Easter was tough this year for two main reasons. First being that I wasn't very emotionally involved like usual. In other words, I didn't really mourn that my savior was crucified on Good Friday and I didn't really rejoice in the fact that He rose three days later. Everything is a mental assent and not a foundational truth that resides in my heart, that defines who I am. But I also understand that Christ can bring together my head and my heart and so I know that as I abide in Him and Him in me there will come a day when I will be emotionally involved. And I cannot wait for the day that I weep on Good Friday and then rejoice with singing and dancing on Easter Sunday because my Lord has risen and through Him I have received new life.
Second, I find that most sermons preached on Easter Sunday are not the Gospel; at least not the full Gospel. I always hear preached that Jesus died so that we can have eternal life...let's take communion. But that's not it, that's not the Gospel story, that is NOT the good news! If Jesus only died so that we can have eternal life then where is the immediate significance to my life. There's no power, no life in a Gospel that says Jesus died so that when I die I can go to heaven. Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected so that I could die TODAY heaven can come through me to this world TODAY. I can participate in Christ's crucifixion as well as His resurrection TODAY through the Holy Spirit. I am justified, a new creation, redeemed by the blood of the lamb and am no longer a sinner. And yes I will follow Christ (the first among the resurrected) in the bodily resurrection when God's kingdom is fully established, but the cross has significance for today.
I guess hearing preached that the cross is only good for eternal life sounds to me like a very weak and self-centered Gospel. Salvation is not a one-way ticket to heaven, it was the act of Jesus saying not my will but yours be done that allowed God's kingdom to break in that we can now participate in.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
God is turning the hearts of men back to him
so last night, our little humble group made our way over to UCSD for our normal Tuesday night prayer meeting there, but this time it was a little bit different! =]]
tonight, Richard Dawkins, the renown Atheist was presenting a lecture and receiving a reward at one of the buildings near the La Jolla playhouse on UCSD campus. JHOP San Diego had a group of about 25 that i saw at least in the line all day waiting and praying for this man an for the meeting in general. we showed up too late to get parking near the playhouse, or even get in line to be inside, so we had different plans of just doing prayer and worship outside of the playhouse as the JHOP crew was doing work inside.
first, on the inside, the group was praying for confusion and for love and truth to break out, that people would come to know Christ, not become a product of one of the four horsemen, what Dawkins is called on occasion. Dawkins stumbled through his presentation and then there was a time for open Q&A, and by the grace of God, the JHOP team was right next to the microphone, so they had about 10 people jump up to ask questions. instead of questions, they really just looked at Dawkins and in front of about 400+ Atheists, asked Dawkins to repent for making a mockery of God and to turn his heart to the Lord. they all started in laughter, and kept laughing, until the other 5 in line did the same thing. they had to actually cut the QA time and the session ended a little earlier than expected.
meanwhile, during the session, we were right out in front on a lawn playing worship, lifting up prayers and asking for the truth to set free and love to overcome. within this time, we had a couple walk by that were Atheists and made a quick joke about us being the Atheists, haha. we said we were actually do prayer and worship, and asked if they would like to join. the man said yes, but seemed confused on it and so they decided to walk around the area. we kept pressing in during this time and kept asking God to just pour down love, mercy, truth, joy and liberty! sooner than later, the man came back and sat down listening to us play. so one of the guys with us went over to talk to him and another with his girlfriend. at this point a bunch of people were getting out of the lecture and walking by hearing us play and pray. there was one guy who said that Jesus sucked, but the man who sat down with us immediately replied that Jesus is actually pretty cool hahahahaha! not only that but also, the JHOP crew just got out as well and we were getting into some more worship! than the guy sitting with the Atheist man who joined us asked if we could pray for him. we all prayed over him and in this time, he said he had never felt more love, seen more joy or been in the reality of love and genuine people before like this! he was completely overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit! this Atheist man, Mike, also stated that he had never felt so accepted before because whenever he goes into these lectures he feels like he is being bashed on, which was insane to hear! right after this, a security guard walks by and says the Lord is saying job well done and also that this man received his touch tonight hahaha, prophetic!
