The Beauty of the Miraculous and the Mundane

Loves of Life

2011-12-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

Today is beautiful. I must say, I love winters in Redding. Today its suppose to be almost 70 degrees...in December!

Merry Christmas!

There are a handful of things I like and love. Coffee, my wife, grace, dubstep music, early mornings, family, the Church, worship, wine, hearing God, beer, strategy games, listening, people, Holy Spirit, beat-boxing, Jesus, friends, design, color, supernatural school, sunrise, building, snuggling, hugs...

...and the list goes on.

What do you love? Do you know what you love?

God created me for glory and I bring Him glory through enjoying him and the way he has made me.

Merry Christmas from Cierra and I! We love school and are on the biggest adventure of our lives...thanks for your love, thoughts and prayers.

A Day in Rest

2011-10-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

We are already more than a month into school and yet it feels like we have been here for a year! Our home is full, with two Dutch (Ton and Rianne), two cats, our selves and Holy Spirit.

Tuesdays: We wake up to our cats...breaking down our bedroom door, pleading for their morning meal-pitifully I must say. Next is breakfast: french press coffee, fresh bread from the bread machine and maybe an egg and O.J. Cierra is on call for massage at the day spa she works at, so any given morning she may have a massage or two and sometimes nothing at all. The rest of the morning we find our selves either on the couch with a book, on our patio with a book, or in the armchair with our computer, often times working on different assignments or filling ourselves with inspiration from music and visual art. School starts at 12:30, which usually finds us rollin down the road with our car packed with housemates and others on our way to school, sometime after 12:00. We then get to experience the presence of God in worship for about an hour followed by teaching from 1 or 2 people and then we all split off to different Bible classes for the last part of the day. One of the best part of any given day is the evening meal, which we usually all eat together, enjoying some sort of fusion dutch/americana recipe contrived by our head chef Rianne. Confession...we are such homebodies! Evenings are a time to talk over a glass of wine and process the day or perhaps worship more, or pray, or just lay on the floor and enjoy whatever Holy Spirit wants to do. Then, slob lecher (spelling??). Goodnight in Dutch.

A somewhat deep thought: What saves us? Faith in Jesus? I used to think so. Don't get me wrong, Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father and salvation is only through what He has done on the cross, however, there is something interesting to look at here.

Faith in Jesus does not save us. It is the grace of God that saves us.

Eph 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Now, once you get past the anxiety of the statement I just made, let Holy Spirit draw you into the freedom that this will produce in your heart. You don't have to work for your salvation. Faith is simply the turning of our will in the vivid realization of what Christ has done for us on the cross. We don't have to "work up" enough faith to get saved. We simply let ourselves agree with what has been done for us. Just know that you don't have to work to attain your salvation, and you certainly don't have to work to retain you. Walking with Jesus should be characterized by rest. Are you at rest?

We love you.

Jason and Cierra.

The Church and the City

2011-09-10T00:58:00.000-07:00

As I watched this interview, it brought so much hope and encouragement to me. My heart is for Portland, and I am excited to witness God's move of love in it. Click here to watch.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, City Commissioner Diane McKeel, Kevin Palau and Ken Weigel present a panel at the Q Ideas Portland Conference.

Summer Sun, Shine On..

2011-07-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

   It's been about a month and a half since being back home, and time is flying by like we knew it would! On July 2nd, one of my close friends got married to the love of her life in the beautiful hills of Santa Barbara. I had the honor to be in their wedding party on that hot summer day. I flew down in time for the bachelorette party and last minute wedding preparations. Jason was able to join me a couple days later and ended up being a huge help (as he always is) setting up for the day of the wedding. The wedding was beautiful, as was the gorgeous bride! It was wonderful celebrating their union and their new covenant between each other. My parents and brother were at the wedding too, so Jason and I had a great time spending some time with them.

   After the wedding, it was officially vacation time! We headed out with my family to San Louis Obispo, about an hour north of Santa Barbara to stay with a relative on my mom's side of the family. We were there for the the 4th of July, and like anyone would on that night, went to a drive-in movie theatre! Well, I guess that's not exactly the tradition for our country, but we decided to change it up a bit. :) It was relaxing an lots of fun just hanging out with my family for a couple days. I miss being able to spend more time with them. I am hoping that they will move to Oregon someday to be closer to us!

   After a couple of days in SLO, my parents, Jason and I jumped in my dad's truck and headed north to Angels Camp, CA. There we met Jason's family at a resort where we stayed for 4 days. We had a ton of fun touring caves, exploring redwood and sequoia forests, swimming and tubing on the nearby lake and playing card games. Jason and I are SO blessed to have AMAZING families that actually get along, and by getting along, I mean love each other! We really enjoy being with each other and have a ton of fun together. We could have definitely spent more time with all of them, and are so thankful for the time that we were able to spend with all of them.

   So now it's back to remodel construction for Jason and for me, enjoying the Oregon sun (when it decides to shine it's face upon us), time to breath, rest, enjoy spending time with friends, farmers markets and setting new goals for myself.

   I hope all of you are enjoying this summer with your family and friends. I would love to hear what this summer entails for you! Feel free to comment, or send us an email!

Love,
The Wortmans

Recounting the steadfast love of the Lord

2011-06-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 63:7
^"7I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,
   the praises of the LORD,
according to all that the LORD has granted us,
   ^(B) and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
   according to the abundance of his steadfast love. "

Wow, It has been a long time since we have updated the world on how we are doing and what we are up to! It has been a crazy whirlwind since our mission trip to San Francisco at the end of March. God is SO amazing and so GOOD! He has been molding us and changing us this year and we are still processing, even now all that He has done and is doing in us through this past year at Bethel!

We graduated our first year in May and are now home in Oregon. It has been so good to be back home as we have been enjoying seeing and catching up with family and friends.

Jason has a job for the summer doing remodel construction, and I am still wondering what this summer will look like for me. I have been settling into our summer home in Tualatin where some friends are letting us stay RENT FREE! God is so faithful. It is the perfect little studio apartment for Jason and I as we process the year together and get some time ALONE after spending 9 long months with 6 people, 2 cats and a dog. Wow. What an experience that was. We learned a lot about patience, kindness, honor, confrontation and love... And probably a bunch of other things I am still not aware of. ha. God is good :) I have learned that no matter what, I will always choose to stand on "God is good". Period. Because He is. I am blown away by the kindness of God.

As we head into the summer and beyond, Jason and I plan on doing one more year at BSSM starting this fall. We are excited to receive more vision for the ministry and call that is ahead of us when we come back to the Portland area after the next school year.

So much ahead... We are all in, and running full force into what God is placing before us.

Blessings, and more to come!

Cierra

San Francisco, here we come!

2011-03-28T23:44:00.000-07:00

We will be off to San Francisco for our mission trip on Thursday morning! It is amazing how time is flying by! We have much to update you all and are excited to fill you in on our happenings. Thank-you for all of your prayers and support for our upcoming mission trip! We were able to pay for the trip in full! Thank-you Jesus!

Please be continuing to pray for us as we head out for our 5 day adventure to the beautiful bay city. Our team will be partnering with "The Promised Land" church and ministering to their staff and ministry school students with prophetic words, preaching, art and music. We will also be doing street ministry in the "tenderloin" section of the city.

Our leaders of our trip are Kristene Mueller-DiMarco and her husband, Jordan DiMarco! (Those of you who are familiar with the Jesus Culture artists will know who Kristene is... and if you don't, look up her music HERE !) :) We are so excited for this privilege and opportunity to share the love of Jesus and serve lots of different kinds of people.

Can't wait to tell you about the trip when we come back!

the art of being

2011-03-05T23:40:00.000-08:00

"come and rest" mixed media by cierra

Jason painting

more to come from Jason :)

acylic art by cierra

photography and collages

Welcoming March

2011-03-01T23:22:00.000-08:00

March is here!

