24/7 Prayer Produces Community Transformation

24-7 Prayer Changes Violent Townships in South Africa

Last year we published the remarkable story of evangelist Peter Sekhonyane
who started a 24-7 prayer watch in the South African township Orange Farm.
Around 1,25 million people live in this squatter camp, situated between
Soweto and Sebokeng. Because Peter was frustrated about the lack of
salvations he encoutered, he decided to first saturate his township with
non-stop prayer, before continuing his evangelistic work.

24-7 PRAYER BRINGS CRIME RATE DOWN

In the Summer of 2004, with the help of some sponsors, he put up a
300-seater tent to facilitate a 24-hour prayer watch in one of the 20
extensions and outer villages of Orange Farm. For three weeks he
intensively trained Christians of all churches on prayer and the principles
of 24-hour prayer. After three weeks, he decided to move the tent to the
next extension, to repeat the process there. In October 2004 seven of these
24/7/365 prayer watches were up and running at an average of 15 hours per
day. Then they combined efforts to launch a week of real 24-hour prayer.

By Saturday Peter went to the police service station to ask how it went
crime-wise during that week. According to their statistics something
strange happened: in seven of the 20 extensions there was nearly no crime -
exactly the seven in which 24-7 prayer was going on!

THE VISION MULTIPLIES

At the date of our publication in Joel News, in July 2005, four tents were
available for training, and 20 prayer watches had been planted in the
township. Then something special started to happen. People from townships
from across the country started to ask for help. Peter and his team
received people from Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal, the Cape Flats, Free State,
Soweto and Zimbabwe to train and equip. These groups came for a week or two
to experience for themselves what is happening and receive training.
Afterwards they returned home to start similar 24/7/365 prayer watches in
their own areas.

PEOPLE START COMING TO JESUS

Because as a result of all these prayers crime was declining in the
townships, the police asked Peter and his team to come and help in one of
the outer villages where crime and violence were rampant. Peter started a
prayer watch there. After about two weeks, crime declined rapidly and got
under control!

A second encouraging thing is that people start coming to the Lord as a
result of these prayer watches. Prayer is taken to the people and some are
being prayed for in their homes! The number of salvations seem to be going
up compared to the previous evangelisation outreaches. The positive part is
that significant numbers of new believers can now be discipled as they
regularly come to pray at the prayer watch. Their chance to backslide is
much smaller. It is also surprising to see that most of the new converts
are young people.

NOW 1,460 PRAYER WATCHES PLANTED

Last week Joel News editor Marc van der Woude caught up with Peter
Sekhonyane, who related the encouraging sequel to this story. Over the past
two years the 24-7 prayer watches have 'exploded' to 1,460 prayer centers
throughout the country, mainly in the townships.

"We expect a minimum of five area pastors to adopt the prayer tent (an army
tent) into their township, so there is local ownership," Peter explains.
"Then we give workshops to train the Christians in intercession, who then
bring this 24-7 prayer vision into their churches. This is why we see such
a fast multiplication take place."

TOWARDS TRANSFORMED COMMUNITIES

For most of the churches 24-7 prayer is a completely new dimension.
"Realise that many churches and pastors in the townships are still into
ancestor worship," Peter explains. "The were not used to pray, let alone
24-7. Now the intercessors are being trained to 'cut off' the occult ties
of idolatry, which leads to incredible breakthrough in the communities. As
a result of women getting involved in prayer, we also see them being
released in leadership of the churches. People are being healed, even of
AIDS. The unemployment is doing down. More young people are being educated
and trained."

Peter and his team are steadily working towards their goal of five prayer
training tents per province - one in the north, the east, the south, the
west and the centre. "My mandate is to get the whole country praying,"
Peter says. "Now even the white churches are opening their doors to adopt
24-7 prayer, and ask for our help, which is something that rarely happened
before. In fact, the churches that were most involved in Apartheid are now
the suppliers of the tents we use."

Let's pray for Peter and his team. To fulfil the vision God gave them, they
need another 27 tents, a truck to transport the tents, and a full-time
praise and worship band.

Source: Peter Sekhonyane, sekhonya@postnet.co.za

---

COLOPHON

Joel News International is a leading e-zine on what God is doing worldwide
in the area of prayer, church growth and revival. We offer a keen selection
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Joel News is published weekly on the basis of an annual donation. For more
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Eight Ways to Grow a Great Soul

Eight Ways to Grow a Great Soul

To cultivate an effective, fulfilling ministry, let’s get specific about how to grow a great soul. Try to view spiritual fitness as more than a high-octane spiritual additive to be poured into the details of ministry. Think of growing a great soul as nothing more or nothing less than an authentic Christian life—normal, whole, well adjusted and Jesus-focused—that is lived as God intends us to live.

The following section provides eight practical ways to grow a great soul. Note, however, that because spiritual growth can come from any activity or action that draws us nearer to God, this list is not exhaustive.

1. Cultivate a Soul Friend

Every pastor needs a trustworthy friend to whom he voluntarily makes himself spiritually accountable. A soul friend must be given permission to question him about motives, marriage and ministry. This soul friend must also be given permission to question him about his relationship with God.

A pastor needs a soul friend who loves him enough to be tender, yet tough. He needs someone to pray for him and with him. Ideally, the soul friend should be willing to listen redemptively to his hurts, affirm his strengths, and call him to authenticity. He must know when to pat the pastor on the back and when to kick him in the seat. This person should be a good friend as well as a demanding critic.

2. Resist the Seduction of Safety

Mere maintenance in church attendance, fund-raising or personal spiritual development sounds so good to us. Humanly, we want to hold on to what we have developed or inherited. It’s good, we feel, to be safe.

Years ago, I knew one high-placed leader who, when faced with a potential recruit or a new program, would always ask, “Is he/it safe?” In his quest for safety, he rejected progressive ideas because they might be controversial, and he seldom appointed maverick ministers because they were too threatening. To the detriment of the Kingdom, he often missed the energy and achievement of new ideas and of innovative people.

We are often like that, too. Our reluctance to risk, pioneer new frontiers or reinvent ministry hinders the work of God and makes it mediocre and inane. The word “great,” as in growing a “great” soul, frightens us. It is so much easier to be careful and cautious and predictable—words that do not seem to fit in the same paragraph with the gospel, missions and worldwide impact.

3. Solicit Prayers from the Faithful

Stamina strengthens ministry that is undergirded by prayer. Untapped prayer support surrounds us. We have more people than we realize who are interested in praying for us. We can have more prayer for the asking—and most of us need all the prayer we can get. Think of those people who might be willing to take your name and ministry to the Father.

People Who Nurtured Your Faith

Sunday School teachers, pastors and friends in your home church will feel highly honored if you ask them to pray for you every day. Power from these prayers cannot be hindered by miles, clocks or calendars.

People You Have Served with in Crises

Every person you helped through a crisis is a prospective candidate to support your ministry with prayer. Because of the difficulties you shared with them, they will have a built-in awareness of how much you need supernatural assistance as you seek to serve others as you served them. They are bonded to you forever by the tender compassion you once showed them.

People Who Need Attention

Every congregation has people who need and want more attention than a pastor is able to give them. A common example is shut-ins who regret they do not get more of their pastor’s time. They may be frail or sick and believe they are unneeded because they cannot do what they once enjoyed doing in the church. Their limitations make them feel useless. Consequently, asking them to pray for you turns their focus to significant concerns outside themselves and makes them feel needed again. It involves them in something important they can do and something you need. Everyone gains.

People Who Serve with You

Christian workers can expect to receive power when they band together in prayer for a common cause. Examples are a local church staff meeting daily for prayer or a church board gathering early Sunday morning to intercede for the ministry of the day. Try enlisting committee members of your church to covenant to pray for each other every day. Emphasize this need as being more important than agenda decisions. As a result, a spiritual synergism develops so two will do much more than twice what you could have done alone.

Ministry Peers Who Can Share Your Prayers

Topping the list of all the inspirational sentences I have ever received in a letter were the words, “Let’s trade prayers.” What an energetic, enabling force for ministry.

4. Rekindle Affection for the Bible

Use Scripture to energize your ministry. Saturate your life with Scripture by active Bible reading. Let your encounter with the Bible shape the details of your ministry. Enter into mental conversation with Bible characters. Synchronize your thinking with its message so you hear, respond and apply new truths to this moment of your life. Use Scripture to energize your ministry.

