THE LOST AND FOUND GENERATION

" My house shall be called a host of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56.7)NKJV

A young girl of 12, collapses and dies in her father's arms.  Before this had happened only a short time earlier she had complained of chest pains and shortness of breath after a shopping trip.  Just minutes after the frantic family had called an ambulance she collapsed and died while her dad  held her.

Not long after this young girl had suddenly and mysteriously collapsed her family discovered a journal that she had been writing in.  In one entry written in pink ink just before she died she had penned these words.  " I hate you for what you have done to me.  I feel like no one." It then occurred to her family what had happened to this tragic young girl, she had literally been bullied to death.

At first glance this doesn't appear to be logical.  But after reading the string of heartbreaking letters detailing the long term hell at the hands of her tormenters they had no choice but to come to this conclusion.  The young girls bullying had even extended to the online giants Facebook where one classmate had even accused her of being a lesbian.
Her Father later attributed this to her supposedly lack of knowledge about sex issuing this statement: "She was a beautifully innocent young girl but the kids turned on her and started to call her a lesbian"  Eventually the bullying had got so bad that in the weeks before she died she never went anywhere on her own.  Her father also said that" Bullies had been putting her through hell."

Perhaps the most poignant issue that has come out of this appalling tragedy where maybe the last words this young girl had written:" I feel like no one".  The simple words sum up the terrible and stark tragedy that has now become an all too real issue affecting maybe hundreds of thousands of young teenagers in this country.  There is a new attitude now in society, this self -centred philosophy of "If I'm not someone great I'm a nobody".  It's a whole dog eat dog attitude that is tearing into the very psyche of perhaps an entire generation producing soul destroying results.  The words of this 12 year old girl "I feel like no one" perhaps even sums up the very  mood and feelings of utter and total despair that can drive literally thousands of young people to suicide.

  Take another example of this sort of thing.  A pretty and bright 15 year old public school girl described as a "charming and lovely girl and model pupil in every way"  who had a reputation of being a straight -A student committed suicide not long ago by lying in front of a train.  The reason for this: the girl had been targeted by a vicious bullies jealous of her talent and hard working nature.  Just hours before he took her own life, this lovely young girl had sent a text to her brother simply saying: "Ill miss you."
One of her friends after hearing of her suicide commented: " How people can make someone feel so low is disgusting.".  Yet this is now becoming more and more widespread, the fact that our young people are being hounded constantly either by bullying and peer pressure in its myriad forms, the media and its constant influence in their lives or simply life in general with all the cruelty in its many guises and and everything else that it can throw at them.

Regarding the media influence in our young people's lives and perhaps the very pressure of dealing with their day to day existence, it is no surprise that more and more of our young people are turning to alcohol dependency and even to more hard-core drugs and narcotics.  Perhaps one of the most alarming causes of self abuse in our youngsters is a growing ladette explosion and a new wave of female binge drinkers.  More of our city centres are now covered with scores or even hundreds of drunken young women and teenagers who dressed sometimes in extremely skimpy attire drunkenly brawl in public and vomit on pavements as they all pour out of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning.  Some teenage girls are even turning into fully fledged alcoholics such as the shocking story of a 15 year old schoolgirl in the tabloid press who admitted guzzling in one week 15 litres  of cider 10 cans of lager and ½ litre of vodka, the equivelant of 152 units of alcohol every seven days!  When asked how she got into such a self destructive lifestyle in the first place she simply replied: "When I was 12 my friends were doing it so I thought I'd try a vodka and Coke or a can of lager... I liked feeling merry"..  The worrying thing about this kind of self abuse though is  what a GP said about her: " She is risking her life.  She faces problems with her liver and pancreas and even brain damage."

Yet this kind of scenario is becoming more and more common and widespread in our young people.  The two cases of bullying just described in which one young girl is literally bullied to death and the other ends up committing suicide seems to be becoming more interwoven into our National fabric as an entire generation of young people feels abandoned, let down, devoid of meaning in their minds, isolated, lonely and generally a case of "does it really matter how i live my life.  There is really no future as I can see so to hell with it, I'm just going to party have fun and after that who cares".

