a spiritual spanking

This last week I attended a conference of Foursquare ministers from southern california.  We met in Arroyo Grande for 3 days of ministry, encouragement and fellowship.  There were approx 300 people who came for the same purpose - to get refilled for our roles as spiritual leaders.  The main speaker the first night was Rev. Leslie Keegel from Sri Lanka.  We were encouraged by this brother in the Lord do something radical, dump all our programs and man made ministry tools and return to a dependancy on the power and direction of the Holy Spirit.  He told us that we needed to stop our toiling in the flesh and get back to spiritual dynamics like prayer and fasting.  We were chastised for over an hour by this apostolic figure who started a church in his home 30 years ago which turned into 1200 churches today.  The most wonderful part of the whole thing was not that we got a spiritual spanking, but in the way in which it was delivered.  This mighty man of God was anything but imposing, standing maybe 5 foot 5 inches and weighing in at about 125 lbs.  He was a picture of humility, in his manner, his speech, and personality.  But this man really stood 7 feet tall and weighed about 350 lbs in a spiritual sense.  He was a heavyweight!  He came in such a loving and humble spirit, that after having been chastised for the better part of an evening, we all humbled ourselves in prayer afterward and gave him an extended applause.  It never felt so good to get beat up.  It reminds me of how the Holy Spirit works on us.  He is such a gentleman when it comes to conviction, guidance, direction and correction.  God doesn't want to hurt us, He wants to love us, even when correcting us!  Isn't God good?