We need all of the generation. Yes. We need the older, but we also need the younger. And you know, there's no miniature Holy Spirit. True. The same Spirit that lives in our young people are in all of us. And so God wants to do far more than what we can imagine. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] God promises in Joel 2.28 to pour out His Spirit on all humanity. Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend for that promise outpouring.
We equip for that outpouring so that we may engage in that promised outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss. Welcome to the podcast today. We have with us today our dear friends, Don and Catherine James. They've been pastoring for a number of years, and one of their favorite people groups to pastor is Young People. And they're going to be leading our youth retreat that's coming up August 9th through 12th.
And we want you to help us contend in the Spirit and in prayer for this generation, because it's time for this generation to awaken. And we want to equip them to have them ready for the outpouring. Thank you for joining us today. Before we get started, we want to encourage you to go to our website, globaloutpouring.net, and make sure that you have joined our email lists so that we can keep you informed of what's going on, and you can correspond with us.
There's also a feedback place there on that page. And you can email us at feedback at globaloutpouring.org so that we can keep you informed of all of the things that we're doing to help equip the saints and the prayer meetings that are going on so that you can join in if you're an intercessor. And the events that are coming up, some of them we stream, and some of them you just need to get here to our wonderful headquarters. We call it Angle Tall, the Valley of Angels.
It's a beautiful place in the Ozarks. So you're gonna want to come here for some of these events. So go to our website and keep up with what's going on. And the first thing that's coming up next is our youth retreat. We call it Generation Awakening. And Don and Catherine are going to be telling us all about it. So welcome to the Global Outpouring podcast, Don and Catherine James. Hi, I'm Don. And we call it Generation Awakening because meaning generation, the people born about the same time.
Awakening, well, you have the obvious, you wake up in the morning. But it's more, so much more than that. It's an act or a moment of suddenly becoming aware. And we pray into, we believe God, and we put forth opportunities for you to suddenly become aware of what God can do or what God is doing in you or through you. August 9th through the 12th is when the youth retreat will be a place where you can develop new friends, deep worship.
We're gonna go into great praise and worship to honor our King. We're gonna grow deeper in his word and experience God's glory. That's what we're believing God for. Yes. Amen. It's time to reunite. Retreat. Recharge. And reignite. To what God is doing in this season. Now we have workshops planned as well as meetings. Meetings will be in the morning and in the evening, and workshops in the afternoon. And we have a drama workshop. We have a dance workshop. We have an art workshop.
We have an axe throwing workshop. Axe throwing. Yeah, axe throwing. Yes. That's an unusual one. It'll be interesting to see how, because we believe God is in everything we do. Yes. And so even when we're doing fun things, God loves to be in the middle of it. Absolutely. So that is part of our workshops because we want to invite the Holy Spirit to be involved in everything that we're involved in. And praise and worship workshop, which I'm so excited about.
Good. Amen. So we have workshops for the afternoon. And our greatest weapon is prayer. Yes. That's contending. That's right. That's exactly what we're doing. We're contending for the prodigals to come home. It's time. It is past time. As a matter of fact, there's not anything that brings such agony when you have loved ones that are not walking with God in this day.
So we're not only contending for the prodigals to come home, but we're also believing God to bring those that know the Father, and we're gonna go deeper into what God has for each and every one of us. Yes. Well, that was really the message that came through at our convention was the importance of every individual waking up to the potential that God put inside of them because every individual has a sound and a way of expressing themselves that nobody else has. That's right. We're unique.
And we have to have every single piece of the puzzle in order for the big picture to show up. Absolutely. So we need everybody. And that's why we want the young people to come. Absolutely. We need all of the generation. Yes. We need the older, but we also need the younger. And you know, there's no miniature Holy Spirit. True. The same spirit that lives in our young people are in all of us. And so God wants to do far more than what we can imagine.