We are excited to see what it will bring.

Mission trip preparations, revelations, beauty, divine appointments perhaps?

What are you hoping for this month? :)

New job for Cierra!

2011-02-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

Praise the Lord!
I now have a job! I am really excited about it. One of our friends in our marriage class is also a Massage Therapist. He works from home and at a spa. He referred me to his manager at the day spa, and the next thing I know, I'm talking to the manager about being an on-call massage therapist! Within the next couple days I gave massages to the manager and the head Massage Therapist, and they both loved me! Hooray!

You can check out my new job on their website: Urban Retreat Spa

Jason has been in contact with a painter who has been trying to transplant his successful business here in Redding, but is finding it a hard task. Pray that he will have favor and that Jason can work for him doing something he loves!

Thank you to all those who have supported us in prayer and financially. We are still asking that you lift us up in prayer in this time!

Blessings,
~C

Full of hope

2011-02-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

We are in an interesting place right now. We are really feeling the weight of no support or income. I (Jason) have been continually applying for jobs and was blessed to be able to do a few days work for an intern at our school who needed some remodeling done. Its like a roller coaster ride every day. We applied for food stamps and they just went through last week, right in the nick of time, so now we don't need to worry about food...praise the Lord! Our phones got shut off this last monday, so we are phone-less. One of the hardest things during this season, since Christmas, is the silence we have felt from friends. Our best friends have remained in close touch but we have heard almost nothing from others that we normally communicate with.

Our relationship as a couple has been strengthening tremendously, but not without moments of perceived despair or conflict caused by growing pains. We are doing a class called Love After Marriage that is put together by a pastoring couple at Bethel and it is AMAZING! It has been super challenging but the tools they use are SO good and the end result is a strengthened relationship with God that is reflected in the marriage. I would look into their material if you are married...i have never seen anything like it (and by seen i mean heard of from our limited perspective of being married only 3 years haha!)! For the class, we meet once a week and are divided into tables of 4 couples, including ourselves. We were selected to lead our table as "table facilitators" and know that God has put an emphasis not only in strengthening our own marriage but in bringing freedom and life to other marriages as well. We are only a few of weeks in and can't wait for more!

Last weekend Cierra and I found ourselves weeping by the closing prayer of Bill Johnson's message. He touched on areas that God has been stirring in our hearts as of late; Authority and Power. Authority is like the badge that a police man wears, signifying that someone higher than him has given him permission to do what he is assigned to do. Authority is given to us as children of God, when we receive Jesus. Power is like the gun that same policeman carries, a practical tool that that can be used in a very impact-full way. Often people think that they are operating in power when they are merely under a corporate anointing that God's grace is on. What Jesus modeled was not simply him, as God, doing miracles by the authority of God. He showed that only our own personal history, or intimacy with the Father is what makes us true living witnesses with power to a real, living God. Power and Purity are one of if not THE life messages of Bill and the need for us to dig our own wells of intimacy with God is of great importance.

The book that we are finishing this week is Heavy Rain, by Kris Vallotton. I could talk about it for hours! As Kris discusses, the Church needs fathers. People who create a family and who put an emphasis on maintaining relationship and not on rules or doctrine. The church also needs teachers and so forth within the 5-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11 and I Corinthians 12:28) in full operation. Check it out!

Fun stuff. We have never felt so full of hope and yet so challenged to express it on a daily basis. God is good. Thanks for listening to our hearts poured out.

" For this reason I bow my knees to my Father ... that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith -that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Ephesians 3:14-21

More than ordinary significance

2011-02-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

Being in what we call "Bethel Culture" has inspired what is already in us to come out, in the most creative and expressive ways I could think of. I painted my first painting just a couple of months ago, and had a blast! Since then I have ventured to create more pieces with mostly acrylic paints. Jason and I have been having so much fun experimenting with art to express our worship to our King. He is, after all, our CreaTOR, who made us creaTIVe beings. He is beautiful, and I love being able to make beautiful things for Him. :) Here are the first couple that I painted.

Getting ready for my very first go at painting. Worship music, canvas, paints and brushes!

Painting each other paintings for our 3rd Anniversary

just the beginning.

California coast weekend

2011-01-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had the privilege to "tour" the coast with one of my best friends! The occasion? Her engagement! I am so excited for her and her new fiance' as they embark on a new journey together! I have the honor to be in their wedding and support this lovely couple. I was able to find a ride to meet her in San Jose. From there we drove to San Louis Obispo to meet her fiance' for dinner, and then we carried on to her sister's place in Santa Barbara. The drive flew by as we chatted away about life. While in Santa Barbara with some of her close friends and family, she tried on a bunch of wedding dresses and me and some of her bridesmaids tried on bridesmaids dresses! After a long day shopping, we said goodbye to her friends and drove right back up to SLO! After spending the night in a garage (haha, that's another story), we continued our journey to her studio apartment in San Francisco. What a cute place she has there! It was fun to galavant around the city and sight see! It was a fun weekend that I won't forget :)

Here are some snapshots...

A little Anthropology

... and David's Bridal

San Francisco!

Oh, H&M..

Our date night in, provided by Trader Joes!

Beautiful Golden Gate Bridge

Jesus HA ahaha

2011-01-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

It was almost 70 degrees outside today!

Cierra and I are constantly overwhelmed with creativity in this culture. Its so much fun...

Here is a piece I painted a few days back...Cierra did an amazing one too, I will have to put that up soon...

God is destroying old mindsets, one of which is a poverty mindset! We now are looking at the world in a completely different way!

Have You Ever Had a Sobering Thought? What About the Opposite?

2011-01-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

It has been exciting this week getting back into the swing of things here in Redding as we dive into school and homework! This week has also been tough on us financially. I have been trying to set up massage appointments for some extra money ( I'm a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist in case you didn't know ;) ) and Jason has been keeping his eyes open for jobs. It has been hard to balance the "rest" that we feel God calling us to and the "responsibilities" of working.

We are in need of monthly support to help pay our bills and groceries. We have decided to stop driving our car and have downgraded our phone plan. School is completely paid off and we just need a little more for our upcoming mission trip in March, $140 for me and $95 for Jason. Praise God! Just yesterday, friends handed us $60 in cash that covered the rest of our utilities for January. We can easily survive on $800-$1000 a month. We are open to your ideas and financial support.

Pride tells me to not ask for support at all, that God will provide no matter what I do. Love compels me to be honest and vulnerable, relying on others. Thank you!

Testimonies! (as shared by Jason)

This last Thursday we hit the streets for our weekly treasure hunt and got to see God touch peoples lives in amazing ways!

We stopped a guy and his wife about to go into a chinese restaurant and after praying for his newly replaced hip we saw his mobility go from a 10 (not very mobile but able to walk with a cain) to a 4! He walked right in to get his food, holding his cain under his arm. They were both encouraged and exclaimed how they felt special that we had stopped just for them.

After praying for a few other people we came across a young guy who asked us if we had any money...which is sorta funny considering the first part of this post! I asked if we could pray for him and he exuberantly said YES! He went on to explain that every time he closes his eyes he sees a pentagram, lifting up his sleeve he revealed a festering red scar where he cuts himself in worship to demons and he then shared with tears in his eyes that his little daughter was being molested by people in the house that he is staying in. My heart broke for this young man and I was burning for love for him as we immediately began to minister to him. The more we prayed the calmer he got but after only a few minutes he quickly excused himself to be able to catch the bus he was waiting for. We watched him run off, knowing that God was not done with him, even if we were for that time. God's love is jealous as the grave!

Have you ever had a sobering thought? For me its often times finances or "the future" or something.

