Photo Albums in Heaven

A Journal entry from several days past:

Lightening streaks the sky--a show of lights for sure. I like to believe that God is showing off. It's quite impressive anyhow. ...I am reminded of a memory from childhood.

I always had a childlike faith in God and always knew that He loved me. In fact, He loved me so much that during thunder storms he was taking pictures of me. Yes. Every time that it would lightening, I would pose because I believed, truly believed, that God was taking a picture and the lightening was the flash from His camera. I was so excited during thunder storms because it was my special time to be with God.

Now, I look back and laugh. But could it not be that that child had a better understanding of God's love for her than most adults? I believe it could be true. As children, there is such an innocence and such a trust...a trust that God loves them through and through.

Then we grow up somewhere in the meantime and pick up a bunch of insecurities, lies, misconstrued ideas of God, and the realization that we are sinful and undeserving of love (which is true, but He loves anyway). Well, as a child--you know that your parents and God will love you no matter what. However, as adults we start to think that love is not unconditional but based on performance (at least many of us do that).

If only we could all receive the grace that God offers through Jesus and accept His love. He is giddy over us, as a friend said this last Sunday at church. He is absolutely in love with us. And I bet you--He does have a photo album of me with pictures of those days when I would pose especially for my God during thunder storms. I bet you that He has a photo album of you too. Next time it lightenings, maybe you could smile just to humor Him (and me). =)

Gran-Granny

"Did you go down 6th Street at all? I suppose it's not like it used to be. I used to be able to buy 6" shrimp at every corner and there were always live bands out playing. I remember once I was marching down Congress Street--you know, the one that runs up to the Capital. Well, our band had made ones at UIL for four years in a row so we got to march with the Texas Band. I was a twirler and my tights came down during that performance. The zipper broke and they fell right down. I was at the age where you can get so embarrassed you could die. I pulled them up and quickly caught up with the band. There was another time that my friend and I were down 6th Street and she got her finger stuck in a beer bottle. We went all around asking people's advise. Everyone told us something different, but mostly they just told us to break the bottle. It was back when everyone was really friendly and it wasn't just a party street. I suppose it's different now."

I listened with a smile as my Granny told me of her experiences in Austin...down the same streets I visited this weekend. Sometimes I wish I would have grown up in an earlier generation. Alas, there would just be something else that I didn't like. Sure, the gas was a lot cheaper and men would pump it for you. Sure, there was more living space and everything seemed much more innocent and fun back then. But, the grass is always greener on the other side. I love hearing her stories, anyhow.

She's always full of stories...even right when I pick up the phone, she answers, "You're just in time for the party!" I am? Well, great! What party? Oh, Mary got in the pool for the first time this year...the weather was warm enough! I'm so glad I called for the occasion! I hope that when I am her age, I will be filled with stories and that I'll be filled with wisdom to pass on to others. She always has a way of teaching-- in almost any situation. Whether she's giving me rules for tubing: now, if you fall out of your tube on a rapid make sure you go down the river with your feet in front of you. Make sure to lift your butt on the rapids. Watch out for rocks or you'll get rock dents. Or rules for the beach: Always drag your feet in the ocean so that you don't step onto something sharp. Don't have your mouth open when you are looking up and feeding seagulls.

She continued to tell me of her planting...in fact she has one crop. Her tomato plant delivered a tomato the size of a marble (in her words). She was so proud! I love that with Granny, everything becomes a game or some unique way of learning--and most certainly, a story to tell! My favorite use of resources was when my sister and I were small enough that we still took baths, but we had no bath toys at Granny's. No problem for Granny. We just walked to the backyard and picked us some genuine "okra boats"....that's right. Okra. Believe it or not, they turned out to be the best bath toys ever! And probably the only bath toys I really remember!

I promise, she can advise you in some way on just about every subject. And if she can't, then she'll make it up and pretend that she knows. But of course, she's a retired teacher and counselor...it's in her nature to advise.

Well, now she's come up with a new name. After years of being Granny...or "Gaaaarrraaannnyyy" as Marilyn and I call her, she will now be Gran-Granny since my sister is pregnant! She will be the best Gran-Granny ever! I only wish they could see her tubing like I got to! Perhaps we'll still sing "Kumbaya" or "King of the Road" around the camp fire!

I wish that Grandparents could always stay young! Really, they're the coolest of us all! If only our culture paid more attention to them. They have so much to offer! I am thankful that I've had great grandparents. One day we'll all be old--so we better learn to appreciate age and to pass that value on to our children. Otherwise, we may not have Granny's to teach us how to hunt for coral on the beach, or how to read Shell Silverstein poetry with enthusiasm or how to make every moment special-- or to teach us how to deal with death and life's greatest pains. Praise God for Grandparents.

I'll leave you with a saying that she learned from her Great-Great Grandmother and has now passed on to me: "Well, God is on the water the same as on the land."

Renewed and Redeemed

"Sometimes God has to redeem you from the things that He saved you through."

Talking with a close friend, she spoke this revelation to me. It's weight hit me like a ton of bricks. The very things that I had wanted to cling to because they were comfortable and familiar, I've had to let the Lord redeem me from. And though He has had to redeem me from them, these same things, He used to draw me to His side. I've asked the Lord so many times why He allowed me to go through certain things or even experience good things He would eventually take away from me...I've never had an answer such as this one.

When we are in a place of desperation and hurt, sometimes the Lord's love is too much for us to receive, so He'll use whatever means He can to keep us alive, all the while pursuing us, drawing us to His side. If we won't receive His love then He uses whatever He can to give us a glimpse of Him, while knowing that eventually He'll take that from us when we are ready to receive His love. Because, ultimately, that thing or experience we held onto was not the final plan. The ultimate plan was for us to be drawn into the Father's arms. You see, He can make beauty from ashes. He can take what seemed to be bad and use it for good. That's because we have a God who is all loving and all good all of the time! That's the nature and character of God.

A soft sigh, a deep breath of revelation...The Kingdom of God is always moving forward. We have to let go and take hold of the new things set before us. This is the journey the Lord has taken me on the last 5 years that I have known Him. There have been times that He has had to pry my fingers from these things, but He always puts His hand in mine to replace what I previously clung to.

There is nothing that is permanent in this life save the love of God. This we must grasp and internalize.

I sit here while raindrops gently blanket the afternoon, and I see that the Lord renews all things in time. This process of renewal is beautiful and alive. Receive it with joy!

He Loves You Because He Is Love (Graham Cooke)

I have to share this because it is so profound and challenging...it's from one of Graham's teachings:

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"This is the Christ that I know. He has immense and eternal compassion. His compassion is always greater than my sin. He is scandalously forgiving. His mercy burns as it destroys shame. He has unbounded patience, unending goodness. His love is so compelling it heals us; it strips away all our pretense and restores us to happiness. His grace is the empowering presence within that enables us to feel good about ourselves. His mercy is his totally favor given gladly to the undeserving heart. he's the kindess person I've ever known. His goodness is so outrageous and shocking, it's actually disreputable to the religious mind. He's the happiest person I know. He has the sunniest disposition of anyone I know.He is enthusiastically fervent with his pursuit for us. He is amazingly humble and gently and he is also a powerful warrior king who loves to fight and laughs at his enemies. He has a fabulous servant spirit--needing no title, status, or position, but simply and joyfully sets an example of heartwarming love. His love is enthrawling and captivates and commands us to be the same.His love is designed to overwhelm all things--especially fear, shame, and low self-esteem. He loves being trusted. He is delighted and astonished when we use our faith. He will never keep a record of our sins or failures. God has mercy that can never be properly understood or articulated; it can only be experienced. The only way we can explain this is if we give mercy ourselves.

Jesus the redeemer gives us value in the eyes of the Father. He sees and speaks to our potential. He both protects us and releases us to fulfill all that he wants us to see and know about ourselves. He has a dream for each one of us, and He wants us to live in the place of dreaming. Ps 126 says that we were like those that dreamed. God has a dream about you. And everything in his heart is to train you and develop you to bring you to a place where you can live out your dream.

The gospel is such good news that it is almost too good to be true. The gospel is such good news that it almost borders on fantasy. the good news is that you are loved outrageously. It doesn't matter what you do or how well you are doing. That's irrelevant. God does not love you based on how well you are doing. He loves you because He is Love.

One of the things that I learned in the last few years is, how do you love when love is not returned? Well the answer is, love doesn't seek the return. Love loves for the sake of loving. If you want to be faithful to love when you are not being loved, then you need to create a value that is greater than your pain. To me that value became, I am what I love, not what loves me. Where did that come from? It came from the heart of God who is outrageous in how he loves us.

