This is an amazing perspective on Spiritual Warfare! Watch and Listen!
This is going to be short and sweet today! The church of America needs to “Shut Up and Pray.” And If you know me very well, I DO NOT like using that word, “Shut-up.” Here’s the deal. We have become very good at preaching, teaching, counseling, creativity, church services and all the while have lost the very POWER of God. See, power comes from intimacy with God/Jesus, and intimacy is prayer, and spiritual power comes from prayer. If you were to gauge the level of your intimacy with God, you probably could gauge the level of power in your life and how much you actually pray. Here’s the problem with most prayer going on right now and I have been a proponent of this too, but now sense the mandate to change. It’s called, “POP CORN PRAYER.” Prayer that heats up real quick and POP, and then its done! Listen to me NO WHERE in the Bible, New testament or Old do we see that being the paradigm for prayer. If anything FAR from it.
Christians and church leaders will stand around talking about all the problems of our nation, or even preach about all the change that needs to occur, but fail to use the only penetrating weapon in their arsenal, and that’s teach people, and call people to a life of PRAYER! And LEAD by example! Not Pop corn prayer either! But prayer that comes from a broken heart filled with deep sorrow and anguish that keeps you on your face before the very throne of God! Crying, Waling, Weeping, Traveling, Screaming out for the very souls that God Almighty HIMSELF sent HIS only Son to DIE for. Get the revelation?? Here’s a video to help.
I want to introduce my wife, Sheree to you all. She is an amazing woman of God, Mother, and Wife. I am truly a blessed man to have her stand by my side through this thing we call life!! As you know we have been giving ourselves to 40 days Feasting on the presence of the Lord, and its been simply miraculous to watch God. Right now as I type these words, Tony Chavez is out on the streets with a team of guys canvasing neighborhoods near the park with flyer’s where our “Give Love Give Bikes” rally will take place on August 1st. The momentum this event is catching is stellar and could only be through God’s grace and power as area ministries and churches come together to show the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. Let the words of Sheree inspire you as they have me today! Blessings.
I am writing this because my heart is so burdened and desire to
serve my King so strong that I feel quite overwhelmed.
I have prayed for God to use me, I have prayed to be made of vessel, I
have prayed for the lost, I have prayed for the children, I have
prayed for the widow, I have prayed for opportunity…and now here I
am. God is using me (us), the lost are before us, the children are
here and greatly in need, there are widows and elderly who need help
and what do I feel?
I feel as though all I want to do is drop to my knees, and cry. The
needs are so great, there are so many and I am only one! All I can
think now is I must pray for laborers.
God please send the laborers, the harvest is full, there are so many.
Make strong those who are weak and tired, give rest to those who are
weary, ignite their hearts once again. The passion that has died in
many, God I pray your Holy Spirit will renew it again. We NEED them,
we need the laborers, we need those who will lay down their life,
their pride, and desire for fame.
Bring those who are willing to work, to roll up their sleeves, to pick
up broken pieces, those who are willing to give when no one gives
back. Bring those whose deepest and most desperate desire is to love
You and the people You have created.
This is my prayer, I cry as I write this.
God use me, equip me for the work at hand. I alone am not able, but
YOU are!
You probably read the title of this post and thought, “didn’t you mean 40 day fast?” No, it’s all about the feast! I was working out last Friday morning and I felt the Holy Spirit drop something in my heart. He reminded of when Jesus was lead into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights and He had been fasting. However, He came out of that wilderness time with great power to do the work the Father had called him to do. So, let me explain how the 40 day feast fits into the assignment the Harbor has been given from the Lord.
The Harbor along with other ministries will be teaming up to provide an outreach in the Heart of the City on August 1st, called “Give Love, Give Bike’s.” The plan is to give away 100 free bikes, free food, face painting for children, incredible music, and then to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in need.
Now back to the 40 day Feast, and my work out! It was in that moment at the gym that I decided to look at the calendar on my phone and I counted the days up to the event. Guess what…It was exactly 40 days!! I think the Lord was telling me something. LOL. It was in that moment that He spoke this message to my heart. “I want you to Feast on my presence for 40 days, and then expect my power!”
