I blogged last week about the past weekend: we had signficant events in two of our foundational ministries: Healing and Recovery.
When I woke up Friday morning, I had the same level of anticipation that I had on Christmas morning when I was a child. I knew that the coming weekend would be a gift. Friday night the Healing Prayer Training, Weekend 2 took place: Unlocking the Key of Emotional and Inner Healing.
Part of the joy for the weekend was the combination of the people that were assembling for the training: my dear friend, Terri Parzybok from Living Free Ministries, our sister healing ministry in Denver was flying in with her friend, Terri who is part of the leadership team for LFM.
Several women were driving in from Helena, MT where Muffie and I did a women's retreat in October. The team from Mt. Vernon came down in mass, ready to be healed and to learn to be a healer of others.
Others who are from Seattle came in with the same look of expectancy that I woke up with earlier that morning. We knew that the Lord was going to be present with us and that he would touch us in ways that go beyond our normal experience. The faith in the room was already really high in expectancy of the Lord's healing power flowing forth, because everyone had experienced it at least once before.
I love what happens when we assemble in an atmosphere of faith. It's such a privilege for me to be able to teach about healing when it seems that everyone is like a little bird with their mouth propped open to drink it all in.
It was over too soon. When we stood in the circle at the end Saturday afternoon and lit our candles (representing that we are missio lux: a mission of light to the world), and told what we were leaving behind and what we were taking with us...no one seemed ready to leave.
But, we knew we must leave because we only get to keep what we give away. We have a mission to go and help others stand in the freedom that we have received. Sunday, despite it being the exact time of the Seahawks playoff game, we had a housefull of people ready to hear teaching from Terri Parzybok from Living Free Ministries. She helped all of us, myself included, pray in greater faith for physical healing. I kept getting texts through the morning of people that had physical needs so we were able to bring those requests and many others to the Lord for his healing power to be released.
I have some friends who have a baby that was born very prematurely. Her name is Svea Lucia. Lucia means "light" in Swedish. That morning the drs. determined that she was coming down with pneomonia. We stood and prayed and proclaimed the truth that Jesus is the healer, that by his stripes we are healed (Is 53). Right after we did this and I was texting the family about our prayer, the sun burst through the heavy cloud cover, shined right in the room for about 1 minute and then disappeared again.
I later got a text from Svea's parents that the temperature was down and that there were no signs of the infection!
The weekend ended with the Martin Luther King holiday celebrating Celebrate Recovery's 3 year anniversary. We ate a delightful meal while I looked around the room and saw a lot of men, and some women, who were sitting together eating as meaningful friends, because they have walked out their recovery together. They are finding freedom as they look towards God and teh support of one another to live a lifestyle like Jesus and 12 steps.
When the large group time started, we worshipped to the original music of the Rag Band who have faithfully come each week for 3 years to bring worship to CR, and then three of the key leaders gave testimonies. They were full of pain becoming freedom as they took intentional steps towards freedom.
Intentionality is the key word. Everything that took place last weekend was people "INTENTIONALLY" gathering to pursue that which Jesus died for and promised to us "If we continue as his disciples, we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free."
The "if" is our part. If we continue to pursue Jesus and his truth, we will live in freedom. It's a partnership with him: we intentionally come seeking his truth and healing, and he comes and brings healing and freedom.
It was a good weekend....I am grateful to be part of all of it.
Missio Lux set aside the first week of January as a time of prayer dedication for the New Year 2011. We wrote a prayer booklet for each day and gathered every morning from 6 to 8 (those who could make it) culminating in a Concert of Prayer Saturday morning where we all gathered to dedicate the year to Jesus.
It was interesting to see what happened each time that we gathered together. We would often begin with some words of praise, but very quickly the room became almost silent as we experienced the peace of the Lord’s presence.
Tuesday night Healing Prayer gathered and when we went into prayer, the same thing happened. Some verbal praises and then a calm descended on us where we all sat in the presence and peace that the Lord gave to us. When we began to process it at the end, almost every single person had received a direction about REST from the Lord.
