Paint buckets and God

Our first two weeks in the new building. The team have been working hard and diligently building something from nothing. Construction equipment everywhere, wood laying out ready for our new stage to be built, dry walls up still needing paint – a landmine of holes and bare walls. The smell of fresh paint thick in the air. Our Pulse room full of furniture needing to go into storage. To some it may seem like a mess but to us it’s  a place of worship because in the midst of chaos God still has a plan and He wanted to do some amazing things once again in the hearts of those who gathered! Different is good in our case. We are not immune to change or afraid of stepping out into something new.

It’s funny because here we are growing as a youth group and we have a vision for where we are going and we had a great facility all set up and ready for expansion and then the Lord moves us up and out into a new place with hardly anything. What will we do with nothing? I tell you what God can work in mysterious ways and bring us into a new place but that’s the fun part in all of this. We don’t know what we are doing most of the time and that’s totally fine because God does great things regardless of our limitations and He rocks our worlds every week!

Justin had been faithfully working on construction all week and so by the time Saturday night rolled by he hadn’t even thought about his message for the night but the Holy Spirit had something in mind. As we waited on Him one by one people began being touched. Healing for many. Justin began having words of knowledge and speaking them out. One of them was that some people had fear. He asked them to put up their hands and freedom was spoken over them – a greater understanding of God’s love! Then for those who had parental issues or unforgiveness – many raised their hands for that. As we began to press into what God was doing people were being touched all over the room. Our worship leader mid song breaking down and weeping.

You know you wonder how will it be in a place that is not familiar to us but God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes and once we gather as a body to worship Him things are familiar no matter where we are.  The Presence of the Lord tangible as always. We remember days when this was a new experience for us to have tangible encounters with the Lord, now its part of our every week and our every day living. Our culture stays the same no matter where we meet or what building we call home.

The quote that stuck with us this week is :

It always seems impossible until it’s done -Nelson Mandela

Here we stood before the impossible a month ago when we had no building to move into, no idea of where we were going but God already had everything in place for us and all we needed to do was TRUST Him! Yes it’s going to take hard work to get everything in place but we believe that nothing is impossible with the Lord.

Life is an adventure and we are certainly learning how to trust God for the increase in everything we do at Pulse.

Prophesies have been declared and we will press into the things God lays on our hearts. As a staff we are dedicated to put God first in everything we do and the rest we leave up to Him. He alone is the One that can truly transform a life. Our part is to create an environment where people can feel safe enough to encounter God maybe for the first time ever. Our part is to be willing and obedient to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit and He simply does the rest! That makes ministry fun. It’s not about us and what great night we can put together but it is all about glorifying Him.

 

Photos taken by Michelle Hough

Can a nation be taken in day?

Can a nation be taken in a day …. Can a nation be taken in a day?

Jesus Culture,  Hillsong United,  Desperation Band -  What do they all have in common? They are youth groups that got fired up for God and they are literally impacting nations. The youth is rising up saying yes to the call of God on their lives.

On Saturday Justin spoke with authority and power stirring our faith for seeing NATIONS impacted for the Glory of God. A powerful message full of inspiration to see great things. As we move into the deeper things of God we will get criticized because we are breaking the mold. In fact Pulse has no mold and that’s why we love it!

As a staff we prayed before the service started and Justin received a word from the Lord about Pulse -

Generations to come will speak of Pulse. Our kids’ kids!

We have always known what we have at Pulse is different and that God has big plans in store for this ministry. We have had so many challenges and against all odds we have survived!

As we do every week we have worship after Justin teaches and as we started you could feel the tangible Presence of the Lord. It was thick. A Holy moment because God was there. He felt so tangible, so real that you could reach out and touch the hem of His garment. Wow! His presence pulsating through our veins. People were on their knees. Compassion was sweeping across the room as leaders began to pray for people.  So many beautiful moments with the Lord. Worship went on for hours!

There were awesome encounters with the Lord. Our sound guy Nels was hit by laughter and joy in the sound booth!! There was no one in that room that was left out. There was one testimony where one of the girls received prayer and before prayer she felt she had everything and that she didn’t need more of God. Katy prayed for her and God rocked her world. Weeping she began to experience new things in the Lord and left Pulse weeping. A life forever changed. We had another guy that came up for prayer with Justin and as he prayed for his back  he felt his spine pop under his hand, instant healing!

It was our last night in the current building we have been in for a year. We relocated to a wonderful new building  just across the street and even though it’s a sad thing to leave behind a building where we have encountered God in such miraculous ways we are so excited for this new season not only because of our new building but because of the new thing God is doing at Pulse.

The words of Chris Tomlin’s song ” God of this City” comes to mind :

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City.

Images courtesy of :  www.webresourcesdepot.com

Chains be broken.

We came together anticipating great things. Our second to last week in the current building we have come to call HOME. Justin’s message continued on with the theme that we have no more excuses not to change this world.  He started by listing great men and women that accomplished many great things at a young age – Muhammad Ali,  Joan of Arc, Mark Zuckerberg and many more.  Again he took away any excuse.

