On Courage, Missions and Other Cool Stuff

Gdansk, Poland

Wow! There’s a lot to talk about this morning. Pastor Eric is in Poland (soon to be in Croatia), Pastor Mindy, Pastor Lolo and Jay Neal got set on fire at Global Awakening’s School of Healing, it was Missions Sunday, and it’s the harvest season.

Has there ever been a better time to be at EFC? Well, the Cowboys did lose, so maybe next week will be even better.

Courage

Courage is a curious thing. And as we learned from Pastor Mindy, courage can also look like a crazy thing. But, when God is on your side, it can also be a pretty cool thing. Just like Jonathan’s plan to take on the Philistines single-handedly seemed crazy, we should start coming up with some crazy plans of our own, and trust that the same God who delivered the Philistines into Jonathan’s hands, will deliver our enemies into our hands. Courage, after all, is a lot easier to command when your trust is in God.

You can read this part of Jonathan’s story at 1 Samuel 14.

Missions Sunday

Appropriately, yesterday was EFC’s Missions Sunday. For anyone who stumbles upon this post or who is relatively new to EFC, the third Sunday of every month at EFC is designated specifically for giving to mission organizations. Here are just a few of the opportunities to support missions work at Emmanuel Fellowship Church:

Prepare International – Pastor Eric and Keegan are currently traveling with a team from Prepare International, and EFC members frequently support and accompany Prepare International mission teams.

Mission Brazil – Part of the reason Pastor Mindy and Pastor Lolo attended the Global Awakening School of Healing and Impartation was because it is a prerequisite to travel with a Global Awakening team to Brazil, which they will be doing in 2010. If you are interested in going to Brazil with the team, please contact Pastor Mindy for more information.

Tents of Mercy – Tents of Mercy is a Messianic Jewish organization spreading the gospel in Israel.  Tents of Mercy currently has five congregations throughout Israel, and EFC currently supports the Katzir Asher (Harvest of Asher) congregation in Akko.

World Bible Translation Center – Help translate the Bible into new languages for distribution throughout the world.

Sweetwater Prayer Center – Help support our very own Sweetwater Prayer Center.

Harvest Season

It’s the harvest season, and all the seed you have sown over the year – whether financial, in ministry, or at home – is ready to be harvested. The key, however, is to harvest because the crop doesn’t gather itself. So go and gather your financial harvest. Go and gather your spiritual harvest. Go and gather the harvest of souls you have worked on all year. They are ripe for the harvest.

I’m not sure where exactly that came from, but I hope it’s a good word for somebody, or a lot of somebodies.

You Heard it at EFC

The just-for-Bryant Wilkinson version (which includes his favorite song):

• “See His Love” – Kim Walker
• “I Adore You” – Chris Quilala
• “God of This City” – Chris Tomlin
• “The More I Seek You” – Kari Jobe

On the Radar

Advent Choir – The Advent Choir is a new and exciting adventure for EFC and is open to anyone who would like to participate. The choir will sing throughout the holiday season. Practice begins tonight November 16, 2009 @ 7pm at EFC.

WorldChangers – The EFC children’s ministry, a.k.a WorldChangers, has a new website where parents can keep up with weekly lessons and everything else going on with their little world changers.

Revelation Bible Study – The Revelation Bible Study meets weekly on Tuesdays @ noon at EFC. It’s not too late – it’s never too late. Come join in this in depth study verse-by-verse through the book of Revelation led by EFC’s very own Curtis Ward, who is blogging about the study on his blog The Watchman’s Gaze. Check it out.

Last Word

All the reports I’ve heard from Pastor Eric have been good, so keep praying for the wondeful work being done in Eastern Europe by Pastor Eric, Keegan and the whole Prepare International team.

I think I will also be writing next week’s Monday Morning Review, so if you have any news or info that you want included, please email me or leave me a comment below. Have a great week.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETWATER PRAYER CENTER!

Happy 1^st birthday to the Sweetwater Prayer Center!  We are so excited to celebrate the one year anniversary of a dream.

The Sweetwater Prayer Center was established as a place of prayer that is available 24 hours a day for everyone in our community.  You can register and receive the entry code to the Prayer Center at the bottom of the Prayer Center Website.

During the past year, we have logged almost one thousand hours of prayer in the Prayer Center.  We have also had the privilege of hosting the National Day of Prayer for our community, and we have experienced the tremendous blessing of hosting friends from twelve different nations as they have joined us in prayer right here at 1418 Hailey Street.

…these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.  Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” –Isaiah 56:7 (NIV)

As a “house of prayer for all nations,” we have a twofold dream for the Sweetwater Prayer Center.  First, we desire that a representative from every nation in the earth would pray at the Prayer Center.  Second, we aspire to establish a network of prayer that provides a representative to pray for every nation in the earth.  This vision of adopting each nation in prayer is described more fully HERE.

