Growing in Life

Often I find myself reminding people that growing in God is a process, which is why it's important to enjoy the journey of faith that God has us on...it seems at times b/c of our culture we are made to feel that we always need something else - the grass is greener on the other-side syndrome. As the result, believers in Christ can be made to feel like they need to arrive somewhere in God. When truthfully they've already arrived as they're in Christ today, seated with Him in heavily places, complete, have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness the day they accepted Jesus into their life, and our sons and daughters of the King (Eph 2:6,Col 2:10, 2Pet1:3, 1Jn3:1).

This is why I find myself reminding people that the Christian life is not about trying harder, but learning to receive more...grace is what grows us, not self-effort, which is why only God can grow us, change us, and make us like His Son.

Watching baby J eat His meals is messy, due to the fact that he is learning how to eat. As for Samuel, who is four years older, there is a noticeable improvement. To me this models a lot of the Christan life, as we abide in Him and believe in Him, we grow in Him. We learn to eat without half of the food on our face, on the floor, and in our hair...growing in God is messy, life is messy, and if we are going to love His people we must become ok with mess.

People grow in the soil of grace, not in law...if we want to see people grow in God we better give them room to fail, take risk, and try to feed themselves. Fathering and mothering is what the generation to come will need to become the sons and daughter they're made to be.

"For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel." (1 Cor 4:15)

Jesus Burgers

Tomorrow night around this time the "Gideon Army" will be giving out Jesus Burgers and sharing the redemptive love of Jesus with countless lives...please pray for us as we worship and pray from 8pm to about 10pm in the prayer shed, then hit the front to be greeted by hundreds of partiers.

Jesus' love is the solution to the problems of IV, may His church demonstrate this tomorrow night.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8)

Family Pictures

Our awesome friend Liselle took some family photos of us last week...all 4 of our kids are in the picture, one in womb!  If you have not heard, Holly is pregnant - we found out Sunday morning!

"Just as you don't know the path of wind and how bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you don't know the activity of God who makes all things." (Ecc. 11:5)

Our New Sunday Location

The end of this month will be the completion of our 8th year in IV as a church, and the beginning of our 9th year...in that time IVC has probably meet in about 25 locations throughout IV, including parks, beaches, backyards, houses, theaters, etc.

We have always been able to relate to the call of Abraham, as it says in Hebrews 11:8 that "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going."

IV is our promised land, and like I am always telling the fellowship, church is not a day of the week, a building you are in, a meeting you go to, but it is a family you belong to...our mission is to see IV redeemed by the redemptive love of God, IVC is blessed to be apart of that.

This next year God is moving the IVC family to a church building located less than a 1/2 block from our home - literally you can easily see the steeple and the church from our house.

We are so thankful for this bigger location as we are rapidly outgrowing "The Sueno Tabernacle." And due to the location of the church building, we will be able to maintain our dinners together, which is always a sweet time of fellowship afterward.

Ah, God is so good to us - faithful to the end! We believe this next year will be a significant year in the history of IV, as we are seeing a move of God arising in our city!

Be praying for IV and that believers would live radical lives of faith for Jesus and His kingdom - "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force." (Jesus)

Encouraged

Two years ago a beautiful sister in the Lord was introduced to Holly and I, along with the IVC family...she has graduated UCSB now, moved to Spain, and is still living an amazing life for Jesus.

She wrote a blog this week to different churches that she has been apart of, to the IVC family she wrote,

"When I went to college, I never though that I would find a place as satisfying as my church back home, but I found you (sadly 2 years in) because of a weird encounter in Greece with a certain armenian (who we all love) who became my spiritual sister and introduced me to all of you. And what a wonderful bunch you are. You showed me that it is ok to look weird, to let my hair down…basically to become God’s little hippy. I love being God’s little hippy. You taught me that no matter how much I stressed,(and no matter how scared I was to lead worship for you), that God speaks through those who are weak and who are willing. Thank you for teaching me to live the life of Jesus."

http://tecontamara.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/a-lot-of-love/

We love you Tamara, missing your incredible love and generous heart in IV...thanks for all you sowed into us and for the life you're living!

