by Dee Sheveland – Prayer First Steering Team

The recent earthquake in Haiti makes us aware of our basic needs for sustenance. As human beings, our bodies survive on food, water, and shelter.
But we also have deeper spiritual needs, which can be exposed through the practice of fasting and prayer.

Jesus said to the woman seeking water at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water that I give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Jesus had a revealing divine appointment with this woman. Her infidelity was exposed as well as her need for a Savior. Jesus also revealed himself as the Messiah to her, which compelled her to go back to Samaria and spread the good news.
Here we see a woman seeking physical water for survival, and Jesus offers her a spring of water welling up inside of her spirit. He offers her a place to lay down all of her facades, a place to be seen and completely known, a place to face her deep spiritual need that far exceeds her desire for water, that is, for Jesus himself.
Afterward, the disciples beg Jesus to eat something. He must not have eaten for some time for the disciples to urge him so. After his redemptive encounter with this woman, Jesus responded to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34).
Jesus is acknowledging his deepest need as well, which is accomplishing the Father’s will. His appetite for his Father’s will was stimulated by this meaningful interaction. His sense of purpose was clarified, to satisfy the thirst of God’s creation with living water that cleanses, purifies, and renews.
Benefits of True Fasting
Times of fasting and prayer have the potential to expose who we really are and what we really need. As we see in Isaiah 58, true fasting has many positive benefits.
  • It exposes inconsistencies between our values and our lifestyles.
  • It humbles us.
  • It unifies us under our shared emptiness apart from our God.
  • It releases power to set captives free, and to break strongholds of oppression.
  • It crystallizes our sense of call and vision for God’s Kingdom to come on earth.
  • It heals us, guides us, satisfies us, and strengthens us.
  • And it calls us to practice a Sabbath rest, a place of peaceful submission and surrender.

Ok, I confess that I am afraid of things I don’t understand.  I have prejudices and biases based ignorance.  The little bit I know about the Middle East, (Iran, Syria, Jordan, etc.) leave me feeling less than confidant.  I am can’t imagine a scenario where I would want to sit down for tea and crumpets’.  But sitting down with various leader, princes and taxi drivers through the Middle East during the summer of 2008 is exactly what Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis did.  Carl Medearis is Ted Dekker’s Middle East expert and co-author.

I found the questions engaging and the experience drew me from page to page as I read.  Here are a few questions that were asked of leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, sheikhs, ayatollahs alike:

  • What make you laugh?
  • Can you share a joke?
  • What makes you cry?
  • What do you think of Americans?
  • What do you think of Jesus’ sayings?
  • Is it possible to love your enemies?

If you have even a passing interest in the Middle East this is a must read.

You can purchase this book at RandomHouse.com: Here>>>

What is the “must read” book for 2010 and why?  I’ll choose one from the notes below to send a free copy of “Tea with Hezbollah”.  Entry must include email.

(This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.)

Great day of fishing – you won’t believe what I caught!

Pastor Mark Bjorlo

Special thanks to Steve Kohls for the photo

“On Thursday, Journey North church leaders and dozens of Geritol Frolics supporters filled the Brainerd School Board Facilities Committee meeting to find out how the district intends to handle potential scheduling conflicts for the auditorium. Neither party was invited to speak at the meeting.

The issue arose after Pastor Mark Bjorlo inquired whether the church could lease the auditorium on Saturday nights to begin hosting an additional worship service.”

READ THE STORY HERE>>>

Elizabeth and I spent a week in at Selah Inn at the Ranch in Texas through  Pastors Retreat Network.  While we were there we spent the bulk of our days reading, praying and taking long walks.  It really was a great extended Sabbath Rest. 

While we were there I read one book that I want to recomend you add to the must read list for 2010, “Primal” by Mark Batterson.

Mark strips away the religious attitudes and posturing that many Christians so easily slip into, and calls Christians to live a life that more accurately portrays the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.  He has an artful way of bringing the most important issues of faith to the surface and it caused me to deeply desire to press into the Lord.

When I was in Kiev, Ukraine I visited St. Sophia Cathedral and the ancient catacombs.  Mark shared in “Primal” about his visit to the Church of San Clemente in Rome.  He set the premise of the book on top of the visceral experience of traversing down into the ancient space created by our spiritual ancestors.  He writes,

I’ll never forget my descent down that flight of stairs.  The air became damp, and we could hear underground springs.  We carefully navigated each step as we lost some of our light.  And our voices echoed off the low ceiling and narrow walkway.  Almost like the wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia, that flight of stairs was like a portal to a different time, a different place.  It was as if those stairs took us back two thousand years in time.  With each step, a layer of history was stripped away until all that was left was Christianity in all it primal glory.

As we navigated those claustrophobic catacombs, I was overcome by the fact that I was standing in the place where my spiritual ancestors risked everything, even their lives, to worship God.  And I felt a profound mixture of gratitude and conviction.

