"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).

It has become normal to hear the sounds of Heavenly instruments playing wherever I go, all throughout the day.

I has become normal to hear angels harmonizing with us while we worship.

It has become normal to see armies of angels standing in front, behind, and on either side of us when we pray.

It has become normal to experience God's presence EVERYWHERE.

It has become normal to hear God's voice audibly.

It has become normal to not just read the book of Acts, but to LIVE the book of Acts.

It has become normal to see the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit descending over us when we worship Him.

It has become normal to have our eyes so fixed on God, that we become completely unaware of ourselves.

It has become normal to say things we ourselves did not think to say; to pray things we ourselves did not think to pray; to sing songs we ourselves did not write.

It has become normal to pray in a Heavenly language.

It has become normal to weep uncontrollably over the things that grieve the Holy Spirit.

It has become normal to fall madly in love with complete strangers.

It has become normal to be the ones telling the stories of God's love and power, and not the ones hearing about them.

It has become normal to break out into side-splitting laughter with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

It has become normal to believe in AND TO SEE healing and deliverance.

It has become normal to see the harvest of our labor.

It has become normal to fight alongside our brothers and sisters with a fiercely INTENSE love.

It has become normal to be contagious, and to INFECT TRUTH wherever we go.

It has become normal to live a life of BOLD FAITH.

It has become normal to walk in our callings and our giftings.

It has become normal to cry out for more of God, and then to receive it.

It has become normal to live a life of expectancy, excitement, and hope.

It has become normal to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered.

It has become normal to live in the everyday miraculous.

It has become normal to actively pursue "Your Kingdom Come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

It has become normal to break loose from all chains and bondage and step into a life of COMPLETE FREEDOM!

It has become normal to have significance, purpose, and destiny.

I have come to realize that the "normal" Christian life means miracles, spiritual intervention, and revelation. I have come to realize that the "normal" Christian life means having an appetite for the impossible that cannot be ignored, wished away, or satisfied by anything else. I have come to realize that the "normal" Christian life means continuous encounters with the incomparable power of Holy Spirit. I have come to realize that there is SO MUCH MORE than what we can only see, hear, touch, taste, and smell in the natural realm. I have come to realize that NOTHING satisfies my heart like seeing so-called "impossibilities" bow to the name of Jesus.

Anything less than all of these things is ABNORMAL and unfulfilling.

God has given me fresh Kingdom eyes to see what "normal" Christian living ought to be.

I can't ever go back to living a stale, unsatisfying and hollow Christian life. I can't ever go back to who I was. This has become my normal.

"It is unnatural for a Christian to not have an appetite for the impossible."

-Bill Johnson

 I want to dedicate this blog to my husband. May these words be a source of encouragement and empowerment to you. I love you with all my heart.

The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.

In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. By 1945, the Germans and their collaborators had killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe.

A couple of days ago, we went to visit the Sachsenhausen Nazi concentration camp in Oraninburg, Germany.

Life in the concentration camps was unthinkable. Most camps were in forest areas, to make escape almost impossible. The camps were enclosed within stretches of barbed wire. Ditches were dug to serve as mass graves and the captives were always stripped of clothing prior to being sent to the showers or pits. Hydrogen cyanide or Zyklon B was used to gas the Jews and other political prisoners of war.

 

The scarcity of food and water meant toil without sufficient nourishment. German officers opened fire without hesitance on crowded barracks. The poor sanitary conditions were causes of disease and death.

The concentration camps had unrestricted power over prisoners' lives. Every aspect of daily life was ruled by constant terror and hopelessness.

My husband is Jewish. Since arriving in Berlin, he has had this strange sense that there is something here in Germany for him to reclaim. He wasn't sure exactly what that looked like, but there was a strong stirring in his spirit that God had brought him here to take back something which was stolen from him before he was even born . . .

