Services out here in Africa are great!  You can tell right from the opening prayer that this ain’t the U.S!  There’s no ceremony, no inhibitions, and no manners when it comes to prayer out here.  They pray so hard that you have to wonder if there are extra nails in place to hold the roof on tight.

And then comes the music!  They say that white men can’t dance, and once you’ve been in one of these praise and worship services, you will understand the meaning of that saying. 

Now, I’m not sure where the transition happens between the music and the Spirit, but somewhere in there, the Lord takes over.  All of a sudden, you notice that you have this huge grin on your face – so big that it’s hurting your cheeks.  You’re moving back and forth – even stepping to the beat!  And the next thing you know, you’re out there dancing to the Lord.  And you can’t stop.

Yeah, services here are pretty cool.  I’m having a lot of fun – even me, a 59 year old white man who can’t dance.

After the message, there is usually a prayer line.  If there’s any unsaved out there, they are going to get saved.  At one service, 30 to 40 souls got saved.  They all came in from the surrounding bush to see the Muzumgoo (white man) and wound up becoming Christians.  Pretty cool, huh?

But the prayer line for the people themselves is what is often overwhelming.  Sometimes the Spirit of the Lord begins to flow so much that people get …uh…“carried away”.  There have been times when people have been slain in the Spirit just standing in line, and even standing in the pews.  I’m telling you, stuff happens here that doesn’t happen in the States. This is fertile ground for miracles.

The one concern I have is that the miracles don’t overshadow the message.  Money and miracles always catch people’s attention and take their focus of the thing that matters most – the Word of God. 

Once they see that the Spirit of God is flowing, everybody runs to the altar so they can be touched. These are a needy people, and it is far too easy for them to get lost in their desperate need for a touch from God, but will they forget the greater necessity of what the Lord is trying to impress upon them to bring them to a true revival?

It is the same with the Bibles. Once they hear that Bibles are being given away, people stampede to church to get one.  This may seem like a good thing on the surface, but the problem is that we don’t have enough money to provide anywhere near the amount of Bibles that are needed, never mind enough to satisfy all those who just want a Bible that isn’t ragged and falling apart. 

Jesus faced this same problem in St. John chapter 6 when they chased him over the Sea of Galilee, not because they heard the Gospel, but because they got a free meal.  They get fixated on getting a blessing, and miss the message from God that has the power to transform their souls.

Somewhere in all this is a message about what we focus on in life. 

Either we see the world around us in terms of how it relates to us, or we see ourselves in how we relate to others. 
One looks for their crown, while the other bears their Cross. 
One looks to serve God, while the other looks to be served by God

One seeks to be blessed; the other seeks to bless.

One consumes, and the other is consumed.
One thinks gain is godliness, while the other thinks godliness is gain.

One of them is going to Heaven.

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”