…for praying for me. I plan on talking about this tour in general and this past weekend in specific in July’s newsletter. But since I “drug” all of you into this thing a bit early, I wanted to give you a quick heads up. Hope the notification doesn’t wake you, I realize I’m hours behind many of you.
As I sit here outside watching the sun set over the mountains I am physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and… spritually overflowing! I doubt I will sleep all night. Preceding this weekend’s event, I believed I sensed the enemy’s attack in an unusual way, so I asked for your prayers. The 3 day conference we just experienced was what I really wanted for Christmas! You may remember that I wrote in ON THE VIRGE, THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME about some amazing spiritual experiences from my younger days. I lamented a bit, wondering if I would ever experience their equal… and this weekend, after all these years, I finally did. This was no doubt, and “old fashioned Holy Ghost Revival” if you will allow the throwback term.
More details will follow in the newsletter when I can contain myself long enough to write them down. I shared more tears, more shouts, more hugs and more… well, more genuine worship than at any other time in my entire life. I have never prayed with so many people, heard so many stories or gave so much counsel in any one setting. I stood and watched with my own eyes as over a period of hours as God turned bitterness and anger into surrender and worship. I watched people’s countenance literally change. It was like nothing I have ever witnessed. It was magical… no, it was a miracle.
It all began Friday night when I led in worship and then told Matt’s story to a conference room full of moms… all of whom had lost sons or daughters. They were at every imaginable stage of the Journey. Many had lived stories of heartbreak that make mine look more like a walk in the park. Let’s just say that right from the start God moved in, took a seat at one of the round tables… and He never left. I guess when I led worship tonight for the last time, what I saw summed it all up. When I began BLESSED BE YOUR NAME, a young mom stood up in the back. It caught my eye when she lept to her feet and threw both hands up in the air and sang with all her might. Half a verse later she sat back down, buried her face in her hands and just wept. And then seconds later she stood back up, threw her hands in the air once again and continued to worship as before.
I wondered why there was such an interest from the darkness, and now I know. At the close of the last service, at best count at least a dozen broken, hurting moms met their only real hope when they opened their hearts and received Christ.
I just can’t help but believe that maybe Matt reached down his hand and swept the clouds away but for a moment and said… “Cool!”.
Just wanted you to rejoice with me. Your prayers mean more than you can imagine. Please know how humbled I am to have been a part of such a miracle, and know that you were right there with me. How great is our God!