The Lord came to Abraham in a vision. He told Abraham to count the stars in the sky, and that would be his number of descendants. He told Abraham that He would give him land to inherit. But God told Abraham, "Your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years" (Gen 15:13). But God also promised that they would one day return to the land promised to Abraham. And the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land" (Gen 15:18).

And God also came to Isaac and said, "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 26:3-4).

And God also came to Jacob and said, "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 28:13-14).

And the Lord God appeared to Moses, and told him to say to the children of Israel, "I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord" (Ex 6:6-8).

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of their descendants were promised an inheritance. And even though their descendants suffered through hardships and persecution, God was faithful to redeem them with outstretched arms, and lead them into the inheritance he had promised them. God has also promised us an inheritance:

We are children of God. We are co-heirs with Christ! We will inherit a Kingdom!

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken..." (Heb 12:28).

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Rom 8:14-17).

"...to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (Col 1:9-12).

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people..." (1 Pet 2:9).

"Beloved, now we are children of god; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

God promised Abraham and all of his descendants an inheritance. And Abraham trusted God in faith, because he knew God's character. And God was faithful with His promise to Abraham. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise" (Heb 11:8-9).

The inheritance that God has promised us may be a foreign country to us, but we are called to live a life of faith, and to pray "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matt 6:10). And in Heaven, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Rev 21:4).

The things that happened during the Holocaust left a spiritual darkness over Germany. There is a spirit of anger, a spirit of hopelessness, a spirit of division, and a spirit of bitterness, among other spirits looming over the land. But God has promised us an inheritance where those things do not exist. And He tells us to live by faith, and to pray His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. He has given us authority to trample over darkness. I was honored to be able to walk through this concentration camp hand in hand with my husband, determined to take back the land.

So as we walked through the concentration camp, we prayed for Germany. We prayed that God's Holy Spirit would take back that which was stolen. We prayed that God would restore the hearts of the people here. We prayed that God would set free those still living in bondage. We prayed that God would open up the heavens and pour out His glory over Berlin. We prayed that He would send laborers for the harvest. We prayed that He would release angels over the city to reach out to the lost. We prayed that He would rise up a Holy army to fight for the land, to fight for the captives. We prayed freedom. And we wrote it in the dirt as a declaration.

 

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him (John 4:23).

I don't know how and I don't know why, but somehow, someway, God brought the 12 of us to Berlin, Germany for such a time as this. Over the past week, we have had the precious honor of partnering with BURN 24-7 in Berlin, Germany, where believers from all over Germany and all over the world have been praying for revival in Berlin. After just one week of being in a state of continuous prayer and worship, we believe that this is the hour for Berlin to rise again and be a light to the nations. Berlin will once again BURN with a passion to see the glory of God revealed in every tongue, tribe and nation.

So what exactly is a BURN? Starting at 9pm tonight, we will be worshiping for 24 straight hours! Twelve worship teams, including our World Race team, have signed up to lead 2-hour worship slots. During the 22 hours when we are not actually leading worship, we have complete freedom to intercede, to worship prophetically, to fall on our faces, to dance, to paint, to cry out...

We long to see the presence of God! We hunger and thirst to see the Father's heart revealed. We know that God's presence will come in all its fullness, in all its glory tonight. And when He comes, the city of Berlin will be changed! Our lives will be changed! That is what we are after. . . TRANSFORMATION!!! More of you, God! More, more, MORE!

The hearts of the people at BURN 24-7 are committed to rebuilding the Tabernacle of David so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord. The vision is simply to answer the cry of God throughout the history of humanity for a "resting place" (Isaiah 66) to be established so His Spirit can collide with a broken humanity. This is a beautiful place where His body gathers in a spirit of unity to release worship and adoration. From these furnaces of intimate love, fiery intercession can be released to rule, govern and establish righteousness in the nations of the earth.

So tonight, we join with the angels and sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!" We believe we will see the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven collide with Earth in our communities, churches, families, and nations in a real and supernatural way. Only in a posture of beholding Him, can we hope to become like Him to the rest of the world. As we obey and respond to the first commandment of Jesus to "love the Lord your God with all your heart," we are compelled by His love and goodness to "love your neighbor as yourself" and walk in supernatural signs and wonders carrying His presence into every sphere of society and culture.

