My family and I now live on an intersection.  People walk, ride bikes, and drive through it everyday.  It has provided for me the canvas and background for my prayers:  anyone who passes through experiences an intersection of their life with the presence of God.  Wherever they are at in their journey in life, far or near to Him, my prayers are that they would experience a fresh outpouring of His love for them.  I pray for angels to be stationed over every house along the street.  I pray darkness to flee:  regret, anger, hatred, violence, addiction, depression, and all kinds of evil spirits are cast from the neighborhood.  I claim this ground to be holy in Jesus’ name.

For those who pass through, I pray new thoughts.  New thoughts about God and His love for them.  New insights into the plans He has in store for them.  I release His goodness over their lives, over their families, over their jobs, and futures.  He has so much in store for each of us, if we would but have the ears to hear.  I pray burdens lifted; foul thoughts averted, and as they pass through, they would feel such a moment of refreshment that they’d leave inspired.

Who knows the paths of thoughts?  Who knows from where they come or where they go?  I’ve had thoughts I didn’t invite before, harmful thoughts.  Thoughts that brought nothing good with them to my mind.  Thoughts that did not encourage or build me up in any way.  One day it hit me that this was an attack.  So in a strange way I realized if the enemy can do this to me, what can the Holy Spirit do for me and others?  In the end, I want to know His thoughts more than my own, and surely more than the enemy’s.  1 Corinthians 2:11-16.

I want to be old friends with the Holy Spirit, I want Him to fill every corner of my being and my home.  I know some of what lives near us now, con-artists and thieves are the most prevalent and I try to walk in wisdom in all my actions and conversations with my neighbors.  But I also move to advance while protecting my family and neighbors.

I have not forgotten the last place we lived.  I still pray revival over that street: an outpouring of the love of God so great that it changes everything, may His name be praised.  It is actually because of what happened there that inspires me to take it to another level.  I don’t know of any limits, so if I’m going to pray, I’m going to do it full on crazy.

Ephesians 3:20-21 states,  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…“  Might as well make Him work for it.  To quote Han Solo, “I don’t know, I can imagine a lot.”

I write this in hopes that it may encourage others in their battle against fear during these days.  If these posts are not encouraging to you then please stop reading them.  If they give you a new perspective to understand the world around you that you may have never considered before, then amen.  I told a friend of mine that I write to fight.  This is my own small way to combat fear by reminding myself what He has done in my own life.  He works in all of us differently but always powerfully.

May you find encouragement in these days to continue following after Him, Romans 12:2.  Till the day He comes again my friends, Jesus be with you.

Curriculum for Faith 101

Possible side effects include:  Death, exile, PTSD, loss of family and friends, loss of material wealth, all kinds of abuse, etc.

Tuition:  free

Group Class projects include but are not limited to:

1.  (2+ per Group)  Do something ridiculous evangelistically- ask strangers if they want prayer for anything/start a Bible study with co-workers etc.  5 page paper cataloging results good and bad.  Include salvations, healings, deliverances, etc.

2.  (3+ per Group)  Find something your Church is/isn’t doing that Jesus wants and do it.  5 page paper.

3.  (5-10+ per Group)  Be a part of a Prayer event-  National Day of Prayer, Prayer Walk etc.  3 page paper.

4.  (3-5+ per Group)  Volunteer for a Prison Ministry.  3 page paper.

5.  (2+ per Group)  Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen or other outreach to the homeless.  3 page paper.

6.  (2+ per Group)  Volunteer at an International Outreach to refugees.  3 page paper.

7.  (2+ per Group)  Short-Term Mission trip/internship.  5 page paper.

8. (2+ per Group)  Visit a retirement center and meet the residents.

