Dear Prayer Team,God is good! I can't explain in detail what has happened even in the last 4 days. I spoke at New Song Church LA, Harvest Rock Prophetic Conference, Organic Church Conference and One Vision (Corporate Unity Night for UCLA) this past weekend. Phew! At each gathering, hundreds of students re-encountered God's presence, were challenged in prayer and were envisioned to start simple churches on campuses. It has been physically tiring, but I really feel God's GRACE on me to persevere in this season. It has been well worth it to see the hearts of students return to seek God's face, know Him more and spread His love to their campuses!!!
MASSIVE PRAYER NEEDED FOR TAIWAN STUDENT CRUSADES AND LEADERSHIP TRAININGS!!!In a few hours I leave from Los Angeles to Taipei, Taiwan for 2 weeks of non-stop MIRACLE CRUSADES for students and LEADERSHIP TRAINING sessions with students, pastors and church planters in Taipei. This will seriously be an INTENSE trip and I need all the prayer I can get. I will be be speaking nearly 20 times in revival meetings, ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit and releasing the PROPHETIC. Please pray dedicated prayers for the following...
1. Feb 6-9 "Taiwan for Jesus" Student Crusades. We will hold 3 nights of miracle crusades with Pst. Philip Mantofa and myself, at the largest outdoor stadium in Taipei, Taiwan. We are believing God for thousands of salvations, divine healing and demonic deliverances to be released, hundreds of new evangelistic Bible studies to be started that will result in multiplying student-led simple churches. Pray for open heaven, revival and breakthrough!
2. Jan 31-Feb 11 Leadership Trainings: I will be training hundreds of student leaders, pastors and church planters in "leadership development, prophetic evangelism, divine healing, core identity, intimacy with Christ and simple church planting" Please keep me in daily prayer as I will be speaking everyday, pray for me not to lose my voice and to sustain my physical and spiritual health as each training session really takes a toll on my body and mind, please pray for grace to minister effectively.
4. PRAY FOR TRUE REVIVAL IN ME AND TAIWAN: Please do pray, that I GET MY HEART BACK, this is what I have been fighting for lately. Just to get INTIMACY WITH CHRIST back into my heart, in first place and feeling His pleasure. If this happens, I truly believe we are going to see HISTORY MADE in Taiwan, the multitudes coming daily to Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit breaking out all over the nation! Pray I get the Holy Spirit's messages for each gathering, that I carry His anointing and presence in increased measure.
I will be meeting with the "5 Brothers" (Pastor Ewen & Jon Chow, Timothy Yen and Philip Mantofa) on Feb 5 to hear from the Holy Spirit and discuss strategies on "Taking Asia for Christ" the Feb 6-9 Crusades will be our first collaboration to reach students together, it will be the continuation of great revival fire that will spread all over this nation and to East Asia Back to Jerusalem!
Pray also for Sam Kim who is one of our leaders at Passion Church at UCLA who will be joining me during the crusade, pray he has a safe trip and we will work in unity and one heart for this revival mission.
Thank you all for your prayers, we need it big time on this mission trip. God is going to do AMAZING WONDERS, let's do this together!
Praying for Revival in Taiwan,
Jaeson
I started my Fuller Seminary courses again. The classes I am taking are online, they are great courses focusing on Global Leadership. At the same time, I have been deeply overwhelmed with making sure I do my coursework with excellence, while still doing local ministry in LA and itinerant traveling. Please do keep me in your prayers, especially for the rest of this month and the entire month of February. I will be gone 5 straight weeks equipping leaders in Asia and the US in prayer and campus church planting. Somehow I feel the grace of God on all that is in front of me, more than anything else I am just crying out for my heart to encounter God's affections at a deeper level. To know the depths of His emotions and the pleasures of His heart towards me. More and more, I realize the more you do with God, the more time you need in His presence. Without His presence I can do nothing. A leader is not a leader, unless he has something to give. You can't give, what you don't have. If we do ministry for God, but lose our relationship with Him, then what is the point? Our first ministry is not to change the world for Christ, our first ministry is intimacy with Christ. I want my heart to feel His pleasure, I want my heart to feel the gladness of God, I want my heart to come alive with life when I close my eyes to pray, when I drive on the freeway, when I walk onto campus, when I prepare to preach, I want to know and live in the pleasure of God. I want Him, I don't want ministry, I want Him. This battle is fierce, it is the battle for our hearts. I look before me, and the needs and responsibilities seem to never exhaust, but one thing I desire, even if I have to lose it all, or get an "F" on a paper, I'd rather fail my class, then lose my intimacy with Christ. We were created for relationship with God, not just any God, but a God that if you truly knew His wonder, you would be so utterly ruined, you would only desire one thing: His presence. I want God to ruin me again, the way I was ruined at 18 with no care in the world, when I didn't have to look at the clock, when I could just be wasted in His presence for hours, simply just to be with Him to be with Him. I don't want to die a preacher, I want to die a lovesick worshipper, in love with Jesus each day more than the day before. Take me to that place again Lord, give me grace to keep You cherished in my heart, even when there is so much to do before me, that I would not trade You for anything, I need grace to make it, I need grace to stay in Your joy, oh God of gladness fill me with your everlasting pleasures forevermore! Keep me from busyness, discipline me in Your love, never let me lose this one thing, the JOY of Your presence upon my heart. God, let my heart "feel" again Your passion, Your gladness, Your delight, Your happy heart. Help me Lord, I need to walk with You, not by myself. Enoch walked with you, he must have felt such joy in Your presence, I want that consistency, God give me grace to follow.
