Letting Go. To Embrace the Struggle. To Live Loudly

When God Leads Us to Giants

2011-11-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

CAN WE MISS OUT ON OUR DESTINY?

I believe that we absolutely can, but it’s my heart that none of us ever does! Over a series of Live Destiny blog entries, I am going to demonstrate this as well as provide some helpful encouragements so that we do not miss out but rather engage in and thrive in our full destinies.

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY TO WALK INTO OUR DESTINY

A generation of Israelites missed out on their destiny (Read Numbers 13-14)

Just as the Israelites who died in the desert missed out on their full destiny, so can we if we do not quickly respond to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. The generation of the Israelites who died in the desert stopped short of walking in their God-given inheritance. They had a window of time where they could have chosen God’s perspective and trusted in His leading but they allowed themselves to be crippled by fear, even seeking to stone the only two, Joshua and Caleb, who actually believed in God’s destiny for them. It wasn’t until after the Israelites got rebuked and schooled from God by their stoning behaviour towards His appointed leaders that they finally came to their senses.

BUT IT WAS TOO LATE

By the time the Israelites finally realized that their destiny truly was beyond the giants and within the Promised Land, they set out to respond to God’s earlier call on their lives. Only by this time, the window of opportunity had already passed them by. Yes, they finally were ready to fight and overcome these giants but now it was too late. They missed God’s heartbeat because of a wrong perspective and not being ready to respond immediately to His leading. They had their sights set on the giants in front of them blocking their true destiny, rather than on God who could have moved them into their true destinies.

REAL GIANTS

The giants in the Promised Land were real and the giants we have to fight through to take hold of our destiny are real. The credit crunch is real, rejection is real, misunderstanding is real, but if God really is over all and if He is leading us somewhere, the surrounding circumstances are irrelevant, powerless in comparison with His greatness. Regardless of what giants we currently face, God is greater.

WHAT IF?

If the Israelites of that generation had trusted in and believed that God wanted the best for them and responded to God’s earlier call to fight and enter the Promised Land, would they have gained the victory? What if they all had rallied behind Joshua and Caleb in full support of overcoming the giants, would they have thrived in the Promised Land and had a different end to their story? What does this story say to us about the importance of not only saying Yes to God when He leads, but the importance of responding in the moment as well? A generation’s destiny hung on a thread, on a moment. What would have happened if Martin Luther King Jr. did not respond to where God was leading him at the time to fulfill his destiny? What if he would have hesitated, asked how, or lived in the fear of the giants surrounding him?

If we hesitate or struggle to respond immediately when God speaks to us, what will happen to those around us who need for us to live our destiny so that it brings a shift in their reality? May we be a people who are so close to the Father that we know His ways and can discern His voice. May we be like Joshua and Caleb, full of faith and ready to respond immediately to God as He leads into our destiny, keeping our eyes on Him who is the Author and Finisher of our true destiny.

Introducing LaChelle Rector, Global Director of Silver to Gold Destiny Groups

2011-10-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

I am excited to introduce the newest member to the Silver to Gold team and leader of the Destiny Groups International, LaChelle Rector. LaChelle was one of the first to pilot Destiny groups while in Nashville earlier this year. I have enjoyed getting to know LaChelle and seeing her heart. I believe her passion to see people live their destinies and her inspiration in challenging people to follow God's purposes will greatly contribute to the S2G team. With no further ado, here's LaChelle in her own words...

Intersecting Silver to Gold...

I've spent a lot of my life trying to fit into a man-made mold. I had never felt fulfilled and quite honestly I was dying inside. But there has always been a drum beat stirring in my spirit saying, "It's time. Step out." It was a year ago that I responded to God's heart beat where I dropped the uncomfortable mold and started following things that made me alive. I met Jen at the beginning of the year through a divine appointment where God connected us even though we were living on separate continents at the time. The essence of Silver to Gold is my heart's cry, for it calls everyone to be equipped to hear the voice of God; when this happens they are challenged to move beyond just living so that they can thrive abundantly. I am thankful for my opportunity to partner in this movement. Jen's creativity connects to the heart of God and helps to free people from religion so that they can step into a life of purpose and meaning. This adventure is like no other and I want nothing more then to tell everyone not to settle for anything less than the gold our Creator has destined.

About Me
Adventure must be the main part of my DNA. I grew up in log cabin in Crossville, Tennessee. Even though it was a small town its where my heart started exploring. I explored through hiking, snowboarding, skateboarding, climbing, caving, and just anything else that could challenge me. After high school I moved to Nashville, Tennessee where I got a B.S. degree in Psychology with a minor in art and mental health counseling. As soon as I graduated in 2010 I spent nine days in Managua, Nicaragua and then jumped ship to Sydney, Australia to do YWAM. I got to live in a community that loved Jesus more then anything plus skateboarding and surfing!!! After exploring all that I could in AUS I came back to America where I started planning my next adventure. This brings me here to Redding, California where I am a 1^st year student at Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry. If I could fly I would fly to the ends of the earth and then some…. Thank goodness I’ve become a part of Jen's team where creativity and adventure is part of the journey!

Speaking

2011-09-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Jen recently finished her PhD (on healing and revival), which means now she is free to play!
She is currently available to share with your group on any of the following messages below. Overall, Jen is passionate about inspiring people to take risks to move out of the comforts of an easy life and into the exciting and adventurous life in the kingdom of God. Two of her life verses are John 10:10 and Ephesians 3:20 which come through in almost all of her messages. All of her messages have been lived or experienced personally by her. See her BIO to learn more. Jen’s style is also to try and be open and sensitive to what the Holy Spirit might be saying to a specific community at a certain time. With that said, some of things on her heart at the moment are (click titles to learn more):

Water into Wine
Are you experiencing God’s abundance in your life? Do you believe that it’s His heart to bring you lasting joy? Jesus’ first miracle in the book of John was not multiplying bread or healing anyone, but making an even more exciting party. Sometimes God wants to do miracles in our lives not necessarily to make us more effective for His kingdom but simply to demonstrate His specific and overwhelming favor just because He loves us. This is based on her recent and personal experience of Jesus turning water into wine in her own life when she went to the Canary Islands in December of 2010 followed by her trip to Cana of Galilee in 2011.

Silver to Gold: Moving from the deserts of freedom and into the promised land of abundance
How many people do you know that are settling for less than God’s best in their lives? Just as Caleb and Joshua had to fight to enter into their inheritance (Numbers 13), so must we take risks to move out of our deserts of freedom and into our God given destinies. There is always a fight that must be won before entering into the Promised Land for our lives; this is not a fight for freedom but a fight for abundance. It's safe and comfortable in the silver, in the desert, but God has destined us for the GOLD, to dwell in the Promised Land. When we don't walk in God's destiny for our lives, it's easy to get drawn back into our old life. “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey...See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess this land which has been promised” (Deut 1:6-8). Read Silver to Gold: A Journey of Young Revolutionaries or connect to above link to listen to a recent talk on this.

Spirit Flood: Hungering for floods of living waters
A hunger to be overwhelmed in the Spirit was part of initiating a worldwide revival at the Azusa Street Revival in 1906. What if something similar occurred today? What does it look like to be flooded by the Spirit and how many times can that happen in our lives? Looking also at the progression in Ezekiel 47, an invitation to completely let go and be flooded with the Spirit is presented. To learn more, you can read Spirit Flood: Rebirth of Spirit Baptism for the 21st Century or listen to a talk here.

Healing on the Streets: Taking Risks and learning to respond to the Holy Spirit
Do you believe that you can miss out on the fullness of God’s destiny for your life? Can you miss out on the fullness of the kingdom if choosing not to take risks in response to the Holy Spirit’s nudging? How do you even know if it’s the Holy Spirit leading or if it’s just your own thoughts leading you? This message will teach how to discern the voice of the Spirit, encourage people to take risks even if they are unsure, and demonstrate the impact of stepping out in faith regardless of if there are visible results or not. Every time we pray for people, God is at work whether we see it or not. Healing on the Streets stories or legs growing, etc. You can access recent talks on this here.

Faith in the Midst of the Credit Crunch
Are there any promises that God has spoken to you in the past but have yet to be fulfilled? Revolutionary Perspectives: Carrie Judd Montgomery was led by the Spirit, discerned what God had spoken to her in the midst of conflicting voices around her, and she acted in faith even when she didn’t have the money. Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 13) believed in the promise, wholly followed after God regardless of their surrounding circumstances, had a right perspective of God and chose to remember His faithfulness, and they were not afraid to fight for what they believed in (or they were, but they chose to trust God anyway!). What does it look like to live by faith and also responsibly at the same time? It is important to follow God's destiny for our lives regardless of our present circumstances.

Healing and Revival: A Forgotten Revivalist, Carrie Judd Montgomery, inspires today
What can we learn from life of forgotten revivalist, Carrie Judd Montgomery, and others that can inspire our faith today? Montgomery was one of the most influential people in the Divine Healing movement and also played a significant role in the expansion of global Pentecostalism. She initiated the first healing home on the West Coast in 1893 and it was through her ministry that John G. Lake and many others were first introduced to divine healing. She played a significant role in the development of healing in the atonement and her life of faith and total surrender to the Spirit will inspire us to walk in a similar way.

Make You Feel My Love: There's Nothing That He Did Not Do
Bob Dylan's song sung so beautifully by Adele has re-emerged within this generation for a reason. The lyrics of this song are a prophetic call to this generation to receive His love afresh. Whether one is already a Christian or not yet, there is so much more love He is longing to pour out if we would just open our hearts and receive all that He has for us.

I am also available to do sessions and seminars on How to Write and Publish Your 1st Book.

Jen has preached internationally, mainly through Vineyard and also through Iris Ministries, in Africa, Europe, New Zealand, the UK, and in the USA and has also designed and implemented trainings, talks, and seminars on various topics such as discipleship, leadership, healing, team building, worship, ministry, prayer, living a life of faith, evangelism, the Holy Spirit, and revival history. For Revival history, her main areas are the Divine Healing Movement, the Azusa Street Revival, the Holiness Movement, and female revivalists. For Theology, her areas are the development of the doctrines of sanctification and of healing in the atonement, and Spirit baptism. You can learn more about what she is passionate about at JenMiskov.com or email her at JenMiskov@silvertogold.com for availability.

You are called to change the world!

2011-07-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Interview with Heidi Baker, in regards to Revival History and Hunger for the Spirit. I think you will be blessed. Enjoy!

Can we miss out on our God-given Destiny?

2011-07-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

Could Daniel have missed out on his?

I just read Daniel chapters 1-3 this morning and began to see this story in a new light. Let me give you a little recap first. Earlier Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s portions of food and wine which went against his convictions. He was allowed to do this and shown favor. The important thing here is that he purposed in his heart to give God 100% regardless of the surrounding circumstances and he had to say something to the guards in order to be given permission to do this.

Later on King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and had the crazy idea that a wise person needed to not only tell him the interpretation of his dream, but also the dream itself. No one was able to do this so he began to murder all the wise men. Daniel was one of these wise men who would eventually be targeted. He asked why the king was killing the wise men off so urgently and then he got the low down.

Daniel requested time from the king over this matter so that he could come back and interpret the dream. Daniel was confident and basically told the king that he would provide an interpretation but that he just needed some more time. He called on his buddies Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego to pray with him concerning the matter, that God would reveal to him the king’s dream.

Daniel believed that God was more than capable of providing the answer, although up to that point Daniel had heard absolutely nothing. At that point the only thing Daniel had was faith that God would come through and friendship with others to pray for the same. He believed that if he put himself out on a line, took a huge risk for God, that God just had to come through.

After Daniel had asked the king for time, believed God would come through, mobilized his prayer warriors, and then called upon God for the answer, “the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision (2:19).” It was when Daniel was sleeping that God gave him the answer. He presented it to the king, making sure to clarify that it was God that revealed these things to him. The king very pleased with the answer and did 2 things: “The king answered Daniel, and said, ‘Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal the secret.’ Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. (2:47-48).

Through Daniel taking a risk to go before the king with an answer that He believed God would provide in time, he saved many wise men (himself and his friends included), brought a fresh revelation of God’s glory to the reigning king at that time, and was honored by God and the king with promotion.

I wonder how differently this story might have turned out if Daniel had never responded to the stirrings within his heart or if he hesitated. What if he never asked the king for time? What if he looked at the reality that he did not have the interpretation and let the king go on with his killing? What if Daniel showed up before the king and God had not yet spoken? What if he didn’t believe that God would come through? If he decided not respond immediately to the Lord’s leading or his own convictions, could Daniel have missed out engaging in this part of his destiny?

Let us be a people that take risks towards the things we believe God is putting in our hearts, even if those things are not yet tangible or fully revealed. Let us live and breathe and walk in our full inheritance within the heavenly kingdom He has already given us.

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall crush in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” 2:44

Fireside

2011-06-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning out my room and I came across a poem I wrote for the ladies in my small discipleship group back in 2007. At the time I wrote it, I was reflecting upon how they had grown up and remained connected to the Source which was such a beautiful thing. It was my prayer that even though some of them were just married or engaged, that even with those gifts from above, it is important to always remain in Him and make that time to be in His presence. These have continued to do this and they not only inspire me but inspire many others as well. Rediscovering this poem today has reminded me that no matter what season in life we enter next, it is essential that we always seek out God in the secret place, for it is there that He eagerly awaits spending timing with us...

This poem is rededicated today to the ladies from my small group who have indeed remained close to the Fire, even after all these years. Each of you are beautiful and special to me.

Fireside

As single love begins to grow

Multiply

And fill more than one room,

More than one world

Always remember to return

It awaits you always

That fireside place of meeting

Where He restores you again and again

Refreshes you with His peace

Speaks words of tenderness over you

He waits with longing

To seduce you into His loving presence

With gentle words that can only bring life

Hope, peace

He promises

Rest, comfort despite

Confusion, chaos

He awaits

His fireside room is being prepared

No matter how crowded the other rooms get

He makes this special place ready

You alone hold the key

This is your secret place

For you and Him alone

Will be together here

Here is life

Return here

Again and Again

For this is where your heart belongs
Where your spirit comes alive

Drunk in the Canary Islands

2011-05-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

I grew up loving bodyboarding, surfing, and anything that had to do with being in the ocean. The adventure of traveling to some random secret beach and finding a secret spot to surf or being out there with the dolphins always has made my heart leap inside.

I am still struck and in awe about how amazing God is simply because I am His daughter and He loves me dearly. Even when I am not looking for it, He comes and blesses me exceedingly abundantly beyond what I could ever ask or imagine; He’s so cool like that! One recent example of how God led me into His destiny simply to bless me and for no other reason was in December of 2010. I had been working 6 days a week, sometimes ten hours straight of writing, editing, and refining my thesis and I was nearing the end. It was a crucial time for me bringing my last 3 years of research together in preparation to submit.

One night while I was at the University and tirelessly working on my thesis, I snapped. I literally needed a break or my brain was going to completely fry.

Around 10pm after working all day on it, I impulsively looked for a cheap flight from Birmingham to anywhere. I really didn’t care, I just needed to get out and take a much needed break so that I could come back refreshed and finish strong. I noticed that a flight to the Canary Islands was cheap. I didn’t know anything about it other than the fact that it was an island. This meant that it had to be surrounded by water which meant that there would also be a beach there which I so longed to be near because of how good it is for my soul.

Without going home first to look at my schedule, I booked a ticket to the Canary Islands; I was desperate for an escape from my thesis. Several days later I mentioned to my brother that I bought a ticket there and he was so excited for me and he told me that people bodyboard there because the waves are good. I had no idea, I just thought I would get to sit at the beach, be in the sun, and explore a new place. All things I love. Bonus, I might be able to bodyboard there as well!

I researched all the spots and also found out there was a place there where I could rent a board. The first few days I arrived there were a bit hectic but it was nice to see the ocean. The third day in I traveled in search of a wave that I heard was well known (El Fronton). I just wanted to at least see it, if nothing else.

When I arrived at the beach I noticed a few people were out and I thought that I have to paddle out because I was there. Then I noticed a guy with a bodyboard walk by me and around the rocks. My curiosity caused me to follow him. When I turned the corner, I saw another surf spot that was filled with bodyboarders busting sick airs and getting deep barrels. I quickly jumped in the car as I had discovered the real El Fronton just around the corner. When I arrived, in the parking lot I saw Mike Stewart drive past and chatted to him for a few minutes. What in the world was the legend of bodyboarding doing at El Fronton at this same time when I was just on a much needed break from my studies? I ended up paddling out into the line up only to notice people doing backflips, air reverses, getting barrelled, and many of these were pro bodyboarders that I receognized from when I was in the scene over 10 years ago. That was pretty cool. Even better, when I came in, I heard someone on the beach yell my name. I looked over and found out it was Manny, one of my friends from San Diego who I had done his bodyboarding contests back in the day. He was taking pictures of all the pros.

We were both tripping out that we were both randomly at the Canary Islands at the same time. Long story short, he encouraged me to stay and extend my ticket to see the bodyboarding contest that would be held there and since I didn’t have anything to rush back to the UK that was covered in snow, I decided to stay in the sunshine as long as I could. Good thing I did because a few days later, when me, Manny, and another bodyboarder were driving to check out a spot, we passed this beautiful right with no one out. We decided it was time to seize the day. Manny got geared up to take water photography and we had an absolute blast.

The sun was shining so perfectly, the water was warm, I was with a friend from my homeland who was now taking professional water shots of me bodyboarding in the Canary islands. All this came after I simply and impulsively booked a random plane ticket a few weeks before. Even more, during the contest I got to do another thing that I love, which is photography. Not only did I get to take pictures, but I got to take pictures of one of the things I love more than almost anything, bodyboarding! Throughout the trip, I got to bodyboard, hang out with some of the best bodyboarders in the world as well as take pictures. I was unexpectedly in paradise!

All’s I can say is that I love it when God loves us in ways that we can’t even imagine. God met needs I hadn’t even realized I had, and He did it in remarkable and overwhelming ways that I would have never expected. He literally did exceedingly abundantly above all I could have ever asked or imagined. He moved mountains to bring me there at the same exact time of all the others who were doing one thing I love the most.

He did all this, not necessarily to do some crazy miracles or use me for His kingdom, although I did have a few opportunities to connect with others, but He did all of this simply because He loves me and knows what makes me happy. He simply wanted me to have a party and enjoy life and just receive His love and favor and fun.

The very first miracle in the book of John is Jesus making an even greater party. He turned water into wine. It wasn’t a miraculous healing, casting out of a demon, or some other sign; it was Him bringing the miracle of fun and more life into the party. Sometimes Jesus wants to bless us not only that we become more effective to do the works of His kingdom, but simply because we’re His children and He loves us and wants us to have the best possible life because that’s how He rolls.

What strikes me as well is that I was in no way “being led by the Spirit” consciously when I booked my ticket. I was on the verge of burn out and just needed to get away. The fact that the Spirit led me there to where He blessed me beyond what I could imagine just blows my mind away in how He loves me. Even when I’m not fully engaged or paying attention, He still longs to meet me in ways that I could never even dream of because His love for me is that big.

All that to say, sometimes when we takes risks or do things that we know are important for us, when we seek to meet needs we have even if others around us might not understand, God goes beyond that. If I had never taken a risk to invest and do something I knew I needed, if I would have let doubt or lack of finances or worry that people wouldn’t understand why I needed this trip stop me, I could have missed out on the party Jesus wanted to throw just for me.

Jesus is inviting us to His party. He is asking us to do things that others might not understand but that we know we would enjoy and that we need for our own souls. He is waiting to bring miracles of fun and joy into our lives. I believe that these things come in more occurrences when we step out and take risks towards following our hearts. My thesis is one of these risks and God’s blessings never cease to amaze me. Yes, miracles of healing and other things are wonderful, but there is also the miracle of the party, of turning water into wine that Jesus wants to do in our lives simply for no other reason than because we are His chosen ones and He loves us and wants to bring us joy.

So my friends, I encourage you to follow your passions, since most of these have been put in your heart by Him anyway, and receive the party that Jesus has for you. He loves you dearly and wants to bring you joy immeasurable. I pray that the Lord would stir you to follow your heart and lead you into His wonderful destiny that He has for your life today.

