The Bethlehem word is as follows: Fort Wayne shall be Bethlehem to the United States.
What does this mean? Do YOU know? Have you prayed about it, meditated on it?
Tidbits from my first hour on the Bethlehem word...
Bethlehem in Hebrew is "Beth Elohim" which is literally "House of God." Bethlehem Ephrathah (Micah 5). Ephrathah means "fruitfulness."
Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus was not welcomed in Bethlehem. Think about that. Jesus was not welcome in the House of God in his first coming. My prayer: "Lord make wrong things right... Be welcomed in your house." When the Lord returns, will he be welcomed in his house?
Rachel was buried outside Bethlehem. Rachel wept for her children and refused to be comforted. Jesus' generation was killed in Herod's attempt to prevent the Messiah from usurping His throne. This is a scripture we often pray into regarding the issue of abortion.
Jacob falling asleep and being granted a vision, seeing what would be known as "Jacob's ladder." Genesis 28:15 - The Lord says, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
There is SO much more!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Come Lord Jesus...
So I'm pondering...
Would it make a difference if everyone in the world started praying one thing and one thing only, "Come Lord Jesus?" If our pursuits were not toward people or provision (don't get me wrong, we need to do those things and agree with God for His purposes on the Earth, but for argument's sake...) but we constantly, every day of our lives professed "Come Lord Jesus!", would He come back any sooner?
Would it make a difference if everyone in the world started praying one thing and one thing only, "Come Lord Jesus?" If our pursuits were not toward people or provision (don't get me wrong, we need to do those things and agree with God for His purposes on the Earth, but for argument's sake...) but we constantly, every day of our lives professed "Come Lord Jesus!", would He come back any sooner?
Journal Entry #2... The Imaginary Wall
#2...
So I had this vision of a wall that appeared to me kind of like the Berlin Wall, a wall of division that had been built up that separated the church from Jesus. On one side of the wall was man, tools in hand, trying valiantly to knock down this wall. Man was using any and all means he possibly could (axes, sledgehammers, etc.) to tear down the wall but all their efforts were in vain. The wall still stood. Then Jesus took me over to show me His side of the wall. My first thought about what I would see was this mangled hole-filled wall where the church could find some brief glimpses.. some representation that man could somehow in his own strength catch a glimpse of the Almighty. Some idea that we were on our way, on the journey of breaking down all the barriers that exist between man and God. That is often the best that we in our human understanding can hope for. Then God showed me the other side...
There is no wall.
(Sorry for the Matrix pun.)
God beckons us to come to him but, somewhere along the lines, we get distracted by this wall. I'm not exactly sure what the wall represents. Is it our own striving? Man has (generally speaking) imagined walls, put up fences, veiled his eyes to the reality of the presence of God. What is man if he does not have to work to find God or work to please God? What if all it is is being in God's presence? That is what life is all about. That is where I want to be.
God doesn't want people to get distracted and then work tirelessly trying to either (a) scale the wall and get over it; (b) break down the wall; or (c) walking around the wall hoping to find a gate or other way in. The Lord beckons, "Come!" I think He told us we need to walk through the wall. Like literally. God said we have the ability to do it, through faith, kind of like Peter walking on the water. Jesus does not understand why his people are constantly working to knock down a wall that's not even there in His perspective! "Come!"
So I had this vision of a wall that appeared to me kind of like the Berlin Wall, a wall of division that had been built up that separated the church from Jesus. On one side of the wall was man, tools in hand, trying valiantly to knock down this wall. Man was using any and all means he possibly could (axes, sledgehammers, etc.) to tear down the wall but all their efforts were in vain. The wall still stood. Then Jesus took me over to show me His side of the wall. My first thought about what I would see was this mangled hole-filled wall where the church could find some brief glimpses.. some representation that man could somehow in his own strength catch a glimpse of the Almighty. Some idea that we were on our way, on the journey of breaking down all the barriers that exist between man and God. That is often the best that we in our human understanding can hope for. Then God showed me the other side...
There is no wall.
(Sorry for the Matrix pun.)
