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Writer's pictureDoug Burroughs

And a good time was had by all...

This weekend was a home run by all accounts. From the opening worship and teachings on Friday night to the “fire tunnel” on Sunday evening and the aftermath, you could sense it in the atmosphere, God was up to something. 


I though t it might be good to unpack a little from the weekend in our column and see how we might strategize to get the most out of what took place. 

David and Narelle Crabtree, who were our guests this weekend, are world class, high level leaders. Having access to them both in proximity physically and spiritually was a wonderful upgrade for Fusion and its culture. 


One of the prominent themes from this weekend was about the preeminence of grace, what Martin Luther and the reformers referred to as “sola gratia” (grace alone). Now, for some that have unfortunately experienced cultures where grace is expounded, but the development of the character of Christ is not, this could be alarming. But, if you listen to the depth of David’s flyover teaching (found on our Fusion Facebook page), you begin to see that grace, rather than being a license to sin as some propose, becomes a means to experience holiness and fulness like never before. 


The key? God’s empowering presence is the definition of grace that David used. What is that? The Holy Spirit, God Himself in us and we in Him. Empowerment is about presence. Healing is about presence. Prophecy is about His presence. 


Narelle graced us with two amazing allegorical prophetic teachings: the first about the process of renewing wineskins and the second about aspens. Both had prophetic implications for our people (yours truly, too), as well as corporately. The process of the wineskin of having the spout taken off (losing your voice), being turned inside out to expose the vulnerable bits of you, having a double edged knife take off problem areas, like the word of God, a two edged sword. Then the skin is submerged in living, running water, soaked and saturated. Next, oil is rubbed into it until it becomes malleable again - the water and oil being symbols of the Holy Spirit. Finally, the skin is returned to its former status with the spout returned (your voice). 


There is so much more. How can I retell what took place in sixteen plus hours over three days? The sense of presence we experienced, especially Saturday night, when we broke through as a people to a new place, was exquisite. 


FOMO (the fear of missing out) is a thing. But we prayed that people who weren’t, or couldn’t attend would receive everything God had for us on this weekend.