June 20, 2012
What a whirlwind! I am officially done with my 2nd year at IHOPU. I cannot believe how fast it has gone! Next year I will be a junior. Man time really flies the older you get. So it’s been awhile since my last update so I will back up quite a bit. This past quarter I had 2 classes. One was the Book of Acts which was taught by Wes Hall and Wes Adams and Theology of 24/7 Worship with Stephen Venable. I know I’ve said this about almost every quarter but I think this quarter may have been my favorite so far. Our first class for the Book of Acts was kind of an introduction to the course as well as the teachers casting vision for what they thought the class would look like. Wes Hall gave his spiel and then Wes Adams got up and told us a little about his background since we had never had him for a teacher before. He had an accident when he was about 16 and he has now been a quadriplegic for about 50 years. He was telling us that morning when he had woken up and was getting ready for the day, he was praying and asking the Lord what was on His heart for our class and he felt that the Lord drew his attention to the fact that in our class we had about 120 people. At first I didn’t understand what the significance was but then He said that in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit was poured out in that upper room there was ABOUT 120 gathered. He told us he thought there was something very special about our class. I really enjoyed this class. I didn’t actually know that the book of Acts is a continuation of the book of Luke. The gospel of Luke talks about Jesus’ ministry while He was still on the earth and then the book of Acts chronicles the way that Jesus’ ministry continued after His death and ascension through the work and power of the Holy Spirit in the believers. It is amazing to read of all the amazing signs and wonders and miracles that the Apostles did because Jesus’ said that His people would do works that were even greater in the latter days. I can’t even begin to imagine what that will look like when the apostles were healing people, casting out demons and raising people from the dead. It’s exciting to think about though! Our class as a whole even prayed for Wes Adams 2 times as he felt that the Lord wanted to use our class in a powerful way. Though God did not heal Wes in those times, both times were very unified and powerful times of prayer and I felt honored to get to be a part of it. It was really amazing to witness the faith of this man who has believed the Lord for his healing for over 50 years and truly knows he will be healed in his lifetime before the Lord calls him home. When he gets healed it really will be a true testimony to the power and faithfulness of the Lord.
What a whirlwind! I am officially done with my 2nd year at IHOPU. I cannot believe how fast it has gone! Next year I will be a junior. Man time really flies the older you get. So it’s been awhile since my last update so I will back up quite a bit. This past quarter I had 2 classes. One was the Book of Acts which was taught by Wes Hall and Wes Adams and Theology of 24/7 Worship with Stephen Venable. I know I’ve said this about almost every quarter but I think this quarter may have been my favorite so far. Our first class for the Book of Acts was kind of an introduction to the course as well as the teachers casting vision for what they thought the class would look like. Wes Hall gave his spiel and then Wes Adams got up and told us a little about his background since we had never had him for a teacher before. He had an accident when he was about 16 and he has now been a quadriplegic for about 50 years. He was telling us that morning when he had woken up and was getting ready for the day, he was praying and asking the Lord what was on His heart for our class and he felt that the Lord drew his attention to the fact that in our class we had about 120 people. At first I didn’t understand what the significance was but then He said that in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit was poured out in that upper room there was ABOUT 120 gathered. He told us he thought there was something very special about our class. I really enjoyed this class. I didn’t actually know that the book of Acts is a continuation of the book of Luke. The gospel of Luke talks about Jesus’ ministry while He was still on the earth and then the book of Acts chronicles the way that Jesus’ ministry continued after His death and ascension through the work and power of the Holy Spirit in the believers. It is amazing to read of all the amazing signs and wonders and miracles that the Apostles did because Jesus’ said that His people would do works that were even greater in the latter days. I can’t even begin to imagine what that will look like when the apostles were healing people, casting out demons and raising people from the dead. It’s exciting to think about though! Our class as a whole even prayed for Wes Adams 2 times as he felt that the Lord wanted to use our class in a powerful way. Though God did not heal Wes in those times, both times were very unified and powerful times of prayer and I felt honored to get to be a part of it. It was really amazing to witness the faith of this man who has believed the Lord for his healing for over 50 years and truly knows he will be healed in his lifetime before the Lord calls him home. When he gets healed it really will be a true testimony to the power and faithfulness of the Lord.
My other class this quarter was Theology of 24/7 Worship. I
was really excited about this class because the teacher was the same man that
gave the message on the worth of Jesus and night and day prayer that helped me
make my decision to move back to Kansas City, do the nightwatch and start
IHOPU. This class did not disappoint. The teacher is very smart and used some
big words so I had to really work to follow along but overall it was so good!
He spent about half the class sessions talking about heaven and really going
deep in Biblical understanding about it. As Americans, and really just humans
in general, we tend to have this notion that heaven is some ethereal realm with
a bunch of cherubs playing harps on clouds. If we are honest, we don’t really
believe heaven is a real city, that God the Father is really there sitting on a
real throne with Jesus at His right hand. We don’t really think that much about
it at all and that is the major problem. We’re so focused on this world and our
70 maybe 80 years with strength here that we do not set our mind on things
above, which in truth is our reality. Our reality is that there is currently a
city in the sky. There is a real throne where God the Father sits and Jesus is
seated at His right hand. And even this very second there are multitudes of
seraphim and angels worshipping and praising and extoling the worth of Jesus
day and night without ceasing. This is our reality and when we die and go to
heaven, or Jesus comes back and brings heaven to earth, whichever one happens
first, we will be a part of it forever! It’s glorious! The class was very meaty
and so a group of nightwacth students that stayed here for the summer are
planning to go back through the class notes and discuss it. I am looking
forward to it. I know that doesn’t even do justice to what I learned this
quarter but it was so much if I continued this would go on for pages…I’m
already wordy enough!
