Michael's Blog

Mental Graffiti

2010-02-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

In his amazing book, Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of the transformation of the New York Subway System that had been experiencing a horrible crime wave. Incidental to the crime was a severe problem with graffiti and vandalism on the subway trains. City officials began an unusual but brilliant campaign to stop crime: They began with the GRAFFITI. They had observed that the crime rate increased in direct relationship to the graffiti. So starting with just a few trains, they determined clean every ‘tagged” train every day, removing the incentive of the taggers to tag the cars. The number of “clean” cars increased on a regular basis to eventually include the entire fleet. Eventually a tipping point was reached in which the environment and atmosphere of the subway improved so drastically that it affected the clients and criminals alike and the crime rate went down.

This principle also works in the human mind. The challenges of living in a fallen world, “tags” our minds with thoughts and images that are contrary to God’s goodness and this mental graffiti can actually attract “criminal” thinking and behavior. In fact, the enemy is the father of lies and knows that if he can tag your thinking with fiery darts, he can create a target to attract demonic forces to harass and oppress God’s people. We are commanded to be “casting down strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God”, yet all too many believers remain tagged by “stinking thinking” that empowers the enemy and limits spiritual victory.

Next month we are excited to welcome Steve Backlund of Bethel Church to the Bay Area to do a mini-conference on THE VICTORIOUS MINDSET. Steve is possibly the most encouraging leader I have ever spent time with and he walks in a unique ability to impart this encouragement to others. We invite you to join us and “be transformed by the renewing of (your) minds.”

Brodeur Newsletter

2009-12-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

God is doing amazing things in the Brodeur Family!

A New Season...In the beginning of May, the Brodeur Family received clear guidance to enter a new season of life. This amazing phase includes retooling, restoration and reflection. We are getting charged up for the work God has for us in the years to come. We are commited to San Francisco and want to be strong for what God is doing there. We are temporarily living in Redding Ca., building deeper ties with the folks at Bethel Church and Michael continues to minister in the City three weekends a month.

Our House is Sold...We were tired of the foggy cold and have wanted to relocate for some time. In every way the timing was perfect to make this change. Our son Christopher did an amazing job preparing the house for sale with the help of each of our family members. We’ve lived a full life in this house and we all have profound memories of this place we called home for twenty six years. We are looking to reinvest in the San Francisco Area in the early summer 2010 You can read more about this in our blog at Michael's Blog.

Michael & Diane
After almost 30 years together we are ready for change. We are asking for new realities. Words that capture the essence of this time are; fresh, alive, vibrant, strong, tender, health and wholeness. These are the things that we are going after. We are asking God to give us new child-like hearts, minds, souls and spirits. Born again life. It has been so good, deep, hard, eye opening and wonderful. We spend most of our time praying, writing, pastoring, investing in family and building relationship with our Bethel family.

The Strwswers
Heather is happily married to Christopher Strawser. Christopher is building websites for Apple and Heather is a world class nanny to three babys. They are raising our gorgeous grand daughter Madeline who is an amazing student, a budding photographer and is a joy to us all. We are rejoicing that Heather and Christopher are expecting our second grand child in June. Yeah!!! This is a luminous family!

Aaron
Aaron is living in San Francisco and working at an amazing company called Virgance, a business incubator that finds great ideas and turns them into companies that change the world. He loves to read, write, hang out with friends and walk his wonder dog named Luna. Aaron is brilliant and so much fun. He is a shining star!

Melissa
Melissa is engaged and will be married to Stephen Casey on May 8, 2010. Stephen was raised in Alaska and is a fellow student with Melissa in their second year at Bethel School of Ministry. Melissa is going on a mission trip to Chile in the coming year. In addition to being a star student, and working at Starbucks, Melissa continues to sing on the Bethel worship team and has sung as a back-up vocalist on five powerful CD’s. She is a bright light!

Christopher
Christopher has had an ultra productive year. He is attending SF’s City College and doing well. He is skilled and works in many construction trades including carpentry, masonry, tile work and landscaping. He is an artist in all of these fields and his handy work is seen throughout the Bay Area. Christopher works hard being a blessing at PLF our SF church, in areas which include worship team, sound and computers, pastoral and prayer ministries. He strengthens our family and the lives of his friends. Christopher is a lightening rod!

Gabriel
Gabriel is living with us in Redding while he goes to school at Shasta Community College. He is working at Yak’s Coffee Shop and is impressing his managers and co-workers with his mad skills. He leads worship at a couple of youth gatherings every week. In his spare time, he loves to hang out with friends and family, play and write music and play video games. Gabriel is faithful, a hard worker and a great student. Gabe is flashy bright!

Jacob
Jacob is in his senior year of high school and gets a string of A’s on his report card. He is a worship leader for the youth group at Bethel Church. He writes and plays music. Jacob enjoys working out and used all that strength in an over night trek where he summited mount Shasta this past summer. He is a joy and is a blessing to his many friends and family. Jacob is radiant!

Michaela
Michaela is graduating from the eighth grade with honorable A’s. Her teachers and fellow students love her. She performed in an amazing Christmas play at Bethel church where she had a part with many lines and also sang in the choir. She is creative in the arts and has completed many projects this year. She was on the prophetic prayer team at the ‘Leaders Advance’ in Oct. and blessed leaders from around the world. Michaela will be going to La Paz Mexico in May to serve the poor with her school. Michaela is a ray of sunshine!

Open Wide

2009-12-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Thirty years ago I listened to a teaching that totally rocked my world and shaped my understanding of the Gospel for the rest of my life. This teaching was called “Ten Shekels and a Shirt” by Paris Reidhead. Recently, someone sent me a link to this life-changing message and as I began to listen to it, I felt like I was receiving spiritual nutrients that had long been missing from my diet.

The human body requires dozens of different vitamins and minerals to stay healthy and without a regular supply of these elements we will begin to develop certain ailments such as scurvy or rickets as a result. Several centuries ago, during long sea voyages, sailors would develop scurvy as a result of a loss of vitamin C because of a limited intake of fruits and vegetables and would experience a number of ugly symptoms including the loss of their teeth.

In the Word of God there is a complete supply of spiritual nutrients that are designed to keep us healthy as individuals and fruitful as the Body of Christ. But sometimes the emphasis of the moment causes us to concentrate on certain truths to the exclusion of others and we can begin to generate a spiritual “scurvy”. This disease can cause us to loose our spiritual teeth so we can longer consume the “meat” of the word but merely the “milk”.

What’s amazing about this analogy is that you can be fully supplied with every other vitamin and mineral but if you lack in only one area, your entire body can be thrown out of whack.

I invite you to open wide and take your vitamins. This teaching carries some nutrients that have been sorely lacking in the Body of Christ. The absence of these truths, have produced an array of harmful symptoms such as compromise, complacency, cynicism and self-centeredness. This message delivers a word that is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Here’s the link. I pray it touches your heart like it has touched mine.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?keyword=ten%20shekels&entiresite=true

A Gem Appears

2009-11-11T17:18:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was absolutely amazing. We hosted Erica Greves and her team from Campus Awakening along with one of the Bethel Church worship teams. Campus Awakening is apostolic student revival movement that brings transformation to students, campuses and ultimately the world.

