Apostles: That's What Changed

 

Some years ago, my father sent me the above text on my birthday.   Linda and I left Louisiana in 1972 immediately after our marriage to live in Alaska.  We lived there about 40 achingly wonderful years.  We had learned to thrive in cool and cold weather.  Hot weather was not on our radar.

 

There was no criticism implied.  It was just an honest question.  We had recently moved to become part of the Bethel movement, which has its roots in Redding, California.

 

I had come to adult faith in my mid 30s.  Linda has been a Jesus follower most of her days.  We had in our years in Alaska some great, and a couple of not-so-great experiences, with churches in Alaska.  

After I thought about dad's question for a while, I replied with a very long message. 

 
What changed was, in a word, apostles.  The three apostle-led church communities of which we have been a part since going to Sweden (Word of Life Church in Uppsala, Anchorage City Church, and now Bethel) have changed the course of our lives.

When we took off for Alaska in 1972, it was to pursue a dream of a place and a way of life.....Alaska was the land of our dreams.  In the months before our marriage, we talked much about Alaska.  We read and looked at pictures.  And then we came to Alaska, and it was for decades living inside a dream.  The experiences we had there, the friendships we forged are bright in our memories....and if truth be told, a little painful today, because we miss them.

And then, unexpectedly, we found ourselves in Sweden, at a controversial (to many Swedes, anyway) church that operated in great faith under the leadership of an apostle, Ulf Ekman.  Apostles as a current force in the Church was a new concept to us then, until that time thinking of them only as a part of Biblical history.  What a sea change in our spiritual lives that was!  By the time we left Sweden, our dreams had changed from a place (Alaska) to a mission (the Kingdom).  We almost stayed, you know.

Back in Anchorage after five years of coming and going to Sweden, we connected with  Anchorage City Church, another church led by an apostle, Richard Irwin.  That was another powerful experience and great time of spiritual growth, and a time of intensive pastoral service.  In 2011 Richard turned the church over to his son, Rich, a fine young man with fire in his bones, a leader and a shepherd. 

About that time we were becoming more and more aware of the move of God in an unlikely (to us) place: Northern California.  So......we came here for a one year sabbatical....which turned into something else!

 

This church, Bethel,  also is led by an apostle, Bill Johnson, and interestingly, by a prophet, Kris Vallotton.  The entire five-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11) is in powerful operation here.  Miracles are common here......real miracles, including cancer being completely healed.  Prophecy is common, even sometimes very accurate foretelling prophecy.  People come to the Lord every week at our church services.....about 10 at the 8am service alone last Sunday.  People are showing up here from all over the earth to be part of this movement.....a few we have met didn't even know about Bethel......they just know the Lord told them to go to Redding......and then they discovered the church.

Today, the church is about 9,000 people, but even more significant than the large numbers is the global reach of the church: thousands of churches are influenced by the ministry of this church, and if you count the ministry of music and praise song writing, the influence in the lives of men and women reaches into the millions.  Bethel Music songs are some of the most popular in churches around the world today.  

So....what changed is the influence of apostles in our lives.  Living in the context of apostleships changed our dreams from an amazing place (Alaska) to an amazing Kingdom.  Our dreams now are of the increase of His government and His Kingdom which brings all the good gifts of Heaven to Earth for all people.

It DOES feel strange to me sometimes to be in this seasonally very hot place.  But I know why we are here.....and the powerful impact this apostleship has had not just on Linda and I, but also in the spiritual lives of our family.

It also feels like the favor of God that the really hot days are relatively few, and even they begin with lovely mornings in the 70s.....and 2/3 of the year is generally pleasant.  And then there is this beautiful natural landscape of Northern California with wild country abounding, waterfalls, tall mountains, rivers, wildlife, friendly people.....we didn't expect it, but we love it!

You started this, you know.  It all began when you invited me at the turn of the century to go to Sweden with you and mom to see the land of my ancestors.  :)

I know you weren't asking for a treatise....but THAT is what changed.

Love Broke Through

A recent love lesson in my life was a paradigm-shifting kind of lesson....the kind that takes me to a different place, the kind that demonstrates a perspective I never fully understood before.

In that love lesson, I saw love break through a tough shell that nothing else would have touched.  It left me humbled, grateful.....and more focused than ever on a life of demonstrated love.

The lesson began on a visit to San Francisco as I was walking on El Camino Real from our hotel to a nearby grocery.  Just ahead of me were two couples that had obviously been drinking.  The angry words and waving arms of one couple intensified as they walked.

I pretended to not hear or see them as I quickly walked around them.  Ten minutes later, purchases in hand, I started my return trip to the hotel.  At the door of the store, the couple was ending their fight by angrily separating.  The husband turned back in the direction I had first encountered them.

Because we were going the same way on the same sidewalk and I walk fairly fast, I was soon abreast him.....and fighting the war in my mind: "no I don't want to talk with him."  "He won't want to hear what I have for him."

But I knew I had something for him.  So, as I came abreast I slowed and told him that I saw his pain but saw also that his heart was good.

He was angry still!  He told me to keep moving, that it was none of my business, and that he didn't want Jesus.

So, I smiled at him and resumed my pace.

But then, a few seconds later, he said from behind me, "what have you got?"

I turned and let him catch up with me and we walked on together.  What I told him, in essence, was that I too was married, and marriage was hard sometimes.  I told him that I could see his heart was good.   As we so often say at Bethel, I "called out the gold" in him for several minutes.

