Worship is the Key

Worship is the key. Worship is my destiny.

-Jonathan David Helser, from his song "I Will Not Be Silent"

Check it out on YouTube, and then buy the CD! WOOT!

When a Revivalist Gets Sent Off - On a Biz Trip!

I'm sitting in a hotel room in St. Paul, MN.

Drinking tea.

Listening to Bryan and Katie Torwalt's song I See Heaven, off of their new Here On Earth album. (Click here to listen, too: I See Heaven on Grooveshark)

I'm going to be traveling 6 out of the next 7 weeks.

Today was the first day of many.

Just spent a little time praying over my colleagues.

I'm on a mission to see Heaven invade the Earth with the love and power of God.

I'm on a business trip, about my company's business, and about my Father's Business. 

Baltimore Boy & Catching Fire

Dear readers, dear fellow revivalists, dear RADICAL lovers of Jesus...

Something that has been on my heart lately is the subject of personal revival. I believe that before the nations can be brought completely to Jesus, the Church has to undergo RE-vival - it has to be revived. But even before that, individuals that make up the Church must undergo their own personal revival, in the Secret Place of their hearts. They must have an identity shift as they realize who they were born to be,  Who they belong to, and how much love our Abba Father has lavished on each and every one of them. From this place of true identity and reawakened passion for God Himself comes the desire to take it to the world.

From www.etymonline.com:

revive

early 15c., from M.Fr. revivre (10c.), from L. revivere "to live again," from re- "again" + vivere "to live" (see vital).

I want you to take a look at my friend Jesse's blog and get an eye-opening, invigorating look into the soul and heart of a man who has been awakened to a whole new way of living.

On April 10, 2011, he walked into our church and straight into our hearts. He, Emily, and I have been inseparable ever since, and he has continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge and relationship with God....

His blog is called "Catching Fire", and I'm not sure of all the reasons behind the name he chose, but it makes me think of what happens when we walk around with our own personal torches for God absolutely lit and ABLAZE, and we come into contact with someone ripe for a personal revival. Read about his journey. It's beautiful.

Jesse's Blog: Catching Fire
 
I will be featuring him as a guest writer on here very soon!

Marked for Revival: A Call for A Generation of Burning Ones

GUEST WRITER: JESSICA (from the arts-and-crafts-centered blog Toujours C'est La Vie)

 

Short bio/intro: Jessica and I met freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lived in a room right across the hall from me. We became fast friends and I got to be there as she fell oh-so-in-love with Jesus during those four years (it was quite the adventure actually, and I'll have to have her share her testimony someday). She now lives and works in the Phoenix area, releasing the Kingdom wherever she goes. This woman is marked for revival.

Marked for Revival: A Call for A Generation of Burning Ones

Hello readers of Diary of a Revivalist! My name is Jessica from Toujours C’est La Vie. Over at my blog, I focus on crafts, fashion, photography, and books, but don’t be fooled… I am at heart a revivalist. Recently, I had the great privilege to travel to Chicago and attend the Jesus Culture Awakening Conference. My heart has been so full and my fingers have been itching for days with a desire to put into words what I feel that God has put on my heart.

           

One of the main tenants of the conference was honoring our spiritual mothers and fathers, as they have worked tirelessly so that we may now stand on their shoulders and reach new levels… that their ceilings would be our floors. Reinhard Bonnke, Sean Smith, Cindy Jacobs, and Bill Johnson joined us to share their experiences and hearts for a generation.  What an honor to hear what they had to say about how God worked in their lives, particularly through signs and wonders! The speaker that I enjoyed the most, however, was Banning Liebscher who spoke on the first night about the cost of being a follower of Jesus. It’s a message that many of us have probably heard before… that when we decide to follow Jesus, we have to be all in, regardless of what He asks us to give up. It really kicked me in the butt and made me think about all the little parts of myself that I tend to squirrel away from God. He also talked about the often-heard Scripture that “Many are called and few are chosen,” and that God may call us, but in order for us to be chosen we have to step up and say yes!

For me, this was one of the most pivotal points of my time in Chicago. Because the point of the conference was to speak to a gathering of those who, for the most part, already knew Jesus and felt a calling on their lives, there was not much of a formal Gospel presentation per se. Many of the other speakers spoke about miracles, seeing millions saved in Crusades, and what revival has historically meant, yet, it was in this simple presentation of the cost of following Christ, this little reminder from Scripture that struck me the most.

