It Happened Last Night

Last night, I had one of those moments of clarity that sharply brought into focus the “why” of what I do. It was one of those poignant moments that make what is worthwhile incredibly clear and what is worthless terribly dim. It’s moments like these that rekindle the passion in your heart as you watch Jesus do what He loves to do. It was so simple, yet so profound. God @ Work. Driving home, I was so touched by God’s goodness that I called everyone I could think of just to tell them what had happened. It wasn’t something spectacular, like a blind person seeing or lame person walking, but for whatever reason, it rocked me to the core more than any of those things.

ON AN ERRAND
Yesterday, my Dad spoke with his hairdresser about her Mom. Her Mom had been through several rounds of chemotherapy and was declared to be in remission from three different types of cancer. My Dad had prayed for her previously and she had received some good reports. Recently they found spots on her brain that they believe to be active cancer and she is gearing up for another round of chemo. We got permission from the hairdresser and her mom to stop by and pray for her before her next appointment with the doctor. At the church we had five different teams going to five different places in the community. I took Stephanie with me and off we went to find and pray for the lady with brain cancer.

We found the place pretty quickly and were invited inside to pray for her. She was obviously in a rush and almost before we got there she was asking us to leave. We quickly gave her some scriptures about “On earth as it is in Heaven…” and encouraged her that cancer is not from God, but from the enemy! She was with us, believing God for a miracle. We prayed for her. Nothing spectacular, just commanding the cancer to leave by the blood of Jesus. We felt the presence of God, but nothing over the top. We quickly wrapped our prayer and walked out the door.

It went by so quickly that we had more than an hour of daylight left by the time we left her house. I had one of those quick decision moments: do we head back to the church and call it a night? Or do we drive to the other side of town and hit a neighborhood for only 20-30 minutes? You see, this stuff is now a lifestyle, we do it all the time. To have an early night would be great. I’d get to see my kids before bed and have dinner with my wife, etc. But what would we be missing? I quickly chewed it over until I got to the end of the street. Decision time. Take a right and head back to the church? We’d be back around 8:00pm instead of our normal 8:30pm… Or take a left and preach?

We took a left.

THOMAS
We headed into the lower rent district of Marietta where our work is now centered. I had scouted several new neighborhoods and we drove though them quickly to determine where to go. After ruling two out (mainly Spanish speaking) we found a place that looked promising. We got out of the car and immediately were being suspiciously watched by the tenants through windows and doorways. This is one of those horrible, run down places where people are paying the cheapest rent, yet in front of one house is a $75,000 BMW. How does that work? D R U G S.

So we are no more than 30 steps out of the car and we see a shorter Latino man just kind of walking around the common area. I spot him because he has a VERY swollen cheek and that presents an opportunity to see God do the miraculous! Stephanie and I walked up to him and said hi. He was very friendly and greeted us warmly. I told him, “I’m here to tell you that Jesus is King and His Kingdom is here on the earth. And we are looking for opportunities to prove it.” I asked him what he thought about that and he was like, “Sure man, yeah, Jesus is great”. Very typical what we hear in the south. EVERYONE is a “Christian” around here. Yet not everyone has made Jesus their King and Lord and lives a laid down life of service to Him!

I pressed him, asking if there was anything we could pray for to demonstrate the power of the Kingdom. He told us that he was fine, etc. I asked him point blank about his swollen cheek and he told me that he was born with it, like it was a birthmark or something. He said it didn’t hurt and actually seemed quite proud of it. Quickly I’m seeing that healing won’t be the doorway to his heart and I silently begin to ask God to show us something that will get his attention.

The daylight was fading and the apartment started to buzz a little, people were milling all around us. I stalled for a minute, asking him if he lived here, etc. but all the time I was listening, “Lord, what do you have to say to this guy?” In my spirit I saw a quick picture of a spider’s web. In the past when the Lord has shown me a spider’s web, He’s given me some understanding about what it means. We call it our personal prophetic “language” that God begins to develop with us as we start to listen to His voice. The Lord speaks many times with pictures for a very simple reason. It’s been said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Well, that’s true! When God wants to speak something, many times He will simply show us a picture. In the picture, there are many “words” to speak to others!

So, in my personal experience, when the Lord shows me a spider’s web, what He’s saying is that this person is trapped in a “web” of circumstances, decisions and addictions and they are very close to being devoured by them, much like the spider devours its prey once they become trapped in the web. So I began to share the meaning of what I had seen. You could tell instantly that it had impact. This gentleman, Thomas, was absolutely trapped and was close to being devoured by his decisions, addictions, etc. he started saying, “This is amazing, this is incredible!”

We had his attention.

Stephanie spoke up and gave him a very simple word that God wanted to restore a broken relationship with his daughter. He froze, mid-sentence and said icily, “How did you know that?!” We explained that God knows everything and He was showing us these things to get his attention and that he would listen. As it turns out, Thomas does not have a blood daughter, but has a very close friendship with a 13 year old family friend whom he calls his daughter. He started weeping and sobbing. In a moment we went from simply having his attention to unlocking his heart. He was heaving and sobbing almost uncontrollably. We told him of the love and kindness of God that draws him to repentance and he readily accepted everything we had to say. He was convicted and convinced in just a few minutes. The secrets of his heart were laid bare and he literally began to worship saying, “Thank you God, thank you Jesus!”