If you want to learn more of my story, go HERE.

Colored Ducks, and even Frogs, or A Call to Understand "Lepers," with Henri Nouwen

2011-04-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

Written April 1, 2011 in Washington DC.

“When hostility is converted into hospitality then fearful strangers can become guests revealing to their hosts the promise they are carrying with them. Then, in fact, the distinction between host and guest proves to be artificial and evaporates in the recognition of the new found unity.” Henri Nouwen

All different colored ducks, and even those frogs, need Jesus' unconditional love

Understanding the "other"

I have recently been feeling a need to repent on behalf of the Church where we have judged and treated the "others" like lepers. Moving beyond the harsh judgment that separates us from the other, it is important that we begin seeking to understand and embrace those who are different from us with the love of Jesus even if they will never conform to our understanding of Christianity. When we run away from issues or fail to dialogue with others about differences, that reveals ignorance, fear, and sometimes an element of power it has in our lives. However, when we openly enter into constructive conversations about areas that are challenges within the Church today, it sharpens our own faith. When we seek to deeply understand why a person has chosen a particular lifestyle or a set of beliefs or why they have become an alcoholic and are never able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, when we actually take the time to listen and embrace them just as they are, with the love and acceptance of Jesus, we give them the same gift that Jesus gave, the gift of belonging before they believe.

People are Projects

Further, if the stranger never believes like we do, are we going to terminate our friendship with them? One of my friends from China said that exact thing happened to him when he was befriended by Christians doing outreach on campus. He attended meetings a few times and built friendships but unfortunately, the Christians only saw him as a project and were focused on converting him. When he said he did not want to become a Christian, they stopped calling and stopped engaging in his life. When I had coffee with him and he told me this, I apologized on their behalf and told him that no matter what he chooses to believe, he will always be my friend. He was earlier afraid that when he told me these things that I too would abandon him like the other Christians had. Unfortunate and more common stories like this break my heart. It makes me wonder where have we gone wrong.

“Indeed, the stranger has to be received in a free and friendly space where he can reveal his gifts and become our friend. Reaching out to others without being receptive to them is more harmful than helpful and easily leads to manipulation…Really honest receptivity means inviting the stranger into our world on his or her terms, not ours. When we say, ‘You can be my guest if you believe what I believe, think the way I think and behave as I do,’ we offer love under a condition or for a price. This leads easily to exploitation...In our world in which so many religious convictions, ideologies and life styles come into increasing contact with each other, it is more important than ever to realize that it belongs to the essence of a Christian spirituality to receive our fellow human beings into the world without imposing our religious viewpoint, ideology or way of doing things on them as a condition for love, friendship and care.” Henri Nouwen

Friendships with the "others"

I have a confession to make. In England, I have several good friends who are not Christians. Of course at my heart of hearts I want them to know and experience how amazing Jesus is as I have, but if that never happens am I going to dump them as my friends? Is my only purpose in being their friend to convert them? At the end of the day, I need them as much as they need me. I also need Jesus just as much as the next person whether that person is a Christian or not. I know myself and the nearness of my depravity without Him. These friends have helped to broaden my view, understand their set of beliefs, which in turn has strengthened my own. I have not hidden my faith and have even had the amazing privilege to pray for a few of them in special moments. They have also offered me sound advice aligning with strong values in moments when I needed it. They have truly been gifts of God to me in that place and I am truly blessed by our friendships.

“But it is exactly in this willingness to know the other fully that we can really reach out to him or her and become healers. Therefore, healing means, first of all, the creation of an empty but friendly space where those who suffer can tell their story to someone who can listen with real attention...We have to receive the story of our fellow human beings with a compassionate heart, a heart that does not judge or condemn but recognizes how the stranger’s story connects with our own. We have to offer safe boundaries within which the often painful past can be revealed and the search for a new life can find a start.” Henri Nouwen

I think we as Christians limit ourselves when we chose to live only in our Christian bubbles. While I think it is imperative to have a good core of strong Christian friends in our lives, I also believe that inviting others who will be a good influence, even if they have a different belief system, can enrich and deepen our own faith in ways that we would not be challenged otherwise. Befriending others who we grew up seeing as “lepers” because they were different than us, can be liberating in understanding real human issues.

Breaking the Cycle

“We are so afraid of open spaces and empty places that we occupy them with our minds even before we are there. Our worries and concerns are expressions of our inability to leave unresolved questions unresolved and open-ended situations open-ended…They reveal our intolerance of the incomprehensibility of people and events and make us look for labels or classifications to fill the emptiness with self-created illusions.” Henri Nouwen

There is a huge need for us to ask God to break us out of the judgment cycle many of us have grown up under and instead seek to understand the other. Inviting the other into conversation and into our lives, not so that we can thump them with the Bible and try to prove them wrong, but simply so that we can receive them as they are and seek to understand them will not only break down the walls of judgment that we as Christians are so good at putting up between ourselves and the people we see as “lepers,” but it can also deepen our own understanding of what it is like to be a Christian. We have been good at erecting walls and barriers, and labeling people and then walking on the other side of the street. One of our biggest faults is that we have out of fear and/or ignorance, avoided any contact or conversation with the other and failed to be the Good Samaritan. How are we ever going to introduce others to our very best friend (implying Jesus here) if we never take the time to get to know and understand others? It is only in humbling ourselves, not seeing people who are different as the “other” but seeing them as people who also have something beautiful to offer, that we are given any place to share how His love has transformed our own lives in hopes of it cascading into their lives as well.

Hidden Agendas

This generation immediately recognizes hidden agendas. Our agenda should not be conversion or nothing; it should be friendship and everything. Regardless of if one comes to our side of the faith, embracing people without an agenda, simply to give and receive from them, will eliminate religious and other barriers. It will also make us more like Jesus who gave people a sense of belonging before they believed.

“We indeed have become very preoccupied people, afraid of unnameable emptiness and silent solitude. In fact, our preoccupations prevent our having new experiences and keep us hanging on to the familiar ways…Our preoccupations help us to maintain the personal world we have created over the years and block the way to revolutionary change. Our fears, uncertainties and hostilities make us fill our inner world with ideas, opinions, judgments and values to which we cling as to a precious property. Instead of facing the challenge of new worlds opening themselves for us, and struggling in the open field, we hide behind the walls of our concerns holding on to the familiar life items we have collected in the past.” Henri Nouwen

Moving Forward

Let us no longer fear conversation. Some churches do this well, while others have never let their walls down. Creating spaces and opening our minds and hearts to others is a great way that any sort of possible bridge can be created. Once this bridge of understanding has been created, whether or not one decides to cross over, a deeper invitation into the love of Jesus has emerged. This at least, provides the opportunity for different colored ducks, and even frogs, to journey together towards understanding more fully the immense love of Jesus. Thanks for listening to my musings and I look forward to listening to yours. See this as an open invitation to all to dialogue on this subject even further.

All quotes by Henri Nouwen taken from his Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1975), 47, 53, 67-69.

Link to read how the Holy Spirit might already be at work in other religions.

Windows of Opportunity, or Cherry Blossoms, Ignoring the Poor, and Learning to Yield

2011-03-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2011 written while in Washington, DC

when i arrived in DC

a week and a half later

Cherry Blossoms

If I didn’t stay an extra week in DC I would have just missed them. They bloom gloriously and then almost as instantly as they emerge, they quickly disappear. Being at the right place at the right time allows thousands of visitors the chance to partake in their beauty during the short window of time. If I was passing through a week before or after, I would have missed them and may not have had the opportunity to see them again.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I walked on

Last week I walked by a homeless woman in DC who said she was hungry. “I’m sorry,” I said as I walked on. I was meeting a few friends and I didn’t want to be late. The whole time I was struck by what she said and my response. “I’m sorry,” was heartfelt, however, I had the resources to buy her food but I just walked on. Would I let God interrupt my life or just walk on? I couldn’t let go of this one. Once my friend showed up, I walked back to see if she was still there and I offered to buy her a meal, which I did. That likely did not cure her poverty but it did provide her with a warm meal when she may have gone without. I wish I could have said I did the same thing a couple days later when I was walking to a metro and a man was walking too and said he was hungry. I said, “I’m sorry” as I walked on. My excuse this time being that I didn’t know that particular area and didn’t know where or how to go to buy him food. This happened in passing and I never went back. While I initially hesitated with the woman and then went back, I potentially missed an opportunity to demonstrate Jesus’ love to the man in the metro that I can never get back. I wasn’t late for anything that day as I walked by him, but I rather let the question “How?” cripple my response.

The Enemy “How?”

The question “How?” must be one of the biggest enemies in responding to the voice of the Spirit in so many areas. That question held me back from responding to the man who was hungry and actually “being” a Christian in that moment. I sometimes wonder how many people, friends, or others I pass by each day who don’t have the bold courage that these two had to say that they were hungry and needed help. And so many other times I admit that I have let the question “How?” steal away my faith.

Instant Response

If we don’t act instantly in certain situations where we feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit, will we ever get those opportunities back? There are definite times when people around me are fully open to God, and other times when they are closed. I think there is something to say about acting instantly when we feel the leading of the Holy Spirit. Just as there is one week out of the year that the cherry blossoms come out, there are specific times that if we respond to the leading of the Spirit in that moment we will see great and beautiful things. If we hesitate or carry on without responding in that instant or if we ask “How?”, we just might miss the opportunities that He has set before us. I got lucky in that the lady was still there when I finally resolved to respond to her need. Many times from my own experiences, moments of hesitation in responding to the Spirit’s leading have resulted in those opportunities being lost.

Peter’s Eyes Opened

after the lame man was healed

When the Spirit opened Peter’s eyes to recognize the lame man on the way to the temple, he acted instantly in faith and the man could walk (Acts 3:1-10). What if Peter continued on, hesitated, or asked why? If he came back a week later, would that window of opportunity in the Spirit have been there, would the lame man still have been healed?

Taking the Promised Land

When Joshua and Caleb saw what the other Israelites could also see, they recognized that God was giving them that land in that instant, they simply needed to act (Numbers 13-15). The Israelites hesitated, the timing was right but they asked the question “How?” rather than trusted that God had already given them the land. Had they acted instantly on God’s faithfulness and leading, they would have inherited the Promised Land. Instead, they hesitated, struggled with the question “How?” rather than immediately following the voice of God which would have led them into their destiny. By the time the Israelites came to their senses, it was too late, their window of opportunity (or, the week that the cherry blossoms had emerged) was over. Yes, they finally mustered up enough faith to believe God was truly giving them the land so they presumptuously thought that they could go and fight to take hold of it. However, their window of opportunity to take hold of their destiny had passed them by and in that situation, many died when they carried on in their own way, others were confined to die in desert. Joshua and Caleb’s faith carried them through that 40 years to lead a new generation into the land when the next window of opportunity was presented. The next generation did not hesitate as their forefathers did and because they acted in God’s timing to take hold of the land, they successfully overcame their enemies and inhabited the Promised Land.

Walking the Plank

From my personal journey with God and trying to follow His leading, I have noticed that there are special times when He wants to do wonderful things in my own life but if I harden my heart, ask the question “How?”, don’t make the time, or hesitate in some other way, many times the precious work He wanted to do in and through me passes away, sometimes never to return. It could be as simple as feeling a nudge to offer to pray for someone but because of fear that they will reject me I say no. Who knows if I will ever see that person again or what mighty things God may have wanted to accomplish in that moment. I am learning and desperately trying to be in step with the Spirit so that I say “Yes” even if I don’t understand, if I know others won’t understand, trusting that He is for me and will direct me and that the more I take risks to quickly respond to what I believe is His leading, I will discern more and more effectively when it is His leading or my own thoughts.

Today is a New Day!

While I have plenty of missed opportunities that I may never be able to get back, today is a new day, the cherry trees are blossoming today and I will see and smell and enjoy them. Let us choose to embrace all the special seasons and leadings of the Spirit in our lives from this day forward. When the cherry trees blossom around us, let us act instantly, take the time to go out and explore and enjoy them, for they will soon disappear. God wants us to enjoy, partake, and participate in all that He has for us in every moment and season of our lives. Let us lovingly, willingly, and instantly yield to the Spirit’s leading this day.

If you would like to hear more on this in a talk I gave in relation to some of the themes above, go to Walking in Our Destiny. To read a true account of how Carrie Judd Montgomery responded to the leading of the Spirit when she was just in her early 20’s which had a profound effect on the rest of her life, see Faith in the Midst of the Credit Crunch

2 Kings and a Pioneer

2011-03-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2011

I had the amazing privilege of intersecting the stories of 3 great people in history. I came across the first 2 when I was in Memphis, Tennessee for a conference where I was giving a paper on Carrie Judd Montgomery. These were all unexpected as I was so busy working on submitting my thesis that I had absolutely no time to research where I was about to go, so all of these intersections came as a wonderful surprise to me. Of course I ditched the first day of the conference to explore the city where along with a couple friends, we ended up at Graceland. I had never realized how significant the artist Elvis was in breaking down racial barriers by choosing to integrate black music into his style. By a white person embracing this genre, through music, he began to breakdown dividing walls. Additionally, some of Elvis' biggest success came from his Gospel music. Music is one of the most powerful mediums of communication. That and other artistic expressions have some of the most significance impacts on the world.

The next stop after learning about the "King" of rock and roll was to see where Martin Luther King Jr. experienced his last moments on this this earth. I went to the hotel where he was assassinated (Room 306). Later that night I also went to the Mason Temple where he spoke the night before he died. Interestingly enough, the prophetic quote below that he said there suggests that he felt the end was near. That didn't matter though because he had accomplished his destiny. One of my personal heroes, it was fascinating to be in the same space where he both spoke and then also where he later died. To see part of his "I have a Dream" speech and to read an excerpt about him that I have in Silver to Gold go here.

Visiting the East Coast, my good friend Laurie and I went to Mount Vernon and learned all about George Washington and walked where he walked. I never realized what a humble and great leader he really was. Even though the people wanted to make him king, have him be president longer than 8 years and much more, he turned them down and put the government in the hands of the people. He was also a genius farmer who innovated some new methods to be more effective in farming the land. I had no idea of his courage in battle, his humility, and his strength. He stood apart from the rest during his time.

These 2 "Kings" and a pioneer all had what I would call "it." They had something that set them apart from the rest, led by strong convictions to not compromise their hearts and destinies. They all embarked on a destiny of following their hearts and responding to the needs and the culture around them to bring huge breakthroughs. Elvis contributed to breaking down racial walls, Martin Luther King Jr. risked everything to bring freedom and equality, and George Washington believed that it was the destiny of the colonies to be free and so he fought in a way where only two options existed, freedom or death. All of these 3 no doubt faced criticisms from all sides but nonetheless carried on to follow their hearts and God-given destinies to shine in the way that they were destined to, no holding back, they were made for such a time as this. While they all had their faults, they didn't let those hold back from engaging in their destinies. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to learn more about these. I hope my recent journey and those who came before can similarly inspire each one of us to continue on to engage in our destinies at all costs. Until next time, thanks for listening,
Jen

How I almost grew up without a Dad: His Story part 2, Financial Miracle

2011-03-06T01:42:00.000-08:00

This is part 2 of my Dad's miracle story that happened when I was only a few weeks old. I love that fact that it wasn't just the physical miracle that happened when people reached out to pray for the first time in their lives, but also that even in the midst of that, God provided financially in miraculous ways as well! In the midst of potential devastation because of career change, needing to borrow money from the parents, and learning how to walk again as a 37 year old, God provided in every way. I think it is important to remember and celebrate God's faithfulness in our lives and I pray that these true accounts of God's divine healing touch and financial provision will encourage and spark hope and faith in all who read it. Most of all, I pray that remembering and sharing these accounts of God's faithfulness will, as my Dad would say, give "God all the glory."

Detour: Part 2

By Joe Miskov III

When I got home, I learned the truth for the first time.

I found out that Dee was told that I would die or be in a wheel chair the rest of my life!

However, now it was time to walk again, which required lots of physical therapy and walking with a walker around the house and on the bike trail. I got to know Yorba Regional Park pretty well. With everyone’s help, I started to walk normally in about a month or so.

It was an ongoing miracle.

FINANCIAL MIRACLE

Because of my condition and Dee being on maternity leave, we had no income. We had to borrow money from our parents. We also got $547.00 cash in the mail from Washington State. We didn’t know anyone in Washington but the $547.00 was the EXACT amount of our new house payment.

The doctors didn’t know for sure, but said my transverse myalitis may have been caused by the material that we poured on the clocks and the tables I made. That was the end of Original Wood Abstracts.

CAREER CHANGE

I had no idea what kind of work I would do next.

One of my doctors suggested that I get involved in a job that would be more physical. I finally decided to start a landscaping/gardening business. It sounded like a healthy way to go.

A new chapter was born. New name: “Mow is Me.”

The first thing I needed was a lawnmower. I checked the ads and found a mower for $35.00. It looked big and professional and had a five horsepower motor. It smoked a little, but sure made a lot of noise! I had an edger, but I had to buy a weed eater. I’d never used one of those either.

I used to cut grass when I was a kid and that was the extent of my experience. I probably needed a truck, but our 74' VW Bus would do just fine, for now.

GOD'S ABUNDANT PROVISION

Another minor problem I had was that I didn’t have any customers. I picked up a Christian want ad paper called The Marketplace and placed an ad. We got a great response so much so that I had to tell Dee to stop praying.

“We have enough,” I told her.

I had to go out and give estimates, but to make matters worse, I didn’t know what to charge. I finally got organized and it was time to go to work. What really saved me in the early days were the customers. They were great! Instead of lying to them about my experience, I told them my story. They all knew my history and my family’s history.

I learned that when you open up about yourself, they open up to you.

I got to go inside and look at pictures and make friends. I would tell Dee what happened each day and she would ask me if I worked at all. I realized I did more talking than working, but I managed to get the work done too. I finally got a truck and a new mower. As I progressed, I learned how to trim roses correctly, fix sprinklers and keep most of the yards green!

After fifteen years and a lot of hot summers, I finally quit the gardening business. My next endeavor would be Gobblers Turkey Jerky, thirty flavors, and Cookies. But I’ll have to tell you more about that adventure later on…

From Jen...
I love God's faithfulness in and through my family's lives but also something that happened over 35 years ago that encourages me this very day in my present situation. How amazing that as we focus on loving Jesus and doing His will that even if we don't see the provision in this moment, He has already accounted for all things to bring us deeper into His destiny for our lives. I could go on about this but I will leave that for another time so instead I can wish my dad a happy 70th birthday today!

I love your passion for people and loving the overlooked, your sense of adventure, your fearlessness in trying new things, the creative way that you have recently decided to eat bananas, your love for your family. Your life makes a difference and I am so blessed and thankful to God that He miraculous healed you and blessed me with you all these wonderful years. To many more wonderful years of your love spilling over onto others. I love you dearly and celebrate the life that God has given you! Love, Jen

See part 1 of his miracle story

Make You Feel My Love

2011-01-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to two people I got to enjoy my Sunday with, Leanne (thanks for teaching me a new song!) and Yadira (you are an amazing friend, thanks for being so beautifully you!)

So I was hanging with Leanne today and we were jamming on the guitars and swapping songs we like, then she showed me that she just learned "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan. I have been listening to Adele's version a lot lately. I always knew I loved the song but once we printed out the chords and started to play it there was something so special and powerful in the words that we sang. Whether it was the intent of the songwriter or not, it was likely the intent of the Creator who loves to create and breathe life in and through all who are created in His image, and I could feel the love of Jesus powerfully through this song.

It feels just like a love song that He is singing over me, over us, over this generation.

After playing this song plenty of times, I knew I wanted to write a reflection on it. Then I realized as I looked at the words, it would be cool to write a response back to God in light of the love song I feel I have received through this melody. In quotes are the original lyrics and in bold is a response to those. The response also can go along with the same melody. I hope you are blessed and I pray that each of us are inspired to understand at an even greater level how amazing His love for us truly is.

Jen

One of my favorite versions of this song by Adele...

