Thoughts from a Resident Alien

Lynn Green
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  • Christianity
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Lynn Green and his wife Marti first came to England and began the work of Youth With A Mission here in 1971. From 2004-2011 Lynn was YWAM's International Chairman. He continues to convene YWAM's global leadership meetings and focuses much of his energy on international leadership development. In past years Lynn has been much involved in serving other movements and organizations, including Challenge 2000 (the DAWN movement in England), and "March for Jesus", of which he was a founder. He is currently a trustee of CARE Trust. Lynn also directed the "Reconciliation Walk", when thousands of Christians prayerfully retraced the route of the First Crusade, thereby helping to defuse 900 years of bitterness between Muslims, Christians and Jews.

  1. Feb 27

    #290 - Is this Really Revival? part 3

    Continuing the series, Lynn Green tackles why genuine revivals so often fizzle out quickly. He revisits his Eagle Grove story with a new detail — a tense theological interrogation by local ministers that nearly shut it down — before drawing a striking parallel between revival's "afterburner" intensity and the sustained "cruise altitude" of ongoing holiness that must follow. He closes with a candid personal account of drifting into counterfeit, "soulish" prophecy in the pursuit of spiritual power, warning that emotional intensity can easily be mistaken for the Holy Spirit's genuine work. Chapters: ▶️ (00:00:00) — Awakening vs. Revival, and the Role of Intercessors Lynn distinguishes today's "spiritual awakening" (rising interest in faith, public figures coming out as Christian) from true revival (a heaven-sent, unmistakable conviction of sin and holiness), then makes the case — via Peter Wagner's statistic that only ~2% of believers carry a specific gift of intercession — that sustained, often invisible prayer is the necessary precursor that opens the door to genuine revival. ▶️ (00:16:42) — Why elders nearly shut down Eagle Grove? A previously untold detail from the Eagle Grove story: local town ministers, alarmed the movement might be a cult, summoned Lynn for a tense theological interrogation — and despite disagreeing sharply with his theology, ultimately chose to support what was clearly happening in their young people's lives, opening their churches to the meetings. ▶️ (00:23:17) — Revival's "Afterburners": Why Intensity Can't Last? Using the image of a jet's afterburners (needed for takeoff, but switched off once cruising), Lynn argues that revival's intense initial power is meant to launch believers into a sustained "cruise" of ordinary holiness — reading Scripture, fellowship, daily obedience — and that revivals often falter precisely because leaders try to keep the initial intensity going indefinitely rather than transitioning into steady spiritual growth. ▶️ (00:30:40) — The Danger of "Soulish" Counterfeit Gifts Drawing again on Watchman Nee's The Latent Power of the Soul, Lynn tells a candid personal story of striving to replicate the prophetic gifting he admired in close friends — eventually realising he was reading people's souls rather than hearing from God — and warns that as more young people involved in occult practices seek deliverance, leaders must guard against emotional intensity masquerading as genuine spiritual gifting. • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  2. Feb 20

    #289 - Is this Really Revival? part 2

    Continuing the series, Lynn Green revisits YWAM's founding season with a key correction from Darlene Cunningham: the real theme of those early revivals wasn't revival itself, but the revelation of God's nature and character — the true common thread from Jonathan Edwards through Charles Finney to the Hebrides. He shares a striking eyewitness letter about a 1973 youth revival, traces the hidden intercessors (Peggy and Christine Smith, Mabel White, Joy Dawson) behind history's great awakenings, and closes by previewing next week's topic: why revival so often provokes opposition from church leadership. Chapters: ▶️ (00:00:00) — Correction: It Was Never About Revival Itself Recapping last week's story, Lynn shares a key correction from a call with Darlene Cunningham and Marty: the early YWAM founders' formative teaching sessions weren't actually themed around revival, but around the revelation of God's nature and character — a thread running through the First Great Awakening's Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and Finney despite their theological differences. ▶️ (00:17:12) — A 1973 Eyewitness Account and the Pattern That Repeats Lynn reads a lengthy letter from a former YWAM student describing a spontaneous 1973 youth revival at a Baptist church — complete with spontaneous unified singing, healing, and over a hundred conversions — that was ultimately shut down and pushed underground by cautious elders, echoing his own Eagle Grove story and revealing another hidden intercessor behind it. ▶️ (00:20:59) — The Hidden Work of Intercessors Across History A survey of the unseen prayer warriors behind major revivals: Peggy and Christine Smith in the Hebrides, Mabel White in Iowa, Joy Dawson's international intercessory ministry, and Father Nash's practice of praying ahead of Charles Finney's preaching tours — all illustrating that sustained, often obscure intercession consistently precedes visible moves of God. ▶️ (00:29:21) — Setting Up Next Week: Why Revival Gets Opposed Lynn closes with his own story of praying "concerts of prayer" with Graham Kendrick in early-1980s London (which later fed into March for Jesus), reflects on why cautious local church leaders often resist revival's disruption, and previews next week's topic: why revival is so often opposed by those responsible for others' spiritual wellbeing, especially in today's safeguarding-conscious environment. • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  3. Feb 13

