The Power of Joy

Perhaps the most amazing display of the name of the Lord I have ever witnessed in my life occurred in May 2000. It was just days after the death of my maternal grandmother.

Estefana Betancourt had been a pillar of the Spanish Assembly of God in Douglas and the Godly matriarch of a large family. At the height of the Pentecostal revival in Southern Arizona, with the second World War in full swing, she guided her young family into the burgeoning movement. This was no easy decision as the Betancourt family was a stalwart Catholic family with two daughters just days away from their first confirmation. Their departure from the church was met with heavy persecution directed not only at her and husband Juan, but also towards the Betancourt children.

My earliest impressions of her were that she was a wise and strong woman, and a woman with a heart after God. I remember many times looking up from the pew where I was sitting to see my grandmother singing to the Lord in a heavenly language. I would watch as the Lord would shower her with His Spirit. At the end of her spiritual songs, she would laugh under the joy of the Lord. Her laughs were at times deep from within and at other times as light as a childlike giggle. Her devotion as a loving Bride of Christ is what impressed me the most.

It was so difficult to see her succumb to Alzheimer's Disease. It was even harder on my mom who was so close to her. My mother poured everything she had into taking care of her mother. The last three and a half years, she brought grandma home to live out her days with the family. She was assisted greatly by our adopted sister and best family friend, Rev. Mary Louise Vigil.

To the end, Grandma Betancourt loved the Lord. In her rare moments of lucidity, she would sing to the Lord as in years past working her hands as if washing the dishes or cooking. Inevitably, she would laugh with that same joy she always had. She had long since forgotten our names, but she never forgot the love of her life, her Lord Jesus.

Her death, although not unexpected, tore a hole right through my mom's heart. After ten years of pouring into my grandmother, fighting alongside her against a mental enemy, she was now gone. She was finally with her Lord and reunited at last with her late husband.

My grandmother was my mother's greatest mentor and confidant. She could always be depended upon to encourage and speak words of wisdom just at the right time. She was a woman of prayer and great faith, but her wisdom and love for God were her greatest attributes.

Her words served my parents through countless valleys and mountains in the military, ministry, marriage, and parenthood. From the time my Dad courted my mom during the Korean War, through Vietnam, and even up to the first Gulf War, she was there. Through the Army, through the Air Force, and through the Army again, she was there. Through lay ministry, storefront pastorates, and on to perhaps the most powerful modern-day ministry Douglas has ever seen, she was there. From the Air Force years in Nebraska, to the construction years in Tucson, to the ministry years in Douglas, and even to the last Army years in Massachusetts, my grandmother was always there for my mother. Now she was gone.

I can't blame my mom for those first few days of grief. She lost her best friend and hero. But as my mom had taught me growing up, the enemy is always looking to steal, kill, and destroy, but then again, she also taught me that "greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world." A few days after my grandmother's death, my mom confided to us that she was experiencing a heavy grief that was unnatural.

A day later, and a few days before my grandmother's funeral, my mother told us over breakfast that she had a supernatural experience the night before. As she was taking off her slippers to slide into bed, she was startled by an old haggard lady walking down the hallway. My mother gulped in a breath and with that the lady disappeared. Terrified, she immediately began to pray and plead the blood of Jesus over herself and the home.

As she was retelling her story, everybody at the breakfast table sat wide-eyed with not a few hairs standing up at the back of our necks. She made it clear that what she had seen the night before was not my grandmother, but a spirit of grief that had come to oppress her.

That night we had been spent by all the preparations for the funeral and for the impromptu family reunion that was planned afterwards. My wife, my two-year-old son, and I crashed in Mary Louise's room, exhausted by the day's events.

About two o'clock at night, I had a terrible dream. In this dream, I was fighting this old haggard woman. She was hideous in appearance. I told her over again that she had to go. I instantly realized that she was the evil spirit that was oppressing my mom. The spirit refused to leave and we continued to battle back and forth.

Finally, a righteous anger and power surged within me. Deep within me came this shout and I yelled at the top of my lungs, "in the name of Jesus..." I then woke up shouting "GO!!!!!!!" pointing in the darkness next to our bed.

Suddenly, about a foot away from my extended index finger, formed a pinpoint light in the middle of the television screen next to Mary Louise's bed that illuminated the pitch black room. It was if my finger became a laser pointer. The effect was eerily familiar to how old television sets turned off with the image shrinking to a single point of light, but this time in reverse. Before, I could think to lower my hand, the pinpoint light exploded into a static image and the television turned ON with its volume at full blast.

My heart about stopped as I was stunned by what was going on. Martha whipped out of bed as if summoned by revile and shouted "DANNY, WHAT'S GOING ON? TURN IT OFF! IT'S GONNA WAKE UP THE BABY. TURN IT OFF!" At this point, my mom and Mary Louise rushed into the room to see what was going on. They turned on the lights. I saw the power button and turned it OFF as quickly as I could.

Everybody asked me what was going on and I told them that all I knew was that I was having this dream about the old woman that was bothering my mom, that I commanded her to leave in the name of Jesus, woke up pointing at the TV, and that the next thing I knew was that it turned ON by itself full blast. With this, everybody shook their heads with an "oo-yee" and with Mary Louise adding lightheartedly "you're scaring me Danny."

We then went back to bed scratching our collective heads. Early the next morning, Mary Louise and I tried to figure out how the TV turned ON by itself. We found no alarm set and that it turned ON to a regular channel and not the static one from the night before. It was then that we realized that it was no coincidence, but a miracle. At the breakfast table that morning, I rehashed the above story in its entirety.

From that day forward, the spirit of heaviness lifted from my mom and never returned. In its place, returned the joy of the Lord, such a signature of my grandmother's life. That week, we paid honor to the memory of one of God's most faithful brides. We knew that she was now one of God's songbirds in Heaven, laughing and playing in eternal youth before the Lord.

I will never understand why the Lord would choose a spontaneous act such as this to display His power, but then again I will never understand why He chose a fig tree and made it wither before His disciples' eyes. My grandmother and my mother have long understood that the joy of the Lord is their strength.

It's not so much that His name unleashes the power of ten thousand light sabers. It's that His name unleashes the power of ten thousand joys.

"At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy...'" (Luke 1:39-44)

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord...'" (Luke 2:8-11)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from

Light the Fire Ministries!

First Encounter

Sometime in the Fall of 2000, I sat at my computer typing away at a web page late into the night. I would have gone to bed with my wife and one-year old son had it not been for the length of the testimony I was trying to post and my lack of web skills at the time. That night in our Tucson apartment, I was putting the finishing touches on one of our Amazing But True Stories on our newly launched youth group's website, the forerunner of our present Light the Fire site. Little did I know on that night I was about to begin one of the most awesome supernatural chapters in my life.

The testimony I was posting that night had to with an awesome miracle taken from the book Angels on Assignment that was written back in the seventies. It involved a husband and wife who were having marital problems, and an Assemblies of God pastor from Boise Idaho. The Pastor had foreseen their ordeal as a result of a supernatural visit to Heaven (I have since re-posted it here on this blogsite).

To briefly paraphrase the testimony I was posting:

Pastor Roland Buck's visit to Heaven took place one Saturday night in 1977 while he was preparing for the sermon he would give that following Sunday. He was laying his head down to rest at his desk when he was suddenly taken out of the room with these words "come with me into the Throne Room where the secrets of the universe are kept!"

According to Pastor Roland Buck's testimony, the Lord gave him a tour of the vast storehouses of knowledge in heaven. To use the Lord's own words, the Lord began his tour by giving him an "overlay of truth." Whole passages of Scripture, explanations to complex physical phenomena in the Universe such as Black Holes (then largely theoretical), and even future events were instantly recorded in his brain by the Lord.

Concerning the future, the Lord gave him 120 events that would occur in his lifetime as a confirmation that he had in fact visited Heaven. One of these events involved the previously mentioned couple with marital problems.

The Lord had shown him their names, the date they would come to his office, and even something that the wife was hiding from her husband. The Pastor had seen everything before he had physically laid eyes on them. The couple had decided to drive to Boise of all places to air out their troubles. When they arrived in their hotel room, they found a phonebook opened to a page where an ad from the pastor's church read "Counseling by Appointment."

Everything was going smoothly as I reached that point of the story. But then as I typed further where it said that angels had been to the hotel room, that they had opened up the phonebook to that exact page, and had arranged for the couple to have that room I stopped dead in my tracks.

