Ministry

Breakthrough

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North Branch Kick-off Meeting

This was the first organized meeting with the Leaders of North Branch.  And, at least for now, this post is part one of a two parts.  The second part will cover the redirect that occurred during the meeting.  Quite frankly I didn’t know what to expect going into this, but I knew that it was of God and I was content with that.  During my morning devotion I received a message from the Lord – “I created you for such a time as this, this is what you were made for!”  Hearing that, coupled with my feelings of expectation and you may well imagine my energy level spiked.  Pastor G arrived to pick me up and together we ventured North.

We met at the offices of Northbrook Fellowship Church (NFC) on Main street kitty-corner from Central Park.  Those in attendance for this meeting included Jeanne (NFC), Katie (NFC), Beth (NFC), Marion (NFC), Patrick (NFC), Pastor Dawson Grover (E-Free), Pastor Steve Weihsmann (Covenant), Gloria (Covenant), Pastor Pete Couper (Breakthrough), Pastor George Marin (Grace), and Pastor Frank Gomes (NFC).

We spent the first hour laying a foundation of fellowship with introductions and prayer.  Then we had lunch and I laid out the purpose and the vision as I received it from the Lord.  Here is what I said:

Purpose 

The purpose of our lives as Christians is to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  So, if that is the purpose of our life, then that is the purpose here in North Branch – To advance the Gospel.

In studying Acts 4 – 8, David Platt identifies five prayers that spring up that apply to this purpose.

  1. God give us confidence in Prayer
  2. God make us generous with our possessions
  3. God help us to live in purity
  4. God grant us joy amidst persecution
  5. God send us out in proclamation

These five prayers must become a part of our daily prayer life!

If that is our purpose, then our purpose is NOT to – attend Church, have a good marriage, a great career, to have a healthy spiritual well being.  All of those things are good – they need to be present SO THAT we are able to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The purpose of your life as a Christian is to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  And when that’s the purpose, then NOTHING can stop you BECAUSE that is God’s purpose for you and God can’t be stopped!

Whether we believe it or not – someday “The Gospel will be heard to the ends of the earth.”  Matthew 24:14.

The God of the universe will not be defeated in His objective.  Any activity not in step with God’s design for human destiny is an exercise in futility.

Vision:

Before I tell you what the vision is, let me be sure to tell you what it is NOT.

  • This is NOT about us – it is about God and the Kingdom of God invading earth in North Branch.
  • This is NOT about and event, rather it is the model of Heaven which is about relationship.

This is about the journey, a journey that started with a vision in the spiritual realm, a vision that began in the physical realm and became real on September 3rd, 2015.  The power of that testimony is what has propelled us to today!  That testimony is written down and located on my blog site “Pursuing Breakthrough” titled “September 3rd, 2015”.

The vision is the model that God has given us and is found in these verses:

  1. Matthew 28:19-20
  2. Luke 10:1-12
  3. John 14:15-21

What we are supposed to do is found in The Great Commission and it supports our purpose.   Again, I want to make our purpose CRYSTAL CLEAR – “Our purpose is to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”  The last command of Jesus is our first priority.

Matthew 28:19-20 (The Great Commission):

  • “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

How we are supposed to do this is something I have struggled with since starting ministry full time.  And, I know I am not alone as other Pastors and leaders have confided their struggle with this as well.  This is where I need to share a story that has everything to do with God’s Sovereignty and the mysterious ways of the Lord.  In September of 2013 I was invited to have breakfast with Kyle Martin of Time to Revive by Sheri Richards of Hosanna!.  Sheri called and told me that Pastor Tim Hatt and herself were inviting Kyle to the Twin Cities to pursue revival and Kyle wanted to meet with someone who was already doing outreach here.  Kyle shared his vision and I was in.  He asked me to be a part of his team and then invited me to “Engage Week” in Richmond California that November.  I knew that in my spirit I was to go as an observer.  While there, I slipped in and out of various groups who were going into the community to share the Gospel.  God wanted me to see something – something that was significant to the future plans He had for the ministry I was entering.  Now, there is a certain energy about these groups, an excitement and as I went with them, I received a vision from the Lord.  It was as if these groups were like a hand grenade that would explode and hit everyone around them.  The Lord told me that this is not how He wants me to do this.  I noticed that the people who were going were feeling dejected as they were being rejected.  Remember, this is a vision and at that point in time, I had not received the language to understand what the Lord was going to reveal.  That language would come later, after I met Jim Lilly at a house Church meeting in February of 2014.  Jim is a pioneer of a movement taking root here in the Twin Cities called DMM (Disciple Making Movement) and we together with a small group of leaders have been laying the foundation of this movement ever since.  The Lord gave me Luke 10:1-12 and used this verse to reveal a key that would open a door I didn’t know even existed.  Now, I had read this verse before, it wasn’t new to me – but, after reading it this time – I mysteriously memorized it with no effort.  It was the language I needed to make the vision from Richmond complete.  All at once, I knew the answer to HOW I was supposed to do WHAT I was supposed to do.

How are we supposed to do What we are suppose to do is found here in Luke 10.  This is the Biblical example.

Luke 10:1-12 (Jesus Sends Out His Disciples)

  • “The Lord now chose seventy-two[a] other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. 3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.5 “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ 6 If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. 7 Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay. 8 “If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you.9 Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ 10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’ 12 I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.”

