Geography Is Irrelevant – Part II

We were leaving one location and heading to another. We had been invited to minister to a group of young men, ages 13-18 at a boy’s home in the mountains of North Georgia. These are kids that have seen some terrible things. Many of them have been abused and/or neglected and their parents have lost custody or given up custody for one reason or another. I knew walking in there that we would need to come “packing” the power of God, as these kids would not be impressed with just a good message. No, the message would have to come with Power!

I’ve said for many years that ministry to kids is a proving ground of sorts. The question is, “do you have the anointing with you?” If you don’t, then the only way to capture the attention of young people is programs, games and “fun”. Nothing wrong with pizza parties, but it’s hardly training to walk in the power of God and make a difference on the earth. See, adults will be polite. If you are unanointed, they will still smile and encourage you. Kids… not so much, Kids will mercilessly let you know that they are bored. I remember several years ago when my wife and I were preaching to a group of kids ages 7-12. I was giving them everything I had and thought I was doing ok. Not great, just ok. One of the younger kids around 8 years old raised his hand and asked me very politely when I acknowledged him, “Mr. Ryan, are you done yet?” Very humbling.

So I knew that these kids would be a challenge. That age range (ages 13-18) coupled with the life experiences that these kids have had would make a very tense ministry situation; one that would REQUIRE the power of God. No power = no effect. But the flipside is that if God showed up, it would be something memorable.

And if you are a regular reader of this blog you know that God showed up!

HOSTILITY
When we arrived, it was obvious that the young men at the home weren’t expecting us. I don’t think that they were told that we were coming until we arrived and once we arrived they didn’t know what the heck we were doing there. They eyed us suspiciously and greeted us icily. They were told to gather in the living room and did so begrudgingly. We weren’t exactly a small group, there were 7 or 8 of us and we didn’t exactly fit in. We were asked beforehand if we could come by and hang out before the meeting to get to know the boys. I declined the opportunity and here’s why. My thought was that I knew it would take some serious prophetic revelation to open the group up spiritually. If we had spent some time hanging with the boys then the stuff that the Lord gave us could be tainted with natural knowledge. So we walked in the home, shook a few hands and started the meeting with absolutely no knowledge of the kids we were getting ready to minister to.

Like I said, the kids were far from interested in being there. We were pulling them away from their fun on a Saturday. But we had something to give them! They were slouched over in their chairs and on the couches. Some of them were fighting falling asleep. A couple others mocked us, whispering not so quietly to their friends and laughing right in our face. Nice, what a great way to start. The director of the home simply told the boys that we were there to speak to them and they should listen to us. After a very brief introduction it was my turn to talk. I started politely at first, telling the kids why we were there (to preach and demonstrate the Gospel of the Kingdom of God) and started telling them a few testimonies of what God had done in the last 24 hours. It was awesome stuff, deaf ears opening, 13 year injuries healed, etc.

It went over like a lead balloon.

These kids couldn’t care any less. They went from disinterested and quietly mocking to irritated and openly mocking. They were making faces, falling asleep and intentionally disrupting things with their questions and comments. But I have dealt with kids this age before. I know that one thing and one thing alone will get their attention. Power. Forget what I said, it’s what we would do that would capture their attention. Now was the time. We were about to lose the meeting and have a small scale riot. This is the moment and the time that most would have given up, wrapped the meeting, shook and few hands and gone home with their tail tucked between their legs, bound and determined to NEVER expose themselves to such a hostile ministry situation again. And it was hostile. Every fiber of your flesh is screaming for relief from the awkward silence. Your face gets flushed from embarrassment and it’s all you can do to keep talking. Every eye is on you and you get NO assurance from your team. They are feeling as bad as you!

So what do you do? You lean on the arm of God and swing for the fences!

THE TURN
I looked dead in the eye of one of the young men. He was very obviously a ring leader of bad things. He was the most open in his mockery and was openly challenging our spiritual authority. I saw very quickly that if we could capture him, then the rest of the room would fall. I addressed him personally and began speaking not to the room, but just to him. I told him flatly that he was a disrespectful and mocking little twerp. But that was easy to see. What I was pressing in for was some gold, hidden deeply in the mines of his heart; I was looking for something of value. And I saw it! The Lord showed me that he was like Peter in the Bible. Great things would happen as the result of his boldness, IF he could conquer his cowardice.

I looked him in the eye and told him, “There was a man in the Bible that was much like you; a chicken. He had convictions, but lacked the courage to stand by them, like you. When faced with public scrutiny, he denied those he loved the most… like you.” All the air was sucked right out of the room. You could have heard a pin drop. I was dressing down the ringleader and very publicly. I could hear the air being sucked in between the teeth of the directors of the home. No one had EVER talked to their kids like that! If it wasn’t for the shock, I think that they may have sent me packing right then and there… But I continued…

“Yeah, so this guy was a chicken and a wimp, like you. He had convictions, but lacked the courage to stand by them, like you; and then he betrayed his best friends when faced with peer pressure, like you… but that’s not the end of the story.” I had their attention, now for the prophetic revelation. “But this man, Simon, would not remain Simon, but his name and his nature would be changed and he would be called Peter. Peter means a rock, an immovable object. He would later be called a Pillar of the church and through his bravery and conviction would lead and guide the church for decades.” Everyone in the room went from slouching in their seats to literally sitting on the edge of their seats, from disruptive to attentive. They knew this young man’s history and bore witness to what was being said. “How did this guy know these things about him???

The prophecy was simple, “God is about to change your nature from cowardly to bold, from fearful of men to the fear of God and he will give you the courage to stand for what you believe in, even in the face of intense persecution.” Bulls-eye. The word hit the kid right between the eyes. It also unlocked the prophetic and my team jumped in, giving word after word to the once mocking young man. We went around the room, giving words to every single one of the kids, calling out destiny and purpose in their lives. Several of the words were alarmingly accurate and extremely detailed. One of the kids loved computer and received half a dozen words about computers. Another loved to work on cars and was given a word that he would run a car shop. Another one of the kids was the “scrapper” in the group, always getting into fights and he received several words about wrestling and fighting with God. It was awesome.

