This past weekend End Time Glory Ministries held their bi-annual glory conference. It began Thursday evening and ran through Saturday night. There were 3 meetings per day except for Thursday evening. It was held in a local school's gym where we had plenty of room during praise and worship times to dance, wave banners and just really enjoy the time. Each meeting-one in the morning, afternoon and evening-consisted of extended praise and worship, a teaching time taught by either Rev. Debra or a guest minister she had brought in and a time of prayer and personal ministry for many in attendance. Shannon was involved in ushering at each meeting while I was changing the transparencies for the music being projected on the wall. We took Collin with us Friday evening where one of the ministers there prayed prophetically over him. She was someone who did not know him or anything about him but spoke of him being in the nations and gave him some very encouraging words. Saturday evening we took all of the children along. They really enjoyed the praise and worship time and asked as soon as we left if they could come back again for the next conference that will be held in the fall. It was a weekend where we got very little sleep but it was a great time of refreshing and renewal for all of us.
Saturday evening we brought along a friend of ours who is unfamiliar with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. She attends a church that does not do a lot of teaching on that. She had told the kids there was no way she was going to wave any flags or join the rest of us in our exuberant and unfamiliar to her, worship. We hadn't been there long when she was up waving flags and joining us in her enthusiasm. She later told us that she could feel something there just "fall down" on her. We explained to her that was God's glory. We did a lot of talking with her about the things we are now familiar with that had never been encouraged in our previous churches-speaking in tongues, prophecy, dance, and words of knowledge. She could also see that the words that were being ministered over individuals were from God due to many factors such as how smoothly they flowed from the mouths of those speaking them as well as the things that were said that the speaker had no way of knowing. It was fun to have someone unfamiliar and even uncomfortable in that style of praise to be able to know that it was all very real.
There are many out there that do not believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today. I remember when Shannon and I first started attending our current church. As visitors we were curious but unconvinced of the genuineness of what we were seeing. We spent many hours speaking with the pastor there at the time as he met with the two of us to answer our many questions. I am so glad that we are involved in a church and a ministry that does believe in the gifts for today. It is hard for me to imagine not allowing God's words to be spoken over me and through me. If you have doubts I just want to convince you that those gifts are real and that they are for today. The book of Acts is a great place to begin researching if this is something you are unfamiliar with.
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." Acts 2:17
"Therefore my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues." 1 Corinthians 14:39
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