So, we have re-arranged our schedules in order to be obedient to what the Lord has told us to do and we will be Feasting on the presence of the Lord for the next 40 days! Every night at 9 pm we will be corporately gathering together as The Harbor to feast on the presence of the Lord through Prayer, Worship, and God’s Word. We also will be prayer walking our city during this time, and believing God for Miracles, Signs, and Wonders for this up-coming event and to continue aftward. The idea behind feasting on the presence of God is not simply attending the nine o’clock gatherings but also looking at our daily lives and determining that whenever it’s possible take the time to feast on the Lord! What does that look like practically speaking?? Well, every-ones lives and schedules are different but one thing always remains the same, “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.”
We are surveying our daily lives and the in-take of stuff and then cutting off the “FAT.” The Lord said to me if we will Feast on Him we will not have an Appetite in our belly’s for anything else.” That’s the reason this is a time of FEASTING and NOT FASTING. When we fast something we are focused on the thing we set side and can not have, however, if we FEAST our focus will be HIM and we will not desire anything else!
Listen to what I am about to say. The Church today is in desperate need for the power of God. Not simply just a revival, however revival will happen, but rather a movement of God’s power in this City and across the nations. We must shake ourselves this very hour, and open our eyes and realize that the church of America right now is VOID of the Power of God’s Holy Spirit. If you do not believe what I am saying than ask yourself these questions, and look and see if they are happening around you and your church. Are we experiencing what Jesus told the disciple’s to go and do Matt. 10:7-8, “Preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” And Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison , it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Personally, I haven’t been experiencing this on a daily basis not a weekly basis, or for that matter not really even on a yearly basis, and the majority of churches I know of are not either. I ask why?? I think the answer is found in Mark 9:28-29, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” asked the disciples, He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer!!” I think we have discovered the break down and why we are not seeing or experiencing the power of God’s Spirit today. We think we are praying, when actually we are “preoccupied.”We take a few minutes here and there to throw a few shout-outs to God and his peeps and call it good. This is reminiscent of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal and crucifixion with the disciples. He keeps coming back to them saying, “WAKE UP,” keep watch and pray! Three times He comes and they were sleeping. We must shake ourselves from this place of spiritual slumber and realize that if we do not, their blood will be on our hands, as God told the prophet Ezekiel.
Please pray for this movement, and let’s all be apart of the solution! In Jesus Name!
We celebrated Hannah’s 2nd birthday today and it is breathtaking to watch how fast and beautiful this little girl is growing up! Here’s a video to watch dedicated to my Hannah Grace! Love ya baby girl!!
OK, you have probably been wondering, “What happened to me.” What started out as not having Internet led into a time of searching my heart, and God’s heart as to what blogging would look like for me. You might be thinking to yourself, “that doesn’t seem very complicated.” What is there to think about? Well, for me quite a lot. Let me explain for a moment.
I’m a very passionate person who loves God very much, and I love His church very much too however my passion and boldness at times can be a very powerful combination and people do not always like that. It can make you feel uncomfortable when someone says something that everyone in the room is thinking but nobody wants to speak up for fear of judgment. Well, I can tend to be that guy who speaks up whether your thinking it or not! So blogging for me has been somewhat of a frustrating journey because I have never really felt a complete freedom to express how I feel about issues plaguing the church today, such as christian living, church leadership/government, and a myriad of other topics for fear of how I would be taken.
The bible says in James 3:1, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” As a teacher and pastor I realize that our words carry tremendous weight and we should not be flippant concerning God’s Word nor instructing His people. Living life as a believer is not a game, its about eternal salvation and eternal separation from God for those that do not believe in Jesus Christ! So I have carried some pretty deep rooted issues that come with the blogging world and considered not being apart of it all together. However, its great to have friends who can pour into our lives and give us perspective and that’s what has happened for me and why I will continue to blog using it has a “TOOL.”
However, I decided that I would “Start-Over.”What do I mean by that, starting over? First, by communicating to every person that reads this blog and or subscribes to it that this is not for people who have faint hearts, and are easy offended. I wanted to communicate clearly before I began writing on topics important to me, that NOTHING I write is intended to hurt, offend, pic-on or other wise talk about any particular person, group and/or organization. These are the musing of my on heart and journey called life and how ”I” am processing and filtering through my own experiences and what I believe about life. Now after saying that, I will never be a person that thrives on passionless talks that go nowhere and ultimately never leading people to change through the power of God’s Spirit! I feel as if I need to be true to myself, and to those who feel called to be connected to my ministry. So what does this mean practically speaking?
