Take a look

http://www.francischan.org/media_player.php?f=Think%20of%20Me%2Emov


I think this video is thought provoking.
Please give generously to missionaries. Find one you really like and support them with your finances, prayers, and letters of encouragement.
www.irismin.org is a worthwhile and trustworthy cause to give to.

Potty Mouths

Well, the weather is nice, and with nice weather, the neighbors seem to expect that you will cut your grass and do all that yard work stuff. Sigh. Since clearly, I am a princess, I don't do yard work. Ever. Ok, well maybe sometimes, but not without a lot of complaining. And why let three perfectly good boys go to waste? So their job was to fill bags up with pine cones. Pine cones, those things that riding lawn mowers don't like a whole lot. And with that chore came cash. Yep. They got paid, which meant dinner at McDs. So off we go for a nice late spring treat.

Did you know God likes to hang out at restaurants? Me either, but He does. So we are sitting there enjoying our happy meals and all, when a group of 5 big fellas come in and sit at the table right next to us. One of 'em stands, being it's just a four seater. By this time we are enjoying hot fudge sundaes and trying to have a couple of dinner conversations with the kids.

And there's those loud fellas, using every foul combination of vowels and consonants possible. I mean, "I" was educated sitting there. The "f" word and the "g-d" word was thrown around as frequently as we might use the word "the" in a sentence. It was awful. And just as I was so tempted to tell these boys that they needed to tone down the naughty tongue wagging, that still small voice inside of me said not to. Was it fear? Not at all. As some of you well know, I don't back down from the devil. Well, I had already made eye contact with several of them, hoping that they would no doubt sense my disapproval and would on their own, out of the kindness of their hearts, or just plain good manners, stop with at least the worst of it, but instead, they gave me the "whatcha gonna do about it looks." Very annoying. Don't they know who I am? I mean I have a tiara and everything. Jeesh.

So as I'm sitting there listening to only about the first five minutes of these colorful metaphors being slung around my children, I start to get a little miffed. Ok, a lot miffed. And then God gently reminds me that these people are lost, and how can I expect them to act like anything other than lost people. He's right you know. If they don't know Him, they don't know how to act like Him. And if they don't know Him, it's up to us to tell them of Him.

So I wait for an open door, seeing that clearly these fellas are my target. But no doors open up. So I sit and pray and wait and nothing. And really, since my children are with us, I'm not so very brave. I look over at Frank and he's all mellow....so I'm like, what's up with you? And the whole time, he's over there getting wacked with the Holy Ghost, getting tanked on the new wine. So not fair. Well at this point I'm not feeling like we can do much with the crowd the way it is, the fiestyness of those fellas, the loudness of the room, and mostly the fact that my small children are there. Mama bear and all. So we decide to leave. I never said a word to Frank that these guys were the "ones", however, while we are walking to the van, Frank says, "Did you get a word yet?" I love it when we are on the same page like that. So we talk a minute and he says he doesn't have a word but he KNOWS he can't leave without talking to those guys. So I get the kids settled into the van and Frank goes back inside and has a little chat with those boys.

Now, can you guess what they THOUGHT Frank was coming in for? Yep. They thought that Mr. Preacher Man took his sweet little family out to the van and was coming in to give them "what-fors" for talking potty talk in front of them. Know what they got? Yep. The love of Jesus. Don't ya just love surprising people. I watched through the window what was going on. Apparently he walked up to their table and told them he had a message for them. Then he started speaking life into them and offered to pray for anyone. One guy DID want prayer for his life to get on track (WOW) and the other guys sat there very humbly and received, rather well, the words of life and hope that Frank was speaking to them. It was a God moment. And one those boys won't likely ever forget. Going to McDs, getting some chow, then talking dirty in front of some princess and her kids, then low and behold, not getting reamed for it, but instead getting the message of Jesus and being loved and accepted by some guy still dressed in his dress shirt from work. Now that's good stuff.

Pizza Hut in Atlanta

Well, we took a trip to Atlanta for a home school day at Six Flags. It was quite HOT! Hot enough in fact that Franklin ended up with heat exhaustion. He was actually quite sick and we were not able to do much at the park except rest and hydrate. What a day. And what a better way to end the day than at a Pizza Hut near the hotel we stayed in, don't ya think?. Yum.

