I just want to start by saying that God's faithfulness is not contingent upon ours, however, when we show that spark of faith, God, to simply put it, blows everything up. Our smallest willingness to accept that the Lord is who he says he is opens doors for his kingdom to break forth. This is what happened in the Haywood Mall in Greenville.
A few members of the body from Georgia came up a few Saturdays ago and were teaching on an aspect of evangelical ministry called "treasure hunts". This involves seeking the Lord for a place to go, who to speak to, and essentially all other parts of what to do – full reliance on the Lord for everything. As Victor, one of the Georgia boys, began to explain the heart behind this, he spoke truth into my life that I quietly knew but had never capitalized on. He said that the kingdom of God would break forth when we decide to put aside the fear of man and step out in faith. This step of faith involves sometimes walking up to a person that we feel led to, not even knowing what to say. At that exact point we are to rely on the Holy Spirit to bring us words for that person. Having that reality explained to me in a tangible way allowed the Lord to break off the fear of man from my heart. I'm really glad he brought this truth to light, because it took that encouragement for me to step out in full faith.
After speaking to us for a while, we decided to head to the Haywood Mall and try out this form of evangelism. After shedding the fear of man when we got there, praise God, we began to seek the Lord on what to do and where to walk. Throughout this time we approached 5 or 6 people and the Lord consistently pointed out areas of struggles and deficiencies in people's lives. At one point, Claire had seen a vision of a necklace a few hours earlier, and she saw the necklace on a girl she walked by in the mall. After grabbing me, we went over to talk to her. Once we got a hold of her, we both felt like there was some sort of disconnection or brokenness between her and her father. So we asked her about it and she didn't know what we were talking about – at this point I froze.
At that point we sat there for a less than a second wondering what to do, and then the girl she was with said, "Umm, that's me." Her father was dead, and her relationship with her stepfather was not good at all. At that point we encouraged her that the greatest fulfillment of a father can only come from the Lord, and that his love and jealousy for her is unquenchable.
As if 5 or 6 people were not enough, earlier that day the Lord gave a picture to me of a green shirt with a yellow line across the front of the shirt. I thought, well, maybe that was just a random thought. It wasn't. Two hours later, Claire caught a glimpse of a guy wearing a green shirt walking away from us. As he turned while walking, we saw a sling over his shoulder and a yellow line on his shirt. I couldn't believe it, so Victor and I ran over to grab him and talk to him. He was a hockey player who had recently broken his collarbone while playing, and his green shirt actually was a hockey practice shirt with his name monogrammed across the front in yellow. We asked to pray healing for him and he agreed, so we began to declare a release of healing from the Holy Spirit. After praying once, he could raise his arm up to his chest. After praying a second time, he took his sling off and raised both hands up in the air in disbelief, then said, "I'm healed." He walked away with his sling in his hands and the reality that God's love surpasses all afflictions.
-Jonathan Lassiter
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Angels to Sing Her Home
So I went to eat with Ally and her parents at Fatz Café. Ally's father was telling me some crazy stuff and I was getting so excited I began to yell. There were two ladies sitting next to us that looked over. I said, "I am so sorry, I did not mean to interrupt your dinner. Jesus loves you so much." The older of the two said "I know he does let me tell you about it."
This is her story….
My daughter died at 19 from cancer. A month before she died she was with her daughter and she started to hear angels. She said, "Mamma do you hear that?
"No I do not. What is it?"
"There are angels in the other room singing."
Two weeks before she died the same happened.
"Mamma do you hear that?
"No I do not. What is it?"
"There are angels outside my room singing."
Then for one last time she cried
"Mamma do you hear that?
"No I do not. What is it?"
"The angels are right next to me. They are so loud!!!!!"
Then her daughter died right then. Her mother was not upset because she knew where she was going.
……………………………………………………..
After all of this I felt the Lord wanted me to do something. So I plugged my ears and tried to listen. I felt like he wanted me to go talk to the other lady at the table. I got the word financial. So I walked over there.
I said to her, "I know you do not know me, and that I do not know you but, I am feeling something for you. Can you tell me 3 things you are struggling with? "
With a smile on her face she replied with "financial". I interrupted her and said we need to pray. As I started, I felt like I was to deliver something more specific. I got the words house payment and car payment. So I prayed for that.
Then I got a picture. I got a picture of her coming in her house and not speaking to her husband, going to sleep, and leaving every morning over and over again.
I said "How is your relationship with your husband?".
She said "It is not very good right now." So we prayed for her relationship with her husband, along with her relationship with her son.
After praying, I told her to put her money up and I paid for her meal. As I was leaving I asked what church she went to. She said she went to Fellowship. I said tell me about it. She said "Well there is this pastor. He is awesome. He blesses me so much and teaches me so much. I love going and listening to him speak."
