Tag Archives: www.heavenfest.com

The Story of the Incredible Father

Wayne Jacobsen thinks we have missed the point in our Sunday School story.  He suggests that we have called it The Story of the Prodigal Son and maybe missed really seeing what an incredibly loving father, representing the Father, is actually so central.

I won’t retell the story here, but you know it.  You know about the son who saw his father as the money-man, Give me what I want so I can do what I want to do, and the older son who saw his father as the task-master, I have to do all the work to earn what I need…

But what did the father really want?

This father wanted an intimate relationship with both of his children.  He wanted them to know how deeply they were loved and to experience their love in return.  He didn’t want his sons’ obedience, but their hearts.  Knowing this would happen only when the son truly understood who his father was, he risked it all by letting the son have what he wanted.  Only by coming to the end by himself would the son recognize what had been important to the father all along.

 

“As a parent of adult children I understand that.  There’s nothing I prize more with my children than those moments when we share the honesty and intimacy of friendship.  When they know I love them, and they respond the same way to me, there’s nothing better.

 

“That’s the point of Jesus’ story.  The father was not manipulating the son by anything he did.  He was only loving the son at the deepest possible level.  That love explains why the father let him go in the first place and why he rushed so hard to embrace him.  He knew his son’s sins had been punishment enough.  He ran because he didn’t want his son to hurt one second longer than was absolutely necessary.  His pain had brought him home.  Nothing else mattered.

 

“God feels the same way about you.   He’s not interested in your service or sacrifice.  He only wants you to know how much you are loved, hoping you will choose to love him in return.  Understand that, and everything else in your life will fall into place;  miss that, and nothing else will make any difference.”  Wayne Jacobsen, He Loves Me, Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection

Later in the chapter the author says that everything in our lives {everything?!?!} hinges on this one simple question:

Do you know how loved you really are?

He loves me, He loves me lots…He love me, He loves me lots…

Me: On a quest to understand the Father’s love, His heart towards even me…made me remember this old song (1981) by Benny Hester, “When God Ran”

And now, my prayer for my own battered-performance-driven heart and for all the people I love and for 40,000 who will come to Heaven Fest 2012 where we are building a platform to communicate the Father heart of God to this generation…

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  EPH 3.17-19 NIV

Celebrate with J O Y …

Leviticus 23 . 39 “‘So…celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days…40 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year… 43 so your descendants will know…I am the LORD your God.’”

LOVE my Heaven Fest familia! www.heavenfest.com

170-round-the-clock Hours of prayer and worship starts TONIGHT at Rez in Loveland – right across the road from The Ranch in Loveland!

 

 

Tara Jean! It is your birthday, baby girl!

My Firstborn.

 

Oh happy day.  You make me happy when skies are gray.  And all sorts of fun songs about love and joy.  To you.  For your birthday today.  Am I supposed to mention that you are 32?  Because I won’t if I shouldn’t.  You should not hate it.  Think of me – your mother!!  If you are 32, then I am….

You were born to…

A novice, a clueless girl.  A May day.  The lilacs in full, fragrant glory.  The sunshine.  Green grass.  No money.  Uncertain times.  A God who loved you and was already smiling at your life.

 

Fixed in the Galaxy

When you were a teenager, everything was stars.  They were your “motif,” and all around you were oodles of doodles of stars and star design on your clothes and belongings and in presents you got.  And you were nicknamed “Shooting Stara” and it was cute.  But it was part of youth.  It was part of a past and you have become a claassic woman of dignity, beauty, strength and grace now.  Save, perhaps for when you are competing with great zeal on the kickball field or during a volleyball game.  Becoming wise and deeply steadfast, though, has not changed or diminished your easy laugh and happy nature.  No, it has only deepened it and made your personality even richer with joy-bringing treasure.

For your birthday, I think of the hallmarks of who you are and what you have always been known for.  For me, of course, a gift.  Thus the Barbra Streisand song, “The best Gift,” that Bill Tull and Mary Tiller sang for your dedication. 

“Liquid joy,” Lisa Bierer called you,for you are a glass-is-half-full, big-smile, cheerleading, enCOURAGing, exhorting kind of person.  Everybody in the room feels more loved and more happy when you have arrived.

At the Heaven Fest dinner Saturday night in Loveland

But then, there was the whole “star” phase.  And as I thought about you and all you are and everything you are becoming and how, youthful and lighthearted as you remain,  you embody even now the personality you did at 3 or 4 years of age.  And as a teen.  So, I could not forget the star part.

But what is different now, sweet daughter?  Now, you need to know, you are not a shootingstar, just a brilliant flash of passing dazzle and fancy against a dark sky.  You are a star hung steadfastly in the firmament declaring God’s glory.  I still see the star in you (S)TARa.  I see it.  But now, it is as Daniel 12.3 says:

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

You have the wisdom of some years now.  You are not just a pretty girl.  You are a ravishing woman.  And you are leading many to righteousness, like a cool drink of water on a hot, dusty day, by your life, by your example, by everything God created you to be and to do.  That has given you a fixed place in the universe to shine.  You shine, baby girl.  You shine.

Happy Birthday, Tara.  Here are my words, a few of them, to say I love you and I thank God for you.

Photo by Ellie Pickett, www.lilacphotography.com Taken last fall.  It is the no-make-up session

Actually, ALL photos by www.lilacphotography.com  :)  Ellie is great!

Heaven Fest 2010: July 31st!

07.31.10

We just announced the official Heaven Fest ’10 date today in a middle-of-the-night e-blast.  Because that is when Luke does his best work. Luke Bodley, btw, is a genius!   www.heavenfest.com

We were on the front page of the Longmont Times-Call for the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks (small city, readership maybe 80,000 – but the website comments going on—yowzers!).

