Sunday, June 22 Cont'd

I thought of 2 other words that God spoke to people Sunday night:

LOVE God!!

Don't lag behind!!

I just want to say, although there have been many times that I have had dreams that I felt were from God, that I don't recall ever having an actual vision before Sunday night's service & it was awesome!

As we were worshipping, Pastor Wayne was urging us to listen & allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. I began to have the phrase on my heart "be steady & unwavering" in our pursuit of God. I saw an old tree that was on fire with the glory of God- like a burning bush, unconsumed. The tree was then cut down and rolled away like tumbleweed. Immediately, moving forward- as if entering the present tense- was a mass of youth & college age people on fire with the glory of God- like the tree, unconsumed. Then I saw a guy looking intently toward the tree that was rolling away like tumbleweed. His flesh began to fade & wither away as his focus remained on the tree, the old glory, and not what was coming.

My friend, as it has already been prophesied over this ministry & our church as a whole, God is about to do something! I don't know what it is exactly, but I have no doubt that it is coming. We've got to prepare and not keep focusing on the glory we've experienced in the past. We've got to look forward in anticipation of what God is getting ready to do, or like the guy in the vision, we'll miss out. Don't miss out!

Sunday, June 22

I have been hesitant to write about last night's service, because I feel inadaquate to describe what it was like. So, please forgive me if I don't come near to giving justice to something too amazing for words. As the praise team was singing, I noticed that every song was about the holiness of God. As everyone was singing about what a holy God we serve, I kept thinking, "How could a holy God ever allow such sinful creatures to come into His presence?" Then it hit me clearer than ever that without the blood of Jesus, I could not come into God's presence! Gradually the worship began to shift from dancing and praise to crying out to God with tears and falling down in worship. Pastor Wayne asked if the Holy Spirit was speaking to anyone and hands went up all over the building. I think that I have been guilty in my life of saying, "the Holy Spirit was really speaking to me..." in sort of a casual way, but this was not like that. This was more of a prophetic anointing. Over and over again, students started sharing prophetic words that the Holy Spirit had spoken to them. I'm going to try to share some of them and if I forget one, please comment and let me know and we will correct it.

We cannot continue to do "just enough" and expect to see a move of God.

We can't continue in sin. If we want to see revival, we have to stop sinning.

God promises us that if we go out weeping, carrying seed (the Word), we will return with shouts of joy carrying a harvest of souls. We have to have a burden for sinners.

God is going to bring back the captives (those who used to be faithful, but have turned away).

Chains are going to fall off. This generation is going to see freedom come to those who have been bound by chains of sin.

I'm going to ask Kayla to post separately about the vision that God showed her, so that I won't mess it up by forgetting any of the details. Just know that it is coming and it is amazing!

After several shared what God had shown them, Pastor Wayne told us that God had given him a word to share with Keith and Joy. If you don't know, Keith was in a motorcycle accident last weekend and had some injuries that will require a lengthy recovery. This family has been faced with several trials lately and they need us to lift them up to God in prayer. God spoke to PW and told him that just like Pharoah increased the burden on the Israelites right before God brought them out of Egypt, satan was bringing attacks against this family because God is about to do something awesome in their lives.

Please continue to seek God daily and stay in His word.

Kansas Camp!!!

Ok Freedom 7! Finally, live from Ark City, Kansas, here's the news of how things are going here at Camp Horizon! :) As Hayley mentioned, we had an incredibly long 17-hour drive here on Sunday. Yes, this was exhausting.... yes, we pretty much fell in our beds when we got to our rooms! lol

MONDAY
It was very evident from the first worship service that God is doing and is continuing to do awesome things here at the camp. Monday night, PW preached from Mark 10:46 with the story of blind Bartemaeus. He brought out three main things that we must do when we feel stuck in a situation whether that be a bondage of sin or being a victim of some sort:

#1- We have to REALIZE WHO WE ARE IN GOD! Jeremiah 29:11 says God has plans for us to prosper us & not harm us, to give us a hope & a future! Start looking at yourself the way God sees you!

#2- We have to OPEN OUR MOUTH! Speak those things that God has told you to speak! Some of you are one cry away from being free!

#3- DON'T LET PEOPLE STOP YOU! If we allow ourselves to be consumed by other people's opinions of us, we cannot be what God has called us to be. In some cases, you may even need to separate yourself from certain people to focus on God.

PW gave the altar call & it was unbelievable how God was moving! Many girls & guys came to the altar to surrender everything to God & put their situations in God's hands! It was as if the Lord was dealing with every single heart to not let their lives be centered around what they have done or what has been done to them, but to be centered around who God has called them to be!

After service, we had Fun Time which was led by several F7 leaders: Jessica, Abby, Alisha, & Ray with PW. We had a great time in the Battle of the Sexes with the boys leading at the end of the night. Something a bit interesting is that we had random smack talk questions for each side to answer to gain points for their team. One of the smack questions PW asked was (to the girls) "Why should a guy want to date me?" & (to the guys) "Why should a girl want to date me?" The guys discussed amongst themselves & said "Because we're made in the image of God." But the girls put the smack down with their reply from Proverbs 31 "Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. Give her everything she deserves!" (The Message) Woohoo! Go girls!!

