Mike Yaconelli, ( Co-founder of Youth Specialties) was in a fatal car accident in northern California on Wednesday.
I am so grieved by his death. He was one man of a few, that seemed to touch my heart when he shared his life, thoughts and passions.
The youth ministry world is poorer now, but heaven is richer for sure...
My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends.
He was a voice...not an echo.

"To a person endowed with prophetic sight, everyone else appears blind; to a person whose ear perceivesGod's voice, everyone else appears deaf....The prophet hates the approximate, he shuns the middle of the road. Man must live on the summit to avoid the abyss. The prophet's word is a scream in the night. While the world is at ease and asleep, the prophet feels the blast from heaven...The prophet is human, yet he employs notes one octave too high for our ears...Often his words begin to burn where conscience ends." Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets

"All people dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of thier mind, wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they may act out their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." -Lawrence of Arabia

"Intercessory prayer is spiritual defiance of what is in the way of what God has promised. Intercession visualizes an alternative future to the one apparently fated by the momentum of current forces. Prayer infuses the air of a time yet to be into the suffocating atmosphere of the present. History belongs to the intercessors who believe the future into being. -Walter Wink

This is happening right now in my life and the life of the ministry happening around us.
This is a "NOW" moment!

The average person has 1,460 dreams a year. That's 4 a night.

I'm living in Joel 2:28 right now...seems like out of nowhere I have stepped under the "POUR" part of this verse!
Joel 2:19,23-24 also!
Grain, New Wine and Oil...poured down rain...vats over flowing...
COME ON !!!!

The “dark continent” I am talking about here is not afresh, but Europe. Missionaries from Africa are going to help save Europe from the veil of deep darkness that now grips this continent. This is the bread that was cast upon the waters by the European nations who sacrificed so much to send missionaries all over the world with the gospel. Now, for the sake of the fathers, missionaries from the nations they sent them to are returning as grace from the Lord to help save Europe.
This is another “reversal” but it is from the Lord, and it will turn back the tide of darkness in many of these nations. Even so, some, such as The Netherlands, are in danger of natural disasters soon washing them away if the turning of repentance does not come soon. Pray especially for The Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and France.
-Rick Joyner

I came across this prophetic word yesterday. Strange that at the same season that the Lord is revisting me to renew various dreams and vision (Amsterdam being one of them) that I found this word.
I also got a fairly big macedonian call this week...I am still stunned by it, who knows where that will lead?

...the experience of mystics "is meant not primarily for
themselves but for the good of the whole church."
-Huart speaking about Mother Teresa
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=613&ncid=613&e=1&u=/ap/20031017/ap_on_re/religion_today)

Abortion, like I have never felt it...
I prayed with a young man in a youth detention center the other night.
He cried as he shared how his girlfriend had just been forced to get an abortion.
Her parents pushed her to do it because they were too young and he was in jail etc.
This young man was sooooo broken and was bearing a heavy load of guilt.
We prayed, he wept and I walked out of there with yet another burden.
This generation is facing such dark demons...God help them wrestle.
Please pray for this boy.

Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is…That is why bad people know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist.
C.S. Lewis, on the power of sin, from An Arrow Pointing to Heaven, by Rich Mullins, January 1st, 2000
from: http://www.dickstaub.com/

“Consciously or unconsciously, one lives not only one’s life, but the life of one’s time … Are our dreams, for example, to some degree facets of a larger, mass dream that is beginning to happen in the world … to put it another way, when God wants to initiate a new movement in history, God does not intervene directly, but sends us dreams and visions that can if attended to initiate the process.” (Walter Wink)

How about France?
In France, which is predominantly Catholic but emphatically secular, about one in 20 people attends a religious service every week, compared with about one in three in the United States.
"What's interesting isn't that there are fewer people in church," said the Rev. Jean François Bordarier of Lille, in northern France, "but that there are any at all."

What a mission field!
Who will Go?
I remember a friend of mine (Fred) who got me started in jail ministry, He used to challenge me with these words:
If not you... then who?
If not now... then when?...
That challenge birthed a new ministry in my life and has resulted in a mighty harvest in the jails.
I live by that challenge.
I've been to France, it captured my heart and stirred my soul.
I am praying for a harvest there and working to raise up young people that will have a heart for the nations. If you are reading this, maybe you are the answer to that prayer?
Would you pray about going?
I know that is bold but in the face of such need, shouldn't I be bold?

1. COLOR OF YOUR SOCKS TODAY?
Bare feet

2. WHAT ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Unstoppable Force, by Pastor, Erwin Mcmanus

3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Nothing but the mouse is a Buzz Lightyear mouse...eh, got kids, what can I say...

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Chess, but I am amped to play the LOTR RISK, when I get enough cash to buy it.

