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There are so many things I could say about what attracted me to Redding. I never grew up with mountains or majestic lakes, so to see them on my daily drive to work is a gift. I have never lived anywhere other than Ohio. That is not to say there is anything wrong with Ohio; I actually love it. But I think there has always been a part of me that has wanted to break away from the familiar. I am single and I have no children, so if I was ever to make a cross-country move, now seemed the best time to do it (here’s hoping that changes while I am here, hehe). Here’s the thing though; all of the reasons are supporting cast members of the starring role that was my Redding dream. Mount Everest could plant itself right in the middle of this small Northern California town and it would make no difference to me were it not for the thickness of the presence of God I feel here, specifically at Bethel Church. Honestly, it is not even about the church, it’s about the fact that I have never been anywhere so open to the Spirit of Lord; they expect it here. I want to say that I LOVE my home church in Massillon, Ohio – my dad is actually the pastor! So this is in no way meant to dishonor my home church or my dad, because I am so grateful for my church upbringing. I just did not grow up believing that I could access the Lord’s presence. During my childhood, adolescence, and even up to my first few years of college I thought accessing His presence was something we have to work really hard to do because we are sinners and therefore we have to earn the right for God to speak to us. I never spoke these beliefs out loud. In fact, I have often been the one to preach the theme most Christians have heard all their lives; that God loves us and wants a relationship with us. But the truth is that in the same breathe I would not have been able to explain what it means to “feel” His presence or even what it looks like to have a relationship with Him because I honestly did not know. This is what it looks like to believe in a religion without a relationship; you know all the right words but somehow it still leaves your heart wondering why they mean nothing.

Side note: I am a huge fan of the semicolon if you couldn’t tell

But during my first year in graduate school things changed for me. I went to Ashland Theological Seminary, which is an institution which heavily focuses (at least in my experience) upon spiritual formation, and this had a profound impact on the way I saw myself, the world, and God. In my first year I also met Em, one of the housemates in what is now being referred to as “The Ohio House,” out here in Redding because everyone who lives here is in fact from Ohio. Em has been in ministry with different branches of Bethel Church for a while, and she was the one who introduced me to a different God than whom I had been believing. Any of you who have met Em know what I am talking about. Her presence is radiant and peaceful, and she loves fiercely! She told me something one day that was a catalyst for my new experience with God. I asked her how it was that she seemed to believe in Him so easily, like He was with her all the time (weird, right)? Her response was “Every day I wake up and expect to encounter the Lord!” What followed from my mouth was, “You’re allowed to do that?”

And so this is the belief which surrounds Bethel’s ministry. They expect the Lord to show up. And He does. I could use up my entire blog to tell you all of the testimonies of people getting healing of arthritis, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s (yes, Alzheimer’s!), blindness, and the list goes on! The church has a ministry called “The Healing Rooms” where people with physical illnesses can go to get prayed over every Saturday morning for healing. No, not everyone receives healing, but a lot of people do! It’s crazy. When I first heard about this I was super skeptical, if not completely offended. I mean, I know Jesus healed people, but He’s gone and now all we have is the Holy Spirit and He only shows up sometimes to tell you about all the sins you committing during the day. . . right? Wrongo. And that is not a typo, I just thought adding the “o” would add emphasis.

The senior pastor at Bethel is a man by the name of Bill Johnson, and the following is all sort of paraphrased from a sermon he gave, and this is what I will leave you with tonight: When Jesus was on the Earth it was commonly accepted that sickness was from the devil, and healing was from God. So when did Christians start believing that God gives us sickness to make us “better Christians,” and when healing takes place we need to be careful because it is probably the work of the devil? Just a thought.

Love recklessly. Cindy