1st Year Class Notes - Spring 2013 (Pt.2)

Monday, March 4^th

Speaker – Ben Armstrong:

·      Unless we learn from history, we are likely to keep going around the mountain

·      We should create a value in the church for church history

·      In the early church, Christians were, for the most part, simply trying to do their best to be good Christians

·      The East and West churches gave us two different cultures that viewed God in two different ways

·      God can and does teach us through our mistakes

·      Many of those outside the church have a huge issue with the way Christians act toward each other and others

·      We aren’t trying to promote ‘Bethel DNA’ here, we’re promoting Kingdom DNA here, and that’s transferable to everyone everywhere

·      There are some non-negotiables in our doctrine, but there are some ways people experience God that are pretty out there, and we need to be receptive to that

·      God’s grace is here for us to love without judging

o   Church history shows Christians as some of the most judgmental people on the planet

o   The truth is that God’s judgment changed at the Cross from punishment to mercy

·      Creation was subjected to a curse through man, and is longing for the sons of God to be revealed

·      Discipline in the Christian culture still looks like punishment instead of mercy

o   ‘You did it wrong, let’s make it right’

·      We are in a season that we are stepping into a place where we will experience encounters with God in the church that have never been seen before

o   The fact is there are too many experiences of God throughout church history that cannot be found in the Bible, BUT the character/essence of those experiences are in the Bible

o   Requires us to know our Bible and our God really, really well

·      Jesus didn’t pay the price so we would prove ourselves right, He paid the price so we would choose relationship over being right

·      For centuries, the sermons were all in a language that no one could understand, so the environment was ripe for misinformation and false teachings

o   Spawned an artistic movement that produced representations of the Biblical teachings that people couldn’t understand

§  Art has always been the fore runner for cultural change

o   Religion takes things that are supposed to point to God and make them the main focus

§  The environmentalists will end up destroying the very thing they are trying to save, because they worship the very thing that is supposed to be pointing to God, which will only end in the destruction of their ‘idol’

§  The same thing applies to art, if it becomes an idol destruction is inevitable, but if it points back to the Father it will flourish

·      The movement of people to monasteries and convent was primarily out of a rejection of and separation from the church’s increased levels of power and influence in the world

o   The monks and nuns lived in the community and served the people in the community

o   Money came pouring in to support it, which raised the issue of ‘who will you serve?’

o   A lot of the Middle Ages was the church going from serving the people to the people serving the church

·      There are portions of the Middle Ages where the church steered people away from God in a way that didn’t have to happen

o   Most people in the Middle Ages had no surety regarding their salvation, which would have been a very unsettling place

o   Today we realize it isn’t about going to heaven, it’s about having relationship with God – that’s the Kingdom

·      God is the Creator, and we should be creating with Him

·      We are always going to serve – where are we going to serve from?

o   We have two choices – we can serve as a slave, or we can serve as a king

o   When the church stopped serving the people, it became a group of slave-drivers

·      We may not all be called to the church, but we will influence the church because we will be a world leader and world-changer

o   When you serve as a king, you’re a resource to the world

o   The key isn’t being the best in the world, but to be the best for the world

o   Being the best in the world (pride & arrogance) sucks all resources to itself in an effort to defeat the competition

o   Being the best for the world (confident) means we become a resource for people, which leads to actually being the best in the world (we get 2 for 1)

·      Come every day, check yourself at the door, and ask ‘What can I learn about God?’ it will implant a value system in you that will help lead you into your destiny

·      Are you more excited about the blessing you’re receiving from God or about the God who is blessing you?

·      All believers are mystic – God gave us that commission in Colossians – we are to reveal the mysteries of God to the world

o   A mystic is one who through intimacy with God reveals the mysteries of God

o   God is someone to be experienced, not just heard / learned about

o   Jesus must remain the centerpiece of all mystical experiences so that we may be rooted in Hebrews 5 – that our senses may be trained to discern the difference between good and evil (spirits)

·      There are ebbs & flows that have happened throughout church history, and continue to this day

o   God wants to connect the church in a way we’ve never seen before

o   All non-believers are destined to be part of the church, and if we start to see them as part of the church, we’ll treat them differently

·      Bernard reintroduced the truth that Jesus came into the world to love and redeem it, not in judgment but to extend grace to the people out of love and mercy

Speaker – Chris Gore:  Creating an Atmosphere for Walking in Miracles

·      Often we believe it’s the miracle that creates the atmosphere, but it’s actually the atmosphere that creates the miracle

·      It’s not actually your ‘drunkenness’ that creates the miracles, it’s realizing who He is in you and who He is through you

o   How much more would we see if we actually used our faith to really see the person who is inside of us

·      Jesus never taught how to deal with unanswered prayer

o   Jesus fully expected everyone He ever prayed for to get healed

·      None of the people who ever came to Jesus said ‘look at my great faith’

o   When we see Jesus in His grace, He sees us in our faith

o   When people were healed and saw Jesus’ grace, then He saw our faith

·      What would happen if when we prayed we actually believed that heaven heard us?

o   It might change the way we pray

o   We have to carry the confidence that we have the backing of heaven – that heaven wants to back us up

o   We will begin to carry and release an atmosphere around us

·      Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith

o   It doesn’t require great faith to see a miracle, it requires a great God

·      How much can we actually see if we use our faith to see the One who is in us?

o   It’s possible for us to change an atmosphere just by showing up

·      Mark 5 – Jesus kicked the mourners out because they had professional mourners who had come and were tumulting

o   Google search – ‘mourners in Jesus’ day’

o   Jesus didn’t ask them to leave to preserve His own atmosphere of faith, He had His own weather system

·      Jesus never went anywhere to take the temperature, but to set the temperature

o   By being a thermometer, we can easily become the victim of the very atmosphere that we’re walking into

o   Jesus kicked the mourners out because He knew it wasn’t a day to mourn, it was a day to celebrate

·      Often, we walk into an atmosphere to see if it feels ripe for miracles, and by doing so we take our eyes off of Jesus and place them on ourselves to see if we have enough faith to see the miracle happen

o   This causes the miracle to become about us instead of He who’s working in us and through us

·      It’s not a question of having enough faith, or being in the right presence

o   We must continue to look at Him because that is when He sees us in our faith

·      We must operate in a place where we’re constantly impressed with the answer rather than the problem

o   Otherwise, you end up with a devil that’s bigger than your God

·      The environment you walk into has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you see breakthrough

o   Darkness isn’t a problem – you don’t walk into a room and turn down the darkness

o   Arise and shine for your light has come – we don’t need to walk into a room and tell the darkness to leave, we just need to turn on the light

o   Rather than confront the darkness, just turn on the light

·      Jesus said to the woman who had been healed from the issue of blood ‘go into shalom’ – the root issue for the woman was that she had no peace, but interestingly enough she was healed before the root issue was dealt with

·      What would happen if I used my faith to recognize the one who lives in me?

o   I don’t have to take the temperature, I can set the temperature where ever I go

·      Learn to recognize what it is to have the answer and to release the answer into the situation around you, even without words

o   Experiment with hosting and releasing God’s presence

·      How much more would we see if we believe that He actually is who He says He is and that He’s in us and wants out

·      It’s not the absence of faith, it’s the presence of doubts

·      Are you going to take the temperature, or are you going to set it wherever you go?

o   If you’re going to take the temperature, then you’ve already missed the miracle

·      You don’t need to feel God for God to move

·      Child-like faith can tap into something that nothing else can

o   Children don’t know why not – they just believe 100%

Wednesday, March 6^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:  Psalms

·      Roughly one-third of the Bible is poetry

·      Hebrew poetry was based around parallelism and the syntax of the words, not all about rhyming like our poetry today

o   God gave us the Psalms from a culture where poetry didn’t rhyme, because they rhyming would have been lost to us in translation anyway

·      Often, we treat emotions as immature – then we see David pour his heart out to God in the Psalms

o   Emotions aren’t a bad thing – they are a gift from God

o   The emotions are a real part of us, but they aren’t the truest part of us

o   Emotions shouldn’t run our life, but they should be a main player

·      Psalms were the songs of the church – very powerful

·      Remember that the Psalms are pre-New Covenant

o   We need to interpret the Psalms through our new lens of the New Covenant

·      Don’t minimize your intellectual world and don’t minimize your emotional world – both are an essential piece of the puzzle

·      The Psalms are less like an aerospace museum and more like an art gallery

o   Art is, at the very least, designed to move us to an emotional experience

·      Hebrew poetry is terse, short on purpose, and simply formatted but with a constant rhythm

·      Filled with word pictures, which must be felt and seen to grasp the meaning of the Psalm

o   Can be challenging for us at times given our image-rich culture

·      Often, to interpret something literally is to miss the meaning – especially regarding the heavy usage of figure of speech found in the Psalms

o   You can’t rightly understand the word picture being communicated unless you rightly understand the figure of speech being used

·      It’s also easy to over-apply an analogy / metaphor

·      Tips to approaching and interpreting the Psalms:

o   Combine the parallelisms

o   Locate and visualize the figures of speech

o   Enter the emotional world of the image

o   Identify the figures of speech from the classification type of the particular Psalm

o   Read them as a whole – not taking verses out of the context of the greater Psalm, because they are self-contained units all moving toward a particular target

o   Interpret it within the time and place in which it was written

·      We should be careful creating theology out of the Psalms, because theology and morality points are secondary in the Psalms, the primary point is the emotional connection between ourselves and God

o   Can easily happen when we are analyzing text that is heavy in figures of speech

·      Different Kinds of Psalms:

o   Psalms of Lament – largest category of Psalms

§  Individual – 3, 22

§  Corporate – 12 44

o   Psalms of Thanksgiving

§  Individual – 18, 30

§  Corporate – 65, 67

o   Psalms of Praise

§  As Creator – 8, 19

§  Faithful to Israel – 66, 100

§  Lord of History – 33, 103

o   Psalms of Salvation History

§  Reminding descendants and themselves

o   Celebration & Affirmation

§  Centered around covenant & covenant renewal

§  Psalm 50, 81

§  Davidic Covenant – 89, 132

o   Royal Psalms – songs connected to the king

§  Psalm 2, 18

§  Royal Thanksgiving – 18

§  Royal Lament – 144

o   Psalms of Enthronement

§  Psalm 24, 29

o   Psalms of Wisdom

§  Psalm 8, 36, 37

o   Psalms of Trust

§  Psalm 10, 11

o   Cursing Precatory Psalms – Psalms of cursing

§  Psalm 12, 35, 58, 59, 69, 70, 83, 109, 137, 140

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:  Moving from the Pool to the River

·      John 5 – Pool of Bethesda

o   John talks about the 5 porches, but doesn’t give other details about the pool – may indicate significance

o   5 porches represent the five-fold ministry – when the five-fold ministries go from 5 streams to one pool, it will create heavenly allies through strategic alliances

o   Each call of the five-fold ministries are beginning to learn to work together – will go from emerging to merging

o   The word ‘pastor’ is only mentioned once in the Greek in the entire NT

·      Ezekiel 47

o   The church is not to be like the Pools of Bethesda, but like the Ezekiel’s River

o   The Pool of Bethesda represents a pastorate, while Ezekiel’s River represents an apostle-ship

§  Pastors operate out of the local church – people must come to the church (pool) in order to receive from God & maturity is measured by coming to church – pastors gather in flocks

§  Apostles are ‘sent ones’ – the further we get from the sanctuary, the greater the miracles – apostles train, equip and deploy

·      The five-fold ministry is NOT the government of God, they are the GOVERNORS of God

o   Government is the structure that governors govern in

o   Leadership is the art of governing

·      In a time of war, the leadership doesn’t change, the structure does

o   Government should cover your weakness and expose your strength, not vice versa

·      Government should facilitate destiny

o   Example of contractor who built Shasta College, planted grass, then waited one year before laying sidewalks in order to lay the sidewalk where the grass was worn so that the sidewalks would facilitate the destiny of the students and faculty

o   Example of cars in the age of the horse, during season of transition (epoch season change) where we had stables, water troughs and hay instead of gas stations, auto mechanics and traffic signals

·      We are in the middle of the greatest transition in human history (greatest since the Cross) – the epoch season has changed from pastorates to apostle-ships, from gathering to sending

·      An apostle’s job is to conquer and culturize

·      The trees along the river aren’t in the river, but they feed off the river, and their leaves are for healing the nations

o   We’re going from discipling people to discipling nations

o   Success will no longer be measures by how many people attend church on Sunday

o   Pastors transform people, apostles transform cities

·      Jesus told John to write to the seven angels at the seven churches, and angels recognize apostolic authority

o   Abraham was looking for a city with foundations (apostles and prophets are the foundation) who builder and maker was God

o   God is looking to establish apostolic cities where there is an angel over the city, not a principality

·      The swamps and marshes along the side of the river will not be made fresh (healed) but left for salt – they are preserved but won’t be healed

o   It takes but it doesn’t give, so it is stagnant and doesn’t get refreshed

o   It’s old water that has been there for ages from old epoch seasons, but the water from the river is fresh and always new

·      When your memories are greater than your dreams, that’s all you have because you’re already dying

o   History is a great teacher but a terrible leader

·      You can get in the marshes and get to heaven, but you won’t be fresh, and you won’t get healed

o   Still measure success by how many people come to church instead of becoming the church

o   Success has been measured by the symptom instead of the result – apostles measure their success by how transformed the city becomes

·      Apostles are typically not apostles over land, but over demographics and people groups

·      THE BOTTOM LINE – BE READY FOR CHANGE

o   Otherwise, be ready to start stinking, because marshes stink

·      You must first be in the church before you can flow out of the church – it all flows from the sanctuary

·      Every apostle-ship should have a pastorate inside of it – you don’t want to send broken people out to heal the nations

·      Apostle-ship is the structure that apostles flourish in – it’s designed around sending out people

o    

·      Pastorates are the structure that pastors flourish in – it’s designed around helping people solve their problems

o   Typically a pastor is going to be good at developing relationship

o   People energize them and they like being with people who have a problem

o   Danny Silk is a great example of someone who is a pastor anointing

·      Pastors develop a relational structure, apostles develop a transformational structure

·      Many people are not nearly as successful as we should be because we’ve been operating in a structure that was built by and for somebody else

·      If you have a team of six and add a seventh person, if you don’t make new roads to facilitate that new person, you won’t get more work done

o   Whatever you misdiagnose you’ll mistreat

o   If you aren’t careful, you can have a four-fold government even though you may have five-fold governors

·      God pours new wine into new wineskins – it must be current and flexible

o   The structure God has working for someone else won’t work for you

·      If you really want to be successful, you must write out a list of what you are great at and what you really suck at

o   Your call can enable you to do things that are not in your personality

o   Sacrifice means doing something that you aren’t good at normally

Thursday, March 7^th

Speaker – Jason Vallotton:

·      Praise & Worship

Speaker – Chris Overstreet:

·      It’s interesting how when atheist have an actual encounter with God, how it changes their belief system

·      It’s not a formula; it’s all about relationship!

