This is the fourth in a series recapping "Waiting 2017". To read from the beginning of the series, click here.
For videos of Session #3, see below.
Up, Up and Away!
After such an uplifting time in the presence of the Lord on
Saturday, what would Sunday be like? I
believe that we had already experienced more “Kingdom moments” than most people
experience in a lifetime. However, if
Saturday was wonderful, Sunday would hold even more precious moments in God’s
kingdom.
The Girl In the
Trailer Park
Pastor Aaron started the session with a prayer that “the
peace that surpasses all understanding would touch every mind” and that God
would help us not only in our spirits but in our bodies. Then Missy Simms shared something that really
sent the meeting in a direction no one anticipated. Esther Morey had shared with us on Saturday
afternoon the story of two young teens, Riley and John Dale, who came with them
from West Virginia. She later shared this with me about their story:
Both boys have suffered much adversity and know what it means to live in want. One is living with their grandmother because of their mother’s drug problems. Their spiritual lives have been nurtured and awakened by the combined love and work of their godly grandmothers, Coda Ministry, their local church body, and now…the welcoming love of those who were at the Waiting. All the way home they kept talking about how shocking it was that people showed them so much love there!Both of these teens stood up and boldly testified on Saturday afternoon about how God was helping them and what encouragement they were receiving from the meetings. Twice in this Sunday morning meeting, Missy would have words of encouragement for these two young warriors in the kingdom...”You don’t have to wait until you are older to be used in the Kingdom of God, you can be used now!...There is a new beginning for both of you!...You will not have to live in the past generation!...May God work through these young men like never before!” Later, local school superintendent and man of God named Roland Abraham would pray an anointed prayer over the lives of these young men.
As I was preparing to write these words, Eric Snuffer, sent
me a message about this very thing. God’s
timing is perfect. Here is Eric’s
perspective:
As
always, I love being where "the Kingdom of God is in operation". That
would be how I would sum up all of the meetings in a short, short
statement. The love from the start of
the meetings until we left Sunday afternoon
(and during our trip back home) was Heavenly!...
How
many times did we hear Rev. Helm say, "What if we would have missed this
leading?!?!" This phrase came to my heart early on in the (Sunday morning)
service after a precious time of greeting one another. Aaron was about ready to turn the service
over to Taylor for worship, but the Holy Spirit checked him. He asked Missy
what was on her heart. Missy exquisitely
shared from her heart regarding Esther's testimony from the night before
regarding their ministry in the public schools.
She lovingly exhorted the two young men (Riley and John Dale) that made
the trip with us about going all for God and not waiting until they're older.
The check that Aaron received changed the direction of the service for quite a
while that was primarily devoted to these two young men, including some
encouraging exhortations and prayer time for them. By God's grace, I am
believing this was a life-changing experience for both of these guys in helping
them to find and fulfill the calling on their lives. I am very thankful that we did not "miss
this leading"!!!
 |
| Becky Bailey |
How grateful I am too that we did not miss the leading!
After Missy’s encouraging words, “Queen Esther (Morey) of
Fayetteville” (I think that’s her name now!), was led to continue the moment as
she shared with us about another young person years ago named Becky. This eleven-year old girl, who grew up in a
trailer park, could beat up all the boys and cuss like a sailor. No hope for that girl, right? Wrong!
Becky found Jesus in their children’s church. This young lady, who used to be so angry that
she beat holes in the wall of her trailer, was at the meeting, not as a young
girl, but as a beautiful daughter of Zion.
Now Becky Bailey, she and her husband are youth leaders in their church,
bringing in kids from the Coda Mountain program into their church group. Becky testified with great power, “The greatest
thing that ever is is right here in this room!...Wow! What do we have!” After Esther told her publicly, “You were
worth our entire ministry!”, Pastor Aaron shared that this operated in his
heart with power! Beautiful God moment!
Holy Ghost Choir
After this awesome series of “God
moments”, Pastor Aaron shared that Pastor Taylor and Elizabeth Doss both had it
on their heart to form a choir of young people, which would consist of young
people in their teens (or younger), twenty or thirty-somethings, or those who
wished they were twenty or thirty-something (I think that gets about all of us,
don’t you!). We were blessed to have
Spencer Lloyd with us, a “world-class choral director”, who would lead what I
think was one of the coolest choirs I’ve ever seen! One of the personal things that touched Kathy
and I was that Spencer wanted to make sure our daughter Britny, whose body is
wheelchair bound but whose spirit is free as a bird, could participate. Her wheelchair weighs about 400 lbs. and a
ramp was not available, but “where there’s a (God’s) will, there’s a way,” so
we were able to carry her up on the stage so that she could sit with the other
choir members and participate. I asked Britny to share her testimony about the weekend. Here it is: “O praise praise praise the Lord!”
