Rah! Best worship ever!

As much as I hate to admit it ... I totally fell asleep in the prayer room today ... even so, God blessed me with my favorite worship set so far! It was so FUN! It's so encouraging and uplifting to see people just enjoying the Father and having a good time during worship! It really ushers in the joy that God has! The joy He carries inside Himself - that which we are also called to carry! I haven't had any laughing fits, but the joyous heart of the Father has been made increasingly obvious and available here and today was just the BEST so far and I am sooooo looking forward to more! Here is a link to the prayer room archives:

http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000066807

On the right hand side you will see a list of days and times that you can choose from. Click the one that says "8:00am Tue Nov 30, Jon Thurlow - Worship in the Word", skip to the 51 min mark, sit back and enjoy! It's just a GOOD set! The whole thing, but the middle and last parts especially!

God is good! May His joy consume us!

Back to the 90's ... ??

Found a little gem of a holiday cooking magazine from 1992 ... food looked good and all, but there was one advertisement that I could just could not quite see as being accurate ...



Who, in all honesty, would be that happy to have a pizza shoved in their face right as they walk through the door carrying a bunch of stuff? Answer: NO ONE. I have no idea who they thought this would appeal to. Fail 90s.

The cutting of the rope

The other day during prayer I saw a picture of myself going into the Holy of Holies. I had a bell attached to my ankle (as the priests did from the Old Testament ... it was attached to a rope in case they were struck dead by the glory of God, the other priests could pull them out). God reached down and cut it off - we are now free to enter His presence anytime without fear of death! He has made Himself readily available to us! By the blood of the Lamb we are made pure and are able to enter His courts without spot, blemish or shame! We are able to dance before the King and simply enjoy His presence!
I love this!

A little "pick-me-up"!

God enjoys Himself. The Father loves that we love Jesus, cause He loves Jesus. He enjoys Jesus, therefore He enjoys Himself. We also enjoy Jesus, and because He is in us, we should enjoy ourselves! And the more we become like God, the more He is seen in us. The more of Him we have, the more that is not of Him will be made apparent... this part we do not enjoy about ourselves so we are compelled to get rid of it... to clean it out! Our enjoyment of God and of ourselves leads us to be more Christlike!
So go ahead, enjoy yourself!
(^_^)b

Charlie Brown and the Meat-Free Thanksgiving!

Alright folks!
I apologize in advance for the attack upon what you hold so dear in your hearts as the traditional Thanksgiving feast, but Tim was kind enough to take pity on me and make an entirely meat free meal! He did, however, make enough food for 7 people when there were only 2 of us eating ...







We had mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, quiche, french bread, peppered cream cheese log, cranberry relish, fruit and vegetable plate (with ranch!) and brownies! [BONUS - if you look closely, you may notice a certain magazine on the table... it's from 1992 and was full of exciting meal ideas ... as well as some painfully 90's clothing ensembles!] Luckily we live with a bunch of guys who will, without a doubt, help us polish off the leftovers!
It was a good day.

Psalm 116:17
"I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and will worship the Lord."
<3

*contemplation*

During prayer I got an image of Jesus placing a ring on my finger.
The feeling was that we are engaged but not yet married, so my heart needs to be set on the wedding day. The ring is on our hand, but often we wear it as just another piece of average jewelery. We don't feel the true weight of it, the worth of it, the meaning of it. My roommate is engaged (gee, I wonder who I could be referring to) and when her fiance is gone, she misses him. She eagerly looks forward to his return. She wants to hurry up and get married so that they can be together. This must be our heart toward the Bridegroom.
Although we are engaged, we often live our lives as one determined to be a bachelor(ette) up until the very day of the nuptials. We live freely and flirtatiously with the world around us, parceling out our affections to things far inferior to what we are called to. Inferior to what we are offered. We constantly trod upon the feelings and heart of our Betrothed. Whether we do it on purpose, or out of worldly habit, our love is rarely poured out to Christ and Christ alone.
If only we would return the love He has for us!
If only we would live as one desperately anticipating our wedding!
Anticipating our Bridegroom!

..fasting..

