theFurnace Blog

2010-08-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Summer is a great time! It is a time to be with friends and family, try to relax a little bit and enjoy some sunshine. For the Furnace, the summer also represents a season of tweaking. We want this to be the best program possible, so every year we look into what needs to be added, subtracted or stay the same. Some summers bring about big change. For instance, last year we added the Furnace Prayer Room. Other summers bring about small tweaks here and there, but nothing major. This summer falls somewhere in the middle. We are certainly not overhauling the program, but we are making some minor changes that have pretty big impact.

That being said, I wanted to make sure that you all know what those changes are as we prepare to start the Fall Semester.

Prayer:
Prayer is the heart of what we do. It is the engine that keeps everything going. We will continue to have daily corporate prayer meetings where we gather together to encounter the Lord and contend for a Him to move in our generation. Here is a schedule for this year’s prayer meetings:

Monday 7-9pm │Tuesday 8-10am │Wednesday 9-11pm │Thursday 7-9pm│
Friday 10pm-12am │Saturday 7-9pm │Sunday 8-10pm Gathering

We have moved prayer meetings back in order to allow time after work or school to make it on time. Also, we have added a Morning Prayer meeting to accommodate schedules that are night heavy.
The goal is to go 24 hour in the prayer room this fall! This is a big goal and not without hurdles, but the time seems right. Let’s be in prayer to see this come to pass.

2 Year Curriculum/Reading schedule:
Since the Furnace began we have placed a premium on learning and growing in the Lord. One of the exciting changes that we are making for this year is the implementation of a Bible study curriculum for your two years in the Furnace. The plan is that over the course of two years in the Furnace each member will read through and discuss the entire New Testament. Rather than discussing outside books during our accountability times, we will discuss the Bible and implement that into our discussions.

However, since we still love and value good books that challenge us and aid in our walk with the Lord each Furnace member will be provided outside reading. We will be providing opportunity for these books to be discussed as well. These books will be given based on the semester. Our tentative book schedule looks like:

1st semester: Pursuit of God & New Testament Bible commentary
2nd semester: Only a Prayer Meeting & Red Moon Rising
3rd semester: Guys/Girls book & a Study Bible
4th semester: Cost of Discipleship & Entirety

Campus Groups:
All Furnace members will be placed on the leadership team of a DSM Campus Group. These groups support our vision to reach lost high school students by providing a home for them to meet fellow students from their high school and see leaders and peers who are seeking Jesus with their whole heart. In addition to reaching the lost, these Sunday night groups will act as a discipleship mechanism for believers to empower students to live out the Desperation Vow in their individual lives and call others to it. Our goal is to equip and empower these high school students to join or start a prayer meeting on their high school campus.

Gathering:
One final reminder is that the Furnace Gathering is going to be on Sunday nights from 8-10pm. This is to allow for Campus Group ministry, but not require more nights out a week. This is a mandatory meeting for all Furnace members.

Early Morning Prayer

2010-06-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4

As my alarm wakes me up early in the morning my mind is focused far more on how tired I am then on entering into a time of prayer and worship. However, as I make it to the prayer meeting and begin to worship the Lord, my heart becomes refreshed and my thoughts begin to fade from my own tiredness. I begin to focus in on the goodness of the Lord, his attributes, and love over my life. As I “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord” my heart is warmed and energized, and I leave feeling far better then I would have if I had spent those two hours sleeping.

But I don’t want my worship to stop there. Worship is not just singing; it is not just dancing; it is not just that warm tingly feeling that I sometimes get. Worship is passionate devotion and adoration. It is love and dedication given to the Lord. It is my desire to live a lifestyle of worship. I believe that the Lord is most worshipped when I live my life in a way that glorifies him. When I choose to have joy in hard situations. When I have good attitude rather then getting upset or worried. I believe that we can worship the Lord all day long. Surely, singing praise to him and dancing before him are a large part of adoring him and falling more in love with the Lord, but I long to show that love all day long in every action that I make.

“Have I ever realized that I can bring to God things which are of value to him. . . not divine, colossal things which could be recorded as marvelous, but ordinary simple human things which will give evidence to God that I am abandoned to him? Have I ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?”
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Praying the Bible

2010-04-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

When I was fifteen my youth group started a prayer meeting every Wednesday night focused on reading the Bible and praying it back to the Lord. At first, this was a hard concept for most of us to grab hold of and to understand. It was different. I guess we were never taught how to pray, we just watched, observed, and then formed our own style. Now we were now being taught a new way to pray and it was stretching us. Praying the Bible back to the Lord made sense, but it was difficult at times. Reading a verse every time you wanted to pray and then forming your prayer around that verse almost felt restricting. However, the more we continued to pray in this manner, the easier it was. Rather then feeling like it was restricting our prayers, we began to find more freedom in our prayers. It was no longer about us coming up with the right words to pray, rather it was about praying to the Lord that which he had already declared and that which he already had promised to do. It was through this time of praying the scriptures that I really began to love prayer and through praying that I really began to love the Bible.

Praying the Bible made me truly begin to enjoy prayer. It was an avenue for me to enter the prayer meetings and not have to worry about being bored or not having anything to pray. I had plenty of resource and all I had to do was enter in. But it was not just the fact that I began to feel comfortable in prayer that made it enjoyable. I began to pray with more authority. My prayers no longer felt like a kid asking God for what I thought was good, but rather I was bringing before the Lord his own words, his own promises, his own declarations. I was able to find my strength in prayer not because I had the best words to say, but rather because I had the best recourse to know what to pray. I no longer had to worry about hearing the heart of God, I could just read his Word and know what he wanted. It is not that I no longer waited on the Lord or waited on the leading of the Spirit, it just made all of that easier. Hearing the Lord was easier, praying was easier, and it was fun. Prayer was not a time of sitting quietly and trying not to fall asleep, prayer was active, I was involved, and I began to see the fruit.

