Spring Break in Kansas City: Your Official Invitation
The semester just started for colleges all over the nation and students are already making plans for spring break. Places like Daytona Beach and Cancun get swamped each spring break with students who have few moral reservations. They’ve decided to have a good time, even if they can’t remember it.
This is considered fun for many, but let’s say you are not like one of those students; you attend or lead a prayer meeting on a weekly basis, you strive to lay hold of the deep things of God, and while you have a ton of fun, you take your spiritual life as the serious gift it is.
If that’s you, then here are a few reasons to come to Kansas City for your spring break this year:
- Luke18 Project is hosting a Spring Break Fuel School. Come get trained by mentors who are as enthusiastic about the Holy Spirit touching your campus as you are.
- The awakening services. Since November, the Lord has been visiting IHOP–KC in a tangible way. Many physical healings and deliverances have taken place in the midst of our community, not to mention the salvations, baptisms, and emotional healings occurring night after night. Come check it out for yourself.
- The global prayer room. It’s a place of 24/7 worship with prayer, meaning you can come at any time—day or night—and sit before the throne of God with others who are doing the exact same thing.
- Set your spirit ablaze. Come immerse yourself in Jesus’ love. Quiet all the clamoring of the world and listen to Him speak to you.
- Learn enough to get you started. We’ll give you more than enough to think about, and plenty to pass on.
If you are college age, read on so you know what’s up.
Dates
Early Spring Break: Tuesday, March 9–Saturday, March 13, 2010
Late Spring Break: Tuesday, March 16–Saturday, March 20, 2010
Cost
$199. This includes tuition, accommodations, and meals.
You can register and find more details here.?
Ben Wood, 2/15/2010
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Why We Pray for Israel, Pt. II
In my previous post I made it pretty clear that our position, in the church, is to pray for the city of Jerusalem and Israel as a nation. This is a command of the Lord for His people in all nations; His great city has a purpose on this earth and He has great plans for the people of that city.
Recently I had the privilege of going to Jerusalem. This is something that I think every follower of Christ should do if given the opportunity. I went to minister but found that I was the one that was getting ministered to. The great reversal: you think you are going to have something to give to a people and in turn you end up getting the gift. I walked where Jesus walked and stood where He ascended and where He will return and set up His government. It was an amazing experience. Being at IHOP we have a mandate from the Lord to pray for the nation of Israel. We have joined in partnership with the heart cry of the Father for His people to know their Messiah, Jesus. I would sit in the prayer meetings focused on praying for Israel and feel so distracted and disconnected. I would pray for God to give me a heart for His people and still just sit there and feel no connection. It was not until a divine meeting of a Rabbi at the Western Wall one night that the connection was made. As we made our way into what was known as the Old City that night I was going with the intention of taking some great pictures and seeing some cool things. Instead, as I walked up to the Western Wall where all of the Orthodox Jews were praying, a Rabbi came up to me and embraced me. He then asked me if I was Jewish and had come to pray. I told him I was not Jewish but that I was for Israel. He then embraced me again and with tears streaming from his eyes he led me to a spot to pray at the wall. This image continues to resonate in my being every time someone prays for Israel. My heart was awakened to the love that the Lord has for His people.
I write this little story to tell you that while we are called to pray for Jerusalem and to be a group of people that will provoke the Jews to salvation (Rom. 11:11) we need to first get an understanding of the heart of the Father for His people. How can we really provoke someone to love for the King if we do not have love in our hearts for them.
We have to understand that the Lord has specific promises for His chosen people and our position is to pray for them to be open to receive those promises. In Joel 2 the Lord speaks and proclaims that He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh causing sons and daughters to prophecy. This outpouring of the Spirit is to proclaim the coming of the King back to earth. He is going to anoint messengers whose whole purpose is to speak with clarity, boldness, and authority the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom’ (Mt. 24:14), specifically to unsaved Jews.
Our task as a ‘Gentile’ Church is to pray for the salvation of Israel and to provoke them to jealousy so that they may receive the mercy of God. We do this by humbly walking out our salvation with fear and trembling before the throne of God, all the while walking in the spiritual gifts that He has imparted to each and every one of us. When the Jewish people see a humble people walking in signs and wonders and loving Christ with all that they are, this will provoke them. I will tell you that witnessing to them in a way that heaps shame on them will not get you anywhere. It happens.
So in summary we need to ask for a heart for His people, walk humbly, use the gifts that the Lord has given us, and boldly proclaim the coming of the King back to earth.
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Ben Wood, 12/11/2009 |
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Why We Pray for Israel, Pt. I
I apologize for my lack of Blah-ging as of late, there have been many distractions that have come my way and have postponed any writing. I do not want to say anything about those distractions other than please pray for my family, both immediate and extended. If you follow me on ‘twitt-ah’ (Wes Hall) then you know a little about how to pray. This is not the place for me to rant about my family this is the place for me to talk about the importance of praying for the people and the nation of Israel.
