"In Christ, I am CLEAN."

The evening meeting of the conference was different in that the day sessions had been more geared toward leaders, while the evening sessions were for anyone. As a result, it was much bigger. Driscoll's message had quite a different feel from the messages during the day; this one was more outreach-oriented. He said he just wanted to speak on the cross. A lot of times, we say 'Christ died for your sins', and move on, when really we just need to stop there. He wanted to talk to the people who had had sins does to them--it's one thing to be forgiven of sins in light of the cross, but what does the man who was beaten by his dad, or the women raped? What does it do for those who had sins committed against them?

He gave a stark description of the crucifixion, leaving none of the bloody details out. It was one of those things that is hard to hear, but you know you need to be reminded of it. He then talked about how the Bible uses the word "shame" alot, and originally it meant to be "defiled". When the Bible states that shame has been taken away, we can know it to be meant that the feeling of defilement, of being violated, of being sinned against, has been taken away in light of the cross as well. He said a point that really struck out to me: "On our own we get our identity in two ways. In what we've done (I'm a murderer, I'm a rapist, I'm a alcoholic, etc.), or what's been done to us (I was beaten, I was abandoned, I am worthless). The only other option for us is to get our identity in what Christ did for us (Took what we did upon Him AND cleansed us from what was done to us)."

To conclude, he had us all stand up, and prayed for us. He wanted those who really felt like this was for them to just state in belief, "In Christ, I am clean." It was dead silent for about 20 seconds, and then from the back, a man cried out; "In Christ, I am CLEAN!" Then a women from the side of the room: "In Christ, I am CLEAN!", and then from the front, until voices all over the room were raised. It was incredible, all I could was stand there and be amazed at the power of God, as I heard people with all forms of accents-Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans-cry out and be released from strongholds. It was one of those moments that I knew always remember. Afterwards there was a time of response and worship, ended with people dancing and singing.

"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. It was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them". The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"-Ps. 126:2-3