Part of the preparation of the bride before the wedding day, preparation for the Bridegroom's return. It's part of the beauty treatment we must go through before being presented to the Lamb. Not that He doesn't already see us as beautiful, He does. He has already chosen us, this is our part of the deal. Asking God the Father to weed out what doesn't belong and to grow and move in you that which will get you closer to being who He has called / designed you to be! That which will draw you deeper and deeper into His heart, the heart you are going to be bound to for the rest of eternity. To understand more and more of your Beloved. Is anything to great a sacrifice to give up for Him? How badly do we want to know him?

I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness Papa!
Nothing else will satisfy me!

Father, Son, Bride - a unique dynamic

God the Father loves His Son and is looking for a bride that will love Him with the same love. God gives us His love not only so that we know we are loved by Him but also in order that we can love His Son with the same love, with the very love of God. A kind of love that, in our natural state, we would never be capable of. That we can love Him with the same fire, passion and desire that the Father has toward Him. He finds us a suitable partner, a suitable bride for the Son that He loves so much.
At the same time, Jesus Himself finds us so desirable that He has chosen us as the one He will present to the Father as His bride. The one He can stand before the throne with and say "Father, here is the bride I have chosen to be by my side forever, to rule and reign with me over our kingdom!"

Oh, the delight, desire and love God has for us!
It blows my mind.
The entirety of His being resonates with a deep longing for us!
It is only right that we respond. That we go after Him with a wholeheartedness not given to anything else in our lives.
That we are obsessed with Him. That our lives are given in an endeavor to make ourselves ready for the day of the Bridegroom's return, given to the preparation of a bride for her wedding day.
The day of His heart's desire. The day He finally gets to be with us.
Create in us a burning for that day, an unquenchable thirst and passion for our marriage to the Lamb!

Thank you for choosing us God! Thank you for desiring us! Thank you for loving us!

Photo Op ... Room Style Go

Well, I realize my posts are a little backwards, but I wanted to post the more exciting things first ... so I did.
Now let's take a step back and sneak a peek at my IHOP-KC lodgings, shall we?







There ya have it. My little room in Kansas City. Bed, rocking chair (bonus), dresser, closet, mirror (with bonus shot of me), desk (complete with Jet Li background on my laptop) ... perfect! I am staying with a rather adorable couple called the Heckards and sharing the rest of the house with 6 guys! Good thing I am used to that, thanks YWAM! :)

Roat Drip (or Road Trip, whichever you prefer)

Trippin' Around the good ole US of A ...
It's 2:30 in the morning and I am having a difficult time posting pics, but at this hour it's a little hard to care so you only get one.
You better enjoy it!

The delight of the Father

Attended an awakening service tonight.
Was challenged to pray for others.
Asked the Lord to give me someone to pray for.
Next thing I know a lady stands up behind me.
She wants prayer for neck and shoulder.
She's had pain there for some time.
We laid hands on her and began to pray.
A few minutes later she suddenly jerked her body away from us.
I thought maybe she was done with the prayer process.
Thankfully, I was wrong.
She moved her head and shoulder and informed us that the pain she had felt for so long was now gone. Completely.
Not only that, but the migraine she had had all day before coming was also gone.

THANK YOU GOD. YOU ARE SOOOOO GOOD!

God delights in us. He delights to heal us.
He formed our bodies and he loves them.
We are His sanctuary, His resting place.

I love you Papa!

worship, worship, worship

I got to see two of the more famous IHOP worship leaders tonight - a miss Misty Edwards and a certain Matt Gilman. Misty was great and the presence of the Lord was obvious but it was Matt Gilman who made my evening. Well okay, if I'm honest, Jesus made my evening - Mr. Gilman was just a bonus. A fantastic bonus. I think that out of all the IHOP worship leaders, he is my favorite. He takes you straight to the throne room of God, he creates and atmosphere of complete abandon to Him. He draws out emotions and feelings in a way that I have not often seen done. He sings with a conviction and passion that causes my heart to respond. That is successful worship right there. Plus, he has an INCREDIBLE voice.

Props to you, Matt Gilman.
For listening to the Holy Spirit.
For singing out your love for Him.

...........

