The continuing saga of my IHOPU ministry trip to Pasadena, April 10-20.
I promised there was more of the story to tell… we’re almost done!
On Thursday my team took a “fun day” at the beach in Santa Monica. First, we swarmed an In-N-Out and chowed down on one of California’s greatest treasures: double-doubles, animal style fries, and milkshakes.
The rest of the day was spent frolicking in the sand and surf, soaking up the heat of the California sun… I’m not normally a true beach lover, but with the right group of people, the shoreline is to me a little slice of heaven.
My sister even drove out from Riverside to see me and hang out with my people for a while. It was absolutely delightful to see her, and we enjoyed much sisterly frolicking and girl-talking in the shallow waves. Later that evening, my cousin Carly and her boyfriend Mason came to see me as well, and I spent the last couple of hours exploring the shops and catching up with them.
While I was cruising around with Carly and Mason, a few others on my team had the incredible opportunity to baptise two people in the Pacific ocean! On the first night we were in Pasadena, the brother of one of my teammates came to visit her at the missions base. Our student leader Seb had a prophetic word for him, and hearing God’s voice speak so clearly and personally to him rocked him to the point that they ended up having a lengthy conversation about Jesus. He had known God but his life had kind of become a mess, and that night he clearly heard the Father’s invitation to come home. He surrendered his heart to Jesus, and asked what was next. “You need to be baptised!” Seb boldly explained. “Meet us Thursday at the beach and we’ll baptise you.”
So a few days later, he was baptised in the Pacific ocean. That would be incredible enough, but while they were doing that a random guy on the beach asked what they were doing and asked to be baptised also! Two for the price of on
Just to cap off our beautiful day, my van decided to make a quick detour past Azusa Street in LA on our way back to PIHOP. Azusa Street was the site of a dramatic move of God in 1906 that continued until around 1915 and is credited with the birth of the pentacostal movement. It was incredibly precious to us to be able to stand on the site where God’s presence visited the earth in such a dramatic and tangible way and pray for another outpouring in our own generation.
Tag: Evangelism
Pasadena Ministry Trip part 5: Prayer Room and Pasadena City College
The continuing saga of my IHOPU ministry trip to Pasadena, April 10-20.
Two months later and there’s still so much more of the story to tell!
Wednesday was primarily a prayer room day for us. We started our day with the entire morning in the prayer room at PIHOP, then in the afternoon some of us chose to stay and some chose to go evangelise at Pasadena City College. PCC is the 10th largest community college in the United States. We connected with a Christian campus ministry and split into groups to go talk to students.
Often when I evangelise I waste so much time playing the “I don’t know, what are you feeling?” game. It’s like I think I need direct direction or permission from the Holy Spirit before I can talk to someone about Jesus. However, a while ago I finally decided to get over that and just… talk to people. It’s as simple as that. Just start a conversation, be friendly and casual, don’t be afraid to ask if you can pray, and trust the Holy Spirit to lead it.
My partner and I first talked to a couple of girls waiting for a friend to get out of class. One girl told me that her aunt had died suddenly only a month ago. It was her mom’s only sister. I told her that I could relate, because my aunt, my mom’s only sister, died suddenly a few years ago. I was able to pray with her for peace in her family.
When their friend showed up, we explained we were just visiting the campus, and one of the girls suggested we check out the new art building. Since we had no better direction to follow, plus the fact that I wanted to refill my water bottle (it was HOT!), we decided to take her advice. We wandered through the art building admiring the displays but not engaging with any conversations, but as we came out the other side we saw a girl sitting by herself studying in a courtyard. After discussing whether or not we should interrupt her, we decided to just go for it. We didn’t feel like she was being supernaturally highlighted in a dramatic way, but we both wanted to talk to her, so we decided to just see what would happen.
I asked if we could sit with her, and she was wary at first, then opened up when I explained that we were visiting the campus and just checking things out and talking to students. We chatted for a few minutes about the various programs and opportunities on campus, then my partner asked her what she was reading. Turns out it was a book called Lamb by Christopher Moore, an irreverent satire about Jesus’ childhood. For all its biblical liberties and crass humour, it was provoking some real questions in her. I was able to use that as an on-ramp share with her what the Bible says about the significance of Jesus’ life. I had preached the humility of Christ out of Philippians 2 just a few weeks ago in a class, and so that was the version of the story that came out of me. I talked about God’s desire for and reach for humanity, even though He is so high above the heavens that He has to humble Himself to even look at the created universe (Psalm 113:6), and Jesus’ lowering Himself from that exalted glory to become the lowest of the low, and therefore being worthy of the highest exaltation. I admit, I got a bit overexcited and long-winded, but my partner did a great job of following up by asking questions. The girl admitted she had never heard the gospel shared that way before. She wasn’t comfortable with allowing us to pray for her, but I know God is after her heart and won’t stop pursuing her.
