slowing down

So here I am again. It feels like I've been gone for a while - probably because I have been. My apologies for not being very good about updating things lately. I've just been....busy. Yes, the word that seems to burden us all the "b" word. How can I be busy though, it's summer, right? And that's exactly the point that I'm stuck at. It's summer and I'm making myself to be way to busy when I don't have to.

Right now, I should be attending a prophetic conference that was supposed to be going on from Wednesday to Sunday. But I'm not there. Why you may ask? Well, I'm not really sure exactly, but at the same time I do know. It's all about slowing down I suppose.

But anyhoo, here's a brief recap of what my life has looked like in the past couple of days:

Monday: So on Monday, I trained 5 students from my church to teach Bible stories to kids as part of a program called Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). The youth involved in my church missed the last training period because we were all away at camp. Since I did CEF when I was younger, they asked me to train them. It's been about 6 years or so since I did CEF so I really wasn't sure what I was doing. But it turned our really well. The thing that I stressed for the youth is preparation. We didn't go straight into the Bible Lesson or anything like that. First, we worshipped together, then I taught them wait for God through silent mediation. I asked them to share any images or thoughts they had during their quiet time. None of them shared, so I shared my thoughts. Basically, I told them that I saw a field that was ready for harvest and that they would be the laborers to harvest it. I saw a big gap or chasm in the ground that needed to be filled. I told them that they would stand in the gap of our broken generation. It would take time to fill the gap because it was so large, but God would use them to begin to fill the gap and encourage others to join with them - when this happens the fire of God will come upon them.

After that, I shared with them some other visions I had for them. I told them about the five-fold ministry in Ephesians 4:11, and how I thought it was pretty cool that there were 5 of them that God chose to be a part of CEF. I really encouraged them to keep pursuing God because they were the leaders of the youth and the future leaders of our church. Then, we went into the Word together and had a Bible study on Luke 5:17-26. It was the passage that they would teach their first Bible story on. After getting into the Word, we listed all the prayer requests we had for the youth. I later compiled this list and divided the requests into different themes they could pray for over the week. I then gathered them together to pray for one another. We each took turns laying hands on one another and praying for each other. We prayed about an hour and a half. It went by really quickly. All the youth their, prayed again for healing for my brother's hurt ankle. It was still hurting him, but the next night he ended up playing basketball on it and now he's fine.

So it was really cool hanging out with the youth and teaching them how to pray and prepared. We later went on to study the Bible story but not after a lot of preparation. What I basically taught them was the basis of the simple church: Welcome, Worship, Waiting prayer, Word, and Works (praying for one anther). I pray God will continue to work in their lives and use them to awaken the youth and our church.

Tuesday: All day Tuesday, we prepared for Filipino Independence Day which is this Saturday. We made lots of plans on how we can get the youth involved and stuff. I also had a good conversation with my pastor about his views and understandings of the prophetic. My parents wanted me to talk to my pastor about everything because the night before we kind of got into an argument about the prophetic conference I was going to attend. It was cool to hear that my pastor was very supportive and very open. He told me to be careful and to test everything, but he said that I should definitely go and talk to him about the things that I learned so we could learn together.

Pretty cool, right? So why am I not at at the conference? Good question. Well later that night, my dad decided that our family was going to have a devotion. It was really cool because my mom has totally been praying for my dad to be the spiritual leader of our house and he has totally stepped up. Anyhoo, we had the devotion and it was all about waiting on God. The main passage we read was from Isaiah 57. My dad talked to me and apologized about the argument we had the night before about going to the conference. He told me that I was an adult and he wouldn't stop me from going, and he said that after he did more research on the conference he didn't really see any problems. He just told me to be careful and test everything. My dad then told me that lately he has seen me really grown on fire for God. He said he was really proud of me, but he was also concerned. He said that he had been observing me lately, and he told me that I needed to slow down. I have been so consumed with working and serving God that I have made myself too busy. He said it was good to be on fire and passionate for God, but if I'm not careful I could get myself into trouble because I was always on the go. I was really convicted by this because earlier one of my friends told me that I needed to place some boundareis in my life because I was doing too much.

While my family prayed together, I was really confused. My dad was okay with me going to conference, but now I was the one having second thoughts. I thought that God had totally opened this opportunity up for me, but my dad made me realize that I have to be careful in thinking that everything that comes up is from God. So i struggled with these thoughts as we prayed. At the end, I told my dad that if I didn't go to the conference I just wanted to get away. I was planning on getting away in the first place. From the very beginning of the summer, I just wanted to spend some time with God and get away by myself. But that couldn't happen because of church camp. I told my dad my request, and he so we started thinking about some options. We talked about possibly going up to the mountains or staying at a hotel. Then, all of a sudden, he realized that one of my relatives had gone away for vacation and their house was vacant. He had the key to their house and that I could use it.