Have you ever had the opposite? For me, its what Jesus did for me on the Cross! HA
I don't have to work for his love. I don't have to try and do "things" for Him. He gives me gifts to play with and joy to make me smile. Once I realize how God sees me, holy, righteous, as royalty...then I stop acting like what I was before I met Jesus, a sinner. HA ha.

Just last night we were invited to a "Jesus Party" at some house we had never been to before. Needless to say we met some amazing people from Oregon and spent about 2 or 3 hours prophesying and ministering to a group of young people in town for JESUS CULTURE.

I painted again last night while listening to Benjamin Dunn. Check out his new album Circus of Love on iTunes! Or go to his website HERE.

Click HERE to donate! Love you guys!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it's 2011?!

For Christmas, Jason and I got the opportunity to spend the holiday with my family in southern California! We had such a wonderful time with my family and extended family on my dad's side. It was fun to watch Jason's responses while we were celebrating with my amazing, loud mexican relatives. Such different family dynamics create so much flavor... I love it! It was great to see family I hadn't seen in a while and a couple of my best friends added a warmth every Christmas should have! It was hard saying goodbye to my family after 10 days of visiting. I don't know if I realized how much I missed them!

It was nice to have a change of pace and be refreshed by the love of my family. For new years, we had a chill dinner with a couple of our new friends from BSSM and counted in the new year with a youtube re-run of New York's celebration. Ahh, the simple life :)

Many Blessings from the both of us to you and your family this new year! We are excited to see what God will bring. :)

c

The Ecstasy of Loving God

2010-12-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

This past Monday my roommate invited me to go with him and his visiting brother-in-law to the local Catholic Christian bookstore here in Redding. I had nothing else going on, so I agreed, bringing with me the latest book I am working on, looking forward to some good reading!

I set my book down on a coffee table and decided to look around for a few minutes at the store. Just from what's on the shelves at this place you can tell this store owner is an active follower of Jesus.

I found myself in the card section and was putting a card back with a cartoon of Jesus "clearing the temple" on a skateboard when a high school aged guy comes up to me and asks if I am the owner of the book about ecstasy. Before I can even answer he then asks me what I think about ecstasy. Having no idea of his background or where he was going with the question I asked him if he wanted my opinion on the greek definition and biblical explanation on ecstasies in God or if he was wondering about what I thought about the street drug. He seemed to get a little bit confused and ended up wandering off as my roommate interrupted with a question about what kind of coffee I was going to get at the cafe there.

For some reason this guy is just drawn to me and after a few minutes he asks me if a want to play guitar with him in the back corner of the store. He introduces himself as Pauly and before I know whats happening, he's jammed out a nirvana song and has his laptop open showing me his favorite skate videos on youtube. After about 30mins of chatting it up, I discover that he is the foster child of the store owner and has only been with their family for about 2 weeks.

He keeps wanting to talk about this "super hawt chic" at this new youth group that he is going to but I start sharing with him some testimonies of what God has been doing in my life recently. I go on to share how God totally showed up on a recent treasure hunt (see past blogs about what a treasure hunt is if you're in the dark) and how two random guys at a disc golf course got to encounter the love of God through prayer and prophecy recently. After a few minutes I ask him if he knew Jesus and he kinda didn't know how to respond. I then proceeded to ask him if he wanted to. He admitted being curious but didn't really know what to do with Jesus. I got so excited, I started explaining the power of forgiveness and all the things that God has done in my life as I've learned to walk in forgiveness! I then shared how Jesus was the ultimate model of forgiveness and what He had done for us through his death and resurrection.

I asked him how he was doing, to which he replied that his heart was beating out of his chest. I told him mine was too...and that's because the Holy Spirit was right there with us! By this point my friends were signaling me that they were ready to leave, to which I was trying to signal back "just 5 more minutes!" Looking Pauly in the eye I asked him if he wanted to follow me in prayer to meet Jesus. He said yes!!! After we were done you could tell he was deeply shaken and not really sure what to do next. I had time for just a few more minutes of encouragement as they were in the process of closing the book store down for the evening.

Looking back on that afternoon I had no idea that I would be heading into an Jesus encounter with a high schooler. God is so creative. The Holy Spirit totally used Pauly's curiosity in a book about ecstasies in God to lead him into an introduction to Jesus! Praise God...

Then!... just today, four of us went downtown to bring some clothes to a person we had befriended on a street corner when salvation broke out again! As we handed Willy his new pair of jeans and a coat we started chatting with another guy there who was clearly inebriated and looking a little worse for wear. Within about 5 minutes of us being there he begins to share his life story with one of our crew, Philip, who faithfully listened to him pour out his heart. Phil then began to prophesy love and life into the guy and within 20 minutes he has led him to the Lord!!

Its safe to say that momentum has been building in our hunger to see people encounter Jesus in a tangible way. True love, real love is as strong as death and His jealousy as fierce as the grave. Cierra and I both are on a journey to see the true potential of love stirred up in us for others.

p.s.s Thank you to all who have sent support! God is such a good provider! These testimonies belong to you as much as they are ours!!!

Blessed

2010-11-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

It's a blustery overcast Saturday and I am sitting on my bed, looking out my window with a heart of thankfulness. My heart is in awe of a God who loves me and cares about every detail of my life. He is good. Jason and I have our tuition PAID IN FULL!! Yeah God! God is so amazing and faithful! We are so blessed to have friends like many of you who are deciding to be a part of what God is doing in our lives. We believe that God will bless those who invest! So, BLESSINGS to you! :) What seemed impossible, God has made possible through wonderful people like you. Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts. We have no doubt that God will continue to provide for our monthly needs and our mission trip to San Francisco in March 2011.

It all seems so appropriate with Thanksgiving coming up this week! We are excited to spend this wonderful holiday with Jason's immediate family at his Aunt and Uncle's beautiful home in Roseburg, Oregon. All of our roommates will be joining us as well! It will truly be a celebration of thankfulness. We love this time of year as we celebrate many things, including Jason and I's 3rd wedding anniversary on the 24th, and Jason's twenty-fifth birthday on the 29th!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend reflecting on the things you are thankful for in your life. :)

fluff balls

2010-11-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

One of the things that took quite a bit adjusting to when we first got to Redding was moving in our two cats, Zao and Bella in with our roommate's dog, Kipper. It was amusing at first, watching both of our cats in the crate hiss and growl at Kipper who seemed to almost drool looking at them through the crate's gated door. Poor Kip seemed so confused as it seemed like he wasn't sure if he wanted to chase them or eat them.

After a little over a month of carrying their crate up and down the stairs to get the animals used to each other, they are now finally able to co-exist together!! Hallelujah! Having their litter in our room got old really fast as well as carrying that huge crate up and down the stairs! Jason and I felt like we were carrying a little prince and princess on their coach. Yea. Hopefully never again. We love them, but not that much.

Here are our little cuties..

Zao (We also call him The Fluff)

Bella

When they were kittens

One of their favorite spots at the top of the stairs

Kipper and Bella on my lap :)

Believe and Read!

2010-11-15T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today we finished sending out all of our support letters. Whew! Jason and I are excited to see how God will come through for us. He always does. The rest of tuition is due this week and we had a $900 balance! This past weekend money has been trickling in.. God is good! We still owe about $700 more. Jason and I are learning to rejoice and thank God before He comes through with the faith to know that He will! It's exciting really.

While we are believing God for our finances, we are reading away for our homework. I personally have never read so much in my entire life! I am not a big reader, so this year is stretching me a lot in this area. It's all really awesome material, so I am really enjoying the hard work. Of course, Jason is loving it and is ahead in all the reading. He's my little book worm. :)

Here are a few of the books we are reading:

We need your support!

2010-11-10T12:09:00.000-08:00

Family and Friends!