However the paradox of all this is despite our young people feeling so empty spiritually and perhaps feeling so let down and lacking the love and guidance that they need, they now have access to the most advanced technologies in the history of mankind.  The advent of cyber-space with its limitless potential offers them a whole world at their fingertips with the world wide web  expanding constantly and a vast array of ultra modern gadgets including I phones, I pods, high definition televisions, blu ray DVD players and now of course the 3D revolution coming into our living rooms.  Social networking sites such as Facebook  and Twitter are attracting literally hundreds of millions of converts, with virtually a global presence now emerging.  Potentially our young people can live longer now than any other generation in history with access to more advanced Medical Care than ever before.  But at the end of the day it is their very souls that are starving, as they secretly long for that deeper and Spiritual dimension in their lives.





 So as we have just been discussing there is an entire generation of young people who are facing extraordinary challenges in their lives while also undergoing a tremendous self identity crisis, creating perhaps several paradoxes along the way.

Now of course another massive challenge facing our up and coming generation of young people is the gloomy economic crisis that we now all find ourselves in.  After the demise of
New Labour we are suddenly presented with a new coalition government who over the last few months have announced gargantuan spending cuts.  What has caused them to turn to these drastic measures is the appalling legacy of our national deficit which is estimated to be £155 billion.  However the most shocking news is our national debt mountain which according to recent calculations is in the region of one trillion pounds!  One source even suggested that taking virtually everything into account could possibly push the national debt to an incomprehensible £5 trillion.  Someone give an idea of how vast that sum is by saying it would make a chain of £10.00 notes that would stretch from here to the moon  18 times over!!!

As a result of this monstrous debt mountain the new coalition government has announced these devastating cuts which will probably in some way affect every person in Britain.  We know that the chancellor of the exchequer as planned these massive £81 billion spending cuts to public money in an effort to try and delete this astronomical debt-if it is as massive as they claim it to be.  Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been threatened with the axe creating a new climate of fear and an austerity with some economists believing it could plunge Britain back to a 1930s style depression.  Already we know that nearly one million 16 to 24 year Olds are unemployed in this country with experts predicting that general unemployment-as a result of the cuts-could soar to three million.

So our lost generation of young people are now destined to grow up in a new era of austerity according to these analysts' reports.  In the Big Issue magazine under the heading "The Kids Are Not Alright", a report by the institute of fiscal studies claims that up to 200,000 children will be pushed into poverty in the next few years alone.  Unless something is done to prevent this.  So than anything or anyone help our young people?

Well maybe God can.




Perhaps more than any other generation in the history of the world, our new generation of young people are facing a colossal crisis of identity.  Earlier on as I mentioned we are seeing a shocking new wave of suicide and violence in this new generation.  Shockingly we're also seeing soaring new levels of violence in our classrooms with youths who think nothing of attacking teachers or fellow pupils, with some even bringing in offensive weapons to schools.  Last year actually saw a record 97,000 violent incidents in our schools, with 500 pupils being expelled from school every day.  Most adults seem to have a fight fire with fire attitude towards this problem but will this work-I don't think so.

A huge part of this new "identity crisis" lies with perhaps the greatest problems of all affecting our young people-their own individual sense of self worth.  I believe one of the cruellest avenues of psychological assault on our children today is the media.  Let's face it whether we like it or not the media does form a massive part of our lives, and the biggest outlet of the huge media conglomerate is television.  For many decades television has dominated media empires with today  certainly being no exception.  Perhaps the biggest television phenomena of recent years has been the X factor.  The original brainchild of pop svengalli and media mogul Simon Cowell, the X factor was originally devised to showcase talent in young people.  After six years of runaway success the auditions in major cities across the UK can now run into hundreds of thousands of auditoriums packed with young people who want to follow their own dreams of stardom, and escape a life otherwise perhaps filled with hardship and poverty.  Every year we see the contestants chopped to just  12 or 16 live finalists with the final show now attracting in the region of 20 million viewers.  This sounds a great format for success but is it?  A psychologist recently branded the X factor a "grotesque puppet show"  with Simon Cowell as the shows "cynical puppeteer.".  He later went on to say that the music mogul chews op the wanna-bes and spits them out when they stop making him money.  Even pop Legend Sir Elton John Waded Into The Argument by Making This Astonishing Remark On Absolute radio.  "What's the psychological damage going to be when you've humped and dumped  them and the next one comes along?  They're a bit like products."  Maybe that's the  stinging element to all this the  way Sir Elton says  "they're a bit like products."
So if we look at  this from a broader perspective our young people are now branded products.  Of course another reason I feel like shows such as the X Factor  have become such a massive success is because  young people worship celebrities or maybe even the whole idea of becoming celebrities.
A beautiful young pop singer when asked about this recently  answered  that "the idea of celebrity is very appealing but I do find that's more the case for the lower classes of society.  If you have less opportunity and are struggling to fit in or have a meaning then the idea of becoming a celebrity gives a feeling of power."  That's just it.  Young people may want to experience the feeling of power but at the end of the day maybe they simply want to feel "loved, Cherished, wanted and live out  their lives with a sense of purpose and longing."

