The Brightness Rising

Oranges

2012-01-23T14:10:00.001-08:00

About a year ago the house I was living in had an orange tree out in the back yard. It wasn't very big, and it kind of looked sickly with its skinny little branches and ratty leaves. It did have a lot of oranges on it though. I mean, "a lot" is a significant understatement, this little sickly tree was loaded with oranges. But they looked just like the rest of the tree; pale, sickly, small - as if they were malnourished. They were not your regular appealing oranges. They stayed on the tree, for a huge part of the year, completely untouched, and that's completely understandable - who wants sick oranges?

Much later in the year, I felt the Lord prompting me to fix the orange tree problem. I didn't see entirely why, but I felt like it came down to a lesson in stewardship. Like maybe in nursing the tree to health I would learn valuable truths about how to bring about transformation in churches and other communities. So I sat in my living-room, looking out at the tree, brainstorming about what to do. I even began to research orange trees online. What does an orange tree need to be healthy? What would the problem be based on the symptoms? How would I fix that problem, especially given my student budget? How long was it going to take to turn this situation around? Would I have to prune most of the tree and all its sickly fruit? Is the problem in the root? Is it in the environment? Is it a parasite of some sort? Eventually my questions outgrew my answers and I decided to give it a rest for a while. Maybe with some time the Lord would show me what to do.

The next morning my roommate Ross came in from outside with a handful of the small, pale-yellow oranges, and he was cutting them up for his breakfast. "Hey man, do you want some oranges?" he asked. I was not really in the mood for sick oranges, so I replied skeptically, "Dude, they don't look so good." As he cut into one, it revealed a deep reddish purple, juicy center. "Nah," he said, "they're blood oranges. This is how they're supposed to look." The gears in my brain started turning. So these blood oranges were fine, and the tree was fine. In fact, the only reason that the tree looked weary was that it was burdening all that incredibly ripe fruit, and it needed to be harvested! The problem was that I needed a change of perspective. It seems silly, but I didn't eat any of the blood oranges, as juicy as they looked. I guess some part of me would have rather been right than enjoyed the fruit.

I've been thinking about this whole story over the last few weeks. I've been getting words from the Lord about entering a season of great fruitfulness. Stuff that parallels Isaac's 100 fold harvest in a famine (Genesis 26:12). It's exciting, but it's held in the context of my current "famine". I'm forced to wonder what this fruitfulness will be, and if it comes down to just a change of perspective, what shift needs to happen for me to see the abundant harvest that is already there? And it also makes me a little curious, what did Isaac plant to yield so much? But still, the Lord is always faithful, and it's His goodness that produces the fruitfulness in and around me, not anything by my own merit. That's good news! Because I know I can depend on Him, and I'm not going to miss out on any of what He has for me. In this season, where the questions far outweigh the answers, I think I'll just take my rest in Him, and let His light be a lamp for my feet.

About: Home.

2011-12-23T17:28:00.000-08:00

Even before I started BSSM first year, I had this understanding in my spirit that I was going to go to all three years of school at Bethel. It wasn't a "thus saith the Lord" type of understanding, but more of "there's three years of study so that's what I'm going to do" type understanding. After these three years, my understanding gets somewhat limited.

During my first and second year at Bethel, I always maintained that I would stick around in Redding if Bethel hired me on staff. Somewhat in the same manner a developing athlete might hope to get drafted to the major leagues, though a little more apathetically. I know that I'd need some manner of string pulling to be able to stay in the States full time, since I can't work on a student visa, but God is pretty good at pulling strings.

When I traveled around Europe this summer, I learned two things. First, I don't like to travel alone. It's not terrible - I would just rather share those journeys with people close to me. Second, I don't want to be homeless. Not in the sense that I don't have a roof over my head (though I don't really want that either). But I want to have a place that I'm anchored, that I'm building something, that I'm investing, where I'm part of community. Somewhere to commit the next ten years of my life to, and bring radical transformation. I love traveling the world, but I'm not carrying anything worth sharing if I don't have a home.

When I was in Ecuador, I continued along this train of thought. I realized that my previous attitude towards Redding as a home was out of my control, since I had given up my power over that decision when I let it depend on what Bethel did. That didn't sound like the way I want to live life. If I'm going to commit to something, I want it to be wholeheartedly my decision. So I asked myself, do I want to make Redding and Bethel my home for the next ten years? Yes. Even if I don't get hired there? Yes. How will that work if I don't get hired? I don't know. But I did leave Ecuador with a weary desire to settle into Redding, and start investing in home.

It's quite ironic then, how I've lived in eight different places in Redding over the last two and a half months. I've moved from couch, to garage, to air mattress, to bed, and all around again. I've spent anywhere from two nights to three weeks with anyone and everyone who would bring me in. Part of it is that I don't have money, but even beyond that, there just hasn't been anywhere suitable for me to live. I've been living out of a suitcase for over seven months, and I'm just ready to be done with it.

Then just yesterday, as I was reading about Abraham's life, God spoke to me through a verse. "And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:8) So whatever that looks like, I have a home in Redding, where I have been sojourning for the last few years.

This is a story without a resolution. Like Abraham, I don't know where I'm going, I just know where I'm not going to stay. Thanks for journeying with me, and being supportive when you have been. May you all be abundantly blessed these holidays.

This is a story without a resolution... yet.

The Beauty of the Cross

2011-11-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

The cross is the central truth of the Christian faith, yet somehow also possibly the most misrepresented truth in the Church today. I can feel the weight of its importance whenever I read it in scripture, or hear it referenced, but I am grieved whenever it is applied masochistically for self-inflicted punishment, or the pursuit of holiness. In my love for Christ, and my desire for union and intimacy, I gravitate toward the cross; for this reason, every time I have communion I pray for a greater revelation of the cross. I need to see it how He sees.

In this I have come to see the cross of Christ as the complete restoration of mankind to relationship with God; “It is finished,” He said within His final breath. All the promises of God received their clearance in that moment, and were made available to all who would look to Christ in faith. In the cross of Christ our old nature was annihilated; in the cross of Christ our union was complete; in the cross of Christ our righteousness was secured; in the cross of Christ our holiness was established; in the cross of Christ our victory was mandated; and in the cross of Christ was our healing, our deliverance, and our salvation. Because of this, for those in Christ, the cross is the legal authority for the power of God at work in us. It is the stake in the ground from which the plumb line is drawn throughout this age of grace, and it forbids us from attempting to achieve by our own merit any of what He purchased for us. In fact, it is this freedom from achieving our own condition of righteousness, holiness, purity, victory, healing, deliverance or salvation that is vulgarly offensive to the mindset of the world (and much of the church). It is the spirit of religion in man which attempts to maintain control over his own spiritual disposition. The fact remains, the cross was His destiny, His burden to bear, but His alone.

Mature Bible readers understand that the metaphors and images that Jesus employed are not exhaustive in their dimensions. We are meant to follow the good shepherd like faithful sheep, but we are not expected to smell like one, nor are we expected to all conform to one mold in the flock. Furthermore, and contrary to the lack of responsibilities of most sheep, we have actually been charged with a mission. There are tensions in wisdom, and dichotomies of experiences. We are called to remain childlike, but we are also called to mature. We understand that when Jesus tells us to be as “wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” He is not prophesying that we will become mutant dove-snake creatures with all of their features – He is emphasizing the characteristics of wisdom and innocence with those images. So what is being emphasized by the image of the cross? Some walk the streets carrying literal, large wooden crosses; somehow I think they are missing the point. For centuries, in various groups of Christianity, the suffering of the cross has been shouted; but this has only created an anemic bride who refuses the good things of God, and pursues trials in an attempt to achieve what the cross of Christ already completed. Christians who experience suffering can receive a gospel of suffering with comfort, because it reinforces their experience. It takes no faith for this. But they often hold onto this view like a security blanket, since it has been a support to them and is familiar. But pain was never the point, in fact, Jesus came to eradicate pain, poverty, and anything else brought in by the curse. Maybe we have been shouting the wrong thing.

I am challenged by verses that demand I take up my cross. If the cross of Christ was sufficient, what does this imply? I have heard it preached that when we take up our cross, we are reminding ourselves daily that our sinful nature was destroyed at calvary (which is true). But the problem is, as beneficial as this practice may be, that our sinful nature was destroyed on His cross, not ours. Then was the cross of Christ insufficient for what He endured it for? No. Jesus accomplished all that He set out to do, and it is well testified of in the subsequent epistles to the Church. Then am I to specifically choose a life of rejection, suffering, pain, discomfort, and possibly death? Should I pursue these things and call it “my cross to bear”? The problem is that Jesus never pursued those things. In fact, His cross forbids us to even tolerate those things (they do not exist in Heaven, they should not exist here). He was well aware suffering would happen, and He submitted to the Father's plan for His life (and our salvation), but He was motivated by something else. He looked at the suffering he would endure, then He looked at the outcome – the restoration of mankind to a loving Father, and He chose to walk that path for the joy of our restoration into His Heavenly family. He was motivated by the victory of the cross; He was so blinded by love He despised the shame, and He endured the pain: for Joy.

We must understand that the cross, His cross, was His destiny. It was the purpose that the Father mandated for Him to accomplish, a purpose distinct from the purpose of any other human being. The cross was the only part of His life that Jesus did not expect His disciples to replicate. He told them to heal the sick, to forgive, to cast out demons and raise the dead. He sent them to preach, to teach and to release peace, but He clearly said, “take up your own cross.” The cross of Christ was the destiny that He had, to purchase all that we now have in Him, and it was the greatness of this purpose that motivated Him through all opposition. He was able to celebrate every hit of the hammer as the nails pierced his flesh and sunk into the wooden beams, because He saw the truth that the devil was actually hammering the final nails into his own coffin. Though Jesus only set His face toward Jerusalem as He neared the climax of His purpose, I believe that He was holding on to the vision of the cross, and all the fruit that it would bear for all mankind, even as early as His temptation in the wilderness. Vision gives pain a purpose, and as a dear friend of mine said, “family gives vision a purpose.” Love does not think of sacrifice, it simply makes easy choices. Christ, in love with man, chose the cross for the joy of being united with His beloved once again. It was the grand purpose, the personal destiny that the Father had for Him. The Father made the same choice in love: He looked at Jesus, His beloved son, and He looked at you; and knowing that one would have to die under the weight of sin, He chose life for you.

Allow me to illustrate with a trivial analogy. Some years ago psychologists found that the largest determining factor of a child's later success in University was a quality called “delayed gratification.” The proctors would take a classroom full of young children, and place a marshmallow in front each of them, saying, “you can either eat that marshmallow now, or when I get back you can have two marshmallows.” The children who were able to delay their gratification, ie. - wait longer to eat both marshmallows, were said to have a strong quality necessary for further education. So these children were enduring the suffering (sitting with a marshmallow in front of them) for the joy set before them (being able to eat both marshmallows at a later time). The study actually reported that “4-year old children who delayed gratification longer in certain laboratory situations developed into more cognitively and socially competent adolescents, achieving higher scholastic performance and coping better with frustration and stress.” They were able to see the vision of something better, and in their little decision making brains, they saw that two marshmallows were better than one. You can imagine that during their wait, they were focusing on how amazing it would be to have two marshmallows, and not on how hard it was to endure this time while not eating a marshmallow. And furthermore, if they had a teacher standing at the front of the class telling them how hard it was not to eat that marshmallow, teaching them that they should make decisions based on pain and sacrifice instead of their vision and further reward, it would have been exponentially more difficult for those children to delay their gratification, and “endure the suffering.”

Of course, this analogy is diminutive when considering the actual caliber of what Jesus did for us, and the weight of our cost. When we come to the cross in submission, we are laying down all that we are and have, and in exchange we get all that He is and has. We receive all that He fought for, accomplished, and deserved. We are trading all of our broken down junk, for His glorious and expansive inheritance. No matter how the qualities of the exchange are portrayed, it is something finite for something infinite, and that is beyond comparison. A much more accurate picture would be to say, “if you don't eat this marshmallow in front of you, when I come back I will give you a mansion on your own personal Greek island; three Ferrari's, a helicopter, a hummer and a garage full of Ducati motorcycles; free gasoline forever; your own personal chef, your own personal tailor, and your own personal army; California, a space station, and 55% of the shares in Apple Inc; stunning good looks, a loving family, and... umm... you can fly.” And that does not even come close to illustrating how good of an exchange it is. Yes, technically, you have to sit in front of a marshmallow for a while, and that is a cost. If you want, you can spend your life focusing on the pain. But really, how noticeable will that pain be when you are focused on the vision of the joy to come? Especially when you start to live in the reality of “on earth as it is in Heaven,” and these promises start manifesting in your life! Sometimes it feels like there is a brigade of church people running around, making sure others are aware of the marshmallow, instead of encouraging and inspiring each other with vision from Heaven. Is the picture starting to become clear?

When we look at our own cross to bear, if we are focused on the pain, the suffering, the rejection or the defeat, then we are not seeing from Heaven's perspective, we are not being moved by love, and we are out of faith with God. The Father has a great plan, purpose and calling for each individual life, and it is for the joy of the great things He has called each one of us to that we must endure. It is essential to subscribe to the great destiny and purpose that God has called us to, and the vision for its greatness will motivate us through all opposition. Jesus was not trying to sugar coat the journey, He did say there would be opposition. As Kris Vallotton says, “the dogs of doom stand and bark at the door of your destiny,” and quite often the thing we are most afraid of is exactly what God has called us into. But perfect love casts out all fear. Jesus compares our destinies to building a tower, or a king waging a war, and He does draw our attention to the cost. But if we make our decisions based on fear instead of what God can do through us, then we forget that the joy of the outcome – the tower, the battle won, the purpose for our lives accomplishing great things in the Kingdom – is meant to be our motivator, and it far outweighs any cost. Just like the Father and Jesus as they made their decisions in love, when we are filled with the perfect love that was released through Christ on His cross, all fear leaves, and the cost becomes negligible. Jesus made the demand that we renounce all we have, and when we turn toward Christ on His cross, we have done just that. So now we have an obligation to build big in the Kingdom, and to fight great battles, and to journey toward the aspirational purpose that the Creator designed within us. And though Jesus gave warning about the cost, we find even still, as we return to His cross, that the price He paid still absorbs anything that could come against us.

Far from being a destination, this purpose and destiny that the Father has called us to is a journey, and Jesus exhorts us to daily hold on to the vision of our calling. As we hold onto this vision, everyday we breathe we are in our destiny, and every moment our hearts beat we are fulfilling the purpose of God for our life. Having denied ourselves, there is no longer a self left to deny, but there is now a new creation, which is in perfect union with the Trinity. Why after being renewed should we continue to deny that which God has made? So now we continue with His command of carrying our cross, our destiny, because each one that bears His name carries the responsibility to sow into an advancing Kingdom and reap an eternal reward. The warnings of Jesus still exist – the potential for pain, suffering, rejection, persecution, opposition, death – but all of this becomes irrelevant as the love that Christ released on the cross absorbs us into complete union in His presence. This was born at the Cross, because Jesus did what He was supposed to do, and it releases the grace for each one of us to take up our cross, and accomplish what God has purposed us to accomplish. In death, He conquered death, and by His resurrection we live in the reality of everything He paid for. His resurrection was the addendum to His warnings; that by faith, in union with Him, there really is no cost. Because of the resurrection there really is no defeat, no death, no persecution, no opposition – just opportunity, favour, life, and unavoidable victory. Only be filled with His love.

When consumed by the Love that motivated both the Father and the Son to choose me, my perspective on the Cross changes. In the Cross is the power of the Christian life. In the Cross the work of Christ was complete, and grace was released. At the Cross was the moment of my blissful union with Him. The Cross is not a symbol of God's punishment, or an intentionally troublesome existence laced with suffering; but it is a symbol of triumph, victory, and personal destiny. The resurrection forbids me from seeing the Cross any other way. My cross differs from His Cross in the way that my purpose in life differs from His. I daily bear my cross by daily setting my sights on the vision that God has for my life, and accepting the great purpose of the Father for me. The devil brought his greatest weapon against Christ at Golgotha, and it became the devil's greatest defeat. I can laugh alongside the Father knowing that every nail only secures me to my destiny, and establishes the devil's extinction. The cross I carry daily can either look like an attack from the enemy, or a celebration in Heaven with the Kingdom advancing. When I am consumed by Love, I only see His affections, and there is no sacrifice – only easy choices.

What do Nicaragua, New Zealand, and Tahiti have in Common?

2011-11-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

I can tell you of at least 3 nations that will never be the same again after this coming Spring; that is, Nicaragua, New Zealand, and Tahiti.

While you're still trying to figure out what these seemingly disconnected countries have to do with each other, I'm going to go ahead and tell you. They are about to host teams of passionate lovers of Jesus who are burning for revival – teams that include yours truly, Dave Sparling.

I'm Joining a team to Nicaragua in February that is going to host a conference for church leaders from all over Latin America. It's an amazing time of transformation and ignition. As the ripples of our impact extend in circumference, many more nations than just Nicaragua will be dramatically affected. We will also be pouring into a newly founded School of Supernatural Ministry in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. This trip is close to my heart since I am finally traveling to the home country of my very dear friend, Ixil Torrez. This trip will cost me $1300, and I would appreciate your finances and your prayers. And also your prayers for finances. If you would like to give towards this trip, please give securely through the following link:

https://www.ibssm.org/a/donate/secure-form?student_id=208010&target=tuition

My mission trip to Venezuela was canceled, but it didn't take me long to find myself on another team. I will be going with John and Barbara Kealiinohomoku to New Zealand (North Island), and Tahiti. The trip is in the end of March, and here's the BSSM description:

“We will be partnering with church leaders in New Zealand and Tahiti to release the love and power of Jesus over these two great nations. In New Zealand, we will be serving a Bethel Church plant in the Northern region with a specific focus on the indigenous Maori Tribe. There will also be many opportunities to visit schools, preach at churches, and do street evangelism. In Tahiti, we will working with several leaders, to bring revival to the churches and local communities. The main focus will be breaking hopelessness and poverty mindsets, and seeing a royal identity restored to the Tahitian people. Worship, intercession, art, evangelism, prophetic encouragement, and the raw love and grace of God will be the tools we use to see Jesus released.”

I am very excited about this trip, as I have been longing to travel to New Zealand for quite some time. I'm hoping that this trip will open up more opportunities for more trips in the future, and possibly ministry opportunities in South Island. Tahiti is just like icing on the cake, I mean, who doesn't want to preach the gospel in Tahiti? This trip will cost me $3250, and I would appreciate your finances and your prayers. And as well in this case, your prayers for finances. If you would like to give towards this trip, please give securely through the following link (different than the above):

https://www.ibssm.org/?action=donate&target=missions&student_id=208010

If you're curious about what the results of a trip like this might be, please read about some of the past trips I've been on. God is always good, and always pours out His abundant love with signs and wonders and miraculous encounters. I want to thank you in advance for being generous and investing in the great things that God is doing in the Earth today. Even a seemingly small amount can go a long way, so thank you, and may you encounter His goodness and love in a magnificent way today, and each day forward.

Rain

2011-11-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

The Kingdom of Heaven is like rain that comes on a dry land. When the rain comes, the people of the land are happy. When the rain subsides, some of the people remain happy, while others become unhappy. Those who remain happy are those who understand that the rain comes that they may work the land, develop produce, and see increase.

It is good to want the rains of God. We want to see those rains in greater and greater measures in our lives, our families, our schools, our churches, our cities, our businesses and our organizations, and our nations. It is good to cry out expectantly for outpouring from the Heavens, and it is good to enjoy it when it comes. I can imagine how the people of the land must have felt after Elijah declared the release of the rain after three and a half years. I imagine they felt happy, if I may employ severe understatement. I am sure they were all out in the fields, once dusty and hard, now quickly becoming mud pits of promise. I am sure they were dancing around, soaked to the bone, laughing, splashing, and filled with delight as every drop punctuated God's approval.

But I cannot quite imagine that after the rains stopped, these people stopped being happy. I imagine they picked up their hoes and plows, and got to work. They would have been out in the fields, working the land that was now prepared to bear life and fruit. And they would still have been happy. They would still know God's approval, and they would still be smiling. The joy they held in the first place, was not because they had missed the rain in itself. It was not that they missed getting wet, or missed splashing in the mud. They were happy in the rain because this meant crops. This meant food. This meant productivity, prosperity, and abundance. So when the rain stopped, they continued being happy. The rain had done what it was supposed to do, and now they could do with the land what they were supposed to do: cultivate.

To speak of the spiritual moves of God once more, there seem to be two categories of people after an outpouring of the rains of Heaven. One is happy when the rain stops, the other is unhappy. The unhappy thinks that the point of the rain is to get wet, and so when there is no rain, all they can do is stare at the sky and wonder how to appease this strange rain-god in order to get the desired result. The unhappy live in a desert, and their temperaments are dynamic depending on the weather. But no matter how often it rains, their desert remains. It does not benefit us as believers to bask in the rain, and then feel a sense of abandonment after the rain has gone, simply because we have limited God's expression to this one thing.

There are seasons in the natural, and there are seasons in the spiritual. Times of rain, times of planting, and times of harvest (and I am sure, times for other things). David illuminated in the Psalms that God makes known “the path of life; in [His] presence there is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:9) God shows us life, and His presence is always with us, and in that place is joy and pleasure – always. If our joy or pleasure comes from a particular manifestation of His presence, then we will be without joy when He manifests Himself in a different way. But we always have access to His presence, and we do not have to be unhappy when the rain stops. The point is life. Jesus came so that we might have life, and life abundantly. The rain brings an element of what is needed, providing an atmosphere where life can eventually flourish. Every season in the spirit is along the path to life, and the presence of God is with us in every season. So in every season we have access to the fullness of joy, and in every season we are surrounded with the potential for abundant pleasures in God. Why do I say potential? Because it requires the recognition of what season we are in, and correctly partnering with God in what He wants to do in our lives. Plant in planting season, harvest in harvest season, and let the ground drink deep in the season of abundant rain.

The point is not rain, the point is life. The point is growth and fruitfulness. But it is not difficult to observe some sense of correlation. There is not a lot of rainfall in the Sahara desert, and understandably there is not a lot of life. There is a lot of rainfall in the Amazon Basin, and as expected there is a lot of life. In fact, the Amazon Basin is considered the most bio-diverse and intensely life-filled region on the planet. California gets an average of one foot of rainfall a year, whereas the Amazon Basin receives about nine feet of rainfall a year. But if nine feet of rain came down over the Sahara in a year, we would probably just see a lot of sand in the ocean. And if the same amount of rain fell over California in a year, a many forests would wash away, and whatever fruitfulness California had would be washed out in mudslides. The highly intricate ecosystem of the Amazon is built to not only withstand, but also receive such massive amounts of precipitation. Certain trees even have special root structures to thrive during dynamically shifting flood seasons. Nothing of the Amazon's environment is lost by a factor of rainfall that would extinguish most ecosystems around the world; instead, it prospers. While covering less than five percent of the land on Earth, it's trees produce twenty percent of the oxygen. So it is even providing life for ecosystems outside of it's own!

Believers who work the land after the rain comes can prepare it for increase. They can cultivate growth that will eventually be able to withstand the blessing that would have previously wiped it out. This turns a desert, with the rains of God, into a rain forest, but in a way that promotes life. The effects are phenomenal. In the Amazon rain forest, literally half the annual precipitation is not from the skies, it is through the moisture emitted through the trees. It is as if the forest waters itself! There is a reality of abundant life that is possible, and can be reached through stewardship and development. The most excessive visions of abundant life are reachable through cultivating the land at our feet, and letting the rains of God release the fullness of vitality. Imagine an environment where the grace released through the encouragement of the saints to one another actually surpasses the greatest revivals that other environments have ever seen! We can go there. We are going there. The fullness of Heaven on Earth is realized as we cultivate gardens that are able to withstand the greater rains of God. Gardens within ourselves, our families, our schools, our churches, our cities, our businesses and our organizations, and our nations. It is not about crying out for rain that He has already promised, but responding rightly to God in right season, and celebrating life as it happens.

From Oases to Open Skies

2011-11-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ever since Jesus mentioned the new wine and the new wineskins to his disciples, believers have been thirsty for a drink. There is always that edge of progression on the juice squeezed out of the first fruits of what God is doing. Even the cry of the heart for intimacy says constantly, “take us deeper, show us more, lead us further.” Isaiah spoke of a Kingdom that would never stop increasing, like an ever rising loaf of bread – in the perfect atmosphere, with regenerative yeast, and he emphasized a Kingdom that would advance with increasing peace, not domineering conquest. The Hebrew shalom is far from simply the absence of conflict or turmoil, but it is the fullness of bliss. It is prosperity along every dimension, a high pressure situation that dispels any shaky construct or vacuous turbulence. It is the ripeness of the vine, filled with sugars and juice. It is powerful fruit that intoxicates, just as each of the fruits of God intoxicate us in the fullness of His presence. Let my mouth never stop thirsting for the new wine, and let my eyes never stop looking to the horizon of the known world in God's land, but the Bible also speaks of another kind of wine.

Isaiah writes that on the mountain of the Lord, which is also His Kingdom – His Church, there will be a great feast for all people, “a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” (Isaiah 25:6) He goes on to write about how this is the place that death, in absolute defeat, is swallowed up forever. This is a serious place of revival, and Heaven being released on Earth! Yes God releases the new wine to His Church, but He then has His church foster and care for what has been released, refining it over time, to serve it to the nations, to all peoples, in a celebration that triumphs even the greatest enemies of God's ever expanding Kingdom. God's people harvest grain, and God pours out the oil and new wine, but those are not the main courses at the feast on the Mountain of God. Wine gets better with age. It expands, ferments, and there is a relationship between the wine and the vessel (whether barrel or goatskin) that draws out the finest of flavors. God releases wine into our lives, our homes, and our churches, and we have the privilege to steward it and let it be refined within us until we can serve a mighty feast “of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” The wineskin is affected by the wine, and the wine is refined within (and subtly by) the wineskin. Holy Spirit releases new graces in each of our lives, and it brings us into transformation, but it also endows us with the honor of having the unique nature of the fabric of our beings influence and flavor the wine, refining it into an elixir of life for a celebration that crescendos over all people and all situations. I never want to stop thirsting for new wine, but new wine is not what is served to the nations; well-aged wine is served to the nations.

As believers, we restore the desolate places. We lay claim to land that was always destined to be fruitful for the Kingdom. We stake it off, and the rivers of life that flow out of our inner being cause restoration and growth, in even the most deserted environments. We see the impossible become probable because of the life that the Living God put in us by His breath. Isaiah 35 is one of many passages where the bible describes a barren land becoming lushly overpopulated by abundant growth, made manifest by the word of the Lord dropping like bombs of life by the hands of ardent believers.

Elijah stood with his back to the slaughtered armies of Baal, and stared at a cloudless sky. There had not been rain in over three years. He prayed and waited until he saw a cloud the size of a man's hand, and once he saw it, he knew that the downpour of God bringing a fresh rain was coming. We need to take ownership over the cloudless skies. Call out for rain, and watch in faith for the cloud the size of a man's hand – because in that is the fullness of the greatest revival the Earth has ever known. In that is the release of the new wine, it is that next level of Heaven, just waiting to manifest on Earth. We need to stake a claim in the desert. Set the boundary lines of your own inheritance in real estate at rock bottom prices, then let the rivers within you create an oasis that has trees producing fruit in all seasons, and leaves to heal (Ezek. 47).

For revival to grow from glory to glory, and momentum to build as the fullness of peace advances the government of our King, something more than just restoring desolate places and calling for rain must happen. As we aim to serve the well-aged wine and rich food on the Mountain of the Lord, we must become excellent at passing the baton from one generation to the next. We must be Solomon to our David's, we must be Joshua to our Moses', and we must be Isaac to our Abraham's. As we have a value for receiving an inheritance and setting it to increase, one man's oasis must become another man's cloudless sky. The fulfillment of one mans dream, must become the foundation of another's. With all honor and thankfulness, in every aspect of the Kingdom life, there is more. Revivals end when they meet peoples' expectations. Let our expectations remain as flexible as new wineskins, that we may always receive what is old as something new. Let us always drink deep the newness of God, and set before the nations a well-aged feast, prepared with excellence. Let the light within us swallow all that is dark forever.

Chronicles of Santa Barbara

2011-11-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

My supernaturally amazing team was made up of nine radical revivalists in their second year at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, though two would be driving down later to meet up with us in Santa Barbara. I had the pleasure of driving South on Tuesday with David Coy, Christian Tapper, Kevin Franklin, Ingrid Andreassen, Debora Bettler, and the engaged Marissa DiMarco and Jeremy Howard. Jesse and Jessica Skinner joined us in Santa Barbara after a four day trip with Chuck Parry out East.

Just South of San Jose, in a little town called Morgan Hill, we stopped at an In 'n Out for lunch. As we were leaving, I started talking with the drive through worker since there were no cars coming through. I had only told him where we were going, and a few other friendly but trite details, when I asked if he had any pain in his body we could pray for. He had pain in his back, and I prayed a short prayer commanding the pain to leave his body, and releasing peace. I did not even lay hands on him (he was concerned about his boss thinking he was not working). As soon as I finished praying, he looked up and said, “have you ever heard of Jesus Burgers?” I was shocked to hear this from him, since we were still four hours from Santa Barbara!

“Yeah, those are the people we are going to connect with!” I told him.

“I've been there a few times,”he commented, “they have good burgers.”

We then asked him about his pain, and it had gone. It was as if as soon as he had been healed, he instantly thought, “I've met people like this before – who pray and God listens – at Jesus Burgers.” What a crazy divine appointment!

So much of our whole week in Santa Barbara was just living life with the Isla Vista (IV) family. We had many great meals with them, and prophesied over various groups of them almost every day. We probably prophesied a couple hours a day on average. We also had the opportunity to pray and prophesy over some key locations around the city, drawing down the purposes of Heaven for Santa Barbara. God has immense plans for this region. Lou Engle has prophesied that as California goes, so goes America, and more recently he prophesied that as Santa Barbara goes, so goes California. There is a destiny like King David being drawn out of this city, and it has been anointed for great things. Soon it will come out of hiding and slay giants, and lead the Kingdom of God to a place of strength and influence in America. And my team and I had the great honor to speak out of the heart of God for these things. More than that; every healing, every salvation, and every love encounter that happened spoke a word about the purposes of Heaven, and the character and nature of the heart of the Living God. Santa Barbara; Jesus loves you.

Thursday:

On Thursday afternoon we led Treasure Hunts in IV. We were joined by about a dozen people from the IV family, and many of them had never done a Treasure Hunt before. Many of the teams found a great openness with the people on the streets for miracles and healing, it seemed like a perfect place to do this type of ministry. I spoke with a released mental patient as he was drinking beer on a bar patio. He had pain through most of his body, and so I asked if I could pray for him. I started by praying for his shoulder, and I asked him to check it out. He started moving it around, and through the expletives he said, “wow that's totally better – there's no more pain!” I prayed for his thumb next, and as he checked it out he said, “you're really freakin' me out man!” He was feeling totally healed up! By the time we left him, I asked if he had any more pain in his body, and he said, “no man, I feel great!” We found out that he had recently been hit by a car while he was riding his bike, and one of the words of knowledge that a guy on my treasure hunt team had was “guy on a bike hit by a car.”

Some guys wearing wigs and fake mustaches were approached by some of our team, and Ingrid had a word of knowledge for knee pain. After they prayed for his knee it was healed, and then his back and ankle were healed as well. They were very excited about God being among them.

Jesse was wandering around with Sunshine and Bridgette, two girls from IV who had never been on a Treasure Hunt, or seen anyone healed before. They found a girl who had pain in her elbow because she had fractured it. In fact, this was the first day she did not wear a sling around it. Jesse had Sunshine pray a short prayer, and her elbow was dramatically improved! Then Bridgette prayed a quick prayer again, and her arm was totally better. She was exclaiming that she could do things with it that she could not do before! She was talking about being a “patient,” and Jesse noticed that she was holding a Tupperware container with medicinal marijuana. She started saying, “this stuff [the marijuana] doesn't even help,” as she celebrated what God had done.

Two more backs were healed, and a man with pain in his head. He said, “this stuff really works!” Also a lady with shoulder and neck pain saw some improvement. Some people received prophetic words and really encountered the love of God.

In the evening we held a meeting at a local church, and people from churches all over the city were invited to come. The whole team prophesied for a while, and then Kevin shared about sonship and Christian led a healing activation. None of my team prayed for anyone that night, and there were about ten to fifteen who were healed. Five or six people saw Jesus work their first miracle through their own hands – that will change them forever! Legs grew out, several people had their sinus' healed, and several backs were healed. A gentleman had the lower three discs in his back compressed, and he was completely healed! One lady had neck and lower back problems for five years, and it got totally better right then. Two dancers were healed – one in her back, and one in her legs. One young man had a stomach condition that would keep him up at night, and it gave him great trouble while sleeping. He received prayer that night, and found me the next day, saying that he had the best sleep ever! He was actually looking forward to sleeping again the following night for a change. Gus Hamborg, who joined our team as an “auxiliary member,” gave a word of knowledge for “mild itchiness.” One of the guys in the crowd had recently had a tattoo, and it was scabbing over, feeling irritated and itchy. As soon as he stood to respond to the word, he felt as if someone has wrapped a bandage around his arm, and all the itchiness left! Jesus is so good!

Friday:

Isla Vista is the student ghetto to the University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB), and it hosts about 20,000 students in about half a square mile. On Friday and Saturday night, we joined up with the Jesus Burgers crew. They live on the busiest party street in IV, and hand out free burgers to all the drunk party-goers. They have an atmosphere of love, with no agenda, and a sign across the street that reads, “free prayer, healing, and spiritual insight.” Halloween is the busiest party weekend of the year, when about 20,000 additional students join the existing 20,000 in a region of about half a square mile to essentially mob the streets in one giant party. The road turns into a river of students, drunk and on drugs, looking for a good house party to come to. In past Halloweens, there have been so many people in such a small area, that cell phone signals are impossible to get because all the bandwidth is being consumed. It is impossible to accurately and fully communicate the scope of what happens there without actually being there, and even then it is hard to comprehend. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20).

We started the evening with two hours of worship and prayer ministry (called the Upper Room), and then we went to the street. By eleven o'clock the street was so full of people, and they were all continually moving, that it was hard to connect with anyone to pray. But there is always a strategy in the Kingdom of Heaven. A friend and I were standing in the middle of the street, like trees being overtaken by floodwater, and the people were streaming around us. We decided to just start a fire tunnel around the flow of drunken students. Within twenty seconds our tunnel had grown from four people to about thirty, and scores of people were going through, getting blessed by the Spirit of God as they went. It was such an atmosphere of chaos, we did not see any immediate fruit since we were not connecting with the people much at all, but they were getting blasted by the love of God nonetheless. A few of our team heard various comments from the people leaving the tunnel about how amazing it felt. There was a huge shift in he atmosphere through that though, and there was a noticeable bubble of the presence of God and peace around and in front of the Jesus Burgers house.

At one point in the evening I was sitting on a wall at the side of the road, and a guy dressed as a ghost buster walked up to me and Christian. I had a word of knowledge that he played sports, and then Christian had a word of knowledge that he had trouble with his right knee. He had pain that was a level five on a ten point scale, and after prayer it went away totally! He was super excited.

One of our team had a word of knowledge for back pain, and it ended up being one of the fellow Christians we were ministering with (there were several campus ministries joining us on this night). They ended up getting completely healed as well! Several of these Christians from other ministries became activated in getting words of knowledge, and the prophetic, and they were immediately trying it out on the street – it was amazing to see their boldness!

Marissa and Jeremy were talking with a girl who was rolling on Ecstasy, and after their conversation she had come down significantly! Come on Jesus – the presence of God brings peace and deliverance!

One of the Jesus Burgers guys, Justin, was talking with a girl who wanted to drink (alcohol), and he said, “you don't need to do that, that's not who you are.” She asked for prayer, and after Justin prayed she decided that she was not going to drink!

At the sign across the street for prayer, a pre-believer had her back and neck totally healed, and then she instantly began to testify about it to other people on the street, “Jesus just healed my back!”

A drunk man approached David and stared into his eyes, “I see the Spirit of the living God in you,” he said. He was amazed by what he saw in the spirit over David, and he wanted David to pray for him. He said that he had never seen the Spirit of God resting so much on a man before. Ha ha – talk about the fulfillment of Zech. 8:23.

Jesse was able to bless so many people by just saying, “You're amazing!... and you're valuable!” They would stop and be hit by the fact that someone actually cares for them.

One of the Jesus Burgers girls wanted to experience more of the joy and drunkenness of the Presence of God, so Jesse prayed for her and they both fell on the ground in the middle of the street, laughing. Some paramedic rescue workers who were patrolling came by and asked if they were OK, or if they needed any help.

Kevin prayed for a drunk guy who wanted to experience more of the presence of God. So Kevin had him hold out his hands and say, “come Holy Spirit.” He said he felt a fireball go from his fingertips to his chest, and then up to his head. He immediately became sober, and as he wept he started confessing everything he had ever done wrong. After this went on for about half an hour, Kevin asked him if he wanted to receive Jesus, and he said yes. Kevin had him close his eyes and picture Jesus, and then say to Him what he wanted to say. He completely gave his heart to the Lord. Yes Jesus! Ha ha, there were at least another two people who gave their lives to Jesus that night.

