Wisdom Way

New England Alliance Update

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:38:14 GMT

On August 19, 2009, I sensed the Lord speak to me with rare clarity about gathering 60 leaders from around New England to meet once a month for a year (the 60.12 plan). As I began to share this vision, several friends mentioned that they thought this vision was somehow connected to the regional VNE Prayer Summit, which had just been canceled. When I went back and checked I discovered a surprising fact-the Lord had spoken to me in this unusual way the very night (August 19th) that the regional VNE prayer Summit had been canceled.

It is just like God to bring these kinds of changes in such a way that no one could really anticipate or take credit for. As Keith Tolley, President of Vision New England, and I discussed this, we decided to issue a joint invitation to the 60.12 Initative (see Keith's letter below).

The 60.12 Plan

60.12 is a plan to bring together 60 leaders from the New England Church over the course of a year (12 meetings). The purpose of these gatherings is to strengthen the regional Church through united prayer and worship, building relationships among leaders, and removing walls that divide us. Come expecting powerful prayer and worship, times of refreshing and encouragement, and bring a heart of persevering love eager to see walls fall between leaders and parts of the body so that "one new man" (Eph. 2:15) can rise from the ashes of our former suspiscion and hostility.

60.12 is similar to a year-long prayer summit. The difference will be that we willhave ongoing relationship and interaction with one another over the course of a year. It is hoped that the relationships formed can be catalytic in further strengthening the ties between us and encouraging united action.

The gatherings will take up an entire day with travel time and will be planned a year in advance so that you can prioritize these gatherings. Each New England state will be visited at least once and the gatherings will connect with existing leadership/prayer gatherings wherever possible. Each participant is asked to commit to attending 10 out of 12 gatherings--the meetings will be open to visitors. We hope the group will represent 6 NE states geographically, ethnically, and represent liturgical, charismatic, and evangelical streams within the Church.

Spiritual Life in Unity

At the beginning of the American Revolution, colonists carried banners portraying all 13 colonies that said, "Unite or die". Only together could the colonies hope to overcome British Tyranny. Only together would a revolution be possible.

There have been visions and dreams of a spiritual revolution in New England for years. Like any battle, there have been seasons of engagement and seasons of disengagement--I believe the Lord is calling us to a unique season of engagement regionally. "Unite or die"-who can deny that this is true for us today. However, the upward call of Psalm 133 is even stronger, if we join together God will command a blessing-"even life forever". Like Ezekiel's bones, it is time for us to unite and come alive!

An Invitation

If God is stirring you to be a part of this year-long adventure, it would be wonderful to have you join us! Already, almost 20 leaders from around the region have signed up to participate. A schedule of the year will be available soon--for now, we can give you the start date. The 60.12 plan is still unfolding--it's a faith walk, thus things are changing and becoming clearer with each step we take. To receive updates about 60.12 gatherings and participants, please contact me at 10daysofprayer@gmail.com .

Grace to you,

Jonathan Friz

Coordinator, NE Alliance

60.12 Start Date: April 27, 2010

9:30-3pm

Congregation Leon de Juda

68 Northampton Street

Boston, MA

Dear Friends,

Last summer, we made the decision to cancel the 2009 Pastors' Prayer Summit. It was a very difficult decision for us to make, but after talking with the leadership of the summit and looking at the Vision New England resources we believed that it was the right one.

A few months ago, we began having conversations with Jonathan Friz, Coordinator for the NE Alliance, about a potential ministry partnership that would bring pastors together for prayer.Early on in our dialogues, Jonathan shared with us the clear leading that he was getting from God to travel across the six-states of New England, gathering pastors and ministry leaders together to "strengthen the regional Church through united prayer and worship, building relationships and removing walls that divide..." The initiative that has come out of this vision is called the "60/12 Plan". This initiative will be launched at the upcoming Boston Prayer Summit, will officially start on April 27, 2010, in Boston, and will include once-a-month gatherings over the following 12 months

Along with New England Alliance's 60/12 Plan, Dave Hill updated us on some very important Prayer Summits that will take place during the first half of 2010. These Summits are geared specifically towards bringing pastors, intercessors and ministry leaders together for a time of prayer, worship, fellowship and encouragement. Here are the dates for the upcoming Summits:

1. Boston Prayer Summit - March 9-11 (see attached brochure)

2. Cape Cod Prayer Summit - April 6-8 (see attached brochure)

3. Connecticut Prayer Summit - May 10-12

4. RI-Area Pastors' Prayer Summit (Sharon, MA) - March 23-25. "Men in Ministry Seeking God's Face"

We are excited about, and fully supportive of, the 60/12 Plan proposed by the members of the New England Alliance. The purpose of my note is to seek your participation in this initiative. I'm asking that you would please consider joining with the New England Alliance in a unique year of gathering together monthly to strengthen the Church in the 6-state region

· Joining with the ministry of New England Alliance in attending these monthly prayer gatherings,

· Participating in one or more of the multi-day Prayer Summit(s) that are coming up.

If you have any questions on this, or need any additional information, please don't hesitate contacting Jonathan Friz of the New England Alliance at 10daysofprayer@gmail.com for the 60/12 Plan, and/or Dave Hill (hilldavidr@rcn.com) or Tom Griffith (tgriffith@rolcboston.org.) for the Prayer Summits..

God bless,

Keith Tolley

Vision New England

New England Alliance Initiative

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:36:53 GMT

Announcing 40 Days of Prayer and Daniel Fasting, March 1-April 9, 2010.

Lou Engle will be present for the launch meeting from 7-9pm, March 1st at:

Ruggles Baptist

874 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02215

For more info:

www.jhopboston.com

"He changes the times and seasons..." Daniel 2:21

"The Holy Spirit testifies in every city..." Acts 20: 23

Throughout many generations, many across the body of Christ have labored in New England, with prayer, fasting, and evangelism. All have had vision for the glory of God in New England, for a great awakening, all inspired by the revival we read about in Jonathan's Edwards time... Some have planted, others have watered...All have had the cry of "LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known..." Habakkuk 3:2

Since 1620, a stream of spiritual outpourings has flowed through New England, influencing the rest of the nation and even the world. Now, there are many national and local leaders who feel a new season is upon New England and that we are on the threshold of another Great Awakening. There is a collective witness of the Holy Spirit that we are to enter into a 40-day season of prayer and fasting. As the JHOP team have felt stirred to enter 40-days of prayer and fasting March 1 - April 9 2010 this sense is independently shared by other leaders and ministries in the body of Christ across America

The International House of Prayer in Kansas City Missouri has been experiencing an extraordinary move of the Spirit marked by salvation, physical/emotional healing and deliverance. Our hearts are encouraged as Lou Engle, Thecall inc., the International House of Prayer (IHOP) leadership and the IHOP community have a burden from the Lord for awakening in New England. They feel the Lord has spoken very clearly that they are to come along side and labor with us in New England for this 40-day season. On Sunday February 14th Lou Engle spoke a message about the 40-day fast and what the Lord is speaking regarding New England. You can view the service by clicking this link. Lou's message starts at the 1:04 mark.