Finally, we sat together for a while.  I continued to encourage him and tell him the good things in him that I saw.  He asked what church I was part of.   I told him that wasn't really so important....it's not which Jesus community of which we are apart that is as important as who is our King.

When I felt our conversation had come to an end, I asked if I could pray with him.  I prophesied over him that the love that already was in his heart would grow and grow until if filled him and spattered out over his family and his marriage, and onto his friends who would wonder what had happened to him.

I did not speak about his obvious nearly drunken state, his cursing, or his vapes.  He did not need a list of problems in his life.  What he needed was to be loved.  What he needed was to hear that I could see that his heart was good and that he was loved right where he was ....... by the God of the universe, and by a brother.

After a bridge of love had been built, I gently offered some marriage advice from one brother to another.  I told him about some of my own life experiences, and about living an unoffended life.

When I stood up to go, he knew that God had spoken to him through me.  "God sent you to me!", he said.

We never exchanged more than first names, and the communities in which we lived, so I don't know the outcome in his life of this conversation.  Love had broken through a tough wall of hurt and anger, shame and guilt and brought with it hope and life.

While I have often seen the power of love in the lives of people, this was an important lesson about loving those we do not know.

Words Have Power

Your words are so weighty that
They have power to bring life or release death,
And the talkative person
Will reap the consequences.

-- Proverbs 18:21 The Passion Translation

A powerful example of the life-giving power of words occurred in our first year at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.  Our small group of men had gathered around our revival group pastor, Abi Stumvoll for time together.

After a few moments of small talk, Abi turned to me and began to tell me all the good things she saw in me. She went on and on, a few precious seconds turning into golden minutes that felt like warm liquid love cascading over and through my soul.

Life experience has taught me to expect first the honey and then the smackdown -- and really, it doesn't take very much looking to find some not-very-pretty places in me. But the smackdown never came. And in the almost four years I have known Abi, it never has. Always she tells me some new area of gold she sees in my life and calls me higher still.

She did the same for each man in her office that day. As we left, it seemed that we all looked a little taller and walked a little straighter.

Those golden words are a memory stone in my heart of the life-giving power of the tongue. Abi has the wonderful gift of being able to store up memories of the gold in others and play them back so as to build people up.

While Abi has an extraordinary gift in this area, the reality is we can all do this. Our words of love and affirmation are a medicine for the hurt places in others. They restore courage weakened by the vicissitudes of life. They help others to remember who they are.

Words can also release death. While we must sometimes speak painful truth to others, there is a way of doing so that brings life......and another that releases death. Words that bring life are the way of the Kingdom of God.

I am striving to eliminate from my tongue words that release death and replace them with words that bring life.

Words that bring life are a powerful gift of love.

What has been your experience?  Your thoughts are welcome, below.

Read more about our experience since 2012 with Bethel Church in Redding, CA

Train Up a Child in the Way She Should Go.....

Solomon was trained from childhood to choose wisdom above everything else. Is it possible that he was the only one God gave this choice of a lifetime to because he was the only one we know of who was trained to make the right decision? I think it is highly possible. If that is true, then what are the parallels for us as we teach the next generation? What are we drawing into the lives of our young people through our faith-filled training? In what manner are we raising the generation to come? Our prophetic decrees over them might actually attract opportunities from God. God is the ultimate steward, opening doors where they will be walked through the most.

When my children were growing up, I put them to bed by repeating these two charges night after night: `Remember, you are part of a team that is here to change the world,' and, `When you go to sleep tonight, ask God if there is anything that is impossible that He wants you to do.' It was my effort to raise children who know no limits.

This excerpt is from The Power that Changes the World: Creating Eternal Impact in the Here & Now a recent book by Bill Johnson.

Normally I quickly fall asleep. But, after reading those words last night, sleep came slowly. My heart was on fire with the implications of those words.

What if we trained our children from their earliest days that they are beloved sons and daughters of the King of Glory.....and that the King is in a good mood?

What if we trained them to believe they can have the righteous power of princesses and princes in the Kingdom of God?

What if we trained them to turn their ears to wisdom and apply their hearts to understanding as for hidden silver?

What if we trained them that it can be on Earth as it is in Heaven more than we have ever seen in the history of the Church?

And what if we trained them to believe they can be so very important in making that happen?

My heart is pumping hard with hope and expectation.

What Did Paul Mean When He Wrote "The Head of a Wife is Her Husband"?

We all use metaphors to abbreviate communication, or to make it more interesting or meaningful.  For example, if my friend asks me if I am going to the meeting this afternoon, and I respond, "no, I'm going to save my bullets for the game tonight", he'll know right away that I'm going to miss the afternoon meeting so I can save my energy for more exertion later.  My answer has nothing to do with storing up ammunition for the game.  That's a metaphor: we say or write something, but use it to refer to something else.

Metaphors are common in languages other than our own, and they have a long history around the world.  Biblical writing is sometimes metaphoric.  How Biblical metaphors are interpreted makes a LOT of difference in the meaning of the passage.

Here, for example, is 1 Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.  How are we to interpret the word "head" in this passage?

Clearly, Paul (author of this letter to the Corinthian church) is not talking about a literal head with hair, a mouth, ears, eyes, nose and teeth.  That makes no sense.  Therefore, he must be using the word head as a metaphor.  So, what is the metaphoric meaning of "head" in this case?

Meanings of words and metaphors change over time. Before we assume that today's use of "head" as a metaphor is correct, we need to understand what Paul meant with his metaphor, and what his original audience would have understood him to be communicating to them. More on this in a minute.

