An Amazing Core Value School
We have just concluded an amazing Leaders School of Ministry at
Sweetwater Christian Fellowship in Sugar Land, Texas. We held the school over three weekends (Friday nights and all day Saturday) instead of the typical five consecutive days. This was an attempt to accommodate those who would find it difficult to take five days off during the summer for an event that was not going to really be a vacation!
Elsie and I taught some of the subjects that would comprise messages on the core values that have emerged from the ongoing and world impacting renewal which the Holy Spirit initiated when he poured out of himself back at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in January 1994. Those core values have been encapsulated in the acronym
FIRE.
Overall we had a great school! During the first weekend we focused on messages about the Father Heart of God and the fact that we humans, since the Fall, have become orphans at heart. Well, I had never seen the reaction to the Father Heart message under my teaching as I saw here. I based my talk on Ed Piorek's Theology of the Father's Love and when we got to the aspect of the “phileo” love of God for us (an affectionate love that we can actually experience) I paused and asked Jesus to reveal the Father to all of us according to Luke 10:22. The folks began crying, falling into their chairs and to the ground and there was such a sweet presence of the affection of the Father in the room! It was absolutely delightful! Thank you Daddy!
During the second weekend when we focused mainly on Restoring the Heart and dealing with wounds that we have been caused and caused others, some students had significant breakthroughs. During the talk on Generational Sins and their resulting effects on us one lady who was a descendent of slave owners felt compelled to repent on behalf of her family to the blacks who were in the class. Since it was a personal compulsion we asked her to do it over lunch.
Something quite dramatic happened when she repented and washed the feet of the blacks who where there. A lot of tears were shed as you can imagine but one black lady in particular was wailing and sobbing like nobody’s business! She later testified that for her it was more than a simple apology and foot washing. You see for all of her life practically she had despised being black because of all the negativity that came her way because of her race. God did something powerful in her heart and then she was ready to embrace the person that God had designed her to be, race and all!
(Read Velma's testimony in her own words.)
The last weekend we focused on Healing the Sick, Ministering in the Prophetic and it took on more of an outward focus. It was wonderful to see some of the students come to life as they prayed for fellow students who were not well and see them recover!
The “funnest” part though was when we sent the students out to do a practicum. Over lunch on the last day we had them go out in foursomes to restaurants in the area with the express purpose of ministering to at least one person. They were to pray for someone who was sick, or give them a prophetic word, or at the very least speak a word of blessing into their lives, all of this done in such a way that the person would feel loved. I was surprised and impressed at how well that went. Practically, everyone came back with an excited and encouraging testimony of how the Father used them to bless someone. It was awesome!
They also know how to receive because when we did the impartation bodies were everywhere! Even the ones who were new to the River and charismatic things got touched... there may have been a few courtesy drops but that's fine too.
We had a fantastic Leaders School in Houston and we trust that River of God will continue to flow with increasing depth and force so that the realities of the Kingdom of God such as his love, grace, power and healing can take the place of hard core religious culture and practice.
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