Throughout this weekend we witnessed many wonderful healings including several that occurred on UC Berkeley campus during the Saturday outreach. In one case, a woman, with a pre-existing knee injury was walking away from the football game when her knee gave way and she fell to the pavement. She was immediately surrounded by family and a crowd of onlookers. They tried to bring her a chair but the pain was so excruciating that she was unable to move. Just then a team from Campus Awakening stepped forward and offered to pray. The woman consented and was immediately helped. They asked if they could pray again and at the end of the second prayer, all pain had disappeared and she was able to walk freely. The team stayed on to share with the shocked onlookers about the healing power of Jesus. In another case, a man limped up to a team member with a tumor of some kind on his foot. After the team prayed, the tumor receded. All pain was gone and he was able to walk without a limp. We also praise God for other healings such as several cases of flat feet, shoulder injuries and partial blindness healed.

Erica spoke during our Sunday morning Celebration and brought a prophetic word that she had been sensing for us and San Francisco: "I hear the sound of rain". Drawing from the story of Elijah and his servant on Mount Carmel, she spoke of the challenges of faith that come just before a new outpouring and the dynamics that precede breakthrough. It was a great message and worth downloading when it gets posted.

Then Sunday night, to top it all off, A GEM APPEARED in our gathering. Michele Perry, the director of Iris Ministries in the Sudan is an awesome woman of God who ministers in Kingdom power in one of the most dangerous war zones in the world. After an amazing time of worship and an excellent teaching filled with incredible stories, Michele looked down at her feet and saw this amazing jewel. We were able to take pictures but gave the gem to her to keep.

Some may ask, "How do we know the jewel didn't come out of someone's earring?" Although it is possible it might have fallen out, the fact remains that gems have been appearing in different places for some time now. In many cases these gems have been examined by experts and have been determined unclassifiable, unknown in the natural world. We know that this was designed by God as a sign that would bring us to wonder.

Another good question is, "Why would God drop a jewel in the middle of a church meeting?" I can't pretend to have the full answer to that but I do have a few ideas. First, throughout scripture, the Lord loves to give us, SIGNS THAT MAKE US WONDER. Second, God seems to be intent upon bringing his people to a new level of revelation and encounter. We are told that we do not look at the things that are unseen but seen; because the things that are seen are temporary but the unseen things are eternal. Yet at the same time, Jesus taught us to pray that the unseen things of Heaven would become the seen things of earth. "Let your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

This prayer has been prayed millions of times by believing saints throughout the ages and it seems to be coming true in our day with greater frequency and potency. The healings and the gems are but two major examples. The membrane between heaven and earth is growing thin, and as Jesus prophesied over Nathaniel, "you shall see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

The heaven's opened two thousand years ago at the baptism of Jesus but the revelation of the open heavens has been intermittent. As this revelation grows, and we begin to partner with God in ever increasing faith, the fruit of invisible things invading the visible realm will be increasingly frequent. May God lead us into a greater understanding of His ways so we can release His Kingdom on earth in salvation, healing and deliverance and bring increasing Glory to His name.

Join us as we keep pressing in for MORE of God. Next Sunday I continue my series on Agreement and Alignment, and in two weeks we will be hosting Kathy Balcombe who, along with her husband Dennis, helped to catalyze revival in China over the last few decades and Keith Luker, who is an amazing worship leader and prophetic teacher. Kathy will be speaking at our Sunday AM Celebration with Keith leading worship. Keith will be ministering at our Sunday PM gathering.

Just a Spark

2009-11-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

"Kumbaya" is the cliché campfire song all of us know about but very few actual know at all. For some, this song can evoke sentimental memories, for others it's downright "corny." The second most popular youth group camp song of yesteryear begins with the phrase, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going..."

Throughout my life, I have built thousands of fires, in fireplaces, in campgrounds, and once in our basement and almost burned our house down. But I have never built a successful fire without an initial spark.

I am fine with the paper, the kindling, the small wood and the big logs, but my real interest is in the warmth and light that comes after the spark has done it's thing. I know a bit of the science of fires. at least enough to know that oxygen is important, the age and dryness of the wood really matters, and that fires need to start small before they become big. But ultimately the elements of the fire and the science of the fire although essential can never bring forth a bright blaze without a spark.

It's the same with revival. We can arrange our individual lives with all the elements of God yet not receive the spark that will ignite the tinder. We can organize our churches and ministries in recognition of all the social science elements that would prosper and bear fruit but without the spark it's all wood, hay and stubble. God wants to release revival in our individual lives and in our community experience but he cannot do it without a spark of fire.

This is why I try to spend a lot of time with people who are burning for the purposes of God. I attend conferences, I receive prayer ministry, I embrace prophetic words, I fellowship with fiery saints because I know that if I add their spark to the tinder of my personal prayer, devotion and study, I can keep burning in spite of the storms, wet blankets and suffocating influences of life.

My desire for each of you is that your fire would be a mighty blaze that would dispel the darkness and eliminate the coldness of a fallen world. You are the most essential link between a loving God and a transformed world.

This is why I also want to encourage each of you to join us this weekend for the Campus Awakening Conference with Erica Greves and the Bethel Worship Team. You are a bonfire waiting to be lit and this conference is the spark that will ignite your flame. Erica is a gifted leader and a powerful preacher. She is also extremely anointed to impart supernatural power to hungry hearts. See you there.

Three Levels of Increase

2009-10-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

THREE LEVELS OF INCREASE

After God created the heavens and the earth the first commandment He gave us is to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” We were created for INCREASE yet so many of us get locked into lifestyles of mediocrity and maintenance. We were created to THRIVE yet so many of us spend all our energy merely trying to survive.

In ancient times, when people lived off the land, there were three primary ways in which a person could experience increase: REAPING, PLUNDER and INHERITANCE. These three forms of increase are very different from one another and each requires an entirely unique response.

REAPING is increase in proportion to our sacrifice and labor. Every seed planted is a seed we could have eaten the winter before but we chose to live on less to bless the future harvest. Jesus spoke of different degrees of harvest: “some thirty, some sixty, some hundred-fold.” Doubtless there are many factors that can affect the ratio of our harvest, and like sun and rain, most of them are outside of our direct control. Yet the quality of the seed, the preparation of the soil, the care for the crop and the timeliness of the harvest are all factors that are under our direct influence and can make the difference between mere survival and revival. As we “sow bountifully, we will also reap bountifully”.

The principle of “Sowing and Reaping” is the foundation of all increase and without it, it’s hard to imagine God blessing us in additional ways. We show up at work every day, we care for our families, we give our tithes and offerings consistently and we look to the Lord to prosper us little by little as we serve him day after day. The promise of God is that we “will reap in due time if we do not faint.” Yet in the world of increase there are other pathways that may get us to our destination a lot quicker.

