His Hand is on the Door

Life’s moving fast…

Just for good measure, I also added Aaron James, Nate Wood, and Steve Offutt to the wordcast links.

I would say “Steve and Amanda”, but it’s just Steve over there folks.  I read that thing all the time, and no Amanda sightings yet.  So it’s just plain “Steve” until.

David

8 comments March 3rd, 2007

I found Katty Spink…

…and, she’s here…

She may have to duke it out with Hartke, though.  Is someone going to start the “His Hand is Really on the Door” site at some point soon?  Should there be some kind of kickback?
David

2 comments March 3rd, 2007

Oh, but things turn around fast at IHOP-KC…

It’s suddenly a good day again. Not that it wasn’t earlier, but I hate working hard for nuthin’. So I was, as I said, a little grumpitty. But no more! Two of my favorite people are wordcasting. They’re just getting rolling, so give them time, but I’m excited to read thoughts on stuff related to things involving objects and other sundry items of middling interest to those who follow such things.

Who they be? Why, Molly Mosack and Sarah Sun Kim, of course! Check them out!

Make sure you ask Molly about her title.

Side note: Daniel said more cute stuff, and 24 needs to do a bit more than be boring for 59 minutes while being shocking for one. There you go.

David

11 comments February 23rd, 2007

Two necessary things…

1. I want to add a little sub-point to yesterday’s two posts. The most powerful medium in history is the written word, hands down. Know any good music from the 17th century? Me neither. (I know that some of the greatest music ever came out of this era – classical hymns with great power – but few can name them off the top of their head) I can find you some great books from that era, though. John Milton and John Bunyan were two giants of English literature as well as fervent Puritans. Paul the apostle helped lead the greatest revival of the 1st century in Ephesus, of which we would have no clue unless Luke wrote about it. The most powerful preaching in history would be completely unknown to us if not transcribed and recorded in books.

In the IHOP-KC culture, preaching, teaching, and music are often seen as the paragon of one’s ministry call. It’s like that in many, many places in the body of Christ. Because public speaking is the number one fear on everyone’s top ten list (death is ranked number two), those who can pull it off with skill are admired by the masses that feel like they could never do such a thing. Classical Greek culture also exalted the speakers, back in the day (the Areopagus in Athens, where Paul spoke in Acts 17, was seen as one of the premier places to test your oratory skills and ideas).

History bears out, however, that superior to preaching and pulling just ahead of its two-man race with music is the written word. Singing and music will be a major part of eternity forever, and plays a necessary and valuable role in unifying believers around ideas. People sing things that they would never say or even admit! Music will be a central and vital part of our life in God forever. So, I affirm that music is important and its central place in our little house of prayer is absolutely necessary. Music provides a valuable escort into enjoyable prayer. Someone on the platform reading a book would not help me pray. However, when someone (say, a prayer leader) reads a book alongside the music, we have a powerful combination!

More enduring than music throughout the centuries, however, is writing. Ideas in written form have been greatly disruptive - and as we all know “the pen is mightier than the sword”. The pen has singularly orchestrated more revolutions than any other implementation or instrument created by mankind. I say this to dignify the writers in our midst - you can’t carry a tune, can’t play a chord, and shudder at the idea of addressing more than ten people out in the open. You can, however, put thoughts and ideas on paper - or on computer. And it’s the computer part that has come together in a manner that can now transmit thoughts, ideas, and yes, songs, at a speed and to an audience that is truly historic. If you’re a writer, I’m speaking to you. More than any other time in history, this is your hour.

Now get an idea from heaven.

2. Secondly, if you read this webournal…this interjournal…this, um…netarticlethingy…okay, I’ll say the phrase, just one more time: “blog” (ugh - again, bury it in the back yard, folks! Can’t someone out there who’s cool come up with a better term? Everytime I say it I feel like I’m engaging with my phlegm. Blog. Blaaag. Blawwwwg. Ugh.)

Anyhow, if you read this journal regularly, than make sure you read the comments section! Particularly if you’ve asked a question on there. I think I’ve answered almost every one. I also try to sneakily sneakerson (as opposed to stiffly stifferson, for those who know of what I speak) a few extra points on there that add to and and expand on what I wrote. Some ideas are good but don’t work in the flow and theme of what I’m writing, so I sneak them into the comments when appropriate.

I like dialogue, so if you’ve asked a question on here (Ruth, Sunny, I’m specifically thinking of you right now) I probably answered it. In case you’re interested.

