Sunday, December 18, 2005

Kim is 29 and holding

The Fall Track for the JHOP internship officially ends tomorrow. We're sad to see some good friends leaving to pursue other things. Most of the interns are returning though. So much has happened in the last four months. Kim and I joke with each other about being here much longer than we actually have. When things move as fast as they do here, it seems like a year's worth of events get crammed into less than half the time. We feel priveleged and honored to be able to say we were here during this hour. We saw two seats of the Supreme Court open up during this track, and the battle for the latter has just begun. The battle for Alito's confirmation was accurately labeled on DrudgeReport.com "This One's Going To Be Armageddon." All previous battles have led up to this one. Time magazine recently published their "Year In Review." Life Tapers made the cut on page 72. And Nightline's presentation of JHOP was nothing less than a kiss from Heaven. We've been discussing the fact that our program was the first to air after Ted Koppel retired. Could this be a sign that God is affecting the news media? We don't know, but emails have been coming in from all over the country. People are saying everywhere that they were tremendously encouraged by the report and have renewed hope for American media. Pastors have been showing the segment to their entire congregations, and people are encouraged. This is a good time to be alive.

Kim's birthday was yesterday. As a surprise I flew her best friend Jeni Wright in for the weekend. It was a short trip but a huge surprise for Kim. They had a great time this weekend. We're traveling to Indiana and Tennessee for Christmas this year. We're looking forward to time with the family. We've missed out on that for the past eight years since we were living in Colorado. So much has changed in our lives this year. It will be good to have some family time at the end to process things.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

From our lips to your earbuds


I'm very excited about this announcement. JHOP is now officially podcasting strategy and prayer sets via our website and Apple's iTunes Music Store. You can download individual tracks or subscribe for free to stay up to date all the time. In addition to weekly prayer sets, you can expect insightful briefings and interviews with interns and visiting national leaders.

Click. Pray. Change the world.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Ananias Company

On Monday, 12/5, I recorded the following dream.

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In the dream, I was taking a team to confront the Muslim house of prayer. We set out to go, but we weren't clear what we going to do when we got there. I remember feeling very vulnerable as we entered a city. We were out in the open walking through the streets to our destination. We came to an intersection in the city and found muslims praying toward Mecca. To our surprise there was already a small band of intercessors there praying as well. Suddenly, I waved my hand in the air in a circular motion and yelled, "Just do what we always do!" Immediately, everyone snapped into rows and ranks like military. The intercessors that were already there joined our ranks. The muslims weren't saying anything out loud, but they began to sneer and make faces at us. They were furious! Now this was interesting- we took our position IN BETWEEN the muslims and Mecca. We weren't beside or behind them. We were in front of them with our back to them. I remember feeling very unnerved having them behind us where we couldn't see them. It felt extremely vulnerable and even dangerous, and it reminded me of the beheading videos seen in the news. I felt like one of them would come up behind me and cut off my head. I slowly turned my head to look fully expecting to see them coming for us, but I was shocked at what I saw. One by one their group was leaving looking very defeated. They were losing heart and giving up. Then the dream ended.
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This was a powerful dream for me. I'm praying about it and weighing it out before the Lord. Clearly, God has shown me that His heart is for the muslims. I shared the dream with a friend of mine that's in seminary. He currently has a missions class and had just been given an amazing statistic. 75% of muslims that convert to Christianity do so because of a dream, vision or direct encounter with Christ himself. I've heard many reports of this, but I had never heard it in the context of such an incredible percentage. 75% are encountering Christ personally without the help of anyone evangelizing them. This blows my mind. Could God be mobilizing an intercessor army in this hour that will contend with the false god of Islam? I believe it will take a company of people that will step into the gap like Ananias. Christ appears to Saul in a visitation and then speaks to Ananias in a vision. Ananias was fearful because of all that he had heard of this Saul of Tarsus, but he lays his life on the line anyway. He had an Esther moment and said, "If I perish, I perish." Perhaps an Ananias company that's willing to be martyred in intercession can turn this thing.