"What is his name?" I asked.
She replied "Bob Lentz."
I exclaimed, "That is my Father!"
So we were just going nuts in the middle of this food establishment. The Lord is too Good!
-Daniel Lentz
This is her story….
My daughter died at 19 from cancer. A month before she died she was with her daughter and she started to hear angels. She said, "Mamma do you hear that?
"No I do not. What is it?"
"There are angels in the other room singing."
Two weeks before she died the same happened.
"Mamma do you hear that?
"No I do not. What is it?"
"There are angels outside my room singing."
Then for one last time she cried
"Mamma do you hear that?
"No I do not. What is it?"
"The angels are right next to me. They are so loud!!!!!"
Then her daughter died right then. Her mother was not upset because she knew where she was going.
……………………………………………………..
After all of this I felt the Lord wanted me to do something. So I plugged my ears and tried to listen. I felt like he wanted me to go talk to the other lady at the table. I got the word financial. So I walked over there.
I said to her, "I know you do not know me, and that I do not know you but, I am feeling something for you. Can you tell me 3 things you are struggling with? "
With a smile on her face she replied with "financial". I interrupted her and said we need to pray. As I started, I felt like I was to deliver something more specific. I got the words house payment and car payment. So I prayed for that.
Then I got a picture. I got a picture of her coming in her house and not speaking to her husband, going to sleep, and leaving every morning over and over again.
I said "How is your relationship with your husband?".
She said "It is not very good right now." So we prayed for her relationship with her husband, along with her relationship with her son.
After praying, I told her to put her money up and I paid for her meal. As I was leaving I asked what church she went to. She said she went to Fellowship. I said tell me about it. She said "Well there is this pastor. He is awesome. He blesses me so much and teaches me so much. I love going and listening to him speak."
"What is his name?" I asked.
She replied "Bob Lentz."
I exclaimed, "That is my Father!"
So we were just going nuts in the middle of this food establishment. The Lord is too Good!
-Daniel Lentz
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Scars
I shared this story with FCA a few weeks ago and I was asked to post it to this blog so I hope that it inspires some of you who read this, because God is very capable of blowing our minds; He's certainly done that in my life in recent weeks. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Emily and I am a freshman here at Clemson. A few weeks ago, my small group talked about breaking free from the chains that hold you back from fully experiencing Christ's love and his peace. That night we were all asked to "throw" our chains into a bonfire that we had built. Each girl got up and shared a little bit about her story and why she was giving up what she was giving up. The stories ranged from eating disorders, to bad relationships, to not trusting God; a wide range of things. Then it was my turn and I got up and shared with my small group that I was raped at the beginning of high school. I was a child when it happened. My innocence was stripped, my dignity gone, my confidence diminished, my faith--out the window. I hated God for letting that happen to me. I grew up hearing the common phrase "God loves you", but after that happened I wanted nothing to do with God. In my mind, how could a God that "loves" me let this happen to me? Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually I was completely broken. I walked away with more scars than I could count, both mentally and physcially. In particular, there was a scar on my right wrist that went parallel to my vein and it was about an inch and a half long. It was very noticeable and there were also scars on my hands that you could see. Over the years I lived with having to hide them so people wouldn't look at me and judge me. Several times I have felt people looking at my scars and wondering if I self-injured and I could do nothing to defend myself. I was helpless and afraid. I had so much anger inside of myself that I changed into a completely different person. I didn't trust anyone, I was angry at God, I was embarassed of what happened, I didn't want to have to wake up each day and live with the fact that I would never be who I once was. Each day, waking up to those scars were just daily reminders of how worthless I felt, how embarassed I was, how ugly I was, and how much God didn't love me, or so I thought.
