Around March of last year I heard about this incredible church in Charlotte, North Carolina called Elevation. There lives and preaches an incredible pastor by the name of Steven Furtick. He has a really incredble story of how God called him and blessed him to become the successful preacher, author, father, husband and man that he is. His life serioulsy makes my jaw drop. I love him. He wrote a book called Sun Stand Still based on the story from the Bible where Joshua and the Israelite army are going in to fight the Amorites. Once they begin the battle there is not enough time in the day for them to finish and win the battle so Joshua prays this audacious prayer. Here's what the Word says...
On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the valley of Aijalon." And the sun stood still and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengance on its enemies. Isn't this written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.
Joshua 10:12-14
What courage as a man and trust for God Joshua emboded to pray a prayer like that. The book Pastor Steven wrote is not all about this short passage from scripture, but rather how do we live lives where we are, as Pastor puts it, audacious enough to pray these bold prayers and believe God for them. In the book he also talks about "page 23 visions." On page 23 of a book he was reading when he was just a teenager, Pastor encountered a quote that shook him, shaped him, changed him and set him on a mission. He knew that he was called to pastor a church in a big city in the US. I don't quite remember all the details of this part but Pastor Steven believes that we all have our own page 23 visions where God speaks purpose into us and we're forever changed. A page 23 vision is something you can't get your mind off of. I've had a few so I knew the feeling and I can recall the jolt of hopefulness and passion that called me to my knees to pray a Sun Stand Still prayer over the situation.
Oh, man if we could always pray like a juggernaunt and act in audacious faith in our everyday lives this world would be a place shaken with hope and truth! If you've never heard of or read this book, you have to get your hands on it. It will ignite something in you and jolt you with boldness and courage to pray for the sun to stand still.
Well, the book and the Pastor are what caught my attention to begin with, but as I followed Pastor Steven's church, Elevation, on my iPhone app I knew this man was for real. God appointed him to the place he is in and seriously this church is on a mission to change the city of Charlotte and restore honor to a broken generation. As I followed Elevation and Pastor Steven online, a few months ago I heard about The Code Orange Revival. A free twelve night, old school revival right at their Church in Charlotte where 12 different pastors would preach each consecutive night from January 11 to January 22. How insaine. Pastors from around the world (well all of them were from the US except Christine Caine who is from Austrailia) agreed to drop their agendas and preach it old school to kick off 2012. Pastors like Craig Grochel, Matt Chandler, Perry Noble, Bishop TD Jakes, James MacDonald, etc... I HAVE TO GO.
So I went. I took my friends Amy, Devin and Kaitlin to the last weekend of the Revival. We got to experience the most incredible nights of worship around the most loving and honoring people hear Bishop TD Jakes, James MacDonald and Steven Furtick speak and even get free t-shirts, pens and Chic-fil-A. The four of us were definitely the group God called together to make this journey 7 hours away from home for the weekend. Let me share a little about what I learned.
From the Bishop I heard the most incredible messages about how Jesus paid the ultimate price to recognize my worth. How Jesus longs to reach down and touch me because I am of infinite value to Him. I was reminded of how we are the generation that everyone says wouldn't make it and encouraged to be just as radical as Jesus. To "climb over my history to reach my destiny."
From Pastor James Macdonald I got to hear a word about God's holiness and the importance of repentance. "Satan condemns with generalities while God's spirit convicts with specifics." That is so incredibly true!
And the last word I heard from Pastor Steven was that I AM THE ONE. I was chosen in Christ like David, because God sees something in me even when others don't. Sometimes the moments that seem the least significant are often the ones that prepare us for the most significant moments. I learned how to change this moment into momentum. Our obedience give us momentum from the moments that God gives us.
So much truth. And did it tell you about the WORSHIP???????? It blew my mind. The holy spirit was so there and you can't believe the party in heaven that was happeneing all week long. Gods word was spoken clearly and lives were changed. This is only the beginning. Hold on to your forks, the best is yet to come.
Jesus followers in 2012 are a force to be reckoned with, dear Enemy. In the past 3 weeks the college ministry at my church has seen 7 students surrender their lives to Christ. SEVEN.
Whit, Darrell, Courtney, Bri, Sara, Elizabeth, and Alyssa.
Seven people with incredibly different stories who encountered an incredibly loving Savior.
Congratulations all of you! I can't wait to see what the rest of 2012 has for us!
In the meantime, enjoy some pictures!!!!
Reverb friends giving their lives to Christ...
ELEVATION!
An Elevator we sat by at Blakeney campus.
Oh, and did I mention that the very last thing that happened at Code Orange Revival was that Pastor Steven baptized his oldest son, Elijah??
Some images were stolen from Holly Furtick's blog.
She's probably just as fantastic as her husband!
If you're interested in any of this you can visit their website: Elevation.
And Kaitlin is borrowing my Sun Stand Still but you could definitely borrow it too!
If you're interested in any of this you can visit their website: Elevation.
And Kaitlin is borrowing my Sun Stand Still but you could definitely borrow it too!
AAAND IF YOU LOVE WORSHIP!!!!
Check out their Worship team's original songs on iTunes. Just search Elevation Worship. I highly reccommend the songs Give me Faith, Exalted One, God Be Praised, and Mercy Reigns.
Seriously. I'm not a nutso fanatic for Elevation, I just adore Jesus and so do they!
Seriously. I'm not a nutso fanatic for Elevation, I just adore Jesus and so do they!
I LOVE YOU ALL & I HOPE THIS HAS BEEN REFRESHING FOR YOUR HEART!
KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE IMPACT FOR THOSE AROUND YOU. YOU MATTER FOR PEOPLE'S ETERNITIES. BE BOLD & PRAY AUDACIOUS PRAYERS.
grace & peace,
Aarika.
"Our God is the God of crescendos. He always takes you to something better, never lesser. God is never in the business of taking you backwards, only forwards. Hes not in the business of diminishing you, he's in the business of increasing you. He doesn't want to divide you, he wants to multiply you." Bishop TD Jakes
