I’ve never experienced in person such an outpour of the presence of God in a room before Mantles Conference. The hosts are Apostle Kevin Duhart and Pastor Lisa Duhart the Senior Pastors of The Rock San Antonio and The Rock Houston. It was overwhelming in the best way possible. I attended not knowing any of the speakers or what to expect. And as an introvert, going alone made me nervous but I knew I just needed to attend. This was the first event I’ve attended in Houston since 2018. That’s when I decided I wanted to move away from events. Last year was the first event I attended in years as just an attendee and not a blogger. At Woman Thou Art Loosed I knew something broke open for me. I believe this gave way for what I was able to experience at Mantles this year.
Mantles Conference opened Thursday evening. Antira, the soloist for the praise team, blessed my soul with the richness of her voice. The conviction in which she sang sent the room into a whirlwind that was ready for the presence of God to enter. I don’t even think I can adequately describe the depths of her voice. The way her voice carried throughout the room to touch each person there. A lot of people want to be on the praise team these days but fewer can truly summon the presence of God with their voice. We know behind that voice is an obedient, submitted life. Because there is no way a voice like that can stir up souls unless it communes with God consistently.
The opening speaker was Pastor YPJ. I first found out about him a few years ago through KevOnStage. During that interview they talked about his prophecy for 2020. I found the prophecy, listened to it to see whether it was accurate or not. Let us be honest. There are quite a few people online who prophesy daily with no tangible results. They just say whatever they see and then try to make people believe they heard a word from God. When in reality they anticipated what could happen based on past results or experiences of others.
Anyway, Pastor YPJ’s prophecy for 2020 was spot on. I decided to just listen to his prophetic word for the new year. Again, accurate. This was something I have continued since. Then all of a sudden God directs me on New Year’s Eve to begin tuning into Pastor YPJ’s Sunday services in 2023. And I have been. This led to me tuning into Boast Bible Study on Tuesdays which led me to Mantles Conference. I don’t think I would have heard about this conference any other way. Amazing how God put things into motion 3 years ago for me to hear about something that took place literally 15 minutes from my house.
I won’t go into great detail into Pastor YPJ’s message on the mantle of faith as you can watch that below. So, I’ll skip over to Day 1 of the conference. Because Night 1 was literally the awakening I needed to find my way back to a church community.
Friday morning started with the Pursuit session. I had no idea what that meant but I showed up on time y’all. They started at 8a and I was not feeling that early morning wake up call after I took the day off from teaching. Y’all I’m so glad I showed up, on time. It was full of worship and prayer. We also prayed for the people we were around. It really set the tone for the day which by the way was nothing but an abundant outpouring of God’s love among His people.
Next session was with Prophetess Shari Eddington named, “Waiting to Exhale.” She shared how to not let ourselves get so overwhelmed. I also think she said she’s a counselor. Her session using practical strategies incorporating your faith is necessary in a time when so many people feel overwhelmed by life right now. Then we went straight into the last morning session with Pastor Bev Tucker. She led us through deliverance and how we all have the power to deliver ourselves and others. The prayer she led us through in that very moment delivered many people in the room from whatever was holding them back, me included. This wasn’t something I believed I could do for myself. Healing? Yes. Deliverance? No. It was what I needed to experience so I have more control over thoughts that try to overtake my mind.
Y’all, y’all, I’ve been Black my whole life and grew up Missionary Baptist. What does that mean? I know Black people and church conferences. Time ran so over it spilled into lunch. That’s why I always carry food on me. I was not about to starve physically just because I was being fed so well spiritually. CityCentre doesn’t have fast food restaurants. I was not about to wait for food then rush back for the afternoon session. Which I didn’t want to miss.
Revival 101 was led by Pastor Humberto Renovato. This session was a breakout session so it was smaller and more focused. I took a few pages of notes. I don’t even know where to start with all that he shared. I really wanted to attend this session because I grew up attending revivals so the concept was something I wanted a refresher on. It was anything but. The way he taught about what revival is changed my entire perspective. This is what Pastor Humberto shared, “Revival= restoration of life, new strength, awakening in a church community, come to life again. [chayah] Revive- root word (to live or to cause to live, to restore life again).” So it’s not just about spending time together in a sanctuary or tent. But restoring the life of the Believer. That true revival will restore tears, tongues and travail. Revival requires moves to be made. Again, so many notes it could be a blog post by itself. I pray for the move he and his ministry will make as they will go back to his hometown in Uvalde and begin revival to heal that hurt city.
Our last Day 1 session was with Apostle Bryan Meadows. As a teacher when I saw that white board next to the stage I knew some real teaching was about to take place. Technology is great but anyone who breaks out a whiteboard is about to walk you through the lesson so well you don’t want to leave. Alright, let’s get a quick highlight because this just like Pastor Humberto’s session could be its own blog post. Those 2 sessions I took so many notes. So. Many. Notes.
Boom! Apostle Meadows started off saying those who don’t have a covering don’t have a mantle. Stepped on some toes, maybe, maybe not. I really like this, “mantles are like time capsules. God deposits things in mantles.” Now moving to the whiteboard, he created a line graph. Essentially the line graph walked us through the intersection of our purpose [horizontal lanes] and calling [vertical lanes]. How the intersection creates seasons [times & chapters in our lives]. The intersection of the lanes i.e. boxes are patches. And once knitted together our seasons together reveal revelation. The line graph created a mountain. On the way up the father is to create the path for the son to follow. Once on top you don’t need your mantle anymore. It’s time for the son to receive it. I know I’m not doing this session justice. If I could buy any session as an individual one, this would be the one. He ended with walking us through different types of mantles. This was my FAV session. As a teacher, it just resonated with me so much. Day 1 ended with Pastor YPJ prophesying over Apostle Meadows then we broke for dinner.
I was awestruck by each of the speakers. As a former event producer, it says a lot who you put on your stage. Each speaker delivered and then some.
I’m going to have to do a Part II because it was way too much for just 1 blog post. Come back for the next one y’all.
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