Born a Worthy Winner

Aight, peeps, this story is 'bout to blow yo mind cuz I went from a $200 guitar to a $2,000 one in literally three hours because Jesus. BECAUSE JESUS.

Buckle up.

It all started with a conversation I had with my pastor before worship band practice began. It was one we had maybe two years ago when I just started playing in the kid's worship team, and now that I'm in the big people band (that's what I call it), he brought it up again starting with the familiar, "Allison, you need a new guitar."

"Nah, this one's good." It played fine, it didn't need anything special, it wasn't broken.

And that was that.

But no it wasn't, because he then insisted I needed one--specifically a Taylor Guitar. Do you know how expensive those things are? All the money, I tell you. All of it. Preposterous, I thought, for the guitar I had been using for the last six years worked swimmingly for me and if my wallet could've talked to my pastor it would have said, "Nope. You cray."

"You have to confess that you have the money for it!" He said anyway. Good pastoral response. So a part of me said what I did to get the subject off my shoulders, but also a part of me thought what if?

So I said, "Fine. I will have $2,000 to buy a new guitar." You happy?

Apparently I sure was gunna be in a few hours.

---

I kid you not, people, I woke up that morning thinking I needed to make me some coffee because service was too early for me. But Jesus had a different plan in mind, I tell you, and I did not see it coming. After the service was over and I was preparing to put away my ordinary but highly appreciated guitar, a gentleman approached me and the first thing he said was, "You pick whatever guitar you want and I'll buy it for you."

I stopped and stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"...Are you serious, though?"

"Yes."

And my face contorted until I began to cry, and I probably cried four more times after that, because when I asked Jesus why, He told me it was because He loved me and He heard me.

Within the next three hours, this couple took me to the city and bought me a Taylor Guitar for $2,000 without even hesitating. I picked up the first one I saw and it was the last one I walked out with. I didn't know my pastor was so right that I needed a new one. It sounded so much better, made of wood that's custom tuned to the guitar itself, each Taylor being uniquely different than the next (if that doesn't represent me as a human, I don't know what does). So I traveled back home in a daze, my palm planted on top of an instrument worth so much and the entire time God kept telling me you're worth even more than this.

So I picked a suitable name for him, my Taylor Guitar--because, yes, I am that cheesy human being. With my recent love for Korea, I named him Sunsangji Hyeon. The name means Worthy Winner.

Every time I'll pick up Sunsangji Hyeon, I'll remember that I am worth more than an instrument, but that I was born to win things like it because the moment I was born, I was born to be loved by God.

And I think I could keep writing forever because this is a blessing that I will always be processing (and no word in any language could sum up the gratitude I feel toward the couple who generously blessed me), but I can end with a scripture that wraps it up all nice like a gift on Christmas morning:

"God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything. more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

He throws caution to the winds, 

giving to the needy in reckless abandon. 

His right-living, right-giving ways 

never run out, never wear out.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God." 

(2 Corinthians 9:8-11 MSG)

Now if you'll excuse me. I have lots of excited feelings I still need to process.

Big Beginning, Little Launch

"If you think you can accomplish your dream on your own, you're not dreaming big enough!" 

- Bill Johnson, Bethel Church Pastor

Well gosh darn, I thought to myself at that moment, sitting there in class. I have hardly dreamed big enough yet! I must pursue a dream so big that it scares me.

And so I did. This was the origin story of the biggest dream I've ever faced to conquer in my life--but for now, this is not about my dream but about yours. Stop for a moment and think about it! What are your dreams? What do you want to do before you die? Are they so unbelievable that they would need the grace of God to actually begin in the first place?

That is truly how big we should all dream. To need God involved in every step of the way, for the destination is so impossible to reach that only God can help you accomplish it. He wants to show you how possible he makes impossible things! And imagine that? If you had no fear of failure for anything,what would you do?

Bungee jump? Climb the Alps? Ride a freaking lion to Mount Doom? Heck yes I would.

God wants us to expand our horizons and give us things that we can't even imagine ourselves! If you aim for higher, He'll give you what's on top of that yet. Of course, I can sit here all day and type forever about dreams and inspirational quotes from the heavens. So here's three great steps to help you get to where you want to go, with the grace of God on your side (from as much life experience as an almost 22-year-old goober can afford to give anyway):

STEP ONE: ALWAYS BELIEVE IN GOD
"God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us." (Ephesians 3:20 MSG)

...enough said.

