“You’re A Freak”

This among many other insults/”compliments” are things that I’ve heard throughout my life about my height. Some serious, some joking, some that are truly compliment, and some that are just mean. I’ve never really got it. Why do people have to pick on others? To feel good? To feel better than them? Or to simply degrade them? Who knows. What’s more interesting though, is how God takes something like that and makes it for good. Over the past couple months I’ve gotten two amazing words of encouragement about my height, that didn’t have to do with getting things off the top shelf or dunking (barely) a basketball.

One was about a month and a half ago. I was talking to a guy at the early men’s prayer meeting that Brady Boyd does. We were talking about life and DLA and stuff. I had just met him that morning and we were really connecting. About 10 minutes into the conversation he commented on my height. “Go figure” I thought. He followed the norm and asked me my height and I told him. He then said something to the effect of, “That’s so awesome man. Dude God has blessed you with that. Use your height, and the next time someone looks at you, just because you attract attention when you walk in a room, go introduce yourself. God has given you this gift to meet people and to start conversations”. Dang… I was grinning from ear to ear. Ha. It was awesome to hear that.

The next one was just yesterday. Michelle Vette was praying for some of the DLA’s that came back from Honduras during the Revival Town pre-prayer. She was praying for each of us specifically and came to me. The first thing she prayed was something like, “Thank you God for the stature You’ve given Morgan. Both spiritually and physically. Thank you for making him a solid oak that others can come to and get shade and rest. And that You’ve made him strong and reliable”. My mind was blown. During that prayer she spoke so much life and truth into my life. Things that I needed to hear and things that I needed to hear again. That woman is seriously anointed. She is so in tune with the Holy Spirit. It was amazing.

So there world. I’ve been made this way for a reason. Take it or leave it. If you don’t like it, you can take it up with God.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, 6′8″ and no I don’t play basketball.

Word,

Morgan

Honduras or Mexico?

The former, not the later.

The plans coming into DLA were that we were going to be going to Mexico this summer. Well God changes things. With the violence and everything, God told us not to go to Mexico, so we promptly obeyed. Not really knowing what was going to happen the staff of DLA started to pray about it. God opened up two doors. One to Germany, and another to Honduras. God gave us money, plans, people and desire. It was amazing.

So we now have a team going to Germany that leaves Tuesday. In Germany they will be doing a lot of praying. There is a church in Berlin that is on the rise. We are sensing an awakening in Germany through this church, and we want to help usher that in. The pastor and his wife were at Revival Town a month or so ago, and he started  praying in German. I don’t know what he was saying, but I started to cry. The Spirit was moving through him like crazy. He is a man of God, and I know it. I’m excited for that team.

The team I’m going to be on is going to Honduras. More south of Mexico, and therefore, hotter. w00t! So we leave on Sunday at 3:00 in the morning. Flying out of DIA we will be landing in Honduras sometime that night I think. Our work will mostly be manual labor and working and sweating our butts off. It’s going to be amazing! ha. We’re going to be sleeping on the beach, sweating, and wearing the same pair of underwear the whole time. Believe it. ExOfficio. Check out their underwear. Haha. Anyway….. that’ll be it. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen, but I do know that God is going to move like crazy here, in Honduras and in Germany. I love that we are split up, but I hate it all at the same time.

So I ask that you keep DLA in your prayers over the next couple of weeks. We are going to be pouring so much out, that we will need constant prayers of restoration and of rest in God. God is going to do huge things. Both in our lives and in the lives of those that we are reaching out to. Pray pray pray.

I’ll try to get one more blog up before we leave. About some of the happening around here I’m sure. I’m obviously not going to be taking my Mac with me, so ya… Ha. I’m stoked.

Praying for a heart for the Hondurans,

Morgan

The Vision

So this guy comes up to me and says “what’s the vision? What’s the big idea?” I open my mouth and words come out like this…
The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn’t even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.
What is the vision ?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers

choose to loose
that they might one day win
the great ‘Well done’ of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don’t need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!”

And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing…
This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man
with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and
with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives – swap seats with the man on death row – guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don’t you hear them coming?
Herald the weirdo’s! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.
How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great ‘Amen!’ from countless angels, from hero’s of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

This is my prayer for my generation. This is my prayer for the kids who my heart breaks for and the teens that haven’t a clue. I want to see people live this out all the time. I want to live this out. I want to see my friends live this out. This is what we strive for. This is what DLA is aiming for. This is what the church should aim for.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God

and live as if it all depends on them.

