"Explorer Spirit…Servant Heart…"
Nov 10th, 2013 by leigharev2
The boys decided to stay home from trick or treating to hand out treats, so we went to our church’s big Trunk or Treat event and filled their sugar quota for the year…hundreds of kids going from decorated car to decorated car. Good times.
Meet Ninja Morphsuit Man(A) and Crash Test Dummy(R)
This was my favorite. The kids walked through a ‘kid wash’ and a bunch of bubbles…
The boys, posing with ‘Flo’ from Progressive, and all the money you save 🙂
Nov 10th, 2013 by leigharev2
I took a crazy amount of notes, but tried scale it to the main points that impacted me most. The bolded items are the items I am continuing to unpack and embed in my heart.
Obviously, worship was amazing! They played the same songs over the weekend. We were able to really get to know the lyrics and allow the music to wash over us and our spirits sang, not our minds.
That first night, while we were singing a song that had lyrics about freedom, I had a vision. Individuals were standing and singing praise and worship. Their arms were open wide, they were standing strong. Large chains were at their feet. Then, they each reached down and started placing the chains back on themselves.
(I discerned this that it’s not necessarily the enemy that places us in bondage, but that we place (and replace) ourselves in bondage.)
Then, the Holy music of the Lord, the music of Worship appears as a blindingly shining sword, swiping away at the chains.
(I discerned this that worship music is a spiritual weapon over our bondage. We need to keep this music, (as well as His Word, and prayer) in our hearts, homes, minds, cars, everywhere, as one of our weapons over sin, and temptation.)
Song Oceans: based on Matthew 14:25-
Stepping into the great unknown, knowing God will be in the mystery.
We are on a leisure excursion to an unspecified destination. Trust in the mystery. Safe Christianity is mediocre Christianity. When you step into the mystery you step into the will of God and you step into your purpose.
Eph 1:9/Isaiah 53:10/Luke 8:10/Job 11:7-9/Ecc 11:5/SOS 7:4
Go and come. God tells us to ‘go’ and serve, and to “come” and be refreshed and equipped. Our lives are a series of going and coming. They are their own seasons and times.
Speaker Christine Caine:
Gen. 8:22 While the earth remains…
Whatever craziness is going on God has a principle that will remain.
Gather under no other name. (The 2014 conference in NY is titled, “No Other Name”)
Speaker Robert Ferguson:
Here by design. Not accident.
Doctor vs surgeon. A doctor’s tool is the stethescope. He uses it to hear our hearts. A surgeon’s tool is the scalpel. He uses it to slice flesh. The surgeon’s tool may be more painful, but recognize that both the doctor and the surgeon are both committed to healing.
Two sides of the same coin: unity and diversity.
Return to Pentecost. See what we as a church today should look like.
Acts
Six powers of the early church
First breaths of the early church …
Power of the Spirit:
Breathe in the power of the Spirit
Breathe out the power of the Word
Breathe in unity
Breathe out diversity
Acts 2:5-12 why did God gather all to one place? He was revealing a part of his character. The Lord our God is one. He is committed to unity.
Acts 4:31-33 when they gathered as one, something supernatural happened.
GL 11:6 One group of people spoke with one voice and life was changed.
Matt 18:19 It’s not about numbers (when two are more are gathered…), it’s about agreement.
We’ve only got one enemy and it is no one in this room. If you need to name the enemy, name it “secular humanism”
.
When are we going to get in tune?
Antioch: from the platform of unity they were sent out.
Acts 13:2
Coming in and gong out is fundamental.
Numbers 27:21
John 10:9
Matt 10:1-5 releasing the power of unity and diversity
Brian Houston
Lessons of Inhilation:
1.Individualism – Isaiah 53:6 this is not independence. Independence is a declaration of rebellion. Gal 2:20 don’t copy everyone else. Copying is a violation of nature. God is a god of variety and diversity. 25% of all animal species are beetles. Every fingerprint, snowflake is unique. Schools and churches force into molds. Satan is a copier not a creator. All sinners are alike, all saints are unique. Be an individual and release others to be individuals.
2. Everyone is important. 1cor 12:21 Consider the ant.
Diversity trumps ability. Releases to be individual and contribute.
Be inclusional, like the early church
Matt 13:47 -Filled net with all kinds of fish, both good and bad. God will decide the good and the bad; not for us to decide.