·      We shouldn’t leave out hell, but hell isn’t the theme of the message

o   Talk about hell when Holy Spirit leads you there

·      People need to know how good God is, and that He actually wants to save them from something

Monday, March 11^th

Speaker – Brother Yun:

·      One out of every four people alive on the planet today are Chinese

o   Up to as many as 1.5 Billion people are living in mainland China today

·      In 1949, the communists took control of China, and Mao immediately kicked all missionaries out of the country, burned all the church buildings and Bibles, and sent local Christians to re-education camps to be brainwashed

o   The 800,000 believers that remained in China had nothing left, so they learned how to pray in that season

·      The church of Jesus Christ is NOT a building – the evidence of your success as a minister has nothing to do with whether or not you’ve built a building, the Kingdom of God is built with living stones

·      When missionaries got back into China in the early 80’s, they had to start from scratch

o   But the missionaries discovered that there weren’t 800,000 Christians in China, there were 30 million!

·      The tendency in the Western world is to run after miracles, but in China they understand that Jesus has reserved the miracle part for Himself

o   Stop running after miracles, just do what you have been called to do, and Jesus will confirm it with signs and wonders

·      In the last 30 years, another 120 million Chinese have come to Jesus

o   The government in China now believes there are somewhere between 160 million and 200 million Christians in China right now, and by 2030 they project that up to 1/3 of people in China will be Believers!

·      Iran has 78 million people, but no missionaries

o   They have the same right to salvation as the rest of us

·      Just because Jesus loves you, do not allow your past to limit your future

·      The is no power in existence that can separate us from God and His love

·      Proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom and heal in the name of Jesus

o   The result has nothing to do with you, it’s all about Jesus

·      Is it important to confess – Jesus is my Savior, He is my Lord, and I lack nothing!

o   A person does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God

o   You must wear your ‘heavenly glasses’ to see the place you’re in through God’s eyes

o   Jesus Christ Himself is my green pasture, and the word of life will flow like a river where ever I am

·      The rod of God is not for punishment, it is a comfort to me and serves as a guiding light to me along the way

·      There are no experiences that are so bad that they are greater than the Word and the power of God

·      The same way that David used stone from the river to kill a mocking Goliath, we must use the rock of God’s Word to bring down cancer, the mocking Goliath of this generation

Speaker – Gabe Valenzuela:

·      In 2^nd Year BSSM, we try to take the core values that you learn in 1^st Year and try to build on those

·      Our goal is to create leaders in the Kingdom

·      2^nd Year is not ‘make me something great’ – it puts you in an environment where you can grow and be pushed in every area

o   Do you want to manage yourself well? Because we’ll hit that right off the bat

·      School of ministry is amazing, but if you aren’t careful you can be in the Presence of God everyday and yet leave here not knowing how to carry and steward the Presence of God

o   We can’t established a deep, intimate relationship with God FOR you, we’ll give you the best opportunity to establish that yourself

·      Each additional year you spend in BSSM should build on the previous year(s)

·      Those who leave yet don’t succeed typically struggle in two areas:

o   They leave without having to learned how to steward God’s Presence well – it’s much easier to start a fire with matches than with flint and steel

o   Surrounding yourself with a support group that will fan your flame

·      It’s valuable to do 2^nd Year right after 1^st Year typically for the sake of momentum, but at the same time students that leave and return have been some of our very best students

·      You don’t need 2^nd Year to be successful

·      When you go home for summer, don’t take a break – change the world

·      BSSM is NOT a discipleship school

o   2^nd Year is not a place to bring your life that is in shambles (technically neither is 1^st Year, but since you’re already here…)

·      In 2^nd Year, the responsibility of relationship and connection rests on your shoulders

·      If people follow you, you can build a great team

o   It’s not our responsibility to make your dreams come true, but to establish within you the internal fortitude to make your dreams come true

·      We believe that everybody can be a great leader who can change the world

·      The most common thing that deteriorates good leaders is a lack of service – great leaders are the biggest servants in the room

o   If you want to be the best you can be, serve well and show the love of God to people well everywhere you go and you will have people around you that will follow you to the depths

Tuesday, March 12^th

Speaker – Kevin Dedmon:  A Synopsis of Church History

·      Church history can be very discouraging

·      1^st 300 Years – Revival

·      Constantine melded Christianity with the Roman Empire

·      The church understood their mandate was to expand the Kingdom of God by expanding the church, and by any means necessary

o   Led to the expansion of the church through the sword (not the Sword)

o   The church became about killing those who were outside the church, and those within the church with different doctrines

·      It is important to understand church history within the context in which it was developed

·      Understanding church and world history can impact our efforts to transform the world today through revival

·      Islam

o   Created by a man named Mohammed (born 570 AD)

o   Mecca was his birthplace

o   Through marriage, found himself in charge of a caravan business and was smart enough to grow his caravan business to the point that he became influential

o   “Islam” means submission or subject to the ‘one true god’ and “Muslim” means one who is submitted or subjected to the ‘one true god’

o   Began to reinterpret the Old Testament – claimed that Ishmael was the son that Abraham offered to God on the altar, and that Muslims were the chosen people of God

o   Taught that the Jews changed the Old Testament, and that Christians skewed it even further be creating a new God (Jesus) and were actually polytheists by worshipping the trinity

o   Claimed that Abraham built the first ‘house of god’ in Mecca

o   Anyone who didn’t sign on with Islam was killed

o   Like the Christians, Muslims used the sword to expand the kingdom of Islam

o   In reality, it’s all just a struggle over control of goods and land

o   For centuries after Mohammed died, there were wars within the Muslim religion over who would rule Islam

o   85% are Sunnis – believe anybody can be a ruler of Islam, 15% are Shiites – believe only someone from the lineage of Mohammed can rule Islam

§  The vast majority of Jihad Muslims are Shiites

o   In 1012 AD, Islam took over Jerusalem

o   Christians in Europe responded to over-crowding by launching Crusades to the Holy Land

§  The church offered anyone who came to fight in the Crusades both land and the prospect of guaranteed salvation

o   The mandate of Islam given by Mohammed was that the whole world should be ‘evangelized’ until the whole world is submitted to Allah

·      Every single Muslim is a treasure to God

·      We are to bring the might and the power of Holy Spirit to the Muslim world

·      Islam is declining at such a rate in Africa (currently) to the point that it won’t be long until Christianity will dominate the continent, so they’ve given up on Africa

o   The missionaries there are bringing signs & wonders, and the people are flooding to Jesus

·      As a result, the Islamic leaders are telling Muslims around the world to focus on Europe and the United States

·      We must not send out people who will use religious tradition to gain more control, but world-changing revivalists who will bring freedom, life, love, and the Kingdom of God where ever they go

·      It’s time for us to bring healing to the people, healing to the land, and to bring healing to undo all that the church has done until now

Speaker – Danny Silk:  Confrontation

·      Confrontation is typically tied to something negative because it can quickly get out of hand, leaving us with a bad taste in our mouths

·      In this culture, we have lots of powerful people who have the ability to make messes and not always be aware of the effect they have on other people

·      In order for people to remain powerful in a culture of honor, confrontation is absolutely essential and must happen regularly

·      Confrontation can easily lead to lots of relational damage, which causes us to withdraw and hide from confrontation because of the pain involved with it

o   Reinforces the idea that powerful people are scary, so you can only afford to have a few of them around, leaving everyone else to do what they want

·      If we will move in the right motivation, we will completely change the outcome of our confrontations

·      Galatians 6:1 – provides an outline for how to deal with confrontation

o   “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted”

o   A spirit of gentleness is how you would approach a deer

o   A spirit of gentleness requires you to convince the other person that you have absolutely no intention or desire of controlling them or judging them

§  Commonly, failure leads us to expect someone to come along to rescue us, thinking that they know what’s best for us, and to control us

§  Must be communicated to them in your actions, not just your words

o   Your goal must change from causing the person to do something good to only controlling yourself

o   The goal of any confrontation must be to build relationship

§  There may be a consequence involved based on the circumstances, but there must never be punishment

§  Your job is to remind them who they really are, because often in a mistake we forget who we are and resort to shame

§  Guilt – I’ve done something wrong

§  Shame – I am something wrong, I am a failure, I am a mistake

o   The successful outcome of a confrontation is that our relationship is stronger – we trust each other more

o   “Strategically applied pressure to expose areas that need strength & grace”

o   A confrontation is finding a problem, and helping to find a solution

o   Our experience in a confrontation is very different when someone is trying to help us without the threat of judgment or punishment

o   The work of Holy Spirit does not include control or punishment

o   They must believe we care about them as much as we care about ourselves

§  They must feel safe enough to tell you the truth and powerful enough to control themselves

o   This is not about manipulation or intimidation

o   The tool of choice is good questions – NOT convincing lectures

§  Create an internal pressure through effective questions until we see ‘bubbles’ (the leak in the tire when held under water)

§  Questions lead to an internal thinking process that lead to answers

§  Friends can ask friends questions

·      Genesis 18

o   Abraham used questions to try to save Sodom & Gomorrah from God’s wrath, and successfully confronted God

o   If God makes Himself confrontable in a relationship – who isn’t confrontable?

o   Moses also used questions to try and save the people of Israel from God’s wrath, and successfully confronted God

·      Job 38:1-3

o   In Job, his friends were all telling him how he messed up and where he went wrong and what he should have done – none of which helped

o   If anybody had an outside answer to Job’s problems, it would be God – but what does God do? Asks Job questions which lead him into his total deliverance and restoration

o   The only solution that works is an inside-out solution, but most people only take an outside-in approach

o   A successful confrontation only comes from the inside-out

o   An outside-in approach is someone practicing their belief that they can control other people

·      You do NOT control other people, even if you love them

o   This is a heartbreaker for some people, because some people think that love IS control

o   Love confrontation happens in the context of good questions

§  Stimulates the thinking of the person who has the problem – which lets you off the hook as the person goes deep down inside and has a conversation with Holy Spirit

·      The Power of Questions

o   They stimulate thinking

o   They allow the person to find solutions from the inside

o   They create opportunities for the person to tap into their greatness

o   It allows for the covenant between two people to manifest

o   They allow the confronter to remain an ally

·      Sometimes the person you’re talking to needs you to make it super easy for them

o   You’re trying to help them, not trying to show off your awesomeness

o   You’re trying to empower them and help them find the solution to their life

o   We don’t fix them, Holy Spirit fixes them – we only get to help the greatness rise up inside of them and invite them to take responsibility to steward what they’ve discovered

o   We come out of our confrontation as the best of friends – creates a deeper bond with them than they have with most people in their life

·      Sample Questions

o   “I am wondering if…?”

§  You realize how other people experienced what you just did?

§  Do you have any idea what it costs you to treat people like that?

o   “What are you going to do?” (repeat over and over and over)

o   “How is that working out for you?”

o   “Do you want any help with this, or do you want to figure this out yourself?”

o   You find yourself saying the same thing over and over again until you hear them say “Will you help me solve my problem?” – until then, it’s best not to offer any help to them at all whatsoever!

§  You don’t have solution for anyone who does not yet have a problem

§  God cannot solve a problem for you that ‘you don’t have’

§  God is not about controlling you into doing good things, so even He can’t have a solution for you if you don’t have a problem

§  When you go to work on somebody’s problem that ‘they don’t have’ you’re being manipulative and co-dependent

·      Co-dependent = I work harder on your problem than you do (translates into ‘I believe I can control you into success’)

o   One of the most dangerous things we can do in a conversation is to tell people about themselves

§  People don’t care how sweetly you judge them, they don’t like it

§  In order for good communication to take place, you need to tell each other about yourselves, not tell the other about them

·      You are an expert about you

§  By telling them about you, they can’t really argue with that

§  The successful transfer of good information is essential to good confrontations

·      Effective Communication

o   “I” messages

§  “I feel ______”

§  “When ______”

§  “I need to feel ______”

o   If you can put the word “think” in you “I” message, it’s no longer a feeling

o   Feelings don’t make any sense if you put the word ‘think’ in front of them because they’re not thoughts, they’re thinking

o   What you need to feel is different then what you need them to do

o   “I” message is NOT ‘I got hurt, so I need to control you’

o   I got a feeling because of what happened, and I need to have another feeling

·      Andy’s Confrontation

o   Andy grew up in a culture where you pretend like you don’t have any feelings or needs and you just create a façade and hide who you are just so you can survive other people

o   We need to know how we’re affecting the people around us, and they need the freedom to give us that feedback

o   Powerful people are used to getting their way, and for things working out the way they intended them to work out

o   You must have tools that preserve relationships within those processes, protecting love and building trust

§  Needs must be identified and met, however and where ever they can

·      Trust Cycle

o   Need -> Need Expressed -> Response to the Need -> Need Satisfied -> Comfort -> Need

o   Jesus didn’t say “I’ve got to go, but I’m going to leave you the Controller”

§  He left us the One who builds trust and helps us to bond with the Father

·      The culture of honor builds and protects trust and love, but requires healthy confrontation to happen constantly

·      Mistrust Cycle

o   Need -> Need Expressed -> No Response to Need -> Need Left Unsatisfied -> No Comfort -> Need

o   The cost of mistrusting relationships is that people’s needs go unmet, and people don’t bond with each other

o   The result is a bunch of orphans

·      Our mouth is right below our nose, but we’re typically the last one to know we have bad breath

