More questions! I love answering them, for serious! It gives me a chance to articulate what I've been thinking. This was about the leg lengthening we did at the treasure hunt on Saturday.
"I can understand lengthening a leg for health reasons, but how do you feel with playing around with lengthening arms and legs for no particular reason? Did you feel that exercise had a good intention?"
I did wonder, "What is the point of this? Like, we're not actually 'accomplishing' anything or showing anyone the tangible love of God through healing. Isn't it a bit wasteful? A lot wasteful? I mean, there are amputees out there who need this, and here I am just playing around!" And I came to a few conclusions in that short amount of time.
1) God is an abundant God. Just because we used up some 'healing anointing,' or whatever you want to call it, that Saturday, doesn't mean there's any less. He doesn't give us a finite amount of His power. In fact, He's infinite. So it was not a waste in that sense.
2) God likes to have fun. He's a *Father*, and He likes to have fun with His kids. That was just a crazy way of playing with us and making us smile, squeal, and laugh.
3) God likes to show off. I mean, just look at Gideon. "Hey, Gideon, get rid of some men, because I want people to look at what you do and see Me." That day gave Him a platform to do the equivalent of this:
4) It was no-pressure practice. No one's emotions or well-being or job or kids or travel plans or anything else was being challenged that day. The worst thing that could happen was us looking stupid, which I think most of us got over our first day here. But it wasn't a place where people were hoping to walk again for the first time in 10 years, or to see, or anything like that. The most at stake was a desire to be taller. And that's "frivolous" (nothing is frivolous with God) enough to be low-pressure.
5) It inspired faith. Even if we couldn't do it once we got home (why? I don't know. that's another topic), my faith jumped up by many units. I know that of others did, as well. To see, in real life, with no pressure, that we could really, really do something like that because of whose Name we abide under, was just insane. To feel that faith was a gift I hope to reproduce someday.
Last night was a Creative Expressions deal. I'm so inspired! I had a fear that it would be a bit boring, just a bunch of watching people do their stuff, but what I neglected to realize is that...they're stuff is really cool! There were singer/songwriters, dancers, a harpist, and a few spoken word artists.
The Mr. Rogers Song
Electronica
For the record, spoken word is the coolest thing ever. I want to do that. And guess what? My roommate, Jasmine, does spoken word. And she's like, amazing. Yet she has nothing recorded. :P Sorry. But she's awesome. I'll record her when she does Creative Expressions next week.
Three or four days out of the week, we share a testimony or two at the beginning of the day. Today's was exceptionally fun, so I thought I'd share it.
This guy from Norway was a worship leader and brought his guitar to Redding. When he opened it, it was broken. He said he could see through it; I'm not sure what part was broken, but it was damaged beyond repair. And he was devastated (it "broke my heart, my second girlfriend, you know," and he didn't have money for another. His talks with the airline got him nowhere. So in worship, he finally went, "Okay God, You're provider. I need a guitar." That day or the next his insurance company contacted him and said they were giving him $2100. {I'm not sure if the insurance money was guitar-relaetd or not, couldn't tell.} He went to a Redding guitar store and found a beautiful Martin originally priced at $4000 that had been brought down to $2300. He left the guitar store and got a Facebook message the next day from a friend who had heard of his guitar woes and said he was giving him $400. {At this point you're going, that's cool, but not all that impressive. Or at least, I was.} Well, he decided to buy the Martin, and he went to get it. He had $2700. With taxes, the total cost of the guitar was $2699. Haha, yeah, that is my God. {Also funny, that testimony got the most impassioned response from the crowd over all the other testimony responses. Guess that's what happens when God gives guitars away to worship students.}
Worship was led by Matt and Hunter, and it was sadly cut short. For a minute we're all like, "What?" Then we remembered - we had a special Skype call today. Paul Baloche himself - writer of "Open the Eyes of My Heart," "Today Is the Day," among many, many others - was teaching us.
Paul Baloche taking a pic of us :)
Whoa. So wish he could have been here to do main sessions and workshops. Even Brian was so impressed that he asked Paul to 'come back' next week, which he will be doing. But here are my highlights from today:
"Be faithful where God has you." - Paul Baloche
Don't let God become a job.
The number one responsibility of a worship leader is to "keep our own hearts fresh towards God." - Paul Baloche
Sunday morning doesn't have to be a fireworks show.
"Create an atmosphere that makes it easy for people to connect with God." - Paul Baloche
The job of worship leaders {one of them, haha} is to gather all the generations and diverse cultures into one, which is a pastoral heart. {We also have a priestly heart.}
When you co-write with someone, come with a bag of ideas.
Then we went straight into Christa Black's main session message:
"You will live out what you believe." - Christa Black
God never intended shame. {Genesis 2:25}
"Shame will keep you from the intimacy you were created for." - Christa Black
"Shame will always make you run and hide from the intimacy you were created for." - Christa Black
You need to learn to contend for your promise - defend your land.
People have 1500 thoughts a minute, and 1300 of those thoughts are negative. {You know the drill, and if you don't, you should: Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.}
Shame --> Fear --> Control --> Shame
Don't accept words from unqualified or uncredited sources. Unqualified/uncredited means they are not in agreement with what God has said over your life.
"Do not go soul searching without the Holy Spirit." - Bill Johnson
When God points to your struggle, He's not condemning, He's pointing to your next miracle.
Christa Black...and Anja's head
"He's {God} never looked at you and seen a negative." - Christa Black
You may have gained this from the subject matter, but Christa is very similar to Dani Johnson {for those of you who know the awesome DJ}. They have a similar passion and boldness, carrying the same victory.
Lunch time! Had a quick meeting with my fellow 'Let's Thank Kathy!' project members. I am not in over my head, but learning how to wear the leadership mantle I so long cast aside is a bit like re-learning how to, I don't know, ride a bike. I know it's there, and it comes quite easily. But I'm working within that mantle in the Kingdom now, which is different, so it's like riding a bike in different weather conditions than when I learned. Anyway, it's going smoothly. And we have Dan McCollum in on it, too, so that makes me feel a bit better! :)
I had such a difficult time deciding which workshop to go to next. There were several that looked 'good,' but none that just grabbed me. Christa had one that looked interesting, but I ended up going to Joanna Finchum's class on background vocals. {I find out afterwards that Christa's workshop went to heaven. As did the next one. Dang it.} Joanna's class was really good though. It turned into kind of a Q&A, so I don't actually have any one-liner notes. Some great practical stuff that I'm eager to take home though, especially regarding bands and the relationships within them.
Then to Dan McCollum's class. My roommates are such Dan junkies. I admit to spacing a little during it, just a little, though not too much because he is awesome. Basically, he hasn't been for me what he's been for them - and that's totally okay. I have a ton of notes, but the 'whoa' for me came during impartation.
"You will always worship at the level of your revelation." - Dan McCollum
It is a sin to be bored.