Since every time I prayed I was using the Bible as my resource, I would sit and try and find verses to read during prayer, even when I was not praying. I could pass the time in class, at home, and, yes, sometimes in church by reading my Bible. I would try and find verses that I had not heard people pray before. I remember searching through books like Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Judges just because I was not familiar with them. To this day, some of the verses that I found during that time are my absolute favorite. I remember one time when I was traveling and I had to wake up at 4:00AM (the ungodly hour) in order to make the flight, so my friends and I decided to stay up through the night. Needless to say, they did not make it. I remember after everyone had gone to bed grabbing my Bible and just reading. I remember kneeling on the floor of the bathroom in Guatemala and just being moved by what I was reading. I had an orange highlighter and after that night you might think that that was the only highlighter I ever used to mark in my Bible. The scriptures had become alive to me. I would sit and read and pray and then take what I had read and prayed and do again in the prayer meetings. That is when my Bible became my favorite possession. That is when my quiet times became alive and had meaning. My relationship with the Lord grew during that time like I do not think it ever had before. Everything started to come together. Praying caused me to enjoy reading, reading caused me to enjoy praying, both gave me knew insight and made me desire to go deeper in my relationship with the Lord.

It is odd to look back at those prayer meetings and see how much they shaped where I am at today. I had no idea at the time that my relationship with the Lord would forever be different, that my idea of prayer would be different, or that my life would be different simply by praying. But all of that has happened. I am not trying to say I have found the key to going deeper in relationship with the Lord. The Lord works in different peoples lives in different ways, but I know that for the time and place I was at this is how the Lord captured my heart.

Revival Isn't History!

2010-04-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 13:7-8 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

History inspires me. I love hearing stories of men and women of faith that lived the way that I would like to live; those that advanced the Kingdom of God with all they had in their day. I am always inspired by their stories and challenged by their lives. I recently had the opportunity to travel with a team of our leaders to some of the places where great revivals in history have taken place. We got to be in the buildings where prayers where offered up, where salvations and healings took place, and where nations where changed. We walked the streets where church reformation started. We prayed in the Herrnhut, Germany where the Moravian refugees started a prayer chain that went around the clock . . . for 100 years! That prayer movement quickly became a missions movement as missionaries were sent out all over the world. We went to places in London, England where great men of God preached to tens of thousands of people in parks and churches. We worshiped in a small church where the Welsh Revival that saw hundreds of thousands come to the Lord started. That revival ended up spreading all over the world!

We went with the purpose to see what God has done in the past and contend for Him to move again in our day. Our whole team was encouraged by the fact that all of these people, the ones that history holds in such high esteem, where just regular dudes. There was not a lot that was unique or special about each of them, their circumstances, or their Christianity. There were, however, some similarities that they all shared. They all held to the scripture, were men and women of prayer, served the poor, and lived in holiness. Simply put, they were Christians. What was extraordinary about them was not them, but God.

So be encouraged, God never changes. What He has done in the past, He can do again. God answers prayer today the same as He did in times of great revival. God will heal, save, and move today just like He has before.

We have a vision to see God move in this generation. I am praying for a unified global revival where we see 1,000,000,000 souls saved in our day and in our time. It is not that there is a formula, it is not about some kind of divine arm twisting, but if we will be men and women that love God, are faithful to pray, pursue holiness, and serve others then it is likely that we will see God move in very real ways all around us.

Contend!

Revival Tour

2010-03-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a post from Tyrel Koenes, DLA Director, about our Revival Prayer Tour:

I am here in Berlin, Germany with the second year Core leaders as we go to past places of revival and contend for God to do the same thing in our day and in our time. We went to Wittenberg, Germany where Martin Luther lived, studied, and posted his 95 theses on the door of the church changing church and our availability to the Scriptures forever. Luther had a passion for God and the thing that caused the turmoil within himself that would not allow him to be silent was the love of TRUTH. The Lord spoke to my heart during my time in Wittenberg and showed me that other priests before Luther had been given the revelation that we are saved by grace, a free gift of God- not by purchasing indulgences (which is what was being taught by the church at that time). The Lord showed me that the reason they didn’t change history forever is because although they had knowledge of the truth, they were unwilling to fight for it. They were unwilling to suffer for TRUTH. You see, Luther faced extreme persecution, trials, and unrest because he went against not just the world and it’s systems but against the church and its perverted systems of that time. Am I encouraging people to rebel against the church? Absolutely not. I am simply saying that we MUST be a people that love the truth and that will even die in order that others know the truth. The truth is what sets people free, not religion.

We went to Herrnhut, Germany and saw Ludwig Von Zinzendorf’s church, house, and his grave. We have learned a lot about the Moravian movement and how Zinzendorf created a community of people committed to living whole-heartedly after God all of their days. We heard stories of worship leaders having weekly meetings with their band and asking each person hard questions like, has money had a hold on you this last week, how have you dealt with the opposite sex, what sin have you committed, and so on. Herrnhut was the first place to continually send forth missionaries ever, thus launching the modern mission’s movement as we know it today. We heard the great sacrifice it took to go on missions in those days. People would leave their parents and settle in a place and they would live in a community of friends and family and build close bonds all their lives. So the simple fact of saying goodbye to people was extremely foreign to most people in that day. Let alone, the fact that traveling long distances was very dangerous and very difficult in those times. Many times people would die on their way to the country they were to evangelize to. Other times they would die of some unknown disease within a few weeks of arriving, never getting a chance to witness to any of the people there. Did this change the mandate the Moravians had from God to send people to places where others had never heard the Gospel? No way. They were determined to live holy, to pray always, and to give up their lives for Jesus Christ.

