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Blog Archive2017-02-01T15:34:04+00:00

Rock of Ages

I discovered something remarkable about a place we’re travelling to this weekend. Rob and I will be in Somerset, running a two day Supernatural workshop. Patti, our contact there, was struggling to find a venue for us, but eventually booked The Burrington Inn, not far from Bristol. She then discovered that this pub is directly opposite a famous rock in Burrington Combe. It was here at a cleft in the huge rock that the Reverend Augustus Toplady sheltered from a violent thunderstorm in 1763 and was inspired to write his popular hymn, ‘Rock of Ages’. Not only that, but apparently

Can a Christian have a Demon?

“Can a Christian have a Demon?” is a question that comes up from time to time in our workshops. It’s a good question. The reasoning goes like this: “If I am a Christian it means that I have invited Jesus into my heart, and if Jesus is in my heart by His Holy Spirit abiding in me, then how can I have a demon? The Holy Spirit does not share with demons!!” But to answer this question properly we must address it in three parts: 1. What is a demon and what power do they have? 2. What does it

How to see in the spirit realm: A thought

Last week I did my first Facebook Live video and called it #askaliss. I invited anyone to send in a question for me to cover and many of the questions were to do with seeing in the spirit realm. This is such a huge topic, so I decided to use it as the main focus for the time being and answer more specific questions on each programme. I was pleased to see many people watching live and during the first programme I shared how essential it was for even Jesus Himself to know what was happening in the spirit realm.

Resurrection Power this Easter

As I write this blog, tears are streaming down my face. I remember the time just before we opened our little café in Blacon, Chester. It was ten years ago that we got the keys. I’d been feeling a mix of emotions all that year: of joy and excitement coupled with a holy discontent and hunger for more. It followed years of hard work, laying down of everything, contending, searching, desperation, disappointment but persevering anyway and not giving up. And when we opened our café in February 2009 it happened. A move of God broke out. Things I could only

Can I pray for healing for others even if I am suffering from the same problem?

At a recent workshop one of the delegates asked me an interesting question: “Can I pray for healing for others even if I am suffering from the same problem myself?” The reasoning being that, if I am not healed in an area myself, how can I expect others to be healed through me. In many ways this conclusion makes sense, but only from a human way of thinking. Creating an imaginary bar that we must leap over before we can be used by God is a popular but unbiblical construct. On the contrary, a spiritually mature paradigm isn’t swayed by

Dr Billy Graham’s passing marks a new era

I was sixteen years old when I boarded a bus with my family to Anfield Football Stadium in Liverpool, just a few miles from our home in Chester. The anticipation built as we headed towards the stadium and excitedly travelled to hear the American Evangelist Billy Graham in 1984. I’d given my life to Jesus at the tender age of four in 1971 and my family were Christians, but it was an experience I will never forget. Thirty thousand of us worshipped Jesus together, led by a huge choir (of which my dad was a part) and then Billy Graham

Remembering my stillborn baby

I wrote this on FaceBook exactly a year ago but decided to repost it here on my blog: "Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions. Our second daughter would have turned 22 yesterday had she lived. Rob and I took the day off to spend together and because the weather was so bad we decided to venture into town. We popped into the bank, and while Rob was standing in the queue, I got chatting to an older lady who said she’d only come out as the pain from her gall bladder abscesses was so bad she couldn’t stay at

Do you have a destiny?

“It must be destiny!” Have you ever said that? Or “I’ve got this weird feeling - it’s like this was meant to happen!” Sometimes we get a strong sense that circumstances somehow conspired together in a way that made something happen. It could be a relationship, a chance meeting, or just a huge coincidence... But here’s the thing... when we feel or experience that kind of sensation, what we are really saying is that somehow, something outside of us - some external force - must have had a part to play. When I have a strong sensation that "this was

A Supernatural Christmas

Hearing the Christmas story each year, we can dumb it down to simply a children's nativity play or choir boys in a high church setting, but re-read the gospels as though hearing for the first time, and you'll realise how religious we've made it. What actually happened was to ordinary people like you and me. And just like us, they had to work out what to do, and those choices would affect the history of the world. And how did they do that? They came into alignment with God's plan for their lives by paying attention to their dreams, listening

Magicians worship Jesus

I was thinking of the Christmas story and how ‘wise men’ followed a star and discovered Jesus, the Messiah. It just dawned on me that the word for ‘wise men’ in the original text in Matthew 2 is ‘magos’ which actually means ‘magicians’ or ‘sorcerors’. These men were Eastern mystics: they weren’t Jews or religious types. They were astrologers and soothsayers. But in their hunger and quest for the things of the spirit, they saw a sign in the heavens – a large star. Because they were used to interpreting heavenly signs, they deciphered that the ‘King of the Jews’

50th Birthday Blog by Aliss Cresswell

This month it's my 50th birthday. Earlier in the year, Rob asked what I would like for my birthday, maybe some jewellery or to go somewhere special? I couldn’t think of anything in particular that I needed, so I asked the Holy Spirit what I should ask for. I sensed Him say, “How about helping birth a worldwide move of God?” Of course, that’s what I really want with all my heart, so I readily agreed. Soon afterwards, on Easter Monday I was chatting to the Lord and I asked, “What am I doing that will get in the way

