The Holy Spirit....An Alabama Redneck....and Delta Blues

Acts 2 ----
........When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force...no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

My time at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship will always be a wonderful memory to the testimony of God's faithfulness. Being soaked for 5 days in the Spirit of God...in the worship....in the fellowship of the people I met....if ever there was such a thing as heaven on earth....I felt like this was close. Walking around the complex, people were every where, praying for one another. Sharing stories of what God was doing in their particular countries. There was laughter...there were children every where playing game. I remember during one session, there were two small boys, laying in the floor, playing "Battleship". I saw babies in their mothers arms...cooing and content. I remember distinctly the word God spoke to me as I took all this in....."This is Temple life." There was great activity and movement at the Temple, just as I believe there will be in the heavenly Temple. Sure there will be times of silence/reverence but the throne of God is surrounded by movement and noise and people, all in harmony directed toward Father God.

All around me, I kept running into references to "blues" music. There were the two worship leaders, Bryn Haworth and Dave Markee, whose history was steeped in the blues. I remember eating supper at Pat & Mikes, across from my hotel, and playing in the background over their sound system was old style blues music.....Leadbelly...Howlin' Wolf....Muddy Waters...and yes-----Robert Johnson. I always tell people that this week in Toronto set in motion what would become House of Blue, our recovery service at Gadsden Vineyard. I still have the notebook I took to the conference, filled with thoughts, scripture, impressions and where I thought God might be taking me.

The last session I attended, Frank Houston was the main speaker. I must confess that I don't remember too much of the message, but what happened at the end will forever be burned into my memory. As we neared ministry time, Frank asked for everyone to stand. Quietness settled over the entire room. Frank asked who might want to receive a fresh touch from God. Who wanted to be filled...who wanted to be renewed.....Then the man from Australia said three words. He didn't scream them, but simply spoke them softly yet with much authority................"Fresh Fire Fall." That was it. Three words. It was like an invisible scythe swept through the crowd.....people went down all around me under the weight of the Holy Spirit. Weeping....laughing.....shaking.....I watched in amazement. Did I go down? No. But, as John Wesley so aptly put it when he attended the meeting at Aldersgate where he encountered the Holy Spirit..........."My heart was strangely warmed."
That was me....
My heart was strangely warmed, that much I knew.
I knew God was working around me, and in me.
I felt a peace that was beyond description. My mind was at rest....my thoughts were filled with the name of Jesus. There was no room in my heart or mind for the things of the world. My heart was strangely warmed.

This week I spent in Toronto back in October of 1998 redefined me and made me see God with new eyes. The name of that conference back in 1998? Catch the Fire! That I did. I was set aflame by Almighty God and returned to Alabama, to the Vineyard to embark on a spiritual journey that has lead me to where I am today.

You know the funny part in all of this?
As I sit here typing out this post....
My heart is strangely warmed.....

God on you....
mb