Austin :: Sophomore :: English Education
So I had this dream the night after the prayer meeting that has already been talked about on this blog. It was very vivid and I remember every detail of it. Basically it goes like this:
I walk out of my room to go pray at Saint John's. It's warm outside, and everything is green. I was also wearing a red sweatshirt that I own, which has nothing to do with the dream but I specifically remember that. So I walk down the winding staircase in Friley to get to the entrance I usually leave to go to the room. As I am walking past the delivery dock something catches my eye. Low and behold there are 5-10 thousand people surrounding Lake Laverne. At first it didn't make sense and then I saw there were people in the water. All of these people were waiting to get baptized in Lake Laverne, which may disgust most of you.
That was my dream, it wasn't very long but it sticks in my memory and I long for the day when 5 to 10 thousand people are waiting in masses to get baptized in some of the filthiest water I've seen.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
Back in England in the 1500s, the nation and the church were in a time of uncertainty. The church had begun to split across the continent of Europe. Many were disillusioned with the power that the church in Rome tried to exert over the people. Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door, the 95 things he felt the church had done wrong and needed to change. In some instances this produced good dialogue, in other instances it produced factions and splinter groups that would go so far as to kill one another.
The British Isles, while slightly disconnected from the continent in geography, were not disconnected from the nature of religious conflict. King Henry VIII was the ruler of England. Inspired by the fresh thinking of Martin Luther, he decided that he could take things into his own hands and break away from Rome, declaring himself to be the sole spiritual guardian for the nation. He wasn't inspired by his interpretation of Scripture, he just wanted to make it legal to divorce his wife.
This set off a century of England swinging back and forth in religious allegiance. The heir to the throne after Henry attempted to bring more Protestant reformation, creating the Anglican church, but the Queen who came after him turned the nation to be zealous for the Roman Catholic church. On it went, again getting bloody and violent to the shame of the gospel of Christ.
In the midst of the swinging back and forth, there was a tool that was brought forth at various times to reunite a nation. The Book of Common Prayer, put together by Thomas Cranmer, built off the most common themes in both the Roman tradition and the new Anglican reformation, with many Bible passages throughout. While different kings and queens and peasants could not agree on methods of worship, they could agree on two things: Jesus is Lord and we need to seek Him in prayer. Over a century later, when the nation went into civil war, The Book of Common Prayer was where they turned to bring restoration.
Outside of England, the Anglican Church is referred to as the Episcopalian Church. How fitting it is that a fresh wave of prayer and unity at Iowa State would find its home at St. John's Episcopal church by the campus. As the people who want to follow Jesus, we all have in common this need for prayer.
If you come to the prayer room here at Iowa State, you'll find copies of The Book of Common Prayer scattered throughout the room. You'll probably also find people from other ministries scattered throughout the room as well. Feel free to introduce yourself, get to know them, and join them in the cry to the Lord to move in our midst.
Come, Father, continue to work here. Thank you for those that have gone before to pave the way for us. May you once again unite a campus, a city, a state, a nation in the common need of prayer and the touch of Your Son.
9 years of grudges and back pain healed by Jesus
Young Jae Ahn :: junior :: landscape architecture
There was someone who I had a grudge against for a long time. September 28, 2000, my life had completely changed because of two people. I crossed the road without caution and a driver passed our school bus as I was crossing the road and he hit me. My head hit the car’s windshield and my hair got jammed in the cracks of the window and my blood covered the windshield. My mom said it was the most horrible scene she had ever witnessed. That day was a day before midterm exams so the first thing I said after I hit the car was, “Oh… no. I have screwed up my midterms.” Honestly, after 30 seconds, it didn’t hurt at all so I thought I was ok, but I was not ok. Doing poorly on my midterms was nothing compared with what tortured me for 9 years. Thankfully, only my back bone was broken because I fell down on the lawn not asphalt road.
When I was in the hospital, doctors and nurses immobilized me and I had to use a wheelchair. I could walk but I was not allowed to walk for three months. In that time, I didn’t even feel the pain so I was always complaining. I began to think of what it would be like if he had not hit me. I could hang out with my friends and go to school and so on. I hated him.
After coming back home my pain started. If my back bone pinched once, I had to call my brother or my parents. Even in school, I needed to someone next to me at all times to help me stand or sit even though I did not use a wheelchair. However, I began to heal, little by little, so the pinching in my back was less frequent. On the other hand, I could not sleep without painkillers at least twice a week. It was nearly impossible to sit or stand without the painkillers. Two or three times a year, the left side of my body was paralyzed after dreaming of that accident. I still remember his face. He was crying, and scared. 9 years ago, I didn’t understand what he felt through this accident; I just cared about myself because I was in so much pain. I am not certain, but he may dream about this accident too.