Everyday is an adventure for Cierra and I, here in Redding California at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry as God has been moving radically both in our hearts and through our hands. The first day of our outreach Treasure Hunt (*See our blog entry labeled "Enthusiasm") class, Cierra and her team encountered some people in downtown Redding who were preforming Reiki (a form of new age energy therapy where practitioners are able to heal himself and others, with the use of specialised symbols). They were able to engage in conversation with two of the onlookers after asking what they were doing. "They are doing Reiki. They are able to find all the parts of the body that need healing and heal it." The girl said. Cierra and her team started to explain that they were on a hunt to find people on their "treasure maps" and that they were able to do the same thing, but with a God who loves them! Soon they were able to talk with them and see the girl's uneven leg grow out! They also prayed for her decaying tooth and hurting back, which they did not see healed right away, but are believing God to continue to touch her. Now, we are excited about the opportunity to be sent out on an upcoming short term mission trip, both by Bethel International and by YOU.

The heart and passion here at Bethel International is to raise up a generation of world changers that will be known simply for their reckless abandonment to see that Jesus is Lord in all the nations. As we are building relationships with various regions around the world one of the main goals that we have is to make the nations look like geniuses. The strategy is go to and raise up influencers in their own nations so they begin to run with the inheritance that God has given them to transform their nation. All of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry trips are partnered with Bethel International’s vision for transforming nations.

The trip that Cierra and I will be a part of will be partnering with the Promised Land Fellowship in downtown San Francisco, whose goal is to transform the community around them through Christ’s radical love and power. We will be equipping the leaders and members of this ministry with tools that they can take out into the streets in their area. We will spend much of our time on these same streets ministering along side these individuals.

We really want you to be a part of what God will be doing through our hands on this trip to San Fran. We are asking you to consider sowing into our lives. Cierra and I both know that the greatest impact comes from people who respond to God. We need both your prayers and your money but we trust that any giving will be done with joy and not out of obligation. No gift is too small! We are still in need for our final tuition payment and cannot attend this trip unless it is paid off. We are also in need of monthly support in this season.

Financial gifts may be made online at ibssm.org (There is also a link on the right side of the blog). You may specify whether it is for the mission trip or towards school tuition. This gift is tax-deductible and you will receive a statement at the end of the year for your tax records. If you wish your gift to be anonymous, please check the anonymous box. This will allow you to receive an end of year statement, but will not allow us as students to see your name. This gift is non-refundable, and if for any reason a team member or team does not go, the money will support another mission trip sponsored by Bethel Church. (If online payment is not an option, donations can be mailed to Bethel Church Attn: Bethel International 933 College View Dr. Redding, CA 96003.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and be a part of the amazing things that God will be doing through us! We love and value who you are and pray that your life would be invaded with the love of Jesus today and in days to come.

Much love and blessings,

Jason and Cierra

Dead Dead Dead Dead

2010-11-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed!

Within the last month:

-our car has sold, providing us with money to live for the next month or so!
-money has come in the mail and through visitors and friends at exactly when it's needed (for rent, food, etc.)
-we are seeing life changing miracles on a daily basis and experiencing them through our hands on a weekly basis.
-I (Jason) now have a part-time job.
-we are seeing huge breakthrough in our growing relationships with our room mates.

I will recount a highlight from just a few days ago.

Brad, Ton and myself were about to sit down for a game of farkle at our dinning room table when the Holy Spirit had other plans and from Stephanie's prompting we launched into the mother-of-all conversations. We hit topics such as eschatology (end times, book of Revelation), security of salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit and identity in Christ. It was heavy...in the best possible sense!

At one point we were talking about how, as believers our old sinful nature is dead. How, when we accept Jesus into our lives, our old self and original desire to sin are dead, leaving us righteous and in right standing with God. We are no longer "sinners, saved by grace" but "paid for, righteous and pursuing holiness".

This means we are dead.

dead dead dead dead.

When we sin and think,"it's just my flesh" we are necromancing. We are bringing back to life something that is already dead and should be left dead.

Romans 6:1-4 "What then shall we say? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 4) and when we sin its not our original intent. We are in a battle against a mouse with a megaphone. The enemy has no power except what we give him.

So, as we are all sitting around our table, letting this revelation sink in, Stephanie suddenly says,"I feel this poking pain in my side, like I am being stabbed."

We all just sit there, knowing that the Holy Spirit is doing something but at that point, not sure what. Then, the Lord shows me a picture of him on the cross and all 7 places that he was afflicted with pain before succumbing to death. Jesus was pierced in his side. Why? This is what the soldiers did to verify that Jesus was dead. Indeed, he was dead.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit was reminding Stephanie that she is dead. How cool is that!!!??

The night went on and what had started at about 10:30pm was not done until about 2:30am. The Holy Spirit is looking to touch people and He loves to move through those who are willing.

Are you bringing back to life something that is really dead?? Be dead, stay dead and be alive in Christ.

Prophecy and Encounter

2010-10-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

This week is prophecy impartation and activation week!

Frightening? Somewhat.

Necessary? Absolutely!

"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy."
1 Corinthians 14:1

Prophecy is needed to edify and build up the church in order for people to live out their destiny, walking in love and power.

Today during class, every person stood from there seat, turned to the left, placed their hands on the person in front of them and asked Holy Spirit what He wanted to show this person. The best part is...you don't have to work hard to get something! The goal is to build up. Some people see pictures with their inner eye, others get words, some just get an impression or a feeling. God is looking to show His love and is looking for open vessels to pour through.

Another revelation we are walking out is the concept of experiencing God. I had never thought about it before, but it makes complete sense that if you have an encounter with a God with as much power as our God has, then you may have a physical response to Him.

We see a lot of people encountering God here. People shaking, contorting, laughing, crying, dancing, spinning, rolling, yelling, etc. If we really believe that God is a good God and full of joy have we experienced it? Have we laughed out loud for no other reason then because God touched us in some way?

All this to say, read Acts 2 and you will get an idea of what any given day looks like at our school. There is plenty of joy, a bunch of drunkenness in the Holy Spirit and an abundance of love to be shared with the lost and broken both in the world and in the church.

Stay tuned! Cierra has an amazing testimony of Gods provision that she will share soon!

Crazy Love

2010-09-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Week two of school...DONE!

Cierra and I are just beginning to feel settled in and school is rocking our faces off in the best possible way.

There is no possible way to capture what we are experiencing through writing but I will try.

Our school is so outside the box, we are still trying to figure it out ourselves. We usually have about an hour or so of worship every day and then slip into the most amazing teaching I have ever heard. Bethel values the presence of God above everything else. If they sense that God wants to do something throughout the student body then we end up following the Spirit to whatever end He takes us. Often times worship ends with people laying hands on each other and asking God for breakthrough and declaring His love and goodness.

God made us to experience His love and goodness. Joy is a byproduct of freedom. We were created to laugh merely at the thought of the goodness of God. One of the greatest weapons of spiritual warfare is Joy...wow!

Every friday finds us in our Revival Group of about 65 people (as opposed to the 800 students we are surrounded by the rest of the week) exploring the practical application of what our hearts have been learning. By the end of our very first Revival Group half of us were on the floor, rolling in laughter with pockets of people prophesying over each other. When you are full of love, there is no fear.

The biggest part of our learning takes place away from class...its completely counter-institutional! There is no such thing as just doing your studying and reading to get on with the rest of the day. We are learning as a couple and as a house how to bring the presence of God with us wherever we go. It's good to be able to pray together, laugh and discuss all the new things that are going on in school. God has already touched our hearts in a deep way through different encounters with His Glory!

Pray for that God would give us amazing jobs that pay us way too much!

We have dwindling funds and no income to speak of for the moment.

So far we have received one gift in the mail and we are encouraged by how much God really is in control.

