Onething 2010

Tomorrow marks the start of the Onething conference of 2010! Each year, IHOP hosts roughly 20,000 college students in downtown Kansas City at this conference! Most of the staff members you meet on the missions base say they first heard of IHOP through the Onething conference! This is an amazing and exciting time and I really encourage you to take a look at it on IHOP's website!

God will be glorified!

This week I will be playing on the worship teams in the prayer room during the conference (as the prayer room actually moves to downtown KC in the conference center), and I will be an official Onething photographer! I am so excited for what God has in store for this week!!!

Romans 4

Every student leader and youth worker who works regularly on high school campuses struggles time-to-time to maintain an optimistic outlook on the future of our schools. In many ways, our current model of youth ministry doesn't seem to make any difference when it comes to our schools. Across the country there are ridiculous new mandates and laws being laid out against God in our schools. Year after year, the schools tend to look worse and worse because our enemy is surprisingly intent on taking this ground.

Our failures, however, ought to point us in the direction of the solution. Whereas one youth ministry models fails, another springs to life. The age-old cry for a revival of prayer among the youth is growing louder and louder still. For 5 years I have prayed the dream of God over my alma mater, and for 4 years I have contended for an entire city of schools and have labored aggressively to take ground. After these beginning years it is easy to grow weary and be discouraged at the task still ahead. Yet we must not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).

My point is this: God is raising up laborers who pray all the way through to the breakthrough. God never called anyone to a simple task that didn't require faith, and we must lay hold of the promises of God in faith. Having seen these promises from afar, this is our chance to lay hold of them in faith and begin to lay the foundation for an end-time harvest. Consider Abraham:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. - Romans 4:18-21

We need to have the faith of Abraham over our schools. The promises of God are nothing we can fully accomplish in our own strength, but we can partner with "the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not" (Romans 4:17). We serve an awesome God who has awesome plans for our schools, and I am fully persuaded that God has the power to do what he has spoken to me.

Years ago, the Lord spoke to me concerning a great youth movement that could happen in this generation. From an early age, my heart has been broken over American teenagers. As I sought the Lord in how I might contribute to this movement, He replied, "Can you raise up a prayer movement in the schools that contends with the plans of the enemy over this generation?" I realized, in that moment and through other confirmations, that the Lord had commissioned an assignment over my life, yet no only me, but many in our nation.

This invitation extends to anyone who shares this burden of the Lord over our schools. This generation needs fathers of faith. This is Malachi 4:5-6, when we turn our hearts to the children and the children turn their hearts to the fathers of their faith. We must not have another fatherless generation. I urge you, pray.

Or, in the old cliche, P.U.S.H.

Pray

Until

Something

Happens

High School Missionaries

I just visited Olathe North High School this morning. I joined as a participant in their early morning prayer group that meets daily (praise God) and has met for the last 4 years (praise praise God!). I was struck freshly with the crucial opportunity that high schools present to the church. There is literally no better place to evangelize than a high school. I've been evangelizing on streets and in train cars and in public squares and none of it compares to the opportunity and the harvest that sits every day in high school classrooms. God is specifically highlighting middle school and high school ages because we are entering into a new season of history where the youth will once again be God's catalyst to revival.

As I walked the halls, the Lord put heavy on my heart the supreme importance of high school missionaries. There is no better mission field in America than a middle school or high school. While the marketplace and media and politics are all worthy mission fields, high schools present a specific opportunity to reach students in every neighborhood, regardless of whether or not they attend church. Being a high school missionary is the great missionary calling of our day in America.

High School Missions is not just another good idea, it is a divine opportunity that if missed will result in weighty consequences for our generation. Middle schools, high schools and college campuses must be reached. Will you go?

How to Download Pictures from Flickr

Here is a quick and easy way to download your favorite pictures in full-resolution from my flickr account (www.flickr.com/loganbloom). This is very useful if you find a picture you would like to have printed, as full-resolution pictures are best for printing.

1. Go to flickr.com/loganbloom, where you'll see a list of most recently added pictures and sets of pictures listed down the right-hand side.

2. To view a particular set of pictures, for instance Turkey Trot 2010, click on the Turkey Trot 2010 set to open it. (You can view more sets by scrolling down and selecting "More Sets").

NOTE: Now you can click through all of the pictures included in that set, page by page. The Turkey Trot set has 263 photos included in its set, so you'll have to click through several pages to view all of the photos.

3. You can click on a particular photo to open its page view.

4. Once you have opened a photo, for instance this photo of Molly and Banner, you can still click through the rest of the photos in that set in the list of the photos on the right-hand side.

5. You can comment on photos below the image on the screen.

6. You can select various actions by clicking on the "Actions" button above the photo.

7. To download, click the "Actions" button above the photo and select "View all sizes."

8. Now you will see a list of different resolutions at which you can view that picture across the top of the page.

9. Select the desired resolution ("Original" is best for printing) and wait for the image to load.

10. Once the image as loaded, right-click the image and select "Save Picture As..." and follow the instructions to save the image to your computer.

And that's how you can use the images on my flickr account to download in full-resolution for family use!

NOTE: These images are under copyright by Logan Bloom from the moment they are taken. The use of these images for commercial use without consent is prohibited.