For those of you back home who are panicking right now, wondering what this BURN 24-7 stuff is really all about, here is their statement of faith, which will hopefully ease your minds:

We believe the Bible to be the only inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. We believe there is one God eternally existent in three persons: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe in the deity of Jesus, God's only son, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, his atoning death on the cross, his bodily resurrection, and in his second coming to earth in power and glory. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling believers in Christ are enabled to live a godly radical life. We fully believe in the active baptism of fire released in Acts 2 and its daily importance to the life of the believer. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved to the resurrection of eternal life and the lost unto the resurrection of eternal judgment.

Amen, and AMEN!

Prov 22:1 "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. Loving favor rather than silver and gold."

Someone very special to me recently challenged me with this: to acknowledge that God can AND DOES change our names.  That our name is not what people have called us, or what we call ourselves, but what He has actually named us.  So he asked us to think about what we used to be called.  And he asked us to thank God for changing our names.  And then he asked us what our new name is...

Thank you, Father, for being able to see me when I couldn't see myself. And not just for being able to see me, but for wanting to look at me. And not just for wanting to look at me, but for helping me to want to look at myself. Because of you, I have learned to acknowledge the beauty that is within me. Thank you for revealing me to myself in such a way that I can actually stand in awe of my own beauty. Because I am worth looking at. I am something to see. I am a daughter of a King. I am a daughter of the Creator of the Universe. A daughter of the Most High God. And not only am I the daughter of a King, but I am a Queen. I am royalty. I am beauty and elegance. I am wisdom and power. I am kindness and gentleness. I am grace and mercy. The things that are inside of me have always been there. You put them there while I was still in my mother's womb. I just didn't see them. I didn't know what was there. I didn't know who I was. I overlooked...myself. I used to be called "Dirt." Now I am called, "Diamond."

 

"We were sleeping. Suddenly we heard gunshots. Before I knew what was happening, there was fire coming from the kitchen. I ran outside and saw someone running around the side of the house. The next thing I knew, the whole house was on fire. So I ran and I hid. It was dark. I could see fire coming from many of the houses. All I could hear was people screaming. I remained hidden all through the night. Around the early hours of the morning, maybe around 5am, the soldiers finally came. I could hear them just outside the village. But they didn't come into the village. The police were the first to come into the village a few hours later, followed by the soldiers. We told them that the people who had attacked us were on foot and they couldn't have gone far. But they didn't go after them. My children and grandchildren are dead."

We have been here a little over a week. It has been an emotional week, to say the least. The things we have seen and the stories we have heard have absolutely wrecked us! But God is using this time to teach us about spiritual authority.

In Mark chapter four, Jesus was sleeping in the middle of a life-threatening storm. The disciples woke Him because they were afraid. Jesus exercised His authority and released peace over the storm.

The thing for us to remember is this: Jesus had NO supernatural powers whatsoever! He could not heal the sick or cast out demons. If we believe otherwise, we ignore what He said about Himself. Then we are missing the whole purpose of His self-imposed restriction to live as a man. While Jesus is 100 percent God, He chose to live with the same limitations that man would face once He was redeemed. He performed miracles as a man in right relationship to God, not as God Himself. If he performed those miracles as God, they would be unattainable for us. But since He did them as a man, we are responsible to pursue that same lifestyle.

Jesus released peace over the storm as a man. He was able to sleep during the storm because of his faith. Another word for faith is rest. In the words of Bill Johnson, "you only have authority over the storm you can sleep in." Our authority in Christ is found in rest. What is restful to us is violent to the powers of darkness.

If I have anxiety over a situation, I can't exercise my authority to release peace. I can only give what I already have.

After Jesus calmed the storm, he asked his disciples about their unbelief. He expected them to exercise the authority God had given them to quiet the storm themselves. Instead, they asked Him to do it.