The kids sat in rapt attention for 2 hours as they were prophesied over again and again. They hung on every word. Some teared up as the secrets of their hearts were laid bare. They were absolutely rocked! THEN I was able to preach this Gospel of the Kingdom of God and call then to repentance and lives of laid down love before God. They responded. One of the kids after hearing about the healing power of God stood up and got right in my face saying, “If what you’re saying is true, prove it!” I told him quietly, “that’s what we’re here to do”. He stretched out his hand which was swollen and inflamed. He had hurt it playing basketball earlier that day and demanded that we take away the pain. Our team gathered around, praying for the hand. After about ten seconds we stopped and I asked him to check it out. He stretched out his hand and his eyes got as big as saucers… “OH. MY. GOD. IT WORKED! IT WORKED!!!” He started bouncing around, telling everyone in the room that it worked! All the pain went away and within a few minutes so did all the swelling. The rest of the kids jumped out of their seats and started asking for healing.

We went around the room, praying for all the kids individually. Many were healed, several were delivered and most every kid in the room dedicated themselves to serving the Lord. We’ve been invited back to work with them some more and I will write up the details as they come in.

Nothing is impossible with God… even teenagers!

Geography Is Irrelevant – Part I

“Geography is irrelevant to the Kingdom of God!” Those are the words that David Hogan spoke to me several years ago and they produced a conviction in me where I know that I know that everywhere we go, God goes with us! It doesn’t matter if you are in America or Africa, Georgia, Tennessee or Alabama, if you preach the message of the Kingdom of God, results will follow. For years I struggled with the lack of results and tried changing the method. But what needed to change in us was not the method, but the message!

Everywhere we go, when we preach the right message, we get results! The last few weeks as we’ve been out on the road, preaching in different cities and communities we’ve seen the power of the Gospel at work. The deaf hear, the lame walk, souls are saved and believers are equipped as we preach this glorious Gospel of the Kingdom!


THE GOSPEL WORKS IN GADSDEN, AL.
We took a team from the church to Gadsden, Alabama where a hungry group of believers form several different churches asked us to come and do some training and equipping and take people out on the streets. We normally do a Friday night equipping and ministry meeting followed by an outreach on Saturday morning/afternoon. The meeting on Friday night was good and there were actually several healings and miracles that happened during ministry time, but we hardly even include those testimonies anymore. Healing is the Children’s bread and should be as natural as having a meal. But I tell you that what happened during the outreach time that day was awesome!


EFFECTS OF POLIO HEALED!
During the outreach in Gadsden, one of the teams ran across a man suffering from the effects of polio. He had withered limbs and could only walk with the help of his cane. His legs had very little strength as a result of the polio. The team told him of the Kingdom of God and commanded strength into his legs. He literally felt virtue enter his legs and for the first time in years began to walk without the aid of his cane! The cane now hangs on the wall of our church as a display of the glory of God!


HOLY GHOST HIP REPLACEMENT!
Our team encountered an elderly gentleman who was sitting on his front porch. He was waiting for a hip transplant surgery, was in constant pain and had lost much of his mobility. The ball joint in his hip had deteriorated significantly. We told him of the Kingdom of God and asked if we could pray. As we prayed, we commanded the hip to be healed and Heaven to come into his body. We then asked him to stand do something that he couldn’t do. Within a few minutes of prayer, he told us that the pain was completely gone! Moments before it was in severe pain (An 8 on a 10 point scale). So we asked him to do things that caused pain before and he did so, all without pain!

We left him by telling him, “Looks like you just got a Holy Ghost hip replacement!”


THE GOSPEL WORKS IN RINGGOLD, GA.
The following week we headed out for a whirlwind ministry trip to Ringgold, Georgia just on the border with Tennessee. In 48 hours we would preach in Ringgold, GA, Chattanooga, TN and Dalton, GA. To make a long story short, one of the elders of the church there in Ringgold attended school with one of the ladies in our church. After hearing of the miracles and healings happening here, he, his wife and another elder from their church in Ringgold visited the church a couple of times. They went back telling the pastor and the congregation in effect, “We need what they have!” So we arranged a trip and headed out to do some equipping, training and take people out into the streets.

Normally our approach is to equip to the believers “as they go!” There is always cool stuff happening in the meetings, but that’s not our emphasis. Normally the bulk of what we see happens out on the streets, not necessarily in the church… but not this time!


61 YEARS OF DEAFNESS DESTROYED!
At the meeting there was a lady present that had been deaf for 61 years. She had recently seen a measure of healing after prayer from an African missionary who visited the church, but the deafness returned the day after. She had become an expert at reading lips and had hearing aids that gave her enough hearing to get by.

Several members of our team took their time with her, reading to her the scripture and encouraging her in her faith. After a few minutes of continual prayer the folks praying with her started snapping their fingers near her ears. After a few minutes she jumped one of the times that they snapped in her ears. She could hear, without the hearing aids! They tested her hearing and she could hear perfectly!!! The next day, she ran up to one of the team members and said, “Say something!” They asked her, “Can You Hear?” very softly. She jumped up and down saying, “YES! Yes! I can hear!” She ran up to me in the church and gave me huge hugs and kisses, grateful for what the Lord had done for her.

61 years of the enemies work destroyed in Jesus Name!


TO BE CONTINUED…

UMT Intensive Report – Weeks 5 & 6

Sorry it’s been awhile since the last update. We’ve been on the road a bit over the last couple of weeks and the traveling and doing some equipping take some big chunks of time. We’ve been several places and I will write an update soon as to all that the Lord is doing. As usual, healings, miracles, salvations and the saints being equipped! But first, I wanted to wrap up with a report of the last couple of weeks at the football games.

