School Week #1

Hello! The first week of school was completed on Friday and the second week will begin tomorrow (Tuesday). It is continually life-changing to be in a place such as this, and revival is always active!

We have classes from 12:45 to 5:30 every day. Usually within that time, three people speak and there is an hour of worship. This week, we were fortunate to have Bill (Johnson) and Kris (Vallotton) speak every day. Each and every message was "out of the park".
We are required to attend exactly 2 services every week. The assigned service rotates for each student. Right now, I attend Friday night service, and the third Sunday morning service. Also, we are asked to spend one hour a week in the 24-hr prayer house, and read 2 chapters of the word from a scheduled reading plan (and report on those chapters weekly). In the future, on thursdays we will have outreach and Fridays we will hear from a guest speaker (if they bring one into their church).
We're also asked to read one book per every two weeks. They requested that we would have one read by the beginning of classes, so I have so far read "Welcoming a Visitation of the Holy Spirit" by Wes Campbell, and "Good Morning Holy Spirit" by Benny Hinn. They are both very good books, if anyone is sitting on their hands looking for that sort of thing!

Worship is always a phenomenal experience at Bethel. Everyone is so passionate about praising their King. Worship seems to go on for the majority of their services, with a sense of abandon that makes you want to remain in that atmosphere forever. We sing, laugh, shout, cry out, sing spontaneous prophetic songs, and dance, and everyone enters in. In this environment, many extraordinary events take place, including the mysterious feathers that fall from nowhere. I have seen them, and although I wasn't able to grab one, I thought it was pretty crazy. Please understand, no-one calls them "angel feathers". They are just feathers, because... that's what they are! The atmosphere is thick during these times, and although it doesn't happen every worship time, it happens enough that the church itself is accustomed to it. The feather I saw was about the size of a quarter. It had a strange "v" shape, and fell straight to the floor without blowing from the movements of people around it. Once it landed on the floor in front of me, I couldn't find it despite my searching. If I do get one, I will send it to you guys. Believe me, it's fascinating. I truly believe that God brings these sorts of signs to make us wonder. It's a dangerous place to be in when we think we know and understand everything about this mysterious, mystical relationship we have with God. When He moves, He brings the mysteries of Heaven with Him. Things like this can either be taken in stride, appropriated to the context and not blown out of proportion, or they can become stumbling blocks to keep us from deeper things.

Everyone here has a servant's heart. The bathrooms in the church stay spotless because the students choose to clean them up without being asked. (Something that inspires this is what Kris says frequently: 'You won't ever do something you can't do until you do something you can do.')It is a culture built on the principle of honor.

This week, I made the worship team for the school's worship band as the keyboardist. I am not leading, which at first, came as a surprise. This surprised me not because I thought I deserved to lead, but because I thought that I was more experienced as a worship leader than as a pianist. God corrected me by reminding me that this was a "season of rest", and that He was in charge of that process. I am so blessed to remain involved in worship here at Bethel.



testimony account
It is very hard to keep up-to-date on the testimonies around Bethel church, simply due to the massive volume of these stories. Most of them aren't even told to the students, because two or three people are healed each meeting.
Recently, a girl was healed of her bi-polar disorder after coming up for prayer about an unrelated matter.
Kris told the story about how, on a flight last week, he led a demonized man to Jesus on the way home to Redding.
So far, in the 6 regular services I have attended, I have seen 25-30 people give their hearts and lives to Jesus. The way Bill goes through this process is incredible: he invites them to the front as everyone has their eyes open and their heads raised. Then, as the congregation prays over them, they are asked to verbally confess each sin that the Holy Spirit brings to mind.
Afterwards, Bill looks each of them in the eye and asks, "Were you honest with God?" in a way that is non-threatening but still very direct. After each of them says "yes", he then tells them that every sin has been erased and they have received a new nature. The congregation stands and cheers, and it's a beautiful moment. Finally, he says, "We would never deliver a baby and leave it on the doorsteps of the hospital" so these new believers are led off to enter into discipleship courses. It's an amazing time.

Thank-you for being interested in what God is doing in me this year. I feel blessed to have such supportive friends and family. I will try to keep up with this busy schedule, and write you the stories that deserve to be told. Please, feel free to comment me after you read, and leave your name in the comment so I know who has written me. Blessings,

Connor