body.

Here's a couple interesting stories from this week...

Friend #1
On Tuesday, he hears the Lord speaking to him that he should speak on "God's greenhouse." He thinks this is quite odd, but starts looking into it anyway. He tells no one but hopes he will get some kind of confirmation.

Friend #2
Decides to give Friend #1 a gift for Hanukkah everyday this year. This same Tuesday, just before service, Friend #2 brings Friend #1 the most random gift in the world. A USB powered Greenhouse.

Confirmation much? (and btw... that word was amazing- if u didn't get to hear it, think "greenhouse= the presence of the Lord" and then go study greenhouses. what a word. legit.)

Here's another one for you....

Friend #3
Lives in AZ, knows my family, but none of my friends....yet. ;)

Yesterday afternoon she sends me this text:
"Reading my old journals today and cant stop laughing/smiling... "talked with Tim today about our call to be salmon - to swim upstream, as hard as that may be, and claim the higher pools. LORD search me and know me; I want to bring to You a life that is holy and sanctified through You." :)

Friend #4
Lives here in Cleveland, TN.

Posts this on her status today:
Lets say life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream. Where are you in the river of life today?

Are you swimming upstream?

Are you slowly floating downstream away from Christ?

Or has the river completely sweep you downstream?
____

So a greenhouse and an upstream journey- I'd say we'd better heed these words church. Its time that we stay in the presence of the Lord and gain His energy. If we are going to swim upstream, its not going to be easy so we must take refuge in His strengthening presence- His greenhouse.

I love how the Lord continually confirms His word over and over again through His people... and half the time they don't even know what they are doing or saying. God is so, so faithful to keep His children "on the same page" and working as His body regardless of if they know one another or not, regardless of if they have done all the right stuff this week, regardless of if they know all the right people or not, regardless... well, you get the point. He's faithful and He's good and He loves His children enough to continually show us that if we will fix our eyes on Him, this whole body thing- it just works.

For some study on the awesomely functioning body of Christ-- check out Ephesians 4:1-16.

rhythm.

Faithful King
You are the Most Excellent One
Your eyes
burn like fire, they leave me undone
Your face
so beautiful, drawing me to your heart
Your mercies
new every morning
Your orchestration
so fun and so very divine
Your body
desiring purity, Your cleansing, Your heart
You mold us.
You make us one.

I hear a sound
like thunder, like rain
Its the sound of an army arising
moving to the rhythm of your heartbeat

This rhythm
burns
captivates
stirs
consumes.

Here we are, marching as one
We will move with the winds of your favor
We will carry the burdens of your heart
We will love as you have first loved us
We will
GO.

There's a generation
moving
across the earth
shifting
cultures of our day
journeying
to the unknown
adoring
Your face all the way.

Let us always be strengthened by You Faithful King
Confidently knowing You are with us
Constantly remind us of the rhythm we've captured
Never let us escape the sound of your heart
Fill us with your love and your fire
Captivate our hearts
For the sake of Your Kingdom
We surrender
all.

connect.

Today, a favorite professor of mine was talking in reference to cell phones in church and said,"would any of you who work at churches consider telling your congregation to leave their phones in the car?... I mean, I want to go vertical." While I completely understand his point of view in that we need to take church time to focus our attention above and not on our cellphones, the comment stirred up some already-brewing thoughts and questions in my head.

If I am sitting in a service listening to my pastor, and something really speaks to me, then I may lean over to my friend sitting next to me and simply say a sentence or two affirming what has just been said. I won't have a full on conversation by any means, but I may say a few things. Also, to help me focus and engage, I am probably going to have a Bible and a notebook in front of me to take notes.

I have yet to find anyone that has a problem with either of these things. Most church folks of all ages will do both at some point. However, if I do any of this on my cell phone, some people get quite upset.

With all due respect to the semi- technology- illiterate individuals, I wonder if their hatred for this is due to the amount of effort, thought and time that it takes them to text, tweet, type or update. What may take them 10 minutes of complete focus is something I can do in about 15 seconds without much thought- just like leaning over and saying something to the person next to me. Some think that by picking up my phone I must've been completely disengaged and distracted. But what they may not realize is that while they were writing down that quote from Pastor and hoping that they would remember to tell it to Aunt Sue later on, I just posted that same quote to Aunt Sue's "wall," put it as my "status", and "tweeted" it allowing her and potentially 700 of my "friends" and "followers" to see it. All in about 15 seconds.