WEEK 5
After the previous week’s blowout we had a bunch of hungry folks ready to advance the Kingdom of God show up for our fifth week of outreach in our UMT. We went to three different schools and sent 3-4 teams to each school. During soaking before the outreach I got a warning in my Spirit that the enemy was angry about the harvest we brought in the week prior and would be throwing everything he had at us this week. Sure enough, wouldn’t you know it that almost all of our teams had a very difficult night with a LOT of mockery, ridicule and rejection. Our team was snubbed at almost every turn at the high school we were visiting and I was assuming that was the state of most everyone else. One of the teams told the story about a young man that had a torn ACL and was in pain and wearing a brace for his knee. After receiving prayer, he was jumping, bending and moving his perfectly healed knee! That’s a healing! Those ACL injuries can take as long as 6-8 months to heal properly with rehab.

In spite of that, the general tone of the night seemed to be rejection and mockery. So after outreach, I was busy consoling people that it’s not always wide open heavens and to not be discouraged when a 17 year old young lady on our team, sheepishly raised her hand and said almost embarrassingly, “Well, I had a good night!”. They had gone to the school where the week prior there was something of a healing revival. Turns out that the young man who got out of the wheelchair was not only there and healthy, but he actually started in the football game that night! Imagine that, going from unable to walk in a wheelchair to starting on the football team in 7 days! Not only that, but there was such a stir caused by the healing revival the week before that our team simply and easily led 25 kids to the Lord that night! All told, more than 30 kids got saved that night and there were about a half dozen miracles.

Not bad for a “slow” night.

WEEK 6
Week 6 was our last week of the program, which is little more than an invitation to come and be with us as we bring the Kingdom to local high schools. After 5 weeks of outreaches, a little bit of teaching and encouragement, the change was evident. Over the last few weeks you could literally watch some of the folks attending transform before your very eyes! We had people that had never led anyone to the Lord lead their first person to the Lord, people that had never given prophetic words begin to prophesy accurately and people that had never witnessed a healing or miracle see and demonstrate the power of God through their own hands! More than just the results we see when we are out there; the most exciting thing for me is to watch believers get “turned on” to their commission to advance the Kingdom of God through signs and wonders.

It was, as I call it, “nice”.

So out we went to three different high schools once again and Jesus came with us. The high school I went to with a group was one that we had never been to before. We’ll definitely be back! Walking up, you could tell that this place was ripe and ready for the Gospel! Ten steps in the door, one of our teams spots a guy with a cast on his arm, approaches him and tells him about the gospel of the Kingdom. That was where they stayed ALL NIGHT. For the next 2 hours, they hardly moved. Crowds of kids came up to them asking for healing, salvation and prophetic words. After a couple kids on the team got some prophetic stuff for a group of kids, other young people came up to others in the group and asked them, “Can you do what they are doing?” (Meaning, getting prophetic words and words of knowledge). They replied, “Sure”.

One of the girls on the team had prophesied before, but never “wholesale”. That night she sat there and for two hours she gave accurate prophetic words and words of knowledge like an old pro! Another one of the ladies on the team had never seen a healing “out there” and that night she saw two instant miracles happen underneath her hands! You need to picture the site, a middle aged woman absolutely surrounded by high school kids, hanging on her every word! In fact, she drew such a crowd that the faculty came up to her and asked her to leave! She was escorted out of the gate by security! The kids she was ministering to were crying “Let her keep going!” But not before a group of young guys heard the Gospel and came up to one of the young men on our team and asked very literally, “So, we need to get saved and make Jesus King, how do we do that?” We were more than happy to oblige. Before the night was over, we saw a bunch of folks getting saved, lots of healings and miracles and TONS of prophetic words being given, demonstrating the goodness of God through signs and wonders!

The night ended like all good nights end at the football game, with a security guard escorting us out for preaching the gospel!

Come on Jesus!

UMT Intensive Report – Week 4

WOW. We had a total blowout last week at the games. By the end of the night we had 61 kids give their lives to Jesus very publicly, on their knees. We had about 50 healings and miracles that took place, ranging from the healing of broken bones to torn ligaments, injuries of every kind, tendinitis, carpal tunnel, etc. One of out teams got thrown out of the game by the principal. Why? There were too many kids receiving ministry and not enough kids actually watching the game!

Come on Jesus.

We’ve been meeting up at the church and heading off to several local games. This last weekend we went to three different games. All of them had a different “flavor”, if you will. At one of the games there was a healing blowout, at another one there was a prophecy blowout and at the other game, a salvation blowout. Figure that.

PROPHETIC BLOWOUT
At one of the games we had about 10-12 of our folks there. They reported that there was hardly anyone visibly sick at the game, everyone looked healthy. See, we instruct our guys that when they go out to look for anyone visibly ill. That means that if you have a cast, cane, crutch, brace or even a good limp, we’ll approach you and see if we can pray for you! That approach is in line with Luke 10 and the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples:

And into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near you! Luke 10:8,9

So, they were looking for the sick and not finding them. The next weapon in our arsenal is the prophetic gifts. So the young folks in our group waded into the fray and started prophesying over everyone they met! The accuracy that the Lord was giving the team was startling and several of the kids began to break down and weep under the anointing. In less than 2 hours, 25 kids gave their lives to Jesus as the secrets of their hearts were revealed!

Now we say there was hardly anyone sick there, but the kids that were, got healed! I walked up to one kid with his arm on a sling and asked him what happened. He had just destroyed his arm and had pins and screws put in it. I asked him, “Are you in pain?” He responded that he wasn’t. I was a bit puzzled and asked again, “No pain? Are you sure?” “Yeah man, I am feeling, NO PAIN!” So I told him, “Well, if you were in pain, I would pray for God to heal you.” He and his girlfriend with him looked surprised and said, “Two other people have already prayed for me tonight… And it worked!” I feigned surprise. The girlfriend chimed in and said. “I was there, I saw it. They prayed for him and it worked!” I was like, “Really??!” They were incredulous, trying to convince me, “I tell you no lie, they prayed and it worked!” Funny. That was two of our teams that had prayed for him and got him healed. He had NO pain and 100% mobility, although his arm was in a hard cast.