Psalm 16:8-11
8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. 10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Pray for UCLA, that God would unite the Body of Christ on this campus for one sole purpose, to lift up JESUS CHRIST so that all men, all women, on this university would be drawn unto Him. Please pray for 1/29/07 that God would bring His people at UCLA, from every local church, fellowship, ministing into One Heart, One Accord, One Vision for His glory. Amen
House Churches Are More Satisfying to Attenders Than Are Conventional ChurchesI received permission from the Barna Group to publish the following research article on the rising tide of house or simple churches arising in North America. Mike Bickle received a prophecy years ago,
"I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the whole earth in one generation" Prophetically, God is restoring the heart of His Church, by releasing revelation for the Church worldwide to understand it's identity as a Bride and He as Bridegroom. It is a revealing of the sons and daughters of God (Romans 8) who know their identity as a cherished Bride in Christ, unblemished and unashamed. Apostolically, the Church is going through a major shift in its structure, being restored back to its New Testament apostolic roots. Namely, a house church movement of
people, not buildings, programs or personalities running the show, but Jesus at the head of His army, releasing a nameless and faceless generation empowered to walk in the fullness of destiny in this urgent hour for a great end time harvest. It is not about going to church, but being the church, everyday, every place, where we are, till kingdom come! Whether on a college campus, in the workplace or in a neighborhood, we are to "be and do church" proclaiming the kingdom of God has come. Where two or three gather, in His name, His authority is established and His power is made available to make disciples of all nations.
I am encouraged, I just got back from 3 weeks of speaking and equipping thousands of students all over Asia and the US. Young adults everywhere are catching the vision and are realizing they have "permission" to "GO" and do all that Jesus has commanded them to do. House or simple churches are being started by students among pockets of un-reached student groups on their campuses, others in their workplace. I just got an report of a student starting a evangelistic Bible study in a fraternity house for his lost friends, making disciples there, doing church there, I just got an email from a friend who has started a prayer meeting at Google.com praying and contending for heaven on earth to be released in the most powerful internet company on the planet. Yet, it only takes two, to start a revolution for Christ. Study Luke 10:1-11 this week, study the Scriptures diligently to see how Jesus sent out the 70 as missionaries, two by two, and do the same, where you are. Be and do church. For God is raising up an army of ordinary people who will do extraordinary works for His glory! Don't just read the Bible, do the Bible, and watch the miracle working power of God be released from words to reality! Get ready for the shift!
Barna Article below,
House Churches Are More Satisfying to Attenders Than Are Conventional ChurchesJanuary 8, 2007(Ventura, CA) - With the growth of house churches across the country, a new study by The Barna Group sheds light on how these independent, non-denominational churches operate.
Levels of SatisfactionPerhaps the most compelling insight from the national study was an evaluation of the levels of satisfaction of those who attend a house church compared with the views of adults who attend a conventional local church. Four aspects of people's church experience were gauged. Overall, people attending a house church were significantly more likely to be "completely satisfied" with their experience in each of the four dimensions examined.
Two-thirds of house church attenders (68%) were "completely satisfied" with the leadership of their church, compared to only half of those attending a conventional church (49%).
Two-thirds of the house church adherents (66%) were "completely satisfied" with the faith commitment of the people involved in their gathering. In contrast, only four out of ten people attending a conventional church (40%) were similarly satisfied with the faith commitment of the people in their congregation.
Three out of five house church adults (61%) were "completely satisfied" with the level of community and personal connectedness they experience, compared to only two out of five adults who are involved in a conventional church (41%).
A majority of those in a house (59%) said they were "completely satisfied" with the spiritual depth they experience in their house church setting. In contrast, a minority of the adults involved in a conventional church were "completely satisfied" (46%).
The Nature of the GatheringsThe nationwide research also provided a unique profile of what takes place in the typical house church, and who is involved.
Most house churches (80%) meet every week, while 11% meet on a monthly basis. The most common meeting days are Wednesday (27%) and Sunday (25%), while one out of every five (20%) varies the days of the week on which they meet.
