Fulfillment Fest

Well, life has been a bit busier lately. Work has been consuming a lot of my time – much more than usual anyway. We've been staying connected with friends, attending meetings and Bible studies. And, for those that don't know, I've been rushing to prepare for my 21–day "camping adventure" in North Carolina. I'll be attending an event called Fulfillment Fest that is centered around the Feast of Trumpets, Feast of Tabernacles, etc. and will have 24/7 worship, intercession and teaching the entire time. I've never camped for more than two consecutive nights at a time – also, three potential weeks away from my wife doesn't exactly excite me. I've been stockpiling canned food like it's Y2K all over again and trying to get all in order for the trip. I felt God impress me to create a "Breakthrough List" to take with me. It basically consists of people/situations that I have set aside an entire day to be in prayer for while I'm gone. It's a powerful thought as I consider remaining in consistent prayer for one person, couple or family over a 24–hour period.

Although I did go through a "God, I want to see Your pillar of fire descend before me!" period when preparing for the upcoming weeks, I feel that I've toned things down a bit now. I recently talked with a great friend of mine about how sometimes we think we have to "summon" God's glory when He's already here. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place to usher in God's glory and shout for Him to release His presence. But sometimes, I believe He simply longs for us to quietly sit before Him and encounter His loving fatherly nature. He says that He is never far from us and that, if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.

So that's my desire, to pull my chair right up to God's throne and sit at Jesus' feet for a few weeks. I want to hear His voice, be it loud or soft, I long to hear Him. I've had enough experiences lately with "getting away" and seeing how God reveals Himself when I clear away all of life's distractions and junk. I anticipate great things to come out of this. At a Bible study earlier this week someone said, "Oh man Joel, you're not going to come home the same person!" (jokingly referring to my over the top adventures in the supernatural over the last 9 months) My response was, "That's kind of the idea." (ha) I don't want to stay the same, I won't stay satisfied with where I am and where I've been, no matter how great it is. On the flip side, I will never be a conference hopper or "latest event" kind of guy because I believe that one should attend these types of things in order to return to where you live and spread it all around. If I do nothing but attend the latest event and never allow it to filter into my everyday life, then it's of no use really. I don't want to get to heaven and be so hyped up within myself that I didn't take the time to tell anyone else about it.

So, for those of you that do, please pray that I will encounter God like I never have before. For those of you that don't, look out, I may be praying for you.

God is moving.