Make You Feel My Love (by Bob Dylan) and Response (By Jen Miskov)

"When the rain is blowing in your face

And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love"

When the world is beating to the ground

And we feel like we've been knocked down

When we cry ‘cause the pain’s so real,

Help us to feel Your touch.

“When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love”

In the middle of the darkest night

We look up so that we can see Your light

You have loved us even through the fight,

Help us receive Your love

“I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong”

You've pursued us before the world began

Always doing what's best for us

Even though sometimes from Your love we ran

You still love even in our mess

“I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love”

You've left everything for the sake of love

On my cross You died and shed Your blood

No, there’s nothing that You didn’t do

To make us feel Your love

“The storms are raging on the rollin' sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing like me yet”

Something is stirring all around us now

And we can feel change coming near

Spirit, we need You to consume somehow

We know there’s much more of You here

“I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
To make you feel my love
To make you feel my love"

You have brought us true joy, You’re our dreams come true

Nothing that You didn't do

To capture our hearts, You’ve paid our dues

Yes, we receive Your love

How I am almost grew up without a Dad: His Miracle Story part 1

2011-01-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

This is a true story of how I nearly grew up without a father. That would have been very sad. I am glad that did not happen. In his own words with some minor editing, let me introduce you to my Dad sharing his miracle story that occurred when I was just a few weeks old.

"DETOUR: PART 1"

By Joe Miskov III

As far as we could see, everything was going along just fine. We had just purchased a new home. A new and beautiful baby arrived on February 18, 1978. Our family consisted of my wife Dee, my step-daughter, Darla, who was fourteen, son, Joe IV, almost three years old and our latest blessing, Jennifer. My wife Dee was working at Lucky/Gemco Stores in Buena Park. I had just turned 37 and had a business called Original Wood Abstracts. I made burl wood clocks and tables along with smaller wood accessories.

"I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!"

Then Friday March 10, a life-changing detour occurred. About three o’clock in the morning, I awoke and noticed numbness in my lower body, from my waist down. Dee was already up breast feeding Jennifer in bed. After careful consideration, we decided a warm bath would take care of the problem. After the bath I found I couldn’t urinate. It was the end of playing doctor so I decided I’d drive down to the hospital a few miles away and get checked out. I told Dee I’d be right back.

"I CAN'T EVEN WRITE!"

I found out when I got there that I wasn’t able to sign in because I began losing feeling at this point. They had to help me make an X on the form. I was becoming paralyzed and I would have to stay so they could run some tests to see why. They called Dee and told her. She came to the hospital and had to dress in booties and mask and one of those “pretty” hospital dresses. They still didn’t know what was wrong, only that I was paralyzed from the neck down and was in Isolation, Intensive Care (ICU). They didn’t want Dee to catch anything since she was breast feeding and they didn’t know if what I had was contagious.

A DISTURBING CALL

We immediately decided to take Darla out of school to help with JoJo and Jennifer. She watched them while Dee regularly went to the hospital. Three days later, Dee got a phone call from the doctor. He said,

“Your husband is going to die or be in a wheel chair the rest of his life.”

How’s that for “bedside manner”? A traumatic phone call, to say the least! She called out to God. “Please don’t let him die. Help us get through this, I need help!”

Not five minutes later the door bell rang!

ANSWERED PRAYER

Darla answered the door. It was Margaret Smith, who used to work with Dee at Lucky’s/Gemco. She had been a nurse and she just “happened” to be in the neighborhood and thought she would stop by to see the new baby. Darla told her what was going on with me at the hospital. She came upstairs to where Dee and Jennifer were.

Dee told her she was ready to jump out the window with Jennifer and didn’t know what to do. Dee couldn’t breast-feed because she was so upset. Margaret asked her if she could pray for her. Dee thought she meant she would go home and pray for her. Not so! She sat on the bed with her and held her hands and prayed for her right there. No one had ever prayed for her that way before. Margaret also prayed that I would be healed.

She also asked “How can I help you?” And a day later, Margaret with her children and Dee and JoJo were delivering wood products for me to stores that had orders. The same day they were delivering clocks, Margaret’s husband, Sam, came to the hospital and told the people at the front desk, “He’s my brother.” This was the only way he could get in to see me in ICU. Little did I know he wasn’t lying. He didn’t mention that he was my “brother in the Lord.”

SAM'S 1st PRAYER

He asked me, “Do you mind if I pray for you?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Sam was in mask, hospital gown and booties. He laid hands on me and prayed that I would be healed. That was the first time I had been prayed for that way. Later on we found out that this was the first time Sam had ever stepped out to pray for someone. He was trusting God.

Not too long after that, the doctors determined I has something called Transverse Myalitis, which is a viral infection of the spine. They then put me in regular intensive care which meant no more dressing up to see me! I still couldn’t see the children though and the doctors couldn’t tell me how I got this illness or how I was going to get rid of it.

They just kept pumping me with penicillin.

I started to see family and friends about this time. They all knew more about the situation than I did. I was the only one who was kept in the dark. Everyone was told to be positive and to smile a lot. The doctors would come in daily and tell me different things, like “you’ll be out of here in two weeks, three months, or six months.” But they really didn’t have a clue.

SHE CRIED

I saw my mom and dad, and my sister Adrienne. She would play with my toes but I couldn’t feel a thing. Good friends came and for the first time someone cried there. Her name was Kay Stone. I still didn’t figure it out. I always thought I would get well. I never had any pain so I wasn’t that uncomfortable.

They let me see JoJo and Jennifer down in the lobby. That was different, because I couldn’t hold them or hug my new baby. Little things do mean a lot!

AN ANGEL?

Two weeks and two days later there wasn’t any improvement. It was Easter Sunday. The nurses would come in and turn me over every day, so I wouldn’t get bed sores. Easter evening a Chinese nurse turned me over and started to sing hymns to me as she rubbed my back. Most of the hymns weren’t familiar to me but I had to listen. Where could I go? I fell asleep and awoke the following morning moving fingers and toes! Feeling started to come back in the rest of my body. The doctors had no idea how I recovered.

They said it was a miracle.

God and miracle were the words most used to describe my recovery. I agreed!

It was time to learn how to walk all over again.

Oh and by the way, I never saw that Chinese nurse again.

Oh, and another thing, we received $547.00 cash in the mail to take care of our house payment. To be continued……
See part 2 and the financial miracle that followed.

Before the accident. That's not me in the belly but my bro!

Thank you Martin Luther King Jr.

2011-01-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

"While we don't have to live anyone else's dream, we do have a responsibility to live our own. Each of us has a dream inside of us. Some of us more than one. A difference can be made in the live of others when we step out and fulfill our specific, and I believe our God-given dreams. Beauty comes as a result when we follow our hearts. Others are blessed, challenged, and empowered when we take hold of our lives and make decisions towards living our passions, towards following our deepest desires.

There are people around us who are waiting for us to come alive, people who need for us to live our dreams so that their lives will be better. It was Martin Luther King Jr. who once said, "I have a dream," and look what happened when he followed his heart. It's time for us to do the same.

So now, because other lives depend on it, including our own, may the True Revolutionaries please step forward and march toward your destinies."

©Jennifer A. Miskov, excerpt taken from Silver to Gold: A Journey of Young Revolutionaries

My PhD led me to El Fronton and the Canary Islands?

2010-12-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Me and a poster of my PhD research

Who knew that after another 10 hour day of working on the complete draft of my PhD I would be led right into the center of bodyboarding history. Well, that's exactly what happened. Let me explain. After 3 years of working on the same PhD project and nearing the end, I basically locked myself away for a few months to finish the draft of about 350 pages of research (80,000 words). Getting tired of editing and refining day after day, I had enough and so after a grueling 10 hour day, I impulsively said to myself that I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

I quickly looked up Ryan air flights to see what was the cheapest and I noticed Gran Canary Island was a cheap flight. Island = sun and beach, so I booked the ticket without looking at my calendar to see if I had any other prior engagements. I desperately needed a break!

After booking my 3 days in Gran Canary where I was going to be stoked just to leave the cold England behind for a bit a sunshine, my brother told me that there were waves there. Bonus, although I had just brought back all my bodyboarding gear to Cali my last trip home. Usually I at least leave a pair of fins and rashguard in the UK but this time I did not. I researched and found a place there where I could rent stuff as well as looked up the local surf spots and checked when the swell was going to hit them. Upon arrival, I immediately surfed Confital since that was near my hotel. The next day, I headed out to surf El Fronton.

After driving around the city and asking nice people to point me in the right direction, I came upon this little point break with only 3 guys out. As I watched what I believed to be El Fronton, another bodyboarder walked by me and carried on past the rocks. My curiosity caused me to follow him and I am SO glad I did. Once I made it to the top of the rocks, in the distance I saw glassy waves, air reverses, and backflips spotting the water.

I quickly jumped in my car and drove straight there only to see a black van in the parking lot with Mike Stewart as the driver! What was he doing here? I was just on holiday, taking a much needed mental break from my studies so that I could be refreshed to finish my thesis and there in front of me was Mike Stewart. Even more, when I paddled out to the waves, I saw GT and lots of other bodyboarders that looked familiar to me (although I have literally been out of the bb scene for over 10 years now so I only recognized a few of the old schoolers). When asked how to come in from my session at Fronton I was encouraged to just take a wave over the reef. I must admit, that was a little sketchy for me as I grew up only on beach breaks in Newport Beach.

Once I came in I heard someone in the distance yelling my name and its Manny Vargas! I did his IB Summer Slams back in the day and I hadn't seen him for probably over 10+ years. Long story short, I ended up extending my plane ticket twice to stay in paradise, had a super fun session with only one other out and Manny doing water photography, played in this swimming pool type thing adjacent to the ocean, took photos of the El Fronton Invitational and got to hang out with the best bodyboarders in the world, who by the way, are all pretty cool guys.

Read more about my trip to the CANARY ISLANDS

Crazy how everything worked out. I can only say that I am thankful that Christmas came early to me and that not only did I get sunshine and beach, but I got to paddle out with some of the best bodyboarders in the world all in a desperate plea to take a mental break from my thesis. SO thankful to God and so blessed for this intersection in paradise. I hope everyone has a happy Christmas! See more pics of the El Fronton event and of Gran Canary Island on my facebook page

Baby Love and CHRISTmas time

2010-12-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my friend Craig holding his newborn baby who came into the world just 5 days before this shot was taken. For me this is such a beautiful reminder for CHRISTmas on two different levels. First, it reminds me how Jesus obediently chose to leave the perfect union He had with the Father for the sole purpose of living a life He knew would be filled with suffering. Regardless of the risks He would have to take, Jesus chose to come, not as the victorious King, but rather as a completely vulnerable and dependent baby. He did this because of such an intense and amazing love for each one of us.

Can you believe that someone would knowingly engage in a life that would be filled with suffering all because of the joy that would one day be set before Him? This joy of knowing us and loving us was greater than the pain (Hebrews 12). I am awe struck at Jesus’ relentless passion and pursuit of our hearts at any cost, in fact, at all costs. Such perfect love pursues us today, even when we feel lonely and rejected and unwanted. Let us remember the extreme and ultimate journey Jesus embarked on in our behalf, for the purpose of knowing us and inviting us into the immense measure of love found in Him.

On the other level, this picture also reminds me of God the Father’s love. It is easy to see that in the father’s eyes, his son can do no wrong. He is loved perfectly exactly how he is. Not only did God the Father send His son as a baby into this world, but He did it so that we could have relationship with Him. And the beautiful thing is, just as my friend Craig is adoring his baby, so God the Father adores us, exactly as we are. We don’t have to do a thing to earn His love. We don’t have to be good enough, pure enough, righteous enough, or do enough good works, but He loves us just exactly the way we are here and now, today in this moment. And the beautiful thing is, this will never change.

I know many of us already know these facts but I also understand that sometimes it is the hardest thing to simply receive this great big love. Let us take even 5 minutes today to stop and picture ourselves as the child in the Father’s arms and simply receive the acceptance, delight, and joy that emanates from His face onto us, His beloved children. May the Holy Spirit still our lives and open our hearts to receive an increased measure of the Father’s love. May each one of us be blessed this CHRISTmas season and be reminded of the intense, persistent, and passionate love that has been demonstrated on our behalf.

For those hungrier still, there is another gift that is also freely available to those who want to open and receive it…Check out "a new kind of Christmas present" to learn more.
Much love and peace to each of you during this season,
Jen

SEEDS

2010-11-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

I have felt God stirring me to begin to pray for the SEEDS that I have sown to begin to bear fruit. Now is the time that He wants release some of the fruit from the seeds we've planted.

“Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.” Haggai 2:19

Where is our seed? Are we guarding it close to our hearts, afraid to spread it about because of fear that the enemy or stranger will come and devour it? Are we too cautious with the seed that God has given us? Where is God telling us to freely sow the seed He has given us?

If we never plant the seeds or do so sparingly, how will we ever see the fruit? We have all heard the saying, “You reap what you sow.” Alternatively, many of us have sown seeds and have yet to see anything come of it. Hang onto hope. There is much going on beneath the surface and God is still at work in those places waiting for the perfect and appropriate time for them to breakthrough the ground and see the light.

And where some of us see that the plant has sprouted but no there is still no fruit, it will come at the right time. A vineyard takes about 3 years to produce its first grapes. “The fig tree” can take 4-5 years to grow to enough maturity to begin bearing fruit the first time. “The pomegranate” takes 3-5 years to bear fruit and each pomegranate has 613 seeds! “The olive tree” takes about 4 years for olives to be ripe and can live for up to 500 years. Interestingly enough, olive trees are also known to have re-grown even after having been chopped down.

Some seeds sprout and bear fruit immediately and some take many years before seeing its first fruit. Regardless, God is uniquely at work in each situation and many times deeply below the surface. And where storms or pestilence or locusts or other things may have stolen or attempted to destroy the fruit God wants to bring, I thank God that He says, “But from this day I will bless you.”

“For the seed shall be prosperous,
The vine shall give its fruit,
The ground shall give her increase
And the heavens shall give their dew-I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these.” Zechariah 8:12

“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit in the field,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:11
God is our protector. He will guard the seeds that we have thrown out and He will protect our land.

The Lord has been working below the surface for many years and is going to begin to break through the hard ground as a promise of the seed and as a sign of fruit to come. I pray that the Lord encourages us to continue to cultivate the ground where we have planted seeds and water them with His Spirit. And I pray “From this day” will You bless us, multiply the seed we have sown into Your kingdom, cause increase and release fruits that You have promised. And let it all be for Your glory. Amen.

Walking in our Destiny in the Midst of the Credit Crunch

2010-09-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

Some notes and audio for talk at Aliso Viejo Vineyard, CA Sept. 19, 2010....Special thanks to Ted and Ginger for sharing what a life of living by faith looks like and also for Kent Larson for being so gracious for inviting me into his life and ministry there.

Are there any promises that God has spoken to you in the past but have yet to be fulfilled?

Revolutionary Perspectives:
Carrie Judd Montgomery was led by the Spirit, discerned what God had spoken to her in the midst of conflicting voices around her, and she acted in faith. To read the account I talk about go here.

Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 13) believed in the promise, wholly followed after God regardless of their surrounding circumstances, had a right perspective of God and chose to remember His faithfulness, and they were not afraid to fight for what they believed in (or they were, but they chose to trust God anyway!).

There's always a battle before entering into the Promised Land for our lives. Note that THIS IS NOT A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, BUT A FIGHT FOR ABUNDANCE.

It's safe and comfortable in the silver, in the desert, but God has destined us for the GOLD, to dwell in the Promised Land. Conversely, when we don't walk in God's destiny for our lives, it's easy to get drawn back into our old life (Galatians 5:16).
Are there any necessary battles that you are avoiding or running from? Are your eyes on God and His promises or on the obstacles before you? What steps of faith can you begin to take today to move closer to the destiny God is calling you to?
"You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey...into the Land of Canaan (The Promised Land)"...See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess this land which has been promised (Deut 1:6-8). "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things shall be added to you (Matt. 6:33)."

"GOLD is our destiny...so Why settle for silver when we're meant for Gold?" I pray that the unique promises God has put deep within our hearts would be stirred up once again and that He would give us the courage to step out in faith towards those things this very day. Amen.

Spirit Flood talk: Baptism of the Holy Spirit, present day healing accounts, John Wimber, and Carrie Judd Montgomery

2010-08-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

This is a talk in relation to the themes in Spirit Flood given August 18, 2010 at Anaheim Vineyard homegroup in California. You can also download it here. Special thanks to Dave McNutt for the invitation. Several recent healing accounts as well as the story of Carrie Judd Montgomery and also John Wimber's experience with the Holy Spirit are mentioned. Quotes from John Wimber are taken from his Power Evangelism and the other quote is taken from Spirit Flood by me where Carrie Judd is also quoted from her 1912 article entitled "The Possibilities of Pentecost." Her full article can be found here if interested. Be blessed and be flooded and baptized afresh with the Spirit this day!

Press Release for SPIRIT FLOOD

2010-04-16T01:48:00.000-07:00

This conversation about re-discovering what Spirit baptism looks like for today will cause you to cry out for more than just “fillings” of the Spirit. As Carrie Judd Montgomery once recalled, before her Spirit baptism she had “tiny streams,” but not “rivers of living water.”
The time of breaking the dam has now come.

Even if you have already once experienced the flooding of the Spirit, the rivers of living water are freely available today in new measures to all who ask.

SPIRIT FLOOD is a fusion of PhD research on revivals, a short biography on the most influential woman in the Divine Healing Movement, Carrie Judd Montgomery, and reflections from present day active ministers from around the globe who are hungry to see more of the Spirit’s outpouring for this generation. The essay included here looks at the significance that Spirit baptism played in early Pentecostal history during the Azusa Street Revival and how that emphasis may have declined. By looking at Carrie Judd Montgomery’s experience of Spirit baptism, possible ways that Spirit baptism can re-emerge and be translated into the 21st Century are presented.

SPECS:

Paperback: 64 pages
Publisher: Silver to Gold
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0984237011
ISBN-13: 978-0984237012
Product Dimensions: 6x9 inches
Retail Price: $9.99/ £7.00
Author: Jennifer A. Miskov with Bonnie Inkster and Rosie. McNeil

You can order directly on the right hand-side of this page under the Spirit Flood's cover icon.

Release of SPIRIT FLOOD May 2010, UK

2010-04-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who made this night so special!

Poster for USA release and cool story

2010-04-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool story I wanted to share with you coming from California... “Hi Jen, One of the men in our home group just finished your book last night. He and his wife went bike riding early this morning. As they pass a stranger walking he felt the Lord telling him to pray for that man, but thinking it was just himself they passed on. On their way back he spotted same man and Lord said the same thing. He stop and asked the stranger if he could pray for him, the stranger said he was a Christian and want him to pray for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. LOL Praise the Lord. The Lord has already started.”

