Details, schedule and online registration available at First Methodist Church Opelika.
Seminar Description
This experiential seminar is the most down-to-earth, practical training available to teach people how to clearly and continuously discern the voice of God within their hearts.
- “This was the best seminar I have ever attended’ KR
- “Mark illumines, reveals, demonstrates and then we actually practice truth together”
Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond?
When things don't seem to be going your way and your prayers aren't answered the way you had hoped, wouldn't it be great to hear Him tell you where He is in the midst of it, and what He is working out in your life? Are you ever just a little bit jealous of others who say with such confidence, "The Lord said...."?
We Guarantee That YOU Will Hear God's Voice
"My sheep hear My Voice" (Jn. 10:27)
If you are one of His sheep, then Jesus is speaking to you and you are hearing His voice! The problem is that we have not learned how to identify His voice (thoughts) and differentiate it from all of the other thoughts that bombard our hearts and minds. Mark Virkler's teaching on the four keys to hearing God's voice has helped hundreds of thousands of people of every age on every continent clearly and consistently begin to recognize the voice of the Lord within their own hearts. This leads to a deeper intimacy with Jesus as well as greater faith, hope, joy and wholeness.
Mark sees himself as a coach, leading you into your own personal encounter with the Lord. In the workshops, Mark will help set the scene so you can go for a walk with Jesus along the Sea of Galilee. You will ask Jesus questions; He will answer and you will write down what He is saying to you, capturing this flow of thoughts on paper. And you will be taught how to confirm that what you have written is actually the voice of the Lord. We agree with Jesus that His sheep hear His voice, and we guarantee that you will hear Him!
- Read testimonies from those whose lives have been changed through this training.
- An example of two-way journaling can be found here.
- Many additional blogs containing journaling are available here.
Sessions Included in the How to Hear God's Voice Training:
- Four Keys to Hearing God's Voice (Easy enough for children - Bring your kids!)
- How to Break Out of the Box of Rationalism and Experience the Holy Spirit!
- What God's Voice Sounds Like (Jn. 7:37-39)
- How to Instantly Remove Idols from Your Heart, Resulting in a Pure Flow
- How to Effortlessly Still Your Mind (Ps. 62:5)
- How to Regularly Receive Visions from God (Acts 2:17)
- How to Capture God's Voice and Vision Through Two-Way Journaling (Hab. 2:1,2; Rev. 1:9-11)
This seminar will bring you into an entirely new way of living as you learn how to live out of the voice of God within.
Spiritual Intimacy – God’s Idea, God’s Passion, God’s Reformation
We stand at the threshold of a new reformation. It involves the fulfillment of God's passion, which is an intimate love relationship with you. God has sought to restore this lifestyle experienced by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden ever since it was lost through sin entering into the world. Now you can participate in ushering in this reformation of spiritual intimacy to the Church and the world.
Here are some responses from a survey of people who recently completed our first 3-month training module entitled How to Hear God’s Voice. Eighty percent had been believers for more than 25 years, so these are responses from seasoned Christians and were offered at the conclusion of the course!
- 95% stated, “I can hear God’s voice daily if I choose to.”
- 97% felt their intimacy with God had increased.
- 92% said their interpersonal relationships have greatly improved.
- 94% said they were more at peace with themselves and God.
- 94% said sin and negative thoughts were diminishing.
- 95% considered it one of the top training experiences in their life.
- The pastor said he considered it the top training experience in their 30+ years as a church.
- You may view the entire survey here.
- Download as: Adobe PDF
Seminar Speaker - Mark Virkler LIVE!! (The “How-To” Guy)
"I could not hear God's voice for the first 10 years of my Christian life. I tried all the spiritual disciplines that were supposed to work and guess what, they didn't!
"I finally had a thought (hint: that was God's voice) that I should take a year and focus on learning to hear God's voice. I did. That year (1979) the Lord taught me four simple keys to hearing His voice. They have worked for ALL who have tried them. I will guide you into using these four keys during several workshops. You will discover that they WILL work for YOU!!!" Hearing God's voice is as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your eyes on Jesus, tuning to spontaneity and writing."
Learn more about Mark Virkler here.
God's Promises to Those Who Hear His Voice
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14 in the King James Version or the New King James Version. These covenant blessings offer an amazing picture of what God has in store for you when you hear and obey His voice.
“…your children will be blessed…”
Imagine how much better a parent you’ll be when you apply the voice of God to raising your children! Imagine how much happier and stronger your children will be when they learn to hear from God themselves! You can improve your family’s peace, joy and harmony beyond your wildest dreams by simply bringing the voice of God to the center of your home.