Cierra and I were able to pray for a man from southern Oregon who was visiting Bethel Church at their friday night service and see his back and ribs almost completely healed! He was no longer able to feel the pain that had plagued him for years and had gained mobility in his back. We are contending that it will be a solid 100% soon!

God is crazy about us and just has the wildest, amazing thoughts about us.

He has clothed me with righteousness

2010-09-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 61:10 (New King James Version)

¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
      My soul shall be joyful in my God;
      For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
      He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
      As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
      And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Since being here, I have felt a bit antsy, and for a few days almost a bit irritated. I noticed myself feeling and acting that way and went to the Lord about it. I knew there was a lie that I was believing that the enemy was trying to get me to believe. Alone, I asked Papa God (He's my Father, and I like to call Him Papa :) ) If there was a lie that I was believing. I didn't hear an answer. I asked again. No answer. Then I asked if there was something in between Him and I. "Yes." I heard clearly. "What is it?" I asked. He then showed me clothes in front of me (super cute ones, I might add) blocking my view from Papa. I desire for nothing to be in between God and I, especially after experiencing such closeness and freedom in His presence. At the moment I wasn't sure exactly what the wall of clothes meant, but I had a feeling in my gut that it was a right representation of whatever was going on inside. "Jesus, will you help me tear down this wall?" Immediately the wall of clothes tore down in front of me and I froze. My heart felt naked and then I started to feel tingles run down from my head to my toes and I started to cry. "What do you have for me instead Papa?" I asked feeling helpless. He then took me and began dressing me with new clothes and accessories that He had for me. Everything He put on me was beautiful and had almost a glow to them. As he put on each piece of clothing He proclaimed what He was adorning me with..."Righteousness... Peace... Patience... Kindness... Strength... The Father's glory... Beauty... Love..."

I realized that I was letting insecurity and fear set in. When I went to the Father, He gave me an encounter with Him! He is so amazingly sweet and kind. As a friend recently said in an email she sent,

"He longs for us to run to His arms, to spill out our pain, and there is ALWAYS healing in His words.DO NOT FEAR that HE is weary of your coming to Him. There is healing just in being in His presence, He will speak words of comfort over you... Bring your pain."

It isn't worth holding onto pride, fear, pain or hurt. Give it to Jesus! I promise, He won't let you down. Let Him clothe you...

Settling in

2010-09-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

We are SO blessed!
I can hardly believe we are here in Redding already. Everything seemed to fly by. We are living with 2 other couples in a townhouse with 2 cats and a dog... i know, it sounds crazy. It is actually working quite well. As couples, I think we compliment each other well. One couple is from Holland (or The Netherlands). Their names are Ton (pronounced tone) and Rianne. Rianne loves to cook, and she is absolutely wonderful at it. She has made up a bunch of stuff already for us to eat, and our bellies have been more than satisfied. Then there is Brad and Stephanie from Michigan! They are an awesome couple with fiery passion for God! They have their dog, Kipper who is a super cute vizsla. Kipper is a good dog who is unfortunately allergic to mostly everything, including cats and human dander. His allergic reactions have gotten worse since being here. Since none of us have jobs yet, we can't really spend any extra money. Extra vet trips are hard to afford. So if you think about him, please pray for lil Kip's healing.

Jason and I are looking for jobs, and hopefully will get them before school starts next week. I can't believe school starts NEXT WEEK!! Since arriving here, I feel like I am just waiting for school to start already. Bethel, the church we are going to, has weekend services that we will be attending. We have already been to 3 services. It is really exciting to be with such a large group of people that are passionately seeking Jesus. We already feel God moving in us and challenging us, and school hasn't even begun!

Please pray for Jason and I as we set an example of Christ's love through our marriage.
Pray that we not allow the enemy to get a foothold.
Pray for jobs and finances!

Made it!

2010-08-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

We are now excitedly unpacking our stuff and replanting our lives. The 7 hour drive down flew by and now we have about 2 weeks before the school officially starts.

We are blessed to have my mom helping us get settled down. Its been super fun to get to know our Dutch roommates and we are excited for our Michigan roomies to be here tomorrow.

Pray that we are able to find a job amidst a 16% unemployment rate in the city.

We also got an awesome surprise blessing from my aunt and uncle while passing through Roseburg...Yay!

Cornerstone Chiropractic

2010-08-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my (Cierra) last day of work at Cornerstone Chiropractic. It is an amazing office. What makes it so amazing is the people. Mostly the Jesus in people. I have had the privilege to work under an Amazing Doctor, who genuinely loves his patients and employees. It has been incredible to watch him day in and day out, take care of hundreds and hundreds of patients, with the consistency and love. He is also known for his ridiculous achievements in 100 mile marathons, iron man races, and recently placed 8th in an Ultra-Man race that just happened in Canada. It's insane. Look it up http://ultramanlive.com/. Somehow he convinced me to run a little 5k last year... well, I ran/walked it anyway. (How pathetic am I? Sheesh!) It was a fun experience that our whole office participated in. Maybe I will get motivated to do it again someday...

My fellow employees are also just fantastic. Amazing people with different gifts that contribute to making Cornerstone the great place that it is. People have said many times that it is not only a place they come to get physical healing, but emotional and spiritual healing too. I have learned a lot from each of them, and am excited to come back to visit :)

Getting to know the patients has been an experience I won't forget. They became friends too, and I will miss them as well.

God has blessed me beyond my expectations, and I am truly, truly thankful.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we may ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church (bride of Christ) and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen"

Ephesians 3:20-21

Visit Cornerstone Chiropractic's website! : http://cornerstonechiropractic.com/

The staff

And a few special patients....

4 days left

2010-08-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Only 4 more days left in Oregon. We are still packing and our place looks like a gross bachelor pad! Friends have come by to help take the things out that we are getting rid of or are storing here. We have been spending a lot of time with our friends, soaking in the moments before we say goodbye for a short while. My last day of work is tomorrow and I am saying goodbye to fellow employee friends and patients that have become friends. It has been such a great place for me to work. Amazing boss, amazing people, great atmosphere We are growing in excitement and anticipation as we draw nearer to going to school. We will be entering into a new season of growth and newness in our lives!

PD!

2010-08-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Jason's mom ( I call her Mamma T ) took us into Portland to get us our new addition to the family - a bicycle! We had fun looking around and found the leads off craigslist. We found our bike and named him PD Xavier ( After PDX ) and call him PD for short ( sounds like pee-dee ). Thank you Mamma T!!

The Ember Days EP

2010-08-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

The Ember Days FREE MUSIC download from Come and Live!

Awesome ambient worship from a New Zealand band. We love it.

Click on the link to download:

http://www.comeandlive.com/downloads/

Pack Pack Pack

2010-08-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

Our poor apartment is an explosion of packing chaos.

With every detail we check off our list in preparation for moving, four more seem to sprout up in its place. We are just now starting to experience some "lasts" in this season of transition. This last Sunday night was our final night of Elements high school ministries, this Sunday was Cierra's last morning of singing with the worship team and I'm sure there are more to come in the following weeks.

We are already beginning to miss friends and family...and we haven't even left the state yet!

Pray for:

-Finances. We have enough money for the first part of our tuition payment and are believing God to provide the money we need to be able to cover moving expenses.
-That God would prepare our hearts to receive ALL that He has for us in this coming season.
-That God would begin to set in motion the calling He has for us...after BSSM.
-That there would be grace in closure for this season.

check it!

2010-08-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

-Set moving date to Redding... check!

-Re-paint walls... check!

-Write handwritten notice to apartment management of departure... check!

-Pay 1st deposit for BSSM... check!

-Get rid of unneeded stuff... hmm, still working on that one.

