On July 2, 2016 I knelt at this altar and prayed a bold prayer—Lord, heal my lungs. I had severe asthma for 40 years, but God did the impossible. I haven’t touched an inhaler from that day to this day! that altar is HOLY GROUND.
it’s hard to put today into perspective, but it’s been non-stop sirens, helicopters, and armored vehicles. last weekend I talked the DAYS when DECADES happen. it feels like one of those days! would you take two minutes and join me in circling the nation’s capital in prayer?
5 years ago TODAY, I prayed a BOLD PRAYER & God healed my lungs. I suffered from severe asthma for 40+ years, but He’s still the God who moves mountains. I haven’t touched an inhaler 1,825 days! this picture represents that miracle because I ran the Chicago marathon to celebrate.
Jesus did NOT say, “YOU will build my church” or “I will build YOUR church.” Jesus said, “I will build MY church,” emphasis on I and MY. It’s His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
19 years ago today my intestines ruptured. I had emergency surgery. I spent two days on a respirator. I lost a foot of intestines. I lost 25 pounds in one week. But I gained a greater gratitude for life. July 23 is my SECOND BIRTHDAY, my second chance.
the Bible wasn’t just meant to be READ. it was meant to be MEDITATED ON, PRAYED THRU and LIVED OUT. the goal isn’t getting thru the Bible. the goal is GETTING THE BIBLE thru you.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
long before you woke up this morning and long after you go to sleep tonight, the Holy Spirit was, is, and will be interceding for you.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
2000 years ago, Rome was the most powerful empire on earth. Jesus had 12 disciples and 120 followers. 2000 years later, CAESAR IS A SALAD while 2,000,000,000 people claim to follow Christ. how does that happen? an EMPTY TOMB.
#ChristIsRisen
#Easter2023
#JesusIsLord
When I was in college, the pastor of a very small church was courageous enough to let me preach my first sermon from behind a pulpit. This is that church. It had 7 pews and 12 people on a good Sunday, but I preached that FIRST SERMON like it was my LAST SERMON.
God’s vision for the church is bigger than ours. Why? Because it’s not OUR church. It’s HIS church. And He said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
it took 901 days for news of emancipation to reach slaves in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865. we LAMENT our original sin, we CELEBRATE
#Juneteenth
, and we HONOR those who were enslaved by PRAYING + WORKING for racial JUSTICE + HEALING. Lord, help us and heal us, amen!
God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the RIGHT PLACE at the the RIGHT TIME with the RIGHT PEOPLE, and PRAYER is our GPS.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
we want things to happen at the SPEED OF LIGHT, but in God’s kingdom, they generally happen at the SPEED OF A SEED that has to take root before it can bear fruit.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
there are NO WORDS that can bring back
#GeorgeFloyd
but there is a sin of silence. brokenhearted by his last words, “I can’t breathe.” I took my first breath less than 3 miles from the place where he took his last breath. we repent. we lament. Lord, HELP US.
ran a 10K today. why? thanks for asking! 4 years ago, I prayed a BRAVE PRAYER. my earliest memory is an ASTHMA attack. it’s all I knew for forty years. I am 1,460 days inhaler free! running is celebrating that HEALING MIRACLE by doing what I could not have done! don’t give up!
20 years ago TODAY my intestines ruptured while preaching. I had emergency surgery, spent 2 days on a respirator, lost 25 pounds in a week. I could have, probably should have died at Washington Hospital Center. WORST DAY of my life, BEST DAY of my life. grateful for GIFT OF LIFE.
18 years ago today, I could have and probably should have died. my intestines ruptured, I had emergency surgery, and I spent two days on a respirator. I’d never want to go through it again, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. grateful for the gift of life!
#SecondBirthday
awfully strange waking up on Sunday and NOT going to church. here’s a 2-minute message. leverage this season of SOCIAL DISTANCING as a season of SPIRITUAL INTIMACY by seeking God with greater consistency, priority and intentionality!
#ForSuchaTimeAsThis
In 1989, I sensed God’s call to ministry in the middle of a cow pasture in Alexandria, MN. I was a few hours away this week, and I hadn’t been back in a decade, so I took a little pilgrimage to my burning bush. God has done more than that teenage kid could have asked or imagined.
Every PRAYER you pray is part of your LEGACY. Those prayers don’t die when we do. They outlive us, outlast us. There is no expiration date on prayer!
#40DayPrayerChallenge
if you want God to do something NEW, you cannot keep doing the SAME OLD THING. one key to spiritual growth is the RIGHT ROUTINE, but once the routine becomes routine, you have to CHANGE THE ROUTINE.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
whatever you don’t turn into PRAISE turns into PRIDE. the way we GIVE GLORY to God is by GIVING TESTIMONY to what God has done, and those TESTIMONIES become PROPHECIES. if God did it FOR YOU, He can do it FOR ME! if He did it BEFORE, He can do it AGAIN!
