James Kenny is my name, I was saved and was a pastor at Penrith Christian Fellowship Centre now known as Imaginations Church. I had the privilege to work with the late Pastor Gordon Gibbs, Steve Kelly and other great godly men and woman who impacted my life tremendously. For the past 30 years I have engaged in church planting, started a couple of not for profit organisations including Youth Hotline and Penrith Bible College. I currently serve at Sanctuary Church Blue Mountains.
Sunday, 3 April 2016
Ministry with The Late Pastor Gordon Gibbs
A Little History
After arriving back in Australia in October 2002, from a 2 1/2 year stint in Sweden, I returned to my home church Penrith Christian Fellowship Centre now under the leadership of the wonderful man of God, Gordon Gibbs. Pastor Gordon had established this same church in the mid 1970's when he for the first time experienced the baptism of the Spirit which came as a wave over Australia in the Charismatic Renewal. As a result, it was people like Gordon Gibbs, Norm Armstrong, Frank Houston and many others who pioneered the Charismatic Renewal in our nation.
Pastor Gordon had been asked by a small group of newly baptised believers in Penrith to lead their group and pastor them in this new wave of the Spirit. As a result, the new fellowship originally known as the Charismatic Christian Fellowship began meeting at the Barwick's home in Emu Plains. Though first reluctant, Pastor Gordon began praying for people to be baptised in the Spirit and for the sick. A new location was soon sought as they quickly grew out of the Barwick home and led to Pastor Gordon transforming his double garage to his home at Orchard Hills into a new church location.
As news spread of people being healed and baptised in the Spirit, the church quickly grew and moved into two floors of Borec House in the Centre of Penrith and later again into units on Dean Place Penrith. It was at these locations that the churches' children ministry began with a bang and double decker buses were purchased to collect children from all over the Penrith region. In total 5 buses were in operation with approximately 600 children attending children's church each week.
In the early 1980's, Gordon felt to purchase some 22 acres of land in Orchard Hills for a purpose built auditorium which was completed in 1985, by this time Gordon had handed the leadership of the church to Pastor Rob Thornton. It was at this location that I first came to know Jesus as my Lord in 1986 after attending a meeting in my school with Pastor Steve Kelly, now the pastor of Wave Church in Virginia. The new location was now known as Penrith Christian Fellowship Centre and in 1990 at the return of Pastor Gordon as pastor became part of the Assemblies of God in Australia.
Ministry
There is so much that can be said about Pastor Gordon's ministry, he was always on the move and continually seeking God's direction via the Holy Spirit for the next great thing. Needles to say, during my 4 years of working with this wonderful man of God there were many revival meetings, tent meetings, Power Team & Billy Graham outreaches and door to door campaigns which saw hundreds of believers come to Jesus in these years. In fact during these four years working for Gordon as the new Christians pastor of our church, there were more new convert decisions than any other time I worked as pastor.
There were three aspects or characteristics of this man which I believe stood out from the rest.
Spirit Led - Pastor Gordon was a Spirit led man, that is he was always looking and wanting to know from the Holy Spirit the what, when, where and how. He was never happy with history or traditional way of reaching people with the Gospel. He continually sought out the everyday will of the Father by taking time praying in the Spirit.
Romans 8 tells us that "those who are led of the Spirit are the sons of God". If this is true, then it is also true to say that Gordon was a son of God for this reason alone. On regular occasion, he would remind the ministry team of pastor including myself of how dedicated he was to pray in the Spirit. Explaining that he arose every morning at 4 am to pray in tongues for 1 hour, pray in English or 1 hour and spend 1 hour jumping on his mini trampoline to get some exercise. No doubt even during this last hour he was seeking the Lord's guidance for the day.
Every day, pastor Gordon would take the time to telephone at least 3 people from our church and pray for them, especially those who he had not recently seen in the meetings. In addition, meetings with Gordon were always a standard format, this is to say, he would spend 30 minutes or so in preaching the word of God and then spend the remainder of the time in having words of wisdom or knowledge or simply prophecy over people. As a result, many people were touched or healed or det free from demonic bondages in their lives. On one occasion when Gordon was preaching a man began to convulse in the meeting during Gordon's preaching time. Not wanting to make a scene, Pastor Gordon gently rebuked the demon spirit and asked the ministry team to take him outside for prayer until the preaching was finished.
Gordon rarely attended a meeting without taking time in the Holy Spirit to seek direction and ask the Holy Spirit to give him words for individual people. On one occasion whilst eating lunch with some friends from church, we began to talk about the evening service when Pastor Gordon would be preaching. One of the ladies at this luncheon began to talk about a word she has received from Gordon some 2 years earlier and how the Lord had instructed her to eat raspberry tablets for a skin condition she had. During the meeting that evening, this very same lady was pointed out by Pastor Gordon and given the exact same word of knowledge. The lady went home again that night and began eating raspberry tablets to deal with her ongoing skin condition.
