The Climb

I climbed up Prayer Mountain today in Phoenix. I am not in as good as shape as I thought. It was an interesting climb. We took the long way up which wore me out but it wasn't that steep. The climb down was steep but quick. I got to the top and was able to see the beauty of this valley that Phoenix is in. Phoenix is a beautiful place and God is at work in this place. I will post some pics from the climb.

I have always thought that climbing a mountain is a lot like the Christian life, ministry, or reaching a goal. The climb can be long, hard, and tiring. When climbing it is good to have accountability, good shoes, water, sometimes take a break, and always keep your eye on the goal. One thing I learned is that you can always do more than you think and when you get to the top it is such a relief.

Fire

Tonight I was at First Assembly in Phoenix Arizona. Tommy Barnett
spoke and God showed up. He prophesied a new church would come out of
that meeting. I saw
the fire tonight. God was there. It was amazing. I can't wait to keep
chasing.

Back to the Grind

We were at the LIFE 07 Conference in Orlando with the CMA and it was awesome! Our church saw 45 students make commitments and 23 of those wanted to be missionaries. There were 5 people who accepted Jesus for the first time! It was an incredible time and now we have the job of following up with them.

We had some college students go with us to Life and the Lord spoke to me to start a college ministry with those students. I got back and I had the full support of the staff. Our first meeting is this thursday with some of the core people and our "Kick Off" is next monday the 23rd. I am really looking forward to it.

The enemy attacked hard this past weekend but the Lord won. He always does but I know I will be attacked more and more over the next couple of weeks as I launch this new ministry. I am going to bathe everything in prayer.

Seeking and Nuts

It seems that anyone who has done anything great for God has been seeking His face and a little nuts. Everyday is a renewal. Did you seek God yesterday? Were you a little nuts for Him? I prayed this morning that God would show Himself to me today and make me a little nuts. Are you crazy for Jesus?

Waiting

I am waiting in strong anticipation for God to move. God will move. I know it. He will move in power. I am waiting to see what God will do. God I expect you to show up in a powerful way this summer. I pray for the day where we see our congregation busting out of the seems. Bust out father. Forgive us. Bring us to our knees before you. I pray father that we pursue you with everything that we have got. Move in power. I am waiting.

Needs

I have been reading through the book of Deuteronomy and it has been talking a lot about helping out the poor, fatherless, and widows. Basically we need to be helping those that are in need. How are we helping those in need? What are we doing to make sure the needy are being taken care of? In fact in the book of Deuteronomy it talks of taking the tithe and giving it to the Levites (would be pastors in our day) and to the fatherless and widows. Are we doing that today? What would our churches look like if we used our church money this way? What if we didn't pay for our programs out of our church buget and got rid of the benevolent offering? What if we took the program money and used that for those in need? What would our world look like then? I think that we would see the church used how God intended it to be used.

Serving

We are called to be like Jesus. Yesterday I felt a lot like Jesus. At 7am I was up and headed out to run in the Diana Run which is a run to benefit teens so that they can be blessed and bless others. It was a great time to offer my support to such a great cause. After the Diana Run we headed over to the church to make meals for the homeless. We had 11 students and 8 adults there to help out. It was a great experience for students to see how people less fortunate than them live. We also had an awesome opportunity to talk to a guy who had lost his family to a court battle and is fighting to get them back. We saw 6 kids stuck in a room and couldn't leave because their mom was sick. It broke my heart and the heart of the children. We moved to the non-homeless side of the hotel we were giving food out to and found that they weren't as grateful or willing to accept the food. It was interesting to note that the people who were most in need were the most grateful.

It was definitely a day well spent.