The King's Banquet

To start let me explain what the "King's Banquet" is. The title is based off of Luke 14:16 - 24. The whole premise of the outreach was to serve the less fortune that are all over the metro. It became a much bigger thing than most would have imagined though.  I will be giving a run through of the day as it happened for me.
The day started early, we left school at about 8 am and headed downtown to Club3degrees. We unloaded our stuff and started to get into what the day would be. There was a intercession time right away, praise and prayer over what would be happening. It was a really good way to start off, I had a couple people pray over me and yeah, I got pretty overwhelmed by Him. So around 10 we started breaking up into groups to go do some last minute inviting.
I drove a group of 4 others a little bit Northwest, we ended up in Robinsdale. The majority of the time was spent handing out invitations to people that we came across. The very first guy that we talked to was pretty resistant to religion, well so are we, but still in a very different way. He was an elderly man and described some of his life experience to us. Before he walked away I took the opportunity to lay hands on him and pray for him and his family.
At noon we headed back downtown. It took a little while to find the highway again, but no big deal there. We got back downtown and I was immediately turned around about where we were. Ya, we were super lost and I hadn't the slightest clue where to go. So after wandering around for a while we saw another group and followed them most of the way back to Club3.
Once we finally made it back we promptly starting eating lunch - Little Caesars. They was a lot of food and everybody got their fill. At about 1 another intercession time was started, well while that was happening I was trying to remember where I had parked and I couldn't figure it out. So as much as I wanted to stay and pray for the evening I knew that I wouldn't have time later in the afternoon and didn't want to try to figure it out at midnight when the clean up was finished, so I slipped out.
Fast forward an hour and a half, I had been wandering around downtown just trying to figure out where I had parked. I finally found it, and it turned out to only have been like two blocks right down the street from the club, God is funny like that!
So I headed back just as the informational meeting was going on for us. Basically a lot of details that didn't really apply to me too much. I was told that I was going to be a server so I listened to what was being said, and waited to hear my section assignment but it never came. So I spent the next couple hours just chilling until things got straightened out and I was given a job assignment.
Sometime between 5 and 6 I was told to help buss the dishes from the tables. It wasn't really what I was hoping for, but it was way better than I anticipated. Except for the table hosts I got to have the most interaction with the guests and yeah, it was super sweet! So 6 o'clock came around and there was a huge line at the door, from that I hear it went all the way down the block and around the corner. So our invitations had been effective! But I heard that there might not be enough tables for everybody, which would have been a major downer! Well every table but one was filled and the evening was a blast!!!!
To sum it up, ministry - thats what everything was geared toward. There were three different testimonies from transformed lives, a skit, one of the best praise bands I've ever heard, and just love.
The people were drawn in by the meal - four courses, but many of them stayed because of the message and the opportunity. The night wrapped up with each table host offering to wash the feet of the people at their table. I really wanted to get in on this but I wasn't able to, maybe my only regret from the day, but I became one of the runners from the supplies to the table hosts. The washing included a foot washing (obvious), an anointing with oil and a new pair of socks for each person.
It was amazing, the response of so many of these people to what we were doing for them. Most of the people in attendance were African - American, and what I kept hearing from them was why a bunch of white people would do all this for them. Well, our motivation was Jesus and it was so good!!!!
So the whole evening lasted about 4 hours. So at 10 the buses came back to return them to their many locations. Then clean up began in earnest! I had been cleaning for most of the evening so I toned it down from this point on. The first thing I did was grab some of the extra food from the downstairs and I have to say that it was pretty dang good stuff! Soup, Salad, Roast Beef w/ Mashed Potatoes and gravy, and finally pie - either Pumpkin or Apple and yeah everything was super good!
The clean up wrapped up at about Midnight but at that point I was just waiting for the people that I drove to finish up their stuff. So while I was waiting I listened to one of the main guys from Trinity works (the ministry that did a lot of the work on this) talk to Bryce and Eric. He mentioned that one of his friends had come in and was swept with a vision of this happening at the Target Center. That is no small leap, but the funny thing about that vision is that a couple of us had been talking about that before the banquet started. So if you believe in coincidence that go ahead and chalk it up to that, but I don't. God has so many plans for this thing in the future and it was such a blessing to be apart of the first one!
So around 12:30 I finally got to leave the club and head over to where we were staying. Thus began the worst night of sleep I have probably ever had. There was no heat in the building, no hot water through the night, and all I had was a single blanket on the ground. So yeah, I didn't get too much sleep and what I got was far from restful!
But we got up around 8 am and started getting our stuff together. We had a testimony time for a couple of hours before we left. Yeah, it was incredibly emotional to hear all of the stories from my brothers and sisters here at the school.  Unfortunately, the reality of not all good coming from the evening was clearly pronounced by one of my close friends, which lead to an intense time of just weeping and interceding again for the lives of the people from that evening.
So in no short order we wrapped up and headed back to Bethany. I got back at a little after 12 and started loading my car for the drive home. So yeah, that was my Monday and Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving 2010. God is moving, let Him move!

