At last I have free time as we are on Thanksgiving break here at IHOPU! We arrived in Detriot on November 5 and proceeded with an intense schedule of pre-call rallies, intercession, and evangelism. At one of the pre-call rallies Sam shared a passage out of Power Encounters by Carol Wimber. He explained that the renewal movment was birthed out of prayer, longing, and repentance.
Side note: This post seem weird to those of you who do not believe in that God speaks to us today or that the Holy Spirit still does signs and wonders. I welcome your questions and comments :)
I've been sharing stories since we got back but actually writing it out is another matter. I thought I'd read my journal entries to inspire me. I had completely forgotten about a word the Lord had given me on Monday.
I saw picture of TCI students (our group that went) getting into a metro train. As soon as we were inside, it took off and started moving fast. Over teh train was a huge blinking sign that said, "Vacancy." Underneath that sign numbers appeared next to the word "passangers." But the numbers kept increasing, as though people were getting off the train. I felt like the train symbolized the move of God opening up in Detroit, but nobody was getting on board! In fact, people were doing the opposite.
THE CALL DETROIT:
Why did I write that? To write this. The Call was good in that our team was obedient to what the Lord told us to do. There was a lot of healing that took place, specifically between Canada and America and the native Americans and Detroit. Of course, I am human and cannot judge. God alone knows the heart of man. However, it is obvious revival has not hit yet. A black pastor actually glossed over issues that needed to be repented of. People were not getting on board. On the Other hand, I am so excited for Michigan The Call was a huge step for her. I have never seen so many churches uniting and praying. One pastor solemnly and firmly exhorted his community, "Why do you keep moving out of Dearborne as Muslims move in? Move back!" He was calling the church to take her place as a light to the nations. So much fear has gripped the heart of many Christians that they have actually retreated from Islam instead of standing against it.
Important to note: I was made aware that on my last post it sounded like I was attacking Muslims. That is not my intent. When I make these bold statements I am making them fully aware that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but "against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6). The church is stand against darkness and Islam is a false religion, therefore is must be stood against! We love Muslims. We don't want them to go to Hell. It is their religion that must be stopped. Guys, there's an enemy out there who is so crafty he created a world religion that promises so many things but the one thing it cannot promise is eternal life. If anyone would like to comment on this, feel free.
A LITTLE OF MY STORY:
Since there are so many stories to share I will only share my personal journey on the trip as God expanded my heart. I can't wait to see you all because all of these stories are literally spilling out of me and they are so much better in person anyway. My story needs a little back story. TCI does these little evangelism outreaches every Thursday after class. We call them treasure hunts because we ask the Lord where he wants us to go, who he wants us to talk to, he tells us, and we go. Well, the very first time I went I was thrown in a group with a guy on our team named Greg (just laughed inwardly because he may read this sometime). As we went out, he got so filled with the spirit he actually looked drunk. At the time, I was easily offended by the Spirit moving like this. But the Lord, in his kindness, showed me how God filling him made him bold to declare his truth. I wanted what he had. Already, before I left, God was busy breaking down walls. A lot of my offense came from the fear of man.
The first church we went to I was on my face in a huge move of the spirit some leaders in the faith have entitled "travail." I was weeping and groaning as the Spirit moved.
However, that night I became offended in how God moved on one the members of our group. I talked it over with a friend and he gave me some wisdom. Still mulling over the experience in my head, I went up to the sanctuary to be alone with the Lord. As I sat there, it became clear that I needed to fix my gaze on God because thinking just drew me further into frustration and the lies of the enemy. So I finally gave up and said, "Jesus, I don't get you. But I love you. If this is you, than I want it." I did not say it in those exact words but that was the gist of it. My friend played the piano and I began to sing my prayers as the Lord revealed himself to me.
The very next day we had planned a time of intercession for the city all morning before we actually went to the city of Hamtramk to do evangelism. Brooke said, "Dial down and wait on the Lord. Ask him to give you his heart for the city." I broke into a loud travail. I have never experienced anything like it. It seemed like the entire room was on their face weeping. I know that if I had not surrendered to the Spirit the night before than he would not have moved on me so powerfully that day.
Because of these moves of the Spirit, our times of evangelism bore much fruit. Again, I don't have the space to really go into that. My point is that we must be surrendered to the Spirit. The book of Acts alone testifies to what can happen when a people "receive power from on high." God is a big God. We need to let him do what he likes to do and not think our way out of it.
STEPPING OUT:
Faith is spelled R-I-S-K. I would tack on the old addage love makes one do crazy things! On the way home the Holy Spirit fell on our car and we started interceeding over the highway. The highway we were on has been named the Red Light district of Missouri as it is lined with strip clubs and adult book stores. This is an amazingly long story with so many repercussions but one thing I want to highlight is the divine appointment God set up. We were so filled with the Spirit that we couldn't NOT share it with anyone else. We stopped at a gas station and I just HAD to walk right up to the guy at the register, introduce myself, and ask if he needed prayer. We ended up praying for his back and the Holy Spirit fell on him too! When the love of the Lord fills you, you can't help giving it away.
The short of the intercession story is that Governor Nixon signed a bill last year severely restricting those strip clubs and adult bookstores. The bill has been floating about from court to court since. But on Tuesday it was finally decided on and the law went into affect. However, the battle was already won in the heavenlies on sunday night in our car!