5. FAVORITE MAGAZINES?
Charisma, Worship leader, Relevant, Group

6. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Wife's perfume, Healthfood stores, Ocean air, Forest meadows, Coffee

7. LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS?
Bad perfume, Moses Lake

8. FAVORITE SOUNDS:
The prayer of a sincere young person, tender, open and promising.

9. WORST SOUNDS:
Boring preachers, legalism and condemnation, my anger

10. FAVORITE SONG:
Right now: It's all Because of You by Tree63

11. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
Hurting God's Heart and the heart of those I love.

12. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF IN THE MORNING?
Coffee is high on the list

13. FAVORITE COLOR?
Black

14 How many rings before you ANSWER THE PHONE?
2, then the answering machine comes on and that drives me crazy.

15. CURRENT CHILD'S NAME?
Alicia

16. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?
Fulfilling God's purpose for my life and becoming a man after His heart.

17. FAVORITE FOODS?
Nobake cookies, pizza

18. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Both together

19. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
You bet, can't wait to put a 302 in my Mustang...

20. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Not.

21. THUNDERSTORMS - COOL OR SCARY?
Cool

22. WHAT WAS OR WILL BE YOUR FIRST CAR?
Mustang

23. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE?
David

24. FAVORITE DRINK?
Coffee

25. WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN?
Ba Humbug

26. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI ENDS?
Yep


27. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I'm doing it.

28. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Having hair would be nice...

29. THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?
Most of the time it's draining out...sheesh, I'm naturally pessimistic but gaining ground through God's help.

30. FAVORITE MOVIES?
LOTR movies, Matrix, Braveheart, Planes Trains & Automobiles, Tommy Boy

31. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
Ear plugs, Micah's toys

32. FAVORITE NUMBERS?
Not sure

33. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?
I don't watch sports

34. FAVORITE QUOTE:
Many but this one is one of them:
"I don't deny that there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, actually to remind men that they are not dead yet."
--G.K. Chesterton

35. PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Darin

36. PERSON YOU SEND THIS TO WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Jackie

37. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Probably Marc, he doesn't read email :)

Some of you may be part of small teams that are not growing or shrinking. The human impulse is to react negatively. We cannot always tell why we go through lean seasons. But I can say this, as I go through scripture it appears that the remnant is always enough to do God's work.
http://www.innerc.org/logo.html

We have committed to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Let us remember, as J. Oswald Sanders reminds us, that those hands and feet are nail-pierced.
http://www.innerc.org/logo.html

In 1908 Orville Wright became the first person to die in a plane crash.

Brian and the Bully...

One of my fondest memories of HS was of a blind boy named David.

He used to wander the halls with his blind cane and actually make it to class on time and everything. But because of his blindness, when he would look at you, his eyes would kind of be half cocked. It was kind of humorous looking at someone and their eyes would be looking at an angle, almost like he was trying to be funny.

I remember one day in the halls as I was walking a ways behind him, I saw someone start to try to trip him and kick his cane.

He was getting bullied.

I couldn't believe that someone was taking advantage of David's handicap. Then all of a sudden one of my "stoner" friends, a guy named Brian (a huge guy); came out of nowhere and slammed the bully out of the way. I could hear him shout at the bully a potent threat and then the bully slinked away...humiliated.

I was proud to be in Brian's friend that day but more proud of Brian for using his brawn to protect the weak.

Brian was a real man in my eyes that day, not for his muscles or attitude but his heart.

I think Jesus was proud of Brian that day too.

I think Jesus walks the halls of most Schools and weeps. The things He sees, the junk He hears kids talking about and the way young people treat each other. I think He sits at lunch tables and watches Christians join in or stay silent and wonders where are the Brians...?

Gandhi said of the Beatitudes:
''They contain a message that would save the world. What
a pity that Christians have been listening to the message for two thousand years, but
they (the Christians) are like stones lying in the water for centuries, never soaking up a
single drop.''

Mt. Dew Can kill you?
Go here to find out how much it would take to kill you.
http://www.linkydinky.com/dewkiller.shtml

Sorry, here's the link to learn about the Lord of the Rings card game:
www.decipher.com

OK, I am addicted.
I played the Lord of the Rings trading card game last night till 1AM.
We played for 4 hours(9-1AM).
That says a lot about the game in in my humble opinion.
I have dropped a lot of money in this game quick, that says a lot too!
If you play or want to learn, touch base with me the more the better.
to learn more about the game.

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace, she's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk
She travels outside of karma
She travels outside of karma
When she goes to work
You can hear her strings
Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips
She carries a pearl in perfect condition

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things


Music: U2
Lyrics: Bono

man, this touched me.

I will tell everyone about your righteousness.
All day long I will proclaim your saving power.
I am overwhelmed by how much you have done for me.
I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign LORD.
I will tell everyone that you alone are just and good.
O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood.
I have constantly told others about the wonderful things you do.
Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.
-Psalms 71:15 - 18