blind eyes open
-1 Corinthians 6:19~20-

Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD. And he said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.

There are many qualities to becoming a MIGHTY MAN, but there are two that can be discovered from this event: Courage and Loyalty.

Courage
These three crazy men sure did know what they were doing for a cup of water. I am encouraged by their courageous move of breaking the Philistine garrison. They were full of faith, determination, and muscle, I bet =D

Loyalty
I don't know what David was thinking when he said, "hmm... I'm thirsty... I wonder who would go to Bethlehem, where I was born, and get me some water... and by the way, a garrison of Philistines is there." David was testing the loyalty of his men, and surely three stood out of the bubble and risked their lives because they are loyal to David.

I really enjoy reading about David's mighty men because I can always depict the storyline and the words would become vivid pictures in my head! I want to be a Mighty Man for Jesus. I want my name to be remembered because I go into the enemy's camp to get a cup of water for my King, and conveniently, risking my life to kill the enemy (and win, of course).

Johnny

ps. some pictures from LOVE TENT Cal State Long Beach. I love their set-up: simple. The Lord is on the move =D I beleive that Long Beach will see a greater measure of who Jesus is!

I woke up at 6 this morning with this dream. I know it means something, but I cannot tell what it is! Somebody help me! Holy Spirit, I need Your revelation and interpretation! I also highlight some important things w/ color.

Here it goes:
Impact people (I remember Annie especially) were on the 1st floor of a hospital. Somehow Abby and I walked up to 3rd floor which is a restaurant. I remember asking those who are having steak, "Is the food here better than Lawry's (a high-end prime rib restaurant)?" But here's the weird thing, the steaks they're eating WERE from LAWRY'S because there's an big L sign on every steak! The L looked like a removable sticker on the steak which shows that the steak is from LAWRY'S, and the alphabet "L" itself had a beautiful font that's GOLD and very decorative. Well, cutting the steak, one of them said, "the other restaurant is Japanese but this is more American." (Something like that... maybe after all it was Lawry's all along?)

Suddenly we heard someone shouted in the restaurant, "she's giving birth to the baby NOW!" And I saw a lady on the floor with her legs wide open, ready to roll. And then someone else said, "I see the head!" I also saw a little bit of the head as the baby was being delivered. Immediately I called Annie on my cell and told her what is happening, and asked her to go look for a doctor!

Then somehow there were elevators by the restaurant and the doors of one of them opened up. And at the same time I heard someone said, "I see the neck!" Anyhow, Peter (somehow was in the dream) went in and held the door open as people carried the lady into the elevator. I then heard someone said, "we should take her down to room 000 (I think that's the room number for the ER)!" They went down in the elevator.

Still in the restaurant, I saw Avinash (my ex-suitemate from India). Abby (someone from my suite last year) went up to him, and he was about to give Avinash a hug because they hadn't seen each other since June, but somehow they ended up not hugging. I went up to say hi. Interestingly he said to me, "I cannot touch Christians because 25% of..... (I forgot....this should be something important... but 25% of something).... And if I touch you, you would explode." As he was saying it we were kinda playing around; however, he was not joking about the exploding part, but he was making gestures at poking me. So I said to him playfully, "boom!"

Behind Avinash, I saw Christians lining up to get into another elevator to go praise the Lord. And then I woke up.


I really do not understand ANY part of this dream!!!!! ARGH!
Lord, I want to know WHAT YOU WANT ME TO KNOW!!!

Johnny

5 Reasons Why We Prune Trees

A. Safety
Pruning for safety involves removing branches that could fall and cause injury or property damage, trimming branches that interfere with lines of sight on streets or driveways, and removing branches that grow into utility lines. Safety pruning can be largely avoided by carefully choosing species that will not grow beyond the space available to them, and have strength and form characteristics that are suited to the site.

B. Health
Pruning for health involves removing diseased or insect-infested wood, thinning the crown to increase airflow and reduce some pest problems, and removing crossing and rubbing branches. Pruning can best be used to encourage trees to develop a strong structure and reduce the likelihood of damage during severe weather. Removing broken or damaged limbs encourages wound closure.

C. Aesthetics
Pruning for aesthetics involves enhancing the natural form and character of trees or stimulating flower production. Pruning for form can be especially important on open-grown trees that do very little self-pruning.