What God has shown me on this trip thus far is this:
He desires to do what He has done in the past, but even greater things than these. He showed me that yes Luther, the Moravians, and others were instruments He used to bring about great and much needed change but they were mere men that lived to please God. Jesus is raising up reformers today, just like Luther, just like Zinzendorf. The goal isn’t to try and “reform” something, especially if God is not leading you this way. The goal is to live passionately for God, pray always, love people, stand up for the truth, and be willing to give up all you own, all you know, all you can gain in this world, and even your own life for the gospel of Christ. There is a reforming spirit that moves amongst the people of God and yes, the young people as well. In fact, Zinzendorf as a teenager made a commitment with a friend to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. The success of true reformers isn’t that they succeed in “going against the flow.” Their success is that they lived their whole life in bold pursuit of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, obeying God and His Word in everything.

What makes these things so impacting for me is that in the Furnace and DLA in Colorado Springs, God IS doing what once was done. It’s exciting for me to know that the Moravians didn’t even have a central meeting place for all their prayer meetings. People would commit to one hour a week to pray. For example, every Wednesday at 3pm someone would commit to that hour, for the rest of their lives. That person wouldn’t necessarily come to the church but they would sit down by the bushes of the field they were working in and pray for that hour and they were held accountable to pray when they said they would. There was a community of people that lived this way and thus ended up praying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over 100 years. The encouraging thing is that that same thing is happening today. It’s going on all over the world but we are living in a fellowship of burning hearts right here in Colorado Springs. We have prayer meetings every day. We have accountability to live holy, where we ask each other the hard questions. We send out people to love people and proclaim the kingdom. And our goal is this: to live passionately for God, ALL of our lives.

Do you live in a godly community that spurs you to holiness and prayer? This is our entire mandate from heaven, to be a PEOPLE unto God. Here at the Furnace and DLA we are doing just that. Come join us as a fellowship of burning hearts and live your whole life for God as a reformer that lives boldly for the truth.

Revival Prayer Tour

2010-03-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

“God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” – John Wesley

Throughout history God has moved when his people pray. It started in Acts 2 and has continued right up to the present. I have heard about powerful moves of God and revivals and deeply desire to see God do it again in this generation.

I am getting ready to head out on a Revival Prayer Tour with leaders from the Furnace and DLA. We are going to spend the next two weeks in Germany and the United Kingdom. The purpose of this trip is to visit some of the most vital revival locations in our history and contend for God to move in our generation. It is not that we desire the same style of revival, but the impact on souls saved, lives changed, and the kingdom advanced. I pray that as we walk and pray in these locations the burden that drove great men and women in history to pray and experience revival will be in each one of us. We will be having prayer meetings, prayer walking and interacting with on the ground missionaries and ministers at each place.

Please partner with us in prayer as we contend for God to move in a real and powerful way in our generation.

Here is a list of our itinerary:
Sunday, March 21st: Depart DIA to Berlin
Monday, March 22nd: Arrive in Berlin
Tuesday, March 23rd: Travel to Wittenberg, Germany (locations of Luther’s posting 95 Theses)
Wednesday, March 24th: Travel to Herrnhut, Germany (locations of Moravian prayer movement)
Thursday, March 25th: Spend the day in Herrnhut, Germany
Friday, March 26th: Travel to Berlin, Germany (working with European Initiatives and Church on the Way)
Saturday, March 27th: Berlin, Germany (working with European Initiatives and Church on the Way)
Sunday, March 28th: Berlin, Germany (attend Church on the Way; connect with families from the church)
Monday, March 29th: Travel to London, England
Tuesday, March 30th: London, England (prayer walk areas involved in the Great Awakening, Aldersgate, Fetters Lane Society, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Kennington Commons)
Wednesday, March 31st: Travel to Oxford, England (Holy Club; home of authors CS Lewis and Tolkien)
Thursday, April 1st: Travel to Loughor, Wales (Home of Evan Roberts; involved in Welsh Revival)
Friday, April 2nd: Travel to Berlin, Germany
Saturday, April 3rd: Return home

Almost ten years ago the stories of the Moravian prayer and missions movement and the Holy Club at Oxford University had a great impact on the formation of the Furnace. It is going to be exciting to go to the places where these stories took place.

The Reformation, the Moravian prayer and missions movement, the Great Awakening, and the Welsh Revival have all had an incredible impact in advancing the Kingdom of God. I’d encourage you to take some time to look up and read the stories of these historical revivals. Let’s pray for a burden to be in each one of us to see these things happen again!

Furnace Prayer Room

2009-12-18T12:50:00.000-08:00

In the Spring of 2009, theFurnace began experiencing some of the most incredible prayer meetings since we started in 2001. I have never seen so many healings in our community, so many immediate answers to prayer for Furnace members, so many tangibly experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was truly an amazing season.
This past semester we have had the opportunity to experience a completely different kind of prayer. In October of 2009 we started theFurnace Prayer Room in the World Prayer Center. In addition to the daily prayer meetings, theFurnace started praying every day from 6-12am. There is now a room in the World Prayer Center littered with prayers. Some written, some sung, some painted, all contending for God to move in this generation.
In this room there is a wall with a list of names of people that have not given their lives to Jesus. We are committed to praying for each name on this wall. As I have started praying for these people my heart has started to break for the lost like never before. It blows my mind how many people our small community knows that are not living for the Lord. Hundreds of names are listed on this wall, but a handful of names have been crossed off! These are people that we have been praying for over these past few months that have given their lives to Jesus. Oh the celebration!
Another wall bears needs of people that we know. One section of this wall asks for prayer for a friend with cancer. Written over top: HEALED! There are others just like that. And there are some that we are still praying for. We have seen God answer prayer and we are contending for him to answer others. We are praying for the lost, for America, for this generation, for the nations and for the hastening of His return. Worship songs are being written, prayers are ascending, and we are being called to become the answer to those prayers.
It is exciting to be a part of this and see God move in real ways. We’d love to invite you to be a part as well. We are going to continue going 6am-12am. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll go 24 hours a day! Sign-ups are available for anyone that would like to carry an hour in the prayer room. Just go to www.thefurnace.net and click “Member Login.” We’d love it if you want to jump in and be a part.

