Verdict That Demands Action

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40

I view the time between 4:00 AM and 4:59 AM as the most ungodly hour. Nothing good happens during this hour. If you are up until 3:59 AM . . . go to bed! Nothing good can come of still being awake. If you wake up at some point during this ungodly hour . . . hit snooze! Seriously. I think that my time of opening a coffee shop at 4:45 AM has lead me to this belief - it may be wrong, but I am sticking to it.

Monday was one of those days that I was forced to be awake during this the most ungodly of hours. Amy and I went to Seattle, WA last week for our first married Christmas. It was one year ago that we got engage in this beautiful city, so this trip was our Christmas gift to each other. We had an incredible time and took advantage of as much of this great city as possible in our short time there. We had an early flight out on Monday that forced me to break my 4 o'clock rule.

As we flew out I had an interesting thought. How did I impact that city in my few days there? Was it different then when I came? Economically speaking, I am sure that it was beneficial to have another couple come to the city, eat the food, shop and do all the typical vacation activities, but I do not pretend to think that our modest trip and few activities made any impact on the economic state of the city. It'd be nice to think that we single handedly fixed the economic problems, but we simply did not.

There was something that I could not get out of my head though. The night before we left I saw a young guy in his twenties holding a sign that read, "Survival isn't a privilege, it's a right. Please help me out." I don't know why he stood out to me. I had passed by so many homeless all weekend and none of them phased me the way that this guy did. Then I realized that maybe that was the problem. Why was I able to walk by so many poor and needy, so many that are hurting, and not be compelled to do something?

There are so many logical reasons why we pass by these people without a second thought. After all, they must have done something in order to end up like this and if we give them money they will surely just use it to feed addictions . . . or so we rationalize.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that dropping my loose change in their bucket would have really helped much. But what about a conversation? What about a meal? I'll tell you what I would like to do, I'd like to respond like Peter did in Acts 3 and say, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, be healed." That is what I'd like to do in these situations.

The truth is that I do not know how we should act. I do know this, as we do to the least of these; we do to the Lord - that is a weighty idea that does demands action.

Furnace Prayer Meetings

The Furnace prayer leaders have started blogging about each prayer meeting. I love being able to read about what God is doing in the prayer meetings.

Here is one entry from Josiah Carlson who leads the Monday night prayer meeting:


Coming into this prayer meeting, for some reason or another, it seemed liked our hearts were hard as a whole. Maybe it was from sin, or lack of pursuit, but regardless by the end of the night there was true, authentic intimacy. It was repenting during the first hour that softened our hearts and drew us to the Lord. The whole second hour was straight up worship! It was worship deep with our spirits and with truth. We approached the Lord with the Fear of the Lord. We stepped into humbleness which was the key to the door of intimacy. Tonight there was a real longing to meet with God. We asked for Him tonight, and we actively sought Him. It wasn't something that I lead the prayer meeting into... it was something that God did. My leadership was irrelevant because the furnace came to meet with him and was able to follow Him first.
Tonight was truly intimate, and I pray that the furnace's hearts would be resolute to follow a relentless God. We have so much to jump into... and I have faith that we will, and not just in the future, but now, and with this crew!

Much love,
Josiah

check out more entries like this at furnaceprayerblog.blogspot.com

Night of Desperation - Pueblo

Last Saturday the Furnace took a team to Pueblo, Colorado for a Night of Desperation. It was a great night full of prayer, worship, and connecting. Brandan Bustamonte came down to lead worship for the event. Brandan is a worship leader that is incredibly talented and anointed.

Pastor Dominic Suazo hosted the event at the Pueblo Prayer and Worship Center. We had a packed house as we prayed for a move of God in Pueblo. There is a groundswell of prayer that is beginning in this area and we were excited to go down to be a part of it.

Thanks to everyone that came out. We will continue to pray for Pueblo!

Night of Desperation

Prayer is one of the most exciting things that we can do because it is our chance to partner with God in what He is doing on planet earth right now. Students came from all over Northern Colorado last Wednesday night to pray for God to move in a powerful way. The Furnace had the opportunity to put on a Night of Desperation at Resurrection Fellowship in Loveland, Colorado. God is doing some really amazing things in young people in this region. From Colorado State University to a group of high school students leading hundreds of students in prayer at Thirst; prayer meetings and events are starting all over the place. The Furnace went with the desire to join with these students in contending for God to move at their schools and churches and in their lives. It was massively evident that prayer is regular part of these students spiritual diet. They came ready to pray hard. The night started with powerful worship led by Jeremy Reyes and Nico Perez. We then moved into a time of praying for the lost, praying for our schools and churches, and praying for this generation. I loved seeing the fervency and passion that existed in the room. This night only built my expectation for the Night of Desperation next month in Pueblo! If you live in the Northern Colorado region and you want to see a move of God at your school, you've got to jump into one of these student led prayer initiatives that are happening! It is really awesome to see what God is doing.

