Benign and Undisruptive

I've been in Boston for about 4 days now. Actually, I'm in Cambridge near Harvard University. It has been late (that's putting it mildly) in developing, but we now have a venue for our 40 days of prayer and fasting. Right now I'm sitting in a Starbucks across the street staring at this old building. I met with the pastor of First Baptist Church yesterday to hammer out the final lease details. It's a beautiful historic church in Central Square that was originally built in 1817. It will serve as our base of operations for the duration of the 40 days. There will be 12 two-hour prayer sets each day to create an unending 24/7 atmosphere of intercession before the Lord. Our young people will be living and sleeping on the premises, so the next few days will be intense for me to get the place ready. When I said it was "historic," what I meant to say was that it's really old and not in great shape. I have to build temporary walls and dividers in the main vestry for our young people to live. Not sure how that's gonna work.

I can't help but ask, "What am I doing here?" Honestly, I could have never thought of a scenario in my life that would have ever brought me to Harvard University. This institution supposedly produces the best of the best. And yet here I am- a poor boy from a poor family. And not all that bright either. Maybe Peter kinda felt the same way. Did he ever look back and say, "What am I doing here? I'm just a fisherman." God seems to like using weak and simple instruments whether it be to kill giants or bring down the proud. Maybe it's because a simple person is just stupid enough to simply try. God will offend the mind to get at the heart. There is such a prideful, haughty spirit that pervades the atmosphere here. Unfortunately, the Church is no different. I'd like to say that we've been universally welcomed by the locals, but that's not the case. On the contrary, we've met opposition from established Christian groups that have said what we're doing isn't welcome here. Why's everyone so worried? All we're going to do is pray, right? Afterall, prayer is oh so very benign and undisruptive, right?

Wrong. I believe the heavens are already beginning to quake at what's coming. This Baptist minister I met with yesterday told me a very interesting story. For the last year local pastors from the Boston area have been randomly contacting the First Baptist Church and telling them that their building was supposed to be a house of prayer. That's a confusing word for someone who had no paradigm for it. He has now welcomed us into this strategic location and seems excited about what God is about to do. God is preparing the way for something revolutionary. House of Prayer is rumbling everywhere. 24/7 is beginning to vibrate throughout the Body of Christ. Harvard has no idea what's about to hit it. All I can say is that it won't be benign, and it won't be undisruptive.

C'mon South Dakota

"South Dakota Senate passes abortion ban bill"

These state battles are incredibly important right now. When Roe v Wade comes down, and it is coming down, the likely result will be to revert back to the individual states. Many states are siezing the moment to enact legislation that will already be in place when that day comes. The masses are beginning to speak, and they're saying "Abortion is wrong." The pollution of America by the shedding of innocent blood has reached it's fever pitch. All hell is waging war on multiple fronts because its end is near. There's a shaking in the enemy's spiritual camp. Spokespeople for Planned Parenthood and NOW are already conceding defeat in the battle over the courts. The Body of Christ must rise up at the state level. The Church is meant to be the head and not the tail. It's meant to lead the parade of history and not just spectate.

Houses of prayer must rise in each state to wage war on the issue of abortion.

HB 1080

So I've been doing a little more study on House Bill 1080 this morning. In a nutshell, this bill passed the general assembly on February 1, and now it is before a Senate committee. If this bill becomes law, then it would be in effect July 1, 2006. My understanding of the bill would require all nine abortion clinics in the state to be inspected by August 1 for facility compliance. Once notified of uncompliant issues by September 1, each clinic would have until January 1, 2007 to make necessary updates. If specified issues are not resolved, then the doors would close. Not only that, but each clinic would have it's liscense revoked.

So what do you do? Sit back and wait to see what happens? Or surge forward in a massive corporate thrust? Again, the Church does have a voice in this hour, and I'm not just talking about writing letters and making phone calls. Her voice must rise in crescendo to shake the heavens and spiritual forces of darkness that govern the land. When you have an opponent on the ropes, you don't back off. You don't retreat to your corner and let them catch their breath. You strike, strike and strike again until you get the knockout. For too long the Church has been content with fighting and sometimes winning skirmishes. It's time now to fight with the express intention to win. We fight until we win or die trying. King David, the warrior poet, sang in Psalm 18
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets. (v. 34, 37-38, 42)
I'm not talking about physical violence. We've all seen enough of that. But I am talking about becoming violent in the place of prayer. Do we understand that kingdoms increase by advancing and imposing their standards? Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 that the violent take it by force. Indiana, you WILL align yourself with kingdom standards.