“…your business and your work will be blessed…”
Imagine how much more you could accomplish if God wrote your “To Do List.” He will tell you what you should and should not do today, and His priorities are never wrong. He will give you specific counsel for your own unique occupation, and bring you to a higher level of skill and efficiency than you could ever achieve by yourself.
“…surplus of prosperity…”
When you hear and obey the voice of God, He will open new avenues of prosperity in your life. He will show you creative ways to bring in His overflowing financial blessing, which “you will not have room enough to contain” (Mal. 3:10).
“…victory over your enemies (satan)…”
Do you know what the key is to victory in spiritual warfare? The voice of God. Don’t waste another minute praying "your" prayers. Release the full power of God by letting Him direct your prayers. He will give you the revelation you need to defeat the enemy, rather than just do battle.
“…raised up to positions of leadership…”
The Lord has destined that those who hear His voice will be leaders of men. His desire is to see the righteous rule over the unrighteous. The voice of God is the key to effective leadership,
Bless your children and family! Be sure to bring your teens and even younger children, ages seven and up. Improve the quality of your family life, and fulfill one of your most important parental responsibilities by giving your children the opportunity to develop spiritual sensitivity that will bless their lives forever. They will enjoy this fun, interactive workshop, and your family will reap the benefits. The experience is full of humor and questions and answers. They will learn to hear God’s voice, writing down what He is saying to them during the journaling times. Be sure to bring them some healthy snacks to munch on and quiet, fun things to do during breaks to keep young children’s minds engaged.
Mark Virkler Introduces the “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice”
Resources Utilized In the Training
- Every participant needs a "4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice" LEARN notebook." These are passed out at the beginning of the first session and you take notes and journal in these as you go through the training sessions.
- For additional background reading, every family should have a copy of the book "4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice." These should also be made available during the first session together.
- For the person who wants to hear the training over and over so it sinks in more deeply, we recommend you get a set of the 4 Keys To Hearing God's Voice CDs for listening while you drive. (These are identical in content to the 10-hour DVD series.)
Why Not Offer This Training in Your Home to Your Friends?
Help Transform Our Nation!
How Others Have Released God's Creativity into Their Worlds
CLU Graduate Writes a Major Motion Picture and a Novel!
Christian Leadership University graduate Cheryl McKay (Ph.D. in Christian Counseling, 2004) is the screenwriter for the award-winning film The Ultimate Gift and co-author and screenwriter for Never the Bride.
“The Ultimate Gift” (based on the novel by Jim Stovall) stars James Garner, Brian Dennehy and Abigail Breslin (the Oscar-nominated actress from Little Miss Sunshine). The film is rated PG and contains a positive message for families. Fox Faith, the division of 20th Century Fox dedicated to providing entertainment for faith-based audiences, is distributing the film.
Never the Bride is a romantic comedy with God as a main character, and those of us who journal will recognize His voice and personality throughout the story. While this is an incredibly fun story about a single woman who longs to be married, the deeper message is clearly about surrendering your own desires and dreams to God, whatever they may be. By spending time with Him and getting to know Him intimately trust is built, and when we trust Him fully, we are willing to fully obey His leading.
Cheryl has graciously taken time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for our readers.
CWG: Cheryl, thank you for including CWG and CLU in the launching of this exciting new project. You said that you based this story loosely on your own conversations and relationship with God. How much of yourself can we see in the main character, Jessie?
CM: A lot. Jessie is a fictionalized, humorous version of myself. God likes to ask me to turn my life and its angst into comedy. Sometimes, I cooperate. So through Jessie, I make fun of myself, my pain and my impatience with being in my thirties, still single and waiting and trusting God to show up and write my love story. (God and I have very different ideas about writing deadlines.) The conversations that Jessie has with God are based on conversations I’ve had with God. Well, especially our fights. But I should clarify: God doesn’t show up cute in my living room like He does in the story.
CWG: You say that you took your dialoguing relationship with God and turned it into a film/book. What influence did what you learned at CLU have on your story?
CM: The first time I ever really understood that God speaks and wants to spend time with us in a real relationship was when reading Virklers’ Dialogue With God. The day my mom gave me that book changed my life. This script is the result of my prayer journaling. The first journal entry I have about God wanting to write my love story is from 1994, just after I started reading Dialogue With God. He asked me if I would trust Him with that part of my life. He acknowledged it as a very natural desire. But He made it clear that it needed to happen in His timing and not mine. Yeah, that was 1994. I had no clue the wait I had ahead of me! But my answer to Him back then was, “There must be a reason, Lord, that You want me alone. You must be shaping me for something. Me and my fleshly self are sick of it. I’ll be honest. But as I always say, You know best.” I’m still saying that, even though I have my weak moments. And He hasn’t stopped talking about the subject since then.
