ABC News Story on LPA
Last month ABC-TV ran a story describing how in Portland, Oregon some 500 churches are serving the city in partnership with the city’s civic leaders. The movement was spearheaded by the Palau Association as part of our Season of Service (SOS) efforts to mobilize the faith community to share the love of Christ in both word and deed. As you know SOS is a component of our evangelistic festivals demonstrating the power of collaboration. Reporter Dan Harris was fascinated that Portland’s evangelicals and the city’s liberal politicians were working together to meet numerous specific needs in the community. Here’s the link to the story:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/evangelicals-team-up-with-portland-gay-mayor-for-charity-15222989
Let’s keep praying that our working together as evangelists and evangelistic ministries will result in sustainable Gospel movements in cities around the world as we lift up the name of Jesus and proclaim His Good News.
Brazil Update from Mike Silva
View original post.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support of our two festivals in Brazil. God moved in a powerful way and many lives were transformed!
On November 18, we proclaimed the Gospel in Fortaleza. The leadership of the church that invited us (Central Baptist Church) challenged their cell groups to invite their unsaved friends to the festival. The event was held in the church’s open aired tent. There were more than 4,000 people in attendance. The place was buzzing with excitement as the crowd waited for Jaci Velasquez and Salvador to perform. When Mike took the stage he immediately connected with the audience and gave a clear presentation of the Gospel in Portuguese. Many responded to the call to action. Central Baptist is already working hard to ensure that every person who made a commitment to Christ is being followed up with by a cell group leader.
The next festival took place the following night in João Pessoa. We partnered with the City of Life Church to make the outreach possible. The event was held close to the city’s center on one of its most popular beachfronts. The reason for the location was to strategically take the hope of the Gospel into the heart of the city. More than 8,000 people attended the event. Salvador and Jaci Velasquez again thrilled the crowd and set the stage for Mike to proclaim the Gospel. Many responded to the call to accept Jesus Christ. Local leaders told us after the event that there had never been a mass evangelistic outreach in their city before. City of Life Church is working hard this week to follow up with the decision makers.
We thank the Lord for the opportunities He gave us in Brazil, many being “firsts” for us. This was our first Portuguese speaking event (a long time dream of Mike & Crystal’s). It was also our first time to be a part of an outreach hosted by one local church.
Our next evangelistic outreach takes place in March 2012 in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Please pray for this event. It will be a one-day festival featuring musical artists Tercer Cielo, Raza For Christ, Miss Tani and more. Please join with us in asking the Lord to – even now – begin working in the lives of the people in Matagalpa. Ask Him to soften hearts and draw people to the festival.
View more pictures here:
NGA Member Mario D’Ortenzio on LA Ink
Mario D’Ortenzio, founder of Death2Life Revolution, recently appeared on the TV show “LA Ink” and boldly proclaimed the truth of the gospel. It’s a touching story involving his whole family. View the video below to see the whole story.
Day in the Park – Labor Day 2011
This is Church
Evangelists, musicians, pastors and stunt dudes come together to give inner-city Portland a Day in the Park. On a sunny Labor Day in Portland, Oregon, the grounds of Lents Park were transformed into an open-air village of inflatable jump houses, plywood skate ramps and tents of food and activities. Music varying from freestyle hip hop
to gospel filled the air as local and visiting Christian artists joined the Luis Palau Association’s Next Generation Alliance, Save the City Records and several area churches to host Day in the Park, a free event for Portland’s inner-city community.
“Our heart is really to incorporate all facets and come together as a community,” said Tray Michaels, one of the event’s organizers and an associate pastor at Southeast Portland’s Revolution Foursquare Church. “We really wanted to put on an event where we could get out into the community, shake hands and get to know our neighbors.”
Revolution Foursquare, under the guidance of Lead Pastor Alpha Hayward, began performing park outreaches with its youth ministry over seven years ago. Through collaboration with other ministries, the event has grown into an annual full-day festival featuring a growing repertoire of well-known Christian artists and new attractions such as BMX and skate demonstrations. “It’s an honor to be able to do something like this in the neighborhood you meet in every week,” said Hayward. “It’s definitely a different dynamic when you can see the people you’re reaching out to the next day at the grocery store or the gas station.”
Vic Murphy and John Andrus of Action Sports Outreach, 
together with skateboarding pro Tim Byrne and team members from SkateChurch Portland, performed air-defying stunts throughout the day. Murphy concluded each show by sharing his testimony and proclaiming the Gospel to the crowds of delighted adults and children.
“Our main goal is proclamation evangelism,” said the BMX rider, who has taken his characteristic mix of stunts and evangelism across the world. “Whether it’s big or small…we just want to serve and partner with others to help them reach people for Christ.” Byrne summed up the event in a single word: Community. “People are drawn to this and they don’t even know why,” he says. “It’s the idea of what the Church is—Capital C. This is Church.”
This year, Save the City Records brought nationally-known artists Group 1 Crew and Byron “Mr. Talkbox” Chambers to perform at the event. When he learned about Revolution Foursquare’s park outreaches, Derek Hoiem, 
president of the burgeoning record label, decided to come alongside the effort and help it grow. “It was really a big science experiment,” said Hoiem. “Our own cities have become our mission fields. We go where the people are.”
