Well, a couple of weeks have gone by, and life here continues to be good. I'm really enjoying living with the people here and they truly feel like family. Spending lots of time praying and worshiping together really binds you together, and the sharing the everyday stuff of cooking, cleaning and working together does also.
A couple of weeks ago we had Burn Shawnee, 24 hours of continual worship and prayer. It was really awesome to be there - the first six hours i just stayed and worshiped and prayed. I played lead guitar in a couple of sets (2-hour slots), and it was great. I've been involved with organising the next month's Burn Shawnee, and it's amazing to see the range of different church congregations involved. Church unity was a major focus of last month's Burn, and God really laid on my heart the need for us to let go of our pride so we can be one. Jesus is coming back for a bride, not a harem (that is a quote from a book, but I can't think which book).
Last weekend we helped organise a youth retreat for a few church youth groups in the area. It was called Violent Pursuit - God is violently pursuing us, and we are called to pursue Him violently. It was great to pray over young people and see God working in their lives. It was also great to meet new people; there were people who are part of Burn 24-7 who came from Corpus Cristi, Texas and Little Rock, Arkansas. It was like meeting my extended family.
While I was at Burn Shawnee, God reminded me that He brought me here, and I shouldn't let anything other than Him be my focus, or else i shouldn't be here. That might sound kinda full on, but I really believe these 9 months are meant to change me completely.
Every Tuesday night, we have a class called "The Excellencies of Christ" by Allen Hood on dvd from the IHOP school. It's been amazing stuff; we've been getting lots of revelation on who Jesus is. This week He spoke about the seraphim, which translates as burning ones (the name of the internship). In Revelation 4, the seraphim are covered with eyes and are gazing upon God. As they scout out the mysteries of God, all they can report back to each other is "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty." Even with their many eyes, they can only begin to grasp Who God is. We also have that privilege, but we are able to gaze into the very heart of God. So I'm giving my life to gaze upon God, to delve into His endless mysteries. After all, we'll be spending all eternity trying to grasp Who God is, and we'll continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by Him.
this is an amazing song we sang at the youth retreat - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj2T6_MU5oA
p.s. i went to a concert last week - Barcelona, Copeland, and Relient K played - it was amazing, i absolutely loved it. Barcelona were so good i nearly stopped breathing it made me so happy. Copeland were amazing, and Relient K were great.
Next weekend we're off to Austin, Texas to do a Burn and then go out on the streets and minister to people on Halloween. Should be great
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Settling down into routine
After the beginning week, life's become more like it will be for most of this internship. Each weekday morning we have prayer from 9am til about 11 or 12. This sometimes includes teaching or discussions. We have started to study one Psalm a day, looking at what we can learn about God's character and emotions, and asking Him for fresh revelation. One of our leaders said the other day that worship from information is good, but worship from revelation is what really has power to transform.
Amos 9:11-12 is a major focus of Burn 24-7 - God restoring the tabernacle of David, which had no veil and was filled with musicians, prophets and intercessors. So we've been looking at how worship leads to the prophetic, which leads to intercession. This has been great to do every morning, and it's really raised my expectation for God to speak to me. We also started a dvd course from IHOP called the Excellencies of Christ, which is really gd stuff - to know and understand God, we must look at Christ.
Each weekday afternoon we do work for a couple of hours. so far this has been mainly moving in furniture that God has provided, but will also involve helping with admin, and organising local 'Burns' each month (24 hours or more of continuous worship and prayer), and helping spread the vision to churches locally. the evenings sometimes involve just spending time together, classes (including vocals, piano, guitar) and outreach.
We had a Burn last weekend which was based at a housechurch. We had sound equipment set up outside, and was awesome to worship surrounded by God's creation. I played electric guitar for 4 hours straight, which was great. These guys have developed a culture of prophetic worship, and it was great to cry out to God together.
We have all been assigned to local congregation to help with their youth meetings and church meetings. I'm looking forward to this, and I'm sure i can learn a lot, having not been involved much with slightly bigger expressions of church in a while.
God has also been uniting us as a group of interns, or, as Karen Dunham called us, a company of prophets. Seeing these people seeking God so passionately is really inspiring, and it does feel like a family.
Last week we went camping and hiking for a couple of days, and each shared in-depth testimonies, which really helped us get to know each other.
I know I'm where God wants me to be, God even told me that I have a part to play in changing America. He is giving me His heart for America so i can truly intercede for it. We are all believing that the city of Shawnee (where we're based) will be transformed over the next 9 months.
Amos 9:11-12 is a major focus of Burn 24-7 - God restoring the tabernacle of David, which had no veil and was filled with musicians, prophets and intercessors. So we've been looking at how worship leads to the prophetic, which leads to intercession. This has been great to do every morning, and it's really raised my expectation for God to speak to me. We also started a dvd course from IHOP called the Excellencies of Christ, which is really gd stuff - to know and understand God, we must look at Christ.
Each weekday afternoon we do work for a couple of hours. so far this has been mainly moving in furniture that God has provided, but will also involve helping with admin, and organising local 'Burns' each month (24 hours or more of continuous worship and prayer), and helping spread the vision to churches locally. the evenings sometimes involve just spending time together, classes (including vocals, piano, guitar) and outreach.
We had a Burn last weekend which was based at a housechurch. We had sound equipment set up outside, and was awesome to worship surrounded by God's creation. I played electric guitar for 4 hours straight, which was great. These guys have developed a culture of prophetic worship, and it was great to cry out to God together.
We have all been assigned to local congregation to help with their youth meetings and church meetings. I'm looking forward to this, and I'm sure i can learn a lot, having not been involved much with slightly bigger expressions of church in a while.
God has also been uniting us as a group of interns, or, as Karen Dunham called us, a company of prophets. Seeing these people seeking God so passionately is really inspiring, and it does feel like a family.
Last week we went camping and hiking for a couple of days, and each shared in-depth testimonies, which really helped us get to know each other.
I know I'm where God wants me to be, God even told me that I have a part to play in changing America. He is giving me His heart for America so i can truly intercede for it. We are all believing that the city of Shawnee (where we're based) will be transformed over the next 9 months.
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