When you look at the word contend, it means to agonize. It means contending means to fight while standing on the very thing being assaulted. Wow. Isn't that powerful? Wow. That's a great definition. So we contend for the faith. We contend for the things of the spirit. We're contending for what God wants to do next in this season and time. Axe throwing. You may wonder, what does that have to do with God? Because it is a weapon. We really want to teach you about, you got a weapon.
It's called a sword of the spirit. Right. But you need to have some skill in doing something with it. Oh, that's good. Axe throwing. It's sharp. Okay. You gotta be careful. You may be a little timid about even trying it. So we're just trying to give people breakthroughs. That's good. And it really is a lot of fun because when you see others having fun, you will probably want to try it too. So we'd like to do things that are somewhat a step over this way or that because God is God of everything.
Absolutely. Not just people that show up in a building once in a while. He is God of this whole earth, including ax throwing. Wow. We're contending for the outpouring. You know, content also means to stretch. Yeah. And to strive. That's good. And so as it says in Joel 2, 28, and it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions.
And that's what we want to believe God for is that he is ready to pour out his spirit as we've already begun to taste the move of God that is taking place across the nations. We want to see that happen here in the valley. We want to see what God's gonna do next in this generation. We overcome by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony, and we love not our life to the death. So he's bringing us into a place as spoken of in Revelation 12, 11, that our testimony is powerful.
Yes. And how we overcome is through his word and blood. And out of that comes a testimony that overcomes the very thing that was set against us. Amen. Amen. And then we want to equip. We want to equip, and equip means to provide someone with what they need to fulfill their purpose. And that's not just any purpose, it's God given purpose. Amen. Our vision is training. Training includes teaching. It is about imparting skills, such as believing God to throw the ax and not be scared to death.
You are breaking through a barrier in your life. I would hope that anyone coming, that you would be praying, Lord, I want to prophesy. You told us to desire prophecy so that the church might be edified. And we want you to have the freedom. We'll stand with you. We'll lay hands on you. But we want you to increase in your gifting. We want you to see that you may not always see it. You may not see it at all, but your prayers make a difference.
They are part of your equipping because intimacy of God is achieved by prayer and spending time with God. And we need to know the difference between those two things. So the equipping is a major undergirding foundation for generation awakening. God's word is the foundation to equip us to be what we need to be in Him. In Psalms 119 verse nine, it says, how can a young man stay pure? Only by living in the word of God and walking in the truth. And we know the truth is His word.
And so we hope to just bring more light, more revelation, more of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Good, but many Christians go to church faithfully. They see, hear fantastic sermons, praise and worship. But sometimes if you're not seeing God touch you and move through you, then are you growing? Is it any more than this? But you've got to have someone maybe to encourage you in those breakthroughs.
That's what we are believing God for, to be enabled by the Holy Spirit to speak, to say the things that actually encourage you to go through the door, encourage you to get over some fears or anxieties, to encourage you. There's a whole lot more than Christianity than just knowing the words of the Bible, a whole lot more. Because when those words flow through you, you know it. And it touches you, it changes you.
It makes you feel like, wow, God, because you were His hand, you were His voice, you were a part of Him for a moment in time. There's nothing like it. In Colossians 1, verse nine, Paul writes and he says, since we first heard about you, we've kept you always in our prayers that you would receive the perfect knowledge of God's pleasure over your lives, making you reservoirs of every kind of wisdom and spiritual understanding.
We pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in every fruit bearing branches, yielding to His life and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in His fullness. We have been a part of this ministry for a really long time. And many of our young people are now parents. And many of their children could come to the youth retreat.
True. But when Paul said, we first heard about you, there are still young people that I know now are adults and they stay in touch with me. I love that. And I still carry them in my heart. Absolutely. Absolutely, I understand what Paul is saying here. We only want others to stand on our shoulders and spring forth and become all that God's called them to be.
And that's what the youth retreat is about, is about springing forward and becoming what God has called you individually to be because God is personal. Amen. In Proverbs 13, 14, I love this. When the lovers of God teach you truth, a fountain of life opens up within you and their wise instruction will deliver you from the ways of death. In this particular conference, everybody that's coming is volunteering.
