Entering the New Season

It has been quite a while since I have had the opportunity to share my heart with you. In my travels in the nation and nations in the past few months, many people have been asking me about what happened at the Consumed gathering in Edmonton in August 2006. The best answer I can give is that I saw a manifestation of God’s glory in a way I have not seen before.

I think many times when we speak about the Glory of God, we think of visible manifestations – the priests not being able to stand to minister, clouds appearing in the meeting place, healings, miracles or angels. But in John 17, Jesus gave us another simple but beautiful picture of the manifestation of His glory: the oneness of His body.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:22-23

Consumed
Over 3000 people gathered at Consumed with one simple purpose: to worship the Lord. As the gathering began, I did something I don’t usually do; I asked people to raise their hands if this was their first ever gathering. About one third of the room responded and my heart sank into my knees as I cried out silently to the Lord: “Oh no, we can’t start all over again”. For over 10 years, a remnant of the church in Canada has been walking this journey to see Canada become a resting place for His glory. And I felt that in order for us to come into a greater unity, we at least had to have some common ground on which we could build, like having attended a gathering.

But the Lord wanted to teach me something very deep about unity. As I lamented He answered me, “David, the unity that I have as a gift for My church doesn’t come from people knowing one another or understanding a vision. It is a gift that I have for My body by which they will know one another in the spirit in a way that is truly supernatural.”

When the worship started a few minutes later, the Lord began to show me what He meant. The worship team was composed of leaders and musicians from 8 different cities in Canada, who only play together at gatherings. And yet they flowed together amazingly, not just musically, but in a spirit of honour and preferring one another that made me want to weep. No matter which worship leader was singing, the whole team stood together worshipping, even without mikes. As the spirit of God would come upon different ones to sing or play during free flow times, the rest of the team would surround them, supporting and protecting what the Lord was doing. There was no competition, no striving, no jealousy – just genuine love and care that was palpable.

But it wasn’t just the worship team that was experiencing this unity. It was as if the whole gathering was consumed by the presence of God to the point that we could not do anything except abandon ourselves to worship. At times, the band would try to finish a song but they would be overcome, shouting and exalting the Lord. At other times the crowd could not stop worshipping; they were responding directly to presence of the Lord and not any leader on stage.

This unity was not reserved only for the worship; the feeling of One Body pervaded the whole gathering. Many people came to me saying that never before in their lives had they sensed such a oneness, a love and a unity. Among those who were most deeply touched were the over 200 international leaders from more than 30 nations, many of whom were attending a gathering for the first time. When they shared about their burden for their nations, hundreds stood to commit to pray and stand with them. They were overwhelmed with the love and feeling of belonging that they experienced.

What happened with the international leaders at Consumed I felt was especially significant. During the gathering, the Lord spoke to me that a key part of our identity as the Canadian church is as a safe womb, a place of nurturing, support and love, for the birthing and release of God’s destiny for many nations. I believe the church in Canada is positioned by God to be a refuge and hope, a model of the church of many colours, tribes and languages walking in humility, love and honour, one with another. And I feel at Consumed God gave us a small foretaste of something greater we will see in the months and years to come.

Mirroring the Kingdom
Since Consumed I have become so much more aware that God is stirring a fresh desire and longing for relationship, family and unity in the church. I believe this is because we’re entering a time of God re-shaping and re-positioning the church on earth to more closely mirror His kingdom in heaven.

In Watchmen, we have been earnestly seeking the Lord to see how He wants us to be re-shaped and re-positioned for the new season. We have always desired to see the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17 become a reality and this is why we place a greater emphasis on relationships and walking together as a family than we do on traditional ministry structures and hierarchies. As leaders from different denominations, ethnos, generations and regions of the country we walk as friends who desire to wait on the Lord and discern together what He is saying for our nation.

Over the last number of months the Lord has encouraged us that the way we walk together as a team needs to become more visible in practical ways. One of the key areas we can do this is in communications. Until now, I have been the primary spokesperson for Watchmen (and at the gatherings) but in the coming months, you will begin to hear from many others on the team. For e.g. the intercession team will issue directives on behalf of the Canadian Prayer Shield, while the prophetic team will release words from the Lord that have been tested and discerned by the whole leadership team. Leaders who are carrying the responsibilities for focus areas such as the First Peoples, the Jewish people, the youth, the children and others will begin to communicate what the team is feeling the Lord is speaking for 2007 while teachers will release articles to help bring understanding to the whole body of what the Lord is doing in our nation and the nations at this time.

There are two initiatives we will be sharing about with you very soon. One is the next national gathering, called The Promise, that will be held in Montreal in Summer 2007. The other is an exciting new opportunity God is giving us to walk with the Jewish community. February 5th-8th, 2007, Watchmen will host a representation of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in special receptions in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. We are still finalizing details on both these events but early in the New Year we will begin to share what the Lord is speaking to us so that we can all walk together as one body to discern what the Lord has on His heart at this time.

For me, this is like a dream come true. My longing and desire has been that as Watchmen we could be an expression of the body as Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:16, one which, “joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” And I feel now we are closer than ever to seeing this dream realized.

A Time of Great Joy
I feel deep joy and thankfulness in my heart as we approach this Christmas season. This has not been an easy year, but it has been one of the best years of my life. Ruth and I, and our family (Daniel, Rachel, Michael, Anna, Ben, Nathan and Joel) want to wish you and your family a blessed and restful Christmas 2006 and we are looking forward to continue our journey as One Family to the glory and praise of Our Father in 2007.

All my love

David