There have been moments of remembrance and thanksgiving as we mark this milestone in our community. God has given so much grace and provision in building this prayer room, and we are so grateful for all He has done. We are convinced that, like the rebuilding of the temple in Zechariah’s day, it has been ‘“not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord of hosts.”

IHOP–KC is just one part of a global prayer movement the Lord is raising up. In fact, even the worldwide prayer movement of today holds a baton passed down through the centuries. This mantle has seen many expressions, models, and focuses; it has been stewarded inter-denominationally, in both Catholic and Protestant communities; it has been taken up in faith by young and old. Through all this, there is a thread found weaving throughout the prayer movement of the ages. It is an ancient vision the Holy Spirit voiced through a vow King David made in his youth. He said, “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psalm 132: 3-5).

David vowed to live in extravagant devotion to seek the Lord with all his resources (time, talents, treasures). His vow included spending time in God’s House (Ps. 27:4), fasting (Ps. 69:7-12), and extravagant giving of his money (1 Chr. 22:14). His desire was to see a place where the Lord’s presence was manifest in a supernatural way in his generation. David’s tabernacle was established in Jerusalem around 1000 BC. Since that time, night and day prayer centers have been established in Ireland, Germany, South Korea, Kansas City and elsewhere in the earth.

My wife, Anna, and I continue to long for night and day prayer to be released in Colorado. We believe the Lord will raise up a prayer room that is never silent before the Lord in the spirit of Isaiah 62, a location of incessant adoration of Jesus in the likeness of what continues around His throne in Revelation 4. We also believe He will establish a training center, raising up preachers, teachers, singers, musicians, prophets and evangelists anointed to further the Gospel in the earth and minister before the Lord in the prayer room.

It’s true.

What I love about Mike is his incredible commitment to the Bible. He teaches with clarity and zip, and he is a genuine man of the Word. Every weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Mike teaches sermons which never cease to challenge and provoke me.

The vast majority of Christian topics I have written about on The Fight Spot all originated with something I first heard from Mike.

And now, the teachings that Mike gives ever week are being re-written into blog-sized, 1-2 punches and being published on the internet for all to read and enjoy and subscribe to in their RSS feed reader of choice.

God bless the internet…

Growing up, my view of the End Times was that we, the Church, would either (a) not be here for it, or else (b) we would hide out and just make it through. My revelation of the end-time events has certainly changed since then and that’s why the reality of the Gospel’s native environment makes even more sense to me now.

The whole center of the Good News is that Christ became a man and died in our stead. He was the ultimate intercessor and mediator. Through his death He brought men and God together for a glorious new covenant.

A few months later one of the greatest revivals in history broke out in that very same town. It was a revival led by weak disciples who had abandoned Jesus in His hour of “need”. But through the death of Jesus they found a new strength. These same men almost all went on to be martyrs. The apostolic call nearly always also a call to martyrdom. Even in the midst of persecution by the Romans and the Jewish leaders, the Gospel could not be stopped.

The truth of Jesus Christ and salvation through His death springs up all the more when evil men try to snuff it out.

In China there is intense persecution against the Christian Church. But the Chinese Church is growing at an unparalleled rate. They are seeing thousands of genuine soul conversions every single day.

In Egypt, men and women are having visions of Jesus, and are giving their lives to Him with the kind of wholehearted abandon we often only hear about here in America.

In the days of old, whenever Jerusalem would stray from the Lord during times of blessing, He would bring them back by sending judgment.

Trials and tribulations always force us to choose, and the right choice is to repent and return to the Lord. James 4:12 – “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also e glad with exceeding joy.”

Other than reminding myself of the Holy Call to lay down my life to be a partaker of the Divine Nature, I suppose the point of this post is somewhat two-fold:

1. We will be here for the end-time events, and there will be a great harvest in the midst of the global trouble that will be happening.

2. God will not allow the Church in America to stay settled in complacency. If we do not turn, He will get our attention through judgment. And when He does we have to be prepared to repent and to turn, rather than to be offended at His leadership. He desires a pure and spotless Bride that loves Him with all her heart, soul, mind and strength.

