Glory & Grace, Durban 2011 - Diary 4
Well, it's all over. Months of planning and anticipation are all behind us, but what remains are hearts stirred and burning with the Fire of God. What an incredible week sitting under the firey teaching of Rob Rufus and Fini & Isi de Gersigny. (Glenda was quiet this week :-) )
Overall the conference was very different to 2009's Increasing Glory (It wasn't called Glory and Grace for some reason). On Friday Rob admitted that in 2009's conference he specifically revved it up and preached Grace in its most extreme. Had he not done so, I doubt most of those attended would have received such revelation. But this year's conference wasn't necessarily an unpacking of the Truth about the Grace of God, probably because Rob recognised that most of the attendees now understood the foundations of Grace.
Instead, this conference focussed much more on the Presence of God, the anointing, bringing the Kingdom to Earth, and realigning people's thinking that may have subtly drifted into various forms of passivity. Each of the sessions were typically incredible and deeply inspiring. Now, we all recognise that our own pastors, preachers and worship leaders are equally gifted and anointed; but I believe part of the reason conferences such as these impact us so significantly is because there is an atmosphere of expectancy, a level of faith in the room that affects the atmosphere and thereby creating a corporate receptivity to what God is doing through the apostolic gifts sent to preach.
Sunday's sessions were again awesome. Fini de Gersigny shared at Highway on Sunday morning, and it was glorious. He tried to share on the glorious freedom in the sons of God from Romans 8. I say tried because he must've touched on it for 10 minutes or so and instead followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to speak about our ability as children of God to tap into the Presence of God. It was an incredible service as the worship was explosive as we danced and sung out our glorious freedom! 2 ladies were inspired to express their freedom by dancing on stage, and both of them ended up in trances on the floor after doing so! It was an awesome thing! Some of the most exciting worship times I have ever experienced.
Isi then shared a prophetic vision that she saw of the Holy Spirit joining the fathers and sons around the world, intertwining them together to build lasting revival. Significant. It laid a great platform for what we did next; pray for the elders of Highway. As an eldership, we felt it would be important to have recognised apostolic gifts such as Fini and Isi pray over us before the church. It was a powerful time and I personally felt like a fresh wave of God's breath blow over me; preparing me for what was to come. I know my wife also felt something, because she could barely stand under the weight of God's Glory!
By then it was 10:25, and we usually end a Sunday service at around 10:30! I love it when God interrupts "regular" Sunday services! Fini then went into his message, and he opened up by saying what he says at his church services back in Sydney: "if you need to leave, be free!" Guess what? Barely anyone left!
It was an amazing message and if you can download the session to be on our website soon. Fini then ended the service by calling anyone who needed healing to come forward and he then said if people at that pointed wanted to go they could. Typically, most people stayed! We must've had about 100 people come forward for healing; and God did His thing! One woman who couldn't bend down for 25 years because of arthritis was doing so freely and with such joy and passion on stage as she testified to how Jesus healed her! I had the privilege of praying for a young who injured his spine over a year ago. As I laid hands on him, a white feather literally popped out of the air into out line of sight and floated above the crowd waiting for healing. It was a sign and wonder pointing to the Wings of Healing in that place! The young man ended up feeling the pain in his back physically move down his left leg and out his foot. Wow! There were a number of other people healed and touched by the Power of God that morning, and by the time I left the church at 1pm there were still people lingering in the hall being ministered to! That's right, 1pm! Oh how I love it when church gets messy.
That night Rob wrapped it all up with a firey message of passion! The people again streamed in for the last session with Rob, scheduled to start at 6pm, but must've got underway a little later due to the amount of people arriving. The worship was again amazing, and to quote a young man at the conference; "the best of the whole week!" Fuzion Worship, with Robby Slabbert, Janine Price and Jennifer weir all led that night and it was sensational. The electric atmosphere was typical of the last night of a conference of this magnitude.
Rob tried to preach a message from 2 Corinthians. None of us will ever know what verse or passage, because he never got there. Instead, each time I tried to get to his text, he was led so go somewhere else. And that somewhere else was a passionate motivation for the church to be awakened to who they really are. Sons and daughters of the Lord of Glory with the All Consuming Fire of Heaven within them! When you know and believe that, passivity is not an option!
Hopefully not too many people saw the message as a correctional message. Although it may have come across that way. Rob acknowledges that after a revelation of Grace, many people can celebrate their freedom so much that they "swing the pendulum" all the way in the other direction into almost complacent passivity. And Rob said that's understandable. But surely there must come a time when the Lion of the Tribe of Judah so captivates our hearts that all we want is for His Kingdom to be established?!
Rob really burned in that last session and it was an inspired call to the people of God to rise up and take their places as heirs of the world! Personally, it excited me deeply as since coming into a revelation of Grace, ministry from the likes of Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton has come alive to me; and I recognised that what is left now is to push back the forces of darkness and establish the Kingdom of Light here on Earth.
I have always longed to be part of a church that was doing that with passion and purpose. And after a message like that, it would seem the foundation is set for revival! COME ON!!
So, all in all; it was another remarkable weekend. We truly are in a worldwide awakening to the Goodness of God. It is accelerating. We are in a LOVE REVOLUTION and the enemy is shaking in his boots as he has no idea how to oppose LOVE. God's Kingdom is being established, and we can't stop now! And a conference like this is a significant time in building the Body of Christ to be that unstoppable force God has made them to be.