My recent Talk on Healing including "the missing cigarettes story"

2010-02-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent talk I gave in Coventry on the subject of Healing. I look at how in light of all that God has done for us and what we have already freely received (Ezekiel 16), let us also freely give (Isaiah 58) and move beyond consumer Christianity. There's live props involving water and 16 year-old Becky also shares a cool story from being at Healing on the Streets when she prayed for some teenagers and cigarettes disappeared! here you go...Talk on Healing

Faith in the Midst of the Credit Crunch

2010-01-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Shortly after publishing her first book, Carrie Judd Montgomery continued to receive a flood of letters from sick people who were interested in learning about Divine Healing. Carrie and her brother Charlie both had the same idea that she should publish a monthly magazine on the subject. Her brother offered to give her $50.00 as a tithe to help her get set up. After speaking with a well intentioned Methodist elder she knew who discouraged her from the project, she continued “to wait on God about this matter.”
To read the rest of article and see how Carrie decided to see beyond her natural circumstances go HERE

Created on Purpose: DNA turned into music

2009-11-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Lots of people have been asking me about my time at the School of Prophets in Redding... So here's a late nite recap of a few things to share. First of all, the worship times were amazing, such freedom and pursuit and presence of the Holy Spirit filled our times, was literally amazing and something I rarely experience to such a degree. So many of the things that were taught so resonated with my own heart.
Here's some of my notes and thoughts from the breakout session by Dano McCollum on the arts (quotes might not be 100% accurate):
He spoke about how "creativity is the highest manifestation of the divine nature" and that when we are being creative we are being prophetic." These are things that I fully believe, hence Silver to Gold written to inspire people to follow their hearts because I believe as they do so, they are more open to the Holy Spirit whether they are Christians or not. There is something freeing in the spirit as one creates. One of the most fascinating things that Dano shared with us though was in relation to the new DNA research that is going on. Scientists take DNA samples of animals and even people and instead of chart the findings in a graph, they match the graph with notes of music. We got to listen to the song coming from a dolphin's DNA. It was amazing, you could almost hear the dolphin jumping out of the water! We even heard one song of a human's DNA. If you want to hear the whole teaching including this and the songs go to the link and look under #13 Breakout 1A "Arts and Cultural Transformation by Dan McCollum". Can also learn more about DNA project and hear music at http://www.yourdnasong.com

Basically though, the DNA studies just helps demonstrate how we all have a song to sing. We are all specific and unique beautiful masterpieces that He has created to be beautifully ourselves. Birds were made to soar, fish were made to swim, we were made to be the unique and creative expression of our King. That will look different for each of us. What is important is that we not compare ourselves with others, that we follow our hearts and the dreams that God has given us, and express His love creatively through being fully the men and women He has created us to be.

So what is your song? What are your unique talents and gifts? What has God already given you and how can you use those talents and gifts to the fullest for Him? "Clearly you are an epistle of Christ...written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart"- 2 Corinthians 3:2

God Healing People at Disneyland

2009-10-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

Pretty sweet, check it out...

How was my trip to Berlin?

2009-07-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

I had such a great time in Berlin with the community there. Me and Leanne were originally supposed to be a part of leading a bigger team but those plans fell through and since we had already bought our tickets, we decided to go to Berlin anyway. The community there organized for us to be able to share at a meeting on Thursday nite and also do a Healing On The Streets training and outreach on the Saturday.

On Thursday nite I shared about how when we give even the little that we think we have (which is actually quite a lot if we truly realize the inheritance we have in Christ), that God will multiply it. It is in the action of pouring out our lives unto others that He gives the increase (based on the article “Needing a Breakthrough/ Thoughts on Isaiah 58” posted on this blog). Then we did HOTs training on Saturday.

While we didn’t see any physical healings or miracles when on the streets, we did get to pray for a small handful of people who experienced God’s love. Me and Katie, one of the members of the community there, had the most amazing privilege and opportunity to share the love of God with about 6 German teenagers there in the plaza. They had never really heard about the good news of Jesus’ love. I had the opportunity to share my testimony with them which Katie translated for me. In the midst of this, some ladies randomly gave them each a red rose. What a beautiful sign of God’s love for them, because that is exactly how He sees them, as beautiful, pure, and lovely like the rose, regardless of what they have done or could ever do wrong.

These girls had to leave to be somewhere at 3pm because they were with a larger group. But then about 15 minutes later, they returned because their leaders "randomly" gave them more free time. They came right up to me and Katie. They wanted to know more of this big love and acceptance that comes from God. We got to pray for one of the girls who had asthma and another whose grandma has cancer. After that we had them repeat in their hearts a prayer inviting Jesus to take over their lives. I then encouraged them to read the book of John in the Bible and talk to other Christians, find a church, etc. They were so precious and so open and I really feel that was a significant moment for at least 2 of them. Please pray that the seed that got planted in their hearts that day would grow and find its home in Jesus.

The other big miracle that I saw that day was a willing community that was open to experiment and risk and reach out to their city. It was very encouraging and a huge privilege to be a part of what God is doing there. We had such a blessed time with them, they were so hospitable and welcoming to us the whole time. Please continue to pray for Job (our host) and the Vineyard community in that area as there is a sense that God is stirring something.

We also did some sight seeing in the down times as well as enjoyed German meals with friends, even wrote some poetry together with Bex. To top it off, I randomly had the opportunity, which came at the last minute, to see U2 play in Berlin. I think I can say that on this trip, I truly experienced the "exceedingly abundantly" found in Ephesians 3:20. Thanks to everyone in Berlin who opened their homes and their hearts to me and Leanne and also for those who prayed for us, it really made a difference!

Blessings, Jen

What people are saying about Silver to Gold

2009-07-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

“Silver to Gold is an inspirational story to dream seemingly impossible dreams. It is an encouragement to press through every challenge and obstacle, until our vision becomes a reality. Jen is an awesome young revolutionary who has courageously pressed in to the dreams of God for her own life regardless of the cost, and counted it all as joy! I highly recommend this book to everyone who is not prepared to settle for anything less than the very best!”
-Heidi Baker, Ph.D, Founding Director, Iris Ministries, Inc.

“I have known Jen for over ten years and I have watched her live the Silver to Gold adventure. I have witnessed the birth of this book as she talked and wrote this epic story. It came out of her soul not just her mind. This adventure will stir, invigorate and compel you to go for the Gold. I highly recommend it.”
-Robert Fulton, Vineyard International Coordinator Emeritus

“This is a modern-day Pilgrim's Progress, a tale that resonates with both science fiction and allegory of a young woman who rejects a life of compromise and finds her true fulfillment in overcoming obstacles and discouragements to reach her higher goals. This is inspirational reading that will inspire and resonate with any of us who have been tempted to give up. Once you pick up this fascinating story you will not want to put it down.”
-Dr. Allan Anderson, author of Spreading Fires

"A revolutionary book/novel for 'young revolutionaries' (in the book's subtitle) written by a PhD student (at the University of Birmingham, UK) who aspires to inspire; the book comes with all kinds of added dimensions at the www.silvertogold.com website - its riveting prose will keep us enthralled even while its message - to inspire us all to reach beyond the silver lining& horizons that often limit us so that we can reach the gold standard! - means that it will work well as a gift to high school & even college graduates."- Amos Young, author of many books, one being The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh

"Jen, did you put superglue on my copy? Cause I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!! Gripping, powerful, encouraging and challenging. Loving your work! The week after I got my job, I read Silver to Gold and, as well as being gripped by the story, I saw clear links with my own experience. I felt motivated to keep moving forward to the next goal, the next challenge, the next step. Silver to Gold challenges you to not settle for second best, but to push on towards the fulfillment of your dreams, and to encourage those around you to do the same. This book could change your life..." - Steve, UK

New Links to Original Writings of Carrie Judd Montgomery

2009-07-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

I just added some links on the right hand side for anyone interested in reading some of Carrie Judd Montgomery's actual writings. I have found them rich in spiritual insights and very inspiring, they are filled with the Holy Spirit and can speak to us today. I also one of my favorite articles written by CJM following this post. Hope you enjoy and would love to hear your thoughts or discussion.
Blessings,Jen

"If there seems to be even the slightest shadow between my blessed Saviour and myself, I stop everything until it is removed and the fulness of joy is restored, and the brightness of His face shines upon me again. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and if I have not this fulness of joy, which comes from perfect communion through obedience, I have nothing with which I can help other souls.

It is better to tarry day after day if need be, waiting upon Him rather than to try to do the Master's work while His joy is somewhat dimmed."

Excerpt from Triumphs of Faith 36:11 November 1916

Life on Wings. The Possibilities of Pentecost

2009-07-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

The following is one of my all time favorite articles by Carrie Judd Montgomery. She talks about her healing encounter and her Spirit baptism experience then moves on by highlighting that being in His presence is the most important thing of all. Stopping, being still and simply knowing that He is God. She shares her secret of how to walk in His inheritance for our lives.

Carrie Judd Montgomery, “Life on Wings. The Possibilities of Pentecost,” Triumphs of Faith 32:8 (August 1912), article was taken from an address delivered at the Stone Church in Chicago in 1910 and revised by the author (CJM). Transcribed by Jen Miskov.

I want to talk to you about “The Life on Wings.” Read with me Deuteronomy xxxii :9-14. That the Lord’s people are the Lord’s portion is a precious thought, for He left everything in order that He might have this portion. So, I believe the Lord means for us to realize how very, very precious we are to Him. We remember how in our own experience He found us in a “desert land” and in the “waste howling wilderness,” and led us about and instructed us and kept us as the apple of His eye.

Then in this scripture there follows the picture of the eagle stirring up her nest. Many of you have probably read the description as has actually been witnessed by some who have climbed to the dizzy height of rocks and watched the mother eagle break up the nest of her young. The time had come when the mother-bird saw that the eaglets must learn to fly, and in order that they might learn to do this, she took her strong beak and made havoc of the nest; pulled it to pieces in order that the eaglets might no longer have a resting place there. Then she throws the young eaglets out of the nest down over the dizzy precipice, and of course, the little things think they will be dashed to pieces on the great rocks beneath, but with one great swoop the mother-bird sweeps down under them, and the little eaglets, instead of falling down to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below, fall upon the safe, strong wings of the mother.

This is the picture that God gives us as the actual way in which He deals with you and me. We can all of us think as we look back, how He stirred up our nests. We had such nice ones; all fixed up for ourselves. They were softly lined, and cozy and warm, and we expected to stay but God came, spoiled all our plans, broke in pieces the nest and tumbled us out. Why? In order that we might learn to fly; in order that we might find the wings which He had already caused to spring forth within our very hearts, but which we had not learned to use, the wings of faith. I look back and remember how He tore my nest to pieces. I had it all arranged. I had my aspirations and ambitions as a young girl. I knew just what I wanted and what would make me happy, and what, in a vague way, I trusted would make me useful, but God permitted the nest to be pulled to pieces. That awful sickness that followed after I had fallen and injured my spine, those days and nights of suffering, of anguish, of helplessness ; those days when the very room had to be darkened on account of the suffering in my head, were but a mere shadow of the darkness that had come into my life and into my very soul. Through this awful trial it seemed as though everything was lost; I could not see that there ever would be any brightness in life. I was a confirmed helpless invalid. For two years and two months I lay there, being taken down at the age of eighteen, at a time when a girl’s .life usually looks the brightest. Oh, how hard it was! Nobody knows how hard, and I was so hungry after God. My soul was utterly unsatisfied, but God was breaking up the nest of human ambitions, human hopes and aspirations. He knew what He was doing, although I did not.

Job said, “He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.” He knew the way for Job and He knew it for me also. Now, after all the years of blessing that have been mine since I was so wondrously healed by the Lord, I realize more and more it was because the snug nest in which I thought I was so secure, was broken up. Now I am able to encourage other hearts that are going through the shadow and through the valley. So take heart, dear friends; it is better farther on, for as some one has said, there are two openings to the tunnel. We go in at one end, but there is another end to come out. We may he in the tunnel today, beloved, but the other end is there, and you will go through if you go on with God.

What would my life have been without that stirring up? God only knows, but I know it would not have been what it has been. After the long period of suffering and anguish and the coming down to the very jaws of death, the Lord swept His great eagle wings under the poor little frightened eaglet and I found His great wings to rest upon.

He says in Exodus xix:4, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.” Oh, what a blessed goal! Unto Himself! On the strong eagle wings God bears us unto His very heart of love. Oh what a wonderful day that was when He answered prayer for me! The time had been set for prayer by that dear colored woman, Mrs. Mix. How wonderful it was that we heard about her at all! The Lord knew what the result would be when He let that little account of her healing of consumption in answer to prayer, be published in a Buffalo paper, and let it catch my father’s eye. In those days very little was known, especially in this country, about Divine Healing. Do not think, beloved, we ever had such meetings as these we now enjoy. I would that yet might realize your privileges!

When this dear colored sister in Connecticut wrote and said “The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up,” I didn’t know that was in the Bible. She said, “This promise is for you as though you were the only person living. That was a wonderful thought, and the Lord gave me a mighty inspiration of divine faith I never had before. He revealed Himself to me, raised me up, caused all the diseases to depart in one instant of time, and gave me my first introduction to the Holy Spirit. Oh how wonderful it all was! No words can describe it.

Those days were days of praise when it seemed as though I should call upon everything around to help me praise the Lord. I found the eagle’s wings. At first it seemed as though I only knew the dove wings; they were not very strong; the little attempted flights of faith, in certain directions had to be increased. You remember the Psalmist said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest.” But the dove wings would not take us very far; we need the eagle wings. So through different teachings and especially through many testings and trials of faith, the Lord changed the dove wings into the eagle wings.

But some are saying, “How are we to get this faith?” The only way God can develop our faith is through trial. You ask the Lord to give you a stronger faith, and what does He do? He puts a trial upon the faith you already have. He will take your faith and test it and try it, and you think all is lost, but that very testing and trying of your faith is what brings out the pure gold and causes you to have a stronger faith than ever you had before.

In California we have many gold mines even yet, although they are not so plentiful as they used to be. There are two kinds of mines: one is the placer mine which contains the loose gold mingled with the sand and which therefore can easily be separated; the other is a quartz mine, where the gold is in the rock. When it is free gold it can very easily be separated from the rock, but in many of the mines there is what the miners call rebellious ore; they also call it refractory ore, and when I first heard my husband call the ore rebellious and say it was a technical term they used, I said, “That is just like some people, rebellious ore, refractory ore; the gold is there but very hard to get out.” This gold is so united with baser metals that they must have a different process to get the gold free from the baser ore; they do not care anything about the baser ores, they can be burned up or volatilized, but the miners are after the gold.

Now God is after the gold in us. “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst be rich.” They have different processes now, but one process which is used a good deal is a row of furnaces through which it is put one after the other and each one is hotter than the preceding. We ask to be delivered from one of God’s furnaces and we may get into a hotter one. I visited a mine and I saw the whole process. First, they broke the rock in pieces and then pulverized it, then there were large canvas sheets spread out, slightly on an incline, and the pulverized rock and ore was put on there and a stream of water was run over it, and some one stood at the top and swept it down carefully. The pulverized rock which was light went off with the water, but the metal, which was heavier, stayed on the canvas and it was swept off in little piles. It didn’t look’ at all like gold, and you know, beloved, it is only God that can see the gold in us sometimes; I am sorry we haven’t more spiritual perception to enable us to see the gold in each other. May God help us to see the gold in each other’s souls!

Those sulphurets, as they call them, look something like mortar; you couldn’t see any gold at all, but it was there. We went into the furnace room, and saw where they were putting it into one furnace after another; my husband is a mining man and he took me to visit this large mine that I might see all the processes.

The superintendent stood by me and we saw a lot of little sparks flying in every direction, and he explained that that was the baser metals being burned or volatilized, and then, not knowing he was uttering a great spiritual truth, he said, “When the sparks stop flying we take it out of the fire. It is finished.” That was so good I looked up at my husband and said: “Why, that is the way it is with us; the Lord takes us out of the furnace when the sparks stop flying, the sparks of doubt, the sparks of fear, the sparks of impatience and of lack of love; when they stop flying then God the Great Refiner knows it is time to take US out of the furnace.” Let us ask God to do His work quickly that the sparks may stop flying, but when we do see the sparks flying in ourselves or in each other shall we not be more patient now that we know what the sparks are? that they are only flying because God is working with us or working with some other soul? May God help us to be patient with each other when the sparks fly! Sparks are not always agreeable especially when they fly upon us, but the Lord can make us patient.

Oh, I often think that if in stead of getting impatient with the dear tried ones when perhaps their love fails, or their patience fails, or their faith fails, if we could only stand in love and tenderness and resist the enemy for them, claim the victory of the blood for their poor, tried souls how much better it would be and how much faster the Lord could work with our own souls. The Lord help us! He is trying to teach us to love one another with a pure heart fervently. I understand “fervently” here, in the Greek, means to be “boiling hot” in our love. You never can have the love that keeps up to the boiling heat all the time unless you first have a pure heart. “Love one another with a pure heart fervently.”

We want to look again at the thought of the winged life. We get it in that well-known passage in Isa. xl:28-31. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.” I wonder if there are any faint ones here tonight. He says He will give you power. The fainting are the very ones to whom He promises power, but to them that have no might at all He increaseth strength.

All that we have must be surrendered to Him to use as He wills. The one thing I found hardest to consecrate to the Lord when I was a girl and He was seeking to lead me to Himself, was a little talent I was born with, and that was a little gift of writing verses and also prose and when the Lord sought to lead me to Himself during that awful suffering, I gave God all but that one thing, and about that I said, “No, it is good and I do not have to give it up.” He pressed it upon me that I had to surrender it to Him, and finally I told Him I would hold on to it as tightly as I could and that He would have to pull it away from me. That wasn’t very pleasant for the Lord, nor for me, but He was faithful; He saw I had to take the hard way. So when I got to the place of full surrender, just before I was healed, I said “Lord, I am willing to have Thee make me willing,” and He took me at that. When I got there I gave it all up to Him as best I could, and I never expected Him to let me write another thing.

I had written from a child and had a volume of poems printed, written before I had finished my eighteenth year, but I never expected to be able to write again, and so after my healing it was a wonderful joy to find that that which had gone to Calvary with Him was given back in resurrection power. There only was this difference: Instead of using it myself, the Holy Spirit uses it. God seems to keep it, as it were, locked up in a cupboard, and whenever He wants me to use it for Him, He enables me to use it in the power of His endless life, and then takes it back again for safe keeping. That is why the Lord is pleased to use the little book, “The Prayer of Faith,” so greatly, because He wrote it through me. This is a little illustration to show you that everything you have, has got to go down into death, all your natural ability, all your natural talent, all your natural knowledge and wisdom. Everything! If He chooses to give you back anything in resurrection life, all right, and if He doesn’t it is better not to get it back. It is an empty life, wherein you feel absolutely nothing; perfect weakness, emptied out for Jesus; you feel nothing but blankness and God causes you to stand before Him. It is just a question of trusting Him; letting Him take possession of your mind, and “when our weakness leans upon His might, then all is right.”

People know very little about the mind being cleansed by the blood and being emptied of all its human thoughts. I cannot begin to tell you what God has done in my mind since I have had this fuller baptism of the Holy Ghost. He shows me that people are having their minds corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. He shows me that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. He shows me I cannot reason in the old way. Oh the wonderful realization that God has emptied my own mind out, and that I have the mind of Christ. This is so restful; it feels as though my brain was having a holiday, and all the busy, wearisome thoughts are gone.

This is a part of the life on wings. In all the many years of blessedness before this fuller baptism, I did not know what I am talking about now, this freedom of the mind from all care; of course, I had a great deal of blessing and a great deal of freedom from care, and felt that God had guided me and blessed me wonderfully, but I didn’t know what I am talking about now. Now I feel that the Holy Spirit holds my brain just as He does the rest of my being, but it is just as loving and tender as it is strong.

Now He tells us He exchanges our strength. We shall mount up with wings as eagles, and this is wonderfully true not only in the spiritual and the mental, but true in the physical, and since this mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost which I received over two years ago, I know what that mounting up with wings is in my physical being. I feel oftentimes when I walk along the streets as though I could hardly walk properly, I am so full of something which seems as though it was lifting me up on wings; wings on my feet, wings on my limbs, wings all over. I realize it as I run up and down the stairs. It is Romans viii:11, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

Early this morning as the power of God was upon me, and I was recognizing, as I so often love to do, the presence of the indwelling indwelling Comforter, and worshipping Him in His temple, with the Father and the Son, was led out in prayer for different things, but all at once He said to me, “I want you to recognize definitely that I am filling the temple.” Of course, I know He always fills it, but this was something a little different and He wanted the recognition that every part of spirit, soul and body was pervaded with His presence, and that meant, as He revealed to me His meaning, that I should drop even prayer for the time and be occupied with the presence of His glory, and I said, “Oh, God, the Holy Ghost, Thou art filling Thy temple,” and immediately, just as though a little vial of attar of roses had been broken in this room and every part of it would soon be filled with the perfume, so the presence of His glory, sensibly pervaded every part of my being and even love and prayer were lost in worship. Then I thought of the time in the Old Testament when the temple was so filled with God’s glory that the priest could not even stand to minister.

