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10 Dec Today is the Day of the Holy Spirit!

Posted at 20:15h in Revival by Billy Burns 0 Comments
People responding to the salvation altar call Sunday morning
at El Pacto in Bogota, Colombia

 I’m tired … or beyond tired … I’m exhausted. A few hours ago, Vickie and I got back home from our first South America Ignite the Supernatural Conference held in Bogota, Colombia.

I wish that you could have been with us. The Holy Spirit “outdid” Himself as children’s ministry workers from churches all around Bogota attended sessions Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday morning. It was amazing to see God ignite a passion for raising up a Joel 2 generation. As if that wasn’t enough, schedules were interrupted by Holy Spirit “suddenlies”, people were healed, and many were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

What we witnessed in Bogota is being seen in our conferences around the country. The Holy Spirit loves to demonstrate that He is a today Holy Spirit. He is confirming that He is looking for places to fulfill His God-given assignment in the earth. When desperate, hungry people come together, anything can happen!

This hunger is genuine. This hunger is global. Children’s ministry leaders are tired of the business-as-usual mentality. They recognize that there must be more. This hunger is made evident to me in several ways:

  1. People from all over the globe are looking for a way to ignite and fan the flames of a Holy Spirit fire in their ministry. Their dissatisfaction and desperation are bringing many of them to our national Ignite the Supernatural Conference on January 31 – February 2. Like those in Acts 2, they know that when hungry, desperate people come together to expect the unexpected the Holy Spirit will show up. For more information on the conference, go to www.ignite-conference.com.
  2. People from all over the globe are searching for others with the same passion. That’s made evident when people from 11 nations and 26 states in the United States read this blog. People are looking for someone to articulate their desires and give direction to raise up a Joel 2 generation. I don’t know how that they are finding out about this blog. Perhaps you are telling your friends.

Vickie and I are so glad that we went to Colombia. We are convinced that what we saw in our last meeting of 2007 is only a foreshadow of what God is going to do in 2008. To quote T.D. Jakes, “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” Our national conference in Orlando and our 2008 regional meetings are going to be out-of-this-world!

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03 Dec Supernatural Tour Guides

Posted at 13:33h in Leadership, Revival by Billy Burns 0 Comments

If you’ve ever been in one of our Ignite conferences, you’ve heard me tell about a trip that Vickie and I made to Romania. Let me set the scene for this trip. This trip was pre-9/11. The traveling rules were quite different. We were allowed 3 bags each with each bag weighing up to 70 pounds. This trip was made before luggage had wheels. You have the picture. Two travelers. Six pieces of very heavy luggage. Too much luggage for just two people. It was a comedy in the making!

Our travel agent, Joanne, booked our flight reservations and made it possible for us to spend a night in London on the way to Romania. Upon arriving in London, Vickie and I secured our luggage, used the airport carts to transport the luggage to the bus, and then rode the bus to the closest drop-off spot to our hotel. Much to our surprise, the closest spot wasn’t close at all. It was blocks away. Are you picturing this? For blocks, Vickie and I inched our way to the hotel. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

What caused this fiasco? Joanne had no idea about how children’s ministry workers travel. We carry a ton of props to use in our meetings and leave behind for the local teachers. Joanne also was sending us to a place she had never been. She had no idea of the great distance between the bus stop and hotel. Her lack of knowledge caused us major frustration.

I use this story to teach that God has called us to be tour guides, not travel agents. What is the difference between the two? A travel agent will send people to a place where they’ve never been. A tour guide knows the trip and accompanies the people, pointing out the sites along they way.

As children’s ministry leaders, we can’t afford to have travel agent mentality. We can’t try to send our children to a place we’ve never been to experience things of the Spirit that we’ve never experienced. Instead, because of our passion for things of the Spirit, as tour guides we can echo the psalmist David when he said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” because we’ve tasted and experienced the joy of being in His presence.

Make time to enjoy being in His presence. Find time to lose yourself in Him. Pull away from the day-to-day routine of life so that you can see sights that you’ve never seen, taste the fruit of heaven about which you’ve only read. Then, let’s take our children to these places to experience the taste of heaven. Let’s be tour guides of the Spirit!

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26 Nov Demonstrations of the Holy Spirit

Posted at 03:05h in Revival by Billy Burns 0 Comments

I don’t get or make many opportunities to go to the movies. It’s just not a priority to me. The ticket price isn’t really the drawback although tickets for 3 people and the required popcorn and soft drinks is a chunk of money. My drawback is the time factor. Before the main feature ever begins, they show 10 to 15 minutes of movie trailers or promos telling us what it coming in the near future. When it is all said and done, it is easy to spend a bunch of money and a LOT of time for a halfway good movie.