"I Mainly Listen"

It seems to be a reoccurring theme in the Sunday night prayer meeting to wait on the Lord. When I welcomed everyone to the prayer meeting I encouraged them all to ask the Lord to speak to them about the direction of the prayer meeting. As we spent the first hour in devotional prayer I felt like we needed to begin the intercession hour waiting on the Lord and believing that He would speak to us. We had a time of repentance and waiting on the Lord for about fifteen minutes before the band sang any worship song. After we had worshiped for a while I asked for people to share if the Lord had given them anything. The obvious trend was toward the lost. We spent the rest of the night praying for the light of Jesus to shine forth. We closed the night out praying for the people that we know have not given their lives to Jesus. I believe that God speaks to us. I feel like it is really important that we continue to wait on Him in order that we may better hear His voice. I read an interesting account of Mother Teresa today. It stated that she was once asked what she prays about during her prayer time; her response, "I mainly listen."

Nights of Prayer

Last Thursday Glenn Packiam spoke at the Furnace Gathering. The title of his sermon was Secondhand Jesus. So often we allow “God-experts” to do the heavy lifting and then give us the bottom line, but we must push to experience Jesus firsthand. It was a powerful message.

We also announced that we will be having nights of prayer here in Colorado over the next few weeks. There was a great response as the sign-up lists filled up quickly.
On Wednesday, November 19th, the Furnace is going to be headed up to Loveland, CO for a night of prayer and worship at Resurrection Fellowship. Jeremy Reyes and band will be leading worship.
Then on Saturday, December 6th, we will be headed to Pueblo, CO. Brandan Bustamonte will be leading worship.
I am so excited to lead the team of Furnace students to these churches in order to partner in prayer with them for a move of God in their churches, schools, and lives.

Start of theFurnace

Well, we have started a new year of theFurnace and it is about time. This was a crazy and wonderful summer, but it feels good to get back to normalcy. Last weekend we had a great retreat with our Furnace accountability leaders. It was a great time to pray, connect with each other and talk about leadership ideas. I am really excited about this years group of leaders. They love God and have great anticipation for the year.

Thursday marked the start of the regular Furnace schedule with the Gathering. Prayer meetings have now started and everything is getting back to normal. I love it!

Overcome the World

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - I John 5:3-5

Why do we equate being good with loving God? It has nothing to do with it.

I am in Birmingham, AL with all of the Desperation Team right now getting ready for the final Desperation Conference of the summer. This morning we had an amazing time of prayer and scripture reading. We read through I, II, and III John together. It was great to just soak in the Word.

As we were reading, I was reminded of a conversation that I had recently with one of our Furnace guys. He was telling me of an interaction that he had at work with a young lady at his work. She had expressed her understanding that she had done too many bad things to ever be accepted by God. How sad if we, as Christians, have every put out a message like this.

This opened the door for him to share all of his past struggles. Cocaine, alcohol addiction, sex . . . these are a few of the issues that he had dealt with in his past. Now his life is so full of passion for Jesus that no one can envision him any other way.
He got to share with her that being a Christian is not about being good; we are horrible at being good. Being a Christian is about Jesus. When we find out the greatness of our Savior and his willingness to forgive and love us through our mess; when we recognize that God loves us, we'll love Him back. This is why strive for good, this is why we do not want to sin. Not because we have to, but because we want to. It's not about what can I get away with; it's about how extravagantly can I show my love!

We do not have to give in to the pressure of the world! Everyone born of God overcomes the world! It is not that we can't be worldly, it is that we don't have to!

May the joy of the Lord be in you and may you show your love for God through your obedience. Overcome the world!

theFurnace Blog

Welcome to theFurnace blog!

This blog is created to be a tool to share the God activity happening in theFurnace and be a catalyst for God-focused conversation.

The new Furnace year begins on September 2nd. I am so excited for what God is going to do in theFurnace this year. Last year we talked about God "turning up the heat" in theFurnace. I really believe that is going to happen. We are going to have more prayer, more discipleship, more outreach, and more community then ever before. I anticipate such great things for this year.

Please be in prayer for us for all new and returning Furnace members. We are praying that God move in a powerful way. That each student is empowered to draw closer to God and equipped to go further in what He has called them to do and be.

It is going to be an incredible year! I cannot wait for it all to get started.