Yes. Because they love their generation, because some of the young people are sharing through this week. Yeah. And I love what you do, that you're always promoting the young people and giving them the opportunity to begin to minister. And they're not just watching, they're participating. No, we want them on the mission fields. We want them sharing the word. And they have to have a safe place to come forth. Yeah, and to learn. And that's what this valley has always provided, this ministry.
It's provided a safe place. You know, it's not about failing. Right. It's about, we're all gonna fall down. Right. We're all gonna make mistakes. We're all gonna miss the mark and sin occasionally. Hopefully only occasionally. Only occasionally, that's right. But the truth is, it's not about falling down. It's about how quick you get back up. Those words have rung in my heart. I've heard you say that before. And they have rung in me and I've repeated them over and over again. Well, they're true.
Yeah. Amen. Because God has given us every provision to become what he's called us to be. Right. He's given us our blood, his blood for protection. Yes. He's given us his blood for our forgiveness. Right. When we repent. He's given us the word and the foundation to stand on and grow from. And every time you go through the Bible, you see something you've never seen before. It's true. Because it's living. But he doesn't want you to stop there. Amen. These are just his letters.
He wants us to know him, to spend time with him. Yes. To fellowship with him. To invite the Holy Spirit. Yes. To invade our lives in such a way that allows God to direct us. And as we hear his voice, obey. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. So what age group are we talking about? We are inviting 15 year olds and older. And we'll go to 30ish. Yeah. Young adults. Young adults. Because so often, our single people get left out. And so we've continued to love our single people especially.
Although I have to say, just because of the fact that we didn't announce this as soon as we would have liked. We've invited some of our married couples who have met each other here to come. But this time there's some conflict. So be on the lookout. Conflict in that they're not able to come. In their schedule. Exactly. Yes, in their schedule. But they contacted me and let me know that they're praying for us. Sweet. And believing God for a mighty move of his spirit during this week. Wonderful.
And we've seen such tremendous moves of the spirit. Yes we have. Yeah. People's lives have changed. Absolutely. We've had people come so broken and leave so changed. Glory to God. And that is just a beautiful testimony of what God can do in just a few days. It's true. Very true. Yes. And so often you'll come and make friends that you'll keep for a lifetime. That's true. Yeah. People that will encourage you. And be in the same vein that you're in concerning the things of God. Right.
And then when you have to say goodbye to each other for just a season. You can still stay in contact and be encouraged and strengthened. Yeah. And these days it's a whole lot easier to stay in contact than it used to be. That's the truth. Amen. Yeah. Technology has made it so much easier. Now we want to engage. And engage means attract. Involve someone's interest or attention. To become involved in. To offer something such as one's life or word.
Engage means to be heavily and positively influenced by the word of God. Amen. To facilitate meaningful encounters so that Galatians 4 19, until Christ be fully formed in your hearts. Exactly. In you and me. We should live as ambassadors of God's redemption in this world. Amen. Amen. Good word. There was once a TV show about Star Trek. And when the captain of the ship was ready to go forward and to put motion to this monster ship, he would say engage.
Ooh. And what engage means was you take in what you know and you put it to work. James wonderfully told us that look, faith without works is dead faith. Yeah. Right. Because I'll show you my faith by my works. And it's not yet takes faith for salvation, but that's only the beginning of Christianity. There is so much more. Doing the stuff lights your fire. It causes you to burn bright. Not just be bright, but burn bright. Because it burns in your heart.
Because you can't believe you were a part of something like that. Yeah. And so when we talk about engage, we talk about doing the Christian principles you read about in the Bible. Not just reading about them or hear about them or someone telling you ought to be doing that. We're going to participate in exercises or do training that allows you to gain at least a step into that world.
And we're in an environment where, I doubt very seriously, unless you try to burn down the building, there's nothing you can do that I can't undo. Okay? It's okay. It is a safe place to develop what God wants you to be. Because each one of you was fearfully and wonderfully made. Amen. We shouldn't look alike too much, but we should be all of a sudden that principle, which is central, is like a rose bush that blooms.