Being led of the Holy Spirit, much the same as our Lord continually sought the Fathers' direction, was paramount to Pastor Gordon's ministry.
Faith
We know in scripture that without Faith it is impossible to please God and that Faith is the substance of things hoped for as we read in Hebrews 11. If this is indeed the case, which I believe, then Pastor Gordon was a pleaser of God who never stopped hoping. Pastor Gordon was a NOW man, as we read in Hebrews 11:1 faith is now, that is faith has nothing to do with our past or our history. It doesn't really matter to God how faithful, or for that matter, how faithless we have been in the past but who we are in Christ today. This aspects of Gordon's life shown through in so many ways.
Pastor Gordon was a natural business man, that is always looking for opportunity! Whether it was by selling washing powder door to door, as he did after arriving in Sydney from Perth with his new wife or building caravans and establishing a great business which gave them the means to do what he loved most. that is share the Gospel with people. Faith was an everyday thing for Gordon, whether it was in his businesses or in sharing the good news with strangers, faith was continually at work in his life.
I have already spoken of the land that pastor Gordon felt led by the Spirit to purchase which currently houses the Imagine Nations Church in Orchard Hills. But what I did not tell you of the extraordinary circumstances that led to being able to purchase this land. Though Gordon heard from the Spirit that he should purchase the land, he did not hear how it would come about. But it was a shear act of faith by Gordon that made it all reality.
After contacting the real estate agent in Penrith about the property, Pastor Gordon invited Pastor Alan Murray, who at this stage had become Gordon's right hand man and being a prudent Scotsman and therefore the person who held the role of treasurer for the church, to meet him at the property with the estate agent.
After perusing the property an agreed value for the land was established and Gordon shook the hand of the estate agent sealing the deal. All well and good for those who have large bank balances. When however it came time to leave a deposit to seal the deal, Gordon merely turned to Alan and said write the man a cheque knowing full well that there was not nearly enough funds to purchase the property. Yet when Alan asked the estate agent how much he needed in deposit, it turned out to be the exact amount they did have in the church account. that evening Gordon called the church to prayer and to believe that the money would be made available for settlement in a few short weeks. Needless to say the funds arrived on time and the property was bought.
This trust in the Lord by Gordon was an ongoing and obvious part of Gordon's ministry. Yet it was never a foolish or un-prayerful act but a knowing which came out of obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Humility
Some would think that humility should have come first to describe this man's ministry, but I simply cannot finish with any other point than this one. In the nearly 20 years I knew Gordon he was never boastful or proud. He never once tried to place himself above others or promote himself. As Philippian's says he always put others above himself and sought to raise up those who are weak.
During a ministry meeting of the pastors, Gordon was asked everyone present what they felt of the present teaching he was doing in the morning Sunday services. In now shame, I remember saying to him as follows, "Pastor Gordon, I love you like a father, but if I hear you preach any more on this subject I think I might have to kill you". And though this was said jokingly and with all respect to this man of God, I am deeply sorry for addressing this man as I did. Yet it was his response which was the most amazing thing I had ever heard from a man who had established churches and ministry all over the world, who had churches and hospitals named after him and who was also declared a chief and owner of an Island of Fiji. He simply turned to me and thanked me for being honest and promised to not speak on this subject any more.
Pastor Gordon blew me away, expecting a rebuke for my response, saying who are you or what right do you have to address me this way? But no, he gently and considerately responded with all humility and kindness you would expect of someone who was like Christ. This mark of humility went with him everywhere, never once did I hear him speak unkindly at any person even during a period in his ministry where he was being undermined and unjustly dealt with.
If only every young and inspired man of God could have these traits in there ministry, then I know the world in which we live would be a better place.
God Bless
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Thanks James , great to hear stories about Ps Gibbs.Helps me recall some of the times I was around him.
ReplyDeleteYes those days in Penrith were exciting!
ReplyDeleteYes Michelle, they certainly were, I believe even greater days are coming! God Bless James
ReplyDeleteGreat
ReplyDeleteGordon Gibbs gave me the greatest prophecy of my life, back in around 1976
ReplyDeleteWhen CFC was located in Borec House.
He was the most gentle, humble man of God.
I treasure him, and his ministry, in memory.
Ken Barwick was a close friend of my dad.
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ReplyDeleteI went a a healing service in Miranda over 40 years ago entered with a broken back and walked out fully healed praise God for touching me
ReplyDeleteI hi Jamie I used to go to this church in my teanage years at borec house called the Kiev Gordon was a good friend of my mothers who was heavily involved in this church I remember her playing billy grahams tapes over and over
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