Well, it's been a while since i wrote.
I'm currently sat in the house connected to our community house here in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I've been here a week, and it has been awesome.
The interns and leaders here feel like family already. They love my accent, and keep getting me to say "for Narnia". I've been to Taco Bell, IHOP (the pancake one) and the local mall, and actually shot a shotgun - crazy!
God has been doing amazing stuff here. Everyone is so passionate for God, pretty much every worship time has gone from worship to the prophetic to intercession. I've already had several full-on encounters with God. He's been giving me His heart for the lost and broken, America, and the Muslims.
From Sunday to Tuesday we had a lady called Karen Dunham teaching. She is an amazing lady who works in Israel in Palestinian refugee camps in Jerusalem. She's had her house set on fire 7 times, but continues to love Palestinians, and has a church of 300, some former Hamas members. God willing, we're going to visit her in Israel for 4 weeks in January/Febrary.
She taught us amazing stuff about encountering the Father, and about us being a group of prophets. We spent a couple of hours prophecying over each other one day - it was really powerful.
From wednesday til today we had Roger Joyner with us. He's an amazingly passionate intercessor, and he taught us great stuff about intercession. God has led us into times of intercession for this city, and the USA. Today we prayed for Muslims, as there was a gathering planned of 50,000 Muslims in Washington, D.C., and ended up interceding for Europe.
So, it's been a really intense beginning week, really amazing, and God's gonna change us all radically in these 9 months
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Time in Pyhäranta
Arrived back in Jakomäki today having spent 2 weeks in Pyhäranta (Holy beach). I had a great time. The place was beautiful, particularly in the second week which was sunny and warm (25C+) most of the time. It was great to be able to spend lots of time with some of the Network4youth family - working, playing, and resting.
The second week was pretty intense - i was helping run the children's programme at a family camp run by Deep Healing Finland. The camp was about inner healing, spiritual warfare, and that whole area - pretty interesting. It was great to see God working in the kids' lives, and the whole camp had a family atmosphere.
God taught me quite a lot about the importance of spiritual warfare, and also about how He is working in our lives all the time. We had some great times of worship, and learned a lot from the amazing people i was with.
It seems quite likely that i'll be going to Oklahoma in September for a 'Burning Ones' internship. I felt like God said to me last week while i was leading worship "this is what i created you for". I'm leaving it open before Him, but it seems that He is leading me to go.
I've been reading PunkMonk recently, and the idea that we are pilgrims here on the earth really spoke to me. I'm not in this for the end result; i'm in this for the journey with God.
The second week was pretty intense - i was helping run the children's programme at a family camp run by Deep Healing Finland. The camp was about inner healing, spiritual warfare, and that whole area - pretty interesting. It was great to see God working in the kids' lives, and the whole camp had a family atmosphere.
God taught me quite a lot about the importance of spiritual warfare, and also about how He is working in our lives all the time. We had some great times of worship, and learned a lot from the amazing people i was with.
It seems quite likely that i'll be going to Oklahoma in September for a 'Burning Ones' internship. I felt like God said to me last week while i was leading worship "this is what i created you for". I'm leaving it open before Him, but it seems that He is leading me to go.
I've been reading PunkMonk recently, and the idea that we are pilgrims here on the earth really spoke to me. I'm not in this for the end result; i'm in this for the journey with God.
Monday, May 11, 2009
An interesting weekend
on friday evening, a 24-3 prayer weekend began in Helsingin Kristillinen Koulu, Jakomäki (where such events as 'GearUp' have taken place). I spent about 11 hours there in total, including a shift from 4am til 8am early saturday morning.
It was really cool, and God is definitely at work in Jakomäki. I heard, from people who were there at some point on Sunday, that three local boys asked to come into the prayer room, shared all that was in their hearts and gave their lives to Jesus! Praise the Lord! It has been great to be part of what God is doing here.
I also went to the meeting of a Latin American church that meets in Malmi with Mikko Lassila. It was kinda funny being there, with Spanish, translated into Finnish at the front, with mikko translating to English for me for some of it. The preach was by an Indian man speaking in English, which was cool.
Having spent about 10 days in Holland, and most of the last 9 months in Finland, I'm getting pretty used to not understanding stuff. I actually quite enjoy it. It's funny to think how international i'm becoming.
One more experience from the weekend: I was walking from my place to the office (3 minute walk, so convenient) and i saw an old lady doing gardening next to the office. I walked inside the office, and was listening to worship music at the time. In my mind, i just said "John, you have to go and offer to help her." So i did; it took a while as all my Finnish just flew out of my memory. It turned out she was just finishing. Then I asked if i could pray for her (totally forgot the verb to pray - rukoilla - so it involved putting my hands together and pointing to the sky). I understood that she wanted prayer for her sight and hearing, so i prayed for her. I then found out that she lives in the building next to where i live.
all in all, a pretty gd wkend
It was really cool, and God is definitely at work in Jakomäki. I heard, from people who were there at some point on Sunday, that three local boys asked to come into the prayer room, shared all that was in their hearts and gave their lives to Jesus! Praise the Lord! It has been great to be part of what God is doing here.