God totally, opened up a door for me that I totally wasn't expecting. Ever since the beginning of the summer, I had wanted to get away by myself and spend some time with God. But it wasn't the right time. God has opened up this opportunity for me now and so now I can take some time, slow down, and reflect on everything that has happened in the last year. I have been working myself too hard, but now I get to learn to slow down, wait on God, and enjoy His presence.

I really wanted to go to the conference and grow more in the prophetic. But I have realized that the gifts from God are given and grow out of intimacy with God. I cannot force God's timing or desire all the gifts he offers simply by going to a conference. God is a jealous God, and he is jealous for our time. He doesn't want us to put time limits on how much time we can spend with Him. So, here I am God. My time is all yours. Teach me how to fall in love with you all over again and simply enjoy your presence and delight in time spent with you.

Wednesday: I woke up really early on this day and went to ASU for my brother's orientation. Yay class of 2012! God is going to use you guys to do awesome things. I showed where to go and helped guide him. Then, I went off the prayer house where I just chilled alone because there was no one there. I prayed and journaled some and just rested in God. I had lunch with a friend and just kind of hung out all day. When we were about to leave, the campus director from Campus Crusade called me because I had called her about getting some tracts from her the day before. God, totally answered my prayer because I was already in Tempe and would be able to get the tracts from her.

The day before my pastor asked me if we could get some tracts from Campus Crusade. We are going to do some evangelism at Filipino Independence Day this Saturday. So now we have some material we can use. I was able to get some Knowing God Personally booklets and some surveys. So next Friday, when I get back, I get to train the youth how to share their testimony, take surveys, and share the Gospel. Then, the next day, we will get to go out and share at Filipino Independence Day. Thousands of people will be there, and it's an exciting opportunity because the event is going to be held at ASU West and so we have the opportunity to get people in contact with Campus Crusade at ASU or with our church. It's an exciting opportunity for our church.

Thursday: I spent all day today, doing all the tasks I needed to do so I could away on my personal vacation without worrying about anything I needed to do. I also talked to my brother about having accountability and discipleship for one another and challenged him in His walk. It has been a really busy day, but it's been very productive and very good. I've gotten all the things that I hoped to get accomplished and now I'm ready to go spend some time with Jesus.

So for the next week, I will be a way from my computer and other electronic devices. I hope to just spend some time with God and really learn more about what He has in store for me.

God, I am ready to spend time with you and delight in your presence. Here, I am God. Teach me to love you with all my heart, soul, and mind. I am excited for the adventure we are going to have together. I want to fall in love with you all over again. It's just you and me now. Amen.

complete surrender

God, sometimes I don't understand why I feel the things I feel.
Sometimes I feel so cold to you - sometimes I don't even want to care.
Sometimes, I stop and think why do I even try.
But yet at the end of the day, I realize that you are in control.
You open up divine appointments and you are working in mysterious ways.
Forgive me for trying to do things on my own and seek my own selfish ways.
But you always bring me back to you and encourage me to lift my eyes.
You alone are God above and you alone are my delight.
May I give to you my heart, my strength, my soul.
May you take all I have.
I surrender to you and give you my life.
You are the potter; I am the clay.
No longer will I be in dismay.
For you, My God are watching over me and listen when I pray.

Even when I turn my back. Even when I dont care.
You are nearer to me when times are hard and you listen all the same.
The bitterness, my lack of faith - you see it and yet you love me all the same
How could you see the depths of my dirty heart and still reach out to me in love?
I am sinful and deprayed, yet you have given me your son.
God, I pray that in my heart you will tranform and purify.
I long for the day when your will be done on earth as it is heaven.
But until that day comes to this earth, teach me Lord to wait.
You will grow us in your time, for time is in your hands.

God, it's been a hard weekend. Full of ups and downs. Yet you remain sovereign over all things. I thank you so much that you are working in my life and in the lives of those around me. I am sorry for my excuses - for not running after you when you say to go. God, I don't want to hold back anymore, I want to give you my all. I want to know your heart. I want to love as you loved - to have compassion for all. Give me patience to trust in you and wait for your perfect timing.

God, I pray for my family, my friends, my church, my campus. Bring unity and cast out division. We long of the day when you fully reside in our midst and we see the restoration of the New Testament church. Hear the desperate pleas of your people; hear our repentance on behalf of our generation. God, we pray that you would open up the eyes of your people. Lead them to the cross. Open up their hearts that they will be lead to fasting and prayer, radical repentance, and complete surrender. The cry of our hearts is to bring you praise, to make your name famous. Humble our hearts, crush our spirit of pride and self-seeking. All we want is you Lord! You alone satiate our deepest needs and desires. God we long for you! Teach us to love, to serve, to give you our all! Amen.

A brief recap of a crazy day of EnCounTerS and the rest..

I decided not to share the specifics of what happened on Saturday because it may be a little too intense, but if you really want to know you can ask me and I would be happy to share.