A different kind of outreach

So it's late November right now which predictably means less than desirable weather, but its been raining all day. Not exactly what I would call expected or appreciated...but at least my car is a little cleaner. Anyways, because of that, it was determined to be too dangerous to drive to the U tonight. Instead we had a group meeting about experiences over the last few weeks which lead into an Uber sweet time of interceding and ministering to each other. I just left a couple minutes ago but it is very likely still going. I wanted to record a couple of things that were prayed over me.
Leader
Drenched in oil, splattering it all over the place - gonna set the world on fire
Mighty man of valor/birth of a man
in need of no other lovers
belly is the wellspring of the oil
A new path
Joy
Confirmation that the shave/hair cut have brought a new season
sonship - Ephesians 1
renewal
My being at bethany was not an accident, He brought me here and wants me here
peace - no more striving
to stop wandering, stop searching just rest in the Lord
stop looking for explainations and words to say, just let God speak.

observations and applications

So let me preface this post, the things I say here are probably not the most sound of biblical doctrines...at least as some may see them, but they are things that are highlighted to me as I am going through the Bible.
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As I was reading about Joshua it kept coming out to me that I am a sort of Joshua. From chapter 1 where the Bible talks about Joshua's future conquests, the promises of God about Joshua crossing the river to take control of the land that was promised. Also the way that the Lord promised to begin to exalt him in the presence of the chosen ones. To be a chosen a leader from amongst God's people is something of true value and that is really what I kept seeing as I read through Joshua, because I feel that for myself.

An insight into zeal

^{Numbers 25}

The Sin of Peor

While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel. The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel." So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor."Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. Those who died by the plague were 24,000.

The Zeal of Phinehas 

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. "Therefore say, 'Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.'"Now the name of the slain man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father's household among the Simeonites. The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head of the people of a father's household in Midian. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them;for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor."

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So as I have been walking through the Bible these last few weeks I have been looking for new things that God would highlight to me. Things that I hadn't either heard before or that He shows me in a new light. Well I was reading this passage a few minutes ago and was struck by the quality of it. Now this is definitely a matt scheid paraphrase but basically God says 'thanks for killing those people.' 

Now I may be too confined in my thinking, but that's pretty radical as I see it. The dude spears two people through and God is glad about it. Just so that isn't confused, I understand why - that God is glad about people being jealous for His honor but dang. I will freely admit that I am too used to seeing many "Christians" lay down or go with the flow of the world, compromising in both little and big ways very often. But I feel like there is more to this passage and the reality of it then I am grasping right now. 

-"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force." Matthew 11:12 - 

So really, it could very likely be inferred that Phinehas was taking the kingdom of heaven by violent force. That his concern was not for the things of this world - all its pleasure and passions and past times but for the God who is infinitely greater than all of it!  I am not suggesting that we all go pick up spears and take down all the chosen ones who are prostituting themselves out for the things of this age, but I am saying that we should kind of being doing that. 

It's easy to sit back and watch the world go to poop all around us, to watch the walls of the current sag and crumble under all the junk that we have done but maybe, just maybe we should man up, face up and go after the things that are unbiblical, and displeasing to Him for the things that bring Him honor. But I will end with a question, do you have the zeal to see the incorrect and unjust and preserve things all around? Or instead of turning a deaf hear and blind eye will you pick up the weapon that God has given us (the Bible) and fight and destroy it?

Attributes of me that are revealed to myself by other people

A Pure Heart - revealed to me during cell group retreat

Humble Eyes - revealed to me at Applebees on 10/11 by andy(a story for another posting)
An adopted son of God, with the full authority of a son and prince

Answered Prayers

So by way of an explaination, if it is needed, God has been answering so many of my prayers these days and I thought I should make a post chronicling them.

