Weekend Warrior

I take the weekends that Steven is away at Onething Conferences to do "projects". Sometimes these are small and sometimes they are huge projects. While he was in Canada last year I completely emptied my house of furniture thinking that I was going to re-do my hardwood floors myself. I got talked out of it, however I scrubbed them really good and had recessed lighting installed in the living room. It is our favorite addition thus far. Steven also likes to do projects when I am gone. His last undertaking was to install new lights in the dinning room and bathroom. We are just fun like that. Well I have an idea of what I will attempt to complete this weekend. I am going to tackle our office/music/junk room and get it to look a little more like a nursery. I am going to be moving things around to other closets or to our storage room down stairs. I am part of an adoption alliance at IHOP, and we are having a huge adoption fundraising garage sale on April 5th. I will try to put as much good stuff in that as possible. Steven and I went through our closets this last week and are liquidating our stock piles of unused clothing and coats. I got rid of shoes, bags, accessories, and other stuff that we either don't need or haven't used in the last 6 months or less. I will hopefully take on that same attitude while tackling the soon to be nursery.

I plan on painting the walls tan with white trim. I figured that could work for either sex and can be adapted as our little one grows. I had a friend that was making a trip to Houston this weekend for a family function that offered to pick me up anything that I wanted from IKEA. If you have never checked out their site you should. www.ikea.com. I love most of their stuff and it is so reasonable. I fell in love with their children's toys and had a hard time not giving her enough money to buy one of everything. I did send her a short list with a few items. I am trying to not go overboard yet. Yet. First I have to get the room looking more like a room and less like a flee market booth. My parents are coming to visit in a few weeks and are going to bring up my nephews crib and a rocking chair. It is a reagular rocker and I have wondered whether I should invest in a glider or not. I am not sure that it would make a hill of beans, but it seems to be the popular thing. But first things first.

I am getting more and more excited as I know that our little one is being prepared and we are preparing. O Lord be with my precious one, with a host of angels all around. Bless my child with health and safety. Come and encounter the mother with your amazing love and compassion. Amen.

Adoption Update

For those of you who are following our forthcoming adoption, here is a little of what is going on. Our case worker has yet to type our report that we know of. We had anticipated that it would be done by the first of March and surely by now, but we are still waiting. The home study report is the document that the state of Missouri and other states will look at to know that we are approved to adopt. We basically served our life on a platter and she was the determining factor to whether we could adopt. Truly that decision rest in the hands of the Lord. He destined this for us, so when I say that she was the one to determine our adoption I mean in the natural realm in the land of paperwork. Without that report we are at a stand still. We cannot apply for babies or for adoption grants. So we have been praying and waiting.
I visited with my in-laws and my mother while in Arkansas a few weeks ago. My mother and my mother-in-law took me to Toys-R-Us and registered for baby stuff. It was an experience and I am glad that I was able to do it with both of them. I have also registered on line at Target and Wal-Mart in anticipation that it will not be much longer.
I have also picked out fabric for the bedding. It is going to be awesome! Having a mother that is an incredible seamstress allows me to design the whole bedding set. I can tell her to "put this here and this over there" and it comes out perfect. I am starting on the room that will be our nursery this coming weekend. It has been our office/music/junk room, so needless to say I have a little of a chore ahead of me. I am excited though because it is all part of bring baby Cooper home.
So that is where we are, waiting and continuing to pray for our little one. Our baby is only a heartbeat away. Somewhere within this huge country is our little gift from God. The precious little one that He is giving us for a time. The one that we will teach to walk, to talk, and to pray. I am so excited though I know this is only a shadow of the emotions that will flood our hearts when we finally meet our little one. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.