SALVATION BLOWOUT
At another school that we had teams in, the “theme” of the night wasn’t the prophetic, although it was in operation, it wasn’t healing, although it was happening, it was simple boldness to declare the Gospel of the Kingdom to people and their response with salvation. As our team preached the Gospel, with boldness, more than 2 dozen kids responded (conservatively) by giving their lives to Jesus! 25 kids at one school, giving their lives to the Lord on their knees as a public declaration of repentance and service to Jesus!

HEALING EXPLOSION!
Lastly, at one of the schools there was a complete and total healing EXPLOSION! My brother Jordan was there at witnessed the whole thing, here is his testimony:

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By Jordan Lawson

We were at the game, nothing much was really going on, so we found a group of kids and just started talking to them about the kingdom of God and the healing of the sick, and as we were preaching to them, they started mocking us. One of them said "If we bring our friend over here, can you guys heal him? His leg is broken" I told them that of course God will heal them, because there are no broken legs in heaven. So one of them went and got their friend. When he showed up, I noticed that it was the same guy in the wheelchair that one of our groups had prayed for earlier! When he showed up, 30+ people gathered to witness the healing. So we preached the Gospel to the guy in the wheelchair and told him that Jesus is King over broken and sprained ankles and that God wanted to heal him today. So we got down on our knees, laid our hands on his ankle and called down the Fire of God and commanded healing into his leg.

While we were praying, we could hear the crowd around us mocking what we were doing. We persisted, declaring the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and commanding healing for his leg. Right when we finished praying, I told him to get up out of his wheelchair and do something that he wasn't able to do before we prayed. Right when he stood up, he had the "Deer in the headlights" look on his face. He looked at me and said "Oh my God!! I can stand up! It feels totally normal!" When he had said that and when the crowd witnessed him standing up out of his wheelchair, they erupted in applause instead of mocking! They were all freaking out, and even some of them started praising God! At this point, it TOTALLY broke out! Then 60 + people started pressing in on us, saying "Can you pray for me? Can you heal me? I have this problem and that problem".

It was INSANE! There were kids all around us asking us to pray for their healing from every kind of disease and injury. The guy who was in the wheelchair stood up and started walking and got his mom who was working in one of the concession stands to tell her what had happened. After he started walking, healing broke out among the crowd. There were kids getting INSTANTLY healed of broken fingers, broken wrists, broken arms and knees, and injuries and illnesses of all different kinds including tendinitis, colds, strep throats, and etc. They were ALL getting healed INSTANTLY! This one guy who had a cast on his forearm/hand came up to me and said "I broke my wrist the other day, can you heal it?" We prayed for the guy, and seriously, not 10 seconds later he started moving his wrist with the deer in the headlights look on his face. He was bewildered! He said, "I can move this hand just like the other one! There's absolutely no pain! I can't believe this, this is incredible!" I then told him to take off his cast, and he took it off and threw it towards me! It was absolutely amazing!

While all this was happening, wheelchair guy broke through the crowd and came back to me with his mom with him this time. His mom looked rather puzzled and asked, "What did you do to him?! What happened to him? How can his pain be totally gone?" She didn't seem to believe what had happened to her son at first. Her son replied to her saying, "They prayed for me mom! They healed me!" We then replied to that saying, "Jesus healed him of his injury. He doesn't need his wheelchair anymore."

And just in case any of you don't know, we've started a collection of casts, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, slings, eye patches to have at our church to show off for the Glory of God. So, knowing that we're "trying" to collect these items, I tried to get the wheelchair from him. I asked him at first after he got healed, "May we have your wheelchair to show off for the Glory of God?" and at first he declined. Then I told him that we would purchase it from him if he decided to give it to us. He wasn't totally declining anymore, but he was still leaning more towards a "no" answer rather than a "yes". So to continue on with the story, his mom is there, amazed that her son is healed but still not able to figure out that the Lord had actually healed him. Then she witnessed us heal 3 more people of a broken finger, broken wrist, and a person with bad knee problems and she started praising God for what she had seen! I asked her if we could purchase the wheelchair from her since she was the rightful owner of it. She said "Just take it!"

The crowd was growing, and growing in numbers. The “press” got to the point to where I and the two ladies who were with me were all separately praying for groups of sick people! It was astounding! This continued for about 2 hours or so. After it was all said and done, the principal of the school came out and asked me what had been going on. I told her the truth that we were healing the sick and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She then said that she didn't want us doing that and had us escorted off of the property by a police guard.

Jesus is King! Praise you Jesus!

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Jesus is King! Even on Public High School Campuses!

Update On Edouard

Hey There,

Here is a quick update on Pastor Edouard in the Congo. Edouard, as you may remember is the pastor that we ministered with in the Congo a in March, whose baby got sick and died as we were in his village preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

You can go here for the updates on that trip:
Adventures In Africa - Part I
Adventures In Africa - Part II
Adventures In Africa - Part III
Adventures In Africa - Part IV
Adventures In Africa - Part V
In Memory of John Wesley

The update was written by my friend David Dixon.

Blessings,
Ryan

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Edouard Update
10-20-07

It has been a while since I sent out word about what is happening in the Congo. Many of you have asked "what is happening with Edouard?" By some standards people might say that his situation is rough, others would say he is doing awesome. Me? I say that the times and trials that he and his church are going through are rough, but he is handling it beautifully.

A month or so ago, I called Edouard to see how he was doing. I learned that his wife, who if you haven't been keeping track has been trying to kill him since the death of their son John Wesley, was pregnant. And the baby is Edouard’s. Since that time she has given birth to a baby girl. Edouard has not been able to see the child because of the repeated attempts on his life. Though he has sent many invitations to his wife to come home and all will be forgiven, she has repeatedly refused and threatened his life over and over again. Edouard asks that we pray for the health and safety of his baby girl.

