Returning to Obedience.

      What a year it has been!! We started off the year joining Youth With A Mission ( YWAM ) in Kona, Hawaii where we had a 3 month intense lecture phase. The Lord encountered us both numerous times revealing a deeper revelation of His love for us and it has forever changed us. We then went to Turkey for 2 months of outreach. We got to put on many Burns (extended times of worship and prayer) and sow into the long term workers in Turkey. We got to see the Lord working there in many amazing ways!

     While we were in Hawaii God really put a love in us for our town and state and what He is doing right here in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. He poured out vision into us for what He wants us to do. Being back it has been a bit of a reality check. :) Some things have been really good and some things have been very difficult but we are still clinging to the word God gave us. He has a special place in his heart for our town and desires that everybody would step into the fullness of who He created them to be which leads to the natural outcome of revival and cultural reformation.

     In Hawaii & Turkey we had felt that we were supposed to get more training after our DTS but when we finally made it home we did not want to leave. We pushed off further training and decided we were going to be staying in Glendive for a while. In Mid July we headed down to Denver for the School of the Circuit Riders and it was there that God reminded us of this further training He had told us to go to. We repented for our selfishness and recommitted our plans to the Lord. Soon after this we found out that the further training was a 1 year commitment. We tried to sign up for 3 months but it just doesn't work that way, so once again, we said we are not going. Sometime after that we definitely felt the Lord tell us to go to Kona for further training.

     Leadership Track is designed to produce the following:


Raise up priests before the Lord who have learned to prioritize His presence, live for His glory, and
be led by His Spirit through a lifestyle of corporate and individual worship and intercession centered
around the Word of God


Create mature and effective leaders who walk in great integrity and godly character that could staff a
DTS, lead outreaches and pioneer schools and communities in any setting and circumstance.


Release evangelists, preachers, teachers, and worship leaders who could effectively teach and impart
into any setting with great anointing and profound impact


Train community builders and pioneers who are effective in creating, discipling and multiplying
missional communities centered around the presence of the Lord.

     So, with this being said through all the back and forth and yes and no we are confident that this is what He is calling us to. We will be leaving at the beginning of January for 1 year. Our dream and desire is to bring back the training and people to set up a community within our community in Glendive that is centered around the Word & Presence of God.

Actualization

I believe that God is rising up a new movement.  Not new to heaven, but something that many of us have never experienced before.  This movement is a generation that lives out in every breakthrough that Jesus died for.  Soon is coming a day when people realize how amazing they are!  Jesus is the “Light of the world” John 8:12.  Jesus also calls us the light of the world also, Matt 5:14.  As a generation we need to grasp this revelation, that we hold SO much potential.  Untapped potential that the entire earth is longing to see come out of us.  We are the children of God.  We are also the bride of Christ.  With these 2 identities we can know that God truly desires the best for us.  We have gotten caught in this rut of focusing way too much on how “deprived and filthy and horrible” we are.  Now is the time for us to step into our true identity.  I am a man that God desires to spend time with, He actually created me just so that I could do absolutely amazing things to worship Him.  My Daddy wants to bless me, He wants me to live a life of insane faith and risk.  He will always be there to pick me up when I fall, hold me when I’m hurting, help me when I mess up.  As we understand the reality of who God is we will understand the reality of who we are, Royalty, Light in the dark, more than conquerors, we are phenomenal beings created to do astounding things!  

Please consider what God has created you to do.  As a body we need to come together living in the fullness.  We are a team and if one member of the team is not doing their best it effects us all.  Jesus died for us to be able to live like Adam and Eve should have.  He died so that there would be no more separation between us and Him, and to redeem all the time when we were separated.  He died so that we could actually live a FULL life.  This my friends is actuality and we can grab a hold of it today.  Be the breakthrough for those around you.  Take responsibility to live a life like Jesus died for.  Be an ACTUALIZED Christian!  

--JR

Recent Happenings.

hello family & friends!!

We leave Hawaii in a week to go to Turkey! I feel like time has flown by!
Tyler & Alladin came to see us for a week at the end of February. It was so good being able to be with them!! A little "home" in Hawaii :)
Carly is here now, she just got back from her outreach & is heading back to Montana on Friday. I love getting to be here with her! God has sure blessed us with being able to be with our friends!
 will
This week we have "elective classes" We are in 2 different classes.
1. Justice Water - www.justicewater.net check it out!
Yesterday we built a pump to be able to pump out water from deep wells.
Tomorrow we will build a "squatty potty"
Friday -- not sure what we are building! :)

this is a squatty potty that we will be building!