I’m enjoying the journey with all of you. Thanks much for reading.

David

25 comments January 31st, 2007

Change the earth…

I just decided to just go for it today. If I’m posting too much for you, prioritize the last entry on barrenness and come back to this one later. I’ve decided to be unashamedly grandiose today, and call you to it as well.

I’ve been reading Thomas L. Friedman’s latest book, The World is Flat (A Brief History of the 21st Century).

In this book he lays out the progression of globalization over the last 500 years, and then explains the latest and most stunning phase. He lays it out like this:

Globalization 1.0 - 1492 A.D. - 1800 A.D. This phase is kicked off by the paradigm shattering journey of Columbus to the West Indies - the “large” world became “medium” in a moment. Nations suddenly began to think global, and aggressive colonization of the earth began as a response. The resources of the world were in the balance.

Globalization 2.0 - 1800 A.D. - 2000 A.D. Industrialization and the rise of technology serve to take a “medium” world and make it stunningly “small”. One obstacle after another falls as corporations emerge. These corporations suddenly began to think global, and the aggressive economic shift of the earth took place as a response. The wealth of the nations began to flow through these corporate entities.

Globalization 3.0 - 2000 A.D. to today. The emergence of the digital age has placed resource, information, and technology in the hands of people to take a “small” world and make it “tiny” and “flat”. What began with nations and continued with corporations has now shifted to the individual - the individual is now able to compete on a global stage for the resources and economics of the global economy. Secondly, this dramatic shift will not only be driven by individuals, but non-western individuals from places like India and China. The power structures of the earth are in great flux. This is an unbelievable time in history.

Governments and corporations cannot control this flow of information and finance. New arenas and audiences are available to the individual for the first time. A door has been opened that cannot be shut. It’s breathtaking to consider.

When I did my little series on “people who should be blogging”, THIS WAS MY POINT. It’s not just about hearing the thoughts of cool people that we like. It’s about the unprecedented power and resource available to the individual to change the earth. People, the earth is filled right now with bored people reading the thoughts of boring people with nothing to say. Some do this to gather and bolster themselves in their boredom and anethstetize themselves from the pain of it (again, see my last post). It’s Romans 1:32. Others are yearning and hungry for ideas, thoughts, and concepts from heaven - something with a little bit of life on it (or as we here call it, “reality”). In a vacuum of ideas, a greenhouse of prayer is producing paradigm-shifting thoughts from the throne room of heaven.

Beloved, more than any other time in history, the stage is set for you to change the earth. Obstacles are removed, resources are at your fingertips, and the platform is staring at you right now. That we can digitize ideas and disseminate them immediately is an astonishing opportunity that I believe is equal to God establishing koine (common) Greek as the global language of 1st century Rome. It’s the same as the roads that empire built with security that enabled the gospel to go forth with power in one generation to the “ends of the earth” at that time. We have that unprecedented opportunity again. WE MUST PURSUE SOMETHING TO SAY. From God - divine ideas to the ones who pursue Him wholeheartedly in the place of fervent prayer and fasting.

There are three non-negotiable steps in this process if you want to sign up to change the earth. Technology changes and history moves forward at an unbelievable speed, but God’s methodology never changes even if the medium does. We must, in this hour:

1. Pursue a bonfire on the inside. We must become burning and shining lamps in the place of prayer and fasting.

2. Receive divine ideas from heaven related to the scriptures. We call this the “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

3. Then, we wait for God to breathe on our little lives with power that calls the attention of the nations to His message and ideas.

Once the third part of the journey happens, these little ideas will go to the ends of the earth. A revolution called the “prayer movement” will shake the power structures and foundations of the kingdom of darkness. Illegitimate governments and economic centers of the corporate world are trembling right now; racing against YOU to lay hold of this medium before something like this can take place. North Korea is working feverishly to keep this kind of information, these kinds of ideas, from out of the hands of their people. They are racing the clock, governing the Internet with fervency because of the undeniable pattern of history. One man’s ideas transformed the global church through what we call the reformation. One man’s ideas overthrew centuries of Czarist rule in Russia.

There are two responses to what I am proposing. Some may think that I am a bit over the top here - a bit too grandiose and odd. But some of you - you have to be thinking right now, “why not me?” Is it true? Can God really give you a voice in a digital age that surpasses the platforms of the great preachers in history? Can the stadiums of the digital world far surpass the stadiums in the natural? Can the impact of one little intercessor really shift the thinking of millions?