Read for Relevance

Be open to insight about your life and ministry. Develop a continuous friendship with the Author. Go for quality as well as for quantity. Listen closely to what the Spirit is saying. What does God want you to hear through Scripture about your service for Him?

Interrogate Scripture

Walk around its message and its meaning. Check similar ideas in various passages by using a concordance and commentaries. Probe the passage. Explore, research, study, compare and contrast. As you read, ask questions about how this passage affects your life.

Personalize the Passage

Put your name in a promise or a command. What affirmation does the Scripture say about your ministry? Does it seem to have your name and zip code written on it? If you were present at the particular biblical event, what would you feel and what would you do?

5. Grow Past Your Prayer Hang-Ups

I (Neil) love the old story about lightning striking a nightclub in a tiny western town after the Christian people had an all-night prayer meeting, asking God to destroy the “den of iniquity.” When the nightclub owner heard about the prayer meeting, he sued the church. Immediately, the church people denied any responsibility. The judge threw the case out of court after he observed, “Apparently, the night club owner believes in prayer more than the church people.” This is an interesting parable for pastors.

Like other believers, pastors sometimes suffer from prayer hang-ups. As a result, they focus on problems about prayer without experiencing its possibilities. Most of us have at least one or more of these prayer dilemmas, but a single obstacle should not keep us from earnest conversations with our Lord.

Unanswered Prayers

Although we do not have much light on why some prayers are not answered, God has proven Himself to be the dependable One. Therefore, why not pray in an act of intentional Christian commitment: “I trust You, even though I do not understand why a particular prayer was not answered. I love You. And I want to serve You all the days of my life—in the storms as well as in the sunshine.”

Delayed Answers

Delayed answers often seem unnecessary, even cruel. However, because God knows tomorrow as well as He knows yesterday and today, His wait-awhile answer is always best. Remember that delay does not mean denial.

Guilt About Not Praying Stalks Lots of Good People

In their inwardness, many people carry a picture of God as a harsh, heavenly timekeeper who inspects their time cards every day. They believe God would be more pleased if they prayed longer and louder. Of course, we all could pray more, but the quality of our relationship with God affects our prayers, too. To stop praying because we did not pray enough last week or last month does not move us nearer to God.

Unrelinquished Concerns

Every genuine believer sometimes feels handcuffed by people or issues he cannot control or change. These concerns may perhaps be the consequences of past sins.

Then, too, people from our past have complicated our lives in ways we cannot shake. Some feel defeated by lies told about them, even by good people. Some have been cheated by duplicity or outright stealing. Others have been locked out of “what might have been” by parents, spouses or children. A victorious relinquishment of these concerns will liberate us to live satisfying lives and have an improved ministry. This may be the precise time to pray for the grace of relinquishment—to take your hands off for all time.

6. Enjoy God

Many believers dread spending time with God. They are afraid because they picture Him as an authoritative judge, accusing parent, perfectionist professor, unbending boss or absentee landlord. Accordingly, their meetings with God are dreadfully unpleasant.

If we want to grow a great soul, however, it is essential to wholeheartedly embrace the fact that God champions us. More than the most loving human parent, God wants us to succeed so we can find joy in service and do our adventuresome part to advance His kingdom.

Recently, I (Neil) heard a pastor tell about an early-morning appointment he kept with God. Being a night person, he has difficulty getting up. After dragging himself out of bed to pray on a particular morning, he started back to bed with sleepy eyes and a sluggish brain. Then he experienced an impression as real as an audible voice: “So you would rather sleep another hour than keep your appointment with Me. Who would miss for anything in the whole world a meeting with the King of the Universe, the Lord of resurrection life and the Lover of your soul?” God’s friendly chastisement transformed the pastor’s devotional duty into winsome fellowship with the Father.

Ministry, by definition, makes us partners with omnipotence. Even though we are junior partners, we are important, needed and essential. The mental pictures we have of God provide affirming inspiration we too easily overlook:

• The Judge sets us free when we deserve imprisonment or death.

• The Parent affirms us as a member of God’s family.

• The Professor teaches us truth about the world and ourselves.

• The Ruler stands as sovereign Lord of our lives.

• The Landowner provides us with shelter and security.

Although the possibilities of enjoying the Father are thoroughly rooted in Scripture, the Westminster Catechism summarizes it in beautiful shorthand language: “What is the chief end of humankind? To glorify God and enjoy God forever.”

Look for ways to enjoy God continually. Discover fun and fascination and exhilaration in prayers, Scripture reading, people to whom you minister, hymns, and the magnificent examples of grace all around you. Great souls enjoy the sparkle and satisfaction of friendship with God and His people. Cultivate a sense of joyful ministry for the sheer adventure of it.

Take the glumness out of ministry for a week, and it might never return. Build an enjoyable relationship with God into the fabric of every pastoral effort. Pastoring links you with God’s mighty power. Let’s act like it.

7. Pray Risky and Adventuresome Prayers

Some prayers seem like tough exams that show us what we do not know, what the professor expects, and what significant issues we have overlooked.

Spiritual directors and devotional saints across the centuries have cautioned believers against prayers that request miracles with no effort on their part. Prayers are generally not answered that way.

Far from being magic formulas, prayers are usually answered by receiving an assignment that can be achieved only with divine aid. God answers prayers by empowering us after we have done our best.

Human experience offers many examples. You will have your patience tested when you pray for patience. You will be given a peacemaking task when you petition for peace. Pray for generosity and God will ask you to give more than you have ever given. In a similar vein, genuinely great sermons usually grow out of human anguish or even travail before they receive divine anointing.

Here are five risky, adventuresome prayers that will add a supernatural dimension to your ministry, send you into specialized tasks, make you more Christlike and require more than your best efforts. These prayers could change your ministry forever:

1. Search me.

2. Break me.

3. Stretch me.

4. Lead me.

5. Use me.

Seldom does a person pray even one of these petitions without incredible growth happening in his inner relationship with God or in his outer expressions of Kingdom service. These petitions produce authentic achievement in the front lines of ministry.

8. Commit to Spiritual Self-Care

Adequate spiritual self-care is a little-understood secret of a flourishing ministry. To adequately care for his own spiritual fitness, a pastor must buck busy schedules, priority pressures, unreasonable expectations and secular values. But it must be done.

Like everyone else, pastors should desire the best possible life: Christ-directed living centered on our Lord’s teachings, energized by His nearness, and steeped in His will. The center of a minister’s responsibility is to find such a life for himself and then share it with those he serves. Thus, self-care multiplies his ministry rather than being a favor he does only for himself.

Seeking such a satisfying life may be the main reason people come to church week after week. Sadly, many seekers believe it is a spiritual mirage or an unobtainable ideal because such a Christ-quality life is so seldom modeled before them. Perhaps more people would want this valuable life if we reminded them that Christ brings eternal newness to people of every generation as they welcome Him into the details of their lives. Perhaps more people would thirst for such a quality life if the Church did not keep faith safely embalmed in ancient words or yesteryear’s creeds.

We have the privilege to show them authentic Christian living at its best. Shout it from the housetops and live it in the streets. Nothing faintly compares with the Jesus way of life. The people we serve will be significantly affected by its relevance and sweetness as they observe it working so well in our songs, in our catastrophes, in our ambiguities, and in our victories.

Remember: To teach and live a Christ-quality life is the most gratifying style of life anyone has discovered or enjoyed.

Too many pastors feel their personal spiritual development is hindered by problems, difficulties or limitations. Sometimes they blame their shallowness on a power-hungry matriarch or patriarch in the congregation. But a pastor must look past every impediment to realize a Christ-quality life can be cultivated anywhere. Even tough pastoral assignments offer enough stretching points and affirmative influences for a pastor and spouse to build a Jesus-permeated life.

To nourish this kind of life, a pastor must realize continuously that he is a grace consumer, not a producer. To make this happen for himself, a pastor must value and celebrate the momentous serendipities of pastoral service. Reading, praying and knowing God are part of his job description—something very different from the occupational demands of average Harry in the parish.

Self-care is not only beneficial for the pastor, however, but the congregation also benefits. Such bonding with Christ deepens a pastor’s devotion to ministry and helps him portray Christlikeness in the expressions of his ministry. It positively affects his preaching, counseling and worship leadership. A holy contagion will then ignite his congregation.