Well, first of all I feel there are some serious issues with the church of America today, and in order for me to be real, authentic, and genuine…I gotta talk about it, and bring some things to the light. I will not be offended in the least little bit if people who call me a friend do not read this blog. As the Apostle Paul clearly stated, “He” was called to the Gentiles, and his ministry looked different then that of the Apostle Peter’s. Each one of us must be true to the Holy Spirit of God, and DO what HE instructs us to do. We must live lives that are completely selfless and obedient to Jesus Christ and follow his voice, and realize that there will be times in which people think your completely crazy! Trust me, I have been down this road!! Here’s the deal. Ministry has never been about, “grabbing a warm blanket and a Fig-Newton and enjoying yourself! The Gospel was birthed under great persecution, and thrived under great persecution, will continue to advance under great persecution. The Gospel has never been about conveniences nor comfort, it’s always been about faithful obedience expressing itself through love.
What this does not mean: You are not going to read some weird strange doctrine or stupid interpretations of Scripture or belief system on this blog. However, you will read things that challenge the idea of what has become important to the American church today and its current leaderships’ ideology of how to make the CHURCH more relevant today. So, here’s the first thing on my mind.
Popular church of America today has become “Good” at having church services. We have sat down with our creative planning teams and have figured out how to captivate our congregations and keep their attentions for an hour and half! Whoop te friggin do!!! I have spent time in other countries where the people would be on their faces worshiping God for an hour and half and just be getting started, and this is without “Big Screens, Multimedia, Coffee Shoppes, Special videos, the latest technology, Lighting, Cushy Chairs, weak sermons that do not cause people to live lives of holiness, because it was birthed around great ideas instead of on your face before God crying out for his heart! WOW, CAN YOU TELL I’V BEEN A LITTLE PINT UP! LOL… Now, this may not apply to you! So don’t be worried about it if the shoe doesn’t fit. But I can honestly say that I have experienced times where that was true in my own life and the temptation is strong to stay in that place. Why? Because it makes us feel good when everyone likes us and lots of people like our churches and the latest thing we are doing is being accepted by everyone in our community, and we don’t have enough room in the building to hold everyone! It’s human nature to want success. However, we have to check our hearts and motives in how we come to the conclusion that this is what God has called success. When we as church leader’s govern and lead our ministries and we make decisions based on what people think, if people are going to stay, come, go, or give more financially we have just traded the Power of God for a Form of godliness. This is dangerous ground to be on!! I realize no one is perfect, and especially church leaders. We are not imperviable to mistakes and failure, however we can not allow this blindness to continue either or else we will raise up a generation of people who have great concepts about God, but have no true power of God in their lives.
I want to encourage every person who is leading in someway in the kingdom of God to put their faces to the ground and their hands in the air and surrender everything to God. Allow the power of the Holy Spirit to fill you with immeasurable love and power to do everything he has called you to do!! You Can Do IT!!
Blessings.
OK we still do not have Internet yet:( So, I’m taking a moment to pirate some Internet from my brother-in-laws crib! Thanks T.C. Well, we are continuing to get settled in to our new house, and things with the Harbor are moving forward. I will be giving a more detailed up date concerning the Harbor in the coming days. Until then I wanted to let everyone know that we are OFFICIALLY POD-CASTING our meetings now! Here is the link that will get you there: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=310733141 We hope you will join in and share with others what God is doing here in Pensacola. If you have a desire to get more connected with our mission here in Pensacola please let me know and I will send you more info on how to contact us.
IN HIS GRIP!
OK the McCall’s have finally found a house! Praise God!! After living out of suitcases for nearly 5 months and God has opened a door for us to move into a wonderful new house, and we are very thankful. There is an amazing God-story behind all of this that I will share at a later time, but for now it will be a quick update. I have been out of the pocket for over a week now trying to get all of our things moved, and we do not have Internet yet so posts will be sparse for a a little while. I’m still playing Daddy Day Care;) as I stay home with the kiddos, and it has been amazing! I would not trade this time during my kids lives for anything. Well, I gotta go for now. Continue to pray for our Church Plant here in Pensacola, and for the families that continually sacrifice their present comfort for others eternal salvation!! Blessings.