The beasts being covered with eyes around the throne of God means that they have an unlimited perspective of God.
Praise is based off of what we know of God. "Worship is my response to Him showing up." - Dan McCollum
"Do not get people to respond [in worship, in the sense of, 'you should be worshiping this way with this passion'] without a reason...that brings religion." - Dan McCollum
Learn to worship at the level of warfare against you.
"Grumbling, murmuring, and complaining are the praise and worship of the kingdom of darkness." - Dan McCollum
The bigger the test, the bigger the testimony. The bigger the wall, the bigger the breakthrough.
"You would be so bored if you didn't have anything to break through." - Dan McCollum
But the real craziness of it all came when he started doing impartation. The first one was for those who are going back to do worship at churches that...let's just say they need some worship breakthrough. And in the environments that I lead worship, like Saved By Grace and 4th Friday, I don't need that. So I sighed and didn't go up. Which saddened me, though my sadness made me laugh because two years ago I would have been out of there the way he was imparting by blowing on people's hands, and people were laughing, etc...
The next one he called was for breakthrough in personal worship, and I was like, "Yes! That's me! My turn!" So I went up. And didn't shake or laugh or fall over. Why? I don't know. I'm relatively un-phsyically-moved by stuff like that. I don't know why. It's kinda been driving me crazy since I've been here. But God and I have talked it over, and it's okay. :)
Then he started prophecying about the future of worship. There's a reason there's too many worshipers in churches. He prophecied that there will be worshipers with healing anointings, that when they release their music, people will get healed of all sorts of diseases. That struck a chord with me, because that's been told to me before about what I do. I never wrote it down, didn't really attribute it to prophecy, because I was kinda like, "Well, that's what nice prophetic people say. Instead of saying I have a nice voice, they say it heals." But I'm rethinking that position. :) I stood up for impartation for that {we stayed in our own seats this time}.
He talked about economic worshipers that will change the financial culture of areas through their worship. That's really cool, but it's not what I'm called to. And then he talked about a weather/land worship anointing. About changing the weather with one's worship. {I've tried that, yes, I really have.} About changing the land with one's worship. And then he said something to the effect of, "There are some here with a Native American heritage that have retained the relation to nature that the First People had. And we call that out and bless it."
Puzzle pieces started slamming together in my head. Whoa. See, I'm 1/4 Native American (partial US and partial Mexico). Jerry's talk last week on Native American worship sparked something in me, something I've been conflicted about for some time. I love the Native American culture. It resonates with me. I hear/see/feel it, and it calls me like I belong there. And there's a part of that that bothers me, because I'm 3/4 European. I mean, am I being disloyal to the majority of my blood? I still don't really have the answer, but I do know that when Dan said that, I physically felt the pieces collide. Because even though I'm the farthest person in the world from being a lover of the outdoors, I do have a connection with nature. I've told Mom before that, "When I worship, it makes the trees happy. I don't know how I know. But I know." I know. I can feel it. And that word from Dan freed me for...for something. I'm still working that out, working out where I belong. But that was good.
It was cloudy and raining this morning when I woke up. It was great actually getting to sleep that long, considering that I got to bed halfway early and didn't wake up until the alarm went off. We called our new friend, Carol, and she gave us a ride so that we wouldn't have to walk in the rain.
Worship this morning was by Christa Black and the Jesus Culture band (Jeffrey, Ian, Brandon, and Luke). Really good. We started out with a wall of sound, which has no reason to have felt any different from a basic shout, but it did. It felt like a wall. Anyway, good worship. She's the first worship leader here that I've felt has a similar style to myself, not necessarily in the way she worships but definitely in the way she sings with 'angelic' 'aaah's'. No one else here has done that, so I suddenly don't feel weird anymore! :)
The teaching this morning was by Kris Vallotton. Oh, happy day! He said that he'd had 'the worship teaching' all planned out and hadn't felt right about teaching it. So he taught something else, Living From Eternity. Highlights:
“The goal of the Book is not that you memorize the Book but that you get to know the Author.” - Kris Vallotton {who knows the Book better than many, for the record}
“He didn't just die for you, He died as you.” - Kris Vallotton
“Your heavenly seat gives you eternal perspective.” - Kris Vallotton
Since He is the One who was, and is, and is to come, we are tri-dimensional.
The “fact” that things begin and end is a new idea in God's world.
Your spirit doesn't sleep. And you chalk it up to a dream, when your spirit was actually out doing things.
God/angels come to people in dreams. People don't dream of God/angels.
“God didn't make you choose Him, but He knew you would, so He chose you first.” - Kris Vallotton {on Romans 5:9}
“When Jesus rose from the dead, you rose with Him.” - Kris Vallotton
“You're not living for yourself, you're living for the people that went before you.” - Kris Vallotton
“When we dream with God, we become co-creators of His imagination.” - Kris Vallotton
The people before and after you are depending on you.
Jesus said that 'the Kingdom of heaven is at hand,' not that 'the end of the world is coming.' We shouldn't join forces with the dark side (spirit of fear) to win people into the Kingdom.
“The prophets are the ones, and the prophetic people are the ones, who create the future.” - Kris Vallotton
“God is looking for a people who know that God has plans for us, {and} not plans of calamity.” - Kris Vallotton
“God is calling us to be a people who live from eternity, not just for eternity. Heaven is your reward, but heaven on earth is your ministry.” - Kris Vallotton
There was actually a lot more good stuff on this sermon that I have notes for, really cool stuff concerning the era of fear that occurred during the later half of the twentieth century. It's just a little too complex for quick one-liners here, but ask me about it when I get home. {Oh, and this is totally unrelated to anything, but I sat by William Matthews for about seven minutes during Kris' sermon! He came and sat in the empty seat between Amber and I while he rifled through his laptop bag.}
Then lunch. Everybody ate inside today, because outside is wet and chilly. Even Texans would call it on the chilly side. I brought my hoodie, and I've been thankful for it all day.
Workshop Number One: Christa Black on Worshiping Without Saying the Name of Jesus. Epically long title, I know. Christa has a (recent and continuing) background in professional music, touring with Shane Bernard, Jennifer Knapp, Steve Green, Michael W. Smith, and, most recently, The Jonas Brothers. {She's also written for Jordin Sparks and Natasha Bedingfeld, among others.} She was talking about taking God into secular environments (*cough* Hollywood *cough*), something that has been on my heart for a long, long time, as those closest to me know. I'll give you the highlights, but she shared some pretty epic stories that deserve retelling if you feel like asking. :)
If God inhabits the praises of His people, we should be worshiping 24/7.
We think that if we worship enough and the glory comes, then the lost will come. But that's not true. You don't see the Amalekites flocking to the Israelite's cloud/fire-covered tabernacle.