Lessons of Exhalation:
Everyone in the early church was released: significant, important, included
Reconciliation the heartbeat of Christianity Matt 5
Pastor Brian Houston shared this incredible story:
As he was giving a sermon at Hillsong Australia, he felt prompted to lay hands on and pray for a pregnant woman in the audience. He invited her on stage and asked if she’d be willing for him to pray for her and her baby. He said that since he was a stranger, and a man, would it be ok if he had a woman from the audience place her hand on the woman’s belly, then he would place his hand on the woman’s hand and pray. She said yes, and he picked a woman from the other side of the congregation to come up on stage, (Hillsong =big stage/big congregation.) The woman came up and laid her hand on the other woman’s belly. Both women began to cry. Brian thought he had messed up in some way, but proceeded to place his hand on the woman’s hand and prayed. After the service, both women went to him and said that they were mother and (pregnant) daughter and had been in a big argument and had not been speaking to each other.
Another example he shared:
As he was preaching, he felt called to have someone pray in a different language. He asked the congregation if anyone spoke a different language than English. He picked a woman to come up and asked if she spoke a different language, and if yes, where was her place of origin. She stated that she was a new believer in Jesus Christ (from Muslim), was from Iran, and her language was Farsi. As she was praying in Farsi, a man entered the sanctuary, having asked God that if He was real to speak to him at the service. His primary language was Farsi. Can you imaging entering the Hillsong church for the first time and hearing your native language in prayer
There no formula. Formulas are for infants. We need to breathe! Habb3:2
Bobby Houston
1chr22:5 We tend to be stinky around the edges. We need showers of blessing
Inspire: to breath in
We spend our courage on life and ministry. We gather to be encouraged.
Gather gain strength, then scatter .
Ps 84 our pilgrimage is not over or in full view yet. Not by might, but by His spirit.
Thy kingdom come
Matt6:9-10
1. For the sake of thy kingdom come don’t be afraid to live with a spirit of release and especially of the sons and daughters. (As parents, we need to raise our children to release them to God.)
Isaiah 54 :2-3
Dedicate to raise and them release to their destiny path.
Do not deplete the home. Do not make home a dumping ground where you dump all things negative onto your loved one.
2. Lets increase territory, stride and embrace
2sam5:9
Greater influence. Heart of God to experience that.
Don’t compare to other churches.
5’4″ vs. 6’2″ Brian has a longer stride than Bobby
Thank God for the way He has knit you and your destiny’s together
Your stride and embrace is based on God’s design for you.
3. Heighten our passion to bring God into full view.
Brian Houston
10 Cultural Responsibilities to Embrace
It’s not something you build, it’s something you have to be.
Matt 25;23-25 people have different perceptions of our master.
Nothing will frame the view of your world more than how you view God.
1. I am a can do person
Experience is an over rated quality. Phil4:13
2. This is not my job, this is my life (my calling)
John 10:11-13
2tim1:9
3. I will serve The Lord with gladness
Ps.100:2 nothing is too difficult
How can you build anything dynamic if they focus on minimums and have to’s…Get that out of the culture of your life. If you’re focusing the least you have to do, that’s what you are going to get.
4. Empowerment starts with me. Don’t be complicated. Keep your eyes on where God wants your eyes to be. Keep the right spirit. Don’t be pulled down, get lifted up.
Empower the people around you. Release then to do what they are called to do. Take responsibility to be empowered and empower others around you.
Personal conviction: As I kept listening to the speakers, I kept mentally elbowing my husband, thinking, “are you hearing this?” God elbowed me and said, “are YOU hearing this?”
5: I am not on the gossip train.
Embrace where we are the last to know. You are not going to hear it from me.
Christine Caine quote via Brian Houston (I need to confirm it): If you didn’t see it with your own eyes, or hear it with your own ears, don’t invent it with your small mind, and speak it with your big mouth!
6. I am one of them, not us.
See yourself as one of the people you are working for, serving, etc.
7. Bring those around me on the journey.
Don’t let lives get boxed. Keep the will of God an adventure. No division between family and church life. Make your church life one with your home life.
8. My tone is not whiney.
Positive, reaffirming, encouraging. Not flattery, but encouragement.
9. Delegate, but don’t dump.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Care about the families of your church. Don’t impede on their private time. They’ve for their own life etc.
Love God love people, love life.
Focus not on what we are against, but who we are for!
Church is to be enjoyed, not endured.
10. My spirituality is attractive
Round Table of Leaders:
Ground in the Word and stand your ground.
With Jesus you don’t ever “get” it. Always be receptive and teachable.
God is including us in his story. It’s not our own story.
How do we all work together so more can go home together?
You are given much that was required much.
You are steward of someone else’s platform.
Christine Caine:
So, Brian Houston said as an aside, they were about to “unleash” Christine Caine. Oh boy! She was certainly unleashed! There is no way I can capture what we all experienced through her. There is just no way…
She did a beautiful job of comparing today’s modern technology, with instant feedback, answers, and results. How we all look for the quick fix and quick answer…
But…
God does not develop us through instant technology. He takes us through the darkroom.