Ingrid was sitting on a wall, and yelled out to a guy who was walking past in a funny costume, “Hey you, nice costume! And do you know that you're valued and loved?” Then she prophesied over him a word that was dead on accurate. He was blown away by how much she could know about him without having met him before. She told him that God knows him, and that He is a living God who speaks to His children, and then she asked if he wanted to feel the power of God. Ingrid had him hold out his hands and say, “Holy Spirit come.” And as he did that, he was instantly hit by God's power, and started laughing hysterically. Then she had a word of knowledge that this guy had knee pain, and at first he said no, but then he admitted that he had been hit by a car, and did have problems in his knee. So she prayed and his knee was healed!

Saturday:

Saturday afternoon we had a lunch with all the leaders of the IV family, and it was amazing. There was great connection time as well as some sharing, impartation, and of course, a lot of prophecy. We finished with a never-ending fire tunnel that started on one side of the back yard, and ended on the other. As soon as someone would get out the end they would join in praying for people, and as soon as the last person went through, the prayer servants in the tunnel would follow. It was fantastic.

In the evening we had the Upper Room worship, and then Jesus Burgers. We wanted to have a fire tunnel again because of how it had affected the atmosphere the night before, but we waited until around 11:00pm when the streets were more condensed. It was just as awesome as the night before, with hundreds of people going through, we laid hands on each of them imparting the presence of God and blessing them. There was such an atmosphere of peace that pervaded the entire area, even though the rowdy crowds were carrying the opposite spirit.

One guy on crutches with a right ankle brace had all the pain leave after prayer.

After Christian prayed for a guy's right wrist, and saw it healed, they talked for over an hour. This guy poured out his heart, and probably hugged Christian five times throughout their conversation. He was moving up to Chico (near Redding), and so Christian got his phone number so they could stay connected. Such a divine setup.

One of the party-goers on the street was asked if he had pain in his body, and he said that his muscles hurt from working out. Someone prayed for him, and all his pain left! That is amazing – God is so good.

Kevin prayed for one of the IV guys who was helping with Jesus Burgers. He was baptized in the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues, and then Kevin activated him in the prophetic. He started giving people on the street prophetic words, and came back later to Kevin saying, “it's so easy!”

Mac, the worship leader for the IV crew, was just standing in the middle of the road, with people walking past; he was not dressed up in a costume at all. A drunk guy walked up to him and asked, “what are you supposed to be?” And he replied, “I'm a physical manifestation of God.” Which actually kind of rocked the guy, and Mac prophesied over him, and got a word of knowledge that he grew up in the church. Then the guy said to Mac, “will you pray for me?” And his friend asked for prayer too. They were both pretty impacted.

At one point in the evening, Marissa and Jeremy were inside the Jesus Burgers house. A big, drunk German guy came in to the house because he had fallen flat on his face and his nose was broken. It was completely swollen, bloodied, there was bruising under both eyes, and it was bent sideways. He was not so drunk that he was numb to the pain either. Marissa and Jeremy brought him into the kitchen, and prayed for him. All the pain left, and they watched the swelling go down and the bruising disappear! He could not believe it was happening, and furthermore, his nose straitened out completely! The only sign it had ever been broke was a slight spot of bruising on the sides of the nose. He was so shocked that God was healing him, but he said, “can God heal my back too?” And so they prayed for his back, and his ACL, and both were healed! “How are you doing these things?!” He asked. “Jesus lives in us,” Marissa said, “would you like Jesus to live in you as well?” And so he received Christ right there in the kitchen, and Jeremy prayed for him to receive the Holy Spirit. Then he came out into the living room and started telling the people in there that God is real, and that he was just healed. But he did not know that he was witnessing to a room full of Christians. When Ingrid told him that they were all Christians, he was very excited. Ingrid also led him to encounter the Holy Spirit more, and then explained to him that he can talk to God, and God will talk back. So he asked, “can God tell me where the best party is?” Ingrid replied, “Yes, that's easy – it's here, because Holy Spirit is here, and wherever he is is the best party.” And he said with excitement, “that's right!” Then he wanted someone to sing the American national anthem, but people either did not know how, or did not want to. So Ingrid started singing “Amazing Grace.” He kept saying, “sing it again,” and Ingrid must have sung it ten times. He confessed that a friend of his had recently committed suicide, and that he was still hurting from that, but every time the song was sung, he felt inner healing happening. Eventually Ingrid told him, “if I am going to sing it again, you need to hold out your hands and close your eyes – this song is about God and when I sing it, you are going to encounter Him.” And he did.

There are many on campus Christian ministries, and several of them come to help at Jesus Burgers, but not all of them carry the same revelation of God's love and goodness as the IV crew. In past years, they have had people out front of their house holding signs that say things like “repent or perish,” which in case you were wondering, is not a good way to let people know that they are loved and valued. That was not happening at this location this year, but I did come out of the front of the house during the evening to see some guys holding up a large, wooden cross. I went to talk to them to get their heart, and potentially ask them to leave. After talking with them for a while, I challenged one of them to leave the cross holding, and come across the street to meet Scott, the guy who was activating people in healing and prophetic. He agreed, and within 30 seconds of meeting him, he had his neck prayed for and healed! He talked with those guys for another 30 minutes and learned more about the Kingdom, potentially to get connected in the future. It felt like a bridge had been made between several campus ministries that have different approaches.

There was also a girl with knee pain that saw almost complete healing.

Jesse had a word of knowledge for shoulder pain while he was near the line for Jesus Burgers, and after asking around, he found a guy who had recently broken his collar bone. His arm was still in a sling. Then after Jesse prayed, he was able to lift up his arm without pain! Then shortly after that, Jesse was able to pray for another guy's shoulder that was healed.

Jesse was also able to connect with a lot of people by just telling them that they were amazing. He looked one guy in the eyes and said, “you're amazing!” And the guy took a step back, a little unsure, as Jesse added, “and you're valuable!” Then this guy says, “you're freaking me out man.” Then Jesse was able to lead him in an encounter where he felt the love of God and said, “oh, I get it.” As he finally understood what he was created for.

Caleb was approached by a guy who was pulling around a girl by her arm, and he asked Caleb, “do you have a girlfriend?” Caleb said that he did, and this guy continued, “I need a guy for this girl to hook up with or go home with, and I have a girlfriend.” And in that moment, just as he was leading her away, Caleb looked her in the eyes and said, “you're worth so much more than that.” He continued to lead her away, but her eyes filled out wide as it seemed as if someone had spoken words of value over her for the first time. Her face melted, and for a moment, she knew she was loved.

Sunday:

In the evening, or late afternoon, as it was only 4:00pm, we had a church service in Isla Vista. We shared testimonies of the weekend, we prophesied over the congregation, and then Les Coombs spoke about our identity as kings and priests. After, we called out words of knowledge for healing, and watched as Jesus did what He does best!

I prayed for a man named Michael who received healing for tendinitis in his leg, and saw the pain in his arm nearly completely vanish. I had a word of knowledge for his heart to be healed as well, and I really feel like God went ahead and did that one.

There was a girl who had pain in her feet, migraine troubles, neck pain and back pain, and she was totally healed after she laid hands on herself.

Two girls were healed from “scattered thoughts” and “wavy vision,” and they felt an amazing peace in their minds.

Our host mom, Wendy, had her hearing improve.

One young man, Daniel, had his back healed.

A young woman, Heather, had her shoulder healed right when she stood for the word of knowledge – nobody had even prayed for her yet!

One young man had neck, back, and hip problems. For one year it had kept him from running – which he used to love to do to spend time with God. After praying twice, all the pain and pressure left.

Ingrid prayed for a row of people. The first person had lower back pain, and they saw it mostly healed right away. The second person had pain in her whole body, and after prayer she felt mostly better, and she felt peace. The third person had pain between her shoulder blades, and from the hip down the right leg, when Ingrid prayed she felt like her body was on fire. She was healed the moment that Ingrid touched her. The fourth person had her ankle completely healed when Ingrid prayed for the previous person, and so she did not even need prayer anymore – God is so good!

The Aftermath:

Some of these testimonies have a lot of details, and it is easy to be impacted by them. But try to remember, when I write “their back was healed,” it is just a story without details. They had their lives forever transformed because they came in contact with the Living God. Who knows how deep these stories go. God is bigger than we think, and He is better than we can imagine.

Jason, the pastor of the church family in IV, announced that it was the best, most God filled Halloween that he has seen in IV since he started with this ministry ten years ago. On Friday night there was a realm of peace that surrounded the Jesus Burger's house like a big Holy Spirit hug, and on Saturday night there was a peace that extended over the whole region, impacting hearts for Jesus. The impact that our teams had was phenomenal, and Isla Vista will never be the same. God has not given the fathers of this community a mandate to impact a subculture, He has given them a city to transform, and people to take from glory to greater glory. The road that the IV family walks will look different as the realms they are influencing start to transform with greater and greater momentum. There will never be an end to Jesus Burgers, because it is all about love, but I feel as though we saw the beginning of the end of radical party ministry in this region. Why? Because soon people's minds will be renewed to the point that they no longer feel the draw to fill the void in their life with that lifestyle. Soon the culture of darkness will be replaced in full by a culture of light, and the kings and priests of Jesus in Santa Barbara will be pressing into the greater glories that He has for us. Of the increase of His government and of peace there is no end. But it is exciting for me to look forward to me continual involvement, bridging the relationship between the house of Bethel and the family in IV. It is exciting for me to instigate the celebrations of God on the streets of Isla Vista, until all counterfeit celebration's have been swallowed up by the overwhelming light that is Jesus Christ. As the Lord said, and as the motto of UCSB reads, “Let there be light.”

The Story of My Life: Chapter Now

2011-10-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

The Past:

I've been living out of a suitcase for almost five months now. I dreamed of travel to great places on the wings of His good pleasure, and this summer has been all that I dreamed and more. It's still hard to believe that it happened. Santa Barbara on a motorcycle; then off to Spain, Italy, Norway and England; then after a brief stop-over in Canada, and a brief stop-over in Redding, I spent the greater part of September in Ecuador.

Ecuador was so much fun. I went in low, and God did great things. I shared in home groups, schools and ministry schools, and I preached in their churches. People were healed, delivered, and saved. I ate so much delicious food - I think that God used my feasting as a prophetic act for the abundant Kingdom outpouring that is being released over Ecuador. I see amazing things happening there, with the ministry school, and with amazing people, and with some business's that I will be connecting with.

The Present:

I am interning with Les Coombs and Anne Kalvestrand, as well as volunteering with Crystal Stiles for the prophetic booths and leading a small group in a prophetic AMT. With Les I am overseeing the Healing Rooms activation together with my co-intern Naomi. We are both responsible to create the best activation ever! We have 100 roaring revivalists who are all ready to see hundreds of people come into an encounter with Christ the Healer. We get to administer all that, as well as build community and relationship. With Anne I assist her with her AMT and Track, "International Transformation," and I also get to attend several weekly meetings with some of Bethel's finest. I am so privileged to be a part of her life.

I'm leaving for a ministry trip with Les to Vancouver in about 7 hours. One great weekend of glory with 9 great people! We're going to hold meetings all weekend and then drive back on Monday. It should be a whole series of adventures in itself. Spreading the love, spreading the word, that's what I live for.

I have been homeless since Ecuador. For the first week or so, I was on some friends' couch. And I am so grateful for their hospitality. Then I was upgraded to a garage, sleeping on an air-mattress, in a house with 7 incredible revivalists. I would like to live in my own room this year. Well, to be honest, I would like to own my own house this year, and start living in Redding as my home. So instead of praying for God to provide me with a place to live, I'm going to pray for a free house. Then I could rent it out and have an income of sorts. I'd also need a free car too. I'll pray for an Audi.

I have to admit, it's been challenging and exhausting to carry all my responsibilities while living out of a garage without a car, but I've been getting it done. God's been making a way for me. And to be totally honest, I'm having the best time of my life. I love what I do. I love who I'm working with. I love Bethel and Redding as my home, and I think that my circumstances just need to catch up with what I've already realized. I'm going to be here for a while.

The Future:

I'm leading a trip to Santa Barbara at the end of October. I think it's rather poetic that my dreams for travel this summer started and ended with trips to Santa Barbara. It's been just one more thing to make my already busy life busier, but again, I love what I do. I can't wait to walk out this dream, and see Jesus represented in Isle Vista.

I'm contemplating traveling to Nicaragua in January. Several things would have to happen for that to be possible. I'd have to be able to take time off my Healing Rooms duties, I'd have to have the money, and... I guess that's it. I mostly want to go because of my dear friend Ixil who is currently in Nicaragua, changing her home country for the Kingdom. I'd love to be a part of what's on her heart for Nicaragua.

I'm definitely traveling to Venezuela in March. It is Bethel's first official missions trip to Venezuela, and it's being led by my dear friend Nati. As well, I'm going on this trip because of her. Relationship is the best motivating factor for pretty much anything I'm sure. I'm very excited about what this trip promises to be. I'll write more as I come to know more. I did, however, meet a pastor from Venezuela just the other day, and he will be accompanying us on this trip, and we are going to his home church. That's fun.

Prayer Requests:

I don't have any money, or a house, or a car, or food, or a job, and my motorcycle is needing to be fixed. So you can pretty much pray for anything and it'll be helping me, ha ha ha! But seriously, I've been feeling the weight of being eternally focused lately, and I really want to allow the Holy Spirit to go deep in whatever He wants to do in me. I know that it's my responsibility to seek first the Kingdom, and so I'm just going to do that, and He will care for my needs. So when you pray, pray that my focus and vision would be more and more eternally set. Pray that I would become more and more conscious of the reality of Heaven around me, and that I would live out of the place I am seated - with Christ in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father, with every spiritual blessing.

A Great Week of Miracles

2011-09-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

I went to Azogues, a neighboring town, for a homegroup on Wednesday evening (September 14^th). At the end of the meeting, we were eating cake and drinking tea, and I learned that the woman who lived in the house we were using had a hurt leg. She was in quite a bit of pain, and had a hard time walking. She could only take very short, labored steps. I prayed once for the leg, releasing peace and commanding the pain to leave. She tried walking, it was %50 better, and she could take bigger steps. I prayed again and just thanked God for what He was doing. When she walked again, there was no pain! So I asked her to do something that would aggravate it even more, and she climbed some stairs – with no pain! She was looking shocked and amazed as she took a few steps up. Then her husband came out and saw her climbing the stairs, and he was even more amazed! I found out later that it was her sciatic nerve that she was having problems with, and Jesus totally healed her!

On Sunday, I saw the couple from the homegroup, and they enthusiastically were pointing to her leg and showing me that it was just as good as ever – praise Jesus! I also met a man who had injured his hip muscles playing rugby, and he had a lot of trouble and pain while running. I prayed for him, and asked him to test it. He said he had to run, so I told him to get back to me with the results once he had tried it out.

I went to the homegroup again on Wednesday, September 21^st, and at the end of the evening, the husband came and told me that he had diabetes. We prayed for it to be gone, and I asked him how he could test it – he said that he was having a doctors appointment on Friday. But then minutes later he came back into the room with an excited look on his face, and a blood tester for diabetes showing a healthy, normal blood reading. He said that my faith had given him faith! We will get the official doctors results soon enough.

Thursday morning I went to the Verbo Christian School, and I led a devotional for high school teachers. After, as I was talking with the school's pastor, a young girl came in seeking prayer. She was a diagnosed bi-polar under heavy medication, and she wanted prayer because she was feeling like hurting herself. We prayed, and I released the joy of heaven, and then I asked her how she felt. She still felt terrible, so I thought that this might be a demon. In the spirit, I silently commanded the spirit to leave her body. It spoke back in the spirit and said, “you can't make me, I have a right to be here.” I asked God what was going on, and I felt that she needed to forgive someone. I felt that it was a parent, and that it was for something that happened long ago, around when she was born. I didn't say any of this right away, but continued to release peace over her. I asked the girl how she felt; she described a pressure against her chest, and said that it was making her feel these things against herself, that it was trying to make her hurt herself. Yep... sounds like a demon. I silently addressed the demon and said, “you can stay if you want, but it will be the most painful thing you've ever experienced,” and I proceeded to release the fire of God over the girl. We asked the girl if she needed to forgive anyone, and at first she said no, but then she admitted that she needed to forgive her dad. We learned that her dad had recently sent her an email saying all sorts of terrible things about her, and that when she was born he hated her because he had wanted a boy. He apparently tried to kill her. She doesn't currently live with him, but she was holding all of this against him. I explained to her what forgiveness meant, and how unforgiveness can hold you in bondage. I asked her if she wanted to forgive her dad, and she said yes. After she pad prayed forgiveness over her dad, and a prayer of blessing, I led her in commanding the oppressive spirit to leave her body and never come back. Then we invited Holy Spirit to come and heal all the areas that had been wounded by these events. I asked her how she felt, and she felt all better! Yay Jesus! I told the pastor that I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't need her medications anymore.

Later that day, at the Ministry School at Verbo, one of the students, Julio, prayed for another student's foot. It was after a teaching on authority, and Angela had pain because of an injury in her foot. Julio commanded the pain to leave – and she was completely healed! Now that's a lesson example – thank you God!

Friday morning Jason, Vivi and I gathered to go pray for people at la Fundacion – a medical clinic that is operated by Verbo. As Jason and I frequently say, seeing miracles at the medical clinic is like shooting fish in a barrel. We started by praying for an elderly woman who had hurt her wrist and face in a motorcycle accident. Yeah, I know, a motorcycle. Her wrist was fractured, and half her face was paralyzed, probably due to nerve damage. We spent 25 minutes with her, just loving her, and releasing the Kingdom, and filling her with hope. We prophesied over her, and told her how loved she was by God. By the time we left, she didn't have pain in her wrist, and there had been a significant improvement in her face. We then went to another room, where we prayed for some women who were undergoing physiotherapy. One girl had several herniated discs in her back that affected her hip and leg movement. This had been affecting her for 6 months, and it happened playing basketball. She was in pain even while lying down, but walking and other movements would hurt even more. We prayed for her lying down, and that pain left. Then we got her walking, and while walking across the room a few times, the pain went down even more. In fact, the more movements we got her to do, the more the pain would leave! Eventually she was completely healed, and she took her stuff and left. By then we were praying for another woman who had sciatic nerve trouble. We shared the testimony about the other woman who was recently healed from sciatic nerve pain, and then we prayed for her. We saw incremental decrease in pain, and eventually she was doing movements that she was admitting with surprise that she couldn't do before! We saw the nerve pain leave completely, and also pain left her knees while strength returned to her body – thank you Jesus!

Later in the day I heard that the rugby player that I had prayed for was completely healed. He had gone back to playing rugby a few days after the prayer, and he was amazed at how well he could run! What a great report – thank you God for healing that man, and thank you for sending me such an encouraging word. And sorry, this was more than a week for all these miracles, but they were just so fun I couldn't limit it to a week!

May the healing presence of the Lord bless you all!

Great Beginnings in Ecuador

2011-09-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Since I graduated second year at Bethel, I haven't spent more than 3 weeks in one place. Which actually means, the 3.5 weeks I am spending in Ecuador is the closest to being settled that I've been all summer. I've been in Cuenca, Ecuador for a week now, and it's been great! Increasingly so, as if every day is a refreshing statement of "from glory to glory". It has been a lot different than other trips, in that it feels like I haven't been doing that much. I've really been focusing on my health, and rest. I've been going to the gym here 4 times a week, which at 2500 meters above sea level, is certainly exhausting. However, I think that my exercise has helped me to adapt to the altitude a lot. I'm no longer out of breath when I go up the two flights of stairs to the room I'm staying in. It's been a lot better than my trip here last year as far as feeling healthy and not being sick, so for that I'm grateful.

When I say I haven't been doing much, I should clarify. Last week I spoke at two seperate home groups, led a devotional for the teachers at Verbo Christian School, shared in several high school classes at Verbo Christian School, prayed for people to be healed at "la Fundacion", a medical clinic hosted by Verbo Church, and various social activities re-connecting with friends from last year's trip. This week we just launched the school of supernatural ministry, called "the Institute". It's seemed relatively relaxing though, compared to past trips, and previous weeks of this summer. At la Fundacion, we saw a woman who had been healed by the team a week earlier, but she had returned because she had to finish her physiotherepy. Then we prayed for a woman who had severe hip damage from a car accident. She used to be in a wheel chair, and now she walked into the room on crutches. We prayed, and we saw her improve to where she could walk around to room with no pain and almost no limp - YAY Jesus! Praying at these medical centers is going to be a regular part of the ministry school.

When I arrived in Cuenca, after landing in Guayaquil late at night, then driving over a 4,166 meter mountain pass, I settled into the same room I stayed in during my last trip to Ecuador. The first night in Cuenca, I had a dream in which a demon tried to attack me. I saw a vicious black dog, or wolf, and it was charging at me. I knew in the dream that it was an evil spirit. I heard that its name was "fear", but I was not afraid. I was behind these glass walls, that I new would protect me. Several times this dream would come and go, and each time this demon would attempt to attack me. Most of the time it would get stopped abruptly at the glass wall, but sometimes - for whatever reason - it would get through. When it did, I was not afraid, I simply punched it in the head mercilessly. As many times as it attacked me, I beat it to a pulp. I woke up eventually, and could feel the residue of whatever spirit had been in the room. I looked up "black dog" in the morning to see if there were any South American significance to it, and I found this:

Latin America

Black dogs with fiery eyes are reported throughout Latin America from Mexico to Argentina under a variety of names including the Perro Negro (Spanish for Black Dog), Nahual (Mexico), Huay Chivo and Huay Pek (Mexico) - alternatively spelled Uay/Way/Waay Chivo/Pek, Cadejo (Central America), the dog Familiar (Argentina) and the Lobizon (Paraguay and Argentina). They are usually said to be either incarnations of the Devil or a shape-changing sorcerer.

Whatever it was, it got beat down. And it certainly didn't come back after that. I've noticed similar spiritual encounters that usually happen when I come into a new region. It usually looks different each time, but I always win - the power of the cross condemns me to victory. I remember it in China, in Isla Vista, in Madrid, and now Cuenca. Though I don't yet understand the extent of what's happening, I feel that these encounters are the most significant form of international transformation that I have been a part of yet.

And now, this week marks the first few days of the Institute, a promising new school of ministry that will be birthing revivalists into their destiny, and forever transforming South America for the Kingdom of God. The first day was so fun; we prophesied over all 9 of the students (we're up to 11 now, but one hasn't showed yet), and we got to hear about their backgrounds. Most of them are from either Cuenca or Guayaquil, but tere is one from Peru (to be fair, she moved to Cuenca years ago to work in an orphanage). Either way - that offically makes it an international school! A group of us went out to celebrate this momentous occasion, and today we're back at the school, setting the course of the future, one day at a time.

As much fun as I'm having here, and as much as they're trying to convince me to stay, I am looking forward to heading back to Bethel for a while. I'm already involved in email conversations that are setting the course of my internship, and planning trips outside of Redding. I'm emailing a friend about the mechanical issues with my motorcycle, and I'm getting others (please you join in as well) to pray for me to have a wonderful and free place to live this year (in a central location). I'm continuing to live generously, even though I've got way less saved up than either of the previous two years, and the general promise of Heaven over my life is shouting louder and louder about His abundant provision, above and beyond what I could ask or imagine. I'm not sure what that looks like really, cause I've asked for a lot, and I have a great imagination.

Muchas Bendigas! I really feel like God just wants to see people healed - if you need healing in your body right now, just lay your hand on yourself and say, "God is sooooooo good!" Then see what happens.

Love from Ecuador!

As Your Soul Prospers

2011-08-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

After two years of living in California and attending BSSM without any means of financial support, you'd think I'd be a little more used to the lifestyle by now. And in some ways, I guess I am, but it still never feels comfortable. My only means of support is when others charitably give to me. That's how I travel on missions, how I pay rent, how I eat, drive... and anything else you need to spend money on to live. I've lived like this for two years, and I'm going into a third, but I can't help but be amazed by how faithful He is to provide. It benefits me, and glorifies Him to magnify the good He has brought to me. It speaks of His character, and it prophesies into my future the abundant provision He is about to bring. In all honesty, the one thing I have done to make a way for God to bless me like this, is to live a generous life. I have a priority to give; to give consistently, and sometimes, to give recklessly, like the poor woman who gave all that she had (Mark 12:44). Before school even started my first year in Redding, I set a precedent for how I wanted to live, in extravagant generosity, and these seeds have all grown and multiplied to bring me wealth beyond what I have given. So my friends, if I could encourage you to do one thing to create a place for God to bless you financially, it would be this: be abundantly generous. Specifically in this way - you reap where you sow, so choose your targets with interest, and intentionally give where you want to see increase in your own life. Please don't make an effort to manipulate the Kingdom for personal gain, God is not eager to honour a corrupt heart. I'm just outlining a rule in the Kingdom - this is how He designed it to work.

All through first and second year, He was faithful to provide. I traveled to Lebanon during my first year, and still had the money left over to travel to Ecuador during the summer of my second. All my rent bills were paid, and I almost always had more than enough food to eat. All my tuition was paid, and at the end of the year, when I had nothing left, He again provided for me to afford my journey home to Canada. In second year the story was hardly different, I've actually written an account of His provision in detail. Rent was provided, though not always on time, and though times were hard, and money was often scarce, I made it through. I don't believe that it's God's intention for me to just "barely survive" in life, I know that it's His heart for me to prosper in all that I do, and to live a powerful and influential life. I know that it's His heart to give me more than I need for this year to cover all my expenses. But whether that happens or not, is not a big deal. It doesn't change how I see His heart for me, and I know it will happen eventually. Maybe this year is yet another year of living in the tension of His promises in a world that still needs to be redeemed. If that's the case, I will continue to travel the world and pray for the sick, teaching on the goodness of His Kingdom, even though I know I just may be returning home to empty cupboards, an empty gas tank, and overdue rent. My circumstances just aren't going to shift how I think about him anymore. I am going to still press in to live in that place of financial abundance that rests somewhere far beyond financial security - just because I think that's the goal for all areas of life. He came that we may have life and life abundantly.... not survival, and barely making it through.

At the end of second year I had dreams and an empty wallet, a situation I've come to know all too well. I figured I needed about $1000 just to make it out of Redding, and then on top of that I wanted to travel around Southern California on my motorcycle (see previous note on this experience). Then after this trip around So Cal, I planned to travel home briefly before going to Spain for the summer. I told God before the end of school that I didn't have to do this, that I could just get a job and work to save up for third year. He said no. He essentially forbade me to shift away from my dreams. At this point my desire was far from my dreams, as I was more thinking about the impossibility than the potential for what God was planning to do. But somehow He took me from needing $1000, and being stuck in Redding, to traveling all over Europe and actually returning to Canada with more money than when I left! I spent 6 weeks in Madrid, Spain, 2 weeks in Italy, 1 week in Norway, and 3 days in Winchester, England (see previous notes on these experiences). I started with nothing, and came home with almost enough money to buy my plane ticket for Ecuador this September. All along my journey, in every country, I had people being generous to me and giving me money - sums from $20 to $1000. The truth of the matter is, I am the richest man alive.

And now I'm in that place of familiarity again. I have 3rd year tuition overdue, I still owe money on my plane ticket for Ecuador, I haven't paid the $250 for my VISA yet, I have no money for travel to Redding and no money to live on for when I get there. I actually don't really even know HOW I'm getting there, or WHERE I'm going to live once I arrive. But I have this - a promise from the Lord. He said that He would take me to Europe, and He did. He actually took me to more countries than I had initially hoped. He also said that He would provide for me even more than if I had worked for the summer. So what I really have in my possession, is a list of miracles that are about to happen. And that, my friends, excites me. It warms my heart, and it gives me hope. I love this life, and I love this journey. Sure, it's important to keep your vision focused and your perspective in alignment with His word, but once you've got that, it's always a good day.

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2)

Norway

2011-08-10T02:35:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what to do with all these feelings, but I think that a little time and Holy Ghost processing will help to sort things out. This problem started a week ago, when I landed in Rygge airport near Oslo. Then I fumbled through the directions I had for a shuttle bus, a train, and eventually a ferry from Moss to Tønsberg, Norway. The whole way, from the moment I landed at Rygge, I felt my heart melting for Norway. I didn't notice it right away, because I thought I was just happy to see friends and be nearing the end of my trip. But as the week went on, I found myself time and again getting caught up in fits of joy for no other reason than being in this country. I would frequently get drunk on this love that God was pouring through me, and would have to just express myself somehow to let out some of the pressure of this joy. Sometimes shouting, or jumping, or laughing, or just random noises because of how in love I was with Norway. It really caught me off guard. I was kind of expecting to fall in love with the country when I went there, I just didn't think it would feel like it did, or think that it would affect me as much.

I spent six days in Norway, mostly just hanging out and living life with my beloved friend Anthony Tussing as he awaits his wonderful wedding day (T-minus 9 days now eh?). We rode bikes all over Tønsberg, and he showed me the local sights. They have a castle from the year 871, and we climbed to the top to look over the town. I had the amazing priviledge of spending time with his new Norwegian family, Birgitte, Charlotte, their parents and siblings, and just living life in Norway. Great food, great times, great conversations, and even a great day at Tusenfryd - Norway's amusement park. If you ever find yourself in an amusement park near Oslo, it's Tusenfryd, and trust me - go for the bumper cars, and "Spin Spider". Also pack a lunch, food is expensive. It was great to spend those days with Anthony, I hadn't really hung out with him since going to China with him in March. He's such a radical man of God, I loved our adventures and our late night conversations. It was amazing to get to know Birgitte as well - I had never really spent any time with her, I just knew her as the person that Anthony was going to marry. It was such a blessing to get to see her heart, and see the quality in her character. She was such an amazing host to me as well, making me delicious gourmet coffee. Birgitte - you'll be happy to know that I approve of you marrying Anthony. I know, you were waiting for that. It's ok, you can thank me later. Then I had all these fun conversations with Charlotte about all sorts of random things, it was super good to talk about the future and just laugh about life.

On some of the days, I was able to connect with some of my other Redding friends, like Daniel and Sara Morken, and Per Jonas Noreng. Hanging out with them in their hometown was amazing - it was incredible to be there for every second of it. I loved spending time with the Morken family, and going swimming out at the lake at 10pm. I definitely didn't feel like a tourist in Norway, I just felt home. Though any time we would do something stupid, Anthony and I would play the tourist card. On one day Daniel and PJ invited me to a going away party for Hanne's boyfriend, and that was super fun to connect with some other Norwegians who I had previously met in Redding, including Andreas Fjellvang. We talked about Levanger a bit, partly because of how hungry I am to see more of Norway, and partly because I'm excited about what God is doing there. Andreas is a solid revivalist, totally unshakeable, and he's about to get a vision for Norway that will pull Norway into a whole new era of experiencing God's goodness.

I joined Anthony for some of his time at work, which is in a cafe that is home for groups of troubled youth. While I was there I was able to pray for a few people, and two backs got healed, and they both felt the presence of God and a shift in their lives - YEAH! I love it. It all came out of the overflow of love that God was pouring in to me for Norway. Then most of the rest of the time I was going from place to place, friend to friend, encouraging them in the Lord, becuase He is good. All in all, Norway just felt like home. I mean, it really physically looked like home, but I don't think that was it. I would go to bed tired and happy, and wake up just happy, all for Norway. And I know there's so much more out there in the country, so I know I'll be back, but what will that look like - and when will that be? It's difficult to communicate the depth of what I was feeling, but it's not hard for me to say that those past six days have been the highlight of my summer. I feel like my future took on a new flavour, but I still don't know exactly what it looks like. I think I want to have a good talk about all things Norway with my friend Ross when I get home. He's like the Norway guru on Vancouver Island, so I'm sure it'll be good. All in all, Norway was just a lot of family. And I just felt an overwhelming sense of hope, opportunity, and love. Thanks for being real, Norway.

Pizza, Gelato, and Miracles!

2011-07-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

I recently spent two weeks touring northern Italy, and it was glorious.

I was joined by fellow Bethel alumnus Nathalie Guex, Julia Henke, and Roberto Guida for a week of ministry in Asti, a town in Northern Italy. We lived in the King's house and ate the King's food for a week. That is, Marc King, and his family, though we certainly were among royalty. The group that we connected with the most was partly local, and partly visiting Swiss and Israeli. That always made for dynamic mealtime conversation. The local group has been long cultivating a culture of honour, and they are seeing God powerfully manifest through their hands, and in their midst, with healings and powerful God encounters. We ministered to them several times throughout the week, as well as just lived life with them daily. It was a pleasure to hear their stories, and see their hearts for transforming their environments. On Tuesday evening, we held a meeting where Nathalie led a soaking/encounter time, and many of them had amazing encounters in Heaven, and interactions with Jesus. Listening to the testimonies was incredible, one woman even recieved a physical healing as she met with Jesus! Yay God, still alive and still healing people! My new Israeli friend, Daniel, had an encounter involving an angel touching him and setting him on fire (the good kind, I assure you). After that, he was wanting to test the encounter, to see how real it was, and so he prayed, "God if that was real, have a burn appear somewhere on my arm." Within 24 hours a burn blister appeared on his finger, and in my opinion, it was in the shape of a heart.

The following day we went to the market in Asti. To be honest, I pretty much only wanted to buy some sunglasses. Julia inspired us to get organized for some treasure hunting though, and pretty soon we had one communal map, and a couple translators, and we were well on our way! I was getting a little impatient with the Treasure Hunt model, and so I grabbed one of the translators and said, "come with me." I had spotted a woman walking with a cane - she was in her 60's and walking with difficulty. I told her that God likes to heal people, and I like to pray for people to get healed. Then I asked her if there was anything in her body that needed healing. She explained that she had had an operation on her hip 5 years ago and that she had pain in it ever since. So I asked if I could pray; she said yes. I asked if I could lay hands on her shoulder (wanting to be very honouring of any cultural boundaries), and she said, "don't you want to lay your hand where the pain is?" I answered, "If that's ok with you." And I placed my hand on her side at the top of her hip. She grabbed my hand, and planted it square on her butt! And then she held it there and waited for me to pray. I prayed once, and the pain went down by a half. I prayed again and it went down some more. I told her that I really believed that God wanted her to be healed today, and asked if I could pray one more time. She was eager, and was getting emotional because of how she was encountering the Presence of God. After that prayer she was totally better! We blessed her and told her that God really loved her, and she walked away carrying her cane. Julia taught on the prophetic that night (Wednesday), and then activated them with some prophetic exercises. It was one of the most impactful single sessions I've seen. By the end they were all giving each other very powerful prophetic words, and we finished with a time of prophesying over a few highlighted people.

Friday night we had a healing meeting, where we just talked about how God likes to heal people, and how it's really easy for his children to do. We called out some words of knowledge, and then just prayed and saw people get healed - it was so much fun! I didn't get any hard copy of the healings that happened, but I remember that there was some arthrosis healed, and some neck and knee pain healed. All in all, there was a big handful of people recieving miracles that night. It seemed that every meeting ended with a trip to the gelateria, which seemed like a good idea to me. Probably the leading of the Holy Spirit. At some meeting during the week, I forget which one now, a man of the local congregation pulled me aside to give me a gift in an envelope. I understood it to be money, and he just wanted me to be blessed on my travels. I put it in my pocket and went back to the meeting, but when I checked it later I found there to be 700 Euros!!! That was waaaaay more than I was expecting, thank you Jesus! The money I had brought was not nearly enough for the trip, but then I ended up returning with more than I left with.

Some of Marc's cats were out of their cages, including his most important breeder, which had been running loose for over a month now. It was getting urgent that the cats return to their cages for the sake of the business. We prayed a very simple prayer that the cats would be led by the Spirit back into their cages, and that they would just show up there. The very day after we left Asti, all the cats walked back into their own cages. One of them couldn't "walk" back in because he had escaped through a gap in the door that he had to force through, 5 feet off the ground - and he went back in that way! Ha ha, I love how much power God will put on a prayer that is fun and easy. Thank you Lord for being willing to partner with our words and, to do what so many preachers deem impossible, herd cats.

Julia and Roberto returned to Switzerland on the weekend, and on Sunday afternoon, Nathalie and I set off for Florence. We drove away in a convertible Mini Cooper, and camped out at the seaside town of Marina di Carrara. I had seafood there, it was delicious. The next day we got to tour Pisa (and yes, I did eat pizza there), see the leaning tower, and head into Empoli, near Florence. We were connecting with a worship center, where some Bethel people had been the year earlier (including Nathalie). We had dinner with the core group of leaders that night, and then we held meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday we were essentially ministering to the core group of leaders. We had a soaking/encounter time with some sozo worked in to bring some freedom, and again, it was so encouraging to hear the testimonies of how people encountered the Lord. Wednesday we did a similar healing meeting, and this really blew up! Catherine Stankiewicz joined us for this evening, which was such a pleasure since she was part of the Bethel team from the year before (and she's just amazing). So many people were healed - I even gave some words of knowledge before I started my teaching, saying that they would get healed as I spoke - and they did!! Elbows and necks were healed, some right away, and some later on in my message, it was so much fun. They all got so excited about what God was doing, it was amazing. As the evening went on I was able to teach on how we can heal by releasing God's presence from within us, and we were able to see that at work; seeing healing happening while focusing on the Presence. It was such a fun night we just had to end it with a fire tunnel. There were some people that the Joy of the Lord had been hitting, and so the three of us (Catherine, Nathalie and I) invited five of the people there to be the fire tunnel with us, and we made sure everyone was good and blessed before we said goodnight. Two doctors were healed of their allergies - they went off their medications, and one young man was healed of acne - I could only see one small mark on his chest and one small mark on his face! God is so good! I'm still waiting and hoping to get some more written testimonies from that evening.

