prayer meeting

We are having a prayer meeting upstairs in the refuge.  We are going to be gathering for prayer for the following areas:

 

What:  Prayer

Why:

 

1. that God would continue to transform this city
2. that God would show us our next steps
3. that God would continue to guide and provide
4. that God would continue to build up His community in this city
5. that God would continue to use this building to build our faith
6. that God would pour out His Spirit in these last days

 

Where:  The Refuge at 823 W. California Ave. Oklahoma City, OK

When:  Thursday, April 3, 2008 @ 7:00pm

Who:  Whoever wants to be apart

Please come with the intent to just pray.  There will be little updating on the refuge and more prayer for the refuge.  I would love to see each of you come if you would like to join in these efforts of transforming a city.  If you want more info on the refuge please visit us at www.refugeokc.com

work day coming up

i would like to welcome the guys from Oklahoma Christian.  This saturday we will be having a group of about 20 college students joining in the efforts.  If you are reading this blog and feeling like you just want to help feel free.

we are also going to be having another larger work day the following Saturday.

well, we will see you around.

salvation army

wow…God is sooo amazing right now…he is giving me amazing doors to share what He is doing in the inner city and the opportunity to share in the transformation of the city.  it was great getting an opportunity to share with about 40 – 50 guys what God can do with a person who is at the end of everything they know and surrender it all.  And it was great to share what happens to us who give our lives over to the LORD who wants to be busy furthering His kingdom through us.

even though there were a few guys as sleep physically, it felt too, that the LORD awoke a good amount of them to pick up their cross and follow hard after Him.  it was great.  thank you for all of your prayer.  we are heading into a great season right now, but am still needing prayer for our heating issues that have arose with the city and the building.

new york recap

well, i got back from new york.  it was a great trip…manahattan is amazing, but it a crazy place.  8 million people in tight courters but it seems like everyone is so alone.  we are excited about the possiblities of planting a church there…but i will not be going…i went with a friend of mine just to be able to hold up his hands and just be available.  i await for the days that we see a church plant out there and see what God wants to do in Manhattan.

spring in the air part 2

well, where did i leave off…somewhere probably with breakthroughs on the streets of oklahoma city and some of the homeless people that we are ministering to.  There are people like Pat, Angel, Arley, Daniel, Eric, Kevin, “Homicide”, Craig, and many others who it seems that God is really beginning a work in.

Pat:  Yesterday, we sat on the couch enjoying a delicious Popsicle.  This guy just begins to open up to us guys.  There on the couch was Joe, Greg, Jonathan, Jimmy, Glen, and this guy Pat, who is missing much of his teeth and the ones that he had were soon to be taken out.  I was impressed though because he used to to or three teeth left in the front part of his mouth to tear the plastic of the Popsicle.  Well, what he would begin to share with me just  really blessed me.  One of the reasons it was such a blessing was because he let us in side of his journey to homelessness.  He shared with me that it happened when he was 35 years old and doing well.  He shared how he was a licensed electrician living comfortably in a new house and driving $50k vehicles. (this is usually the tone/terms used on the streets of success).  He shared with me how he was married with kids.  And than he got stabbed couldn’t walk nor work…so his wife left him…well for another man.  So, Pat, freaks out and takes a company car and gets a hotel room and ends up staying there for a month.  As he was telling the story, it just seemed like i was in the room with him just feeling his emptiness and loneliness.  It was really there in the hotel room where he would find himself drunk regularly.  Apparently, he had a company car that the company called in stolen.  It was there that we was arrested and started his life downhill.  He said from that moment on that he had never been in trouble nor a drunkard.  As he was sharing things it seemed how valuable and necessary friends and a tight community around you are.  As he was sharing though he was wrestling with giving his life to Jesus.  Which was great because he took it there.  He brought up Jesus.  It was as if Pat knew he could bring it up there because he knew that we were all about just living out Christ and he could see that there.

My history with Pat goes back months.  One of the last times we had a run in was when he was in front of the Refuge waiting for a meal.  He ended up getting in a fight and someone rammed his head into the bay door pretty hard.  He was bleeding pretty bad…the fire department came and tried to stich him up.  There was blood everywhere.  He had just been in a fight previously with a guy name Max…Max is one of the those guys who will stab you at any moment.  Max is a scary guy…The last i heard about max was that he was in jail.

Well, back to Pat…he told me that he didn’t want to give his life to Jesus that day because he is drunk and used the drunkeness to sleep at night…He says if he drinks enough he can sleep through the cold.  i always wondered where the connection with alcohol and homelessness.  I guess you could call me naive, but it now dawns on me the endless cycle of how the enemy works.  He takes you down and keeps you there…and it seems to hard to get out.  Well, that is where we see our role…to give people Jesus and show them what He means by being the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Angel:  I saw this guy in church for the first time.  Which is huge becuase just 5 days ago this guy was passed out in front of the refuge.  i got to pray with him and i have seen him all week.  from what he shared with me is that he is 5 days sober.  Which is amazing…He shared with me today that some college students took him to get a new set of clothes, shoes, backback, and of course a new bible.  From what Glenn has told me, he hasn’t been able to put it down.  The thing about Angel is that he knows Greek.  Which is insane if you ask me.  It seems like he is going to be a weapon on the streets with us.  He knows the Word so well.

