Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas Service in Our Home

This last Sunday we had our weekly gathering inside our home, as we were expecting a really small turnout with most of the students gone now that finals are over; however, to our surprise we had about 35 people in our living room celebrating the birth of Jesus together!

It was so sweet having a Christmas service where we sang CHRIST-mas songs together, read the Christmas story out of our children's book, discussed the humble gift it was for Jesus to come to earth, and ate dinner together as a family.  We also sung 'The 12 days of Christmas' and had a comical white elephant gift exchange too!

Ah, God is so good!  This has been one of the best quarters Holly and I can remember in our 8 years in IV...we are stunned at the goodness of God in the land of Isla Vista and are living in great expectation for all God is going to do in 2010.

An Exciting Sunday Gathering

Sunday, December 6, 2009  4pm

bikes parked in the front of our house

we ran out of seats this Sunday!

a view from the back

a view from the front :)

worship was awesome!

a view from the patio

inside the house eating after the service

people in the back still praying way after the gathering ended

Jason & Clay praying for someone in the kitchen while everyone is eating

We had one of our most amazing gatherings of the school year this last Sunday!  For one thing, we have been so blessed by having so many new students coming on Sundays…each Sunday we are excited to have a whole new group of people we’ve never met before showing up!  And this Sunday was no different!

This Sunday a group of young people from the Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry was here with us, leading the service.  It was such a fun time! 

Basically, we just want to testify of the things we are seeing God do out here, with bringing a growing group of UCSB students into family, a family where we are seeing God’s love poured out in ever increasing ways.  We are seeing God speak into people’s lives and He is using each other to give prophetic words of encouragement to one another.  We are also seeing Him heal people!  On Sunday alone, a guy’s eye got healed of pink eye (he came with it all red and left with it cleared up and white again after getting prayer from a word of knowledge), a guy’s knee got healed, a few people’s legs grew out causing back pain to be healed, and lots of people got prayed over and ministered to in really powerful ways.

We had such an amazing time together just watching God work and bless people.  After the service, people were all over the house eating and fellowshipping and praying for each other, and there were several groups of people still out in the back praying and watching God do these awesome things!  It was so fun to all be together and to have all of these people so hungry for God and watching Him touch them and speak to them!

We are praising God for this exciting season He has been taking us into in Isla Vista!  May Jesus be the banner over this city and the satisfaction of students hearts.  We're expecting great things in 2010, as most students take off this week once finals are done.

Can I pray for you...

This last week there has been a conference taking place in SB called, "Power & Love." I have never been a big conference fan for a variety of reasons, but I felt I was supposed to go and bring as many young people from IV as I could. Well, to say the least I have been blown away by the teaching and all the good things that God did in my own life, my wife's life, and all the people that have gone. The men running the conference are really big on getting the church out of the four walls and into everyday life. One way they do this is they teach us stuff and then they have us break up into groups and go into the city to have lunch, cruise around, shop, etc...but while we are out we are listening for the Spirit's direction and putting the love on people (sounds like the ministry of Jesus). I have only been able to go out once this week, though the time I went out, Todd White, who was one of speakers, asked me if he could go out with the crew I was with. We had such a blast loving people and seeing people getting healed of various things! Right from the beginning there was this gal sitting on a bench right in front of Borders Bookstore on State St. She had her left hand all wrapped up, so I walked up to her, introduced myself, and asked her what was wrong with her hand. She began to explain to me how the ligament in her finger was messed up and how she could not touch her thumb to the rest of her fingers. So I asked if I could pray for her and she said sure. So I put out my hand with my palm facing up to have her rest her hand on mine and then I put my other hand on top of it and asked God in the name of Jesus to heal her hand.

