Renewal Week at CLG

Every October, Church of the Living God invites Dr. Leon Van Rooyen to minister for the week...well, really Sunday-Wednesday. I look forward to his visits SO much! Dr Leon is such a wonderful, anointed preacher and evangelist. He's also quite funny! He's a huge Starbucks fan...but he joked not to worry, they've redeemed it...it's St. Arbucks now ;) The kids really enjoy his accent as well...he's from South Africa originally. We try to go to as many sessions as we can each year...there are morning and evening sessions each day. This year I actually made it to all of them! Woohoo! ;) Dad and Rachel went to most of them too.

This year's theme was Restoring Passion. In previous years, the morning sessions would have a different theme than the evenings. This year they all related. Sunday morning during the service was Restoration of Spiritual Passion...basically an overview of the week and touching on stirring up passion within, especially through the Word of God and prayer.

Sunday night was passion for the Word of God. That one was particularly convicting for me. The past couple of years I had been doing really well with keeping up with my daily reading of the Bible. I've been using the One Year Bibles. BTW, I love those! There are different translations...the general setup is each day you have Old Testament reading, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. The really cool thing is that they do all the thinking for you. You just turn to the date, and the reading are there set up for you already. Last year I read the Chronological One Year Bible. That was SO interesting. All the books/events are put in chronological order...e.g. when reading about David, you not only read the historical events, but also the psalm that he wrote at the time, etc. Or in the stories of the kings, it will also have the prophets of that time. The only downside is that you don't get NT every day. It was so enlightening to read it in the order that the scholars feel is the most accurate timeline.

Anyways, this year...not so much! Here I was making fun of David for being behind in his reading last year...and this year it's October and I'm still in March! so yeah...not so great. Anyways, his preaching lit a fire under my butt...I've been catching up daily. Think I'm in May now...lol...I'll get there. But really, submersing oneself in the Word is essential for daily living. I feel so much better now that I'm back in the habit! One of the ways I've been motivating myself is not letting myself get on the computer if I haven't read my Bible.

The morning sessions focused on the book of Nehemiah as an example of passionate living for God's will...also a good example of godly leadership. The morning sessions were more teaching style...while the evenings were more worship/preaching/prayer. Oh and the worship! I do love it so! 

Monday night (after the Doctor Who Renaissance Faire! :P) was all about passion for the church, the house of God. Not the physical building, but the body of Christ. Although, it's very important to be involved in a local church...loyalty was a big point. One of the things Dr. Leon said stood out..."We don't have the right to amputate ourselves from the body." While we are called to a personal relationship with Jesus...there is also the corporate experience that is very biblical.

Tuesday night was all about the passionate pursuit for the will of God in our lives. He talked about how there is no standing still in the kingdom. We are either going forward, growing, or going back, stagnant. It was a very powerful night of prayer and worship! I went up for prayer...so good!

So glad I was able to get a pic with Dr. Leon the last night!

The final night was on passion for the harvest. I was glad the kids came that night. Red One can't wait to go on missions...I think she has a heart for it. Some points from the message: the empowerment of our lives (Holy Spirit) is for the harvest...the Holy Spirit is a soul winning spirit. Also need to be aware of the price to pay...it will cost us to win the lost. We should be bold, not ashamed...not lukewarm...but bold is not the same as aggressive. We should be sensitive in our approach, but never ashamed. God entrusts the message of the gospel to man...we are called to spread the message of reconciliation. "When you go to heaven, you should bring someone with you!" The altar call that night was for those who felt a call to international missions...Red One went up and Dr Leon prayed for her. She was somewhat awed later...she said to me "Mommy, he knew exactly what to say. His prayers for the people next to me were all different and he said the exact right thing for me!" I was so thrilled that she went up...that takes a lot of courage. 

We all enjoyed Dr. Leon's visit immensely and were much encouraged! Looking forward to next year! :)

Speaking of church, my other church (remember, I'm bi-church ;) got new doors...it looks so nice!

It kinda looks like the steeple was repainted or something, but not sure. Love the doors though!