VOUS Staff Meeting with Jenn Johnson: Following the Voice of the Lord

[Music] I was plenty I'm just going to brunch with with Don sherry this morning and then she's like do you want us to get staff notes yeah so as I was getting ready this morning I I felt like the Lord gave me a verse that I kind of just like to speak on and it's about following the voice of the Lord and we love the Word of God it is our life anchor amen we live and breathe by every single word in this book so we are led by the Word of God and we are also equally led by the voice of God you know everything is in this book but you know I haven't seen the word social media in this book yet so I don't know about you but there are some things out there that man we really desperately need the voice the Lord for in our lives and I grew up in church I probably got saved a few times when I was 2 and 3 years old you know I slept under mini pews and I am a church kid as as the saying is and I've loved the Lord my whole life I got baptized in the Holy Spirit at church camp when I was about 12 years old radically changed my life just out in the power of God and got up a different person and I've just been hungry for the voice the Lord that I would walk in what the Bible says that greater things would we do then even the things that are written in this book and I don't know about you but I haven't split any oceans yet you know but my Bible says that greater things will ideas so I'm hungry not to do things that are showy but man I'm hungry to follow the voice of the Lord in every aspect of my life no matter what it looks like no matter when it's popular that I would go after and I would follow the voice of the lord I would follow every word of this book till the day he takes me home and man and so I remember when I was about 14 15 years old I just began to hunger I was part of a youth group and I started leading worship a little bit and I just was so hungry for the voice of God I just God speak to me I'll do whatever you want me to do to speak and I'm just so desperate to hear your voice God and I'll do whatever it looks like and I remember I was about 15 I was driving to work in my hideous car Anna I want to tell you what it is in case you drive it but I was just like so like you know passionate and I was working at McDonald's a man and I'm driving to work and I'm like God just speak to me whatever it is you know in my car and I see this stupid piece of trash on the side of the road like just some random piece of garbage and I'm driving on and I feel the Holy Spirit say to me pick up that trash and go put it in the garbage when you get to work they've never had a thought in your mind that you know is the Lord but it like it's kind of stupid it doesn't seem to have eternal purpose you're like how is this going to affect the kingdom God you know so I of course I I thought that and I drove right past the stupid garbage and I got to work and I was I was at work early that day cuz that's what you should be early amen early sometime amen and so I was there early and I just sit in my car and I was mad because I knew that that stupid garbage was the Lord have you ever heard something you're like this is so dumb but I know it's you and sometimes it takes every ounce of courage within you to just go for it and if you hear nothing else this morning when you feel like it's the voice of the Lord go for it as Nike says just do it and so I was like fine and I said one thing that this became a pivotal moment in my life when I said god I don't care what it looks like I don't care what makes sense I'm going to be brave and follow you and so I got in my hideous ugly car and I drove back up that stupid Hill pulled over got out of the car got the garbage put up my car drove to work and threatened the garbage on my way in the door and I'd love to tell you something incredible happened angels who have the garbage cans 35 people got saved like I love to tell you that something incredible happened that I saw but something incredible did happen and that was my will broke my will to understand what it looks like that it has to make sense to me how it would be God in order for it to be him and I said God I surrender my will I surrender my will of what it looks like to be you that you would do whatever he want in me and I would do it without a thought process and that is my daily cry to this day it's Who I am its Who I bleed for when it's popular when it's not popular that I would obey the voice of God when to be quiet when to speak no matter what it is and and so I just I hungered for this and I grew in it and I remember when I was about 16 years old Bethel started a school of ministry in Redding California this tiny little town I grew up in Northern California about three hours from Bethel on the north coast and I was a hippie tie-dye wearing you know ripped jeans I'm like what look we're still here Don Cherry I'm wearing that my spirit right now so you know I just I I had it this massive desire to go to school administrators like this is what I need and that Bethel was going for it man they were like going for what this book says they were praying for the sick they were seeing them recover they all these things they were going for they were doing this stuff and I was like man my heart is resounding what you guys are saying and I got to be a part of this and so I was gonna go to the school and my parents had been praying about it and may have been stirred you know we are such church people like I'm at church every single Sunday we