We've taken a break from feeding people for now.

The Lord has guided me to put more time into my day-job ministry, which is currently requiring a 6th day of work each week. We would appreciate your prayers of support, as even my job is loaded with spiritual battles. We have stopped the street ministry for now, and will pick it back up again in the Spring (LORD willing).

As for now, I would greatly appreciate your prayers for myself and my students. I'm an urban teacher. It's exactly where God wants me because God's heart, from the foundation of the world, has been to help the fatherless, the oppressed, the poor:

Psalm 10:12-18
12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none. 16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.
17 O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

I could give testimony after testimony of the power of the Holy Spirit to transform and shape the hearts and minds of my students. Satan doesn't go down without a fight, though. Please lift my students, myself, and my wife up in prayer regularly. We need God's strength, wisdom, and power to be useful vessels for His will.

Blessings to you all until we see each other again. In Jesus' name I pray...

Jehovah Jireh: God is our Provider.

I've got an awesome testimony to God's power to share with you today. Jehovah Jireh is one of the names God goes by in the Old Testament. "Jireh" means "The LORD will provide." This blog is a testimony to the truth of that name:

The last couple months, money has been tight because my wife has been unemployed. As I was driving home from work last week, my wife was telling me we were short on cash and could not afford to buy the sausage for the rice jambalaya (that's what we serve in our ministry). Without hesitation, I said a prayer to the LORD that He would provide the money for the sausage.

Three hours later, our pet dog began whining, barking, and running from window to window to look outside. I went out to the driveway to see what was going on. A sweet old lady had broken down in her car. She was parked at the front of our driveway. Her car's alternator died, and she could drive no further. I invited her inside and called her a tow truck.

While she was waiting, we chatted. Out of nowhere, she reached into her wallet and threw $40 bucks down on the table. I started to refuse, but she was persistent. Then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the prayer I said a few hours earlier about needing money for the sausage.

I immediately began to explain to this woman about how she was being used of God to provide for our ministry. I showed her our ministry pots and such piled up in our living room, and she took out another ten-spot and threw it down on the table!

Praise God! Do we really understand what's at our disposal as children of the Most High God? I don't think so. Perhaps we can push ourselves to deeper levels of trust? Perhaps we're just scratching the surface with our worship and faith in God? I think so. LORD, let us trust you with all our hearts, that we may walk in Your power and provision. Give us faith that is so trusting that you will be glorified continually as we walk in this world. In Jesus' name I pray.

No one is good except God alone.

Every believer in Christ is called to a ministry of one sort or another. These ministries don't have to be complicated, but they should be done sincerely and for His glory alone. My favorite phrase to remind me where I stand in this kingdom is this: We've got nothin'!

Luke 18:18-19

And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

It's the simple truth. If it weren't for Jesus and His grace, I would still be blind and lost. He anointed my cuts with oil, He bound up my wounds, He restored my standing with God, and He is saving me as I walk with Him.

Pride is a very dangerous slope that Christians can slide down. There is a spirit waiting in the wings as we walk through our day, waiting to pounce and fill our heads with nonsense and lies. The lie is that we're something special. Yes, as children of the King we are set apart for special purposes. But, we are not above God's principals. Pride, even for the believer in Christ, still comes before the fall.

We post this blog for His glory, not ours. I think many people can assume otherwise. These works are His, and we are just testifying to His mercy, love, and power.

I have heard people say the same thing to me over and over in this ministry, "You're a good man!"

I have nothing to say to them but the truth, "It's not me, it's Jesus. If it weren't for Jesus taking that old stone out of my heart, I wouldn't be here doing this."

We are servants, we are called to be slaves to righteousness. We are not called to be anything, but obedient to His will. No one is good, but God alone. We've got nothin'!

The beautiful thing about getting our head straight with this truth is that it takes an enormous weight off our puny shoulders. When we recognize we've got nothin', it puts the responsibility where it belongs: Upon Jesus' shoulders.

There ain't a thing He can't handle. He has all power and authority.

When we stand in this truth, the Lord anoints our efforts. The Holy Spirit empowers what is being done. If we get out of His way, watch out! Stand back! Be in awe at the power that manifests.

I want to give you an example of His power at work in this ministry. I'm getting a bit old. I can still remember stuff from the 1970's, so bear with me if this illustration is too dated for your generation.

There used to be a commercial about an investment firm called "E.F. Hutton." The commercials went like this: Two middle-aged investor types are in a public place discussing stocks. The first guy goes on and on about what he's investing in. Then, the second guy says, "Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton, and E.F. Hutton says..."

The moment the guy says this, everything around them stops. All eyes and ears are on him and what he's about to say, I suppose because E.F. Hutton's reputation precedes him.

