prayer coach

God enthrones Himself among the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). The believers in the video below build a throne for the everlasting God within a mall in Beirut. In doing so they expressed their love of Jesus and His resurrection last Easter that brought beauty in a non-threatening way.

I encourage you to watch the video. Even though the song is sung in Greek and Arabic, their love for Jesus will boast your own worship this Easter. I have found the English translation and added it below.

Rough translation of what is being sung:

Christ is risen from the dead,
and by His death, He has trampled upon death,
and given life to those who are in tomb.

This day is the day that God has made,
let us be happy and rejoice in it.

Truly, He is risen!
Truly, He is risen!
Truly, He is risen!

This video may well be old for many people, but this a celebration event that Oprah Winfrey put on for African-American women in 2005. She desired to honor the lives of those who have paved a way for others to come behind. Honor was given, love was displayed, and then in the words of Oprah herself, “Jesus showed up.”

Bebe Winans took the stage pulled in legendary singers from the crowd to piece together a wonderful menagerie of praise. “Not one note was planned or rehearsed,” but the effect was felt by all that was there. Diane Sawyer said, “For the rest of my life I think that may be the most transcendently spiritual moment I’ve ever been part of.”

Sometimes as believers we are so caught up in trying to convince people of the Gospel that we forget to give people a chance to experience Jesus for themselves. It is possible that not one person there placed their faith in Jesus that day, but all of them there had an opportunity to experience Jesus that will contradict any negative feelings they have ever encountered with Christians.

I love this video, and I hope you are encouraged by it.

• “Like” the Prayer Coach Facebook page to keep up with latest posts and to submit your own prayer requests.

I felt this testimony from Stairway Church in Whitehorse, Australia was a good follow-up to the previous post on the Blessed Child. A member of the church approached a man on the streets who just had been beat up and his wallet stolen. The rest of the story is God takes over. This is an encouraging story, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

As a father of two wonderful daughters, the issues of sex trade is especially devastating to me. Daughters of Cambodia has created several opportunities for girls to leave the sex trade by allowing them to see value in themselves. They give the girls job opportunities, training and education, social skills, place to live if needed, etc. I have attached a video about them below. If you are short on time, skip ahead to the 7:00 minute mark to hear the testimony of a girl rescued.

There are many ways you can get involved in the work of Daughters of Cambodia:

• Partner with them in business – buy their products wholesale or retail
• They need the assistance of business consultants overseas to help us develop small businesses
• Sponsor a girl ($70 a month to sponsor one girls’ entire salary each month)
• Fundraising
• Pray – email them for updated prayer requests
• Partner with them financially by making a donation by PayPal (go to the bottom of page)

If you would like to receive the Daughters of Cambodia newsletter, please email them at newsletter.daughters@gmail.com.

Stats Regarding the Current Sex Trade

List courtesy of Nefarious Documentary

• A child is trafficked every 30 seconds. – UNICEF
• The average age of entry into commercial sex slavery in the United States is 13 years old. – United States Department of Justice
• Human Trafficking occurs in 161 out of 192 countries. – The United Nations
• Pornography is a 96 billion dollar per year industry. – The Internet Filter Review
• Up to 96% of women in prostitution want to escape but feel they can’t. – United Labor Organization
• Human Trafficking is a 32 billion dollar per year industry. The United Nations
• In some countries it is estimated that 70% of men purchase sex. – Victor Malarek; The Johns

I wanted to write about how people view God’s thoughts of them and thought this video would be a good introduction. This video is hilarious, but exposes what many think is real, even if carried to an extreme. You might have to listen closely to some of it because of the sound quality. Enjoy!

This video was created by Vintage 21, a church in Raleigh.

Yesterday Bethel Church of Redding, Ca released there latest worship CD, Be Lifted High. So far, I have liked it very much. One of the songs on there, Furious by Jeremy Riddle reminded me again of something that keeps coming to me during worship: God’s love for us is the love He wants from us. Look at the chorus from this song.

His love is deep, His love is wide
and it covers us
His love is fierce, His love is strong
It is furious.
His love is sweet, His love is wild
And its waking hearts to life

So often we sing of God’s passionate heart for us. We need to see that this is the same heart He wants in us for Himself. God is looking for people who pursue Him with the same intensity that He pursues us. God’s deep longing for more of our hearts is the same passion God wants us to have of Him.

So often we ask God to show us a glimpse of Himself. Let us see your face. Let us see more of your glory, goodness, love, what have you. God wants to give us these things. But, He also wants to be wanted and known. We don’t need to twist God’s heart to show Himself; it is a natural response to our offering ourselves to Him.

You want to know God, then give God more of you. Love is always two-sided. You want to reveal yourself to the one you love and you want to know more of the one you love. God will freely respond on His side. Will our response be as freely given?

St Paul’s Church of Auckland, New Zealand created a beautiful video of children retelling the Christmas story. They have the children playing all the parts except the donkey, which I thought was an amazing touch. Enjoy.

via Church Marketing Sucks

The Opera Company of Philadelphia brought culture and God’s praise to the Macy’s Department Store in Philadelphia last month. Over 650 joined the angles choir in singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. It would have been nice to be there, but the video is still something to behold. Enjoy.