What does it mean to be “Reconciled?” Well, from a biblical perspective its used to address the issue of humanities sinful state, and how that sinful state separates us from God the Father. However, the good-news is God sent his Son Jesus Christ to “Reconcile” us back to God the Father, completely independent from human persuasion or accomplishment. The short and sweet explanation, He did it because he wanted to!! Why?? Because he is complete and perfect Love. The Bible clearly teaches us that perfect love covers a multitude of sin, and I would say that pretty much sums it up! However, that’s a perspective that’s backed-up 30,000 feet in the air!! It’s great to know that stuff, but what happens at street level is what you and I actually “feel.”
I honestly believe everything that Jesus Christ did during his life on earth was to be an example of how we are to live in relationship with other people. Think about it for a moment. 1 John 3: 16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” Now, you might be saying, well, “Who’s my brother??” I’m not going to touch that with a ten foot pole, but what I will do is look at what Jesus Christ said about how we should treat our enemy. Matthew 5:43-48 explains that we are to love our enemy, and pray for those that mistreat us! Wow, I’m left with NO excuses, not to mention this apparently is a big deal to the heart of God.
I want to say to any person out there who might be struggling with issues of Reconciliation with family or friends. I know its not an easy process many times. Actually, if we stop and think about what God had to endure to bring reconciliation to us, it cost him His son’s life! That’s probably a strong indicator that the process of reconciliationis never easy, and perhaps gut-wrenching at times but don’t stop there. What did Christ work on the cross do for us? It brought healing, love, mercy, forgiveness, peace, strength, hope, grace, and more than anything eternal salvation! I think that is is one of the profound dynamics when people allow the love of God to bring reconciliation to broken relationships. We see God’s salvation! I have to say I am very thankful today for God’s love in my life and His Power of Reconciliation, especially with people I dearly love and respect!! Let me quote a great pastor who I heard say many times, “If it doesn’t kill you, it will only make you stronger, and if you don’t quit, YOU WIN!”
Have a great Easter Weekend everyone!
I recently had to drive back to my hometown in Jasper Fl to see my family for a tragic situation. I received a phone call from my brother last Friday morning that my step-mother and Dad had been taken to the Hospital. Well, as events unfolded it became clear that my Dad would be OK, however my step-mother Connie was going down hill and fast. My sister had found her early Friday morning around 7am complete unresponsive, blue in the face and foaming at the mouth and nose. That’s a pretty graphic description but that communicates the seriousness of the situation. My sister Rachel screamed for my brother to come into the bedroom and by the time the ambulance could be called and get Connie to the Hospital she had already begin to die. On arrival at the hospital her body already begin to reveal signs that she was passing and life would soon be completely gone.
Connie was rushed to ICU and the doctors prognoses shortly afterwards said her brain had been without oxygen for at least 45 mins.!!! She was hooked up to a ventilator in order for her to be able to breathe and the latest news we had was that she would be brain dead! I really can’t begin to describe the feelings my entire family felt at this moment. Complete hopelessness would not even begin to describe that empty feeling you get in your stomach when someone you love so much is going to die or possibly never be able to live life the same again. However, through the pain, frustrations, and questions the power of God begin to be revealed as the family and friends begin to pray and seek the heart of God. We all new that apart from HIM (God) this would be a hopeless case, but we all were reminded that with man things are impossible, but with God “ALL” things are possible for those that believe!! Hundreds of people begin praying and interceding on behave of this woman and God began to do a great work. The first few days we did not necessarily see the results of our prayers, all we saw was a woman hooked up to a lot of cables and perhaps dead!
Suddenly, there was a shift and things begin to happen. She begin moving some fingers and becoming uncomfortable lying in her bed however she was still cognitively unresponsive and in the natural she was still fighting for life. Then every 24hrs it was like daily miracles raining down from heaven on her body, and after several days they removed the ventilator and she began breathing on her own! A few more days passed by and they were able to move her from ICU, and she was sitting up in her bed and able to talk, and eat. Now at this point her short term memory was still completely gone. I could go into the room to see her and leave for 30 mins. come back and she never new I was there or why she was in the hospital. So, we were wondering if this was going to be an ongoing disability or would she begin to regain her memory. At this point we all were blown away at the fact that she was alive! That was a big enough miracle in itself, but God was not done. I talked with my dad yesterday and he said that my step-mom had come home and that she had begin retaining her short-term memory as well!! Praise God!! I spoke to her myself and although she is very tired and still has a road of recovery a head of her, God STILL DOES MIRACLES!!! In two weeks of time this woman went from being brain dead to death from death to life and the rest is ongoing miraculous history. Please continue to Pray for Connie and my family as we journey through this next season of life. Thank you and blessings
