Believers all over the world will be able to webstream 24/7 prayer (and many other godly resources) from their phone.
Many others will be able to access anything they want, anytime they want, anywhere they want.
Here’s the link to find out more:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/live-from-macworld-2007-steve-jobs-keynote/
The global beauty contest is on. The affections of all the nations are the prize.
(or, Hag. 2:7 vs. Rev. 16:14)
David
January 10th, 2007
It’s the end of the age.
David
January 10th, 2007
If you would like to eavesdrop (or, listen from under the eaves) on a conversation filled with a mixture of indignation and rational thought regarding the new “look” of the prayer room, you can listen in here:
http://www.ihop.org/Forums/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=1000002396#new
I was planning on talking a bit more about the changes to the prayer room (and the reaction of many within and without). I understand the issues that drive discontent with both the changes themselves and change in general. When one has virtually no input into a change that happens seemingly overnight, it can be jarring and slightly disruptive. Disillusionment is a natural reaction when the logic behind a change is not evidently clear or trusted. This is particularly true, of course, when television or any form of mass media is involved. How much did this drive the change? (Lots) How legitimate is it that mass media would influence changes at IHOP? (Very) Were the changes necessary even without the mass media influence? (Absolutely)
There are many issues, positive and negative, that can be addressed at the outset of what is the beginning of the beginning of many changes that are in store for IHOP-KC. I, for one, sense multiple posts coming on here. You, for two, sense another magnum opus of verbosity surpassing anything ever attempted in blogdom. I think that we’re both right on this one.
(more…)
January 9th, 2007
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
January 6th, 2007
Sorry for being a day late with this post. My plan for Monday is to talk about a theology of “ugliness” and “blandness” that seems to be the preferred mode of a few for IHOP-KC of late. You can see a preview of this discussion here:
http://www.ihop.org/Forums/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=1000002396#new
If you’re interested in my fairly lengthy and detailed rebuttal of the pre-trib rapture argument posted on our Onething forums, you can read that here:
http://www.ihop.org/Forums/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=1000002379&page=1#feedback
Onto the subject at hand - Friday night, December 29th, 2006. It’s a date that I feel will be reflected upon as one of the most significant in our (IHOP-KC) history in the days to come. It is actually, in my opinion, the culmination of a series of events that constitute what could be called a new “season” for IHOP-KC that began to shift on Sept. 7th, 2006 with the 7-year anniversary celebration. I hesitate greatly to use the term “new season” because many are claiming and establishing new “seasons” with staggering frequency. I hardly ever get to enjoy the old season anymore, as we are often onto the next one in the minds of some prognosticators. It seems clear to me, however, that the 7-year celebration was something that Malcolm Gladwell might call a “tipping point” in our growth and development as a ministry. It began a chain of events with television and growth that led to the “turning point” event at the Friday evening session of the recent Onething Conference.
(more…)
January 6th, 2007
*whew*!
Global Bridegroom Fast, day 3…and I am slowly getting my legs back under me from the Onething Conference last week. I may spend a few days on this subject, as I feel like this particular conference represented a critical turning point for IHOP-KC in regards to our calling and destiny. Over the coming weeks, I am going to explore a bit what I think the Lord is going to do in the kindness of His leadership throughout this year in regards to the “P” of “I - H - O - P”. See my recent “Year in Review” post for an explanation:
http://www.heisatthedoor.com/blog/?p=17
On a side note, be sure to check the “Meditations from a Prayer Room” section of my website for some new resources - I posted my notes from the two sessions I did on the end-times at the conference. The sessions covered (sort of) the Book of Revelation and the Second Coming. In other words, I attempted to tackle two of the biggest subjects of the Bible in two 40-minute sessions. Sure, that went well….
(more…)
January 3rd, 2007
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
When I walked into the prayer room this morning, Marcus and Tim were already rolling along gently, leading the room in a gloriously enjoyable devotional set. The quiet sounds of normalcy were beyond comforting to me. It felt like I had been gone from the prayer room for months. When I had begun to settle into my “spot” in the prayer room, some of the guys were concerned - they couldn’t find my lamp with the special bulb. They had been searching all morning, but to no avail. I love that. I smiled a little mischevious grin and assured them that I had stashed my lamp (the one with the nice with flourescent bulb) in a little hideaway spot so that it wouldn’t get misplaced. I don’t like leaving things to chance. The guys seemed relieved.
There is something odd in terms of community that forms around men and women that sit in the same spots, day in and day out, seeking to encounter Jesus together. It’s a good kind of comfortable. It’s the familiar idiosyncrasies and habitual behavior of comrades pursuing God in prayer. I’ve got Brent next to me, as usual, somehow busy with a dozen conversations yet still able to juggle the Drudge Report and an open bible. I’ve got Ron in front of me, fired up about the latest set of Isaiah commentaries on sale for super-cheap. Of course, there’s Terri next to him, jacket and laptop in place in a spot no one ever disturbs. She is a fixture here, as much a part of the room as the soft lighting, or the freshly cleaned blue chairs.
The soft lighting. I’ll get to that little change, believe me.
(more…)
January 1st, 2007
There are few greater joys in my life than date night - especially with my not-so-little Riley Joy.
I like to say that while our little Lauren has always been 5 going on “5″, Riley has been the one who is like 5 going on “15″. It’s interesting to note the differences between the two precious girls of mine, both unique. Right now I’m just fighting to enjoy my oldest little one while she is still a little one.
We saw “Night at the Museum” together (and then went to Barnes & Noble afterwards) - she was on cloud nine all night. Is there anything more special than getting a whole bag of Skittles that you’re not forced to share with the other siblings?