    #288 - Is this Really Revival? part 1

    Lynn Green traces YWAM's own origin story back to a 1969 New Zealand conference where a young Loren Cunningham crossed paths with revivalist Duncan Campbell — asking whether today's "quiet revival" buzz meets the historic bar for the word. Along the way he recounts YWAM's earliest days in Switzerland, months of sustained intercession for revival, and his own vivid, first-hand account of a three-week youth revival breaking out in a small Iowa town in 1970 — sparked, he later learned, by the decades of hidden prayer of one bedridden intercessor. Chapters: ▶️ (00:00:00) — Origins: Lauren Cunningham and the New Zealand Conference Lynn traces YWAM's founding back to a pivotal 1969 conference in New Zealand, where Loren Cunningham met revivalist Duncan Campbell and other key intercessors, received the prompting to start a training school in Switzerland, and set in motion the school Lynn himself would join later that year. ▶️ (00:13:27) — Building the First School Around Sustained Prayer for Revival The early Lausanne training school takes shape — weeks of daily intercession, teaching from Duncan Campbell and other revival-focused speakers, and Lynn's own experience of climbing the hills above the school at night to pray fervently for revival, all setting a template that has stayed with him for 55 years. ▶️ (00:22:34) — The Decision to Go Back, and a Small Town Called Eagle Grove A personal, high-stakes account of nearly abandoning his missionary calling after returning home, until a phone call from Loren redirects him to a small Iowa town — where a modest youth night in a bare church living room unexpectedly breaks open into weeping, confession, and repentance among a dozen teenagers. ▶️ (00:30:24) — Three Weeks of Revival, and the Hidden Intercessor Behind It What began as one meeting multiplies into three weeks of packed-out gatherings, culminating in over a thousand young people turning out and 125 committing their lives to Christ — and Lynn's later discovery, 40 years on, that a bedridden, multiple-sclerosis-afflicted intercessor named Mabel White had been praying for those exact teenagers by name for years. • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  4. Feb 6

    #287 - False Prophets and False Prophecies

    Lynn Green shares decades of personal reflection — framed explicitly as his own musings, not doctrine — on why prophetic ministry keeps producing scandal. Working from the Old Testament story of Balaam, a childhood memory of his father's warning about a famous healing evangelist, and his own uncomfortable brush with a "soulish" prophetic gifting, he explores how reputation, fame, and power create predictable temptations toward arrogance and sexual sin, and why Christlikeness — not spectacle — is the real test of a genuine prophetic voice. Chapters: ▶️ (00:00:00) — A Father's Warning and the Question of Genuine Gifting Lynn frames the topic as personal musing rather than judgment, prompted by recent emails about prophetic controversies, then shares a story of watching archival footage of a famous 1940s healing evangelist — followed by his father's private account of the same man's serious moral failures — raising the puzzle of how real healing and real corruption can coexist in one ministry. ▶️ (00:08:58) — Balaam: The Original False Prophet A close read of Numbers 22 to 24 and its New Testament references (2 Peter 2, Revelation 2) — how Balaam's official prophecies were technically accurate blessings, yet he's still branded a false prophet for the corrupt advice he gave on the side, illustrating that "getting the words right" isn't the same as being trustworthy before God. ▶️ (00:16:03) — Why Reputation Breeds Arrogance and Moral Failure Lynn identifies two specific temptations that come with a prophetic reputation: the pressure to "deliver" words on demand (which he argues the Holy Spirit never does), which breeds arrogance and a resistance to accountability — illustrated by a friend's blunt interview with a TV ministry leader — and the heightened vulnerability to sexual temptation that comes with perceived spiritual power and attention. ▶️ (00:27:19) — Soulish Prophecy vs. the Real Test of Christlikeness Drawing on Watchman Nee's The Latent Power of the Soul, Lynn recounts his own uneasy experiment with a "soul-to-soul" prophetic gifting — reading what people wanted to hear rather than genuinely hearing from God — and closes with his working conviction: the true mark of the Spirit's work is growing Christlikeness, not spectacular ministry, and any leader whose primary identity becomes "God's spokesman" should be watched carefully.   • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  5. Jan 30

    #286 - Does YWAM need a new wine skins?