Are you still with me? I hope so, because would like to share with you something that God laid on my heart during worship one night. I heard the phrase The Holy Spirit stirs up revival, but the Word of God sustains it. I just felt that while this conference was a great stirring up by the Holy Spirit … that we were being built up by the prophetic words and wisdom of our spiritual fathers and mothers and that our heart were being whipped into a frenzy for the kingdom, that we must always remember to put God and His word at the center of revival. It was as if the Lord was quietly whispering to me…. Yes, you have a great place in my kingdom… yes, you will play a great role in your generation… yes, I have given you authority and power, but never forget who I am.  It made me recall a slogan from a missions conference I attended several years ago that said It’s not about me, but it is up to me. We are part of the revival but we are not what revival is about… the Holy Spirit stirring us should always point us to Christ!

Friends, this was so comforting to me because I had previously worried that many of us would go home from the conference on fire, but slowly fade when we weren’t singing along live to Hillsong or listening to the words of Sean Smith. I had wanted something tangible about how we were supposed to do this revival thing! I was deeply moved and convicted about my own need to know Scripture better and to spend more time alone with God, because at the end of the day… revival starts in the quiet stirrings of your heart in the quiet place (Yes, I did steal that from you Leslea!)

The title of this post is, Marked by Love: A Call for A Generation of Burning Ones. Reinhard Bonnke, in his message, said that as we were sitting in the stadium God was running His finger down the rows looking for who would stand for Him and be part of a generation that would change culture, media, and society. Regardless of whether His finger stopped on you, you would always bear the fingerprint. But for those that God stopped His finger on… they would forever be marked by love.  God is looking for burning ones…. Those who have an open heart willing to be stirred to a passion for a generation after God and those who don’t care about the cost and simply answer the call.

Have you ever stood in a spot, looked around and thought to yourself, “I am standing in a spot where history is being made?” Upon taking my seat for the first session, I looked around at the more than 15,000 students, young ones, and parents gathered for this historical event and thought about this pivotal moment in time. On the last day of the conference, spontaneous worship and praise broke out for over 20 minutes. My heart close to bursting, I looked around and thought, “This must be what heaven will be like.” I remember texting close friends after the session with the simple words, “I have been wreaked tonight.”

It is my simple prayer that God continue to work on my heart and yours as well, stirring up passion in the quiet place for revival. I choose to accept the cost of my personal time to spend time alone with Him, in His presence and in His word, so that revival not be just one amazing conference, but one amazing lifetime spent passionately pursuing the heart of God and allowing Him to change to world through me.


By Jessica from Toujours C'est La Vie

Coming Soon: Guest Revivalist Post

My dear friend Jessica was able to make it to this past week's Jesus Culture Awakening conference held at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL. She will be sharing with us about the incredible impartation and revelation she received while she was there, hanging out with 15,000+ revivalists from all over the nation, as well as drinking deep from the wisdom and experiences of Bill Johnson, Reinhard Bonnke, Sean Smith, Banning Liebscher, Kim Walker-Smith, Cindy Jacobs, and Lou Engle. Worship bands Jesus Culture, Hillsong United, and worship leaders Brian and Katie Torwalt, Jake Hamilton, and Kristene Mueller-DiMarco led songs of love and hope and freedom, and while I was only able to watch via webstream, I so strongly encountered the presence of God in my own room, worshiping and crying out for a fresh revelation of Jesus to my generation.
But for the grace of God, I think I would have died of sadness over not being able to make it to the conference. Jessica, however, was able to go, and is fairly bursting at the seams with all that she learned and gained from that life-changing experience. Wow!  God is GOOD!

Show Us Your Glory by Rick Pino

This song just has me undone...

ALSO - WATCH THE JESUS CULTURE AWAKENING LIVE WEB STREAM at www.awakening2011.com  !!! DO IT!!!

Jesus Culture Awakening Conference in Chicago

Folks - my heart is burning.

I just got done watching the Jesus Culture Awakening stream. You can watch it live for free at www.awakening2011.com, but I actually purchased the ability to play it back over the next two weeks (just 10 bucks), and I highly recommend that option, especially if you work a normal workday.