All of a sudden a strong presence filled our computer room - I knew I was not alone. I felt so overcome with shock and awe that I was practically unable to move. Such was the power and presence there in the room with me. I dropped the paperback copy of Angels on Assignment that I was using to post the testimony. I don't know if I even managed to power down the computer.

I ran out of the room and into our bathroom across the way leaving the lights on. I shut the door behind me and had to calm myself down a few moments so I could brush my teeth. I decided then and there that it was probably a good time to get to bed. I quickly brushed my teeth and went through a back door into the master bedroom so I did not have to walk through the hallway near the computer room.

I jumped into bed and dove under the covers next to my son who was sleeping with us at the time. With all the "courage" I could muster, I pulled the covers over my head. When I retell the story, this part always brings a chuckle to my friends. They all ask me whether I really thought a two-inch blanket could protect me from anything.

I stayed awake as long as I could trying to shut out any sound that my frightened ears could pick up. As the minutes wore on, I found it harder and harder to keep my eyes open. Somehow I managed to fall asleep - maybe from the sheer exhaustion of the last couple weeks of late nights setting up our new website.

Sometime around two or three o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by something touching my toes. I came out of a deep sleep, not knowing what was going on, and suddenly I remembered the presence in the computer room. Now, it was in our bedroom!

In those heart-thumping moments I prayed for strength and courage because I wanted to face once and for all whatever, if anything, was in the room. My son was sound asleep next to me and my wife was snoring on the other side of him completely oblivious to what was going on. I did not want to wake her up, because I thought she might think I was imagining things or was a chicken for hiding under the covers, which I was.

After a few short bursts of prayer and mustering all the resolve I could, I counted "one . . . two . . . three" and rolled the covers from my head to peer over them. My breath was immediately taken away. There at the foot of my bed, near the hallway door, was standing a huge luminescent figure.

Just then a peace came over me as if to let me know that I had nothing to fear. I then began to try to take it all in and make out the features of this figure who was standing motionless just a few feet from our bed. All I could see was a rainbow-like radiance shimmering around his outline. He had to be more than eight-feet tall because his head nearly reached the nine-foot ceiling in our bedroom. I still found it hard to breathe because of the beauty of the multi-colored light emanating from him and his immense stature and build.

Waves of energy began pulsing from him. The power was so strong, yet at the same time gentle. I looked over to my son and saw him roll in his sleep as he was tossed with each successive wave. I looked back to the figure and somehow I began to discern a message. He was there to bring the Lord's blessing upon me and my family for our upcoming move to Pensacola where I would began my military training. It was then that I discerned the connection between his touching my feet and the blessing of our future travels. Even though I heard no voice, I instantly understood his message.

At this point, I felt my son awaken. I looked over at him again and watched him as his eyes opened. He popped out of bed and immediately looked over to where the messenger was standing. He pointed at our visitor and gave out several chuckles as if he was tickled by a smile that I could not see. He seem to share a few seconds with the messenger and then he raised his little hand up to the ceiling, closed his eyes and then fell back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

I was absolutely dumbfounded by what was happening and it took a few seconds to fully grasp the enormity of it all. I shook myself and looked over at the door again. Our visitor was gone. I plopped my head back on the pillow and let out a sigh of relief and wild amazement. I could not believe that I just witnessed my first encounter with an Angel from the Lord's presence.

The Lord was true to His word. He was truly with us, through our travels and through some very trying and dark times during my training. So dark, in fact, that the Lord sent another message by way of an Angel to my barracks room.

In closing, I have seen first-hand that the Lord is just as active today as He was in the Bible. This was only the first in several encounters to come, each one with powerful confirmations. I am 100-percent certain that the Lord cares enough to make Himself known to His creation. Are you looking for the God of the Bible? Find Him today!

Postscript: this past Thanksgiving 2006 I felt compelled to finally draft this story for our Light the Fire Blog. I pray that its message will help you find the Lord Jesus Christ of whom the Angels sang "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14). I would have published it late Thanksgiving Day, however, I had the distinct feeling that I would have somebody looking over my shoulder again. Despite all my experiences, take it from me, nothing can prepare a person for these intense encounters from the Lord's Throne.

Sonterra Apartments in Tucson - a place of blessing, calling, and visitation for our young family

Wanted by Jesus: Ramadan Nuke Terrorist

Have you seen me?

Today, I received an alarming email from a good friend who is a pastor in Salinas, California. The email was an urgent prayer request that originated from an official in the U.S. government, who sent it to several prayer networks throughout the United States, one of which was Aglow International. Thankfully, the President of Aglow has made the request public, which is how he and then we got it (God bless you Sister Jane Hansen for making this available). According to the request for prayer:

Osama bin Laden has assigned a man named Adan Al Shukri Juma to carry out a new attack within the US which is intended to be larger than the September 11 attacks. Explosives and nuclear materials have been smuggled into the US through the Mexican border over the last two years and are hiding in a location that the FBI has not been able to discover.

After I got over the initial shock and disbelief, I went immediately to Aglow's international website to verify the prayer request, and there it was on the front page. From there, I went to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List but did not find the man identified as "Adan Al Shukri Juma." Then I noticed the Seeking Terrorism Info Page and there he was, but with his name spelled:

Adnan G. El Shukrijumah

Whatever the spelling of his name, every detail thus mentioned lends some credibility that people in our government are very concerned about this man and the threat he poses to perhaps millions of Americans.

Now before people start rushing to conclusions about the veracity of this request and claims, please consider a few points. First, as mentioned in our previous post Wrestling with Angels, Osama bin Laden recently received permission to kill 10 million Americans. Second, other al Qaeda chiefs such as Ayman al-Zawahiri and American-born "Azzam al Amriki" have warned Americans of dire consequences if they do not convert to Islam. Third, it is no secret that al Qaeda has acquired nuclear weapons.

What's more unbelievable to me is not anything in this prayer request, it's the absolute blindness of most Americans to the threat that surrounds us. It's as if I am watching the first three episodes of Star Wars, where Palpatine slowly takes over the entire galaxy. Meanwhile people are just bickering over wiretaps, amnesty for illegal immigrants, how there was no WMD in Iraq, and my personal favorite, September 11th conspiracy theories. Wait a minute that wasn't in the movie...

but it might as well have been.

The fact is that it may be too late for wiretaps, border security, WMD in Iraq, and conspiracy theories. Despite every effort to protect us and wage war against a nuclear-equipped enemy, somebody in government has finally realized that our only hope is in prayer.

Rub your eyes and get some Starbucks people!

Now for those who are awake with me, the first natural reactions such as fear and hate need to be squelched. Secondary reactions, what I call "reflexive prayer requests," also need to be squelched. These prayer requests call for the success of our law enforcement agencies, for our enemies to be scattered, and for them to be thrown into confusion. The Lord knows I have prayed these same prayers over the course of this past year. Although, they are well intentioned prayers, I think we have been missing out on the larger will of God and some untapped power. Here is what I think we've been missing in our prayers:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9)

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16)

What are the methods and weapons of our enemies? They want to invite us to Islam? They have nukes? I am here to tell you that we have methods and weapons so powerful that they can make a terrorist stand fast in his tracks. Ours are more powerful than any suitcase-sized nuclear weapon. They have more accuracy and precision than any smart munition.

The methods and weapons in our arsenal are prayer and the good news of Jesus Christ. And here's something else people might not want to hear: Jesus died for every terrorist who is in the United States and is scheming against us as we speak. It's not my will that they come to salvation. It's God's. It's not for me to have unforgiveness in my heart. If so, God guarantees that I'll be judged for that. It's not by any man's power that we can prevent the unpreventable, because it's

"'not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6)

Feelings like hate and fear have no place in our hearts right now. Apathy and lethargy have no place in our minds right now. We have the power in our hands and knees to make a difference. As I have said before, if you don't think it's possible that a terrorist can come to the Lord, look at Saul of Tarsus. It's too late for anything else. It's time to pray.

There is a man right now, who is plotting to set off something so horrendous that if it were to come to fruition it would shock the world. Something that will make the September 11th attacks pale in comparison. He's wanted by the FBI, but more than you or I will ever know, he's wanted by Jesus, the Prince of Peace and the author and finisher of our faith.

Please join me as I pray for the salvation of one man that may hold millions of American lives in his hands. Pray that he like so many of his fellow Muslims will see the Lord in vision, dream, or visitation. Pray for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to come upon him. Pray for his soul as if it were your own. Pray that he will repent of his murderous ways. Please, I beg you pray for Adnan or Adan al Shukrijumah.