I met three doctors and went through physical rehabilitation, (swimming treatment, injection treatment and massage,) and several medications. The only reason that I did not have surgery was there is no guarantee that it would heal my back. My only wish was to heal my back. I felt that if someone healed my back, I could do anything. All three doctors said there would be no perfect cure because one of the disks between my back bones was pressing nerves so that I would have this pain for the rest of my life.
However, when I came to the United States from Korea, I fell in love with Jesus. This was unexpected because I used to believe that religious people were crazy. After my conversion to Christianity, my back immediately stopped hurting. For the first month, I thought it was weird and that I would probably still need painkillers to fall asleep, but I did not. As time went by, it became clear. I realized that Jesus cured my back after I had begun praying to Him. It has been 6 months without pain. Simply sitting down, watching movies, or writing essays are miracles to me. I wish I could tell the man that hit me that he did not ruin my life, he saved it. He allowed me to see Jesus and Jesus’ power. I still remember that man’s face and I used to hate him, but I do not hate him anymore. I hope he is free from the pain that accident may have caused him, just as I am.
Sometimes, things that seem bad but they are not actually bad. My life has completely changed because of that accident. That accident was not horrible car accident. It was perfect miracle.
John 9:2-3 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in Him."
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Prayer, open 24 hours for your convenience
"Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence."
-Martin Tupper
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
-Apostle Paul (as he wrote in Ephesians 3)
I know there are many who want to see Jesus lifted high at Iowa State this semester. We want a new wave of souls saved, we want to see prodigals come home, we want to see Saul-to-Paul conversions. The list goes on-- we want to see a fresh coat of purity and holiness cover this campus like the the January snow, replacing the late-March ditch sludge of sexual immorality. We want to see the Church rise up and send laborers from this place to go throughout the globe and bring the kingdom in every way possible.
All of these are in vain unless we pray.
Now I want to be clear that you can pray from anywhere. You can bow your head and close your eyes before you eat your meal in the UDCC. You can keep a dialogue with the Lord going in the back of your mind as you sit in class. You can partner up with your roommate and hit your knees in your apartment. We need to be lifting him up everywhere, that the fragrance of prayer is just carried with us.
But, there is something special about setting apart certain times and certain places to cry out to the Lord. We are extremely fortunate this semester at Iowa State to have a certain place available to all students. And we our doubly fortunate that we have been given a certain time, too--all the time. Through the watches of the night, through the weekends, through the early mornings.
We have that place set apart. St. John's Episcopal church has graciously volunteered to allow access to their chapel for students to be praying around the clock. I bet you've see St. John's before, you may not remember it though:
Just picture lots of snow and ice, the google map pic was taken a few months ago. Enter the back, on the side furthest from Lincoln Way. The room is labeled as the "chapel." They also just ask that you take your shoes off, so that we're not tracking too much sand and salt in there with all our extra traffic.
Let's get after it. What might the Lord do?
"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly." Luke 18:7-8
-Martin Tupper
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
-Apostle Paul (as he wrote in Ephesians 3)
I know there are many who want to see Jesus lifted high at Iowa State this semester. We want a new wave of souls saved, we want to see prodigals come home, we want to see Saul-to-Paul conversions. The list goes on-- we want to see a fresh coat of purity and holiness cover this campus like the the January snow, replacing the late-March ditch sludge of sexual immorality. We want to see the Church rise up and send laborers from this place to go throughout the globe and bring the kingdom in every way possible.
All of these are in vain unless we pray.
Now I want to be clear that you can pray from anywhere. You can bow your head and close your eyes before you eat your meal in the UDCC. You can keep a dialogue with the Lord going in the back of your mind as you sit in class. You can partner up with your roommate and hit your knees in your apartment. We need to be lifting him up everywhere, that the fragrance of prayer is just carried with us.
But, there is something special about setting apart certain times and certain places to cry out to the Lord. We are extremely fortunate this semester at Iowa State to have a certain place available to all students. And we our doubly fortunate that we have been given a certain time, too--all the time. Through the watches of the night, through the weekends, through the early mornings.
We have that place set apart. St. John's Episcopal church has graciously volunteered to allow access to their chapel for students to be praying around the clock. I bet you've see St. John's before, you may not remember it though:
Just picture lots of snow and ice, the google map pic was taken a few months ago. Enter the back, on the side furthest from Lincoln Way. The room is labeled as the "chapel." They also just ask that you take your shoes off, so that we're not tracking too much sand and salt in there with all our extra traffic.
