Come Holy Spirit - Day Two

Putty Putman spoke on Tuesday morning and led us through the passing of the baton between Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings Chapter 2. There is an inheritance that needs to be passed to the next generation. He pointed out that those of us that have been a part of the Vineyard for over twenty years nod in agreement whenever we hear of stories where God showed up miraculously in people’s lives because we have experienced those first-hand. However, many of the younger Vineyard people are hungry to see and experience those things for themselves. He catalogued us as Generation I and Generation II. He had all the Generation I people come to the front and he had all the Generation II people acknowledge us for our obedience and for the price we paid pioneering the here and not yet of the kingdom in a time when it was not accepted. (The Vineyard introduced contemporary worship to a church stuck on 100 year old hymns. It also introduced come as you are casual wear to Sunday services instead of Sunday best clothing consisting of suits and ties and dresses and hats. We also pioneered being naturally supernatural in place of making a show of God’s healing power and that everyone gets to play and not just a select elite. We were widely criticized by mainstream denominations for all of these things.) He had the Gen-II folk go to the back of the auditorium so we could face one-another. He then had the Gen-II and Gen-I folks walk towards each other so a Gen-I person could pray for a Gen-II person and impart a blessings on them. In this way, the baton was passed from one generation to another and a great unity came on us from that point forward.

Jay Pathak took a page out of something that I have been harping on for a while and that is that Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). As leaders we can find ourselves doing everything or constantly putting out fires instead of what God is telling us directly to do. He also used an example that I quote all the time from John 5:6-13 where Jesus only heals one person at the pool of Bethesda. He then proceeded to give countless examples of how God has miraculously shown up when people are obedient to his prompting and guidance.