The Battle Over the Identity of Jesus in Our Schools

There is a historical battle over the identity of Jesus that takes place in every generation. As we draw ever nearer to the Day of the Lord, each generation becomes increasingly crucial and the battle for the identity of Jesus becomes increasingly controversial. For modern Christianity in America, statistics show that each proceeding generation develops their worldviews while in middle and high school ages. While our church's youth ministries attempt to shape tomorrows leaders, the real bulk of tomorrows leaders are shaped by the teaching of the media and the classroom. That is why our youth groups must be missions bases targeting local schools.

The Bible teaches that towards the end of the age, doctrines against the identity of Jesus will increase and the battle will intensify, culminating in the appearing of the Antichrist and the second coming of Jesus. Since tomorrow's leaders are being raised in our schools, it is no surprise that there are massive conflicts surrounding the subject of God in our schools. In fact, this sentiment against God in our schools has a very real and strong source:

Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. - 1 John 2:22

But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 1 John 4:3

The truth is that we have a very real enemy on the other side of our fight for our generation, and the battle translates all the way down to our schools. Satan will stop it nothing to keep Jesus out of our schools. The spirit of the antichrist rages against identity of Jesus, and it makes sense that the same spirit would fuel the conflict surrounding God in our schools. There are many leaders in America today raging against God and prayer in our schools. Those individuals actively rejecting God and fighting against God in our schools are operating in the spirit of the antichrist (according to 1 John 4:3). God (namely, YHWH) is the only way to save our nation (and receive salvation), and the most intense battle for our nation is happening in the classroom.

While one side is producing messengers carrying the spirit of the antichrist as forerunners of the Antichrist, God is raising up messengers carrying the spirit of truth that testify to Jesus as forerunners of His appearing. This historical drama transcends every sphere of society right into the classroom. While antichrist doctrines are populating our classrooms, God is raising up students who overcome:

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. - 1 John 4:4

God doesn't just want our youth groups to be entertaining cliques but boot camps that producing teenagers who overcome the spirit of the age. We need a divine reorientation. I hope you grapple with this yourself and our provoked to consider the battle taking place for the classrooms of America. Take action in the place of prayer and the raising up our youth ministries into forerunner ministries of the coming King.

Biblical Financial Partnership

Many of us hear the term "support raising," "financial partnership" or "living on support" from various veins of ministry today. Most of today's large modern missions organizations are staffed by missionaries who rely on the financial support of their friends and family in order to do their ministry. But where is this model found in scripture?

One of the earliest Biblical examples of ministers who were financially supported by members of the church were the musicians of David's tabernacle. David established a tabernacle that was filled with night and day worship, which was crucial to David's government. In 1 Chronicles 23:4-5, David establishes a breathtaking 4000 musicians whose sole purpose was to maintain the worship in the temple, as well as 24,000 supervisors and intercessors to fill and manage the temple. For David, the house of prayer was at the center of his government. These who filled the temple were labeled "ministers before the Lord." Obviously, Solomon carried on this tradition with the building of the temple.

What about in the New Testament? Paul outlines his financial plan in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. While Paul also had a profession of tent-maker to decrease his financial burden, his ministry would have been impossible without the financial aid of individuals in the church. Paul outlines the correct mindset about giving in this passage:

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. . . Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

Paul outlines a very special partnership that God designed to take place between those who sow financially and those who minister under their support. When we sow financially to a ministry, we become partakers in the fruit of that ministry and we receive the blessing of that fruit (not only in heaven, but also now). Paul says that because we give and make the ministry possible, we receive a special blessing AND we demonstrate thanksgiving to God that actually builds our righteousness.

Paul takes the opportunity to give and describes it as a blessed opportunity given by the Lord so that we might receive blessing for our gift (so that we can give again - cyclical principle). We worship God with where we send our funds. So support raising is just as much an opportunity for the financial giver as it is for the ministry. For that reason, Paul writes: You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Financial support is about ministry partnership because both receive the blessing for their ministry. In God's economy, the richest are those who give generously. This presents a challenge for me and for most of American culture because this is counter American-dream mentality, but as Paul said,

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

Hopefully this helps to expand our understand of financial support and God's economy.

Today Only Happens Once

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. - Ephesians 5:15-17

We have such a wonderful opportunity as Christians born into this time in history. I love to think about how God put me on earth during this time in history on purpose. You, too, were born into this time of history very strategically by the Lord. We've found ourselves in the midst of an all-out war in the Spirit for the salvation of our generation. Although you and I didn't choose to live in such a day, God is watching how we respond.

Every Spring, I come across dozens of Christian High School students who are filled with regret (especially Seniors). Every May, I hear sentences like "I wish I would have done more for God," or "I wish we would have prayed for my school," or "I wish I hadn't just coasted through the year." Many of the students who lead the Christian campus ministry at their school come out wishing they had taken their group more seriously.

Be encouraged to hold nothing back. Ephesians 5:15-17 is a glorious example of Scripture encouraging us to make the best of every opportunity. Every morning you wake up to pray at your school is another opportunity. Don't give up, and don't grow weary.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. - Galatians 6:9

Don't be found wishing you had done more when your days in High School are over. Give these years to the Lord and sow into the mission field of your school. You are in one of the greatest missions fields on the earth today, so don't hold back. Do that fast, pray the prayers, love the lost, and serve like it's your last chance because it will be over before you know it.