“Worship on the platform is simply an overflow of a life lived in worship.” - Christa Black
“Dare to suck!” - Christa Black {on songwriting}
“Everything that you do is worship. So everything that you say is actually worshiping the Lord or advancing the kingdom of the enemy.” - Christa Black
“You're either in agreement with the Father or in agreement with the father of lies.” - Christa Black
“Only wait on Him if you have a yield sign...The answer is yes and amen. Green light until He either says yes or yield.” - Christa Black
“The enemy has intimidated us into believing that he's massive.” - Christa Black
“The weird of the weird come out...and that's probably us, so, we should be there.” - Christa Black {on a hard-core pagan festival in Shasta}
“God's gonna use whoever has a vision to release His Kingdom.” - Christa Black
What if we looked at our gifts as skills instead of just gifts?
“I'm the lightening rod that funnels the Kingdom through.” - Christa Black
“It's not my job to change anyone. It's my job to introduce them to love.” - Christa Black
A quick break. I was having a terrible time deciding between Dan McCollum's class on “Finding Your Song,” and Christa's class, Writing From Revelation. I decided on Dan's, but I was still pinging around in my head. Dan or Christa. Dan or Christa. They're both amazing. But Dan's class, while good, wasn't what I had wanted it to be, and so five minutes in, I turned to AC and said, “I'm going to Christa's class. But I'm leaving my stuff here.” Slipped into Christa's, and I'm so glad I did. It was magnificent. {And she was pretty serious about the impartation at the end, too.} Highlights:
When I release an anointed song, I release the congregation into that anointing.
“Revelation is a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way.” - Christa Black
“God's not on a budget.” - Christa Black
Revelation is for you.
You have access to the revelations and the mysteries of God. Why? Because you're hidden in Christ.
Revelation is for all.
Keys to revelation: intimacy, discipline, hunger, and positioning yourself in Christ. But don't sake these things for the sake of revelation.
“'Should' brings shame.” - Christa Black
“What do you want the church to look like in five years? Write about it now.” - Bill Johnson
There was more to it than my small amount of notes, but yeah, it was good. Christa is kind of amazing. She has main session tomorrow, so that will be fun.
I still hadn't decided whether or not I was going to the evening class tonight. Sleep has definitely done wonders for me, and I was feeling up to it. Carol, Dani, and Amber had decided to go to KFC/A&W for supper, and Anja and I decided to join them. Fries! I'm becoming quite the fry addict since I've been here, which is rather pathetic. I just have such limited bad food in my diet! But everyone is making fun of me, the 'healthy one,' now because I eat fries, and I order burgers. *deep breath*Anyway, I opted to go home instead of back to church for night classes like everyone else was doing.
There was no one at home. I was restless. Tried playing the piano. Remembered that there was more to evening classes than Dan McCollum's songwriting class {I just couldn't stand the thought of another class of any kind, even if Dan is awesome} and decided to head up to the church. It was kinda ridiculous, since I could have just stayed in the car in the first place. But yeah, I headed out into the drizzle, ready to walk off some steam up the hill.
But some nice BSW people picked me up at the intersection, and I didn't have to. :) I went to the band session, which is where Chris Quilala himself critiques a group of people playing a song, i.e., a band. I was just planning to sit and chill, but then the band started asking for a keyboardist. I finally went up, and the lead guy was asking Chris Q if they were going to have a keyboardist, and I'm like, "I play keys." And Chris is like, "There you go."
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
I get up there, and get to fiddle around on the keyboard (!). We were going to have to go without any music to look at, but then Chris Q himself went and made us copies (Chris is awesome). We did "Oh, Praise Him." I would have chosen an easier song, honestly, but, yeah, no one asked me. The leader asked if I could do a piano riff intro, and I'm like, "Sure." It was strange, I had a healthy nervousness, but I wasn't terrified or stunned. There's something about Bethel that eliminates terror. And Chris is just so awesome and makes you so comfortable. Chris Quilala is awesome. If nothing else, he's the perfect guy to administrate a critique session like that.
So I started out the song. A bit much for me any day. I didn't start out with the exact riff that Andrew, the leader, was wanting, but it was a riff that fit the style he wanted. We didn't have a click-track because the drummer had never used one, and he was a really quiet drummer for using in-ear monitors, and the whole first verse was really slow and flowy and I'm carrying the rhythm (pity the keyboardist who is carrying rhythm). But I managed.
And the first thing out of Chris' mouth when we finish our first draft is, "I really like that intro thing."
Bam! Granted, he asks Andrew if it was his idea, which it was, kind of, and Andrew admits that it's not exactly what he wanted, but he can't exactly try to correct it now, can he? :) I say all this in fun. It was a great experience. AND I WAS ON THE BETHEL STAGE! PLAYING KEYBOARD! I cannot say how amazing this was! :) Just thrilling. Absolutely thrilling.
Then we came home, and I had the brilliant idea to post to the Facebook group if we should do something for Kathy Vallotton because she's been so awesome. Talk about being barraged by ideas. That's what's kept me occupied for an hour and delayed the posting of this blog post. I'm keeping it simple, Mom, don't worry. :)
Yah, so here I be! :) Jeremy Riddle and Hunter are leading worship tomorrow, and Christa Black is speaking at Main Session. And the adventure continues...
{PS. Is anyone having trouble with the videos? I've heard one mention of it...what about anyone else? Because I could start using Blogger video or even YouTube...}
So I had a question this morning about Saturday's post wanting me to elaborate on my statement:
"Josh gave us permission to dance at one point, so that was awesome. And the worship team - they were a bit drunk, not going to lie..."
In the healing rooms, dancers are part of the healing ministry. Christina Chadney leads the healing room dance, and it's a very serious aspect of the healing rooms. {I took a healing room dance workshop from her my first week here.} It's just as important as the prayer team, the painters, or the musicians. You understand when you go in there that only the Bethel team is there to pray - to honor Bethel and other people, you don't individually pray for other people. Same way you wouldn't go up and join the band, or randomly start painting, you don't really dance. It's not a rule, but it is an honor thing. At the time Josh gave us permission, I was eager to dance, and so when he told us all we could dance, I was ecstatic.
There is another aspect of this. Sometimes people who never dance need someone to tell them they can. When you declare permission for something in an environment, it breaks inhibitions and some of the enemy's fear stronghold. I'm not well-versed in all of this, but I know that what you say matters, and that giving permission to dance is so much more than just telling a bunch of people that they can join the healing room dancers. There's a definite spiritual aspect to it. And some people are just waiting for permission. I'm not sure which of these Josh was aiming for, but they both applied.
The worship team was drunk on the Holy Spirit, not wine. {It was early in the morning, after all.} They were still playing well, but the girl leading kept messing up words and giggling. I mean, we shimmied in the river (instead of jumped) in "Deep Cries Out."
It's difficult to compare drunk with wine and drunk with the Spirit, but just consider a worship time where the worship leader is drunk with wine and ridiculously happy. It's like that. Without the hangover. I mean, a worship leader who effortlessly combines "Father Abraham" and "The Hokey Pokey" has got to be on something...on the Spirit.