Finally, we met a girl who was already a believer, and was very excited to talk with us about what God was doing on the campus and in the city. We prayed for her, and then she asked to pray for us! She said it was such a huge blessing to run into us. God sure does love to bless His kids!
That night we gathered in the PIHOP prayer room to have an epic prayer rumble for California with their community. When these people do intercession, they don’t mess around. Luckily, IHOPU students can pray as hard as anyone any day of the week.
That night felt very significant for me. The reason you don’t see me in line with the others in the above picture is that I was on the floor sobbing. It’s not often that I cry in intercession, but that night, it hit me hard. When I finally managed to catch my breath well enough to stand up mostly straight and get out several words in a row, I did grab the mic and managed to shout/sob/squeak out a prayer for Christian college campuses in California– APU, Biola, CBU, Pepperdine, Life Pacific, SDCC, Point Loma, etc.
I spent an hour pacing in the prayer room alone after that prayer meeting. “God, what the crap just happened?” I asked over and over. “What does this mean? Are You calling me to California?” God was mostly silent, but it felt like silence with a cheeky little grin. “Spoilers,” I could almost hear Him saying. I didn’t get any of the details I wanted, but I did come face to face with the fact that I do, in fact, have a larger-than-anticipated burden for my home state.
Hmm.
I wonder what that could mean?
Pasadena Ministry Trip part 4: Hollywood Invasion
The continuing saga of my IHOPU ministry trip to Pasadena, April 10-20.
Life has been very busy since I last wrote. I finished finals for my junior year at IHOPU, left my job at Bed Bath and Beyond, and moved home to California for the summer. I will certainly continue to keep you posted about summer life in Cali, but for now, I want to continue telling the stories of the Pasadena trip.
In my last post I told the stories of Tuesday afternoon, when our team did ministry in the city of Azusa. On Tuesday evening, we invaded downtown Hollywood.
First we gathered at the metro station to take the train downtown. We didn’t want to waste even our train ride as an opportunity for evangelism! We partnered with a guy named Chris Evans (not the Captain America actor!) who is a pastor at a church called Expression 58. He works with a ministry called Love L.A. and regularly does an outreach called “Church on the Metro.”
We split into several teams, each including a worship leader on guitar and a speaker. When each group boarded their train, the worship leader started playing and singing loudly and the rest of us joyfully joined in. It was a bit like a church service flash mob! After a while, the speaker would come forward and say, “Welcome to Church on the Metro! You’re to busy to go to church, so we’re bringing church to you! We just want you to know that Jesus loves you and He died to make away for you to live with God…” Most people were either amused or ignored us, but we had some good conversations and got to pray with several people.
As a matter of fact, God orchestrated that train ride to give us as much ministry time as possible. First of all, the train was unusually and inexplicably crowded, and it wasn’t just because we were there. Then, the train stopped underground! We talked to a metro staff member who told us that’s only happened once or twice in his 15 years’ experience. We thank God for our captive audience and made use of the time talking to as many of the locals as we could.
Once we got off the metro into downtown Hollywood, we hit the streets with a bit of travelling intercessory worship. Our goal was simply to bring JOY to the streets. We walked about two miles, singing the most joyful worship songs we could think of as loudly as we could.
Our goal wasn’t specifically to evangelise, but God had divine appointments lined up for us all along our path that evening. We met two separate guys, individually, who had just gotten out of jail and had nowhere else to go, so we invited them to join us! We met a number of homeless people and other individuals who were in need of a touch from God. We got to pray for several of the costumed characters walking around downtown, including Tinker Bell, Spider-Man, and Batman (who insisted on being referred to as Bruce Wayne even as we were praying!). We got to talk with several members of a Scientology church, and at least one was deeply touched by some prophetic insight one of our guys was given into her life that showed her the love of the Father.
Most precious to my heart was an encounter several of my teammates had with a particular young woman.
Them: Do you believe in Jesus?
