This article has been rewritten and expanded.
Last Tuesday (21 August 2012), Tim Harrold appeared on the Revelation TV discussion programme, Hope For Our Times.
On Friday 18 May, Tim Harrold joined others in recording a programme for a digital satellite Christian broadcaster, which has studios in New Malden in Surrey.
Tim had been asked by the presenter of the programme, Andy Stupple, a couple of weeks before. Tim met him through the Moggerhanger Millennials events of last year, when delegates from different aspects of Britain’s Christian community gathered to consider the state of the nation and the way in which God is leading his church into the future.
The subject of this episode of Hope For Our Times was the growing unity movement across the UK.
Joining Andy and Tim was Roger Sutton of Gather. He has been going up and down the country visiting cities and areas seeking evidence of the fruit of unity through shared prayer, mission and networking. In February 2012 he facilitated a conference at Swanwick called We Gather, at which some 50 cities and areas were represented.
The discussion centred around Roger’s findings and Tim’s local experiences, and the principles of unity that the Bible emphasises in such scriptures as Psalm 133 and John 13:34. The atmosphere was informal, relaxed, and not without humour, allowing deep inisights and the prophetic nature of the subject matter to come forth.
Tim was able to talk about Isaiah 41:17-20, the word that is over Thurrock, concerning the placing by God of seven trees in the midst of a desert as an oasis of the miraculous and a sign of the fresh springs and living water of the Holy Spirit pouring out from the temple in heaven. These seven distinct types of trees could be inividual believers, different churches, or denominations (styles, cultures etc.) – but the point is, they have been miraculaously, i.e. with divine purpose, placed together to provide refreshment, restoration and revival. (The seven trees could also represent the seven motivational gifts – the ‘who am I?’ gifts – mentioned in Romans 12:6-8d.)
Tim also mentioned the vertical and horizontal aspects of reconciling unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17:23 and subsequently won by him on the cross.
He talked about the origins of Transformation Thurrock lying in such prayer initiatives in the late 90s as the Thurrock Christian Schools Worker Group and Prayer For Thurrock. Of course, Tim wasn’t able to 
mention every initiative – be it prayer or mission – that brought Transformation Thurrock into being, as the discussion lasted a mere 27 minutes!
Perhaps the most important aspects to emerge from the programme were that unity is a principle, a command of the King to be obeyed; and that it is being revealed anew in these days is an indication that the King is graciously but determinedly re-establishing unity with a geographical emphasis rather than a denominational one, somewhat akin to the early church when a city or an area gave identity to the belivers who lived their, not their separate expressions. This is a challenge to us all! Unity is key, and the key is unity – and obedience liberates divine power.
The programme cannot currently be seen, but Tim is looking into that. However, he does possess his own copy on DVD…
For info about Revelation TV, see www.revelationtv.com