FURNACE UPDATES 0CT 29,2009

2009-10-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION FURNACE:

Below is a list of updates for all Furnace members. We will do our best to over-communicate all the information that you need in the upcoming weeks.
If you have any questions please feel free to email anyone on our Furnace staff and associate staff. I have included the email for the best person to contact for each announcement.

1. TOUR UPDATES (abrammer@newlifechurch.org):
We will be having a brief tour update meeting next Tuesday following Revival Town in room 107. It is very important that everyone going on tour be at this meeting as we will be going over protocol, responsibilities, and answering questions. If you are unable to make it please let us know as soon as possible.

***A tour packing list is attached to this email.

2. PRAYER MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS (djperkins@newlifechurch.org):
Due to Furnace Tour, the next couple of weeks will look a little different when it comes to your 6 hours of prayer commitment. This week, Oct 30-Nov 5, will be a normal week. Everyone will need to do their 2 prayer meetings and 2 hours in the prayer room (even those going on tour). The following week, Nov 6-12, will be a the week that many of us will be gone (including most of the prayer leaders and bands); therefore, prayer meetings will look different. For all of you that will be in town over tour you may do your regular schedule or you can do up to all 6 hours in the prayer room (basically 3 options: 2 corporate & 2 FPR hours, 1 corporate & 4 FPR hours or 6 FPR hours). All corporate prayer meetings will take place at their regular times, however, they will not have a band and will meet in the FPR.
Reminder: ALL PRAYER MEETINGS WILL BE IN THE FURNACE PRAYER ROOM DURING THE WEEK OF NOV. 6-12. THERE WILL BE A GATHERING PRAYER MEETING ON THURSDAY, NOV. 5.

3. HALLOWEEN FOR THE HUNGRY (jnewby@newlifechurch.org):
On Saturday, October 31st, we are going to have a Furnace food-drive. Arrive at the WPC at 6 PM in order to go to area neighborhoods collecting canned food to donate for the hungry. All food will be donates to those in need.
We will all meet back together at 8pm at the New Life Church Ranch in order to pile high the donations and have a good ol’ costume party. We will have games, smores, beverages and good times. Of course it wouldn’t be a costume party without a “best costume” award. Please bring a snack to share.

Directions will be available upon arrival.

***costumes are optional for the food drive, but not at the after party ;-).

4. MISSIONS (djperkins@newlifechurch.org):
Finally, many of you have asked if theFurnace is going on missions this year. If you are interested in going on a short-term missions trip we highly recommend you joining one of theMILL missions teams. However, we are in discussions about doing an oversees Revival History trip over spring break. This trip would be a chance to go to the settings of historical revivals such as Hernhutt, Germany (Moravians), Whales (Welsh Revival), London, England (Holy Club) and more. This trip would be an opportunity to pray for revival in this generation the way that it has hit past generations. More details to come.

5. GET $100 (aperkins@newlifechurch.org):
All Furnace members that join DLA will get $100 off their tuition. Also, you can get $100 off of your spring Furnace tuition by getting a friend to join DLA this January or by recommending a family that becomes a Home Sponsor. Please email Amy Perkins at aperkins@newlifechurch.org with questions or Home Sponsor recommendations.

6. ATTENTION WOMEN (kedgett@newlifechurch.org):
The Women’s Connect will be this Sunday at 11:15 am in the WPC Chapel, it is mandatory and counts as your church service.

7. ATTENTION MEN (mtimmermeyer@newlifechurch.org):
We are going to do two Men’s Connect times this semester. They will be Sunday, November 15th and Sunday, December 6th. These will be mandatory events and will count as your weekly church service. More details to come.

2009 Desperation & Furnace updates

2009-07-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

We just got done with an incredible conference season. Desperation was absolutely amazing. Thanks to all of you that helped in any way!!!

These might have been some of my favorite Desperation Conferences yet. Worship was thick and the students response was awesome.

The theme was Light Up the World. The weekend started with a single candle on the stage as we sang "There is a light that shines in the darkness" by Delirious. It concluded in the same way, but with each student holding up a light - it was awesome!

One of the real practical ways that God brought the theme to life This summer was through a spontaneous offering in order to build an orphan home. The students sacrificially gave over $60,000 and through a partnership with a local businessman we will be able to build three orphan homes. It was incredible to witness! It was completely a God-thing.

It is on to Furnace time and I wanted to let you all know that God is really stirring some incredible things here! I have more anticipation for this upcoming year then ever before.

In the book Red Moon Rising the author states, "We don't want to withdraw people from society to live in spiritual bubbles of perpetual prayer; rather we want to immerse ourselves in society, having immersed ourselves in the Spirit - in the world, and yet full of God and overflowing."

I believe that this statement is what the Furnace has always been about, but God is moving and giving even more vision to be this kind of people.

Finally, I wanted to let those of you that are in town know that we are going to be having the Furnace Gathering this Thursday. Justin Steinhart is going to be speaking...any of you that know Justin know that you do not want to miss that!
Oh, one more thin - we updated the Furnace website. Check it out at www.thefurnace.net

I pray that your heart is alive in God and that you are ever growing closer to Him!

Much love,

Dan Perkins

Summer!

2009-06-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Oh there is so much to say! Furnace banquet was awesome, we have already had amazing trips to Honduras and Germany, and Revival Town is rockin'! It has been a great summer already.

