Blessed

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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...

~C

Settling in

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!

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!