What a Month! After a very restful and enjoyable winter sabbatical and a wonderful Christmas, Merrie and I were excited to get back in the action this January. We started off the Month with our RDU church family and our friends at Catch The Fire – Raleigh, helping with their annual “Consuming Fire” conference. Jonathan & Melissa Helser led us into powerful moments of worship and facilitated encounters with the Father’s Heart. Several speakers, including our good friend Niko Peele, shared challenging and encouraging messages, and we witnessed many young middle-school, high-school and college students being stirred to respond to God’s great love by living lives marked by radical love and devotion to the Lord and the work of His Kingdom. I had the honor of partnering with Niko as he shared God’s word & many provoking testimonies. As we finished the session with an alter-call, young men and women flooded the front of the room praying, worshiping and eagerly desiring the power and Spirit of God! It was truly a remarkable moment, and I have no doubt that the room that day was filled with world-changers, radical lovers of Jesus with unfathomably great destinies. It was truly an honor to take part in such a catalytic gathering for the rising generation of believers.
Setting an atmosphere of worship as Niko prepares to share about Gods power joining with our obedience and “God joining His power with our acts of kindness!”
Commissioning
Austin Nay, a longtime friend and former intern at the Boiler Room, is now in southern California doing an internship with Lou Engle’s international prayer ministry, TheCall. Nay is one of many believers in the Eastern North Carolina region who have had visions of seeing Dowdy-Ficklen Staduim filled with worshipers. Having been gripped by this and other promises from God, Austin responded to God’s call and is now is being educated, equipped and empowered to be a catalyst for revival and a leader who can facilitate gatherings of this proportion. He is studying and learning while engaging in prayer and fasting, intercession, ministry, and preparation for the massive AZUSA NOW gathering on April 9th, 2016, where over 100,000 people are expected to gather at L.A. Memorial Coliseum to lift up a unified cry to God, “Come, Holy Spirit, bring revival!” Believers will be fasting & praying together, contending for the future of this nation. On January 8th, we hosted a night of worship and prayer, encouragement, and commissioning for Austin in preparation for this great venture. I believe he will return home this summer with a newfound drive and authority to see greater growth of God’s Kingdom here in eastern NC, and like Austin, I too believe that in our lifetime, Dowdy-Ficklen will indeed be filled with people who’ve come to worship the Lord. What we have seen in our hearts, we will see with our eyes.
Austin Nay – “Can’t wait for my North Carolina family to get out here in April!” #burngreenville #nctoca #thecallazusa #memorialcoliseum #azusanow2016 — at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports Arena.
In his day, Billy Graham filled many stadiums and coliseums across America. Today persecution seems to be on the rise, and America seems to be in decline on many fronts, yet the kingdom of God grows ever stronger! As the people of God unify, stand together against the current of culture, and turn again to our first Love, could we be on the brink of another great wave of revival, where thousands are saved and delivered daily and stadium Christianity is no longer a thing of the past?
TheCall // AZUSA NOW
This April, Meredith and I will have the great honor of travelling to travel to Los Angeles, California to be a part of the AZUSA NOW gathering. A team of us from eastern North Carolina will journey to the west coast with a great expectancy in our hearts, just as William J. Seymour did in 1906. When we arrive, we will partner with Lou Engle by setting up our “Jesus Tent” on the very lot where the great Azusa Street revival broke out 110 years ago. There, we will host day and night worship, prayer, and ministry before and after the stadium gathering. During TheCall Azusa, Lou will direct the crowds to go to the tent and surrounding area after the gathering, where we project at-least 12,000 will take Communion together.
Below is an excerpt from the official website:
“There are times which Scripture describes as “full” — periods of unusual ripeness in which God unleashes His prophetic purpose across the earth. Such days of faith and expectation often come during periods of crisis or widespread uncertainty. For 15 years, amidst massive cultural decay, Lou Engle and TheCall have sought to proclaim the bold, uncompromising message of consecration to Jesus. Like John the Baptist, we have cried out, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”
Yet the last statement of John was not “Prepare the way,” but “Behold the Lamb!” If there was truly a John Movement, then a Jesus Movement is surely coming! Believing that decades of globe-spanning prayer have saturated the heavens, we will boldly ask God for the rain of revival on April 9th, 2016. We will consecrate an entire day — 15 hours — for the purpose of unity, miracles, healing, and the proclamation of the gospel. Our rally cry: Come, Holy Spirit! Instead of 120 in the Upper Room, we seek to gather as many as 120,000 in one place and one accord to simply exalt Jesus. And for inspiration, we turn to the most powerful expression of revival in modern times: the historic Azusa Street Revival of 1906.”
PRAY AND GIVE:
Please pray with us that we would be led by God as we prepare, and as we set out on this journey. Pray also for God to release the provision to carry out the call to be a part of this historic moment. Meredith and I are still raising the money for our plane tickets, food, ground-transportation, and other travel expenses (roughly $1,400). We deeply appreciate your powerful and effective prayers and generous financial support! If you would like to be a part of Azusa now by making a financial contribution toward helping us get to L.A. and back, CLICK HERE!
I am SO EXCITED for what God has in store for the church in America this year!
Since January 12th, we have expanded our prayer room hours and are now open 15+hours per week! Come join us in the morning or the evening!
Meredith & I are able to be used in ministry because of your prayers, encouragement, and generosity. Thank you for partnering with us! You are such an integral part of what God is doing in this region through our ministry and the Boiler Room!
Prayer Points
Pray for preparation & provision for our upcoming trip to Lebanon this April. On April 22, Merrie and I will be traveling to Lebanon with a small team of doctors, pharmacists & missionaries to operate a medical clinic for Syrian refugees and reach them with the love of Jesus. There are so many refugees in Lebanon that they now make up between 1/4 & 1/3 of the country’s entire population. There is a dire need for humanitarian aid. Moreover, Christians in the middle east have been reporting an unprecedented openness to the gospel within the Muslim community due to the rise of violent extremism, and are calling for believers to come share the love of Christ (especially to refugees) while this window of opportunity is yet open. Please pray that Merrie and I would be prepared in every way for effective ministry and that God would give us favor to raise money to cover the expenses of the trip.
Please be praying with me for the finances, favor, & assistance to produce and release a full length worship album this year. Over the past year and a half I have spent much time worshiping and abiding in a place of intimacy with God, where I have been inspired to write many songs.. and I STRONGLY desire to produce quality recordings of these songs and release them for God to use as He wills! I have a tendency of putting my own dreams on the backburner and making them of least priority, however I know that these songs are a gift from God and a powerful tool for sharing His truth, and I sense His desire for them to be released as well!
Pray for the Boiler Room staff as we are building up the prayer house in Greenville, and building and equipping other prayer houses and ministries throughout the state and region. This year we need prayer for guidance and perseverance as the ministry is growing and preparing to undergo a number of changes.
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God Bless you and yours!
Worship Director
at The BOILER ROOM