As many throughout America enter into this 40-day season we are inviting the church of New England to engage with us in

24-7 prayer
The vision is that as the cooperate body of believers we would sustain 24-7 prayer as individual churches, campus groups, houses of prayer, etc. commit to praying 1 hour daily or weekly.
Awakening Gatherings
The vision is that during the 40-days each New England state would host an Awakening Gathering. We will be sending the IHOP team and one of their senior leaders to lead an Awakening gathering at churches and college campuses.
New England-Wide Awakening Gathering
The vision is to gathering together at the culmination of our fast on April 9th for a cooperate gathering.

Please visit www.JHOPboston.com to sign up for a prayer time, to locate a prayer gathering and for Awakening Gathering details. Let's join together as the cooperate body of New England to cry out for that which has long been prophesied! Let's believe God for the fullness of all he desires for New England, that we would once again be a land of great revival touching the nations of the earth with the glory of God!

A humble attempt to promote the agreement and union of God's people throughout the world in extraordinary prayer for a revival of religion and the advancement of god's kingdom on earth, according to scriptural promises and prophecies of the last time." - Jonathan Edwards - A Humble Attempt

For the glory of His name!

Josiah Armstrong - Youthstorm (Windham, NH)
Diane Caracciolo -(Providence Life Center (Providence, RI)
Peter Carpentier -North Shore Christian Ministries (Rowley, MA)
Linda Clark - New England Apostolic Prayer Network (Boston, MA)
John and Linda Eckhardt - Stauron International, Stauron University, Pursuit of the Holy (Topsham, ME)
Jonathan Friz - New England Alliance, 10 Days of Prayer (Georgetown, MA)
Germaine - Barnabas Ministries, Inc. (Hopkinton, MA)
David W. Hill - Fenway Church (Boston, MA)
Brian and Ana Lahoue, The Awakening - Harvard Square, Weiner Ministries International
Jeff Marks - New England Concerts of Prayer (Beverly, MA)
Roberto Miranda - Leon de Juda (Boston, MA)
Raffoul Najem- Community Christian Fellowship (Lowell, MA)
Mamdouh and Cynthia Riad - The Glory of God on Cape Cod (Dennis, MA)
Dave Rosen - Gathering Nations New England House of Prayer (Burlington, VT)
Edson Porto - Joshua Project (Wellesley, MA)
Robert Shepitka - NorthEast House of Prayer (Latham, NY)
Colleen Sherman, Sweet Savor Ministries (Boston, MA)
Brian Simmons - Apostolic Resource Center (West Haven, CT)
Todd and Joy Skeirik - Gateway Christian Fellowship (West Haven, CT)
Darrell and Bethany Temple - JHOP Boston (Cambridge, MA)
Gail B. Thomas - Institute for Hebraic Christian Studies New England (Woburn, MA)
Keith Tolley- Vision New England (Danvers, MA)
Bob and Rose Weiner, Weiner Ministries International, The Awakening New England
Kit Weiss - Fellowship of Faith (Middletown, RI)
Marlene Yeo - Somebody Cares New England (Haverhill, MA)

Join the New England - Wide 24-7 prayer initiative!
Click here to view the current prayer schedule and to sign up!!

NYC Walker Praising God

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:56:52 GMT

Boston Prayer Summit

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:40:46 GMT

Boston Prayer Summit

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:36:59 GMT

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your continued prayer and interest in 60.12. At the Black Ministerial Alliance yesterday, I was blessed to hear Biship Thompson share his belief that a mighty move of God is coming to New England and also exhort those gathered to pursue the unity of the Body from Eph. 4:1-3. Those two things...revival and unity are inextricably connected. How is it that everywhere I go around the 6 state region, I can hear the same message?--Awakening is coming to New England, and we prepare for it by breaking down walls that separate the Love of God from flowing within the Church.

Boston Prayer Summit: As I have mentioned in past emails, the Boston Prayer Summit is going to be a launching point for the year of gathering together monthly for prayer, fellowship, and breaking down walls within the Body. If you are able to attend, please fill out the registration document and send it to David Hill--Information is below and the registration form is attached. This year, the summit planners felt led to open the Summit to believers from throughout New England.

Please Share the invitation to 60.12 with others who may be on your mind

Dates: We are progressing in terms of dates: Please mark your calendars for the 1st date, time, and location. If you would like to host a 60.12 gathering, please email me!

Tuesday, April 27, 10am-3pm --1st 60.12 Gathering

Joined by Pray for Boston, citywide prayer gathering

Congregation Leon de Juda

68 Northampton St

Boston MA

Six Steps to Grow in God

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:10:28 GMT

Although the title seems misleading, I think you will agree.

Almost weekly, I am asked about the process of listening to God. For all of the spiritual writing out there, very little of it deals with the practical method of spiritual growth. I think much of the spread of the “new age” spiritualities has been because most of the message concerns methods (and often gimmicks) on how to have a spiritual experience. And truthfully, most of what I see in this form of spirituality will produce an authentic spiritual experience. Of course, I would maintain that this experience is a combination of the demonic and the psychological, and the long effect is going to result in eternal death.

Given that the stakes are high, I think it is essential that every Christian have a legitimate experience with God. A legitimate spiritual life is dependant on hearing the voice of God and learning to obey that Voice. As Jesus said in John 10:27-28 “ My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Learning to hear and discern the voice of God has eternal consequences.

Yes, but how? It is both simple, and complex. One woman that I know once observed that she thought there was an art to prayer, and there is an art to listening to God. Like all arts, there are basic skills that are necessary. They take minutes to learn, but require practice to master.

Step 1. Read your Bible. The place to begin is the Bible. The Bible is the recorded interaction between God and human beings. In order to learn how to hear, you have to learn how God has spoken, and you have to learn what God has said in the past. As you spend time in the scripture, you begin to actually develop the receptors to hear the Lord speak. I am convinced that the scripture alone is not a replacement for hearing the voice of God, but I also am convinced that you cannot hear the voice of God unless you are in the Bible. You need to have an orderly pattern of reading, so that you do not get stuck in your favorite parts, and you need to be forced to read the parts you don’t like. Personally, I don’t like Jeremiah, Job, or James, so when I get to these parts I especially pay attention. It is important to remember that God will not contradict the Bible in speaking to you.