2. Pure Heart - www.pureheartseminars.com check it out!!
We are honored to have as our leaders of the school Tom & Donna Cole!
They have this ministry bringing inner healing to people & they are training us up to be able to teach this & bring inner healing wherever we go!
We hope to be able to do some sessions back in Montana! :)

__________________________________________________________________________

For the last month or two a group of people have been going down town Kona and evangelizing to people. We have gone a few times and we have seen the power of God come!

1. One time we prayed for a homosexual couple. They were both drunk & we seen the Lord come on one of them and she just started weeping. It was very touching seeing God come & touch her.

2. We asked a guy if he wanted prayer. We asked if he had ever accepted Jesus as his Savior. He said no, and we asked him if he wanted to and he replied yes, and came to the Lord right there!

3. We met this lady who was telling us all the different religions she has tried out. She was currently searching christian churches & saying Jesus is the only one that really "feels right". She also said that she had a "dragon" in her & a "scorpion". She accepted Jesus and we prayed for her! It was so crazy how evident she was searching for truth!

4. We met a couple that wanted us to pray for them to get their children back. The same day that we met them, earlier that day the lady was telling the man that God hated her because He let her children get taken away. The 2 accepted Jesus that night!! They knew that it was no coincidence that we were there and that we met them! Also, their children's names were: Elisha & Ezra! wow!! How crazy is that!!!

Throughout all this what we have seen is this:

THE HARVEST IS RIPE, BUT THE LABORERS ARE FEW!!

People get ready... Jesus is coming!! The King is coming back once again to reign!!

Eastern Montana better get ready!

People get ready…Jesus is coming. 

Just vision casting here in the glory room, getting more and more vision for Eastern Montana.  i can just imagine little fires burning everywhere.  Starting at the Glendive Alliance Church in the spring/summer of 2012. People start getting radically transformed because of the revelation of their sin and the love of Jesus. The people of the Glendive Alliance Church start breaking out in signs and wonders. They recognize the urgency of the time they live in.  They will seek NO  glory of their own as they begin to reach out to their families, then to their communities and work places. Then, people surrounding areas start hearing of the radical love that these people have through things like Facebook and texting, so they decide to check this out. People like Dale Diede and his two sons from Ekalaka finally discover that the passions and desires that they have deep down inside of them for excitement, true friendship and community, are the desires that God has put there. They being to worship the most high King and make Jesus the Lord of their life. This new thing begins to sweep across all of Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. All of these little towns start sending out missionaries to the hardest and darkest places. This first major revival in this area!! Then it will move into reformation where houses of prayer start popping up all over, and people aren't "cool " unless they are laying their life down for others. The farmers and ranchers start to become more prosperous than ever before. The oil boom then does not end, it only increases and men are learning more and more how this oil and these jobs are gifts from God and ALL the glory should be given to Him and only Him. The rig crews start inviting some of the worst men on their rigs so that they can baptize them in the presence of God. Other men start asking land owners if they can preach the gospel to the rig crews on their land. Oh man, the day is coming soon. When to live in Eastern, MT means to prosper, to live here means to be transformed; to live here means that you preach the gospel every day through the way that you live. To live in Eastern Montana is to live in REVIVAL!! 

Carly, Ash and I have been living together for that past week or so and God has really been giving us a heart for what He is doing in this area! We are all so excited to see all of this come to fruition. I got this vision last night while we were all laying down ready for bed. I feel as if this is just a continuation of the word that God gave us at the burn, 1 Corinthians 3:9 EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEAR, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH THE LORD HAS FOR THOSE HE LOVES. He really loves us all so much! So much that He was willing to die for us! Let us give Him the reward of His suffering and move into this radical place of WORSHIP!!  

update on emily ;)

sorry i haven't posted this, i know a lot of people were interested in our post about "emily"

We did find emily!! God is faithful, she is at our campus right now and she will be traveling soon to go to germany for a fire & fragrance dts there!

destination:TURKEY

Hey guys, just wanted to update you all on what we will be doing in Turkey!! I will be using abbreviations for some things for our teams safety, so if you aren't sure what it means please message me about it, or just get the general idea of what I am saying! :)

We are leaving March 27th. We have a really long lay over in San Francisco so we will be able to leave the airport & take an adventure around the city. I am really excited for this because I have never been to California! Next, we will fly to Germany and from there to Turkey!

1st Destination: Antalya!