Individual Class Projects Include but are not limited to:

1.  Begin a journal of prayer.  Include dates of requests and when/ how they were answered.  5 page paper.

2.  Read Bible in a year.  Write down thoughts and questions.  10 page paper.

3.  Go to church.  2 page paper.

4.  Attend a service of at least 3 different churches that still claim Jesus as Lord.  Talk to them.  3 page paper.

5.  Have a time of Prayer and Fasting.  1-5 day water fast etc.  3 page paper.

6.  Mentor someone.  3 page paper.

Family Projects Include but are not limited to:

1.  Go to church.  2 page paper.

2.  Begin a family devotional time- read Bible/pray/etc.  2 page paper.

3.  Get to know your neighbors.  Love and pray for them.

There are many other events and things that can be done but they can’t and are never meant to replace a living relationship with God, only to help it breathe.  Some of these you will do your whole life, others for a season.  Let the Spirit lead you through fear and watch as He writes in you the story of your faith.

Clarifications:

Honestly, when I wrote this, I became confused about it being humorous or serious.  It reminds me of when I made a John 3:16 sign and held it up at our high school basketball games amidst a raucous crowd of about 40.  Some aspects are meant to be funny: tuition, papers, page numbers, etc., while others are serious: “Let the Spirit lead you through fear and watch as He writes in you the story of your faith.”  Ultimately it’s about doing something with your time here that will bring glory to God and not only to yourself.

For many, this post is a bit of “the cart before the horse”.  I know of Christians who emphasize “being” over “doing” and “abiding in His presence” more than “working in the field”.  As you abide, do not forget your neighbor.  As you experience His presence, do not forget His heart for the lost.  I know to some mentioning all of this may sound ridiculous, and though it is good to “know thyself”, it is better to be known by God, 1 Corinthians 8:3.

It was because of His love for us that He gave us His Son, Jesus.  What will your love for Him lead you to do, James 2:14-26?  For when it comes to living out our faith, the cart is the horse and the horse is the cart.

I was a green seminarian grad, for those of you who know what that is, you know how dangerous and stupid we can be.  My mind was full of what the Church could be “if only…”, and that’s usually where the trouble begins.  My thoughts were about unity.  At seminary I was taught many things that I left behind without a second thought.  But after being exposed to how crazy everything was, the thought to get us all together under Christ became paramount.

I grew up in a church with a background of ecumenically minded founders from the 1800’s.  Even though it didn’t take long for that movement to split itself three different ways, I wanted to stand in that same original vision restoring what Alexander Campbell and others started so long ago.  I began by calling around 30+ churches throughout Lansing challenging them with John 17:20-26.  I tried to reason with them that this was the kind of evangelism that could win the world.  For the ones who answered their phones, I usually got mumbling words of agreement, but most seemed disinterested.  I began to see how difficult this was going to be.  I talked with God often about it.  Those preachers didn’t know what was out there, they do now even moreso than I would have ever imagined.  Back then I knew of what could come into their churches, to their pulpits.  We needed to get together quick and not just for the lost.  We needed to see that we could be one, I needed to see it.

I kept calling leaving messages on answering machines or having dead end conversations with the church leaders who did answer.  I kept throwing out the net praying that someone would hear.  Someone had to hear what Scripture plainly said, they were preachers after all.  No one.  I began to think I heard God wrong, or maybe this was what He wanted- everything to go crazy.  Then I got a bite, it was a slight nibble, but it was more than I had in weeks.  The inner city churches agreed to meet.  There were about 4-5 of them depending on the schedule.  I was a campus minister at the time, and a friend of mine who also joined was in the prison ministry, so we didn’t really count.  I remember the first meeting, it was glorious.  I was so clueless.  In my mind I had already begun to jump ship to leave contemporary Christianity due to several botched ministries and being tired of the arrogance, elitism, and pride laden in everything from seminary, to church plants, to 100 member churches, to the mega ones.  I was almost headed back out to the woods, that’s where I met Him anyways. And then there were these guys, my answer to prayer and extremely liberal (which I didn’t know at the time), denominational, (I had come from a non-denominational background, they actually called denominations “demon-nations”), but they were willing.  If I remember right, they began calling the group L.C.O.C. which stood for Lansing Council of Churches.

One time, we had a leader who came from a conservative mega church in town.  We had a great phone conversation and I invited him to come.  Things were looking up.  But at the meeting I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so uncomfortable.  He never said a word.  Again, at the time I didn’t know the other leaders were liberals, but he did.  He never came back or returned any calls.  I became friends with his Youth Minister who even told me the guy won’t talk to me.  It didn’t take me long to figure out just how liberal the leaders were.  But this was who God gave me and if this was the worst of it, I figured I could work with it.  Who knows?  Maybe they would be willing to learn from the Bible instead of their headquarters?

