When I wrote of presenting in New York, many of you responded from the States and overseas. The tenor of your emails was similar. Many said you would pray with special concentration. Some of you committed to pray throughout last night's presentation. I particularly needed your prayers, as I was coughing and hoarse, and the presentation is arduous. I set up at the venue wondering if we would finally get traction in the icy cold.
The Lord's timing cannot be predicted, but I'm starting to wonder if His time for the North East might be approaching. My strength and voice both held, but that's small. The big is that you would have *rejoiced* had you witnessed what He did. I'll try to give you a taste. Consider this digest of comments from the pastors of the venue. "For an nearly unknown speaker to come to the North East and produce overflow crowds, packing the house, is unprecedented. A miracle! We had better attendance for the Star than for the joint appearance by Rick Warren and Sean Hannity. Truly amazing! Knocked it out of the park! If other pastors want to check out the Star, have them call us! The presentation was the perfect blend of serious content, respect for the audience, challenge, humility, humor, sensitivity to seekers, spiritual impact. All we hoped for and more. You have the gift of evangelism. It is on you."
The head pastor was expecting 400-500. Prayer partners, the Lord produced THREE TIMES that, completely filling the main hall. Hundreds watched by video in a separate overflow hall readied 'just in case.' (Praise Him!) The pastors and staff were delighted, even amazed at what God chose to do Friday night.
Audience response was all you might hope. From school-age to seniors, they concentrated intently, laughed readily, pondered deeply. Afterward, they were invited to come forward for prayer. Many dozens did so, forming lines, many in tears. I spoke with countless dear people (and my voice largely held). I heard tearful comments like "you have changed my life forever". Not me! That's HIM. "Since seeing your DVD, my prayer life has gone so much deeper." What a joy it is to bring blessing to this difficult mission field! This cold place of economic and political power. Thank YOU guys for praying and helping to bring this result! He listens to us when we pray as one.
So, if you have time, pray with me now. Let's egg Him on!
"Father, we thank you for the beautiful laborers you have placed in this field full of stones and ice. We praise you for their diligence, and ask that you increase their love and heat as they they work to melt the difficult field. We thank you for the stunning response last night! Please guard the freshly planted seed. Don't let the evil one snatch it. Grow your kingdom! Lord, we pray for the political and economic leaders who live in this icy field. If asked, 'Do you love God?,' we hope many would respond 'Yes!'. But we know many would not even understand the question. Some would resent it and hope to punish the asking. Father we ask that you warm these fields. Bring revival to this place. Guide leaders to yourself, and change them. As you told us to do, we pray they make decisions that allow us to worship you in peace. We thank you for a thaw. And unabashed, we ask for MORE HEAT! In the name of King Jesus, amen!"
Rick
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Long Island
My weekly prayer team, the “Star Warriors”, includes a gal from Connecticut. She has a deep heart burden for the North Eastern U.S. As a result, the team has prayed for nearly ten years that the Star would penetrate that region. There have been inquiries from D.C. and Virginia, but nothing gelled before now. Tomorrow, I present in Smithtown, Long Island. After all these years, I cannot wait to see what the Lord will do.
Some have described this part of the country as spiritual rocky soil. Having presented so many places, I know how very different and hard regional soil can be. But this host church, Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle, is busting rock, people. Let’s lend our prayers.
If you have time, please pray with me.
“Father, we would all love to live in places where your Spirit freely flows and moves and seems even to sweeten the air. But many of us labor for your kingdom in places where few know you and even fewer love you. Lord, give us the determination to carry out ministry right where we are. Help us always to look up to you for strength, for guidance and for kingdom growth, and never to look to ourselves for any of these things. These do not come from us. They come from you. We humbly ask that you allow each of us the joy of seeing sweet fruit as we labor in your kingdom. We ask that you would fill this venue on Long Island with souls hungry to hear from you, hungry to fall in love with you. Please cause your son’s Star to astonish all at your glorious beauty and power and love. We ask these things in the name of King Jesus, amen.”
Rick
PS: Some kind of upper respiratory infection or allergy threatens my ability to speak. Choking. Coughing. I’m going to Long Island. Period. So, if you think of it, pray that I can fully deliver the message.
Some have described this part of the country as spiritual rocky soil. Having presented so many places, I know how very different and hard regional soil can be. But this host church, Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle, is busting rock, people. Let’s lend our prayers.
If you have time, please pray with me.
“Father, we would all love to live in places where your Spirit freely flows and moves and seems even to sweeten the air. But many of us labor for your kingdom in places where few know you and even fewer love you. Lord, give us the determination to carry out ministry right where we are. Help us always to look up to you for strength, for guidance and for kingdom growth, and never to look to ourselves for any of these things. These do not come from us. They come from you. We humbly ask that you allow each of us the joy of seeing sweet fruit as we labor in your kingdom. We ask that you would fill this venue on Long Island with souls hungry to hear from you, hungry to fall in love with you. Please cause your son’s Star to astonish all at your glorious beauty and power and love. We ask these things in the name of King Jesus, amen.”
Rick
PS: Some kind of upper respiratory infection or allergy threatens my ability to speak. Choking. Coughing. I’m going to Long Island. Period. So, if you think of it, pray that I can fully deliver the message.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sit Down
When people ask how the Star Project is progressing, I generally say “busy” or “great” as a shorthand assessment. But when I looked back on 2008, I was deeply humbled to see what God has accomplished, and I wanted to share some simple numbers with you.