There is, therefore, an experience beyond service and beyond prayer, and that is a revelation of His own personality to such an extent that there is nothing but adoring worship filling our being. Usually it is a blessed experience to be able to speak in tongues, to let the heavenly song flow out, but there are times when even tongues cease, when His presence is so all-pervading and the atmosphere so heavenly that I cannot talk at all in any language, but the power of His blessed Spirit upon me is so marvelous that it seems as though I were almost dwelling in heaven.

I hope this testimony will make some one press on for the fulness. The Word tells us, “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Philemon 6. Through our faithful testimony somebody else’s torch may be lighted in the love and providence of God, and suppose we should hesitate for fear of persecution, should stop acknowledging every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus and somebody’s torch should fail to be lit. We have a great responsibility, and if we fail in testimony our own light will grow dim.

If you acknowledge everything that is in you in Christ Jesus He will be ready to give you more good things, and just so far as you have gone on with Him you will be able to help somebody else. I find a great many witnesses who have failed God. It means a great deal to be a witness for God in these deeper and higher things, because doing it means reproach; it means going outside the camp, and I have found some people that do not like reproach and draw back and try to compromise; but I pray that we may always be kept true. Beloved, keep true and testify faithfully to Him. He tells us in Revelation that because we have a little strength and because we have kept His Word and have not denied His Name, He has set before us an open door. I could go back and tell you of one door after another that God opened in my own life. When the little doors were opened He could open larger ones, until now the doors are so large and so many I never know which to enter, only as God makes it clear. So, beloved,
be faithful and do not deny His Name.

In Ps. ciii :5, we read, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Here is a reference to the eagle again, the youth renewed like the eagle’s. Beloved, I do not believe in growing old, do you? I believe God means just what He says. Isn’t it beautiful? I never expect to grow old. The years may slip over my head, but what of that? That has nothing to do with it. He who has eternal youth is my youth and my strength.

Now, who is going to trust God for the winged life? You can crawl instead if you wish. God will even bless you if you crawl; He will do the best He can for you, but oh how much better to avail ourselves of our wonderful privileges in Christ and to “mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint.” O beloved friends, there is a life on wings. I feel the streams of His life fill me and permeate my mortal frame from my head to my feet, until no words are adequate to describe it. I can only make a few bungling attempts to tell you what it is like and ask the Lord to reveal to you the rest. May He reveal to you your inheritance in Christ Jesus so that you will press on and get all that He has for you.

© Jennifer Miskov

Needing a Breakthrough? Thoughts on Freedom and Isaiah 58

2009-06-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night at church I was singing that song that goes “Fall on me ever so gently, and break these chains…set me free, set me free, set me free, set me free…” During the song, I felt impelled to change the words slightly and instead sang, “We are free, we are free, we are free, we are free…” It hit me hard that yes, there may be some addictions, burdens, lack of peace, or fears clinging to us, but in reality, we are already free of these things in Christ because of what He has accomplished for us. I think that actively embracing and walking in the freedom He has already given us might make more sense than asking for Him to free us. He already has freed us. What would happen if this paradigm shifted inside of us where we realized...

To read the full article, click here http://www.conversantlife.com/ucontent/needing-a-breakthrough-thoughts-on-freedom-and-isaiah-58 or on the link on the right under My Published Articles.

DECISION MAKING GOD’S WAY

2009-05-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have found some of the following guidelines helpful when trying to make a decision in a way that will honor God. Hope this helps in the decision making process!

It is essential to have the Bible as your grid. As you are in tune with the Father you will begin to naturally walk in the works God has already prepared for you, the things He has already begun to put in your heart (Ephesians 2:10). Ask yourself if this decision brings freedom or bondage in your life? And will it contribute to you walking in the fullness of all you are called to be?

For bigger decisions, seeking counsel from people in whom you trust can be a great resource (Jeremiah 6:16). Prayer is great help, not only by yourself but also with others.

Remember that ultimately it is your decision and you are accountable to God for it. Get wisdom from others, but don’t rely upon them to make your decisions for you or live for you. You need to hear from the Lord (1 Kings 13).

It’s also important for you to realize that God trusts you. Sometimes the fact that there is a desire in your heart to do something means that it’s from God. Timing is important too. You may have something in your heart to do, but ask God the timing of it as well and then be patient to wait and pray (Psalm 37).

God is not going to speak to you about every decision you make. Do you pray before you pick out what to wear for the day? About where to go to lunch? What kind of soda should you get from the soda machine? He trusts you.

Sometimes making decisions according to God’s will is like a backyard. You can go swimming, play in the sandbox, or play catch and can still be in His will as long as you play in the boundaries of the backyard (not deviating from His word). He trusts you.

The Nike principle- Sometimes you have to “Just do it.” It’s so much better to risk (John Wimber, founder of The Vineyard Movement, spelled faith R-I-S-K) than to never be 100% sure and thus to never move forward. You can never fail with God, you can only learn from your mistakes (Romans 8:28). God can always redirect a moving ship but He can’t do much with a ship that is still stuck in the harbor.

HOW TO DO THE RIGHT THING WHEN THERE’S NO RULES
For the Gray areas in the Bible, the areas not explicitly shown as either right or wrong…music, movies, dating, etc…

Ask yourself these 3 questions:
1. Will this action build me up in my relationship with others (1 Cor. 10:23, 6:20; Heb. 12:1-2)?
2. Will this action cause others to stumble in their faith (1 Cor. 10:24, 8:9-13)?
3. Will this action bring glory to God (1 Cor. 10:31; Colossians 3:17)?

And finally, in the words of Paul (in Galatians 5:16),
“Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh,” or as
St. Augustine would put it,
“LOVE GOD AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.”

N.Y., Heidi Baker, and Free Food; or The Privileges of Knowing

2009-05-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago I was in New York and I went to a college there to do some research on Carrie Judd Montgomery, the one whom I am doing my PhD on. Because of my interest in her, the people at the college welcomed me with open arms. I had a personal meeting with the Dean of Seminary, free lunch with the president of the college, a tour of the historic campus, and received great help in the library doing some research. This all happened, not because I personally knew someone, but because I was interested in someone whom the people at the college also shared an interested in. Because of this, I was given favor and had a blessed time there (at Nyack College).

Something cool happened to me about a week ago. Let me go back to the start. About a month ago I noticed that Heidi Baker was going to be in England speaking so I have been planning to see her. I also prayed that I would be able to spend a little more time than just a quick hello with her as it has been so long since I have seen her last. Then, a few weeks ago my flatmates asked me to go on a fun trip to see a castle in Northern England this past Saturday. Normally a road trip and castle would be something I would do in a heart beat. For some reason though, I felt that I wasn’t supposed to go and that I needed to keep that day open, for what reason I had no clue.

They had to know about buying tickets ahead of time so I just decided to get one, figuring that if something came up, I could just give it to someone else. I thought that maybe the weird feeling inside of me was just me. Even after I bought the ticket though I still felt strongly that I was supposed to keep that Saturday wide open and not go, still not understanding why.

Then, this past Thursday I received an email inviting me and a few others to go to a church in Oxford to spend time with Heidi Baker on SATURDAY before her conference. I obviously did not go on the trip with the flatmates and went to Oxford for the whole weekend to spend some long overdue “Heidi time.” It was such a rich time and a blessing to my soul to be there. The other cool thing was that because I knew Heidi, I was given a free ticket to the sold out conference, got free food, and met lots of great people. This access to the conference all happened because of my connection with Heidi.

All this has made me think about favor and how much more I can have access to in this life because I know Jesus.

Heidi mentioned Ephesians 1:11 over the weekend: “In Him we have also obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to counsel of His will…” From this verse, it appears that we have ALREADY obtained the said inheritance which means we can have free access to it now, in this very moment. I guess if we have an inheritance from the King, then we have full access to His kingdom. That must mean we get to heal the sick, cast out demons, and even raise the dead (both physically and spiritually). I want access to that!

I mentioned that I got free food at both places as well. In the same way and even more so, knowing Jesus intimately means that we get to eat the best food in the world. He even invites those who have no money to come and eat for free, food that satisfies even our souls in abundance (Isaiah 55).

What would our lives look like if we fully understood the significance of having a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus, the Revolutionary of love? What if we woke up one day and actually truly believed the truth that we are chosen and adopted sons and daughters of the King (Eph. 1:5)? And what things do we have free access to right now because we are personally chosen and handpicked by Him? What part of His kingdom can we partake in today because of that same fact? What privileges through our intimate connection with the King are we not tapping into?

Today, in this moment, we have access to so much because of who we know. If we just ask, we have immediate accessibility to peace that passes understanding, direction, healing, mercy, forgiveness, provision, acceptance, love, authority in Christ, strength, courage, hope, and fullness of the Spirit to name a few.

Do we realize, I mean truly realize all that we have access to in Christ? And how would our lives look different if we walked with our heads held high, believing that we are sons and daughters of the King who have full access into His kingdom today?

Carrie Judd Montgomery believed this and in 1895 she wrote: “Oh, I am sure that it is our privilege not to be half full, but to be filled to overflowing, and that all the time, and the overflowing rivers will then be poured out to a thirsty, lost world.”

Knowing of Carrie Judd Montgomery gave me favor at a college in New York. Knowing Heidi Baker gave me entrance and access into a sold out conference. How much more must await us in Christ because we know HIM. What an even greater privilege it is to know Him, with even greater rewards. May we be encouraged to search out, access, and fully receive what is already available to us in His inheritance because we not only know of Jesus, or know Him just a little bit, but we know Him intimately.

May the Lord open our eyes to see all that we have access to in Him. May we fully receive and walk in all the privileges we have in Him simply because we know Him and He knows us. “And this I pray, that the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…” Ephesians 1:18-19

posted 5/9/2009
See also video interview with Heidi Baker on the topic of revival and Carrie Judd Montogmery

Faith in the Midst of the Credit Crunch

2009-02-23T05:38:00.000-08:00

CARRIE JUDD: TAKING STEPS OF FAITH
Not too long after her healing, in 1880 and at only 21 years old, Carrie published Prayer of Faith. Her book was revolutionary for that time. As there had not been many other books on the subject of divine healing published at that time, this would prove to be the start of Carrie embarking on a journey that would establish her as a key influence in the Divine Healing Movement. Her writing on this subject at that time brought new insight to many and a new hope that people could actually be healed.

ISSUE #2?
Shortly after publishing her first book, Carrie continued to receive a flood of letters from sick people who were interested in learning about Divine Healing. Her and her brother Charlie both had the same idea that she should publish a monthly magazine on the subject. Her brother offered to give her $50.00 as a tithe to help her get set up.

After speaking with a well intentioned Methodist elder she knew who discouraged her from the project, she continued “to wait on God about this matter.” This minister “thought it would be too much of a venture for me to make, and he evidently thought that it would not be a success.” Interesting here how Carrie had to choose to discern what she believed to be the voice of God. She put weight on what the community of Christians around her was saying but at the same time made her own decision according her own interpretation of hearing God’s voice.

Finally, she was convinced that it was something God was leading her to do so she decided to put all of her brother’s donation into 1,000 copies of the first issue and to trust God after that. She dived completely into this project that could have easily failed after the first issue. Having absolutely no resources for issue number two, she knew that if people didn’t respond favorably and quickly then that would be the end of her endeavors with the magazine.

Nevertheless, she avidly distributed the copies of her first issue to everyone interested. To her great joy, many people who received her journal began to send in money for subscriptions. Thus, Carrie successfully launched her journal, Triumphs of Faith, in January of 1881 and would continue writing and editing it for over 60 years.

HEALING HOME
A couple years later in 1882, while “in silent prayer beside an invalid friend,” the idea for a faith home came to Carrie. Several months after that account, in her February 1882 journal, Carrie first introduced her idea for Faith Rest Cottage. Carrie was only 23 years old when the time had “fully come” for her to share with her readers the vision of the house.

She had already been receiving some money here and there that she put aside for this possible work. She urged her readers to pray alongside her for the possible home. People began to donate money towards this cause which she recorded in her journal. While Carrie did not initially have enough money beyond the first few months rent, she took a step of faith and believed that God would continue to provide for this work. She found a home in her neighborhood and rented it from a Christian lady who was sympathetic toward her cause.

Faith Rest Cottage was officially opened on April 3, 1882 and informally consecrated a few days later. The home remained running into the 1890’s before it closed because Carrie moved west. In California, Carrie opened a new home which is still there and running even to this day, over sixty years after her death.

RISK TAKER
Carrie Judd Montgomery was a risk taker. Trusting on God’s promises rather than on visible resources, she chose to look at the unseen rather than the seen. In her early twenties, she took some big risks and watched the provision of God not only initiate the work He put in her heart, but also provide the means for her to accomplish and finish the work that He started.

Without knowing what would be around the corner, without seeing a net below her feet, she chose to jump, to leap and then watched the net appear. Complete failure could have awaited her or, maybe that Romans 8:28 promise was embedded deep within her heart. Maybe she realized that if she didn’t 100% accurately hear from God, that as she moved forward in seeking Him, He would turn around all situations for her good anyway. Luckily though, her acts of faith came to fruition and became significant parts of her entire life. Both the things she started in her early twenties she continued until her death.

What if in the midst of this current Credit Crunch, we, like Carrie, could see God as the Source of all things, our money and jobs included? Looking to Him as the Controller and Director of our lives rather than the somewhat depressing economic circumstances? Life could be good, not safe, most likely dangerous and scary, but good nonetheless.

This story was found in Carrie Judd, "Faith Rest-Cottage," TF 2:2 (Feb 1882), 20 and Carrie Judd Montgomery, Under His Wings: The Story of My Life, (Los Angeles: Stationers Corporation, 1936), 76-77.

Action Dating: The Gift of the Season of Singleness Revisted

2009-02-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

Looking at “The Gift of Singleness” article I wrote over two years ago, I have noticed that the insights are very good but that the article is a little imbalanced for certain situations. It must be stated that I was not writing about an actual “gift of singleness” but more so referring to the “season of singleness” as a gift from God, one of the only times in our lives to be fully and 100% devoted to God without having to take care of our spouses, etc. I think having a godly perspective on dating is very important and I think the issue holds two tensions that need to be awkwardly balanced. This article needs to be balanced in light of the previous one. I admit that I have swung from one extreme to the other but I do feel that now is a time where our generation needs to swing from the wait on God perspective to a more active stance on the issue (while continuing to hold both tensions in the balance if that’s at all possible!).

This article is only written to those single people who are very interested in getting married in the near future. If that’s not you now, please enjoy and take advantage of the freedom that your singleness offers!

Men: Active Pursuing
There are many singles today who are lovers of Jesus but are experiencing severe loneliness and even depression because their needs are not being met with a spouse. Adam was lonely before he even sinned. Humans were created for one another, man and woman together in perfect union. Loneliness is a very real thing that is unfortunately plaguing many single Christians today. I must encourage guys to stop waiting for God to point them to the perfect woman who is going to be their wife before they do anything. Dating is how people find out if someone is a good fit for them or not and some Christians need to get over the hurdle of believing that the first person they ask on a date is going to be their wife (unless God has spoken to them otherwise of course).

I encourage Christian men to take some risks, date women to get to know them and once you get to know them you will know whether or not they are a good fit for you. And in the process, you will learn how to relate to women and hopefully develop some positive friendships in the process as long as you continue to put God first. And a hint to men, you become more attractive when you are intentional and actively pursue a woman. Look for windows of opportunity and go for it. These change and when it’s too late, it really might be too late. Second hint, many women are more open than you think; many will give you a chance and go out on a date with you if you just ask. If it doesn’t work out, shake off the dust, at least you know that it wasn’t a good fit, then try again. If you don’t ever risk and get over the fear of rejection, you may end up old, single, and lonely, if that’s what you want.

Women: Active Waiting
And to my Christian women friends, rather than us adoring from a distance and creating this wonderful fantasy of how we will one day fall in love with this ideal man, let's breakthrough into reality. Is there a way to pursue men as a friend without being the pursuer of a relationship? Is there any way to spend time with him, whether it’s in a group or out to coffee, then at least we will know if he really is that ideal man we’ve made him up to be or if he is just a creation of our imagination. And then if he’s not the ideal man we thought he was, we won’t have to spend endless hours, days, weeks, and months wasting our thoughts fantasizing about someone whom we thought could be the “one.” I strongly believe that it’s not our job to pursue men, but at the same time I think it’s perfectly ok to put yourself out there and pursue a friendship with a man we might be interested in. We need to continue to put God first, be ourselves, but also learn how to flirt, smile, captivate, and be more open to the men in our lives.
As we seek first the kingdom of God with everything inside of us, seek to be led by the Spirit, and remain open to receive all that God might want to give us, I believe there will be strength in the midst of the waiting.

And if we are thinking about putting on makeup, dressing cuter, looking hot and sexy, yes that is something that will attract men, which is a good thing, but I think above all, if we choose to do any of these things, we need to do them for ourselves first and foremost. If we are content with ourselves, make up or no makeup, that is what is going to show the most in our interactions with men. If someone’s heart is bursting inside them, they are full of smiles and love, and open, the right people will be drawn to them.

I really feel the season of preparation in the midst of the gift of the season of singleness needs to be capitalized on. I think that the best relationships happen when a woman is content in who and how God has made her, then she enters a relationship in a giving mode not a taking one. Granted, no one will ever be perfect enough before entering into a relationship but why not use that time before marriage to intentionally ask God to prepare us while we are actively waiting.

All:
So to all, I think the key word really is RISK. Let us begin to put ourselves out there and take chances with people. As long as this is done with respect, each person can only begin to grow up more, learn from mistakes (yes, there will be many but we will improve with time, I promise), and get closer to marriage. I encourage us to ask God to open up our eyes and hearts. He may want to bring us someone whom we have not previously considered but who is right in front of us.

Clothes: The Perfect Allegory
Just last year I needed to by a warm coat for my new life in England, yes in California we don't have such strange weather. Anyway, I looked and looked for the ideal coat. I was close minded to all coats over a certain price range as well as all coats with furry hoods. There was one coat that I really liked the style of. It seemed to be totally me but when I tried it on, it didn't fit right. I did actually consider buying it anyway. Regardless of how good it looked on the hanger, realistically it wouldn't have suited me because it didn't fit right. Finally, after looking for hours for that perfect coat, a friend convinced me to broaden my horizon. She encouraged me to at least try one of the coats with the furry hoods just to see. Turns out that I tried one, it was a great fit, and I ended up buying it.

All this to say, sometimes the style we think will be the perfect fit doesn't end up working at all. And there might be times we risk missing the unexpected perfect fit because we are too close minded to give it a chance. We will never know if it fits unless we try it on. What do we really have to lose anyway? We might just make a friend in the process, or even better, who knows, we might end up with that perfect fit after a few tries. There might just be greater things God has for us if we are more open minded to possibilities we otherwise never considered. Just a thought.

As I am in a continual stage of processing my outlook on the subject, would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks Jen

Carrie on Dating

2009-02-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

Carrie Judd Montgomery was actively involved in ministry from the time she was a teenager till the day of her death. She truly modeled a life according to Matthew 6:33, continually seeking first the kingdom of God. Carrie’s mother brought her up to put her trust in the Lord rather than to go around chasing after men. Carrie said that “My dear mother had so often told her girls (when we had seen ‘managing mothers’ trying to secure husbands for their daughters) that if the Lord had an Isaac for us He would bring him to us in His own way and time without any planning of our own.”

Most likely impacted by her mother’s values along the lines of singleness, before Carrie met George Montgomery who would later become her husband, she said that “I had never given much thought to the subject of marriage in those busy days in Buffalo, except to ask the Lord not to let me be troubled with the attention of anyone who was not the Lord’s choice for me. I also prayed a little prayer something like this: ‘O Lord, if Thou didst create anyone on purpose for me let him find me, but if not, I do not want anyone.’”

It was in the midst of speaking at a conference on divine healing that Carrie, 31 years old at the time, was introduced to her soon to be husband. It turned out that he was previously healed from a serious illness and was passionate about helping others receive healing just as Carrie was.

The paths of these two healed ones aligned and merged into one on May 14th, 1890. Their wedding ceremony was done by none other than A.B. Simpson, an influential leader in the Diving Healing Movement and close friend of Carrie's. She remained faithful to her husband her whole life and they together served the Lord their entire lives.