In 21st century English usage, the obvious interpretation of Paul's metaphor is "leader."  We use it all the time.  For example, if I write,  "Sue is the head of the purchasing department" it is clear to us that Sue is the leader of that department.

That is our understanding today, and it is easy to project our understanding of that metaphor onto Paul's words.  I know I have.  It is easy to assume that he meant something like this: ".....the leader of every man is Christ, the leader of a wife is her husband, and the leader of Christ is God."  And from that interpretation of "head" as "leader," we might chart our interpretation in a hierarchy something like this:

God is leader over

|

Christ, who is leader over

|

Man, who is leader over

|

Wife

But there is an interesting problem with at least the first half of this interpretation:  it is heresy!

Arius, an Egyptian Christian leader and theologian of the 4th century, had been teaching that Christ was subservient to God; a teaching that the Council of Nicea deemed heretical in AD 325.  Since then, the Church has taught that the three persons of the Trinity are co-equal, and that any other teaching is dangerously wrong.

If the hierarchical interpretation of "the leader of Christ is God" is probably not what Paul intended, then what about the rest of the passage?  Note that the same Greek word, "kephale", is used throughout this verse.

Here's where understanding what the metaphor meant to Paul and the original readers in the church at Corinth will help.  We can't ask them, so anything we come up with will be informed speculation at best.  Nevertheless, there are clues.

Some commentators (examples appended below) write that a common understanding of the metaphoric usage of the word "head" to 1st century Greeks was "source".  Actually, we still use that meaning today; for example, the headwaters of the Sacramento River are the source of that river.


Perhaps what Paul was telling the Corinthians -- and us today -- is this: ....the source of every man is Christ, and the source of woman is man, and the source of Christ is the Godhead.  (Suggested by Phillip B Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ).  That perspective might make our chart look like this now:

The Godhead is the source of 

|

Christ, who is the source of

|

Man, who is the source of 
(God took Eve from Adam's side)

|

Woman

If that is a more accurate interpretation of Paul's metaphor, it opens the door to a different view of the order of men and women in the Kingdom than perhaps most of us have understood.  

Maybe Paul wasn't commenting at all on who should lead in a marriage.


Thanks to Rich Schmidt for showing us this for the first time.

See, for examples:

• The Human Body Metaphors, p3
• What About the Meaning of the word Kephale ("head") in the New Testament?

Is Your Papa the God of the Universe?

Is God also your papa? 
Or....
Is your papa also God? 

Our friend and Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry classmate David Jackson posed this question recently. It's an important question, because it impacts how that relationship works in our hearts.

When I was a boy, all I knew was that my dad went to work and did things at a desk. I found out as I grew up that at the peak of his career he supervised worldwide exploration for one of the biggest oil companies in the world. But even then, I related to him as a father who was good to me and my family, not as an important man who found oil for the use of millions of people.

Here's the point: if I see God first as my daddy, a good father, then I expect one kind of relationship. If I see Him first as the creator of the universe, the King of kings....and then as a Father, then it has a different relational feel.

I choose to see Him first as my abba, my Father who gives good gifts and loves me beyond what I deserve or hope. He is also the King, but I am His son, his prince. When I talk to Him, I choose to talk to Him as my father....who is also Him who flung stars into space.

How does it work for you?

The Greatest of these is Love

An older gentleman hobbled into the gym this morning.  He was using crutches to slowly make his way between the rows of exercise machines to the dressing room.  I could see he was in pain.

Nearly finished with my own exercise routine, I continued on the treadmill, reading my book.  

A few minutes later, he emerged from the dressing room wearing simple exercise gear.  He slowly worked his way to one of the exercise cycles, painfully mounted up, and slowly began to pedal.

"Encourage him," I heard inside me.  

"No...don't do that; he might take it badly," another thought insisted.

But as I walked out of the dressing room, I knew that I would speak to him.  Love had won out over fear.  I have learned much in the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, and one of the greatest lessons has been an even deeper understanding the supernatural power of love.

I walked up to him on the cycle.  His face wondered at the intrusion into his space.

"You have great courage to press on when it is so hard, " I said to his thirsty heart.  "You are an inspiration," I continued.  "An inspiration."

"It's so hard," he said as my love entered his soul.  "I don't want to keep going."

"Keep going!" I said encouragingly.  "You are an inspiration."

I turned to leave....our conversation lasting perhaps 10 seconds.  But I could see the simple act of love had given him fresh hope.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile.  "Have a great day."

I waved.  

For there are these three things that endure: Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love. I Corinthians 13:13

John G. Lake: The Power of God Displayed

The evangelistic and healing ministry of John G. Lake was like a bright meteor that burned across the sky of the early 20th century, leaving a lasting impression and impact in the lives of people of the day. But just as importantly, Lake’s pioneering healing ministry left in its wake rediscovered foundation stones of the Gospel, on some of which now rest healing ministries and revival in our day.  The red threads that pass through Lake’s and other healing ministries of the modern era lead back to Jesus, of course, and it is fascinating to see them passing now through the ministry of Bethel and other revivals rising around the earth.

John G. Lake: His Life, His Sermons, His
Boldness of Faith

Reading this book (John G. Lake: His Life, His Sermons, His Boldness of Faith, 548 pp) has had a much more profound impact on me than I expected as I began to read. It was initially a difficult read, as it is largely the product of transcribed sermons. Sermons delivered over the podium do not always translate effectively into an easy-to-use text form. And, the century-old cadence, style and language of the book take some getting used to.  But it is most definitely worth the read.