A few weeks ago on a Saturday night, I was sitting around a bonfire with a group of friends talking about the Lord. One specific discussion, we went around the circle recalling some of our favorite moments in the glory of the Lord. The following morning, I am sitting in service and my pastor starts talking about glory. Then, his first point is "recall the stories." Immediately I made the connection to the previous nights conversation, reached for my phone, and sent a quick text to one of my friends saying "At church this morning he's talking about glory...First point? Recall the stories. Reminds me of last night :)" She texted back saying, "Love it:)" to which I said, "Me tooo." That was it. It was encouraging for she and I both for me to send that quick text. Had almost anyone been sitting next to me, for me to lean over and quitely say, "wow, thats awesome! my friends and I had this conversation just last night!" they would have been completely okay with that and even encouraged by it, but some would've had a serious issue if they had seen me pick up my phone.

A couple weekends ago, I was at a conference in Baltimore. Throughout it, I "tweeted" some of the awesome stuff that was going on... here are some of the tweets:

>>> Tune in now. This is awesome in the Lord. https://events.globalawakening.com/topics-voa-2010

>>> @Amanda_Fisher is in awe of the beauty of Christ revealed through laid down lovers. Whoa. My heart= encouraged.

>>> "The best thing about God is, uhhh, God."-Leif Hetland

>>> Beach balls a.k.a. "joy bombs" are flying through the crowd this morning as we sing the Happy Song. Legit. :)

>>> Ok...If these songs are the next Jesus Culture album, I'm already a fan.

>>> "It WAS God! It was God! It was God! It was God!" - Randy Clark. The Lord just gave him a word that 20 people were gonna get healed...


Each of these "tweets" were during services. They automatically post to my facebook as well so though each probably only took a few seconds for me to post, hundreds could potentially see what God was up to in Baltimore while they were going about their everyday business. Because I provided the link too, many were able to tune in to the live feed of the services. Some of my "friends" and "followers" are not believers. I cannot help, but to think that sometimes them seeing a status or tweet about the goodness of my God, just might plant a seed.

Is limited cell phone use in a service a problem? Is it really different than saying something real quick to the person next to you?

For some people, maybe so. Maybe for them to use their phones during services means that they are connecting back to all their issues that they should put aside when they are taking time to focus on the Lord. Maybe for others, its a bad idea because it takes them a long time and lots of concentration to do much with their phone. But for some, like myself, its a useful part of my corporate worship experience.


Now- don't get me wrong. I think there are times when it is awesomely important to remove all sources of communication and technology and get away from it all. However, we must recognize, that a large percentage of people simply aren't going to completely shut off their technology every week.

With a technology driven society, we have got to figure out how to connect effectively. Disregarding a huge part of people's lives is simply not going to cut it.
There are many options of how to intertwine technology, specifically social networking into church services, but this blog is already long enough.


So I leave you with these questions- should we suggest to a technological generation to put away their phones altogether, when we know they will probably only switch it to vibrate and will probably use it once or twice during a service anyway? Or should we teach them how to weave their relationship with Jesus into every aspect of their lives, including all areas of communication, and to use their technology effectively to express their faith?

thoughts?

Lee.

Dear Lee and the people thereof,

Sweet Jesus is coming. He is here, but He is coming.

Compelling.
Drawing.
Longing.
Sweeping us off our feet.

He is for us. He believes in us.

His thoughts about us and for us are higher-
Higher than we can dream, Higher than we can imagine.

This semester is make or break- and His way dominates.
He wants it more than we do. He wins, He will have His way.

He has proved His heart for our University, now its our time to choose.
Will we run with Him, ride His wave, advance His Kingdom?

or are you simply fine with how things are?

send.

I want the fire of the Lord.
His deep cleansing
His captivating eyes
His painful purification
His glorious power
His intimate encounters
His public display
All of it.

Send you're fire.

crazyland.

I was talking to a dear friend this evening, processing with her some of what the Lord did this weekend. We went to an awesome prophetic conference and both of us got some pretty direct words. I say direct, but really they were just glimpses. We have little pieces of the picture, but really, so much is unknown. In our conversation, she said this:

"hahahaha...this is crazy land..im not sure my personality can take all this craziness and unknowing! "

I liked that she called all this crazyland, so much so that it inspired this blog.

