Afterglow

I have been basking in the Presence of God today recalling the wonderful things He has done in the last 72 hours of my life and the life of our church. People forgiven, people sanctified, hurts healed, offenses surrendered, the past placed in the past…the list goes on. This thought sums up the entire 72 hours – “People prayed, God spoke, people listened, God spoke, people responded, God sent forgiveness, freedom, His power, His Presence, people received. Waco Community Fellowship is forever changed. Changed into a reflection of who God desires us to be. Changed into a people without fear and bondage. Changed into a people with courage to tell our community about Jesus. Changed into a people who desire to praise God with their lives and lips.
Last night Dan spoke about the “Burnt Offering” and the significance of “taking out the ashes” so the fire can once again burn brightly and intensely, as fire is quenched when we keep ashes in the fire pit. Nearly 30 people came to the altar taking ashes to the ash heap – letting go of the past, letting go of offenses. A couple of folks went back more than once as it was obvious they were obeying the voice of God in their hearts Who told them there were more ashes to throw out.
I am listening intently to God to know just how to approach Sunday as our entire atmosphere has changed. A Sunday School teacher even asked what they should do on Sunday – as they, too are basking in this incredible new freedom. What a wonderful place to be – no preconceived ideas about what should be, only an absolute surrender to what will be as the Holy Spirit guides and directs. Advice? Stay in the Word and on your knees. What is supposed to sung, shared and preached will flow from the heart of God into the Sunday School teachers, the children’s workers, the youth pastor and the pastor – then we will have what we call church.
Thank God that He does not change. Thank God that He is faithful. Thank God that He still wants to inhabit the praises and the hearts of His people.
Pastor Roger

Revival Comes To Community Fellowship

Little did I know that I would once again see the Presence of God enter into the church. I saw that when I was 16 and now 42 years later I have been blessed to see it again. Some would contend that two and half hours of church on a Sunday Morning would be enough for the next couple of weeks, but then to spend four hours in the evening is just simply…fanatical. Well, then mark me down as fanatically in love with being in the Presence of God. I watched in wonder, amazement, and joy as the Presence of God broke through in our church today. Evangelist Dan Bohi spoke, later I learned not on what he had planned, about Elijah, a man “just like us” and Moses, “not the right person for the job”. He asked the question as to why we are not living in the miracles of God and the Presence of God. He asked where the passion and the fire have gone. I watched as 100% of this congregation rose to their feet in response to needing a fresh fire and wanting a fresh fire of passion rekindled in their hearts. Not 99% - 100% - every person that was there! In my church? I never thought I would see that. Fifteen or twenty, but all 130 people? Then the altar filled, not with every person, but to capacity and still no one left. The Presence of God filled the place and revival fire began.
Tonight – where do I start and what do I tell? I will make it short – Dan’s message of the necessity of “Spirit” and “Word” coming together in the church again, brought us to the understanding of why it is so difficult for these two to come together - Sin and fear. Sin and fear keep us from experiencing the beauty and power of God in our lives and in the church. After laying the Word out to us he invited those who had sin to confess and fear to shed, to come forward and do so. It started, and Lord forgive me, much to my surprise, it didn’t stop for the next three plus hours. Person and after person confessing sin and repenting, being filled with the spirit, asking for and confessing complete heart purification. From confessions of pornography to confessions of hatred and bitterness from a childhood of abuse – person after person came forward to be cleansed and filled. God did not fail to show up nor did He fail to cleanse and fill with His Holy Spirit. In a dry and desert place, rivers of living water came flowing and refreshed the heart and soul of this group of people at Waco Community Fellowship tonight. No more fear, no more night – and this is only Sunday. WOW – Wonder of Wonders we have Monday and Tuesday to go. It is not yet complete, but the Glory of God has indeed broken through in Waco. To God be the glory!

Fresh Winds Of The Holy Spirit

If one was pleased with what God did on Sunday, then what expression could one use to describe what God did last night? As a pastor I could do nothing but laugh. Laugh? Yes, laugh - not a laugh brought on from some sort of a joke, but a laugh brought on by the Holy Spirit as I stood "dumbfounded" at what He has decided to do with our church. About 100+ people came to the service - about 65 of those came to an altar to "sanctified" - filled with the Spirit - emptied of self! I laughed with pure joy as I saw this most incredible response to the call of God. I want to share a portion of an email from one of our people - "I woke up at 5 this morning and could'nt go back to sleep. I can't wait until the service tonight. We went to ...... church for 29 yrs and we have been in Community Fellowship for 7 years. I have never been in a service like last night. This is exactly what we have been praying for. This is what its all about. Jesus definitely was there and I could feel a love of all the people for Jesus and each other. It was overwhelming. I didn't want it to end."
What else can I say? One more service tonight - what will God do? This does, however leave a pastor in an incredible delima - after standing before people who were not "getting it" before this week, I will now stand before a people who do "get it". What's the delima? What/how do I preach? The whole atmosphere is changed and charged. Well, I really do know the answer to that, it's just a question I never thought I would ask myself. I realize that as I listen to God, His Holy Spirit will equip me with His Words - just like before - only now I can truly expect a response and more importantly I can expect a people to be listening with different ears. This demands more time in the Word and more time on my knees in order to be so filled of God and empty of self that the Spirit flows through me. No longer will people listen with "passive" attention. They will listen "intently" expecting to hear from God through me. No more "self-effort" to try to bring about some sort of response to the Word of God. The effort now is reading enough of the Word and praying enough in the Spirit to insure the people DO hear from God - not from a pastor who preached from the "barrel" or preached a sermon given to someone else and given a tweek here and there to make it sound like my own - and nearly every preacher knows what I mean.
Come Holy Spirit - we NEED You! I will check in tomorrow with another report of an incredible God Who has done another incredible thing at Waco Community Fellowship.
Pastor Roger Huff