fight for it on our teams our teams are not on the road a lot like we fight to be home at church and value home that it's everything that's happening locally that's what we take locally if it ain't happen locally we got nothing to take so we are local people like I am on that front row you can ask my my dumb and I type do someone's coaching my Dominick you can ask my friend Dominic you know we are there he is there we are on that front row we are valuing church we're not just at church when we're leading worship can I get an amen we are at church because we are the church and we fight for that we believe in it we've gone to battle to not do not abuse that privilege to beat home and to be local and with good days in the bad days when you love your leadership when you hate your leadership that you were on the front row and you were committed okay that's another message but so you know I just I just was so hungry and my parents were so hungry and our church was great but men they weren't going after it the way that Bethel was and we just felt called and so my parents end up selling everything they owned and we all my whole family I have a brother and a sister we almost a vessel together and my parents went to school administrator with me it was incredible and we just got completely ruined by God for anything but him and it just changed our lives we're still oh they're my family's still there and I came to school ministry and I really got most impacted I think by the prophetic world and just gonna give it up since I would up to whoever's coming in maybe is the Holy Spirit come on in but he's already here but I just was so hungry for the voice too Lord you know and one of the pastors from Bethel and right before we moved he's associate pastor named Chris Balaton I was in a church meeting and he had come to speak in my little tiny town and he called me out to prophesy for me and he said hey he said and but first he had called a few other people out to process over them and right before where they would stand up I would know what he was gonna tell them have you ever had that this thing where you're like I know what's gonna happen before it happens and so I would just mmm I'm kind of sitting quietly in the back you know just loving Jesus and loving that this is like yeah this is prophecy like this is in the book and you're doing it you know and so I just alive but I'm kind of in my head kind of sneakily like as he's calm different people out I'm kind of like I'll say this and then he said then he calls me up he doesn't know me from Adam he goes Matt nica's Angus and you he goes you know what I was gonna tell all these people before I told him it didn't you and I was like okay and he goes the others but it gets up on your lives and hearing the voice of God and speaking the voice of God and he just gave me this word that rocked me and I was like it's still such an anchor of Who I am and he just really identified that and called that out so came to school and madness very handsome and Bryan Johnson huh fun fact actually had a crush on him when I was 12 at church camp a man for church camp so when I was much younger than and he didn't you know I was 12 and he was 16 so that's a little you know dicey listen when I came to school ministry I was 17 I went so dicey I was like okay let's do this so it was a fun ride but we got together really really quickly we knew it was the Lord and we are about to celebrate our 19th anniversary do you have that picture okay so this is my family my husband Brian and that's me this is my oldest daughter hailey she's 17 and she's stunning my daughter taya who's 13 my son Brayden and then our newest addition that we got to be there when he was born are forever bubble of AX rider Moses and so this is our fam that's our farm and we are too happy you can take it down so no one's like you know distracted because rider is angelic and if he was here right now he'd be like that candle would be knocked over all those leaves would be gone and he's if you follow me on instagram we're important they should follow him on Instagram because your world will be better for it so I just found on a tree our adoption story and we just were completely wrecked by God it was out of the blue we weren't planning on adopting but God just spoke to us while I was watching a TV show a couple years ago out of the blue and Darlene Zschech had recently been with us and she had spoken this word in one of the Greek or Hebrew words it means that where's her nanny and the actual meaning is to the verse Here I am send me and the word hanane he actually means my answer is yes before you even ask doesn't that wreck you just so I want god that's me like whatever it is like I don't want to be comfortable in my nice house and my kids and my me I don't want to be comfortable like I want to be if you call me to leave all of this behind and move to a impoverished country or onto a boat or anything like I just want you to know or that I'll do it I'll leave all of this not my family obviously they would be coming you know but I would just give anything up just to be where you want me to be God and I won't be comfortable and it was a litter the week later out of the blue we're watching this show the Lord speaks to us powerfully Brian that was snuggling on the couch and we just knew the Spirit of God just spoke to as a newborn mixed-race baby boy we knew it like it like it like it I knew anything in my life we knew it and my husband I were just a wreck and we both just had confirmation from the