Saturday I was sitting in the prayer room going over some notes from last year. Allen Hood spoke Easter Sunday and it was a powerful message about the Resurrection. You are probably thinking "well that is what the preacher is supposed to preach on." You would expect that, but around IHOP we don't always follow the normal traditions. It was a powerful message and a year later I am still remembering the zeal in my heart that it produced. He began the message by saying, "The Resurrection is at the very core of the Christian faith. Inasmuch as the Resurrection can be validated and set forth, Christianity stands or falls. We are the resurrection people; we believe in the resurrection from the dead. Out of the four global religions that are based on a personality, not just a code of ethics or philosophical construct, only one has a founder who claimed that He would rise from the dead—and did. The birth of the Church is dependent on Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Without the empty tomb and the appearances of Jesus, no disciples would have left their fishing boats ever again, and no one would ever have gathered in the upper room. What took place early on the third day after the Crucifixion sealed the beginning of a historic shift in world history."

The very foundations that we stand on as Christians is that Christ came for us, walked among us, died a torturous death and the clincher is that He rose from the dead. Not only did the prophets of old tell of this great feet, but Christ Himself walked right up to the pharisees and told them that he would rebuild the "temple" in three days. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” John 2:18-20 They were baffled and thought He was absurd, but later the disciples remember those words and it sealed the deal. No other religious founder has based the veracity of his claims, as well as his ethics, upon an empty tomb and upon post-death appearances in a physical body. Mohammad, Buddha, and Joseph Smith all have grave sites with bones in them— dead, decaying bones.

As if that was not enough to knock you off your feet, then Jesus did a remarkable thing. He appeared to his friends and over 500 people. "Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (Luke 24:36–39)

Tom Anderson (the former president of the California Trial Lawyers Association):
Let’s assume that the written accounts of His appearances to hundreds of people are false. I want to pose a question. With an event so well publicized don’t you think it’s reasonable that one historian, one eye witness, one antagonist would record for all time that he had seen Christ’s body? The silence of history is deafening when it comes to the testimony against the resurrection. As we will see, His opponents don’t even argue the fact the tomb was empty. They concede it.
Zukeran, Patrick. “The Resurrection: Fact or Fiction?” Probe Ministries. 1997. http://www.probe.org/theology-and-philosophy/theology---christ/the-resurrection-fact-or-fiction.html.

There are many "scholars" of the Bible that have come up with crap theories as to explain the resurrection away. It all comes down to the fact that the Jews in Jerusalem could have stopped the apostles in their tracks if they had presented Jesus' dead body in city square. They couldn't do it because the body wasn't there. It would have been historically impossible for the apostles to steal a body from a tomb sealed with a Roman seal and guarded by a Roman guard. The guards would have been executed for falling asleep on the job and the disciples knew they would have been executed for breaking a Roman seal. The disciples were disillusioned, confused and had frankly given up and gone back to fishing. They didn't have the guts to stand up to the Romans while Jesus was a live and they sure we not going to with their leader in the grave. After seeing Jesus for the forty days following the Crucifixion ,the disciples were transformed forever. They went from cowards to bold proclaimers. They went around preaching without even a thought as to what might happen to them. They became sold out and died horrible deaths for the Gospel. People don't do that for a stolen body that is rotten and buried somewhere. No they felt Jesus and saw Jesus and the resurrection power of the Spirit came into them and they finished the race knowing that they to would be raises in resurrection power.

It is an amazing reality that I am still trying to grasp. That the God of the universe, the perfect one came and suffered unimaginable cruelty by the hands of the very things he created to set us free to live with Him throughout eternity. It cannot understand it, however it has changed my heart. It has changed the way that I live. It has changed the way that we'll raise our family, and I believe it will change the way that we will end this life.

I hope that you have a wonderful Easter Sunday and are filled with" the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26)

"And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

(Rev. 1:17-18)

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:51–57)

Weekend in Arkansas

This last weekend(March 14-16) Steven and I joined Corey Russell in a small hometown ministry trip. Corey leads conferences in Alma, Ar. in a small non-dinom. church called Crossroads. The purpose is to call the River Valley area of Northwest, AR. to a higher vision of a life seeking the knowledge of God and cultivating a life in prayer. Friday& Saturday are filled with meetings and in the afternoon soaking times of worship and prophetic ministry. Sunday Corey preaches in the Sunday service of the Crossroad and it is a powerful time for ministry for that area.
Steven is responsible for setting up the worship equipment and getting ready for worship. He helps Dana Russell in preparation and technical support as well as playing bass guitar during worship. The rest of the team prays during ministry times and prophesy on Saturday afternoon. It is a powerful time of sowing seeds into the prayer movement that is being birthed in that area.