 

Based on the Apostle Paul’s port of entry and exit to Asia Minor, you begin with some basic language and cultural adaptions, lead out in Burns, sow into long-term workers, share the Good News, release the miraculous, and celebrate Christ’s Resurrection with the expat community by helping lead worship!  This is also the city where we are based as a family!

 2nd Destination: Izmir ( Smyrna )

The Burn was launched here a few years back and soon a fully functioning hop will open. Our team will join in prayer & encouragement for those who are a part of hop. We will help man the hop, prayer walk in strategic areas (like the ruins of the old city), and outreach to a needy, dark area where Islam, consumerism, and sex trafficking are prevalent.



3rd Destination: Villages of Antalya


We will join an existing ministry called Awake Antalya in major pioneering prayer and outreach. This strategic initiative will take us to rural Turkish villages that have never seen a foreigner, never have been prayed for, and never have heard, felt, or seen the Gospel!!!

4th Destination: Cappadocia

We will launch the first burn here! This region is known as the bible belt of the ancient world filled with over 3,000 prayer rooms where Basil the Great first fused mission, community, & prayer together! In addition to launching the burn in an underground cave in a super strategic area, we will help teach basic music to "m" kids, prayer walk in some super strategic villiages, and praying in some of the ancient prayer furnaces and whatever else God leads us to do!!


5th Destination: Kusadasi 


We have the honor of being invited to launch the Burn at the nation Y conference! We will lead out in prayer, worship, and soak the Y pioneers with whatever God gives us. This will be a time of relaxation & debriefing for us.

6th Destination: Villages of Antalya


This will be really similar to the one above but to a different village! We will also be hosting some nights of prayer leading up to a Burn on Pentecost.

7th Destination: Antalya


We will head back to Antalya where we can reconnect with those we have shared the Gospel with and relationships we have built. We will have more strategic EV and outreach.

We are so so so excited for this outreach! God has placed us with amazing leaders, teammates, and location! We are excited for what God has for us in this! Please continue to pray for us! love you all!!

Do you know who my dad is?

Really, do you know who my dad is?
He really is the nicest guy you will ever meet. He takes care of me so well and is always there for me when I need to talk to Him.
I told Him I needed $2,000 by March 2nd. He didn't sigh, or get angry. The next day I checked my bank account. He put in $1,060 for me. THANKS DAD!! :) Yesterday I told Him i still need $1,000 by March 2nd. I know it is still a few weeks away, I'm not worried that You won't get me the money. I looked in my bank account today. You put over $2,000 in! THANKS DAD!! :)

He really is the best dad in the world. His love for me is really crazy. He loves me as much as Jesus, His other Son.

Do you know who my dad is?

Abba, Daddy. Your love for me is unfailing.

God, my Father. Your love for me is unchanging.

The bride adorns herself with jewels.

"Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day"  2 Peter 3:8

     In the end times is the wedding feast.  The day when the bride of Christ and the Man Himself finally come together.  We are that bride brothers and sisters!!!!  In the end times we will be at that wedding as the bride.  So what does a bride do to prepare for the wedding??  She puts all of her best clothes on, she put her best jewelry on, she dresses herself up like never before, EVERYTHING, from top of her head to the bottom of feet is decked out in beauty!! Even the things unseen that only the groom gets to see ;)

     So in those days we will be decked out with the best things that the world has ever seen.  The best meaning the different talents and gifts that we all have are going to be shown off like never before.  The best and most successful musicians, the best and most successful business people, the best and most successful chemists, leaders, policemen, lawyers, stock brokers, teachers, etc...  God is going to show off the best jewels in these days.  There is no part of the body of the bride that is unimportant either!! Even how clean the bottom of her feet are on that day is important.

     Like Jesus Himself waited 30 + years to start proclaiming the Gospel, so are we in these last days.  We have so much inside of us that is just waiting to come out!!  Timing is everything.  We are not to awaken love until the right time.  The time is coming!! A day to the Lord is like a thousand years, so we are probably in the last hours.  The bride does not dress herself days or weeks before the wedding. No! That is the time to get to know her mate.  It is on the last day that she gets dressed up!

     The Father is screaming NOOOOOOOOWWWWW, now is the time for my Son to receive His bride!!  We have waited for long enough.  Now is the time for YOU to act on those deep desires in your heart.  They were given to you for this time.  Those desires, talents, and gifts are not your own, but were given to you "for such a time as this."  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart could fully know the things that the Lord has planned for those who love Him."  Something new is about to sweep over the earth like we have never seen before!! These days are precious, so don't take them for granted.  Listen to what the Lord tells you.  IT IS TIME.