God beckons us to come to him but, somewhere along the lines, we get distracted by this wall. I'm not exactly sure what the wall represents. Is it our own striving? Man has (generally speaking) imagined walls, put up fences, veiled his eyes to the reality of the presence of God. What is man if he does not have to work to find God or work to please God? What if all it is is being in God's presence? That is what life is all about. That is where I want to be.
God doesn't want people to get distracted and then work tirelessly trying to either (a) scale the wall and get over it; (b) break down the wall; or (c) walking around the wall hoping to find a gate or other way in. The Lord beckons, "Come!" I think He told us we need to walk through the wall. Like literally. God said we have the ability to do it, through faith, kind of like Peter walking on the water. Jesus does not understand why his people are constantly working to knock down a wall that's not even there in His perspective! "Come!"
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Gospelink
People need to see the work done by Gospelink.org. It's an organization focused on funding national pastors to minister to their own people (i.e. Zimbabweans ministering to Zimbabweans). The deal is, yo, that, especially in foreign countries, national pastors are able and willing to live the life they always have, living in huts and using bicycles or walking everywhere to preach the word. It's so unlike the "western" standard of our missionaries going to other nations and living off extraordinary funding, building concrete buildings and purchasing vehicles to get around in. Rachel and I support the outreach ministry of a national pastor in Zambia for just $25 a month. (There are others who provide living expenses, etc.) These pastors are able to do so much with so little!
P.S. I have nothing against any "western" missionaries going to serve internationally. They are fulfilling a mighty purpose. I just want to plug this organization for what it's been doing.
P.S. I have nothing against any "western" missionaries going to serve internationally. They are fulfilling a mighty purpose. I just want to plug this organization for what it's been doing.
Journal Entry to Share #1... God's Emotions
11/11/06 - Non-blog entry in my journal
Yesterday was a powerful day spiritually. Like Marv said, the warfare was just intense. Earlier in the afternoon I had an encounter with the Lord when we were praying for Luke in the Intern class. I had this vision of Jesus weeping over Luke and over the brokenness of Luke's friends and family (the IHOP family) praying and crying out for Luke's healing. Jesus wants us to know that He is weeping with us! He will soon bring comfort to us and healing to Luke. I thought the Lord was saying "by his tears you are healed."
(5) Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. (the set up verse) (6) As they pass through theValley of Baca Valley of Weeping Zion
Every tear cried out in the Valley of Weeping, which I believe is where a lot of people were last night, once that tear hits the ground, from that place a spring shall burst forth bringing renewed life. Jesus was weeping with us last night and that is what his tears were doing.
Valley of Weeping
Oh, and another thing, this SOOO relates back to Lamentations 2:19 : "Arise, Cry Out in the night." They are so intentionally vague on what it means to "cry out." You can "cry out" with so many different emotions... we can "cry out" out of joy, out of weeping, out of pain, out of anger or rage, out of (you name the emotion). I believe God wants to take us on this journey of experiencing these deep human emotions that He also feels, that He is not devoid of, separate from, or above. He is crying out with us!
I leave you with this. "A voice said, "Cry Out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?"" (Isaiah 40:6)
Yesterday was a powerful day spiritually. Like Marv said, the warfare was just intense. Earlier in the afternoon I had an encounter with the Lord when we were praying for Luke in the Intern class. I had this vision of Jesus weeping over Luke and over the brokenness of Luke's friends and family (the IHOP family) praying and crying out for Luke's healing. Jesus wants us to know that He is weeping with us! He will soon bring comfort to us and healing to Luke. I thought the Lord was saying "by his tears you are healed."
(5) Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. (the set up verse) (6) As they pass through the
Every tear cried out in the Valley of Weeping, which I believe is where a lot of people were last night, once that tear hits the ground, from that place a spring shall burst forth bringing renewed life. Jesus was weeping with us last night and that is what his tears were doing.
Oh, and another thing, this SOOO relates back to Lamentations 2:19 : "Arise, Cry Out in the night." They are so intentionally vague on what it means to "cry out." You can "cry out" with so many different emotions... we can "cry out" out of joy, out of weeping, out of pain, out of anger or rage, out of (you name the emotion). I believe God wants to take us on this journey of experiencing these deep human emotions that He also feels, that He is not devoid of, separate from, or above. He is crying out with us!