I did want to put up a reminder that for the first time ever we will be having summer Gatherings for all that would like to come. We’ll starting this Thursday. Here are the dates and speakers for the summer:
June 4th: Joe Couch
June 11th: Daniel Webb
June 18th: David Perkins
June 25-27: DESPERATION CONFERENCE
July 2nd: Dan Perkins
July 9th: David Perkins
July 16-18: DESPERATION CONFERENCE
July 25: Justin Steinhart

Also a reminder that Revival Town, Monday night and Wednesday night prayer meetings are still happening.

I love you all! I hope to see you all periodically through the summer. Spread the word to those that don’t read blogs.

Much love!

Furnace Tour - Nights of Desperation

2009-04-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Tour has been amazing so far! We are currently taking respite at the International House of Prayer. I love what God is doing here and being in the prayer room.

This has been an incredible trip so far. On Wednesday we were at Trinity Fellowship in Amarillo, Texas. They are fresh into their incredible new facility. This was actually only the second week that the youth had a meeting in the new auditorium. What a night! God really challenged our hearts as we cried out for Him to move in student’s lives. It was fun to see how much love their was in the Furnace students hearts for young people that they had never met. They worshiped hard and prayed even harder! It was an incredible start to the tour.

On Thursday we traveled to Gateway Church's campus in North Richland Hills, Texas. Ben Pirtle and his team are doing an amazing job there. I was blown away by the level of passion and fervency that so many of these students possessed. They jumped right in and we all went for it together. It was fun to connect with our new family.

On Friday we hung out with our old friends at Hope Community Church in Springfield, MO - Quick shout out to Justin Chandler! The Lord led in such a powerful way through Jon Egan and the Desperation Band on Friday. Worship was intense; it was powerful to join together and behold our King. I was also amazed by the stories that Furnace students came out with about heart change in students from the beginning of the night to the end. There were a number of youth groups that came out on a Friday night to pray and worship; what a testimony that God is moving in young people's lives!

Tonight we are in Olathe, KS with Life Church and Pastor Greg Hall. I cannot wait!!!

Furnace Tour

2009-04-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tour - my favorite time of the year. Each semester the Furnace loads up in buses and hits the road to go do Nights of Desperation for about a week.

Tomorrow we are headed to Amarillo, TX. Then on to Dallas,TX, Springfield, MO, Olathe, KS, and Kansas City, KS.

I'll make sure to keep this updated on what is happening each night.

Nuggs Night!

2009-03-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

From Chris walking onto the court asking to take a shot during warm-ups to Kenton and crew sneaking down to the lower bowl during the second half, Friday nights Nuggets game was a blast!

About 30 of us ventured to Denver to watch the Nuggets take on the Warriors. We had an incredible time doing the Nuggets dance (thanks Drew, Matt, and Adam) and all wondering what our free hot dogs were really made of. I was impressed by the basketball knowledge dropped by the ladies that came as well. They seemed to really know their stuff.

It was a game full of thunderous dunks, a few "throw it down big man" moments and ca-cawing for the Birdman!

We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the Nuggets victory, but in the end my favorite moment had to be when Chris actually got that shot that he asked for...A-I-R B-A-L-L!

p.s. Thanks for the pic Kenton and I'm sorry for sniping your other one.

Jared Anderson Recording

2009-03-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

The Furnace Sunday night prayer meeting is going to be moved to be moved to join the Jared Anderson recording. Come to this night of worship as he records his next album on Sunday, March 15th at 6pm.

See you there!

2009-03-09T16:10:00.001-07:00

This is a post from the Furnace prayer leaders blog by Matt Timmermeyer. They are seeing God do amazing things at the Wednesday prayer meeting, so I just wanted to post it here as well. Enjoy:

I had been so excited this whole week. Sunday hit i knew something huge was going to happen. Prayer started and something big was happening. I just kept on saying the Lord is going to break through this place tonight. He's really going to move tonight. So I felt the Lord said just put away everything and just sit and wait. We did this and as i sat there i remembered how excited i was throughout the week because i knew God had been preparing something. He then showed me. It wasn't a vision of the present or the future but of the last 4 days. It was what the Lord had been doing..."He was preparing gifts for us. For the last 4 days he had been running all over the place, finding supplies, putting things together, wrapping/ unwrapping. Sweat was dripping from his face. He was running all around putting gifts together. Anticipation filled him and he just finished the gifts for us right before prayer started. So the Lord then said share your vision with them after you ask them what their greatest need is right now. He said "don't worry, i already prepared my gift according to what they are going to ask for" lolol. So then i asked everyone to write down their greatest need and to trust me and BELIEVE in where im going with this. They wrote down their greatest need and then i shared the vision with them. Everyone was so excited and filled with anticipation. I then said the Lord only asks a gift in return and that is repentance. So in a way we were exchanging gifts. We got in groups and started praying over one another. The next thing i know people are speaking prophecy over one another, crying, people were falling to the ground. There was confirming prophecy all over the room. I dont think i have ever seen so many tears at one time. We prayer for the first 2 hours. The room was so thick with the presence of God. Everyone was sprinting around, or crying, or just passed out HAHA JOY JOY! It was 11:00 and i said if anyone needs to leave u can, but we are just getting started. The Lord is about to rip this place open. I said i feel this a chance to go beyond the finite and the known and lets press. I also said that there will be a special annointing for sleep and quickly prayed for supernatural rest (by the way, i talked to a lot of people this morning and they said they had received eternal rest! Hallelujah!) So next, we needed to get on our knees in surrender. Just get on your knees and pray, yell, cry, laugh, rejoice (because the joy of the Lord was in the room) be silent, scream, praise. So we did, and immediately the joy of the Haven OVERWHELMED us! Everyone just started laughing, rejoicing, screaming, crying. Then after about 10 min of this it died out. then i felt the Lord say "No! theres More! I have food to eat that you know nothing about. this is a chance to enter into the unknown" So i said to everyone "guy's the Lord just gave us all gifts and filled our plates to the overflowing and now we are stuffed, but this is what the Lord is saying "We can end it here and reflect on our full stomachs right now or we can press beyond the finiteness and into the inner chambers of the Lord. So it picked back up. Everyone just started moaning, groaning, crying, yelling-asking for more. Then we finally started playing worship and everyone stood up dancing. Then all of the sudden, as if one body, we all stopped dancing. Everyones jaw dropped and eyes were bulging (I kid u not) THIS IS WHERE HEAVEN RIPPED OPEN! It was as if an invisible veil, or wall was just removed and we had stepped into the private courts of the Lord. Everyone felt and knew it! Now FIRE was in the room! Everyone said it was unlike anything they have ever experienced before (and I mean that)...No one had ever experienced such depth and thickness (at least thats what everyone told me)...There were several times I actually 100% thought that Jesus was actually in the room. I stopped dancing to start looking aroundthe room. His presence was so thick, i literally though the roof was on fire! and im not just saying that to describe pretty christian talk or some metaphor or something! We actually thought Jesus was walking around the roof was on fire! We danced and worshipped and received for another 2 hours! People were dancing and all of the sudden collapsing to the ground and started weeping. People were sprinting laps around the chapel! I heard cries and moans in ways i have never heard before! It was like dancing in the inner court for over an hour. HEAVEN RIPPED OPEN IN THAT ROOM LAST NIGHT!!!.............. This is how the last 5 weeks have been since retreat. There is something happening here, some sort of annointing i have never come across. Its become FAMILY and we all love eachother and we are COMMUNITY. Its as if the last 5 prayer meetings, people havnt been coming to pray. Its as if there coming because Jesus and the Kingdom of God is coming. Its as if we are ENCOUNTERING JESUS AND THE KINGDOM EVERY WED NIGHT!!! The Holy Spirit is overflowing the room!!! We ended at 1:oo am and keep ending between midnight and then so im looking for another worship leader to take over the second 2 hours. let me know if you guys know anyone :).................................................................... Last night the roof blew off! HEAVEN was RENDED and if there were trees in there, then they would have caught on fire. if there was water in there, then it would have boiled- ISAIAH 64:1-2