Of this I speak from experience. In the end, be able to say you gave it your all and you'll be ready to transform a college campus.

A Heavenly Opportunity: 21 Days of Fasting

On November 1st, we're launching daily prayer in many high schools across the Kansas City area. We will have daily prayer for revival returned to our schools for an entire month (and beyond)! This is an amazing shift, not only because of what will happen in our schools but because of what will take place in the heavens. When God's people give themselves to the place of prayer, the heavens are moved! While we consecrate ourselves to prayer for this month of November, I want to offer up a further opportunity that we have to move the heavens during this time.

Read Daniel 10. Daniel gave himself to the place of fasting, and his fasting effected the heavens. Daniel set his face to fast until the breakthrough came (which ended up being 21 days) and while the answer had been given since day one, it took 21 days of contending to receive it. Not only that, but the angel appears to Daniel, the man of fasting, and calls him "highly esteemed" of heaven (3 times)! If we want to think in a heavenly mindset and we want to see a real shift, we need to give ourselves to this place of fasting.

Isaiah 58 speaks so well of fasting. Read it, and understand the heart of fasting. Giving ourselves to this place brings us to Isaiah 58:8-9:

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Joel 2 is another prime example where the people of God are called to fasting and to the repentance of their apathy. We are at such a moment in our day during this month of consecrated prayer. I want to encourage you to take up a fast starting on November 1st. Maybe you do it for 21 days, maybe you do it for the entire month. Maybe you fast one meal a day, or you fast meats and sweets, or Dr. Pepper (I'm talking to myself). It is up to you. All I ask is that we give ourselves to a concentrated time of contending for breakthrough.

Many students will not only start daily prayer in their school this November, but they'll launch a school-wide fast. Join with us during this time of consecration and contend in fasting for the breakthrough of salvation in our schools.

Visit www.kcstudentmissions.com/30daysofprayer and click on "Resources" for practical wisdom regarding fasting.

New 456 Video!!!

Check out this long awaited promo video for the 30 Days of Prayer. This is a great encouragement for students to get involved in the campus ministries in their school and we're sending this out to every church in KC that will have it!

Photography

Check out my Photography blog at http://photography.loganbloom.com, where I'll post some of my favorite pictures from our life and ministry. I also frequently add photos to my flickr account for our supporters to be able to download in full resolution for free! View more photos and even download them in full-resolution at www.flickr.com/loganbloom.

See You At The Pole: A Launchpad

Every year, Christian students in public and private schools are invited to demonstrate their faith by gathering for prayer across the nation one day each year. Many local school campus ministries use this catalytic event to launch their first meeting of the year. For many, See You At The Pole (SYATP) is the school's largest demonstration of prayer for the entire year.

See You At The Pole is designed to jumpstart prayer in our schools, however for many, it has become the pinnacle. I love SYATP, but we often forget that SYATP exists to stir students to launch more than just one annual day of prayer. SYATP is a wonderful opportunity for prayer to be established, but it is also a representation of our need to make prayer a daily (or at least weekly) reality. What was meant to jumpstart daily prayer has become the pinnacle of prayer in our schools.

It is important to see SYATP not as the height of prayer in our schools, but as the baseline. One annual day of prayer is not enough. Therefore, I encourage you to use SYATP as a launchpad and catalyst. Use the national gathering of students to give vision for not only one day out of the year but daily prayer launched in our schools.

Imagine the impact of prayer happening not just once each year, but daily...

Why Pray?

Many may wonder why I am so obsessed with prayer when it comes to campus ministries in school. Why not just have evangelistic outreaches, or worship times, or Bible studies, guest speakers, or try to strengthen our community? Why so much prayer?

I love Bible studies and evangelistic outreaches! I think all of those things are great, but if they come at the expense of prayer, then they can actually be a hinderance to our ministry. Of course we should study the Bible! But when it comes to campus ministries (what you actually do on campus), if your goal is to impact your school in any way, it will come first and foremost through prayer.

What you may not know about me is that I led a campus ministry at my school my senior year. During that year, I did every kind of Bible study and evangelistic outreach I could conceive! I wanted to see a move of God in my school where every student was saved (revival). I shared the gospel in front of several classrooms (flat out, with the teacher's permission), I carried a literal 8 foot cross into the commons of my school to start conversation, I preached on the lunch table in front of hundreds, we even saw a lost person get physically healed, yet no one was saved and my impact was minimal. 5 years later, my school is no different. I sowed for an immediate harvest with no foundation or longevity.

I was fighting in the flesh a battle that has to be won in the heavens first. I didn't understand the importance and necessity of prayer! Since then, I have come to understand how prayer actually changes history and how in the short years we are in school, we can have eternal impact through our prayers. Prayer paves the way. Imagine revival coming to your school preceded by years of prayer, and you started that prayer meeting 5 or 6 years ago! This isn't a story. It's real!