If we look now perhaps at the really big picture we can see why this "lost" generation feels the way they do.  First you must realise that the young people growing up now are the first generation living after 9/11.  This year marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and we all know how that tremendous atrocity change the whole world.  As a result of it, two major wars have been going on in the Middle East for nearly a decade, with the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan now claiming the lives so far of  about 360 British service men and women.  Most of the young servicemen killed in Afghanistan have barely been out of their teens, with hundreds more coming home horribly maimed or crippled for life.  This in itself must cause our young people to ask themselves a lot of questions and you know what, they want Answers.

You might call this generation "the post 9/11 generation" or "the X factor generation" or the "Y  generation."  But whatever you want to call them our generation of young people right now could indeed be "God's chosen generation."   God has a colossal plan for this generation of young people, and what if really, that through this generation God could indeed be working out the greatest spiritual awakening in human history.  You see I believe that God the Holy Spirit right now is calling and transforming, sanctifying, renewing and anointing an entire generation of human beings.  Through all the turmoil God can see vast, limitless, unfulfilled potential and by creating in their hearts an emptiness in the first place, He can use it as the opportunity of the millennium to fill their souls with the power and fire of the Holy Spirit.  I see it like this:  the enemy is carrying out a massive assault on an entire generation, attacking them psychologically and spiritually by building on their insecurity and lack of self worth.  But God is turning the enemy's own devious agenda round and using it to create a secret sense of longing in the hearts and souls of young people for the renewing and liberating power of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to what God himself says about this in the Bible.  "I will pour out my spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophecy, you're young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophecy.  I will show  wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below."  (Acts 2.17 19).  
This is clearly what God is saying.  At this period in history we can expect amazing signs and wonders manifested by the Holy Spirit.  But we have to be prepared, whenever something wonderful takes place you can always expect a counter-attack.  The enemy is also marshaling all his forces.  Ephesians 6.12 actually states that a colossal struggle is taking place in the unseen realms beyond our five senses:  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  There is no denying that the enemy himself is masterminding  a huge attack especially against our young people.  The Bible  actually calls him "the ruler of the kingdom of the air." (Ephesians 2.2)

The enemy's main strategy of attack seems to be by building on our young people's lack of self worth, by using many forms or guises even disguising himself as "an angel of light"  by masquerading through the lure and the beguile of the world's media, offering them fame, money success and power.  He's broadcasting feelings of hopelessness and despair and anger into their minds, creating all manner of self destructive behaviour in them.  But God I feel will perform works of supernatural power and miraculous healing within this generation, calling a whole generation back to Him.  He will use the enemy's attacks to counter offensive, manifesting supernatural works of grace in their very lives.  This is what we can all look forward to.  God is healing, preparing, restoring, delivering and empowering our young people with His Love.
Welcome to the "Lost" and FOUND generation.