Being a Friday night, we expected the restaurant to be crowded, but sometimes God will do things unexpectantly to acheive His purposes. It begins to pour down rain just as we got in and were seated. There was one waitress. ONE. On a Friday night. But there was only one other family in the whole dining room though. Kinda strange.

So our waitress comes over and God says "this is the one tonight." Well, to be honest with you, I didn't really want to be "on the clock" because we had had such an awful day with a sick child and being out of town and exhausted, I mean I was tired and just wanted to feed my family and go back to the hotel and crash.... but when the Boss calls, you just go with Him and do the stuff. He gives you strength. He really does. So we start making conversation with the waitress and find out she has been there all night by herself and that the dining room had previously been packed out. She was very tired and very worn out and very discouraged. And very drawn. There was one point where I almost invited her to sit with us, since she was hanging out with us so much as it was. :) I loved it! It was God that was drawing her near. He's such a good, good God!

Well, the evening progresses, menus are colored, bellies are filled, drinks are surprisingly not spilled, and it's time to pay and go back to the hotel for the night. So Frank commissions me to be the "one" (as if I didn't know already!) and he takes the kiddos out to the car, while I go up to the register to pay.

There she is, our unsuspecting target, who has already shared her life story with us, which included a 3 month old baby that she was single parenting, a pending move from whomever it is she was currently living with to be on her own, and plans to attend college in the fall for bigger than life dreams. And I have nothing. No words of knowledge, no prophetic vision, no angelic visitation, no beams of light, nothing.

So I walked up to her, handed her the payment, and she looked deeply in my eyes with that look of desperation. That look I am starting to become very familiar with in people who recognize that you have something living within you that they want. That Hope. That Jesus. That mighty, mighty Jesus.

And then it came. The words of LIFE and HOPE. Out of my mouth, without rehearsal. As I stood there, the first thing that happened was that I reached over and gave her a hug, kept my hand on her shoulder as I pulled away and remained face to face with her and out came, “God is here for you. He wants you to know that He has a plan for you bigger than anything you can imagine, and He is going to take care of you and of your little girl.” She replied with an unworthily, “I hope so.” Then I said, “God is going to supernaturally enable you to learn all the things you will need to learn to succeed in college, you are going to be amazed that you will learn that medical terminology so quickly and so easily, and you will know that it is God that is enabling you. He has something big in store for you and wants to bring you out of where you are now.” And that was it. Not that profound, really, but to this young lady, it was diamonds. She was beaming. In fact she begged me to please come back. I explained to her that I was from out of town and she was genuinely disappointed. Why? Was it ME she really wanted? No. It was the Presence that was with me. His Presence. I am nothing with out Him.

What would happen, if the next time you go to a restaurant, you speak words of life into your wait staff? What would really happen? Revival. That’s what would happen. Go love someone to LIFE this week!

May First Friday - Cinco De Mayo

It was sooooooo crowded down town this time! WOW! Where did all these people come from? And for it to be the first part of May...we froze our buns off! The wind was really whippin'! Yet still, it was sidewalk to sidewalk of people!

Well, you know what the means.....our "congregation" was "up" and we had a lot more "visitors"! LOL! So we maintained our roles as pastors of A Church Without Walls, and stood on the side walk greeting people as if they had just walked into our church building. What ended up happening was kind of weird and humbling all at the same time. Instead of just us offering ministry to the passers-by, WE were ministered to through a lot of encouragement from folks who just wanted to stop by and say they supported what we were doing and wanted us to know that. That was special. Truly it was.