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Michael and the Angel

Michael David is our little worshipper. For instance, he will often encourage you to sing along with him as he sings praise and worship songs that he has heard at church or on the radio. If Martha or I am singing a song, he'll put aside what he's doing and join in. When I would practice at home on the guitar, he'd run and grab his brother's toy guitar and accompany me. He was the favorite little brother of our ministry kids in Hollister, especially during worship practice. It was often hard to pull him off the drums, and even harder to get our young drummers to let him down. So there he would remain glowing and wide-eyed on their laps while we practiced.

These days, Michael leads our family bedtime prayers. He cues each of us to say our turn in the prayers. When he prays he often does so for the geckos in our house or for his Star Wars toys. Lord knows they need prayer the way the boys play with them, but occasionally he'll pray some surprisingly deep requests for one of us or his neighborhood mates. It's one of the cutest things I have ever heard or seen, and I'm sure it is not lost to God either.

To date, most of the supernatural experiences we have experienced in the home have involved our oldest, Danny Boy. It seems that the Lord works with him in the prophetic. He's been a witness to several encounters in the home and has had encounters of his own. He's interacted with the Lord Jesus twice in dreams. But God has shown us that Michael also has a special place in our ministry.

The Lord demonstrated this to me one night in 2005 while I was in prayer. We had been under spiritual attack while ministering in our home to, of all people, Mormon missionaries. We had felt a heavy oppression on all sides during our eight-week long fellowship with them. There was a war going in our home in the supernatural as we attempted to share the truth of the Bible and its only prophet worth following, Jesus Christ (Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Acts 3:22).

After crying out to God for divine favor and protection, I discerned a word from the Lord for our family. One by one He called us out by name declaring "I am with you." But when He got to Michael, He changed His name. God doesn't call Michael by his first name. He knows him as "David," his middle name.

As I type this on September 11th 2006, I finally realize what God was doing when He changed his name. We have never made a huge deal about this experience and have only shared it with a few of our pastor friends (all named David) and our parents. But now as I think about his penchant for worship and his heart for God, the name "David" describes him to a tee. God must have known this all along. On another occasion He proved it to me and Martha.

It was a Saturday, sometime during the early Spring of 2005. At the time, we were living on military housing in beautiful Monterey. Having the weekend off from watch, Martha and I finally had some time for yard work. I had sat down on the sofa with my laptop as she was finishing up tending to her plants in the backyard. Danny Boy was busy playing across the street at his friend's house while Michael was curled up next to me playing with one of his toys.

I was busy coming up with fliers for our next sectional youth ministries event. While plugging away, I was soothed by the sounds of Martha spraying water outside and Michael tinkering with his toy. Although I was not fully engaged with his playing, I knew he was quite involved with his toy because he was adding his own sound effects.

After a couple minutes, the sounds around me began to dim somewhat as I delved more into the work on the screen in front of me. It took me a little while to realize that Michael was not making the same sound effects anymore, but was making other sounds. As I typed a little more, I overheard him giggling. Smiling at his giggles I continued with my design work dragging my mouse around without looking at him, thinking that he was giggling at Martha.

But, then I heard Martha through the window behind me restarting the hose in the back porch and I realized that I had not heard her come in through the sliding door. All the while, Michael was still giggling. At that moment, I stopped what I was doing and looked over to him. He had dropped his toy into his lap and was staring ahead with the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. I was still looking at him when he let out another volley of laughter.

Quickly I looked over my laptop screen to see who or what he was looking at. He was looking in the direction of our stairwell. Not seeing anything I looked back at Michael. In the split second that I was turning my head back to Michael I saw a cloud of light streak from the stairwell. I quickly looked back but did not see anything more.

I then did a double-take to Michael. He was still wearing that smile on his face and looking in the direction of the stairwell. His smile wore off and then he turned to look at me. He shared a brief knowing grin with me and then straight with picked up his toy and continued his playing. Chills ran down my spine as I realized that he had been laughing with an angel on the stairwell.

I looked back but did not see anything after staring for several moments. I sat there with my laptop burning into my pant legs not able to do anymore work. I saved my work and powered down. I was putting away my gear when Martha came in and walked through the house to call Danny Boy in for dinner. I did not get a chance to stop her. I decided to save it for dinner.

Over dinner, I was excited to share with Martha and Danny Boy what Michael and I had seen together. Martha sat smiling as she fed Michael. She said, "you're not going to believe this, but I had the same experience with Michael earlier today." "Really!" I almost jumped out of my chair.

She said that she had been sitting on the sofa doing something while Michael was at her feet playing with his toy. All of a sudden, she realized that Michael had stopped playing and was giggling at something. She thought he was looking up at me. When she looked up to see what he was looking at, she saw a a figure in the form of a cloud standing at the base of the stairwell. No sooner had she perceived what it was, that it vanished. She looked back at Michael, who then looked at her briefly and then continued his playing.

Now, of course Monterey can get a bit foggy and often times the low clouds get bright as they reflect the morning sun, but not in the middle of your house at the bottom of a stairwell late in the afternoon! The experience could have been relegated to our collective imagination if for one fact, Martha and I both were expecting to see each other as the object of Michael's stare and giggles.

Sure, he could have imagined something and projected the reality to our consciousness somehow through some self-fulfilling prophecy or mind-control. The only problem with that hypothesis is that we are talking about a one-and-a-half year old, who stopped playing with his toy to engage in socialization with something that apparently was making him laugh. Furthermore, Martha and I had almost the same experience, a couple hours apart without sharing what we saw until dinner time. Another point worthy of mentioning is that up until that point Martha had never seen an angel and she is not given to sensationalism or flights of fancy. She's about the most genuine and non-flakiest person I have ever known.

I used to wonder what Jesus meant when He said "see that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). Now thanks to Michael and the Angel, I know that God is not looking down so much as He is smiling at eye level with all the little ones in the world right now. Bad things may happen to them in this world, but it does not change the fact that God is taking notes from their angels. Maybe the brightness of their eyes and the resonance of their laughter has a lot to do with the little bit of glory that is brought to them from Heaven.

Today, as I close, I thought about all the children who are orphans, including those who lost a parent on September 11th, 2001. I believe God put it in my heart to share Michael's story because it's their story as well. Despite what grown ups may think, God is with them and He knows them by name. Please join me in prayer for orphans and little ones everywhere who are forgotten not by God but by man. Let's pray that they will receive God's blessings from our hearts and our hands.

Amen.

Wrestling with Angels

Just days before the 5-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on America, I am sobered by the belief that the threat we face from the spiritual forces that were behind those attacks are maneuvering once again to unleash something far more horrendous in the days, weeks, or months to come. At the moment it is not a matter of if but when. Whether they succeed, however, in large part depends on the actions or inactions of the American church.

The terrorists attacks that day and since have shown us is that there are no answers in the natural to prevent them. Sure, governments of man can stop a few here and there, but what the world is facing goes beyond the schemes of countless thousands thirsty for American blood. What I am talking about are millions of fallen hosts that are massing to manifest in these countless thousands.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)

It's not enough to pray for divine protection from their upraised hand. It's not enough to pray for our success in the battlefield. It's not enough to pray that they are exposed. Although these are worthy prayers, they are "bandaid" prayers in the face of the artery that is about to explode. There are only two prayers we should be praying right now as if our country depended upon them, as if the lives of our families depended upon them: 1. Repentance for our nation and 2. The salvation of those who threaten us. These prayers emanate from the very heart and will of God. Why not pray accordingly? It's our only hope! This is the wrestling match we must join. If not, let's just throw our hand up before the referee yells "Ready, go!."

"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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." (2 Chronicles 7:14-15)

To give you just a picture of the threat I provide the following brief synopsis of news bits and an expose film:

It is no secret that Osama Bin Laden has received recent permission from clerics in Saudi Arabia to kill up to ten million Americans. Before you think this is funny, Osama was actually rebuked by Muslim clerics worldwide not because he was behind the 9/11 attacks but because he hadn't given Americans the proper warnings ahead of time. Apparently, this time he has learned his lesson - bad Osama. Just pause and think for a couple minutes. Imagine ten million Americans dead in a single day. Wake up people! This is not a joke. Read the writing on the wall: TEN MILLION AMERICANS DEAD.