While home Steven and I were able to spend sometime with our families. My mother, mother-in-law and I went to Toys-R-Us and registered for baby things. It was a great time to share with them and I was glad for their input into what things I would really need. We also got to see friends that we had lost contact with and reestablished relationship.
We are blessed to be able to go back to our home area and give to the body of Christ in that region. We pray that a house of prayer would be raised up in the River Valley and that the anointing would flow out and the drug addicts would be delivered and saved.

St.Patrick's Day Parade IHOP Style

For most people in Kansas City, MO. St. Patrick's day is a big excuse to get hammered on green beer and act crazy down Grand Ave. in downtown KCMO. For me and about 500 other IHOPer's we spent it a little different. We marched down Grand Ave. dancing and singing praises to Jesus in a display of true "foolishness". It was a blast even though we were soaked to the bone form the cold rain and wind mix. Last year due to being on crutches I missed the St. Pat's outreach that IHOP puts on every year. This year I was determined to make it rain or shine.
The IHOP shuttles arrive at the parade sight a couple of hours early and unload around 500-600 IHOPer's. Using different methods, they evangelize the mounting crowds. I joined a prayer walking team and to escape the cold we decided to pray in the bars. We ordered coffee (w/o Bailey's which shocked the bartender) and engaged in "conversation prayer". Then as we "looked" for the bathrooms we prayer walked the bar. It was interesting but we knew that it mattered. Later that day we found out that a guy from IHOP "made an announcement" in a bar(preached for about 30 sec) until he was thrown out by the bouncers. Hey maybe that was our bar?
IHOP enters a huge float in the parade, that is shaped like a mountain, that one lucky young man gets to stand on top of and preach 30 second sermons in an Irish accent. The rest of us(about 500-600) all dance and sing behind the float waving streamers while an IHOP worship team plays "Hallelujah, Grace Like Rain". This year the rain washed out our plans for a sound system and we ended up having a drum circle with the voices making up the difference. A friend and myself lined up in the front and decided that we were going to give it our all. It was a blast and at the end of the day I was glad that for one day in the month of March 2008 I made a public declaration that I love Jesus to the City of Kansas City. We were a witness to a "wicked and perverse generation" that true joy and peace are found in only One. Check out my friends blog for some awesome pictures! http://blog.shelleypaulson.com/?p=223

Our California Weekend

We were in Laguna Niguel, CA. this last weekend for a Onething conference. It was a great time in the beautiful southern California sun. Unfortunately for me I spent the majority of the weekend sick with my endometriosis and a stomach bug on top of that. I am still recovering a few days later and hope to be able to eat a solid meal soon.

The Onething Regional conference are always a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. The crew carries a mini version of the Forerunner Bookstore with them that has music and teaching cd's, books, and apparel. The are so fast a setting it up and tearing down since they do it every month at least once or twice. The musicians know just what to do when they get there. They go straight for the stage and start figuring out where everything should go. They meet the sound person and start unpacking their gear. It is amazing how they just all know who is doing what and with in about three hours the whole thing is set up. Now that doesn't take into account all the labor that the host church has already put into it. The host church spends an enormous amount of time putting together sound systems and supplies for the Onething crew so that all they have to do is plug in. They also make the crew a "green room" loaded with all sorts of refreshments and make it a relaxing atmosphere for them to chill in. Some churches are able to make that area a fabulous retreat, but in the end all the crew wants, is a quiet place to recharge before they go out again.The Vineyard church in Laguna is an amazing host church. The food is always first rate and the green room is continually stocked with the crews favorite chocolates and drinks.