We had problems with the secular distributor of the DVD. They didn’t account, and they didn’t pay. We changed distributors for 2009, and hope this results in much wider availability of the movie. Producing a film with God-honoring quality is an expensive endeavor, and we have not yet recovered the cost. This should change in 2009. While I don’t have hard numbers yet, I am confident we have sold many tens of thousands of DVDs. I know from emails that these are busy discs! They seem in constant motion, with people sharing them and giving them away. I hope this is satisfying to you prayer warriors!
Like last year, I was on radio, in print, and on television. But the numbers have become staggering. The BBC flew a team from London to film in my home. Their star special ran on Christmas Eve. According to Wiki, the BBC is in 274,000,000 households in 200 countries. TBN broadcast the DVD itself multiple times. TBN is in 100,000,000 households in 75 countries. EWTN also broadcast the DVD repeatedly. EWTN is available in 146,000,000 households in 127 countries.
Now, there is overlap in these demographics. But it is safe to say that the Message of the Star has been offered in over a quarter of a BILLION households. This means that if a couple of people watched in even 1% of the households, better than 5,000,000 people have heard about Messiah’s Star, and many have heard the entire story. Because the broadcasts ran repeatedly, the actual number could be many times larger; God knows. But sit down. It could easily be that 50 or 100 million souls have witnessed God’s starry poetry. Phew!
Email. I still look at everything that hits my inbox. But with these numbers, you can imagine the torrent here. I keep up as best I can, as many of the emails are profoundly encouraging. Just like you, I can use a boost now and then!
For many years, I and my prayer team have prayed that the message of Messiah’s Star would reach the ends of the Earth. Do you think He’s been listening? Yet, there is so much more to do! The DVD is not yet available in the Americas, Europe, Africa or Asia! All of these places need to see the celestial fanfare that announced the Savior of Mankind.
If you have time, please pray with me:
“Staggering, My Lord. We are staggered at how you have run with this project and made your name great! You have announced yourself in countless homes in countless countries. But we are not satisfied, Father. Like you, we want the entire World to know you and worship you. Will you help us penetrate the continents, Lord? We feel the joy of being on a winning team, and our hearts leap as we see you work! Our spirits shout, Go, Lord! Go! Thank you, and we can’t wait for more! We pray these things in the powerful name of our Jesus, amen!”
Rick
PS: You’ll roll your eyes when you hear this. The History Channel and Discovery Channel edited me OUT of the BBC production when they ran it in the USA! Said they wanted a female contributor instead! Maybe they should have bumped Kepler!
We had problems with the secular distributor of the DVD. They didn’t account, and they didn’t pay. We changed distributors for 2009, and hope this results in much wider availability of the movie. Producing a film with God-honoring quality is an expensive endeavor, and we have not yet recovered the cost. This should change in 2009. While I don’t have hard numbers yet, I am confident we have sold many tens of thousands of DVDs. I know from emails that these are busy discs! They seem in constant motion, with people sharing them and giving them away. I hope this is satisfying to you prayer warriors!
Like last year, I was on radio, in print, and on television. But the numbers have become staggering. The BBC flew a team from London to film in my home. Their star special ran on Christmas Eve. According to Wiki, the BBC is in 274,000,000 households in 200 countries. TBN broadcast the DVD itself multiple times. TBN is in 100,000,000 households in 75 countries. EWTN also broadcast the DVD repeatedly. EWTN is available in 146,000,000 households in 127 countries.
Now, there is overlap in these demographics. But it is safe to say that the Message of the Star has been offered in over a quarter of a BILLION households. This means that if a couple of people watched in even 1% of the households, better than 5,000,000 people have heard about Messiah’s Star, and many have heard the entire story. Because the broadcasts ran repeatedly, the actual number could be many times larger; God knows. But sit down. It could easily be that 50 or 100 million souls have witnessed God’s starry poetry. Phew!
Email. I still look at everything that hits my inbox. But with these numbers, you can imagine the torrent here. I keep up as best I can, as many of the emails are profoundly encouraging. Just like you, I can use a boost now and then!
For many years, I and my prayer team have prayed that the message of Messiah’s Star would reach the ends of the Earth. Do you think He’s been listening? Yet, there is so much more to do! The DVD is not yet available in the Americas, Europe, Africa or Asia! All of these places need to see the celestial fanfare that announced the Savior of Mankind.
If you have time, please pray with me:
“Staggering, My Lord. We are staggered at how you have run with this project and made your name great! You have announced yourself in countless homes in countless countries. But we are not satisfied, Father. Like you, we want the entire World to know you and worship you. Will you help us penetrate the continents, Lord? We feel the joy of being on a winning team, and our hearts leap as we see you work! Our spirits shout, Go, Lord! Go! Thank you, and we can’t wait for more! We pray these things in the powerful name of our Jesus, amen!”
Rick
PS: You’ll roll your eyes when you hear this. The History Channel and Discovery Channel edited me OUT of the BBC production when they ran it in the USA! Said they wanted a female contributor instead! Maybe they should have bumped Kepler!
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