Perhaps it was because of my time in the catacombs of Ukraine or maybe it was just a profound desire to see my faith uncluttered, real and passionate that the words of this book impacted me.  As I read they jumped off the page and called me to live my life from this primal place of conviction.  Thanks Mark. Read the rest of this entry »

Five pastors were arrested without a warrant in China’s Shanxi Province as they were en route to file a complaint over the demolition of their church building and have been sentenced to prison terms of three to seven years. Fushan house-church leaders were sentenced to prison for “illegally occupying farming land” and “disturbing transportation order by gathering masses.” On Sept 13 in the early morning hours, some 400 uniformed police and civilians bearing shovels, batons, bricks, iron hooks and other weapons had beaten members of the church who were sleeping at the nearly finished factory building used as a worship site. With several Fushan County officials involved in the attack, dozens of Christians were seriously injured among the more than 100 who were hurt, one aid organization reported. According to The Epoch Times, a church member’s relative obtained a license to build the factory and was allowing the group to meet there, as the church was growing too large to meet in homes and the building could hold up to 400 people. The Beijing PSB has represented the demolition and attack on the church as a response to a “violent uprising.” Many state the case clearly demonstrated a deteriorating state of religious freedom in China and have called upon the international community, including the U.S. administration, to express concern. The pastors have led the Fushan Church, part of a 50,000-strong house church network in Linfen and the surrounding villages, for more than 30 years.

Christian Post 12/2/09

Brad Lomenick, director of the Atlanta-based Catalyst movement for young leaders, shares five key leadership lessons he learned in his 20s. These lessons apply to young church leaders and, really, any young leader in any capacity:


  1. Use your 20s to build a foundation for your 70s. Create deep roots that will give you a foundation for when you are older. Finishing well means starting well.
  2. Don’t worry about climbing the ladder. There’s no longer a ladder anyway; it’s more like one of those spiral staircases. And sometimes you are going across or down when you think you might be climbing. So don’t worry about it. Spend your 2’s learning and having life experiences. Travel, explore the world, take on projects that seem fun.
  3. If your “career” path doesn’t make sense to anyone except for you, it’s okay. For example, when in his 20s, I was in college at University of Oklahoma, a wrangler on a guest ranch in Colorado, a management consultant, a business development officer with a magazine and media company, and a strategic business plan developer. That is all over the map. But God was orchestrating steps very clearly for what was next in my story. And He continues to do so.
  4. Be diligent and aggressive in developing your friendships and relationships. Create a core group of close friends who you want to do life with. This group may change a bit over the years, but it is imperative to find a circle of trust that you are committed to and they to you.
  5. Figure out who you want to be, not what you want to do. Who you are is more important that what you do or where you live—spiritually, financially, family, emotionally, relationally. Find two or three older, wise “sages” that you can learn from and count on as help.

Brad Lomenick, On The Journey 10/1/09

Some of you know that my brother in-law died two weeks ago.  The funeral was last Thursday in Gresham Or, Randy Alcorn’s stomping grounds.  I have just picked up his new book and wanted to share it with you because every one of us will experience suffering. There is no way around it, a ton of people that are in our circles of influence are experiencing it now. I really don’t know anyIf God is Goodone who doesn’t believe evil is real in our world.  We don’t always know how to talk about it.   Sometimes we don’t even know how to process it.

Randy Alcorn goes after the often hard but timeless questions:  How do we navigate the really difficult times?  I think that most people ask a lot of questions about God when they experience suffering or hardship.  Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

On the publishers site it says, “These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.  Alcorn offers a different approach and challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.  From his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever.”

I know that the author hoped this book would be more than just great stories but a book that set us (as Christian readers) up to better talk about issues of faith.  As I read this book, I am finding myself better equipped to share my faith with great clarity as I read this book.

It also says on the publisher site, “As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.”  I would sure agree with that.

You can buy the book from Random House>>>

Request a complimentary copy of Tortured for Christ for your friends.

It was the book that shocked the nation. After surviving 14 years in communist prisons, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand came to America to proclaim the trials and testimonies of our persecuted brothers and sisters.

In Tortured for Christ, Wurmbrand tells of his imprisonment for his work with the underground church and introduces the work of The Voice of the Martyrs. Forty years later, The Voice of the Martyrs remains true to its calling to be a voice for persecuted Christians, to serve with them in their time of need and to assist them in their efforts to proclaim the gospel.

We would like to extend this special opportunity for you to request a complimentary copy of Tortured for Christ for yourself and your Christian friends. Help spread the message of today’s persecuted church. Simply follow the link below.

I would like to request a complimentary copy of 
Tortured for Christ
 for my friend(s).

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While I am the lead pastor at The Journey North Community Church, they are in no way responsible for what happens here. Its all my fault. You can expect thoughts about spiritual growth, leadership and church planting but you are just as likely to run into my completely random thoughts or finds. Consider yourself warned...
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