Hopefully that answers the question. I love answering questions, so if you have any, feel free to send them my way! :)
"I'm back at school and so happy!" Those were my words this morning, since we technically haven't been at school since Wednesday due to the (awesome) Kingdom Culture conference. Lots of classes today...actually had the opportunity for more, but I'm choosing to rest tonight.
Worship was led by William Matthews and Jenn Johnson. So good. We were singing "I Will Exalt" and then went into prophetic worship. Jenn just took over and was leading and prophesying and we were going deeper and deeper and deeper. A whole new level from what we've been doing. They've kicked it up a notch.
Ray Hughes was our first speaker of the day. He was introduced as being brilliant and hilarious, which is exactly who he is. He's super smart, so much so that a lot goes over my head while I'm grasping to catch the last thing he said. Personally a little hard for me to follow, but I know a lot of people absolutely love him. He is great, just not my favorite. Highlights:
If we aren't worshiping God, we forfeit the reason we exist.
'Said,' 'declare,' 'prophecy,' and 'sing' all mean the same thing.
Darkness is exposed and expelled by light.
When a generation finds God's sound, they don't prophecy what they will be, they create what will become.
'Let' there be light = 'Let' my people go
There were once three archangels, Michael (warrior), Gabriel (messenger), and Lucifer (worship leader). After Lucifer was cast down, God created an entirely new being (human) to worship Him.
"They're [demons] afraid of the sound that will be released." - Ray Hughes
"We're not here to take sides. We're here to take over." - Ray Hughes
[regarding Michal's disdain of David's worship and the consequences thereof] "Barrenness is born out of criticism. No wonder the church is so barren in the creative realm." - Ray Hughes
There was more, a lot about frequencies and black holes and dolphins and icebergs and Haydn...too much to fit into one liners. So, that's a 'I'll tell you later' deal. :)
After lunch, I was caught between Kim Walker-Smith's 'Itinerant Worship' workshop or Ian McIntosh's 'Overcoming Resistance [in Creativity]' workshop. Kim's was recorded, I don't do a lot of itinerant worship, and I am a future professional writer. So I went to Ian's. It was a hard decision, but I think I made the right choice. Highlights:
"The best thing I can do on this earth is co-create with God." - Ian McIntosh
The three stupidest people in the world are Charles Lindbergh, Steve Jobs, and Winston Churchill, because they didn't think about what it was going to take to accomplish what they wanted.
Maybe we call a lot of things prophetic when we're really co-creating with the Lord the way we were designed to do.
"Let's call our prophecy, prophecy, and our destiny, destiny." - Ian McIntosh
"Get yourself in the right frame of mind so you feel stoked about creating." - Ian McIntosh
"If I work, something will happen." - Ian McIntosh
"The (creative) battle is already won." - Ian McIntosh
There's no such thing as stress.
Choose to be more powerful than your fears and self-doubt.
A very fun class. He's a very engaging speaker.
Then it was on to Kim Walker-Smith's class on "Leading Worship Without an Instrument." Kim is, of course, amazing. {I'm listening to her "How He Loves" right now. Mmmmm...} Highlights:
"Nobody wants to be led by a miserable person." - Kim Walker-Smith
"However deep in God's presence you've gone, that's how deep you get to lead the people." - Kim Walker-Smith
"They don't need you to be perfect. They don't need you to be polished. They need you to get them into the presence of God." - Kim Walker-Smith
"The reality is, 'It's not about you.'" - Kim Walker-Smith
"It's about the people. We are there to serve the people." - Kim Walker-Smith
"Laugh it (mistakes) off. That is, like, the number one thing." - Kim Walker-Smith
"Don't be afraid of coaching the congregation." - Kim Walker-Smith
"Sing the melody!" - Kim Walker-Smith
"People are led best by example." - Kim Walker-Smith
They are tired of fake, and they are tired of perfectionism, and they are tired of things having to look a certain way. People are not stupid. They can tell when you're real and when you're not real...People are hungry for real. - Kim Walker-Smith (loose quote)
"Be the example of what passion looks like." - Kim Walker-Smith
Spontaneous worship is when what's in your heart just overflows. Prophetic worship is when you can feel the anointing on a part of the song, or on something spontaneous, and you press into it by repetition and action.
And then I came home after waiting at the bus stop with Anja. There are three night classes tonight, a songwriting class, a software recording class, and one of the band sessions where they critique a band. I would have loved to go, but I just couldn't do another late night after all the ones I've already had. So I'm sitting out tonight and staying home. I'll fix myself a nice dinner, maybe play some music or color or paint my nails (or all three) and go to bed early.
Today was the second day my whole time here that the alarm clock was actually awake before me. And, truth be told, I didn't actually wake up. I ate breakfast, took a shower, went to church. Jeremy Riddle &; Melissa Wise-How led, and Eric & Candace Johnson spoke. Highlights:
The higher that we build, the more important it is what we build on.
The reason you're free is so that you can love someone beyond what the law allows.
Walked home and went back to bed for three more hours.
And still felt tired when I woke up.
worship
Made some good phone calls, chilled in the hammock. And then it was time for evening church. Chris Quilala and Jenn Johnson led.
Then it was time for the teaching. Kris Vallotton. {Someone at my house was saying how they saw a t-shirt that said, "'That's a good word right there.'" - KV" ... If you ever see one of those shirts - I want one.} Highlights:
Your weapon is between your teeth. {The weapon being your tongue and its ability to make prophetic declarations.}
Molehills often become mountains by your words, when your words should be making molehills of mountains.
"When you believe something that isn't true, it becomes true in your life." - Kris Vallotton
When you're supposed to be telling mountains to move and you tell yourself that you're stupid... {you finish that thought}
{When you hear encouragement or prophetic declarations over your life and dismiss them because they don't feel true}, they don't feel true because you're believing a lie.
"I'm always in a valley because I keep talking to my molehills and they become mountains." - Kris Vallotton {giving an example}
"Grumbling is socially acceptable in the church, but it won't get you into the promised land." - Kris Vallotton
Consider it joy when you're in a trial so that you don't perpetuate the trial.
A lot of people are raised from the dead {saved} and then build a house in the graveyard.
"How do you become a perfect man? By not stumbling what you say." - Kris Vallotton
Your tongue determines the direction of your destination.
Once I open my mouth to curse, what was earthly and natural becomes demonic.
"Complaining in the Kingdom doesn't bring you candy."
"When you complain, you draw demonic activity into your life."
When you complain, you're actually saying, 'I don't believe God.'
"God isn't the light at the end of the tunnel. He's the light in the tunnel." - Kris Vallotton
We can't exaggerate God's love for us.
I felt so energized after the evening church service. I'm a bit tired now, and I'm about to go to bed, because bed is good, but I'm a far cry from who I was this afternoon. Just needed a second dose of Bethel to get me jazzed. Much more tomorrow! :)
What a crazy day! Got up early and went to the Bethel healing rooms. The line snakes all the way around the outside of the sanctuary and then into what amounts to a three-ring circus.
