1. Practice Worship, not music (an impression from the Holy Spirit to Tom T.)
On December 30, 2001 we closed the doors of a little church that we had been pastors of. Yet, even though the church was closed, our passion and hunger for God was on the increase. Church was an important part of our lives but compared to the very presence of God, it paled in comparison.
We were not only the pastors of the church but also the worship leaders also. Every Thursday evening for the previous 3 years we had worship practice in our home for all of the musicians to prepare for the upcoming Sunday service. Suddenly, we found that our Thursday evenings had become free; there was no obligation to practice for a church service that wasnt going to be meeting any more. Then, out of the blue, the voice of the Holy Spirit told us, Dont stop worship practice.
At first, we thought that the reason was so that we would stay sharp with our music skills. That might have been part of what the Lord desired, but it turned out to be a whole lot more. When we had met together on Thursdays we actually made a point of Worshiping, not just rehearsing music. Worship entering into the presence of God to love on him. What we didnt realize was that Thursday evenings had become our date night with God.
The two of us decided that we would go ahead and continue worshiping on Thursday evenings. Then, within a couple of weeks, one of the local pastors in the area offered us their church sanctuary if we wanted to use it. Open door. So we walked through it and began worshipping our Lord in a new place.
Initially, there were only three of who met together and one of those three was God. Talk about intimacy. But, it was so good, and it didnt matter if it looked strange for the two of us to pour out our hearts in a room full of empty chairs. Well, it didnt take long before other people with similar passion began to hear about what we were doing and would show up and join us.
Its been a year and a half since we decided to continue our Worship night. Some weeks there is a stage full of musicians and a room full of people and pastors from all over the area, and some weeks there are just a handful of us humbly standing, sitting, or prostrate in the presence of the Creator of the universe. Its so unbelievably wonderful.
Its all about our love relationship with Him; Jesus Christ. Our passion, no matter how intense, is nothing compared to the overwhelming love that He has for us. He is jealous for our times together and has purposed (for now, any way) to protect our special night.
That was just the start of such an incredible love story; one that is still being written in our hearts and continues to be played out as we pursue the One who first loved us.
2. Worshipping alone in a desert (a vision from the Holy Spirit given to Diane C.)
It was night. Very dark and Jennifer was all alone in a desert with her piano. Jennifer was in a desert place and as she played there seemed to be no response.
After a period of time people began to wander in to the place where Jennifer was playing the music. They were drawn there. Soon there were a number of people who were there and they began to build a barn.
3. Don't try to figure this out (a word from the Holy Spirit given to Jennifer T.)
What I am doing and about to do is unlike anything you've ever seen or imagined. Don't even try to figure it out.
4. Dune Analogy(Vision given to Tom T.)
I was sitting on the couch asking God to speak to me and give me clear direction concerning finding a job (7/15/03?). I prayed for a while and then waited for the Lord to speak to me or show me something. After a while I wasn't sure if I was going to actually hear anything or fall asleep. Then I saw a picture. It was a cave. I recognized it as the cave in the movie Dune. I thought to myself that this is not from God - Dune is a pretty weird movie and not very Godly. Then I began to think about the scene in the movie that I had seen.
In the movie the lead character finds himself in the midst of a huge desert where there is no water. He runs for the protection of a cave. Upon entering the cave he finds that there is a group of people who live there. Their numbers are great. In addition to people living in the caves there is also a huge amount of water stored up deep within the caverns. The lead character and the cave dwellers become friends/family. They both have a common, evil enemy who rules the known universe. While they remained in the caves they trained for war using a very unusual/supernatural warfare method. When they were ready and the timing was right, they traveled to their destination on the most unlikely of vehicles (something you could never imagine).
The parallels to other words from the Lord were very similar and confirmed a lot of what we had been sensing over the last couple of years.
God has shown us for at least 1 1/2 years that we are in a desert place - neighborhoods that are dry and without the spirit of God (water). He has also shown us that there is water (the treasures/glory/spirit of God) stored up for the those who will dig for it. It's deep. God has also shown us that there are others, like ourselves, who are waiting in a hidden place until the Lord releases us all into our destinies. He has likened that to the prophets that he had hidden away in caves in the old testament. We have also sensed that we are in training; learning new aspects and depths of the Holy Spirit. The last part of this movie analogy is that we will arrive where the Lord wants us in a way or means that we cannot conceive of.