It’s happening right now. A little intercessor that has been praying for 30 years is poised by the grace of God to shift the thinking of millions in 214 nations. Beloved, THIS IS GOD’S WAY. It’s not reserved for Mike Bickle. It’s not reserved for someone else. It’s reserved for the ones who believe that the way of Jesus is right and that the only hope for the nations of the earth is a sovereign breakthrough of the Holy Spirit in power AND IN TRUTH.

You, who already are learning to express yourself on a digital medium, now go get truth. Who wants to change the earth?

David

37 comments January 30th, 2007

Here’s who you think should be wordcasting…

I appreciated a few things about this exercise - that blogging itself has been quite the topic of conversation lately, both externetally and internetally; that a few of us truly despise the word “blog”, as it sounds like something you bury outside of the camp according to Levitical law; and that the IHOP blog world is becoming quite an interesting place.

It’s only natural that this should be the case. Mike has said for years that this little prayer “greenhouse” would produce messengers. He has made many predictions about the sheer number of songs and books that would emerge from the prayer movement, particularly from the beauty of God and Song of Solomon messages. We are, as one of our main mandates, called to communicate a unique set of messages to the body of Christ, and the availability of this medium to grow and mature in that gift is an unexpected but enjoyable surprise.

I truly enjoy reading so many blogs from like-minded people. As a student of current affairs (with an eye towards future affairs) I read too many commentaries by unlike-minded people. It can be a bit discouraging and a little deflating at times to read the line of reasoning that flows from the fallen, broken, unrenewed mind. So to stumble upon the thoughts and meditations of my comrades is a great encouragement to me. Yes, there is a great “get to know you” value of these journal entries that is fascinating (in a “reality show” kind of way, with a knowing affectionate sympathy mixed in). I would say again, though, that I greatly value what is beginning to flow out of this seven-year greenhouse.

As a few others have commented over this past week, there has been a seeming explosion of IHOP blogs. I believe this is part of the “turning point” I spoke of weeks ago. It is the necessary next step in our growth and maturity as a people, and a small transition into the full expression of who we are becoming as a movement. IHOP songs and published materials have markedly increased over the past year - and now there is a marked increase in one of the most powerful resources in the history of mankind: ideas.

Ideas spark revolutions. Ideas bring change. Ideas are a very powerful currency for the human heart.

And these blogs represent the expression of pent-up ideas that have been waiting to be tried and tested while we are still in relatively friendly waters. These are ideas in the making. Many have noted a change in Shawn Blanc’s blog. There is an increase of “spiritual content” lately, according to the commenters themselves. Was this purposeful? Maybe a little on Shawn’s part - and definately a lot on God’s part. The Leader of the prayer movement has been stirring a key messenger to write, and the content of his heart and time in a little room over the last year is beginning to spill over into his normative habit of writing a successful web journal. How could this not happen? It’s as natural as beginning to really love your neighbor because you’re really starting to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. How could Shawn not express the ideas and phrases that are being birthed in his heart when he touches God in the prayer room?

And we all are the beneficiaries of the early formation of ideas that will contribute to sparking a global prayer movement. Shawn is being established in a medium that will be one means of launching divine ideas throughout the earth to fuel night and day prayer - for the Second Coming of Jesus. Where he “cuts his teeth” in writing will transfer to so many other mediums of communication - and he’ll always remember his day of small beginnings when a few hundred people applauded the beginnings of his journey from musician to messenger.

I am committed to serving him however I can on that journey. This is no small thing to me.

That was the reason I wanted to do this. Not to start a conversation about “blogging” for the sake of blogging, but as a pretext to encouraging the many young messengers in our midst who will sharpen their message and ideas here, amongst a community of godly men and women who enjoy encouraging them in the journey. I really want to urge you all who read these (especially the new ones that have emerged) - comment. Speak up in their blogs - give them feedback. Tell them what blessed your heart, and what made sense to you.
You just may be contributing to the formation of a messenger who will someday emerge as a surprising vehicle of divine ideas that will fuel a prayer revolution that changes the earth.

So, here we are - your top five “people who should be blogging”:

(…if you cheated and skipped ahead to this part, I urge you to go back to the top and read through the whole post)

Amanda Beattie

Tracey Sliker

Josh Hawkins

Jono Combrink

Gary Cooper

Also, Matt Hartke just missed this list - but I added him to my links. I added him under “sites I like” rather than “blogs I read” because right now his writing is in another league than mine or anyone else. I hope he can keep it up - what he is doing is just outstanding and a huge help to any theology zealots (like me) out there. He really isn’t blogging - he is posting a manifesto, a prophetic bomb blast to the reformed community. I love it. Others that just missed this list incuded Katty Spink, Derek Loux, Stephen Venable, and Danny Hibberd. There were a few “C3’s” that received quite a few votes as well, including Jen Roberts and Shelly Hundley - both of whom I may just try to talk into jumping in the water with the rest of us.

