sitting in a winepress...

I have all these dreams and visions of what I want to see happen in my lifetime. For instance, I want a revival to take place in Alaska. There is such a hunger here and no one to feed it. There are churches and that's fine, but I am calling for more than that. I want fire. Wildfire. I think the generation to bring this about is the college-age generation. I have visions of Passion conferences being held in Anchorage or Fairbanks, OneDay events taking place in Juneau, worshippers gathering all over the state. There's a lot of "kindling" here just waiting to be lit and breathed into like oxygen to spread it all over. It's a passion of mine. But I don't think I am the one to bring it about. But if I don't, then who will? No one.

I finally found a church home here at Kenai New Life Assembly of God. Every time I have been there, the message spoke directly to something already taking place in my heart or life. It has been very relevant and the worship reminds me of Heartland back home, it's amazing. I had been missing HCC's worship and have found a fitting substitute at KNLAOG. This Sunday was no different in terms of the message. There was a guest speaker. The youth director for the region, Jen, was visiting and delivered the message that morning. Her sermon title: It is time. She started by relaying a story of how about a year ago she was touring Europe with a friend. She and her friend were talking all about these dreams and visions that Jen had of things that she wanted to see come to life. She was making all kinds of excuses and saying things like, "Oh that's too big for me to do," or, "Gosh. Ya know, that would just take too long to accomplish." Her friend just stops her midsentence and says, "Stop Jen. Little keys open big doors. Don't look ahead at what might happen tomorrow, or further in the future. Don't worry about it. Instead, take a look at what is in your hands right now." They turned a corner and were directly facing a pair of huge, old, wooden doors that led to a breathtaking cathedral. Jen emphasized how enormous these doors were with all sorts of adjectives. And then she said, "And I looked down and there was the miniscule, microscopic keyhole with a key the size of a pea pod sticking out of it." They turned the key and stepped inside and were awed by the beauty of the cathedral that surrounded them. It was perfect. The timing couldn't have been better for stumbling upon that door at exactly that moment. It drove her friend's point home. She described how she stood there in silence for several moments, even more in awe of God and his sense of humor. She went on. Before Gideon could lead his nation, he was sitting in a wine-press threshing wheat to keep it from the Midianites. An angel came to him and said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Gideon wasn't feeling mighty at all. He was scared saying that if the Lord was with them then why was all that stuff happening to them? "The Lord has abandoned us and delivered us into the hands of Midian." The angel stops him and says, "Go in the strength you have. Am I not sending you?" Go with the measure of strength you do have and I will be with you, the Lord says to all of us. Jen wrapped up by saying how she has seen various smaller parts of her larger dream come to be and that it was because she went with the strength she had, the little keys in her hand, and God did the rest.

Jeremiah 29 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you..." For any of my dreams to become reality, I have to exercise, or condition, with the Lord. Encounter the Lord. In the encounter with the Lord, I am:

*able to act in confidence
*prepared
*strengthened
*able to hear the voice of the Lord and can recognize it
*able to act in authority

Before Gideon did what he was raised up to do, and lead his nation, he was sitting in a winepress having an encounter with the Lord. He had no idea what God could do in him or through him until God started doing it. Likewise, I have no understanding of what God can do in me or through me until he starts to do it. So, I will continue to sit here under the oak in Ophrah, in my winepress, begging for an encounter with the Lord.

Tomorrow... Chapter 3