August 2019 - Paul Bennison

FOR THOSE HANGING ON ‘A’ LEVEL RESULTS, THIS IS TO ENCOURAGE YOU!

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Paul Bennison Posted in Journal, Personal, Random Thoughts, Testimony, Travel Leave a comment

48 years ago I was waiting for mine, not really with any high hopes as I thought I’d blown them. I’d never really ‘caught up’ at Grammar School, going there a year late as, though I passed my 11+ exam (there’s a memory many of us would like to forget!), I ‘failed’ it on the conduct report from my junior school headteacher, because she caned me 4 times a day for 4 years for being left-handed.

So a year at a very crap secondary school (I won’t say which one!) preceded my parents’ fight to get me into Lewes Grammar School, then one of the best Grammar Schools in the country.

They won: but the difference in quality was like going from top year junior school straight into 5th-year senior school. 3 weeks into my Grammar School ‘life’ my dad died, which, at 12 years old for me and 41 years old for him, was life-changing and emotionally impossible for me. I never caught up at Grammar, it was a massive struggle after secondary school and dad’s death. But I survived, scraping through my ‘O’ levels (GCSEs) with enough to get me into 6th form. I really thought I’d blown my ‘A’ levels, but I left school with 3, much to my (and my teachers’ surprise!).

Mum was wonderful, but as a widow, herself injured and unwell, she couldn’t work, so she couldn’t afford to help me through University (no student loans in those days) as parental contribution to Uni was significant back then. So I went out to work – in a bank (having failed Maths ‘O’ level you might be encouraged to know!!! – I did get it at the 5th attempt 3 years into my banking career). After 5 years in the bank, God started working on me to leave and go into ministry: I didn’t want to (reasonable salary, good pension, great career prospects, subsidised mortgage) so for 4 years I argued with God (an ‘interesting’ pointless exercise, I discovered!) before quitting at the end of 1978. I don’t know where my banking career would have taken me – big salary, big pension, paid-off mortgage by 55 years old, retirement – and a life of utter boredom!

What I DO know is that the plans God had for me FAR exceeded the constraints of a banking career (even if with no money!), and has taken me on a missionary journey around the world a few times, to 111 countries, privileged and humbled to have seen tens of thousands healed, countless astonishing miracles, salvation in great numbers, the dead raised, limbs grow from nothing, countless others released into the purposes of God for THEIR lives, and no plans to retire (even though I’m past 65 years old now and limping!). Would I have wanted to go to University? Yeah, maybe, but I couldn’t – and I’d genuinely say that. despite 5 wasted years of my life in the bank, I have NO regrets! I could have held on to my career, of course I could, and there will be people who’d say I wasted my life on giving up that career.

Whatever your results today, God will use successes and failures – and I guess I was one of the latter! – in ways no one else ever can….

GOD’S WAYS – A BIT DIFFERENT TO MY PLANS!!!

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Paul Bennison Posted in Journal, Personal, Random Thoughts, Testimony Leave a comment

After having eight different ‘homes’ in the last ten months, including 2½ complete home moves, my body isn’t quite sure where it’s at, and has felt a little weary, to say the least, especially as I’m now past the ‘halfway’ stage in my 60’s (I’m 66 for those interested!). Age has no fear for me, but I am aware of certain limitations that come with it – I think it was Spike Milligan who said ‘At my age you never go past a toilet!’ – as well as my well-documented mobility limitations. I’m in another temporary home right now, thanks to lovely friends willing to have this nomad in their house, having just activated the 50% Welsh part of my birth heritage and come ‘home’, while I wait to see what God does for a permanent home here. Dad was such an amazing man (you’ll probably say I’m biased but he was), so I’m so happy to be in the land of his birth, even if three hours north of where he came from, Penarth…

Dad and a very short body-less son! (A bit younger then… like 12!)

The physical effects of all of those moves, and especially the impact on me physically in occult-central house in Montgomery, have been greater than I realised, but last Sunday, with my lovely friend Jonathan, found the energy to go down south to a meeting where my great friend, Ian Andrews, was speaking. Ian – along with God, of course! – is a major reason why my life took a huge turn in 1983, when he (and a few others) prayed for me. Ian’s been perhaps the major healing pioneer in the church in the UK (and many other places) for the best part of 6 decades: it was in 1983, not knowing why I had a driving passion to go, that I managed to get in to an ‘invitation-only’ healing conference where Ian was the speaker. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but Ian blew me away with his humility, not an ‘all guns blazing’ tv-type healing evangelist, but a man of immense authority, faith, and power.