Basically, my family and I first went to this awesome utdoors store where we hung out for a little bit before we went to the movies. As a family including my relatives from LA we went to watch Prince Caspian. Wow! That movie is crazy. I was really moved by the movie. It really convicted me of a lot of things and I was moved my the deep symbolism and the underlying storyline of God's love and redemption.

But anyhoo, after the movie my family ended up standed at the movie theatre because the battery in one of our cars died. We waved down a security guard, and he went to get a machine to try to jumpstart it. But it didn't work. Eventually, a friend from the church came down in a big purple van and jumped the car for us. After that, he invited us all to his house for his step-daughters graduation party. Our family wasn't planning on going to this party, but God definitely wanted us to because this is where all the good stuff begins.

Like I said earlier, I can't share everything with you but I'll briefly recap it. One of the leaders of the church came up to me and we started talking about evangelism. Then another leader came up and said she wanted to introduce me to Pastor Bob before I left. I was about to leave, but first I waas introduced to Pastor Bob. My family was going to leave, but I decided on the fly that I would just stay and finish my conversation. I'm glad I did. Pastor Bob and I talked for a while about his ministry in the Philippines and the crazy experiences he had with healings, revival, and the power of the Holy Spirit. There are some crazy stories that I could tell you about.

Anyhoo, we talked for a pretty long time. I wasn't even supposed to go to this party, but God really wanted me to go. Before he left, he and his wife wanted to pray for me. We prayed together with some of the leaders of the church, and he basically blessed me on my trip to Japan and anointed me with some fire. Basically, long story short. I was knocked down three times by the Holy Spirit. Crazy.

After that, I had another conversation with one of the leaders of the church, and she really encouraged me in my prayer life and in growing in the things of the Spirit. One of the things that really sticks out to me is when she told me about excuses. She told me to stop making excuses about things God was leading us to do. When we make excuses, we don't do the things God wants us to do. She told me to stop thinking, and just do what God is calling me to do. Another thing that I also go talking from her was that I needed to stop worrying so much about the future and the big picture sometimes and just trust God. Basically what happened was that I started telling her of my visions and ideas, and she just stopped me and said something like yes, ideally thats what our church would look like, but until God opens the hearts of the leaders of the church to prayer, those ideas can't happen. Basically, she told me to pray for the leaders of the church to be committed to prayer. Stop worrying about the picture and let God take care of it. Pray for God to open the hearts of his people and let him do the work that He has started.

Another thing she challenged me to do is start discipling and be an accountability with my brother. She really challenged me to stop making excuses and just go for what God is calling me to do. It was awesome to talk to the leaders of my church and be challenged and encouraged by them. God is good.

Oh and on the way home, I drove with my cousin who I prayed with the other day, and he ended up giving me some cds 0f different visions people have had of heaven and hell and told me to listen to them. They are pretty intense. So basically, Saturday was crazy. A day full of crazy encounters. God was definitely on the move.

So today (Sunday) some pretty cool stuff happened too. I went to church early with my brother, and we went to the prayer room in my church because the I was really challenged to go the night before. And while were there, it was really awesome to read the Word, meditate, and pray for the church. It was really cool to see people come in periodically through the hour and cry out to God. God is definitely doing awesome stuff in the church. I was reminded of a lot things during that time. Godreally reminded me to be patient. I really think that the revival that happens in the church will stem from what happens at ASU and what what happens at our church will overflow into the city. Pretty sweet how some students in my church like my bro are gonna be at ASU this semster. God is on the move.

At the church service, the worship was especially vibrant and alive and the message was awesome. The church recognized the graduates in my church. Graduates of kindergarten, 8th grade, and highschool. These students in a sense are all going to be the class of 2012. A lot of them were new to the church, but I get the sense, that like my brother who was up there, they would truly be fireseeds of revival in their highschools and on their campuses. So good!

Anyhoo, my pastor also preached an awesome message about plans. Basically, what it boiled down to was that we need to make plans in our life, but ultimately we must realize that God has the final say. We must have the right attitude and we must be open and willing to follow wherever he leads us.

I think the most exciting thing that happened today was just a couple of hours ago. My brother and I were playing basketball tonight (he ended up beating me in a close game - boo on him - haha jk), and while he was shooting around after we were finished playing he fell wrong and sprained his ankle. He couldn't walk on it, and he was in a lot of pain. We went to say bye to our cousins who were leaving for the Philippines, and he couldn't even put any weight on his foot. So when we got home, I told him I would pray for his ankle. I started praying for it, and at first not much happened. But i just kept on praying. Not too much was happenign at first. But I kept praying over it. All of a sudden after I prayed once, I looked at his foot and the veins that were popped otu before had gone down and the swelling seemed to subside. My brother actually got up and started walking on it -he couldn't even put weight on it earlier! I prayed over it somemore. It still was hurting him, but he could actually walk on it again. He iced it afterwards, and he said that it was feeling a lot better.