·      Success is the Kingdom is not about accomplishment, it is about relationship

·      If you’re going to create an environment where powerful people roam together, you had better have tools and a system in place where healthy confrontation takes place

o   Powerful people without healthy confrontation creates an environment where people’s agendas will supersede the love

o   Takes risk and may not be well received, but it gets started by not backing away from your commitment to have fellowship in the light together

Wednesday, March 13^th

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:

·      One of the ways that we transform nations is to put people in their proper place

·      If women get empowered it doesn’t mean that men get disempowered – that’s not how it works in the Kingdom

·      Daniel 1:17

o   When I move from slavery to friendship, one of the fruits of friendship is revelation

·      I Corinthians 4:15

o   ‘Imitate me as I imitate Christ’

o   ‘The Kingdom of God does not exist in words, but in power’

o   It’s a really great idea to read I & II Corinthians together as one giant letter

·      I Corinthians 1:10

o   You have to balance opposing ideas in Scripture in a tension, allowing Holy Spirit to let you know how to apply both truths, and when to apply which truth

·      Paul says to be imitators of him, because he is their father

·      When you over-emphasize your apostolic leadership, you lose your national identity

o   When loyalty to an apostle over-rides corporate loyalty to Jesus, or when you over-emphasize your relationship with Jesus to the point that you don’t need natural leaders,

·      God uses natural people to shepherd his flock

o   Independence has become a global god

o   The church has become a group of orphans rather than sons and daughters

o   If you struggle with authority, that’s fine, just don’t spiritualize it using Scripture

·      Sometimes we have to go through pain to get to the promise

o   Anything that takes you out of the family, making you independent from the family, is NOT the Gospel

§  You were saved into a family, not into a church, meeting or conference

·      It’s easy to have ideas that you don’t have to live out

o   If you don’t actually have to practice anything, you can preach tons of things that get people really excited but with have no practical life application

·      If you don’t have leadership in your life, you will remain a child and not grow up

o   When you don’t have leadership in your life you can be tricked by every wind of doctrine

·      If you aren’t connected to the family, then you don’t know the effect you’re having on the family

o   On occasion, we all need a ‘grow up’ word from a father

·      You can’t grow unless you’re connected with the people you’re supposed to grow with

o   We were born to do something, not just frolic in the river

o   If you want to grow in Christ, you’d better get connected with the people you’re supposed to grow with

o   When you’re fitted and held together by what every other joint supplies that the body builds itself up in love = Good News

§  Doesn’t feel like Good News when you’re rebellious, it feels like control

o   We don’t have to work for salvation, but we have to work from salvation

o   Cancer grows fast, sucking the resources out of the environment, and provides no function for the body

·      In a denomination, you attend the church – in an apostleship you BECOME the church

·      Just because we’re called to be something doesn’t mean there isn’t a process required to prepare us for walking in the fullness of that call

o   David was anointed to be King many years before he sat on the throne – he had to go through a process of preparation

o   Sometimes people are called before they’re gifted, and sometimes they’re gifted before they’re called, and sometimes you can be anointed before you’re gifted or called

o   Until you’re commissioned, you don’t have an office of anything - if no one is following you, you’re only taking a walk

o   The only named evangelist in the Bible gave birth to the only prophetesses listed in Scripture after the four Gospels

·      Accountability – means account for your ability

·      Covering –

o   Joseph became a corporate covering for the Israelites in Egypt by winning a personal victory with God – he forgave his brothers who didn’t deserve it, he stayed out of Potiphar’s wife’s bed, and he kept his vision alive when he was in the pit

o   A lot of people are trying to become a corporate covering who don’t have a personal victory

o   David provided a corporate covering for the throne of Israel by winning a victory with God

o   A corporate covering transcends time and space – you win a victory in eternity so that your descendants don’t receive what they deserve but what you deserve

o   You need both accountability and a covering

·      You can create a theory that doesn’t quite work and people will cheer you, but everyone who is in process will wonder what’s wrong with them

·      All commissioned five-fold ministry members are elders, but not all elders are members of the five-fold ministry

·      The question is never ‘Do I need to get another SOZO?’ but ‘Do I need someone else to give it to me?’

o   At the same time, if you feel like you aren’t processing everything very well, definitely take it upon yourself to seek help

Thursday, March 14^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      Prophets were fairly common in the ancient Middle East

o   Israel’s prophets were different – it was illegal to practice divination and they’re usual task was to communicate a message from God to His people

o   The prophet often functioned as an unofficial advisor to the king and his court

o   Came from various backgrounds

·      Prophetic writings are filled with symbolism

o   Helps to have commentaries and study Bibles

·      A lot of what was written in the prophets is predictive prophecy about the future, much of which has come to pass, but sometimes we wonder if at least some of it is still in the future for us

·      Approximately 2% of Biblical prophecy is Messianic, 5% of Biblical prophecy is about the New Covenant, and 1% of Biblical prophecy is regarding events to come

o   “There are lies, ‘darn’ lies, and statistics” –Mark Twain

·      Somewhat like anthologies, but not listed in order

o   The prophetic books are not listed in chronological order, and even the book of Jeremiah is not itself in chronological order

·      The prophets are probably best known as Covenant enforcers

o   Warned Israel when they weren’t walking in their Covenant with God

o   Blessings & curses of the Old Covenant listed in Deuteronomy 4 & 28

o   God gave the Law, and He enforced the Law

·      The 16 books of the major and minor prophets were written over a roughly 300 year period (c. 760 BC – 460 BC)

·      The book of Jonah contrasts the pagans who repent with the people of God who won’t

Speaker – Bill Johnson:

·      A city can only fall into darkness equal in it’s call in light

o   The enemy cannot create anything, he can only twist what God has created

o   The enemy uses evil to discourage believers, when it should be the thing that encourages us

o   Evil is an inferior reality to mirrors (opposite) the will of God for that place and time

o   The enemy has been able to counterfeit in darkness what God has intended in light

o   Should cause us to look at cities and people differently

·      A stronghold in a city is revealed by what it trusts in (besides God)

·      Not all sin is spiritual – all sin starts as a sin of the flesh, which creates an invitation for supernatural expression, and what started as a sin in the flesh becomes a stronghold a deep supernatural bondage

o   The sin becomes an invitation to the demonic to step in and take control to the point that the person now has no control over the sin but are a slave to it

·      It’s a city that tolerates and encourages perversion when it was intended to be a city known to be redemptive and healing

·      Matthew 11:20

o   Miracles are wonderful & necessary, but come with a price tag

o   Jesus couldn’t do any might miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief

o   Jesus performed the majority of His many miracles in just 3 cities – which says that they chose to repent and believe

o   Jesus rebuked Capernaum because they just made room for what He was doing, they didn’t make their lives and their culture all about what He was doing

§  If Sodom and Gomorrah had seen the miracles done there, they would still be around

o   Miracles, signs and wonders are the key to sin-filled cities

·      God lights the fire on the altar, but it’s the priests who keep it burning

o   If we’re to keep the fire burning, we must know that it’s our job and we must know how to do it

o   Requires that we make the decision to give ourselves fully only to what He is doing, instead of taking what He’s doing and adding it to what we’re doing

o   It’s easy to make room for God to do things without learning what to do to sustain it

·      God is extreme, bizarre and wild, but He is also extremely practical

o   If it matters to you, it matters to Him

·      Parenting tips:

o   Always make sure that blessing outweighs cost in your children’s relationship with you as their parent

o   You must make sure that the person you are in public is the same standard you live in public

o   When you speak to your children, minister to them in hope and see them through God’s eyes, and speak to them according to what you see God doing in them and through them (not ‘some day’ but right now)

o   Always keep your kids exposed to the moves of the Spirit of God that they can’t explain or deny and it will keep them marked for life

o   Always keep your kids exposed to world need – the cry of the world for answers

o   Be a friend without losing your position as a parent – learn to enjoy and celebrate life with them

§  Every correction needs seven words of affirmation to recover from one word of correction

·      When the Holy Spirit is moving, you can’t fit Him into your prearranged agenda

o   Everything you do must be for the revival or out of the revival

o   Invite God to do as He pleases and everything you bring to the game gets set aside

o   Always sow into what God is doing

·      Hunger will either take you to breakthrough or frustration

o   Hunger requires tenderness of heart to see breakthrough, otherwise your heart will be hardened by hunger for the very breakthrough you seek

·      Two major waves are coming – the restoration of fallen believers to the church and a great world-wide harvest

·      What fathers do is release inheritance

o   By saying yes to what they carry, it opens you up to receive that inheritance from them

o   Fathers define identity – so look for those who define your identity out of a place of authority and give you a vision of your destiny

·      When pressure comes, it forces you to hear from God – it forces you to seek God in a way you haven’t before

o   It’s those time you don’t eat, not because you’re fasting, but because you don’t have an appetite for anything else

·      Be willing to live with mystery you can’t explain without questioning God’s goodness

o   Will you lay down your right to be offended?

·      If I repeatedly step outside of God’s purposes for my life, I will reach a point where darkness begins to appear as light

o   We must be able to hold mystery and conflict simultaneously

·      Submission is really a big deal

o   In submission, you don’t always get to do what you want, but you always get to do more than you’re capable of, because when you’re in submission, you’re able to tap into the abilities of the person you’re submitted to

o   Submission is not a negative word unless it’s a situation where it’s being abused to use and/or control people

o   What thrills me is to see people running with what we’ve been given by God as a community

Speaker – Chris Overstreet:

·      Learn to be able to share and effectively communicate the Gospel in 3 weeks or less

·      It’s okay to do evangelism in your everyday life

·      Repentance looks to hell and sin, but faith looks to God and to heaven

·      Every individual who comes to Jesus has a turning point

·      Our faith can grow – every time we step out in faith we get stronger

·      The Bible doesn’t say that tomorrow is the day of salvation, it says that TODAY is the day of salvation

·      The blood of Jesus was not just shed for your small sins, but for your BIG sins

·      There’s no magic in the words, but if you believe with all of your heart, He will come

Monday, March 18^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      The translations are trying to help us do a better job of linking the ideas of Scripture together

o   Punctuation, paragraphs, verse and chapter marks are all placed within Scripture by the translators to help heighten our overall experience of Scripture

·      God invites them to ask where the ancient pathways are and they would find rest, but follows up by saying they would not ask, and as a result they could not walk in them

·      God doesn’t just focus on the effects of their sin against Him, but points out how their sin is harmful to them

o   Sin makes people crazy – period

·      Israel had their entire identity in the Temple and the structure of their religion, but their hearts grew dull and they were just going through the motions, so their religious actions became empty and meaningless to God, as if they weren’t even doing them at all

o   Jeremiah was rebuking Judah at the entrance to the very place they thought guaranteed their safety and freedom

·      OT prophets are prophesying just before/during the Assyrian destruction of the Northern Kingdom, before/during the Babylonian exile, or during/after the post-exilic period

·      Jeremiah 36:1-3

o   Implies that Jeremiah hadn’t written down his history with God up until that point, leaving it to be done from memory

·      Prophets often painted graphic, disastrous pictures of a reality coming out of the curse that would come when the Covenant with God was violated without repentance

o   Future restoration of the Covenant promised

·      Helpful synopsis of prophets found in last paragraph on GGW p. 406

·      We tend to treat sin as a parallel with breaking secular traffic laws – if you break the law you pay the price, but no one is hurt emotionally

o   Sin is a violation of our relationship and connection with God, we damage our relationship with God and cause Him to hurt emotionally

o   When one enters into relationship, they make themselves vulnerable to the other – God has made Himself vulnerable to our unfaithfulness, which leaves us in the astounding position of being able to hurt God

o   Sin is a relational violation, not a legal violation

·      Prophetic Oracles

o   Divine Lawsuit – God calls Israel to trial for breach of Covenant

§  Isaiah 3:13-26, Hosea 3:3-17, Hosea 4:1-19

o   Woe

§  Habakkuk 6:1-8, Micah 2:1-5

o   Promise

§  Hosea 2:16-20, Isaiah 45:1-7

o   Enactment Prophecy

§  Isaiah 20, Ezekiel 4:1-4

o   Messenger Prophecy

§  Isaiah 38:1-8, Jeremiah 35:17-19

Speaker – Carl:

·      Matthew 5:14

·      Ephesians 2:10

·      Living from our divine identity means that everything we do comes out of who God says we are

·      There are things that God wants done that only you can do, and if you don’t do it then it may not get done because you aren’t doing that thing

·      Because of the finished work of the Cross, I can now enter into the very thing that I was created to do

·      Jesus basically said ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to go do stuff’

o   That works both ways, if God hasn’t anointed you to do it, then it’s probably not a good idea

o   But if God has anointed you to do something, then you’d best kick it into gear

·      This is the epicenter of glory – soak up all you can and take it with you and release it everywhere you go

o   There are thousands around the world that would give anything to have your seat right now

·      Anyone can go out and minister, but you have to know who you are inside of you first – the most important thing you can possibly have is your divine identity

·      If you quit everything, you won’t get good at anything

·      God has it all set up for you – you won’t be able to even ask for anything better

·      We’re not on our time, we’re on God’s time, and that’s no small thing

·      Don’t be afraid to release God out of the church!

·      God is restoring dreams – dreams that are scary, dreams that we’ve laid on the altar of religion

o   Dreams from God should be a little scary – so if you don’t have a God dream, get one!

·      You were born to go create with God

o   We all have a job to do, we may not know what it is yet, but we have it to do

·      “If you’ve never been shocked by something you’ve read in the Word, then you haven’t really read the Word” -Derek Prince

o   Is an invitation from God into the revelation of a mystery – don’t try to figure it out, listen to Holy Spirit and in relationship with God say ‘You’re going to have to show me what’s going on here’

·      If I get my identity by what I do, I am an actor (hypocrite)

o   When you can’t help but ‘be’ and only ‘do’ out of your ‘be’ then you are being sons and daughters of your Father in Heaven

o   If your identity is found in your ‘do’ then when what you do becomes obsolete, or you lose your ability to do that thing, what do you have left?