Banning Liebscher and Kim Walker-Smith just left me in pieces. Well, Kim had me sobbing and then Banning had me burning up with all sorts of desire for being in the secret place with Jesus. This is where revival is birthed - in the hearts of a generation that lives for and out of the secret place - out of building a personal history with God. Mmm, soo good.

More later.

The Three Chairs: Practicing the Prophetic

Several things I loved about today:

*We had fish for dinner. Ha! Good stuff...

*I was able to chat on the phone for 40 minutes with a revivalist girl from Michigan (who did 2 years of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry) and recently moved to the valley.

• She just visited church on Sunday, and is coming back next Sunday. Her presence in Arizona and her interest in our church is SUCH an answer to prayer. One of the things Emily (my fellow revivalist buddy) and I pray for extremely often is for God to send us ready-made revivalists. And by "send us" I mean both to our church, as new members who want to get plugged in and help make things happen, OR as just part of the greater network of contacts and new friends we are building in the area. Whether this girl becomes part of our lives for the former reason, or for the latter reason (or both), it's going to be great having her around. I'm thrilled. I had a grin on my face the rest of the afternoon! I love answers to prayer. I love it that God hears our prayers, period. But then it's astounding to see just how specific he can get when he answers them. Such goodness. BTW - another thing Emily and I pray for is for God to send us those that are ready to be awakened to dreams of revival, destiny, and a supernatural move of God. So...not just the ready-made revivalists, ha! :) We want to help MAKE them, too!

*School of Supernatural Ministry started up again after we all had a bit of a summer break - and that was majorly fantastic. We had a group of around 30 students.  Kris Vallotton taught on the prophetic (not live, rather through a previously recorded DVD), and then we did an activity where we placed three chairs facing a wall, had three volunteers sit in them, and then the guy who runs it pointed at someone out of the rest of the students. The three volunteers in chairs, who couldn't see anything and didn't know who had been chosen, were to see if they got a prophetic word for that person. Two out of the three had a word, and once those had been shared, the lady who had been chosen explained to us how those words applied to her life. Pretty cool, huh?! I was glad that one of the brave volunteers didn't actually get something, or at least, didn't share it, only because hopefully that makes everyone realize that it is completely okay to not have anything! And practicing the prophetic is essential. It helps us identify how it is we hear the voice of God and feel his presence, and that way we can apply it out there in the "real world", where there's obviously not a contained, controlled environment for stepping out in the prophetic.

God is a rockstar!

School of Supernatural Ministry Starts Up Again

I've been looking forward to August 1st, 2011, all summer long! Two Rivers School Supernatural Ministry starts up again tonight, at 630pm.

I believe we're going up to a new atmosphere in this next season. 

We're going to soar with Jesus. And see the treasures of God, and partake of his divine nature. WOOT!

Let the Love of God Wreck Your Heart

Find 15 minutes, and a quiet spot...Then hit play.

Let God love you with this spontaneous oracle from Misty Edwards/IHOP-KC's Prayer Room.

Let him wreck your heart. He is so lovesick for you.

"I see strength in you."

"I knew what I was getting into when I called you, and still I called you."

"Will you marry me? Will you take my name? All that's mine is yours."

"She said yes! She said yes!"

It's a Beautiful Day in Paradise

I'm sitting in my kitchen in metro-Phoenix, Arizona, looking out at sunshine and green, sipping some coffee, sending and receiving some "let's schedule this today" texts, and answering company emails. It's the beginning part of my day - where I relax, remember I'm Abba's child, and drink some much-needed caffeine. I have a penchant for sleeping as little as possible. Something I'd like to change.


It's been an exciting summer. Running all the way home, away from a haboob that was chasing me at 15 miles an hour (yeah, look that one up on Wikipedia - "haboob"). Reconnecting with high school and college buddies and making some new memories to add to our treasure chest of old ones. Drinking in the lushness of the Wisconsin and Michigan countryside, watching pink and purple sunsets whilst digging my feet into the coolness of a sandy beach, straightening a stunning bride's dress, and making sure her make-up was still picture-perfect, canoeing it up at Youth and College & Career camp, and this time, being the crazy one who splashed others and wasn't so afraid to tip after all. *Grin* I'm also stepping out a lot more, almost as if it were second nature, during ministry times. This is significant for me because every time someone calls for ministry teams, and every time they look over at me to be part of them, I just want to dig a hole and crawl into it. Or disappear altogether. Spiritually, something inside of me wants to NOT pray for ANYONE. And for a long time I was directly fighting this, trying to break past that feeling, knowing I had to push through in order to bless others. But I think there's just been so much grace this season to step out without even having to have this huge argument inside myself. Things are clicking. The more I push through, the easier it gets.