I think I was most profoundly affected by Lake’s authority and power. I often wondered in the reading of the book what must one do to wield that level of authority and power for God’s glory. I believe he possessed an unusual level of healing gifts (1 Corinthians 12:9), but even so, the text implies that throughout his ministry he directed the ministry of others whom the Lord used powerfully as well. And that suggests that I am a candidate for more authority and power than I now use. And that confronts me with the question of what separates me from it, and how I break through to the next level. 

In that connection, I am most confronted by Lake’s sermon “Sin in the Flesh” (pp 384-398). I am confronted as I compare myself and my spiritual maturity with Lake and those around him. Fortunately, He loves me just as I am, even while gently encouraging me to seek more of His Kingdom and of love. 

Two seeming lacks in this powerful ministry were longevity and Kingdom extension in America.  While the ministry continues revitalized today, with others following Lake’s example even now, the fire kindled by God through Lake and his ministry in America seems never to have spread broadly here. The situation in Africa seems to be different, with tens of thousands of new Jesus followers of the early 20th century contributing over this century past to the vast shift of the center of mass of Christianity to the global south (i.e. Africa, India, China, Latin America, etc) 

Finally, I will say that the way God used Lake speak powerfully to me across the ten decades since he lived. If I and a legion of others of our day will pursue his Godly path, using gifts of the Spirit, like healings and miracles, to display God’s real power and glory to an ever-more-cynical world, hundreds of millions can be swept into the joy of the Kingdom and eternity with the King. And if we can use our gifts to steward this and other revivals that are now growing around the world, the greatest harvest and transformation of the souls of men in the history of the earth may well be upon us!

An earlier version of this was originally written as a book report as part of the requirements for the 2nd year Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.  

Read more in this blog about Bethel and our experience within this community.

Thoughts on Leaving Alaska

41 years ago this summer Linda I became newly-minted Alaskans.  We had married in late May, and took off that same afternoon with all we owned in a pickup truck headed for the 49th state.  Alaska was a shared dream, and for Linda, a dream birthed in her early teens.  To our surprise, our long Alaska season is coming to an end later this summer.  More on that later, but if you are interested, I'd like to tell you a little bit about our Alaska season.

Linda and me in Fairbanks, 1974

Except for three 10-month periods of living in Uppsala, Sweden over five years, and more recently 9 months in Redding, California, we have been Alaskans since 1972.  We have lived in Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Juneau, Douglas, Anchorage, Delta Junction (again), and most recently, Anchorage (again).

Our children Glen and Katie joined us in Fairbanks early in our time in Alaska.  While they have been "Outside" many times; like us, Alaska has been geographic, work, and cultural "center".  Both live in Alaska today.  I won't tell any more of their story; it is theirs to tell or not.  It has been great for us to grow together as a family in Alaska.

In that time, I worked at odd jobs, served at KUAC FM/TV at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, retired after 25 years with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Wildlife Conservation Division, served as a pastor at Delta Christian Center and Anchorage City Church, developed and sold the Alaska Outdoors Supersite, served as a volunteer firefighter, hunted, fished, trapped, flew hundreds of hours in small aircraft over wild country, wrote a book, floated rivers, built a hovel and then a real house from the ground up, lived without electricity or running water, ate a lot of moose, caribou, halibut, deer and crab that I brought home, did some really smart stuff, more than a little boring stuff, and some really, really dumb stuff, had the crap scared out of me more times than I can remember, raised chickens and pigs, kept bees, climbed mountains, made many great friends and a few enemies, facilitated and taught marriage courses, lit really big fires on purpose, encountered the griz, experienced wild country few have ever seen, helped re-launch a faltering church in an Alaska community, gotten up close and some times way too personal with large wildlife, gotten seasick and puked on big water, officiated at marriages and a funeral, floated backwards in a canoe on a wilderness river in the dark, sent VHF amateur radio transmissions via knife-edge diffraction over the Alaska Range and bounced others off auroral curtains to "the lower 48", camped out below zero, nearly frostbit my nose, escaped early death several times (the backwards-down-the-river time being the first of them), watched the northern lights dancing like green, purple and red fire overhead, heard wild wolves howling as we sat by a wilderness campfire, and generally had a glorious time in almost every corner of the Great Land.

Linda had her own share of Great Land adventures working as a teacher for Alaska State Operated Schools, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the Juneau School District, a radio service company, and the Alaska Outdoor Council.  She also served as a pastor in the same churches as I, and raced to the aid of Alaskans and visitors time and again as a Delta Junction Emergency Medical Technician.  She visited the North Slope, stayed for days in Bush Alaska far from roads, learned Morse code and radio theory, slept in the back of pickup trucks, backpacked in the Fortymile Hills, cooked on wood fires, wood cook stoves, over white gas, propane, electric and buffalo chip fires.  Well, maybe not the buffalo chip part, but it sounds good, and she could have :}.  She has also camped below zero with young children, ridden snowmachines, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, our horses, cross country skis, bicycles, helicopters, small aircraft, float planes, canoes, rafts, and an old `72 Ford pickup that we put 200,000 miles on. She has dipped salmon out of a scary river -- and then cleaned and cooked them, showed kids how to make snow angels, helped teens graduate, made way more really great friends than me, taught two amazing young people at home, worked with me on a business that finally got off the runway, and generally been the coolest Alaska chick ever.

I'm telling you all this because I have been looking back over this season to see where we were, what we did, who we connected with, what we did to impact our communities, and what it all meant.  Today, in the waning days of this summer and this larger season in our lives, I want to say that we always love connecting with friends....especially now before we leave.  In mid August, the movers are coming to our south Anchorage home and packing us up.  We're boarding an Alaska Airlines jet a few days later.  We'll be at our new house in Redding in Northern California late on August 18th.