CWG: There is a great surprise that people are saying is “the biggest twist you didn’t see coming” since “The Sixth Sense” came out. How did you come up with such a creative idea?
CM: Well, obviously, we can’t talk any specifics here because we don’t want to give anything away about the story. But I will say, that one night at midnight when I first started brainstorming the story, I asked God a question about why I felt inspired to write this script in a particular way. (He should know that answer. After all, He is my co-writer.) His answer to my question (which must remain a secret for now) astounded me. I looked up at the ceiling and shouted, “No way! That’s awesome!” It was far too good of an idea for me to come up with on my own. God definitely gave it to me—He makes me look good.
CWG: You’re writing another book, Finally the Bride, which is a non-fiction companion to Never the Bride. Please tell us a little about that.
CM: I kind of feel like the last year of my life, God “arrested me.” As much as I wanted to be out there making more movies, instead, God specifically told me I had to write the non-fiction version of Finally the Bride while Rene Gutteridge novelized my screenplay for Never the Bride. This was the year it had to get done. I had to write it during a season when I’ve been in various degrees of pain over this single-life journey. It’s almost finished. Then I will begin submitting to publishers. Those who’ve seen it feel like it’s a fresh message for this culture that could revolutionize how we see dating and how we must wait on God (and the detrimental effects of not waiting). So while Never the Bride has a strong purpose of using fiction and entertainment to get this message out (which will reach a lot of people who won’t pick up a non-fiction work), Finally the Bride allows me to get a little more honest and raw about what I’ve been through on this journey with God and where to go from here. And I share a lot of dialoging in it. (Yes, even my arguments with God.) So many people these days have to wait so long to find love and are losing hope. I want people to read these books and find hope again.
CWG: What else are you hoping your readers get out of Never the Bride?
CM: I want people to know that God can be trusted with the pen of their love stories—that it’s worth waiting for God’s best. I want people to have hope in their present circumstances even if life hasn’t exactly gone according to their plan or on their timetable. I hope people will hunger to have a close relationship with God when they see how Jessie and God interact. I hope people will see that God really is enough and is all we need. A husband will never fulfill us the way God does. I also hope people will get a clear picture of what true surrender to God looks like. And also, to see how just when we think God isn’t doing anything for us, He’s working behind-the-scenes. He is trustworthy and the best Husband we could ever hope for.
CWG: Is there anything else you want to share with our readers?
CM: Obviously, I’d love it if you’d read the book. If you love it, please spread the word (but don’t post any spoilers!). We want to do more projects like this. I’m pondering its sequel, where God goes to work on the sister next (which the end of the book and script already set up). Also, when positive value films come out, go support them so studios will be encouraged to make more like them. (We hope to shoot "Never the Bride" later this year in Savannah, Georgia.) Lastly, the two benchmark messages of my life are that God still speaks today (and He loves to be pursued and sought) and that God can take any bad situation and turn it around for His glory. Let Him.
Feel free to visit my website: www.cherylmckay.net
CWG: We highly recommend this entertaining and encouraging book! Please visit your local bookstore and ask for it by name, or get it online at the above links.
(Update: Cheryl waited for God to write her love story, and she was married to her prince in 2011!)
Hearing God's voice releases unlimited creativity into the marketplace
Bill Dupley, Business Solution Manager, Hewlett-Packard, Canada
I have been journaling since 1992 using your material. I have often journaled about business issues and problems and God has given me wisdom to solve business problems as well as give direction in relationships, sales campaigns, and solution approaches.
There were two examples I felt that you might be interested in. The first occurred in a marketing meeting where we were trying to develop a new marketing tag line that captured the value of a new solution we were bringing to market. The team was stumped, so I journaled and the Lord gave me a marketing tag line. I told the team, they were amazed and said that was great, and it opened an entirely new approach for the team to work on.
On another occasion I was really stumped trying to write a marketing brochure for a seminar my wife and I are doing, I tried to write it but I was really stuck. I journaled and the Lord gave me the entire copy. I simply wrote it down.
In addition to my day job, Sue and I are also itinerant ministers. I used to take five hours to write sermons; now using journaling they are done in about 30 minutes.
The approach to hearing God that I learned from you has completely transformed my Christian life and business. Thanks for teaching me this very practical method for hearing God's voice. I have taught it to others all over the world in my Christian seminars, and Sue and I have written a children's Sunday School program called 'Kids in Renewal' that teaches kids to hear God's voice using your method. This program has been taught in over 800 churches worldwide to date.
