I really haven't begun to share what happened to Christine and myself at various times through this year's RiverCAMP. And I have not much time right now. Bear in mind where I am coming from. My background is the power encounter in Great Kingshill in 1972 which energised a lot of us to spread the Kingdom around our year at school. I have hung around Morris Cerullo's events here, and Chicago and San Diego. I missed Toronto. But I have been schooled (and I mean that positively and negatively)by Ed Miller and Jorge Pradas in seeking God's face ,face down on hard concrete floors, for hours at a time sometimes, other times just lesser time periods...but really meeting with God on my insides...just knowing that a connection has been made and that the 3D answer is just a matter of time away.....it's just a necessary detail....a bit of the bureaucratic function of existence!!! What, you mean you want to actually see the results too!!!! That's just crossing the T's!!!!God's confirming Presence on a matter was always the final say...because time and time again the answer followed some time later. Folks, this was real stuff. We saw money come from nowhere to setup an outpost south west of Paris. We saw people in the same family in our church totally healed of leukaemia. We saw the most rebellious people in Bible House have such grace break through on them...they actually were streets ahead of any of us who were praying.
So..... the thought of lying on your backs on cushions while listening to worship music surrounded by lots of girlies for a few days was not my idea of a spiritually extensive breakthrough time.
I really began to understand Toronto better through Florida and our own glory conference in May.....because, as many of you bloggers will have realised by now sometime before Noah's flood:
Toronto is about the Father's love for us. And really marks a new season in the Body of Christ.
Mark Stibbe's teaching sessions were fantastic. As were all this year's speakers. But how much of the drive of our previous "work for the Lord" actually comes from our own "orphaned" view of existence. Oh I must work hard for the Lord so He'll accept me. Do you know, once we have a true Holy Spirit drive embedded in us we'll achieve more in a millisecond of actual obedient walk, than we'll have achieved over a decade with the other stuff.
So just to say....although there were soaking times....but we tended to actually fellowship together as a church(the 20 or so that were there)...and sad to say this is still all too rare at home in our busy schedules...... the worship and teaching sessions were really powerful, and God's Presence really hovered. I tell you what was really nice...haven't experienced this since the early Dales Weeks with Ern Baxter.....when God the Choral conductor brings in different sections of the Body in tongues throughout the large hall. Awesome.
But how this relates to Dan's blog is that the Youth Work was Outstanding with a capital STAND OUT. Do you know that the same Matt from Rustington who came over to pray over us as a church the other week...he was leading the over15's. He said he had never in his whole Christian life been in any meetings like the ones the 15 plus age group were having. There was a prophetic flow in one meeting he had never seen anywhere. When they took the praise...and my eyes are filling up at this point as I once again crack up, the young men were dancing with a vigour that you have never seen anywhere. The girls too. But generally if there is any life in a church, teenage girls will tend to bop around....but this was something else. And I'm crying yet again, because this was what Ern Baxter prophesied and I am now living right before my eyes...and what I put 20 years ago on a part of my double CD under the heading X - Rated Christianity : " Psalm 110 :3
Thy people offer themselves willingly In the day of thy power, in holy array: Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.
And there it is again : AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.....which I've been writing to you about and you've been thinking ...what's this weird guy on!!! I didn't remember it was here....Now I'm crying again.
Have you seen a young army of men ...not sullen...not spaced out on drugs...not primarily interested in the next bit of skirt they can insert their member into, not the next fast car.....
but single - minded drive to see the Kingdom of God come down from heaven, to see Jesus worshipped with the respect that is rightfully His , and this done with all the strength they can muster, all the heart that God has given them.....I tell you, if you can still stay standing at that time,and not collapsed on the seat in front totally , absolutely wrecked, then you have more strength than me.
3 comments:
Hi Chris! THank you for your visit to my blog...I'm putting your link up!
I have to leave for a birthday party here in the next few minutes, so I have no time to read your post, but will comment later when I can!
Grace and peace!
Okay, have read this one - and this reflects something I am "all about", Chris! I believe there is an assignment on the lives of our young men in the church. There is *powerful* spiritual warfare over the lives of my own sons - yet I see it and sense it everywhere, over all young men. The enemy is hard after them...and so is their God.
I've had moments in our church where I am publicly weeping, on my face, pounding my hands into the floor as we sing about the glory of God...I'm interceding with all my being that God reveal His glory to this generation. I have seen things THEY have yet to see. I have experienced God in ways they have not yet experienced Him.
Oh, to see our young men consumed with a passion for Jesus Christ, filled with the Holy Ghost!
Sheila,
The thing that gob-smacked me about RiverCAMP is that the leadership of all the age groups, 5-10,10-15,15-20,and creche....
well they are all anointed up to march in there with the kids, take them (kindly) by the scruff of the necks...and simply expect them to move on in God in the space of 3-4 days. And what we all pound the floor for, they just get on with it and it just happens. The positive peer pressure has the most amazing effects.....well ocourse you want God...why wouldn't you - type of thing. Matt himself has just come back from Florida...so he was just imparting that anointing to them...plus they had a real anointed hiphop band called Acts the 29th Chapter on the Saturday night. All these things were like Holy Ghost nails into their souls. It made your jaw drop, if you had done "normal" church youth work.How low has all our expectation dropped eh??
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