Sara Hall shares her journey with the Lord

Super fun to have Ryan + Sara Hall and family at the Mammoth Lighthouse Church last week. Sara graduated from MLSSM in its 1st ever year of Ministry School, so it was amazing to have her come to class and share stories of what God has done in her life --- in between training for the upcoming New York Marathon (live on ESPN2 on Nov 6 9am EST)!!! 

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Follow Sara on Instagram for her latest adventures:)

From town to mountain - Davos

Natalie and Jamie had been teaching at the YWAM Davos base for a couple of days before the rest of us arrived from Zurich, so we got to sit in on two more days of classes on the prophetic and focusing on encouraging people in that. 
Part of our assignment before leaving for Switzerland had been to video Mammoth Lighthouse crew giving prophetic and encouraging words for the students, staff and leaders at the YWAM base. When we surprised them all with the video, it blew them away! The corporate and individual words of encouragement really demonstrated how much we could impact a community by stepping out of our comfort zones and taking a risk. So many of them told us that the prophetic words in the videos were accurate and impacted them!
Spending time with these young YWAM'ers who love the Lord and the mountains was awesome and we got to help them practice listening to the Holy Spirit at their weekly open night (worship & ministry open to the town) and also at the church service they attend in town at the Pentecostal church. 
It was really fun to encourage them to take a risk in the prophetic, two weeks before they head off on their 12 week missions trips to either South Africa or Bosnia. And super fun to shred with some of them at Parsenn - still some amazing snow to be had! 

 

Times with the Zurich crew!

Thank you to all the Zurich crew for such an incredible welcome! We came to bless you guys, and encourage the different Zurich Lighthouse groups - Mel & Cam's and Bene's - but we came away feeling equally loved and blessed by you. The speed and ease of the connections that were made were just a reminder of the heart of Lighthouse - and that we are a global family. 
From Saturday's gathering in Uster with Mel & Cam, to the community night at Bene's house, to Bene's small group, we got to pray, prophesy and just worship Jesus together! We had some awesome tour guides who helped us see the history of the city, and as we discovered this, we learned how to pray for the city and the people. The cheesiest fondues, amazing laughs and funny walks, insane Monet and Picasso paintings at the Kunsthaus, tricks at the skate park, getting to pray and bless locals we met along the way, leaving prophetic paper airplanes with scripture in the river were just some of the highlights in Zurich! We love you and want to take you all back home with us!
 

A Culture of Honor

Honor. What does that mean to you? It can kind of sound like an old-fashioned word and not particularly relevant today — without getting to understand more of the heart behind it.

As part of school and Lighthouse church, we've been looking at how honor is actually allowing people to be free, and giving individuals' space to live out their unique giftings (sometimes in a church environment) so they can de deployed out onto the wider world, secure in their giftings. 

We have seen that honor always seeks to prioritize relationship over being right or proving a point. Honor always looks to keep love on in a conflict and in a video series from Danny Silk, we continue to examine what this looks like for each of us — and how to actually make this happen in reality! 

Keeping our connection on and loving the person is the most important way in which we can honor them. It's so good — because we are learning it actually strengthens and deepens our relationships! 

 

Winter Wonderland



Where has January gone?! The delayed blog post could well be attributed to a lot of mountain time and some sweet powder and great snow fall here in Mammoth!

Plus, we've had an amazing few weeks back at school, where God is taking some of us on a fast track of breakthrough but also doing a lot of breaking in our hearts! Hard but good times and so worth it, as we ask him for more guidance in showing us what He wants to do in our hearts.
Just before we started back at school, the four of us organised a Winter Wonderland fundraiser; live music, a roaring fire, hot chocolate and mountains of whipped cream and a LOT of finger food cooked by "CJ's" restaurant's finest chef! Organising an event during the holidays definitely presented it's challenges, but as well as fundraising for our Switzerland missions trip, we were able to bless our Lighthouse community with a fun night and a ridiculous amount of food!
We were also blessed to host Chris Gore and his team here at Lighthouse, Bethel's Healing Director and head of the Healing Rooms there in Redding. In between waiting for the lift to 'Cornice' to open on the mountain and hearing amazing testimonies of healings over bowls of deep-fried potatoes, we had the opportunity to just get to hang out and get to know Chris and his team which was really special. We knew how unique this was to actually spend time with our speaker and team – that's the advantage of a small ministry school in the mountains!
In this next season, particularly before we head off to Switzerland on our missions trip, our focus is on intentionality. What does it look like to talk to God before we enter a room, or get on a chairlift, or stand next to someone in the coffee queue? Does He have an encouraging word He wants to give them? Does He want us to just chat to them? Or does He actually have something prophetic that He wants us to share. As we start asking God to share his heart for people around us, there has been a combination of freaking out and excitement for us!! But not only are we blessing the people around us, we are being blessed ourselves as we step out and take a risk. We're finding this treasure hunting pretty fun! And that God wants to love and bless His people!

