Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Another Powerful Move of God!

There are few times in my Christian life that I have experienced a move of God in ministry that changed me at my core as a man of God. I liken what I’m about to describe to the birth of a child or marriage or being surprised as my all of my senses are brought to a point of pure delight as I stand outside on the perfect autumn day. In a spiritual sense, I have only experienced this kind of overt move of God in ministry on a few special occasions. My first experience in ministry was standing before a crowd of fifty three young people when I began an evangelistic outreach in Austin, Texas called Austin Metro. The sense of God’s presence that evening was palpable, inescapable. This experienced was however eclipsed four years later when I and a team of twelve young adults completed an eight month prayer vigil. Our vigil ended by opening the first evangelistic event in San Antonio, Texas called San Antonio Metro. Nearly three hundred people crowded into a chapel with no more than two hundred seats. People stood twelve deep at the doors and dozens sat on the stage itself as I taught. God moved in that ministry purely as a result of the prayer of twelve faithful Christ followers. Both ministries grew to a weekly attendance of over a thousand and when all was said and done God used these ministries to share the Gospel to over ten thousand young adults. But, it was the sense of God’s presence on that first day that can never be duplicated. It was as though God was blessing each believer in the room with an extra measure of joy for trusting Him enough to leap into the unknown, to take risks for God.

This same kind of God-given experience of all-encompassing joy manifested itself for a third time in my own life just two days ago on Monday Night, September 18th, 2006. The entire staff of Frontline and over sixty volunteers took a monumental leap of faith to start a new Frontline campus new campus right in the middle of Arlington. We rented out the Rosslyn Spectrum, a theater owned by the county just two blocks from the busiest Metro station in D.C., the Rosslyn Station. I knew from experience that these first events are special beyond description and that God also tends to make Himself manifest in these places of faithful action – he did not disappoint us. The feeling of God’s presence was thick in the air. There was a sense of expectation in each of the more than four hundred who attended the worship event. The four hundred seats were filled and many were in overflow. Cries of “Amen” rose from the crowd during the time of worship. Every voice sang with boldness and unity to God. The fellowship that I experienced could only be attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. Everyone there experienced the birth of a new work of God and I believe each will remember being a witness to that special move of God for years to come.

So, what’s next for Frontline Arlington? This recent event was the first of three monthly events that we will host before the official kickoff of the campus on Monday, January 22nd, 2007. The next event is October 16th at 7:30, again at the Rosslyn Spectrum. Answers to any questions you may have are available at www.frontlinearlington.com. If you were unable to make the first event and you live in the Arlington area or close to a Metro station, consider joining us for the October 16th event. Above all, pray. Pray for God to continue to use us to impact our generation in secular Washington with the Gospel of Jesus Christ; that everyone in the Arlington area would come into a saving relationship with Jesus. Remember, we the church have been called by God Himself to be the agents of change for the world. May we rise to the occasion.

Question for the day - What kind of experiences have you had in ministry where God made Himself known at an unprecidented level in your life?


Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net

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