created to love Him...

This is a true story. This true story happened on Friday night, January 7th 2011 at Redeemer Fellowship Church in Monroe, Michigan with over 400 witnesses. Hal Benner has faithfully served the Lord for at least 32 years (that's how many years I've been alive...yep! He's my dad!). For around 20 years he has had no cartilage in both of his knees. He's had much pain on a daily basis. I very rarely heard him complain about it growing up. He would walk as best as he could to keep up with his 3 girls. On January 7th, he attended the Global Awakening conference with Randy Clark at our church. Randy, during the last song of the worship set, said that he believed many people were going to be healed while the congregation sang. We sang...God healed. Many people were healed, as Randy said. I was scanning the people in awe of what God was doing when I looked and saw that my dad was waving both his arms, indicating that he, too, had been a recipient of "on earth as it is ...

Do you want to encounter more of God's presence? We sing lyrics filled with asking for more of God on most Sundays corporately. I know that my journal pages are filled with this heart cry..."God, I want to know You more. I want to have more of Your presence than I experienced last week." Psalm 100:4 says, " Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name !" Notice that there aren't any question marks in this verse. It isn't a suggestion, it's a command. It's also a key...do you want to encounter more of God's presence? Practice thankfulness. Thankfulness is a Holy Spirit magnet. It's like the Holy Spirit is ticklish and becomes joyfully squirmy when He finds a thankful heart! Early this morning I was driving to church with my iPod blaring, singing at the top of my lungs, hoping no one was watching! I have no other way to describe this other than to say Thankfulness entered my car. It f...

Today was adventurous... *I was personally responsible for Kelly Reaume getting backhanded by a cute old man while sharing the Gospel. *I led worship at the Chinese speaking service and Faith Bible Church this evening with John & Linda Piippo, Joy Bergeson, Kelly Reaume and Trevor Robinson. *I had the honor of teaching a worship workshop after that...I love doing this! *I ate something that tasted like chicken but had as many bones as fish. *I had a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks. *I passed out fliers to people inviting them to the worship night this coming Friday night at Faith Bible Church...meanwhile, standing next to me were two men passing out strip club tickets. Two kingdoms colliding on the corner of Roosevelt and Main street! *I found a shopping mall and had self-control to not enter...tomorrow may be a different story! *I watched as Pastor John prayed for people at the end of a prayer meeting tonight...his kindness towards others teaches me so much! I love watchi...

Today I flew into New York City with Pastor John and Linda. Our RMS students are here with us, as well. We are spending time with the largest Chinese church in New York. Our hosts, Pastor John and Rosie Hao, are two of the kindest people I have ever met. Their kindness is so vast, it challenges me to treat others as they do. I see Jesus in them. This week I have the opportunity to teach their worship team leaders and members about the lifestyle of a worshiper and how to grow and develop their team. I'm very excited about this. I love teaching others about worship! I feel energized and charged every time I get to point others towards a more intimate relationship with God. I love leading worship, but I love even more teaching others how to worship. Tonight we took our students to an authentic Chinese restaurant. This is the first of many authentic Chinese experiences this week! YAY! One of our students ordered eel...it still had eyes and a smile when it came to the table. We n...