So I dont know. That was the first real experience I had in healing prayer. It was cool because the night before Pastor Bob touched my right thumb and anointed it with healing. I didn't really know what I was doing, it wasn't like I felt anyting either. But I just took it in faith, and I know that God started healing my brother's foot. So I just pray that I may continue to grow in this anointing and do awesome things for God.

But anyhoo, it's been a journey - a crazy rollercoaster of a ride this past weekend. I don't even know if I am making any sense at this point. I wasn't even planning on continuing to write, but I did. And so here I am, It's Sunday night/ Monday morning, I'm exhausted and I just wanna go sleep. I have to teach tomorrow morning. But it's been nice to reflect on what God has been doing. I don't even know if I got across the things that God has been showing me this weekend. There is still so much in my mind, and I am just scratching the surface in my giving my supposedly "brief" recap....but you know how that goes.

the night of graduation

So the night of my brother's graduation, my dad decided to have a devotional with the family. It was my mom, dad, brother, and I. My aunt, uncle, their two kids, my other aunt and my grandparents. We read a devotional which I think was David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29 which ended up being the key verse that my pastor used in church today I think.

Anyway, as we did the devotional, my dad asked me to share my decision to switch majors and pursue the ministry. I talked about how God had showed me that I was pursuing my own dreams and my own ambitions, but I wasn't making room for God. The biggest turning point of my life was really when I gave up my dreams and ambitions to God, and just asked Him to give me the dreams and ambitions He gave me. This really was a big deal in my life, and it totally put me on the path that I am today. And after I shared that story, I just realized how much God has been working in my life and my family's life since then and even before then.

My brother then shared his experience at church camp last weekend and how God has totally been working in his life. It was pretty intense especially hearing it from his side of the story. After that all my other family members shared some experiences. It was crazy hearing from my aunts and uncles and grandparents. I heard stories and experiences from them that I never knew. I never knew my uncle's troubled past. I didn't realize my aunt's faith. But the one thing that really touched me was my grandmother's talk. My grandmother isn't a big talker especially on spiritual things. But when she talked, I was really touched.

She was talking in native tongue, which is ilongo. Luckily, I coudl understand most of it. But basically, she spoke pasionately about the hardships she faced growing up as a Christian. She said that she was the only Protestant in her family, and everyone else was Catholic. Her family would basically persecute her and ask her why she would always go to church - esp. a different one from theirs. But my grandmother said she never said anything, she just stayed faithful to God. Today, the church my family supports and helped built is made up mostly of my grandmother's family. She said how many of them today have accepted Christ as their Savior and are following Him.

It was awesome to hear the testimonies of my family and to see how God is working in their lives. It definitely is only the start of things to come. There still is so much hurting and brokenness in my family. The family is divided in many senses and there are a lot of disagreements that still need to be mended. But, the step of prayer and unity that we took Friday night was awesome. I know God is using my family to really begin to lay down the foundation of revival for the rest of my family.

But what I'm really beginning to realize is that it takes patience and time. I was reminded of my verse when I first got baptized. 1 Peter 5:6-7 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." This verse really speaks to me because its all about humility. I have struggled with issues of pride a lot in my life. A lot of the times especially in these times, I really want to see God work and see personal breakthrough in my life. But a lot of times, I think this has lead to feelings of elitism and overconfidence. I want to see breakthrough; I want more of God. However, I am reminded that we must stay humble and allow God to fill us up and develop us. It is only when we allow Him to fill us up that we may be exalted in his proper time.

So ya, I dont know. God has been doing a lot of things in the past couple of days. Saturday was the really crazy day. I started writing about it, but there are some things that I dont know if I can really sure. But there were all divine appointments and conversations from God. It was crazy. But I'm just too exhausted to keep going at this point. I'll try to continue later. God is good, and I am so thankful that He is faithful, even in my weakness and unfaithfulness.

Where to even begin....

Hmmm....So it's been an interesting weekend to say the least. I don't even know where to begin. My family from California who came for brother's graduation just left today. But wow, it's been a crazy adventure the past 3 days. I guess I'll start with mybrother's graduation and kind of just give a brief summary of the things that have been happening.

So my brother graduated from high school on Friday. It's crazy to think that only 2 years ago I, myself was marching down those aisles picking up my own diploma. And now here was my brother graduating? The same kid who I always picked on growing up. The same kid I grew up with was now graduating from high school and joining me in college? Weird. It's not really that weird, but when I think about it more, it's just kind of crazy I guess. It makes me feel old, I suppose. But anyway, as I was sitting watching everything unfold and listening to the speeches, I was reminded of the vision God gave me about the incoming freshmen class of 2012 - the now graduated class of 2008. I really think that this class is going to do amazing things in college and is going to see the peak of the revival God is going to do on the campuses.

