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Because of the TimesBy Jonathan Walker Because
of the times thousands of ministers and their families gathered at this unique
conference January 23-25 in Alexandria, Louisiana to acquire fresh anointing and
renewed vision to impact our world with the power of the gospel.
For anyone pursuing political rhetoric or posturing, a trip to
"Because of the Times" would be a waste of time, energy, and money.
This conference only focuses on God, not people.
Thousands of ministers from numerous Oneness organizations gather with an
insatiable desire to pursue the deity and vision of Almighty God—a simple
aspiration, with powerful results. To
describe the authentic, paradigm-shifting presence of God that resides at this
conference year after year is an arduous task.
It is a time for the shepherds to be fed and replenished.
Programs, positions, and prominence are laid aside to let God unify the
body and install His purpose in our hearts. As scripture declares, "If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal
their land." (II Chronicles 7:14)
Hosted
by The Pentecostals of Alexandria, this
year’s theme was “Celebrating a Century of Pentecostal Fire.”
The basic format is 13 anointed speakers with diverse delivery
methods, yet common, intertwined messages, usher in the word of God.
The sermons are augmented by powerful moves of God and inspired singing
by the Alexandria Sanctuary Choir, led by Mickey Mangun. The
general message that manifested itself through the mouth of the ministers was a
call to faith for the revival of a lost world and a launching and unleashing of
Apostolic demonstration in our churches. However,
to embrace such a vision, the Lord had to humble us.
Humility begins with a repentant heart.
This was taken care of on the first night. Bro.
Anthony Mangun was used by God on the opening night to deliver, in humility,
God's vision for His church, with “This is a Lost World and We Have a Mandate
to Reach It" as his title. The
walls of the sanctuary were adorned with massive pictures of the faces of lost
people. Bro. Mangun relayed his
burden of how all of these faces should haunt us.
He urged the ministry to not be comfortable with merely their
congregation, but to let the thought of a lost world haunt them every day.
He challenged the congregation that we Apostolics, who claim to have the
message, have lost our passion for a world destined for eternal damnation.
He stated that although the preaching of prophecy and standards are
beneficial, Jesus himself commanded us to preach mainly the gospel, which is the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
One powerful statement he made captivated my heart in conviction. He declared we will start reaching and saving a lost world from hell when we become more passionate about reaching lost souls with the gospel, than we are with arguing and defending it. He eloquently relayed the fact that we are as important to reaching the world as Calvary was. For what is a message without a messenger? With a convicting spirit hovering in the sanctuary Bro. Mangun declared, "We have the message in Jerusalem, and we can't get it out of the city." The
point was made that pastors with large churches should not be bankers, but soul
winners; and pastors of home mission churches are not real estate agents first,
but soul winners. With a heavy
burden and with passion he challenged the ministry to not have our precious
gospel only in our shout, but also in our actions.
The faces of the lost should haunt us.
If we believe we live in a lost and dying world, then we must reach it.
Bro. J.T. Pugh, an experienced elder of wisdom and understanding, confirmed this message the following day by telling the conference our movement and organization is at a tipping point. He urged the ministry not to tip in any direction other than mainstream Pentecost. The church cannot be heritage driven, but future-pulled. He relayed the three dangers to beware: 1.
Wealth without work 2.
Education without humility 3.
Worship without truth and sacrifice.
The
one statement he made that grabbed my attention was that if you bribe someone
you will get convenient seekers, but if you challenge someone you will get true
blood. With faith he proclaimed God will supply us with the energy and anointing
to take on tasks like never before. We are truly at the tipping point of
revival. The
following messages and responses installed renewed, incredible faith and
confidence in God. Bro. Wayne Huntley, Bro. Mike Williams, and Bro. Randy Keys
preached powerful sermons of how God is a blessing God that is waiting to bless
our humble efforts. Bro. Huntley
told the congregation, "You can't fake it, you must faith it."
With a positive mindset, he proclaimed our dreams are going to start
happening, and to let your dream keep you in the ring.
Bro. Keys summed the evening up by telling us believing is seeing! Jesus
declares, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believed."
(John 20:29) His message inspired
us to start believing for revival before we see it.
Faith exploded and was demonstrated by hundreds of ministers from around
the world racing to the platform, grabbing the microphone, and declaring these
words concerning their churches doubling in number, "Its going to be
me!" The
paralleled messages continued on the final day with Bro. T. F. Tenney bringing
the exciting news that it is “11:59 p.m.”.
We are on the brink of midnight—don't let go now.
In his astute way, Bro. Tenney proclaimed some memorable lines.
He said success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom; don't
show your gift more than your fruit, but use your talent to produce good fruit.
He summed up his message by saying that if our churches want to see the
true glory of God, the top must be torn and open. (Indicating to the conference
that pastors and the ministry must be torn and open so that the glory can flow
through God's church.) Don't forget
it is 11:59 and revival is on its way. The
conference concluded with a visionary message by Bro. Jeff Arnold.
He relayed in his unique, effective way that often the Lord will disturb
us into our destiny. For true
revival to occur, the Lord is going to teach us to soar and might have to kick
us out of our comfortable nests to accomplish it.
He said there are too many ministries with folded wings and our
generation desperately wants to fly, but does not know how to stand.
He said if we stay in our comfortable “nests" we won't count lost
souls going to hell, all we will count is our members and money!
He urged the conference to let God disturb us into the destiny he has for
our lives, at whatever cost. We
must soar, not sit. Revival
by spreading the good news of Jesus' gospel to all the faces and hearts of the
lost is what Because of the Times is all about.
The conference is selfless, not selfish.
It is God-centered, not man-centered.
When we embrace those paradigms and unite with proper vision, we will
impact our world for Jesus. I pray the faces of the lost haunt you. ninetyandnine.com
ã
2001, Jonathan Walker -------- Jonathan Walker is a student at the University of Cincinnati when he’s not a proactive youth pastor, part-time drummer and weekend evangelist. |
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