knock, knock, knocking on heaven's doorrr

just about one week ago God revealed something pretty cool to me; this is about the 3rd draft of this post about that Sunday....

Four of my friends and I [looked for a picture of all of us together but one doesn't exist] drove down to Phoenix last(?) Saturday for a short vacay in the sun, complete with an overnight visit to Andy Liem's Gammy and attening service at a charasmatic ("Of, relating to, or being a type of Christianity that emphasizes personal religious experience and divinely inspired powers, as of healing, prophecy, and the gift of tongues", according to thefreedictionary.com,) church that we had heard about.

I definitely believe the Holy Spirirt manifests itself in those ways- actually, I know that. BUT, I still had never been to such a churchI am from a conservative, Lutheran-ish church and clapping my hands during worship is a big step for me....so for our visit to Heaven's Place (the name of the church,) I was excited, anxious, and nervous!

We entered the one room, pale yellow church a few minutes after service had begun. Two women were at the front, leading worship with their singing and a keyboard. A man with a spider and its web tatooed on his face welcomed us in with "God bless you's" , a handshake, and a warm smile as a woman did the same with a pat on the back. So we were a little more at ease by the welcoming hearts saturating the small space (or, at least I was.)

Most everything was new to me- massive hand clapping, unstoppable laughter from the incredible woman pastor from South Africa, lotsa hand raising, worship through the repetition of the words "bubble, double, bubble, bubble, double..." (you get the point,) prophesying (when the pastor prophesied over me i cried...), casting out demons and spirits, and pastoral prayer for individuals after the sermon!

Half way through the service God made me see beauty in this place; these people have a love for Jesus just like me. Their ways of worship, prayer, and teaching are beautiful because they are reaching out to God and completely open to the Holy Spirit. It was like attending church in a language you recognize but don't speak fluently; not knowing enough to really keep up, just enough to understand the jist of what's going on...