "greater than the sum of our parts". It's these lines that we will sing in unison over and over, letting anyone in the room join in and interact with God around the ideas themselves. Someone on the team (I'm not even sure who...which is the way it should work) came up with the phrase "you will give us robes and crowns and we will rule with you". And there it was! Eternity was coming into focus, in a new phrase and with a melody attached, but it was a view we know about but so easily forget. The answer to the original question was being answered in a way that was inspiring our hearts and resonating in our spirits. It was causing us to think about the brevity of our life here on this earth and what was waiting for us next. Sure, we could have all sat around a table and done a bible study with commentaries on the passage. And, that would have been just fine. But, there is something about receiving revelation in the midst of worship, prayer and community that stirs the soul. God was here and helping us...it was thrilling.

And this was just the first hour....:) There were 6 hours that followed. I have much more to write, I guess. Wait until you hear what the Spirit uncovered for us in our set devoted to the Song of Solomon!! Or, what came as they sang through passages related to the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of the world.

Join us if you are in the area.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

It's a Whole New Year!

2007-01-09T14:02:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Sanctuary in 2007! We have made changes to our schedule that you need to know about, ones that incorporate new themes and new leaders. This is going to be fun.

Our first set of each Sunday is going to be focused on praying through an Apostolic Prayer. These prayers are found in the letters written to the churches and are amazing treasures of language and understanding of what God has on His heart for cities. Sanctuary is committed to using the bible as our prayer-book. It is God's written word to us and has power in the hearing, praying and understanding. We have found these prayers to be exceptional aids in saying it well when it is time to pray for our city. The years have passed since these were first written (centuries, actually) but the truth contained in them is timeless.

One of our favourites is found in Ephesians 1:17. This passage documents Paul praying for the church in Ephesus mid-way through the first century. He is writing to encourage them and give counsel, as he did for all the churches in his care, and as he arrives at v. 17 he is on a roll. He has just given the richest description of how God feels about them, what He has given them through this joining that has happened in Jesus giving Himself up for them and how it is all going to end. It is powerful stuff if you let it soak in to your spirit a bit. Verse 4 is a wonderful start to this discussion: "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love." Imagine the implications of this. God knew about you before this all began and had AT THAT TIME decided that you were the focus. You were going to be the reason for it all. It was you that had won His affection and He was going to work toward having you whole and holy at the end. Amazing! Grasping this can go a long way to helping us change our approach to everyday life in its most mundane moments. There is reason and purpose to it all, and He waits for us in eternity. He is not waiting for you to get it right and attain to something...He is working for you to see that it happens!

Verse 10 tells us that God will have it all under one head when He draws this earth to a close. Everything in heaven and on the earth will come together. God will dwell with us and we are going to love it.

With all this fresh in his mind and heart, inspired by divine truth and probably buzzing from the presence of God at the mere writing of it, Paul goes on to pray for these people. Verse 17 tells us that he asks for something unexpected but obviously critical to their growth, stability and increasing joy: "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." This is an amazing request, one that we draw on again and again in our meetings. God, show us more of who you are! If we can see more, know more and comprehend more of who you are, we will see it correctly, live well and please you. It is a critical prayer in this hour for all churches and we pray it for Winnipeg's church family all the time. To know Him is to love Him. To see with His eyes is to get priorities right.

Come for our first hour and join with us as we sing and pray through this prayer and the many others like it in the New Testament.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

The Holidays Are Here!

2006-12-20T14:39:00.000-06:00

This is just a short note to let everyone know of our hours over the holiday break. As both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve fall on Sundays, it was tempting to just do what we do. But, people away and all has made the following adjustments to our schedule:

December 24th: we are meeting from 2:30 to 5:30 for this one day only. It is all about Christmas on this day, with a Going Deeper set dedicated to singing and praying through passages related to "emmanuel--God with us" starting the day. We will have two Devotion sets where our leaders will sing from their heart and minister to God in preparation for the special day to follow. And, in the third hour, we are going to have what I like to call "The Gratitude Set", a time focused on bringing the gift of thankfulness to the King on his birthday. The mic will be open for all to come and express thanks to God about anything that moves them. We may even have a rapid fire session :)

December 31st: we are taking the day off! Many of our people are on their way to the big event in KC and we thought a rest now and then is a welcome thing at this point in our journey. We may be wishing for these kinds of natural moments someday if our path takes us to where I think we are going...

January 7th: we are back and beginning at 2:30pm as usual. There will be a new schedule of meetings in place for the new year. Check the schedule page in the weeks to come for themes and times. As well, come to hear teaching on our study of the Sermon on the Mount. We are going to take our time and go through it line by line, believing this is a basic framework for life in pursuit of God and living like the Son. Teaching begins each Sunday night at 6:30pm.

Have a great holiday!!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Shane Says More...

2006-12-04T15:38:00.001-06:00

Last night, Shane told us a bit about the Holy One and our call to be holy as He is holy. Here is a brief recap:

-people don't like the idea of living a holy life...it hurts too much or it's considered unnecessary.

-the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5-7 is the picture of a holy life.

-it is mandated to us by Jesus Himself.

-are we going to do it perfectly? Never!

-do we need to do it perfectly? Of course not...but we need to try.

-its all about the heart. Joel 2 says to "tear your heart as you turn wholeheartedly to God"...sounds like he really means "tear it!"

-Jesus said it too..."gouge out your eye"...did he mean it literally? No, but the level of severity toward sin is the point. Take it seriously.

-Grace is not permission to live as close to the edge of darkness as possible without getting caught or kicked out of the kingdom.

-Grace is empowerment to live a life "worthy of the Lord" (Colossians 1:10) and gives us the ability to say NO to sin (Titus 2:11).

-Grace is receiving what you do not deserve!

-God loves you more than you realize.

-God is committed to you living well and being with Him for eternity more than you are.