I will do great things when I’m older.

A statement many young people make. However he simply showed us that as a son and daughter of God we all have greatness inside of us. It was a very sobering message.

We went straight into worship. Many of us leaders began to feel the stirring of the Holy Spirit to do some work in the hearts of young men and women. Justin encouraged those who have felt like they have been bound by chains and that have  been held back from accomplishing the destiny in their hearts to come forward for prayer. Tonight was to be their night of FREEDOM.

I don’t think any of us were ready for what was about to happen. The front of the stage filled up with young men and women needing freedom. One by one leaders started laying hands on them declaring freedom and identity. Destinies being awakened and released. Such a powerful moment as hearts once bound now were free! Words of prophesy and words of encouragement to each of these young hearts.

Worship and prayer broke out and you would’ve thought we had thousands of people there as people all over began to declare who God was to them and in one voice shouted out as loud as they could.

Freedom is a beautiful thing and you can’t help but praise and dance before the Lord when it comes. The whole room charged with the Presence of God. Such a beautiful thing!

I think my favorite sound is to hear the sound of laughter as our young people were being touched by God Almighty. Laughter does good like medicine and I truly believe that in those moments the person might not even fully understand why they are laughing so hard but God does something in their hearts that leaves them changed forever. Their hearts lighter than when they came in to Pulse.

Another great week watching God do some wonderful things in the midst of us!

No Pulse night is ever the same but we know that we walk away having a greater understanding of God’s love and we have a greater appreciation for His Presence! Two things that are constant at Pulse – We worship God.  He rocks our world.

Images courtesy of : http://www.thegospelmatters.com/2011/10/use-your-freedom-wisely/

It’s time to change this world

Our youth pastor Justin Knapp recently returned from his missions trip in Thailand. If you asked him  how it was he simply replies,

I was there for 6 months we could sit and talk here for a week!

The stories he has shared about how God impacted his life and those around him is incredible. He saw countless miracles and people who were set free. No matter where you are in this world God is doing things. With the time difference he was seeing God change the lives of the Thai people while we were here in America sleeping. God is always doing something somewhere in this world even when we are sleeping He neither slumbers nor sleeps. His heart to see all come to know Him!

This past weekend was our first service at Pulse for 2012 and boy did God show up in a big way! Justin gave a powerful word on how we are to do greater works than Christ as He now lives in us. He took away any excuses we might have for not changing our world. We have the Spirit of God inside of us and so we are fully equipped to do what Jesus commands us to do : GO into all the world and preach the Gospel, heal the sick and set the captives free. It was a inspirational message and pumped us up to be the change this world needs. Pulse’s heart and mission has and will always be to be the PULSE of this city and we are called to burn bright in the city of Colorado Springs.

Once Justin finished preaching we opened our hearts to what the Holy Spirit wanted to do. He had all of us lay hands on one another and as we opened our hearts people began to be set free. Laughter. Tears. Freedom. Fire. Power.

It was awesome. At Pulse we go crazy. We hold nothing back for the glory of God. We allow room for Him to move and we experience God on deeper levels each week. People encounter God. Our vision has always been to have a safe place where people can meet God face to face and that’s what happened on Saturday night. The ones that were there were so deeply touched. People were falling out in the Spirit while others were jumping for joy. Some were laughing others weeping. God met each person face to face. Each encounter different but each heart impacted for an eternity!

Our culture at Pulse will always be that we love God, we meet Him face to face, we sing way too many worship songs and we burn bright in this generation! There is no other place we would want to be at 6:58pm on a Saturday night because we know that we will not leave the same!
As we embark on 2012 there are many opportunities that lay ahead of us where we can make a change in our City, in our State and our World.

There are a lot of  things coming this year that will be exciting and we will keep you posted on all that God is doing.

John 14:12
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.

Sweet September – A reflection on God’s goodness

2 Years ago Justin Knapp started PULSE.  A vision was birthed and for many Saturdays the Worship team would sing to him and he would get up there and preach to the band … But he continued to faithfully pursue the dream and vision God had placed in his heart and did not let anything stop him.

During the last 8 months we have seen a tremendous growth in our youth group and now we have more people on staff than we had attending for months! God is good!

This last month we had our first conference called FIRE 2011. It was a powerful 3 days jam-packed with solid teaching and awesome times of worship. We had so many testimonies of people encountering Jesus in a new and living way. One of the proudest moments as a youth leader was to see our youth stepping out and flowing in the gifts of the Spirit and getting prophetic pictures to encourage the body of believers that gathered together. What a wonderful thing to see the youth stepping out and hearing from the Lord. That makes youth ministry worth it – to train and encourage them in being confident in who they are so that they have confidence in stepping out when the Lord leads them.

Our joy was not in the number of people who showed up but in seeing God’s faithfulness in fulfilling the dream that He placed in a young youth pastor’s heart 2 yrs ago! The excitement to see our room filled with people who encountered God was greatly stirred.

We were also able to raise some funds to support Justin while he is ministering in Thailand which was a tremendous blessing.