It’s not about how many “likes” we have, but how much we become like Him
1 Samuel 16:1:14 anointed at age 15
2 Samuel 5 appointed at age 30
Don’t speed up the process from anointing to appointing, when the image of light inside you (the appointing) becomes stronger than light above you (the anointing).
Stop looking at all the parties you aren’t invited to. Be faithful to the party God has place you in.
Do not look for the next. Look for the new…
Never fear not growing when you embrace what God is doing.
The darkroom is for our good and His glory
If I have assigned you, I will find you…
Going for the gifted one, not the anointed one. This was a calling to be made aware that the popular preacher, the gifted speaker, may not be the one that God has anointed. Be aware.
20 chapters 15 years from David’s anointing to appointing.
It’s better to be marked by God than marketed by man.
God is forging His image in the inside of you
Psalm 127 partnering with God to build His house
Being more concerned with your own house than your Father’s house
Judah Smith- A younger pastor in Seattle. This guy is hilarious. He ended the conference with everyone laughing, yet with a solid teaching.
Matt 20:16 Vineyard story
Don’t take what is yours
Matt 19:30
Let go of your definition of what is fair and just because God doesn’t think that way. Take what it yours and go your way or trust what comes from His gracious hand.
Whew! Are you still reading? My meager notes pale in the enormity of the experience, but I hoped to capture a bit for you to be inspired and encouraged by. That is my prayer, anyway, that God speaks to you through these notes and are blessed in a personal way.
Nov 10th, 2013 by leigharev2
It all started about 10 months ago. I received an email announcing Hillsong having a conference in Los Angeles. Assuming it was going to be a worship conference, I thought this would make a nice gift for my husband. I also thought he would like to go with his good friend, and fellow worship leader, Scott. I called my friend Liann (Scott’s wife), and proposed that we gift our guys the conference for Father’s Day, and Liann and I play in L.A. for the weekend.
Our friends ended up having to cancel, so I decided to take Scott’s conference ticket. I figured that even though I was not a worship leader, I would still benefit from the conference. My lifelong friend from WA state (Michelle) flew down to watch the boys. We have this tradition where she carves pumpkins with my boys because I don’t like to. Timing for the conference was perfect!
What a blessing this turned out to be! The conference was not targeted to worship leaders, but to all who love Jesus.
I had requested an early check in and they had a room ready. It was great because there was a huge convention of Herbalife Latino and the hotel was beyond packed later that day. Our room was on the 13th floor. This was my first time in L.A. We had a view overlooking the city. It’s crazy to see actually how big this city is, with the protective layer of smog.
We decided to walk around and explore downtown L.A. The concierge gave us a map and drew along the streets she suggested we walk. We took off walking, but I had not oriented myself at the beginning and we ended up on quite the adventure.
We passed a parking lot where they were filming something. As we passed this temporary square box that had only three walls, we noticed a set that was supposed to be a Wendy’s restaurant dining room.
We kept looking for the landmarks the concierge mentioned, and the area kept getting seedier and seedier. We pull the map out and discovered we were walking the exact opposite from where we were supposed to head.
Based on the map, we had ventured into the Fashion District. My interpretation of fashion and what the Fashion District are two separate things. We made our way through it, passing all the vendors, sitting on seats or standing in front of their stores, speaking to us in Spanish to step inside. A mentally ill man stated walking behind us, saying, “I hate you, get out of the way”, as he passed, he said it to the next person, then the next. I started praying over him, praying that he’ll feel love at some point that day.
We tried to fit in as much as possible. Kept our phones and the map hidden, and I was calling on my city-bitch attitude I knew so well years ago while living in downtown Seattle. I’ve become a bit mushy over the years 🙂
We managed to move over the Jewelry District. Cartier this is not. Think bling x 10….Imagine the face of Jesus in gold one a thick gold chain, with the crown of thorns in diamonds….
We circled back to our hotel and rested up before the event began Friday evening.
While waiting in line for the event to begin, it was beautiful to witness literally every age…race…language… present.
A few pictures from our walk….
The sun sets, and the conference begins!
I will post notes from what I experienced in another post…
We ran into friends that are worship leaders for a different church, and had dinner with them. We enjoyed our servers so much, we took pictures with them 🙂
Sunday, we had a whole day to explore L.A. David rented a convertible. I asked the car attendant woman where she would go for breakfast. She mentioned a nearby place called Trenton’s, then suggested the old standby’s IHOP and Denny’s. Just as we were leaving, she said, “you can always do chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s”…
David stopped the car and we both shrieked, “chicken and waffles?! Where??” Neither of us had ever had that dish, and we both love new experiences. So, to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffle House we went. We are both fans. Not something to do one a regular basis, but glad we went.
