Sunday, May 30, 2010

Nate's Trip to Arlington

Sometimes the best trips are the ones you don't make. This weekend we had our second grandson, Jesse Nathaniel (Nate) Schlueter take his first visit to Arlington with his mom, Andrea. His daddy, Josh, is presently in Afghanistan. It has been a marvelous visit. Andrea (Dre) is an awesome mom. We have had a lot of fun watching Nate and playing with him. He met his cousin TJ and they love each other.

Nate went to our worship service this morning and was loved on by all the "grandmothers" of the house. He was in heaven but so were they. After services we adjourned to our backyard for a church cookout/picnic. And this evening the day ended with a beautiful sunset over Arlington.

Tomorrow Dre and Nate will head home to Midland. They are there while Josh is overseas. But before they go - its barbecue at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Its been a wonderful trip and we didn't go anywhere!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Havoc Along the Border

When representatives of four states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California) joined representatives from Mexico to journey along the border of the United States and Mexico, our assignment was clear in that we were to call forth the purposes and declarations that had been written in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The border prayer team scouted out the land, connected and built relationships, petitioned, interceded and declared God's heart over the land and people.  They learned from their experiences and each other as God instructed them.

Through prayer and worship and relationship-building their goal was to restore the foundations set forth in the Treaty by adhering to its principles.  The trip was about the hope of God restoring and transforming a people and a land where there are broken covenants, great mistrust, violence, drugs and human trafficking, corruption and death.  It was about the move of God in building godly relationships across the border where our two nations are joined.  It was about the message of returning to God and seeking Him humbly for His protection just as called for in the Treaty.

The Lord, prior to the trip, had made it explicitly clear to me that there were two distinct declarations that needed to be made along the border. The first was from Isaiah 28:14-22.  It speaks of the undoing of the covenant with death and pact with hell - replacing it with Jesus the cornerstone - life, healing, hope and kingdom authority.  The second declaration was based on Ezekiel 11, which reverses the curse of the city (border) being the pot and the people the flesh. God is tearing down the corruption at the gates and no less than 25 evil leaders from both nations will be discovered, brought down or destroyed by the time of Passover 2010.  At least a dozen were already dismantled during our trip.

As we witness the havoc along the border, the first impression might be - it didn't work.  But to the contrary, the Lord is at work.  We need to desperately pray for the protection of all life but the Lord is exposing the enemy.  He is "lifting the skirts" and revealing their intentions, strategies and personnel.  The light of the Lord will dispel the darkness. It is extremely important that we continue to decree His purposes along the border.  The battle is the Lord's!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A Call to Arms

On May 20, Kay and I headed to Victoria, Texas. As the coordinator of the Texas Apostolic Prayer Network (TXAPN) I was invited by Brick and Leann Wall of Rising Eagles Ministries to speak at the TXAPN Coastal Bend Regional meeting they were hosting. As happens so many times, the Lord interrupted our scheduled trip with a revelation from His heart!

I had already made plans with Brick to visit Goliad on Saturday. I had never been to Goliad which is the site of the execution (massacre) of Colonel Fannin and his men by the order of the dictator Santa Anna. The order was carried out just days after the fall of the Alamo in March of 1836. But as we made our trip south on Thursday we realized that we were also going through Gonzales. In October of 1835, Gonzales was the site of the famous standoff between eighteen men from Gonzales and over a hundred Mexican soldiers. They had been sent to retrieve a small cannon that they gave to Gonzales years earlier to stave off attacks by marauding Apaches.

But the townspeople refused to give it back. Instead they challenged the soldiers to "COME AND TAKE IT." They tried and failed. During the skirmish the cannon was fired and it was the first shot of the Texas Revolution. Near this same sight six months later, the newly appointed commander of the Texas army, Gen. Sam Houston, bivouacked the troops days after the massacre at Goliad and the fall of the Alamo.

At the Coastal Bend Regional meeting the Lord brought forth a word based on these events. Our enemy is no longer flesh and blood but the principalities of darkness. The enemy is trying to take away our authority and the weapons of the Spirit. Our call to arms is this: "Come and Take It." The enemy can longer prevail against us. He is defeated. We call the army of the Lord together to rise up and take possession of a kingdom that is already won for us through Christ Jesus.