    Lynn Green returns to Jesus's wineskin parable (Luke 5, 37) to ask a pointed question: does YWAM need new structural wineskins for the moves of God happening now? Drawing on stories spanning fifty years — a 1970 Iowa revival with no church to catch it, unreached Papua New Guinea and Amazon tribes, West London street kids, and the rise and painful fracture of the shepherding movement — he argues new moves of God almost always need new containers, but warns against two specific temptations: planting YWAM's own churches, and paying staff outside the mission's values. Chapters: ▶️ (00:00:00) — What the Parable Actually Means Lynn unpacks Luke 5, 37's wine-and-wineskins image using his own home-brewing mishap for illustration, then explains the underlying principle: fermenting new wine (a genuine move of God) will always burst rigid old wineskins (established structures), while Jesus's added line — "no one who's tasted the old wants the new" — explains the natural generational resistance that follows. ▶️ (00:08:23) — New Moves Need New Containers: Case Studies A tour of moments where existing structures couldn't hold what God was doing — a 1970 youth revival in a small Iowa town with no church built to receive 300 new believers, waves of West African and Caribbean immigration reshaping British church demographics, refugee ministries born from the Vietnamese boat-people crisis, and Don Richardson's unreached Papua New Guinea and Amazon tribes building entirely indigenous wineskins for their new faith. ▶️ (00:24:10) — Lessons from YWAM's Own Church-Planting Attempts Lynn recounts YWAM's own history of trying (and largely failing) to plant churches directly, alongside the more painful story of the 1970s–80s charismatic renewal and shepherding movement — which began as an interdenominational "stay and be salt and light" renewal but eventually hardened into its own hierarchical denomination, fracturing trust when it did. ▶️ (00:32:01) — Where YWAM Draws the Line Today Closing principles for staying flexible without losing YWAM's identity: the mission actively lets fruitful ministries become independent "new wineskins" when that's their calling, but holds firm on two boundaries — not planting its own churches, and not paying full-time workers outside its values — while staying alert to when a new structure is a genuine new wineskin versus a "Trojan horse." • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  6. Jan 23

    #285 - Raise Your Game

    Fresh out of a board meeting, Lynn Green revisits a prophetic word he received years ago — "raise your game" — and connects it to Amos 3:7's claim that God reveals His plans to His servants before He acts. Looking at YWAM's recent season of "pruning" (good ministries maturing and moving elsewhere), current record growth at Harpenden, and the rising public profile that comes with increased fruitfulness, Lynn makes the case for building in accountability now, before the glare of publicity and the amplifying power of social media test it.   Chapters:   ▶️ (00:00:) — The Word: "Raise Your Game" Lynn recalls a prophetic word from a lawyer friend years ago at a YWAM leadership gathering in Kona — "raise your game" — understood as a signal that YWAM's long season of staying low-profile wouldn't last forever, paired with Amos 3:7's claim that God reveals His plans to His prophets before acting.   ▶️ (00:09:00) — Cultivating Relationships Above Your "Rung" A reflection on Britain's class-consciousness and how deliberately reciprocating friendship with more capable, senior people — rather than staying intimidated by the gap — built the relational network now reflected in the quality of people around YWAM's board table. ▶️ (00:20:18) — The Pruning Season and Its Fruit Revisiting a four-year-old prophetic word from Tom Bloomer about a coming pruning season (John 15): good ministries that started in YWAM but belong more naturally elsewhere have been "transplanted," making YWAM smaller in some ways but far more fruitful — illustrated by farm-pruning imagery and current stories of growth and ministry activity at Harpenden. ▶️ (00:28:07) — Raising the Game Means Raising Accountability As profile and fruitfulness increase, so does public scrutiny — bigger platforms mean louder criticism, amplified mistakes, and higher stakes if things go wrong. Lynn's closing charge: build in strong accountability now, recognise the "prophetic highway" pattern across church history, and ask what God may be saying about your own city or ministry season. • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  7. Jan 16