I also went to the meeting of a Latin American church that meets in Malmi with Mikko Lassila. It was kinda funny being there, with Spanish, translated into Finnish at the front, with mikko translating to English for me for some of it. The preach was by an Indian man speaking in English, which was cool.
Having spent about 10 days in Holland, and most of the last 9 months in Finland, I'm getting pretty used to not understanding stuff. I actually quite enjoy it. It's funny to think how international i'm becoming.
One more experience from the weekend: I was walking from my place to the office (3 minute walk, so convenient) and i saw an old lady doing gardening next to the office. I walked inside the office, and was listening to worship music at the time. In my mind, i just said "John, you have to go and offer to help her." So i did; it took a while as all my Finnish just flew out of my memory. It turned out she was just finishing. Then I asked if i could pray for her (totally forgot the verb to pray - rukoilla - so it involved putting my hands together and pointing to the sky). I understood that she wanted prayer for her sight and hearing, so i prayed for her. I then found out that she lives in the building next to where i live.
all in all, a pretty gd wkend
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Soul Survivor Holland
Hei
I got back from Holland on Monday afternoon (should have been Sunday eve, but missed plane). it was a pretty amazing time.
Soul Survivor Holland was great. We met loads of amazing people and saw God doing so much. it was wonderful to be part of the ministry team. I got to pray for lots of people, which was really cool, and the ministry team meetings were awesome - God did so much in us all. It was a privilege to be part of it.
God spoke a lot to me about letting go of my life, and about prophetic worship and intercession. I feel like that could be the general direction i'm heading in. I had some crazy experiences of the Holy Spirit, and God is beginning to give me more of the burden of His heart. I have been asking Him for this, as i see that in my strength i can't love people as He does.
i realise that i now have less than 3 months left of my EU project left - crazy. i still don't really know what God wants my next step to be, but i'm not too worried about that. As i seek Him, He will sort everything out.
bless you
i will try to write here more often
john
I got back from Holland on Monday afternoon (should have been Sunday eve, but missed plane). it was a pretty amazing time.
Soul Survivor Holland was great. We met loads of amazing people and saw God doing so much. it was wonderful to be part of the ministry team. I got to pray for lots of people, which was really cool, and the ministry team meetings were awesome - God did so much in us all. It was a privilege to be part of it.
God spoke a lot to me about letting go of my life, and about prophetic worship and intercession. I feel like that could be the general direction i'm heading in. I had some crazy experiences of the Holy Spirit, and God is beginning to give me more of the burden of His heart. I have been asking Him for this, as i see that in my strength i can't love people as He does.
i realise that i now have less than 3 months left of my EU project left - crazy. i still don't really know what God wants my next step to be, but i'm not too worried about that. As i seek Him, He will sort everything out.
bless you
i will try to write here more often
john
Monday, March 23, 2009
a few thoughts
moi
i thought i'd just write a bit about stuff i've been thinking about recently.
i've been reading a book called "Desire" by John Eldredge. it's dealing a lot with the heart, which is something God's been talking about recently. Foundational to it is the idea that we were created for Eden, and that the desires of our heart arise from that.
It has really encouraged me to live with the hope of eternity in my heart, and taught me not to try to arrange for my 'perfect life' in this lifetime. It has shown me that my deepest desires are God-given, and He loves to fulfill them. Psalm 37:5 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Also, i just read Chris Mooney's most recent blog (on suffering), and i thought i'd write a little on the subject.
Now firstly, i can't say i've ever truly suffered like, for example, David suffered.
But from what i can see in the Bible, God allows suffering. God wants to deal with our hearts, and this isn't usually a comfortable experience. As a Father who loves us, He wants us to grow and become all we can be. If my life is aways easy, then I may become complacent and lose my focus on God.
For example, as i read this morning in Revelation 2:10, God tells the church in Smyrna "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."
blessings
john
i thought i'd just write a bit about stuff i've been thinking about recently.
i've been reading a book called "Desire" by John Eldredge. it's dealing a lot with the heart, which is something God's been talking about recently. Foundational to it is the idea that we were created for Eden, and that the desires of our heart arise from that.
It has really encouraged me to live with the hope of eternity in my heart, and taught me not to try to arrange for my 'perfect life' in this lifetime. It has shown me that my deepest desires are God-given, and He loves to fulfill them. Psalm 37:5 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Also, i just read Chris Mooney's most recent blog (on suffering), and i thought i'd write a little on the subject.
Now firstly, i can't say i've ever truly suffered like, for example, David suffered.
But from what i can see in the Bible, God allows suffering. God wants to deal with our hearts, and this isn't usually a comfortable experience. As a Father who loves us, He wants us to grow and become all we can be. If my life is aways easy, then I may become complacent and lose my focus on God.