We did a couple Thanksgiving events in the few years I was with them and they would invite me to come to perform concerts at their churches; not really what I had envisioned, but it was a start.  I still tried to convince other leaders to join, but in my many conversations with another mega church leader, he explained that these denominational preachers were on rotation and only did these kinds of groups because they were lonely.  He explained that he had enough fellowship amongst his own multi-member ministry team and didn’t need any more.

I grew tired of it all and asked God for someone more charismatic to lead it.  I was left with thoughts like, “People don’t follow Jesus anymore, they need a Bono to get them off their butts.”

A little while after I stopped meeting with them to focus on the campus ministry, I heard of another group that started and it became the group that still meets today with over 100 churches.  I went to their beginning meetings and found all the church leaders there that I had spoken to for so many weeks, even a leader from the conservative mega church, and the other mega church guy who “had enough fellowship with his own team”.

I had attempted to be faithful to what I believed God had shown me.  It turned out crazy, but it seems He used the faithfulness of the liberals to inspire some of the conservatives.  In the end, a portion of what Jesus prayed for came to fruition.

I believe the call is to be faithful even if you get it wrong somehow.  Maybe what you do in faithfulness will inspire others into action who will get it right.  In the end, I got to see what I wanted to see, the Bride of Christ, and she is beautiful.

A while ago two guys were walking through town to attend a prayer meeting.  On their way there, a beggar who had been lame since birth tried to get money from them.  Peter, one of the guys, looked at him and said, Acts 3:6, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  The beggar, we’ll call him Billy, was helped up to his feet and he didn’t just walk, he jumped around.  This ended up getting Peter and the other guy, whose name was John, in trouble with the authorities and they had to spend the night in jail.  The authorities had just recently killed Jesus and they didn’t want people preaching about Him.  But they didn’t know what to do with Peter and John because everyone was freaking out about Billy, so the next day they threatened them and let them go.  Peter and John went back to their people and had such a prayer meeting that the place shook and, Acts 4:31, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly”.  

This was their prayer, Acts 4:24-30:

“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.  They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Now I know any experience I’ve had with the Holy Spirit doesn’t even come close to this and what I’ve read others have had.  I know of a man who was arrested for being a Christian and they brought dogs to torture him.  Those same dogs who were trained to hurt people sat still in front of him though they were beaten for it. I’m Facebook friends with the guy.

I go to a church now where one of the pastors spoke about hearing from God to stop at a place and say such and such to someone there he’s never met before, and the person got overwhelmed with God’s love for them.  I’ve heard about that kind of stuff before and I think it would be awesome if God would speak to me in such a way.

I’m Facebook friends with another guy who has documented over 3000 miraculous healings that he’s been blessed to be a part of. That stuff blows me away.  I’ve seen movies and videos of Christians just walking on a street in a city praying over strangers and they get healed.  Its all fake?  Why?  No one asked for any money.  I didn’t pay anything, there were no ads that I saw.

“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

As these days get dark, just remember they call Jesus the Light of the World for a reason.

I’ve told God, “No,” before.  I’ve played the part of Jonah so perfectly I’m sure he would’ve been shaking his head had he seen and heard.  It was at seminary, a time I was not a fan of.  He told me oh so clearly to pray for it and all the people there.  5 years of rubbish save a couple classes and I had no room for even entertaining the idea.  I felt so abandoned by Him, my mind was like, “No, You don’t get to speak to me now, and not for them.”  But only after so many years did I realize His silence was a test, a test I failed miserably.

What’s it like to work against God?  What is it like to say “No” to Him who gives life?  And for what?  Because it seemed like I was more offended at what they were doing than He was?  Didn’t I know that He knew exactly what was going on and that along with the world and every thing in the universe, He’s got it and knows what needs to be done about it?  At the time, I would have said “yes, I know”, but it felt to me that for whatever reason He was cutting off the branch He put me on.  Betrayed, abandoned, mocked, this was but a minuscule portion of the path Jesus walked.  I was such a wimp, a crybaby in the grand scheme of things.  What I should have considered an honor, like my brothers today and so long ago who were killed for walking His path, I considered as failure on His part.  O how ridiculous I was that I felt I could even utter the words of Jesus when He said, “Why have You forsaken me?”  But it truly was what it felt like.

