stockbridge boiler room

make ready a people

 
 

Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.  Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.  And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1: 13-17)

This word from the angel has been sitting on my heart for a while.   What a beautiful call, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.  We want to prepare the way for the Lord. We want to make ready a people.  We want to present the bride—pure and blameless—washed in the Word. 

God has been pulling together a people for simple church on Sunday nights on 6th Street.   All are welcome; we hope to draw in as many neighbors as we can.  We gathered with 20 folks for a night of soup, caroling and hot chocolate by the woodstove.  A family is what is growing here.  And we bless God for His provision.  

We started out at Mary's house singing "Silent Night."  With Danmike on the guitar and Charla on the Melodica (think mouth fueled pipe organ), we declared Joy to the world and called all ye faithful.  We stopped by Missy's friend who had just lost her mom and her dad, to give her hugs and to remind her that He rules the world with truth and grace.  

Deciding to sing as we walked, we made our way down to the Family Pantry.  There we serenaded Erica our neighbor with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  It soon became clear that this had the effect of our Fourth of July Parade.  It was a foolish sight to see this troupe of 20, singing joyously.  The young men perched outside the Pantry, often known for their hard stares, called out "Merry Christmas!"  and surprised smiles lit up on passersby.  Curtains on windows flew open to see what was the matter when on their doorsteps they were hearing such a clatter.  

On 7th and McReynolds, neighbors came out on their second floor porch to lend their voices to the heralding chorus. The police cruiser rolled down his window with a big grin shining in the lights of his dashboard.  One neighbor broke out Pop Tarts and iced animal crackers to sustain the singers.  James heard us coming down the street and said, "You sounded pretty good."  And in one of the more beautiful moments, Romeo—a challenging eight-year-old discipled by Jordan—got to have "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" sung for him by request.  

We're told this sort of thing just doesn't happen on the Westside.  And we ask, "Why shouldn't the Westside have joyous strains prolong?"

God is making a people ready prepared for the Lord.  We are having a blast as He makes us ready.  And He's doing it with goofy parades and "Joy to World" and Love Feasts and lots and lots of prayer.  

Come join us on Sunday nights, starting January 3.  We're reading through the Bible in six months and we expect God to bring forth many more joyous and goofy things in His process of preparation.  

::tony::

near update

 

Dear Friends, 

We thank God for the friends that have already committed to this season of unbroken prayer.  60 of the 168 weekly slots are now filled.  We continue to pray for 108 more partners in prayer for this next season of prayer.  Please prayerfully consider whether you will join us on this crazy adventure.   

We eagerly await what God will do in Grand Rapids as we draw near to Him.  

For more info and for signup information, click here.  

::tony::

p.s. We also would like to acknowledge the reality that as we shaped and adjusted the start and end dates for Near, we failed to recount for the exact number of months.  As some of our more mathematically gifted friends have noted, beginning on January 24 and ending on July 23 will give us 6 months and 5 days of unbroken prayer.  Sheepishly, we acknowledge that numbers are not our gifting.  

 

I don't care because Jesus loves me

 

. . . He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

The Blues don't often fit in evangelical praise and worship sessions.  This past Tuesday, Joe stopped by with his harmonica and a need for a cup of coffee.  His friend Bobby picked up Danmike's guitar and played some of his half remembered Pink Floyd tunes.  As Joe pulled out his harmonica, Bobby tried to strum along.  Unable to hit their stride, Danmike snatched up his pick and Joe began to testify and I happened to record his song. 

 Download Joe

As I listened to it, I heard the tension that so many of us face.  Pulled between two worlds, Joe sung of the love of Jesus and his addiction to alcohol.  Joe, who asked Jesus to forgive his sins and to be the Lord of his life five months ago, was singing sincerely.  Joe has been changed.  And He is still changing.  Christ is in Joe.  And Joe knows enough to not try to evangelize his friends on the street when he's drunk.  But he also knows enough to talk about Jesus when he's sober.  