Our Adopted Daughter

Well we have several college-age adopted daughters, Annalisa was the first one that God asked us to come alongside and provide family for about two years ago...this is a blog that she started, I hope you track with her b/c she is amazing and lives a radical life for the King of kings!

http://annalisamorris.wordpress.com/

By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone

Excellent quote by Martin Luther, the man who initiated the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s:

'The heart of man finds it difficult to believe that so great a treasure as the Holy Ghost is gotten by the mere hearing of faith. The hearer likes to reason like this: Forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death, the gift of the Holy Ghost, everlasting life are grand things. If you want to obtain these priceless benefits, you must engage in correspondingly great efforts. And the devil says, "Amen."

We must learn that forgiveness of sins, Christ, and the Holy Ghost, are freely granted unto us at the preaching of faith, in spite of our sinfulness. We are not to waste time thinking how unworthy we are of the blessings of God. We are to know that it pleased God freely to give us His unspeakable gifts. If He offers His gifts free of charge, why not take them? Why worry about our lack of worthiness? Why not accept gifts with joy and thanksgiving?

"and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith," (Phil 3:9)

Holy Spirit

From the book Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray:

If the church will return to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is her strength and her help, if it will return to surrender everything and wait upon God to be filled with the Spirit, her days of beauty and gladness will return and we will see the glory of God revealed among us. This is my message to every individual believer: Nothing will help you unless you understand you must live every day under the power of the Holy Spirit. God wants you to be a living vessel in whom the power of the Spirit is manifested every hour and every moment of your life, and God will enable you to be that.

"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." (Acts 2:4)
"...be filled with the Spirit," (Eph 5:18)

Freedom in Christ

Today a brother came over that has been struggling with depression, along with other serious stuff for some time. After listening to him and asking God to visit us I began to pray over him; speaking not to my brother, but to the spirits that have been tormenting him. What happened afterward was amazing...he didn't feel anything crazy happening in his body, as some people do when being prayed for in this way, rather he sensed God coming around Him and holding Him as a father would hold his son. It was powerful, and as this was happening, God filled him with incredible joy and hope! This was the first time he felt either one of these emotions in some time. We both stayed in my garage full of joy as we experienced the manifest presence of God together in our midst.

The Scriptures tell us it was for freedom that Christ set us free...Jesus paid too great a price for any of us to live under the hand of the enemy whose plan is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus promised to give us life and life abundantly...thankful to see this firsthand tonight in my garage!

"The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." (1 Jn 3:8)

Baptism

Ryan and myself baptized two brothers today in the ocean..it was such an honor to be in the water with Phillip & Scott!

Baptism is such a great picture of a marriage covenant with Jesus..as the wedding ring reminds oneself that they are forever married to their spouse, baptism serves as a symbolic reminder that our lives belong entirely to Jesus Christ.

Healed in Jesus' Name

This was the FB status from a gal in the fellowship today:

My doctor re my examination: "well it looks like your prayers have been answered. This is the best you've looked in 10 years."

This gal got prayer last week in our home from Yves when he visited (check the post on the 30th to see a picture)...we had a night of worship and prayer for one another. During the night Yves taught on healing and then prayed for all who needed it in their body. This gal has had colitis for years now...no more in Jesus name!

"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues...they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:17,18)

Our Casa Is Your Casa

This last month has been crazy full with people staying at our house and visiting us. So much joy, dependency on Him, and fun for our kids and us! Not to mention a lot of the students are returning back to IV, as the UCSB school year starts next month...praise God!

Living with about 25 people for 2 1/2 years (05-07) radically changes your mindset and your capacity for people visiting and staying at your home...in the best possible way! Holly and I view our home as a gift from God, as we want to do with everything that has been given to us. It's actually one of the easiest places in my life to see God's faithfulness, as the story in how we were able to move into this home from timing, price, and location was more than we could ever ask or imagine!

We love our home and are glad it can serve as a blessing to our family, students in IV, IV Church, and people that visit from out of town. I always say there are only 2 ways to live: open-handed or white-knuckled. The blessing is always in living open-handed and surrendered to God and His purposes in the earth.

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (Js 1:17)

Becky Jo with our kids, her 4 girls that are 6yrs and under, and 1 in the womb...this momma is amazing, and only 28yrs old!

We love this family!

This family was with us all last week - radical testimonies of healing

http://www.healingallnations.org/ 

Bryan & Mercedes praying over the children...this couple is so special to our family, as God shows up powerfully every time they visit us: www.graceworldmission.org

Del Playa Last Night

God received so much glory last night as about 15 of us ministered the love of God on Del Playa to many people...we had a big sign out that said, "Free Prayer," which was to our surprise a big hit amongst those on the street partying.