Source: http://www.24-7prayer.com/resources/28

Finding More Of God

Just about a week ago I was at a late night prayer meeting. I walked in a little late and the first thing I heard was the leader (Matt Timmermeyer) say that he wanted us to leave different then we came in. He wanted us to have an unreal experience with God that night and he expected God to do great things during that prayer meeting that night. I was expecting it too, I just didn’t know what to do. As I lay on my face crying out to God, 20 minutes later, singing a completely epic version of Phil Wickham’s “You’re Beautiful”, I began to wonder what it took. What it took to go deeper. To know more. To experience God on this deeper level. I looked to where any Christian should look for all answers, the very words of God.

The first Scripture I went to was 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Basically, just like it says, we have all power in Christ to get everything we need for life and godliness. That is found in the knowledge of God. Great. So to go deeper, we need to have knowledge of God. The mysteries of God need to be revealed to us. Makes sense. I mean, how can you grow closer to someone you don’t know that much about. The more you know about a person, the closer you grow. It just works out that way sometimes. It says in Proverbs 19:2, “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.” So really, we need to have some form of knowledge about God before we get all lovey-dovey on him and others. We can have all the passion in the world, but if we don’t have knowledge first, we’ll fall on our faces. So that made sense, but then God threw 1 Corithians 13 in my face, specifically verse 2.

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” Um… ok. So I can have all the knowledge in the world, but if I haven’t love, I’m nothing. Great. But it makes sense. I need to have love before I can have knowledge, because anything done that is now out of love is not of God. It says that three things will last: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. Ephesians 3:17-19 says: “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” This love is a love that surpasses all knowledge. So that, in a sense, makes love greater than knowledge. So I need more love. Ok cool. Right?

1 John 4:16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” So God is love. So to get more love we need more God. God is love. God is 1 Cor. 13. God is knowledge. God is zeal and passion and fervor. God is it. Alpha and Omega. So more God is the answer. Then in Colossians 2:6-7 it says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” and then in Luke 9:23-25, “Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?“. These verses are talking about receiving God into our lives and then daily taking up our crosses and dying to ourselves. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” So to choose God and get more of him, we must choose him everyday and daily take up my cross. I much die to myself and deny my flesh in order to get more of God.

Then in 1 Corithians 9:26-27 Paul says: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” That we beat our bodies. Which is a way of dying to ourselves. When we make our body our slave then it has no control over us. We are the ones in control, because we are the master and our body is the slave.

All of that being said just to say this, we find more God by finding his heart. We find his love and try to harness it, even though we will never understand his love for us. It’s way way way too big. And in love will be God. When we see God and are face to face with him we search his face and begin to ask questions and read in order learn more about him. We learn more so we are never caught with our pants down. It’s insane how this stuff was all things that I already know, but God had to reinforce it in me. So I would say that I left that prayer meeting pretty changed. I was going crazy that night. I guess after I left, the Holy Spirit totally fell on that place and moved in a mighty way. I’m going to have to stay longer next time. But God really did a work in my heart in reestablishing some things in my heart. I love that there is so much to God, yet sometimes, it is so simple.

Mind = Blown,

Morgan

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalms 62:1-2

Choose Joy

“Choose joy” is a common phrase here among us DLAs. It’s something that, though it may have become a cliché, it still holds loads of truth. Choosing joy is a way to live life. It’s a day to day thing. It doesn’t end in the moment. It is a self-conscience decision that must be made at every moment.

