The Eve Before My Grandpa's Memorial Service

Playing some Youtube videos (see one link I shared on facebook) and being prayerful as I close out my day. Thanking God for rest today and for family. We're having a memorial service for my grandpa tomorrow at 11am in Marion, IA. My cousin Meghan will be leading our newly formed choral group of cousins (special for grandpa-I think he would be delighted) in singing his favorite hymn, "How Great Thou Art." There's several prices of the service I'm not quite aware of, but they've asked me to read a scripture too. I've chosen Ecclesiastes 3, which my grandma thought was very fitting. I'm anticipating a beautiful day as we put my dear dear grandpa to rest - celebrating his life, saying goodbye, and resting in the fact we know he's in a better place now and no longer suffering, as he has been towards the end of his time here on earth.

Psalm 116:15 KJV "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

Reflections from the Prayer Room at the Baltimore Prayer House

Keeping the fire burning on the altar here at the Prayer House. :-)

During time in prayer & saturating in the Word today, I read some awesome stuff from the Christian Growth Study Bible by YWAM in partnership with Zondervan. Here's a quote from the introduction they give to the book of Habakkuk, "Habakkuk begins with despondency but ends with powerful nor grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR.' (3:17-18, emphasis added). Consider how you too might look beyond the circumstances of life to the character of God. As you come to know the One who will establish his perfect justice on earth, you will find reasons for worshipping Him.

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Special thanks to David & Christine Hamilton for giving this Bible to my mom & dad years ago, and now it's found it's way into my hands! It's been such a huge blessing and has really opened up the scriptures to me. As I'm reading, part of me longs to be a part of YWAM's School of the Bible and sit under your teaching, David! ;-) I have my mind set to come visit you with my mom & dad if you make it back to Harrisburg, PA again this year. That's only a couple hours from us in Baltimore! And if you want to come by Baltimore while you're in the area, we'll totally put you up and provide some opportunities for you to minister, fundraise, or just enjoy our company - however the Spirit leads. I'd love to have you connect with my ministry the Prayer House and the move God's doing here. Why I can't really do a School of the Bible right now - God's telling me to stay & work here for the time being. And I do love the work here oh so much! I'm blessed to know that I'm in good company with the Disciples who were "untrained ordinary men". :-) Yet, I've had some real great training over the years with Teen Mania Ministries in '07-'09 & World Trumpet Mission who I now work a lot with in Baltimore ('09-present). God is good. And of course, the Holy Spirit is the best teacher of all, & i get His classroom most of the time in-between times of training with others He provides every now and again. I trust His leadership and only want to do what He says when He says it!!! :-)

Well, there it is...a lot of stuff that just welled up in my heart as I spent time in the prayer room this morning, and some other things that have just come out...lol. Praise God!

:-)

The National Day of Prayer

Thursday, May 5th, 2011.  The first Thursday of May.  The day that has been recognized as the National Day of Prayer for 60 years now.

I dressed in my patriotic attire and headed out the door to a glorious spring day.  Enjoying the 10 minute stroll down the road to the bus stop, breathed in the fresh air and smiled, thanking God for a beautiful day and all that He had in store.  The bus, of course, was late, but having gotten used to the system, I planned on some extra time.  I boarded the 15 with no problem.  I feel very cultured for having the skills which I definitely did not hold in bus riding several months ago.  The bus was full of people - people God loves - people who need to hear of His love.  As I sat down I prayed and asked God to move.  He urged me to just be quiet before Him along the bus ride and read my Bible, so that is what I did.  He was preparing my heart for the things to come.

Disembarking from the bus, I had a good 15 minutes before the National Day of Prayer Convocation would begin on the plaza outside of City Hall.  So, I took a walk around the area, praying, and asking God to prepare the ground.  Just one block south of City Hall, I found myself at The Block.  My stomach churned and my heart ached as I saw the ads for Club Lust and etc.  I won't even go into more details than that.  But, I walked the full length of the block and prayed and cried out to the Lord to tear down the human trafficking that went on there.  I looked into the eyes of some of the woman, pimps, and all your every day Joe's that strolled along the street.  I began to proclaim the Lord's name over the street and cry out against the strongholds of darkness.  Keeyanna came to my mind as I remembered her and all the other women and their families we ministered to around Christmas time.  She, along with many of the others we had gathered, worked at The Block.

