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What an incredible weekend we just had beginning with…
Saturday:
We went to the healing rooms and there were about 20 people healed from 'words of knowledge' given by some of the leaders here. The healings included chronic back pain; migraines damaged knees and many other minor ailments. We were in the room and actually witnessed these miracles taking place. We later heard from one of the leaders that there were something like 200 people that were in the healing rooms on Saturday between 9 AM and 12 noon. He mentioned to us that one of the people healed was somebody who had a withered arm with a small hand at the end (I'm wondering whether this might have been a Thalidomide victim however I'm not sure.) In any case he said that over a period of about 10 min or so the arm literally grew out before everyone's eyes and a woman now has a completely restored arm. There was another testimony from a woman who had been at the healing rooms a week before and had stage III cancer she was prayed for and during the service Bill Johnson testified that he received an email from the lady who said that her doctor had had her tested and she was completely cancer free. This was a great testimony that was shared on Sunday.
Unfortunately, for me, I am still waiting and contending for my healing. I would like to say that I wasn't disappointed at not being healed however, with everything that's going on in this place and the tremendous excitement about what God is doing, with other miraculous events and people coming to know Jesus, then the disappointment does not linger long as the excitement of what God is doing in peoples lives raises you above the disappointment.
Sunday:
This was an incredibly busy day and began with Sunday morning service which had worship for about an hour and Bill Johnson spoke a tremendous message that was essentially about personal integrity and holiness although they weren't the terms that were used. Following this we again went forward for prayer and ministry and we had two people pray for healing and spoke over our lives. Again I did not get my healing however I came away feeling very loved and encouraged by the prophetic words given. At 10:45 AM we went to adult Sunday school being a course called 'Fire Starters'. This course is best described as a fast track process in learning Bethel culture and effectively is a course running over a 12 week period and each week takes you through different elements e.g. prophecy, healing, prayer and intercession etc. It's really hard to describe how impacting this course is. Even though we've only had one session, the course is very hands on and very Holy Spirit dependent. To call it an adult Sunday school is certainly not giving full justice to what it is all about. It is so untraditional and is quite refreshing.
Carole and I then went to lunch at a place called Black Bear Diner and I had a $6.99 steak with two eggs potatoes and toast and Carole had a chicken pie. We were both so full that we could not even consider having dessert. (Now that's saying something!)
After lunch we went back to Bethel for church and spent an hour or so in the Prayer House just relaxing or as they call it. 'soaking in the presence'. This was a relaxing and refreshing time prior to going back into evening church.
Prior to leaving for church we attended the pre-service prayer meeting which as I've previously discussed in earlier blogs is nothing like the prayer meeting that is traditional in most churches. Following this we went into the church service and Eric Johnson spoke an excellent message and again after the service we had opportunity to go forward for prayer and ministry.
After the service they have what they call 'prophetic booths available whereby you can go and people who are gifted in prophecy will seek the Lord and give you a word which is then dictated and transcribed and sent to you via e-mail. Carole and I both received prophetic words and they were incredibly accurate about who we are and our hearts desire for future ministry. We came away feeling like God had spoken richly into our lives and gave us some encouragement on how to move forward.
Monday:
We both have an appointment to have Sozo ministry at 8 AM which is an early start. Sozo is an incredible form of prayer ministry that relies heavily on the counsel of and hearing from the Holy Spirit. You are then led into relationships predominantly with parents and siblings taking you through doors of forgiveness and receiving back from the heavenly Father aceptance and a process of being set free. My explanation doesn't even go close to explaining this form of ministry however suffice to say it was incredibly powerful for Carole and me and we're looking forward to the fruit that it produces in our lives. So that's about where we are at the moment. There is no doubt that we have been incredibly impacted by the culture of this place and are becoming more and more confident that this is where we need to be for this time in our lives.
I thought I might now share something that was quite personal for me and may give you some insight into what God is doing at least in my life.
The following is an extract from 'The Shack'. It has been altered and personalised and I think applies to my life.
Perhaps the underlying flaw in my life is that I don't think God is good. If I knew He was good in every circumstance and in every situation; that everything is covered by His goodness – then while I might not always understand what He's doing I would trust Him. Do I? Some days more than others!!
Unfortunately I cannot produce trust just as I cannot produce humility. It either is or it is not. Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that God truly loves you, you cannot fully trust Him.
What will it take for me to have a heart understanding that He is good; that He truly loves me and that He can be fully trusted??
I had a prophetic word recently that in effect said… 'God wants to prove to you that He can be trusted; so ask of Him the matter that is most in your heart and He will do it'
So I prayed' Lord, I have been seeking a power from on high experience whereby I will be empowered and commissioned for ministry'. I await His answer.
Now that is this blog. You'll note that the title of the travel blog is In Pursuit of God. Are we on this journey?
I hope that some of what I've shared in today's blog As well as previous ones will identify and establish that we certainly are on a wonderful journey of experiencing God's goodness and love. Our desire and our dream is that this will translate itself into impacted lives that will impact others. Please play with us to the end.
Again, thank you for walking this road with us and we hope that you have been given a little tasting of what we are enjoying.
Love Rob and Carole.
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