God is not obsessed with sin. He has dealt with sin. He is consumed by life. We are in Christ learning how to become Christ-like. God put you into the one place where you will always be acceptable to Him--He put you in Christ. He put you in a place where you can always have your prayers answered--He put you in Christ. He put us into the one place where we could always could have he possibility of a radiant experience of God no matter what was occurring in life--He put us in Christ.

When God looks at us, He's not looking at us in the context of what's wrong. He's dealt with sin once and for all. When there are things that are wrong in our life He doesn't look them as what's wrong. He looks at what's missing in your current experience with God. Why? because we do this b/c we haven't got this. We sin because we haven't got this. We get involved in lust because we haven't got purity. The Father is saying, it's not lust that's his problem, his problem is that he hasn't got purity. We all know we have sin...we need to know what's missing...David said, my sin is ever before me.

You don't become a new person by changing your behavior. You discover the person you already are in Christ and you start to behave accordingly. That's what the holy spirit is here to bring us. This is who you are in Jesus, I'll help you to become that. God looks at you--he doesn't see what's wrong, he sees what's missing. He sees your potential. He sees what's missing in your current experience that he is committed to releasing to you." --Graham Cooke

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I could write out this whole teaching but it's an entire weekend conference...this is just a little snap shot...that was really a blessing to hear and challenging! I hope it blesses you!

My Driving Assignment

I seem to always get myself in some kind of pickle… such as the other day:

I received a phone call from my boss who asked me if I’d like to do a driving job the next day. I inquired of this driving job and was told that I’d drive some people from the George Bush School to the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. I turned down the position and then thought, well, maybe I could do it. It sounds simple enough. They did need someone and I was the last one on their list to call. You see, they go to the cashiers as a last resort if the bus drivers cannot fill the position. Apparently, this was a last minute driving assignment as well. I called back to get more details. It really didn’t sound so bad. I hung up the phone, committed to drive the next day.

I would lie if I said I had no fear or insecurity in doing this. Of course I did! I figured that this would be a little step to walk out the confidence that the Lord has been growing in me over the last year—a chance to walk off the lies and insecurities and to believe in myself a little bit. I suppose I could have picked something else…but then again, I am going to South Korea. This venture would only be a taste of the utter dependence on God that I’ll experience when going to South Korea. With that in mind, I geared up to go. I first had to pass a 15 passenger van safety course online. As if that would make me feel better about driving that boat!

The next day I walked out of the house in a nice, button-up shirt with black pants and heals. I showed up at WCG to pick up the van and everyone there encouraged me.

As I drove out of the garage, I pushed the intercom to be let out and right then someone pealed out. Ron asked in shock, “Was that you?!” “Haha, no.” They all thought it was hilarious that I was driving this enormous van. I will brag in that I only hit one curb all day and it was when I first left the garage…the turn was too much for that van.

I drove up to the George Bush School and went around the security gate. I entered and parked, waiting to pick up my six passengers of whom I still did not know. I only knew that they were friends of Barbara Bush. (yah, I know)

Thankfully there was another driver already there in a much nicer charter bus. I stepped out and we chatted. He eased up a lot of my fears. He was a nice, well built black man who was very professional and in fact, a constable. This was his second job “for fun.” He encouraged me and gave me some advice while letting me in on some driving etiquette as well.

I asked him about the passengers I was picking up and he told me that they originally were going to go with him, but Barbara wanted to go straight home without stopping at the airport, so the charter bus was for Barbara and her dog. The other six got the boot to my 15 passenger van without an EZ tag, and me—who had never chauffeured before in my life, nor driven to the IAH airport on my own. What was I thinking?! I mean, I was only driving some friends of Barbara Bush.

Well, Jill Conner Browne, a best selling author, sat up front with me and we talked a little. She seemed really tired, but was very sweet anyhow. As I want to write a book one day, it was only natural to ask how she got her book published. She was so down-to-earth and simply laughed, “I really don’t know anything about that process at all. I just happened to come across the right people who ended up getting my book published. I used to be a columnist. I was $30,000 in debt, divorced with kids, and about to live in a cardboard box. I met the right people at the right time.” She met her second husband several years ago and now he manages everything for her. She is an interesting lady and I’d be up for reading some of her writing which is in the genre of humor. http://www.sweetpotatoqueens.com/
Tho, the business card she gave me said, “Lick you all over 10 Cents….*Ask about our other specials” I wasn’t sure I’d want to ask…She laughed, “No one ever loses my business card.” I’m curious about what her book entails??? Haha…In our parting she also told me, “Make sure and email me and let me know how South Korea goes,” handing me a tip for driving. I was happy about this because Transportation Services was not going to reimburse me for any tolls that I paid.

However impressive Jill may have been, her story did not compare to Immaculee Ilibagiza’s testimony of surviving the Rwanda Genocide. She scooted forward in the van and started sharing her story with great conviction. She is a woman who has seen too much. She was in hiding for 91 days. Immaculee continued, unfolding the story of how she waited and prayed until God told her she could come out of hiding. She said something about the tribes fighting and she expounded on her first days in America and how things miraculously came together for her. It was hard to catch all of the story by this point because we were now hitting toll booths and then I had to find the right terminal and such. However, I can always read her autobiography, Left to Tell:
http://www.lefttotell.com/
Apparently there is also a documentary…

The other passengers I did not have very many interactions with, but their names are as follows:

Benita Somerfield – who has written education books and is the Executive Director of the Barbara Bush Foundation For Family Literacy
http://www.state.gov/p/io/unesco/members/49088.htm

Kyle Jennings
Tim VanDam
Julie Cooke

These last three I am not sure of which profile is their’s under a google search. I didn’t research a lot though, so I’m sure I could figure it out by what they do for a living.

At one point in the drive, I realized that these people completely trusted me as their driver. Haha, though they might have thought me to be unprofessional (which I most certainly am), driving with my little yellow paper with handwritten directions and digging through my wallet for toll money after waiting in a long line… However, they had no idea that I was terrified, that I had no experience, and that I was winging this entire trip. They probably just thought, “Young, inexperienced, college student trying to make a living.” Pretty accurate if you ask me! One of the men asked me, “How much longer until we get to the airport?” I thought, “Ha! Your guess is as good as mine!” Instead, I answered, “About twenty minutes, depending on traffic.” I figured that adding the part about Houston traffic would keep me safe. I realized that I could do this and in fact had no choice but to…it’s just a job and I’m perfectly equipped to do it. I can drive and speak English. That means I can get to the airport. (good luck in Korea)…haha

Thankfully, I got everyone to the airport alive and in time for their flights…and even without getting lost! That was quite a feat for me! Praise Jesus! I suppose that this was just a little step of faith…a journey of walking out my confidence in Christ and in who He’s made me to be. Only as I looked to Him during the trip did I find the confidence I needed. Maybe for some people this would not be scary at all. I’m here to say, that’s not true for me. I had to rest in the Lord and know that He would get me through this! Haha…and He did!

Later that night I was hanging out at Freebirds with some friends and Mark said with interest, “So I heard you signed yourself up for a drive in a 15 passenger van…what’s that all about?” We all laughed, and everyone wanted to know where they could sign themselves up for the next adventure…I think one might have been enough for me…but who knows, maybe next time I’ll drive Barbara Bush herself…

I will say, the most profound thing that was said that day came from the other driver I had met. After talking about how I was scared to drive these “important” people, he kindly and wisely said, “Everyone’s important. They’re just more well-known.”

That was all I needed to hear, and I was reminded of my identity in Christ and how we are all important, no matter what we do, what we look like, etc. Every soul has eternal significance! That phrase ministered to me and he didn’t even know it! Thankfully I am fully known by God even if I am dirt on the floor to this world. That’s all I really need to know deep in my heart. Grasping this abstract concept of identity in Christ is a lifelong process, but a process that should never be abandoned. I am a diamond in the rough and He is chiseling me out of the rocks and dirt, and refining and polishing me. (thank goodness for that!)

Graham Cooke, Wednesday Afternoon 1

http://gracefellowship.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=2005%20GOIAM%20Conference

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Graham Cooke Wednesday Afternoon 1

These journals all came out of my four months a year in mediation. They’re mostly about the Lord and my relationship with him. They take about two hours to read and a month to study. Each one has exercises to bring you into experiences of what they’re talking about.

When Jesus asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? He got four distorted images. Eh? Various names, prophets and even an unmade one just in case. Then he asked, who do you say that I am? That is the most important question in the world, “who is God for you.” Who God is for you is the single most important thing. Our role in leadership is to help ppl come to understand who God is for you in the context of your life. Ppl need to have an upgraded view of who God is.