The typical house church gathering lasts for about two hours. Only 7% meet for less than an hour, on average, while only 9% usually stay together for more than three hours at a time.
While most conventional churches follow the same format week after week, four of every ten house churches (38%) say that the format they follow varies from meeting to meeting. The proportion of home gatherings that typically engage in spiritual practices include:
# 93% have spoken prayer during their meetings
# 90% read from the Bible
# 89% spend time serving people outside of their group
# 87% devote time to sharing personal needs or experiences
# 85% spend time eating and talking before or after the meeting
# 83% discuss the teaching provided
# 76% have a formal teaching time
# 70% incorporate music or singing
# 58% have a prophecy or special word delivered
# 52% take an offering from participants that is given to ministries
# 51% share communion
# 41% watch a video presentation as part of the learning experience
Most house churches are family-oriented. Two out of every three house churches (64%) have children involved. Those churches are divided evenly between those who have the adults and children together throughout the meeting (41%) and those who keep them separated (38%). The remaining churches divide their time between having everyone together and having time when the children and adults are separated.
The ParticipantsThe average size of a house church is 20 people; in the home churches that include children, there is an average of about seven children under the age of 18 involved. The rapid growth in house church activity is evident in the fact that half of the people (54%) currently engaged in an independent home fellowship have been participating for less than three months. In total, three out of every four house church participants (75%) have been active in their current gathering for a year or less. One out of every five adults has been in their house church for three years or more.
The research found that there are two types of people being attracted to house churches. The older participants, largely drawn from the Boomer population, are devout Christians who are seeking a deeper and more intense experience with God and other believers. The other substantial segment is young adults who are interested in faith and spirituality but have little interest in the traditional forms of church. Their quest is largely one of escaping outdated structures and institutions.
Still in ProcessThe survey also indicated that there is likely to be more change in the house church environment in the years to come. The ideas of worshipping in homes rather than church buildings, and being led by group members rather than religious professionals, are new to most Americans. The survey suggested that many people are just beginning to think about, and get comfortable with, the idea of homes being the dominant place for shared faith experiences.
Currently, just four out of every ten regular house church attenders (42%) rely exclusively upon a house church as their primary "church" experience. Many of the others - including a large proportion that has been involved for just a few months - are checking out the approach before they shift their allegiance from a conventional to a house church - if they make the shift at all.
Another indication of the nascent state of the house church movement in the U.S. is people’s perception regarding the biblical grounds for meeting in homes. Among adults who consider themselves to be Christian and who do not attend a house church, six out of ten (57%) believe that attending a house church instead of a conventional church satisfies the biblical command to be part of a spiritual community that follows Jesus Christ. Overall, just one out of five conventionally-churched adults (19%) dismissed the house church approach as unbiblical.
Changing the ChurchGeorge Barna, who directed the study, said that the results indicate that the biggest obstacle to the growth of the house church movement is not theological but cultural.
"Americans are emotionally open to belonging to a house church, and surprisingly few have any real objections to others joining such a community of faith," explained the author of three-dozen books on faith in America. "But the main deterrent to house church growth is that most people are spiritually complacent; they are not looking to upgrade their spiritual experience. Compared to conventional church attenders, house church adherents are much more likely to say that they have experienced faith-driven transformation, to prioritize their relationship with God, and to desire a more fulfilling community of faith.
"Those who attend a conventional church are generally content to show up and accept whatever their church has on the agenda; they place the responsibility for their spiritual growth on the shoulders of the church," according to Barna. "We found that most conventional church goers have no desire to help improve their congregation’s ministry, nor do they feel a need to increase their personal spiritual responsibility.
"On the other hand," he continued, "the intimacy and shared responsibility found in most house churches requires each participant to be more serious about their faith development. Clearly, the house church experience is not for everyone."
Research Details
The data in this report are from a pair of national surveys conducted by The Barna Group with a random sample of adults, age 18 and older, conducted in August and October 2006. In total, 2008 adults were interviewed. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the aggregate sample to known population percentages in relation to demographic variables.
In these surveys, a house church was described as "a group of believers that meets regularly in a home or place other than a church building. These groups are not part of a typical church; they meet independently, are self-governed and consider themselves to be a complete church on their own... (They are) sometimes known as a house church or simple church, (and are) not associated in any way with a local, congregational type of church."
The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website www.barna.org
© The Barna Group, Ltd, 2007.
Copyright Disclaimer: All the information contained on the barna.org website is copyrighted by The Barna Group, Ltd., 1957 Eastman Ave. Ste B, Ventura, California 93003. No portion of this website (articles, graphs, charts, reviews, pictures, video clips, quotes, statistics, etc.) may be reproduced, retransmitted, disseminated, sold, distributed, published, edited, altered, changed, broadcast, circulated, or commercially exploited without the prior written permission from The Barna Group, Ltd.