For example, as i read this morning in Revelation 2:10, God tells the church in Smyrna "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."
blessings
john
Monday, February 16, 2009
my heart
hey there
God's been doing some amazing stuff in my life recently. I'm beginning to see more and more that my life without Him is nothing, and that He deserves everything I am and have.
I've had loads of cool experiences of God recently. On a couple of occasions this was an experience of Him loving me as a Daddy, which was awesome. Also, recently in meetings where a guy from Denmark has been preaching, God has been doing amazing stuff. This weekend i was in three of these gatherings, and God touched me with His power and left me shaking on the floor for about 10 mins. This happened on two occasions.
He has really been freeing me and dealing with my heart. A couple of weeks ago i found myself asking to take out my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. He was listening, and has proceeded to deal with issues in my heart, such as pride and cynicism. It's not that nice to realise that you need to change, but it's wonderful when you feel God doing that work in you.
So yeah, i feel more in love with God than ever before, and it's wonderful.
I know that i don't need to worry about my future or whatever, but simply seek God's kingdom and run after Him.
here's a couple of quotes:
"Father, hide our hearts in you, lest we steal them back, and lay them at the feet of men." from a song called Love Jealous One, Love by As Cities Burn
"what does this world need: gifted men and women, outwardly empowered? Or individuals who are broken, inwardly transformed?" from A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
blessings
john
God's been doing some amazing stuff in my life recently. I'm beginning to see more and more that my life without Him is nothing, and that He deserves everything I am and have.
I've had loads of cool experiences of God recently. On a couple of occasions this was an experience of Him loving me as a Daddy, which was awesome. Also, recently in meetings where a guy from Denmark has been preaching, God has been doing amazing stuff. This weekend i was in three of these gatherings, and God touched me with His power and left me shaking on the floor for about 10 mins. This happened on two occasions.
He has really been freeing me and dealing with my heart. A couple of weeks ago i found myself asking to take out my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. He was listening, and has proceeded to deal with issues in my heart, such as pride and cynicism. It's not that nice to realise that you need to change, but it's wonderful when you feel God doing that work in you.
So yeah, i feel more in love with God than ever before, and it's wonderful.
I know that i don't need to worry about my future or whatever, but simply seek God's kingdom and run after Him.
here's a couple of quotes:
"Father, hide our hearts in you, lest we steal them back, and lay them at the feet of men." from a song called Love Jealous One, Love by As Cities Burn
"what does this world need: gifted men and women, outwardly empowered? Or individuals who are broken, inwardly transformed?" from A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
blessings
john
Monday, December 1, 2008
Fragrance of Christ
well, on saturday, i was on my way to Risteyspaikka youth meeting, where i was leading worship in the evening (which involved getting three buses).
So, i got to the second bus stop, and a guy sat on the bench started to talk to me. Obviously, he was talking in Finnish, so i said something along the lines of "Anteksi, olen englantilainen. Puhun vahan suomea."
So then he began to talk to me in his broken english. As i sat next to him and he continued talking, i could smell and hear that he was kinda drunk.
We talked about random stuff for a bit.
Then Jari (the guy) got his phone out and asked me if i knew the song he played on his phone - it was "Turn your eyes upon Jesus" and he told me he believed in Jesus - pretty cool, although not at all what i was expecting. He also played "Silent night" which he also had on his phone. He then asked me to play my guitar (which i had with me). So we sat in the bus shelter, singing what words we could remember of silent night. The other people around were clearly slightly freaked out by what was going on - they probs figured i was drunk too.
We talked about Christmas, God and the Jari's Lutheran background for a bit, and then my bus came.
I'm not sure how much of it he would remember, but i'm pretty sure God sent me there to spend about 20 minutes just talking to Jari.
As it says in 2 Corinthians 2, "Through us, He [God] brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance." (the message)
bless you
john
So, i got to the second bus stop, and a guy sat on the bench started to talk to me. Obviously, he was talking in Finnish, so i said something along the lines of "Anteksi, olen englantilainen. Puhun vahan suomea."
So then he began to talk to me in his broken english. As i sat next to him and he continued talking, i could smell and hear that he was kinda drunk.
We talked about random stuff for a bit.
Then Jari (the guy) got his phone out and asked me if i knew the song he played on his phone - it was "Turn your eyes upon Jesus" and he told me he believed in Jesus - pretty cool, although not at all what i was expecting. He also played "Silent night" which he also had on his phone. He then asked me to play my guitar (which i had with me). So we sat in the bus shelter, singing what words we could remember of silent night. The other people around were clearly slightly freaked out by what was going on - they probs figured i was drunk too.
We talked about Christmas, God and the Jari's Lutheran background for a bit, and then my bus came.
I'm not sure how much of it he would remember, but i'm pretty sure God sent me there to spend about 20 minutes just talking to Jari.
As it says in 2 Corinthians 2, "Through us, He [God] brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance." (the message)
bless you
john
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