While in the Florence area, Nathalie and I were able to tour around and see San Gimignano, Florence, Sienna and Assisi. Definitely look at my albums on facebook if you can. Italy is so beautiful, and Jesus loves it there so much - He loves the people and revival is just waiting to happen. Get ready for the flood of Jesus' LOVE Italia! On Thursday night Catherine, Nathalie and I were invited to dinner by Gabriel, a gentleman we had met and ministered to in Empoli. He had been so implacted by the Bethel team that came last year, and again really touched by what God did this year, that he wanted to bless us with dinner. He took us to an incredibly fine restaurant, with a chef that was described to us as being one of the top chefs in Italy. I could spend hours describing the glorious food that we ate. It was an amazing feast of excellence, and a beautiful way to finish off the two week tour of Italy. I only wish we could have seen more, but I guess next year we'll have to work in Rome, Venice, Naples, and Sicily. I was invited back by so many, and I think I would like to honour each one of their requests. Before flying out of Torino, back in the North, Nathalie and I stayed over at a friends place near Asti. They have a Bed and Breakfast with a vineyard, and an amazing view over the Italian Alps... I know... suffering for Jesus.

Un Poco Loco.

2011-07-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

I taught three time on the prophetic during the 10 day period that I was here in Madrid alone, and it went very well, but I was excited for some Bethel community to join me. Over a week ago my friends Thomas and Arnaud flew into Madrid, and we subsequently started a six day series of meetings at the church. The first night Thomas decided to go with a standard "word of knowledge and healing" type meeting, just so we could minister to people and show them what we're about. It was great - so many people got healed! At first there wasn't a lot of response to the words of knowledge, but after a few people were healed, then people really started to get excited about it. Jesus is so much fun!

The next night we had a soaking/encounter time where Arnaud led the group in a group encounter with Jesus. So much was accomplished just resting in His presence, and when he finished the exercise, nobody wanted to leave, so the band started playing and we had a worship celebration party for half an hour or so - it was amazing!

The miracles increased as the week went on. Asthma, vision problems, hip pain, knee problems, back problems, foot pain, sweaty hands, thyroid condition, post-operation neck trauma, heartburn, herniated discs, and more than I can remember. As well, by the third night, there was an outbreak of joy in the room, and people were getting so drunk on the Holy Spirit they were laughing uncontrollably. It was a great time!

During the days we were getting out a bit for some sight seeing, and I've been taking many pictures. We've been to Segovia, Avila, and the Royal Palace in downtown Madrid. When we were in Segovia we saw miracles happening in the streets as we walked through the city streets. One woman was selling her goods outside a cathedral, and her whole back got healed after years of pain. Inside that same cathedral, God touched the knee of a curator, healing it completely! Thank you Jesus! As we left the cathedral, we prayed for a beggar that was in a wheelchair at the gate to the cathedral (think: a lame beggar at the gate the the temple). He didn't know much Spanish since he was Bulgarian, but we were able to pray for him and he got filled with the Holy Spirit right there, with tourists walking past and everything. He started shaking and speaking in tongues, it was intense! We finished off that day by prophetically going to this one special restaurant. It's special because it was a restaurant that the King of Spain used to frequent. We went in and had some sodas and tapas (small plates of finger food). King Arnaud, King Thomas, King Dave and Queen Marta.

By the end of the meetings, we were having activation times where some people from the church were calling out words of knowledge, and then others from the church were praying for them - and they were running their own healing meetings!! It was so cool to see them step out like that. We had another meeting where I had selected a group of people from the church to join Arnaud and I in giving some prophetic words. They all gave amazing prophetic words; it made me feel very proud as their teacher.

And now that conference is over, and Arnaud and Thomas have left Madrid. This Saturday I fly over to Italy for a 9 day series of meetings in a northern Italian town called Asti. I'm meeting up with fellow Bethel friends, Nathalie, Roberto and Julia, and it is going to be very good to continue along this journey with family. I am then going to spend about 5 days touring around Italy a bit, possibly holding a few more meetings in Florence, we will see what the Lord has planned, but it's going to be wild! I would very much appreciate your prayers for this period of 2 weeks. I don't fully have enough money to support myself for this time frame, though I have already paid for my tickets.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Peace.

Revival Spreads in China!

2011-06-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

I recently received this report from a friend of mine in China, where we held a conference this past April. He's a young and passionate revivalist who loves to see people encountering God, getting healed, getting whole, and getting saved. I wanted to share the fruit of our trip with all of you who have been supporting me in my adventures.

"We've had amazing stuff happening all the time since the conference! I guess my Facebook status' have mentioned some of the cool stuff happening but there's been so much more. We've started weekly treasure hunts, which have been amazing! so much fruit has come from it, all of us who went to the [Bethel] conference have been meeting regularly to share testimonies and worship together which has also been good.

I guess for me the most significant thing that has been happening recently is the supernatural becoming part of everyday life, it's seems strange if there is a day where somebody isn't healed on the streets since that has become the norm for us! I honestly feel like the atmosphere over this city is changing, it's becoming easier and easier to see breakthrough, in healing, salvation and god encounters. People on the streets seem to open up their hearts to us way more than before.

Among the foreigners here there this kind of culture is developing and it's so encouraging! In fact many foreigners and chinese here are hearing about what's going on and inviting us to share with them and pray for them to receive the same thing. Last week a south american couple here heard about what we were doing and asked to meet with me and for me to lay hands on them, the Holy Spirit wrecked them and they said they feel like they've finally got what they've been hungering for! Jesus is sooooooooo good.
We went and taught on healing at a local church 2 weeks ago and we didn't pray for anyone but God broke out as we told the people that they can heal people too, a lady with eyesight problems got healed, a lady who hadn't been able to walk for a few days was healed, and a lady with a twisted foot got better! The church was soooo encouraged because we didn't pray for anyone but empowered them to do it.
I really like since the conference something has changed in my heart and me and others are beginning to reap what people have been sowing here for many years (some say centuries), for example my friend had been praying for her Muslim friend for 5 years (an 80 year old lady) and last week on my first time visiting them we prayed for the 80 year old's blind eye and it got healed! Soooo good! So many good things have been happening that it's hard to describe everything. Too many to write I feel!

The guys who went to the conference in C****** are especially keen not to lose any of this. I've become a leader in this movement that's going on here and am desperately trying to give it away and empower others, please pray for others to be get boldness to step out too! I think maybe I've seen at least 100 or more people healed on the streets alone over these last 3 months or so, plus others in local [churches], but my heart is so longing for others here to do the same everyday, how many more people could be impacted? Since the conference I've shared the gospel with so many people eager to listen because they got healed, maybe at least 50 people in the last 3 weeks (the crowds gather to see what's happening and really listen when someone gets healed).
It seems God turns up everywhere, in the park a whole family got healed of all their ailments, then about a week later a whole family got healed by the lake here when we just went to have a look around, no other agenda! I'm so amazed by how gracious our daddy God is and how willing he is to show his kindness to people who don't know him, most days on the streets I see people healed, some who can't walk well have been able to walk much better after laying hands on them, so many God encounters are available it seems! It seems that this stuff is so easy to do! I'm so excited about all he is doing here, writing this email gets me stirred up!
So thanks so much to all you guys for coming to China and imparting something truly of God to us. Be encouraged, what you have sown and sacrificed is producing a hundred fold harvest! People all over the world are hearing about what's going on here and being blessed. I'm so excited for the future here, it feels like heaven is really opening up over this province. We would love to setup a training school here one day, like a supernatural school of ministry kind of thing.

Hope that's encouraging for you guys!
Be blessed!
Please pray that we have will have increase!"

Summer Glory Adventures!

2011-06-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Last November I traveled with BSSM to a church in Madrid, Spain. It was a life changing trip, and it was full of the love of God and the mysterious glory of Holy Spirit. Everyone was radically transformed, including our team, and we left a part of our hearts behind. The very first day I was in madrid, I went out to a coffee shop (in an effort to fight jet lag). I walked down the streets in a suburb of this European cultured city, and thought, "I could live here." That grew over the week into a desire to return to Spain in the summer after I was finished second year. As the months went on back in Redding, I began to talk with Marta (our contact in Madrid) about ways I could continue to be involved with what God was doing in the church there. After discussing with the leadership at the church, they invited me to come and stay with them for the summer, specifically to teach on prophecy and other topics.

I graduated second year with plans to go on a 1400 mile motorcycle trip around southern California, but no money to do anything. Not only did I have no money, but I hadn't paid rent in 2 months, and I had various other dues to pay before I could even think of leaving Redding. Ha ha... I love working for the Lord, He's so not stressed about bills. Through all this I still had a word from the Lord to go to Spain, and so I just kept moving forward with the plan. Sure, I had the option to do the "responsible thing" and get a job, but I knew what God was directing me towards, and what He had put on my heart. Faith has no plan B. So there was definitely times of waiting. Six days in Redding after graduation, waiting for money to set out on my motorcycle trip to Santa Barbara. On the road in Santa Barbara, waiting for money to complete my trip and get back to Redding. Seven days in Redding, waiting for the weather to clear up to bike back to Canada. Eight days in Campbell River, waiting on money for a plane ticket to Madrid. But I think if we're willing to live with uncertainty, then we learn to do life in those moments of waiting, and it doesn't feel so much like sitting on our hands.

And now, I'm sitting in my room in Marta's Family's house, in a little Spanish town called Galapagar - about 45 minutes West of Madrid. I'm still so overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God to even really have my bearings. I am unimpressed by preachers who get all riled up about the faithfulness of God; since they read it in the book, it must be true. But those who know speak of His faithfulness quietly, impressed with the fear of the Lord, having trusted Him with their heart, their life, and found Him to be absolutely trustworthy indeed.

I went to the church today, and it was smaller than I remembered. It felt weird to be there without my team, and I hadn't thought about coming here without them until now. It was really good to see the people from the church, although the person I connected with most last November, Josue, is working in America for the summer. I'm looking forward to being able to teach and impart all that I've had deposited in me. In about a week, a team is coming from Bethel, and the pace will change again. Then within a week of that, I'm going to head over to Italy to join Josh Albillo and a Bethel team there. It's so amazing that I am able to travel around within Europe for so cheap - my return flight to Italy will cost about $75! Then I'll be back in Madrid until the beginning of August, when I am planning on visiting some friends of mine around Europe. Mostly Norway and England. I fly out of Gatwick August 12th (though I'm trying to get that changed), and I'm hoping to connect with some good friends in the London area. God has been so faithful to provide, and I know that I'll have more than enough to accomplish all that I set my heart to. Speaking of which, shortly after heading back to Redding for 3rd year in September, I'm going to travel to Ecuador to help my friends launch a School of Supernatural Ministry in Cuenca. Ha ha... I love my life! Jesus is just so good. I hope you all get so whacked in His goodness that you can't speak right all day!

Yaweh-Jireh: The Lord is my Provider

2011-06-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

At the end of last summer I tallied up the sources of various financial support that God had blessed me with because I wanted to track His goodness with thankfulness. I decided to continue to record all financial provision of $20 or more that came in throughout the year. So this is it, the story of His faithfulness of provision in my life for the last year. I'm sure that the year before would have been a similar story, and that next year will be even more dramatic, so thank you all, and bless the Lord for being so good!

By the end of summer 2010, I had earned about $2500 working in a church in my hometown. They took an offering for me that amounted to just under $1000, and also retroactively gave me a raise that amounted to about $1800 in back pay. My sister and her husband gave a generous $200, and I received another $200 in cash donations from friends as I left for Redding. I received $3000 from my parents for my car (since I was switching to a motorcycle), and I held a garage sale (which was mostly items given to me by church members) that profited me about $700. I was also given a donation of $685 from a church in Coombs that has taken me in as family. Altogether this was $10,085, but this became significantly less after I took a trip to Ecuador, paid for my motorcycle training course, traveled to Redding, paid my tuition, settled in, bought a motorcycle, paid for a missions trip to Spain, and paid rent after finally getting a house. In fact, I was broke by October. I think I paid my October rent, but then the funds essentially ran out. And by essentially I mean quite literally, I had nothing.

I traveled to Spain in the first few weeks of November, on a trip I had paid for in September. By the time I left, I was excited to travel so I could eat three meals a day. I somewhat had counted on having money come in by the time I returned to Redding, but when I came back the situation hadn't changed. Through this whole time I wasn't worried or even that discouraged about it. At times I shared my situation with people close to me and they were always surprised by my contentedness. I just shrugged and said, “getting anxious about it isn't going to help.” That much I knew. Quite simply, I was remembering the year before, when I had prayed and cried out to God for provision, and didn't see anything come in until I gave up and rested and trusted God to bring me the breakthrough I needed. So I was doing just that, resting in Him, and waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting. It became December fairly soon, and I hadn't seen any support come in. I had little bits of a few dollars here and there, and sometimes people would share food, but sometimes I wouldn't eat. I hadn't paid rent since October, my roommate was holding the burden of my share, and when a few dollars came in I would put gas in my motorcycle before I would buy food, knowing that there were always enough social functions that had food I could go to. Also I decided that my mobility was a higher priority than my hunger (knowing that food seemed to be provided often helped). I had been applying to travel on ministry trips, and I had been accepted on several, but without the travel money, I wasn't able to go. Then one day in school I heard Kris say, while talking about being in different seasons, “if you've been fasting and praying for your breakthrough, maybe you should try resting.” I had an epiphany, I had been resting for my breakthrough, maybe I should try... fasting? I thought it was weird, because I hadn't fasted for a long time, and when I had tried, I had never found God there. It felt a lot like trying to manipulate God. But I asked God, “should I fast?” and I didn't hear a “no,” so then I asked, “how long should I fast for?” I heard Him say, “two days.” I hadn't eaten anything since the day before anyway, so I thought, “perfect, I'm already halfway there.” I felt that I had been given a strategy with which to partner with God in order to see my breakthrough. It didn't feel like works or religious striving, it was simply a way to be obedient. And I knew that a single hour more than two days wouldn't add to my breakthrough. I finished the fast on Saturday, and over the following week I received $460 from my International Transformation project group, $20 and $50 gifts from friends who were fellow students, and $40 that was hidden inside my motorcycle glove. I was soon home over Christmas, and I received a series of gifts from friends and family totaling $1300!! Thank you Jesus you are so good.

During the autumn months sometime, one of my roommates prophesied that Canadians would be getting extra money from the government. Later on another friend of mine gave me a one dollar bill and prophesied that there was really $1000 in it. I completely forgot about both of those things. When my mom was doing my taxes, she found an application for low income support that added government funding to my tax return. So instead of getting just the $1000 in taxes that I paid back, I received a tax return of almost $2200!! Ha ha, thank you God, you are amazing! I was able to put a large chunk of that towards my missions trip – so the Canadian government is funding revival in Central Asia!! BAM!

Speaking of missions trips, I was approaching the deadline for the final payment on my trip in March. I had missed every deadline up too that point, but I had always been talking with my trip leader about my standing, and out faith in God for me to be a part of this trip. I had felt the pain of investing hope in a trip and not getting the money, so I was fully aware of the consequences when I decided to commit my heart towards this trip. With 24 hours left until the deadline, and still $1400 left to go, I asked the Lord, “God, is there anything I should be doing to see this breakthrough?” And I heard Him say, “go for a run.” Ok. So I put on my shoes and ran to the end of the road and back. I returned to find $100 added to my missions account by a friend of mine. I counted this as a sign that God would bring in the rest, I didn't consider it again. By the time I had returned home from school the next day, I saw that all $1400 had been added to my account – including a large $1000 donation that was given anonymously!! WOW! I decided the next week that I would also need a certain amount of travel/spending money for the trip, and so I acted like a son and asked for $300. Within a few days I had several gifts come in that amounted to $350... ha ha, I should have asked for $500! I also ended up getting $100 given to me while on the trip.

After the trip I was at zero again. By the time I reached graduation time I was eating mr. Noodles once a day, on average, and scrounging whatever odds and ends I could here and there. I hadn't paid rent in two months again, and this time my roommate couldn't afford to help with the second months rent, in fact, we were all late, so we suffered the late fee until we had the money. I hadn't been able to put much for gas into my motorcycle, in fact, I wasn't even able to have insurance on it for a month and a half. I had continued to apply for trips, but even if I was accepted I didn't have any money. One of my mentors, Anne Kalvestrand, says that if all your problems can be solved with money, then you don't have any problems. I love that saying, but I'm still really waiting to live in the reality of what it implies. I told a friend that I had applied to travel with Les Coombs to Vancouver, Canada, and he decided that he wanted to bless me by paying for the trip, so he deposited $250 into my travel account. Ha ha, I again found myself counting down the days until a mission trip because I knew that it meant three meals a day. During this season I found myself thinking about my summer plans, how I wanted to travel to Santa Barbara after graduation, and then travel to Spain over the summer, and I wondered if I would have the finances to be able to do all that was on my heart. I asked God, that if I would have the money for these things, that He would send someone to give me some money right then as a sign. It didn't have to be much, it could even be just a dollar. Right then a friend came to me and gave me $21. After traveling to Vancouver, I found that the trip was reimbursed by their love offering, and so I had about $370 in my travel account that was refunded to me. Hallelujah! Such a blessed surprise. I was also given $140 by family to help me buy some good food.

I think my favourite provision testimony came out of this time when I was in the most depraved financial lack. I have a core value that I don't make decisions based on my lack (or my abundance, but on God's leading and my desire). So when I wanted to take a girl out to dinner on a date, I asked her to meet me at one of the more expensive places in town, even though the morning of the dinner I had absolutely no money. I made reservations, and then went about my day. Throughout the day I had $85 given to me by friends who were excited to invest in me. He is so faithful! He just doesn't let me down, and He is so worthy to trust. A similar thing happened again later when I needed $20 and a car with a full gas tank last minute, and God showed up through the connective miracle of facebook.

I graduated, and I still needed to get home. I actually needed to pay two months rent, settle some other debts, travel to Santa Barbara (after insuring my bike and getting an oil change), and then travel home. All in all I figured I would need about $1000 to make it. God directed me to itemize my need, and to ask specific people for specific needs. Something that I had never done before, and hope He never asks me to do it again. It was incredibly hard. I'm so over being supported, especially when more often than not the response tends to communicate a lack of support. I just want to have a job where I can earn lots of money and be a blessing to other people, specifically BSSM students who are coasting through 1^st and 2^nd year on diets of Top Ramen at 20 cents a pop. But asking one person, for a specific amount, was hard. But I listened to the Lord for the names that I felt He wanted me to ask each need for, and then wrote the emails. The needs ranged from $30 to $300, and I sent out 7 emails. The very next morning I had a reply from the person I sent the biggest request of – he'd love to help and he sent in the $300! By the evening I had received a similar response to the second biggest request, and I knew that $205 was on the way. Soon I had another response to the $30 amount. I am thankful for every person who has given to me, but for some reason, I suppose because I felt so vulnerable in asking, I feel even more thankful for these three friends – THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I left for Santa Barbara with enough money to run out by the time I got there, and along the way I ran into unexpected costs, like a flat tire. Nonetheless, it was an adventure that God was authoring, and everything I needed came through. I was given $50 by a local pastor, and another $100 by a girl that I had essentially just met. I was actually just sharing a story about how God had been providing for me extravagantly, and she wrote me a cheque right there! I love how good He is. After a brief stay in Redding, I was helped home by my parents, and they forgave the $300 that I had borrowed over the past few weeks to make ends meet.

There was so much more provision that went beyond the financial that I can't even recall. Cars and trucks to borrow, innumerable rides, filling gas tanks, food, couches to crash on, a free dryer, a room to sleep in for a week, short term interest free loans to make various due dates... there was really too much to remember. It all came down to family. Everyone who gave into my life gave out of a place of relationship. The only one I can't say that for sure was the anonymous gift for my missions. I was loved excessively over and over again as I saw people give to me and I knew that they didn't really have much money either.

Sometimes people ask me how I make it through the year, and it's difficult to answer, because quite simply, I don't know. People give, and I make it. God is good, and He takes care of His children. So thank you Jesus, for all that you've done in me, and I pray that you would multiply all that you've done in me, through me.

Motorcycle Adventure: Part 3

2011-06-09T15:57:00.001-07:00

Monday I rode south to Huntington Beach to visit my friend Gus. When I showed up I was so exhausted from all the riding and such, also I was sick from all the exhausting riding. He was going to the beach to surf with some Swedes who were also visiting (Yeah Sweden!), but I was too tired, so I slept the afternoon away, and after dinner out with them, we celebrated a night of worship together. I was still feeling tired, and after saying goodnight and goodbye to the Swedes, I slept again. The next day I rode north back to Santa Barbara. It was definitely a shame to be sick for the limited time I had there, but I guess I'll just have to go again sometime, and make sure I get the full extent of the Huntington Beach experience. On the ride back, I rode along the coast through Malibu (not that impressive really), and up to Oxnard. I had connected on facebook with a friend from 1^st year who lives in Oxnard, and I stopped in for a visit. Her mom was so hospitable, she made all these delicious Filipino deep fried appetizers and snacks. She kept apologizing because she didn't have time to make more for me, so I had to make sure she knew that this was amazing, and I didn't have time for a feast anyway. I was soon back on the road, and spent the evening in Isla Vista at the Jesus Burgers house. It was good to see them again. I was not looking forward to the next days ride, 350 miles up highway 101 to San Fransisco to Jamie's place.

As expected, it was a long day. Less dramatic than the ride down, since I decided to stick to the highway and not attempt the coastal route. About 80 miles into my day, I looked down to see that my speedometer was reading 0 mph. After double, triple, quadruple checking, and then laying hands and praying, it was still reading 0 mph. I watched over the next few minutes to notice that my odometer was also not changing its numbers. My entire instrument panel was frozen. I was planning on stopping for gas and lunch in about 20 miles anyway, so I decided to just ride on and try to figure it out when I got there. In San Luis Obispo, I refueled and was going to find food, when the gas station attendant pointed out something hanging from my motorcycle. I went back and took a look, figuring it was related to the speedometer issue, and as I was looking at it, a guy from the shop wandered over (which was good, because I don't think I was learning anything by looking). He informed me that it was my speedometer cable casing, and that when it had come loose, the cable had been pulled out. It turned out that I needed a replacement cable, and that I was going to have to ride on without any instruments. This I didn't learn from that mechanic, but another one on the other side of town that I was referred to by the first. Oh wait, no, I was referred to a place that was closed, and I ended up at a random shop near that. After all that, I had spent over an hour puttering around San Luis Obispo, and I ended up at Chipotle's for lunch eating a burrito. I tied my speedometer cable casing to my frame so it wasn't dragging (it had already seen 20 miles of pavement), and I set out. Now I had no way of telling how many miles I had traveled, except by he distance between towns. So I had to keep a close eye on where I was going to refuel. I gave myself 100 miles to refuel, and planned my stops around that. I was in a bit of a rush because I wanted to get to Jamie's before 6pm. It was either that or after 10pm. As I pressed north, I saw the clouds change, and signs of wet weather coming in. Or rather, I was coming into the wet weather. I prayed about it and decided to keep going. It wasn't bad at first, mostly a bit misty and a little light rain, but after a while it progressed into a torrential downpour. I was wearing my mesh riding jacket, which I found is highly impractical for long rides, and it wasn't long before I was soaked to the core. Visibility was dreadful, I could barely make out the car in front of me, and a cold wind stripped any warmth that was left from me. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure I got hypothermia, or pneumonia, or both. Probably both. Within half an hour, I broke through to blue sky and dry roads. Traffic resumed its pace, but I was still wet, and the cold bit more than ever. I found a Safeway to stop at, and I changed into dry clothes in the bathroom. I had to wear the wet boots still, and my jacket was still a little damp, but it made a world of difference to have dry clothes. Time was still tight, and I wanted to make it to Jamie's before 6pm, so I pressed onwards. Despite traffic getting thick in the final miles, I made it on time. I made my way to the hot shower, and settled in for an evening of rest.

I had decided to spend a full day in San Fransisco before finishing my ride to Redding. Partly because I was sick and I needed the rest, and partly because I wanted to hang out with Jamie a little more, rather than just stopping over for the night. It wasn't a very action filled day, but it was good rest. He lives in the functional wing of a mansion that is shut down because it isn't up to code. Alright, so maybe it isn't really a mansion, but it was huge. Part of the opposite side of the house had been knocked down to make way for the new driveway for the owner's bigger house, so this house wasn't up to code anymore. It's a huge series of empty rooms and spiral staircases, filled with boxes and random items being stored. Jamie and his roommate live in a wing of the building that remains up to code, but they still have to traverse the old building to do their laundry. Apparently they give guests tours in the dark, and set them up to be frightened in the basement by someone waiting. Jamie also took me out to “5 Guys”, a local burger joint. They have some great burgers! Southern California in general has great burgers. It's like they're succeeding at what every fast food place around the world is trying to do, but is failing hopelessly.

I only had 211 miles left to make it to Redding, but this was still not something I was looking forward to. At the time I left Jamie's house in Alamo, I didn't know where I was staying in Redding that night. Also, I was down to my last bit of cash again. When I rode into Redding, I still didn't know where I was staying. I soon found a room with an amazingly comfortable bed with a family that I'm friends with, and settled in for however long it would take for me to rally forth and head to Canada. I also had $200 waiting for me at Bethel, which worked well, because I still had some rent issues to settle up. Jesus is so good, He always comes through. My plan was to wait in Redding until the rain in Oregon cleared up, but it never did. A planned few day stop was progressing to a week, with no sign of the weather clearing enough for my 4 day ride to the north. But regardless, my health had not yet returned enough to attempt that ride. After about a week, I resolved to leave my motorcycle in Redding for the summer, and find a ride home. On Thursday I called my friend Laura, who was going to be taking most of my luggage anyway, and asked her if there was room for me. After a frantic day of coffee dates with friends and packing on Friday (to be fair, I had all the coffee dates, and Laura did all the packing... heh heh, sorry Laura), we left at 1am Saturday morning. The funny thing, is that when I went to haul my luggage over to Laura's on my motorcycle Friday morning, I made it 20 feet down the road and my motorcycle died. Something disconnected in the rear hub, and there was no power getting to the wheel. My bike is hibernating for the summer, and I left Redding on four wheels; I feel this concludes my motorcycle adventure.

Motorcycle Adventure: Part 2

2011-06-09T11:29:00.001-07:00

On Friday, sometime in between helping Lucas move and using his money to fix my flat tire, he finds a place for me to spend the weekend in Isla Vista. I had met the people from here before, they came to Redding and slept at our house, so it seemed only fitting that I would stay with them while I was in town. I was looking forward to seeing them again too. I soon came to know the people of this area as the “Jesus Burger” people.

UCSB has a reputation as being one of the biggest party universities in America, and Isla Vista is the student ghetto of UCSB. About 5000 students live in an area of near a half square mile, and the culture is perpetuated by a 4 year recycling period of young people who are eager to make poor choices in a consequence free environment. My vision for a restful time here had been effectively suffocated by the noise and activity spilling from various party houses and onto the streets, as a barefoot surf-culture town turned into a borderline riot-ville. “Don't park your bike on the street, find somewhere more hidden,” advised one of my new friends. He explained that the nights get rowdy enough to where the mirrors on parked cars all get smashed off, along with other forms of vandalism. Crowds of people, drunk and on drugs, wandered the streets from party to party. The next day as I pushed a longboard down the road to get a burrito with friends, the remnants of the night before included several charred couch remains in the middle of the road.

But the guys and gals I met up with here had something different going on. They had something incredibly special that deeply captivated my heart, and is widely impacting the environment of Isla Vista. At the Jesus Burgers house, a group of loving believers gather at around 8pm to worship and pray in the back yard, and then at around 10pm, they fire up the grill in the front yard and make burgers to hand out for free to all the drunk people. Very soon, there are crowds of party goers hanging out in their front yard, eating a bit of food and getting loved on by these amazing people. No judgment, no agenda, just love. It's brilliant. They have a sign that says “free prayer” on one side, and “spiritual readings/healing” on the other, and they see people healed, prophesied over, and saved right there on del Playa, the biggest party street in town. I met one high school aged guy who had recently been saved. He was partying in the streets outside the Jesus Burgers house, and one of the guys in the house who knew him went out to him and called out his name. When he turned around, the presence of God fell on him right there in the street and he started to weep. He met Jesus right then, and got transformed. I then understood more soundly why God brought me to Santa Barbara. I decided that I wanted to bring a Bethel team down in the following year, and when I talked with their leader, Jason, he was excited about that. Since then I've already had the open doors I need to make it happen. Jesus is on the streets of Isla Vista!

I showed up to Santa Barbara with a flat tire and $37 to my name, and I left with enough money to continue my journey and make it home to Redding. That included $150 that was given to me by various people in Isla Vista. So much unexpected and undeserved generosity. I also left part of my heart there, and left a new family that I will definitely return to soon. I felt that God wanted me to tell Jason that I was making a home there. In the sense that I was going to build a relationship and invest in that community fairly consistently over the years. I'm excited for that.

Motorcycle Adventure: Part 1

2011-06-02T12:57:00.001-07:00

In the second last week of school, I met with God in a powerful way during a worship time. In the middle of our conversation, I confessed to him that I didn't have to take the motorcycle trip to Santa Barbara that I had been planning. I didn't have the money (to be fair, I didn't have the money to finish school or pay rent or eat either), and I essentially laid this desire of mine down before the Lord. But He said, “don't you dare.” It became very clear to me that God had His heart set on me going to Santa Barbara, for whatever reason, and at that point I knew the money would come.

Some money came in, and I was able to settle my debts and have enough left over to begin my journey. I managed to leave Redding on Wednesday, May 18^th, after finally changing the oil in my 2001 Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic, and equipping it with a new battery so I wouldn't have to push start it every time. I figured it would be rather challenging to hop onto a rolling motorcycle while it had a small mountain of baggage bungeed onto the back. On top of my saddle bags, I had strapped on a sizable duffel bag, and a large sleeping bag. It wasn't until almost 6:00pm that I was able to ride south, towards my first stop at Jamie McLeod's in San Fransisco. I wasn't fully prepared for the toll of long distance riding, and when the sun went down after about 90 minutes of riding, my mesh jacket and gloves made it feel like riding in the winter... with the AC on. The freeway doesn't make pit stops easy, and my extra clothing wasn't readily accessible, so most of the ride into Alamo (45 minutes East of San Fran) my body convulsed as my core temperature plummeted. I ended up at the wrong house, at 10:30 at night, knocking on the back door of an older couple's house asking for Jamie McLeod. They were quite hesitant to answer the door, but I smiled a lot, and was very apologetic. When I finally arrived at Jamie's house, I sat in a hot shower for half an hour to become warm blooded again, then slept to rest for another day of hard riding.

The first day had been 211 miles down the interstate; on the second day I was planning on riding a 350 mile route down Highway 1 along the coast to Santa Barbara. Thursday morning I woke early because of the pain in my glutes, and the long coastal route wasn't looking so appealing. But I figured that I'd get used to it along the way. After a coffee with Jamie, I rode for Carmel to have lunch. Carmel was beautiful, but very touristy. From there I went south along Highway 1, despite the signs reading that the 1 was closed 60 miles south. I thought that I would try to find my way that way anyway. The coast was beautiful, though there were far too many slow cars, and far too few passing lanes. And sure enough, 60 miles south, the road was closed. Four miles before the closure, there was a detour route set up. It took me over the mountains toward San Antonio, and back to Highway 101 for Santa Barbara. The road over the mountains was the craziest road I've ever been on. It was so windy, and steep, and narrow – with a sheer drop on one side and a rock face on the other – that while I was only averaging 20 miles an hour it felt as though I were racing. To add a further challenge, there was a bicycle race over that road that day, and around more than a few blind corners I would find a small pack of cyclists to dodge. Over the mountains and the road smoothed out to gentle curves in open fields, and I was eager to make up some lost time. In my haste through one set of fields, I didn't notice what lay on the ground through a gate, and I sped over a metal lip in the road that must have been a sharp 2 or 3 inches. I felt the jar go through the bike and into my wrists, and I instantly worried about my tired going flat – especially with the added weight in the back. But as a cruised onwards, I felt no difference in handling, and eventually my worries faded away. I soon rode through San Antonio, a military base in central California, and re-joined the 101. I didn't have maps, or a GPS... or a phone. But I did have an out of service iphone that can get internet through wifi, so I stopped at a Starbucks to find the location of Lucas Bell's house in Santa Barbara, where I would stay. With that information now tucked away in my mind, and my route planned for the rest of the day, I set out to finish the day. I rode the last leg along Highway 154, and the sun had set so I was riding in the cold again. I was wearing more, but it didn't seem to help much. My bike began to sputter so I flipped the fuel switch onto reserve, while my trip-odometer only read 115 miles. That was odd considering I typically average 120 miles in the city, and I had been getting closer to 140 miles along the highways, but I estimated that I could make it on reserve into town. I guess I didn't really have a choice at this point, there were no gas stations around! Coming out of the hills into Santa Barbara, the road followed the landscape in large curves on a newly paved road. Something didn't feel right as I cornered, but I couldn't really tell what the surface was, and I thought that my tires might have been gripping weirdly. As soon as I got off the Highway I began to follow the map in my head towards Lucas' house. I arrived at 903 Cheltenham to soon discover that Lucas didn't live there, and that Google Maps had given me the wrong address, seeing as his was 903 Chelham. Just as the last light of dusk was disappearing, I walked back to my V-Star to notice that my back tire was substantially flat! It was not a happy moment. Out loud I voiced, “Ah, this is not good!” But my inflection on not good made it sound like I was cussing. After yet again knocking at a stranger's door in the evening, I managed to borrow a phone to call Lucas and he came to pick me up. The people at 904 Cheltenham were very accommodating to let me store my bike in their driveway while I headed with Lucas to 903 Chelham for another hot shower. I had $37 left, and no idea when I'd have access to more money.

My hope, and vision, and expectation for this trip to So-Cal, had been that of relaxation, rest, reading, beaches, sun, friends, casual hanging out, and all things fun, spontaneous, and restful. Did I say I was hoping for rest? It turned out that the guys at Lucas' house had mis-read their lease, and when I walked in the front door, they were well under way dismantling their house and moving out. I crashed on a futon, too tired to really care about the activity around me, or the fact that I had no idea where I was sleeping the rest of the weekend.

Face to Face.

2011-05-07T13:22:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of my first year at Bethel, I learned very quickly to make Joy a priority in my life. I found that when I focused on my lack and need, that I would become consumed with my problems, and I wouldn't be attending to my God who cares and provides for me. Much of my journey through first and second year involved being stretched in this area. Going to new places where lack and need seemed big and Joy was hard, and then fighting for Joy all over again. Strengthening myself in the Lord as I continually sought to celebrate His name and His promises.

But something different happened over the last few weeks. I was maintaining my Joy, that's certain. And it wasn't due to my circumstance, my need has definitely been there. But I was forgetting to take that time, every so often, to get before the Lord and bare my soul, being honest about how my lack and need are affecting me.

In worship yesterday, I started to do that. I just started being honest with Him about how my situation was making me feel. I don't like not being able to pay rent. From a month ago. I don't like eating only instant noodles. I don't like owing roommates money. I don't like not being able to put gas in my bike, or pay insurance, or get an oil change. I don't like having dreams for the near future, that are going to need money, and not have the money to do them. And as I confessed these things before Him, His presence just started to melt me. I soon left the place where I had been sharing my hurt with Him, and just let Him love me. The more I attended to it, the more intense it got. I went from standing to kneeling - not out of reverence, but because I just couldn't stand anymore. Then I went from there to sitting. It was a face to face encounter with God. I was weeping profusely, and His presence on me was so intense that I was sweating through my shirt. It felt like electricity was entering my face, and running down my arms. Through all of this I was having a simple dialogue with Him. I was presenting all my plans for the summer that were needing money, and I told Him that I would lay that down and do something else. He just said, "Don't you dare," in the way a loving parent would rebuke a discouraged child from giving up on their dreams. And I was filled with an absolute assurance that I would get what I needed to accomplish what I've set out to do. I asked Him for a prophetic sign, that someone would give me money that day as a symbol that I would get all I need. I told Him it could even be one dollar, or one cent. After class, a friend gave me $21.

It felt like I was pursuing Joy over those few weeks as if i were taking a happy pill every day, and just ignoring the issues I was facing. I suppose that is one way to do life. But I just don't want to become numb to His presence like that. I'd rather expose myself to Him, in whatever state I am, and have who He is transform me into who He is. I have no idea how this is all going to work out. I just know that He's faithful. I know that He's for me, and that coming up with money is so incredibly easy for Him. He's done it before, He'll do it again.

He's Better Than We Think :)

2011-05-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

One week left of school, and again, my thoughts and reflections are too dynamic to capture. I've been thinking a lot lately about being in love with God, and what that looks like, but then my thinking melted away when He whispered in my ear that Love is in me. Ha ha ha, it's so much easier than we think. I went to Canada on a ministry trip, Surrey to be exact, and God did amazing things. He always does, and it never ceases to grip me and capture my heart. There was a woman who had been in a car accident over 5 years ago, and she had metal pins in her wrist, spine, and her ankle. She had limited mobility and pain, including nerve damage to her left leg, so that any pressure would be excruciating. Jesus took it all away in the blink of an eye! Ha ha, she has no pain, full mobility, and people can even step on her foot and it doesn't send shooting pain up her leg! Does God remove the metal, or just make it flexible... who knows? I'm sure she'll get x-rays at some point.