I think that about says it. Anyway, what
a choir we had! They sounded like they
had been practicing for weeks! Our “Holy
Ghost Choir” sang “The Solid Rock” like they really thought He was the solid
rock…”Angels We Have Heard On High” was…what word shall I use here…angelic!
Deborah Beck of French Lick,
Indiana shared this about her experience of being in this Holy Ghost Choir:
On Sunday morning, I was SO thrilled when
Bro. Taylor Keller began to speak of having an impromptu choir. I call it “my
choir;” because, for the past few years, I have wanted to contact Bro. Robert
Morey prior to the meetings to suggest that we could choose a few songs and
send them out to those who would be interested in singing in a choir and then
call a practice an hour before the meetings. I never did because I was not sure
I should. Bro. Taylor gave an age range of 20-30s. I just turned 40; however,
he left it wide open to all who wished they were in that range. I knew I should
go, so I did. I told Sis. Missy Simms about this when I went forward to join
the choir. Then, when we went on the platform, I told Bro. Taylor. His reaction
was that he felt I was supposed to be up there and was trying to determine what
needed to be said in order to get me up there! I was SO thankful to Jesus for
meeting this desire!...
The Old Man On the Corner
I mentioned in the last post that I believe one of the key
components of true revival has to be reconciliation and unity in the body. We saw this on display in many ways at the weekend
assembly, but none more so than in the coming together of generations. There truly is no “generation gap” in the
Kingdom of God. Time and again, we saw a
recurring theme of “honoring the old” and “blessing the young”. One of the young people who was blessed to
overflowing and was willing to share her overflow with us was Madeline
Douglas. Madeline is Pastor Mike and
Kathy Douglas’ granddaughter, and Pastor Aaron and Missy Simms’ niece. (She is also very special to us, as we were
her babysitters for the first two years of her life. She slept in a crib near our bed many nights
while her mother, a night nurse at the time, worked her shift.) Trying to sum up Madeline’s anointed
testimony Sunday morning is somewhat like trying to catch a sunbeam. Yet what this young teen said was full of
anointing. “My mind is blown! The air of God is everywhere, coursing from
person to person to person. Oh, my God! You are so amazing! It’s the most wonderful feeling that we can
be new! We can feel like we are part of
Him….I was new yesterday, new today, and I’ll be new the rest of my life!”…”There
is such a comfortable atmosphere here!
(I like that! wn)… Do not ever take it for granted!” I think she was
kind of blessed.
Her grandfather was then asked to share his signature song,
which God has led for at every Waiting Upon God since Pastor Mike was saved in
1983. I have heard Pastor Mike sing,
“New Lives for Old” countless times, but never under any more anointing than he
did last Sunday. If you’ve never heard
this song (which you can listen to below), it’s about “the old man on the
corner” who used to run a carnival but now “sells Jesus” as the “old man on the
corner”, preaching the gospel in the street and singing “New Lives for Old,
Warm hearts for cold. I’ve got a deal
for you today, but you’ve got to come though, and step in the way, to get your
new lives for old.” The man who used to
despise “the old man on the corner,” on hearing of his passing, now “takes up
where he left off” and “bellows” the same gospel message. Pastor Mike shared that he used to sing this
song while facing Rev. Helm. One time at a Waiting On God Meeting,
Rev. Helm whispered to him, “I’m the old man on the corner.” After Pastor Mike finished singing the song Sunday morning, Jodi Hollis from
Kokomo shared, as she rehearsed all that she has seen in Pastor Mike since
1983, that in her heart he is now “the
man on the corner.” Pastor
Aaron, who had just stepped up to Pastor Mike and whispered something to him, now shared what he had just spoken to Pastor Mike…”You know, you’re the old man on
the corner, too…but you’re still bellowing!”
Later, Pastor Aaron would say to Pastor Mike publicly, “I think the
Lord’s proud of you.” At this, we have a Holy Ghost round of applause
appreciating and honoring Pastor Mike and Kathy Douglas.