As a result, church members move nearer to Christ because they see spiritual adventure at work in their minister. As they see the life of Christ embodied in their leader, their spiritual appetites increase. They begin thirsting for a life of love and trust and grace. This spiritual interplay between pastor and laity is spiritual blooming at its best.

However, without vibrant personal spiritual self-care, a pastor sentences himself to leading a well-intended religious business enterprise, a do-goodish relief agency, or an affable social club. That’s not much fun, and it produces a boring life.

A Great Soul Revitalizes Ministry

Grow a great soul so that supernatural strengths of character will enrich and energize every expression of your ministry. Your personal spiritual strengths can become a mighty combined force for curing the discord, disharmony and confusion that prevail in the Church and in society.

Therefore, fill your inner life with the spirit of Jesus so His character shows in your ministry. Then the work of Christ will survive and thrive or even flourish under your leadership. And remember:

• Great souls preach powerfully, warmly and redemptively.

• Great souls care for hurting, broken people and point them to the Savior.

• Great souls lead worshipers into God’s awesome presence.

• Great souls build strong families, cherish their marriages, and see the Church as the family of God.

• Great souls substitute supernatural achievement for cheap, empty talk.

Consider the incredible possibilities. God intends that your ministry will profoundly affect those you serve. But He plans much more. God wants your ministry to shape you into Christlikeness and to add adventure to your life in ways beyond your fondest imagination. Ministry takes you to adventuresome places. Ministry allows you to rub shoulders with people you would otherwise never know. Your junior partnership with God allows you privileges and permits you to receive grace in a measure no one experiences in other occupations.

Genuine greatness expands your credibility and kindles your passion for Christ. Growing a great soul blasts away the corrosion that, like acid, eats away at the Church’s achievement and vision. A thousand pastors with growing souls can rekindle fires of principle, hope, devotion, conviction, magnanimity, servanthood, imagination, creativity and holy living.

Contemporary Challenge

How to Keep in Shape Spiritually

• Go beyond a professionalized ministry to a personal pilgrimage with God.

• View ministry as a colossal opportunity to grow a great soul.

• Apply to yourself principles of spiritual wellness that you preach to others.

• Refuse to allow your own spirituality to become ceremonial.

• Renew the adventure of being a spokesperson for the resurrected Lord.

• Model the God-permeated life.

• Balance your ministry between being and doing.

• Resist the seduction of safety.

• Solicit prayers from the faithful.

• Enjoy God.

In the middle of the bad, it has never been so good! —Student Prayer⁹

To a New Generation of Pastors
God Loves You—You Matter a Lot

Musings from H. B. London, Jr.

In every worship service I conducted, I always found some way to remind worshipers, “God loves you as though you were the only one in the world to love, and that makes you a very special person.”

Although St. Augustine had a similar phrase, I think the apostle John crystallized the thought when he said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). John was saying that Jesus came in person for each of us—as though we were the only one!

This is a truth that the people in our churches should hear over and over again: They are loved in a unique way by an Almighty God. What a great message! If people could embrace that truth as little children, the Christian walk would be so much easier for them.

What about you? Do you understand that God loves you as though you were the only pastor-teacher-leader in all the world to love? The battles you engage in are His battles. The circumstances you face are familiar to Him. The burdens you bear may be placed on His shoulders with His permission.

So many influences in our world seek to discourage us by telling us we are simply one in a billion. Don’t ever believe that, my friend. God’s love for you is the greatest story ever written.

Live in this great inspiration: “How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called the children of God—that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

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24/7 & Taking Back Our Cities by Juan Ramirez

24/7@Ezekiel 7:23
There are many reasons why a "temple" should be openned 24/7. One is that people need to learn the art of prayer. Because of the violence, the jealousy, the idol worship, the corruption, the distractions of the times. This makes it firtle ground for those seeking to make an impact for God. Gods house whom you are and the temple must open for prayer, worship and the word.

The people will come. I say to pastors, prepare seven leaders and seven assistant leaders to open the place of worship 7 days per week, for the just to come in and bring in the riches of the nations:SOULS and RESOURCES.

The days could be divided which ever way, weather youth night, family night, singles night, childrens night etc;but every thing must be done to save souls and heal lives.

HOW TO BEGIN- Begin by preparing the workers, secondly prepare the people of the church for this, thirdly prepare the ambient, fourthly anounce it by radio, television, news paper,door to door by all means possible. Anouncements should be done for one full month publickly before you begin. Start by having salvation and healing meetings every day and then as the needs arise God will focus your attention to the following step to take.This way the leadership, the church body and the publick know just where to go any day of the week for salvation, healing and hearing the word, faith will grow...so will the congregation. Remember you do not have to spent a lot of money if you hunger for Gods presence and cry out for lost souls.

Begin prayer 24/7 during and after the month of preparation where one person or two or more pray around the clock . Pray for cleansing, for revival of the first love, for unity, for souls, for Gods presence.

Begin fasting 24/7, one or two or more persons can fast one meal, two meals or the whole day. Understant that the time of judgement is now and we must prepare our bodies for suffering, something that was out of our scope until September 11. Well September 11 pales at the things that will take place as of 2007. Thats why is vital that we pray and fast. There will be a changing of the guard.

Teaching-empowerment 24/7, you know you can start by one day or an hour until you reach the point where training is going on every day, recruting,and sending is part of an armies attitude and life.Is there a center like what Iam invisioning and some of you envision?

Sending 24/7, the time has come when new paradigms will take effect. Is like rediscovering the old pattern to enter into the new. Pray the Lord to send for reapers. Now you send them to reap. It is reaping time. It is reaping time. Even if that means crossing borders. Culture, linguistic,and racial. The souls are waiting on us. Romans 10:8-17, is where is at.

Sharing 24/7, where can our people who work nights go and fellowship at three in the morning? No where, because most 99%8 of the churches-"Gods houses" are closed. Making God unprepare and uninterested, and unwilling, non-caring and irresponsible. This Wednesday and Sunday deal is not going to cut it. The job is not getting accomplish this way.Lonelyness is written in many hearts. Frustrations. Desperation. Profound pain. People of God need to know each other in order to realte to one another, serve one another, pray and fast, learn and fight together.People of God heal each other through honestly caring.

Results:
Purity will be the key for revival and visitation. Purity of thoght, of emotions, of will and of soma-body is necessary for a movement like waht we need now in this mid night hour. The water of the word washes us thats why we feel so clean after we have met together for worship, for the word- then feel misreable because there lacks an ingridient call work-Job-not JOB.

Purity brings power. When the blodd cleanses of all sin and unrighteosness, the word comes and washes emotional hurts and negative feelings, confession makes bridges of reconciliation. Purity brings unity and with unity-POWER- The gifts as well as the fruits of the Spieit will begin to manifest. The five-fold ministries begin to flourish, blosom and mature- then the load is easier to bare, because the body parts are now functioning. Prayer, fastind, learning, sharing, going and casting the ent heals people. Every one will begin to excercise spiritual gifts, they will not have time to think that days of miracles are over because the whole atmospheric realm will be filled with miracles God is causing through our simple obedience of 24/7.

Provision: The most worrisome thing is provision and control.My God shall provide because you are fulfilling his will. Save the world-purify the church-make her ready! God is providing right now for some of you a vision which has been in your heart,but not in your agenda.Lets do it..Is possible. But allow God to have the control.

Excercise the power of influence and organization, God will permit the administrative gifts to now operate the way they should for his glory!
His provision is his vision. Where there is a vision there will be pro- in favor of the vision, the necessary resources to fulfill it. See you on our next chat. If you wish write or call, be glad to hear your comments I am in the same quest! Dr. Juan Ramirez /juan4147@sbcglobal.net or 512-751-6437 cell

Taking back our cities

@24/7 PLAN
The church was birth in a tremendous movement-so the question remains why can't we win our city and our nation back to Christ? The movement stop short, we gave in before reaching the world, so now the world is reaching us.God is not stagnated he is Spierit, he is movement. We are still waiting for thenext move and God is waiting for the first one to move so he can bless him. We must repent and stop saying "peace...peace" when there is no peace but a sword, the sword of the desert.