D. Stimulate fruit production

E. Increase the value of timber

*****
All woody plants shed branches in response to shading and competition. Branches that do not produce enough carbohydrates from photosynthesis to sustain themselves die and are eventually shed; the resulting wounds are sealed by woundwood (callus). Branches that are poorly attached may be broken off by wind and accumulation of snow and ice. Branches removed by such natural forces often result in large, ragged wounds that rarely seal. Pruning as a cultural practice can be used to supplement or replace these natural processes and increase the strength and longevity of plants.

Trees have many forms, but the most common types are pyramidal or spherical. Trees with pyramidal crowns, e.g., most conifers, have a strong central stem and lateral branches that are more or less horizontal and do not compete with the central stem for dominance. Trees with spherical crowns, e.g., most hardwoods, have many lateral branches that may compete for dominance.

To reduce the need for pruning it is best to consider a tree's natural form. It is very difficult to impose an unnatural form on a tree without a commitment to constant maintenance.

All information from US Dept of Agriculture.

Man... I'm being rocked by this website! I'll go into the different ways of pruning sometime later. This is really awesome when we start seeing it with our spirit eyes.

Let me summarize the 5 reasons again:

Thanks Jesus for considering all these reasons when You prune me!
Thoughts?

Johnny

You know what happens when you listen to Bill Johnson's message.

Bill's words are always right there when I need'em. I believe I am going through a season of pruning on a personal level, and Impact is also going through a season of pruning that prepares for the fruit in the coming season. Cutting off some branches and leaves and get back to the root would be what this season's about.


This is real basic yet so important because the root needs to grow deeper in order to hold up the branches, the leaves, and the fruits on the way.


I've been thinking about the How To's regarding to breakthrough; trying to explain this season of pruning with my own interpretation and striving. I definitely do not want to see the end of growth because I watered the tree with the wrong water. It may grow a bit, but it'll die right away.

I'm still learning.

Johnny

ps. Listened to all my own doodling recordings and I realized that I need to dig them all out and start singing them. I really enjoy listening to these songs God gave me!

pps. I am one-seventh away from 21 days! I have so much time to spend now because I'm not going on facebook! Haha.... I'm glad I'm on this fast! Jesus, we get to spend more time together, aren't You glad? I am =D

Well, after all the turmoil studying about the lie of evolution for midterm, I found out my midterm got postponed until Wed. Should I say "WOE IS ME" or "HALLELUJAH"? I was so ready to take the midterm with 2 hours of sleep! Well, I guess God had something else planned...

So I went to Library Walk and hung out with Victor for a while. We started a conversation with Fred, a biology professor who, and every cell within him, is anti-God. He always argues with us (since we are the only group that is usually out there). And surely he started with his all time favorite -- "there is no historical evidence of the existence of Jesus". I truly believe there are many evidence that Jesus really walked on earth as a God-man. Then he started to say how he thinks Superman should be a god... I did not get his point. But anyhow, Fred saw another professor coming this way, so he invited him to join this spiced-up convo.

Here's where the conversation got interesting:
Basically this professor, who is an "atheist-Jew", started to talk about the Hebrew Bibel (OT) and the credibility it has. And Fred started to get all weird up because, probably, he thought that the professor would be on his side of the argument. So Victor and I basically stood right there listening to their conversation, and it was so obvious that Fred was losing it bceause all he was trying to do is to interrupt what the prof was saying with, "see, there's simply no evidence that Jesus ever walked on earth" or "it's all a myth, see". I was having heck of a good time because the Lord's using someone who believes in His words even though he does not believing Him to speak truth into Fred! Victor and I enjoyed every moment of it.

During dinner @ Islands, Jeff and I started to have a convo on Jesus. The Lord is onto something. He's always there for you, Jeff. And you especially need Him in the middle of a storm. Don't be afraid of attacks. They will come your way because God has a great plan laid out for you however the devil does not want that to happen. The bottomless pit is not for you, Jeff.

Lord has been teaching me how to love like Jesus did and how to have a Father's heart. I tear up almost every time I think about Jeff. I do not know what to do but to pray for him that he would look to Jesus for an answer for all of these and be set free from all the attacks.

