P.S

I forgot something REALLY awesome from last night! During service I prayed for a woman with pain in her back, and God totally healed her! Another lady and I prayed once for the woman, and then had her check it out. She was able to touch her toes (which she normally can't do) but she said there was still some pain between her shoulder blades. So, we prayed again, and the pain went completely away! PRAISE JESUS! That was my first hands-on healing success story! :DD

Just wanted to share!

Love and blessings,

Melissa

What an INCREDIBLE week this has been! I can't even begin to tell of the growth that has taken place inside me...God has gone so deep in me the last few days, and I know He only plans to go deeper.

I wanted to share a quick (yeah, right) testimony of what happened to me on my Thursday outreach into the city because it was awesome. Just before we left, one of our pastors imparted an idea into our hearts that totally rocked me:

"If four hundred people each touched one person every day, it would not be impossible to take this city in a year."

The weight of that went SO DEEP in me...an entire city in a year. And that's just if we only touch ONE PERSON every day! Imagine the impact if we affected two or three or ten. Truly and realistically speaking, we can take our cities for the Lord. All we must do is get out there and start imparting to others all that God has given to us. In the course of your day, sincerely tell just one person that God loves them. Tell one person that God isn't angry with them but rather His grace covers any mistake they've ever made. Tell them that someone loved them so much that they died so that they could have freedom. Pray for just one person. One person at a time, we are the catalysts for change in this world. Honestly, I've felt really convicted lately that so much love and grace has been poured into my life and I've poured it out on so few...not that I haven't passed it on at all but that there's SO MUCH more I could be doing to impart life and truth into the people around me.

Anyway, all that said to tell you that my outreach was AWESOME. My team went Treasure Hunting (the people are the treasure ;), and we ended up ministering at Sundial Bridge. I had sensed earlier in the day that it would be a day of breakthrough for me and it certainly was. I thought I'd be nervous to approach people and ask them if we could pray for them but it came so naturally. The Lord just imparted His heart to me for those people...a heart of compassion. Do you know the difference between sympathy and compassion? Sympathy feels the pain of people's situations. Compassion seeks to change those situations through action. Compassion is a stirring of mercy and desire for restoration that spurs us on to DO SOMETHING. I want a heart of COMPASSION for the lost! After just an hour and a half, we ministered to 6 different people! Ruth and Carl (lost wedding ring, daughter recently had a miscarriage), Kelly and Danny (nonbelievers, both had been praying to God lately, seeking strength from the Lord to keep them on the right track, extensive conversation and ministry time), Dan (very interesting encounter, had a father's heart, VERY wise man, seen many people die during his lifetime, angry with God that children suffer in our world today), and an anonymous man (can't remember his name, needed rest and refreshing in his life). It just blows me away to think that six people who may not even have been thinking about God discovered that He was thinking about them cares about their lives!

So, yeah, I'm very excited about the confidence and security God's birthing in me. I'm coming out of my shell more and more each day, and feelig more and more equipped and ready to do what He puts in my heart.

I love you all! Touch somebody's life for the Lord! Pass on the love and grace He has poured out in your life!

Be blessed and assured,

Melissa

Today definitely ranks in the top ten best days of my life! Not because anything extra-special happened but simply for the fact that God's hand was SO EVIDENT. I could just see Him working even in the practical details of my day. It was wonderful :). But that's not why I'm posting!