Combined with a personal three-day retreat to the White Mountains, alone with God and nature, jamming with my friends Emily and Jesse, cooking a lot of Asian food, especially on family dinner nights, and going running 4 miles three times a week - this summer has just been excellent. Most excellent.

All this while gobbling up revivalist books. And dreaming big. And joining a revivalist networking website. And holding and/or attending prayer meetings with all sorts of wonderful sons and daughters of God from other parts of the Valley. And starting up an intercession prayer meeting the 3rd Friday of every month. And being hardcore with my little bro (I won't tell you what that entails, but it's awesome). I'm journaling any thought as it comes to me. I'm experiencing a new level of creativity, and I'm loving it. It's good. It's SO good. :)

We were created for union with God, in the simple activities of just being, of just living. We were created to love him and be loved by him. Our primary purpose of existing.

I'm grabbing a hold of this truth in a whole new way.

The sound of waves. The wind in the trees. The brightness of White-Mountain star-filled night skies. The pluck of a guitar string. The smell of an old book.

Making my bed. Cleaning the bathroom. Washing the floors.

I can find Him anywhere, while doing anything. In the simplest, most mundane activity...in the simplest of interactions with a stranger. In the deepest of conversations with a bosom friend. Or in the silence of an empty building.

There He is, and there am I.

And I'm never alone.

I'm always known, always loved, and I have a 24/7 direct line to God.

It's pretty rad. :)

Jesus Began a Revolution with ONE Word

"Jesus began a revolution with one word: when he said the word 'Father', he changed everything. And now he's invited us into this reality, into this place of belonging, of calling God our Papa, our Daddy, our Abba."

Hit "play"  on the video below, and find a corner where you can cry your eyes out...

Abba

You're more real than the ground I'm standing on

You're more real than the wind in my lungs

Your thoughts define me, you're inside me
You're my reality

Abba, I belong to you

You're closer than the skin on my bones
You're closer than the song on my tongue

----------------

Last night I read the book "Heaven is Real", by Todd Burpo, the pastor of a church in a small town called Imperial, in Nebraska. He is also the father of a boy named Colton, who at 3 years and 10 months old, was in surgery after his appendix burst, near death, when he was taken up into Heaven and was able to see some pretty incredible things. Much of the story surrounds how they realized Colton had had a real supernatural experience.

It's a really precious book. I recommend it. There was one spot that hit me really hard.

In a good way, of course.

The family was on their way to their Good Friday communion service, and Todd asked Colton if he knew why Jesus died on the cross:

I said, "Colton, do you know why Jesus died on the cross?"

He nodded, surprising me a bit.

"Okay, why?"

"Well, Jesus told me he died on the cross so we could go see his Dad."

In my mind's eye, I saw Jesus, with Colton on his lap, brushing past all the seminary degrees, knocking down theological treatises stacked high as skyscrapers, and boiling down fancy words like propitiation and soteriology to something a child could understand: "I had to died on the cross so that people on earth could come see my Dad."

Colton's answer to my question was the simplest and sweetest declaration of the gospel I have ever heard. 

I thought again about the difference between grown-up and childlike faith.

Driving down Broadway, I decided I liked Colton's way better. For a couple of minutes, I cruised along in silence. Then I turned to him and smiled. "Hey, do you wanna preach on Sunday?"

(From pp. 111-112 of Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent)

----------------

The most important message that we can take to the world, the most transforming news of all: Jesus came so that we might know his Abba Father as our very own.

Holycowabunga

This past weekend was NUTS. Much to share. Check back in a day or two.

Being Vulnerable - Oh Boy!

Three things I did today that were hard but that I'm proud of (in a good way):

*Made a conscious choice to not be someone else's Holy Spirit, even though I would so badly like to SPEAK MY MIND on a few things.

*Confessed to the entire youth group that I have been selfish the past six months, and that God has been stripping things off of me and reawakening my heart with his fire. I repented for not praying for them more and told them that my heart is FOR them and that I believe in our generation and in what God is doing among us!