Jesus said:GO-we say COME. Jesus said:DISCIPLE-we INFORM. Jesus:Baptized we say it is politically incorrect. Jesus says:TEACHING them to observe these commandments-we say, business as usual.

A TIME FOR WAR
Jesus engaged his disciples in a war. It will take a militant mentality if we are to get the job accomplish. He said;"deny yourselve take up your cross and follw me." Every one who follows the WAY knows ahead of time that death is a possibility, that is if you follow JESUS! It is not optional is a command "Take up your cross>" This meant and it means today the same thing-death! Jesus was not afraid to speak about suffering 1 Peter4:1-Because he was not a hireling, he was the good shepherd. See for Jesus it wasn't a 9-5 job. He did not depend on a salary from his perishioners so he couldnt be bullied by deacon Perry. Jesus says "Follow me." Some dare say to him, "where can we turn to when only you have words of eternal life".

Profesional pulpits will not get the job done, because they are more aware of statsics than discipleship. More interested in earths gold than heavens worth. More earthly golf minded than sweet blood and tears. The uncouth martyrs of Islam teach their people to be soldiers.

Following Jesus is exaccly what made this nation great-the sacrifice, the blood shed during the independance, the civil war and the many wars fought, even the one we are in now. Yet we refuse to suffer.

PROBLEM
Suffering is what we need to teach as well as prosperity. In the Bible, if you notice the word problem never appears.This is the excuse of Satan, "this is the problem...the problem is ." Let me say to you that there is no answer to the word problem. A mathematical problem has an answer. What is the answer to divorce? Pain..

In God there is solutions to needs-"my God shall provide all your needs, not all your problems".

What we have in scripture is persecution, suffering, denial, sacrifice, anguish, the sword, etc. you see I committed the error of telling people in my meetings, "come to Jesus, he will free you from all your problems." The truth is that coming to Jesus doesn't take peoples problems away, these increase, rather than decrease. Telling the truth to your audience eventually will set them free..The Lord allow me to see thousands of people come to him, he has permitted me to see a city touched by Gods Spirit. Jesus delivers from sin, but not from the cross principle! Be not afraid, fear not, be of good courage, be well, be strong! Juan

Prayers written and offered to God @ National Conversation on Revival

HEART CRIES
From The Glen

Prayers written and offered to God

at the close of the

“National Conversation on Revival”

convened by the National Revival Network

Glen Eyrie Conference Center, Colorado Springs

August 30-September 1, 2006

This past August, in the final hour of a 48 hour retreat involving 32 Christian leaders from across the nation, each convinced of the urgency for corporate revival in the Church and a nationwide Christ-awakening movement, the participants were invited to compose a one paragraph prayer. Each prayer was to be designed to express the core burden of one’s heart, summarizing what we would each want to say to the Father if we stood before His Throne in the presence of the Lamb and under the reign of His Spirit.

After about 15 minutes in private, with prayers written on cards, we knelt while each leader read his prayer, one after the other, with the whole group expressing agreement with each prayer by a united “Amen”. At the conclusion of this experiment many remarked that it was one of the most profound prayer experiences they had ever witnessed.

But there was more. Next we placed a huge sofa in the middle of the room, to represent the Throne in Revelation 5. Then we gathered around the chair on our knees, laid our written prayers on its seat, placed our hands on the chair and on each other, as we joined in prayers and hymns of consecration. We offered ourselves to be an answer to these prayers whatever it would cost us.

To our amazement, we discovered when we stood up that, due to a number of our group who had to leave earlier that morning, there were exactly 24 in the circle, recalling the 24 elders around the Throne in Revelation 4-5. Quickly we concluded this was not coincidence. We saw it as a sign of God’s favor on our prayers of passion for the glory of His Son and for the revival of His people.

Below are the prayers of the “24”. Remember, these prayers represent the overflow of a 48-hour “conversation”. They are the heart-cries of Christian leaders who have given their whole beings to foster and serve whatever God desires to do in this hour to deliver His people from our spiritual disobedience, darkness and paralysis, to revive us again and to bring the Church into a fresh revelation of the greatness and glory of His Son – who He is, where He’s headed, what He’s doing and what He deserves.

[You may read further on the vision behind this “National Conversation” by ordering a copy of the NRN foundational document: AN URGENT APPEAL – To Christian Leaders In America For Consensus and Collaboration On The Nature and Hope of Corporate Revival (published by NavPress).]

THE PRAYERS

• Father: Fulfill ALL you have purposed for your Son in this nation, in my city, region and in the church you have called me to serve. Restore your glory in the earth and in our nation. Manifest your glory! Glorify your Son! Magnify your Son! Make His name known among us. Come Holy Spirit and fully fulfill the purpose for which you have been sent! For Jesus’ sake. AMEN

• Holy Father: In your love, grace and mercy, your sovereignty and power, please pour out your Spirit on the deserts of the churches in this nation. Reveal yourself in all your glory and splendor and beauty so that the world may see who You really are and long for You as never before. Make our churches into the Church you want them to be. Enthrone Yourself in our lives, our churches, our nation and the nations. Do all this for the glory of the cross and the glory of your Holy name. In Jesus’ precious name we ask. AMEN.

• Father: I trust you to give us a greater vision of what our communities would look like if you came in power, visiting us with the blessing of your manifest presence. I believe it is your desire to meet with us, revealing our great need, igniting a passion for the lost and giving us an obsession for your glory. We desire more tongues to give Jesus glory. Give us the desire and strength to prepare for such a visitation. We invite you to come. In Jesus’ exalted name, AMEN.

• Father: Break the hearts of all the Christian leaders in all the churches and ministries, and renew those hearts in such a manner that they seek to be one. Let the Scripture that expresses Jesus’ prayer to you about our being one (Jn. 17) stand as a command in each ministry’s mission statement. Lord, calm our fears of each other and unite the streams of preferences and distinctives in such a way that the unbelieving world is drawn into salvation. For Jesus’ glory. AMEN

• Father: Your Son is so glorious and worthy of complete surrender and worship. Would you please pour out the Spirit of Christ upon your disillusioned, rebellious, prideful, wounded and depressed people in order that we might behold the promised land of intimately knowing Jesus. Then help us to embrace this exchanged life doing whatever it takes, at whatever cost, to know Christ as the Lion and the Lamb. Please lead us into a season of repentance and enable us to humble ourselves before you and tremble at your Word, that your incomparable face might radiate upon us for our ultimate joy, as well as for the renown of your supreme Name among us and all the peoples. In Jesus’ name and authority. AMEN

• My Father: I ask of you that you would pour out your Spirit on the pastors of this land That once again they would love Jesus with passion; that once more they would seek the authority of the Holy Spirit for their preaching; that once more they would be pure in their living and secure in their dying. O my God, create a brotherhood of the flaming heart that spreads throughout out country and leads the Church into revival, awakening and transformation. AMEN

• Lord: Our land is in desperate need and we see many forces arrayed against you and your righteousness. But you are the Lord of history. You are Lord of the forces working against you – who do so in vain! Now, Lord, consider the threats your people face and enable your servants to proclaim your Word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. Shake your church, fill us afresh with your spirit, and send us forth to speak your word boldly (Acts 4). AMEN

• Dear Lord: We thank you for your promises. We hold dear in our hearts your love for us. We come now with thanksgiving and supreme gratitude for your mercy that endures forever. Lord, pleases intensify our hunger for you. Allow our cities and nation to become desperate for your presence. May we become Christ like in every way possible. Open the doors of blessings upon us and transform us into people of holiness. Disrupt our comfort zones and bring total surrender into our lives. I pray now, believing revival and repentance will come, beginning with me. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. AMEN

• Heavenly Father: I pray that you would pour out a desire upon your people to pray – that your Church would once again be a House of Prayer. Father, I pray that your people would humble themselves before you; surrender their lives unto you and seek your will in their lives and for this generation. I pray that your glory would be more manifest in your Church such that the whole nation would be gathered unto you! AMEN

• Father: Awaken the dream of Kingdom-life within us. Quicken our passion to seek you and to serve you. Empower us with a confidence that you can take a glowing ember and turn it into a raging fire. Draw our hearts to desire the pleasure of obedience to your Word. Create in us clean hearts and renew right spirits with in us. AMEN

• Father: In the days of Elijah you bought fire to show you alone were the true God. Your fire displayed your glory, then you opened Heaven and rain brought life to the land once again. Lord God: Your Church, the bride of Your Son, needs again the cleansing and purifying work of your fire as well as the refreshing work of your rain. We are desperate for it. When the time was right, you sent both in an instant. I humbly ask that both would fall today in another one of your “suddenlies”. We can’t wait much longer, Lord. Show your fire and rain and Glory in your Church again. AMEN

• Lord: Please give us the brutal honesty to stop calling the “death valley” of our religious experience a “rock garden”. Dis-illusion us fully regarding the propaganda of the false hopes of our own making. Turn us profoundly and simply to Christ that we may experience “resurrection”! Saturate us so that the genuine faith, love and power of Christ’s life will triumph over death and evil – for our joy and your glory. AMEN

• Lord Jesus: We have shamefully broken covenant with You. We have resisted You, and many on our campuses and throughout our country have greatly rebelled again you and renounced you. But even so, aware that we do not deserve anything but judgment, we humbly submit ourselves to you to ask you, in your mercy, to pour out your Spirit on our land. Awaken us, save us, renew our first love. Save your people. AMEN.