      I got this revelation tonight while we were finishing off our 24 hr burn at YWAM.  While we were all celebrating and dancing before God my beautiful wife was sitting on the floor reading her Bible.  I was almost going to say to her "get up and dance!"  But God helped me to remember that we are not all the same, and worship looks different for a lot of people.  So when we got done i told Ash about this thing that the Lord revealed to me.  She was reading almost the exact same thing!! WOW! God totally gave us confirmation that this is what He was doing.  I explained everything to her and she told me to read what she had just read.  Isaiah 61.  This chapter says almost exactly what Holy Spirit told me!!

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

And the garden causes the things

sown in it to spring up,

So the Lord GOD will cause

righteousness and praise

To spring up before all the nations.

--Isaiah 61:11

the secret to change the world

I feel as though I'm going through a paradigm shift. God is tearing down the walls of who I think He is.

I have always known that God loves us, that He does have only the best for us. This week for our speaker was Charles Stock. He said things like:        

         *God loves me as much as He loves Jesus.

         *God forgave us before we even asked for forgiveness.

         *God not only forgives our sins but He forgets we were a sinner {covered in His blood}{we are righteous}

whoa. that is some intense stuff.  I never heard that .. EVER! That right there is life changing. God loves ME as much as JESUS!?? I feel as though i'm getting a deeper revelation of this even as I am writing this. It is blowing my mind!! haha!!

John 15:9

I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me]

John 17:25-26

O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has failed to recognize You and has never acknowledged You, I have known You [continually]; and these men understand and know that You have sent Me. I have made Your name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.

I am praying that this love that God has for Jesus will be felt in my heart. That is what this verse says! The same love GOD has for JESUS we will have in OUR hearts!!!! That love, can change the world. God, consume me with your love. You are zealous & jealous for me. I pray for a deeper revelation of Your love [ the same love You have for Jesus & me ]  !!! This is so important. I need to KNOW this love that my Father has for me! From there our relationship will be so more intimate & I will be able to pour out this love from my Father to others that are hurting for love.






--ashley.

He's Coming!! Wake up!!!

For week 2 it was on the Holy Spirit. I had some questions that I had been confused about so I got those clarified that week. The biggest thing for me was the day we were learning how to hear God's voice.

After our speaker taught & people asked questions she had us ask the Holy Spirit what He thought of us.
Flashing before my eyes was a butterfly, then a flower, then an eye.
I was like ok, thats cool... then She had us ask Him what is He doing to me in this season?
I heard Him say: I am setting you free.
again, I was like ok, thats cool..

I then started to just sit there and think about it.. butterfly, flower, eye, setting me free.

It all came together then. Throughout this past year people would get flowers for me when they would pray for me and the Lord had had been speaking to me through butterflies. One of my most favorite dreams I had was this beautiful garden & a butterfly in it. I knew that dream was symbolizing a season I was in & God was pruning me to make me more like Him. There is a ton more things the Lord has spoke resembling that I will "burst" or "explode" (set free) .. but that's just too much typing :)
In this season the Lord is setting me free from fear of man, probably the biggest thing. I also know that there is more deeper stuff in me that He will be setting me free from.

Setting me free to who He created me to be!!

This week was "Corporate" week where all the DTS' get together for class. The theme for the week was Awakening the Dreams that God has for us.

Heidi Baker came and shared with us one day. She had told us about this vision that the Holy Spirit showed her. Click  this link  to read the full vision. This vision she shared with us just hit me. I am SUCH a person that thinks I need to be in control. The first week of being here at YWAM the Lord had started dealing with me about it !  But this vision.. it hit me so hard because we feel as though we are forerunners for the return of Jesus! That this generation right now is the "man running before the bridegroom telling everyone HE'S COMING!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!! "  Seriously. One of our friends pointed out to us that right now America is in the biggest economic fall but here at YWAM there is more students than there ever has been and next quarter there is supposed to be even more! They are running out of housing!  How are we affording this? We don't have jobs. Jesus is blessing it because the harvest is ripe! He is sending us out! We are hearing about revival happening in muslim towns! Muslim families coming to accept Jesus. Muslim people traveling because they heard christians are near & they know that their God can heal them! In a communist country a ywam team just got invited to speak at a church! This is not heard of !! Something is changing in the spiritual realm. Revival is happening.