-there is a difference between immaturity and rebellion (and in your own heart, you know the difference...and God knows it too).

-God will give grace upon grace to an immature believer who is sincere in the journey to love God and hate sin. Rebellion will be resisted by He who knows everything and has all power in the universe. This sounds like a bad place to live...

-saying YES to God continuously, fighting to live right before Him even in the secret place of our heart, will be blessed by God and make a difference in eternity.

-the reward at the end is an eternity with this very same Holy God who has allured you forward all your life. All will be revealed at that time; the measures He took to win your heart and draw you to love Him instead of the pleasures of this world and the sin that so easily entangles. It will be worth it all!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

The Awakening

2006-11-28T09:53:00.000-06:00

Last night we had the honour of being asked to serve an inter-church gathering by leading a time of intercession for our city. It was a pretty big prayer meeting by our standards. There were certainly 250 or more people in attendence and we got almost 50 people to the mic for our "rapid fire" section. We did go a little longer than expected but Trevor, the organizer and pastor of "The Link" church, was cheering us on the whole time.

It was fun to be part of something larger than what we are used to for a change. The music was loud, the band was tight and the people were into it. It had the basics for an exciting night.

Still, the whole time I felt the pull to our small prayer room and meetings with attendence often in the single digits. We focus upward to the throne of Heaven. The folks sitting in the room with us get to come along for the ride but our time before the Lord is literally seen as OUR TIME!

As well, big meetings are useful to gather, encourage and empower on a certain level. But, the reality that this whole thing is lived out in the day-to-day remains unchanged. What it looks for each of us, on our own in secret as well as in the public meetings, is what will really matter decades from now.

So, the night was a success. But, for Sanctuary it is an enjoyable moment on a journey forward that will be done more in secret or mostly alone than anything else. We are committed to praying with passion and determination for the city of Winnipeg and all that he planned for this place. May the efforts of Trevor and the many leaders who are pressing ahead in this be greatly blessed. I truly desire that this be the beginning of a significant move of God in our community. We will do our part to see it come to pass.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Beyond The Fast

2006-11-14T13:48:00.001-06:00

So, it was a great 10 days of hunger and devotion to Jesus. Sure, many of us felt weaker, colder and hungrier than we ever want to feel again. But, the general concensus is "it was all worth it!". In fact, Shane's humurous announcement that we were beginning a 40 day fast today, ending on Dec 24th, didn't really phase most of us.

Beyond the fasting, however, we are excited about the future. The Lord has been speaking to us recently about the priesthood and ministering to Him with our lives. The story of Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 29 contained much for us to consider in our journey to minister to God. This new king, only 25 years old in fact, was wise enough to realize that God was no longer dwelling with His people in the way possible because the temple had been desecrated and left unattended. He knew that God would come and dwell in the actual building, and as a result in the midst of the people, if they would restore the structure and take up their role to minister before Him once again. In fact, Hezekiah is so confident of God's willingness to return and dwell with them again that he calls the priests to activity with determination. In v. 11 he says to the priests among them (in essence), "Now is not the time to negligent of your calling. Time to stand and do what you are called to do, because I am about to make a promise to God and ask Him to return. If I promise to Him, He will respond...so, get ready!".

After this he calls them to "stand, serve, minister and burn incense" before the Lord. Be bold. Be confident before Him. Do what He asks of you. Do what is the essence of the kingdom and do it before this audience of One. Please His heart as you do it. Find out what He loves and do that. Seek out His heart and mind on things. Agree with His plans and decisions. And offer up the prayers of others as incense for He loves to receive it from you.

Sanctuary exists to create a place for God to dwell with us more than He does in this age. It will not be the only place, but it will be a place intentionally created and maintained for the presence of God. He will be served, ministered to and adored constantly. Those who come will be called to stand before the Uncreated One, to not shrink back and become negligent. His eyes are never off of us for He loves us and will have us for Himself. We are going forward with this reality as our fuel for the journey.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Fast Day #8

2006-11-06T14:32:00.001-06:00

We had a good day yesterday! We certainly are moving a little slower and feeling a whole lot weaker, but there is a tenderness I notice in most of us that is God at work. Fasting truly is an amazing experience when combined with prayer and devotion to Jesus in a determined way.

Hour after hour was rich with hearts engaged and the room filled with worship. I was really struck by the intensity with which everyone brought to the intercession set. It felt like we were never more honest before Him, never more desperate for His presence and never more convinced that He enjoyed us in our efforts than at that moment. Sure we were cold, tired and hungry...that is all part of the experience and there was no holding back last night.

Today, in our internship class, we were listening to some of the prophetic words given that have shaped some of where we are and what is emerging in the prayer movement world wide. A phrase caught my ears: "You don't really understand whats happening here, do you?". Funny, because the context was a prophetic-man saying this to an emerging leader in intercession. I remember listening to this same dialogue a few years back and being struck that I was in the very same place. I really had no idea what I was doing here. I was beginning to "experiment" with worship and intercession but I could never have concieved of that time producing all that we are now. I had no concept of what was happening in my city, in our nation and in the earth. What was God doing and why was this little group of people in Winnipeg important to Him in it all?

Its a few years later now and I smiled as I heard it again. Things are considerably clearer now. There is a reason for all this and it doesn't have much to do with whether anyone out there recognizes it or not. We are called to stand before the Lord God of Heaven! That is much is certain. He is doing things in the earth right now and He is inviting people to partner with Him through intercession and agreement with His plans. This is more than a place to bless our city in the hope that things will improve around here. He is striding forward and we are invited to move with Him in this simple way.

God is so faithful. I am sure there is even more to the story, but there are years ahead for us and He seems more than willing to keep us informed and shape us according to what He has for us.