I kept walking and praying.  As I approached the War Memorial Park leading up to the plaza in front of City Hall, my heart went out to all the people scattered across the park.  I walked past several of them and invited them to join us in prayer.  My eye caught one woman in particular, who I ended up sitting down and chatting with a bit.  Frances.  I praise God for her!  Please join me in prayer for her.  I was able to share the Gospel message with her and the hope that we have in Jesus for an assurance of eternal life after death, and the power of the Holy Spirit while we are still here on the earth.  She repeated the words of a prayer that poured from my heart, and I believe she was truly saved on this day.  She didn't want to come to the gathering on the plaza, so I left after giving her a huge hug and telling how much of a pleasure it was to meet her.

The worshippers were drawing the presence of God and I joined right in, as the time of prayer had already begun.  I joined in and delighted in joining hands with those from the street, and those from their workplaces, and those from various ministries in the city, came together to pray.  We pressed into the presence of God and worshipped Him.  Then, partnered with His heart regarding 7 key sectors of our society: Government (praying out of 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Church (praying out of John 17:23), Military (praying out of Psalm 91:5-6), Family (praying out of Mark 3:25), Education (praying out of Proverbs2:3-5), Media (praying out of Philippians 4:8), and Business (praying out of Deuteronomy 25:15).  For more on the national day of Prayer go to www.nationaldayofprayer.org. 

As the time of prayer continued, it was wonderful to join with some of the others in the gathering to witness to the men and woman off the street, some without any shelter of their own, and give them the hope of the Gospel.

God did a great work in connecting some of us after the gathering dispersed as well.  I'm excited for some of the people that I meet and the relationships we are going to build to further the Lord's Kingdom and His heart to see His Name lifted high in our city through prayer and service.

Only 5 weeks and a few days we will be convening another gathering for 24 hours of non-stop worship and prayer called the BurnWagon.  And it will all be on the cusp of 21 days of fasting an prayer to prepare an atmosphere in our hearts and in the land for a God encounter.  I am excited and ready to get some of these things off the ground!  : )  I've posted a blog (which this article will probably be posted on) at http://burnbaltimore.blogspot.com.  Check that out for all the latest updates.  Not much is up at this moment, but more will come soon!  Thank you for your prayers!

For more on the movement of prayer God is stirring in Baltimore, visit www.partnersfortransformation.net.  They are stewarding a big part of what God is doing here and it has been a blessing to work with them as part of my mission in Baltimore!

A Call to Prayer for Baltimore City

Tonight I want to put out a call to prayer for Baltimore City, MD. One of the nations murder & drug capitals. My Pastor is out tonight with the police ministering. And God has been keeping me awake to intercede . Please join me in prayer for this city. Call or text me if you want to pray together. My cell is on my facebook page.

We could even do a prayer conference call if anyone is interested. I can't sleep tonight. Lives are on the line. Our prayers must go up. Even when I was sleeping, I was dreaming that I was with a gathering of people interceding. So let's gather. Let's intercede. Check out my blog at http://weneedrevelation.blogspot.com/2011/02/baltimore-stats-message-from-major.html for some stats on Baltimore & ways to pray.

Luke 18:1-8 *vs. 7: "Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to him day & night?"

Baltimore Stats: A Message from Major Russell of the Eastern District from January 5, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR FAMILY!!! 

COLLECTIVELY WE HAD A GREAT 2010 WITH JUST A FEW INITIATIVES AND SCATTERED ENGAGEMENT. WITH THAT THE EASTERN DISTRICT STILL NETTED GREAT SUCCESS. THE DIFFERENCE FROM BEING ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY HAS ONCE AGAIN HAS PROVEN TO BE DOING JUST A LITTLE EXTRA!

THE YEAR IN SUMMARY:

CITYWIDE THE CITY OF BALTIMORE HAD ANOTHER STELLAR YEAR WITH ANOTHER 4% DROP IN VIOLENT CRIME AND 3% DROP IN PROPERTY CRIME AND 3% OVERALL CRIME DROP COMPARED TO LAST YEARS HISTORICAL NUMBERS! BIG UPS TO BPD AND ITS LEADERSHIP!

LET'S SEE WHO LED THE WAY:

FACT - EAST BALTIMORE HAS ALWAYS WORN THE CROWN OF BEING THE MOST VIOLENT AREA OF THE CITY LEADING IN HOMICIDES AND SHOOTINGS. OUT OF 9 DISTRICTS THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD THE 2ND BEST DROP IN VIOLENT CRIMES - 14%, 2ND BEST DROP IN PROPERTY CRIME - 8% AND 2ND BEST WITH OVERALL CRIME REDUCTION - 10%!  WE ARE ONE OF ONLY 2 DISTRICTS TO HAVE A DOUBLE DIGIT OVERALL CRIME REDUCTION.

THIS IS IMPRESSIVE WHEN YOU TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT EAST BALTIMORE HAS THE REPUTATION OF BEING THE WORSE PART OF THE CITY.