We led him to Jesus, barely ten minutes after we met him. The presence of God was so strong in that moment! This guy got BORN AGAIN. You could literally see the transformation from darkness to light! His face brightened and his eyes shone! He was trembling all over his body with the presence of God and started to just exude joy. We prayed for the presence of God to increase and honestly, I thought that he might pass out; he was so happy and full of the life of God! He invited us back to check on him and showed us where he lives. I gave him an anointed hanky to keep as a reminder and instructed him to call on the presence of God whenever, wherever. Walking away, Stephanie and I were totally blown away at how awesome God is!

Barely 10 minutes after leaving him, he called me just to thank us. His literal words were, “Thank you SO much for coming…This is amazing! Thank you for Jesus!”

Thank you for JESUS… Nothing in the world makes me as happy as hearing that.

From Gangster To Godly

For the last few months we have been sending teams into “The Hood”. These areas are mainly section 8 housing, or low rent apartments where crime, addiction and sin thrive. It’s not unusual in these communities for people to get shot, cars to get stolen, houses get broken into and to have almost daily police interventions. We started going there when it became obvious that much of our message was being trodden underfoot in the trailer parks that we have spent the last several years evangelizing. We went looking for the primarily English speaking poor in our community and found these “honey holes” as I call them for bringing the Kingdom of God. The response has been tremendous. MANY have met the Lord, MANY have been healed and disciples are being made. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound!

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING HERE?
One of the most exciting things for me is to transcend cultural “limitations” as our teams, who are mostly white middle class invade predominantly poor black neighborhoods. The reactions upon us entering a neighborhood have run the gamut from total shock to anger. Already this year, we have been threatened with being shot, threatened to get beat up and had a bunch of folks attempting to intimidate us and shut us down. That is, until we get the opportunity to preach the Gospel and demonstrate the power of the Kingdom. I’ve been told for years by the theorists and philosophizers of evangelism that you have to “relate” with folks in order to have the “equity” with them to preach and share your faith.

Hogwash.

What in God’s name do I, a middle class, lily-white, churchgoing gospel preacher have in common with a poor, black, crack-addicted alcoholic? The answer? Nothing. But does that preclude me from preaching the gospel to them? No way! I am commanded in the Bible to preach the Gospel to ALL CREATION. Not just the ones that I have things in common with, EVERYONE! If I take a powerless, American gospel to them that is based more on my personality or some program then I will HAVE to have something in common with them just to open the door. But when you walk into unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar people and cultures that you are clueless about armed with the Gospel of the Kingdom and a demonstration of God’s power, you’re fine!

AN EXAMPLE
A couple of weeks ago, I was with a small team in a nearby low-rent neighborhood. I’m with my buddy Tommy, and he takes me a few buildings down from his house to preach to a few guys that are known for getting into some trouble. These guys are just flat out thugs, living out every rap stereotype I’ve ever heard. Smoking blunts, drinking 40’s and doing their best to get rich! They were standing by a car with the music blaring and they were practicing freestyle rap to the beats playing over the stereo. It was actually very cool, these guys had talent! They could pick up on a theme and just spit out these incredible rhymes (laced with obscenity of course) effortlessly.

While they were rapping away I was asking the Lord to show me something about them to get their attention. One of the guys had a full wrist and forearm soft cast, wrapped up real tight. I started by asking him what was wrong with his arm and he told me that he had just broken a couple bones. I asked him if he had any pain and he just blew me off. Undeterred, I started in on his friend by telling him, “Hey, sometimes, God shows me stuff for people and I believe the Lord is showing me something for you, do you want to hear it?” He was like, “Sure man, cut loose!” I could tell he was high AND drunk. It would take a miracle just to get him to pay attention and listen through his cannabis and alcohol induced haze. So I told him, “First things first, I’ve got to tell you that Jesus is King and His Kingdom is here on the earth. You’re going to have to change the way you think (repent) just to see it.” He showed his annoyance at once, who do I think I am, talking to him like this?

Then I started in to what the Lord showed me. When he was rapping with his buddy, I was asking the Lord to show me something and in my mind, I kept seeing him playing a keyboard, picking out melodies and working with beats. So I told him, “Right now, you’re sitting here rapping with your buddy, but I think that your real talent and where the gifting is at is in writing and working out melodies on the keyboard. I also see you programming beats into a keyboard. Let others do the rapping, you should spend time working out melodies and beats.” He went silent and still, no longer screwing around and acting like an idiot. Then what we call “automatic mouth” started. It’s when you start to prophesy with a little bit of information and then God just takes over and you’re talking to them, telling them all sorts of stuff about themselves.

I told him, “On one side of your family there’s this Rastafarian thing going on and the other side, it’s Islam. You have never been able to get into either religion and it’s because you have never had the anger that your family has. You’ve always been at peace with the world and never gotten real angry, but your family doesn’t understand this and has been aggressively trying to get you into Islam and Rastafarianism.”

PROOF
He was shocked. Instantly I commanded both of their attention. They both knew each other pretty well and apparently what I had told him was spot on. I used the opportunity to preach the Gospel to both of them and began telling them that Jesus knows everything about them and that He was revealing these things to get their attention. Now they needed to listen to me! I told them Jesus was King and they needed to serve Him. I told them about the Kingdom of God and how it’s a Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. I told them about miracles and the power of God. We confronted their spiritual apathy and in a few short minutes, both of these guys were confessing their sins to us. The guy with the brace opened up and told us that he had just broken a couple of bones in his hand and wrist when had put his fist through a car window in a fit of rage. We wanted healing for the wrist and deliverance from the anger.

We prayed for his wrist and he took off the brace. Instantly, much of the pain left and he began to open and close his hand, marveling at what God was doing. It wasn’t quite a 100%, even after we prayed several times, but he was grateful just the same. We prophesied that it would be 100% by the time he woke up in the morning. By the time we were through with them, both of these guys were rocked by a demonstration of the power of God to them and prayed with us, committing their lives to the Lord.

