Glory & Grace, Durban 2011 - Diary 1
Night one down. And already we feel completely overwhelmed and soaked in the Love of Heaven! Because that is what these kind of things are all about... the Love of Heaven. Everywhere I go I am seeing and hearing about the "Love Revolution" that is sweeping the Earth. Friends of mine in New Zealand, preachers from Canada, Bethel and Bill Johnson, Israel Houghton, Andrew Wommack, Rob Rufus! They are all saying the same thing... we are in a "Love Revolution." And any person with even the slightest inclining toward what Heaven is up to can pick up that that is what is stirring in Heaven.
And last night was no different. Rob got straight into the Glory and Grace, Durban, 2011 conference with the emphasis of the Character and Nature of God... that it is His Love that makes Him so Glorious, so Powerful, so full of Light. That Light is His Love.
We had been on the move all week, even giving up a pastor's "holy day" and coming into work on Monday! But with some amazing new staff and four incredible Interns this time around, the workload has been so much more manageable and it really all has been a breeze.
By Wednesday evening we had 850 people officially registered for the conference, and we were ready to complete everyone's registrations by allowing them to come in and collect nametags to get in. By Thursday late-morning, the day of the conference, we had just under 900 official registration! And registration was meant to close on Monday! But by 6:30pm on Thursday evening, we had another 60 people pay at the door, meaning we were at complete capacity just under 1000 people! People are hungry for Grace!
Besides my few technical glitches with video feeds and the like, it all went off smoothly, and by 7:15pm Fini and Isi were rocking us into the Glory Realm as 1000 people jumped and danced with holy anticipation for God to once more break into our lives and do what He does best!
Once again, as is so often the case with Fini and Isi, the worship time was completely "off the chain", glorious, indescribable! (I truly am at a loss of adjectives!) But we are talking thick Heavenly atmosphere as every heart in the room was fixated on the Person and Beauty of Jesus, singing a new song with the angels in Heavenly tongues. There were moments when you could physically feel the Presence of Light and Love Himself in the room with us. And this was confirmed when Rob got up with his opening statement of Glory and Grace 2011: "A few minutes ago, I saw Light physically enter the building."
And that was the start! Everyone knew this was going to be something special. Another moment Heaven would look upon and say "at that time, God stirred something great in Durban."
Rob went on to share what he has been up to over the past year or so, and just giving God the praise and thanks for all the opportunities he's had; like being given the privilege of preaching with Bill Johnson next year; preaching to the entire nation in the Philippines on national TV; preaching "A Christian Cannot Lose Their Salvation" on God TV; and so many other significant moments! Testifying to the Goodness of God and how preaching this Glorious Gospel has opened so many doors!
He then felt to go into a bit of "correction"... which, to be honest, made me a bit nervous. Since coming to a revelation of this Glorious Gospel for myself some years ago, I have often (if not always) found that when a preacher veers from their focus and feels the need to correct, the "anointing" seems to lift. (Which is strange because we know under "Grace" we shouldn't talk like that etc.)
But not this time... Rob was very gentle in his approach of a small subject he felt to touch on for a brief moment. And that was the "institution" of church. With the revelation of Grace, a number of people the world over have come to a place where they feel the church is far too institutionalised and in order to get back to our roots in the early church we should simply go back to organic meetings of brothers and sisters in the Kingdom.
Like I say, I was a bit nervous, but my word my nervousness was allayed when Rob came across in such Love and got his short message of "correction" across clearly and with a lot of sense. And while I have heard a few sides of the debate, I tend to agree with Rob that we can still have organised church but with a culture of family and love passionate for Freedom. Personally I feel it all comes down to leadership, a great book to read for this argument, especially those already in church leadership, would be "Culture of Honor" by Danny Silk at Bethel Church, Redding, California.
After his intro of testifying to the doors God had opened up in the last year and a short word of "re-alignment" (a better description in my opinion), Rob got into the real heart of his point laying the perfect foundation for remaining 3 days of what is going to be an incredible conference! Rob shared a message that I am hearing everywhere I go and look at the moment. He shared the importance of understanding our new identity, and seeing ourselves the way God sees us.
Comparing us to Gideon, we so often look at ourselves believing we are unworthy or unqualified to "disciple nations", "bring Heaven to Earth", "prophesy" (whatever it may be!) But it is not how we see ourselves that matters, it is how God sees us. God sees us from the perspective of Heaven; regarding no man according to the flesh, perfect, righteous, strong and powerful in Him!
It was such a potent reminder of who we have become in Christ, and the more we identify ourselves with the resurrection of Jesus we we will find out who He truly has made us to be in the spirit!
The atmosphere grew more and more charged, full of faith and tangible with electric hunger for more of God to consume us and reveal more of who He has made us to be! It was then that Rob asked us all to stand and join hands, praying for each other, worshipping the King, allowing Jesus to reveal the Power of what He has done in and through us. Rob asked Christian Holmes (I think it's Holmes) to come and sing a song he wrote called "Holy Fire Burn In Us" and it was a glorious celebration of what we can accomplish with the One of Fire on the very inside of us!