- Shawn

I was browsing through the archives and came across this past gem of an article I wrote last spring. When I realized about the “window” things became so much more clear for me…

I love the story where the priests come up to John the Baptist and ask him who he is.

The deal is that this guy is outside of town in the dessert and he’s got a lot of fans. He’s baptizing folks, he’s got his own descipleship program and he’s doing tons of open-air preaching.

He pops onto the local leadership’s radar and they want to know who he is. So they ask him. They assume that since he’s drawing a crowd he must be someone important like the Messiah, or at least a prophet or perhaps Elijah (see Mal. 4:5).

But John goes, “I’m just a voice.”

“What do you mean, just a voice?” They ask.

“I’m a friend of the Bridegroom. Just a guy who rejoices in the voice of the Bridegroom.”

John didn’t fit the “anointed” mold. He was something different than they had seen before. He was a guy who’s authority came from God. He was a man sent from Heaven. A seemingly nameless, faceless man who happened to be a burning and shining lamp testifying of Jesus.

John the Baptist was a forerunner. A friend of the Briedegroom. A man who’s anointing wasn’t given by men, or title, or by years logged serving at his local church. He got his anointing the only way we can ever really get the real anointing. Friendship with Jesus. Intimacy with God.

And once John got lit up by the fire of God everyone came to watch him burn. He had true authority. Like the apostles. They spent their days in prayer and then one day were lit up by the fire of the Holy Ghost. And then their very shadows would heal the sick.

We’re used to getting our “authority” by jockeying for positions and being recognized by other leaders and being invited into the special meetings. But what a waste of our time and everyone else’s.

It’s not a secret anymore that the Lord is raising up a whole movement of John the Baptists; foreruners; Friends of the Bridegroom. Guys and gals who are getting anointed in a manner we don’t have a mold for. They’re skipping lunch to memorize the Bible. They’re having prayer meetings instead of movie nights.

They are bypassing our systems and going straight to God and are then being sent from the throne as messengers and as burning and shining lamps. And as any true man or woman of revival knows, this is the only way to make any impact for the Kingdom of God.

We can only serve one god: Jesus or else not-Jesus. Let’s stop kidding ourselves that there is a middle ground. That there is some sort of neutral zone or time-out. There’s not. We are sowing to the spirit or sowing to the flesh. Period.

In John 5, Jesus rebukes the pharisees for their closet atheism:

And the Father Himself, who sent me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Those verses describe the vast majority of western church goers. Gosh, I feel like they describe me most on days, too. We just don’t have the Word abiding in us. And we wonder why our pastors are having affairs, why all the men’s groups are losing the battle against pornography, and why all the women are hiding their bondage to covetousness.

We are simply not alive in the Word.

Jesus made a covenant with us. He promised us that the truth would set us free and that whom He set free would be free indeed. Free indeed — Not free for the next 24 hours, or 6 months or even 5 years. Free forever. Most of us still aren’t even free the sins that so easily entangle, let alone the little foxes.

You and I both know that the idea of the Bible keeping us from sin (see intro paragraph) is not a new idea. But even though we have “searched the scriptures” we are still struggling with the basic issues of coming to Jesus and believing in Him. The good news is that we’ll always have that struggle, it is part of working out our salvation. The bad news is that we’ll always have that struggle.

As weak and fallen humans, we have to fight our closet atheism. We can recite Bible verses without the Word of God living and being active in our hearts. It’s not burning within us. It’s not alive yet. It hasn’t consumed us and made us true disciples.

And that is why so many of us are still powerless against temptation and powerless to lead others to Jesus. We’re not living true Christianity.

So what’s this about abiding…?

What does it mean to abide? Simple: It’s just having a relationship with Jesus through the Word. Abiding is not as mysterious as we think it is. Pray-read the Bible as a dialog with God.

For me, the most difficult resistance to spending time in the Word and in prayer is the seeming foolishness and weakness of it. I so often feel like I could be spending my time in a more productive matter — especially as a man with a type “A” personality (capital “A” at that, too). I feel like I could be putting initiatives into motion or helping come up with strategies or casting vision or creating something. Anything but shutting my door and praying to an invisible God while reading a book that is centuries old and wasn’t even originally written in my language.