Saturday was much the same. It is clear that 2011 is to be a year of learning to “Move from a place of Rest.”
I have been reading Exodus this week and when I came to Exodus 14:13-14, I knew once again that I was to pay close attention to Moses’ instruction to the Israelites: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
This morning I read in the book, Blessing Your Spirit Day 4 which starts with the exact same passage and continues to state, “Your Father intends for you to rest at peace in Him as He takes care of your enemies. I bless you with an unafraid heart that will lead you to the place of peace where God will fight for you and you will not have to fight. You will stand or move forward doing the things God has called you to do, and He will fight your battles” (page 10).
The theme of rest, even in the midst of the battles of life, continues to come forward to us. I know that we all love the concept of resting while the Lord does the work, but we need to ask the question, “How do we practically walk this out in the 21st century when life demands on us are so high?”
I am still processing it so I don’t claim to have all the answers but these are my thoughts so far.
In creation, the Lord ordered the day to begin at evening. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day (Gen 1:3-5).
So, it seems that God set us up to work from rest. Our day begins with sleep. It ends with work. This is the exact opposite of how we live. We start our day with work, and end with rest.
The opposite ways are a priority clash to the Lord, I believe. I think it takes place in the differences of life approaches through the Greek system of life versus the Hebrew system that the Lord developed.
The Greek system teaches us that our success depends on our activity, or work. The Hebrew system acknowledges that the Lord is the One to bring the success; that He is actively working to bring about his full purposes.
Job 33 tells us “God speaks again and again…in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in bed.” We need to become more aware of how God works in us, even while we are in a deep sleep.
Secondly, it is when we nurture our inner life and spend intentional time with Jesus that we find that our day has a sense of rest surrounding it because we spent it first with the one that breathes life into us. Taking time to be present with the One who Created us and knows our needs brings us life and rest; no matter what takes place around us.
Another thought that I have surrounds the posture of how we live. Do we have the mindset that “It all depends on me…..if I don’t__________, then we won’t __________.” Fill in the blanks: if I don’t work 14 hours a day, then I will lose my job. If I don’t make sure that my kids have their homework done, then they won’t succeed in school. If I don’t exercise every day, then my body will fall apart.
What is your area where you are filling in the blanks? Last fall I was planting tulips in our back yard. The soil is very rocky and as I pulled out one rock after another, I asked the Lord to “show me the rocks in my life.” The next rock I pulled out was 20 times bigger than any other rock. I thought, What is it?” It took a couple of days to understand my rock.
It was the mindset regarding Missio Lux. I sensed the Lord saying that “I had misplaced responsibility. It isn’t my job to make Missio Lux succeed, it was his responsibility and the more that I acknowledged that, the more we would move forward.”
This was so freeing. I am now able to say to the Lord, "What is your solution to this challenge?” and put it in his hands. Of course, I am not there all the way, it takes a long time to break a mindset and habits, but I continue to make progress. I am actually enjoying doing less and stepping back and watching the Lord do far more than I could ever imagine.
Another area where we can move in a place of rest is in our identity. Who are we? We are beloved children of the King! As we live more and more from the reality of our true standing in the family of God, we are able to recognize the great resources at our fingertips! We have the name of Jesus as our authority, the power of the Holy Spirit as our empowerment, and the invitation to pray for Heaven to come to earth in the Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus told us that we are to pray for the “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If Jesus commands us to pray this; he intends to answer. We can pray for anything that we know heaven carries to be released to our challenges on earth: health, forgiveness and reconciliation, unity and peace, abundant provision, continual presence of the Lord, light and freedom. The list goes on as we are invited to partner with the King to see heaven come to earth through our prayers.
2011: Moving from a Place of Rest:
As we realize that our day starts with rest and ends with work
As we practice intentional time spent with the One who Created us which brings us life and rest
As we live in a posture of recognizing that the Lord is the One who will make things happen
As we stand in our identity as beloved children of the King where we are invited to bring heaven to earth in partnership with him!