PLUNDER is increase in proportion to our spiritual authority and victory. In the process of pursuing increase, it’s essential to remember that we have an enemy. The enemy’s goal for us is not necessarily deprivation but rather any calamity or temptation that will undermine our confidence in the Goodness of God. King David found himself in this exact situation after the Amalekites attacked his town and carried away his family. Rather than despair, David “encouraged himself in the Lord” and sought the Lord for guidance. God told him to pursue and he would recover everything he lost. After a great battle, David’s army walked away with a massive amount of plunder. (1 Sam. 30)

Most of us have been victimized by the enemy, in many ways, throughout our lives. The thief has come to kill, steal and destroy. The devourer, like a great swarm of locust has tried to rob us of increase. Yet Jesus has given us the keys of the Kingdom. He has given us authority to tread on all the power of the enemy and He promised to “rebuke the devourer” and “restore the years the locusts have eaten”, if we will come into agreement with who He is and who we are in Him. Although sowing and reaping is the foundation of increase, there are times when we must recognize and rebuke the work of the enemy and reclaim the plunder of stolen blessings. “The Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent ones are taking it by force…”

INHERITANCE is increase in proportion to our identity and alignment. In a recent talk, Bill Johnson was contrasting these different levels of increase and made the point that reaping is the increase from our labors while inheritance is the increase based on the labors of another. We have been made co-heirs with Christ who is the Son of God, the heir of all things. In order to receive this inheritance, we must first embrace our new identity in Christ. We are sons and daughters. “He has sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba, Father.’” As sons, we have come into alignment with Him, not on the basis of our righteous works but on the basis of His work on our behalf. All we must do is simply receive. Increase belongs to us, yet we receive it in proportion to our alignment with the Father.

Again, the foundational activity of all increase is reaping, yet the foundational attitude of all increase is inheritance. “We have obtained an inheritance… according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. He has given us the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance…” When this attitude is at the heart of our identity and alignment with the Father, we are able to enter into His rest and walk in the rich blessings of Kingdom increase in all we do.

We were created for increase and we were given tools to access increase in this life. The secret of ongoing increase is to know which tool to use in which season. We need to know when to fight, when to plow and when to simply receive, yet we need to simultaneously realize that each activity reflects an aspect of the heart of God and an each is part of a healthy identity in Christ. As we embrace our threefold identity as Sowers, Warriors, and Sons, we can fully expect God to bring the increase through reaping, plunder and inheritance.

What's Up With Brodeurs Part 2

2009-09-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

God has been doing amazing things with the Brodeur Family!

As you might have already heard, God has led us to spend much of this summer in Redding CA, outside of most of our normal ministry responsibilities, so we could pursue Him in a deeper way and connect in a more complete way with our friends at Bethel Church and Global Legacy network. This email is designed to share with our greater circle of friends, what we are doing and how we see it unfolding. If you want more info, you can check out the attached document: What's up with the Brodeurs - Part Two.

During this summer season, we have been seeking God for...

REFRESHMENT – We are cultivating our inner life and “sonship”.

RESTORATION – We are receiving healing and spiritual resource.

RE-TOOLING – We are learning new ways of being and doing.

REALIGNMENT – We are connecting with our apostolic leaders.

REASSIGNMENT – We are entering a new phase of fruitfulness.

Several weeks ago, the Lord began to speak to us to extend this season for another nine months. After much prayer and counsel with our Promised Land leaders and leaders at Bethel Church in Redding, we have concluded that this is the Lords will.

GOING BI-LOCATIONAL: What does it mean?

We will be living in two locations for the next nine months - SF and Redding.

We remain committed to San Francisco as our home and ministry base.

We will continue to provide senior leadership to Promised Land.

We will continue to minister in SF three weekends a month

We have secured a house in Redding for nine months.

We have been invited to serve on the Global Legacy Team.

We will continue to serve with Campus Awakening.

We will strengthen a bridge of partnership between Promised Land and Bethel

We will be selling our house for personal financial reasons and renting in SF.

We will be re-establishing a permanent home in SF in May, 2010.

We believe this “bi-locational” season will strengthen our relationship with our friends at Bethel and pave the way for many leaders and BSSM graduates to come to our city to minister. San Francisco has a unique history and destiny of launching people movements into the nations. Although most of these "people movements" have been harmful to humanity, we believe that God is preparing our city to be a primary launching pad for a New Jesus Movement that will transform the world.

As a church, Promised Land Fellowship will continue to pursue the three-fold vision God has give us: To build a thriving community of passionate believers who:

1) Experience God by hosting His presence, purpose and power,

2) Equip every person to walk in his or her God-given identity and destiny,

3) Empower God’s people to extend the Kingdom in the various spheres of our church, our city and beyond.

May God continue to bless you in every way,

Michael and Diane

What's Up With the Brodeurs, Part 1

2009-09-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Diane and I are embarking on an amazing spiritual journey that promises to reposition us significantly in our relationship with God and our relationship with others. This letter is a heart-felt effort to let you and a few dozen of our other friends in on the transition we are going through so you can pray for us and walk with us as we seek a deeper alignment with Father in the coming season.

WE ARE BEING REPOSITIONED AND REALIGNED

Over the last few years, God has begun a process of repositioning Diane and me in relationship to Himself and to what He has called us to do. This process came into greater focus a little over a year ago when God spoke to me one morning as I was waking up, saying, “Michael, you are still not in your place.”

Initially I understood this as a mandate from God to reposition myself in terms of my role and responsibilities in the Kingdom. I believed it was a word from God to focus less on pastoral ministry and more on the apostolic calling that had been prophesied many times over my life. Yet, as we have followed the guidance since that time, it has become clear that the primary meaning of “finding my place”, has much less to do with our “assignment” than our “alignment”. In other words, it’s not about our responsibilities but our relationship, with God and others. His assignment needs to proceed out of, and because of, love.

There is a huge difference between doing things out of duty and doing things because we are deeply and intimately in love with Jesus. One of the biggest challenges of ministering non-stop for over 30 years in one location is that we can let the demands of ministry interfere with a deeper relationship with God. Jesus said, “The Son only does what he sees the Father doing.” Yet, the overwhelming pressure of pastoral ministry is geared toward pleasing people, paying bills and fulfilling duties and obligations that come with the territory. We believe this “repositioning” process is designed to transform us from SERVANTS TO SONS.

THE STEPS OF REPOSITIONING

In a desire to facilitate this repositioning process, we will be taking a major portion of the summer to focus on our INWARD ministry to the Lord, rather than our OUTWARD ministry to others. We will be asking The Lord to disciple us personally and lead us into His rest. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am meek and lowly, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” He wants to show us a deeper level of doing things, a different way of living, a different way of being. So we are giving ourselves to a season of “Prayer and ministry in the word”, particularly focused on rediscovering our place as a Son and Daughter of God.

Also, in this repositioning process, we will be spending more time in Redding Ca. to deepen our relationship with our friends at Bethel Church. About two years ago, God clearly directed us to align ourselves with Global Legacy, a network of churches overseen by Bill Johnson. God is using Bill and the Bethel Team to bring the Body of Christ around the world into a deeper experience of His presence and power. We are looking forward to this opportunity to strengthen our friendships, attend a couple of conferences and receive ministry from some of the leaders there.