Step 2. Read Spiritual Classics. After the Bible, you need to read the writings of the spiritual masters, the men and women who have left us a legacy of listening to God and being obedient. In learning to listen to God, I would avoid the latest hot Christian book. Go to the books that time has proven—Oswald Chambers, George Muller, Andrew Murray to begin. A more advanced library might include The Sacrament of the Present Moment, Theresa of Avila, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Learning how those in the past have learned to listen to God in practical situations will open your eyes to how to do it in your daily life. Consider these writers “training wheels” to listening.

3. Stay in Community. Now to the practical method of actually listening. God speaks in a multitude of ways, but the tricky part is learning to develop discernment. The contemporary culture is against discernment—“It’s all good” is a dangerous attitude to have. It is not all good, and most people miss the best for the good. The goal is to become a pure stream, where you know that sound of the Master’s voice, and you know when that sound is distorted through your soul, your surroundings, or a variety of other filters. You cannot discern the voice of God without the Community, the Church. You need others more mature to help you discern. God often speaks in community, and being solitary will lead you off the path.

4. Get Quiet. This is probably one of the hardest parts. The Lord is often very quiet. It is important to spend time in the Lord’s Presence in silence. No TV, radio, internet, or music. You will quickly discover that your own soul is the noisiest part of your life. When this happens, put your hand on heart, take a deep breath, exhale, and remind yourself that Jesus lives in you, your heart is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and you will be at rest. This will take practice.

5. Keep a Journal. Eventually, you will begin to hear things. They will come as thoughts, impressions, possibly a mental picture. You might have the scripture you read that morning come echoing back. You might get a new idea. At this early stage, it is especially important you write it all down. In the writing, you will discover clear patterns. Eventually you will probably hear the Lord tell you how much He loves you. You will probably hear a lot about your dreams, your destiny, and your purpose. Also, keep track of anything that might seem strange. You will get some of this too. It will take a while before you a certain which parts are God, and which are from last night’s cold pizza. But eventually, it will become clear.

6. Respond in Obedience. Eventually the Lord will begin to give you direction. It might be something small at first, and eventually, the Lord will begin to ask you to do more. You will learn that the flowing of the Lord’s revelation will depend on doing what the Lord tells you.

These are the basic beginning steps. Remember, the spiritual life for a Christian is a relationship with a Person. Like all relationships, there is an ebb and flow, and an element of mystery. There are also surprises. Listening to God is going to change you. You will begin to become like the Speaker.

In the next post, I will begin to explore the various ways God speaks.

Message for MA

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:12:18 GMT

Next 10 Days Meeting

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:13:04 GMT

Hi Everyone,

Hope you have all been enjoying the Holyday slowdown. I've been taking the last week or so very slow, and enjoying time to sleep, watch movies, and hang out with the family.

David and I spoke yesterday. We decided to call a Wisdom Way meeting on Monday, Jan 11 at First Baptist in Amherst. We'll worship and pray together, get to see one another and catch up. In terms of planning, the primary focus is going to be on preparing for the 10 days in the Pioneer Valley. Also, it will be great to catch up on the latest from Northfield.

After this meeting in Amherst, we'll plan on another one in Beverly in February :)

1st Baptist Church
434 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01002-1735

Meeting Time: Monday, January 11: 10am-3pm--bring lunch

If you're not able to make the entire meeting, we'll have prayer and fellowship in the AM and planning for 10 days in the PM.

Blessings,

Jonathan

Next 10 Days Meeting Jan 11

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:18:21 GMT

Hi Everyone,

Hope you have all been enjoying the Holyday slowdown. I've been taking the last week or so very slow, and enjoying time to sleep, watch movies, and hang out with the family.

David and I spoke yesterday. We decided to call a Wisdom Way meeting on Monday, Jan 11 at First Baptist in Amherst. We'll worship and pray together, get to see one another and catch up. In terms of planning, the primary focus is going to be on preparing for the 10 days in the Pioneer Valley. Also, it will be great to catch up on the latest from Northfield.

After this meeting in Amherst, we'll plan on another one in Beverly in February :)

1st Baptist Church

434 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01002-1735

Meeting Time: Monday, January 11: 10am-3pm--bring lunch

If you're not able to make the entire meeting, we'll have prayer and fellowship in the AM and planning for 10 days in the PM.

Blessings,

Jonathan
--

60.12

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:20:07 GMT

Dear Friends--Church leaders, intercessors, business people

I have met with or spoken with most of you in the last months to regarding 60.12. If not, beware, I am probably trying to get in touch with you! I have also included intercessors who will hold this process in prayer (You know who you are!)

Pursuing Jesus in His call through 60.12 has been a lot like following a trail of crumbs--I'm not entirely sure where this is heading, but we seem to be making some progress. I have been blown away by the grace that has been on the travels, conversations, and planning of 60.12. Several times I have had to pinch myself--Yes, Lord, this really seems to be coming together. Because of the unfolding and tentative nature of this venture, I am going to begin sending weekly or bi-monthly updates to keep everyone informed on what is happening.

Let me share some of the developments so far--keep in mind, these items are all tentative.

1) We desire 60.12 to flow together with existing prayer/leadership gathering movements. As a fulfillment of this, we are planning to launch 60.12 from the Boston Pastor's Prayer Summit (March 9-11). In a special dispensation, BPS will be opened up NE Wide. Contact Dave Hill (hilldavidr@rcn.com) for more information on Prayer Summit registration. We will invite participants at the prayer summit into the yearlong journey of 60.12. 60.12 will officially begin mid-April (We are looking at Wednesday, April 14) and will continue through March 2011.

2) As another fulfillment of this desire to avoid redundancy, it looks like 60.12 and the EGC sponsored "Pray for Boston" citywide prayer meetings will flow together from April 2010-March 2011.

3) It was discovered, after a few hints from friends, that the Vision New England prayer summit, a NE institution for almost 20 years, was canceled on the same day (Aug. 19) that God gave the go ahead for 60.12. Keith Tolley and I discussed this hand-off. Both of us are convinced that this was a divinely orchestrated re-arrangement--that 60.12 is carrying on in the heritage of the NE Prayer Summits. As such, VNE is partnering with us in promoting 60.12 and we are looking into other ways of partnering.

4) Friends and helpers: Rebecca Hall, a woman with a passion and calling to see the Body of Christ built up in unity, is beginning to take time off from her job at U-Mass Lowell in order to assist in sharing the vision for 60.12 around New England. Christ Otto, leader of 333 House of Prayer, will also be helping in this capacity. Quite simply, the help of my two great friends means that we can be two places at once!