This weekend, we won't be doing a march for Freedom Monday to celebrate Martin Luther King's call to live in freedom; but we will be making a way for people to live in freedom two different ways!
Monday, Celebrate Recovery celebrates its third anniversary. Before Missio Lux was even launched from Pine Lake, Celebrate Recovery launched (as a joint ministry between Missio Lux and Pine Lake)!
We specifically chose to start on MLK day because of the symbolism that it represents. CR is all about walking alongside people in their hurts, habits and hang-ups to bring them to the freedom that Jesus died to give us.
Our stories of freedom in CR are many.
One woman, after finding Jesus and safety in her community, took a step when she realized how much her drinking had overtaken her life. She started attending CR and with the help of a sponsor and the support of CR, she is now living a life without alcohol but with the most lifegiving drink there is: Jesus.
Missio Lux has two core foundational ministries: Recovery and Healing Prayer. We believe that when people hit roadblocks in their lives, two of the best ways to move through the roadblocks are with healing prayer and/or recovery.
This weekend, Missio Lux is hosting the second weekend in our Healing Prayer Training: Emotional Healing. It's very exciting that this training finds people traveling from Helena, MT, Denver, and Mt. Vernon, WA.
The synergy of people that God has gathered is one that will be very good for the kingdom!
One of the attendees is Terri Parzybok, leader of Living Free Ministries, our sister healing ministry in Denver. Terri is a very gifted teacher, and under her leadership, LFM is thriving as they see people healed weekly. In their healing, they are becoming free and passionate about Jesus.
I am looking forward to this weekend so much as I recognize that we are intentionally supporting people to live in the reality of John 8:32: "and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free!"
Freedom. Jesus died for us to have it. Let's seek to live in the gift that is available to us.
I posted on my facebook Saturday that "Seattle Seahawks won the playoff game, it's the miracle of the new decade!"
It was a game like no other. Tensions were high because Seattle's season record is 7-9, they were the first team in NFl history to get a playoff bid with a LOSING record. They were playing the New Orleans Saints: last year's Superbowl winners. Just two weeks ago, fans were booing quarterback Matt Hassleback's playing and asking for his resignation. It didn't look good for Seattle to win. Many of us just hoped that we wouldn't have to end the game with our tail between our legs.
I don't normally watch football because most of it happens on Sundays. But, it was a Saturday afternoon and it was a great way to hangout with Bill and Molly so I sat down to watch the game. Sure enough, the Saints went ahead 10 points right away.
But, then something happened.
Matt Hassleback started throwing passes that his receivers caught. We went ahead. We continued to be ahead at half time. That in itself is a miracle, but it wasn't over.
In the fourth quarter a player named Marshown Lynch caught Hassbleback's pass and ran an incredible 67 yards for a touchdown. But, in the process, he had 8 people try to tackle him. He avoided them all. He looked like he had angels escorting him down the field because no one could get to him. He was so protected.... It almost felt supernatural at the time.
Yesterday the news came out that at the very moment that Lynch caught the pass, a mini-earthquake was recorded at the location of the old kingdome. It lasted for his entire run, from the moment that he caught it, until Lynch ran past the line for the touchdown.
The world is giving the fans credit for this tremer, pointing to the timing. But, what if, just what if, this tremer came because the supernatural realm showed up. What if angels really escorted Lynch the Hawk down the field?
What if God has a bigger purpose for this Seattle game?
What if he wants the world to experience a true show of David vs Goliath?
What if he wants to speak the parable of the underdog coming out with an amazing story of overcoming?
We often forget about the supernatural realm because we don't see it. However, I believe it is far more real than the world we currently live in because it is the place where God permanently dwells. I know that at times the two realms converge: look at the birth of Jesus and how many times angelic visitations and dreams and visions took place.