Just two days ago I was going to get my car. A few nights previous I ran out of gas going back home from a friends house. At about 12:30 on Sunday morning I parked my car on the side of the road in the Black Forest area. Sometime between that time and when I went to get it Monday afternoon at about 5:00, someone decided that they wanted to get into my car. Pulling up to my car with a can of gas in the back, I noticed that my window was down. “I know that I rolled up all my windows. Heck, it was raining that night,” is basically what I thought to myself. When I walked closer I realized that my window wasn’t rolled down, but it was in fact broken out. Great. I freaked. I got in my car and looked to see if anything was missing. CD player? Check. Sweet shoes? Check. Wallet? No…

You see, I noticed earlier that day that I couldn’t find my wallet, so I assumed that I left it in my car. So when I saw that it was gone, that was it. I was done. I didn’t know what to do. My wallet was missing, two of Jake’s jackets were missing, and a pair of headphones. Awesome. I was so mad, and so sad at the same time. I was at a loss for words and had so many thoughts running through my mind at the same time. Who would do this to me? Why? Why is my life falling apart right now? Is this what supposed to happen God? I’m out of money, my car is breaking down, friends aren’t being loyal, and now my wallet is gone and my car doesn’t have a window. And to add to my problems I have to deal with the cops and junk. Phone calls and paper work. Fun. Not that I haven’t dealt with cops enough in my life. 7+ car accidents and a few other instances in my life. Cops are second nature, but still not fun.

That’s what I was thinking anyway.

I called my mom and was less than patient and nice to her. I vented. Big time. Why why why why? She just told me that it was going to be ok, and that we would figure this all out. Mom stuff. But it’s interesting how when something like this is going down, it takes on a different life. It rings with more truth. You want to believe it more than you ever have. So I did. Hoping that it was going to be ok. Then about half way home I just started crying. Self-pity mostly. Jake, who was riding with me hadn’t said a word. Then we pulled into the house and Jake, being the amazing guy that he is put the rest of the gas from the can into my car and stood there for a bit, while I sat in my car still and cried. He then leaned in through the open (ie. broken) window and said, “Ya know man, this is what we’re training for. Things are going to get hard. Life is going to suck. But we can’t give up. When your marriage gets hard and you don’t want to go on, are you going to give up? When your kids are being brats, are you going to give up? When you don’t know if you’ll be able to pay the bills, are you going to give up? We have to fight.” (He said something like that anyway). It was all I needed to hear. I looked up, nodded, and got out. I gave him a nice big hug and went in.

It was interesting how quickly my mood shifted. It was a huge paradigm shift. I was choosing to let this situation beat me up. I let the enemy in and do his work, and do it well. While all I needed to do was choose joy. So after that, I chose joy. Even when I talked to my mom later that night she said that there was something different. I was definitely more happy than I was the last time I talked to her. It was all because I chose joy. As much as it sucks not to have a car, not to have money and to be torn apart between friends, God is still God and always will be. He is never changing and He is my source for life. Not those other things, but God. I’ve been realizing that more and more and more. God is ALL I need. I’ve been beaten up physically, mentally, spiritually, and now financially. But through it all, God is here, by my side and picking me up each time. I’ve come to trust. I’ve laid down my pride and given it to God.

So that’s really why “Choose joy” is something I hear a lot. Because it’s so true. You can let the things of this life get you down, or we can look to God and say, “It’s all yours. I don’t know what your plan is in all of this and I don’t know how this is for my good, but I trust you. Have your way.” And He will. I heard just last night, that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. I saw this past two weeks or so how true that is. 10% what happens. 90% how we react. Think about it.

Choosing joy,

Morgan

Romans 8:28 – And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

(Explanation for the absence of blogs)

Well lets see. Two mondays ago I just forgot. We were leaving for Tour (in the process of writing a monster blog for that) and I was getting ready and forgot about it. Monday after that we were still on Tour and I didn’t have my computer with me. Two days ago, well I didn’t have a car so I couldn’t get to the church to get online. And then all that junk happened, so my day was pretty crammed after that. So sorry that I haven’t been keeping up. I got a slew of blogs in the works coming this way. And I have no idea what the picture means…. ha.

When Home Isn’t Enough

Do you ever feel like you just want to get away? Like everything around you is falling apart, in your mind, and you just want to leave? It’s a time when no one seems to be behind you, even though a whole slew of people are backing you up, and you are fighting this fight for life on your own, but you still know you’ve got Jesus at your back. At 19, I totally was feeling this. Like I would do anything to get out of my house, and darnit, no one was going to stop me.

This last week I was praying to God in Heaven and he showed me a two very cool things. It was like he showed me the heads side of the coin and then the tails side. He revealed to me something good and then something… not so good.