Where do we go from here?

1) I will begin to send weekly updates about the progress of 60.12. If you want to unsubscribe, simply reply and put "unsubscribe" in the subject line

2) If you want to be a part of 60.12, let me know. I will give running totals of committed participants in my email update.

3) What would I be committing to? A great question--please see the attachment or 2 paragraph description below.

4) If you sense a call to be part of the planning and organizing, or you want your church to host a 60.12 gathering, please contact me!

5) By the new year, we are hoping to have a schedule for the 1st six months available, allowing you to arrange your schedule far in advance.

"60.12 is a plan to bring together at least 60 leaders from the New England Church over the course of a year (12 meetings). The purpose of these gatherings is to strengthen the regional Church through united prayer and worship, building relationships among leaders, and removing walls that divide us. Prayer, Love for one another, and reconciliation are all powerful spiritual weapons—it is our hope that this year of regional gatherings will strengthen leaders and the Church, as well as be a part of God’s plan for a mighty move of His Spirit in our region. It is also hoped that coming before the Lord in this way will position us to hear from God corporately and enable us to have a corporate voice in a region that desperately needs to hear the good-news spoken with grace and truth.

The gatherings will take up an entire day with travel time and will be planned a year in advance so that leaders can prioritize these gatherings. Each New England state will be visited at least once and the gatherings will connect with existing leadership/prayer events wherever possible. Each leader will commit to attending 10 out of 12 gatherings. Leaders should represent the 6 NE states geographically, ethnically, and represent liturgical, charismatic, and evangelical streams within the Church."

Every Blessing,

Jonathan Friz

Rabbi Ira

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:55:19 GMT

Very interesting discussion.

5th Friday Prayer Report from NE Alliance

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:50:41 GMT

Testimonies from 5th Fridays

Hillsborough County, NH

We had a powerful time of prayer and praise with 5 pastors and 175 saints in attendance hosted by Pastor Gary Williams of Burns Hill Christian Fellowship in Milford NH. The prayer theme for the night was "Divine Intervention With our Youth" because our region was recently rocked by a horrifying crime several weeks ago where 4 teens robbed a home at random, hacked the mom to death in her bed and critically wounded an 11 year old daughter while the husband David Cates was away on a business trip...

Our local pastors group felt we should not only have prayer for our teens but also prayer by our teens. We believed that the devil used teens to wound our community and God would use teens to help heal our community. We planned three youth-led segments: Cates Family Tragedy, Unreached Youth, and Revival in Churches. One of the youth leaders read Isaiah 62:1-3, 6-7 as a prayer replacing the word "Jerusalem" with the words "this generation". The congregation was moved by the passion and commitment of the youth leaders and began to cry out to God themselves for a lost generation. A brother delivered a powerful word from God encouraging us that God was stirring a youth revival in NH and presented as a gift to the youth leaders an amazing painting he had found which confirmed his word.

We ran over our scheduled ending time by almost an hour and we could have easily allowed the meeting to continue longer without complaint. This was unquestionably the best of our fifth Friday prayer meetings and one of the best prayer meetings I have ever attended.

Pastor Nick Manha

Brighton, MA

Abundant Grace Church in Boston has been hosting Fifth Friday prayer gatherings to pray for awakening in New England for over a year now. We usually have anywhere from one to three other churches joining us for praise and intercession. Every gathering has been blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who attends is built up in their faith and leaves encouraged to believe God for His kingdom to advance in New England. I get lots of positive feedback from those who attend, and apologies from those who came before but could not make the last meeting. Some friends visited from Needham last spring and then started their own prayer gathering. It has that kind of effect.

Our size is generally smallish, around 20 to 40 believers. We love praying together and will continue to do so knowing that other churches and believers are uniting in a cry to God for our region.

I believe anyone who will start a fifth Friday gathering will be glad that they did so. Let's press on for revival in New England. Jesus said "when the Son of Man returns will he find faith on the earth", and he promised us that the Father would answer us when we cry to him day and night.

Pastor Dave Hill

Merrimack County, NH

After an excellent prayer meeting at Grace Capital from 6:30-8:00 a number of us went over to the Gospel Light Church of God and had an extended time of fervent intercession from 8:30 through midnight hour. There were nearly 20 of us with over a dozen praying through until after midnight. We began with a reading from Ezra 10:5-10, concerning Ezra standing in the gap in heart felt repentance for the sins of God's people. There was a strong sense amongst the intercessors that it is God's people that are in need of repentance as judgment must begin with the house of God. In an open forum style different ones lead out in prayer for different areas, as the Spirit led us often reading scriptures before praying...The Spirit led us at the end to pray for each person individually for personal Blessings. It was a powerful time with the presence and liberty of God's Spirit felt strongly.

No one wanted to leave, lingering and talking afterwards, as everyone was filled with the peace and joy of the Lord, agreeing that this must be done on a regular basis.

Pastor Peter Preston

Miracle Boston: The Power and the Love of God on Display

Thanks be to God who has given us the victory this fall! It was truly an amazing thing that God did with the same sex marriage vote in Maine and the success of Miracle Boston. They both prove that when the body of Christ comes together and believes Jesus, anything is possible.

Miracle Boston was an example of great teamwork and a variety of giftings and churches working together. The groundwork for what happened has been laid in prayer, especially this year through JHOP and NEAPN. The connections with various churches were made possible in part by the relationships formed through the N.E. Alliance. The conference lasted 10 days from Oct 18-28 and was hosted in 4 different locations: Pepperell, Natick, Cambridge, and Lowell. Georgian and Winnie Banov led a team of speakers that included Che Ahn, Patricia King, and Heidi Baker.

On the first night in Pepperell, there was an unusual snowstorm in mid-October. This confusion of seasons seemed to be an image of the confusion that was coming on the enemy's camp. Healing and deliverance started to break out immediately. In Natick, even the speakers Che Ahn and Patricia King were surprised by the hunger of the participants and by the healings. A person with chronic hip pain was completely healed. Diabetes was instantaneously healed-blood sugar levels completely normal. A man with MS was healed, who then went to get the healing confirmed by the doctors. The brain scan showed no sign of MS! Cases of chronic depression disappeared and many other "smaller miracles" occurred.

The healings continued in Cambridge. A man with a large tumor on his head was touched and saw the tumor shrink down miraculously. A woman with stage 4 cancer now has a clean bill of health! The sessions with Heidi Baker were amazing-nearly 1,000 lives were touched by God on Sunday night alone. That night brought together many parts of the body: Catholic priests, students from Harvard and MIT, Koreans, Hispanics, and an incredible Black worship team from Berkley School of Music. Heidi challenged all present to care for the lost and the hurting with a spiritual authority that comes from years of living with and loving the poorest of the poor.