• Oh, God my Father: I know you love your Church and the world very, very much. Please pour out your love and grace upon both. Have mercy and continue to show your love to both. Change hearts and place your hand upon us all. AMEN

• Oh, Lord God of all nations: We, your Bride, have rejected you, your Word and your ways. We have fallen in love with other gods – money, sex, and pleasure. Our sins have hurt you, grieved you and even angered you – resulting in a withdrawal of your presence; leaving us to ourselves and self-destruction. O, Lord, on behalf of your people I repent and turn from my wicked ways, Please, oh please, extend your mercy. Turns us again unto You. Cause your face to shine upon us and we will be delivered. Fill your surrendered, broken servants with the fullness of your Spirit. And may the nations tremble at your presence. May your glory fill the earth and may the whole world worship you alone. AMEN

• Father: Though we have all deserted you for our idols, you have said: “I will capture the hearts of the people of God (Ezek. 14:3). We bless you for this promise. It is our hope for a Christ-honoring revival that produces by your Holy Spirit the fruit of repentance, reconciliation, restitution, renewal and reformation. Recapture the hearts of your people in the cities and communities of our nation. Soon, Lord. Even today! AMEN

• Lord: You promised that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. I fully expect and believe that we are on the verge of its completion. Before this great company of witnesses, pour out your Spirit and fill the earth. Bring forth rivers of grace in the wastelands; life where there is now death; and praises, like golden bowls of incense – so that Christ is rightly adored and humankind redeemed. AMEN.

• Father: In Jesus’ name and by Him alone, I ask that You would draw your Church, your Bride in America, to your Word. Then reveal your living Word, bringing repentance, salvation and perpetual holy surrender. Do this in all who are alive in this generation, including within every ethnic group. I pray that people’s motivations would become like Yours – love. I pray that your people would worship You in spirit and truth, thus becoming intimate laborers among all the nations. I pray that we would be a people driven and consumed by the passion of YOUR heart, not our own, that YOUR NAME would be glorified in all the earth. Lastly I ask that people everywhere would fear you once again. AMEN.

• Father: Glorify your Son in the midst of His people. Awaken your Church to see and experience Jesus in all of His glory. May your Holy Spirit be poured out upon us – turning us from sin and self-centeredness. Give life and breath to dry bones. Would you so fill us with your life, light and power, that your transforming Spirit would forever change our communities? Lord Jesus: Live out your life in us in a way that attracts unbelievers, convicts of sin, brings us to holiness and sends your word in power to the very ends of the earth. AMEN

• Lord Jesus: We long for your presence more than we value even our own lives. We want your Lordship, comfort, grace, healing, life, light, beauty, creativity, resurrection and everlasting love. Whatever the cost this means for us, we willingly embrace you yourself. We embrace the ultimate cost to give us this awakening, and we will pay the price gladly. Come, Lord Jesus. AMEN

• Father in Heaven: I hunger for your holiness to be known by all who live in this land. My Lord, this is your land, the United States. May all know that you are set apart, above and beyond anything our minds can grasp. May your rule be absolute over every heart and habit. Capture every heart with your love, every habit with your holiness. Find more than lip-service from those who know you, find “life-service”. And bring every lost sheep home. Feed, clothe and provide for every one. Bring to repentance very sinner, so that you can forgive and restore. Remove all temptation, destroy all evil. And, hasten the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess the Lordship of Jesus, here and everywhere. AMEN

• Oh, Lord: Move the Church, your people, your house, from being self-focused to being truly focused on the pleasures and joys of Jesus Christ. AMEN

• God: I ask that you graciously reveal yourself through a dramatic and transforming manifestation of your holiness, love, power and majesty. Through that manifestation of who you are, renew and deepen the devotion and faithfulness of your people, and expand even further the reach of your Kingdom by bringing multitudes into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I ask this through the wonderful name of Jesus. AMEN

• Our precious Father: I appeal to you for the re-conversion of your people back to your Son for ALL that he is. I appeal to you to raise up a host of leaders to become “messengers of hope” all through the Body of Christ, saturating your people with a message of the supremacy of your Son that will lead them into large hope and deep repentance. Restore to us a spiritual passion for the cause of Christ everywhere. Especially, I appeal to you to manifest the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus and the power of his Gospel in the life of this nation. Do so with such transforming impact that this gracious revival will strengthen afresh the work of Christ among your people in every part of the earth. Hear and answer. The time has come. Truly, this ordained Christ-awakening is at hand. We are undone without it. Do not delay. For Jesus’ sake alone. AMEN.

Passion for God; Compassion for Souls

Passion for God; Compassion for Souls
Conference Edition
by Doug Stringer
Prayer Point Press January 2001

"Men reach for thrones to build their own kingdoms; Jesus reached for a towel to wash men's feet."

Misconceptions About Unity . . .
Please don't misunderstand my passion for unity. True unity is more than an event or an affiliation, it is a choice, a lifestyle and a mind-set. It means more than having our names on some membership role, for it requires a genuine bonding of our hearts. Daniel Bernard, coordinator of Somebody Cares Tampa Bay says it well; "Two cats can be united by tying their tails together, but they won't be experiencing true unity!"

Nor am I advocating ecumenical unity, which is merely unity for unity's sake. Rather, we need unity with a purpose. To accomplish that purpose - fulfilling the Great Commission - we must first be reconciled to God and each other. Only then can we fulfill our calling as ministers of reconciliation who rescue lives!

When some Christians hear talk of unity, they fear that they will lose their identity and be swallowed up by some big religious bureaucracy. This isn't the objective at all. Instead of creating an authoritarian headquarters, we are simply a network of related ministries that are intent on a common purpose. Rather than losing our identity in the process, we are actually finding our unique calling and role as we relate to other Christians and ministries.

Some of the leaders in our city were initially concerned that we would create unity only by sinking to the "lowest common denominator." The result has been just the opposite: We have rallied around Jesus Christ Himself, and He is our highest common denominator.

These ministers are not just talking about unity, nor just talking about the problems in our city. They are working in practical ways to impact the city at a grassroots level. Unity with a purpose is in action, and we desire to see a great harvest, not only in Houston, but also across this nation and the nations of the world.

We have not created anything new, but have merely identified what God is already doing. Ministers who are already touching lives are linking arms with others who are doing likewise. We recognize that we are not the only network, but desire to identify and then link those who are already reaching out at a grassroots level.

There are many people still to be reached, and together we can make a difference. We must walk in a right relationship with the Lord and with each other so that His light will shine in us and draw people to Him. We must be witnesses who point the way to Christ. he is sending us out for this purpose.

How will our communities be reached? What must we do? We must intercede and then intervene for the multitudes still in the balance of eternity. The only way we will reach our cities is if we have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father and with each other. Then we will be living witnesses, compelling the lost to come.

"There are preachers who love to preach, then there are preachers who love those to whom they preach." Anonymous

A city will come to Christ as you and I lay down our lives for its people. We must pray for God's wisdom and strategy, but then we must act. People are hungry to see the real Jesus, and Jesus wants to love them through you and me. Too often Christians have placed the responsibility for witnessing on the senior pastor or on the inner-city minister. But God is requiring each Christian to be a living witness.