I pray that you can see this – if you can’t then I would ask you to pray that God would pull back the veil.  There is so much meat here, but I will cover the highlights.

  1. The Lord chose those He sent
  2. He sent them out in pairs
  3. They went to where He was going
  4. He revealed the reality – “The harvest is great, but the workers are few…”
  5. He revealed the importance of prayer “Pray to the Lord…”  
  6. He removed any pressure they may have felt as He revealed His dominion “Pray to the Lord, Who is in charge of the harvest...”
  7. He told us what to pray for “Pray to the Lord, Who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers…”
  8. He established a sense of urgency “Now go…”
  9. He reminded us of who we are and warned us “remember I am sending you as lambs among wolves” 
  10. He reminded us that we would have to rely on Him (Paraphrased) “Don’t take money or clothes”
  11. He told us to stay focused on the task “Don’t stop to greet anyone along the road”
  12. And I could keep going… But you can see, right?

Why we are supposed to do this is found in John 14:15

John 14:15 (Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit)

  • “If you love me, obey[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.[c] 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

If you love me, obey my commandments – and that is followed with the promise which by the way is the same promise Jesus ends the Great Commission with.  Perfect book ends.  The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth because the Holy Spirit is Truth.

So, after having shared this information with the group I said – The Lord is preparing to pour out over this region and North Branch is ground zero.  Like a pitcher of water He will pour out His Spirit and it will spill all over this region.  It is going to happen, we just need to believe it.

This is where the conversation got redirected.  The topic of this redirection will be the subject for another post.

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Pursuing Breakthrough

This morning in my time with the Lord I was reflecting on upcoming events in my life.  This week in particular is peculiar to me as I realized coming into it that I had three major meetings.  These meetings and their outcome will undoubtedly have an impact on the direction of ministry.  Anything that impacts ministry impacts my life, as well as the life of my family.  So, these meetings are a big deal.

Hosanna!

As I write this post, the first meeting already occurred.  It was a meeting with Pastor Tim Hatt, the Kingdom Expansion Pastor of Hosanna! Lutheran Church in Lakeville.  If you have read my testimony, you may remember that I described Pastor Tim as someone with whom I was cut from the same cloth.  Also, Pastor Tim is one of my wife’s bosses.  You may also remember that Hosanna! is my home Church, the Church that equipped me and through Pastor Tim, the Church that blessed and released me to pursue Breakthrough Ministries.  The backdrop of this story is that the relationship has been difficult for both organizations.  Now, Hosanna! is a big Church, so when include them as I did in that last sentence, it is probably more safe to say that it was difficult for a few key people rather than their whole organization.  The reality is that when I set out to launch this ministry, I ventured into territory that was foreign to both organizations and that created tension.  Over the years, we were confronted with complex situations that required discussion, dialog, and decision.  I can only speak for myself, but these were difficult times for me and some of these discussions did not always end well.  I can say however, that the road we walked was charted by Scripture and we followed the Biblical principles.  As I see it today, in the hands of our Sovereign Lord, it was all necessary and part of God’s perfect plan.  So, with that said, I entered this meeting which Pastor Tim called with a certain sense of peace.  We went to a coffee house and talked.  Two things happened that are significant; One, through our conversation I sense we connected on a level that I have been yearning for, for years.  Two, Pastor Tim asked me to apply for Associate Partnership in which Hosanna! would support Breakthrough financially and give us a spiritual covering.  What this means financially is more stability which Breakthrough needs and will undoubtedly welcome, something we can measure.  The impact of the spiritual covering is something we have lacked and will far outweigh any financial support we may ever get.  This is HUGE!  Thank you Lord!

North Branch

I am excited to say the least and now looking forward to the second meeting which will occur tomorrow.  This meeting is up in North Branch.  God has given every Christian a command.  We call this particular command The Great Commission – in which we are told to (Paraphrased) “Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey, and trust I am with you until the end.” Matthew 28:19-20.  Breakthrough Ministries is about just that.  But, as I continue this journey at this point in time, I feel the Lord telling me that what we are doing with this ministry is just the start.  That the next step in our journey is found in Acts 1:8 “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  For me, I live in the Twin Cities – the idea is that the Twin Cities is my Jerusalem.  The region of Minnesota is my Samaria, and the U.S. is my Judea, and then of course to the ends of the earth.  Could it be that the Lord has bigger plans for me?  Bigger plans for Breakthrough?  These have been the prevailing thoughts for sometime.  I remember Pastor G talking about the superhighway of 35W from Albert Lea to the Twin Cities.  I also remember thinking that it went to Duluth.  After analyzing this over the past year, I recalled a time when God gave me a vision for Minnesota.  A vision that had Albert Lea as the hub over the Southern part of the State with Pastor G as the Spiritual Leader of this region.  Pine City was the the hub over the Northern part of the state with Pastor Pete Couper as the Spiritual head of this region.  And the Twin Cities was the hub over the central part of the state.  After receiving this download, the Lord directed me to pour into Albert Lea, which we did in August at SoulFest.  When we were driving home in the Breakthrough Bus, Pete and I were talking about next years plan to pour into Pine City.  It was at that point we heard from the Lord that it was North Branch.  To understand why we are so excited about what God is going to do there, you need to read my blog post titled September 3rd, 2015.  It contains the confirmation – all we needed.  The bottom line is that God has revealed His intention to target North Branch as the place of revival.  He will pour Himself into North Branch and we are to prepare to receive it.  So, the meeting tomorrow is our first organized meeting with the people the Lord has led us to.  Pastor G will drive up from Albert Lear with his wife Pastor Jill, we together will drive up from the Twin Cities, and Pastor Pete will drive down from Pine City.  We will meet with Pastor Frank Gomes, Pastor Steve Weihsmann, Marion Bartels, Gloria, and whomever the Lord brings to lay out the framework and preparation for this meeting.  We are praying specifically for an invitation from the whole ministerium of which Pastor Frank Chairs.  We desire unity and harmony from this community and we will not go into North Branch without one.