I did an interview for that paper last summer and somehow me talking about “God’s Presence” got turned into “God’s presents.”  But it was nice overall (and the Presence is such a gift).

 image swiped from Joe Vasquez’s Facebook.  Thanks, Joe.

Misc. information

The artist line-up is looking good.  I’ll let you in on a little secret:  Casting Crowns has already confirmed and there is going to be a PETRA reunion!  Yes!  Can you believe it??  The Lord is opening really interesting doors in some intriguing places.

We are dreaming of huge, creative, generous ways we can give – give – give to orphans and ministries and God’s work around the world.  And listening for how and what God is calling us to…

New Look

Heaven Fest 2010 promo

Luke has unveiled the new groovy and much greener look (affectionately referred to by my sweet friends as “Jeanie green”) and things are unfolding in a beautiful God-loves-Colorado fashion!  Woo-hoo!  And the countdown clock is ticking away at the website.  YIKES!

 image captured moments ago from the website

Wanna help?  You know where to find me!

Nice People

The ones I already knew.

Watermill Express people.

masthead_home 

They. are. so. cool!  This company, this amazing bunch of people just contacted us at the Heaven Fest  office last year and said, “How can we help?  Can we give away free water?”  Honestly, I have to tell you the jaded side of me wondered what their angle was.  They  didn’t have one, it turns out, other than being Kingdom-minded and wanting to bless.  www.watermillexpress.com

So, they rounded up volunteers, set up water stations, and guess what they did?

  • They gave away 2100 gallons of  chilled water (using 5000 pounds of ice!) at Heaven Fest in recyclable paper cups.
  • They saved our landfills from getting approximately 17,000 plastic water bottles thrown in them!
  • They brought in 20 volunteers to give the water away – their friends and acquaintances and employees and family all chipped in to pass out water.
  • They put a container out for donations for the Home of Refuge and raised $3496, an average of $1.66 per gallon served.
  • They helped 23,000 people stay hydrated and safe at Heaven Fest.
  • And they have our undying devotion and gratefulness.  When we grow up, we wanna be just like Watermill Express!

Matt and Emily.

matt emily-and-matt

Reunited and it feels so good!  Emily used to be one of my employees and I adore this girl!  I was, after all, her very first boss and was able to fully mold and make her into a perfect and top-notch employee!  Hehe.

Emily married, like, the best guy ever a couple of years ago and they jumped in to become a part of HF at the very last minute this year when we lost a leadership couple.  They did it so well.  We knew we were killing them with a pile of stuff to do, but they jumped in and worked their way through the festival very well.  You have turned out so beautifully, Emily!  I am so proud of you and thank God we are working together again.  And?  Matt is so great!  I couldn’t have found you a better guy myself and I am pretty good at that, as you know!  LOVE you guys!

The ones I just met that day.

Jason, big dreamer and God-lover. 

Jason Herrera appreciation-dinner-056Jason shown here with Lewis Brown (aka Proxy, some one else I truly adore) and with his ministry partner at the Appreciation dinner

G-Spot Ministries.  I know, I know-he has got to change the name of his ministry (kids today!!)!  Jason (aka DJ Spooky 1) is going to start a network of Christian hip-hop radio stations and he wants to pick my brain about fundraising and making it happen.  I have never raised anything close to the millions he’ll need, but the adventure possibility seems fun…

This cutie-patootie pregnant youth pastor’s wife from Wyoming.

youth-pastors-wife-from-wyoming-that-helped-clean-up-at-the-end

This adorable woman came up to me right after the Sacred Assembly and a very long festival day and said, “We’re here from Wyoming with 30 teen-agers and there is no point of getting caught in that traffic jam.  If you can get us trash bags, we’ll start cleaning up.”  They were awesome!  The boys and girls competed and they cleaned like maniacs, right along with this beautiful woman and her husband.  I don’t know them, but I LOVE them.  Hey-if this is you and you find this, contact me and next year I’ll treat you to something special at HF, maybe an artist meet-and-greet or something!?  Plus, I wanna see the baby!

Justin, the front of Main Stage Security guy.

justin-the-main-stage-security-guy

The Sacred Assembly was, well, sacred.  It was amazing.  The worship was pure and cool and loud and crazy-great.  And I was right there, next to the middle-of-the-front-of-the-main-stage security guy.  I am pretty sure his name was Justin.  And he was so sweet.  And he was such a worshiper.  And he loved Sacred Assembly, too.  And I hope we meet to worship together again sometime.  Really good kid with a pure heart!  And a peace-maker, too.

Biker Missionaries from Houma, Louisiana.

ministry-newsletter

Mike and Annie Bradford, full-time missionaries, came all the way to Heaven Fest on their motorcycles to help the Watermill Express people hand out water.  So sweet!  Annie and I got to compare “language differences” between us Coloradans and people from Louisiana.  I think I was able to tap into my old “accent” from living there for a couple of years during the last millennium.  It was a pleasure to have them.

Nice people just show up.

Heaven Fest was a crazy busy day.  But everywhere I turned, part of the Family met me with the love of Jesus.  These are good days and good people.  Great people, really.

And there were so many more.

15 Days until Heaven Fest

I am a wife.  I married my true love 28 years ago yesterday (he wrote sweet words).  God gave me children, I am a mom.  Then He surprised me quite delightfully with these 5 little human beings called grandchildren.  A reward!  A trophy for my old age.  I am a servant of the most high.  I am a faltering, still-learning, mercy-needer.  And I am almost 50.

Yet, here I am on the adventure of a lifetime, helping produce Heaven Fest: a massive, one-day, Christian music, worship and arts festival and we’re praying our heads off to be a catalyst for revival, to see the Church come together to make the Name of Jesus glorious!

Did I also mention? I am pooped. 

And, I am…Jeanie