A long post that I had to share

It has been a very full week in regards to my relationship with God and my growth as a Christian. I never stop being amazed at how great God is, and how graciously he gives us spiritual blessings. In a way, it has been a week of contrasts, but in another way, it has reminded me that there are so many ways to worship the one God.

Last weekend I went to two sessions of a conference at River of Life church, which is an unashamedly Pentecostal church. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive because I didn’t know if it was really going to be my style of worship. But still, I love to worship God and I made the decision that it didn’t matter so much if it was my style of worship, that I should seek to worship God no matter what the style. That just left my concerns about theologically sound doctrine. But there was nothing said there that was unbiblical, once I thought about it. The first session, last Friday, started with singing, which I was comfortable with. I closed my eyes, I lifted my hands, sometimes I kept my hands right by my side which was okay too. The speaker was very funny but he also said some good things about having a hunger for God, that strong desire to go deeper with the Lord. My only issue was that the Bible wasn’t opened at all during the session, although the speaker made lots of references to biblical verses and principles. Still, I prayed that there would be more bible in the next session.

God is faithful and he answers prayers. The next session, on Sunday, included a prayer that was taken straight from bible verses, sung to the Lord. I had kept in mind that talk about having a hunger for God, and when it was time for prayers, the pastor’s wife prayed for me, that I would go deeper in my relationship with the Lord. As she laid hands on me, I fell backwards and was just lying down in the presence of God. I suppose that would be referred to as being slain in the Spirit. I came to that session really wanting to go deeper with the Lord and sort of wanting that particular experience of God. As the pastor’s wife came to pray with me, I had no idea what to expect. Would I be struck unconscious, would I just fall down or would I be left standing because God didn’t choose to work in that way that time. But as I was lying down, I was comforted by the beauty in the combination of experience and rationality. I was experiencing the presence of the Lord, and felt a deep peace within me, but I was completely conscious and still completely able to think. Actually my thoughts were largely focused on thanking God for answering my prayer, and just worshipping him.

Experience is an interesting concept. From my Evangelical background, I have largely been taught not to rely on experience. And I believe that is true. Experience should not contradict the truths we know from the Bible. Still, it seems that this can be taken to the other extreme, where all talk of experience is relegated to being unreliable and unimportant. God is always present, that is a scriptural truth that I hold on to. I also believe that sometimes God takes us to a place where we see more of his presence that is still always there whether we see it or not.

There were still some things that I wasn’t sure of at this meeting. For example, the laughing in the Spirit that I witnessed for the first time. It made me a little uncomfortable, not because I thought that God wouldn’t work in that way, but more because I wasn’t sure how people would interact with me. The wonderful thing that happened was, after being prayed for and lying down, I got up and felt the Lord telling me to read the Bible. Everyone else was laughing and dancing around with joy, but I got so much joy from sitting down and reading ‘Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise, his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another, they will tell of your mighty acts’ (Psalm 145:3-4). God really does work in many, awesome ways.

Then on Monday I embarked on something very different, but in every way glorifying God. It was a conference designed for ministry workers, led by Wesley Institute. I went along as Sunday School teacher, and my friend Lupe, who also came to the River of Life sessions, came as the youth leader. In a way, it was like being back at uni, particularly in the first one that looked at the historical context of some of Paul’s writings, and showed historical artefacts to illuminate the meaning of the passages. Throughout the three day conference, there was such a commitment to high intellectual quality and sound biblical doctrine, and I found it really exciting to get right into God’s word and look at what it says. Most of the talks were from lecturers at Wesley Institute, except for one who was a lecturer at Moore College. I am seriously considering doing part time study at Wesley Institute now.

The talks related to many different aspects of ministry, but the common theme underpinning all the talks was the idea of relationship. How important it is to have at the heart of any ministry, whether it is discipleship or evangelism, Christ-like relationships with people, rather than legalistic rules or programs. The great thing about the talks is they started out very theoretical, looking at historical contexts of issues, looking at bible passages relating to a topic, and then once the theoretical background was established the talks became very practical, looking at things that we can actually do within our own churches. There were so many things that could be taken away and used at church, relating to youth ministry, discipleship, including the creative arts in worship, understanding the narrative of the Bible, engaging with popular culture, and the cultural and spiritual context of Australia. I took so many notes, so now it is time to look over them prayerfully and really seek the Lord in what he wants us to take away for our church.

After the talks were finished, each night Lupe and I would spend some time worshipping the Lord. We sang and we prayed, and the Spirit of the Lord was definitely near. Everytime I think about the Lord being near, the Lord being present in all his glory even if I can’t see him, I am filled with awe. It’s a thought process not just emotions, but still, I never want to lose that feeling towards God. I never want to think about his presence and all that he has done for me and feel ordinary. I always want to have that sense of awe and reverence, that sense of amazement that something so incomprehensible is, in fact, true.