CityTeam International / DMM

The Last of the three meetings will occur Friday and will include Pastor Pete Couper, Jim Lilly, and Richard Williams. Jim Lilly is the pioneer of DMM in the Twin Cities and a partner.  Richard is with CityTeam International and from this organization a great Disciple Making Movement started in Africa in 2005.  This is significant because we will be talking about building an Equipping Center here in the Twin Cities.  I shared this vision with Jim Lilly last year and unbenounced to me, he shared it with Richard. Richard flew out to the Twin Cities from Philadelphia to discuss this vision because the leadership group from CityTeam had been praying about building an Equipping Center somewhere in the US.  This all has the aroma of Heaven.  I say that because I received a vision, I shared it, I did not ask for the opportunity, it just presented itself AND I have not pursued it and it returned.  So, where it goes is entirely up to the Lord, but this is not just any ordinary discussion.  This discussion could make the Twin Cities an International hub for training people and sending them to the ends of the earth.

Also, Friday and Saturday, we will be meeting with a group of leaders from this region.  People we have been building relationship with over the last two years.  This is a Disciple Making Movement (DMM) that clearly fits with the mission of The Great Commission and something I have helped to pioneer here in the Twin Cities with Jim Lilly and a few others.  The two days will be spent with a focus on prayer mapping.

So, as I sat here this morning, I pondered over these meetings and their significance.  These thoughts and my prayer over them led me to consider what else was on the horizon.  I am preparing to go to Israel in 9 days, Cuba in April.  It occurs to me that all of this was always on God’s agenda for my life.  This all has to do with His Sovereignty.  I didn’t know about any of this until recently, but God did.  That thought get’s me thinking about what else is in store for me.  What else is on God’s agenda for me that I am completely unaware of at this moment.

Guess what I just realized?  Not only does He have my agenda under control – but the outcomes are determined as well. What peace!  Pursuing Breakthrough is what this blog is about, for me – that simply means I get to sit on PaPa’s lap and talk to Him.  I get to ask questions and He answers.  It is the most amazing experience.  Let me encourage you to do the same.

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Overcoming “A Familiar Spirit” – Thursday, September 17th

As you can probably see if you are following me on this blog, I am getting closer to the actual date.  As I have mentioned, I am posting about some of the significant experiences since the beginning of September.  I intend to catch up and post daily all that God is showing and doing in my life – not just in ministry.  However, I feel as though the posts I have made are significant to understanding what He is doing now.  So, thank you for following me – I am surprised at how many people seem to checking in.

This is part 3 and the final part of a story that I have been telling about God’s sovereignty and a familiar spirit.  The title of this post is about overcoming this spirit.  Pastor Pete wrote about this day and entitled it 1 in 7 billion.  I believe he posted about it on Facebook.  It is the story of what happened on Thursday evening, September 17th.  To me, this ties up and completes at least for now what God has shown me about His sovereignty.  I am sure there will be many more stories similar to these in future posts.  As a matter of fact, I am certain these stories will continue because these experiences are what our journey is really all about.

As the last post ended, I was sharing about my experience with a familiar spirit that was affecting me emotionally and causing depression.

On this Thursday, I was still in this deep valley.  I am often spontaneous and as a result, I come up with an idea and want to act on it immediately.  This particular morning I woke up and thought that maybe what I needed to get out of this funk was to go down and spend some time with my Dad.  So, I brought this up to my wife and asked what she thought of me heading down to Fairmont for the day and spending the night.  She said sure – so, in my mind that is what I was going to do.  It’s not like I didn’t think about my Dad’s schedule, I did, but I thought that we could work it out to accomplish my desire.  Now, when I called my Dad, he assured me that I could come, but he had two meetings that night and was working on a job that would require him the next day.  Dang, I had no peace with this plan.  I told my Dad we would do this another time. After getting off the phone the enemy went right to work.  I just kept slipping deeper into this cesspool of depression.  Kids in school, wife at work – just me and the dog and I am feeling crummy.

I sat down in my chair and fell asleep.

Around 3 pm I woke up to see that Pete had called.  I called him back and he asked me if we could meet.  Hmmm… the mysterious ways of the Lord.  I asked him what he had in mind – and he said he wasn’t sure.  He said, let’s just meet somewhere in the middle between Pine City and Apple Valley.  I said sure.  I jumped into the shower after having called my wife.  All at once, I started to feel energized.  I began to wonder if this funk was leaving me when Pete called me back and suggested maybe I needed to just rest.  I was like – What?  No, what I need to do is run an errand and then meet you.