Our desire and ability to embrace those of different racial groups or backgrounds must begin within the body of Christ. We must undergird our Christian brothers and sisters who are working in the inner city. We must support those ministers of different racial groups and come to understand the cultural issues they face. They have been called to reach communities we may not be able to reach. They need us and we need them. We are called to build each other up, not tear each other down. Yet, to do so we must get past the obstacles that have hindered both our relationships within the church and our effectiveness in reaching the lost.
the unchurched must see that our relationships with the Lord and one another are genuine. How we care for those within the body of Christ tells the world how we will love them. We are seeing breakthroughs among the Christian community in Houston, as Anglos, Hispanics, African-Americans, Jews and Asians are serving together. In corporate gatherings and outreaches, we are bridging the gaps that have divided us for so long. For more walls to come down, we must continue to build and maintain these relationships. In so doing, we find that we have much in common, particularly our agreement on our common purpose.

When I envision the type of bride God is preparing for His Son, she is radiant with His character, full of charity, with no division in her heart. She does not quarrel over her rights or set boundaries for her service. She willingly offers herself for the sake of the Bridegroom.

Micah chapter four speaks of the people of God gathering at His holy mountain, and in that passage we see people for all nations - including the lame, the outcast and the afflicted - join together and form a strong nation (Mic. 4:1-7). In verse three we read that the people "shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sward against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more."

This kind of unity will only occur as we focus on the harvest. That is God's primary calling to the church today. In the world we will continue to hear of wars and rumors of wars, but there is group of people who are setting aside their differences. They have a common identity, a common enemy, and a common purpose.

Micah 4: 6-7 speaks of the kinds of people who will make up the harvest: "In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast, and those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation." What a beautiful sight that will be! Already the Lord is beginning to gather His people in such a way, taking outcasts and making us into "a strong nation."

In Genesis chapter 37, Jacob gave Joseph an exquisite gift, a coat of many colors.
...we can imagine the beauty of the tunic Jacob gave Joseph.

That coat must have been brilliant in its color and its quality. As its colors were interwoven, a beautiful fabric was displayed.
Likewise, as the body of Christ becomes a united bride, we become a coat of many colors - red, white, brown, black, yellow, woven together. Though we are diverse in ethnicity and culture, through Christ we are being knit together from every background to become a strong nation. Regardless of our racial or ethnic background, we are now part of the culture of Christ.

Joseph's brothers resented him for the favor he had with his father and for the dream he shared with them. They became jealous and sought to destroy Joseph. Likewise, within the body of Christ we must guard against animosity, jealousy, envy or bitterness that would divide us from other brothers and sisters in Christ. These resentments can be against those with a different vision or can spring from jealousy of the way God is blessing another's ministry. We must also recognize and repent of any prejudices against other nationalities.

Unity among the brethren is not an option, but rather our responsibility to the Lord and one another. Taking steps of reconciliation toward our brothers and sisters is essential if we are going to work together to see God's kingdom established. After years of division or misunderstanding, it is a time-consuming process for hearts to be opened so we can embrace each other and work together for the gospel. Nonetheless, we should desire that kind of unity and stay alert to whatever things would prevent it.

The Bible says Satan is the accuser of the brethren. If he uses Christians to accuse or blame other Christians, then we have become unwilling pawns of Satan. We must keep this in mind anytime we are tempted to back bite, murmur or tear down a brother or sister in Christ. Whatever offenses we've held must be released. Some of the unforgiveness harbored may be due to events that happened years ago in a particular denomination or with someone of a particular racial background. We must get past these hindrances if we ever intend to impact our communities.

When we put on Christ, we must also put on the perfect bond of unity - love (Col. 3:14). Jesus displayed His love in dying for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). He chose willingly to lay His life down for all nations, all peoples, and all cultures. We did not earn or deserve His love, but Christ chose to love us anyway.

With one fishing pole, we each can catch one fish at a time. But with a net we can bring in many fish at once.

The fire of God that ignites flames of revival is the same fire that brings judgment. The difference is the condition of our hearts.

The body of Christ is called to be one holy "nation," abiding in peace and intent on fulfilling its commission to reach the lost. We are called to a unity that transcends all culture, socioeconomic standing, and racial identity. This means not only embracing theories about reconciliation; it means embracing each other.

If we say we love God but do not love our brother, something is wrong. It is one thing to say we love one another, but love is an action.

Dr. Edwin Louis Cole, founder of the Christian Men's Network, says, "We become intimate with the One to whom we pray, the one with whom we pray, and the one for whom we pray."

...individually and corporately, we must seek God for His strategy to reach our communities. We must pray, but pray with a purpose: "God, what would you have us do?"

Prayer is fundamental to our relationship with God, but from that place of prayer we must move to a place of action.

How do we pray for our cities? We first must recognize the biblical roots of cities and why the first city was established.

...we must identify what specific strongholds are keeping the presence of God from permeating a community. Why is this important? Our ultimate goal is to break the strongholds that are keeping people's hearts hardened to the gospel. We must persistently seek God for spiritual breakthroughs, while consistently sowing seed into the soil of souls.

In 1988, during the first Jericho Drive, Pastor Mike Cave of New Life Christian Center in Houston shared a message that is still pertinent today:
The cities of the world are in a time of change, and major cities will sooner or later go through a time of crisis. The changes taking place in cities today will either move them toward more evil, more corruption, and more vileness, or else there is going to be something that intervenes to reverse the trend and move the cities toward godliness. Whoever takes the lead in these major mega-centers of our world is going to affect the course of history.
We cannot run from the problems of the city, because they will follow us. People are drawn to the city with a false hope of security in jobs, in commerce and in all the things they mistakenly assume the city will provide for them. In reality, the spirit of the city is nothing but a web that draws people into its clutches. The church must intercede and cry out to god for mercy.

In America today we have more people praying for revival than ever before. We are crying out to God, claiming the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 that if we humble ourselves , pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, He will hear from heaven and heal our land. But often we have forgotten the requirement of Isaiah 58 that we reach outward to the needy in addition to reaching upward to God. When we commit ourselves to both the upward and outward thrusts, nothing can stop revival from bursting forth: "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard."

Isaiah 28:5-6 speaks of God strengthening His people for the battle that is at the gate. In Scripture a "gate" represents the entryway into a city. Our city's pastors and ministry leaders represent the gatekeepers of the city. Our spiritual leaders are battling for the souls of their flock and of the lost. We must faithfully pray for the leaders in our city, for the heat of battle is intense. As the body of Christ goes beyond mere talk and begins to corporately stand in the gap for souls, we will be met with even more opposition.

God wants the spiritual wall of our city rebuilt, but this will require us to pray with focus and seek His strategies. It means more than devising an elaborate spiritual infrastructure, for the real issue is rebuilding the lives of people shattered by the consequences of sin.
We need eyes of faith to persevere through the opposition of the enemy.

Prayer is not just talking to God, it is listening to His voice. As we develop an intimate relationship with the Lord and with each other, we will receive His corporate instruction. When we receive a strategy to reach our communities, we must then follow through with action. As we collectively join our faith and work with a common purpose, we will impact our communities.

During the long period of peace and prosperity in America, many of us Christians have become apathetic and complacent in our comforts. It is time to ask ourselves the question posed by the late statesman, Leonard Ravenhill: "Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?" The Lord wants to stir us from lethargy and raise us up to be a mighty army.

Many of us have prayed, "God whatever it takes, whatever You want, I will do it" - but our lives do not reflect that radical abandonment to God. The children of Israel once approached Jeremiah and said, "Go find out what God wants us to do, and whatever it is, we will do it." Yet when Jeremiah came back and told them what God wanted them to do, they called him a liar! (see Jer. 42.) They spoke the right words with their lips, but their hearts had already decided what they wanted to do. So the question comes back to us today,"Do we have ears to hear and obey what the Lord is saying?"

Jesus did not say, "Take up My cross and follow Me." Rather, He said, "Take up your cross and follow Me." Our lives are the sacrifice we offer to God, our wholehearted obedience to His will. When we hear Him speak, we must die to our own desires. When we obey Him even when we do not want to, we have come to understand total surrender to His will.