Continue to pray with us. We conclude this fasting period as the day ends this Wednesday.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Fast Day #4

2006-11-02T15:12:00.001-06:00

It has been a good week so far. Although I missed the meeting on Tuesday, I understand that it was a packed house and a good meeting. There is something powerful about gathering together during a fast to seek God together. The theme of interceding for the under-30 generation was put aside for the night to focus on asking for the Sanctuary community and for an increase in revelation. Good stuff!

No majour encounters have been reported yet. "Stay steady", I have heard over and over again from those who are feeling hungrier, weaker and more in touch with the things of the spirit these days. You have no idea what you are giving yourself to, folks! Turning to God with your whole heart really matters!!

There is some increasing excitement about this weekend's meetings, as well. Maybe its because people are more sensitive right now, but the feeling seems to be spreading that this weekend could be a significant one for us. More on that next Monday, I guess. I am eager to find ourselves together again, offering who we are in our weakened state to God. It is pleasing to Him and that makes me very happy. We will ask for more from that headspace. Ministering to Him is thrilling once you see it for what it is.

I was talking with a pastor of a church in the city recently and we talked about the awesome transcendence of who the Lord is and the seperation that exists in the minds of believers as they set out to serve in the community. But, if you can get it in your head that He really is as awesome and near to us as we dare to imagine, it makes perfect sense of standing before Him first on our way to ministering to people in His name. He stands King and Bridegroom over this city. He loves these people more than we ever could. He calls us to partner with Him in HIS WORK! But, never forget it; He is God...and we are not. So, with love, fear and excitement we stand before Him to minister to His heart, knowing He is pleased by this.

To say it another way, "go through the fire on your way to loving your neighbour".

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Fast Day #2

2006-10-31T15:19:00.001-06:00

We had a rockin' discussion this morning at our internship class about the presence of angels in our daily activities. Some of it was biblical, some more theological and much of it experiential. What did we conclude? Well...

1. We are quick to recognize the presence of a demon and act on it, but don't recognize the presence of an angel with as much conviction. For some reason, most felt they needed to be a bit more convinced if someone said "I felt the presence of an angel, although I didn't actually see it". And, that is not good.

2. Most had desire to see angels but not much interest in seeing demons. I understand...

3. We were quick to state that there seems to be a biblical precedent for finding angels all-too-attractive and tending toward worshipping them when they were around. That, too, was a bad thing and one we wanted to keep in mind. God is our focus...exclusively...utterly...forever...

4. Although a few of us had brief encounters with angels in the natural realm (seeing them in some form), almost all of us could say they had the experience of feeling like there was an angel in the room with us at one time and being almost...able....to see....it..... Turns out they are more present in our experience than we were realizing, despite not actually seeing much.

5. We all want to see them!

6. We love Jesus even more as we consider these ones as servants of Him, acting on His behalf to minister to us in some form.

7. God is totally in control and neither angel nor demon has anything to say or do to you without His permission granted. Don't you love the safety you feel in that?

Tonight we are meeting at Shane and Kristi's place for our Tuesday pm intercession meeting. We are putting aside the under-30 focus for this week to call out as a community for more revelation and direction. Come if you are in the neighbourhood!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

The Fast Begins

2006-10-30T14:17:00.001-06:00

Today is the first day of our 10-day corporate fast. We are once again calling our community to join together in restricting their food intake and praying more around some central themes. We are feeling this time that God would have us press in and ask Him to release revelation to us about our House and what the future holds for us. It is an exciting time as very often corporate prayer and fasting releases a new season in God for the community. Most of us are desperate to know Him in a deeper way, to hear what He is saying to us personally and corporately and to be changed for the future.

Of course, fasting is a discipline that serves to show us just how weak we really are. There is something about going without food for a time that has a person weaker and stronger all at the same time. Stronger if they turn their weakness into prayer and seek God in the midst of it, that is.

We were considering the possibilities last night. What COULD the Lord do for those who are turning to Him with focus and devotion, asking for Him to speak to us? The question should really be "What if...?" for all manner of revelation can happen to any of us at any time. To assume that it won't amount to much or that He will speak only to the really committed ones is just bad thinking. He is not impressed by our efforts, but He loves us more that we know. He wants to speak to us and often stirs a community to press towards Him in fasting and prayer for just such a purpose. He stirs us, we respond thinking it was our idea, He gives the grace to endure and stay steady AND THEN He responds with the encounters He wanted to give us in the first place. You just have to love the way He does it! He is so engaging. And He draws us constantly with hunger...usually spiritual hunger, but for this week it is physical as well.

Join with us if you have heart for this city and long to see His kingdom established here. Join with us if you are beginning to believe that His return is sooner than you thought and great difficulty is coming to all on the earth. Join with us if you want to hear Him more clearly and want to feel His presence.

Updates to follow...

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Searching...

2006-10-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

We are feeling stirred these days to look for a more permanent home for our house of prayer. We have been hosted by The King's Fellowship on Osbourne Street since late April of this year and it has been a HUGE blessing. But, in the last while we have been feeling the need to look with even more diligence for our new home. King's has been able to give us free reign but only for limited hours, as we share the facility. We are eager to take our growth to the next level and have meetings on a daily basis. We need our own place to make this happen.

Please pray with us in this next season. We are going to begin a 10-day corporate time of fasting and prayer beginning on October 30th. We will focus on asking God to speak clearly to us and give us further insight to what He has for us in the next season ahead. We believe that part of that will include understanding on a new location.

I'll keep you updated as we hear from God and as we search out a building to house us.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

God Is Not A Stoic Detached Being

2006-10-10T11:10:00.001-05:00

Shane spoke again a couple of weeks ago and really gave it to us straight on the love of God for humanity. He was on to something when he said "God is not stoic...and he is not detached". The word stoic is defined as "of or pertaining to the school of philosophy founded by Zeno, who taught that people should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity". Boy, Shane is right; God is not stoic!

