Burn 24-7

Contact Sarah Hoofman for more information.

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Next BURN is March 27 & 28. 8 PM Friday to 8 PM Saturday at Church of the Burning Heart in Benton. Off the Interstate 30 service road eastbound between exits 118 and 121.

CONVERGENCE!
the act of converging & especially moving toward union;
Converging:
to tend or move toward one point or one another : come together

There is a river in our county that is fed by 4 streams. I’ve driven over parts of the streams and the river. The streams are shallow and narrow, ankle-deep, maybe knee–waist deep in some spots. But after they start flowing together, the river is much deeper and wider. You have to swim across a lot of it. This river flows on down and joins other rivers until it hits the “mighty” Mississippi’s swift, wide and deep currents.

In Ezekiel 47 an unidentified man shows the prophet a stream that flows out from under the temple in a vision. The man measures 1,000 cubits and leads him across ankle-deep water. He measures 1,000 more cubits and they cross knee-deep water. After 1,000 more, they make their way through waist-high waters. But down the next 1,000 cubits the waters are not crossable, except to swim!

I believe the structure of the BURN will cause the water level to rise in Central Arkansas! The BURN cannot be sustained by one church or group. A community of worshippers must sustain it – you, me and many others. As we come together and release our unique sound, anointings and expression of worship, we add our stream to the flow. When the individual streams converge, the waters will be pressed deeper and wider. I don’t know about you, but ankle-deep water is leaving me UNSATISFIED. I want waters to swim in!

So come, you worshippers, with your instruments, canvases and banners! Sing, create, dance, pray! Come and release the stream inside of you. We’ll all swim together in deeper waters.

My journey into Vertical Worship

“We’re ruined,” I thought, taking the stage. My heart was in my stomach. I looked out at the 2 people waiting for worship to start, and tried to reassure everyone. But in my heart I wondered, “How did this happen? Where have we gone wrong?” There were more of us on the stage than in the audience. I’d already shut down light production and power-point to get those people up front, so we’d have someone to play for.

Someone to play for? Someone to sing to? Once there was no one left, we finally begin to worship for an audience of One.

Little did I know how right it was. Now I wouldn’t trade those nerve-wracking months for anything, because it forced a shift in my life – in my worship, in my thinking. I’m humbled to say that I was NOT a willing participant in the process. He stripped me of performance while I raged and wailed against it. Our team had worked so hard on our “sound” – every riff, every beat, choosing just the right sounds for the guitars. We combed over every note on the CD to capture that sound. Now all we care about is capturing the sound of Heaven.
One night a few months ago, I looked around during worship and, in a way, what I saw was hilarious to me. I realized in that moment just how much things had changed, how much I’d changed. I’d been lying on the stage, soaking in His presence, but for some reason I sat up and looked around. I could see no one at first, not in the audience and not on stage. I knew they were still there because some of the musicians were still playing. When the presence of God came in, everyone ducked into a corner or under some chairs. Even the musicians had tucked themselves into to pockets out of sight. We were all there, but not to be seen. We were there just for Him.

Some nights we just sing to Him and ask Him to come to us. I’m amazed how He always shows up when we ask Him to come. My heart will start “burning” like liquid heat is injected into it. Isn’t that what the 2 men said, who’d been with Jesus on the road to Emmaus? “Did not our hearts burn within us….?” (Luke 24.)

Some nights we dance with Him. We laugh. We cry. We feel Him. He heals us. He speaks to us and even sings over us. It’s new, it’s fresh, it’s tender, it’s real.

It’s love.

“The more I seek You, the more I find You. The more I find You, the more I love You.”

Love you Jesus. From Your beloved Ones…who can’t wait to be with You again.