Finally, in our quest to realign ourselves in a deeper way with God, we are releasing new pastors and leaders at Promised Land Fellowship. In the sixth chapter of Acts, the Church was experiencing a set of significant growing pains. In response, the apostles released a new group of leaders to handle the daily running of the church so they could devote themselves to their primary calling of “Prayer and the Ministry of the Word”. The result of this delegation was a great INCREASE in the impact of the church (Acts 6:7) We are entering an “ACTS 6 SEASON” that will bring great blessing to our Promised Land Family and to the God’s purposes for our region. As Diane and I reposition ourselves in right alignment and assignment, others will be released to find their places in the Body of Christ as well.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US: As we focus more on the INWARD ministry this summer, we ask you to pray for the Pastors and Leaders who will be providing the majority of the OUTWARD ministry in our church. Could you put our names on the “fridge” and pray for us daily? Also, please pray for Diane and me that God will encounter us with healing, wisdom and revelation. That our hearts, eyes and ears would be wide open to God’s heart. Please pray for financial provision to cover all additional expenses during this season. We estimate the cost of extra travel, housing, conferencing, counseling, etc. to be around $7500.00 above our normal expenses. Your prayers will make the difference.

Thank you for being in our lives.
We love you. You are in our hearts and thoughts.
May God’s grace and blessing be abundantly yours,

Michael and Diane

MOVING FROM THE FLOOD TO FLOW - PART II

2009-05-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, a young woman shared with me an open vision she had received about our church and the multi-church ministry of Golden Gate Outpouring. In part of the vision she "saw" our front door with two large angels standing on either side with a seal above the door that said, "no longer servants but friends" and a large crowd gathered as one of the angels blew a shofar. Out of the door of our church building, three rivers were flowing, toward the east, west and north. When she asked the Lord about three rivers, a voice spoke to here that it is one river per year.

In my last blast, I compared the history of Golden Gate Outpouring to a river that began with a flood but is now reduced to a flow. God is STILL moving in a powerful way among us but compared to the initial few months, when the waters were flooding over the banks, GGO can seem a bit tame in comparison. Yet, I would propose to you that this is not a time to draw back, but rather to press forward into stewarding the season we are in.

I believe we are tending the first of many waves of the Holy Spirit that will bring a Great Awakening to the San Francisco Bay Area that will eventually touch the nations. God is calling Revivalists from around the region to STEWARD this Outpouring until he brings His promises to pass. We have recently moved from a mighty FLOOD to a strong FLOW but we are convinced that another flood is soon to follow. The question I would ask is, "Will we be ready?".

We are in the perfect season to steward the river and prepare to take maximum advantage of the next flood. This is the time to build the levees and construct the dams that will channel God's blessing to water the harvest and generate the power. BUT WE NEED YOU! Floods are exciting and will always draw a crowd, but the season in between the floods is when your help is most needed.

If you are an unquenchable REVIVALIST, and are looking for a ministry that will harness your passion and vision for revival, please join us as we continue to host the flow of God's presence in anticipation of the next flood. We are praying for 300 passionate revivalists and 30 revival leaders to help us press in to the purposes of God for our region. If you hear the Lord calling, please contact Sean Scheper at goldengateoutpouring@gmail.com

MOVING FROM THE FLOOD TO THE FLOW

2009-04-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

In Fargo, North Dakota, the Red River recently exceeded it’s banks by almost forty feet and if not for the sand bag levees and thousands of volunteer man-hours there would have been one of the biggest floods in recorded history. Thankfully floods are a seasonal phenomenon after which the river recedes to it’s normal flow.

Last summer, the Golden Gate Outpouring experienced a massive flood of the Holy Spirit and hundreds of believers gathered nightly for 73 nights, to channel the living waters of God to their personal lives and their “home” churches and ministries. Since the fall began, the river of God has been slowly receding but is still continuing to flow in a way that is stronger than any of us have experienced in over a decade. As we move from FLOOD to FLOW we must not stop pressing in. Flow times are essential for preparing for the next floods of the Spirit.

THE RIVER IS STILL FLOWING…

The Golden Gate Outpouring is still flowing in the presence of God Thursday through Sunday nights. Every night God is ministering healing, freedom, and salvation in an awesome Spirit-led atmosphere. Every night there is amazing prophetic ministry both publically and personally through words of knowledge and wisdom. God is continuing to equip his people to bring revival and a great awakening to our region.

In the first six chapters of Acts there were floods and flows as well. On the day of Pentecost, there was a major flood and the Church was born. In chapter four, after the healing of the man at the Gate Beautiful, another flood occurred and thousands more were added to the kingdom. In Acts 5:14 God moved powerfully through the apostles and everyone was healed. This added thousands more to the Kingdom.

In Acts 6:7 another flood brought a tremendous harvest and “the Word of God spread and the number of disciples MULTIPLIED”. Prior to this, in each flood, God merely “ADDED” to the church but after this flood, addition turned into multiplication. Two plus two is similar to two times two, but ten times ten is very different than ten plus ten. God wants to move us into a season of multiplication.

TO MULTIPLY THE HARVEST, WE MUST MULTIPLY THE HARVESTERS

The reason God was able to use this “Act 6 Flood” so powerfully is found in verses 1-6. In the midst of the growing pains of the early church, the apostles made a critical and wise decision to focus on prayer and release more ministry to other leaders within the Body. This released the possibility of a flood becoming a multiplied harvest. At Promised Land, we just commissioned Sean Scheper and Jake and Amber Winslow as Pastors in response to this principle. In a similar way, as you may have noticed, Sean is taking an increasing role in GGO leadership. But we can’t do it without YOU. The key to maximizing the floods and enjoying the flows is delegation. We are asking God for 300 revivalists to carry the ministry of GGO with us. We are also praying for 30 leaders who will serve on various nights to help host the presence of God in the heart of our region. Please pray about joining the GGO leadership team and talk to Sean Scheper about your interest. God wants to flood us again; let’s prepare ourselves to bring the multiplication that Jesus died to give.

BUILDING THE HOUSE OF GOD

2009-01-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

When Moses was on the mountain for forty days with God, he was given a blueprint of a movable Tabernacle that God wanted him to build in the wilderness. God also told him to commission two skilled craftsmen to oversee the work of design and building the house of God. Moses called Bazaleel and Aholiab in front of the congregation and anointed them to lead the people in building this amazing tabernacle. He also called the people to bring a free will offering, above their regular gifts to provide for the Tabernacle of God. The people responded with joy and generosity for many weeks until the amount of the offering exceeded the need and Moses was able to command the people to stop giving (Ex.36:1-7).

We have been enjoying a similar season at Promised Land. For the last two years, God has been downloading an amazing, visionary blueprint to the leaders of our church. God has called us to build a Tabernacle for Him in the heart of the city of San Francisco where His Presence is welcome, where His people are empowered to discover and fulfill their dreams and destinies, and where we join together to extend His Kingdom throughout our city and the world. But instead of wood and concrete, we are called to build God’s house with Living Stones: committed believers who will join their lives to one another to become a dwelling place of God through the Spirit (1Pet. 2:4-10, Eph. 2:19-22).

Last Sunday we celebrated the commissioning of two of our assistant pastors into full Pastoral Ministry in our fellowship. Jake Winslow and Sean Scheper are amazing men of God who have proven themselves in service, training, character and commitment and it was an honor to formally recognize God’s calling upon them and set them into their ministries as part of our Pastoral Team. Like Bazaleel and Aholiab, these two are called to be spiritual craftsmen to assemble the Living Stones into the House of God. My heart was filled with joy as each of these men took a few moments to share their devotion to Jesus and their commitment to Promised Land. I believe that this is a significant step forward in the life of our congregation and will release an awesome season of increase and impact. Congratulations Jake and Sean!!!