Let's get after it. What might the Lord do?
"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly." Luke 18:7-8
Monday, January 25, 2010
I Will Pour Out My Spirit in those Days
Matt :: sophomore :: criminal justice, sociology
My name is Matt, and I am a sophomore here at Iowa State who has prayed for revival for the last year. And I would like to apologize in advance for any run on sentences in this blog, because I am on my third red bull and have not slept for more than 48 hours.
Up until this morning I have never met Lance, I had no idea of his fast and prayers. We serve the Lord in different ministries, but as of today I am sure we serve the same God. And Jesus is on the move. The movement I am involved with has been asking God to give us a 24/7 prayer movement (which is exactly what it sounds like). Now God was making that happen (It has been attempted before and failed). I had faith that God would make sure there would always be someone there. One person keeping watch every hour of the day. That was my expectation and I was excited for it. I had no idea God had much better plans. We had just dedicated the room to God's glory and I then waited and began praying on the second prayer shift in the room.
It was difficult. We expected attacks from Satan and his demons and I assumed that, this was what this distraction was. So I prayed meekly,
"Jesus, if you are here come through the door. Meet me here. Get my attention"
My phone rang and a friend named Jordan was calling. I answered and was told he was under satanic attack physical, mental, and emotional. Well I told him come to the prayer room and I would pray for him. He headed over. Bo whose watch was about to start came into the room resolving to pray with us too. As Jordan walked over street lights went off as he went by. He felt weak like he was running a great distance and it was hard to get to the room. As I prayed God would send him quickly. He walked through the door and I went totally numb. Something was very very wrong. So we prayed.
Timidly at first as weak children begging their father for deliverance. Then we rebuked the lies we had been living under and held to the cross of Jesus. This is where things get crazy. The inexplicable. Too much. The spirit descended and we reacted. We laughed. We cried. And then we began screaming prayers to God. An hour passed. And another pray-er entered Matt (not me). I immediately prayed for him and he began to pray. He continued to do so for the next 6 hours taking no break.
My roommates came. Jordan called friends. And as people walked into the room of screaming men all felt the Spirit thrashing. And people responded. I saw God just work. People prayed. People preached. People sang. People laid flat on their faces in awe. I was speechless and God ensured HE and HE alone would receive the glory brought to Him that night. 28 people. The number of people Bo, Jordan and I prayed would enter the prayer room to pray together. And it happened in a matter of hours. As the prayer continued prophesy was given , words were spoken into the lives of other, and battle with demons became physical for some. A friend moved around the room physically attacking demons where he saw them. He said to me,
"Did you see that I just kicked a demon in the face. I am really freaked out, but I did."
Now some of you may have doctrinal qualms with how "charismatic" this prayer meeting was. So did I. However God did not care as his Spirit came down on these missional prayer warriors. Through out the night different people would be led to and find themselves quoting the same scripture. Unity of the body was a theme. But the two sections of scripture that kept coming up again and again were Chronicles 7:14 and Joel 2:28-32 and where it is quoted in Acts 2:17-21 when it was spoken at the day of Pentecost.
And amidst all this Holy chaos a man stood up to make this announcement,
"Dave has just accepted Jesus Christ into his life"
Yes 6 hours into the prayer room someone inside the room had already given their life to Christ. And Matt (not me) continued to pray. Something changed that night in an unmend-able way. Call it an awaking or revival. I call it God descending.
Today I saw students sharing the gospel. A friend led a girl to Christ. If you think you are ready for this, then you have no idea what is happening. I thought I was. And God proved me wrong. And I am so glad he did. This prayer meeting lasted from 11 pm to 7 am. And yes Matt (not me) prayed till dawn broke.
My name is Matt, and I am a sophomore here at Iowa State who has prayed for revival for the last year. And I would like to apologize in advance for any run on sentences in this blog, because I am on my third red bull and have not slept for more than 48 hours.
Up until this morning I have never met Lance, I had no idea of his fast and prayers. We serve the Lord in different ministries, but as of today I am sure we serve the same God. And Jesus is on the move. The movement I am involved with has been asking God to give us a 24/7 prayer movement (which is exactly what it sounds like). Now God was making that happen (It has been attempted before and failed). I had faith that God would make sure there would always be someone there. One person keeping watch every hour of the day. That was my expectation and I was excited for it. I had no idea God had much better plans. We had just dedicated the room to God's glory and I then waited and began praying on the second prayer shift in the room.