It was a short prayer, filled of faith, and God's love for her. She said 'Thanks for praying for me.' I knew when she said that she was expecting me to say have a good day and move on, but I said 'You should try to move your finger, because it may be healed.' So she thought about it and then to her great surprise, wide-eyed, was able to move her thumb to touch the rest of her fingers. I then asked her on a scale of 100, how much better was it? She said 90. So I said 'Well let's keep praying,' and without any hesitation she stretched her hand back out and this time as I was praying she said her hand was getting warm (which is a good sign that God is touching it). Once we were done praying she was completely healed, so thankful, and so receptive to the love of God. I later saw her using her healed hand to eat her lunch with a big smile on her face.

Thank You Jesus for expressing Your love in such a tangible way! "..they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:18)

Thankfulness

This last weekend we enjoyed a wonderful time in Vista with my parents, sisters, brother-in-laws, and many kids! Not to mention, 44 people total for our Thanksgiving dinner! As I (Jason) get older I am appreciating more and more the relationships that God has given me with my family…my heart is full of thankfulness for who each of them are to me and how the Lord is working in their lives.

Relationships are in end in life, never a means.

Jesus Burger Healing

This last Saturday I saw once again God do what He can only do...I was out front standing next to the grill when a young guy came right to the front of the line without waiting his turn for a hamburger in hopes of bypassing the whole line. When I saw this I spoke up and said, "Hey bro, the line starts back there. You will need to wait it out like everyone else." When I said this, the young guy began to tell me he was handicapped and could not wait in line. I was thinking right, this young, energetic, well-built 20 year old was handicapped??? This guy wanted a hamburger and was hungry; however, I said, "what's up?' He then proceeded to tell me about two surgeries he has had for his acl on his knee and how he is in pain all the time. Instantly, I believed if I prayed for him that he would be healed, so I wasted no time and told him to follow me into the house because I knew Someone who could heal him, ie Jesus. So he sat down on the couch and I was about to pray, but right before I prayed I felt like it would be important for him to see right away that he was healed so I told him to do something with his leg that would cause pain. He then put it up on the coffee table and said that just resting it there was painful. Now for whatever reason I just believed if I prayed for this guy, Jesus was going to heal him right there so I grabbed my buddy Danny and we laid hands on him and asked Jesus to heal his knee. When I finished, I told him try it out, as he was already aware that the pain had left while we were praying. So he stood up and started moving up and down, and to his dismay, he was 100% pain free and fully healed! Come on Jesus! I then was able to share the good news of God's love, forgiveness, and mercy with him and his buddy. His buddy and him both listened intently after witnessing a miracle that only God could do...what was great too was that he was in IV to party for the weekend from LA, but it looked like God had other plans.

Once we went back outside to the happening party in front, he gnudged me on the way out of the door and told me to tell people what happened. I looked at him and said, "You're the one that got healed, you tell people what happened." Next thing you know, he was testifying to a gal in the line about his knee that was healed. In the ministry of Jesus & the early church, healing was normal, not abnormal...I am praying that yet again in my own life and in the church that healings would be normal for the life of every believer.

"And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons: freely you received, freely give.'" (Matt 10:7-8)

Jesus Burger Article

Here is a recent article on Jesus Burgers from the front page of Westmont's newspaper "The Horizon."

http://homepage.westmont.edu/horizon/articles/?p=252

God is Moving!!!

This Sunday I (Holly) was looking out the kitchen window just before the Sunday gathering was supposed to start, when I saw a few new people walking up...and then to my surprise saw a few more new faces following behind, then a few more still coming behind them!  I was so excited to soon hear that this was a bunch of Real Life students that were just hungry for more of the Lord and had been told about us and our house and our Sunday meeting from some of the students we disciple!

It was an awesome time on Sunday and lots of people stayed late, wanting to learn & experience more in hearing from and encountering God.  They are so hungry to grow in Christ, and it is such an honor & blessing to get to pour into these beautiful students!

Halloween Weekend

Halloween in IV this year was special, as the Lord heard our prayers from 24/7 prayer leading up to this weekend. I heard of many people praying to receive Christ or recommitting their life back to Him, not to mention countless stories of God's love touching people and helping people through us on both Friday and Saturday night.

