Good, profound, fun and positive

Athe restaurant last night, While setting up the camera it accidently went off and caught Annu trying to stab Gordon in the neck! (Helen had an early night)

Here's a list of some of the things I have found good, profound,fun and positive over the last couple of days:

1. Getting all your comments back. We miss you all and our families especially x. We would love you to all be with us, but getting the comments back is great. We read them all even though they might not all get individual responses. Keep them coming, it's good to know you are there and that you can share in our experience.

2. Finding a way this morning to get two more strokes in the pool which only takes five strokes to reach the end! By going diagonal. Julian and I had a quick swim this morning before breakfast, we haven't seen anyone else at all in there!

3. Spending time with the others here, from our church and the other churches. It's good to be in another setting together.

4. Seeing one person after another in our teaching/school who carry the same dna and love teh presence of God but are very different characters. Some are loud and 'crazy' (some might say!) whereas others are quiet and gentle. None come across as being copies of Bill Johnson but many have a powerful supernatural ministry which they work out in their own setting. The way they work together and honour one another is healthy.

5 Hearing Joaquin and Chris yesterday. Two guys who oversee the healing rooms and pastoral visiting and hospital visits. They clearly love Jesus and brought his presence tangibly into the room. Chris then shared about visiting the sick in hospitals and in the community and spoke about dealing with those that are not healed. It was a profound message as he has seen 100's of people healed of serious illnesses including cerebal palsy, but not all are healed. He spoke of how he had been ministering to a girl for 13 years with cerebal palsy who had not been healed - his daughter! He was very real about the struggles and spoke about needing to encourage himself, not lower his expectation.

6. Being reminded again how it is about the presence of God. Much of what is heard from a distance from Bethel focuses on healing as that is a major part of Bill Johnson's ministry and what is seen in the church. But it is not about healing but the presence of God and building a church which carries the presence of God in tangible ways. We have heard about how they visit the poor and feed them, take sunday school out to the streets to reach the children and how they clear up houses and doing ironing for people. How building loving communities and sorting out marriage and families are a priority. It's really not just about healing and having a good experience of God in meetings. That comes accross very clearly. It's difficult to appreciate that from a distance.

7. Quotes:

As we were led into a ministry/receiving time: 'Seriousness is not a fruit of the Spirit.'

Testimony of someone who became a christian 'I followed the happy people up the hill' (the church is at the top of a hill!)

8. Seeing how much of what we have been preaching on over the last few months and this year chimes with much of what we are hearing. It's a bit like being with people who have entered into a dimension and experience of the kingdom of God that you have seen from distance and spoken about but not actually lived there yet.

9. Being encouraged and confirmed personally by what I am hearing. In alot of the sessions I find myself becoming emotional in. I'm not really sure why, but I find that my eyes well up alot as i'm hearing things. I feel as if my spirit is leaping around within me all the time and that I love God. I'm taken aback by how good he is and the reality of his kingdom that is actually here. Yesterday I felt a sense of God's heat and fire on me in one of the sessions, it's as if it is always deep inside and then at moments is suddenly unlocked and floods out.

10. Having others from the church here with me. It's far better to have others to receive and then bring back. It does feel more strategic. It's been encouraging to see how God is speaking to and meeting with the others from M.F.C. They are all open and hungry for more of God.

Love, Adam