(Reading Time: 3:45 minutes) Susan and I had a much needed diversion from ministry this past Friday night when we went with Pastor Mike and Angie to an outpouring service in Richmond at Lighthouse Assembly of God. Pastor Keith and Karen Taylor from Cross Tabernacle in Terre Haute were ministering that night. What a tremendous sense of the presence of God was in the service. Because of this, it could not follow any set order, but there were interruptions after interruptions of the Holy Spirit ministering to needs across the sanctuary—during the worship, during the preaching, and even during the offering!
One of the greatest testimonies was from when Pastor Keith was there a month ago for another outpouring service. Before that service a single lady had said in prayer, “Lord, the thing I miss most about being married was having someone to dance with.” That very night Pastor Keith went over to her in the service and said, “I don’t know why God wants me to do this, but he wants me to dance with you.” She said it was like the Lord came down and answered her prayer and danced with her himself.
I am currently in a series where I am teaching on the different forms of the presence of God. That, and a recent article in the Envoy from Pastor Don Gifford, confirm to me we are still heading in the right direction. We are not far from experiencing a new and fresh manifestation of the Spirit of the Lord at Calvary.
Two of the things I have talkd about were also presented by Pastor Keith Taylor last Friday night. One is repentance. He illustrated this by saying we need to get serious about our salvation and focus on sound doctrine. We need to quit being foolish and carried away by strange teachings. The other was, we need a greater hunger and desire for the Lord to make his presence known in our services. Pastor Don says we need to make more room for his move in our midst. We have to quit scheduling everything and we especially have to quit worrying about what everyone else will think.
If people do not seem to want an open manifestation of the glory of God, it is probably because they have never really seen one. What I mean by this is that what they have seen in the past is probably people acting in the flesh, rather than in the Spirit. I believe if they truly get a taste of his manifested presence it will create a hunger and thirst for more of the same. There is a holy reverence that comes over the church when God reveals himself. There is an honor and respect that follows his moving in our midst.
Our national leaders have said that this could be the precursor to the mightiest revival our fellowship has seen in its 100 year history. It always amazes me when tough times come and we fall on our faces before the Lord, our greatest times of blessing soon follow. My deepest prayer is that we at Calvary can be a part of this great end-time outpouring. May everything that is non-essential fall by the wayside and may the eternal essence of what God wants for us take center stage. We are people of the Spirit. We need to be the ones leading the way into God’s manifested presence with not only signs, wonders, and miracles, but hearts that are set on fire to reach the lost in our community and teach them the ways of our Lord Jesus.