Scripture is clear about the importance and power of prayer. Here is just a brief list of verses you can look at yourself where the power of prayer is demonstrated:

2nd Chronicles 7:14

Joel 2

Daniel 9-10

Luke 18:1-8

1 Timothy 2:1-2

Philippians 4:6

1 Thessalonians 5:17

James 5:16

These and many other passages clearly show the power of prayer and how it wins the most important battle in the heavens. When an entire nation was in crisis, God's command was to repent from apathy and return to the place of prayer! Why not in our schools? Prayer is not illegal in school so long as it is student-led. And when God's people give themselves to authenticity and prayer, God promises to move on our behalf and send blessing in the place of judgement.

Again, I love service projects and evangelistic outreaches, but we will be infinitely and eternally more effective if we do those things from the place of prayer. If we establish prayer as our foundation, then we are fighting like Daniel in the heavens, moving God's heart with our prayers. Imagine Christian students in several schools in Kansas City moving God's heart with their prayers!!!! Sign me up!

How do we pray? Simply. We don't have to pray long or loud prayers in old-english King James vocabulary with our "prayer voice." God hears our prayers! God is actually attentive to your prayers, personally. So pray personally. If you are struggling for what to pray, pick a scripture to pray. John Piper says that prayer is "wielding the Word," because scripture is our weapon, and prayer is how we best wield it. Prayer becomes more and more comfortable with practice.

What would happen if we prayed to God like He hears us and wants to move in our schools? What if the battle in the heavens was won in prayer and the gospel spread like wildfire through our schools? All we have to do is pray.

So why not pray? If God desires to move in our schools and all we have to do is partner with him in prayer, then what are we waiting for? If we give ourselves to prayer in our schools, we will see a massive shift in the culture trends in both the Christian students and non-believing students.

Cool New Flier

Check out our cool new flier!

Front:

Back:


Full Link (PDF): http://www.456online.net/30daysofprayer/images/Prayer%20Rally%20Flier.pdf

The Importance of Prayer in Schools

It is not hard to look at the youth in America and see that we have a problem. The statistics and cultural trends are enough to make any optimist queazy. All of the abortion, suicide, violence and sexual immorality find their root in our generation’s need for the revelation of Jesus.

Scripture clearly outlines repentance from apathy and a return to prayer as the remedy to times of crisis like these. 2 Chronicles 7:14, Joel 2 and Daniel 9 are premier examples of the call to prayer and the promise of God to move on our behalf. Luke 18:1-8, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and James 5:16 are similar passages that clearly outline the importance of prayer.

In Acts 4, we find the model of ministry that fueled the early church under the leadership of Peter and John. The apostles would minister in outreach to the city and then they would gather together with the report of what happened and hold a prayer meeting. Acts 4:31 says that the “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Their ministry was fueled in the place of prayer.

History shows us the importance of prayer in our schools. In 1962, the Supreme Court condemned prayer led by the school faculty in the case of Engle v. Vitale. Looking back, we see that the removal of prayer marked a shift in the culture trends of our schools. Violence, sexually transmitted infections, teen pregnancy, even the national divorce rate drastically increased in 1963 and onward. The national SAT and ACT average scores dropped noticeably in 1963. More and more court cases began to emerge creating an even greater wall of separation of church and state, including the removal the Ten Commandments from schools and other public places. All of these trends and court decisions historically find their root in the 1962 court decision of Engle v. Vitale.

Although prayer cannot be led in school by the faculty, it can certainly still be led by students. Prayer, in and of itself has never been removed from school. Students just have not been leading it. This presents Christians with the opportunity to return prayer to our schools through student-led gatherings. The wonderful question at hand is if the trends that were effected in 1962 could be reversed now by the return of prayer to schools.

The call now goes to every Christian student in America. Our generation is in crisis, and we can effect change by repenting of our apathy and taking a stand in the place of prayer. Our schools have become America’s greatest missions field. The leaders of our nation 20-30 years from now are wondering the halls of our schools today. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. That is why Christian students need to accept a missionary mindset of their status in school. We need student missionaries who will pioneer prayer into the greatest revival our nation has ever seen. Who knows if in our darkest hour the Lord would poor out the greatest revival in our nation’s history?

Not only is it crucial that students become missionaries, but youth groups must become missionary bases for the surrounding schools. Youth pastors must become missionary commissioners, equipping their students and supporting them in the effort of reaching their schools. If students become missionaries and youth groups become mission bases, then our schools have a chance of becoming revival centers where every student in the city is required to attend. Oh that Jesus would be glorified in our nation once again.

To this end we pray.

Missions at Home

I have been reading Let the Nations Be Glad, by John Piper, and I have to say that I love books about missions. I love the stories of the missionary movement and the icons of history who have died for the sake of the gospel. I have always been so intrigued by missions work overseas and the notion of leaving everything I have to reach a foreign culture. I am naturally drawn to the most radical expressions of Christianity, not in a charismatic way, but I look for where the real self-abandon is in a faith. You cannot find any more self-abandon than the stories you hear of people who gave of everything to share the gospel with an unreached people. To me it would be an honor to be named among people like Paul who were beaten and dragged out of the city only to get up and go right back in to continue sharing the gospel.

This may really bother you, but I assure you I am pursuing no such calling. For now, the self-abandon of intercessory missions at IHOP will do just fine. I have no plans of going overseas and dying in a foreign land (although God may do whatever he wants). I am not leaving, because I am too gripped with the disaster in my own land. What does it mean to be a missionary in America? Do we have to sell all of our belongings and travel to some distant land? Not at all, and to some extent, that is the problem with missions in America.