Well, over the past year and a half God has really tugged at my heart as if almost to say "come back to me Emily, come back to me..'' but I wanted no part in it. I've fought God with so much resistance the past three years it's unbelievable. So then, I end up here at Clemson. I had somewhat moved on from what happened to the point where I could handle it with a smile on my face and I could start over somewhat but that deep rooted anger and hurt was still there. I became involved with FCA and joined a small group and that is when God decided to show up. It is almost as if God pushed me forward that night at the bonfire to share my story with eight girls that I didn't really know and vice versa. I voiced my feelings about what happened and how I longed to feel God's love again and to be able to know that He hears my prayers and that he hasn't given up on me. Little things kept happening like that over the next few weeks until finally we end up at the night of FCA. A week before I shared my story with everyone, God showed up in a big way in my life. It was a wednesday night and a couple of girls on my hall, who I love to death, and I were having a conversation about cool things God was doing in our lives and somehow the conversation turned to a passage in Mark 11 that talked about believing what you pray. It was verses 22-24 that really stuck out to me and they say,
"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
Those verses are what started this whole story. That night in my dorm room I completely broke down. I was so tired of being angry at God and I was ready to let him take all of those feelings from me. I was done with beating around the bush with God when I prayed to him and so I wasn't nice when I prayed to him that night. I told him " God, take these feelings from me. I'm done with living like this, I'm ready to get back up and keep pushing forward and I don't want this on my heart anymore. Take this from me, give me a sign that you're listening to me...' and that was it. The next morning I woke up to find that my scar on my wrist is completely gone......yes.....gone. The ones on my hands are significantly faded as well. That isn't something that science did, that was God showing me he heard me and that he loves me. I thought I had gone crazy because it was so rare, which is why I told no one until sunday night when I went to small group. After seeing their reaction, I shared the story with my close friends here at Clemson and they had the same ecstatic reaction. God healed my heart and he gave me hope for the future and he literally reached into my heart and took away all that was holding me back from him. I shared the story with FCA the following thursday night and I broke down on stage in response to the shouting of joy and applause that I recieved from everyone who was there. Miracles happen. God does them everyday but we are blind to his power. We let wordly things hold us back from him when really we just need to come back to Him. He loves you more than you know, He never deserts you and he would do anything for you. I am living proof that miracles can happen to ordianry people. I know I am not the only girl who has experienced a trauma of this sort and if you are reading this and have gone through something like that, I encourage you to stop fighting against God. He loves you soo much and he wants to heal your heart if you'll only let him. For anyone else who is struggling with believing God or trusting him, just pray to him. Pray and MEAN what you pray. He created you so don't you think he deserves a little more than words with no feeling when you are talking to him? I hope my story has reached some of you and please, please don't give up on God. You owe it to yourself and to Him to stand back up and keep walking towards Him. He never said the road would be easy but he also said that He'd be with us every step of the way. Thanks to all of you for reading this! God Bless you!
Sincerely,
Emily McCanless
Well, over the past year and a half God has really tugged at my heart as if almost to say "come back to me Emily, come back to me..'' but I wanted no part in it. I've fought God with so much resistance the past three years it's unbelievable. So then, I end up here at Clemson. I had somewhat moved on from what happened to the point where I could handle it with a smile on my face and I could start over somewhat but that deep rooted anger and hurt was still there. I became involved with FCA and joined a small group and that is when God decided to show up. It is almost as if God pushed me forward that night at the bonfire to share my story with eight girls that I didn't really know and vice versa. I voiced my feelings about what happened and how I longed to feel God's love again and to be able to know that He hears my prayers and that he hasn't given up on me. Little things kept happening like that over the next few weeks until finally we end up at the night of FCA. A week before I shared my story with everyone, God showed up in a big way in my life. It was a wednesday night and a couple of girls on my hall, who I love to death, and I were having a conversation about cool things God was doing in our lives and somehow the conversation turned to a passage in Mark 11 that talked about believing what you pray. It was verses 22-24 that really stuck out to me and they say,
Those verses are what started this whole story. That night in my dorm room I completely broke down. I was so tired of being angry at God and I was ready to let him take all of those feelings from me. I was done with beating around the bush with God when I prayed to him and so I wasn't nice when I prayed to him that night. I told him " God, take these feelings from me. I'm done with living like this, I'm ready to get back up and keep pushing forward and I don't want this on my heart anymore. Take this from me, give me a sign that you're listening to me...' and that was it. The next morning I woke up to find that my scar on my wrist is completely gone......yes.....gone. The ones on my hands are significantly faded as well. That isn't something that science did, that was God showing me he heard me and that he loves me. I thought I had gone crazy because it was so rare, which is why I told no one until sunday night when I went to small group. After seeing their reaction, I shared the story with my close friends here at Clemson and they had the same ecstatic reaction. God healed my heart and he gave me hope for the future and he literally reached into my heart and took away all that was holding me back from him. I shared the story with FCA the following thursday night and I broke down on stage in response to the shouting of joy and applause that I recieved from everyone who was there. Miracles happen. God does them everyday but we are blind to his power. We let wordly things hold us back from him when really we just need to come back to Him. He loves you more than you know, He never deserts you and he would do anything for you. I am living proof that miracles can happen to ordianry people. I know I am not the only girl who has experienced a trauma of this sort and if you are reading this and have gone through something like that, I encourage you to stop fighting against God. He loves you soo much and he wants to heal your heart if you'll only let him. For anyone else who is struggling with believing God or trusting him, just pray to him. Pray and MEAN what you pray. He created you so don't you think he deserves a little more than words with no feeling when you are talking to him? I hope my story has reached some of you and please, please don't give up on God. You owe it to yourself and to Him to stand back up and keep walking towards Him. He never said the road would be easy but he also said that He'd be with us every step of the way. Thanks to all of you for reading this! God Bless you!
