Winterfire Update

Here we are at the end of day two of this incredible conference. We have worshiped God with depth and fervor, and we have truly heard from God, and seen mighty things come to pass. The worship here is on an intense level. The people of New England are so hungry for a move of God and so desperate for revival, that they worship without being told to do so... it's kind of funny... these preachers are from areas to the west and south, and are used to preaching for response. So they come here with the mindset that they need to "jumpstart" the saints. Well... really, they didn't need to. The response to the Word of God has been absolutely phenomenal. We have felt walls come down, we have done major battle with the spirits of darkness and torn up their kingdom, and the liberty has been something I have never experienced before. You can FEEL the difference! Here are some of the topics we have heard about today.

1. Bro. Sam Emory preached "consider the calling".... and talked about the difference between being called and being chosen. The difference is in the process. He encouraged the young ministers to stop before saying "I have a ministry"... and consider the call of God on their life. He used Paul as an example. Paul considered the cost of his calling, and God CHOSE him to impact the kingdom. I can't really do the message justice here.... I have heard 3 other messages since then, and don't remember all of how it went. But the altar was flooded, and the Spirit was in operation.

2. Bro. Steve Warman from Detroit spoke next. He preached on the topic of... AGAIN. It was pretty good, encouraging the saints not to quit, and to press on... not letting anything keep you from serving God. No matter what happens, get up AGAIN, never letting the enemy have a toehold on your life. Even Jesus gave us the "AGAIN" example when he prayed for the blind man once, and he said, "What do you see?" and the man answered, "I see men as trees walking." So Jesus prayed for him AGAIN a second time, and then the man saw clearly. If JESUS can go back and do something AGAIN, then who are we to think, if it doesn't go how I think it should go the first time, I'll just quit?

3. The final morning preacher was evangelist Greg Godwin. That man is a fireball of a preacher! His message was a confirmation of the previous message.... DON'T QUIT! BE APOSTOLIC! His message was kind of all over the board, in true evangelistic style, so I can't really give you a "main point", but it was very encouraging as well.

Worship from beginning of evening service

4. Tonight's message from Bro. Mangun, however, was the one that really hit home, at least for Jason and I.... Matt and Emily too. His message was on sacrifice, and how if the devil can get you to stop sacrificing, then he can destroy you and make you desolate. It was actually a warning to the church as well, stating that if your church stops giving and praying, it will become a desolate church. Jesus said "My house shall be called a house of prayer". Not a house of preaching, not a house of good singing by the choir, not a house of good works. A HOUSE OF PRAYER! I just told Matt and Emily today that I am not reading my BREAD this year. Because I have read it through 7 times already, and I'm not interested in doing it again to add another notch to my belt of "spirituality". I will definitely still be in the Word, but my focus this year is on my prayer life. Because the ONLY way we are going to make a difference in these endtimes is if we are CONNECTED to the power of God in prayer. And that was totally confirmed to me tonight in Bro. Mangun's message. We had such good conversation with Matt and Emily about it all, and we are just so encouraged about what God is getting ready to do!

Altar call... young men being prayed for, ages 15-30... God's army!

On a much less spiritual note, we went to IHOP for a late dinner after church tonight (10:30), and had a real life C*O*P*S* experience. Our poor waitress got all tied up with this obnoxious table of people refusing to pay their bill blah blah blah blah.... I won't get into it, except to say that the cop in Jason wanted to go buckle her up in cuffs for disorderly conduct and causing a public menace. The police showed up, yada yada yada... it took us a LONG time to get our bill... but we blessed our waitress with kindness, patience, understanding, smiles, and a BIG tip. Pray for her, her name is Linda.

Well, it is almost 1 am. Time to hit the sack. We have three more speakers tomorrow, and then we head on home to the kiddos! I sure miss them! God bless you all!