5:30AM San Clemente
We just got done with the Church Next Training in PineCrest Christian Conference Center. It was a very beautiful camping resort center owned by the Assemblies of God. High up in the San Bernardino mountains. The drive up was so beautiful despite the jet-lag closing in our systems.
Pinecrest reminded me so much of SEP ORR. There were about 6 canoes neatly stacked up and that made me pine away for the experiences I had on canoe trips on the boundary waters more than 15 years ago.
Church Next Training was a powerful blessing indeed particularly the animated speaker Keith Jenkins who discussed Incarnational Theology. Fleshing out what it means to have Jesus living in us. To be a breathing, touching, embracing, incarnational representation of Jesus who became one of us.
All the sessions were very helpful for the 6 of us who went there as a team. The concepts were eye opening. There were things that we had not considered in our training as a team. For one, the idea of having a LEAD CHURCH PLANTER was something we had not discussed because we had mainly operated as a team.
One of the powerful highlights for us was our prayer time with the team from San Jose. In them, we could not find a more prayerful support team. They asked us about our plans and how things are coming along with our plans. One of the sisters respectfully shared her points of consideration about stewarding God’s resources. She was very affirming – and I believe that what she said about my passion and “gift” in ministering to the young people – and how it would all come to play in what we are setting ourselves to achieve, was very timely, significant. I had also been wondering about the things she said. How would these gifts and the passion for the young people contribute to all these? This is clearly an area for prayerful consideration in the light of knowing who I am, how God formed me, gifted me and blessed me with the passion to reaching out the young people.
We huddled in prayer – all 9 of us. We surrendered ourselves to the Lord. We cried out for wisdom and discernment so that we would know what to do. We thanked our host country and expressed in prayer our desire to give back to this country that had blessed the Philippines in so many ways.
I felt God’s presence as prayer upon prayer was said. We were one. Our spirits were one. It was beautiful. It was powerful. Being able to pray with them at that time was already an answered prayer for all of us back home. Wifey was struggling with the bug she had even earlier on – so she missed this experience with us.
Lord God, thank you for this journey. You know how we feel and how anxious we become. Draw us nearer to you. Hold us close. Open the doors where you want us to faithfully walk through. We trust in your wisdom and guidance.
I love it!