Lord and he has been the single biggest gift of God to our family I can't even I don't have words it's it's dumb but that's another message so anyway okay back to this I want to give you my verse on this topic of following the voice the Lord Isaiah 30:21 and it's short but this is one of my favorite verses in the Bible you will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way follow it whether it turns to the right or to the left I remember this one day I was Brian and I were praying about going to Hawaii and we had no money but a friend of ours gave us this prophetic word he's like I know this is crazy but I just feel like you need to go to Hawaii and you know if that's not a hard word to have a problem with you're like okay yes Lord be it unto me amen you know we vote our bank account didn't match up you know I'm saying so but we felt the Spirit of God in our whole lives it's just been fleece after fleece of we know it's the Spirit of God it doesn't make sense but we do it anyway and we have watched God come through in every aspect of our life our ministry Bethel music our family our marriage when we are so brave to come in what I this does not make sense but I know that it's you and I'm gonna risk that jump I'm gonna do it beyond the thought process because I want it to be your voice and we just watched God prove himself so faithful but everything is in this book and I remember we were you know wanting to go to Hawaii and we sat in Brian's brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed and I was just in my bed not gonna plop your Bible over and you read whatever it is sometimes no and so I was reading the message Bible at the time and I looked down like God just peeked to me I feel like you're saying to go to Hawaii but this is so it doesn't make sense financially it's not smart you know and the words left off a page or the message Bible it said God is your island getaway I was like oh my I was like and we did we literally took this massive step we had just given every we didn't have a record they go back to me we had done financially our own album all of ourselves but we were depleted and God really was above and beyond when that album came out it way more than pay for Hawaii and paid for a lot so he will do it but little things like that everything that you need in your life it is in this book but you know what the thing is is that following the voice of the Lord there's a voice behind you leading you guiding you the Holy Spirit is with you to lead you and guide you in every part of your life whether to go to this restaurant or not or this party or not whatever it is this album to listen to or not this movie to watch the Holy Spirit is present and leading you with a voice from behind and I love that men you are never going to be out on any topic because the voice of word he will speak to you he will not be silent and maybe you're not feeling a word it is right here he's gonna speak to you by his voice or in his word guaranteed every time why because he's a good dad I have four children who I love with my whole heart and if you know a good father if you know a good parent they want what's best for you I'm not gonna hide my voice from my children that does not compute with this book I love my kids I'm there for them I want them to grow and it's about the heart isn't it you know I'm not looking for her pet for perfection and my children I'm not I'm looking for their heart I'm not looking for hey I'm telling you to do this and you didn't do it perfectly so you're in trouble no I'm looking at your attitude was awesome you did that's the best of your ability and hey maybe you missed it it's okay try again your heart was awesome so many people get so freaked out by the prophetic sometimes because it has been abused amen okay let's be on the same page with that it's true I'm here for it okay it has been abused sometimes but here's the thing don't let something that's been abused ruin you for what's pure and beautiful because the spirit of this book carries a prophetic word and there are so many prophetic words that change the course of destinies in people because we called out the goodness and the golden people prophetic isn't calling up people's junk anybody can do that the prophetic is going to pay I I don't care about this this is who you are this is what God's called you to be calling up and so I'm just in love with prophetic and you know we have this culture and Bethel where we tell people when we're teaching about prophecy like you know what a great approach so if you feel something you've never been checking out at a store and you just are the checkers there and you just feel something for that checker like you just be like man I hope she knows it's gonna be okay man I hope she knows that that that fight she has had with her son that that they're gonna get through it have you ever just gotten something like that for someone maybe didn't know him from Adam maybe you know really well I'll tell you what a beautiful disarming way to communicate to people the heart of God is to simply say this you know what I'm practicing hearing the voice of God and I just wanted to tell you that when I looked at you I just felt this and what it does is it opens people up to the fact that you're human and you're practicing and it is this arming I'll tell you the times in my life that I've reached out just simply have told people the simplest thing like man the Lord he just wants you to know you're beautiful just the simplest words it doesn't have to be this