Americans have so much surplus that we do not recognize our need. The Bible has been the #1 best selling book in America for decades. There are churches on every corner! Yet globally America is considered to be a nation in a spiritual recession as well as an economical recession. How can I be a missionary in a land like this? The message is the same, but the missionary target audience must first be the church.

While it is still necessary to convert new believers, we need to reconvert so many who have been converted into a false Christianity. Christianity in America carries far less power than it did when America started. The church has become a hobby, a preference, a mere opinion. And our converts in America have no idea what truth is!

Did you know that all Christians in America believe in heaven, but only 40% believe in hell and Satan?

Did you know that only 46% of Christians in America believe in absolute moral truth?

Over 20% of Christians believe that the Bible has errors.

Approximately half of the church believe that salvation is based on works.

Only 60% of Christians believe that Jesus lived a sinless life!

And those statistics are FAR worse as you go younger in demographic. The Barna Research Group did a study that showed 9% of American adults completely agree with a Biblical Worldview, but less than 0.5% of college age students agree with the Biblical Worldview.

Did you know that?

Not only that but Christianity has become so mutated among the teenagers that scholars are saying it has branched off into an entirely different faith. Secular researchers are saying that the Christianity that teenagers are claiming by definition is no longer "Christianity." Now it is called "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," which basically means they believe in a system of values from a God who exists merely to meet their needs.

We live in one of the most difficult yet necessary mission fields of our day. And being a missionary in America has nothing to do with physical martyrdom or poverty like it might in a foreign country. It is so easy to get by unscathed if you just live quietly in America. Christians can still live a normal life in most parts of the nation, but for how long?

It is absolutely necessary for the church to return to message of Jesus. We don't need another set of values or 5-points to your best life now. We need a church that is alive in Christ, and not through external expression but an internal burden for His glory. Jesus is, and always has been, the centerpiece of Christianity, not just a sideline topic we use to strengthen our point. Jesus is the greatest truth we need to stand by. Abortion happens, poverty happens, but an entire generation growing up as "Christians" without knowing Jesus is DOES NOT HAPPEN.

That is why the greatest mission field in America is our schools. That is why I have given myself to training leaders and jump-starting prayer meetings on school campuses, because if something doesn't change now, it's over with for Christianity in America. I'm not about to go to another country with the gospel that my own country desperately needs.

Be a living witness. Encourage the students who are participating in outreaches in their schools. Stand for truth and raise your families on the foundation of Jesus. That is why stay-at-home mothers are the greatest leaders in America; because they are raising the future of America. Don't think you have to sell all of your belongings and move to a shack with a dirt floor to be a missionary. Walk into your school! You don't even have to sell your iPhone! Just read and embody Philippians 3:7-8, and share that truth with whomever is in your sphere of influence.

Also, you may not be called to a missionary lifestyle, but you can still participate by financially supporting missionaries in America. Did you know that Daniel Lim, the CEO of IHOP-KC, is an Asian who moved to America as a missionary to strengthen the church? Did you know that most missionaries in America give up after 2 years because of lack of funds (even in such a rich nation). I want to encourage you to find good soil to sow your seeds of finance. Find a ministry or an individual that is laboring for eternity and give (Matthew 6:21).

Lastly, no matter how large the crisis is in America, the greatest crisis is that Jesus is not known. Abortion is a large issue, the homosexual agenda is a large issue, but all of that changes when people receive the revelation of Jesus. We reach the lost because Jesus is worthy of their worship. Your ministry success has nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with glory to Jesus. Christianity in America needs to return to the foundation, the centerpiece. Jesus is the head, and we are the body, and without him we can do nothing.

Prayer Watch 2010: Breaking News

Over 30 of the world's foremost prayer leaders and teachers are in Kansas City participating in a 66-hour prayer and fasting meeting hosted at the International House of Prayer. I knew a little bit that this was happening but I had no idea the weight or importance of this event.

Their website (http://www.prayerwatch2010.com/) says, "For the first time in history, the foremost teachers on prayer will be gathered at one place to unite the nations in Solemn Assembly for Prayer Watch 2010. Thousands will assemble from across the globe for this special event and millions more via Internet streaming video. Don’t miss it! Make plans now to be part of this mountain-moving prayer gathering."

The Prayer Watch started last night at 6 PM and will carry even through the nights all the way to Sunday at 12 PM. Last night I was asked to play electric guitar for Matt Gilman from 8-10 PM and I arrived to see some of Christendom's current heros in the prayer room! Dick Eastman (founder of Every Home for Christ) was lead the meeting while I was there along with Vonette Bright (wife of Bill Bright and co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ), and other leaders from YWAM and many other global ministries much larger than IHOP-KC. What I love about this is the way that myself and IHOP staff get to serve these amazing leaders in the body of Christ. This really is a huge honor. I was blown away.

Not only that, but those leaders were giving their blessing to our little house of prayer and blessing the young people in the room (myself included) and I can tell after this event, IHOP will never be same. Something very cool just happened in the kingdom of God, and it's exciting to see what happens next!

Prayer in Schools

The student prayer movement is crucial to the future of Christianity in America. More and more, the youth are showing signs of massive deviation away from the Biblical truths upon which our nation was founded. In this moment in history, the Christian heritage of our nation is being removed from our schools, and the truth of Jesus is no longer tolerated. The need is dyer but we still have hope.