Despite the problems, persecution, assassination attempts, and arrests, Edouard is raising up a church that is continually preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom with power. Just last week a pastor from the Northern Region of Congo came to visit Brazzaville, where Edouard lives, and asked to speak in Edouard's church. This Pastor is much older and has been with their denomination for a long time. He brought with him another Congolese man who calls himself an apostle. They thought that they could help Edouard by giving him advice on how to pastor and grow his church. They preached for three days in Edouard's church during a "revival service". They came in thinking they could help but left shocked and stirred by what they saw in Edouard's church. They spent much of their time praying for the sick with very little results so Edouard called up a young man to help them pray. When the young man prayed people were instantly healed. The visiting pastors said "who is this young boy?" "He is the 10 year old son of one of our members." The visitors were astonished and became even more astonished when Edouard asked many of his congregation to come up and help pray for the sick after the services. Many people were healed instantly by normal members of the congregation. When the visiting pastors were alone with Edouard they asked how this could happen in his church. They left very happy and stirred up, asking Edouard for his help in teaching their people back in the northern region.

Through it all Edouard has stood strong and as we had hoped, his vision has grown not only to build his church and train them to preach the Gospel with power, but to train others outside his church. Many pastors that are seeing the fruit in his life are asking him for help. His vision now is to raise up an apostolic center where people can be trained and sent out to neighboring villages and bring the Gospel of the King and His Kingdom. Please pray for him as he continues to preach the Gospel in a country that so desperately needs it. Edouard was once a full time teacher but now since the growth of his church he has had to spend more time preaching the gospel and teaching the people. Our prayers and support will allow him to do this even more effectively.

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You can support Edouard and the work in the Congo by going here:
http://ngca.org/congo.htm

UMT Intensive Report – Weeks 2 & 3

I’m going to roll a couple of weeks updates into one. The last couple of weeks have been great. The saints are being equipped to get out there and do the stuff and last week we had an explosion of God at a local high school football game. It was off the hook!

Also, in the next few days I hope to post a quick update on Edouard, our Pastor friend in the Congo. We’ve been hearing some good things back from Edouard and the church there and I’d like to share them with you.

WEEK #2
Our second week of the 6-week UMT High School/College Intensive was a great one. Jim Drown is an absolute fireball! He has been seeing Middle and South America lit up with the power of God over the last ten years as he’s been taking teams into the streets and prisons as well as holding citywide crusades throughout Peru and other nations. He has a wealth of real life experience and his life and testimony was and is contagious! He is a living, breathing picture of what revival looks like! Of course, after the meeting we were raring and ready to go out there and hit the streets with the power and glory of God.

NAMAAN
We entered the fray of the parking lot by approaching a rough and tumble group of burly guys with what we thought was a word of knowledge. Turns out, we had the word of knowledge totally wrong! But this one kid that was standing to the side looked bewildered and confused. While the other guys were talking to the guy they missed the prophetic word for, I asked the confused kid what was going on and why he was so wierded out. He was taken aback that we would walk up to a stranger and start preaching and talking about what he called the three things you NEVER speak about with strangers: politics, religion or sexual orientation.

I told him that he had bought the politically correct lies spewed out by pop culture and that frankly, he was a chicken to stay so safe in conversation. He asked me what we were doing there and I told him that we were bringing life where there is death, peace where there is anxiety and joy where there is anger. He was listening, but asked why I thought that what I believed should be told to people that believe differently. I told him flatly, “Because what you believe is wrong”. He looked at me like I had three heads. I continued and told him that Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit, good fruit, good tree and bad fruit from a bad tree. I asked him what was the fruit, or produce of his beliefs. I asked him if he had peace, joy or righteousness. I could see in his eyes that he was anxious and fearful.

He still asked, “Why do you think you have the right to speak to other people who believe differently?” I told him the story of how we don’t just tell, but demonstrate and that the demonstration gets people’s attention so that they will listen to us. He asked me what I meant and I told him how the week before we had seen a ladies blind eye opened in Jesus name and two cancerous tumors the size of golf balls shrink under our hands. Now he was listening intently. He stopped me mid-sentence and said, “You might not believe me, but I have been seeking and searching for Him… I desperately need help.” Like a diamond in the rough, we discovered this kid among a bunch of rebels. This kid was seeking the reality of the Holy Spirit and he found it. We prophesied over him, spoke destiny to him and before the night was over, he had heard and tasted of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Lots of other stuff happened that night as our group boldly proclaimed and demonstrated the Gospel among a bunch of crazy young people, some who are agnostic, pagan or just plain rebellious.

WEEK #3
We were all looking forward to last week. Last week we took teams to local high school football games and wouldn’t you know it, GOD showed up! Three sets of teams to three different local games. Every team had encounters with unbelievers, many were prophesied over and more than a few healings took place. The Gospel was demonstrated on local high school campuses! But at one of the schools we went to, it blew up!

A GOOD START
There were three teams of 3-4 people that went to the school I was at. We had seen some cool stuff at this school before and were expecting great things. I could tell right away that we would have to tread lightly and show wisdom as the police presence was so prevalent. The main place where we preach and demonstrate the Gospel is the concession area and there were six Sheriff’s deputies encircling the area. Most of the kids that hang there are middle and high school kids with almost all the parents in the stands. So when we walked up, I and another obvious “grown-up” stood to the side and cut the younger guys (or at the least the ones that look younger) loose. It was a very unique experience for me. Normally, I am almost always right in the middle of things, but this night I got to just stand there and watch a move of God grow and break out.

Very cool.

Robert and I had just been standing there, sipping our drinks for a few minutes when one of the groups walked up to us and handed us a pair of crutches! I was like, “what’s this all about?” and they told me that some kids knee and calf got healed. He walked into the game using the crutches, in pain and walked away, without the crutches and in no pain! Still, among the accurate prophetic words and scattered healings, there wasn’t much of a stir being created yet.

A STIR
One of the teams approached a young girl with a brace on her wrist and hand and asked if they could pray for her. She was taken aback until they showed her the unused crutches I was hanging onto. Wrestling with her religious arguments, finally the group was given the opportunity to pray for her. It wasn’t the result of the prayer, but the fact that the team wanted to pray that broke things open. They explained the gospel of the kingdom to a gathering group of middle school kids. You could see them being attracted to what was happening. It was like turning on a blue light and watching the bugs come racing to get zapped! The more people stopped to listen to the team preaching, the more people would pay attention and the group grew. After preaching to them, they asked who wanted to respond by pledging their life to serve Jesus and advance His Kingdom. About 15 kids all raised their hands and jumped in. They were commanded to bow their knees and give their lives to Jesus. Without hesitation, all the kids that raised their hands and even a few others hit their knees and prayed LOUDLY for salvation and repentance.