Why are we leaving Alaska?  Well, it started as a 9-month sabbatical at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and this is how it has turned out.  That's another story and the beginning of a new season, but if you are interested, there's more detail in the post Seasonal Change.

We are looking forward to this new season in our lives, but I gotta tell you, it feels strange to leave Alaska; both the country and many friends here.  Both are deeply engraved on our hearts, and I know there will be times in the months and years ahead when we wistfully remember this glorious Alaska season in our lives.

Living an Un-Offended Life

Today is my 23,000th day.  My 63rd birthday appears on the calendar later this month, but recently  I have begun to think more of the importance of days.

Our lives are a gift of God.  They are mostly measured in years, but really we live out that gift day-by-day.  I think the day marker is most important, because to some extent, a night's sleep veils the previous day.  In a significant way, each day is new.

I have learned the power of speaking into the new day.  I have learned the importance of affirming in every day Thanksgiving, living an Un-offended life, Love, Identity, and Purpose.

A few days ago, I was offended at my wife.  That offense diminished the flow of love between us.  In reality, the offense was a false construct in my own mind....she did NOTHING wrong.  But because I have not yet fully put offense under my feet, damage was done to our relationship.

Because each morning I affirm my commitment to living an un-offended life.....because I refresh that commitment each day.....I knew fairly quickly that I was wrong....and that I had allowed what I had committed NOT to allow.

As discouraging as it was to damage the relationship I have with the one I love the most, I felt a breath of encouragement.  I realized that the daily affirmation I make to live an un-offended life is what allowed me to quickly see where I had gone off the rails.....and because I am a son of God, I asked for forgiveness and restored the relationship.

Each day, I use TULIP as a memory aid to start the day right.  I write in my journal words of Thanksgiving. I affirm my commitment to live an Un-offended life and a life of Love.  I write of my Identity as a prince in the Kingdom of God, and I write of my Purpose in Him.

If you want to write or speak into your own day, you may want to make a different list of attitudes and affirmations.  However you do it, you can renew your mind in this way each day.  You can use the creative power given by God to shape yourself for the coming day.....and the years that make up your lifetime.  

That's what I'm doing, as best I can.  

How about you.....what do you do to make the most of each day?

What is it about Bethel: Thoughts on the Revival at Bethel / Redding

The revival going on at Bethel Church in Redding California has been a subject of growing interest to many Christians in America and around the world since the late 1990's.  It is a long-lasting revival by any measure, and continues to grow in impact.  Linda and I relocated to Redding in September 2012 for personal revival and to get a much more intimate view of this church and its culture.  We have graduated from 1st year of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, and that shapes our viewpoint, of course, but the culture of the church shines through everything Bethel does.  This is my perspective on the church as I see it today.

Worship at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.  The first
year school is held at the Redding Civic Center to allow space for
the 1,100+ students.  

It is easy to see that something extraordinary is going on just by visiting a church service: if you want a good seat in the main auditorium, plan on arriving about an hour early for the 10:30 AM Sunday service.  If you want any seat at all in the main auditorium, don't be late.  Lines form outside the auditorium to get in and claim a good seat.  The church has added an additional campus a few miles away to serve the growing membership.  A much larger campus will be completed not far away by 2020.

Furthermore, people move to Redding, a Northern California community, just to be part of this church.  We have met several couples who sold out, uprooted family, and moved here to be part of what God is doing. We know from conversation that  many have come in just this way.  We will be in their number this year.  We are in the process of selling our home in Anchorage, Alaska and moving to Redding where we are enrolled in the 2nd year ministry school, and where we intend to live until we know it is time to move again.

The Bethel ministry has global impact.  Bethel leaders travel frequently all around the world.  Thousands of churches are in relationship through the Bethel Leaders' Network.  

There are number of characteristics of the revival that has filled Bethel with holy fire.  Probably the most significant from my perspective is a powerful emphasis on seeking more of the Presence of God.  Senior Leader Bill Johnson, a sixth generation pastor, made a vow at the Toronto Blessing in 1995: "Lord, if You touch me again I will never change the subject".  He has kept the vow, and so has the church.

The Presence of God is valued above all else. While there are obviously tensions in church service timing, I have no doubt that in the event of a Holy Spirit move at any given church service, Bethel leaders would make space for Him and let everything else work around what He is doing.

Revival is the main Kingdom push.  Everything supports revival and/or flows out of revival.  There are MANY ministries in the church with MANY talented workers covering every aspect of the work of a local church.  But revival remains the main thing.  The signs, wonders, miracles and healings, for which Bethel is widely known, support revival, and flow from it.  The Church leadership team is working diligently to create a culture that will facilitate this present revival to continue and spread indefinitely.  Jesus is preached, not the Bethel way. Kingdom is what is important, not Bethel culture. 

Love undergirds the ministry.  The surpassing, unalloyed love of God is a major theme and is very visible in how people treat one another. The very visible culture of honoring one another is a practical outworking of God's kind of love.  Because of honor, Bethel relationships are low control and high accountability.  The church works hard to love and honor the Redding community in practical ways.   Bethel culture is highly relational.  Relationship has priority over structure.  Spiritual fathers and mothers are important; both broadly (e.g. Bill Johnson, Heidi Baker) and personally with individual relationships.  Family is key.  Children are celebrated and actively trained, not warehoused.  