STEP TWO: PICK THE BIGGEST DREAM
Pick the one that you would do if you would not fail! Pick the one that screams you've accomplished what you were born for. (Asking God is probably a good idea. Listen--and He will answer!)

STEP THREE: START WITH THE BIGGEST, GREATEST, GOSH-DARNEDEST MIGHTIEST POSITION
Otherwise known as: On your knees. Because let me tell you, to get to your biggest dreams requires you to start at your smallest step. Wash those dishes at work. Treat your customers with love, even the rude ones. Help your mom take out the trash.

Eventually you will find that you have enough money to go and do things that lead you to more things that touch the hearts of more people, that let you bungee jump 32 times instead of only once, that give you a whole zoo instead of just one foreign animal. With me, when I took care of my closest friends, he gave me international friends from all around the world that now welcome me to visit their countries any time! This was a huge desire of my heart, and He gave it to me because I took care of what I already had. Before you know it, God will expand your domain.

My dearest friends, the biggest step is indeed the one that makes you the smallest in all the highest regards in heaven. Please remember this: never despise small beginnings, because they will always get you to great destinations.

The Biggest Beginnings always come from the Littlest Launches!

And that makes for a fine life, oh yes! Up there in the stars, where God will make available to you!

Unique; A Goober's Definition

u·nique

yo͞oˈnēk/

adjective

1. 1.

   being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
2. 
   

It’s come to my attention that I’ve gotten the meaning of unique wrong. I always thought unique meant I had to be someone that everybody else was not. My personality had to be different, my thought process had to be different and most importantly: my dreams, goals and ambitions in life had to be completely different than everybody else.

The thing is, it was (and still is) quite easy for me to do all those things effortlessly. I never had to try and be different; I just was! Ever since I was four years old, I refused ballet lessons and wanted to play with dragon and dinosaur toys than Barbie and some freak little kitchen thing that could conjure minuscule cupcakes from nowhere.

Being unique is my calling; a sort of prophetic word that’s defined my life since I was twelve.

But it took me these last ten months to realize I had the right word defined wrong.

It all started with my sudden passion for Korea (Check out my blog about that), where I couldn’t help but to spew out my feels for it like it was coming out my ears. Everyone I met, if at all interested, heard straight from me how much I love that country and their people and, most of all, how I aspire to go there someday.

Little did I know that I would “accidentally” influence over a handful of friends and family who would, too, succumb to the feels of Korea just as I did. My one unique dream became ten others’ unique dreams, which to me felt like tens of thousands. No longer was I the only one that loved Korea unconditionally. No longer was I the only one that knew I had a calling to go there and do something awesome. Now it felt like everybody else did, too. And worst of all, it was my fault.

To be honest, which is my only level of transparency anyway, I found myself getting bitter every time somebody told me they loved Korea. “I love this song they have, and I want to go to Seoul, too, and we should go together, and I think Asians are cute now, too! Thank you for showing me this; I can’t believe I’ve been so ignorant of Korea all my life. I just know I’m called there, too. Let’s definitely go there together. If you go without me, I’ll be so jealous. You won’t get mad at me if I go without you, would you?”

What.

HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN TO MY ONE AND ONLY UNIQUE DREAM? Was the thought that started creeping up on me.

After some epic thought-battling for several months knowing that I was being a poophead about this, I finally decided to surround myself with some healthy-minded people that were unbiased to my Korean feels, whom I explained to them my troubles.

It’s funny how ten months of fighting such terrible pride and potential bitterness could be solved within ten minutes of just talking to the right people about it.

It came to my attention that having so many friends and family on the same ship could (and will) propel me into my own calling to Korea and that “even though all your destinations are the same, your own goal is completely different” (as told by a Korean-like-minded friend). No one person has the same exact destiny as the other--even the slightest difference in the most alike dream makes the outcome vastly distinct. I could go to Korea to teach, and so can another, but my goal would be to change their lives and not just their education.

So, as you see, after much processing, I've re-defined what unique really means:

u·nique

yo͞oˈnēk/

adjective

1. 1.