Her: Yes!
Them: Do you believe in the Bible?
Her: Yes!
Them: So you’re a Christian?
Her: No.
Them: …wait, what?
It turns out she was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – a Mormon – and as they talked to her God began revealing to them some of the secrets of her heart. To her, the church meant constantly striving to be “good enough” to earn His pleasure. This made sense to her because of the relationship she had with her dad, and in her mind, God was no different. The LDS church wasn’t teaching her the true grace available freely in Jesus Christ. She was amazed that our team could prophetically know things about her life, just like Jesus did to the woman at the well (John 4) and Paul talked about (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). She was so touched by the love of God that she surrendered her life to the true Jesus that night!!
The climax of the evening came when we arrived at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theater. As we were waiting for our vans to pick us up, a guy dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow asked one of our worship leaders to play a song on his guitar. Lance started playing and singing “To Worship You I Live”. We all huddled in a circle and sang, and Captain Jack got very quiet and respectful as he listened.
A moment later, a character dressed (as near as we could figure) as Osama bin Laden pushed his way into our circle and began mocking us, singing loudly, raising his hands, bowing on the ground… and he had an entire crew of professional cameramen with him. (We figured out later that he was part of a popular youtube prank show.)
Our other worship leader Olivia took control of the moment by starting to play and sing “Jesus Paid It All.” Our team quickly joined in. Defeated, Osama bin Laden wandered away to consult his producer and regroup– then came back a moment later and mooned us!! I was so proud of our team in that moment. We all either closed our eyes or looked away, and sang louder.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
You cannot shut us up, Satan.
No weapon formed against us will prosper. (Isaiah 54:17)
Osama bin Laden eventually left with his camera crew. We launched into singing the chorus that Olivia had begun that afternoon at one of the Buddhist temples in Azusa, with a fresh Los Angeles twist.
All authority belongs to You, Jesus
You reign in L.A.
You reign in L.A.
As we sang and proclaimed the victory of Jesus over Hollywood, a lot was happening around us. Captain Jack and a number of passersby stopped to apologise for Osama bin Laden’s behaviour and encourage us that we were doing a positive thing that deserved respect. At one point I turned around and saw a man talking with two of my teammates, then hugging both of them tightly and sobbing. I found out later that he had run away from God and was at that moment surrendering his life to Jesus.
The end of that evening was so powerful and completely unplanned. God dropped a bomb on Hollywood that night through the victorious worship of His saints. What the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. (Genesis 50:20)
Jesus loves Hollywood so, so much. It’s a crazy place, and there’s a lot of darkness, but His eye is on that city, and He will not rest until He sets every captive free.
Pasadena Ministry Trip part 3: Return to Azusa
The continuing saga of my IHOPU ministry trip to Pasadena, April 10-20.
Tuesday was probably my favourite day of the entire trip. That was the day we went to Azusa, a town about 20 minutes east of Pasadena. It features lots of Buddhist temples, a small but fiery house of prayer, and the private Christian college I graduated from in 2010… Azusa Pacific University.
During my time at APU, I spent an hour or so almost every morning in the little campus prayer chapel, praying for revival at the school. I very quickly learned that just because it’s a Christian school doesn’t mean that every student is actually in love with Jesus and committed to walking in the Spirit. I loved so much of what I saw in the heart of APU’s leadership and student body, but I also saw plenty of confusion and darkness and brokenness. I ached for the Holy Spirit to set my campus on fire with fearless love for Jesus and pursuit of genuine holiness.
To give you more insight into the culture of the school I remember, APU students are passionate about authentic community and social justice issues, and they generally excel at listening to and respecting one another’s stories. Micah 6:8 (“To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”) is a life verse for many. The school also has a surprisingly large population of professing non-Christians on campus, as well as a fair number of students who profess to be both LGBT and Christian. (Follow the links for the APU student magazine articles on those situations.) I think of APU as a big, loud, passionate, apathetic, divided, united, servant-hearted, dysfunctional, striving, broken, beautiful, authentic community.
During my final semester, I wrote a song of prophetic intercession for APU. It was originally just a little verse and chorus I used to sing alone in my car, but I dreamed of one day coming back as a worship leader and singing it over the campus, and getting students to join in crying out for their own campus.