This is the space we're in.  We see Christ in Joe, even when he's drunk.  And I pray each day for his freedom.  I pray that He might see more and more of Jesus in himself.  We live in this tension of the already and the not yet. I know Joe is different, but I know God has so much more to do in Joe and through Joe.  And we ask you to pray for Him;  for Papa to free the captive;  that Joe might sing his song to the full.  

Also pray that God will guide us as we consider a regular time for a musical jam for whoever might drop by.  

::tony:: 

2009 Assessment for the Boiler Room

 

We give thanks to you all for your precious partnership.  We give glory to God for what He has done.

Click here for the full story.  

::tony::

i've been thinking these days

photograph by max 

...which is not something to really brag about, but it's been awhile.

i've been thinking about branches and vines and fruit and Things That Flourish Where Planted, and what that looks like for this community and for my children and this marriage, and our family of interns and friends and workers in the harvest. 

i get that we need to stay connected to the vine, that when we are not, we wither and die. i get that. i see much withering and dying around me, and not just in the addicts or the homeless, but also in the rich and the self-sufficient and morally good people who remind me of the leaves of fall: brilliant and colorful and so beautiful you want to stare. and dying a slow and showy death. seriously.

any attempt to create fruit or flourish or even branch out on our own always ends in something dying. i believe that. 

it's how to stay grafted, or remembering that i am just a branch, not the root, or abiding in God in the ebb and flow of each day, and not hacking myself off from the vine every five seconds because i think i can do it on my own... that's the challenge. 

so that dave trying to stay sober, me trying to be patient, you trying not to overeat today, or swearing you won't look at that website tonight, all these noble efforts of ours will always fail, always end in something dying, and will never flourish any more than a branch laying in the alley will. 

and when we realize this, i mean really get this truth, then: the fruit is already starting to grow, the dead bones rattle together into something recognizable, and the tiniest of rain clouds gather on the horizon, which mean that God is getting ready to move and create something and raise something yummy.

these days, i want more than almost anything to remember that God is the vine, and i am his little branch, and i want for that to be enough.

::jenn::

p.s. andrew murray: absolute surrender. 

read this book. i've plagiarized heavily from it here. in a good way.

Love Feast for today 12/9 cancelled due to weather. See you next week for the Love Feast.

learn more     and         sign up.

for every action

 there is a reaction. 

so that when the people of God draw near to him, the kingdom of darkness responds. 

this past week we announced our intention to draw near to God by entering into an extended season of prayer from january to july. we wrote on the blog about it; we spoke in church about it. we said that the kingdom of light breaks forth in wild and unpredictable ways during our weeks of 24-7 prayer; imagine, we said, what might happen if we prayed unrelentingly, if we stood on top of the city walls and refused to come down for 24 whole weeks, calling out to God on behalf of the people of this city. we even said over coffee the other morning, 

expect some push back from satan, because he works like that. 

so i am not surprised at all that:

danmike had such bad nightmares last night that he woke up shaking.

tammy had terrible nightmares also.

charla was up all night throwing up.

a candle caught a garland and several ornaments on fire and burned a windowsill so badly that the window cracked and some of the window frame melted. while i was in the room. and even though i smelled it and knew something was burning, i could not see the fire five feet away from me.

and an old friend who once recovered at the boiler room and is almost incapable of speaking truth, he really is, was delivered to our door by a stranger, from the hospital where he had been treated for a broken shoulder. he needed money for prescriptions and a place to stay, and we turned him away, which of course feels terrible and harsh. 

and our friends at 5th street hall, which rents us space to hold the love feast each week, our friends who are so generous with us and supportive of this ministry, called yesterday to report that kids who come to the love feast have been stealing toys and goods intended for charity from their storage room, and if anything else gets taken, they might not be able to rent to us anymore. so we have to make decision to actually not the let the little children come to Jesus, which of course feels worse than terrible.

 that's how the morning has been. 

and that's what, in case you've never experienced it, a monday-morning push back from satan looks like. 

which just means we're onto something here, and i think it's the playing field.