For many of us, we see Him as one who directs things on this earth, moves the pieces around in our lives and on a macro level beyond human comprehension, but never really gets too emotionally involved. Some see Him as so intelligent, with infinite foreknowledge and wisdom, that He is never moved by any event...He knows it all already so He remains unimpressed by anything. At the same time, when we consider our own failings and weakness, we are keenly aware that God has feelings towards us...and they are all negative. We are sure that He is disappointed, angry and generally weary of working with us as sinful as we are.

But, the truth is that God feels deeply and it is not mostly negative. A most profound verse always comes to mind here: Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. (Ephesians 1:4 The Message). Amazing! Before He established the earth in its foundations, He had us in mind. He saw you. He knew about you in your entirety, your strengths and your weaknesses. He knew of your propensity to sin and be so easily distracted. He knew that you would struggle, fail frequently, live a life less than worthy of Him and yet...He determined that you were the focus of His love. It is more that the focus of His building plan. It's His love. And, how deep this love is! Another passage in Ephesians 3 says that the love of Christ is essentially boundless ("how deep, how wide, how long, how high is this love").

God is moved by our activity on this earth. But more often, I believe, He is moved with love and desire for us than He is overwhelmed in disappointment. He is working actively to have us "whole and holy". He loves it when we turn our face towards Him. He is not thrown off by our weakness. He already knew it, it's true, and yet He has great passion for us to press through and choose to live voluntary love for Him in the midst of it. Every time you choose not to give yourself to sin, even the hidden stuff, because you want it to be an expression of love for Him, it is a significant thing in the heart of God. Every time you choose to love someone else, especially the ones who are not so loveable, as an expression of love for Him, it is moving His heart.

There is great comfort in my heart that God knows it all already and still likes me! My life can really be about love, then. I don't have to earn it. I can't make Him love me any less. But, I can embrace it. And, that is the best news I can think of.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

A Sunday in the Fall

2006-09-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

The colours of our clothing are changing with the seasons. New people are singing all the time. And we are so thankful that God would allow us to be part of something like this...

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

More On Staying Steady

2006-09-27T09:51:00.001-05:00

We at Sanctuary have a keen interest in the Sermon on the Mount. Giving ourselves to a lifestyle of worship and intercession for our city can put us in a dangerous place, one that could cause us to lose sight of the big picture of the kingdom and its advancement. Someone said one time that it is easy to pray for "revival" in the city and forget that we are praying for actual people! "We don't pray for people, we pray for revival...". Now that is a scary way of looking at this.

The passages in Matthew 5-7 give us lots to consider about how we live our lives in and out of the prayer room. Meeetings are meetings, and should never be mistaken for a life well lived in and of themselves. Jesus was serious when he walked through this most amazing of sermons that living this way will make a difference before God.

My favourite part of the sermon is actually the final section, subtitled "the wise and foolish builders".

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

A few things are clear from his closing counsel. He tells those who were there listening that they need to take it seriously...all of it. It is often missed in teaching I have heard that Jesus means for them to take the words He has just spoken and build on them in a lifestyle redirected. There is no suggestion that you can pick the parts you like and employ only them. He presented in one block of thought and then counsells them to take it ALL and build well.

As well, Jesus makes it clear that you will be tested in your life and building well on this will allow you to stand firm. It is not question of IF you are tested, but WHEN! Everyone is going to experience the storms that can shake the foundations of life and send us adrift. Sickness, tragedy, economic loss...you name it. It comes to all of us at some point. And, death is a guarantee for absoultely everyone regardless. You will stand before the "ultimate storm" that is a Holy God determined to review your life and reward for how you lived.

The return of Jesus to the earth is another "storm" that some generation will be chosen to live through. Increasingly we believe it is much closer than you think and are choosing to live like great trouble is coming for the earth. Living well is wisdom in any hour of history but is really wise in the face of a crisis unlike any the world has seen.

Living a life of hidenness and intergrity is critical. Killing someone is obviously wrong. But, Jesus said that the same spirit is at work in you when you have anger in your heart against someone. Jesus said: "when you fast...", not if you fast. These are hard teachings. They can be easily turned into law and be used to beat us further into bondage, the very thing Jesus was working against. But, they are HIS teaching on how best to live and they produce good things in those who will build on them.

Staying steady in Sanctuary is all about living this out in secret AND in the prayer room. Be generous with the needy. Don't worry about money. Don't judge but pray and keep praying for those who need the help. Watch your heart. Love God with passion. Go for meekness. Live well. For a long time. Do it for years. Decades. Don't give up. Ever. Stay steady.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Seven Years!!

2006-09-21T13:25:00.001-05:00

Our good friends and "heroes" in the prayer movement, the International House of Prayer in Kansas City (www.ihop.org), have reached a remarkable milestone. This week they were able to celebrate that they had corporately worshipped and prayed for their city and the nations of the earth uninterrupted for 7 years! Yes, you read it correctly...they have not stopped singing, playing and praying 24 hrs a day, seven days a week, for 7 years. What started as a modest effort in an elementary school trailer with a handful of singers and musicians has blossomed into over 500 full-time intercessory missionaries and an extended community of over 2000 (at least that is how many came out to eat and party with them earlier this week). They have fasted for what amounts to a total of over 7 months in that time, gone without lots of sleep and lots of money, but stayed steady and were bold in their lifestyle and their dedication to the kingdom. And, they have paved the way for people like us!

My first encounter with IHOP dates back to year #3 for them. They were still in the trailer at that time and it was crowded. I was entirely unprepared for what I was to see and feel in the next two days. It was filled with passion and zeal, but was nothing wonderful to look at. It was, as they are fond of saying, "a little rough and ugly". But, it was real. I sat in a meeting as one lady shared of a spiritual encounter she had with God earlier that day. She said "...and the voice of the Lord thundered" and, as if on cue, one loud clap of thunder was heard over the top of the trailer. I looked at my friend and we were both stunned. "Did you just hear that?", I said, but there was no mistaking it. It thundered on cue! We were even more surprised when a minute later she said something about the reign of God and again, right on cue, a downpour opened up that pounded on the roof for maybe a minute and then was gone. Maybe things like that happen in KC, but where I come from this was pretty amazing.

