What is The Ramp?
I posted a message on Twitter yesterday that I was excited about finally going to a Ramp in Hamilton, Alabama. I must have gotten 10 messages on Facebook or Twitter asking me what The RAMP was so I figured I would share a little bit about The RAMP on here to get you up to speed.
Let me first clarify that The RAMP isn’t a new web conference, that seemed to be what everyone thought it was. Actually The RAMP is sort of like church on steroids, or Def Leppard meets Joel Ostein. Services are led by Karen Wheaton and Damon Thompson, and feature Chosen Generation.
Growing up in a conservative Southern Baptist Church my entire life, it has taken some getting used to these long praise & worship meetings as well as the intense prayer that goes along with them, but I just pray for endurance and rely heavily on Red Bull to get me through. My pastor made a good point a while back when he said that if people got as excited during church as they did Razorback football games things would be a lot different in the world today.
Oh, and just a disclaimer, the next few days I will possibly shift from the norm a bit and blog about this weekends conference and my faith as opposed to Web Development and all of that. I know how some folks get turned off when others share their faith and I have read the nasty criticisms, etc. Rest assured, I could care less about any of that. Brian Gardner, one of my favorite web developers puts in plain English on his blog:
Taken from Brian Gardner’s Bio:
Last, but certainly not least, I confess very boldly that I am a Christian. And from time to time, I may write about things on my site that I won’t apologize for – most of which will include my spiritual life, and my walk with God. 7 years ago, my world came crashing down, and I hit the very rock bottom of my life. After a lot of tears and a lot of pain, I started to attend Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL.
I realized that living my life the way I wanted, and not the way God wanted, ultimately put me in the very lowest points of my life. I realized that the deepest parts of me wanted to live a genuinely happy life – that the things I was putting first in my life, I could truly do without.
Over the course of the past 7 years of my life, my life has changed in ways I can’t even begin to describe. And I owe it all to the fact that I am no longer living for myself, rather for God. I have been blessed with a beautiful wife Shelly, and an amazingly wonderful son named Zach.
Life is good, and I’m so thankful that I finally came to my senses. I speak proudly of the fact that I am a Jesus follower, and will share bits and pieces of my spiritual journey throughout the existence of my website.
I admire Brian for openly sharing his faith like that, it certainly hasn’t hurt his business either, have you seen what’s going on w/ Revolution Themes these days? Wow, they are turning out some code and building huge community. The bottom line, if you don’t care to hear about my faith, just skip over my posts these next 2 days. Check back in on Monday and I am sure I will be discussing nerdy techno-babble again as always.
If I have peaked your interest a little bit, read on. Here’s a little information about The Ramp and Chosen Generation. You can also checkout Damon Thompson’s website for more information.
About Ramp
The Ramp began as a seed, a burning desire within one woman, Karen Wheaton. In 1998 Karen followed the Holy Spirit’s drawing and moved back to her hometown, Hamilton, Alabama. The plaguing apathy and ravishing sin that infected Hamilton’s youth alarmed Karen, causing her to inherit God’s resilient passion for them. Knowing nothing about the technique of youth ministry, she simply led prayer meetings with seven teenagers in the back of a storefront church. As the real, tangible God displayed His love through salvation and deliverance, seven expanded to thirty.To accommodate the growing group, Karen moved the meetings to a larger storefront building and named it The Grace Place.
At The Grace Place the commitment of those thirty only grew stronger as the teenagers met twice a week for services and engaged in seasonal times of early morning prayer. Karen would receive phone calls at 5:30am from youth asking her to unlock the building so they could pray before school. Lacking musicians, the group worshipped a capella and prayed listening to CDs. God answered the voices and the tears poured out to Him, and the meetings began to significantly impact the community of Hamilton. The Father birthed souls into the Kingdom. More people gravitated to The Grace Place, including musicians that had been prayed in by the core group. Eventually, The Grace Place could no longer contain what the Lord was doing. Karen decided to purchase an old, dilapidated, rat-infested grocery store called Big Star. In less than 40 days the abandoned building was transformed into the youth conference center known as the Ramp.
Today, the Ramp hosts once a month gatherings with 1,100 plus in attendance. It remains a denominationally neutral ground, providing a place for all to come. The same Holy Spirit that arrested the hearts of those first seven teenagers governs the atmosphere, bringing freedom to those entangled in various bondages. With the weight of sin lifted from their shoulders, the attendees awaken to an existence dominated by prayer, fasting, and worship. The initial desire that fixated Karen continues to be fulfilled, as the Ramp assists in awakening a generation.
If you have an opportunity, be sure to check out www.theramp.org and watch some of the streaming videos that they have available. The intensity of the Worship and the Prayer that goes on during their conferences and gatherings is amazing. I have watched several of their past gatherings and they never cease to amaze me. The ministry team Chosen is housed at The Ramp as well.
About Chosen
The Ramp houses the ministry team Chosen. As students in various universities and employees at various businesses, this group of thirty young adults seeks daily to encounter the presence of God and carry the burden of their leader, Karen Wheaton. They bring the relentless assignment of awakening a generation into each realm of influence the Father has given to them. Dorm rooms breed prayer and office buildings facilitate worship. Ministry refuses to be contained to a scheduled, religious setting. The team continually learns how to operate under the anointing as they grow in community with each other and with their authority.
On most weekends of the year, Chosen either travels with Karen or leads services at the Ramp. Their dances prophetically gesture the Word of the Lord, and their dramas visibly manifest the heart of the invisible God. The Holy Spirit shouts revelation through their speaking. The musicians channel heaven’s rhythmic call to worship. While Karen mothers them into spiritual maturity, individuals learn to utilize gifts, and the corporate group learns to flow together in unity. The dances, dramas, speaking, and worship result in altars filled with broken teenagers ready to experience God’s Kingdom.
I will probably be blogging about the sessions this weekend so stay tuned for more information. I am also going to see if the conference is going to be streaming online, if so I will put a link or embed the stream on here as well as The Church Alive website, www.thechurchalive.org.
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