O I did pray, I pronounced the most binding curse upon the place that I could think of.  I wanted it to crumble, I wanted no trace of it left behind.  “A little much?” you might ask.  Possibly.  To me they were a source of poison, poison that would infect His Kingdom, poison that, as it seems, fits perfectly in the path America is currently on.  What did He want me to pray for?  Revival.

Since those days, I have repented and prayed for the place.  Pathetic prayers, much like the eight words Jonah uttered in obedience to Nineveh, Jonah 3:4, but I was too late.  When I hear the stories of others who were there, some became drunks, others chose a life of sin, and still others viewed their days there as very dark and depressing.  Could my prayers, had I been obedient, made any difference?  I may never know.  They had a prayer room, in the 5 years I attended I never heard of its use.

I have heard that the place has fallen on hard times, do I rejoice?  I am not able.  Who knows what could have become of it had I prayed what and when He told me to?  Who knows what stories could have been told of the place if it had changed from a source of poison to a source of life?  I don’t.  Is it a bit megalomaniac of me to think in such ways?  Had I prayed, it may not have come to pass, but I would have accomplished for myself a peace that only comes from obedience.

Years ago, when I was performing concerts at churches, coffee shops, etc., I met a man who opened the door to a whole new level.  He invited me to perform my music for inmates in the jails and prisons around Lansing.  This man showed me how to interact with the inmates, how to shake their hands, what to watch out for, and most of all how to not be afraid.  When I began, my prayers covered me in ways I didn’t even consider for the church concerts.  I began to reach for more power than just remembering my words and not screwing up.  Prayers for a successful concert changed from hearts being opened to straight out supernatural breakthrough.

I was given the opportunity to perform before rooms full of people who have broken the law in various ways.  Some of the prisons were quite hospitable, others at different times were hostile.  It’s a different kind of rude when you know your audience has very little to lose if they decide to silence you after the guards leave, and one particular time it almost came to that.

The event room had both the males and females together, and I began to play for them.  Now I played acoustic guitar and it’s highly likely my folk/whatever style was not what most of them would have chosen to listen to.  And it wasn’t long before I started to lose them.  Any semblance of order was gone the minute the guards left.  At that point, it was just me and them.

I kept playing and singing in the mic while they started laughing and shouting things over me.  I want to tell you about something that happened in me that I don’t believe was from myself.  As these days get darker we may find ourselves in front of all kinds of mobs.  Luke 12:11-12 speaks of how the Holy Spirit will give us what to say during such times.

A fire rose up in me when I thought about what I was missing out on with my wife and kids that night while I was wasting my time with those ungrateful reprobates.  A thought to just pack up and leave passed my mind and I almost did that, but I believe the Spirit kept me there.  I stopped playing and just looked around at all of them.  As I did, a portion of silence came over them.  It was then that I began to talk, saying such things like, “If you can’t sit and listen for 1 hour why don’t you go back to your cells,” etc.  I don’t really remember all I said because at that point I’m not sure I was speaking.  I do remember my heart saying, “I came in hopes that you would be blessed in some way.”  I think something about my family and what I’d rather be doing got in there too.  Mentioning Matthew 25:36 and how Jesus invites us to go to them finished out my impromptu sermon.

All I can really remember is the absolute silence when I finished and some of the looks the more unsavory characters gave me.  I looked right back, I didn’t back down an inch.  I started to play again when the guards came back and called me out of there.  I had to walk down the center aisle through all the prisoners to get to the exit. Some of them didn’t let up their glare the entire way, but as I made my way the fire did not leave me and the rest gave me a standing ovation.

As the days pass and bring us closer to His 2nd coming, take a breath and relax.  He’s got us.  We may lose our seat of honor in this nation, but not in His Kingdom.