O the truth behind her statement!

We really can't handle this, but- Its by our weakness that His strength is perfected. (2 Cor. 12:9) We recognize that God has so much in store yet chooses to only let us see glimpses. He is requiring in this hour that we shift our ways of thinking and recognize that we have to step out boldly in complete trust and submission to Holy Spirit. Theres so much going on, and not going on, all at the same time--its crazyland! haha (okay, okay, so what if its cheezy, i like it...)

The Lord has our best interest in mind and wants to take us on an absolutely incredible journey. However its imperative that we come to Him with complete faith and trust.

Think of a young talkative kid. Notice how they ask questions about absolutely everything and believe every word you say. The Lord wants us to be this way. He wants us to be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving make our requests known unto Him. (Phil 4:6) He tells us to be like little children, coming to Him humbly receiving the Kingdom of God. (Mark 10)

His desire is to be with us. His plans for us are great. Though, we must step into a place of agreement with Him, believing that He has everything under control and trusting that He really is for us.

The Lord is doing so much right now. His move is requiring our obedience and our trust. Things may seem crazy, accelerated, random, and often unknown, but He knows exactly what He's doing.

"For as many as are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God." Romans 8:14

For all of you who are jumping in right now and catching the wave of the Spirit, I say continue to be led by Him. Trust that He is for you. Believe that He is good. Expect the unexpected. Recognize His ways. Walk in peace. Stay connected to community. Know that your new "normal" may be quite abnormal. You're not going to be understood by many. You won't be able to just "figure it out" anymore, for His ways are higher. Look here--Ecclesiastes 8:16 and 17 from the Message translation:

"16 When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, 17 you'll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you're not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won't get to the bottom of it."

So relax and trust. He is up to something huge. The more He is doing, the wilder the adventure.

Welcome to Crazyland. Enjoy the ride.

honor.

To my generation- those under 30:

Lets say I love Jesus and I want to express my faith through my tattoos. You are fine with that, and you seem to care less that it offends Sister Sue. Yet, when Sister Sue expresses her passion for the Lord by shouting, you think you have every right to criticize her and tell her she is an illegitimate, hype-seeking, attention hungry woman.

Are the tattoos wrong? Probably not. Yet it bothers some.

Is the shouting wrong? Probably not. Yet it bothers some.

Why are your expressions right and theirs wrong? You can say her shouting brings too much attention on her, but who’s to say your tattoos don’t bring too much attention on you? Now replace tattoos with dancing, or painting or any other expression for that matter…. It just breaks my heart that truly awesome warriors have prayed for months and months about this gathering and all you want to do is critique and criticize.

Yes, this event is supposed to be a conversation, but oh how I wish we could conversate without pointing out every negative and talking as if we have no life to offer. Aren’t we supposed to reflect Christ in all we do? I’ve felt like Holy Spirit was having some heartache about this event and I am beginning to see why. He is wanting to come in power and visit us, but so many people are too busy being critical of everyone else. If someone stands behind the pulpit and says that we are supposed to avoid the unclean, do you really think they truly feel that we are supposed to stay away from sinners? Of course not. That is foundational of our faith. If you would continue to listen and recognize that they were talking about being unequally yoked you would see.

Generation, why must we be so critical of the way the message was given? Its time we glean from the wisdom that is shared, recognizing that we may not agree with everything, but that God moves in more ways than just what we have in mind. Maybe the leadership is wrong in a thing or two, but guess what? You are too. Don’t you remember? God’s strength is perfected in our weaknesses. He chooses to work through broken, imperfect people- that’s all of us. Why is it that we criticize our own instead of strengthening them? Shouldn’t we get past our disagreements and unite in the power of the Spirit to see the lost saved? Isn’t that really what this is all about? Not just the event, but our faith as a whole- it’s about seeing the lost come to know our redeeming King. Lets consider strengthening another where we are weak so that we can run this race effectively.