It is no secret that countries like Iran and Al Qaida operatives, like Californian-born "Azzam the American," have extended invitations to join Islam or face certain grave consequences. This is no publicity stunt. This is exactly what the Koran teaches to do before all "jihad breaks loose." This is yet another prelude to mass murder on a national scale. To their credit, if I may say that, they are following their doctrines to a tee. They have made the invitation so if we balk it, they have fulfilled their end and will have the justification to strike with their sword.

It is no secret that Iran and Al Qaida have already acquired several nuclear weapons. This is their sword of choice and they are just waiting for the right opportunity to use them. If you believe that they don't have these weapons or won't use them, then I have some Iranian nuclear waste buckets to sell you. I must return to the close of my first paragraph: TEN MILLION AMERICANS DEAD.

It is no secret that there are sleeper terrorist cells here in America, who have been training for years here in America for the day that they can wage jihad here in America. They even have permission to kill children and even other Muslims here in America. If you think I am using scare tactics, may I remind of you the Beslan schoolhouse massacre? Do you think it can't happen here in America? May I ask a rhetorical question? Where did the 19 terrorists of the September 11th attacks train? Where did they strike? The answer should be clear - here in America.

Before I move on to the expose film that I believe every American should watch, allow me to return to the wrestling match of this new century. Imagine with me the night of September 10th 2001. All 19 hijackers, are in their hotel rooms trying to get sleep the night before their infamous mission. What would have happened if on that same night millions of American Christians were awakened to intercede for them, yes that's right intercede for them, not just damn them to hell.

Do you think a terrorist is worth praying for? Do you think he or she is beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit's conviction? Do you think they are beyond the hope of Jesus appearing to them? Well, let's just ask these questions to Saul of Tarsus when we get to heaven. On second thought, you might have a hard time finding him, because he has a new name and, to be cliche, it's written down in glory. His new name also happens to be written on almost two thirds of the New Testament.

Church, this is our only hope. Everything else is vanity. Will you tarry just one hour? This is exactly what I am talking about. The message of the Gospel is for every man and we are the messengers of this message. In this sense, we are angels. To not engage in prayer for our enemies is to wrestle against ourselves!

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

We the American church, are the last defense for our country. Dear Jesus, if only our newspapers could read tomorrow: TEN MILLION MUSLIMS ACCEPT JESUS. Sound far fetched? Well let's just ask the entire village of Bugia in Algeria who had the same dream of Jesus on the same night in which He declared His lordship in exactly the same manner. Is anything too difficult for God?

Please join me as we turn the invitation of the terrorists around and use the only effective weapon in our arsenal. The only weapon powerful enough to shake the earth. Let's stop kicking the goads and wrestle the real enemies. Let's intercede repentance for our nation and for the salvation of souls, especially the souls of Muslims in America.

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." (Acts 4:31)

Now for the expose film, which I must apologize has subtitles and is fairly long at 1 hour and 17 minutes. Notwithstanding these detractors, it is well worth watching and your time. Obsession Radical Islam's War Against the West is set to come out on DVD on the anniversary of September 11th. I pray that its release date is not too late, and that's why I have placed the video here, not to scare the church but to do what I can to awaken her in the midnight hour to pray.

Please let me make one thing clear. I do not hate Muslims. I love them with the love of the Lord. To the Muslims of the world: "Jesus loves you and died for you. He is the man in white who calls to you. Find Him today."

Heaven is so Real!

To say that Heaven is so Real! is a book for our times would be an understatement. Everybody is talking about the "end of the world" and the "end times." Signs of the second coming are everywhere. So what does this mean to you? Did you know that Jesus is coming back to earth and has prepared a place for you in heaven? After all, He promised He would...

Choo Thomas speaks of that place that Jesus has prepared for all His obedient children and of His soon coming. Choo speaks as one with experience, that's because she has been there and back. In Heaven is so Real!, she recounts her visions of a very real heaven, Jesus, and rapture. Are you ready for heaven, for Him, and for it?

Check out her video, share it with a friend, and find Jesus today!

Heaven is so Real! is the Young Seven One Book of August 2006. All commissions go to the Lighthouse Project and back to the author and her ministry. In these uncertain and unreal times, find out for certain that Heaven is so Real!

Danny Boy Dreams of the Rapture

Early this morning around 5:45, I went to check the latest headlines on the Internet, before I tried to get some sleep. While I was perusing my favorite news sites. I heard a noise in the hallway. It was Danny Boy half-awake and staggering towards me. I said "good morning Papi, what are you doing up?" He replied "I needed to go the bathroom." "Ok, go a head" I said and then continued my quest for news bits.

While "mijo" was taking care of business, I looked up Matt Drudge's website, the DrudgeReport. I quickly scanned over the news items for anything interesting. And then this caption caught my eyes "WSJ: Scholar Warns Iran's Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events' In Mind For August 22."

What? This August 22nd? I had to read on. Apparently, Matt Drudge had been given a scoop about an article that would appear later on today in the Wall Street Journal. Here is the leaked snippet as it appeared on Drudge:

WSJ: Scholar Warns Iran's Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events' In Mind For August 22

Tue Aug 08 2006 10:22:35 ET

In a WALL STREET JOURNAL op-ed Tuesday, Princeton's Bernard Lewis writes: "There is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons. This difference is expressed in what can only be described as the apocalyptic worldview of Iran's present rulers."

"In Islam as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time -- Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the US about nuclear development by Aug. 22," which this year corresponds "to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest mosque,' usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1).

"This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind."

Developing...

This gave me the chills. I was literally dumbstruck as I read what could possibly be the Iranian President's hidden message to the world and to all those in the Middle East who, like him, want to wipe Israel off the map.

All of a sudden, a dizzying array of thoughts about the threat of Islamic militants started rushing to mind. I had just finished reading a book entitled Why I Left Jihad by ex-terrorist Walid Shoebat. Among other insights, he makes a startling connection between the Mark of the Beast and the prominent Muslim phrase bismillah.

Then, after this, in quick succession, I remembered an interview with Walid and two other former terrorists (one American-born) who talked about the threat posed by American-born terrorists who have been training underground for years here in America just waiting for the right time to wage jihad.

Within a split-second I was reminded of Saddam's "missing" WMD arsenal that had been shipped off to Syria before the start of the war on March 19th 2003, this according to both the written testimony of General Georges Sada, second in command of the Iraqi Air Force, and other established reports made to Congress.

The last thought that came in this semi-automatic mind rush was a prophecy I had received from a friend on June 30th. Among other alarming things, it prophesied that within three months the world would see the start of a war and that there would be a terrorist attack against America that would "shake the people of the country." The attack would be so severe that "the rest of the world will be shocked also." Amazingly, this prophecy has verified thus far with the month-long war in the Middle East that threatens to consume the whole region.

So there I sat, glued to the computer screen with mouth open and not quite believing what I was reading or thinking, when all of a sudden Danny Boy appeared right beside me. His unexpected presence sent even more shivers down my spine. I couldn't take it anymore. I quickly signed off and shut down the computer and headed for bed.

Not wanting to wake mother and Michael in the master bedroom, I gently guided Danny Boy to our guest room and its empty bed. There we pulled up the blankets and snuggled next to each other, our two heads on one Spiderman pillow.

Then with the thoughts of end-time events swirling in my sleep-deprived state, I looked over to Danny Boy and with some hesitation asked, "Danny Boy, can you pray with me for our country?" The last thing I wanted to do was to scare him with anything I was thinking. At that moment, though, I needed some comfort that I believed only prayer with another person could bring.

As if he knew everything I was going through, he replied "yes Dad, I know." Then he said "Dad, last night I had a dream that Jesus came back." "What?" I asked with amazement. All of a sudden I felt re-energized. He had my full attention.

"Go on, tell me everything" I asked. He then told me the following story of his dream. He said he first heard a loud noise outside. It was so loud that it awoke him from bed. He went to the door to look outside to see what it was.

When he opened the door, he looked up and saw Jesus in the clouds. Jesus looking at him told him to go inside and get the rest of us who were still asleep. He went to our bed and apparently even though we were asleep, we were reacting to the sound of the noise that was still emenating from outside. He quickly woke us up and we rushed to the door.

Immediately, he says we shot off from the ground towards the clouds leaving our clothes falling behind us on the ground. There in the clouds, he saw all of his friends that are his age. He saw many of his neighbors there, but did not see their parents. He said he saw all of our family and cousins whom he knew.

