SEAC Prayer Journal

Matthew Geppert from Southeast Asian Prayer Center (SEACP) challenged conferees to take a moment to reflect and listen regarding our Identity.  The   continual  encouragement was to  remember  and minister to ourselves this message.   And  when we are struggling most to  remember it and profess it outwardly during those hardships. We repeated in response: “I AM WHO I AM  MADE BY THE I AM WHO  SAYS WHO I AM.” This morning create a time and space for listening prayer.   Perhaps the Lord may offer an adjective to describe the season, provide an affirmation, a new name, a vision, or an image.   After listening, perhaps draw, sketch, paint, or color the provided word.   It can become a process that will reveal a lesson, bring healing, and/or bring clarity. Creative methods and strategies with new tools may have its struggles and uncover an emotional or spiritual ep...

Flat Tire on the Motorbike Journey into the Villages, Laos, March 2014 Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord Psalm 38 (ESV) A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering How often do you feel overloaded by surroundings, criticisms, judgments, shame, and even sometimes our own communities?   As Disciples on this earthly journey our Refuge is here to lean on throughout all our struggles, hardships, judgments, shame, and community development. ·       Read through Psalms 38. ·       Reflect on each section ·       Write your own psalms of offering in your own words ·       Our Refuge is here to lean on. Surrender: Confession of Shortcomings 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!   2. For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.   3. There is no soundness in my flesh bec...

Glory at the Foot of the Rocks, Ryan Ranch, Joshua Tree, California Throughout the Old Testament the desert thrives as a Biblical motif.  In the desert people groups were taught mighty lessons. From those mighty lessons, there was abundance, multiplication, promise, and growth. In Genesis, Abraham's legacy and his family were established through sojourning for a new land.  Along the journey the Lord promised him a nation that would be greater than the numbers of stars in the sky and the number of grains of sands on the earth. In Exodus, the Israelites sought for the promised land, a place filled with milk and honey.  As they faithfully traveled for hundreds of years, they developed as a sojourning nation.  Some developments were within their culture, simplicity of life, and worship and reverence for the Lord. In Psalms, King David and his writers extolled the liveliness and abundance of the desert.  There King David's faithfulness is grown. The desert...

Have you ever heard the term SUPERBLOOM ?   What is it?   This is the newest frenzy for Californians in the last two weeks.   In all thirty some years of my life, I have never heard this term outside of the 60’s peace era. My social media pages and face-to-face conversations have been filled with eyewitnesses of “super bloom” Super Bloom, Lake Eleanor, CA :  photo by  @mirandajonez National Geographic Magazine defines “ super bloom” as “a colloquial term used to define an explosion of wildflowers that exceeds typical spring blooms. The park, which is typically bare of flowers, has come alive with vibrant greenery, poppies, primroses, and lilies.” photos from National Geographic Other photos of super bloom in California It is praise to the Creator that the California drought has finally ended from the downpour of rain this past winter.   Our reservoirs are filled and the drive on the I-5 is no longer hazy brown.   But rather the inters...

It's called the LWT, its short for Leader Without a Title.  I think many of us can relate to this.  Often we think to ourselves in our cultural context of being Southeast Asian Americans who function under a cultural constraints, context, "ministry", and or occupation as stuck?  Hurt?   Plateaued, mediocre, with lack of focus, limited??  Some might even still be struggling with self worth and value in their capabilities.  We are approaching SEALS 2014, in a 2 weeks and it is a leadership summit right.  Here is some food for thought: How does this take us to depend on God's love?  How do we REMAIN in him with this though of disintegrating our negative thoughts and behaviors, our past..... The more thought put into choosing to disintegrating negative thoughts, behaviors, and past experiences leads us to consider what it means to deny yourself to take up the cross DAILY, what does being created in His likeness really mean, and how can we funct...

