Posted by Ed W./lanny, et al on 8/10/2001, 5:19 pm

Posted by Ed W on 5/30/2001, 9:51 am I attended the Saturday evening and Sunday services at the conference. Since this event was a weekend meeting for NHWC, not a CCBTC Camp Meeting, I was wondering who would show up and how it would turn out. I was very pleased to find this was not the Chapel of 1988 (or even 1984), but a large group of people I used to know who are living for God now. The gathering was a mix of people from New Heart, RLA, lots of non-affiliateds, and a group from COA. As I was looking at the familiar faces (and thinking of the number of former CC'ers I've run into in the past few years) I realised that there are hundreds of our brethren walking with God today. The snapshot of 10 years ago some have of thousands of Chapelites backslidden and not walking with God is not really accurate today. We all can cite cases of people we knew who reject God and the things they once believed and taught, but my guess is more and more of us are finding life in Him. Sorry for the sermonette... As I said, this meeting was of people who are living in 2001, not back in the Chapel days. I saw a number of our former leaders, including BB, who were not being fawned over, but were treated like regular folks (like they were equals). People were making contact with others they probably had been on the outs with for years, and it was not a big production. No weeping, repenting or whatever else we used to do as far as I could see. It was great to see so many Chapel "kids" grown and doing OK. I think for some this was a chance to "face their demon" re CC and the building in particular. To me it was like returning to my old high school after 20 years: everything looked small. Not only did the sanctuary itself seem smaller in size than I remembered it, but the events that happened there seem smaller too. Perhaps for some it tied up a few loose ends and made the building not seem like a monument to failure. The sermons and worship time were worthwhile and seemed to focus on renewing our calling and seeing how important each of us is to the work of God. Jamie Hansen taught on the nature of Job's fear and how we can be led to believe the Christian life is no more profitable than living for the world. Not a lot of hype in general. The building itself has been changed somewhat. Dave's picture shows that the built-in risers for MM on the platform were cut down to make a level stage. Overall it's been well taken care of. As further trivia, the old chicken ranch that used to adjoin the walkway between the east and west campus is being replaced with a Buddhist temple. Also the homes along 8th (across the street from the old Chapel, now RLA) are now a warehouse complex. In general I was very pleased with this conference. They are planning another one next year, at the sanctuary again, and I might go. ____________________ Recent conference Posted by lanny on 6/11/2001, 6:26 pm During the afternoon many were personally ministered to by prophetic teams. This has been a real blessing and many great testimonies have been coming forth. It has been decided to continue this prophetic ministry for awhile. I am posting this to offer (as time and schedules permit) this to you on this board who might want this kind of personal ministry. This "wave" of prophecy has been going on now for several years across the country. My son Ryan went to Morningstar School of Ministry in NC where they are very skillful in this area. We at CC did not quite enter into this as much as is now available. It has been a blessing to see many CC'ers enter into this and become skilled in hearing the voice of the Lord as they minister his word and revelation to others. About two years ago I was invited to a prayer meeting where this ministry was the focal point. I only knew one out of about 20 who prayed for us that night. Every one of them received insight and encouragement from the Lord for us. This took about an hour. Everything said was taped and at the end they asked us for feedback as to how relevant or "right on" it had been. I did not identify with everything but some things were very personal and I hold them to be right from God Himself to this day. In fact I recently listened to the tape and was again encouraged. I am offering this to you who are serious and who would appreciate the encouragement of the Lord. You will have to e-mail me directly and I will do what I can to arrange the scheduling. Lanny ---------- Posted by Keith on 6/12/2001, 10:55 am , in reply to "recent conference" It seems kind of odd to me that this could be scheduled. I would love to have the Lord speak specifically to me in this regard (I did have the lord speak to me once with a T & I, which I felt was from Him, although I can't remember a bunch of it because I was amazed that it was happening in the first place). Anyway this seems similar to consulting a psychic or something, I would think this would be the sort of thing that God would randomly put on the heart of the person with the gift. Does it ever happen that there's just nothing there for a particular person? Maybe God wants that person to trust him by faith with what is already available? I don't mean to be a skeptic, but knowing Pentecostalism and one's desire to be perceived as spiritual, I could see this taking off with the imaginations of many, which could cause much harm. But on the other hand to some extent I do trust your judgment, I was really blessed by that book you sent me and felt it to be the description of a legitimate spiritual experience. ---------- a word of explanation Posted by lanny on 6/13/2001, 6:00 pm , in reply to "Re: recent conference" In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the anointing for prophetic ministry. I believe that God wants every one of us to hear His voice and be sensitive to His Spirit in a way that is beyond our current experience. This I deduce from watching and hearing others that have developed this freedom. In general the ministry goes something like this: A group will pray for an individual and then begin to receive various input from the spirit of God. Since we are not perfect, and are growing in our use of the gifts, some may also just imagine a few things out of their own minds. This is not that big of a deal as what is given will either witness to the person or not. The general theme is God's love, care, future ministry and etc. Many of the recent ministries have been quite miraculous and very impacting. God has touched on things that the individual already felt or things that no one could have known beforehand. The kind of things shared have been: pictures, Scriptures, songs, words, symbols, etc. These are open to interpretation and it is up to the individual to receive what things he can relate to and discard anything that doesn't relate. We call it the prophetic but it overlaps discernmant, word of knowledge, wisdom and just plain hearing from God. The kind of things that are not received are: negative things, rebukes and exposing of sin, who you should marry and etc. The general end result is: The person is loved, edified, encouraged, and experiencing a new closeness with God. There is a blessing in knowing that God cares enough to specifically speak to them. There are enough things said that "hit the nail on the head" that remove any doubt about whether this is coming from God or not. As I see this happening and almost everybody receiving from the Lord, I can only conclude that God is doing this and I need to raise my expectation and faith to a much higher level. I hope this helps paint a clearer picture of what is happening. lanny ---------- Posted by Keith on 6/14/2001, 5:32 am , in reply to "a word of explanation" Thanks. Yes, that does help clarify it. I'll have more of an open mind and heart if I'm ever involved in anything similar to what you described. The fact that negative things and exposing of sin isn't a part of it helps, a lot of dirt could come out on me. :o) ---------- Posted by Lita on 6/15/2001, 12:02 am , in reply to "a word of explanation" Hi Lanny. Thank you for explaining thoughts on prophetic ministry. Several years ago in Medford, Oregon when we lived there, I went to a womans propheitc meeting. I have to admit, I went skeptical, w/o saying so, as I had been taught, I think correctly at cc to be careful on these areas. I was curious as to how these types of meetings went. I was part of a small church that was being planted, and they were very eager to see God's spirit move there. You know, same with me. God met me. Specifics that no one but me knew were spoken to me and encouraged me. I took a young girl with me and the Lord ministered thru this woman in prophecy, it really affected her, as she was a young gal and needed to know God's unconditional and all knowing love. The catch is, I even went not really expecting anything, and yet God met me. His ways are not ours. I really appreciate though to tell you, the way you made it clear in your posting about it all bearing witness to the one receiving ministry. I have always known that, but never really could explain it as clearly to friends I minister to here when it comes to gifts of the spirit in prophecy, what have you. God Bless! Lita Thomas