A Week of Awakening, Reckoning, and Revival.

Last week here at Ellerslie was THE week. By THE week, I mean the week that usually occurs during the third week each semester in which revival among the student body basically takes place. On Monday the Spirit of God really descended and convicted many students. Eric had given a sermon titled “The Power to Forgive” that Sunday, which convicted many people of their unforgiveness and bitterness. We spent around 5 hours in confession. On Tuesday, the whole morning was again spent in confession of sin. Then, in the afternoon the dean of women here, lovely Sandi, gave the girls the Gospel. While most of us grew up in the church, we had never really heard the fullness of the Gospel. The aspect of the Gospel that is typically left out is that Jesus came to deliver us from the power of sin, not just the penalty. Many people had gotten to the point of the “dark night of the soul,” meaning they finally recognized that they could not live the Christian life in their own strength, were utterly helpless, and needed power.  The Gospel is what got many people through. Then, on Wednesday, Eric gave the message “Canon,” which basically showed how every prophecy in the Old Testament about Jesus lines up perfectly with what He fulfilled in the New Testament, proving that He is the Word of God and can be absolutely trusted. There is a notion in the Emergent church today that the Bible isn’t completely true, that it’s just a narrative. Canon proves this false. The Bible is the final word on the matter. It is absolutely perfect. On Thursday, Eric took the guys through Reckoning with Truth (Romans 6 says, “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.), while the girls spent time in specific confession together. Finally, on Friday everyone had broken through. Therefore, we spent the morning sharing testimonies of His faithfulness and victory. It was such an incredible week! Jesus greatly moved upon the student body.

One amazing thing happened during confession on Monday. A guy in the body got up to confess unforgiveness toward his parents, who had abandoned him when he was young and who grew up in the foster care system. He started sobbing and could not forgive them. It was really sad to see all the hurt people had to forgive as a result of parents and especially fathers. However, Eric walked up to him, wiped his nose, and spoke truth into his life. All the men got up out of their seats, laid hands on him, and prayed. All the girls prayed from our seats until he had a break through and allowed Jesus to forgive through him. It was an amazing time, and it was even more amazing to see Eric’s father heart.

I am so expectant for this week and know that God will continue to move mightily in our midst! We have truly become unified as a body. It’s amazing to see us all working together, fixed upon Jesus. 

The men praying for one guy's break through.