Or a ten-ring circus.
They arrange the chairs into different oval-like rings, and you sit there with your piece of paper until someone from the Bethel healing team comes to pray for you. The worship band is playing long, prophetic songs, very acoustic, and every once in a while one of the leaders (Josh and Kris, not Vallotton) get up and announce a testimony. In the middle of the room is a small circle of prophetic artists. Dancers move about the room and sometimes on stage, sometimes with banners. Little girls - 4, 6, 7 - dance around and through the room, and they're serious about what they're doing. It's not a game to them. Or, rather, it's not a frivolous game.
I asked for healing for the TMJ in my jaw. The guy knew I had TMJ, but he didn't know which side. He had his hands on my jaw, and I had a weird feeling on the right side. I know people say heat, and I guess I could say heat, too, since there's not a lot of words available to explain what it was. The best I can come up with is 'weird.' And yeah, I know that helps you oh so much. But it was after that that he discovered which side I needed prayer for. So, yeah, he didn't know which side before the weird feeling, and that was cool.
Long story short, my jaw is still popping in and out of joint whenever I open my mouth all the way. But during our prayer, my lip - and the skin above the lip - started trembling. Who does that? I've seen a lot of things and heard of more...but this wasn't on the list. I'm sitting there thinking, "I know they've seen everything, but I've never even heard of someone's lip flubbering around like this."
Got a prophecy that my smile is going to heal people. That was cool.
Josh gave us permission to dance at one point, so that was awesome. And the worship team - they were a bit drunk, not going to lie - invented this lovely combination of "Father Abraham" and "The Hokey Pokey." As in,
"Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you, so let's all praise the Lord. Put your sick body in, pull your healed body out. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle in the river."
And people got healed wiggling in the proverbial river.
Amber and Dani went home, but Anja and I stayed to go to the treasure hunt. I was expecting a treasure hunt like last week, you know, white board and all. I was prepared to take notes to bring back home.
No whiteboard. No notes. Just this video:
Then this video:
And then he asked for anyone with a hip problem. Anja, sore from walking due to a missed bus, volunteered. One of her legs was longer than the other, causing a lot of soreness in her hips.
Let's just say that she felt the hips stretch and that her legs are now the same length and the pain is gone.
Then he had us pair up and play with each other's legs, basically. Brittany commanded my left leg out, and it went out farther than my right leg. Strangest feeling in the world. I didn't get up on walk on it, because a part of me was terrified of doing something that would make it stick that way. So we put it back - an even stranger feeling. I am still the same height.
This video is Brittany's feet. I had already gotten her legs about an inch longer. This is someone else praying for her legs to get even longer.
again, this isn't trick photography
Brittany went home 2-3 inches taller. Her mom was there, and if anyone knows, Mom knows.
And then we were just playing around and made Anja's arms longer. The following video starts after Brittany has lengthened Anja's left arm and we decide to make the right match it. {I know it looks like the angle isn't straight on, since the hands don't match up, but I swear it's straight down the middle. It's a bit of a mental paradigm shift when you watch. I wish I could have translated that experience into video, because these videos just don't do it justice, but I'm trying.}
Anja's arms are now longer. True story.
Then we did some prophecy drills. As in, you're given a category {animals}, has 5 seconds to think of something in that category that the other person reminds you of, one minute to tell them what it is and what makes that something different from all the other somethings in the category. And it turns into a prophecy. It's fun.
The treasure hunt was pretty sweet - we exited the building through a fire tunnel - but nothing compared to our crazy preparation. We had a bus stop, fire hydrant, maize, and bench with tree. We found the treasure, a Native American lady, in front of Coldstone/ice cream. Then we went to the cinema, which was within walking distance WinCo foods. Anja and I actually did some grocery shopping there, and we got to pray for a lady with a purple shirt and flip-flops (that she had almost not worn).
Black Bear Diner menu
the napkins
Anja and I came home and tried to lengthen Amber's legs (long story). And then Amber, Anja, Dani, Carol, Marie, and I went to Black Bear diner.
I have so much stuff from today. Morning worship was led by William Matthews. It was good.
Morning session of the Kingdom Culture conference was with Kris Vallotton. It's kinda crazy how happy I was to see him in real life. He has a humility that doesn't come through his audio; he's not that cocky in real life. Highlights:
"You can't love someone more than they love you." - Kris Vallotton
You are not a sinner saved by grace. You were a sinner, but when you were saved by grace you became a saint.
If you believe you're a sinner, you'll sin by faith.
woah, selah
"You are seated in heavenly places with Christ and told to call God, 'Daddy.'" - Kris Vallotton
You are actually born to be amazing.
"I'm the painting, Jesus is the model, and God is the artist." - Kris Vallotton
You'll always reduce the environment around you to what you believe is within you.
You teach people how to treat you by how you treat you.
"Conviction says, 'You're way too awesome to be acting like that.'" - Kris Vallotton
"I'm not going to sing about me being a loser when God made me to be a winner." - Kris Vallotton
If you asked for it, He wants to give You more.
He's the King of kings. "You are some of the kings He's king over." - Kris Vallotton
Whoa. I know, right?
Kathy's parking space
my contribution to Kathy's spot
During lunch, I ate with a girl named Lisa and Jessica. And then someone had brought sidewalk chalk and gotten permission to decorate the parking spaces of Marlene (the Kathy Vallotton of TwinView), Kathy Vallotton, Paul Manwaring, and the 'guest speaker.'
It was our best and only way to say thank you.
Paul Manwaring's spot
After the lovely chalk art, we went and worshiped some more {not with William}. Then it was Kathy Vallotton's turn to speak. She's not a one-liner sort of person, just stories and phrasing that resonates in your heart 'til you want whatever it is. Highlights:
"Don't ever let someone else put something on you that isn't you." - Kathy Vallotton
"You never know what is inside you until the opportunity arises for it to come out." - Kathy Vallotton
Beautiful = Be You 'til You're Full
Fat Boyz
my Fat Boyz salad
me, Anja, Dani, & Amber
Supper with Dani, Amber, and Anja at Fat Boyz. {Which has an ironically good salad bar.} We had a lovely long God-conversation that hit on a variety of topics. Then back to TwinView for pre-service prayer.
I'm serious. If you ever go to Bethel, go to pre-service prayer. It's like the best thing ever invented. I spent a good twenty, twenty-five minutes sitting in a chair and then lying on the floor. It was a really monumental time for me, but I'm not going to write what happened. Here's a {slightly edited} journal excerpt:
"I don't know what this death defying adventure call that draws me is. But I want it. I don't know what exactly it is that I want, and I don't know how to get it. But I know I want it. God, I want Your plan." He said, "Are you sure? You don't have to. I can set you up somewhere cozy and comfortable, and you'd be happy." I said, "No. I want Your best plan for my life. The best one. Because I trust You. I trust Your plans. I know they are good, and I want them. I don't want to settle for a mediocre plan if You have something better. I'm willing to go through the trials and the process. I know - I know - You have a great destiny for me. And I want it, because it's what I was made for, and I can't get away from my desire of it. I want Your best plan, God!"