we then said bye to Mike who exchanged numbers with JHOP and we look forward to hearing more about him.
overall, we were blessed to see God move in the ways he did and it was crazy to see that in our faithful remnant of people in the sea of non believers, waves of mercy and love came crashing upon us and upon this man who now knows love and the reality that God is God! God did amazing things tonight and it was truly a honor and privilege to be a part of it! may the Lord bless you with this testimony and release you into even deeper than this! because of love
tonight, Richard Dawkins, the renown Atheist was presenting a lecture and receiving a reward at one of the buildings near the La Jolla playhouse on UCSD campus. JHOP San Diego had a group of about 25 that i saw at least in the line all day waiting and praying for this man an for the meeting in general. we showed up too late to get parking near the playhouse, or even get in line to be inside, so we had different plans of just doing prayer and worship outside of the playhouse as the JHOP crew was doing work inside.
first, on the inside, the group was praying for confusion and for love and truth to break out, that people would come to know Christ, not become a product of one of the four horsemen, what Dawkins is called on occasion. Dawkins stumbled through his presentation and then there was a time for open Q&A, and by the grace of God, the JHOP team was right next to the microphone, so they had about 10 people jump up to ask questions. instead of questions, they really just looked at Dawkins and in front of about 400+ Atheists, asked Dawkins to repent for making a mockery of God and to turn his heart to the Lord. they all started in laughter, and kept laughing, until the other 5 in line did the same thing. they had to actually cut the QA time and the session ended a little earlier than expected.
meanwhile, during the session, we were right out in front on a lawn playing worship, lifting up prayers and asking for the truth to set free and love to overcome. within this time, we had a couple walk by that were Atheists and made a quick joke about us being the Atheists, haha. we said we were actually do prayer and worship, and asked if they would like to join. the man said yes, but seemed confused on it and so they decided to walk around the area. we kept pressing in during this time and kept asking God to just pour down love, mercy, truth, joy and liberty! sooner than later, the man came back and sat down listening to us play. so one of the guys with us went over to talk to him and another with his girlfriend. at this point a bunch of people were getting out of the lecture and walking by hearing us play and pray. there was one guy who said that Jesus sucked, but the man who sat down with us immediately replied that Jesus is actually pretty cool hahahahaha! not only that but also, the JHOP crew just got out as well and we were getting into some more worship! than the guy sitting with the Atheist man who joined us asked if we could pray for him. we all prayed over him and in this time, he said he had never felt more love, seen more joy or been in the reality of love and genuine people before like this! he was completely overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit! this Atheist man, Mike, also stated that he had never felt so accepted before because whenever he goes into these lectures he feels like he is being bashed on, which was insane to hear! right after this, a security guard walks by and says the Lord is saying job well done and also that this man received his touch tonight hahaha, prophetic!
we then said bye to Mike who exchanged numbers with JHOP and we look forward to hearing more about him.
overall, we were blessed to see God move in the ways he did and it was crazy to see that in our faithful remnant of people in the sea of non believers, waves of mercy and love came crashing upon us and upon this man who now knows love and the reality that God is God! God did amazing things tonight and it was truly a honor and privilege to be a part of it! may the Lord bless you with this testimony and release you into even deeper than this! because of love
Friday, April 3, 2009
Power in the Secret Place
God is faithful and good! Wow...yup. So God has been blowing my mind this whole year in regards to prayer. It started first semester when he put this desire in my heart to pray. To really set aside time in my day to just pray in the secret place; to begin creating a culture of prayer. This semester God is showing me what happens when we are faithful to God's call to seeking God in the secret place.
The first encounter I had dealt with someone I met in my homeless ministry that I do on Tuesday nights. Her name is Ruth and I met her during the first quarter of last semester. We got to talking and she just began to unload her life story on me. She had been raped by her brother and had a child because of it. Her family were then disgusted at her (as if it was her fault) and she didn't tell her son that his uncle is his dad because of her shame. She eventually ended up telling him but the guilt was tearing her away inside. She felt guilty for everything, the rape, the child, and not telling him. As a result, she was suffering from depression and was cutting herself. All I knew to do was, and so I did; and I prayed hard. I prayed for like 5 minutes straight...and nothing. She said thanks and then left and I didn't see her the rest of the semester.