But I was reminded of all this becase I saw some things at that graduation that really reminded me of previous conversations and thoughts I had about this upcoming class. As I saw this class I was reminded of two things. First, this class is very talented. The speeches, the musical numbers, they really surprised by how good they were. I am normally a pretty cynical person in critiquing these type of ceremonies ( I know, I'm kind of a jerk - think it stems from my own bitterness that I once had towards high school; but thats another story haha ;). But anyhoo, I was really surprised by their talents and their intellect. Secondly, I saw their brokeness. My brother's graduated class has seen so much pain in the last year. So many of their classmates have died either through suicides or through a fatal bus crash. It's crazy to think that one class could go through so much pain and turmoil.

But one thing that I did see was resiliency. The class was resilient. Though going through so much pain, they had drawn together - there was a sense of unity. I think that these qualities are what God is going to use in transforming our campuses. But their still is pain there that is hidden beneath the facades of smiles and happiness in the midst of graduation. God is still working on their hearts and working on revealing to them their identity.

I think identity will be the key issue for this class and the classes for come. When the people realize who they are in Christ, they will do great and might works for God. And as for those of us already on the campuses, I really feel that our mandate is to be laying down the foundation for the greater things that are going to be done. I think this foundation starts of course with prayer. When we lay down the prayer foundation and ask God to open the yes of His people, great things will come to pass.

This verse really sticks out to me in preparing the way for the younger generations to follow us. 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, "Acording to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is buidling upon it. Let each one take care ow he builds upon on it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Here, Paul is talking, and what really strikes me is that Paul talks about laying down the foundation upon which other people will be building upon.

We are laying down this foundation of prayer by which those coming after us will be able to build on. We must make sure like Paul said that our foundation is strong and that is it built on Jesus Christ. This further reminds of Isaiah 40:3 which says, "A voice cries: In the wildenrness prepare teh way of teh Lord; make straign in the desert the highway for our God." Through our prayers and our seeking after God, we will be the highways through which God uses to bring his revival. Our generation has the potential to be forerunners for the coming revival. I really think that we really need to be in prayer for our generation especially the incoming class of 2012. God is going to use them to do great and mighty things for his kingdom. But it is only when they understand their identity. They are loved by God. Let this be our prayer. God may you open the eyes of the youth, may they realize your overwhelming, unconditional love for them. May you heal their broken hearts, and may you use them to be highways through which the Holy Spirit brings revival to their hearts of Your people.

an interesting day

Oh my, it has definitely been an interesting day. As I speak, there is still a hustle and bustle around my house at 2:00 in the morning. My relatives from Los Angeles just got here to go to my brothers graduation which will be starting in about 7 hours. But it has been a good day today - a happy day. In the midst of all, I think I have learned a lot and come to see a better picture of what God is doing in my life.

It didn't start out all jolly though. But I did get to spend some good time praying this morning, and I got to start an online discipleship group for some of the guys in Epic Movement so we can stay accountable for reading the Word and praying. But most of this morning was spent cleaning my room for my relatives to stay in. Cleaning is always a tense and stressful time in my house. My mother is a clean freak so you can just imagine the intensity. But theres something about cleaning that is relaxing, I think its the sense of control you have. But it can be really peaceful to in the midst of all the stress.

After that I went over to my cousins' house and helped them make a picture board and a powerpoint for my brother's and cousins graduation tomorrow. Then, I played some Wii Fitness on their Nintendo Wii. Dude, that's intense. I think I'm going to be sore in the morning. It made me do some yoga. Push-ups, running in place, and aerobics. It was kinda fun haha. I never knew a game system could be so entertaining and healthy.

Anyhoo, now for the good stuff. So after all this fun. I went home and prayed for an hour before I met up with my older cousin who wanted to meet up together and pray. He is going to the Philippines with his wife and kids on Monday, so he wanted to get together and pray for his trip. Before we prayed, we talked for a while about different things like the church, our families, and other stuff. We talked about the vision that my pastor had for our church. My pastor has the vision of having 210 Cell group leaders by the year 2010. Kinda crazy considering we don't even have 210 members in our church. But 210 is such a small thing for God. So, I told my cousin about the things God has been revealing to me about how to see the growth of our church and see the 210 people my pastor had a vision for.

I think that it really comes down to the vision of the simple church. Reading through Jaeson Ma's book the Blueprint, I"m really beginning to see that the simple church is really the way we will reach out to the lost and bring them the gospel. Basically, the idea of the simple church is that it will operate in much of the same way that the New Testament church of Acts functioned. The church in Acts did not have a centralized church head like we see today in our church. They functioned in small groups, and these small groups multiplied and reached out to thousands. Acts talks about how thousands of people would come to Christ through the efforts of the early church.

