Dear Friends:

I am just returning from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Conference in Asheville, NC. Going from the desert of AZ to the lush forests of North Carolina was an incredible change made possible by four hours of flying. When I entered “The Cove”, the name of the conference center, I sensed the presence of Holy God. Over two hundred and fifty people attended the conference and half of these had been deployed as Chaplains and volunteers to help the Katrina victims for the past twenty months and in Virginia more recently with the senseless killings at Virginia Tech. As I listened to their stories my heart melted at the depth of crisis people were and are facing. Each volunteer was “armed” with nothing more than the Holy Spirit. Each testimony ended with the miracle working power of God touching hearts and changing lives. As I sat in on a small group portion I saw the great miracle still working in the hearts of the volunteers. They have given all their vacation time, and everything else to go and support others. They were filled with love for God and their fellow man in a way that cannot be described properly with words. Many times during crisis the question “How can a loving God allow such tragedy to take place?” Over and over again the question was not answered with words but in deeds. Those broken by life’s trials were healed by the love of God given through another human being. Many did not even speak a word, but by looking deeply into the eyes of the victims until the Holy Spirit brought tears of grief and healing followed by hugs and holding. One day Jesus will return and stop all evil, including death itself. Until that day we have the Spirit of Life inside of us ready to bring hope to those devastated by tragedy. My portion of teaching was to instill a vision to the pastors and volunteers that people around us are facing their own tragedies every day. We can “deploy” through the local church to be the presence of Christ to them by serving in a chaplain ministry in their own church. This concept was received with enthusiasm. I am thankful for what God has given to me through these ministers of hope and for allowing me to give something to them.

Dear Friends:

We all live our lives believing we have another day to live but some will have a day when they are told the end is near. Berinda Wallace emailed me this story…

“It was last June 3, 2006 that my mother came to Skyway with me in total faith that she would be healed. Less than a week earlier, her internal medicine doctor that she sees in Scottsdale had told her that she would “die” soon, if she did not follow his treatment recommendation. In fact, I took her to the doctor that day and was waiting for her in the lobby, when his nurse summoned me to the exam room. He told me that he wanted me to hear his prognosis (following a diagnostic test that supposedly revealed despair) so that my family would not complain that he had not told us how bad her health was. This doctor has been treating her for 7 years or more. This doctor proceeded to tell her that she would die before June 30th. She told her not to fly and to remain here until she completed the treatment regiment that she was recommending. My mother remained faithful and refused to accept either doctor’s report. My mother told her that she trusted God and that if she was to die she would just do so at her home in Arkansas. The doctor proceeded to give her a CD of the diagnostic test and suggested that she see her cardiologist as soon as she returned home to Arkansas and to give him the CD.(In between doctor visits she came to AZ and received prayer.) When she did see the cardiologist, he was baffled. Nothing could be found! So, last week she returned to see the internal medicine doctor in Scottsdale (almost a year later) and he was so stunned that he gave her a complete exam and checked every system in her body. He did not find anything to complain about. Pastor Loraine is the one who stood with my mother during altar call and prayed for her June 2006. I remembered her being so moved by the prayer spiritually that I wanted my mother to share her testimony with her. Pastor Loraine said that she has prayed for many, many people and that she does not recall most of the prayers. However, the prayer she prayed with my mother she remembered vividly. She said that she had not experienced such before. She said she knew God was using her in a special way for something very special. To God be all the glory!”

We never know what the doctor or some other expert might have to say, but we can believe that the Lord has the final report on how our lives will turn out. I hope this documented miracle healing is an encouragement to us all to bring all our needs to God in prayer.

PS… I will be in Virginia this week speaking at a Billy Graham Association conference June 4-6. Please keep me in your prayers. I will be back to preach again next Sunday.

The Lord has been speaking to the church about His desire to meet with us, cleanse us, and to begin doing extraordinary works in our midst. Prayer movements are taking shape both around the globe and here in the USA. During this time I have felt a need to challenge our congregation with a special prayer assignment through July 7th. In the past I have called for a seven day participation in fasting and prayer. This time I feel the need to call everyone to prayer on Wednesdays during this span of time. I would like to see as many people as possible join us on campus to stand in the gap and pray for families, holiness, God’s presence and a very specific need…

I have a sense in my heart that Jesus wants us to start praying over the houses that people cannot sale. This may sound like a carnal matter compared to sickness, disease and eternal life for the lost, but I truly think God wants us to pray about houses along with the other things I have mentioned. We can pray about all things! This matter of homes selling is an assignment that I believe God wants us to embrace. Why? The more I speak to people; I hear discouragement and unbelief that their homes will not sell. Even fear is creeping into people’s hearts and minds. Back after September 11 it seemed like everyone was out of a job. I had a sense that God wanted us to pray for jobs. We started getting the entire congregation behind this prayer movement and before long everyone was getting good jobs. It wasn’t just here, but across the nation. I still believe that the recession of 2001 was halted by the prayers of Skyway members! I think it can happen again.

When we are not emotionally depressed over a situation, we can pray in faith for someone else. This is a powerful secret to prayer. Our emotions cannot be in the way of our faith! I believe that everyone with a house or property to sell should write down the property address and fill out a prayer request. I am asking everyone to participate in fasting and prayer for this situation to change. I think this will be a great testimony to our congregation today of the power of corporate prayer and faith with tangible results. We simply need people to fill out their prayer requests to create the list, and second we need people to come join us on Wednesday’s between 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM and again during the Wednesday PM prayer service.