We had an overnight "Burn" while I was at home in Colorado. The purpose was Jesus: enjoy His presence and adore Him all night.
We met in a church that's in an interesting part of town. That area actually holds a history of darkness and violence. Even the church building itself has had its own history of weird encounters (like most places do).
My favorite thing about the night was that there were no wild visions, manifestations, or crazy angelic encounters (although I am certain there was a host of angels worshiping with us--I could feel it). It wasn't an emotional so-called "mountaintop experience" (that phrase is so annoying) or emotional boost.
It was a first for all of us, staying up all night together in a church worshiping and praying.
And the consensus was, that we all left simply loving Jesus more! Which was the point!
Again--it wasn't an out of body, going in to heaven, seeing wildness, kind of deal. Sometimes we make Jesus so experiential. But Jesus is real! He is a real guy and we can really know Him. He is SO MUCH MORE than a feeling and it's an injustice to consider Him as such.
It's funny because apparently, according to several outside sources, there was a pillar of fog/cloud surrounding the church building where we were worshiping. It stayed all night. From the church, it looked like the whole area was covered in a thick fog so that you could barely see. But friends told us later the fog ended just a couple hundred feet away from the building in each direction.
Even the pastor said he really felt like God's presence entered the church in a fresh way that night.
God's presence changes things. It shifts the atmosphere. It forces darkness to flee in humiliation. It washes the ground of murder and rains redemption.
I'm praying all of these things over that neighborhood and believing that a new day has dawned for that area of town!!
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