Hey!
Some of our church youth group visited Whitehorse Christian Center in West Lafayette Indiana for their annual youth conference. It was absolutely wonderful. We all received so much from it; God moved us, He touched us and gave us seriously important messages. I deeply desire to share some of what I remember and wrote down; every bit is worth so much. If you'd like to hear of some of God's words and work in peoples lives, here's a bit.....
The first night we were there, they had many of the youth in the church give testimonies. Maybe they would have them on Whitehorse's site? Here's one of them...
A young girl, around ten or so, spoke of how during a service she wanted to go to the basketball court to receive healing with her friends buy they were all afraid to go by themselves. One friend bailed, and the other friend came. The girl who came was touched by the Holy Spirit. The young woman testifying said she felt God saying to her that her friend was clean, pure and that her sin was gone from her, that He had saved her. She was overwhelmed, she went running to tell the friend who bailed....
Every testimony has great value; our testimonies are filled with God 's power. When we speak out what God has done in our lives it releases the Holy Spirit to do more. We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimonies, and not caring whether we live or die. (I heard that in church and I think it's in Revelation)
Sometimes we need to allow God to mess us up ( in a good way). A lot of the time we need God to mess us up!
Refreshment....God wants to refresh and renew us. To receive that renewal, that fresh strength we must seek it's source-Jesus-with what we've got. God really does things in our lives. It is such a powerful, strengthening action to share it with the Church.
We sang this song called Shout Now!
Don't wait till the battle is over
Don't wait till the victory is won
Just remember whatever God promised
It's yours and it's already done
Don't wait! Don't you wait!
Shout now!
Don't worry bout what's in the future
Don't worry bout what lies ahead
I've never seen the righteous forsaken
Nor his seed abegging for bread
Don't wait, Don't you wait!
Shout now!
That's some of the lyrics....
We started this long line and went walking, clapping, running, shouting, singing and dancing through the sanctuary and the hallway.... going and going for quite a while. Pastor Jeff Johns ( the head pastor) called some people up to lead worship on the stage. I remember a boy named Christian who stood in the middle, this adorable little lady dancing and marching. Then a tall woman who was just jumping joyfully about....the expressions on their faces were beautiful...full of joy, carefreeness, and love for the Lord. It was a wonderful time...I think we're going to have long joyful dances like that in heaven...only they'll last longer!
All the glory belongs to God! Hallelujah!
He's the One who started it and He's the One who keeps it going. The Lord is right here; as we are dancing for Him, He is dancing with us. The King of all Kings is dancing with me and with you. What an unspeakable wonder. What an undeserved privledge.
" For from You are all things and to You are all things. You deserve the glory."
Revival. More than anything that's what I received from Him there. I had been receiving it before and He keeps on giving it...returning to Him; His Word, His commandments, His truth, His mercy, His grace, His promises, His power, His miracles, His blood, His cross...turning back again with renewed and recharged passion. With fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. With new songs and new understanding. I don't want to lose any of that; I don't want to let go of it or let it fade. It wasn't the place or the experience...it was Jesus and He is here. Jesus is the heart of revival and He is here. Pastor Jeff said that revival is the inheritance of the church. He said that we have to claim our inheritance. I want to claim it! I know lots of other people do too and are doing it everyday. I pray we would never be afraid to claim what God wants to give us...more of Him. I pray we would never hesitate to seek the fullness of His presence. What blows me away is that He gives it even when we mess up in our daily lives so much. His forgiveness is great.
Oh man, these " notes" just keep coming. Pastor Jeff also said he heard God tell him that the church has grown accustomed to chains ( or something like that). That we have grown used to living with bondages. But whom the Son sets free, is free indeed. We are free indeed.
Revival is here right now and it just keeps moving forward and further. The Lord keeps moving us on into deeper waters.
" We're stirring up deep, deep wells. We're stirring up deep, deep waters. We're gonna dance in the river! Dance in the river!" It's an ongoing journey and it's contagious!
Another young leader in the church, Pastor Eric, gave a wonderful testimony...it might possibly be on video on Whitehorse's site as well. I wouldn't be able to do it justice writing it here.
There was an anointing for unity. It was wonderful to be with so many believers and to worship with one accord. It was great to see young people praying for each other and not being afraid to worship God. To be with the young and the old, and all sorts of different people. Yet to all be part of one body. There is unity in diversity. ( Another message talked about in church)
There is something truly wonderful and amazing in all different nations, tribes, tongues, races, ages, and personalities gathering together and giving praise to God in one Spirit with that one purpose. Because that's how God made it to be. To worship Him in Spirit and in Truth together. We are not 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 bodies. No, we are one body. The Body of Christ.
