by Steve Haines

When you know how gruesome Jesus' crucifixion was, it is hard to understand why I love the cross...
But it's not the cross I love, I wish my Lord didn't have to go through what he went through, but He did, He had to. And He did it all for our sake.

Ps 103:2 - "Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits"

This weekend, lets remember the price He paid. Let's remember what He paid it for. And I want to touch quickly on what the cross was for, and how now, more than ever (with world wide lockdown), we must remember His benefits. 

Is 53:5 - "But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peacewas upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed."

This prophetic scripture outlines some of the benefits of the cross:
1. Forgiveness and Cleansing of our Sin and Sinful Nature
2. Peace - both with God and with Life
3. Healing - both spiritual, emotional and physical healing.

This is why I celebrate Him. I remember the high price, I remember the pain, the torture, the agony. And I celebrate the victory. 

And the best way I can honour that price is to walk in Holiness, Forgiveness, Peace and Health. 

So at this time, when we can look at our personal lives and the live of people around us, we can see that the world right now is anything but honouring God in those four areas. 

May we this Easter, not forget His benefits by living lives contrary to what we celebrate. Lets honour Him by walking in Holiness, Forgiveness, Peace and Healing.

God Bless and have an awesome Easter Weekend,
Steve 
​

“What do you do for a living?” A question asked by many people when you meet them. But how do you answer that one of the things you do is run a Supernatural Lifestyle School. Believers walking in the Supernatural, this is something I am passionate about. A couple of years ago I had one of our pastors tell me that my school had a “expiry” date as believers are trained in the supernatural.
 
My response was that this was my goal. I would be over the moon if the majority of believers in South Africa knew how to Heal the Sick, Prophecy, reach the lost and walk intimately with God. If/when that day comes, I will happily close the school and retire!
 
But it begs the question. When did the church stop being supernatural?
 
When I read my Bible, I read about a supernatural God.
A God who created the earth by speaking. I read about an Angel appearing to Abraham, about Soddom and Gomorrah being destroyed by fire.
I read about Jacob wrestling with an Angel. I read about Joseph saving a nation because he could interpret a dream.
I read about a 12 year old boy becoming a King because it was prophesied and he then killed a trained warrior giant.
I read about Elijah, calling fire from heaven, causing a drought, raising a boy to life.
I read about the prophets who foretold about a Messiah 100’s of years before it happened.
I read about a Messiah who comes to the earth supernaturally, born of a virgin. Who was known primarily for healing the sick. Who walked on water, pulled coins out of the mouths of fish, who multiplied food. Oh and lets not forget, who rose from the dead!
I read about Apostles, who also raised the dead, “blinded” arrogant people, prison doors opening when they worshipped. Who heard from God and wrote the New Testament. These men and women, commanded cripples to walk, shared the Gospel with the Gentiles because of a vision. Introduced the Gospel to Africa because a voice told a disciple to go to a certain road.
I read the book of Revelation, not fully realizing that this was due to a vision. It was given to a man who the Roman Empire tried to kill by putting him in boiling oil but he sat there like he was in a bath tub.
 
So when someone tells me, they are a person of the Word, explaining why they are not “supernatural”, I question, “What Word are you reading?” And when did “Normal” Christianity in the Bible become Abnormal. When did we buy into the lie, that it is not for today or its for a chosen few. I am going to explore this more in the next couple of blogs.
 
What do you think? Write in the comments below. 

At the beginning of this year I did a lecture at Bible School on the Holy Spirit. A gentleman came to me afterwards, he was fuming, literally shaking because he thought what I had said was blasphemous. What had I said that was so offensive? 

I had told the class that the Holy Spirit is as much part of the Trinity as Jesus and the Father and that He is often viewed as the servant, but He is also God and is worthy of worship. 

I love the Holy Spirit, and I have learnt not to apologise for that. I love Jesus and the Father equally and understand that they all have their own role and function in the Trinity. 

Why do I love Him? Because He has been there for me every step of my life since I was born again, in fact even before that in leading me to salvation. He has been my comforter, He has been my guide, He has encouraged me, strengthened me when I am weak. He has also done amazing things around me, from healing people, to salvations, to turning situations. I have been blown away by His love and power and so when other people are embarrassed at times by things He may do, or when people try and limit Him because they view their wisdom as better than His. I just respond saying, "Holy Spirit, thank you for coming, thank you for journeying with me, Leading me to Jesus and the Father. Thank you for speaking to me." And so this is why I love Pentecost, because like Christmas is to Jesus, Pentecost is a time when I celebrate Holy Spirit and His role in my life.

How about you?