When I got to the conference I wished with everything in me that I hadn’t gone, as most of the other 50 were the charismatic leaders of the time (people like Roger Forster, Terry Virgo, Clive Calver, Graham Kendrick, Rob White, Gerald Coates, and an assembly of the famous!). So 49 – plus me! Being a good shy insecure Englishman, I sat at the back in the corner, behind someone tall. Ian began by asking a few questions – everyone here is a leader/in ministry? Everyone is filled with the Holy Spirit? Everyone speaks in tongue? Yes, Ian…all leaders, ministers, filled with the Spirit, speak in tongues… then ‘Everyone speaks in tongues publicly?’ – a spirit of fear hit the room and hands went up. ‘Er, no…’. Ian then pointed to a little geezer at the back in the corner – moi! – and said ‘speak in tongues for us now!’.

In the next few moments I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone as much as I hated Ian then! All these famous people he could have chosen… my mouth went dry, tasted like I imagine a cat litter tray tastes first thing in the morning, and my lips stuck together… then much to my amazement a few ridiculous-sounding words fell out of my mouth as I though ‘You idiot, Bennison, you’ve made a fool of yourself in front of all these superstars. To be honest. with hindsight I reckon they were just relieved he hadn’t picked them! As the last word fell out of my litter tray, a guy at the front burst into tears. God had given him the interpretation – which Biblically should always happen with a public tongue – and God had answered an issue in his life he’d been praying for an answer to for a very long time. My ghast was totally flabbered…

What Ian shared over the next 3-4 days totally changed my life, and I knew why I’d had the desperation to get to the conference. After it, Ian prayed for me, and the die was cast. A passion to bless people through the power of the Holy Spirit with absolutely no clue of how, when, or even why, coming from a background of quite (very?) sick people…

It was 3-4 years before it unfolded into reality, following other words from God, about travelling to the four corners of the earth to preach the gospel and see the sick healed. The wife of very dear friends has an almost unbelievable prognosis hanging over her right now, and I contacted Ian, whose friendship has meant so much to me in these 36 years, to ask if he’d pray for her. He’s one end of the country, she’s another – but last Sunday he just HAPPENED to be speaking a few miles away from the family, and so I wanted to be there when the hook-up happened – with just a slight (!) selfish motive in getting him to pray for my knees…. There’s certainly an improvement in mobility, but I’ll never ever give up believing for total wholeness, and nor will I ever give up ‘going and doing’ what God’s called me to do. I’ve had a bit of a lull due to the moves, but am back in harness again very soon, which I can’t wait for.

My mind is telling me I need a break – other than through exhaustion – in 40+ years of being in ministry, I’ve never had a sabbatical (some ministers seem to have a fair few!), but I have thought a short holiday in the sun would do my body the world of good, but holidaying on your own isn’t a great deal of ‘fun’, and it’s not something that’s in my budget 🙁 – I’d need to hire a car, too, as mobility would be an issue without one. My legs don’t, sadly, do trains and buses as they usually entail a lot of walking! I listen to other people involved ministry and they seem to have friends all over the world who offer them holiday homes. Apart from one good friend in Scotland and another in Surrey, I don’t know anyone with places I could beg to stay at!

Some of you might remember the story of a miraculous deliverance from what should only have been a fatal car crash 25 years ago, when an angel pulled me out of a car that had pretty much shrunk in length by 50% – it was Ian who’d seen the angel in a meeting at the church in Sussex 36 hours earlier, and the driver was the wife of great friends who have lived here in Wales for 17 years now. Sunday, Jonathan, the husband, drove us down to Surrey – the first time he’d seen Ian since that weekend in 1994: Ian and Rosemary had been telling their hosts the ‘crash’ story and my deliverance from the wreckage that morning!

I have so much love and respect for Ian – after all his years in the ‘miracle/healing/revival’ ministry, he’s still the same humble, self-effacing man I’ve always known but you sense the power of the anointing from God that he carries. Ian has instigated so many ‘revival’ movements across the globe, most recently in Victoria, Australia, and in South Australia. It was – to us, at least, a blessing that there wasn’t a huge attendance, which meant more time for ministry – he spent good quality time with my friend’s family, and praying for these disobedient knees I have! It was lovely to see how much care and time Ian had for people – not a line of people being told ‘be healed’ and pushed over – personally I find that type of ministry offensive and dishonouring to the person being prayed for, and to God. I’d rather stay for hours, giving each individual time and care. Jesus didn’t, it seems to me, get everyone in a line, push them over and shout ‘be healed!’.