God totally wants the church to reach out to the lost and bring them to Christ. His vision for simple churches starts on the campuses, but he talks about how it can be used as a supplement to centralized churches as well. Just imagine cell groups functioning as simple churches outside of the main church service. The leaders will build up and train leaders to lead the church service, then they will move on and start another simple church. Than the leaders that they raised up will do the same thing. It's spiritual multiplication! Jaeson Ma talks about the differences between the church today and the simple church. The church today is like an octopus. If you cut off a tentacle it will grow back again. But if you cut off the head, it will die. The church today is centralized. The simple church is like a starfish. You cut it in half, two starfish will grow. You cut it in 50 pieces, and you have 100 starfish. You need both the centralized church and the simple church. So imagine having simple churches working under the centralized church. You could have 210 leaders leading simple churches in no time.

And as I was talking to my cousin today, I realized the magnitude of 210 leaders. To have 210 simple churches would in a sense imply a church that is at least 2000 people if not more. It's crazy to think that our church of about 120 people growing to be that big in two years. But through prayer, evangelism, discipleship, and training through the simple church, we could see it happen. For man it is impossible, but for God anything is possible. And I'm thinking like what would this look like in my church. Well, we already have cell groups. If we treated these like simple churches and developed leaders who then go on and start their own churches, we could begin to see exponential growth. Then if started discipling and training up the youth, they would go onto their schools and reaching out to their classmates and friends. This could have the potential of reaching even more people. Then, you think about the college ministry. My church is supporting Epic Movement. If I disciple and train up leaders who then go on and train and disciple others, we have a chain of simple church leaders that covers everyone from adult, youth, to college students. And what about the children? The possibilities are endless.

This vision is just for my church. Now imagine this on the college campus. Say we start with Epic Movement reaching the Asian Americans. Here, we would raise up and train up leaders who lead the movement on their own. Then, we would move on and start simple churches for the international students, the Native Americans, the Latinos, the African Americans, the engineering students, the art students, the different dorms, the list could go on. But basically the point is that through simple churches, we have the potential to spiritually multiply and spread all around our campuses, cities, and nations bringing the gospel to the lost. It's crazy!

Jaeson Ma talks about the three R's. Revival. Reformation. Restoration of the New Testament Church. It all begins with prayer (Revival). 24 hour prayer is the catalyst for revival. But you can't just have revival without social change. When we bring change to society through evangelism, we bring about reformation. With revival and reformation, we will see the Restoration of the New Testament Church. It's crazy to think has revealed his blueprint for revival, reformation, and restoration to Jaeson Ma. If you are passionate about revival and bringing the gospel to the lost in your campus, church, family, etc. read the Blueprint. It will rock your world!

Anyway, I say all this because this August, I have the opportunity to go to a training on how to strategize on how to reach the campus through simple churches and mapping the campus. It's crazy because I really wanted to go to this conference before, but I didn't think I could because I thought I was going to be in Japan still. It turns out that our trip to Japan got shortened by 10 days which means that door to go to this conference just swung wide open. It's crazy how God provides. In addition to this, there is a prophetic conference coming up next weekend that I really want to go to. I was really excited to go to it and was about to sign up when I found out that my friend couldn't go anymore. Because he couldn't go, I wouldn't have a place to stay and wouldn't be able to go either. I was kind of bummed. But it turns out, that one of my other friends was able to get us free tickets and so I might be able to go after all. It's crazy how God puts everything together in place for those who wait. God is soo good.

So anyhoo, me and my cousin were talking about all this stuff, and he told me about his trip to the Philippines and how he wanted to pray for his family and friends that he would be seeing and how he really wanted to bring them the gospel. So we started praying for them. But before that, we just started singing together and just worshipping God. The Holy Spirit totally filled us up with His presence. I could totally feel the electricity in my body. It was crazy. Worship really has an amazing effect of ushering in the Spirit.

So we prayed and talked all together about 2 and half hours. It was so awesome. My body and mind were so tired from the things of the day. But my Spirit was soaring. Isaiah 40:30-31 says, "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
I wasn't really planning on writing tonight. But I was really inspired to through some family and friends. Like I said, my family came in from LA about an hour ago now. My grandpa came up to me and just started talking to me about endtime prophecy. We talked about it for a while, and I told him about the revival that was coming before the Christ came back. And somehow we started talking about abortion and how it is the third major genocide against babies. The first was when Pharoah tried to kill Moses by having all the males killed. Then Herod tried to kill Jesus by having all the males killed again. This genocide against the babies is happening again in the form of abortion. Every generation where there has been a genocide of babies, there has been a great revival. Satan knows that is going to happen, and he is trying to stop it from happening. But God is protecting those who will lead this revival. We likewise must fight of our unborn babies. I learned a lot of this stuff reading form the Blueprint also, so again its good, check it out.

Another thing that really inspired me was reading my friend Sara's Blog. It really touched me how she has continued to trust God in the midst of the adversity she is experiencing. I know a lot of the spiritual growth I have experienced in just the last three months started when she had a random layover in Phoenix on her way to Hawaii. Ever since, we went to the 24hr prayerhouse at ASU. Everythign has changed for me. I received my first prophetic word there, and Sara really challenged me to get spiritually ready for Japan.