With a bigger crowd, we had a bigger opportunity. Unfortunately, our usual team members were unable to attend, so we were flying solo....well, not really. Holy Spirit was all over the place! Wow I love Him! We got to pray for healing for several people, lots of arthritis and that sort of thing. But I think the thing that was the most memorable was a man who came up for prayer. He was desperate for a touch from God, and we were more than happy to share His love with him. He came up and introduced himself and we talked for a while about salvation. He said he had received Christ years ago and was really struggling with some things right now. So Frank began to pray for him, and had his hands somewhere on his shoulders, while I had one hand on his back. And then the Lord told me to place my hand over his heart. This is not the first time God has compelled me to do this. I wonder why. ?? Anyway, when it was my turn to pray for this man, I asked him how much he had had to drink. He just replied that he had been drinking, which was apparent because all the while we were talking with him, he was less than understandable. So as I took my turn approaching the Throne of Grace on this man's behalf, I began by commanding his body to sober up right now in the name of Jesus. Now I'd like to say that there was a big "Woah" moment, like we've seen before, but it wasn't as a pronounced manifestation of deliverance as we have experienced in other people. However, even without the dramatic sobering that I wanted to see, this man did very suddenly become much more coherent. You go God! This was cool!

After we prayed for his specific needs, chiefly a desire for alcohol to be removed, and his relationship with his wife restored, he began to really open up with Frank about his life, his needs, his struggles and his desperations. I love that about God. I love how He allows His love to flow through you in such a way that it touches someone, and they begin to share things with you in such a way that you can point them to the One Who can solve all their problems. He's such a good, good God! He ended up giving Frank his phone number (well the phone number of the friend he was staying with) so that Frank could call him so he could continue ministering to him. Frank spoke words of LIFE into him......Heidi Baker (IRIS Ministries http://www.irismin.org/) has this great saying that instead of loving them to death, you love them to LIFE! We loved on this man for quite some time, and he felt like he had a friend, and a better Friend, Who was ready to listen to him and help him in his time of need.

While you were out of town, dear....

While I was in New Jersey at Tawdra's fabulous birthday party at a posh country club, I had a few minutes to call Frank to check in. He was higher than a kite. I knew he had to have had a good time with the Lord that day. And he did. Apparently, during the conference in Columbia, John Crowder spoke on the very subject that is right up our alley....getting out there. So after the speaking, he encouraged everyone to get out there and "do the stuff." Frank ends up going with this group of people, of which included a phenomenal worship artist, who paints beautiful paintings during the worship music. Unbelievable use of color and imagery. Anyway, I guess Frank and this team ended up moseyin' on down to the local college where they stopped and hung out there for quite some time. Frank was able to speak with a few people, giving words of destiny and prophesying over them, offering them encouragement and the love of Jesus. There was one young man who he encountered that he spoke to at length, and ultimately ended up leading him to the Lord. Whoo-hooo! Another one for the Kingdom! YAY God!!!

Applebees and Alcohol

A couple weeks ago we were met with a challenging situation with a man who is very special to us, who has struggled with unbelief in God, as well as other demons. During a bold challenge to this man, Frank told him that God would reveal Himself as real to him within 24 hours. Well, you know God, when He's met with something birthed out of desperate faith, He's going to get the GLORY. Within 24 hours another believer had been compelled to reach out to this man, thus beginning a journey for him to start exploring the possiblity of there really being a God. It has been amazing watching God work in this man's life to bring him to realization that He is really a living and wonderful God!

Tonight we had our small group and since I pretty much feel like I was breathing under water from what seems like an asthma exacerbation from my exposure to some mustiness on the plane trip to New Jersey this past weekend, we decided to skip everyone coming over to my hurricane of a house and go to Applebees instead.

So while we are sitting there, this horribly smelly guy keeps coming in and out to smoke a cigarette and return to the bar. Since my lungs are on strike, I was especially sensitive to his odors. But God pointed him out to me and he was the "target" for the night. hee hee So we are sitting there, the 6 of us, having already finished eating, and we are talking about the ministries and etc that we are getting ourselves involved in, start talking about how the church has failed in so many areas in just reaching out to people, saved or unsaved. We also talked about a video by casting crowns for "Does Anybody Hear Her," which I will post the link too, you've GOT to see this. The song itself is gripping, but to see the video....tear drop city!

So while we are discussing it, I'm watching smelly dude off and on and God is saying, "Wait.......... wait......... wait.......... wait." Ever seen one of those well trained dogs that you can put a cookie on the top of his nose and say, "Wait....... wait........ wait........ wait......... NOW!" and the dog will sit there until you say "NOW" and then he will gulp down the cookie? It's always about cookies with me, isn't it?