*Admitted to a close friend that her awesomeness in a certain area of life made me feel insecure and has for five years, that I needed more words of affirmation around that subject, and that I need to know she is my cheerleader/believes in me. It was an awkward subject to bring up because: 1) I feel insecure in that area...gasp!, 2) I have felt insecure for 5 years and said nothing, 3) I don't normally feel insecure, 4) I don't normally feel awkward, and 5) I certainly don't ever admit to feeling insecure or awkward, on the rare occasion that I do feel that way. 

Whew...big day in the heart of this revivalist. I'm learning how important vulnerability/transparency is to walking fully in the freedom of God. It is for FREEDOM he has set me free! There are at least 2 or 3 other areas in my life that I'm still wrestling with but I want to be totally honest about so that I can walk in the fullness of all God has for me.

Other things I've done recently is:
1) Go find myself a couple older women mentors. I've been hurt in this area before, and recoiled from ever doing it again, but I realize now that I need these close friendships with older women so that I can learn from them. I can't let what someone else did to me in the past cripple me in this area for the rest of my life!
2) Got inner healing/theophostic prayer for the first time EVER. Never thought I'd see the day...but I'm so determined to be completely whole (from what, you might ask....Answer: Hello...LIFE! Haha....doesn't matter how awesome your family or life has been...things happen that break your trust and hurt you).

So there you have it. On this blog...I have vomited up all sorts of things surrounding arrogance, insecurity, inadequacy, a messy heart (not to mention a messy room), a hurting heart over recent things I've walked through, and who knows what else.

I'm finally admitting to my weaknesses and am on like...the WARPATH to get this taken care of!  I'm determined to be the wholestestest I've EVER been so that the enemy cannot even bring ONE LIE against me. I WILL not remain in a place of non-movement due to a fear of being honest with myself and others about my areas of struggle. I'm determined to be ones of the most honest people that has ever walked this planet.

Full disclosure is part of the healing/awakening process.

May revival begin first in my heart, so that it can spill out onto others.

Amen!

Revival: Birthed From a Place of Prayer

Church today blew my mind. Justin preached on Identity, and how to often we taken the worst part of Calvinism (God is sovereign and has a perfect plan for my life) and the worst of Armenianism (I have free will and can make choices), constructing something like this...

Worst case scenario that we tend to come up with in our minds:

God has a specific plan for your life (Reformed/Calvinism); you have to make choices (Armenian); but God hides his plan from you and if you choose wrong you miss his "best" - then you are condemned to live out a second-rate life (consequences of sin); with God and you playing out a continual adjustment of your life plan (more movie than Bible). The result is a life of regret, longing for the life that was "meant to be".

Justin encouraged us to know that we are sons and daughters of God, and that even if we sin and he has to take us to the woodshed (i.e. discipline us), he does so because he loves us very, very much, and it doesn't change the fact that he has a wonderful plan for our lives. We are not destined to lead second-rate lives.

------------Understanding our identity, and also....deeply knowing and believing in who God says he is------is KEY to living a revivalist lifestyle. If we don't know the authority and power that God has granted us, if we don't know and believe that he is a raging romantic, head-over-heels in love with us, then we're not going to be able to operate in the fullness of a revivalist lifestyle. 

------------------Phoenix-area revival update-------------------------
Emily and I got together with three other ladies....Bev, Gloria, and Kim, to share ideas/strategies for this region, and to pray together. I was really encouraged...my faith was stirred. God wants to do something in this region. He is moving key players into place. It's coming! :)

I think we are going to continue to get together to pray, although I don't know how often.

I really think that revival is birthed from a place of prayer. More thoughts on this later....but or now, that's quite a bit to chew on.

And so, I've got my pray-for-revival cap on - and I'm going to contend for his power and his manifest presence. WOOT!

Growing Vision - What I Like to Call "Heart-Bursts"

So it's been growing.

This sense that I'm supposed to be here in Gilbert, Arizona, right now, in this city, in this state, in this church...for such a time of great awakening and revival that the city has never seen before!
I believe revival is birthed from a place of prayer...both individual/in-the-secret-place prayer, and corporate prayer. I believe it's birthed out of fasting and living a radical lifestyle of laying down worldly pursuits and going after the Kingdom.

