A CHRISTMAS CAROL

It's a long and dull story but last night I ended up on my own in a cinema watching the new Disney version of 'A Christmas Carol'. What an amazing film and in 3D too! A word of warning - you need to duck when Scrooge spits!
The animation is so spectacular that at times you are not quite sure whether they are really live actors. So why am I bothering to blog about this? It's really quite scary in parts and I'm not sure I would want to take young children unless I wanted them to have several nightmares. I am convinced that somewhere in the crafting of the film there was a strong Christian influence. For me, the message of the Gospel came across through some very subtle but powerful images, and the singing of some powerful lines from 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' and 'Joy to The World'. The audience is confronted with the 'What happens when I die?' question and the 'Spirit of Christmas Present' has so many clever Christlike nuances. It left me wanting to preach the Gospel even more urgently. A GOOD PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS

ERIC COWLEY VISITS RIVER CHURCH

It's never difficult for me to be enthusiastic about my dear friend Eric. Ever since the time Eric prophesied over me almost 20 years ago my respect for him and the influence he has been on my life has been profound. God used Eric to set up a 'chain reaction' in my life that has led to so much change and blessing. Without Eric's influence I would never have made my first visit to Sierra Leone. As a result God has enabled me to take several teams to minister his love to this, the poorest of poor nations. It was Eric who first showed me:
* How to pray for people to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit
* How to preach the Gospel to large crowds
* How to pray for multitudes of sick people and see them touched and healed by the power of God
* How to spend time waiting on God for a message for the people
* How to prepare my heart by praying Scripture out loud to myself until it became like a fire inside me
It's too early to be able to report on the fruit of Eric's visit. There were 10 people who responded for salvation or to renew their commitment to Christ. As usual he prayed with eveyone who wanted to receive prayer, most of the congregation stayed to receive so we didn't get away until about 1:30. I look forward to hearing what God has done in people's lives through healing, and the personal prophetic words that were shared.