Each one I’ve been present at has filled me with joy, excitement and encouragement, but I struggle to find words to express how I felt this past Ministry night. For those of you who weren’t there, I will do my best to give you a glimpse of what we experienced on that night.

Nearly every chair is taken, although few people sit. The air feels electric with anticipation of the praise service that is about to come and it isn’t long until we are clapping, shouting and dancing in praise to the Lord with a joy that cannot be contained.

Pastor Don read from Psalm 27, “And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. When You said, “Seek My face”, my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, will I seek.”

Pastor Don shared how we are in a war. But as it says in 2 Corinthians 10, we do not wage war as the world does. This war is in the spiritual realm. And thus came a call to battle like few of us have ever seen.

When the Israelites went in to defeat the city of Jericho, God commanded that the priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns, otherwise known as a shofar. When the people heard the sound of the shofar, they were to give a loud shout. The children of Israel followed God’s command and as we all know, that is when the walls of Jericho fell.

So on this night, the stage at FFM filled with people. Some lined up behind a row of drums, others stood in line… ready to pray. The music changed from praise and worship music to the steady beat of a military march. Pastor Don raised the shofar and sounded the call to battle. It was quiet at first, but as the call of the rams’ horn reached a crescendo, I felt a trembling as the two hundred warriors of God surrounding me shouted with a mighty shout. Even the ground felt as if it was shaking beneath my feet.

Throughout the evening, my mind kept turning to the second chapter of Joel. In a day of darkness and gloom, an army comes. Joel describes it like dawn spreading across the mountains such as never was of old, nor ever will be in ages to come. They charge like warriors, scale walls like soldiers. They march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other, each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks… The Lord thunders at the head of His army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey His command.