·      In the wilderness, Satan challenged Jesus to show who He was by what He could do

o   The temptation was to perform for His identity

o   If I get my identity from what I do, then that becomes the thing I worship

o   If I don’t know who I am, then the thing I’m doing becomes my object of worship, that’s the thing I get my identity from and trust in

o   Wherever I draw my identity from is going to be the thing that receives my worship

·      The birthplace of religion is man trying to figure out things in Scripture that we don’t understand

·      Identity Checks:

o   Everything we do begins with rest

§  God created the evening and the morning, the first day

§  The Jewish day begins at sundown, so each day begins with a period of rest

§  Rest takes away all the pressure to perform

§  Trust that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it

§  Everything that we do must be done in relationship with God

§  The idea that we’re to go prove ourselves by what we do is disastrous!

§  Only do what you see the Father doing, then just join Him

o   Ask God to help you clean up your messes

§  God never asks you to clean up your mess alone

§  You should never feel like you’re doing it all on your own

o   The will of God is good, acceptable and perfect

Tuesday, March 19^th

Speaker – John Sturgess:

·      Change for change’s sake isn’t always good

·      God is a God of change, and God’s change is always good

·      Martin Luther never wanted to leave the Catholic Church, he wanted to spur reformation within the Catholic Church

o   He preached justification by faith

o   Whether we all agree doesn’t matter, what matters is justification by faith – faith in Jesus is the only way to God

·      Everything about the Bible is supernatural – God’s logic itself is supernatural

·      The King James Bible was recognized by Protestants as the authorized translation for roughly 3 ½ centuries

·      Puritans believed that God’s grace entered the heart through the mind

·      John Milton wrote Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

·      The length of a life with God is less important than the service of those years

Speaker – Paul Manwaring:

·      Isaiah 6:2-3 – ‘the world is filled with the glory of God’

·      Habakkuk 2:14 – ‘the world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God’

·      The earth is already filled with God’s glory, but it is being filled with the knowledge of God’s glory

·      We’ve reduced glory to a place that we go when we die

·      Romans 3:23

o   We’re supposed to do more than just repent, but we’re to repent unto something (i.e. glory)

·      Leading people into the Presence of God is not monopolized by speakers or worship leaders, but is available to every single one of us

·      It’s crazy, but we get to represent Father God

o   Jesus said ‘if you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father’ and that should be true of us as well

o   God loves it when His kids do stuff for the Kingdom, then turn to Him and tell Him they felt like Him in that moment

·      The saying ‘you can’t take it with you’ isn’t true, we will take our glory with us, and we will throw it at His feet when we get there

o   We’re a bride going to a wedding, and it’s really rude to show up to a wedding without a gift

·      God has a value for the stuff that we do

·      God’s response to glory is goodness

·      There is no record of Moses’ face shining after his first two times on the mountain top with God, but the third time up the mountain when God allowed His goodness to pass before Moses, when He left that encounter His face was shining with the glory of God

o   You cannot separate God’s glory from His goodness

·      We have access to a greater glory than was on the face of Moses

o   Moses’ glory was reflected and fading while ours is indwelt and increasing

·      II Corinthians 3:18

o   We are beholding the glory of the Lord in each other

o   We go from glory to glory by recognizing the glory in each other

·      The lost art of the apprentice – an apprentice sits at the feet of a master

o   We grow from glory to glory by sitting at the feet of the Master

o   Honor – the correct valuing of glory in another

·      When Jesus died, He honored you

o   Jesus died for you because you’re worth it, not because you’re worthless

·      Philippians 2

o   Honor brings life – a principle that comes out of the commandment to honor your father and mother

·      The haughty eye is never satisfied by encounter and fails to receive what comes in an encounter

o   Honor says that everyone I meet is an opportunity for me to have an encounter that brings me from glory to glory

o   Before dishonor comes pride, but before honor comes humility

·      As we value the glory in others, it takes us from glory to glory

o   Sitting at the feet of the Master opens our eyes to what glory looks like and helps us to see it in others

·      We are a dwelling place where the Presence of God abides

o   The Shekinah glory of God is our assignment

·      Romans 1:20

·      The Fruit of the Spirit is the result of a life rooted and grounded in Holy Spirit

o   ‘The fruit didn’t fall far from the tree’ should refer to us with Father God

·      Jesus said it is better to serve than to be served

o   There is a glory in serving

o   Jesus served and we get to serve

o   We get to reveal the Servant King by the way that we serve

·      Our God is a debt-paying God, so if you ever get to pay off a debt, you’re actually revealing the nature of God

·      Every legitimate relationship on earth is an opportunity to point us to our relational God – they are tools that point us to a relational heaven

·      The problem with the church is we’ve spent too much time talking about divorce and not enough time talking about marriage – if we spent time talking about marriage it would take care of the divorce issue

o   Marriages paint a picture of the relationship between Jesus and His church

o   There just haven’t been enough men willing to die for their wives

o   The daughter-in-law is the greater picture of the adopted orphan

·      Habakkuk’s assignment to us is to know what glory is

o   Yada – personal, intimate knowledge of someone or something

o   ‘the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge (yada) of the glory of God

o   God’s glory is already here, we just have to know it intimately

Wednesday, March 20^th

Speaker – Bernie Ooley:  Samuel

·      The Israelites mistakenly diagnosed their problem as a political one, so they came up with a spiritual problem

o   Samuel tried to tell them their problem was a spiritual one, and that political solutions cannot solve spiritual problems

o   Politics is the ‘art of the possible’ – it is just a means to an end, it is never the solution and can never serve as our source

o   Only God can do the impossible

·      Fame magnifies who we already are

o   There is great pressure at a high level of authority

o   God is looking for leaders who have been delivered from public opinion

§  The fear of man brings a snare

·      God is not looking for leaders who will burden and stumble others to advance their own agenda

·      The name ‘Amalekite’ means ‘to toil’ – God wanted that wiped out

o   Saul rationalizes – rationed lies

o   Saul treated God like a pagan deity

·      God most often uses the least likely

o   God is looking for a heart that is full (II Chronicles 16:9)

o   David was a worshiper before He was a warrior or a king

o   A huge difference between Saul and David was their preparation time

§  Preparation time is vital to lasting success

·      If you aren’t Saul, then Saul’s armor/style will never work for you

o   You have authority in your authenticity out of your identity

o   You will be successful with the weapons you have proven, not in the weapons you haven’t proven

o   David brought what He had, but He claimed victory in the name of the Lord

·      Favor opens doors, and favor starts wars

·      At a high level of authority, there is a high level of responsibility

o   A whole nation was at stake – the people of God were on the line

·      God is not setting us up for failure/judgment, He’s setting us up to succeed

o   He is holding back everything that we cannot yet handle so that it won’t destroy us

·      David desired fellowship rather than position

o   He would not allow the enemy to determine the rules of engagement

o   He learned to respond, not react to his enemies

o   He was willing to wait and have God’s promises in God’s timing, not in his own

o   David was able to do this out of the place of complete intimacy He had with God

·      David pours out his heart in the Psalms, placing his petition before the throne, then remembering how faithful God is and proclaiming his deliverance from the Lord

·      Just like the enemies of David, we have a sword on our lips, but out sword is the Sword of the Spirit

o   Declare what God has said – and roll the heads of the enemy

·      Prayer / Worship are not a monologue, they are a 2-way street

·      Persecution arises to steal the Word

·      You cannot deal God a bad hand – when it feels like you’re pushing against a rock, you are building ‘faith muscles’

·      Jonathan is able to see the call on David’s life

o   He called out the gold in David and encouraged him, even though he knew he stood to lose

o   Covenant is not a contract, it is the committing of one’s life to another

o   In a covenant relationship, people don’t compete but complete each other

·      David’s men encouraged him to kill Saul in the cave – they were sincere, but they were sincerely wrong

o   This encounter brought out the best in David, and he passed a major test with God

·      You cannot be lead by those you’re leading

o   You will be tested by those who follow you

o   You cannot be effected by public opinion – this is much easier to say than to do

o   The only reason David’s men became mighty men is because David refused to compromise, which allowed them to come into greatness

·      Because David had sown honor, he reaped it when Abigail comes as an intercessor to prevent David from making a horrible mistake – the result of Abigail’s act of honor is she becomes a wife of the king

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:

·      Started by giving our neighbors prophetic words – a directional word to one, and to the other a spiritual gift they have (see audio file for prophetic words received)

·      I Timothy 1:18

o   By the prophecies you have received, fight the good fight and avoid shipwreck

·      In order for something to be a deception, it has to sound true

o   If something sounds like a blatant lie, it won’t be believed

o   This is why the use of discernment is so important

·      It is vital that we judge prophecy first by source

o   The devil knows Scripture better than you do – he used Scripture to tempt Jesus

o   Even though the word may seem Biblical, it still may not be coming from the right source/spirit

·      Condemnation says you’re no good / rotten, and it makes you feel powerless

o   You know it’s not from God

·      Conviction is like a ‘know’ in your soul

·      When the frequency of confirmation increases, it often indicates we’re approaching the season in which that word is to be fulfilled

o   Circumstances begin to line up and people start to encourage you in that vein

·      Truth is ALWAYS held in tension – get used to asking yourself what tension a truth is held in

o   Sometimes you get a lot of frequency in a certain direction, but it may just be to encourage you in a season that it appears you’re moving in the opposite direction from that word

·      The devil is insane but he isn’t stupid – he is a schemer

o   Sometimes to get you off track, Satan will open another door for you that appears to be a wonderful opportunity – it is a test to see if you can be dissuaded from doing what God wants

§  You’ll have to decide whether you will chase money, success, notoriety, etc., or will you chase your prayers

§  You need the discerning of spirits at all times

o   Keep yourself sober in spirit regarding the direction of your life – realize that just because a door opens up for you doesn’t mean that God wants you to take it

o   Don’t let go of one word that God has given you to pursue another – it is the nature of God to typically reward you with more responsibility in the same area, not in another area (at least not without specific permission from God)

·      David invented instruments because he heard sounds in his head that there was nothing yet on earth that could make the sound he was hearing

·      “He who chases two rabbits catches none” –John Maxwell

·      Don’t try and do all the things you think you’re called to all at one, try to line them up and do them in succession

·      There are certain things you shouldn’t do out of raw obedience

o   We should marry out of passion, not out of simple obedience

o   If God wants you to marry someone, ask Him to give you a passion for them

·      Often we will receive two different words for two different season, so we need to ask God which one to embrace first because we typically won’t be able to embrace them both at once

·      One thing that all twelve disciples had in common when Jesus called them was that they were working – He didn’t even look in the unemployment line

o   If you’re doing work for God, you’re doing it to Him

o   We should live with a green light in our relationship with God, so that unless we see red we are free to move forward – it’s easier to steer a car once you get it moving

·      Take time to assess your strengths and weaknesses (spiritual, physical, mental, personality, etc.)– you have to know yourself

o   Are you weaknesses actually your weaknesses, or are they symptoms of your weaknesses?

·      Life and death are in the power of your words, whether they’re prophetic or not

·      You have authority in God to make things happen that God never asked you to do

o   Sometimes what you learn in sales/marketing school is rooted in manipulation, and all manipulation is rooted in witchcraft

o   What makes the difference is having a right heart

o   Isn’t it awesome that you can have a relationship with God where you’re not just doing what you’re told, but you’re doing more than you’re told

·      God is always good but good isn’t always God

o   There is a difference between good and God

·      Don’t try to be profound, you will just screw up your anointing – just be real with people

o   If you don’t know, you are under obligation to say ‘I don’t know’

o   God can trust us more when He knows we’ll be honest

o   By trying to be the ‘answer man’ you can give an answer you aren’t sure is Holy Spirit and really mess things up

§  The Lord tests us sometimes – just give what you have and no more than that

§  It’s amazing how often God can use something simple that sounds silly, but is actually the most profound thing you could say to that person

Thursday, March 21^st

Speaker – Mark Brookes:

·      You find out what God is doing, and you throw yourself into it

·      It’s what you do in the seasons of life that determines your next season

o   We’re always being set up by God for what’s next

·      You don’t want to be doing one thing in a season where God is doing another

·      When we embrace what God is doing, that is what brings the fruit to bear in that season

·      Whatever you value you’re going to manifest in your life

o   Whatever you treasure in your heart, that is the thing you’re going to become

·      Moses represented the Law, and there was no place for the Law in the Promised Land, because the Promised Land was a land of grace – everywhere their feet tread, that had God already given them

·      Joshua was a type of Christ – lead God’s people into the Promised Land, into the promises of God

·      You don’t need all the answers – if you’ll give Him your heart, He’ll give you the answers

Monday, March 25^th

Speaker – Bernie Ooley:

·      William Carey – Spearheading missionary to India

o   No one really has the anointing and authority to reach the people of a certain country than the people who are indigenous to that country

o   Within each nation, there are the resources to propagate the Gospel within that nation

·      The world is trying to bring unity by intellectual agreement, but God is moving by His Spirit – His Spirit is a Spirit of unity

·      It’s so interesting how when you see God moving, you see it paralleled in the world

·      If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we will have fellowship with each other

o   When we all move towards the throne, we come together automatically – like an orchestra that follows the conductor

·      God speaks as much by the way He moves as by what He says through the move itself

·      The post-millennialist philosophy is ‘we’ve got to get this world in shape, then Jesus will show up’

·      If you can see how God moves it’s a sign of spiritual maturity

·      It’s easier to learn history than it’s lessons, but if we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it

·      Always go on missions with honor and humility, seeing them as the key to their nation and running with them

o   Bethel isn’t here to save your city, God is here to save your city with you, and we’re here to encourage you in that

o   Leave them super-equipped to lead their nation

Speaker – Chris Overstreet:  Total Transformation – Spirit, Soul & Body

·      We all have room to grow – transformation is a process that never stops

·      God wants you to be everything that you are called to be

·      Total transformation does not exist apart from God

o   When we become born-again, God awakens our heart and begins our life-long process of transformation

·      John 3:6

o   “That which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit”