This seeming waste of my time is precisely what God wants from me. Living a life of true Christianity is, at its core, living a life of weakness. (Which is precisely what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.)

I have been on the journey of leadership training for a while and I am continually reminded by God that the Heavenly prerequisite for leadership is friendship with God; and friendship with God is cultivated in the secret place.

A good friend of mine says over and over and over that the Bible isn’t boring, we’re boring.

Being men and women of the Word isn’t always easy. It’s work and lots of times it is boring. But not because the Bible itself is boring or because God is making Himself un-knowable — the trouble is that we are boring and we have dull spirits.

Something else important to note is that knowing the Truth and abiding in the Word is not an event, but a journey. It’s a daily choice to simply say yes to God and no to sin. It’s following through with our commitment to pray-read the Bible and to ask God to make our Spirits alive.

And don’t forget that we can certainly do a few “tricks” to help speed up the journey and help ourselves out. Things like fasting and praying in the Spirit. Fasting helps tenderize us and make us more sensitive to the Lord. Praying in the Spirit helps unlock the scriptures to us and invites the Spirit of revelation.

Good friend, business partner, fellow musician and now fellow ex-Merchant Bander, Joshua Hawkins, shares his tales and stories over the past few years.

At least they didn’t spell it with two “T”s.

This is what happened to me during the onething conference. (And FYI: I would have posted up here more during the conference but there was zero internet backstage.) It was during Jason Upton’s Saturday morning set. Those of you who’ve seen Jason lead know that he likes to take his microphone and walk around on stage and do more than just sing songs. He likes to share stories and teach small tidbits and nuggets of truth.

So during one of his walk-around-on-stage-with-the-wireless-microphone-times he started talking about freedom (as an intro to his song, Freedom, no doubt), and he kinda just started ‘rambling’. But in a good way. And he says (roughly quoted), “…some of you think you’re so free you’re actually not free. You think you’re free to be doing things and they are actually distracting you, and when God comes around you’re too busy doing something else you thought you were free to do and you miss what God had for you and so you’re not actually free.”

And there you have it: The fasted lifestyle Upton-ized.

That little 15 second statement has been stuck with me ever since. I’m just a young guy and I am still discovering the distinctions of liberty, and the joy of the lord and spiritual disciplines. Discovering the line between constant communion and the value of the secret place. I certainly don’t know exactly what I’m doing, but I do know that I want my heart to be as big as it can be.

I want to be truly free. Spirit of Truth kind of free.

I also think that being free isn’t about what I’m doing but about what my heart looks like. Just look at Daniel. He was a slave to a demonized king in a wicked nation. He was not free by any means, but through a fasted lifestyle his heart was soaring and he lived under an open heaven. He was free! Freedom exists on the inside, and living a fasted lifestyle keeps our hearts open and our spirits tender.

But here I go again with some of my lack of understanding. Because I can’t imagine that it doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you are loving Jesus. There is diving marching orders from Heaven for each of us on how to spend our time and energy. Where to go to work and where to serve and who to build relationships with.

At the end of the day, it boils down to vision. I love how Dave said it: “Vision is the heart’s best governor.”

There is no better governor for the heart than vision. Vision constrains us, directs us, disciplines us, and motivates us like few other catalysts can or do. For once vision is caught, faith follows, and then self-discipline will grow in time, as the vision begins to connect heart and mind. No external government or accountability can match the internal fire that moves the heart of one who has a vision.

For so long my vision has been the external rather than the internal. The ‘doing’ of the fasted lifestyle rather than the experience of what the fasted lifestyle gives way to from God. I want the spirit of Truth to fascinate my eyes in a new way, like never before and I want to taste of a deeper freedom in my inner man that I have yet to touch. I want to know the depths of God’s love and be filled with the fullness. I want Christ to dwell in my heart.

I want to live the fasted lifestyle unto making a dwelling place for God.

