Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

re: Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

Mario Jimenez — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:33:26 GMT

Nancy, Thank you for hosting this amazing event! I am a new Fine Arts Pastor at Washington Assembly in Michigan and this is my first official conference. I am delighted that my Lead Pastor encouraged me to attend. I have learned so much from the sessions I have attended. Ross Parsley is an awesome speaker and truly connected with me. His insight as a worship pastor and artist connected with every person in his session. I was most impacted during the very first session when you made yourself available to the Lord as He moved throughout the auditorium restoring and cleansing Pastors and Artist. We often times do not have the opportunity to have a moment to surrender and self-examen our self. God truly moved! I am excited for next year. The Worship was awesome! I was inspired and encouraged. Willow is an awesome organization. I am proud to be in association with you. Blessing to you, your family and your great ministry. -Pastor Mario Jimenez Washington Assembly

re: Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

Nathan Hoogshagen — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:13:32 GMT

Nancy the arts conference is always an amazing experience for me. I have been having a hard time lately with some of the things that we talked about yesterday and everything just seemed to make sense and hit home with me! I talked to you yesterday immediately after the last session and I appreciate the hug! I definetly needed that. Is there a time when we can pray? I have no idea what your schedule is like, but if you can find the time..... If not thats cool and I will just enjoy the rest of the conference as I am sure that I will!

re: Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

Mike — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:39:00 GMT

The drum line rock. Their energy and excitement ripped down my walls from the first beat. I was moved to tears and didn't stop sobbing until the tears of release turned to tears of laughter during the rock band competition, Thanks for allowing God to use you to minister to me!

re: Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

Darren Calhoun — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:59:41 GMT

INDEED this has been an AWESOME Day. I was inspired, stirred, cleansed, encouraged, strengthened, and more in today's sessions. As always I rushed to try and capture it all in my notes on my laptop! at 9pm tonight I was eager to share with my family some of the highlights of what we experienced today/ What captures the essence of all we strive for in Worship Arts was captured for me in the closing song "Love". The lyrics of the song were washing over me as I sat --broken by my realization of my own selfishness in light of the topics that had just been presented in that session... and there we are - worshiping in a darkened sanctuary and as the energy of the song rose so did the passion in the room and the curtains blocking the light from the outside. I was suddenly moved to tears as the LIGHT poured in on us slowly filling the room. The beauty of the waterfalls outside - the song commissioning us to put into practice what we just learned - all worked together to transform my heart. Again - all this in contrast to the very dark and reflective opening (thank you for that Nancy! ) Truly - God is causing us to ARISE!

re: Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

Warren Colebank — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:23:12 GMT

I remember coming to this conference for the first time 3 years ago. I knew God wanted me to lead artists and I had only heard about Willow Creek. God has used this conference to stretch me beyond myself. I don't consider myself an artist but I am created to lead artists. Artists amaze me. I just sit and watch my team and can't but wonder what God will continue to do through the ministry in a little town called Winchester, KY. I know he is about to move in a powerful way. What a time to be in the church! Here we Go!

re: Thanking The Lord For a Good Day at ARISE

Lance Hough — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:18:33 GMT

Nancy, thanks so much for all you and your teams do to bring this conference to life! What an amazing time of teaching and worship we all experienced today! I am so grateful that my team and I are able to be here and engage in the different elements. I definitely resonate with your words about Gilles. I was so looking forward to hearing more about his (their) creative process and seeing an idea go from the drawing board to performance. But I so valued his comments about the importance of the arts, And Brian McLaren's session left my head swimming with a veritable cornucopia of thoughts and feelings. So many vital issues were touched on. I wish we'd had a bit more time to really dive into them deeper. Mostly I was so deeply thankful for his specific thoughts on the role of the artist, the directions and actions we can take as creative leaders in our church to make the much-needed impact. I pray that each of us makes these problems personal and really steps out in faith to address these matters of such vital importance. Again, Nancy, to you and the entire team at WC, thank you for your dedication to helping fellow ministry leaders to grow and thrive! What a blessing these types of conferences and resources are to churches who may not otherwise be able take advantage of such valuable resources! Sincerest thanks! And here's to two more beautiful, Spirit-filled days together!