Cali Update

Hello all!

I just received my passport and so I am now able to leave the country. Woo Hoo!

Thank you for journeying with me on this road! I really appreciate the support. I have heard the stories of people going on mission trips and having very real and very physical manifestations of evil.

It is through prayer and intercession that God brought healing and opportunity in those situations. I thank you for your prayers!!

I know that many of you have also decided to help me out monetarily. I am about halfway to my goal of the $2100.00 needed. So thank you for your help!! Praise God!

We are almost about to buy the airplane tickets and I have to have $1000.00 just for those. I have never been out of the country before (Canada doesn't count) and thus have never needed a passport. That was a spendy thing!! Nice to have though.

I am excited to go and know that provision is being given! It means a lot to me to be able to go and minister, learn and experience all of this amazing, incredible movement that God is doing in Cali.

I hope to bring what God gives me back here for His glory!!

Thank you again!

Share your Faith!

Here is an interesting video:

Way of the Master Questions Week One

Question 1

Imagine that you are sound asleep in bed. You smell smoke. The smoke detector goes off and you quickly think of the fire station next door.  What virtues would you want those firefighters to have? Alert? Special training? Courage? Compassion? What else?

Now which ones of these do you think you possess and which ones do you need to work on?

Question 2

Call two people that you know that go to church (could be our church) and ask them this:

"I'm taking an evangelism course and as part of the homework , I need to ask someone a few questions. 1. Do you share your faith regularly? i.e. Do you go out of your way to verbally share the gospel with strangers?
2. What is the main reason you don't share your faith more often?


Bring these with you to class Sunday!

Passport

So yesterday I went and completed my expedited request for my passport. One of the critical steps to preparing for my trip to Cali, Colombia.

I've never had a passport before and had no idea that it was that expensive!

At least it is good for ten years!

I wanted to thank those of you who have already donated to help me get to Cali! Thank you for your gift! I will keep updating information as it becomes time to get the tickets and then to pack and such.

I do have a bit more information about what we will be doing specifically.

The first week we will be spending time helping to further build a church in the rural part of Cali. Also, we will be helping with cell groups (small groups) and beginning to get them going. My hope is that we get to talk to others about how important they are and possibly our testimonies about God working in our lives.

The second week is pretty intense as well. There are workshops every day twice a day that week and then on Saturday (Sabado) we will help with an Impact event.

We will be learning more about prayer, cell groups, encounter events and impact events.

I can't wait!!

Prayer Book

"Prayer is hard."

This is my thought! Have you ever dealt with this? Have you had a hard time praying and staying focused? Or maybe it is just a matter of discipline for you? So the problem becomes making time for prayer.

How about when altar time comes around? The prayer person at the front is leading us in prayer and you feel a disconnect. The words seem hollow. You don't know how to "join" with them in prayer. Then, your mind wonders. It just can't seem to stay connected.

I think we have all been there.

Some people are able to pray from the heart but it isn't easy to attain. Prayer therefore seems detached and looses it's luster. I mean, it shouldn't be this hard, should it?

I have started reading a book. And when I say started, think 15 pages so far. I got the book free as a pastoral gift from NPH. They gave something like 16 books and I put them up on my shelf with no idea when I would get to them. One of them caught my eye while I was placing them up there and I pulled it out and placed it on my desk in a hope that I could check it out to see if it was worthy of a boost up the pile.

The book is called Dawn to Dark. It is a Book of Christian Prayer (self described).

I am telling you all this, not because I expect you to go out and buy it, read it and know it. I say this so that you may know where I am going and invite you along.

Here it is in a nutshell. Want to add prayer to your life with me?

The book is about going back to practicing fixed-hour prayer on a regular basis. This is a very ancient practice and here are seven benefits that the book lists:

1. Becoming saturated in Scripture
2. Joining with the (big C) Church in prayer
3. Setting aside our individualistic prayer agendas
4. Marking time as sacred
5. Finding words for our prayers
6. Learning to pray
7. Fulfilling Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing."

The book suggests maybe not going all in at first but building in the prayer times over time. Here are the prayer times it suggests:

• Prayer at Dawn: Upon waking
• Prayer at Daylight: Between noon and 3 pm
• Prayer at Dusk: Between 5 and 8 pm
• Prayer at Dark: Between 9 and 12 am

I am looking to first add the Prayer at Dawn time. This is the easiest for me to add. You know how it is. Dark house. Quiet house. No one else is up! Good time to pray! The Prayer at Dawn is around 15 to 30 minutes. The Prayer at Daylight is 10 to 20 minutes. The Prayer at Dusk is 15 to 30 minutes. And, the Prayer at Dark is 10 to 15 minutes. These are all suggestions by the book. 