I was heading North on 35W and going around downtown Minneapolis when I called Pete to find out where he was.  Now this was around 6:30 pm or so and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything yet today. So, I asked Pete if he just wanted to meet at the Chinese restaurant we used to frequent.  He told me he already had eaten.  Alright, this is one of those moments that you don’t realize at the time, but later represent something significant.  Because he had already eaten, I bypassed the exit I would have taken to get there.  But, as soon as I did, I started feeling this sense of urgency that I have been talking about in most of my posts.  I didn’t know then, but I sure do now that I was sensing the Holy Spirit tell me to get off at the next exit.  It didn’t make sense – but I took that exit.  As I did, I saw a restaurant called “India Palace.”  I had been there many years ago and asked Pete if he new where it was.  He said yes and that he would be there in about 10 minutes.

I went inside and was seated.  It seemed as though I was forgotten about as about 10 minutes went by and nobody had approached me.  I was looking at my phone when this guy walks up to my table and sits down.  He says, sorry I am late.  I squinted because he looked an awful like Pete – but, it wasn’t him.  Now, this is awkward.  In a moment I am about to tell him that he must have the wrong table when he smiles and tells me his name is John Sweeney.  I know John, but it had been a long time and I didn’t recognize him.  Now I am confused and wondering what is going on.  He told me Pete had called him and asked him to join us.  It just so happened that he was down the block from the restaurant when Pete called.

What are the odds?

A few minutes later, Pete shows up.  These two characters could be twins.  I am caught up in the moment and it is becoming clear to me that God has set this up and we are just experiencing something from Heaven again.  We eat dinner and talk with John about what He has been doing to us.  On a side note, John is an Elder at Real Life Church in Roseville.  Pete and him had connected over the last few years and talk regularly.  I often wondered who was mentoring who between the two of them.  Back to the story, I brought John up to speed about the vision God had given me about our purpose.  That is that our purpose is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.  I shared with him how God had shown me very clearly that “What” we are supposed to do is found in the Great Commission.  I tied that together with this disciplemaking movement we are engaged in and the revelation of Luke 10: 1-12 which tells us “How” to do what we are supposed to do.  Specifically how it pointed me toward finding people of peace.  I will post on all of these topics eventually, but that is what we discussed over dinner.

John seems rather reserved and so I wasn’t sure what to expect when Pete asked him if he wanted to go with us.  I think his response was “Go Where?”  Pete said wherever the Lord leads us.  The thought was simple, someone needs God’s compassion tonight and we want to bring it.  As Pete said that, I was thinking about downtown Minneapolis.  Pets says, I think we ought to go downtown.  My spirit leapt – as I said “I was just thinking that”.  So, do you want to come with us John?  Again, awkward moment when you sense the wheels turning in the mind of another man and the body language suggests he is looking for a way out.  But, to my pleasant surprise he said “Sure!”

Here is where you think you are on an adventure with God and your praying it’s not just you.  Here is where we risk.  Because if God doesn’t show up, you blow your credibility with this man and also with God.

So, we all get into my vehicle and I start driving.  Not thinking, I took 36 E and at some point started to feel a bit confused.  I said, where are we going?  Pete said downtown.  I said yah, but we are heading toward St. Paul (I was thinking about Minneapolis).  Pete said, well – I was thinking about St. Paul and we are almost there.  Alright, St. Paul it is then.  As we are driving into St. Paul Pete said I think we should go to Dorothy Day Center.  As I turned toward DDC, I got the thought that we should go to a park.  So, we drove over to a park along the river.  We parked and Pete pulled out some scented anointing oil.  Man that stuff smelled good as we rubbed it all over our faces.  We prayed that the Lord would lead us to a person of peace.

We started walking into the park.  We immediately saw a number of youth hanging out.  As we approached them, and then walked by them, it was obvious that they were not whom we were sent to find.  Now, it is about 10:00 pm and it is dark.  This park does not have any lighting – we are walking along a fence line that overlooks the river and there is about a 100 foot cliff to our left.  As I am walking with Pete and John to my left side, I am thinking about the youth we just passed.  Pete stops, turns and walks toward the fence.  I look and John is following him.  We walked right by a women and I never saw her.  Again, confused for a moment as to what just happened, I then walked closer to her.  From the glow of the moon on her face I saw tears.  Bam!  All at once we realize she is the person who needs compassion.  Of course, three men approaching a single women in this situation must have been a bit intimidating to her, but she wasn’t intimidated at all.  She tells us that she came out here tonight to pray to God about her three sons.  She was praying that God show her He is real, and then the three of us come out of the darkness and approach her.  We were an answer to her prayers!  We talked and prayed with Maria for about 20 minutes.  When we were leaving, the Lord released us to go home.  We accomplished what He had intended for each of us on this night.

I really hope you can see how all of this ties together.  I pray that you understand the significance of these testimonies.  I say that because they are for you every bit as much as they are for me.  They point to a God who is sovereign over everything – which is to say every moment. If you are reading this, then I am convinced He has you reading it because He wants you to experience these things as well.  In so doing, you will discover as I have different levels of revelation that take you down the path closer to the Lord.

