Mental Graffiti

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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