One by one God has been stripping things off of my heart, things that have had their claws dug into me for far too long.  One of those things is arrogance. I never thought I was an arrogant person. But I'm realizing there's deep layers of pride, of ego, that I have so identified as being part of my confident persona, that I haven't realize they were there. It was not until they were offended recently, by unprecedented rejection from a few close people that I had really put my trust in, that I realized the presence of the layers of pride that have been coating my heart.

You know what...it takes a lot of vulnerability and courage to say that. It's a hard thing for me to admit to. Painful even. And now it's out there for the whole world to read. But it needs to be read, it needs to be confessed, and I need to repent from it, and I need to have my mind renewed. May my thoughts and actions and speech and mannerisms really reflect a genuine love for people and for the things of God, for no other reason, for  no other cause, than that I am in love with God my King, and I love the things he loves, and love the people he loves.

So strip it all away, God. Strip away the hurt, the pain, the pride, the rejection, the offense. May I worship you with an unoffended heart.  May my life be one of your favorite movies to put in and watch! If you even do such a thing. ;)

And so - this growing vision, this dream...this bursting going on in my heart...what is it?

Oh, yes, I burn for revival, I burn for transformation, for an awakening of hearts across America and this world, for the raw power of God to invade our lives with his goodness and beauty and lavish love. I want to see people freed of addictions, healed of cancer, healed of AIDS, healed of emotional and sexual abuse....to see lives radically restored, devils cast out, the lame walking, the blind seeing, and every child living free to dream big dreams, and every adult walking in the fullness of their calling and destiny, not believing for a second that youth has passed them by, and that they can't still have that mind-blowing adventure-filled life they have always envisioned. 


But truly, on a more practical level, my heart for my generation is growing. I used to be one very frustrated, legalistic, judgmental teenager. I was so annoyed and angry that people couldn't just LIVE FOR GOD, ALREADY! Now I have so much more compassion, realizing that people's behaviors don't just come out of nowhere - that there is a reason, a belief or value system, that they are holding onto. What they really need is not to curb their behaviors, but rather, they need to experience an identity shift that only comes form encountering the unbridled love of God.

And so, what I really want to see is a whole generation lit for Jesus. And to be honest, in the Scriptures, a generation was pretty much everybody alive. So my heart burns for everyone. Haha.  That's awesome. Love it.  Thank you Jesus for growing my heart, for filling me with compassion, for giving me your eyes to see all the beautiful treasures around me. There are no mere mortals - something C.S. Lewis said that really messes with my mind. THERE ARE NO MERE MORTALS. But more specifically, the age bracket that I feel called to in this season of life is 12 to early 30s.

I know that this is all over the place - it's like one big, excited thing going on inside of me...swirling at a million miles per hour. A tornado of vision and emotion and drive.

I'm asking Jesus - what else do you have for this time in my life? You've taken some things out...now what do you want to replace it with?

Emily and I recently attended an event where we were able meet with other 20 and 30 somethings of the Valley who are professionals and looking for local churches to plug into, or looking for ways to make more friends, meet more people in their stage of life, etc. The music was fantastic and the sermon really got to me with where I'm at in life now.

However, I do believe we need a network of 20-something revivalists - in the vein of seeing the supernatural power of God invade every part of this city and transform a generation. What this event/organization (the one we attended) is doing is incredible, and I support and believe in their work and efforts to unite hundreds and hundreds of 20 and 30 somethings across the city. However, I do think we need a place of prayer, worship, and the prophetic, where we aren't worried about saying something that would offended someone from a different denomination or approach.  My concern is that there is this whole piece of the Christian faith walk (the signs and wonders, and you-will-do-greater-things-than-ME-aka-Jesus stuff) that won't be addressed by the particular organization whose event we attended. We need a place where Burning Ones can get together, get all fired up, and go out and preach a gospel of love, healing, and radical transformation.

So how can we do that, while still supporting what our friends at at this organization for 20-30-something-year-olds is doing?

They said at the this event that they want to see revival. But what does that MEAN? What does that look like? Does that look like living under an open heaven where God moves in the miraculous? Again, don't misunderstand me. I so believe in what they are doing. I love their hearts. I love their passion. I love their hair (yes, the people there have super cool hair...not even kidding). But what about training and equipping and providing fellowship for a generation of miracle-working revivalists?! We need a place where this can happen, too.