Lord, wake me up! Wake up the Church! Set our eyes on you. Turn us back from "doing" and let us be sitting at your feet. I want to know your heart. I want to know you intimately.
My heart cries out just to know you..

week 1

We can't believe we have only been here a week! It feels like months with everything we have been learning & what the Lord has been doing in us!

So, the basics of what we've been learning is that the Gospel is simple. Take it as face value.  Something that really hit me was saying I will follow Jesus even if something were to happen to JR. He is WORTHY! Even if the Lord were to give me nothing.. I will follow Him. I will follow Him where He says to go. I don't need to ask why. Just go. haha. so simple, right!
Most people build their foundation on loving Jesus but that is wrong! Our foundation needs to be the revelation of God's love for US! If it isn't that then eventually our foundation will be washed away. The Lord has been stripping me away of things & it is leading up to me being in a vulnerable place with Him. I want my life to be like Mary's. Wasting my life at Jesus' feet!! How beautiful are His feet! Another thing that kinda just hit me was just gazing into His eyes & staring at His beauty! Laying my dreams & desires at His feet. Saying Jesus, I just want YOU & believing those desires will come as the overflow.

The Lord showed me this picture of me holding my heart. He said you aren't letting me fully get to your heart, you are trying to control our relationship so you won't get hurt. So, basically He is taking me out of this place of "controlling" to a place of "trusting" & of "intimacy" with Him.

--Ashley.

God is just so BIG! I've always known that, but i didn't know it like i know it now.  There are a lot of things like that that i have always known, but are just now getting actually revealed to my heart! I'm loving it!  Jesus give me more!  Some of the biggest things that i am learning are about God's true love, how even when there was not a good response.  I mean they were spitting in His face when He was trying to give His life up for them, how did I ever feel a right to be angry at someone?  He was giving the greatest sacrifice of all, in love, and i get mad when people don't appreciate something little that i do for them!

Another thing that i have been rocked with is just the fear that i have walked in.  I have always considered myself a pretty confident person, but really i have always had this fear of rejection, fear of not progressing, fear of what people are going to think. in order to live totally for Jesus we need to have no fear though, this is another thing that i have always known, but now i really know it.  In Jesus there is no fear, and i am in Jesus, so if the Bible is true we should have no fear right?  If God is real all fear should be gone from us.  Big statement, but we have a big God.

Lastly, I have been learning about intimacy with God, and evangelism/missions. They are both equally important! Spending hours at a time in prayer and intercession for the nations, getting to know (really know) Abba, Daddy, God, and seeing Him in the most intimate ways. He desires that so much! we are His children. He wants to spend time with us and teach us the things that are on His heart, but He also wants us to go out and spread the Gospel of Salvation and the Kingdom to all the nations and languages of the world. Intimacy and Impact. This is where the name Fire and Fragrance comes from, the fire from that intimacy with God that spreads it fragrance all over the world.  Its not just one or the other.  Its not either spending hours in prayer or going out into the world spreading the Gospel.  Its both and.  It is the marriage of prayer and missions.  That is what we are here for and that is what we were created for!! To be intimate with our Creator and to do all the things that He tells us to do. That is all.

Aloha!! from Kona, Hawaii

Aloha! from Kona, Hawaii!!!!!!
Man, We cannot get over the beauty & how blessed we are that God has called us here to ywam!!! We had 12 hours of travel time and got to meet some of our fire & fragrance family in the airport in Seattle! It has been crazy busy & overwhelming at times but we are loving it!! We are meeting people from all over the world it is so cool!! Including Korea, Norway, England, Australia, Canada, and various places across the U.S.

Yesterday we had our school orientation and went through the handbook. Andy Byrd, the one who pioneered fire & fragrance was there going through this and telling us what fire & fragrance is all about. He touched on the "revival culture" & the different traits that it is. The 5 different traits that lead to that atmosphere are: Just Jesus, Faith, Holiness, Thankfulness, & Discipleship. The things that stuck out to us the most is: repentance is a gift and we should have joy filled repentance and that will lead to having more of Jesus. God wants to speak to us because He wants to use us through our simple obedience! Where Jesus is the center of anything.. that IS REVIVAL!! There was a lot of other amazing things he said but I walked away from that saying, .. and this is only the handbook. --- Can't wait to see how the Lord transforms our hearts & lives.

a goodbye

As this year is ending soon the words that the Holy Spirit spoke to us on Jan 1, 2011 have been on my mind a lot. He promised us that this year was for preparation & at the end of the year He would push us out. Well, in 6 days we are leaving Glendive, leaving our family, our friends, and pretty much anything we are familiar with. We will be flying out Jan 5th to Kona, Hawaii.