I am enjoying the expectancy of what is going to take place through Seattle's football playoff season. We may lose on Sunday and then it will all be over, except the delightful memory of the game against the Saints on Saturday.
On the other hand, we just may see one victory after another until we find ourselves at the Super Bowl ready to win! Let's wait and see.
This morning we gathered for our full gathering for our week long prayer dedication for the new year. As I mentioned a couple of blogs ago, we have been fasting and praying since January 1st for Missio Lux and for our local community and world, for both the church and for the harvest of new members of God's family!
Yesterday word after word came that suddenly children had become sick, other plans came up, emergencies happened, so my expectation for today's attendance was low. (But my expectation for what God was going to do amongst us was NOT low!)
God surprised me with a great number of people, and the faith that they brought far surpassed the number in the room. In fact, a new couple came and at the end, the man thanked God for bringing him to a community of people who prayed with great faith.
I was so happy. I have been able to watch Missio Lux grow into passionate disciples of Jesus Christ. We do have great faith and we are starting to pray for great big things in our prayers!
And, the love that we share for one another is increasing. Our unity is building, especially as we realize that we have brothers and sisters in 4 continents....and that we were ALL PRAYING!
When we keep it simple, God does great things. One word that he has brought over and over to us this week, and in many different ways, is that this year is a year of Rest! We don't need to stive or even battle for the breakthroughs, that the Lord has this covered. Our role is to stand firm and let God bring the victories.
Missio Lux has several challenges in being a dispersed community. Language is one of the biggest challenges we face. Not only do we have several languages spoken in our missio communities with our locations in South Korea, Sudan and Kenya, and Holland, but we also have different cultures in the missio communities in Seattle.
One challenge surfaced this week when we sent out our prayer booklet. For some people the language was very familiar, for others, they were just lost.
Language determines worldview, so it is very important. One reason that we have aligned with 3dm is that they have developed Lifeshapes, a language of discipleship. They are shapes, so no matter what language people speak, they shapes grab you and help you hold onto the concept.
Just yesterday I was meeting with a woman who was speaking about abide: which means to rest and rejuvenate! She was making a rocking motion as the lifeshape of Abide and Bear Fruit is a semi circle that rocks back and forth between rest and work, or abide and bear fruit.
Any suggestions on briding the language gap would be greatly appreciated!
Missio Lux has set this week apart for prayer. We are following Jesus' admonition in Acts 1 for the disciples to go and wait in the upper room for the promise of his Father.
They did just that. They were still looking up into the sky after Jesus ascended and an angel came and basically told them, "Stop looking up and go and pray. Prepare yourself for what is coming."
They didn't really know what to expect as they waited. However, after 10 days, they knew that something powerful had landed on them and as they went out into the Temple courtyard, they received the power of the Holy Spirit and saw thousands of people from all over the world step into a new place of life with Christ. They were reborn and baptized on that day, creating momentum for the New Testament Church to move forward.
We know that harvest is coming. The Lord has been telling us in a multitude of ways to get ready for the harvest! We are responding like the disciples by coming together to wait and to pray, as we prepare for what the Lord will bring us in 2011.
We are following the concentric circles in Acts 1:8 when Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Each day our circle gets wider. The first day, we prayed for ourselves. The next day we prayed for our sphere of influence: our family, friends, co workers, neighbors, and everyone who is important to us. It continues to move out from there; finally landing on asking God to bring the Kingdom of God to the world.
The fun part of this whole adventure is that our missio communities around the world are joining us in this prayer pursuit: Holland, South Korea, Denver, and Kenya and Sudan. Prayer is one of the major ways that the Lord is melding our hearts together!
We are gathering every morning this week from 6 to 8 a.m. Saturday we are all coming together to pray through the morning, ending with a lunch to break the fast.
worship to CR, and then three of the key leaders gave testimonies. They were full of pain becoming freedom as they took intentional steps towards freedom.
worship to CR, and then three of the key leaders gave testimonies. They were full of pain becoming freedom as they took intentional steps towards freedom.