At this Empowered21 event we have an opportunity to truly explore ways to bring forth the message of precious Holy Spirit forward for generations. Its not often that this many nations and incredible men and woman of God gather in one place at one time. I believe that its time that we as the younger generation taking part in this conference rise up in maturity by honoring. We honor the older generation when we trust their leadership and listen to what they have to say. Does that mean we have to agree with absolutely everything? Absolutely not. But in no way should we put ourselves high above them as if we know much more than they do. Let your voice be heard, but lets honor our Mothers and Fathers of the faith as we do so.

- Amanda

metanoia.

My to do lists are miles long, but filled with stuff that seemingly can wait.
Excuses, excuses.
My own laziness and apathy is utterly disgusting to me.
I’m really over putting everything off.
Things that should take moments take hours or days.
Things that should take days take months. Maybe even years.
How stupid.
How gross.
I’m really over this.
What have I been waiting on?

“It’s like we’re waiting on something… something that’s never going to come until we stop waiting.”

O what a reality I need to get.
My apathetic laziness has exhausted me to the point where even the things I do care about seem far out of reach.
Its time I start walking in obedience.
I’m free, now I need to start acting like it.
Thank you God that you’re showing me open doors in my life.
I slam them shut tonight with Your help.
I’m changing my thinking tonight.
Recognizing-
You are my energy

You are my passion
You are my joy
You are my source
You are mine.

You provide me with convicting disgust with my own ways, what grace.
You’ve protected me when I’ve kept doors open, what mercy.
When I have wallowed in my self pity, you have never ceased to relentlessly pursue me to show me affection.
When apathy has kept me still, You have relentlessly moved all around me till my heart can’t help but to respond.
Even when I’ve disobeyed time and time again, You still bestow Your favor.
You have had every reason to be angry with me and yet You send word to me that Your pleased with me, just for me.
You amaze me Jealous One.
I don’t get it, but I won’t turn away Your love.
My heart is Yours.

winter.

its over.

:)

catch.

Hide OR Seek

“Ready or not, here I come!”

I believe that we have gone through such a cleansing season in the body of Christ in recent years. I know that personally, the Lord has dealt with me on many issues big and small. I’ve seen more sin exposed in recent years in the body of Christ and even just in the believers right around me, than I have ever seen before. Yet, I have also seen so much true restoration in the vast majority of these cases. The Lord has been taking us through a difficult season, but its been so Good. He has been preparing us and pouring out great grace for us to get out of our sin and our apathy. He is exposing our sin and complacency for the sake of our healing.

I believe in the coming seasons, God is going to move in a powerful way. He will come with such force, that nothing and no one will be able to stop this move. Because of the preparation the Lord has put us through and the resulting movement of prayer that has swept the nation, the bowls of intercession are filling up and are about to be poured out on a ready people. I believe God is coming like a wave. Some will catch it and some will die.

If you have been one who has attempted to hide in this season, trying to avoid the chastisement of the Lord, I challenge you to turn from your hiding, and begin to seek God with everything in you. His cleansing is not easy nor is it fun, but its ALWAYS worth it. Trust the Lord and open yourself to His purifying fire, while His grace is here. Don't just assume you can get things right later. Don't miss His move.

Catch the wave and enjoy the ride of your life.

settled.

There's the screaming preacher, the cooky jig from the old lady up front, that one line of the song being sung over and over, some man slappin' people across the forehead, people falling down on the ground like limp ragdolls, others shaking and bawling their eyes out, that wild group of youth shouting in what they call "tongues" at the mans crippled legs while he sits there in his wheelchair silently with the palms of his hands turned up to "receive" and some of those ones screaming, you know they were just at that party last week; then there is you- sitting, watching, trying to figure out if any of this has any semblance of reality.

You've grown up around church, its never been quite like this. Sure there has been moments of this over the years, but this so-called "pentecostal power," is becoming more and more frequent when you brave going around it Yet as much as you sort of want to distance yourself from it, it somehow intrigues you. Typically you sit and watch and decide that this is fine for them, but its just not you. Yet lately, theres been a just a twinge of curiosity. Not to the extent that you want to involve yourself necessarily, but just a new curiousity. There was that time a long, long time ago where you had a moment where you yourself acted kinda weird, but definitely not that weird... In that moment, what you felt was awesome, kind of strange, and it faded fast.

Well if this is you at all, let me pose a few things to you.