The next day, my buddy in that neighborhood saw the guy with the brace from the day before and he wasn't wearing the brace! He talked to him and when he woke up that morning, he discovered that all pain and immobility had left his wrist and forearm! He was 100% and took off the brace, never to put it on again. Within the week, he was picked up by the police for something he had done a few weeks before and spent a few days in jail. This proved to be the best thing in the world for him as he saw it as a sign from God to get his life in order. Between the prophetic words we spoke over him, his wrist being healed and being picked up by the cops, he was broken! The very next Sunday, he showed up at my buddy Tommy’s church and has been going faithfully since, pursuing God.

The most relevant thing in the world, to every culture and to every demographic is the love and power of God revealed in the Gospel of the Kingdom!

UMT Summer Boot Camp - WEEKEND REPORT

WOW! What an amazing weekend! The Lord really showed off and did some spectacular things over the last few days. We saw a ton of POWERFUL miracles and about 20 people met the Lord this weekend!

For the evening meetings we had the band Living Anthem, an amazing praise and worship crew from Bremen, Georgia. These really are more than rockers; they’ve had an authentic encounter with the Lord that’s released an awesome anointing on their music.

We were so blessed to have Surprise Sithole from Iris Ministries with us. Suprise is a true Apostle overseeing 7,000 churches, representing more than 1,000,000 believers in Africa alone! With more responsibility than any other minister I have ever met, Suprise has more joy and is the happiest person I have ever been around! That alone was worth the price of admission (free), but we got a lot more too. The simplicity of his message, his lifestyle of exuberant joy and passionate love for God, along with the power of the Holy Spirit released during the ministry times, we were blessed! Most every ministry time ended with the people running to the altar and throwing themselves on the ground, worshipping and crying out for more of Jesus!

Most all of our plans for the weekend were changed as the time for equipping workshops was set aside for time in a Holy Ghost “dog pile”. Just a mass of people on their face, worshipping, repenting and crying out to Jesus, asking for MORE! We did however get to go out in groups two times, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The results were fantastic! Each day, more than 70 people went out, preaching the Gospel to the poor, healing the sick and casting out devils. It was just like in Luke 10:

"And after these things the Lord appointed seventy others, And He sent them two and two before His face into every city and place where He was about to come." Luke 10:1

"And heal the sick that are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near you!" Luke 10:9

"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name. And He said to them, I saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning. Behold, I give to you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the authority of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Yet do not rejoice in this, that the evil spirits are subject to you, rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven." Luke 10:17-20

So the teams went out to preach the Gospel and heal the sick and they did! When everyone returned on Sunday evening to tell the testimonies of what the Lord had done, we were blown away!

Here are some of the testimonies:


LUNGS HEALED, CRIPPLE WALKS!
One of the teams encountered a woman in her thirties in a wheelchair, being pushed by two other people. They found out after asking that she had a severe lung disease that hardened her lung tissue and restricted her breathing. Her shallow, labored breathing meant that she could only take a few steps without becoming fatigued and out of breath. She had the team examine her and they could actually feel the hardened lung tissue underneath her ribs, poking out and restricting her air flow. The doctors gave her only a few months to live with the degenerative nature of the disease.

One of the young men on the team asked if the team could pray for her telling her that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. He then prophesied that her lung tissue would soften, shrink and she would be able to breathe. As they prayed, exactly what they had prophesied began to happen! Under their hands, the lung tissue softened and shrank. They told her to try and breathe deeply and she took deep, cleansing breaths! They then commanded her to get up out of the wheelchair and walk and she did! Instead of taking a few steps and being tired, she took many steps without fatigue! She was praising God and they sent her home without need for the wheel chair!


TWIN BLIND EYES OPENED!
This is a weird testimony. Two teams, in two different locations ran into older women with the same conditions in the same parts of their body! Both had severe diabetes and both had severe vision loss. Both of these ladies (two different women, living in neighborhoods ten miles from each other) had blind left eyes with extremely blurry vision in their right eyes. Both women were confronted with the Kingdom and very receptive to the power of God. Both women were saved and “waiting on their miracle”. They had both received instruction in the things of God, but were not told that the power of God and the Kingdom of God is ON THE EARTH and AT HAND!

As the team prayed for each of them, their blind left eyes were opened and they both began to see out of them, one about 50% vision and the other 100%. In both of them, the blurriness in the right eyes instantly dissolved! They were thanking and praising God for the miracles they had received in the name of Jesus!


THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LEG!
One team encountered a woman with severe rheumatoid arthritis. She could not speak English, but was communicating through her daughter and granddaughter. The team told them about the Kingdom of God being on the earth today and to offer proof asked if they could pray for her healing. She had pain and severe swelling in her legs, calf and ankles. She was wearing calf high socks that were tight due to the swelling caused by her arthritic condition. The team offered prayer for her, commanding the arthritis to go. After they prayed, one of the team members was giving a word to daughter when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the leg was shrinking! The other team members witnessed the leg shrinking dramatically before their eyes! The lady, although she couldn’t speak English was shocked and began to make hand motions indicating that the leg was shrinking. The once tight socks now became loose and started to slide off of her now much smaller leg! The pain left her and she went on her way praising God!