Side note - I never recommend movies. Still, Riley and I enjoyed this one together. We held hands and laughed and loved being together.
All in all, a great “pre-Onething”, pre-busy evening with my special girl.
-David
December 27th, 2006
Yes, I am first called to be a husband and a father. My covenant with my wife and my commitment to my children is far more critical than my commitment to build a prayer room and advance the prayer movement.
Beyond those central responsibilities that I delight in honoring, I want to lay out my ministry calling.
The “tagline” of this blog summarizes the two main components of my calling before the Lord:
1. I’m an intercessory missionary.
It is clear to me at this phase of my life that ministry titles and functions will come and go. The primary calling of my life, however, that “trumps” all other functions is the one I feel is the highest calling I will ever have. To be an intercessory missionary is to be divinely “set” by God on a wall of intercession (Isa. 62:6-7) as one who would give Him no rest until the passion of His heart is fully established on the earth. The great prayer of Jesus was that the kingdom and the will of God would be fully realized on the earth. Jesus longed for the earth to be a reflection of heaven itself (Matt. 6:10) - and the means by which He will bring this to pass is through prayer. In John 18:36, Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom would not be birthed on the earth by human means; rather, the desire of Jesus is to bring as a righteous Judge swift justice to those who cry out night and day (Luke 18:7-8).
I won’t graduate from this calling, nor will I be promoted out of it. Prayer is not a means to an end for me - it is the end itself. God chose the weakest means to bring about His grand plans: weak people saying His words back to Him, skipping meals along the way. It is our glory and His delight for us to grow in agreement and unity with Him through prayer.
2. It’s the end of the age:
In one of the most significant encounters in my life, the Lord apprehended me in the place of prayer to commission me to proclaim the message of the end of the age. The title of my website and my web journal reflect the words He spoke to me that night: “Tell them I am coming! Tell them my hand is on the door…!”
Since that evening almost five years ago my life has taken a strange turn. It’s one that I could not have orchestrated or planned out. I am now preaching, teaching, and writing about the end-times. The funny part is, I never asked any of the leadership here to do any of those things. None of them know about that encounter, and those who do don’t know the details. I have been asked and approached to speak at conferences, teach Bible School classes, and write a book about the return of Jesus.
Like everyone else, I’m not always happy doing what I am called to do - there are many other things at times that I would rather preach and teach about. Yet I will joyfully play my part on the team, and I will join the many, many messengers the Lord is calling in this hour to proclaim the reality of His return and the necessity of our preparation for it. I am more convinced than ever that it is closer than we think. The urgency of the hour demands that we pursue the oil of intimacy with Jesus in the place of prayer (Matt. 25:1-13).
I have decided to give my life to Jesus to be fully spent in the place of prayer, building and promoting prayer as a lifestyle, establishing a prayer room that we might give Him no rest, and stirring the prayers of the church unto the great intercessory cry in Rev. 22:17 - “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’”
- David
December 27th, 2006
I answered a question on the Onething Forums (www.ihop.org) that I thought captured the essence of what I signed up for. The original post asked what the phrase “buy gold refined in the fire” from Revelation 3:18 meant. Here was my answer:
My vote is that it means:
1. “Buy” - to pay the price by rending your heart (Joel 2:13) in a place of the recognition of true spiritual poverty (need for supernatural resource - Matt. 5:3).
For a believer there must come a day in which they recognize that their gifting, strength, ability, and natural resource can not deliever them from their crisis nor bring them into a true expression of the kingdom. They must then begin the process of tearing themselves away from the places of strength or comfort that they lean on or depend on when they are under pressure. This is a painful process - it truly rends the heart to tear yourself away from the natural things you draw strength from or confidence in.
The Laodicean church in Revelation had grown confident in its own strength and resource - thus could not see their own lack of internal fire from God. Jesus was kindly exhorting them to begin a painful journey that would cost them everything - to turn even from the permissable things, or the “weights” that were hindering the deeper life in the Holy Spirit. They had to realize their spiritual bankruptcy and seek to obtain eternal things - or true gold.
2. “…gold” - Thus that which Jesus was counseling them to pursue radically was the “gold” of authentic internal life in God. Really, all of the beatitudes of Matt. 5:3-10 could be considered the true “gold” of the kingdom as the believer cultivates true maturity regarding their inward pursuit and desires.
God Himself wants to give us “gold” - a true inward transformation by grace in which we pursue and desire only Him rather than the external things that weigh us down and seduce us into thinking that we have arrived at something (i.e. recognition or success). The seeming “success” or outward prosperity of the Laodicean church had tricked them into thinking that God approved of them and that they were doing great.
3. “…refined in the fire” - speaks of the processes in the leadership of God to produce the pure gold of a heart fully loyal and devoted to Him in voluntary weakness and dependancy. The one whose boast is truly in the Lord Himself as Provider, Friend, Leader, and King is the one who has submitted to the necessary processes of trial, tribulations, and shaking - and did not quit along the way because of the power of the love of Christ working within them. As we are refined in the fire we are purified in our motives and desires so that we can come into full voluntary agreement with Jesus our King.
In other words, I signed up for the real gold - I have set my heart to see the authentic kingdom of God come into my life and my community. I won’t be satisfied by anything less, and can’t be consoled by anything else. Or at least, I don’t want to be.
I am sitting in this prayer room today, restless and hungry but with grace from a kind God to transform what I hunger for. It’s what I signed up for.
- David
December 27th, 2006
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