Aflame

There was so much bloggable stuff that happened over our recent Northern New England Aflame weekend (at Camp Sebago), I find myself strangely at a loss for words (I know, I know- keep your snide comments to yourself about that one)! What can I possibly say to recap such a powerful event? And Deb & I missed Sunday AM, because we headed back to cover Bangor's meetings. I assume you'll see tons of writting from our students (hint, hint, guys), so I'll just throw out a brief recap of the last few days.

It all started early Friday AM when we drove to Boston to pick up Jenn, who's home for a couple of weeks before heading out to Company 150 for the summer (Link to the left). Her flight was on time and all went well on her last trip from Vancouver, BC. We are so glad to have her home again!

Since it's just too far to travel back to Bangor, then to Camp Sebago again, we just meandered back toward camp, making a few stops along the way- TSA Thrift Store on Rt 1, the Maine Mall in Portland and a few bathroom stops along the way! Then out to Sebago to see who's around that early, get settled into our rooms and go to town for dinner. Again, it's so good to have Jenn with us!

Then the weekend officially started! Danielle Strickland led Worship and it was powerful (all weekend). We had a pick-up group, but Holy Spirit was the glue that held it all together. Danielle and Steve Court tag-teamed the evening preach and we learned the burning bush was not about the bush, but about the fire (among other things)! It's always about the Spirit, not who he's chosen to move in/on/through.

Saturday, Holy Spirit was in charge of the schedule and he revamped it all on the fly! I love it when he does that (actually, I love it when we let him do that)! AM: I was moved into community by the stations around the room where we experienced different aspects of God's work in our lives. PM: I was smitten with new vision for Bangor! I now see some meat on the bones of our current vision and how to get there. Deb & I spoke with Steve afterwards (we talked right through dinner!) about how we can connect with their ministry through some form of MMCCXX in Bangor (see ArmyBarmy.com for details as they are forming). Actually, God showed me a much bigger vision of that spreading all around Northern Maine starting in Bangor! Watch this space for more info- this is going to be awesome!

God showed up again (manifest) in our Bangor AM meeting (5 weeks in a row). Even though a lot were away (at camp and family events, etc), we still had a good crowd. Many were new people who have never been to our meetings before! During Worship, I was about to stop our leader and go on about the song we just sang- but she beat me to it! So I picked up from there and when I finished, Debbie took over! It was powerful and we were all tuned in! Seven people became Christians or re-commited to Jesus after the message! God is so working in Bangor these says!

Now, it's back down the mountain into the daily routine. But nothing's going to be routine anymore- God has changed us. God has changed everything! Hallelujah!