September 2008

"Be magnanimous…." "Be magnanimous…." This is what I have been hearing from the Lord during the last few months. I could not find this word in any of the versions of the Bible I consulted, but I understand its meaning as being of a big heart. I sense the Lord wants me to have a heart as big as the heart of Jesus, He wants me to enlarge the tent of my heart, so that it may contain more of His love, as He pours it in me as promised in Romans 5:5.

However, there is an even wider meaning in being magnanimous: it means possessing a great spirit, noble, courageous, generous, forgiving. It is what Paul talks about when he encourages us in Philippians 4:8 to fix our thoughts on what is true, honourable, right, pure, gracious, of good repute. Now, I sense that God does not want me just to think about these things, but He wants me to open my heart to receive them and make them the source of my thoughts, words and actions.

Holiness is not just absence of sin, but a quality of the heart that sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is not legalism, it is not outward difference, it is not restrained behaviour, but an inner quality that makes us true ambassadors of Christ, because we become more and more like Him. The goal of my life it is not to build a more successful ministry, to grow in power and anointing, but to be more and more like Him: the rest, signs, wonders, miracles, salvations, will simply follow without me even thinking about it.

Report on recent activities

1. In June we ministered in the Netherlands at various churches. We also ministered at the European Father’s Love Forum. We were asked to join a board that will encourage the worldwide growth of the Father’s Heart message, something that has been central in our ministry for a long time. We do not know how we will progress in that direction, but we have a sense of excitement and joy about it.

2. In Germany we ministered at a few events. Our message was that ordinary people, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, should do extraordinary things and we do hope that some were encouraged to progress in healing and prophecy.

3. In July we had a wonderful revival meeting at a church in London, a place where God is allowed to be God! We shared on the power of the resurrection and on resurrection life being active in us. The response was overwhelming. We ministered also in Dorset, a lively and loving church.

4. In Kiev we ministered at a church where the service lasted from twelve noon to seven in the evening! That is normal for them. They actually had a service in which the worship lasted six hours non-stop. One sister shared a vision that touched our hearts: she saw a huge field ready for the harvest and a combine harvester gathering the wheat not in barns but right inside the heart of Jesus.

5. The pastors and leaders’ seminar in U. was fully booked, with a few old hands but mostly newcomers. A dear sister claimed she was healed from cancer at the previous seminar, came with seven people from her church. We heard from a couple who attended the seminar last year that they had a baby boy. They were unable to conceive, Catherine prayed for them and God gave them a beautiful child.

6. In Norway we were asked to share on the Greek mind and the Hebrew mind, something new for us. Of course we also moved into healing and prophecy and we had a great time doing street evangelism with several members of the church.

7. Finally we ministered at a church in Manchester and we continued with the school of the Spirit at home.

Giancarlo & Catherine Elia