Bethel Victory Tour: Katie with a “K”

**Click the instagram link for Bethel Music’s Jenn Johnson below to see this Holy moment for yourself!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3fVAjxngJT/?igshid=19jf4onh6mcqo

For those who attended the Bethel Victory Tour on Thursday, October 10, 2019 at the Grand Ole Opry and who stuck around until the very end, for times of ministry, prayer and a few prophetic words,

HELLO – I am KATIE WITH A “K!”

But if you were not there, keep reading anyway. This post is still for you and you are not reading this by accident.

I am going to do my best to put into words what God is writing in the narrative of my life right now. However, know this up front, I am not writing to make much of me. I am not writing to make much of Bethel Music (although their sounds of Heaven have been beautiful God arrows in my life.)

I am sharing to make much of Jesus, to make much of His Holy Spirit, to make much of our Heavenly Father, El Roi, “the God who sees us.”

Thursday, October 10, 2019 had been marked on my calendar for months.  A dear friend bought 6 tickets to the Bethel Victory Tour in Nashville for a night of worship and memory-making among friends. Little did we know the Holy moments God had in store. He is a good, good Father who loves to surprise His kids with good gifts, gifts that speak straight to where our hearts need them most.

It is a bit of a blur, but from what I remember,

Jenn Johnson of Bethel Music asked, “Is there a Katie with a ‘K’ here?”

I felt my hand going up before I even really grasped the question.

The Grand Ole Opry spotlights pan to me, Katie with a “K!”

I, my husband and friends and 4,000 plus lean in to hear what Jenn has to say.

“I see paintings on the walls. Are you an artist?”

For the 6 of us on our couples date night, the floor dissolved in an instant.

I was a deer in headlights.

My husband did the “slow-mo” shock explosion.

One friend burst out with the “ugly cry.” 

“Yes. I paint.”(And my “ugly cry” friend screams, “SHE IS AN ARTIST!”)

I think Jenn went on to say something about colors and God was going to give me pictures to paint and then there was prayer and hands extended toward Heaven and a Holy roar celebrating the King of Kings, the God who sees us, the God who is always in hot pursuit of the “one,” never leaving us behind!  

If you were there that night, you may have a better memory than I, but what I know to be true upon further review, is that God in His infinite goodness, grace, and mercy still talks to His kids in real-time, and He seems to love using His kids with these divine deliveries. It was a KAIROS moment, a moment outside of human time, a moment where God says, “For such a time as this!”  For the one receiving the word, giving the word, and all who witness these encounters, faith skyrockets. We definitely experienced the unhinging of the Grand Ole Opry after this prophetic utterance! It was undeniable and the wonder of it all bypassed human understanding, giving God a standing ovation. These revelatory instances make Chronos time (linear time) stand still, as Kairos time (an opportune and decisive moment) raises the roof and tears down the walls.

For the 4,000 plus people at the Grand Ole Opry, it was enough that God would use a complete stranger to call out a Katie with a “K” who has paintings on her walls and then call her out as an artist. All of which was true. God does not play favorites. If He did it for me; He will do it for you. This is not magic. This is not psychic mumbo jumbo. This is the extravagant love of a Heavenly Father Who wants His church to lean in, listen, ask for ways to encourage, and build up the Bride and then take a risk to declare what we hear. What do we have to lose? Worst case scenario, if we get the memo wrong, we may look a little foolish. I bet we have all looked more foolish than that for far less exciting reasons. BUT IF WE HEAR HIM RIGHT AND DECIDE TO BLURT IT OUT…

I’m living proof; it is a God arrow you will never forget, nor will the watching world, who deep down inside desperately needs to know there is something more and something better than what meets the eye. Walking by faith is risky but worthy business. We all have this God DNA, as His image bearers, that creates a longing for the purposeful adventure we were made for.

So, for all of you who witnessed this SUN STANDING STILL moment at the Grand Ole Opry on October 10, 2019, let me tell you the rest of the story…

I did not pick up a paintbrush until 2014 when a friend asked me to start painting with her so we could raise our funds for a “Kairos Prison Ministry” mission trip to Costa Rica. Little did I know that painting was going to be such a tremendous part of my story.

My mom was actually a painter, although she never thought she was very good.

SHE WAS VERY GOOD!