Then I had my remaining practicum rotations. I told you
about CEC and justice, but the other two were preaching and teaching and
prophetic healing and deliverance. I of course was terrified of preaching and
teaching because I actually had to write a 7 minute sermon and preach it to my
peers. We all know that speaking in front of people is my own personal hell. I
mean I took public speaking during the summer for a reason. We also had to pray
on the microphone in the prayer room 2 times during our 6 week rotation. That
part was just as scary. Both times my knees were shaking violently but I did
it. I don’t think I will do it again anytime soon, but I did it. My sermon went
pretty well all things considered. I was pretty sure I was not a preacher and
after the class I definitely know that I am not, but I am totally fine with
that. It was a really good experience though because they have a couple of
teachers get up after you preach and give you feedback and as it turns out the
feedback was actually very positive and edifying. One of the teachers got up
and said that he really liked how I just talked to him. He said he hates when
preachers get up and just preach at an audience. He compared me to Harry S.
Truman and said that he had a gift of leadership where he was able to just talk
to people and he was very popular because of it. He said that he thought I had
that gift as well and offered to pray for me to receive the mantle of Harry S.
Truman. I don’t really know what that means, but I never turn down prayer,
especially from someone older who has been walking with Jesus longer than me. They
actually recorded our sermon and emailed it to us but I can’t bring myself to
watch it yet. Maybe one day…
The last rotation was prophetic, healing and deliverance.
This one was probably my least favorite out of all of them but I think it’s
just because it was at the end of the year and everything is just so busy with
finals and papers and such. There was a really interesting week on dream
interpretation though which I thought was really helpful. Then at the end we
had to choose our concentration for next year. It was a very hard decision. We
all got to listen to each of the concentration leaders give their spiel on
their track and then choose which one we wanted to do. I was about 99% sure I
was going to choose CEC but was leaving my heart open in case the Lord wanted
to direct me elsewhere so I was praying and trying to discern very carefully
during the spiels. The thing that made me choose CEC ultimately is that there
was going to be a focus on curriculum writing and development. As soon as they
said that I knew that the route I was supposed to go. That is the one area that
I struggle with the most when I think about leading the next generation into
the Lord’s battle. If you give me ready-made lessons I can teach those no
problem. But as soon as you tell me you want me to write my own lesson, I will
freak out. I already don’t think I hear very well from the Lord. So now you
tell me you want me to try to hear for God’s chosen generation what He wants
them to hear and learn? I still wonder why God thinks He can trust me with this
precious generation but for some reason He does. And I just want to be faithful
to the calling. So I know that part of it is going to be challenging and will
probably open up all kinds of heart issues that I will not want to deal with,
but I know that is where God wants me. So I am super excited for that next
year. As far as I know 3rd year won’t look a whole lot different
than this year. Our practicum will be our concentration so that will really
only be the area we are split apart. We actually got to choose our classes
ourselves this time. Which I hated! All of the classes sounded so good and I
had such a hard time making the decision. But ultimately I can’t lose. Any of
the classes would be awesome and I am happy with my final choices. I will let
you know what they are next year ;) Also, in addition to being in our own
discipleship small group, as 3rd years, we get to lead our own
group. So I will be paired with another 3rd year student and we will
have a group of either first or second year girls to disciple which is scary
and exciting at the same time. I will find out who my partner will be and who my
girls will be once school starts.
As for life outside of school, this has continued to be a
season of transition for the nightwatch. I told you in a previous blog post
about the new nightwatch schedule. Well as it turns out, the schedule has
actually caused many people to leave the nightwatch and switch to days. This
includes all the CEC families except for one so there has been quite a lot of
shifting going on. I was thinking about it the other day and I realized that it
truly was the Lord’s kindness that I had advance notice that my job would be
ending. Because as it turns out, now with only 2 kids left on the nightwatch
there wouldn’t have been a need for my position anyway. In fact, the girl that
was my boss is actually switching to days because there is no need for her
position either. So ultimately the Lord in His sovereignty knew what was
happening and in His kindness gave me much advance notice, and for that I am
very grateful. So now I only do CEC 1 day a week on Thursday. The kids are so
fun though!
So I am not going to lie. This new schedule has not been an
easy transition. The whole point of doing the nightwatch is that I was always a
night owl. I hate getting up early and I hate going to bed early. But on this
schedule, it’s basically like I am doing 6 a.ms. The prayer room is now at the
beginning of my day which means I have to be very disciplined in what time I go
to bed and what time I wake up. That is probably the thing I dislike the most.
There have been days where I have toyed around with the idea of switching to
days but ultimately the positives just far outweigh the negatives. And I think
the 24/7 class really helped me because when it comes down to it, I have so
many reasons for loving and doing the nightwatch, but ultimately it comes down
to this. Jesus is worthy of worship at 3 in the morning. And He is worthy of me
switching my life and my schedule around so I can give it to Him. I pray this
season lasts forever. But even if it doesn’t, for however long He allows me to
stay here and on the nightwatch, I will give Him all of my love and devotion.
He is worthy.
Summer is going to be pretty low key and restful. I am going
to be a camp counselor for the signs and wonders children’s camp here at IHOP.
I am really looking forward to it. There are also a group of nightwatch
students that remained here for the summer as well and we have planned a good
mix of social activities as well as Bible study type things to keep our hearts
burning and not lose the ground we took this past year. I am looking forward to
running with these lovely ladies of the Lord. I plan to come home in August for
a couple of weeks so I will let you know when I know for sure when I am coming.
Looking forward to seeing ya’ll!