When I heard our team would be doing ministry in Azusa, I thoroughly freaked out. I saw the potential for that dream to become a reality, and there was nothing I wanted more than to pray over my school with my IHOPU family. As the trip drew closer and plans started to solidify, I was able to get permission from the alumni office to bring a small team to do some prayer and worship on campus. That in itself was a miracle, and I do not use the word lightly. APU is very careful about which outside ministries they allow on campus, but as an alumnus I was able to get approval without a problem.
That Tuesday, we spent the morning in the PIHOP prayer room, then travelled in the afternoon to the Azusa House of Prayer. We met the leadership, some of whom I remembered as classmates from years ago, and prayed together for our outreaches that day. One of the AZHOP staff encouraged us to ask God freely for what we wanted to see. Immediately, I knew in my heart that all I wanted to see was APU students encountering the overwhelming love of God. As I prayed that, the tears began to well up and spill out. It was as if every fiery, verbose prayer I had scribbled in my journal during those four years on campus coalesced into one burning desire: I want them to be undone by the love of God.
The 52 of us split up into four teams. One team went to APU, one went to evangelise at a nearby strip mall, one went to pray over several Buddhist temples, and one stayed at AZHOP to intercede for us. All of these teams came back with powerful testimonies about the power of God. The temple team went to four temples and a mosque and prayed at them all. They were able to get into places the AZHOP team had never been able to go, and they worshipped and declared Jesus’ authority in some of the darkest places in Azusa. They even laid hands on and prayed for at least one of the monks, who was very friendly and receptive.
Inside one of those temples, one of our worship leaders sang a spontaneous chorus which would become a theme for us the rest of the week.
All authority belongs to You, Jesus
You reign, You reign
You reign, You reign
At APU, my team and I went to check in at the alumni office, but when we arrived it was closed. Hoping they’d be back from lunch soon, we went to the prayer chapel to brief. I shared my heart for the school and the plan for the afternoon. Out of respect for what APU would welcome on their grounds, we chose not to actively seek out people to pray for in the same way we did at USC. Our goal was simply to bring the kingdom through worship and talk to as many students as God would bring to us.
When we went back to the alumni office, the receptionist had apparently not gotten the memo and didn’t know who we were. I started praying frantically in my heart, and when the director of the alumni office came to greet us, he immediately remembered my phone call and welcomed us warmly: “Please, PRAY. Would you like t-shirts?” So I got a free alumni t-shirt out of it! I wear it proudly as a memento of God’s favour in opening that door for us.
We went out to Cougar Walk, a central eating and study area outdoors on campus, and sat down with a guitar to sing worship over the campus. We kept steady worship going for over two hours, and during that time we also had the opportunity to talk with and pray with several students who came over to meet us. President John Wallace walked by, but he was with someone, or else I would have loved to go introduce myself and pray with him.
The most precious part of the time for me was having the opportunity to sing my song! Since I don’t play guitar, I had taught it to one of our worship leaders that morning, and with his help we released it as a prayer over the campus. We actually ended up singing it twice, because one of the girls with us who is involved with AZHOP asked to hear it again. They may end up using it as part of their intercession times for APU! Before I left, I gave my handwritten chord chart to a student I met who was a worship major and a friend of AZHOP. “Do something good with this,” I told him. And thus was the torch passed. APU will always be my school, but revival will have to start with the current students on campus.
I believe that the spiritual atmosphere over Azusa shifted that day. Our simple songs and words to God are more powerful than we imagine, and I believe we only saw the edges of the impact of our prayers.
Song for APU (Heaven Open Up)
We live under the banner of “God First”
Teach us to live that life
With Christ as our chief cornerstone
Let us learn to love Him first
No matter the cost
So we pray
Heaven open up on Your children in Azusa
Heaven open up on us
From Smith to Trinity and the Shire to U.P.
Heaven open up on us
Have Your resting place here
Pasadena Ministry Trip part 2: USC Outreach and PIHOP Prayer Room
The continuing saga of my IHOPU ministry trip to Pasadena, April 10-20.
Monday was our first full day in Pasadena. We ate breakfast together and had our morning briefing at 7:00, as would become our tradition. We then spent 8:00-10:00 in the prayer room at PIHOP (Pasadena House of Prayer).