·      Who you really are is a spirit

·      Take time to give God thanks every single day you’re alive

o   When you are thankful for the things that you have in the spirit, it cultivates your heart and prepares you to receive

o   Unthankfulness breeds stagnation – once you stop being thankful for what you’ve been given, you immediately stop progressing and begin regressing

·      The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Gospel

o   Your life has been transformed not just for the sake of your own life, but to impact the life of all those around you

·      Have you ever thought about what you think about??

o   If you change the way that you think, your actions will begin to change

o   So often, we want our actions to change without our mind changing

·      ‘The Fact Cycle Syndrome’ = frustrated, angry and tired

o   You get frustrated, then you get angry at yourself and at others around you, and all that makes you so tired that you can’t do anything

·      Every time you give yourself a hard time, you’re simultaneously giving God a hard time

·      Our attitude is a reflection of our thoughts

·      Ministry isn’t perfect because there are people in ministry and people aren’t perfect

·      Complainers snowball quickly

·      Isaiah 26:3

·      God has given us a mind for a reason

o   Sometimes we focus on the spirit so much that we forget about our mind

o   Our mind is not our God, it’s a tool

·      You can use your body in any way you want, but doing so will only get you to heaven more quickly

·      It can be easy to point the finger at other people I rather than accept any personal responsibility

·      MY PAST DOES NOT DETERMINE MY FUTURE

·      Often times, when we don’t value ourselves, we make poor choices

o   When we don’t know that we’re loved by God, we hang out with all of our personal dis-empowering beliefs

·      God’s love re-wires our mind and helps us make healthy choices

·      Everything we do unto the Lord qualifies as worship, even taking care of our bodies

o   Every choice we make can be a form of worship

·      “What is my desired healthy future?”

o   “What’s at stake if I don’t pursue this?”

o   How is this going to pursue me, everyone I know, and all of eternity if I don’t pursue that which I was called to do

·      Titus 2:11

o   The grace of God is really there to teach and empower me in every area of my life

o   The grace of God wants to empower you to pursue and fulfill your desired future

·      God wants to speak to us in the night seasons and encounter us in our sleep

o   For some, you need a body transformation – for others, it’s a mind transformation

“You are about to step across the threshold into the miraculous” –Charlie

Tuesday, March 26^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      (See audio file)

Speaker – Bill Johnson:

·      There are hundreds of people who don’t yet know Jesus who will know Him when I see you next

·      Every healing miracle of God has ripples of affects that impact everyone involved in that person’s life

·      On the last day, there will be people who know the Lord because of you

·      Jesus increased in favor with God and with man

o   It makes sense that Jesus would need to increase in favor with men,

o   If He needed to increase in favor with God, then all the more we need to increase in favor with God

·      Many people in life never accomplish their dreams because they didn’t realize they needed favor to accomplish the dream

o   If you have a dream that doesn’t require favor for it to be fulfilled, then you don’t have a very big dream

o   Favor doesn’t mean ‘applause’ or ‘popular’ – sometimes favor looks like rejection from those closest to you

o   Favor just means that you have God’s intention in an unusual way, but you can only conceal it for so long – eventually it will effect your appearance and how you walk

·      Favor is a wonderful thing, and everyone should be looking to increase in favor, but favor is very costly

o   Favor is a huge deal because it is what makes your ‘soft voice’ loud and your few words as weighty, when God makes a moment pregnant with Himself, and more comes out of that moment than 1,000 years of labor – but not everyone is happy to see you get it

o   People you thought would support you will question your motives

o   The only way to diffuse your largest critics when you have favor is to walk alone

o   Jesus said – don’t take the head of the table, take a low place and let someone else exalt you when it’s time

·      Your favor is not always equal to your hunger

o   Sometimes favor will cause a supernatural intervention to be the only thing that can win the people you want to win

o   The focus should never be ‘what can I get away with’ but ‘what would be pleasing to Him’

·      There’s a difference between what I have in my bank account and what I have in my possession

o   Learning to withdraw from our Kingdom bank accounts is a life-long journey

o   Example of a car with a powerful engine that can’t transfer the power in the engine (authority) to the wheels (manifestations), all they can do is rev the engine

o   If you make the mistake of thinking that you earned your blessing, then you’ll try to protect it – if you remember that it was an undeserved gift, then you’ll be generous with it

·      We aren’t really good at recognizing our own favor – generally it’s something that’s extended to you by another

·      How do you increase in favor?

o   Most things in the Kingdom increase with proper use

o   Faith, money, and favor – use what you’ve been given well

o   When favor is used to build our own Kingdoms (i.e. ministries) then it becomes very small in it’s impact

o   When favor is used to impact the people, that’s when it has it’s greatest dividends

o   Favor grows when you give it away

o   We are all loved the same, but not all of us have the same favor

o   If God’s favor is on you because of His love for somebody else, then the implication is that it isn’t supposed to end with you but is to be passed on to others

·      Ephesians 4:29

o   Grace is something God gives, but you get to impart it

o   It’s like God has give you a checkbook full of blank checks for you to spend, but you can’t spend it on yourself

o   God watches over the watch of those who watch the Lord – if we’ll watch over what concerns Him then He’ll watch over what concerns us

o   What can appear on the surface to be irresponsible can actually be the pinnacle of responsibility

o   Each of us are a ‘watchman’ over our sphere of influence

o   When you say what’s on God’s heart for someone, He takes the favor that is on you and extends it to them

·      In Bible days they threw seed on hard ground and then plowed it under, while today we plow the ground and then plant the seed

o   Sometimes we try to find plowed ground to plant seed in because we don’t understand how God farms – the plow goes where the seed is, not the other way around

o   The plow comes to honor the seed

·      The hard part about extending favor is when we run into people who may be the last people in town to deserve favor

o   Sometimes the thing that helps the person most is just to bring and disperse the favor of God to other people

·      Let the cry of your heart be – God, show me what you want because it doesn’t matter to me, I just want what you want

o   If for whatever reason He doesn’t give you a clear word in any direction, turn and pursue the thing that is loudest in your heart – which makes you come more alive?

·      Those who want apostolic ministry so badly that they start appointing it in their church is headed toward disaster – God must set up the structure

o   Work to develop the prophetic within the church

o   Every church doesn’t need to have their own apostle and prophet, we just need to be connected

o   Pursue heart-felt connection with those in your life who God has anointed

·      We aren’t to measure / recognize our own favor, we’re to let others recognize that within us

o   What we look for is opportunities to invest whatever favor we have

o   We are able to function within our favor without recognizing what it is

·      Anything God is giving you for you will ultimately be for ministry

o   In our personal pursuit of the Lord should be for our sake, not the sake of ministry

o   We don’t study to teach, we study to learn

o   We don’t pursue anointing for someone else, but so that we may be energized

o   Will you give God your dignity, your right to your dignity?

·      We mustn’t approach our relationship with God as sons or daughters in a manner that suggests that nothing can ever happen to us

o   The scripture that says ‘He will wipe the tears from our eyes’ implies that there will be tears

·      When the fire of God touches my life, those things done for myself will be burned, but those things done on His behalf will be rewarded

·      The NT fear of God doesn’t come from a place of fearing punishment, but in revering the awesome opportunity He has entrusted to us

·      For centuries it has been thought in the church that we owe the world the Gospel message, but we actually owe them a Holy Spirit encounter that draws them to Jesus

·      Fullness is measured in overflow

·      Character isn’t proven by what we own or by what we don’t own

o   You never have to apologize for God’s favor

o   There are certain decisions you can make that others may call extravagant that will enable you to reach a portion of the community that you never had access to before

o   It’s possible to live in excellence without falling into materialism

Wednesday, March 27^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      (See audio file)

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:

·      I Kings 18

·      Sometimes God tells you He’s going to do a miracle, and the next thing that happens is things get worse

·      Sometimes you can hear things that you haven’t seen

·      We shouldn’t expect spiritual warfare, but be prepared for it when it comes

o   We have a spare tire in case we get a flat, not so we’ll get a flat

·      Elijah just turned the entire nation of Israel to God in one meeting, and slayed all the prophets of Baal – then Jezebel threatens him and he runs for his life (irrational?)

o   Elijah runs for his life, then asks God to kill him (irrational?)

o   Elijah petitions the Lord against Israel after the victory had been won on Mt. Carmel

·      Symptoms of a Jezebel Spirit:

o   Irrational Fear

o   You feel alone

o   Your problems look bigger than your God

§  When your challenges become bigger than God, that’s a big problem

o   You have forgotten your victories

§  The climax of all of Elijah’s ministry occur on Mt. Carmel, and immediately he is attacked by the Jezebel spirit

·      Suicide is a spirit that you should not partner with

o   Anytime you try to find peace through death, you have just opened the door to the spirit of death and the Jezebel spirit in your life

·      How to respond to the Jezebel spirit:

o   Not all your thoughts are your own

o   Do not believe all your thoughts

§  When you’re in a season of rest and have a bad thought, it’s not a big deal

§  When you’re in a season of warfare in the valley of the shadow of death and have a bad thought, you have about 3 seconds to figure out how you’re going to respond

o   WHEN YOU’RE UNDER ATTACK IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE, DO NOT ASK YOURSELF WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU – if you do, there is someone who will give you an answer

§  Anything you do to prolong your time in the valley is not healthy

o   Keep the door closed in your mind – dump the message from the enemy (the D-mail) and open a letter from God (a G-mail)

o   If you feel alone you should find a friend (God sent Elijah to Elisha)

§  When you’re in trouble, sometimes the best thing you can do is find someone who needs you and start pouring into them

§  The symptoms of your torment can be expelled by the awakening of your destiny

o   You can’t talk yourself out of irrational fear because you didn’t talk yourself into it – you can’t talk yourself out of something that doesn’t make sense, but you can talk yourself into believing the irrational fear

§  Don’t impregnate yourself and/or others with the irrational fear you’re experiencing

§  Irrational fear always contains a tiny piece of factual information – a ‘fact’ from the devil is not true

§  Sometimes it doesn’t come as a thought, it comes as a feeling

o   Sometimes we have to go back to where we lost our peace

§  If you learn to live in peace, then when you lose your peace you can go back to where you lost your peace

o   Instead of letting bad thoughts go and run free, you must take them captive

o   We remember our victories!

§  Write down a list of miracles that you’ve seen (testimonies) and at least 3 prophecies, then have them with you all the time – that way if you experience the symptoms of the Jezebel spirit, you can counter it

Thursday, March 28^th

Speaker – Mark Brookes:

·      If you want to follow what God is doing, your eyes really need to be open to what God is up to

o   Always ask two questions – ‘God, what are you doing? What do you want me to do?’

·      You need to know this in your heart – God is moving at an amazing rate around the world

o   God really is doing amazing things, and we really need to have our eyes open to that

·      God is just looking for ordinary people to do extraordinary things

·      Luke 9:1 – Jesus called His disciples together and gave them power and authority over ALL demons to heal all diseases and to preach the Kingdom where ever they went

·      Take the time to research through Scripture to find all the places He’s given you power and authority to do what He’s called you to do

·      God is sending you on a mission to change people’s lives, and He’s sending you as though it is He Himself who is going

·      I have ALL authority over ALL darkness

·      The dunamis of God is His power – like a wave that is already rolling, you must perceive and partner with His wave so you move with the flow of His power

·      You must KNOW that God has anointed you – the Spirit of the Lord is upon YOU!

·      The enemy wants to put doubt and fear in you, and he wants to get you to give away your power and authority

o   Nobody can take aware your power and authority, you have to give it away

·      Power and authority works best by putting LOVE on

o   Everyday is a good day to demonstrate love to it’s fullest capacity

o   Love is what will enable you to stand in your power and authority throughout your mission

o   No matter where we are, our message is a message of love

·      If you want to set someone free, there are two ways – (1) a truth encounter, or (2) a power encounter

o   John 8:32 – ‘you will know the truth and the truth will make you free’

o   The #1 & #2 most common sins that open the door to the enemy are unforgiveness and self-condemnation / self-hatred – the next most common are fear and involvement in the occult

o   The power encounter is what you will encounter the most on missions trips – like Ezekiel’s river

·      What you’re carrying can be imparted – through your words, through your touch, through the atmosphere that surrounds you everywhere you go

·      My victory is in the joy of celebration – not in attacking principalities and powers

o   But if darkness comes into my path, I have all authority and power because Jesus said I did

o   The anointing and authority to deal with the higher ranks of darkness comes by earning your stripes in the field

·      Titles mean absolutely nothing – whatever calling you’ve been given is what you’re accountable for

·      The two best things you can say on a mission trip are ‘What can I do for you?’ and ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’ – be a great servant, try to out-serve yourself and leave that place much better than you found it

·      Where you are going, you’re going to exchange life – they have things to give you and teach you as much as you have things to give and teach them

·      If you take Jesus out of you, then you don’t have a lot – so if He doesn’t choose to act on your behalf, the suddenly you aren’t as much of a superhero as you thought

·      Every place has an atmosphere

o   Those atmosphere have a direct impact on what / how people think

o   What people think comes out their mouth

o   No bad attitudes – no grumbling and complaining

·      Pay attention to what happens inside you on this trip, and keep it with you from then on

o   You will not be the same after your mission trip

Speaker – Richard (Englishman who works with Paul Manwaring / Global Legacy:

·      Evangelism is all about introducing our earthly friends to our friend Jesus

o   It is ridiculous to think that two people who have never met each other should make a life-long commitment after they’ve just met one another – so why do we believe that the measuring stick for success in evangelism is when someone commits their lives to Jesus

·      Evangelism is worship – it is loving God by loving people toward God

·      Everyone is on a continuum in their relationship with God, and our job is to love them closer to God on that continuum

·      There are two kinds of people in the world – the once born and the twice born

·      If we have an agenda – and we do – but we can’t be really successful on our own apart from partnering with the Holy Spirit

·      Our job is to love them one step closer to God, not close the deal – Holy Spirit is the closer

·      Evangelism is about partnership with Holy Spirit to love people towards God

o   If you don’t believe in the sovereignty of God, you’ll feel that the responsibility is all on your shoulders

·      God doesn’t measure our success by our standards, He measures our success by our willingness to be obedient and by our willingness to love people toward God

·      There’s something that just simply happens when you share Jesus – Holy Spirit embodies the words and pierces their hearts

·      ‘The Gospel in a Nutshell’:

o   Ask – do you know what it means to be born again?

o   In about five seconds you’re going to know exactly where they are spiritually

o   Ask – can I take two minutes to tell you what it means to be born again?