The entire five-fold ministry is powerfully in operation.  The five-fold ministry is led by a strong apostle (Johnson) and a gifted prophet (Vallotton).  There are also: strong pastors (Silk, Backlund and many others)  exceptional teachers (Farrelly and others) and gifted evangelists.  Johnson and Vallotton have worked together for over 30 years, and have been in covenant working relationship since 2001.  This long term, covenant relationship, and other strong, decades-long relationships are a large stone in the foundation.  The apostle has transferred day-to-day decision making in the local church to his son, Eric Johnson.  Senior Bethel leadership is in relationship with other like-hearted ministries through the Revival Alliance.

The Bible School is focused on inner transformation pointing to a revivalist lifestyle.  Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) is designed to bring students to a place of understanding their identity as believers, and their place of significance in the Kingdom of God.  Practice of Kingdom lifestyle is emphasized more than learning Bible facts, although Bible reading and intense study is required, and principles for understanding the Bible are strongly taught. Activation is key.  BSSM1 focuses on identity, core Kingdom values, and practice.  BSSM2 focuses on Kingdom practice, ministering to others, and leadership.  BSSM3 places graduating 2nd year students in intern positions at Bethel and in other ministries.  There will be around 2,000 students in all three training years in 2013-2014.  More than one-third of the students come from overseas; most from Europe, but also from Oceania, South America, Asia, and Africa.

Prophecy is celebrated. Prophecy is thoroughly taught, modeled and practiced.  It is seen as a way of bringing God's heart from Heaven to earth, and of edifying or "calling out the gold" in those around us.  It is one of God's calling cards and is taught as powerfully useful in evangelism and the everyday Christian life. In mid-winter, our daughter visited a Bethel 4th grade class with her baby.  The teacher asked if they would like for the kids to pray and prophesy over them.....and they did. 

Taking risks is encouraged.  Throughout the church, risk taking is encouraged.  BSSM1 students are told that they cannot graduate unless they make at least three mistakes.  "Messes" are not encouraged particularly, but they are expected as a necessary side-effect of risk taking.  Johnson says, "Any rule in the church that prevents a Judas from arising will also prevent a Peter or a John from arising."

Women and men are equal partners in ministry.  Bethel teaches that women can fill any role in ministry.  While women can be found in senior leadership positions of this ministry, the most visible leaders remain men. Nevertheless, the real intentionality test of this teaching is what is happening in junior levels of leadership, because these leaders are the future of the ministry.  What we see here is gifted younger women and men both rising rapidly into the roles that their gifts support.

There is more to report, of course.  And I am hardly an unbiased observer.  Nonetheless, I hope this will give you some useful insight into one of the powerful centers of revival that are rising around the earth in the early 21st century.

What have you heard about the revival at Bethel, and what do you think is its global impact?  Your comments are welcome below.  

Read more in this blog about Bethel and our experience within this community.

Our friend Dani posted these perceptive thoughts about Bethel on her blog:

A New Psalm

Bernie Ooley, one of our BSSM teachers challenged us to write our own psalm. It was a good exercise: it helped us enter the minds of the Israelite worshipers of 3,000 years ago. It helped to see understand a little more of the challenge of balancing praise and the art of framing it memorably.

She suggested no rules, and that's fair, because the Hebrew psalms are an eclectic lot.  Hebrew poems and psalms mostly did not rhyme internally, and even if they did, it would be lost on us, because we read them now in other languages.

The Hebrew poets instead used a variety of other literary techniques.  My worship psalm below uses chiasm and parallelism.  The parallelism reverses at the pivot point.

It turned into more than an exercise for me; it became an act of worship.  I know countless others who have taken pen to paper have had the same experience.

- | -

How is it, O Lord, that you who are so great, are so gracious to us;
why have you been so merciful and kind to us who are so small. 

For our home you crafted a universe beyond understanding;
for our cradle you spun a verdant, moist, warm, life-filled orb. 

You filled the planet with peoples of many tongues;
You chose one to be your own and bless the rest. 

When the time was right you stepped into time;
You came to help us home through your own Son. 

Your fire fell on 120 in an upper room in Jerusalem;
That fire now burns in millions `round the verdant orb. 

The end of the ancient cradle of man comes ever more near;
Yet you decreed the days of your faithful ones will never end. 

Why have you been so merciful and kind to us who are so small;
How is it, O Lord, that you who are so great, are so gracious to us.

Deep in Aslan's Country -- the Land of Love

This is a love story. It's not a boy-meets-girl love story. But when you have come to the end, you will know you have read a love story. 

We are now deep in Aslan's country -- the
Land of Love

The story starts with a group of about 70 mostly young and a few older men and women in the western United States. A few in the group are married, but most are single. A few are locals, but most come from other states and some from other nations. The group gets together most Monday afternoons, and at other random times. 

The group has a leader, an extraordinary young woman whose email tagline is "love always wins." This is not just a tagline for her; it is how she lives her life, and how she leads. 

Because of her skill, she in just a few weeks facilitated a high level of trust among the members of the group. The men and women in the group began sharing stories about their lives; their hopes, defeats, fears and joys. When brought out into the open, the worst disasters of life were covered with warm hugs, tender love and forgiveness heaped high around the broken-hearted. 

The love in the group quickly shot past even the high levels of love found in most church families. It continues to grow. The group has talked much and openly about boundaries, what it means to love, defining the relationship, bravely communicating, unconditional love, love without agenda, great male friendships, honor, the joy and majesty of sex -- and how in the real, non-media world, love is not always connected with sex. 