The youth do not need another hip teaching or cool youth group with the latest music and activities. The last thing they need are more games. Our schools don't need another Christian club or hidden Bible study, because soon there will be no one left to attend. To a teenager today, being a Christian means holding a set a morals and agreeing with a certain list of ambiguous beliefs. Hardly any of our churched teenagers are really introduced to a relationship with the living God. Teenagers are searching for a church that takes their faith seriously, and many are leaving Christianity because they have not found the authenticity that their hearts desire. This is a crisis.

Now in our schools, the Ten Commandments can no longer be displayed, teachers cannot ask who's birthday is celebrated by Christmas, teachers cannot be seen with Bibles, and no one can share the gospel because the pressure of political correctness. Something needs to change.

The answer is not more boldness. The answer is not another message. The answer is encounter with the living God. Christianity is not about another charismatic speaker. The earth is full of great messages and talented speakers. What we need is the revelation of Jesus on the heart level.

That is why prayer is essential. 2nd Chronicles 7:14, Daniel 9-10, Joel 2, Luke 18:1-8, and many other scriptures show us the profound impact of desperate prayer and returning to God, and no one is exempt. This move of God has to start within the church with desperate hunger for God. We need to give our students the living God. What is fun about such a crisis, every time in history, such a movement of God starts in the youth!

One of the Satan's greatest lies is the promise of tomorrow. We must give ourselves to the place of prayer, and if we really want to see a shift in the youth of America, it has to start in the schools. The catalyst event to revival in the youth is going to be the return of prayer to schools. That was the catalyst event in 1962 when prayer was removed and the school culture shifted to wickedness. Prayer can still happen through student-led gatherings. This movement of prayer in schools is not just another fad or another random initiative to give us something to do. It is the foremost opportunity to see a move of God in the youth of the nation, and its outcome holds the very future of Christianity in America.

Harp and Bowl Model in 10 Seconds

This is the worship model that we use in 456 for theWall. So all of our worship leaders, singers, musicians, sound techs, and prayer leaders can keep track of what's going on. This model helps organize the chaos of music and prayer happening at the same time and actually allows for much more freedom.

3 pillars of the model:

1. Centrality of Scripture

2. Team Ministry (on stage)

3. Inclusiveness (in the room)

The H&B Model happens in cycles (2 or 3 in a given set). A cycle looks like this:

1. Corporate Worship (unites the room)

2. Spontaneous Singing (engages the people personally with God)

3. Prayer

a. Prayer Leader prays from mic (music shifts)

b. Prayer Leader ends prayer with "in the name of Jesus: summarization"

c. Singers antiphonalize (responsive singing of short phrases based on the summary/verse)

d. Chorus (corporate chorus that allows the room to sing the prayer)

e. Next prayer leader... starts again

f. Optional small group prayer

Once 4 or 5 prayer leaders have prayed, then the cycle restarts. We go back into worship either directly or with small group prayer in between, and then we follow the steps again. This is a basic worship model for an intercession set. It allows the prayer leader to lead during the prayer, the entire room to be engaged, and for musicians and singers to be creative and spontaneous. If the prayer leader uses a verse, and the singers sing the verse, then we have accomplished all three of the pillars!

Simple, slick, snazzy.

2 hours go by like lightning with this model.

30 Days of Prayer Announcement

2nd Chronicles 7:14
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 sins and will heal their land.

Imagine with me Christian students gathering before class every school day to pray for revival their school, city and nation. Image Christian students in different schools, even in different cities, praying for the same thing at the same time, becoming a part of a national movement of student-led prayer in school. For years students have lived under the shadow of “separation of church and state,” fearing to cross boundaries that actually do not exist. We have given up the fight for prayer in schools too easily, but this November we will have an opportunity to legally see prayer returned to our schools through student-led gatherings, city-wide.

This November, Christian students in Kansas City are invited to gathering for prayer every school day before class for 30 Days of Prayer. Whether in the Olathe School District, Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley, Park Hill, KC MO, public or private schools, we want to rally students as far and wide as we can to participate in this prayer initiative. I believe that this 30 Days of Prayer in November will spark a fire of prayer in our schools that will not go out, and we will have prayer furnaces in our schools with students contending for revival and gaining a heart of prayer at an early age.

I need your help. Your voice is key to the mobilization of our teenagers in this initiative. I urge you to take hold of this vision and with other pastors in Kansas City and encourage your students to participate in this initiative. Visit www.kcstudentmissions.com where you can find written information about the 30 Days of Prayer, as well as schools that are already signing up to participate. Already we have all four Olathe High Schools excited to participate this November in daily prayer for revival. Help spread the word to more students and schools so that we can have the greatest impact possible with this initiative.

Finally, there will be a High School Prayer Rally as a follow-up event to See You At The Pole on Saturday, October 2nd and Grandview Assembly of God. This event will be an opportunity for students who are involved in the campus ministry at their school to hear the vision of the 30 Days of Prayer and hear some of the exciting testimonies of what God is already doing this year in our schools. There will be worship, teaching, and prayer all centralized on revival in the schools of Kansas City, so I encourage you to attend this event as a precursor to the 30 Days of Prayer this November. More information on this event is also available on www.kcstudentmissions.com.

