Elevate 2010 #2 - Sunday Night & Project Bless America

On the first night of the Elevate Conference, Bishop Joseph Garlington
spoke on the Power of the Holy Spirit. He made some great observations.

People in the church today are trying to accomplish New Testament Church works
without New Testament Church power.

He was sharing how unfortunately the Holy Spirit has been reduced to an experience and described as 'it'. The Holy Spirit is a person.

The same Holy Spirit that was inside of Jesus is the same Holy Spirit that we have received.

We have the 'Full Version' of God living within us.

I am bigger on the inside than I am on the outside.

He shared a great story about watching an older lady praying for a girl to be set free from an oppression of the devil and she simply placed a hand on her forehead and said: 'Holy Spirit come and do your work.' There was no effort, no struggle.

There is real power when we can minister from a place of rest and not a place where we are struggling and striving to make something happen!

Also in other news, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in America is the Nepalese peoples. A few years ago in Atlanta, God called an ordinary man and gave him a mandate to reach this ethnic group with the Gospel and the love of Christ.
He obeyed the call of God and now the ministry to this people group here in America is growing at an incredible rate. Yesterday I received a call from him and he solicited prayers and support. Please do keep the ministry in Prayer. The name of the ministry is going to be called Project Bless America.

I love that name because it denotes what our role is as Christians here in America.
If you are of ethnic origin like I am (even though I was born in America), we must realize that God brought us to this land to bless and serve the people of this land.

The last thing that Jesus told us to do before he died was to follow his example of service. In John 13 he gets on his knees, dons a towel and washes feet. In Christianity, we need to recapture the concept of service. Our impact can have such huge significance.

Here I am, Send ME (Amazing People - Amazing Songs)

This week I am at the Elevate Conference at Covenant Church in Dallas
All of the services are streamed live and can be seen at http://www.covenantchurchlive.com/ or on Daystar TV on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:30 pm to 9:00pm (Central)

I hope to blog about the conference and highlight a word or a person or an event that has had a significant impact on my life.

On Saturday night the service was called Elevate the Nations where the Missionaries and National leaders were encouraged, prayed over and released. It was inspiring to see so many people that have dedicated their lives to serve God in different nations all over the world. My friends David & Liney Chacko(http://www.globalrenewal.org/) and James Mathew of Sacred Revolution were among the ministries that are in this network. There was even a lady and her husband that are serving at a church in the city of Ephesus. That is the one city in the world that I have a huge desire to visit.

The entire service was very powerful, but one of the testimonies that was highlighted was that of a precious Pastor from Haiti. He and his wife are living in a tent and have been living like that since January 12th. He shared that right after the earthquake happened he went outside and saw that his entire compound was destroyed. They have a home where they take care of over 50 young boys and as he looked he saw the limp, lifeless body of one of his boys laying on the ground. Suddenly the Spirit of God came upon Pastor and he declared: In the name of Jesus I call back life into your Spirit! The boy immediately began to respond and life came back into his body.

The atmosphere was electric.

Pastor Ralph Holland in his sermon emphasized the need to be filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit.

One of the highlights of the service was to hear so many new (at least to me) songs of dedication to the service of God. My eyes filled with tears of joy and surrender as the words ministered to my Spirit. It is always a cleansing experience when we can lay aside our agenda and rededicate our lives to God as a sacrifice.

One was a song was called Made to Live For You from the album Declare Your Name by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Powerful lyrics.



I was made to live for you...

Another song that was song was 'Follow You' by the group Leeland.

The words say: I'll follow you into the homes of the broken, follow you into the world...

One thing that we talked about after the service is that it is easy to sing a song with powerful words, but it is dangerous to sing that song and not mean what we are singing.

On Saturday I saw and met so many amazing people that are not just singing words but they are living the life. Along with Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6, God is looking for people to answer His call and to say: Here am I, Send Me!