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A.L. and I have often wondered what the Mountain Top Encounters are all about.
We love coming into the presence of God. People tell us how much these times
mean to them, but still, in the back of our minds we were wondering about God's purpose. These meetings are not like any other meetings we hold. Then one night in the hotel elevator, Stan began to speak prophetically to us. We were so encouraged by his word from the Lord that we asked him if he could put it into writing. For many years, this word has been an encouragement to both of us.
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A.L. and Joyce Gill move in a little known gift of the Holy Spirit: the ability to orchestrate the flow of the Holy Spirit in a meeting. Galatians 3:5 tells about this gift: He who supplies the Spirit among you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
The word supplies in this text, is taken from the Greek word epichorigeo, a word related to our word choreography. The most literal meaning of the word is to supply further or to super-add. Perhaps a more vivid way to translate it is with the word orchestrate, just as a symphony composer adds each instrument to achieve the desired effect.
Some might wonder if Galatians 3:5 is referring to God and not man. Can man supply or orchestrate the flow of the Holy Spirit? Can man work miracles? Paul’s question makes it clear that he is talking about gifts God has given to man, for it is man and not God who operates “by the hearing of faith.”
For many years, Papa Gill and Mom Joyce have hosted the “Mountain Top Encounters” for believers who are hungry for more of God. In each encounter, we have heard A.L. or Joyce announce, “We don’t understand why God doesn’t let us choose our speakers before the conference begins. Who ever heard of meetings where they don’t announce who the speakers are going to be?”
Each conference is full of attendees who could easily be the featured speaker – certainly A.L. and Joyce are well qualified to speak in every meeting – but God has called them to look to Him for guidance in each encounter, one meeting at a time.
The meetings have flowed in surprising directions. The focus might be kingdom principles in business, accessing the throne room, or prayer for the nations. Some meetings have not had a speaker, but have been a string of testimonies, or a prolonged session of prophetic worship. Some meetings have released financial breakthroughs as we have learned principles of sowing and reaping. Many meetings have led to a release of the gifts of the Spirit in prophecy or healing.
The key word is flow. The Holy Spirit causes one part of the meeting to flow into the next. Often we see divine orchestration as the meeting develops, expanding like a symphony and then returning again and again to a defining theme.
This means A.L. and Joyce are required to walk a narrow road, listening for God to speak the unexpected but not allowing the meeting to be derailed by people who have an agenda or an itch to be heard. With love they affirm all who attend the conferences, but with wisdom and a hearing-ear they steer the meeting in a direction that releases an apostolic impartation to the whole congregation.
I have attended many of the Mountain Top Encounters and believe I know why God has led Papa Gill and Mom Joyce to flow in the Spirit as they do: He is using them to model the flow of the Spirit for the rest of us. Many of us who attend are ministers or missionaries. Most of us were trained that a meeting should be praise and worship, announcements, preaching, and an altar call. The Gills have modeled a higher way for all of us, demonstrating a more intimate level of being led by the Spirit.
And I believe we are taking this sensitivity to the Spirit to the places where God has called us. Sometimes as my wife and I lead a meeting, I say to myself, This looks like the way A.L. and Joyce would do this… It’s not that we consciously try to copy them; it’s that they have imparted their gift of orchestrating the flow of the Spirit, and it comes naturally to us to follow their example.
It’s a time of transition in the church. More than ever, we need to approach God with a listening-ear. We need to let Him fine-tune our sensitivity and our obedience to the Holy Spirit. A.L. and Joyce Gill are modeling the kind of leadership the church will need in the new and glory-filled season we are entering.
Stan Smith
http://gospelsmith.com/
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