Together On A Mission...WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't even know how to begin describing the NFI Together On A Mission conference in Brighton this week !!
Wow !! is all I've said since I got home. I can feel a long blog coming on (maybe in 2 parts), and if it seems like I'm making such a big deal, then it's because for me personally it was an amazing conference where I met Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, in the most awesome way. Everything about the 4 days was...now I don't want to oversell this... TOTALLY MIND BLOWING !!!! (that statement will hopefully become more clear as I go on) !!

I suppose I should go through it day by day...but before I do I just want to point out that prior to the conference (as in getting a fabulous tan on Brighton Beach the day before it started), I turned to my very good friend Dan who I went to the confrence with, and said that I had decided this week would be the week that I'd be baptised in the Holy Spirit. A simple statement with massive implications, of a good kind. Well God did not disappoint !!

TUESDAY
The conference opened on Tuesday morning with worship lead by Stuart Townend and co, and there was certainly no warming up. As soon as they started playing, you could feel the presence of God as 4,000 people worshipped Him with all their hearts.
Stephen Van Rhyn had the honour of giving the first word of the conference again this year. He preached in parts on Acts chapters 7 and 8, giving account that even though it was a dark time for the church in Jerusalem, the scattered apostles still preached the Gospel wherever they went, saving and healing people in the name of Jesus Christ. It really was inspirational.
David Stroud preached on Isaiah 9:1-7 in the second session on the day, arguing that although we face many oppositions when advancing the Kingdom of God, (and these oppositions may confuse or scare us) we must not lose face, beacause there is a King that is coming, and He will change everything.

Terry Virgo brought the last message of the day, preaching on Hebrews 11:23-26, he entitled the message 'The Explosive Power of Faith'. I am truly grateful everytime I hear Terry preach, because he always cuts right down to the bone. I found this message actually quite hard to listen to, on a very personal level, but that's ok, because I think we all need to be challenged like this once in a while; Do I or do I not do something in the name of Faith? That was the general gist of the word.

Already after just day one, this conference was impacting me in a huge way.

WEDNESDAY
Wednesday morning brought the first of the seminars. Dan and I had heard of the anticipation and excitemtent surrounding a man named Rob Rufus, who is currently ministering in Japan. When we heard that he moves so powerfully everyday in the Spirit and that that was what he would be preaching on, in a practical way, we put our names down immediately for his training track seminars.
He preached on stepping out in the supernatural, using Psalm 91 and Isaiah 4:5-6, and challenged us to think about whose shadow are we standing in? God's? or otherwise? His main point was that we need intimacy with Jesus to step out into the supernatural, and this would be the point I struggled with during the following ministry time.
Rob allowed about half an hour ministry time, and although it was awesome because the Spirit came so powerfully into that room (even Dan was on the floor in tears), I just felt nothing. And why? Fear ! And what was I afraid of? Well it was a mixture of feelings: Scared of what actually would happen if the Spirit fell upon me (people were laughing and crying hysterically all over the floor, some were bent double with 'electricity' of the spirit); Scared also of the power this man had when the Spirit consumed him; and scared maybe that others were looking at me. Bascially I was letting all these external fears stop me from having the intimate relationship with God that I actually did desire.

After that session I shared my fears with Dan, who gave me some practical advice on shaking off fear; if anyone can talk sense into me, Dan can.
Rob Rufus also lead the next main session; using 2 Corinthians 3 and Psalm 42:7, he detailed what he feels churches need to do corporately to step out in the supernatural. He gave some amazing practical ideas.
He then allowed substantial time for ministry, again. It was actually awe inspiring to see the Holy Spirit working on nearly everyone in the 4,000 strong congregation. For me, at first, I still had thse fears, and the Holy Spirit just wouldn't come and fill my heart the way that I wanted it to. So I sat down, put my head in my hands and started to pray to God, asking why I wasn't being baptised in the Spirit, when it looked as though it was coming so easily to everyone else.
And then I felt it. Something inside me said "just let go". And so I did; I remained seated, but lifted my hands, and made the decision to let go of what was holding me back. It happened there and then, my body began shaking with the electricity of the Spirit, and I felt such an amazing, warm feeling wash over. Dan always said that I'd know when I'd been baptised in the Holy Spirit, and I knew that was it. It jst felt amazing, and I'll never forget it !!!

Well I'll sign off now, before it becomes too long winded, and leave the rest for another blog later...!!!!