Here is that old commercial (fair use for critique and analysis in comparison with the power of Jesus' Holy Spirit):

So this is a worldly expression of how people will tune in when they hear something important. Well, when God wants to work a miracle in a lost person's heart, He does the same thing.

Again and again, I have seen the same exact thing happen. I will be witnessing to a single person. I've got nothin', mind you. But I'm just speaking to the simple truths of His Gospel: Jesus died for our sins, He arose three days later, and sits at the right hand of our Father to intercede for the lost and for the children of God. People need to repent, and turn from their sin, and the Lord will baptize them with the Holy Spirit to seal them for the day of redemption.

Well, as I speak these simple truths to a solitary soul, something miraculous happens. The people get real quiet all around. They start to lean in to our conversation. They begin to close in around us in order to hear more.

It's amazing to see the power of the Holy Spirit and how He captures the interest of broken hearts with His truth. It's nothing of me, it's all Him. I just need to keep my head straight with this truth, lest I quench the power of God at work. It's kinda like watching a master at work. I've had to step back at times and marvel at what happens, it's purely supernatural.

Sometimes when I'm done witnessing and we begin to pray for the salvation of those who wish to be saved, people will want to know when I'm coming back (as if I had anything they needed). All I can do is point them to Jesus. He's everywhere, and He has the words of life, not me.

When we get out of His way, He does amazing things. It's true, when Jesus' Holy Spirit talks, people listen.

Prayer Requests:

- Dean is a man who was walking closely with the Lord. He was a servant to whom much was forgiven, and he was quite zealous for Jesus. But, his wife got a massive brain tumor and died suddenly. It rocked his faith, he has backslidden into sin again. He recognizes he needs to repent and turn to Jesus. Let's pray the Lord mercifully grants him repentance, and kindles a fire of love and obedience within his heart that he may turn away from his addiction and seek Jesus.

- Paige was quite open to the simple Gospel message. Pray the Lord pours out His love and mercy upon him and baptizes him in His Spirit.

- Sarah was a part of a church when she was younger, but she is now down and out and homeless. She took a Bible, and wanted to hear about what God can do to restore her. Pray that she seeks Jesus to baptize her in His Spirit and delivers her from the street.

- Ray believes in the Lord, but has not experienced the power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He still struggles with sin. Lift him up in prayer that he may be delivered.

- Two men in a Cadillac: The Holy Spirit surely prompted two men in a Cadillac to pull up and ask me, "What you got?" I told them, "I got the power of God and a Gospel message!" I then was able to witness to them about Jesus' saving power, and one of the men named Mario wanted me to pray with him for his salvation. Lift these two men up in prayer, please.

- Three men who I cannot recall all heard the message of repentance, forgiveness of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Please pray the Lord will watch over these men and save them all.

- Eric was a man who argued with me at great length because he is an atheist. I've seen him a couple more times, let's pray the Lord softens his heart to the Gospel message.

Simple prayers and a Mighty God.

Humans like to over-complicate things. It's a matter of pride, really. We make things complicated so that we can feel as though we've accomplished something worthy. As if what we can do is really special.

God is so good, though. All He cares about is whether or not we want to dedicate our hearts to Him. You could be as fresh as a baby lettuce from the garden, newly born again, a veritable simpleton in Christ, and God will work miracles through and around you simply because you have that child-like faith. The prayers newborns in Christ offer are immature, simple, but they are sincere and so full of trust that God can't resist answering them.

This brings me to a woman I recently met while feeding and ministering to people. Her name is Tee-Tee. She has a beautiful testimony to Christ, and she reminded me of the power of simple prayers.

Tee-Tee grew up in a war-torn country in Africa called Liberia. Her family often had to move from village to village as refugees because of all the fighting. As a small child, she had to spend nights in the bush hiding from gangs of militia and warring factions. Bombs dropped all around them at times. They ate what they could find, often eating raw sugar cane growing wild along the river banks. The rivers offered water, but with great risk. They were filthy. She recalled the dead bodies that would float by from upstream, bodies of murdered soldiers and innocent civilians.

When she was ten years old, the Lord delivered her from that place and brought her to America. She did not know Jesus then, but she now recognizes that Jesus was helping her and guiding her through all those traumatic trials.

In America, things were safer for her. However, she made very poor decisions as a teenager. It was not long before Tee-Tee was addicted to drugs. Ensnared in the bondage of crack cocaine, she began to prostitute herself. The lifestyle she was living was a dangerous one, but she could see no way out.

Tee-Tee told me about the last time she smoked crack. She had been high for days on end. She said that when you get that deep into a binge, you can't hardly even feel the high anymore. You just know your body wants more.

She was out on the street corner, sick to herself, sick of herself, sick of the bondage of the sin she was under. She looked up into the sunlit sky and cried out, "If there is a God, please help me! I don't want to do this anymore..."