I feel like we've been walking through this year and finally we can see a door at the end. I don't know what is behind that door but we have confidence that it is good. We are excited to go & be wrecked by the Lord. He has already been wrecking us & it has been amazing!! [ that is foolishness  to the world; something new the Lord has been speaking to us about] He has began to put desires & dreams in our hearts. He is calling us to live radically obedient to Him! We know that through this school the Lord is going to do deep, deep work & we will be totally wrecked in a way that we will never be the same.

On Saturday the Glendive Alliance Church is hosting a Burn, which is a time of worship & intercession. Jr & I will be seeking the Lord for new promises He has for us for this year. I want to encourage you to do the same, it doesn't have to be there but wherever you are, seek the Lord for His promises for you this year! It is really cool seeing Him fulfill those promises! It is really helpful throughout the year too, you can always remember those promises and hold onto them in tough times.

The next blog we write, we will probably be in Kona so make sure you keep checking back to hear what the Lord is doing in us!!

Thank you to everyone who is praying for us & who donated to us! We know without a doubt this is where the Lord called us to, so thank you for being obedient to Him!! We love you all!!! Have a Happy New Year!! And be expectant of the Lord to do a deep work in your life & in Glendive!! We have high expectations for Glendive this year!! Can't wait to see what He does!!

Seeing through the "eyes of your heart"

     HEY!!! I can't even begin to explain all of the things that God has been revealing to me ever since I confessed my addiction to pornography.  I have a journal and I have never really been too big into writing in it a lot, but since Sept. 28 i have filled up more that half of my journal, just trying to remember all the new things that i am learning and going through.  My biggest prayer since all of this has happened was that through all of this that i could help other men who struggle with the same problems as me.  Hope you enjoy what God is doing, not just in me but so many others.

     God i pray that i could confine all of the things that You are doing into a short enough blog that people could keep paying attention.  Thank You.


     Something that has been coming up so much is the few verses in Ephesians 1.  It is Paul's prayer for that church,

                      Eph 1:17-18  "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
                     (may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
           the eyes of your heart being enlightened; that you may know the what is the hope of His calling),
                              what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

     this has been my prayer for me, and the whole church body.  God give us new and fresh revelation about You and who You are!!  and that "the eyes of our heart would be enlightened".  God help us to GET IT!  really get it, not just know in our head things about You, but know in the depths of our hearts the things about You that captivate us!!

     God has enlightened the eyes of my heart in so many ways, i understand so much better now the need for intimacy with Jesus.  i listened to a sermon by Misty Edwards on the parable of the 10 virgins called psalm 45.  i have no idea why she called it that, but she went through and explained what the things in there represented.  the 10 virgins are believers in the last days waiting on Jesus' return.  The lamps are there calling, or their ministry.  finally the oil represents intimacy with Jesus.  in the last days there will be foolish Christians that are so focused on their ministry (lamp) that they won't actually be spending the time with Jesus (oil).  then when He comes back He will say "I never knew you".  then there will be wise one that took the time to spend with our Lord that they really know Him intimately and they will be ready for the marriage feast!!

     We all need to be spending more time with the One who made us.  He really wants us to know Him intimately, more than what we see in the church today.  We will be married to Him some day, would you want to get married to someone that you didn't know that well?  Neither does Jesus!

     We are the body of Christ, and when my stomach has something good in it, the rest of my body knows it and gets to experience the joy from that good thing.  I am convinced that when Christ is working in one, like me, it is most definitely not limited to that one person, Christ extends the goodness to all.  So i know that as my eyes are being enlightened and i am growing in intimacy with Him so will you!! When we are obedient to Him, He blesses us beyond belief, get out of the rut that you are in and spend time with the Joy Maker :)

this is my heart.

There is a new passion rising up in me. 
With everything that has happened in these last few months I have learned a lot. One thing is that you can't think "that will never happen to me" or never think "that sin" could happen to you.

As women we need to stop being ignorant and stop pretending that this could never happen to us because the guys we know love Jesus or because they love us too much to do that. The reality is that the devil is out to kill, steal, and destroy YOU. your life. your marriage. your family. your kids. He will do anything to do it.

So, how can we as women help our men keep their eyes pure? Dressing modestly. It is that simple. I think it is such a small thing that it gets overlooked but this action will help drastically! I want to help women understand how this can impact every guy we come in contact with.