I was thinking about home. Just about my bro and my parents and my friends and my church. The big stuff. And the 3 months that I’ve been here I honestly haven’t missed home once. I’ve been back twice for different occasions, but when I was there, I was restless to leave. Could it be that I’ve grown up? Heavens no! Ha. But God reminded me that it was never a “weird transition” for me to move down here. I just kind of did it. Sure I don’t have all my stuff, but I’ve got everything I need. I never once looked back and said that I may want to do something else. I came to Colorado and now it’s my home. I’ve been coming to realize that my home isn’t my current location on the globe. It’s in the presence of God. It’s not Cheyenne, WY or Colorado Springs, CO or Kyrgyzstan (WPC flag…legit), it’s with God. In Exodus 33:14-15 it says: “The LORD replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.’”

That’s how I want to live my life. “God, if you are not going to be where I want to go, then I’m not going.” I think I’ve done a good job of this, but it’s always something to keep in mind. My move was easy because God was with me the whole time, and I’ve become dependent on him. I know that I can only be happy when I am where he is. That’s it. It’s not about my ministry, or my spouse (oh please God!!..haha), or who I influence. It’s, “Is God here? Ok, good.”.

Then God showed me the flip side of that. That in my life I have a lot of pride. That I feel like I can do it all on my own without God’s help. That I can get by, or do enough, or be good enough that I don’t need the help of God. A few weeks ago during prayer meeting we got all the guys together and started to talk about pride. How it is something that almost every guy deals with. We want to be able to do things on our own without the help of anyone, even God. I didn’t know how to pray against it, or what to say. I just rested in God and didn’t say a word the rest of the night of the prayer meeting. I was at a loss. The next morning at man workout we did what’s called the 21 gun salute. Groups of 4, first guy does 21 pushups, then the next guy and so on. You get the the first guy and he does 20 then the next guy and then the first guy does 19… All the way down to 1. It’s something like 250 pushups. It’s an insane number. About halfway through that I was done. I couldn’t even hold myself up after each set. I needed the help of others, but I was so embarrassed. I started to cry during this workout that God was working on my pride. That I have to be able to rely on Him and others around me if I even want to get through life.

I’ll never forget those two days back to back. Realizing my pride and then breaking it down. Pride is still an issue, as God showed me, but it’s getting peeled away. Sin issues and strongholds and ogres are like onions. We deal with the first layer, then God tells you to get the next layer, then the next, then the next. Unless God does a radical work in our lives, we will rarely be completely free from a sin overnight. Lust, Pride, Sloth, and Envy are all things that I’ve struggled with for a very long time. Now, they are but memories. I see the hints of the sins creep back in and sometimes I struggle more that I know I should, but by the grace of God I have learned how to overcome these things.

So I learned that even though I am dependent on God in my physical location and situation, I’ve become much too dependent on myself for my spiritual location and situation. “God I need you. I can’t do this life without You. You are my ONLY hope,” is to become my cry. In my life I want nothing more that to chase God, but do I depend on it? Do I need it?

Figuring out what I need,

Morgan

History and Then Some

The week before last was uneventful in light of the things previous and the things to come. A normal week. Workout and class and nightly sessions and stuff. I made some very sweet commitments with God and had some great conversations with friends. The one thing that did hit me hard was while I was reading in one of the Gospels and Jesus says of John the Baptist, that he is the greatest man   that has ever lived. Woah… Greater than Moses or Daniel or the Patriarchs and such. These are the people in the bible that are looked up to, not so much J the B. But he was greater. It got me thinking… What does and what would Jesus say about me? Would I be in the crowds listening to him commend someone else like that, or would I be worthy of such lofty words? But it also makes me wonder, does God look at the weight and size of my ministry, or at the weight and size of my heart and motives? John prepared the way for Jesus to come fully to others, but does my life prepare others to come fully to Jesus? Snap! God just gave me that. That’s deep…

So outside of that experience that I still can’t wrap my mind, heart and life around, the week after was pretty great too. We took a little trip down the road for History. History was basically Mexico training. It was amazing. So much to talk about, and so little time to type…