Perspectives are so important and I appreciate and am encouraged by Carrie keeping her perspective on what was seen rather than unseen. I would like to further share with you my thoughts on how I believe the season before marriage in each one of our lives is really a gift from God balanced with the importance of taking action in regards to dating. See my articles entitled "The Gift of Singleness" followed by "Action Dating: The Gift of the Season of Dating Revisited" (connect thru the link to the right), would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for listening.

-Taken from Carrie Judd Montgomery, Under His Wings: The Story of My Life, 1936

When Even Tongues Must Cease: His All-Pervading Presence

2008-12-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

The answer to all our problems is here, in His presence...written by Carrie Judd Montgomery almost 100 years ago...
“Early this morning as the power of God was upon me, and I was recognizing, as I so often love to do, the presence of the indwelling Comforter, and worshipping Him in His temple, with the Father and the Son, I was led out in prayer for different things, but all at once He said to me, ‘I want you to recognize definitely that I am filling the temple.’ ...He wanted the recognition that every part of spirit, soul and body was pervaded with His presence, and that meant, as He revealed to me His meaning, that I should drop even prayer for the time and be occupied with the presence of His glory, and I said, ‘Oh, God, the Holy Ghost, Thou art filling Thy temple,’ and immediately, just as though a little vial of attar of roses had been broken in the room and every part of it would soon be filled with the perfume, so that the presence of His glory sensibly pervaded every part of my being and even love and prayer were lost in worship. Then I thought of the time in the Old Testament when the temple was so filled with God’s glory that the priest could not even stand to minister.

There is, therefore, an experience beyond service and beyond prayer, and that is a revelation of His own personality to such an extent that there is nothing but adoring worship filling our being. Usually it is a blessed experience to be able to speak in tongues, to let the heavenly song flow out, but there are times when even tongues cease, when His presence is so all-pervading and the atmosphere so heavenly that I cannot talk at all in any language, but the power of His blessed Spirit upon me is so marvelous that it seems as though I were almost dwelling in heaven. I hope this testimony will make one press on for the fulness….”

“O beloved friends, there is a life on wings. I feel the streams of His life fill me and permeate my mortal frame from my head to my feet, until no words are adequate to describe it. I can only make a few bungling attempts to tell you what it is like and ask the Lord to reveal to you the rest. May He reveal to you your inheritance in Christ Jesus so that you will press on and get all that He has for you.”
Amen and Amen to that!

This was taken from an article by Carrie called “The Life on Wings: The Possibilities of Pentecost” from her journal Triumphs of Faith 32:8 (Aug 1912), 175-176. The article was taken from an address she gave at the Stone Church, Chicago in 1910.

No Regrets

2008-10-31T10:41:00.001-07:00

Note that "No Regrets" was written pre-England and "Lost on the Yellow Brick Road" followed by "Abundant Life?" were written in the first year of me living in England. These 3 articles chronicle my journey here. They have all been published on Radiant's website.

"Living a Life with No Regrets"

What if failure didn’t exist?

What if there are dreams deep in our hearts because God is the One who planted them there, and now He’s just waiting for us to take hold of them?

Five years ago, I wrote a short story that I felt had been planted in my heart to share with others. I got overzealous and paid more than $2,000 to get a few thousand copies printed so I could pass them out for free at a rally in San Francisco. What happened next threw me for a loop: My boss ended up scheduling me for that same weekend even though I had asked for it off. I didn’t think it was a big deal until I began having trouble getting my shifts covered. Maybe this was God’s way of saying I wasn’t supposed to go after all. Maybe the whole thing was all in my head. I was ready to give up, when all of a sudden, the clouds parted and someone was able to cover my shifts at work.

Now, five years later, my little story has grown from 15 pages with no characters to over 60 pages with character development, action and dialogue, and I am working toward making a small book out of it and eventually getting it published. Was I wrong in paying all that money to prematurely get my unfinished work out? Was I too zealous and trying to move faster than God?

Quite possibly I was a little off in the timing, but I did learn a lot in the process. I have no regrets because I learned to become more patient and to understand what waiting for God’s timing really looks like. I learned that for the future it is important to cultivate the seeds I feel God places in my heart instead of immediately looking to share fruit that is not yet ripe.

There are many more times, however, when I didn’t take the leap, when I didn’t take a chance because I wasn’t totally sure it was from God. Indecision has produced paralysis in my actions and has stunted my growth at times. My indecision did not arise from having bad intentions; often I put off a decision because I truly wanted to honor God. But how long shall I keep putting off decisions, dreams or promises I think the Lord has given me as I wait to hear specifics from Him?

I don’t regret all the lessons I’ve learned from those times that I have risked, despite not being 100 percent sure. Sometimes we have to be willing to take that step into the infinite abyss of uncertainty and trust that God will be with us no matter what the outcome. When He continues to stir up passion for specific things inside of us, it is probably because it is not just “us” feeling that way, but rather part of the plan He has for us.

This very day I am on the verge of leaving my wonderful church community, family and job to move to Europe to do some extra schooling. This has been something that has been in my heart to do for years now. During a ministry trip to New Zealand last year, this dream inside of me got even stronger. Is this from God? Am I making a mistake by going because I haven’t heard the audible voice from God telling me to go? Is He the one leading me there? Honestly, I am not quite sure if it is Him or me. I haven’t heard Him say “no” yet, so at this point I am diving in. While it will be a sacrifice for me to leave behind everything I know and hold dear, I would rather risk and experience my dream than to not go and to always wonder.

There is a verse that I learned in high school that has stuck with me and has transformed my whole perspective in making decisions. In Romans 8:28, Paul writes: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (TNIV).

How wonderful to know that we can never fail. Failure is a word that need not exist in a life that is called according to the purposes of God. Yes, we do have to deal with consequences of poor decisions, but if we are really seeking God, are guided by His word and are on the brink of making a decision that is in our heart, we know that whatever the result, He will eventually turn it around for our good and grow us in the process, regardless of the results. If we are wrong, we are wrong, but at least we tried and learned something in the process.

Discerning the voice of God isn’t easy, but we shouldn’t let our uncertainty paralyze us. Thomas Merton once said, “A tree glorifies God by being a tree.” So let us shine, let us begin to take risky steps toward those dreams that God is waiting to burst from within our hearts. Let us dive into a life lived with no regrets.

Jen, temporarily living in Old Towne Orange, Calif., before moving to England, will one day get her book, Silver to Gold, published, if it's the last thing she does. You can read her blog at silvertogold.blogspot.com.

Bibliography of my Published works

2008-10-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

Journal Articles:
-Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19 (2010): 94–117
Coloring Outside the Lines: Pentecostal Parallels with Expressionism. The Work of the Spirit in Place, Time, and Secular Society?
Abstract of article
This article examines the historic parallels between the development of American Pentecostalism and the formation of German Expressionism. German Expression is examined through the grid of Restorationism, African Culture, Experience, and heightened Expressions found in early American Pentecostalism. After their parallels are drawn out, significant questions regarding the role of the Spirit in relation to these separate cultural circles are explored. Answers to some of these questions encourage Pentecostal theology to look deeper into the concept of Sacred Time. Included is a look at the possible intersection of the Spirit and the artist community, calling for deeper Pentecostal engagement with the arts.

Books Published:
-Silver to Gold: A Journey of Young Revolutionaries (2009), Silver to Gold.
-Spirit Flood: Rebirth of Spirit Baptism for the 21st Century (In light of the Azusa Street Revival and the life of Carrie Judd Montgomery) (2010), Silver to Gold.

Magazine Articles
-Youthwork Magazine (2010)
Article on Healing in the Streets
-Spirit Led Woman (2005)
“Jesus’ Favorite Coffee”

Online Articles
-Radiant Magazine
“No Regrets”
“Lost on the Yellow Brick Road”
“Abundant Life”
-Conversant Life
“Needing a Breakthrough? Thoughts on Freedom and Isaiah 58” (6/2009)
“Option” (12/2007)
-God’s Word to Women
“Faith in the midst of the Credit Crunch: Carrie Judd Montgomery taking steps of faith” (2009)

Poetry
-Authspot
The Gift (11/007)

Book Reviews in Academic Journals:
-Mission Studies: Journal of the International Association for Mission Studies Volume 26, Number 1, 2009, pp. 121-122(2) published by Brill. Authored with Allan Anderson for
Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement by Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori (2007).
-Mission Studies: Volume 26 (2009) Number 2 pp. 264-265(2) Review of Saving Women: Retrieving Evangelistic Theology and Practice by Laceye C. Warner, (2007).
-Pneuma forthcoming review of Nigel Scotland, Apostles of the Spirit and Fire: American Revivalists and Victorian Britain (2009).
-Pneuma 31 (2009) 291-329 review of Heather D. Curtis, Faith in the Great Physician: Suffering and Divine Healing in American Culture, 1860-1900. Lived Religions, ed. David D. Hall and Robert A. Orsi (2007).

Lost on the Yellow Brick Road

2008-10-31T10:38:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I feel just like her, following my own yellow brick road. Dorothy did it to find a heart, a brain, her home. My whole life I have been on this yellow brick road, leading me to what I hope is my destiny. Brick by brick, step by step, I am careful not to veer to the left or to the right, walking cautiously so as not to lose sight of my goal. The Emerald City I have been searching for endlessly is that place where I will be totally and completely living up to my full potential and thus glorifying God with all that I am. Thomas Merton once wrote that a tree glorifies God simply by being a tree. So in my process to seek to glorify God with all that I am, I have begun a journey to put myself where I will thrive. I want to use the gifts God has given me to the fullest measure.

Over the past years I have gotten to know myself well. I know that when I am up in front of people, challenging them, teaching them new things, helping them grow, I feel alive. I have found my niche—but I haven’t quite made it there yet. That dream world is my Emerald City. That is the place where I hope to find my fulfillment—which means that all along the way I am never quite satisfied. I’m not fully content because I have yet to arrive at my destination. I recently sold my car, quit my good job, left my family and friends and moved to England to follow a dream that may eventually lead me to my Emerald City. In the process of finding my niche in life, one would think everything would be bliss.

The truth is, I never seem to be satisfied. I think that maybe when I get married—another thing that lies in my Emerald City—then my life will be bliss. Maybe then I will be fully satisfied. Then I will have my career, my soul mate; that’s when everything will be wonderful every second of the day ... right?

But if I am not happy now, if I am not content in my present situation, will a new career or a relationship really change anything for me at a heart level? If I can’t rest in Jesus now, more responsibility or a more complex relationship isn’t going to change that. Even as I travel toward my dreams, I need to realize that the fulfillment of my dreams can’t be my source of contentment. Jesus must be.

Wherever I go, there I am. Even when I have reached my goals, there will always more to shoot for. I have to actively pursue those dreams God’s given me. But I can’t rest my hope or contentment in those things that are ever-changing. The destination of my journey not only ends in God; it also begins and continues in Him. He is not only the direction in which I should go; He is also the road.

Recently I began to see John 14:6 (NIV) in a whole new way. It’s the famous “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” verse that I have heard so many times. Jesus is the Way; He’s not just the abundant life I so dearly want. He’s not just the end result, the Wizard of Oz waiting for me in the Emerald City to meet all my needs. He’s also that yellow brick road. He is before, behind and beside me. As we struggle through difficult life decisions while moving forward toward our dreams, may we always look to Jesus as our Way. May He not only direct our paths, but may He also be our true Source of contentment all along the way.

Article can be found on Radiant's website

Abundant Life?

2008-10-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

What is this abundant life that Jesus talks about?
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, TNIV)

It seems my whole life, or at least my whole adult life, I have spent in search of that abundant life Jesus talks about. Is it to be found in learning about Him? Serving the poor? Giving possessions away? Getting a career doing something that I love? Pursuing my dreams? What exactly does this abundant life look like, and why, even though I have put myself in places where I should experience it, have I seemed to elude it altogether?

After 29 years of searching, just before my 30th birthday, I discovered a satisfying answer. I have come to find that the answer to that question is both yes and no. Yes, many of the things I have done have brought me life because I am engaged with God’s heart. When I put myself in a place where I can use the gifts God’s given me, I experience fulfillment. When I have the chance to help others learn, it recharges me. In my current search to place myself in a career that has me doing this 24-7, that is what will fulfill me and also glorify God.

Yet at the same time, if I am not happy now, an amazing job, a husband, a role in ministry is not necessarily going to change that fact. What needs to change is a new perspective in my own life. Running after my dreams is great and wonderful and important, yet that can never be the sole source of my satisfaction and happiness.

Determining to find and live that abundant life has taken me to many places. The thing I am realizing now is that to find the abundant life Jesus talked about, I don’t need to go anywhere—rather, I need to go to Someone. In Jesus alone will I find that abundant and satisfied life that I have been longing to find in other things, all of which are great but need to complement my satisfaction and fulfillment in Jesus, not replace it.

What does the abundant life actually look like, anyway? I recently had an epiphany: Jesus lived the abundant life. Full life might be a good way of describing it. Imagine 30 years of ordinariness. For the most part, Jesus lived an ordinary and routine life His first 30 years. I would never think to classify the ordinary as abundant. Nevertheless, Jesus lived the most abundant life possible, and the majority of it was just ordinary. Then He had three “wow” years thrown in there. Now that’s what I think of when I think of the abundant life: being the life of the party by turning water into wine, casting out demons, raising the dead, offering forgiveness to prostitutes. Twelve people followed Him around wherever He went, and He helped them grow in their faith. He spoke to the multitudes. These three years of His life were fantastic, ecstatic, marvelous and abundant. His previous 30 years seem normal in comparison, but because Jesus is our example, we must identify and include those years as part of the abundant life.

To top it off, after His eventful miracle season, His final days were filled with rejection from His closest friends, being mocked and ridiculed by people who didn’t understand His great love. He was whipped, beaten and crucified, feeling the absence of His Father when He needed Him the most. So this, too, is part of the abundant life? Am I still sure I want that?

What made Jesus’ life abundant? It wasn’t a life without suffering, a life of pure bliss. But He was always in tune with His Father. This is what brought Him great pleasure and fullness despite the heartaches. Jesus came and fulfilled His destiny, but it wasn’t in fulfillment of His calling that He found the abundant life—it was in His relationship with His Father.

I have spent so many years searching for and coming up empty and less fulfilled in my quest for that abundant life. I have come to the realization that the abundant life isn’t an unending state of bliss and eternal happiness, but rather a full life lived with great joys and deep sorrows, filled with the mundane and the exciting, filled with intimate love and pain. It’s a life that has its source in the Father’s love.

This article was published on Radiant's website

Singing Saves Lives

2008-08-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a crazy story of how powerful the spoken word or spoken song can really be. Written in 1898, this is a story of a soldier who found out years later that he was spared from being killed in the Civil War when his enemy heard him singing a song.

A group of people were on a steamer going down the Potomac in 1881 and a well known evangelist of song was singing “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” with great passion. The crowd was silenced by his singing and then a few moments later a man approached the singer and asked him if he was in the war of late, referring to the Civil War.

“Yes, sir,’ the man of song answered, courteously; ‘I fought under General Grant.’

‘Well,’ the first speaker continued, with something like a sigh, ‘I did my fighting on the other side, and think, indeed I am quite sure, I was very near you one bright night eighteen years ago this very month. It was about such a night as this. If I not mistaken, you were on guard duty. We of the South had sharp business on hand; you were one of the enemy. I crept near your post of duty, my murderous weapon in hand. The shadow hid me. As you paced back and forth, you were humming the tune you have just sung. I raised my gun, aimed at your heart; and I had been selected by our commander because I was a sure shot. Then out upon the night rang-
‘Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of thy wing.’

‘Your prayer was answered. I could not fire after that, and there was no attack made on your camp that night. I felt sure when I heard you sing this evening that you were the man whose life I was spared from taking.’”

The singer was astonished and shared with great emotion, “I remember the night very well, and distinctly the feeling of depression and loneliness with which I went forth to my duty. I knew my post was one of great danger, and I was more dejected than I remember to have been at any other time during the service. I paced my lonely beat, thinking of home and friends and all that life holds dear. Then the thought of God’s care for all that He has created came to me with particular force…and I sang the prayer of my heart, and ceased to be alone… ‘Jesus, Lover of my Soul’ has been my favorite hymn; now it will be inexpressibly dear.”

Cool.

This is an excerpt taken from Carrie Judd Montgomery’s Triumphs of Faith 18:11 (Nov 1898) in an anonymous article entitled “Prayer Answered”

On Breakups

2008-06-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

June 4, 2010
I have just experienced breaking up with my boyfriend after about a year and a half on and off. I have also heard from several other friends that they also have experienced a breakup from their boyfriends. The following is dedicated to them and is something I wanted to share of some of the things God has been speaking to me in the aftermath that might also bring encouragement to the brokenhearted whom God promises to remain close to (For “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” -Psalm 147:3)

AUTHOR AND FINISHER
While I may not be translating this according to its original meaning, the Holy Spirit has used the passage in Hebrews 12 speak to me nonetheless. I have realized that it is God is the Author and Finisher of not only my faith but also my relationships. I really do feel that God brought me together and then also that He led me apart in my last relationship. I have come to understand that the season I had with him was a gift and for that time period God used us both in each others lives. I have also been encouraged to trust that because He is the Author of my relationships, that He will stir up, awaken, and initiate love in His timing in my future.

NOT SETTLING FOR SILVER
I am thankful that God won’t let me settle for silver but that He is intent on giving me exceedingly abundantly above all I could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Not that the last person I was with was silver, he was gold, but just not my gold. Sometimes it takes time and commitment with a person before figuring that out. God has spoken to me big time through the following verse that I hope will also bring encouragement to each of you, and also in light because I know each of you have already read Silver to Gold hopefully it will mean even something more:

Haggai 2:8-9 “‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former…and in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

I love that its all in His hands and that the gold is going to be so much better than the silver we have experienced in our lives and that for the future He promises peace. For this I am grateful and I pray that in the midst of the hard time of transitioning out of relationships, that his peace that passes all understanding not only abounds but also has a restorative affect on our hearts.

FULL LIFE
Finally I am thankful that each one of us has chosen to live the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10. Abundant life is more readily translated as full life here; a life full of joys and sorrows, highs and lows. I think we each need to pat ourselves on the back in the fact that we risked, we opened our hearts, we chose to feel and to live life rather than hide and guard and protect ourselves from anything real. It’s been very hard emotionally for me because of things that have been done after the fact and I know for some of you as well, but regardless, how cool is that we are living and alive in this world, that we are actually feeling, that we have love and lost rather than never loving at all.

May the Holy Spirit enter into our alive and wounded hearts and pour out an amazing amount of mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and hope. May the fullness of His Spirit overwhelm those deep places of brokenness to bring complete healing. May He truly prepare us for our gold, satisfy us deeply with His love and security, and let forgiveness freely flow. Amen.

1886, Carrie Speaks Forth

2008-04-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

“In union with our beloved Lord we are to ‘preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things’ (Rom. 10:15) to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death…Have we in the past felt inclined to settle down, ourselves, into the peace and blessedness of the glad tidings, without declaring them to others? Have we spoken only with timidity of the grand privileges in Christ which we are ourselves enjoying, and which other weary ones need so much to have taught them? The time has come when our voice should be ‘lifted up with strength,’ when we should, without fear, ‘publish salvation,’ and say ‘unto Zion, thy God reigneth.’ Yes, beloved reader, our God reigneth, and if we crown Him Lord of all, Lord of our soul, Lord of our body, Lord of all the circumstance in our lives, we shall find that He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.” -Carrie Judd (Montgomery) in Dec. 1886 Triumphs of Faith 6:12
Gnarly.

Carrie Judd Montgomery (1858-1946) by Jennifer Miskov

2008-04-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt taken from my latest book SPIRIT FLOOD...
GROWING UP
During the same year and in the same state as the revival of 1857-1858, Carrie Frances Judd entered the world. Carrie, the fourth of eight children, was born on April 8, 1858, and spent her early days in Buffalo, New York. During her childhood years, she lost two of her siblings to severe illnesses. Because of her own deteriorating health, at fifteen years old, her brother invited her to live with him in another area of New York which had a better climate.