I'm writing to you all to catch you up with all of my unposted artwork! I've neglected to share the past few with you so I'm going to get you up to speed all in one shot ;D. I painted the first picture during Tuesday worship two weeks ago. We were really amped up on the the song Rain Down, and God was giving me all kinds of inspiration from it (more artwork pending :). I just saw these rumbling, full clouds of God, bursting to pour out His revelation and glory (hence the colors blue and gold). The second picture is one I painted just this Monday night. Some of my artistic friends invited me over for a creative evening, and they are SO BLESSED b/c they have an amazing house and an ENTIRE ROOM dedicated to art and worship! It was sweet! When I have a house of my own, there will be at least one room set aside for that very purpose ;). So, anyway, long story shorter, the Lord gave me this picture of the vines and it was a very cool process b/c I had to listen to Him very carefully as I created it. I honestly didn't really know where it was going. So, He'd show me some, I'd do that and then wait on Him...and then He'd show me a little bit more, and I'd do that. And then, about 15ish minutes into it, He told me that it was for one of the girls at the house, Erica. And then as I continued He began to show me what the painting meant and how it spoke of her life and what He planned to do. It was awesome! She was totally blessed :D. And finally, the last painting is one I made in worship today. God is on this kick of teaching me how to listen to Him and be obedient once I hear. I came this morning with an idea of what I was going to paint ( I thought it was going to be hands) BUT once I heard some of the worship set, I knew it would be something COMPLETELY different. So, I scrapped my original plan and said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" And He gave me this, a picture of His love and glory swirling over His people. The progression of the painting tied right into worship and it was amazing how He took me step by step toward the final piece. At one point, we were having a powerful time of crying out to Him, and it occurred to me: everyone of us has a different cry and yet we're in unity in our crying out for Him. So that's why I painting the different colors coming up from the people. And the final step of it was to add His golden glory over it all. It's entwined in His swirling love, and it's His response to the cries of His people. If this touches any of you, I've still got the painting and would be more than happy to give it to whoever it will bless. No one asked for it today so it's up for the taking.

I love you all! I've got a busy night ahead and I need to be purposeful!

Be blessed by His love and faithfulness in your EVERYDAY LIFE,

Melissa

BREAKING NEWS: At precisely 8:20 this morning, I drank 2 1/2 gulps of reduced-fat 2% milk. Regular milk. And as of right now, 11:17 AM, I have yet to experience any of the usual consequences for such an action. Thus, I must conclude...

I'M HEALED OF MY LACTOSE INTOLERANCE!!! PRAISE THE LORD!! :D

I'm so excited to report this to you guys! On Saturday night (as I mentioned in my previous post) I was with a bunch of my friends for a night of worship and fellowship, and when it was my turn for encouragement and prophesies, a girl named Laura said she saw a picture of me sitting in a pool of milk. Now, my first response was to laugh and to tell her I thought that was funny b/c I'm lactose intolerant but then this guy Dillon next to me says, "I got healed from that! Let's pray for your healing too!" So they did! The funny thing about it was that I told them it would be a HUGE step of faith on my part to actually test and see if I was healed. See, when I've eaten food with milk in it in the past, it'll leave me flat on my back with stomach cramps and other very uncomfortable symptoms for upwards of 3 hours. So to test out my healing....well, I'd either be completely healed or completely miserable.

BUT GOD!(there's always a "but God" ;) This morning I drank a few gulps of regular milk, normally a lethal dose, and nothing has happened so far! NOTHING! So praise God with me!He's is faithful and powerful!

My next adventure: a strawberry milkshake :).

Praising Him,

Melissa

Good morning-ish, everybody!

This will just be a quick post (maybe :) but I wanted to fill you guys in on something that I feel the Lord has prompted me to do. Through two different speakers and various other confirmations, I've really felt God urging me to take the next 10 days and really set then aside for Him. I've got this sense that He wants me to press in to a deeper place, and through that, I really feel that He's going to be revealing to me more specific things about my calling and future. He has given me a few specifics of things I need to step away from for the 10 days so I'd tremendously appreciate your prayers. I feel like I'm on the edge of something HUGE...but I have NO IDEA what!