- Shawn

God was sorry that He had made man. He was grieved in his heart. Think about that. God was sorry he had made man. ouch.

So the Lord decides to destroy man. He decides to wipe out everyone because they’re so wicked. And not just destroy the human race, but even the birds and animals too. He’s just gonna take it all out.

But Noah…

Wow. Thanks to Noah you and I are here today. Seriously. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man, perfect in his generations. You see, Noah walked with God.

He wasn’t the head professor at his seminary. He didn’t have a big ministry. He isn’t mentioned as having any “leadership” characteristics at all. He was just a guy who lived a holy life.

Time. Words. Eyes. Money. Prayer. These things really do matter. And how can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to the Word. By hiding it in his heart so he won’t sin. Our souls cling to the dust, but God can and will revive us according to His word.

Tomorrow, Anna and I leave for Colorado for a short Christmas vaecay. And one of the things I am really looking forward to over our time away is re-assessing my routine for 2008.

I want to take a good hard look at my schedule and shine up some of the rough edges. Also I want spend some time in prayer regarding our finances. I want 2008 to be the most generous year we have ever had. I want to really have grace from God to give extravagantly to the Kingdom of God.

I want to make deeper resolves to live in holiness and purity with my eyes and my speech. I want my eyes to be opened up to see wondrous things from the Word of God and I want my words to bring exhortation, comfort and strength to others.

I also want 2008 to be a year of deep conversion and deep prayer in my spirit. I want my inner man to experience the depths of Jesus Christ in a new way.

A few weeks ago on a Sunday morning Mike was sharing about old folks in the faith (40s, 50s, and up). We always assume that when men and women are in love with Jesus when they’re older it’s simply by virtue of just being a Christian for a long time. Having maturity and tenderness comes naturally by logging in hours as a professing Christian. But now that Mike is an older folk, he knows that is most certainly not true. In fact, it’s more of a miracle when older men and women of the faith are still alive in God and tender towards the Bible.

As we live our life there are so many opportunities to backslide. Day after day presents new options for sinning, as evil men invent new ways to give themselves to lawlessness. And as lawlessness abounds, the love of many will grow cold.

At the still relatively young age of 26 I am resolved in my heart of hearts to be a man of the Word all the days of my life. And that means drawing lines that other people are not drawing. It means an 70 hour work week. It means not eating a few days a week. It means not going to see movies that everyone else is. It means sticking with the Word when its dry and boring to me.

There is a day coming, and even is now upon us now that the intent of men will be evil and wickedness continually. And God will be looking for friends. Not smart guys. Not suave leaders. Friends. And when he does I want Him to find me. I want to be a big but.

TDS is a collection of other Christian writers and thier weblogs. I’m a total noob to the community so I don’t have much feedback to give at the moment. More on that next week maybe. And I am fortunate enough to be amongst familiar friends such as Mr. Daniels and Mr. Gray.

So scroll on down to the footer for a look at the newly placed logo badge, and then mash down on it and find yourself some new Christian sites.

Someone should start a blog and call it “Salty”.

Romans isn’t the only book I’ve been studying but it’s the one I’ve been studying as my personal study plan. (I have an end-times study plan for my e12, and a Daniel Academy study plan for my TDA class.) I spend about 4 to 8 hours a week in Romans, which translates to 1 or 2 days of studying it.

It’s been several months and I’m just about finished with chapter three. You’d think that if I was going that slowly I’d be going incredibly deeply as well, but I don’t feel enlightened or full of revelation. I love what I’m studying and I love the Word. I feel God when I study but there hasn’t been a “click” where I feel like I’m retaining deep revelation and growing in comprehensive understanding.

Understanding and loving the Bible is what all of us want. But most of us shy away from it because we feel too intimidated by it.

The Bible is a thick book for sure, and you can’t read it in a day. But there is something about the Bible that makes it different than any other piece of literature ever penned: It’s alive. There is a Man hidden between those words.

Understanding the Bible is different than understanding any other book. It takes supernatural help from Heaven. This is simultaneously good and bad news.