The collaborators expressed a hope that this community-based outreach model would become the norm among churches. “That’s one of our visions—to get churches to do it in their own neighborhoods,” said Michaels. “We really want other people to catch this vision, learn how to relate to their community and go outside the box.”
Victory Weekend!
This weekend Steve Wingfield is at Bristol Motor Speedway as his team puts on an extraordinary event adjacent to the “fastest half-mile” track in the NASCAR circuit. The opening event last night featured an interview with 3 Christian NASCAR drivers, the music group Sidewalk Prophets and Steve as well. (Steve was also invited to do the invocation for last night’s race.) He’ll also be joined by NGA/Livin it member Vic Murphy and his BMX bike! For more information, visit http://www.victoryweekend.com/.
Steve Interviewing Michael McDowell, Blake Koch, Eric McClure.
Steve and Jerry Caldwall, the General Manager of the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Andrew Palau: We Are Ambassadors
View original post.
An ambassador, by any standard, is a privileged position. In the USA, the President handpicks this high-ranking diplomatic official. It is the ambassador’s job to bring any message from a country’s leader to the people and rulers of the land to which they are sent. The message must be communicated officially, clearly, and well. An ambassador need not create the message, but rather simply deliver it.
It is important for you to think about this role because it is one that has been given to you by God Himself. If you are in Christ, you are Christ’s ambassador. It is “as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). What an honor! What a challenge! We are God’s ambassadors.
How does this privilege work itself out in your life? These days, I am experiencing the challenges as well as the rewards of serving as Christ’s ambassador. As I share the Good News I often see many people respond positively, signaling the beginning of true life change! Sometimes, I feel great about the delivery and other times I perceive that the message was not well delivered or received. However, it tends to be when I’m the most nervous and uncertain that someone will share with me how God miraculously worked in their life, and then I most clearly see God working through HIS message.
Though of course I want my delivery to be the very best, it is the message of the Good News itself that carries power to change a life. It is not the messenger; it is the power of God! He wants to use you! God will present times and places for you to deliver His message. Have you discovered these opportunities?
Keep your eyes peeled and pray. Look into resources that will equip you (we have excellent tools designed to help you share your faith). Study what other people do and say. Write out and use your own personal story. Consider memorizing the four spiritual laws – the verses are like gold! Ask God for creative ways to deliver His message. Let His Spirit and Word guide you. I challenge you to re-double your efforts. Take time on your knees before the Lord listening to His voice.
Thank you for being an ambassador and a co-laborer, partnering with the Palau team as we carry God’s message together to those in great need. Indeed, YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Mike Silva Update from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Mike Silva is just wrapping up his Puerto Plata Festival in the Dominican Republic. It has been an amazing event! Other Alliance members joining him were Vic Murphy, Justin Benedict and Jenna Silva. Here are a few updates from the team:
14,500 and counting…
We thank and bless the Lord for the harvest that He drew this past week in Puerto Plata.
We estimate that over 70,000 people attended the festival Friday night –with more than 14,500 decision cards received! Saturday night is estimated at over 80,000 in attendance and decision cards are still being counted. 2,155 counselors were trained to assist in praying for decision makers. The Mayor and the Governor both received Christ! 48 radio stations in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico aired the Festival and we are waiting to hear about the response of the Festival online as well.
In addition to the massive attendance and response to the Festival, we don’t discount the many lives that were changed through the MSI Serve Team during the week leading up to the festival.
There is so much for us to be thankful for. We praise the Lord for the work that He did.
Saturday Night
All of Dominican Republic’s biggest leaders took the stage last night and the governor presented Mike with a plaque holding “The Key to Puerto Plata.” He is only the second person in the city’s history to receive the high honor – the first was the President of the Dominican Republic. God gave Mike tremendous favor in this city; and in his words, he is “humbled and forever grateful.”
More than 70,000 people were estimated to be at the Festival on Friday night and over 14,500 made decisions to accept Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord!
Tonight kicked off with Miss Tani and her dancers at Festi Kids! They were a big hit and thousands of children attended (total number TBA). Team member, Vic Murphy, performed BMX tricks right on the stage and the crowd roared with enthusiasm! Raza for Christ and Alex Campos were the main bands throughout the evening, but hands-down, the most thrilling part of the night was when Mike clearly and effectively presented the Gospel message in a way that captured the audience and prompted the hearts of thousands more to say yes to Jesus! The Holy Spirit moved in a mighty way tonight in Puerto Plata… what a Festival to remember!
Sunday the team will visit local churches and minister to fellow believers through praise and worship and studying God’s Word together. Please pray for our team as some of the men will be giving messages and presenting the Gospel yet again. “Our job is to step forward and cast the net”, Mike said at a team meeting Thursday night. Tomorrow will be another opportunity, and for so many souls… this is just the beginning!
To see the original post and more pictures, visit his blog.