They say that success breeds success and it’s true. As the kids were bowing, giving their lives to the Lord, a new group of kids walked up to see what was going on. After another brief explanation of the Kingdom of God, the group pressed a girl forward who had lupus. The new believers in the group were told to extend their hands and pray healing for her in Jesus name. Probably the highlight of that night for me was watching these brand new Christians ministering healing LOUDLY, "IN JESUS NAME, BE HEALED!!!" which drew more people.

Now there was a buzz. All the kids that walked by stopped to hear what was being said. Our group decided that the new believers needed a touch of the Holy Spirit and told them of the fire of God and that they needed to be filled with the presence of God! They broke up and each of our 8 team members there had a group of 10-20 kids surrounding them asking for healing, prophecy or a touch from God. I watched as they extended their hands and released the Holy Ghost on these kids and their friends. Without being coached on what the Holy Spirit’s touch is like they started saying that they felt heat coming from their belly and moving up their chest.

One unsuspecting kid jumped into a mass prayer as he walked by and was at the back of the huddle of kids. I saw him walk up, extend his hands as they prayed, “Fire of God!” and immediately fall out under the power of God onto the cement! No one was even paying attention and it was hilarious to see him jump up from the ground, dust himself off and look embarrassed as he tried to regain composure. All in all, there were dozens of kids touched by the power of God an about 20 of them confessed Jesus as their Lord and King, publicly, in the dirt. Many miracles happened as tendons and ligaments were healed, broken bones were knitted back together and pain left the bodies of many who were injured or sick. The game was near wrapping up when the police got involved and started to break things up, so we decided to call it a night.

What will Jesus do this week?

UMT Intensive Report – Week 1

Well, this last Friday and Saturday we began our 6-week UMT High School/College Intensive and it started with a bang! Over the weekend of equipping and activation we had two astounding miracles occur.

Here’s what happened:

EQUIPPING & RELEASING
We’ve learned over the last couple of years that it’s not the amount of or quality of spiritual information that Christians have, but rather the amount they are actively putting into practice. All Christians have heard the Lord’s Prayer, yet few are actively doing what the Lord instructed us, His disciples to do. His instructions start with:

“Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name,
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven…”

The Lord actually told us to pray the will and Kingdom of God, as they are manifested in heaven would come to earth! When Heaven comes to earth, miracles are the result. Impossibility bows in the name of Jesus as possibility takes its place. Our prayer and our mandate as believers is to bring heaven to earth! This is what we preached on and taught on both Friday night and Saturday morning. But all that information means nothing unless we are ready and willing to put it into practice! This is why we go out and do outreaches as part of our equipping...

So, our team, comprised of business men, house moms, grandmas and students divided up into teams and headed into the inner city to preach the Gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons. We go downtown because it’s what I call a “target rich environment”. The teams are instructed ahead of time to spread out and find anyone with a visible ailment, be it casts, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, braces and even a good limp! We then tell them that the Kingdom of God is at hand and then get them healed!

MIRACLE #1
One of our teams was at a local hospital. While there, they encountered a woman who recently had a stroke and lost use of her right side. She was getting some of the use of her limbs back, but since the stroke her right eye had been blinded. All that she could see was colors; she could make no distinction of shapes, etc. The team told her that there are no blind eyes in Heaven and that if Heaven came to her body, she would be healed! They asked if they could pray and she agreed.

As they prayed, they asked her what was happening. She responded that something was going on and that she was starting to see shapes. Like Jesus in the Bible, they prayed for her sight again. This time she started to get excited! The first words out of her mouth were, "They are going to think I was lying to them in the hospital!" The team had her cover her good eye and started checking the bad eye, holding up fingers in front of her. She quickly called them out without any problem. They backed up and got about 12 feet from her and she continued to make the distinction of shapes as her vision was completely restored!

MIRACLES #2 & #3
I was with a couple other team members and we were in a local area park that is frequented by the homeless. While there, we encountered a gentleman who had recently been bitten by a brown recluse spider. The venom had devastated his leg and he was in intense pain and the wounds were itching terribly. On of our girls on the team asked if she could pray for him telling him that there are no spider bites and intense pain in Heaven. As she prayed, the pain and itching left the wounds immediately! The man was excited and the team continued to minister to him encouraging him with prophetic words.

Meanwhile, a couple was in the park watching this exchange from a distance. The young lady in the couple walked up to the team and asked for prayer. As we found out, she had just been released from the hospital after being diagnosed with cancer in her abdomen. There were two visible tumors at the top of her hip, both about the size of golf balls. She had gone to the doctor because she could feel the masses as she walked and they caused her discomfort. The team, freshly instructed on bringing the Kingdom of God told them woman that there is no cancer and no tumors in Heaven. If Heaven came to her body, she would be healed!

One of the girls on our team prayed and within a few seconds, the first tumor completely disappeared! We all were excited and the lady we were praying for began weeping and rejoicing. You should have seen her face! Her husband was standing right there, in awe of what God was doing. We didn't didn’t stop praying, but continued to pray for the other tumor to be destroyed. Within a minute it had shrunk to the size of a marble, another few minutes to the size of a pea and just a couple of minutes later, it had completely dissolved! We all went nuts! Everyone was rejoicing and praising God right there in the park as the presence of God overshadowed the whole group! The lady fell out under the power of God and we were able to prophesy to the couple about their destiny in God.

All in all, a good start, don’t you think?

PS – If you want to come, you can be a part:
http://ngca.org/umt.htm

Back In The Saddle Again – Part II

I told you that I would tell you about Sona. Here’s what we found out about her. Sona was born in Thailand to Phillipino parents. Now here Mom lives in Kentucky where she is very ill with advanced diabetes and for some reason she has ended up in the hood with her cousins. I got the impression just walking by Sona that she would hurt you if given a reason, any reason! She is a tough kid, probably near 20 years old who h as lived hard her entire life and had to adapt to it. When we ran into her, everything in the natural would have told you, RUN AWAY! But I was drawn to her, I just KNEW that God would have something for her… and He did!