Sincerely,
Emily McCanless
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Daisies
Two Wednesdays ago we were praying over Megan Stafford, a friend of mine who teaches at Palmetto Middle School. As we were praying over her the Lord gave me a vision for her...
I saw a barren hillside, and on top of that hillside I saw a lone flower at the top, a daisy. The sun was just rising over the hillside, and as it hit the hillside, the beauty of the simple daisy made the barren hillside disappear. As the sun continued to rise, other daisies began to grow and bloom around the original daisy, and soon the whole hillside was full of this simple yet beautiful flower...
I prayed this over her. Afterwards she said "John, that prayer was right on. Sometimes I feel like that is me at school.... But a daisy?" she asked with a laugh.
So why daisies? The next day at school two of her students brought daisies to her classroom. Just evidence of God's love for her and that He never stops in His pursuit of us.
-John L.
I saw a barren hillside, and on top of that hillside I saw a lone flower at the top, a daisy. The sun was just rising over the hillside, and as it hit the hillside, the beauty of the simple daisy made the barren hillside disappear. As the sun continued to rise, other daisies began to grow and bloom around the original daisy, and soon the whole hillside was full of this simple yet beautiful flower...
I prayed this over her. Afterwards she said "John, that prayer was right on. Sometimes I feel like that is me at school.... But a daisy?" she asked with a laugh.
So why daisies? The next day at school two of her students brought daisies to her classroom. Just evidence of God's love for her and that He never stops in His pursuit of us.
-John L.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Bone Fracture Healed
A couple of weeks ago, I started to get a pain in my left ankle. It wasn't really anything at first so I kept on walking on it. Throughout the day, the pain gradually got worse until midnight when I could barely walk or stand on my own. The next day I went to Redfern and found out that I had a stress fracture. I refused crutches and was on medication so that I could at least walk a little. I kept doing that and eventually, I made it worse. I went onto crutches and got more medication from Redfern. This was 6 days after I got the stress fracture. That night was house church. I went down right when it began but was having trouble with the medication so I went back upstairs and slept on the futon for about 2 hours until I woke up again. Downstairs, they said for everyone to line against the walls and they were going to pray over everyone. I decide to go back downstairs. I was so tired from the medication that I had to have help to get up onto my crutches. I get downstairs and after a while a girl named Jordan comes up to me and asks if she could pray over my ankle. She said that her hands felt like they were burning. I didn't know her and she didn't know what was wrong with my ankle. I showed her where it hurt and she laid hands on me and started to pray over my ankle. When they finished praying, I realized that the side effects of the medication were gone and they tell me to try out my ankle. I set my crutches down and tell them that it felt completely better. I could jump, run, and walk! Jordan then asks what was wrong with my ankle and I tell her it had been a stress fracture. She then proceeds to tell me that she had gotten a vision while she was praying of my ankle with a small hair-line fracture and she saw the Lord's hand go on it and smooth out the bone.
-Rob Ward
-Rob Ward
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Jesus the Heart Chaser
October 29, 2008
House Church
I have been challenged lately with giving aspects of my life to the Lord. This may sound like a daily struggle to most of you, but since the day I accepted Christ into my life I have for the most part coasted through Christianity. I have had my share of valleys, but rarely have I had to literally pray through it. Instead I find myself generally waiting for it to pass, until recently. A situation very close to my heart began to fall apart about a week ago. I am directly involved in this circumstance and therefore had no option of letting it pass. Even if that were an option I would have choose to run after the Lord with everything because I could. I am not sure if that makes sense, but there comes a day when you realize the amazing gift we have of running after God in distress and finding him. Why we don’t utilize that gift daily I don’t know, but this was a day when I could not do anything else. I literally craved the word for the first time I can remember and cried out to my God. He met me there. I found peace, not answers, peace.
This brought me to my first experience of house church. I had never been to a house church before, but a friend consistently sent me emails and invited me. After my indescribable time with the Lord I finally thought why not throw house church in the mix. So I attended. I have seen God do some pretty amazing things in my life and the lives of others through prayer, but the buzz concerning healings on campus has caused me to become skeptical in my faith. I know that God is capable of those things, but I had a huge wall up on my faith to not let it venture down that road. Even with all God was doing in my life to the days prior I went into house church with that attitude, and when I say attitude I mean attitude. I was very honest with the Lord concerning my lack of faith.