IN CLOSING
These are just a few of the MANY testimonies of healings and miracles that took place out in the street, in the projects and in local stores. I’ll tell more in the next update. The list is long and includes pain dissolving, lupus being healed, paralysis being destroyed, prophetic words of knowledge unlocking sinner’s hearts and almost two dozen people meeting the Lord! Many were released into powerful Kingdom ministry and we’re already preparing for the next equipping and releasing events. One that I am especially excited about is the following:


UMT – Youth Track (Ages 13-19)
This is a track we are very excited about that will take place in the fall. It will be a 6 – 8 week program that will equip, train and release young people in Junior High and High School to view their schools as mission fields for the Kingdom of God. We will have intense worship, powerful teaching and ministry and weekly invasions of local high school football games so that everyone involved can see the power of God moving on high school campuses and among high school and college age kids.

Stay tuned!

Blessings,
Ryan

You Know What You Call That, Don’t You?

We’re very excited, tonight is the start of our Urban Missionary Training, Summer Boot Camp. We have Surprise Sithole from Iris Ministries in Africa here with us and we’re looking forward to getting people activated into powerful Kingdom ministry. You’ll hear me talk a lot more about that in the near future, but I had a dream from the Lord where we were commissioned to train, equip and release “Urban Missionaries”. Urban meaning, “city dwellers” and missionaries meaning, people on a mission (or the Great Commission). This is what we are and this is what we’ve been doing for the last several years and now we’re getting language for it!

STUDENTS FROM MORNINGSTAR
A couple of weeks ago we had several students from the Morningstar School of Ministry in town on their faith course. The faith course at Morningstar is basically a week where students are given two pages of supernatural assignments that they have to complete for their final grade. The course is designed to get students out of their “norm” and into accomplishing supernatural feats through the faith and the power of God! There is stuff on there like doing kind acts for strangers and also stuff like healings, miracles and leading people to Jesus.

Several of the students remembered us from our Trip to Morningstar last October so on their way down to Atlanta, they looked us up through the Morningstar Fellowship of Ministries directory. I got an email on Monday night telling me that they were on their way down and I returned the call Tuesday. I asked how we could help and one of the students, Jonathan explained to me a little about the faith course, asking if they could come out on outreach with us.

Fast forward to Wednesday and we meet up with the guys. There is a team of three girls and another team of two guys in town. The guys meet up with me on Wednesday afternoon and we head out into “the hood”. We get out of the car and start banging on a couple of doors. A few minutes later we spot a group of people sitting out on their front steps and drinking. We walk up to them and one of the ladies there gets very nervous and just blurts out, “Are you the police?!” “Do I look like a police officer?” I said. “I don’t know, but it’s not every day three big white boys go walking in the neighborhood!” So I started to explain to them that we’re here to preach the Gospel and demonstrate it through the power of God. We get talking to them and a few minutes later, the vocal woman gets up and says, “I’m going to get my husband!” I was concerned; I really didn’t know her intentions at all. A few minutes later, she comes out of her house with her husband and he starts asking us questions.

Immediately, we start prophesying to the guy, telling him what the Lord is showing us about his life. We were telling him that he is really a true disciple and walks with the Lord, yet few know about it, we’re also telling him that he has a pastoral and teaching gift, etc. etc. etc. He takes us off the steps, ushers us into his house and asks for more. The next 45 minutes are spent prophesying and encouraging this man in his calling and purpose. As it turns out, he’s a relatively new believer that has been isolated and discouraged. He knows the Lord but his wife doesn’t. She drinks heavily and uses drugs and this guy has been holding the fort for the last couple of years without any encouragement! We were just what he needed. In fact, in the last few weeks since this happened I have been meeting with him most every week and we now have a little house church in that neighborhood!

We ended up at the church later that night and we met up with the team of girls. Over dinner, the guys are breathlessly telling the girls how awesome things were that evening and I told them, “You know what you call that, don’t you?” “Call what?” they said. “What we did today” I replied. They were sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for some deep answer and I let them wonder for a few seconds… “Wednesday” I told them. “Huh?!” They were confused. “Wednesday happens every week and comes around every seven days. It’s normal to be used of God in that way among the lost and dying, hence the name Wednesday.” They got it. It was normal to “do the stuff”.

THURSDAY
So the next day they had a laundry list of stuff that they had to accomplish. I asked them “So what’s left on your list? Give me the most intimidating thing you have to accomplish on there”. “Well, one of the big things on here is to have a public healing and miracle service and advertise it creatively” they told me. “No problem, I know just the place” I confidently said. I was going to take them down to Grady Hospital where lots of sick people hang out, a great place to do a public miracle service. Before we left I asked them what their ideas were for advertising creatively. The only thing they could come up with was writing “Free Prayer” or something like that on poster boards. I told them, “That’s just lame; you can do better than that”. “What did you have in mind” they asked. “Well, why don’t you do it like Jesus did? How did Jesus advertise his healing and miracle ministry?” I asked them. “He didn’t” they said. “Wrong. He sure did.” and then I gave them this scripture:

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. And His fame went throughout all Syria.” Matthew 4:23, 24

I told them, “The best advertisement for healings and miracles is healings and miracles! If you want to draw a crowd, get people healed!” They looked at me very skeptically. “I’ll show you” I told them.

So we arrive down at Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta and it doesn’t take more than a few minutes to spot some very sick and injured people. We find s guy down there with a swollen, nasty ankle sitting on a bench. I asked him what’s going on with his ankle and he told us that he was held down and beat with a baseball bat. He said that they wanted to put him in a cast because the ankle is fractured, but he wouldn’t let them. He couldn’t put any weight on it whatsoever without excruciating pain and walked out of the hospital with a single crutch, waiting for his girlfriend to pick him up. I had three of the kids from Morningstar with me and I told the guys about the Kingdom of God, that there are no crutches and lameness in Heaven. I told him that if heaven touched his ankle, he would be pain free and healed. He allowed us to pray for him and as we prayed, he said that he didn’t feel anything. I then told him the story how I was instantly healed of a broken ankle a few years ago. I told him that when I was prayed for, all pain left the ankle and I stamped my foot on the ground, pain free!