1. There's more.

There is so much more to the whole Christianity thing than just going to church and the list of things you are and are not supposed to do. There is beauty to this. I'm not talking about big gaudy buildings and big-haired ladies. No. True beauty. Something that draws you in, gives you peace, gives you everything real-- all the ways you have wanted to feel, but never known how to get there. If you truly taste a real encounter with God, you can actually experience for yourself that He is good. Everything about Him is good. When you really allow yourself to dismiss the initial weirdness of "passionate people," and avoid putting up the walls that you are often so quick to build, you can actually get to experience something beautiful. I'll explain, read on.

2. God is far beyond what you've seen.

When you sit in a service with all the weird stuff going on, some of it is simply just people being cooky. Some of it though is completely, and entirely legitimate. Don't get me wrong, some of it is just flat out weird, but God is mysterious. Some people "fall out" or have weird things happen to them because they are simply overwhelmed. Some of it, well I don't know why it happens. God really can meet you in a tangible way. You may not shake or cry or fall down or any of that. But don't immediately write it off. I've seem some people who would never in anyones mind be the one to do all that, be the very ones who experience God in the oddest ways. Then there is some people who just get hooked to the moments of encounter. Truest encounter is when people take experiences and then translate that into their lives- living for something worth dying for, not just feel-good encounters then living how they want the rest of the time.

3. God is good and God is fun.

Everything that is lined out in the Bible is not just a great suggestion of how to make people live "right." I could sit here for hours and type story after story about how in my own life and the lives of many others who have tasted of the "more" of God. These stories are full of incredible, odd and just fun happenings. When you choose more of Him, every day can be filled with truly awesome experiences and its all for deep, deep, awesome purpose. How much better would it be to live with hope and purpose and in the midst have a blast instead of simply seeking fun and then often be left with tons of questions of what your purpose really is.

Not everyone gets to go to Dollar General and watch a girl slam her finger in the car door so hard that the top part of her finger falls off and then get to just pick it up and put it back on for her like nothin happened. Not everyone gets to sit and hear the life dreams of someone they just met 5 minutes before and then realize they are saying the exact things you've dreamed of for years then recognize that the God of the universe allowed you two to meet. Not everyone gets to look at a stranger and be able to tell them what they've been struggling with and then see absolute true freedom come to them as they weep before our compassionate God. Not everyone gets to work hard for something and then see the results of it be absolutely life changing for tons of people instead of just resulting in a few dollars for themselves. Not everyone runs in to financial problems and then because of the their faithfulness to the Lord, somehow be completely provided for and never really figure out where that money came from. Not everyone can talk to their friends about how they feel like they are in the same moment in their life as a guy from way-back-when and then hours later hear the same exact thing mentioned in the same context from someone else. Not everyone gets to spend time talking with God and hear something really kinda odd then tell a friend and them look at you with wide eyes, saying "shut up! no way! how did you know that?" Not everyone runs into struggle and finds hope when others are freaking out. Not everyone gets to "see" lots of stuff happen before it actually does. Not everyone gets to be around someone who is truly considering suicide and have the exact thing to say that they need to hear that sets them free and allows them to live a life of complete joy. Not everyone gets to experience the deepest love you could ever feel and it only get deeper and deeper. I could go on and on and on... All of this can and does happen to people who choose to dive into the deeper things of God. In fact every one of these things have happened to my friends and/or myself. I get to have the time of my life, all the time. I can have such similar experiences as someone hours away and then get to talk to them about it later, all because we seek God together. God and His Kingdom is way fun and so worth giving my entire life to. There is always more. The experiences only get greater. The love only gets deeper.

All this to say, I want to invite you to come and taste the deeper, the more, of God. Once you have settled within yourself that He is more than what you see from other people and then choose to try this whole "more" out for yourself, you will discover He is so worth it. And even in the midst of people who are sometimes weird about all this, He is there. All of it begins to come into perspective and you learn to love some of it and get awesome strategy to see change come to the parts that frustrate you and don't reflect your God. Settle for yourself that you want Him and you want to journey with others who just want Him, despite all the wrong thinking about God that has consumed much of the American church. Don't let other people's wrong thinking cause you to miss out on so much. Its the journey of a lifetime and it can be your life. Come along?

If you would like to have people to run with towards the deeper things of God, or if you want to talk about any of this, feel free to shoot me an email. fisher.relentless@gmail.com