 

A year of 'Trust'

Christmas, New Year, and a lot of great pow has kind of got in the way of a blog update from school!
Yet we walk into a New Year with a new prophetic word from Jamie, 'TRUST'. 
What does that look like for us at school? A new year where we need to trust for finances for missions trips and school fees, for work provision... and trusting for what our paths will look like beyond school in May. In a few weeks time, we'll be halfway through the School of Ministry.
Over Christmas we were given the chance to work with the county's social services to bless the elderly in the area who were expecting to be alone with beautiful gift hampers. We made prophetic art cards to go alongside the hampers, we decorated the church for Christmas... It was a season of creating and blessing and we were stoked to be given the opportunity to partner with people who work so hard to bless our community.
Even with no school for three weeks, God still continues to do stuff within us - in our process and in our journeys. Some of us volunteered at The Station (the youth camp here in Mammoth), others balanced shifts at restaurants and coffee shops while trying to fend off the Mammoth plague... The advantage with being part of such a small school is that we are still so connected with community. There are no out of school blues - we still get to see each other, pray with each other and do life.
So when we go back to school on Monday, community life will continue. We won't be 'picking God up' again. But I know we'll all come back with a renewed excitement for what God is going to do this year... Whether it's in Switzerland on the missions trip, or here in Mammoth. 
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.' Proverbs 3:5-6. 
What does this look like for your 2016?

 

 

Giving thanks

With Thanksgiving in the middle of our school week, it feels like a while since we've really been together. Yet choosing to spend this six months at MLSSM is not solely about spending time with the other students and sitting in a classroom - it's about getting to know our community at Lighthouse and Mammoth, and investing into each of our unique communities.
'Give thanks for the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.' The whole of Psalm 136 talks about giving thanks because His love endures forever. Although we are purposeful about thankfulness around the time of Thanksgiving, it's a good question to think about our level of gratitude year-round. Are we thankful in all things? Are we thankful all the time, independent of our circumstances?
We've had some miracles in our circumstances at school and God has blessed us. However, there are some things we are still waiting for that breakthrough. But are we still thankful despite what is happening?
Things don't always work out the way we want them to - instead, those circumstances present an opportunity for us to say, OK God, what are you doing? It might be post-Thanksgiving now, but what are you thankful for this week? 

 

Powder, breakthrough and blessing

 With every week comes greater revelation - and more snow!

Over the weekend, we had another snow storm - a total answer to our prayers - 'God, let it rain, let it snow!' California so needs the snow right now - the snow to bless the tourist industry here after a number of very difficult years with little snow (as well as just getting some awesme riding in which we love). So we are super thankful that God is bringing fresh powder and there has been an amazing start to the season.
Last week was a totally varied school week - ranging from a coffee walk around town, waiting for the the Holy Spirit to lead us, praying favour and increase over the town and businesses in Mammoth, right through to watching Danny Silk's 'The Father's Ladder' video and God revealing areas of our life that he needed to bless and bring breakthrough (which totally happened!) Reading our course book, 'Spiritual Slaves to Spiritual Sonship' by Jack Frost is totally wrecking all of us... Because of the choices Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden, we were all born with an orphan spirit, but the book is speaking to us about displacing this spirit with true son and daughtership. It is about finding our true home, where we stop striving and performing for acceptance, and instead we discover our rest in God and our true place as his sons and daughters. When we truly know our Heavenly Father as Daddy (not just head but heart knowledge), we step into much greater freedom.
And this Saturday was the first fundraising event for our school Missions trip to Switzerland, where we will travel to together in March. Although the itinerary is still being planned, we do know that we will be going to support the YWAM base in Davos and encourage the new Lighthouse church in Laax. Thank you to everyone who came to our clothes swap, Kalyn for the hand massages and Doterra oils, Becca and her clothes styling, and Ashley for her Mary Kay beauty tips! And we all got some sweet new threads! We'll be doing more, so watch this space! Keep praying too for Lauren and Ryan as they plan to head off to Japan to establish a new Lighthouse there.

 

 

Testimonies, dreams, breakthrough prayers - and SNOW! #Mammothsopen!!