She was desperate, and she offered up that simple prayer. This simple act of repentance was the first step she willingly took with our Lord Jesus. Sincere repentance in someone seeking salvation shakes the gates of Hell. As those shaky gates crumble, our Father, Jesus, and the holy angels rejoice over a single sinner's soul being saved:

Luke 15:7

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The very day she cried out to God, she went to visit a friend. Out of nowhere, the friend told Tee-Tee about a program she could get into to get off the street and off the drugs. Now a regular old drug rehab rarely rehabilitates people so they don't return to drugs. But when God ordains a program for you to enter, you are sure to be delivered. And she was.

That was four months ago. She is currently living in the homeless shelter, but she no longer needs drugs. Instead, she studies the Bible. Instead, she spends time with Jesus in prayer. Instead, she ministers to others who are in need. And the Lord gave her a gift. She can recognize when others on the street or in the shelter needs a hug. She doesn't care what they look like, how they're dressed, or whether or not they're clean. The Lord's agape love pours out of her and into those who need some love. That's no joke, this woman has a supernatural ministry of love for the homeless and downtrodden.

Tee-Tee told me how she gets through the temptations that come upon her. She cries out to God, "Lord, you did not deliver me from all the things in my life so that I could go back to the drugs!"

She told me what she prays when she sees evil being done, people being harmed, or unrighteousness invading the street or the shelter. She simply prays, "In the name of Jesus, LORD, I give it to you!"

She prays this simple prayer again and again and angels are dispatched, the Holy Spirit pierces hearts, God's will is done, and a peace which surpasses all understanding comes over her.

Next time you are overwhelmed by circumstances, or feel as though everything around you is crumbling, or that evil is prevailing in our fallen world, I encourage you to pray that simple prayer: In the name of Jesus, LORD, I give it to you. In the name of Jesus, LORD, I give it to you. In the name of Jesus, LORD, I give it to you...

PRAISE REPORT:

Marilyn, who was put on our prayer list a couple months back, is now free from cancer. Praise GOD! She has one chemo session left, but her last medical examination revealed every bit of cancer is gone. The LORD heard our prayers and has healed this woman and delivered her. Thank you, Jesus!

PRAYER REQUEST:

Marilyn's sister Daisy has just been diagnosed with a very late stage cancer. She says the doctors think she won't make it because her body has been so filled with this disease. Let's lift this woman up in prayer. Nothing is too hard for our God. Jesus isn't known as the Great Physician for nothing. Please intercede for this woman, so that the Lord will heal her and make her body whole again. Then this family will have two beautiful testimonies to God's mercy, love, and healing power. And God will get all the glory.

Prayers that rout demons.

When I was first born again, I came across a book on spiritual warfare in a Christian bookstore. It looked pretty over the top, but the title intrigued me: Prayers that Rout Demons.

As I gave the book the once over, the Holy Spirit told me to pass on it. I can't speak to the doctrines within that book, as I never did read it. However, the idea about prayers that rout demons was immensely cool to consider. Are there really specific prayers that will crush demonic attacks? Is there something Christians can do when under attack that would simply set these foul spirits to flight?

The Lord knew this was on my heart, and He eventually showed me the answer. And like many of God's most beautiful principles, it's way simpler than people like to make things.

Here is that prayer:

Not my will, LORD, but Your will be done!

Shout this prayer. Let it pour forth from a sincere heart, and watch the demons flee!

Thank you, Jesus, for Your simple truths. We are so foolish at times, we'd even consider buying a book that looks like a Hollywood screenwriter conceived it in order to understand Your ways better. Help us have eyes to see and ears to hear Your simple, beautiful truths.

This week's prayer requests:

- Brian is a man who knows he's been called to ministry, but is down and out and struggling spiritually. He has sin that has crept into his life, and he needs Jesus to lift him above it and help him overcome.

- Nathan is a newborn in Christ. Brian led him to the Lord a month or so back. He, too, is struggling with his walk. Both of these men are homeless and without employment. Pray the Lord will see them through these trials.

- Eric is a young, idealistic man who clearly thirsts for righteousness. He needs your prayers for salvation. I witnessed to him at great length last Saturday, but there is a very powerful stronghold this man holds in his heart: He believes he knows right and wrong better than the LORD. Pray the LORD will be merciful to this man, softening his heart and granting him repentance that he may be redeemed and God may be glorified.

- A woman who will remain unnamed needs your prayers to be strengthened in order to get back on track with Jesus. She has fallen into sin, and knows it. She has taken up company that has no care for righteousness. 1 Corinthians 15:33 teachers that bad company corrupts good character. Lift this backslidden sister up in prayer, please.

When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?