PIHOP is not in any way directly affiliated with IHOPKC, but they are inspired by some of the same vision and use some of the same format. PIHOP’s prayer room is located in the historic Mott Auditorium on the Frontier Ventures campus and is open nearly 24 hours, 6 days a week. They have chosen to close on Sundays so people can participate in their own local churches. It was a real treat for our team to see how another house of prayer functions. As it turns out, their style and format is nearly identical to the harp and bowl model we use at IHOPKC. Since their community is smaller and is not on such a global stage, they have the freedom to be a little less structured at times, which was a fun treat for us to experience.
In the afternoon, we piled in our vans and drove to the USC (University of Southern California) to meet up with the leaders of United House of Prayer on the USC campus (they have an AWESOME VIDEO you should watch!) and also of a recent church plant for USC students called The Warehouse. Wesley Hall, the pastor of the Warehouse, gave us a briefing on doing outreach on campus, and then we headed out to worship and to meet some students.
Our outreach strategy was simple: We ate a lot of pizza (hallelujah) and established a central beachhead of ongoing worship and prayer at one of the fountains on campus. We had one guitar, a trash can which served as a drum (our class has actually gotten really good at this technique during our UMKC prayer meetings), and our own voices, which we had to project to be heard over the fountain. From there, we broke up into two-person teams to spread out around the campus and engage people in conversation to pray for them, prophesy over them, heal them, and ultimately and share the gospel as the Holy Spirit led.
The atmosphere on campus posed a challenge for us because everyone was in such a dang hurry! It seemed every other person was on a bike whizzing past us, and those who weren’t had earbuds in and were walking like they were on a mission. USC is a very driven and competitive school; many students are taking a heavy classload and two or even three majors!
Even with all the bustle, a number of people were able to have really good conversations and get to pray with osme of the students. My partner and I met a Jewish girl named Cava. The only reason she stopped to talk to us is that we had been asking God to show us who He wanted us to talk to, and He told us to look for someone with red hair. Cava was the first readhead we saw, and she was pretty tripped out that she was on our “treasure hunt” list! She allowed us to pray for her and she really got touched, and I know Jesus is continuing to pursue her heart. Especially since she’s a daughter of Israel– she has a legacy and a destiny that she can’t even imagine!
Another awesome testimony from that afternoon came from a few of our girls who had the chance to talk with and pray for a guy by the fountain who happened to be a Christian. They prophesied over him (by which I mean they spoke the impressions that God was putting on their hearts for him, which described him perfectly and was exactly what he needed to hear) and he was blown away! He said he had studied what the Bible says about the gift of prophecy in the church,* but had never seen it in action. They explained to him how simple it is to hear the voice of God for another person, and invited him to try it. He and one of the girls started praying for the other girl, and as he was praying he did indeed start feeling a word from the Lord for her! He spoke it out, and it was dead accurate and actually moved her to tears. He was thrilled that he could actually hear God’s voice and God would use him to speak His heart to others, and she was personally encouraged and so excited to see God teach him to prophesy like that!
That night we were served dinner by an Armenian church that one of our IHOPU friends not on the trip belonged to, and they were incredibly generous and hospitable. Connecting with our spiritual family from around the world was one of the great honours of this trip.
We wrapped up the evening with an intercession set in the PIHOP prayer room. We prayed for kids in the Los Angeles foster system. I was so proud of my team, that even for those of us who had never before thought to pray for this issue, we knew it was on God’s heart, and we had been sent there to pray, so pray we did.
That night was our trip coach’s (the main staff leader) birthday, so we decorated the courtyard of our dorm building and hosted a (good-neighbourly quiet) little surprise birthday celebration for him! Matt Kossler has poured out so much for this trip and he is truly one of the kindest, strongest, most encouraging human beings I know. We were all blessed to get to serve with him.
And that was our Monday. Stay tuned for more Pasadena adventures coming soon! Tuesday was possibly the craziest day of all…
*Since I mentioned prophecy… here are a few highlights, from 1 Corinthians 14 (read it ALL!) and others:
“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy…. the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation… if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you… For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.”
(1 Corinthians 14:1, 3, 24-25, 31)“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…”
(Acts 2:17)“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
(John 10:27)“…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
(Revelation 19:10)
Praying for Revival at UMKC
As part of our House of Prayer Leadership practicum, my class (some 50-80 of us) is leading two hours of prayer and worship on campus at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) several Friday mornings this semester, taking turns by our small groups. We prayed for the “word of the Lord to run swiftly” (1 Thessalonians 3:1) through the campus, for strengthening for believers, and for salvation for unbelievers. We’re partnering with Luke18 Project, a nationwide campus ministry that seeks to establish a culture of prayer and worship on every college campus.