The night ended on such a high note no one wanted to go home, but considering it was almost 10pm, it seemed fitting we all got a decent night's sleep ready for the next day full of no less than 7 preaches declaring the Power of the Gospel!
I left the building at around 10:30pm and there were still around 100 people left in the building soaking up the sweet Presence of the Lord. It was such a glorious night. And it was only session 1! There is still so much more to come, as you can sense that God is going to build on what Rob had laid in this first session.
I will keep you posted throughout the conference. Those updates may not be as comprehensive as this one, we will just have to see how much time I have! You can also get short updates via my Twitter and Facebook.
Until the next post... Know that God is for you; He has called you; and He has made you!!
And last night was no different. Rob got straight into the Glory and Grace, Durban, 2011 conference with the emphasis of the Character and Nature of God... that it is His Love that makes Him so Glorious, so Powerful, so full of Light. That Light is His Love.
We had been on the move all week, even giving up a pastor's "holy day" and coming into work on Monday! But with some amazing new staff and four incredible Interns this time around, the workload has been so much more manageable and it really all has been a breeze.
By Wednesday evening we had 850 people officially registered for the conference, and we were ready to complete everyone's registrations by allowing them to come in and collect nametags to get in. By Thursday late-morning, the day of the conference, we had just under 900 official registration! And registration was meant to close on Monday! But by 6:30pm on Thursday evening, we had another 60 people pay at the door, meaning we were at complete capacity just under 1000 people! People are hungry for Grace!
Besides my few technical glitches with video feeds and the like, it all went off smoothly, and by 7:15pm Fini and Isi were rocking us into the Glory Realm as 1000 people jumped and danced with holy anticipation for God to once more break into our lives and do what He does best!
Once again, as is so often the case with Fini and Isi, the worship time was completely "off the chain", glorious, indescribable! (I truly am at a loss of adjectives!) But we are talking thick Heavenly atmosphere as every heart in the room was fixated on the Person and Beauty of Jesus, singing a new song with the angels in Heavenly tongues. There were moments when you could physically feel the Presence of Light and Love Himself in the room with us. And this was confirmed when Rob got up with his opening statement of Glory and Grace 2011: "A few minutes ago, I saw Light physically enter the building."
And that was the start! Everyone knew this was going to be something special. Another moment Heaven would look upon and say "at that time, God stirred something great in Durban."
Rob went on to share what he has been up to over the past year or so, and just giving God the praise and thanks for all the opportunities he's had; like being given the privilege of preaching with Bill Johnson next year; preaching to the entire nation in the Philippines on national TV; preaching "A Christian Cannot Lose Their Salvation" on God TV; and so many other significant moments! Testifying to the Goodness of God and how preaching this Glorious Gospel has opened so many doors!
But not this time... Rob was very gentle in his approach of a small subject he felt to touch on for a brief moment. And that was the "institution" of church. With the revelation of Grace, a number of people the world over have come to a place where they feel the church is far too institutionalised and in order to get back to our roots in the early church we should simply go back to organic meetings of brothers and sisters in the Kingdom.
Like I say, I was a bit nervous, but my word my nervousness was allayed when Rob came across in such Love and got his short message of "correction" across clearly and with a lot of sense. And while I have heard a few sides of the debate, I tend to agree with Rob that we can still have organised church but with a culture of family and love passionate for Freedom. Personally I feel it all comes down to leadership, a great book to read for this argument, especially those already in church leadership, would be "Culture of Honor" by Danny Silk at Bethel Church, Redding, California.
After his intro of testifying to the doors God had opened up in the last year and a short word of "re-alignment" (a better description in my opinion), Rob got into the real heart of his point laying the perfect foundation for remaining 3 days of what is going to be an incredible conference! Rob shared a message that I am hearing everywhere I go and look at the moment. He shared the importance of understanding our new identity, and seeing ourselves the way God sees us.
Comparing us to Gideon, we so often look at ourselves believing we are unworthy or unqualified to "disciple nations", "bring Heaven to Earth", "prophesy" (whatever it may be!) But it is not how we see ourselves that matters, it is how God sees us. God sees us from the perspective of Heaven; regarding no man according to the flesh, perfect, righteous, strong and powerful in Him!
It was such a potent reminder of who we have become in Christ, and the more we identify ourselves with the resurrection of Jesus we we will find out who He truly has made us to be in the spirit!
The night ended on such a high note no one wanted to go home, but considering it was almost 10pm, it seemed fitting we all got a decent night's sleep ready for the next day full of no less than 7 preaches declaring the Power of the Gospel!
I left the building at around 10:30pm and there were still around 100 people left in the building soaking up the sweet Presence of the Lord. It was such a glorious night. And it was only session 1! There is still so much more to come, as you can sense that God is going to build on what Rob had laid in this first session.
I will keep you posted throughout the conference. Those updates may not be as comprehensive as this one, we will just have to see how much time I have! You can also get short updates via my Twitter and Facebook.
Until the next post... Know that God is for you; He has called you; and He has made you!!
Post a Comment