Encouraged by our time with Michael Dalton, this week was a chance for us to step into more of what God has for us. We've done five full weeks now at school, and so much has changed in our hearts, miracles have been happening and we're expecting more!
Yet, we hadn't shared our testimonies with each other. Although each of us had heard snippets of the others' life journeys, telling our stories in an intentional way, chronologically, and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, was such an amazing way of sharing what God had done in our lives. Each of us seemed so different now to the person described in the testimony, having gone through some crazy times - and we were able to give Him so much glory in that, because only He had been able to bring that turnaround.
We started to share about how God spoke to us at night, learning that we could ask the Holy Spirit to invade our sleep and speak to us through our dreams. A few of us shared dreams we had had, and we started to learn how to decipher whether the dream was from God or not (ie. we could just ask him!) It was an amazing opportunity to start to learn what to look for when we feel like a dream is more than just what we think we initially see. 
The questions we could ask the Holy Spirit were:
- God is that you?
- What should I do?
- What are you saying? (Is it literal?)
- Can you show me more?
Dreaming in the prophetic also turned into learning to discern in the prophetic - and that not every prophetic word is to be shared right away. We can often end up sharing what God is saying and then adding on another 50% of our own interpretation.
And with the first snow - and the mountain opening a week early - we were amped to get out there! With nearly a 3 foot base of fresh snow, it was a pretty good start to the winter season. We can't wait for who we are going to meet, connect and adventure with on the mountain during our school! 
And God's doing some powerful things - miracles are happening and specific prayers are being answered - from phones to laptops to donations to help with course fees! We are still praying for breakthrough in other areas and believing God is going to bring it! Including MORE SNOW! 

 

Language is Everything

When I walked into school on Monday afternoon, I had no idea what to expect from Michael Dalton.
I had heard a great deal of stories from others about his words and prophecies but hadn’t yet experienced him myself. 

From the minute he strolled through the door with his coffee, he spoke wisdom and truth into our lives. 
“What you see becomes your language, and your language becomes your life."
Growing up in a church you’d think I would see healing and prophecies more, but I didn’t, if I did it was very rare. Whenever I would walk into a service, all I expected was worship, a word, and hugging a few people. 
The minute I showed up to Lighthouse church I knew that something was different. I began to see God’s provision for others in so many ways. I began to actually see His provision in my life. My atmosphere was completely changed and because I started to see all of these things happening, I started to expect them. And that’s what has changed my life. 
As Michael walked us through the “language” aspects and how they will drastically change how we do ministry, he tells us “the language you release can stop, or start the life you want.” 
If we as the church, speak doubt, we won't expect these miracles to happen. However, if we speak in faith and believe that God is going to do something, it changes our expectations and will then in turn transform our entire lives.  

 

Redding roadies and unexpected gifts




As the first school road trip, Redding seemed a pretty epic choice.

Detouring via Sacramento, the four of us met Jamie and Natalie (post-Disneyland birthday adventure), at Jesus Culture's Skyler Smith's new skate shop, East Side Ride (Kim W-S' husband). Having opened two weeks ago, the super cool interiors were urban meets hipster, complete with low slung lights hanging from a warehouse-look ceiling, with wooden beams around the store. We had the opportunity to pray favour over the store and encourage him in his new adventure - as well as check out some awesome snowboards and dream about the nearly-here Winter!
Shortly after arriving after dark at Carol and Tom's ranch just outside of Redding, we found ourselves connecting with their daughters and Bethel student friends over S'mores and an epic fire. Sharing stories, we made new connections and had invites to stay on in Redding. Being such a small group, offering to pray for people and bless their land just seemed so natural and casual; it was so cool for it to just become a part of what we did. We were able to release prophetic words about the stunning wedding venue that they recently took over and we can't wait to see the provision that God has for them!
Not only did we get to explore a bit of Redding, we had the opportunity to see more of Bethel and the huge campuses. A sneak peak into the stunningly designed Bethel Media studios (with Kylie, the Bethel Music Creative Director) was particularly special for a few of the musos in our group - seeing the equipment and the rooms where the artists record. That night's Friday evening service was overflowing - with a live link up with the Awakening Youth conference and Robert Madu from Dallas, TX. 
Prophetic words were flowing, worship was free, and for some of us, it was the first time we'd witnessed first hand the expectation in the room that seems to set Bethel apart in many ways. 
After sampling some excellent church coffee at The Stirring the next morning, we set out for The Healing Rooms. Not quite sure what to expect, we were hit with the fact that it was initially such a normal environment - with people just loving on us completely and truly wanting to see our breakthrough. After writing down what we wanted physical healing for and then hearing a short talk about what God says about healing, we walked through to an amazing room of expectant people, prayer, worship, artists painting large canvases of prophetic art and the opportunity to soak in His presence, and be prayed for. We all had our own revelations, with God speaking to us in the quiet of our heart, and to be prayed for by people who had genuine love in their hearts to see us healed (rather than their prime motivation being to serve). One of us even felt God say that one of the artists was going to give her a prophetic painting (she supernaturally felt as if the painting was actually created for her) - and she is leaving the weekend taking that painting home, as a symbol of God's free gifts to us, and how much he cares about us!
Two of us chose to have Sozo prayer - and had heaps of breakthrough, with God peeling back layers of lies and replacing them with his own truths! A quick visit to the tattoo shop, an interesting visit to Walmart and a stunning sunset later, we were curled up with pizza at our new friend's house testing out the prophetic. For one of us, it was the first time they'd given a prophetic word for someone - it was so detailed and spot on, we can't wait to see how God is going to use her in that gifting to encourage others!
So pumped for time with Michael Dalton this week after an amazing spiritual infil at Redding!