" For God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him." Through God all things, all things are possible.
I don't quite remember his name, but a certain Latino Pastor spoke of the sanctuary he had with God. You don't have to be in a group to be in the presence of the Lord. We need that personal sanctuary where we worship Him, just God and you. He also gave testimony to God's work in his life. We shouldn't just believe that God worked in the past and that He will work in the future. God works in the present as well!
He spoke about the special place children have in revival. It is often easier for them to draw near to God's presence because they have that purity that is found in being genuine and full of trust. Adults have lots of ideas in their heads that can get in the way of just listening to and being with God. In Mathew it is written of how the children were crying out in the temple, " Hosanna to the Son of David!" and the priests and scribes ( the wise adults) didn't like it. Jesus said to them ( Mathew 21:16) " Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" In the New King James version that scripture from Psalm 8:2 reads, " Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger."
God has ordained strength to come out of the mouths of children! When a child lifts up God in worship, the enemy is silenced. There is nothing he can say to combat perfected praise. He said we need to come back to the songs we sang in childhood. I think he was saying that we need to come back to the pure joy, the pure trust, and the pure contentment of worshipping God. We must not neglect our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Our battery is the Word of God, the Bible. Read it. It will never be exhausted. It's not like the wind up of the world where you turn it a couple times to get yourself going and then eventually fade out and have to wind up, wind up again. His word is an unlimited battery. When we come to Him we are charged with renewed energy. We have to want to be recharged to run. That was the name of the conference by the way; Recharge 2 Run.
Give unto the Lord! When we sow into His Kingdom, we reap much more than we could imagine. Then we are able to sow more!
God does supernatural miracles. Miracles follow believers because we serve a miraculous Lord. Faith and miracles are an inseparable pairing.
Prayer always involves reverence.
The habitation of the Holy Spirit so there may be impartation.
Pastor Jeff's wife Jane received a prophetic word. I don't remember it word for word but I will write the main message He gave. It is this......
God deeply desires to be pursued. He pursues us first. The Lord wants us to seek Him...so deeply. He is calling us to rise up and not hide in a corner, or in the shadows. " There's an army rising up to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. There is power in the Name of Jesus to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain!"
God has full authority and He has given His children authority to speak the truth and proclaim His Name. He has given us each unique weapons and it is time to discover them, take them up, and use them in battle. God is with us....Immanuel.
We are revival carriers. She was reminded of the scripture about Zacchaeus in Luke. How he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus and Jesus could see him. The word was that we should be like that man and reach for the Lord and strive after Him. To say, " Here I am Jesus and I want you!" God wants us to seek Him with all our hearts. He is not ashamed of fervent, earnest worship and going after Him.
" No one when he has lit a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts in under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be made known and come to light."- Luke 8:16-17 ( NKJV)
Repentance and revival are bound inseparably together. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. True repentance opens the door to true revival. Confession and asking forgiveness from the Lord...opens the doors to being renewed in our passion and love for Him.
Honor. Pastor Jeff, the last day we were there, taught about the importance of honoring others and service. We are called to be a blessing to the authority in our lives. Parents, Grandparents, Guardians, Pastors, Youth Pastors, Elders, Coaches, Teachers, Bosses, etc. Honor first with the heart, then with the lips. Let the honor we give with our lips be from our hearts. We have to be careful what doors we open. Our actions can open doors of blessing or cursing. He who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, is the servant of all. We desperately need to replace pride with humility. In reality, we don't heal anyone. In reality, we don't deliver anyone. God does. Remember the disciples of Jesus asking, " Who is the greatest?" That is the wrong focus. God is the greatest and He can do all things. Jesus relied upon the Holy Spirit. He was not independent , but was bound to do the will of His Father.
It always does us good to do right. It never does us or anyone good to do wrong. When you have a servants hearts, you will see things that need to be done and do them without being asked. We must not be prideful, arrogant, devisive, or critical. These are the attitudes that divide the Church. God calls us to walk in love with a heart of service.