House church began with “sharing.” This is when anyone can speak about what God is doing in their lives. One girl began with a story of last week’s house church and how God had used her to heal several of her peers. During her story, I appreciated it, but my wall refused to let me open my heart to it. Needless to say God saw this as a perfect opportunity to break that down. I began to feel nauseous. At first I did not think anything of it. I thought maybe the anxiety over the other situation in my life was taking a toll on my physically, but after pondering that thought there was no reason to feel sick over something I had such a peace about. Why would I be nauseous over that situation when I am no longer stressed or concerned with its outcome? So I moved to evaluating what I ate that day and how I had been feeling prior to this moment. Nothing made sense, why was I sick? The second I ran out of options of explanation it hit me. In many of these testimonies of healing often the individual called to pray felt some form of pain in one area that lead them to pray with someone with that same pain, bringing healing. At this moment I was angry. I began to yell at God through prayer. I told, rather commanded, God to forget it. I was not praying with anyone, or asking anyone to pray for healing over me. “I just don’t have that type of faith,” I said. “If that’s what you think you doing Lord you better think again.” By this time the sickness had gotten worse. I contemplated going to the bathroom, but I knew that if I stood up I would faint or hurl. I had never been to this house church and was not familiar with many faces in the room. This is when anxiety came. I was terrified to throw up right there in the middle of the room. I was sweating now, and more nauseous than I have been in years. Out of desperation I gave in and cried out to God. “Fine Lord, I’ll pray, I’ll get prayed for; I’ll do whatever you want just tell me so this will go away, please!” Again this was silent, but powerful. Instantly I was no longer sick. I heard the voice of God speak to me, “I just wanted to know you could be obedient.” I have never felt the Lord so powerfully or rather physically in my life. I still deal with my lack of faith, but I have realized that whether you have the faith to move mountains or not if God wants to use you He will. He is your source of faith. He simply commands your obedience. Let Him rock your world and He will, your biggest problem will become staying on for the ride.
-Jenni Kozlowski
House Church
I have been challenged lately with giving aspects of my life to the Lord. This may sound like a daily struggle to most of you, but since the day I accepted Christ into my life I have for the most part coasted through Christianity. I have had my share of valleys, but rarely have I had to literally pray through it. Instead I find myself generally waiting for it to pass, until recently. A situation very close to my heart began to fall apart about a week ago. I am directly involved in this circumstance and therefore had no option of letting it pass. Even if that were an option I would have choose to run after the Lord with everything because I could. I am not sure if that makes sense, but there comes a day when you realize the amazing gift we have of running after God in distress and finding him. Why we don’t utilize that gift daily I don’t know, but this was a day when I could not do anything else. I literally craved the word for the first time I can remember and cried out to my God. He met me there. I found peace, not answers, peace.
This brought me to my first experience of house church. I had never been to a house church before, but a friend consistently sent me emails and invited me. After my indescribable time with the Lord I finally thought why not throw house church in the mix. So I attended. I have seen God do some pretty amazing things in my life and the lives of others through prayer, but the buzz concerning healings on campus has caused me to become skeptical in my faith. I know that God is capable of those things, but I had a huge wall up on my faith to not let it venture down that road. Even with all God was doing in my life to the days prior I went into house church with that attitude, and when I say attitude I mean attitude. I was very honest with the Lord concerning my lack of faith.
House church began with “sharing.” This is when anyone can speak about what God is doing in their lives. One girl began with a story of last week’s house church and how God had used her to heal several of her peers. During her story, I appreciated it, but my wall refused to let me open my heart to it. Needless to say God saw this as a perfect opportunity to break that down. I began to feel nauseous. At first I did not think anything of it. I thought maybe the anxiety over the other situation in my life was taking a toll on my physically, but after pondering that thought there was no reason to feel sick over something I had such a peace about. Why would I be nauseous over that situation when I am no longer stressed or concerned with its outcome? So I moved to evaluating what I ate that day and how I had been feeling prior to this moment. Nothing made sense, why was I sick? The second I ran out of options of explanation it hit me. In many of these testimonies of healing often the individual called to pray felt some form of pain in one area that lead them to pray with someone with that same pain, bringing healing. At this moment I was angry. I began to yell at God through prayer. I told, rather commanded, God to forget it. I was not praying with anyone, or asking anyone to pray for healing over me. “I just don’t have that type of faith,” I said. “If that’s what you think you doing Lord you better think again.” By this time the sickness had gotten worse. I contemplated going to the bathroom, but I knew that if I stood up I would faint or hurl. I had never been to this house church and was not familiar with many faces in the room. This is when anxiety came. I was terrified to throw up right there in the middle of the room. I was sweating now, and more nauseous than I have been in years. Out of desperation I gave in and cried out to God. “Fine Lord, I’ll pray, I’ll get prayed for; I’ll do whatever you want just tell me so this will go away, please!” Again this was silent, but powerful. Instantly I was no longer sick. I heard the voice of God speak to me, “I just wanted to know you could be obedient.” I have never felt the Lord so powerfully or rather physically in my life. I still deal with my lack of faith, but I have realized that whether you have the faith to move mountains or not if God wants to use you He will. He is your source of faith. He simply commands your obedience. Let Him rock your world and He will, your biggest problem will become staying on for the ride.