We started with a night of worship and teaching on Monday. They gave us our team assignments and showed us the dramas that we will learn for Mexico. We learned and practiced said dramas in our teams and really started to get to know our teams. We then broke for dinner and assigned roles in our teams. Things such as a team medic, photographer and food and water. Just specific roles that each member is required to fulfill in History and in Mexico. I got the role of Equipment/Back-up Rear Guard. Basically I haul all the stuff that needs hauling and my secondary is being a rear guard, which is sweet. I basically get to be a protector of my team. Making sure that everything is in check, that people are where they need to be and that the people on my team are safe. Dale (the main rear guard on our team) and I get to do this. I’m so excited that Dale is our main Rear Guard. I trust the lives of our girls in his hands. That’s a good feeling. We then had some worship time and got some of the Word from the Missions Pastor. Really good stuff. Talked about how when Saul was searching for donkeys, a boring and humiliating task, he was anointed to be king. Think about it… ha. Then we got on the bus with all of our hundreds of dollars of gear and hit the road, not knowing where we were going. We only went about 10ish miles and stopped, arriving at some random camp spot in some random woods. Still not sure where we were, but it was very nice. Slept that night…

The next day we split up into 3 teams, made up of 2 teams of the 6 teams formed the previous day. My team, team #1, Teal, teamed up with team #2, Orange. Team team team. Starts to sound weird huh?  …..

(The following 1500 words were removed for the protection of those who may or may not attend DLA in the future )

So that night we ate some more and then got to go to Revival Town. Basically the best night around the church that there is. It’s always so amazing. We then came back and went to sleep. The next day our teams got to go with Mr. Joseph Couch and do the hike. It ended up being an 8 mile hike with all of our gear on. We’re talking a lot of gear here. I have no idea on the weight, but mine was pretty heavy. (Removed for the ever watching eyes….) We then finished up the hike and went back to camp.

The biggest thing that I got out of the hike was that I can encourage people outside the normal realms of “encouragement”. There were a few people who were struggling during the hike. Just being able to be there for the girls on my team and encourage the other team when they were struggling. There were a few points when we would be going over some pretty difficult stuff, and I would be grabbing the pack of the girl in front of me and grabbing the hand of the girl behind me to make sure that they were ok and able to make it through. Also when we weren’t hiking, we were having our last meal of the trip and a girl on one of the other teams was convinced that she wasn’t going to eat the food. Her partner was telling her she could, and then I went over and started to talk to her and encourage her. I then just told her that at that point it wasn’t about her anymore. It’s about the people of Mexico and that she could only rely on Jesus to get that food down. And she did. Just things like that. That I really can be an encouragement and that people do listen to me when I encourage. It was huge for me.

After the hike, everyone was then told to get all that we had and get on the bus to go to _tag. Why we needed everything we had no idea. After _tag we went back to the camp site and were served another meal, while Ben Johnson (one of the 3rd years) talked to us. All the while different teams were being told to finish their meal and get in a van. Teams were all being separately shipped off. Ben started talking about the call and how we are always supposed to be ready to answer the call, no matter where we are. He then told the last two teams remaining, team 1 and 2, to go in and set up for bed and get ready to sleep. We set up all of our stuff and about 10 minutes later Ben comes in and tells us to pack everything back up. We have been called. The two teams got in separate vans and we took off, headed to who knows where.

(The ending, most amazing thing ever removed. Sorry people. Call me if you want to talk about it. It was epic. )

Basically History was amazing. I can’t say a lot because there are things that need to be kept a secret from people who may go to DLA in the future. All for the experience. Sorry people. That 3000 word blog just got scraped to 1100. haha.

Finally blogged,

Morgan

Lost the Desire to Blog?

Obviously it’s Wednesday. Morgan didn’t post on Monday. Kinda forgot. Kinda didn’t want to. Kinda both. I don’t know what it was.

I had a good talk with Curtis this last week. I went back to Cheyenne for 4 days for Blitz Week. That’s basically where we (Me and one other guy, Chad) go around to the area assigned to us and promote Desperation Conference. They gave me north Colorado and Cheyenne/Laramie since I know the area. It was a blast. We had about 18 good meeting with pastors who almost all seemed interested in coming to the conference. It was a great confidence builder in what we’re doing. It’s all about the one kid who comes and gets his teeth kicked in by Jesus. Ha. …. Ya. That’s right. The one kid who comes and Jesus rocks his world. It’s all about the one. So during that week I got to see a lot of people and it was amazing. It was great to see all my friends and family from back home. I didn’t get to see some people that I wanted to, and saw some people I didn’t think I was going to. I ended up having an amazing conversation with Curtis though.