Good news because when we feel like we’re overwhelmed or like we’ll “never get it”, we can relax and know that God can help us. If we’re not “smart” or “scholarly” you can still have raging revelation on the Bible. Because it doesn’t live in your head, it burns in your spirit.

But it’s bad news too because try as we may, we will never get the word of God alive in us apart from God’s chosen way. And that means prayer, fasting and holiness.

You cannot touch deep revelation without prayer. You cannot open your spirit to receive truth without fasting. You cannot retain understanding without repentance and a holy lifestyle.

Also, we can’t forget that it takes time. Just past boredom is revelation. We need a history of prayer, fasting and pursuing holiness before we can be trusted with the deep mysteries of Heaven.

And there is another element that I never even considered until recently: The angelic element.

Example 1: Daniel
In Daniel Chapter 9, Daniel is in his room. He’s speaking praying and confessing his sins. When suddenly and completely unexpectedly Gabriel makes an entrance.

Think about that.

You’re praying and an angel shows up. And not just any angel either. Gabriel.

What strikes me is the first thing Gabriel says to Daniel: “I have come here to give you skill to understand.” An angel from heaven came to give Daniel skill to understand the Bible, the times he was living in, and the end of the age.

Example 2: John
In Revelation 10 another mighty angel comes down from heaven. He’s got a small book in his hand and it’s for John to eat. The angel brought the book to John.

I don’t really have a summary conclusion to make here, but rather just an encouragement. That God wants to open His Word to our hearts. He wants us to know it, to understand it, to be changed by it. He wants His Word alive in our inner man in a way that empowers us to deeper prayer and more passionate holiness.

Those who are apathetic about it will never touch it. But those who are hungry and desperate for it will get it.

Many great men and women have helped shape history through their written words. Theologians, poets, novelists, etcetera, have impacted thoughts and lives of countless individuals.

There is something noble about writing. I am still in great amazement that I can sit at Starbucks with a tall americano and my PowerBook, mash out some ideas and then publish them to the world wide web.

As I heard Randy say yesterday, thanks to ebay the price of sheep has gone up 5 clams. (Don’t ask.) The point is: Thanks to the internet the world has gotten very small. The role of journalism has taken on a completely different role. Anyone that wants can become an international journalist with their words being archived by Google for years to come.

But with the rise of self-professed writers giving their thoughts and opinions on everything from armageddon to the dietary habits of their cat, greater is the need for valiant, noble voices to shine forth and maintain the dignity of written words and the power of human thought.

I surely think it would be a missed opportunity if I never wrote a book. In fact, I’ve really been feeling an itch along those lines lately. The problem is that I have no idea what I would write about. Time Management? Probably not. A commentary? That may be cool.

For years I entertained the idea of writing a book called “The 2911 Factor”. It would be based on Jeremiah 29:11, that God has thoughts and plans to prosper us. It would be a book about discovering and walking in our destiny.

I was talking to Anna about this last night and she said I ought to wait until I can’t not write a book. That seems like a good idea. But how far away is that? Do I really want to wait another 5 or 10 years until I have something to say enough to break it up by chapters instead of h3 tags? That seems like an awful long time. But on the other hand, who am I to try and crank something out simply because I feel an itch to write? That surely seems like a waste of perfectly good trees.

I’m not trying to discount the 535 posts I’ve written for The Fight Spot. In the two years since I began publishing this site I have finally come to realize that I am a writer. All these little blurbs, articles and asides have helped me realize how much I love words and language. I will continue to write and publish for as long as I have something to say. But I also know that writing short pieces for the internets is not all I plan to do.

So do I just get one of these, lay it down and they do the rest? Or do I still have to talk?

There was a team of us that began the first prayer room teams. I led one that met every Monday through Friday from NOON until 4:00. Then I switched to a morning prayer room team that met from 8:00AM until NOON. Now I don’t lead a specific team but instead give leadership to all the fantastic prayer room teams that meet in the mornings.

When I first began leading that afternoon team two years ago my primary value was doing the prayer room. If you’re not at IHOP then that might sound like an odd vision to have. In fact, it might not even make sense as a sentence. Let me explain.

