This week's dreams

I've been dreaming recently about people I went to high school with.

In one dream a girl asked me to hang out and I was busy and couldn't do it, but we made plans for the following day. But it was weird because it was a girl that I don't have a stellar relationship with. In fact, we might be on each others "people we least like" list. So that was random.

In the dream the next night, I dreamed of a friend from high school and it was her wedding day. Oddly enough, she was engaged, and broke off the engagement this week. So that was weird because I saw her hair and her dress and where her wedding was being held and who her bridesmaids were. I saw their dresses and hair and the flowers. It was a beautiful day, lots of trees and greenery around.

The next night I dreamed about another girl that I didn't have a great relationship with in high school. We had a falling out freshman or sophomore year and for some reason, we were hanging out and really close in my dream. I knew her at UGA but we never really talked. I'm sure we're both past the things that happened, but we're different enough to not feel the need to reconnect. I wouldn't be opposed to reconnecting, but she lives in another country so those chances are very slim.

Last night I had two dreams. The first one I hung out with probably my best friend from middle school and most of high school. After high school we went completely different directions and I haven't talked to her in several years. We were at a conference and sharing each other's clothes each day. I drove her home in her car on the last day (her dad was in the back seat with her), and for some reason, the ground was VERY rigid and hilly. We drove on the grass instead of the pavement because the pavement was too broken and fallen in. I went with her to her house, and after being there for a few minutes, I felt really awkward and called my mom to come pick me up. I told my friend I had a lot to do to get ready for work and wished I could stay longer.

The second dream last night, I dreamed that Warren Kritko from Bethel got up and announced a ministry trip for second year. It would be to Turkey with YWAM and we only needed to pay for our plane ticket ($1069). We would leave at the end of January and do a lot of under-cover ministry since Turkey is mostly Muslim. On the screen where all the information was listed, Guam was also mentioned but I don't know how that ties in.

So here are my dreams from the week thus far! I've been terrible at writing them out, but I think its important to make an effort when I remember. Who knows when/if they'll happen?

The Next Great Awakening

This is a song by Jake Hamilton that is rocking me right now. He used to be a part of IHOP and he's recently been singing with Jesus Culture. His heart is amazing, and I love his song "The Next Great Awakening."

I see you in the valley
Transferring death for life
I see an army coming
They all bear your light

I am not bound to reason
I live in violent love
This world can not define me
My heart is set above

For me to live it Christ
For me to die is gain
I am not shrinking back
I'll never be the same

Four walls can not contain me
I know I've been possessed
I know that God is love
And there is no failing love
So I am fearless

Come, love is overtaking me now.

This is the sound
of a revolution.

This is the sound
of a prophet's cry.

This is the sound
of a reformation.

This is the sound
of a warrior bride.

This is the sound
of a giants falling.

This is the sound
that you can't ignore.

This is the sound
of a rebel rising.

This is the sound
of an open door.


God, release the sound
Release the movement
I am laying down everything

God, you promised nations
I want the nations
I'm not gonna settle, now
I, I hear the cry
I hear the longing
This is the sound of freedom

I stand in the gap
I stand here praying
For the next
Great Awakening

Revivals not an epic or a mission

Revivals not a program
or a play

Revival is not a slogan
Revival is a man
His name is Jesus

The Next Great Awakening

-Jake Hamilton

Campfires, Dreams and Acoustic Worship

Tonight was an awesome night at ministry school. We spent time soaking with Judy Franklin (Bill Johnson's assistant) and telling God our dreams and hearing what He said about them. Then we went around the room and declared them out loud. It was amazing to hear what was on everyone's heart to do with their lives, and how they wanted to impact the world. Our classes capacity to dream has greatly expanded over the last year, so I was so inspired to hear what big things people were going after.

Then Lacey spoke on her relationship with the Holy Spirit. Whenever she speaks I feel like love comes in and just settles around me. Her words come out of an intimate place with God and I am so blessed to get to hear from the deepest recesses of her heart. She embodies love, strength, compassion, and wisdom. Being in her presence is truly life-changing.

Then we went out by the lake where some of the guys had started a campfire. We had s'mores and acoustic worship. Our class is starting to feel more and more like a family and I love every minute of it. Acoustic worship by a bonfire is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Being beside a lake and also getting s'mores was like icing on the cake. Worship was beautiful and unhindered, full of life and intimacy.

I loved tonight and can't wait for more nights like this with my sweet friends.

Red Moon Rising

I'm still hoping to transcribe some of my notes and thoughts on the book of Revelation...but I keep putting other good blog thoughts aside in hopes of tackling Revelation first. However...this hasn't happened, so I'm going to move on for the time being.

