What do twelve year olds, grandmas in their 60’s and working fathers all have in common? Well, for one thing, they all can heal the sick, perform miracles and lead people to Jesus! At least 17 people met the Lord, dozens of healings and miracles occurred on the streets and the Gospel went forth with power this weekend as we hosted our first “Boot Camp” style conference where participants not only heard the Word, but did the Word! There were some bugs and it was a bit complicated mobilizing 40+ people in teams to hit the streets, but all in all, the fruit was good. It was awesome to see so many Christians mobilized to get out there and “do the stuff”.
We had a very eclectic group including folks from our church, folks coming from several states and even one from overseas. You could tell from the first minute that everyone was hungry and teachable. Most had either been drawn in by the stories and the miracles they heard were happening here so they didn’t need convincing that there was more to their Christian walk than simply attending a weekly meeting. We preached to them, we ministered freedom from fear and a qualifying spirit and then sent them out to obey Matthew 10:7-8 on Saturday morning.
AS YOU GO...
Four teams went out to four different places. All four teams saw tremendous displays of God’s power. One of the teams went to a local mall where casts, canes, crutches and wheelchairs were all invitations to “engage” the work of the enemy. Well, engage they did. There were a BUNCH of miracles that took place in the mall as people with chronic pain from injuries and diseases in just about every area of the body were healed instantly. Necks, arms, legs, hips and backs were healed, just to name a few. All in all, it was a great “baptism” of sorts for the folks new to getting out there and seeing God move in the marketplace.
Another team went to Grady Hospital, our local pool of Bethesda. Going to Grady gives you an almost 100% chance to see God save souls and heal the sick. It happens every time. This time they weren’t disappointed as God healed many people of sicknesses, chronic pain and disease, people met the Lord and were filled with the Holy Ghost. One guy, after receiving healing for asthma immediately wanted to minister healing himself! So the team took him with them and he ministered alongside, “doing the stuff”. A perfect manifestation of when Jesus said, “Freely you have received, now freely give.” (Mat.10:8)
SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS
After preaching and ministering Kingdom stuff Saturday night, we gave folks the option of coming with us to a very HOT spot for ministering to teenagers, or take it easy and minister to their waitress at a local restaurant. To my surprise, the vast majority of people decided to come out with us to the parking lot. We hadn’t been there for a couple months, mainly because the heat from the police had been so strong, ruining each outreach. But this week, we decided to go. Ten minutes after arriving, I was asking myself, “Now, why did you come here?”
It was INTENSE. There were a couple hundred kids out and they weren’t exactly in a good mood. There was drinking going on, cars and motorcycles peeling out up and down the parking lot and lots of anger in the air. There were over 35 of us, broken up into groups of three and four. We split up and headed into the fray. Several groups were treated with hostility and sent away, other groups got some breakthrough. One of the groups got some words of knowledge for this girl that really opened her up to the Gospel. She was told that she needed to repent and make Jesus King and Lord of her life and she readily agreed. Now here’s a sight I love to see. In the parking lot, in front of all her friends, she gets down on her knees and gives her life to Jesus! Our rule is to not make it easy and make sure they are serious before committing their lives to the Lord.
The group I was with had a word of knowledge for a guy that was too old to be out with all the kids. He was drinking and just chilling out when we came up to him with destiny words about his gifts, callings and life. He listened, but didn’t really receive… Little did we know that before the night was out, he would be involved in a crime. While we were talking to him, I suddenly became aware of a “situation” brewing just a few feet away. Two different groups of guys were facing each other, both with a loud mouthed “spokesman” threatening each other. Not sure what it was all about but all I knew was that things were about to boil over any minute.
To Be Continued…
We had a very eclectic group including folks from our church, folks coming from several states and even one from overseas. You could tell from the first minute that everyone was hungry and teachable. Most had either been drawn in by the stories and the miracles they heard were happening here so they didn’t need convincing that there was more to their Christian walk than simply attending a weekly meeting. We preached to them, we ministered freedom from fear and a qualifying spirit and then sent them out to obey Matthew 10:7-8 on Saturday morning.
AS YOU GO...
Four teams went out to four different places. All four teams saw tremendous displays of God’s power. One of the teams went to a local mall where casts, canes, crutches and wheelchairs were all invitations to “engage” the work of the enemy. Well, engage they did. There were a BUNCH of miracles that took place in the mall as people with chronic pain from injuries and diseases in just about every area of the body were healed instantly. Necks, arms, legs, hips and backs were healed, just to name a few. All in all, it was a great “baptism” of sorts for the folks new to getting out there and seeing God move in the marketplace.
Another team went to Grady Hospital, our local pool of Bethesda. Going to Grady gives you an almost 100% chance to see God save souls and heal the sick. It happens every time. This time they weren’t disappointed as God healed many people of sicknesses, chronic pain and disease, people met the Lord and were filled with the Holy Ghost. One guy, after receiving healing for asthma immediately wanted to minister healing himself! So the team took him with them and he ministered alongside, “doing the stuff”. A perfect manifestation of when Jesus said, “Freely you have received, now freely give.” (Mat.10:8)
SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS
After preaching and ministering Kingdom stuff Saturday night, we gave folks the option of coming with us to a very HOT spot for ministering to teenagers, or take it easy and minister to their waitress at a local restaurant. To my surprise, the vast majority of people decided to come out with us to the parking lot. We hadn’t been there for a couple months, mainly because the heat from the police had been so strong, ruining each outreach. But this week, we decided to go. Ten minutes after arriving, I was asking myself, “Now, why did you come here?”
It was INTENSE. There were a couple hundred kids out and they weren’t exactly in a good mood. There was drinking going on, cars and motorcycles peeling out up and down the parking lot and lots of anger in the air. There were over 35 of us, broken up into groups of three and four. We split up and headed into the fray. Several groups were treated with hostility and sent away, other groups got some breakthrough. One of the groups got some words of knowledge for this girl that really opened her up to the Gospel. She was told that she needed to repent and make Jesus King and Lord of her life and she readily agreed. Now here’s a sight I love to see. In the parking lot, in front of all her friends, she gets down on her knees and gives her life to Jesus! Our rule is to not make it easy and make sure they are serious before committing their lives to the Lord.
The group I was with had a word of knowledge for a guy that was too old to be out with all the kids. He was drinking and just chilling out when we came up to him with destiny words about his gifts, callings and life. He listened, but didn’t really receive… Little did we know that before the night was out, he would be involved in a crime. While we were talking to him, I suddenly became aware of a “situation” brewing just a few feet away. Two different groups of guys were facing each other, both with a loud mouthed “spokesman” threatening each other. Not sure what it was all about but all I knew was that things were about to boil over any minute.
To Be Continued…
1 comment:
Wow, praise God! freely we received, freely we give indeed!
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