So the question exists, ‘Why do we pray for Israel?’ I hope to shed some light on not only why we should pray for them but also how to pray for them. First let us examine why we, ‘the Church,’ should pray for Israel. Isaiah 62:6-7 makes it pretty clear that we, the Church, should pray for the people of Israel always.
“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Isaiah 62:6-7
Here we see that ‘You who make mention of the Lord’, the people of God or the Church, should not keep silent, but should give the Everlasting God no rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. This command comes straight from the throne of God; we are called to pray for Jerusalem and all it’s inhabitants. Since the application for this verse is for the city of Jerusalem alone, it is pretty clear that this is talking about Jerusalem the city and the people of the city and not inferring the Church is in anyway in that role. Paul makes it very clear in Romans 11:1-2 that God has not forgotten His people.
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not!... God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.” Romans 11:1-2
His people throughout the scriptures has been and will be the people of Jerusalem and Israel. They hold a special place in His heart for them. We are commanded to pray for them always until God makes them a praise in all of the earth. This means we are to pray for the tiny town in Israel until it is a massive city that shows nothing but the glory of God.
God really does care for the people that He has chosen; in Zechariah 8:2 we read that God is zealous for Zion with great fervor or burning desire. God will do all that He has committed to do for Jerusalem. He has a burning heart over the matter. He longs to see the promises that He has promised come to pass. He is a faithful God. Isaiah 62:1 is clear that God has plans for Jerusalem and He will finish those plans.
“For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns.” Isaiah 62:1
God is committed to this not only to see the promises come about His people, but He is committed to seeing the promises concerning Jerusalem for the sake of His own glory. Ezekiel 36: 22-23 is pretty clear that God not only does this for the sake of the people of Israel but also for ‘His holy name’s sake’ and His purpose is to make known to all the nations of the earth that He is Lord. He will use the people of Israel to accomplish this through their salvation and the coming of the Son of Man to rule from the City of the Great King (Israel). God has always seen Jerusalem as the place where He will set up His throne to rule and reign from. Jesus talks about this being the city for Him to rule from in Matthew 5:35, for it is Jerusalem that God has established the Messiah to rule from. For Jesus to fulfill this biblical prophecy, both the nation of Israel and the City of Jerusalem must exist forever.
If we understand these foundational premises, then it becomes clear why God’s number one focus in human history is the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. Therefore we must partner alongside God and pray for the nation that He has enormous zeal for.
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Ben Wood, 11/30/2009 |
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The Joy That Is Found In Singing
This week’s post is mostly a testimony of what the Lord has done in my life through my time of sitting at the feet of Him and singing His words back to Him. This has been a long and sometimes trying journey in pursuit of the Man from Nazareth and I have found that one of the things that always sustains is singing the Words of Life back to Him.
One of the main questions that I receive more than any other is, “What is the importance of singing the Scriptures?” My response is always one of, “Why not sing the words of God Himself?” One of the things that I am striving after is being a man rooted and grounded in the Word so that I may speak boldly and clearly about my Master. One of the easiest ways to do this that I have found is through singing the Scriptures. Being a musician, I have always found it easy to memorize lyrics to songs but always hard to remember scripture verses. I can remember almost all of the lyrics to the Top 40 hits from ten years ago; if you test me on the Top 40 hits of today and I will fail but 10 years ago, I could win a million bucks. Still the thought of combining the Word with song never hit me until I walked into four doublewide trailers joined together to form one building, the International House of Prayer in 2001. It was in this small trailer that the foundations of my life were laid. I have seen a major increase in word retention through singing the Scriptures; I would encourage all who are longing to have a Word-based life to sing the words of God. He only has the words of life and through those words you are changed.
So what is the tangible difference? Well I would have to say that the tangible difference is displayed through the workings of my life. I have seen a major difference in my attitude and character through the years of having the Word infiltrate my life in all that I do. The take away point is this, you don’t need a prayer room to make this work. You can do it in your car, you can do it while doing dishes, you can do it wherever you want! Pick a verse for that day and sing it! It is as easy as that. Just like you commit to talking the dogs for a walk everyday, commit to picking a verse a day and singing it. I have found that the Psalms lend themselves perfectly for this exercise. Work your way through the Psalms and go from there, the options are limitless! You can do it through the whole Bible! Do it for a week and then reflect on it at the end of the week. You will a major change in character from the start of the week to end of the week.
So here is the challenge: Spend the next week picking some verses to sing, shut off the radio in your car, and spend the time that you drive singing those scriptures, then reflect upon your experience in doing it. I promise that after doing it for a week you will be hooked! Just do it – Nike!
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Ben Wood, 11/9/2009 |
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