It was giving my life to the Lord. But what I was giving up was nothing compared to what I was receiving. In fact, the reward was greater than the sacrifice. God's best plan. For the first time in my life, I really trust Him. I know that His plans are good, that they're designed for me. He's not going to ask me to do something that I wasn't designed to do.
God will give you what you want Not because you want it Though that is reason enough for Him But because He gave you the want in the first place When it all began
Right after all that, I got a prophecy about my writing. It's still the craziest feeling in the world when someone comes up to you and goes, "I see you writing." Haha. "Do you write?" And it's like, "YES!" Double confirmation that I'm supposed to do writing with my life. :) {There was more to that prophecy. I wrote it down. It was mainly just a very happy moment of realizing that God actually wants us to do what we like to do {because He designed us to do it}. For some people, that would be a duh! moment, but it was really cool for me.}
Then we had more worship, this also led by William Matthews and Hunter.
Had some good Jesus-time there, too. I won't give you the whole conversation, but here was something really good:
I asked Him if it hurt, when the nails stabbed His skin
I felt a glimpse of wracking pain, made me grimace from within
Then with a smile He took it back, the memory His own
"Oh, it hurt, but there is so much more to know:
"Torture worse than nails, and pain beyond belief,
"A future never knowing you, it would have always been to Me."
worship
Of course, we were dialoguing, not talking in poetry, but it was a revelation well-deserving of poetry.
Then Eric Johnson spoke. Highlights:
A perfect man {Jesus} says to an imperfect generation, "You will do greater things than I have done."
Never use power and authority as an indication of a relationship with Jesus. {re: "Depart from me, I never knew you."}
"We are God's ultimate temple." - Eric Johnson
There's no place in scripture that gives us permission to turn off His abundance.
"Desperation is highly overrated." - Eric Johnson
Desperation is based on a focus of lack. Hunger is based on a focus of abundance.
Then we came home, laughed with Jenna about fish tanks - apparently I'm funny - and now I'm typing up this blog post. Or, rather, finished typing up the blog post. Tomorrow: healing rooms and a treasure hunt and possibly ultimate frisbee*.
* Ultimate frisbee is not a code word from some super-spiritual church event. It's just straight-up** ultimate frisbee.
** Or it could turn into revival. You never know in Redding with Bethel people. :)
I forgot to mention yesterday about the exercise we did after Danny Silk's talk. Half the room lined up against the wall all over the room, and then the other half {mine} was told to get up and find someone we hadn't talked to. And not to talk to them. {Although Chloe and I kinda disobeyed that one...we introduced ourselves because we just couldn't help it. We were strong very a long time, though, because we were both melancholies.}
Anyway, we were each given 30 seconds to ask God what He adored about that person and get three one-word answers. And then we were to look straight at the other person and say, "I adore you because x, y, and z."
It was really cool. There has been so much stuff I've learned while I'm here that I'm like, "Oh, this works in real life!" Because this gives me two things:
How to treat someone when I meet them - or even see them across the room. Ask God what He thinks, and translate that to my own belief about that person.
How to treat people I don't necessarily like. Ask God what He likes about that person and act accordingly.
That's all. I'm off to a day of Kris Vallotton {!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}, Kathy Vallotton {!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}, and Eric Johnson. Wait, he deserves some exclamation points too. {!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!} It's going to be a good day, and I'm excited. :)
Long, good day. I was up a bit earlier than necessary, which explains the new 'cast of characters' feature. I was tired of putting parentheses after every name.
Anyway, Jenna gave us a ride to the TwinView campus this morning for the first full day of the Kingdom Culture conference. Worship was led by Chris Quilala, at least an hour long, which was pretty sweet. Then Danny Silk taught on Creating Culture. There are times that he's my favorite, because he shows movie and/or YouTube clips in every teaching he does. It's awesome. Highlights:
"Culture happens on purpose." - Danny Silk
"The moment you begin to look at what God isn't doing, you become God's judge." - Danny Silk.
"What you focus on, grows," therefore, focus on the move of the Holy Spirit.
"'God is good all the time,' is a decision." - Danny Silk
In a Kingdom culture, "people are looking for ways to encourage each other."
After lunch, we had a bit more worship, about 30 minutes, which is pretty short, and Sheri Silk taught on Insert Love Here! This wasn't as exciting for me as the others were, because I've heard her do this talk in Austin. But it was still good. And she still ended with the final scene from August Rush, and that made me very happy.
"Movements start from the bottom up. Culture starts from the top down." - Sheri Silk
Then we had a 2-3 hour break. Amber, Dani, and Anja were going to go adventuring again. I was feeling very odd...not quite tipsy, but decidedly...strange, and didn't feel like adventuring. I figured I would stay at TwinView and just journal or something.
The majority of this trip's journaling moments have been hijacked. This was no exception. I went outside to finish my lunch sandwich - which I hadn't finished because I wasn't hungry because I'd put Rev3 in my shake that morning - and met a BSW student named Brittany. We talked and really connected within minutes, and then her mom pulled up from being at the Bethel campus Kingdom Culture conference.
Long story short, I ended up going to the grocery store with them, then to Yaks coffee shop {iced, blended chai with white choclate, mmmm!}, then to the house they're staying at, which is about 15 minutes out of Redding proper and in a nice neighborhood with tall pine trees. It was great to see another part of this area. {Although, I'm not going to lie, as I realized that we were leaving Redding, I was beginning to wonder if I'd just done something really stupid.} {But I was also pretty sure the whole time that God wanted me with them.} Anyway, they homeschool and actually flew into Phoenix from New York with their dad and brother, then road tripped up to Redding, and then the guys flew back home. Very cool family, I think. And then we went back to TwinView.
We'd been told earlier about a "pre-service prayer" that they had in one of the adjoining rooms at 6pm. Being there, and not wanting to miss anything, I went in. It's really cool, just some of the Bethel intercessors there to pray for you and prophecy over you and whatever. There's some cool music going on, too. Anyway, they prayed for me, and actually prophesied something over me that I got last November.
Flashback: Last November, I received a word that there was a waterfall of different colored jewels raining down. Each one a revelation, and I could pick one whenever I wanted.
The prophecy this time was that there was a basket covered in gold glitter, with different colored stones inside. As soon as she said different colored stones, I knew that she would next tell me that I just needed to take them. And that's what she said; they represented gifts. There were different colors, each one with a different meaning: pink - healing; blue - revelation; red - the blood of Jesus; gold - glory; purple - royalty. I did the...the what's-it-called: when you act out the prophecy. Of taking the stones/gifts and putting them in my heart. I counted them out in my head as I "took" them, and I got each one. And then she said, "He wants you to take the green one, for new growth."
