With the trees of the Tennessee mountains embracing the shift in seasons and trading in their green leaves for ones a bit more vibrant and with clear blue skies as our backdrop our team set out with world racers and their squad leaders for a week of worship, fellowship, and embracing everything it was that God wanted to show us while we were there.
Aim is a community focused discipleship centered community filled and led by the Spirit. I was raised in a traditional reformed church and quite honestly the thought of being around so many charismatic Pentecostal people was a bit intimidating. I had been around it before but not to this degree and as I entered into the week with an open heart and my expectations down I knew that God would be doing some powerful things with and in me this week.
From the first night God took me outside my comfort zone and challenged me to see things in a different light. The topic was deliverance with the emphasis that in reality the spirit world and physical world are more intertwined than I wanted to believe. The speaker spoke on the actual manifestation of evil spirits in a person and the proper way to expel them using the name of Jesus Christ to cast them out of the inflicted person. He also spoke on how we as Christian have our own “demons” that need to be conquered and that we need to be freed from. Though I struggled to understand everything that our speaker was saying and as I tried to discern if what he was speaking about was indeed true I couldn’t help but notice the un-confessed sin in my own life rising up to the surface. I knew that this was the work of the spirit in me and knew I needed to be obedient to his prompting. With my teammates there I openly confessed the sin that my eyes had been opened too both to them and to God seeking his forgiveness.
The week continued in a similar manner. As I sat in on the different sessions specifically designed to prepare these future world racers on things to expect while on the field for the next eleven months I kept my heart in check and kept asking for the spirit to lead me into deeper fellowship with him.
Like I said Aim is a community led by the spirit. The leaders and staff are constantly seeking the will of the Lord and are hungry for his presence. This was the theme on one of our worship nights. The feel of the night was one of complete worship. The lights were dim and the darkness of night covered the campgrounds which created an intimate setting for us to be with God. Inside the elongated cabin with chairs folded off to the side of the room we were all free to worship and experience the spirit in a way comfortable to each of us.
And that’s when it happened. I’m still processing the experience because it goes against everything I was taught and believed in up until this point so to say I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a stretch for me but what I do know with complete certainty is I felt His presence in a very real way. It was a moment of complete peace and serenity. With my head bowed and hands out ready to receive his love I felt the undeniable pressure to fall to my knees. As if a weight were laid on my back my knees buckled as I fought to keep my balance and firm footing. With the gentle touch of a hand on my shoulder the weight became too much to bear and I fell to my knees allowing myself to experience all God wanted to pour over me. It was beautiful and lovely and very real. There was no violent shaking or falling backwards but the gentle presence of the Father moving me to fall to my knees in holy worship.
The week was filled with other very powerful moments including random strangers coming up to me speaking words that spoke straight to my heart words that I longed to hear the Father say and words that no one would know to say unless it was by His prompting. Lives were rededicated to Christ, and people were healed. There is so much more to say about this week but I want to wait to tell you. Just know that God is very much at work in the lives here at AIM and in mine as well.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!
Come, Lord Jesus!
Matthew
