Ice, ice baby

Took my kids out ice skating in Pineville last night. The rink was packed with teenagers on holiday break. It was the first time David had been on skates; he gave it a go but did not take to it well. Matthew bravely donned skates to help his little brother around the ice a bit. Ellen and Alec seemed to have a jolly good time, which was helped by having friends around: some Bennetts, some Lancasters, the Kims and others. Capt. Kirk is a pretty good ice skater.


Oh, and at Gun Club this morning Adam told an awesome story of ice skating in Portland when he was around 10 years old. He was struggling getting the blades on tightly, when a stranger offered to help. He said this young woman laced him up, painfully so. When he was angling towards the ice someone came up to him and asked if he knew who the woman was helping him. He didn't, and was told it was Tonya Harding!

Now we're going somewhere

The year of 2007 is being called 'A year for London' in an effort to spur 24 hour intercession for the city by churches across the city. From the web site it states:

In 2007 churches are signing up to host a day (24 hours) of prayer. The Church in London will stand together in 2007 and raise up a prayer of "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done". Different churches drawn from London's many boroughs and ethnic backgrounds are getting involved and will partner together to see our city change.

See the web page here:
http://www.londonprayer.net/Group/Group.aspx?ID=42498

And another here:
http://www.londonprayer.net/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=61997

Things continue to get more and more interesting...

Happy winter

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The length of days never was a big deal to me until we moved to eastern Washington/Idaho for two point five years. What a shock for this southern boy, to find myself in a winter where the sun did not come up until after I got to work and would also set before I drove home at the end of the day. It wasn't my cup of tea, I discovered. It really rubbed me the wrong way for the weeks that this happened. To make it worse, it was overcast most winter days. If you are raised around it then you think its normal, but it always seemed strange to me. Nice folks, those Idahoans, otherwise.

We lived a few minutes away from the University of Idaho, find a webcam to the area here.

Voice of the Martyrs prayer list

VOM News and Prayer Update: December 19
"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed."(2 Corinthians 4:8,9)

CHINA
House Church Closed in Anhui - China Aid Association
On November 26, a house church in Laodong Xincui, Tongling City, Anhui Province was closed by the government. The leaders were told to join the local Three-Self Church. The house church was founded 53 years ago by renowned Brother Wang Xingquan who was imprisoned for his faith during the Cultural Revolution. The nearly 200 members are under supervision from the local Religious Affair Bureau which is intimidating and exerting pressure on them. The employers of Brother Wang Xingquan's daughter have stopped paying her salary and threatened to fire her if she does not set an example and join the local Three-Self Church. Four Christian brothers from Xinjiang province, who were imprisoned for 32 days between October and November this year, were admitted to the hospital after being tortured by other prisoners. Pray God will keep all His faithful servants strong in their faith. 2 Corinthians 4:8-11

KENYA
Kenyan Churches Targeted in Letter Sent to Bishop - Compass DirectChristians at Nairobi Pentecostal Church (NPC) began a three-day fast yesterday after a letter written to their bishop warned of an imminent attack on Christian radio station Hope FM. The threat comes seven months after a raid on the station, which is on church property, left one person dead. NPC Bishop Boniface Adoyo called for the fast in a letter read to church members, saying the threatening letter also mentioned other churches targeted for attack. On May 12, unidentified gunmen stormed the station, killed a guard, injured three others and torched part of the building after a regular broadcast aired comparing teachings of the Bible with those of the Quran. Pray our omnipotent Father will thwart the plans of those who are trying to keep people from hearing the Good News. Revelation 3:8

IRAN
Secret Police Arrest Leaders of "Jesus Only" Movement - Compass DirectOn Sunday, December 10, Iranian secret police began to raid and arrest leaders of the Islamic republic's indigenous "Jesus Only" movement, arriving unannounced in the early morning hours to search their homes in Tehran, Karaj, Rasht and Bandar-i Anzali. For five days, several members of the house-church movement were called in for a day or more of interrogations and then released. But eight remain under arrest, including one woman. According to one source, those arrested have been told they face 10 accusations, including evangelization activities and actions against the national security of Iran. Pray God will protect His servants who do not deny Jesus. Hebrews 12:1, 2

NIGERIA
Two Christian Converts from Islam Fleeing Persecution - Religion TodayIdris Aliyu received Christ's salvation in March after reading the Gospel of Luke account of the resurrection. Mohammed Sarajo became a Christian 12 years ago after a miraculous healing saved him from death. The disparate paths of the two former Nigerian Muslims, however, have put them on the same road - fleeing from those who want to kill them. Pray God will put a hedge of protection around His servants, giving them compassion and boldness to bring many into His Kingdom. Psalm 138:3

INDIA
Arrest of Hindu Extremist Leads to Retaliation - Compass DirectOn December 5, police in Honavar, a coastal town in Karnataka state, arrested a member of the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal for assaulting a Christian evangelist. Later that day, when Mayaeshak Baila, was waiting for a bus after attending a prayer meeting, a Bajrang Dal member spoke to him and asked him extensively about his activities. "When he realized I was a Christian, he slapped and hit me with his fists on my face and head," Baila said. "Then he threw me down on the road and continuously kicked me on my ribs, stomach and back." Also that same day, two other Bajrang Dal members assaulted Joseph Lopes and Agnel Dias, who were visiting Christian homes in Honavar village. Pray the Christians will show the reality of Jesus' love as they demonstrate His spirit of forgiveness. Romans 12: 19-21

IRAQ
Kidnapped Clergyman Released After Six Days - Compass DirectA Chaldean priest kidnapped in front of his Baghdad home last week was released on December 10. Father Samy Abdulahad Al-Raiys was freed six days after he had been abducted while driving to his parish in Baghdad's Al-Sinaa Street near the University of Technology. Pray Father Al-Raiys will be filled with joy and gratitude for his release and have a compelling desire to bring others to salvation.