The presence of the Lord was mighty in Lowell. The level of faith that was there encouraged us to take it to the streets and the conference spilled out of the church walls. Georgian and Tracey Armstrong worked as a team with words of knowledge and raised up teams of youth to do the same. Some of the meetings were extended until midnight.

The results of what Jesus did at Miracle Boston are truly ongoing. I have been following up with those healed and delivered and with the pastors involved. It is clear that not only is the fruit remaining but that new outbreaks of healing and renewal have been happening in churches. These signs of God's love and power have brought great joy to Linda and I who have been trusting God to move in New England for many years.

What can we say? It is God's time to move. He is doing a new thing. Will we percieve it? He is bringing a convergence of things together - now it is coming forth! All glory to Jesus for his great love for us and Boston. Let us continue to move forward in his love for each other and for those who don't know Him!

--Rich and Linda Brink

Rich and Linda are a long-time pastoral couple from Maine. They currently work with Global Celebration Ministries setting up and hosting conferences like Miracle Boston. Rich has served for the last several years as a Maine Representative in the New England Alliance.

The Saints Arise: 5th Friday and Halloween in Salem MA

On October 29-31st, prayer groups from around New England gathered together in downtown Salem, MA at Eastgate Christian Fellowship, to make a stand for Jesus Christ in the midst of the Halloween festivities. The gathering, called "Flow six-oh (60)" was forged out of a hunger for unity and designed to bring many ministries together from around New England for united prayer and outreach. In a happy stroke of Providence, the 60 hour event included the October "5th Friday". At Eastgate and around New England, we were flowing together in the Spirit. Most participants were younger, and included Jamie Dickson and a group from Maine, a YWAM team from Kona Hawaii, Ryan Weatherhead and a team from Connecticut, as well as many others.

Although the 3 day prayer and outreach gathering began on Thursday night, we began 24 hour prayer with our 5th Friday gathering on October 30th. The sweet presence of the Lord was thick in the room as about 50 participants meditated on His love for us during the 5th Friday. I remember thinking how peaceful everything felt that night-God was stirring love for Him in our hearts-wooing us, bringing us to repentance, that was all. Even as we began to pray about Halloween, asking God for healings, deliverance, and salvation for the lost, there was a real sense of peace and rest. Love, peace, rest, faith, agreement with His word-these are the weapons of our warfare and I knew that we were warring in agreement with Heaven. What amazed me was that I did not really sense very much spiritual opposition. I was wondering, "Where's the spiritual opposition?" In hindsight, I see that God was establishing us in a place of confident trust, where our eyes were only on Him and we were completely confident of our victory with Him. We would need to be confident in love in order to take our stand for light in Salem on Halloween...

Prayer went on through the night and into the next day. After checking out the Halloween crowds and another Halloween outreach sponsored by a church called The Gathering, I headed back to Eastgate. The prayer had been going on since I left last night, but when I arrived everyone seemed to be taking a break, getting ready for the night. Tonight, rather than concentrating our force in the prayer room, half of the participants were in the prayer room, half the team was ministering on the streets.

In the prayer room, the difference in the atmosphere was tangible. First of all, in contrast to the previous night, I found it very difficult to enter into worship. At one point, I found someone sharing Scripture, the same Scripture I had shared the night before but in my mind I was saying, "yeah right, that's not true." How could I be denying the very thing I was preaching the night before? When this happened, I quickly came to my senses, realized I was under spiritual attack, and buckled in for a wild night of prayer.

The opposition was fierce. It seemed I had to keep praying continually in order to keep pushing against the resistance we were facing. It was not scary or laborious, there was just an awareness that if I stopped praying and releasing the Holy Spirit, the enemy would begin to move in and overcome. I could also tell that others in the room were under the influence of the same heavy, lying spirit that had come on me at the beginning of the night. In response to these lies, we prayed out of Colossians 1 and 2, declaring the reality that Jesus is Lord over every principality and power in the universe, and that we were His representatives in this place. As we declared this truth, the air in the room seemed to clear, as if all of a sudden we realized that in Christ we could not lose.

Meanwhile, on the streets packed with 100,000 revelers, we were beginning to reap the fruit of our united prayer and simple confidence in Jesus. Teams were inviting passers-by to receive prayer for healing and also to receive prophetic words. The teams reported close to 100% success in healing prayer. When I first heard what they were saying, I did not believe it. I had never seen that kind of success in praying for healing. All in all, they could only think of 3 or 4 people all night who were not healed after receiving prayer. Many people with back-pain or other "minor" ailments were receiving a touch from the Lord. One woman who could not move her right knee came up for prayer. She was a bit facetious about the whole process, yet sincere. After receiving prayer she not only moved her knee, she was dancing around on the crowded streets saying, "I'm healed, I'm healed, I'm not even joking."

An unknown woman came up to receive a "spiritual reading". The Lord gave Jamie some information about her-she was into the occult and channeling spirits. Then it got really specific. Jamie was able to tell her that she had recently started channeling a spirit that was more than she had bargained for, and that she was losing sleep because of this evil spirit. The woman said, "I've been waking up every morning at 4am...You're good, you're really good."

Another man walked up to one of the Hawaiian missionaries and said, "I'm a bad person, can you help me?" The young man said, "Do you want to receive Jesus as your savior?" The man said, "Yes". In 10 seconds he had prayed to receive Jesus into his heart, after 30 seconds, he had received prayer to be filled with the Spirit. He left saying, "I don't know what you just did, but I feel completely different. Thank you." The outreach team said it seemed as though there was a zone of glory where they were ministering. When people walked in, they were changed. The growing strength of faith among us, the boldness of the witness on the streets, the unity, the 24 hour prayer covering, the united prayer around NE on 5th Fridays-all these factors working together contributed to God releasing Glory on the streets of Salem during Halloween

Meanwhile, we were still going strong back in the prayer room-still pushing back against something. As we prayed, the Lord gave me the word "retainer"; we were like a retaining wall, holding back the evil that was wanting to come into Salem. We cried out for the ignorant and curious to be spared encounters with darkness out of curiosity. We prayed for people to go home early and go to bed. We prayed for mercy.

At the end of the night, there was a strong sense that we had prevailed...we had won the battle in the heavens that night, in the same way that the RAF won the Battle of Britain by continuing to push back a superior force, preventing an invasion. We had been a spiritual retaining wall, standing against an invasion of darkness in that city.