Then he said, we all heard a large noise coming from the earth below. He said the whole earth was shaking. There was a huge earthquake. He said in places the earth opened up and people who did not believe in Jesus fell into the earth. Then he said he woke up.

The dream was so real that he thought it was actually happening. I am not quite sure, but he may have just awakened from it when he came out to go to the bathroom.

Later that afternoon, around the dinner table, I asked him if he could draw a picture of what he had seen in his dream. Again, he said "yes Dad, I know, God told me up in the clouds 'Danny Boy I want you to draw a picture so that your dad can put it on his website.'" Excited and wanting to capture what he had seen, I asked him if he could type, using a blank e-mail, a little of what he saw. Here in his own words (with only spaces and returns added by me):

dear people listen to my dream one day i herd a loud noise so i went outside and i saw god and he said go get your family then we went up and are cloths went down but people that didnt believe in god went down to see what happened go to www.lighthefire.com/dailyplanet

I always prayed and hoped that my son, even in his youth, would be used of God to touch people for the Lord. I never knew that the Lord would use him to do just that with this dream. I also never knew that he would be the one to comfort me like he did with his dream. We prayed and then fell asleep in peace together.

Do you know the Jesus of Danny Boy's dream? He is coming soon in the clouds just as He did when He left the earth. Look up and find Jesus Today!

Not Another Tie for Father's Day

Father's Day is coming up and so is the chance to bless your Father in heaven by participating in the "Not Another Tie" Campaign of Africa Tabernacle Evangelism. You and your church can bless a whole community in Africa through this highly effective and practical method of evangelism. What is the campaign and Africa Tabernacle Evangelism all about? Learn more from its Coordinator, Pastor Bill Moore...

The “Not Another Tie” campaign is a deliberate effort to involve local USA churches in partnering with Africa Tabernacle Evangelism and the local African church to erect church buildings across the continent in 2006.

Currently, the African church is in a tremendous growth mode, and the need for congregations to have their own building is growing. There are currently more than 13 million Assemblies of God believers across Africa, and if the current growth rate continues as it currently is, by 2010 there will be more than 30 million believers. With this growth, the need is greater now than ever before. And because a church gains credibility in its community when it has it’s own church building, it often experiences rapid growth . . . thus the need for your help.

We are encouraging churches across the USA to take a special offering on Father’s Day for this special need. The thought is that instead of giving dad another tie as a gift, honor dad, brother, husband, uncle, or pastor by giving an offering on his behalf which will make an eternal difference. A tie will pass away, but the church will live on for eternity! And the father’s legacy will live on as well!

This year we need 1000 USA churches who will commit to partner with us to build 1000 African churches. For an offering of $7500, a tabernacle church can be built for a need congregation in Africa. A church may chose to partner with us to fund all or part of a church building and all help will be greatly appreciated.

If you would like more information, or would like the ministry leader, Bill Moore, to come and share this vision with your church, please e-mail the address listed below.

Make this Father's Day a day to remember by changing a whole community and perhaps a whole nation in Africa. Build a church for a lifetime in a day!

Here are some resources to help you help Africa Tabernacle Evangelism:

Contribute to Africa Tabernacle Evangelism Online Now

African Tabernacle Evangelism Homepage

Email Africa Tabernacle Evangelism

Download ATE Poster Above (.jpg)

Download Not Another Tie Explanation (.jpg)

ATE is a missions partner of Club Alpha Omega Young Adults International and its missions giving program - The Lighthouse Project. Join us as we send by giving to missions!

Visit the Lighthouse Project Forum

Spirit West Coast Del Mar 2006

Please join us in praying and fasting for one of the largest Christian events and outreaches on the west coast - Spirit West Coast Del Mar. The SWC Ministry Director, and our friend, Pastor Bob Reehm has issued a call out for 40 days of fasting and praying leading up to the event. If you are interested in being a part of this organized call, please contact us and we will put you in touch with Rev. Harry and Shirl Gamotan who assist Pastor Bob at both Del Mar and Monterey. This is Pastor Bob's call that we have been allowed to post:

Proclamation: Call To FASTING for SWC Del Mar 2006

Whereas Spirit West Coast Del Mar is not just a music festival but a significant, three day, SPIRITUAL event;


Whereas Francis Chan will be presenting the Gospel with an altar call from the Air 1 Grandstand Stage challenging folks to repent and to become true followers of Jesus Christ;

Whereas Erwin McManus will be challenging believers on Saturday night from the Air 1 Grandstand Stage to live as true believers in obedience to the Lord Jesus

Whereas we expect up to 15,000 people/day to attend, many of which will be UNSAVED seekers

Whereas there will be at least 12 other ALTAR Calls, nine in the Skate Church/skate boarding demonstration area and two others in the alternative band area

Whereas last year at SWC Del Mar over 150 people (that we are aware of) made first time, ETERNAL decisions to give their lives to Jesus Christ

Whereas last year during SWC Del Mar over 300 needy children from many different countries of the world found sponsors through Compassion International which will have long term, lasting impact around the world and this year at Del Mar, the opportunity will also be given to sponsor children through COMPASSION International

Whereas Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me, YOU CAN DO NOTHING":

And Because of the truth of the Master's words and the reality of the spiritual battle,

We are inviting you, your family and /or church to join us in 40 days of fasting in preparation for Spirit West Coast Del Mar '06.

The 40th day prior to SWC Del Mar is, Easter Sunday, April 16th and will be the first day of the coordinated, group fast.

I am asking people to commit to fasting as much as they feel led of God. I am also asking that you ask the Spirit as to what TYPE of fasting He wants you to do. (Water only, juice fast, etc.) I am asking each ministry team participant to fast a minimum of three meals over the 40 days of the fast. I am hoping that each Dept. Head and their Assistants will take up the challenge and join me in beseeching our Great God for great things through Spirit West Coast Del Mar. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call upon me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."

There are lots of options for you to choose from. You may choose to miss a meal/day, or you may pick one day a week to fast, or pick 2-3 different days/meals during the 40-day period. You may want to fast for 2-3 days in a row, or even an entire week or longer. Some may want to miss lunches or dinners on Sat., or breakfasts on Sunday, or some other meal. I would like to track when folks are intentionally fasting and seeking the Lord so that all 40 days and 120 meals are 'covered'.

For those who desire to join in this Spiritual discipline of fasting, please email Shirl Gamotan, the Ministry Dept. Administrator with your designated "FAST" days and which meals you intend to miss. Her email address is: LuvThatGospel316@aol.com

In the spirit of Matthew 6, I will not divulge who is participating in the fast or to what degree. My tracking of the meals is to ensure that all meals are covered. Many times folks will ask me, "Tell me what days/meals need to be covered, and I will fast then." So, it helps me to know when folks are intending on fasting. By separate, later email, I will send a list of suggested prayer concerns that need to be 'covered.'

If you have never fasted before, I invite you to get a good concordance and look up 'fasting' in the Scriptures. Also, there are several excellent books on the market that you can purchase at Christian bookstores. If you desire to read some material that discusses fasting, please email my administrative assistant, Shirl Gamotan. Her email address is: LuvThatGospel316@aol.com. Please include your name and address in your email. She will mail to you a booklet written by Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, on the topic of fasting. It is full of helpful information to assist you in your commitment. If you have never fasted before and if you are taking prescription drugs or if have a medical/health condition, please consult your doctor or pharmacist prior to fasting.

The 40th day before the festival begins is 16th April with the last day of the fasting period the 25th of May, the day before the festival begins.

If you know of other prayer warriors who would be interested in joining us in this GREAT SPIRITUAL WORK, please pass this invitation on to them.

Again, please email Shirl Gamotan back your name and the days/meals that you will miss in your participation in this work. Please report your commitment in the following way in the subject line of your email: examples: Saturday, 1 May, Breakfast & Lunch or MWF Dinners.

In Christ's Service,

Bob Reehm
Ministry Director, SWC

:: Note from Sister Shirl Requesting More Help ::

Greetings!
Tomorrow starts the 40 days of fasting for Spirit West Coast Del Mar. Thank you again for your commitment to fast and pray for this event. Please let me know if you've forgotten what days/meals you have committed to. Listed below are days/meals that are not covered as of this morning 4/15. If you feel led to fast another meal, please let me know. Please respond only as the Lord leads you and not an obligation to fill this schedule. I have this message going out to more people and as God sees it, the schedule will be filled.

