Gosh, the spirit of the Lord is moving here, in such a mighty and strong way. The church I've been going to, North Hills, is such an incredible place. The congregation is free and fully led by the spirit. Unfortunately, I have not seen many churches like this, especially in the US.
Church, as I have experienced in America, typically goes like this. Wake up, put on some nice clothes so you can be looking good, drive to a building filled with mostly people of the same color and race, stand up, sing 3 songs, sit down, listen to a sermon, stand up (maybe raise your hands) pass the tithe basket to your neighbor, say bye and peace out to watch football.
I have longed so much for something different, more spirit filled and not held back by legalism, formalism and faithlessness. The church, I believe, is in a state of complacency where everything is just ok and the desire for the fire of the Lord is not present. A few people may have that but they are overshadowed by the unwillingness of others to be open, shout, show brokenness and pain.
I am loving North Hills here in South Africa because people cry out to God, stand, shout, sing, speak what the Spirit has laid on their hearts. This is what happened in church today:
We got there as worship was starting and you could feel the power and tangible presence of the Spirit like a cloud. The pastor moves and directs as the spirit guides. Today the spirit was saying that there were people bound with shackles of unforgiveness and that people needed to forgive. From time to time someone in the congregation would receive word from the Lord and would share over the microphone the vision the Lord had given or scripture that He had placed on their hearts. The pastor asked for those who were bound by these shackles to come up to the front and they did.
People would pray over them as we worshiped the Lord and sang loudly in His presence. I was so excited because one of my good friends had just told me the struggle she was having with forgiving her parents for their divorce. Others' deeds do not place shackles on you necessarily, it is your own stubbornness and your own self which binds you in the spiritual realm. The Lord had given me a couple different visions for this girl a few days ago which I won't go into detail about, but essentially the meaning was found that there was this unforgiveness holding her back. She and others were spoken to and freed today.
The church is not bound by limits of time. If the Spirit moves to have extended worship then that is what the church does, corporately. A few weeks ago, there was not even a message because the Lord was moving so powerfully and the church just kept worshipping. Anyway, after a bit the pastor got up and felt led to lead the church in a powerful cry and yell to the Lord. SO THE ENTIRE BODY YELLED AND SHOUTED WITH A TRIUMPHANT NOISE UNTO THE LORD!! Rarely have I experienced freedom and movement in the spiritual realm as I did this morning. There is power and authority given to us by the Father, and there is power in shouts and yells. At this point in time the demons and powers of the world that were binding those people and were around the church fled and the heavens opened wide open!
After a message from a different pastor, the entire church stays and fellowships in the courtyard. No one, quickly gets out to watch the game. The body stays, prays, breaks bread, eats lunch together, talks and fellowships. I caught up with some of the guys I met last week and had great conversation. The hospitality and service toward each other is enormous, like nothing I have known before. A man got up in church today and told how the prayers of believers had healed him of the back pain he had had his whole life. I was led to pray for my friend Keith and Christina. The Lord has been giving me visions on a scale I have not experienced before. The Lord has been giving me opportunities to speak His will and truth like I have never experienced before.
Please read the next post entitled MEN..RISE UP as it is the most important thing I have put up thus far and was meant to follow this one
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