Peanut Gallery: Can any good come out of Belfast? The answer is a resounding YES!

Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK) is Europe’s last best hope. But it is taking a movement of God.

“Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.” 
Psalm 20.7 (NLT)

Northern Ireland is struggling… and the communities that make up West Belfast are on the bottom of the pile. Economic stagnation, unemployment, poor health and education, cramped housing, general poverty, teen pregnancy, and crime… all contribute to the highest suicide rate in Northern Ireland. Kids roam the streets at night with nothing to do and nowhere to go. As they congregate, police move them on from one place to the next. It’s not an environment I’d want for my kid.

While some areas of Northern Ireland are prospering, predominantly Nationalist West Belfast is being left behind.

It’s been 15 years since the Belfast Peace accords (Good Friday Agreement) were signed and while everything has changed, nothing has changed. There is no peace… only a fragile truce, or cease fire, which is being strained to its limits by extremes in both the Nationalist and Unionist communities.

One woman said: “The young people involved in the current round of protest and violence never lived through The Troubles. We are reaping the harvest of my generation’s unforgiveness… and passing it on to our children.”

And yet, in the middle of it all, God is pouring out His Spirit… lives are being changed and the Kingdom of God is at hand… accompanied by signs and wonders. Believers from all sides of the divide are sacrificially pouring out their lives in worship and prayer… and in untold acts of kindness and mercy. The invisible Church is rising up… and God is moving among His people.

Robin Mark captures the mood in “Revival in Belfast” while the video background overviews the city. More later….
________________

Revival in Belfast – Robin Mark (with video of Northern Ireland)

I hear the voice of one calling, prepare ye the way of the Lord. And make His paths straight in the wilderness. And let your light shine in the darkness. And let your rain fall in the desert.

As sure as gold is precious and the honey sweet, So you love this city and you love these streets. Every child out playing by their own front door. Every baby laying on the bedroom floor.

Every dreamer dreaming in her dead-end job. Every driver driving through the rush hour mob. I feel it in my spirit, feel it in my bones. You’re going to send revival, bring them all back home.

I can hear that thunder in the distance. Like a train on the edge of town. I can feel the brooding of Your Spirit. “Lay your burdens down, Lay your burdens down”.

From the Preacher preaching when the well is dry. To the lost soul reaching for a higher high. From the young man working through his hopes and fears. To the widow walking through the veil of tears.

Every man and woman, every old and young. Every fathers daughter, every mothers son. I feel it in my spirit, feel it in my bones. You’re going to send revival, bring them all back home

I can hear that thunder in the distance. Like a train on the edge of town. I can feel the brooding of Your Spirit. “Lay your burdens down, Lay your burdens down”.

Revive us, Revive us, Revive us with your fire!