Supernatural Knowledge from the Holy Spirit

An extract from 'The Normal Supernatural Christian Life' by Aliss Cresswell 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 lists nine gifts that are given to us from the Holy Spirit. One of these gifts is described by the Apostle Paul as a “word of knowledge” (see verse 8). A word of knowledge is when someone is given information from the Holy Spirit about something that they would not naturally know, like the example of the lady on the bus (¹). We can also operate in the Spirit of Knowledge which is listed in Isaiah 11:2. The Holy Spirit knows what is going on in

Well-being and healing for the whole person

When it comes to well-being we can have a tendency to focus on physical healing. The bad backs, the blood and skin conditions and the ‘incurable’ diseases – we have seen God heal all these and more. But having physical miracles like broken bones instantly mended is only one aspect of healing. The Bible teaches us that we are not only physical beings but spiritual as well (Genesis 2:7) Putting it simply, on the one hand we have a body which is purely physical; it feels pain and is subject to aging, it needs food and sleep. But we also

Launching UK and USA Spirit Lifestyle Stores

This week sees the launch of an additional online store so that we can give a better service to our American and Canadian customers. We are establishing a new base in the USA so that shipping will be better value and much quicker for our American and Canadian friends. The store will also have a base currency of US dollars so that there are no exchange charges or conversions for the US customers. New visitors arriving on Spirit Lifestyle will be asked to choose between our UK and USA stores depending on their preference for shipping and currency. LANDING PAGE

Heavenly Realms in Earthly Matters

Heavenly realms is a term we use for speaking about spiritual realities in spiritual dimensions. The term heavenly denotes a place higher or more perfect that our earthly one and the term realm contextualizes this place as being under the rule and reign of God.  Though we understand that these heavenly realms are in another dimension it's a mistake to believe that they are irrelevant to earthly matters. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that what happens in these spiritual realms has a direct bearing to what happens on earth. What's more these realms are not remote and inaccessible to

Revival – where is it? by Aliss Cresswell

For years, I prayed for God to send revival. I read Isaiah 64 and begged God to rend the heavens and come down, for people to turn out in droves to our church services and to get saved in the meetings. One day I came to the realisation that God had already rent the heavens and come down to earth, born in a stable, despised by men, had given Himself up for me. He had died on a cross, He overcame Satan and all the powers of darkness and hell, sin, death, sickness and pain and commissioned His followers to

My Marriage Secrets by Aliss Cresswell

Rob and I celebrated 28 years of marriage this month. It got me thinking how I've had people tell me "Everything’s OK for you, you're a ‘woman of God’ with everything going for you, full of faith and seeing miracles every day." They seem to think that I have it easy somehow and I don’t have problems that ‘normal’ people have. And it’s true that I am married to a wonderful man who I wouldn’t trade for the world, but we’ve had our share of difficult times. There’s the time that our baby daughter died and then a few years

Dreams of the Night that Influence the Day

Dreaming while sleeping is common to all the people of the world. From babies to, children to adults - we all dream. Dreams are strange experiences, sometimes so lucid and convincing that they cause us to actually speak or move in our sleep. Dream worlds are weird; they have different rules, they seem to be mixtures of the familiar and the unknown. Many people ignore their dreams even if they are disturbing or intriguing. However since Bible times dreams have been recognized by spiritual people as one of the primary ways that God can speak to us. Throughout Bible times

A Purposeful Life – Knowing Your Purpose

Do you have a purposeful life? Ask the average person why they are here, what's the reason for their existence, and you will probably get a shrug. Sadly, ask your average believer the same question and you're likely to get the same answer. However, the scriptures are clear that we are created for a reason and that God has a purpose and a plan for all of us: In Jeremiah 29:11 God says to his people that he has good plans for them: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and

Choruses From The Rock by T S Eliot

While writing the script for the latest Spirit Lifestyle episode I came across a poem by T S Eliot called 'Choruses from the Rock'. Here's an extract: The endless cycle of idea and action, Endless invention, endless experiment, Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness; Knowledge of speech, but not of silence; Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word. Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? Written in 1934 it was a prophetic poem in a century that

Supernatural Workshop

It's always such a privilege to get to train and activate people from far and wide at one of our workshops at Little Mollington Hall and this week was no exception. To have over 25 like-minded people gathered together to learn and encourage one another in the things of the Holy Spirit is really powerful. And, though we trust that our teaching and equipping exercises are inspiring and impactful, we know that there is a powerful dimension added with the enthusiasm and energy of the group. There's nothing quite like it. Getting together with others who are all hungry for

ANCIENT PATHWAYS: PRAYER

Filming in some peaceful meadows for our ANCIENT PATHS episode on devotional prayer this week it was nice to have some sunshine in a month that can be very rainy in the UK. Also pleased to mix in some lovely location shots from a day I spent at Valle Crucis Abbey in Llangollen. In Matthew 6 Jesus instructed us to pray in secret, in the hidden places and not to seek the admiration of people. Of course in our western culture we have all but eradicated prayer from public life and I'm sure this was not what Jesus meant. In

The Overflowing Life

It's been great to get the 'Ancient Pathways' online training series underway. This week we went to one of the highest waterfalls in North Wales called Pistyll Rhaeadr which means (spring of the waterfall). It took quite a bit of driving through those narrow Welsh roads to get there (you know, the ones where you're always hoping that nothing is coming the other way) but the trip was worth it. We got some stunning footage of the falls and it really works well with the theme - 'the overflowing life'. We're focusing on five classic Christian devotions in this series

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