This is one strategic gathering you will not want to miss on the rising tide of organic church movements in North America. The line up of speakers is prophetically intelligent and apostolic in practice, to find out more go to:
http://cmaresources.org/greenhouse/conference.asp
# Friday night: (6-10 PM including a full served dinner at 6 PM)
Neil Cole (author of Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens and Cultivating a Life for God) will speak on: "Why didn't I take the Blue Pill: speaking candidly about the darkside of Organic Church"
Reggie McNeal (author of Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, Revolution in Leadership: Training Apostles for Tomorrows Church, will speak about: "Qualities of a Missional Leader"
# Saturday Morning: (8 Am - 11:45 includes a continental breakfast early and a buffet lunch)
Alan Hirsch (co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church, and author of the newly released Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church) will speak on: "Jesus made me do it: acting our way into new ways of thinking"
Ori Brafman (co-author of The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations) "Starfish Organizations: the unstoppable power of decentralized movements"
# Sunday Afternoon: (1-4 PM includes a buffet lunch before)
Felicity Dale (author of An Army of Ordinary People, Getting Started, and co-author of Simply Church) will speak on: "Mobilizing the other half of the army: Women in leadership roles"
Wolfgang Simson (author of Houses That Change the World) will speak on: "Thinking prophetically and acting apostolically"
There will be also an incredible line up of workshop presenters. I will be doing a
equipping seminar on Sunday on
"Organic Church Planting On College Campuses"
Haha, HAPPY NEW YEAR WORLD :) God is soooooooo amazingly good eh? I don't know why I'm just so stoked, full of faith, excited and hopeful for this new year. God is about to release a joy, a presence, a new harvest like we have never seen! More so, just to know that GOD LOVES ME, LIKE ME, BLESSES ME yesterday, today and forever is just an awesome thot eh? Haha, I have no idea why I say eh? God thinks you are WONDERFUL eh? Yes He does! He thinks I am WONDERFUL too, and I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. Yeah, I have my masters program starting again, training engagements non-stop for the next 3 months, but GOD'S GOT IT. I was a bit overwhelmed coming back yesterday from a 3 week road trip, felt spiritual warfare at every level, but then I've been listening to this song by Vicky Beeching, "Captivated", dude, soooo good. When you look into His beauty, into His face, His wonderful eyes, His amazing grace, His wonderful holiness, His almighty power, you know, there is a peace that everything is going to be okay. God is speaking, He is moving, He is working, He is alive and well, and aint nothing going to stop Him from being and doing good, may we SPREAD HIS LOVE to the ends of the earth this year, first by starting with each soul that walks in our path today. Love God and love somebody today, it will make a world of difference :)
2007 here I come in Jesus name! woOHOOoOOoooO!
Rumble West Coast 2007January 4, 5 and 6, 2007:Join Lou Engle, Banning Liebscher, Corey Russell, Brian Kim, Isa Couvertier and Jonathan David Helser for three days of worship, intercession and preaching that will inspire you to dream dreams big enough to change cities and nations- if you act on them and trust God wants to take the "im" out of possible.
About: This is an interactive three days of passionate worship, heartrending prayer, and fresh strategies that will have the power to turn the heart of the coast and nation back to God. So often it is said, "As California goes, so goes the nation." We believe that
"As the church goes, so goes the nation!!!" If ever there is a time to break free of lackadaisical, complacent Christianity, this is it. We stand in the face of looming giants in the areas of immorality, unrighteousness and injustice that are empowered by humanistic mindsets perpetuated by our universities, the media, and sometimes even church officials. These giants are taunting the army of the Living God.
California is looking for her John the Baptists, Annas, and Nazirites (Numbers 6) to arise again. God is calling the church to fight the battles over the West Coast because of it's far-reaching influence over our nation and also the nations of the world. It is time for an awakening.
This is an hour where God is seeking followers who will, like Aaron in Numbers 16:42-50, run into the midst of the assembly to
stand between the living and the dead and watch the plague stop. On the
third day we will move locations to hold a solemn assembly at the UCSD campus which openly flaunts a 560 foot depiction of Satan as a serpent leading people away from God and up to a huge library called "The Tree of Knowledge". We are being given an invitation in this hour to
contend that the graveyards of our universities receive resurrection life again. It is time for an awakening.
Will you join with us in calling forth an awakening? Will you contend with us that we will redeem the great wells of revival, healing, fasting and prayer that have been dug in this coast? If you are a worshipping David with five smooth stones and a
confidence that giants are meant to fall; if you are the persistent widow of Luke 18, then please run and stand with us on behalf of the nation. The present plague of darkness only begs a great light extinguish it.
Let's awaken the dawn of a new era where justice rolls down like a river.
It is time!For Registration and Schedule/Locations: http://www.jhopsd.com/index.php/home/