A few months ago, I really felt challenged by the Holy Spirit to start each service or conference with a Holy Spirit trailer or promo telling what is coming during our time together. I heard the Holy Spirit say to read 1 Corinthians 2:4 and let them know to expect demonstrations of the Spirit and power during that meeting. In doing this trailer, I would create an atmosphere in which the Holy Spirit can manifest His presence.

In every service, the Holy Spirit wants to demonstrate His presence. Remember that Paul said that it wasn’t his words that was going to affect the Corinthians. Elijah demonstrated this reality in 1 Kings 18. His preaching to the people and asking, “How long are you going to flounder back and forth between Baal and God?” didn’t cause any change in the people’s hearts. But, once God showed up and demonstrated His presence with the fire from heaven, people fell on their face before God in repentance.

I challenge you to start expecting the Holy Spirit to demonstrate His presence. Announce it to the children in your ministry. Then, make room for Him to show up. The Holy Spirit will not disappoint you!

One more thing. Have you told your Senior Pastor that we are offering free registration to Senior Pastors for the 2008 Ignite the Supernatural Conference? EVERYTHING that is being taught could have a huge impact on the future of the church. For details, Senior Pastors can visit www.ignite-conference.com/pastors.

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22 Nov I’m Thankful!

Posted at 23:44h in Family by Billy Burns 0 Comments

It’s Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. I know that I promote that the blog will come out each Monday. I felt bad for a few minutes about being so late this week until I spent time checking out the other children’s ministry blogs on the web. Most blogs that I found are as regular and predictable as a snowstorm in Houston. It does happen, but not too often. So, the feelings of regret and remorse didn’t stick around for too long.

It is Thanksgiving Day. Vickie and I are up in Lakeland, Florida having the times of our lives. We have so much to be thankful for. Vickie and Elisabeth cooked a meal fit for a king. I guarantee that NO ONE can make a better turkey and dressing than Vickie! I won’t even begin to brag on her pies. I’ll just say that my waist was a whole lot smaller when I married her. Michael and I slept through the first quarter of the Cowboys/Jets game which proves that the Cowboys can win with or without me. I guess that Jason and Aaron were enough to motivate the Cowboys to another win. Our grandson Joey has been cranking out the smiles for us. What a day!

I need your help. We just mailed out over 1,500 brochures for the January Ignite the Supernatural Conference. While that is a lot of brochures, each of you knows someone that has yet to hear about the conference. Help us by pointing your friends to the website www.ignite-conference.com. There’s not another conference like this in the nation. Let them know that they can register before December 1 for a special discounted registration rate.

One more thing. Help us get the word out that we are offering free registration to Senior Pastors. For details, Senior Pastors can visit www.ignite-conference.com/pastors.

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12 Nov Timing Is EVERYTHING!

Posted at 11:17h in Revival by Billy Burns 2 Comments

Here’s a profound revelation … timing is EVERYTHING. We’ve all experienced it. We’ve probably kicked ourselves a million times because we’ve let the “opportunity of a lifetime” slip through our fingers. Indecision, procrastination, or improper prioritization allowed a great opportunity to pass us by. Just a couple of weeks ago, I missed a tremendous buy on extremely discounted Halloween props that would have been a big help in the ministry. How did it happen? I was too busy and kept procrastinating. When I finally got around to it, everything was gone.

As I was driving the 10 hour trip back home yesterday from our second Ignite the Supernatural Regional Conference held in Panama City, Florida, I began to think about a song that we used to sing when I was growing up. The song said, “Pass me not o gentle Savior, hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.”

With moves of God, timing is everything. The old-time Pentecostals used to use the phrase “jump in while the waters are troubled”. Blind Bartimaeus was at the right place at the right time and received his healing. Zacchaeus was at the right place at the right time and was forever changed. Procrastination, indeciveness, or wrong prioritization would have cost them everything.

Right now, there is a mighty revival being birthed for children’s ministry. The “waters are troubled”. I see pockets of Holy Ghost activity sprouting up in children’s ministries around the country. It’s time to shout out to God, “Don’t pass me by.” We can’t miss out. We can’t be too busy. We can’t have greater priorities. We’ve got to do whatever it takes to become a part of this latter rain of the Spirit.

I’d love to join with you to see this happen in your ministry. I’m only an email away … bburns561@aol.com.

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