2018 Women on the Front Lines - Speaker Jenn Johnson

the Holy Spirit we just love your presence well there's nothing even comes close oh there's not a vacation there's not a possession a new house or a new car there's nothing that even comes close to be needing your presence well we just want to say how much we love you again tonight we love you so much but we love you with all our hearts with all our souls with all our minds with all our strength and Lord we're honored to be in your presence again tonight well we just have one request were you thick in your presence look would you give us even a little more Lord we just asked that the heavens would be open even whiter tonight Lord that your kingdom would come upon us would fall upon us Lord that the atmosphere of heaven would invade this place once again tonight and so though we want to welcome heaven we just bless all the angels that are here tonight helping us worship here on assignment but we thank you Lord that the revival is in the air though we thank you there's something's about to break something's about to break up maybe tonight and so lord will we come with high expectation high anticipation Lord you're taking us higher you're taking us deeper in the knowledge of you so lord I pray tonight that every person would have an encounter tonight with you every person would never be the same after tonight they'll we pray this in Jesus name Amen amen how many know it's gonna be another amazing night it already is just so awesome the worship is just just so awesome just want to welcome everybody especially all those who've come from a distance want to bless all the pastor's that are here ministers people that are over ministries want to bless you guys we want to honor you it's good to have Paul Cain with us tonight also the front row Wow I don't know about down there but it's pretty thick up here the presidents the Lord is really really thick Oh increase Holy Spirit come on let's come on let's invite him didn't you become more Lord surprised us tonight come on Lord just come and surprise us tonight Lord we don't want to be predictable we just want you Lord we thank you Lord there's some yessuh god it's healing somebody's right foot it's in the back by the heel I don't know who that is but God is healing you right now and just just receive that begin to move your foot you'll find out that the pain is gone and I really believe metal is being just taken out of your out of your heel right now so Lord and how many know this is normal in the presence of God this is this normal this is just normal stuff he does all the time and so low we just thank you for that whoa is it just me or do you guys good well take more oh my goodness yeah I love this stuff increase Holy Spirit you know I believe that we could worship the Lord and our giving tonight and I believe that miracles can happen as we give aren't you glad we're living in a new season where God just comes and and and messes up our meetings in a very good way and he and he's heals during worship he heals during the offering he heals during the message and and we just see so many breakthroughs just you wouldn't have to wait to the end anymore he's here and he's present but tonight we want our offering is going to go to the car fire relief and so we want to make actually this whole this whole offer he's going to go to Bethel Church in Redding California they're doing an amazing job helping their their their neighbors and helping the cities those who have lost homes I think there's something like 1300 people have lost their home and and I just love how the how the body of Christ has stepped up and Bethel Church is out there and they're and they're helping people and they're they're providing just whatever they need what people need food and clothing and and I heard their living give it given away money to those who've lost houses is that amazing that's the body of Christ that's Church and so tonight we just want to we want to make our whole offering 100% is going to go to Bethel Church but you can make your your checks out to healing rooms and on your seats I think we have envelopes and cars cart credit card information if you want to give that way but we want we want to bless Bethel Church and what and how their help in their city and we want to we just want to pray that that something amazing comes out at the end of this that's something I believe a revival fire is gonna break out in and Redding like we've never seen and all up and down the California as the fires are all over California I think it's prophetic also about the fire of God that's coming those revival fires they're gonna hit California solo we just pray right now for our friends in Bethel a church right now Lord and for the for the city of ready in California and Lord we ask that you would that you would just turn this around for good and soullow we ask that you bless our offering tonight as we give and we ask that you'd be glorified in Jesus name Amen so while we're taking the offering I just have a few announcements but first of all I want to say misty thank you so much for flying out here you know sometimes it's not easy or not fun to get on an airplane and to fly somewhere in to just appreciate you pouring out your heart and the whole team tonight thank you so much and Jenn same with you thank you for flying down today and back tomorrow that's a quick trip so thank you so much we really appreciate when people take time I Rick and I have reached a place in our life where I'm I shouldn't say this but I'm so tired of traveling and it's not fun sometimes this part's fun but the travel part it you know it gets old so I really really appreciate you girls flying up here thank you so um last night those of you who are here you know that we said that this was the first time we're using this building that we've where it's almost finished it's not even quite finished yet but in last night before worship we actually prayed a prayer of dedication that this building would be a place where the Lord could come and feel comfortable and feel welcome and that this is his place and as we come together in this room and we're gonna have many things here that his presence would just be here I was praying today that this room would be known for a place that if I get there I know I'll encounter God that's my heart that it won't be oh I want to see so-and-so or hear this but I know if I go in that room it's one of the places on earth one of them many many that if I come in this room I'll encounter him so be praying that with us that's our heart for this place we built it for