EVEN THOUGH THE WESTERN DISTRICT HAD A 1% GREATER VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION THAN THE EASTERN DISTRICT IN 2010 THEY HAD 14 MORE HOMICIDE/SHOOTING VICTIMS THAN THE EASTERN DISTRICT!

EVEN THOUGH THE SOUTHEASTERN DISTRICT HAD A 6% GREATER PROPERTY CRIME REDUCTION THAN THE EASTERN DISTRICT THEY HAD 1,843 MORE BURGLARIES AND THEFTS!

THE BREAKDOWN:

                                                                    

HOMICIDES

THE FINAL NUMBER IS 39 PEOPLE MURDERED IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT IN 2010.

THIS WAS 3 MORE THAN 2009, BUT NOTE THAT 3 MURDERS WERE CHARGES TO 2010 WHERE THE VICTIMS WERE SHOT YEARS BEFORE BUT SUCCUMBED TO COMPLICATIONS OF THE INITIAL INJURIES. WITH THE 3 ADDED VICTIMS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS THAT GAVE THE EASTERN DISTRICT 3 MORE THAN LAST YEARS 36 PEOPLE MURDERED WHICH EQUATES TO A 8% INCREASE.

I KNOW 39 LIVES LOST IS UNACCEPTABLE AND WE ARE HARDLY REJOICING OVER IT, BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS REPRESENTS A LOW NUMBER FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT WHICH WAS RECORDING A MINIMUM OF 50 PLUS PEOPLE YEARLY BEING MURDERED FOR THE PAST DECADES!

THE EASTERN DISTRICT FELL OUT OF IT'S 8TH PLACING LAST YEAR AND BACK TO LAST WITH THOSE 39 HOMICIDES. THE WESTERN AND NORTHEASTERN DISTRICTS WERE CLOSE WITH 38 AND 37 RESPECTIVELY.

                                                                   

SHOOTINGS

THE FINAL NUMBER IS 60 PEOPLE SHOOT IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT IN 2010.

THIS WAS 26 LESS THAN OUR 2009 STELLAR YEAR!  26 LESS PEOPLE SHOT IN 2010 THAN 2009 EQUATES TO A 30% DECREASE!

THE EASTERN DISTRICT FINALLY FELL OUT OF LAST PLACE IN THIS CATEGORY AND MOVED UP TO 7TH! THIS IS QUITE A FEAT CONSIDERING THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD THE MOST SHOOTINGS (AND HOMICIDES) YEAR AFTER YEAR FOR DECADES. 2010 HAS THE WESTERN AND NORTHEASTERN DISTRICTS COMING IN LAST AND 8TH RESPECTIVELY WITH 78 AND 61 SHOOTINGS.

I ASKED GOD FOR LESS THAN 100 PEOPLE SHOT OR KILLED IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT THIS PAST YEAR AND HE ANSWERED MY PRAYER! THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A SILLY PRAYER, BUT NOTE THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR THAT THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD LESS THAN 100 PEOPLE (99 TOTAL) MURDERED/SHOT IN WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE WELL OVER 20 YEARS!  WITH THAT I AM ASKING FOR AN EVEN LOWER NUMBER THIS YEAR. THIS WILL HAPPEN AS LONG AS THE POLICE AND TTT DON'T GROW WEARY AND CONTINUES TO FIGHT BACK!!!

                                                                    

ROBBERIES

THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD THE LEAST AMOUNT OF ROBBERIES IN THE CITY WITH 250 COMPARED TO THE OTHER 9 DISTRICTS THAT HAD AS MANY AS 586 ROBBERIES.

THE SOUTHWESTERN AND WESTERN DISTRICTS CAME CLOSE WITH 260 AND 290 RESPECTIVELY (ONLY TWO OTHER DISTRICTS UNDER 300).

                                                                  

BURGLARIES

THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD THE LEAST AMOUNT OF BURGLARIES IN THE CITY WITH 393 COMPARED TO THE OTHER 9 DISTRICTS THAT HAD AS MANY AS 1348 BURGLARIES! THE CENTRAL DISTRICT WAS THE CLOSEST WITH 498 BURGLARIES.

MOST DISTRICTS HAD DOUBLE AND TRIPLE THE NUMBERS OF BURGLARIES THAN THE EASTERN DISTRICT!

