Church on a Ledge

The mountain.

What an amazing day! I am simply blown away by what happened :O

It started early in the morning when I was worshipping my God. I saw an impression of playing my guitar up in the Sandias on a granite ledge worshiping the King of Kings. I knew exactly where this place was as it is a fun place to quickly get out of town and into the  mountains. So I decided that is what I was going to do after church today. I also felt like I needed to invite Joe from New York with me.

I pack up the guitar, put it the car and off I went to church to help out with Impact Nation’s Heaven’s Impact conference. After a few minutes of driving I cross Southern Blvd. at Country Club Dr. and see an individual in a black trench coat with a cane. He was hunched over walking very slowly expressing signs of sharp jolts of pain. My heart gets pulled but I continue to drive on with the following dialogue playing out in my head.

“I can’t stop, I mean,  I’m already late as it is.”
“If I stop I’ll be even more late cause I am leading the usher / greeter ministry today and things ‘could’ get crazy.”
“I stop all the time anyways. You know what happened the last time you stopped and picked someone up while going to an event.”

I really wanted to stop but the commitments I had made were fighting for absolute attention. There was a battle that that was raging in my head for what seem like a few minutes but in reality was only just a few seconds.

I continue to drive on . . . But Holy Spirit urged me with a stronger conviction. He pretty much said, “Don’t put those things above my precious ones. I will take care of it.” When God says He’ll take care of it, guess what . . . He’ll take care of it!

So I flip a U-turn and ask the guy where he was headed.

“To work.”
“Do you need a ride?”
“Sure!”
“Come on in! By the way my name is Daniel.”
“I’m William.”
“Sweet! Where do you work?”
“Pizza shop”
“Oh, ok, cool!”

I flip another U-turn and head back in the original direction I was going. That made me feel better and excited that this was going to be a good meeting. We talk a bit more about where he works and I finally figure out exactly what pizza shop. It wasn’t too far out of the way and it didn’t really matter because I knew God was taking care of it.

This poor handsome young man looked to be in his early to mid twenties but his body looked like it had been through a beating if not a war. I asked him what’s with the cane.

“My side hurts.”
“Oh, really. What happened?”
“I think I broke a rib.”
“Oh shoot, that’s no good. I know how that feels. I have broken a rib too. It’s very painful.”
“Yeah it hurts. Or maybe it’s my liver!?”
“Your liver?”

That was pretty strange. He went from broken rib to liver. Maybe he felt like he was in a safe place to disclose what he really felt was going on. Who knows but either way he did. So I ask . . .

“Do you drink a lot?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you drink a lot last night?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah, sounds like your liver isn’t very happy about it.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you mind if I pray for it?”
“No.”
“Do you mind if I put my hand on it?”
“No.”

I lay my hand on his side and he moves it to the spot it was hurting. I pray.

“Liver disease go and damage be reversed in Jesus name! How does it feel now?”
“Still hurts :(”
“Do you mind if I pray again?”
“I don’t mind”

So I pray again and he said it felt a little better but not much. He did say he felt much more relaxed though. I was happy and told him how much God loves him. So much that He picked him up to give him a ride to work. He then begins to talk about how he believes in God and how he studied anthropology and different cultures in school. We pull into the parking were he works and we sit and talk more about God for a while.

I continue to poor our Fathers love into him and tell him that he is cherished and valued. How He is very different then any other god. He thanked me greatly and off to work he went.

I look at the time and go wow. I am gonna be really late. Oh well . . . God has my back.

Once I get on to 528 / Coors Blvd I get green lights all the way to Paseo del Norte. This rarely happens by the way 🙂 I look at the time and I am like ecstatic. I am gonna make it to church at a decent time!

I get green lights all the way from Paseo to church. I didn’t even have to stop at the light on the off ramp of I-25 to Jefferson. It stayed green for an uncanny amount of time. It was pretty amazing. Sure it’s traffic lights. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you’re the lead for all the ushering and greeting at a conference that proves to be completely different each day you want to be there early enough to ask the right people the right questions so you can stay on top of things . . . right? I got there at 9:30am on the dot. Now that was pretty fun. Little did I know this would be just the beginning to a unbelievable day in the Kingdom . . .

Church starts and sure enough things got shaken up a little and the flow changed and things were done differently. This prompted me to ask Pastor Alan if the podium was needed. So during a time where the congregation was praying for each other I go to the front of the church and ask Alan. Yeap, the podium was needed. I turn around to go find some of my ushers to help when Barbara Martin calls my name . . .