On Monday, I read the Salem newspaper. "Unseasonably Mild", reported The Salem News, in addition to record high temperatures, crime and violent crime were at all-time lows this year, in spite of record crowds. The paper also reported that a noticable amount of people had decided to go home early, just as we prayed. Clearly, our prayers were not the only factor. The other Saints that were doing outreach, the people on the streets, and especially the public service workers and city officials all made this possible. Still, the written record of Halloween seemed like a report on what we had asked for in our time of prayer. What we were sensing in the prayer room, we were then able to read about in the newspaper. (See report "Unseasonably Mild" Nov. 2, 2009: Salem News Article)

--Jonathan Friz

10 Days in Amherst NH

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:45:46 GMT

Hi Everyone,

David met with Pastor Greg today. Although he was not even going to bring it up, he asked if we could host the 10 Days at FBC in Amherst. Pastor Greg is very excited to open up the church to us! David was so excited about the good news and sensed the tangible grace of God throughout his conversation with pastor Greg.

We will work with the paradigm we had at Lowell...guests from far away will stay in homes or in the church as a last resort. One upside of our new location is that being in Amherst will make it easier for most locals to attend as the church is more central to population centers. Praise the Lord! I hope to have news on the Beverly location after Thanksgiving.

Peace,

Jonathan

--
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...If we love one another God abides in us and His love has been made perfect in us." 1 John 4:11-12

Jonathan's November Update

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:02:32 GMT

Hi Everyone,

It was so good to be back together at David's on Monday. We had great time of fellowship, prayer, teaching, sharing and planning, as well as an impromptu walk up David's 'prayer mountain'. It was great to have Jeff Marks and Pastor Neil Hubaker join us as well, as well as Evangeline Jane on her first long car ride to the Pioneer Valley.

HOP Updates: The houses of prayer in Boston is up to 15 hours/week (12-3 Tues-Sat). The one in Beverly is up to 18 hours (3-5 M-F, 7-9 M, W-F). It's exciting to see how God is building these centers of prayer. Please pray for more involvement and for fresh faces in the prayer rooms, that they would become part of the daily rhythm for many, strengthening the members of the Body.

10 Days Update: We spent the last hour discussing plans for the Spring 10 days of prayer. The plans that follow are tentative--neither of the buildings have been confirmed, so please pray for favor and direction as we try to nail down the locations before the new year.

10 Days Amherst--Our primary focus will be on hosting a 10 days of prayer in the Pioneer Valley at First Baptist Church in Amherst. Most Wisdom Way regulars are planning to attend here. If Northfield becomes a possibility, we would consider going there instead. Those travelling from out of town will be housed in a similar way to what we did this year in the fall, staying in homes or at the church if necessary.

10 Days Beverly--Through relationship with Neil Hubacker, Pilgrim Church, and The Harbor Church, we are hoping to see a 10 Days of prayer happen in Beverly, MA at Pilgrim church. This initiative would be primarily driven by the local church in Beverly.

Other 10 day gatherings Last year, there was an amazing 10 days of prayer in Rutland VT. Our heart is to see these two 10 day prayer gatherings become a part of church culture--to see prayer focused in time just as we focus prayer in space at the houses of prayer. We would love to see more gatherings happen! If you are feeling led to lead a gathering where you are in the Spring, email me and let me know how I or any of the rest of us can help.

I'm excited about 2010...we will likely have our next meeting in January. Assuming these plans remain steady, we will probably hold our next meeting at one of the locations for the spring gatherings.

Peace, Joy, and Righteousness in the Holy Spirit,

Jonathan

60 12 Vision

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:53:16 GMT

60 12 Vision

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:52:43 GMT

Please check out the MEDIA section for Jonathan's 60 12 Vision for 2010. We would love your viewpoint.

Baby Girl

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:29:54 GMT

After an intense night of labor and no sleep, I am happy to report that we have a healthy baby girl born at 12:40pm this afternoon and weighing 8 pounds 8 ounces. No name yet. Wow, The midwives were great and Cassi was amazing...it was awesome to have the baby right in our home. The Lord was so good in it all!! Dad is really tired, still doing laundry because when you give birth at home, you do your own linens :)

Blessings,

Jonathan

NE Alliance

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:53:23 GMT

Reports from "Our Eyes are on You": Sept 26, 2009

There is a dynamic when the people of God come together seeking God's face with fasting that is unmistakeable. It is as though both heaven and earth know that we are coming together to "do business". Invariably in these circumstances, a transaction is made--mercy, grace, and an increase in the presence of Holy Spirit with God's people as praise rises to the Father through Jesus Christ.

On September 26, 2009 between two and three-hundred believers from around New England gathered in a Solemn Assembly in Lowell, MA. While most Solemn Assemblies have a strong focus on specific acts of repentance, this one had a slightly different purpose--to declare in the midst of all that "the LORD is good and His mercy endures forever" and to worship Him as the one who triumphs over our enemies.

Presence

One of the core beliefs of the NE Alliance is in the power of God's manifest presence to transform lives, the Church, and culture. Our vision statement reads:

"Remembering the covenants of the past, we purpose together to seek the manifest presence of God across the six New England states so that revival might once again visit this region, bringing awakening to the Church and transformation to the culture."

Fundamentaly, revival is simply what happens when God's presence manifests and begins to change things. This is why Heaven is in continual revival--It is continually saturated by the presence of God! As we gathered in Solemn Assembly, we were first of all seeking the presence of God with us. And He came. One person reported, "At one point in the meeting, the presence of God was so strong that I had to step out of the room." An interesting side-effect of the presence of God that many noticed was that time seemed to somehow speed up. At first I thought it was just my perception, but many others commented on it as well--it was like a taste of time in eternity.

Awe

At one point in the gathering after worship, a holy hush came over the assembly. We could sense the awesome presence of God in the room. Many were on their knees, waiting upon the Lord in silence. Participant Suzanne Carter said, "I had been to many worship gatherings, but the sense of the awe and majesty of God [at the Solemn Assembly] was what struck me as different and powerful." The silent awe that invaded the room caused the leadership to radically alter the plan of the assembly in order to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Tears

While the Assembly was happening above, a small group of intercessors praying below the service and in the back had an inexplicable flood of tears that lasted nearly the entire 4 hours. As one said, "It was as though I was saying to God, this is the best we can offer you, we need you to come and intervene." The message of the tears spoke louder than words: "You are our only hope--we need you to act on our behalf." God was releasing expressions of mourning and desperation through His people--truly, our eyes were looking to Him alone.