Healing is Happening

2009-03-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

Impossible Prayers

2009-02-09T22:42:00.001-08:00

It is so easy to pray ethereal prayers that can be unanswered and we will never know. Sunday night I felt like it was important that we start praying the kind of prayers that are sometimes scary to pray; the kind that ask for real answers. We wanted to pray for things that are impossible for us; impossible for anyone but God. We followed a model of prayer in James 5.

James 5:13-18 states, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”

I love where it says that Elijah was a man like us. We are able to ask God to do great things. Things that are impossible by human standards, but with God all things are possible. I look forward to hearing how God answers these prayers.

A journey to remember…

2009-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

I received this poetic entry by Charity Luce about Furnace Encounter. I thought I'd share it here. Enjoy:

It began with a dream in the hearts of 12, around a childlike rendezvous. Prayers, loves, and ideas were offered humbly to the adored one with high expectations and souls w i d e o p e n.

Several trailers, a laughter-salted road trip, and roughly 130 registrations later, the epic gathering met in curious hope.

Prayer. Adoration. Blessing.

They washed the dust from their feet and hearts… love was a participant this expectant evening.

Fire raged in the night as the lovesick met at what would seem like ungodly hours in the night, prayers scrawled on heartfelt, homemade alters shaped like canvases.

Sleep was scarce while worship overflowed in beautiful medleys of honest affection.

The dawn awoke to the cries, the prayers, the whispers of passionate tongues alive through the night.

Whilst males strived fervently for manhood, scaling cliffs and engaging battles of the heart, the women waged their own wars with cries of freedom and
brilliant
colours
of beauty.
They gazed into the image of the father and found themselves in his eyes of adoration. Wholeness was the gift bestowed this morning, to women and men alike.

Later, in the stillness of the noon-washed mountains, silence was beckoned into their presence. The people watched and waited for whispers of Truth and visions of Life. Some were strengthened by these gifts, others by the patience and faithfulness cultivated within them.
And then the Word came,
welcomed by exposure and persistent study and ardent discussion, awakening thirsts for the powerful voice of the LORD-- captured in frail language, in leather binding, tree-burning pages, and ink symbols.
Life
was allowed through their doorposts,
thank the Source.

The evening was soon upon them, by candlelight they danced unbound—for forgiveness, for restoration, for the Spirit, for devotion, for the return of the Most High.

Release, abandon, organic joy arose among them. Celebration was the order of the day. By the flames they rejoiced in the midst of hearts on fire.

Sleep still ran scarce, and worship still flowed gratefully and abundantly through the late hours and wee hours.

The later morning hours also found a grateful people, encircled so that each could see the other’s countenance—humbled, brightened, strengthened. Repentance and responsiveness were the activities engaged upon. Stories and legendary moments passed and passed from mouth to mouth.

“Praise my Healer. Praise the One who loves. Praise the One who holds us. Praise the One who is coming back…”

The beginning of
abundant life-worship signaled the end of an
abundant elope-of-a-gathering.
Life is upon us. Worship is who we are.

Amen.