And I'm like yes!, because this is what I've been wanting over the past week, newnewnew growth. It was just so perfect, and I took that one, too. Anyway. If you ever get the chance to do pre-service Bethel prayer, you should do it. Just sayin'.
Then more worship. Again, really good worship. At least an hour long again, and really, really good. By the end of it, the drummer was facedown on the floor. That should tell you something. I really like worship at the TwinView campus. It's more intimate...without any of the hype. Not that the hype is undeserved at 'main Bethel,' it's definitely not, but that at TwinView there's nothing to live up to. Does that make sense? I like them both, but TwinView is more relaxed.
Paul Manwaring spoke tonight about glory. He spoke really fast, and all of us were hard-pressed to get good notes. But I did my best. {This is another message to download. It's a bit ground-breaking, at least for me.} Highlights:
The word shekinah is actually not found in the Bible. It's a word used by Old Testament scholars that meant: the dwelling place of Him who dwells. The following are {in Paul's opinion} the shekinahs of history.
Eden
the tabernacle of Moses, which cost about $16,000,000,000
the temple of Solomon, which cost about $60,000,000,000 and was only 1600 square feet
John 1:14 {And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt {tabernacled} among us...}
1 Corinthians 6:19 {Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?}
WHOA. {i.e. SELAH}
"God's glory is the result of God expressing Himself." We're what happened when He expressed Himself.
The definition you place on glory will define where you expect to find it.
Science {finding out new things} is to technology {putting them to work} that theology is to the Kingdom.
Then we went to Dairy Queen, but I didn't get anything because the white chocolate chai this afternoon wasn't my most brilliant idea and now I'm fighting a sore throat. I just had a nice salad with an orange and my vitamins...and lots of water. So hopefully it will be gone in the morning.
Last night we went to the TwinView campus for the first time to begin the Kingdom Culture conference. {As much as they love us School of Worship people, we take up a lot of room. So they have live worship and live speakers - the same speakers who are speaking at Bethel - at TwinView just for us, and any other overflow!}
I'm not sure who led worship last night. Anna (host) said it might have been Ryan and Haylie, but she was just going off the fact that the girl had a English/Australian/South African accent. {I'm getting better about telling them apart...but not that much better, yet.} Brandon and Luke played bass and drums, respectively.
And it was amazing worship. I'm not going to say it was better because it's hard to have "better" worship, but it was definitely good. The element of "omgosh, Jenn Johnson is leading worship!" was gone, and it was just straight up worship with other people who love God. Anyway, it was really good. We did some old songs like "Holy & Anointed One," "Arms of Love," and "The More I Seek You." And we ended with the best bridge:
"I don't want to talk about any other lover/You're the only one 'n' there will be no other for me now/no other for me now."
Apparently it was spontaneous once in Bethel from Steffany Frizzell, and it's stuck around. I wouldn't be surprised to find it in a song someday.
Banning Liebscher {Leeb-sher} spoke. It was my first time to see what he looks like or hear him speak.
Wow.
Let's just say it was a very convicting teaching - perhaps the most convicting of my life, and I've heard a lot of teachings - and I was a bit wrecked at the end. There are going to be some changes, changes that will be better in the long run but that I'm not particularly looking forward to now.
What, you still want highlights?
"Community is a massive deal, and community is a choice. And there is a war against that choice." - Banning Liebscher
John 17 is "a prayer of community and oneness."
Life without grace is a slip-n-slide without water.
"If community was easy, it would not be a humiliating act." - Banning Liebscher
"Community flat-out works." - Banning Liebscher
"The decisions I make in community are safe decisions." - Banning Liebscher
Sometimes God feels silent because God intends to speak through people.
"If you're disconnected from community, you've disconnected yourself from the voice of God." - Banning Liebscher
"The Lord is not going to bypass discipleship." - Kris Vallotton
Then we went to home with another student by a rather interesting route {okay, we were lost for a few minutes}, ended up at McDonalds, where I got french fries. Salty, greasy stuff has been pretty low on my menu, so that was really good. But not exactly what I wanted. I'm still searching for that. I still haven't found what I'm looking for, in terms of salt and grease.
Actually, I think I may be having MSG withdrawals. Which is weird, because I don't eat that much MSG in the first place.
i am turning into my mother with my protein fix of choice
yes it's my arm. no, it's not a tattoo. but i really like it.
the view when i wake up in the morning. those lit windows are the bathroom.
Anyway, that was pretty random. We're about to go back to TwinView for a day of more Kingdom Culture, so I will update later!
Worship this morning was Jesus Culture + William Matthews - Kim Walker-Smith.
In other words, it was legit.
We opened with "Deep Cries Out," which is a fun one, and then did "Burning Ones," "I Want to Know You," and "Obsession." So good. This was my first time to worship from the front of the room, in front of the stage, instead of the back. Fun up there.
Brian Johnson spoke on songwriting for our main session. Highlights:
"Music in and of itself is prophetic." - Brian Johnson
"Songwriting isn't just self-expression, it is communicating how you feel and getting others to feel the same way." - Brian Johnson
He emphasized that all his 'rules' were not rules, just guidelines.
"Put lyrics to the joy and the passion and the emotion in the room," during congregational worship. - Brian Johnson
"When you're passionate about something, that's where your anointing is going to be." - Bill Johnson
"Write what you feel, not what you're supposed to feel." - John Mark McMillan
"God never runs out of ideas." - Brian Johnson
"Make the listener want to hear it again." - Brian Johnson
Love the church. Writing to be famous will be very different than writing out of a love for the church and a desire to see her enter into the Kingdom.
Afterwards I stood in line to possibly volunteer in an upcoming Bethel music video. There were a ton of people wanting in, and they only need 60, so they're going to pick randomly from their list and email us if we're in. So we'll see what happens! :)
inside the Alabaster House
Then I went and soaked in the Alabaster House for about 20 minutes. I love it in there. It's so peaceful. Downside is that I'm always sleepy afterwards.
Went back to the main church building to pick up a parking pass - that I probably won't need - and encountered Kathy Vallotton. I don't know if I've yet commented on her awesome-ness. She is awesome. Omgosh. Anyway, long story short, I asked her to pray for me for something and she did, and it was really cool. I almost fell over, which would have been really awkward, but it was all in all really cool. That's a tell-you-later story, but yeah. She's incredible.
And now I'm home. We only had a half-day of school today because the Kingdom Culture conference is this evening. Amber (Alabama) and Dani (France) went to go experience Redding, and Jasmine (Dallas) is asleep. So it's quiet here, but I'm about to play the piano and/or journal and/or draw. I'll post later about the Kingdom Culture conference tonight.
Worship by Gabriel Wilson this morning. Really, really good. I like the way he does his songs. For anyone who knows the style, they could totally rock "New Song." And his passion is awesome. He lived up to his teaching yesterday.
