Father Heart Ministry - Ian Ross
Ian sees as his mission, to present the revelation of the  Father, by the Holy Spirit,
in such a way, that people may actually "Encounter this Love" for themselves. 

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CBN NEWS: "The Toronto Blessing, the Greatest Thing to Happen to the Church in the Last 100 Years"

Posted on 26 June, 2018 at 7:50 Comments comments (1)
TORONTO ??? The Christian world is crying out for a revival so great, it will transform the world. But a once small church on the outskirts of this Canadian metropolis showed a possible path there starting in 1994 with one of the most powerful revivals of the past few decades. There were some critics sniping from the sidelines, but God rained down many miracles, signs, and wonders and millions of lives were transformed. This revival known as the Toronto Blessing began at Pastor John and Carol Arnott's church next to the Toronto airport, where guest speaker Randy Clark was ministering. Suddenly the Holy Spirit took over the service. This happened again powerfully day after day for more than a dozen years, drawing curious and spiritually-hungry people from around the world. When Heidi Baker was So Burned Out, She Wanted to Go Work at K-Mart Heidi Baker came from Mozambique, where she was a worn-out missionary, and she saw her life radically transformed in the Toronto church. "I was so burned out, even though I have a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology, I didn't want to teach theology," she told CBN News. "I literally wanted to work at K-Mart. I was that tired." She arrived at the Arnotts' church both spiritually and physically sick. "I had double pneumonia. The first thing that happened: I was completely healed," Baker stated. Right after that healing, she had a vision. "Then I saw Jesus ??? burning eyes of fiery love. God crashed in on me." Now this former missionary burn-out and her husband lead IRIS Global, a ministry which has started some 11 thousand churches. She said of that time in Toronto with Jesus, "He ripped the 'no' out of me ??? the eyes, the fiery eyes of Jesus. Now I've been to 109 nations, preaching this glorious Gospel." Controversial Signs & Wonders, but They Made People Fall More in Love with Jesus The Toronto Blessing was certainly lively. As Pastors John and Carol Arnott describe it in their book Preparing for the Glory, "Laughing, shaking, crying, falling down, speaking in tongues ??? these were the things that would happen when the Holy Spirit touched people. There were reports of a gentleman roaring like a lion. Others had visions, and many were so overcome under the power that they couldn't get up off the floor." John Arnott told CBN News that before the revival, "We were used to seeing people receiving the Holy Spirit and maybe falling down one at a time. I'd never seen a whole room fall out like???boom!???they're all out." But Arnott saw great fruit coming from this "carpet time," as Jesus often did a loving work in people's hearts while they were down. "People came and they didn't care ??? nor did we ??? whether they were Pentecostal or Catholic or Methodist or Baptist or charismatic. Whatever they were, they all just seemed to get leveled. The anointing is a great leveler. And so, people were on the floor together and they just fell in love with Jesus," Arnott explained. Some Said it was the Devil; Those in It Said Test the Fruit As some judgmental religious leaders heard of these events, they warned the signs and wonders were of the flesh???or maybe even of the devil. Such condemnations irked both Arnott and Dr. Randy Clark back during the revival, and still irk them now. But both admit the signs and wonders were certainly extraordinary. Clark recalled, "John Arnott and I would sometimes see something happening and I'd say, 'Ever seen that?' And he'd say, 'No, I haven't. Have you ever seen it?' 'No, I haven't.'" Arnott remembered praying, "'I'm pretty sure this is You, Lord, but what's going on here? Because it seems like it's chaos.' But then we started hearing the testimonies." Those testimonies were always about God healing, touching or transforming lives for the better in this revival. Clark said to Arnott at the time, "'I don't know what it all means. Let's just not try and kill it. Let's just wait and see if there's good fruit that comes out of it.'" And much fruit did come, as many of those experiencing the signs, wonders, and miracles of the Toronto Blessing found those same signs, wonders and miracles followed them home and burst out when they returned back to their own congregations. That led to millions around the world having their faith built up or restored and a contagious love growing in their heart for God. Arnott said of the critics, "You cannot make your mind and your current experience the final arbitrator on whether something is God or not. Because He's always doing something new. However, it will always glorify Jesus and the fruit of the encounter will always be good." Prophets Predicted the Toronto Blessing to the Very Day it Started As it was all happening, Clark recalled he wasn't really worried because his Christian education showed him amazing happenings like he was seeing are typical. "I learned in seminary about the phenomena and manifestations that almost always occur in times of revival," explained Clark, founder of the ministry Global Awakening. This author of Eyewitness to Miracles: Watching the Gospel Come to Life, also had the assurance of prophets in the Body of Christ. "This was predicted by the prophets before it ever happened, even to the day, even to the year," Clark insisted. As critical Christians sniped at the revival, Arnott was a bit shocked. "The surprising thing to me was that not everyone liked it," he said. "Some professing Christians didn't like it." 