Cindy and I are getting settled in to our new rental home here in Colorado Springs and I am busy with our ministry and my new assignment at The Road @ Chapel Hill. It has been a very exciting month. If you read my last newsletter then you know how amazing my trip to New Zealand last month was. It took the first week of September for me to get over jetlag and wind down. I am still so amazed at what God did during my time there.
The past couple of weeks as I am learning more about my pastor, Steve Holt and the amazing ministry here at The RoadI can honestly say I have not had this level of excitement for a very long time. It seems like God has uniquely equipped me to be able to minister here at some strategic points of need. Working with the people, all the special volunteers and this wonderful staff has been such a blessing.
I want to talk with you briefly about the most important thing on my heart right now. A few weeks ago Liz Holt had a vision in our sanctuary of fire coming down on people. She felt the Lord showing here that it was a purging fire He was sending to burn away the chaff—the dark places of sin in people’s lives. That same day as Steve and Liz and Cindy and I were at lunch Cindy shared a prophecy we heard back in the 80’s given by Delores Hayford, Pastor Jack Hayford’s mom.
Pastor Jack shared this in one of the Wednesday night prayer meetings. Mama Hayford said that in the end times there would be two winds of the Spirit. The first would be a purging wind sent to expose the darkness and sin within the church. That leaders would be exposed who had hidden sin and dark places in their lives. The second wind would be a wind of anointing that could only be received if you gave place to the first wind.
My friends, I believe these are profound in light of what we see happening in our world today. I have always said there is a direct relationship between obedience and power. God wants us to be holy and pure, free from the dirt and sin that binds us up and stifles God’s power from flowing through our lives. I believe this is perhaps the main reason why we, who call ourselves followers of Christ, are not having the influence over our culture we were intended to have.
As a direct result of all of this Pastor Steve has spent the last two Sundays preaching on The Refiners Fire. It has been powerful and a much needed wakeup call for all of us to take more seriously our own need for allowing the Holy Spirit to search and cleanse us. As I have been praying about this I have felt prompted to actually change my message for our church on the 14th of this month. I will be talking on Real Christianity In An Unreal World.
We are going to explore some of the reasons why we are losing our culture and ways we can turn it around. One of the main themes suggests we need to stop cursing the darkness and just be a light. I will also be challenging all of us to start praying over what we call The Seven Mountains Of Culture. We are producing a great handout to tuck into your bible as a guide for how to pray over these mountains and invite in the kingdom of God.
I will also challenge us to take our responsibility as citizens of this great country seriously and be sure to vote in this upcoming election. My friends, we are living in challenging times and we must take our responsibility seriously.
Finally I need to challenge you to please help us with the final touches needed for a full launch of our new curriculum. The workbook production is proving to be a much bigger project than we anticipated and we still need funds to complete the second manual for MOT 201. Promise Keepers New Zealand has expressed an interest in adopting our two-year curriculum for their country and we are excited about that. However, we do need to finish production. The good news is that we are very close. Would you prayerfully consider a generous gift this month to help us?
We are so thankful for you, your prayers, support and your faithful partnership in serving our Lord.
May God richly bless you,