You got short branches, you got long branches, you got lots of leaves, you got few leaves, you got different sized buds, you got so many differences. Roses are blooming over here, other side of the bush, they haven't quite started yet. There is differentiations of any expression of the gifts of God. And that's Bible, by the way, it tells us that. And so we are believing for when you come, you will leave differently because of some of the things that God have done.
We had one meeting that was literally this open vision and multiple people had the vision of the same picture from different aspects. And it was amazing, and I had the same vision too. So when they started talking, first thing I do is started asking them questions about what they saw.
And it was all the same color, it was all the same shape, even though that word could mean different things, we narrowed it down to, we're all talking about the same thing that we all saw in a vision all separately without talking or communicating in any way. And it was amazing. I mean, I couldn't hardly see how it was the whole thing because it's so amazing when young people step into a world they never known before.
They have an experience that they, oh, they heard about somebody doing that, but they didn't know if God did that or not. And now it's being done to them. That's why growing and being equipped and then engaging is all about. That's beautiful, and we were at Asbury some months ago. It had only been going, what about, we're at the ninth or 10th day or something like that. And just seeing the youth, these are unchurched kids, a lot of them.
A lot of them have not, they're just not brought up like we were and all that. But just how the Holy Spirit just working on them and the level they can understand because it wasn't anything that we saw demonstrative. I know there's a few things here or there, but as a general rule, it was just this most amazing presence of God touching people that have never felt anything before. And that's what was cleaning them up.
And they said the two biggest things their kids were dealing with was depression and suicide. And God was just moving, just a move like that. But somebody started it. Well, there were people contending in prayer. And when it starts, you need people that can minister to those. And that's where you can come in. Because when this move of God hits full, it's as Sharon would say, all hands on deck. Absolutely.
It's churches are just going to be, there's gonna be lines when the presence is poured out in the measure that is coming. So this is to get you ready. It's getting you ready for what is about to happen. It's true. And I just would like to encourage our listeners, if you're not a young person, or even if you are a young person, but you can't make it, be praying about this, be praying for this. Because we want to see the presence of God impacting lives for himself.
It's not even so much a matter of who says what or what actions happen, but the presence of God. That heavy weighty presence that just, you know, everybody has their own personal encounter with the living God. It is life changing. And we want to be contending for that presence to be there and yielding to him and making sure that everything is in order so that he can do everything he wants to do in the lives of the people that come. Because this needs to be life changing.
We need to be developing disciples and raising up people who are catching the wind of the spirit, catching what God has for them as individuals. Many people have the testimony of how they have received a call of God in this kind of a meeting. And just getting on track with God, getting onto understanding what his purpose for their life is. So we're expecting that to happen for these young people. And young adults. Amen. Amen. Oh, absolutely.
We want God to do far more than what we can expect because he does the impossible. Yes, he does. There's not a problem you have that God cannot bring healing, solutions, answers, direction. We serve a God that wants to meet with us daily to serve him, to love him. But we have to remember it's because he first loved us. Absolutely.
That we love him. Amen. Amen. Many times we think if we're doing something for God, we gotta go get somebody saved by talking to them and then praying with them for salvation. Or maybe even laying hands on them and them being healed. But engaging is so much more than that. It's literally just hear the voice of God, do what he said. Yes. I mean, literally simple things.
One day I was in a grocery store and I'm going back to the register and I've been in there like 10 times longer than I wanted to be already. And God says, turn down this aisle. So I turned down the aisle and I'm going, am I forgetting something, God? Is there something on my list I missed? Did Catherine tell me something? Why am I doing on this aisle? And all of a sudden I woke up to this little girl who was a shopper because the blue things were there in her little basket.
And her eyes were as big as quarters and she was frantic. And I look at her and say, can I help you? Because I'm wondering, is she having some sort of medical issue? I mean, is something really gargantuan going on? She says, I can't reach it, I can't reach it. Can you help me, can you help me? I'm going, I usually ask people to get stuff off the top shelf for me, but I'll do anything you want. What do you need, what do you need? And she points to some things on the top shelf.