So as we have just discovered our young people are ultimately facing not just an economic crisis, a social crisis or even an identity crisis but also a spiritual crisis.  Perhaps in some way  you can even draw a fascinating analogy with our new generation and the "prodigal son" found in  Christ's most moving parable.  Just as God forgave the "lost son" in the form of his overjoyed father, so He will forgive and embrace not merely a person but a whole generation of people.  We can read about the prodigal son of course in the 15th chapter of Lukes gospel
from verse 11 through to verse 32.  In verse 13 we start with the young sons dilemma as Jesus tells how "the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living."  We all know that our young people today love to party, but far more seriously are seeing their lives spiralling out of control while indulging in crime such as weapons offences and drugs and narcotics abuse, many dying tragically premature deaths.  In verse 14  " After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need".  That's an interesting verse.  " A severe famine", could be interpreted as all the troubles and problems our young people are facing today, and " he began to be in need" illustrates their secret longing to be loved and cherished.  Down in verse 17 the prodigal son  explains how he is "starving to death," and in verse 18 he says "I will set out and go back to my Father and say to him:"Father I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your hired men".  So he got up and went to his Father".  This first pictures a "Son" who is "starving" and he has an overwhelming need to go back to his father and seek his forgiveness, but secretly feeling unworthy of his forgiveness, and perhaps even of his love.  This in itself could be compared to our young people's lack of self worth and also lack of identity but nevertheless craving some sort of love and forgiveness.  Now we come to the most moving part of the parable in verse 20 we read, " But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."  This first illustrates in my opinion the whole dilemma facing our young people today and then God's response to it "But while well he was still a long way off"- this symbolises an entire generation who seemingly want nothing at all to do with God.  If we read the newspapers, and watch the news, take notice of surveys and watch them stagger out of nightclubs completely drunk in the early hours of the morning, it appears that this is a generation who couldn't be further away from God.  But on the other side we see a God Who loves our young people with an everlasting love, a God of infinite tenderness who is aware of every single minute detail of their lives.  " His father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."  This is an extremely intimate portrait of a God who makes the first move, and is now walking across time and space to meet with the generation known as " Generation Y".  When our young people finally find a place for Him in their hearts, God will " throw His arms around him (our young people) and kiss him.
Look what it then says in Verse 24: " for this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and now is found." That says it all.  The "lost and found generation."

I think you can certainly apply this parable of the " Prodigal Son." to a "Prodigal Generation".  God has chosen an entire generation to prove to the whole world that He is the loving God found in Jesus Christ, Who longs for an intimate and loving relationship with whoever turns to Him.  The Godhead is at work within this generation of young people who on the surface seem the least likely young people that God would choose.  But God is a God of surprises and He certainly has a few of them in store.

However as previously stated the enemy is at work to.  As we know there is also a new breed of atheists who no doubt want to influence the new generations coming of age.  We all know that Richard Dawkins is leading an aggressive crusade against religious belief along with a whole vanguard  of militant atheists.  One of these atheists Sam Harris said that "In the fullness of time one side is really going to win this argument and the other side is really going to loose."  That sounds pretty direct doesn't it?  But I feel that despite what the atheists are saying there are indeed "two sides" at war but is "not belief in God versus atheism" it is two different forms of spiritual belief that are at war with each other.  I don't think now it is simply the question: " Does God exist or doesn't He?" that is lingering in people's minds but the question: " Who or What exactly is out there?"

I personally think that as we head rapidly towards that time in human history when as Jesus promised He would personally intervene in all our lives, we are also going to see the enemy having more influence in the unseen realm.  As I said the great conflict going on now is not "God versus atheism" but" God versus the enemy".  As a result of this ongoing conflict in the unseen world more and more people are turning to alternative religions with a strong Eastern philosophy and so called "New Age" cults.  Some are virtually harmless but others are downright dangerous and insidious.  For example a number of years ago I worked with a woman who claimed to have exclusive access to all manner of hidden occult power and influence.  She actually claimed to be in direct contact with otherworldly beings known as "Ascended Masters."  These Ascended Masters she claimed had a hidden agenda for all of mankind and that religion and the church were now obsolete.  Frequently she would visit the pyramids in Egypt drawing mystical energy from them, claiming that by channelling this "energy" the world would begin to experience healing power.  Apparently the Ascended Masters had told her that Jesus had never actually died on the cross but instead had gone into "deep meditation".  They also told her she claimed, that there was no resurrection and that the body of Jesus was entombed in one of the great pyramids.  Soon, the masters told her, the body of Jesus would be discovered in the pyramid and that would be the end of Christianity and the beginning of a new era for mankind.  It was obvious to me that this woman was definitely under the influence of something and whatever it was it wasn't nice.  So as we can see there is definitely some unseen force lurking in that area that is presently existing beyond the capability of our five senses to discern.

