On Saturday, Jennifer and I went with a group of Christians from a number of churches to do a treasure hunt in Painesville and to minister to the homeless. I have to admit, Zack Barton, the young man who organized this, has an burning passion to minister to the people of our world. He regularly schedules these in Cleveland, in the middle of winter!
I had a special treasure, an elderly man sitting outside a book sale in the Library. He was sitting on a bench and I had just come out of the restroom, and figured Jennifer must be in the restroom as well. So I sat next to this man and struck up a conversation. It is so easy to talk to someone by simply being friendly. Before long, I noticed his hand was black, so I asked him if he was on blood thinners. He replied yes. Just then, Jennifer emerged from the restroom with an elderly woman smiling from ear to ear. She pronounced, "I found my treasure!" And she explained how they met in the restroom and she was about to have cataract surgery and needed prayer. This woman was the wife of the man I was sitting next to! They both agreed this was no "coincidence." So we also prayed for him and his leg (which had vein surgery a year ago) that he would be able to be healed sufficiently to get off of the Coumadin. They were all smiles.
My only regret was not asking them more about their journey with God. Each experience is a valuable lesson!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Fasting and Prayer 2011
After our January "21 days of fasting and prayer" this year, we came to some of the most powerful insights for our community that I can recall as a result of one of these fasts. Among them was the passage from Luke 4:18-19. "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."
This passage was heard by at least 2 people at the same moment during our Sunday Prayer and Praise time. The next day, a young man from our congregation called me to ask for help breaking free of his addiction to alcohol! As a result, we revisited the passage and began to declare it over ourselves and our community.
We believe that 2011 will be a year of "the Lord's favor" (Year of Jubilee). We found out later that 2011 is the 200th anniversary of the town of Madison, Ohio, where our church family is located. We believe that God desires us to take His "Good News" to every home in our community. But in a different way than merely shouting it at them. We are called to live it before them.
About 5 years ago, we had a mission team visit that wanted something to do...so we asked them to go door to door and ask people for prayer needs. They found many people opened their doors and their hearts because we weren't try to "get something" from them, but were instead serving them. Since that time, we have learned how to do "treasure hunts," give prophetic words and listen to the Holy Spirit whisper in our ears. So as a result, 2011 is the year in which we will be actively going to homes in our community to minister "prayer" and to see what God is doing. Quantity won't be the goal. Meeting needs with the love of God will be. In fact, when a need is uncovered (a sick relative for example) we will ask the team to follow up. Visit the sick relative in the hospital and pray with them. If a need is for home repair, let's mobilize a team to help out. We must BE THE GOSPEL. (the Good News of the Kingdom (reign) of God.)
This passage was heard by at least 2 people at the same moment during our Sunday Prayer and Praise time. The next day, a young man from our congregation called me to ask for help breaking free of his addiction to alcohol! As a result, we revisited the passage and began to declare it over ourselves and our community.
We believe that 2011 will be a year of "the Lord's favor" (Year of Jubilee). We found out later that 2011 is the 200th anniversary of the town of Madison, Ohio, where our church family is located. We believe that God desires us to take His "Good News" to every home in our community. But in a different way than merely shouting it at them. We are called to live it before them.
About 5 years ago, we had a mission team visit that wanted something to do...so we asked them to go door to door and ask people for prayer needs. They found many people opened their doors and their hearts because we weren't try to "get something" from them, but were instead serving them. Since that time, we have learned how to do "treasure hunts," give prophetic words and listen to the Holy Spirit whisper in our ears. So as a result, 2011 is the year in which we will be actively going to homes in our community to minister "prayer" and to see what God is doing. Quantity won't be the goal. Meeting needs with the love of God will be. In fact, when a need is uncovered (a sick relative for example) we will ask the team to follow up. Visit the sick relative in the hospital and pray with them. If a need is for home repair, let's mobilize a team to help out. We must BE THE GOSPEL. (the Good News of the Kingdom (reign) of God.)
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