Here is a Facebook status from a brother in the fellowship about last night:

Kyle Heiner:

"Saw about a dozen people healed (just at my hands) last night in Jesus' name! About 20 others all around me were also praying and healing people's bodies and lives on Del Playa Drive... Broken arms, broken hearts, Jesus does it all! The glory! God is so good!!! His Kingdom is at hand... and He loves you so much!"

Over the last 9 years of doing ministry in IV, we have seen God growing a community of believers who want to live radically for Him. We believe this year will be a breakthrough year of seeing greater fruit as we step into the ministry of Christ when He walked the earth.

Please be praying for the believers in IV and those living at the DP House this year...pray that the Gospel goes forth, that lives are changed, and that His people live courageously in their city.

"You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38)

Papa Jim & Nana's Visit

Papa Jim and Nana came to visit at the end of July and we had a great time up on Paradise Road in our cabin for the week.    

We were able to go to the river a bunch of times and the kids loved fishing and swimming.  We got to see deer (Jeremiah LOVED the deer and would point out the window and yell "deer" over and over), wild turkeys, and horses.

We also go to go to a ranch and see some horses and animals one day.

The kids most of all loved just getting to be with Papa Jim and Nana each day and play with them!

We are so thankful for them and who they are to us and to our kids!

Text Messages

Here are two text messages I sent out to a bunch of brothers the last two days:

This text came to me as a revelation reminder last night while hanging out with God:

"Our greatest priority in life brothers is to know God, not just about Him, but to actually know Him - John 17:3"

This text was sent to a friend who was struggling with condemnation, later I forwarded it to a bunch of guys & two gals:

"Abraham lied, Moses killed, David raped...you're a new creation today, your identity is a butterfly even if at times you feel like a worm. God sees you in Christ - loved, accepted, and pleasing to Him. How many sins made you a sinner? Answer = 0. You were born into sin. And you didn't become righteous by doing righteous works, you became righteous by faith in Jesus! It's finished, now our role is to receive our inheritance as partakers of the divine nature who have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him. The gospel in not ok news, but super good news...grace brings us into rest, while works bring us into striving. Rest today in what Jesus has done for you...in that you will naturally live out the life your heart so longs to live."

JOY

J - Jesus
O - Others
Y - Yourself

This week has been full of JOY, as lots of the IVC family is starting to come home! During the summer people have gone all over the world...Turkey, Thailand, Haiti, Hawaii, New York, and different cities in California and the rest of the country with the good news of Jesus!

As hard as it's seeing people come and go all the time due to living in a college town one of the greatest rewards is hearing stories of what God is doing throughout the world!

I love what the Apostle John said in 3 Jn 4,"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." Gnarly, he had no greater joy then knowing that his spiritual children were walking in the truth.

It really is pure joy seeing people fall in love with Jesus and walk it out in wherever God has called them to go...God is good & always doing good stuff for all who believe!

The Letter Kills, but...the Spirit Gives Life!

"who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." ( 2 Cor 3:6)

One of the main purposes of the law/letter was to be our tutor to Christ...that through the law we would come to know God & enter into a relationship with Him - a relationship free from rules, laws, and living out of our own self-efforts.

It's sad to say, but all too often I meet with what seems like depressed Christians or uptight ones, not joyful ones...what the heck! Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet, as we have been given the greatest gift in being in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

In my opinion, I think a lot of the frustration, difficulty, and lack of joy that some followers of Christ experience is directly related to mixing the old covenant and the new covenant. It has come from trying to live for Jesus, instead of enjoying a relationship with Jesus...'thou shalt not' kind of living (man-initiated), instead of 'thou will' kind of living (God-initiated) - Ex. 20 & Heb. 8. It's freedom to be united with the living God & experience His life being lived through our life.

When I read the Word, I never sense from Paul, John, or any other New Covenant writers that the Christian life was this great struggle and burden to live, rather I see them laying hold of what Jesus said, "my yoke is easy & my burden is light."

I don't believe that anyone can join in with the apostle John and say that His commandments are not burdensome (1 Jn 5:3) unless one experiences living by grace and not by the law...living by the law as a believer will kill us, but living by grace in a relationship with God will give us life.

Jesus' goal for our lives was life & life abundantly...I believe a day is coming soon in the body of Christ where believers will live confidently in their relationship with God as a saint not a sinner, as righteous not unrighteous, as a son not an orphan, as a friend not a slave, and as a lover not a worker.