Consider this as well.  As these alternative religions are gaining strength in the midst of this tremendous spiritual and moral vacuum that we find ourselves in, the traditional church in this country is virtually dead.  On a typical Sunday morning about three per cent of the population of this country now attends a church, where traditionally the congregations number about twenty in attendance, the majority of whom are usually sixty or over.  Our young people generally shun these churches, most of them traditional Anglican or C of E, because they feel that these churches are old fashioned and completely and hopelessly out of touch with how they feel or what their lives have now become.  It is a very sad state of affairs as Generation Y find themselves out on a limb and astonishingly vulnerable to the enemy's attacks.  We also know that Islam is gaining a lot of power in this country through mass immigration from the Indian subcontinent and the fact that a surprisingly large number of white British people are converting.  In fact a lot of old church buildings now derelict, are being transformed into mosques.  Various Imams also want hardline Sharia law established in this country, which could actually happen if Christianity continues to decline in this country, due to the secular onslaught.  But God has a plan.  Fathers House Church as I very strongly believe forms a very large part of this plan and the Spirit of the Lord right now is laying all the right foundations for it, and preparing the right people.




The God of the universe is certainly at work in the hearts and lives of people all over the world.  That is evident.  Also before we start to get despondent take a look at some of the examples of this, especially in America.  Over her in the UK our churches might be dwindling, but Stateside it is a bit of a different story.
    
 A number of years ago someone  compiled a list of the fastest growing churches in America.  They actually found that the churches that were experiencing phenomenal growth where the ones that where preaching the gospel and sharing the love of Jesus Christ in their communities.  Take a look at these statistics.  The survey found that of the  512 fastest growing churches in America, 117 were Southern Baptist, 79 where Assembly of God, 37 were independent charismatic, 36 were United Methodist, 29 were independent non charismatic, 29 were Independent Baptist congregations, 19 were Lutheran Missouri-Synod, 18 were Evangelical Free Church, 14 were Church of Christ, 14 were Presbyterian Church USA, 14 were Presbyterian Church in America, and 10 were Foursquare Gospel.  Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas/ Fort Worth were named the most spiritually dynamic cities while California, Texas, Florida and Georgia were named most spiritually dynamic states.  

The largest and fastest growing church in America right now is Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas pastored  by Joel Osteen.  Originally started back in 1959 in an abandoned feed store by his father John Osteen in downtown Houston, Lakewood began with just ninety dedicated believers.  Over the years Lakewood grew rapidly and after John Osteen's death his son Joel took over as pastor.  Now under Joel Osteen's dynamic leadership Lakewood has grown into a true megachurch with an average attendance of 43,000 every week.  The worship services there are truly incredible with a tremendous passion for the gospel,  while its services are broadcast around the world with Joel Osteen's ministry now touching every continent on earth, whether through television, the Internet or podcasts.  Churches like Lakewood are touching millions of lives and creating a passion for God.  In fact Lakewood has been the original inspiration for Fathers House, so now it could literary be reproducing itself, even in other countries.

Another incredible success story is Rick Warren's  Saddleback Church in California.  Now boasting a congregation of over twenty thousand people on a sprawling campus this megachurch has become a role model for churches all over the world.  Pastor Rick Warren's book " The Purpose Driven Life" has become a mega-seller and in itself it is inviting people everywhere to question  their owns lives and where they are going.  Rick Warren  also holds seminars to teach pastors throughout the globe how  to minister to successful churches and by doing so change countless lives.

Also worth mentioning are the global telecast ministries like "Christian Broadcasting Network" (CBN).  Through tel-evangelist Pat Robertson's dedication CBN now broadcasts to over 200 countries in 69 different languages, defying traditional broadcasting standards.  Television ministries like CBN can be very powerful tools for the gospel indeed as now through truly incredible  technology it is possible to reach the entire world with the Good News of salvation and faith in God.  It certainly seems the case that God is now using man's stupendous new technologies to reach as many people as He desires so more and more people can hear His message and come to know Him in a Forever Friendship.

We must also remember that God is working all over the world and not just in countries like  the U.S..  In fact some of the most powerful expressions of the Christian faith are found in the Far East, and not even in western countries.  For example Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho's  church in Seoul,South Korea, Yoido Full Gospel Church boasts the largest congregation in the world with about 830,000 attending his church!  China now has one of the largest Christian populations in the world and I am sure God has a lot more surprises in store.

