NEW ERA!

Dare to Dream and Learn to Fly! =)

♫ Close your eyes and visualize. Nothing is impossible for those who try. Just dream to fly as eagles fly across the sky. I know We Can... See the rainbow around us all. Hear the angels when they call. Find a way to reach inside. Just dare to dream and walk with pride. Oh and we'll Rise Up Together we'll go Higher! Find such to make it through the fire. Just dare to dream, I know We Can Do Anything!... Stand Together side by side...♫- John Legend, "Dare to Dream"
Promise-Holly's story and visions.

*PROMISED LAND*

*REVOLUTION*

*UNITY*

*IT'S TIME!*

*PREPARE FOR GLORY!*

(Main part: Application portion at the bottom)


Hey Everyone =) This is an update of the RISE OF AN EMPIRE post. Towards the end of Spring quarter God spoke to me through the 300 (Rise of an Empire) trailer and I shared what I saw concerning this new season in that post. And after that I kept getting more and more confirmation and I can see some things already unfolding which is what I want to share in this post. So let's begin! =D

"It begins as a Whisper, a Promise"

In the summer, the last Sunday of IV Church Holly shared the message in the video below. Take a listen! Let me highlight this one part: "He gave me a heart, a burden for the people in this city... I really wanted to see God move in this city... Then He started giving me promises... I hear He was speaking so much to me about huge things! He was giving me all these verses about how Nothing is impossible with God. Just giving me all this Faith basically to see... I felt like He was promising me so many students coming to the LORD and revival breaking out in IV. I had a vision of like DP people worshipping Jesus instead of drinking and partying. Just massive things and I had so much faith for it and I was like Yeah! This is gonna happen. I hope everybody's ready for it! It's probably gonna happen this year..."

Holly is Pastor Jason's wife and she's been believing God for revival in IV since her first year in college! She's been faithfully stewarding that promise for all those years (I wanna point out that Marilyn, who shared in the counterfeit revival video I posted in the Rise of An Empire post, also has been stewarding that promise for a while now and I remember her saying that's what keeping her here). So back to Holly, year after year passed without seeing the promise but along with the promise for revival God had promised her a son, "Isaac" (which was also the title of her message). So each time she  was expectant she got excited but God was like "that's not Isaac" so she waited. God told her he was bringing her "Full Circle" in order for her to see the promise. So finally this past summer she announced that she was expecting her fifth child and this time God told her that it was Isaac and he's due in March She was excited to share that with us because it also meant that "It's Time", "A New Era" for the promise of revival to come to fruition! :D So I've highlighted some words in the paragraph above coz I wanna unpack them.:

• So in the Rise of Empire post there's a female commander and as you've noticed Holly and Marilyn are women warriors who have been stewarding this promised and have now released this word that it's time. And yeah God told me that He's raising up strong women generals in this hour. 
• "Full Circle"- Holly used those words and they stood out to me because that's a word that God had given me that summer. So for me he didn't tell me to wait for the promise. He told me to walk into it and it wasn't a simple walk, it requires courage, laying my life down in order to violently take hold of the promise. But I held back because I was waiting for unity (reconciliation) in the InterVarsity to happen first. But that summer was when I saw the whole picture when I looked back. God wanted to use me like a forerunner to start a fire just by sharing my heart and he put me though a journey where I encountered more groups of people in His body and in the campus but I didn't share the fire in my heart :(details about what happened in later posts). But yeah when I saw the whole picture I started to write an email to InterVarsity Staff and the title was "Full Circle" but I never sent it. It's still in my drafts. I facebooked Melissa though. 
• Isaac in the Bible is the son of the promise and the name means laughter. That implies it's time to reap. Those who sow in tears will reap in songs of joy! :D Also he is the fifth child. I'm the fifth child in my family and as I found out in this post that 5 is a number of Grace and this year is a new season marked by Grace. Also he is due in March 2014, in the Rise of Empire post I had highlighted that month because I felt there was a significance since the release date was moved from 2013 to 2014. And yeah, God was just showing me His grace for us this year. Unity and revival didn't happen last Hebrew year (school year falls within the Hebrew year) since the forerunners like me didn't do our job but he has extended grace to us this year. I feel like Isaiah 66: 7-13 is connected to March 2014 a birthing month. The RISE OF AN EMPIRE. 
• Oldies in IV (still)- I noticed that some people in the church, God had told them to stay an extra year (the 2012-2013 school year) and they were planning to leave after that but then God told them to stay for this year as well. People like Caralee, God brought her here and told her He was going to use her to unite the church but at the end of the school year He told her to stay for this year also why? He told her because she didn't do what He told her. The work is not yet done. I could also see some of the InterVarsity people who are still in IV after graduation. I wanted to tell them that there is so much more that God has planned for us this year! He wants us to bring in the harvest. Lead the multitudes to know Him just through unity in prayer and pursuing more of His Kingdom of power and Love =)
• This was Pastor Jason's status yesterday: "I had a dream last night that I was in Reinhard Bonke or Billy Graham's pool, ha ha. Halloween week this next weekend IV, c'mon Jesus!" Go to the bottom of the Rise of an empire post coz I had included a Word from Bonke, "And Now America."

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FALL at UCSB

♫ I'm building My army now. I'm searching all around (for those in position). Never have you seen the things you'll see. Get ready for the GREATEST VICTORYYYYYY-YEAH! ♫ ("Are you ready?" by Beckah Shae)

So when I came back to SB this Fall I noticed a change in the atmosphere. During the week of welcome I heard that most of the christian groups had a lot of people coming to their events, more than in past years. Not just that I noticed that this hunger for change among those not in christian groups. I realized that many of the people I met and friends I made last year have leadership positions on campus this year. 