4/16 - Easter Sunday Dinner
4/17 - Dinner
4/20 - Dinner
4/21 - Dinner
4/22 - Dinner
4/24 - Dinner
4/27 - Dinner
4/28 - Dinner
4/29 - Lunch & Dinner
4/30 - Dinner
5/1 - Dinner
5/4 - Dinner
5/5 - Dinner
5/6 - Lunch & Dinner
5/8 - Dinner
5/11 - Dinner
5/12 - Dinner
5/13 - Lunch & Dinner
5/14 - Dinner
5/15 - Dinner
5/18 - Lunch & Dinner
5/19 - Dinner
5/20 - Lunch & Dinner
5/21 - Lunch
5/22 - Dinner
5/25 - Lunch & Dinner

In His Love and Service,
Shirl Gamotan

General in the Lion's Den

One of my favorite Bible stories is that of the prophet Daniel in the courts of King Nebuchadnezzar and Darius. Although he was a Hebrew, he rose to become the provincial ruler over all of Babylon and one of three administrators in Persia. He rose to these positions not through hostile take-over, but through his faithfulness to God and through his honest counsel before several kings who held his people hostage. Daniel overcame unimaginable odds to become the go-to man in hostile regimes.

General Georges Sada is very much a modern day Prophet Daniel. Although he was born into an Assyrian Christian home and became a born-again Christian in 1986, he rose to become the Vice Marshall of the Iraqi Air Forces under Saddam Hussein. According to his newly published account, he did not compromise his faith and even stood up to Saddam on several occasions. Incredibly because of his honesty in the face of unspeakable consequences he became one of Saddam's most trusted advisors, even though Saddam knew he was a born-again Christian!

How in the world could he have done all this and live to tell about it? How could he have worked under such a brutal regime and keep his faith? The answer is just as true today as it was in the day of the Prophet Daniel. God not only protected the General, He elevated him to high office and to the world figure he is today.

And the similarities don't end there, just like the prophet, General Sada saved the modern-day children of Israel from a chemical attack from Saddam, who often referred to himself as the resurrected King Nebuchadnezzar (Saddam even rebuilt ancient Babylon in his own honor). His selfless heroism continued during the first gulf war when he saved 24 American and Coalition pilots from being executed by the death squads of Qusay Hussein, Saddam's youngest son. For this, he was arrested but later released by Saddam when the dictator realized that the General had saved the nation from an international uproar.

In what is probably his most alarming act of courage, the General is now warning the nations of the world that Saddam is not finished with his reign of terror. In his new book, Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein, the General reveals that Saddam moved untold tons of Weapons of Mass Destruction to Syria in the days leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He did it using two converted airliners and truck convoys. According to him and the pilots who flew the WMDs, the airliners alone conducted two sorties a day for a total of fifty-six sorties.

The General's story proves that heroism of Biblical proportions and Daniel-like favor is very much alive today. Even though he survived the horrors of the Hussein regime, he is continuing to put his life on the line for God and country. The General is now the spokesman for the newly elected prime minister of Iraq, the president of the National Presbyterian Church in Baghdad and the chairman of the Assembly of Iraqi Evangelical Presbyterian Churches.

Please pray for his continued safety, for divine favor, and for the blessing of his efforts. You too can find the God who saved the General from the lion's mouth. Find Jesus today.

Blogging from rain-soaked Hawai'i,
Danny "dj" Morales

When Danny Met Martha

My favorite testimony is how Martha and I met. Some people wonder if there are such things as soul mates and destinies. I know the answer for me is undoubtedly and emphatically "yes!" I am sure that the events that took place in bringing us together match those of others who believed that God's fate brought them together. I am equally sure that there are many who think such ideas are the stuff of vivid imaginations. My story is dedicated to my bride on her birthday and to all who believe and don't believe in miracles.

I first met Martha in the summer of 1995 on my front doorstep in Douglas, Arizona while I was on summer break from Oral Roberts University. The youth from First Assembly of God in Douglas Arizona, had been invited over to a pool party at my parent's home. The party was sponsored by the youth pastor at First Assembly. Martha happened to come early to the party and was the first one I met that summer. I answered the door bell and invited her in and both of us were a little clumsy as to what to do and say next. We made small talk and when the talk abruptly ended with an awkward silence I had her wait in the living room. I wish I could say that it was love at first sight, but nothing in that first encounter signaled any future for the two of us.

The party was fun and it gave me a chance to meet several youth who would become close friends. It also afforded me a chance to reacquaint myself with childhood friends whom I had not seen since my family had moved to Massachusetts. Who would have ever thought that years later that Martha and I would be working with many of them as youth co-leaders and workers? It was probably the most fun summer break I ever had and it all began at that pool party.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Martha. Her mom passed away that summer of breast cancer. Many times I think about what it would have been like to know Sister Carmen and call her "Mom." She was a great woman of God and a hero of the faith. She believed in God and did not leave this earth with a defeatist or "woe is me" attitude. She fought and won the battle for the eternal fate of her soul. I only wish I would have known her personally. All that I know of her is what I have been told by others and what I see in Martha and my boys. I deprived myself of the opportunity of looking into her eyes when my dad asked me if I wanted to go with him to pray for her. The crazy thing is that she had visited my dad's church in Douglas (Templo Betel) when I was a boy. Martha's mom would came down from San Pedro, California to visit family in the Douglas area just about every year. Sister Carmen no doubt had brought Martha to church and I had most likely sat across from her in service or in Sunday School. Now, here we were years later and Martha's family had called for my dad to go to her bedside to pray for her. If only I had not been so selfish that day! I was too comfortable kicking back that I didn't leave room for meeting such a wonderful woman. In the end, it may have not been meant to be, but the memory still haunts me and reminds me of just how important visitation requests are. I know without a doubt that I will see my mother-in-law again and I will thank her for blessing me with her daughter.

After summer, I left back for Oral Roberts to continue my studies. Martha would later be awarded a six-month internship to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The time away from home would do her some good as she moved on with her life. She would write to me at school sending me postcards from Florida and I, the typical guy, would not write back. But I did look forward to catching up with her and my Douglas friends on my next break. Friends is all we were and all I ever thought we would be. Even when asked by my mom what I thought of her, I simply dismissed the whole idea.

As the years passed, our friendship grew as did my family's closeness to her. While I was at school in Oklahoma, Mary Louise and my mother would invite Martha over to the house and on excursions to nearby Sierra Vista and mountain parks, our Sky Islands, which surround the Douglas area. I remember hearing them tell me how nice of a girl she was. I could sense the undertones in their words and would walk away saying "we're only friends, there is nothing between us now and there never will be."

I was pretty confident in my assertion that I would marry someone back in Massachusetts or in Oklahoma. So when my mom hooked me up with a date with Martha during Spring Break in 1996, I was secure that nothing would result between her and me. It turns out that Martha was just as secure. In fact, she was partly using the date as an excuse to get away from local guys who were interested in her. As I write this, I am shocked to realize that she was the first girl I took on a solo date! Well, so much for my insightfulness. It turns out that God, my mom, Mary Louise and Martha were all playing me the fool of love.

I took her on a date to eat in Sierra Vista, a town about 45 minutes away from Douglas. At the time, Douglas did not have the assortment of good restaurants it has today and one had to drive out of town or across the border into Mexico to have a decently wide selection. That night, I had dinner and a movie planned. We would eat at Golden China on Fry Blvd. I remember having fun at dinner but in the back of my mind I kept on saying that we had no chemistry with each other. After dinner, we watched "Up Close and Personal," which did get a little up close and personal looking back at all the storyline reviews. I hated the tear-jerking ending, Martha of course loved it, but we both liked the sappy theme song, Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me." As soon as I got back home from dropping Martha off, my mom and Mary Louise were eager to hear about our date. With one emphatic "sorry guys, there's just no chemistry between us," I left them both looking at each other and went to bed.

Over the next year, I absorbed myself in my studies at Oral Roberts. I was progressing along very well at school but at the back of my mind I began to hear a calling back to my birth state of Arizona (I consider Massachusetts my second home state). There was a pull inside of me that just wouldn't let go. I had not lived in Arizona and called it home in almost nine years. Nine years earlier, we had left our small border town for an unknown future in a different country called "New England." The day we left Arizona will live in my memory forever because it was none other than Christmas Day 1987. It was no ordinary Christmas either. It was the first real White Christmas that Southern Arizona had experienced in many years. It was so white, in fact, that we and hundreds of other motorists got stranded in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We would arrive in Fort Devens, Massachusetts on New Year's Eve with even more snow on the ground. I was quite disappointed to see that the people in Mass no longer lived in thatched-roof houses and wore Pilgrim clothing and shoes as I had seen in my history books. What a culture shock!