massive like you're gonna move to Antarctica and they have 17 homes and you know doesn't it maybe it will be but the simple practical what God what are you saying over this person being in tune with it and then having the courage to say I'm practicing hearing the voice of God and I just want you to know this is what I'm getting and it takes the pressure off God if it's wrong yeah you don't I mean you just don't even have to even do anything more just it gives your humanity on a platter to someone to be here and I can't tell you how many times that it has just been incredible as our teams have just been courageous to speak to people on God's heart how it is cracked open salvations healings miracles just by the simplicity of keeping your spirit ten is up of what God's saying over people amen okay look good time so the adverse report move on to you I have a couple people that God was really highlighted so before I forget okay what's your name Dean okay extend your hands to Dean I send I pray over Dean Dean when I was sitting there I just felt the kindness as a gift like I just thought wrapped up as a present that you have the gift of kindness and it wasn't a simple gift it wasn't a small gift but just who you are as a human your kindness people seeing things that people need and just going out of your way especially when no one sees to give them that or to help the gift of helps as the Bible says that you have its allure be blessed II we blessed Dean right now Lord and I just pray for just an overwhelming sense of your presence around his life God like a fire like how they were led in the Bible by fire Lord that you would lead him by fire God that he would just know you like never before that I I pray for a blessing on every aspect of his life on his family's life Lord that you would cover them and I just see multiple generations coming from you just multiple generations of strength and carrying on like like the leaders in the Bible like Moses then I just miss staff and you and you're just a leader especially in your family in your generations towards the Lord and there's a generation and generation and generation behind coming after you so I bless this man's legacy and I bless his life in Jesus beautiful name Amen man we rockin okay what's her name you too Luke Andrew Jessica okay so when I was sitting here earlier I saw the word true like TR you kind of over your head and it may just made me think about saying the word true but I felt there was such a purity with truth and purity on your life and I feel like even specifically for you I think you have this gift especially for younger women to come into alignment of the beauty and the calling of God in their life that they don't have to sell themselves short on this or next but just literally a coming into this is who you are this is the woman of God that you are here beautifully that you're wonderfully made and just as you're just reading the Bible over who these women are and he's going to tell you exactly who they are too but you're just gonna bring such alignment and correction to this like group of girls especially with with truth and purity so so true and then for both of you together I just thought as a couple like you have seen anything yet I thought it was a tell you that like this that just like the absolute provision and blessing of God you haven't seen anything yet like you're coming into this next season and it's going to just be something you're looking to be like I did not have any idea that it was gonna get this good so I know your story is but I just feel like this next season for you is just gonna be something that God's gonna battle you on this goodness and it's provision so all right it's in your hands with him so Lord we bless them we just say thank you for it you're doing and are you did you say it they're expecting a baby okay okay okay so Lord we just bless this baby and I just see the crib I just saw cribs so we just bless this baby Lord and and just this new family in this new season God and I I just pray for us just your spirit it to be in that room of that that I just see that your nursery and just to prep the joy and presence of God on that real morning just all through the birth and this pregnancy we just pray strength and grace and we just bless you little baby we just love you that you just grow in perfection and we just say yes and amen to what you're doing in this family in Jesus name and then amen anyway from this part I think I'd be really fun to open it up to question and answers anything that you guys want to know I'm very conversational so if you guys have any question about life love ministry why we're crazy anything it's a free range so it does anybody have anything put you guys on the spot that's not random okay cool and also I forgot I have some for you too it's super simple but you're a great communicator like you just have a pastoral peace about you to get information from one place to the other and you're just a great communicator just saw that over user there's that um okay books okay I'm gonna be really really honest I hate reading so like this right here is my my pretty much everything unless I'm forced to read something but I would say it's probably because they burned me out in school of ministry we're like twenty books and the entire Bible in nine months so I was like okay cool I'm cool for like a long time but there have been a few books that marked me my father-in-law is Bill Johnson and he is the man he's the most kindness kindest most genuine human that walks