The conference kicked off Friday night and the crowd was loving the worship and how Corey Russell laid down the message. The two worship leaders for the weekend were Justin Rizzo and Luke Wood. They share the one band and take turns leading sessions. This can make for a very tired band at the end of the day.

Each day the worship was so captivating and the presence of God was definitely there. Dwayne and Corey really inspired and challenged the young adults attending to go hard after the Lord and to never look back. There were also three breakout sessions on Saturday with Corey, Jennifer Roberts, and Justin Rizzo. I am sure that they were each amazing and powerful. I have to say though, that Jen is one of my favorite speakers.

The Sunday service was divided into and early and late service with only a five minute break in the middle. Justin Rizzo lead the first service and the majesty of the Lord in worship was very heavy in the room. Corey taught on how everything must flow from the place of prayer or in the end it will fizzle out and you will burn out. Luke Wood lead worship for the second service and it was rich. Again Corey got up, but this time it was a little different. Holy Spirit came on Corey in a very strong way and he became drunk in the spirit. It started to overflow onto the congregation and the power of God was there for deliverance. Ministry time was powerful as well and it ended up turning on the team as the leadership of the Vineyard Church began praying for the Onething team. The whole weekend was packed with just the sweetness of the Lord. I was so glad to have gone though I wasn't feeling 100%.

We were able to see the sites around Laguna a bit. I was a little more free to roam and spent an hour with my friend Joy Maves on the beach just outside the Ritz Carlton. It was beautiful and the sand felt like a soft pillow. The surf was up and the surfers were out in force. I enjoy watching the surfers catch and sometimes miss the waves. I had a short season where I learned a little of how to surf in Hawaii while I was with YWAM in Kona. It is a technically difficult sport that is a lot harder than it looks. We have a friend who is a surfer that took us to lunch the last day. We had a great time with he and his wife talking about KC and also their ministry. She travels and writes reports on the miracles that follow the showings of the Jesus film and he leads worship and ministers in the market place. They are a great couple and we hope that we can spend more time with them in the future. We also stayed with some friends of our, Eric and Beth Wilkinson. They are the best host family in the world. Their home is very inviting and they also have a 20 month old son that is very entertaining. Beth carted me around one afternoon looking for baby bedding material. Look for pictures of that coming soon. We love staying with them during conferences, but hope to go visit them for a vacation when Steven isn't running around with a tight conference schedule.

So that was our trip in a nut shell. It was a blast and we look forward to this coming weekend when we are in Northwest Arkansas with Corey Russell. Corey host a regional conference with prophetic times as well and teaching sessions to equip the body of Christ in that area. Check out our traveling schedule for updates on where we will be next.

I'm A Little Bummed About Huckabee

Well today was a shocker day for many as Huckabee's withdraw was made public. I am bummed about this. Not just because we are both from Arkansas and he could have redeemed our states reputation in the White House. He is a man of integrity, constancy, and a moral man. I think that he isn't easily swayed and he thinks before he speaks. These are all things that this nation is in desperate need of right now. I feel that he ponders situations and analysis them well before he gives his answers. It was a shame that in the debates McCain and the other guy fought all the time and took up valuable moments of critical thinking. When they did get to Huckabee they would ask him the off the wall religion questions that had nothing to do with the topic or even the debate. I am not sure if Huckabee is looking for a VP nomination and I am not sure how I feel about that. I am not in love with McCain by any means. A friend of ours said that she could see another "Roosevelt and Truman". Harry Truman wasn't a popular vote in his day and never would have been elected if it were not for Roosevelt. Then Roosevelt died in office and Truman was put into play and turned out to be an amazing president. Who knows, as the church our assignment is not to pray for the canidate that we want, but God's will. That He would come and set the man of His choice in office. I had hoped that it would be Huck, and it may be but for now we just pray and wait.

Extra Extra!