Then there’s one on crafted prayer…if I came up to you and said I had a word for you and walked away…what’d your question be? Dude what is it? I want to know… Right now Jesus is standing at the right hand of the Father intercessing for you. What are you going to ask Him now? What’s your question? What’s he praying? Now if you know the holy spirit is praying for you…what is your question? What if you are the three fold part of the three fold part of prayer which means you can always have your prayers answered? Many evangelicals…teach that when something happens you prayer. I believe that is a mistake. You do not enter the presence of God through prayer…you enter through thanksgiving. If you pray without seriously giving thanks then you are more likely to pray out of your fear and trauma and anxiety, panic…God I pray that you’ll do this, and Father do this…o, o, do this… and you can see the Father sitting there going, what is this, multiple choice? What if there is only one prayer to pray? What if we are supposed to pray with the answer and not towards it? Eh? Crafted Prayer.

I love to spend all my time in the presence of God. I’d love to be a hermit. My favorite time is in the wilderness. I believe that God is pleased with you when he takes you into the wilderness. Jesus is the model. His baptism, heaven opens, holy spirit descends in bodily form yahoo, a voice says This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased ...next thing: wilderness. I’ve heard a lot of stuff preached about the wilderness..I do believe that there are a lot of different wilderness experiences but I believe they can all be about delight. You either enter wilderness by design or by default.

Moses entered by default: he murdered a man. After mount carmel the prophet went to the wilderness b/c he was scared of jezebel…God said what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on that mountain, get there. Wilderness is designed to take you to a place with no distraction so you can meet with the Lord and be delighted. In wilderness he provides everything for you and he loves that. He works in two ways: hiddenness and manifestation. He loves to reveal himself get down in your world and say, ta-da here I am. There are times when he comes to you and there are other times when he withdraws from you b/c he wants to pull you into his world. So he works both ways…manifestation is when God comes to you and you feel him physically. In your emotions, head, heart, etc. You feel him and it’s wonderful.

There are times when God pulls away from you and removes himself from your emotions. He works through hiddenness and is not in your emotions and he brings revelation to you. Walking through renewal you can see those ppl of manifestation—they’re the ones making barnyard noises and dancing like an octopus on crack. Then there are those who came out and they had just been prayed for and they were like the rock of Gebraltar. When you come to a renewal meeting you need to come with a journal and pen. For you it’s not receiving stuff in your emotions. It’s about receiving wisdom and revelation. God has things to say to you and you need to soak in revelation. So here’s these two guys on the road of ameaus. They’re miserable. Jesus says, why the long faces? They say to Jesus, are you the only one who hasn’t heard of all the things and Jesus? Jesus being the rascal he is says, what things? The truth is you cannot receive deep truths when God is present b/c he is too much of a distraction. When he is present you have to worship b/c that is what it’s all about. Jesus’ disciples couldn’t understand anything when Jesus was there but when Jesus left then they received great revelation.

Okay that’s enough of the commercials.

I have two aspects of my ministry: One, I want to make God radiant to people. That’s the chief role of a prophet. I have the best job in the world…I get paid for bragging on God. Second, I function as a consultant to help churches through transition. I usually work with a church for 3-5 years, depending on the nature of the transition. Some are from good local churches to resource churches. Funny thing when you develop into a resource church all your resources come under attack. There is a particular pathway to develop a resource church. Then resource churches developing into an apostolic centers. Which is a whole different warfare and paradigm for preparation. I love that whole process b/c it’s not just about prophesying the thing but to help pave the way.

So the process of transition…
I wrote the book of prophesy for the evangelicals who hate prophesy in hopes that one day they’ll like it.

There is a contradiction with prophesy…you can’t there through here…he gives you a prophesy about your future and while you stood there is praise then he trips you up throws you in a dark room and beats the living daylights out of you. How many have had prophetic words and the opposite thing has happened to you. You start to think false prophet eh? There is a contradiction in prophesy and contradiction is the journey from revelation to manifestation. Contradiction is the journey from prophesy spoken to prophesy fulfilled. The process of seeing the prophetic fulfilled is first of all God gives you a word about your future and that is supposed to mean you got one. A little clue there.

Then what happens next, God starts to confront all the stuff in front of you that will prevent that future from materializing. So you don’t go from revelation straight into a manifestion of what God is doing…you go from revelation to confrontation. Instead of going up, you actually go down. Joseph got a word that one day his father and brothers would bow down at him; the next thing he is at the bottom of a pit looking up at them. His life has gone in the opposite direction. God doesn’t reveal the process of how the prophesy will be fulfilled. So there is nothing in the word about how he’ll be sold as a slave, about him being thrown into prison for being a potential rapist, nothing about him actually interpreting dreams to a world leader of his time.

It’s like david, it’s just a normal Thursday looking after the sheep and he’s a little bored. He looks down and sees a commotion going on and then someone comes to get him. Then he gets a quick scrub around his face..just behave yourself. All his brothers are lined up there looking all glum. His dad is making daddy faces, behave or I’ll give you a good talking later; behave yourself because Samuel is here. There’s Samuel, and David is quaking…what have I done wrong? I haven’t done anything that necessitates Samuel coming. The Samuel says, He’s the one. David thinks what have I done now? Samuel says things about him to be King. David thinks, cool, what a great Thursday this is turning out to be. He’s thinking about palaces, mucho dinero, I’ll never have a problem with getting girls again...what a great life.

Nothing in that prophesy about being chased around the world by a megalomaniac, hiding in holes, never sleeping in the same place nights running…forgot to mention that, Sam, huh?! His life went in the opposite direction. God took him into a season of preparation. When God gives you a prophetic word he holds the future in your hands. I know the plans I have for you but unless you allow me to touch this, this and this then this will probably not happen. So he plunges you into a season of confrontation where he lovingly confronts you with everything that will prevent you from realizing that future.



But for God it’s never just about confrontation but also about transformation. Confrontation and transformation go together. So He sends the holy spirit into your life and convict you about your sin and to convince you of who Jesus is for you. The holy spirit will never convict you of sin without convincing you of who Jesus is for you. That is why sin abounds, grace can much abound because in the grace we get convinced of who Jesus is for us. We realize what we need to put off and what to put on. If this is true for individuals then this is also true for the church. When you get prophetic words over your church then ther are seasons of preparation. The bible says ps 106 about joseph that until the word of the Lord came to pass that same word tested him. There is a shaking that goes on in confrontation. Even the things that God has promised you come under challenge at some point. Contradiction is the journey from revelation to manifestation.

There was one guy I prophesied to who got really upset. He said I am so angry with you b/c I have aids and I’ve been given four months to live and I came here needing a word about my condition and all I got was this crap about ministry and stuff. I told him that that meant he was meant to live then. Here you have a word for months and this one for your ministry in the next few years. I think that means you get to live. You choose. You came in here concerned about AIDS and God isn’t so you get to live.

Two years later this guy comes bouncing up to me and asks, do you remember me? I said, no. He said he was the guy with AIDS and he said, I was really annoyed that you didn’t pray for my sickness. I didn’t know why you wouldn’t pray for my sickness. So I thought about the word you gave me and realized that if I took hold of the word then it would be health to my flesh. I could have told him that but he wouldn’t have received it. Some ppl just have to get it for themselves and you have to be quiet and allow the holy spirit to tell them.

Contradiction is a journey. Your life will go in the opposite direction but only for a season. God wants to confront the things in you that don’t work

I love the Lord b/c when the Lord convicts of sin he always has a gift. The holy spirit always has gifts..it’s just in his nature…he comforts…in so many ways. I believe that as leaders we have a gift to give to ppl. Our best gift is that we see ppl the way that God sees them and we speak to that. Eh? I think that one of our gifts should be that we understand the ways of God. That is wisdom…that we know how God thinks and we know how God likes to do things so you automatically align yourself with what he thinks and does stuff. He’s going to do it whether you like it or not. He’s totally consistent in his nature but unpredictable in how he does things. God won’t do things the way you think he should b/c God runs with different logic than we have…it’s called faith.

So this is the template for dealing with ppl. Every time God teaches you something then he tests you on it and each test is designed to establish the experience. You can’t fail any of the tests of God; you just get to take it again and again and again and again and again and again and again. If it was up to me I’d fail you straight up but God insists on being gracious. So he lets you take the test numerous times until you pass. I wish it wasn’t true as well but it flippin well is, so there.

We must enable ppl to be brilliant. That’s our real job. We’re not here to manage the church we’re here to help every single member understand who God is for them, who they are in Christ, how to have a brilliant relationship with the holy spirit, how to understand their destiny and move towards it, and how to be a man/woman with absolute excellence. That’s our job so we need to understand the process by which that is going to happen. PPl need to have a revelation of who they are in Christ and who God is for them.