There was a guy named Alex from San Diego that a few of us started praying for because he had broken his arm several months back but was still experiencing pain. When we started praying for him he said, "I don't need prayer for my arm, but for my heart. I need Jesus." After we finished praying outside, I took him into our prayer shed where I continued to listen to him and pray with him. By the time I was done praying, he was crying and confessing His faith and need for Jesus in his life.

Ah, so many amazing testimonies this weekend, God is so good!

Check out Derika's blog for a few pictures:

http://derikabrendsel.blogspot.com/2009/11/picture-this-halloween-2009.html

Chinese Church Retreat

This last weekend I traveled about an hour and a half north & gave four talks for a Chinese Church retreat of 70+ college students and a few post grads. It was such an honor to be able to speak into these people's lives and impart what the Lord has given me over the years.

The Lord was faithful to sustain me as I fought off sickness all weekend; however, it gave me a new appreciation of 2 Corinthians 12:9 when Paul says that God's grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness. It was amazing, as each time I went to speak, the power of God filled me and removed the sickness for the 30 to 40 minutes I talked...praise the Lord! The topic of the retreat was "Freedom in Christ" and the title of the four talks were:

Session # 1: The truth: you are free in Christ
Session # 2: The battle is won & lost in the mind
Session # 3: Do you know who you are?
Session # 4: The kingdom of God is offensive, not defensive

24-7 Prayer

One of the things I (Holly) am the most passionate about is prayer... and for so many different reasons...
1. I love that prayer is simply coming before our Lord and communing with the heart of God
2. I love that prayer changes things & God hears our prayers & moves on behalf of them
3. I believe that prayer is the key to seeing Isla Vista reached and redeemed for the King
4. I love that prayer changes US, and gets us stirred up more about God & who He is, and how He wants to move in people's lives

So, for these reasons as well as several others, I am so stoked that 24-7 prayer is happening this week in IV in the prayer shed behind the Del Playa houses!

I got to have the blessing of helping my dear friend, Annalisa, who is in charge of the prayer ministry for Real Life (Campus Crusade), set up the prayer shed for this "event", and I even got to go spend an hour or so in prayer there last night. It is so awesome that day and night prayers are being lifted up to the Father on behalf of this city right now! Praise the Lord for the gift that prayer is -- that we get to participate with God in bringing about change on the earth!

Article on Jesus Burgers

A UCSB newspaper, The Bottom Line, interviewed our good friend Derika and I for a feature article on Jesus Burgers:

http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2009/10/saturday-night-d-p-sustenance-jesus-burgers

The House of the Lord

"God, let Your Presence be made manifest here in this home in such a real and tangible way." This is one of my frequent prayers recently as the Lord has been speaking to me so much lately about our home and the various purposes He wants to use it for. There is of course the obvious role this home plays in being a place of dwelling for our family, but there is also the role of it being a sanctuary for us, especially for Jason, to come in from the busyness of work and life and find rest and peace here. But beyond these things, our home has become a sanctuary in an even broader sense now that we are having our Sunday gathering for IVC here!

It has been a blessing for me to have my world becoming more cohesive, that as I focus on helping our family life and home life run well, Isla Vista and the students that come in here will be blessed.

We have been in "operation simplification" for awhile now, working towards getting things in order in several difference senses of the word -- having our physical surroundings simple and in order (getting rid of excess, having places for everything and keeping those things in their place!), having our schedules simple and in order, getting organized and simple with meals and food, cleaning, and many of the other things that come into running a home well.

God has been speaking to me every since we started praying about having the Sunday gatherings in our home about the house and the tent of the Lord. So I have been growing in my understanding of what being a homemaker is, with the added blessing of getting to steward a house used for God's Kingdom to be advanced in this city, and in which we can invite others into!