 

Renew your mind

Steve and Judi Hertzog

 

Many of us have read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount about the Beatitudes; eight blessings which Jesus tells us will lead us closer to seeing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Each verse ‘Blessed are…’ tells us how we can access his joy, peace and righteousness.

And so we started our second week in the Beatitudes with Steve and Judy Hertzog - our first official visitors to MLSSM - who came to the school to give us a fresh perspective on how the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand for all of us.  

Despite appearances, both Judy and Steve’s journey to faith has been extraordinary. They met at an addicts’ meeting and each of their testimonies miraculously demonstrate how God has pursued them both and how he has renewed their minds. The Holy Spirit freed Judy from an addiction to drugs and alcohol, and Steve from alcohol; and they shared their journey of how their minds were miraculously set free from anxiety and strife.

Talking openly about how God had renewed their minds gave us an opportunity to consider how we are able to access this same joy, peace and righteousness that Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes among our own challenges.

When we find ourselves stuck in a place where we feel unable to sense the familiar peace of the Holy Spirit, we need to get stuck into God’s word, which states his promises of life for us, and proclaims our identity in him. Absorbing ourselves in worship, as praise and thanksgiving will renew our minds. And the ones committed to finding their identity in him will be blessed; ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ 

 Rather than define themselves through their past experiences, Steve and Judy have continued to focus on what God speaks about them and over them. He led them to start a Supernatural School of Ministry in Costa Rica, and they have many stories of his provision and breakthrough - a testimony to the way that if God leads you into something new, he will always provide.


(See more about Steve and Judy's school in Costa Rica here: www.crssm.org)

Mammoth Lighthouse School of Supernatural Ministry kicks off with 'Journeys'


Journeying in the Spirit
'So Abram left.'
And it is with these three simple words we start the new season of Mammoth Lighthouse's School of Supernatural Ministry. Four girls, from different backgrounds, all joined together for the next seven months, with a passion and desire to go deeper with Jesus and encounter the Holy Spirit. Expecting to witness signs and wonders of God in ways we haven't even dreamed yet.
With "Journeys" to be our theme over the coming school year, last week's first class touched on one of the first great journeys, taking a lesson on the potential simplicity of how to respond to "Go" moments. With God instructing Abram to 'Go to the land I will show you' (Genesis 12:1), Abram obeyed and left. With one simple act of obedience, Abraham had taken hold of his destiny. 
What will the simple act of saying yes to God mean for each of our journeys?
And so when a Missionary Pilot with no organised appointment walked unwittingly through the doors of the school, it only confirmed that our season of adventure and journey was about to begin! School sessions were definitely going to be subject to change! It would be the Holy Spirit's agenda each time, not our own.

And the following days at school have only upped expectations! From waiting on the Holy Spirit to speak during our daily 'abide time', right through to actual visions of angels - we know this would be new territory for all of us.... A new season and a new journey, for the school and for Lighthouse church. We may be a small team but we don't expect small things from this season!
Abraham may not have known where he was going, but like him, we are stepping into our destined season: 'Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see... By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.' (Hebrews 11:1&8)
We are excited to share our encounters of the Holy Spirit along our journey with you and we'll be blogging each week about what God is doing - to encourage ourselves as much as you!

 

Applications + Interviews Underway - Apply Now

We've been receiving applications + interviewing prospective students the past two weeks... and we're getting excited about what God's going to do this year! If you've not got your application in---jam on over to the APPLY NOW page and grab one, fill it out, and send it in. We'd love to go deeper in the Holy Spirit with you this year!

Here's a Pic of our Sr. Pastor's front walkway from a couple years back---so much snow, so much powder, so much fun!!!

 

 

Big Snow Year Coming

There is a lot of talk that this coming winter might be 'the big one'! The Los Angeles Times newspaper just did a huge article on the weather patterns that have been surfacing... that usually lead to amazing amounts of snow in Mammoth! They're calling this El Niño: Bruce Lee and describing the size of its potential as Godzilla. 

Checkout the article here!

We love snow!
We love skiing!
We love snowboarding!
This could be the best year we've had in a while----so you may want to apply now! 

Alumni Getting Married - Whoop Whoop

Evan and Melissa are married!! Natalie + I were privileged to officiate the wedding of our dearly beloved graduates from 2014 (Melissa) and 2015 (Evan)!!!! Whoop Whoop! Way to go guys! Here's a couple pics from their big day:

[ These gorgeous photos were taken by alliphillips.com ]
You may kiss the brideA beautiful day in the Sierras!Awwwwwwwwwwwww