“Hey, Rocketman!”
“Yes!?”

She begins to pray over me and I hear her say something like this, “Jesus sees you as His bride and I see Jesus carrying you . . . ”

I close my eyes and suddenly everything goes quite. I mean everything was so so quite and white. If you have ever been in a forest when it is snowing it is the most tranquil feeling. So peaceful but for me so exciting. It is almost as if time has stood still. Sound seems to be frozen. It is one of my most favorite times. You feel so close to your Creator. Then I feel like I am falling back and into the arms of Jesus. I then see Jesus carrying me! I could feel Him carrying me but see it all at the same time too. It was simply amazing. He then carried me over a threshold through a door way in the middle of all the whiteness and glory.

I then find myself laying on the floor. Unbelievable. I start to realize where I am and I hear Pastor Alan say lets find our way back to our seats. Then it was like I was jolted into the natural with a women asking me if I would like help up.

Wow! That was just . . . wow!

After church was over I asked Joe if he could go up to the mountains to worship. Sadly he couldn’t as he had to prepare for his trip back to New York. That was a bummer but I told him we’ll do it next time.

Then I run into my good friend Sandeep at the end of church and we begin to talk about the conference and other fun Kingdom stuff. I ask if he had plans after church and if he would like to join Khaia and I up in the mountains to worship our Father. He agreed. So off we went. We’ll not exactly that quickly. We ended up talking for a bit longer. So much longer that my daughter had recruited Pastor Alan to help her in getting me to get in the car and go 🙂

We drive east up Candelaria to the mountains then take a right, after you can’t go east any more, then take a left into the openspace parking lot. We park. Eat our food we had just purchased. Load everything up and begin our hike.

I decided not to take the cajon but Sandeep insisted we should and he wouldn’t mind carrying it. That split decision ended up being a super blessing.

Off we go up into the mountains to worship our King on the granite ledge that I saw myself worshipping early that morning. That impression / vision was becoming a reality. I was excited.

We get about half way to the top of where I wanted to go and run into a very nice family. We talk to them a bit and I realize we need to have worship right here right now. They were a very humble family. So I ask them if it would ok if we worshipped God and sang a few songs. They were very excited. Guess what . . . the family of four were all Believers! So cool.

Turns out, that this family ended up sleeping in and missing their morning church service. So they decided that they would all go up into the mountains and have church as a family up there in the beautiful foothills of the Sandias.

Now that’s interesting!?

So we begin to worship. During the first song Philip, the father of the family, goes to help his daughter climb down from a steep predicament she got herself into. She was following Khaia up some of the rock features we were next too. As he comes back he is limping and I ask him if he is ok. He says he is ok but what he did was stupid. I ask him, “how so?” He explains that he jumped off a small ledge into what he thought would be a nice softy sandy pit but instead it was hard and his right heal landed directly on a hidden rock underneath.

He said not to worry about it and that he’ll be fine. I said ok but also felt that worship had released an atmosphere of healing so I didn’t pursue anything further. We’ll just let worship shape the healing.

We continue worshipping and start up another song and about halfway into it another family starts to come up the trail to my left. We continue singing as they approach. Once they reach the ledge we were are all sitting on they just stopped and stood there watching and listening to what we were doing.

The song ended and we greeted them and welcomed them to join us. Turns out they are refugees form Iraq and they had just arrived 2 months earlier. My mind is starting to get blown. What are the odds of this first family being here and now what are the odds of this second family being here all the way from Iraq and only 2 months ago! Crazy!!!

The new arrivals were a family of five: Dad, Mom and three daughters.

The Dad asks us what that box thing Sandeep was hitting. So I explain to him it’s a drum. He asks if he could try it. Sandeep says of course and shows him how it works. The Dad who’s name was very long and had the name Abraham in it begins to play.

He starts out with a different rhythm.  Then says something to me. Then stops. Says something to me again and starts playing a different rhythm. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to play along but I began to play. Then he stopped again and said something. His english wasn’t very good and many times would ask his daughter to interpret what he was saying. Then he started again with a different rhythm so I started to play that rhythm. This happened a few more times. I wasn’t sure if he thought I was a lousy guitar player or what but he would stop every time I played a little with him. I think he was just trying it out and would tell me the genera of the rhythm he was playing but I am not 100% sure 🙂 Either way it was pretty cool.

But the most amazing thing out of all that was he started playing something he called an Arabic beat. Or something like that. It sounded awesome. It echoed off the canyon walls and had such a feeling of life. Then I said why don’t we worship our God. Abraham started really laying down a nice Arabic beat and I noticed his wife and daughters were being a little reserved in their worship. I said something to this affect, “Don’t worry! feel free to clap as loud as you want and dance for there is freedom here!” That is when things fell off the hook.

I felt Holy Spirit flood me with song. I began to sing. Not with guitar but with Holy Spirit. I have no idea what I sang but it was something about the One true God and we worship You here. This went on for maybe 10 to 15 minutes. It was unreal. The power of God was all around. I noticed in between different times when I opened my eyes everyone had their hands in the air, clapping or dancing. I also noticed another family to our right up the side of the cliff aways just standing there listening. I saw another family or so below down in the canyon listening too. It was unbelievable. We didn’t want it to end. We didn’t want it to stop, but like everything on this temporal planet things must come to an end at one point or another.

Once the singing and drumming stopped there was a moment of just awe. We were all speechless for a few minutes it seemed.

Then Abraham’s family had to leave but before they left we asked if we could pray for them. He agreed and I asked if we could all hold hands. Everyone agreed. We ended up blessing them this way and that and speaking life into their situation. It was beautiful; simply beautiful.

The other family that had just stood, watched and listened on the right kept their distance and continued their decent down the canyon a different way.

We started singing again. Not sure how many songs we sang but during one of them one of the families that was down canyon from us had reached our location and walked by us. As they were passing they said they could hear our singing all the way down at the parking lot and very much liked it. The mother of the bunch was the last to pass and she said thank you and blessed us for what we were doing.

That was pretty cool too.

After we finished the last song we asked Philip, the father of the first family we met, if we could pray for his foot as it still looked like it was still bugging him. He whole heartedly agreed. So Sandeep and I prayed healing over his heal. We asked him how it felt,

“It is feeling better! Actually that is amazing it really is feeling better!!!” he starts walking around and you could see in his face something was happening. We asked how it was feeling,

“It still hurts but it is feeling a lot better.”
“Do you mind if we pray for it again?”
“No, please do!”

Sandeep and I pray again for 100% healing.

“How is it feeling?”
“Oh my gosh it is like 100% better then it was!!!”
“That is awesome, Man, God loves you so much!”
“No seriously guys, it feels 100% better than it did. I can’t believe it. It really feels better. I mean it REALLY feels better!”

If you could see the look on his face you would know his foot felt so good!

Turns out Philip needs his foot to work properly as his job requires him to be on his feet. So God knew what to do because He is the lover of us all!

I told them that this power comes from God and that same power lives in them as Believers. As Christians. As Christ did we are to be Christ like! So you have the authority over the enemy of this world. Over disease. Over affliction. Over all that comes against the Kingdom of God.

We then ministered to his family and to him as a father and poured into him the truth of who he is in Christ. A son of God. We prayed an increase of encounters with his Father that he would see more clearly how he did when he was a child.

It was awesome.

Coming down the mountain after an amazing and miraculous time with our God!

We ended up hiking down the canyon with them talking about how good God was and that we should do this again. We reminisced on what had just happened. Thankfully Sandeep got their number! So we will be in touch. We decided we were going to meet up next Sunday around 2-2:30pm after church and worship our God, our King of Kings!!

As we departed from that beautiful and precious family, Sandeep and I reflected more on what happened. How that man from Iraq tore it up on the cajon. What a blessing it was that Sandeep insisted we bring the cajon. God is good!

I asked Sandeep, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could run into that family from Iraq?”
“Yeah, for sure!”, he answered.

Little did we know that as we entered the parking lot there was a mini van and as we passed wouldn’t you know who was in it . . . the family from Iraq! Unreal. Are you serious!? I was like no way! Sandeep was blown away. Khaia was super excited. It was awesome!

So I go up to the van and we all start talking to them again and recap what had happened earlier. We passed compliments back and forth and blessings. It was truly a precious moment. This is also where I actually learned his name but all I remember is that it was long and had the name Abraham in it. We found out that they are being taken care of by a local Catholic church and that they still had family in Iraq they were worried about.

Sandeep was able to get their phone number too! They were not sure if they could meet next week but would stay in touch.

It was a day filled with amazement, beauty and awe!!!

If you are available this Sunday we are still planning to meet at 2-2:30pm in the open space parking lot by Candelaria.

Thank you Father for such a blessed gift!!! You amaze me!

Fun with Timing

Had to share this fun little divine timing story . . .

So last night after the Heaven’s Impact Conference we take our normal way home I-25 to Paseo del Norte. Right at the off ramp there are signs indicating there is road work and lane closures. It’s been a long day and I was like “oh this is gonna be fun. This is gonna take longer than we had hoped :(“

As I turn onto Paseo the lane I thought I was going to turn into was the closed one. Dang 😦 Could have sworn it said left lane closed ahead. But thankfully the barrels directed us into a different lane that was open. Yah! I start to scan to see if I could exit before entering this bumper to bumper congestion but sadly we were trapped.

Getting a little bummed that still small voice inside said look at it from My perspective. So I tell my wife well we must be here for a reason as we slowly inch forward. My heart changed and I could see the situation much differently. Instead of frustration it was a time to enjoy the calm. Instead of getting impatient it was time to relax and reflect.

We’ll get home when we need to get home. Still inching forward.

Then all of a sudden I get a phone call. Typically I don’t answer my phone while driving mainly cause I don’t realize it is vibrating and secondly . . . well, I simply don’t like it. Makes me feel too distracted . . . but I will text for sure!!! . . . Ha ha ha, just kidding 🙂

Turns out it is a good friend and she wanted to know if I was at church still. Sadly I told her I was not.

“Oh, bummer :(“
“What’s up?”
“I forgot my wallet 😦 :(“
“Oh shoot, that’s not good!”
“I know 😦 😦 :(“

Long story short I gave her a number to call and she ended up driving back to get her wallet.

The cool thing is the timing. She had just called her husband who was just about to take off from an airport super duper north from here in a different state and got my number cause she knows I tend to stay late at church. She calls me, who just so happened to be in traffic, who rarely picks up cause I rarely realize the phone is ringing / vibrating and who isn’t the biggest fan of driving and holding a phone. I give her the phone number in hopes they are still at church. She calls and they are in their car in the parking lot at the church just about to close the car door and drive away.

Now that is fun with timing!

God is fun like that and when we slow down to just breathe in His breath we can see Him play! He is sooo gooood!

Bread of Life – Feeds the Heart!

New Life City is filled with people that simply mirror Jesus! It’s beautiful. I am so honored to be part of the family there!

One reflection of Christ is the food distribution ministry every 2nd Tuesday of the month dubbed Food Bank, Food Pantry, Mobile Food Bank, etc . . . It’s now been over a year of giving food every month to over 50 families. That’s a lot of food and a lot of families. That is pretty remarkable. What a huge impact for the Kingdom!

Today was one of the most deep felt food banks I have experienced in a long time. God’s love broke down walls like I have never seen in people I always hoped for! It was Glorious!

It started out with the delivery truck running over an hour late. This pushed things back, way back but out of this delay there was great opportunity. Opportunity for the Love of the Father to reach deep into the hearts of the precious ones waiting for some Bread of Life!

Being a bit dead in the food receiving station at NLC, I ventured over into the waiting room area. Looked over everyone and asked my Dad which one He wanted to touch right now. Nothing really came to mind so I walked over to the closest person to me. I had met her before and she had a son who was in secondary education. We talked a bit about life and then Holy Spirit made me come Alive! She said some things and that is when He began to build her up and fill her with life. It was fun to see! It’s sort of like when you have a wireless power drill that is slowly running low on battery life. The drill slows down and eventually it stops doing what it was designed to to do, you know . . . drive in screws, drill holes, remove screws, etc . . . drilling/driving stuff. So you have to put the drill aside and recharge the battery. Once the battery is fully charged it brings the power back into the drill and you can carry on with what ever task you may have. She was like the drill and her battery needed a recharge which Holy Spirit provided at no cost!

Then I felt that across the room another woman needed prayer. So away I go. I ask her if she needed prayer for anything. She said she was fine but was feeling a bit under the weather. So I prayed for the sickness and congestion to go. She said it felt a little better. Yah God!

I then slipped over to a gentleman sitting on the end of the aisle and asked if there is anything I could pray for him. He said no but thanked me for asking.

On I went and said hello to another friendly face. She was an elderly women who was crocheting. We spoke a bit about that and she explained to me that she was making a large quilt from all the crochet patches she was making. It was going to be for her granddaughter. “Now that is a labor of love,” I said. She agreed. As she was talking she would touch her upper jaw by her ear. I asked if her jaw was feeling ok. She said no. Apparently she had woken up that morning with a misaligned jaw that was causing some major discomfort. I asked if I could pray for it. She hesitated then said, “Sure, why not :)” I asked if I could touch her upper jaw gently with my finger. She agreed. Then a wave of His presence flowed through me. Prayed a quick healing prayer and asked her how it was. She looked at me in disbelief. She kept opening and closing her mouth moving from side to side with a child like look on her face like she was just awarded with a handful of the world’s finest most colorful gum drops. She looked at me half grinning and said . . .

“The pain . . . Oh my gosh . . . the pain . . . I can’t believe it. No really the pain is almost gone!!!”
I said, “Almost?”
“I can still feel it a little bit.”
“Ok, do you mind if I pray for it again? This time it’s gonna go for good!”
“Yes please do!”

Again I place my finger on her upper jaw by her ear and command the pain to go and for 100% complete healing. I asked her to try it again . . .

“Oh, my gosh!!! . . .  it’s gone! . . . the pain . . . it’s gone!”
“Yeah!, He loves you so much! He took your pain!”
“Wow, I know, I know He loves me!”

During this whole healing process her niece or grand daughter I can’t remember which but either way they were related somehow was in complete amazement. She was wide eyed and opened mouthed. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. I remember saying something to the effect of this – “This is what the Kingdom of God is all about!”

As I was moving out from the chairs and around the two ladies I noticed that the niece / grand daughter had a sketch pad. I asked her if she drew and she said yes. I asked if she would mind showing me one of her drawings. She agreed. The first page was just the beginning of a sketch but it was her name and a proclamation that this was her sketch pad. I said that is pretty cool. She was like I just started it how could it be cool. So I explained myself a little more. You made a declaration that this was something new you were going to do. Almost like a healing process. She was like yeah in a, how’d you know that kinda way. Then Holy Spirit poured His beautiful awesomeness all over her. She was deeply touched by the Creator of the Universe and tears began to fall. Her grandmother / great aunt reached around her and hugged her while Heaven rained down.The Kingdom of God had just bloomed into power and love all over that place!

I gracefully blessed them and walked away. As I was passing by another lady waiting for the truck to arrive, I felt in my heart to see if she needed prayer. She thought it over for a few seconds and decided she did. I asked if there was anything in particular I could pray for her. She mentioned one thing and it was a pretty big bummer but to me it spoke a lot about what was about to happen. I have asked this person if she needed prayer in the past but she would always reply that she was fine. Today was going to be different. So I prayed for her situation and then other things begin to suddenly appear in my head. I would ask her if that was true and she would agree. Turns out the young woman sitting next to her was her sister and she was watching / listening to what was going on. She would also confirm that the things that suddenly came into my mind were correct. These thoughts were all about her strengths and the things about here that get taken advantage of. I told her she was made with purpose. She had great value! then I asked if I could give her a hug on behalf of the God of all creation wanting to love on His daughter. She agreed.

Then some words just came out of my mouth. I asked . . .
“Do you know who Jesus is?”
“yes.”
“Have you ever asked Him into your heart?”
“yes.”
“Really!? That’s great news then! . . . You know why? It’s cause you have something so powerful living inside of you! And anytime the enemy comes against with lies you have the authority through Jesus Christ to tell the lies and enemy to go! Did you know that?”
“No!?”
“You do!”
She smiles more confidently after this and like the power drill above life came back into her ! 🙂 It was awesome!!! Talk about the Kingdom is now and coming!!!

We talked a little bit more but after our conversation she looked like a different person. An empowered person. A person that was confident and determined. She was quite the changed person and her sister was pretty amazed too.

Then I prayed for both of them. That ended up being pretty sweet too! God is so amazing. There is so much He has for us. We just need to step over fear into faith and watch His goodness flow! It’s so much fun!

I left as the two sisters talked and walked over and prayed for another woman and her grandson. Seemed like all the guys that day were not so open to prayer . . . oh well.

There were a few more people touched by God that morning. Some cried. Some overwhelmed with peace. Some just thankful for the food.

I look back and smile now 🙂 You don’t always get the privileged to see both the start of something Glorious and the result from His Glorious flow all in less than a few hours. Today was a day full of privilege.

Go bless someone today 🙂

Daniel!? – My name is Daniel :)

It’s always fun in the Kingdom but it may not always look like fun at first, second or third glance. Sometimes it takes a perspective change to see it 🙂

Sunday was a fun day. Started out at NLC with some good ol’ ushering and greeting, good unifying words from Rabbi Nichol and ministry at the end. A good start to a day.

Then it was off to Sprouts for some produce shopping with my good friend Sandeep. Love that guy!!! While we were in the produce section commenting on various vegetables and Googling names of others a mother and her son walked by. They quickly grabbed my attention. The young boy about 4 years of age was tethered to their shopping cart and was walking ahead obviously entertained by his imagination as he muttered some silly words in passing. The unique thing is that it wasn’t one of those silly tether contraptions that harnesses the child to keep him from running off but rather a blue flex tube.

After a closer look there was no harness at all but a device attached to his throat. Then it dawned on me. The tube was providing oxygen to his lungs and the device allowed the tube to make this function possible.

My heart leaped inside as a flood of life sprang up inside. I needed to pray for them! So I quickly finished bagging the vegetables in my hand and placed it in the cart. I turned around and they were gone!? I was a bit perplexed thinking, “How could a kid with a tube coming from his throat move so fast?” It was like they just disappeared. My eyes scanned all around and they were no where to be seen. I asked Sandeep if he saw them and he replied, “I’m sorry I didn’t.” Now, that was a bit odd.

So Sandeep and I finished our grocery shopping and headed for the checkout with me scanning the store for any signs of this mother / son duo . . . but nothing 😦

In the checkout line we were joined by an older looking gentlemen who didn’t look very happy. I said hi and he nodded in acknowledgement. Sandeep finished checkout but had to leave early so he could get to his meeting on time but not before he let me taste the carrot chips he just purchased 🙂 They weren’t bad.

After checkout, my heart was still in anticipation for praying for the family. As I headed for the sliding doors I had a choice. Should I go find them or give up and go home. What do you think I did? If you guessed I decided to go find them you would be absolutely not . . . . . . . WRONG! I took a left not a right. Back into the store I went zipping up and down aisles, around display end caps . . . but still no a sign of them. But I knew in my hear the opportunity would arise. I just knew it. Maybe it wasn’t for now. Maybe it was for another time in the near future. Maybe, maybe, maybe . . . I maybed myself back to the sliding doors to exit and my knee suddenly began to hurt. Could it have been all the running up and down the aisles with my shopping cart? Maybe? But as I was exiting the store the gentleman that joined Sandeep and I in the checkout line who didn’t look very happy was right there leaving the store as well. Hmm . . . I couldn’t resist . . .

“Excuse me sir!?” – he turns around
“Sorry to bug you, but I was wondering if you are experiencing any knee pain?”
He answered with an uncertain , “No!?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” – as he started to walk away.
“Ok, Bless you and have a wonderful day!”

Hmm, So I just stood there and prayed for his knee to be better. My pain left. Maybe his pain was suppressed so much he didn’t recognize it. Maybe not. I kept standing there pressing into the Father and remember saying, “Father you will provide.” Provide for the mother son family.

Off I went to put all the goodies in my car. And wouldn’t you know I passed by the guy I just asked how his knee was doing and said hello again. This time he smiled at me. Not one of those courteous smiles but a genuine one. Almost like this guy is crazy. Then he got into his car. That was worth it all. It was pretty cool. God is really amazing.

I finished loading my groceries into the 4Runner and scanned the parking lot for a place to return the shopping cart. I saw one on the very far side furthest from the store but closest to me and I saw one closest to the store, right up against the wall, but furthest from me. I felt in my heart to head across the parking lot and put the cart in the bin next to the store and save the store associate some time and effort gathering the carts later that day.

Off I went again, in the opposite direction of what would have been an easy close to a shopping experience. It didn’t bug me. I was listening to my heart, that still small voice. I like walking and riding on the cart 🙂 I also like listening to the still small voice 🙂

In my coasting towards the store, “for some reason,” I noticed a weathered, goldish-brown mini-van. I think it was one of those old Ford Aerostars but on further examination I noticed something more important, the silhouettes of two people inside. One silhouette, in particular, was a tad bit smaller and had a tube coming from it.

No way! Could this be them! The mother and son from the store? It was!!! This was like a little miracle to me 🙂 I could have totally missed this one. I could have returned the cart to the other bin and would have never passed the van. I would have never seen them! Com’on Jesus!!!

So I zipped on my shopping cart over to the van. Jumped off and walked over. I noticed the driver side window was down a quarter of the way so I put my face in the opening and said . . .

“Excuse me ma’am!”
She looks up almost like she was in trouble, “Yes?”
“I saw you and your son in the store earlier . . . may I pray for your son!?”
“Oh, yes . . . yes please!”

I walk around to the passenger side and she opens the sliding door. One of his toys falls out. I return it and introduce my self and say . . .

“Hi, my name is Daniel!”
Her eyes get big – “That is his name!”
“His name is Daniel?”
“Yes!, sorry I no speak English well. I am D . . . (I apologize as I forgot her name but it stated with D)”
“Oh, that is no problem 🙂 Do you mind if I put my hand on your son Daniel?”
“No, it ok.”
I place my hand on his shoulder – “Daniel, my name is Daniel and God loves you!”

The Love of the Father fell on that old Ford minivan touching not just the Mother and son but me. Prayed for healing for Daniel and Daniel’s mama. Prayed for increased provision and favor. Prayed for wisdom for her and encouraged her. It was very beautiful and I was so blessed to be a part of it. So blessed!

After I had prayed she was in tears, thanking me and our Father for this. Daniel had already moved on to another toy.

Wow! Wow! Wow! His presence was so thick. Was Daniel healed? I don’t know but I am believing that the next doctor’s appointment will be one of great thanksgiving and joy! I know his mama was overwhelmed by the Creator of the Universe! Who knows, this could have been an answer to her prayers!? Either way . . . Praise God!!

If you feel led, take a moment and lift up Daniel and his mama to our King of Kings!

Jesus, This is what you do! You make me come ALIVE!!!

Downtown Afternoon Encounters – I’ll never forget

One of the most memorable times I have had in a while on the streets of downtown ABQ. There were four of us: Robin, Peter, Gabe and myself – one of which had never done anything like this before. It was crazy.

It started out with a nudge from Holy Spirit to bring a video camera and capture what He was going to do. Then on the way to New Life City some other cool prompts of bringing some musical instruments next time we go out. It was confirmed with Barbara sharing with me what she felt God put on her heart. Can’t wait for that 🙂

We parked the car downtown where we normally do, grabbed the bag of donated bagels that Christine brought to our attention (thank you! thank you!) and headed out towards 3rd & Central. Our first encounter was with an older gentlemen that broke our hearts. I have never seen a person look so dead. The poor man looked like a zombie. His eyes were so red, swollen and lost, teeth rotted and missing, skin pale and patchy but he was very polite and courteous in declining our offer of free bagels and prayer. Something which you would not have expected by the looks of him. It hurt my heart as he walked away. Still does. Not a hurt of rejection on my part but a hurt on his behalf knowing he is walking away from the very thing that will lift his head. Bring him out of the darkness. Oh God!!! Encounter him deeply, bring him out of the ashes into your loving arms of safety and provision. Give him more chances. Help us see what he needs to allow You in . . . I want to meet him again . . .

That was rough. My hurt is jolted into something fierce for him. I still see his face so clearly.

We moved on and met Corey. A young man trying to make his name in the music industry. We prayed blessings over his venture of music production that his heart would be stirred with the Holy Ghost and bring into the industry the Kingdom of God. Robin was amazing pouring the Father’s heart into him.

It’s pretty cool how once you are moving in the Spirit, the world around becomes distant and there is a heightened focus, an acute sense of the now – both spiritually and naturally but mainly spiritually. It’s the Kingdom of God manifesting! It’s crazy cool.

We moved on. Took a right into the breeze way by 4th & Central and met three boys. All brothers. The oldest was 17. The youngest looked about 10 or 11. They just so happened to be taking a break from promoting their uncles barber shop. I love divine encounters.