What if? That's an important question. It's a dangerous question. It's good to ask "what ifs." What if the Church in Indiana mobilized between now and March 26 (about five weeks) a Moravian-style prayer movement. From March 27 to December 31 churches could cooperate in calling a corporate fast. For 40 weeks (the gestation of a baby) every single day would get covered in aggressive, offensive prayer and fasting. If you had about 47 churches in the state willing to go to war on the issue of abortion, each church could each sign up for two 3-day fasts some time during the 9 months. Cover the entire 40 weeks without missing a day. Combine that with each church warring over the abortion issue in their corporate prayer meetings, and I mean war. Imagine the outcome of such a radical corporate assault on the enemy's stronghold. Imagine the revelation and divine intelligence that might come from a move like that. I'm talking about the kind of intelligence that divinely maneuvers political officials and blocks lawsuits.

Indiana, you're the "Crossroads of America." All eyes are on you in this hour. Be the FIRST STRIKE state.

C'mon Indiana

This article is two weeks old, but we've been hearing about it lately.
Indianapolis Star

What should be done in a moment like this? Is it a matter to be relegated to the politicians alone, or does the Church have a voice in this hour? Unfortunately, it sounds like there has been a rather loud voice, but it was one of hate expressed to Ms. Greening.

The Church in Indiana does have a voice and an unprecedented opportunity to sieze a moment of time. What might happen if she throws herself into massive prayer and fasting during the next nine months? O to stretch forth from Zion's hill a scepter of authority over the Hoosier state. Align with the will of God you congressmen, governor and civic leaders. Some trust in lawsuits and election-year pressure, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

In the place of prayer, hold Gov. Mitch Daniels to his goal of "making abortion more rare" during his administration. Pray that God would raise up righteous men like Congressman Mike Pence from the 6th District as a prophetic voice to the state. It has been prophesied in recent years that Indiana is the "First Strike" state. Could Indiana be the one that takes the lead on the abortion issue? It will all be contingent on a praying Church that gets the revelation of who they are. Royal blood flows through her veins.

Facedown40

The website for Facedown40 launched today. Much of our focus and energy from now until April 9th will be on two key areas.

• The Middle East- Praying for the souls of 1.4 billion muslims, the escalating tension throughout the Middle East (especially in Iraq and Iran), and the security and salvation of Israel.
• Great Awakening- April 9th marks the centennial anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival. Could God be preparing the way for another Great Awakening that will impact the entire globe?

Although we have initiated this national call to prayer and fasting, we're happy to have the support and backing of Mike Bickle, Dutch Sheets and Francis Frangipane. Kim, the family and I will be relocating to Boston next week to help facilitate a 40-day gathering there. As part of the prayer & fasting initiative we are mobilizing 40 days at Harvard University targeting humanism and intellectualism. It's called the Uprising, and we believe God is wanting to bring revival to college campuses across the nation. I believe that out of that revival will spring a new Student Volunteer Missions Movement. Psalm 110 says that on the day of battle the youth will come like the dew arrayed in holy majesty. Perhaps their motto will also be "Evangelization of the world in this generation" as it was before.

WANTED: PREACHERS.

Snow Day

We got dumped on last night. Snow, that is. We woke up this morning to about 12" of snow. I'd say that the kids had a great day playing, but that would only be a half truth. I think the adults had just as much (if not more) fun.

On another note, we found out on Friday that we were on ABC’s Nightline again last Thursday night, and it wasn’t a repeat of the previous program. They did a report on the rioting brought on by the cartoon depiction of Muhammed. After discussing the muslim response they compared it to how Christians respond to the many religious insults that permeate American society. They then showed a short clip of JHOP praying (something they shot back in November) and said, “But many Christians are fighting back...peacefully.” This was rather incredible since we had just spent most of the week praying specifically for the muslims and the growing concern over Iran. ABC news correspondents have become nothing less than a prophetic voice to the nation, and they don’t even know it. When they filmed us a couple months ago, we didn’t discuss anything about Islam with them. Yet they were moved to show us praying in their piece about the muslims now. Are you getting this? Without knowing it, they showed exactly what we had been doing all week. I think God is wanting to “out” us whether we want to be or not. There is power in prayer.