#40DayPrayerChallenge
the MORE you pray, the BIGGER you dream. the BIGGER you dream, the MORE you have to pray! show me the size of your DREAMS and I’ll show you the size of your GOD.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
how is the PLAGUE stopped in II Sam 24? PRAYER. in today’s 2-minute message, I issue a
#40DayPrayerChallenge
starting on EASTER Sunday. its time to PRAY THE PRICE. it’s time to BUILD AN ALTAR. it’s time to STAND IN THE GAP. would you join me in drawing a circle? 🙏🏻⭕️
good old-fashioned GRATITUDE increases patience, decreases depression, replenishes willpower and reduces stress. if you want a good night’s sleep, don’t count sheep. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.
#HappyThanksgiving
I don’t pretend to be any kind of expert on this virus, this crisis we find ourselves in but I want to start sharing some stream of consciousness thoughts. let’s not take this sitting down! we are here FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. feel free to UNFOLLOW or SHARE.
#StayCalmAndCarryOn
long before you WOKE UP this morning and long after you GO TO SLEEP tonight, the Holy Spirit is interceding for you. that’s where our HOLY CONFIDENCE comes from! If God is FOR US, who can be against us? God’s got this!
#ForSuchATimeAsThis
prayer is not outlining OUR AGENGA to God. prayer is God outlining HIS AGENDA to us. we get this backwards. we want God to bless what WE’RE DOING. God wants us to do what HE’S BLESSING.
love this city, this nation. praying REVIVAL in the nation’s capital. it’ll take every church hitting it’s knees. it’s not about the name over the church door. it’s about the name above all names!
#sameteam
the MORE FAITH you have, the MORE SPECIFIC your prayers will be. the problem with VAGUE PRAYERS is that you never really know when God answers them. WELL DEVELOPED faith = WELL DEFINED prayers.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
everyone you meet is MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, FIGHTING A BATTLE YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT, and KNOWS SOMETHING YOU DON’T. Love them. Listen to them. Learn from them.
23 years ago today, I felt prompted to pray a 4.7 mile perimeter around Capitol Hill.
@NCC
had 25 people on a good Sunday and a monthly income of $2000. I was praying that God’s kingdom would come, God’s will would be done on Capitol Hill as it is in heaven.
#TheBestIsYetToCome
prayer is a two-sided coin: TALKING and LISTENING. which is more important? simply put, you need to hear what GOD HAS TO SAY more than God needs to hear what YOU HAVE TO SAY.
#40DayPrayerChallenge
20 years ago TODAY, we bought the crackhouse that we turned into
@ebenezers
coffeehouse. we circled that property in prayer for 5 long years! it took 2 years to get it rezoned. it took 2 more years and millions of dollars to get it designed and built. worth it? Yes and Amen!
we’ve lived on Capitol Hill for 25 years. can’t recall anything quite like this. fences with barbed wire. armored vehicles. national guard. this is 3 blocks from
@ebenezers
. praying for the peace and prosperity of our city, Jeremiah 29:7, including a peaceful transfer of power.
I put my faith in Christ after watching a Billy Graham film called The Hiding Place. It was profoundly humbling to pay last respects right before the casket was removed from the Capitol rotunda.
God doesn’t call the QUALIFIED, He qualifies the CALLED. He loves using ordinary people to do extraordinary things! That’s how God gets the glory. He does things we can’t take credit for!
Two years ago today, God HEALED MY ASTHMA. Asthma was my earliest memory. There weren’t forty days in forty years I didn’t have to take a puff of my inhaler. I haven’t touched an inhaler in 730 days! PRAY THE BRAVEST PRAYER.
go ahead and DREAM BIG, but you’ve got to START SMALL—16 years ago today,
@NCC
bought a crackhouse that turned into
@ebenezers
coffeehouse! God-sized dreams often COST MORE and TAKE LONGER than original estimates, but God has a way of doing immeasurably more than we can IMAGINE.
24 years ago, I was reading Joshua 1:3 when I felt prompted to PRAY A PERIMETER around Capitol Hill.
@NCC
was 25 people on a good Sunday. church income was $2000 a month. don’t despise the day of SMALL BEGINNINGS or the power of a SINGLE PRAYER.
#SoFarSoGod
#TheBestIsYetToCome
when did we start believing that God calls us to SAFE PLACES to do EASY THINGS at CONVENIENT TIMES with NICE PEOPLE? Newsfalsh. Jesus didn’t die just to KEEP US SAFE. Jesus died to MAKE US DANGEROUS. check out this week’s message:
your definition of FAILURE will determine your FUTURE. here’s my definition, which is admittedly counter-intuitive. FAILURE is ALWAYS SUCCEEDING. If you aren’t failing, you aren’t taking enough risks or trying enough new things!
when you try to ADD something to the GOSPEL, you actually SUBTRACT something from it. the gospel is not just GOOD NEWS, the gospel IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS.
happy anniversary
@Ebenezers
! for 5 long years, we circled the crackhouse that would become our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. so many miracles!
#SoFarSoGod
the Holy Spirit + caffeine = awesome!