I remember a week later becoming more aware of things of the spirit and having lots of questions. I remember wanting to talk to one of the guys who started 24 hr prayer. That night a friend and I went to the 24 hour prayer house and there was no one there. But we stayed and prayed anyway. About an hour later, the guy that I was hoping to talk to showed up, and we ended up having a long conversation. Ever since then, it has been these kind of crazy divine appointments that God has been setting up. God has been so good to me, and I don't even know why sometimes.

God has blessed me with great family, friends, and so much more. I know that I would not be here today without the his goodness to me. It's crazy to think He would show me so much love. Oh another thing that I just remembered, as I was talking to my cousin about the Philippines and stuff, he talked to me about a great uncle I have in the Philippines. Apparently, this great uncle used to be possessed by a demon and would do crazy supernatural things like drinking 5 gallon water jugs, drinking liquor like nothing, and lifting heavy logs easily. However, when he got saved, God totally transformed his life. My cousin told me how this great uncle now prays in the Spirit, heals, prophecies, and even wakes up at 4 every morning to preach.

This one particular story about him really gets me. Apparently, this great uncle had a vision of the place he was going to preach to next. This great uncle had never been there before, but my cousin had used to live there. My great uncle described perfectly the place he was going and the things that had happened there to my cousin without ever being there. My cousin also told me about crazy stories of the spiritual warfare for weeks my great uncle faced in delivering a nephew from a demonic spirit. and he also told me other stories of his gift of discerning spirits.

This guy is legit, and it just reminds me that as Christians we too have access to this power through the Holy Spirit. It's crazy to find out that these people are in my family line. The Christian foundation that I have has been laid and passed down by the generations before me. Thinking about all these things, I pray that I can be like Elisha and have a double portion of the Spirit that was on the ancestors that was before me....which reminds me the first prophetic word I ever had talked about how I was going to be like Joshua and Elisha.....interesting. I will definitely have to look back and listen to that and share that word I received.

Anyhoo, I am kind of just rambling off. But I just wanted to share some of the interesting things that happened to me today. God is good. He loves you! It's just crazy to think that is grace is sufficient for you and me. Despite our short comings, our faults, and even our weaknesses, God has accepted us and he sees us as acceptable. In our weaknesses, He is strong.

God, thank you for love. Thank you for answered prayer. Thank you that in the midst of the storms of our life, you are still their holding our hand. Thank you that your provide and that you bless us even though we have done nothing to deserve it.

God,I pray that the desires of my heart would be in tune with yours. I pray that you would give me your desires as I delight in You. You sovereign over all things, and you are Holy! You are the creator of the universe, the firstborn of all creation. All things were created by you and for you. Thank you for you unconditional love.

Thank you for family, and for generational blessings you pass down through them. I pray that you would break down generational curses, and that you will bring unity to the family. God, bring unity to the church. God, may we be a generation that stands in the gap. We will stand on behalf of our generation and confess our sins. We confess our idolatry, our sexual promiscuity, or pride, our selfishness, our doubt. God give us the faith of a child. You said that even the faith of a mustard seed could move mountains. God remove the mountains - the barriers in our lives that keep us from you. We want to make your name famous and proclaim your name to the ends of the earth.

But teach us first to love you and delight in your presence. Teach us to enjoy and cherish the moments we have with you. Teach us to truly love you with all our hearts, souls, strength, and mind, and from the outpouring of your love for us, may you help to love our neighbors as ourselves. We want to see Jesus lifted high! A banner that flies across this land. That all men might see the truth and know. You are the way to heaven! God all glory and majesty belongs to you. Humble our hearts in adoration of you. You alone deserve our praise. Thank you for your blessings - for you love! Amen.

Genesis 1-26

So I really want to try to read through the entire Bible before I go to Japan this summer. I realize that there really isn't any excuse for not spending time in the Word. I have about 30 + days before I leave, and I'm in a season of fasting and prayer - sounds like as a good time as ever to be diligently studying the Word. So I didn't really know what to do - should I start on a reading plan, should I start in the New Testament, should I start in a random book.....So I finally decided to do what most people do when they get a book....start at the beginning.

So I started reading through Genesis, and I honestly thought it would be kind of boring going over the same stories that I read and heard about growing up a little kid in Sunday School at my Christian school. But as I started reading, I realized that the characters in the Bible were pretty radical. I began to saw details that I never really realized before.

It is amazing because if you look at the lives of all the major biblical characters who we look up to today like Noah, Abraham, Jacob - they were all flawed people. Even after God had made them promises, they seemed to lose sight of God and go on there own way.
Like Abraham for example, I never realized that he lied more than once about Sarah being his sister instead of his wife. First, he lied to the Pharaoh when they were in Egypt (Gen 12); then Abraham lies to Abimilech (Gen 20); and even Isaac lies about his wife Rebekah to Abimilech again in (Gen. 26).