One of my friends contracted cancer and my question was, What is it that God wants to be for you now that you are sick? Start there before we even start praying for the sickness...we entered into a dialogue. Not a discussion—that’s when a decision needs to be made. A dialogue is there to explore all the possibilities and have no intention of making a decision right then. She came to a place of understanding in her heart that God wanted to be her wholeness and not her healer. Ppl come to a place of complete revelation they are fully persuaded and are convinced… faith rises when you hear the holy spirit…faith was rising and prayer became fun and we weren’t praying like a widow but as a bride…like Esther. We must pray prayers that arise out of a romance b/c we are incredibly loved. He will not deny us anything b/c he loves us. We are praying out of a place of intimacy and favor and romance and love. It’s confidence to call down. We need to start asking the Lord to open windows in heaven. We need to have a third heaven experience. Too much warfare is earth bound and we are stabbing upward. If we are heaven bound then we’ll stab downward. We have to get to that place …then you can do in 2 years what would take 5.

We are coming to a times where there is a “let there be” word…it’ll be spoken again before Jesus comes back. The gap btw prophesy spoken and prophesy fulfilled is becoming narrower and narrower…Why? B/c God is redeeming time. He is looking for therefore is a ppl who are truly prophetic in how they live. They don’t just visit prophesy when all else has failed. They actually live there b/c they are a prophetic generation. They live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.

We need ppl to be released into a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. Every person in your care needs to come under that spirit. It is our pleasure and joy to release that. I need you to see who you are in Jesus and what God wants to be for you now. You need to come under a spirit of wisdom so that you can understand the mind of God and you understand the way God is working right now…then you’ll get a revelation of how to position yourself because of who you are and who you’re supposed to become. When you understand the revelation then you move into confrontation—the next square on the journey.

I enjoy loving confrontation. I don’t enjoy it b/c I like problems b/c I don’t. What I like most about confrontation is declaring who you are supposed to be I the Lord. Declaring the problem and the provision. This is who you are. I like working with the transition. Every problem comes with a provision attached. That is the goodness and grace of God. It’s how he thinks, works and how he is. Love covers a multitude of sin. There’s always love next to sin. There is always grace next to sin. Where sin abounds grace much more abounds. In that love and grace there is a gift that God wants to give that will replace the problem. We have the pleasure and joy of telling people. I’m excited when I see sin in the church b/c the only time you see sin proves that the holy spirit is at work. When you sin the holy spirit will straight to it and duke it out. Better to have sin present than sin hidden. If it’s present it’s b/c the holy spirit has brought it out of the ground. We need to partner with ppl and the holy spirit and do it joyfully. I’m so happy with where you are right now b/c you need to see this about Jesus.

There is only one way to get rid of the pleasures of this world and that is by introducing the pleasure of being outrageously loved by God. Then all other things pale in comparison. We have a great job of enabling ppl to become brilliant in Jesus. We need to love our job. We need to feel romantic about the church as leaders. We need to feel about the bride as Jesus does. We need to love our ppl and love seeing them transformed. Yah there are guys I’d like to gorot in love. But you know I can get over it real quick. Yah there are ppl that are incredible grace growers…they are there to grow grace in your life.

My first years in ministry I was followed around by three guys. They felt they were on a mission from God to save ppl from me. I was the first to start a school of prophesy in England. So they would find out where I was going and visit that city first and warn everyone about me and print leaflets and show up at the events and would chastise me. He’d say that I was demonized. I was crying out to the Lord, dear Lord please kill ‘em and make it slow. He didn’t answer that prayer so I modified it—just mame them. He didn’t answer that either. They would still come and they’d sit right in the front row taking notes looking like the Brother’s Grimm and would produce a newsletter detailing all the stuff and send me a copy. Gosh… They showed up for two years every single event…we used to call them the three stooges.

Then one night I had a dream and I have a lot of dreams and they usually start with me in the throne room with the Lord. I sit on his lap my arm around his shoulder and we’re just chatting. The he said, Grey do you want to see something? Yah! He gave his command and this angel wheels in this block of marble. Then he says, you want to see something else? Yah…He spoke over his shoulder and Jesus comes into view and then he digs his finger into the marble tracing a figure and he gives me a slow wink. The Father says, do you want to see it made? Sure. So three hands with hammer and chisel start chipping away at the marble. The marble says, you know they’d work faster if you encourage them. So I said, okay chaps all power to your elbow. And the Lord said, What was that? I said, well you know… so I started shouting and there is pandemonium in heaven and then I’m on the edge of the throne holding onto the father for balance and pointing and then there’s lots of encouragement and laughter…Then it’s finished and I’m absolutely warn out. The father said, what do you think. I started crying… then the father said, that’s how I see you—that’s what I’m making you into. He asked if I’d like to see the three ppl behind the hands. I said yes. Then out popped the three stooges…and I started screaming! AHHHH! I woke up my wife yelling…I know why the stooges are here!

A few weeks later my secretary tells me that the stooges have booked in and I can’t wait. There they are with their placards…my boys. I bounce up to them and say, “how are you guys? You’re so faithful! You come to every event!” I can hear them, he’s on drugs…just look at him. Now I know why they are here…they are here to assist me to become brilliant. There they are…my three babies…handsome aren’t they? Like the three kings. Your perspective changes your position. And your position alters your petition. Before I asked for God to kill them and now I am so grateful. Now I’m thinking, what are they here to do? So they challenge me on every single thing I say so I need to be ahead of them. So these guys actually push me to become a brilliant teacher. They push me into revelation. They push me in everything. They push me me into a place of grace that was foundational. They are the ppl you’d love to cheerfully give away…but they are here for a reason.

Confrontation…what is it that is going to prevent your church from moving into the next level? What obstacles are there? What opposition is up in front of you now? What is the transformation that God wants to bring? Let’s get excited about things against us b/c standing right next to us is something marvelous. What is that? That is God. He allows in his wisdom what he could easily prevent with his power.

What are you up to Father? I know you. You are always up to stuff…God is brilliant…knows exactly what’s going on…has everything worked out… it’s confidence in the nature of God for you…ask him what he is up to…every problem comes with a provision attached to it. Right around the provision is a promise…Step into the problem holding onto the promise knowing that there is a provision. Every problem you get is an opportunity to prove the word that God gives you. The word is a key to open the experience and provision he wants you to have. This is the stuff we lose b/c we don’t understand the nature of how things work in the heart and mind of God. Transformation…contend with ppl for their transformation. I won’t let you go until you’re brilliant and if you’re not going to become brilliant in this life then I’ll kill you and make you brilliant in the next one.

You must see what God has for you…I need you to see this transformation that is available…otherwise you won’t ever get past the stuff. You’ll always be dealing with the stuff. Let’s get past this stuff so you can take what God has for you. I’m the same with churches too…I can stand up and say things like, guys I’m disappointed b/c last time this was released and nothing has happened. You guys have not moved into it. I make an assessment… there is a jump you can make here in the spirit and you need to make it…

Transition…my first question is in the leadership: do they have it in them to make the jump? All transition comes through battle: Two battles…to get free and to stay free. To take ground and to keep it. We have to fight…we must ask about our leadership if they have it in them. Are their best fights behind them or ahead of them. We must ask this about our leadership. A good fight is one that you don’t lose--you win b/c when you fully walking with God you are condemned to victory. You’d have to be an idiot to lose this fight, eh? Are their best battles ahead or behind? We have to determine, was all their fighting to get us to this place? The how do we honor them and at the same time divest them of their power in leadership if they’re not going to be the best for us in the future. How do you do this with honor. They’re not going to be good enough for the next season. There’s probably going to be a supporting role and they’ll be brilliantly productive but for right now we need a Joshua to take us into this next place. Who is that? Who among us have a hunger for the battle?

This is my 33rd year of ministry and I actually think that this has all been training for the season ahead of me. I think that the best battles are to come. I know the mind of God and I say that with genuine humility b/c that is what wisdom is…knowing the way God thinks and how he does things. Then going into situations and going, this is what the Lord’s doing and this is how we need to align ourselves…I am so excited with the war that is coming…we get to be excited on the battlefield. You have never laughed until you have heard God laugh at his enemies.