Honor

A highlight of the service was the honoring of Jeff Marks, long-time NE prayer pioneer and a key person in the founding of the NE Alliance. Bethany Yeo gathered a book of testimonies from various people whose lives had been affected by Jeff's ministry. We presented this book of remembrance to Jeff in gratitude for his life laid down for the love of God and revival in New England. The entire assembly joined in blessing Jeff and praying for his continued recovery from an illness that has afflicted him for 2 years. In response to honor, prayers, blessing, Jeff has had amazing breakthrough since the Assembly--please continue to pray for the full recovery of this father and lion of the New England prayer movement.

Roberto Miranda and Jonathan Friz honor Jeff Marks (Left)

Praise

The dominant theme of the assembly was 2 Chron. 20: triumphing with God through faith-filled praise. We expressed our praise and confidence in the Lord through a true covenant thank-you--we all participated in the Lord's supper together. We also expressed it through a generous offering to support the ministry of the Alliance. We expressed it through exhortation, prayer, and through united worship that continued to declare 'Praise the LORD, for His mercy endures forever."

Father of Mercy, our eyes are on you. Look down on us now and have mercy. Begin to release the fullness of Your Kingdom, Your power, and Your love through Your people. Show us, Give us the likeness of Jesus that we might love one another and so declare Your truth to the world.

A Report on A Time to Mourn: the Fall 10 Days of Prayer

When prayer is sustained in a place, it releases the "fragrance of Jesus." Like baking bread, you cannot worship in spirit and in truth without creating a fragrance. This spiritual fragrance creates the atmosphere within homes, meetings, churches, even cities and entire regions. The fragrance of Jesus shapes the culture of a place--In heaven, no one sins and everyone worships--when the atmosphere of heaven invades the earth, sin is difficult and prayer natural.

Unity enhances this fragrance. You probably don't smell like coffee after making your morning brew at home. However, you can't walk out of a coffee shop without smelling like coffee because of the concentration of brewed and bagged beans. Likewise, when we concentrate prayer and worship, you can't walk away from the experience without smelling like Jesus. This is why concentrated places of prayer (Houses of Prayer) and concerted times of Prayer (5^th Fridays, 10 Days of Prayer, etc) are powerful and necessary for the Body to grow. We need to experience the atmosphere of Heaven on a frequent basis-then we can begin to live life as those who are really "from there". (Heb 11:14-16)

"Watch with me"

On Sunday night we sat in a circle, listening to the Lord without saying a word, the Lord began to speak to us. When we finally broke the silence and shared, it was amazing to hear how God had been speaking and showing the same things to us all at the same time. One of the dominant themes of that night was illustrated in Scripture through the last supper. We sensed that Jesus eagerly desired for us to sit, watch, and pray with Him. It was as though He was in agony again over what was coming on the earth and was glad to have our companionship.

Have you ever walked with a friend through loss, grief, or crisis? If you have, you know that often-times there is nothing to say. Also, there are no friends like those who have walked through death with you. Our closest friends will be those who are willing to sit with us in our darkest moments. That night it struck me: For depth of relationship with God, we need to partner with Him in the grief and agony of His heart.

Imagine God's situation--He sees every evil deed, every murder, rape, abusive word, every lie. He knows every child that is aborted; every girl sold into sex-slavery is His daughter. And yet, He restrains His wrath. He sees every backroom political secret-every evil scheme to defraud or kill innocents. Yet he also loves the unjust, the abuser. He sees everyone and everything as it is. And yet, He restrains His wrath. All the while, the arrogant raise their fists at Him--"How can YOU allow these things to happen?"

At bottom, God's heart is limitless joy. However, imagine the grief this Father of Joy must feel both because of the evil in the earth and because of the judgment that must surely come on those who will not repent. This was the place in God's heart that He invited us into on Sunday night.

Intercession: Towards the return of Jesus

A Time to Mourn is fundamentally an act of preparation for the return of Jesus. As such, we continually intercede with an eye towards "preparing the way" for the Lord's return. Scripture is clear that Jesus cannot just return at any time. There are certain words that must be fulfilled on earth before the time of Christ's return. While unbelievers and backsliders will be surprised, Paul says, "But You are not in darkness that the day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Th. 5:4) While we will not know the "day or hour", we are called to know the "times and seasons" of the return of Jesus and to "hasten the day of the Lord" (2 Peter 2:12) through our prayers and righteous conduct.

The New Testament gives abundant examples of events that will precede the return of Christ. The gospel will be preached in the whole world (Matt. 24), the Jewish people will discover their Messiah (Rom 11:15,29-31), the antichrist will be revealed (2 Thess. 2), and the Church will walk in unprecedented purity, holiness, intimacy, and power (Rev. 19:7, Joel 2:28, Eph. 4:13, etc.). Each afternoon, we focused our prayers on these topics as the Spirit led us, partnering with God to bring Jesus back to the earth. This partnership is the essence of the Lord's prayer, "Thy Kingdom Come on earth as it is in Heaven."

Intercession: Awakening Desire

In a slightly different way, we interceded through God teaching our hearts to "long for the day". For the Christian, there are desires in our hearts that will never be fulfilled until Christ returns. As we become "pure in heart", receiving grace to desire God alone and the fullness of Jesus Christ, our desire works as intercession to "hasten the day" of Jesus' return. Make no mistake, He is returning to a Church whose only prayer and longing is this: "Come, Lord Jesus." The pure in heart will see God at His return. This desire, longing, lovesickness is what is meant by "bridegroom mourning". It is the heart-desire of the bride for the return of Jesus and is another condition of His return. He is coming back to a people who desire Him as much as He desires us.

Joy Comes in the Mourning

As the 10 days progressed, we all sensed an increase in the presence of the Lord through the gatherings. Various people were delivered of evil spirits or long-standing sin issues. Some encountered the Holy Spirit for the first time while all were growing in relationship and experience with Him. One night, we formed a "fire-tunnel", where everyone walked down the line being prayed for. God released His blessing and joy on us and some were on the floor laughing. A few short minutes later, some were crying as intense intercession for America suddenly came out of nowhere from the Holy Spirit. We were tapping into the emotions of God's heart.

On the final Monday, somehow we were still going strong. We were hungry (for food!) and some were feeling "prayed out". When it was time, I decided to seal the meeting with a final prayer. I prayed a simple prayer, not expecting anything exciting to happen as I wrapped everything up. However, after I prayed, the joy of God fell on me and Nancy Mari, who was standing next to me. We both reacted physically, bending over because of the sudden impact of the Lord.