Of course, IHOP is about more than unusual experiences and goosebumps. They are young people convinced that they can and should know God more than they do. And they are willing to do something about it. They hold the bible in the highest regard and strive to know it and find God in it. They pray because the know that the changes that will really impact a city or region come from the all-powerful King of Heaven and Earth. They believe in prayer! The power dimensions of the kingdom have followed consistently as they have pressed forward into Him. They have lots of healing, among their prayer community but more importantly in the neighbourhood as well. People have come to know Jesus. The poor have been fed, clothed and served with consistency. In fact, one of our good friends is working mostly with a group who is in the inner-city and amongst the broken for many days each week. And there is much more to come, she tells me.

We are encouraged as we think about their journey. They were just folks like us who felt a call to do something a little different. Most of the time it is in hiddenness. But staying steady before God in this has been their highest achievement. I feel challenged, energized and so thankful.

Great blessings on IHOP and what the Lord has for you next. We are celebrating with you!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

How is it Going?

2006-09-05T15:58:00.000-05:00

We are just wrapping up the summer season here in Winnipeg. Things really slow down in the summer here, probably because the winter is just so long and you can't pass up getting out in the heat when you feel it. It's just part of life here and we roll with it. Sanctuary has been less affected by this than most churches, though. We have had a steady stream of people participating and have only once had to reduce our hours. And, that was as much about needing a rest as it was about lack of people to make it all happen.

Two Sundays ago we had a big surprise waiting for us during our 6:30 Intercession set. We had been going since 2:30pm as usual, but we had also gone to the Village Vineyard in the city for their morning gathering. We had a good time leading worship, speaking and then conducting a short but intense prayer meeting for their church and neighbourhood(Lord, let your Spirit fall in the Village and let them lead the revolution they are seeking). By the time 6:30 came around, though, we were pretty tired. As usual it was also very warm in our building so it made staying energized all the more difficult.

But, just when I was thinking about maybe encouraging the folks to just "stay steady" despite how they felt, the Lord drew closer and He had other plans. He spoke through one of our people and invited us to experience Him in a specific way. His power was really present and lots of people were significantly impacted. Our intercession meeting was really on hold as we went with what the Spirit was doing with us. It went on for about 45 minutes. For those who remember the Toronto Blessing, think back and you know understand a little of what was happening.

The challenge for us is to remain focused on the larger purpose that he has given us in being a house of prayer, all the while embracing the wind of the Spirit and the "divine disruptions" that sometimes come. A wise man once told me of these kinds of moments: "You wait your whole life for God to draw this near. Do you really want to control and administrate it at this point?" Amen to that, brother! It is just exciting to have God come in new and fresh ways, strengthening and empowering us for devotion and service to Him. Wonderful.

In other news, the intership classes are going well and we are having a blast going deeper into who God is and how we can better know Him. Our study of mercy and justice, combined with our times helping out at WCV are taking us somewhere. He is a very good leader. It is quite thrilling to consider God in terms of His attributes of mercy and justice and then watch for ways to embrace these in our own lives. He is endlessly, infinitely and eternally merciful. He doesn't just act with mercy according to His moods or circumstances...His IS merciful! It never lessens, it never changes, it is never hidden and it is never earned. He is merciful. He is!

Of course the same holds true for justice (and a whole bunch of other attributes). Our God is complex and endless. Being with Him is going to be so much fun. We will dwell and gaze forever, love every second of it and never reach the end. I love it!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Sanctuary Internship Begins!

2006-08-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

We have begun our first ever internship with a 2 day/week adventure into searching out who He is and learning theology and the scripture as it is bathed in worship and intercession. So far, so good! We are very small (sometimes 6, sometimes only 3) but have put aside Monday and Tuesdays to focus on this journey into the "priesthood" as we discover more of Him.

We decided that we wanted to take lots of time to study God through His attributes and consider the scriptures that develop this in our hearts. And, we are working on learning a scripture meditation model (thanks to Kirk for this!) that helps us take the passages we are studying and turn them into conversational prayer and contemplation. I believe that if it doesn't really get into your prayer life it is not making much of an impact anyway.

As well, we are working with the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard church here in the city in helping to serve the poor of the north end of our city on Tuesday mornings. We believed it was the right time to press into the heart of God in the areas of mercy and justice. So, we are studying it, praying and meditating on it and then serving in the midst of those with needs. It is an adventure! We are confident that God will reveal more of Himself and His heart for this world as we give ourselves to this process.

There will be much to say on this in the weeks to come. We expect more will join us shortly as well. Please pray for us that we learn well and make the most of our efforts. And, pray that His kingdom comes in our city!

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Perseverance

2006-08-01T20:57:00.001-05:00

This last month in Winnipeg has been incredibly hot at times. We are not getting much rain either. I have not mowed the lawn in front on my home all month! Winnipeg weather can be like that...its a place of real extremes.

For some reason, the really hot stuff seems to arrive on Sunday. The last three weeks in a row now we have watched as Friday was "nice and hot", Saturday was "uncomfortably hot" and Sunday became "obscenely hot". The photo above was taken this past Sunday. It is a thermometre held by one of our folks somewhere later in the day while sitting in our prayer room. Yes, you are reading it right: its +96F!!!! That is +36C!! And, this is the third week in a row that we have hit that level. This week we had the added feature of high humidity to drive the humidex level (sort of like wind chill in reverse) into the low 40s...can you feel it?? We were there for our usual 7 hr set, sweating and praying and sweating and worshipping and...well, sweating. Did I mention there is no air conditioning in our building?

