I just got back from Redding yesterday & had a great trip. I was invited by The Stirring to come & participate in their conference: When God Dreams. I had a great time! I didn’t know what to expect from it all, & I don’t think they did either, but it really turned out great. It was really wonderful to be in the presence of the Lord with a bunch of my old & new friends. I’m always encouraged to see some of those people who started this journey with me still following Jesus.

What did God say to me at the conference? I loved that there were different speakers & workshop people who had very similar messages. One theme stood out above the others: Be secure in God’s love alone; that’s how you realize God’s dream. The other major theme was encouragement. Using the text of Jonathan & the armor bearer we learned a bit more about this gift. Encouragement isn’t just complimenting, but when one person literally gives courage to another person. What an amazing gift; I can actually give courage to people in their journey with God. Likewise, I can also discourage people; I can take courage from someone. That is a powerful Kingdom reality. Another thing stood out to me: Redding is kinda’ the Bible belt of California! There are some outstanding churches in Redding &, for the most part, they like each other. There were many different churches represented at this conference, which is awesome, & there was really a spirit of teamwork. Here is Santa Cruz it’s really not like that; however, I do need to go to the Evangelical Prayer Meeting, etc. I was really blessed to sit with two other guys on a panel who didn’t agree on many theologies, but were good friends. Too, one of the speakers started out by saying, “& I’ll try not to offend anybodies theology!”

There’s other stuff, but that’s the main & plain of it. I love what the Stirring is doing. Yaks opened it’s 4th location. We’re gonna’ have our 1st men’s retreat at Henry Coe State Park.