Selections from NGA: Greg Stier – We are God’s App
View original post.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:9-12
You and I are God’s app. When we put our faith in Jesus we were spiritually reprogrammed by God to have several uses for a world in desperate need to tap into. We have a priesthood functionality that allows those who are spiritually blind to see the light of Christ in us. When things go wrong in their lives that’s when many will look for the closest priest to them to help them find God. This is when the value of your priesthood functionality will be hard to resist, waiting for them to open and use.
As God’s apps we also have a purity functionality. We intentionally, “abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” and seek to live a life so pure that though the unregenerate, “accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” Instead of blinding engaging in sin along with the rest of the world we wage war against that which wages war against our souls. It’s not that we are perfect (because we are far from it), but we are willing to battle against our own sinful tendencies instead of casually acquiescing to them. Those of the world don’t get this but, in a strange way, we gain their respect and often gain an audience for the gospel as a result.
Finally, we have a proclamation functionality that enables us to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Here is when we proclaim the good news of how they can be saved from their sin and be redeemed from sin and reprogrammed into God’s “app.” By the way, if you struggle with this part of your functionality, download this video to your iphone (your literal one!) and show it to your friend. It is a five minute presentation of the GOSPEL that will blow you and them away.
Our purity functionality gets the world’s attention. Our priesthood functionality triggers a response to connect with God (and therefore us) when things go bad in their lives. Our proclamation functionality enables us to bring them into the fold through a simple presentation of the gospel combined with the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13,14.)
The only bummer about being God’s app? We can’t be found in the Apple Store.
Luis Palau: Is Satan Real?
View original post.
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.” Those were the words of Roger Kint, the award-winning character portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the 1995 film, The Usual Suspects. Sure, it was a fictional story. But his assertion was spot on.
Over the years, the idea of Satan has been distorted. He has sadly been transformed into a silly caricature. Our culture often portrays him as a demon with horns, red pajamas, and a pitchfork. It’s truly laughable and quite unfortunate, as it only perpetuates the idea that he is a myth. But these misrepresentations don’t change the truth. Satan is real and has a very tangible, destructive effect on humanity. We can’t ignore him.
Followers of Jesus Christ believe there is a Creator God who is distinct from His created things. God created all – spiritual and material. What God created was good. God gave human beings and angels free will. Satan was once an angel. As an angel with free will, Satan led a rebellion against God, Adam and Eve eventually joined him, and since then, there has been evil and destruction across the earth. Satan’s name comes from the Hebrew word, “adversary.” Satan desires to make you bitter, unforgiving, anxious, and blind to the truth. He opposes good. He opposes God. He seeks to pervert God’s goodness and glory. And he is powerful.
If one does not believe in Satan and real evil present on the earth, how is one to explain the Holocaust, or sex trafficking of young girls, or child soldiers? How is one to explain genocide? People need to take responsibility, but we also need to be aware of the spiritual realm that has actual influence. Tim Keller explained how a recognition of evil, necessitates the belief in something beyond what we can see, “If you are sure that this natural world is unjust and filled with evil,” Keller attests, “you are assuming the reality of some extra-natural (or supernatural) standard by which to make your judgment.”
Unfortunately, people can tend toward extremes on this subject; either completely dismissing Satan as a myth, or hyper-focusing on his existence and giving him more power than he has. C.S. Lewis explained it well, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
We must remember that only God is eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, and good. Satan has limitations just like other created beings. For those who believe in Jesus Christ, we can have faith in these words from Scripture, “Greater is He that is in you, than he (Satan) that is in the world.” While sin will continue to be a problem, we can triumph and find victory in the all-powerful, saving grace of Jesus Christ.
When confronted with the problem of evil, most eventually wonder, “If God is good, why would He allow this to happen in the first place? Why wouldn’t He just stop Satan? If He is all powerful, and He is love, can’t He put an end to our misery?”
These questions are understandable. And thankfully, there are answers. If God did not allow humanity the choice of whether or not to follow Him, He would eradicate evil, but He also wouldn’t be love. God IS love, so forcing humankind to follow Him is not in His nature. Forcing Himself, by removing our free will, would not be the loving relationship He desires.
God is not to blame for evil. In fact, people who genuinely serve and follow Jesus Christ will work tirelessly to confront evil in the world. We have to take responsibility for our own rebellion against a good God who is grieved by the pain and suffering that plagues humanity. And we must recognize Satan as a real enemy if we are to effectively combat it. G.K. Chesterton said, “It isn’t that they can’t see the solution, it’s that they can’t see the problem.” If we cannot recognize the problem of evil rooted in Satan, we cannot begin to confront and resolve it.
The Good News of Christianity is that Jesus Christ entered into human history, substituted Himself on the cross for our sins, and rose from death. In so doing, He defeated Satan’s ability to destroy those who love God. While we are on earth, we can choose to follow Christ. He allows us to confront evil, restore what is good, and partner with God in His grand story of redemption. And one day, God will ultimately destroy Satan and redeem and restore all that has been lost through his rebellion. What a glorious day that will be.
Easter Outreach in Portland
Alpha Hayward and Tray Michaels, NGA members from Portland, OR put on a fantastic Easter outreach this weekend. Here is the local coverage from the Oregonian newspaper. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/04/thousands_of_easter_eggs_fall.html