I'm reading a book right now called "Red Moon Rising" by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts. It's the story of how 24/7 prayer started, and how it is starting to awaken this generation. For centuries, there have been pockets of 24/7 prayer houses that lasted anywhere from 1 month to 100 years. Starting in the 1990s, 24/7 prayer houses started sprouting up all over Europe, Africa, in underground churches in parts of Asia, Australia, South America and the United States. This prayer movement is no longer contained in small segments of time in isolated locations...it has become global, and it is continuous. Full of momentous strength.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch... I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night... Isaiah 62

Pete Greig, one of the original fire-starters of this monumental move of God, wrote a poem late one night in one of the prayer rooms in England, and I wanted to share a few lines with you.

"The Vision"

The vision? The vision is JESUS- obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people. You see bones? I see an army.

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago... It is dangerously pure...

And this is the sound of the underground, the whisper of history in the making

Foundations shaking, Revolutionaries dreaming once again...

Those are only a few lines of a three-page poem, but it is raw and it is authentic. It breathes out radical love and devotion. Unity among believers that want to see the Kingdom manifested on this earth. This book is riddled with countless stories of these lovers willing to lay down everything in order to move with the Spirit and keep their view of God 'out of the box.' To smuggle Bibles into "closed" countries, and to develop prayer houses in the darkest of cities in the Middle East and underground China. To worship publicly and to go after healing for the sick. It is so challenging to my faith to spend hours in intimate communion with the Father of Lights. Feeling every breath and shift in my innermost being. And then to carry that love and communion out to the streets. To the hurting and the broken, the naked and the lost.

One day in my home, I can't wait to have "prayer room." With sketches, and declarations and mandates written everywhere. Prophetic art, poems, people's names, and Scriptures filling the walls. Maps and Bibles and worship music, testimonies of encounters with God and miracles and healings. A room full of God's presence. I want that room to be an expression of what is going on inside my heart, but then my life to be an overflow of what happens in that room. I want to be marked with incredible intimacy and radical love. I want to be a "watchman on the wall" and I refuse to be silent day or day.

Beginning of Revelation

I no longer hold any traditional views of Revelation. I no longer believe in the rapture and/or the tribulation or 1,000 year reign. I also believe that most things in Revelation have already happened. And I'm great with that.

I am a part of a glorious and overcoming Church that is constantly wanting to know God more. I don't desire to escape...I desire to chew through, because that's where great faith is found. In the pressing in and mulling over. In the pain and the fighting and the abuse. It's time to keep pushing through because we ARE a GLORIOUS and OVERCOMING Church. We ARE kings and priests, seated in heavenly realms NOW. And WE have all authority. I believe things will get better, not worse. Why live passionately for Jesus if everything is just going to hell? I have hope in a good God that desires to give good gifts to His children.

More to come on this...with Scripture and details. :)

Getting over differences

I'm learning how to let go of what I can't do anything about.

I make quick decisions, some people need time. I immediately see systems and ways of organizing, others don't. Some like to save money, I like to spend money. Some people like to live quietly and keep to themselves, I like to be loud and share stories and hear about other people. I love cats, some love dogs. I'm learning to be un-offendable, but some people actually do it. I'm an open book to anyone, some prefer to be more private. I love books and magazines and art, some love science, philosophy and technology. I love reality tv, others prefer shows of substance.

Some people come to Chick-fil-A and only eat coffee creamer and ketchup packets...I eat chicken strips. True story.

Some tidbits on honor

Honor means to recognize God's glory in another. To see what makes them valuable. Scripture says to "Honor a prophet in the name of a prophet and receive a prophet's reward." If we recognize what God is doing in someone, we are honoring them. We don't have to agree with everything they said, but if we can see what God is doing and how He is moving, then we open ourselves up to the revelation that that person is receiving. We need to be able to see and recognize God in anyone.

In the section of the gospels where Jesus goes back to his home town, He is not given honor. The title of the section is "A Prophet Without Honor" (Matthew 13:53-58). Those in Nazareth said "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't His mother Mary and His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?" By being critical and not honoring, they are cutting themselves off to the revelation that Jesus brings. And because they were not honoring or open, Jesus could not do many miracles there.

Honor attracts life: "Honor your father and mother so that your days might be long." Jesus Christ honoring us in His death brought life.

You grow from glory to glory through honor.

Honor is the key to passing the baton of revival to the next generation. The way we honor determines what gets passed onto the next generation.

Humility comes before honor. Phil. 2:8 Pride comes before dishonor.