First the definition: To “do” the prayer room means two things. a) You have to show up. Come when you said you would come. And, b) try to pray while you’re here.

Second the reality: Obviously you can’t do the prayer room 100% all the time. It’s normal to get distracted, or dissengaged, or bored. But that is different than the value of your heart to do the prayer room. If doing the prayer room is a value of my heart then I will fight against the distractions and press through the boredom. If doing the prayer room is NOT a value, then I’ll invite the distractions — assuming I even show up at all.

So as a prayer room team leader, my main goal was to get my team members to buy into the value of doing the prayer room. Make sense? Good.

The reason this was a key element to my prayer room team was because it was a key value in my own heart. I wanted to do the prayer room. And now, after two-plus years I am looking at the group I am leading they are all men and women that want to do the prayer room. Incredible.

Now to the poin (which, surprisingly is also the title of this post): Like Begets Like. Every time.

Spirit gives birth to spirit. Every time.

Flesh gives birth to flesh. Every time.

You can’t get around it. You can’t trick it, fake it, dodge it, pretend about it, or imitate it.

Just look at the skaters in your local high school. They look the same, dress the same, talk the same and have the same haircut. Birds of a feather flock together. And the same truth goes for leadership. Like begets like, and if the leaders will lead then the people will follow.

What’s hard about the Christian life is that not too many are going for it. It’s a lot easier do something different when there are lots of other people doing it too. But as men and women that really want to go hard for God, we don’t have the option of waiting for the support of our peers.

If we want to see a culture of revival then we have to lead the charge. Which means we’re forerunners. Yup. You’re a forerunner.

It took two years before I realized that the values I was carrying had become a reality in those I was leading. But the good news is that spirit gives birth to sprit every time. You can’t get around it. Thank God.

Here are a few of the myths and what you can do about them. (Keep in mind, she didn’t write a blog post, but an outline. I just copied and pasted, but the content is still outstanding.)

MYTH #1: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A POWER

TRUTH: The Holy Spirit is a person, not a power. He is equal with the Father and the Son in the trinity.

Many characteristics of personality are given the Holy Spirit. He speaks (Rev. 2:7), He searches (1 Cor 2:10), He prays (Romans 8:26), He instructs (John 16:12-14), He feels (Isaiah 58:10), etc.

As God, the Holy Spirit is worthy of worship and adoration. Thanksgiving and honor are due Him just as the Father and the Son. We owe our salvation to the workings of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we would be bound to Hell (John 16:7-11).
The Holy Spirit has much power and loves to demonstrate His power in and through us for His glory (Acts 1:8, Acts 3:12).

It is not wrong or burdensome to ask God to give us the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 7:7-11). In fact, it was the command of Jesus before His ascension that His disciples wait to be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49). In relating to the Holy Spirit merely as a power to attain, we neglect a beautiful and vital relationship with God.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14)

MYTH #2: COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OCCURS EXTERNALLY

TRUTH: At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in the believer.

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home in him” (John 14:23).

The issue is not me “getting more” of the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit having more of me.

“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25).

There is a war between the Spirit and the flesh (Galatians 5:17). In sowing to the Spirit (making righteous decisions), the Spirit gains more ground in the inner man. Holiness is only possible for a human being who has the person of God dwelling within.

Jesus calls us to perfection (Matthew 5:48), yet “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). His promise to us is that if we “walk in the Spirit… you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

Paul speaks to the Colossians about the mystery of Christ dwelling within the believer (Colossians 1:27). He warns them of this reality knowing that they will be held responsible for maturing in holiness. “Him (Christ within) we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28).

We are not disconnected from God, crying out for the fruits of the Spirit to come upon us. We are intimately connected to God through His Spirit within. It is through abiding in the vine (John 15:4-5) that the fruit of the Spirit comes forth from within us.

MYTH #3: FELLOWSHIPPING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT HAPPENS ONLY IN STILLNESS AND SILENCE

TRUTH: Silence and solitude are imperative for connecting with Christ within, especially for someone new to life in the Spirit. They create an atmosphere in which the flesh is least likely to be stirred up.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Beholding the Lord and being transformed into His likeness takes time and space (2 Corinthians 3:18). You cannot get the oil of intimacy “on the go”. Every moment of life must be lived through Christ within.