I have already mentioned in another post about the equipping of armor that God performed on me. It became more clear to me a few days ago when I came into a more clear understanding of the nature of spiritual warfare in my life.

But last night is the real reason that I am starting this post. Let me just go back one week, it was the first day of UofM outreach. We toured a portion of the campus, then returned to the campus church and spent some time in prayer. During that prayer I heard God tell me that he was going to take my photography to a new level. I didn't know what to do with that or how to approach it. Well if there is one thing I have sort of learned here so far, it is that when I don't know, just don't worry about it. So I didn't even really think about it all week. So last night we were talking through ideas of outreach and I was sort of just listening. I thought I could do any of the things that were being discussed, but none of them would have been the best fit.

So I went up to talk to John after the majority of the meeting was over. He asked me what I was interested in, I answered with the things I am most passionate about - Photography, sports, music, cooking. After a few minutes of talking to some other guys he had me come over and told me about a small group of photographers that he was connected with. He said he would talk to them and see what would come. This is by no means a conclusion of the story, but with me doing absolutely nothing God is taking care of it. I'm pretty stoked by that equation!

10/24/10
Last night I was on the lake shore at Camp Jim and was praying. I asked God where I was lacking, what areas of my life are not in alignment with His ways. His answer was simple but so profound. He said that "You are sufficient, lacking nothing. You are my son. I love you!" Such a simple answer, so profound and so much there for me to hang onto.

A Warriors Mindset

So I have been thinking a lot about the reality of being a soldier in the service to my King. It sort of started last week but I feel like it has been plugging around in my brain for longer than that. God gave me this sick new armor, like ridiculously nice! It's silver. I also got a new sword and shield which are pretty tight.

I guess it started with the start of school. I have been very taken up with the idea of how to live my life as a soldier. My model verse for my behavior is 2 Timothy 2:3 - 4 which says "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." Verse 4 really stick out to me, as an active service soldier I feel that it is an important mandate.

I have heard a lot over the years about the nature of the Armor. How it only covers the front so that we are forced to stand or die. But in a new way God highlighted something to me, which is sort of the whole reason that I am writing this post. He told me that as a soldier of the King, I am free from the bondage of Satan. That is pretty basic, I know but think about it. We are soldiers, not captives so why do so many of us carry ourselves as POW. We live in subjection to sin and in the will of Satan far more than in the strength and victory of Jesus. It is such any easy thing to say that we sin because of our old nature and I am as guilty of that as anyone. But Christ didn't come and shed His precious blood so that we live in oppression to Satan while still trying to wave His flag.

It's amazing how things have come to this. We claim the Spirit but reject most of the benefits that He offers us because it may result in an emotional response. That is so stupid, let me just get that out of the way! We cry at funerals of believers who are spending eternity with Christ, we cry at weddings of believers who are living in obedience and in a foreshadowing to the return of Christ and then we often dance at the after party. But the church building has somehow become so sacred that we won't do such a thing in those institutions, we have become a detestable and double minded generation that cling to grace but refuse the rest.

I have picked up my sword and have stepped out in a way that makes even me feel strange, but God is revealing Himself to me in new ways daily. We have the answer, and it is submission to the perfection of the Holy. Is this a rant, absolutely and am one small voice that will get lost in the clamor, most likely, but I must speak for the chance that even one person might hear me!

the SUPERnatural

So I have touched on this stuff in some of my other posts and will probably continue to do that, but I am writing this one as a concentrated post of all that God is doing and all the ways that He is moving.

*****This is just copied from my other posts & expounded upon*****

Well I have been at BCOM for a few weeks now and it has been a very interesting time. I see the fingerprints of God as He is working in all of our lives. But the thing that is so amazing is that we haven't even scratched the surface of God's infinity. Enough beating around the bush though.By way of personal account, and since this is my blog, I will share the things that gone on in me through these first few weeks. On the third day of orientation I was healed...if you didn't catch that, it was a reference to the creation account but I go on. My body had done through a great degree of wear through all the hours that I worked this past summer. It was to the point that I couldn't really move without pain somewhere in my body. I often considered going to the clinics in Fargo over the summer to get checked out, but knew that it was a test of my faith and that God, in His faithfulness, would heal me. Well my mentor here at school knew about these issues before I told him about them and assured me that I would be healed. I took it for what it was worth, a word that I believed but didn't know anything beyond that. Well later that day I informed him of some important information and with no prompting from me he layed his hands on me and prayed through my ailments so that I was healed. Like seriously, my body is better than it has been in well over 10 years. So that was kind of the flag in the mountain that said it would be a great year.