It is possible that a few romances may come out of this group; and if so, that would be wonderful, but what is over-the-top amazing is how many loving friendship relationships there are. Men aren't afraid to be like loving brothers or fathers to the women. The women trust and are affectionate with the men. 

Nearly every adult on the planet has a sex drive, but in this group, sex is subordinated to the right time in the right committed relationship. It has been foretold that going forward there will be no divorces in the marriages of this group. 

February was love month in this group. Mid-month, the men planned a love celebration for the women -- a kind of Valentine's Day party. It was the vision of a man on the group's leadership team; a man with a great heart to love and honor the women around him. 

The men planned for weeks in secret. They planned food, activities, decorations, and even trained together to make everything go well. 

On the night of the celebration, the men did everything.  The multi-course, home-cooked meal was prepared, the decorations hung, the tables carefully set, and name cards set out. The men dressed with coats, ties, and shined shoes with great expectation. 

The women arrived in their beautiful attire, lovely faces shining with anticipation and hope that this would be as sweet as they had started to believe might be possible. Each woman was announced like nobility arriving at a ball, and escorted to their tables. Hors d'oeuvres were offered and accepted. 

Then duos of men invited individual women to accompany them to large mirrors standing around the walls of the room. There the men spoke words of love, encouragement, and affirmation over the women who had become their friends and sisters. They looked into each woman's heart, saw the gold and called it for what it was. They spoke of hope and life and love. 

After dinner, a poet among them read his verse aloud. The few married men brought out love letters and read them to their wives in front of the group. Tears mixed with affirmations and laughter as the loving words rolled over the wives and through the group. 

At the end, the men brought out clean basins, towels, and pitchers of warm water for each woman.  On their knees they washed the feet of the women while speaking words of love and affirmation. 

How did the women respond? This note is from one of the women who posted on the group's FaceBook page (used with permission): 

I have NEVER felt so much honor from men in my whole entire life. And besides my dad and brothers, I've never felt love from men like that either. Never, ever, ever. I suppose that's why it was so difficult for me to receive it at first. But wow. Thank you so much to all of you men. This was seriously one of the BEST nights of my life. I will NEVER EVER forget it. This is one of those nights that I'll tell my children about; and even my grandchildren. I'll let them know how real men honor women, and show them that this is the type of example to follow. 

Tonight, I can honestly say that you men made my heart come alive in a way that it's never come alive before. I feel so valued. 

This is a true story. I know because I was there, and a part of it all. It was easily one of the best evenings of my life. I have not included names or places, although those of you who know me can guess pretty easily. 

What made this love celebration possible? Certainly, good leadership was critically important. Willing men was huge. Planning and training helped quite a bit. But really, it was Jesus. He did it. He taught us well and paid the price so that we could be so free to love like this. We took a risk and followed His example like never before in our lives. 

Recently I was watching as one of the men in our group walked up and sat down beside one of our women. He stretched his arm around her shoulders, and she put her head on his shoulder for several minutes. There is no romantic connection between these two. They just love each other like a close-knit brother and sister.  I see scenes like this often in our community of friends.

We are now deep into Aslan's country -- the land of love. The walls keep coming down, and it just keeps getting sweeter than I ever thought possible.

Walking With the Dove

Two powerful signs launched the Christian faith nearly 2000 years ago.  The first sign was the resurrection of Jesus.  That event was a major pivot point of history.  It could be argued the resurrection of Jesus was the central pivot point of history.

Fire falling on the disciples and their Holy Spirit baptism in the upper room was the second sign.  In a way, the first sign opened the minds of men and women to believe the unbelievable -- that God had come among us -- and the second opened the spirits of believers to receive Holy Spirit power.  Both had to happen for the Church to be born.

Immediately after Jesus was baptized by John, "heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."  About three years later, the Holy Spirit fell on the believers in Jerusalem.  Today, two thousand years later, that same Holy Spirit falls on Jesus followers who seek Him.

Not long ago, I saw Bill Johnson speaking about walking with the dove.  He took a white handkerchief from his pocket and put it on his shoulder.  Think of this as the dove, the Holy Spirit, he said.  Then he walked around carefully so it would not fall.

If a dove landed on your shoulder, how would you live so it would not fly away?  I'll tell you, Johnson said:   You would walk carefully.  Every move would consider the presence of the dove.

A dove HAS landed on my shoulder.  He is the Holy Spirit.

Johnson wrote about this in his book, Hosting the Presence:  "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30). Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). This simple insight took my focus from the expressions of the Spirit (gifts, etc.) and shifted them to what the Holy Spirit actually felt because of me. And the more I walk with the Holy Spirit, the more my priorities shift to contribute to this relationship."

If we who follow after Jesus want the Holy Spirit in our lives, we ask and He will come.  Once He has filled me, I want to live my life in such a way as to neither grieve Him nor quench the fire He lights in me.  It means, as Johnson says, that my priorities shift.

Come Holy Spirit.....Fill me once again!

Seasonal Change

I have found in my life that sometimes things move along for months or even decades with little change. At other times, things change very quickly, even things that I didn't think would ever change. 

Being Alaskans is something that I thought would be a constant in our lives. The Swedish national song says, in part, "I will live and die in the North". As recently as last summer, as I listened to that, I thought that applied to us: that we would live our lives in Alaska. 

Flags of nations fly along the Bethel Church main campus entrance
road in Redding, CA.  The building at right is the prayer chapel.