I was only planning on writing a quote I just read, but forget the quote you just got a rant from me.

Life

This picture is of Holly giving a home-school lesson to the kids about trees, specially why we can't just push them over...the kids love this stuff and learning about nature and how it works.


This picture just brings me so much joy! I love the simplicity of life that kids have, not to mention the raw excitement about the waves coming at them!

Family Pictures

These are a few shots my little sister took of us in Big Bear...so thankful to be a husband & a father of these munckins!

God was in our midst...

The last week of the UCSB school year was a week of radical encounters by God...it felt like the grand finale fireworks in the spiritual realm to conclude an amazing year in IV. God showed up this week powerfully blessing peoples socks off both in the church and out of the church...I randomly came across this the other day, its a blog post from a missionary couple that stopped by our house that week on their way to San Diego:

We just had a radical divine appointment in Santa Barbara on the way down the coast as we were coming back home from a ministry trip further north. To see it come to pass, however, we had to be willing to be very flexible.

A friend who happened to be staying in Santa Barbara called us late at night right near 11:00pm while we were driving home through that area and asked us to come visit her and some friends in Isla Vista at the last moment. We felt God’s hand was upon this even though it was late and we were tired and culturally it was very akward to show up at someone's home so late and unplanned like this. We went over and ended up actually spending the night and miraculously wound up in an all-day outpouring of the Spirit the next day.

This group of mostly college students near UCSB were all interested in hearing about Lonnie Frisbee and how God worked through him back in the Jesus People Revival and Vineyard Outpouring. Having had the blessing to travel and experience firsthand God’s work through Lonnie, we were stoked to share some stories. We also had a short video to play. Right in the middle of watching this video, God sovereignly started moving on people in power which sparked a Holy Ghost outpouring where we began praying for people and powerful manifestations began to take place. Other students and friends kept showing up and coming in to this spontaneous prayer meeting as God kept pouring out His Spirit all day long; this unplanned meeting which started in the morning continued on until around three in the afternoon with lots of powerful moves, fillings, and empowerings of many lives.

I finally realized we hadn’t eaten, drank, or consumed anything or taken a break the whole day—this is the kind of fasting that is worthwhile though—when God is in the midst of it versus that other forced dead kind which Jesus criticized the Pharisees for doing out of dead ritual.

It was an awesome time and just when I thought I’d keel over from all the focus and intensity of praying for others all day long without any sustenance, I was offered some sardines to remind us of our Euro mission trips and a few laughs.

I was just thinking it would be good to take a break and get a surf in before it was too late when one of the many surfers there offered to take us out for a surf break too.

We scored some fun, sunny, 2 to 3’ clean and peaky, zipper-like waves right straight out at Campus Point. I queried how often it broke this time of year like this since I can’t ever remember seeing these kinds of waves like this in this area of Santa Barbara in the summer since the Channel Islands block most summer swells. The answer was never, "it never breaks this time of year."

Another blessing, and a quite refreshing one on that day, of the willingness to be flexible and let the winds of the Spirit lead the way. We would have missed that outpouring God wanted to bring and the fun out of season unique surf session if we had just done the culturally acceptable and easier thing on our weary bodies and had just headed home rather than showing up at someone's house we didn't know near midnight to end up sleeping on the floor after sleeping in others' homes for the past few weeks already. There was unplanned blessing awaiting we knew not of but we had to pay attention to the leading of the Spirit to tap into it.

Jesus words about letting the winds of the Spirit lead the way are not just some far off idea for another Bible study but something to be applied to our lives as we learn to do what Jesus told the early disciples to do: "Follow Me."

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8

For the full post click here: http://reflectionsftroad.blogspot.com/2010/06/blessed-are-flexible.html

Big Bear

This last weekend we had our annual Big Bear trip as an extended family - parents, sisters, their husbands, older sister's kids, and a cousin.

It was such a blast...super fun, refreshing, and a great time of being together! We were so thankful for being able to spend a little time with my family in the mountains, the weather was epic too.

I am amazed at the work of redemption that God has done in our family, it's evidence of the His power to change and transform lives by faith in Christ...glory to you God!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Love Wins!

