Anointed by the Spirit

The past five Ministry Team Training Conferences (November 2006 through February 2008) at the Calvary Community Church in Houston have been a great blessing in my life. It has strengthened my relationship with God and deepened my love for Him.

In November 2004, I found out I had six blockages (some 95%) in my coronary arteries and had by-pass heart surgery. This scare made me want to be closer to God. For the next two years, I started praying daily and studied God’s Word often, but still I felt I did not have a deep personal relationship with Him.

At the invitation of my daughter Rebecca, I attended my first Ministry Team Training in November 2006. I was encouraged by the stories of God’s Holy Spirit being active in people’s lives today, healing them, and giving them prophetic words of encouragement. The first words given to me during a Prophetic Ministry session rang amazingly true. One person said when he prayed for me, he saw me standing in the woods near a stream and the Lord came to me and asked "What can I do for you, Joseph?". I said I just love being near Him in the beauty of the outdoors. The Lord said "I know that, but still what can I do for you?" The picture revealed to that person by the Holy Spirit was so true. I have always loved the beauty of the woods and waters, and often praised God there for His wonderful creation.

During the next three Ministry Team Training and Prophetic Ministry sessions in 2007, I received more insight into the will of God for my life. In these sessions and also at home, at church, and in Bible studies, I became closer to God and developed a deep love for Him. I felt the Holy Spirit slowly making changes in me.

The Ministry Team Training in October 2007 was amazing for me. I was in Jeff McGee’s class on Deliverance and Anointing of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the class at 3:30 PM, the class stood in a large circle in the classroom while Jeff slowly prayed for the Holy Spirit to come. I kept my mind still and waited on the Lord. I just occasionally prayed "Come, Holy Spirit". I felt a tingling in my fingers and a heaviness in my body. I prayed "Increase your power, Holy Spirit." After a few minutes, I had to sit in a chair behind me because of the heaviness. For thirty minutes as I sat slumped back in that chair, I had the most intense feeling of peace and love throughout my body that I had ever felt in my entire life!

At 4:10 PM, still feeling heavy with the peace and love of the Holy Spirit, I went downstairs with Jeff. I waited on the back row as all the classes came down, and as Steve and the other pastors started organizing teams to pray for healing. I joined a team to pray for a man who had hurt his right shoulder and elbow. The leader prayed first, then the second team member, then me. I placed my left hand on the man’s shoulder and my right hand on his elbow. I humbly prayed only a few words - for the Holy Spirit to heal the man and take away his pain, and to do it to glorify God. I blessed the work of the Lord and then waited on the Spirit for a minute or two in silence. After I prayed thanks to God and removed my hands, all four of us discussed our prayer session. Although I really was expecting a healing, I was still amazed when the man told us that when I placed my hands on his shoulder and elbow and started praying, he felt a tingling and then warmth at those two spots, and then his pain was gone! I knew that God had anointed me with His Holy Spirit in the classroom, and then used me just like a "mailman" to deliver His healing to that man.

~ Joseph
jgs106@juno.com

Calvary Community Church

I wanted to post a brief description of Calvary Community Church, since it is being referenced in some of the posts on this blog.

Calvary Community Church has been used by the Lord to bless many believers in the Houston area and beyond. They have a very interesting history. Calvary started as a Southern Baptist Church. In the 1980’s, the pastor was feeling burnt out, and went through a season of seeking and crying out to the Lord. The Holy Spirit surprised Calvary with an intense time of manifesting Himself powerfully. They experienced healings, gifts of knowledge, and discernment between spirits, among other manifestations. Since they originally believed that the Holy Spirit no longer worked as He did in New Testament times, they were challenged to go back to the Bible and re-evaluate what they believed, in light of their experiences.

Calvary has been building up and encouraging fellow Christians for years through their Ministry Team Training conferences that they hold every few months. The first session, Foundations for Power Ministry, led by Steve Meeks, is a great day of hearing the incredible history of what God did at Calvary as well as being challenged by what the Bible says about how the Holy Spirit works. By learning how the Holy Spirit works, believers are challenged to live as disciples by actively ministering to, healing, and teaching others.

Calvary went through a season of the Holy Spirit being poured out very frequently. Steve likened it to God 'advertising' for the kingdom to come. He can do what He wants when He wants to. They continue to be obedient in ministering to others, leaving the work to the Holy Spirit - and He does as He desires.

The teachings at the Ministry Team Training's are Biblically grounded, and there is plenty of opportunity to ask questions. After the conference, there is the option of being ministered to through one of their prophecy teams. Their prophecy teams consist of two to four people, who pray and listen for a word from the Lord to share. It is encouraging to receive a word from the Lord that is meant only for you (and validating to realize that it has to be from the Lord because these people know nothing about you, but the message is very personal). It is comforting to be reminded that God is still present, powerful and intimately involved in our lives.