Acronym Song

IHOP Genius Derek Loux ponders the ridiculous number of acronyms and abbreviations at IHOP-KC and takes a stab at End Times Complicated Dave Sliker in the process.

Fruit cake costume

Ellen Burnett (10) placed in her youth group contest at MorningStar yesterday. They were judging Christmas costumes. She got a big box, cut out holes for arms and head and torso to slip the box on. She taped brown paper around it and cut out big colored dots to tape on to the paper. She slipped it on and went as (drum roll please)... a fruitcake. Dang, if she wasn't so lovely it would be punny. Instead, she's wonderful. I'll try to grab a pic to post. When the first guy comes along in 10 years or so asking about her I'll show him the picture and see if his interest in her is more than crust deep.

We got wired

I spent some time on Saturday afternoon with Joel, Jeremy, Mark and Matthew as Joel had us working to put voice and data cable in the new ZHOP facility. It made me wonder about the times in the bible when the temple was built and then rebuilt. Did the stoneworkers really know what their efforts would allow? Did they have a holy sense of serving God's desire to gather men together and meet with them? Or was it just a job to them, like any other despite the prestige of working on something important to their leaders? Did God give them glimpses, or did they ask for such, of the reality of what would happen as they pushed back the elements and the darkness and gave space for worship and prayer of True God, He who is called the desire of the nations?

Update I emailed out

Hello, friends and family;

Here you will find a pre-release copy of the brochure for EZ37 internship at the Zadok House of Prayer (ZHOP) in Ft. Mill, SC (i.e. the south side of Charlotte). This is not the final version but I wanted to send this out today. Caryn and I will be overseeing the EZ37 internship that begins next month, which is one among several that the ZHOP is conducting. EZ37 (an abbreviation of Ezekiel chapter 37) is an intense 'night school' for those interested in growing deeper in prayer and further for someone interested in applying for ZHOP staff. We also have internships for young adults both during the day and through the night.

For the Burnett family this continues as a journey of remarkable peaks and valleys. Only God could have made such a way possible. From the 'Perspectives' class and bible college in the 80s, through YWAM to ministry with Harvest Evangelism in the 90s then landing in Charlotte to continue raising our family and growing in God's rich love and mercy to the present day. There have been times of outrageous favor and occasions where God led us through troubling wilderness, yet we were not to despise the ongoing and unfailing leadership of Jesus. He is dazzling in His faithfulness.

The fall of this year (2006) found us getting clear and repetitive indication from the Lord that our hiddenness was about to end. For several years we've been involved with frequent prayer gatherings for our area (at one time I was leading in 3 evening prayer meetings a week in different churches around Charlotte, as I'm self-employed). The Spirit of God made our assignment clear: that if we held fast God would build night and day prayer in our city. Caryn and I have had understanding since the YWAM SOI (School of Intercession) we attended in 1992 that we would ultimately participate in 'night and day' worship and prayer as the foremost use of our time. We also observed through our years of ministry in California that this - 24 hour prayer - was not only a missing component for citywide transformation endeavors (which we ourselves did not possess a blueprint for) but that ministry to the Lord together by ministry leaders was a necessary condition to qualify for regional spiritual breakthrough. Ministry to the Lord defined as: persistently seeking God together, meditating on His word together, contending for His will in prayer together beyond convenient times to do so. And out of this coming unmistakable awareness of God's leading and God's word to our cities. I'm not presuming this to be something new, I simply observe it when I read the activity of the Church in the book of Acts.

So we're on track to this end: that there would be an expression of night and day prayer in our own city. Caryn and I are working with Kirk and Dee Bennett to see this prayer ministry mature and strengthen as the "Zadok House of Prayer" in Charlotte. They moved here a year ago with a team from Kansas City with the clear leading of the Lord to build 24 hour worship and prayer. In due time this prayer room will prove to be a profound catalyst for breakthrough in this region and ultimately a resource for other cities where God is imparting a vision for night and day prayer. I am also working locally with another 24-hour prayer endeavor, the Charlotte 24-7 boiler room. I agreed to help them after their request for friendship and consultation the same time that the Bennetts were coming to Charlotte. I believe that in the next several years we will have at least 3 24-hour prayer rooms functioning in Charlotte: a terror to demons and the manifestation of God's government on the earth through the joyful prayers of the saints (Isa. 56:7).

So this email is just a brief catchup communication from me. We are moving ahead and taking ground; God is speaking and preparing His Church for the harvest and for the return of His Son. My closing exhortation for you all is to find your place in corporate prayer in your city, lift your voice in joyful anticipation of a Father who is zealous for the exaltation of His Son, Jesus. And the glory of the Lord will rise upon you.

The Lord is good. He has only been good. And His mercy endures forever.
Greg and Caryn Burnett