This past weekend I was in Boise, Idaho visiting a friend of mine who is one of the pastors at the Boise Vineyard. On Friday morning as we were walking through the office, Tri – the Pastor of the church – stopped me and asked me to step into his office. (I met Tri about 2 years ago when he led a team down to New Orleans to help with Hurricane Relief.) As I sat down on the sofa in Tri’s office he proceeded to explain to me that the guest speaker he had scheduled for the weekend was extremely sick and was unable to make the trip from Australia. He then told me that it just so happens that four different people from four different parts of the world - where the Boise Vineyard is involved in missions - were in town. He asked me, along with the others, to each talk for about 10 minutes at all three of their Sunday morning services about the things that God is doing through the church in the places where we live.The other speakers included Savve from Fiji, Chris and Cathy from the Philippines and Shelton and Rebecca from Zimbabwe.
As part of the morning worship set we sang ‘Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble’ by Martin Smith. The bridge and chorus to the song sing:
And we can see that God you're moving
A mighty river through the nations
And young and old will turn to Jesus
Fling wide your heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord
Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring your hope
Songs that bring your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice
Following worship, one after another we stood on stage to tell about the things that God is doing in our parts of the world. It was such an amazing experience that showed just how small our world is and how big our God is.
To hear the stories of those around the world bringing heaven to their piece of the planet was an incredible picture of dancers dancing upon injustice. From the hurricane ravaged streets of New Orleans to the Zimbabwean villages that have no drinking water to the tribes in the Philippines that have no toilets, we heard story after story of the Kingdom of God coming to these places through the church. One Church. One God. Many different faces, places and cultures.
Coming on the heels of my last post, I am absolutely convinced that God is alive and well and he is concerned and connected with all of humankind. He is a global God and his Kingdom is powerfully and forcefully advancing through the love, lives and commitment of his followers.