I'll share a quick testimony with you guys :). I really feel that last night was the kick-off for the 10 days b/c one of my friends invited a bunch of us over to her apartment for a time of worship and fellowship together. MAN, did we have a good time! We started at about 7:30, worshipped, shared our life-testimonies up until coming to Bethel and other recent testimonies of answered prayer, and then at around 10ish, a few more people came and stirred up the fire again! THE COOLEST PART OF THE EVENING was that from about 10:30 until 2AM (YES, I'm tired) we prophesied over each other and just gave each other encouraging words. It was radical, I've never done that before! Now, so as not to freak some of you out by words like "prophesied", basically what we did was just put one person in the middle of the group, and then we all laid our hands on them and asked God what He would want to say to that person to love on them and build them up. Some people got specific words, phrases or scriptures, and others got pictures but EVERY ONE of us left the evening being totally encouraged and edified. It was sweet :).

So, that was the beginning of my 10 day journey, and I'm so FULL of anticipation for what else the Lord will bring. Church was really sweet this morning, especially in worship so I can really sense that God's doing something fresh and new in me....

So, keep me in prayer! That the Lord will speak clearly to me and take me to a place of deeper intimacy with Him! I want MORE! Please pray that these 10 days will be purposeful and powerful, and that I will be attentive and aware of what God is doing.

I love you all and bless you!

Melissa

THE HEAVENS ARE OPEN!

Yep, it's conference time up here at Bethel( the Open Heavens conference), and man, the last two days have been amazing! We heard from Che' Ahn on Wednesday, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena (he spoke to us about spiritual warfare, and the importance of discerning between the troubles of life, the trials of God and the attacks of the enemy). It was great to hear from him because he has so much wisdom and yet was very transparent and honest with us as a class.
Now, like I said, Che' Ahn was wonderful but our other guest speaker, Bishop Joseph Garlington from Pittsburg, ROCKED the HOUSE Wednesday night and last night! If you ever have a chance to here him live or can get a copy of one of his messages, GET IT. It's unlike anything I've ever heard before! He is an incredible vocalist, and sings throughout his message! And his pianist, Clarence, plays background music the entire time! It adds a whole nother dimension to the service.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you all the gist of his message b/c it really hit home for me. I've been struggling lately with putting into practice all the things I've been learning in the School of Ministry. The revelation being poured out on us is so profound and powerful but something that has always hindered me is that I reason things out. For instance, if I'm in the grocery store and I see a woman with one of those motorized scooters, I know that the Lord wants her to be healed of whatever's handicapping her, and that I should simply go up to her, ask her what happened, and offer to pray for her. But then I start reasoning..."Lord, how should I approach her? How will I introduce myself and explain how much You love her and why You want to heal her? How will I respond to her if she has questions?" And on and on I go. But the Bishop's message last night addressed that whole struggle! We get stuck on HOW God will accomplish something instead of just focusing on the fact that He has promised us that He'll do it! When I encounter a problem(sickness, financial struggle, pain, etc) that the God of the universe has said He will provide for, it is absolutely ridiculous for me to question Him about how He will accomplish such a thing! The Bishop took us through alot of scriptures that discussed that power of saying things but one passage he really camped on was Luke 17, starting in verse 5. Here, Jesus tells His disciples that if they collectively have the faith of a mustard seed , that faith will cause them to say to a tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea", and the tree will obey them!

Think about that for a minute.

If we have even the tiniest measure of faith, we can tell a tree to leave it's natural environment and be planted in an environment that is completely foreign to it. "And it will obey you." Now, the natural mind looks at this proposition and says, "Lord, how in the world will that be accomplished??" But we're not to be concerned with how, only that He said it will happen. So, with all the how out of the way, we must realize that in the power of saying, we can cause situations to change that look completely impossible. I can say to the woman in the moto-scooter, "Be healed in Jesus' name", and she will be. Because it has nothing to do with me! HOW God accomplishes her healing isn't nearly as important as the fact that she just got healed!

Is this clicking with you guys? It was a HUGE revelation for me. If any of you would like a copy of this message, please let me know. It was powerful, and very entertaining b/c the Bishop has a great sense of humor. One of the last things he told us was to turn to our neighbor and say, "Would you just be a MOUTH for God?" :)

So, do it! Get out there and be a mouth! Forget about HOW and just say YES! I'll do the same, and then we'll get back together and share our testimonies ;).