Now I realize that our current sufferings are neither permanent nor on the level of believers in the suffering church across the globe. I can only imagine what it feels like to hold prayer meetings in China where they are considered illegal, or in Lebanon right now where you can hear the bombs falling endlessly. We are hot but we are not going to die from it. And, it will end shortly. The troubles in the Middle East never seem to end and the bible suggests it is going to get much worse before it gets better.

Still, our "sufferings" are real to us when compared to what we are used to. Sadly, its often not about what you are suffering from but how far you have fallen from your original position that creates the pain. Having no A/C makes me realize that in North America we are sitting high in our comfort and quite unprepared for any kind of fall. A significant lifestyle disruption would cause more pain and hardship, confusion and offence in our hearts, than in most places on the earth. We are not ready nor do we really believe that trouble of any kind could ever touch us. The western church is proving the point weekly by doing very little to cause the people to prepare for anything different than maintaining where they are right now.

Hebrews 12 talks about God coming to shake everything that can be shaken. It says that only that which cannot be shaken will remain. The writer goes on to say that "since we have been given a kingdom which cannot be shaken...". Clearly the writer knows that ONLY the kingdom, the full rule of God on earth and our submission to His ways, His activity and His heart, will survive the sifting. And this shaking is by God Himself. It will be thorough. It will be driven by love. It will produce wholehearted lovers and followers who rely on nothing but the King of Heaven at the end of it all.

Maybe we need to be thankful for the heat? After all, how does one prepare for trouble other than to use every opportunity to embrace trials with thankfulness and trust in our hearts, eyes on Him and a view to a greater reality. Growing in trust is the opposite of harbouring offence and accusation against Him. It is a wonderful result of going through any trial. I want us to be able to say of God in our small shakings, no matter what they look like: "we love and trust you God! There is nothing in us that rises up in arrogance to question the wisdom of your ways". This will be critical in the years ahead. Trouble is coming and God is directing it. Let's get it correct in us now.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

More On John...

2006-07-24T16:34:00.001-05:00

Over the last few months we have been studying the 4 main reasons we exist as a house of worship and intercession here in Winnipeg. Each week we have considered the following areas and looked at what the Bible has to offer in fleshing out these ideas. They are simple and yet profound, as always.

We exist:

1. As a response to the call for a solemn assembly as detailed in Joel 2
2. To change the spiritual atmosphere in our city through joyful agreement with Him and His ways
3. To raise up and release prophetic intercessors, singers and messengers
4. To aid all in cultivating our own life of devotion to Jesus

Last night we were continuing on in our study of the forerunner calling (Point #3 on the prophetic messengers) and looking at the life of John the Baptist as a picture for us.

The interesting thing about John is he really knew who he was. That in itself should raise a challenge to most of us. If we were completely honest I am not sure most of us could say with confidence before God and man that we REALLY know who we are and why we are here. John knew. He lived a life that was intense, focused on a mission that was entirely unlike any in his day and destined to end tragically (from the viewpoint of this world anyway...I suspect it looked different in heaven).

As well, John was the first to declare "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near" (Matt 3:1). Usually we attribute this phrase entirely to Jesus and pass over the fact that it was John the Baptist who was declaring it before the baptism of Jesus. Why is that significant? Well, because the role he played in "preparing the way for the Lord" was directly connected to the message of the coming rule of God on earth. He wasn't just a weird guy who said "Look...Jesus is coming". He was an intense guy driven by his calling who said in fact "Look...God in the flesh is coming with all the force of His rulership....change your ways quickly before He arrives". It was a stunning call to a people who were not prepared to accept He who was about to walk among them. The people were steeped in sin. They needed to turn and get right with God before He looked them in the eyes.

And how much more so today? The King is coming once again to the earth, this time to the whole earth. It will not be a regional visit. The same call that was on John is visiting the church right now and the message is a familiar one: turn your hearts to Him and change your ways...He is coming and you will stand before Him. And this time, His kingdom will be fully realized and He will govern the earth as He sees fit. He will take it over. That is what we are praying for, if you think it through, when we ask "let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

John said profoundly in John 3 that "the bride belongs to the bridegroom". He knew his call was to prepare the way and then, at the right moment, to get out of the way. It was his pure joy to do so.

Father, let this same understanding burn within the hearts of all who will prepare the way, in what is said and in how it is lived out in this hour!

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Shane Says...

2006-07-17T10:29:00.001-05:00

...that we are in a time like no other and we need to embrace the changes

...that God is raising up people, "forerunners" he calls them, that know the times and seasons we live in and are bold in declaring it to everyone.

...that, like many others in Scripture, they are called to prepare the way for a significant event in God's timeline...the King is returning to the Earth!

...they call the people to turn from their ways and make the paths straight for the coming of the Lord

...like John the Baptist and others, they are called to declare BEFORE the arrival of the One.

...they will move in power but live in humility and meekness

...they are nobody special

...they are you and me if we will hear what He is saying in this hour

...they get nothing of honour or reward in this life, other than misunderstanding and rejection by those who do not want to hear it.

...their reward is Jesus and Him alone

...they live out Psalm 27:4 for real

...their eyes are on eternity

...from houses of prayer like this one, forerunners will emerge that will see it, declare it and live it out, for the glory of God and the benefit of others.

Shane is a smart man! I'm glad I had him speak last night.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Divine Entertainment

2006-07-05T13:36:00.002-05:00

Its funny to me how the trend in the last decade or so has been toward preaching delivered through entertainment. Speakers have moved their style far, far away away from the old image of the "fire and brimstone" preacher, severe in look and delivery. There was nothing funny about that era at all. In contrast, today's sermons are overwhelmingly entertaining, designed to relate to the lives of the listeners, and adapting humour as a means of holding the attention of the audience.