Kim the Awesome & Adorable
Kim Walker-Smith spoke during Main Session. Highlights:
"Worship is a constant pouring in and a constant pouring out." - Kim Walker-Smith
"We are created to respond to Him, and to respond to His love." - Kim Walker-Smith
This generation of teenagers is "fed up with fake! They are fed up with production! ... One glimpse of God's love, one glimpse of passion, and they are hooked!" - Kim Walker-Smith
"If you can find a way to find that passion and put it on display, people will come running." Kim Walker-Smith
Biggest things that come against worship teams:
Perfectionism
Criticism
Judgment
Jealousy
If you want more creativity, start eliminating judgment and criticism.
When you honor, you are inviting favor.
"One day I will live in the fruit of this moment."
"God, I desire Your presence more than I desire the answers."
I'm stopping there. There's more. :) Next I went to Judy Franklin's {Bill Johnson's assistant} heavenly realms talk. It was pretty cool. I found out that I'm not weird in my previous experiences with Jesus, experiences that I was pretty sure weren't just my imagination...but not quite. This was an affirmation of that. She called Close Encounters of the Third Kind one of the most prophetic movies ever made. Dad - keep your ringtone. :) {This is a hard class to detail on a blog. If you want more on it, talk to me on the phone or when I get back. It was good, though.}
Then we took Jerry Aaronson's testimony of how he is a Native American evangelist - both to the Native Americans, and from the Native American culture. So good. It resonates with me, even though I feel a bit weird being 1/4 "Indian" and 3/4 European. I'm going to ask him about that. He mostly had inspiring stories, not as many one-liners. He's part of a Christian Indian group that goes around the world. They got to go to a New Age festival in Israel - located where the tribe of Manasseh did something stupid and were told they would always be serving other gods - to honor the First People of First Peoples, and to spread Jesus' love. New Agers would come up to their hill and tell them that it felt so much better there than the other places. There were such cool stories, and I would love to detail them...but not now. That's a lot of words. Another thing to talk to me about in person/phone. :)
the ceiling
the center of the ceiling
Then Amber, my Alabama roomie, and I went to the Alabaster House. We told each other we would be in there an hour, tops. We were in there an hour, but it didn't feel that long at all. Just to sit there and soak, it was great. There's quiet music going, and a fountain in the middle, and windows on every side. I'll try to get some real pictures later. For now, all I have are pictures of the ceiling.
Tonight we sat out and talked way longer than I was anticipating, but it was good.
Oh, and I finished my journal today! {Or, the front of it. I've decided now why not put stuff on the back, eh?}
my journal cover. metallic pink water bottle not part of cover. words say "HIGHER," "State of Grace," "Every child is treated like royalty," "Nowhere is life richer," and "It's a different culture, a different world."
{Oh, and Kim Walker-Smith took off her shoe and smashed a spider on the podium. That was a pretty epic moment. She "doesn't like bugs."}
Also, I got ahold of this MUCH BETTER video from yesterday's worship and the new "My Dear" song. Still not sure if it's a Bethel song or not, but it's good. Listen and enjoy. The quality here is pretty sweet.
I forgot to mention yesterday (post 1, post 2) that we had a fire tunnel. It was a ton of fun {though in terms of intense and...crazy stuff...Leif Hetlund's is still #1}, and my AL roomie and I went through twice. :) Lauren, my host, was even allowed to be on the fire line, since she's a BSSM2 grad, and I think it's super cool that I'm living with her. {Jenna is also allowed to do stuff like that. She did ministry team stuff Friday night.}
Today I was able to work on my journal some more. Still not quite done - should finish tomorrow - so no picture yet! :) Then worship, led by Brian, Jenn, and Hunter. There's this epic new song that kinda rocked my song world, and I'm excited about it. I'm not 100% sure that it's a Bethel original, but it feels like it.
{I apologize now for the terrible audio quality. I was mainly trying to get a guideline for doing the song in the future.}
But the worship wasn't over:
This was pretty awesome. Again, sorry for the audio quality. And yeah, there's not much to look at because I was aiming for sound. {I should have set it to record just audio, but, yeah...}
Gabriel Wilson, Bethel School of Worship 2010 grad and worship leader at a church south of Redding, spoke. Best. Main. Session. Ever. So far. Which is kinda what I've said about all of them, but this one was insanely good. If you were waiting for a recommendation of what to download off of iBethel, this is it. Highlights:
"Cool is only cool for as long as cool as cool." - Gabriel Wilson
"Because cool changes." - Gabriel Wilson
What does it mean to move the heart of God? What does it take for our generation to be a generation that moves His heart?
"You being who you are in the wake of who He is is everything." - Gabriel Wilson
"Let the Lord validate you." - Gabriel Wilson
I realize that these notes, compared to the other one-liners I've posted, seem pretty lame. It's the sort of talk you have to listen to the whole thing for. The topic of discussion was all about ministering to God's heart. And it was just incredible.
Then lunch. I ate with two girls from Norway, a girl from London, and a guy from South Africa. I actually had a short conversation with the South African guy: I was speaking Spanish, and he was speaking Italian. And we understood each other. {He did speak English quite well, though with a crazy thick accent. We were just trying out our highschool languages.} Anyway, I thought that was funny, the American girl having a Spanish conversation with a South African guy speaking Italian.
And then I arrived at the room designated for Kim Walker's first talk...and they were turning people away. They're hoping to have a night class for it later, but I was sad. I glanced over someone's list and decided to go to Gabriel's workshop on visual media in worship. It was quite good, and I'm glad I went, though later I discovered that a class of Ian's that I'd wanted had been going on, also: the role of a keyboardist in a worship band. It was the one of Ian's that I most wanted to go to, and I'd been going to miss it because of Kim Walker.
So now I'm a bit confused and asking God why it was so important that I attend the visual media class. I mean, it was good and everything, but it wasn't epically life-changing or anything like that. But I was a hair late for Kim's class, and I totally blanked on Ian's, both of which are weird, and so I'm trying to figure out why I was there.
But I did get to go to Kim's second class, all about women in worship ministry. It was really, really good. She's so awesome and adorable, and has such wisdom. And she gave us chocolate.
you can kinda see my hair
Chris Quilala & William Matthews
Came home and got ready for the rollerskating party hosted by Chris Quilala and William Matthews. Special guest DJs: Kim Walker-Smith, Banning Liebscher, and Jenn Johnson. I got some video, but, I mean, once you've seen one roller rink, you've seen 'em all. But I bet you haven't seen that. -->
Now I'm ridiculously sweaty, or salty, rather, and am sosososososo sore. Tomorrow's hills are already laughing at me.
got that lovely thing from a fall against the carpet-covered wall, yep, yep
{P.S. If you're reading this via email, you aren't seeing the videos I'm posting. Just FYI. Also...um, yes, well, there was something else, but I can't remember it. Must not have been too important.}
