After getting on another flight, I finally made it to the conference. It was good reconnecting with all the pastors in AMI. I ended up walking into an afternoon prayer time and the Holy Spirit was there, as people were crying out to God. We ended up fasting – from dinner until the morning. I was just reminded how awesome it is to have people who have a spirituality which really practices the spiritual disciplines of fasting and prayer.
Then in the morning we ended up going to Newport Beach to spend some time with God. One thing that we really wanted to experience on this summit is to hear the voice of God. It is so easy for pastors to be super busy by doing things and going to meetings that we won’t stop to hear what God is trying to say.
I ended up have a good time in God’s Word and spending some time in prayer, as I enjoyed God’s creation.
One thing that I felt like God was speaking to me about was the importance of timing and discernment. God used a surfer on the beach to teach me this. There were two people who were surfing in the ocean and it was fascinating to watch them from the shore. They would paddle out into the water and just wait there. There were several times when I felt like the wave was coming and they did not stand up on their board.
In a weird way, they just knew which wave to ride. Not only did they have the discernment but when they caught the right wave, they were able to ride the wave for a long time.
This is when I realized that God was saying in ministry and in life a lot of it is about timing and discernment. Every time I thought the wave was a good one, later it showed that it was not a powerful wave. Every time when I thought the surfer should have stood up on the board, he ended up catching another wave that was better. How many times have we thought that something was right at the moment or thought that it was the best thing, but later on we realized it was not?
For lunch, we went to In-N-Out, a place for a bonafide Californian burger. It was Pastor Ben’s first time eating an In-N-Out burger; therefore it was a great joy to see him eat it.
The AMI pastors and I have been building our relationships together and strengthening our friendships. It has been a refreshing time.
Pastor Keith doing a teaching session
King Bruce on the throne
A great place to read God’s Word and pray
The HMCC pastors and I took this picture over looking the beach
This inspired me to think about taking up surfing
Got Pastor Bruce with his monster Canon D40 before he got me
We got Pastor Ben to take a picture with an employee for this historical moment
Only Jesus and the Gospel can bring people together