Click HERE to see a map of nations who have been represented in the Sweetwater Prayer Center:

Click HERE to see a map of nations receiving prayer through the Sweetwater Prayer Center:

For additional articles on missions and world prayer, you may want to check out:

• 5 Ways to Pray for World Missions
• My Prayer for Iran
• Bullet Train Prayer

And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” — Revelation 5:9-10 (NIV)

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MY PRAYER FOR IRAN

Iran is a nation of mystery for Americans.  An older generation may have different memories, but those of us who came of age after the Islamic Revolution only know the intrigue of flowing black robes, long beards, and nuclear ambitions.  We are perplexed by a nation that can be in turmoil over the recent election of Ahmadinejad over Mousavi, and still be ruled by a supreme leader.

But there is much more to the people of Iran than what we see on the evening news.  Under the heavy hand of the Islamic Republic, there is the beauty of the Persian culture, there is the majesty of a mountainous landscape, and there is the unstoppable growth of the Christian church.

The estimates of the Christian population in Iran in the 1980s were around the one thousand mark.  Current statistics indicate the Body of Christ in Iran is over one million strong.

Although the Christian church in Iran may be loosely connected and heavily persecuted, it has become an unstoppable force.

After a wonderful encounter with a Christian brother of Persian descent, I offer up my prayer for Iran:

• I pray for the Lord to strengthen the resolve of our Christian brothers and sisters in Iran.
• I pray for leaders of the Christian church to be united and develop strategic ways to disciple the Body of Christ in Iran.
• I pray for the eyes of the nation to continue to be opened to the corruption of the Islamic regime, and that the threads which are currently unraveling would rip away the veil of darkness that covers the land.
• I pray for the Lord to bring an end to the evil regime that currently oppresses the people of the region.
• I pray for the beautiful culture of the Persian people to be preserved and find its fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• I pray for Iranian refugees who have fled in search of asylum to find comfort, shelter, and favor among the international community.  I pray they will encounter Iranian Christians who are scattered all over Asia and Eastern Europe. 
• I pray for the Christian church worldwide to make room to receive our Iranian brothers and sisters into their fellowships.
• I pray for a steady flow of the Word of God to continue to pour over the borders of Iran through print, satellite, radio, and the internet.

Ask our Lord what part He would have you continue to play in the healing and restoration of an entire people group.  How is He leading you to change the shape of your world?

Here are some additional resources to assist you in your prayer for Iran:

You can catch up on your history and current events of Iran by checking out wikipedia. 

Discover more about Iran and how you can pray at the Voice of the Martyrs website.

Click below to catch a brief glimpse of the landscape of Iran.

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5 WAYS TO PRAY FOR WORLD MISSIONS

Change the Shape of Your World

As I helped my father-in-law build a tree house for my sons, I was amazed at how the right tools can make a difficult job easier and much more enjoyable.

My sons have been begging for a tree house for years, and I have wanted to build one for them.  The simple truth is I kept putting it off because I didn’t have the knowledge or the resources to get the job done.

Doesn’t that describe how so many of us feel about our prayer lives?

We want to be a prayer warrior and greatly desire to shake Heaven with Bullet Train Prayers for the nations.  We just keep putting it off because we don’t know how.

Not anymore!

Here are 5 tools to equip you to pray for the nations, or that one nation that God has laid on your heart.  It is time to take your prayer life from thinking and wishing to standing and declaring!

Check out these tools and resources for world missions prayer.

1. The CIA World Fact Book is an amazing place to start your search for world prayer information.  Here you can find information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.  Now that’s sure to awaken a sense of calling toward a specific place or people.
2. Operation World is a complete global missions prayer guide.  It is like the encyclopedia of world missions prayer!
3. Voice of the Martyrs is a sobering website for those of you who feel your heart being led to pray for a persecuted country.  It is a remarkable resource that will take your prayers from focusing on maps and flags to seeing the faces of men and women who put their life on the line because of their love for Christ.
4. Prepare International is the website of a dear friend and visionary ministry that is helping to develop leaders and churches in Eastern Europe.  Those of you who’s hearts are drawn toward this geographic location will find specific prayer points and meet ministers who are laboring in the forgotten fields of Eastern Europe for our Lord.
5. Once you determine your world prayer direction, I encourage you to log onto the Sweetwater Prayer Center website and take action to express where your prayers will be focused.  You will find a map on the site indicating which countries are currently being prayed for by friends of the Sweetwater Prayer Center.  I invite you to email me with your name and the country you are praying for so we can count you among the intercessors who will change the shape of the world through prayer.

Now you have some tools.  Go build something!

May the Lamb who was slain receive the full reward of His suffering.

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