Be blessed and be BOLD,

Melissa

Okay, so when I said I'd post again "REALLY soon", I meant it :).

I'm SOOOOO excited about this latest piece! It was absolutely, totally, and completely inspired by the Lord so all the glory goes to Him. I'm submitting it for an art show at City Hall, the first show they've EVER had for which they've invited an organization like Bethel to take part. This is a HUGE breakthrough so everyone in the prophetic arts department is stoked. The theme for our pieces was God's prophetic vision for Redding aka what He sees in the city, what He wants to accomplish, etc. So, when I asked the Lord to show me what He wanted me to paint, He gave me the phrase "In the Eye of the Beholder." And it all unfolded from there.

Basically, my painting is exactly that, GOD beholding the city of Redding. In the center of the eye is a snapshot of Redding with some specific things in it. First of all, I felt that putting the Sundial Bridge in there was very important b/c it shows that Redding is a city of prominence, and God desires to make it of even greater spiritual prominence. Behind the bridge is a mountain b/c the Lord has filled Redding with so many natural wonders that point to His majesty. And lastly, I asked the Lord what He sees in the city, and He said to me, "Blessing and honor, glory and power." Now, I was actually kinda puzzled by this at first, and said "Lord, we commonly attribute those things to You . These words are in our songs and poems but...Why Redding?" But then I understood that as the Lord is exalted in the city, Redding will be blessed and honored, glorified and filled with His power. He is the source of it all. So, I painted those words underneath the bridge.

So, there you have it :). I LOVE this painting, and am so excited for it's unveiling b/c I know the Lord will move through it. Please keep it in prayer, that whatever God wants to communicate through it will be communicated, and that it will penetrate hearts with His love and power. All for His glory!

I love you all! Give me feedback!

Melissa

Finally, another update!

Sorry everyone, my life has been incredibly busy lately. This past week was a whirlwind of great stuff! I have to let you in on the action!

For a few snippets of my week: Thursday all the outreach teams went out into the city on a prayer walk. In addition to praying for lower crimes rates, broken homes, and Redding becoming a cancer-free zone, we pressed in for the continued transformation of city government leaders, and that the Body of Christ in Redding would be unified in this revival time. Then, Thursday night, myself and the 13 other small group leaders enjoyed a wonderful dinner with our Revival Group leaders! It was a really fun time of getting to know each other better, and overdosing on yummy chinese food ;).

Now the weekend is when things really started to heat up b/c on Friday, our guest speaker at school was a man named Georgian Banoff, and he was CRAZY! He's an amazing missionary all over the world, and his greatest desire is for people to truly experience the love of God. Not to mention, he's an incredible worship leader with both the fiddle and the guitar! Anyway, we were totally blessed by him both during school and for the Friday night service. I don't have time at the moment to detail my experience at the service but I'll just say that God impacted me in two very specific ways (if you want details, drop me an email). The presence of God was so powerful among us that day...it leaked over into Saturday and Sunday too :). Saturday evening, me and a bunch of my friends from school threw a birthday party for our friend Carissa. It was a GREAT evening! At the high point of the night, there were 50 BSSM students there! Needless to say, the Holy Spirit was moving in us and through us all night. We even had a time of worship and prayer together! I left at 12:45 PM (the party started at 5) but some people stayed until 3 AM! Godly fun and fellowship like that is how parties should be :).