As I drove home that night, I realized that the familiar spirit I was struggling with was gone.  The way to overcome this spirit is to move toward God.  Our faith grows exponentially when we are willing to respond to God through risk. Afterall, this is what it really is all about – Hearing and Doing obediently.  We are not responsible for what happens after obedience – that is on God.  But, not obeying is on us.

Thanks for taking the time to read – God bless.

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A Familiar Spirit, September 14th, 2015

This post is part 2 of what happened after I dropped Pastor Pete Couper off from Monday afternoon, September 14th and covers ground through Thursday, September 17th.  It has to do with a familiar spirit and how this affected me.

So what is a familiar spirit?

  • Dictionary.com –  “A supernatural spirit or demon supposed to attend on or serve a person.”
  • Google  – “A demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch, often said to assume the form of an animal.”

I did some more research on this topic to better understand what happened to me.  My source for the following information is from GotQuestions?.org.

  • Question: “What are familiar spirits?”Answer:

    The word familiar is from the Latin familiaris, meaning a “household servant,” and is intended to express the idea that sorcerers had spirits as their servants ready to obey their commands. Those attempting to contact the dead, even to this day, usually have some sort of spirit guide who communicates with them. These are familiar spirits.Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27; and Deuteronomy 18:9-14 refer to “mediums and familiar spirits” and forbids being involved with them, as they are an abomination to the Lord. A medium is one who acts as a liaison to supposedly contact or communicate with the dead on behalf of the living. In reality mediums are contacting demons who convince the mediums that they are “familiar” and can be trusted and believed. The practices associated with mediums and familiar spirits were banned in Israel, and the punishment for practicing such things was death.

    Familiar spirits and spirit guides are under the control of their master, Satan. They influence people to spread lies and deceit in order to thwart the kingdom of God. To knowingly open oneself to the work of demons is an evil thing: “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in [a] fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12a).

    Some avenues through which demons or “familiar spirits” can gain entrance into a person’s life are divination, transcendental meditation, visualization, necromancy, witchcraft, drugs, and alcohol. These are all activities that believers are exhorted to avoid. Instead, we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with love, with joy, and with the fullness of life that comes from Jesus Christ. We are also to be on guard, “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

I wanted to lay the foundation of understanding for what I experienced after I dropped Pete off.  I have come to learn through Wisdom not to focus on the enemy rather, to keep my focus on Jesus.  However, we can’t ignore the enemy either.  We have to recognize that the enemy may be a defeated foe, but that will not stop him from wreaking havoc on our lives or on those we love.

When I dropped Pete off and drove away – I immediately started to feel an oppression come over me.  I can only describe it as a blanket that fell upon me.  It was heavy and I felt alone.  In an instant, everything changed.  I was agitated and feeling irritable.  This describes my nature over the next three days.  It had an impact on everything including my family.  Since I started my sabbatical almost two months ago, one of the benefits I have had the luxury of experiencing has been my mornings with the Lord.  Generally speaking, from 6 am to around noon I have simply been with the Lord praying, reading the Word, and writing.  But, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning last week it was different.  I tried but quite frankly, I simply lost the motivation.  This was scary.  I have never really experienced severe depression in my life, so all I can say is that this is the only way I can describe it – depression.

Is it possible that the seed of depression is demonic?  Look, I am not a Psychologist but if what I experienced was depression, and I can pinpoint the location where the seed was planted, and I can describe my experience in detail, and I can describe (As I will in my next post) how God pulled me out of it – then, as far as I am concerned it is.  You simply can’t deny my experience.  I believe God, in His sovereignty had something to show me.  Something I needed to see.

What I haven’t told you is that Pete dealt with this for at least two days before we went to North Branch.  And G dealt with this for at least two days after he went and prayed in North Branch.

Here is what I have concluded.  There is a powerful principality over this region and it now knows who we are.  God allowed us all to experience this so we would know who we are dealing with.  This familiar spirit is what we are up against.  Overcoming this spirit is the topic of my next post.

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Tip of the Spear – Monday, September 14th

Still playing a bit of catch up.  In so much I am writing this post because it is so significant.

This post will cover Monday, September 14th.  It has to do with again with the sovereignty of God.  Now, as I have indicated in my last post, I will spend some time in upcoming posts teaching what I have learned on the subject of God’s sovereignty.  But, for those who are like me, you may want a sneak peak.

The definition of the word “Sovereign” – “A monarch; a king, a queen, or other supreme ruler. A person who has supreme power or authority.”  Sovereignty can be further defined as having supreme authority, control, and power over all that has happened, is happening, and will happen in the future in all times across all history.  Our God is in control of everything.

So, I have started to realize that nothing is by chance and everything including every circumstance is in the control of our sovereign God.  I really want to camp out here, but this understanding and further teaching on this subject will have to wait.  In the context of what happened last Monday, I wanted to lay a very firm foundation regarding God’s sovereignty.

The day – Monday, September 14th (Tip of the Spear)

Pete and I had agreed to meet for lunch again in North Branch to pray over the city on this Monday.  That day started early as I met Glen Myers for breakfast at 7:00 am.  We generally meet the first Monday of the month, but due to the Labor day weekend we moved it to today.  Glen is one of my mentors who prays for me.  I can’t say enough about the value of such relationships.  I have a number of them like this and recommend them whenever I get the chance.