THE STRONGMAN
We’ve learned something in the last few years preaching in dangerous places. If you go for the strongman in a neighborhood or group situation, everything else is easy and just falls like dominos. I’d describe the strongman as the person ruling an area or arena thorough intimidation, witchcraft, manipulation or demonic control. In a group setting, it’s the baddest, meanest and most demon possessed person. Sometimes in a neighborhood setting it’s the neighborhood violent drunk, drug dealer or math-head.

Jesus talked about the strongman here:

“Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, unless first he binds the strong one, and then he will plunder his house.” Matthew 12:29

The only way to plunder that sucker is to bind him. Practically, we are searching out the strongman and going after him, FIRST. William Booth said, “Go for sinners and go for the
worst!” The worst sinners many times make the best disciples! Even if they don’t bow the knee to Jesus, they control people through their intimidation and behavior. When you confront that and defy their control or intimidation, the people around them see them as frail and human and are set free. But as you can imagine, it can make some situations get a little hairy. The person acting as the strongman in a household or neighborhood likes their control and is used to their control. Sometimes they defend that house violently! Maybe that’s why we’ve been in more than a few altercations and riots?

BACK TO SONA
Anyway, we walked up to a group of men and women on the sidewalk. There were about 4- guys, dressed all thuggish with their 40oz. beers in their hands and 3-4 Phillipino girls talking out with them on the sidewalk. As we walked up to them I’m thinking, “Ok now, in this group, who is the strongman?” What you can count on is that many times the strongman has a big mouth! Everyone normally jumps when they say something. So we walked near them real slowly. They were all checking us out and it felt pretty uncomfortable. So this girl, Sona, takes a look at my shirt which says on the front, “got power?” and on the back, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. – I Corinthians 4:20” and yells at me saying, “What, you think you got power or something?” Invitation received. That’s our cue to move in, seek out and destroy the Kingdom of darkness.

Instantly I could just tell that Sona was the strongman holding the little band of thugs and immoral women together. I could also tell that out of everyone standing around, Sona would be the one at her high school voted “Most likely to shank you in the prison yard”. This girl had anger and hate all over her face. She was hurting and all that it took to understand that was for her to challenge us. I turned to her and her friends and addressed her very simply, “I sure do.” I went on to tell them, “Jesus is with us and His power is at work in and through us. We see sick people healed and lost people such as you rescued from lives of sin!” They all went into “oh great, what do we have hear mode”. A couple of the guys scattered and scampered away, I called after them “where are you going? What are you afraid of? Get back here!” Sona was like, “So what, you here to preach or something?” I replied, “Oh yeah, you need what I’ve got!” Sona’s girlfriend, who I later found out was her cousin stood there and just said, “Don’t waste your time preaching to her, although she needs it the most (pointing to Sona).” Sona took a hard swig of her 40oz. beer and I could tell that she did not relish the thought of being the “hard case”.

So I focused in on her.

BREAKTHROUGH
I just stood there in front of her, looking at her and silently asking the Lord for something that would break her hardened heart. As I looked, the Lord began to show me that in her past she had to resort to violence to protect herself and the violence had become an addiction, she liked to inflict pain on others. I then saw a picture of her being pulled from either arm, one by the Lord and His Kingdom and one by the enemy and his kingdom. The enemy had been puling harder and she was about to completely give in to the dark side and just go with it. I started by telling her, “Listen, I have to tell you that Jesus is King! That means that He is the boss and we have to serve Him. You have to serve Him!” She rolled her eyes and backed up a little. I continued, “I also have to tell you that His Kingdom, a Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy is here, right now!”

I was about to lose them, they were backing away and losing interest, so I quickly said to Sona, “Look, sometimes Jesus shows me stuff about people and He’s showing me some things about you right now, do you want to hear them?” She just kind of stared. I took it as a yes and proceeded. “The Lord is showing me that you have been contended for. Both the Lord and the enemy have been working to gain your life. The Lord has saved you from certain death more than once and the enemy has really played his hand in your life. I believe that the Lord is showing me that the enemy has been pulling at you much harder than the Lord, but I am here to announce that it’s God’s turn! He’s going to start winning you over to Himself!” Tears welled up in her eyes and she started power drinking, just guzzling that booze. I told her, “I’m taking your swigging the beer that I’m on track?!” She nodded and so I continued. “The enemy’s work in your life has produced anger. Anger that seeks relief and you have found your relief through inflicting violence, but we’re here tonight to set you free of that anger. Do you want to be free?” She took another hard swig, this time tears streaming down here face and nodded, “yes”.

We asked if we could pray for her and lay hands on her and she said yes. All of her friends, once mocking, just sat there in stunned silence watching their partner in crime break in front of us. She was a little girl again, vulnerable and needy. We laid hands on her and broke the demonic power of anger. We released her from all of the spiritual garbage she had attained while walking in darkness. Tears streamed down her face and she was shaking softly under the presence of God. I didn’t ask, I just instructed her, “Say this with me, Jesus” She said instantly, “Jesus”. “You’ve got my attention tonight and I now realize that you are King and Lord.” She repeated. “I tonight, repent of my anger, my violence and my walking apart from Your Kingdom and rule. I, tonight, ask forgiveness for the wrong I’ve done.” Without hesitation she said what I told her to say, growing stronger with every sentence. “I feel Your presence and Your peace right now and I want more of it! I submit to the Kingdom of God and commit my life to you in service.”

The Presence of God overshadowed her and she was weeping and trembling under His presence. When she looked up from the prayer she smiled! She had this huge, ear to ear grin across her face. All of her friends were staring, mouths open at their hardened friend, weeping like a baby! I couldn’t resist and used her countenance as a testimony, calling them to change the way they thing (repent) for the Kingdom of God is on the earth! The night ended with us prophesying to three of her friends and relatives, calling all of them to serve Jesus. One of them made Jesus her King and all of them witnessed the power of the Kingdom!

