Transforming Together: A New Cleansing Stream Community

Ninety-four people just completed our fall Cleansing Stream retreat weekend.  It was a great weekend with the Lord bringing healing and freedom to both retreat participants and ministry team members.  It is always such a privilege to watch God do what only He can do, work healing and spiritual transformation that leads to new joy and freedom in Christ.

 

On the last topic of the weekend, I reminded everyone that there are two battles to win, one is to get free, the other is to stay free.  In the years that I have been doing healing and deliverance ministry, I am convinced the more difficult battle to win is to stay free.  There are probably many explanations for this but at least 2 of them would be the following.  In the process of getting free, we are usually in a closed environment that has been, and is being, covered with intercessory prayer by many people.  In other words, the Holy Spirit has both our attention and the freedom to minister without the distractions and spiritual resistance found in our normal settings.  In addition, we are connected to a community of like-minded followers of Jesus who are pursuing the same goals.  The collective spiritual experience of the community far exceeds anything we would normally have on our own and in a sense carries us along.  We aren’t reliant solely on our spiritual maturity and feelings in the moment but can lean on others for encouragement and strength in those times when we are struggling.  One of the oldest battle strategies around is “divide and conquer.”  The devil is a master at it because he knows if he can get us isolated it is only a matter of time before he will find a time where we are vulnerable.

 

With these dynamics in mind, I also announced the upcoming launch of Transformed Together, a new community for all Cleansing Retreat alumni. The overall goal for this time is to help people live out the healing and freedom they received going through the Cleansing Stream seminar and retreat, while they continue to grow in discipleship. The Cleansing Stream course reflects core faith issues that provide the foundation to live a life of fruitful discipleship.  But for most of us, it takes considerable time and attention to begin the process of applying these truths to our daily experience of family, work, and play.  Knowing our true identity as a follower of Jesus is huge but if that truth does not live in our hearts it will have little impact on our experience of life.  We need to experience a heart transformation that comes as we meditate on God’s truth day and night while practicing the faith and courage to live out those truths in the various settings of our lives.  We are more likely to experience victory if we are connected to a community of people pursuing the same goals and purposes.

 

Each month we will move closer to the abundant life Jesus died to give us by re-examining in greater detail the core teachings of the Cleansing Stream seminar and by establishing plans to make them a reality in our lives.  As we live unoffended at God and others, experience the heart of the Father, speak words of life, commit our whole lives to God and walk in forgiveness, each step will increase our experience of peace and joy.Save the date for January 15, 2019, when we will launch Transformed Together.  We will meet from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Heritage Chapel at Thanksgiving church.   More details will be available after the first of the year or feel free to contact me at bruce@godslivingstones.org.