Each one of our conferences seems to have begun where the last one left off, and then gone higher. We feel that the fall Harvest Conference has the potential to not only continue this trend, but be a truly significant encounter with the Lord. We are therefore again holding back to back conferences, Thursday through Saturday, and then Monday through Wednesday, so that we can accommodate twice as many people.
We are again asking the Lord for a double portion of the anointing on every aspect of the ministry at this conference. We are also asking that everyone who comes will leave twice as close to the Lord as when they came. More than anything, we are asking for a double portion of the manifest presence of the Lord. We want the glory of who He is to so capture our hearts that even if all of the other ministry is twice as anointed as it has ever been before, everyone will leave talking about the Lord and not the ministry. Please join us in this prayer.
The theme this year's conference will be "New Wineskins for the Harvest." It is obvious that new wine is now being poured out all over the world. It is coming in many different forms, and we want to be open to anything that the Lord wants to do in us. However, we are also aware that in previous revivals and movements much of the fruit has been lost because the vessels were not prepared to contain it. We are asking the Lord for fresh, practical revelation and equipping that will help us to be able to hold what is being released. Even though we feel that we may be in for an extraordinary encounter with the Lord at this conference, we can only measure the real fruit of these meetings by how they change our day to day lives, and how they impact our local churches for the advancement of the gospel.
We will be hosting both Children and Youth Conferences at the Fall conference as well. The Children's Conferences have been far more fruitful than we had hoped, with many kids meeting the Lord, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and/or beginning to move in spiritual gifts. We are praying that these kids will become so addicted to the presence of the Lord that they will not even be tempted to succumb to the multitude of yokes and addictions that this world tries to place upon them, and that they will become radical warriors of the King. This will be our first time holding special Youth meetings for those between the ages of thirteen and nineteen, but we have great anticipation for them. We will also have these at both conferences.
The Prophetic Ministry Teams are always one of the popular, and important, aspects of the conference ministry. They have also been very fruitful. We now have over one hundred serving on these teams, and many are growing so much in their gifts that they are receiving revelation on a level that we had only seen with a few prophetic ministries before. Our main goal for establishing these teams is for them to help stir up the gifts that the Lord has deposited in every believer. By the letters and calls we have been receiving, it appears that this is happening. Even so, we are seeking the Lord for twice the prophetic anointing, and for the grace to equip twice the number of people who are able to serve on these teams each year.
SPECIAL NOTE: Because we feel that this conference could be a truly life changing
encounter for all of us, we are asking everyone who comes to prepare yourself with some form of fasting. Fasting is a biblical way for us to humble ourselves to seek the Lord's grace. There are many different fasts in Scripture, which indicates that we can be creative with our fasts. You may want to fast from something such as television for a period of time, or certain kinds of food. You may want to join us on a "Daniel Fast" September 16 - October 6 (Daniel fasted from meats, wine, and "pleasant foods," which I believe were desserts, for twenty-one days). After Daniel fasted in this way he received some of his most strategic revelation, and we have had the same experience when we have done it. I do not believe that anything like this should be made into a recipe for getting the Lord to do something, but when it is done in the simplicity of just seeking Him, He has always met us in a great way.