§  “The Gospel is the Bread of Life, but you don’t want to throw a whole loaf at someone” –Reinhard Bonnke

1)   God formed us

2)   Sin deformed us

3)   Christ transformed us

4)   Repent and Believe

·      Ask – is there anything stopping you from becoming born again right now?

Tuesday, April 16^th

Speaker – Joaquin Evans:

·      (See audio file)

Wednesday, April 17^th

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:  Prophetic Culture

·      I Samuel 9:18 – story of Saul’s first encounter with Samuel

o   Is it possible that you’re the one that ALL of the kingdom is waiting on?

o   Notice that the Philistine stronghold is on the hill of God

§  Sometimes the place God is sending you has an enemy stronghold

o   What Samuel thinks is a confirming word for Saul, Saul thinks is a word of revelation to him

o   God doesn’t care what you’re not

o   We are catalysts to move cultures from prophetic ministry to prophetic cultures

o   God often calls us to a future that we can’t do without an encounter with Him that will change us into the person we need to be to fulfill the prophetic words He’s spoken into our lives

§  God just doesn’t want to give you gifts/calls/anointings, He wants to transform us into who we need to be to fulfill those things

·      I Kings 17 – story of Elijah and his call for a famine

o   Sometimes the logos word of God becomes the rhama word of God

o   Sometimes in our lives, God tells us to go drink from a brook, that He’s going to take care of us, but the word that we’ve given dries up the brook

§  Sometimes your ministry costs you

§  Sometimes God provides for you one way in one season, and another way in a different season

o   Sometimes the Lord takes you from the creek that He’s using to take care of you and sends you to someone else to take care of you – but they don’t have any food (they don’t have any food because of YOUR word)

o   Sometimes we’re complaining when we should be prophesying

§  As we serve them, they will be empowered by God to meet your needs

·      II Kings 4 – story of Elisha receiving a double-portion of Elijah’s anointing

o   A great example of the cost of ministry

§  There’s always a private victory before there’s a public ministry

§  It isn’t time to complain about the private test, it’s time to pass the private test

o   The prophets weren’t immediately convinced to follow Elisha, so they went searching for Elijah to make sure He was gone

§  Sometimes we don’t like revival to look differently, and we end up chasing a monument instead of a movement

§  Sometimes we find it hard to accept that God may be doing something different

§  We like the movement that God is doing to look the same as the movement we grew up in

o   Sometimes Jesus is with us in a different form, but we don’t discern that it’s Jesus because it looks different than it used to

§  Instead of complaining about the circumstances, prophecy the results and give God an opportunity to manifest

§  Don’t wait for someone to feed you, learn to feed yourself

§  If there wasn’t any anointing before you got there, then there is when you showed up because you’re anointed

o   You don’t have anything to say to someone who doesn’t have a need, because you can’t help anyone who doesn’t want help

o   Some people are afraid to create hope in people, but if you don’t create hope in people, nothing will happen

§  So often, people desperately want hope, but they are afraid of getting their hopes up only to have them dashed

§  When people have gone for so long without hope, they will commonly fight against it

§  As soon as you start sharing testimonies, they will tell you a bunch of things they believed that didn’t happen to them, and if you aren’t careful you will end up cynical just like them

o   The prophetic movement is to reside within and take place in a family

§  Prophets can get weird when they get disconnected from a family

§  It can be easy to do ministry and remain disconnected emotionally from the people and their issues – sometimes, their problem IS our problem and God’s calling us to jump in the trenches with them, fight their fight and feel their pain

§  When you’re in a family it isn’t just about ministry, it’s about relationship

§  Remember – when someone is in pain, they say things they don’t mean

o   We should seek to create a prophetic community, not just a prophetic ministry

o   There are seasons to prosper, and there are seasons to lack

·      II Kings 8 – a famine’s in the land, Elisha tells the Shumanite woman to leave for 7 years

o   We’re going home to become part of a family, not to go home and be separate and have all the answers

o   We aren’t going home to complain that there is no oil and bread, but to bring oil and bread

o   We’re going home to get involved

§  Remember that ‘boring’ is part of being in a family

§  We need to build community, because the power of God rests in community

§  If you want to speak to kings and raise the dead, join a family

§  If you want to do miracles and get revelation, go to a place that needs them

o   Be careful about being a minister instead of a family member

o   You can be sent out, but don’t just go – be connected

o   If you don’t feel the pain of the family, then you aren’t part of the family

§  When they mourn, you mourn too, not because you have to but because you care

o   As long as ‘they’ have a problem, then ‘they’ aren’t you

o   God really meets us in the midst of people’s challenges

§  When we take ownership of the problem with them, it opens doors for God to get involved

Monday, April 22^nd

Speaker – Mario Murillo:  Getting REAL about Reaching America

·      Your greatest thrill should be to just walk with Jesus

·      Love is absolutely the most important thing there is

·      America was not formed on the backs of human ability, but divine providence

·      When everyone wants to laugh, it is not popular to be someone weeping

·      We need to have an actual affect on our nation, not a symbolic one

o   We can be blessed, filled, taught, ignited and STILL lose this nation

·      In the midst of everything we’re facing, God can move in and do astonishing things to change this nation

·      God has not even begun to fight for America

·      Secular education is not information any longer, it has become propaganda

·      Acts 4:18-30 – the ‘right’ kind of civil disobedience

·      We must never see a threat in any other way except through the lens of God

o   Looking at a threat through human eyes will lead us to become political, but until we see a threat as God sees it, we are not prepared to deal with it

·      We have been seduced into a lesser sense of purpose, a lesser degree of significance

·      No one is behind this except Satan, and we have been commissioned to destroy his works

·      We’re here to be the REAL in a world filled with falsehood

·      The entire system of man is completely broken, and the answer will not come through a politician

·      Peter was not praying for a church-wide revolution but for a tactical revelation

o   What we can’t do is to be content to fill buildings with Christians but to fill the culture with revival transformation

·      The prophetic is when the secrets of the heart are made manifest and they fall on their face and glorify the God of all truth

·      Peter wasn’t praying for just any kind of boldness, but for a specific kind of boldness

o   Peter said ‘take me to boldness by the vehicle of signs, wonders & miracles’

·      We cannot wait for the world to understand why we believe sin is sin, because when this is REAL then there’s no law against it, no community can oppose it, and not law enforcement can stop it

·      Salvation isn’t for us, it’s for THEM

·      Let us have no doubt that God is going to give us what we need when we need it

Speaker – Mark Brooks:

·      (See audio file)

Tuesday, April 23^rd

Speaker – Leslie Crandall:

·      It’s amazing what happens when you begin to challenge the status quo and really investigate what you believe (i.e. develop an authentic faith)

·      If the world could have been won to Jesus by human effort alone, it would have happened ages ago

·      We must value the persecuted church

o   In China, they must worship quietly when they long to raise their voices while here in the US, we worship quietly when we have the freedom to lift our voices

·      God knows what the church needs at the right time

·      We’re living in a time when people value relationship more than progress

·      What price am I willing to pay to be used by God to make church history?

·      Instead of running around saying ‘I don’t have a father’, try saying ‘I am a son’

Speaker – Bill Johnson:  Kingdom Thinking

·      It’s always fun watching people come to conclusions without any information

·      The spiritual laws are the greatest, but if you violate the natural laws the enemy will take you out

·      If we have a limited number of days on this earth and a limited amount of strength but have access to the limitless resources of heaven – why do we spend what is limited to conserve what is limitless?

o   The enemy typically focuses on points of weakness

·      Jesus thinks differently than we do – it’s important to think Kingdom

o   It’s the person who loves not the world that He can trust the world to

·      Several things demand some level of expression out of every individual:

o   Morality

§  Supporting abortion while saving baby whales

o   Loyalty

o   Excellence

§  Perfectionism is religion, excellence is Kingdom

·      Don’t go into business looking for discounts because we have access to unlimited Kingdom resources and desire the honor of paying full price

o   Intentionally do business with unbelievers

·      It’s a really big deal to expose wrong thinking, primarily in ourselves, but also in others and in society

o   In ministry it is really common to think wrongly and be applauded for it

·      Excellence requires an expression – that’s where the culture of honor comes from

o   That’s how royalty treats royalty

·      It is important to be deliberate and think intentionally

o   It’s better to have 2,000 sq. ft. home of quality than a 4,000 sq. ft. home of mediocrity

·      It’s not about deserving, because if we drove what we deserved we would walk everywhere

o   It’s better to have something nice that you know you don’t deserve than to have something lesser because you think you deserve it

·      Once you come to a place where it’s about what you deserve will move you into a realm where you will live continually offended

·      Staying hungry is the major problem of abundance

o   Those who were hungry for a meal yesterday are today’s food critics

·      The Lord really likes to bless people

o   Jesus didn’t have a lot, but what He had was excellent

o   Everything He did was very specific and deliberate, nothing casual or careless

·      Excellence is screaming from within you, it wants to be manifest – it’s the language of the Kingdom

·      This is going to be a generation called wisdom, and the Lord is in the process of releasing it

o   It’s time for the world to go breathless and for those who’ve been doing all the talking to have nothing to say, simply because of the wisdom pouring out of the church

o   Longevity comes out of wisdom

·      Choose to intentionally represent the wisdom of the Kingdom in the little things, and it will be seen as a big thing – choose to live with excellence

o   Express the Lord in whatever station He places you in

o   Maturity is never measured by what we have, but most often by what we’ve given away

·      Excellence = royal generosity

o   When you come to know who you are, you’ll have no problem recognizing who anybody else is

·      Choose to live in a way that, whatever you do, to live with excellence

·      We must never expect to be treated a certain way

·      Never walk around with your ‘spiritual billboard’ that you are the person in need, get in your prayer closet and contend for your breakthrough

·      Regardless of our condition in the natural, we live in a Kingdom of limitless resources

·      If we make sure others get what’s theirs, God will make sure we get what’s ours

·      When you live conscious of unlimited resources, things that would otherwise be tempting now no longer have an appeal

·      We are tempted when we are enticed by our own lusts – when we face temptation it shows us that we have harbored wrong thinking/attitudes because whether or not we pass the test, we faced it rather than being free of it

·      Excellence is not buying the most expensive of something, but by focusing on how you want to represent the Father

o   Do the best with whatever God has given you to represent Him

·      “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings” –Prov. 22:29

o   They will be given access to the most elite people on the planet, because the most elite people on the planet have an appetite for excellence

o   The way to touch the decision-makers of this world is through excellence

·      All moves of God start on a grass roots level, not from spiritual hierarchy

·      Culture isn’t shaped from the grass roots level, but from the top down

o   Revivals always end because they don’t last long enough to change the thinking of those who shape the culture

Wednesday, April 24^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      (Get audio file from Eddy)

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:  Worship is an Equal Opportunity Destroyer

·      Matthew 5:21

·      Our first ministry is to God, our second ministry is to the Body of Christ, and our third ministry is to the world

·      Jesus is using the priority of worship to show us how valuable relationships are to God

o   It may not be your fault, but it is your responsibility

·      Do NOT give the devil an opportunity

·      Do not let anger last for more than 24 hours – especially in your marriage

o   Anger turns into bitterness, and bitterness becomes offense, and offense becomes unforgiveness, and unforgiveness will kill you!

o   Allowing anger to brew in you is a REALLY BAD PLAN

·      The Vallotton ‘Rules of War’ for Marriage:

o   Once you forgive someone, you cannot use a past situation to justify a present offense

§  When you forgive somebody, you give up the right to use it as evidence in the next ‘court case’

§  If you don’t agree with that, then you don’t understand forgiveness, because forgiveness restores the standard which means you forfeit your right to ever bring it up again

§  Jesus didn’t just die to forgive your sins, He also died to give you His righteousness, which gives you full confidence to operate out of who He says you are instead of who your past says you are

o   The Goal of Communication is Understanding, Not Agreement

§  We’re communicating not in an effort to come to an agreement, but so that we will hear and see each other’s hearts

§  To bring resolution by understanding one another, not necessarily by reaching an agreement

o   Never Yell, Call Names, or Think You Know Why They Did What They Did

§  You don’t know another’s motives because you don’t know their heart

§  Unless Jesus shows you your heart, you don’t really know your heart, let alone someone else’s heart

§  Don’t go after their motives – your job is to explain to them how their behavior is affecting them

o   You ARE responsible for somebody that has a problem with you

§  If you know someone has an offense with you, then you need to go make amends with that person

§  It may not be your fault, but it IS your responsibility

·      Smart people don’t need an act of God to know they need to get help – if you’re hurting people repeatedly and you don’t know why and can’t seem to stop, that’s an indication that you need help and should go get some

o   Little thing can have a very deep root

o   If you are obviously upset about someone talking to you about something that you’ve obviously done wrong, that’s a problem

o   If you have to defend something you know is wrong, something deeper is wrong every time

·      If your brother sins, go tell him in PRIVATE

o   Your personality type does not give you permission to disobey Jesus

·      If that doesn’t work, then it isn’t good enough to just leave it – go find someone who has a value for both parties and go talk about it as a group together (perhaps allow the other person to pick the third party) – the third party needs to have permission and authority to speak into BOTH of your lives

o   God doesn’t want you to come to the altar seeking His face when you have a problem with His Body

o   Offense tends to be a virus that seeps into people’s hearts and minds

·      If that doesn’t work, then go involve the church – who serves as their accountability?

o   Bring the person before the one(s) who they are accountable to

o   Remember – the goal isn’t to be right or wrong, but to reconcile the relationship

·      If that doesn’t work, then treat them as a tax collector and a sinner – YOU FORGIVE THEM EVEN THOUGH THEY DON’T DESERVE IT!!!

o   We can forgive people even when they don’t want to be forgiven

o   We can forgive cities even when they don’t deserve it

·      It’s amazing how we can be so unaware of how we impact other people

o   By the nature of my debt, I have a responsibility to forgive anyone of anything

·      The only way to get a miracle is to need one

o   Jesus will baptize you into your forgiveness, but sometimes the “Egyptians” will have to chase you across the Red Sea

o   God loves you too much to leave you in unforgiveness

·      ‘Unforgiveness is like drinking poison & expecting the other person to die’ –Joyce Meyer

·      Being wrong means you get punished (finish notes starting at 3:27pm)

Thursday, April 25^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      Often, the basic Christian worldview is ‘life is suffering with pockets of joy, and even the joy parts aren’t that enjoyable because they’re so brief’

o   Job’s suffering was only months, while his joy and prosperity was years prior and years following

o   We should live lives of joy and hope with only pockets of suffering

o   The only expectation of possible suffering we should experience is when we’re advancing the Kingdom

o   Regardless, we should prepare to endure suffering, but not expect it

·      (finish notes starting at 1:02pm)

Monday, April 29^th

Speaker – Jason Vallotton:

·      If the whole Body isn’t whole, then on some level the whole Body is sick

·      It’s our responsibility to make sure that the environment we’re in is healthy

·      We don’t violate ourselves without getting something out of it

o   Every time we violate ourselves, we’re trying to get a need met that is going unmet

o   You don’t need to get delivered from a spirit, you have an identity problem

o   Can I handle rejection? Do I have what it takes? And do I have a handful of people around me who love me and know me and support me?