::jenn::

Near: An Invitation to 7 Months of Unbroken Prayer

Dear Friends,

God has been teaching us so many things about prayer over the past two years.  One of the enduring lessons from 24-7 Prayer is that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us (James 4:8).  And when the Lord is near, Kingdom things begin to happen—things like the reconciliation of a marriage, the deliverance of a friend from crack addiction, the experience of falling in love with the Lord for the first time, or leaving one’s job behind to serve and depend upon Father.  We have learned that we are at our best when we are most dependent upon Him in prayer.  

To be truthful, we have no involved pyramid scheme for the Kingdom breaking forth.  We have no foolproof program for Westside-wide salvation.  What we do have is a knowledge of the goodness and the faithfulness of the Lord.  His word says, when He draws near, “the Lord adds to their number daily those who were being saved.”  When He draws near, “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”   This is our hope in drawing near.  

As we partner with the Bridge Street House of Prayer and Crossroads Bible Church, we are asking for you to join us on an 24-7 adventure for 2010.  We’re simply calling it Near.  God has planted the dream of unbroken prayer with friends for seven months from January 24-July 23.  Clearly, such a dream is beyond our small community’s capacity.  

We need you and we’re asking you to prayerfully consider if you could join us on this crazy adventure of prayer.  We are looking for 154 people to take one hour a week for 28 weeks.  We need people who are willing to pray for one hour faithfully.  This one hour could be in the middle of the night, on the weekend, at the beginning of the day or even during the 11a Sunday service.   

You will be booking an hour where you spend time with the Father.  We hope you will consider signing up as house churches, as families, as youth groups, as elder boards, as LTGs, as accountability groups and as individuals desperate to know and love our Father more deeply.  If you are so moved by the Spirit, consider taking multiple hours of a day each week to share among multiple members of your group.  

Each day during this season, we will have community prayer at 8a and 8p during the week (except Wednesday at 7p in the 5th Street Hall),  7-10p on Saturday and 8p on Sunday where anyone who wants to come can join together as part of this praying community. We will also have a monthly time of corporate worship and prayer.  

Pentecost came to a prayer room. Paul urged the Thessalonians to "pray constantly." The early church "joined together constantly in prayer."  In the 18th century, a small community of Moravians began a 24-7 prayer meeting that lasted for over a hundred years, mobilized 3000 missionaries and converted John Wesley!  We are asking you to consider this opportunity to join with 153 brothers and sisters adding to this eternal murmur of prayer still going across the centuries.

A practical scheduling note about our partnership with Bridge Street House of Prayer. BSHOP will open up their Tabernacle at 1055 Bridge Street NW as the prayer room from Friday at 9p to Sunday at 9p.  So if you sign up for a time between these hours, plan on praying at the Bridge Street House of Prayer.  Sunday 9p-Friday 9p  come to Stockbridge.  

We are so excited to see what God does.

The Stockbridge Boiler Room Leadership Team for Near

 

Nitty Gritty Questions and Answers about Near

How do I get my brain around committing to 28 weeks of prayer?

Consider yourself a season ticket holder to the symphony or to your favorite sporting team, only better. You commit for the season, but occasionally something comes up and you cannot attend, so you find a friend to go in your stead. That’s also how it will work for this season of prayer.

Why come to the same room, why can’t I just pray at home?

A Prayer Room helps build a sense of community and ownership throughout the season of prayer.  We aren’t all in the room at the same time, but our prayer footprints are left in our writing on the walls, in our pictures and other imprints we leave behind.  It also provides a built-in accountability as people need to turn up on time to ‘pick up the baton’ from the person praying before them. Having a specific room with arts materials and suggestions for prayer creates a very conducive and creative environment. As the room begins to fill with people’s prayers and heart cries, it can reveal what God is doing in the lives of our prayer community.

Who’s going to sign up for 3a prayer?