In each activity and moment we must actively choose to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5). Jesus rebukes the Jews for studying the scriptures without connecting with Him personally (John 5:39-40).

Especially in fervent intercession, we must be connecting with Christ within us. He is the great intercessor (Hebrews 7:25); we are ushered into His heart when we fellowship with Him.

“…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Post Script by Shawn

The Lord has strongly pressed on me the need to fellowship with the Holy Spirit throughout my day. I used to view it as something extra I could do to help enhance my walk with God if I wanted, but just recently it has become clear to me that I do not have the right to pick and choose what “extra” activities I want to do under the grace of God.

As a child of God and a citizen of Heaven I am to give all of my heart, soul, mind and strength to God without reserve. Fortunately, the Lord knows it is a journey for each of us. So I don’t have to obtain it right away, but I do have to press towards maturity and friendship with Jesus.

But when I put down drumming for a while to work for the IIHOP marketing team, it was not what I had expected at all.

For starters, a lot more happened than just the marketing team. Anna and I are also teaching at the Daniel Academy.

So as things changed it took me several weeks to discover that I was in a completely new context for encountering God. Although I am in the Prayer Room about 6 hours a day, I now have several more hours in my day that are not specifically centered around the Prayer Room.

Instead those hours are spent in meetings, making phone calls, emails, and working on graphic design from my home.

Now I am most certainly not complaining about the new this shift. In fact it is a gift from God.

What I have recently realized is that although I survived the transition from one season to another, I am not doing to well at navigating this new season. If you’re like me – and I imagine that you probably are – then you try to do the same things the same way when you move into a new season, only to find out that it doesn’t work that way. A new season in God often requires new disciplines and a new approach to encountering God.

Ultimately, as we navigate the ups and downs of life, we can come to a place where our inner man is in constant communion and fellowship with Christ within and the Holy Spirit. And that is precisely why this new season of mine is a gift from God. I have been massively challenged to encounter God in meetings and emails and isolated graphic designing.

The renowned Brother Laurence taught it best.

Our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.

He said that it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayers unite us with Him in our quiet devotions.

It is the same resolve that Paul had: to count all things as loss for the excellence of knowing Christ. Our relationship with God cannot be based on external circumstances. It must become an inward reality that supersedes pressures, responsibilities, blessings and trials.

I also feel it’s fair to address the silence on here as of late. The best way I can think to describe it is that I now have many more outlets for teaching and sharing on the subject of God.

For a long time The Fight Spot was my only outlet, and it was all I could do to not publish every single bit of teaching I had. But now I am not only creating my own study notes for the e12 I lead, but I am also developing and teaching an entire curriculum for a private Christian school’s high school track.

However, I am very unwilling to give up writing. I still hold very strong to the values of apostolic blogging, and do not see The Fight Spot going away any time soon. Although the posting schedule has most certainly changed, I look forward to this new season of my own life and how The Fight Spot will reflect it.

Additionally, it seems I have been asked quite a bit lately if I will ever write a book. I have always seen myself as an author. And although I have plenty of opinions to share, I don’t yet feel confidence that I have enough content on any given subject to produce something worthy of print.

In between TFS posts feel free to see what’s going on at Shawnblanc.net. My new outlet for design and technology (and an experiment in Apostolic Blogging through a non-Christian focused weblog).

And yes, I did get an iPhone.

Theory: There is an element to leadership that supersedes natural understanding and even physical capacity requiring supernatural strengthening.

Foundation 1: Leadership at the end of the age will be dependent upon friendship and intimacy with God. (Matthew 25:1-13)
First of all, if God is truly omniscient – and He is – then He surely doesn’t need our advice, opinions. And secondly, if God is truly omnipotent – and He is that as well – then He doesn’t need our help. So why then does He use us? Simple. Because he wants to. He made the rules and decided He likes us and enjoys partnering with us.