So suddenly, I get the "NOW," and before I know it, I'm on my feet standing next to smelly dude, who has clearly had way too many trips to the bar, and I put my hand on his shoulder and look him in the eye. Naturally, he thought I was hitting on him since he was drunk, and didn't realize I was some old chick. So I'm asking him how many he's had and if he needs a ride home soon. He tells me just four beers and asks, "WHO ARE YOU?" I'm like, please, like you don't know WHO I am? Ok, well, he didn't.....having not heard of me in New Jersey where I am obviously famous, so I tell him I'm the angel that has come to keep him out of trouble tonight. He laughs. Jeesh. How rude.

So we chat a bit and I tell him that we want to drive him home when he's had all the drinks he's going to have. So he is like, "Who are you?"

Why am I only famous in my own eyes????

So we start to tell him that we are here because God wanted us to help him tonight. The dude is overwhelmed, I mean OVERWHELMED by the attention we are giving him....the love he is so definitely feeling, and says, "HOW? Who told you to come over here? How did you know to just come over here? I mean did you hear a voice, did you hear something? How does this happen?" I told him Jesus sent us, and that He loves him so much and when he's had all the beer he intends to drink, we are going to be takin' care of him. So he's like, "WHAT? How do you mean God told you to come over here?"

So I tell him, "Here's how it works. We sit, we eat, we wait on God, He highlights the person HE wants His loved expessed to the most, and YOU'RE the one He picked. So understand that we are here to help you get home because God loves you so very much." So then Frank starts to talk to him and I go back to my table and let Frank do his thing. This man was so overwhelmed by the love we showed him, that he could hardly believe it. We never condemned him for having too much to drink and even told him we would wait til he was done with his beer. So after a while Frank comes back to sit down and we talk with our friends some more and then this guy finishes his last beer.

Now our mistake here was probably in walking away from him while he guzzled down the rest of his drink, because then the little devils were encrouching upon him and he got nervous and intimidated out of nowhere and tried to sneak out. I caught him though. Aren't I mean?

So he said he had another ride and he'd be fine. No problem. So we go to leave, and I put my hand on his shoulder, shake his hand, look him deep in his eyes and tell him, "God loves you." He says, "Yeah, ok, thanks." So I say, "No, you're not gettin' it dude. You're pretty messed up right now so you can't comprehend what I'm saying, but that spirit-man that's deep inside of you (and I point to his heart) is gettin' this, and I am speaking to that man deep inside and telling you that God loves you and has sent us here to tell you that so you will know that forever in your heart and come to know Him."

hahahah JESUS GOT HIM! I could feel it. YAY God!!

So I'm convinced that something was happening inside there and God will germinate that seed that was planted, and He will get this dude. You know, that's all you need to do, just love on people, even drunk smelly ones, ESPECIALLY drunk smelly ones. And I am not going to accept that there will be no fruit from that. Frank delivered the Word to him, and God's Word will not return void and will accomplish everything It sets out to accomplish.

In a way, drunk people are easier to minister to. Certainly easier than "religious" people. Their flesh is so plastered that you are really able to get down to the spirit-man of the person, KWIM? The Word digs in deeper past all of the thoughts and fears, right to the heart. Their flesh is unable to reject the Word with a coherent thought, and later, God does His thing in them. I have read stories about people who have been stoned beyond reason or drunk out of their mind and get ministered to, and a year later you find them completely saved and changed and out on the streets doing the same thing you did with them, and this is without the follow up of the initial ministering person! That's good news to me! That's encouraging to me to know you're not just wasting your time with 'em. And truthfully, anytime you SPEAK the Word to anyone, it's never a waste of time. Ever. So speak it!