I have received prophecy, you might say that prophecy doesn't happen and yeah I really didn't believe in it either til Chi Alpha. The one that know beyond a shadow of doubt is from the mouth of God is the uniqueness of my future. Please don't think that I think I am anything special because I know much better than that but God has shared that message with me over the last few years. First from my friend Jon, then directly in the middle of the night one day last year at AFLBS and then most recently by one of the girls here at school. It really put me into a mindset of striving in my own strength, trying to help God accomplish this grand destiny. So foolish I know, but it was too big for me to grasp so I doubted this true power. It has taken a heck of a lot for me to come to grips with this and kind of hurts to tell even now but I have been a closed case for too long.

I had the opportunity to pray with and over many of my classmates who were in a range of spiritual conditions. I thought I knew a little bit about prayer, but man I didn't know anything. I still don't but I take so much delight in just sitting in the presence of the infinite God, my Savior! The amount of things that God has churned with in me to pray for would have driven me crazy even a few weeks ago, but now I have grown to love it and long for more.

I got overwhelmed by the Spirit, let me tell how it happened. One of my friends was absolutely getting blasted by the glory, like rolling on the ground, laughing and speak scripture and just flowing. I was one of the guys watching him to make sure he didn't hurt himself and the Spirit started to get at me a little bit. So instead of rejecting I wanted it, I crawled under one of the chairs, don't know why but I did. I was just longing for the filling, so God told me to get up and go to the back of the chapel. Once I was back there He told me to go look at the map of the world. He said that my destiny was to reach all these people, once again I could have held onto unbelief but instead trusted God with my future, no matter how hard it is for me to see it. So once I had accepted that truth He told me to go grab one of the flags. He had told me to grab one earlier but I resisted, I've only ever seen woman use them and I didn't want to do that. Well I followed this time and as soon as I touched the flag I was blasted. I couldn't stand up straight, walk straight, talk normal or honestly function as I usually do. Like I had a lot of trouble just sitting down on the chairs. But it was great. I feel no shame for the way that God moves and only want to proclaim his moving in my life.

I have seen and heard truths that God had already been working in my thinking, but seemed to put me out on an island so that is astounding. For example, God has really been revealing to me that true nature of the missionary nature. That while it is so often taught and understood as an optional part of Christian life, increasingly I had become convinced of the mandatory nature of it. I do not say we must all leave America and go, because we have a worse country in many respects than the nations that we are sending people to. But we must, yes must, as in a command GO, and live as Christians - filled with the Holy Spirit (not rejecting Him as many denominations secretly do) and keeping the Bible as our only truth. To stop being church people and start being Jesus people, the true Church.

**********From this point on is new stuff**********

9/14/10

I cannot directly link this to the extra time that I have because of the sports fast, but this morning during chapel I had a prayer from last night answered. I had been reading through the armor of the Lord and prayed that God would equip me with the armor. So it is very possible that He would have answered right away had I stayed up, but I decided to go to bed. During chapel I was slain in the Spirit, it has kind of become a common thing for me these days. While I was out I saw in the Spirit that God was putting brand new armor from my feet to my head and on everything in between. Now, I recognize God answers prayer but it usually takes a little bit longer than over night for it to happen.

9/20/10

Have you ever been told how much God loves you? How desperately He longs to just have relationship with you? Well I have, many times - the result of going through Bible school and missions school. There is a reality to this that I hadn't previously understood, so let me tell you the story. Our chapel service had just ended and I had been praying when a friend of mine fell over as he was walking out (He has CB). As I bent down something swept over me that I couldn't understand at the time. I was doing all I could to stop from flat out weeping at his feet. I didn't know why but later as I was meditating on it God gave me clarity. That for a few moments I was allowed to have the heart of God within me. To feel the pain and agony and sorrow that He feels for us as we live in this broken condition. I'm crying to reflecting on this. To know how much He wants to just have us and how much it hurts Him that we are living this broken and sinful condition is great and yet so hard to bear.