Anyway, after my breakfast meeting I drove North and called Pete.  We agreed to meet next to the Dairy Queen in North Branch and when I arrived, Pete jumped into my car.  Before departing, we prayed that God would lead us to where He wanted us to go. We drove East and pulled into the parking lot of Main Street Church.  Here we got out and laid hands on and prayed over this building.  Being that it was a Monday, we didn’t figure to see to many people at any of the Churches we visited to pray and this Church was no exception.  We walked around the Church property praying as well.  From there we went up the block to Living Branch Lutheran Church and laid hands on the front doors and prayed.  As we were walking around the building we saw a man in the garage next store.  Pete being Pete, got the man’s attention and we walked over to chat with him.  His name was Roger, he was friendly and informed us that he and his wife moved to Florida but they were here to sell the house.  Roger owns the Ace Hardware in North Branch.  His wife, Cindy Lou drove up about 15 minutes into our conversation and we talked with the both of them for another 15 minutes.  Turns out she spends hours every day writing encouraging Christian posts on Facebook.

From there we drove to a restaurant for lunch. Pete had been in 2 Kings and wanted to talk about that.  So we read, and as we were talking Pete began to draw a picture.  It was a picture of the top of a spear.  As I looked at it, I sensed urgency.  I said to Pete, let’s go and find this spear.  I knew that it was significant because I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me in the sense of urgency.  God used this to help me understand a few  very important principles:

  1. When I sense urgency it is generally when the Holy Spirit comes upon me.
  2. Pay attention, there may be more to what the Holy Spirit is revealing.
  3. Just because I feel this sense of urgency, I still need be patient.
  4. Don’t set an expectation – God will surprise you.

Our entire life including every moment is a God thing.  When we start to recognize through the understanding of God’s sovereignty, we can begin the journey of partnering with God in every moment.  And in those moments when we have slowed down long enough to experience what God is doing – our spirits leap.  Those are “ah-ha” moments we begin to crave the more they occur.  To me, the Kingdom of God is like various levels of revelation.  It will grow according to the level of risk we are willing to take regarding that for which we hope for.  This is graduation into level one revelations.  These are moments when you start to hear the voice of God but question if it is God.  The only way to graduate to another level of revelation is to practice hearing the voice of God and then having the faith necessary to obey.  It is through many repetitions of obeying and then experiencing that we begin to trust enough to risk something that matters.  I really want to camp out here for a while as God has given me so much on this topic, but that will be for another time.

So, Pete and I started searching.  It was like a treasure hunt and we were excited!  Here is were God starts to teach me that I need to pay attention longer.  Seriously, we are like a couple of little kids who find a quarter and pick it up and run to the candy store.  If we would have only stopped long enough to look around, we would have seen an endless supply of quarters.  So, this is where God also starts to teach me patience.  When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, our spirits leap – and we get excited.  We want to go but, wisdom teaches us to wait upon the Lord for further instruction through prayer.  You see, I have hindsight to look back and recognize my over exuberance now, that I didn’t at the time.  We all have that luxury and should use it often.  This is called reflection.  But guess what?  We serve a sovereign God who is in control of everything.  He will use every moment of our life to accomplish His purpose through us, even our over exuberance!  Translation – we drove around for three hours before we found what we were looking for.  And even then, it was not what I was expecting.

Don’t get me wrong – It was worth it.  As a matter of fact, through my time of reflecting on this I have honestly come to realize that it was much better than what I was expecting.  The vision I have received regarding this is that when we set out with an intention to follow God, we are setting out to find gold.  He will always lead us to the gold, but it is up to us regarding just how much we take.  With God, the amount of gold is endless.  I find more gold during my reflection time with God than I can write about.  It’s like a river flowing with it – if I only slow down to reflect.

Pete and I spent three hours driving around from Church to Church praying over them.  God used that time to help us understand the lay of the land we are preparing to enter.  The last Church we visited was outside the city limits.  The setting of this Swedish Lutheran Church is right out of Heaven.  It sits on top of a hill overlooking a small lake and woods with the parking lot and cemetery across the winding road.  I pulled into the parking lot and as I was parking, Pastor George Marin from Albert Lea called.  He and his wife Jill were driving to Chicago to hear Bishop Tudor Bismark speak.  This was the first time in 11 years he had the privilege of seeing him in person and they were excited.  They were traveling just outside of Rockford when he called.  A side note – Pastor George or “G” as we call him is one of the most anointed men I have ever met.  When he preaches, he preaches with power and authority like few I have ever heard.  He is our ministry partner and the spiritual overseer of the Southern region of Minnesota.  So, G calls and while we are sitting in the parking lot he starts prophesying over us.  During this time, one of the things he says is that “each follower of Jesus is like an arrow in God’s quiver.”  He said that “Pete and I are each a powerful arrow and God is pulling us out of the quiver right now for such a time as this.  Together, the three of us are the “Tip of the spear” that God will use to destroy the powers and principalities over this Northern region.”  What?  Pete slaps my arm and points to the picture.  Did he just say “Tip of the spear?”.  Bam!  We are slammed by the Holy Spirit and in utter disbelief.