Reflection on this past week's healing school:
I went with expectation to learn more on healing. Surely I received a lot and got boosted in my faith for healing and miracles! Grow, Austen, grow!! I am expecting more of God's love through healing and deliverance! I'm going to start practicing words of knowledge every day =D... Humiliation and humility, here I come!

It's 6am. Taking a break from all-night studying and just spending a little time with the Lord, watching the daybreak. There is this gradient from dark grey to milky-white on the eastern sky. I certainly hope it does not rain anymore! It's almost March = it's almost summer.

The sun is now over the roof of the complex, piercing my eyes with its fiery glow. I wonder whether the burning flame inside His eyes is one hundred times deadlier than the sunlight. No sunglasses is made to block out His glory.

I am done with my first day of media fast. Lord I repent that I watched a little bit of the Academy Award (it was soooo good!)! Would You cause me to want more of Your presence and remind me of my weakness during these 21 days! Last night I had a dream of me logging on facebook and IM, wasting a good part of my time. I take that as a confirmation from the Lord! I definitely want more of Him in my life! I want to be where You are and be like Your are.

Johnny

We have been out there in Price Center for countless times.
However, every time was different since God is super creative =D
We've experienced people yelling at us, cussing at us, flipping their fingers, screaming out death threats, etc. I believe demons manifest because God shows up. However, I believe Holy Spirit manifests when He shows up too!

Anyhow, make the long story short, we stopped worshiping for a while because it started to rain. We then started to pray for the rain to cease and sun to shine; we were all believing God that He wanted to do something.

The rain stopped and the sun sure came out, and we started to worship again. Eddie started to pray for the love of God to fill this plaza and telling everyone how much is the love of Christ for them. As he was saying that (he was lying on the floor), I felt like there were people in the plaza who needed healing (I prayed for about 6 or 7 people already and some of them experienced improvement, praise God!). So, for the first time, I took the mic and started to call out words of knowledge about people having migraines and some other stuff... man it was powerful even though no one came forward (that would totally build up faith!), but I believe they were healed in the name of Jesus!

Man.... I don't know what I expect next =D
Open Heaven!!!

Johnny

Love Tent was over the top even though I only stayed for the first 6 hours! Jake from Refuge House of Prayer led worship for the first 2 hours, and God's presence was real neat and beautiful as we welcome Him to rest in this tent for the next 40 hours. I did a worship set for 2 hours with Grace on the mic and felt real awesome. I just wanted to come before Jesus and adore Him with my worship to Him, and I had a great time worshiping with whoever was in the Tent.

Something that's pretty cool (it's a confirmation): One of the people came over after I was done with my set and asked me whether I've got a CD recorded or anything. Well, I better get started with my project!

Then I left UCSD @ around 1:40am. Got home at around 3:15am, completely tired and done.

Well, I really did not know exactly what happened this past Sunday during worship. Something just wasn't clicking. It was so tiring to sing and lead the first song "Where I Belong" (which was my favorite). I was not frustrated per se but I knew something was not right and I did not feel the Spirit. Even the band was not completely together music-wise. Multi-tasking is no fun.

Anyhow, I am so glad that Jack sensed it in the spirit and asked everyone to lay hands on the band. Then I felt the click, and of course, the Lord started to speak to us and we were worshiping in spirit and in truth. God is just so gracious and loving. One day I would love to have intercessors who would agree with and stand in the gap on the behalf of the worship team during worship on Sundays. Sometimes we really do get crazy with all the things we have to manage to do at once!

Anyhow, I just praise God for what He's done in me for the past month -- every week a chip of the ceiling is being broken off, and I am one more inch away from breaking through! I am very excited for next month's conference with Rev. Mike Kingsley. I am raising my expectations!

Well, I still have so much to share, but I'll stop here for now!

Johnny

hmm... I wonder whether there's a ministry out there called Iron Men =D

Had a great time hanging out with Victor. I'm so humbled and honored to run with him on this course. The Lord was there and we were building each other up through testimonies and exchange ideas. I love those moments. I really treasure them.

The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
...The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.


In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.


There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!


No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.

