It Should Be Normal!

Yes. From Abraham to Jesus to this generation, signs and wonders are diminishing because this world tells us the odds of seeing miracles such as blind eyes see, deaf ears hear, mute mouth talks, and, of course, dead men come alive. If God is a God who heals, then I think signs and wonders are normal, and this world is not acting normal because of their doubts and rejection toward what SHOULD be normal when the presence of the Lord kicks in.

PART 1
Another awesome day at PC. God really tenderized so many hearts right there--only 3 people were yelling and questioning as Robbie, a fourth year who is graduating in just 1.5weeks, was sharing his personal testimony about how God rescued him from drug overdose in his freshman year. He was totally a drug addict--weed, marijuana, ecstasy...and one time he was high on ecstasy, he felt that his heart was about to tear itself apart. And then God came in.
He also shared about how he is still not convinced why he shouldn't believe in Jesus Christ after being in UCSD for 4 years. Here's a little crazy story for you:
Most people we encountered said this, "I used to be just like you(a Christian), and then I went to college." So a girl said the same thing, "I used to be just like you on fire for God." And the Christian filled in the rest for her, "And then you went to college." Guess what the girl replied?
"No. And then I came to UCSD."
For two years she was really on fire for God and was preaching His kingdom at another university, even brought people to Christ. Yet UCSD has convinced her that Christianity is false. And Robbie said, "I'm not convinced." Come on, Robbie. You're awesome, dude. I can really feel God's presence right there in PC. So many ears were tentative at what Robbie's saying--because Robbie's a 4-year biology major student who has faced multiple persecutions and tests about his faith and yet he stands strong. Robbie's words carried another power that Eddie's, not from a student, cannot generate. I'm not saying that Eddie's words are any less powerful than Robbie's; it's the different experiences that draws different people to listen.
And I was there, walking around(no big sign today....grrr) and I saw this guy whom I prayed for on Tuesday on Library Walk. His name's Christian. He's a super awesome dude who's totally up for prayers. He dislocated his left shoulder surfing(once again). So today I told him that I want to pray for him again and I told him that I believe that God works miracles instantaneously and I totally forgot to ask him to try out some movements that would bring pain before. Anyhow, he was totally cool again for me to pray for him and lay my hand on his left shoulder. After the prayer I asked him to give it a try, so he started to move around his shoulder, took the arm thingy off and stretched a bit with his left arm, and he said he felt so much better! God's working miracles!!!!!!!

PART 2
So Eddie and I took a walk to his car(that's parked quite a distance away) and we had a good talk. I told him how I want to dream big dreams for my school, and the more I pray for this land the more I'm attached to it. Eddie was all excited and asked me whether I would like to lead worship for YOPP sometime next quarter if there's a keyboard. I told him that I got the book Facing The Wall by Don Potter and I've learned so much just from the first 3 chapters. And Eddie was totally smiling and clapping because he wants to see worshipers on campus! I was encouraged to just being with him and have chats. Then I started to share with him how I need more faith to pray for the resurrection of my aunt who died this past Monday. We were both really stirred up and excited to see what God's going to do.
I also talked to him about what I'm planning to start at my church--to gather college students and share/teach about how to start walking toward campus revival. And we were thinking about doing a conference/workshop for the college students and Eddie's totally up for sharing and all. I'll look into that--it might be something awesome!
"When there are people yelling, I think it's an obligation for us to go and talk to them. Because they are crying out. And when we start talking to them with love, their hearts would get stirred."--I paraphrased waht Eddie said. So today a girl was yelling and Eddie went up and had a long talk with her. And the girl said this to Eddie:
"You guys are actually not hypocrites!"
That's just so encouraging to all of us there. God's using this non-believer to tell us that He is pleased with what we're doing on this campus and we are living out a lifestyle of taking up the cross and following Christ. People, we gotta start going out and tell the world what true Christians are. Because if we don't show our lives to the world, they are still going to believe the dictionary definition of Christians: hypocrites.

PART 3
Here comes the super exciting part: Grace, Brian, and I went to grab dinner.
They are basically two crazy people just like me whose faith is as big as a mustard seed! For the entire time we were talking about resurrection of my aunt. We were all so excited and stirred up because God was right there talking to us through the conversation! Grace started to read Ezekiel 37 about dry bones becoming as flesh, and Brian read 1 Corinthians 15:12. And then we all were talking about John 11 and 2 Kings 4:33. DUDDDDDDE.....resurrection can be found all the way from the days of Elijah/Elisha to Ezekiel to Apostle Paul in the scripture! And not even mention right now in the 21st century! If Heidi Baker can raise people from the dead in the name of Jesus in Africa, then I don't think there's a problem with me praying for the resurrection of my aunt who is right now a Pacific Ocean away.
And then Judie called. I told her my conviction and she went crazy. But she saw the WHAT IF! She started saying this: if she really comes back alive, you know that our ENTIRE family's going to be changed? You know that everyone would become Christian, right? I was just so encouraged to hear those words from her mouth--she had faith! Come on! I told her the same thing I told my dad and Annie and Jack and everyone: I want to believe that Jesus is still alive. And if He says that He's a God who heals, then I'm going after that and pray for the resurrection of my aunt. If I believe and not put His Word into practice, then the world can call me a hypocrite, right? I've got nothing, NOTHING to lose. And furthermore she's not a Christian and I don't think that she's ready to die yet.
Here's the profound part. When I mentioned that my aunt is 43 years old, Grace was shocked. Because the number 43 has always been the number with which God talks to her! And guess what? She had a dream just last night of a lady being resurrected from the dead! Right then we were all going crazy! Out faith just went up another notch!

PART 4
24/7 prayer room. At around 8:45pm everyone started to pray for me, my aunt, and my family. I can't really describe how amazing it was--I've got so many brothers and sisters sharing my burden and praying for me as if they were in my shoes! And this is what God calls us to do--to share the burden and bring it up to the Lord. I recorded the last 20 minutes of the meeting, will put it on a webpage sometime in the future for downloads. I don't know how to describe hte atmosphere. You just had to be there to feel it. It was more like Holy Spirit leading our worship and prayers--He took over! And I believe that we still need more faith to believe from the Lord!

That's about it, I guess.
I won't stop believing it.
God has been talking to us through dreams and visions!
And I still believe that resurrection is possible!

Something profound:
It was the resurrection of Jesus that we are to connect with the heavens. It's the PHYSICAL resurrection that has set us free.

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
-John 14:12~14-

This is the verse. I'm holding on to Your promise, Jesus! If going back to Taiwan is what You're plan is for me, would You open up doors!

Johnny

ps. I'm sun burned/tanned.

pps. Brian and I went and prayed for this dude Andrew. He broke his left thumb, falling off a skateboard. He's an orthodox Christian who's really awesome. After the prayer, he tried to move his fingers(I mean he's got a cast on, but still) and he didn't feel the pain that he felt before! XD....we were all amazed!

ppps. This is like the first post in a month that there's no mention of Jeff(oops I just did...)!