him we want him to cavitate and encounter you I I just pray us people walk through these doors that they get hit with the presence of God in a real way and I mean that sincerely so I'm so grateful for this place and for all of you here tonight so last night we also shared that in October we're having a worship school with Steve Swanson he's so amazing so he's going to come back and if you're a worship leader or if you're a person who loves to worship so that should be everybody who's breathing this could be for you so there's more info on our website you can register on on our website why don't you show that short clip of this [Music] [Applause] [Music] we have an internship it's actually going on right now so we're just doing our third one so our fourth one will be spring of 2019 February 18th and then another summer one these have been amazing they're just getting better and better so if you want to come and hang out here for two months and just be surrounded by the amazing people we have here to teach you how to worship House of Prayer thing's prophecy just amazing things check that out we have a short clip for that as well you know it you can feel it you were made for more more than status quo more than average more than you've been told more is bursting to get out the Ignite internship will equip you for the life you were designed to live learn to hear God's voice know your heavenly identity operate with supernatural power authority and leadership you'll grow in prophetic and healing ministry see signs wonders and miracles ignite greater passion for your heavenly father apply now for your upcoming school year Jesus released a kingdom of heaven on earth now it's your turn [Music] as well and then once every three weeks on a Friday night which will be next Friday at this time we have pulse which is a 18 to 35 year old meeting and they're gonna have their first one in this room so I think it's gonna be kind of wild because those lights do a lot more than they did tonight and that sound I'm thinking we better warn the neighbors that it's gonna be loud but that's next Friday August 17 in this room and then Stacey you want to come up Stacey also I love having her here she's got so many amazing things going on she's gonna tell you about something happening here in November and I'm work we're very excited about this this is our first weekend as I said last night that's actually hosting our first event that we did have the Lou Engel Prayer strike but nothing was finished then it was super raw in the stable st. Mary was pregnant you know and we had a 10-day prayer strike it was awesome but then we had a wedding a beautiful wedding for everybody said it was so sunny I missed it but it was last weekend but this is our very first event in the Apostolic Center anyway but we're gonna have a whole bunch of them we had a school of prophecy which I taught a little bit ago and you can get that back there some people have been asking how this works it's a fancy new thing see you you just take that off of there and then you push that out and it's a USB and you stick it in your computer or your iPad or whatever and you can get the whole 12 to 13 hours of speaking on a school of prophetic so then then you can share it at home groups equip people just use it however you like equip yourself because the Bible says to desire eagerly spiritual gifts especially prophecy so and you can see all those things there but I'm very excited about an event that we have coming up in November if we if we could put that we have a transformation conference and as I was sharing last night about the Apostolic centers and that sending people out into society we want to equip you to transform your sphere of influence so we have myself and Patricia King and Wesley and Daniel James was asking me like how old is Wesley in that picture but I'm not totally sure because he says his hair is really white now you know but anyway um I don't know and uh my spiritual daughter of mine Carrie green and we have walked together Carrie and I for probably 14 years now and we've gone to Brazil every single year and this year we hosted our first transformation summit your father-in-law bill came and it was very very amazing Randy Clark was there but we also have we're gonna have panels of people in you know the seven mountains of influence and so we have a Paul Lauer coming he's founded motive media he's the one that actually does all the marketing and promotion for the faith-based family films passion of the christ' Chronicles of Narnia all the Hollywood films he's gonna come and speak on a panel we have a number of different people like that Jenner two generations uniting to see California and not just revival but actually his kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven and we're very excited about it so if you're at we plant we would there will also be people in business and government very significant people that are influencing their spheres of influence so influencing their spheres of influence it seems like a double right there but so anyway but I'm it's my deep honor to invite Gen Johnson to speak tonight come on I think we should all just really stand and honor her and many of you awesome we're so happy to have her and I was saying to her like we took pictures and you know what she did Julie never does this but she bent over and took the picture like this so that we seemed the same height because Julie always thinks she's taller than me but it's not true uh and but um I when I when we were at thinking about this conference that Julie and Cindy and all of us here at Laurie at the healing rooms and we were you know thinking about speakers and I said you know who I'd really love to hear is Jen Johnson we all hear her worship but I know that she has a message that she's really really carrying and living and worship comes out of a lifestyle it's not something you do from singing and so I said I really want to hear her speak so we're so glad you came and we're happy to have you and I love you I love you well I'm excited to be here I'm gonna scoot back a little bit if that's okay sorry camera that's gonna mess you up but I feel like I'm gonna just jump on you I have to I'm gonna pray first but I'm so happy to be here and this good night misty I mean good night just I don't know where I was for the past hour but I don't know if it was actually in this room physically I felt like I was somewhere else but this feels so similar in here to the church that I grew up in and from birth till when I was about 17 years old and it feels good in this place let me just