We talked about everything. The SHIFT, DLA, my experiences here, what he’s learned through the SHIFT, spiritual gifts. Tons of stuff. One interesting thing we talked about though was blogging. I basically said that I don’t really want to blog anymore. Basically because I didn’t see the purpose in it. But he told me, that if I don’t do it for anyone else, to do it for myself. Really, that if I don’t put these experiences and thoughts on ‘paper’ then I’ll be more likely to forget them. I loved it. I need to remember everything that God is doing this year in my life and the things that He is bringing me out of. I also do want to blog for others. I know that there are a few people who are keeping up to date through this blog, so it’s a good way to communicate with tons of people and never have to talk on the phone once. It was just a great conversation.

The interesting thing about the conversation was that it was the first time I felt like I could just unleash everything on someone outside of DLA in person. I just began talking and couldn’t stop. I had so much to say, and Curtis was listening very well (Thanks man). More than anything I think it’s because he gets me. He understands what’s going on here in the Springs and outside of DLA not very other many people that I’m in touch with get it. Some people have experienced this, but they can quickly forget or “forget”. And some remember and want to remember. It’s something that you just have to experience to understand. Curtis has been here. He knows the culture at New Life and he knows how powerful God is and how it is ushered in so freely here. So he gets me. My parents, my brother, my friends, my pastors; they have all heard me talk about it and they smile and shake their heads, but this man knows. He’s tasted and seen. That doesn’t make him a better person, or “more holy”, he just gets me. But I love this man. He has shown me a side of myself and of God that I’ve never seen or experienced before. Without his initial persistence and encouragement, I may not be here. And if I wasn’t here I don’t know what I’d do.

So really I just wanted to say thanks Curtis. You rock man. And thanks to everyone else “back home”. I love your support and encouragement. You all know who you are and you all mean so much to me.

-Morgan

(Post about more Blitz week and about Focus, the last ELE we just did, soonish)

O.D. On God

O.D. Original Design. Basically, who am I? What has God made me to be? How does God perceive me? What is my purpose in this life? This last week we had a group fly in from Tacoma, WA to teach us about freedom in Christ and then to pray over us. They prayed for our original design and also what the devil uses against each one of us to try and bring us down. It was great to learn how we each one of us was made and to learn what attacks to look for from the enemy.

It seems really crazy when you first go into it. The fact that people pray over you, asking God how you were made, and then they write these things down and give them to you. Amazing. I was, not suspicious, but very interested in how exactly they did it. I had already seen them pray over sickness and people get healed and seen them pray over strongholds and people set free, so I was confident. These guys and girls could hear God and that was evident. So at 3 o’clock (an hour early ) on Sunday the 1st of March, I walked into 107 (our main classroom) and spotted Tim and Jackie. They were one of the 4 couples that flew in along with 2 other people. So I walked over, met them, and they explained to me what was about to go down. And go down it did.

It was great. They prayed that God would give them a green light to start praying for me. (How many times do we do things, anything, without God’s consent?….) Then they prayed against distraction and then started. I sat there for a good 10 to 15 minutes while they would write things down, breathing prayers to God to reveal things to them and to pour into them. They then spewed these two separate lists onto me. Probably about 20 things. Different pictures, words and such about who God has made me to be. It was amazing to me how closely tied their two lists were. They didn’t consult each other during it at all and their lists tied together so well. It was mind-blowing, but so amazing. I received everything they told me and it was…. supernatural how accurate it was. I could see some of the things in me that were evident in my life already and some things that I knew I was, just hadn’t exposed yet. That’s God. They then told me what the devil uses against me and we prayed through that. Destroying that spirit that had a grip on my life and binding it down. Oh ya!! I left there grinning from ear to ear and didn’t stop the whole day.