In terms of our top nominees, as you know, I have three to go in my little quest. My wife, surpisingly to me, has expressed great interest in starting her own blog. She would need a computer, of course, so it may be a while. But she is interested - the thing that touched her heart was being able to share her heart as a means of connecting our families back home with what we are doing. I love that.

Josh…well, he can be a bit set in his ways. But if he doesn’t find some vehicle to communicate what he has been cultivating within that gigantic heart sometime soon, he may have to repent. It really is borderline sinful that he isn’t getting his ideas and thoughts out there…and I am hoping he is reading my little guilt trip right now.

So, that leaves Gary Cooper.

I have no idea how I am going to pull that one off.

Randy?

David

27 comments January 20th, 2007

The lady, she gets it…

I’m posting Kelsey Bohlender’s nominations from the comments section, clarifying one or two ground rules, and then setting the deadline.

I’m posting Kelsey’s comments because she connected exactly with the point of my last post - there are many in the IHOP community who are called to partner with Jesus to impact the earth and take ground for the kingdom, not just the…well, read her post. You guys are doing a great job, though, with the “category one” crowd - people that might just be crazy enough to jump in and start writing…with the proper motivation. Here are Kelsey’s thoughts:

“First of all, you can take Richard Lewellen off the list because he already has a blog, as does his wife, and they are great!

I love the idea of the “great teachers” and even the “up front people” of IHOP blogging, but the truth is there are so many hidden jewels - a few of whom are already penning their thoughts. I think of IHOP moms like Sarah Caprye, Kari Wiezorek, Katchen Weaver and Marci Lewellen who provoke me with their words often.

No doubt men have a ton to say, but I personally love a woman’s touch (of course, I BE one!). I love the gospel woven into the stories they tell. Not many are writing Bible studies or commentaries, but the way they seek Jesus in the mundaneness of life is like iron sharpening iron to me.

Some of the stories I would love to hear told…..

1. Patti Culton
2. Erin Parks
3. Jennifer Roberts
4. Lyne Willis
5. Sarah Kim (Brian’s sis)
6. Anna Sorge (she’ll write a book someday!)
7. Lauren Fraser
8. Esther Myung
9. Eric Wiezorek (ok, he’s not a girl, but I thought I throw him in here so you know I’m not a feminist — plus he’s got a lot to say for being under 30!!)”

I love it - more with the hidden jewels, the men and women who quietly help lead a thousand prayer meetings and have tasted a few gloriously divine insights that they can now unveil a little of, for the provocation of many.

No anonymous nominations, please. I don’t want some stacking the deck (not that you would do such a thing). If you WANT to post semi-anonymously (just between you and me, but don’t want to go public), then feel free to email me with your nominations (as some have done). I’ve received about 100 nominations so far, and the fun is seeing the names of cool people who constitute the “excellent ones, in whom is all our delight!” I feel like I’m doing the “faithful at IHOP” nominations again. I love it. You love these guys. It’s great.

Keep posting under the comment section of the previous post, not this one (so we can all get a feel for who is being nominated). We’ll close the voting next week at this time (10 PM CST on Friday, Jan. 19th) and post the results next weekend.

Thanks for participating!

David

Add comment January 12th, 2007

People who really should be wordcasting….

Side note - Brent Steeno went on a blogging tear yesterday, with five (five!) posts about the current geo-political situation. Nothing yet about the nutrients found in eagle’s eggs, though. (sigh!)

Kyle Gebhart finally decided to say something and not just talk about saying something - which is good for all of us.

Isaac & Morgan Bennett are having a boy.

Ron Downing is beginning his study of the book of Matthew. Ian Barker is continuing his study on Philippians.

OK, full disclosure. As many of you know, there are blogs of substance sprouting up all over the web from our IHOP family. There is good stuff out there, and one of the joys of entering into this arena for me has been the discovery of all of these hidden jewels of wisdom and revelation that are invading the world wide web. In that spirit, I wanted to intentionally juxtapose this topic with the topic I introduced on Wednesday related to the iphone.