Jesus often took the last watch of the night for prayer.  Those of us who pray in the middle of the night can testify that this can be a powerful time of meeting with Father.  Truly, we do NEED people to sign up for middle of the night slots.  Already some small groups have talked about signing up for three different slots during the week (one of them being the middle of the night) the others during morning and afternoon hours.  The members will then rotate their times weekly. People often say they feel energized after praying in the middle of the night. Consider challenging yourself to give God the very first, precious fruits of the day.

What about safety at night?

Stockbridge has folks on duty and on call day and night; we have parking right next to the prayer room, and are installing new lights to better illuminate the yard.  We’ve developed a simple safety procedure for coming to and leaving the prayer room.  Before this season commences, we’ll send out details, as well as post them in the garage.

How will we keep up with others who are praying?

We find that each time you return to the prayer room you can read the new prayers that have been posted and written on the walls.  We will also have a community journal where participants will record Holy Spirit impressions and prophetic words.  It is our hope that monthly prayer gatherings as well as daily community prayer can be be places for us to strengthen encourage and exhort each other.  Finally, we will have a prayer coordinator for each day of the week and this coordinator will be in regular contact with the 23 people who are praying on that day.  

How can I get my ministry group involved?

Invite us to come and talk to your people, write us at stockbridgeboilerroom@gmail.com  

Prayer : Sign-Ups

Log onto: www.google.com/calendar

   Type in E-mail: stockbridge247    

   Type in Password: 247prayer

Click on the hour you would like to begin praying

In the "what" space, type your name and e-mail address

    (example: john doe : jdoe@yahoo.com) 

Click on the Repeats drop down menu and select Weekly.

Click "Save" and you are now registered.

::Please remember to log-out after registering your hours::

Questions? Contact us at stockbridgeboilerroom@gmail.com

 

 

do not hold back

 Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. (Isaiah 54:2)

As it fell down all around her yesterday, Charla didn't realize at first that she was part of a battle that was not against flesh and blood.  Soon though she figured out what was up.  And she did not hold back.  

---

A year and a half ago, Kathleen had shared this prophetic word above from Isaiah 54 for the Boiler Room.   At first, we thought it was leading us to physically enlarge the Boiler Room.  We imagined connecting house and garage.  As we've learned from our interactions with the city government, our housing tent is the right size for where we are.  

Last summer, we began to look for more ways to pray for and around our neighborhood.  Michael helped us to think about ways we might worship and intercede at various intersections and buildings.  This fall, we thought that it would be wise to prayer-walk with more intentionality.  Prayer-walking one day with Danmike and Jordan, we talked about extending our territory for intercession.  It wasn't until later that I recalled Isaiah 54 and started to realize that our tent was extending over the Westside.  

We began with a focus between 4th Street and 7th Street as well as between Alpine and Davis.  We are now focusing between 4th and 11th Streets as well as between Turner and Stocking.  You can get a visual here.  

----

Charla has been praying for 8th Street.  In order to not freak out any of the neighbors, she goes and stands at the bus stop to pray for the street.  Yesterday, she asked God to give her a visual of what to pray for on 8th Street.  

As she was praying for the house right across from the bus stop, she noticed two scraggly-black starlings, lingering around the house, diving and circling.  As she focused on them, she got the distinct impression of the spirits of anger and distraction settling on that house.  She began to pray for the Holy Spirit to bring peace and unity to the people of the house.  

In that moment, a whole flock of scraggly-black starlings swooped into the tree above Charla at the bus stop.  They seemed to be screaming.  Undeterred, she kept praying noticing that it had started to hail;  until she noticed that it wasn't hail.  The birds were dropping on her.  Then it became clear someone did not want Charla praying for the peace of this house.  It became clear that God had answered her prayer and had given her a visual of what what happening in the spiritual realm on 8th Street.  It became clear that this enlarging of our tent was a threat.  

And she declared out loud in the midst of the screaming and the dropping, "8th Street is the Lord's Street.  He reigns and He is the Supreme one over all streets."

Then it stopped.  The scraggly-black starlings swooped away.  Out of the tree.  Off 8th Street.   

And Charla walked home.  

May you strengthen our stakes Father as we will not hold back.  

::tony::