Now, I must confess that due to fact that my head hit the pillow at 1:30 AM, I didn't make it to church in the morning. BUT I did go to church Sunday night! And it was a definitely a powerful night. Pastor Danny Silk spoke, and brought to light something crucial for us as the Body of Christ. He spoke on the power of praise as a weapon of spiritual warfare. Prayer, fasting, and petition are commonly used from our spiritual artillery but we cannot underestimate the power of praise. As we praise the Lord, we are creating strongholds of all the great and mighty things He has accomplished among us. Praise shifts our focus to the testimony of His nature in our lives, and calls on Him to do it again. This is SO HUGE. Even if you can't think of something God has done recently, grab hold of whatever you can (go back to the Old Testament!) b/c He will be just as faithful in your life today as He has been to all the generations before you. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Another thing I want to share before I go is that praising the Lord for what He's currently doing in the Church is crucial to keep our momentum going. Pastor Danny shared with us that one of the surest ways to kill a move of God is to be ungrateful. We must constantly speak of the wondrous works of the Lord with thanksgiving and praise b/c in that, it shows Him that He can trust us to gratefully receive more. So, thank the Lord for all that He's doing in you and in the Church. Invite the more He wants to pour out by showing Him a grateful heart, full of praise. He WILL give us more!

I love you all! Another post will be coming VERY soon b/c I just finished another art piece that I'm REALLY excited about :D.

Be blessed,

Melissa

Good evening!

I wanted to share a really cool experience with you guys! I made this picture today in my Creative Arts AMT (Advanced Ministry Training), and it's kinda funny how the whole thing came into being. Our leader told us that we were going to do an exercise to "loosen us up" and just to have fun so she told us just to start drawing/painting with no particular end in mind. She specifically said, "Don't ask the Lord to give you a picture or anything." Now, for me, of course, right when she tells us that, I automatically have a picture in my head :). But I just went with it, so I painted the red, orange, and yellow swirl in the center of the paper. What can I say, I enjoy swirls.

Once I finished that part, I was thinking to myself, "So...what now?" I thought of maybe putting more swirls but that didn't sit right with me. And then it just dawned on me to draw some vines . Okaaay. So, I did. And just as I was drawing the vines the Lord spoke to me about what it all meant. He showed me that the swirl in the middle is His Spirit, and that wherever His Spirit moves, it brings life and growth and prosperity. I also began to put buds on the vines, and when we only had about 3 minutes left, our leader told us to ask the Lord to show us one last thing to add to our piece to finish it off. So, I asked, and He showed me the blossoms you see toward the bottom left. He showed me that, the closer and more involved we get in His spirit, the more growth and prosperity we will experience. Thus, the buds that are entwined in the swirl are more advanced and beautiful than the ones further out.

So, yeah, it was a wonderful experience :). Learning about the prophetic arts is such an awesome journey because it has nothing to do with me! I just come to the blank canvas and say, "Well Lord, it's all You just flowing through me so show me what You want to say..." And He does! It's all about being yielded, people :).

Wow, so yeah, just be encouraged. Ask the Lord to do new things and speak to you in new ways, and HE WILL!

Blessings,

Melissa

Here's my latest creation!

I didn't create it during worship but it was inspired from worship. It came to me through a song, and it stood out to me because there are certain attributes and emotions (love, faithfulness, power, glory, etc) that we commonly highlight in worship songs. But one night, there was a song about the Lord delighting in us, and I saw this picture in my head. I've been working on it for a few weeks now so I'm really glad to complete it :D.

Enjoy! And remember, God delights to pour His goodness down on us.

Blessings,

Melissa

SUNDAY NIGHT EXPLOSION!!!

I JUST got home from the service that started at 6PM! That's over FOUR HOURS of God!

I can't go into all the details because, honestly, writing it out this way will NOT do the evening justice but let me just say that worship was incredible . I don't even know how long it went on but we were SO FREE. I actually danced for the first time, YAY GOD, and it was so liberating. He is SO worth it.

Aside from the message from Pastor Bill (which was AWESOME), we had an extensive time of corporate prayer for healings and 122 people were set free!

Ahem.

122 HEALINGS in ONE NIGHT!!!!! God is SOOOO good! It was awesome! And then, of course we ended it with a fire tunnel ;). For those of you who don't know what that is, please don't freak out. It's just our affectionate term for a line of people who pray for you to be blessed with more of God in your life. They're really great. Once you get past the name and the initial shock, it's an awesome experience :).