That is some of what we learned and experienced there. It was a truly amazing blessing. I hope something in all this helped and blessed you. May the God of all peace be with you and may you abound in every good work. Hallelujah. Amen
Some of our church youth group visited Whitehorse Christian Center in West Lafayette Indiana for their annual youth conference. It was absolutely wonderful. We all received so much from it; God moved us, He touched us and gave us seriously important messages. I deeply desire to share some of what I remember and wrote down; every bit is worth so much. If you'd like to hear of some of God's words and work in peoples lives, here's a bit.....
The first night we were there, they had many of the youth in the church give testimonies. Maybe they would have them on Whitehorse's site? Here's one of them...
A young girl, around ten or so, spoke of how during a service she wanted to go to the basketball court to receive healing with her friends buy they were all afraid to go by themselves. One friend bailed, and the other friend came. The girl who came was touched by the Holy Spirit. The young woman testifying said she felt God saying to her that her friend was clean, pure and that her sin was gone from her, that He had saved her. She was overwhelmed, she went running to tell the friend who bailed....
Every testimony has great value; our testimonies are filled with God 's power. When we speak out what God has done in our lives it releases the Holy Spirit to do more. We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimonies, and not caring whether we live or die. (I heard that in church and I think it's in Revelation)
Sometimes we need to allow God to mess us up ( in a good way). A lot of the time we need God to mess us up!
Refreshment....God wants to refresh and renew us. To receive that renewal, that fresh strength we must seek it's source-Jesus-with what we've got. God really does things in our lives. It is such a powerful, strengthening action to share it with the Church.
We sang this song called Shout Now!
Don't wait till the battle is over
Don't wait till the victory is won
Just remember whatever God promised
It's yours and it's already done
Don't wait! Don't you wait!
Shout now!
Don't worry bout what's in the future
Don't worry bout what lies ahead
I've never seen the righteous forsaken
Nor his seed abegging for bread
Don't wait, Don't you wait!
Shout now!
That's some of the lyrics....
We started this long line and went walking, clapping, running, shouting, singing and dancing through the sanctuary and the hallway.... going and going for quite a while. Pastor Jeff Johns ( the head pastor) called some people up to lead worship on the stage. I remember a boy named Christian who stood in the middle, this adorable little lady dancing and marching. Then a tall woman who was just jumping joyfully about....the expressions on their faces were beautiful...full of joy, carefreeness, and love for the Lord. It was a wonderful time...I think we're going to have long joyful dances like that in heaven...only they'll last longer!
All the glory belongs to God! Hallelujah!
He's the One who started it and He's the One who keeps it going. The Lord is right here; as we are dancing for Him, He is dancing with us. The King of all Kings is dancing with me and with you. What an unspeakable wonder. What an undeserved privledge.
" For from You are all things and to You are all things. You deserve the glory."
Revival. More than anything that's what I received from Him there. I had been receiving it before and He keeps on giving it...returning to Him; His Word, His commandments, His truth, His mercy, His grace, His promises, His power, His miracles, His blood, His cross...turning back again with renewed and recharged passion. With fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. With new songs and new understanding. I don't want to lose any of that; I don't want to let go of it or let it fade. It wasn't the place or the experience...it was Jesus and He is here. Jesus is the heart of revival and He is here. Pastor Jeff said that revival is the inheritance of the church. He said that we have to claim our inheritance. I want to claim it! I know lots of other people do too and are doing it everyday. I pray we would never be afraid to claim what God wants to give us...more of Him. I pray we would never hesitate to seek the fullness of His presence. What blows me away is that He gives it even when we mess up in our daily lives so much. His forgiveness is great.
Oh man, these " notes" just keep coming. Pastor Jeff also said he heard God tell him that the church has grown accustomed to chains ( or something like that). That we have grown used to living with bondages. But whom the Son sets free, is free indeed. We are free indeed.
Revival is here right now and it just keeps moving forward and further. The Lord keeps moving us on into deeper waters.
" We're stirring up deep, deep wells. We're stirring up deep, deep waters. We're gonna dance in the river! Dance in the river!" It's an ongoing journey and it's contagious!
Another young leader in the church, Pastor Eric, gave a wonderful testimony...it might possibly be on video on Whitehorse's site as well. I wouldn't be able to do it justice writing it here.
There was an anointing for unity. It was wonderful to be with so many believers and to worship with one accord. It was great to see young people praying for each other and not being afraid to worship God. To be with the young and the old, and all sorts of different people. Yet to all be part of one body. There is unity in diversity. ( Another message talked about in church)
There is something truly wonderful and amazing in all different nations, tribes, tongues, races, ages, and personalities gathering together and giving praise to God in one Spirit with that one purpose. Because that's how God made it to be. To worship Him in Spirit and in Truth together. We are not 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 bodies. No, we are one body. The Body of Christ.
