Convention Week!

I made the decision and commitment last Monday to attend the meetings held at the weeklong Southwest Believer’s Convention in Fort Worth Texas… via online streaming.  I rearranged my schedule so that I could participate in the majority of the meetings and not be interrupted or distracted by the everyday responsibilities at home… and believe me when I say that it is not as easy as it may seem!

For years Kenneth Copeland Ministries also held a West Coast Believer’s Convention in Anaheim California in the convention building right across the street from Disneyland.  Piper and I and the kids had the pleasure of attending some of those conventions over the years, so I knew exactly what was in store for me with the even bigger convention held in the ministry’s hometown area.

The first time we drove the 8+ hour drive down to the southern California convention, we only had our two older children and they were old enough to attend the concurrent Children’s ministry activities while Piper and I were in the arena. *  At the time they had Willie George Ministries and His Gospel Bill TV team running the children’s adventures.  So, it was a big deal for our kids as they were well familiar with the weekly TV series and the ministry in general through their Children’s Church curriculum that Piper and I taught from at the church.

Piper and I were very much in touch with the Willie George Ministry, their teaching integrity and their staff.  We not only helped to support the ministry, used their ministry materials and curriculum (in the 80’s and 90’s we both felt that they were by far, the best Children’s Ministry material available.) but also attended their yearly regional meetings at Piper’s sister’s church in Hayward California.  Then we had the opportunity to spend a week at their specialized Children’s Church Leaders Convention at their top-of-the-line Children’s Old West Style camp and TV set located in Adair, Oklahoma, northeast of Tulsa. 

We were actually on a first name basis with some of the ministry’s leadership.  While at the camp, we were fortunate enough to be booked into one of the very few private rooms instead of staying apart in the dorms.  We also got to share a meal with Jim Wideman who had taken over the leadership of the Children’s Ministry when Willie George started Church on The Move in Tulsa. (with over 12,000 members at that time)

So, my point of all that information was that the kids had a blast while Piper and I did the same with the adult speakers.  I can’t hardly describe the strong anointing that fills the arena with the praise and worship times that practically raise the roof on the building and the astonishing revelation and solid Bible based teaching that comes forth in those kinds of meetings.  We always walked in with high expectations and were never disappointed!

We usually went down there strictly for the meetings, but on one trip we planned an additional few days, so that we could go to Disneyland as well… which was almost a let-down after the action-packed adventures and teaching the kids got at the convention!  At Disneyland, Piper decided to leave the kids convention ID tags on them for added protection and identification.  At one point we came across a small gathering of parents and kids surrounding Micky Mouse.  As we pushed on through, Mickey suddenly turned toward us, got Piper’s and my attention, pointed to the convention tag of our older daughter and gave us a thumbs up!  We burst out laughing and he turned back to his audience!

As I sat in the privacy of my study listening to the familiar speakers in the crowded Fort Worth Convention Center, I couldn’t help but to be drawn back into time with the feel of excitement that was thick in the air, and the words of truth that came forth.  I also couldn’t help but to recall how excited Piper would get at these conventions, how she would furiously take notes and shout “Amen’s”, laugh aloud or sometimes stand and do a little jig when a revelation hit home with her… and of course, I was right there next to her doing the same on all accounts!

Romans 10:17 tells us, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Bible in Basic English)  A more specific translation of that verse according to the original Greek reads, “Faith, then, is birthed in a heart that responds to God’s anointed utterance of the Anointed One.” (The Passion Translation)  In other words, faith comes to us when we receive a personal revelation (understanding, direction or leading) from a scripture being taught and then put it to work in our lives. 

It was those types of scripture-based revelations and directions that helped me plow through the hardest of times when Piper was sick and people around me were adversely questioning every move I made.  It was revelations like that which came in abundance to us when we made the time to go and saturate ourselves in the anointed teaching of the Word of God at these very special conventions.  And my experiences last week were exactly the same.

It was exciting and overwhelming to me at the same time, when speaker after speaker brought out truths from the Word that confirmed some of the many actions that Piper and I took during her prolonged illness, things that I believed that the Lord was teaching me through that long battle and now in the almost three years since, the directions and leadings that I have felt Him giving me as I seek to move forward.  I am always at awe and comforted when He does things like that.  He really does care for us in every portion of our lives.

A couple of the most important messages that I took home with me was God’s strong desire for me to get my DREAMS fired up again and back to the forefront of my life (even or especially without Piper at my side) and to know in doing so… that time is speeding up and that activities that took many years to happen in the past are happening with almost lighting speed today… and at 68 years old… I can’t afford the completion of God’s destiny for me to take as long as it had in the past!

As I sat at my desk in front of my laptop for hours on end last week, I found myself totally absorbed in the proceedings that were taking place a relatively close 316 miles south of my house.  I’d shout for joy, scream out “Amens” or “YES!” or at times jump up from my seat and dance a little jig! 

Then I’d laugh again while I looked at a couple of the pictures of Piper posted in front of my desk and smile knowing that she would be doing the same exact things as I was, if she were here, and that she’d have a huge, ear to ear smile on her face and even be glowing a little from the reflection of the glory of God’s Word and the faith radiating from the thousands of people in attendance there and from the others of us watching from literally around the world… all at the same time!

I mean who knows… she just might have been doing all of those things from her front row seat in the heavenly theater near God’s throne!

This week, starting yesterday, I am committed to go back through my pages of notes and pray and learn how I can put all that good and solid teaching and personal revelations from God’s Word to work in my life in the weeks and months ahead!

I pray that each of you have a great new week, and as you do... that you keep expecting God’s best in your life.  Our next blog will continue on with the new series I introduced a week ago on the subject of it’s not so much…

WHAT or HOW MUCH you know… but WHO you know!

 

*Which seats 7500 people.  Whenever we went, the bottom floor was filled to capacity as well as a good portion of the upper levels.  The same could be said for last week’s convention in the Forth Worth Convention center which seats 13000.