9/25/10

So just got through the first 2 hours of the prayer meeting, so yeah it's 2 am and I am pretty tired but also super jacked up! It's been a day of a ton of Spiritual warfare. Bryce and I got it started this morning during cell group and I was doing it a little bit during PT. It has definitely turned up over the last two hours. I spent a solid 45 minutes just rebuking the influences of the world and Satan. It was really cool because right before it started I could physically feel the sword in my hand and the shield on my forearm. The fight is far from over...unless I die but I don't think that's going to happen. So right around 1:45 the guys that are here prayed for me, we had been praying over each other and it was just my turn. It was really neat, because I felt a large ring like object on my head, in the Spirit it was revealed to me that it was a crown. So yeah that is kind of why I am jacked up right now. Got 4 more hours and I will post more later on!

10/5/10

We just got done with chapel - wow! So I was pretty distracted for the first hour so I just stepped out and read the Bible for a while. Around 12:15 I went back in and really started to press into the presence of God. We were praying over BCOM Preview and it was really good. After that set of prayers had been sent up the worship team started playing. I was in the back of the chapel singing along and I saw Jesus walking through the room. Not a physical form man, but I saw Jesus walking through! After the BCOM Preview prayer had sort of wrapped Bryce got up and started speaking into the chapel. In a serious way he was prophesying.

After a few minutes Jared came over and started praying for me, then Joseph started praying for me and then Jason also layed hands on me. Right away when Jared started praying for me, I felt someone blowing on my neck, like a very soft but noticeable sensation of air moving on the back of my neck. But there was no one standing behind me. And there wasn't a fan or anything like that. I don't have the slightest clue what it means but God will reveal it to me!

So after those guys were praying for me for a few minutes I went to the ground and could see the angels fighting around me - fighting demons. They were saying that they couldn't have me right now. God was speaking to me about some restoration that will be happening in me today in preparation to the football game. Sounds kind of funny right, well God went on to say that my passion for sports was put in me by him but that it had grown to too great of a level. That is why He is wanting me to remove it from my life for this time. It's just cool that cares about me enough to care about something as ultimately meaningless as flag football.

10/9/10

We were on our cell group retreat over this past weekend. On Saturday night a couple teen challenge graduates (who were friends with a classmate of mine) came over and visited us for a while. We ended up down by the camp fire just talking and I reached out to them with a question concerning a struggle that I have been dealing with for a while. The answer they gave me immediately was about what I was expecting, but hadn't been doing. Then shortly after that one of the guys said that God showed him that I have a pure heart in that area. I was surprised and humbled by that statement. I have always been one to very intentionally focus on my areas of weakness, so to hear a word of such encouragement was a blessed thing indeed.


10/21/10
For the last week and a half we have had "Kingdom Lifestyles" class. Basically a class about prayer, which is the class I was most excited about this semester. We there have been some great moves of the Spirit during the class. Today the teacher had us do an exercise of listening to the Spirit. Because of the size and set up of the class I got paired up with the teacher. Historically, that is not a position that I would enjoy but I was actually really excited about it. We spent a few minutes just listening to Him. I received a word for her that seemed to be very applicable. Her word for me was day changing. She got John 1:47 which says "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an ^(BY)Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Sounds kind of random, well not for me. The application is two fold - the first being that I have been reading through leviticus lately and found it pretty dry. Well as I have been reading I have looked for the aspects that can relate to me. I am a firm believer in the spiritual grafting in that we have received through Jesus so all things that talk about the Jews interest me, even if they may not apply. The second being that I have such a history of dishonesty. For her to get a verse about someone who is without deceit is very impactful. During the sharing time, she asked me to share and mentioned that she had only gotten that right before sharing so wow, to receive such a word in such a short time is so great!
Later in the day, during PT, my supervisor was talking to me about somethings and mentioned that I am a vital part of the work that is done at BPI. Well for the last few weeks I have kind considered the time there as unimportant because I was pretty playing second fiddle and just helping. To have that said I know is a word from the mouth of God.
So yeah, what a day it was for me. Now I have mens retreat this weekend and I am sure I will have a lot to say when I get back!