So as we can see God has His own counter effect and this is in itself is an inspiration for our " Lost and Found Generation" of young people.  I believe right now the Holy Spirit is laying the very foundations for Fathers House Church and that people have been called and chosen as you read this article.  It's actually rather frightening to think (in a good way of course)  exactly what God could be planning for everyone who will finally be involved in the ministry and of course the actual congregation of his future dynamism of faith.





So now we finally come to where we are as Fathers House Church.  We have seen that in America the fastest growing churches right now are the new  non denominational evangelical megachurches like Joel Osteen's Lakewood and Saddleback Church in California, along with other noteworthy examples such as Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago which has also experienced tremendous growth under its dedicated pastor Bill Hybels.  The question we should be asking ourselves right now is " Can these sort of churches he established right here in the UK?" The answer I can give is  "Yes of course they can".

I believe that Fathers House Church is destined for greatness one day and that the only way a church can truly become great is by the power and the leadership of God's Holy Spirit.  For example we can read about this sort of leadership growth in the book of Acts.  In chapter 2 verse 38 we read: " Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." Then in verse 41 look what happens " Those who accepted  his (Peter's) message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."  Did you notice what the Bible says: " for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call"  It is God Who will choose you, not vice versa, and "those who are far off "-God right now this very moment is drawing and convicting perhaps the least likely people to form the backbone  of Fathers House.  Also look at the response to Peter's invitation: "Three thousand were added to their number that day." The Holy Spirit is the Person Who draws and convicts human beings and places them in God's church.  I believe the whole mystery of Fathers House Church and what God is doing in the lives of Generation Y today can be summed up in the book of Ephesians: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will...  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit   guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1.4-5,13-14).  Very revealing isn't it.  God has possibly preordained an entire generation even before time began.  So the simple fact is: you can't just join Fathers House Church, God will put you in.

So now we come to the church itself.  Why does Fathers House Church exist?  What is God calling us to do?  I believe that Father's House Church is a  place of spiritual and emotional healing, kind of like a hospital I suppose, where people young and old alike can experience the love and forgiveness that they secretly long for.  Fathers house will be built on three basic foundations:  1) Love, 2) Acceptance and 3) Forgiveness.  These are three very powerful virtues which I believe if applied could serve as a healing medicine, a spiritual medicine, for the Y generation.  We're coming into a new era  now I believe in the Holy Spirit lead Church age where putting it bluntly: God means business!  In fact now we could even be experiencing the " latter rain" which many scholars think applies to the second major outpouring of the Holy Spirit since the first outpouring on the day of Pentecost.  I sincerely hope that Father's House will experience  this " latter rain" as we seek to help and heal those in need.  We especially hope to bring "Generation Y"  home so they can truly come back into God's presence and receive His healing and forgiveness.
As I said earlier in the article we now have an extremely talented and attractive  generation of young people who are facing unbelievable pressure and stress brought on by 1) the media,  2) the economy,  3) the tremendous mess of the outside world, 4)  complete lack of guidance from a former generation who in my opinion "messed up", 5) peer pressure and  6) a spiritual and religious vacuum.

This is the young generation Fathers House aims to offer sanctuary to and a missing dimension to their lives.  As I said we will be built on three major foundations: 1) love,  2) acceptance and  3) forgiveness.  As these three virtues form the very bedrock of our church we hope that thousands of young people will one day  come to worship at Fathers House.  And who will be the leader of Fathers House Church?  Not myself nor my future co-pastor or any of our future associate pastors.  Ultimately Jesus Christ is the true leader of Fathers House Church.  He is the beginning and the end to our faith- the Alpha and the Omega of Father's House.

I think now we should define the three foundations upon which our church is built:  1) Love, 2) Acceptance and 3)Forgiveness.  Any church should be built on something and ultimately we all know the words of Christ in Matthew 16.18- "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not will not overcome it."   We know that Christ is the true Rock- the rock upon Whom Fathers House Church is built.  So now lets examine our three basic foundations upon which Fathers House is built: Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness.