-Plan strategic time to spend with friends... check, and checking! :)

This is only a fraction of my huge to-do list that we are in the process of checking off and adding more things to daily! Only 27 more days till we hit the road with a trailer full of our things and excitement in our bones to Redding, California! It is coming up fast, but I feel unusually calm and confident. God has reassured me and reassured me of His faithfulness and provision in my life. He is a good Daddy and only has excellent things for me! :) Why waist time stressing out when I can enjoy myself in the arms of the One who has everything under control? It's a good trade. My control, for His peace. I love it.

Jason and I are doing our best to plan for our next big adventure, practically, emotionally and spiritually. Initially it feels like a lot to give over to God, but when you do, it's the easiest thing in the world. We are looking forward to walking out the journey, one day at a time.

So about that checklist... There are a few things we are trying to get rid of so we don't have to haul it to Redding! Here are a few, if you would like to buy any of it from us, or know of anyone who would want any of it, let us know!! All monies would go toward our school fund! Thanks!

2 dining chairs w/ blue slip cover

32" t.v. (and stand too, if you want it!)

dvd player

5' tall silk palm tree

Love,

us!
(We are not for sale)

Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry

2010-07-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

We are learning to love God.

We are learning to love others.

God is now taking us on a journey to unlock the inheritance that we have as royalty and children of Him. We are now learning the level of power that is available to us through what Jesus did on the cross, out of love.

Cierra and I are going all in.

God has opened the door for us to attend Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California this coming September. We are SUPER stoked!!! This school plays host to an international crowd of individuals seeking the Kingdom of God in love and power. It is a ministry school with an option of attending up to three years with the core of the curriculum being accomplished in the first two. We are committed to the first year for sure and will see if God calls us to a second one.

We have talked about wanting to attend something like BSSM (Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry) on and off since we have been married. It hasn't been until this last year that God has burdened our hearts with wanting to move in this direction. It has only been through personal supernatural encounters of God's relentless love that we find ourselves hungering for more, with a desire to lead others into that same place.

This last two and a half years of marriage have been phenomenal and we are sad to move away from such close and dearly loved friends, here in the Portland area. Thankfully God has given us a heart for this area and we know we are called back here after a short ministry school experience.

Cierra and I would be honored if you would pray for us through this upcoming season. We have seen the power of prayer and if we were to ask for one thing from the ones we love, it would be for whatever prayers God lays on your heart for us. We will try and give more specifics as things progress but sometimes words are not enough to express what the Spirit wants to do...so we trust that He will lead.

Second to prayer would be financial support. If you feel like God has placed on your heart a desire to help in a financial sense then we will provide details to do that also. Guilt is never a good reason to give and we expect nothing wether from family or friends but a sincerity and excitement to give what they can from both heart and from pocket.

Cierra and I will be moving at the end of August and are super excited to be rooming with 2 other young married couples our age in a townhouse. One couple is from Michigan and one from Holland...who knows the crazy stories that will come out of this one! We will be five minutes from Bethel Church were the school is located and within walking distance to a mall and an assortment of shops.

We are truly thankful for all of our friends and family and would love to include you in what God is doing in our lives. We feel all your love and support and we couldn't do any of this without you! We will post more details shortly. Feel free to email us or catch us in some way to share your thoughts or questions!

Summer is here!

2010-07-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

Life continues to fly by, as we have celebrated America's independence, the beautiful summer weather, Justin and Melissa's wedding and my family coming up for a visit! Life is good and it keeps us busy :) enjoy some snapshots...

The drive-in

new patio table!!

being silly..

joy

new friends :)

Melissa's bachelorette

Happy 4th!

waterfront park Portland, Oregon

Mr. and Mrs. Nichols!!

blue bridesmaids :)

mi familia :)

my family visit us in Portland!

The Montage with my fam!

Sarah and the 'rents :)

Friendship-in-Love

2010-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

"Guys... I have been thinking about you all week. I am friendship-in-love with you!" is what my best friend said out of a revelation she had after going a few days without seeing us.

God has been truly amazing by blessing me with such special friends. After moving here permanently with Jason at the end of 2007 to Oregon, I felt a huge hole. Leaving my family and best friends in southern California wasn't easy. It only took a couple months for it to really hit me that no one but my husband really knew me. Yikes. I couldn't have made it the first year being married and living in Oregon without, of course, my amazing husband and my new family, the Wortmans. They are truly God's gift to me. What an amazing family that I married into! It's been two and a half years now since Jason and I have been married and living in Oregon. Crazy how time flies! God has confirmed that Oregon is my home. He has given me a heart for the Portland area and has given me a new family... And just because God is so amazing, He has rekindled old friendships and has made them closer than ever!

Melissa and I grew up together after her mom
had practically brought her to our doorstep, looking for a babysitter. My mom accepted the "babysitting offer" and that is when we were forced to become best friends... Okay, not really, because I really do love Melissa, but really. If it weren't for My Aunt Mary's boldness, we may not have even known the other existed! Our parents became close friends and we did too. So close, in fact we call each other's parents, Aunt and Uncle. Melissa's family moved from our neighborhood when we were 4, but we still kept in contact via snail mail. She was my first "pen pal". Fast forward 17 years to Jason and I's wedding day. Melissa was of course in my wedding, and meets a certain gentleman, Justin Nichols (one of Jason's best men). Jason and I move to Oregon immediately after our wedding, and a year later Melissa follows :) She and Justin fall in love and are getting married this summer! Jason and I have grown close to the couple and marvel at how God set the whole thing up.

Then there is the amazing Sarah. Sarah and I met in high school, and immediately clicked. Her passion for God, life and music inspired and attracted me to her. After high school, I hadn't heard from or seen her in a while. I had gone on a DTS with YWAM in New Zealand, and shortly after I came back, she left to do the same thing in Mexico. 2 years later, we reconnected! Sarah was also part of my wedding, using her beautiful voice and talent for strumming the guitar during our ceremony. About 2 years later, after much prayer, she felt like God was leading her to move up to Oregon too. I would have NEVER thought that we would both wind up in Oregon, pursuing our passions and sharing our lives together!

I am truly thankful for such amazing friends! We have all become close friends who pray for each other, keep one another accountable, share with and do life with. You know we have gotten close when just a couple days go by and we miss each other. We are friends. We are community. We are family. We are "friendship-in-love".

Enthusiasm

2010-05-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Main Entry: en·thu·si·asm

Pronunciation: \in-ˈthü-zē-ˌa-zəm, en-, also -ˈthyü-\

Function: noun

Etymology: Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein to be inspired, irregular fromentheos inspired, from en- + theos god

Date: 1603

1 a : belief in special revelations of the Holy Spirit b : religious fanaticism
2 a : strong excitement of feeling : ardor energy and enthusiasm>b : something inspiring zeal or fervor s include sailing and fishing>

synonyms see passion

This is the word we were told to look up by an agnostic after we prayed for him and his family on the sidewalk.

Before I go into the details of that divine appointment let me give some context. Yesterday was the last "official" LifeGroup meeting for the sophomore guys and girls that Cierra and I each meet with separately. We wanted to do some sort of special event for our last night and decided to join our two groups together for a treasure hunt.

By 6:30 yesterday the stage was set for a night of radical encounters and life changing prayer. After a few minutes of worship and soaking in Gods presence the 12 of us each grabbed a notecard and began to write down God's response to," God, show me details and give me clues about who you want to touch and love tonight."

We broke into teams of 3 students and 1 leader per team and jumped in the car to head to Bridgeport Village, outdoor mall. My team of Carli, Matthew and Ryan headed towards the middle of Bridgeport, since we had water, fire and a few other "clues" that indicated this might be a good location to start. After about 15 or twenty minutes of wandering around with no one being highlighted from our list I remembered one item from Carli's list was "light", which took us to Z Gallery.

