Treasure Huntin'

Q: What can you do on Halloween night?

A: Go and pray for people! =D

12 of us were split into three groups.

Enoch, Alice, Kay (who turned 16), and I encountered this dude, JAMES, with a sling over his shoulder. He, a high school sophomore @ St. Francis High School, injured his left collar bone playing football. Alice prayed for him first. After the prayer, the pain was lessened by a little. So I shared a testimony to encourage him and told him that Jesus was healing him so let's pray again! After the second prayer, the PAIN WAS GONE and he took off his sling to start move around his left arm and held it way up high -- and it hurt just a little bit. So we only had one choice -- pray AGAIN! And surely enough, Jesus took away all his pain, and that guy left with sling in his hand, smiling and thanking Jesus for healing him from pain!

We had many things on our list, and mine was "BLACK BASEBALL CAP with a P on it". We went into the only hat store in the mall, which definitely would have some black caps with P's! As we entered in, this friendly salesperson approached us. I told him, "We're actually doing a treasure hunt and we're looking for someone who wears a black cap that has a P on it." He then lowered his head, and lo' and behold -- the BLACK CAP with a yellow P is on this guy's head! His name is Ben, and he's 21. So I told him that he was our treasure and God wanted to tell him something (which I did not know at the moment...). But then I started to tell him that God is pleased with his faithfulness, and he is faithful at what he does, and God would provide him because he remains faithful. For real, I did not know what I was talking about, and I felt like I was just repeating the same thing over and over.

So I asked him if any of the things I said make sense, and he said, "Yeah it made total sense!" We were all rejoicing and praising God; even the more, he told us that he is the YOUTH LEADER of his church and he needs God's provision and favor in this season of stepping up into his calling! We felt really connected with this guy and we all prayed and prophesied over him, and invited him to join us when we go out and do s'more treasure hunting!

ohhh just one more thing... he actually is an alumni of St. Francis High School, the school which JAMES, the guy who got healed, currently attends! Hmm.. maybe God's doing something over there! Come on! Jesus showing up on Halloween night! Too cool!

So... GREAT SUCCESS!

Johnny

ps. by the way, Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT is THE BOMB. Makes me wanna dance and sing during the whole movie. I am truly inspired by this musical legend.

Thoughts

We are instruments made by the Creator. Beautiful tunes come from us, yet our strings would get out of tunes as days go by. We always need to retune in order to play in tune once again -- back to the original purpose we are made for. Do we need to be retuned? Are we being played or left dusty in the basement? We need to know that we are made to produce frequencies, and retuning and string-changing is a MUST every now and then!

Tears are windows to broken hearts that will lead to the opening up of the door to the hearts, and be filled and saturated by the love for which the broken hearts have been searching. Jesus, only You can satisfy.

Johnny

Freedom + Musical Weapons

If you cannot see that the bridge is not connected to the

other side and you cross it, then either you fall or you stop at the edge of falling and start rebuilding that broken bridge.

...to be in need.

sometimes we don't even know we need to be set free from old habits and bondages because either we are used to them or they just appear out of nowhere without our notice.

and I was set free when this lady, Auntie Sharon, felt led to minister to and pray for me Saturday morning. I got to her house at 10am, and after the praying and setting-free was done, it was 1pm. Somehow three hours flew by without my notice--when the presence of God is so strong, time and space disappear because the realm of God does not require them. I only heard about her, and she only knew me through listening to my CD and praying for Jack/Annie, but she had a burden to pray for and minister to me. Pretty much everything she said to me were dead on, and I was just so amazed by God's timing and the surprise meeting with Auntie Sharon. It was God's timing, the best timing. I needed this and the things I received were totally what I have been praying for and asking for!

make the three-hour holy chaos short in a couple sentences: When she started praying for me, I began to cry uncontrollably. She sensed that I had a lot of burden and pressure on my shoulder and in my chest, so she started to pray for freedom, and I started to cough (I was not sick) because all the junk that's in my chest started to leave. After all those good ol' inner cleansing, the Holy Spirit started to fill me up with joy as Auntie Sharon proclaimed that I am a Happy Worshiper. She also said something about music to the nations or something like that, but basically about a breakthrough in leading worship as I constantly worship the Almighty, Jesus, and Holy Spirt in the Throne room -- there I will receive revelation and know God's heartbeat. Then as I lead worship, I too can receive revelation and be tapped into the flow of the Holy Spirit much much easier because I know Him and He would entrust me to release what He has in mind to the people during a worship session. That is my ultimate heart's desire in worship, and I know it needs to start with my daily life because I simply cannot give something which I do not have.