'Have the Common Sense to Realize that God's a Lot Bigger Than We Are' He was particularly hurt some other spiritual leaders were saying it was ungodly. "You get respected leaders that you honor saying, 'Have nothing to do with it. It's not God,' it puts a fear of deception in the heart of people," Arnott warned. "I think we need to have the common sense to realize that God's a lot bigger than we are. And therefore, He's going to do things we don't understand," continued Arnott ??? now an overseer in the Partners in Harvest Network of Churches. "So when He does things we don't understand, you don't automatically reject it. You say, 'Huh, I wonder if God's doing something new that's beyond what I know?' And if you take that approach and say 'Lord, where is this in the Bible?' He'll show you." As the revival grew and it became more obvious the Holy Spirit was indeed in it, Arnott recalled he found himself saying to critics, "'Go get yourself a bigger God. You need to have a God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or think. And don't put everything down that you don't understand as the devil all the time.'" In Preparing for the Glory, Arnott writes of God, "His order is different from ours. When a man plants trees, he plants them in nice, neat rows, like an orchard. When God plants trees, we get a jungle or a forest, wild and not very 'neat.' Which order would you prefer? I mean, I like orchards just fine. But there's just something about the wildness of the forest, isn't there?" Even for Jesus: the More Miracles, the More Persecution Arnott found some peace in the midst of the controversy and miracles when the Lord said to him, "'The more Jesus did those kind of miracles, the more they persecuted Him.' So I thought, 'Well, okay, let there be controversy.' And the final thing was He said to me one day, 'John, even Jesus could not please everybody. Don't worry about it. Just keep going.' So that settled it for me. We just kept going." While doubters may have questioned the reports of miracles, Heidi Baker, co-author of Training for Harvest, was certain that her Toronto Blessing experiences moved her much closer to God. This missionary from Mozambique recalled at one service during her first visit, "I ran to the altar. I lifted my hands and I began screaming, 'YES!' And the fire of God hit me. There was no altar call. And Randy Clark, who I'd never met and didn't know who I was. said, 'God wants to know do you want the nation of Mozambique?'" Baker continued, "And I screamed 'YES!' Then fire hit me. Power hit me. I started vibrating with power, power, power. I screamed, 'God, I'm going to die!' He said, 'Good, I want you dead.' You see, you've got to die to self to really live, to really carry the Glory of God." Left Her Limp Like a Rag Doll for a Whole Week And that's not even the wildest thing God did to Baker. Right after that, she said, "For seven days and seven nights, He left me incapacitated. I had to be carried. My husband carried me. All these people had to carry me. If I needed water, they had to bring me water." Folks would have to roll her in and out of her Toronto hotel in a luggage cart. She said, "Then they'd have to carry me to the restroom. It was the most humbling, powerful time of my whole life." Why would God do such a thing? Baker said she had to learn to love and depend, not just on Jesus, but His people as well. "He said, 'You can do nothing without the Body of Christ.' And He allowed me to be so completely incapacitated that I had to learn for seven days and seven nights that not only did I need Jesus, I needed His Body," Baker explained. Don't Judge what God Can or Cannot Do She said of that week, "It was completely, totally life-transforming. And I've never, ever been the same." In the face of such miracles, Arnott suggests people not judge what God can or can't do???will or won't do. Because the pastor believes an even more powerful move of God with even more extraordinary signs and wonders is coming, and harsh critics will miss out on what could be an amazing blessing in their own lives and those of the people they influence. "I'm sorry that not everyone liked it, not everyone wanted it," Arnott said of the Toronto Blessing. "I'm sorry about the guys who spoke against it. They missed the greatest thing that has ever happened in the church, in my opinion, in the last 100 years. And so???if you want to miss it, miss it. But I don't want to miss it."

