{Day 21}

Wow, the day has been so long! This morning seems like an eternity ago!

Let's see. Worship was led by William Matthews, Matt, and Hunter Thompson {which means we got "My Dear"}. I stood in the back, a change from the past couple of weeks, so that I was able to have a bit of space. Great, great worship. William's prophetic worship is off the hook {oh, dear, I'm turning Californian}, and it was just so good. So good.

Then we heard from Ramey Whalen, Ray Hughes' daughter. She's eight weeks shy of going into labor, but she still has tons of energy. She taught on the tabernacle of David, which is important to know because it's hopefully coming back {Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16}. Did you know they're currently uncovering the ruins of David's tabernacle? Me neither. Even though we see it as coming back spiritually and not literally, it's definitely a very prophetic sign.

• For 33 years {David's kingship}, at team of 4000 worshipers {out of 38,000 Levites, the rest of whom also had jobs} were in charge of worshiping God 24/7.  The 4000 made up teams of 24 bands. All were led by Keniniah {which I'm sure I'm spelling wrong}, and under Keniniah were 3 more head musicians. There were 5 things required by all those who wanted to be on this enormous worship team:
• 7 years of training in the school of the prophets
• quote the entire Bible {of the time} word-perfect
• 30+ years old {later lowered to 20 or 21}
• had to have a well-rounded knowledge of history, current/secular poetry, current events, etc...
• had to build their own instrument
• "David walked in the office of prophet, priest, and king." - Ramey Whalen
• To criticize other people's demonstrative acts of worship is to invite spiritual barrenness.

Then we went into a study {finally!} of the seven types of praise. You see, when the word 'praise' is used in the Bible, there's one of many words it could actually be. The English language doesn't translate it very well. However, I don't actually have them written down, because we were busy acting them out. We started this by Ramey calling up the band and us walking around the perimeter of the room, just singing out and worshiping God.

1. Barak. This is also often translated as 'bless,' and it means to bow or salute. So first we saluted God {literally}, and then we bowed to the floor.
2. Yadah. This means to praise by the lifting up of hands. Pretty basic. We do that a lot.
3. Todah. Similar in root to yadah, this does involve a raising of hands. But it's focused on thanking God for what He's going to do, not what He's already done. It also involves what we would call high-fives...
4. Shabach. To lift up a shout.
5. Zamar. Though this can include singing, it is focused more on the musical instrument, the plucking of the string. So for this one, we let the band play/prophecy over us through simply music. So, so good.
6. Tehillah. My favorite. This is the singing of praise {about time, right?}, specifically that of a spontaneous song.
7. Hallal. Last, but certainly not least, is the word that forms the root of hallelujah. To hallal means to dance and spin crazily like a maniac and to look like a fool. To act madly. So next time you say 'hallelujah,' be ready for some fun. :)

Lunch. Then two workshops {Worship Leading and Songwriting} with Jenn Johnson.

I love Jenn Johnson. I do not have a lot of notes from her, because a lot of what she tells are stories. But I'm so game for that. I love her stories. I won't type them here, but I'll probably be telling them for years. What notes I do have, though, I give:

• Worship Leading
• When there's a song you want to do in your worship set, but the band/you can't figure it out in time, capture the theme, but don't feel like you have to do the song.
• Constantly realign your heart to worship.
• "Connect to your senior pastor." - Jenn Johnson
• "What you carry, you leak." - Jenn Johnson
• Sometimes in worship, your body wants to dance, and it's you who stops it.
• "Your freedom is contagious." - Jenn Johnson
• Community: "We just love Jesus and food." - Jenn Johnson
• Start your set list with a declaration song about who God is.
• Encouragement trumps jealousy.
• Songwriting
• Sing the Bible.
• When you get an idea, 'sketch' out your ideas/themes for the verses and chorus and work from there.
• "Go write a fun song." - Jenn Johnson
• She told us to go write the #1 love song in the world. Because, as Christians, we should understand love better than anybody. And God designed man/woman love. "Go write an amazing love song." - Jenn Johnson
• There are congregational {"Taste & See"}, moment {"God I Look to You"}, and message {"A Little Longer"} songs, among others.
• Make sure your songs are relevant to your senior pastor...and Joe the Plumber on the back row.