And I thought as we left Anchorage last summer for a school year in California we were going on a sabbatical.  When we took off from Alaska in mid-August 2012, I left with the idea that we would almost certainly be back in a year -- two at the most. I called it a sabbatical, and believed that is what was happening. But it has become something different.

But I think it finally hit me with certainty that the end of a very long season in our lives is coming to an end as I read again the word of the Lord to Abram in Genesis 12: Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Linda and I have lived in Alaska for nearly all of our adult lives. We were barely out of our teens when we came north 41 years ago. That we might ever live somewhere else was a foreign concept for most of that time....I was sure that we would live and die in the Far North.  (See also the post Thoughts on Leaving Alaska)


But today we find God's word to Abram applying to us. It is time for us to go "to the land that I will show you." We will be moving to Redding in Northern California at the end of summer 2013. When Abram left his country and his family, he must have left behind the place he fit. It was his geographic territory, but it also must certainly have been the place of his security, comfort and influence. It was the place of molding his identity. That is what Alaska has been for us. We don't have any of that in Redding, but we are already seeing the beginning of God's supernatural provision for us here. 

I think we had some glimmer that change was coming even a year ago when we came to Bethel for a conference. But it has taken our hearts a long, long time to be emotionally able to leave Alaska, to leave amazing friends, and to leave a warm church family and leadership team that we have been so happily a part of.  

Linda is thriving here physically and spiritually. She is engaged and happy. Her balance is better, she has sometimes walked several steps without electric stimulation, and she has begun to lift her left leg a little. None of this worked a year ago. And, the climate is quite a bit easier on her....although it gets REALLY hot here in the summers.

I am thriving here too. I never knew I could prophesy, but I am doing so now. I am more of a spiritual father than ever before. These are just a few glimpses into what is going on in us. Our hearts are full of the ongoing revival at Bethel and the rich texture that entails, and there is more ahead.

We don't know how long this season will last. Perhaps it will be five years, or ten. Maybe the tent pegs we pound into this soil will not be pulled up by us. God is good, and He will guide our steps. 

 

A Christmas Story

"Mary, quite big in her last month of pregnancy  was accompanied by over a dozen aunts and female cousins.  Joseph walked alone in front, followed by all of these women  who were chatting and giggling merrily about babies and 'motherly' things.

Nativity scene

A few minutes later the noisy entourage arrived in Bethlehem and were directed to the "sheep pen," crowded with sheep. Soon Mary started labor. Joseph paced nervously back and forth in front of the stable, while the women, several of them midwives, crowded around Mary to help deliver the baby. A short labor ensued, and soon the women all gave a high shrill vibrating cry—the typical Ethiopian joy cry that announces the birth of every child in Ethiopia. The spectators cheered, and the women in the crowd joined in the joy cry with the actors. Hearing the cry, Joseph ran into the sheep pen to see the newborn baby. Later, of course, the familiar shepherds came, followed by the wise men."

Sound familiar, sort of?

The above is part of a story about how one Ethiopian church presented a Christmas pageant not long ago. The not-totally-familiar Christmas pageant story appears in a textbook (Grasping God's Word) we are using at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM).  

You may be wondering about all the extra women.  They aren't in the Christmas story, are they?  No....they are not mentioned in the Biblical text.  But that does not mean they were NOT there.

The point of telling the story in this textbook is to help us understand what WE bring to the Biblical text.  For example all of us come with some "cultural lenses" whenever we read the Bible.  

The Ethiopian culture suggests that of course there are other women along with Mary on the trip to Bethlehem.  After all, who could expect a young first time father to help successfully deliver a baby?  And who among women would not ululate with joy at the birth of a child?

Those of us who have seen many American Christmas pageants come to the Biblical text with the cultural understanding that it was just Joseph, Mary and the donkey on the road to Bethlehem.  But just as there are no extra women in the Biblical text, there is also no donkey.  

The image illustrating this post contributes to faulty understanding of the text.  In this case, "Mary" has a typically European face, wears clothing more typical of a few hundred years ago, there is a cow, and so forth.

The reality is that probably neither the Ethiopian nor the American perspective is totally accurate, but I wonder if those Ethiopian believers may have been closer to the mark.

We all bring our "stuff" along with us when we read the Bible.  Duvall and Hays suggest four influences we bring as we read:

• pre-understandings that come from experiences, hymns, art, literature, etc. that make us think we already understand the text
• pre-forumulated theological agendas that make us look at the text merely to fill in the details of what we already believe 
• familiarity that comes from reading the Bible often -- and makes us think we already understand the passages we read
• culture is almost transparent to us as water is to a fish -- the fish doesn't notice it, and neither do we notice how our culture is projected into the reading process.

I was both dismayed and delighted to study this.  I was dismayed because I realized that I have been guilty of all four of the above flaws in my own Bible reading.   But I was also delighted because knowing these reading traps can help any of us read the Bible without falling into them.  

How about you?  What does reading this do to your thinking about how you read the Bible?  You can post a reply below.

"Now I Can See Out of Both Eyes"

Sometimes at Bethel / BSSM there are opportunities for testimonies of what God is doing among those of us in the school. Yesterday, a young woman said that she recently came across a homeless man here in Redding. She had some food in the car, so she brought it out and shared it with him. 

In the course of conversation he said that he had a terrible childhood, and had been burned by religion. She asked if he would like to meet the real Jesus.

He said that he would like to know what that felt like. He closed his eyes and held out his hands for prayer. The woman prayed with him. When he opened his eyes, they suddenly went wide in surprise.

She asked why he was so surprised. 

"I have a blind eye," he said, "but now I can see out of both eyes."