There's a verse in Job that says, “He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there is no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness.” (Job 36:16) Sometimes we see lack and loss, and God's already looking at the potential for abundance and His heart to prosper us. I find myself in broad places, and I smile at the possibilities. He smiles over me with all His delights, and I see no lack, because in my Father, there is no lack. I can't answer all the questions pulling at me, but as I realize that I don't have to, they don't pull so hard. His promise over me is the fullness of life, and I intend to live it. Ha ha, He's way more fun than we think.

Breaking Open History: Taking the High Places

2011-04-14T00:03:00.001-07:00

(Part 2 of 3)

The following morning I spend some time soaking with the Lord. It is full of peace, and as a friend, he tells me what's on His heart (John 15:15). For a bit of time I'm filled with thoughts about Elijah and his challenge to the worshipers of Baal in the high places, and how that brought about a revolution and a shift within God's people. At the time, I simply enjoyed recounting the story with the Lord.

Our team of 3 groups together with 9 others from the city we've been in for the past day and a half. Out of those 9, three are young children, three are missionaries that speak the local language (let's call them Peter, Gunnar, and Natali), and three that speak the language of the mountain people. Kind of. Within the three that speak the mountain dialect, there is actually only one who speaks it fluently (let's call him Jeb), and the other two have a basic conversational understanding (let's call them Oliver and Betty). So now we are 12, and we head into the mountains for a two day adventure.

We are heading to a small mountain town called L_______ where there is the second largest and second most influential Buddhist monastery in this part of the world. Over 4000 monks live there, and we're excited to be able to bring life and light to such a place. Within 45 minutes of driving, we reach the first mountain pass at about 3500m. We're very excited to take some pictures so we pull over. It turns out there's an alter and an incense burner to various gods, and some other colorful religious paraphernalia marking the high points of the mountain pass. There's also a woman selling various offerings for travelers who wish to stop and worship. One of the children has a word of knowledge for the woman selling the items, and so they ask her about it, and they are able to pray for her back and leg. Both get healed immediately by a loving and powerful Jesus! They tell her all about the goodness and love of Jesus, and how He wants to know her and be known by her, and she receives Jesus into her life. She calls over another man who helps on the mountaintop, and he gets prayer, gets healed and gets Jesus! Meanwhile another member of our team, Gunnar, has started talking with a man who pulled up on a motorcycle. He prays for some manner of healing after a word of knowledge, and the man gets healed and receives Jesus! The healing power of Christ has been shown triumphant on the mountaintop! Just at the same time that the woman is having her life transformed by the saving power of Jesus, there is another Buddhist family who has gone to offer their prayers at the alter in the background. I actually have a picture of the contrasting images: crowds crying out to lifeless gods who don't hear, and a single woman who has just been encountered by the Only One who really does, and cares so much to reach into our lives. It seems that this day did have an Elijah moment. The woman invites us to come share the message of Jesus with her whole village. We offer to pay her what she would normally make in a day, and go immediately, but that doesn't work for her, so we tell her we will stop by on our return trip. [[We do end up stopping on the way back, though we were rushed because we had to catch a plane. We visited in her home and blessed her family. The missionaries that work 45 minutes away in X______ will be able to follow up with her invitation to come and minister to the whole village.]] There certainly was a sense of victory as we drove on from the pass, and there certainly was a shift in the atmosphere in the region as we journeyed onward. Other miracles and stops for food peppered the rest of the drive to L________, where we finally arrive in the early evening. I was continuously distracted along the drive by the awesome and inspiring scenery of mountains and rivers. We arrive in time to settle into our hotel, a place where Jeb had stayed a few years earlier, and then head out for some cultural mountain food.

Breaking Open History: Changing a Nation

2011-04-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

(Part 3 of 3)

The day starts with a team meeting in the hotel room while the kids play in the hall outside. Their noise is a welcome cover for our slightly illegal intentions; these mountain towns are even more watched by the government than the cities, as much of the civil unrest and dissent finds its origin here. We talk about the spiritual darkness in the area, but I will not let that be the note we hold as we turn to face the day, so I trump whatever the devil's doing with the finality of God's goodness, and the vastness of His power. I give a prophetic word of how it's going to be easy, and there is nothing that darkness can do to hinder our impact on this region. I speak out of 1 Samuel 14 where Jonathan and his armor bearer ascend to the high place to attack the Philistine garrison. It said that the Philistines “fell” before him, and they were killed by his armor bearer. I also reference when the priests and soldiers came to get Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, asking for the Messiah, and he said, “I AM.” They all fell over by the wave of glory that was released in the authority from his affirmation of his identity. And I encourage them that as we ascend the high places with courage and speak out of our identity the name of Christ, the enemy is going to fall before us, and it will be easy. And it was easy.

We had planned to head strait out of town, ascending into the mountains to pray and declare and worship over the town. As we are walking out of town, we walk through the monastery and pass a S_____ – a monument that marks the grave of one of their deceased teachers, and is also a site of worship for them. There is, among the throng of worshipers, a man sitting and selling trinkets. One of our team, Peter, stops to ask him if he had any pain in his body that we could pray for. Since we weren't planning on doing any overt ministry until later, the rest of us (besides Joel and Jeb) held back and waited for them to be finished. I actually video taped the healing session for about 6 minutes. The man gets healed of something wrong with his ear, and a Buddhist nun witnesses the whole thing. She asks them for prayer for her deaf ear, and her deaf ear gets totally healed in the name of Jesus! By now I had stopped video taping, and the others were gathering a little closer, because we weren't sure if we were going to stay a little longer, or head out to the mountains. Then, before I really knew what was happening, I was surrounded by mountain people who were all pointing at the parts of their body that needed healing! What I didn't know, is that the nun had told the crowds, “These people have power. When they prayed for me, power went into my body and healed my ear.” So by the word of her testimony they were crowding around each of our team members! How they knew we were even part of the same team I don't know, westerners aren't entirely foreign to this village, and we certainly weren't the only ones there. So I'm praying and declaring and releasing and loving and sign language-ing and breaking almost every cultural barrier regarding physical contact that we had learned before going. People are radically encountering God and getting healed all around, but it's so hard to really understand what's happening without the communication to get feedback. At one point I'm using one of the children to translate into one dialect bits and fragments that the mountain person might understand, but it's still barely making any sense. This was happening with all of our team, each speaking whatever language that we knew, only 2 or 3 of us actually making much sense to them, but the look in their eyes, and the expression of their countenance declared the truth about what God was doing in them. After about 20 minutes, Jeb says to us, “we need to leave.” So we withdraw from the crowds to go to the mountains. It feels like such a Jesus thing to do! He tells us along the way (since he did have a firm grasp on the language, and what was happening in the mayhem) that he was able to tell the crowd about Jesus, and that it was him who was touching them and changing their lives. He sparingly estimates that about 15 people professed Jesus as their Lord during that short time frame – in a Buddhist monastery!! Deaf ears opened up, blind eyes could see, the lame were walking, and pain was leaving bodies. There were probably between 30 and 40 miracles of healing, but it's impossible to tell given our exposure. He explains that the situation was getting too public, and we were drawing too much attention, the local authorities and government were bound to show up very soon. Sure enough, by the time we climbed up to where we had a view over the town and monastery, we saw a white unmarked van parked across the street from where we had been ministering.

We do what we set out to do up there, we declare and pray and worship! But instead of looking to God to see what he was about to do, we rejoice and celebrate the amazing work he had just done. We then split up into smaller groups and work our way back into town. Some of us go further along the mountains to the other end of town, and some go back the way we had come. The group that goes back encounters people who recognize them from the morning, and they get pulled into shops to pray for people. More people get healed and encounter Jesus. This is a similar story for Peter, who finds himself praying for people in the back room of a shop that sells monks clothing. Three people were healed and one received Jesus into his heart. We end up re-congregating back at the same monument where ministry had broken out earlier that morning, and just visit with each other and the locals as the fleeting daylight turns to dusk. Betty starts to exercise her mountain vocabulary with a lady next to her who isn't involved in their seemingly non-stop worship, while Scott and I stage several 15 second exposures of the monument with “Jesus” and the emblem of a cross superimposed over it with a moving flashlight. Pure genius. I had to walk clockwise with the worshipers to make it work, so it was a little tricky, but the results speak for themselves. I'll try to get the photos off him to post on facebook. The lady that Betty has been chatting with receives prayer and gets healed while this is happening, and she grabs her two friends who are worshiping at the S_____. They get prayer and get healed, and also one other woman who Joel had been talking to. The first three all profess Jesus as Lord, so there's another 3 entering into salvation and starting their eternal journey with Jesus! And I'm sure the fourth is well on her way, having felt the kindness of His touch. It was around this time that we remembered the prophetic word about Jonathan, where it says that about 20 fell before him that day. In this day, about 20 professed Jesus as Lord and saw their old nature fall away as they embraced the King of kings for the first time!

When we wake in the morning, there's a layer of snow covering the ground. We are at about 3000m, but still, this is unusually late in the season for any snow. The temperature had dropped significantly the day before, and we went from being outside in T-shirts, to wearing all the snow gear we could put on. Both Joel and I get prophetic words about this. He says that we are leaving the region different than when we came, which is a powerful truth. I say that God is speaking Isaiah 55:10,11 over the region and what we released there: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

What was worked out through us in the mountains was not the fruit of many seeds, but the seed itself, and it will germinate and multiply rapidly, until the pressure forces an explosion of fruition to break forth, and the multitudes will stream towards the light of Christ wherever they can find it. Lord bless the harvest, and bless the harvesters, they are about to witness the surpassing manifestation of their deepest dreams for this nation. When I returned to the city, I found this prophetic word from my father in my email: “What you are beginning in China is like a wave, like the wave of a timpani that will radiate throughout China. Normally a sound wave is dampened. This will not.” And I was drawn again to the account in 1 Samuel 14. After Jonathan and his armor bearer take a stand in the high place with courage, a sound is released that shakes the earth. It throws the enemy camp into confusion so that they defeat each other, and it reaches the Israelite camp, inspiring them to take up arms and join the battle – even the farthest Israelite was drawn back to their true identity and inheritance in the Lord. Some of the workers who have been in this nation for decades have been faithful to the bone, and have lost all but a sliver of hope for places like the mountain town of L_________, their experiences have been all so dark there. But when they heard about what God did on this trip, they cried tears of joy and wonder, as they were rallied to courage and partnered with what God was releasing like a mighty wave of sound, a drum roll of thunder over this ancient land. The sound of the name of the risen Jesus. In the words of so many, history was made on this trip, nations were changed on this trip. But then, that is what we do. Thank you God, for being so good, and actually letting us take part in this grand adventure; bringing Heaven to Earth, and transforming the kingdoms of this world to be the Kingdom of our God.

I can't write this report and not explicitly say that I was overly thrilled in every capacity with the missionaries that we partnered with in C_______ and X_________, and that came with us to L________. They are the heroes, and they are truly receiving a multiplied portion in Heaven for their investment. I was so excited to be able to partner with them, and see that equipping them was as easy as standing back and letting them do what they do. Each one of them saw God work powerfully through them, and demonstrated that God is not one who discriminates who He gives His gifts to. Each one of them stepped out in courage, time and again, and each one of them loved His people well. This hardly felt like a missions trip to them, and more like a vacation with them. Thank you, all you superheroes, for being awesome, and making it all so easy.

Breaking Open History

2011-04-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

(Part 1 of 3)

I traveled on a trip to a place I am not supposed to talk about explicitly, because the nature of the trip we did is quite illegal in the regions we were doing it. As I describe what we did, I think that you will be able to figure out roughly where I was, but I will intentionally avoid specific names and key words for the protection of our contacts in the region, and Bethel's interests in returning. I would like to preface the following by saying that the actions of salvation and healing and miraculous displays of God's power in these areas is a moment of history making importance. Many of the missionaries who have been in these areas for some time now have heard the reports I'm about to share, and have wept because of the amount of time they've been carrying God's heart for these regions without seeing the fruit. But the time is now, and the season is changing.

Our team of 23 flew into C******, a city of about 12 million in Central Asia where we were holding a conference for around 120 Western missionaries. For about 5 days we we able to teach, impart, activate, lead on encounter, and generally refresh this group of amazing people, who for security reasons we referred to as “Superheroes.” Many of them were activated in healing and supernatural evangelism, and many of their understandings of who God is was radically revolutionized. Halfway through the week, a couple of people from our team got restless and set out to do some ministry on the street. We went to a cafe/restaurant, and we invited the owner to eat with us since he spoke English. He was happy to visit with us for quite some time, and when asked if he had pain in his shoulder, he replied no, but his wife did. We asked the waitress if she believed in miracles, and she said, “no, but I think that I can believe in you.” We were able to pray for the owner's wife, and she was healed after a few prayers. They were both very impacted, and so was some of the staff there. Another night we took 80 people into downtown C****** to activate them in treasure hunts, and they all had an amazing time. Many of them were taking their families with them, so they could learn to operate in miracles while they had their kids with them. This was impressive since any type of evangelism is quite illegal. They saw people get healed and saved on the streets, and got to be involved in the love of God being released. On the last night we had a huge fire tunnel where everyone got totally wrecked by the joy of the Holy Spirit. I've never seen a fire tunnel get as crazy as it did that last night.

On the Saturday our team split into 5 smaller groups and 4 of us traveled out to regions in the surrounding mountains, while one group stayed in C****** and held a similar conference for local missions workers. I was on a team with Joel and Scott, and we partnered with some people in X*****, a city about 600km north of C******. They own a coffee shop, and use that to network in the city. On Sunday we hold one meeting in the morning for Western missionaries, one meeting in the evening for local missionaries and church leaders, and we go treasure hunting in between. The morning meeting is amazing, with a broad variety of backgrounds all getting activated in healing, even though some are struggling with their particular religious background. Treasure hunts are phenomenal, and we saw several people get saved and healed in a park downtown. One of our teams had experienced consistent disinterest whenever they started to mention God or prayer, so they approached a woman with a word of knowledge about knee pain, and then told her that they were doctors and they were interested in practicing on her. She agreed only after her family of 10 goaded her, and shortly she was healed. By then a crowd of 30 had gathered, and the translator decides to preach the gospel. Two people make a decision to follow Jesus right there, and many more have heard the good news. The evening meeting was a large group of 40 local church leaders and attendees, with a few interested seekers who hadn't yet professed Jesus as Lord yet. We started off with the same routine as the morning, but felt it was right to change and speak about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then invite people into that experience. About 3/4's of the room stood up immediately, and we began to lay hands on people. Soon the whole room was filled with people radically encountering the living God. They were weeping, laughing, falling, kneeling and shaking. After a period of time, we gave some words of knowledge and had them all pray for each other. So many of them got to see God's power working through their hands, and they were so deeply encouraged. This meeting was probably the most illegal thing we did on this trip, and possibly the most impacting. Some of these leaders came from over 100kms away, and now they are going to take the message of God's goodness back to their churches, and see God's abundant love poured out. The evening was closed with a few hymns sung in the local language. It was beautiful.

Prayer Requests for Central Asia

2011-03-21T13:46:00.001-07:00

- pray a hedge of safety, health and protection over our team.

- pray for our team to be filled with supernatural wisdom, courage, faith, and love.

- pray that I would get $300 more for the trip (gifts/souvenirs/spending).

- pray for the power of God to be demonstrated mightily. Pray that the sick and injured would be healed, the dead would be raised, the oppressed would be set free, the demonized would be delivered, the masses would get saved, and that God's abundant blessing and provision would be poured out on them all.

- pray that lifelong, and life giving friendships would be formed.

- pray that we would have astounding weather.

- pray that we would have amazing favor with the locals, and with the authorities.

- pray for my outreach team (Joel, Scott, Myself), that we would demonstrate the power of God with the honor of Christ.

- pray that we would have the favor to influence the influential, and meet with key leaders.

- pray that none of us would be affected by jet lag. Pray that none of our luggage gets lost, and that there are no complications crossing borders.

Off the Grid

2011-03-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

His love is so abundant, and it really does reach into our darkest circumstance. The very nature of His love is that the devil's most exasperated attempts to come against us are turned into our greatest victories, and the further culmination of his defeat. His love is redemptive, and restorative, and full of healing virtue; it is substance ripe with the raw power of God, and seeded with provision, fruitfulness, and creative power. The fullness of His love flows through my veins, as a beloved son, and I have the privilege to release it to whomever I come into contact with. The overwhelming nature of what His love has accomplished for us is so dramatic, that to attempt to accomplish by our own works anything that He's already done is an attempt to walk against the hurricane winds of His love, and the outpouring of His heart toward us. This is why "with thanksgiving [we let our] requests be made known to God." (Phil. 4:6) Thank you Lord for all that you've done, and thank you Lord for all that you're going to do in my life, because you've already done it, amen.

I've been in a bit of a cave lately. A while back, as a facebook fast joined my phoneless lifestyle, I felt God speaking to me out of 1 Samuel 22:2. David was hiding out in the cave of Adullam, and the distressed, indebted, and discontented were gathering to him. I felt God was saying to me to take my hands off of relationships, and to not be intentional about anything for a while. It was totally opposite to what we're being taught in school. So I did just that, I removed my hands from pretty much all parts of my life. It was an adjustment at first, but then I saw God calling me to cultivate the garden of my heart with Him. He spoke to me out of Song of Songs 2:13,14, “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” So I met Him there, and I would spend hours reading and being in solitude with Him, because He desires to see my face, and He longs to hear my voice. The NASB translation uses the phrase, “in the secret place of the steep pathway.” And I met Him there, knowing that this silent vigil of rest was in the eternal realm a fast ascent. The journey continued like this for a week, and then I ascended to yet another level. But when you're in the mountain places with the Lord, ascent and promotion tend to feel like the exact opposite. Shift takes you to new and greater levels, but the act of shifting disengages your faculties. I had found an oasis of His love and affection for me in a desert of solitude, but then He took my attention to the open sky. That's really the key to perpetual growth in people and movements; what is an oasis or destination for a man, or a season, becomes an open sky, a starting point for the next. So I grew. I shifted. I am becoming an expert at shifting. Knowing your season is imperative to fully enjoying God. I still maintain that there is no such thing as a hard season, if you are positioned correctly before the Lord. When you know how to partner with God for what He's bringing you through, then you are positioned to experience the fullness of His pleasure and joy. Psalm 16:11 - You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. The word “path” figuratively translates as “way of living.” When we receive our instruction for how to position ourselves in a given season, the result is we take His hand, in His presence, and experience fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore! So I'm ascending this mountain, I'm cultivating this garden in my heart, I'm transforming every desert I come to into an oasis (Psalm 84:6), I'm looking to the open sky with hope and creative delight, and I think, being saturated in His affection for me, I'm coming out of this cave.

I'm still in the “International Transformation” track that I was in at the beginning of the year. It's going great; I love being involved in Kingdom advancement and expression all over the world. We are starting our second round of group projects (last time we organized a micro-loans system for families in Nicaragua so they could start small businesses and prosper themselves out of poverty, and we had $10,000 donated to the cause), and most of our team has remained the same. We are continuing to work on the Nica-loans project by implementing an education program to empower the people receiving the loans to be able to manage well what we're giving them. We're also looking at the possibilities of building a hydro-dam in one of the valleys near Matagalpa, Nicaragua. It answers both the power need, and the irrigation need for currently unusable (albeit fertile) farmland in the valley outside the city.

I'm taking new AMT classes (Advanced Ministry Training). Tuesday afternoon I take “Prosperous Soul,” which has proven to be one of my favorites. Every week I am learning so much about stewardship and strategies. I still need to process a lot of the information before I think I'll be able to teach it, because there's a lot of new stuff, but I'm excited about the learning. One of my favorite statements has been: Money is power, and power exaggerates what's in your heart. This class is about cultivating what's in your heart so that good things get exaggerated under the conditions of wealth. We have a call to bless nations (Deut. 28:11,12), wealth is a big part of that. We want to powerfully represent the King and the Kingdom on all fronts. Then Friday morning I'm taking “Prophetic/Dream Interpretation II,” even though I never actually took the first one. I don't feel very lost. It's been some good stuff, and I'm excited about being able to expand and grow in my prophetic gifting. It's taught by Nancy Cobb, and my revival group pastor from last year, Barbara Kealiinohomoku. It's always good to reconnect with her.

A Sunday night prophetic ministry recently started up at Bethel Church. They had one years ago, but haven't been doing it (for whatever reasons) over the last decade. I am part of one of the teams, as well as a substitute for various other teams, and I'm super excited about being able to apply what I've been learning and growing in the prophetic over the last few years. We had our first night a few weeks ago, and it was amazing! It was during the week of the prophetic conference at Bethel, so there were hundreds of people visiting from all over the world. We prophesied over a bunch of students from Norway, and afterward their leader came and told Barbara (who was helping to run the evening) that he had never seen anything like what we did. He was so impressed by all that his students told him about the words they had received, and he wanted us to come and teach on the prophetic to his church in Norway. We found out later that they were from a “state” church, which are known to be mostly connected to civil government, highly political and religious, but not concerned much with God actually showing up. A friend of mine at a state church in Norway actually was asked (after praying for a guy who was completely healed) to stop praying for people with an expectation that God was actually going to do anything, being told by the state church leader that it was “spiritually irresponsible” to claim that God was actually going to answer the prayers. This type of church was the one that was so blown away by our prophetic ministry that they wanted us to come to them in Norway to teach it! God is amazing, and Norway is getting rocked by Holy Spirit.

I'm heading to Central Asia in about three weeks. I'm not supposed to post details about where we're going because of the security issues. Our names will likely be searched on Google, so I'm trying to avoid any word searches in emails, or facebook, or blogs. If anything gets posted on facebook that's too revealing I will delete it without hesitation, so please be thoughtful. We fly direct from SF to HK for about 16 hours, then after a small layover we fly to our first destination; a city of over 10 million. We are holding a conference there for western M's and P's working in the country. We call them superhero's. For the first 4 or 5 days we will be teaching and ministering to them, and generally lighting things on fire and blowing things up. Doing what we do. After that, we will split into several groups. About half the team will stay in the city and hold a similar conference for local (native) superhero's, the other half will split into groups of two or three and head out into the country. We will be leading the western superhero's back to their regions, and ministering through their relationships. The stories that rose out of last years trip were phenomenal. I am very excited about being able to share of how the power of our God unfolds on this trip. I'm hoping to be on one of the teams that goes out into the mountains, but the teams haven't been picked yet.

I've recently applied for some internship possibilities for next year. I'm looking at being in school in Redding again, for one more year. Since I'm an international student, I'd very much like to do both of the internships that I applied for. I don't want to write too much about it because I haven't talked with my potential mentors yet. I am very excited, however, and I am confident in God's leading. He is so faithful, and He has never let me down. In similar fashion, I'm looking to the summer. I had dabbled with plans of international travel, mostly in Europe, but there might be some brief but extremely important business that I will be needing to attend to in Central America during the summer, so I don't want to plan myself away from that priority. Europe will have to wait, but wait it will. I don't believe it will be eluding me for very long now. I've plans for a tour starting in Iceland, and taking me through Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Holland, Lichtenstein, Germany, Switzerland, then hopefully some random southern European countries before a stop in Greece, a stint in Spain, back to England, Scotland and Ireland, then fly home. It's kind of like a figure “8” of encouraging the saints all across the continent. Alas... someday. My internship could involve a fair amount of travel, and I've got my eyes on a lot of South and Central American countries. I'm looking to invest my efforts in a Supernatural Ministry School that's being started in Ecuador by some dear friends of mine, so I'll just keep dreaming and see what that looks like. The future is bright, sometimes too bright to see clearly. Don't look directly at the rising sun, it'll make you go blind. Take in the expanse from the now till then, and let it stir your soul. God speaks to hearts, make sure yours is still alive – go find a sunrise and dream.

The Gift of Now.

2011-01-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

As the new year started out, I felt the Lord say to me, “You can look into the future and the past anytime you want, but you only have one time to attend to the present.” If you think too hard about it, it won’t makes sense anymore, so just work with me. I felt the Lord was emphasizing the importance of stewarding the moment. This is something that I’ve always had a little difficulty with, since one of my strengths is “Futuristic.”

Oh yeah, I took this test called “Strengths Finder 2.0” after reading the book of the same name. It assessed my top 5 strengths, and gave me a personal printout of how these strengths play out in my life. My top 5 are: Strategic, Self Assurance, Ideation, Activator, Futuristic. I’d recommend buying the book so you can take the test. Here are some brief descriptions of these strengths according to the book:

Strategic: People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Self Assurance: People who are especially talented in the Self-Assurance theme feel confident in their ability to manage their own lives. They possess an inner compass that gives them confidence that their decisions are right.

Ideation: People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Activator: People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Futuristic: People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

So, that brings me back to now. In this season I’m taking it a day at a time, trusting the Lord not only for food and finances, but also that I interact with the right people, and that the right doors open for me... even that I get rides to where I need to go when I can’t ride my motorcycle. I’ve been given deep experiential insights to some foundational Christian disciplines in a way I’ve never had before. I never really understood fasting, though I could site the scripture that spoke of it, and I spoke in tongues for years without really getting what it was doing, if anything. Those two things I have a deep and experiential understanding of through what the Lord has brought me, and it’s shaped how I’ve been partnering with Him in this season. For one I’m fasting from Facebook. I have come to love this fast. Even though I previously argued against it by reasoning that I am able to maintain contact a lot easier using Facebook, I’ve found that my default connection is more soundly resting in the Lord. This makes my life look a lot like drifting. I’ll just make sure that I’m drifting in the River (Holy Spirit).

Just this last Saturday I did some such drifting. I slept in too late to attend the Healing Rooms as a prayer servant, but I felt the Lord directing me to go for prayer for my ankle (previously injured playing basket-ball). I went first to a coffee shop to spend some time with the Lord, then the prayer rooms. It was my first time going to receive prayer in about a year, usually I’m on the prayer team. Even still, I hadn’t been there for more than 5 minutes before I prayed for someone in the hallway and saw them instantly healed of a shoulder injury - come on Jesus! Then I spent some time wandering around the Encounter Room (think waiting room, just with way more of the Presence, and way more expression, and way more fun). Even just being in that room my ankle felt better. While there I got to pray for a couple people, and see their lives get transformed. Lots of laughter, lots of joy, lots of freedom. When I went in to get prayer, I ended up getting matched up with a prayer team that included a sweet friend of mine from the Spain team. It is so like the Lord to provide connection like that out of a place of rest. My ankle didn’t get healed, but I got some encouraging prophetic words. And it’s impossible for God’s people to pray and nothing to happen. I’m thankful for His healing power that is alive and at work in me this very instant. Sometimes I look at days like that and forget to be thankful, thinking that it’s just another normal, uninspired day. I forget how many people don’t see miracles and healing on a regular basis, and how badly that needs to change. I probably spent about half an hour that night, sitting on my bed, and recounting all the amazing things that God had done for me that day, thanking Him emphatically for each one. As much as I want to reach for greater things in my life, I also want what I’ve experienced to become common for every believer in the Church across North America. Thank you Lord for giving me this as part of my heritage.

So now I’m in another day, not minding the future or the past all that much, but being careful of the present. For a person of my disposition, the now is a much heavier concept than the future, but it hardens my sense of identity in Him, and not in my purpose or role. It helps, in the dryness of an empty hour, to rest in the sureness of His grace for me to be a Son of glory. I know He will be faithful, and I know He will redeem me. It is who He is. It is His name. It is a wine that gets better with each aging day.

Memoirs of Going Low

2010-12-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

I have this brown leather wrist band that I wear every now and again; usually when I want to feel like a warrior. On days when I feel the most defeated, I wear it as a declaration of the overcomer that Jesus says I am. I buckle it on, and despite all the apparently powerless situations I may be in, I feel, for some unspoken reason, strong.

I haven’t written an update in what feels like way too long. I have been experiencing the increasing pressure that comes preceding breakthrough, and waiting in that suffocating atmosphere, expecting deliverance from the trials at any moment, I was binding myself to the Lord in trust. "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." Psalm 37:5. I wanted to hold off on writing an update until after the breakthrough; yet as I waited, it didn’t come. I found myself almost halfway into December, not having paid my November’s rent, not having paid my missions deposit, not having paid my loan payment, and scraping dollars and cents here and there to buy the odd bag of apples and some rice. I waited so that I could write from a place of victory; about how I had held on and trusted the Lord, and He had provided with abundance. But I think somewhere in the waiting I missed the point of what God was doing.

I confessed at one home group meeting that I had mistakenly believed that the answer to my financial problems was money, and then with a broken voice, asked my brothers and sisters to add their strength in belief to mine, and hold me up in this place where I couldn’t stand. Every new low was met with enough relief to cause me to endure lower, and every bedrock, dead-end would only break to bring me to something harder, more impassible.

Things in life have been different. Different in a new way. Not small different, but not so big different that it’s obvious. Different in the sense that I seemed to have lost the guide for how to make things work in life. I was still talking with God; I hear Him and He hears me, but it seemed that breakthrough wasn’t happening, despite all the things I knew how to do in order to affect that result in my life. I have been unpacking this slowly over the last month. First there was confusion, then hints of an awareness of the change in seasons, then the season itself started to emerge and make itself visible. I saw discipline, and intentionality, and perseverance, and practice, and learning new language, and learning new style. God encouraged me through this all that He was tending my life according to my prayers. Not that I have to be the director, but that my direction was toward my desire, and God’s tenderness towards my heart had not been forgotten in all this chaos - far from it, this chaos was the road deeper into desire. And that strengthened me too.

Finances haven’t been the only hardship, but it has been the commonality that interconnects most of the others. Some of the things that could have worn me thin were pitiful attempts of the devil to steal my joy and my life, and at these I was compelled to laugh. I couldn’t even imagine taking this sort of thing seriously. Septic problems that left our back yard covered in feces. Electric issues that leave %30 of our house without power. Water in my engine, then my battery drained as I tried to start my motorcycle. Pushing 500 pounds of purple up a hill five times because I’ve never jump started a bike before. Having my battery die again a week later because I forgot my key in the ignition, then having to push start my bike in several different locations around town because none of the trips were long enough to charge the battery. I laugh instinctively; the strength of the Lord is my comfort in these moments where my resolve partners with His joy, and I am far from feeling alone in all of this. oh yeah... the trips that I have been denied to go on because I didn’t make the finances in time. I haven’t learned to laugh at these yet, but I am not concerned. Impacting the nations is a calling and a lifestyle that I will not be abandoning any time soon, and the Lord is always faithful.

For some reason I’ve found it hard to motivate myself to get all my homework finished on time. At least, before two weeks ago I was having trouble with that. I think the feeling of being lost and not having a clear direction made it hard for me to answer questions about my calling in life. Either way, I finally got caught up. Discipline is a good word for me right now. And I haven’t just been completing my homework assignments, I’ve been investing in them. Some of my answers to questions are inspiring, and quite frankly, I like them. Here’s a sample of what’s been extracted from my brain:

...

Eternal life is a common theme throughout John’s gospel. Describe what you think Jesus meant by “eternal life”, “abundant life”, and “life”. How do they relate to us?

In the New Testament, “eternal life” is first and foremost referring to quality of life, and not primarily quantity. Quantity is assumed and implied, but the emphasis is on quality. Heaven is here now. When we are born again we are living a new life from a new place (John 3:31), and the more we live from that place and grow there, the more aware of it we become. The theme of “abundant” life is thoroughly described in the Old Testament as God reveals his desire for his people to be blessed, and be a blessing to others. As proverbs 10:22 says, “the blessing of the Lord makes rich.” Just as blessing was never meant to be an ethereal, spiritual abstraction with no substantial measurement for our lives, things eternal are not kept from invading and triumphing over what is temporal and what is now. Life is the breath of God, and the creative expression of His desire flows through us as we receive from Him. Life is the fulfillment of everything we were ever created to be, and as we partner this life with adjectives such as “eternal” and “abundant”, we start to see a glimpse of the ecstatic glories that have always been the intensive purposes of our King toward us, His children.

...

In school last Friday, Pastor Kris shared that there are different seasons where different approaches to the Kingdom are necessary. He said that if you’re fasting and praying for your breakthrough and it’s not happening, then maybe you should try resting. I instantly thought that since I had been trying to rest into my breakthrough (what I had done before, and had worked), maybe now I should try to take my breakthrough by force. So I asked God if I should fast, and it felt right. I asked God how many days I should fast for, and He said “two.” I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before since I don’t have any food, so I was essentially already halfway through this two day fast. Perfect, that’s encouraging. I finished the two days with a session in the prayer chapel, and I felt from the Lord that I was partnering with God in this to break the hold that was restricting my finances.

On Sunday night during worship I saw this connection between waiting on the Lord and seeing His face. When we are hoping in God for a miracle, we are in a place of waiting, where we are binding ourselves to His deliverance. When He comes through with the miracle, that is a revelation of His face. If we wait in hope, and don’t see the miracle, it is very heartbreaking. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But something occurred to me Sunday evening; He’s worth it. All the potential heartbreak in the world is no match for that one revelation of His face when He shines above all else, and defeats all odds. If there is a chance that I will be able to gaze upon His face, I will take courage and set my heart towards His deliverance. In the spirit of Joshua, as he remained outside the tent of meeting, never going in. I’m not sure what he was hoping for, but whatever the odds against him, he accounted the risk as worth it. Worth the one possible chance of seeing His face. So I chose to believe God to meet me in my need for finances, and I set my heart towards Ecuador.

Yesterday morning (Monday) I woke up to the unforgiving finance deadline for my ministry trip to Ecuador/Mexico, and I had no money. It was a challenging moment that I tried to shrug off, and move forward with my day. But I couldn’t. As I was heading out the door I dropped to my knees and started confessing my love for Jesus, because I didn’t know what else to do. And as the words, “I love you,” stumbled over my lips, I began to weep. My entire being was open and honest before the Lord, and I continued to confess the one thing I had to give; my love for Him. Far from being composed or collected, I mounted my motorcycle and set off for a brunch meeting with my International Transformation project group (who, incidentally, I had been working with on setting up a more substantial micro-loans project for small businesses in Nicaragua, and we had collected a $10,000 donation towards our efforts for Nicaragua during this 8 week project! God provides.) For the bike ride, it was nice to have a clear day, since there had been so much rain. But at one stop sign going through downtown, I hit a patch of wet leaves. My front tire locked up and shot out from underneath me, and my bike dropped to the pavement. I jumped off and landed standing over a still running, but awkwardly toppled motorcycle; the fall had knocked it into neutral. The entire weight of the bike came down on the floorboard peg, and bent the mount onto the frame. After a brief inspection, though I was still a little in shock, I found my bike to be apparently in order, and I set off (I mildly tweaked my ankle, and am receiving prayer - it’s improving.) But when I got to 15 mph, I couldn’t shift into second gear. I pulled over, rather hastily, and almost dropped the bike again. After a closer look, I found that the shifter was being physically blocked from up-shifting by the transmission casing since the mount had been bent into the frame. I tried to finish the trip in short jumps where I would rev high to 15 mph, then pull over for traffic, but eventually I applied wisdom from the farming side of my family, and just started kicking my peg to bend the mount back down. After a few kicks, while I was still coasting down the road, I managed to force the mount out far enough to shift. As I walked into the meeting, the shock was starting to wear off, and this recent tragedy had triggered every stress point that I had been carrying in victory over the last 2 months. I sat in proximity to my friends, listening to their words, but I was unable to engage. My eyes were glazed over, and my soul was so weak. I knew that if I gave any focus up from maintaining my composition, I would fall apart. I also felt Holy Spirit telling me that these were my friends, and that I was in a safe place here. A place to be vulnerable. I worked up to the moment to share, and through fragmented phrases and many Kleenexes, I managed to communicate the summary of what I was experiencing. They gathered around me and prayed, imparting life, and lifting me up with their strength. Some of them wanted to give me some cash, and at the end of the meeting I had $260!! After 6 weeks I was finally able to pay November's rent. But more than that, they loved me, and blessed my heart. Money didn’t ease my hardship. Love did. I left that meeting filled with hope and strength.

My day just improved from there. Too many good things to tell, but by the time I got home that night I was so full of peace I felt that I could melt. I had helped a friend of mine walk out one of his dreams by being a part of his 8 part choral ensemble performing this Friday in school. Then for dinner our revival group women hosted an event for the men. They wanted to honour and serve us, and they made us all feel like kings. It may have been the most touching and inspiring evening of the year so far (and delicious). I would have cried through much of it, but my tear ducts were dry.

Today I prepared myself for school, and I buckled on my brown leather wristband. Not because I felt defeated, or because today, I needed to feel like a warrior. Today, I know I am a warrior, it has been evidenced by the battles. Wearing the wristband is the most natural expression of the strength of my heart.

Madrid: Something Happened out There

2010-11-19T22:53:00.001-08:00

I've tried to write about what happened on the Spain trip. I really have. More than once I've sat myself in front of my computer only to get lost in a whirlwind of inexpressible memories. I give up. To be honest, I think that what God worked in and through our team of 25 is meant to remain hidden and secret. It's almost as if we were all part of a corporate expression of His intimacy, and it would be a violation of relationship to explicitly divulge what happened on this trip. I can say that people got healed and delivered, I can say that people had destinies prophesied over them, I can say that a church was equipped and empowered to bring revival in their community, but none of that really characterizes the trip. I can also say that there were consistent angelic encounters, including one night when over a thousand angels showed up, there was a pillar of fire, everyone got super whacked, and we all were sucked into heaven. That comes closer to giving a hint as to the magnitude of how impacting this trip was. Still... no justice.