After breakfast, we drove to Venice Beach. It was Sunday morning, so the counter culture had yet to rise. Saw a few little kids (under age 10) practicing at the skate park. They were insanely good. The next generation…walked the walk for a while, then drove to Sunset strip.
We had to take a picture of ‘Randy’s Donuts’ because it is a part of a show that the boys love. They were excited to see that we were there.
Drove along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. David offered to park, but I could not think of a star I would want to find, so we kept driving. Drove along Sunset strip and drove by all the clubs your hear about and Chateau Marmont. Drove up through lovely Beverly Hills. I had a list of addresses of old time movie star homes that I wanted to see. Found the one for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Our GPS was acting up so much, we had to pitch it. My phone was almost down, so I turned it off. We ended up just driving around and enjoying the beauty of high end architecture and landscaping.
Drove along Rodeo Drive, then had lunch at a cute Mediterranean café. It was yummy. Walked along and shopped a little. David found a cute purse for me that he bought. He bought my favorite purse that was on its last legs, so this was a sweet moment. Swapping the old for the new.
Went to a place called The Grove and walked around there for a while, then headed for the airport. It was a much needed day for both of us. His back did well all weekend, PRAISE GOD, and even though customer support was crazy for work, (we both had to cover support that weekend) we were able to have some quality one on one time.
This was Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s home…
It was a wonderful weekend with my favorite person!
Nov 3rd, 2013 by leigharev2
A delightful tradition for our family, and homeschool group…visiting Bishop’s Farm! This year, we had the extra special treat of having “Auntie Shell” with us!
We had a little scare. While waiting in line for the train ride, ‘R’ almost fainted. He had just had lunch with a beverage, and it was not too hot. We sat for a while and had some more water. I planned on us going home, but ‘R’ wanted to stay. He was fine for the rest of the day.
Dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory after…
Oct 27th, 2013 by leigharev2
I can’t believe we are still getting blooms. Gorgeous!
Oct 27th, 2013 by leigharev2
Can you believe that pizza gets a the whole month of October to celebrate it’s cheesy goodness? My friend, Shanti, and I, along with my honorary sister Michelle, took the kids on our first annual Pizza Trail!
We went to three different independent pizzerias in one afternoon and ordered one medium cheese pizza. The kids had one slice at each place and rated the pizzas, using a score sheet.
First stop: Big Daddy’s Pizza Co. This place became the overall winner of the three stops. The pizza was delicious, and the ambience was ideal for the kids(papered tables with crayons). ‘A’ commented on the terrific service (the owner’s son), and everyone (adults included), minus one child, thought this was the best place overall. It was a great start to a fun afternoon.
‘A’s scoresheet…
Stop Two: Cool River Pizza. Nice staff. Decent pizza. We really enjoyed all three places.
Stop Three: Mary’s Pizza Shack. I love the atmosphere of this place. So cheerful. This was the favorite spot for Shanti’s son, ‘J’. We all liked their crust.
Rumor has it, we will be doing this again and maybe add a place or two next year…
Oct 27th, 2013 by leigharev2
The boys and I were here a year or so ago with my friend Lola. We had always wanted to bring David back and finally got the chance to recently. Pictures just don’t do the place justice. It’s so incredible. Black Chasm Cavern
Oct 27th, 2013 by leigharev2
My sweet spiritual sister-friend, Crystal, treated those who planned her baby shower to a lovely afternoon to a high tea. The food was yummy, the tea delightful, and the company fantastic!
After the tea, we noticed a basket of hats! We all forgot that ladies wear hats to tea! We had fun wearing them belatedly for a photo op.
Doesn’t this hat look like it was made to go with Lindsay’s outfit?!
Oct 25th, 2013 by leigharev2
A fun day in Apple Hill with our homeschool group….
Oct 25th, 2013 by leigharev2
I have a new baby. Her name is Leua (short for Hallelujah)…
I am smitten. She is a 2014 Mini Cooper S Clubman…
While we were in negotiations, the salesman and manager noticed the boys taking pictures of the Jaguar that was on the show floor. At the end of the sale, they surprised us with four tickets to a car show. Tickets were $45 each!
Upon arrival to the show, we discovered that the kids were free. We were pleased to be able to gift a pair of tickets to a couple that were behind us in line.
I gave ‘R’ my phone. Some of these shots are mine, but most are his…
…we took so many photos! The collection of cars were stunning, and unique, and once in a lifetime experiences. It was near impossible picking photos for this post. Here’s just a small sample…
DH and I love this DeSoto…
I forgot to write the info down, but I believe that this is a Rolls Royce. Inside both of the front doors is a cubby that was created specifically to contains a flask and two shot glasses….chances are pretty hight you won’t see that today…
Both of the boys agree this was their favorite car…the Lamborghini
