THE GATHERING

Tomorrow, early morning, Jackie and I leave for Orlando.

Seven hours later we will arrive and check in.

Thousands of others will join us from all over the world.

We call it The General Council - ie the big one, the biennial gathering for renewed focus, strategic business and celebration of progress.

I know already that there will be much to celebrate from around the world....with some countries on the brink of becoming know as "Assemblies of God nations." The missions arm and energy of our fellowship may well be among the finest there has ever been. This is a strategic hour for the planet...who knows how close we really are to His coming? One thing is certain, there are less and less who have not yet heard.

On the home front, the story is a bit different...with growth slowed and the decay of our culture proceeding at a very disconserting pace. Our District (Colorado and Utah) has registered growth at the last report and I can only guess we will be among the leaders - because of that - even though the figures are very slight. (I will leave it for others to disclose any specifics.)

And so I ask that as we go this week you will pray as often for all of us as it comes to mind, and perhaps even set aside times when you will huddle as a family or with friends and implore the Lord to be gracious and merciful to us...in these ways. (This is a body of believers that has an increasingly strategic role to play in America. But we will do it well, only as God is constantly our source and our trust...)

Prayer Requests:

1. Repentance
That God would send upon us a great wave of deep repentance and contrition...one that will ferret out the intrigues of stubborn hearts and dryed up tears, and one that will bring us to a renewed sense of deep fear of the Lord. Yes, I do mean fear, real fear, Jonathan Edwards kind of fear, Book of Acts type of fear. Trembling kind of fear. Hell kind of fear. Life-change kind of fear.

2. The chief...and our leaders.
That God would grant our Superintendant, George Wood, a most strategic sense of His presence and wisdom as he leads this gathering in so many ways. Pray for his energy, his protection from enemy attacks and his ever-increasing level of faith.

3. Can do...the faith that would seize our hearts.
Pray that there will be a sweeping sense of "can-do" among all of us. You know, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The early church was marked by great boldness over and over....pray that great boldness will seize us as a people....and that great exploits will be accomplished in His name because of that.

4. Connections:
Pray that people will connect meaningfully with one another and with The Spirit - and hear the Lord in the hallways, in conversations, in words overheard....that the place will be alive with the Presence of God. Some will come looking for direction. Some will come thinking they need nothing. But all of us need greater clarity. All of us are guilty of doing things off target (see prior blog). So we need a prophetic unction upon us to speak and to hear when we are spoken to.

With you in prayer....where there is no distance apart.

David