You could literally see the faith spring up in his eyes! His face lit up and he hoped off the bench and tapped his foot to the ground. As he did, this CRAZY look came over his face and he began to stamp his foot and busted ankle on the ground. “No pain!” he said. He then began walking up and down the sidewalk, putting all his weight on the foot. He then jumped on it and hollered a bit saying, “NO PAIN!” I turned around to the 10-15 people surrounding us and said, “Jesus healed this guy’s ankle!” On cue, the people surrounding us LINE UP and start asking us for healing prayer. All of a sudden, everyone in the group is praying for healings and miracles on the street. I tap Jonathan on the shoulder and tell him, “You’re having your public healing and miracle service right now. And the guy with the healed ankle was your creative advertising!” The kids look at me and grin sheepishly.

“Oh yeah, you know what you call this, don’t you?” I said.

Thursday.

An Amazing Update On Edouard

Edouard, our friend and Pastor in the Congo has had some amazing things happening to him. Some of them frightening and some of them supernatural. God is with this guy. Every time I hear back from the Congo, it’s like reading a chapter from the book of Acts.

Here’s the latest:

SOME BACKGROUND
Since we returned from the Congo, Edouard and the church have been under INTENSE persecution. We’re not talking about people slandering them behind their backs; we’re talking about life and death situations. When we were there in March, witch doctors cursed the child and his 3 ½ month old baby son died from pneumonia. His wife’s family was enraged and tried to kill us and ended up destroying Edouard’s church and his wife has yet to return to him.

After this his wife, embittered by the loss of their son in March, tried to have Edouard arrested for all kinds of bizarre reasons, making up and fabricating lies about him. So far she has accused him of being involved in witchcraft and human body smuggling on the black market. Edouard was taken into custody and spent a night and a day in jail awaiting a hearing on those charges, but it all came to nothing, he’s blameless.

We just found out that after the legal action did not work Edouard’s wife and her family hired witch doctors to curse and kill Edouard. They threw the kitchen sink at him with their witchcraft, yet nothing happened! This is actually very unusual in Africa. The witch doctors there are very powerful in demonic power and when they curse you, you get sick and die. But not if you are protected by the Holy Spirit like Edouard! When witchcraft didn’t work they poisoned his food in an attempt to kill him. For some reason, Edouard was not hungry and didn’t eat the meal that they poisoned (also very unusual in Africa), so that attack didn’t work. The witch doctors reported to Edouard’s wife that there is nothing more they can do.

This is where it gets really interesting.

ASSASSINS
Finally, when the legal and spiritual attacks on Edouard failed, Edouard’s wife resorted to hiring 5, count them, 5 assassins to not hurt, but KILL Edouard. The first of the five assassins was sent to find and locate Edouard so that the rest could come and kill him. He found Edouard ministering to some at his church. After listening Edouard preach and minister he came up afterwards and told Edouard, “I have something to tell you”. Edouard listened as the man confessed that he was an assassin sent to locate and then kill him. He then remarked, “But you are a man of God and I cannot kill a man of God”. Edouard talked with the man and got the story about the other assassins, as well as the witch doctors and poisoning attempt. This assassin, a professional killer was so impacted by Edouard’s story and his life that Edouard ended up LEADING HIM TO THE LORD!

Not only that, but with the money we have raised for Edouard this month, this (former) assassin stayed with the church and yesterday was helping them rebuild their church facility! Edouard not only was not killed by this guy, but he led him to the Lord, added him to the church and this guy is now serving in the church!!!

Unbelievable.

But the drama is not yet complete. There are still 4 assassins out there with the commission to kill Edouard. Pray for his protection and the unraveling of this plot. Also pray that his wife would quickly repent of her wicked actions.

Edouard’s family and church have surrounded him, coming to his aide. They have raised the money to pay the police (the only way to get the police to do anything in Congo) and the police have opened an investigation into the assassination plot. With the information given to them by the fifth assassin, they believe that they will be able to catch the other four men and arrest them.

Keep praying.


SUPPORT THE CONGO!
Also, if you have been moved by Edouard’s story and want to join us in supporting him, please follow this link to make a secure, one-time donation.

http://www.ngca.org/congo.htm


Blessings,
Ryan

On the Homefront

So much has happened recently here at our home church that it’s difficult to keep up with. So what I’ll do is just tell you what we have been doing recently in our community and let you in on some of the miracles.


BOYZ (AND GIRLZ) IN DA HOOD
First of all, in the last couple of weeks we have made a transition from a routine we developed in the last couple of years of visiting local area trailer parks. We made the change because we realized that many of the people that we have been ministering to over the last couple of years do not have a hunger for more than just a “blessing” at their door. They would happily receive us and receive their healing, deliverance or salvation, but when it came time for them to make changes and pick up their cross and walk with Jesus, they simply didn’t want to move.

Over the last few weeks we have been going through all of our neighborhoods and trailer parks that we have been in over the last couple of year sand pretty much finding more of the same; very little spiritual hunger. You can tell these people everything about themselves through prophetic words, get them healed of impossible sicknesses and diseases or get them delivered of things that have hounded them for decades and it doesn’t seem to make a dent in their religious mindsets. When it comes time for sacrifice, serving Jesus, going to church, reading the Bible, worshiping God, etc. they fall flat.