Steven and I attend a bible study called E-12, which is a bible study for the end times. It is fascinating and a little unnerving sometimes to study the end of it all, but it prepares our minds and hearts for what is coming. We are now launching into an in depth study of the Antichrist. Not just the Antichrist spirit that is already at work, but also the man that is the counterfeit to Christ. He will be so suave and his false prophet will do many signs and wonders, that if you are not alert to is character you will be deceived. There are many ways that Satan is already rocking the church into a deep sleep when it comes to this issue. He is also pacifying a generation with what seems to be truth, but under the velor of truth is his real evil intentions. Check out this article.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23416235-details/Muslims+tell+Christians%253A+'Make+peace+with+us+or+survival+of+world+is+at+stake'/article.do It talks about the need for Islam and Christianity to come together and agree on the similarities of the two religions. Get ready for some tolerance teaching on that. It is the set up for the Babylonian society. Check out my friends blog spot for more on that. He is a whiz at end times things.
http://justeastofwest.wordpress.com/

There is also a movie that you should be aware of that is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I think sometimes we have this notion that Satan is stupid and we'll know when he makes a move. Unfortunately I think that we are the stupid ones sometimes. He has been at this since the beginning and knows a thing or two about us. But we have a weapon that is not of this world. We have the Holy Spirit. As we agree with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis we will grown in discernment and be able to hear Him speak on all matters pertaining to God. Here is something I had never taken in consideration before. "Anti" has two meanings. One is to oppose, that one we understand. The other is counterfeit, this we are not so attuned to. Something that resembles the original but isn't quite it. This tactic Satan uses a lot. The secular media uses "biblical language" all the time. Just look at Al Gores stuff and you will think you were in a church service. This movie called the "11Th Hour", that is destined to hit theaters with a bang is going to shake you up a bit. http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/ (This is the website and trailer viewer)
In this movie Leonardo DiCaprio tells you that this may be the last generation. That global destruction is on the way. The 11Th hour of human history. Doesn't that ring a bell with the book of Revelation? It is a prophetic message to anyone who watches it, however what is the spirit behind it that is prophesying and in the end he is proclaiming that YOU are the only hope. Not Jesus, Not God, but you little "god". It is a compelling message packed with the humanitarian goodness that most of the secular world thinks is all it takes to meet God one of these days. I am all for helping others, keeping the earth nice, and doing my part but I also know that it is only through Jesus that the nations will see salvation. I am one of the created, how can I create anything new?
I will be sharing more as we unpack the subject of the man Antichrist, and the unfolding of the End Times drama. Please let me know what you think.

Here's Where We Are

Yesterday (Monday 3rd) we had our second "last" home study interview. It was about two hours and we talked about discipline, racial issues, family feelings regarding adoption, etc... When it was done she told us that there is "no humanly possible way" that she could type up our home study before she goes on vacation. Everything is turned in but it looks like we will be waiting till the middle or end of March for our report. This irritated me to say the least, because I am ready for this part of the process to be over. In the end I know that God is in control. Maybe our baby isn't on the list yet, maybe God is teaching us patience in the waiting. Steven isn't anxious, and he is always encouraging me to not be anxious as well. I try but it is very hard to just sit on my hands and wait. What can I do though...Nothing but pray. So we pray that our baby is safe and healthy. We pray that the birth mother and birth father will make wise decisions about the baby and the birth mother would take care of herself. We pray that God would make Himself known to them, and that the Holy Spirit would lead us to them. So we are waiting and praying, and that is where we are for now.

Steven's Weekend Job

In desperate need

For anyone who is also looking to adopt, and has a home study done there you could be the answer to a great need. Our consultant's agency has a situation where a 21month old African American baby boy needs a forever family. We are not finished with our home study and the two other couples that we know are just starting their. If you would like more information on this situation or adoption please visit the sites listed below. The CAC list available situations that will tug your heart strings and hopefully nudge you over the decision line for adopting. Pray for the spirit of adoption to fall on the church in this nation. That there would be no more "unwanted" children.
http://www.christianadoptionconsultants.com/
http://www.thespiritofadoption.blogspot.com/