Something happened out there. We all came back burned deep with the love of Jesus... and we're still trying to figure out the extent of how ruined our lives are. I've been experiencing a roller coaster of drunkenness and confusion since the trip; just trying to negotiate my new coordinates, if I have any. None of us are really sure, but something happened out there. I know that all my direction in life, both immediate and long term, has been completely altered by this trip. My hearts desires and my priorities in life, all were shifted in the shakings of God on this trip. And the love, oh my God the love of Jesus that washes over me in wave after wave... sometimes to the point that I am overwhelmed by His powerful love and goodness. There is no comprehension to His goodness.

I found, within hours of landing in Madrid, that I loved it there. I saw that I wanted to live there. I love the culture, the architecture, the people, the art, the scenery, everything. I ended up in talks with one of the locals in Madrid, and he promised me and some others from the team a place to live in Madrid if we wanted to come back in the summer. We are certainly planning on it. I'm thinking of touring Europe while using Madrid as a base camp over next summer.

I couldn't go to New Zealand with Steve Backlund because I didn't have the money. I couldn't care less really. I'm so content just soaking in His love for me. It's robbed me of most of the concern I might have had before. I have new desires. Love for family and relationships that I want to see grow in my life. I may not get to travel again this year, and that wouldn't be so terrible. I'm so unaffected by circumstance right now as I stew and soak in this love. I'm so at His mercy, with nothing to do but love Him more, and no other desire but to do just that. I had a coaching meeting with my coach, and he couldn't coach me because I have no idea what I'm moving towards right now. I'm not in a rush to figure it out, not yet. Just staying as drunk as possible is my first priority.

So now what? God knows. I'm waiting. Binding myself to Him and His words over me. I have nothing else. He is so good; He is so faithful. I am ruined once again, in the best way possible. I know it's the beginning and not the end, or even some manner of midpoint transition, but a sure initiation of some great season of crazy encounter in my life. God knows. I have so many desires and dreams, but I've brought them into alignment with what God's priorities are for me. So now what? I'm waiting. God knows it's going to be so very good.

Help me, help you.

2010-10-29T23:29:00.001-07:00

You get what you pay for. A penny saved, is a penny earned. One in the hand is worth two in the bush. I don't even know what that last one means; maybe it's outside my generation.

Revival is Jesus. His presence, His love, His healing, His wisdom, His strategies, His Holiness, His intimacy, His freedom, His blessing and His grace.

I do know that you reap what you sow, and in the Kingdom of God, when you sow into revival, you reap a harvest of revival in your own life. I'm hearing the echoes of revival breaking out from my homeland on Vancouver Island, and I know that there's a massive harvest from people there who have sown into revival through our lives (me and my revivalist friends from the Island), and we've sown into it over the years of prayer and yearning and relationships.

I do know that giving is one of the most powerful ways to steward what you have, and to invest what you have, advancing in your life from managing minas to managing cities. I had been reluctant to send out a support letter this year, I wanted to see God provide without me saying a word. But He did impress this on my heart: I would not be stewarding my call to bring revival to the nations if I did not provide you with an opportunity to invest in revival through my life. I've also been convicted to be vulnerable with my needs.

So, here's what I need, in a nutshell:

$150 traveling money for my Spain trip in 3 days
Money to buy proper winter motorcycle gear so I don't get pneumonia
Money for food
Money for rent
Money for bills
Money for gas
Money for a missions trip I'm organizing to an orphanage in Mexico over American Thanksgiving (probably about $200)
Money to help start up my Non Profit organization (probably about $1500 seed money to go through the paperwork)
$2800 for my missions trip to "Central Asia" in March ($275 due Nov. 13th

If there's a particular area that you would like to invest in, then just let me know and I'll make sure that the money goes there. Even if you want to mail some stuff as donations to help me out, I would greatly appreciate that. My address here is:

4160 Cheryl Dr.,
Redding, Ca
96002

If you're in Canada, the easiest way to donate may be to send money through my parents, Steve and Carolene Sparling, at:

896 Marina Blvd
Campbell River, BC
V9W 1X6

carolene@loudpipe.ca

Or you can donate online through the Bethel website at:

https://www.ibssm.org/?action=donate_search

My "Central Asia" trip will be under the "students missions trip" link, all other trips (like Spain, potentially Kelowna, New Zealand, and more) this year will be under "Tuition or Travel".

If you have any questions, or want more information about what I'm up to in Cali and around the world, feel free to message me, or email me at dasparling@gmail.com.

This is me, committed to see more of Jesus in the Nations. More of His presence, His love, His healing, His wisdom, His strategies, His Holiness, His intimacy, His freedom, His blessing and His grace. More of Revival.

Love you all, thanks for coming on the journey with me!

ps. I'm so stoked for crazy Holy Spirit action in Spain - stay tuned for the report.

Waaaaaay Too Good

2010-10-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

I rode in the rain for the first time today. It wasn’t so bad. I was on the interstate when it started to lightly rain. I wasn’t getting wet, but each drop felt like a hailstone that bit into my skin. Then it started to rain heavier, and eventually I was nearly blind, most of the front side of my body was soaked, and the hailstone thing, that had just gotten a lot worse. I got home, hung up the wet clothing, and set my boots, helmet and gloves out to dry. The whole time I was too excited to be disappointed. This was my first time riding in the rain!! I was so excited to be able to test what this felt like, and how this would affect the days on my trip around South America where we would be forced to ride in the harsh weather. In a phrase: I’m less concerned. I do, however, need to invest in some rain gear for this winter, since the motorcycle will be my only means of getting around.

I spent 4 weeks sick, with 4 or 5 different colds. Just as one cold would be finishing, another would start, with its unique symptoms taking over from the last. I went through several cycles of wretched, and certainly I wasn’t having a good time. I got plenty of rest, vitamins, fruit, drugs, and prayer... not necessarily in that order. It didn’t seem to work for me. It didn’t break off me until this past Monday when I just decided to go for a big run and get my body back into shape. I ran 4 miles and felt great! Later that day i went and talked with the instructor of the dojo I trained at last spring. I shared my situation with him, how I would like to be training there (what a great way to stay in shape), but I haven’t been able to come up with any money for it. He said that he’d let me train for free until we can work something out! I’m so happy about that. I’ve already been in for two classes, and it feels great! I’m excited to be able to stay in better health this year, and to be able to travel and be strong. I already feel much stronger. I’m able to make up some fee payments with him by helping out with some construction around the new dojo they’re building. I’m glad I can invest in him somehow.

I’ve been making great new friendships with the people in my new revival group. It’s like we were instantly family, and instantly thought the world of each other. it’s like we’re all hero’s in each other’s eyes, and we don’t have to try and prove anything to each other. We’ve had some amazing times, and I know there’s going to be more. I’ve been feeling that I need to be more focused with where I spend my time with relationships this year. making a priority for people in my revival group, and people in my homegroup is going to be important i think. Just a good way to be able to invest in the people that are in my environment at a deeper lever without getting totally drained. It’s part of what I’ve been feeling about stewarding my environments, and turning my “prisons” into “palaces”. Not that I feel imprisoned, but that just as Joseph was able to transform his external situation and gain favour by how he stewarded his environment, I will grow towards greater favour in each of these areas of my life by being intentional. The areas I’m focused on are: House, Motorcycle, School, Finance, Health,Encounters, and Friends. With my bike and my house, I know that I can take care of them and clean them, possibly upgrade them if I get some money or things provided. School is as easy as doing homework and being attentive in class. With finance I want to continue to give a lot, especially tithe. Last year I felt that I could give to individuals in the school as my thithe, but this year I’ve been feeling that I should commit that tithe to the church, and continue to be generous on top of that. I think I’ve gotten off to a gbood start with my health by the way I’ve been able to exercise this week, and I definitely plan to continue with that. I know that I tend to encounter God regularly when I’m in Bible study and worshiping in the secret place, so I’ve committed to seeking His face in those ways consistently. And friends, well that’s like I said, I am going to do my best to love and serve those God has brought into my revival group and homegroup.

I’m learning Spanish now, and I have a lesson once a week with some friends from school. It’ll probably help in Spain next month, and it’ll certainly help in Mexico over American Thanksgiving when some of us go south for a missions trip, but I’m mostly learning Spanish for that great adventurous 8 month motorcycle trip through Central and South America. Planning for that has been going great, and we’ve been making so many helpful contacts in countries like Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Brazil. And I know that we will develop many more by the time we hit the road. We’ve changed the departure date to October 2012 (from Oct. 2011). The Lord’s timing for this trip is not next year, but the year after, so that’s when we’ll do it. It really does take the pressure off, and I feel like we’re going to be able to experience so much more of Second year this way. I’ll also have more time to set up my non-profit organization, and fine tune all the details there. Keep your eyes open for a website coming soon that will have more details.

There’s been whispers in the air about shifting seasons, and transitions into times of manifested promises. Seeing the testimonies of that in peoples lives around me has certainly been exciting, and I know that God’s hand is on my life for some dramatic breakthrough at any moment. Great things are happening, and God is providing for me every step of the way. I’ve been reminded of my mandate for the next 5 to 10 years of my life: Isaiah 55:5 - “Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.” My draw to travel the world and bring the Kingdom is not unfounded, and I know that He will take me exactly where I need to go. There’s even rumours of some world tours over the summer, whatever that looks like.

God is way too good for anything but His great love to occupy my attention. Every day is too short, and every moment I steal away with Him passes too quickly. I know and sense Him in everything that I do, but my heart aches for more of the secret time where I can steal away, wake early, sneak out and be with Him. It’s in this place of longing that His resurrection power stirs within me, and builds my faith to soar to new heights. What craziness will unfold in Spain? Stay tuned.

The Virtue of Waiting

2010-09-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

“Settled” is the wrong word. I feel... nomadic. I’ve found a home, I’ve got a bed and most of my clothes are off the floor, I’ve got internet, and I’ve finally got a motorcycle. But I don’t feel settled. It’s like the season God has me in is one of faithfulness and hiddenness. How do you know if that’s the season God has you in? You like it. You love being faithful, and you love being hidden, and you find His heart in those moments. It’s not that faithfulness and hiddenness aren’t staples of the christian walk, quite the opposite, they are bigger than most will ever practice. But in this season I feel that they are the utmost focus for my heart.

I’ve been faithful to my heart unto God as I’ve set my expectations and priorities for this coming year, and I’m so incredibly excited for where God will take me. There is so much more that God is going to do this year than I could ever possibly imagine - He is so incredibly good! This evening I will plan out a weekly schedule, to help me be more organized and efficient with my time. I’m going to need that kind of focus with all that comes my way.

I’ve registered in my Advanced Ministry Training (AMT) slots, as well as my Track. For the first AMT, I’m taking a course on “student development” - which is essentially coaching. My second AMT is called “Living Your Dreams,” and I haven’t had a class in it yet. My track is “International Transformation II,” a continuation of what I took last year. We had our first class today and it was great! I’m so excited for this track. We get to work on a personal project for the last half of the year, and so I’m rallying people around me to help me prepare for the motorcycle trip around south america.

I’ve already started applying for ministry trips. I think I’ve applied to 9 trips so far. I’ve already been accepted to go to Spain (Madrid) in November, which is super awesome! I’ve also applied to go down to a Central American Pastors conference in Nicaragua in January, a trip to Auckland, NZ that would be 5 days after I get back from Spain, and various other trips around the states. I’ve talked with one of the leaders about traveling to “Central Asia” (shhhhhhh), and that would be during March with Missions month, so I’m planning on doing that as well.

If you are interested in sowing into my ministry, to bring healing and revival to the nations, I would invite you to join with me now as I prepare to destroy the works of darkness all over the planet. Partner with me in prayer, or partner with me financially and find yourself reaping revival in your own environment.

I’m so thankful that there are people on this journey with me, it really means more to me than you realize - thank you for taking the time to read and join with me as I follow after God and dream big for His Kingdom. Bless you, and your house. Check out Psalm 67... it’s a gooder. Pray it over yourself sometime too.

transitioning... I think I've been here before

2010-09-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Redding almost a week ago after three and a half months of... furlow... sebatical... whatever you call it, I’m delighted to be home. Ironically I have started the year with all my stuff piled in a friends garage as I stay at their house, after having lived in a garage for the last month I was in Redding. Even more ironically, the house I’m waiting to move in to is with the guys from the garage I lived in at the end of last year, and the garage I’m in now is with the guys whose house I moved out of at the end of last year.

I can’t possibly express the freedom I feel as I have walked through this first week back in Redding, and these first few days of school. I would say it’s like I picked up where I left off, but it’s far better than that; this summer resolved and activated so many things in me, I couldn’t possibly function the same here again. However, I am able to celebrate with many of my friends just as I did last year; my heart goes out to those who didn’t end up back in Redding. But just for a bit, and now I must take it back wholey and completely; I would not give up any possibility this year for sentiment, I am fully yielded, sweetly unto the Lord.

But Freedom, so much freedom. Freedom to be bolder than I have ever imagined myself to be. Free to dream bigger everyday, and constantly exceed those dreams. My mind can’t yet grasp the scope of what this year holds, but I drink it in in my spirit, and it is so good! Everyday holds so much promise; I am free.

I jumped at the chance to minister in the prayer line after service both Sunday morning and evening (which were both such amazing services), and I was reminded again that I am living the Kingdom life that God breathes continuously through me. Sunday morning I saw a woman fully healed of a “compressed spine,” as the Holy Spirit overwhelmed her, and after several pops in her back, all the pain left. Sunday evening I prayed for person after person who encountered the love of God, including one gentleman who was looking for direction in life and I prophesied exactly what God had been speaking to him that day - “write a book.”

So today I collaged the cover of a journal I’ll be using to take notes with this year, and listened to “Journey” while eating pita and hummus. I suppose I could be concerned about being homeless, phoneless, vehicle-less or some other thing, but I have way too much good sense to fill my mind with anything but the sweet, sweet love of Jesus.

I just heard yesterday about a testimony from Ecuador. After we left, one of the elders of the church we taught at, Vicente, had been radically impacted. He went to a hospital to pray for a relative of his who had an illness where water is retained in the body, and the boy was swelling up like a balloon. After Vicente prayed, the boy said that he had to go to the bathroom. He peed for 25 minutes! He was discharged from the hospital the next day, totally healed. It’s those stories, and the heroes that walk in faith and power that stoke my heart and make me burn. I’m happy I could be a part of it. Join me, I dare you.

The Story of My Life: Chapter Now

2010-08-25T14:00:00.001-07:00

I am ruined for anything in life that doesn't bring me closer to King Jesus. I am on a path that is taking me deeper into His heart, and higher into greater realms of His presence. I am forever His servant, and servant to His children. I will stop at nothing short of changing the world, and shaping history. Join with me as I journey in His grace; partner with me as I take ground for His Kingdom, and you too will find yourself swept away in the strong current of His love.

Recent History:

I have just finished my first year as a student at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, where I had the very core of my life radically transformed to see His Kingdom advance, and see Jesus get His full reward. During this year I was blessed to be a part of a missions trip to Lebanon, where God did some very incredible things. Among the most memorable was Muslim men praying to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior in the middle of the street because they were so overcome by the presence of God. Through the relationships that I have developed at Bethel, I was able to travel to Ecuador for a three week missions trip in June. Again, the Spirit of God was with us as we taught people how to live naturally supernatural lifestyles, and demonstrated the gospel of power. Around 150 church leaders were instructed and activated in how to pray for healing, as they saw over 80 people healed at their hands by God's great power. Many more details on both of these trips, and my experiences at Bethel, can be read about at www.dasparling.blogspot.com.

Currently:

I have settled in for the summer, working at a church in my hometown of Campbell River, Christian Life Fellowship. I am running the youth program for the summer, as well as heading up some small group teachings, outreach sessions, and home visitation prayer ministries. I was able to celebrate with my sister as she was married in the beginning of June, and celebrate with my friend Carl as he was married in the beginning of July. I hope to be able to spend much of the summer connecting with friends and family, and imparting everything I can to those dear friends who have been such a support along the way.

The Future and Beyond:

I am returning to Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in the Fall to complete a second year of study there. Once again, I have yet to establish an address in Redding, California, where I will be living for the year, but that contact information will be available in September. My aspirations for the year are high, and I have been dreaming with God about this for quite some time now already. I expect to be traveling even more than I did last year, and I would like to go on at least three international trips (I've thought about New Zealand, Kenya, and “Central Asia”). Travel can look a lot like weekend trips around the US as well, but for some reason, my heart burns for the nations. I will be assuming more of a leadership role within the student body this year, as I will be leading teams of first year students on outreach, and I may even lead my own home-group.

I have a 5 – 10 year concept for what I'll be doing in ministry. I don't have all the specifics, but I do know that I'll be traveling a lot. God has been burdening my heart for missions; specifically going to minister to churches in remote parts of the world that have relationships with Bethel, and a deep hunger for more of the glory of God in their lives. The year after I finish second year, I am planning on touring North and South America by motorcycle with a team of Bethel students doing short term missions in every country that we can, and building up relationship wherever Bethel doesn't have that established already. More details on this trip will be developing throughout the year.

How You Can Get Involved:

Prayer warriors, arise! I am always looking for faithful sons and daughters of the King who frequently and powerfully put the names of His servants on their lips. History belongs to those who pray, and I am asking you to pray strategically and victoriously for my experience, adventure, journeys, encounters, transformation, ministry, favour, breakthrough, and, of course, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Please keep in touch with me if you would like more frequent and specific updates on how to pray. (facebook, dasparling@gmail.com)

The Lord was clear to me about making my financial needs known as I prepare for this year. I am very confident in His provision and faithfulness in my time of need, I saw it happen all through last year as I was provided for through seven months of school. I know that there are many people eager to sow into the Kingdom, and I consider it an honour to provide them with that opportunity.

Travel expenses: aprox. $10,000 USD

Tuition: $3700 USD ($400 USD by July 14th)

Living costs: $1000 USD/month, for 9 months

Consider before the Lord how you would like to invest in my ministry. For people interested in supporting me financially, I would like you to think about committing to a monthly amount for months September through May. This can even be a small amount like $20, or it can be as big as you can manage. Of course, one time donations are wonderful as well. Tax deductible donations can be made as follows:

I am working towards some means of Canadian tax receipts at this time, please be in contact with me for further information.

US tax receipts can be applied against any investments that are in US funds, as well as any US income. For a US tax receipt, payments can be made directly to Bethel for me into either my travel account or my tuition account at the following website:

https://www.ibssm.org/?action=donate_search

Unfortunately at this time there is no way to get a US tax receipt if you wish to donate towards my living expenses.

Keep in Touch!

Consider this my formal invitation for you to join me on this journey. Please keep in touch with me, and feel free to follow along either via email, facebook, my blog (online journal), or by contacting my family in Campbell River.

My CR address:

896 Marina Blvd.

Campbell River, BC

V9W 1X6

email: dasparling@gmail.

home phone: 250-926-6558

Ecuador - June 11th

2010-07-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sometime in the morning, Geo picks me up to go downtown (in Latin America, time is more fluid). I want to buy a English-Spanish phrase book, and he has business downtown anyway. On the drive there, he gets a phone call. A few exchanges of Spanish later and the phone call is over. He tells me with excitement that the guy that he just talked to was the “head guy” of the city (not sure what his title is), and that Geo was just talking to him about getting permission to have a healing/prophetic booth at a market place in town. These are usually very hard to get, and are surrounded by thick walls of bureaucracy and paperwork. When this guy heard what we had in mind though, he was all too eager to get us a spot. He told us that we would have everything we needed supplied, and he even offered to open up several other markets for us! He was thanking Geo by the end of the conversation. The good hand of our God is upon us! We go find a bookstore, and I get my phrase book. Only it's for Mexican Spanish, so there are some slight differences.

We meet up with the rest of the team at the house were Brock is staying. This family has two sons, Paul, and Juan-Fernando. We are going with them to pray for their grandmother, but first we pray for Juan-Fernando who has an injured shoulder. After praying several times, seeing healing happen in stages, he feels almost %100 better. He's able to have full mobility (which he didn't have before), and he drops down and does some push ups (which hurt him to do before). In the car on the way to their grandmothers house, we find out that he (Juan-Fernando) had just said the day before that he didn't believe in God. Well... I guess he does now. We arrive at a large building that I assume to be some kind of official building, or state museum. The yard is well gardened (a little unusual for Cuenca), and the exterior of the building looks like a modern rendition of Aztec stone work. “Wow, this place is beautiful,” I comment. “Yeah, can you believe that it's only one house?” someone replied. What?! This is the grandparents house! When we get inside it is even more insanely fantastic. Staircases going everywhere, indoor pool, indoor/outdoor gardens at different levels, courtyards, crazy furniture and flat screen TV's in almost every room (and some hallways). We meet with grandma in one of the upstairs floors, and visit for a moment. Then we get into praying for her. But we don't pray for her. We direct Paul and his wife to pray for her, and we instruct them briefly on how to pray authoritative commands of healing to the body. After praying two or three times, and seeing improvement each time, we ask the grandma how she's feeling. “Good. Now let's drink!” she says. They have a customary drink in Ecuador that they offer in hospitality when it's cold out (which it was). It's made from a fruit that doesn't have an English name, and when it's made properly, the fruit itself is fermented, then served hot in a small glass. But we had a quickly made version, and it was the fruit juice heated up with rum added. Still quite the cultural experience. While we wait for grandpa to arrive, we share some prophetic words with the family. I give a word to Paul that he tells me is a confirmation of a word that Kris Vallaton gave him when he was in Quito, only the one today has more details. Praise God, I love it when both people get encouraged through a prophetic word! We pray for grandpa when he gets there, and bless his family before we leave. It is such an honour to minister to these lovely people. As we go, I find out that they have this amazing house because the grandfather owns a few gold mines. Gold just keeps coming up!

In the afternoon we go back to Esperanza, and play soccer with they kids for a while. Most of these little ninos and ninas are way better on the soccer field than I am. We take the older kids out for ice cream, and as we're going to pay, the manager tells us that the kids are free. Apparently this is not a common thing in Ecuador. They didn't know they were from an orphanage or anything, they just offered for them to be free! The good hand of our God is upon us, for ice cream. While eating ice cream, we spend some time prophesying over the kids, and we give them a chance to say encouraging words to each other too. As we're leaving, we share some prophetic words with another group of girls that was in the ice cream shop. They are all blessed as they encounter the love of God. I wanted to bless the business, so I ask the manager if I can pray for her and the ice cream shop. All the workers stop in reverence as I pray. Sometimes, this religious mentality has its benefits, because I know that as they pause they all feel the presence of God move through that room.

We end up being late for our evening session at Verbo, but it doesn't matter because literally nobody is in the room yet. They all were sucked into a worship meeting that was happening downstairs just before we were going to start. Bueno! We take the time to pray, and then share some prophetic words as people are settling in. Several of the Verbo people share testimonies of how they had experienced God's presence dramatically since last night. It's so encouraging to hear that they're being radically changed by God's greatness. Brock and Jason share on identity. There are a few points that make the audience tense, as this teaching often challenges the standard church mindset. But following an elaborate Q&A time, most of them are coming to a place of understanding. My vision before the evening started was that it was going to affect them the same way the disciples on the road to Emmaus were affected. They didn't necessarily understand with their minds, but their hearts burned within them. I also saw a picture of a tidal wave crashing down upon them. So we'll see what this looks like in a few days. I know God did amazing things.

Ecuador - June 10th

2010-07-22T12:38:00.001-07:00

I wake feeling like I had partied way too hard the night before. I feel overly tired, despite having 11 hours of sleep, and I have a headache that seems to make my whole body sluggish. This, together with my shortness of breath, is the toll of the altitude here. Apparently hiking up to 2500m and living there for an extended time are two very different things. I am staying on the very top floor of an illustrious mansion type house, and I gasp for air every time I ascend to my room. Geo calls me and tells me to come over to his house so we can plan our sermons for the evening. We are both going to be sharing on intimacy with God. He gives me directions to get to his house from where I'm staying.

“Cross the bridge to the other side of the river, then follow that road to the end.”

“Right to the end? I don't turn onto any other roads?”

“No. Well, follow that road until it forks, and then on will go under another road. So you take the other one, and then it will end.”

“Ok.”

I am not convinced. But I head out anyways. Across the bridge is easy, follow the road, then it forks and I don't go under the other road but I follow the other road until it ends. Ok, it is taking longer than I thought. Maybe he meant follow the road until it “turns”. So I look through the gates of a few yards, but I don't recognize the house I was at yesterday. Great. Now I am walking down roads with no idea where to go, no phone or phone number, and dogs keep barking at me. I find the end of the road and his house is definitely not here. I turn around and walk back to where the road “turns” and look through a few more gates. Nothing looks familiar. I go to the end of the road again, and then back towards the “turn” once again. The smell of fresh baked bread is really drawing attention to my hunger. A motorcycle passes by and backfires a few times; to my credit I don't dive for cover. Then, about halfway between the end of the road and the “turn”, I look down a side road and think that maybe I recognized it. I venture to press the door buzzer, and answer the Spanish inquisitions with a very American, “uhhhh... Geo?” I don't understand anything she says, so I say, “Sorry, wrong house,” and turn to walk away. But she buzzes me in, so I go through the gate and knock on the front door. I guess I have nowhere else to go. She lets me in, and by now I see that this is in fact Geo's house, but I have no idea where Geo is. He said that he was going to meet me outside so that I didn't get lost. His mom comes and introduces herself, and says that Geo would be back in 15 minutes. I look at her with a bit of a puzzled look and say, “I'm not sure why he would have left, he told me to come over, he even said that he would be waiting for me. Unless he left to find me and missed me as I passed the house (going to the end of the road).” She says, “I better call him then.” It turns out that he had gone looking for me, and he had just asked a friend of his that was working along the route if he had seen a gringo fitting my description walk past. I guess he had, and this gringo had gone walking in a direction away from Geo's house. So Geo was just setting out to run after “me” to catch up with “me” when he got a call saying that I was waiting in his living room. We eventually both end up in his living room talking about our plans for that evening.

The noon meal here is the big meal of the day, and it is a time that family comes together as well. Most jobs shut down for several hours around noon so that people can go eat. I make my way back to Adrian's house to eat with his family. The food is amazing here, and there's always a different kind of fresh fruit juice. So far I've had peach, strawberry, sweet tomato, and orange. But the oranges here are different. They almost look green, and the juice is a pale yellow, like pineapple juice. But the flavour is so deliciously sweet, and the pulp is amazing! I am still totally lost when it comes to understanding Spanish, and most of Adrian's family doesn't speak English, so it's a little hard at times during table conversation. I just listen intently for now, and eventually I will learn some.

I get picked up at 4pm by Geo to go to Esperanza, a home for children. They work with children who don't have stable, healthy home environments (because of sexual/physical abuse), and they also work with their families so that the children can be restored to their own family in a healthy environment. Esperanza means hope. And as of now they are loving and pouring hope into 15 children aged 3 months to 16 years old. They've only been in operation for about a year, and already they have brought healing and restored 9 kids to their families after having removed them from unhealthy home environments. We are introduced to the children, and while the rest of the team is getting a tour, Geo and I work on our messages for the evening.

We show up early to Verbo Church to pray and focus on His presence before the evening gets underway. From 6:30pm, to 7:30pm we worship, pray, and write scripture references on the white board that were being spoken to us by Holy Spirit. Most of them had common themes of restoration and everlasting joy, and some of the verses were directly supporting what we were going to be talking about this evening. This meeting is the first of about half a dozen where we will be equipping and activating the leaders of Verbo Church here in Cuenca. We are going to share on Intimacy, Identity, Prophecy, and Healing. Around 7:30pm we start to circle up with some of the leaders and pray, then we break that off into a time of prophetic ministry where some of our team speaks words over the leaders of Verbo. After this I bring a teaching to them about intimacy, and how we relate to God is dependent on how we view Him. It goes well, and Geo is very kind to translate for me. He takes over after I'm done, and continues to talk about intimacy, and relating to God as a real person. We have a time of soaking after Geo explains what it is, and a brief Q&A time as well. During the soaking time I see a vision of a sword being driven into the ground, and there are three ribbons attached to the hilt. One pink, one white, and one blue. I understand the sword represents victory, and the ribbons are awareness ribbons for certain illnesses. I use Jason's ipod to look up what each colour means, although I know that pink means breast cancer. White is bone cancer, and the first description for blue is some kind of sclerosis. I share the vision, and claim healing for anyone in the room who had those diseases, or knew anyone who had them. After the Q&A time, a man comes to talk with me and Geo, and he says that when I was sharing the vision, his spirit stirred inside him and he knew that what I was saying was for him. He says that he had a generational bone disease. I tell Geo that one of the other things blue stands for is generational diseases. The man says that he felt God's presence as I shared that, and that he feels that he has received his healing. I pray for him, and then speak some prophetic words over him. The evening seems to go very well, and when I ask Adrian about it, to get a feel for what the locals were feeling, he says that it had gone very well. Adrian is very passionate to see the power of God captivate the hearts of the people in his church.

When we leave the church, we go downtown with some of the other revival hungry young Verbo leaders to partake in a local Cuenca festivity: Corpus Christi. And, in keeping with its very sanctimonious name, it's a festival all about candy. Unfortunately we miss the fireworks display, but we wander around the dozens of stalls filled with hand made candy, and am able to experience some of the joyous culture here.

Ecuador - June 9th

2010-07-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

In the morning I fly into Cuenca, Ecuador, after two full days of travel. From Campbell River, I drove, ferried and bused into Vancouver, where I flew to Houston, Panama City, Guayaquil, and then finally to Cuenca to be greeted in the airport by Geovani Osorio (fellow BSSM 1^st year grad), Jason Eastwood (BSSM 2^nd year grad) and Adrian Lopez (Geo's good friend from Cuenca). I had met up with Brock (another BSSM 1^st year grad) in the Guayaquil airport after being on the same flight with him from Panama City. I didn't see him on the plane, but I guess he saw me. We flew together to Cuenca after being hosted by a lovely family in Guayaquil. Despite being on the equator, Cuenca is fairly chilly, and the weather is quite temperamental. I suppose being in the mountains at an altitude of 2500m will do that. I can't help but compare what I see in this country to my trip to Lebanon (last March). Maybe after I visit a few more countries that will fade.

From the airport we disperse to have lunch with the respective families who are hosting us. I am with Adrian and his family, and we go out to eat at a restaurant since they are celebrating his mother's birthday. Almost all the streets in the city are lined with high walls that are topped with spikes, broken glass, barbed wire and other deterrents. It is such a transition to leave a bleak, walled in street to enter into some of the houses; they are like finely furnished mansions, islands of splendor amidst rivers of poverty. The restaurant we go to is no different. From the outside it doesn't look like we are in any special neighborhood, but once we are inside I feel like I am about to dine with Kings! It's a place called “La Tja” (Pronounced “Tay-ha”), and it was just opened a week ago by Adrian's sister. In Ecuador the roofs are finished with a semi-cylindrical clay type thing. It's not quite a shingle, it's “la tja.” That is where the restaurant gets its name, and when the meat dishes are served (delicious beef and pork), they are served in upside-down “la tja.” The restaurant has a high class “rustic” feel to it, and the food is served family style. A blend of traditional Ecuadorian and contemporary international food is served. I learn about what Adrian refers to as “sweet tomatoes,” and how they're used to make a delicious yellow salsa. The locals also make juice out of them, they're apparently that sweet.

After lunch the part of our team from Bethel that has arrived so far (Geo, Jason, Brock and I) has a meeting to take a look at what the schedule is going to look like over the following weeks. Geovani has taken a large organizational role, so the rest of us have a little less to think about. Jason shares about some ministry that happened in the downtown marketplace earlier today. He had been walking with Geo through the market, and Geo was pointing out certain people (that he knew to be thieves) and asking Jason, “What do you see about that person?” After several of these, they came across a group of thieves who were huddled around, counting through their spoils for the hour. Geo approached them to minister to them, and after a brief introduction he started to prophesy to one of them. They began to open up a little more, and allowed the guys to pray for one of them who needed healing. After some prayer, one of the thieves ended up getting healed! Jason started prophesying to this one boy who had been fairly closed off the whole time, and as soon as Jason started speaking, the boy's countenance changed and he opened up to hear what God had to say to him. As this whole thing was going on, Jason and Geo began to notice that there were two men watching intently from a distance. One of them came and joined in the circle while Jason and Geo were there, and started asking them what was going on. Then shortly after Jason and Geo left, the other man joined them as well, and it looked like they were trying sort out what had happened. They were the henchmen of the thieves.

Jason also reads from the prophetic word that I had written out about this trip before the trip started, since not everyone there had read a copy. And throughout the word he adds how God has been speaking the same things to him (especially about taking fortified cities). He also comments again on the part I wrote about “gold” being directive from God, and mentions how one of the regions we are going to minister in is literally called “province of gold”. Then Brock joins in by saying that the father of the family he is staying with (and had just had lunch with) is a gold miner, and a gold smith/jeweler. He had talked about fashioning gold for half an hour over lunch! To punctuate this time of reveling in God's mystery and majesty, we all pass around the diamond that had manifested in Jason's hotel room in Quito about a week ago. It looks spectacular! Jason is going to take it to a jeweler to have it inspected.

As we talk, Geo receives a phone call from his aunt. She had recently been diagnosed with a blood clot in her leg, and she is being monitored periodically by her doctor because they are worried about it traveling to her brain and causing a stroke. Geo offers for us to come over to her house and pray for her, and she is eager to welcome us. When we arrive we hear the full story from her about what is happening in her leg, and we also learn that her husband has several herniated discs in his back, with some leg immobility as a result. While attempting to stifle a sneeze (as to not aggravate his back) he had ended up getting a hernia in his lower abdomen as well. Before praying, I share a prophetic word with the aunt, and she responds by saying she knows exactly what it is pertaining to, and she feels a stirring in her spirit as she makes the connection. We then pray for her, and she feels a lot of heat in her body, and especially in her leg. Adrian also shows us the gold dust that had started to appear on his hands. We affirm God's healing touch on her life, and ask her husband if he would like us to pray for him. We pray for his hernia, and he doesn't feel a difference. So we pray again. We pray against the back pain, and see the pain drop to %50, then %30, then go away completely! After a little more prayer, he receives restored mobility in his leg. We pray again for the hernia, and see improvement on two more times of praying. He has a doctors appointment this Friday for a check up, so we offer to come around and pray again if it isn't totally better after that. As we leave, the aunt “prophesies” that we would come over for coffee and pastries sometime next week, and so we, wanting to “fulfill the word of the Lord,” arrange to come by again.

Geo's cousin Joseph owns and operates a cafe called “Cafe Moca”. We go there for some light dinner and coffee to finish the evening. Coffee sizes here are quite a bit smaller than in America. Portions in general are smaller, but the noon meal seems to usually be quite a feast. We leave shortly because Geo and Adrian have a meeting with the leaders at Verbo Church, but the rest of us go to our homes to settle in for the evening.

A Sample of Ecuador (More to come!)

2010-07-12T22:45:00.001-07:00

June 14^th

Geo's brother Fransisco manages part of the family business, a stone yard that's in a high poverty area of town. Some of the living conditions there are so bad that several people have asked Geo's family if they can live under some of the overhangs at the business (and the buildings there are hardly anything themselves). There's a fair amount of crime in that area, though it has gotten a lot better over the past year. When we drove in we didn't even notice that people actually lived in these buildings, but when we drove out, their home situations weighed heavy on our hearts. We go to Fransisco's business to bless it, and to bless the workers. We also want to get a sense of how he could bring the kingdom at his business, and what the spiritual climate of the business/region is. We start by walking around the property. I get the sense to set a small stone at each of the four corners as a prophetic act. After we do that we make some prayers and declarations over the property, and prophesy prosperity over it. We meet some workers in the back of the property, and we pray and prophesy over them. They seem really blessed, and shortly we move on towards the front of the property where most of the action is happening. As we walk through, we meet a little girl, about four years old. Geo isn't with us at the time, so through Jason's Spanish we are introducing ourselves and trying to learn who she is. When Geo arrives, he starts to introduce us.

“I know them,” she says.

“You already know them?” Geo asks.

“Yes, I've met them before.”

“When did you meet them?”

“When I was a baby I met them.”

I started to get the impression that she could see more than the average person could see. I understood that she could see angels, and that she was seeing the presence of God on us. Either she had a prophetic experience as a baby where she literally saw us, or she was seeing and recognizing the glory of God on us. I'm inclined to think the latter, but the other would be pretty awesome too!

I ask her, “do you see angels?”

“Yes,” she replies. But just as we were getting excited about this, she adds, “my mom showed me a movie about God. And she has a cross on the wall,” and her face goes sad, “but there's blood on it.”

Then Geo asks her, “have you seen angels with your eyes?”

“Yes, I see angels, and tigers. And the tigers eat the snakes by the river.”

Wow!

She continues, “The angels and the tigers are sad though.”

“Why are they sad?”

“They are sad because they see the people here. And they see the dogs and the dogs are sad too.”

“Do they ever smile?”

“They do when I hug them!”

Jason asks her if she knows Jesus, and she says that she knows a song about Jesus. She asks us if we would like her to sing it to us. We all nod very excitedly. Geo video tapes her singing, and translates the words for us. I would highly encourage you to watch the video on Geo's facebook as soon as there's a link. She also tells us that she likes to ride the tigers.