During the second hour of our prayer meeting, a number of students went out to evangelise on campus. I later heard one of the testimonies… my friend Elijah sat down with a UMKC student from India studying computer science. Over a 40 minute conversation, “what are you studying?” led to “what is the purpose of your life?” to which the student had no answer. Elijah shared his own testimony of purpose and transformation, and this student was intrigued by the claims of Jesus. He wants to give his life to Christ, but doesn’t want to make a commitment without giving it some serious thought first. They are going to continue to meet to discuss Christianity. Please pray that the Holy Spirit settles every fear and draws him into the love of Jesus unto salvation!
I’ve really felt an increased burden among IHOPU students this year for praying for revival on college campuses. Our generation of young adults is thirsty for truth, purpose, and love. We’ve been disillusioned by some of the things in our past, whatever they might be, and we’re ready to throw our lives into something bigger than ourselves. History testifies that every major social movement has begun in this age bracket. The harvest is ripe on college campuses across our nation. Are we willing to labour with the Lord in prayer and outreach to see them brought into their rightful place in the Kingdom? (Read more on “Why College Campuses?” from Luke18.)
This Friday, it’s my group’s turn to lead the meeting. It’s such a joy and honour to proclaim the glory of Jesus over this school, and to cry out that He would have His inheritance. I’m looking forward to what God will do!
Testimony Thursday: Heaven Breaks In at the Edge of Hell
Two years ago, I went with an evangelism team to the Edge of Hell haunted house held downtown in Kansas City every year. This year, I went again.
Let’s just get one thing straight: I’m not a natural evangelist. While I certainly love talking about truth, I have about a million and one fears related to approaching strangers and talking to them about Jesus. I was surprisingly calm all day, however, and looking forward to seeing what God would do.
Before we set out, the director of IHOPKC’s evangelism department gave us a quick briefing on how to approach people with the gospel. One thing he said was, “If they’re breathing, you can talk to them about Jesus!” He introduced us to a short “spiritual survey” that we could use to talk to people about spiritual matters. He also gave us a cd called “23 Minutes in Hell” about the testimony of a man who went to hell in a vision. (Note: I do not believe that the doctrine of hell should usually be the lead point in a presentation of the gospel, but since this was a Halloween haunted house event and people were looking to be “scared” anyway, it became a thrilling draw for people.)
Once the bus arrived at the location, my partner Grace and I decided to start off by praying. We surrendered the evening to God and asked Him to lead us and prepare the way before us. I specifically asked God to make it easy for us to talk to people, because at that point I was feeling really directionless and nervous.
We saw two girls, probably in their late teens, hovering near the end of the line. I decided that seemed about as easy as it was going to get, so I walked over to them and said, “Hi! Are you guys in line? Is this your first time?” After chatting with them for a minute and introducing ourselves, I launched right in with something like, “We’re just out here talking to people about spiritual things… I mean, ‘Edge of Hell,’ that’s kind of spiritual, right? So, do you believe in hell?”
The older girl, Mia, was really willing to engage with us, and she told us that she expected to go to heaven because she tried to live “godly according to the Bible,” but couldn’t really define what a Christian was, so I took the chance to lay out the gospel for her. I don’t really remember what I said… something about sin and Jesus and grace covering us, and one moment’s decision being the start of a lifelong journey… it definitely could have been far more complete and organised, but Mia was definitely listening.
Eventually she told us that she knew she needed to make a decision for Jesus, but just wasn’t ready yet. Grace and I both encouraged her and I gave her the cd, and we walked on. I’ve thought of Mia every day since then; I know God is pursuing her and bringing her to her day of decision.
The next person we met (after wandering around for a while playing the “I don’t know, what are you feeling?” game) was a woman named Brandi. She was sitting by herself on the steps behind a building. Grace approached her and asked how she was doing. She answered, “Good, I’m just waiting for my kids– but my back is killing me!” Oh hello, we can probably do something about that.
Grace and I both prayed briefly for healing. In less than a minute, Brandi said her back felt much better, but it would probably start hurting if she stood up. Grace encouraged her to try, so Brandi stood, walked back and forth a few steps, and couldn’t stop smiling– her back was COMPLETELY healed!!
