Holy Spirit week

Well, this week has been pretty intense.  God definitely showed up and revealed some really cool things to both Rachel and I.  It was probably more intense for me than it was for Rachel since she has grown up a little more with Holy Spirit stuff.  My background with the Holy Spirit is fairly limited.  Growing up, I really don't remember any teaching on the Holy Spirit.  I experienced the Holy Spirit but it wasn't something that I pursued.  The times that I remember experiencing the Holy Spirit the most was when I would confess sin.  I could just feel a sense of freedom every time I did that.  Then, the Holy Spirit would bring out tears, but for some reason I never really associated the fact that I was crying with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  For me and I think a lot of other people I grew up with, the Holy Spirit's main purpose was to convict us of sin.  I could also feel the Holy Spirit during worship sometimes, but that was pretty much the purpose of the Holy Spirit.  Honestly, I never really thought anything of it because no one I knew really ever talked about it.  I didn't know anyone who spoke in tongues.  No one had ever prophesied anything over me and I really don't remember ever seeing anyone dramatically healed.  When I went to REACH, God opened my eyes a little more to the power of the Holy Spirit.  I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and then fell over from the presence (slain in the spirit).  I heard some people speaking in tongues, but it was a very weird experience and I still had a lot of doubts.  I did have numerous people prophesy over me and later God used me to prophesy over me as well.  So, I began to slowly tap into the Holy Spirit, but I still didn't really understand much.  I think my lack of understanding of the Holy Spirit stemmed from fear and obviously, ignorance.  Often, we're afraid of things that we don't understand.  So we stay away from it.  My relationship with God is pretty good with where I'm at with the Holy Spirit so why mess with that?  I thought of an analogy earlier today regarding my relationship with the Holy Spirit.  It's as if I'm really good friends with the Father and Son.  The Holy Spirit is an acquaintance.  Every once in a while, He'll come with the Father and Son.  Sometimes I hang out with just the Father or just the Son, but never with just the Holy Spirit.  It's kinda awkward and I don't know what to say.  When we all hang out, I don't really talk to the Holy Spirit.  I just focus on the ones that I know, the Father and Son.  Slowly, I'm getting to know the Holy Spirit, but never really thought we would be that close of friends because I just don't really understand Him.

Fast forward to this week.  So I've been seeing God do some cool things up until this week, but understanding the Holy Spirit was still a bit hazy for me.  This week our teacher was J.R. Polhemus, who's a pastor from a church about 45 minutes away from the base.  Going into the week, I decided to have an open mind.  I don't think I'm going to go into too many specifics on what exactly was taught since I know that this can be a controversial topic.  I'm still trying to process some of the teachings in my head, but I think God has opened a whole new door for me.  I spoke in tongues which was a new experience.  Now this wasn't like speaking tongues in front of an audience, but a prayer language between God and me.  I loved how J.R. presented it to us and it really changed how I thought about this particular subject.  I know this is especially controversial for some so I'll just leave it at that.  Today he brought 6 people with him and they all prophesied over us.  They split into 3 teams and we went to where ever we felt God led us to.  It was really incredible.  Almost everyone had a word spoken over them that seemed to fit exactly.  For me, I've felt a specific calling all my life but was never sure if it was me thinking it or God.  Well, God has definitely confirmed it through not just today, but through other people who have spoken to me here.  Rachel also had some things spoken over her that totally fit and then they spoke over us as a couple.  One of the things, he said about us is that God strategically put us together.  We are opposite in many ways but we balance each other out.  He talked about 2 kinds of people: rational and intuitive.  Basically, a rational person is more cautious and thinks through all decisions before going ahead with it.  An intuitive person knows right away and will often do things impulsively.  Neither one of us those is bad.  I am definitely more rational and Rachel is definitely more intuitive.  Sometimes, it can be annoying for both of us, but in the end, it's a blessing because we help each other.  So, this was probably one of the more influential weeks I've had here so far. 

So, I need to finish my analogy about the Holy Spirit.  This week, I got to know the Holy Spirit on a more personal level and came to find out that He's just as awesome as the Father and Son.  He seems to be a bit mysterious at first, but when you think about it, they're all a bit mysterious.  I don't fully understand Him and I don't think I will.  But He's amazing and I want to hang out with Him more often.  I'm still getting to know Him better, but I think I'm embarking on a pretty crazy friendship. 

Randy

Fun Fact of the Day:
The African cicada fly spends 17 years sleeping, then wakes up for two weeks, mates and then dies.

Deep thought by Jack Handey:
As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again, I sat there thinking about life.  Was it nothing more than a bunch of honking and yelling?  Sometimes it seemed that way.