Right in the middle of Z Gallery were two young women looking at a chandelier...LIGHT! We went up and told them we were doing a treasure hunt and that we thought they might be on our list. Only one or two things on the list matched but I then told them I believed that God had highlighted them and asked if they needed prayed for anything. They both turned to each other, gave each other a high five and in a sing-songy way said,"Halo!" They then told us about how they were in the middle of a week of fasting and praying for job and financial breakthrough in their lives...and we had showed up to pray for them! Next, under the twinkly display lights of the store we prayed for favor in their jobs and financial breakthrough and freedom to be able to give and bless with their money.

Now that we had broken the ice for the night we were excited for whatever God had next!

We found ourselves at the back entrance of Borders when a lady wearing yellow shoes and a yellow cardigan walked past us and into the store. Again I turned to Carli and asked what was on her list.

Yellow!

I knew it! As a group we ran to track down our "yellow" lady and almost lost her in the rows of book displays. We asked if she could help us on our treasure hunt and told her that we thought maybe God was highlighting her for some reason. After looking through all our "treasure maps" she identified with a number of things on each one!

From Ryans list:

-"apple red" she was a teacher and identified with the iconic apple association with teachers.

-"dark rock" she was wearing a bracelet with the center piece made of a dark colored stone.

From Carli's list:

-"yellow" she had a very cute yellow centric outfit on.

From Matthew's list (if I remember right...)

-"water" her favorite element.

From my list:

-"horses" she used to raise miniature horses

She told us she hadn't been to church in a long time, no one had prayed for her in a long while and that she had been having extremely bad headaches the last few months which was making teaching 1st and 2nd grade a challenge...to say the least! She was open to us praying for her right then and there so we took advantage of the opportunity. Sickness does not come from God, so we agreed with God's plan for wellness in her life and prayed blessing and encouragement over her. You could tell she was very touched by the time we said goodbye.

Our final encounter was at the very end our night and was motivated by Matthew's zeal to find a person having to do with his "pizza" word of knowledge. Rounding the corner with the California Pizza Kitchen in view we saw a family of four (with one on the way) coming out from dinner. We didn't need much more motivation after quickly looking at my list and seeing my clue "soon to be mother" at the top.

We all ran across the street and asked if they had moment to talk. I kid you not, the very first thing out of the mans lips were,"Yeah, as long as you are not trying to sell us religion..."

I just smiled and said,"You're going to laugh..." and then went on to explain how we believed that God had highlighted his family and asked if there was any way we could pray for them.

The SECOND thing he said to us was,"Pray that we all stay safe from Joseph Smith". This was the agnostic guy that I had began to tell about at the beginning of this story and it was pretty clear that he was suffering from some pretty deep wounds that religion had caused him and most likely though a false representation of Christ through the LDS church.

Somehow he was still humoring us with his attention and the soon to be mother just looked on, almost encouragingly of us. We showed him our "maps" and there were a few matches like his recently fixed busted leg which was on my list and "yellow" from Cari's and "pizza" from Matthews. Again he surprised us by agreeing to be prayed for right then and there.

Matthew boldly led us in prayer but was interrupted half way through by the guy after praying for financial stability in their family. Apparently they were "well off" and had no need what-so-ever in the financial department. Not a bit phased, Matthew acknowledged the guys retort and then bowed his head and kept on praying blessing and protection over their family.

In parting, God spoke prophetically through this man as he thanked us and told us to look up the etymology and definition of "enthusiasm".

Meanwhile in my (Cierra) group!...

Our group consisted of AJ, Nicole, Emma M and I. Our first encounter found us in the Banana Republic store because of a location clue on Emma's "treasure map". After not finding anyone in the store that matched our list we were asked if we needed any help from a store employee. After explaining our treasure hunt he seemed almost disappointed that he wasn't on the list. We still had the opportunity to pray for him and bless him before moving on to the rest of the night.

Next we met a guy in the music section of Borders who, after talking to him, told us he had discomfort in his wrist, which was on my "map". We prayed for healing in his wrist and that the pain would leave. After praying, we wondered down to the cafe section of Borders and ran into the "wrist guy" again who indicated we should talk to the woman behind the counter.

She showed interest in what we were doing and was open to our desire to pray for her. Emma M prayed for her upcoming tests and college in general. She stated an interest in checking out Grace Chapel this coming summer after discovering that we knew a friend of hers that attends there as well. By this point we had eyed a guy in the corner of the cafe wearing a pinstriped shirt, which was on my list.

Nicole and I approached him and were greeted with openness as we explained our lists and what we were doing. He identified with "frog" on Nicole's list and explained that he lives near a park where he can hear frogs every night. We discovered that he is actually a neighbor of mine and Jason's! Whoa! He said we could pray for his upcoming job change, so we did and he seemed blessed.

At this point AJ was pretty set on finding the person on his list who would be wearing a blue (maybe black...) shirt, jeans and a large belt buckle as we walked through the Container Store. We spotted a potential "treasure" with a particularly large belt buckle and I sent AJ and Nicole to talk to him once he was off his cell phone. Emma and I approached a middle aged woman elsewhere in the store. Emma graciously explained what we were doing and after identifying with clues on both our lists, opened up to share that her father was currently in the hospital with Leukemia and not expected to live very much longer. We prayed for her dad and their whole family situation, asking that God would bring her peace, comfort and show her love in the midst of this trial. With tears in her eyes she thanked us with a hug and shared how perfect the timing was.

AJ and Nicole lost their "suspect" as he couldn't get reception on his phone and hurriedly left the store. However, outside the store the four of us ran into a couple with a guy who had on blue jeans, a blue jacket and a large belt buckle. Although they didn't have any specific prayer requests after we explained our mission we ended up just praying a prayer of blessing and moved on. It seemed like we planted a seed of hope even though they didn't really outwardly respond.

Our final encounter of the night was an exciting one!

We ran into three women and handed our "treasure map" cards to them to see if they identified with anything there. Amazingly, they seemed to relate to the majority of our clues and one lady was even ok with us praying for her broken toes and her messed up knee. The women felt a little bit awkward after I asked how her knee and toes were feeling, as if somehow I had "failed" with my prayer of healing. I went on to explain that my role was not to heal but simply to ask for healing in the name of Jesus and even to expect it. I told them that God loves them very much and it wasn't a coincidence that we had run into them that night.

When you are a fanatical lover of Jesus and His people, the Holy Spirit loves to reveal the Fathers heart to seek out the lost and broken...even if we are too broken to seek Him first.

Are you living a life of freedom that results in love?

Free?

2010-05-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

SOZO: VERB

1 a: to save b: to heal c: to deliver
2: to save a suffering one, to make well, heal, to deliver from penalties of the Messianic judgment

SO, WHAT IS SOZO?

The Sozo ministry is a unique inner healing and deliverance ministry in which the main aim is to get to the root of those things hindering your personal connection with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus with a healed connection with Father, Son and Holy Spirit you can walk in the destiny to which you have been called.

Sozo is an inner healing/deliverance ministry
Sozo is simple, fast, Spirit led and effective
Sozo finds issues in minutes instead of years
Sozo helps heal your relationship with God to enable you to fulfill your destiny

(borrowed from http://www.bethelsozo.com/)

Do you hear from the Father? How about from Jesus? The Holy Spirit? They are all one but each with a distinct voice.

What if we asked God to speak to us? What if we then waited and expected an answer? What if all the "self talk" and "thought imagery" that we called our "imagination" was more than just that.

I propose that our thoughts and mental impressions come from one of three places biblically.

God (either directly or through angelic activity)
satan (mosty demonically since satan is not omnipresent)
Self

One of the most amazing experiences in the world is being a part of someone hearing from the Lord. Cierra and I are so blessed to experience His presence in such a tangible way every week with the Sozo ministry we are a part of! Check out the Co-Labor Ministries website...

www.colaborministries.org

Lets start asking God what He really thinks of us, throw out any lies we are believing about Him and start living a life defined by how God sees us and not by how we view ourselves.