THE PRODIGAL CITY - PART IV: A TALE OF TWO SONS

2008-12-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

The story of the Prodigal Son captivates us so powerfully because of the interwoven themes of righteousness, sin, redemption and restoration, the same themes that have empowered art, literature, music and movies throughout the ages. The musical notes of sin and redemption are etched deeply on the human soul and resonate powerfully whenever these chords are played. It could be said that this theme is the “melody” of humanity.

We are often so captivated by these themes that we forget that there was another son in the story. In fact, Jesus’ purpose in presenting this parable had more to do with the second son than with the prodigal. The second son is a picture of the religious establishment of the day, called the Pharisees. They were the conservative evangelicals of their time, who knew the Book but sadly, had forgotten the Author of the Book. Their experience of the Father was driven by duty rather than delight and they gradually devolved into resentful religious ritualists who forgot why they were serving the Father in the first place. The older brother in our story, had lost sight of the Father’s love and became resentful and burnt out in his sacrificial service. When the younger son returned, he was filled with anger because of the Father’s mercy and grace.

RESENTMENT OR RESIGNATION?
If San Francisco is a Prodigal City then the Church has been cast in the role of the resentful older brother. Throughout the years, I have encountered the animosity of the Body of Christ toward our city in a myriad of ways. I have received scores of prophetic curses over this “God forsaken” region, warning us to flee from the wrath of God, saying things like, “If God doesn’t destroy San Francisco, He will have to apologize to Sodom.” Yet, how many have fasted, prayed and wept for the return of this prodigal city?

Some believers, on the other hand, not wishing to appear “religious” have adopted a posture of “resignation” rather than “resentment”. Unfortunately, when people resign themselves to a sub-standard status quo, they always abdicate their responsibility to make a difference in the world. Resignation leads to apathy and self-centeredness. Survival becomes the highest goal of life and we find ourselves just as lost as the Prodigal Son.

This parable is really the story of two sons and three fathers. The first father is the one perceived by the Younger son. The second father was the one perceived by the older son. The REAL FATHER is the one that is revealed in his mercy for the sinful son and his gracious love for the dutiful son. God wants to heal the Church of RESENTMENT on the one hand and RESIGNATION on the other and bring us into a season of REVIVAL. In order for this to happen we “older sons” must align ourselves fully with the Father’s heart and assume the Father’s role in pursuing the prodigals and welcoming them back into the Father’s House.

THE PRODIGAL CITY - PART III: REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION

2008-12-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

Although I have never experienced a major period of backsliding as a Christian, I have drifted in smaller ways from the Lord at times and have had to turn to Him in repentance for redemption and restoration. I know what it’s like to come to my senses and realize that the place I’ve ended up is not the place for which I was created. I know what it’s like to arise and begin a journey back toward Father’s house and the Father’s heart. I also know what it’s like to have experience the Father’s embrace in the swirling awareness of my unworthiness. I know what it’s like to feel his love begin to melt the hard places of my heart as he reminds me of my identity and destiny again.

In this third part of the story of the Prodigal Son, we find a turning heart restored to a burning heart of humility, repentance and redemption. The son rises up and returns to the Father, all the while rehearsing the words of repentance, “I am not worthy to be called your son but just receive me as one of your servants and it will be enough for me”. But as we know, Father will have none of that. His love, His hope, His longing eyes cast daily upon the horizon looking for the rising silhouette of his son, would never permit his son to return as a mere servant. After the Father receives him with loving affection, He calls for the Royal Robe of Identity, the Sacred Ring of Authority and the Sovereign Shoes of Destiny and places them upon His son.

God is a Redeemer, and His purpose for our Prodigal City is nothing less than full redemption and restoration of Identity, Authority and Destiny. As we look at these three dimensions of restoration, we need to remember that our city is really a city of many little cities: communities, ethnic groups, sub-cultures who live side by side in what we call San Francisco. It’s also important to remember that each of these sub-cities is composed of thousands of individuals for whom Jesus died. Redemption and restoration is both corporate as well as individual. It must happen simultaneously on all levels for true revival transformation to occur.

IDENTITY: The reason I am still in San Francisco after growing up here and returning for over thirty years of ministry is because I believe God is longing for the return of this Prodigal City and the restoration of it’s full identity, authority and destiny. Our city’s identity is reflective of the name sake of our city. Saint Francis, despite some doctrinal error, was the original Jesus Freak. He abandoned wealth and position to serve the Lord and build His broken down Church. He gathered young people to himself and mobilized them to travel around their region, preaching the Gospel, healing the sick and caring for the poor. His ministry was characterized by Mercy. Although it has been misunderstood and misapplied, mercy remains the redemptive gift of our city, imbedded deeply in the fabric of our city.

AUTHORITY: San Francisco’s authority is found in the authors design: An amazing natural harbor that provides refuge for the journey but also provides a place of export and influence to the rest of the world. Our city has remained in the top ten cities that people want to visit and live in throughout the world. What happens in our city often sets the trend for other key cities. Although the leadership we provide to the rest of the world has often been negative in a Kingdom sense, no one can deny the scope of our cities authority on a global scale.

DESTINY: San Francisco has a Kingdom Destiny which is found in the primary point of impact we have had on global culture. Our city is a People Movement Incubator. Many major movements that have swept the earth have begun in our city. The UN, labor movements, civil rights, the student movement, the Beatnik, Hippie and New Age movements, and many more have found a launching pad in our city before impacting the rest of the world. We believe this “anointing” is from God even if it has been used at times to promote ungodly things. We believe the Destiny of San Francisco is to launch a New Jesus Movement that will shake the earth with one of the biggest harvests of souls in history.

Let’s pray that our city and region, turns back to the Father to receive the Repentance, Redemption, and Restoration. Pray that the Father’s love will touch the most unloved and unlovely and restore the identity, authority and destiny of a generation. Merry Christmas!

THE PRODIGAL CITY - PART II: ORPHANHOOD TO OPENNESS

2008-11-18T12:50:00.000-08:00

In my first installment of The Prodigal City, we looked at the journey TO orphanhood by the Prodigal Son and how similar it is to the history of our city and so many of those who live here. We are a city of orphans, who have been alienated from the Father's love and are trying every way possible to substitute for the lack of connection with God. As we continue to explore the story of the Prodigal, my hope is that we will discover the keys of restoration and adoption for this orphaned generation of San Francisco.

The Prodigal Son was raised in the lap of luxury in the Father's house but failed to perceive the privilege that he had been born into. Instead, he became resentful and restless and demanded his inheritance, essentially telling his Father, "I wish you were dead." When we perceive our lives through the eyes of pain and deprivation, we eventually give place to blame. This "victim cycle" often gives birth to a series choices that only reinforce the victimization, pain, blame and shame. In this state, the isolation and alienation of the prodigal can become almost incurable.

In the second stage of the Prodigal story, the Son had spent all his inheritance on pleasures and parties and found himself homeless and hopeless, feeding the swine for a few morsels of slop. He was almost at this incurable moment when something strange happened. The scripture tells us that "he came to himself" and he began to remember the blessings of his Father's House. In this moment of clarity his spirit began to open to the possibility that he had misperceived and misjudged his Dad. He began to process his pain without blame and soon found himself yearning again for the Father's embrace. In response, he arose and began long journey back to the Father's house and was eventually greeting by the One who had been watching and waiting for His son's return.