If you don't know who Matt Gilman is or haven't heard any of his music, I would suggest checking out his album "Holy" (with Cory Asbury, overall worship leader for IHOP). It's amazing. Honestly.

A little surprise, a glimpse of God's heart

As I think most of you know, I enjoy a good dance.
Especially if it's put to Korean pop music.
Obvious guilty pleasure, but I'm not ashamed!
I experienced dance in a whole new way tonight though. Now before you get to excited, I shall make it clear that it wasn't ME who was dancing - sorry.
Just before I begin, a little confession, I am a worship watcher. I occasionally (and by this I mean "often") watch other people worship God. I love it. It's so inspiring to see other people delight in and praise Him. I've watched some of you worship. Get over it.
With that said, on with my story.
Tonight during worship I witnessed something that completely touched my heart and made me marvel at how truly amazing God is.
I saw men dance. I mean, I saw them really dance. For God. It was remarkable.

Our God is an awesome God, He reigns...

First, there was this bald gentlemen in a red shirt (imagine a shorter version of Adam Carlson). He simply spread out his arms and spun in circles at the front of the room. Not paying any attention to the crowd behind him, he simply enjoyed the presence of God.

Then came a young man ... he danced with all the passion and intensity of the girls next to him. If an objective observer to were to see, I imagine they would liken him to the drunk brother of the bride who invaded the dance floor at the reception and who everyone wishes would just go away. Such was the ridiculousness of his motions. He was completely foolish, completely abandoned, completely enjoying the love of His king.

Next to him came the other most inspiring dancer of the evening. A long haired, larger gentlemen who had to be at least in his mid 40s. He looked like a trucker and if I had seen him outside that building, I probably would have crossed the street to avoid him. What I saw come from his heart during the song astounded me. Here was this guy, totally lost in his dance before his Beloved. He skipped around, held is hands to his heart and not once did he seem to worry about what was going on behind him - he was enjoying Jesus and that was enough.

Just as the deer pants for the the water brook...

As the songs changed, so did the dancers. I looked over to where I had last seen the young man only to find a balding one in his place. This was no disappointment however because this man, as the one before him, was dancing before God with everything he had. To me, it looked like a sad attempt at ballet, but I could feel the pleasure of the Lord as I watched him. He was unashamedly pouring out his heart to the lover he knew would gladly accept it.

Lastly, there was a tall, thin gentlemen who I had also seen the night before. His brand of dancing appeared more like a tweaker at a rave than an art. He twitched violently and spazz'emd all over the place. It was surreal. It was his heart. It was awesome.

There were of course, I few ladies who danced as well.
One that was particularly encouraging was an older lady (probably mid-70s I would say) dance and circle her way around the room for her Lord. She didn't move much, but she gave her all in an endeavor to please the King. Mission, accomplished.

Lastly, I got to see some epic African braided head banging. Took me a little by surprise. Haha!

...........

There you have it. The beauty of dancing before the Lord. I still haven't done it but I definitely felt a pull in that direction tonight! I want to delight in Him so much that I am lost to the world around me, completely abandoned to my delight of Him!!! If that means praying, then I will pray. If it means singing, then I will sing. And if it means dancing, then I will dance.

I love you Jesus.
You are more than worth it.

The foundation of our generation

I love IHOP.
I really do. Not just because it is "IHOP" but the people there are incredible.
The thing I love most is the older people. I mean, it's encouraging and exciting to see how many young people, people from my generation, who are there worshiping and loving God there are. It's a must - our generation NEEDS to rise up - but it's much more fantastic to me to see people a little older ... 40, 50, 60, 70 ... These are the people who, after years of doing Christianity one way, have let Jesus work a great change in them and learn to love and enjoy and see Him in a totally different way! These are the people that will mentor, guide and release our generation! They are abandoned to God and in letting themselves be so, show the younger generation what it looks like to go after Him with everything that they have and to give themselves over to Him no matter what it looks like. I have mad respect for these people and can only hope one day to be as much a beacon of Christ as they are.
Already my experience at IHOP is an amazing one.
Already I am being surprised, fascinated and captured by God.
Already I can feel a change in me.

Thank you God for letting me come!
I'm not leaving without your heart!