created to love Him...

Yesterday morning I led worship at Redeemer. It's one of my favorite things to do while existing on this planet...definitely on my top 5 list. It was a great morning. Our congregation is such a family. It is feeling more and more that our weekly gatherings our cozy times in God's living room. Today I've been reflecting back on what happened yesterday as I often do on Mondays. I was looking at our time of worship, seeing the faces and different outward expressions of worship that were displayed. Yesterday morning was one of those days I felt completely scattered in thought and focus. It's mornings like that I am aware and thankful that His presence comes out of His love for His people...not based on my perfection or performance. As a worship leader/musician, there is this inward struggle that takes place of keeping my eyes on Him and what is on His heart vs. looking for instant gratification from the outward expression of worship from people to make me feel good in m...

I tend to take Jesus admonition to come to Him like a little child seriously! I love that I follow a God who loves child-likeness. I find that He loves to play more than we serious hard-working humans dare to imagine. God and I like to play games together. He is often the initiator, or instigator! At Redeemer, we are currently studying as a church body the letter of 1 Corinthians. I am really excited about this. It is challenging my heart and my understanding of the real Jesus. For me, the letters of Paul have always been a fight to fully understand...I think it's because of his crazy long run-on sentences. This week, we're looking at 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and while studying this afternoon, God was in the mood to play a game. The game was to look for what these verses declare about His character. Read the verses below and then you'll see the treasures that I found. Feel free to add others that you may find. 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were...

Sioux Falls...so cold! :) I can't sleep. The blizzard winds are blowing and shaking the walls of my house. I consider myself to be pretty big for my britches, but I'll publicly admit I'm feeling slightly anxious in this storm. Isn't that dumb?! So...I've decided to empty my full head of some thoughts in order to keep myself occupied. Much has happened over the past month...a trip to New York and Sioux Falls, the Randy Clark conference, and my quiet times alone with God have been more filled with His voice than my own lately (this is my favorite!). My mind has much to process and is filled with questions for God to answer...more questions than usual, which may or may not be surprising to those of you who deal with me on a regular basis! My heart feels overwhelmed with an awareness of God's goodness and big-ness. This past weekend in Sioux Falls, in particular, left me feeling like I was set up by Him! John, Linda and I went to serve/teach/lead worship with o...

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...

I think this picture is funny! Lately I have found myself in several conversations concerning the judgment of God. I am realizing that there are many people who hold much fear concerning the "Day of Judgment" or the "Day of the Lord" mentioned in Scripture. I understand this...I remember as a little girl praying to God and asking Him to not let Jesus return to the earth while I was alive because I was afraid of what would happen to me. I have had many misconceptions of God's character and what "Judgment Day" will look like. So, a couple months ago I set out to see what Scripture actually has to say about God's judgment and how it was perceived by the original audience the Scriptures were written to. What I've found is changing how I view my Jesus and its giving me a new confidence in how I approach Him. GOD'S JUDGMENT IS AN OCCASION FOR REJOICING: There are several verses in the Old Testament that reveal this point. Psalm 67:4 says...

Today I was reading 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul is writing to Timothy to direct him to handle people in the Church of Ephesus who were teaching false doctrines. They had wandered away from the truth of the Word to teach their own perceptions of it. Verse 7 says  they were " desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they were saying or the things about which they made confident assertions. " I'm caught on verse 1:5. Paul tells Timothy that " the purpose of our commandment is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith ."  In the verses previous (1 Timothy 1:1-4), Paul makes it clear that the Bible was not written to provoke philosophical debate nor to encourage the pursuit of theological bunnytrails. The purpose of Scripture is love.  They have been given in order to incite and perfect our love.  With this in mind, if my time spent in the Word does not increase my love for God, then I've missed the...

I don't want to come to the end of my life with any regrets. I heard someone say recently that "mediocrity is violent and gives power to the spirit of poverty. A poverty spirit is about you living with meager possibilities when Jesus said, 'All things are possible.'" SO...at the end of my life, I want my human footprint on earth to say: *I discovered my fullness of potential in Christ Jesus. *I lived taking risks. *I lived thoroughly enjoying the majesty of God. *I didn't live conservatively, but lived boldly and outrageously in love towards God and others. *I fully capitalized on my relationship with the Holy Spirit. *I finished completely exploring my present and my future in the Father. *I was a woman of great faith. *I moved through circumstances joyfully attacking the negatives in my life. *I won't look back to see I'd been entirely too passive.  *I influenced and inspired as many people as God wanted me to.  *I lived in the grace ...