So we have been scouring our community for another demographic to preach the Gospel to and give them a chance to respond and change! We have annihilated the poor, white trailer folk that dominate the Woodstock area and are making progress in the poor Spanish speaking communities little by little. So what does that leave us with? Government housing, otherwise known as, the Hood! I’m excited as we have gotten in there over the last couple of weeks. In many of our outreaches in south and central Atlanta, we have had great results in the hood and I am looking forward to seeing what these folks will do with the Gospel. Already we have had salvations and miracles, but I am looking forward to the stories of disciples coming out of the Hood!

Now, on to some of the recent miracles…


EPILEPSY AND BI-POLAR DESTROYED
On one of our recent outreaches into a local trailer park (and probably one of the last visits we will make there for awhile) we encountered a family of good Baptist people that didn’t really believe in miracles and the supernatural. However, they told us that their son (who was sitting right there) was epileptic and has seizures every day. Their discomfort towards miraculous healing was obvious, so we went about it by saying, “so, do you believe that God answers prayer?” “Of course we do! God’s answered lots of our prayers!” they replied. We responded, “Well, here’s how it works. We ask God to heal your son (we actually don’t ask God to heal the sick, we just heal the sick) and if He answers our prayer, then he will be healed!” They all agreed and allowed us to pray for the boy. He was maybe about 8-9 years old.

Then they said, “While you’re at it, Grandpa lives in the trailer next door and he is diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder, you need to pray for him!” So we went next door and asked Grandpa what the symptoms of the Bi-polar disorder were and he said that he had severe depression and he heard voices all the time! He allowed us to pray for him and as we prayed, the Presence of God descended on Him. His entire countenance changed as we proclaimed freedom over him.

Fast forward two weeks. We went back to check on them and we find the young boy who had epilepsy and ask how he has been. “Great! Not one seizure in two weeks! He’s been well since you prayed for him!” They said it so matter of factly that you could have missed the miracle! So we went next door and checked on Grandpa. He came to the door and you could SEE the difference! He looked like a different person! I asked him how he was and he said, “Great! I have been happy every day and not depressed at all”. “What about the voices?” (Mind you, this was a guy who couldn’t sleep because the voices would haunt him 24 hours a day.) “No voices” he said.

Epilepsy and Bi-Polar disorder, healed by the blood of Jesus!


MIRACLE WEIGHT LOSS
This isn’t the first one of these that we have seen in the last couple of years, but it is pretty dramatic… A woman in our church prayed for a lady who was suffering with problems with diabetes and other thyroid conditions. She was overweight and having difficulty losing weight. This happened two months ago. The lady from our church saw her at an appointment and was shocked at the transformation. The lady she had prayed for had lost 50 pounds in two months, all while eating normally!


BLIND EYES OPEN ON THE JOB
One of the gentlemen in our church works for a local cable company. He was at a client’s house and was having to inform them that their cable would be cut off due to improper installation. His sales training at the company conditioned him to never take no for an answer; "everyone needs cable" is their mantra. When he informed the lady that their cable was going to be cut off she said, "Go ahead and cut it off, I'm legally blind and can't watch it anyway." Inspired by his sales training his immediate response was, "That's no problem, we can take care of that". He then realized what he had just said and then inspired by the Holy Ghost went on to say, "Let me pray for you." She allowed him inside of the home and laid hands on the woman, praying for the complete restoration of her sight. After prayer, she opened her eyes and said, "I can see!" After verifying the miracle and praising God, he went on to complete the sale!

Now that’s service!

Why I'm Not Going To Be In Nashville On 7-7-07

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Onward and Upward

I know that I have been sparse with the updates concerning the work here at the church. If you assume that’s because nothing is happening, then you would be wrong! Tons of awesome God stuff is happening all the time! In fact it’s overwhelming just to come up with a few stories out of the many that come in every single week.

AN OVERVIEW
Late last year I surveyed the work that we were doing in 28 different neighborhoods in and around Woodstock. What I found out was that we had a highly committed core team of evangelists that had blanketed these neighborhoods and in most cases, knocked on every door and talked to every willing person in the neighborhood. The average neighborhood had 4-6 months of work done in it and some of them had over 2 years, sometimes going every week but definitely every other week. We had scores of new believers and pages of miracles and healings that the Lord had done. The breakdown came when we tried to get new believers to make the next step; discipleship.

In discipleship, we hit a wall. We discovered that there are a bunch of people that want the benefits of the Kingdom of God, but don’t truly want to give their lives to Jesus! In many of the neighborhoods we would eventually get a meeting going, sometimes after weeks and months of begging and pleading with people to come. In all of the neighborhoods, maybe half of the new believers would actually even show up! The bottom line is that many of the people we were working with were simply unwilling to take up their cross and die daily. In persisting with them for sometimes up to two years we ran the risk of burning out our team! Nothing is more difficult and tiring than investing your life into people that don’t care about what you are living for.

So, throughout the work only a small percentage of people were willing to go to the next level and many of them are walking with us today. They come to church with us, read their Bibles and live devoted lives, worshiping Jesus. Many of them have started to lead others to the Lord and pray for the sick with remarkable results. The ones that decided to not go forward have our phone numbers and know where our church is, but we cannot continue to sow seed into bad ground. The Bible says to not throw your pearls to pigs. The pearl is the pearl of greatest price, the Kingdom of God. The Lord says that, “…as a sow (pig) goes from the washing back to her mud…” Meaning, pigs are people that get spiritually clean, but go straight back to their filth. Jesus says that “to whom much is given, much more will be required”.