During her time there, she worked for an editor of a health magazine. After a return home to help care for several sick in her family, she moved to another part of New York with the same brother. During her year stay, she started up a Sunday school with the neighborhood children. When she returned home, she was healthy enough to return to her own schooling.

THE FALL
One cold winter day in 1876 as she was walking to school, she slipped and fell hard on the icy ground. She continued to school that day but shortly after her health began to rapidly deteriorate. Soon after the accident, on January 6, 1877, Carrie found out that she had spinal fever. What “seemed to be tuberculosis of the spine” developed into “tuberculosis of the blood” which forced Carrie to give up school and her aspirations of becoming a school teacher.

Being “prostrated with spinal complaint…the trouble extended to all the large joints. Her hips, knees, and ankles could not be touched, even by herself without great suffering.” For over eleven months she could not even sit up on her own. She could not even handle light or much time with people. A small pillow under her head felt “like a block of stone.” Her days in bed grew into months and then years. At a time when those around her were expecting her death at any moment, even her mother allowing friends into her room to say their last goodbyes, her father came across a unique article in the local newspaper.

The article told of the account of Mrs. Edward Mix, a “colored woman” from Connecticut, being healed of tuberculosis through the prayers of Mr. Ethan Allan. Upon hearing this, Carrie asked her sister Eva to send Mrs. Mix a letter requesting healing prayer from her. To their surprise, the Judd family received a quick response from Mrs. Mix. The prayer found in James 5:15 was central to the letter as well as an encouragement to act in faith regardless of how she felt. In the letter was also a specific set apart time where both sides would pray at the same time for Carrie’s healing.

THE RISING
Even though no one showed up to Mrs. Mix’s regular prayer meeting that day due to poor weather, she and her husband prayed for Carrie nonetheless. During their set apart time of prayer, on February 26, 1879, Carrie engaged in a spiritual battle. Finally, she felt it was time to act in faith and get up out of bed. Unassisted, she walked over to the nearby chair. Her healing process was ignited from that day forward. By April of that same year, she was well enough to use the stairs and go outside to visit the neighbors. In the years that followed, she corresponded with Mrs. Mix. At one point Mrs. Mix even came to visit and they went out into the city to pray for healing of those who were sick.

HEALING HOMES
News of Carrie’s healing spread and she soon became the talk of the town. People heard of her story in newspapers and wrote letters to her asking if she was really healed. Many people came to her to hear of her story and to receive prayer. Her compassion was stirred and she opened up a room in her parent’s home to receive such people. Soon after, she decided to open up a healing home in Buffalo, New York in April, 1882. This was one of the first healing homes in New York and was used as a model for many future healing homes in the country.

WRITER
Carrie was also a prolific writer. Based on the prayer found in James 5 and her own healing experience, she wrote The Prayer of Faith (1880) to encourage others to embrace and take hold of their healing. This book was significant because it was among some of first prominent books written on the subject of divine healing in her time. In 1881, she also initiated a magazine called Triumphs of Faith which emphasized holiness and divine healing. She continued to write and edit this journal for over 60 years.

PREACHER
Carrie became an itinerant preacher and teacher and traveled internationally throughout her life to share her story of healing and encourage people in their faith. Her zeal to spread the somewhat unpopular message of divine healing at that time put her in the category of a radical evangelical. Through her close friendship with A.B. Simpson, she eventually became a part of the forming of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA). Simpson continually encouraged and created space for her to step out and share her story.

Carrie transcended denominational barriers as she shared her story, speaking at Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Salvation Army, Alliance, and other gatherings. Not too long after the Civil War and in a time before Martin Luther King Jr. came to the scene, she also preached to African Americans. In 1889 Carrie experienced some persecution and even some churches shutting their doors to her, first because she was a woman preacher and second because she spoke to African Americans.

WEDDING BELLS AND CALIFORNIA
In 1890, Carrie married a successful business man named George S. Montgomery who was previously healed of diabetes and afterward had “consecrated himself to the Lord’s service.” He brought her from Buffalo, New York to Oakland, California. With her husband’s constant support and great provision of resources, she opened up an orphanage and a training center there.

The Montgomery’s also built The Home of Peace which is still there to this day. This was the first healing home on the West Coast and through Carrie’s move to California, she was one of the first early advocates of divine healing on the west side of the nation. In several histories of the Divine Healing Movement, Carrie is the only woman listed among the other key shapers in the movement of Charles Cullis, A.B. Simpson, A.J. Gordon, William E. Boardman, Andrew Murray, and other men. She and her husband also became honorary officers in the Salvation Army before the turn of the century.

THE PENTECOSTAL STAMP
When birth of American Pentecostalism arose through the Azusa Street Revival in California in 1906, Carrie, although hesitantly at first, eventually received her Spirit baptism experience (in 1908). Even at age 50 and having already been a successful minister, she was open to all that the Spirit had to offer. This experience deeply impacted her life and spirituality and the theme of Spirit baptism became integrated into her magazine and her teaching.

Because of her great reputation, she was used as a bridge between Evangelicals and Pentecostals. To the Evangelicals, she had a voice to introduce Spirit baptism to them without all the fanaticism and to the Pentecostals, she remained balanced and didn’t overemphasize the gift of tongues. By 1914, she was part of what would later be called the Assemblies of God.

Throughout her life, Carrie became personal friends with Charles Cullis, A.B. Simpson, William Booth, Minnie Abrams, Pandita Ramabai, Elizabeth Baxter, Maria Woodworth-Etter, William J. Seymour and was connected to Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, John G. Lake, and many other prominent Christian leaders in her time. She continued her ministry until her death on July 26, 1946 and was succeeded by her only child, Faith Berry.

INSPIRATION
Carrie continually gave away whatever she received from God. After her own healing, she taught others about healing and prayed for them to be made well. She later lived through the Pentecostal revival of the early 1900’s and was open what the Spirit wanted to do while remaining balanced in the midst of some fanaticism. After her Spirit baptism experience, she encouraged others towards the same fullness. Whenever she experienced something from God, she eagerly sought to help others receive the same.

Carrie remained faithful to her husband and to the Lord all the days of her life. She lived a full life based on total surrender to the Holy Spirit, discipline, unity in love, service, prayer, and faith. While Carrie made mistakes in her life like all people do, she serves as an inspiration not only for young people and for women to step out in faith against all odds, but for all people to live lives fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit, to be unified in love above all controversies, and to freely give away what has been freely received.

See new site dedicated to recovering Carrie's lost voice: www.carriejuddmontgomery.com/

RESEARCH NOTES:
Most of this information has been found in the following: For accounts of Carrie’s healing that happened in 1879 through her perspective, see Carrie F. Judd, The Prayer of Faith (Chicago: F.H. Revell, 1880; repr., New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc, 1985), 9-21, Carrie Judd Montgomery, Under His Wings, 48-60, various articles in Triumphs of Faith and other journals, TF 27:2 (Feb 1907), “Songs of Deliverance,” TF 16:3 (March 1896), TF 32:8 (Aug 1912), TF 35:2 (Feb 1915), TF 38:3 (March 1918), TF 39:2 (Feb 1919) and Carrie Judd Montgomery, “I am the Lord that Healeth Thee,” The Latter Rain Evangel 2:4 (January 1910), 22. To see secular printed accounts, "The Efficiency of Prayer," The Buffalo Courier, November 15, 1881, “Disease Cured by Prayer,” The Sun (New York), October 29, 1885, p.3. Also, Faith (Montgomery) Berry, interview by Wayne Warner, April 25, 1985, recording, Home of Peace, Oakland, CA was used and to see a reprint of the complete letter from Mrs. Mix to Carrie that was dated February 24, 1879, look at Mrs. Edward Mix, Faith Cures and Answers to Prayer (Springfield: Press of Springfield Printing, 1882; repr., New York: Syracuse University Press, 2002), 38-39 (page references are to the reprint edition). This article is copyrighted by ©Jennifer Miskov and not to be quoted without the expressed permission from author.

How to Write and Publish Your 1st BOOK

2008-03-20T17:12:00.003-07:00

By Jen Miskov on November 26, 2009

Many of my friends have come to me since hearing of me publishing my first book and have told me that they too want to write a book. I thought I would write done some of the things that I have learned in this process to help others who will be doing the same thing soon. Here’s a little bit about my process in writing and publishing my first book along with some tips that will hopefully be helpful to you in your journey.

Get Writing

Thinking of writing a book is an overwhelming concept when you think of it as a whole. If you take it section by section it’s more manageable. I highly suggest setting aside time each week to write. It doesn’t matter what you write, just make it a habit that you dedicate time to and get your creative writing juices flowing. I had been stuck, crippled with writer’s block after so long and then I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and started doing some of the weekly exercises in there to help unleash my creative juices. By writing 3 pages in my journal each day, thoughts, prayers, complaints, whatever, helped me get into a habit and get rid of all the concerns in my head that hold back creativity. By having an artist date once a week where I do something creative all by myself whether that be paint a picture, put together a collage, go to an art gallery, learn a dance, play guitar, it helped me to sow into my life in other creative areas. A couple times I wrote one random line on the top of a page (“the green monster”) and then let my words flow and I ended up writing two children’s short stories from those times. It was nice to get away from the towering project of Silver to Gold that had been looming over me for almost 7 years by that point. Un-engaging and then re-engaging helped me a lot.

Practically speaking, I encourage you to take one chapter, one section at a time. Set realistic deadlines or else you will never finish. You can work backwards in setting your goals by figuring out when you want to have you release party of the book to when the manuscript draft needs to be finished to each chapter drafted and so on.

Perfectionism is the Enemy

I really don’t think your book should have to take 7 years as mine did. Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird helped me to understand when enough is enough, when it’s time to finish and move on. She writes about how an author can know when they are finished with the book. She says that “perfection is the voice of the oppressor” and she goes into a good analogy of trying to get all of an octopus’ legs in the right place at the same time, the legs being the plot, dialogue, setting, etc, then right when you think everything’s set, another leg flops out of order. Then she goes on to say that you know you are done when, even though you know the manuscript is not perfect, that you have absolutely “no steam left in the pressure cooker” and you know it is time to move onto something else (93-94).

If I didn’t finish and publish my book, even though I know it can always be better in one way or another, it would have killed me! There’s other things in my life that I need to move on towards, other books I need to write but I needed to finish Silver to Gold before I could fully move on and move forward. I highly encourage you to set a goal, a timeline and move towards it.

Semantics

Writing is a true craft that can be learned. I had my basic story and I knew what I wanted to say but I had none of the tools to know how to add meat to the bones, to make dialogue sound real, develop characters. There are lots of good books that can help you refine your basic writing skills. For fiction I found the The Art and Craft of Story Telling by Nancy Lamb helpful as an overall how to structure and develop dialogue, character, etc. I am completely sold on Hooked by Les Edgerton for creative ideas in how to refine the beginning of your story. There are even interviews by literary agents, editors, and publishers in the end of the book to know what specifics they are looking for when reviewing a manuscript. These and other resources like writing groups or networks on line are great places to get advice.

Feedback

Initially, I would pick no more than 3 people to help give you consistent feedback on your writing. This group of 3 should be diverse and should be people who are for you, who want to see you succeed, who can give you the time you need, and who can also give you honest and constructive feedback. A manageable way to make it easy for these to help you is by refining your chapter and then giving them one chapter at a time to look over and give you feedback on. Ask them specific questions to look for problem areas you have identified. If you give someone the whole draft of your book to read and get back to you, they might be overwhelmed. Small junks keep them from becoming burnt out.

Get them to look at big picture stuff first, more globally and then as you are nearer to the end, focus in on who can do more in depth and detailed copy editing and sentence structure refinement.

Professionals

If this book is truly your “baby,” I would suggest that after you have got the draft as great as you can get it with the help of your feedback friends, that you do two things. Get a manuscript evaluation of the story to give you an idea of any holes or problem areas you hadn’t seen before. After reintegrating all the new changes and getting feedback and making the draft as near complete as possible, I would hire a professional editor to help do the final edit. There are several different types of edits one can do. There is a content edit and a line edit. Content is an overall feel and the line edit is grammar, punctuation, more detailed help. Content editing comes before the final line, or copy, edits. Determine which ones you need and look for your editor accordingly. Some editors will do both.

There are several services out there where you can receive a free sample edit of your work before investing money in the editor. I high recommend doing this before you enlist an editor or else you can loose lots of money and not be satisfied with the final result. This can be done in the early stages of writing, Once you have a chapter that is polished off, you can submit it to different editing agencies and the editors interested will do a sample edit of your chapter for free as well as give you a quote for the whole project. This enables you to be able to find the right person who sees the vision and has the skills to refine your manuscript to your liking so you know who to choose when you're ready. A couple of these agencies are book-editing.com and pronovelediting.com. Overspending time in reading the final draft and having others read as well before submitting for publishing will eliminate extra fees for having grammar mistakes and other errors once its already sent for print. Once you have your final edit returned and you revise it, you are ready to move forward toward publishing.

Endorsements

Plan ahead to find endorsements that will help with your target market and audience. Send them the best copy you have. I ended up sending people unfinished drafts of my work just so I could hear back from them in time but this is not ideal. You want to give them your best possible draft and give them at least a month to read and get back to you.

Decide whether you want to go with a traditional publisher or if you want to self-publish

I followed the Wayne Jacobsen’s advice in an article describing the process he went through in relation to the book The Shack. From this advice, I have decided to start my own publishing company and sell 2,000 copies on my own before connecting with a formal publisher. There are lots of reasons why I chose this but that’s for another time or you can read the article for more information.

Self-Publishing

Invest the little extra to buy your own ISBN number because then you will have all the rights to your book and any printers can not have exclusive rights that tie your book to their ISBN. Many places offer a free ISBN to you but the only problem is that it will tie your book to their company.

Submit your best and final draft. Spend the most time proofing the draft that you will be submitting for publishing. Have others help you. Eliminate all unnecessary errors. Pretend like what you turn in will be your actual book. If you spend your time getting that draft great, you will avoid unnecessary correction fees later on. Then when they return the formatted version to you, spent your time proofing and having others help you proof for any errors they have made. Once it looks like the best, approve it and off you go.

For book covers, I decided to go with a design company and hire them. The nice thing about that was that any last minute corrections or minor changes didn’t incur extra charges because they were very graceful although most publishing firms will charge you per change, even if it’s minor.

Time Lines

To avoid higher rush fees, realize it will take a good 8 weeks + most of the time to do the whole formatting process. Once you have your print ready files and cover prepared, print time plus shipping is usually only around 2 weeks but verify this through whatever company you choose to go through. I prefer companies that have a 24 hour email response time and a contact person I can call with any concerns.

Marketing and Pre-Sales

I focused on marketing before I had even finalized my book. I highly encourage you to network but to spend the majority of your time and energy on completing the manuscript and then begin building into marketing.

I sold over 300 books before my book was even printed and released through Pre-Sales. My strategy was to have people buy multiple copies because the way that most people read and buy books is by word of mouth. So if I have friends who know me and believe in my as my ambassadors to people I might not necessarily be able to reach, then my book is hitting a more diverse crowd. I sold through personal contact as well as through my website. The moment I determined the page number of my book, I could determine the retail price and thus I started presales then. I also printed 2,000 copies of a rough draft of Silver to Gold and passed them out for free in 2003 so many people had already been aware of this project and expectant. More on marketing in the future when I learn more myself!

Books that helped me in my writing process:

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

This book helped me break out of my writer’s block and gave me activities to do to help me get the writing juices flowing again.

The Art and Craft of Storytelling by Nancy Lamb

This is a great basic overview for fiction writers who might be new to writing in this genre.

Hooked: Write fiction that grabs readers at page one and never lets them go by Les Edgerton

Besides really liking the cover design of this book, it’s a whole book written on the fact that if you don’t hook people in the very beginning of your story, they won’t make it to the end. There’s good question and answer section in the back to learn more of what literary agents, publishers, and others in the industry are looking for when they receive a manuscript on their desk.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

This is part instructional but mostly reflections on the writing process by the author herself.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

This is an excellent book when thinking though some ideas of how to market successfully.

I hope that my process in writing my first book will help support you to finish and publish your first book as well. I would love to hear from you if this has helped in any way. Good luck and keep writing!

UPDATE November 2011: I have had tons of people coming to me for advice in helping set up their books so if you would like to learn how to set up self-publishing for the cheapest way possible where you can also make 40%-80% royalties on every book sold, I can help you HERE.

The Green Monster: A Simple Story

2008-03-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time there lived a Green Monster.
When this Green Monster looked into the lake, she saw herself as a big and ugly deformed creature and feared that all who would look at her in real life would walk away disgusted.

The mountains were wonderfully captured in the water’s reflection.
Many times she would sit all day in front of the lake and absorb the beautiful surroundings.
She secretly wished that it would transform her into something pretty.

Something never seemed to fit right with the landscape surrounding her though.

She had finally come to realize that it was her who distorted the whole picture.

Yes, picture perfect would that setting be if it weren’t for that big and ugly green monster. She could just imagine what people were thinking when they came to admire the view and capitalize on a photo op.

Dejected and lonely, she refused to be comforted from any helping hand if one ever did come. Absorbing the beauty of her surroundings but not allowing that beauty to cascade and overflow into her own heart, she lived in tension.

Beauty and Disgrace.
Captivation and Repulsion.

There were occasional moments that went by when she actually forgot who she was and she began to allow the beauty of the sun be absorbed into her skin.

Dreaming of running and playing in a new body, she abruptly awoke to the sounds of voices nearby.

“This picture would be so beautiful if it weren’t for that ‘thing’ over there. Move it will you.”

Putting her head down, she silently retreated near the bushes and out of the way. People are all the same, they just never even care. Why don’t they just let me be, she thought.

She was sick and tired of the constant comments and readjusting her life to suit others perfect picture.

She was different and so what.

Why was she going to let these other idiots ruin her prime spot, ruin the beautiful day.

She had finally had enough!

Her biggest fear was Reflection Lake, it showed her who she really was and even she at times was repulsed by the image. She was going to dive into the bottom of the reflection to see what was really there.

She might drown but she just couldn’t go on living like this anymore, like some ugly animal that people hurry to pass at a zoo. An ugly and rejected duckling. Difference doesn’t mean disgusting she thought.

So on the count of three.
“A one,” she swung her arm up,
“a two,”
“come on Miss Greeny, I know you can do this,” she whispered to herself.

Taking a deep breath before “three,” there went a Green flash and then a splash and then a wrinkle in time, a broken record player, a circular explosion of ripples flowering the lake.

Miss Greeny had disappeared.

Something sparkled in those fearful depths. She kept swimming to the bottom to see what this mystery was all about.

There, wedged in between some rocks of the lake was a mirror.

When she looked into it she saw images of all those real monsters, those people that made fun of her when she was growing up, those evil tourists in her life who just wanted to move her out of “their” way so that nothing and nobody would impose on "their" picture perfect lives. She saw images of all those who had hurt her.

She was faced with a choice down there in the deep. She wanted to cry but by being immersed in water there was no real way to shed one tear.
She wanted to smash that mirror.

Instead she realized that what was in the mirror was really herself.

She had hung onto all those people who had damaged and hurt her in the past in one way or another. She let those people who ridiculed her make her who she was that day.

The reflection didn’t lie. If she smashed that mirror in anger, she would be smashing her own heart.

Instead, by doing something that took an amazing amount of courage, she attempted to embrace the past. She pulled the mirror close to her heart. She embraced this collage of her enemies until a bright light reflected
through the mirror,
through her heart,
through the water,
and back into the sky.

The water began to ripple again, this time backwards though as if one was watching someone doing a “cannon ball” into the water but in reverse. As she was literally sucked back up to the surface, clinging and hugging that enemy filled mirror with all her might, close to her heart, she chose to let go of them only to embrace them once again and extend forgiveness from her heart.

As she emerged from the water and walked on the land, still clinging to that mirror of loved ones who had hurt her and strangers who had ridiculed her, she noticed that the water dripping from her was colored green. She started to see olive color being exposed on her skin as the green began to drip away.

She walked over to the now calm waters. When she looked in the waters, she was frightened.