So when God is looking for leaders, what is He looking for? He’s looking for friends. People who’s company He enjoys, and vice-a-versa. He doesn’t need intelligent people, eloquent people, or tall, dark and handsom gents. He only needs friends.

If this foundation is true then that means the goofy guy could end up leading a 10,000 person tent revival while the smart man ends up in the back row. Because intimacy with God is more important than leadership skill sets and public speaking abillity.

Therefore a void is created: How can someone with minimal skill sets give leadership to the Body of Christ? I do believe the law of the lid applies here, but more importantly is that there must be a supernatural element that is strengthening the goofy leader to operate beyond his natural ability and capacity. An element that only God can impart. An element that is found in the place of prayer and intimacey.

Foundation 2: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
What may seem like foolishness to some of the greatest revolutionaries in the history books, is wisdom in the Holy Scriptures. The most important thing we can do with our time and energies is to seek God. This is where the supernatural strengthening is found.

If this foundation is true then it means we can get more accomplished in less time if we are operating under the anointing than we could in more time without the anointing. It is the same concept as money. We have more power with 90% of our income under the anointing of God than 100% of our income that is not under the anointing.

This conclusion doesn’t make sense to the natural mind, and sometimes doesn’t even make sense on paper. There is a mystery to it. But that doesn’t make it less true.

Foundation 3: The early apostles committed to prayer and the ministry of the Word. (Acts 6:4)
Twelve guys started a revolution. They had innumerable demands on their time and attention. But they had a goal to give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word. This is the same principle as I previously mentioned, but here we see it in action.

I believe that those who are called to true apostolic leadership have a greater capacity to lead and manage people and organizations and movements. But that capacity can only be unlocked and used to it’s fullest potential when it is cultivated and fed in the prayer room.

Superman makes an excellent illustration. He was from the alien planet Krypton, and before that planet blew up all it’s citizens were just normal folks. The couldn’t fly or shoot laser beams out of their eyes. Superman (or Kal-el) is sent on a spaceship to Earth just before his homeland explodes. He doesn’t have his super powers until he gets to Earth, because it’s our sun that gives him his special talents.

The same idea exists for those called to lead in the last generation. There is a larger capacity for leadership that exists inside of us, but we have to get around the right power source to unlock it. And our power source is the Son of God (pardon the pun).

Conclusion

Pray. Fast. Read the Bible.

Let’s not forget that it’s not complicated. It’s only a matter of priorities. You and I can do more in less time if we are operating under the anointing of God because we’ve spent our strength in the place of prayer.

In John 3, Mr. the Baptist lists three occupations of a friend of the Bridegroom. They (1) Stand, (2) Hear his voice and (3) rejoice greatly. Rejoicing greatly in the voice of the Bridegroom is not only to delight yourself in the Lord but to love what he loves and hate what he hates.

Let me tell you something: There is a coming expression of Christianity that will be filled with people who love righteousness with all they are and they will hate sin with all they are. And this new expression of Christianity will change the way others view the church.

Something we often don’t realize is that we can stand and hear without rejoicing. This is called deceiving ourselves.

Paul describes this type of person pretty well in Romans 2.

You are called a [Christian], and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things which are excellent, being instructed out of the law and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

You therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

Just as the church of Sardis had a name that they were alive but they were dead so can we. We can grow up in the church, approve the things that are excellent, and even give advice and teaching to others but does that mean we are alive on the inside?

If you are truly a friend of the Bridegroom then you are alive on the inside. You have intimacy with God. You not only stand before God and hear his voice but you rejoice greatly.

You love what God loves and hate what He hates.

You may not have it all figured out and you may not be walking in perfect righteousness, but you are grieved by the darkness in your heart and you are hungry for more of God.

Even as I type this out I realize how distant I am from this reality. There are so many areas in my life and in my heart that I want to hold on to. There are things I don’t want to give up, and attitudes I want to hang on to, and lifestyle practices that I want to continue doing.

The Lord can point those things out and even help us to despise them. But ultimately it is up to us to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to them. And that, my friends, is the very decision upon which our entire destiny hinges. We must choose to rejoice.