So before I left Nashville, I tried to explain to people what the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry was like.  “Jesus Hogwarts” was the best I could do.  Despite my best efforts and Harry Potter allusions, most people responded with “so it’s basically just like seminary, right?”

Here are a few recent happenings at “school” that may give you a glimpse of how this place might be different than your dad’s seminary.

two weeks ago or so

So our class of 800ish is in Bethel’s sanctuary (gym with a stage) as usual listening to Bill Johnson teach.  During some Q&A time, somebody asked Bill about his worship leader past, and if he would ever lead us in worship.  Before he could answer, Bill gets this sort of stunned look on his face and turns around.  About 15 feet above his head and maybe 5 feet behind him is some...rain. “This is like what happened in Las Vegas,” Bill said.  Apparently while he spoke in Vegas some weeks prior it started to rain indoors from out of nowhere for maybe 2 hours.  I looked closely at the sprinkles of rain trying to find a source. Couldn’t find anything.  It was active for about 5-10 minutes maybe. Crazy. Signs and wonders. A sign will make you wonder...

two weeks ago exactly

Bethel has Sunday morning services like a normal church, but there are additional services on Friday and Sunday night.  Because there is no real time constraint, Sunday night can often be the most fun.  Two weeks ago we had testimony and healing meeting, where we listen to what God has been doing and then enjoy him as he shows up.  This night, God’s healing presence showed up big time. For about an hour and a half healings were popping up everywhere, often after Bill or another leader called out a word of knowledge.  Migraines, broken limbs, arthritis, scoliosis, Crohn’s disease, and cancer were healed along with various other aches and pains.  People in the meeting began to call and text friends and relatives with physical afflictions and they were getting healed!  It was amazing!  Click here to watch it in action -- the healing stuff starts about 45 minutes through.

two days ago

While we waited for Bill to show up to teach at school on friday, a few students shared testimonies.  One girl shared about ministering to a man outside of a some kind of occult meeting.  She told him about God’s love for him and told him how to invite the Holy Spirit into his life. “Holy Spirit, come rock my world!” is what he said...then he burst into uncontrollable laughter.  We all cheered, and then repeated that prayer for ourselves.  Then Bill, who arrived sometime during that story, came on stage to teach.  As usual, we welcomed him with cheers.  But this time, we didn’t stop cheering.  Bill just stood on stage, not saying a word.  Soon our claps for Bill turned to cheers for the Lord.  This carried on for maybe 10 minutes.  Then our cheers turned into worship fest ’09.  As a class, we broke out into singing a chorus of praise, still with no words from Bill or anyone else with a microphone.  We continued to worship for another 45 minutes, when Bill finally said, “Let’s all sing in the Spirit.” Soon he then led us in a chorus of “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” (That’s also about the time I lost it, ha).  This Holy Spirit led worship time had lasted over an hour.  Bill spoke for about 4 minutes, and then it was time to go. Ha!

Hope you enjoyed the snapshots.  Please let me know if you did! I love hearing from you. 

Ni Nite.

b