tell you it feels like family it feels like home it feels like I probably slept under one of those rows back there as a little kid it just it feels so good in this place I just wanted to honor you for for this house and just bless this house so let's just pray and then I want to also pray over the fires again so they just shut down so father we love you we are so grateful for who you are we're so grateful for what you're doing and god I pray right now tonight that you just give me your words whatever you want me to say god I've got a lot of things I'm excited to share but whatever it is on your heart god I pray you'd give me your words that would just speak straight to hearts and minds and spirits God and I just thank you for for this place and I bless this house I bless this movement I bless this area what you're doing God we just say yes and they man to it but we do we pray for for the Reading area God and for all the people experiencing fires we just ask for miraculous rain that glory would be brought to your name and that you'd bring salvation to people a massive wildfire of salvation to people God that they would come people that have never walk in Church doors or walking in church doors and father I pray that that encounter your Holy Spirit as they do that you discomfort you rebuild and restore and you just put those fires out and she's this beautiful name everybody said and man hi this is my first time here so since this just feels like family is that okay for just family for a while okay I'll just take that liberty but I just I went back and forth with so many things that I was just God what do you want me to share and usually the Lord makes it really clear when I'm preaching but I'm to preached on because I do speak a lot but I just I I kept hearing nothing but this funny little thing I kept hearing the word apricot I know that's what I thought too and I was like Lord what in the world is this mean and so I googled it you know I had all my friends googa would this is my friend it will hold up look was in my gift basket apricots was in my gift basket in the hotel so whoever put that gift basket together you were you were on it I I still really don't know what it means but there are apricot colored balloons hanging all over this room so I'll take it if you're wearing orange tonight maybe I'll prophesy over you later I don't know but maybe that's someone's address who knows if that means something to you you can come up and Oh everyone's wearing orange bracelets oh I love it I love it won't he do it won't eat it so I don't know what that but I just I kept going it and as I was singing and worship today I just had so many thoughts and message is kind of going through my heart and I really like to feel the people that I'm speaking to you before I speak and so it doesn't worship tonight I just heard the Lord lean down and say tell them your story baby I said okay sir I will so I'd love to share with you a bit of my testimony and I love that the testimony over we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony and so I'd love to share with you a little bit about that for me I grew up 0 to 17 in a very small church in the northern part of California on the coast and I just have loved God as long as I can remember being two and three probably rededicated my life to the Lord as a little girl and our little church would we had so many meetings like this just so hungry for the presence of God we'd bring people in one of those was my future father-in-law little did I know Bill Johnson and Chris valeton and we just were so hungry no matter what was going on in the world that God was doing we were so hungry to be a part of it whatever worship album that came out or or cassette tape yes cuz that tape I'm am that old that we could get our hands on we were just so hungry to just define that and I feel that hunger in this place I just wanted to honor that I feel that hunger of whatever whenever wherever God and a man what a place to be and a place to live and so um we just grew up in this atmosphere of our church we're just going for it and I remember when when bill came over to speak he would bring this very good-looking young man with him and that worked out well for my life later on in my years but I can remember as a little girl bill pulling into the parking lot and Brian in the passenger seat and I can remember as like a young girl like fixing my hair and made sure that I could walk by the car and look so cute come on you know it's real that's how it is right we don't do that were Christians shut up you do so and I just remember you know just having this massive crush on him when I was I was think I was like 12 or 13 when I first had a crush on Brian but um I just grew up in a youth group and every church meeting I could get and I really was a melting pot of worship influence you know I grew up with Darlene Zschech and the high praise of God that she just led people to the Lord and you know anything that from delerious to all the vineyard stuff I mean I could play four chords of a vineyard song I just I'm I'm so thankful for what God is doing around the planet and I just about 17 school of ministry and Bethel had started and so I I ended up moving there and going to school ministry and that's where I connected with Wes and Stacy and I've known you guys for so long and I just want to take a minute to an honor I know that Patricia King isn't here but I wanted to honor to a couple parts of my life story that they were involved in when I had our first baby and we were in ministry I remember I went up to hang out with Stacy at our friends house and reading and I was really discouraged because as a woman I had so many dreams in my heart I was so happy to married and to be have to have a baby and but I really I had such a passion to lead the church and to whatever God was doing that I would just guide them and lead them just you know my dream and I think I was like 20 years old and you know people started telling me these things of Oh once you have kids you're done you know just pack your bags you're not going in you know and put your bags away I mean and you know people started kind of really giving me these negative words about having kids and being a woman in ministry and what that meant and I remember Stacy came and sat down and she said to me I think I was crying she said this is gonna look however the Holy Spirit wants it to look for your life there's not going to be a pattern it's not gonna be this or that it's you're gonna break a mold and you're gonna follow the Holy Spirit to whatever your life's supposed