·      Fearlessness doesn’t get people free, courage gets people free

o   Fearless usually means you’ve shut off your emotions

·      We don’t treat obesity like pornography, but it’s the same thing – it’s all medication

o   Violating your body is a sin against your body, God’s temple

·      Don’t let one thing define who you are

o   Just because you don’t like how you look, you’re still a beautiful person

·      We’re all wired for justice, so sometimes we punish ourselves in an attempt to get justice for the wrong we’ve done

·      Your ultimate problem is that you’ve lost hope – both in you and in your future

o   When you start to gain momentum, thoughts come in and tell you that you’re never going to make it, and you go back to punishing yourself

·      We should never be concerned that someone is messing up sexually, as long as they’re willing to work on it

·      You don’t actually have to give yourself away in order to get love

o   You ultimately believe that you’re powerless to stop or control yourself

o   You’re keeping this door open because you’re so afraid that if you try to shut the door but can’t, then you’ll feel just that much more powerless

·      That’s what we do as Christians – we lie to ourselves

o   ‘Congratulations, you’re a Christian – you’re probably doing it’

·      Father God, where did I learn that you don’t give me the best?

·      You must overcome the fear of letting somebody worthy of you love you

Tuesday, April 30^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      Sometimes ‘heresy’ is when you take a truth and make it the whole truth

·      Cults control people through fear and intimidation – we don’t actually do a good enough job of controlling people to actually qualify for that

o   We live in an environment of freedom, power and honor

o   We want to point you in the right direction, but also teach you how to think for yourself

Speaker – Bill Johnson:

·      Miracles are not life, they are just an expression of life

·      “Everyone gets to play” –John Wimber

·      Desire to know the ways of Holy Spirit, know how He moves

o   Learn to recognize how He’s moving in an environment & when He’s moving when there aren’t any manifestations

·      Israel knew God’s acts, Moses knew His ways

o   It’s one thing to see a healing, it’s another to see the healer

·      Anyone who becomes focused on manifestations will become bored, because they are all signs that point to something greater

o   No matter how great the manifestations, if you don’t follow them to who they’re pointing to, it will lose it’s appeal

·      The greatest danger to a signs & wonders people is to lose the wonder of the moment in history you’ve been given

·      Knowing who you are isn’t essential as long as you do what He said to do

o   There is much emphasis in the church today on self-discovery (what a boring study!)

o   Why do we need to find out who we are?

o   Find out who He is and you’ll find out who you are

o   If you see Him, it will change you – if you’re around people who see Him too, and they will call greatness out of you

§  Sometimes He won’t give things to us directly, He only gives them to us through someone else, because they’re just too important

o   Don’t let your appetite be focus on who you are, but on who He is

§  Then, if others don’t see who you are, you won’t get annoyed but you’ll remain secure in your wonder of Him

·      How do you stay in awe of God when you’ve seen the same miracle 400 times, or when what you prayed for didn’t happen?

o   Staying tender and child-like is essential

·      Any truth over-emphasized becomes a lie

·      Don’t take yourself so seriously

o   If you’re too focused on the outcome you won’t enjoy the journey

o   It’s your stewardship of the journey that positions you for the outcome

o   If I don’t steward the journey and I’m just positioned for the outcome, I’m not worthy of the outcome

·      We can’t allow ourselves to become callused to the manifestations of God, or we will also become callused of heart and hard of hearing

·      Never trust yourself without tenderness of Spirit

·      It can be so easy to become acclimated to the presence of God that we come to a place where we worship the act rather than the focus of the act

o   We get to a place where we worship worship

o   The tell tale is the ease at which we can become distracted

o   When you start devoting yourself to the experience and not the person, it’s much easy to lower the standard of what it will take to distract you

·      Many times it’s the lifestyle born out of past obedience that insulates us from hearing what He’s saying now

o   My momentum in God prevents me from staying current in what He has for me next

o   Yesterday’s sacrifice is today’s convenience

o   Never lose sight of the One – He never grows old

·      Anybody can see a miracle – learn how to do life together

·      Proverbs 4:23 – diligently guard your heart for out of it flows the forces of life

o   Put in extra effort to make sure the attitude of your heart (what’s going on inside of you) remains clean and healthy

o   If things start to surface that aren’t healthy, get together with God until there’s breakthrough, and if necessary brings brethren in to help

o   Few things kill as quickly as resentment and bitterness

§  Resentment is reasonable to the bitter

§  The three most consistent in-roads that lead people into living with demonic torment – resentment/bitterness, sexual perversion, witchcraft/drugs

·      Our emotions are like a rubber band, but when you have your greatest victory, it stretches your ‘rubber band’ just as much as the problem does

o   Your most vulnerable moments don’t follow your greatest trials, they follow your greatest victories

·      Learn to ‘unstring your bow’ – anything that stays taught all the time loses it’s power

o   We never lower our standards for purity/righteousness or our willingness to serve

o   Everyone needs friends that you can trust enough to ‘unstring your bow’

o   If you don’t do that, it will turn around to bite you

·      Sometimes it is the willingness to acknowledge that you’re God’s servant and to announce it to the people you’re with that is the most powerful thing you can do

o   Elijah could prophecy the beginning of a drought, but He had to ask God to end it

o   The cloud a ‘size of a man’s hand’ was the sign of massive breakthrough – as revivalists, we must be able to see into what we see and understand it’s significance

o   Elijah ran from a rumor that Jezebel wanted to kill him – after He had seen God show up and intervene with miracles – but that is when he found himself at his most vulnerable point

·      We must stay child-like and not get caught up in self-promotion, celebrating anyone’s victory not just yours

·      Build for the long haul – until people change the way they live their lives

o   An environment where dreamers dream not for self-fulfillment, but because they’ve been given the ability to dream, so why waste it?

·      Matthew 13 – parable of the sower

o   He who hears the word but does not experience it in one of their five senses (isn’t brought into practical human experience), that seed is left in the open for the enemy to come along and steal

o   The seed we receive must be pursued until it’s experienced, or we stand to lose it

o   When the power of that word has been stolen from me, I still know enough to agree with it when I hear it preached, but it has never been brought into practical experience so we actually find living in self-deception

·      Thrive in your love for God and in your impact on the world around you

o   Our delight is not in great works, but in pleasing Him and allowing Him to show up in our lives and do the things that only He can do

·      The promises of Scripture have to be for you too, or it’s a lie

o   You eventually come to the point where you aren’t willing to take no for an answer

o   We always remain an offering – fire always falls on sacrifice

§  If I remain the offering, I’ll always attract the fire

·      ORU students asked Oral Roberts why his prayers were answered while theirs were not. He answered, “If God doesn’t answer you, you can use MasterCard. If God doesn’t answer me, I’ll die.” –Oral Roberts

·      The heart of the Father is to love His children into wisdom, but if necessary there is discipline to help keep them on the right path

o   “All of God’s judgments are aimed at things that interfere with love” –Mike Bickell

·      Humility & respect are two of the greatest needs in relationship

·      If you need to be right you’ll have problems, or if you have an issue with being different

·      Don’t marry someone just because you want to be with them, but because you don’t want to be without them

·      You must learn to demonstrate and express the value and respect you have for each other

·      As long as your fires burn independently, you’ll be fine when you come together, as long as those fires don’t compete

Speaker – Mark Brookes:

·      (See audio file)

Wednesday, May 1^st

Speaker – Bernie Ooley:

·      Isaiah is known as the Mount Everest of Hebrew prophecy, because it is so vast

·      This book has been called the Gospel of Isaiah

·      Isaiah is known as the Apostle Paul of the OT

·      Isaiah is the most quoted OT book in the NT

·      200 years beforehand, Isaiah prophesied the rise of a Persian ruler named Cyrus and that he would bring an end to the Israelite exile

·      Nehemiah lead the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem

·      It is essential that we re-dig the wells of revival that God has established

o   God wants to restore sacred places and the destinies of entire cities

·      Israel returned from captivity with a slave mentality

o   Dangers from within do far more damage than threats from without

o   External threats tend to galvanize a people while internal threats tend to divide and separate

·      Are you a doer of the word or simply an echo of it?

·      God loves teams – it’s not just all about us, it’s about ALL of us

·      Nehemiah didn’t have a dramatic divine encounter, he simply had a desire in his heart

o   ‘The call will always call’

o   Cry out to God and the Lord will open the doors

·      Boundaries establish identity

·      Where ever you are, you bring the Kingdom – NOW is the time

o   Every season is great in and of itself, and it’s necessary

o   The fields are ripe for harvest now

o   Our lives become the roads He travels

·      Pray and build up the walls of your destiny

o   Devote yourself to the work you’ve been given and the One who gave it to you

·      It’s key to have a rear guard supporting us while we’re out working – not trying to be renegade revivalists out there flying solo

·      It’s essential to know your assignment – say know to things that distract from your mission

·      You know you’re on the right track when you get persecuted

·      God places us in families – we weren’t meant to do this alone

·      Half the people were building the wall, half the people were standing guard

o   Beautiful picture of the watchman and intercession

·      Stay confident in the face of distraction – ‘I cannot come down for I am doing a great work for God’

·      Our ultimate vision is Him – we aren’t to make an idol out of our vision

·      Nehemiah didn’t pray for an end to the persecution, he prayed for more strength!

o   Same is seen in Act 4:9

o   Seek more boldness, not an end to the persecution – call out to God for more

·      They called out to God and kept working, they called out to God and kept working – they didn’t stop, they kept moving forward!

·      Unity in the realm of the Spirit is a source of power, and there are places in God that we will only go together

Speaker – Gabe Valenzuela:  There is Greatness in You

·      Family and marriage are the best ‘hard’ you ever had

o   Your job in marriage isn’t simply to marry the right person but to BE the right person

o   Men, you have one job to do in marriage – die!

§  If you do that well, your life will really love you

o   Women give you so much more of everything you give them

o   Men – before you do anything, determine where you messed up

·      What did God put inside of you?

o   What excites you??

o   There is something inside all of us that wants to be great

o   You were born for something amazing, but some of us come up with excuses for why we can’t do it, but there’s NO excuse

·      Perspective

o   Your life has a limited scope/view if you have limited perspective

o   Impossibilities become opportunities if you have the right perspective

o   Perspective makes your preparation significant

o   Our job is to bring the Kingdom of God to earth, but it requires the right perspective

§  Requires effort – takes the proper perspective

o   It’s on purpose that God put you where He put you

o   For many of us, failure has become something that we don’t actually use

§  We encourage failure because if you don’t fail you aren’t taking risk

§  If you’re going to fall, at least fall forward

o   What was in a man like Abraham Lincoln where he failed at everything he ever tried in his life, yet felt it was still a good idea to run for president

·      Preparation

o   Preparation makes room for opportunity

o   How do you prepare to defeat giants? Face lions and bears in secret when no one else sees

·      Opportunities

o   You don’t get opportunities without preparation

o   Opportunities create moments for greatness

o   Greatness does not happen by accident

o   The greatness within you cannot be pulled out by others, it requires you making the most of opportunities and stepping out in risk

o   There are kronos (time) moments and kyros (God) moments, or time within time – we’re waiting for something to happen, and God is waiting for the right moment

§  Are you preparing for the opportunities that are coming your way?

o   God opens doors that no man can shut, but it’s up to us to walk through it

§  It isn’t God’s job to push you through the door

§  You must take the moments that are given to you

·      Colossians 3:21

o   All of this is possible to you through Christ in you, your hope of glory

o   At the very least, God put Himself inside you – what can you not do?

Thursday, May 2^nd

Speaker – Mark Brookes:

·      It is essential to have proper relationship with authority

·      We must show the world that we understand what it means to operate under right authority

o   Are you uncomfortable around people of authority?

o   Do you withdraw from authority and decide that Holy Spirit will teach you?

·      If you end up in an ecosystem where you aren’t supposed to be, you’ll become someone you aren’t supposed to be

·      We become a product of what we through ourselves into

·      In God there is always a sunny day

·      The devil is a liar

·      The more I have, the more God can do with it

·      If you’re in a culture that won’t confront you, you run the risk of becoming an Absalom

o   ‘I do whatever I want. No one tells me what to do.

o   They are usually gifted people, but they use their gift to build their own Kingdom, and they don’t even know it most of the time

Speaker – Todd White:

·      No matter where you go or what you do, make sure that you keep your heart tender

o   This thing makes you gravitate toward attention, so we must remind ourselves that it’s all about Him, not about us

·      You have to be so careful that in a culture of honor, you don’t need to receive honor

o   It’s not about honoring others so we can be honored – because if we think that and don’t receive honor, it will get twisted

·      The most important part of your testimony is that God sets you free from you

·      Outreach is an outward flow of an inward reality

o   God sets you free from you – He accepts you so how could anyone reject you

·      This isn’t about loving but becoming love

·      DON’T EVER GROW UP – except into Him and all things

·      I am the ‘yes’ of God

·      We can raise a generation of Christians that are absolutely unoffendable

·      Love can’t be hurt

·      God took away my rights when I came into the Kingdom

·      Today is another day to manifest God and NOT you

·      It doesn’t matter if they want to hear Jesus, can you live it? Because they want to see it

·      We don’t need another reason to be hurt, which can come from needing to receive honor

·      How good are the works that we do intentionally if we can’t respond intentionally to those who come to offend?

