The Home Front

Sometimes you need to storm the gates of the city.  Other times you need to support the home front.  Last night was one of those nights for me.  My wife could have taken care of things at home but I knew I was needed at home.  She didn't whine or complain.  She was supportive and strong as always.  Here's the thing- awesome ministry happen with the siege team last night (hopefully some one will post on this) The love, truth and light of Christ went forth into the city last night without me but the ministry of a dad would NOT have happened at my house unless I had stayed home.  Praise God for His leadings and timing.

On a side note- someone that called the church a few weeks ago needing assistance (we were not able to help her with that particular need) called me back today.  I had prayed with her that the Lord would provide for her and make a way.  She said she knows the Lord worked on her behalf.  The need was meet!  We rarely get calls BACK from people who call needing help.

His Kingdom come, His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. ~ Pastor Anthony

God cares about what we care about.

This past week has been bad. The oppression of the enemy has been weighing heavily upon me, and it's taken a lot of strength to get through. The Lord has more than gotten me through it, though.

The Lord has put one friend of mine (I'll name him Spencer) on my heart. This particular friend is agnostic lean athiest, and has been struggling with depression and oppression in his family. Because of parents and the fact that he lives far away, he's been put in solitude. He is a firm believer in tolerance, and doesn't like to discuss things that will cause a disagreement. I was always very careful when talking to him, because I knew that even the smallest thing could harden his heart towards the Lord.

The past few weeks, the Lord has opened some doors for me to witness to him. He asked me what I lived for the other day, and I obviously told him I lived for Jesus.

A while later, he was asking me what I thought about the existence of the soul and what it was, and we got into a conversation about our conscience. He was basically saying that right and wrong was relative based on your conscience. I explained to him my belief of moral absolutes, and he said that he thought I was right!

I've invited him to this Blitz, and he says that he's coming. I was really surprised that he agreed to come, but I'm thinking that the Lord put him in solitude for this very reason!

I'm praying and believing that the Lord is going to save him tomorrow night. I cannot wait!

I'm beginning to see the power of prayer more and more, and I can't tell you how many times prayer has shifted things in my life. I don't even have to put on the sackcloth and roll around in the dirt crying out, I can just say a few simple words, and if it's in line with His will, He will move heaven and earth to answer. I say all this to encourage us that God is hearing our prayers for Athens and He will bring revival in His timing. I can feel it brewing even now, and I believe that it's coming in the next few weeks. I realize that's daring of me, but I'm not claiming that it's necessarily a prophetic word, but I am saying that in faith that it will happen!

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Ears to Hear

To echo Pastor Anthony's comments about our time of ministry last night, it really was an awesome night of worship, prayer, and testimonies!

There are Tuesdays that seem to be a little more difficult than others... If we look at it from our human perspective, that is. Some nights, the Lord moves in a very tangible way. Other nights, we may not have any known evidence of what the Lord is doing, we just have faith that He moves even when we don't see it with our physical eyes. Last night was a night for both. We saw the Lord physically touch a man's foot, which was awesome! But my thoughts mainly rest on the almost 2 hours we spent listening to those around us. One of the team prayed before we went downtown that the Lord would give us ears to hear the stories of the people around us. There are so many times we ask people questions such as "How are you?", but don't really take the time to listen to their honest response. Hearing that prayer being prayed, it was definitely a challenge to commit to listening to people, especially the ones that we know can talk for hours. Literally. 

I find it funny that usually the very things we pray for (without even really knowing what exactly it is we're praying for) end up happening. You know, kinda like praying for patience. When we ask for it, the Lord seems to find plenty of opportunities for us to exercise it! Sure enough, last night turned out to be one of the nights that we spent mostly listening to people. For hours. A group of 4 of us listened to a man share his life story with us. How the Lord had shown him so much kindness and favor, yet he still has a hard time choosing the right thing. He was so honest about seeking to only satisfy the flesh. I think back on our conversation, remembering the many times I wanted to interrupt and tell him we needed to go back to the group, or say in a nice way that we had someone else to pray for. But weren't we doing the very thing we went downtown to do in the first place? I really have no idea what the Lord might have done in that hour that we listened to him. Not saying a word. Just nodding our heads. But maybe that was the very thing he needed in that moment. Four listening ears that said non-verbally that someone loved him, cared about him, and would actually take the time to listen.  

I am challenged. And humbled.

Lord, give us ears to hear. To hear Your voice. To hear the voices of others.

The Lame Will Walk Again!

We had an incredible night downtown yesterday! God did so much. I talked with two young guys for about an hour and got to pray for them. Both were in search of jobs. One of the guys also asked for prayer for his foot. He had a very large piece of wood stuck in the bottom of it. His foot did not look good! He said it was very painful and that he was having trouble walking. What is cool about this is that in the prayer room the Lord had spoke to us that He wanted to straighten a leg and to help someone walk. So this definitely related! I gathered most of the team together to join me in prayer for this man's foot. We prayed twice and he said it felt better and that he could move it more. He said he wasn't able to move it much at all before. Praise God! Please believe with us that the Lord will completely heal his foot! To God alone be the glory! We concluded the night with an intense time of prayer and worship in front of a strip club. May God continue to move in our city! ~ Pastor Anthony

I Have A Testimony About Jesus!

What a amazing night our team had at our last street ministry night! Our group was small to start with and got even smaller before the night was over but the Lord only needs one to touch peoples hearts! There really are a lot of testimonies to share but I will only share 1 for now! That night we had decided to do something different than we had ever done before. We decided to walk up and down the streets of downtown Athens (GA) worshipping and praying! As we did this I saw some people look at us in confusion, some with laughing, some with shock, and others with smiles! As we worshipped and prayed I noticed a girl across the street; she was walking in the same direction we were and she was watching us with that confused look I was talking about! As we continued to walk she eventually had to come over to are side of the street and she began to talk to Sharla ( Team mate) and I! She asked what we were doing, we told her and we began to strike up a conversation with her. After a couple minutes we asked her if she needed prayer for anything! She said yeah that would be great! She then began to tell us about her grandfather who had just had heart surgery. She told us he was still in the hospital and they didn't know if he would make it yet! We began to pray healing over her grandfather and also receive pictures the Lord gave us to encourage her! After we were done she thanked us and said she was very happy we were downtown! We may never know what happens to her grandfather but it says in Matthew 10:8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, so freely give." So I believe he's healed!!!

God bless -Kendall