February 1st, 2009

Furnace Encounter

2009-02-03T15:49:00.001-08:00

Packed in a room that would comfortably fit a group half our size we began to worship Jesus with everything we had. The music blared from the stage, people jumped, danced, and cried: this was Furnace Encounter. There is just nothing like going to the mountains of Colorado in order to pray and worship with 150 of your closest friends.
Furnace Encounter is a deeper life retreat. We specifically set time aside in order to pray, worship, study, and cultivate our relationship with the Lord. This weekend was planned in order to emulate a God time, the only difference is that we did it all together as a big corporate group. Friday night started with worship. We did the typical singing to the Lord, but people also were encouraged to journal who God has been to them. Everyone was asked to use their own words, not the cute phraseology that we all learn in church. After that each person wrote their own Psalm. It was essentially a mad lib Psalm. After worship we had a time of introspective prayer; praying through distractions, hurts, worries, repentance and so on. The night concluded by breaking into groups for a time of foot washing by the accountability leaders.
One of the fun things that happened over the weekend was that we had a prayer meeting that lasted through the night both nights. People were able to sign up for time slots to keep the fire of prayer burning through the night and there was not an hour that was left empty. Alarm clocks went off at all hours of the night as people rose to go to the prayer room. And it is not as if there was only one person at a time, groups of 4-10 people filled each hour with intercession.
Saturday was full of activities interactive sessions. There was a split guy/girl session, paint wars, tug of war, blind folded hiking, times of silence and waiting on God, individual observational bible study, group discussions and other applied activities.
Truth be told, Saturday night was really were real encounter happened. This was a typical retreat session minus the preaching. There were basically two elements, worship and prayer. Both flowed throughout the evening. Saturday night came down to Revelation 21:5 & 6, “He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
This led into a prayer time of asking to be those that longed for His return, that view Him as King, and that pray thirsty prayers. We spent the rest of the night praying these “thirsty” prayers. There was prayer for the healing of those that had been wounded by a father or leader, prayer against a religious spirit or performance mentality, prayer for those that had been hurt by people trying to force the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we eagerly desired and prayed for gifts, we asked for the planting and growth of the fruit of the Spirit. This is just a few things that were prayed for. The truth is that so much happened that night that it cannot really be summed up in a paragraph. People were healed, hearts were mended, worship was real, prayer was fervent. It was one of the most powerful evenings that I have been a part of in a long time.
Sunday morning we got to sit around and tell testimonies of what God had done over the past 40 hours of our being together. It was so encouraging to hear the stories that most of us would never hear. God did so much outside of our little plans. This weekend showed yet again that it is the presence of God that marks us.

***I want to give a quick shout out to the worship band and the Dream Team! Without you guys we could not have done the weekend. You are amazing; keep storing up the heavenly crown. Much love.

Revival Town

2009-01-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

Revival Town is tonight at 6:30!!!

The Furnace will be having pre-service prayer at 5:45 in the _tag office bay. I hope you all can make it.

Verdict That Demands Action

2008-12-31T08:40:00.000-08:00

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40

I view the time between 4:00 AM and 4:59 AM as the most ungodly hour. Nothing good happens during this hour. If you are up until 3:59 AM . . . go to bed! Nothing good can come of still being awake. If you wake up at some point during this ungodly hour . . . hit snooze! Seriously. I think that my time of opening a coffee shop at 4:45 AM has lead me to this belief - it may be wrong, but I am sticking to it.

Monday was one of those days that I was forced to be awake during this the most ungodly of hours. Amy and I went to Seattle, WA last week for our first married Christmas. It was one year ago that we got engage in this beautiful city, so this trip was our Christmas gift to each other. We had an incredible time and took advantage of as much of this great city as possible in our short time there. We had an early flight out on Monday that forced me to break my 4 o'clock rule.

As we flew out I had an interesting thought. How did I impact that city in my few days there? Was it different then when I came? Economically speaking, I am sure that it was beneficial to have another couple come to the city, eat the food, shop and do all the typical vacation activities, but I do not pretend to think that our modest trip and few activities made any impact on the economic state of the city. It'd be nice to think that we single handedly fixed the economic problems, but we simply did not.

There was something that I could not get out of my head though. The night before we left I saw a young guy in his twenties holding a sign that read, "Survival isn't a privilege, it's a right. Please help me out." I don't know why he stood out to me. I had passed by so many homeless all weekend and none of them phased me the way that this guy did. Then I realized that maybe that was the problem. Why was I able to walk by so many poor and needy, so many that are hurting, and not be compelled to do something?

There are so many logical reasons why we pass by these people without a second thought. After all, they must have done something in order to end up like this and if we give them money they will surely just use it to feed addictions . . . or so we rationalize.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that dropping my loose change in their bucket would have really helped much. But what about a conversation? What about a meal? I'll tell you what I would like to do, I'd like to respond like Peter did in Acts 3 and say, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, be healed." That is what I'd like to do in these situations.

The truth is that I do not know how we should act. I do know this, as we do to the least of these; we do to the Lord - that is a weighty idea that does demands action.

Furnace Prayer Meetings

2008-12-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

The Furnace prayer leaders have started blogging about each prayer meeting. I love being able to read about what God is doing in the prayer meetings.

Here is one entry from Josiah Carlson who leads the Monday night prayer meeting:

Coming into this prayer meeting, for some reason or another, it seemed liked our hearts were hard as a whole. Maybe it was from sin, or lack of pursuit, but regardless by the end of the night there was true, authentic intimacy. It was repenting during the first hour that softened our hearts and drew us to the Lord. The whole second hour was straight up worship! It was worship deep with our spirits and with truth. We approached the Lord with the Fear of the Lord. We stepped into humbleness which was the key to the door of intimacy. Tonight there was a real longing to meet with God. We asked for Him tonight, and we actively sought Him. It wasn't something that I lead the prayer meeting into... it was something that God did. My leadership was irrelevant because the furnace came to meet with him and was able to follow Him first.
Tonight was truly intimate, and I pray that the furnace's hearts would be resolute to follow a relentless God. We have so much to jump into... and I have faith that we will, and not just in the future, but now, and with this crew!

Much love,
Josiah

check out more entries like this at furnaceprayerblog.blogspot.com

Night of Desperation - Pueblo

2008-12-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday the Furnace took a team to Pueblo, Colorado for a Night of Desperation. It was a great night full of prayer, worship, and connecting. Brandan Bustamonte came down to lead worship for the event. Brandan is a worship leader that is incredibly talented and anointed.

