OF LAMBS, LIFE and LESSONS

    On a beautiful Sunday evening in May, we arrived in Bealeton, weary from an 11-hour drive from Alabama.  We were greeted by a group of people who would become our close friends over the next few days-Herry and Dolly, Lolli, Lois, Dave and Helen, Elizabeth, Pat and Sharon and Nazar.  We had been absolutely sure that the Lord had led us to come to the Holy Way Center in Virginia for the Discipleship Training program, but we really didn’t know what to expect.  Our whole family had studied the book “According To The Pattern” over the previous few months, so we were familiar with some of the roots of The Holy Way, and we were in agreement with the principles in the book.  What we didn’t know was how that was lived out in the very different cultural situation of the U. S. today.

    What we found proved to be an enormous blessing and convinced us that the Holy Spirit is at work in remarkable ways.  We found that the agenda for all of the sessions was allowed to be set by the Holy Spirit rather than Herry, and our prime focus was on worshiping the Lord.  We had always been sure that was very important, of course, but we saw that worship was the Holy Spirit’s way of focusing us on our relationship with Him, which then leads naturally on to ministry.

    We have experienced many seminars and programs which men and women have designed to make Christians more effective in sharing their faith, reading the Bible, praying and a hundred other things.  This experience was totally different because it was not driven by someone’s plan.  That bothered me initially because I worried about the structure of the gatherings, but I decided to wait and see what would happen.

     I suppose that what happened is not too surprising, for God is perfectly capable of directing things through His Holy Spirit.  Much of the current church leadership has decided that He can’t get along without their help.  I have to report that these leaders can stop worrying about God.  He did just fine.  As we worshiped in the Spirit with spiritual songs and words from the Lord given in various ways, we found that the Holy Spirit was saying things which challenged us to change and called us to go forth in obedience to His call.  He reassured us that He has a good plan, and He would empower our work.

    Many people had visions which seemed to flow together to draw us into new ways of seeing certain things, though we were always drawn back to the Cross and its power for bringing healing and restoration.  We were told to put aside those things which were binding us, but we were also told that we could not do that in our own power.  That laying aside needed to be submitted to the Lord, and He would work His way.  We were called to a deeper commitment to purity and holiness to receive the power for ministry which will be urgently necessary in the days to come-though it is surely also important now.  We became convinced that our worship of the Lord in this set-apart place was to lead us out into the world which is in such desperate need.  Our worship was to build our closeness with the Lord so that His voice will be ever present, and so that we can respond constantly with obedience.  We can then see the Holy Spirit at word through us, and we can testify to that work to encourage each other.

    During the sessions and in many other conversations, we heard testimony of the Holy Spirit at work in many lives, and we shared how He was working in our lives.  Through all of this, we found ourselves feeling that these folks, who had been strangers just a few short days before, were now dear friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord.  We all had some wonderful connections, including our kids.  They had a great time, as they constantly told us, and they made many friendships with people of widely varied ages.

    We had expected to come to The Holy Way and be blessed, but the Lord’s blessing was more powerful than we expected.  We are, indeed, sad to go, but we have confidence that the Lord has good plans and a mission and purpose for each of us who were here.  We are filled with joy, as we consider what He has done, and we are expecting that the Holy Spirit will lead to incredible things over the next few months.

    I would be lax if I didn’t mention some of the other folks who were so important this week: Helen, Ellen, Iris, Bob and Joan, Pat and Peggy,  Helen and Peggy’s mom and dad,  Patrick, Rachel, Christian, Matt, Cindy, Julian and any one that I have forgotten to mention.  Thank you so much for your blessings.