I am now on Twitter. Search for @NewLifePDx on Twitter, or click here. By the way, you do not need to join this micro-blogging site, as Twitter has been called. The Twitter feed is open and public, and all posts can be viewed as any web page. To get the most from it, you may want to join and create your favorite people list to follow, which will streamline and customize a page of posts just for you.

By the way, tonight will be my "last supper" for a few days as I begin a 21-day fast. Consider joining me for at least a few days. Here's a page with a link to great article: [fasting article]. Just click on the book cover on the right to open the one page article.

Schools reopen for a new year here next week. Summer 2011 is passing by quickly. In the midst of the calendar pages flipping by, we have seen some awesome things happening.

Our July and August 24 hour days of prayer came and went. No big fanfare. No walking on water, or miracle cancer healings, or something super to share that we know of. So, we settled for a sigh they were over and patted each other on the back for a job well done. We expected things to be "back to business as usual."

But God...had another idea. In the last 2 1/2 weeks, we have connected with another local church and their new training and outreach ministry called Operation Liberty Oregon (OLO). They have been hitting the streets since right after Easter this year, and now report over 2,000 people have come to Christ in 20 weeks. Incredible!

A few of us have connected with OLO already for training, and 6 of us attended a state wide event in Albany, Oregon on Saturday, August 27, 2011. For nearly 6 hours we were out on the streets. We had 100 intercessors at Jesus Pursuit Church praying for 173 "evangelists" on the streets of Albany. By day's end, we had made 1512 contacts and had 373 people receive Christ. Wow! What a blast!

For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NLT)

We are now praying about expanding our own team of evangelists here at New Life. We have spent less than 4 hours on the streets this week, and have seen 9 people come to Christ for a first-time salvation or rededication. We need intercessors and evangelists! Come and join us. She is waiting for you:The Unspoken Plea video.

Wow! What a week it has been. Our prayer team really "prayed the price" and we are seeing good fruit already. Thank you to everyone who prayed during our June 7th, 24 hour day of prayer!

There was a new spark of excitement as we gathered last Sunday. There is an increased freedom and joy among us. That same day, when two members of our prayer team were comparing notes, they discovered that the day we were all praying, an owner of a local strip club was arrested, removing him from running his business for a season. And we were praying for local businesses!

In the last two Wednesday night prayer meetings, we have had visitors from Australia and Africa who have seemed to drop from out of nowhere. Each of them had powerful words of encouragement for us as a church body and the prayer team. One of the words was that God is removing the ceiling that has been on this church. Awesome! The other word for us was that God was giving us a breakthrough anointing, according to Micah 2:13:

"The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the LORD at their head.” (NKJV)

The LORD God is a breakthrough God. We don't have to strive or beg to possess a certain anointing. Just hang out with Him, and He breaks through for us!

Our next 24 hour day of prayer is July 7th, and we can hardly wait. God is doing a good work!

We are very excited! We are just about 8 hours away from finishing our first ever 24 hour day of prayer. Pray with us today. There is a suggested simple prayer guide to view or download here. Also, we have two more 24 hour days of prayer scheduled this summer. The dates are listed on our events page.

Why are we doing this? Partly because we felt were challenged to do so, and we also knew we were looking for the next step in following the Father's heart for our church and community.  In recent months, we have been spending a lot of time "soaking" in His presence, and have entered "a rest" most of us have never experienced before. It has been a season of being blasted with God's peace and joy; a ceasing from striving, and flowing with the leading of the Spirit. It has been fun and invigorating!

Let me say a word about being challenged. Tim Taylor of Watchman Ministries (see his website here) spoke to a group of our city ministry leaders in early March this year, and two of us from New Life were there. Tim's presentation included testimony of a group of churches in a northwest community that agreed to a plan to join together for united prayer for the needs of the community. The prayer focus was aimed at the needs presented by the local police chief and other city leaders.

Here is a writeup about that 2007 event from Watchman Ministries:
"Washington state has served as a prototype for this strategy.  By May of 2007 we had enough churches in my state praying at least one day each month so that our whole state was covered with 24/7 prayer.  But the goal is to keep driving responsibility down to the lowest level.  Hence the next goal was to encourage churches in each county and city to follow suit.  All it requires is 31 churches each taking one day per month or seven churches each taking one day per week or some combination thereof.  Using this strategy Whatcom County then covered their county with 24/7 prayer as well.  The results were amazing.  Crime decreased, the economy prospered and remarkable church growth occurred in a number of churches."

We saw this model as very doable. We were able to host the next event where Tim Taylor brought us the next steps and we actually had a "kickoff" for what, in many communities, is being called Operation Rolling Thunder (ORT).

Linking with a group of churches in Portland, we committed to a 24 hour day of prayer. We are excited to see results in our city soon. We know we are just getting started!

Take two minutes and view the video clip prepared by the National Day of Prayer team with some motivation to pray. But first, turn up your speakers and then click here: 2011 Nat'l day of Prayer promo.

Our prayers make a difference every day!

As I write, in less than 10 hours from now, our first 24 Hour Day of Prayer event will begin.

Let me encourage those of you who volunteered: take 2 minutes, turn up your speakers, and watch this video clip from the National Day of Prayer team for some motivation to pray: National Day of Prayer promo
Though this video was targeted to the May 5 big event, our prayers make a difference everyday!

If you would like to write about your experience following our June 7th, 24 Hour Day of Prayer, feel free to do so below.

Last Sunday, May 22, I asked for people to write down the best outreach they have been a part of in the past. Here is the list from those comment cards:

• A Community Fair with vendors, music, food Bible stories, face painting
• A Cruise In, with cool cars
• A dinner and auction
• A Carnival or summer movies
• Taking teams out, including children, and handing out sack lunches to the poor.
• Host a Parents Night Out by giving a few hours of care to children at the church
• Have a summertime neighborhood parking lot party with games for kids and a BBQ
• A Friend Day - A day to invite the unchurched, seekers, and out of fellowship believers
• Hold classes for inner healing and health related topics as well
• Helping homeless women
• A Caring Cupboard where practical needs are met
• A visitation ministry
• A Dinner Theater
• Youth outreach events
• "Yard Sale/Rummage Sale" type events to bring in folks to "see" the church
• Vacation Bible School to bring in families to see how we love their children

I am convinced we are born with a lens where we more easily see problems. Isn't the price of gas a problem? Peace in the Middle East a problem? Our boss or family members a problem? And on and on and on; so many problems. Contrary to popular belief, we are NOT expected to solve all of life's problems today. These "problems" can often can simply be distractions to keep us from the presence of God.

A dictionary search of that "P" word will deliver things like: a) a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution; b) a proposition in mathematics or physics stating something to be done; c) an unsettled question or unresolved issue. There are many, many things that are currently unresolved, and you or I will probably not solve them all, even if we were king, prime minster, or president. 

So in the meantime, don't borrow trouble or worry or think you need to solve all of your problems today (or all the problems of others, either, for you savior and superman types). Time will pass quickly today, and I challenge you to choose to enjoy the journey. Those problems that you might think have to be solved today often have a way of working out if we apply patience and God's wisdom. Life is good!