The account is in the black, make a withdrawal!

Here are two recent (February 2010)teachings by Bill Johnson from Bethel Church that I think dovetail quite nicely in giving us a sense of God’s purposes right now and how we posture ourselves to plug into it and become a conduit for it. Bill speaks specifically to his congregation, but the offer is always there: if this resonates with you, take it for yourself and your context…family, work, school, city, region, etc. If you’re aware of what God is doing in any space/time intersection , and that begins to resonate with you, what you’re feeling is God saying, “Yes! That’s for you too! Reach out and possess and pursue that particular promise right now!” God’s goodness and breakthrough power is always for now but we have to “plug into” that flow in some way to access it…the mechanics of “how” being less important than stepping out in some way, saying, “Yes Lord! I agree, I’m reaching out and laying hold of that purpose and promise!

Unclouded Sky (mp3 21Mb)

The Spirit of Breakthrough (mp3 20Mb)

A corporate anointing on a company of people to change a city

This is the time of year when we reflect and hear from the Lord about His heart for the coming 12 months. (God Himself is not bound by time, but He gives it to us as a gift to keep us on the journey with Him and to help us move “from glory to glory” [2 Cor 3:18]. So, while time is not necessary for Him, I believe that it is necessary for us and important for us.)

While it’s not a new message, I feel that for our assembly of believers, EGLISE JOSUE in Guebwiller, France, 2010 is a year in which we are called to come into a new revelation and experience (words that actually should be inseparable, but in Western thinking are separate):

  • of our corporate identity
  • in order that we could carry a corporate anointing
  • in order that we could come along side our city (Guebwiller and the surrounding area)
  • in order that we would bless the city
  • in order that the city would become a blessing to the nations

In this audio teaching from Bethel Church in Redding, CA, Bill Johnson explains how God needs a company of people, as opposed to an individual, in order to pour out a blessing and an anointing sufficiently powerful to facilitate transformation of a city or a region. The level of blessing and anointing necessary would crush an individual, but a company of believers who are walking in unity of honest heart relationships can successfully steward such a measure of grace.

I encourage liberal quantities of this teaching while praying for your church and your city. I think this is a word for us specifically, but the same Holy Spirit is undoubtedly saying the same thing specifically to many believers around the world. Start praying and proclaiming the end result now: Jesus, make name-your-city a blessing to the nations!

Practical Steps to Change the World (mp3 9.5Mb)

The Power and Sources of Grace

I’ve probably re-listened to this one about five times already! Each time I’ve been able to capture something new. It’s possible that it’s only because of where I’m at, but it’s really spoken to me.

In this teaching Bill Johnson shares the power of grace in our lives…how it not only enables us, but also changes us in the process. Then he shares practically the 3 contexts in which we can receive…and give…grace. Amazing stuff!

“Fill ‘er up” Mp3 23Mb

What you know will keep you from what you need to know

I really like this teaching from Bill Johnson. It’s not that it reveals a great truth, but it reveals how great truth is acquired and implemented in our life. It’s a sort of primer on how God reveals Himself in “layers” and how a new depth of truth will often appear to challenge an existing truth. It’s this challenge…this paradox…that requires that we keep our focus on the God who is THE TRUTH and not on our intellectual grasp of some concept. We have to seek the God who gives the revelation to experience a new level of anointing and experience in Him to allow us to live in the new truth. That’s not the way we think in the West, unfortunately. We are (I know I am) enamored and satisfied with new concepts…to the point where we don’t actually live it out. This satisfaction actually causes you to resist what God would reveal to you.

So, open your heart to what God would reveal to you in this teaching!

Experiencing the Great Things (mp3 25.5Mb)

Got Bethel?

I’m about to start posting several audio teachings from Bethel Church in Redding, California, but I’m putting this post up first. Why? Well, it says on their site that the sermons downloaded from their Sermon of the Week site are free to copy provided you give the proper attribution. I’ve written once asked them about posting a message on my site, but never got a response. So, based on the “right to copy” statement on their site, I’m going to start posting several of their messages, BUT, should they come and ask me to remove them, I will. If so, I want to make sure that this post remains to let as many people as possible know about this incredible well of rich Kingdom resources that is bubbling over in Redding, CA and how you can taste a whole lot of it directly yourselves.

I’ve been impacted by various teachers during my life but there are certainly places and ministries where God has made extraordinary deposits of His Blessing and Spirit (though I happen to believe that God is waiting with joyful anticipation for every spot on the earth to cry out for and search for and experience the same “open heaven” blessing that, up till now, seems the exception more than the rule). Mike Bickle and the International House of Prayer in Kansas City was probably the first to have made a significant impact on me with his 3 20-part series of audio teachings on The Life of David, the Song of Solomon and the Bride of Christ. Rick Joyner and Morningstar Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina has marked me with various books and their worship anointing. The Vineyard and Hillsong movements have obviously been hugely impacting in the realm of worship. Arthur Burk and The Sapphire Leadership Group (formerly Plumbline Ministries) with their Motivational Gifts teachings and other great insights have fed me as well. In the last 2 years or so, however, the bulk of my “deep drinking” has clearly come from Bethel Church in Redding.

On their site, they have 2 methods of obtaining regular free content:

I strongly encourage you to sign up for both of these (free) and let down your bucket into the well!

Bill Johnson at IHOP’s ’07 Signs and Wonders Conference

Perhaps you’ve heard the “buzz” about Bill Johnson or Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Maybe you’ve read a book or heard a testimony, etc. This is a group of folks that I think would gladly wear the label “radical”…or perhaps more accurately: “radical is normal”.

Bill would like to have the Church understand, among other things, that our job as the Body of Christ in this world is to make the miraculous common place.

I’ll admit that this challenges me…and I’ll admit that this challenges me primarily because the supernatural is still more super than natural. This often uncomfortable postion of standing in the natural and reading about, praying about and desiring the “super” is not a place I want to stay…it takes a lot of energy. Either I slump back on the couch or I press into Jesus and contend for something more. As far as I can tell, it’s this 2nd choice that Bill Johnson has grabbed a hold of and is running with.

In these messages, he sheds (for me anyway) some new light on several passages in the Bible. You simply have to listen more than once to grab it because he makes a statement and you know there is much theological unpacking to be done behind that…and then he moves on to the next point! 😮

May these messages become seed in your life to contend for breakthrough in the world of the Kingdom of God in fullness!

Message 1 (mp3 – 17MB)

Message 2 (mp3 – 17MB)