Now, nine years later I felt the call to come back home, no longer the dreamy-eyed boy but now an almost grown-up college man. Uncertain about my calling home, I inquired of the Lord as to whether it was His will that I stop my studies mid-stream at Oral Roberts and transfer to the University of Arizona. Although I considered a prophecy uttered by my mother that "the Lord would give me opportunities, open up doors and bless me beyond my wildest dreams if i did," I was still hesitant to leave my comfort zone in Oklahoma. I inquired of the Lord and made my mother and Mary Louise witnesses. The Lord answered an emphatic "go home" through a fleece I had put before Him. As a result of hearing God's voice, I told my mother and Mary Louise that I was also becoming more certain of a calling to the Navy.

It was hard leaving all my friends at Oral Roberts. I would even miss the campus itself. It seemed as if faith and God's presence saturated the ground and air on those grounds. Living apart from my folks had really grown me up in the span of two years. Now, I was about to go home for Christmas one last time from Oklahoma, leaving a Christian school with a network of friends to attend a secular university with absolutely no friends awaiting me. What a culture shock!

That Christmas break was one of the darkest seasons of my life. I would not wish that merry Christmas on my worst enemy. That day will live in my memory forever, because it was none other than Christmas Day 1996, the day I broke up with my first girlfriend. Things would have been better if I had just listened to a dream that my mother had. The Fall Break before I left Tulsa, my mother counseled me on a road trip to check out the U of A. She told me "Son, the Lord gave me a dream last night. In this dream, your father and I were standing with you on the bank of a large lake. There were fishermen all around this lake and we could see fish swimming underneath the water's surface. In the middle of this lake, swam a beautiful fish that everyone was trying to catch. In a moment, we saw you jump in after the fish. You walked underwater until you came to it. You tried to touch it but it swam away from you. After doing this a couple times, you walked away from it realizing that you could not catch it. When you were just about to come up the bank the fish all of a sudden turned and came back to you and touched you. You turned around and spent some time with it but then you came to the surface. Your father and I were there to help you up." She asked me "what do you think it means mijo?" I replied to her sadly, "it means that my relationship is over." If I had just listened to the word from the Lord, I would have been spared some deep wounds, but I stretched the relationship out. Thank God for my parents. They were there to help me up.

With Oklahoma and heart break behind me, I began the new year at the University of Arizona. It was a magical time that first semester. Tall palm trees lined the university mall that ran the course of much of the campus. Red brick buildings glowed with the Arizona sunsets. I walked around lost in absolute ignorance to my surroundings and in awe at the beauty that was the home of the Wildcats. That semester, Spring 1997, our team would go on to win the NCAA Championship overcoming unthinkable odds by beating three number-one seeded teams. As a kid, I had remembered watching the Wildcats play and seeing that famous U of A logo on the court with the name "Arizona," a mountain, and a green cactus on it. I remembered thinking to myself that it was the coolest logo I had ever seen and that one day I would like to go to that school with the cool logo. Almost twenty years later, that was my school, that was my team, and there was that cool logo on the court. The school was completely abuzz and went chaotic when we won the championship. And I say "we" because there was a tangible pride and identity shared by the entire student body. Our team had beaten the odds. We took to the streets to celebrate. After it got a little crazy, most of us ran back to our dorms and apartments. I don't think we were prepared for the shock of victory.

Then came Spring Break 1997! It was the season that my eyes were opened to someone that had been there in front of me the whole time. My birthday always fell during Spring Break. The year before I had taken Martha out to eat around my birthday. History was repeating itself.

The Sunday before my birthday, the Pastor at First Assembly of God had passed out green prayer requests cards with instructions to put their petitions before the Lord. Martha held onto her card, while most of the people turned theirs in during the offering time. I was not attending First Assembly on Sundays as I would help my parents lead worship at their church in neighboring Bisbee (the former Templo Estrella). Wednesday night, the day of my birthday, I was able to attend Martha's church because school was out and my parent's did not have mid-week services. Several things transpired on that night that still leave me in shock.

Just before the start of service, one of my childhood friends who had attended my dad's old church in Douglas as a young girl walked up to Mary Louise, who was the youth pastor, and asked something that threw her back. "Mary Louise is there something going on between Danny and Martha?" she asked. Mary Louise responded matter of factly, "NOTHING, there is NOTHING going on between Danny and Martha, NOTHING. Why do you ask?" Serena responded "well, I just see something going on between them." Mary Louise shook her head and walked away a bit dumbfounded. Meanwhile, upstairs in the youth room, Martha was sitting with another one of my childhood friends who also attended my dad's old church as a young boy. She pulled out her green prayer request card and began to fill it out with her petition. She turned over to Josh and asked "hey Josh, what's today's date?" In his trademark quiet but smooth voice he responded back to her "it's March 19th." She wrote it atop the prayer request card and tucked it away in her Bible.

I walked in just before Mary Louise started the youth Bible study and extended my parent's invitation to everyone for some birthday cake and ice cream over at my house. After church, Martha told me that she wanted to go but that she did not have a ride. I told her "no problem" I could give her a ride. She accepted the offer and sent her Bible and her stuff home with her older brother and sister-in-law whom she lived with.

We had a great time at the party with so many laughs and stories, most of them at my expense. I am a bit of a dork at times and I love telling my personal "Griswald" stories. I was given a serious ribbing when a couple of my closest "sister-wingers" at Oral Roberts called during the party to sing me happy birthday. After the party and when most of the youth group had left, I asked Martha if she was ready to head home. She said "yes" and with that we were off to drive the 5 minutes or so to her brother's house.

Upon driving up to her brother's house I realized how early it still was in the evening and that Spring Break was half over. I wanted to hang out with her a bit more to talk as I had so many times before at church, over my house, with other youth and even on our ill-fated first date, which was more of a friend's night out. So I asked without much thought if we could do what every high school to college-aged person does in Douglas, go cruising. She said nonchalantly "ya whatever." We did the usual well worn circuit around Douglas. Almost everyone in Douglas could recite the cruise route. I had spent my formative cruising years in Massachusetts and Oklahoma, and even then I did not do much of it. But in Douglas, well, cruising might as well be a sport. I took Martha's directions and got to know the cruise route.

We talked about Cochise College where she went, her stealth excursions into Mexico with her niece (another Douglas rite of passage), life at Oral Roberts and in Mass, her hometown of San Pedro, my dreams of working in research and in the Navy, and just about everything that was going on in our lives at that moment. All of a sudden, it dawned on us that we had been driving and talking for hours! She said "oh my gosh, look what time it is." I can't remember the time, but I felt like her brother, who I had great respect for, was going to kill me. She reminded me that she was twenty-one and a college student. We must have been out near her school in the outskirts when we realized the time. I had asked her for a drive-by tour. It took longer to get to the school than to give me the tour. With my tour over, we made our way back into town.

The last conversation we had the last ten minutes or so before getting to her brother's revolved around relationships. She already knew about my sob story, so she told me the latest on hers. I already knew about her past relationships as we had all had our laughs amongst the group concerning our misadventures. She remembered that an old friend of hers from San Pedro was writing to her from jail. I was amused by the thought and wanted to know all the juicy details. I felt sorry for the guy, but I still chuckled when she told me that he was interested in starting a relationship with her. We pulled up in front of her brother's house and I parked the car. I knew her pretty well, but I just had to ask. With that I turned over, probably raised an eyebrow and half-laughed my question to my good friend, "Martha does this guy even have a chance?" She laughed and in her best dramatic Martha tone said "ohhh NO."

Then it happened. I can't quite remember how it happened, but all I can remember is that I felt like I was not even there in the car and that I was distant and looking at us having this conversation. I saw Martha's eyes get big and then I came to and she said "what did you say?" Then it dawned on me that out of my mouth had spewed the question "well, do I have a chance?" I was equally shocked by my own words. The last thing on earth I had been thinking about was a relationship with Martha. But then all of a sudden, in a blink, my eyes were opened and I was falling for her. I gulped and then mustered the courage and then asked her with my heart this time, "Martha, do I have a chance with you?" She looked away, laughed a nervous laugh and said "yes Danny, you have a chance." Then she shouted in her best dramatic tone startling me "oh my God, I can't believe it, that's so weird!" "What?" I asked my heart in my throat. "Hold on, I'll be right back!" she replied and she ran out the car and into the house. She came back a few minutes later with something in her hands. I asked her what it was. She told me as she unfolded a small green paper and repeated "oh my God, I can't believe it, that's so weird!" I was anxious now "what, what's so weird?" "Tonight, I told God that it was time and that I was ready for a serious relationship and told Him about the qualities that I wanted in a man" with the paper trembling in her hands. She read everything on her list and then told me that she had asked our friend Josh for the date. With that, she said "here, look at the date!" I could hardly believe my eyes as I looked on to a familiar word-number combination that I had known all my life, March 19th.