A quick story on Angel:  He was talking with me on Tuesday and after talking to him a little bit about the kingdom of heaven and what God was doing on that street…he asked me for a dollar or two.  I said no, i don’t do that right now (silver and gold i don’t have, but what i give is Jesus)…as he began walking away Angel came back and said to me…what you are doing here is worth more than billions and billions.  you are a bright light and salt and God is using you here on this street.  And he came down and kneels on the ground and began kissing my hand and was sort of began to weep.  Why i share this isn’t so much to say what i am doing is worth billions, but because for the first time in a while it felt like i was being able to be Jesus to him.  It was Jesus who he was kissing…i was just honored and blessed.  I will never forget about that moment because when you can just get an moment to represent Christ to someone who is at the end of their life, it is just so amazing.  I can see why Jesus hung out with such people because their love and appreciation and need were so great.

If i could just encourage any reader here, just share the love of Christ with anyone.  You will be amazed on what God will do through you if you just put yourself out there to use.

spring is in the air

wow…there is so much going on at the refuge it is hard to keep up with the blog…i am going to try to commit to sharing more as things develop because right now there is a great deal of stuff happening.

the first thing that i will leave with you is break through is happening with the people on the streets.  we know many of them by name and they are wonderful and awesome people.  yesterday towards the end of the work day, there were about 7 of us guys just hanging out on the couches with the bay door open.  Sitting there just enjoying our day in the sun and eating some delicious popcicles that had been donated to the refuge.  and a guy who has been in multitudes of fights and hasn’t been the best citizen on the streets came in and just starting sharing with us his need to change and to come to Christ.  it was unbelievable.  I just loved how he share his story with us from the time it started for him on this downward slope.  it was amazing because it wasn’t at all what i expected and it was great for us to hear how it can just come to a scretching hault in our lives especically if we don’t have a tight community around us.

well, i am off to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, so i will share more when i get back.

ps.  this is what i mean by being busy…i am blogging right now while leanne is getting keira ready for church…you got to be kidding right?

what is up with the refuge

well, i sit in the Cincinnati airport waiting for a delayed connection to New York…so i thought that i would blog a little about where we are at with the refuge.

we have been experiencing some hurdles with the city (but i believe these hurdles are a good thing) because the LORD knows what our needs are and His timing is always perfect. please pray for His timing and our obedience to follow. we are awaiting patiently to move in along with about 15 other individuals who have declared the refuge is their mission field. it is amazing to see all that God is doing in the hearts of individuals and married couples. for you see, this building has nothing special other than it appears to be a place where the LORD is really resonating with people in making a kingdom impact.

our plan of action is still very much the same. move in disciplers who want to “go and make disciples” among those who are widows, orphans, alien, poor (zachariah 7), and to execute true justice. our biggest hold up in moving into the refuge is the heating situation. a heating and air condition unit has been donated to us to do central heat and air but it appears that will not sit well with the inspectors. so we are looking into floorboard heaters as another option. i have also been told that 20 air conditioning units have been donated by a company in new jersey. it is amazing to see how God is continuing to provide all of our needs…

we purchased insurance for the refuge so we are now able to cover the parking lot next door in which we are renting from a great guy who is really open to what we are doing. he is currently working on mayor’s homeless alliance. included in the homeless alliance, there have been some great leaps made in creating a master plan of transformation in that area. we, at the refuge, are really wanting to bring a huge transformation down in this area that seems to have been ignored for so long. there are tons of empty buildings and broken windows. but we are working on this and i anticipate that we are on the move this year in bringing a huge transformation to that area as we really begin to bring the church down there to make disciples.

our plan for the widows and orphans is to see what would happen if they move in next door to the disciplers, who will be living out, intentionally, to make impacts for the kingdom through their life. it will be so fun to see how God uses us to love our neighbors right down the hall from us.

alien and the poor: the focus for the refuge is really champion for the spiritual food. the rescue mission next door has plenty of resources to provide physically. our heart is to see what will happen when, as disciplers, we don’t have too much silver and gold, but what we do have is Jesus…and to give away Jesus to all who would want to stand with us (1 Corinthians 15) and walk into the fullness of Christ.

execute true justice: here in okc, i hear a lot about social justices. i am not sure how to really define that within the confines of this culture here…but what i see happening is seeking the needs of my neighbor…giving away of myself for the sake of others…but i also think that it means making the streets safe…our plan for this is to set up at least for now a worship team at night who will be willing to worship on the street corners where the drug dealers stand to sell their drugs…which mostly goes on from the 1st of the month through the 5th of the month. the reason for this is due to those who get checks from the government…they usually cash their check and spend it on drugs…and therefore the 2nd half of the month the rescue mission begins to fill up and the cycle continues month upon month.

our approach with the drug dealers is to lead with worship. the worship of the warriors will be our tactic of battle. consider Moses when instructed by God in Numbers 10: 8 “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. 9 When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. 10 Also at your times of rejoicing–your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals–you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.” ; or of course with Joshua when going into the first battle with Jericho in Joshua 6 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”

That is