11/2/10
So I have 4 different stories that all combined into one last night, so I will start from the beginning. When I was younger I went through a few years of eye therapy to relieve strain on my eyes caused by weak eye muscles. Well lately I had been noticing some of the signals coming back around...sort of an unnecessary frustration right now. 
Also during the last roughly 22 months, I have had three concussions and I am pretty sure that I had at least two others in my grade school days. I began to notice the effects of these injuries and over the last few days it kept coming up in my conversations.
And since I was in Junior High I have been pretty much a music junky with little regard for my hearing. As with the other things I could feel the effects of this but couldn't really do anything about it.
So now we fast forward to last night, haha. I was in a stinky mood...just very frustrated with things. I was showering after football and began to talk to Bryce about the stuff that was going on with me. Well I he had been around a few days earlier when I was talking about my head injuries and while he was praying he prayed for healing in my mind. It took a couple minutes but once I started really thinking again I could feel a distinct difference in my brain and in my eyes. I was kind of freakin out, just like so psyched! So Bryce and another one of the guys on the floor kept braining for me and as usually happens I went down. While I was laying on the ground out of nowhere I heard a huge pop in my ears and everything got way louder. Well 24 hours later I'm feeling just as good but know that there is a stinking load more to come for me!!!!!!
A few minutes after all the praying had kinda wrapped up the other guy, Matthew, came up and gave me a couple insights - one known already, and one unknown. During Fasting chapel I had gone over to him and prayed for him, that's pretty normal stuff here, well last night he told me that my hands were on fire as I praying for him. I definitely hadn't seen that coming but I wasn't surprised, he gives me a lot of sweet insights into stuff that I usually don't perceive. Well he went on to confirm a vision that I had a couple years back but that has been buzzing around up top for the last few weeks at least. 
So yeah, God is really cool
He brings up things in His time and no it isn't coincidence
Even as annoyed as I was God got to me

truth for truth

So in class we have been talking about some realities of church life today. Going through the difference of what is essential and what is just beneficial. It kind of became clear to me today through a strange occurrence. I am still very new to my Practical Training (PT) assignment, I take sections of books that have just come off the printer and bundle them so they can be taken to the bindery. Anyways, I have been at it for a few days and have pretty well gotten the hang of it, kind of hard not to - very constant and very repetitive. But the print operate that I was working with seemed to have a slight issue with my form, that I was doing more things by hand than with the available tools. To appease him I started using the tools, at no point did I change anything in the way that I was doing it, just how it looked to him as he was watching me. For the rest of the shift he didn't make any comments to me about thing related to my form.

But it got me thinking, it was sort of a parallel to the way we are in the church. We get so used to how things look and work that anything that appears different must be changed. I am not condemning the guy, because he knows more than me and has been doing this for a long time, but we must not get hung up on the form of things in our lives, but more importantly the result. My results didn't change in the least before and after he said something to me. In the same way really, if there is effective work going on in our church fellowships we should be able to say amen, despite any misgiving we may have concerning the form of things.

the first weeks

Well I have been at BCOM for a few weeks now and it has been a very interesting time. I see the fingerprints of God as He is working in all of our lives. But the thing that is so amazing is that we haven't even scratched the surface of God's infinity. Enough beating around the bush though.

By way of personal account, and since this is my blog, I will share the things that gone on in me through these first few weeks. On the third day of orientation I was healed...if you didn't catch that, it was a reference to the creation account but I go on. My body had done through a great degree of wear through all the hours that I worked this past summer. It was to the point that I couldn't really move without pain somewhere in my body. I often considered going to the clinics in Fargo over the summer to get checked out, but knew that it was a test of my faith and that God, in His faithfulness, would heal me. Well my mentor here at school knew about these issues before I told him about them and assured me that I would be healed. I took it for what it was worth, a word that I believed but didn't know anything beyond that. Well later that day I informed him of some important information and with no prompting from me he layed his hands on me and prayed through my ailments so that I was healed. Like seriously, my body is better than it has been in well over 10 years. So that was kind of the flag in the mountain that said it would be a great year.

I have received prophecy, had the opportunity to pray with and over many of my classmates who were in a range of spiritual conditions. I got overwhelmed by the Spirit to the point of it being uncontrollable. Seen and heard truths that God had already been working in my thinking, but seemed to put me out on an island so that is astounding. I do not mean to put this as a footnote because all the things that said could be expounded upon with the fullness of the stories but I must sign off at some point. So until God prompts another writing, may your days be filled to over flowing with His pure joy!