The iphone itself is not the problem (read the comments - it’s actually the solution. To everything.) The problem is what Daniel 8:23 describes (and Rev. 9:21 depicts) as the time in history in which the “transgressors have reached their fullness…” The great problem that is facing believers in the hour in which we live is that every medium of communication is under assault, not only by the enemy but also by the growing wickedness and iniquity of man. Every arena of life is being given over by men to the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this age - the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).

It’s important to understand - the kingdom of darkness is not taking these areas. Demons do not have the authority to invade and take ground. It has been appointed to men to govern the internal and external arenas of life - and thus demons do not take, but rather men give. Technically, it’s God Himself the oversees this process - He Himself will give to those who pursue:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8) Men will reap what they sow. Therefore, it is God who gives men over (as they give themselves over to their sinful passions), as Paul describes in Rom. 1:18-32. A terrifying example of men giving themselves over to demons is found in both 1 Tim. 4:1-3 and the aforementioned Rev. 9:21. They give their lives over, yes - but they also give their homes, cities, and arenas of life over to the enemy as well.

As believers, we have been given authority from heaven to take ground and give it over to righteousness and the kingdom of God in Gen. 1:28 and Matt. 28:19-20 (as well as Acts 1:8). Most apply this principle to souls, but this mandate from God to us really involves every sphere of life. After the Second Coming, Jesus in His leadership will orchestrate the redemption of every sphere of society unto the fullness of His heart. This process is in preparation of the coming of His Father in fullness (Eph. 1:9-10; 1 Cor. 15:20-28). Friends, we get to start now.

We do this mostly in the place of weakness - prayer and fasting. It is our weak appeal to Him to do His part in sending the requisite power and authority from heaven to fill us with the required grace to move forward in boldness and effectiveness (2 Thess. 3:1, for example). But we also “go!” We can take ground for the kingdom in every arena and sphere of life now, in a way that really matters, when Jesus brings this process to its fullness after His return.

Thus, it really encourages me to see so much of this beginning to take place on the Internet. The Internet does not have to be a place of darkness giving easy access to the unclean, assaulting the eye gate of men and women throughout the earth. We really can take meaningful ground for the kingdom and rightly govern even this sphere of life for the benefit of those same men and women across the earth. The IHOP family is beginning to do our little part, through the Onething site, the webcast, and now all of these fine blogs. They really matter to the King in this regard! So what’s the point?

Shawn Blanc and I have been talking for a few weeks now about getting Josh Hawkins to blog. So far he has stubbornly refused our not-so-subtle pressure, but I am hoping that my skillful apologetic shifts his thinking. This post is dedicated to him, actually. But the thing that really got me thinking was reading Amanda Beattie’s comment in my “Seeker Sensitive” post. When I saw her name, I thought - wow! She should be blogging! Really, how many other people are around that we could really benefit from in this way?

Matt Hartke, for example - he really should be writing (and not waiting for the volumes of books that he will surely write a few years down the road). Danny Hibberd. Luis Cataldo. Steven Venable. Matt Candler. The list really goes on and on - there are so many in our IHOP family (that would have the inclination to do this) that would be a huge blessing to the writing community if they were tipped off to the benefits of getting their thoughts out there!

So, here’s my proposal. It’s multifaceted (of course):

1. Comment on here, noting those in our community YOU would like to see begin blogging.
2. They must be someone at IHOP that actually WOULD blog if confronted by me (for I am going to confront our “top five” with this - from whoever you nominate…and blog about it, of course.)
3. For fun, you can also add someone whom you would love to see blog, but never would. But call them a “category 2″. This post really is about the “category 1″ crew.
4. I get that many of you would love to read a “Bickle” blog or a “Misty” blog. Since they are so obvious, let’s call them “category 3″ and leave it at that. Are there any other C3’s?
5. We’ll tally the results together from either the comments section (or email me, you lurkers - davidsliker@ihop.org) and look at our top five in a few weeks.
6. List as many as you want, but nominate them only once.
7. There has to be a seventh point, just because.

For the record, I’m nominating Amanda Beattie and the rest of the list from above. For any of you that received the brilliant Cataldo Family Update, you know the great joy we would all receive from a “Cataldo Blog”.

What do you think?

David

60 comments January 12th, 2007

postscript….

If you made it through my epic last post, I wanted to add a side note:

Two of my favorite Nightwatchers are now blogging, Zach and Kyle. I like them alot. They’re smart and fun. Check them out if you want - they’re on the right side (just below the categories) if you’re curious.

David

Add comment January 6th, 2007