When I straightened up, I found I was overwhelmed by the Joy of God; caught completely off-guard by the wine of God which he poured on me as I prayed a simple, unsuspecting prayer. As I was promoting A Time to Mourn beforehand, I indulged in a pun on Psalm 30:5: "Joy comes in the Mourning." I told people that submitting to a time of mourning with God's heart would ultimately result in the release of joy from God's heart. I was blown away to find the Lord fulfilling my words in so literal a fashion. He really did send Joy with the mourning. I can also say that in spite of difficult circumstances this month, I am walking in a revelation of the joy, pleasure, and continual presence of God like never before in my life. Sacrifice, obedience, all of it is for the joy that is set before us in Jesus Christ. A Time to Mourn is a time of sacrificial obedience to the Lord--the fruit of this time of fasting and mourning in my own life has been so good--Truly, Joy comes in the Mourning!

"Joy Comes in the Mourning" --Jonathan Friz

Dear Friends,

I am sorry to be so late in getting this update out to you--thank you Lord for writing grace at last . My hope is that it encourages and strengthens you, and also gives you a hunger and desire to seek God and submit willingly to seasons of fasting and mourning--of these I can say, they are good medicine: hard to decide to swallow, but their fruit is "peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit."

I cannot overemphasize the experimental nature of A Time to Mourn. No one, least of all me, knows what is going to happen. I simply know this: in 2004 God told me to call His people to "mourn and fast" during the 10 days from Rosh HaShannah to Yom Kippur--and the only way to figure out what he meant is to walk it out in experimental obedience. Like Abraham, we start walking towards a place He will show us and then God tells us "you're here now."

This was the second year to do A Time to Mourn in a public setting. Last year, to be honest, I did not really enjoy ATTM very much. During the 10 days I often felt depressed, overwhelmed, and inadequate. Afterward, I had an amazing sense of accomplishment and of God's pleasure. This year, we were determined to improve our experiment. We were a little wiser, a little more mature in our understanding of what God was after, and stronger in our faith. The result was that over the course of 10 very intense days, everyone stayed encouraged, strong, focused, and yes, even joyful. This year the growth from last year was tangible in every area.

Vision for More

The vision for A Time to Mourn is to see believers around the world entering into mourning and fasting during the Jewish days of Awe. Fasting and mourning for the return of Jesus during this season is a prophetic declaration:Jesus is returning, let's get ready. It is like the Church calendar in reverse. Instead of celebrating what Jesus has already done through Easter and Pentecost, we are declaring in advance His return through the Jewish feasts that foreshadow His second coming.

This year, we got to experience what this looks like in a local church context. We stayed in private homes and commuted every day to CCF in Lowell. I hope that our experience this year can serve as a model for what future gatherings might look like in your own local church context.

Fragrance: What's different this week?

One of my favorite testimonies from this year came from CFCA, the school that meets at Community Christian Fellowship. Halfway through ATTM, we began to get reports that "something was different" in the school. Parents and teachers alike were noticing that the school "felt more peaceful" and that even problem kids were better behaved. They started asking, "what's different about this week?" Of course, the difference was the presence of the Lord!

NE Alliance October Meeting

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:35:51 GMT

Prayer and Worship

Wednesday's meeting was both challenging and excellent in many ways. It was one of our less attended gatherings; most state reps were unable to attend. Although this was disappointing, we were not discouraged but kept our eyes focused on Jesus, and had one of the most powerful times of prayer and worship we have ever had at an Alliance gathering. The Lord truly showed up in our midst. It was also a beautiful day of divine convergence. We were at Pilgrim Church in Beverly, the same building where the Pilgrim House of Prayer meets. Wednesday was the first day of the morning shifts (7-9am, M-F). It was a real blessing to have the Alliance meet on the day that the House of Prayer was starting the new hours.

On a personal note, as many of you know, Jeff Marks has not been well since the winter of 2007. His recovery has been slow. Jeff attended his first Alliance meeting since 2007 this Wednesday. During our prayer time, Jeff prayed like I haven't heard him pray in 2 years. It was as though the sleeping lion had awakened. After the prayer, I asked him about how he was feeling. He said that during the meeting, he had begun to experience the joy of the Lord again for the first time in years! Seeing Jeff come alive like this was probably the best part of the meeting for me. I include this in the update, because I know it will cheer many of your hearts and also encourage you to continue to pray for his complete recovery.

Proposals

At the beginning of the month, the Alliance Board met at Lion of Judah, partly, in order to set the agenda for the upcoming year. Although several ideas were discussed, no hard and fast agenda was set for 2010. This Wednesday, several proposals were repeated or made for the first time. We need to hear the response of those who were not present--let me know what you think!

60.12 Vision Gathering 60 leaders from around NE once a month for prayer, fellowship, and intentionally addressing areas of division in the body (Jonathan Friz 10daysofprayer@gmail.com)

Mass Awake Victor Khoklan, a Russian pastor in Sommerville, presented a vision God has laid on his heart for united prayer and fasting in Massachuetts focused on the "moral slide" in recent years and on return to the founding purposes of our nation/MA. Victor's vision included hosting a Solemn Assembly in September 2010, something we have done for the last 2 years. It seems that there is some major overlap between Victor's vision and the vision of the Alliance. vrkhokhlan@yahoo.com

GDOP 2010 David McCahon, a pastor in Western MA, has proposed hosting a GDOP gathering on May 23, 2010 at the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA. The Mullins Center is Umass Amherst's main indoor sports arena, and can seat up to 10,000. David suggested a 5,000 person event for the GDOP spearheaded by local church leaders with the support of the Alliance. All expenses related to the Mullins center (rental, sound, insurance, etc.) would be an extraordinarily low $7,500. This day has been reserved by David. David is also looking into other dates as well, including Sept 18 for a fall Solemn Assembly and October 10 for a "University Call" with Lou Engle. dmcahon@comcast.net

Return to Righteous Roots: Becoming a Culture of Remembrance Josiah Armstrong has proposed hosting Garrett Lear, the "Patriot Pastor", for two days in January and February for training days on the holy history and redemptive call of America. Contrary to my initial email to some of you, Josiah is unable to emcee/organize this gathering. We would need to make a decision within the next week on this, so if you are interested in helping to host this, please let me know right away. jarmstrong@youthstorm.org

HELP Found! Finally, one more piece of good news. Suzanne Carter, will begin serving one day a week for the Alliance and helping with communicatons, website, and promotion. Suzanne formerly worked in the mentored ministry department of Gordon-Conwell, connecting students and ministries around New England. Because of her extensive relationships throughout NE via the Seminary, her giftings as a connector, and the clear call of God on her for this, she is uniquely gifted to take on this role. If you want to contact her, her current email is scarter@gcts.edu.

Future Gatherings

We did not set a date for a future gathering on Wednesday. I will keep you posted via email regarding our last gathering of the 2009.

Peace,

Jonathan Friz

Josiah on Revival in New Hampshire

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:25:27 GMT