San Francisco is a Prodigal City filled with people who have endured much pain. Broken homes, absent fathers, dead religion, and a thousand other problems have conspired to create an orphaned generation that have flocked to our city in hope of pleasure, promotion and anonymous acceptance. The cycle of pain, blame and shame that began somewhere in the past has become a self-indulgent pattern of self-destructive behavior crying out for the love of the Father.

I believe this story is a strategy for prayer and partnership for the restoration of our city. Let's enter into the Father's heart and the Father's role as we welcome the Prodigals back to the Father's house.

THE PRODIGAL CITY - PART I

2008-11-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was praying with a small group of pastors for our city when we received a strategic download from the Holy Spirit concerning the Father's Heart toward our city and the Orphan Wound that plagues so many who live here. As we prayed and shared our hearts we were struck with three clear points of understanding. First, Father loves our city and knows every single person by name. Second, the majority of the people of our city are alienated from the Heavenly Father's love due to rejection, abandonment and neglect of our natural fathers and mothers. Third, a significant key to bringing revival and transformation to our city is for God's leaders to assume responsibility to represent God's Father Heart and become spiritual "fathers and mothers" to the spiritual orphans, who live and work in the various spheres of our city.

This is the first of several articles designed to equip us to pray and position ourselves to father our city.

As we consider spiritual father and motherhood, there is perhaps no better place to start than Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son. In this parable, the father was a wealthy landowner with two sons and many servants. One son was dedicated and dutiful, religiously obeying the father's will but secretly resenting his life. The younger son was restless and demanded his share of the inheritance. He took his portion and went far away from the father to indulge himself in pleasure and prodigal pursuits.

San Francisco is a Prodigal City. We have been raised in the lap of luxury and blessed in so many ways. We are a low point along the beautiful coast of California where the rivers release their fresh waters into an extraordinary bay with a Golden Gate that welcomes the world. Our natural harbor has been a haven and refuge for wayfarers for over two hundred years demonstrating in the natural realm a spiritual gift of welcome that continues to characterize our city. We are blessed with wonderful natural resources like water, forests and farmland, not to mention the silver and gold that marbled, "them-there hills".

San Francisco also has many of the qualities of its namesake Saint Francis, who rejected the hypocrisy of religion (although not perfectly) and began a people movement that brought justice to the poor, mercy to the downtrodden and truth to hungry hearts. Our region seems to generate world-changing, people movements such as the Beatniks, Hippies, New Agers, and more recently the Homosexual movement. We have been blessed in so many ways, it's impossible to count but instead of giving thanks to the Father for letting us share His wealth, we have become proud, self-centered and demanding. We have taken our inheritance and rejected our Father and squandered our blessings in prodigal pursuits.

Yet, just like the Prodigal Son, we have soon discovered that there is no true satisfaction or fulfillment in serving and pleasuring ourselves. We were created by the Father with a great identity and a powerful destiny. We will never be truly happy until we discover and fulfill the reason for which we were created. Let's pray that the people of our city, like the prodigal son in the story would come to their senses and recognize the foolishness of their self-inflicted orphanhood and return to the Father's house and heart.

THE GGO 300!!!

2008-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

When Gideon was challenged by the Angel of the Lord to come out from behind the winepress and lead a revolutionary movement, he was initially filled with doubt and insecurity. How could God use someone as weak and fearful as Gideon? It just didn't make sense. But the Angel wasn't looking at the outward man but on the hidden potential within him. He called Gideon a mighty man of valor and commanded him to go in the strength of the Lord and overthrow the enemy.
After testing the Lord a few times, Gideon sent out a call for help, and was joined by over 30,000 warriors who were committed to joining the movement to overthrow the Midianites. But, what seemed like a major success to Gideon was actually displeasing to the Lord. God wanted to defeat the enemy in a way that would maximize the Glory of the Lord, so he reduced the troops to a miniscule 300 warriors. Yet, at the same time God was reducing the troops, He was also building a mighty man of valor who rallied his tiny army to bring about one of the greatest victories in the history of Israel.

Golden Gate Outpouring has been privileged to host the presence and power of God for over a hundred nights, with great signs and wonders, healings and deliverance. We have been so blessed by the participation of a couple of thousand revivalists from dozens of churches around our region who have joined with us to bring about a revolutionary movement in the Church of the Bay Area. Yet, as GodTV has packed up its cameras and the guest speakers have moved on, we have experienced a thinning of the troops. We have gone hundreds of people a night to an average of 50 per night and yet God keeps showing up in a powerful way.

As I was praying this week about this process, the Lord reminded me of the story of Gideon. God had given him a promise of deliverance and God fulfilled His promise in a mighty way. God can save by many or by few. While I was reflecting on this, I felt like the Lord told me He wants to raise up a GGO 300, who will bring about the revival the Lord has promised our region.

We are looking for 300 revivalists who will commit to carry this revolutionary movement forward to victory. Are you one of the 300?

We are asking God to raise up 75 people who will commit to coming one night per week to host God's presence in anticipation of a great outpouring of revival in our region. 75 people times 4 nights a week would give us 300 revivalists. We encourage every person who has attended GGO to prayerfully consider making this commitment and sending us an email to let us know what is your primary night of choice. Also, let us know if you are interested in serving on the ministry team for that night. We will provide all the training and mentoring needed for you to grow in your spiritual gifts and bring blessing to the lives of others. Join the GGO 300!

If you can commit to one night, e-mail us with the day or days at: goldengateoutpouring@gmail.com

THE NEHEMIAH MANDATE: RESTORATION

2008-10-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

After over 70 years of Babylonian captivity, God called His people back to the Promised Land to restore Israel to its former glory. His plan for restoration stood in the face of overwhelming destruction and demoraliza- tion. The first step was to restore the ALTAR and reinstitute the priestly sacrifices. The next step was to rebuild the TEMPLE, from the foundations to the capstone. The final step was to rebuild the WALLS and gates of protection around the city.

Nehemiah was a Hebrew of high rank in the Persian king's court and had been following the news of Israel's restoration with great interest. When he learned that the city and its gates were still destroyed and burned, his grief overflowed in the king's presence. Nehemiah found favor with the king, who commis-sioned him to go and rebuild Jerusalem. Upon arrival, Nehemiah rallied the people to sacrificial service in rebuilding the city's destiny. Although they faced accusation and opposition from local enemies, they completed the city walls in just 52 days.

Like Nehemiah, we believe God has ordained a great purpose for the San Francisco Bay Area. We are called to give birth to a new Jesus Movement that transforms and blesses cities worldwide. Just as in ancient Jerusalem, the enemy has attacked our city and hijacked God's purpose for his own evil intent. Yet even now, God is raising up a Nehemiah Movement to restore and reclaim our God-given calling to bless the nations.

For almost 100 nights, an army of passionate revivalists from dozens of churches have met to renew the ALTAR of worship and intercession, restore the TEMPLE of unity and community, and rebuild the WALLS of purpose and destiny for our region. Each night, God has met us in marvelous ways: reviving the saints, healing the sick, and setting captives free. The enemy does not want us to succeed and is working overtime to hinder us from pressing in for revival. Yet opposition itself is a sign of the victory God has in store for us as we continue to obey in this season.