As I was passing out massive amounts of Love Tent fliers on Library Walk today, I saw Michael from San Diego BOLCC! I told him about and invited him to Love Tent and started to chat. He told me that he was sick and was having a massive headache.

So immediately I started to pray for him. It was pretty chilly out there today and both my hands were really cold. I was still cold after the prayer but I knew that the Lord was healing him. And guess what? The aching was gone after the prayer and he told me that he felt HEAT and the place where it aches was SWEATING. I've never had that kind of encounter! Sweetness. Ha. Praise Jesus! He was surprised and in awe of God's hand upon him. And I was so excited to pray for him again; God's presence was so tangible right there =D Come on, more healing and stirring up hearts, Lord! You love Your children!


I wanted to watch a movie, so I decided to watch Slumdog Milliare. Peter came along, and we left the theatre in awe. I am still so captured by the message from this movie. It is a MUST WATCH. This movie deserves a 10-star and Best Picture for the Academy Award. NO joke. I'm taking everyone in WAVE to go watch it. It talks about one's destiny. If you have not watched it, GO WATCH IT! It is so worth your 8 bucks. I can say this movie is definitely in my top 3 favorite films now!

Johnny

Man I felt like a little revival just broke out tonight over facebook chat! This is just one of the two healings happened over chat window! God's moving!

Tiffa is on the left, and I'm on the right.

Tiffa
my left shoulder doesn't hurt but i feel really dizzy
ok

me 2
i feel God..
gentleness..
pretty cool!!
11:33pm
haha
i can feel the change..
i feel a little better
11:34pm

20%
11:35pm

35%
11:37pm
i did!!
yes
tingling
11:39pm
HEAT!!!!!!!!!!!
11:40pm

45%
11:41pm

my head


80%
11:42pm

yes
11:42pm


80%now
11:43pm


yea
11:43pm


959595959595%
11:44pm

100
yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11:46pm

not anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11:46pm
no
11:46pm

Summary:
In 2 minutes, her headache went from 0% healed to 20%
2 more minutes to 35%
4 more minutes to 45%
1 more minute to 80% (man I love this one)
1 more minute to 95%
2 more minutes to 100%
TOTAL: 12 minutes from 0% - 100%

*********************************


Well, if you finish reading this really messy facebook chat history, then I pray that your heart is stirred up!

**About 15 minutes before I chatted with Tiffa, I chatted with Jasmine and she was cold, so I basically told her to put her hands up and I prayed (more like typed) for the Holy Spirit to fill her up, and then she felt heat all around her! Come on! Who needs a heater at home? HA! Then her left wrist got healed too after another prayer! I couldn't believe what God was doing tonight!

Well, I prayed for my friend Ed over MSN and he told me that he was tearing up because of the presence of God! Come on!

Then I shared this with my awesome friend Micah, who has loads of healing testimonies also, and man God started to touch him through my sharing with him over facebook chat! We got a little drunk...

Then over facebook chat I typed some good word for my friend Melody. I rarely type out good words, so that must be from the Lord!

Well, there was also Sharon, who answered my prayer to get Love Tent to all the fellowships! She connects with all the fellowship leaders and she is sending emails and messages about Love Tent to them! Thank you Sharon!

Then Sarah told me about Love Tent's situation @ Riverside. We prayed for that and I prayed for God's presence to be there right at that moment and she felt that the Spirit was breaking her and pushing her against the wall. Well, Lord keep on doing what You're doing!

Lastly, My amazing bro Brian, who's in the Bay area, wanted me to pray for him. So I asked him to also put his hands out. Man he felt peace and a bit heat around him! It was real good.

********************

Man God always surprises me. Jehovah Sneaky ;)
Man I've never got whacked so many times by the Holy Spirit over FACEBOOK CHAT! I felt heat, tingley, and joy all over me! COME ON! He is such a CREATIVE GOD! I want more!

Johnny

Sometimes I can't help but laugh out loud when I read some of these incredible stories in the Bible. Today's Problem Solver(s) are Jonathan and his armor bearer.

Background story: Jonathan, son of Saul who is the king of Israel, decided to take on some Philistine dudes who are not friendly to the Israel peeps... Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father (1 Samuel 14:1). I would like to emphasize the word GARRISON -- the words simply means "A fortified place, in which troops are quartered for its security."

