Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil......
The photo above is very special to me. It was taken at "The Gathering C.R." back on February 8, 2013. What's so special about this picture? It was the beginning of when God told me to bring our meeting back to the Vineyard. We'd been at Rapha for seven years holding a service first on Sunday morning, then on Saturday night. We referred to it as "The Church @ Rapha". Coming back home to the Vineyard had not crossed my mind at all. But on the night we led worship at the Gathering, something happened.
The response from the crowd that night felt just like the old "House of Blue", our first recovery meeting we did back in the 90's at the Vineyard. That all I kept thinking when we were leading worship...."Wow, this is so familiar!" That night God laid the first step to coming home. In fact that entire weekend was unusual. It was the first time I had ever led three services in a row. Friday night I led worship at the Gathering...Saturday night I taught at our meeting at Rapha....and Sunday night I spoke at Seth Barber's Celebrate Recovery. Each one had a specific thing happen that God spoke to me through.
Friday night was the worship thing....the remembering what it felt like when we first started. I think maybe this was the "Remember Your First Love" kind of deal that is written to the church @ Ephesus in the book of Revelation. Not that music was my first love....the passage in Revelation is speaking about when we first came to Christ and were saved. He is our first love.
Saturday night @ Rapha was all about the teaching.
For whatever reason, the teaching that night was totally awesome. And you'll never ever hear me say that when I teach. I always feel like I stumble and fumble through the Word. Any response to what I teach is a miracle of God and His Holy Spirit touching hearts. But the teaching that night was a "Wowzers" kind of night.
Sunday night @ Seth's C.R. was all about the ministry time.
That particular night, people flooded to the front and were asking for prayer. Folks were getting saved....folks were getting healed.....folds were getting set free. It was an awesome time.
IT wasn't until Monday morning, during my quiet time, that I put it all together. The three events were the foundation for what we use to do on Saturday night's at the Vineyard.
IT was all about the worship.....
IT was all about the Word......
IT was all about the Ministry.....
As these thoughts flooded my mind, I was suddenly homesick. Yes...I mean it. I was homesick for the Vineyard. I wanted to come home and do our meeting from there. So we began the journey back. We hosted the very first meeting of Vineyard ReCovery on April 13, 2013. But it all began on that stage of Steve Brewster's Celebrate Recovery.
Tonight, I get to return to that stage and speak. I'm looking forward to it,and I ask that you pray that I share only what God gives me. Pray that hearts will be open to receive, and then respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In other words....pray that people will do some personal business with God tonight.
As Jerry Garcia use to say..."It's been a long, strange trip", and I would not have missed it for the world. Excited to see what's next.
God on you...
mbb
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