in the power of God and people say all kinds of crazy stuff about Bethel but most of it's not even true because if you know the people who are running the church they're just the real deal there they love their families there they're walking out this book and they're just amazing so bill has so many books but probably just anything by Bill I'm just gonna say that you can't go wrong just just real let it but Bill Johnson has four my life in the nature of God and his teaching is so Bible based there's nothing he's saying it's not in here and so anything by Bell Johnson I've read probably most but three or four of the last ones because I have four children but I saw him Bill Johnson the line honestly the line then which in the Wardrobe the Narnia book changed my life when I was little it gave me a hunger when Lucy follows the lion Aslan into the forest when no one else can see him and people think she's crazy that marked me as a child of I want to follow you like that what even when it doesn't make sense or people think I'm nuts and yeah so that marked me um Benny Hinn wrote a book that I read in like 99 called good morning Holy Spirit that marked my life I mean gosh it's a long list but yeah yeah hundred more I'm sure but I'm gonna be driving back to the bus and like why didn't I say good Sun it's good yeah yeah I have thought for and I think we're we're at a really interesting position which all of you will probably find yourself in a similar one where we're navigating honestly revival in a move of God like never before and I think that um you know the way our parents in mostly small towns navigated what we've been given in different lights we're having to navigate something entirely different but we've watched God as parents we have watched God as we made the tough decisions to stay connected and not live our lives on the road if I'm brutally honest we've watched the fruit pay off and our children they all love the Lord they're healthy and when we were first in music world the industry told us that if we didn't sell our soul to the road and to all these things that we'd never be anything time and time again and it's why we started Bethel music we we originally were worth enough label who they were great people but the demand and what the industry model was was not healthy for marriages and Families I don't care what people say it is not healthy for you to be on the road for a month without your spouse okay a man okay that's another message okay let me just not even break your back now so I was just like okay board I see this model but it's not healthy and I want a healthy marriage and I want a healthy family on if it connected to my kids I want to miss her soccer games but I'm fully called to the whole world so I know that you're gonna lead us and guide us and so we started Bethel music because we we were not looking to just have our own thing we were looking to for a new model that would support healthy families and that's the number one thing we've fought for our people would be plugged in at church and not on the road so much so we'd actually be at church to give and to get and so you know we've just watched God blow our minds with how faithful he's been and the other record labels come to us they're like how have you built this with your calendar like it literally doesn't make sense it's so God and all that it says you're faithful to be connected to your family and that you're Noah's your know and y'all in church girl and I'm all in family girl and someone said to me one time how do you balance it all balance is bs balances things with two equal parts you don't balance family life and ministry it's a juggle it's a juggle and you know we've just done our best and I stand before the Lord knowing that I've had to say no to some things that looked really cool really cool I've had to say no to and I've had to do some stuff that didn't look very cool but as we've stayed faithful to have that family ministry dance of juggle God has been incredibly kind [Applause] macro gray sweatshirt totally cool you know I think that the stuff that we do to serve people that nobody sees that stuff that stuff to everything man and and I'm you know not looking for fame look if Jesus is gonna do something I love the story of David because David was out minding his own flippin business and they lined up the boys and they went nope they ain't here we're missing him you don't have to try to become anything you just stay in your lane you stay what God told you to do he will come find you and I think as a young person I had so much passion and I had so much strive to literally change the world and I still did today this day it's why I'm out on this tour not home with my kids right now but I think that you know when you have all that passion do what's in front of you do what God's giving you right now and if it's to work at Walmart work at Walmart and be on time and be happy and show the kingdom of God to all of Walmart and don't look for somewhere to attain to or social status to attain to to be where God's calling you to be be it right now like David was killing lions and bears minding his own business fully going for it and then God will find you if you're ever supposed to be at a different level of status God will do it you don't have to

Channel: VOUS Church

Views: 48,701

Rating: 4.9313984 out of 5

Keywords: vous, jenn johnson, bethel, bethel church, voice of god, brian johnson

Id: TA8z3n50epw

Length: 28min 1sec (1681 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 01 2019