This blog is about faith. Do we really understand the kind of faith God has available for us? Did you know you could ask our Father in heaven to increase your faith? The apostles did:

Luke 17:5

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

When the apostles failed to cast a demon out of a child, the Lord rebuked them for their lack of faith. Then, when the father of the child recognized his lack of faith, he asked the Lord to help rid the unbelief in his heart (emphasis mine):

Mark 9:16-24

And he asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" And someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "'If you can?! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

I am writing about faith today because I recently met an extraordinary man of faith. His name is Bo-Lee. To those on the street, he is known as "Holy" Bo-Lee. I was waiting for people to straggle out of the shelter after the front desk made the all-call for food. I turned and saw a tall, thin man. He was well over 6 feet in height, but one of his shoulders was greatly hunched over. It was obvious he was physically debilitated. The first thing he said to me was, "I stand like this because of the cross I bear."

I talked with Bo-Lee for a while, and got him some hot jambalaya. He is a brother in Christ. We talked about some of the problems with the modern church. He was frustrated because the church down the street threw him out for standing up and screaming, "You da' man, LORD!" I told him, "You don't need any church building to praise the Lord. Where two or more are gathered in His Name, there He will be, too." And you must know that Jesus was with us as we fellowshipped right there on that filthy curb together, Bo-Lee and me.

I inquired about his condition. Matter of factly, he declared, "I am dying of cancer and A.I.D.S." My first reaction was to reach out to him and pray for him, but he didn't want my prayer. I didn't understand at first, but he explained.

You see, Bo-Lee has put every bit of faith and trust within himself in Jesus. He wasn't going through these trials alone. He wasn't kidding when he said that he was hunched over like that because of the cross he bore. He wasn't speaking figuratively, he was speaking plainly. The cross that Bo-Lee is bearing is one no human could bear alone. That kind of cross crushes most people into despair, and yet here was this man standing before me on this street corner. He wasn't despairing, he was shouting, "You da' man, LORD!" Now that's faith. That is faith that brings glory to our Father in Heaven, the kind of faith Job had.

Bo-Lee is dying of cancer. Bo-Lee is dying of A.I.D.S. But most of all, Bo-Lee is dying to himself. Bo-Lee is not going onto this week's prayer list because Bo-Lee is walking so closely with Jesus in these trials he doesn't need us to lift him up in prayer. That's the kind of faith we need the LORD to put in our hearts. Maybe we could all pray for some of that kind of faith for ourselves?

As Bo-Lee walked back down the block he had to put both palms flat against the side of the building to steady his gait. Step after unsteady step I watched him make his way down the block.

I can't believe the lessons the Lord is teaching me in this ministry. I thank you, Lord, for having the mercy and grace to grant me this snapshot of Your Kingdom. May we all have this kind of faith placed in our hearts. In Jesus' name I pray...

Love your enemies.

As we edge closer to the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I would like to humbly bring to remembrance how we as Christians are to regard our enemies. Jesus made it clear:

Matthew 5:44

But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father, which is in Heaven: For He maketh the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.

Many people who profess to be Christians allow hatred and bitterness to take root. This is dangerous, and is a scheme of Satan to draw us away from the will of God in our life. Any hatred, resentment, or bitterness in our hearts must be handed over for our Lord to dispense with. People who allow this to hatred to reign in their hearts are not walking with Jesus:

1 John 4:20

If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he hasn't seen.

We as Christians are called to a higher standard, this is part of our separateness from the world. And what glory our Lord receives when we submit and allow Him to work out all that evil hatred from out of us! It's all His work, we just need to be humble enough to recognize it when it attempts to rise up within us, and give it over to Him to handle through prayer in faith. Then we will be children of the Most High God, and not merely people of this world.

This Week's Prayer Requests:

- Marilyn knows the Lord well, and has been relying upon Him as she undergoes treatment for stomach cancer. Let us come together in agreement so Jesus will heal her of her affliction and bring peace, comfort, and recovery to her weakened body. May the Lord have mercy upon her.

- I would also like to request people to pray for a coworker's mother. She recently came down with two large masses in her head. The family knows Jesus, let's give glory to God by humbly raising prayers for recovery and healing for this woman. He is the Great Physician, He can do anything. May He bless and keep both this woman and Marilyn as they endure these trials.

- Crystal has been on the street for just over a week. She and her roomates lost their apartment. She confessed Christ as a teenager, and was baptized, but is not currently walking with Jesus. She was eager to help me hand out Bibles to people, and knows only the Lord is going to help her get out of this situation. Please lift her up in prayer.

- Ronald was willing to hear about the gospel, but proclaimed he "Isn't ready" to give his life to Jesus. Pray the Lord will open the eyes of his heart, grant him repentance, and show him that today is the day of his salvation.