-Jenni Kozlowski
Monday, November 3, 2008
Shoulder Healed
My story begins in December of 2007. While on a mission trip in Cancun, we found ourselves engaged in an incredible house church one night. As things progressed, the pastor revealed to us that a woman among us had been diagnosed with cancer only a few days before. With incredible boldness he announced that we were going to heal her. As a product of a rather conservative and honestly very boring church growing up, I had never experienced something like this. I joined in though in laying hands on her and praying. It was intense. But still I had doubts. Does God really heal in this way? Is it ok to be this bold and expect, really and truly expect God to move when asked? Questions like this persisted in my head until a week or two after we got back from the trip. We all received an email from the pastor proclaiming that the woman had returned to the doctor and no signs of the cancer were found. I didn't know how to handle it- 'whoa', was about all I could come up with. It was odd thought how even through being part of a miracle I still couldn't accept it fully. I prayed and begged for faith like that of a child's.
My struggle with accepting miracles continued on into this past summer. It was then that I was given a documentary by a good friend of mine called 'Finger of God'. I was blown away by the stories of miracles and signs that were happening around the world. I wanted this. I wanted this kind of life. Still though it was hard to rewire 20 years of thinking that these things only happened back in 'biblical times'. That is until a few weeks ago…
I was on fall retreat in Charleston just kind of taking a break and waiting around for the next thing to happen when I received a vision. I saw myself standing on stage in Tillman with a lot of people around me. I can't quote what I felt God say cause I'm not sure it was ever in words but I got this overwhelming sense that my shoulder was going to be healed and that it would be an example to the unbelieving. Odd, right? I sat there for a second and honestly just thought, 'ok'. Later my thoughts were sent kind of all over the place, the main one being 'why now?', because I had lived with pain in my shoulder for 4 years and had basically come to the point of accepting it. I kept the vision in my mind over the next few days with a little bit of anticipation. Transition happened to be in Tillman that week and I wasn't exactly sure if it was going to happen there or at FCA. When it didn't happen at Transition I went to FCA with a weird easiness and expectation. As Drew became quiet I felt God tell me that this was it, and I better be bold enough to go down there. So Drew pauses and asks if anyone has a right shoulder problem. I think to myself, 'ok, lets go'. I raise my hand and he asked me to come down. As I did I saw others approaching the stage to pray for me. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced. As they prayed I felt coolness and relief pour over my shoulder that had felt nothing but tightness and pain for years. I have never felt so light. The most incredible thing to me were the healings that occurred in the seats during the prayer. I was told two people had their shoulders healed while sitting in their seats and another was healed afterward. Intense, ridiculous, and unbelievable. This is what I want more of. I realized that night that its not a matter of how much faith you have but that you have faith at all, even that of a mustard seed is enough for you to see and experience the glory of the Kingdom of God.
-Alex Fagan
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Surrender- From Itunes Miracle to Salvation!
There was going to be a mad nasty cookoff! USA vs. India. After all the festivities I had a moment to talk with John Longshore and Austin Alvarez. After some fun discussion on callings, people, and life, John passed on some tunage for my desperate ears. He hit me up with some Kim Walker and Misty Edwards. I took my new found treasures home with great promise that my life would be changed. I popped my CD in to load on to my laptop and its starts saving until it gets to track number 7. The computer totally freaks out and does all but slap me and call me stupid. i attempted to load the CD several times and that song would not for the love of anything pure and holy load. I stopped, sighed, and noted the title of the song. "I Surrender". At the time i did not think anything of it. I told John that it wasn't working and kind of in jest said that Something must not want me to hear that song. Then I really stopped and thought about it. What if something really did not want me to hear that song. I tried to load it again and to no avail. With a heavy sight i removed the CD from the computer and all of the sudden the song pops up and begins to play. Did I not just remove the CD? Had I not just tried to load the CD umpteen-bazillion times. Well I guess God saw that it was a song that I needed to hear and He made it happen. Like honest to blog, HE totally made it play. So yes God works miracles through Itunes. I am sure you are thinking woohoo a song played, alert the pope. Well the story continues and gets soooo much cooler.
