Ghana: Day 5

I wake up very happy today, I love Easter Sunday morning. Spiritually, it just seems like a happy day!

I am planning to preach the sermon, “Lucifer’s Style of Worship”.  It is a long sermon, even for me! I know I must review my notes to try and simplify things, but I am finding it difficult.

After a light breakfast we are ready to go to the service. My, it’s so hot today! The ministers have been waiting outside the building until after the song service for all the services. Since it gets dark around 6 PM, we have never been sitting in the sun.  Today it is a morning service, the brothers bring us chairs, plastic deck chairs which it seems most of the churches use for seating.  The chairs are placed under a tree for us so we may stay as cool as possible. They double the chairs for me and Brother Samson. Apparently, I am fat and he is old so we need the extra support!  It is only a show of respect. It is the same with the African churches I preach for in the US. I don’t even try to carry my own Bible or backpack anymore. They just want to show that respect and make sure that everything is perfect for the one who is bringing the Word.

The previous post you see some of the pictures and videos I took this morning. It was just so hard to concentrate on my sermon. I review my notes again, making some tweaks in my mind. Finally, we are called to the platform.

I begin to preach. This sermon doesn’t start this way normally.  I’m on what is probably page 3 in my notes. There are unbelievers here today, they came to service to thank God a

nd the church for what they have done for the boy. Most of the family is Muslim. I feel pulled to help them understand what we are speaking on.

I have never felt such an anointing as I preached before. It was such a good time! Bro Jack had texted me earlier and said “enjoy brother, you were born for this”.  Yes, yes I was! I could never deny the gift God has put in my life. Where was this coming from? From inside me…but not me. This is not my notes, this is pouring out of me from a resource deep within that is not me. This is wonderful! By the end of service I am worn out, but feeling so wonderful at the same time.

After preaching I said I wanted to sing a song with them that I thought they would know. I wanted to sing “Jehovah, you are the most high God”. I understand this is a Nigerian song, so this is not far away. The people should know it. So we began to sing and to praise the Lord.  I felt so good, so free to praise the Mighty God! I look out at the people praising the Lord. Perhaps they are in shock…  I stop the song for a moment.

“What is this? You have a reputation to uphold saints of Africa! You cannot let a brother from the US out worship or out dance you!  Let’s praise the Mighty God!”

Jehovah aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  Je ho vah Ahhhhhhhhhhh ahh!

Lunch Time.

At Lunch we are fellowshipping together and I received  a text from AnnaMay with a video from home. It is the children playing their instruments.  I show it to the brethren.

Bro Timoty: “This is at a church?”  Which is odd, because it is obviously my living room, Glorianna sits on the couch as she plays.

Bro Samson: “No, this is at his house! All the American’s have pianos in their homes”

Oh. My. Bro Samson explains that is why it was so hard for their churches to have good musicians, no one has pianos, they are only at church. There is very little time to practice and develop a gift.

Lunch today was Banku and okra stew, the pleasant young sister who had been bringing the food to the hotel had to go back for the rice. No matter, I’m sure I can eat Banku like one of the locals.

I shouldn’t have. Banku is so heavy on your stomach, and I was so tired from preaching. A few hours later my stomach began to tell me how unhappy it was.

I decided to take a Cipro, after all they travel clinic gave me the prescription and it is for stomach issues. I took one about 4 o’clock. I am to start preaching around 8 this evening. As I rested I began to feel a little better but definitely not normal.

We left for service that evening.  Sitting there outside the building waiting to be called to the platform, I don’t feel very good. You know that sweaty hot feeling you get just before you throw up? I feel this way…maybe it’s the heat though? Either way, it’s not a good feeling.  How many times did I almost tell Bro Samson “take me back to the hotel”.  I did not though. I remember Bro Luke talking about being in Central America somewhere and having thrown up just before going out to preach.

Therefore endure hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ

I would have rather just come home right then and there. Home is a looooong way away. I look around to find a place I could throw up if I had to in middle of preaching.

I preached on “Wilt Thou be made whole”. Irony isn’t it? My stomach feels terrible, I am preaching on Divine Healing. This is not hypocrisy, God is sovereign, I will always believe he heals, though my body may not yet be subject to my confession. Abraham believed for 25 years before the promise came.

We go through all the reasons why someone may not want to be made whole. They have God in a box, they don’t want to make things right, they are afraid or perhaps they don’t want the responsibility they will have after healing. Then we look at the verse where after the man was healed, Jesus told him “Go, sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you”.

I tell the people, do not come in the prayer line tonight if you are not ready for that. If you are not willing to give up your sin, and serve Jesus, don’t come in the prayer line! This is a serious thing.

The whole time I am preaching, I am exhausted. While I was dynamic and on fire 8 hours ago, tonight I am tired, taking my time to make my points. Perhaps it is just as well, it created a more serious mood. I don’t want people to get worked up emotionally, I want people to have rugged faith centered on the Word of God, not how well I can build them up to a frenzy.

We have the prayer line and pray for everyone in the building as far as I know. All the ministers gathered in a line as people walked through. Some I thought were about to be overcome and faint, but actually they ended up having fits as described in Matt 17:15 for instance. A few brothers break off from the prayer line to help control the first sister. It happens to another and another. If it keeps up at this rate, we are going to run out of brothers to pray. There are only three or four this happens to by the grace of God.

Africa is so different. They have so much idol worship. We see so little of this kind of thing in the US, but it is almost common here. It feels like the wild west.  We finish praying, and the brothers are still dealing with the demons in a few sisters. Finally, one returns to her right mind, she is delivered. The others are taken to the back area. I know one was still screaming out when I left. The torment they go through sometimes is so terrible. If you have seen what I have seen, and what these brothers see on a normal basis, you would run from sin! You would run from worshiping idols!

I love the end of a good convention. The songs of victory in the camp. Everyone feels so good, so happy, so free. It is so wonderful. Bro Gilbert is jumping up and down as the people sing a song of praise. I cannot jump. The Spirit was willing, but there was no way I was going to do that to my stomach, and I am tired enough as it is.

I greeted as many people as I could before leaving. I wanted them to know they are not alone.

I went back to the hotel and took another Cipro since it said two per day. I’m so tired, we’re leaving at 5 in the morning. It’s almost midnight. I finish packing my things and fall into bed.

And I don’t sleep.

At all.

Why can I not sleep? I was so tired!!

Around 3:30 I remembered Cipro gives me insomnia.

I think I slept an hour or so, and then my alarm goes off. Now we go to Burkina.

Next Ghana Post: Day 6 – Travel to Ouagadougou