Some Thoughts for 2018, that I Sensed came from the Holy Spirit

Posted on 8 January, 2018 at 6:25 Comments comments (0)
I shared this word to my home church Catch the Fire - Scarborough, Ontario Canada on December 31st, 2017 I was asking the Holy Spirit, late in 2017 what He would say about the coming year 2018. First of all I heard Him say the one word "EXPLOSION". That was all He said for a few days. I asked for clarification, then I heard Him say: "There will be a dramatic increase in Holy Spirit activity this new year. The "suddenly" I have been hearing for years and expected by many is to begin in 2018. There will be dramatic spiritual growth in individual believers as well as numbers of people coming to Christ. People will begin to "see" their deep need for Jesus. Large increase in Signs and Wonders and Miracles will draw people to Jesus in greater and greater numbers. Manifestations of His Glory appearing in Churches and even in personal times with Jesus. Several will be overwhelmed by His Manifested Presence. This is I believe the beginnings of His Glory covering the earth. I have a greater sense of God in charge, not man. Great turmoil on the earth, a battle for supremacy between light and darkness. (of course Light will win in Jesus). A far greater dependency for the Church on the Holy Spirit. That is a wonderful place to be and stay. A wonderful peace for believers in spite of the turmoil. Tremendous fruitfulness coming to believers, much more than we have seen before. I saw the Church beginning to rise up in various places of the earth seemingly spontaneously, "spontaneous combustion" Holy Spirit fires breaking out around the world.(not through man's strategies but by God Himself) We need to have our spiritual eyes opened to look for these things through the eyes of faith." May it be so Lord for your Glory and for the furtherance of Your Kingdom.

Excerpt Book "Suddenly" by Peter Steicke

Posted on 5 December, 2017 at 19:40 Comments comments (0)

Suddenly, chapter 7


Suddenly, it’s as though everything in Ian was imparted to me.

 

First, let me back up a little.

All the way back to 2006. My prayer partner Cees and I were teaching and equipping in the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda (LCMU).

Sitting on the tarmac at Entebbe airport, just about to depart from Uganda, I looked out the window, rested my head, and said, “I never want to see this place again.”

We had worked hard. The people were hungry for the good news of Jesus. The congregational leaders’ teaching times lasted a couple of days, and then we were off visiting leaders in theirlocal areas to encourage and equip them. We’d travelled to places you’d never be able to book through a tourist agency, over some of the bumpiest roads in the dustiest terrain. We’d leave early and get back late. On the return journeys, there would always be many questions about what we’d taught and the practical implications. It was exhausting.


Suddenly, on the second-to-last evening, I got a fever. Cees and I were sitting down for a much-anticipated evening meal after a full day of teaching and interacting. Just as my meal arrived, I started to feel a bit strange. I picked at the meal and told Cees I was going to lie down. Part way back to the room I became completely disoriented. I even had to ask some members of a British educational team to help me find my room. I was so confused I couldn’t even use the key. They helped me in and laid me on the bed where my temperature proceeded to skyrocket. The Brits obviously got help because next minute one of the staff and Cees were swabbing me down with cold towels on my forehead, armpits, and groin while I was off in a gaga land of delusion. Half an hour later it was all over, but I was left drained and despondent. The sense of despair was still with me while sitting on the plane waiting to leave.

We flew to Amsterdam to spend a few days with Cees’ parents before returning to Australia, but I was in a demoralised state. Cees invited me to attend a church service with his sister and her family the next day, but I declined. However, at the last minute, I changed my mind.

The LevendEvangelieGemeente (Living Gospel Church)is a large charismatic community who encourage their people to naturally engage with others out of the love of the Father. It was neat being taken to the reception desk to pick up a headset. The announcements, bible reading, prayers, and even song introductions were all beautifully translated.

Imagine my surprise then, when the person who got up to preach was speaking perfect English in a Canadian accent … with a translator for everyone else to understand!

His name was Ian Ross, and I gathered he’d shared there once or twice before. Ian was part of the senior staffwhen renewal began at the Catch the Fire Church in Toronto (formerly Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship) in January 1994. The Holy Spirit called Ian from that role in 1998in order to carry the message of the Father's love to the nations on a full-time basis.

When Ian took the microphone and began to speak, I was immediately unimpressed. Listening through my despondent mindset, I felt Ian and I were in the same boat. In my memory, his opening words were something like, “Good morning, I’m Ian Ross. I don’t really feel like being here today as I’m tired. My wife Janice who normally travels with me can’t be here. She’s having some time out for a couple of weeks processing some stuff.”

I thought, “Give me a break!”