So I said, you can't tell what I'm about to do. So I step on the lower shelf, which is a no-no, and I get all the things she needs. And I said, God really loves you. And just kept walking and she said, what? She couldn't understand the connection between God caring about her and such a little thing, which was so big for her, I thought she was having a heart attack. So I mean, really, she was really acting upset over something so small.
Again, I pull into a store, I get out, and there's a lady there in a wheelchair, emptying the groceries out of the basket. And she reaches down and gets the last item as I walk up to her. And I look at her and I look at the basket, I look at where the basket parking thing is. I said, wow, that's a long way. I look at her and said, ma'am, could I please take your basket over there for you? She said, would you? I said, yes, so I took it.
I went in the store and I only went in there for bananas of all things, but I like bananas. I come back out, I get to the van, it's still there. And I get to the woman who's still there and she's unloading a second basket. Oh my. And she was getting down to the last few items. And I just grin and chuckle. I said, ma'am, I take that basket for you. She says, you again? How'd you do that? I said, honey, I think God loves you an awful lot. And I went and take the basket and walk.
And sometimes I miss opportunities. I miss the opportunity if I'd had to do it over again. I'd stop and say, obviously, God's up to something in your life because this is really unusual. Can I pray for you? And it's about learning. You don't always get things right the first time. And it's about learning how to manifest God and whatever crazy scenario you find yourself in. It is not this nice, clean religious practice you may see in prayer lines and things because you're in the marketplace.
And there are no rules except God rules. That's the only rule. So you will be trained how to do this and get more and more comfortable, but you have to engage and do it for the first time. It's critical. Because you find that once you start, the Holy Spirit begins to quicken. Just a little nudge and you'll begin to realize that's the voice of the Lord. And none of us got there overnight. And the truth is is I still miss it.
But I'm quick to repent and say, oh God, I missed an opportunity, but I promise if you'll give me another chance, if you'll just give me one more time, just open that door one more time and I'll do anything you want me to do. And I keep saying, and please help me to get it right. Yes, yes. Amen. And you know what? The Holy Spirit helps us. He really does. And so that's what we're talking about when we talk about engaging. Yes, it is reading the word. Yes, it is prayer.
It's meditating on his word though. It's more than just reading. It's meditating and thinking about. And also asking the Holy Spirit when you're reading the word to speak to you. Yes. Amen. And by that I'm not being super spiritual. I'm just talking about you'll be reading the word and all of a sudden you'll have understanding that you didn't have the first or second or the 40th time you read it. Right. But all of a sudden it just speaks to you.
And you can know that's the voice of the Lord speaking through his word to you. Yes. And all of a sudden those words just pop out at you. Yeah. It's feeding your spirit man instead of feeding the flesh. Amen. Interacting with God daily. Bringing him into every situation you find yourself in. God is big enough. He can even handle a temper tantrum. Amen. Amen. It's true. You may not know I'm having a temper tantrum, but God does.
Yes. I am mature enough in the Lord to maybe not let you know it unless you're really sensitive. But I may be in my head going God. And he'll just, I can almost sometimes see him smile. Yeah. You know, when I act like a two year old, he's just smiling, letting me get over my flesh moment so that I can come back into that place of peace. Right. And rest. Engaging with God is equivalent to needing air to breathe. Oh yeah. If we would make that real in our life, we need God.
We must be intentional about engaging with God consistently. We prioritize him and give him a special place. Give him time and just reach out to touch him. You know, my wife taught me something once. She was having a hard week or two and she said, Don, it works. I said, what? And she would literally hug herself and say, God, come God and close her eyes. And the presence of God would show up. I mean, I started doing it going, wow.
Because it was revolutionary how that action could just give me the strength for any situation I would find myself in when I was out in the world. I had to make a scene out of it because people close their eyes all the time in public. So it works, but God shows you these things because he loves you and he wants you to grow and get closer to him more than anything else on this earth. In 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, God has transmitted his very substance into every scripture. For it is God breath.