Pornography is like the Elephant in the Room. Everyone knows it is there but the women think it isn't happening to anyone they know. And the men know it all too well. I am not saying every guy struggles with this because they don't. I just know that lust is everywhere in this world and if you don't be purposeful to keep your eyes pure it will be too far easy for the enemy to entrap you in this sin.


What would happen if us as women stopped turning our cheek away from this and actually confronted this? Can we really change this culture of sex and raise awareness about what it is actually doing?

Quick Fact: Studies show that a person's brain on meth & a person's brain that uses pornography trigger endorphin's the same way.


I want everyone to know that I love Jr more than I ever have. These last few months have literally been the best months of my life. We have became so close and our hearts are running after Jesus more then ever before. I love Jr's heart<3. He wants what the Lord has for Him and what He has called Jr to be & he wants to be the best possible husband he can be. 




--ashley. :)

confession & redemption

     So... there has been SO much going on in the last 2 months.  Starting on September 28th, 2011 i finally confessed to Ashley that I had been living in sin.  i had been looking at porn very regularly since before we were married.  there were some breakthroughs for a couple of those months, but mostly i was doing this almost every day.  it started with my smartphone, i knew as soon as i got that i was going to be able find porn on there.  i figured that it would just be every now and then, and i wouldn't let it get out of control or nothing, and that once we got married it would stop because i wouldn't have to deal with this temptation anymore because we were going to be able to have sex.  These were all lies that i listened too, sin is never something that u can just do sometimes, and it always gets out of control when its allowed.  This was a trap like most sins are for ppl, i tried so hard to get out of it by myself, but never succeeded.

     There were so many times that i would want to cry out for help because of sermons that i heard or just because of feelings of guilt and condemnation were so strong and i just wanted them to stop.  I had an accountability group that had my back and i would tell them about my failures and they would try to help me.  They would encourage me to confess to Ashley my sin, i couldn't do it.  Ashley had expressed to me her hatred  for pornography and the way that men think about women a few times, and that made me scared to tell her.  I would think, "what if she wants to divorce me?"  We had just gotten married and i loved her so much, so i reasoned in my head that i couldn't tell her.

    This went on for over a year.  Finally after hearing a sermon on how Jesus can sanctify us, or cleanse us, i decided that i was going to tell Ashley.  I wanted it to be the perfect time though, like some weekend when there wasn't anything going on so that we could spend the time to talk it out.  That perfect time didn't seem like it was coming, and i was quickly figuring out ways to talk myself out of it.  I would say to myself "I will trust in God for deliverance and then once i have been completely freed from it i will tell Ashley about how i used to struggle with it."  Bad idea.  Ashley had a dream one night that i was cheating on her, so she asked me, just to make sure, if anything like that was going on.  So i knew that this is my chance, and so i told Ashley the whole truth!

     i figured that since i was finally doing what God wanted me to do that He would reward me for it and things would be smooth sailing from there.  it wasn't.  It took a long time for Ashley to really be able to understand more of my struggle.  We both were reading books talking about men and porn.  She found one for women, "Every Heart Restored", and i read "Every Man's Battle" and "Pure Eyes".  All great books that helped us both.  The "Pure Eyes" book really helped me to understand that it was an addiction and that there were so many triggers that i didn't even realize, like emotional triggers, i had no idea that when i was angry or sad it was so much easier for me to talk myself into sinning.

     Since i finally confessed to Ash my sin it has been so much easier to battle temptation.  It was the hardest and best thing that has ever happened in our marriage!  We heard from books and from other ppl that this is something that we would always have to deal with, but today as we were having our Jesus time in our living room Ash came across a promise, Psalm 3:3-4 "You are a shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.  To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill." 3:8 "From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people." We do NOT have to deal with this forever, God has promised to redeem and sanctify us for His glory and we need to take Him on His word that He really will sanctify us!

     Enough of this weak battle that we have been fighting, men and women, we need to stand on God's promises that He will take care of us.  My prayer is that we can be radically obedient to God and do whatever He wants us to do.  We were created for one purpose, to GLORIFY GOD WITH EVERYTHING!! lets do it and not let sin and temptation hold us back and make us fear.  Since my confession God has been able to work in both Ashley and i so much and i want to share with the world, but i can only do so much at one time, so hopefully i can share more soon..


--JR.
   

Being Confident.

Yesterday we received an email from our school telling us what dates the money is due and I started to get overwhelmed and scared that we wouldn't have all the money. How many times do I let my circumstances rule my emotions and the way I think? Today the Lord spoke to me through these verses:

Jeremiah 17: 7-8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
it's leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.