·      You aren’t here to create a name for you or your ministry, but to leave a legacy of someone who lived sold-out to Jesus

·      You can still do outreach and be on the fence, or carry offense

·      When people give you attitude – calm a harsh word with a calm one

o   It’s people that challenge the love in you the most that perfect the love in you the most

·      The good news is they don’t have to be in agreement to get wrecked

·      We sow seed and water, God brings the increase

·      We aren’t in communion with God to do ministry, we’re in communion with God to know His heart

·      Don’t say ‘yeah, but’ – just say ‘yes’

·      Model son-ship and you’ll provoke people to just be sons, which will turn them into fathers

·      We want to maintain a clear conscience at all times, at any cost – never violate your conscience

o   Means you’ve haven’t ‘slept’ with the world – God makes you clean and can keep you clean

·      We are sons and a son always looks like his father

·      Satan comes to get you to do something to ‘prove’ who you are

o   Miracles aren’t proof of who you are, they are an extension of God’s goodness

o   You need to ‘be’ in order to ‘do’

·      Living by your feelings and allowing your feelings to get hurt will lead you to twist the Gospel

·      It’s about living in a place of fellowship and communion with Holy Spirit at all times – then you never get drained

·      If I’m asleep He’s on, if I’m awake I’m on with Him

·      When people say mean things about you and you keep your conscience clean, you’re more blessed – it’s an awesome place to be

·      We don’t get hurt by people, we intercede on their behalf and hurt for them

·      It’s not about your life getting better, it’s about you giving your life to something better

·      We don’t have anything to prove – we don’t have to prove anything to anyone

o   It’s about living and being this thing, not proving something

·      It’s not about ‘this little light of mine’, it’s ‘you’re the light of the world’ now go set it off

·      Attitude is never good

·      HAVE FAITH IN SEED – IT PRODUCES

·      Breakthrough will happen more and more when you refuse to have an attitude and you don’t need people to honor you

Tuesday, May 7^th

Speaker – Dann Farrelly:

·      We are a people of the Presence AND the Book

o   It just so happens that the Book is full of God’s Presence and experience as well

·      The greatest revival in human history is presently under way

o   This is the greatest people movement from darkness to light is going on now

·      We, as the Body, are doing the MOST IMPORTANT WORK ON THE PLANET

·      God isn’t on your adventure, you’re on His

o   We are involved in His story, not the other way around

o   We live in His world, He doesn’t live in ours

o   Wrap your life in His story, and that will orient your life for amazing success

·      We should rather be eaten by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah than be fed by anyone else – A Horse & His Boy by C.S. Lewis

·      Instead of asking what we’re going to get out of something, ask what God is going to get out of it

o   We matter, but He matters more

·      We are humble and powerful people

·      Jeremiah 9:23 – let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows ‘Me’

·      SCHOOL IS NEVER OVER

o   We are always seeking, always learning, always on assignment

·      Make sure you are hooked into Jesus and His Kingdom, not hooked into Bethel and it’s culture

o   Bethel and it’s culture are only worth something to the extent that they remain connected to Jesus and His Kingdom

o   Our loyalty is not to a movement, but to the King and His Kingdom

·      The thing about inheritance is that it can be squandered

o   My internal world and my connection with Jesus and His Kingdom must be able to handle the inheritance that He’s given me

o   You received an inheritance, now steward it – double and triple it in size, increase your inheritance in preparation for the next generation

·      Don’t take a vacation from your inheritance, your Christianity or your walk with God

o   God isn’t interested in happy, evil kids – God wants happy, good kids

o   Squandered inheritance looks like forgetting the destiny that God has called us to – to look more and m         ore like Jesus, and to see more and more like Jesus

·      The enemy is out to steal your inheritance – we must guard it diligently or it can be stolen from us (Parable of the Sower – ways your inheritance can be stolen)

·      If you find yourself waiting around to be sent, you may have missed the message

o   You have a place in life where you’re hungry and maybe it’s as simple as taking steps in that direction and allow God to highlight the road for you

o   We want to avoid ‘paralysis by analysis’ where we see our calling as a tight rope and we’re afraid to move for fear of taking a wrong step

·      The will of God is not a tight rope, but a vast meadow we can run and play in

o   Sometimes we hear God correctly and it still doesn’t work out as we thought – there is no such thing as a perfect path

o   We must have a son/daughter mentality, not a slave mentality

o   In the river of God, there are many ‘bests’ – missing one ‘best’ means another one is on the way, and sometimes He holds us to certain ‘bests’ to prepare us for the even better ‘bests’ that He has on the way

·      ALWAYS HAVE A BIAS TOWARDS SERVICE

o   It’s much easier for God to ‘steer a car that is moving’

o   Just go serve, and in the midst of serving you will find your spot

Speaker – Bill Johnson:

·      When you weather a storm, you may think you’re paying a high price, but God takes notes!

o   We simply go through seasons where there are different emphases on your life

·      Do well at accepting responsibility and steward it to the best of your ability, even if it’s not necessarily your gift

·      Focusing on humility causes you to focus on yourself, which leads to self-abasement and self-criticism – just keep your heart focused on the Lord and your heart will be humble

o   Always seek to give honor where it is due, and even honor those to who may not deserve it

·      In revelation, we must learn what’s been learned because that positions us to move into our own calling where we can receive the deeper levels of revelation

·      Learning is important as is the teaching of the word, but what is more important is seeking God’s face

o   Learning is important, but seeking His face is vital

·      When you join your heart to His, your heart beats with His

o   The principles are always true, but the anointing is always best

·      When it comes to offense – honesty before God is the beginning of healing

o   Worship begins with honesty

o   Be genuine with Him, don’t ask for explanation, just ask for healing while continuing in relationship with Him

o   We aren’t on our own, we’re with a Father who knows everything that’s going on

o   We must never go to the point that we accuse Him – be honest with how you feel, but ask Him to heal your heart

Speaker – Jason Vallotton:

·      If the things you get in your prayer closet doesn’t translate into helping people, then it’s for nothing – we’re here to build His Kingdom, not ours

o   Everything that we learn need to be able to be broken down to the point that they can actually do some good and help people

·      We don’t want to be people with great theories, we want to be the light on the hill that everyone wants to come to

·      Don’t be embarrassed to say ‘I don’t know’ – everyone should know their limits and it’s a lesson in humility

·      Most of what people need in this life is not a great counseling session, but a great mentor

o   What we need we have inside of us, we just need someone to pull it out of us and ‘kick our butt’ until we get there

·      The root of anger is feeling a lack of control

o   All of us have a response for ‘powerless’ or ‘hurt’ – one way or the other

o   Rage is a ‘self-protection’ mechanism that is necessary

§  If you take away a child’s ability to rage, you may do them more harm than good

o   When you’ve had rage in your life for so long, it’s easy not to even be aware that it’s there – it’s like a best friend

§  When anger becomes a friend, you actually create a bond with it and it actually has permission to be there

o   Requires becoming self-aware – the best tool is developing self-awareness

o   When I feel powerless or afraid, I’m going to…

§  Stop

§  Think

§  Respond

·      Self-awareness is the #1 tool for internal breakthrough – you absolutely can’t beat it

·      People don’t get free by being fearless, it’s courage that brings freedom – the ability to overcome fear

o   God isn’t saying ‘don’t speak the emotion of fear’, He’s saying ‘don’t let fear control you’

·      Intimacy means you actually know me all the time

o   You need to be able to walk with somebody and be all up in their stuff and deal with it over and over again – very difficult for the ‘performance mindset’

o   You may have grown up in a home of conditional love, but now you operate in that of your own accord

o   You’re okay with letting people see and love your Sunday best, but you can’t allow anyone to see your junk because

o   You must have a plan for pain or you won’t be able to walk this out, because somebody is going to drop you

o   You can’t know if somebody loves you or not if the love is untested, because love isn’t really love until it’s tested

o   Only trusting people enough to allow them to ou end up in a place that is extremely lonely and unloved

·      Introspection is looking for something bad inside you while self-awareness is checking your internal temperature

o   If you don’t know what’s going on inside of you, you’re going to effect the world in a really weird way, and you won’t know why you did the thing you did

o   Introspection is ‘what’s wrong with me?’ – it’s an identity issue

·      They say that you become what you think the most important person in your life thinks of you

o   They also say by the age of 12 you have already decided who it is you think you are

o   We get stuck because we justify things and we lie to ourselves, and we settle

o   What happens when the safest person in your world as a child doesn’t fully love you?

o   The problem is I’m using fear to dictate how and where I let people into my life, and in what ways I’m going to dictate my relationship with them

o   You aren’t asking if this person is a safe person, you make people prove their way over the wall of fear you have in front of your heart, and that takes years

o   You have to work your identity with God is that God really loves you

o   You must use courage through objectivity

§  Use courage to determine if the person is safe

§  Use courage to speak to the thoughts in your mind and tell them to ‘shut up’

§  Don’t use discernment (or suspicion), simply use objectivity

§  If they aren’t a person you should be afraid of, then you’ll have to be courageous and take the risk of letting them into your life

o   Boundaries are to keep your love ‘on’, not turn it off

o   You can’t be so starving for love but not actually take a step to do something courageous about it

·      Shame tells you not to tell anyone and sit down, but it’s also that thing that prevents you from getting free

·      Sometimes in our culture, we’re so ‘microwave-minded’ that if it isn’t resolved in 5 minutes, we decide it wasn’t effective

·      63% of all arguments in marriage or unsolvable, because their over personality traits

·      63% of all marriages end in divorce – marriage is the best thing ever AND IT’S FREAKIN’ HARD!

·      If you think you’re going to just waltz into a marriage and think you’ll be alright, you’re disillusioned

·      Pay attention single people – you’re working on your marriage right now

o   Married couples that stay happy in marriage value and appreciate the parts of them that are opposite

o   They appreciate and have an extremely value what each partner brings, not requiring the other spouse to look like them

o   They’re less concerned about getting what they want than about making sure the other person feels loved

o   Arguments are win-win or nothing at all

§  Stop arguing about things that aren’t worth arguing about

·      We don’t like to give out heart out and have it smashed over and over again, so we won’t do that unless we’re desperate for love

·      If we’re going to fix an issue, we have to be really honest

·      Don’t make your counseling sessions like a doctor’s office – use humor

·      The first issue is that you don’t love you

o   You’re telling God to His face that He didn’t make something great in you

o   First, you have to love you, and ask God if He is going to meet your needs instead of having to go to the person you have in your God-spot for the love you need

o   You must get to the bare-bones of this thing until it gets real

o   You must learn to believe the best about each other

·      The spouse isn’t there to tell the other spouse anything from God they didn’t already know,

·      Don’t let your wife define what man-hood is for you

·      If you aren’t giving yourself love and affirmation, you’re going to have a really hard time giving it to anyone else in a way that’s really meaningful

·      Use the tool ‘positive sentiment over-ride’ to counter the surfacing of any negative aspects of your spouse

·      Read the book: The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gortman

o   The best book Jason V. has ever read on marriage

Wednesday, May 8^th

Speaker – Kris Vallotton:

·      If you just give people hope and find the gold in them, it won’t be long before they find you

o   “He who gives the most hope has the most influence”

·      Right now, the most important thing when you leave here is that you realize that whatever it is that you do, the Lord is with you

·      When those in authority see that God is with you, they will put you in charge (Joseph)

o   Favor with God will bring favor with man (not the other way around)

o   The favor of the Lord is something to be pursued with our whole heart

·      God couldn’t find one person that He would spare the earth for, but then He saw Noah

o   One man’s favor with God saved all of creation from being destroyed by God

o   The least in the Kingdom of God is greater than the greatest in the OT

·      Simply because you’re present in any place that you go, blessing has to follow you

o   We must be aware that we are the hope of the nations

o   Where ever we go, blessing follows

§  Am I going to have a blessed marriage? Unless you do something to mess it up

o   The natural ecosystem of a believer is one of blessing

o   Where ever your feet tread, that has already been given to you by God

·      Noah was favored not for something he’d done, but for who he was

o   You’re favored not because of what you’ve done, but because of who your Dad is

·      Don’t waste your peace on people who don’t want to be peaceful

o   Don’t have anything to do with contentious people – shake the dust of them off your feet

o   Today is a day to rest in peace

·      We should anticipate that where ever we go, we should anticipate that the people there will be blessed

·      Daniel 7:13

o   The devil can’t stop you, but he’ll try to wear you out

§  The devil can’t stop you, so he’ll try to wear you out by giving you too many opportunities – even opportunities God didn’t want you to take

§  “Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage” –Benjamin Disraeli

·      Isaiah 60 – ‘rise and shine, for you light has come’

o   The abundance of the sea isn’t water, it’s people

·      Isaiah 62

·      We haven’t been called to reflect the times, we’ve been called to shine and release the Kingdom

·      God loves everyone the same, but He favors people differently

o   Don’t start from a place of disapproval and try to work your way towards approval, you start out in a place of approval and as you steward that approval you’ll get more

·      Signs, wonders and miracles are to show the world that we have relationship with God

o   Jesus said even if we don’t believe His words, to believe the works

o   People may come to God because of the miracles, but they’ll stay because of relationship

·      You’ve received an inheritance from the Bethel family, what are you going to do with it?

·      Let humility (strength restrained) be your guide

o   Allow Holy Spirit tell you when to move and when not to, when to speak and when not to, and always let the Lord be the one to promote you