Please contact me for more information about these events, and please partner with me as we seek to see Jesus glorified in America.

In His Service,
Logan Bloom

Christology II: Journal

I just had my first day of class in Christology II in IHOPU (the study of the person/work of Jesus). This is a fourth-year class that I have been excited about all year because I love the instructor. Well, we just had our first day of class and I am thoroughly wrecked and distraught and desperate for Jesus (all in a good way). So I will be journaling a little of what I learn and how the Lord is moving my heart throughout the semester pertaining to this class. So, here we go:

Session 1:

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus is the centerpiece of Christianity, yet Jesus is not really the centerpiece of my life as much as he deserves or requires. In the church as a whole (especially western Christianity), Jesus is no longer the centerpiece. So many ministries are submitting to political correctness and tolerance and pleasing what the masses want to hear that Christianity is diluted. Now it's about a list of morals or the value of the community or the impressiveness of the building or the charisma of the pastor, and while none of those things are inherently wrong, the person of Jesus has been pushed to the sidelines.

The young generation is a prime example. I know it first-hand. Less and less are participating in church (what is it, 3% now?... and most of those refuse to share their faith with their friends because they believe their truth doesn't apply to everyone...) and more and more are swapping out religions like ice-cream flavors because they cannot find one with substance, not even in Christianity. Why? Because they are not encountering or being introduced to the literal person of Jesus. People are leaving the church because other religions are taking their faith more seriously. But no matter how strict our moral code is or what political stance we take, if we aren't introducing people to Jesus, then we are only marketing an empty product.

Why else do our youth groups produce students who fall away in college 90% of the time? They don't know Jesus. They may know a list of values, they may even memorize a few scriptures, but we are not producing a church in love with Jesus. Instead, we are selling Jesus as a means to an end. Some preach Jesus as fire-insurance, some preach Jesus as a way to get rich, some preach Jesus as a way to be free of guilt or self-hatred, and it's all about how we can benefit from Jesus. Jesus didn't come into the world so that we could live more comfortably because of his death.

Jesus is the center of everything. Jesus is the center of history, our salvation, he is our provider, our comforter, and our deliverer, but he is not the center of our lives nor is he the center of the church (generally speaking). Praise God for the churches that are still keeping Jesus central, but they are far to few. Ask a random person outside Wal-Mart, "Are you going to heaven?" and they will likely answer according to their works. You can solve world hunger and still go to hell. We're so busy fighting poverty and fighting abortion and trying to do good that it becomes who we are and we lose our first love. I am so busy trying to reach the schools in Kansas City for Jesus that even I get distracted from my relationship with him! We forget about that moment when Jesus revealed his love to us for the first time and we recklessly gave our lives to him because we knew without a doubt that he deserves it all. Then, too often, we work up offenses in our hearts about how Jesus doesn't provide for us like we want him to, forgetting that we only deserve death...

Who knows what I'm saying anymore. . . at the onset of this class, all I can say for sure is that I need Jesus. It is helpful every once and while to take a break and get reconnected with Jesus personally, so here I go! Falling in love again!

Session 3:

The primary characteristic of Christianity is the divinity of Jesus. If Jesus is not God, then we have no Christianity. Jesus is our savior because He is God incarnate. Christianity is the only religion where God shows compassion and became man for our salvation. The divinity of Jesus sets Christians apart from the mainline Mormon and Jehovah Witness faiths, not to mention Islam. When Muslims turn to Christians and say, "Let's settle our differences, we really have more in common than in differences," the truth is that without the divinity of Jesus, we have nothing in common. Jesus is the cornerstone. No amount of morals or monotheism will save us outside the belief that Jesus is YHWH.

Any form of Christianity that deviates away from the divinity of Jesus is a delusion. History (in this age) culminates in the revelation of Jesus as YHWH at the second coming, and His divinity will be the point in question that will be forever laid to rest. That is the drama of the second coming. Satan raises up an "Antichrist," not just an "antigod." The attack and deception at the end of the age on the identity of Jesus will be against His divinity. But there will be no question when Jesus splits the sky and every eye sees Him together. The truth of His divinity is key, and any Christian rejecting this truth is in serious danger. By definition, any faith excluding the divinity of Jesus as the only way to God is not "Christian," whether they call themselves Christian or not.

I once had a conversation with a student who was a Christian and who wanted to start a campus ministry at her High School. She was a ready leader with enthusiasm in her heart to reach her friends. When I asked more about her walk with Jesus, she revealed that she did not believe that Jesus was God or the only way to God, and upon further inquiry, she didn't believe in the inerrancy of Scripture either. Yet she believed completely that she was "Christian." As I explained to her the history of the Christian faith, and the nature of Scripture, we discovered that she actually is not "Christian" at all. I told her, "You have much more faith than I do, but by definition, your faith is not Christianity." That conversation sadly ended in dismay for both of us as she was filled with new questions for her "church." What is Christianity without Jesus?

Philippians 2:1-11 is just as much about Jesus' divinity as it is about his humility. Without divinity, Jesus has no humility. Look at the climax: "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name (YHWH), that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (YHWH), to the glory of God the Father."