I am praying for more confidence in Him and that we would be like a tree, with our roots deep by the stream.
That we would not fear when heat (circumstances, trials) come.
In times like this we need to be holding on to Him even more and believing what He says and who He says he is! We know He will provide.

If you want to give any amount to us toward this next season you can select the link above: "support"
Thank you for your support financially and prayerfully!!

Check your oil!

Last night we watched a teaching by Misty Edwards on the Parable of the Ten Virgins-- Matthew 25:1-13
I had never understood this parable but she brings FRESH revelation on it.

25:1-5
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Misty goes on to say this oil is the intimacy with Jesus, our secret intimate time with Jesus alone.
The lamp is our calling and ministry.

This parable is talking about how there will be christians who are more focused on their ministry and calling rather than spending that intimate time with Jesus. She said that it is the people who talk about praying, who sing the songs of worship, basically the people who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. They never actually take time out of their day to be intimate with Jesus. Also, it is the people that you hear of "getting burnt out".

25:6-9

"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!" Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' No, they replied, there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

Misty believes that there will be a 'voice' in the darkest hour before Jesus comes back. A voice that will be telling everyone that Jesus is coming back. A voice to wake the church up. These foolish virgins asked the others for oil but they couldn't give them that intimate relationship with Jesus. We can only get that from spending time with him.

25:10-13

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. Sir! Sir! they said, Open the door for us! But he replied, I tell you the truth, I don't know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Jesus comes back and the wise virgins who had their oil filled (intimacy with Jesus) got to go into the wedding banquet.  The foolish virgins couldn't go in because Jesus did not know them through the intimate relationship.

This teaching was so convicting, scary, but also makes me want to run to Jesus all the more. It really made me think, am I carrying jars of oil? We need to be getting our oil filled DAILY. Just like the passage says, we don't know the day or the hour when Jesus will return. I pray that we will keep faithful to Jesus and run to him daily for that special intimate time.

I recommend watching this!

mistyedwards.com
the teaching is called psalm 45

waiting for Emily.

We sold our car yesterday and while I was journaling and praying and thanking God for that I heard him say "why don't you keep $50 and give away $450?" I fell silent and my heart sank. God showed me things in my heart that I never fully realized were there before. He showed me how fear was gripping me so I couldn't fully trust Him and how I am tightly holding onto money. I cried and told the Lord I was sorry for these things. As the Lord worked all this out in my heart I said okay, i'm gonna read your Word, please confirm this for me. I opened up to where I had stopped reading the night before. It was 2 Corinthians 9. I started reading and it was all about being generous. The verses that stuck out the most to me were:

‎2 Corinthians 9:6

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows 

generously will also reap generously

9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all 

that you need, you will abound in every good work.

9:12 

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also

 overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

9:13

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the 

obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity

in sharing with them and with everyone else.

There was no doubt about it, the Lord was speaking very clearly to me that we need to give 

this money. When Jr got home we prayed about it and Jr heard the name Emily. Well, we 

don't know any Emily's.. so we prayed again and heard the Lord say, "Wait"

.

So, we are waiting on the Lord. This is such an adventure and we are waiting expectantly 

and excitedly for "Emily"

cutting down the tree

A few weeks ago we got together with some of our friends and had a night of prayer. One of our friends got a picture for Jr of a tree and an apple fell off the tree and it kept rolling away from the tree getting all dirty but then Jesus picked up that apple and he is continually cleaning it off. -- Jr is that apple.

I was praying over Jr and the Lord reminded me of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream about the tree in Daniel Chapter 4. 

Daniel 4:20-22

The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air-- you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.

4:23

You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, 'cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump.. while its roots remain in the ground.

Ok. So basically this tree is huge, beautiful, strong, & great. So why would God want to cut down the tree & destroy it?

4:26

The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that heaven rules.

4:36

... and i was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.

So this is what the Lord spoke to me about Jr through this scripture.

Jr was a good leader before but the Lord is pruning him and tearing down branches and the Lord is raising Jr up to be an even greater leader.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One thing that I have been surprised about is this season that we are in right now before we leave to ywam is  hard. I didn't expect the Lord to be bringing so much up in us. I expected it all to happen at ywam but I love that he is working out hard stuff right now too. :)

PRAYER:

Jesus will continue to release finances to us.

We will receive all that Jesus has for us during this time before ywam-- [ character growth, blessing others, patience, trusting Him.. so much more! ]

Thanks everyone!! :)