At first I was completely crushed. I wanted God to move SO BAD! But as I continued to pray daily I couldn't get her off my mind. So the whole semester I prayed that God would break the lies Satan has wrapped around her heart. That God would send his Spirit of truth and speak worth into her and free of her and all of the guilt that isn't hers. Then one day this semester she shows up towards the end when we were eating. We get to talking and I notice that she's actually smiling. She tells me that since we talked like 4 months ago she has been able to deal with some of the guilt in her life and has stopped cutting herself! How faithful is God! And how amazing is it that we his sons and daughters can speak into and move God's heart when we seek God in the secret place!
The next two things happened this week. I had a grip of things I had to get done (cf. my last post) and so I couldn't make it to SRO. But I decided to set aside an hour and pray for them during the time of their ministry. So I went to the prayer chapel and just went after it, really interceding for my team and for those they were going to meet. That night, the Spirit moved in powerful ways at the Plaza and one lady named Lisa was healed of seizures and a tumor near her armpit! COME ON!
Then, that same night, I prayed for my friend who has been in a weird funk with his relationship with God. And ever since we talked last friday I just couldn't get our conversation out of my mind. So when I was in the prayer chapel I just started praying for my friend. I get a text message from said friend tonight that says "I just had breakthrough yesterday. Life is looking up."
Please don't read this as me trying to brag, I am just blown away at how faithful God is and God loves us so much that he listens to our prayers and allows them to penetrate God's heart. There is power in prayer, and there is power in prayer that is done in the secret place. So let us be a generation that finds its place on our knees, face down before the Lord of lords and the King of kings, singing worthy is the lamb that is slain! And let's see God's love poured out over our lives and those lives we come into contact with.
The first encounter I had dealt with someone I met in my homeless ministry that I do on Tuesday nights. Her name is Ruth and I met her during the first quarter of last semester. We got to talking and she just began to unload her life story on me. She had been raped by her brother and had a child because of it. Her family were then disgusted at her (as if it was her fault) and she didn't tell her son that his uncle is his dad because of her shame. She eventually ended up telling him but the guilt was tearing her away inside. She felt guilty for everything, the rape, the child, and not telling him. As a result, she was suffering from depression and was cutting herself. All I knew to do was, and so I did; and I prayed hard. I prayed for like 5 minutes straight...and nothing. She said thanks and then left and I didn't see her the rest of the semester.
At first I was completely crushed. I wanted God to move SO BAD! But as I continued to pray daily I couldn't get her off my mind. So the whole semester I prayed that God would break the lies Satan has wrapped around her heart. That God would send his Spirit of truth and speak worth into her and free of her and all of the guilt that isn't hers. Then one day this semester she shows up towards the end when we were eating. We get to talking and I notice that she's actually smiling. She tells me that since we talked like 4 months ago she has been able to deal with some of the guilt in her life and has stopped cutting herself! How faithful is God! And how amazing is it that we his sons and daughters can speak into and move God's heart when we seek God in the secret place!
The next two things happened this week. I had a grip of things I had to get done (cf. my last post) and so I couldn't make it to SRO. But I decided to set aside an hour and pray for them during the time of their ministry. So I went to the prayer chapel and just went after it, really interceding for my team and for those they were going to meet. That night, the Spirit moved in powerful ways at the Plaza and one lady named Lisa was healed of seizures and a tumor near her armpit! COME ON!
Then, that same night, I prayed for my friend who has been in a weird funk with his relationship with God. And ever since we talked last friday I just couldn't get our conversation out of my mind. So when I was in the prayer chapel I just started praying for my friend. I get a text message from said friend tonight that says "I just had breakthrough yesterday. Life is looking up."
Please don't read this as me trying to brag, I am just blown away at how faithful God is and God loves us so much that he listens to our prayers and allows them to penetrate God's heart. There is power in prayer, and there is power in prayer that is done in the secret place. So let us be a generation that finds its place on our knees, face down before the Lord of lords and the King of kings, singing worthy is the lamb that is slain! And let's see God's love poured out over our lives and those lives we come into contact with.
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