Emily and I are praying, brainstorming, writing, reading, looking, getting downloads...

And we are excited. We are so excited to see what is going to happen.

On Sunday we are meeting with a lady named Beverly who goes to our School of Supernatural Ministry on Monday nights. She goes to a different church (which is awesome - I love it that we have people from different churches besides Two Rivers that are attending TRSSM), and has a real heart for prayer and revival amongst youth. She also knows two kids that are Bethel right now, and should be coming back soon, for the summer at least (I don't know if they are doing a second year or not). Anyway, I want to start a network of young revivalists in this city. I don't know WHAT it would look like.  Where and how would we meet? What would we do? How do we make sure the local church is strengthened by us hanging out, not plundered for its on-fire revivalists?

Again - we are thinking and praying and brainstorming. And praying. And praying some more.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this! Eager to hear any wisdom!

Destiny Jewelry: Creativity & the Prophetic

One of the cool things that a lot of Jesus-lovin' peeps have been doing is making prophetic arts and crafts. Sometimes people draw prophetic paintings during a worship service, other times their creativity is displayed out in the streets, with music and/or dance, and getting "destiny words" for people or  giving them "destiny jewelry". It's fun and interactive and creative.

That's the route we were going for today. Do we know what we're doing? Ha! Not really! It's all part of the journey of learning how Jesus wants to bless people. Here's a look into what we were up to.

Later on I'll upload a report about how it went delivering those pieces of jewelry to God's treasures (people!). :)

Girl Across the World Gets Healed of Tumor!

Please visit my friend Paul's blog post on a girl in Namibia who just had her Tumor Healed !!!

A couple things I loved about this story:

1. It just happened this past week
2. It came out of a word that Paul received and delivered to a friend of his all the way across the world in Namibia, Africa.
3. She was HEALED!  NO TUMOR!

My Youth Kiddies

Tonight was one of those nights that just makes you swell with pride...

Per usual, my youth kids went around praying for each other and encouraging one another in the Lord.

Sadly, there aren't a lot of youth groups like this one.

I really think the Lord wants to change that!

So many focus on creating a really fun environment, with games and food and entertainment of all sorts. But there is nothing as CAPTIVATING as the presence of God, nothing to covet more than the touch of God, nothing to desire more than just to behold His face.

Who says fifteen-year-olds can't handle that?!  Mine can!

They are more bold than I am, by a LONG SHOT.

And so, we minister to one another, seeing emotional and physical healings, falling more in love with God and with our brothers and sisters in the body, and going out re-charged to take this world for Christ.

It's just....

too. much. fun. !!!

Love Zaps From God

After work today, I did a little hop and skip over to the Gilbert Healing Rooms.

I enjoy it so much when my brothers and sisters pray for me. Makes me feel pretty loved, both by God and by them.  Sometimes you just need a little love zap from God.  ZZZZZZZip!

The one specific thing I've been contending for lately - His peace. I've been going through some storms, and fear and anxiety have crept in at times. About 45 minutes prior to the time I was due to get prayed for, this huge cloud of anxiety just FELL on me. I felt my heart drop ...a long, long ways. It was such "crestfallen" feeling that it was borderline despair. I have not felt that in a year's time. I realized right away that I was getting spiritually attacked, and that I needed to fight it off. This was of course happening all right before the time of prayer. So then I walked over to the waiting room, where you sit and soak in God's presence while you wait for your name to be called, and started journaling, asking God to bring peace over my troubled mind and heart.

The nice thing about the Gilbert Healing Rooms is that they pray over your name and get words from God before you even come into the room.

Soon enough they came to get me, stood me under a sign that said "In His Presence", at which point I could tangibly feel this mist of love coming over me (not something that happens to me very often at all, probably about 4 or 5 times a year), and two out of the team of three people that prayed over me had received the word "peace" from the Lord, along with Scriptures to share with me.

None of them knew me from Adam.

So that was just a really sweet time.

Thank you, Jesus for the love zap. :)

VIDEO-LOG: Reading Material On Some of the Great Revivalists

Songs of Joy

Woke up this morning with dreams on my heart. 

Psalm  126

When the LORD restored the fortunes of ZIon, 

we were like those who dreamed

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said amoung the nations,

"The LORD has done great things for them."