It was difficult. We expected attacks from Satan and his demons and I assumed that, this was what this distraction was. So I prayed meekly,
"Jesus, if you are here come through the door. Meet me here. Get my attention"
My phone rang and a friend named Jordan was calling. I answered and was told he was under satanic attack physical, mental, and emotional. Well I told him come to the prayer room and I would pray for him. He headed over. Bo whose watch was about to start came into the room resolving to pray with us too. As Jordan walked over street lights went off as he went by. He felt weak like he was running a great distance and it was hard to get to the room. As I prayed God would send him quickly. He walked through the door and I went totally numb. Something was very very wrong. So we prayed.
Timidly at first as weak children begging their father for deliverance. Then we rebuked the lies we had been living under and held to the cross of Jesus. This is where things get crazy. The inexplicable. Too much. The spirit descended and we reacted. We laughed. We cried. And then we began screaming prayers to God. An hour passed. And another pray-er entered Matt (not me). I immediately prayed for him and he began to pray. He continued to do so for the next 6 hours taking no break.
My roommates came. Jordan called friends. And as people walked into the room of screaming men all felt the Spirit thrashing. And people responded. I saw God just work. People prayed. People preached. People sang. People laid flat on their faces in awe. I was speechless and God ensured HE and HE alone would receive the glory brought to Him that night. 28 people. The number of people Bo, Jordan and I prayed would enter the prayer room to pray together. And it happened in a matter of hours. As the prayer continued prophesy was given , words were spoken into the lives of other, and battle with demons became physical for some. A friend moved around the room physically attacking demons where he saw them. He said to me,
"Did you see that I just kicked a demon in the face. I am really freaked out, but I did."
Now some of you may have doctrinal qualms with how "charismatic" this prayer meeting was. So did I. However God did not care as his Spirit came down on these missional prayer warriors. Through out the night different people would be led to and find themselves quoting the same scripture. Unity of the body was a theme. But the two sections of scripture that kept coming up again and again were Chronicles 7:14 and Joel 2:28-32 and where it is quoted in Acts 2:17-21 when it was spoken at the day of Pentecost.
And amidst all this Holy chaos a man stood up to make this announcement,
"Dave has just accepted Jesus Christ into his life"
Yes 6 hours into the prayer room someone inside the room had already given their life to Christ. And Matt (not me) continued to pray. Something changed that night in an unmend-able way. Call it an awaking or revival. I call it God descending.
Today I saw students sharing the gospel. A friend led a girl to Christ. If you think you are ready for this, then you have no idea what is happening. I thought I was. And God proved me wrong. And I am so glad he did. This prayer meeting lasted from 11 pm to 7 am. And yes Matt (not me) prayed till dawn broke.
Crying out for a move of God
Lance :: graduated, still in Ames :: civil engineering
Over Christmas break, some of the student leaders in our ministry found me before they left for the holidays. They wanted to talk, because their hearts were just burning for God to come and do something at Iowa State. We shared Scriptures and that captured what we wanted and dreamed about what God might do. A week or two later when I returned from the holidays, these guys found me again before a Sunday church service back in Ames. They were waiting with this bold declaration:
"We want to do some prayer and fasting, just set apart some time and seek the Lord for revival at Iowa State." I needed some convincing, but they had their faces set like flint (Isaiah 50:7).
So we set apart the past 21 days have been set apart to the Lord for prayer and fasting. One thing on our minds: a fresh touch, a new move, a reawakening at Iowa State. As we were drawing near the end, I was beginning to wonder if it had been time wasted. I hadn't prayed for much outside of our focus, really. Did I miss it? As the clock struck midnight going from day 20 to 21, I cried out deep in prayer. Here it was, the last day of the fast, and no proof that anything is going to happen.
The next day, I got up early to lead a 7am prayer meeting. One of the first students I ran into was Jordan, who had no knowledge of our 21 days. The first words out of his mouth:
"Lance, Revival is here. I still haven't slept, we just had an all night prayer meeting."
Over Christmas break, some of the student leaders in our ministry found me before they left for the holidays. They wanted to talk, because their hearts were just burning for God to come and do something at Iowa State. We shared Scriptures and that captured what we wanted and dreamed about what God might do. A week or two later when I returned from the holidays, these guys found me again before a Sunday church service back in Ames. They were waiting with this bold declaration:
"We want to do some prayer and fasting, just set apart some time and seek the Lord for revival at Iowa State." I needed some convincing, but they had their faces set like flint (Isaiah 50:7).