Then the next day we got to do it. They actually taught us how to pray for people and we soaked that up like a parched sponge. After seeing it the day before, we just wanted to know. It’s simple. There are a few little things, but it really is just listening to God and allowing Him to speak truth into your heart and responding to that. So we got to practice on each other. Praying in groups over other DLAs, the hospitality team, Joe’s mom and dad, and even some of our other leaders and the people from Tacoma. The crazy thing about doing that is that we saw that it worked. We would pray for someone and they would tell us how true it rang in their own life. I got prayed for again that day by a few DLAs and Joe. Just hearing them say things that were spoken over me the day before was just that much more encouraging. When God speaks to many people about who you are, it just becomes that much more real, for whatever reason. It was great to be able to pray over our leaders and those that served us everyday.

This experience was breathe taking, but the thing that hit me harder than anything was the fact that God speaks. Today. After praying for someone I would (following my dad) become Perma-grin. I couldn’t handle it. Hearing God so clearly just got me stoked. Aw man… haha. But God speaks. Do we even know that? Or even care? Do we want God to speak? Really? Sometimes what He has to say can be scary. Do we really want to know that and have the ability to hear God? Sometimes I have to question if we really do. I know that we get these ‘God feelings’ or “God put this on my heart”, but consulting God at every turn seems ridiculous. We only consult God if we have a big decision, not on everything. Hm… It leaves an interestingly bad taste in your mouth. What have we done without going to God in prayer first? What have I done without turning to prayer first? A lot.

Woah… shifted gears there a little. Oofda. Anyway….

I think it’s something that the church today has neglected. Listening for and hearing God. We are really good at singing songs to him, but not so good at sitting and basking in His presence. It’s amazing to hear Him speak. It really is.

So, Testify, to say the least, was great. It totally shifted my paradigm on God and helped me realize who I am. It’s so amazing. To find out who you are in God and to see how He perceives you. We are all called to advance His kingdom, and are all capable of doing so when we see the truth about ourselves. It’s key though to take out the enemy in your life. This battle isn’t easy. It’s not, but it is something we must do and totally worth it all. It’s worth the tears and the “missing out” and the dying to yourself. Plain and simple. It just is.

I know me,

Morgan

My Girls And My Guys

My Fervent girls are simply amazing. I’ve got 6 girls on my team with us 5 guys and I can’t say enough about my girls. They just came up to me during quiet time and they all prayed for me. No special occasion or anything. They just wanted to pray for their guys. So they went around and prayed for each guy on our team. They are so awesome. They all have amazing hearts and it’s so great to see how well they all balance out. I’m amazed continually at how God put the teams together. Our team wouldn’t be the same plus or minus one person. It is perfect in every way. We have one girl, Kylie, who is absolutely hilarious. Jimmy and I leave with hurting sides each time we all hang out. I laugh just thinking about it. But the thing is, I don’t think that anyone else would get her or understand her. It’s great. My girls are amazing.

I hope that I tell them enough, but I don’t know what I would do without my guys. We are such a strong team of 5. Tyler is the get ‘er done guy….literally. Jimmy is like my brother. Jake is my roommate….need I say more? And Chad is simply awesome. Ha. We balance each other out so well. We are all on different levels physically and spiritually but all striving for the same thing.

On valentines day we had the amazing privelege to make dinner for our girls. It was so great. The two second year guys, Jimmy and Tyler, bought some stuff. We heard what they got, but we wanted to get more, to do more for our girls. We made them breakfast for dinner and also got them chocolates and roses and Thin Mints. I was so proud of all the guys. We stepped up and served our girls. Not because we wanted to, but because they deserve it and because of that, we wanted to. It was great to see the look on their faces when they walked into the room we prepared for dinner with soft lighting and Michael Bublé. Haha. I love serving our girls, and past just that day, I want to serve them everyday. I want them to see in us what they should be treated like and how a guy should treat them in the future if that guy wants to even consider pursuing them. These girls deserve the best and I hope that they don’t settle for less than the best. 

I’ve found that I’m becoming very protective of my girls and want what’s best for them. I want them to be protected and I want them to feel safe in my presence or the presence of any of the guys on my team. Sadly, a lot of the girls in this program have come from broken families, where their dad wasn’t present in mind or in body. It’s heartbreaking. I’ve already talked to some of the girls and they have told me that they are so privileged to be here. That they feel like they are being protected for the first time or that guys actually care about their hearts for the first time. I want all the girls here to see what a guy should treat them like, especially my girls. These girls are incredible and I love each and every one of them. I’ve got the greatest girls on my team.

Loving my team,

Morgan