How do you walk with a God that when you get on a battlefield you are thinking about strategies and tactics. God is thinking about menus…He’s thinking what kind of sandwiches, cakes, coke, diet coke for strange ppl…what do we have for lunch….dinner….He’s so confident in his own ability. He can reduce your army by 99% because he may not have fun in it’s present form. He changes your army by whether he likes the way you drink water or not. What’s that about? Gideon must have been pulling out his hair. He’s thinking dear God if everyone fights to their best ability then maybe we’d have a chance. God mentions to his angels, o Gideon might have too many ppl down there. This may not be fun. Besides I know these dudes..if by some fluke they get a victory they’ll be impossible to live with giving high fives going we’re bad. So he gives the word: anyone who is scared right now can go home. 22,000 people can’t believe their luck! This is a contemporary story, burning rubber in the parking lot…now 10,000 guys outnumbered 16 to 1. Dear God it used to be 4 to 1.. we have to kill four and then have a coffee…now the sergeants are saying just got to kill 16 and you can have a McDonald’s too. Then God says nah, there’s still too many eh? Send them down to the river and he ends up with 300. The guys are standing in a line thinking, what did I do wrong? I paid my tithe. I worked in the Sunday school, I’ve even worked the PA. What did I do wrong? My mom told me never to leave the Baptists…What am I doing here? Another sergeant comes along and says God want your shield. What do you need my shield for it’s the only thing btw me and certain death. What does God need it for? That’s a big pile of shields. Then this truck pulls of with vases…here’s a vase. Thanks. Then another truck shows up and they start handing out trumpets. Now I got a vase in one hand and trumpet in the other. One guy goes, Gideon, I can’t play the trumpet. If I’m holding a vase and a trumpet, which hand do I hold my sword with? Gideon’s sweating profusely. And God says, Gideon do you want a prophesy? Well yes. So God says well go down to the enemy’s camp and I’ll give you one. Can I not have one here? And so this is like form the planet bizarro eh? This is just the Lord having fun. I do believe that he wrote most of the Monty Python scripts eh? Someone explain to me then, how Gideon…The enemy has at least 160,000 men…acres and acres of canvas…he’s walking around their camp tripping on things thinking, I hate my life. So how did he end up outside the one tent where a guy that just had a bizarre dream? Gideon is thinking I don’t’ know what I am doing; I should never have got into the ministry. The guy screams “ahh ijust had a dream…that this huge brown loaf of bread came crashing down and destroyed our camp!” “That’s the sword of Gideon!” Gideon is going, brown loaf of bread, sword—I don’t get it. The enemy is prophesying their own destruction. Then Gideon neals down and worships God. That’s how bizarre your life is supposed to be…The thing is beloved, we walk with a guy who is hugely confident…I mean look around the room…that’s confidence...have you looked at yourselves? haha, he chose us. What were you thinking? He is so confident in his own ability. It’s such a delight to follow a confident God.

I hope that you are getting the fact that you are supposed to live a life where you are delighted with God and delighted with who you are and who you are becoming. I am so intrigued by the man I am to become and I like the journey that is taking me there.

God doesn’t get disillusioned with us b/c he didn’t have an illusions in the first place. He knew exactly what he was taking on and what you were like. He is not put off by anything. He wants to give you the same heart for the ppl that he has put in your care. It’s about transformation. I confront ppl because I get annoyed with the hindrances they are living with and I can see the transformation that God wants to do and I am so desperate for them to make that connection b/c I want to see the word of God manifested in their live. I want to see the actuality of it. A prophesy spoke five years ago…it’s about time you see it happen. I want to see God manifested in their life…God is absolutely intentional…about everything. He has absolute intension toward you and is focused on it..

Anyway I can feel a caffeine spirit…eh? Haha so let me pray to seal some of these things and then we can go get a cup of coffee..

Guys please, please, I want you to get it. That God absolutely adores you…who he is for you and who you get to be for ppl. There is an excitement here! There are transformations that belong to us in the spirit b/c of what Jesus has done for us. They jolly well belong to me. I am quite intense about it as you can see. I am. If I could slice off the tops of ppl’s heads and crown Jesus into them and then stitch them back together I jolly well would! I am so passionate to see ppl become who they’re supposed to be. I adore the church and want to see her take her rightful place and to be the best thing in the world. We’re not married to God yet so we are the girlfriend of God. So turn to your neighbor and say hello girlfriend…haha…you see all the guys go dude…haha…

Father thank you. You have such joy in us…such joy and you are utterly magnificent. You are astonishing, astounding, amazing, incredible… God we can only ever think and talk about you…everything is possible b/c you are with us and for us. My prayer right now Lord is that we’d all be filled with the possibility of delight. You are so delighted with me…I know I feel it and I know it. In the hardest place of my life in my most broken place you are delighted…my prayer is that we’d be filled with your joy over us that we’d learn to laugh again and practice the art of belly laughing….fighting is wild…it can be funny…Jesus was only acquainted with grief, it wasn’t a lifelong friend. I want us to understand that we are the beloved of God. It is our pleasure to be the voice of God. Holy spirit I love you so much. Please put a conviction in my heart and a persuasion in my mind that I am outrageously loved…

Okay let’s go have a coffee…

Graham Cooke, Tuesday Afternoon 2

http://gracefellowship.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=2005%20GOIAM%20Conference

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Graham Cooke Tuesday Afternoon 2

1 Peter 2:4-10

You also as living stones are being built up

You are a choice stone…

This stone is for those who believe, but is a stumbling block for those who do not believe…

You are chosen to be of royal priesthood. People for God’s possession so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called you out of darkness into His light. You have now received mercy.

The question in change is: How can we sow for tomorrow when we are still reaping today from things we did in the past? There are mindsets; people have mindset.. Romans 8 says that a mindset on the flesh is death. Everyone has mindsets…part of our leadership role is to teach ppl that that mindset won’t get you anywhere. You need to change your mindset.

Sometimes ppl are bothered by something they did in their past. I remind them that God doesn’t care now and that you have to let it go. If you want to be dead to it you’ll be a new creation. If all you’ve thought about it has brought you to this place, well, then have another thought. Think again. What could you think about? Have another thought. Repent. Change the way you think.

We don’t’ realize that when we try to control ppl we are not allowing the holy spirit to work in ppl. We need to think about our attitudes.. what is the Kingdom attitude about homosexuality? What do you do if God brings a pedophile to your church. Who are we for everyone? What is God like? What would you do if God brought a general who used to be in the occult? What do we do about these things?

Who is Jesus for you? What kind of church are you supposed to have? What is the corporate anointing on this house? Every church has a specific anointing…they need to figure it out. IT’s important to get a hold of ppl’s dreams b/c that will help you with what God has for the church.

You are precious in the sight of God. I know that I am loved outrageously. I will go through what I have gone through again b/c what I have inherited far surpasses any pain that I have experienced. The places that God has taken me in the spirit….

Jesus worked with three ppl before He left them…it takes at least three years for a paradigm to change in the Body. We need to look at the future…who will we be in the next year? We need to keep our change continual.

The course change is gradual so that it’s not even that noticeable. There is an art to change. People will move towards it b/c they love it. When God prophesied to you it’s because he is saying, “this is who I see you to be” He’s seeing you in the future and speaking from a place of reality. A reality in the future. You need to go into that future and figure out what kind of person you need to become to fulfill that role. Follow that prophetic destiny. You start becoming that person….you take on the characteristics in the present that God declares for the future.

Abraham has a visitation (gen. 17-18)..from this point you’ll be here…Sarah laughed…God asks, what are you laughing about? God stops and says to the angels, ‘shall I declare to Abraham what I am going to do since I am about to do this?” He starts relating to you in the way you’ll be in the future. When God speaks to your future then he starts to behave towards you as if it is the future. He links the present to the personality He sees in the future.

A lot of our ppl are present-past…they let the past affect the present. Baggage vs. luggage. Your bags have always been packed by someone else. Can you imagine going on vacation and allowing your bags to be packed by your worst enemy? You get to florida and its all winter clothes. That’s what it’s like to live with the past in the present…your bags are always packed by others. You need to pack your bags in anticipation of what’s going to happen and always leave room for things to bring back. That’s the difference btw baggage and luggage. God is not obsessed by sin; he is consumed by life. God doesn’t see sin because of Jesus. He doesn’t see what’s there—he sees what’s missing. Everything is seen through grace. Btw that judgment and the next we are living in a time of grace. We don’t see what’s wrong we see what’s missing.

Lust—it’s not about that sin…what’s missing? Holiness. So prophesy holiness over that person. The last thing you need is to be told that you are in sin…we know that…you are consumed with what you are not. You need to be encouraged to be who God is making you to be. Don’t let yourself be disinherited.

“The Lord wants to drench you in holiness”

“The Lord has a dream about you that requires you to be drenched in holiness.”