Anyway, I love you guys! God is moving! ASK HIM FOR MORE!

Be blessed,

Melissa

Good morning, everyone!

I'm SO fired up from church this morning so I MUST share the message with you, in hopes that it will stir up the fire in you too!

Pastor Bill spoke out of Exodus 14 (The Israelites crossing the Red Sea). So, we've got the Israelites, they've just left Egypt but Pharoah and his armies are pursuing them so they're all FREAKING OUT. They're complaining to Moses, and being completely disgruntled toward him and God ( now, I'm VERY tempted to criticize them for such behavior but them I remember that I've probably committed the New Testament equivalent of that so I'll just keep my mouth shut). So Moses responds to them in verse 13, "Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today...The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold you peace." Moses is reassuring them of what the Lord has promised, proclaiming/prophesying of the deliverance that is to come.

But then something very interesting happens. The Lord contradicts Moses.

He says to him, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." Now, it's clear by what transpires (parting of the sea, God's protection and deliverance, Pharoah's death and destruction) that Moses was right on track with WHAT the Lord was going to do but not HOW He wanted to do it. When Moses spoke over the people, he told them to stand still and see their deliverance but the Lord told them to GO FORWARD.

Pastors all over the world are hearing similar words from the Lord, that this is a time for radical obedience. We have entered into a season in which God wants us move into the things we've been praying for, and as we move forward in authority and obedience, He will accomplish those things. This is HUGE! Pastor Bill gave the example of Jericho. The people of God were persistant in prayer and in doing what the Lord asked, as as a result, the obstacles that were in their way were removed. But that wasn't the victory. After the walls crumbled down, they still had to fight and take the city! Prayer will remove the obstacles in the way of victory but you still have to go and get it!

God's really stirring in me, and has been since I've been at BSSM, that all the things I've been praying for, I need to begin to declare and take hold of. NOT that I will in any way cease praying and crying out to Him! I am NOT saying that we should stop petitioning the Lord or standing in the gap for breakthrough! But now is the time to couple those things with obedience!
I've been praying to see the healing power of God move through my hands so now I must exercise my faith by stepping out and praying for people who are sick. I've been seeking the Lord for my friends who are off-track so now I must bring His presence into the opportunities I have with those friends, and ask the Lord to move through me to bring about His desires in their lives. I've been earnestly seeking the Lord for the youth of Ventura County to be taken for Him so once I get home, I plan on doing everything I can to make that happen!

I guess what it comes down to is that God doesn't just want to do things for us, He wants to accomplish His will with us. He loves it when we partner with Him! He wants active participation, radical obedience...It's time to "go forward", not to "stand still"!

I hope you guys get stirred up about this. REALLY. Wherever you are with the Lord, I just challenge you to take a step of obedience, even if it's just a tiny one to start :). He will honor that.

I love you all! Be blessed, and do something RADICAL for Him!

Melissa

Wow, today was an INCREDIBLE day. God is doing SO MUCH! Well, for starters, the picture above is what I painted during worship this afternoon. Today was my first day painting as part of the first and second year Prophetic Arts Team, and it was POWERFUL! God gave me the start for this painting last night but it really took form in the midst of worship. He just spoke to me about how passionate our class is, and I guess this is what passion looks like to me...it takes so many shades and expressions, it's bold and vibrant, and His glory is all mixed up with it. So, there you go :). I'm really excited for what the rest of this year will bring. This is just the beginning!

What made today's experience so incredible for me is that it combines the two things that I love most in the world to do! Most of you have heard me say that if I could be doing anything all the time, it would have to be either art or worship. This was the best of both. Standing up there on the stage, it was...unlike any worship I've ever experienced. I was just singing over my painting and through it to the Lord, and He was pouring out on me and through me to speak over my class. In fact, one of my close friends at Bethel, Laurel, was totally touched by my painting because the Lord has been speaking to her about her own transformation like a butterfly. That's what she saw in my painting! Needless to say, though it pains me to part with it, I'm giving my painting to her ;).