There were some other things that I found really interesting reading through the first few chapters of Genesis as well. In chapter 18 of my Bible, the caption in front of verse 22 reads "Abraham intercedes for Sodom." I always knew about the story of Abraham asking God to spare the people of Sodom if he found at least 10 righteous people, but I don't think I ever saw it as "interceding." I think its cool to think of it in that term. Abraham was literally interceding for his nephew lot and the people of Sodom by going before God and asking Him to spare them. I think that changes my whole perspective of intercession. I'm not sure what it really was before, but to see the kind of communication God had with Abraham inspires me to press on in my own relationship with God. I mean it's interesting because reading earlier in chapter 18 it seems like the only reason the LORD told Abraham His plans to destroy Sodom was because Abraham was "chosen" (v. 19) by God to fulfill His promise. God truly had favor on Abraham by revealing His plans to him. So what's interesting here about intercession is that God reveals his oncoming judgment to a city, and yet through Abraham's intercession God was willing to reconsider the judgment and wrath He was about to pour out on the Sodom.

And so, I think the same goes for us when we pray and intercede on behalf of our friends, family, our churches, and the nations. God reveals Himself to us in many ways, and as we pray and intercede on behalf of our friends and family, God considers our prayers. If we earnestly seek God, we an ask him to hold back His judgment, and instead ask for Him to send revival. We see it all around, we live in a corrupt society that does not live according to God, and now more than ever we need to intercede on behalf of the sins of our generation and ask God for mercy and to bring his revival.

Furthermore while reading through Genesis, I thought it was really cool that God spoke to Abraham's enemies in dreams and visions. When Pharaoh and Abimilech were about to take Sarah as their own wives, God revealed Himself to them in dreams to stop them. Even in Abraham's sin and His distrust to God, God was faithful and extended His favor upon them.

What I also thought was really cool was that Abraham prayed to God for healing of Abimilech and his family because their wives were barren. Genesis 20:17-18 says, "Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimlech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife (Gen. 20:17-18)." This is a really cool verse because I think it might be the first time that there is prayer for healing in the Bible. So basically, Abraham is totally blessed by God. He disobeys, yet God has favor on Him. God chooses him to be the father of many nations. Abraham is able intercede with God on behalf of his nephew and a wicked city, and God hears Abraham's prayer and brings healing when Abraham asks.

It's so cool to think that because of Abraham's faith in God, it was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). He became the father of many nations, and through his faithfulness and through his lineage, Jesus was born; and because of what Jesus did for us we have the same access to the Father that Abraham had to God. God has called us to be His children, his favor is upon us, and we can intercede on behalf our friends and family. We even can pray for healing through the power that Jesus has given us through the Holy Spirit. I think its cool to see the kind of relationship that Abraham had with God, and how we can have this kind of relationship also thanks to what Jesus did on the cross for us.

Another verse that really caught my eye was Genesis 25:21. It states, "Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his request..." I thought this was really cool because here is an example of a husband praying for his wife, and the LORD answering. It is really cool to see a biblical example showing how men should be praying for their wives. I think this type of prayer goes more than just for husband and wives; I think it pertains for anyone praying and again interceding on behalf of their family. God hears our requests and our petitions when we cry out to him on behalf of people we really care about. Abraham interceded for Lot and Isaac interceded for His wife. Thus intercession for family seems like it is looked upon favorably by God, and as it shows, God answers our prayers when we pray for those we love. I especially am moved by the example of a husband praying for a wife though; it shows to me the importance that prayer will be in a marriage and how it will be important for husband and wife to be interceding for one another. It shows the importance of being a prayerful man in marriage.

Also, it is cool to see the generational characteristics of the men that are passed down. Isaac was blessed and had favor with God which I'm sure had a lot to do with his father Abraham's faithfulness and obedience to God. Abraham established a lifestyle of prayer which we see then passed on to his future generations. Its cool to think about because I know doing Steps of Freedom, I learned about not only the generational curses on a family, but the also the generational blessings. For example, James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the family, talks about how every man in his family has been a pastor for the past four generations - even his brother in laws - because of the promise God made to his very prayerful great-great-great-grandfather.

That's encouraging to me because I know that my own great-grandfather on my Mom's side was a man of prayer, and it was through his prayers that my family is even in America today. Also, i know that my grandfather on my Dad's side of the family was a man of prayer, and so is my Dad today. Its really encouraging to think of the generational coverings of prayer that have been passed on to me. It encourages me to pursue the prayer and intercession that has been passed down to me and pray fervently that it will be passed on and cover my future generations.

Woo, so i wasn't really expecting to get into all that, but God is good and brought a lot of things to my mind while I was typing. I also found some really interesting things about wells in the Bible and the phrase "Redigging wells of revival" came to mind. But that's story for later....