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE...

2008-09-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

T’was the night before Pentecost and all through God’s House
All the people were praying, they were all crying out.
Expectancy hung in the heavenly air,
With assurance God’s Power soon would be there.

Have you ever asked yourself what the saints were thinking the night before Pentecost? They had just been through a major roller coaster ride with Jesus betrayed, beaten crucified and buried. Then on the third day rumors began to circulate that he was ALIVE. He then appeared over forty days to hundreds of people and then He ascended to heaven after telling them to wait in Jerusalem for Power.

They had no timeline and no specifics of how this would look. As far as they knew they could be waiting in Jerusalem for 10 days or 10 months. All they had was a PROMISE and that promise was enough.

Yet, I sometimes wonder, what would have happened if they had stopped praying on the night before Pentecost?

Golden Gate Outpouring began over fourteen weeks ago with a PROMISE. God spoke to me that if we would dedicate ourselves to seeking His Face and hosting His presence, that He would pour out His Spirit in our city and our region and give birth to a Revival Movement that would impact the nations. Throughout this time of waiting we have experienced a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit than I have seen in over thirty years of ministry in San Francisco. We have been joined by over a thousand different people and hundreds have experienced a sense of personal revival. We have witnessed scores of healings and deliverances. We have had many people give their lives to Jesus in our meetings and on the streets.

We are so grateful for all these wonderful blessings, yet the full promise remains unfulfilled. So we continue to wait in San Francisco for power and the FULLfillment of God’s promise to us. We encourage you to continue to stand with us for this outcome.

Consider making a commitment to come ONE NIGHT A WEEK for the next few months. We could use more participation on Thursday and Saturday nights. Let’s go for it!

THE FAST OF AGREEMENT

2008-09-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Fasting is perhaps one of the most misunderstood practices of our faith. The primary reason for this misunderstanding is rooted in the many ways in which we misunderstand God.

Many see fasting as:

Our pathetic appeasement of a frustrated and angry God
Our aggressive arm-twisting of a reluctant and unwilling God
Our amplified demands to a remote and unresponsive God

Whereas, in reality, true fasting is our humble and sacrificial agreement with a good and loving God who faithfully fulfills His promises and desires His Kingdom to prevail on earth more than we ever possibly could. God is looking for partners with whom he can collaborate, sons and daughters who have taken ownership of the family business and are willing to put father’s purposes above all things. The foundation of this kind of relationship is AGREEMENT.

When Jesus was baptized by John, the Heavens were opened and Father affirmed His love for Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. Immediately, Jesus was led into the wilderness for 40 days, to fast, pray and be tested by the wicked one. This was a testing of agreement. Would Jesus budge at all in His absolute agreement with the Father? Would he ever so slightly compromise the Word of God? Would he yield to the seduction of the enemy and drift from full agreement?

Fortunately for us, in spite of the enemy’s best efforts, Jesus passed the test with flying colors and the frustrated enemy departed from Him. It was in this agreement that Jesus launched His ministry to bring all things back into agreement with the Father.

When we engage a season of CONTENDING PRAYER AND FASTING, we are not contending AGAINST God. Rather we are contending with God against the forces of complacency, compromise and evil that exist within us and within the world around us. We are standing in prayerful and sacrificial agreement with a loving and willing God and in partnership with the perfect prayer, “Let Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

I invite you to join with tens of thousands of believers around the globe who will be dedicating the next forty days to fasting and prayer. Some will be fasting completely from food. Others will be doing a partial fast or fasting other pleasures of life. As we fast, let’s AGREE with God for Revival in the Church, Righteousness in our Land and a Great Awakening throughout the World.

PUZZLES AND PIECES: CELEBRATING KINGDOM DIVERSITY

2008-09-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite holiday pastimes is doing jigsaw puzzles with my family. Every year, we average a half-dozen 1000 piece puzzles depicting everything from nature scenes to fantasy illustrations. Very few things are as rewarding to us than to fit the last few pieces into their places and see the full picture.

This reminds me of our journey over these last 12 weeks of outpouring. For over 80 nights now, we’ve been laying down different kinds of pieces into a massive puzzle. Some of these pieces have been put in place by everyone who’s been a part of GGO as the Holy Spirit leads us. Other pieces have been brought in by guest ministries from around the Body of Christ.

It’s a lot like a jigsaw puzzle. No one piece shows the whole picture. In fact, some pieces don’t look like they belong in the puzzle at all. Some seem to be the wrong shape or the wrong color, while others seem so fuzzy, you’d think they belonged in a different picture entirely. It’s only after they’re all fit together that you can see the unique contribution they made to the overall piece.

Some people have asked me why we’ve invited such a wide variety of guests from around the Body. We’ve had intercessors come such as Lou Engle and Cindy Jacobs, theologians like Jim Garlow, evangelistic strategists like Ed Silvoso and Chris Overstreet from Bethel Church. We’ve also enjoyed a wide range of prophetic ministers like Georgian Banov, Jill Austin and the Firestorm Teams. In fact, we’ve been blessed by over a dozen leaders with different backgrounds and emphases as they’ve joined us for the Golden Gate Outpouring. I don’t necessarily agree 100% with their theologies or methodologies, but I do agree fully with the Jesus they’re seeking to serve. More than this, I believe that each one of them has a piece of the GGO puzzle and when the final pieces are laid, the picture of Jesus will be complete.

As a holiday puzzle-doer, I would be remiss to allow my initial impression of any one piece to cause me to reject it entirely. In the same way, I encourage everyone involved with GGO to celebrate the diversity of the Kingdom of God. If you aren’t sure about the ideas or practices of any one minister, don’t let it bug you too much. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Embrace each piece of the puzzle, even if you’re not quite sure how it fits. God has promised us that He’s building a Revival Movement that will shake our region and bless the nations. Let’s continue to work together until each piece has found its place in the puzzle so the picture of Jesus can be fully revealed in the Bay Area.

WHY WE FIGHT

2008-09-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard of a television series called the “Band Of Brothers”, about courageous men of the 101st Airborne Division who has experienced tremendous victories and extreme challenges while fighting the Nazi forces during World War II. In one of the later episodes entitled, “Why We Fight”, a group of soldiers on patrol discovered the first Nazi Concentration Camp ever viewed by the Allied Forces. The Nazi’s had retreated and left hundreds of prisoners caged without food and supplies. The US Army was horrified by the death and devastation of this camp. It was this revelation of the evil of the enemy and the suffering of the captives that they remembered why they were fighting.

In the same sense, after 73 days of pressing into revival in the San Francisco Bay Area, it could be easy for us lose perspective and forget why we are doing this. Yet all it takes is Kingdom eyes to see beyond the façade of our city to remember why we fight. There are hundreds of thousands of people who are wasting away in this spiritual concentration camp called San Francisco. The liberation has begun and the enemy forces are in retreat, but unless we come and break the chains and bring the bread of life, these captives will perish without hope.

This last Saturday, three members of our outreach team received three specific pictures of a woman in the nearby Safeway, in a purple shirt with dark hair. When they went to the back isle of the store, they found her just as the Lord had directed. After sharing the gospel with her, she received the Lord and told them that she had prayed that very morning for a breakthrough or she would be forced to take her own life. The next day, she joined us at church and was touched deeply by the Holy Spirit.