With this particular fella, he was totally receiving the Living Word that is inside of us, (no tract necessary here!!) and there was breakthrough happening. But we walked away from the bar and went back to our table to wait for him to be ready. Something I think was a mistake in this case, but that's ok, God has His way even when we mess it up a bit. I literally saw the demonic come over him like a cloud, surrounding him as a buffer to our efforts, and his personality changed. He was no longer receptive but instead was trying to get away, he even broke a 20 ounce glass on the bar trying to leave. Then he was embarrassed because all of his 'friends' were laughing at him. You know who wasn't laughing at him? The Jesus freaks. Then when we went to leave and he had gotten himself another ride (he wanted to go to Lime Light, which is another bar, and we wanted to take him home, not to another bar, so he found someone to take him to L.L.), he was being more influenced by the devil at that moment, that's why he was indifferent suddenly, but when I came over and laid my hand on him again, it's like turning a light on and the dark just goes away. It was pretty cool, and INSTANT. Seriously, you have more power in your pinky than the devil has in his entire fleet of fallen angels. The Holy Spirit that is within me inundated him with His Presence, and the devil must flee! And again, I had a breakthrough with him and got to his deep parts of his heart and he knew and understood that love of God that was reaching out to him. I can't really explain it good, but the battle between the good and evil, or the flesh, the devil, and big, big God, is a might good fun to watch. hee hee Because the Light belongs in the darkness!

And you never know, we might have been this man's "24 hours"....just like someone was for our dear friend. And I don't ever want to miss an opportunity to be the light in the darkness. Do you? Go somewhere and turn on the Light!

Here's that link to that Casting Crowns Song. Now every time I hit this link it says it has been removed, but I find it again, post it again, then it's been removed again. So if this one doesn't work, go to You Tube and type in Casting Crowns and look for Does Anybody Hear Her. It's the video BY Casting Crowns, with that group singing in it. It is gripping and relevant to what happens today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkynTSM1jFw

Take Him With You!

Well I had a great weekend! I had the absolute pleasure of flying to New Jersey for one of my very best friend's 40th birthday party and it was a special treat indeed. We had so much fun wearing tiaras and being self proclaimed beauty queens. I was dubbed "Miss Understood." We also had Miss Leading, Miss Behaved, Miss Chievious, Miss Cellaneous, Miss Nomer, and Miss Guided. It was the most fun I think I have ever had outside of Chuck E Cheese. LOL!

What I did not want to be was Missed Opportunity, so I prayed for doors to open, especially on the flight, and for ministry to happen. And it did! You know why? Because I wanted it, and my Daddy gave it to me. He always gives us the Kingdom things we are hungry for. And while I may never know the full outcome of my efforts to be the light in the darkness, I believe by faith that God's Kingdom was released, most especially on the flight from Atlanta to Phili. God's Word tells us when we draw near to Him, He will draw all men near to us. And He does, ya know, He means what He says. We are the temple of the Holy Ghost, and where ever we go, we take Him with us, and it's our job to release His love into the multitudes. I like that job~it's FUN!

One encounter on the flight that was especially memorable to me was the man who was sitting across the isle from me. God had already high-lighted him and I knew he was "the one," my Divine Appointment. So as I waited on God to make it happen, I read a book on the flight. I was reading "Light Belongs in the Darkness," by Patricia King. I could tell this man wanted to speak to me, as this often happens, most especially when I've been in God's Presence, and the fragrant anointing oil of Him is still oozing about me, attracting people like a magnet. It's good stuff! I kept glancing over out of the corner of my eye and waiting for a God-portunity to happen, and sensing that this man was eager to get some of the stuff that was living inside of me. I can't explain how it happens, it just does, and it's a God thing. He really does draw all men near. Too cool.

Finally, he initiated a conversation and he began to share with me deep personal stuff about his life, and I knew that he was drawn to the Spirit of God and was not finding comfort in my words or my presence, but in His Presence. Wow. God is so awesome! He shared things about his marriage of nearly 30 years that was coming to an end, his emotional attachment to his wife, his hurts and his fears. I mean the dude was sharing some deep stuff here to a perfect stranger.....and let's face it, you can't get stranger than me. Then I was able to pray for him, I reached my arm across the isle and laid it on his shoulder, right there in front of the other passengers (do I care what other people think??) and prayed for him and his marriage and for God to release His love into this man. And He did. I could feel it releasin'! I could tell that he was deeply touched by God through that experience, and I know without a doubt that he will never be the same. God is moving. He is always moving. I just want to follow that Cloud, that Pillar of Light. It was a special time of ministry for that man and I was honored to be a part of it.

It doesn't matter where you go, you are carrying the Light. Don't keep it inside of you! Share it! Spread the Light. Take Him with you.....then release His power into the world! The Kingdom is truly at hand!