The arrow of the Lord's victory over humanism?

OK. If this actually happens, then God's either being funny or He has something to prove. We've been working on a location for JHOP Boston all week. While we were there over the weekend, we stumbled upon this building. We jokingly said, "Hey look! It's an arrowhead building like JHOP in DC." That would sure be cool enough, but then we really freaked out. It stands at the corner of Bow Street and Arrow Street. Uh, yea. It's literally at the corner of Bow & Arrow. It's across the street from Harvard Yard where the Philosophy building is located, and it points to the center of the Yard. We thought, "Man that would be too good to be true." So we looked into it and just found out tonight that the top floor is either partially or completely vacated. We talk to the owner tomorrow about it. Please pray for this situation. We NEED a location for the house of prayer. This one would be ideal in it's location and especially in it's prophetic statement. God gave us an arrowhead building in DC after we were sent there as "the arrow of the Lord's victory over abortion." Could this be "the arrow of the Lord's victory over humanism?"

"God, where are the millionaires? Surely You have gone before us and prepared them for such a time as this. Send them speedily Lord."

Ungh

I'm groaning inside. It troubles me that, while radically devoted muslims were burning the Danish embassy over a cartoon, youth group hoards across America were watching Super Bowl XL. I wonder which million dollar commercial they thought was the most entertaining.

Selah.

Speechless

I'm having difficulty with words these days. It's as though all of my words have been robbed of me. I feel like I'm being stretched in so many different ways that I have no recourse but to fall at the feet of my Lord.

If you know me very well, then you know that I'm rarely in lack of something to say. That seems so far away now.

Here's what's on the slate for JHOP around the country

1. Abortion (DC) www.jhop.org
   
2. Homosexual Agenda (San Francisco)
3. False ideologies of Humanism and Intellectualism (Harvard University- Cambridge, MA) www.jhopboston.com
   
4. Azusa Street Revival 100-Year Anniversary (Nationwide) www.facedown40.com- coming soon!
   
5. Islam (Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel) www.facedown40.com- coming soon!
6. Pornography and Jezebel (Nashville, TN)

Ps 8

I'm writing from Boston, MA right now. I traveled here with Lou today to help spy out the land for a house of prayer. A few years ago Lou received a word from the Lord declaring, “No one is targeting false ideologies with massive prayer and fasting.” Lou has had it on his heart for some time to raise up a house of prayer that contends with the ideologies of humanism and intellectualism that have been released through the universities of New England. We stood today in front of Harvard University’s Philosophy school- the very focal point of this giant in our land. This history of this school is quite remarkable. As construction was being completed at the turn of the century the president of Harvard asked the philosophy dean what inscription he wanted on the facade. His reply was “Man is the measure of all things.” This response came at a time when humanistic thinking was ravaging the schools that had been founded as seminaries. A scaffolding was erected and the inscription began. However, when the cover came off, what was revealed was quite unexpected. The president had decided to part with the dean’s request and instead inscribed Psalm 8, “What is man that thou art mindful of him?”

That inscription stands today; it’s history and meaning quieted somehow. But we believe the demise of this giant can be found in the very thing that stares us in the face. Could it be that Psalm 8 is the stone that is to be slung deep into the forehead of this giant; the ideological center of this strongman? Beginning March 1 we are calling for college students all over the country to come to Boston during Spring Break. For 40 days we will fast and pray around the clock for breakthrough in the heavens. Day and night, night and day we will sling our stone at this forehead. It will be nothing less than an Uprising which is what it has been named. 40 days from March 1 (Ash Wednesday) to April 9 (Palm Sunday) which marks the 100-year anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival. Out of this we will launch the Justice House of Prayer Boston. Please pray as we are searching and securing a strategic location from which to mount this assault. Our sense is that Harvard has no idea what is about to erupt. We are believing for massive revival to break out here and at universities across the nation.

Come to Boston and fight the battles of the Lord.