When we enjoy the sweet presence of the Lord in our corporate prayer gatherings, let us remember why we are gathered. We will have all eternity to enjoy the Lord's presence, but we must redeem the time for the ones who still do not know Him. Do we hear the Lord's cry as He weeps for people? Will we look beyond our own needs and desires for a cause far beyond any we could ever imagine? Let us pray the price for the sake of souls. Let our prayers echo the prayers of Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, "God break my heart with the things that break Yours."

If we are going to reach this generation, we must do more than just get together for fellowship and for prayer. Yes, prayer is foundational, and fasting helps us die to our flesh. But we must pray with purpose. We must fast, but we must fast with purpose.
Isaiah 58 clarifies the purpose for times of prayer and fasting. We are told that if we "do these things" [do the stuff], our healing will come quickly. We must move from prayer and fasting to the purpose. Praying and fasting will enable us to hear the Lord's voice and be filled with His power, but then we must do the stuff.

"If what we do does not equate into changed lives and lost souls coming to Christ, it stops short of being a true revival."
God's authority and power are poured out when we worship Him. When worship goes up, His glory comes down! But His glory doesn't come down just to give us spiritual goose bumps. There is a clear purpose when His glory comes down: that we would go forth in His authority to fulfill the Great Commission.

Having hearts prepared to serve and sacrifice includes a willingness to receive the needy people He brings our way. Some of these have been very battered by the consequences of sin, and they may not look like the kind of people we want to hang out with. Others will come from racial and ethnic groups that we may have previously harbored prejudice toward. Yet, if we are willing to serve them as unto the Lord, then God promises to give us power and authority to be His witnesses.

Dr. Richard Halverson, the former chaplain of the U.S. Senate, has succinctly summed up the history of the church: "Christianity started in Palestine as a relationship with a person - Jesus. It went to Greece and become a philosophy, went to Rome and became an institution, and went to Europe and became a culture. Then it came to America and became an enterprise." For the church to be restored, it is helpful to see how we have fallen prey to these perversions of the true gospel.

A genuine revival is not a matter of hoopla, or emotionalism, or even spiritual refreshing - it is a matter of transforming individuals and then entire communities.

A few years ago I was interviewed for a radio program and was asked if I thought God was going to bring judgment or revival to America. I paused for a moment and replied, "Both." God is going to bring revival to His people, and it will either come by choice or by judgment. The line has been drawn, and we must make a choice. The Lord cannot force us to consecrate our lives, but He can surely put pressure on us so we will seek Him. He will do whatever it takes to get our attention! We will either surrender all to Him, birthing a revival, or through our disobedience, He will allow judgment. We will go to our knees either to seek Him by choice or by judgment. We cannot expect to have the Lord's peace and joy if we cling to that which is of this temporal world - things that are destined to perish.

This is not a day to give up on the church, on yourself, or certainly not on the Lord. Instead, it is a day to get on our knees and seek the Lord for His grace. The Lord is raising up people all across the land who want to see a true outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It will not be limited to any one crusade or meeting, but the Holy Spirit will move through individuals, ministries and churches that are preparing themselves and seeking the Lord.

We as Christians need to repent of pursuing happiness above holiness. God is looking for a people who are hungry for His holiness, His character, and a deeper relationship with Him.

During extended periods of peace and prosperity, the church tends to become selfish, self-self-centered and self-focused. God wants to bless His people, but the blessings are for a purpose: to get the gospel out.

Many Christians across the land are praying for a move of God that will impact thousands of souls. If we really believe God is going to move like that, we have to prepare our hearts now. We must examine our own lives and allow Him to show us the things in us that are displeasing to Him. This is the necessary first step for revival: We must examine ourselves.

Genuine passion for God allows no room for compromise or mediocrity!

The outpouring of God's Spirit is going to require us to change. If we have been doing things the same way for years, it is probably time for a new mind-set, a clean garment, and a change of heart. In Scripture the infilling of the Holy Spirit has been referred to as new wine. If we are going to be able to contain the new wine, we will need new wineskins.

There are those who will resist the change God must bring, saying, "The old is better!" Will this be true of us? Will we hold on to our traditions, our old ways, our old thinking, or will we allow God to do what He must to change us? To have hearts prepared for the new season, we must take off the old wineskins and embrace the new. Let's not be the ones saying, "The old is better."

Taking off old wineskins is at times more difficult than we think, for it can be quite painful. The old wineskin has become comfortable, but we must not allow that comfort to hinder us from moving on with God. We need to face the fact that our old condition is not suitable for the new work God desires to do.

Few Christians realize how much we can hinder God's intention to pour out His Spirit across our community. No one intends to do this, but unless we circumcise our hearts, that is exactly what will happen. We must cast off our old wineskins and deal with the things that have caused division within the body of Christ.

Pride stops a move of God, and leaders are the first ones to be challenged on this issue.

It is crucial for leaders to see beyond their own churches, desiring God to move throughout the city, without jealousy, envy or strife.
Dr. Cole says, "The character of the kingdom emanates from the character of the king." Ministry leaders and pastors are the ones setting the example for the body.

As spiritual leaders we must be the first to humble ourselves and then weep for the countless millions still to know Christ.
something has to die in order for something new to arise. The old has to pass away for things to become new (2 Cor. 5:17).

"Revival that leads to harvest and awakening is always first a revival of holiness and consecration."

God wants to birth a move of His Spirit through us, His church. It's not about denomination, intellect, race or economics - it's only about Jesus. It's about Jesus wanting to love people through us. He wants the Good News to reach all people, and it will take all the church to reach all the lost. Together we are a 'church without walls," infiltrating every area of society with the fragrance of Christ (2 Cor. 2:14).

In the early chapters of Acts, the church was of one spirit, of one mind, and of one heart. Consequently, there was great grace upon them to do miraculous exploits, and there was no lack. To receive God's blessings and the outpouring of His Spirit that we long for, we too must be of one spirit and one heart. Only then will we have the great power and grace to fulfill God's plan.

One of the reasons it will take all of us to reach all of them is that God wants to reach people from every background, racial and economic group. Not only does He want us to reach the down-and-outers, he also wants the up-and-outers to come into the kingdom.

This is a crucial time for the world. We have been commissioned to tell them the truth and offer them the hope that is in Christ. They will not believe us based upon our words alone, but only as they see the sincerity of our actions.

It is sad that the church has most often united in times of poverty and persecution - and that is when revival has most often come.

When we are in times of peace and prosperity we tend to compromise and become divided, concerned mostly with building our own kingdoms.

The body of Christ must quit tearing itself apart, and begin at once to build itself together in preparation for what is ahead.

The body must come together as never before, uniting for the purpose of winning the world to Jesus. We have been called for such a time as this, and must not miss our date with destiny.

"We should not come together in unity for unity's sake. We must come together in unity for His purpose."

The Great Giveaway ~ Chapter 6: Justice

Justice (Our Understanding Of)

Practicing Redeemed Economics:
Christian Community in but Not of Capitalism

For anyone united to Christ, there is a new creation: the old order has gone; a new order has already begun.
2 Corinthians 5:17 REB

We were a small gathering of about forty-five people meeting in an old church on Sunday nights in Chicago. This night, a person stood up during congregational prayers and announced to everyone that she had cancer. She told us that she needed an operation and had no health insurance and did not know how she was going to pay for it. No one knew how to react, so we just prayed for her. To my knowledge, no one did anything else significant that night to help this woman. Prayer is good but empty if we separate it from social justice. Several months later this woman with cancer cautiously asked someone in the church to second mortgage his house and help her pay for her operation. That person responded with the question, “I don’t own my house free and clear, besides have you second mortgaged your house?” This perhaps was a legitimate question but no one, including the woman with cancer, would dare get involved in discerning the answer to this question. It seemed too big of a threat, not only to the homeowner but also to the woman with cancer. As a result, this woman with cancer was basically left alone with her economic problems despite being part of a close community. This same community, however, could get enthusiastic about volunteering aid to the local soup kitchen, offering financial help to the homeless, or walking miles to raise funds for pro-life and anti-poverty campaigns. But we did not know what to do when someone in our own community stood up and announced such a great need. Eighty thousand dollars (the cost of the operation) would surely have bankrupted us all. It seemed that this woman threatened everyone else’s financial survival. She put all of our own individual securities at risk and we were paralyzed. We didn’t have a way to “be the church” in the moment of her need. We didn’t know how to discern justice or mercy, what we should do, or what she needed to do.