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13

This last Sunday I read off about 10 verses concerning love...reminding the fellowship that without it we have nothing, rather we have become a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Love trumps all things, which is why God chose to describe Himself as Love. (1 Jn 4:8)

A few verses on love:

"God so loved the world that He gave Jesus..." (Jn 3:16)

"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (Rom 13:10)

"The fruit of the Spirit is love...(Gal 5:22)

"The goal of our instruction is love..." (1 Tim 1:5)

"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 Jn 3:16)

The love of God used in these verses is not the same love that we use when we say "I love In & Out" (which hopefully everyone does, but we will save that for another blog post). The love of God, living in us by the Spirit of God, is a self-sacrificial love, it's a love that considers others as more important than self, and does what is best for others, regardless of whether or not they deserve it.

It's the kind of love demonstrated by Jesus in going and dying on the cross so that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of all their sins & eternal life! This is a radical, sacrificial, and selfless love.

I like this picture, it is such a good description of the love we are called to have for one another...according to the Word, our love for God is in direct proportion to our love for one another.


"We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 Jn 4:19-21)

My sheep hear My voice...

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;" - Jesus

The birthright of the church is to hear the voice of God...we as followers of Jesus and children of God get to live our life from hearing what He is saying and responding to what He is doing = what an incredible privilege!

Here are two key questions for those who are following the Shepherd:

1. What is Jesus saying to you (as you read the Bible, play sports, go for a walk, spend time with your friends and spouse, eat with your kids, help a friend move...)

2. What are going to do in response to what you heard?

Like a good father or friend clear communication is important and God is an excellent communicator...I know for me theses two questions are vital to living an intimate life with Him and being satisfied by responding to the voice of my Shepherd & Friend.

Is This Really Church by Francis Chan

This video is well-worth watching...you can skip the first 20 minutes as Francis is talking about a few things going on in their church.

Over the course of the last 5 years God has ruined me for what is means to be the church...which is why I am always saying we don't go to church, we are the church. I am so challenged by what I read in the Word, especially the words of Christ and what was happening immediately after He ascended in the book of Acts.

Take up your cross, deny self, and follow me - Jesus

From the beginning one of IVC's key scripture verse has been Acts 2:42 which says the early church devoted themselves to four things: teaching, life together, the common meal, and prayer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq3DfUPAQiY&feature=related

Musing About Church...

I read this an article the other day about Christians gathering together...I felt like someone had tapped into my mind and started writing out some of my thoughts:

Psalm 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever.

Is This What It's Supposed to Look Like?

There was a commanded blessing that flowed over every word, prayer, chord and melody as we gathered. The unity in the spirit was astounding and created an atmosphere that was charged with expectation and supernatural ease! Like the "oil running down Aaron's beard" or the "dew of Hermon," this substance saturated the walls and the hearts of everyone in attendance. Involved with this kind of ministry, you leave feeling refreshed and inspired instead of feeling burned out and weary.

Surprisingly enough, this honest "family friendly" atmosphere sustained a rare accessibility in such large meetings for everyone present to tap into the flow and breakthrough of what God was imparting. As people began to encounter Jesus and His glory each night, the typical "minister-audience" walls that become such a hindrance to the corporate encounter came crashing down! We all were entering in together!

So, I am beginning to ask a few questions now. Maybe this is what the New Testament Church really should look like in our day? Please hear my heart as I am in no way implying that we suddenly and instantaneously found the answer to cure all the problems and issues of the Western Church. But I am beginning to wonder if it is all supposed to look less like a well-oiled machine and more like organic family. Less like cookie-cutter, predictable business and more like a celebration of spontaneous flow-fostering creativity. Maybe more like hands-on mentoring and less like individual performance. After all, isn't the new wine in the cluster? I strongly believe God is stirring this unity-move deep in the hearts of fathers and mothers and sons and daughters in our day. Church is really beginning to be fun, family and unpredictable again!

Complete article: http://www.openheaven.com/forums/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=33004

Kids Being Kids

Took these pictures of Hope and Jeremiah the other day...I am never short for a laugh living life with these children.

Family Time - Wednesday Nights

This last Wednesday was our first family time of the summer...it was awesome! We had a great time outside playing different games, hanging out, and eating together. After dinner we went in our home and worshiped with music for a while, shared testimonies of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, and then I shared a short word out of John 4 about Jesus saying that His food was to do the will of the Father and how our real satisfaction as believers, like Jesus, still comes from co-laboring with God on the earth to do His will.

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." (John 4:34)

These pictures are from the end of the night when we broke into small groups, shared what God has been speaking to us about, and then prayed for one another.