Are you living Free?

Jesus

2010-04-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

Three months of no work. I (Jason) find it super weird to have so much free time. I find myself, reading, playing computer games, worshiping and devouring sermons, podcasts and documentaries at an alarming rate.

Revival fire is in my veins. I just don't know what to do with it.

God gave me a word of knowledge today at church.

It was the "super bowl sunday" of sunday mornings...easter. It started like most. Cierra left early for worship practice, leaving me to embrace the morning at my own speed and cadence. I arrived at church about 30 mins before kick-off, greeted a handful of people and then proceeded to the little aquarium of a prayer room we have, where every person in the sanctuary can see you sitting next to the larger-than-life tile mosaic cross leaning against the wall.

I spent a few minutes outwardly verbalizing the conversation I'd started early that morning with Jesus. He is such a rad friend. I was joined by our churches ruggedly handsome, Scottish intercessor, Scottie. Its good to share air space with a guy like this. It blesses me every time. During this time I had missed a call from an old friend, so i quickly exited the "aquarium room" and ran outside to see if i could catch him with a call back. I did and then proceeded inside, as the service was just starting.

The worship was wonderful and Cierra sang beautifully. Our fearless pastor gave a really amazing sermon, complete with illustrations and only a few awkward comments about his wife. It was coming down to the end of the "fourth quarter" in the service and we were wrapping things up with a few worship songs. Towards the end of the last song I get this feeling like something is happening on the right side of my peripheral vision.

Thats when it happened.

It litteraly happened in a heartbeat as a moved my head only slightly to my right. It felt like the after-image you sometimes get when you look at a bright light and then close your eyes suddenly. In the moment it took to move my head a few inches to the right i clearly saw the outlined image of the man across the isle from me, worshiping. This outlined replica of the man was about 2 feet taller then the man himself and he had the worlds best posture, shoulders back and chest out, exuding confidence. The impression i was getting from God, was that the man had some sort of back problem or injury and that God wanted to straighten him out.

Think back to that one time when, upon arriving at your good friends house for dinner you are warmly greeted at the door with a hug and the pleasant aromas of dinner, just out from the oven. You feel all warm inside and as if that wasn't enough, they hand you a glass of wine to keep you company until all the rest of the guests arrive. Now, in anticipation of this very meal now teasing your senses you had decided to completely skip lunch. No big deal. But in the comfortable presence of your friends you had already nearly finished that same entire glass of wine with little to nothing in your poor little tummy. You start to feel a little "warm" as the alcohol begins to run its course through your body. You feel entirely safe, surrounded by friends, but a little loose and not really expecting it.

This is how I felt, standing there in the middle of worship with the image I had seen on repeat, flashing through my head. I wasn't really expecting it and at that point wasn't really sure I wanted it.

I knew I needed to do something.

In hindsight I've learned a few things.

1 Corinthians 1:27

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."

God's kingdom is an upside down kingdom. The meek inherit everything. The ones who mourn are comforted. The ones pour in spirit get the kingdom of God.

The very first "church service" ever held saw 3,000 people give their hearts to Jesus. How, you may ask?

Drunkenness.

The Spirit of God so filled each of the 120 gathered in the upper room on Pentecost that they drew a crowd of people perplexed by their apparent drunkenness at 10:00 in the morning! This vast assortment of people from different regions of the known world were hearing the wonders of God proclaimed in their own specific language. It wasn't until Peter stood up to addressed the crowd with an explanation that God was glorified and the harvest reaped.

Like I was saying, in hindsight, I never would of had the courage to approach this man after worship if it weren't for the dose of courage i now felt running through my veins. I literally felt a little numb but full of joy. God loves to bring us to that point of utter reliance on Him. We may feel completely foolish in that moment but God just smiles and nods in the direction we need to go.

Worship is done, so i make my way across the isle, hoping I don't stumble. How embarrassing would THAT be?!

Moment of truth.

I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "I know this is really random, but do you happen to have any back problems or stuff going on in your lower back?"

He sort of looked at me with a half grin and replied,"Yes, actually I do...".

I introduced myself, explained what i felt like God had showed me and then continued to pray for him right there, as he was sitting.

I declared the love of God over him and commanded healing to whatever condition ailed his lower back. We then parted ways.

Well, I really hope God does something really miraculous for this guy. Selfishly, I kind of want to know if something does happen. In the end, I'll be ok if I don't hear a thing.

Side note: My wife is super amazing and really wonderful on the ol' eyes!

Feast with Friends

2009-11-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving!

We are so blessed to have friends that we can celebrate the goodness of God with. This last weekend we spent time with our good friends enjoying some amazing Thanksgiving fare prepared by the Chesbroughs. It has become a yearly (2nd year running!!!) tradition that we greatly enjoy.

The crew consists of Jordan and Lianne Philips, BJ and Cheryl Quimba, Jordan and Jessica Chesbrough and ourselves. Its a huge blessing to know that you can walk through life with friends by your side!

After a cornucopia of deliciousness we played Wii Sports Resort and worked off our huge meal followed by the game Scattergories. It was a wonderful time filled with laughter and cheer!

Jordan & Jess

The girls!

Jordan & Li

Li, Cheryl, Jess, Cierra

Life..

2009-11-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Wow! Life seems like it goes by so fast! It is already November! Jason and I are enjoying life day by day with our jobs, small groups with the high schoolers from Grace Chapel, our kittens (we still call them kittens, even though they are pretty much full grown now!), hanging out with friends, and enjoying the beautiful colors of the fall. Life is full and good. Here are a few snaps of now! :)

"winning kiss" This was after I ran my first 5k!

Zao & Bella

Ashley & I after our 5k!

Eating caramel apples with Jessica & Li!

Beauty of the Mundane and the Miraculous continued..

2009-08-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Mundane:

Today I have no work and tomorrow is looking the same. The kittens are growing like little weeds. We have no money. Cierra is a super star of a hot wife who works long hard hours at an amazing job that God has blessed her with. HEAT WAVE! Peter gave us a fan, so now we can actually get cooled off from the pool of sweat that we sleep in most nights.

The Miraculous:

Yesterday i prayed with my co-worker to receive Jesus into his heart! Life change is awesome!

Day before last I wing-manned an inner healing Sozo session with Peter. Dude is now FREE! FREE! FREE! The old is gone and a new identity has taken it's place.

Simply BEAUTIFUL.

God has given me profound revelation into what is means by "freedom for the prisoners" and "release for the oppressed." Until this last week the only thing i could testify to and in turn realistically present to others was salvation from sin. A guarantee of eternal life with God through believing in the work of His son.

Now, i have my true identity!

With power and authority I am the son of a king, I have a destiny for greatness and a boldness from my inheritance.

Jesus died for our sins: *Check* (Justification)

Jesus conquered death: *Check* (Sanctification)

I grew up knowing about both justification and sanctification but had never experienced the life change of true sanctification.

The Holy Spirit has now closed the doors to the old and begun to give me a taste of the new! There is so much i have always know about but never experienced! God is too good for words more times than naught.

Jason

The Beauty of the Mundane and the Miraculous

2009-08-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a glimpse into what the Sword of the Spirit is etching into the softness of our hearts:

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might...

Ephesians 1:17-20

Cierra and I are blessed to be a little over a year and a half into our marriage and just beginning to see the true glory of our beautiful inheritance in God. We are finding that we LOVE to be in God's presence as we fall more and more in love with him. We don't ever want to selfishly hold onto the blessing and testimonies that God is continuously bestowing to us. We know that God does each good thing for a reason and we want to be able to share that with those around us.

We are excited to begin sharing both the mundane and the miraculous with friends and family.

Blessings,

Jason