We both got prophetic words for her and were able to share God’s heart with her, and she was definitely tearing up by the time we left. She said that she prays every night and sends her kids to church but doesn’t go with them, but is now thinking about doing so. God is definitely drawing Brandi toward Himself!
We talked to several other people who were still polite though much less receptive, and I know that even if they didn’t allow up to fully share the gospel with them, just our reaching out and speaking to them about God could have made a difference. Our job isn’t to know how our actions will affect the other person completely. Our job is merely to be faithful stewards of the message with which we have been entrusted and to walk in love every step of the way.
When our group was finally all back together and ready to debrief, we counted up the encounters we’d had. Our group had shared the gospel with over 150 people, 5 people had given their lives to Christ, and many more had been healed!
While I’m still not a natural evangelist, I do truly love sharing the truth of what God has made available to mankind with people who so desperately need it. I have touched Jesus’ heart, and I know how desperately He wants these people for His own. It’s still plenty uncomfortable, but I want to join Him in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am…”
(John 17:24)“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:20)
Monday Radicals
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may remember that about two years ago I started blogging through The Vision poem by Pete Grieg. (You can see all my previous Vision posts HERE.) I haven’t exactly been keeping it up consistently, but I haven’t forgotten it either. This poem truly did inspire me at age sixteen with a vision of what radical Christianity looks like, and these phrases are still part of the spiritual scrapbook that makes up my life.
So here we go.
Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.
They don’t need fame from names.
Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!”
I know it. You know it. We’re always “radical” on Sunday night… or Wednesday/Friday/Saturday night, as your case may be. Hands raised, impassioned altar call, something moves deep in your gut, and before you know it you’re on the ground making grandiose vows, or jumping up and down in the midst of a sweaty swarm, shouting some lyrics about “glory” and “changing history,” most likely. And definitely something about “fire.”
I’m not knocking it. I’ve had more of those experiences than most, probably. In that moment, you have this vision that the next day at work or school you’re going to become this radical, healing, preaching revivalist – basically the next Todd White – and your entire city is going to get saved in a week. People will look at you as you walk down the sidewalk, some in awe, some in derision, but that’s okay, because it’s all for the Kingdom.
None of this is bad. I want that life. I do want to walk down the street and see heaven touch earth under my hands. I’m going to keep jumping and shouting and making those vows because my sincerity really does count to God, even when I don’t follow through the next morning as well as I wanted to.
Because that’s what usually happens, honestly. Big dreams the night before and then nothing the next day. What happened? Chances are, I was in it for the glory high, not the heart of God.
“Instead they grin quietly upwards…” I believe the secret is that simple. It can’t be about us. It can’t be that I want to be a revivalist because I want to be awesome like that and I want good stories to tell… I want to be radical on Monday, but if it’s all about me wanting a thrill, it’s going to burn out fast. Sure, God might still use me sometimes, but that’s because of His mercy, not because I’m actually aligning my heart with His.
I mentioned Todd White and provided a youtube link (which most of you probably ignored, so here it is again). One of the things I love about that video and from Todd’s ministry in general is that it genuinely is not about him. I know a guy here at IHOPKC who’s done ministry with him, and what has continually struck me from everything I’ve seen and heard is that Todd really does walk in humility and love. He’s so simple and unassuming. Just a random guy with dreads and a t-shirt who gives big hugs and believes God loves people.
Radical worship on Sunday that isn’t expressed in radical love on Monday isn’t radical at all. Anyone can get hyped up by an event. It has to be a day to day faithfulness, or else it’s nothing. Those old ladies in the back who have been praying faithfully and giving of themselves for decades, that’s what radical looks like.
I’m not in the least bit saying don’t pray for people on the streets. Do it!! But do it in love and humility with your eyes on Jesus, not yourself. Don’t do it just to get a great testimony to share. It’s okay if no one but God ever knows what happened. Seeking “fame from names” IS going to burn you. You were not created to live for your own glory. That was the problem in the Garden. Keep your eyes on Him.
That is the fuel that is going to keep you burning. At the end of the day, you’re not going to be judged by how loud you were, but how faithful to His heart you were. Keep your eyes locked on Jesus’ eyes of fire. Glue your feet to the ground and refuse to move. Get lost in those flames. Let His eyes burn away every other selfish ambition.
I promise, the more you’re in tune with His heartbeat because you’ve taken the time to stare into His eyes, the more “radical” your Mondays will be.
What is the Gospel?