I didn't know what was happening to me. All of a sudden my heart was exploding and this warmth was coming over me. I looked at Martha and knew that she was the one. Like the story of Balaam and his donkey. Here in front of me sat my angel. It took God to open this donkey's mouth and eyes to see that she was right in front of me the whole time. I asked her for a kiss and she obliged giving me the first birthday kiss of my life.

Martha was and is the greatest birthday gift I have ever been given. God threw a surprise party and gave me the desire of my heart right when I needed her the most. The Lord used her to help me out of the rut that I was in. If only my heart could have waited for my birthday, there wouldn't have been such a rut.

Our relationship grew fast and come summer time, we thought it best to test it by fire. Martha would ask her family in California if she could spend the summer with them and look for a job. I would go to summer school and hopefully land a job myself. She got a job right away at Starbucks in Redondo Beach and I got a job at the Arizona Cancer Center, both absolute miracles. Martha's salary was supplemented by tips. Working in upscale Redondo Beach had its benefits. She out-earned me several times over as a Starbucks Barista.

Life without Martha was torture. I could not believe that we had agreed to this arrangement. Looking back it was God's will. Absence did make the heart grow fonder in my case, that by July I was a wreck. I just had to visit her. The Fourth of July was right around the corner. This was my chance. Plans were made and her sister and brother-in-law graciously opened up there house to me.

Interestingly, before I made the trip out to San Pedro, I learned that my Lab Manager's wife was raised in San Pedro and one of her siblings still lived over there. Him and his family also planned on being in San Pedro on the Fourth. Shortly after I arrived Martha bumped into my boss, whom she knew, while at a supermarket close to the apartments where she was raised. We came to find out that his wife was raised in the same apartment complex as Martha and that her birthday was none other than March 19th.

After I got back from San Pedro I sought the Lord about the relationship. The summer was now coming to an end and so was our test. I sought the Lord's face in my apartment living room for over an hour. As I was crying out to the Lord, I suddenly heard a soft knock at the door. There was another knock. I quickly cleaned my face from my tears and went to answer it. I opened the door and there stood a teenage girl somewhat surprised to see me. After a few awkward moments she asked me if her friend was home. I almost fainted. Her friend's name was my former girlfriend's name!!! I somehow managed to the say the words, "I am sorry but she doesn't liver here anymore." With that the girl turned around and left somewhat confused. If only she knew. On a side note, I also discovered that I shared walls with a Navy recruiter, who enlisted in the Navy interestingly enough on March 19th. But that's a part of a whole other miraculous story.

I was shaken by the encounter and took some time getting back into prayer. The Spirit of the Lord was gracious and He soon fell upon me in power. I began to praise the Lord in the spirit. As I was doing so, I was also inquiring of the Lord with my mind about the relationship. All of a sudden the Lord began to show me that there was deep purposes, blessings, and His favor upon the relationship beyond my understanding and wisdom. With moans and groans that words cannot express, the Spirit interceded for me in my inquiry (Romans 8:26). The Lord moved in my heart to ask for two signs (Isaiah 7:11). I asked Him for confirmation in Scripture and for a dream. In this dream, I asked the Lord to have me catch a fish and hold it in my hand. The symbolism was to be obvious to me that this relationship was to have and to hold, and not to surrender back to the water.

Within moments of me asking for the two signs. I began to sing in the Spirit. The tune became recognizable and I began to sing it in English. It was a Christmas duet sung by Michael W. Smith, who wrote the music, and Amy Grant, who wrote the words. The song begins, "no eye had seen. No ear had heard. 'Til hosts on high, proclaimed the birth." The first verse kept ringing in my ears and spirit. Then it dawned on me that it might be a Scripture verse. I ran to grab my concordance and there it was! One reference was found in Isaiah 64:4 and the other in 1 Corinthians Chapter 2:7-16, which quotes the one in Isaiah. Paul's words in Corinthians hit me between the eyes and spoke to exactly what had transpired in my living room over the last two hours:

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

And with that, I was convinced. Immediately in my heart I began the plans to marry Martha. I did wait a couple nights for the dream, but Scripture, the sword of the Spirit, had cut me to the heart and was more than enough confirmation. I soon forgot all about the dream. Within four months, I had saved up enough money to buy the solitaire engagement ring that caught my eye. I wasn't quite sure when to pop the question, but Christmas Eve kept coming to mind. I tried brushing away the idea because it seemed to in parallel with my break up the year before on Christmas Day. But there was no denying the urge, it just had to be Christmas Eve.

Martha had no idea about my plans. I arranged for dinner reservations that night at the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee with my surprise tucked hidden in the car. Dinner was wonderful that night. As we headed for home, a sudden chill filled the air. I had asked my parents ahead of time if my soon-to-be fiance could spend the night at the house in Mary Louise's room. They agreed knowing my plans. When we arrived in Douglas, we parked in front of my parent's house, my childhood home, which we moved into on my birthday - March 19th, 1978. Soon, the largest snow flakes I have ever seen started to fall. It was going to be a child's wonderland and dream. It would be the first White Christmas in ten years. Ten years ago to the day we left this same home for an unknown future in Massachusetts. I could not get over the coincidence.

I made small talk with Martha until I gained the courage. I then asked her to look under her seat. She pulled out the ring and just stared at it. I unwrapped a song I had written the night before. It was inspired by Martha's love for Precious Moments Dolls and for cats, to which I am allergic to, but not to the musical by the same I had taken her to as a date. I sang Precious Moments to the tune of Memories haltingly and through tears and then asked her to marry me. We kissed under the starlight in front of my home surrounded by falling snow flakes, the biggest and softest I have ever seen.

We made our way into my parent's home where I introduced them to their future daughter-in-law. That night in bed, I thanked the Lord for the greatest birthday gift I had ever been given, Martha. Somehow, I drifted off into sleep.

Shortly before waking up, I found myself in Massachusetts in my old high school cafeteria. There, I was speaking to two girls. For some strange reason we were getting ready for rafting down a river. In a blur, we were on the river making our way in the gentle rapids. When we reached our destination on shore, the three of us took out fishing poles. The two girls had bait casters, while I had an old-fashioned bamboo pole whose line I had to throw by hand. The girls were complaining at how long it was taking for the them to catch anything. I told them "you need to be more patient." Just then, a felt a tug on my line. I pulled the line in and took my catch by the hand. I turned around and saw a female Fish and Wildlife Warden approach the three of us. She looked at the fish in my hand and said "you've got yourself a pretty nice catch there." With that I woke up. The dream was so real that I thought I was still in Massachusetts. Then it hit me. I had forgotten all about the dream of catching a fish and holding it in my hand!

My dream and how Martha and I met was the subject at the breakfast table that Christmas morning and at several tables since then. The Lord was faithful to His word in this and in so many miraculous ways. Thank you Lord for the greatest birthday and Christmas gift I could ever receive. Happy Birthday to my Woman of Destiny!

Precious Moments

Starlight shines alone on a Silent Night.
Do you share in our secret
As we're falling in love?
In your night-light, two shadows eclipse into one,
For a moment, shine above.

Baby, it's too early to leave me.
Can't you hear our fate calling?
And the night is timeless,
Precious moments that hurried-time can seem to forget.
Let the moment live for us.

Take me by the hand and we'll marry.
There's no moment as precious
When a man finds his wife.
If you take me, we'll understand the meaning of love,
Make a moment last for life.

Love me: I must have you this evening.
I can't cool these emotions;
They burn bright as the sun.
If you love me, I'll understand what love really is.
You're the moment; you're the one.

Copyright ©1997 Daniel Romero Morales Jr.

Postscript: About two years ago, it finally dawned on me that the Lord had given me a Christmas song as confirmation. Apparently, I was so excited about the fact that I found a Scriptural sign that I overlooked the fact that the song pointed prophetically to Christmas when I was to propose to her. God exists - Find Him today!