We do this very often in prayer. The purpose of prayer is intimacy with God. When we pray, God reveals to us the secrets of His heart. He shows us what to pray for. Because we tend to focus on ourselves when we pray, we sometimes miss this. Instead of asking God to do something for us, He has given us the authority to execute His will over the situation ourselves. When we recognize our own authority, and are in a true place of rest and peace, we discover our role. We don't have to ask Him to move mountains. Instead, we can command the mountains to move in His name.

So this month is about learning to walk in the authority God has given us. Even though we have found ourselves in the middle of a violent storm, we have the power to release peace over this place. But we only have the authority to release peace, if we are in a true place of rest. We have faith that God is moving in Nigeria. We refuse to believe otherwise. We refuse to be fearful, or to have anxiety. Instead, we are believing that God has sent us to this place for a purpose. Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still," and there was a great calm. We are here to say, "Peace, be still" to this place.  Please pray for us, that we will remain in a place of true rest. And that from this place of rest, we will be able to exercise the authority our Father has given us to quiet the storm ourselves.

  

When the survivors in these villages heard that we were coming to help with restoration, they were very emotional. They said that after the massacre, when they awoke the next morning and saw what had become of their villages, they thought the world had forgotten about them. We're here to show them how wrong they are.

When I found out I would be going to the villages where the massacre occurred, I turned to God for His wisdom and His guidance. During our flight to Jos, He gave me a word:

When the Kingdom of God has come upon you, the powers of darkness will be FORCED to leave. When a light is switched on, darkness immediately flees. It doesn't resist. There is no debate. It doesn't stay dark for a few minutes until light finally wins. LIGHT IS SO SUPERIOR TO DARKNESS THAT ITS TRIUMPH IS IMMEDIATE! The Holy Spirit has no battle wounds. He bears no teethmarks, no scars. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you will be a LIGHT in a dark place. But remember that light shines BEST in dark places. I will pour into you until you are overflowing with my Holy Spirit. I will pour into you, so that I may be poured out of you. Remember that nothing can live in stagnant waters. Fullness of the Holy Spirit means OVERFLOWING. I will be with you every step of the way.

As the Church, we have a tendency to put off those things that require courage, faith, and immediate action. For example, many Christians believe that the condition of the Church will always be getting worse and worse, as a sign of these being the last days. In other words, the worsening conditions of the the world and of the Church are a sign that we are on the right track. The problem with this kind of thinking is that IT REQUIRES NO FAITH! And Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." And chapter 2 teaches us that faith without works is DEAD.

What else does God say about the importance of faith?

Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,"and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."

Col 2:6-7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

2 Cor 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight."

We have to remember, Jesus said that NO ONE but God knows the day and hour that Jesus will return, not even the angels of heaven. All He tells us is that He will come at an hour we do not expect. He tells us to be faithful and wise servants, so that when He does return, He will find us working. If we accept worldly violence like this massacre as just another sign of the end times, and we do nothing, then we are like the evil servant Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 24. His master came on a day his servant was not expecting him, and he did not find him working. So he was cut off from his portion.

We are here to bring peace to these two rivaling religious and ethnic groups. Matthew 5:9 says "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." We are here to shine as a light in a dark place. Matthew 5:16 says "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Please do not be afraid for our safety, for our Father in Heaven has gone before us and will be with us every step of the way. He will protect us, and guide our paths. We are in good hands, and we assure you that we will make wise decisions.

I recently read "When Heaven Invades Earth," by Bill Johnson. He made a statement that pierced me to my very soul, and this is the statement I want to leave you all with:

This world is my assignment, but not my home. My purpose is eternal. The resources I need to complete my assignment are unlimited. My only restriction is myself.

"For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined." (Psalm 66:10)

This past month was a very challenging one for me. I can feel God purging things out of me that I didn't realize were there. I know that everything He does is out of love, and to make me a better person in the long run. Nevertheless, this can be a very painful process!