It was a joy to see Ian and Rosemary, and as it was in Gerald and Anona Coates’ church, a pleasure to see them after at least 20 years! There were others who turned up at the meeting who I knew from many years ago, including Derek Brown, who I’d not seen for about 35 years! – he used to lead a big church in Aldershot but has moved into micro-churches now, which is what I’ve come to Wales to be a part of. A wonderful blessing to have a good few hours in the car chatting to Jonathan, too.

UNEXPECTED PRESSURE AND STRESS!

Posted on August 10, 2019 by Paul Bennison Posted in Journal, Personal, Random Thoughts, Testimony, Travel 2 Comments

To be ‘at home’ in the land of my own father – Wales – is lovely: it was a surprise when God made it clear that Welshpool was where he wants me purely because of the ‘geography’ for a regular Heathrow traveller and with many of the speaking engagements I get being in the southeast, but God is doing something special in Wales, with many prophetic words about the country and links to the Welsh revival…. so a month ago my flat in Kent was packed up and moved 200 miles northwest, into – for now – the garage of friends in the fellowship I’ve come here to be part of. The prayer is that God will do a miracle and provide me with something he’s promised over the last 5 years – my own home (it’d be the first home I could call ‘my own home’ since selling the last one I owned in 1983 to go to a ministry training centre) – but while waiting for that, or finding a suitable and affordable long-term rental property, I moved into an AirBnB property for the last month – to say that was ‘interesting’ would be a massive understatement!

I drove from Kent to the house, and on arrival was confronted by signs advertising most things ‘witchcraft’ – and the owners – one look at the wife and I knew that she was a witch! The house was filled with many occult books and artefacts, and the atmosphere was like I’ve never known! Some people might say ‘Why didn’t you get out?’ but I know that he who is in me is greater than he who is in any AirBnB or the world! Friends from the fellowship I’ve come here to be part of helped with covering some things up, moving books with titles like ‘Healing by Magic’, turning around statues of Buddha, covering over a native Indian ‘Dreamcatcher’…. the atmosphere changed as I and the friends here prayed, but it was still heavy…. I could have done courses in ‘Chakra Belly Dancing’ (! – don’t let your mind even go there!!), all things chakra, reiki, healing through magic…. oh yes, and a crochet course….

Monday night last week, at 4 am, unable to sleep (a problem every night in that house – I worked out that in 31 nights I slept for about 70 hours all of it very broken up) in the middle of a very wide bed, praying and listening to worship music, when I was thrown off of the bed by something unseen, landing on my knees (ooowww!!) and smashing my face on a heavy chair by the bed…. thought I’d broken my nose and lost my front teeth (I hadn’t fortunately though there was a lot of blood) but my knees are only just recovering to the pain level they normally are!

Some lovely friends have offered me a temporary home until I can either rent or miraculously get my own place, and I’ve had two nights of sleep, which has been bliss. I think I need a fair few nights before my body recovers… the Fellowship here is lovely, the folk have been so kind, helpful, generous in the amount of help they’ve given me, as the house I was in was so impractical for someone with mobility difficulties, especially the stairs! It’s a church based on Acts 2:42ff., so very different to what I left behind in Kent. It’s a delight to be with people who love and care for each other, have a massive heart for the area and the country, and God is moving some key people to the town which is just confirming some of the prophetic words that He’s spoken in recent months. It’s a thrill that God considers me able to be a part of what he’s going to do here, and to find that some of the folk in the Fellowship have been praying for 4-5 years that I’d come here. Now for the healing of the knees….

It’s a delight to be here and will be an increasing delight when I’ve learned to pronounce some of the place names (I can manage Welshpool!! – but not in Welsh – see if you can from the picture below!)), and when I can finally settle into what will be home. I look back and realise that I haven’t really had ‘home’ for many years – yes, I’ve lived in flats and houses, but none that I’d truly look forward to going ‘home’ to. So I’m praying that this will be a place to call home truly, and be part of what God is doing in Wales, as well as continuing to travel to many of the places I’ve been to in the past.