On the way to work I am listening to this miracle song. As I listen to the song speak of surrender, I stop and ponder if my fourth grade class knows what it means to surrender (I teach at a Christian school). I went on to school but the question lingered heavily fluttering around my heart. I then decided to scrap all of the afternoon lesson plans and talk about what it means to surrender. I took the students out one by one and video taped their response to the questions "What does it mean to surrender?" and "What does it mean to surrender to God?" After we finished filming, we talked for a while about what it means to surrender and what are things in our life that can be surrendered. We looked at the lyrics to the "miracle song". I then had the students write down something that they thought that they should surrender to God. As they were writing I called the students out and filmed them sharing something that they needed to surrender. One little boy came out and I posed that question to him. His response was that he needed to surrender his whole life. After I turned off the camera he told me that He did not think he really had a relationship with Jesus. Then and there he prayed to receive Christ. It was an amazing day. The Spirit was swirling around my class moving and whispering to my students hearts. So yes, amazingly so, God does use Itunes for miracles.
I love you all!
PEACE!
On the way to work I am listening to this miracle song. As I listen to the song speak of surrender, I stop and ponder if my fourth grade class knows what it means to surrender (I teach at a Christian school). I went on to school but the question lingered heavily fluttering around my heart. I then decided to scrap all of the afternoon lesson plans and talk about what it means to surrender. I took the students out one by one and video taped their response to the questions "What does it mean to surrender?" and "What does it mean to surrender to God?" After we finished filming, we talked for a while about what it means to surrender and what are things in our life that can be surrendered. We looked at the lyrics to the "miracle song". I then had the students write down something that they thought that they should surrender to God. As they were writing I called the students out and filmed them sharing something that they needed to surrender. One little boy came out and I posed that question to him. His response was that he needed to surrender his whole life. After I turned off the camera he told me that He did not think he really had a relationship with Jesus. Then and there he prayed to receive Christ. It was an amazing day. The Spirit was swirling around my class moving and whispering to my students hearts. So yes, amazingly so, God does use Itunes for miracles.
I love you all!
PEACE!
-Nichole Johnson
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Beautiful Boldness Part 2
I am a junior nursing major at Clemson, and I have 53 people in my class with me (all the other 1st semester junior nurses). The Lord has been continually showing me recently how much He loves my class and how much He is working in their hearts. So I had been praying for all my classmates for awhile, and eventually the Lord really laid it on my heart to speak to my classmates and tell them about His love. Specifically on a Wednesday night (at transition… yeah good stuff) the Lord told me to speak to my class the next morning. So my 8:15am class I went up to the front of the room and asked my professor if I could make an announcement. She said that it was fine with her so I faced my class and waited for them to be quiet. When everyone was facing me and listening I told them all that the Lord had told me to tell them that He loves them all so much, and that He is coming for them; that they are his daughters and his son (I only have one guy in my class) and that He wants to claim their hearts! I told them that they shouldn’t let anything come between them and the Lord; I told them to enjoy His love and be blessed by it. Then I sat down. Multiple conversations have occurred after this. The Lord is continuing to impress Himself upon their souls, and it is super fun to see how much He is chasing them down!
Later that same day, I was leaving FCA and had gotten in my car to drive back to my apt, and as I was driving by downtown, my heart was breaking for all the students crowded into bars just trying to find some satisfaction in life. I was so broken for how much they need the Lord, and I kept thinking about how good it would be if someone would go to them and speak the Gospel. So then the Lord told me to do that…. No lie; I was like, “say what now? Lord, girls like me don’t just walk into bars and start talking about You.” But the Lord just really laid it on my heart that I was a conqueror through Him and that He wanted these people to hear about his love. So after Jesus talked me through this, I ended up parking my car and walking up to the first bar I saw on the corner of downtown (Griffins? I think that’s the name) and there was a guy singing and playing guitar at the front of the bar, so I waited for him to finish his song and then completely by God’s grace, I walked up to him and asked if I could borrow his microphone. He asked me why and I told him that God had told me to make an announcement. He was a Christian and after asking if I would be brief, he just handed me the mike. I faced the bar and told everyone that the Lord told me to come and tell them how much He loves them. I told them that it didn’t matter how they felt about the Lord, even if they hated Him, that He was so in love with them and that He was coming to claim their hearts. Then I gave the mike back to the singer and walked out.
The Lord is good. He is a God of love, and He wants people to know it, so get ready. He’s gonna be using his children to tell people. New boldness is coming down from heaven.
-Anna Copeland
Later that same day, I was leaving FCA and had gotten in my car to drive back to my apt, and as I was driving by downtown, my heart was breaking for all the students crowded into bars just trying to find some satisfaction in life. I was so broken for how much they need the Lord, and I kept thinking about how good it would be if someone would go to them and speak the Gospel. So then the Lord told me to do that…. No lie; I was like, “say what now? Lord, girls like me don’t just walk into bars and start talking about You.” But the Lord just really laid it on my heart that I was a conqueror through Him and that He wanted these people to hear about his love. So after Jesus talked me through this, I ended up parking my car and walking up to the first bar I saw on the corner of downtown (Griffins? I think that’s the name) and there was a guy singing and playing guitar at the front of the bar, so I waited for him to finish his song and then completely by God’s grace, I walked up to him and asked if I could borrow his microphone. He asked me why and I told him that God had told me to make an announcement. He was a Christian and after asking if I would be brief, he just handed me the mike. I faced the bar and told everyone that the Lord told me to come and tell them how much He loves them. I told them that it didn’t matter how they felt about the Lord, even if they hated Him, that He was so in love with them and that He was coming to claim their hearts. Then I gave the mike back to the singer and walked out.