   Although I am one of a kind and my dreams are specifically assigned by God to be my own and not another's, there are many alongside me (and I alongside them) to support one another into one common destination, through many different routes unlike anything else according to God's perfect design.

Of course this type of revelation will take my brain some time to re-route new thinking, but after discovering it, it'll definitely make my life finer than before. And yours, too, rest assured!

By the Way, You're Awesome

I figured out something this week: spiders are out to get me. But also: encouragement is contagious.

Now that's something that I didn't learn at BSSM, because it came naturally to everyone in an environment like that! They're all about "pulling the gold out of people", a personal tag I've received for myself. Always edifying, uplifting and encouraging someone no matter how much junk is around that block of solidified awesomeness.

SO let's start here: I just moved back to Texas after an exciting adventure with my family in an RV (sounds like a movie, but it didn't involve any gross porter potty incidents *thank you, Jesus*). As warned, transitioning from the Bethel atmosphere (after growing some thick roots) back to where I grew up (where my roots were previously Before-Serum-Steve-Rogers scrawny) would be difficult. The transition meant I'd have to re-adapt to this environment.

The biggest difference would be what I've quickly discovered: Where's all the freebies of encouragement? Outside of BSSM, encouragement is not commonly given just to give. It's earned, unfortunately. Encouragement comes when people ask for it, when people are sad or losing at something. Things like that. At BSSM, encouragement was in the mouth of every friend, of every teacher, inside my binders and secretly hidden in my pockets and in my livingroom and by the beach. It was everywhere.

Laying that down like a fancy yellow brick road to a magical point, I have quickly discovered that God is my greatest source of encouragement ("YOU CAN PAINT THAT WALL, ALLISON. JUST. DO IT. DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS." ...true story), but also I can be the one thing that breaks the atmosphere with a giant Thor hammer of Encouragement.

Finally, here's the thing that happened that struck me with this revelation! *hoorah!*

I was eating at a Japanese Steakhouse with my good pal, and you know that super awkward moment when you're seated with a whole party of like 6 other people just to fill the whole table for the chef? Man, the air gets real thin after the first few minutes. Like. Make eye contact? Say hello? List three facts about yourself? I had no idea what to do, because to your surprise, I am also an awkward human being.

ANYWAY, by the end of the dinner I loosened up and I was very impressed with our waitress's job. So I told her so, and not just, "You're doing great!" But, "You're doing such a good job and it really impressed me. Keep up the good work because you're doing something right!"

Then, to my surprise, everyone at the table agreed and then proceeded to pile up the encouragements and I could just see the waitress's eyes light up.

This is what I live for, was my thought. I don't need to pray for the sick every day to see God's revival still burning in me from BSSM. Simply, it looks like refusing to conform to silence, and to punch Satan in the pig-snout with telling someone, "You're better than you think you are, and I'm going to sit here and tell you why."

This, my dear friends, is what a Fine Life looks like.

Because encouragement is contagious!

Miracles Through the Eyes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Goober; Part 2 of 2

[You can find Part 1 here!]

I won't ever forget the feeling of walking down the tunnel into the stadium. You could hear the worship on stage getting louder and louder until you emerged into a massive bowl several stories high filled with people from all across the U.S. and even around the world. My heart was pounding; I was so ready for this day!

The first thing I did was follow the lead of what Lou Engle asked us to do, which was first to lay hands on those who have spina bifida. A girl nearby had raised her hand for healing so I was the first to approach her, and upon praying for the disease to leave her, she started weeping. I figured if I asked what she felt, she'd say heat and healing, but instead she stuttered to me, "I feel...l-love."

That was to set the standard for me the rest of the day. I knew God was with me, and I was in awe of all the people in the stadium and what all was taking place. For 15 hours, the ministry team went at it--people came out of their wheelchairs and injuries and diseases were leaving. It was amazing! All I know is that by the end of the day, I knew God had shifted the city of LA and it was only the beginning.

Azusa Now might have been over, but little goober Allison was still going to DISNEYLAND.

You know, revival isn't a day. It isn't Azusa Now. Revival is everyday, in walmart, in your home, and even at Disneyland. We still have people posting in our BSSM Testimony Page of God healing people at the amusement park (I guess it truly is "the happiest place on earth!").