Kayla*

Direction from God

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share some thoughts with you guys. Lately, I have been seeking God's direction for my life and have come to realize that it can sometimes be difficult to determine God's will for our lives in certain situations. Times when you don't find a clear direction can be very confusing and frustrating. To truly find God's will for our life we often must step out in faith. This can be scary, but we need to realize God is there beside us and He will not allow us to stray as long as we trust in Him. Proverbs 3:6 promises us, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Psalm 37:23 tells us, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord...." And Isaiah 30:21 informs us, "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it." God's word plainly states that God will help us find His direction, but how does He do it? These are some ways that I have found that God often leads believers in knowing His will for their lives:

1. Prayer. In order for God to speak to us, we need to be in His presence listening for His voice. The more time we spend with God in prayer, clearer His direction will be.

2. His word. God speaks to us through the bible as we study and meditate on His word

3. Circumstances. Many times God will cause doors to open, or others to close. If we are walking in obedience to Him, we know that events in our life are ordered by God. They don't just happen by chance. Maybe the reason why a door has opened up to us is that God wants us to go through it!

4. Our heart. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will minister to our spirit and reveal God's plan for us. We will have a peace deep in our heart. We will feel God's voice guiding us.

5. Others. God can use other believers to bring us His direction. Sometimes we will be singing a song in church, or we will be reading a Christian book, or hear the Pastor's message, or one of our friends will say something that will show us God's will.

All of these ways are examples of how we can know the will of God for our lives. I want to challenge you to begin to seek God more than you ever have this summer. Be prepared for what is coming by knowing God's will for your life. God bless!

Copperheads, Tarantulas, and Scorpions..oh my!

After 17 hours on the charter bus, our ministry team finally made it to Kansas. I spoke with Kayla today and she said that everything is going well. I asked what Kansas was like and she told me that they have copperheads and tarantulas and scorpions, so that sounds like an adventure:). Today they had staff orientation and the campers got registered around 1:00 this afternoon. They were going to have free time to swim, but it hasn't stopped raining since they got there. Pastor Wayne's arm is doing really well and he isn't even having to wear the sling. Keep praying for a speedy healing so that he can continue to minister without pain. Well, that's all I know right now, more later.

Kansas Missions Trip

Hey Guys,
Our team will be headed out Sunday morning at 5:00 am. We will be at the camp in Kansas for one week. I am asking for your prayers as we see God do incredible things in the lives of the students at the camp. Also, remember to continue to prepare yourself for what God is doing and getting ready to do in this student ministry. You guys are awesome!

Spirit of Caleb

Tonight, Pastor Wayne shared a word with us from Numbers 13:25-30 where the Israelite spies have just returned from scouting out the land of Canaan. All twelve of the spies agreed that the land that God had promised them was a good land, flowing with "milk and honey", but only two, Joshua and Caleb, believed that they could actually conquer and possess the land. Caleb in particular "quieted the people...and said, 'We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!'". Pastor Wayne challenged us tonight to have the same Spirit as Caleb, a spirit that refuses to believe the negative report, a spirit that is prepared to go in and possess the spiritual land that God has given to us. I was pretty sure that I knew what the name Caleb meant, but just to be sure, I cracked open the baby name book. Guess what Caleb means...BOLD FAITH. That is exactly what we need right now. We are going to have to put our faith completely in God's promises and boldly declare that the things that He has promised will take place! So, as you seek God and prepare yourself to receive the things that God has promised, be careful not to listen to the negative report from the enemy, but like Caleb, have a bold faith that cannot be shaken.

Prepare Yourself

Amazing! That is the only word that I can think of to describe what God has been doing in Freedom 7. Just in the few weeks since Heath and I have been here, I have seen such a hunger for God beginning to burn in the hearts of our students. Last night was such a powerful service. I was so thrilled to see many of our younger students beginning to step up and take their places in God's plan for this student ministry. As you have heard several times over the last few weeks, God is challenging us to prepare ourselves for what He is going to do this fall. Don't take that lightly. Begin to seek God with all of your hearts. Take this summer to devote yourselves to studying God's word and praying for revival to begin in our hearts, because this fall we are going to see an amazing outpouring of God's Spirit and we need to be ready.

Some Pictures from Wednesday

Okay, so the pictures turned out kind of dark, but here's a few from youth service last Wednesday night. The Spirit of God really moved and Brother Shepherd (Pastor Wayne's dad)
shared a word with us. The Holy Spirit was moving so powerfully that no one wanted to leave when the vans came to take people home. I am sooooo excited about what God is doing in our students and I can't wait to see what more is coming.
Here's just a random shot of the game room. I actually was trying to load a different picture and got this one instead, oh well:).

Pray for PW

Hey guys, just wanted to tell you all that Pastor Wayne had to have surgery yesterday on that shoulder that has been giving him trouble. Please be praying that he has a super quick and easy recovery. Leave him a comment here to let him know that we're all praying (it will be sent to his email automatically). Love you guys and I'll see you tomorrow night.:)

Day at the park

Today, we had our entire service in the park. It was a gorgeous day, even though we had the threat of rain. Pastor's vision is to reach out to our community with the love of Christ, so what better way to be visible than to take our service to them. After service, we provided a meal and had inflatables for the kids to play on and even some softball for the grown ups.

Kidslink praise team leading in worship.
Here is Pastor Jamey with Sparkles the clown and Taylor.
The Mountain "Men" made the most wonderful peach and strawberry cobbler I have ever tasted-Dutch Oven style.
Some F7 students enjoying their lunch.
This was the inflatable obstacle course we had set up for the kids.
Just a few of the greatest students in the world.

We had a great turnout. There were several first time guests(!).
And here is Pastor Mike Cleckler. We love him!
Kidslink kids.
Their mouths were too full to smile:).