The trouble with it, of course, is if it is all (or even mostly) about the humour and pleasing delivery then it is worthless for growth in God. I am not against entertaining speakers if it can be tempered and used to hit the mark and thrust us forward in God. I am pretty sure God is ok with humour...He created us to enjoy it. Now if the preacher is using humour because he thinks he is funny and enjoys the laughs it brings, then I would suggest that he is sharing the spotlight with the King of Heaven at that point. That sounds like a bad idea to me.

Sermons that entertain also run the risk of being satisfying in and of themselves. There is a feeling of comfort that I have experienced at times, having sat through a fun and humour-filled message about...something...I can't quite recall the specific point I was going to take from it, though. There is a danger in all of these kinds of things that causes us to settle for less than we are called to in our journey with God.

Having said that, I believe that the ultimate entertainment to be experienced is actually found in God Himself and growing in the knowledge of who He is and what He is like. Consider Revelation 4, the Throne Room. The four living creatures encircled He who sat on the Throne and found themselves saying day and night "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come". It would be silly to think for even a second that they were required to do this as some sort of service to their master and were risking punishment if they failed to carry out their duty. These creatures were allowed to be this near to the creator and sustainer of all of creation. As they themselves declared, He is holy!

Some misunderstand the fullness of the term "holy", limiting it to mean "pure and sinless". That is entirely accurate, but only part of the meaning. To understand God is to understand that "holy" really means "set apart from". Well, set apart from what, you ask? From everything! He is beyond us. He is beyond understanding. He is beyond our grasp...unless He chooses not to be (and thankfully He does choose to be found by us!). He is transcendent.

Back to the living creatures, then. They encircled the One on the throne at close range. They survived being this close to the One who is perfect and just. They are not insignificant beings. And yet, they were free to experience this nearness. What is obvious in light of this is that their response must be pure. They are not grumbling under their breath about being forced to say this same phrase over and over in frustration. It is spontaneous and filled with honesty. They are seeing and they are proclaiming. He is Holy! There is no one like Him. It must be said over and over. How can we not declare it?!?!

Now that is divine entertainment. Who can watch TV after that?

The call to the pulpit in this age is to proclaim Him as He is. None of us do it very well because none of us can see very clearly. But, there is more...so much more. We pray Ephesians 1:17 almost every intercession meeting as it is the best biblical prayer I can find to answer the longing to see and know more. May He show us, all of us, more of Himself and may we be changed in heart and mind and behaviour because of it.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

He Is Faithful

2006-06-26T14:01:00.001-05:00

We had quite a day yesterday. As you may know, we are meeting in King's Fellowship for now (thanks again to Al and Sue Gordon for being so generous with their building and supportive of our efforts). We have loads of meetings each Sunday and are having such a good time learning and growing in the nuances that make a house of worship and intercession work. Each hour brings a new format and approach to worshipping through the scriptures (more on this is found on the "Mechanics" page). It has been challenging at times, but mostly it has been life-giving and lots of fun.

This Sunday we had one hour in which Yvonne led us by singing through Psalm 130 and 136. Steph partnered with her as she read and prayed through the passages. It was rich in meaning and so enjoyable to be a part of. We are singing through the scriptures! We are meditating on the truth that is in the heart of God and beginning to think more and more like Him.

Following their hour, Joel led us in an hour of exploring the theme found in Psalm 27:4 (...one thing have I desired). Steph and I partnered in praying and reading relevant passages and allowing the Spirit of God to guide us in our ever-deepening understanding of His truth on this topic. Here is a tip for you: Psalm 27:4 and Revelation 4 go really well together!! Trust me...or come next time to sing through it with us.

Orv and Gina led the following hour of Devotion, songs that express the heart of worship to the Lord. In this set there is always room to express ourselves in free and creative ways. I love these sets. Whenever I ask someone to lead one of these for the first time, I always tell them, "imagine you are sitting in your living room with your guitar or piano...now how would you sing out your love and affection to God with nobody there? That's what we want in this set..." And, they do it! Don't worry about getting all the songs right. Don't worry about how many songs are sung. Sing from your heart and let the rest of us sit and enjoy God as you minister to His heart.

I always speak at 6:30 and we had 30 minutes focused on the role of prophetic singing in a house of prayer. Shane interviewed his lovely wife Kristi on her journey in prophetic singing. There was some powerful insight for all of us in her story. Then Shane prayed for her! I love it when Shane prays. He can pray for me any time. The man believes it!

Then, for no reason I could explain at the time, the evening went sideways. We began our prophetic intercession meeting at 7pm with Johan and the team leading us. We always do 90 minutes each week on the theme of intercession for the city of Winnipeg. I was surprised to notice almost right away that what had been a free and easy day suddenly become difficult and heavy. Nothing seemed to be clicking. The people that came to pray were heard saying "wow, that was terrible" after their prayer was proclaimed.

Now, I am fully aware from considerable experience that feelings usually mean nothing in this activity. If it is wonderful, its great to feel but it doesn't make it any more powerful a prayer time. And, in this case as with others, NOT feeling good things didn't lessen the impact of our prayers together. Feelings here on earth don't really matter to God when He hears our prayers.

But, it makes staying focused really challenging. After almost an hour of pressing ahead, many were saying to me "we need to stop and ask the Lord concerning this". SO, we did...and He spoke a challenging word to us. "TURN...really TURN...I know you want to....I know your heart is focused to do so....but I ask you to make it real action....TURN". It was wonderfully challenging, painfully sweet. The Lord is so interested in His people being like Him that He calls us again and again. He got our attention with our own frailties, showed us that good meetings do not equal kingdom living and then challenged us in love to live it out.

Joel took over again on the keyboard at 8:30 and we went another hour responding to this challenge, singing through the issue of our need of Him, declaring our tendency to wickedness and weakness and generally asking for His will and not ours in our lives and in the life of Sanctuary.