We are on this journey and God has given us a whole bunch of ppl. Some are present-past and some are present-future. We need to all be present-future. We draw the line btw the present and the future…

In any group of ppl you have three types of ppl: Enablers, Initiators, and Resisters. Ppl who make things happen, help to make things happen, and those who hinder it. You cannot build your church on resisters…they are like the poor—you’ll always have them.

If you want to talk about dreams, talk about it in small groups and start with ppl that have a dream and make sure you know what it is. Initiators are pioneers and they’ll make things happen. They are go-getters. They’re happy with starting with nothing. Quite often they are frustrated. I like that. I’d rather have 50 frustrated than 500 apathetic. But I’m okay with frustration b/c it means that they care about something. Sometimes I wont’ go to a church b/c there’s not enough frustration. Frustration means that ppl are ready to pay a price. He builds our frustration to a point that we’re willing to do anything…get out of a boat and walk on water. The last thing I want to do is try to be a catalyst in a damp place. Instead you need to pray b/c it’s not time. You have to be ready to make that move…

With a building prophet you get a different ministry than an encouraging prophet. A building prophet prophesies the next level and then helps you build a staircase to get to the next level. The encourager comes, encourages, and then goes.

We don’t want renewal that doesn’t last. We want to take a battle to get the ground and a battle to keep the territory. That’s a different fight. So building prophets establish something—we don’t just talk about it. We are here to pave the way. Here are the steps you need to take next. We need to get a hold of the dreams of our initiators…they are pioneers, they are frustrated, they want to get out there and do something.

God never had a problem naming ppl but he had a problem numbering them. All of David’s mighty men had a name. They had a name and a name for something. Don’t ever number your ppl b/c numbers are irrelevant. God changes names out of something significant happening. You should always name the ppl you can build on. Name the initiators. Who will get out there and make things happen? Who will help to pull these things forward? Who are the ppl you can get behind?

Who are your enablers? They help make things happen. They may not have a lot of initiative, but they’ll get behind stuff when they see it staring. Point of the spear are the initiators and the shaft are the enablers. You need both and they work together.

Who are these ppl? These are the ppl we’ll start with. You can not build on resisters. It’s like building on a sponge. You have to start with ppl that are moved by something. You’ll build on the initiators and enablers. They have a level of ability and desire.

Resisters…are newly faithed and are learning to walk out their freedom and their faith. There should always be legitimate resisters b/c we’re helping to set them free. We need to bless them to a point that they can walk out of the bondage. Illegitimate resisters are the ones who need help to walk out of the pit but won’t give you any authority in their life. They want a place in ministry but there are places in their life that have not been dealt with. You know the ppl who have not gone through the fire. You get a witness in your spirit.

You need to start with a small place. Start to enfranchise the ones that we know are trustworthy. Look at their dreams and establish them. Then start branching out. It grows exponentially. It doesn’t take long to turn a church around. You just need focus. Start with what you got and work from there.

It is important for us to be set free if our ppl are going to be set free. Church leaders need to be able to set ppl free from the money game, the power game, and the prestige game. We have to be released form that. We’ve got to find faith in God for the corporate man he has given us. And there is a kingdom place God wants to open us up to. He doesn’t want to keep us isolated from the kingdom. He wants to build the church for the kingdom. If we leave out the kingdom we don’t fulfill the heart of God. God mentions the kingdom more than the church. The kingdom is more important. We have to have a philosophy that says other churches matter. We need to have a ppl that have an apostolic mindset so that they are looking out to the rest of the city. A network is the means to an end not the end itself. We spend our lives building the kingdom. We need to create an environment to grow up in the kingdom. We have a network of 8000 churches in 44 countries out of a bunch of students years ago. From the Pentecostal all the way to ppl who couldn’t spell prayer.

We wanted to do an evangelistic campus crusade…on the third night the holy spirit fell and we never did that crusade but we were all speaking in tongues that night. Then we got thrown out of every church in the city b/c we were considered to be too radical, but this was England in the ‘70s. if you could spell apostle you were radical. We were feeling uneasy about starting a church. The only place we could get was room for the blind and the deaf. God is funny eh?

So we didn’t know what we wanted. We knew what we didn’t want. So we kept asking God and had endless dialogue for about a year. Then we saw that the New Testament is mostly about relationships. So we started living like it spoke of…encouraging one…loving one another…years later there are 8000 churches. They’re all still together. We’ve not had anyone leave us. We found a way of living with God and living with one another. Our prayer has never been ‘holy spirit come. It’s holy spirit don’t leave us’ It’s not how do we get him here, it’s how do we get the holy spirit to stay.

God lives in our relationships and in the way we live. God often describe himself as Abraham Issac and Jacob. That’s a three generational punch in his heart. Fathers need to become patriarchal , or in the new testament apostolic.

God had them dismantle everything we knew and to sow ourselves into the greater kingdom. So the work of 25 years…We are working with the Lord to sow this into the soil to see something bigger. In our own city we began to see other churches and where they were struggling and we’d help them. We’d lend them our best worship team for six months knowing that some of them might not come back. We’d lend them some of our best leaders, knowing that some of them wouldn’t come back. And God really blessed us outrageously.

We do leader development all the time b/c you have to keep leaders up to pace with the growth. We have to have leaders ready to step up when we grow. You don’t develop leaders after you grow. You do it beforehand so you have leaders ready when you grow.

The Lord would begin to give us names and we’d say, they’re not ready yet…but then this course of leadership exploded with the presence of God. God gave us a quickening spirit…what would normally take 5 years he did in one year. How does God redeem time? He speeds up your development. What could take 5 yrs he does in one.

We sent out our worship team that we had developed for years… and God used these ppl he grew up in three months…and they could lead us into a deep place of worship.
By the end of that time, we had more worshippers than we knew what to do with. God did things we had never expected.

God said, do you know why I’m blessing you? b/c I trust you with the kingdom. It’s one thing to trust the Lord and it’s quite another thing to be trusted by the Lord. He made us into a catalyst; a generous catalyst that could give things away knowing that God would always provide. Our apostolic abilities was not for just our network but for all churches whether they liked it or not. We’ve given hundreds of thousands of dollars away, leadership, etc. We’ve supported two churches salaries. It’s a fascinating thing when you give yourselves away to the kingdom—you get outrageously blessed.

Give away to another ministry. Sow something. Always sow something that you want to grow into. I teach my children this as a principle. I told my son to sow into other drummers that he wanted to grow into. So he found some really good drummers and served them and sowed into their music and he has become quite an outstanding drummer. He’s taught this band about sowing and reaping and they are all pre-christian. Always sow into the area that you want to move into. You can never stop sowing. Never eat your seed. You need to be sowing your seed. You want to reap out there somewhere…the place where you’re moving into. That’s why it’s so important to get ppl to dream outside of themselves.

Don’t’ make the mistake of trying to make change from the pulpit on Sunday morning. If you want transformation then you start with the ppl that are already hungry for it. If you want radical renewal you start with the ppl who are already frustrated. You don’t start with ppl that want things to stay the same.

We need to create momentum to the place that we are going. So we need to start with ppl that are already yearning for something more. When they start to move, trust me the resisters will move.

There was one church I was going to and the Lord wouldn’t tell me anything about this church. 30 minutes from the church the Lord showed him a picture of a church and said, “son we’re going to punch a hole in it and let it sink below the water line and let all the rats leave and then patch it up again.” This was a church of 700ppl. Over the next few wks we lost about 540 ppl. You can only lose the ppl who are not with you anyway. The truth is they don’t belong with you. They belong somewhere else.

So we punched a hole and patched it and several months later they were back up to 1100 ppl. The problem is the catalysts were outweighed by the resisters. We had a leadership that wanted everyone to be in unity. But in those circumstances it just isn’t possible. We had a bunch of ppl dedicated to making sure this ship didn’t go anywhere. But now it’s moving and going some place and we have ppl on board that want to go to the next level and beyond.

Every person has a box which is a vision of what the church is to you. What are the threats against you? What are the things that keep you from seeing how God sees the chruhc? What is your box? Start thinking out of the box. The only time God put himself in a box, he said, “you touch this box and I’ll kill you.”

Go some place beyond the box. Create momentum. When you have the enablers and initiaters turned around then you move out to others. They’ll grow up.

Occupy yourselves with the things that matter and you’ll see change in three years. Three years is the minimum time—it’s a quickening spirit. If we give ourselves to this change then God will attract a quickening spirit. There is a divine acceleration in the world right now. And we need to attract it into our locality. How do we do that? We get a bunch of ppl in harmony moving in the same direction. That bunch of ppl will create a momentum in the spirit that will attract acceleration.