Around this time Fransisco brings around his foreman for us to pray for. We chat with him for a bit, then bless him and prophesy over him. We ask him if there's any healing need we can pray for, and he says, “no.” Then Jason has a word of knowledge about pain in the lower right leg, so he asks the foreman, “do you have pain right here.” He looks a little surprised, and says that he does. Before we even pray for him, Brad says, “check it out to see if it still hurts. I think God is already healing you.” When he checks it out, he tells us that it has gotten a lot better, but there is still limited movement. So Jason prays for him, and all the pain goes, and all movement comes back. He's stretching his leg out to the back saying, “I couldn't do this before.” While this is happening, Nancy is talking my hear off in Spanish, and she keeps trying to tell me something. As soon as Geo has a free moment I get him to translate. She is saying that a tiger just bit the head off a snake and then stomped on it.

We pray for the other workers, and prophesy some more. We see some healing with them as well. After a bit we pray for Nancy's mom. She was taken in by Geo's family, and she lives on the property. Her husband left to try and find work in America, and she's on her own caring for Nancy. She lives there and cooks for the workers. As we are praying and prophesying over her, I start to tell her about how gifted her child is. But I want to be sure to bring the subject up gently. I tell her that I have the impression that Nancy is very sensitive to the spiritual, and sees spiritual things. She immediately agrees, and says that often Nancy will wake up in the morning and tell her all about how God came to visit her in the night. She had Nancy watch a video about God and Heaven, and asked her if her experiences were like the videos. Nancy watched the videos and said, “this is right, it was like this,” and “no, this isn't right, this doesn't happen.” Her mom tells us that she's worried that God will take her away, because He has invited her to come to Heaven (they had one child die already). I tell her that she has nothing to be worried about, God just wants her to come visit. He's not calling her home.

We come to Geo's house just in time for our dance lessons. Paula, Vivi, Tripti and Cari meet up with Jason, Geo, Brock, Brad and myself to learn some Latin dance moves from Rachel. It's a super fun, albeit stretching time, and is the perfect warm-up for lunch. All of us are joined by a few more people as we settle down for lunch, and enjoy yet another wonderful Ecuadorian feast. As lunch finishes, someone prompts me to prophesy over a friend of Fransisco's, which I do. Then she invites me to prophesy over a friend of hers, which I do. He's not there, so I prophesy into a recording. Then I am invited to prophesy over Geo's mom, which I do. All the prophesying comes to an end was we must head out to our next appointment.

The family that Brock is staying with owns several gold mines, and a gold jewelery factory where they refine the gold and make jewelery. Basically they take it from the earth, all the way to the people. We are coming to pray over the business and bless the workers, but of course, we get a tour first. We start by seeing some of the finished jewelery that they sell. It's quite beautiful, and there are many different sizes and styles of chains. From there we go to a room at the back of the factory. Vieche (the current manager, his father owns the whole business) tells us that modern gold refining is done with chemicals, but they have found that in order to get the purest gold, the last step of refinement must be done with fire. There are two grungy workers in a dimly lit room full of what look like shop tools. On one side of the room there's a two foot high furnace that is being blasted by gas and air to temperatures exceeding 1200 degrees C. Almost every part of the furnace glows red with heat, and there's a small viewing hole in the lid on the top. Flames spray aggressively out of the hole, but you can still see through it to the vessel inside. A red hot container made out of graphite holds a near liquid quantity of gold. We're told about 2 kilograms of it. As soon as it's completely liquid, one worker lifts the container out of the furnace by tongs, and the other holds a blowtorch constantly on the surface of the liquid so it doesn't solidify too soon. Then, while being incredibly coordinated, they pour the liquid into a mold that will produce a gold bar. The gold solidifies in seconds, and they are able to break the mold almost immediately. Within a minute or two, we all take turns picking up the gold bar with pliers. It's worth about $60,000. I think he said it takes about a ton of raw material to get an ounce of gold. After this room we go see the machines that stretch the gold and silver (they make silver necklaces, but they don't mine it) into certain gauges of thin wire that can be used to make chains. Then we see another room where the wire is fed into machines that automatically make the chains. Different machines make different styles of chains. They are incredibly precise, but have to be monitored consistently because of the precision required to make the jewelery. They have many machines for making jewelery, but they aren't using them all because there isn't a demand for gold jewelery these days. Much of their gold is being stored. After the tour we pray for the business, and for Vieche. He gives us each a gift of a silver necklace, made in his factory. They each have a steel cross that says “Jesus” on it. It's an amazing gesture and highly treasured by each of us. We also pray for one of his workers who recently hurt his leg riding motorcycle. He sees some strengthening in his knee (which the doctors were saying is going to need surgery for all the separated tendons), and then prays to receive Jesus into his heart to start a relationship with him. What a good tour! We also get to pray and bless another employee who was the first of Vieche's employees to receive Jesus into their life. He is very passionate about the Lord, and his family is all saved now. He is hungry for more of what God has, and so we bless hi with our best blessings.

Back at Geo's place, we run into his father, and he has news about the man that I prophesied over in the dessert shop (Alfredos?). Turns out he's the owner of Toyota for all of Ecuador. Geo's dad, who's an elder at their church, had felt the Lord tell him to go and talk to this man about his walk with the Lord (or lack thereof). I guess Geo's dad (Mr. Osorio) had some sort of business relationship with this man, but hadn't seen him in several years. So Mr. Osorio goes into this man's office to see him, but he's incredibly busy. He makes time for Mr. Osorio, but Mr. Osorio says that maybe what he would like to say should be at a different time and place. But this man asks what he wants to say. Mr. Osorio tells him about how God led him to come talk with him, and that he would like to talk to him about his relationship with God. So this man says, you're right, we should talk about this over coffee, and they set up a time later this week to talk about his relationship with God! Come on!

The team gathers again, and after parting ways with Brock, we go to pray for some of Geo's family. We pray for his grandmother, and she gets healed of numbness in her arm and hand. She had a broken bone in her shoulder, and the doctors didn't even know why she had mobility. But when we prayed all the numbness left. Then we prayed for Geo's aunt. She has been in intense pain for a year and a half. She's had surgery for her nerves in her leg, and she was on medication for the pain, but the meds were intoxicating her blood. After one prayer, all the pain and numbness left! Then Geo's mom prayed for her back pain to leave, and that all left too! Geo mentioned that this is probably the most dramatic miracle that we've seen so far on this trip, given the state that she was in before.

At 8:30pm we go to meet with the leaders of the mens ministry at Verbo. They are curious about Bethel, and they want to feed us pizza. We share about much of what we learned at Bethel over the two hours we talk with them. At one point, brad feels it would be easier to just show them how to pray for healing, and he gets a word of knowledge for a hurt elbow. But none of them have that, so we move on. They are very excited about everything that we have to say, and much of what we share is prophetic insight, or at the least, confirmation for where they've been going. We spoke to them a lot about identity, then found out later that they were sharing on their radio show about identity the very next day. We did want to pray for healing before finishing up, and one of them had a hurt back, so we transition to pray for that. Just then, one of them (who had been gone getting pizza during Brad's word of knowledge) says that he has a hurt elbow that he would like us to pray for. After much laughter, Brad mentions that the guy with the hurt elbow should pray for the guy with the hurt back, and that the one healing was dependent on the other. So sure enough, as he prayed and the back got better, so did the elbow. Very shortly both of their afflictions were totally gone, and the guy with the elbow that used to be hurt was doing push-ups on the floor! The guy who's back used to be hurt was moving his legs in ways that he couldn't do before! As we are leaving, brad share's a prophetic word with one of them that makes his face beam with joy. His smile couldn't have stretched his face any more.

Expect Big Things

2010-05-25T21:52:00.001-07:00

The morning of July 16th, 2009, I spent an hour in prayer because I thought I had to. I can't say that it's ever a bad idea. After this good hour, I had written out 10 expectations - 10 of the desires of my heart - for the year I would be spending at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Near the end of the year I revisited my list, and realized that God had met me to some degree in all but two of my expectations (at that point), and since then He has met me in nine of them, and spoken a promise over the tenth. My only regret, if I can have one about answered prayer, is that I didn't aim higher, and I wasn't more specific with my requests. Some of them were hardly quantifiable, as you will see. The following is a list of my expectations, and how God met me in them through the year.

"I'm way too small an object to be unmoved by You." - journal entry, July 16th.

1) I wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and in Fire.

- At this time I doubted what God had already done in my life. I expected the baptism of the Spirit to be, if not almost violent, at least somewhat notable. I learned while at Bethel, through speaking with the Father, that I had already received this baptism. He showed me that it took place over a season, and not in an instant. The part about baptism by fire definitely happened at Bethel. Fire is the refining process that brings out the best in gold. There was much refining at Bethel, and it wasn't always pleasant, but it was always good.

2) I wanted a greater revelation of my destiny, purpose and calling. I wanted more clear direction for my heart, and a better understanding of my "persona" - who I'm known as in Heaven.

- "One of [the prayer servants] mentioned that I had a more evangelistic call within the churches. I looked at them with confusion, but with hope asked, “is that even possible?” They continued to outline to me what I now have been able to assign to the role of the evangelist, as it pertains to God's call on my life. There are so many people filling pews and subscribing to religion in the name of Christianity – maybe they are genuinely saved, maybe not. That doesn't bear any weight in my assignment. I am called to raise an army out of the ashes of religious refuse, and to transform bench-warmers into warriors. This doesn't fit my traditional view of the evangelist, but I have long since learned to let my understanding bend or break when it comes against the Lord's." - Story of my Life: Chapter Now

I find that after this year, I am more sure in what I don't know. I guess that's faith by definition. It's just that for some reason, in the perspective of my life in the church, it seems new to me. I like it, but it really freaks Christians out. I am very confident in where I am going in life, I just don't know it enough to put it into words yet.

3) I wanted to grow in the spiritual at an accelerated rate. I wanted to be able to make eternity my perspective, and operate out of Heaven's reality. "Sharpen my sight and bless my efforts."

- I learned that accelerated growth doesn't feel as cool as it sounds. Lots of motion sickness, blurry vision, confusion, fast transitions from season to season, and feeling like you're starting fresh all the time. But when I backed away from my narrow perspective and short term vision, looking at the larger course of time, I saw the permanent transformations that the Lord had been working in me. Bless His holy and patient Name. I am far less tolerant of my circumstances now when they don't line up with His truth. It's really quite empowering.

4) I wanted to make covenant friendships with brothers and sisters who love God and love me. I wanted friends of like vision and passion.

- I could easily start naming people here. I'd feel bad cause I'd probably leave people out. Odds are, you know that you have a special place in my heart, and if you don't know now, I'll probably see you next year and hopefully that'll get hammered out. Without being too descriptive (I really would like to honour all those amazing people), I will say that this desire of mine was met and exceeded far more than any of the other expectations I had.

*At this point in my journal, I stop to write out a prayer for courage, boldness and focus for the year.

5) I wanted this year to be a year of breakthrough after breakthrough, where I would always come in submission to Your throne of grace. Breakthrough for me, for my family, and for my church. Breakthrough for Campbell River, for the Island, and for all who can not or are not contending for their own breakthrough. (1 Sam. 30:21-25, Psalm 105)

- I know that I had many a breakthrough... too many to count or recount. Many of them are in my previous blog posts. Many of them I'm still processing and figuring out. I have heard of people outside of Bethel in relationship with me who have experienced some breakthrough that I have connected to my year here, but I would be interested to hear more. I know that there is far more going on with what God is doing here, and I'm part of something far bigger than myself.

6) I wanted my family to be touched by God, each in their own way. And I wanted to see a passion for God's Kingdom and revival burn in their hearts.

- My sister came to Bethel in September and fell in love, and my parents came to visit in April and the same happened to them. They are all continuing to grow in what seeds God has planted in their hearts. My brother has sown financially into my ministry, and when you sow into revival, you reap revival. I'm excited to see how God transforms him. This was another expectation that was answered powerfully, and the depth to which this will go is yet to be seen.

7) I wanted more of God's favour.

- How do you even quantify this? It happened. I saw doors open for me that I didn't even ask for, and consistent favour with what I did ask for.

8) I wanted all my financial debt to be forgiven, or provided for by the end of the school year.

- I haven't seen this fulfilled yet, but I did receive a promise from the Lord that it would be fulfilled. I will get a letter in the mail that will inform me I am debt free. Praise God!

9) I wanted encounters with God, "throne room experiences" and "trips to heaven", just to be with Him, for no other purpose.

- Totally happened, and still happens. He's waiting for you, anytime you want. Heavenly places are really more fun than earthly places.

10) I wanted to grow into deeper levels of intimacy. I wanted to bring everything before Him in love and adoration.

- This happened all year, but especially in the last month. I walked out such a sweet romance with Jesus during those weeks! I learned things about stewarding that kind of lifestyle and how to turn your affections towards the King when you may not feel like it. Sometimes your spirit just has to tell your soul to shut up and get in line with what God wants for you. He's so good and so loving, He thinks such good things of you!

I've already mentioned some of the expectations that I have for next year. I've been more specific this time, and I will likely continue to write these out over the summer. Bottom line - if it matters to you, it matters to Him. Thank you to all who journeyed with me this year, I look forward to hearing about what God has done in you!

Truth is a Person

2010-05-25T21:50:00.002-07:00

Also from May 10th.

I recently heard it said that there are more prophetic movies coming out of Hollywood than there are prophetic sermons from pulpits. There is a sad truth in this. Not that the entirety of what the movies are presenting is truth, or that the sermons are stating anything specifically untrue, but that a certain insight into God's intended design for humanity is being missed by parishioners and harvested by blockbuster producers. For some time now the Kingdom of God has been naturally appearing to those who are not trying to avoid it. And that's exactly it, isn't it. We, as people of the Faith, claim to want more of God's Kingdom, but the reality is that the freedom that the Kingdom brings is a powerful protection mechanism against the very platform that many of us are standing on: religion.

Religion forgets the most powerful truth of all – that Truth is a person. Knowing truth is being in relationship with that person, not holding tightly to a selected and approved set of facts. How different people are going to relate with Truth is going to look different; the objective reality is Who they are relating with, and not how. Religion is the shelter that fear has created in the face of the unknown, propagating to its adherents safety and dependability, while life slips through the gaps between the fingers of the masses, their grip fixed firmly to the facts. Within the rigid structure of religion, division is encouraged for the sake of truth; there is tension with tolerance, and judgment with diversity. The Kingdom of God brings a freedom that instigates fear in religious people. It's not so much that it can offend the mind, though it can, but it promises to destroy much of what we have come to know wrongly as the purposes of God; our crutch, and our elixir of impotence: religion.

Hollywood will not continue to be the leading source of inspiration and Kingdom insight to the nations. Even now a generation is being released that is highly trained in the unknown, and is eager to destroy the kingdom of fear and darkness in peoples lives. Our focus has been wrongly on the degree to which a message is incorrect, which is why more attention in the church is given to a lifeless sermon than a cinematic war ballad that speaks of victory, courage and honour. We need to draw our nourishment from where the life is instead of eating manna that has been rotten for hundreds or thousands of years. A generation is being released with an innate understanding of God's design, because they have grown up chasing life, and running with the Living God. Unaware of their pursuits, or where they were going, they followed after the very living words of God that proceed from His mouth like a flowing stream; a river of life. And this faithfulness in blindness has given them eyes to see beyond what eyes can see, and ears to hear beyond what ears can hear. They will be the leaders who take us into the farthest reaches of the Kingdom of God. Pioneers who have been there, scouted out the abundance, and are equipped to lead an army to inhabit the land. Follow the streams of life to the source of the river, Life Himself. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Where there is no freedom... get out.

What It Is.

2010-05-25T21:50:00.001-07:00

From May 10th, 5:55pm.

This is the final Monday. One week left of Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry, and I'm being torn along several dimensions. Normally I would be increasingly focused on what is coming next; the substance and language of next season. And that is happening, but it's constantly being shadowed by the fires of love and relationship that seem to never stop. All year I've been caught in this experiment called “redefining family,” and the friends that have surrounded me through it all are each preparing to go their own way for the summer. Tension takes this bittersweet experience to extremes, but that's not all that's happening. With one week left of school, many students are digging in their heels for one final pull at whatever we can get from this place. The hunger, passion, desperation for more of God to impact and transform us has shot up exponentially. Somewhere in the midst of these three factors I sit, at my house where I live in the garage, and try to look back over the year to summarize what God has done in me.

I was thinking about earlier updates that I wrote, back in the Fall. How some carried crazy miracles, and some released revelation that God had been bringing to me. They don't seem to hold much of an impact on me anymore. Not that I don't get stoked about what God has done in my life, and not that I don't value the testimonies, but when I look at the year as an overview I find that what carries the most weight in my life are the relationships that I've grown into. Not just with people here, and people in Lebanon, but with Holy Spirit, Jesus and Father God. That may sound like a backwards, obvious statement, but I've really come to know each of them as a tangible person in my life. I think that's why the posts that I wrote over half a year ago don't stir in my heart the same as when I wrote them, I am walking out a relationship with the Living God, and every day He brings new life to me. All the stories along the way are great, but they are small inflections in the overall work that God is doing in me.

Recently the story has been intimacy. Why is it that I keep learning things that I think I already know? That's a good reason for humility right there. I have been falling in love with my Jesus every day, sometimes it comes so easily, but sometimes it's a battle. Battle for love, bearing fruit, bearing Holy Spirit and life and truth. Intimacy takes risk, and the potential for rejection. There is no room for fear, and any interpretation of events that doesn't bring hope has brought you into agreement with a lie. Risk itself actually became my motivation on occasion. What kind of man do I want to be? Do I want to be consistently steered by my circumstances, or will I face potential loss and rejection at my weakest, with my heart exposed? I want to be bold, and never let fear of any sort have any place in my life. I want to live free for Jesus, knowing that He wants for me life abundantly. Do I have the courage, and the depth of faith, to pursue abundant life? After this year, and this week, I say yes, I do. I have been taken down an old familiar road, where I had been marred by rejection over years in my life, and I have battled through victoriously. There's something about facing fear that gives you confidence in who you are, but it's hard to face fear when you don't understand how the Father thinks of you. When you know that He would never lead you into something that He didn't think you were capable of finding victory in, you can take a stand against your trial in confidence. Also, another thing I learned about rejection, is how persistently God pursues us, despite the times that we reject Him. He knows exactly what we're going through; He actually experiences what we're going through. He loves to share in our victories and our pains, and for us to model ourselves after Him – loving courageously, risking intimacy, and pursuing our dreams with hope and fearless resolve.

I don't even know what I would press into for this week. I suppose if I could ask God for something, it would be to surprise me – but to make it unmissable. I want the fire, the earthquake, and the mighty rushing wind. I love the still small voice, and I will always press in to hear more sweet words of the almighty whispered in intimacy to my spirit. But if I were to ask God for something this week it would be for that encounter with Him, for whatever end – it doesn't matter, that would be impossible to miss. Place me in the cleft of the rock, and pass by with your glory Lord! I am going to continue to fall in love with Him everyday, and to be faithful with what He has given me. I know that being in His presence at the end of the day has to be my motivation in life. I have dreams being laid out on the table this summer, and foundations for dreams being built up in the background. God is so faithful, and His timing is beautiful.

To all of you that have come on this journey with me to some extent, I hope you have been inspired and transformed by His great love as you have been exposed to the testimonies of His works. I look forward to the journey continuing, and being able to partner with you more in the future. A legacy is being built, and as this tall tower of revival is raised up, it will cast an undeniable shadow throughout the nations. Feel free to join what God is doing through His people right now, and be a part of the legacy.

Love.

Transition Time

2010-04-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

The school year at Bethel is coming to an end, but I don't want to think about an end. I have three more weeks to squeeze every last life changing moment out of this environment; I suppose I'll dig in my heels, put my head down, and just give'r until the final celebration. This whole year has been about learning the celebration. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 - "Be joyful always." Letting the reality of what Jesus has done in this world, and in my life, be made manifest in how I express myself as an extravagant worshiper.

Since missions I've completed my International Transformations group presentation (we got an A), started training martial arts again (really need to stay in shape), welcomed my parents to come and visit here in Bethel, road tripped to Laguna beach in Southern California, road tripped to Arcata for a "School of the Mystics" conference with John Crowder, moved out of my house and into a friends garage, and finally caught up on the homework I fell behind on over missions. This fit in amidst the usual Bethel business, but I've had so much peace in my new (garage) home.

This summer I've been given the incredible opportunity to intern at a church in my hometown, Christian Life Fellowship. They are excited about what Bethel is doing, and are interested to have what I've been learning poured into their environment. It's such a gift from God to be payed to do what I love, and what I am called to do. They have also been gracious enough for me to take three weeks off to go to Ecuador and teach schools of ministry in some of the cities there. I am very excited about that. The teams that have been going to Ecuador have been coming back with radical stories of how God is moving dramatically in that nation. One team started doing a fire tunnel, just amongst themselves, in a park in a town square. After a while, the people started getting curious and walking through - then they were getting healed and delivered! This attracted so much attention, there were eventually hundreds of people being ministered to by the team, and a city official from a nearby government building came out to see what was going on. He said that they were going to have to stop what they were doing, because they didn't have a permit to have an event. They said, "Sure, no problem. But can we pray and prophecy over you first?" He agreed, and then after they had prayed and given him some prophetic words, he said, "You guys stay here, I'm going to get my friends." So he came back out with the mayor and the rest of the town leadership! The Bethel team was able to minister to them, and the chief of police got healed! He said, "You guys don't need a permit, you can keep going." Eventually the whole thing was being broadcasted on international television, as people who had been healed gave their testimonies on camera to news reporters. Now I get to go back to that same town and teach a school of ministry to fiery revivalists!

I've received my acceptance for second year here at Bethel. I wasn't too concerned, but I'm excited to have that confirmation. The class size will be limited to 380 students (so I've heard), which is less than half the size of the first year class. I have already started dreaming about second year. I'm ever growing a list of expectations for the year. God is so faithful to take us so much further beyond our dreams - and the thing I've learned - write them down! It's not so God doesn't forget, it's so you don't forget. Then when God goes so far beyond what you've dreamed, you have a mark of remembrance. I made a list of ten things at the beginning of the year for first year, and I was setting the bar high (so I thought). So far 9 of the 10 things have happened! Here are some of my dreams for second year:

- Go on at least 3 international trips. (I can travel as much as I want with the Church staff, as long as I have my homework up to date, and I have the money to go. I've talked with Danny Silk about going to New Zealand with him, and I think I'd also like to go to Kenya with Kris Vallotton. Maybe Russia for the third trip?)

- Develop relationships with leaders. (Networking is a big deal, and having healthy relationships with leadership is a powerful thing. I didn't push for that this year, which I'm not regretful of, I don't think it was a season for it. But next year I want to cultivate those connections.)

- Have my own skis/boots/poles. (I'm part of a community that regularly goes to the mountains, and I haven't been able to ski much in the past 10 years because it's too costly/inconvenient to rent. I am praying for God to provide some skis for me for next year so I can get back on the mountain.)

- Get prophesied over by Bill Johnson. (This is one of those dreams that I love because I know I'm stretching myself to dream bigger, and out of the box.)

This year has been amazing. I've been transformed, but I've also become more aware and confident in who I already was. I've been able to see miraculous healings happen at my fingertips, and lives transformed forever because of the words that I have spoken. And not because I felt an anointed power of God flow through me, or the room, but because Jesus died for this. Because God's word declares it, and it's His nature to do it. He is Healer. He is Life. He is Revival. Not just in tent meetings after midnight, not just in selected anointed individuals, and not just in third world countries - He doesn't change for time, why would he change for settings, people, or geography? The world is waiting for God's people to finally understand who they are, and to take God's promises as truth in their hands. Brave ones who trust Him no matter what the circumstances are; be revealed! I want to see my hometown get stirred up for the Kingdom, and I want them to start dreaming big, just as I have. I want to continue this journey of being transformed, and press into my destiny.

I couldn't possibly describe all that God has done for me in one short note, but it has been so very good. Whenever you sacrifice for God, it ends up being an investment... eventually sacrifice doesn't feel like sacrifice anymore, because your whole heart is devoted to the one who makes all things new. I gave my life to Him, and I have been given life abundantly. I would encourage everyone, be bold - follow your dreams, follow your heart. Dream without boundaries, live in the total suspension of trust. Be bold, and radical in your steps after God's promises. Claim them as your own, what has life, what speaks to you - carve them into your memory and jump into whatever whirlwind will get you there. Maybe you should come to Bethel? Maybe you should give away all your stuff? Maybe you should do both? Live in the Kingdom, it's really the only way.

"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel [of the Kingdom] to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

March 3rd, 2010

2010-04-04T15:47:00.001-07:00

Our team (Ryan, Stephen, Risa, Nicol, AJ, Julie, Dan, Sean, Mitch and I) flies into Beirut late in the evening, and we are greeted by Nouna ( pronounced “Noon-ah”), Giorgio and Michel (Nouna's husband, an Arabic name pronounced “Mee-shell”). This city is so alive and dynamic. We drive with Giorgio along weaving roads that make no sense, to get to a place to eat quickly before going to bed. It's as if there are no street signs, no traffic laws, no directions – everyone just works it all out in some kind of organized chaos, with a symphony of horns and screeching tires. Our route takes a detour when the road just ends in front of us. There are concrete barriers with no signs blocking us from a road that dissipates into rubble. Some cars make u-turns without braking; some cars shift seamlessly onto a parallel road that hooks off into the smaller workings of the city. We stop halfway, thinking it over, “Where to go, where to go?” Obstructing traffic doesn't really slow anyone else down; cars scoot around us on what resembles a paved shoulder. We get directions from a guy at the side of the road; the conversation starts in French, then rambles on in Arabic. We now make our way through what appears to be a slum in Beirut, it could be straight out of Aladdin, and after a few sharp intersections we find ourselves at “Breakfast to Breakfast”, a 24-hour eatery. After some delicious flat-bread, our entourage of three cars speeds through the evening roads, as the city center gets lost behind us. Each car chases the one ahead with it's hazard lights flashing – a local signal that we are traveling as a group. Some acknowledge it and let us through. I don't think there are recognized speed limits here. We wind up some hillside roads and catch a few glimpses over Beirut at night; it's beautiful. Giorgio says, “Where you're staying is just up ahead.” And moments later we slow down to pull through a security gate into a secure compound. After we go through, a sign tells us (in French) that we are at a Franciscan convent. The grounds are spacious and gorgeous, even at night, and the whole area overlooks the City of Beirut onto the Mediterranean. I am excited for sunrise – and sunset. We each have our own rooms, which is an unexpected accommodation. We all express the blessing of abundance and then the drawback of missing that great fellowship and bonding time, but we are far too tired to be that concerned about any of that right now. It's just amazing to be standing on the spires of a foundation laid by a revivalist a thousand years ago.

Marh 4th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:46:00.001-07:00

We all wake up early today. I hear Mitch in the room beside me shortly after I wake, and not a long while later he's singing worship and playing his guitar. I venture down the hall to the patio at the end that overlooks a yawning view of Beirut and the Mediterranean; it's so beautiful in the warming hours of the morning, and whatever beauty we saw last night is immediately swallowed as the Sea glistens peacefully. I join Mitch in his room where he sings, and we worship God Almighty, the Creator, our Father. Breakfast could have come a little later. Not because it is too early in the morning, but because there is an amazing spiritual atmosphere in this place. It's like a storehouse in the Kingdom, sown into by dozens of generations of the daughters of the King as they earnestly seek His face. Getting drawn into a sweet and captivating place of worship comes as naturally as slipping on ice, and breakfast comes too early. We are all very excited to be fully exposed to Lebanese food. Breakfast is light, and simple. Pitas, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, a yogurt/sour cream type thing called “Lebnah”, tea and coffee (Turkish), and olives. The olives are very oily, and very salty.

We split into two groups to go to the Catholic school sessions planned for this morning. We have been assigned the Western born and raised group of Lebanese Catholics; we find out after meeting with them that these are the ones that the priest has the most difficulty with on spiritual matters. They just aren't interested (...yet). Five of us go to a church to meet with grade 9's, and 5 of us go to another church building to meet with grade 7's and 8's. I go with Ryan, Sean, Risa and Julie to meet the grade 7's and 8's. The church building we are using is called Tent Of Praise (TOP), and it's the ministry that the Matar's (Michel and Nouna) are fathering (and mothering). The students speak English well, so that helps. We start by spending about 10 minutes each talking about who we are, and giving the kids an opportunity to ask us questions about ourselves. They are eager to get involved, though there are clearly those who are not interested at all. Ryan shares about himself last, and he transitions into talking about how God is good and likes to heal people. He shares specifically about how sometimes a person will have one leg shorter than the other, and God grows the leg out when we pray. He asks if any kids have a leg shorter than the other, and one kid shoots his hand up and says that he has one arm shorter than the other. It is significantly shorter. Ryan shrugs and goes with it, asking him if he wants to come to the front and receive prayer. So now this kid is up at the front, with 20 or so Lebanese Catholic grade 7 and 8 kids reaching their hands out in prayer for his arm to grow. It grows, just a little. Enough to catch the attention of those kids. They pray again as expectation and excitement ripple through the room. It grows again to match his other arm; he is completely healed! They celebrate, and floodgates of hunger for the Living God burst in these kids. They yearn for a tangible healer. Faster than Ryan can accommodate, they are calling out things that they need healing from, and now there are very few in the room who are uninterested. As we lead the kids in prayer, legs grow out, arms grow out, weakened eyesight returns, and backs and legs straighten to regain full mobility. Some cry with joy as they test out how God has healed them, and are forever changed by the love of Jesus. “I didn't know that my life could be changed forever in a minute,” one girl confesses. Prayer for all manner of healing needs follows, and then a snack break for some pita and zaatar. It's oily, and salty – but delicious. Already the kids are brimming with questions, and thanks, and praise, and admiration, and confessions of having experienced life changing impact. They tell us how boring these “spiritual retreats” normally are for them; one girl went from person to person on our team, continually asking if we were angels. “No it's ok, you can tell me. I won't give away your secret. Are you not allowed to tell me you're an angel? If you were allowed to tell me would you tell me? If you weren't allowed would you tell me anyway? Seriously, are you an angel?” After break we play some soaking piano music, and Risa leads them on an encounter (meditative time) with Jesus. Then we split up into small groups of 8 or 9 to talk. Most kids had experiences or interactions with Jesus during the encounter time that were meaningful and impacting in a deep way. One Muslim kid physically felt a hand on his shoulder; he kept opening his eyes to look because he thought it was a friend, but there was no hand there. He came to realize that it was Jesus' hand, and that Jesus had been standing beside him the entire time. Some small groups become activated in hearing God's voice by doing some exercises, and some abandon discussion time because they are too eager to pray for healing for more people. We end by asking Holy Spirit to come and have them experience the Presence of God in a physical, tangible way. They all do. Some describe electricity in their hands, some heat. Some feel weight in the hands, and some a pulse. They start interacting with the Presence, and imparting it to each other. It seems so natural for them. When they leave there is none among them who is still uninterested, and there is none among them who has not become very aware of the loving intentions of our very good God. The one girl still thinks we are angels, and we feel like rock stars because the nations have just been attracted to the brightness of our shining.

We go for lunch at the Matar's – more delicious Lebanese food. After eating and visiting at their house, we decide to walk up to a monastery atop an adjacent mountain. We pass a soldier training camp on the way, and I get shouted at for taking pictures of a vineyard that was growing too close to their training grounds. The monastery is relatively new, but is built right beside the ruins of the old monastery. Michel gives us a guided tour of the ruins. There is a short bell tower, several old wells, an ancient Arabic sundial/calendar, and a dungeon type cellar that was a secret hiding place from attacking pagan's and Muslims. He also explains that the door to go inside was so short to prevent men attacking on horseback from riding through. There is a river that runs from this mountain down into Beirut that has been called the “River of Death.” Often has this river been mingled with the blood of monks as oppressive violence rages. The sun is setting as we finish with the ruins, and we decide to return to visit and pray with the monks another time (which we never did end up being able to do – reason #1 to go back to Lebanon sometime). On the walk back down we learn that much of Beirut (if not much of Lebanon) has had their power shut off between the hours of 6:00pm and 10:00pm every night since 1990. This isn't so bad, Michel explains, since they went without power for 3 months after the generator in Beirut was bombed. They get used to these hardships, he says.

We arrive back at Matar's house and rest there for a while. I am eager to try my first cup of Arabic (Turkish) coffee. It comes served in small cups, and if you don't drink it quickly, there will be a sludgy sediment at the bottom (I learn later that you are meant to not drink it quickly, and avoid the sludge at the bottom). I like it, and I drink a second cup. There is a special way to eat chocolate with the coffee – we take a piece of chocolate and dip it into the coffee, holding it there for a minute or two. Then, after eating the coffee flavoured chocolate, we drink the (slightly) chocolate flavoured coffee. Michel's son, Yves (a French name pronounced “Eves”), gets home and goes through a round of introductions. He has an injured wrist with a tensor bandage. He is a pianist and he has tendinitis from long hours of practice. His next recital had been postponed since this injury was preventing him from playing without pain. We pray briefly for it to be healed, then ask him to try it out. After some intricate samples of classical music, he reports that it is still hurting, but there has been a slight improvement. We pray again, thanking God for the work He is doing, and he tests it again on the piano. He comes back into the room with the same blank expression on his face.
“Did it get better?” I ask.
“Yes,” he replies.
“How much better?”
“Completely.”
He is now able to play the piano 100% pain free! (And he continued to play piano with the worship band for the week following while we were there.)

We finish the day with another round of Lebanese food and some ice-cream. One of the workers at the restaurant we went to has a huge, curly mustache and he keeps shaking his face at us in a silly manner and laughing. I think he is a friend of the Matar's. The ice-cream is delicious; the best in Beirut. We pray for two of the employees there. One girl has back pain, and after praying it is significantly better. It seems that today was a day of, “people get healed everywhere we go because Jesus is with us.” I love my life.

March 5th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:45:00.001-07:00

Today we go skiing on mount Mzaar before the first night of our conference at TOP. I wake at 3:30am after 5 hours of sleep, and between breakfast, Dunkin Donuts, ski rentals (6$) and crazy traffic (I'm starting to learn the intricate language spoken between drivers using honking, high-beams, and hazard lights), we arrive on the mountain by 11am. The mountain roads here are so beautiful and rugged. There are many monasteries atop cliffs, and large crosses atop mountains. I am worried about being able to ski well, and keep up with the accomplished skiers that I'm with, since I have only skied once in the past 10 years. The lift to the very top of the mountain is closed due to high winds. There are no trees on the mountain, and the different “runs” are divided by the rock outcroppings between them; they have about half a meter of snow. We collect our group together and take several runs; I manage to keep up, but even the first run makes my legs burn. It's decent snow for spring skiing. According to Ryan, it is the best possible spring-ski snow to have. After about 5 runs using the lifts that are available, Ryan starts to vocalize the draw he is feeling to the white, powdery face on the lee side of the summit. Every time we ride the chair lift, it stares at us; long stretches of untouched steeps topped with a wind licked cornice. We part ways with some of the others, and decide to hike into the back-country between us and that peak in search of adventure and bliss. Risa, Julie, Nicol and some of the others decide to take a break from skiing to go talk to people about Jesus, and bless and pray for them. They end up being able to pray for and bless a family that works in a shop on the mountain. Some of them get healed, and they are greatly encouraged as our team members prophesy to them, and share with them about God's amazing goodness. Meanwhile, after gauging our progress and our time remaining against the potential reward, Ryan, Mitch, Stephen and I decide to hike for the summit. There is a large cross at the very top, and we set out on our pilgrimage. Hiking in ski boots is no small trouble; especially when it is on a 50 degree incline at 8000 ft. We hike single file with our skis slung across our backs, and hammer steps out of the packed snow with the toes of our boots. It would be an epic view over the Mediterranean, but by now the sky is clouded over and gusts of wind sweep over the crest of the ridge, resisting our ascent. The blessing is that the wind will be at our backs on the way down. We reach the ridge, where our path meets the chairlift tower that isn't running, and follow it to the peak. The wind drives against our right sides as we continue to chisel steps in the snow, following the footsteps of the person in front. The cross on the top is a 20 foot steel framework bolted into the rock. We rest and take in the view around all sides; the hike had taken just over an hour. We shout prayers and praises, and sing some old hymns – releasing the Kingdom of God from the summit of mount Mzaar. Each of the four of us takes a side of the cross, and facing out towards this beautiful nation we shout declarations of peace and freedom over Lebanon. Come Lord Jesus. Come Holy Spirit. Let the Father's love sweep over this people. It gets very cold, very fast as the wind is relentless against us. We stay long enough to build some snowmen as prophetic acts; some representing the Trinity, and one representing five-fold government for ministry. [[I know in retrospect the effect this had on our trip. Principalities were shaken as we invited the Almighty from the mountaintop to come in power and glory to Lebanon.]] I turn back to ski down the left side of the north face, while the others venture on to ride down on the right. The right side seems a little too aggressive for me, especially after an exhausting climb. In hindsight, I could have handled the slope on the left. Reason #2 to go back. Either way, the climb was well worth it! We all ski down the face of that mountain with huge smiles, and meet up at the bottom of the steep. After a short time of exchanging poetic descriptions of the buttery smoothness of our descent, we continue towards the active ski hill. The snow continues to be silk beneath our skis, and we find a few ridges with wind lips to pop off as jumps. More untouched sections of snow lead us back to the main chairlift, and we have time to fit in one more run before the end of the day. We assemble in the parking lot for some pictures before driving away. The couple driving me home are from India (Savio and Sandra), but they live and minister out of Kuwait. Savio has never seen snow, and he keeps saying that he feels like he's in the movies. His thick Indian accent makes his antics even more hilarious. Savio and Sandra are joining us, along with several others from Kuwait, to minister around Lebanon throughout the week. (I don't think any of them were actually from Kuwait.)