(One of my IHOPU classes, Basic Christian Beliefs, is giving the assignment of blogging on certain questions from the lessons every week. This week, I’m choosing the question “What is the Gospel?”)
Gospel. Euangelion. Good news. Christianity’s favourite word.
So what is this good news?
We could give the bullet point version in the four spiritual laws. We could tell the story of eternity, what I like to call the History of the Universe Abridged. But beneath all of that, I think the gospel is very focussed. All of the swirls of the message and the history and the “if-then” propositions slow down and come to rest in one very particular place.
Paul gave a concise summary of the New Testament gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you… that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” But the concept of God’s “good news” is so much older than that. This phrase has appeared throughout the Bible, particularly in a few notable places in Isaiah. And when I think about the fullness of what the gospel is, those are the places I go.
“Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Behold your God!'”
(Isaiah 40:9)
What is the good news? GOD. He Himself, and all of who He is, is the good news.
When we proclaim the gospel, what we’re really doing is crying out, “LOOK AT GOD! He is beautiful, He is worthy, He is love, He is grace, He is HOLY!” The full gospel is the declaration of His character. What gospel did Isaiah mean? What gospel did Jesus preach before His death?
John Piper has said that missions exists because worship doesn’t. I believe that when we share the good news, we are inviting people into that circle of the seraphim before the throne, crying out holy, holy, holy. This is the point. HE is the point.
And then we get to go straight up to that throne, curl up on YHWH’s lap, and call Him Papa.
I hope your heart skipped a beat reading those words. Because this is the most sacred, beautiful truth of all. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. He has made a way.
And here the cross takes centre stage. In Jesus, in His incarnation and death, was the fullness of God openly displayed. God, stripped naked, beaten ragged, hanging on a tree with arms wide open. Humility. Justice. Victory. Love. Could there be a more beautiful picture of who He is?
So this, my friends, is the gospel.
There is a story, and it’s all about God, and you are invited into it.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'”
(Isaiah 52:7)
[Belated] Testimony Thursday: Cheesecake Factory
For the record, I really did write this on Thursday night, but haven’t been able to actually get online to post it till today. So the “today” referenced below really is Thursday. 😉
Tomorrow is the birthday of one of the girls in my core group. Since today is our day off, her roommates planned a full celebratory day for her, starting with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and ending with a piñata and a party at her apartment. The whole internship was invited to go to lunch and then to hang out at the mall afterwards.
I found myself in a quandary. (I ought to get into quandaries more often…it’s such a fun word to say!) I’ve been praying a lot about evangelism and stepping out in faith more to prophesy and pray for healing, etc. I really wanted to take the opportunity to go evangelising on Thursday afternoon as I normally do, especially since I have so little time left to do it in this kind of environment. (Seriously. A MONTH AND A HALF LEFT.) But I also really wanted to celebrate my friend’s birthday with her and build a memory with a bunch of awesome people. So I finally decided to go to Cheesecake Factory, and I’m very glad I did. She was (mostly) surprised and we had a really fun time.
While we were waiting for our table to be ready, some of us decided to go evangelise in the area. I got super excited and was thanking God that I don’t have to be on a scheduled outreach to bring the Kingdom! We grouped up and spread out, but about ten minutes later the birthday girl showed up and we all went inside. My partner and I didn’t really have any opportunities, but two of the other guys prayed for two people in that ten minutes. (Can I just take a moment to say that my OTI guys are AWESOME. Most of them are like my little brothers. They constantly provoke me to love Jesus more.)
Even though it was a birthday party and not a planned outreach, when a bunch of on-fire young people get together in public eager to be used by God, he can’t resist the opportunity! We decided to prophesy over our server. She was so bubbly and friendly and helpful, we really wanted to bless her. A few of us got words for her, and she was really touched. She started sharing a few things that were going on in her boyfriend’s family that have really been difficult for her. And God met her in the middle of her workday with the truth that he loves her and his eye is on her. It was a very special and fun thing to be used by God in. (And we all left generous tips, don’t worry.) I want to keep praying that God keeps encountering her and wooing her heart!
Today was special for me because it reminded me that I really can be a conduit of the Kingdom anywhere I go. I don’t have to choose between outreach and birthday party—literally anywhere is prime ground for the Kingdom to break out! This is just a tiny taste of what it’s supposed to be like.
God, give me eyes to see what you’re doing, ears to hear what you’re saying, and the faith and boldness to follow up and step out. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.