                                                         THEFTS AND STOLEN CARS THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD THE LEAST AMOUNT OF THEFTS/STOLEN CARS IN THE CITY WITH 1367 INCIDENTS COMPARED TO THE OTHER 9 DISTRICTS THAT HAD AS MANY AS 3146 INCIDENTS.  THE WESTERN, SOUTHWESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN DISTRICTS WERE THE ONLY OTHER DISTRICTS WITH NUMBERS UNDER 2000 AS THEY HAD 1427, 1595 AND 1902 RESPECTIVELY.

                                                                   

ARRESTS

CITYWIDE ARRESTS DROPPED BY 13.4% WITH 71,288 ARRESTS MADE.

EVERY DISTRICT DROPPED IN ARRESTS AND THE EASTERN DISTRICT HAD THE 3RD HIGHEST ARREST DROP RATE OF 24.4% WITH 7,529 ARREST MADE. EVEN WITH THAT THE EASTERN DISTRICT STILL GOT THE MOST CRIMINALS OFF OF THE STREET COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE CITY. THE CENTRAL DISTRICT CAME CLOSEST IN ARRESTS WITH THE GREATEST DROP PERCENTAGE OF 28.4% NETTING 5,087 CRIMINALS ARRESTED.

PLEASE KNOW THAT THE EASTERN DISTRICT STAYED AT OR NEAR THE BOTTOM IN ALL THE CATEGORIES I'VE SHARED WITH YOU IN PAST YEARS, SO TO SEE WHERE WE ARE NOW ... BUT GOD!

I'VE SHARED THESE NUMBERS WITH YOU SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOUR LABORING IS NOT IN VAIN. OUR PARTNERSHIP THROUGH TTT IS HAVING A  GREAT IMPACT ON OUR CRIME AND IT'S REDUCTION. I GET EXCITED WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW IT WILL LOOK WHEN WE HAVE JUST 20% OF ALL TTT'S PARTNERS FULLY ENGAGED AND IN THIS BATTLE OF TRANSFORMATION. LOOK AT THE RESULTS OF WHAT A FEW BELIEVERS DID! YOUR PRAYER WALKS, COMMUNITY WALKS, OUTREACHING, AND MANY SORTS OF ENGAGEMENT TRULY MADE THE DIFFERENCE!

TOGETHER WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. LET'S STAY TOGETHER!

HERE'S WHAT I BELIEVE IN MY HEART ... IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT WE HAVE ROUGHLY 120 CHURCHES,  18 SCHOOLS, 26 COMMUNITIES, HUNDREDS OF BUSINESSES, DOZENS OF BUSINESSMEN, MANY NON PROFITS, 130 POLICE, JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL AND MORE.  LET BUT 20% STEP FORWARD, ROLL THEIR SLEEVES UP AND GO TO WORK AND BY FAITH THE CRIME RATE WILL PLUMMET INTO OBSCURITY. THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL YOU CAPTURE THE HEART OF THIS CITY, STATE AND THE NATION. THIS CITY NEEDS YOU FOR YOU ARE THAT GREAT TTT AND I LOVE YOU ALL. SEE YOU MONDAY.

MAJOR

      ALL EVIL NEEDS TO PREVAIL IS FOR GOOD PEOPLE TO DO NOTHING 

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For more information on Baltimore City's Eastern District's Transformation Team, click here or click here.

The Far-reaching Rivers of Life

Image via Wikipedia

Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest amazes me with how relevant it is still today, after almost 100 years of time passing by.  As a friend and I discussed today, truly "there is nothing new under the sun. (Eccl. 1:9)"  So today, I simply want to share an excerpt from that book and pray it blesses your heart as much as it did mine.

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The Far-reaching Rivers of Life

September 6

He who believes in Me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:33)

A river reaches places which its source never knows.  And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be.  We have nothing to do with the outflow--"This is the work of God, that you believe..." (John 6:29).  God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.

A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers.  For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle.  And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle.  Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever.  do you see god using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God?  Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it.  The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles.  Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty.  The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source.  Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ--not emotion nor experience--nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.

Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls!  God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us.  If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.

Excerpt from "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers

Wow, this is crazy how much this speaks to where I'm walking right now.  Help me follow these Kingdom principles, God!
I found this on the sacredcharge.com website.  They have some really awesome resources for people going after a lifestyle of prayer and fasting - you should check it out!  : )

"Beware of any work for God which enables you to evade concentration on Him. A great many Christian workers worship their work. The one concern of a worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the other margins of life, mental, moral and spiritual, are free with the freedom of a child, a worshipping child, not a wayward child.
…. There is no responsibility on you for the work; the only responsibility you have is to keep in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him. The freedom after sanctification is the freedom of a child, the things that used to keep the life pinned down are gone. But be careful to remember that you are freed for one thing only- to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.
…. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work.
(O. Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest; April 23rd selection)