It will empower you by its instructions and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness. Then you will be God's servant, fully mature and perfectly prepared to fulfill any assignment God gives you. Wow. Wow, that's beautiful. And that we want to actively desire God and allow others who are watching us, and believe me, they're watching, that we honor, we respect, we admire our God so much that we take time to spend with him.
And that's what we want to accomplish during that week. We're gonna worship our God, but we're also gonna maybe even just wait before him. We're just gonna be led by the spirit, but we're also gonna learn the word and develop relationships and have fun in the process. I remember one year Mark, who was in charge of doing our fun morning to introduce everybody and kind of get everybody where they- Make the ice. Exactly. At the beginning of the meetings.
And so he had an idea, and that was we paired up in pairs and they talked for a few minutes to each other and they didn't know what was coming. And so then he said, okay, now, I want you to pray for each other and tell them what you heard in your head for them after you've prayed. There was chaos in the camp because people got words about specific things. And I'm talking about 14, 15, 16, 17 year olds that have never done this before was actually prophesying over each other.
And you could see the light come on in the other person because they were saying, I feel like God's saying to let go of this or to embrace this or have you seen a picture of a house lately? And all of a sudden the person goes, how do you know that? Mm-hmm. And it's just so awesome. And that was one of our games. Wow. God just shows up in everything that you do if you invite him. Yes, beautiful. Because the Holy Spirit's a gentleman.
Yeah. So we're expecting to have, I don't know how many people we're expecting to have. I haven't seen the numbers yet, but we're expecting to have a group of 15 year olds on up to young adulthood, 30 something-ish. And we're expecting to have a move of God. Absolutely. Amen. And we're expecting their lives to be changed.
So I want to encourage anyone who is listening, if you are a young person, if you're being stirred by this or if you're a parent and you have a young person that you know is ready to walk with the Lord or close to it and they just kind of need a little encouragement to be pushed into the thing that God has for them, just go to our website, globaloutpouring.net and click on the events page and you'll see the Generation Awakening information there and you can sign up for this
and get here to the beautiful Ozark Mountains because we're going to have a glory time, a life-changing time, a time of growing in God and a time of lots and lots of fun. Absolutely. Engle Hall is known to be the Valley of the Angels. Yes. And we've actually had people see angels here. Very true. I haven't, but I have felt them. And so we do, we invite you, come, follow the leading of the Lord.
Amen. And come and be prepared to make new friends, be prepared to enter into praise and a deeper worship maybe than you've experienced before or maybe you're one of those that are coming and you are moving forward in God. So come and be a light in our midst and be ready to minister and encourage others to follow you as you follow Christ. Amen. And allow God's word to grow deeper and deeper within so that we can experience the glory that God wants to bring on the earth.
He wants to shine through his people. Amen. So if you know anyone available during the dates of August the 9th, August the 12th, is it either all days or just what you can count? 2023. 2023, this year, come, come and see what God will do in you. And we really do mean, if you can only make it to one meeting, come, feel free to come. You're welcome because like I said, this is family. We're the family of God.
Amen. Amen. So if you are listening and you're an intercessor, would you please email us at feedback at globaloutpouring.org and let us know that you're gonna be praying for this event because we need intercessors who are gonna contend with us to help these people come into the fullness of what God has for them in their lives. Thank you. Thank you for your intercession.
I wanna say that to everyone that's listening and is willing to carry this generation in their heart through prayer to see what God's gonna do through the lives of our young people. Amen. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please subscribe, rate and review this podcast on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your review helps the podcasting platform suggest this podcast to other listeners who are also looking for a great move of the Holy Spirit.
Check out our website at globaloutpouring.org to find out more information, read our blogs, connect with us and donate. You can also browse our web store for life changing anointed books. Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm Philip Buss. God bless you with this overwhelming loving presence. Jenn Paul of archives Helpline