I didn't see anything miraculous myself, but my friends and I knew that Jesus loved rides as much as we did so we invited Him along with us--including all the favor that came with Him! The average person normally gets in about four rides a day on a busy day--but my friends and I did twelve, two rides of which we went on twice! We even had special favor skipping an hour-long wait just by answering a question (when in doubt, the answer is Pixie Dust).

We ran into a father and son who had asked us if we went to Azusa the day before (I'm sure my Bethel tanktop gave it away), and a wonderful conversation ensued (I'm sure it was one of those "divine appointments" Bill Johnson always talks about). The son, Joseph, said he wanted to go to BSSM next year and I was able to bless him in his passion for the foster care system.

The fireworks at the end of the day pretty much sealed the deal that my first missions trip was the best missions trip ever!

And then at last, we boarded the bus in a very holy-ghost-crazed goodbye (people were lying around in the aisle laughing and crying and whatever was going on; I'm not even sure).

In the end, I returned to Redding with several new lessons in my pocket but the most valuable of them all is this: if you want revival, be the revival everywhere you go, everyday.

And that makes for the finest life of all!

THE END.

*Disneyland fireworks and pixie dust*

Miracles Through the Eyes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Goober; Part 1 of 2

And by friendly neighborhood goober, I mean me!

On April 9th, 2016, I believe I was part of the biggest beginnings of a revival America's ever seen. Azusa Now hosted about 115,000 registered guests in the LA Memorial Coliseum and roughly 2,000 BSSM students were part of the ministry team (which included this little goober)!

Four days before the event, the BSSM students flooded every zone in LA to pour out God's love and miraculous power on people. We all shared crazy testimonies that God was doing via a facebook page (you can read every testimony that happened here!), including people walking out of wheelchairs and blind eyes opening and deaf people hearing for the first time in their lives--all across LA!

Every day I would read these testimonies, sometimes first thing in the morning and I would cry because it was so overwhelming that God was touching people--Christians and unbelievers alike. But most of all, I had never seen a healing like that before with my own eyes, and by my own hands.

Those four days prior to the event were both awesome, exhausting and intense.

Day one, we ministered around Union Station and the jails, and visited the USC Campus (freaking gorgeous). The church there had been fasting and interceding for Azusa for months already. They were on fire, and after churning the flame, we set out to minister to students. Tons of them got saved, and I found myself loitering around a food court looking for a chance to share Jesus with someone. Sure enough, I ended up speaking with an agnostic girl my own age who didn't believe in God because of prior religious circumstances. This was the first time I ever prayed for someone to feel Jesus--and she did!

Day two, we hit the streets of Skid Row--one of the largest homeless avenues in the nation. This was the first time I ever evangelized to the homeless, and it certainly wasn't a neat business. People reeked of urine and drugs, and most of them we talked to weren't even socially capable of maintaining a normal conversation. But I went for it anyway! One instance, a teammate told me to prophesy over a man using one of his tattoos. I got this, I thought, as I asked the man to pick any tattoo (he had several). Sure enough, he picked the one with the grim reaper holding a nude woman. I do not got this, I thought, but asked God for interpretation anyway. He could use anything to convey a message, right? Yes! So, I began telling the homeless man that there is beauty in death because there is heaven on the other side, and I started pulling out the gold in him and all that wonderful stuff (Thank you sweet Jesus).

Day Three, we evangelized around the Farmer's Market in Downtown LA. Now I'm going to be honest: At this point, I was physically exhausted. My feet hurt from walking so much and I wanted to sleep longer than 6 hours. My teammates and I weren't really getting anywhere with ministering to people, at least compared to what we had seen the last two days, and we were beginning to feel divided. THUS, we prayed and became honest with each other about how we were feeling. I felt that I had to push myself to evangelize, to share about Jesus, and it sucked. But after we were honest and talked to our leader, we made optional arrangements to take it easy the rest of the day. It was then that the pressure of evangelizing left me and I actually started doing it naturally the rest of the afternoon!

Teamwork is what God's family business looks like.