What are the odds?  It just so happens that we have been intentionally looking for this object for three hours.  There was an expectation that we would find the object.  I was looking to find an actual spear but God surprised us by giving us what we were looking for through prophecy.  The mysterious ways of the Lord never cease.

Incidentally, after over an hour with G on the phone we did go up and pray over this particular Church.  We met the grounds keeper and prayed with him as well.  I am sure there is more to this story, but we will just have to wait to see how it concludes.  We then went back to North Branch and I dropped Pete off.  What happens next scared me.

My next post will be about “A Familiar Spirit” – This spirit is powerful over this region in particular and has effected all three of us since September 3rd.

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September 3rd, 2015

Well, I guess I will start here.  I needed to go back to September 3, 2015 primarily because something special happened that day.  Of course, at the time I didn’t realize it, but as the day unfolded it became obvious to me the Lord was showing me very clearly that I am hearing Him well.  This is the type of testimony that shows God’s sovereignty and that is a topic that I will talk a lot about in the upcoming posts.  For me, the last seven years clearly represent a season that has come to a close.  Those years birthed Breakthrough Ministries and served as training for what has now become the next season of my life and ministry.  It is here that I will attempt to record what the Lord shows me.

The Next Season – North Branch Minnesota

The backdrop of the following story is that a few months back I received a download from the Lord about planning for next year.  The idea was born out of our purpose to advance the gospel first in “our” Jerusalem, then Samaria, then to Judea, and then to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  For the better part of the last year I have been working on a project to better understand and organize Breakthrough.  Through the process, I have recognized the location of key people within the leadership of the organization and recognized that Pastor George was in Albert Lea and Pastor Pete was in Pine City.  These locations are hubs to the regions they represent.  Pastor George has been doing SoulFest in Albert Lea the last few years and we agreed to come alongside of him and pour into that city.  To me, it was an opportunity to partner with Grace Christian Church to bless the people of Albert Lea.  From there I asked the Lord if we should do this in other communities such as Pine City.  We started to talk about this and pray.  There was a check in our spirit about Pine City simply because of its small size.  So, if not there, then where?  We started to talk about North Branch.  Our plan is to do three SoulFest Tent Revivals in 2016.  In North Branch (June), Minneapolis (July), and Albert Lea (August).

I felt compelled to write about what happened on Thursday, September 3rd.

I woke up that morning having no idea what was in store for me that day.  It was a typical morning during my sabbatical which is to say that I was drawn in early to the Lord through prayer and study.  But, around 8:30 am I felt compelled to jump in the shower and get ready.  Get ready for what – I did not know.  During that time I prayed and asked the Lord if I should go to Albert Lea and see George or if He wanted me to go and see Pete in Pine City.  The prospect of driving all the way to Pete’s was not all that appealing for me, so when I was done getting ready I called Pastor George.  No answer, hmmm.  So, I called Pete.  No answer.  Alright Lord, am I supposed to visit someone?  Then I thought I would go to the person who called me back first.  Pete called within seconds of that thought.  We chatted and I asked him if he would meet me in North Branch for lunch to pray over the city.  He was busy with a delivery of wood and I sensed he was conflicted with the idea as he was rather vague with his response.  Finally, after a few minutes I was antsy and interrupted him with “Am I coming to North Branch or not?”  He agreed and I immediately got into my car and left.

As I drove and talked to Pete we started talking about next June and the possibility that North Branch may be the place we do SoulFest.  Today was the first anniversary of my father-in-laws death and as Pete and I were talking I was compelled to call my wife.  I agreed to call Pete at the 35W split and proceeded to call my wife to let her know I was thinking about her.  She was about to go into a meeting so our call only lasted a few minutes.  Then, I called my mother-in-law and then my sister-in-law to let them both know they were on my heart.  It is strange what stands out to me when I am in this kind of place with the Lord.  First, I should say that I was not entirely sure this was a monumental moment.  It was like most any other moment in so much as that I didn’t really realize what was coming.

I had called Pete to let him know that I was at the split and as I was driving I did notice a group of outlaw motorcyclists and wondered about the spiritual connection as I drove by them.  I even mentioned this to Pete and then realized that I needed to be praying before entering North Branch so Pete and I agreed to meet at a Mexican Restaurant.  After I hung up the phone I went to prayer.  I remember asking God to show me what I needed to see, and to direct me to who we needed to meet.  I also realized that the prayer was unusually succinct and clear.  As I was praying I soon realized that I was already coming into North Branch.  As I was exiting, I was seeing this town as if for the first time.  It seemed so perfect, so peaceful – like a place I wanted to be.  I had been to North Branch before, but I really couldn’t remember it at the time.  It seemed so clean.  I went in the direction I thought the restaurant was and thought I probably beat Pete to town, so I pulled over and asked God where He wanted me to go.  I pulled up a Church list on my phone and followed the directions to a Church named Access.  The link said it was a spirit filled church.  Although at the time I didn’t realize it, but this church represented the entrance point to North Branch from the West.  It is the “Western Gate” to the city.  I pulled into their lot and noticed the rather large and flat open area behind their building and thought about how we would set up our equipment there.  I then slowly rolled toward the front of the building and asked the Lord if He wanted me to go in.  “Not yet” was the thought I had, so I decided to call Pete and ask him where he was.  He was at the restaurant, so I hurried out of the church lot and met Pete.