Where is your mother tongue from?  Where is your identity from?  In all the mix of things, we all ended up here in America.  We share the commonality of speaking American English and being part of the this generations mass media obsession.  We have a certain type of slang that we can all understand.  Kind of shifts the idea of how the Tower of Babel went down doesn't it?   But somehow.... Many days of the year, we still feel out of place in our leadership styles, communication styles, and values system in our ministry, mission, and career industry. I mean who doesn't have a hard day or a bad day, tough bosses, complaints and disagreements. We often feel unheard, unsatisfied, helpless, stuck, unprepared, under appreciated, conscious, and insecure.  All these words make us understand the commonly of disconnect, a gap, and discomfort.  May in the next week or so we approach the throne of grace, to be reunited with the Father, and ask our F...

ANCHOR What is the first thing you thought within 2 seconds? When we think of an anchor, we first think of the massive hook-like iron connected to a chain to keep a boat from drifting into the far beyond.   In track and field and swimming relays, each team has 4 persons; the last to run is the anchor.  That person has the agility, the endurance, the strength, the consistency observed over many races, and the experience to be the one to finish the race strong. These are the dictionary definitions that affirm our initial visualization of an anchor. 1)  any   of   various   devices   dropped   by   a   chain,   cable,   or   rope   to   the bottom   of   a   body   of   water   for   preventing   or   restricting   the motion   of   a   vessel   or   other   floating   object ,  typically   having broad,   hoo...

Remember the in 2010  the theme for SEALS was Grass Roots grow into Tall Shoots.. In 2012 SEALS theme was Arise and Shine.  In retrospective the SEAC Women's Ministry will have their first Women's Retreat this coming weekend.  May we all continue to uplift one another in authenticity, affirmation and devotion as we come before the Lord with unveiled faces.  Transformation 2 Corinthians 3  17.  Nww the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.   18.  And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.   Devotion Jeremiah 30 21. "Their leader will be one of their own;their ruler will arise from among them.  I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?" declares the Lord. 22.  "So you will b...

In all things, God is the Creator, the Author, and the Master Craftsman.  And as his servant leaders we are learning to mimic his craftsmanship.  As we practice, train, and discipline ourselves through life we are being refined from  beginners to advanced servant leaders following the examples of the master designer.  In the beginning he holds our hands on how to do things, and as we grow and develop he helps us redevelop and refine our technique.  He helps us with our skills, but he affirms and nurtures our gifting   Yes, because a Master Craftsmen cares for his apprentices.    In this analogy we see that God has been building up the Bride of Christ and as we know the harvest is ready but the workers are few.  May we know that we are the workers and we build each other up and the kingdom with care and authenticity, even through the growing pains stretching and branching out for the sake of God's satisfaction, our sanctifica...

The word spreads fast.  Facebook, Twitter, and the news have all been blasting the news of twin bombs in Boston.  The immediate thought is, "What is the world coming to, and how can this be happening again."  We think and remember the days of fear and chaos from 9/11.  Today we again are thinking of fear and chaos, Patriot's Day in Boston has not been blood stained with the two lives lost and the hundreds that have been injured and decapitated from the bombing.  In these types of situations how do we pray and approach the throne of grace? In remembering the pangs and pains of suffering of the Israelite people who went through genocide, slavery, bondage, and invasion we see and know that the character of God is just, fair, slow to anger, and quick to love.  We see and experience a God who is peace in chaos, and mercy in times of devastation. In anything and everything of course we can be praying for things like this.....relief...

There are two ways to be silent. One is with choice to inactive, and the other is to be active.  Why do we think that when we are silent we are weak.  Is that the necessary case.  It isn't always the smartest strategy to speak out quickly.  There are times when silence becomes the strongest action that is initially taken.    When we are silent we are using our strongest tool that the Father gave us.  No one can stop you from praying, hoping, or believing.  If anyone has ever though that you were too silent they should have thought twice; rather they should have asked, "What have you been praying about, what have you been praying for, and what/whom have you been interceding for?"   When we are silent before the Lord all of a sudden our hearts are available to listen to the words that the Father speaks.  Our hearts are positioned to be ready and available for instruction and discernment.  We gain confidence through silen...