We got home from school and promptly went grocery shopping, then to Whiskey Town Lake to celebrate Amber's birthday. To be honest, I really just wanted to stay home, but I was able to get over that, and I had a blast at the lake. It's so beautiful. Picture a lake, surrounded by almost-mountain hills. Ah. Just lovely. Also, the weather was a good 5 or 10 degrees cooler. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or maybe we were in mountain shadow...but it felt so good. Like velvet.

Jenna showed us this magnificently beautiful creek. Just picturesque and altogether perfect. Loverly. I want to bottle up that creek and take it home with me.

the view from our picnic table

The party consisted of Amber, Dani, Jenna, Lauren, Mitch, Johnathan, Sam, and myself. We snacked on chips for a long time, then Mitch and Sam figured out the grill and managed to cook kabobs. I feel very proud that I not only bathed two chicken breasts in barbecue sauce on a foam plate, but I also cut them into kabob-size squares with a plastic fork and knife. And my hands.

another view from our picnic table

Mitch and Sam went into the lake, and Lauren and I followed after a bit. I swear we were only in the water for five minutes, but I'm still cold. Hours later. It probably lowered my body temperature by three or four degrees. Also, if I can't touch the bottom {in nature water, not pools}, I'm instantly fighting panic attacks. Random fact about me.



So the water's so cold that my body is numbing, and my mind is working overdrive in reminding me, "Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. It's okay, you're okay..." Anyway, it was great. I can now say I've been in Whiskey Town Lake at dusk. And I didn't panic.

May or may not have sat and shivered through worship, led by Mitch. It was great anyway, though. And I'm sufficiently cooled down for days, I'm sure. Then we looked up at the stars, me wrapped up in Lauren's flannel shirt, Lauren's hoodie, and Lauren's Indian blanket.

Now I'm home, and happy beneath my blankets, and going to sleep. Oh, and by the way, pray for my roommate, Jasmine. She ended up in ER last night with what's definitely a severe ear infection and could be a ruptured eardrum. She's a great sport, but she's in a lot of pain.


And on that happy note, I bid you good night! :)

{Day 18}

The day began with me thinking I slept in but actually being up a couple of minutes before my alarm - to go to the healing rooms.

These healing rooms were a bit different since the Kingdom Culture conference wasn't going on. They used two of the conference rooms instead of the sanctuary. One conference room - roughly half the size of the CCC living room - had been dubbed the Encounter Room. The other was used as a place for individual prayer. So, you go hang out in the decked out Encounter Room, and if you want individual prayer, you fill out the same sheet we did last week and they call your letter. I didn't want individual prayer today, I just wanted to chill in the Spirit, as it were.




The Encounter Room should really be called the Party Room, if you couldn't tell that already. It's a place of joy and celebration at God's goodness and what He's done and doing and will do. Constant, constant praise and enjoyment. Fun, fun, fun.

Then a quick lull {spent mostly in the bookstore} before I set out on a treasure hunt. We had a totally different teacher {again} this time. I actually got her name this time - Christina Wagner. She was in a ridiculously good mood. I had already seen her in the Encounter Room {which became the Healing Rooms after so many people arrived and they switched to 'Conference Mode' and they prayed for everyone in one room}, seen someone pray for her ears, then watched her balance one foot in front of the other. Turns out, she'd been navigating through severe vertigo for seven days. This morning she was 70-80% healed. So she was really happy. {If you've ever seen/listened to Heidi Baker...she's really similar in her presentation.}

Anyway, the three rules in this class were:

1. Get drunk
2. Stay drunk
3. Get everyone else drunk

Then we drilled in prophecy, words of knowledge, healing, and various etiquette for approaching people. During the healing drill - which isn't really a drill, we're just praying for each other instead of people we don't know - I prayed for a girl with pain in her hip and knee. {I'm pretty sure she was somehow interning with Christina, definitely helping out.} The pain went down a little bit, but not all. Then I heard someone behind me mention the growing out of legs that occurred last week and how a girl with hip pain (Anja) had been healed. "Let's try that!" "Okay!"