1) "Love." In 1 John 4.7-8 we read these words:  "Dear friends let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love"   Then beginning in verse 11:  "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also we also ought to love one another.   No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us"  Then ultimately we read again in verse 16: "God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."   So "Love" is the first foundation block of Fathers House Church after which Acceptance and Forgiveness are in themselves built upon.  Once again, the apostle Paul writes in his epistle to the Ephesians:"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his site.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will"  (Ephesians 1.4-5).  So through Love, even in eternity past, God had already laid the foundations for His Church.  I feel personally that Love is the engine that empowers any church no matter how small or big it may be.  It is so vitally important that the church practices loving every single one of its members.  Without Love the church is nothing.  I can remember myself once belonging to a church congregation that was cold and the atmosphere icy.  Certain members of that particular church seemed to bully and intimidate  others and wove an unhealthy influence over the congregation.  As a result the church stagnated and even the pastor himself was forced out by bullying.  It was a very unhealthy place to be spiritually and as a result I left and tried to find another church where I could feel loved, but unfortunately without much success.  Later on that same pastor planted another church in my own home town but once again the seed seemed to stagnate rather than grow.  Now eight years on from its planting that church does not seem to have grown much at all.  It is very sad but from its lessons must be learned.  Because love was lacking these churches dried up and I believe the Spirit withdrew His power.  By complete contrast however I have heard of Cornerstone Church in  San Diego, California which was also planted, just like that above church near where I live, only twelve years ago by a  husband and wife pastor team.  When it was originally planted Cornerstone Church had only seven members.  Now just twelve years later under its pastors and undoubtedly  under the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit it has grown to a congregation numbering over Five thousand members!  Such church growth is incredible but I believe Love is the key to any church growth.  Generation Y are a generation who secretly long to be cherished and loved so Fathers House is committed to doing just that, and obeying what John says in his epistle.  Even Jesus Himself hinted very strongly that any church that lacked love would ultimately fail.  "Therefore I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away From you and given to a people who will produce its Fruit."(Matthew 21.43)  So Fathers House has a mission to seek what is lost and bring them into one community of faith through love.  

2) "Acceptance." This is perhaps the most important Foundation of all.  In fact "Acceptance" could be the very key in determining our success as a church and as a ministry.  

The entire crisis facing generation Y right now is perhaps centred on this precise virtue.  As I said before the enemy is always attacking human beings and completely undermining their sense of self worth in a thousand different ways, whether it be individual or even collectively.  He always seeks to disrupt our thought processes by broadcasting his poisonous devious attitudes into our minds, causing great distress and unhappiness as a result.  He has also brought massive upheaval on our young people as I said earlier on whether it be through  1) the media, 2)  the economy, 3) the mess of the world in general, 4) lack of guidance, 5)peer pressure and 6) a spiritual and moral vacuum.  The enemy knows more about the psychology and emotional well being of our young people than all the world's psychologists and psychiatrists put together.  He knows what makes them upset, he knows what makes them feel insecure, worthless and lacking in self esteem, perhaps our young girls even more than our young boys.  No, Fathers House does not have all the answers but we can be assured that God has all the answers, as the apostle John wrote that "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4.4).  

The greatest way the enemy attacks as is in our own individual sense of self worth and the church is certainly no exception.  A great deal of our young people today have serious self esteem issues, and the enemy knows that this can be a very powerful tool indeed from keeping them from God's best.  He will tell them, in effect: "Hey look at you, you don't belong here you're no good.  He is much better than you, she really hates you, you're stupid, your slow." etc. "God doesent love you, in fact He despises you."   Do you get my drift?  The enemy will always try to re-program our subconscious minds into seeing ourselves in the very worst way possible and this in itself will present a terrible lack of healthy communication between each other, resulting in inevitable disaster.  We have to see it like this: At Fathers House Church we hope to see it become a universal community of faith or "Megachurch" as the Americans love to call it.  We could see people (especially young people)  come to us who feel suicidal, that life has no meaning, people who feel chronically depressed or anxious, people who are on drugs such as cocaine or heroin, people who self harm, people who live rough on the streets, people who spend their entire leisure time partying and clubbing into the early hours of the morning, people who are mentally ill, people who are terminally ill or who have loved ones who are terminally ill.....and the list goes on.  Then at the other end of the spectrum we hope to  attract university students, young successful business entrepreneurs, doctors and nurses, solicitors, maybe even professional footballers', celebrities, Cheryl Cole  (no only joking!)  But who knows.  Do you get the picture?  Fathers house church will be a church for ALL-a universal community of faith where EVERYONE can come and meet with God and worship Him in spirit and in truth altogether as one church.  In the words of Paul: " You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit." (Ephesians 4.19-22).   So there you have it.  This is how God wants his church to be, everyone loved as equals, no  favourites, but one holy  temple in the Lord.  So in my opinion " Acceptance"  is probably the most important foundation of all  that our church will be built on, and as stated earlier could determine our success as a ministry.