We are so grateful for all the healings, deliverances and salvations that we have been enjoying throughout the Golden Gate Outpouring. But we know there’s more. As long as one captive remains bound by sin; as long as one person remains ill, as long as one person is tormented and oppressed, we must fight. Jesus is the great liberator and we are his liberation army, anointed by God to set the captives free. Let’s continue to seek Him for the sake of those who are still bound.

FIRESTORM WEEKEND

2008-08-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings! We continue to rejoice in the wonderful things that God is doing at the Golden Gate Outpouring.

Last Tuesday, we hosted Paul and Sue Manwarring, who gave an awesome message on the Power of Hope. This week we experienced more healings and blessings as we continue to worship, pray and press into revival for the SF Bay Area.

When we began the Outpouring I originally heard that we were supposed to go for 21 nights coinciding with the days of Daniels famous fast (Daniel 10) . After sharing this vision with our team the group counsel was to do 10 days to begin with and then to extend if we felt God's leading. After a few days of gathering it was obvious that God was indeed leading us to continue.

Daniel sought the Lord for 21 days with a specific agenda: When was God going to restore His people to the Promised Land. At the end of the "obedience" of 21 days, an angel appeared and declared that God heard Daniel's prayer the day he began. God sent the angel immediately but the angel was hindered through warfare with the Prince of Persia. Finally, after 21 days, the angel broke through and the word was delivered. The passage implies that Daniel's obedience was instrumental in the angelic breakthrough that he enjoyed.

In the same way, we have been meeting nightly for over 70 days to fulfill our part of a larger purpose. We don't see everything that is happening in the heavenlies but that's not really our concern. We know that as we fulfill our end, that God will fulfill His Promise of sending revival to our city and our region.

Now that summer is over, we are adjusting our schedule to a four-day Outpouring week in order to allow for other important things to take place in the off nights and to empower us to redouble our focus for the four nights of Ministry. WE ARE NOT BACKING DOWN, in fact we are intensifying our cry for God to pour out His Spirit upon us to transform the city for Jesus. We encourage you to join our transformation team.

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED - FACILITY TROUBLE

2008-08-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

As a result of the Golden Gate Outpouring meetings, there has been a growing complaint about the sound volume of our meetings from our neighbors. The massage therapy school that rents the lower portion of the building moved in without providing necessary sound insulation that did not seem to be needed before the Outpouring began. Now, despite our best efforts to keep the volume down in our meetings, our neighbors have become increasingly frustrated and have finally threatened to withhold rent until this problem is resolved. In our desire to be a good neighbor and a good witness, we have offered to pay for a major portion of the construction that will insulate them from the crazy worshippers upstairs. This treatment is estimated to be around $30,000, including carpeting and sound absorbing treatment in our upper unit. We must accomplish this immediately in order to resolve this problem. Would you please pray with us for this urgent need? If you feel led to contribute, you can donate on www.plfsf.com and designate the gift to "Facility Improvement".

God Keeps On Doing It!!! God TV, Engle, Bolz, Goodell and Georgian Banov. s most of you are aware this has been an overwhelming season at Golden Gate Outpouring. Two weeks ago we were pinching ourselves as God TV landed in the City and began to set up to televise a special 12-hour Solemn Assembly led by Lou Engle and the Justice House of Prayer in conjunction with GGO. Over 600 people came to this historic event and we were joined by intercessors from 214 nations around the world as we prayed for God's Kingdom to come in our City and in the State of California. You can still watch parts of it if you login to GodTV's website.

Last weekend, we enjoyed the ministry of Gary Goodell, the leader of Third Day Churches who brought a team of leaders from San Diego who came to fan the flames of Revival while Pastor Michael was away at THE CALL in Washington DC. Gary is an amazing speaker and there was a high level of prophetic ministry that blessed those who attended.

This week we were blessed to have Georgian Banov, from Global Celebration for a few nights of supernatural partying. Georgian has a unique ability to bring people into the joy of the Lord through worship, teaching, and powerful personal ministry. Thanks Georgian!!!

SOLEMN ASSEMBLY REPORT

2008-08-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was one power-packed weekend! For those of you who were unable to make it, Justice House of Prayer (JHOP) San Francisco's Consecrate the State California partnered with Lou Engle (International House of Prayer) and the Golden Gate Outpouring in twelve hours of powerful worship and intercession for California and San Francisco.

Through GodTV's broadcast, 480 million people from 214 nations were able to join with us in declaring God's good intentions and destiny for the region and cry out for mercy in light of the sin birthed and practiced here. Highlights include Beni Johnson's release of the Bay Area Church into a lifestyle of signs and wonders; Missy Huff's (JHOP) brilliant overview of the Bible's perspective on abortion; corporate prophecy over the coming freedom of San Francisco; and the personal testimony of a post-abortive mom calling for an army of post-abortive parents to lead in the fight for the lives of unborn babies.

There was a corporate sense of freedom and unity in worship as we laid our lives before Jesus and cried out for His heart regarding the leadership going out from California into the world. A major spiritual shift took place, driving God's purity deeper into the heart of San Francisco and uniting the Church worldwide in intercession for the region. For the first time in history, the name of Jesus was lifted up and proclaimed to the world from San Francisco!

The momentum was carried into Saturday and Sunday as Shawn Bolz, a prophetic voice in the Church and into the creative arts and media, spoke at the Outpouring. He offered an honest, fresh, and often times funny perspective on identity, what love in the Church can and will look like, following Jesus boldly, and pursuing long-buried dreams. He left us with a challenge to rest in our true identities as sons and daughters of God, stepping into the dreams the Lord placed in us in an abandoned dependence on Him.

TESTING AND GRADUATION

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The Golden Gate Outpouring just turned 40. During these forty nights of glory we have experienced a wonderful move of the Holy Spirit. Every night God has met us in worship, celebration, rejoicing and intimate communion. Every night we have ministered to those who are sick in body and soul and have witnessed the power of God in physical and emotional healing. Every night, God is meeting with His children and speaking to them about their true identities and their full inheritance. GOD IS SO GOOD.

Forty is the number of testing. Moses led Israel through the wilderness for forty years while God was at work to raise up a generation that would be worthy of the Promised Land. God led them through the Red Sea and around a vast wilderness with a cloud by day and fire by night. He provided fresh manna for His people and water from a rock.

Jesus, after His baptism was led into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting. He faced 3 temptations by the enemy and overcame them all. He chose to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He chose to align himself with God’s ways rather than to presume upon the Lord. He chose to receive His Kingdom in God’s timing rather than to bow down to the wicked one. After the enemy fled, angels came and ministered to Him.

Night after night, God has been meeting with us and measuring our hearts cry. He is searching the earth to find those who’s hearts are fully His so he can show Himself strong on their behalf. I believe he has found a people like this and you are part of it. Some have only come once in forty days, others have been here almost every night. We believe that God has tested us as a community of revivalists and is pleased with our offering. We believe that we are about to graduate into a whole new level of anointing.

We encourage you to continue to press in with us throughout the summer as we seek the Lord and see His wonders. God is moving in the Bay Area – Lets move with Him.