His challenge is our invitation to more. We can say YES! and figure it out as we march forth in love. Suddenly, songs and prayers from the earlier sets of the day come flooding back. It all fits together. It all makes sense. You are the holy one on the throne of Revelation 4. It is our one desire to gaze upon your beauty and see you in this. My soul does wait for you more than the watchmen wait for the morning. Your love does endure forever. And we are in love with You alone.

He is not far off. Turn to Him. And pray for us as we do the same.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Wisdom For Living

2006-06-15T10:29:00.001-05:00

I heard a great piece of wisdom recently. This wise lady said of her journey "Believe and stand on the promises BUT live for the presence". I love it! She is so right. There is much we are asked to consider, to believe and to act upon in the scriptures. It will take our entire lives of focus and dedication to feel we are attaining to any amount of it.

Consider the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. At first reading, it sounds thrilling to go after, a target so big and wonderful that we all want what Jesus is saying is for us. Yet, most usually also agree that it must be metaphorical and surely not something we can attain to in this world. It can't be for us? Right? For many, the journey into the Sermon stops right there.

For others, they believe it is for this time but quickly realize that NOBODY can truly live like this. That sense of failure and weakness comes with force and causes them to give up before they are forced to out of failure and embarassment.

I believe the Sermon is to be taken seriously and is attainable here and now. But, it is quite obviously so far above where we live that we are NOT going to do it well any time soon. It is a strange tension to set out on a course you know you cannot follow correctly in your condition. There are many others paths that can be chosen. But, deep inside you know there is no other course to follow. Forward we go...

However, the issue is less about succeeding and more about living. As my friend said, choosing to live for His presence in our lives needs to be first. Attaining to a higher accomplishment can never be first, no matter how noble it appears. We need to run headlong into the Sermon knowing that we cannot make it in our state, but determined above anything else that we want Him near us and filling our minds and hearts as we step forward. Succeeding is about saying "YES" and choosing to try. It is never just about making it.

So, will we be able to win the battle in our minds or wrestle successfully against anger (the spirit of murder....think about how serious this battle needs to be)? Maybe not anytime soon! But, winning is waking up and saying "YES" to your King as you lean into Him and find His presence.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Global Day Of Prayer

2006-06-02T10:42:00.001-05:00

This Sunday we are going to be participating in a global event to pray for our little piece of the world and ask for God to change our city. In a way it is not anything different from other weeks, but I feel the importance of joining in with so many others (they say it is certainly millions) in a collective solemn assembly (see Joel 2 for more on that). Certainly the Lord Himself is stirring the heart of His people to cause them to rise and seek Him in this hour. It is the peculiar mechanism of intercession again: that we would be stirred by Him to pray to Him and say that the things that He said to say so that He would release power upon our asking! It's all about Him, in case you missed the point there.
I had heard that a respected intercessor spoke of the importance of asking for Acts 2 to become a reality in our city and it got me thinking about this. The kingdom of God moves forward in our city person by person, selfless action by selfless action, and will eventually culminate in Revelation 21...the dwelling of God with humanity once again. It is our glorious hope. What else are we holding out for if not eternity in His presence and this world fully restored to the way it was meant to be? He will rule it in fullness once again.

And yet, we can do all the things that we see Jesus do and still see little actual "kingdom change" for our efforts. Some would say, "well, it's really only about doing the right thing anyway" and there is truth to it. Although, to be honest about participating in the advancement of the kingdom is to realize that is is ALL ABOUT CHANGE. He is bringing His rule to the earth in fullness again and we are bringing it in part each day that we cooperate.

I think that Acts 2 shows us that there is more...so much more...on the schedule for humanity as we near the culmination of history. We are to stay steady in our partnership with Him in this and press into Him with wholeheartedness (think about what that really means!!) AND we are to ask Him to release the visitation of His Holy Spirit into our community like never before. It is on the agenda. It is fully in His heart to do so. He loves His church, His bride, and wants them empowered. Don't be fooled by seeing today's church only in its weakness and compromise; He sees it in its potential and loves it as His bride! And, He loves humanity in general and longs for people to turn to Him in repentance and love. He wants to come by His spirit and will do so in your city before His return.

On this Sunday, we want to focus on our city with diligence and ask for the Lord to send this visitation to us. It may come in waves over time, it may happen suddenly and change everything. It makes no difference to me. Send your spirit to our city, God, for in that place there is kingdom rule more fully established, hearts are turned and we see you more clearly.

And, His return to the Earth, to be with us forever, is closer still...

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Who Do You Say That I Am?

2006-05-25T15:21:00.001-05:00

I recently listened to a man speak on Jesus. He really stirred me to fascination again, not for the religion that bears His name or for our own efforts at Sanctuary or any church expression. But, it is for Him! This man said the most interesting thing concerning Him: "don't even bother saying that Jesus was just a good teacher. You cannot take that mushy middle ground with Him. He is either the Son of God and truly divine, or he is a nut case". I love it!
As I thought more about, I realized he's right. There is too much about Jesus and all that He said that demands we decide who He really is. The same Jesus who taught us to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute us, which is brilliant teaching, was also the one said he would be killed and rise from death in triumph 3 days following. He said that anyone who would come after Him should take up their cross, eat His flesh and drink His blood and plan to lose their life for His sake and let their dead bury their own dead. And, He said that He would return to the earth with a host of angels in full view, the sky ripped open and His rule coming fully to the earth.
This is outrageous and, dare we say it...insane stuff....unless He is right.

And, I know He is. He is amazing. There is no one like Him in all of creation and He knows me. It's all true and will come to pass. He will return to the earth and stand once again in Jerusalem to rule from it as the King that He has always been. Those who have lost their lives for His sake will find them again. Taking up our crosses is the pathway to life. Nothing should distract us.

All His brilliant teaching should come into focus in light of this one thing: God has been on this earth! He was here, in human form and walked among us. Let the skeptic reduce Him to a "mushy-middle ground" teacher of truth and wisdom, if they must. But, remember this...He is so much more and wisdom will be justified.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director