We get an hour back at the convent to shower and prepare for the conference at 6:30. It goes quickly. I am still going on little sleep, and I just climbed a mountain, so I resort to drinking a Red Bull. It is such a blessing to gather in this small basement church with the Lebanese people and worship the Lord of Heaven. Yves, being healed the day before, is able to play keyboard with the band as he usually does. They typically sing their worship songs in English, then preach in Arabic, so we are able to sing along but we had a translator for the message and ministry time. I think almost everyone there understood English fairly well anyway. Stephen and AJ each share a short message, and then Ryan transitions us into a ministry time where we are able to give some words of knowledge for people to get healed and touched by God. This flows into what seems to be their first ever fire tunneli experience, and after going around once they continue to loop around the room to keep getting impacted. People are getting radically touched by God on greater and greater levels, and by now the band has started playing again – preaching and prayer blossoms into a party. Ryan applies wisdom and closes the evening at around 11pm. “We could keep going around in circles all night,” he says, “and it would keep being fun all night, but we need to sleep. We'll be here tomorrow.” I haven't yet heard of the specific testimonies from that evening, but I know everyone was very invigorated, and they all expressed such a deep hunger for Jesus and His Kingdom. I am excited to hear the stories. We go for food at a hookah restaurant, but we sit outside in the non-smoking section. I have now learned that the standard time for the Lebanese evening meal is around 11pm. Nouna orders food for us to get a wide tasting of Lebanese cuisine, and it is all delicious. We eat hummus and eggplant dip with pita, some cheese roll type things, kebabs, and a delicious salad with bits of dried pita for croûtons. My brain stops functioning at around 12:15am, and I crawl into bed at around 1:00am.

March 6th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:44:00.001-07:00

I wake for breakfast at around 8:00am, and enjoy the usual arrangement of vegetables as well as some fruit that Ryan has picked out of the orchard at the convent. I eat half of a fresh orange, and a small peach coloured fruit that tastes amazing. It turns out to not have a name in English because it only grows in the Middle East, and I forget the Arabic name. Reason #3 to go back. We head to the mall to have lunch and relax for an hour before the afternoon session of the conference at 2:00pm. Some of our team tours the mall on a treasure hunt, some sit with a couple in Starbucks that they just met and prophesy destiny over them, some interact with occasional shop owners and tell them about God's great love, and Mitch and I wander around looking for someone to prophesy over. The first guy I approach with a word doesn't speak English, and when I tell him that the Lord had given me a word for him, he politely directs me to the cashier. His name is Achmed, and I think he is Muslim. Everyone pray for Achmed. Mitch and I continue, and walk into a clothing store; some of the girls working there come and check on us. I talk to one of them about how I want to buy a shirt (because I do, but I never did – reason # 4 to go back), and as she is helping me, she all of a sudden says, “you are very beautiful.”
“What?” I respond, a little stunned and embarrassed. Obviously not as embarrassed as her, but she continues.
“Yes, you are both so beautiful.”
“I don't think anyone's ever said that to me,” Mitch joins in.
The whole time the other Lebanese girl has been nodding silently but affirmatively. She doesn't speak much English, but clearly knows what her friend is saying.
“Well...thank you!” I manage, “that is very nice of you to say.”
“Oh my gosh, I 'm turning red,” the first girl says, still acting very nonchalantly about this all.
After deciding not to buy the shirt, we politely dismiss ourselves, and go rendezvous with our group. It is so much like the Lord to have someone bless us unexpectedly when we're looking for someone to bless.

The afternoon session at TOP is amazing. I play bass with Mitch leading worship, it's a great set. I miss playing bass for worship; I like to create music in His presence. After, Ryan had asked me to bring a teaching on the prophetic, so I bring it. Ryan loans me the use of his Holy Spirit inspired, highly favoured, priestly anointed prophetic teaching notes; they are scribbled on a Hawaiian Airlines napkin. It feels pretty good as I give the message, and afterwards many people tell me how much they appreciated it – even people on my team say that they had learned things. We take an ice-cream break, pray for the people in the ice-cream store again. The girl we prayed for last time told her boss about us and he asks us to pray for him. We start the 5:00pm session at 5:45, and do an activation exercise with the prophetic. They pair up with unfamiliar people, and ask God for a word for the other. It goes great and tons of people get amazing words for one another. We do a short teaching on treasure huntsi, then pray and draw maps. After I talk to Holy Spirit and draw my map, I get asked by a church member, David, to go with AJ to a man's house to pray for him. He is a friend of David's, and he has an infection in his intestines and an amputated leg. He is scheduled for surgery in two days time. We decide to go minister to this family, and miss out on treasure hunting in downtown Beirut; reason #5 to go back. We drive half an hour out of town. The most worrying thing I experience in Beirut is this man's driving. We are crawling along at literally one-third the speed of Beirut traffic while he gives a commentary on how crazy they are, and how reckless they drive. They all seem like they're driving like animals because they scream past him with their horns blazing; apparently driving one-third the speed limit anywhere is a poor reference point to be critiquing traffic from. We get to pray for the man with the illness. He gets significant healing in his abdomen, pain leaves and he feels the love of God come over him. He could barely touch the affected area before, and he is now pressing his hand into his stomach directly over it. We are believing that he won't have to have surgery on Monday. His brother is there, and he has psoriasis, so we pray for him. After we pray he says he feels better, but there isn't much of a way to check out if he was instantly healed. I give a prophetic word to his wife, and through broken communication and occasional translators, minister to her heart. I also give prophetic words to the two brothers' mother, the first man's wife, and each of their kids. The second brother's wife (the first woman I prophesied over) mentions that she had an operation go wrong in her right wrist, and she still had constant pain and couldn't open her hand the whole way. Faith has been constantly rising in the room the whole time, as they are now suggesting needs to pray for. She also says that her left wrist is going along the same process, and would need surgery soon if it continued. As we are getting set to pray, the Lord plants an idea in my brain. I tell her to hold out her hands with her palms open. AJ and I hold our hands above hers and release God's presence, and I tell her she would feel God's presence in her hands. After a few moments of praying, I don't see any reaction in her face, so I ask, “Do you feel anything yet?”
“Yes, my hand is burning hot.”
“That's good,” I say, “that's the presence of God.”
“I only feel it in one hand,” indicating her left hand was the one that was heated.
I tell her that I am also feeling the heat, as well as a electric type tingle going through my hand. I tell her that I am confident that God is working her healing out as we speak. I give her a prophecy about her healing, and we pray a blessing over the house. The family absolutely will not let us leave until we eat with them, even though it is almost 11:00pm. They were all so deeply touched by the hand of God. We finally make it out and head home. The scariest thing in this crazy traffic is an overly cautious driver. We make it, we survive, and I feel like I placed more trust in God than I ever have just to be in that car.

[[A few of the members of the team who went treasure hunting met us in the lobby of the convent as we came in. Testimonies of God's amazing love breaking out in revival were fresh on their minds, and we listened to a few before going to bed. Most of the treasure hunters ended up in a town square in downtown Beirut, and they all brought incredible encounters to the people there. One skateboarder gets healed of scoliosis and shoulder pain, and another (who was also a Muslim) had a knee injury disappear completely. Ryan recorded the testimony of the knee healing on video; the Muslim guy told of how Jesus just healed his knee, and then jumped off a ledge to demonstrate just how healed it was. All this was captured with a huge illuminated mosque in the background. There was a man who had his stomach pain go away after receiving prayer, and a woman with back pain was completely healed. Some of the teenagers in the square were mocking the people who were praying, but after some of their friends were healed their interest was peaked. More backs healed, more pain left, and one woman was even healed of dizziness! Some Muslim girls were prayed and prophesied over, and a Lebanese soldier agreed to receive prayer, but covertly. The TOP people who prayed for him shook his hand and voiced a quick prayer. Moments later he said to them, “ok, you can pray again.” He obviously felt the presence of God, and the reality of when His Kingdom invades Earth. He was an army patrol captain, and the team was able to prophesy over him. One girl from TOP ended up being paired with Stephen for the treasure hunts. She had “Muslim” and “religion problems” on her list. Stephen tried to encourage her to get more clues, but she was certain that her list was finished. Sure enough, they found a Muslim gentleman who (surprise, surprise) had religion problems. After sharing with him, the man asked her if she would be an “English speaking” nanny for his children! She had previously been an “English speaking” nanny in Brazil, and had recently been praying to God for a job as a nanny. Now she will be able to minister the love of Jesus to this whole Muslim family, and she will get paid while doing it. God is so good!]]

March 7th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today is church day; all day. We split into two groups to go to two different churches. I go with Stephen, Sean and AJ to a small church where Isaac (a friend of the Matar's) is the youth pastor. Isaac has been helping to chauffeur us around to all our engagements while we're in Lebanon. We sing worship in Arabic, and it is beautiful. There is so much of God's presence in this place. The wind blows through the open windows on either side of the room, and Holy Spirit stirs in all our hearts. Stephen is fishing for someone to preach, so I offer. I have a message that is fresh on my heart about following the Jacob model for pursuing God. We share communion with them, and it's a bit of a surprise to throw back a shot of wine instead of grape juice. Reason #6 to go back to Lebanon. As the worship continues Stephen asks me if I could work in some main points about God's goodness, and living out of relationship instead of striving. This doesn't fit with my message, so I throw out the old, pray for something new, and change my message entirely. I preach on the different levels that we relate to God through: servant, friend, brother/son, and bride. I stress the importance of, and God's heart for intimacy. I tell them how God wants to be as close to them as possible because He values them so much. After the message the four of us stand at the front and give prophetic words to almost the entire congregation (about 25 people). They get rockedi, and each word pierces deep into their hearts, giving them refreshment and life. I give a word to one gentleman, saying that I saw the word “Coach” written across his chest. It turns out that he is a life coach! He gets touched by God as I finish giving him the word, and everyone in the room recognizes that God is working in their midst. When we finish prophesying, Stephen starts to talk about how we're going to get some words of knowledge for healing, but he can't even finish his instructions. People just start flooding to the front for prayer for healing. We abandon the “word of knowledge” approach, and just start praying for anyone who wants healing. Faith and expectancy are thick in the atmosphere. I pray for one lady who had fear and anxiety, and trouble with feeling nervous. I command all that to go, and release a spirit of joy into her life. As soon as I pray for joy, she starts to be dramatically touched by God, then in a few moments she drops to the floor under the power and presence of the Lord. I try to catch her but I am in front of her, and she goes down too fast. She is OK though; God takes care of her. She tells me later that she had never had that joy before, and that she feels a newness, and life of joy inside of her. Thank You Jesus, You are so good. We pray for most of the people there. One lady gets complete healing in her knee, and all her pain leaves. Back pain leaves, neck pain leaves – people are set free by the name of Jesus.

Lunch at the Matar's house is delicious, but far from restful. We are joined by the Kuwait team and a few others, and our numbers spill out into the back yard (which is beautiful). They are all lovely people, but our team is starting to feel the toll of the pace we've been running at so far. Michel points out the rosemary in his backyard, and tells us how it is used in the anointing oil from the Bible. He also shows us how he rubs it on his arms in the summertime while he is working; he says that he will smell like rosemary through the day, and still when he gets home to his family. Some of us follow his example and apply this herbal cologne (sparingly). We make sure to be at TOP by 5:00pm in case people want to pray beforehand. Not much happens until 7:00pm when the evening kicks off. We have a “family time” where we bring forward a guy to pray for him. It is mentioned that he is just starting a Hip Hop dance school, and he wants it to be a place where God's love is known and His Kingdom reigns. God had given me a prophetic word for him just as he walked into the room a while earlier. I share with him that God told me he was an “entrepreneur” and that he would be blessed in business. Michel speaks emphatically in Arabic for about 20 minutes until he realizes that a good chunk of the people there don't have a clue what he is saying. It gets explained to us by a few people, he's talking about the treasure hunts the night before, and we soon transition into worship. Worship is more in Arabic than English, and that is always fun. It brings out the authenticity of their culture, and really shows their hearts. Many of the members of our team are battling fatigue, some fall asleep while others keep their eyes open with the pry bar of Turkish coffee. We share communion with them, and again, the real wine is a bit of a surprise. Ryan shares testimonies of crazy miracles that God is doing all over the world, and how the Kingdom is advancing by all believers, and not just special anointed people. Some of the testimonies are ones that we haven't heard before, but they are all worth hearing several times. The whole Bethel team stands up front alongside the Kuwait team, and we prophesy over many of the people there. People get rocked by their words, and the whole congregation is encouraged and feels God's presence. This goes for longer than we had anticipated, but when we wrap that up, we invite people to receive prayer for healing or anything else they might want prayer for. AJ and I pray for this woman who has multiple sclerosis (MS). She has had MS for 24 years, but she is still walking with the help of her brother and sister-in-law because she is a fighter, and she has been consistent with physiotherapy. She has been faithfully carrying a promise God gave her for her healing for the last 18 years, and she is still full of hope and optimism. We pray several times, and we don't see any immediate change. She is such a wonderful woman, and she stirs our hearts. I know her healing is very soon. By now they have cleared the chairs away, and the hip hop dancers are putting on a show. This shifts to a little Arabian dance party.

The guy who is starting a dance school comes and talks with me. He thanks me for the word, and he explains a little more about what he's involved in. I am blown away by his humility and his extensive involvement in the arts and media industry in the Middle East. He is the most sought after choreographer in the Middle East, and he has a hand in producing successful music and working in other aspects of the entertainment business. He brings God's kingdom everywhere he goes, and he has relationships with many of the moguls of entertainment in this area. He explains that %80 of his staff knows Jesus, and when a student has trouble with pain or injury at the dance school, they gather around and pray for healing. It was easy to tell how great of a leader this man was just by observing how his close friends and staff interacted with him. I feel more and more honored that I was able to minister to this man the more I see him as he is known in Heaven. After speaking with him, I find Dr. V (a member of TOP and a friend of the Matar's) because I have a prophetic word for him. I tell him that the Lord said that he was a “Nathan”, and that he would develop friendships with kings, royalty and influential people, and be able to prophetically speak into their lives through relationship. In a very understated tone he affirms the accuracy of the word, and says that he has been able to become friends with people like that (he mentions a certain royal family of the Middle East) through his job as a doctor (I think he's a chiropractor), and that those who visit his office extend him a lot of trust. Again, I am made aware that I am in the presence of greatness. The quality of character of Michel and Nouna is being exemplified by the Kingdom giants that are being drawn to them; God bless their ministry and pour out more of His favour into their lives.

As we wait outside the TOP building after the service, one of the hip hop dancers approaches Ryan and says, “listen to this.” Ryan hears his knee pop loudly as he bends down. It would pop every time he bent his knee, and there was a certain level of pain and immobility. He says that there is a problem where the bones come into his knee. Ryan prays for about 30 seconds, then asks him to check it out. All the popping is gone, and he says it feels %80 better! Ryan involves some of his hip hop friends to pray with him, and they repeat another short prayer after him. When he checks it out it's now %90 better. So now Ryan has this guy's friends pray without him, and it gets completely healed! He is so happy that he goes up on a curb, and jumps off with a back flip.

March 8th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:42:00.004-07:00

We set out for Tyre at about 8:30am. The day starts warm and gets hotter. I try to type out the journal entry for the previous day while on the road, but eventually the dynamic motion of Lebanese traffic prevents me from staring at my computer. The drive takes us out of Beirut, along the Mediterranean through Sidon, and finally into Tyre. We pass through more frequent and more heavily armed checkpoints the closer we get to Israel. There's nothing quite like a Rhinoi with a .50 caliber machine gun to make you feel secure. There has been a lot of construction in Lebanon, and many of the buildings have been built in the last 20 years. The older ones are riddled with bullet holes, and stand as windows into the lives that the generation before grew up with. Nouna lived with war in her country, especially in her city – Beirut, from when she was 10 years old until she was 30. Her first child, Yves, was born at the dawn of peace time after those 20 years. We pass by orange orchards, and the air smells thickly of jasmine. Green orchards give way to concrete and corrugated tin as we drive into Tyre, then venture around to the coastal side where our local contact lives. The scenery is magnificent; the beach is lined with palm trees, and varying styles of apartments overlook the bright, turquoise Mediterranean. It's so hot out, but swimming is not on the schedule for today. Reason #7 to go back. Just on the other side of the bay, we can see Israel.

At our contact's house we get our assignments. We will be splitting into groups; one to go to a Palestinian refugee camp, one to go to an Islamic university, and one to do some home visits in the Christian quarter of Tyre. The refugee camp almost doesn't happen. There has been some recent tensions in Jerusalem, and getting into the camp wouldn't be easy or necessarily safe. This appeals to us Bethel people a lot. I end up on the Muslim university team with Nicol, Julie, Dan, Mitch and two translators. [[I did desperately want to go to the Palestinian refugee camp as well. Reason #8 to go back.]] We have some great encounters and build relationship with some of the male students, but the sun seems to trigger all my tiredness. The girls talk with some girl students, and they mostly speak English because they're all in a translating program at this school. They end up getting to pray and prophesy over them, and some of them come with us to our next location, exchanging email information along the way. The guys are harder to communicate with, and there isn't a grace for pressing in for the miraculous. We mostly build report with the students, and know that every hand we shake is getting soaked in the Holy Spirit. There was one Muslim guy, Ali, who spoke English quite well, and he was very interested to talk with us. Sometimes he would help us translate to speak with his friends. We chatted about whatever came up most of them time, and the other, non-English speaking students were very intrigued by us Americans. We shook a lot of hands, and mispronounced many names. There will be continued ministry to this location, and our presence there has created an environment that other Christians will be able to step into. Ali asked for my email, and after I gave it to him, we left with the girls to find out where we were eating lunch.

We eat in a street market (souk), bustling with crazy shops. The pita wrapped around spiced meat (I forget what it was called) is probably the tastiest food I've had here so far. While in the souk, more people receive prayer, and more get healed. Some of us go on a pilgrimage for chocolate. We eventually rendezvous at our contacts apartment to hear about how the other teams adventures went. The team that went to the Palestinian refugee camp had a crazy time. After sneaking in the back entrance, Ryan prayed for one guy in the street who had diabetes; he agreed to receive prayer, but not for healing, just for blessing. Ryan prayed, “I bless you, and I bless everything that is not of God's Kingdom out of you.” The man exclaimed that he felt power go through him as Ryan prayed. Ryan told him that he hadn't prayed for healing, but he wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened. It's just who God is. The team also met with a family, and prayed blessing over them. After visiting with them for a while, they were introduced to a man that had just arrived. He was the leader of the Palestinian ***** party, and was guarded by burly Arabians with AK-47's. The team was able to pray blessing over him, and listen to the struggles that they have been facing as a people. One of our team members was a local lady, and the Palestinian leader promised her safe passage and protection within the refugee camp anytime she wanted. He said that she is no longer Lebanese to them; she is Palestinian. This is huge. She has now established a foundation to continue relationship with these people. The leader said at the end of their meeting that he hopes that eventually he could host our team in his hometown in Bethlehem. It was a legendary encounter.

I am severely tired at this point, feeling the full effect of the sun taxing my sleep deprived body. We head back to Beirut where the rest of the team cleans up to go to Jamy's (Michel and Nouna's daughter) birthday party. I would like to go, but I know I won't make it through the evening. Tomorrow is a day off, and we might go to the beach. I am excited about getting refueled, and spending some quality time with Jesus and our spectacular team. Thank You Papa for this adventure of life. I go to bed at 7:40 and sleep for almost 12 hours.

March 9th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:42:00.003-07:00

Today is a day off. We have plans to go to a beach, then dinner at Sami's house. On the drive to the beach we stop by this one restaurant to get some fruit cocktails and water, and Sean notices one of the workers has a disfigured eye. He offers to pray for him, and after praying twice this employee has to sit down because he's being so overwhelmed by the presence of God. [[The employee actually asked Sean to stop praying, but thank God that got lost in translation]] Sean asks the man if he knows Jesus, he says, “no, but I would love to.” He prays and receives Jesus right there on the spot. He has to take a break from work now because he wants to cry. While he's gone we find out from a coworker that he was a Muslim! Yeah Jesus! We eat, and enjoy some amazing pita and hummus, with large fruit cocktails. Ryan gets the opportunity to talk with the store owner before we go, and he blesses the business. The owner is overwhelmed and says that this is our restaurant now, and we can come here anytime. Honor takes you a long way.

The beach we go to is a little messy, but it is empty. I love it. I take some video down there just for fun. Getting away from the bustle of people is a priority for me on time off here. We wander around a walkway for a bit, then decide to do a group photo with four of us back flipping off a rusty ledge into the Mediterranean. It is excellent.. The water is cool, but not too cold, and very salty. We head to Sami's house soon enough, and his wife has made us a delicious dinner. We get to relax and eat a nice meal with just our team and Sami. After dinner, Sami tells us the story of how he was filled with the Holy Spirit and then given the gift of tongues. It is a far more dynamic and crazy story than most people have for those experiences. When he is finished, he mentions that when he speaks in tongues he keeps getting louder and louder because the Spirit stirs something up inside him. That's all that is needed for some of our team to encourage him to show us. He invites us to all pray in tongues together, and as we get going, the presence of God falls very heavily in that room. We spend the next hour or so lying around on the floor, just soaking in the sweet goodness of our Lord Jesus. What a great day off. After we pick ourselves up, some of us have prophetic words for him – which rock his world. One of them has an immediate confirmation as his cell phone gets a text about real estate. Come on Jesus! We get an early night tonight, as we arrive back at the convent by 9:00pm.

March 10th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

In the morning we split into two groups, the same teams that we had for the school kids on the first day here. I am with Ryan, Sean, Risa and Julie, and we partner with Savio, his wife Sandra, Lydia and Elias (all from the Kuwait team). We set out for TOP, where the Catholic school that we met with the first day is going to send their 10th graders. On the way we get a call – they had a miscommunication with the busing, and they aren't able to meet today. No problem, we say, and head for Starbucks to regroup. Nouna is acting as team manager, and stewarding the multiple requests for us to come and do ministry, so it seems to be a matter of deciding which option to take. After coffee and praying for several people in the shop (one girl gets healed of back pain, and a guy working as a barista feels God's presence and is healed of neck pain/headache), we decide to go meet with an Iraqi refugee who has been struggling with depression. He lives with his family in an impoverished area of Beirut. The family of four has one room to sleep in, a small area to cook in, and a barely accommodating bathroom. We spend some time hearing his story, and then take him through a sozoi. He finds some healing and gets freedom from thinking that he was responsible for his mother's death. [[His mother died as the result of the interrogations the Iraqi militants brought her through in an attempt to locate her son; this man. He was being persecuted because of his faith, and his support of the American government in Iraq. I believe he worked as some kind of video technician for the Americans in Iraq.]] We pour blessing into his family, and also help to clean up the lens he sees God through. We leave their home with smiles and waves after some group photos.

As we head back to the car, Sean stops to pray for a guy who is missing an eye. He is a worker in a nearby curtain manufacturing company, and soon enough a fellow worker comes to check on him. The first man feels the presence of God, and ends up praying to receive Jesus as his savior – pretty awesome considering he was a Muslim! [[I found out later that this was using Savio's inspired prayer model for Muslims: ask them if their heart is beating intensely, and when they say “yes,” tell them that they have contained God in a box, and this is Jesus trying to make room in their hearts.]] As he continues to be prayed for, his coworker starts receiving prayer for healing. Eventually another worker comes to see what's going on, and why these workers have not returned to work. This pattern continues until there are four workers from the same company, all receiving prayer ministry on the sidewalk, and finally the business owner walks out to see what's going on. He asks a few questions and then goes back inside. I pray for one of the workers with the help of Lydia's translation. He has migraines at night, so I pray against that. He can't tell us if there's any difference because they only happen at night, so we ask him if he felt anything at all in his body when we were praying for him (God's presence is always affecting people on this trip). He says no, but his body language says yes. He then says that he has pain in his knees, so we pray for them and he says that %90 of the pain is gone. We celebrate and thank God, then chat for a bit. He finds out I'm from Canada, and he says that the owner of the company has Canadian citizenship. He asks if I would like to meet him. I say yes, and Lydia and I head inside the shop. I chat with him briefly about his stay in Canada. He spent 5 years in Montreal, and his first son was born there. We have to leave as the rest of the team is heading out, so I ask him if I can pray a blessing over his business. He says yes, of course. We do, and as we leave he cannot stop thanking us, waving and smiling. I know that interacting with the business owner has created an environment of grace and favour, and the workers can return with newly planted seeds of the Kingdom in their hearts. In the car, driving away, I prophesy that as his business is blessed, and his workers have all been touched by the Kingdom, they will grow and spread the power of the Kingdom all over the Middle East and the surrounding area. Curtains are ubiquitous in the Middle East, and they will become ambassadors of the greatness of our God.

We go find lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. We curiously do not pray for anyone while there; it's interesting how a new standard has been set. The menu here is full of unmentionable delicacies. I point the most unmentionable of them out to Ryan, and he promptly orders it. Most of us eat some of it. It's not bad – mildly spiced. It comes with a side of fries. Kind of like meat balls.

After lunch we head for an Iraqi refugee camp where we will be meeting with families in their homes. We split (yet again) into two groups. I go with Sean, Risa, Lydia and an interpreter from the ministry that we are partnering with. I'm not sure what they're called, but they consistently do relational work with the families in the refugee camp. They have a heart to get these families healed up and send them back into Iraq as “salt and light”. The first family we meet with is just a man and his son. He doesn't know Jesus personally, and we pray for a while for him to encounter God's presence. He doesn't mention anything, and we don't see any improvement as we pray for his deaf ear. It's interesting how a Muslim on the street can be immediately set on fire by the presence of God, but a broken, traditionally religious and nominal Christian doesn't even get drawn into an encounter. I would like to see religious people get rocked by God's love and power... and I would like to see whatever existing religious side of myself get destroyed so that I am not inhibited in any way to experience God's extravagant love. The father does continue to show us favour, and asks us to pray for his son. As we pray, the son does experience the Presence of God. He says that he knows Jesus, and we get to prophesy to both the father and the son. We leave them feeling greatly loved, but I cannot help wishing that I had been able to see them more radically impacted.

The next family we visit is a little bigger. There is father, mother, eldest son married to daughter-in-law, daughter, and youngest son. After some discussion that only seems to draw out a hopelessness in them, we stand in a circle and hold hands to pray. After praying, the eldest son remarks that he was supposed to be at work today, but he knew that something good would be happening at home, so he came home. I flow right from that into prophesying his identity as a visionary, and his gifting prophetically into his destiny. He shares about how he sees angels, and how he commonly says things that come true. We impart strength and wisdom to him, and offer instruction on how to interact and pursue his calling. The family is completely rocked by this, and we continue to prophesy over all the rest. They are all so touched by God as each one of them hears His thoughts about their hearts and dreams. We pray blessing over them and wander back to meet with the other team. Most of the families here have horrific stories about how they were persecuted in Iraq for being Christian. The ones we met with today have left Iraq within the last year. Family members have been tortured and kidnapped. One of the men we talked with had even been soaked in gasoline and set on fire. While waiting to meet with the other team, we get to pray and prophesy over our interpreter. When we ask him if we could pray and prophesy over him, he confesses that he had just been asking God that we might pray and prophesy to him. He says, with a mild amazement, that he has never had teams like us come in, and that these Iraqi families have never experienced prophetic ministry before. As we pray he gets his back healed, and we pray for his cholesterol. Once the other team joins us, we go pray for a disabled man, and an old lady with a blind eye. They are at what appears to be a small Christian school. She gets some vision restored, and they are both very, very blessed to even see us praying for them on their school grounds. It is a beautiful moment, where an old lady is seeing a love she only dreamed about manifest before her eyes. She says that when we came to pray, we were like a light arriving.

[[The team that went to the Evangelical school saw the presence of God explode across the student body. Because of the school's reputation and legacy, it is a first choice for wealthy parents, and the students are %70 Muslim. The team was able to lead several chapels in the morning, with Mitch bringing in the glorious worship, and then visit selected classes throughout the day. They also had freedom to roam the campus for any non-scheduled time. Muslim kids were having encounters with God, who was revealing himself as Jesus, or giving them visions of a cross. Many were healed. One boy, an athlete, had a sprained ankle. Seconds into a prayer he swore and exclaimed, “I'm healed!” As he ran around the room his teachers testified that indeed he had been out of commission for several weeks due to his injury. A girl there had been unable to breath through her nose since birth. After receiving prayer she could breathe freely through her nose. A student was healed of asthma, and he came back after PE class and said that he had no trouble breathing! Another student had scoliosis healed, and he became intoxicated by the Lord's presence. His girlfriend wanted to feel God's presence too, so she prayed and both of them could hardly stand! Two Christian students wanted more of God, and after they received prayer they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They felt His presence filling them, and were jealously wanting as much of Him as possible. Our team led these two to pray for some of the other students who had pain, and the pain all left! So much more happened at this school. The next day when they went back, the staff of the school announced that our team would be in the chapel during each break. During each break there were line-ups of students to receive prayer!]]

We finish the day off at a prayer-type meeting at the Matar's house with some of the people from TOP. We eat food first, then sing worship. It is a sweet and glorious worship set lead by our dear friend Mitch, and we are all being romanced by the presence of God. Risa brings a teaching and activation in the angelic, and before we know it it's almost midnight. Some of our team is getting up to leave before 7:00am again tomorrow to go back to the Evangelical school. Today has been so full and spontaneous that I'm not sure if I remember all that happened.

Risa had mentioned this morning that our tiredness was associated with this trip to Lebanon being a first time trip for Bethel. Since Bethel has never sent a team to Lebanon before, we are acting as ground-breakers, and we are pushing into a spiritual headwind. The team that comes next year will be able to build on our foundation and work a little more out of rest. [[I have since learned how true this is. I have spoken with other teams that went on first time trips where almost everyone was sick the entire time. When I arrived back in America, it felt as though a weight had been lifted. The day after traveling into San Fransisco I felt so rejuvenated, even though I only slept for 7 hours. And that was after being awake for essentially 50 hours straight!]] Still, today was easier to make it through than some of the earlier ones. I think some of the tiredness stuff got broken off at Sami's house last night.

March 11th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:40:00.001-07:00

Today approaches 34 degrees C. From the convent in the hills, we can see the city of Beirut get lost in a thick haze that comes in from the Mediterranean. Before I get out of bed, I see an angel in the room as a flash of light (I have been seeing these over the last half year). Inspired by Risa's angel talk last night, I start interacting with the angel. I learn that there are one or two that I'm interacting with (it is hard to tell sometimes, but she kept using plural pronouns like “we”), and that they are female (whatever that means for angels). They are angels that stay with me; they are smallish, and very dainty and feminine, almost fairy-like (all of this I was “seeing” or sensing with my spiritual eyes). They are for my protection, which I was a little surprised by, but I suppose that angels for my protection don't have to be giant, warrior looking beings. Appearances in the spiritual are apparently even more deceiving than in the natural.

As the day progresses, we split into our usual two groups – the one group is going back to the Evangelical school where they saw so many miracles the day before, and the group that I'm with is going to a local “American” university along with the Kuwait team. [[It's called an “American” university, but I am not aware of any official connection to the US. My understanding is that it is modeled after a western education style, and it's accreditation is recognized in America. Most, if not all, of its students speak English.]] One of the members at TOP (Patrick) is a student at this university, and he's been praying for almost 2 months for a Bethel team to come bring revival to his campus. We show up at around 11am with no game plan but to see people get blessed and encounter the presence of the living God. We further split into smaller groups of 2 or 3 so we don't attract attention. Nouna clearly gives guidance for us to not do anything that would bring a negative report on Patrick, so we are doing what we can to not draw attention to ourselves. This is the first time I feel like I'm doing sneaky ministry, as we can feel the eyes of the security guards on us as we walk onto campus. I am working with Risa, and Savio's wife, Sandra. I know that if I don't get out of the sun I won't last long, so we head for some faculty buildings. We stop and minister to a girl along the way at a park bench. We pray for her back, and she gets healed as she feels the pain leave. We also give her some prophetic words, and speak words of life to her, releasing joy into her environment. She gets her socks blessed off! We wander down into a basement museum of fossil history and human origins, so we silently release the Kingdom and commission angels to inspire people to think critically about their creation and purpose. We head back outside toward other buildings, and the girl by the bench wants to take a picture with us. She is still glowing from her encounter. Then we wander in to a faculty building, and after following a corridor for a ways, we offer to pray for a group of maintenance workers. They are not interested at all. Turning around to follow the corridor back out, we pass a professor's office that reads, “Professor of Government and International Affairs,” so we poke our heads in the door and ask him if he's busy. He isn't, and he invites us to sit and talk. We talk all about his area of study, and how he likes it. We soon get the impression that he's a believer, and we start to share a bit about what we've been doing in Lebanon. Risa chimes in with, “We really have a heart to pray to see healings and miracles.” He then asks us if we've seen any. So we share a few of our recent testimonies with him, and talk with him about some of the shining cultural aspects of Lebanon. We get to pray with him and bless him before we go, and we release some prophetic words over him.

We then roam the halls for a few more minutes, and find ourselves in a main common area where hundreds of students are eating and socializing. Some of our other team members are there ministering as well. We get to talk to some students; they have been getting healed and encountering God. Risa talks with one guy for about 15 minutes, and gets to speak into his identity and calling within God's Kingdom. He said that he didn't believe in God at the start of the conversation. She ministers to him prophetically, and gets some words of knowledge and keys to his heart. By the end of the conversation, he was saying he wanted to get married, have kids, and his main passion was for family! [[Risa didn't hear this, but his friends introduced this student to us as being gay – which the student didn't deny. I think they were trying to shock us “church folk” into judgment and control. We just ended up reminding him of who he really was.]] About three-quarters the way through the conversation he also started talking about God and the Church, and knew love was the answer for the Church. He is going to help change it! Well over a dozen of these students are interested in coming out to the meeting we're having at TOP Friday night. Sean approaches a guy on crutches and says, “would you like to see a miracle?” He says yes, and they pray for his leg. He had a flu virus in the bone. There is a definite shift in his leg, and the pain leaves. He gets excited and wants to do this for others now. Still on crutches (for whatever reason), he goes with Sean up to other students asking them if they have any pain in their body. Finally one guy says yes, he had a shoulder that had surgery and wasn't healing properly. It had a level 6 out of 10 for pain, and he couldn't lift his arm. After the guy with crutches prayed, the pain left his arm completely and he dropped and started doing push-ups! The crutches guy has been long wanting to see something like this break open on his campus, so we make sure he knows Patrick, and Sean invites him to TOP. Ryan prays for a guy who has no right forearm. He catches the movement in the arm growing out on video after they had prayed. God is so good! The arm doesn't grow out completely, but it does grow substantially. There is not much doubt in this case that God will complete that healing soon. [[We have had updates since the trip that the arm has continued to grow, and that new movements are apparent because of newly formed muscles in the arm.]] After talking with some of the other groups, we hear that the faculty offices that my team had visited earlier were visited by another 2 distinct groups without being aware of the others. By the end of the day the people in the office were getting smothered by the love of God, and receiving more prayer and healing. Someone Ryan talks to learns that he has recently been on a relief trip to Haiti, which is suspiciously coincidental because the university is having a relief event to fund raise for Haiti today. They end up asking Ryan to share about all that happened on his trip. Soon he is sharing about how the Kingdom of God radically changed lives in Haiti over a PA system at an American university in Lebanon. Hallelujah! The event is televised, and it's co-hosted by some Middle Eastern Celebrities who are unknown to us. Ryan is invited to pray over the event and the school, and then some of our team gets to pray and prophesy over the celebrities. (So much for not drawing attention to ourselves.) I know the one gets healed of back pain (I think he is a comedian?). We rally together, eat pita and falafel, and leave to meet with the school team at TOP at 2pm.

[[We learn a few days later that Patrick went back and had a meeting with the Chair of the Political Science department (in the office across the hall from the “Government and International Affairs” guy). All our teams activity in and around those offices opened up the door for Patrick to speak with him. Patrick says, “I want to share the word on campus.”
“What word?” The professor inquires.
“Revival.”
“OK,” now giving Patrick his full attention, “share what you have.”
It turns out that this professor has been praying about how to integrate true Christianity into the curriculum. He schedules a meeting with Patrick for March 22nd to plan a campus wide celebration of Pentecost with the aim of experiencing the Holy Spirit.]]

Some of us head to visit with Sami at his mountain house, and some of us go to Nouna's while some go to the convent to rest. This is, of course, after ice-cream. The ice-cream shop we frequent is getting more and more blessed. It is such a heart warming thing to be able to re-visit the people that we have prayed for earlier in the week, and see that they are still radiating God's goodness and enjoying His blessing in their lives. Sometimes we need to see that the impact we have in peoples lives is permanent, and not just a weird thing that happened one afternoon. Praise God, the Lord who saves; He is so good, and He does good. [[I stay in the convent to rest, then go with Stephen to a home group to impart what Bethel has to offer. We are able to teach on the prophetic, and activate a small contingent of passionate believers, but we are both very tired. The even drags on, and we are kept in our weariness until midnight. I learn after the trip how amazing Sami's mountain house was; that this evening was even a highlight of the trip for some people. They were treated like kings, and had the opportunity to relax as a team in a royal palace. Reason #9 to go back.]]