She sat down, I took her feet. Sure enough, the right leg was shorter than the left. So I told the right leg to come out...and out it came. And kept coming, until I started telling it to stop. And she's like, "No, don't stop, I want to be taller!" So I told it to keep coming out. And then she took control of her own legs and started directing them longer and longer, almost like a symphony. And I'm sitting there squealing because no matter that I've seen it before - omgosh! Seriously! And everyone crowding around to watch, and I just sit back.

She ended up taller. Her jeans no longer had to be rolled up.

Dude.

God's like, "See, it wasn't a fluke."

Anyway, once we got started on teams, Christina asked everyone who had been on a treasure hunt before to raise their hands. How about a Bethel treasure hunt? I kept my hand raised. "Good, you'll be a team leader."

Not that any of the other teams I have been on have actually had leaders, but that seems a big responsibility.

In the end, I didn't do much leading, which was okay. One of the girls on our team was 9 - almost 10 - and had a full treasure map. She'd just gotten back from the Kingdom Kids camp {whatever it's called} and was ready to go!

We prayed for one person.

Looking from an outward perspective, it was a pretty pathetic treasure hunt. It didn't feel like it, though, to me. I wasn't down. But most people would say it was a bust. {My goals are just to immerse myself in the experience and to learn it in and out, and I think I have succeeded as best as can be expected.} However, the testimonies we got from the other teams when we all came back were astounding! I'm not going to type them all here - I ended up being the scribe and writing them all down, so I know them well - but if you ask me, I'll tell you.

Home. Supper. Jenna had a friend over, and halfway through my cooking, they're laughing, and Jenna asks me, "Have you ever been drunk in the Spirit?"

"Not exactly..."

"You should come sit over here."

dancing feet

They were a bit wasted. Someday you should hear two school of ministry students talking theology while drunk...one of them with a Valley Girl accent. Seriously. It was great. I didn't get all that drunk from them, not laughing drunk. Peaceful. Not drunk. But then...then we were off to the drum circle.

yah, we got a shofar!
but it sounds like a trumpet

 The epically awesome drum circle that takes place in the Alabaster House every 1st Saturday and is hosted by Jerry Aaronson, the guy who taught on Native American culture restoration a couple of weeks ago. Anyway. It was awesome, especially since I've really been resonating with the Native American culture these past couple of weeks.





{I have a couple more videos, but yeah, ask me.}

After they finished, I didn't want to leave. So happy there. We finally did leave, though, and began the trek down the hill. Amber said I was drunk. I was, but I wasn't that drunk. I mean, I've seen people more drunk.

But it definitely felt good. It was a nice walk down the hill.

And now I'm home. Hoping to get to bed at a halfway decent hour to go to church at a ridiculously early hour to chill and then go to church again. Viola! And then, on Monday...I'm sleeping in. Thank You, Jesus.

{Day 4} Light of Your Face

When I posted the Treasure Hunt post yesterday afternoon, I didn't think there'd be much more interesting to write about, seeing as how nothing else was planned. I was wrong.

Yesterday evening, I started playing the piano - yes! we have a piano! - and flipping through the songs I'd brought. {I brought the songs because I brought my guitar. But I've ended up using the songs with the piano much more than the guitar.} Someone suggested "Light of Your Face," and off we went.



I played that song on the piano for at least 30 minutes. For a while it was the words of the song. Then my France roomie started singing spontaneous stuff, and it just got better and better and better. {And yeah, there were some tongues going on, too.} We finally just all ended up on the floor, had a prophecy, just talking and laughing. My Alabama roomie is enjoying the "whoaaa" here, and I said she needed to listen to Heidi Baker.

So we put on some Heidi Baker, the way people put on music. Just listened and kept talking.

Anyway, it was a good night, with lots of laughter and spontaneity and Holy Spirit. And I'd thought it was done, haha.