lastly, I saw two vivid visions: First, I saw myself, in a baby form with diapers, climbing up stairs towards this beautiful, opened gate. Behind it is LIGHT and it is impossible to look through the almost-blinding light. I was climbing and knowing where I as heading to, with a big smile on my face; I was laughing also. So when I finally entered the gate, I simply disappeared in the LIGHT, which is the glory of God.

the second vision has some connection with a vision I had during summer camp: I was taken to the Weaponry Room, and around me were all kinds of swords and shields for battle. As I turned to the other side of the room, there stood many musical instruments that looked nothing like any instrument in the world. Each one of them looks like a combination of multiple (maybe 5 to 8) different instruments. I wonder what they sound like, but the size of those instruments were fairly big because they make loud sounds I believe.

so on Saturday I saw a vision of a sword -- it looks like a regular sword for close-up battles; however, there are buttons on the hilt (the handle) which, after pressing them, cause the sword to "shoot sound" or "attack with sound waves". I found this "music sword" on google image; it's a children's toy and it has buttons on it that makes different sound and light on the sword... totally awesome! And the second picture is a guitar with a shape of a sword!

see the connection between those two musical weapon visions? I believe when worship music is played, angels would start picking up those musical weapons and begin to wage war with the enemy in the spirit realm, and we know the outcome already, so that'll make our job much easier =D

oh yes, towards the end of the prayer, she also saw me laying hand on the sick and see them healed! Hey how's that for an awesome confirmation =D Come on!

during David Nyquist's sharing on saturday night, I was so blown away by his words because many of them are pretty much what I received in the morning with Auntie Sharon! So there ya go, confirmation is God's way of telling me "hey you, pay attention, this is pretty important". And I am expecting more confirmation in the days to come! But for now, I just want Jesus and Jesus and Jesus, nothing else.

whether you play an instrument or not, we're all in this together. When you sing, dance, paint, tap, or play an instrument to praise God and give Him glory and honor, you are a soldier in the army of God!

so, Holy Spirit, I want to be filled up and charged up like never before... and help me to be sensitive of what You are doing when I hang out with You every day! Breakthrough, I am coming!!!

Johnny

Explore - Worship Leader

Reading "Worship Matters" by Bob Kauflin has shifted some of my perspectives toward corporate worship and the position of a worship leader. The best part of this book is Bob's definition of a worship leader, and I am now taking it as my purpose and I shall remind it to myself constantly.

A faithful worship leader

magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ

through the power of the Holy Spirit

by skillfully combining God's Word with music,

thereby motivating the gathered church

to proclaim the Gospel,

to cherish God's presence,

and to live for God's glory.

If you are a worship leader, musician, worship planner, music minister, or pastor, I pray that we all can live our life to the fullest as God's appointed vessels.

I just read about preparation for Sunday worship, and it has brought conviction to my heart to start preping for Sunday worship early in the week instead of the night before. Lord, I confess before You that my heart has not been ready during the week for the weekend, make me ready, make me prepared!

Johnny

ps. Lately I have been reminding myself of the Cross, and my heart melts every time. The Gospel is the ultimate guide to live our lives to the fullest.

Midterms... Did I Mention Healing?

The highlight of my day was not that I only slept for two hours; it was not that I fell asleep during the first midterm exam; it was not that I was nauseated when I studied for economics; and it definitely was NOT my second midterm on which I studied with no rest yet failed quite miserably.

It was Jesus.

Well, after this long and energy-draining, brain cell-killing day, Peter and I went to IHOP-SD as in IHOPancake in San Diego to re-boost our half-dead souls with some real stuff -- aka we were really tired to cook.

(Skipping all the Hot Cocoas, Big Steak Omelet, Sirloin Tips, Hash Browns, Over-Medium eggs, and Chocolate Chip Pancakes with whip cream....)

As I was passing by the front to use the restroom, there sat a homeless man, later known as Eric, sitting inside by the door, rubbing his right knee with his hands. I approached and found out that Eric was hit by a car and injured his right knee. I offered a prayer. After the first prayer, he told me from a scale of 1 (pain) to 10 (healed), he went from FIVE to around EIGHT! I told him that Jesus is here right now, and let's ask Him for a complete healing. So I thanked Jesus for what He's already done and asked Him to take all the pain away and heal Eric's right knee. I asked Eric whether he feels warmth in his knee, he said, "No... I don't feel any heat, but I don't feel any pain now!" I shook his hand and told him how much Jesus loves him and has a better plan for his life than his own plan. I went to the restroom rejoicing over what the Lord had done even though I knew there are many unseen wounds and untold stories within Eric that need to be dealt with. I pray that Eric would know God's heart for him and be known by God and God alone. He is not homeless; he has a home in Heaven. He is not abandoned; he has a Father in Heaven.

Yay Jesus!

Johnny

ps. I believe this song speaks out my heart for Holy Spirit to have His way in me. We will sing this on Sunday for sure.