The LORD has done great things for us, 

and we are filled with joy.

Fellow Revivalists

*Deep, delighted, chuckle*

So...I've been finding some friends in this wonderful community called Blogspot, and I am so immensely excited about sharing my journey with all of you.

Here are some things to know about me that wouldn't fit in my profile:

*I am a revivalist because I choose to 1) Believe it, prophesy it, and pray it over myself and 2) I want the Kingdom of God to invade my HEART and this PLANET!

*I'm still learning what revival is.

*I don't have any idea what I'm talking about most of the time, because I'm learning SO much SO quickly that I can hardly take it all in, process it, act on it, etc. I think that makes me a baby revivalist. Mentors and friends are SO invited to speak into my life and encourage me and challenge me. I need it. I want it. Oh man, I just want to grow and learn so badly.

*The Kingdom of God is not one of talk, but of power, and I'm so hungry to see the power of God transform lives and cities and nations.

*My church recently started a school of supernatural ministry, using the materials from Bethel's School of Supernatural Ministry (this was a dream come true!). It's only one night a week, which means it takes us about 8 weeks to get through the material they did in one week!

*Deep in my heart, there is still this desire to actually go do a year or two at BSSM, just because the atmosphere is amazing (I have only been to Bethel once). I know there's other incredible revival schools out there, but this is the one I actually know a couple people at, and I've fallen in love with the whole community. I'm so so blessed to have them in my life, even though they don't even know it!

*I so badly wish I could be around tons of other revivalists my age, but in all honesty, there's only a few around here, so I want to meet more. I'm praying for more revivalists in my area. I also want to be part of the move of God at my church and my city. This is where he has me right now, and I want to be aligned with his heart for this area.

*I recently deactivated my Facebook so that I could concentrate on Jesus. Social media of that sort was getting a little too distracting. I originally meant my FB break to be for a month or so, and now I think it might be for longer. I'm loving this.

*I'm in the craziest spiritual growth spurt of my LIFE. It's been going a year and a half.

*I'm looking for a safe place to dream big, so I'm starting this blog by just getting myself in contact with people that are on board with this sort of thing. Eventually I want to take these thoughts/ideas/feelings/nuggets to the world. For now, this is my place to process what is happening in my heart.

*I really don't like living under the fear of man. I want every little piece of it broken off of my life.

*Jesus is kind of a really big deal to me.

*Any questions? Just ask!

The End.

Jesus, Would You Hold My Heart?

Ah, recently my heart has been hurting.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

Hope dashed makes the heart even more sick.

But there is such beauty in the pain, such healing under his wings, such protection in his arms.

May my trust in him burn brighter by the day, as I embrace the change of course.

A Proverb that I've quoted over myself in this past year is...

The heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord, and he directs it like a watercourse.

In other words,

if I'm a king and priest forever in the Order of Melchizedek, if I'm a daughter of THE King, and therefore of royal blood....then this verse could be applied like this: Papa God is directing my heart, it's in his hands, and he makes no mistakes in the course he marks out for me.

I CHOOSE TO TRUST. I CHOOSE TO HOPE.

And so, I'm diving in, I'm going deep, in over my head I want to be. Lost in the flood, lost in the flow, in o'er my head I want to go.

Yes, that last line is from the Steven Curtis Chapman years of my life.

*Grin*

My Only Job

Excerpt from my journal:

Jesus, help me recognize the preciousness of these years, and how you want to connect and commune with me - no agenda, just love. 

No talking points or Power Point slides or deadlines.

Just love.

Just abandoned, lovesick communion with your Spirit.

May my only goal be to know and love you.

That right there is the answer.

It's so simple.

Actually Loving God

"I want to be a woman who lives totally abandoned to the first commandment. To love my Lord, my God, with all my heart. I don’t want the reputation that I love God, I don’t want to write songs about loving God, I don’t want to talk about loving God. I want to actually love God. When I close my eyes, I want my heart to move. When I close my eyes and I look at Him, I want to feel alive on the inside. I want to look at Him with a fire in my heart and it’s real.”

- Misty Edwards

Born for Revival

Revivalist: (n) a believer who is focused and passionate, willing to pay any price to live in purity and power because they are loved by God and love Him - whose manifest presence transforms lives and cultures.

-Student Manual, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry