Healing Zeal

The Boston Noon Hour had a rare treat yesterday. We were privileged to look into the heart of a young fire-bearer, and see and feel the purity of the flame burning there.

Jaeson Ma is an Asian campus evangelist, well-known on the West Coast; unknown in New England. I met him in Colorado Springs two years ago, at a conference at the World Prayer Center for those with hearts burning for revival. It was not a big conference (we jokingly refer to this as the "No-name, No-money Awakening" -- no one's ever heard of the ones in the trenches, all of whom are afflicted with acute cash-flow problems). Jaeson persuaded Dutch Sheets to come, and also his mentor, Lou Engle, both of whom happened to be in CSprings at the time.

Yesterday Jaeson was in town to be part of what God is doing at JHOP Boston, praying for the Spirit of God to fall on Harvard, MIT, and the 51 other campuses in the Metro Boston region. I asked him if he'd come share whatever God laid on his heart.

He started softly, in synch with the spirit of the Noon Hour. People strained to hear him. Then the full anointing kicked in, and with great passion (and no need for amplification), he described the finger of God coming down on campus after campus. There were 24/7 prayer groups everywhere! He showed us young people who had previously had no direction in their lives, suddenly aflame with the only direction anyone would want. He showed us the walls of America's intellectual Jericho cracking and starting to crumble, as louder and louder came the shouts of the small but growing army marching around them. As we could plainly see, it was an army that would never quit, and would greet each obstacle with even greater zeal.

Listening, it was hard to fight back tears. God was showing us how He was going to take every campus in this country! This year! He was showing us the second wave of the Awakening in action, and the sight of it confirmed in our hearts that the Third Wave -- the one which would over-wash everyone -- was about to break.

As we joined hands in our circle at the end, Alex declared there was healing power in Jaeson's zeal -- a zeal so strong and pure that people were going to be healed at his meetings. We prayed for Jaeson (who was thin when I met him, and is rail-thin now, on the 40-day fast). If you weren't among the 80 who were there yesterday, pray for Jeason now. He is a true torch for the Lord! May he burn ever brighter, confounding the darkness wherever God takes him!

Calendar notes: This Saturday (day after tomorrow) I'll be leading the next day-long Hearing-God workshop, at the Connecticut House of Prayer in Kensington. Check out their website at: http://www.wellspring.net/Lead_Stories/HearingHisVoiceApril1.html and/or call Barbara Lachance for reservations: 860-460-4716. People have asked if there couldn't be one nearer Boston. There can -- in my living room in Hull. On April 22 (the Saturday after Easter), 9:30 to 3:30, $25 per person, beverages provided, but bring your own brown bag. There's plenty of free parking at the Hull ferry, right across the street, but only twelve comfortable chairs, so we'll limit it to that number. Email me here. April 6-9 -- Rumble University (Lou Engle's JHOP Boston gang) comes to Tremont Temple! Catch the fire! http://www.thecauseusa.com/rumbleuniversity

April 9 -- The Black Ministerial Alliance is calling for a Sacred Assembly on Palm Sunday, 3:00 to 6:00 pm at Harambee Park in Franklin Field. You don't have to be black to attend. Ask God, if He would have you be among that number. Alex and I will be. http://newne.net/db_public/u14_public/index_EN.php?display=onepage&what=1154&ciu=443a46930b84c684ac56dab3e1cde16c

April 21 -- The Boston Noon Hour goes primetime. We're having our first evening prayer gathering, at Tremont Temple, 7:30 to 9:00 pm, the Friday after Easter. Time to gather the candles! If you've been receiving these updates, it's more than likely He will want you there. Ask Him. (If he does, don't be surprised if the other one starts throwing all manner of obstacles in your path, to keep you from coming.)

-David Manuel

Christ carries across radio waves in Middle East

Medium and Message, World Magazine - Jill Nelson

From the the parliamentary victory of Hamas to Baghdad violence over last month's bombed shrine in Samarra to the never-ending cartoon controversy over depictions of Muhammad wearing a bomb as a turban—Islam, it appears, is "all the rage" in the Middle East. So it's surprising that those on the frontlines of Christian broadcasting in the Middle East tell this story: "I have no doubt that the hold of Islam on the Muslim people has crumbled. We shouldn't be deceived by the superficiality of the political scene." Those are the words of one Christian broadcaster in the Middle East, who spoke to WORLD and asked that his name not be used because, while he believes what he said, they are words that could cost him his ministry—or his life—in the present climate.

Radio and television broadcasts are penetrating oppressive walls and rules in the Middle East. Medium-wave and short-wave radio broadcasts are particularly instrumental because they have the ability to bounce signals off the earth's atmosphere, sending them miles and miles away.

With an estimated 97 percent of households in the region with radio access, Christian broadcasters are taking advantage of the waves. Using indigenous Christians to produce quality programs, broadcasters have the potential to reach almost every household in the 22 nations of the overwhelmingly Islamic Arab League....

MERF's director acknowledges that these changed lives are costly from a personal standpoint, requiring patience, emotions, time and prayers, but emphasizes the need for believers to notice the hand of God at work in the Middle East: "Our concern as a whole is that Christians do not lose sight of the kingdom work by events taking place."

"The only way to change these people is through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. The Islamic world still wants to bring the United States and Israel to its knees," said Ms. Brooks. And that, in turn, is what Ms. Brooks wants to see happen in the Arab world.

link

Abdul Rahman is off the hook, but not out of the woods, yet

Critical reading from Mark Steyn's Will we stick out our necks for his faith?

...You cannot ask Americans or Britons to expend blood and treasure to build a society in which a man can be executed for his choice of religion. You cannot tell a Canadian soldier serving in Kandahar that he, as a Christian, must sacrifice his life to create a Muslim state in which his faith is a capital offense.

As always, we come back to the words of Osama bin Laden: "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse." That's really the only issue: The Islamists know our side have tanks and planes, but they have will and faith, and they reckon in a long struggle that's the better bet. Most prominent Western leaders sound way too eager to climb into the weak-horse suit and audition to play the rear end. Consider, for example, the words of the Prince of Wales, speaking a few days ago at al-Azhar University in Cairo, which makes the average Ivy League nuthouse look like a beacon of sanity. Anyway, this is what His Royal Highness had to say to 800 Islamic "scholars":

"The recent ghastly strife and anger over the Danish cartoons shows the danger that comes of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others. In my view, the true mark of a civilized society is the respect it pays to minorities and to strangers."

That's correct. But the reality is that our society pays enormous respect to minorities...

"I am serene. I have full awareness of what I have chosen. If I must die, I will die," Abdul Rahman told the Rome daily, responding to questions sent to him via a human rights worker who visited him in prison.

"Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us," he added in a clear reference to Jesus.

Stand up for Jesus

As we left Tremont Temple after the Noon hour yesterday (our 41st Wednesday), Alex commented that each hour has its own personality. Some have periods of profound slence. In some, God gives us a burden to pray for the intercessors around the city, or for the young prayer warriors assaulting the walls of America's intellectual Jericho, etc.
Yesterday, there was a sense of personal need in the sanctuary. We started off singing many of the old familiar refrains from 30 years ago. And then we sang, "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" after reflecting on the origins of that hymn.
Our Noon hour is modeled on the New York Noon hour of 1857. As you know, that one became a full-scale, big-R Revival, which rapidly spread to every major city in America. (A shoe salesman named D. L. Moody took it to Chicago.) On March 30th the following spring, in Philadelphia, some five thousand men gathered in the largest hall available, to hear a young Episcopal rector named Dudley Tyng, who had just been ousted from his church for his stand against slavery. Under his anointed exhortation, a thousand men gave their lives to Christ. A few days later, he lost his arm in a terrible farm machinery accident. As he lay dying in the hospital, his friend, Presbyterian minister, George Duffield, came to see him. Did he have any word to send to the next prayer rally? "Only this: Have the men stand up for Jesus." George did, and then wrote the hymn that became the signature hymn for the Great Prayer Revival of 1857-58.
Please pray for Sandy Emerick, who has just lost her husband, after a long illness.
And join us next Wednesday, if you can. And be sure to reserve the evening of Friday after Easter (April 21, 7:30 to 9:00, Tremont Temple), when the Noon hour goes prime-time.

-David Manuel

April 9 - A call to Sacred Assembly in Franklin Field

Purpose: For the Christian community of Greater Boston to gather across denominational, cultural and economic lines to pray for God’s revival, to seek God’s peace for the city and to pray for God’s blessing and protection upon our youth.

Bishop G.A. Thompson writes: "[We are calling this Sacred Assembly] in recognition of the need to repent and pray for God to forgive our sins, both corporate and individual; to seek God’s face for the healing of our land (2 Chronicles 7:14); and to unite as one church to be conduits through which God’s power can flow to bring peace and prosperity to all in our city." (03 08 06)

Scriptural references: A Sacred Assembly is a united gathering of people to come before God in humility in order to repent, pray, and seek God’s forgiveness and favor, and to be consecrated.

Humility: (2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Peter 5:5)
1. Prayer: (2 Chronicles 7:14; Jonah 3:8)
2. Repentance: (2 Chronicles 7:14; Joel 2:12-13; Jonah 3:8)
3. Seeking God’s Forgiveness and Favor: (2 Chronicles 7:14; cf. also Isaiah 55:6)
4. Consecration: "to set apart for holy use by prayer and profession" (Joel 2:16)

Date and Time: Palm Sunday, April 9, 2006, 3 - 6 pm

Location: Harambee Park at Franklin Field, Corner of Blue Hill & Talbot Avenues, Boston, MA

More information: http://www.bostonsacredassembly.org

To speak with someone in person, please call the Black Ministerial Alliance at 617-445-2737, ext. 29; or call the coordinator, Patricia Bonner-DuVal (Pat) at 617-232-5453.

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CHAIR: Bishop Gilbert A. Thompson, Jubilee Christian Church

CO-CHAIRS: Bishop Nellie Yarborough, Rev. Dr. Michael Haynes and Rev. Dr. Wesley A. Roberts

THE PROPOSED PERIOD OF FASTING AND PRAYER: The 40 days of Lent, Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, March 1 to April 9, 2006. (See attached suggestions.)

CONVENING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: (As of 3/8/06)

Black Ministerial Alliance Boston

Ten Point Coalition

Cambridge Vineyard

Church of the Living God

Congregacion de Leon de Juda

Covenant for New England

Emmanuel Gospel Center

Greater Boston Prayer Initiative

Greater Love Tabernacle

Jubilee Christian Church International

Life Church Ministries

Little Zion Church of God in Christ

Morning Star Baptist Church

Massachusetts Family Institute

Mount Calvary Holy Church

Mount Sinai Baptist Church

New England Concerts of Prayer & Inter-Prayer

New Testament Church

People's Baptist Church

Southern Baptist Church

Twelfth Baptist Church

U.S. Campus Ministry (Campus Crusade for Christ)

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Respectfully,

Madeleine Prendergast

madeleine@mprendergast.com

Kitty O'Shea's Prayer Group - March 20th

Eight people who had gathered at Kitty’s before joined with three visitors who had not, including Bob’s son, to pray.

Several of those present had been to visit the First Baptist Church, Magazine StreetCambridge, where the JHOP 40 days of 24/7 prayer are happening. They shared of the joy to be found there. We were also reminded of the Sacred Assembly for the church in Boston called for 9 April at 3pm at Franklin Field.

In prayer, we repented of our own sin, and that of our society and nation's. We acknowledged that our hearts have become calloused and that we need divine softening to be able to feel as God feels, and respond with love, not stridency, to the society. We held up the JHOP prayers, and the leaders of the Sacred Assembly asking for God’s hand of guidance, blessing and unity on the day.

We prayed for the youth of the area; and for their fathers, praying that the prophecy of Malachi (4:6) would be fulfilled: “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

We prayed for Weapons of Mass Deliverance to come to the Boston area, bursting like a bomb of grace, spreading grace and truth across the area.

(Note: the prior verses in the Malachi passage sure sound like a Weapon of Mass Deliverance in use:

"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.")

We prayed to be better witnesses—even praying for those we made eye contact with daily. We prayed for Kitty’s and its owners and staff, as we often do, but also prayed for all taverns in Boston. Greg had a picture of small communities of believers meeting in taverns, drunk not on wine but on the Holy Spirit. Diane spoke of longing for a ‘pub awakening’ in Boston, just as previous awakenings had started in unexpected places like factories.

We also continued to pray for Sam’s full healing and restoration.

-David P.

God's stew

One way the Awakening differs from other great moves of God in the past is in terms of functional unity. We never planned it that way (we were careful not to plan it at all). At the beginning of each Noon hour, we turn the time over to God. We ask Him to give us the prayer concerns -- and then the right words to pray. He does, and as the hour progresses, His presence grows stronger. Last week He gave us this benediction:

I am well pleased at what I see in the hearts of those I have gathered here. Take these concerns with you, when you leave. Bring them up again. Each time you do, I will hear them in Heaven, and will record. Pray with urgency, for the concerns I give you are urgent. Stir up your hearts and rejoice, for I am about to do what you have been asking and imploring me to do.

We're becoming family. We look forward to seeing each other, and we miss one another, when we can't make it. Time passes quickly; as Gail says,"It's the fastest hour of the week." Towards the end we gather in a circle and join hands. We raise personal concerns and pray for each one. Then, promptly at 1:00 pm, we say the Lord's Prayer together and conclude (though we tend to linger, loathe to leave the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit).

Last Wednesday our 40th hour), looking around the large circle (we've been more than 70 these past few weeks) we were struck by what a stew we were -- Charismatics (quiet) and Evangelicals (bold), Catholics and Protestants, of all races and ages. Each week God adds fresh ingredients and seasoning to the pot. And while He's had us simmering on the back burner for a season, now He seems to have brought us forward and turned up the flame.

Housekeeping:

Mark this date: April 21 (the Friday after Easter) will be the Noon hour's first prime time prayer gathering -- at Tremont Temple (of course), from 7:30 till 9:00 pm. Plan to join us, if you possibly can, and bring as many with you, as you can. The combined candlepower should illumine the night sky -- and maybe for that one shining moment Boston will be reminded that once she was meant to be a city set on a hill, for al the world to see.

Also, some of you have inquired about the next Saturday Hearing God workshop. It will be April 1, at the Connecticut House of Prayer in Kensington (see attached).

-David Manuel

Kitty O'Shea's Prayer Group - March 13th

Seven regulars met today with a visitor from New Jersey, Dianne, who had been praying for a long time for the Boston area—that ancient wells would be unblocked—and had been drawn to visit the group.

We heard an update from Bob of the visit to Gulfport to deliver and install houses which had been built by churches on the South Shore. Bob reported that much of the devastation following Katrina remained evident there, but that good had come out of the destruction: for one thing, racial barriers between different faith communities there had been broken down; and many people had been humbled to see evidence of the power of generosity of spirit, especially of those who had lost much.

In our prayers, we were thankful for the various current happenings in the area, such as the JHOP 40 days of 24/7 prayer and the forthcoming prayer rally in Franklin Field on Palm Sunday; and we held them up to God. We welcomed the evidence of growing unity in the church around all these events. We were reminded that, important as crowds and events may be, God’s heart is for the individual. And so we prayed for a number of individuals—seekers who had attended Alpha at Kitty’s, family members, friends and work colleagues—that God might reveal himself to them. We also prayed for ministries in the workplace downtown—that God would bless and guide those seeking to minister in this area.

We remembered especially two members of the group who were not present.

-David P.

With Mass. help, homes grow amid ruins, Boston Globe

Volunteers turn out where Katrina struck

By Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff | March 13, 2006

GULFPORT, Miss. -- It took Willis Moody nine months to build the old wooden house that a small army of Massachusetts volunteers had torn down in a half-day.

Hurricane Katrina had started on the demolition job seven months ago, by depositing a 100-year-old oak tree on Moody's roof, almost collapsing the structure, and exposing the inside to torrential rains and wind and, later, deadly mold.

Moody, 86, a master carpenter, a World War II veteran, and a cancer patient, was in no position to rebuild.

So his children called for help from a pastor, trying to help elderly hurricane survivors. That pastor, in turn, called on South Shore churches, who then asked 42 of their members to abandon jobs, families, and creature comforts for a week to help rebuild homes in this once-beautiful beach city.

And help they did. People arrived last week with hammers, shovels, rakes, spare nails, crowbars, and electric saws. The 40 men and the two women dug the foundations, set the walls, put up the siding, and installed the roofs.

continued..

The Boston House of Prayer

Pray for the Boston House of Prayer. It's actually in Cambridge -- in the First Baptist Church at the corner of Massachusetts and Prospect. Alex was there last Wednesday, for the launch of their 40 days of prayer and fasting. I went yesterday and invited Lou Engle to come to Tremont Temple tomorrow, to share with the Noon hour what's on his heart. He can't, because he's meeting with Brazilian pastors, but he said he'd come next Wednesday.

I got there a little before sunset. Kids from all over the country were there -- sleeping on the floor of the church in sleeping bags. Pastor Paul Amabile and his wife Cheryl are looking after things. The sanctuary is large and high-ceilinged, with tall stained-glass windows, through which the last rays of the sun cast a golden glow over everything. There were 30 or so young people randomly in pews, praying. Charyl told me the sanctuary always has people praying, 24/7.

I was struck by the tender presence of the Lord there -- the same sweet spirit as we have at the Noon hour. It wa really good to be there, and I had a longing to just stop and join in. But I had others that I was chauffeuring and had to go.

Tomorrow, stop in at the Noon hour and catch that spirit, even if you can join us for only a few minutes. Meantime, be encouraged by this word, which Alex received Sunday:

You have heard well and you have heeded to my call to form a sacred assembly. This call to prayer must continually be holy unto me. Be ever conscious that this is not the work of well-intentioned men, but rather it is the work of my Spirit. I am building this house of prayer. As you continually seek my face in the humility of your heart, the fruits of righteousness will increase in abundance.

-David Manuel

The Day of the Lord @ Tremont Street Temple

Yesterday in answer to prayer, God brought 70 to the Boston Noon Hour (our 38th). It was our largest gathering thus far, and while God is not impressed with numbers, He did seem pleased with so many open hearts seeking His face. The sweet spirit of the hour and the strong presence of His Spirit were the same as last summer, when we were delighted if six or eight came.
One of the hallmarks of the Awakening is leaders working together. A generation ago the Charismatic Renewal was thrilling, but it produced many Lone Rangers. What God is doing now is different. We are trying to help and support one another, as it will take all of us working together, to bring forth the fullness of what God intends.
In that spirit, we asked Bob Weiner to share what God is doing at the youth evangelism outreach he is leading over at Ruggles Street Baptist Church. Called the the Boston Awakening, they've already had an encouraging number of young people receive Christ. Check out their website: http://www.bostonawakening.com. Last night saw the launch of "The Uprising," the Boston House of Prayer's forty days of prayer and fasting. Check them out at: http://www.jhopboston.com. They've sent out the call to young prayer warriors across the country to scrap their Spring Break plans and come to Boston to make Harvard a flashpoint to contend for the universities of this nation."A generation has known to feast and play. Now it is time to fast and pray!"
Alex and I, along with many of the Noon Hour regulars, have begun to fast and pray. Join us! The train may have started to move, but if you sprint down the platform and swing aboard the last car, you can make it! Lastly, a number of you have requested copies of "The Day of the Lord" -- the word received yesterday for the Noon Hour. It is attached. Share it as far and wide as you care to.

-David Manuel