I guess you can say that I'm a little rough around the edges. Because of some of the things I've been through, I have thicker skin than many people. And sometimes I forget that not everyone's skin is so thick. I tend to call things out the way I see them. Back home, my friends and family know this about me and are not easily offended. They know that the words I say are usually from a pure heart. And they also know I would walk through fire for any one of them.

But on the world race, it's a different story. My teammates don't know me as well as the people back home. Because I'm not very good at sugar coating things, I can be a bit blunt (I know my family is chuckling as they read this). "Aggressive" and even "hostile" are two of the words my teammates have used to describe some of the things I've said. Yikes! I don't want to come off as those things! So how do I find the balance between standing up for what I believe in, but not hurting peoples' feelings?

One of my teammates recently wrote me a note saying, "I mean it when I say that you are a very strong woman. You have overcome a lot in your life because of your refusal to accept things that are not right. I appreciate your boldness and courage as well as your caring and loving nature."

One of our squad leaders recently wrote me an email saying, "More than anything, I appreciate how you are yourself. There doesn't seem to be much of any facade when it comes to you. When you think something, you seem to express it. When you want to do something, you make sure it happens."

So if it's a good thing that I'm not afraid to speak my mind and call things out, why can't I do it without hurting peoples' feelings? How do I keep the part of my personality that stands up for what I believe in, but still walk in the fruits of the Spirit?

This month, I guess I hit a breaking point. I wanted to change the things about my personality that did not bring glory to God, but I went about it all wrong. I didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings so, rather than say what was on my mind, I kept quiet. But in trying so hard to bite my tongue and keep my "constructive feedback" to myself, I actually began to harbor bitterness. We all know what bitterness does to our souls. Not only is it poisonous to our bodies both spiritually and physically, but it is toxic to the people around us as well. I felt myself starting to get easily annoyed with my teammates. I even started to get frustrated with some of my loved ones back home who I miss dearly. When we harbor bitterness, we become enslaved to it.

Romans 6:16 says, "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves, you are that one's slave who you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?"

Ephesians 4:27 says, "Do not give place to the devil."

I made a selfish, prideful decision to keep silent rather than offend any more of my teammates. The reason this decision is so selfish, is that I am part of a team. When we signed up for the world race, all of us did so with the hopes of becoming better people at the end of all of this. But I can't grow as a person if my teammates don't point out the things I need to work on. And the same applies to me. If I don't challenge my teammates and bring things to the table, then I am stifling their growth. We're a team, and bringing things to the table is something we all agreed to at the beginning of the world race 7 months ago. Keeping silent isn't the answer. It was just an easier alternative than trying to learn how to approach people with more grace and understanding. Like I said, it was a very selfish decision.

Realizing that I was starting to harbor bitterness towards my teammates, I asked God to help me find a balance between speaking my mind, but not offending people so easily. Then I received an email from someone on our squad who had received a word for me, without having any idea what I was going through. Here's what God had to say to me:

"The challenges in your life are building such character and beauty within you. They're cleaning out the dark and dusty places within you to bring you even more light and love. It's a process of love carried out by the Father. It's not ridding you of the bad parts of you but giving you more of the fullness of the Father. He's widening your capacity for it. He wants to make you into the prized person He sees. Through this, you will have even more to give others. He's calling you to give - give more and give continually. Listen carefully to what He's asking you to give and how. There's INCREDIBLE blessing in His timing. He has some huge divine appointments for you!"

This was EXACTLY the word of encouragement I needed! Thank you Father that you know my heart better than anyone in the world! You always know what I am going through, and You always know just what to say to make it better.

God is bringing those things in me that He did not put there into the light to expose them. Once exposed, they are easily conquered. But as long as they remain in darkness, they are safely hidden. While it may be painful to have some of these things exposed to light, it is an act of love by my Father in Heaven. And just like He said, He is not ridding me of any "bad parts," only making room for more of His fullness. He is not asking me to keep silent. But He is asking me to give more of myself over to Him to be refined.