This year we start afresh. With new eyes to see hunger or lack thereof, we first hit all of the old neighborhoods again and see if there are any who are desperate for Jesus. If there are, we will work with them. If not, we will move on. So far, in just a few short weeks we have worked through most of the old neighborhoods and not found many willing to pay the price and serve Jesus. We already have scouted out some new neighborhoods with a different demographic and we are praying that these will respond with hunger and thirst for the Kingdom of God.

But even in the midst of lukewarm people, we have seen some awesome miracles.

GRANDPA AND GRANDSON
We were in a really rough trailer park; one that we have been in for awhile. We were working our way through, looking for hungry people when we came on a trailer full of folks. After talking to them a few minutes we found out that they were good Baptist people that didn’t really believe in miracles and the supernatural. This came up because I tell people that the Kingdom of God is at hand and we will show them by giving them a demonstration of God’s power, especially with those who are sick. So they told us that they really don’t believe in all that. I asked them if anyone in the house had a sickness, disease or condition that I could pray for. They told me that their son (who was sitting right there) was epileptic and has seizures every day. I told them that this was a perfect opportunity to see the Kingdom.

There discomfort towards miraculous healing was obvious, so I went about it by saying, “so, do you believe that God answers prayer?” “Of course we do! God’s answered lots of our prayers!” “Well, here’s how it works. I ask God to heal your son (I actually don’t ask God to heal the sick, he told me to do that!) and if He answers my prayer, then he will be healed!” They all agreed and allowed us to pray for the young man. He was maybe about 8-9 years old. Then they said, “While you’re at it, Grandpa lives in the trailer next door and he is diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder, you need to pray for him!” We happily obliged and went to the trailer next to them. We talked with the gentleman and it was obvious that he was troubled. You could see it on his demeanor. He didn’t look balanced. I asked him what the symptoms of the Bi-polar disorder were and he said that he had severe depression and he heard voices all the time! He allowed us to pray for him and as we prayed, the Presence of God descended on Him. His entire countenance changed as we proclaimed freedom over him. We asked if we could come back and check on him and he agreed.

Fast forward two weeks and we show up at their house once again. We find the young boy who had epilepsy sleeping in an easy chair and ask how he has been. “Great! Not one seizure in two weeks! He’s been well since you prayed for him!” They said it so matter of factly that you could have missed it. This was a young man that was having seizures EVERY DAY. Now, it had been over two weeks and he had not had one seizure since we prayed! We walked over to the house next door to check on Grandpa. He came to the door and you could SEE the difference! He looked like a different person! I asked him how he was and he said, “Great! I have been happy every day and not depressed at all”. “What about the voices?” (Mind you, this was a guy who couldn’t sleep because the voices would haunt him 24 hours a day.) “No voices” he said.

Epilepsy and Bi-Polar disorder, healed by the blood of Jesus!

Update On Edouard

I’ve had many people asking me about how Edouard is doing since we returned from the Congo last month. We have been in constant contact with Edouard and just recently have received some disturbing updates, full of both good and bad news. First I will tell the good news.

THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that Edouard and his church are doing the Gospel! Almost every day there are reports of miracles, healings and salvations. Edouard reports that since we left and the persecution that followed, several uncommitted members of his church have left. However in a very short period of time, their absence has been filled with highly committed and highly motivated new converts! Several in his church have taken what we brought them to heart and now bringing the kingdom is part of their daily lives! The pastors that were there when we were have taken the Gospel of the Kingdom to their cities and the work is growing!

Here are a few recent testimonies that Edouard told to David:

INSTANT HEALINGS!
Recently, a lady came to Edouard that had severe stomach pain. It was so painful that if you touched her belly she would writhe in agony. Edouard told her the Gospel of the Kingdom and as soon as he finished telling her he asked her to check her belly for pain. The pain was instantly gone. He said he did not even have to pray, the Gospel was enough. Another woman was having severe ankle problems and Edouard asked one of his leaders to pray for the young lady. When she prayed the lady was instantly healed.

MALARIA HEALED!
A young man who had suffered with a severe case of malaria was brought by his family to the church because his fever was so high that it was scorching to the touch. He had also showed many signs of madness. If this man did not receive healing, he would be dead in a short while. They rebuked the fever and it instantly left. They also cast out the devil that was causing the madness. That night he stayed in Edouard's house so that they could watch him. His sanity returned and he was miraculously healed.

MORE WITCH DOCTORS
Edouard found a man who he said was surrounded constantly by calamity. Nothing seemed to go right with this man; he was constantly sick, terrified, and stolen from. When Edouard and one of his leaders began to pray for him, the form of a man appeared in the room! The form of the man said "This man is mine, he belongs to me, leave him alone!" The man quickly acknowledged that he had been controlled by this witch doctor for years. Edouard rebuked the manifestation saying that this man now belonged to Jesus and the man was instantly delivered and has already begun to show fruit.

So, all in all, the Gospel has been rolling forward, full steam ahead! But this has not come without a price. The enemy has stepped up his attacks on Edouard and launched a full frontal assault to abort the move of God there.

THE BAD NEWS
The bad news is that Edouard has had to fight for his life. I already told you of how he lost his only child to the attack of the enemy that his wife had left him and his church was destroyed. As of this moment, his wife still has not returned and they have had to look for a different place to meet. Ultimately they need to purchase their own compound so that they can have a base that is protected and we are praying about how we can help them do this.