We must redeem time as a matter of absolute urgency. We must get in the program with the holy spirit. We must show ourselves faithful to the course so that the Lord will quicken our growth. Train ppl to run with God. To move with speed and pace. There are ppl in your church right now who are longing to run. Most ppl are probably fed up with where they’re at right now. What is the level of boredom? What is your level of boredom?

I adore the church. I love the church. With all her idiosyncrasies. I have never been so excited in my life. We’ve gone through astonishing transition. We are passionate for each others dreams and we have an obsession with the presence of God and we are in love with the Kingdom so that we tear down everything that is not of the kingdom. We have a sense of responsibility for the region. We have a quickening spirit upon us. God trusts us with the Kingdom.

My goal in coming here…well I know that the stuff so far that I’ve said you are not strangers to…you’re just realizing that you’re not mad. I’m confirming what’s in your hearts already. You’re realizing that this is possible. New testament prophets are mostly of confirmation anyway—confirming what you’re already hearing. The Lord is saying, now is the time. The dream in your heart, it’s time to have it fulfilled. This is possible.

I believe there is a season of divine acceleration available. I believe that your church could make 5 years growth in one year. God will redeem your time. You need to position yourselves to receive it.

So in the next year or two there is a divine acceleration…you have to manage it in the right way…manage it with the holy spirit. We’ve got to get a place where we’re not playing catch-up but we are there and present and the holy spirit needs to fall on us.

I know that there is a level of frustration here and that is your catalyst. That is a season of divine acceleration. To have God do something quick. He needs our cooperation.

The first time I heard of divine acceleration it was by one of my mentors. That guy was actually mentored by Smith Wigglesworth. I asked, so how do I get God to move quickly in my life? He said, well you need to die at a faster rate than you are dying right now. You need to see who God is for you and what God wants to become. Come and present yourselves to God and say I want you to be that for me and I’ll pay any price.

Graham Cooke, Tuesday Afternoon 1

Well, I receive and process teachings better if I write them out while I listen to them, so I am going topost the teachings that I've typed out so far...I hope that they bless and challenge you. Please pardon the typos and such...it's hard to keep up with Graham... So this is what I get to do at work during this season...sweet huh?

Here's the link if you want to hear them:

http://gracefellowship.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=2005%20GOIAM%20Conference

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Graham Cooke Tuesday Afternoon 1

He’s focused on present-future. Who you are now and who you are going to be in the future. He is not concerned about your past.

30,000 ppl leaving the church each year because ppl are bored silly.

Every relationship on earth can only exist in it’s present form for three to five years and then it has to change. It’s called growing up. If that’s true in the natural then it’s true in the spiritual too. All good relationships are kept by having an upgrade.

We need to understand our people, who God’s given us and what the next stage is that God is taking us through. When Jesus was going to give the message about His core statement about His mission here on Earth…he didn’t do it on the sermon on the mount. He did it in the church. He read Isaiah 61 and He starts talking about setting prisoner’s free… He knew that there were more people bound up in the church than bound up in the world. Religion that bound them to rules but never freed them up.

He is unchanging in His nature but he is changing everything. He loves you for who you are right now but He has a plan for you to change you…a dream for you. We need to understand the next level of the dream. This isn’t it…it’s just a stage along the way. We are building a church along the lines of the dream that God has.

Acts 2:42 So then those who received his word were baptized. They devoted themselves to the teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer…many wonders and signs…all who believed were together and had all things in common. One mind… adding to their number day by day…

Acts 4:32…the congregation was of one heart and soul…giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus…not a needy person among them…

Acts 5:12 many signs and wonders among the people…together as one accord…none of the rest dared to associate with them but they held them with high esteem…multiple ppl added to their number.

This is just the beginning..we are not trying to get back to the book of Acts..that’s just a good beginning. On earth as it is in heaven…how do we get heaven in our midst? How do we attract God? We have to live in the same paradigm that he is living in…we need the same relationships on earth that exist in heaven. Heaven opens and the holy spirit descends in bodily form on the Lord Jesus…this is my beloved son, listen to him…the holy spirit directs us to Jesus and Jesus directs us to the Father.

Jesus says that its better for you if I go away…listen guys, the holy spirit is better than me at this next stage…so Jesus wants to step out of the way and give the holy spirit center stage..what does the holy spirit do? He talks about Jesus and helps establish us in Christ. Honor…releasing one another, loving one another, preferring one another, blessing one another.

Prayer 24/7 won’t bring the presence of God…if you practice the one another’s in the new testament then the presence will come. God works and moves in a relational paradigm…not a functional paradigm. The problem is that the church is in a functional paradigm. You have to go back to a relational paradigm.

We always substitute relationship for function…it’s takes discipline to hang out with God. It’s a different kind of discipline and stamina to wait…a different kind of energy to wait on the Lord. Some of us make the biggest mistakes because we move too soon. It seemed good but then we find out that it actually wasn’t. God is holding out his hand and saying that it’s about fellowship with me first. We are learning…having to learn..to learn how to wait and to walk with one another.

God has a dream for the church and a dream for every single person that you have under your care. God is useless at one thing: when people fulfill His dream about something, He cannot stay away. He is helpless…He sees ppl living in unity and living out a dream, He has to go down there and take a look. Our goal is to make it impossible to get God to stay away.

“What would it take for you to believe that I am unceasingly magnificent?” –God

Whatever it is that you need to do, do it. We have reduced things to methodologies. It’s not about that. It’s about understanding God for who He really, really is. Start knowing what He likes. Start enjoying your sonship. Enjoying the way that God does things, enjoying the way He thinks.

Beloved, you are not going to be happy if you are not living out the dream God has for you. Think about the church that you are in –what’s their dream? and think about what God has for the church. Functional paradigm is only ever concerned about economy. How can we do the most with the least amount of time and the least amt of resources. And most ppl etc.In the book of Acts the church works in a gathered paradigm and a scattered paradigm. What he does Sunday morning is so minimal b/c it’s not life. It’s just a meeting. And meetings have a purpose. If we limit God to Sunday mornings it’s no wonder that we are missing so much of what the holy spirit is wanting to do. When we operate from a functional paradigm we want to do it all on Sunday morning. The church met in homes and occasionally met in Solomon’s portico…they didn’t use it every week. From house to house everyone would come with something that they could contribute.

How many of your people have dreams that have no chance of being fulfilled in your current paradigm? The Pharisees were dream thieves of their day. They originated a system that meant they could manage everyone’s spirituality. Thus taking away the need of the Holy Spirit. That is what Jesus came to set ppl free from. Jesus came to set ppl free and we have cell church. Hmm… The thing is, we don’t’ build relationships with our ppl primarily b/c we are too busy to build a relationship with God ourselves.

The premise with the way that we are ‘doing’ church is at odds with the Kingdom of Heaven. Something has to change. We have to walk off our map. No church can stand to have 52 life changing messages and no one’s life changes. How many sermons have you heard in your life and how many have been transforming for you?

Think of it this way: Prechristian gets gloriously saved…so excited…comes to their first meeting so excited with new bible and pen and notebook, then takes notes, walk it off, then back in church, then bible study on Tuesday…why? b/c that’s what they are encouraged to do. Jesus didn’t say, ‘I come so that you may have meetings and that you may have them more abundantly.” So they come in the first month and attend 12 meetings and what are they doing apart from learning how to take good notes.

They are learning how to listen but not how to hear. They are learning how to despise the word of God when it’s preached… unconsciously. Meanwhile, the world is moving away from the paradigm of truth that we grew up with. The organ of receptivity was the ear. But we are living in the postmodern world and the organ for receptivity is the eye not the ear—show me. People say I have my truth you have your truth. You respect mine I respect your’s. People want to see God do something. I love postmodernism b/c it is taylor-made for brining us back to being a supernatural church. You are a supernatural being. It’s time we acted like it. We have a church that is moving only in hearing so we have our whole idea of ministry which is not biblical b/c it doesn’t produce the body of Christ. Church is like this huge quivering bottom with a mouth on it. How can you teach something and then not bring people into an experience of what you are teaching. The thing is we don’t understand process so we don’t understand that most of our growth comes form process and not the laying on of hands. So we have a culture that works against heaven and not for it. What we’ve done with all our teaching is created an audience and not an army. People come to listen but know that they don’t’ really have to follow through with it b/c there will be another teaching next week.

This is attractive? I don’t think Jesus is coming back for that girl. He’s coming back for something a little more attractive than that. Give him credit for some taste. How can we teach our ppl so much but bring them into so little? We are about preached out. 30,000 ppl leaving the church, a minimum. People are bored rigid. People need to do, to be, to know that they can come and have a dream…a company of people where they can make mistakes and grow into my dream. We have unconscious pharisaical mentality towards our ppl b/c we don’t understand them. We are not taking the time to get into their hearts. Who are you? What are you called to be? What is on your heart to do? How can I help you to be the best you can be? That’s our job. We’re not here to preach each week. We are here to release ppl into a dream.