Pastor Dominic Suazo hosted the event at the Pueblo Prayer and Worship Center. We had a packed house as we prayed for a move of God in Pueblo. There is a groundswell of prayer that is beginning in this area and we were excited to go down to be a part of it.

Thanks to everyone that came out. We will continue to pray for Pueblo!

Night of Desperation

2008-11-21T12:37:00.001-08:00

Prayer is one of the most exciting things that we can do because it is our chance to partner with God in what He is doing on planet earth right now. Students came from all over Northern Colorado last Wednesday night to pray for God to move in a powerful way. The Furnace had the opportunity to put on a Night of Desperation at Resurrection Fellowship in Loveland, Colorado. God is doing some really amazing things in young people in this region. From Colorado State University to a group of high school students leading hundreds of students in prayer at Thirst; prayer meetings and events are starting all over the place. The Furnace went with the desire to join with these students in contending for God to move at their schools and churches and in their lives. It was massively evident that prayer is regular part of these students spiritual diet. They came ready to pray hard. The night started with powerful worship led by Jeremy Reyes and Nico Perez. We then moved into a time of praying for the lost, praying for our schools and churches, and praying for this generation. I loved seeing the fervency and passion that existed in the room. This night only built my expectation for the Night of Desperation next month in Pueblo! If you live in the Northern Colorado region and you want to see a move of God at your school, you've got to jump into one of these student led prayer initiatives that are happening! It is really awesome to see what God is doing.

"I Mainly Listen"

2008-11-17T20:12:00.001-08:00

It seems to be a reoccurring theme in the Sunday night prayer meeting to wait on the Lord. When I welcomed everyone to the prayer meeting I encouraged them all to ask the Lord to speak to them about the direction of the prayer meeting. As we spent the first hour in devotional prayer I felt like we needed to begin the intercession hour waiting on the Lord and believing that He would speak to us. We had a time of repentance and waiting on the Lord for about fifteen minutes before the band sang any worship song. After we had worshiped for a while I asked for people to share if the Lord had given them anything. The obvious trend was toward the lost. We spent the rest of the night praying for the light of Jesus to shine forth. We closed the night out praying for the people that we know have not given their lives to Jesus. I believe that God speaks to us. I feel like it is really important that we continue to wait on Him in order that we may better hear His voice. I read an interesting account of Mother Teresa today. It stated that she was once asked what she prays about during her prayer time; her response, "I mainly listen."

Nights of Prayer

2008-11-03T20:19:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday Glenn Packiam spoke at the Furnace Gathering. The title of his sermon was Secondhand Jesus. So often we allow “God-experts” to do the heavy lifting and then give us the bottom line, but we must push to experience Jesus firsthand. It was a powerful message.

We also announced that we will be having nights of prayer here in Colorado over the next few weeks. There was a great response as the sign-up lists filled up quickly.
On Wednesday, November 19th, the Furnace is going to be headed up to Loveland, CO for a night of prayer and worship at Resurrection Fellowship. Jeremy Reyes and band will be leading worship.
Then on Saturday, December 6th, we will be headed to Pueblo, CO. Brandan Bustamonte will be leading worship.
I am so excited to lead the team of Furnace students to these churches in order to partner in prayer with them for a move of God in their churches, schools, and lives.

Start of theFurnace

2008-09-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we have started a new year of theFurnace and it is about time. This was a crazy and wonderful summer, but it feels good to get back to normalcy. Last weekend we had a great retreat with our Furnace accountability leaders. It was a great time to pray, connect with each other and talk about leadership ideas. I am really excited about this years group of leaders. They love God and have great anticipation for the year.

Thursday marked the start of the regular Furnace schedule with the Gathering. Prayer meetings have now started and everything is getting back to normal. I love it!

Overcome the World

2008-07-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - I John 5:3-5

Why do we equate being good with loving God? It has nothing to do with it.

I am in Birmingham, AL with all of the Desperation Team right now getting ready for the final Desperation Conference of the summer. This morning we had an amazing time of prayer and scripture reading. We read through I, II, and III John together. It was great to just soak in the Word.

As we were reading, I was reminded of a conversation that I had recently with one of our Furnace guys. He was telling me of an interaction that he had at work with a young lady at his work. She had expressed her understanding that she had done too many bad things to ever be accepted by God. How sad if we, as Christians, have every put out a message like this.

This opened the door for him to share all of his past struggles. Cocaine, alcohol addiction, sex . . . these are a few of the issues that he had dealt with in his past. Now his life is so full of passion for Jesus that no one can envision him any other way.
He got to share with her that being a Christian is not about being good; we are horrible at being good. Being a Christian is about Jesus. When we find out the greatness of our Savior and his willingness to forgive and love us through our mess; when we recognize that God loves us, we'll love Him back. This is why strive for good, this is why we do not want to sin. Not because we have to, but because we want to. It's not about what can I get away with; it's about how extravagantly can I show my love!

We do not have to give in to the pressure of the world! Everyone born of God overcomes the world! It is not that we can't be worldly, it is that we don't have to!

May the joy of the Lord be in you and may you show your love for God through your obedience. Overcome the world!

theFurnace Blog

2008-07-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to theFurnace blog!

This blog is created to be a tool to share the God activity happening in theFurnace and be a catalyst for God-focused conversation.

The new Furnace year begins on September 2nd. I am so excited for what God is going to do in theFurnace this year. Last year we talked about God "turning up the heat" in theFurnace. I really believe that is going to happen. We are going to have more prayer, more discipleship, more outreach, and more community then ever before. I anticipate such great things for this year.

Please be in prayer for us for all new and returning Furnace members. We are praying that God move in a powerful way. That each student is empowered to draw closer to God and equipped to go further in what He has called them to do and be.

It is going to be an incredible year! I cannot wait for it all to get started.