In addition to ALL THAT, we had an amazing teaching time with Pastor Danny Silk. He spoke to us about intimacy with the Lord and in the key relationships in our lives, and what's neccessary to have true intimacy versus the counterfeit (addictions) that the enemy tries to get us sucked into. It was REALLY good. A few snippets...

Intimacy = "In-to-me-see". Intimacy is all about vulnerability, and in order to have vulnerability, it must be a safe place. There must also be trust and acceptance.

Relationship is the soil of revelation. If you don't plant all your revelations (from God, about God, about yourself, etc) in the soil of relationships, and see it bear the fruit of the Spirit in your life, what's the point?!

The greater the vulnerability, the greater the RISK. But it also makes for greater INTIMACY.

Intimacy's counterfeit: Addiction. It is the attempt to create intimacy with something that you can control. But there is no trust or safety in that! True intimacy flows only from a place of FREEDOM.

That's just a little of what we heard. It was really awesome. I bought the CD!

Anyway, this is just the first day of the week so I'm full of anticipation for what the next few days will bring. I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love and blessings,

Melissa

Just a quick poll because I'm bored:

Do I look older to you?

I can't tell if I've changed or not...maybe? ;)

Blessings,

Melissa

Hey Everyone!

It's been a few days since I've posted...it has been a VERY busy time up here. Awesome, but very busy. Things are really starting to pick up momentum now, and...Well, if you don't mind, I need to be transparent. It has been an interesting week in that I'm beginning to see and feel what it's like to live in a culture of revival. I'm not sure if you can even imagine it...I certainly couldn't before I became a part of it. Although one might expect it to be, it's not like going to a revival conference or a winter camp or a church retreat, and then just functioning in that environment as your daily norm. The very atmosphere of this culture is hunger...there's a constant tension and expectation, an eagerness in people's hearts that seeps into the air...and yet there's also a purposefulness that binds everything together. Though alot of what we do is an extension of our passion and zeal for the Lord, it all comes back to one purpose: the know the Lord and make Him known...To center everything in our lives around what we see the Father doing...to make what He's doing the ONLY thing we do, and to be constantly asking Him what that is.

At the core of this revival culture is passion with a purpose.

So, with all that in mind, what I've been realizing is that it's hard to keep that passion alive. Not that the fire within me ever ceases to burn but...I'm becoming accustomed to a passionate culture. Settling in isn't a bad thing but even in such a fiery environment as this one, I have to struggle with getting comfortable. The LAST thing I want to become is complacent! So, it's really just a constant process of self-evaluation and crying out. Every day, I look at where God has brought me from yesterday, and the potential laid before me today, and I cry out according to my need. "God, stir in me compassion for this city..." "Father, increase my passion for purity. Purity of speech, of action, and of intention." "Jesus, I want to understand the height, the width, and depth of Your love..." "God, I just want more. I can't go on without more of You. It's not an option."

I don't know where you all are with God right now but I encourage and beseech you with everything in me to cry out to Him. You don't even have to be specific. Just earnestly ask Him for more. More of Himself. More of His presence in your life. Just more. Remember, only good can come of having more of Him.

Just as an aside, if you could be praying for me for a few things, I'd be incredibly grateful. Please be praying for me in the struggle I just expressed to you, that I would be renewed by fresh passion and purpose every day. Also, just simply that I'd keep my eyes fixed on what God is doing here, and not give into other things that are vying for my attention. And finally, there's an art show coming up that I'm going to be submitting some work to, and I really just new an extra measure of clarity in hearing the Lord's voice. I want my work to be purely inspired by Him. The deadline for that is coming up October 24th.

Thank you all so much for your interest in all that God is doing in me up here. I'm missing you very much...

Love and blessings,

Melissa