So we set apart the past 21 days have been set apart to the Lord for prayer and fasting. One thing on our minds: a fresh touch, a new move, a reawakening at Iowa State. As we were drawing near the end, I was beginning to wonder if it had been time wasted. I hadn't prayed for much outside of our focus, really. Did I miss it? As the clock struck midnight going from day 20 to 21, I cried out deep in prayer. Here it was, the last day of the fast, and no proof that anything is going to happen.
The next day, I got up early to lead a 7am prayer meeting. One of the first students I ran into was Jordan, who had no knowledge of our 21 days. The first words out of his mouth:
"Lance, Revival is here. I still haven't slept, we just had an all night prayer meeting."
Neck, Ribs, and Emotional Pain Healed by Jesus in Friley
Matt :: junior :: civil engineering
It was a friday night, october 09. We were a small group of students curious and anxious to see God move. I really didnt know what to expect. The only thing i knew is that we all wanted to seek God. So we meet and prayed asking for direction for that night and how we could go out and proclaim the name of Jesus. God showed one of the guys specific objects and articles of clothing as well as a number 2238. So we went out and thought that sounds like a room number in Friley. So we went to the second floor and tried to find the room not know what to expect when we got there. But there was no room with that number it skipped. Then we looked at the hallway doors and that was it. So we spilt up and went to two different hallways. Ashley and I went to this group of girls in the hallway and straight up told them that God led us to them. We told them about about the power of Jesus. We asked if they had any pain/injury. and then we just started praying for them. One girl had neck pain and after we prayed, she exclaimed,
"Whoa! Who are you guys?!?"
Then there was a guy that had pain with a rib that was out of place and we prayed over him. And he was healed. Then we told them who Jesus is and why this was happening. Then we prayed for this girl with alot of emotional pain. And she told us that she just felt joy and peace and warmth running through her body as we prayed for her. It was only a couple minutes after that, that this group of College kids didnt even go to ISU but were visiting and were then just leaving. God is so good and He is revealing himself in the most amazing of ways.
It was a friday night, october 09. We were a small group of students curious and anxious to see God move. I really didnt know what to expect. The only thing i knew is that we all wanted to seek God. So we meet and prayed asking for direction for that night and how we could go out and proclaim the name of Jesus. God showed one of the guys specific objects and articles of clothing as well as a number 2238. So we went out and thought that sounds like a room number in Friley. So we went to the second floor and tried to find the room not know what to expect when we got there. But there was no room with that number it skipped. Then we looked at the hallway doors and that was it. So we spilt up and went to two different hallways. Ashley and I went to this group of girls in the hallway and straight up told them that God led us to them. We told them about about the power of Jesus. We asked if they had any pain/injury. and then we just started praying for them. One girl had neck pain and after we prayed, she exclaimed,
"Whoa! Who are you guys?!?"
Then there was a guy that had pain with a rib that was out of place and we prayed over him. And he was healed. Then we told them who Jesus is and why this was happening. Then we prayed for this girl with alot of emotional pain. And she told us that she just felt joy and peace and warmth running through her body as we prayed for her. It was only a couple minutes after that, that this group of College kids didnt even go to ISU but were visiting and were then just leaving. God is so good and He is revealing himself in the most amazing of ways.
Iowa State University and the Kingdom
Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you
-Ephesians 5:14
God is beginning to do things at Iowa State University. Actually, he's been doing things for a while. But it seems like he just may be beginning to step on the accelerator. We want to see a new awakening, people coming up from the dead and into the light of Christ.
My name is Lance, and I work with a campus ministry here. The vision for this blog is that different ministry leaders across Iowa State University and Ames will be editors, and students will be able to submit their stories of what God is doing here and now. If you are a ministry leader at Iowa State who wishes to contribute and you have yet to be invited, email me at lanceallgood@gmail.com so that we can get the word out and encourage one another with faith as we hear what God has done, so that we can ask him to do it again!
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you
-Ephesians 5:14
God is beginning to do things at Iowa State University. Actually, he's been doing things for a while. But it seems like he just may be beginning to step on the accelerator. We want to see a new awakening, people coming up from the dead and into the light of Christ.
My name is Lance, and I work with a campus ministry here. The vision for this blog is that different ministry leaders across Iowa State University and Ames will be editors, and students will be able to submit their stories of what God is doing here and now. If you are a ministry leader at Iowa State who wishes to contribute and you have yet to be invited, email me at lanceallgood@gmail.com so that we can get the word out and encourage one another with faith as we hear what God has done, so that we can ask him to do it again!
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