to look like and I remember it literally it set me free that day in a massive way because I hadn't seen it modeled you know to to be a woman and to be feminine and to lead and to lead with your husband just a lot of the things that am I really dreamt of doing and Stacy just I remember she just came in like slammed this word of like no you will follow the Holy Spirit and he will lead you to make away and to show you how you can do this and it's been the kindness of God we've been leading the worship at Bethel now for 18 years and married for kids and it's been the dream life the absolute dream life and so when I was taught when I was thinking and praying about sharing even through worship I felt like I wanted to if nothing else I wanted to strengthen you with joy and I loved it about us as love joy peace you know the verse but there's something I feel even more than what word I've preached you tonight releasing joy the joy set before us I mean the theme of joy throughout the Bible we do love pretty well we have our good days and bad days we really work hard for peace but sometimes I feel like as Christians we look a little constipated have you ever seen okay may you probably don't get this a great privilege I get to stand up here misty gets it we get to stand up here and wash your faces and sometimes y'all it's like this and I love it I love it all I've been there that lady goes oh my god she just said that yes she did I love it but man I think that we have to go back to the core DNA of who God is and he's a father and he has kids and I don't know about you but I have four kids and I don't want my kids coming to me with constipated face mom I just need this you know it's like can you just come to be an act ask me like a human you know like why the face you know and I I just I love that we can come to God as children we can come joyfully we can come to him and ask him and talk to him like he's right here because it's the great miss yet word sing one time that he's in the room and we don't have this thing about him like he's not because he's in the room and he's right here and he's not far away and we don't have to work for it he's right here and I love that about God that we can have this childlike exchange so when I grew up as a little girl I I read the word and I was just I can't get enough I love the Word of God so much I just recently got the passion translation I grew up on the NIV and the King James and I love it all but the passion it's just giving me a new fresh it's like we're so refreshing to myself you've never read the passion I highly encourage it's beautiful but I love the word of God and as a little girl I grew up just in Christian school and I just was always hungry and I I am to this day just for for more of God and for the presence of God and just to be in it and to be a part of it and let it flow through me in every aspect of my life and it's just been my childhood thing but I remember when I was a young girl I really wanted to learn to hear God you wanted to hear God don't you want to hear him in every aspect of your life and so I remember I just wanted to hear God and and so uh I remember I was about 14 15 and I was driving to work one day at McDonald's very glamorous and I was driving to work one day and I just like God I want to hear you and I love what you're doing and I love you ever I just want to hear you want to know you more and and so I was driving my car and there's this like little piece of garbage on the side of the road and as I'm driving by you know this stupid piece of garbage I felt like the Lord spoke to me and said pick up that garbage and go throw it away when you get to work has God ever told you something you're like I want to hear you and you like wanted to be so epic and like life-changing and like 17 people get saved you're like pick up trash or not even my own trash like this is not you you know so I just kept driving on the way to work and I got to work and I was a little bit early because that's a good idea to be when you're you have a job as early bill Johnson says early is or early is on time on time is late that's Bill Johnson you can write that down this is anything that I say tonight that's good it's probably two bills so it's fine but I just remember I got to work that day and I was just i sat my car and I just shift my head and I was like I know that's you Lord I know that this stupid thing is you and I said and I was like I came to this one phrase in my life and this is something if you have a pen tonight I would love you to write down when you hear God's voice and you're going after it with all your heart and you feel like God is speaking to you something I want you to remember this one phrase what do I have to lose what do I have to lose God speaks to you something about the checker as you're checking out and target or the person old I think I'm an idiot go back to this phrase what do I have to lose and more importantly what do I have to gain and what impact and what encounter of with God do they have to gain by me simply getting over myself forgetting about my reputation forgetting about if it makes sense and hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord that is my probably one of my biggest passions in life is just that I would completely be yielded to the voice of the Lord and I remember I got in my car that day and I just drove back up to that stupid piece of garbage and I pulled over and I put it in my truck my car and went back down to work and as I walked into the McDonald's I remember I just threw it in the garbage and I'd love to tell you that like 30 angels flew out and seven people got saved and I fell out in the glory but none of that happened that I was aware of and I I remember that day kind of being disappointed like okay maybe somewhere someone is gonna be touched by that maybe I'll just never know but I didn't think I saw anything happened but let me tell you something very important happened my will was broken that day to understand what he spoke and what I did with it so many times we'll hear the voice of the Lord speak to us about something and we rationalized why it wouldn't be God or or this or that but I want to tell you today if you can bring your mind to the mind of Christ and submit it he will use you in incredible ways ways that don't make sense ways that don't make sense on paper and even with your bank accounts with your family with with things where you know I heard one time I was in a conference that two plus two doesn't equal four with God two plus two equals whatever the heck God wants it to equal and so many