About Pastors Praying Together

September - Since arriving in Athens in January I have been building relationships with various pastors here. Last month we finally got together and prayed for one another and our city. Unity is an important part of expressing God's kingdom in the city. Psalm 133 says that it is a good and pleasant thing when brothers dwell in unity, so much so that God bestows a blessing with it!!! Jesus said that a house divided cannot stand (Matthew 12:25), implying a house that is united does stand! It is truly a beautiful and powerful thing when lead/senior pastors get together and pray! Yesterday, we had our second of such meetings in Athens and here is the testimony of one of the pastors afterwards...

PRAYER IS POWERFUL

In two weeks I will be talking about the Power of Prayer in our B30X series…Today I EXPERIENCED it first hand. Just returned to my office from praying with 10 different Pastors, all from Athens - WOW!!!!!!

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It was RAW…it was REAL…it was from “the gut.” It was POWERFUL & AMAZING to pray TOGETHER, BOLDLY, and UNSELFISHLY (that’s hard for pastors). My day will NOT be the same as a result!! We cried out to God to do something GREAT in our CITY. We begged God to help MEN to be the leaders in their families and this community God has called them to be. We asked God to protect MARRIAGES. We prayed that our generation would hand off well the promises of God to the NEXT GENERATION! We asked FORGIVENESS for our pride, prejudice, performance mentality, and lack of unity at times. We prayed that the WORD OF GOD would be preached BOLDLY and LIVES WOULD BE TRANSFORMED. BOO YAH!!!

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…special thanks to Steve Smith for the vision, persistence, and courage to get us there!!

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I don’t know everything that happened in Acts 2…I’m sure it will be debated until Jesus comes and I’m sure for many it was out of their comfort zone. I DO KNOW, though, that God showed up and showed off. I DO KNOW HIS POWER was UNLEASHED like NEVER BEFORE. I DO KNOW HE got ALL THE GLORY!! If I’ve got to be humiliated – so be it. If we’ve got to get out of our comfort zones – let’s do it!! BUT WHATEVER IT TAKES, let’s PRAY TOGETHER as one and BEG GOD BOLDLY as His church that our generation would experience HERE and NOW an UNLEASHING of GOD’s POWER that the church 2000 years from now will still be talking about!!

Jim Carpenter

Lead Pastor - Compass Church

Athens, GA

http://www.compasschurch.com/

09 September 2010

The Vine

August - It has been awesome journeying with David Walters over these past several months. David is the Lead Pastor of The Vine. We intially made contact before we ever moved to Georgia, but didn't actually meet until this past January. We have been meeting regularly ever since. The Vine is the church where the rest of our family attends in Braselton, which is about 45 minutes from our home in Athens.I consider myself blessed to know Steve Smith. I know that Steve’s sole desire for our relationship is encouragement and support of me, and he accomplishes those two things each time we meet. In Steve, I have found a man who seeks the Lord with all his heart. The overflow of his faith is the most encouraging aspect of our time together. Yet, during our time spent together, he’s also proven to be a resource of wisdom, revelation, and encouragement. Whether it’s a question he asks, a word that he shares, or a prayer that he offers, I always leave feeling challenged to grow deeper in my walk with Christ, better equipped to do ministry, and ready to face the challenges of pastoral leadership. I am grateful to God for Steve Smith and what he offers the Kingdom of God!

David Walters
Lead Pastor – The Vine

Braselton, GA

http://www.connecttothevine.org/