Well day 3 is come and gone and I can only say that the Lord has been really touching me in so many ways. I feel like I’ve been delivered from many sins, changed, my eyes of faith are growing, the anointing of the Lord on me is growing, and much much more.
One of the catalysts of that was the message given in the morning by Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM.
The Call to Go
Loren Cunningham is said to be the only human being to have traveled to every single nation on planet earth in his lifetime. And he has preached the gospel in every single one of those and has seen thousands and thousands of people come to Christ and to be discipled. To have this type of man come and speak demanded everyone’s attention and it surely had mine.
I was expecting to be a little more intimidated. But as he came on the platform, I saw a jolly 70-something year old, very apparent that he has the joy and the love of the Lord. He spoke with such great authority in the sweetest sentences. You knew it came from a place of true belief and faith.
His message was simple- he only wanted us to hear again Jesus’ command to “go to the nations,” hear stories of God doing that through him, and practical ways for us to get started.
His sharing of God’s Word was so simple and profound. He was just sharing how Jesus has given us a call to go and make disciples. Go means a change of location. It means moving from where you are now to another place to make disciples. My heart jumped within me to “do the work of an evangelist” and to “preach the Word in season and out of season.” And as he shared, the Lord put on my heart the many hindrances I have within me which keeps me from sharing boldly to others the Word of God and the gospel.
Loren shared some crazy stories as well. I mean crazy when I say crazy. My heart of faith grew amazed at the work of the Lord. He was sharing how the Holy Spirit dismantled a guerilla movement in Nigeria by the hands of 26 young men and women who committed themselves to praying and fasting. It was known that these guerilla militants were under direct demonic powers. He spoke of a commander who, upon submitting to a voice, would be tormented in his head until he killed someone, and then the tormenting would go away.
These 26 young people, filled with the Holy Spirit, walked right into the camp of these guerilla militants and cared for them and preached the gospel to them. And as they were doing so, this commander pulled out a knife and headed to kill them. The other militants, who began endearing those Christians, tried to save them by telling them to run because the commander needed to kill somebody. One of the young people in the group decided not to run but to actually walk up to that commander. And as he approached him, the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon the commander and he fell to his knees, weeping and crying, as the living Jesus began to touch him. Wow!
And so these 26 Christians literally dismantled the entire guerilla movement by the power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the gospel. The governor invited YWAM to disciple and to train all those militants! I was so convicted about what the Lord was doing and can do to those who believe in Him. The faith of my heart started to grow and to expand.
Another YWAM leader shared with all of us that the gospel will reach every single nation in the world in a matter of 10 years. He told us to expect a great harvest as was revealed to him and many others by dreams and the voice of the Lord. What an exciting time to live!
If you have about an hour and a half, you can watch the whole thing here. You will be unbelievably blessed.
Prayer Room
Another day in the prayer room, the Lord began to work in my heart again like crazy.
Man…. praise the Lord.
Final Notes
And finally, here are some nuggets of things I learned today:
- When we go out to preach the gospel, we do not go in without anyone receiving us. There is always a man or a house of peace waiting for us that will open the door for the gospel where we are going. This is evidenced in Matthew 10, as well as other places in Scripture.
- We are not only saved FROM something, but TO something. We are saved from sin and the wrath of God, but into a dynamic love relationship with God. Too many Christians dwell on the former without jumping in on the latter.
- The power to love others is to love God. Obedience to the first commandment empowers obeying the second.
- The pathway in ministry is full of temptations. I desperately need help to walk in the path of humility and total surrender.
- I want to live a life of faith that expects supernatural provision and deliverance, as the people in the Bible did.
- A prayerless church will not move the strongholds of darkness that exist in our country. In other words, we desperately need a reformation in the church of the West in order to do something real for the kingdom of God.