times you know even in my own life I remember when I was younger and married to Brian I was very smart with money it's a funny phrase very funny phrase I'm smart with money what is that with God as you know the king of all it means we have to be submitted to the mind of Christ but I used to be so concerned with money when we were first married and I was budgeting and I'm very responsible and I love being responsible I don't like being frivolous but I was actually poverty mentality controlled and we got married and I remember just freaking out about the dumbest stuff and ever freaked out about something stupid yeah okay just meet just kidding but I remember just freaking out and my amazing mother-in-law we call her mother and love just came to me and kind of got in my face and I I love correction the Bible says love correction it's kind of tough sometimes though huh to get corrected but man if you really love it you won't be a weirdo so that's good that's free you can you can take that but I remember my mother and love came to me and she just said you care way too much about money and I just remember going oh gosh this is this is true and so I just went before the Lord and I just said god I know this is true what do I do about it anytime you have conviction in your life don't go into shame mode take what God's speaking to you go that's true God what do I do about it if the enemy would love to torment you with shame but it's not what Christians are meant for just bring into the Holy Spirit and say all right what do we do about this this is true this is happening and so I just one before the Lord I said god this is true and what do I do in the Holy Spirit said to me as loud as I can ever remember stop budgeting I was like get behind me Satan not today devil no but I knew it was God and when you build history with hearing the voice of the Lord and obeying you start to get a rhythm of his voice and you learn to follow the sheep know my voice it doesn't happen overnight as you do anything else when you learn something it takes practice and hearing the voice of God takes practice to know his heart and his ways and that's what a relationship with anyone that's what happens is but the longer you're with him the more you learn their heart and their ways and that's how it is with God that's why he created relationship as humans is so that we would know each other and then know him through each other and I just remember like just going okay god I know this is you but it makes no sense to me because okay how and the Holy Spirit said to me this I want you to start making a list of what you need and then anything that is not on that list that you want I want you to ask me so buy whatever you need for your family and at that time it was organic food which was above what I wanted to pay for and and I knew that God was asking me to feed my family really healthy and so I had to go back to the drawing board at the Holy Spirit to define what he was asking me to do and then from there any time I was a target and wanted a candle or you know anything else that was in those beautiful aisles that I would meander with my child in my shopping cart hey man mom's god bless Target thank you Lord just thank you Lord and so I just would ask him anything that I wanted that I didn't need a task Hindman and the Holy Spirit began to train me in a day to day basis to follow his voice and a lot of times in life you know we as people were looking for someone to tell us the voice of God and there's a lot of things that are very clear right and wrong good and evil it's very clear in the Bible but there's so much in life that's gray area take TV for example what's bad and what's good well what may necessarily be okay for your life might not be okay for mine and the goal is that in every decision in our life that we would go to the Holy Spirit see the rating system for movies is a secular rating system as you all know there's some G movies that are worse than or is equal evil as some r-rated movies it's a secular system and we've got to be people who live by the voice and the Spirit of God I remember early on when I was younger I there was this artist that was a secular artist who sang these really beautifully sappy love songs and I knew them all by heart unfortunately to my mom's knowledge she was not happy at that but I remember I just knew even though I just loved listening to this artist I knew it was not right for my life all my friends were listening to this artist and I just I knew every time I put it on I just knew this is not right for me and I remember just making that decision like god I know that this isn't good for my life so I'm gonna choose to not listen to this now I can listen to the same artist now in this season in my life as a non single sappy teenager and I'm fine with it and it's fun and I still sing those lyrics and I can play every song and piano what's the point the point is is in every season of our life what's good for our life has to be defined by the voice of the Lord not by a person not by my friends doing it not by this person's doing it not by the pastor of the church that it said that I can do it but our lives in those great areas those things that are not clearly written out in the Bible we have to live our every decision our every life submitted to the voice of the Holy Spirit I remember when I was I was in LA and we'd been married for a few years and there was this beautiful table in Pottery Barn godbless Pottery Barn Lord just lower the prices Jesus father oh thank you amen thank you for the quality and there is this beautiful table that I had been dreaming about owning and I I just was in the store and put it in LA and speaking at a women's conference and I kind of just went by the table and kind of like I'll have you one day my pretty you know come on girls window shopping right and as I you know as I kind of put my hand a table and said that the Holy Spirit said to me that's that table is yours if you want it Yeah right me and what bank account would and I remember standing and you know I've grown at this time I was you know I think I was about about 30 and 25 30 and I I knew it was the Lord and I was irritated like why would you tell me that that's just mean and I just remember kind of standing there like god I I'm really growing and hearing your voice and I feel like I know you but but you wouldn't tell me that that's crazy cuz you know my bank account right now and in that season of life you know we didn't have a record label or anything we were paying for all of our albums out of our pocket and we were in we'd