What she saw made her take a step back. She couldn’t have been more scared in her life of what she saw. It couldn’t be, she thought. Stepping forward once again, she approached the forgiving waters.

What she saw was a beautiful and lovely young woman whom she felt that she once knew many years ago. She couldn’t believe it.

That girl still existed, she was still alive!

Seemed so alien to her, it had been so long since she had last seen her. She couldn’t believe it, she had returned.

Still holding tight to the mirror, she pulled it back from her heart and looked deeply into its mysteries.

The Green Monster had disappeared.

Her lovely green eyes reflected back to her a truly free and beautiful self she had not known for so many years.

It couldn’t have been a more radiant day, a transformation had occurred. It baffled her silly; she could do nothing but giggle at the mystery of the new scene before her eyes and smile in amazement.

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
-Lewis B. Smedes

The Holy Spirit in other Religions?

2008-03-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

I am just finishing up my Holy Spirit class here and it’s been so enlightening. A very cool thing that I came across during this class is the role that the Holy Spirit has in the midst of interfaith dialogue.

The great divide between other faiths generally begins with people not agreeing on who God really is. Then bringing Jesus into the mix will immediately bring an even deeper divide when dialoguing with people from other faiths. He can’t be a good prophet and at the same time a liar can He? What kind of godly prophets also lie about who they are? Jesus claimed to be the Son of the living God. It makes no sense to believe He was a good guy and not to believe the validity of what He said. Anyways, God and Jesus generally immediately create a gulf between Christians and people from other faiths.

So what if the Spirit of God became a starting point for our conversations instead? What might the Holy Spirit be doing in the midst of people who believe in other gods? Eventually conversations will turn towards Jesus and feathers may get ruffled, but why not begin with something other than division? Why not start out with something that most faiths can relate to in one way or another? Talking about the Holy Spirit is an access point into deeper dialog and deeper connection with people of other faiths. If people are open to the spiritual realm, (spirits, angels, demons, etc) then the Holy Spirit in that context can easily come into conversation as the Spirit that towers over all others. Conversing about the Spirit may be an inroad to interfaith dialogue, another angle God may want to use soften people’s hearts to eventually introduce them to Jesus Himself.

A theologian named Samartha, in urging Christians to move beyond discussions of “whether or not the Spirit is at work among people of other faiths” began to talk about “how to discern the presence and the work of the Spirit among those who live outside the visible boundary of the church (1990).” God is moving outside of our Christian circles; our job is to discern and to be wisely led by Holy Spirit as we engage others in their own faith arenas.

SNAPSHOT: West Scotland Revival (1830)

2008-03-12T05:25:00.000-07:00

This revival included an emphasis on the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Although the revival mainly involved laypersons, the preaching of pastor John McLeod Campbell (1800-1872) heavily influenced them. His teaching wasn’t like the strict Scottish Calvinism of the day which helped people feel unworthy but rather he emphasized the Father’s love for all which was shown through Jesus. This teaching had a profound and freeing effect on the community in the Rhu parish.

His assistant A.J. Scott (1805-1866) also contributed to stirring faith for supernatural gifts in the people. He emphasized a need to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Edward Irving (1792-1834), even though he had a pastorate in London, came to the Rhu and Roseneath parishes and emphasized Christ’s second coming. This Scottish minister was also key in preparation for this revival.

Twin brothers named James and George Macdonald (1880-1835, they died the same year) were laypersons, ship builders, who lived with their sisters in the area, in Port Glasgow. They frequently ferried across the Clyde to hear John McLeod Campbell speak in Rhu. The family also knew A.J. Scott and Edward Irving. In 1830, the brothers’ sister Margaret, while she was experiencing an illness, prophesied to her brothers that there would be a great baptism of the Spirit that same day. Her brother James said that he already had it and with that, he walked over to her bedside and pronounced in the name of Jesus that she get up and walk. As she arose, she was immediately healed.

This ship builder was still inspired to continue moving in God’s Spirit. He wrote a letter to a family friend named Mary Campbell (1806-1839). She had already lost her sister (at age 20) to terrible illness and now at this time she was also bedridden with lung disease and near death. A couple months earlier (Feb.1), she had experienced a deep spiritual experience (“trance”), which was followed March 28th with the gift of tongues. These experiences increased her faith yet didn’t affect her physical condition. She received a letter from James Macdonald on April 15, 1830. In his letter he wrote about how his sister was miraculously healed and then wrote for Mary to get up and walk. In fact she did.

Soon after, she jumped on a ferry to visit the Macdonalds to share the news. They rejoiced together and then began to hold prayer meetings in their home. April 18th, the twin brothers both received the gift of tongues. In another one of their meetings which didn’t end until 6am, 4 people got converted. The gifts of prophecy, tongues, and interpretation were in the meetings. Mary went home a few days later and started having services in her house (in Gareloch). As news spread of these two women’s healings, both Campbell and Macdonald families opened their homes to the interested people. Similar prayer meetings opened up in nearby towns. Mary had so many visitors that her little home was too small and she had to find a larger place for gatherings.

Edward Irving, though in London, heard about the Gareloch revival and sent people to investigate. They came back with positive reports. Personal letters from Mary Campbell also influenced him. In early morning prayer meetings at Irvin’s church, the spiritual gifts first began to come out. They spread to the Sunday services and because he refused to censure the spiritual gifts being displayed, he was kicked out of the pastorate. Many followed him and he started his own church where he sought to recover Spirit baptism, the gifts, and signs and wonders.

This is based on the article by D.W. Dorries, “West of Scotland Revival” found in The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements: Revised and Expanded Version (2002) edited by Stanley M. Burgess

Pieces of my Journey

2008-02-22T03:02:00.000-08:00

These are small pieces of the journey that have led me to where I am at today….

I grew up a surfer girl in Southern California. I actually considered pursuing a professional bodyboarding career rather than go to university. See me in Baywatch here. Luckily, I decided to stick to the books but I do love hitting the surf at every opportunity. Growing up in Anaheim, California at the Vineyard church there, I was very blessed to learn all about healing through John Wimber. When I was 17 years old, I started a small woman’s Bible study at our public highschool that met every Wednesday until I graduated and then one year after, a friend took it over. Deciding to stay near home and strategically picking a school near the beach, I graduated from Vanguard University in 2000 with a B.A. in religion with the emphasis in youth leadership studies and pastoral care.

Less than a month after graduating, in May of 2000, I jumped on a plane headed for Mozambique, Africa to be a part of Heidi Baker’s ministry to the poor there. I had the opportunity of helping to plant a church (Camp 2000) in a refuge camp there where we saw bread multiply one time as well as work with some of the teenage prostitutes on the streets, feed the poor, preach, lead outreaches, and spend time with the children at the orphanage there. That was a significant part of my life for sure.

Upon returning home, that next year I worked as a youth ministry developer at my church and designed and implemented an intensive 5 week discipleship program with about 15 youth there called The DIG (Disciples In Groove). That was a very special time for me and I know for several of the others. It’s such a privilege to see where some of those young people are today. Realizing that I was not cut out for church work as a job but much more prefer volunteering there instead, I transitioned into Starbucks by 2002.

It started out as a part time job but then I realized more and more how much I liked the vision and values of the company and I kept getting promoted the longer I stayed there. I ended up managing my own store, becoming a classroom facilitator, designed and implemented various trainings, and got to do some great events like live music and live hip hop dancing one night in one of my stores. I met some really great people who were customers as well as fellow employees through the company. After 5 years at Starbucks I had this stirring inside of me that, while I loved the company and the job, I was meant to do something else with my life beyond that. I had always thought that teaching at a University level was something I would love but the only problem was that it would require further education.

The main thing holding me back from pursing more education was that I did not want to get into debt again. I began to realize if I didn’t pursue higher education soon, I would never do it. So finally, in 2007, I quit my job at Starbucks, sold my car, took out a loan, and packed up my things and moved to England to go back to University. It was pretty amazing how everything came together right away for me over here. While I admit the first year was tough dealing with culture shock and giving up the sunshine and surfing, leaving my family and friends behind, eventually I found my niche. Some of the opportunities I have had over here would have never happened if I had not stepped out to pursue my dream.

I initially came to England because I have always wanted to study revivals and there is such rich church history here. I didn’t necessarily set out to study revivals so that I could figure out how to start them, but I wanted to study them so that I could develop a theology of living effectively through revivals long term. I have seen too many people get all excited in the midst of a revival but then not too long after they burn out and/or compromise their character and integrity. Through my general reading on revivals I came across Carrie Judd Montgomery. She was the most influential woman involved in the Divine Healing Movement in America in the late 1800s and had been overlooked. Immediately, I knew that she was meant to the topic of my PhD here at the University of Birmingham. Click on her picture to learn more.

Since being in England, I have had the opportunity to be a project coordinator in charge of leading a team of 50 international students to welcome over 1,000 international students during Welcome Week International. I have also had the opportunity to head up Healing on the Streets right in the city center of Birmingham outside of a beautiful Cathedral where we have seen many people touched and healed through the love of Jesus. After "HOTS," we do a Bible study at a Starbucks with some of the youth that hang out near the Cathedral. While in the UK I also released 2 books (Silver to Gold and Spirit Flood).

I graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK with my PhD in revival history July of 2012 and have recently relocated to Redding, CA where I got ordained with Iris Ministries by Heidi Baker New Years 2011 at her home. Such a blessing and a night I will never forget!

Click picture to see more photos of the night

I am also releasing 2 new books in 2012. Water to Wine is the first one about my own spiritual journey and experiences and the other one will be my thesis on Carrie Judd Montgomery. I am investing all my time into the Silver to Gold, Carrie Judd Montgomery, and other Projects as well as doing Destiny/Catalyst coaching, healing and revival retreats at Carrie Judd Montgomery's healing home in Oakland (the Home of Peace), and helping people to write and publish their first book. JenMiskov.com is the best place to get an overview of what I am currently working on.

So from California to England and now back to California, that has been a few pieces of my journey thus far. The reason I mention specific people above is they have influenced me in one way or another and because of God working in and through them, I am who I am today. Without the special people God brings into my life at different times, I wouldn’t be the same. Enjoying beautiful friends from around the world is a true blessing and something which I am very grateful for. I hope that provided you with a little context of where I come from :) See some of the topics I enjoy speaking on here or feel free to connect with me at JenMiskov@silvertogold.com.

Airplanes and Moravians

2008-01-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

After a day with many hassles at the airport and being sleep deprived, I sat in seat 21 F on an airplane heading from Germany to England. Two seats over I noticed a lady working on her computer and it looked like she was writing something. Surprisingly, in the midst of my sleepiness and wanting to go home to crash out, I asked her if she was a writer. She told me she was a historian and when I asked her what she was working on she told me she was writing a book about the Moravians. Wow! I was in shock and I think she was too. A young man was supposed to sit in-between us for the flight but instead she worked it out so she could sit next to me and chat.

The thing that was shocking for me was that I was sitting next to a historian with a PhD who was going from Germany to England to do further research and get her book published about this community. The thing that was shocking to her was that I had even heard of the Moravians. For those of you who have no idea who these Moravians are, because most people don’t, they were a group that Zinzendorf greatly influenced in the 1700’s in which sent out more missionaries than they had in their hometowns. John Wesley was also greatly struck by the Moravians sense of security in God when he was on a troubled ship and the Moravians, instead of being frightened, were singing to the Lord.

So it was great chatting with this lady I met on a random flight and nice to meet more and more people who are in a similar direction to where I am headed.

SNAPSHOT: Pandita Ramabai and the Mukti Revival in Kedgaon, India 1905-1907

2007-12-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

In 1895, Pandita Ramabai started a home in India to rescue and provide a safe place for young women who had been left destitute as a result of child marriages or because they became widowed. By 1900, she had up to 2,000 people she had taken in because of a famine that hit the land. She wanted to help the Hindu women realize that they could have new life in Christ. Minnie Abrams was a missionary who joined her work in India and became a significant connection to the Pentecostal revivals outside of India. Her booklet on Spirit baptism came at a time when there was very little literature on the subject because up until that point, baptism of the Holy Spirit had been a rare phenomenon.
-Taken from Spreading Fires by Allan Anderson

Starting the New Year in (Jan.) 1905, Pandita Ramabai became convicted to begin praying for revival. She shared her hunger with others and enlisted seventy people to join her. By the end of the revival there were 550 meeting two times a day to pray. Six months later, she urged people from the Bible School there to give up their “secular studies and go out into the villages” to preach the gospel. Thirty women responded to this call and began to pray daily with each other for more of Jesus when the revival hit.

On June 29, 1905 at 3:00a.m., the Holy Spirit fell on one of her volunteers. Check out how cool this is. “The young woman sleeping next to her awoke when this occurred, and seeing the fire enveloping her, ran across the dormitory, brought a pail of water and was about to dash it upon her, when she discovered that she was not on fire. In less than an hour nearly all of the young women in the compound gathered around, weeping, praying, and confessing their sins to God. The newly Spirit baptized girl sat in the midst of them, telling what God had done for her and exhorting them to repentance.”

The very next day, June 30th, Pandita was teaching on John 8 in her “usual quiet way” when the Holy Spirit fell and stirred up intense intercession amongst the girls that she had to stop talking. The room was filled with the presence of God and many were weeping and praying, hungering after God. From that point on, there were many prayer meetings and classes in the school were suspended because of what God was doing. Many experienced a deep burning of the fire of the Holy Spirit, causing them to realize at a deep level the price Jesus paid for them. This was followed by a great joy of their salvation that followed.
-Taken from The Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire written by Minnie F. Abrams in 1906

Holy Spirit come and begin to increase the hunger in our hearts for You and the salvation of those around us. Let your fire fall, even if it is at 3 a.m., so come, stir us, baptize us afresh and completely with Your Holy Spirit. And always remain the focus of what we seek. Keep our eyes on seeking You rather than experiences. But with that, help us not neglect the gifts You are longing to pour out. So come.

A NEW KIND OF "HOLY" CHRISTMAS PRESENT

2007-12-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

“There is no joy that in any way compares with the joy of the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Reader, do you know the joy of the Lord? Have you received that peace that passeth understanding? Are you able to bear ridicule for Jesus’ sake, with sweetness and forbearance? Are you able to give witness day by day in your daily life, and by your words, of Jesus’ power to save? If not, then you need to be empowered by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire to live a victorious life, and to obey the command to Jesus to make disciples. Matt. 28:19,20. Let me urge you to seek this great blessing which was promised to us by the Father. ‘How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.’ ‘Ask and it shall be given you.’ Luke 11:13,9.”
Written by Minnie Abrams in 1906 at a time when teaching on Spirit baptism was rare, and taken from her booklet The Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire. She was a missionary with Pandita Ramabai in the Mukti Revival in India.

Have we experienced this full measure of God’s presence and Spirit in our lives today? It was at the heart of the Azusa Street revival, and at the heart of what started the great revival at the beginning of the twentieth century. People hungry to experience the Holy Spirit completely through Spirit baptism is really at the heart of Pentecostalism’s origins.

I do think it is important to not become too obsessed in seeking out an experience. But at the same time, what if we are missing out on something because God has such a wonderful gift He wants to give us, yet we are not seeking it out, not taking hold of the already promised gift. This already promised gift that people in the early twentieth century took hold of affected their lives greatly. From 1906-1910, more than 50 countries were visited by missionaries that came out of the Azusa Street revival. That is a pretty amazing statistic coming from a movement that at its core was made up of people hungry to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The gift of tongues following that experience was also of great importance for the people back then. Many people experienced greater anointing, increased satisfaction in Christ, more conviction to evangelize, and deeper love than they had before.

So what if this CHRISTmas time, God wants to give us a new gift, a new present that we haven’t experienced thus far. This gift won’t save us, for we have already received His Son. But this new present coming in the form of the Holy Spirit rather than a baby wrapped up in swaddling cloths may have a significant and profound effect on our lives as it did others a century before us. This CHRISTmas time, maybe it is time to specifically ask God for a new gift. It doesn’t hurt to ask and the results may be astonishing, as they were in the early 1900’s.

The WAY

2007-12-10T07:02:00.000-08:00

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life…’” John 14:6
Jesus says, “I am the Way…”
Not sure which way to go next in life? What is the next step? What decision shall I make in this situation? What should I get involved in? Do I need to go on a pilgrimage to some holy place to experience God? Seek out some ecstatic experience? What do I do next? Where do I go? What ministry shall I get involved in?
Jesus says, “I am the Way.”
Sounds easy enough right? Yet, Jesus says “I am the Way.” He is the way. I just need to follow Him, seek Him, trust Him. He is my direction. He becomes not only the one awaiting me at the end of my path, but He becomes the path itself, “the way” if you will. He is my way. He is the path I need to be on. I need to be with Him and not on my own man-made path to get to Him. I don’t need to create paths because He is my way.
Jesus is the Way.
In the midst of questions, confusion, lack of direction, the words of life spoken by Jesus destroy all other options. Being with Him, running to Him, staying in Him brings comfort, perspective, and silences all fears. Take hope and receive divine direction. Today He answers all our fears about the future when He says “I am and will always be your way.”

Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

2007-11-05T16:11:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have come across in my studies of the Azusa Street Revival is the emphasis that they placed on Baptism of the Holy Spirit. For those of you who haven't heard much about Azusa Street, it was a revival in Los Angeles in 1906 that was started by an African American named William Seymour (some scholars believe that Charles Parham, who was white, started it). Although also still controversial, many people believe that Azusa Street was the start of Pentecostalism, or at least it played a very big role in the roots of the movement. For a time, even in the midst of Jim Crow laws, blacks and whites worshiped the Lord together, people were radically baptized in the Holy Spirit and empowered. Many people, after they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, within days or even hours of their experience, left for the mission field. Missionaries went to all parts of the world from Los Angeles in those few years and people from all around the world were drawn to Los Angeles to be a part of this "Pentecost" experience there. One of the key things God used to stir people up then was putting a deep desire and hunger to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to speak in tongues. Spirit baptism was one of the main focuses of the revival itself.

What I personally have been pondering lately is, where is Spirit baptism today? I don't know when the last time was that I heard, in any church, the pastor have an altar call for people who wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I can't remember the last conversation I had on that subject before I got to school here. It seems to have faded away and maybe a reason is because it has become a bit more normal in our era than it was 100 years ago. And I am sure it is still alive and well in some circles. Either way, it makes me wonder. And I know that God likes to do new things with different people. But I still can't get out of my mind the whole importance and drive that Spirit baptism was for the people back then. They were so hungry, not just for a little of the Spirit, but to be totally immersed in His presence, empowered and anointed even more to spread the Gospel. If hungering for the baptism of the Holy Spirit was key in causing a revival that spanned the globe and birthed the Pentecostal movement and then later contributed to the Charismatic movement, might there be something there for us to reconsider and look at again in our own day? What if more and more people were not just "touched" by the Spirit or "filled" by the Spirit today, but instead were fully immersed in and covered from head to toe in the Spirit? I think it might be something to prayerfully consider. Just my random processing thoughts which might totally change in a month or so but I am open to dialogue and hear others thoughts on this subject. I would also be VERY interested in hearing your story of your baptism of the Holy Spirit if you are willing to share. Thanks for listening,
Jen

All we need is love

2007-10-19T07:55:00.001-07:00

EXCERPT OF GLENN A. COOK on recounting the revival in LA, 1906:

“If God’s people would only come together and forget about doctrine’s and leaders whose vision is blurred by building churches and collecting tithes, having only one objective, and that to be filled with all the fullness of God, I know God would answer prayer. Doctrines and teaching have their proper place in the gospel plan but that overpowering, drawing power of the love of God must come first, and our present lukewarm condition is caused by a lack of this love that ‘nothing can offend.’”
(p.313 in Cecil M. Robeck, Jr.’s book, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival)

I like this.

Finney clip

2007-10-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

"Charles Finney (1792-1876) had an experience in 1821 in his law office which he described as 'a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit', when the Spirit descended upon him 'in waves of liquid love.' Finney's dependence on the presence of the Spirit gave his message profound emotional impact."
-excerpt taken from Allan Anderson's "An Introduction to Pentecostalism"