What’s the Lord saying to you? What do you want to become? How can I help you with that? How can I know that the dream is real and not made up? How can we connect reality with that dream? What is it that you need to do? What needs to emerge within you? What kind of ppl do you need to be with? You can not impose a vision on people. We work from the bottom up not the top down. I’m not here to fulfill someone else’s dream. I have dreams of my own. I want to know who I want to walk with and who has the same vision. Vision of the house grows up from that.

Vision is easy to get. Spend five minutes in the Starbucks. Every church has similar visions. Heart for the lost, heart for the nations. You can write it down in three minutes if you speed write. But how does that vision look in our body? How does the vision come through this bunch of people?

I had a church that wanted me to consult with them about their vision for the church. They gave me the vision for the people and I didn’t have a witness to any of it and I tore it up and asked, ‘Have you spoken to your people about what’s in their hearts?’ God doesn’t give vision to the leaders for the house…He sows it in the hearts of individuals and He says to his leaders, be a good dad and talk to your kids. Find out what I put…God hides the vision like a jigsaw in pieces in people’s hearts. When we start connecting with people we start putting it together. We found in that church that there were 64 people that had a vision for the arts. There were mime artists, singers, escape artists…they are the only church in the UK that has an entertainment license to the streets…guys who are unicyclists…they put on all kinds of shows in the streets…they have four booths: one to get saved, one has prayer, one prophecy, and one if you’re just miserable. It has a question mark on it. They have four huge trucks that fold out and fit 600 ppl. This one guy who beat Houdini’s record…we hoist him 2000ft in the air with chains and he still gets out. It is wild…a bit wacky. But I think the kingdom is whacky. You don’t take the most fortified city in the world by saying nothing. You don’t overcome a malicious enemy by reducing your army. We have to produce a people that want to be a part of the 300 people. You’ve got to utilize your people. There is a spirit of who we have not captured in terms of who God is. Boldness is not going to come at this level… you have to be living your dream. Every one of your people has a dream.

He has a dream about church. And you have a piece of that dream. Why do we have strange ppl in our churches? B/c God is strange. You want to walk with the Lord, you have know the Lord…well you have to know that He is consistent but completely unpredictable. You walk with the Lord but you seldom know where He is going. He won’t do things in a way that appear theological. It seems completely illogical. You cross over the river and the enemy seems bigger than you. You get an idea of what you’ll become when the Holy Spirit helps you overcome. The enemy will say that you can’t take him and tell you what you can and can’t do. But the Holy Spirit will tell you, that’s what we’re going to overcome. The Holy Spirit shows you the impossible just to get you smiling. When we finish, then that territorial spirit will be you. God is the biggest territorial spirit…he marked off all the tribes… your territory has to come to you in your dream. You have a dream and your ppl have a dream. Your great pleasure is releasing their dream.

Our vision can start to be shaped by what is coming out of ppl’s hearts. We can start to make partnerships and our meetings take on a different shape. We start preaching less and teaching more. If our preaching doesn’t release ppl into an experience then our preaching is not doing anyone any good. Then we can get away from our sanctuary driven paradigm. You take a city by training warriors and going house to house and street to street.

We need to fight with one another. Why? So we make sure that we don’t do anything out of mediocrity. Contend with me. Don’t settle for anything less. Contend with one another for the dream. Friends don’t let each other get away with anything.

I had a friend that was discipled by Smith Wigglesworth. He never let me forget it. He would say, I have taught you better than this haven’t I? The only answer was ‘yes sir’. He only let me make the same mistake three times. First time, it’s okay b/c you’re learning. Second time, that’s just stupid. Third time it’s a character issue. But he contended with me b/c he knew the dream that was in my heart.

My prayer for you is that you would get back in touch with your dream. If you’re not living your dream then you may be someone else’s nightmare. What’s your dream? What are you in this for? What has the Lord said to you? How does he want to show up? There is so much more to life out there than we are currently enjoying. God is the happiest person that I know. He has the sunniest disposition. Some of us are out of touch with his innate happiness. If you are going to walk in the spirit of the Lord then you have to get used to belly laughing. Heaven is funny and full of laughter. You will be full of laughter and joy b/c you are full of God and His dream for your life. Live under the smile of God and do the things that make God extraordinarily happy.

During the worst seasons of my life He has come and kissed me. He has held my dream in front of me and says, ‘this is who you are. Don’t forget it.’ The Lord has comforted me. The joy, peace, and love are all permanent emotions. He steps into your pain and you realize just how adored you are by the Father. He takes hold of your dream and he holds it in front of you and says, ‘this is who you are for me and this is who I am for you’ He shows you something about yourself and himself that helps you. What a joy and treasure. He has things for you. And you must live in the pleasure of who he is for you. Then discover in your people what their dreams are. But that is for another discussion. Let’s pray.

Thank you Father b/c no one loves us like you do. …

New Soul

Sittin' in Sweet Eugene's today I heard this song and Michelle so kindly told me the name of it, seein' as how I don't keep up with what's new on the radio.

anyhow, I watched the music video and I can't even explain how much it spoke to me...I feel like I could be singing that song on many levels...maybe going to south korea is soul searching? continuing to walk out my identity in Christ. chasing a dream? maybe it's just something i need to do. transitioning to being an adult? and if i end up not getting to go, well the process alone has been teaching me so much about life, about myself, and about God.

don't put me in a box... i love how she knocks over the walls and sees a whole new world out there...

even the part about feeling joy and fear....trying to learn to give and take...discerning truth and what's fake... I'm so thankful for what God has done in my life thus far...otherwise I'd be totally lost. He has been faithful to provide truth, love and trust...

one day i will let others take my hand as i will have already been there and will have wisdom to offer. by God's grace, i can even to that now to some degree...

i'm not really sure. but, i feel a lot like the girl in the video...only, add God in the mix. At least He'll clean up any mistakes that i make. because I am making mistakes along the way! And, He is a good Shepherd and will lead me.

i really can't accurately articulate this season of my life. i don't think i really understand all that God is doing. so there. listen to the song and maybe you'll like it. maybe you won't. i like it. and i'm thankful that God uses so many different means to communicate to me, otherwise, i might not ever know what's going on in my life! sheesh... He is a good Father...

Psalm 16 has been my life line....and Hebrews 11:8 as well.

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"New Soul" by: Yail Naim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYBLjEaDFDE

Here are the lyrics:

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)

See I'm a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate? try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make

La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)

This is a happy end
Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong

This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I'll take you far away

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

New soul... (la, la, la, la,...)
In this very strange world...
Every possible mistake
Possible mistake
Every possible mistake
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes..

Waiting in Transition

written March 15...a little late in posting.

i share this b/c i know so many of you can relate...

...and so goes the job hunting...

My life seems to be a little nebulous right now. No specific plans. I just want to love the Lord, follow Him, and be with people I love. Sure, there are dreams and even goals in between all that, but ultimately, it's about knowing Him and making Him known. So, as anyone has to, I'm still waiting on God, while taking steps in directions I think may have an open door, but mostly, waiting and resting in Him.

During this time, I am finding a power in surrender and a power in rest. A peace that settles over me like never before. I know He has great plans for my life-- even if I can't foresee them.

Here's a little something I wrote a few weeks ago:

// upon this mount I wait
eager for Your arrival
You will not delay
and yet time passes away

You say, "abide in me"
so everyday I try to just be
ever so graceful
one who drinks, so thankful

a hunger deep inside
one which cannot hide
o, how I wait for the end
so I continue to contend

yes, i wait for a mate
but he, You can always take
my hope is in You
for we who are in You are too few

yes, i wait for my dreams
which always seem to bust at the seams
as i delight in You, to start
You give the desires of my heart

yes, i wait for security
while desiring my heart's purity
money only steals a man's soul
true treasures lie in Heaven's bowl

yes, i wait for justice to prevail
my heart cries out in travail
love trumps and mercy speaks
the Lord is for keeps

yes, i wait to be a mom
and with a dog named Tom (not really that name)
children, whom I'll hold with open palms
for they, too, are the Lord's as if alms

yes, i wait to make a difference
not some mundane indifference
He gives purpose to my life
even through all the strife

yes, i wait for all these and more
be so kind as to wash them ashore
Lord, come to me
tell me what you see

it's You I seek
all through my week
it's You whom I love
and I, whom you love//