Thank you to those of you who followed the Blog, Twitter updates and Facebook photos. I really love getting in touch with my readers and followers.
Until the next blog post... remember that God your Father loves you unconditionally and that He has given you the Earth!
Overall the conference was very different to 2009's Increasing Glory (It wasn't called Glory and Grace for some reason). On Friday Rob admitted that in 2009's conference he specifically revved it up and preached Grace in its most extreme. Had he not done so, I doubt most of those attended would have received such revelation. But this year's conference wasn't necessarily an unpacking of the Truth about the Grace of God, probably because Rob recognised that most of the attendees now understood the foundations of Grace.
Instead, this conference focussed much more on the Presence of God, the anointing, bringing the Kingdom to Earth, and realigning people's thinking that may have subtly drifted into various forms of passivity. Each of the sessions were typically incredible and deeply inspiring. Now, we all recognise that our own pastors, preachers and worship leaders are equally gifted and anointed; but I believe part of the reason conferences such as these impact us so significantly is because there is an atmosphere of expectancy, a level of faith in the room that affects the atmosphere and thereby creating a corporate receptivity to what God is doing through the apostolic gifts sent to preach.
Sunday's sessions were again awesome. Fini de Gersigny shared at Highway on Sunday morning, and it was glorious. He tried to share on the glorious freedom in the sons of God from Romans 8. I say tried because he must've touched on it for 10 minutes or so and instead followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to speak about our ability as children of God to tap into the Presence of God. It was an incredible service as the worship was explosive as we danced and sung out our glorious freedom! 2 ladies were inspired to express their freedom by dancing on stage, and both of them ended up in trances on the floor after doing so! It was an awesome thing! Some of the most exciting worship times I have ever experienced.
Isi then shared a prophetic vision that she saw of the Holy Spirit joining the fathers and sons around the world, intertwining them together to build lasting revival. Significant. It laid a great platform for what we did next; pray for the elders of Highway. As an eldership, we felt it would be important to have recognised apostolic gifts such as Fini and Isi pray over us before the church. It was a powerful time and I personally felt like a fresh wave of God's breath blow over me; preparing me for what was to come. I know my wife also felt something, because she could barely stand under the weight of God's Glory!
By then it was 10:25, and we usually end a Sunday service at around 10:30! I love it when God interrupts "regular" Sunday services! Fini then went into his message, and he opened up by saying what he says at his church services back in Sydney: "if you need to leave, be free!" Guess what? Barely anyone left!
It was an amazing message and if you can download the session to be on our website soon. Fini then ended the service by calling anyone who needed healing to come forward and he then said if people at that pointed wanted to go they could. Typically, most people stayed! We must've had about 100 people come forward for healing; and God did His thing! One woman who couldn't bend down for 25 years because of arthritis was doing so freely and with such joy and passion on stage as she testified to how Jesus healed her! I had the privilege of praying for a young who injured his spine over a year ago. As I laid hands on him, a white feather literally popped out of the air into out line of sight and floated above the crowd waiting for healing. It was a sign and wonder pointing to the Wings of Healing in that place! The young man ended up feeling the pain in his back physically move down his left leg and out his foot. Wow! There were a number of other people healed and touched by the Power of God that morning, and by the time I left the church at 1pm there were still people lingering in the hall being ministered to! That's right, 1pm! Oh how I love it when church gets messy.
That night Rob wrapped it all up with a firey message of passion! The people again streamed in for the last session with Rob, scheduled to start at 6pm, but must've got underway a little later due to the amount of people arriving. The worship was again amazing, and to quote a young man at the conference; "the best of the whole week!" Fuzion Worship, with Robby Slabbert, Janine Price and Jennifer weir all led that night and it was sensational. The electric atmosphere was typical of the last night of a conference of this magnitude.
Rob tried to preach a message from 2 Corinthians. None of us will ever know what verse or passage, because he never got there. Instead, each time I tried to get to his text, he was led so go somewhere else. And that somewhere else was a passionate motivation for the church to be awakened to who they really are. Sons and daughters of the Lord of Glory with the All Consuming Fire of Heaven within them! When you know and believe that, passivity is not an option!
Hopefully not too many people saw the message as a correctional message. Although it may have come across that way. Rob acknowledges that after a revelation of Grace, many people can celebrate their freedom so much that they "swing the pendulum" all the way in the other direction into almost complacent passivity. And Rob said that's understandable. But surely there must come a time when the Lion of the Tribe of Judah so captivates our hearts that all we want is for His Kingdom to be established?!
Rob really burned in that last session and it was an inspired call to the people of God to rise up and take their places as heirs of the world! Personally, it excited me deeply as since coming into a revelation of Grace, ministry from the likes of Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton has come alive to me; and I recognised that what is left now is to push back the forces of darkness and establish the Kingdom of Light here on Earth.
I have always longed to be part of a church that was doing that with passion and purpose. And after a message like that, it would seem the foundation is set for revival! COME ON!!
Thank you to those of you who followed the Blog, Twitter updates and Facebook photos. I really love getting in touch with my readers and followers.
Until the next blog post... remember that God your Father loves you unconditionally and that He has given you the Earth!