This last Sunday a guy my good friend Lindsay whom I disciple had met at Jesus Burgers last year came, and he was overwhelmed by what he called a "really big energy" and the love in the place! I laughed, thinking, yeah, the Holy Spirit is in fact quite a really big energy! Praise God that this guy was able to sense God's presence in our home and to be touched by Him!

I would love prayer to continue to be able to simplify and bring things into order in our home life, with the vision of being a blessing in this community!

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free - Jesus

Jesus makes this profound statement in John 8:32, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

This last weekend Neil Anderson, my favorite author on the subject of spiritual warfare, was in town doing a seminar. The only problem was I was out of town. However, a few of my friends attended the 2-day seminar through the IVSOD and reported back excellent things to me!
http://www.ivsod.com/discipleship_counseling.html

Neil Anderson has a gift in teaching people how to walk in freedom by knowing the truth of who you are in Christ. Throughout my years following the Lord, especially my early years in the faith, I experienced radical freedom/deliverance from understanding my identity in Him. The book "Victory Over the Darkness" written by Neil Anderson has helped me more than any other book I have ever read in understanding who God says I am. Over the years now I have given out countless copies and have seen similar results.

People sometimes forget that when the devil came to Christ in the wilderness, the first thing he said to Him before any temptation was, "if you're the Son of God..." We must not be foolish and think if the enemy tried to get Christ to question His identity that he will not try to get us to question our own.

Here is a list of a few 'Who I am in Christ' truths:

http://www.ficm.org/whoiam.htm

The Sueno Tabernacle

Yesterday was our 1st gathering in The Sueno Tabernacle located in our backyard...it was awesome! We had a great time of worshiping Jesus together, taking communion, sharing the word, eating dinner, and just being family. The Lord is so good to have given us a place to meet this year in Isla Vista...Holly and I are so honored to a be apart of all the Lord is doing in this city!

New IVC Website

After many years with the same website, we now have a new one! This time of year is like January 1st for us. It's our 8th year as a church, and we are excited about all of the new things that are happening:

- New IVSOD in Isla Vista
- New Sunday location
- New Upper Room gathering on Saturday nights
- New Home Fellowships
- New year of Jesus Burgers & a new night serving them
- New DP house people
- New students every year

Thank You, Jesus, for the fruit I am beginning to see of probably the busiest summer of my life!

http://www.islavistachurch.com

End of Summer / Beginning of the School Year

This summer is pretty much over for us now, UCSB starts this Thursday!

We had a wonderful summer as a church body, enjoying some sweet low-key fellowship, worship, and teaching in the park all summer. It was our last week meeting at the park by the ocean in IV, which had quite a wonderful view. Praise the Lord for summer days by the ocean, singing worship to our God!

Now it is time to move on over to the Lomelino household for the school year -- check out Jason's following post!

Please pray for us as the school year begins and as we host IVC at our home this year.

Sueno Tabernacle

Over the course of the last month the Lord had been speaking to me about building a "Tabernacle" like- structure in our backyard to meet at this next year...well by grace alone, some unexpected provision, willing servants, and surrendering our home afresh to Him, we have built the structure.

Our 1st gathering is this Sunday @ 4pm, dinner to follow...of course dinner to follow as it's IVC.

These are a few pictures of the work being done, we even had Hope working the garden. We will try to shoot more this Sunday as we begin our 8th year as a church in IV!

Samuel's 1st Game

Our little boy, becoming big boy, had his 1st game last Saturday! He did great running up and down the field, smiling, and not taking anything too serious. Dad, on the other hand, well, I get a little more passioante about kicking the ball and scoring...by God's grace, I will maintain my excitement this year.

Holly and I are looking forward to the season and time together as a family. It is great too b/c the games are walking distance from our house in Isla Vista.

Wedding in SB

This last weekend Holly coordinated a friend of ours wedding at the Natural History Museum in SB..it was an incredibly full weekend, as I had all 3 munchkins and no momma around some of Friday and all of Sunday. Overall, the weekend worked out great and the wedding was awesome... Paige looked beautiful and Holly did such a great job!