At the end of this age, the great revelation across the earth will be the divinity of Jesus, because God became man and gave himself as a ransom for many. Jesus made a way for us to the Father because He is both GOD and MAN. Man could not save man, and God could not reconcile our sin apart from becoming man. Therefore, Jesus is exalted above everything and must have preeminence in our lives and in our churches. Amen.

Research Assignment:

I received a research assignment in this class to listen to the messages of 7 of America's largest churches and document how many of those messages were actually about the person of Christ. For this assignment, my goal was to document messages of which Jesus was the main subject, and not merely a mention. I listened to reviewed the notes from several messages from each church (at least 8 each) to see if I could find any messages directly about Jesus. Without naming the churches I reviewed (all very large, popular, influential churches with equally influential pastors), I found only 1 message that was actually about Jesus. And the 1 message that was about the person of Jesus was delivered by a guest missionary speaker from overseas.

What I found most common where messages about how God benefits us, and how we can thrive in trials and circumstances based on Christian values. Today the church is largely about values. Jesus was mentioned, and in some churches much more than others, but He was a sideline topic most of the time. Christianity in these churches is about values and self-help. Not to say that values and self-help are inherently bad, if I was a regular attender of one of these churches I would rarely hear a clear message about the person of Jesus. To me Jesus would be a vague value rather than a living person.

One church in particular upset me. I spent the most time on this particular church because I simply could not find anything about Jesus, not even a mention. After reviewing dozens of notes from their messages, and even going through their online bookstore, I had nearly given up when I decided to run a search in their website for the word "Jesus." My search found one web page that was an invitation on their website to receive Jesus, and when I watched the videos and read the invitation, it actually was about Jesus. It may not have been the most accurate invitation to salvation I've ever heard, but at that point I was desperate. I had not found a message about Jesus from that church in nearly a year's worth of messages. All I found was how to "make the kingdom of God work for you," or "command lessing," and other messages related to how we can benefit from God, never what we can give to God and NOTHING about having a relationship with Jesus. No Jesus.

Our churches need to get saved...

Playing For An Empty Room... Well, Not Really...

Lately I have been playing electric guitar for a worship team at IHOP that covers the Saturday 6 AM - 8 AM set every week. 6:00 AM is the time that the nightwatch is ending their day and the day-time teams start their day. Usually, the prayer room is pretty laid back on the weekends, so the 6 AM set is especially slow, or so it seems.

I recall one Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00 AM, rolled out of bed, and slowly made my way to the prayer room for what seemed like another normal 6 AM set. There were probably 10 people total in the prayer room that morning, so it didn't seem like a very important set at all. We played well and focused on God more than the room, but we figured we had only played well for 10 people (and God, of course : ).

What we didn't know was that we were live on GODTV in more than 200 countries and more than 15,000 viewers were logged in to the online web stream in other parts of the world... and we had no idea. What seemed to us like another normal set that we may have even blown-off was actually one of the largest sets of the week in other time-zones around the world.

This served as a good reminder that we are not in the prayer room at 6 AM for ourselves or even for those in the room. Ultimately, we are there to minister to GOD's heart whether anyone is watching or not.

The fun part about the prayer room is that you never know who is watching, whether the room is full or empty. In the end, it's for an audience of one...

High School Prayer Rally You Will Not Want To Miss!

In years prior, 456 has hosted several events called the "Heal Our Land Project" where we shared the message and vision to see revival in our generation through the power of prayer.

This year (2010-2011), there will be a brand new event on October 2nd: High School Prayer Rally. This rally takes the Heal Our Land Project to another level. On the heals of See You At The Pole (September 22nd), an IHOP team will be leading the worship and prayer time and we'll get to hear from local youth leaders on the prayer movement that is sweeping through schools across our nation. I have been mobilizing prayer in Kansas City schools for many years now and I must say that the most exciting days are just ahead in the next 2-3 years.

Today, the youth of America and the schools of America are faced with a massive crisis due to a destructive culture fueled by demonic influences. Depression, suicide, rape, violence, and every addiction you can imagine has plagued our children. It all can be traced back to one moment in history that opened the flood gates of immorality in our schools: the 1962 Supreme Court Case Engle v. Vitale. This court case removed school sanctioned prayer from public schools and effectively built the foundation for the wall of separation of church and state as it relates to the classroom. In the years following, national test scores decreased, teen pregnancy increased, teen violence increased, teen STDs increased, and even the national divorce statistics increased at a rate that has not declined since.

The removal of prayer from schools also opened the doors to dozens of other court decisions removing God from the school system, even down the history books. What most people do not know about public schools is that prayer really has not been removed. School sanctioned/facilitated prayer has been removed, but not student-led prayer. Therefore, it is essential that we put prayer back on school campuses through student-led gatherings. If we want to make a difference in this generation, and we want to learn from history, the place to start is prayer in the youth.

That is why I am urging you to attend this High School Prayer Rally on October 2nd, a followup event to See You At The Pole in Kansas City. Whether you are a student or a youth leader, if you want to reach the schools and see revival in Kansas City, this event is for you. I will see you there!

High School Prayer Rally

October 2nd, 6 PM - 9 PM

Grandview Assembly

12400 Grandview Road

Grandview, MO 64030

Contact loganbloom@ihopu.org for more info.