March 12th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

We have another relaxed start today, though even that doesn't seem to be helping much anymore. I still can't sleep in past 7:00am because of jet lag. Half the team wakes early to go to the Evangelical school for the third day, only this time they are meeting with grades K through 5. There is a miscommunication between the teams, and we end up running a little late after their school meetings. We leave together for Byblos at around 11:30am. On arrival we quickly find a shop that makes us the most wonderful fruit cocktails ever. We get to pray for several of the people there and see them get healed and touched by God. One girl had pain in her leg; we pray at least 3 times for her and she gets healed. Another girl had a backache, and it is completely healed as well. They feel the fire of God as we pray, and Savio & Sandra counseled them through their encounter. Byblos is one of the (if not the) oldest cities in the world, and we end up paying a meager 6000 Lebanese Pounds ($4) to wander around the ancient ruins for an hour. They're great, as far as ruins go. Some of the original walls are between 3000 and 4000 years old, and the original city is over 6000 years old. There's a medieval keep dating from around the 12th century, and there are deep cisterns dug out of solid rock for water supply. There are Roman ruins mingled in with the ancient and medieval ruins, and the diverse medley of leftover civilization makes for some amazing pictures. Too bad I forget my camera in the car. Many of the others take wonderful pictures I'm sure. We end up ministering to a man in the castle, I think he's a guide of some sort. He gets healed, and then ends up asking Jesus into his life! We finish with the ruins, and start to think about food – getting sidetracked on the way by many wonderful tourist shops, and street markets. There is one shop owner in the souk who is a pastor in Byblos, and he is friends with the Matar's. He points out which shops are his, and we are more than happy to look around. I buy some embroidered napkins for my mom, and some other gifts. I also end up buying some kind of Middle Eastern scarf for myself. [[I learn after that this particular article is essentially worn as Middle Eastern gang colours. The black weave is Yasser Arafat's crew, and the red weave is Hezbollah. Mitch and I definitely attracted stares as we walked into a grocery store wearing one of each colour.]] It's nice to be able to bring back some things for others from far away travels.

We eat in this amazing restaurant that isn't even open for business yet – they open early especially for us. They have a table set up in a back courtyard in an ancient, castle looking building, and we feast like never before on this trip. We order a group meal, which presents us with more food than we can deal with. I eat my fill of many cultural dishes with names I cannot pronounce, but they certainly are delicious. There is one other table being used while we eat, and there are 3 girls eating there. It turns out they are Christians. We end up chatting with them, and before long we are praying and prophesying over them. We get to prophetically counsel this one girl about some spiritual issues that are causing her emotional problems; she gets rocked.

From Byblos we head directly to TOP for our last meeting. We arrive there about an hour before the meeting is scheduled to start, but already there are a few people waiting. We have some coffee (Turkish), and chat with some members. Eventually we kick off the evening with some worship. Michel lets me know that they don't have a bass player, so I hop on bass. It's fun to play, even if I am very lost for a few of the songs. This evening at TOP goes quite differently than any of the others. We essentially have a giant impartation time, where we first get the team in a circle around Michel and Nouna to bless them, and then we circle around the entire congregation to bless them. After this, we switch it up and they circle around us to bless us, and prophesy over us. They anoint us with an anointing oil that is very specific to Lebanon. We feel so loved and blessed, like we are part of this amazing family. There is some prayer for healing and other things, but mostly this is an evening of paying honour to one another, and saying our goodbyes. We have empowered and activated the church to continue to press in for revival in their environments, all that's left for them is to do it. Already at this meeting we see several fresh revivalists who are eager to be set loose on the city of Beirut. The guy who was on crutches from the “American” university shows up – without his crutches, and he is very interested to learn about what this Kingdom life is all about. Several of the members of the Kuwait team are passionate revivalists today because of a Bethel team's visit to their hometown a year ago; how many committed and passionate warriors for God did we ignite with an unquenchable fire on this trip? In keeping with the norm for this missions trip, we go for ice-cream before heading back to the convent for one final sleep in Lebanon.

March 13th, 2010

2010-04-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today we leave the convent for the last time, so in the morning we pack all our stuff away and store it at the convent to be picked up later. We are going to see the cedars of Lebanon today. Two of our team are sick, but by the time our ride arrives one is feeling better. We idle through a leisurely breakfast, then coordinate rides and head north towards Tripoli with a convoy of 5 or 6 cars. Our team is joined by the remainder of the Kuwait team, and some precious friends from TOP. As we get further from civilization on the road north, we see a small castle perched on a small rock bluff in the middle of a green meadow. We all let the image soak into our eyes, and lament that our cameras are in the trunk. Before long Tripoli approaches, and we swing East to climb the winding mountain roads, ascending through villages to one small remaining cedar forest. (Not the only one, but the oldest one.) We are forewarned that there aren't many trees left, “but the remaining trees,” we are promised, “are very old.” One of the cars breaks down, and we all take a rest stop. My camera comes out along with everyone else's. For half an hour now we have been driving along the brim of a magnificent canyon. The sheer rock face is marked with carved out refuges that resilient Christians once used to hide from the invading Islamic Turkish armies. Some have large statues of religious icons; bold white figures stand out against the red-brown of the canyon wall. This is called “The Valley of the Saints,” and a passing view is not enough to satiate our interests. Reason #10 to go back someday. All cars get on the road again, and we trace swooping lines from one hamlet to the next along the canyons edge. Eventually we round the mouth of the canyon, and cross stitch our way up towards higher, less inhabited ground. There's not much here but terraced orchards and ATV trails. That same car breaks down again. The anticipation for the trees grows and dies several more times before we start seeing signs of a forest, and finally we drive into the park. As we unload the cars in the parking lot we hear another group singing worship songs. I approach one of them and ask him where they're from. They are from Lebanon (Tripoli), and when they hear about where we're from, they are happy to have met us and they take some contact information. We bless them along their way and head for the trees. [[There was actually one gentleman who, upon finding out I was Canadian, asked if I knew Benny Hinn. I said yes, but not personally.]]

The cedars are old, and big. Very different from the redwood cedars in North America. While our redwoods grow mostly straight upwards, these tend to branch out more. North American Cedars tend to grow in wetlands, but this forest is high on rocky alpine terrain. We learn that these cedars grow 30cm underground for every 10cm above ground, giving them incredibly strong root structures. We wander through the forest and look at the trees. There is a large cedar that has died, and someone carved different faces and images of Jesus into the remaining structure. While we are among these ancient giants, I take the scarf I bought in Byblos and ask each of the Lebanese with us to lay hands on it, releasing the anointing of Lebanon into it. Some of them look at me weird, but after I explain how Paul would touch napkins and aprons that would be sent to heal people, they are eager to pray. Many of them bless it with their best blessing, and commission it to create an environment to heal; the riches of Lebanon are returning with me around my neck. There is a lot of tree hugging and climbing, and we eventually circle back to the parking lot. Of course we must take several group photos by the statue of the Virgin Mary, and of course we ask the Lebanese soldier to take a photo for us. Our hunger leads us up the road to have lunch at an alpine diner. We are sure to eat light, since we have a 3 hour feast planned for tonight. Some of our team feels God's presence as we walk into the building, and sense that He wants to do something there. After food is served, our team has an opportunity to pray for the owners of the diner. They are a family that has experienced constant death in their house. We pray for them and bring them hope and life, while we break curses off their home and restaurant. Soon after we leave Lydia realizes that her flight to Kuwait leaves much sooner than she thought. Some of us drive with her, as Michel rally races down the mountain road to the airport, and some of us set off at a less hazardous (but still not quite relaxed) pace on the winding roads. There are a few cars that wait behind to make sure that the people driving in the broken down car get rides back to Beirut. [[Lydia made her flight.]]

Dinner starts at around 9:30pm, and when we walk into the restaurant we all immediately feel under-dressed. It is a very nice place, and walking through the front door feels like walking into a palace. We start feasting on dish after dish of gourmet cultural food. Many of them we have tried before, but there are some that are new. We get to try sheep's brain. It does not have much flavour, but the texture is so creamy and soft that I can't handle it. I wash it down with my drink. The unmentionable delicacies are served again, and constantly dish after dish of food is brought before us. This is a meal that is supposed to last for 3 hours, but we don't have that much time. After about 2 hours Nouna asks them to clear the table and bring us dessert. It is a wide array of fresh fruit. Most of it looks pretty standard, but I get to pioneer eating cactus fruit. It is good, but there are a lot of seeds. The proper way to eat it is to press the fruit against the roof of your mouth with your tongue, and it squishes apart. You don't spit out the seeds, you just swallow them with the fruit. It is mildly sweet, but nothing extraordinary. A lady sitting at the table next to us has a birthday cake brought to her, so we sing her happy birthday. She thanks us by sending pieces of the cake over to our table. We probably eat more of her birthday cake than her table does!

We leave directly for the airport having picked up our luggage before dinner. We are very tired by this point, but instead of going to bed (which would be nice after a long day), we drive through Beirut one last time to board a plane. Many of us sleep along the drive, which I feel badly about. I would have liked to talk for that last bit of time, or even look over the city as we pass by. It is such a beautiful place, with such beautiful people. We say goodbye to some of our friends from TOP at Nouna's house, and then the rest at the airport. It's already after midnight, and our flight leaves at 2:00am.

March 14th, 2010 (the longest day)

2010-04-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

For us it stays Sunday for 34 hours. I usually don't sleep much during travel, but I am exhausted enough that my body makes an exception. I still probably only get 4 or 5 hours through the whole trip. From Paris to San Fransisco I sit beside a woman who introduces herself to me as a “clairvoyant energy healer” before we even take off. I respond by telling her that I am also a healer, and that my team and I just spent 10 days healing people all over Lebanon. We continue to talk, and I spend over 3 hours telling her about Jesus and the Kingdom. I end up stressing the exclusivity of relationship with Jesus. I tell her that the Bible uses a bridal paradigm to refer to the relationship between Jesus and the Church, as well as the individual person. She agrees with me that she would not want to share her spouse with another woman, and I tell her that this is how Jesus' jealous love is for her. She has a problem with this. Or rather, the spirits she has agreed with in her have a problem with this. For the next 45 minutes she rambles on about nothing that makes any sense, and her very countenance changes. I know that she is not the one talking anymore. I essentially tune her out, and after she realizes that she has been rambling for a while, she stops and we turn to watching movies. By the end of the flight I get to pray for her. I put my hand on her shoulder and say, “Come Holy Spirit, bring this woman a revelation of the person of Jesus, and let her interact with Him as He truly is.” She tells me that I have powerful hands, that as soon as I touched her she felt power go down her arm. I smile and say, “Well, that's the Lord.” While I was going through customs, Nicol has the opportunity to pray for her as well. When she prays the lady feels even more of the presence of God, and Nicol prophesies over her some of the exact things that we had been talking about (which Nicol was not aware of). Nicol says to the lady that Jesus is “courting” her and wants to “marry” her, and she stresses the importance of relationship. Thank you Holy Spirit for guiding my conversation with her, and thank You Jesus for how we were able to touch her life and throw her a lifeline. We stop by a famous sandwich shop on the way North to Redding, then power through to the finish of our trip. By now we are all so drained that it is purely the Spirit of the Living God keeping the cars on the road. We have been on the move for almost 48 hours by now, with little to no sleep. Bethel church appears on the horizon at around 9:00pm, and we all disperse to our homes and beds. Ryan is leading a trip to Nicaragua this month as well, and he is leaving on that trip 6 hours from now, at 3:00am. Maybe enough time for laundry and a nap. He is such a hero. By the time I get home I realize that I have to wash some bedding before sleeping. This adds 2 hours to my already long time of being awake. Fifty hours with almost no sleep, what a journey.

Since I have been home I have heard reports from the people at TOP about how impacted they felt. Many of them have confessed that they have had life changing experiences, and some are even working through the process to come to BSSM as students of revival in the years to come. This is what warms my heart the most – knowing that revivalists are being born in every country of the world, continuing to advance the Kingdom in their own nation. I'm glad for all the miracles that I was able to see and be a part of, but still I am most delighted by seeing fires ignited within the church community that we were able to start a relationship with. I am a changed man myself, having seen into the heart of a beautiful nation, and a beautiful people. Thank you Lebanon, thank you TOP, and thank you Matar family for all your love. Though I've numbered the reasons to return, they are in reality countless.

The Wisdom of God

2010-02-28T19:32:00.001-08:00

I love my life. I really do. It's hard, but I love it. Part of me loves it because it's hard, but that's because I am a warrior. I have been getting some good revelation while reading through the assigned scripture readings for school. I love my life. I do my homework and I encounter God.

I recently read through the account of Solomon's wisdom in 1 Kings 3:16-28. It's the story of the two mothers that both claim the same child. It happens (in the scripture) right after Solomon asks God for wisdom.

Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, "Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne." But the other woman said, "No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours." The first said, "No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine." Thus they spoke before the king.

Then the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; and the other says, 'No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'" And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other." Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death." But the other said, "He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him." Then the king answered and said, "Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother." And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

Solomon spoke death over a situation, and waited to see who would rise up and take ownership for the life of that situation. It was then that Solomon knew that the one crying out for life could be trusted with the ownership of the situation (in this case because she was the legitimate mother). This was the "wisdom of God" at work in Solomon for justice. It is the wisdom of God to speak death over a situation, and wait to see who will rise up and take ownership for the life of that situation. This story is not an illustration of Solomon's wisdom so much as it is an illustration of God's wisdom (vs. 28).

Abraham bartered with God on behalf of Sodom (Gen. 18:22-33), and Moses cried for life when God said that He was going to destroy the Israelites for their idolatry (Ex. 32:9-14). Even Jonah knew God's heart (though he didn't agree with it), and refused to speak a judgment word against Nineveh because he knew God would show mercy when they repented (Jnh 4:2). Life is the goal! Life is always the goal, and in each of these words where God speaks death over a situation, life was the goal. Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (Jhn 10:10) Life is the goal!

How many words of judgment and death spoken by God has the church become invigorated by only to be waging the enemies war? If mercy was high on God's agenda under the Old Covenant, how much more accessible is His mercy and steadfast love through the New Covenant and through Jesus? Read words of judgment knowing God's heart for life in that situation. He is perfectly just in executing the judgments He has spoken, but it is the wisdom of God to wait and see who will arise and take ownership for the life of the situation.

Now, when you read judgment words in the Bible, get excited for the potential of life and leadership - take ownership of that which God has spoken death over, and cry out for life! The mercy of God, and the power of the blood of Jesus reach farther and deeper than we could possibly imagine. Rise up, generation that cries for life, and take ownership of situations for the sake of life.

Prayer Requests for Lebanon

2010-02-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

Hello to you all!

I recently received a donation that covered the remaining portion of my trip to Lebanon – Praise God He is so faithful! Thank you all for your prayers and support, it has been, and continues to be, an adventure.

I would very much appreciate continued prayer support as I embark on this trip.

I am currently fighting a sinus infection. Pray for complete healing BEFORE the trip leaves.
Pray for safe travels on the drive to San Fransisco, and a good flight over. Pray for no jetlag.
I am preparing 3 messages to share – pray that they are God breathed, and that the Holy Spirit anoints them as I speak them.
We are sharing at a catholic school, and we've been given complete freedom. They want to see “real” Christians. Pray that we shine with the glory of Jesus as we minister to them.
We are (hopefully) going to be ministering at some refugee camps, pray for favour to get in, and that our presence would demonstrate God's love to all we encounter.
We will be spending a day on the ski slopes. Many of the rich go there to play – they need Jesus too! Pray that God arranges encounters with those who are hungry for a touch from Heaven.
I am very excited to meet with and minister to some monks in monasteries in the mountains in Lebanon – please pray that this works out, and that we can sow into their lives of service and devotion.
We will be leading teams of local Christians through their towns and cities to do power evangelism. Pray that the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak, the depressed are filled with the joy of the Lord, and everyone gets radically touched by Jesus.
Pray that the church we are partnering with gets permanently transformed and refueled.

Thank you all for your love, I look forward to telling you all about the trip when I get back (March 15^th). Until then – God bless you and shine his face upon you!

Partner With Me to Make History!

2010-02-22T10:05:00.000-08:00

We're called to be history makers right?

I'm thrilled with the opportunity to go to Lebanon in just over a week. I will be sharing the Kingdom of God in Refugee Camps, Monastaries, local churches, on the streets and on the ski slopes!! But friends, to make it I really need US$1300.00 before Wednesday this week and I believe God has blessed you to bless others, so please partner with me to Bring the Kingdom to Lebanon. Let's bless the People of God in the Middle East! Any donation is greatly appreciated - Love you ALL.

https://www.ibssm.org/?action=donate&target=missions&student_id=208010

Have the most amazing day ever, full of the JOY OF THE LORD :-)

The Story of My Life: Chapter Now

2010-02-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

The year at Bethel to this point as been very trying and stretching in many ways. I came here longing to be put into situations where I was faced with the impossible, where only God's intervention alone would bring me into the next moment. I must confess I became frustrated when I wasn't thrust into these situations by the curriculum of BSSM first year. Other trials layered over this, and I fought through with worship and declarations of who God says He is. I stood on His word, which is pregnant with the power needed to bring it about, and fashioned a sword out of who He is and who He says I am. I went through a two week period of sickness, in which I celebrated God as my healer – as the Healer. I have been struggling with finances since October, and I continue to celebrate God as my provider – as the Provider. I don't always have the money to eat, and when I eat it is rarely a healthy, square meal. But when I dream I don't dream of bread, I dream of nations. When I dream I look into eternity and fill my heart with the depths of God's promises.

I had an amazing weekend. I think it was partially triggered by my trip to the Healing Rooms where I decided to get prayer for more than physical healing, and received clarity and vision for God's call on my life (more on this in a later paragraph). That evening I joined a friend of mine (Jed Johnson) to go and pray for people out in the lobby of the convention center. Now let's back up for a minute... this weekend there was a massive youth conference/worship/celebra

tion happening in town called Jesus Culture. There were close to 5000 young, fiery Jesus lovers split between two venues – one of which was this convention center. Jed and I decided to wander around the lobby of this event to pray for people to be healed, prophesy life and destiny to them, and do generally whatever we could to bless them and bring the Kingdom. (The night before he had seen many people healed/set free and amazingly touched by God's love). We had a great time. We mostly prophesied that evening, but several people got healed, including a guy with a knee problem, a girl with scoliosis, and some people with headaches and back pain. Jed got to minister to one girl for around 90 minutes as she had wave after wave of revelation of God's love for her wash over her.

I have been learning more about faith and how to pray for healing. Short prayers. Always short prayers. Long prayers are often a sign of our lack of faith in God, and our attempt to “counsel” a person through prayer instead of stopping and seeing whether God has done a miracle. I found that faith comes in after the prayer, when I ask, “how do you feel now? Can you do something you couldn't do before?” Now that takes faith! Do I trust God enough to utter a 20 second prayer, then ask the person if they've felt God's touch?

Sunday after the 11:00am service, I was part of the prayer team at the front of the service. I prayed for one young man named Jonathan, he had longstanding back pain and had had two spinal taps. He had scar tissue that was causing discomfort and pain. He also mentioned that within the last two weeks his knee had started clicking and hurting, and he didn't know why. I told him that I would start by praying for his back. I placed my hand on his lower back where the pain was, and I prayed my short prayer. I looked at him, trying not to look like I was holding my breath, and asked him how he felt. He said that he felt heat on his back as soon as I put my hand there, and then twisted a little and talked some more about how it used to feel. So I asked him if it hurt at all; he said no. I asked him (again) if it had been hurting before we prayed; he said yes with a smile. We praised God and thanked him for the healing. Then I asked him to sit so I could pray for his knee. As he sat I asked him more about how it had happened, and he reminded me that he didn't know, it just started happening around two weeks ago. As he was talking I asked him if it was hurting now; he said no. I told him that sometimes God heals people without even having to pray for it. I double checked and asked him if it had been hurting before we prayed for his back; he said yes. So I said, “I think God just healed you!” And we praised God some more.

Someone here once told me that I have a powerful laugh. I don't mean loud, though it is, but that it releases something in the spiritual that has an impact on my environment and those around me. I took that to heart over the weekend, and started laughing during certain ministry times. (Try to hear me here, I am practicing this with discretion and consideration, though it fits much of the environment we foster) I started to notice the impact it had on other people on Saturday night at the Jesus Culture conference. When I laughed, people around me got impacted more heavily by the Holy Spirit. Then on Sunday night, after our evening service, when I laughed people got more heavily impacted by the Holy Spirit. You know what the best part is? I had a way better time too! When you learn how to operate according to how God created you to be, you find freedom and power together with fun and the Lord's good pleasure. Finally, just this past Monday night I went to an orientation for prayer servants of the Healing Room Ministry, and after we had a “prayer time”. I say “prayer time” because there's no current adequate vocabulary to describe the impartation time led by one Juaquin Evans. I'm sure an outside observer would say, “they are filled with new wine,” or something along those lines... maybe a little less first-century-ish. Either way; I laughed, and people I was near got impacted heavily by the Holy Spirit. One lady even commented on it, and one guy that was walking around praying for people and imparting got knocked to the ground when he got to me. Talk about impartation backfire!

I had a huge shift in the lens I was seeing my life through, and it came through a small adaptation of the single word “Evangelist”. I shared with the prayer servants that I had previously received (at least) two prophecies that said that I had a gifting for evangelism, and how that puzzled me since I didn't have a heart for what I saw as “evangelism”. After some trite encouragement, one of them mentioned that I had a more evangelistic call within the churches. I looked at them with confusion, but with hope asked, “is that even possible?” They continued to outline to me what I now have been able to assign to the role of the evangelist, as it pertains to God's call on my life. There are so many people filling pews and subscribing to religion in the name of Christianity – maybe they are genuinely saved, maybe not. That doesn't bear any weight in my assignment. I am called to raise an army out of the ashes of religious refuse, and to transform bench-warmers into warriors. This doesn't fit my traditional view of the evangelist, but I have long since learned to let my understanding bend or break when it comes against the Lord's.

This is like the last piece of a puzzle that the Lord has been positioning in my life over the last few weeks. God spoke to me out of Romans 12:1-8, specifically about finding where I fit within this divine and organic machine (called a body), and setting my focus on that assignment. I have been distracted far too often by another's assignment, and it only brings depression, confusion, frustration, unhealthy comparison, discouragement and death to the soul. This was happening especially when I would see a dramatic evangelist at work in our school; sharing a testimony about how God had worked through them during their lunch break and 20 people got saved and a revival broke out in the streets and everyone was singing praises to God. Now, I can hear that testimony, celebrate it giving praise to God, and still know that I am secure in my calling, and I haven't “missed it” just because I didn't go preach and pray for people in the bar last night. I am paying attention to the season I am in, and the overall calling on my life, and I think the result is going to be a greater focus, and a much greater increase in the fruit that comes out of my life.

I want to thank you for coming on this journey with me – and yes, I am just talking about reading this update! There is so much more happening with this crazy encounter called “Bethel”, but I simply wouldn't be able to write of it all. I covet your prayers, I truly do, they are so much more powerful than you think. Here's a good way you can pray for me: think of what would bless you the most, then pray for me to get it. Then after you've prayed go look up Mark 4:24, then praise the Lord and thank Him that the angels are carrying out your prayer as you read (Psalms 103:20, Hebrews 1:14). God bless you all with the peace of Jesus, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Beginning of a Revolution

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Healing Breakthroughs

All 1500 or so Bethel students packed alongside another 1000 or so of the paying public into a local convention center. This is Randy Clarke's School of Healing and Impartation. It's been a change of pace for sure. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent almost 12 hours inside that building, we didn't finish praying for people until almost midnight. Oh yeah, many Bethel students (myself included) have now been approved to pray for people and minister during ministry times, so at the end of the message, I was up front praying for healing for people. It has been awesome to see God do amazing things through my hands. I really like the crazy stories – for example so far in this school at least a dozen people have been fully healed from having metal in their bodies from injuries or surgeries. What does this mean? Maybe the metal disappeared, maybe God changed its consistency so that it is flexible, and He took away all the pain, I don't know, I'm not a doctor. I do know that people that should have large steel rods in their backs are bending over and touching their toes!

(link to video of healings from metal)http://www.ibethel.tv/watch/533:1:4:244

http://www.globalawakening.com/

I love these crazy stories, but it's so amazing to see God move through your own hands, and radically change one of His precious children! I prayed for a guy who had such tense muscles in his neck that sometimes he would go into seizures. He felt heat on his neck, and after the first prayer he said he was %70 better. I thanked Jesus (important) and prayed again, blessing him, and he said there wasn't much change, but he still felt heat. This happened one more time, then I said, “just soak in that heat, and let God work out the healing. Let me know when you are healed.”
I went away and prayed for some other people. After a bit, I came back and placed my hand over his neck, not touching his skin. And in about 20 seconds he smiled and looked at me, saying, “it's all better now!”
We were supposed to clap 15 times when someone got healed, as a testimony to what God had done, but after I clapped 3 times he tackled me with a big hug! The Lord had a huge victory in this young man's life; he experienced the freedom of the Kingdom and the love of the Lord.

That same night I prayed for a friend who was having back pain because of knots and tense muscles. After praying several times and not seeing complete healing, I prayed, “God, release Holy Spirit A535 over her back.”
Then in about 10 seconds she said, “I'm getting an icy feeling coming up my arms!”
I replied, “Yeah, that's the Holy Spirit A535!”
“What's that?” she asked.
“It's a muscle ointment that gives your skin and muscles an icy feeling like menthol.”
“I can feel it moving up my back,” she said, with a big grin on her face.
So I said, “Just soak in what God's doing there, let me know when you're healed.”
I'm not sure if her back got completely healed, but I know the pain went down, and that icy feeling ended up going down her legs too!

I want to see God touch peoples lives like this everyday! So I will keep pressing in for healing and more opportunities to share the reality of the love of Jesus.

International Transformation

I've briefly mentioned that I'm part of a class called “International Transformation” taught by Anne Kalvestrand, a highly competent and experienced missionary. Part of the class is to work on a group project. These projects have varying scopes and topics, but they are traditionally divided up by what sphere of influence they impact (Family, Religion, Economy, Education, Government, Arts & Media, Science & Technology). It is Bethel's heart, through Global Legacy (their missions and church networking department), to influence each of these sphere's with the Kingdom of Heaven.

I am part of a small group that is working on a project that is “redefining the vision for missions, by connecting resources with need, to empower the nations to transform the seven [spheres of influence].” (that's our mission statement, subject to refinement) We have selected Nicaragua as a pilot country to establish the framework for a global vision. The concept is networking; making sure the right people, with the right skills and experience, are connected with the right needs in the country of their choice (in this case Nicaragua), with the right preparation and awareness, to release the largest potential blessing in that region or environment. We will be collecting contacts in each of the seven spheres throughout Nicaragua, and preparing a rough base of background information and education that will rightly prepare any eager person who is looking to go to advance the Kingdom in that country.

There's so much about this project that I don't even fully understand. We're following the lead of the two visionaries who carry a blueprint for this global network on their hearts. I have no doubt that they will continue to press into this project (becoming ministry) after their time here at Bethel is over. I suppose that's the entire point of the projects we are to invest in.

Ecuador Ministry School

I've recently agreed to go to Ecuador this summer for one month to help teach in a school of ministry there. The team will be staying with local families, and be immersed in the language and culture. We will be able to minister to the church we are connecting with from within; bringing revival to the household. We will be connecting with Verbo Churches in Ecuador, primarely in Cuenca. The plan is to minister and teach to church members, church leaders, and teaching a group of young people about the kingdom, their identity in Christ and the love of Father God. We will also make a trip to Manta, a small fishing city on the Pacific. We will connect with Fabian Molina who has a heart for church planting and started this new church in Manta a few year ago.

We will spend the mornings teaching the youth, then in the evenings we will meet with either leaders of small cell groups within the church, or heads of businesses in the area who want to see more of the Kingdom in their business. Our impact will be equipping the people of the church in our area to bring the Kingdom wherever they go, and to be stewards of a growing revival. There has been talk about having a large evangelistic/worship/crusade/revival type event at the end of our time there, to activate and release the youth and leaders that we have been working with into ongoing ministries within their spheres of influence. I would like to see this happen, but I think it is up to the local church.

Bruce Street

I have finished half of the year in outreach in the “community” assignment on Bruce street. Every week we park under a historic aquaduct that landmarks the region, and wander through the community spreading peace, joy and the love of Jesus. It has been stretching and rewarding. It was not what I expected to get out of outreach at Bethel at all, but it has helped me to grow in many valuable ways. I am going to be spurring myself to go on more extra-curricular treasure hunts and evangelism trips into the city, just to get out of the comfort zone and take risks and see God work mighty miracles. I can only stand to hear so many amazing stories before I must see my own. Though I suppose I should guard my health, and steward my time and energy wisely. Grace Lord Jesus, grace.

I have had the pleasure of developing a friendship with a gentleman on Bruce Street who claims to be an atheist. Our first comment to him was, “Oh, it's nice to meet a fellow person of faith!” We have been able to visit him periodically in our most recent trips, and I look forward to continuing that relationship. We were actually connected with him through a word of knowledge that a fellow team member had. He is very friendly and hungry for relationship. Oh how much he would love Jesus if he only lifted his eyes to see! He is always very happy to see us, and every time we tell him we have to go, he offers us food and tries to get us to stay longer. We know that by the end of the year, he will have come to know the love that God has for him. It will be a good day.

Encounter

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I'm looking for a little kiss
of what darkness surrounds,
of what electrifies the mountains;
what comes down to go up
and come back down again,
like the cycle of rain and springs,
or before that, when cool mist would come
from within to water gardens.

There is segregation between
the whisper in the afternoon
and the authority of thunder,
but both harpoon my soul.
There is a chasm between
the dew of morning
and torrents of winter rain,
but both shatter my heart.

And what is shattered is healed and whole.
And what is revealed as dead
is spoken to and made whole.
And what was dead is made whole.

I'm looking for another moment
to merit sanctity and bliss,
through the empty I must persist
borne by the heart's component
to trust. Romantic pressure
incubates in my chest,
comes to bloom enshrouded,
as when what has long been up comes down.

As when fire and lightening and rain
and thunder with crisp beams
and swallows of light
that eat and eat the atmosphere,
and all this surrounds the thick,
the heavy, the immense and silent
veil that has clothed
the kiss of something different.

What is there through the fire?
beyond the light that eats the sky?
through the deep of the deep
into what the darkness keeps?
The taste now craved must not be sated,
from flower to sun, one creative spark burns
beyond physics and biology, beyond
a miss, and loss, and fail, and forget.

I'm looking for a little kiss
of what thing sits in the midst of darkness,
of what spoke its thunders and its whispers
and what voice electrifies my heart.

GLORY TO GOD!

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God is so good! Rent has been provided and another $500 was given towards my missions trip! Hallelujah! Jesus is King! More Lord, keep those miracles coming! Only $900 left to go (for the payment that was due in december... heh heh), then another $1120 in the next month. GRACE!

Prayer of Favour

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The following is a listing of some of the different aspects of the Favour of the Lord, each with a biblical reference. The teacher of my International Transformation Track (Anne Kalvestrand) is praying each of these things over me as a student, and I would very much like it if you would choose to join her in supporting me in this way.

It can be as simple as "Lord I pray that Dave would have..." and continue with any of the statements below (you may have to change some pronouns... you'll figure it out). Pray them once or pray them as often as you would like on a regular basis. Feel free to pray the scripture into it as well. Pray them for yourself and ask friends to pray them for you, they are powerful. We had people in the class sharing testimonies of how these areas of their lives had been radically affected since the beginning of class. Thank you, and it is my prayer that as you read these each one of them will become manifest in your life.

1) Supernatural increase and promotion. (Gen. 39:21)

2) Restoration of everything the enemy stole from you. (Ex. 3:21)

3) Honour in the midst of adversaries. (Ex. 11:3)

4) Increased assets especially in the area of real estate. (Deut. 33:23)

5) Greater victories in the midst of greater odds and greater impossibilities. (Josh. 11:20)

6) Recognition even when you seem least likely to succeed. (1 Sam. 16:22)

7) Prominence and preferential treatment. (Est. 2:17)

8) Positions granted by ungodly civil authority. (Est. 5:8)

9) Policies, rules, regulations and laws changed or reversed to your advantage. (Est. 8:5)

10) Battles won in which you won't even have to fight. (sorry I didn't get the scripture for this one)

Pre-Lebanon Skype Meeting:

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Our team recently had a meeting where we had a skype conversation with our contact (Dave Hess) in Lebanon. It was exciting to hear about what God is doing there, and what the possibilities are going to be in March. He shared about how there is an openness for Christian ministry in the streets unlike any other Middle Eastern country, since it is still considered to be a strongly held Christian country (still go by the Christian calendar etc.). Lebanon is about %40 Christian (Catholic, East/West Orthodox, Protestant, Charismatic and more, and they all will meet in the same home groups!), so we will be free to minister to many people in the streets. We have translators, and we will be leading teams of local Christians to minister by the power of the Holy Spirit in the malls and streets of Lebanon; prophetic evangelism, healings, signs and wonders!
There are many monasteries in the mountains, and this is largely the reason why the Islamic countries could not overrun this nation. They have remained strong and held the high ground! They refuse to let the Muslims build mosques in the mountains, saying, “We aren't allowed to build churches in Saudi Arabia, so you aren't allowed to have mosques here.” These monks have seen great success with deliverance ministry, but want to see more healing. They are partnering with Dave Hess (and us) to get equipped and empowered to bring the reality of a God that heals to their nation! Please consider partnering with me as I prepare and travel to Lebanon. Even joining my blog, or my facebook event (Revival in Lebanon!) as a prophetic act, would be an encouragement. This is a great opportunity, and I want you to be a part of it!

Revival in Lebanon!

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Dear Friends and Family,

The Story:

This year so far has been phenomenal and foundational. The Lord has been stretching me and growing me in ways I had no expectation of, but I have developed a great anticipation for the fruition of the growth in this season. I have been saturated daily with the Father's love, and His love has become the source within me from which all things flow. I have fallen in love with Jesus over and over again in the past few months, and I am excited to continue this road of intimacy with the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Just recently some fellow students and I prayed for a friend of mine, Angelo, who had a degenerative bone condition in his ankles. He had received a doctors report along with X-rays that supported this diagnosis some time earlier, and he was on his way for another doctors appointment and X-ray. We prayed for healing in his bones, and we declared that the doctors report was not the final report, but what God in Heaven says about his ankle was the final report. Angelo told us right after his doctors appointment that all three X-rays showed no bone degeneration at all, and that his bones were strong and healthy! The doctors had no explanation, and the Lord has no apology for His amazing love.

The Vision:

Our heart and passion here at Bethel International is to raise up a generation of world changers that will be known simply for their reckless abandonment to see that Jesus is Lord in all the nations. As we are building relationships with various regions around the world one of the main goals that we have is to make the nations look like geniuses. Our strategy is go to and raise up influencers in their own nations so they begin to run with the inheritance that God has given them to transform their nation. All of our Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry trips are partnered with Bethel International’s vision for transforming nations.

The Adventure:

I've been blessed with the opportunity to travel and bring the love of Jesus to Lebanon. The team I am going with (there are about 15 of us) will be arriving in Lebanon on Thursday, March 4th. From Friday to Sunday we are having a small conference in the church that we are partnering with. The church is called Tent of Praise, and is located in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Throughout this weekend our heart is to bless the church. We will also equip and empower them in power evangelism, treasure hunts, prophetic ministry, and a lifestyle of signs, wonders and miracles. There is a not a specific program during this time; we are open to do whatever God leads us to do, so that God's will is being done on the streets in Beirut.

For Monday and Tuesday we are hoping to go and visit some refugee camps. We want to be a blessing to them, and do what ever God leads us to do there – praying that God will meet each person, young and old. After that we are planning to go up to the beautiful mountains in Lebanon to ski and snowboard, sharing God's love with the people there. Many people go up to the mountains to rest and enjoy themselves, so we want to go there and meet people where they are at. That might look like anything from a crazy revival meeting in a chairlift, to a divine one on one conversation with a person God wants to encounter.

There are also a lot of other options that our contacts in Lebanon are still trying to work out, for example we might have an amazing opportunity to hang out with some monks in the mountain area. The last couple of days are not all planned yet, but we will be flying home on March 16th. We are flexible and open to what ever God wants us to do. We are going with a heart to serve, and to honor the body of Christ and a country that desperately needs a touch from God.

Partners in Action:

The cost of this trip will be $2800 and I'm looking for both financial and prayer partners who are interested in joining me to reach Lebanon. Would you consider giving $20, $50, $100 or even $500 towards this goal?

The following is information from our school on how to give a tax-deductible donation:

Financial gifts may be made online at ibssm.org. This gift is tax-deductible and you will receive a statement at the end of the year for your tax records. If you wish your gift to be anonymous, please check the anonymous box. This will allow you to receive an end of year statement, but will not allow the student to see your name. This gift is non-refundable, and if for any reason a team member or team does not go, the money will support another mission trip sponsored by Bethel Church. Unfortunately Bethel cannot offer Canadian tax reciepts.

(If online payment is not an option, donations can be mailed to Bethel Church Attn: Bethel International 933 College View Dr. Redding, CA 96003.)

I pray that the life changing power of Jesus invades your life and sends encouragement your way today. I'll keep you updated on what God is doing in my life, and would love to hear about what is going on in yours as well.

Blessings!

Dave Sparling