get we'd given a massive chunk to an album and we were in debt over it and and uh god thankfully paid it back way beyond money to it but in that time it was just not a season of excess and we were sowing and so I am I just stood there I stood there at that stupid table and I knew it was the voice of God and I just said alright I'll get it then if this is you like a really bratty fleece I don't know what that was sorry but that's what it was and so I remember I called my precious husband hi honey yeah I'm in pottery barn and um there's this table and God said I could add and god bless him he's so sweet he just said he's like well if you feel like it's the Lord what a guy Stacy those are the men we pray for thank you lord thank you he said if you feel like it's the Lord and I said I know this sounds crazy but I just that's what God said and it doesn't make any sense and more importantly it offended me because God knew my bank account but I knew it was him and so I bought the table and I couldn't even enjoy it I was sick to my stomach and I remember you got a discount if you put it on a Pottery Barn card and so I put it on the Pottery Barn card and and I was just sick and they had to mail it to my house because we live in the middle of nowhere you know it takes everything and more to get to reading you got to really want to go there but people do so that's fun but I remember it took it took a while to get that table to come to my house and it shows up and I get the bill for this table and the crazy thing is is we hadn't budgeted at that time we hadn't budgeted for that conference that I was doing in LA and so the bill for the table comes and the cheque for the Women's Conference comes and it was almost exactly to the dollar and so God paid for my table but I tell you that story to tell you that in life in anything that we're doing again we just have to lean in to what God is saying and sometimes it's gonna offend your mind sometimes it's going to sound offensive of what God's gonna ask you to do I don't know if you've heard this story yet but if you haven't I'm already sorry before I tell you this story there do you know Bobby Connor okay if you don't know who Bobby Connor is he's just a dreamboat he's just a big teddy bear and he's amazing one of my favorite preachers and Bobby has this Connor has a story that is I think I'm brave until I hear the story and I'm like am I even saved I need to hear it the Lord so Bob and you'll know why so Bobby is in a group of people and he sees this elderly gentleman and the Holy Spirit tells Bobby I want you to go over to that man and nibble on his ear [Laughter] exactly her face was like this and of course Bobby fought it because that's sick [Laughter] but he couldn't shake it because bobby had developed a history of hearing the voice of the Lord and Bobby knew that was the Lord and when Bobby made that decision of what do I have to lose I know this is the Lord this is a new one and he stepped over that line he walked up to the man he leaned down beside him he nibbled on his ear and he told him Jesus loved him and the man broke down crying and I would too cuz that's sick [Laughter] but when the man could get himself together from sobbing he turned to Bobby and he told him this my wife recently passed away she was a believer and I was not and the only way I would let her tell me about the Lord is that night if she'd nibble on my ear there was not one thing on the entire universe that would connect that man more to the voice of the Lord and the goodness of God that he knew him then Bobby's brave audacious disgusting fact and I remember hearing that story years ago and it lit a fire in me I wanted to throw up but it lit up fire and me of God I want to be the person that does whatever it takes that has no fear of man that has no fear of reputation I want to be the person that walks in faith and boldness of hearing your voice and going for it without a thought process and that's this faith life that God's calling us all to is to not go by the status quo or by what people are saying or or doing but that we would be so centered and grounded by what he's saying and by the word of god I love Joyce Meyer has a phrase she says that we are led by the Word of God and the Spirit of God and it's so simple but it's so true it's so foundational and you know a lot of times in in spiritual meetings and things like this you know we can become so accustomed to to being led by what we feel and being so connected but by how we're feeling and and being so moved by the Spirit of God but I'll never forget it was actually one of my first times I'd ever heard Patricia King and she had come to Bethel and it was in a season of my life that was probably one of the most difficult seasons that I'd gone through and it was only for about three months thankfully but I had this terrible experience where all of a sudden I'd gone my whole life being able to feel the presence of God and be a part of it and all of a sudden out of nowhere I was about twenty twenty-one I couldn't feel the presence of God and I I felt void I questioned if I was saved and and Brian and I were leading in church we were leading and all of a sudden I just I couldn't feel anything like I I was deaf to the Spirit and as time went on you know at first you don't really know what's going on but I just kind of slowly feel like I was slipping into this depravity and I questioned if I was saved and it became his mind torment I'd get they lead worship and I would be so angry because I would sing the truth but I couldn't feel it like I always had known and it just kept going on and in a I just you know I knew all the right answers and I had prayer and all the things but it just was this really difficult time in my life and Patricia came to the church and I'll never forget I was standing in the sound booth with my arms crossed because I was just so angry at why this was happening and what was going on and what had I done and all these stupid questions and Patricia got up to speak and she she said just I think it was one of the first things she said she said there's someone here tonight and you felt like the presence of God has left your life but God has only wanted to increase how you hear him and know him and your capacity for the word and he didn't hide himself from you he's expanding your capacity and I get choked up I stood in that sound booth and I just bawled my eyes out because that's exactly what it was and she just really spoke without even knowing you know who or what she's speaking to I don't even know if I talked to her later that night so