JIL Pastors’ Congress 2013
Every year, the phenomenal has been commonplace in every JIL Pastors’ Congress. To expect for anything less than this when hundreds of pastors gather for the glory of our Lord would be shortchanging the power of the Living God.
But this year, it was different. It was more than phenomenal. It was revolutionary.
A revolutionary message
Had the speakers cried out for peace, the Congress would have been as mind-blowing and dynamic as it has always been. But they did not.
They cried, of all things, for war.
They cried for an all-out war for righteousness to prevail… for GOD to be lifted high. In the Church, in the eight pillars of society, in all the earth –
- Urging every pastor to consecrate their lives in service to the one true God, Rev. Joey Crisostomo cried for a Revolution of Righteousness in One’s Calling
- Upholding the faith expressions given by God to this church born from His very heart, Rev. Bobot Bernardo cried for a Revolution of Righteousness in Our Doctrines
- Acknowledging God’s distinct calling for the JIL Church, Rev. Bong Gonzales cried out for a Revolution of Righteousness in the Ministry
- Trumpeting the same cry, Dr. Dory Villanueva’s teaching caused a disturbance in the tranquility of each pastor’s heart that they may answer the call for a Revolution of Righteousness in Our Devotion to God.
- And capping it all off, Bishop Bro. Eddie Villanueva admonished every pastor that a revolution of righteousness starts from within, from a life fully yielded to the Living God.
The revolutionary response
And so the revolution began.
There was no shedding of blood, only tears. There was no breaking of bodies, only hearts.
As the Holy Spirit swept over the place, hands lifted up in abandonment, knees bent in submission and hearts bowed in surrender. Everywhere, pastors were giving their everything to God and pledging their lives in faithful service to Him.
It was a moment to behold.
It was the moment when God’s mighty army was stirred up and built up: an army of pastors who were, are, determined to fight for God’s cause… resolved to endure anything for God’s purposes… and happy to live – even pay the price – for God’s glory.
Their revolutionary power
Unlike every mighty army known to man, this army held no guns; they had no bullets or any form of destructive ammunition. Their forts and citadels hold no arsenals or artilleries. By every worldly standard, they can’t possibly be a mighty army – weaponless and defenseless as they seemed.
But they are mightier than any army this world has ever known for they are not powerless. Because they have the greatest power of all:
The Almighty GOD, who –
created the heavens and the earth by His power (Jeremiah 32:17);
is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4); and
has actually overcome the world (John 16:33).
And He is sure to bring His army to victory.
A revolutionary result
Clothed with righteousness in their calling, equipped with righteousness in doctrines, briefed with righteousness in the ministry, armed with righteousness in devotion and fortified with these foundational principles in war: that there are no battles worth fighting for more worthy than those fought in the name of the Lord our God and that, there are no strategies of war that can truly bring down the enemies unless they are fought by men and women of God who fight in complete surrender to the Living God.
With this great power backing them, JIL pastors are now, more than ever before, geared up as they fulfill God’s divine calling in their lives – fighting the good fight of faith, trampling the works of the enemy, and bringing peoples closer to Jesus Christ – all for God’s glory!