I will use this forum to keep you up to date on how it is going. I am very excited to add this to my life! The book even has prayer for each time of the day and also a prayer plan. 

How many of us can say we have that? A prayer plan!

I Think. I Can.

Here is a reprint of an illustration that was used for a sermon. I thought it was appropriate to use it as part of my message:

In Search of Watty Piper: A Brief History of the “Little Engine” Story
Celebrating More Than One Hundred Years of Thinking I Can!

Story of the Engine that Thought It Could. Published in the New York Tribune on April 8, 1906, this story is attributed to a sermon by the Rev. Charles S. Wing to the Norstrand Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn; the church had just paid off its mortgage after many years. This is earliest full version I have discovered to date:

In a certain railroad yard there stood an ex
tremely heavy train that had to be drawn up an 
unusually heavy grade before it could reach its
 destination. The superintendent of the yard was 
not sure what it was best for him to do, so he
 went up to a large, strong engine and asked :

“Can you pull that train over the hill?”

“It is a very heavy train,” responded the en
gine.

He then went to another great engine and 
asked:

“Can you pull that train over the hill?”

“It is a very heavy grade,” it replied.

The superintendent was much puzzled, but he 
turned to still another engine that was spick
 and span new, and he asked it:

“Can you pull that train over the hill?”

“I think I can,” responded the engine.

So the order was circulated, and the engine
 was started back so that it might be coupled
 with the train, and as it went along the rails it
 kept repeating to itself: “I think I can. I think
 I can. I think I can.”

The coupling was made and the engine began
 its journey, and all along the level, as it rolled 
toward the ascent, it kept repeating to itself:
 “I —think —I can. I —think —I— can. I —think— I —can.”

Then it reached the grade, but its voice could 
still be heard: “I think I can. I—– think—–I—–can. 
I —–think—– I—– can.”

Higher and higher it climbed, and its voice
grew fainter and its words came slower:

”I ——-think ——–I——-can.”

It was almost to the top.

“I ———think”

If was at the top.

”I ———can.”

It passed over the top of the hill and began 
crawling down the opposite slope.

’I ——think——- I—— can——I—– thought——I——-could I—– thought—– 
could. I thought I could. I thought I could.
 I thought I could.”

And singing its triumph, it rushed on down 
toward the valley.

Letter about God moving at MAX @MNU

Here is a letter from Dr. Spittal, President of MidAmerica Nazarene University:

Board of Trustees,

I wanted to forward the message I sent to the regional NYI council this morning.  The youth from your districts are on our campus today, and nearly 1,000 are in attendance, almost 200 more than last year, here for the events and activities related to MAX. 

But I especially want to give praise for the moving of the Holy Spirit in our opening service last evening.  The altars were lined with hundreds of students who began to come forward even before the speaker concluded his message.  Throngs of your young people gave their hearts to Christ last evening, and we celebrated and cheered as they came.  In essence we saw revival, and the Holy Spirit moved in a way I have not seen in years. I am sure many of your youth have never witnessed a moving of God like we experienced last night.

We have been praying all year for our campus, and especially for our athletes.  Our desire for them is that God will move into our athletic programs and speak to the hearts of the outstanding young men and women who have come to utilize their unique talents to play a sport they love.  Our desire is that through athletics at MNU they will discover God for themselves and be radically transformed through Jesus Christ.

In the midst of the altar call last night, I looked up to the balcony where a large number of our football players were sitting, because their coach had told them to be there last night.  Throughout the evening I watched as the speaker engaged the crowed and spoke directly to the football players in the balcony.  When the altars began to fill with young people, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the football players begin to leave as a group and was sad to see that they were leaving.  But to my surprise and delight, I was thrilled when they came to the main floor and together came down the aisle to the altar and there joined the hundreds of others who were seeking God.  Praise the Lord.

We must realize that many of our students and yours have never witnessed a moving of the Holy Spirit in revival.  But last evening the presence of God was very real and the moving of the Spirit on young hearts was amazing.  As our football players walked down the aisle of the church, our students and your young people cheered, with tears, as they watched God move in response to their prayers.

Please continue to pray for the Lord to reach the rising generation in a new and powerful way.  My prayer is that as these young people return to your churches they will bring the spirit of revival with them and in doing so bring revival to our churches.  I have great confidence in the rising generation of the church because I can see God at work in them for their time and for his purposes.

If there is any doubt why our passion for MNU must be sustained…we witnessed the basis for that commitment last night. 

We give praise for what God is doing on the campus of MNU.

David J. Spittal

President