Day Four, after getting plenty of rest, we packed bags of goodies and set out for Ramona Gardens, a housing district that had low income and was in need of ministry. I was pumped now; I just knew God was gunna do something awesome! My teammates and I ventured about until we came across a group of kids that would probably be in junior high. Long story short, they didn't know the gospel very well and after two hours of loving on them (and eating like 4 bags of snacks), they gave their lives to Jesus! *shoots fireworks*

But I was still in search for seeing a healing miracle! So later that evening we had ministry outside the LA Memorial Coliseum, the day before Azusa Now. I ended up walking around with one of my closest BSSM friends, finding ourselves praying for people. There was a woman who had sprained her ankle in January and felt severe pain since then, so one of my teammates asked me to pray for her. I don't know if anything will happen, is what I thought. But I will try. So I put my hand on her, super duper casually asked God to fetch a new ankle from heaven and put it in her foot, and then I asked the daunting question... "Do you feel anything?"

"Yes!" She shouted, "I feel heat!"

"Say WHAT?" I shouted back, asking God to increase whatever He was doing. By the end she was jumping around and feeling zero pain, and I was jumping around screaming that it had actually happened! God used little ol' Allison--your friendly neighborhood goober--to heal someone!!

For the rest of the trip, I felt my relationship with Jesus totally change from what it had been just a few days prior. Now I believed God could use me for amazing things, and more than just that: He wanted to.

This is just a brief outline of what my missions trip was like! The next part will be about Azusa, and my adventure through Disneyland for the first time, because Jesus was with me there, too!

Nonetheless, if there's one thing I want you, my wonderful reader, to take away from all this is just the one thing: God wants to use you, anywhere, anytime, to bring a miracle to someone's life big or small. For freaking real.

And that, that is surely the finest life to ever have!

Allison Versus the Forces of Evil

You may be wondering, "Allison. Aren't you going on a mission's trip?" Why yes. Yes I am. Next week. And it's going to blow my mind. Allow me to explain.

On April 9th, 1906-1916, there was a huge outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Azusa Street, Los Angeles, California. God's glory was so heavy in the place that firemen would storm into the building thinking the roof was on fire, but it was God simply being present among the hungry people. Children would play hide and seek in the cloud of His glory, literally, and cancer would fall right off the bodies of health-stricken people. When the train pulled in a few blocks away, passengers would fall out under the power of God without even being at the location of the ministry. God did crazy things at the Azusa Street Revival, of which William J. Seymour (the founder of the revival) prophesied that within 100 years, another outpouring would break out with twice as much power and miracles than what was seen there.

Now, approximately 100 years later on April 9th, 2016, little ol' Allison will be marching right on over to Los Angeles with about 2,000 other students from Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry to reignite the heart of LA for God once again.

What a huge statement; I can't even believe I'm saying it! This will be my first missions trip in my life, and it consists of being part of a ministry so large that we're expecting 90,000 people to minister to at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Excuse me while my mind blows up a bit. 

So, my point in writing this is so that you can know what I'll be involved with--what you likely supported me for (thank you from the bottom of my little goober heart)! Whether you donated to my BSSM tuition or directly to my missions account or support me blissfully from your heart, what my revival group and I do in LA will also be considered your rewards! SO, this is what little ol' Allison will be doing:

Part of a group of about 58 people (called a revival group at BSSM), we will be "flooding the streets of LA" for a week before the main event called Azusa Now at the LA Memorial Coliseum (you can discover more about it at The Call's Website). 

During this week, each revival group has been divided into 5 different zones, one of which our group has been assigned Downtown LA! We will be ministering on the streets (never done that before), throwing a block party (never done that either), ministering to one of the nation's largest homeless avenue on Skid Row (you can bet your bottom dollar I ain't done that either), volunteering at other planted ministries and local churches, and ministering in the business district, fashion district and Chinatown (gunna get me some RAMEN YEAH). This is the first time BSSM has concentrated all their students to one mission, instead of about 75 different missions every year.

On the day of Azusa Now, the revival in the LA Coliseum, our revival group will be ministering to a section of 3,000 people.

The very last day of our trip, although optional, us little goobers for Jesus will be flooding Disneyland! BLESS THE LORD OH MY SOUL--HERE I COME, DISNEY. YOU BETTA WATCHOUT.

...Anyway, this is what Allison will be doing next week. Thanks to you (and Jesus, yay!), my first mission's trip is going to be unforgettably colossal. I plan on taking testimonies and writing more blog posts about what God is doing there, because I can't believe little ol' me is going to be part of such a huge thing.

Allison Versus the Forces of Evil!