Communion With A Holocaust Survivor
We next were privileged to take Holy Communion from a true
saint of God. Rev. Reimar Schultze was asked
to officiate in this sacred service. The
words he shared before and after were truly of God. Just a bit of what he shared:
“What we need to be troubled about is
what Jesus was troubled about… What troubled Jesus the most was having sin come
into His body (on the cross)… sin must trouble us about all things!”
Whatever sin you have committed,… the
sacrifice has been given (through Christ’s death on the cross). You can confess it, repent of it, and when
Jesus say’s you’re forgiven, IT’S OVER!
I MEAN IT’S OVER!” Don’t hang
your head down anymore, but hold your head up high…and get busy for God!
(Speaking of Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom heaven.”) “Never has so much been given for
so little!”
After the Lord’s Supper was partaken, Rev. Schultze shared
with us his thoughts about the meeting.
I’ll let Deborah Beck share about this part of the service:
“…the teaching on communion from
Bro. Reimar Schultze on Sunday morning was wonderful! I love how he went back
to Adam and Eve. It was wonderful because he used language that I use when
speaking to the boys and I felt that it was important form my four-year-old to
hear him. Also, later in the service when Bro. Schultze addressed Bro. Aaron
Simms there was such love and beauty in the moment. It was important for Bro.
and Sis. Schultze to be at the Waiting to show support. It was needed teaching
to hear Bro. Schultze discuss how he at first was concerned when he heard of
the waiting, but then he realized that Bro. Helm did not have “a corner” on
waiting on God. He waits on God and we are taught we are all to wait on God
daily. These thoughts resulted in Bro. Schultze calling Bro. Aaron stating that
he “was in” (that is, he would attend and support the meetings. wn) Bro.
Schultze continued, discussing how there must not be division between the older
and younger generations. There must not be division over the music style in the
church... He noted that the older generation and younger generation need each
other (AMEN!). He joked that the younger generation has the jobs and the money
and the older generation has the experience…He further discussed how Bro. Aaron
was courageous to call a Waiting and how he, Bro. Schultze, felt that the Lord
was working and moving and yes, young people stumble, but the Lord is not
concerned with the stumbling…”
Keynote Address
Pastor Mike Douglas preached the “Keynote Address” of the
weekend. (It never was characterized in
such a way during the meeting, but I believe that God saw this sacred as “the
keynote” .) As I listened to him preach
with such anointing and power, conviction and purpose, I felt a certain “holy
pride” (if there is such a thing) in the role that the Lord was giving my
pastor of (almost) twenty years. Folks,
Pastor Mike is the real deal. What he
says you can trust. I can say that after
watching him and walking along side of him for over two decades. When he talks about being “all in”, I can
tell you, he is a man who is all in for Jesus!
I started to try to summarize his message, but I don’t
believe the Holy Spirit wants me to “Cliff Note” this. This is something you need to watch. If you only watch one video from this
weekend, I ask you to watch this one (It is the last video below). It will change your life. As Kim Gilbert says, “If you don’t like
sermons, you haven’t heard Michael Douglas!”
If you were there, I would encourage you to watch it again. You will get more out of it the second
time.
My wife, Kathy Nall, had this to share about this special
message:
The
message from Pastor Mike Douglas touched my heart and convicted me. Yes, he's my pastor. Yes, I am privileged to hear him speak
regularly. And yes, he preached the same
message he's been preaching at Fair Haven.
But, it touched me in a new way.
Pastor Mike has said that a person has to hear something seven times for
it to be fully remembered. Maybe this
was the seventh time! He said that there
is no list of rules to follow. It's
simply "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and
strength." If I'm loving Him that
way, I don't need a list to follow. I
don't need to "do this" and "don't do this." It's so simple!!!! Pastor Aaron said that we need to be changed
by the meetings, and I feel that I have been changed. I am trying to just rest in Jesus, tell Him I
love Him, and wait on Him. This peace
I'm finding is incredible. Thank you
Jesus! I love you Jesus, and I want to
love YOU more!
We were at this meeting for hours, yet it seemed so
short. Pastor Aaron asked us to convene
that morning at 8:30 and we were not done until almost 1:00, yet, the presence
of God was so evident that I didn’t want it to be over…and I think most shared
my sentiments.
But it wasn’t over.
God shared with us through Pastor Aaron during the AM meeting that there
would be a PM meeting. Praise God!
No comments:
Post a Comment