The Lord is good. He is a God of love, and He wants people to know it, so get ready. He’s gonna be using his children to tell people. New boldness is coming down from heaven.
-Anna Copeland
Friday, October 24, 2008
Beautiful Boldness
So Tuesday, October 14, I didn't go to class the entire day. I didn't have this bad conviction about skipping because I had this feeling that God wanted to tell me something. I was able to just use that time to play my guitar in my room, enjoying sitting with the Father. I was able to learn that He wanted me to go speak the gospel in front of my psych 309 class that meets at 9:05 on mwf and he wanted me to do it the following Wednesday (a week and a day after He told me).
So Wednesday rolls around and my teacher finally gets there at 9:04. It takes me a little bit to get the courage, but I finally get up and ask him if I can say something before class starts. He asks me if it can wait until after class, so I agreed. (waiting until the end of class was a blessing because God got me from "oh my goodness I have to do this" to "this has to be done") So finally at the end of class I get up and I'm pretty sure I say this: "Yall I just need to tell you that God loves yall so much and Jesus Christ died on the cross so that you wouldn't have to go to Hell and my prayer for yall is that you receive that gift of salvation." Once I was done I all but ran out of Brackett (if there's someone reading this that doesn't go to Clemson it's one of our academic buildings), and as I was busting through the doors to get out of the classroom I heard the professor say "I apologize I had no idea that's what was going to be said." From that point on I was consumed with fear. Later that night I learned that it was the enemy trying to tell me that I had done wrong by running out, and in that moment I realized satan has no power over me because the Father has given power and authority over him to us. Praise the Lord for the peace He and only He can give.
-Charron Conley
So Wednesday rolls around and my teacher finally gets there at 9:04. It takes me a little bit to get the courage, but I finally get up and ask him if I can say something before class starts. He asks me if it can wait until after class, so I agreed. (waiting until the end of class was a blessing because God got me from "oh my goodness I have to do this" to "this has to be done") So finally at the end of class I get up and I'm pretty sure I say this: "Yall I just need to tell you that God loves yall so much and Jesus Christ died on the cross so that you wouldn't have to go to Hell and my prayer for yall is that you receive that gift of salvation." Once I was done I all but ran out of Brackett (if there's someone reading this that doesn't go to Clemson it's one of our academic buildings), and as I was busting through the doors to get out of the classroom I heard the professor say "I apologize I had no idea that's what was going to be said." From that point on I was consumed with fear. Later that night I learned that it was the enemy trying to tell me that I had done wrong by running out, and in that moment I realized satan has no power over me because the Father has given power and authority over him to us. Praise the Lord for the peace He and only He can give.
-Charron Conley
The Beginning
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:9-10
The Lord's Prayer. Simple. The Father's will for heaven is the same will He has for this earth, a will that is perfect and blameless. The cool thing? He has given us the Holy Spirit (John 14) so that we can be His ambassadors in taking His will to others. He wants us.
For years people have been praying for this atmosphere of Jesus' bold love to come, and He, as always, has proven faithful. We merely have to be good stewards of this atmosphere and usher it into the norm, into the true reality of what His kingdom on earth can look like.
The following stories are ones of healing, salvation, and boldness, all meant to encourage the body of Christ and to point all praise to Him who is deserving. If you have a testimony you would like to give, please share it with us in a comment and we will put it up! Testimonies will be added shortly I promise, and once they are, please send this link to people you know will be impacted.
Christ's Peace and Love to you!
The Lord's Prayer. Simple. The Father's will for heaven is the same will He has for this earth, a will that is perfect and blameless. The cool thing? He has given us the Holy Spirit (John 14) so that we can be His ambassadors in taking His will to others. He wants us.
For years people have been praying for this atmosphere of Jesus' bold love to come, and He, as always, has proven faithful. We merely have to be good stewards of this atmosphere and usher it into the norm, into the true reality of what His kingdom on earth can look like.
The following stories are ones of healing, salvation, and boldness, all meant to encourage the body of Christ and to point all praise to Him who is deserving. If you have a testimony you would like to give, please share it with us in a comment and we will put it up! Testimonies will be added shortly I promise, and once they are, please send this link to people you know will be impacted.
Christ's Peace and Love to you!
-John Longshore
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