After the profound touch of God in Devils Lake I decided that we should move back to North Dakota. I didn’t think it would be possible to go deeper in God without making that kind of move. Plus we had family there. It made sense.
THREE days before the moving van was to show up to haul us away to Dakota (we had already put money down on a house there) I heard God say “STAY”. "Your breakthrough is here in Illinois". This was 1995. Being instantly obedient to a fault we stayed. . This act caused us to be homeless. The house we had been living in was sold. We packed our stuff in storage and for months lived with friends. Thanks Ken and Ellen. And others. This also meant I was immediately unemployed. The job I had previously required me to live west of Illinois. Interesting times. Obedience has a price, but it pays so well.
I waited. Then one night I had a dream of God. He showed me a clear precise vision of a body of believers he has destined for the area in which we live. The Fox Valley. Geneva, Batavia and St. Charles. It was clear. Worship ministry and the prophetic word resulting in healing, destiny and salvation. Not much preaching. Just this radical release of the presence of God doing it all. I saw it. I felt it. I knew what it was like. I am driven by that vision to this day.
We had been attending a wonderful church in Rockford Illinois. Faith Center. When the move to Dakota was canceled I thought maybe God wanted us to move there to be part of this Church body. We even spent days looking at houses in the Rockford area. But God said NO. He wanted us here, St. Charles. What made it so hard was to find any kind of real Pentecostal fellowship meant driving nearly an hour any direction.
About that time I became involved with a young pastor by the name of Todd Beery. He had been a pastor at the church we had attended in Naperville. Calvary Church.
He was led by God to form a house fellowship. I heard about it from others. A couple months after it formed I attached myself to it. I was attracted by the depth of passion and commitment he and his wife had. The lived this. I saw that, “You can live like this” was true in his life.
The meetings were on Monday nights. What happened there was astounding. Prior to this time I had God all figured out. My theology was fully intact. It was just wrong. He wasn’t going to stay in the box I had created for him. He wanted to reveal himself in new ways to me. He did. Every day He still does.
New music in worship was introduced every Monday night. It was so fresh. So new. Vineyard mostly to start. Then more, then more. It was a radical departure from the choruses we sang in the churches I had been attending. It was new.
During this time Mike Bickle received a prophecy that said, “I will change the face of Christianity in one generation”.
It's been 10 years since the beginnings of this change. The Episcopalians today are singing the music we worshiped toat Todd’s on Monday night a decade ago.
Today’s music in churches has the same notes sung that we did then. Some is very good. Some is simply pap. Contemporary music in the Church has drifted. Much has lost it’s passion. The hope that introducing good worship music would bring real breakthrough, as important as that is, is only partially true. Worship without the Spirit of the living God resident in it is without power or passion. It’s just good songs sung. True worship seldom happens. Many worship leaders have become worshiptainment. Watch what I can do.
What has happened is good worship music no longer is the unique factor separating churches of passion versus churches of just good worship. In fact, you can't be a viable Church without solid competent worship. The secret ingredient is sadly still missing in most churches. The Power of the Holy Ghost.
Todd was leading me to examine the pharisaic lifestyle I had honed to a science. Many legalistic do’s and don’ts I had imposed on myself and others were put under the spiritual microscope. Most of my legalism was driven by a works mentality ginned up by me to please God. It was wrong and binding. Legalsim was a major roadblock to expanding my heart toward Jesus. Liberty truly was in the Spirit.
Love of Jesus was driving me to a freedom lifestyle I had never known before. It was freeing and frightening at the same time. It caused other Christian brothers and sisters to puzzle about me as I began walking this out.
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