I leave you with this. "A voice said, "Cry Out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?"" (Isaiah 40:6)
And the Lord said...
So I felt SOOO left out knowing that everyone on my IHOP team is doing this thing called "blogging" and I had not yet begun. So here I am wondering what it is I'm supposed to write on here.
I am still wondering.
Still wondering.
Still wondering.
Still wondering.
Wondering some more.
Okay. Enough of that. Here is what I think I may post on here. I want to (obviously) post all sorts of IHOP stuff. I want to post words that God gives me over our house. (For those of you who don't know about it, visit ihopfw.com.) I will post dreams as I receive them and actually discern their meaning. I will post bible verses that just seem to stand out to me in this season of my life.
Such verses include:
Lamentation 2:18-19 for the children of Fort Wayne and the Night Watch. We are starting to think that one (there are many) of the major themes God wants IHOP to pursue in the night watch is the ending of abortion in Fort Wayne and in America.
Psalm 84: 5-8 for those on a journey to delve deep into the heart of God. There are peaks and valleys in this walk, but we go with God every step of the way. As we walk through the valley it becomes a place of springs... Also the autumn rains come, the first sign of the coming harvest. I could delve SO deeper into it, but I need to meditate more.
Revelation 4 and 5 for ... everyone. So yeah, I spent over an hour on Rev. 4:1 and am still not done with it. Some wise man (I forget if it's Mike Bickle, Allen Hood, or some other IHOP guru) said that everyone needs to spend 100 hours meditating on Revelation 4 and 5. I don't know if I can do that...
Rachel and I are putting together our support newsletter for going full time with IHOP. Rachel is now full time and I am now part time, but want to go full time if and when God frees me from my job. We are praying for several people (like 20 at least) to support us on a regular basis. We have also started giving to other people in our house and other missionaries we know. We feel like we have to be doing what we are asking other people to do for us.
P.S. Absolutely EVERYONE needs to hear Kirk Bennett's Funding the Prayer Movement series on finances. It is awesome!
Last Friday night from 10 to midnight we believe we started the Night Watch. Stand by for further postings on this. Rachel and I are also putting together a brochure type thing specifically for the Night Watch to hand out to people.
Comment with any questions. If you want on our newsletter list, let us know. Otherwise, God bless!
I am still wondering.
Still wondering.
Still wondering.
Still wondering.
Wondering some more.
Okay. Enough of that. Here is what I think I may post on here. I want to (obviously) post all sorts of IHOP stuff. I want to post words that God gives me over our house. (For those of you who don't know about it, visit ihopfw.com.) I will post dreams as I receive them and actually discern their meaning. I will post bible verses that just seem to stand out to me in this season of my life.
Such verses include:
Lamentation 2:18-19 for the children of Fort Wayne and the Night Watch. We are starting to think that one (there are many) of the major themes God wants IHOP to pursue in the night watch is the ending of abortion in Fort Wayne and in America.
Psalm 84: 5-8 for those on a journey to delve deep into the heart of God. There are peaks and valleys in this walk, but we go with God every step of the way. As we walk through the valley it becomes a place of springs... Also the autumn rains come, the first sign of the coming harvest. I could delve SO deeper into it, but I need to meditate more.
Revelation 4 and 5 for ... everyone. So yeah, I spent over an hour on Rev. 4:1 and am still not done with it. Some wise man (I forget if it's Mike Bickle, Allen Hood, or some other IHOP guru) said that everyone needs to spend 100 hours meditating on Revelation 4 and 5. I don't know if I can do that...
Rachel and I are putting together our support newsletter for going full time with IHOP. Rachel is now full time and I am now part time, but want to go full time if and when God frees me from my job. We are praying for several people (like 20 at least) to support us on a regular basis. We have also started giving to other people in our house and other missionaries we know. We feel like we have to be doing what we are asking other people to do for us.
P.S. Absolutely EVERYONE needs to hear Kirk Bennett's Funding the Prayer Movement series on finances. It is awesome!
Last Friday night from 10 to midnight we believe we started the Night Watch. Stand by for further postings on this. Rachel and I are also putting together a brochure type thing specifically for the Night Watch to hand out to people.
Comment with any questions. If you want on our newsletter list, let us know. Otherwise, God bless!
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