5 New Soldiers!

Tomorrow we swear-in 5 new Senior Soldiers! Their ages range from 15 to 20 and after working through the soldiership materials with them, I am convinced they are all going to make powerful, faithful soldiers. Of course, that's the only kind of soldier I will make. I require a solid testimony and active involvement in the corps.

You see, I used to be a Water Safety Instructor. I taught and certified lifeguards. I was told that I should only certify someone if I was sure they could handle the job of a lifeguard. If I had any doubts, I shouldn't give them their certification, because if anything ever happened on their watch, I could be called upon to stand with them and my own skills could be called into question.

Since then, I have taken the same tack with making Army Soldiers. I need to be confident in their commitment.

I spent the better part of today working through the program, PowerPoint, sermon, ceremony, music, etc for this important event. I don't know when I've been more excited about making soldiers! You may think it's because my son is taking this big step in his life, but that's only a part of it. I'm really proud of each one of them and confident in their commitment to Jesus, The Army and the Bangor Corps. I've seen their commitment up close in the last few years and I am not only confident, I am sure God has great plans for them and they will step up to be valiant warriors!

Congratulations, Chris, Sean, Meghan, Brandi and Emily (Emily may not make it tomorrow, because of a previous commitment, but we'll get her soon after)! Stand like the brave with your face to the foe!

We're on the Move

The word's out; it's now official. Debbie & I are moving at the end of June to be the State Coordinators in Rhode Island. What do we think about it? Good question.

Don't get me wrong- we're definitely excited about the opportunity and the possibilities- we just don't have any frame of reference to relate it to. If we were moving to another corps appointment or a headquarters, we'd know what to expect. We've done that before. But we've never even been stationed in an area command let alone led one.

Are we worried? Not at all. Intrigued is a good word! Bottom line- we're confident God orchestrated this move and has a plan for our good; that we will be blessed and a blessing. Based on a couple of phone calls and emails I've had today, there will be plenty to do and lots of good people to minister with.

Oh another good thing- I know where Rhode Island is and I can spell it!

There are people in Bangor we will miss! I won't even begin to list them here because I'm sure I'd miss many. We've got the shortest time we've ever had to prepare for this move, so we've got some packing to do! And farewelling. And saying goodbye. And wrapping up details. And . . .

I'm sure there will be more info to follow, so keep posted by checking back. I'll sincerely try to get back to blogging more often.

NNE Youth Councils Report

Sorry for the delay in reporting about our Divisional Youth Councils. A lot has been going on, so when that happens, my blogging usually takes a hit. I know, I know! I must be very busy lately!

(in)Visible was the theme; We are visible; we are seen, known and loved by God. That theme was very appropriate and well orchestrated throughout the weekend.

Like last year, I was assigned to get a prayer team together for the weekend. Last year, God gave me that assignment. This year, our DYCS asked me as well! Based on who I knew was going to be there, I conscripted Joyce Hartshorn and Shaun Bellanger to round out the team. There are other powerful prayer warriors in our division, but since they weren't going to be present, I decided to go with power over numbers. As it was, Joyce had to leave before the SonDay AM service.

At 7:45 AM SonDay, I arrived at Sebago Hall to begin praying. I was by myself for a few minutes, so I began praying the Bible throughout the room. I started with scripture praising God and his power, then he led me to a passage about his love. I was soon overwhelmed with the desire of God to make his love known to the delegates that morning (I hadn't put 2+2 together yet, figuring out that was the theme for the morning service).

Before long Shaun arrived and his first question was: "What is God telling you?" I told him God wants to make his love known and he jumped right in. God soon gave Shaun Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

For Yahweh your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song.

WOW! Incredible! Now things were getting exciting! We quickly got that verse up on the video screens and it stayed there well into the service (still a couple of hours away). We began to pray for freedom of worship and against quenching the Spirit.