I went with Impact to the Black Scholars floor in Santa Rosa to do follow ups and Nadya commented that Impact was the first group that these students were getting exposed to, the message of the Gospel and christian community (The Black Student Union didn't have it's unity event - the first event till Oct 15th). Also FMLY band had it's show on Sept 28th, "It also just so happens to be the first weekend for IV to be back into its full swing with UCSB being back and all." So there's a post called Take the Land! that's still in my drafts but that's what I see happening a take over =)

Other things I took note of concerning this year: IV church is focussing on evangelism this year, Cru is focussing on unity -the theme of their Fall retreat was "Bonded in Love." The Destino Fall conference theme was Restore.The InterVarsity Ignite conference in the summer was titled, "Start Something New" and their Fall Conference this weekend is "Step out in Faith." The Impact conference in Atlanta is themed, "Break Free." All those may just be words to you but to me they are indicators that the church is finally ready to move forward together! And you know what that means!! :D

***InterVarsity Visions***

So at the Pre-Fall Leaders Retreat in 2011, the InterVarsity leaders had an unusual experience (read more in that post) and many people had many visions. I won't list all of them, but basically God was showing us the series of events leading up to the Great Revival that He promised us. So Paul Benthin, one of the InterVarsity staff, had a vision that there was going to be an earthquake in IV then revival would happen after that. So what's been keeping revival from happening? Well you see it starts with the church. Jeremy, the new Upper room pastor, shared his vision last week where God told him that the key to this city is the fear of the LORD. Seeing God on the throne and not just as Father but as King.

"if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14) I shared this verse at the retreat back in 2011 and someone else also shared it at IV Church yesterday.

So when people were sharing at IV church yesterday I was being reminded of the visions that still haven't taken place. 

1. Alex had a vision that we were on a hill holding hands (praying I think) and there was a cross at the center. And then he saw our non-christian friends coming up the hill and gathering around us (from a far he saw demons but when they came closer he realized that they were just our non-christian friends). What does that mean? Well right when I stepped on this campus this school year, and even before that, God was showing me signs that UCSB is ready, ready for unity and racial reconciliation and everyone is set on working towards that this year. He would surprise me with this visions when I wasn't even looking for them - pictures in the new planner and the arts and lectures magazine like some of the ones I've posted and more that I'll post on fb. These pictures are saying, "It's Time! We are ready!"so that's what the significance was of our non-christian friends walking up towards the top of the hill. But what's at the top of the hill? Jesus. He is at the center of the unified church. That's only way to achieve unity and racial reconciliation, through Him. That vision is a call for unity in the church. If we are being honest the church in SB is not united. We are not yet the Acts 2 church. But to get to Acts 2 we need to go through Acts 1=> A call to united prayer and waiting on God to be endowed with Power from on high.
2. Judith had a vision that we were marching down DP holding hands and she was holding hands with her friend from Real Life. This just shows unity in the body (different ministries working together) and together being a bold witness for Christ.
3. Storke Plaza -In the Fall 2011 the InterVarsity staff were hosting all the prayer meetings at Storke Plaza. I went to Paul's prayer meeting and he shared that Zach Morrissey who was a freshman that year had a vision during the previous prayer meeting. In the vision he saw the whole of  Storke Plaza really packed with people worshipping God. InterVarsity used to hold all their prayer meetings there. Also Cru usually does their worship nights there. Last year was the first unity worship night called With One Voice and about 100-150 people showed up. So yes that vision is a sign of revival happening in the school but let's think practically... I'm sure there's more than 150 Christians in this school... if all the Christians would come together and worship the King... I think that vision is a sign of revival in the church. People go to different conferences, concerts and events such as One Love in different areas and they expect God to do great things at those events. What are about right here and right now? Why can't the body of Christ come together, worship, pray and seek His face expecting great things? Christafari is coming this Saturday at 5pm to have a worship concert at Storke Plaza. Let's come together and worship the King =)

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Application: Halloween Week

So this really is time for revival... and it's really up to us the church to walk into the promises and reap the harvest. So here are some practicals:

• Halloween Prayer Week - An opportunity for the body of Christ to unite in prayer. More info on the fb event: https://www.facebook.com/events/156560897888489/ There's gonna be 24/7 prayer this week so you can sign up by yourself or with a group. And whether or not you sign up just get together with people and pray for the Kingdom to come down. I signed up for Tuesday 4-6pm at the prayer shed come join me =)
• Prayer and worship. Let's pray and press in to God through worship and do it with expectation that He will show us His glory.
• United outreach: AACF is passing out water bottles in front of the Jesus Burgers house this Thursday. Jesus burgers will be running on Friday and Saturday and a team from Bethel will be coming down. More events from IV church in the picture below.
• Christafari Concert-  November 2nd at 5pm. This was meant to be a united outreach/ unity event for all christian groups by the newly formed (on paper) org called ONE Body but the group hasn't fully formed yet. Still need student representatives to be part of it. And yeah I need help this week in preparation for the concert. So please help. Let me know if you can. Thanks!
• It's time for us to be more involved with what's going on in the campus. You'll be surprised by the fire that's already there. Sorry for the lateness of this post also it's not my best work coz I'm really tired right now, just wanted to get this info out there. I gave you the happy version but there is MORE. Remember this is WAR! So I need to spit some FIRE! soon.

I see the King of Glory coming down the clouds with FIRE! The whole earth SHAKES!
I see a GENERATION RISING UP to take their place! With SELF-LESS FAITH!
I see a NEAR REVIVAL. Stirring as we PRAY and SEEK! We're on our knees!
HOSANNA in the HIGHEST! =)

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