Picture this: Here's Jonathan and Tito looking at the garrison from the bottom of the hill. And there's probably a good thousand Philistine soldiers on the top of hill, extremely secured and poised for battle.

And here comes the highlight of these two ridiculous problem solvers. They are actually thinking of taking the entire garrison by themselves!... Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.” What a great idea, Jonathan! Maybe you might wanna PROCESS your thoughts before they come out of your mouth?

And if you thought Jonathan is crazy, then you are so wrong... So his armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” HA! This guy must be brainwashed or something. He did not just say to Jonathan, "ALL RIGHT DAWG! I dig that. Let's go and commit suicide, if you jump, I jump. Woohoo!"


Here comes the best part of the story:
Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them (woah what a great plan for a sneak-attack, eh!).... So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something." (I wonder what THING they are going to show them...)

Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him (told you it was a bad idea... you do all the climbing and running while the Philistines having their tea-time waiting for your grandeur entrance!); and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.


This is definitely one of the craziest battles mentioned in the Bible, and one of my favorites for sure. These two die-hards simply thought up a plan that is so ridiculously rediculous, but hey, it sure worked well! I laughed pretty hard when I read this story, but I was encouraged by their faith and boldness and CRAZINESS especailly. Props to Jonathan and his buddy Tito!

Stay tuned for our next Problem Solver...

Johnny

I wonder if I can speak as thoroughly as this 12-year-old who is out there shaking the foundation of man with the sword, the Word of the Lord!

A person's a person, no matter how small.

Johnny

ps. I'm encouraged tonight during cell group to hear so many testimonies which builds up my faith to want more of Him! God You are awesome =D

You all have heard the story, or maybe watched the movie about the 300 Spartan soldiers. Well, Gideon, a judge of the Lord, also had 300 soldiers against Midianites and Amalekites.

Background story:
Israelites were ranting again and complaining and crying out for God's hand. Gideon had 22,000 soldiers to begin with, but God gave him only 300 right before the battle. (It's only in the impossible situations that we would not glory ourselves when the battles are won.) The enemy in the valley were as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. (Judges 7:12) Then Gideon overheard a dream and the interpretation...

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands."... Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

-Judges 7:15~21-

Gideon our problem solver got into a similar situation as Joshua's, which also involved trumpets and shouting in the battling strategy against the city of Jericho. When Gideon got the confirmation, his faith was boosted up and nothing could stop him from that sweet victory because he saw the end result.

I'm feeling the same thing. Two weeks ago I read a dream and its interpretation, and now I'm declaring victory and blowing those horns and shouting my guts out because it's the Lord who fights on behalf of us!

It's only in the impossible situations that we would not glory ourselves when the battles are won. Come on! Raise your expectations! I pray for more confirmations on the breakthrough that is on the way to Impact!

Stay tuned for the next problem solver...

Johnny

You've heard the famous story of God's provision of quails and Manna for His people when they started their long journey in the wilderness toward the promise land. And I'm sure you've heard of the story when God told Moses to hit a rock with his staff so that there will be water out of the rock to shut Israelite's mouths... I mean to provide them with water.

I personally like this verse the best:


Weirdo. That word came to my mind. How on earth did Mose know what to do with that tree/piece of wood (in some versions)? Well, he is no doubt a problem solver. There is no mention of what to do with the tree from God to Moses unlike the other times (parting the red sea, water out of stone...etc.)

Yup, throw that tree in the water.
Kick that lady in the stomach so she'll be delivered. Ouch.
Stay tuned for our next Problem Solver!

Johnny

Lead God's people out of slavery with a staff?
And he heard that from a bush that was burning.
Yeah right, the Israelites would believe Moses.

As a problem solver, you ought to think creatively. If God is not creative, then we would not be creative either. 10 plagues. Random yet funny - frogs all across the land. Just pictures this: there are frogs in your bed, on your roof, in your toilet, and maybe in your shoes. That's pretty creative, eh?

Parting the Red Sea was kinda creative because he's the pioneer in doing so. Joshua and Elijah did some copy cat works =D Nonetheless, Moses was a problem solver because every time he has a problem, he knows where to find a crazy answer! Stay tuned for part 2.