3)  "Forgiveness."
This is of course a vitally important foundation as after all "forgiveness" is what Christianity is all about.  It also flows naturally from a previous foundation block Acceptance and in itself is built upon it.  Logically speaking we cannot have forgiveness unless first of all we have acceptance.

The very reason Jesus Christ appeared on earth was to offer each and every one of us this powerful message of Forgiveness.  If we we John 3.16, undoubtedly the most famous and most quoted verse in the entire Bible we find these words: " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal Life." The whole reason God sent Jesus Christ into the world, His eternal Son, was to reconcile the entire human race back to Himself.  A  very important key to understanding this is The next verse: " For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." The entire mission of Christ was to offer unconditional forgiveness on a universal scale, and so Fathers House Church will follow his example.  After all Jesus Christ is the supreme leader of Fathers House Church so naturally our whole ministry will be built upon His principles of love, acceptance and forgiveness.  I believe that Christ is now calling our church and choosing its leaders and placing individuals in our future congregation.

I realise that sometimes people have an overwhelming sense of guilt weighing them down, and Fathers House will offer forgiveness to anyone regardless of who they are or what they have done.  Even murderers will not be exempt from a congregation or ministry as I believe God will call and place in our church whoever he chooses.  He could place in our church drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members or  whoever.    In fact Christ Himself said "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.... For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9.12.)NKJV..  I personally think that society in general is downright hypocritical at times when it comes to those who have transgressed our laws.  You hear through the media or even from  gossipy old folk down the pub all the time about what "a cushy life they all have in prisons these days."   "We should hang them", "lock her up and throw away the key,"  blah blah blah.  If there is someone reading this article right now who thinks like that, then good because you are about to feel seriously offended.  Fathers House Church belongs to Jesus Christ who is the true head, the true leader and the true founder of it.  Christ is the Great Physician who spent his whole time on earth forgiving people and offering them a fresh start.  As Fathers House is Christ's church we will do exactly the same.  I am sure you are familiar with the story of the woman caught in adultery by the authorities of the time.  I love the story.  They bring her to Jesus and say that "in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women."  Jesus simply bends down and starts to write on the dirt encased ground with his finger.  He then straightens up and says: " If any one of you is without sin,  let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8.7).  Eventually the accusing crowd disperses until it is just Jesus and the woman standing there.  He then asks her " woman where are they?  Has no one condemned you?"  She replies: " No one sir."  Finally He says: " Then neither do I condemn you.  Go now and leave your life of sin."  (John 8 .10-11).  This is exactly the kind of forgiveness that Fathers House Church will be built on.  People, saint and sinner alike, will come into our church and hopefully will find the same forgiveness as that woman did.  This is what we are about.  

As I said earlier with acceptance comes forgiveness.  Generation Y long to be accepted, forgiven and loved.  I pray that Fathers House Church could be the answer.  If it is, then Generation Y finally have come home.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article whoever you are.  In Isaiah 56.7  God says that: " My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."  If God really does have a dream for our church, as I suspect He does, then one day perhaps that verse will apply directly to Fathers House Church, as God raises up a new generation of people with a mission and a ministry that will shake our nation.  A generation with a church that will proclaim God's eternal message of salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.  Megachurch pastor Rick Warren once wrote that " the greatest churches in history are yet to be built."   Was he speaking about Fathers House?  Maybe he was, who knows.  But like me pray that our generation of young people, or Generation Y as you might call them,  will find their way back into the arms of their loving Heavenly Father.  Join me on this journey of faith.  That's what Fathers House Church is all about.

 

If you want a real inclination of where we are coming from then how about visiting Joel Osteen's Web Site by visiting  http://www.joelosteen.com/Pages/Index.aspx