We kept praying and a few people joined us here and there until the room was filled with excited kids, ready to hear from God. The service started but there seemed to be something blocking us from getting through to God or from God getting through to us. The war was on. We kept praying.

Worship was a little stifled. That block needed to be broken. Warfare was just beginning. We kept praying.

We got a word from Michelle (one of our delegates from Bangor) that the Spirit was hovering over everyone, but was unable to fully settle down on everyone in the room. We kept praying.

I talked with Everett, our DYCS, about the fire extinguishers I saw hanging on walls throughout the room. We agreed he (as the authority present) would take them all off the walls and put them on the floor as a prophetic act to signify our desire to not quench the Spirit. Soon after that, one of our Cadets got up to give her testimony. She started by singing "Jesus loves me . . ." and I knew immediately in my Spirit that was what we needed to begin breaking through. God began to move. Before long, kids were moving freely up to the altar and kneeling all around the room, seeking God with tears and sincerity. Yet there was still something keeping the Spirit from completely falling on us. We needed to press through.

At one point Meghan, another of our Bangor delegates, stood up on her seat in the front row, raised her arms and began praising God. Now Holy Spirit fell big time! Michelle got the word that as long Meghan kept her hands raised, the Spirit would keep moving freely. So Michelle suggested we follow the example of Aaron and Hur- help Meghan keep her hands raised. So for the next hour(?) or so, people kept sharing the task of keeping Meghan's hands high in the air. It was an awesome sight! And the Spirit kept moving!

Eventually, Holy Spirit waned and we had to slip quietly back into the "real" world. But many lives were touched by God that morning. I believe deeply touched and changed. Our Bangor delegates particularly, received very special blessings from God, praying for each other and re-committing their lives to God's will for them. At least one got saved for the first time!

Now our challenge is to be faithful- to keep walking out God's will for us on a moment by moment basis. Our task is to be obedient to what God tells us daily- to make the right choices each time. To live holy as God expects.

We can do it. We will do it, by his grace within!

2 Reports in 1 Blog!

A few weeks ago, as I was struggling with my need for a prostate procedure, God spoke to me and suggested we schedule a Deeper Life Weekend at our corps on healing. It was one of those rhema moments and I immediately knew God had a good idea! I also knew immediately who I should contact to come- my brother and sister-in-law Howie and Pat.

I was not surprised when we were able to schedule a date quickly. After all, God knew it was going to happen before he suggested it to me! And he also knew the results, which we still have ahead of us, because the weekend isn't over yet. However, we can report on what happened yesterday during the day seminar.

First we learned a lot about healing! We read about scriptural instances of healing. We learned about healing ministries and practices today. We heard testimonies about how God has healed individuals. But more important than book learning, we were encouraged to get our feet wet and actually pray for the healing of people who had needs right then and there.

We had quite a few people present who needed healing- there was cancer, a prostate issue, feet problems, a terminal disease, diabetes, uncontrollable weight, a blocked blood vessel, etc. Everyone who stepped up was prayed for. To be fair, the results of our praying will be seen in the next few weeks as people get reports from their doctors, but we also learned to CONTINUE praying for healing and not to just pray once and walk away. Sometimes we need to do SOAKING prayer to see the results we expect.

Which brings me to my report on my prostate procedure. One of the reasons I haven't given a report here yet, is that I don't want people to think "my work with Doug is done- on to the next prayer project." I realize that even though my procedure was a success according to my doctor, I have weeks of recovery in front of me. Yes, externally, I appear to be back to full strength and up and around again. But my doctor says internally, healing will be taking place until October! Bet you didn't realize you were signing up for such a long term prayer project when you told me you would pray for me, huh?! ;)

Well you are appreciated and I want you to know your prayers are not ineffective! I know God heals today. I also know God heals in a variety of ways (some of which we learned about yesterday!), including through doctors and gradually over a period of time. Which is where I find myself right now. And in his healing hands is not a bad place to be!

More reports on the weekend to come . . .