" For God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him." Through God all things, all things are possible.
I don't quite remember his name, but a certain Latino Pastor spoke of the sanctuary he had with God. You don't have to be in a group to be in the presence of the Lord. We need that personal sanctuary where we worship Him, just God and you. He also gave testimony to God's work in his life. We shouldn't just believe that God worked in the past and that He will work in the future. God works in the present as well!
He spoke about the special place children have in revival. It is often easier for them to draw near to God's presence because they have that purity that is found in being genuine and full of trust. Adults have lots of ideas in their heads that can get in the way of just listening to and being with God. In Mathew it is written of how the children were crying out in the temple, " Hosanna to the Son of David!" and the priests and scribes ( the wise adults) didn't like it. Jesus said to them ( Mathew 21:16) " Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" In the New King James version that scripture from Psalm 8:2 reads, " Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger."
God has ordained strength to come out of the mouths of children! When a child lifts up God in worship, the enemy is silenced. There is nothing he can say to combat perfected praise. He said we need to come back to the songs we sang in childhood. I think he was saying that we need to come back to the pure joy, the pure trust, and the pure contentment of worshipping God. We must not neglect our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Our battery is the Word of God, the Bible. Read it. It will never be exhausted. It's not like the wind up of the world where you turn it a couple times to get yourself going and then eventually fade out and have to wind up, wind up again. His word is an unlimited battery. When we come to Him we are charged with renewed energy. We have to want to be recharged to run. That was the name of the conference by the way; Recharge 2 Run.
Give unto the Lord! When we sow into His Kingdom, we reap much more than we could imagine. Then we are able to sow more!
God does supernatural miracles. Miracles follow believers because we serve a miraculous Lord. Faith and miracles are an inseparable pairing.
Prayer always involves reverence.
The habitation of the Holy Spirit so there may be impartation.
Pastor Jeff's wife Jane received a prophetic word. I don't remember it word for word but I will write the main message He gave. It is this......
God deeply desires to be pursued. He pursues us first. The Lord wants us to seek Him...so deeply. He is calling us to rise up and not hide in a corner, or in the shadows. " There's an army rising up to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. There is power in the Name of Jesus to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain!"
God has full authority and He has given His children authority to speak the truth and proclaim His Name. He has given us each unique weapons and it is time to discover them, take them up, and use them in battle. God is with us....Immanuel.
We are revival carriers. She was reminded of the scripture about Zacchaeus in Luke. How he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus and Jesus could see him. The word was that we should be like that man and reach for the Lord and strive after Him. To say, " Here I am Jesus and I want you!" God wants us to seek Him with all our hearts. He is not ashamed of fervent, earnest worship and going after Him.
" No one when he has lit a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts in under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be made known and come to light."- Luke 8:16-17 ( NKJV)
Repentance and revival are bound inseparably together. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. True repentance opens the door to true revival. Confession and asking forgiveness from the Lord...opens the doors to being renewed in our passion and love for Him.
Honor. Pastor Jeff, the last day we were there, taught about the importance of honoring others and service. We are called to be a blessing to the authority in our lives. Parents, Grandparents, Guardians, Pastors, Youth Pastors, Elders, Coaches, Teachers, Bosses, etc. Honor first with the heart, then with the lips. Let the honor we give with our lips be from our hearts. We have to be careful what doors we open. Our actions can open doors of blessing or cursing. He who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, is the servant of all. We desperately need to replace pride with humility. In reality, we don't heal anyone. In reality, we don't deliver anyone. God does. Remember the disciples of Jesus asking, " Who is the greatest?" That is the wrong focus. God is the greatest and He can do all things. Jesus relied upon the Holy Spirit. He was not independent , but was bound to do the will of His Father.
It always does us good to do right. It never does us or anyone good to do wrong. When you have a servants hearts, you will see things that need to be done and do them without being asked. We must not be prideful, arrogant, devisive, or critical. These are the attitudes that divide the Church. God calls us to walk in love with a heart of service.
That is some of what we learned and experienced there. It was a truly amazing blessing. I hope something in all this helped and blessed you. May the God of all peace be with you and may you abound in every good work. Hallelujah. Amen