Immediately after our departure, the persecution increased. The accusations that Edouard and his church were involved in witchcraft reached ridiculous levels. People all over their city are calling them names and persecuting them. This did two things; it sent the uncommitted church folks packing and strengthened the rest of the church. What we don’t talk about here in the west, but what is known all over the world is that the persecuted church is the strongest church, so the enemy’s plan backfired. Edouard was actually brought to court on charges that he was practicing witchcraft, which is just crazy! He was cleared on that charge, but it did cost him a great deal of money to defend himself.

His wife still hasn’t come back. In fact, she recently has gone on the attack, rallying her family members in opposition to her husband, accusing him of witchcraft. What’s ironic is that many in her family are involved in witchcraft themselves. Since the accusations of witchcraft have not succeeded, she has switched her accusations to something even more debased. Now, Edouard’s wife is rallying her family to accuse Edouard of selling corpses to us Americans! Edouard had the authorities come and accuse him of this and he actually had to take them to the grave site of his son! He is now embroiled in his defense to clear him of the latest charges and needs our help!

HOW WE CAN HELP
Edouard’s integrity is above reproach. He has proven that he will not back down from opposition, but has pressed in regardless of the situation he is facing. He is already planning on reaching other areas near Brazzaville and wants us to come back soon! Throughout all of this, he needs our support, in prayer and in finances. So I am asking you two things:

#1 - Would you commit to pray for Edouard and the work in the Congo?
If so, let me know by replying to this posting.

#2 – Would you consider donating to help Edouard financially?
His recent legal defenses (for the sake of the Gospel) are costing him money that he doesn’t have and he could use our help. We have a system for him to get 100% of the money securely. He could really use regular monthly support, as well as a one time gift, whatever you can do.

*You will be giving through NorthGate Church of Atlanta Inc. which is legally registered as a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization. Donations are tax deductible and you will receive an official giving statement for all contributions over $50.

Click the button below to make a donation to the work in Congo.

The Donation Links are in $10.00 increments.
To donate $50 put "5" in the quantity.
To donate $100 put "10" in the quantity.
To donate $1000 put "100" in the quantity.

In Memory of John Wesley

Many have asked what my thoughts and feelings about such a traumatic trip are. I think the one word that describes how I feel after this trip is, “Resolved”.

Never before have the guys who were with me and I been so resolved to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom with power as we are today. Watching the enemies’ response to our message has shown me how big of a threat we are to his kingdom. I believe that the aspect of our ministry that the enemy fears most is the multiplication of ministry. When we arrive at these places, many times there are only a few people, if any, walking in the power of the Kingdom. By the time that we leave, there are dozens actively walking in the power of the Gospel as a lifestyle.

Kingdom multiplication is this: one can put a thousand to flight and two can put ten thousand to flight. That means that a small group of even just 10-20 can route the enemy in their community. No wonder the enemy hates the Gospel! When we’re building orphanages, handing out food or having crusades, there are still just a few operating in power. But when you equip the church to pick up their swords and start hacking away at the kingdom of darkness, you become a major threat.

DEALING WITH DEFEAT
Make no mistake about it; the death of John Wesley was a defeat. Sure, God can turn tragedy into triumph, but we lost a soul to the enemy’s power. What we know is this, the witch doctors in the district began cursing us when we started equipping the people and the quick sickness and death of Edouard’s child was the immediate result. Although we prayed our guts out, he didn’t come back. I can’t hear from anyone that this was somehow God’s mysterious will. God is mysterious, but He’s mysteriously good! He’s not mysteriously evil! To me, there’s no mystery about it. I have no questions to ask God. The enemy is bad and God is good. Jesus brings life and the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. The enemy won this engagement, but he has lost the war.

To many folks, a defeat like this would cause them to change their theology. But in the fire is no place to alter your theology. I remember David Hogan preaching that Americans think that when something goes wrong, they have departed form the will of God. Their view in Mexico is the exact opposite. They believe that you aren’t doing right if you don’t encounter difficulty. They believe that a pain and problem free existence is a sign that you are ineffectual and not a threat to the enemy. Here in the states, our popular theology is the exact opposite. The motto here is, “no pain, no pain”.

And then there is the opposite extreme; the people who thrive on tragedy and live in poverty, apart from the blessing and protection of God. That’s crazy. I don’t want either extreme. I believe a balanced view that the scriptures teach is this; God is good, but His wonderful, perfect will is sometimes thwarted and always resisted by a profoundly evil enemy, the devil. I mean why would Jesus tell us to pray, “Let Your Kingdom come, Let Your will be done” if God’s will is always done? In fact, it isn’t. God’s will is being actively resisted by the enemy of our souls. It’s our responsibility to enforce the will of God here on the earth.

Sometimes we have great success and sometimes we do not. When we have success, it’s a party, but when we fail, it hurts. Sometimes holding on to the truth apart from the manifestation is painful and difficult. But it’s worth it. It’s worth it to seek God to raise the dead and give yourself to the manifestation of it, because when they get up, the world sees the greatness of God.

No, it was not God’s will for John Wesley to die at such a young age. But it is not God’s will that the people of the Congo live in darkness, fear and superstition either. When we were there, many met the Lord of Light and through the witness of the newly empowered believers of Edouard’s church, many more will. It’s not God’s will that the people of Congo live in sickness and disease. When we were there, many were healed and through the effective witness of the newly empowered believers, many more will be healed and delivered from their sickness and disease.

In all things I pray, “Father, let Your Kingdom come and let Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven!”

Amen!

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This is a short slide show that Nathan Martin put together from the trip. It’s a tribute to John Wesley. The first shot is John Wesley and his mother and the last shot is Edouard and John Wesley.

Be Blessed,
Ryan

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