We talked for a bit about lots of things. Science. Facts. God. Religion . . . seemed like everything but politics and the kitchen sink. We prayed blessings over them and words of knowledge were released. Life was spoken over them in only the way the Holy Spirit could. Robin asked if they would like to feel the presence of God. The middle brother without hesitation, excitedly replied, “YES!”. She put her hand on his shoulder. There was a slight pause. Then she said do you feel anything. Then a smile with a tinge of bewilderment began to take shape on his face and he said, “a slight tingling?” Robin replied, “That is the presence of God touching you right now.” Then he really smiled . . . BIG! The other two brothers looked on with amazement. Robin asked the oldest if he would like to feel the presence of God. He quickly agreed, but you could tell he was skeptical. Again Robin lays her hand on him. She prays then asks what he felt. He said I really don’t feel anything. Then Holy Spirit said tell him peace. So I laid my hand on his shoulder and prayed peace over him. Then asked,

“Do you feel peace?”
“No.”
Knowing I knew he felt something I prodded, “What do you feel?”
“Calm”
“That is great!”
“Why?”
“Well calm is another way to be at peace 🙂 You were just touched by God!”

Suddenly a huge smile came over him and you could tell something huge just happened in him. He will never be the same after that.

Then we asked the youngest brother if he would like to feel the touch of God. Without any hesitation and with eager anticipation he enthusiastically nodded yes multiple times. So Gabe, Peter and Robin laid their hands on him and not a second later he was instantly experiencing the presence of his Creator. It was a precious time. They were all simply amazed by the power of God and how tangible He was. You could tell their lives were deeply touched, never to be the same again. It was simply awesome!!!

We moved on and prayed for Mike and his huge heart for others who are down and out like him. He was greatly encouraged so much that his slump was transformed into raised shoulders and head! It was beautiful to see rejuvenation and hope rise up in him. God moves like that. So easily, so freely!!!

On we went. I noticed there was a weathered looking women sitting on the steps of the 7eleven smoking. I had seen her pass by earlier while praying for the three boys and my heart was moved for a split second as the rest of me was still with boys. My spirit gave out what seemed like a quick prayer in the natural but it felt much deeper than that, much heavier. Almost like it was an hour of devoted prayer in the natural but lasted less then a second and suddenly my attention was back on the boys. This spiritual time warp, which is what it almost felt like, seems to be happening more often not sure exactly how to explain it but I sure don’t mind 🙂

The woman sitting on the steps looked very very tired and run down. So we approached her, offered her some bagels and prayer and she received both! Robin began speaking life and encouragement over her and her relationships and she began to feel better. Then I felt like she had some stomach issues which she said she didn’t so I pressed in and got foot problems. So I asked her if her foot was giving her problems. She said it was and that it was swollen. I asked if I could pray for it and she gave the ok.

Started praying and it looked like the swelling had decreased some and the color changed a little. I asked if she felt anything different and she said her shoe felt loose and that it didn’t seem to hurt any more. Robin asked if it hurt walking and she said yes. Then Robin asked her if she could try walking on it to see if the pain was all gone. She got up walked a little bit and the expression in her face said it all. There was truly no more pain! We asked how it felt and she said the pain was gone! It was so amazing to see Love triumph over hopelessness and physical pain! See the video below.

We met another man shortly after who received both a bagel and prayer but soon after, quickly became uneasy and asked us to leave. Bless him Jesus . . . bless him.

On we all went. We moved through the plaza where a protest was going on. A Spanish speaking protest tat that 🙂 As we moved through the protest I had the opportunity to pray for a man who didn’t speak English but either way was very receptive to the prayer 🙂

We were moving in the direction of the bus depot when we passed a man from Thailand. We all walked by him but Holy Spirit tugged me to look to my right and behind me and stop. There he was smoking. So I went over there and asked if I could pray for him. He looked a little perplexed and said, “I speak little Englesh.” I said, “No worries.” Motioned if I could pray for him and he agreed. So I prayed.

The rest of the group realized I had been pulled away from them and they all headed over. After I had prayed Robin, filled with the Holy Spirit, begin to get words of knowledge for him. She asked him if he had a family in Thailand that was trying to get over to the US. Suddenly his countenance changed and he said, “How you know that?!” Of course Robin told him it wasn’t her but through her relationship with the One True God that she knew these things. Because God loves him. He was very grateful and received all that was spoken over him. It was a beautiful site.

It ended up being an amazing afternoon. God is always amazing. We just need to act upon what He says and signs and wonders will follow. This Kingdom Living is truly what we are all created to do. The beautiful thing is that it gets easier and easier 🙂

May these words bring blessings over you through our King Jesus!