Bind the strongman, plunder his house… It’s as easy as that!

PS - We start our UMT - High School/College INTENSIVE tonight! (http://ngca.org/umt.htm) I'm excited!

Back In the Saddle Again - Part I

It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote. Mainly because I was off on vacation for a couple of weeks… Ah, the beach! Anyway, I’m back and have already seen God do some very cool stuff in the last week. What’s best is that I came home to a bunch of stories from our outreach team and other folks in the church. Lots of healings, salvations, disciples being made and even a few house churches coming together!

The week before I left town we visited a neighborhood that’s new to us this year. We’ve been in there 5 or 6 times already and before I left town for a couple of weeks I wanted to get in there again. This neighborhood has been weird, because we’ve seen some people get healed and prophesied and prayed for a bunch of people, but nothing really was happening past that point. No disciples were coming out of it and we haven’t got a meeting going in there yet. What we’re looking for is hunger; a hunger that lasts past the point of receiving a miracle or witnessing a demonstration of God’s power. As we demonstrate the power of the Gospel through prophetic gifts or healings and miracles, we then call people to repentance and to lay down their lives and serve Jesus. The ones who respond with true hunger are the disciples we can work with. So as we were driving into Sedgefield a couple of weeks ago, I was praying and asking the Lord to help us get our foot in the door and meet the right people.

The Lord didn’t just let us get our foot in the door; He let us kick it down!


THREATS OF VIOLENCE
We were barely in the neighborhood more than about ten minutes when I spotted a guy that we had talked to a couple of weeks before down the block and across the street. I turned to the team and told them, “This guy hates me.” It was because a couple of weeks before, things got a little heated. We were preaching to him and then he tried telling us about some demon doctrine through his alcohol induced haze, calling himself a Christian, etc. I can’t stand it when sloppy drunks try to instruct me in the things of God, so I told him that I didn’t want to hear anything from him until he sobered up and repented for his sin. He got ticked! But that was a couple of weeks before.

As we approached him, he looked up and saw me coming. He had a rag in his hand and started waving it around wildly, calling out to me, “If you step over to this side of the street, you’re going to get shot!” I proceeded directly towards him undeterred. I didn’t really bother preaching to him, I just wanted to remind him that everything I had told him a couple of weeks ago was still valid. Namely, if he wanted freedom, he just had to repent, call on Jesus and we would pray for him and get him delivered. He didn’t want anything to do with it, so I proceeded to talk to his neighbors sitting just a few feet away.


THE LOVE OF GOD REVEALED
So, we talked to several people sitting on some steps nearby. It started with the Lord showing me one thing about a lady having to do with a grace and gifting that the Lord had given her. I opened my mouth to share it and got more. Some 10 minutes later, the lady is in tears, rocked by the goodness of God. Her husband is sitting right there, affirming what we were saying. An older woman is there, she’s obviously inebriated, but asks meekly, “Is God showing you anything for me?” To be honest, at the moment, I had nothing. But I knew that the Lord had something for her so I told her, “sure!” Some might recoil at that, but after years of preaching the gospel to the lost, I’m convinced that God has things to say about EVERYONE, any time we ask Him! Think about it, He knows EVERYTHING going on with EVERYONE; all we have to do is ask Him for it.

This is the scriptural basis for what I’m saying:

And He said to them, which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him? And he answering from inside may say, Do not trouble me. The door is now shut and my children are in bed with me. I cannot rise and give to you. I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will arise and give him as many as he needs. And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. And he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks it shall be opened. Luke 11:5-10

If someone comes to us and asks us for bread (the word of God) we can, in boldness, go to God and ask Him for bread (spiritual provision, the word of God) to feed our friends. It’s not because of our relationship or intimacy with the Lord that He gives us what we ask for, but because of our boldness to ask Him. Time and time again we’ve seen this work. It’s a normal thing now for new believers to bring us their friends and family members, sit them right in front of us and simply say,”do them”. Meaning, “prophesy”. 90% of the time, we have nothing, but in faith, we go to God and get something for them, meeting the hunger of their heart.


BACK TO THE LADY...
I opened my mouth to say something (although I don’t know what) and out came some stuff concerning her dream life. It obviously made an impact. One of the ladies with me had something for her about the love of God and in a few minutes, she’s literally in a heap on the stairs, weeping under the presence of God. On and on it went that night, I believe we prophesied over about 12 people, all of them visibly shaken by what the Lord was giving us, and the accuracy of what the Lord was giving us was startling. The Lord showed us what people did for a living, what relationships in their homes were like… On and on it went, all night long. 3 people gave their lives to Jesus and a dozen were shaken to the core.


PROPHETIC POWER!
More and more I’m convinced that the prophetic gifts are one of the most powerful weapons in the Christian’s arsenal. Jesus used them with unbelievers and so can we. Remember the story of the woman at the well?

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me to drink. John 4:7

Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I have no husband for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband. In that you spoke truly. John 4:17-18

Jesus, talking to a complete stranger, starts telling her things about her life that there is no way He could have done in the natural. He gives her some very clear details about her life, namely that she is living with a man outside of marriage and that she has had five husbands in her past. Jesus received this as revelation from God the Father, through the Holy Ghost. Just look at the result from Jesus telling her details about her life.

The woman then left her water pot and went into the city and said to the men, Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Is this One not the Christ? And they went out of the city and came to Him. John 4:28-30

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed upon Him because of the saying of the woman, who testified, He told me all that I ever did. John 4:39

Many in a city come out and believe on Jesus… why? Because Jesus received a word of knowledge. Her testimony spread like wildfire throughout the city and the hearts of many unbelievers were unlocked to receive the gospel through her testimony of what Jesus said to her. Over and over we have seen the same scene play out, the Lord will show us some stuff for an individual and many times they will go and get their friends and family members, bring them to us and basically say, “Do them”. I believe that we have led more people to the Lord through prophetic evangelism than any other means, by far.

Next time, I’ll tell you about Sona, who gave her life to Jesus that night.

Come on Jesus!