Creativity and wisdom from the Lord is the gist of becoming a problem solver. We often see the end product before we even start doing it, and that is what we called a VISION. If you think even harder, we basically see the future before we even get to it! That just blew me away.

Tonight I got rocked by David Van Koevering, a visionary, quantum physicist, and a servant of the Lord, who shared the idea of human beings as songs composed by God, literally. He has more than 600 patents (yes, he created MIDI and the transmitter that cause your cell phones to ring, and so many more things!) especially in music technology. I got some of his materials and I'm ready to get rocked. I'm still digesting and processing what he said tonight. I'll post a summary when I get a chance.

God is so good!

Johnny

Make the long story short:

Lady's Hip Healed - see video above!

Sally Kim's broken elbow: Sally walked into our YOPP meeting tonight and, of course, we were all fired up to declare healing upon her broken elbow. We prayed for over 20 minutes, and she went from 40% healed (before she came in to the meeting) to 60% healed (after praying about 3 times) to 75% healed by the end of our meeting! She was worried that she could not do worship @ Love Tent because of her elbow! And we all believe that she will be able to play @ Love Tent and she will be healed by the next time we see her in a week! Come on! Give God all the credit =D

I love how The Message talks about Matthew 10:5-8...it cracks me up =D

Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
"Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously."

We are called to BRING HEALTH to the sick. That's pretty awesome because that would mean we are HEALTHY! And we gotta go kick some demon's butt down to chinatown baby! Man I'm feeling a new level of healing is coming our way!

Johnny

Since Jack shared about Problem Solvers yesterday, I thought I should put down some famous problem solvers in the Bible. The first one is who Jack mentioned in his sharing - Jacob (aka Israel).

Background: So Jacob worked 7 years for Laban in order to marry his younger daughter Rachel, but Laban cheated on him - he gave Jacob his older daughter Leah on their wedding night. Well, Jacob worked for another 7 years to get Rachel. And after having 7 sons and a daughter, Jacob decided to depart from Laban, but first he needed some flocks......

"So, what should I pay you?" Jacob said, "You don't have to pay me a thing. But how about this? I will go back to pasture and care for your flocks. Go through your entire flock today and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. That way you can check on my honesty when you assess my wages. If you find any goat that's not speckled or spotted or a sheep that's not black, you will know that I stole it."
"Fair enough," said Laban. "It's a deal."

But that very day Laban removed all the mottled and spotted billy goats and all the speckled and spotted nanny goats, every animal that had even a touch of white on it plus all the black sheep and placed them under the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob went on tending what was left of Laban's flock.

But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them. He stuck the peeled branches in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the flocks were in heat, they came to drink and mated in front of the streaked branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or speckled. Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban. That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn't mix with Laban's flocks. And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front of the branches. But he wouldn't set up the branches before the feebler animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to Jacob. The man got richer and richer, acquiring huge flocks, lots and lots of servants, not to mention camels and donkeys.

I don't know how Jacob thought of that weird idea, but I guess it worked pretty well! He sure has the favor of the Lord!

Stay tuned for the next problem solver...
(hint: Jack also mentioned it in his message.)

Johnny

I believe we ought to keep on raising our level of expectation for fresh encounters that we have never seen before. All comes down to a deeper intimacy with Christ.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.


What is the new wineskin? I believe in this season, the new wineskin is our expectation. If there is no expectation, there is no faith, and there is no new wine cause the wineskin is still old. I think our tag line should be Expect the Unexpected.

I'm gonna keep on proclaiming Jack's spiritual mother's prophecy:

My(Jack's) spiritual mom says, "In my open vision I see the child is the work of God. He is called to be great, mighty in the Lord. (hmm...she doesn't know what we name the boy yet as I am writing it) God wants you to stand firm and you ought to pray for your son with the healing anointing God gives you. This is a breakthrough for you and your ministry. This is God's test for you; He is going to take you to the next level when you pass it. The whole church will receive the breakthrough in healing and miracles as you receive it. More healing will happen at your church. You and your church will see God's glory. Don't think too little of yourself. Stand firm. I am praying for you and your son everyday. Shout Hallelujah, you will overcome.

Receive it! Process it! Proclaim it!

Johnny