However, my interest increased sharply as Ian shared about his earlier career at IBM, his coming to faith, and his encounter with the incredible love of the heavenly Father. Then, after an introduction that would normally be the length of some peoples’ sermons, Ian prayed

“Father, we come today to seek your heart, not just your hands.”

Suddenly, I saw it all. In an instant. One nanosecond before I didn’t see what I saw so clearly now. And it was the real reason behind the despair afflicting me.

In that moment, I relived what had happened in Africa. Burdened by such genuine lack, people would share their needs and ask for prayer.“Please pray we have money for school fees.” “Pray that I can have a new bicycle to do more ministry work.” “Please pray for our crops.” My revelation was this: these beautiful people are so understandably anxiousabout getting things from the Father’s hands that they never actually get to his heart.

Then, in the same moment, I had apicture of us in the western world. Our hands are full to overflowing with cars, houses, clothes, food, leisure-pursuits, options, and excesses, to the point where we are completely preoccupied with them. We mistake the fullness of our hands for ultimate blessing and settle for less than his heart.

Ian’s prayer was short, but so powerfully revealing: “Father, we come today to seek your heart, not just your hands.”

Suddenly, near the end of Ian’s message on the Father’s love, I had a picture in my mind of a large room in Jinja, Uganda. The Holy Spirit was impressing on my mind that I was to return the next year, with a team of people, to facilitate a conference. The picture revealed there would be at least two representatives from every congregation or preaching place of the LCMU, so that they could experience the love of the Father and be empowered to live from his heart and not just his hands. Where did that come from? Forty-five minutes earlier I didn’t want to leave Adelaide again, let alone go back to Uganda.

Next, I heard Ian asking anyone who wanted a blessing from the Father’s heart to come down the front. No more invitation than that was needed. Ian’s message from the Father’s heart had already breathed life into me, despite my preoccupation with God’s hands. Just hours before, I had been full of despair; why not take refreshment when it was offered! Plus, apart from Cees’ family, not one single person in the room knew me. I almost sprinted down to the front and as soon as I got there, I dropped to my knees and started crying—again. Ian just casually walked along, not saying anything I could audibly decipher, laying his hands on peoples’ heads.

What a refreshing time. This didn’t feel like a quick shower to get the grime off when you’re dirty; rather, it was like a soak in a nice warm bath. I experienced the love of my heavenly Father in a tangible way. He was washing away despair, replacing a perfectionist mindset, and overcoming a tendency in me to sometimes see life through the lens of rejection. It was not hugely emotive in the happening—a man prayed over me while I was kneeling—but it was profoundly impacting in its depth. It was a personal love being placed in me. There was relief at being so richly accepted and loved for who I am, not what I did or achieved.


After a period of time—I honestly can’t remember—I got up off my knees and went to look for Ian to say thanks. Finding him I said, “Hi Ian. My name’s Peter. I’m a Lutheran pastor from Australia on my way home from Uganda, and I’ve had it!”

Ian just looked at me and smiled. He then placed one hand on my head and another on my ribcage. It felt as though a sword had pierced me. I doubled over, fell to my knees, and then went gently to the ground. What I experienced is hard to describe. Let’s just say I was caught up with the Father’s love, blissfully unaware of my immediate surroundings. At no point was I unconscious or out of control. I could have ‘snapped out of it’ if I wanted to, but that thought never crossed my mind. I was too enamoured with the Father’s love, too enraptured with the Father’s heart.

When I regained awareness, Cees was leaning over me praying, and Ian was standing in the background grinning. Apparently, Cees had seen me go to the ground from the other side of the building and came running over. He wasn't perturbed; Cees knew this was the Holy Spirit at work and wanted to support me. Ian, however, didn’t know Cees or his connection to me. So, as I was informed later, Ian put out his arm to stop Cees saying, “Don’t worry, he’s a Lutheran pastor, he needs this!”

It’s true! I just didn’t know how much I needed it. Here’s the amazing thing. Suddenly, it’s as if everything in Ian was imparted to me.I could have hopped on a plane backto Uganda right there and then and shared on the Father-heart of God. Bible verses from years of journaling started coming alive with the message of how incredibly loved we are. The despair lifted in the light of that love. I still had to apply self-care and rest due to all I’d experienced in Uganda. The difference now was that I was doing it from a position of acceptance and living in the Father’s “well done”, rather than from a place of dejection and self-pity.

 

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