Patricia if you're watching thank you it just totally rocked my life and and God it was expanding me to no because I'd been so reliant on the presence of God that even hearing him and knowing him in his word had become second rate and and we're called to be people who are led by the Word of God and the spirit and presence of God and so just a big reality check in my life but Brian and I when when I I was 18 and Brian was 22 I think when we got married and you know we were just full-on and we we only dated I'm sorry mom's we only dated 10 days before we got engaged every teenage girls like yes and it was this wild time where we just knew it was God and we we had known each other it wasn't like we hadn't known each other but we had known each other but we just hadn't had a value for dating and when we knew we knew and and a local pastor's wife Brian and I had just been dating I think one or two days and a local pastor's wife from reading called Benny and said hey is Brian dating anyone and Benny was like actually yes and so she why this crazy word and so I was like day two or three of dating she's like can I come over and give him this word and Benny's like sure so she comes over knowing nothing knowing nothing about me and is amazing miss you seen about vows to God I had made this vow to God when I was younger that I wouldn't cut my hair until I was married and I had like really long hair and I trimmed it but I didn't cut length off of it so I belong here and a couple I think was a week or so before I was actually in the Johnston's bathroom because it is hotter than actual hell in Redding and so maybe equally I don't know but I was in the bathroom and I had scissors in my hand getting ready to cut my hair in the Lord we reminded me of this vow that I wouldn't cut my hair so I was married and Lilith and I know it would be very shortly after that but I this pastor's wife comes over and she's prophesying and she said I had this vision I saw this is before anything like we were just leading worship and homegroups and sometimes at big church and she's that I had this massive vision of stadiums and songs and she laid out our life right now like she laid out in vision form our entire life right now in this day and we had none of that like that was like pipe dream that was crazy crazy and then a movement would come from our house and like this this whole massive board and we were sobbing crying and holding hands and you know they had recorded it and it just was amazing how God just put us together like a whirlwind and she even said that in her word God's putting you together like a world when it doesn't make sense to anyone around you but you know it's him and and you have peace about it and we did and so we only dated for a few days and we got engaged actually before worship start I had no idea it was ten days and I was at the keyboard and and Brian was a leading with the guitar and he just prays this prayer to open worship you know and I'm like yes God you know cook eyes close beside he's like one more thing before worship and he pulls out a ring it's like Jen will you marry me and the whole crowds like I was like yes like put the ring on my finger and we went right into worship and it's just kind of been our whole life through it all so it kind of made sense that it started there and it's just such a joy and a privilege to be able to lead worship and write songs and speak and we just love the church we love the global church my gosh the more we get to travel and be a part of other movements and streams and big churches and small churches and who you are I love this first sorry I'm not reading all my verses I was supposed to read but I love this verse let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given to given them to do with excellence I love that let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence I love that and I just love what God's doing around the world it is so stunning to go to all these churches and all these movements and denominations and to watch the Spirit of God working and it's not doesn't always look the same you know it doesn't sound the same but it's so stunning and I love the body of Christ around the globe that every one of us are a part of that and that we have a responsibility and it's not just on speakers or on people with a microphone but you God has called you to be the church and that you are part of the global church what God's doing on the planet you're a massive part of that and I just think that that's such a privilege that we all get to be a part of that and and so just to be able to travel and write songs and glean from I mean I'll never forget the day the O 7 call that Missy led we won't relent you won't relent I don't care I was dead dead we we were going on the stage right after misty and that song like wrecked us like we couldn't even keep our lives together without balling through that song and so we knew we were at misty so we're like we're just gonna crawl on the stage with like tear-stained eyes you know we knew it was already game over before he started and so we thought we were like yes okay we did it we're cool we're all in one piece and then marinara near near near near near near near near and we were all like not in tears I was huge pregnant like massive pregnant and it was this really bright hot day they were like carrying people out in stretchers and I was so pregnant and we were just so overcome with the presence of God from that song that we like crawled out to our set I have these like huge sunglasses on I forgot to take off because I was such a mess and we this sound was terrible but we like went for it but I mean I just love the raw passion just going after a people all of the world just lifting up the name of God and it's just so beautiful to watch the church even at home right now in this massive crisis it's just so beautiful to watch the church rise even in tragedy and to shine and I just believe that that's something that God's speaking to you tonight that you are a light and your life that some people in your in your life that may be the only light that they see but you are a light to them that your co-workers of where you work some of your family members and you know that do anything crazy or bathing crazy but just you being filled with the Spirit of God being led by the Spirit of God to write that card or make that phone call or send that text you are the salt of the earth that are spreading the gospel of what God is doing on the planet and it is such a joy and a privilege that as we partner together as the body of Christ seeing this massive