Pete and I sat down and ordered lunch and talked.  It was good to see him as we hadn’t been together since Albert Lea.  At a certain point it seemed as though we needed to get to business in our discussion about why we were here in North Branch.  I remember telling Pete that I thought we were here to find a person or people of peace.  I specifically said we need to find the George Marin and Sheri Richards of North Branch.  Pete mentioned that he had been at a coffee shop a few weeks earlier and met a women wearing a “Revive Twin Cities” shirt.  A sense of urgency came over us as Pete said “let’s go!”

We arrived at this coffee shop and I followed Pete in.  He looked behind the counter and mumble something as he headed toward the back.  I immediately noticed a guy and a gal sitting at a table as I followed Pete.  I asked Pete what he was doing and he said “I need some coffee beans”.  Mind you, this all takes place in just a few seconds and so I turned around and walked back.  Just then I noticed the guy and gal getting up and again I felt this sense of urgency.  I can honestly say that I really didn’t have time to think – I just opened my mouth and asked the man if he was a Pastor.  He gave me a puzzled look and said “Yes, I am Pastor Frank Gomes of Northbrook Fellowship.”  Catch the awkwardness of the moment here.  It was at that very moment we all realized something was going on – but we weren’t really quite sure what it was.  In a few short seconds, everything seemed to change.  The women then said “How did you know he was a Pastor?”  To which I replied “The Holy Spirit sent me all the way from Apple Valley to meet you here this morning.”  She said “look at my arms, I have goose bumps all over me”.

We explained our morning and how we ended up here and that we were to pray over the city.  Then Pastor Frank said, “Look at my arms – now I have goosebumps.”  He then told us that he was leading a meeting in a few minutes to pray for the city with a group of Pastors and community leaders.  Pete asked him if we could come.  He said “Yes!”  To which I replied, “It just so happens that I was prompted to come all the way from the Twin Cities to pray for this city, and it just so happens we meet the one guy in a town of 8,000 who just so happens to be on his way to lead a prayer meeting for this city.”  Seems rather strange.

So we followed Pastor Frank to the public library where we met Pastor Steve Weihsmann of the Harris Covenant Church, Gloria a prayer warrior, and Marion (our Sheri Richards).  Pastor Frank tells this story to them and we all recognize the work of the Holy Spirit.  Marion tells us that just last week their prayer was that when people come to this city that they feel peace – the kind of peace I felt as I entered.

We talked about SoulFest next June and what that might look like.  We even talked about where it should be “Central Park” right in downtown.  Obviously at this point we are all pretty excited.  Pastor Steve suggests that Pastor Frank bring this before the Ministerial which Pastor Frank just so happens to chair.   Pastor Frank agrees.  We then went to prayer for the next 30 minutes offering all we had talked about up to the Lord.  The meeting adjourned and we traded contact information.

From there, Pete and I went directly to Central Park to pray over the land.  The first thing we noticed were seven silos adjacent to the park.  That gets our attention because Pete and I received revelation about silos at least 3 years prior to this and spent a lot of time talking about them.  The idea that we would pour into other ministries and churches to fill them up to overflowing.  While at the park Pete was drawn to a group of youth and talked with them as I walked the land and prayed.  We were there about an hour.

From there we drove through the city and prayed over it.  Then we went to the four “Gates” of the city to pray over each one.  I found a rock at each corner and took them with me as a memory stone.  The last “Gate” we visited was the western one.  The one I had started my day at.  What was interesting was after praying over that gate, I felt like the Lord wanted us to pray for the church on the corner called Access.  It was strange – I pulled up to the front of the Church and Pete asked me should we go in?  I wasn’t sure at that point, so we just walked up to it and then I felt like we were to just lay our hands on it and pray over it.  As we were praying a car pulled up and a guy got out and started to walk toward the door.  I watched as Pete approached him – I am not sure, but at this moment I sensed something.  Rather than join Pete in a conversation with this man, I just went back to the car and waited for Pete.  A few minutes later he got into the car and made a comment about what he sensed.  He said “Resistance.”  He asked me why I didn’t want to go inside.  I said initially that was the idea, but when I got there I felt we were only to lay our hands on the building and pray for them.  Pete and I talked about people of peace and that the guy he met was not one of them.  I don’t feel like this had anything to do with this Church – I honestly feel like God just wanted us to realize resistance and that it may come from the Church.  I think it was more than anything a reminder to us to work only with people of peace.  I drove back to drop off Pete and we prayed.

As I left him, I could hardly wait to call Pastor George and share with him the mysterious ways of the Lord and all that happened.  Pastor George reminded me that it just so happens that he was going to Sandstone tomorrow to preach this weekend and would be driving through North Branch.  Seriously, what are the odds of a Pastor from Albert Lea driving through North Branch the very next day?  On his way the next day Pastor George drove to Central Park and prayed over the land and with some folks in the park.  He even met a couple who were moving to South Minneapolis and wanted to attend Breakthrough Church.

Well, the story is not complete.  It is still being written.  I am excited to see what will come from this journey, excited to get to know Pastor Frank Gomes (The George Marin of North Branch) as well as pastor Steve, Marion, Gloria and everyone else the Lord will eventually lead us to..