If you have ever attended one of our Ignite the Supernatural Conferences or attended another meeting when I’ve taught on the subject of the importance of the anointing, you’ve heard me tell about the time that I received a call from a lady asking me to officiate the memorial service for her nephew. In this phone call I learned that just a few days earlier her nephew had been beaten to death by his mother and her live-in boyfriend. The reason for the family to ask me to do this service was due to the fact that the 10-year-old boy had a few weeks earlier attended one of our weekend services. It was in this service, one of our Easter Extravaganza services, that the boy heard a Gospel message for the very first and only time in his life. Up to that service, he had never attended a church service or heard a message about Jesus.
The young boy came to our service because of a unique bait, a massive candy drop from a helicopter. Once at our service, our ministry team used creative tools to share the message An Empty Cross and an Empty Tomb for an Empty Heart. Upon receiving the phone call about the boy’s death, I immediately cried out to God longing to have His assurance that the bait and the tools were accompanied with a strong anointing, one that would touch and change this young boy’s heart as I led the children in the sinner’s prayer at the end of the service.
I love the fact that we do the candy drop and drop 45,000 pieces of candy out of a helicopter in our three services. It is an extremely unusual way to draw a ton of children to church. I so enjoy the creative tools used to deliver the Easter message. It brings out the kid in me. But, the bait and the tools without the anointing is unproductive. It is still true … it’s not the bait or the tools, but rather it is the anointing that destroys and annihilates the yoke of bondage (Isaiah 10:27).
In the April 13, 2009 blog entry The Bait, The Tools, The Anointing I tell about our Easter Extravaganza weekend. This year, I’ve videotaped a brief overview of this exciting Easter celebration. Take a couple of minutes to watch a brief overview of a service. I hope that this stirs up some creativity in you for your next Easter celebration.