Ministry School

So, I'm a terrible blogger. I can't find a medium between short and light-hearted posts and serious thought-provoking posts. But honestly, I have too many serious thoughts in my head to keep them to myself. So I'll just stick with serious for a bit until I run out of stuff to say. :)

I'm currently in my second year of ministry school at Bethel and its been awesome so far. Part of school is having a life coach that you meet with every other week, and it's just amazing. One of the areas that I really wanted to work on and develop was my life purpose. Although I don't have any huge dream or goal, I've spent the last week writing out all the prophetic words over my life and doing some freehand writing on things that I love. The more I've written and explored and read over my journaling, I've found so many consistent themes: People, traveling/missions, developing and managing teams, the prophetic, taking a dream and developing a strategy to accomplish it, investing in others...etc. For the first time in my life, I'm seeing different gifts and strengths and passions of mine, and how they overlap.

I used to think that my life purpose wasn't big enough or significant enough. But I'm beginning to see that not only can I develop and train mission teams, I can then deploy them to go change the world. I want to see people interact with new and different cultures and help them process the experience they are having. I want to invest in other people's dreams and help them strategize on how to bring them to fruition.

God has created each of us with HUGE destinies that are uniquely designed for US. We aren't competing with anyone to do anything, but if we don't pick up our dream and run, someone else will. So we can't be afraid. We have to get out there and start dreaming and start pursuing and start bringing love to this world. All creation is longing for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. To rise up. To know who they are and be who they are to this world. It's time to rise up and to shine.

Dreams Pt. 2

Dream 1: I have had two dreams with the Obamas. The first one was:

Barack and Michelle Obama had come to Bethel Atlanta to visit. They were staying with the Coopers. The Coopers were showing them around their house.

Number 2:

Barack and Michelle wanted to start coing to ministry school and church with us. They wanted to be trained up by the Coopers and our teams. They came on several firestorms with our second year class, and kept asking lots of questions trying to understand how we did ministry.

The second dream about the Obama's is very significant. Paul Manwaring helped me to see the significance of it on Sunday at church through his message. He talked about how we need to get people out of the church. We shouldn't be training up followers...we should be training up leaders that will then take what they've learned and use it for the world. He said we should be having government leaders come to our church because of our training...because we are known for equipping and sending out, for giving vision, purpose, and tools to fulfill dreams. So that solidified that what he was saying was something that God was wanting to do. We need to get our talented and gifted believers out of the church so that the world can be impacted with God's love. It isn't the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.

Recent Dreams

I dream all the time. Every night I feel as if there is something significant God is trying to tell me. In talking to Jasmine at work yesterday, I was compelled to write down more of my dreams on my blog. I journal them as often as I can, but let's be honest...I get tired of doing that. So here are snapshots of my dream life from this past week.

Series 1- I've had several dreams about me being pregnant and giving birth. The most significant and recent of these dreams was 3 nights ago. I was several months into being pregnant and Bill Johnson was in town for his conference in December. I started going into labor during the conference and Lauren Brownlee took me to the hospital. My family also came but they sat outside the hospital building...not even coming inside. Lauren went with me into the delivery room. We were told we needed to go there in case they weren't able to stop my contractions (I still had 4 months to go). So Lauren and I went into the delivery room, they gave me an IV (a new kind that I'd never seen before), and before long the contractions had stopped and I was free to leave.

My only thought so far about this dream is that I am about to birth something in the Spirit, but it is not yet time. Bill coming to Atlanta will perpetuate the growth of this "baby" or "dream," but it will still not be time for it to be released. So I've just been declaring that this dream will be born at its appropriate time.

Dream 2: I was sitting in church, and a girl I know from church in Marietta was standing at the front of the room with her husband. The pastor was telling us a story about this little girl somewhere in the Asian Pacific who's parents had passed away. She had grown up abused and raped for most of her life, and now she had no where to go. The pastor continued to tell us that my friend and her husband were adopting this little girl and that they were going to pick her up that week. I started crying because this is a huge dream of mine, to adopt someone in a hopeless situation. After the pastor finished, my friend caught my eye and came up to me. She told me the next child in this situation would be mine.

For years I've wanted to adopt children from all over the world. I want kids of every color and ethnicity in my household. Korea has been the main place that I've wanted to adopt from, but recently my heart has been opened to parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. I don't necessarily want to go through an agency that is going to take a year+ for us to complete the process. I'd rather hear of a need and jump at the chance to adopt a child out of his/her present situation. This dream gave me hope that there'd be a way for it not to take months and months for me to have a child. I feel like God is clarifying my vision and dream for me and showing me that there is a possibility to do things differently than most.

I'll try to continue to post dreams as often as I can. However, sometimes there are ones I can't share for various reasons. I'm still learning how to steward this gift that God has given me so I'll be posting those that I am able to share, and those that I've received revelation on. I hope you will be encouraged by my dream journey.