    #284 - Domains and Transformation of Nations

    Continuing his transformation series, Lynn Green gets more systematic about the difference between "spheres of influence" (family, religion, education, economics, government, media, celebration) and "domains of authority" (individual, family, religious, government) — arguing that history's worst tyrannies always start by merging religious and governmental authority. He traces this pattern through Lenin, Mao, and North Korea's Kim dynasty, credits the 1973 Lausanne Congress as the turning point for evangelical engagement with society, and closes with a close look at how parental authority is meant to transition as children grow.   Chapters: ▶️ (00:00:00) — Spheres vs. Domains: A Clearer Framework Lynn distinguishes between the seven "spheres of society" (spheres of influence) and the four biblically-authorised "domains of authority," tracing evangelical Christianity's engagement-with-society roots to the 1973 Lausanne Congress with Billy Graham, and explaining why keeping these categories distinct matters for avoiding tyranny.   ▶️ (00:08:15) — When Religion and Government Merge: The Making of Tyranny Historical case studies of what happens when a tyrant fuses governmental force with religious devotion — Lenin's body venerated as a deity, Mao's "Little Red Book" as scripture, and the broader pattern of dictators needing to dominate people's spiritual loyalty, not just their behaviour, to secure total control. ▶️ (00:24:00) — Checks, Balances, and the Value of Divided Power A look at how modern constitutional government (using the US's 1787 separation of powers as the model) intentionally divides authority among competing branches to prevent any single domain from consolidating unchecked power — with a brief, evenhanded aside on current debates over executive overreach in the US. ▶️ (00:26:45) — Family Authority: Loosening the Reins as Children Grow Closing focus on the family domain — parents' God-given responsibility to train a child's will toward right choices, the challenge of knowing when and how much to loosen control as teenagers individuate, and how learning delayed gratification and self-discipline prepares young people for autonomy. Lynn sets up next episode's plan to dig deeper into each domain and sphere with practical application.   • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

  8. Jan 9

    #283 - Can Christians, and should Christians, engage with all spheres of society for the purpose of transformation?

    Lynn Green continues his series on transformation with a direct answer: yes, Christians should engage every sphere of society — but never by seizing governmental power or merging church and state. He walks through the seven spheres of influence (family, religion, education, economics, government, media, celebration) and which carry real coercive authority versus mere influence, draws on the Reformation, Wilberforce, and the founding of America as historical case studies, and lays out how YWAM's University of the Nations approach aims to influence culture through trained, values-driven people rather than institutional control. Chapters: ▶️ (00:00) — Clarifying the Goal: Influence, Not Control Picking up from the last episode, Lynn states his thesis plainly: Christians should engage every sphere of society, but never by combining religious and governmental authority — because God wants hearts, not just behaviour, and any merger of domains produces tyranny. He revisits the Reformation's costly separation of church and state, and recommends Eric Metaxas's If You Can Keep It and Bonhoeffer as further reading on the theme. ▶️ (00:10:55) — Mapping the Domains: Family, Religion, Education, Economics, Government A domain-by-domain walkthrough of which spheres carry real coercive authority and which only carry influence — family and religion both have genuine but limited authority; education properly belongs under parental authority, not government; economics operates through voluntary contracts backed by law; and government alone holds legitimate deadly coercive power, which must stay checked to avoid tyranny (illustrated by Israel's failed kibbutzim). ▶️ (00:33:07) — Media, Celebration, and Why Influence Beats Force Media and the arts/entertainment ("celebration") carry zero formal authority but enormous influence — and Lynn argues that of all seven spheres, the ones with real force (government) have the least power to change hearts, while character and relationship are what actually move people. This frames YWAM's own strategy: training people to be influential within every sphere rather than seeking control of any of them, exemplified by the University of the Nations model and stories of quiet workplace influence.  ▶️ (1:00:00) — The Cost of a Divided Society, and the Historical Model for Renewal Lynn closes by describing modern Britain's "two-tier" breakdown of shared values and law enforcement as a symptom of losing a common belief foundation, then holds up the 18th-century Wesleyan revival and Wilberforce's abolition and "reformation of manners" campaigns as the pattern for real transformation — arguing revival has to precede lasting societal change, not follow it.   • • ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.** website - https://lynngreen.blog Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522648400 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrCLynnGreen

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out of 5
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About

Lynn Green and his wife Marti first came to England and began the work of Youth With A Mission here in 1971. From 2004-2011 Lynn was YWAM's International Chairman. He continues to convene YWAM's global leadership meetings and focuses much of his energy on international leadership development. In past years Lynn has been much involved in serving other movements and organizations, including Challenge 2000 (the DAWN movement in England), and "March for Jesus", of which he was a founder. He is currently a trustee of CARE Trust. Lynn also directed the "Reconciliation Walk", when thousands of Christians prayerfully retraced the route of the First Crusade, thereby helping to defuse 900 years of bitterness between Muslims, Christians and Jews.

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