harvest and seeing Jesus get the reward that he paid for it's stunning okay what am I supposed to be done I don't even know just getting passionate Julie what time it's like 15 minutes five minutes forever don't tell me that I'll be here forever and I think if I think we miss you help me I'm I'm we might play a couple songs at the end so make sure that that all helped me the other thing I just wanted to share is I feel like I've got the point of cross of hearing the voice of God but the other thing I wanted to share and I'm speaking tomorrow morning on forgiveness so that's gonna be fun yeah I know it all be nice I promise it'll be fun you'll laugh you'll cry it'll be a heartwarming drama but but I am I just in in being a part of the move of God that we've been able to experience at Bethel I'm so grateful to God and I know a lot of you probably heard bill speak before but what I love about bill is that he's the real deal and he's he's just so incredible and he has literally taught us most things that we know I I grew up in with incredible godly parents they are wonderful and Bill and Benny have just been incredible in our life too to model and and to be parents that weren't perfect no one is right but they've just been so stunning and kind and there for us and um a couple years ago Bryan my husband really went through a tough time in his life and he had a complete nervous breakdown and he's actually writing a book about it right now because he's been come not only 100% restored mentally emotionally spiritually but he's an incredibly different man in the best way and God's really done a complete work in him and and he just went through a lot of stuff in his life where he's stuffed down you know when you go through things a lot of times you know you think you're okay and you stuff it down but he really realized that he wasn't and he actually popped with a nervous breakdown and the book is stunning I've been editing it I'm in chapter 7 and it's it's amazing talk about a power of a testimony if you're someone who does the anxiety you want to read this book it's so powerful but I'm having him go through that was for me as a wife was so crippling it was it was terrible and it took him a good six months to kind of get his feedback and he was kind of like a vegetable he was on med and going through that seasoning you think that you're strong and you're doing good but you know when you go through the fire who fires hot and I just remember being in that time I felt I supposed to share this story tonight for somebody but I remember I get choked up thinking about it had it had been emotionally exhausting having you know three kids at the time we hadn't had our son which I'll tell you about in a minute our fourth son but I was just done and just you know with it - were so going with having to have this massive team and we had the label and all the things and you know Brian's a vegetable on meds and couldn't even handle the volume of the kids in the house and he and I'm ambulance that comes the house and pick him up and taken him and they put him on meds to sedate him he thought he was going crazy and and so then went once he got home he kind of had to recover and he went through some inner healing and forgave and talked to some people he needed to talk to and by the power of the Holy Spirit working in all those things day by day he got stronger and I remember one night months it was about three months into it and I just was so exhausted by a lot of supernatural strength but I was so exhausted and we're laying on my bed and I just kind of plopped down on my bed and I was just sobbing and the Holy Spirit gave me a verse to read and I just opened my Bible and I read it and it was like the words lept off the page into my spirit and I think was the message Bible at the time but in Ecclesiastes it just said the worst is never the worst and I don't know what you're going through tonight but I knew I was supposed to tell you that that no matter what that is that you're going through the worst that you feel the worst is never the worst and I watched the Holy Spirit rebuild a man's who better than he was before and he did the work with the Lord he did the work with people and you know I'm not doing the story justice but the point is is that God not only carried him but carried us that time and in that time a few months before Brian actually had the nervous breakdown I was driving home and just randomly singing in my car and praying over one of our worship leaders hunter he's just so dear to my heart and I just love our team like they're all a part of my family and I can cry again thinking about but um and I just was driving home just thinking about Hunter and just praying over Hunter and I just started singing this little y'all gonna be okay and I just was thought I was thinking of singing and over Hunter and so I went home and I went up to my keyboard and kind of put some chords together and just kind of wrote this little chorus for Hunter and I just sent it to him and you know he text me back it just meant so much to him and I had no idea and all this and I kind of filed it away if you're a songwriter you know you could have put five thousand voice memos on your phone I kind of just filed it away didn't really think about it and then that that night when when the Lord spoke to me the worst is never the worst and that's in that season the Lord reminded me of that song and so I kind of hold that archive out of the the phone and started working on it again and I wrote the song you're gonna be okay in that time and it ended up being for me in a note up being for Brian and when the night is closing and don't give up and don't give in this won't last it's not the end it's not the and you're gonna be okay and the song became a prophetic anchor it became a statement for me it became a statement for Brian became a statement for our family and it was just such a gift of God and I wanted to tell you that that God's gonna give you things the songs and words and phrases that maybe it might not just be for the moment but it may be for a future of yours or someone else's and just to be faithful to to give those things that got God's giving you whatever that is to whoever it is that God's laying on your heart at that time amen and then all right what do you Stan is this pretty easy kind of all right [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: WOFL

Views: 35,365

Rating: 4.9094338 out of 5

Keywords: Jenn Johnson, God, Holy Spirit

Id: Rtry9Bedo7o

Length: 75min 33sec (4533 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 13 2018