We started the month with a wonderful conference and ended it with a lock-in for the kids. Bowling, junk food, karaoke and no sleep! The youth enjoyed themselves and it was a good end to a wonderful month for PULSE.

God is so faithful. When we are obedient to the leading of the Spirit – whatever we put our hand to is blessed. With the start of another school year at Charis Bible College many of our young adults that attend PULSE are pumped for another year of studying God’s word. Many will be going on mission trips this year with CBC and this will be an exciting season for us as we get to participate in supporting the students as they go to proclaim the Good News of Jesus on the mission field.

When we re-launched PULSE in the beginning of the year none of us could have  imagined what we would be doing or accomplishing.  Ephesians 3:20 comes to mind …

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.

What a wonderful God we serve.

Freedom in Identity

Aaron brought a strong word on insecurities and how to find your security in the Lord. He asked questions that would leave no one saying - Well, this message isn’t for me. He brought wisdom from God’s word and countered many wrong ideas concerning insecurities.

In Genesis 3 he showed how shame came into our world and God asked this simple question to Adam

Where are you?

Not asking because He didn’t know where Adam was but because He was asking : Adam where is the real you? . The importance of being true to who we are in Christ was really magnified and Aaron encouraged everyone to not wear a mask and pretend to be something less than who you were created to be in God’s image.

Aaron’s message provoked our hearts to see insecurities  that has maybe creeped into our hearts but then so lovingly showed us our Identity in Christ.

We are called to be an original not a copy of the world!

He ended His message with a statement that God spoke to Him :

What’s the rarest thing on earth?

- YOU!

What’s even more rare than that?

- Walking in your Identity as a son or a daughter of God!

Aaron invited people up for prayer afterward and many were set free in an instant and had identity spoken into their hearts. Chains were broken, the enemy’s lies exposed and truth illuminated in their hearts!

God did amazing things and freedom was given to hearts that have been bound by a lie from the devil!

Praise God for the work that was done in the hearts of our youth!!!

Inspire others

Justin made this statement that has resonated in my mind :

 People want to see in you what they can become

God has called each of His children to be a light in a very dark world. He has called us to be like Him. The more intimately acquainted we are with God the more we become like Him and we walk according to His plans and purposes for our lives.

Spending time in His presence cultivates the dreams and visions of your heart and you will begin to walk them out.

We are to inspire others to seek after the Lord. A question to ask ourselves would be -

Is my life pointing to the finished work of the Cross?

In everything we do let us bring glory to God and inspire others around us to greatness. Be a great leader no matter your place in life. Lead others to feel empowered to accomplish their dreams and be inspired to live a life of Faith!

Justin – A call to Thailand

Our wonderful Pastor has begun his mission work in Thailand last month. Although we were all saddened by Justin leaving the PULSE Family for a season, we are so proud of him and excited to see the Lord do great and mighty things in Thailand.

It is a great opportunity he has been given to speak into the lives of the Thai people. Please continue to pray for him and Jeff DeVine as they do work for the Lord.

Here’s a  video about his mission :

You will also be able to read about his adventures each month as we post his newsletters in “News From Thailand”.

Click on the link below to view his first newsletter :

June 2011

The Beginning of something great

Each week we come with hearts wide open expecting to see the Lord do something great in our meetings.Though we may not fully understand all that the Lord is beginning to do in our Pulse Family we recognize that this is a season in time that  is setting the foundation in place for the vision and dreams the Lord has placed in our hearts to be fulfilled.

Pulse has become a beacon of hope, a safe haven for broken hearts and a house of freedom!!

Each week is different. Each service has a different tone. People are encountering the Presence of God in new and crazy ways. The world might look at us and say we are weird but there is freedom in God’s Presence no matter what they say. One encounter with the Most High God and you will be forever changed!!

A few months ago some of our Pulse leaders went to a “Healing and Impartation” Conference with Bill Johnson and our worlds were rocked.   Justin (our pastor) was deeply impacted at the conference. We came back expecting to see the same encounter with God’s Presence for our family at Pulse. That first service after the conference we had an explosion of laughter. 3 hours of laughter. The Spirit of joy spread like wild fire. It was beyond anything we could explain in the natural. The ones that were touched needed what the Lord had done that night. Justin was laying hands on us and praying for more of God’s peace and joy and it has continued week after week.

One leader. One obedient heart. One conference. A lifetime of change in our Pulse meetings.

It has been an incredible time of healing and growth in all of our hearts. The people who come to Pulse don’t leave the same. Testimonies are coming forth of how the Lord is impacting the lives of many. Baptisms and healing are becoming a normal thing around our Pulse meetings and eruptions of joy and laughter, a thing that is now just part of our nights! The Lord continues to blow our minds and stir up the gifts and callings He has placed on the inside of us!

At Pulse you will find an atmosphere of adoration, abandoned worship and thanks to a God who is Faithful and worthy of all Honor and Praise.

Exciting times are ahead of us and we are expecting BIG THINGS!

Greater things are yet to come.