 When she passed away in 2013, she asked if my husband would mind if I wore her wedding rings when she went home to Jesus. I told her Jay just wanted me to look taken:) My wedding ring is now around my neck, and my mom’s rings are on my fingers; so, when I look down at my hands, I see a glimpse of her artistic hands. What a legacy she left and is still leaving.

As my painting journey continued, I ended up painting live at a young friend’s wedding, only because her live event painter canceled a couple weeks before the big day. I didn’t even know what a live event painter was. This opened up a whole new artistic world for me, one that is terrifying and thrilling all at the same time, as painting live is teaching me total Holy Spirit dependence to get something beautiful on canvas before the bride and groom leave, all while spectators come and watch and sometimes question, give advice or just whisper, “What is she doing?” It is my new life metaphor. I feel Holy Spirit saying, “Are you going to proceed as I lead or are you going to get distracted by many things.”  I feel like Nehemiah in these moments rebuilding the wall while many tried to distract, derail or discourage him; yet he stayed the course and finished the wall in record time!

I also found a love for painting crosses, angels, and churches on this artistic journey. I know that is not really that remarkable because we see a lot of artists painting crosses, angels and churches. But one of my churches I named, “Messy Church,” in honor of the broken and beautiful Bride of Christ. Little did I know the stranger, Melissa Royster, who happen to see me painting at a wedding and was drawn to “Messy Church” back in 2017 would purchase that painting and become a dear friend. I introduced Melissa to Bethel at an Oak City Conference with Abi Stumvoll in 2018 and her daughter, Savannah, unexpectedly joined us for the conference. Soon after what would seem to be a random string of events, Savannah joined me on a Jesus joyride to Boston for a Bethel Art Sozo ministry training. We left that adventure taking home the very paintings that cover my walls in the art room at my house, paintings Jenn Johnson could not have known about but God definitely did. Shortly after this trip Savannah applied to and was accepted into the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) for the Fall semester of 2018. OH THE PLACES WE WILL GO…

My husband and I chose to spend our 25^th wedding anniversary in the summer of 2018 in Redding where I attended another Bethel Art Sozo workshop (once again bringing home more paintings to cover my art room with), visited JH Ranch to see our youngest son, and finished out the week on the west coast watching a lady plein air painting on the bluffs of the pacific ocean. I remember thinking, “I want to do that one day!”

There are too many Godwinks to include in this post paving the way to October 10, 2019 but I think I have included enough for all to see how this party of 6 who set out for a date-night at the Grand Ole Opry ready to worship was met by the God of Creation in the most personal of ways. The God Who speaks and breathes life into every living creature and Who paints the Northern Lights with a whisper is the same God who put October 10, 2019 on His Heavenly timeline before the foundation of the world. It was a night that highlighted God’s extraordinary faithfulness and kindness spoken to and through Jenn Johnson. HE knew Jenn was a daughter who would position herself in praise to hear from Heaven and then be obedient to share the download, calling out a KATIE WITH A “K” simply as a vehicle to deliver the hope of Christ to an audience of 4,000 plus!  

AND I FORGOT TO MENTION… Because my artistic skill set does not include lettering, I have never been able to design a beautiful signature for my paintings. My art is marked as the work of my hand by the simple “K” in the corner.

I couldn’t make this up if I tried and I’m not even 100% sure if I got all of the details correct, but I know I nailed the ridiculous awesomeness of our God. When we share our stories of God’s faithfulness in our lives, it is called a testimony, a testimony to HIS GREATNESS, not ours. Testimony means “do it again.” Telling our testimonies is just another way of asking God to DO IT AGAIN! And although it’s already been said, God does not play favorites. If He did it for me, HE will prove faithful and true for you as well!

Although this is the end of this blog post, I know it is not the end of the story God and I are co-authoring in my life, and if you are alive and reading this, it means it is not the end of your story either. I pray this encourages you to press on, lean in, listen to God, ask HIM how you can be an encourager and how you can build others up and then act on what HE shows you. Do for others what you wish they would do for you. If we are honest, we all want a personal word from the Lord. May we start by believing that if He would speak to Jenn Johnson about an unknown artist, Katie with a “K,” then He will most definitely give us a word too for someone in desperate need of a TOUCH OF HEAVEN. As followers of Christ, the Kingdom of God is within us (See Luke 17:21); therefore,we get to bring Heaven here! 

Will we?