I contend this episode is a metaphor for what happens in various and sundry ways in the majority of North American evangelical churches. Larger congregations may have benevolent funds to help out such a woman, but rarely do we take communal financial responsibility for one another. Larger evangelical churches may have committees to meet needs of hurting people in times of emergency, but rarely do we engage in what it means to restore justice and righteousness among us as a body of Christ in terms of economic disorder, conflict, and other issues of injustice. Yet when it comes to ministering social justice outside of the church, evangelicals are more active today than they have ever been before.¹

I contend this disparity is dangerous because it leaves our churches prone to compromising the justice of Jesus Christ in society at large. If we do not practice justice among ourselves as Christians under Christ’s lordship, we will not have the skills to discern it out in society either. Inevitably, we will be influenced by a formula for justice that comes from some place other than the body of Christ. In the case of evangelicals, this place often proves to be America’s own liberal democracy and capitalism. The social politics of democratic capitalism ends up determining the way we do justice more than the politics of Christ. This then renders our justice unrecognizable as Christian justice in the world.² Truly, without the local church as a visible reference point, any justice we practice in society in Christ’s name inevitably will blend in with other forms of contested justice active in the postmodern societal marketplace. And if we do separate our justice from society’s, our justice becomes just another disingenuous argument without a living visible representation of what justice looks like among a people of God. In either case, we end up “giving away” the justice of Christ to forces external to the church.

This chapter argues that the work of social justice in Christ begins with the woman with cancer standing in the middle of the congregation. Only from such a concrete outworking of justice under his lordship can we then locate and do justice in the world. The following seeks to uncover how and why evangelicals do justice and why it fails as a work of Christ’s justice in a society at the end of modernity. It asks how we can return the work of justice to the concrete body of Christ. It then suggests the reinvigoration of an old church practice through which we can receive back Christ’s justice as his church in but not of capitalism and then offer it to the world.

===>Click here for more information on The Great Giveaway

The Great Giveaway by David Fitch (Ph.D., Northwestern University) ... the author of The Great Giveaway (Nov. 2005) from which this chapter is excerpted. Fitch is the pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Long Grove, Illinois, and is adjunct professor of ministry, theology, and ethics at Northern Seminary.
Used with permission of Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group copyright (C) 2005. All rights to this material are reserved. Materials are not to be distributed to other web locations for retrieval, published in other media, or mirrored at other sites without written permission from Baker Publishing Group

Help A Missionary

If you could help a missionary without cost to you, would you do it? Here’s your chance! My name is Debbie Wohler. I’ve been a Home Missionary for the North American Mission Board in the Tahoe City, CA area for 26 years. During the school year we minister to 70-90 children a day. In the summer there are even more children! I also coordinate church services at 6 different ski areas each Sunday during the ski season. You can see more information about the mission work here by going to: www.tahoeministries.com

The ministries are in need of a new van and a house for future staff. The vans are used to pick up children at schools and bring them to the church where they hear about Jesus. The vans are also used to take children and youth on field trips and church camp in the summer months. The cost of housing is very outrageous in our area ($700,000-$1.5 million to buy a normal house.) If we don’t get housing for future missionaries and a pastor, the mission work here won’t be able to continue after those of us who are here now retire.

We are asking you and your church to save empty computer inkjet print cartridges, laser toners, and cell phones that are no longer being used. We can get cash for these items! Wouldn’t it be great to help a mission project that tells children and families about Jesus? This will be an ongoing project. There is no deadline for completion. We’ll collect until we reach our goal. We will send you a monthly update via

e-mail. This update has stories about the mission work, financial reports on the project, and updates on how to ship your items. If you don’t have an e-mail address, have someone from your church that does have e-mail give Debbie their e-mail address and she’ll send the reports to them. This will save the mission project huge amounts of money in postage. Be sure to keep Debbie posted on your e-mail address changes. Please add me to your list of approved receivers on your e-mail address list.

Empties4Cash has just made an exclusive deal for us. They will now accept the ink jets, cell phones, and laser toners. For the rest of their customers they are only accepting the ink jets. They have also dropped the minimum number required to get the free shipping. There are now no minimums required! This company will send you free boxes with prepaid shipping labels. Here is the contact information for the company.

Empties4Cash

15042 Parkway Loop, Unit C

Tustin, CA 92780

1-800-456-4320

www.empties4cash.com

lillian@empties4cash.com

Our Empties4Cash ID: 14716 (Put our ID number on the outside underneath your return address. Please put our 14716 ID number inside the box as well.)

• Ink jet cartridges with print heads will continue to be paid the prices listed on their web page. We get $1-4 each for these.
• Cell phones. They do not want the accessories. They just want the cell phone itself. They will pay $1 for each phone we send them. Please do not send bag phones.
• Laser toners. They will pay $1 for each laser toner we send them.
• Ink jets without print heads will get us .02 per ink jet. They are paying more on everything else than anyone else. And they are giving us free shipping and free boxes! So whatever we can do to help them is wonderful. They ship the non print heads off to a recycling company and they only get .05 per cartridge and this is after they pay their own shipping.

HOW TO GET STARTED:

1. Call Empties4Cash at 1-800-456-4320. Tell them that you are saving for Debbie Wohler, ID number 14716. Ask them to send you some free boxes and free posters for publicity.
2. Make announcements at church, in your church newsletter, at work, school, through e-mail and any other way you can think of to get the word out.
3. When you get a box full of items, call Empties4Cash at 1-800-456-4320. Tell them you have a box ready for pick-up. You will need to tell them our ID number (14716) and read them the number of the Fed Ex shipping label that is already on the box.
4. The box comes to you already addressed to them and with a prepaid Fed Ex sticker. Put your return address on the outside of the box and our account number (14716) underneath your return address. Please put a sheet of paper inside the box with our account number on it as well. Let them know the hours that Fed Ex can pick up the box.
5. E-mail Debbie at debbiewohler@sbcglobal.net and let her know that your box is on the way. When I get the check and the report, I’ll e-mail the report to you. You’ll get a detailed report of how much each item you sent was worth and the total amount that you just contributed to our mission project. This will encourage you and your church. E-mail is the cheapest way and most time efficient way for us to keep in contact with all of our wonderful supporters.

Packing and shipping details:

• There is now no minimum number of items that you need to send in to get the free boxes and free shipping. We should send as many as we can at a time so that they don’t get killed on the shipping charges. However, they trust us and have dropped the minimum number requirement for free shipping. If you only have a few ink jets, they have smaller prepaid envelopes for you to use.
• You can send all of the items in the same box if you want. We are suggesting that you put the cell phones or laser toners in the bottom of the box and the ink jets on the top of the box. Please continue to layer things with protection in between layers (bubble wrap, newspaper, or Wal-Mart type plastic bags.) We also wrap our ink jets in plastic sandwich bags to protect the print heads from getting damaged in shipping. It would be easier for them if you would keep the same kinds of items together in a layer. For example: The bottom of the box has cell phones or laser toners, then layers of ink jets with print heads, and then a layer of ink jets with no print heads.
• Some of the laser toners will fit into their free boxes and some of them won’t. If you have laser toners that are too big for their free boxes, you will have to get your own box. Then call 1-800-456-4320. Tell them that you have laser toners ready to ship and that you need a prepaid shipping label. Tell them your address but be sure to give them our Empties 4 cash ID number: 14716. Tell them that you are helping us out. They are very familiar with us and will understand what’s going on.

If you are still reading all of this you are a saint! Thank you for loving Jesus. Thank you for loving us here in Tahoe City. Our children, families, and church members think you are wonderful too! It is a testimony to them that even though you don’t know us, you help us. You are showing God’s love in a tangible way to many families who don’t know Jesus. We had 739 families who attended one or more of our programs last year. We are trying to raise up a new generation who love and know Jesus. We are raising up the army of the Lord. You are helping to make all of this possible. Please don’t miss out on this exciting movement of God. Please get this effort started in your church as soon as possible. You will be encouraged and blessed to see how God works through this project.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find out.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Your love, prayers, support, encouragement, and help mean so much to me.

Debbie Wohler, NAMB Home Missionary

PO Box 7452

Tahoe City, CA 96145

(530) 583-2925 (Pacific Standard Time)

debbiewohler@sbcglobal.net

www.tahoeministries.com